The structure of psychological science, the main branches of psychology.

The structure of psychological science, the main branches of psychology.

GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY

The subject of psychology, its tasks, content.

The word “psychology” translated from ancient Greek literally means “the science of the soul” (psyche - “soul”, logos - “concept”, “teaching”). The term “psychology” first appeared in scientific use in the 16th century. Initially, it belonged to a special science that studied the so-called mental, or mental, phenomena, that is, those that every person easily detects in his own consciousness as a result of introspection. Later, in the 17th–19th centuries. the area studied by psychology is expanding and includes not only conscious, but also unconscious phenomena. Thus, psychology is the science of the psyche and mental phenomena. Psychology is the science of the soul.

The subject of psychology is the psyche and mental phenomena of both one specific person and mental phenomena observed in groups and collectives. In turn, the task of psychology is the study of mental phenomena. Describing the task of psychology, S. L. Rubinstein writes: “Psychological cognition is an indirect cognition of the mental through the disclosure of its essential, objective connections.”

Tasks:

— qualitative study of mental reality;

— analysis of the formation and development of mental phenomena;

— study of the physiological mechanisms of mental phenomena;

— promoting the systematic introduction of psychological knowledge into the practice of people’s lives.

Psychology as a science

When dividing sciences into groups based on the subject of study, natural sciences, humanities and technical sciences are distinguished. The first study nature, the second - society, culture and history, the third are associated with the study and creation of means of production and tools. Man is a social being, and all his mental phenomena are largely socially conditioned, which is why psychology is usually classified as a humanitarian discipline.

The concept of “psychology” has both scientific and everyday meaning. In the first case, it is used to designate the corresponding scientific discipline, in the second - to describe the behavior or mental characteristics of individuals and groups of people. Therefore, to one degree or another, every person becomes acquainted with “psychology” long before its systematic study.

Fourthly, scientific psychology has extensive, varied and sometimes unique factual material that is not available in its entirety to any representative of everyday psychology.

However, everyday psychological knowledge is very approximate, vague and differs in many ways from scientific knowledge. What is this difference (Fig. 1.7)?

Firstly, everyday psychological knowledge is specific, tied to specific situations, people, and tasks. Scientific psychology strives for generalization, for which appropriate concepts are used.

Secondly, everyday psychological knowledge is intuitive. This is due to the way they were obtained - random experience and its subjective analysis on an unconscious level. In contrast, scientific knowledge is based on experiment, and the acquired knowledge is completely rational and conscious.

Third, there are differences in the way knowledge is transferred. As a rule, knowledge of everyday psychology is transferred with great difficulty, and often this transfer is simply impossible. As Yu. B. Gippenreiter writes, “the eternal problem of “fathers and sons” is precisely that children cannot and do not even want to adopt the experience of their fathers.” At the same time, in science, knowledge is accumulated and transferred much more easily.

The structure of psychological science, the main branches of psychology.

developing areas of scientific research. Bearing in mind this fact, as well as the fact that at present the system of psychological sciences continues to actively develop (every 4-5 years a new direction appears), it would be more correct to talk not about one science of psychology, but about a complex of developing psychological Sci.

They, in turn, can be divided into fundamental and applied, general and special. The fundamental or basic branches of psychological science are of general importance for understanding and explaining the psychology and behavior of people, regardless of who they are or what specific activities they engage in. These areas are designed to provide knowledge that is equally necessary for everyone who is interested in psychology and human behavior. Due to such universality, this knowledge is sometimes combined with the term “general psychology.” Applied branches of science are those whose achievements are used in practice. General branches pose and solve problems that are equally important for the development of all scientific areas without exception, while special ones highlight issues of particular interest for the knowledge of one or more groups of phenomena. Let's consider some fundamental and applied, general and special branches of psychology related to education. General psychology

(Fig. 2) examines
the individual,
highlighting his cognitive processes and personality.
Cognitive processes include sensation, perception, attention, memory, imagination, thinking and speech. With the help of these processes, a person receives and processes information about the world, and they also participate in the formation and transformation of knowledge. Personality contains properties that determine a person’s deeds and actions. These are emotions, abilities, dispositions, attitudes, motivation, temperament, character and will. Special branches of psychology
(Fig. 3), closely related to the theory and practice of teaching and raising children, include genetic psychology, psychophysiology, differential psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, educational psychology, medical psychology, pathopsychology, legal psychology, psychodiagnostics and psychotherapy.
Genetic psychology
studies the hereditary mechanisms of the psyche and behavior, their dependence on the genotype.
Differential psychology
identifies and describes individual differences in people, their prerequisites and the process of formation.
In developmental psychology,
these differences are presented by age. This branch of psychology also studies the changes that occur during the transition from one age to another. Genetic, differential and developmental psychology combined

