Background. The subject matter of developmental psychology has almost never been subject to critical analysis, but it is obvious there are problems in this field. In particular, it is hard to shape the major issue of analysis in developmental psychology: personality development, psyche, age characteristics, or all of the above mentioned issues. For the further research of developmental psychology as a science, it is very important to identify the main fundamentally different areas and subject matter of research that are somehow studied, however spasmodically, often within other branches of psychology or even in other sciences.

The Objective of this paper is to clarify the subject matter of developmental psychology as a science, to verify that developmental psychology dwells on several fundamentally different areas and subject matters of research, in accordance with which it is necessary to shape the research of this science.

Design. The paper identifies fundamentally different areas of developmental psychology considered as separate subject matters of research. It is recognized that the structure of modern developmental psychology does not correspond to the subject matter of research. As a result, some areas of personality development are not identified as separate subdisciplines or sections of developmental psychology (e.g. variational personality development, development of personality substructures) lack research and are not presented in textbooks developmental psychology.

Conclusion. Developmental psychology can identify the following types of research subject matters: normative and variational human development, the development of psychological substructures of personality and psychological characteristics of age groups. It is necessary to restructure the developmental psychology based on the subjects of research highlighting the following subdisciplines: regular mental development, variable personality development, mental development (development of psychological substructures of personality), age-based studies (age groups psychology).

The interview reveals the contribution of Lev Vygotsky in science and education, his main scientific achievements being drawn particular attention to. His innovative concepts in pedagogy and psychology are far ahead of time and are relevant up today. Lev Vygotsky put forward ideas that disclosed the principles of cultural development of human individual, his/her mental functions (speech, attention, thinking), and explained the internal mental processes of the child, their relationship with the environment. Lev Vygotsky introduced a number of terms and concepts that are the basis of modern psychology and pedagogy. Among them there are «higher mental functions», «interiorization», «mediation», «signification», etc.

There extraordinary versatility Lev Vygotsky is emphasized in the paper. He is known not only as a psychologist, but also as a philosopher, methodologist, teacher, therapist, and even as the author of the brilliant theater and literary reviews. There are also facts about Vygotsky’s scientific path and his biography.

The importance of Vygotsky’s ideas in the development of the educational process is highlighted. The scientist laid the most important principles of the child education. Such concepts developed by him as «zone of proximal development», «social situation of development», «critical age», «sensitive periods in the child development» are still successfully used by leading psychologists and educators. He made a huge contribution to the development of ideas about the origin and development of speech, its role in the development of thinking.

The whole galaxy of prominent scientists were raised under the influence of Vygotsky. Closest students and colleagues were the author of the activity theory A.N. Leontyev, the world-renowned neuropsychologist A.R. Luria, the author of the concept of the child’s mental development D.B. El’konin, the author of the theory of stage development of mental activity P.Ya. Galperin.

Lev Vygotsky is famous on the international scale: his works are translated into 19 languages. Research centers and institutes based on the approach of Vygotsky and developing his ideas exist today in many countries, e.g. in France, Portugal, Brazil, Angola. Seminars, conferences and congresses in different parts of the world are devoted to his ideas scientific.

The report presents a summary of the conference on the status and problems of modern Russian Applied Psychology. Summary and suggestions of participants in each of the seven sessions are presented.

An analysis of the cultural and historical theory of L. Vygotsky is considered. It is shown that in its essence this theory belongs to non-classical psychology. The main ideas concerning the development of the human individual in education put forward by scientists in the framework of this theory are considered.