The subject of psychology. The subject and tasks of psychology The subject of psychological science is

27.09.2020 | Cars

Subject of psychology

1. The concept of the subject of psychology

System organization and diversity of human mental phenomena

The subject of psychology in foreign psychological science

Subject of psychology and development domestic psychology

1. The concept of the subject of psychology

Each specific science has its own subject of study and differs from other sciences in the features of its subject. So, geology differs from geodesy in that, having the Earth as a subject of study, the first of them studies its composition, structure and history, and the second - its size and shape.

Elucidation of the specific features of the phenomena studied by psychology presents a much greater difficulty. The understanding of these phenomena largely depends on the worldview that people adhere to when faced with the need to comprehend the science of psychology.

The difficulty lies, first of all, in the fact that the phenomena studied by psychology have long been singled out by the human mind and distinguished from other manifestations of life as special. Indeed, it is quite obvious that my perception of a typewriter is something quite special and different from the typewriter itself, the real object that is in front of me on the table; my desire to go skiing is something different from a real ski trip; my recollection of the meeting of the New Year is something different from what really happened on New Year's Eve, and so on. Thus, ideas about various categories of phenomena gradually developed, which began to be called mental (mental functions, properties, processes, states, etc.). Their special character was seen as belonging to the inner world of a person, different from what surrounds a person, and attributed to the area of \u200b\u200bspiritual life, opposed to real events and facts. These phenomena were grouped under the names "perception", "memory", "thinking", "will", "feelings", etc., together forming what is called the psyche, the mental, inner world of a person, his spiritual life, etc. .

Although directly people who observed other people in everyday communication dealt with various facts of behavior (actions, deeds, labor operations, etc.), however, the needs of practical interaction forced them to distinguish between hidden behind outward behavior mental processes. Behind an act, intentions, motives that guided a person have always been seen, behind a reaction to a particular event - character traits. Therefore, long before mental processes, properties, states became the subject of scientific analysis, everyday psychological knowledge of people about each other was accumulating. It was fixed, passing from generation to generation, in the language, in folk art, in works of art. He was absorbed, for example, by proverbs and sayings: “It is better to see once than hear ten times” (on the advantages of visual perception and memorization over auditory); “Habit is second nature” (about the role of established habits that can compete with innate forms of behavior), etc.

Everyday psychological information, gleaned from social and personal experience, form pre-scientific psychological knowledge. They can be quite extensive, can to a certain extent contribute to orientation in the behavior of the people around them, can be correct and correspond to reality within certain limits. However, in general, such knowledge is devoid of systematicity, depth, evidence, and for this reason cannot become a solid basis for serious work with people that requires scientific, i.e. objective and reliable knowledge about the human psyche, allowing to predict his behavior in certain expected circumstances.

Many philosophers have contributed to the development of psychology. The term "psychology" first appeared in scientific use in the 17th century. in the books of the German philosopher H. Wolf "Rational Psychology" and "Empirical Psychology". If initially it belonged to a science that studied mental or psychological phenomena associated with consciousness, then already at the beginning of the 20th century, unconscious mental processes, as well as behavior and activity, were included in the scope of psychologists' research.

Psychology became independent in the 19th century, when an experiment was introduced into this science and research methods were improved. Founded by W. Wundt in late XIX century in Leipzig, the experimental psychological laboratory (and later the Institute of Experimental Psychology) laid the foundation for a new experimental branch of psychology.

Based on all the above provisions, it seems possible to outline the following subject field of psychology.

The subject of psychology is patterns, trends, features of the development and functioning of the human psyche.

It is important to remember that the psyche in its development goes through ontogeny (from the Greek ontos - being, genesis - birth, origin) - the process of development of an individual organism, and phylogenesis (phyle - genus, species, tribe, genos - origin) - historical formation. The psyche in ontogenesis repeats the achievements of its development in phylogenesis.

Depending on the scientific and practical expediency, psychology relies either on different general psychological and specific schools, or on one of them, one explanatory system. At the same time, there is a real danger of "non-constructive eclecticism." In such contradictory conditions, renewing itself, psychology interacts at various levels with various areas of science. At the same time, it does not lose its scientific and practical image, but explains the problems only within the framework of the accepted theory and system.

It is here that the field of interests of psychology is outlined, in which there are constructive points of conjugation in the theory,

What is currently included in the system of knowledge that is the subject of psychology and is studied by it? This, of course, is the human psyche, sensations and perception, attention and memory, imagination and thinking, communication and behavior, consciousness and speech, abilities, properties and qualities of a person, and much more, which will be discussed by us later.

Thus, one of the fundamental scientific concepts psychology is the psyche.

Any animal organism, including human, cannot exist without an external environment. It is necessary to sustain his life. The body's relationship with external environment carried out through nervous system. The main mechanism of the nervous activity of living beings is a reflex as a response of the body to irritation of the external or internal environment. As established by I.M. Sechenov, mental processes (sensations, thoughts, feelings, etc.) are an integral part of the reflexes of the brain. The psyche is a subjective (i.e. internal, in the form of mental processes), complex and diverse reflection of the objective world.

So, the soul, the psyche is the inner world of the individual, which arises in the process of human interaction with the environment. outside world, in the process of actively reflecting this world.

The psyche is inherent not only in humans, it is also found in animals. This means that psychology should not be understood only as a science about man; it always takes into account the commonality of the psyche of animals and humans. On this basis, in the history of science there have been and probably will continue to be exaggerations or ignorance of the specificity of mental phenomena both in animals and in humans.

. System organization and diversity of human mental phenomena

The psyche contains an internal picture of the world, is inseparable from the human body and is the cumulative result of the functioning of his body, primarily the central nervous system, it provides the possibility of human existence and development in the world. A person is influenced by the social environment, the processes occurring in it at the macro and micro levels, therefore the human psyche has its own systemic and semantic organization. Mental phenomena, being the product of the interaction of an individual with the external environment, are themselves active causal factors (determinants) of behavior. Under the mental phenomena understand the facts of internal, subjective experience.

The human psyche is complex and diverse in its manifestations. Usually, the following groups of mental phenomena are distinguished: 1) mental processes, 2) mental states, 3) mental properties, 4) mental formations.

The systemic organization and variety of human mental phenomena is shown in fig.

Rice. System organization and diversity of human mental phenomena

The human psyche manifests itself in a person in the following blocks of mental phenomena.

mental processes- dynamic reflection of reality in various forms ah mental phenomena. The mental process is the course of a mental phenomenon that has a beginning, development and end, manifested in the form of a reaction. At the same time, the end of a mental process is closely connected with the beginning of a new process. Hence the continuity of mental activity in the waking state of a person.

Mental processes are elementary mental phenomena lasting from a fraction of a second to tens of minutes or more. The mental exists as a living, extremely plastic, continuous, never initially completely unspecified, and therefore forming and developing process that generates certain products or results (for example, concepts, feelings, images, mental operations, etc.). Mental processes are always included in more complex types of mental activity.

Mental processes are caused by both external influences and irritations of the nervous system coming from the internal environment of the body.

All mental processes are divided into cognitive - they include sensations and perceptions, representations and memory, thinking and imagination; emotional - active and true experiences; volitional - decision, execution, volitional effort; etc.

Mental processes provide the formation of knowledge and the primary regulation of human behavior and activities.

In a complex mental activity, various processes are connected and form a single stream of consciousness that provides an adequate reflection of reality and the implementation of various types of activity. Mental processes proceed with varying speed and intensity, depending on the characteristics of external influences and states of the individual, and as elementary mental phenomena, last from a fraction of a second to tens of minutes or more.

The second block represents mental states that are longer in comparison with mental processes (they can last for several hours, days or even weeks) and are more complex in structure and formation. These include, for example, a state of cheerfulness or depression, efficiency or fatigue, irritability, absent-mindedness, good or bad mood.

The third block is the mental properties of the personality. They are inherent in a person, if not throughout life, then at least for a sufficiently long period of it: temperament, character, abilities and persistent features of mental processes in an individual.

Some psychologists single out the fourth block of human mental phenomena - mental formations, i.e. what becomes the result of the work of the human psyche, its development and self-development. These are acquired knowledge, skills, habits, etc.

Mental processes, states, properties, as well as human behavior are singled out only for the purposes of study, but in reality they all act as a single whole and mutually transform into each other. So, for example, a condition that often manifests itself can become an inclination, a habit, or even a character trait. States of cheerfulness and activity sharpen attention and sensations, while depression and passivity lead to absent-mindedness, superficial perception, and even cause premature fatigue.

The second block is mental states,which are longer in comparison with mental processes (they can last for several hours, days or even weeks) and are more complex in structure and education. These include, for example, the state of cheerfulness or depression, efficiency or fatigue, irritability, absent-mindedness, good or bad mood. In general, mental states are manifested in increased or decreased activity of the individual.

Every person experiences different mental states on a daily basis. In one mental state, mental or physical work proceeds easily and productively, in another it is difficult and inefficient. Mental states are of a reflex nature: they arise under the influence of the situation, physiological factors, the course of work, time and verbal influences (praise, censure, etc.).

The most studied now are:

-general mental state, such as attention, manifested at the level of active concentration or absent-mindedness,

-emotional states or moods (cheerful, enthusiastic, sad, sad, angry, irritable, etc.),

-a special, creative, state of the individual, which is called inspiration.

The third block is mental properties of the personality.They are inherent in a person, if not throughout life, then at least for a fairly long period of it. Personality properties are the highest and stable regulators of human mental activity. The mental properties of a person are understood as stable formations that provide a certain qualitative and quantitative level of activity and behavior, typical for this person: temperament, character, abilities, orientation and others. Each mental property is formed gradually in the process of reflection and is fixed in practice. Therefore, it is the result of reflective and practical activity.

Personality properties are diverse and they can be classified according to the grouping of mental processes on the basis of which they are formed. On this basis, it is possible to distinguish the properties of the intellectual, or cognitive, volitional and emotional activity of a person. For example, we give:

-intellectual properties - observability, flexibility of the mind;

-strong-willed - determination, perseverance;

-emotional - sensitivity, tenderness, passion, efficiency, etc.

