Development of arbitrary regulatory functions in preschool children: a review of contemporary foreign studies

The review focuses on key aspects of research into development of regulatory functions-working memory, flexibility of attention and control-as well as into ways of optimizing the process in normally developing children, on the material of English language publications of 2001-2016. The paper describes principal methods of studying regulatory functions: structured observation, activity analysis, stating and forming experimental techniques, disclosing mechanisms of development of regulatory functions: the theory of cognitive complexity and control, according to which functions develop on the basis of mental representation ofrules and construction of a hierarchical system of such rules; the role of reflection, inner speech and feedback in performing the tasks. The authors estimate potential for transferring the skills into other spheres, consider the prognostic potential of regulatory functions in preschoolers for further progress in reading and math in primary school, analyze specificity of regulatory functions in different social contexts: in child-parent interaction, in communication with teachers and peers, in play, in preschool instruction. Analysis of regulatory functions in the context of social interaction trespasses the boundaries of their cognitive aspects. It focuses on two types of emotional control-the "cold" and the "hot". Findings show that in child-parent relations there is a complex balance of support and control which shifts in the direction of facilitation or limitation of the child's self-control. The parents' style of verbal support affects development of self-control directly e.g. with help of instructions) or indirectly-through development of the child's speech. In peer interaction regulatory functions allow the preschooler to restrain non-productive or aggressive behavior for the sake of cooperation with the partner. Certain aspects of preschool curricula affect development of regulatory functions, such as teaching methods and conditions of instruction, like the number of children in a group. err future it is necessary to develop a complex approach to establishing links between fundamental and applied studies.