General psychology is the foundations of psychology as a scientific discipline

Sometimes general psychology is called theoretical and experimental psychology. The main tasks facing it:

• Development of problems of methodology and history of psychology;
• Development of theory and methods for studying the most general laws of the emergence, development and existence of mental phenomena.

General psychology gives a scientific understanding of the general theoretical principles and the most important methods of psychology, characterizes the basic scientific concepts, which are combined into three main categories:

• Mental processes. This concept emphasizes the processuality, the dynamics of the fact established by psychology. These are usually cognitive processes, such as sensations and perceptions, acting on the senses by a stimulus. These same processes include memory - a renewed reflection of reality, imagination and thinking - a reflection of the properties of reality, generalized and reflected in human consciousness. Awakening of needs, the emergence of motives or impulses to act in a certain way, making decisions and their implementation, which relates to volitional processes and emotional processes;
• Mental condition. This concept characterizes a static moment, the relative constancy of a mental fact, its fixation and repeatability in the structure of the personality.
• Mental properties or personality traits. This concept expresses the stability of a mental fact.

One mental fact can be characterized both as a mental process (a violent and short-term emotional outburst), and as a mental state (since it represents a characteristic of mental activity over a certain period of time), and as a manifestation of the mental characteristics of a person, since such a personality trait is revealed, such as hot temper, lack of restraint, anger.

When considering issues of general psychology, the most correct path is revealed by the principle of development of the consciousness of the individual in his activities, which should be the basis for the presentation of general psychology. This principle highlights:

• Study of personality and activity, as well as analysis of their most important manifestations;
• Consideration of the cognitive, emotional, volitional sphere of personality and human activity with the obligatory description of the most important individual psychological characteristics.

The knowledge gleaned from general psychology reflects the current scientific understanding of all forms of mental life at various stages of human development.

Thus, general psychology can be compared to a compass in the labyrinth of psychological problems, giving the psychologist the opportunity to imagine his location at the present moment and determine the direction of further movement.

General psychology, like its other branches, does not provide specific answers to all questions, but it helps a traveler navigate inclement weather in an unfamiliar city; it directs the researcher’s efforts along the path of objective scientific knowledge.

General psychology studies the psyche of a normal adult, but its tasks include the study of the psyche of both children and patients, as well as the psychological laws of learning and teaching, work activity, etc.

As new specific subjects of research are identified, new private and special psychological sciences appear. This is an inevitable and progressive process, so the system of psychological sciences is open to expansion. Any expansion of psychological sciences comes with a mandatory rule - they are based on general psychology and at the same time influence it, enriching it with new knowledge. Based on this, general psychology can be given another definition: as a science that concentrates the main achievements of all other psychological sciences. These definitions do not exclude each other at all, but only complement each other.

General Psychology: Introduction

Each person has certain personality traits and mental properties. And general psychology studies these properties and qualities. The basic processes of mental states are also studied by science.

The study of human personality is an integral part of fundamental psychology.

General psychology formulates the basic definitions and laws of mental processes and studies methods and techniques of research. General psychology is a theory that serves as the basis for all its branches.

The psyche is a “subjective image of the objective world.”

There are different approaches to understanding who has a psyche:

1) anthropopsychism (Descartes) - the psyche is inherent only to man;

2) panpsychism (French materialists) - the universal spirituality of nature, i.e. all nature, the whole world has a psyche (including stone);

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Psyche. Consciousness and unconsciousness

...Self-knowledge through analysis of one’s own activities and behavior; Self-control and self-education Stage. Development of human social behavior. The psyche is presented to man in several forms. Mental... realities. It allows you to restore the past and anticipate the future. Psyche Consciousness Consciousness, like the psyche, implements a number of functions. Functions: Cognitive; Reflective; ...

3) biopsychism - the psyche is a property of living nature (also inherent in plants);

4) neuropsychism (C. Darwin) - the psyche is characteristic only of organisms that have a nervous system;

5) brainpsychism (K.K. Platonov) - the psyche is only in organisms with a tubular nervous system that have a brain (with this approach, insects do not have a psyche, since they have a nodular nervous system, without a pronounced brain).

The human psyche is formed in a person only during his lifetime in the process of assimilating the culture created by previous generations.

Thus, the human psyche includes 3 components: the external world (nature, its reflection); full brain activity; interaction with people (active transmission of human culture and human abilities to new generations).

1) anthropopsychism (Descartes) - the psyche is inherent only to man; 2) panpsychism (French materialists) - the universal spirituality of nature,... 3) biopsychism - the psyche is a property of living nature (also inherent in plants);

Structure of the human psyche

The psyche is complex and diverse in its manifestations.

Usually there are three large groups of mental phenomena:

1) mental processes (cognitive, emotional, volitional);

2) mental states;

3) mental properties.