Mental properties do not exist together, they are synthesized and form complex structural formations of the personality, which include:

Life position of the individual (a system of needs, interests, beliefs, ideals, which determines the selectivity and level of human activity);
Temperament (a system of natural personality traits - mobility, balance of behavior and tone of activity - characterizing the dynamic side of behavior);
Abilities (a system of intellectual-volitional and emotional properties that determine the creative possibilities of the individual)
Character as a system of relationships and ways of behaving.

Some psychologists also single out the fourth block of human mental phenomena - mental education.This is what becomes the result of the work of the human psyche, its development and self-development. These include - acquired knowledge, skills, habits, etc.

Mental processes, states, properties, as well as human behavior are singled out by us only for the purposes of study. In reality, they all act as a single whole and mutually transform into each other. So, for example, a condition that often manifests itself can become an inclination, a habit, or even a character trait. States of cheerfulness and activity sharpen attention and sensations, while depression and passivity lead to absent-mindedness, superficial perception, and even cause premature fatigue.

mental perception memory will feeling

3. The subject of psychology in foreign psychology

The entire history of the culture of human civilization contains constructive principles that determine its progressive development. The genesis of psychological knowledge and the integration of its required components make it possible in modern conditions to most fully characterize the subject of psychology, to trace its understanding at various historical stages.

Traditional ideas about the subject of psychology testify to the ascent of knowledge about the subject of psychology, which was taken as:

Soul;

Phenomenon;

Consciousness;

Behavior;

-unconscious;

-information processing processes and the results of these processes;

-person's personal experience.

All these subject areas are reflected in the achievements of various traditional and new schools, scientific directions, theories and concepts. The most important of them are the following.

Behaviorism(from the English behavior - behavior) - one of the leading areas of psychology, which has become widespread in various countries and primarily in the United States. The founders of behaviorism are E. Thorndike, J. Watson.

In this direction of psychology, the study of the subject is reduced, first of all, to the analysis of behavior. At the same time, the psyche itself, consciousness, is sometimes involuntarily excluded from the subject of research. The main position of behaviorism: psychology should study behavior, and not consciousness, the psyche, which, in principle, are not directly observable.

Behavior is understood by orthodox behaviorists as a set of stimulus-response relationships (S-R). According to behaviorists, knowing the strength of existing stimuli and taking into account the past experience of a person, it is possible to investigate the processes of learning, the formation of new forms of behavior. At the same time, consciousness does not play any role in learning, and new forms of behavior should be considered as conditioned reflexes.

Neobehaviorism to some extent abandoned the classical formula of behaviorism (S-R), and tries to take into account the manifestation of consciousness as a real determinant of human behavior. At the same time, it becomes obvious that in the interval between the action of the stimulus and behavioral responses, incoming information is processed as an active process, without taking into account which it is not possible to explain a person's reaction to available stimuli. This is how neobehaviorism arises, with its all-important notion of "incoming or intermediate variables." Many of the conclusions and achievements of behaviorism are fruitful from a scientific point of view and extremely practical.

Psychoanalysisor Freudianismappears as a general designation of various schools and teachings that arose on the scientific basis of the psychological teachings of 3. Freud, which acts as a key link in a single psychotherapeutic concept. Psychoanalysis (from the Greek psyche - soul and analysis - decomposition, dismemberment) - a doctrine developed by 3. Freud and exploring the unconscious and its relationship with the conscious in the human psyche. In the future, Freudianism raised its provisions to the rank of a general psychological theory, gaining great influence throughout the world. Freudianism is characterized by an explanation of mental phenomena through the unconscious, and its core is the idea of the eternal conflict between the conscious and the unconscious in the human psyche.

Psychoanalysis is closely connected with the theory of Z. Freud about the experiences in the mental activity of the personality of subconscious instinctive drives. In the structure of personality, Z. Freud distinguishes three components:

1) ID (IT) - a cell of blind instincts, drives, striving for immediate satisfaction, regardless of the person's relationship with the environment. These aspirations, penetrating from the subconscious into consciousness, become a source of human activity, in a peculiar way direct his actions and behavior. Psychoanalysts attach special importance to drives;

EGO (I) - a regulator that perceives information about the environment and the state of its own organism, stores it in memory and organizes actions in the interests of self-preservation;
Super-Ego (Super-I) - a set of moral standards, prohibitions and encouragements that are learned by a person in the process of education, and mostly subconsciously,

According to 3. Freud, human actions are controlled by deep motives that elude clear consciousness. He created a method of psychoanalysis, with which you can explore the deepest motivations of a person and manage them. The basis of the psychoanalytic method is the analysis of free associations, dreams, slips of the pen and reservations, etc. The roots of a person's behavior are in his childhood. The fundamental role in the process of formation, development of a person is assigned to instincts and drives.

Within the framework of the psychoanalytic direction, there are other points of view. Thus, Freud's student A. Adler believed that the basis of the behavior of each individual is not attraction, but a very strong feeling of inferiority that occurs in childhood, when the child's dependence on parents and the environment is strong.

K.G. Jung believed that the personality is formed both under the influence of the conflicts of early childhood, and also inherits the images of ancestors that came from the depths of centuries. Therefore, when studying a person and working with him, it is also necessary to take into account the concepts of the “collective unconscious”. He proposed the concept of analytical psychology, which recognizes not only the role of the unconscious in the form of archetypes, the conscious, but also the group unconscious as an autonomous mental phenomenon.

In the neo-Freudian concept of K. Horney, behavior is determined by the “basic anxiety” (or “basic anxiety”) inherent in each person, which underlies intrapersonal conflicts.

Gestalt psychology(from German gestalt - a holistic form, image, structure) - one of the largest trends in foreign psychology, which arose in Germany in the first half of the 20th century and put forward as a central thesis about the need for a holistic approach to the analysis of complex mental phenomena. A prominent place in the framework of Gestalt psychology is occupied by associationism- a doctrine in psychology that considers the mental life of a person as a combination of individual (discrete) phenomena of the psyche and attaches particular importance to the principle of association in explaining mental phenomena.

Gestalt psychology paid the main attention to the study of the higher mental functions of a person (perception, thinking, behavior, etc.) as integral structures that are primary in relation to their components. The main representatives of this trend are the German psychologists M. Wertheimer, W. Keller, K. Koffka.

humanisticpsychology is a direction in foreign psychology that has recently been rapidly developing in our country, recognizing as its main subject the personality as a unique integral system, which is not something predetermined, but an “open possibility” of self-actualization inherent only to man. Within the framework of humanistic psychology, a prominent place is occupied by the theory of personality developed by the American psychologist A. Maslow. The fundamental human needs according to this theory are: physiological (food, water, sleep, etc.); the need for security, stability, order; the need for love, a sense of belonging to some community of people (family, friendship, etc.); need for respect (self-affirmation, recognition); the need for self-actualization.

genetic psychology- the doctrine developed by the Geneva psychological school of J. Piaget and his followers, which studies the origin and development of the human intellect, especially in childhood. Her psychological concept: the development of the intellect occurs in the process of transition from egocentrism (centration) through decentration to an objective position through exterior and interiorization.

Individual psychology- one of the areas of depth psychology, developed by A. Adler and based on the concept that an individual has an inferiority complex and the desire to overcome it as the main source of motivation for a person's behavior. The most widespread, especially in the field of pedagogy and psychotherapy, individual psychology received in the 20s of our century.

The Concept of Transactional Analysis- a set of scientific views of the American psychologist E. Berne and his followers that the fate of a person is largely predetermined by the characteristics of his unconscious, which, as it were, attracts him to certain events - success, failure, tragedies, etc. According to E. Berne, in the unconscious of a person, as it were, a certain small man and pulls the strings, managing life big man according to a scenario fixed in the unconscious with the help of life situations that took place during the active formation of the unconscious (childhood, adolescence).

differentialpsychology (from lat. differentia - difference) - a branch of psychology that studies mental differences, both between individuals and between groups of people, the causes and consequences of these differences.

critical psychology- a direction in foreign psychology (mainly Marxist-oriented German psychology), which arose at the turn of the 60-70s of the XX century (K. Holzkamp, W. Holzkamp-Osterkamp, P. Keiler, etc.), emanating from the theory of A. N. Leontiev and researching the sociogenesis of the psyche of individuals, social communities (class, social group, etc.). It sets as its main goal the creation of general psychology as a general theoretical and methodological foundation of psychological science, which involves a critical analysis of all schools and trends in psychology and the development of a new categorical apparatus, taking into account the achievements and shortcomings of existing concepts.

Critical psychology makes extensive use of Marxist methodology and a number of concepts from Soviet psychology. Particular attention is paid to criticism and further development of the theory of activity of the Soviet psychologist A.N. Leontiev, in particular, studies of activity and the “image of the world” in sociogenesis, as well as the ontogenesis and actual genesis of the psyche among representatives of various classes, groups and strata of modern society, which was not previously considered in the theory of activity. One of the key positions lies in the concept - "ability to act". It is understood as the ability of the individual, through his participation in the life of society, to control and arbitrarily regulate his own conditions of life.

Parapsychology(from the Greek para - near, about) - the area of hypotheses, ideas, fixing and trying to explain:

forms of sensitivity that ensure the reception of information in ways that cannot be explained by the activity of the known sense organs;
forms of influence of a living being on physical phenomena that occur without the mediation of muscular efforts.

Hypnosis, premonitions, clairvoyance, spiritualism, telekinesis, telepathy, psychokinesis and other phenomena, both real and imaginary, are often studied within the framework of parapsychology.

Phenomenalistic psychology- the direction of foreign, mainly American (R. Burns, K. Rogers, A. Combas) psychology, which declared itself a "third force" and, in contrast to behaviorism and Freudianism, paid main attention to the integral human "I", his personal self-determination, his emotions, attitudes, values, beliefs. Phenomenalistic psychology considers the behavior of a person as a result of a person's perception of a situation.

Acmeology- a science that arose at the intersection of natural, social and humanitarian disciplines and studies the phenomenology, patterns and mechanisms of human development at the stage of its maturity and especially when it reaches the highest level in this development - acme.Its content can be represented through a set of scientific and applied components, which are based and developed at the intersection of natural, social and technical sciences. This approach makes it possible to study the phenomenology of individual and group social subjects, patterns, mechanisms, conditions and factors of their productive development and implementation in real life.

