What is psychology: concept, subject of study, methods

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Psychology (from the Greek words “psyche” (soul, character) and “logos” (science) is a science that studies the human psyche , patterns in the behavior of individuals and their groups, as well as the features of their interaction with each other. Psychology studies all mental processes - both conscious and unconscious by a person.The main goal of this science is the accumulation of knowledge that is of practical value for various spheres of life and professional activity.

Psychology is a relatively young science, which appeared in 1879. But the “Doctrine of the Soul,” which served as its prototype, existed in ancient times. For many centuries, human mental processes have been studied at the intersection of biology, medicine, philosophy, pedagogy and other sciences. And only at the end of the 19th century a modern understanding of what psychology was formed, and it became a completely independent science. Its creator is considered to be the German doctor Wilhelm Wundt.

What does psychology study?

The main object of study of this science is human mental processes - feelings, emotions, goals, motivation, imagination, thinking, decision-making, temperament and other features of behavior and perception. Psychology tries to answer the question of what motivates a person in various situations , why he makes certain decisions, what processes occur in his “inner world.”

The tasks of modern psychology include studying and solving problems in various spheres of human life - both personal and professional. Within this science there are a large number of separate applied areas that study individual aspects of human activity. Simple examples include the following areas:

• age-related psychology;
• social Psychology;
• family psychology;
• psychology of sports;
• psychology of religion.

The tasks of each direction are obvious from the name. Thus, developmental psychology studies the characteristics of human behavior at different stages of life. The object of study of social psychology is the interaction of people in society and the characteristics of their behavior dictated by this interaction. Family psychology deals with strengthening the family and resolving intra-family contradictions. There are areas that study human behavior in sports, religion, industrial production, education and other areas.

Subject of psychology

The subject of psychology is the psyche or mental life of a person.

Psyche is the property of highly organized living matter to reflect and interact with objects of the surrounding reality. Currently, there are three groups of facts of mental life :

• mental processes;
• mental states;
• mental properties.

Mental processes (also mental functions)
are the primary regulators of human behavior.

These include: cognitive (cognitive) and emotional-volitional. Cognitive processes include: sensations, perception, memory, thinking, imagination. To the emotional-volitional – emotions, feelings, will.

Mental conditions

These are relatively stable mental formations.

Examples of mental states are vigor, anxiety, fatigue, depression, euphoria. Mental states are characterized by duration, direction, stability, intensity.

Mental properties

Subjective characteristics of a person that determine his activities and behavior.

These include: sociability, emotionality, perseverance, responsibility, etc.

Among all branches, the main place belongs to general psychology, since it acts as a theoretical and methodological basis for other branches. The subject is general patterns, trends, features of the development of the psyche in phylo- and ontogenesis, as well as theoretical methods and principles of psychology, its basic concepts and categorical apparatus. The tasks of general psychology include the development of problems in the methodology and history of psychology, theory and methods of studying the most general laws of the emergence, development and existence of mental phenomena. Based on the subject of general psychology, the subject of other branches of psychology is determined. For example, the subject of social psychology is the peculiarities of the manifestation of mental processes, properties and states in social conditions (for example, facilitation, conformism, etc.), the subject of medical (clinical) psychology is the manifestation of mental processes, properties and states of patients, etc.

History of the emergence and development of psychology

The fact that psychology is an ancient science is evidenced by its name. The term is derived from the Greek words “psyche” (soul, character) and “logos” (science). Also in ancient Greek mythology, the beautiful princess Psyche is described, who was the personification of the human soul. She had a mystical influence on people - Eros (Cupid) himself could not resist her charms and fell in love.

The first scientific works that can be called psychological belong to Plato and Aristotle (5th and 4th centuries BC). Avicenna (X-XI centuries) made a significant contribution to the development of the doctrine. An independent scientific direction was formed in the 18th century thanks to the German scientist Christian Wolf. Psychology became a modern scientific discipline in 1879, when Wilhelm Wundt created his psychological laboratory and began conducting the first research.

