The Ontological and Cultural Genesis of Forms of Memorization: Replication of the Experiments of A.N. Leontiev

Abstract

Information is presented from a replication of the experiments of A.N. Leontiev (1928), and the ontological and cultural genesis of direct and mediated memorization is traced. It was confirmed that each form of memorization develops with a different degree of productivity and in different ways. No confirmation was found for A.N. Leontiev’s postulate that the ontogenesis of memorization is subject to the “parallelogram principle.” The relationship between forms of memorization and the time and nature of mnemic activity is shown. A pronounced decrease was found in the productivity of memorization processes among present-day schoolchildren and undergraduates as compared with the schoolchildren and undergraduates tested by A.N. Leontiev.