4. The subject of psychology and the development of domestic psychology

In modern conditions, one of the traditions of Russian psychology is taking shape, which manifests itself in its desire to rely on the constructive achievements of not only various directions, schools and trends. In this tradition, there is also a reliance on many other achievements of scientific knowledge, which make it possible to obtain the most objective picture of the world, in which key positions are given to a person-doer who creates himself and the surrounding reality. This tradition is a priority, but not the only one, especially in recent times. Today, voices about the need for new approaches, ideas, and paradigms are heard more and more insistently.

In our country, in the late 90s of the last century, the natural-scientific approach to psychology became decisive and officially recognized.

AT last years we are seeing a situation where more and more psychologists are raising the question of changing the image of psychological science:

-changing the image of natural science to a humanitarian image;

-shifting emphasis from explanation to description;

-from universality to uniqueness, originality;

-from a fragmentary-partial study to a holistic-integrative knowledge and transformation.

The new situation in psychological science leads to problems that are associated with clarifying the subject, identifying the relationship between theoretical and methodological and applied within psychological science, and determining the relationship with the natural, social and technical sciences. It is their solution that can ensure the implementation of a holistic-integrative approach.

For domestic psychology, the results of a rethinking of all its methodological foundations are fundamentally acceptable. Here she focuses on the typology generally accepted in modern science and directly in general psychology, highlighting the following levels of methodology:

level of philosophical methodology;
level of methodology of general scientific principles of research;
the level of specific scientific methodology;
the level of research methods and techniques.

1. The level of philosophical methodology.Here the main problem is the image of a person as a holistic phenomenon with the following macro-characteristics: individual, subject of activity, personality and individuality. At the same time, he has his own philosophical and life concept, strategy, in accordance with which he builds his life path. It is here that the main intersection of scientific interests of both philosophy, psychology, acmeology, and other sciences is indicated.

For a constructive solution of common problems, the constructive potential of such images of a person is involved, such as:

“a person who feels” (introspective psychology);
“man is a need” (psychoanalysis of 3. Freud);
“man - “stimulus-reaction” (behavioral psychology);
“a person is a doer” (S.L. Rubinshtein, A.N. Leontiev, etc.);
“man is a holistic phenomenon” (V.M. Bekhterev, B.G. Ananiev, A.A. Bodalev, etc.), etc. When psychology is faced with a problem that it cannot solve itself, it first of all turns to philosophy and practice. So, for example, L.S. Vygotsky, discussing the causes of the crisis in psychology, came to the conclusion that the way out of it is to rely on philosophy and practice; “However strange and paradoxical it may seem at first glance, but it is practice, as a constructive principle of science, that requires philosophy, i.e. methodology of science". And further: "The dialectical unity of methodology and practice, applied to psychology from both ends, is the fate and destiny of ... psychology."
Level of methodology of general scientific principles.One of the basic principles of general scientific research is a systematic approach, which means the study of a set of elements of the system that are in relationship with each other, which form a certain integrity, unity. As general characteristics systems distinguish: integrity, structure, relationship with the environment, hierarchy, multiplicity of descriptions, etc. The acmeological approach, in addition, implies integrity and integration within common system both research and activity, developing models, algorithms and technologies.
Specific scientific level of methodology- the level of a specific science - psychology. This level, according to the views of L.S. Vygotsky can be divided into two sublevels.

The first sublevel is the actual methodology of psychology. The main problems of this level are: what is the psyche, how does it develop and how to study it?

The second sublevel is the level of theories of psychological science, which are based on certain positions that were obtained in response to questions of the first level.

Moreover, on the basis of one solution to the problems of the methodology of psychology, several psychological theories can be created.

Scientific psychological schools of the first sublevel are schools-directions that predetermine the development of psychology for centuries. Scientific schools of the second sublevel are psychological schools - concrete scientific teams.

At the heart of the scientific psychological school was the idea of a "unit", a "cell" of the psyche, by exploring which one can reveal the great secret of the Soul. As a "unit" in different psychological schools were used: sensations (associative psychology);

figure-ground (gestalt psychology);
reaction, reflex (reactology, reflexology);
installation (school of D.N. Uznadze);
behavioral act (behaviorism);
reversible operations (school of J. Piaget);
meanings, experiences (school of L.S. Vygotsky);
subject activity (school of A.N. Leontiev);
indicative basis of activity (school of P.Ya. Galperin);
action, act of reflection (school of S.L. Rubinshtein), etc.

The psyche is a special quality or property, but the quality is not a part of a thing, but a special ability. The brain has many qualities, properties, but one of them is the psyche, it is “unextended”, beyond the dimensions of things. That is why the history of psychology is the history of the resolution of contradictions between the description and explanation of mental life. Why?

The description gives greater freedom of expression of all shades of "movements of the soul", for which all the richness of the language is used. Explanation is the use of scientific categories, concepts that try to explain the hidden mechanisms of mental life.

Unity: firstly, a generalizing concept of the broadest primary abstraction (consciousness, subconsciousness, behavior, etc.); secondly, the explanatory principle (the unity of consciousness and activity, associations, the unity of figure and background, the interdependence of stimulus and reaction, etc.) and, thirdly, the understanding of the "unity" of the psyche determine the face of the scientific psychological school.

According to K.K. Platonov, the distinctive side of Russian psychology is the allocation of general psychology. This is dictated by the internal conditions of the entire psychological science, since its subject matter is the "general laws of the psyche", on the understanding of which all particular psychological sciences rely. In turn, the provisions of general psychology are tested in the private branches of psychology, where they are enriched, developed, and rejected.

However, in order to study the general laws of the psyche, it is necessary to have an answer to the question in which "coordinate system we work." Since each scientific psychological school has its own “coordinate system” (a generalizing concept, an explanatory principle, a “one” of the psyche, a leading method), it has its own explanatory system. As soon as we name a fact, a phenomenon, we immediately “place it in a certain system (systems) of coordinates”, it falls into its “explanatory scheme”.

Literature

1.Bern E. Introduction to psychiatry and psychoanalysis for the uninitiated: Per. from English. A.I. Fedorov. - St. Petersburg: Talisman, 2004. - 452 p.

2.Bern E. Games that people play. Psychology of human destiny: Per. from English. / Common ed. M.S. Matskovsky. - St. Petersburg: Lenizdat, 2006. - 270 p.

.Dadoon Roger. Freud. - M.: Publishing house of JSC Kh.G.S., 2004.- 174 p.

.Laplash J., Pontalis J. B. Dictionary of psychoanalysis. / Per. from fr. - M.: Higher School, 2006. - 150s.

.Psychoanalysis and Culture: Selected Writings of Karen Horney and Erich Fromm. - M.: Lawyer, 2005. - 243 p.

.Psychological dictionary. / Ed. Zinchenko V.P. - M.: Pedagogy-Press, 2006. - 465 p.

.Sandler Joseph et al. Patient and psychoanalyst. Fundamentals of the psychoanalytic process. / Sandler D., Der K., Holder A.; Per. from English. - 2nd ed., corrected. and additional - M.: Meaning, 2001.- 346s.

.Freud Z. Introduction to psychoanalysis: Lectures. - M.: Nauka, 2005.- 125p.

.Freud Z. Psychology of the unconscious: Sat. works / Comp., scientific. ed., author. intro. Art. M.G. Yaroshevsky. - M.: Enlightenment, 2007.- 75s.

.Freud Z. Interpretation of dreams. - K.: Health, 2001.- 315 p.

.Jung K.G. Analytical psychology. - St. Petersburg; Centaur, 2004.- 475 p.

.Jung K.G. Sigmund Freud // Questions of Psychology. - 2003. - No. 2 - S. 86-103.

Tutoring

Need help learning a topic?

Our experts will advise or provide tutoring services on topics of interest to you.
Submit an application indicating the topic right now to find out about the possibility of obtaining a consultation.

Basic concepts and terms on the topic: psychology, psyche, reflection, mental processes, mental states, mental properties, sensitivity, instinct, skill, intellectual behavior, reflection, reflex, imprinting, skill, conscious, unconscious, intuition, insight, self-consciousness, self-esteem, Self-image, reflective consciousness .

Topic study plan(list of questions to be studied):

1. The subject of psychology. Communication of psychology with other sciences. Branches of psychology.

2. Stages of the formation of psychology as a science.

3. Tasks of modern psychology.

4. The concept of the psyche, the structure of the psyche.

5. Consciousness as a form of mental reflection. Psychological structure of consciousness.

Brief summary of theoretical issues:

Subject, object and methods of psychology.
Psychology, translated from Greek, is the doctrine, knowledge about the soul (“psyche” - the soul, “logos” - teaching, knowledge). This is the science of the laws of mental life and human activity and various forms of human communities. Psychology as a science studies the facts, patterns and mechanisms of the psyche (A.V. Petrovsky). object psychology, a person is not only a specific and individual person, but also various social groups, masses and other forms of human communities and other highly organized animals, the features of the mental life of which are studied by such a branch of psychology as zoopsychology. However, traditionally the main object of psychology is a person. In this case psychology is the science of the patterns of emergence, formation, development, functioning and manifestations of the psyche of people in various conditions and at different stages of their lives and activities.
Subject the study of psychology is the psyche. In the very general view psyche - this is the inner spiritual world of a person: his needs and interests, desires and inclinations, attitudes, value judgments, relationships, experiences, goals, knowledge, skills, behavioral and activity skills, etc. The human psyche is manifested in his statements, emotional states, facial expressions , pantomime, behavior and activities, their results and other outwardly expressed reactions: for example, redness (blanching) of the face, perspiration, changes in the rhythm of the heart, blood pressure, etc. It is important to remember that a person can hide his real thoughts, attitudes, experiences and other mental states.
All diversity forms of existence of mental usually grouped into the following four groups.
1 . ^ Mental processes human: a) cognitive (attention, sensation, perception, imagination, memory, thinking, speech);
b) emotional (feelings);
c) volitional.
2. ^ Psychic formations person (knowledge, skills, habits, attitudes, views, beliefs, etc.).
3. Mental properties person (orientation, character, temperament, personality abilities).
4. Mental states: functional (intellectual-cognitive, emotional and volitional) and general (mobilization, relaxation)
Main a task psychology consists in the knowledge of the origins and characteristics of the human psyche, the laws of its occurrence, formation, functioning and manifestations, the possibilities of the human psyche, its influence on human behavior and activity. An equally important task of psychology is to develop recommendations for people to increase their stress resistance and psychological reliability in solving professional and other problems in various circumstances of life and activity.
In general, psychology as a science performs two main functions: as a fundamental science, it is called upon to develop a psychological theory, to reveal the laws of the individual and group psyche of people and its individual phenomena; as an applied area of knowledge- formulate recommendations for improving the professional activities and everyday life of people.