In different centuries, people understood differently what psychology is. In the history of the development of this science, there are 4 stages, each of which had its own object of study:

1. Soul
   . In ancient Greco-Roman civilization, it was believed that every living creature has a soul, which completely determines its behavior. This concept made it possible to explain the characteristics of temperament by connection with the cosmos, reincarnation and other mystical phenomena.
2. Consciousness
   . In the 17th century, the French scientist Rene Descartes described the reflexive nature of behavior and introduced the concept of “consciousness.” It was a kind of “life compass” that reacts to external influences and determines a person’s reaction.
3. Behavior
   . This approach was used at the beginning of the 20th century. This was a period when experiments were actively carried out to study people's reactions to certain events.
4. Psyche
   . As knowledge accumulated, the main subject of study gradually became the human psyche and the mechanisms that determine it.

Today psychology is a complex multidisciplinary science, including about 100 fairly independent areas.

Types of psychology

In addition to a large number of specialized areas, psychology is divided into two large components:

1. Academic
   . This is a science whose key task is to understand the human psyche in order to achieve objective knowledge. Academic psychology studies human behavior and creates a theoretical scientific basis designed to explain all psychological phenomena and identify the relationships between them.
2. Applied
   _ This section of psychology is aimed at obtaining practical results. It explores ways to influence a person's mental state in order to improve their life, increase their productivity and level of happiness. Applied psychology is used in their work by psychotherapists, psychiatrists, teachers, trainers and other specialists who help people develop, improve and solve problems.

To better understand how academic and applied psychology differ, let’s look at each section in more detail.

Academic psychology

This is a fundamental science, the research of which is purely scientific in nature and is not initially aimed at obtaining practical results. When studying a certain mental process, the task is to study it and understand it, to find relationships with other processes.

Academic psychology is characterized by:

• explores and explains mental processes, looks for patterns;
• does not look for or study ways to influence these processes;
• creates a theoretical basis for further research within applied psychology.

Despite these features, academic psychology does engage in some applied research if it is of theoretical interest. Thanks to this, ways of influencing mental processes can be discovered, which will later find practical application in other areas.

Consciousness in psychology

The essence of consciousness is usually defined through a person’s ability to abstract (verbal) thinking. Its tool and means is language, which arose in human society. Through language, knowledge of the laws of nature and society occurs.

Note 1

L. S. Vygotsky wrote that consciousness is a reflection of reality by the subject, his determination of his activities and himself. Consciously, according to the researcher, that which can be transmitted as a stimulus to other reflex systems (that which is capable of causing a response in them).

Finished works on a similar topic

Course work Consciousness as a subject of psychology 400 ₽ Abstract Consciousness as a subject of psychology 280 ₽ Test work Consciousness as a subject of psychology 220 ₽

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Individual consciousness exists only in the presence of social consciousness and language, which is its real substrate. Consciousness did not exist initially, it is not generated by nature, but arises due to the existence of society. For this reason, consciousness is not always a postulate or a condition of psychology, but represents its problem (the subject of specific scientific and psychological research).

Vygotsky's elements of consciousness include verbal meanings as a system that operates as a whole. This working system represents the state of wakefulness, the specific human characteristic of being awake.

From the position of B. G. Ananyev, consciousness can act as an element of the effect of action. The initial facts of consciousness are the following components:

• Perception,
• An individual's experience of the results of his own actions.

Gradually, not only the effects of actions, but also the processes of activity themselves become amenable to awareness. Individual development of consciousness occurs through the transition from consciousness of the corresponding moments of action to purposeful and planned activity. The state of wakefulness is considered to be a continuous “flow” that switches from one type of activity to another.

Applied psychology

Since applied psychology is aimed at obtaining practical results in various areas of human activity, it includes a large number of areas. Its main areas are:

1. Psychodiagnostics
   . Recognition and analysis of human psychological characteristics.
2. Psychocorrection
   . Impact on identified deviations in the psyche to bring it into line with age and other norms.
3. Consulting
   . Psychological assistance to healthy people experiencing temporary difficulties due to life circumstances.
4. Psychotherapy
   . Psychological assistance to healthy people with personality disorders.

