On the Psychological Mechanism of Ontogenetic Development in the Context of Developmental and Educational Psychology

The article offers the author's view of the psychological mechanism for the development of a child. It is regarded as the process of ripening and resolving of fundamental contradictions between the child's system of relations and modes of activity acquired by him. Underlined by the author is the objective nature of ontogenetic development as well as the role of child's motivation as a driver of necessary transformations of the child's activity leading to his psychological growth. The similarities and differences between the author's approach and that of D. B. Elkonin are precisely traced. The author' arguments are supported by a lot of evidence from the theory and practice of developmental and educational psychology with special focus on the role of social institutions.