History of psychology from antiquity to the present day

In ancient times, the authors of psychological teachings mainly asked questions about the nature of the mind of an individual.

Ancient authors were very interested in the human soul

Most of the work was occupied by the human soul. Aristotle is rightly called the founder of general psychology.

He became famous in this direction thanks to his treatise “On the Soul,” clearly defining the subject of research in psychological science.

Hippocrates classified the types of temperament, while Plato gave his preference to the study of the structural components of personality from philosophical views.

The main distinguishing feature of medieval psychology is the concentration of science on issues of faith and human reason. The philosophy of religion determines the main directions of research.

Aristotle's ideas are relevant in this period of studying psychology. During this period, Thomas Aquinas became famous thanks to his work in Christian philosophy.

In the modern era, the term “psychology” refers to the science of the soul. And only in the works of Otto Kasman the term acquires modern scientific meaning. The 18th century was the century of astronomical calculations, which took control of the study of psychology.

The 19th century is the most important period for psychological science, in particular for its formation. In 1879, under the leadership of Wilhelm Wund, a psychological research laboratory, the first of its kind, opened and began its work. It is from this moment that psychology stands out as a separate and independent science.

The beginning of the 20th century was a time of rapid development of psychoanalysis. The works of Sigmund Freud are popular. Behaviorism is very actively gaining momentum in its development.

Gestalt psychology begins to develop in Germany. The basics of psychodiagnostics appear—tests to test intelligence.

From 1930 to 1940, Gestalt psychology became the basis for social psychology. During this time period, a special interest in practical technologies and ergonomics appears. The works of K. Levin, B. F. Skinner, J. Piaget, and L. S. Vygotsky gained great fame.

In the 1950-1960s, psychology flourished as a science. Various directions began to actively develop. Most psychological research and psychological experiments are conducted.

Tests

General psychology talks a lot about tests. The textbook of any author contains information about this type of method. Tests are a specific test that allows you to establish a certain set of qualities and character traits in a particular person. They are short-term tasks that are the same for everyone. Tests can be collected either when the subject is ready or after a certain period of time. In addition, based on the results of the study, a conclusion is drawn about the presence of certain personal qualities and properties, the level of development of the individual.

Tests are used by psychologists to establish a forecast for the future and predict an individual’s behavior. In addition, thanks to such work, diagnoses are made by employees of institutions. All tests must be correctly formatted and reflect the essence of the results obtained. Each question must pursue a specific goal (for example, to find out the level of personality development in the curriculum or to form a criminogenic psychological portrait of a criminal, and so on) and have a scientific basis. Reliability and accuracy are other qualities required for testing.

Subject of study of general psychology

The subject of general psychology is the laws and mechanisms of the psyche. The development of certain personal qualities is also considered the subject of psychological research.

General psychology studies the laws by which the human psyche works

Psychology developed, and the subject of its study constantly changed depending on what era ruled the worldview of people.

Initially, the soul was the subject of research in general psychology. But in the 18th century the situation changed in favor of human consciousness, or rather its phenomena.

Mental phenomena are what a person observes in relation to himself at the moment.

In the 20th century, due to the rapid development and popularity of such a direction as behaviorism, the subject of study also changed; it became the behavioral characteristics of a person.

But to this day, the subject differs in certain branches of science. The concept of the subject of general psychology includes all aspects of psychological development as a whole.

The mental organization of a person is much more complex than the biological organization. By studying another person, an individual gets the opportunity to know himself as a subject and, on the basis of this study, understand the patterns of his own internal actions.

Training course

General psychology is a general theoretical science. It is closely intertwined with pedagogy, sociology, art history, philosophy, linguistics, and so on. Introduction to general psychology begins with numerous studies. Thanks to them, this science does not stand still and brings significant benefits to society.

The full theoretical course includes general psychology. Topics are divided into specific sections: introduction, general concepts, historical perspective, methods, principles, system, special part, foreign experience, and so on. A special role in psychology is played by practice, which shows the results of pedagogical and practical psychological work.

Object of general psychology

The psyche is the object of psychology. This property is characteristic of any highly organized being. Without the psyche, a person or animal will not be able to control their behavior and change it in accordance with the circumstances. The psyche in science is considered the highest form of consciousness of a living being.

Every highly developed creature has a psyche.

Mental assessment parameters:

• activity;
• integrity;
• development;
• self-regulation;
• adaptation;
• communication skills.

Mastering activities: abilities, skills, habits

A skill is a successful way of performing an activity.

Skills are partially automated actions that are learned through practice.

Types of skills: walking, running, writing, thinking, sensory, behavioral skills, etc.

Habit is the need to perform an appropriate action.