Applied psychology refers to areas that focus on helping those in need. Typically these are people who:

• found themselves in a difficult life situation;
• plan to build a business;
• have difficulty communicating;
• are experiencing a crisis in personal or family relationships;
• are concerned about the behavior of their own children;
• experience loss of strength, depression, irritability;
• suffer from phobias and panic attacks;
• trying to get rid of bad habits;
• want to change their profession.

All of the listed problems and life situations are within the competence of applied psychology. In most of these cases, consultation with a psychotherapist is appropriate.

Methods of psychology

All methods used in psychology are divided into two large groups:

1. Empirical
   . This group includes the collection and interpretation of available facts, statistical analysis of large volumes of data, and search for patterns.
2. Experimental
   . These methods are based on artificial modeling of various situations for research purposes. This group includes, for example, social experiments.

In order to collect data suitable for research and analysis, methods such as:

• observation - the study of human emotions and reactions;
• introspection – a meaningful study of one’s own perceptions, emotions, reactions, desires and other mental processes;
• interview - a conversation with a person, allowing you to obtain information from him that is not available for observation;
• experiment – ​​purposeful modeling of a situation that allows one to obtain the necessary information about the psyche of the subject;
• survey - identifying the individual psychological characteristics of the subject using pre-formulated questions;
• testing - assessment of psychological qualities using pre-prepared tests, for which a mechanism for interpreting the reactions and answers of the subject has already been developed;
• biographical research is an analysis of a person’s life path, allowing one to determine the characteristics of his psyche, build a relatively accurate prognosis for his future life and give recommendations for its improvement.

In applied psychology, the listed methods are usually combined in order to conduct the most accurate and comprehensive analysis of the subject’s psyche. For example, almost every person at least once applied for a job and underwent an interview and testing. And psychotherapists combine methods such as interview, observation and biographical research, and also invite the client to conduct self-observation in certain situations.

Basic terms and concepts in general psychology

Basic terms and concepts in general psychology

Psychology is the science of the general patterns of development and functioning of the psyche and the individual typological characteristics of its manifestation, the science of the general patterns of human interaction with the environment.

Higher mental functions are a conventional concept, introduced by , denoting complex mental processes, social in their formation, which are mediated and therefore arbitrary.

Consciousness is knowledge that can somehow be transmitted to others; it is the ability to convey one’s knowledge to another in speech or in another way.

The unconscious is a set of mental processes, acts and states caused by phenomena of reality, the influence of which the subject is not aware of; The unconscious differs from consciousness in that the reality it reflects merges with the experiences of the subject, his relationship to the world, therefore, in the unconscious, voluntary control of the actions carried out by the subject and assessment of their results are impossible.

Psyche is a property of the brain. “Sensation, thought, consciousness is the highest product of matter organized in a special way.”

Personality is a set of developed habits and preferences, mental attitude and tone, sociocultural experience and acquired knowledge, a set of psychophysical traits and characteristics of a person, his archetype that determines everyday behavior and connections with society and nature. Personality is also observed as manifestations of “behavioral masks” developed for different situations and social interaction groups.

Individual - (from the Latin individuum - an indivisible person as a single natural being, a representative of the species Homo sapiens, a product of phylogenetic and ontogenetic development, the unity of innate and acquired, a bearer of individually unique traits; 2) an individual representative of the human community; a social being that goes beyond its natural (biological) limitations, uses tools, signs and through them masters its own behavior and mental processes. Both meanings of the term are connected and describe a person in the aspect of his separateness and isolation.