Methods of psychology: observation- purposeful perception of any pedagogical phenomenon, during which the researcher receives specific factual material. Distinguish observation included, when the researcher becomes a member of the group being observed, and not included -"from the side"; open and hidden (incognito); complete and selective.
Methods survey- conversation, interview, questioning. Conversation - an independent or additional research method used to obtain the necessary information or clarify what was not clear enough during observation. The conversation is conducted according to a predetermined plan, highlighting issues that need to be clarified. It is conducted in a free form without recording the interlocutor's answers. The type of conversation is interviewing, introduced into pedagogy from sociology. When interviewing, the researcher adheres to pre-planned questions asked in a certain sequence. During the interview, the answers are recorded openly.
Questionnaire - method of mass collection of material using a questionnaire. Those to whom the questionnaires are addressed give written answers to the questions. A conversation and an interview are called a face-to-face survey, and a questionnaire is called an absentee survey.
Valuable material can give study of products of activity: written, graphic, creative and control works, drawings, drawings, details, notebooks in certain disciplines, etc. These works can give necessary information about the individuality of the student, about the achieved level of skills and abilities in a particular area.
plays an important role in pedagogical research. experiment- a specially organized test of a particular method, acceptance of work to identify its pedagogical effectiveness. Distinguish experiment natural(under normal educational process) and laboratory - creation artificial conditions to test, for example, a particular teaching method, when individual students are isolated from the rest. The most commonly used natural experiment. It can be long or short term.
The place of psychology in the system of sciences.
Psychology is a field of humanitarian, anthropological knowledge. It is closely related to many sciences. At the same time, two aspects of such interrelations are quite clearly manifested.

There are sciences that act as a kind of theoretical basis, the basis for psychology: for example, philosophy, the physiology of higher human nervous activity. Philosophical sciences are primarily of theoretical and methodological significance for psychology. They equip a person with an understanding of the most general laws of the development of objective reality, the origins of life, the meaning of human existence, form in him a certain vision of the picture of the world, an understanding of the causes of processes and phenomena occurring in living and inanimate matter and in the minds of people, explain the essence of real events, facts. Philosophy makes a decisive contribution to the formation of a person's worldview.
There are sciences in respect of which psychology is one of the basic, theoretical foundations. These sciences primarily include pedagogical, legal, medical, political science and a number of others. The development of their problems by these sciences at the present time cannot be sufficiently complete and justified without taking into account the human factor, including the human psyche, the psychology of age, ethnic, professional and other groups of people.
3. The history of the development of psychological knowledge.
The Doctrine of the Soul (5th century BC - early 17th century AD)
The doctrine of the soul developed within the framework of ancient Greek philosophy and medicine. New ideas about the soul were not religious, but secular, open to all, accessible to rational criticism. The purpose of constructing the doctrine of the soul was to identify the properties and patterns of its existence.
The most important directions in the development of ideas about the soul are associated with the teachings of Plato (427-347 BC) and Aristotle (384-322 BC). Plato drew a line between the material, material, mortal body and the immaterial, immaterial, immortal soul. Individual souls - imperfect images of a single universal world soul - possess a part of the universal spiritual experience, the recollection of which is the essence of the process of individual cognition. This doctrine laid the foundations of the philosophical theory of knowledge and determined the orientation of psychological knowledge towards the solution of philosophical, ethical, pedagogical and religious problems proper.
The main directions of psychology.
A person in his physiological and mental formation and development goes through various stages, participates in many areas of social life, and engages in various activities. The forms of human communities are also diverse: small and large social groups, age, professional, educational, ethnic, religious, family, organized and spontaneously formed groups and other communities of people. In this regard, modern psychological science is a diversified field of knowledge and includes more than 40 relatively independent branches. General psychology and social psychology are basic in relation to other branches of psychological knowledge: labor psychology, sports, higher education, religion, mass media (media), art, age, pedagogical, engineering, military, medical, legal, political, ethnic, etc.
The concept of the psyche. Functions of the psyche.
Psyche- this is a property of highly organized living matter, which consists in the active reflection of the objective world by the subject, in the construction by the subject of an inalienable picture of this world and in the regulation of behavior and activity on this basis.
Fundamental judgments about the nature and mechanisms of manifestation of the psyche.

the psyche is a property of only living matter, only highly organized living matter (specific organs that determine the possibility of the existence of the psyche);

the psyche has the ability to reflect the objective world (obtaining information about the world around it);

the information about the surrounding world received by a living being serves as the basis for regulating the internal environment of a living organism and shaping its behavior, which generally determines the possibility of a relatively long existence of this organism in the environment.
Functions of the psyche:

reflection of the influences of the surrounding world;
a person's awareness of his place in the world around him;
regulation of behavior and activity.

^ Development of the psyche in phylogenesis and ontogenesis.
The development of the psyche in phylogenesis is associated with the development of the nervous system. The level of development of the sense organs and the nervous system invariably determines the level and forms of mental reflection. At the lowest stage of development (for example, in intestinal cavities), the nervous system is a nervous network consisting of nerve cells scattered throughout the body with intertwining processes. This is the network nervous system. Animals with a reticulate nervous system mainly respond with tropisms. Temporary connections are formed with difficulty and are poorly preserved.

At the next stage of development, the nervous system undergoes a number of qualitative changes. Nerve cells are organized not only in networks, but also in nodes (ganglia). The nodal, or ganglionic, nervous system allows you to receive and process the largest number of stimuli, since the sensory nerve cells are in close proximity to stimuli, which changes the quality of the analysis of the received stimuli.
The complication of the nodal nervous system is observed in higher invertebrates - insects. In each part of the body, the ganglia merge to form nerve centers that are interconnected by nerve pathways. The head center is especially complicated.
The highest type of nervous system is the tubular nervous system. It is a combination of nerve cells organized into a tube (in chordates). In the process of evolution in vertebrates, the spinal cord and brain, the central nervous system, arise and develop. Simultaneously with the development of the nervous system and receptors, the sense organs of animals develop and improve, and the forms of mental reflection become more complex.
Of particular importance in the evolution of vertebrates is the development of the brain. Localized centers are formed in the brain, representing different functions.
Thus, the evolution of the psyche is expressed in the improvement of the sense organs that perform receptor functions, and the development of the nervous system, as well as in the complication of forms of mental reflection, i.e., signal activity.

There are four main levels of development of the psyche of living organisms:

Irritability;
Sensitivity (feelings);
Behavior of higher animals (externally conditioned behavior);
Human consciousness (externally conditioned behavior).

The development of the psyche in ontogeny. Without assimilation of the experience of mankind, without communication with their own kind, there will be no developed, actually human feelings, the ability to voluntary attention and memory will not develop, the ability to abstract thinking, the human personality is not formed. This is evidenced by cases of raising human children among animals.
So, all children - "Mowgli" showed primitive animal reactions, and it was impossible to detect in them those features that distinguish a person from an animal. While a little monkey, by chance, left alone, without a herd, will still manifest itself as a monkey, a person becomes a person only if his development takes place among people.

The structure of the psyche. Relationship between consciousness and the unconscious.
The structure of consciousness and the unconscious in the human psyche. Highest level psyche, characteristic of man, forms consciousness. Consciousness is the highest, integrating form of the psyche, the result of the socio-historical conditions of the formation of a person in labor activity, with constant. communicating (using language) with other people. In this sense, consciousness is a "social product", consciousness is nothing but conscious being.

Characteristics of human consciousness:
1) consciousness, i.e., the totality of knowledge about the world around us.
2) fixed in it a distinct distinction between subject and object, i.e., what belongs to the “I” of a person and his “non-I”.
3) ensuring goal-setting human activity.
4) the presence of emotional evaluations in interpersonal relationships.
A prerequisite for the formation and manifestation of all the above specific qualities of consciousness are speech and language as a sign system.
The lowest level of the psyche forms the unconscious. Unconscious - it is a set of mental processes, acts and states caused by influences, in the influence of which a person does not give himself an account. Being mental (since the concept of the psyche is wider than the concept of "consciousness", "conscious"), the unconscious is a form of reflection of reality in which the completeness of orientation in time and place of action is lost, speech regulation of behavior is violated. In the unconscious, unlike consciousness, purposeful control over the actions performed is impossible, and it is also impossible to evaluate their results.
The area of the unconscious includes mental phenomena that occur in a dream (dreams); responses that are caused by imperceptible, but really affecting stimuli ("subsensory" or "subceptive" reactions); movements that were conscious in the past, but due to repetition have become automated and therefore become unconscious; some impulses for activity in which there is no consciousness of the goal, etc. Some pathological phenomena that arise in the psyche of a sick person also belong to the unconscious phenomena: delirium, hallucinations, etc.

Functions of Consciousness: reflective, generative (creative-creative), regulatory-evaluative, reflexive function - the main function, characterizes the essence of consciousness.
The object of reflection can be: a reflection of the world, thinking about it, ways a person regulates his behavior, the processes of reflection themselves, their personal consciousness.

Most of the processes taking place in the inner world of a person are not realized by him, but in principle each of them can become conscious. subconscious- those ideas, desires, actions, aspirations that are now out of consciousness, but can later come to consciousness;

1. proper unconscious- such a psychic that under no circumstances becomes conscious. - sleep, unconscious urges, automated movements, reaction to unconscious stimuli

The epicenter of consciousness is the consciousness of one's own "I". self-awareness- It is formed in interaction with other people, mainly with those with whom particularly significant contacts arise. The image of "I", or self-consciousness (image of oneself), does not arise in a person immediately, but develops gradually, throughout his life under the influence of social influences.