Types of habits: professional, moral, hygienic, aesthetic, educational, cultural behavior, etc. Useful and bad habits.

Topic 1.4. Man as an individual

The concepts of “individual”, “personality”, “subject”, “individuality”.

Skills are partially automated actions that are learned through practice. Types of skills: walking, running, writing, thinking, sensory, behavioral skills and... Habit is the need to perform an appropriate action.

Temperament as a characteristic of a person’s individual properties

Temperament is a personality trait that gives a unique color to all activities and behavior of people.

Temperament is the individual characteristics of a person that determine the dynamics of his mental activity and behavior.

The term "temperament" in Latin means "proper proportion of parts."

Temperament properties: activity and emotionality.

Theories of temperament

Methodology of general psychology

Methods of general psychology are techniques that make it possible to obtain specific data. Subsequently, the obtained materials are used for further study and drawing up recommendations that need to be applied in practice.

The techniques of general psychology are varied. The main techniques and means are identified: observation and experiment. Additional: testing, survey, conversation, biographical method. Let's look at each in more detail:

1. Observation is the direct recording of the behavior of the object being observed. This technique is the oldest in the history of psychology as a whole. The main types of observation: field - this is observation without creating any special environment, that is, in a familiar environment; laboratory - observation in artificially created conditions.
2. An experiment implies a special intervention in the life activity of an object to obtain additional research material. The main types of experiment: natural experiment - the experiment is carried out in natural environmental conditions without the intervention of the experimenter; laboratory experiment - carried out in specially created conditions to determine specific data.
3. Testing. With the help of testing, certain qualities of a person are studied. Required when survey and conversation methods do not provide a complete picture of personality traits. Main types of testing: achievement tests are used when it is necessary to assess the level of mastery of certain skills or knowledge; verbal tests are designed to understand whether a person can describe what is happening around him in words; intelligence tests are used to determine a person's level of intelligence; personality tests help to most accurately study personality traits; Vocational orientation tests are carried out to understand whether a person has certain qualities that predispose him to a particular profession.
4. Surveying is one of the most common methods in psychology. Applicable not only to one person, but also to a group of people. The basis is the direct interaction between the subject and the researcher. The main types of surveys: written - provides more superficial knowledge in the area being studied; oral - allows you to explore the psychological characteristics of a person in more detail.
5. Conversation is a method that is used when observation does not provide sufficiently clear and precise data needed for research.
6. Biographical method. This method is used when it is necessary to diagnose a person’s life path for its subsequent correction.

In simpler terms, methods of studying the psyche are ways of studying the surrounding reality.

General characteristics of the observation method

The author of many textbooks named Maklakov talks in especially detail about research methods. General psychology includes a method such as observation, which is rightfully considered the most ancient way of cognition. Its simplest and most famous form is everyday life and everyday observation. Even if you pay attention to yourself, you will notice that you use this psychological method every day. The following types of observation are distinguished:

1. Short-term and long-term, which can last for several years.
2. Selective.
3. Solid and special. In the latter case, the observer himself is immersed in the atmosphere under study.

Each observation consists of several stages:

1. Mandatory setting of a specific goal and a number of tasks that help achieve the expected results.

2. Identification of a specific subject, object of study, situation.

3. Determination of a number of methods that have minimal impact on the object under study.

4. Determination of the form for securing and processing data.

It is believed that external observation has greater objectivity, since the results are consolidated by an outsider. This method is also divided into direct and indirect. A special type of self-observation stands out. This method is effective only in interaction with experiment and conversation.

Structural elements of fundamental psychology

Psychology has its own structure

General psychology contains the following structural elements:

1. Mental processes: perception, memory, thinking, imagination, thinking, speech, emotions, sensations, will, ideas.
2. Mental properties: abilities, character, temperament, motivation.
3. Mental states.

Based on the definitions of general psychology, areas are created that study certain aspects of human life in more detail.

Temperament and character

Temperament is a complex of mental characteristics of a personality associated with its dynamic characteristics (that is, with tempo, rhythm, intensity of individual mental processes and states). The basis of character formation.

The following main types of temperament are distinguished:

• 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 impact on a person's personality. Temperament type does not affect abilities, but it does affect how people express themselves in life. Depending on temperament there are:

Perception, thinking, attention and other mental processes; Stability and plasticity of mental phenomena; 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 his behavior. Character traits form the properties of a person that determine his lifestyle and behavior.

Personality traits vary across groups. 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 unique to him, the properties and characteristics of which are determined, for the most part, by social factors. There is also always an accentuation of character - strengthening of its individual traits. It should also be noted that there is a close relationship between character and temperament, because temperament influences the development of certain character traits and the manifestation of its characteristics, and at the same time, using some of its character traits, a person, if necessary, can control the manifestations of his temperament.

