Transformation of the Operational Structure of Thinking in Primary School Pupils in the Context of Digitalization

Abstract

Abstract

Background. This study addresses a pressing issue in developmental ecopsychology — the analysis of transformation of the operational structure of primary school students' thinking under the influence of radical changes in the sign-mediated environment, which, in turn, is driven by total digitalization. A retrospective analysis allows for identifying the specifics of cognitive development in the context of permanent inclusion in a new digital "ecological niche", which is a key to understanding the emerging patterns of mental development in the modern socio-technological context.

Objective. To conduct a comparative retrospective analysis of transformation of the operational structure of verbal-logical thinking in primary school pupils in the context of digitalization of the educational and social environment. To identify and compare the productivity dynamics of key thinking operations across the 2015, 2020, and 2025 cohorts for differentiating stable and plastic components of the cognitive sphere.

Sample. The study employed a retrospective cohort analysis design. The current cohort (2025) consisted of 64 second-graders, while the reference groups comprised archival cohorts from the same school for 2015 (n = 66) and 2020 (n = 62).

Methods. To assess the operational structure of thinking, the standardized E.F. Zambaceviciene method was used. Data processing was performed using IBM SPSS 26.0 with non-parametric criteria.

Results. The study revealed statistically significant dynamics in the productivity of operations: a consistent and significant decrease in the productivity of classification (χ² = 29.84, p < 0.001, ε² = 0.16) and generalization (χ² = 34.57, p < 0.001, ε² = 0.18) was recorded from the 2015 cohort to the 2025 cohort. Indicators of awareness (χ² = 1.02, p = 0.60) and analogical inference (χ² = 1.45, p = 0.48) showed no statistically significant changes, indicating the stability of core semantic structures.

Conclusions. The study results confirm the formation of a specific phenomenon of "digital ontogenesis", characterized by a differentiated transformation of the operational composition of thinking. From the perspective of ecopsychology, this indicates a restructuring of the "subject-environment" system at the cognitive level. For educational practice, this implies the need to develop didactic models that harmonize the interaction of emerging digital and established traditional cognitive patterns.

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