Self-awareness criteria:

1. isolation of oneself from the environment, consciousness of oneself as a subject autonomous from the environment (physical environment, social environment);

2. awareness of one's activity - "I control myself";

3. awareness of oneself "through another" ("What I see in others, this may be my quality");

4. moral assessment of oneself, the presence of reflection - awareness of one's inner experience.

In the structure of self-consciousness, one can distinguish:

1. awareness of near and distant goals, motives of one's "I" ("I as an acting subject");

2. awareness of one's real and desired qualities ("Real Self" and "Ideal Self");

3. cognitive, cognitive ideas about oneself ("I am as an observed object");

4. emotional, sensual self-image.

5. Self-esteem - adequate, underestimated, overestimated.

I concept - self-perception and self-management

I am spiritual
I am material
I am social
I am bodily

Despite the fact that a person is in constant development, and the world around him is changing all the time, the very nature of a person and his behavior remain unchanged - they obey the same laws as many centuries ago. That is why the general human psychology is still the object of interest of a huge number of scientists and specialists today. General psychology as a science retains its importance and relevance. Numerous seminars, theoretical and workshops are devoted to teaching the basics of general psychology. different kinds trainings.

In this lesson, you will get acquainted with the subject and method of general psychology, find out what problems, tasks, laws and features of this scientific discipline exist.

Introduction to General Psychology

This is a science that studies how cognitive processes, states, patterns and properties of the human psyche arise and form, and also summarizes various psychological studies, forms psychological knowledge, principles, methods and basic concepts.

Most Full description of these components is given precisely in the sections of general psychology. But, at the same time, individual manifestations of the psyche are not studied by general psychology, as, for example, in sections of special psychology (pedagogical, developmental, etc.).

The main subject of study of general psychology are such forms of mental activity as memory, character, thinking, temperament, perception, motivation, emotions, sensations and other processes, which we will discuss in more detail below. They are considered by this science in close connection with the life and activities of man, as well as with the special characteristics of individual ethnic groups and historical background. Cognitive processes, the personality of a person and its development inside and outside society, interpersonal relationships in different groups people. General psychology has great importance for such sciences as pedagogy, sociology, philosophy, art criticism, linguistics, etc. And the results of research conducted in the field of general psychology can be considered the starting point for all branches of psychological science.

The theoretical course of general psychology usually includes the study of any specific thematic sections, directions, research, history and problems of this science. Practical course- this is, as a rule, the development of methods of research, pedagogical and practical psychological work.

Methods of General Psychology

Like any other science, general psychology uses a system of various methods. The basic methods for obtaining various facts in psychology are considered to be observation, conversation and experiments. Each of these methods can be modified to improve the result.

Observation

Observation This is the most ancient way of knowing. Its simplest form is everyday observations. He uses it in his Everyday life everyone. In general psychology, such types of observation are distinguished as short-term, long-term (it can even take place over several years), selective, continuous and special (included observation, during which the observer is immersed in the group he is studying).

The standard monitoring procedure consists of several steps:

Setting goals and objectives;
Definition of the situation, subject and object;
Determination of methods that will have the least impact on the object under study, and provide the necessary data;
Determining how data is maintained;
Processing of received data.

External observation (by an outsider) is considered objective. It can be direct or indirect. There is also self-observation. It can be both immediate - in the current moment, and delayed, based on memories, entries from diaries, memoirs, etc. In this case, the person himself analyzes his thoughts, feelings and experiences.

Observation is an integral part of the other two methods - conversation and experiment.

Conversation

Conversation as a psychological method, it involves direct / indirect, oral / written collection of information about the person being studied and his activities, as a result of which psychological phenomena characteristic of him are determined. There are such types of conversations as collecting information about a person and his life (from the person himself or from people who know him), interviews (a person answers pre-prepared questions), questionnaires and different types questionnaires (written answers to questions).

Best of all, there is a personal conversation between the researcher and the person being examined. At the same time, it is important to think over the conversation in advance, draw up a plan for it and identify problems that should be identified. During the conversation, questions from the person being examined are also expected. Two-way conversation gives the best result and provides more information than just answers to questions.

But the main method of research is experiment.

Experiment

Experiment- this is the active intervention of a specialist in the process of the subject's activity in order to create certain conditions under which a psychological fact will be revealed.

There is a laboratory experiment taking place under special conditions using special equipment. All actions of the subject are directed by the instruction. A person knows about the experiment, although he may not guess about its true meaning. Some experiments are carried out repeatedly and on a whole group of people - this allows you to establish important patterns in the development of mental phenomena.

Another method is tests. These are tests that serve to establish any mental qualities in a person. Tests are short-term and similar tasks for all, the results of which determine the presence of certain mental qualities in the subjects and the level of their development. Different tests are designed to make some predictions or make a diagnosis. They must always have a scientific basis, and must also be reliable and reveal accurate characteristics.

Since the genetic principle plays a special role in the methods of psychological research, the genetic method is also distinguished. Its essence is the study of the development of the psyche in order to reveal the general psychological patterns. This method is based on observations and experiments and builds on their results.

In the process of using various methods, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the problem being studied. Therefore, along with the main methods of psychological research, a number of special auxiliary and intermediate methods are often used.

Subject and object of general psychology

Any science is characterized, among other things, by the presence of its subject and object of study. Moreover, the subject and object of science are two different things. The object is only an aspect of the subject of science, which is investigated by the subject, i.e. researcher. Awareness of this fact is very important for understanding the specifics of general psychology as a multifaceted and diverse science. Given this fact, we can say the following.

Object of general psychology- this is the psyche itself, as a form of interaction between living beings and the world, which is expressed in their ability to translate their impulses into reality and function in the world based on the available information. And the human psyche, from the point of view modern science, performs the function of an intermediary between the subjective and objective, and also realizes a person's ideas about the external and internal, bodily and spiritual.

The subject of general psychology- these are the laws of the psyche, as a form of human interaction with the outside world. This form in connection with its versatility, it is subject to research in completely different aspects, which are studied by different branches of psychological science. The object is the development of the psyche, norms and pathologies in it, the types of human activities in life, as well as his attitude to the world around him.

Due to the scale of the subject of general psychology and the ability to single out many objects for research in its composition, at present in psychological science there are general theories of psychology that are guided by various scientific ideals and psychological practice itself, which develops certain psychotechnics for influencing consciousness and controlling it. But no matter how complex the ways in which psychological thought advances, constantly transforming the object of its research and plunging deeper into the subject due to this, no matter what changes and additions it is subject to and no matter what terms it denotes, it is still possible to single out the main blocks of terms, which characterizes the object of psychology. These include:

mental processes - psychology studies mental phenomena in the process of formation and development, the product of which is the results that take shape in images, thoughts, emotions, etc.;
mental states - activity, depression, cheerfulness, etc.;
mental properties of the personality - purposefulness, diligence, temperament, character;
mental neoplasms - those knowledge, skills and abilities that a person acquires during his life.

Naturally, all mental phenomena cannot exist in isolation, but are closely connected with each other and influence each other. But we can consider each of them separately.

Sensations

Sensations- these are mental processes that are mental reflections of individual states and properties of the external world, arising from direct impact on the sense organs, subjective perception of external and internal stimuli by a person with the participation of the nervous system. In psychology, sensations are usually understood as the process of reflecting various properties of objects in the surrounding world.

Feelings have the following properties:

Modality - a qualitative indicator of sensations (for vision - color, saturation, for hearing - loudness, timbre, etc.);
Intensity - a quantitative indicator of sensations;
Duration - a temporary indicator of sensations;
Localization is a spatial indicator.

There are several classifications of sensations. The first one belongs to Aristotle. They identified five basic senses: touch, hearing, sight, taste and smell. But in the 19th century, due to the increase in the types of sensations, the need arose for a more serious classification of them. To date, the following classifications exist:

Wundt's classification - depending on the mechanical, chemical and physical properties of stimuli;
Sherrington classification - based on the location of the receptors: exteroceptive, interoceptive and proprioceptive sensations;
Head's classification - based on origin: protopathic and epicritical sensitivity.

Perception

Perception is a cognitive process that forms a picture of the world in the subject. A mental operation that reflects an object or phenomenon that affects the receptors of the sense organs. Perception is hardest function, which determines the reception and transformation of information and forms the subjective image of the object for the subject. Through attention, the whole object is revealed, its special features and content are distinguished, and a sensual image is formed, i.e. comprehension takes place.

Perception is divided into four levels:

Detection (perceptual action) - formation of an image;
Discrimination (perceptual action) - the very perception of the image;
Identification (identification action) - identification of an object with existing images;
Identification (identification action) - categorization of an object.

Perception also has its own properties: structure, objectivity, apperception, selectivity, constancy, meaningfulness. Read more about perception.

Attention

Attention is a selective perception of an object. It is expressed in how a person relates to an object. Behind attention can often be such psychological characteristics of a person as need, interest, orientation, attitudes, and others. Attention also determines how a person orients himself in the surrounding world and how this world is reflected in his psyche. The object of attention is always in the center of consciousness, and the rest is perceived more weakly. But the focus of attention tends to change.

The objects of attention are, as a rule, what a person has on this moment the greatest importance. Holding attention for a long time on an object is called concentration.

Attention functions:

Detection
selective attention
Divided attention

Attention can be arbitrary and involuntary. It varies in form as follows:

External - aimed at the world;
Internal - directed to the inner world of a person;
Motor

Properties of attention: focus, distribution, volume, intensity, concentration, switchability, stability.

All of them are closely related to human activity. And depending on its purpose, they can become more or less intense.

Representation

During representation there is a mental recreation of images of phenomena or objects that are not currently affecting the senses. There are two meanings to this concept. The first denotes the image of a phenomenon or object that was perceived earlier, but not perceived now. The second describes the reproduction of images itself. As mental phenomena, representations can be somewhat similar to perception, hallucinations and pseudo-hallucinations, or different from them.

Views are classified in several ways:

According to the leading analyzers: visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile and temperature representations;
According to the degree of generalization - single, general and schematized;
By origin - based on perception, thinking or imagination;
According to the degree of volitional efforts - involuntary and arbitrary.

