Features of verbal and cogitative activity in children aged 5-7 in the digital age

Abstract

The aim of the study is to determine the nature of the influence of the digital environment on the development of thinking and speech among modern preschoolers aged 5-7. The scientific novelty of the study lies in presenting the results of a conceptual-inferential and phenomenological analysis of speech material (children’s stories), which showed a slowdown in the ontogenesis of their cognitive development, which, of course, is one of the most important problems of the digital age. According to the data obtained during the diagnostics, the thinking and speech of children in more than 20% cases are at an average level, which is expressed in their ability to logically construct an oral text, grammatically correctly connect words in a sentence, using figurative and expressive means. In 14% of children, the level of cognitive abilities does not correspond to the age norm, which undoubtedly causes some concern among teachers and requires clarification of such an underdevelopment. Consciousness and thinking in such children develop according to a simplified model, through the operation with simple concepts and syntactic constructions. The research findings showed that the active use of digital devices by children for virtual immersion can lead to the formation of a digital worldview in the future, to a simplified model of speech communication.