Relevance (context) of the article. The analysis of the sources shows the effect of the P. Ya. Galperin’s theory of step-by-step development of intellectual activity. Relevance of the study is evident both at the level of fundamental general psychological mechanisms of intellectual processes, and at the level of educational technology development. P. Ya. Galperin’s theory has found its usage in developing methods for correctional and educational work in teaching children with disabilities.
The purpose of this paper is to show relevance of P. Ya. Galperin’s theory implementation, when developing methods in correctional education to form intellectual activity in preschoolers with intellectual disabilities.
Description of the research. The thesis reveals gradual development of intellectual activity in preschoolers with intellectual disabilities. There is an author’s method of forming intellectual activity in preschool children with intellectual disabilities. This method is presented on the example of actions of assigning the subject to the standard of form and direct quantitative counting. It is used in preparing children for school. This study is implemented in the educational field Intellectual Development. It is possible to use this method in the future to ensure preschool education of children with intellectual disabilities.
Findings. The research studied formation of a perceptive ability to match a particular object’s properties with the set standards of form and the ability to make direct quantitative calculations when using the method based on P. Ya. Galperin’s theory. The study revealed that, though the tasks at each stage of learning were getting more and more complicated, the intellectual activity acquirement was progressing. This is shown through preschoolers with intellectual impairments being more independent from an adult’s help and being able to shift to a more ‘reduced’ action according to P. Ya. Galperin. The distinguished gradual development of intellectual activity (first shifting from conceiving the task to acquiring the intellectual action in the tangible and physical way, second shifting to handling the observed objects without motor actions involved, finally shifting to prospective planning of the action) has proven to be effective when assisting a child in forming various intellectual actions, such as objective figure modeling, objects size-ranking, comparison, qualitative division, etc.
Conclusion. The method of forming intellectual skills in preschoolers with intellectual disabilities, built on the principle of gradual development of intellectual activity can be widely used in correctional, developmental and educational work. This study is possible to go beyond the actual intellectual development and be used in other educational areas of preschool education of this group of children.