Representations have the following properties: generalization, fragmentation, visibility, instability.

Read more about representation in psychology in this Wikipedia article.

Memory

Memory- this is a mental function and a type of mental activity designed to store, accumulate and reproduce information. The ability to store data about the events of the surrounding world and the reactions of the body for a long period of time, and use it.

The following memory processes are distinguished:

memorization;
Storage;
playback;
Forgetting.

Memory is also divided into typologies:

By sensory modality - visual, kinesthetic, sound, taste, pain;
By content - emotional, figurative, motor;
According to the organization of memorization - procedural, semantic, episodic;
According to temporal characteristics - ultra-short-term, short-term, long-term;
According to physiological characteristics - long-term and short-term;
According to the availability of funds - unmediated and indirect;
By the presence of a goal - involuntary and arbitrary;
According to the level of development - verbal-logical, figurative, emotional and motor.

You will find methods and techniques for developing memory in a separate.

Imagination

Imagination- this is the ability of human consciousness to create ideas, representations and images and manage them. She plays leading role in such mental processes as planning, modeling, play, memory and creativity. This is the basis visual-figurative thinking a person that allows you to solve certain problems and understand the situation without practical intervention. Fantasy is a kind of imagination.

There is also a classification of imagination:

According to the degree of orientation - active and passive imagination;
According to the results - reproductive and creative imagination;
By the type of images - abstract and concrete;
According to the degree of volitional efforts - unintentional and deliberate;
By methods - typification, schematization, hyperbolization, agglutination.

Imagination mechanisms:

Typing;
Accent;
schematization;
Agglutination;
Hyperbole.

Imagination is directly related to creativity. And in finding creative solutions, sensitivity to emerging problems, the ease of combining any things and observation contribute. The characteristics of the imagination can be considered accuracy, originality, flexibility and fluency of thinking.

Read more about imagination in psychology in this article.

In addition, the problems of the development of the imagination are devoted to our website.

Thinking

In general psychology, there are many definitions of the process of thinking. According to one of the most popular definitions:

Thinking- this is the highest stage of human information processing and the process of establishing links between phenomena and objects of the outside world.

It is the highest stage of human cognition, as a process of reflection in his brain of the surrounding reality.

Thinking is divided into:

Abstract-logical;
Visual-figurative;
Specific subject;
Visually effective.

And the main forms of thinking are:

Concept - thoughts that single out and generalize phenomena and objects;
Judgment is the denial or affirmation of something;
Inference is a conclusion.

These and other components of the thought process are considered in ours.

Speech

speech called a form of communication between people through language constructions. In this process, thoughts are formed and formulated with the help of language, as well as the perception of the received speech information and its understanding. Speech is a form of existence of human language, because speech is language in action.

Language (speech) performs the following functions:

Intellectual activity tool;
Way of communication;
A way of existence, as well as the assimilation and transfer of experience.

Speech is the most important part of human activity, which contributes to the knowledge of the world, the transfer of knowledge and experience to others. Representing a means of expressing thoughts, it is one of the main mechanisms human thinking. It depends on the form of communication and, thus, is divided into oral (speaking/listening) and written (writing/reading).

Speech has the following properties:

Content - the number and significance of the expressed aspirations, feelings and thoughts;
Clarity - correctness;
Expressiveness - emotional coloring and richness of the language;
Effectiveness - the impact on other people, their feelings, thoughts, emotions, etc.

You can read more about oral and written speech in our trainings on and.

Emotions

Emotions- These are mental processes that reflect the attitude of the subject to possible or real situations. Emotions should not be confused with such emotional processes as feelings, affects and moods. To date, emotions have been studied rather poorly and are understood by many experts in different ways. For this reason, the definition given above cannot be considered the only correct one.

The characteristics of emotions are:

Tone (valence) - positive or negative emotions;
Intensity - strong or weak emotions;
Sthenicity - influence on human activity: sthenic (inciting to action) and asthenic (reducing activity);
Content - reflects different facets of the meaning of the situations that caused emotions.

Emotions in most cases are manifested in physiological reactions, tk. the latter depend on them. But today there is a debate about the fact that intentional physiological states can cause certain emotions.

These and other issues of understanding and managing emotions are discussed in ours.

Will

Will- this is the property of a person to make conscious control of his psyche and actions. The manifestation of the will can be considered the achievement of goals and results. It has many positive qualities that affect the success of human activity. The main volitional qualities are considered to be perseverance, courage, patience, independence, purposefulness, determination, initiative, endurance, courage, self-control and others. The will prompts to action, allows a person to control desires and realize them, develops self-control and strength of character.

Signs of an act of will:

Efforts of the will in many cases are aimed at overcoming one's weaknesses;
Performing an action without getting pleasure from this process;
Having an action plan;
The effort to do something.

Read more about will in psychology on Wikipedia.

Mental properties and states

Mental properties- these are stable mental phenomena that influence what a person does and give his socio-psychological characteristics. The structure of mental properties includes abilities, character, temperament and orientation.

Orientation is a conglomeration of needs, goals and motives of a person that determine the nature of his activity. It expresses the whole meaning of human actions and his worldview.

Temperament gives characteristics of human activity and behavior. It can manifest itself in hypersensitivity, emotionality, resistance to stress, the ability to adapt to external conditions or lack thereof, etc.

A character is a set of traits and qualities regularly manifested in a person. always exist individual characteristics, but there are also those that are characteristic of all people - purposefulness, initiative, discipline, activity, determination, steadfastness, endurance, courage, will, etc.

Abilities are the mental properties of a person, reflecting its features, which allow a person to successfully engage in certain activities. Abilities distinguish between special (for a particular type of activity) and general (for most types of activity).

mental states It is a system of psychological characteristics that provide a subjective perception of the world by a person. Mental states have an impact on how mental processes proceed, and being regularly repeated, they can become part of a person's personality - its property.

Mental states are related to each other. But still they can be classified. Most often distinguished:

Personality states;
States of consciousness;
States of intelligence.

Types of mental states are divided according to the following criteria:

According to the source of formation - due to the situation or personally;
In terms of severity - superficial and deep;
By emotional coloring - positive, neutral and negative;
By duration - short-term, medium-term, long-term;
According to the degree of awareness - conscious and unconscious;
According to the level of manifestation - physiological, psychophysiological, psychological.

The following mental states are common to most people:

Optimal performance;
tension;
Interest;
Inspiration;
Fatigue;
monotony;
Stress;
Relaxation;
Awake.

To other frequently encountered mental states include love, anger, fear, surprise, admiration, depression, detachment, and others.

Read more about mental properties and states on Wikipedia.

Motivation

Motivation is the urge to take action. This process controls human behavior and determines its direction, stability, activity and organization. Through motivation, a person can satisfy his needs.

There are several types of motivation:

External - due external conditions;
Internal - due to internal circumstances (the content of the activity);
Positive - based on positive incentives;
Negative - based on negative incentives;
Sustainable - determined by human needs;
Unstable - requires additional stimulus.

Motivation is of the following types:

From something (basic type);
To something (basic type);
Individual;
Group;
Cognitive.

There are certain motives that in most cases are guided by people:

Self-affirmation;
Identification with other people;
Power;
Self-development;
Achieving something;
public importance;
The desire to be in the company of certain people;
negative factors.

Motivation issues are discussed in more detail in this training.

Temperament and character

Temperament- this is a complex of mental characteristics of a person associated with its dynamic characteristics (that is, with the pace, rhythm, intensity of individual mental processes and states). The basis of character formation.

There are the following main types of temperament:

Phlegmatic - signs: emotional stability, perseverance, calmness, regularity;
Choleric - signs: frequent mood swings, emotionality, imbalance;
Sanguine - signs: liveliness, mobility, productivity;
Melancholic - signs: impressionability, vulnerability.

Different types of temperament have different properties that can have a positive or negative effect on a person's personality. Temperament type does not affect abilities, but affects how people manifest themselves in life. Depending on the temperament are:

Perception, thinking, attention and other mental processes;
Stability and plasticity of mental phenomena;
The pace and rhythm of actions;
Emotions, will and other mental properties;
Direction of mental activity.

Character is a complex of permanent mental properties of a person that determine her behavior. Character traits form the properties of a person that determine his lifestyle and form of behavior.

Character traits vary by group. There are four in total:

Attitude towards people - respect, sociability, callousness, etc.;
Attitude to activity - conscientiousness, diligence, responsibility, etc.;
Attitude towards oneself - modesty, arrogance, self-criticism, selfishness, etc.;
Attitude to things - care, accuracy, etc.

Each person has a character inherent only to him, the properties and characteristics of which are determined, for the most part, by social factors. Also, there is always a place to be an accentuation of character - the strengthening of its individual features. It should also be noted that there is a close relationship between character and temperament, because temperament influences the development of any character traits and the manifestation of its features, and at the same time, using some traits of its character, a person, if necessary, can control the manifestations of his temperament.

Read more about the character and temperament in our training.

All of the above, of course, is not comprehensive information about what general human psychology is. This lesson is intended only to give a general idea and indicate directions for further study.

In order to immerse yourself in the study of general psychology more deeply, you need to arm yourself with the most popular and weighty tools in scientific circles, which are the works of famous authors of textbooks and manuals on psychology. Below is a brief description of some of them.

Maklakov A. G. General psychology. In compiling this textbook, the most modern achievements in the field of psychology and pedagogy were used. On their basis, questions of psychology, mental processes, properties and their states, as well as many other features are considered. The textbook contains illustrations and explanations, as well as a bibliographic reference. Designed for teachers, graduate students and university students.

Rubinshtein S. L. Fundamentals of general psychology. For more than 50 years, this textbook has been considered one of the best psychology textbooks in Russia. It presents and summarizes the achievements of Soviet and world psychological science. The work is intended for teachers, graduate students and university students.

Gippenreiter Yu. B. Introduction to general psychology. This manual presents the basic concepts of psychological science, its methods and problems. The book contains a lot of data on the results of research, examples from fiction and situations from life, as well as a perfect combination of a serious scientific level and an accessible presentation of the material. The work will be of interest to a wide range of readers and people who are just starting to master psychology.

