Origins of Leningrad (St Petersburg) school of psychology of aging in works of B.G.Ananiev and M.D.Alexandrova

Authors

  • Olga Strizhitskaya St. Petersburg State University, 7–9, Universitetskaya nab., St. Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation

Abstract

This article explores the origins and foundations of the Leningrad / Petersburg school of the psychology of aging. The historical perspective of the development of the ideas of the psychology of aging from the global trends that existed at the beginning of the 20th century is presented, the general prerequisites for the emergence of the Leningrad / Petersburg approach to understanding the aging process in general, as well as the basic principles of the Leningrad / Petersburg school of the psychology of aging that have arisen on their basis are shown. The world psychology of aging began with the deficit paradigm of aging, which accepts involutionary processes as the norm of ontogenesis. At the same time, developmental psychology did not perceive the aging period as a period of human development. B.G.Ananyev, having analyzed and systematized the existing data and views on human ontogenesis, put forward the idea of the integrity of human development and the continuity of processes. Based on these ideas, M. D.Alexandrova first empirically confirmed these ideas using the example of sensory-perceptual functions, and then expanded the area of her scientific interests to the human ability to work. These studies led her to the conviction that the aging period is a period with its own resources and potentials, the activation of which will depend not only on the current situation, but also on the previous period of development. She also demonstrated the ambiguity and variability of developmental periods. The work shows that the proposed ideas were not only advanced for their time, but in many ways were ahead of their time. It was shown that the main idea of the Leningrad / Petersburg school of psychology of aging can be characterized as a constructive — positive approach to understanding aging processes, focused on human potentials and resources. It was shown that the ideas suggested by B. G.Ananyev and M. D.Alexandrova, continue in the works of their students and followers, who share and develop these ideas.

Keywords:

Leningrad school of psychology of aging, psychology of aging, resourceful approach to aging, M. D.Alexandrova

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Литература

Александрова М.Д. Очерки психофизиологии старения. Л.: Изд-во Лен. гос. ун-та, 1965.

Александрова М.Д. Проблемы социальной и психологической геронтологии. Л.: Изд-во Лен. гос. ун-та, 1974.

Александрова М.Д. Пожилой человек и проблемы профессиональной занятости. К истории вопроса // Вестник Санкт-Петербургского университета. Сер. 16. Психология. Педагогика. 2014a. No 2. С. 87–96.

Александрова М.Д. Старение человека и его индивидуальные проявления // Вестник Санкт-Петербургского университета. Сер. 16. Психология. Педагогика. 2014б. No 2. С. 81–86.

Ананьев Б.Г. Человек как предмет познания. Л.: Изд-во Лен. гос. ун-та, 1969.

Головей Л.А., Стрижицкая О.Ю. М.Д.Александрова — выдающийся ученый-психолог, педагог, человек (к 100-летию со дня рождения) // Вестник Санкт-Петербургского университета. Сер. 16. Психология. Педагогика. 2014. No 2. С. 72–80.

Кулешова Л.Н., Стрижицкая О.Ю. Активность личности как потенциал развития в период поздней взрослости // Вестник Санкт-Петербургского университета. Сер. 12. Психология. Социология. Педагогика. 2008. No 4. С. 111–118.

Рыбалко Е.Ф., Кулешова Л.Н. Психологические проблемы трудоспособности // Вестник Ленингр. ун-та. 1983. No 5. С. 53–59.

Стрижицкая О.Ю. Самодетерминация в период поздней взрослости и старения: теоретические подходы и проблемы // Вестник Санкт-Петербургского университета. Сер. 12. Психология. Социология. Педагогика. 2013. No 4. С. 118–127.

Тих Н.А. Ранний онтогенез поведения приматов. Л.: Изд-во Лен. гос. ун-та, 1966.

Aldwin C.M. Successful aging // N.Anderson (ed.) Encyclopedia for Health and Behavior. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2004. P. 784–786.

Baltes P.B., Baltes M.M. Psychological perspectives on successful aging: The model of selective optimization with compensation // P.B.Baltes, M.M.Baltes (eds). Successful aging: Perspectives from the behavioral sciences. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 1990. P. 1–34.