Individuality – 1. The main quality of a person; ?a person is an individual due to the presence of special, individual, unique properties..., individual properties of a person are not the same thing as the personal properties of an individual, that is, properties that characterize him as a person? (). 2. A person characterized by his socially significant differences from other people; the originality of the psyche and personality of the individual, its uniqueness; individuality is manifested in the traits of temperament, character, specific interests, qualities of perceptual processes and intelligence, needs and abilities of the individual.

Introspection is a research method that involves observing one’s own mental life without using any tools or scaling. Independent options: analytical, systematic and phenomenological introspection.

Interiorization is the name given to the transition as a result of which processes of interaction that are external in form with external, material objects are transformed into processes that occur on the mental plane, on the plane of consciousness. At the same time, they undergo a specific transformation - they are generalized, verbalized, reduced and, most importantly, become capable of further development, which goes beyond the boundaries of the possibilities of external activity. The process of internalization does not consist in the fact that external activity moves into the internal “plane of consciousness”; this is the process in which this internal plan is formed.

Observation is meaningful, interpretive and goal-directed perception.

Experiment - One of the main (along with observation) methods of scientific knowledge in general, psychological research in particular. It differs from observation by active intervention in the situation on the part of the researcher, carrying out systematic manipulation of one or more variables (factors) and recording accompanying changes in the behavior of the studied object. Correctly formulated E. allows you to test hypotheses about cause-and-effect relationships, not limiting yourself to stating the connection (correlation) between variables.

Test – A test fixed in time, designed to establish quantitative (and qualitative) individual psychological differences; The test is the main tool of psychodiagnostic examination, with the help of which a psychological diagnosis is made.

A survey is a method of obtaining information.

Reflection is a generic concept of the psyche, a method of interpersonal communication.

Dominant is the dominant focus of physiological excitation in the central nervous system at a particular time period, to which stimuli that are usually indifferent to this focus are “switched.” The concept has been introduced. The dominant is characterized by increased excitability, persistence of excitation, and the summation of successively arriving nerve impulses, which is the neurophysiological basis of directed behavior.

Phylogeny is changes in the process of evolution of various forms of the organic world, i.e. species.

Ontogenesis is the development of a person throughout his life.

The elementary sensory psyche, by definition, is the stage of development of the psyche at which the activity of animals corresponds to one or another individual influencing property (or a set of individual properties) due to the significant connection of this property with those influences on which the implementation of the basic biological functions of animals depends. Accordingly, the reflection of reality associated with such a structure of activity has the form of sensitivity to individual influencing properties (or a set of properties), the form of an elementary sensation.

Perceptual psyche is a psyche that is characterized by the ability to reflect external objective reality no longer in the form of individual elementary sensations caused by individual properties or their combination, but in the form of a reflection of things. The activity of the animal is determined at this stage by the fact that the content of the activity is highlighted, aimed not at the object of influence, but at the conditions in which this object is objectively given in the environment.

Instinct is a set of developed habits and preferences, mental attitude and tone, sociocultural experience and acquired knowledge, a set of psychophysical traits and characteristics of a person, his archetype, which determine everyday behavior and connections with society and nature. Personality is also observed as manifestations of “behavioral masks” developed for different situations and social interaction groups.

Anthropogenesis is the origin and development of all species of the genus Homo, considered in biological, mental and sociocultural terms.

Zone of proximal development - the discrepancy in the level of difficulty of tasks solved by the child independently (current level of development) and under the guidance of an adult; The concept of the zone of proximal development formed the basis of the concept of the relationship between learning and mental development of the child.

Activity is a process (processes) of active interaction between a subject and an object, during which the subject satisfies any of its needs and achieves a goal. An activity can be called any activity of a person to which he himself attaches some meaning. Activity characterizes the conscious side of a person’s personality (as opposed to behavior).

Goal is the ideal or real object of the subject’s conscious or unconscious aspiration; the final outcome that a process is intentionally aimed at.

Motive - (from the Latin movere - to set in motion, push incentives for activity related to meeting the needs of the subject; a set of external or internal conditions that cause the activity of the subject and determine its direction; 2) the object that motivates and determines the choice of direction of activity, for the sake of which it is carried out ; 3) the conscious reason underlying the choice of actions and actions of the individual.

