To the 120th anniversary of the birth of A. V. Yarmolenko

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the 120th anniversary of the birth of Professor of Leningrad State University, Honored Scientist A. V. Yarmolenko. The article contains a brief biography of A. V. Yarmolenko, a characteristic of the theoretical and practical heritage of her numerous works is given. It is shown the role of A. V. Yarmolenko in studies of children and adults with sensory, motor and speech disorders. Long-term research of deaf-blind people allowed Augusta Viktorovna to identify the stages of development of cognitive processes. In her works, it is shown that an in-depth analysis of the psychomotor functions of healthy and impaired children with a qualitative interpretation of the data obtained can be opposed to testing aimed only at the quantitative characteristics of individual mental functions. Dealing with the problems of multilingualism, Avgusta Viktorovna Yarmolenko for the first time identified the structural model of multilingualism, its variants, taking into account the function of language, its forms. The mastery of speech and the transformation of touch into a means of cognition, according to A. V. Yarmolenko, enables the deaf-blind to master the cultural wealth of the world. A comprehensive analysis of sensory, speech and psychomotor functions in deaf-blind people allowed her to trace how compensation for lost functions is carried out, and also to identify the role of the second signal system in the effectiveness of the formation of compensatory adaptations in children. The works of A. V. Yarmolenko were innovative and remain relevant today. The article shows the role of A. V. Yarmolenko in the research of theoretical, practical aspects in the psychology of impaired development, as well as the direction of her teaching. The main milestones in the scientific path of A. V. Yarmolenko, her formation as a scientist in a certain historical context are described. Attention is paid to show how her scientific worldview was formed — both as a result of the influence of certain scientists and her own practical experience of working with children (young violators of the law, deaf-blind children, etc.); it is shown how her ideas laid the foundation for Russian defectology and psychology of the deaf-blind.