Rice. 2. Structure of general psychology

Rice. 3. Branches of psychological science related to training and education

are the scientific basis for understanding the laws of child mental development. Social Psychology

studies human relationships, phenomena that arise in the process of communication and interaction of people with each other in various types of groups, in particular in the family, school, in student and teaching teams.
Such knowledge is necessary for psychologically correct organization of education. Educational psychology
brings together all information related to teaching and education. Particular attention is paid here to the justification and development of methods of training and education of people of different ages.

The following three branches of psychology are medical and pathopsychology,

as well as
psychotherapy -
deal with deviations from the norm in the human psyche and behavior.
The task of these branches of psychological science is to explain the causes of possible mental disorders and justify methods for their prevention and treatment. Such knowledge is necessary where the teacher deals with so-called difficult, including pedagogically neglected, children or people in need of psychological help. Legal psychology
examines a person’s assimilation of legal norms and rules of behavior and is also needed for education.
Psychodiagnostics
poses and solves the problems of psychological assessment of the level of development of children and their differentiation. The study of psychological sciences begins with general psychology, since without a sufficiently deep knowledge of the basic concepts introduced in the course of general psychology, it will be impossible to understand the material contained in the special sections of the course. However, what is proposed in the first book of the textbook is not general psychology in its pure form. Rather, it is a thematic selection of materials from various areas of psychological science that are important for the education and upbringing of children, although they are, of course, based on general psychological knowledge.

Or classification as in the lecture:

1) By the nature of the activity: pedagogical, legal, economic.

2) Taking into account development criteria: age, special (clinical), comparative (differential)

3) In relation to the individual and society: social psychology, personal development.

4). General characteristics of research methods in psychology. Planning and design of the study.

Scientific research methods are those techniques and means by which scientists obtain reliable information, which is then used to build scientific theories and develop practical recommendations. The strength of science largely depends on the perfection of research methods, on how valid and reliable they are, how quickly and effectively this branch of knowledge is able to perceive and use all the newest, most advanced that appears in the methods of other sciences. Where this can be done, there is usually a noticeable breakthrough in knowledge of the world.

All of the above applies to psychology.

Any independent science has only its own methods. Psychology also has such methods. All of them can be divided into two main groups: subjective

and
objective.
Validity and reliability of the psychodiagnostic test

To characterize the ability of a test to measure the actual level of a mental property or quality, the concept of “validity” is used. The validity of a test shows the extent to which it measures the quality (property, ability, characteristic, etc.) that it is intended to assess. Invalid, i.e., tests that do not have validity, are not suitable for practical use.

Subjective methods are based on self-assessments or self-reports of subjects, as well as on the opinion of researchers about a particular observed phenomenon or information received. With the separation of psychology into an independent science, subjective methods received priority development and continue to be improved at the present time. The very first methods of studying psychological phenomena were observation, introspection and questioning. Another group of methods of psychological science consists of modeling methods. They should be classified as a separate class of methods. They are used when using other methods is difficult. Their peculiarity is that, on the one hand, they rely on certain information about a particular mental phenomenon, and, on the other hand, their use, as a rule, does not require the participation of subjects or taking into account the real situation. Therefore, it can be very difficult to classify various modeling techniques as objective or subjective methods.

Models can be technical, logical, mathematical, cybernetic, etc. In mathematical modeling, a mathematical expression or formula is used, which reflects the relationship of variables and the relationships between them, reproducing elements and relationships in the phenomena being studied. Technical modeling involves the creation of a device or device that, in its action, resembles what is being studied. Cybernetic modeling is based on the use of concepts from the field of computer science and cybernetics to solve psychological problems. Logic modeling is based on the ideas and symbolism used in mathematical logic.

The development of computers and software for them gave impetus to the modeling of mental phenomena based on the laws of computer operation, since it turned out that the mental operations used by people, the logic of their reasoning when solving problems are close to the operations and logic on the basis of which computer programs work. This led to attempts to imagine and describe human behavior by analogy with the operation of a computer. In connection with these studies, the names of American scientists D. Miller, Y. Galanter, K. Pribram, as well as the Russian psychologist L. M. Wekker became widely known.

