EGOCENTRIC LANGUAGE IN CONTEMPORARY PSYCH OLOGY - POLEMICS AND INVESTIGATIONS

The Vygotsky-Piaget debate concerning egocentry language, continues be ing a source for investigations. Flavell, Kohlberg, and other authors propose the term ''private speech'' ; Godinovich and Evans the term '' sociocentrism'' or ''context influenced''. Some investigators point ou t that in egocentric communication it is indispensable to take into co nsideration the behavior of the speaker, of the listener, their interr elationships, return communication, and situation parameters. In oppos ition to Piaget, there is research that indicates that in three-year o ld children, there exist adaptation to expressions in relation to the needs of the listener, the task, and the situation. Egocentric communi cation has been studied in play behavior and in children's drawnings. In the Piagetian conceptualization about egocentric versus decentratio n, some investigations have been carried out that analyse types of dec entration in the child. Other researches indicate that children are no t so egocentric and that they cooperate in appropriate situations that promote cognitive development and language. In the Vygotsky-Piaget de bate, private speech has been investigated in relation to age, sex, na tionality, I. Q, task difficulty, and the regulatory role of the adult s in the solucion of the child's tasks. Some investigations question V ygotsky's position concerning the importance of egocentric language in the regulation and planning of the child's actions. In our research, following Vygotsky's position, we obtained the formation of ''language for himself'' as planner and regulator of action.