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Psychology. Journal of the Higher School of Economics. 2018. Vol. 15. N 4. P. 655. DOI: 10.17323/1813-8918-2018-4-655
INTRODUCTORY WORDS TO
A.N. Poddiakov, N.N. Poddiakov. Interactive Exploratory Objects: From Laboratory Experiments to Mass Practices
of the XXI Century
The role of curiosity, exploration and experimentation in cognitive development (as was first experimentally studied by Jean Piaget), is now universally acknowledged. In order to better explore curiosity, exploration and experimentation, as well as maintain and develop them, we need specially developed cultural tools, including specially designed exploratory objects. Their inventor sets themselves a task of ensuring that another person when faced with them, will display exploratory activity and acquire this or that information (in the limit - as diverse as possible) in the process of independent cognition. Then exploratory activity, intellect and creativity interact as a whole and the results of cognition are determined by the harmony of this interaction.
At the same time, the diversity of exploratory objects invented by people for the purposes of play, education, and testing, as well as the history of their development and current trends in this area, usually do not become the subject of special consideration. The paper aims to change this situation. Both authors have considerable experience in developing objects for investigating exploratory behavior. The one who has written these introductory words also has a certain experience of being examined as a participant in psychological experiments conducted by the other author of the paper and by his colleagues (judging by the photo taken at one of the first experiments, on a completely voluntary basis).
One of the main points of the paper is as follows: if a developer of the items for IQ tests may not be concerned with these items being of interest for the participant
(the participant's interest may be here, metaphorically speaking, as the icing on the cake), then the developer of an exploratory object must ensure that it will stir interest. The authors of the paper are aware that in a certain sense this also applies to texts about exploratory objects. This can never be guaranteed in advance, but the authors have tried their best to have it, at least, not akin to counter-exploratory objects like Jack-in-the-Box types of toys.
A.N. Poddiakov