Petrovsky A. V. General psychology. Supplemented and revised edition of General Psychology. The textbook presents the basics of psychological science, as well as summarizes information from many teaching aids("Age and pedagogical psychology", "Practical studies in psychology", "Collection of problems in general psychology"). The book is intended for students who are serious about the study of human psychology.

The role played by general psychology in modern society cannot be overestimated. Today it is necessary to have at least a minimum of psychological knowledge, because general psychology opens the door to the world of a person’s mind and his soul. Any educated person should master the basics of this science of life, because. It is very important to know not only the world around us, but also other people. Thanks to psychological knowledge, you can much more effectively build your relationships with others and organize your personal activities, as well as self-improvement. It is for these reasons that all thinkers of antiquity have always said that a person must first of all know himself.

Test your knowledge

If you want to test your knowledge on the topic of this lesson, you can take a short test consisting of several questions. Only 1 option can be correct for each question. After you select one of the options, the system automatically moves on to the next question. The points you receive are affected by the correctness of your answers and the time spent on passing. Please note that the questions are different each time, and the options are shuffled.

The discrepancy between schools in world psychology is of a private nature and indicates that the subject of psychology should be understood more broadly, including internal subjective phenomena, human behavior, and phenomena of the unconscious psyche.

All historical path scientific psychology represents an extension of the subject of psychology and the complication of scientific schemes:

At first, worldly knowledge about a person and his relationships in the world around him accumulated;

Then, in the days of philosophical and religious thought, the subject of psychology was the soul, its properties and essence;

For almost two centuries after Descartes, psychology was the psychology of consciousness;

The study of the unconscious has led to the fact that the subject of psychology has become the deep area of the psyche and attraction;

The study of behavior led to an understanding of the totality of the reactions of the body as a subject of psychology.

How can you determine item psychology? Psychology remains the science of the psyche, which includes many subjective phenomena. With the help of some, such as, for example, sensations and perception, attention and memory, imagination, thinking and speech, a person cognizes the world. Therefore, they are often called cognitive processes. Other phenomena regulate his communication with people, directly control his actions and deeds. They are called mental properties and states of the personality, they include needs, motives, goals, interests, will, feelings and emotions, inclinations and abilities, knowledge and consciousness. In addition, psychology studies human communication and behavior, their dependence on mental

phenomena and, in turn, the dependence of the formation and development of mental phenomena on them.

A person does not just penetrate the world with the help of his cognitive processes. He lives and acts in this world, creating it for himself in order to satisfy his material, spiritual and other needs, performs certain actions. In order to understand and explain human actions, we turn to such a concept as “personality”.

In turn, the mental processes, states and properties of a person, especially in their highest manifestations, can hardly be comprehended to the end, if they are not considered depending on the conditions of a person’s life, on how his interaction with nature and society is organized (activity and communication). Communication and activity are therefore also the subject of modern psychological research.

Mental processes, properties and states of a person, his communication and activity are separated and studied separately, although in reality they are closely related to each other and form a single whole, called human life.

The diagram shows the main types of phenomena that are studied modern psychology 1 .

In addition to individual psychology of behavior, the range of phenomena studied by psychology also includes relations between people in various human associations - large and small groups, collectives.

Mute R.S. General foundations of psychology. M., 1994. S. 9.

No matter how complex ways psychological thought advances, mastering its subject, no matter what terms it is designated (soul, consciousness, psyche, activity), it is possible to single out signs that characterize the subject of psychology, which distinguishes it from other sciences.

“The subject of psychology is the natural connections of the subject with the natural and socio-cultural world, imprinted in the system of sensory and mental images of this world, motives that encourage action, as well as in the actions themselves, experiences, their relationships with other people and oneself, in the properties of the personality as the core this system" 1 .

Petrovsky A. V., Yaroshevsky M. G. History of psychology. pp. 70-79.

It is worth saying that every science has a ϲʙᴏ item, ϲʙᴏe direction of knowledge and with bow specific an object research. Moreover, from the standpoint of modern science an object -϶ᴛᴏ is not the same as item Sciences.

An object - far from the whole subject, but only that aspect of the subject, sometimes quite insignificant, which is being investigated the subject of science, i.e. scientists. An object -϶ᴛᴏ only an aspect of the object, which is included in one or another process of spiritual perception, in cognitive activity subject. Moreover, another part of the subject, and often very significant, inevitably remains outside the process of cognition.

Accounting for this difference is especially important for understanding the specifics of branches of science that have a complex, multifaceted subject, including psychology, in which, as we have already seen, more and more new objects of research will emerge.

Taking into account the ϶ᴛᴏth difference, the subject and object of psychology are defined as follows.

The subject of psychology - ϶ᴛᴏ psyche as the highest form of the relationship of living beings with the objective world, expressed in their ability to realize ϲʙᴏ and impulses and act on the basis of information about it.

At the human level, the psyche acquires a qualitatively new character due to the fact that its biological nature is transformed by sociocultural factors. From the standpoint of modern science, the psyche will be a kind of mediator between the subjective and the objective, it will implement the historically established ideas about the coexistence of the external and the internal, the bodily and the spiritual.

The object of psychology - ϶ᴛᴏ laws of the psyche as a special form of human life and animal behavior. By the way, this form of life activity, due to its diversity, can be studied in a wide variety of aspects, which are studied by various branches of psychological science.

It is worth noting - they have as ϲʙᴏ him object: norms and pathology in the human psyche; types of specific activities, the development of the human and animal psyche; relation of man to nature and society, etc.

The scale of the subject of psychology and the possibility of singling out various objects of research in its composition has led to the fact that at present, within the framework of psychological science, general psychological theories. based on different scientific ideals, and psychological practice, which develops special psychotechnics of influencing consciousness and controlling it.

The presence of incommensurable psychological theories also gives rise to the problem of differences between the subject and object of psychology. For a behaviorist, the object of study will be behavior, for a Christian psychologist, a living knowledge of sinful passions and the pastoral art of healing them. for the psychoanalyst, the unconscious, and so on.

The question naturally arises: is it possible to speak of psychology as a single science that has a common subject and object of study, or should we recognize the existence of a plurality of psychology?

Today, psychologists believe that psychological science is a single science, which, like any other, has ϲʙᴏy special item and object. Psychology as a science is engaged in the study of the facts of mental life, as well as the disclosure of the laws to which mental phenomena are subject. And no matter how complex ways psychological thought has advanced over the centuries, changing the ϲʙᴏth object of study and thereby penetrating deeper and deeper into the ϲʙᴏth large-scale subject, no matter how the knowledge about it changes and enriches, no matter what terms they are designated, it is possible to single out the main blocks of concepts , which characterize the actual object of psychology, which distinguishes it from other sciences.

Do not forget that the most important result of the development of any science will be the creation of its categorical apparatus. By the way, this set of concepts constitutes, as it were, the skeleton, the framework of any branch of scientific knowledge. Categories - ϶ᴛᴏ forms of thinking, basic, generic, initial concepts; ϶ᴛᴏ key moments, nodes, steps in the process of cognition of one or another sphere of reality. Material published on http: // site

It is worth saying that each science has a ϲʙᴏth complex, a set of categories, and psychological science also has a ϲʙᴏth categorical apparatus. It is worth noting that it contains the following four blocks of basic concepts:

mental processes -϶ᴛᴏ the concept means that modern psychology considers mental phenomena not as something initially given in finished form, but as something forming, developing, as a dynamic process that generates certain results in the form of images, feelings, thoughts, etc.;
mental states - cheerfulness or depression, efficiency or fatigue, calmness or irritability, etc.;
mental ϲʙᴏ personality traits - c c general focus on the vehicle or other life goals, temperament, character, abilities. inherent in a person over a long period of his life, for example, diligence, sociability, etc.;
mental neoplasms- knowledge, skills and abilities acquired during life, which will be the result of the activity of the individual.

Of course, these mental phenomena do not exist separately, not in isolation. It is worth noting that they are closely interrelated and influence each other. So. for example, a state of cheerfulness sharpens the process of attention, and a state of depression leads to a deterioration in the process of perception.

A Brief Historical Sketch of the Development of Psychology

Since ancient times, the needs of social life have forced a person to distinguish and take into account the peculiarities of the mental make-up of people. AT philosophical teachings antiquity, some psychological aspects were already touched upon, of which they were solved either in terms of idealism or in terms of materialism. Thus, the materialistic philosophers of antiquity Democrat, Lucretius, Epicurus understood the human soul as a kind of matter, as a bodily formation formed from spherical, small and most mobile atoms.

Plato

The father of idealism was Plato(large slave owner) It is worth noting that he divided all people according to their superior qualities — intelligence(in my head) courage(in chest) lust(in the abdominal cavity) All governing bodies - have the mind of war - courage, slaves - lust. Plato will be the ancestor not only of idealism, but also of dualism. But the idealist philosopher Plato understood the human soul as something divine, different from the body. The soul, before entering the human body, exists separately in the higher world, where it cognizes ideas - eternal and unchanging essences. Once in the body, the soul begins to remember what it saw before birth. Plato's idealistic theory, which treats the body and mind as two independent and antagonistic principles, laid the foundation for all subsequent idealistic theories.

Aristotle

The successor of Plato's work was Aristotle. It is worth noting that he not only overcame dualism (a direction that recognizes two independent principles at the basis of the world - matter and spirit), but also will be the ancestor of materialism(a direction that affirms the primacy of matter and the secondary nature of consciousness, the materiality of the world, the independence of its existence from the consciousness of people and its cognizability) Aristotle tried to put psychology on the basis of medicine. But Aristotle could not fully explain human behavior only through medicine. The great philosopher Aristotle in his treatise “On the Soul” singled out psychology as a unique field of knowledge and for the first time put forward the idea of the inseparability of the soul and the living body.

The works of Aristotle, Plato and other philosophers formed the basis of the works of philosophers of the middle ages of the 17th century. — ϶ᴛᴏ starting point from the materialism of philosophy.

History of psychology as an experimental science starts in 1879 in the world's first experimental psychological laboratory founded by the German psychologist Wilhelm Wundt in Leipzig. Soon, in 1885, V. M. Bekhterev organized a similar laboratory in Russia.