Read more about character and temperament in the third lesson of this course and in the article “Character and Temperament.”

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.

The most significant branches in psychology

1. Educational psychology is one of the branches of general psychology that studies issues of the educational process and teaching new skills. The main task of this direction is to find techniques and methods for building the most effective educational process through an individual approach.
2. Developmental psychology identifies the stages through which human development occurs and studies the patterns of each stage.
3. Differential psychology studies the characteristics of the psyche of groups and individuals separately, namely: their distinctive features and similarities.
4. Political psychology studies the lives of people involved in politics from a psychological perspective.
5. The psychology of art explores the psychological aspects of the influence of art on humans and society.
6. Labor psychology studies the types of human activities in the labor process as a separate psychological element: determines the necessary personal qualities for a particular activity; explores ways to increase labor productivity, team relationships, issues of professional suitability and motivation.
7. Legal psychology examines the psychological characteristics of the relationship between defendants and law enforcement officials. Also studies illegal activities and ways to prevent them.
8. Practical psychology is one of the largest areas of general psychology, which is built on all major branches and deals with diagnostic issues.

General psychology is a concept that encompasses the foundations for the development of its structural elements, specializing in research in a narrow focus.

Psychology is formed hand in hand with various scientific disciplines. Nature-based research is based on basic biology.

The history of society is closely connected with psychological science. The development of higher mental functions directly depended on tools and activities aimed at their production.

Thanks to sociology, general psychology has more detailed materials for studying man as a biosocial being. General psychology retains an independent subject of its research, despite its close contact with other sciences.

The progenitor of psychology is called philosophy. Philosophical teachings contributed to the emergence of psychological works. In the study of personality, general psychology relied on the conclusions of philosophers about human activity, the nature of consciousness and the specifics of existence.

In this video you will learn about the basics of general psychology:

Psychological anthropology

The connection between psychology and anthropology, for example, is established because there is a fundamental branch of psychology - personality psychology.

Psychological anthropology refers to interdisciplinary branches of knowledge. She studies the ethnic characteristics of the people’s psyche, national character, as well as the patterns of formation and functions of national self-awareness.

Psychological anthropology as a term appeared in the 50s of the 20th century in the USA. It was introduced to replace the abstract name “personality and culture” by the Chinese researcher Hsu.

Modern psychological anthropology does not represent a single whole, either in terms of topics or methods. In it, as in other psychological sciences, a number of independent areas can be distinguished:

• Cross-cultural, comparative studies of ethnic characteristics of psychophysiology, cognitive processes, memory, emotions, speech, which form an integral part of the relevant sections of psychology;
• Cultural studies related to the sections of ethnography, folklore, art history, etc.;
• Ethnic consciousness and self-awareness, studied by the relevant sections of social psychology;
• Ethnic characteristics of the socialization of children, conceptual apparatus and methods close to the sociology of education.

In the world over the past few decades, questions of psychological anthropology have become very popular.

Why does she

The course “Introduction to General Psychology” is required to be taken by students of all specialties directly or indirectly related to psychological science. After all, it is this fundamental section that provides information without which an in-depth study of any branch of psychology will be impossible, if we are talking about future specialists in a specific branch of science.

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And this will bring double benefits: firstly, specialists will save themselves from unnecessary worries, and secondly, they will delve deeper into the problem of the person who contacted them. Psychology in general is extremely important for those who have chosen professions that involve close communication with people, especially with “difficult” groups that require a special approach (for example, very young children or, conversely, older people, people with developmental disabilities).

“Okay,” one of the readers will say. “Specialists, of course, need to know all this. Why do ordinary people need it?” Ordinary people may not need to delve deeply, but in general, general psychology, at least two or three books on it, will be useful to everyone, regardless of their profession and education. Yes, a specialist and a non-specialist will absorb information in such literature at different levels, but both will be able to learn something valuable for themselves.

Mental emotional processes

Let's consider each process separately.

1

Feelings

Feeling is a human emotional process that reflects a subjective evaluative attitude towards abstract or real objects. Feelings manifest differently among people because they are influenced by their own set of individual traits and personality traits. Necessary for communication, friendship and understanding of other people.

Properties of feelings:

2

Emotions

Emotions reflect a subjective evaluative attitude towards objects, phenomena, situations and people. With the help of will, a person can evoke any emotion that he deems necessary.

The properties of emotions completely coincide with the properties of feelings.

3

Stress

Stress is a set of adaptive reactions of the psyche to stressors.

There is positive (eustress) and negative (distress) stress. The difference is in intensity: the more of it in the psyche, the worse.

4

Affects

Affects are emotional processes of an explosive nature. In many cases they are considered a negative manifestation of the psyche, but in a threatening situation they can save lives.