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Background. Modern developmental psychology increasingly faces the need to integrate psychological techniques and socio-cultural analysis, especially in the context of the transformation of family structures and educational practices. In this context, rethinking classical diagnostic techniques, such as L.A. Venger’s “Polyanka” method, in new social conditions is of particular importance.

Objective. To show the continuity of scientific ideas of L.S. Vygotsky and his school (A.V. Zaporozhets, D.B. Elkonin, L.A. Venger) in modern interdisciplinary research. To rethink L.A. Venger’s “Polyanka” method not only as a diagnostic tool for visual-imaginative thinking, but also as a means of analyzing the “social situation of development” of a preschooler. To identify the influence of family structure (complete/incomplete) and parental educational strategies on the cognitive development of children, in particular, on the success of completing tasks using the “Polyanka” method.

Sample. 623 older preschool children. Additionally, 941 respondents (fathers and mothers) of these children were interviewed using a special parental questionnaire.

Methods. The following research approaches were used to achieve the objective: analysis of the results of diagnostics of children’s visual-imaginative thinking using Venger’s “Polyanka” method; sociological survey of parents using a specially designed questionnaire; qualitative analysis of the obtained data with the identification of significant correlations.

Results. The study found that boys from single-parent families have significantly lower rates of visual-imaginative thinking (21.9 points) according to Venger’s “Polyanka” method compared to boys from complete families (31.4 points), while such a dependence was not found in girls. Divorced mothers are more likely to use strategies that require their sons to follow strict rules in normatively defined situations, in contrast to fathers in complete families who orient their children towards behavior in uncertain conditions. It was also found that the father’s higher education has a positive effect on the results of girls (32.2 points), and for boys, the best results are associated with the mother’s secondary education (27.8 points). The lowest results are in children whose parents do not use encouragement (25.1 points), and the highest are in those who are not punished (31.7 points).

Conclusions. The study confirmed the importance of the scientific legacy of L.A. Venger for modern developmental psychology. A significant influence of family factors on the development of visual-imaginative thinking of preschoolers has been revealed. Differences in the educational strategies of parents in complete and incomplete families were determined. The “Polyanka” method has proven its effectiveness and social validity in modern conditions, and can be effectively used not only for diagnosing cognitive processes, but also as a tool for analyzing the social situation of development, especially in the context of the dynamics of family development.

The relevance of the topic of the article. The development of tools for diagnosing the development of thinking in childhood is of interest for modern scientific research and educational practice. If the diagnosis of the formation of formal-logical operations in thinking has well-established traditions, then the creation of means for determining how a child thinks dialectically - in a contradictory situation, is at the beginning of its path in the field of developmental psychology. Since dialectical thinking is associated with the development of the child’s creativity, with flexibility, the creation of diagnostic methods to identify the formation of dialectical thinking is an urgent educational task.

The aim of the study. The design and psychometric evaluation of the methodology for determining the formation of the child’s dialectical mental action of changing the alternative are provided.

Description of the research progress. The methodology for diagnosing the dialectical mental action of changing an alternative consists of 15 series of 6 pictures each depicting images of flora, fauna and familiar objects of everyday life known to children. Children are invited to form two classes from six pictures. When choosing a classification basis, the action of changing the alternative is performed. The study involved 100 children aged 6 years 10 months to 8 years 2 months.

Research results. In the process of psychometric evaluation of the methodology for diagnosing the dialectical mental action of changing alternatives, procedures for calculating validity, reliability and discriminativeness were carried out.

Conclusion. High indicators of constructive and criterial validity, retest reliability of the method, its discriminativeness allow using it as a diagnostic tool in determining the child’s ability to use the dialectical mental action of changing the alternative.

One of the trends of modern social psychology is connected with the study of the environment in which a person develops. The article deals with an understanding of the mental development of the child from the perspective of ecological approach of U.Bronfenbrenner. The examples that reveal the relationship between the components of the social situation of development in terms of the ecological approach are given. The structure of the ecological environment of the person represented by the built-in one another microsystem mesosistemoy, exosystem and macrosystem. On the material of the research the features of each of the structures of ecological environment are demonstrated. It has been shown that human development is due to the interaction of the four main factors: personal characteristics, ecological environment, the activities in which he a person is involved, and the time. The concept of ecological validity is discussed. The importance of incorporating environmental considerations in the construction of educational work with children, planning research and development activities is shown.