The authors share their reminiscences of studying with D.B. Elkonin psychology of adolescence. Their findings allowed them to draw the following conclusions: the meaning of the learning activity of an adolescent is his self-education and self-improvement; communication has a special significance for an adolescent, junior adolescents acquire the feeling of adultness which forms itself in communication with peers and adults through mastering a range of standards, different in their moral and ethical content.