Different approaches to determine the age limits of the intellectual development

In pedagogy and psychology there are two opposite positions of intellectual development. In relation to the development of the intellectual sphere of the individual, some psychologists defend the position that the human intellect completes its development by the age of 12-16, that is, upon reaching the level of the logical intelligence of the individual and the emergence of the ability to act in the mind.

Reference should be made to the results of studies carried out by the school of J. Piaget on the problem of the ontogenetic development of the intellect. According to J. Piaget, the highest, final stage of intellectual development falls on senior school age. All personality-psychological neoplasms, all ways of an active attitude to the world that arise at subsequent stages of personality development are considered as auxiliary and lose their meaning at the stage of maturity.

Recently data on the cognitive decline  in adulthood have been criticized. On the basis of numerous studies it can be assumed that the maturation of the psychophysiological functions and capabilities of a person occurs by the age of 17-18. This applies, first of all, to the maturation of the individual as a biological being. It is during this period that a young man becomes physically strong, full of strength and energy. During this period, there are also optimums in the development of higher mental processes, such as attention, especially voluntary, memory, thinking (research by B.G. Ananiev).

It has been established that at the age of 18-19 there is a maximum reactivity of the organism, optimal levels of blood pressure, pulse, blood oxygen saturation, that is, all those characteristics that determine the increasing working capacity of a person, his energy costs in conditions of physical and intellectual stress.

In the same years «peaks» of the sensorimotor development of the individual, visual-spatial discrimination (eye accuracy, visual field width, visual acuity), plasticity and stability of spatial representations are noted. And, finally, during these years there are «peaks» in the development of higher mental functions. In terms of his psychophysical abilities, a young person entering the initial period of adulthood is fully prepared for the role of the subject of labor activity, which is new for him.

Analyzing the data of numerous studies, A. Anastasi, a leading American specialist in the field of intelligence testing, comes to the conclusion that the decrease in intelligence associated with age appears only after 60 years, and before this period, differences in average data for different age groups are explained by differences in generations in terms of education and culture.

V.N. Druzhinin believes that general intelligence undergoes certain changes during life: developing especially intensively up to 12 years, reaching an optimum by 20-30 years, its level decreases slightly and then falls after 60 years. The formation of such new intellectual abilities in an adult is a convincing evidence of the emergence of not only new cognitive motives, but also a new type of relationship to the world, a new system of values, a new attitude towards himself. The transition to the stage of setting new problems is an indicator of a high level of biased attitude to activity, taking responsibility for the course of events, for the fate and affairs of other people [20].

The following effects of conceptual growth, advancement and development of an adult can act as indicators of the effectiveness of education and self-education:

Firstly, it is the growth, addition, expansion of knowledge (acquaintance with new facts, study of new theories, their development, development of new methods, etc.).

Secondly, this is a change in «personal meanings (according to A.N. Leontiev), with a deepening of the «seeing» of the surrounding world.

Thirdly, it is the preservation, restoration, actualization of what was acquired earlier, but began to be lost and forgotten.

The culture of intellectual work can act as a factor in strengthening structural coherence, a harmonious combination of intellectuality and other personality traits.

Of course, the educational and self-educational activity of a person leads to significant changes not only in his intellect, but also in other psychological properties of the individual.

The continuous accumulation of new knowledge and skills, new ways of orienting in the world leads to the accumulation of new human capabilities, new abilities. The experience of the individual's increased capabilities arising in this case acts as a motive for a person's activity aimed at testing his new potentialities. From this point of view, the culture of intellectual labor is not only a way for a person to acquire new opportunities, but also a mechanism for preserving and reproducing certain characteristics of the period of youth at the stage of adulthood.

Intellectual labor cannot be limited to the framework of childhood and youth; in its transforming form, it constitutes a special level in the functioning of the personality of an adult, and is also a condition for maintaining his mental health and full-fledged creative activity.

Thus, it can be stated that the basis of our study is the activity concept of culture, which considers it as a specific mode of activity, personal characteristics, properties and qualities of a person and the result of his life-creation.