Operation – A structural unit of human activity, correlated with a task and with the objective conditions of its implementation.

An action is a process whose motive (i.e., what it is done for) does not coincide with its object (i.e., what it is aimed at). The motive belongs to the activity in which the action is included. The subject of an action is its conscious immediate goal. In the future, this goal itself can become a motive, and then the action unfolds into activity (a “shift of motive to goal” occurs).

Leading activity is a child’s activity that is characterized by the following three characteristics. Firstly, it is an activity in the form of which other, new types of activity arise and within which are differentiated. Secondly, this is an activity in which private mental processes are formed or restructured. Thirdly, this is an activity on which the main changes in the child’s personality observed at a given age most closely depend.

Need - usually refers to the following three phenomena:

1. Objective needs of people in certain conditions that ensure their life and development.

2. Personal properties that determine her attitude to reality and her own responsibilities, ultimately determining her way of life and activity.

3. Certain states of the human psyche, reflecting his need for substances, energy and other factors necessary for his functioning as a living organism and personality.

Self-actualization is a person’s desire to identify and develop his personal capabilities as fully as possible.

Communication is a process of interaction between people in which the persons participating in it, by their appearance and behavior, have a more or less strong influence on the claims and intentions, on the thoughts, states and feelings of each other.

Verbal communication is the process of establishing and maintaining purposeful, direct or indirect, contact between people using language

Nonverbal communication is a communication interaction between individuals without the use of words (transferring information or influencing each other through intonation, gestures, facial expressions, pantomime, changing the mise-en-scène of communication), that is, without speech and language means presented in direct or any sign form .

speech - A historically established form of communication between people through language. Speech communication is carried out according to the rules of a given language, which is a system of phonetic, lexical, grammatical and stylistic means and rules of communication. R. and language form a complex dialectical unity. R. is carried out according to the rules of the language, and at the same time, under the influence of a number of factors (the requirements of social practice, the development of science, the mutual influence of languages, etc.) it changes and improves the language.

Conflict is the ultimate aggravation of contradictions. Psychologists also emphasize that such a difficult-to-resolve contradiction is associated with acute emotional experiences.

Group – A community of people limited in size, distinguished from the social whole on the basis of certain characteristics (the nature of the activity performed, social or class affiliation, structure, composition, level of development, etc.).

A team is a group where interpersonal relationships are mediated by the socially valuable and personally significant content of joint activities.

Orientation - The set of interests and inclinations of a person.

Value - a socially approved and shared idea by most people of what is the ideal and standard of what is proper.

Worldview - A system of views on the objective world and a person’s place in it, on a person’s attitude to the reality around him and to himself, as well as the basic life positions of people determined by these views, their beliefs, ideals, principles of cognition and activity, value orientations.

Temperament is a dynamic characteristic of an individual’s mental activity. It manifests itself first of all in his impressionability, that is, the strength and stability of the impact that the impression has on a person. Temperament also affects emotional excitability, manifesting itself in the strength of emotional arousal, the speed with which it covers the personality, and the stability with which it is maintained. The expression of temperament is impulsiveness, which is characterized by the strength of impulses, the speed with which it masters the motor sphere and goes into action, and the stability with which it retains its effective force.

Choleric - A subject with one of the main types of temperament, characterized by a high level of mental activity, vigor of action, sharpness, swiftness, force of movements, their fast pace, impetuosity; choleric people are quick-tempered, impatient, prone to emotional breakdowns, and sometimes aggressive.

Sanguine - A subject with one of the main types of temperament, characterized by high mental activity, energy, efficiency, speed and vivacity of movements, variety and richness of facial expressions, fast pace of speech; strives for frequent changes of impressions, easily and quickly responds to surrounding events, is sociable, emotions are predominantly positive.