Carstensen L.L. Evidence for a life-span theory of socioemotional selectivity // Current Directions in Psychological Science. 1995. Vol. 5, no. 4. P. 151–156. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.ep11512261

Olshansky S.J., Perry D., Miller R.A., Butler R.N. Pursuing the longevity dividend // Annals of The New York Academy of Sciences. 2007. Vol. 1114, iss. 1. P. 11–13. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1396.050

Prados M., Fried E.C. Personality structure of the older age groups // Journal of Clinical Psychology. 1947. Vol. 3, no. 2. P. 113–120.

Stern Ya. Cognitive reserve in ageing and Alzheimer’s disease // Lancet Neurology. 2012. Vol. 11 (11). P. 1006–1012. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(12)70191-6


References

Aldwin, C.M. (2004). Successful aging. In: N.Anderson (ed.). Encyclopedia for Health and Behavior (pp. 784–786). Thousand Oaks, Sage.

Alexandrova, M.D. (1965). Essays on psychophysiology of aging. Leningrad, Leningrad University Press. (In Russian)

Alexandrova, M.D. (1974). Problems of social and psychological gerontology. Leningrad, Leningrad University Press. (In Russian)

Alexandrova, M.D. (2014a). The aging person and problems of professional employment. To the history of a question. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Ser. 16. Psikhologiya. Pedagogika, 2, 87–96. (In Russian)

Alexandrova, M.D. (2014b). Aging and its individual manifestations. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Ser. 16. Psikhologiya. Pedagogika, 2, 81–86. (In Russian)

Ananyev, B.G. (1969). Human as an object of cognition. Leningrad, Leningrad University Press. (In Russian)

Baltes, P.B., Baltes, M.M. (1990). Psychological perspectives on successful aging: The model of selective optimization with compensation. In: P.B.Baltes & M.M.Baltes (eds). Successful aging: Perspectives from the behavioral sciences (pp. 1–34). Cambridge (MA), Cambridge University Press.

Carstensen, L.L. (1995). Evidence for a life-span theory of socioemotional selectivity. Current Directions In Psychological Science, 5 (4), 151–156. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.ep11512261

Golovey, L.A., Strizhitskaya, O.Yu. (2014). M.D.Alexandrova, an outstanding psychologist, scientist, teacher, personality. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Ser. 16. Psikhologiya. Pedagogika, 2, 72–80. (In Russian)

Kuleshova, L.N., Strizhitskaya, O.Yu. (2008). Personality activity as a potential of development in late adulthood period. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Ser. 12. Psikhologiya. Sociologiya. Pedagogika, 4, 111–118. (In Russian)

Olshansky, S.J., Perry, D., Miller, R.A., Butler, R.N. (2007). Pursuing the longevity dividend. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1114, 1, 11–13. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1396.050

Prados, M., Fried, E.C. (1947). Personality structure of the older age groups. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 3 (2), 113–120.

Rybalko, E.F., Kuleshova, L.N. (1983). Psihologicheskie problemy trudosposobnosti. Vestnik Leningradskogo universiteta, 5, 53–59. (In Russian)

Stern, Ya. (2012). Cognitive reserve in ageing and Alzheimer’s disease. Lancet Neurology, 11 (11), 1006–1012. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(12)70191-6

Strizhitskaya, O.Yu. (2013). Samodeterminaciya v period pozdnej vzroslosti i stareniya: teoreticheskie podhody i problem. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Ser. 12. Psikhologiya. Sociologiya. Pedagogika, 4, 118–127. (In Russian)

Tikh, N.A. (1966). Early ontogenesis of primates’ behavior. Leningrad, Leningrad University Press. (In Russian)

Downloads

Published

2022-04-16

How to Cite

Strizhitskaya, O. (2022). Origins of Leningrad (St Petersburg) school of psychology of aging in works of B.G.Ananiev and M.D.Alexandrova. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Psychology, 12(1), 46–54. Retrieved from https://psyjournal.spbu.ru/article/view/13343

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 1 (2022)

Section

History of Psychology

License

Articles of "Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Psychology" are open access distributed under the terms of the License Agreement with Saint Petersburg State University, which permits to the authors unrestricted distribution and self-archiving free of charge.