Famous psychologist of the late XIX - early XX centuries. G. Ebbinghaus was able to say very briefly and precisely about psychology - psychology has a huge prehistory and a very short history. By history is meant that period in the study of the psyche, which was marked by a departure from philosophy, rapprochement with the natural sciences and the organization of its own experimental method. This happened in the last quarter of the 19th century, but the origins of psychology are lost in the mists of time.

Rene de Cartes - biologist, physician, philosopher. He opened the coordinate system, put forward the idea of a reflex, the idea of a reflex behavior. But he could not fully explain the behavior of the organism and therefore remained on the position of dualism. Separate the inner world of a person from his internal organs it was very hard. The prerequisites for idealism were created.

There was another approach to understanding the psyche in the history of psychology, developed by domestic psychologists in line with the philosophy of dialectical materialism in the Soviet historical period. The essence of this understanding of the psyche can be shone to four words, the formal authorship of which belongs to V. I. Lenin (1870-1924) The psyche is a subjective image of the objective world.

General idea of the subject of psychology

It is worth saying that every science has a ϲʙᴏth subject of study. Let's bring short description approaches associated with a fundamental change in the view of the subject of psychology.

By the way, the stages of development of psychology

I stage- psychology as the science of the soul. This definition of psychology was given more than two thousand years ago. The presence of the soul tried to explain all the incomprehensible phenomena in human life. This long stage, called in the literature pre-scientific, is determined from the 5th - 4th centuries. BC. until the beginning of the 18th century.

II stage- psychology as the science of consciousness. It arises in the 17th century in connection with the development of the natural sciences. The ability to think, feel, desire is called consciousness.
It is worth noting that the main method of study was the observation of a person for himself and the description of facts. According to the new approach, a person always sees, hears, touches, feels, remembers something. It is precisely such phenomena that psychology should study, since, unlike the soul, they can be experimentally investigated, measured, scientifically generalized, and cause-and-effect relationships and relationships can be established in them.

Stage III- psychology as behavioral science. Behaviorism took shape in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. in the USA. "Behavior" in English - "behavior". The task of psychology is to set up experiments and observe what can be directly seen, namely, behavior, actions, reactions of a person (motives that cause actions were not taken into account)

At the same time, many "traditional" psychologists have expressed serious objections to some of the initial components of the behaviorist approach. Behavior and psyche are ϶ᴛᴏ, though related, but by no means identical to reality. Material published on http: // site
So, when exposed to the same stimulus, there may be not one reaction, but a certain set of them, and, conversely, the same response is sometimes obtained in the presence of different stimuli. It is recognized in psychology, for example, that a person often looks at one thing and sees another, thinks about one thing, experiences another, says a third, does a fourth.

IV stage- psychology as a science that studies objective patterns, manifestations and mental mechanisms.

Methods of psychology

To solve a complex of problems in science, there is a developed system of means, directions, ways, and techniques.

Method- ϶ᴛᴏ way scientific knowledge. The way by which the subject of science is known.

Methodology- ϶ᴛᴏ option, private implementation of the method in specific conditions: organizational, social, historical.

A set or system of methods and techniques of any science will not be random, arbitrary. It is worth noting that they are formed historically, modified, developed, obeying certain patterns, methodological rules.

Methodology— ϶ᴛᴏ not only the doctrine of methods, the rules for their selection or use. It is a systematic description of the very philosophy, ideology, strategy and tactics of scientific research. The methodology specifies what exactly, how and why we study, how we interpret the results obtained, and how we implement them in practice.

Chapter 1. Subject, tasks, principles and methods of psychology

Subject, principles and tasks of psychology

Many years ago, in the forests of Aveyron, in the south of France, hunters found a boy fed, apparently, by some kind of animal and completely feral. Later, two girls were found in the jungles of India, kidnapped, as it turned out, by a she-wolf and fed by her. Science knows dozens of such tragic cases. What is the tragedy of these incidents, because the children found were alive and physically quite healthy? Ike data children who have spent early childhood among animals, did not have a single human quality. Even physically they resembled animals: they moved on all fours, ate just like animals, tearing pieces of meat with their teeth and holding them with two forelimbs, growling and biting everyone who came close to them. Their sense of smell and hearing were very developed, they caught the slightest changes in the forest environment. Making inarticulate sounds, they hurried to hide from people.

Scientists examined these children and tried to teach them human behavior, teach them to speak and understand human speech. But. as a rule, such attempts were unsuccessful: the time for the intensive formation of basic human qualities had already been irretrievably lost. A human being is formed as a human only in human society. And many human qualities are formed only in early childhood.

According to its biological organization, man is the result of an evolutionary process. The anatomical and physiological structure of his body is in many ways similar to the body of higher primates. But man is qualitatively different from all living beings. Its life activity, needs and ways of satisfying these needs differ from the life activity of animals. socio-cultural conditioning.

Man is a social being.

The natural features of man changed in the course of his socio-historical development. The human world is a field of socially developed meanings, meanings, and symbols. It is worth noting that he lives in the world of social culture, which forms his so-called second nature, determines his essence. All human activity from birth to the end of his life is regulated by the regulations adopted in a given society, social norms, customs, and traditions. The individual formed in society becomes socialized personality- a person included in the system of general social, cultural and historical achievements of mankind, his life activity is realized in certain social conditions. Note that each individual becomes a person to the extent that he masters the universal human culture. He perceives the whole world as a world of humanly significant objects, interacts with them on the basis of socially developed concepts. “Man is the measure of all things,” the ancient Greek philosopher Protahors remarked deeply. A person correlates everything in the world with his inner spiritual world: he experiences emotional excitement when contemplating distant stars, admires the beauty of forests, mountains and seas, appreciates the harmony of colors, shapes and sounds, the integrity of personal relationships and the sublime manifestations of the human spirit. Man actively interacts with the world - he seeks to know and purposefully transform reality.

The behavior of animals is predetermined by an innate, instinctive program of life. Material published on http: // site
Human behavior is determined by his mental, socially formed world, in which strategic and tactical planning of his life is carried out, the joys and sorrows of his human existence are experienced. A person is able to measure the present with the past and future, think about the meaning of life, reflect - reflect not only the world around him, but also himself.

A person is endowed with such a socially formed mental regulator as conscience - the ability to control his command with the help of general social standards, to evaluate his own Self through the eyes of other people. The socialized individual is a socio-spiritual being. The spirituality of a person will awaken in his ability to rise above everything base, primitive and mundane, to maintain an unchanging commitment to human dignity and duty.

Man is a complex and multifaceted being. It is studied by many sciences - biology, anthropology, history, cultural studies, sociology, etc. The study of the inner world of man, general patterns its interaction with the outside world is carried out by a special science - psychology.

The subject of psychology there will be a person as a subject of activity, systemic qualities of his self-regulation; patterns of formation and functioning of the human psyche: its ability to reflect the world, to know it and to regulate its interaction with it.

Psychology studies the emergence and development of the psyche; neurophysiological foundations of mental activity; human consciousness as the highest form of the psyche; patterns of transition of the external to the internal; the conditionality of the functioning of the psyche by socio-historical factors; patterns of formation of mental images of the world and the embodiment of these images in the external, practical activity of a person; the unity of biological and social factors in the mental self-regulation of a person; the structure of the psyche; reflective-regulatory essence of cognitive, volitional and emotional processes, individual psychological characteristics of the personality; psychological features of human behavior in a social environment; the psychology of specific types of human activity; and etc.

Every educated person should master the basics of general psychological knowledge. Knowing yourself is no less important than knowing the various aspects of the surrounding reality. Material published on http: // site
Psychological knowledge is necessary for a person to properly organize his relationships with other people, effectively organize his activities, introspection and personal self-improvement. It is no coincidence that the main commandment of the ancient thinkers reads: "Man, know thyself."

The practical need for the application of psychological knowledge in various fields of human activity has caused intensive development along with general psychology and its applied branches: pedagogical, medical, legal, engineering, aviation, space, psychology of art, labor, military affairs, sports, management, marketing, etc. With ϶ᴛᴏm, the study of applied branches of psychology is possible only on the basis of general psychological knowledge.

Psychological knowledge is needed wherever there is a need for the scientific organization of labor and the effective use of the resources of the human psyche. Psychologists fruitfully work in schools and clinics, in production, in cosmonaut training centers and management structures, in the law enforcement system and in analytical centers for social development.

The main tasks of psychology

The main task of psychology will be the cognition of the mental by revealing those objective connections from which mental phenomena first arose and began to be defined as objective facts. Therefore, psychological knowledge is understood today as an indirect knowledge of the mental through the disclosure of its essential connections with the outside world.

With this understanding of the essence of the mental, it becomes obvious that of all the sciences of man, the most practical will be psychology. After all, studying it. You can find a lot in the world around you, in yourself and in other people.

Growing interest in domestic spiritual world people is also connected with the fact that the modern era is more and more clearly revealing as host a tendency to integrate all aspects of the life of modern society: economic, political and spiritual. By the way, this integrative trend, the line of strengthening the integrity of social development will also be reflected in the fact that today the traditional, very narrow, technocratic understanding of the tasks of economic activity is being replaced by modernized concepts that bring to the fore in economic activity not technological tasks, but humanitarian and psychological problems.

Workers employed in the field of modern production are increasingly aware of this activity not only as the use of high technologies, but also as an area in which participation in which requires workers managing oneself, other people, their communities.

By the way, this setting has now become a truism for specialists, entrepreneurs, managers of developed countries, both in the West and in the East.

The head of one of the largest American automobile companies, Lee Ya Kokka, believes that “all business operations can ultimately be summed up in three words: people, product, profit. People come first."

Akio Morita - CEO of a well-known Japanese electrical company - claims that "Only people can make a successful enterprise."

Based on all of the above, we come to the conclusion that in order to be successful, a modern worker, businessman, manager, any specialist must provide a solution dual task:

achievement of economic results;
impact on people creating ϶ᴛᴏt result.

Therefore, in modern conditions for a domestic entrepreneur, manager, highly qualified specialist of any profile, as well as for each person, the most urgent task is the psychological recovery of labor groups, production teams, and with them the whole society. A modern leader, specialist, and any thinking person should know and take into account psychological factors activities of people and, on a ϶ᴛᴏ basis, ensure the growth of labor and social activity.