Phlegmatic - A subject with one of the types of temperament, characterized by a low level of mental activity, slowness, and inexpressive facial expressions; a phlegmatic person has difficulty switching from one type of activity to another and adapting to a new environment; feelings and moods are constant.

Melancholic - A subject with one of the four main types of temperament, characterized by a low level of mental activity, slowness of movements, restraint of motor skills and speech, and rapid fatigue. Melancholic people are distinguished by high emotional sensitivity, depth and stability of emotions with weak external expression, and negative emotions predominate.

Excitation – A property of living organisms, the active response of excitable tissue to irritation. For the nervous system, arousal is the main function. The cells that form the nervous system have the property of conducting excitation from the area where it originated to other areas and to neighboring cells.

Inhibition is a nervous process aimed at weakening or completely stopping one or another type of activity of the body.

Character is a psychological formation that contains a person’s emotional attitudes to typical life situations that have been established in the process of life and stereotypes of cognitive and behavioral patterns of response to these situations.

Accentuation is a concept introduced by Leonhard and means excessive expression of individual character traits and their combinations, representing extreme variants of the norm, bordering on psychopathy.

Ability - Individual psychological characteristics that determine the success of performing an activity or a series of activities, which cannot be reduced to knowledge, skills and abilities, but determine the ease and speed of learning new ways and techniques of activity ().and

Giftedness - 1) a qualitatively unique combination of abilities that ensures the success of an activity; 2) general abilities, or general aspects of abilities that determine the breadth of a person’s capabilities, the level and originality of his activities; 3) mental potential, a holistic individual characteristic of cognitive capabilities and learning abilities; 4) a set of inclinations, natural data, characteristics of the degree of expression and originality of the natural prerequisites of abilities; 5) talent.

Inclinations – Congenital anatomical and physiological characteristics of the nervous system and brain, which form the natural basis for the development of abilities.

Sensation is a reflection of the properties of objects in the objective world, arising from their direct impact on receptors.

Perception – The work of the sense organs and the corresponding subjective images. Perception arises as a result of the synthesis of sensations with the help of ideas and existing experience, that is, it is a synthesis of the objective with the help of the subjective.

Illusion – Something unrealizable, a dream.

Memory is the ability to reproduce past experiences, one of the main properties of the nervous system, expressed in the ability to store information for a long time and repeatedly enter it into the sphere of consciousness and behavior.

Recognition is the recognition, as already known, of an object that is in the center of actual perception. This process is based on the comparison of perceived features with the corresponding memory traces, which act as standards for the identification features of the perceived object.

Reproduction – Updating of previously formed psychological content (thoughts, images, feelings, movements) in the absence of external, actually perceived indicators.

Imprinting is a specific form of learning.

Thinking is the highest cognitive process. It is a form of a person’s creative reflection of reality, generating a result that does not exist in reality itself or the subject at a given moment in time. Human thinking (in its lower forms it is found in animals) can also be understood as a creative transformation of ideas and images existing in memory.

Emotions are an impulsive reaction that reflects an individual’s attitude to the meaning of a phenomenon he perceives.

Feelings are emotional processes of a higher level; they express a person’s holistic attitude to the world, to what he experiences and does in it, in the form of direct experience.

Affect - A rapidly and violently flowing, most powerful emotion of an explosive nature, uncontrollable by consciousness and capable of taking the form of pathological affect.

Stress is a term used to describe a wide range of human conditions that occur in response to a variety of extreme stress.

Frustration is a mental state of disorganization of consciousness and activity that occurs when, due to some obstacles and counteractions, the motive remains unsatisfied or its satisfaction is inhibited ().

Will is the ability of a person, manifested in self-determination and regulation of his activities and various mental processes. The main functions of the will are: the choice of motives and goals, the regulation of the impulse to action when their motivation is insufficient or excessive, the organization of mental processes into a system adequate to the activity performed by a person, the mobilization of physical and mental capabilities in a situation of overcoming obstacles in achieving set goals.

Attention is the concentration and direction of mental activity on a specific object.

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