In addition to these methods, there are other methods for studying mental phenomena. For example, a conversation is a variant of a survey. The conversation method differs from a survey in greater freedom of procedure. As a rule, the conversation is conducted in a relaxed atmosphere, and the content of the questions varies depending on the situation and characteristics of the subject. Another method is;

A method of studying documents, or analyzing human activity. It should be borne in mind that the most effective study of mental phenomena is carried out through the complex application of various methods.

Planning and design of the study

Psychological research has several general stages and begins with awareness of the social need to solve a certain problem . Problem situations, which are formulated as tasks of a specific study, arise from general theoretical and practical tasks facing psychology as a science. For example, the tasks of studying the influence of certain types of activities of an individual on the development of certain aspects of his psyche are always relevant.

Next, the purpose of the study is defined as the desired end result of the study. The objectives of the research can be theoretical, practical and applied. Depending on the goals, the following types of scientific research are distinguished:

· Theoretical

– a conceptual model of the phenomena being studied is developed, after which the created theory is correlated with the results of other studies.

· Empirical

– aimed at obtaining and describing the obtained facts within the framework of any one theory.

· Applied

– aimed at solving any applied problem and implementing scientific results.

Figure 4 presents the goals and reasons for the research.

Scheme 4

Main types of research, their goals and reasons

Based on the existing problems, a specific goal and a theoretical analysis of published literature in the relevant field of psychology, the objectives of a particular study, its object and subject are determined. The object of research is the population of subjects that will be studied. The object of research can be an individual, a group of people, a community of people, etc. Therefore, to characterize the object of research, it is necessary to answer the question: who is being studied? When describing an object, the age of the subjects, their gender, level of education, state of mental health, etc. are determined.

The object of research is specified in the subject. The subject of research (cognition) is the properties, aspects, relationships of real objects considered in certain historical conditions. If the subject is not highlighted, it is difficult to assess the adequacy of the chosen methodological approach. To characterize the subject of research, it is necessary to establish what exactly is being studied in the object. Thus, when studying the choice of profession by high school students, the motives for choice can be the subject of research.

After the object and subject of the research have been determined, its tasks and goals have been set, the researcher reflects on what the main answer to the question posed might be, i.e. puts forward a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a scientific assumption arising from a theory that has not been confirmed or refuted. This is the intended answer to the question that is contained in the problem. Most often, a hypothesis establishes a possible connection between certain mental phenomena. There are general hypotheses and specific hypotheses that arise during the research itself.

The process of putting forward and refuting hypotheses is one of the main stages of a researcher’s activity. The quantity and quality of hypotheses is determined by the creative abilities of the researcher. When testing hypotheses, their number is limited to two: the main and the alternative, which is embodied in the research procedure. When putting forward hypotheses, it is necessary to take into account the results of previously conducted research, the general psychological laws of mental development and, to a certain extent, pedagogical experience. All this ensures the plausibility of the hypothesis. Another important quality of a correct hypothesis is its accessibility to testing. This means that when we put forward a hypothesis, we must be sure that we can prove its truth or falsity during the course of research. The stages of psychological research are reflected in the diagram.

Consciousness and psyche

The science that studies the psychological patterns of training and education is associated with mental phenomena:

• cognitive, emotional, motivational, volitional processes;
• creativity, joy, fatigue, sleep, stress;
• temperament, personality orientation, character

The correct selection of techniques and development methods depends on how deeply they are considered.

The science that studies the psychological laws of teaching and upbringing depends on the specifics of the human body, on the functioning of the cerebral cortex. It distinguishes:

• sensory areas that process and receive information from receptors and sense organs;
• motor areas that control human movements;
• association areas used for information processing.

The significance of observations in educational psychology

They represent a purposeful and systematic recording of specific psychological facts in ordinary conditions of everyday life. There are certain requirements for conducting and organizing scientific observation of a child:

• drawing up a sequence of actions;
• recording the results in an observation diary;
• summarizing.

The most important requirement for organizing observation is to ensure conditions in which the child does not know that he has become the object of research by a psychologist.

In this case, the specialist will have the opportunity to collect facts without distortion, which will become a condition for obtaining an objective picture of the research being conducted.

The disadvantages of this technique are the passive role of the school psychologist: minimal efficiency, insignificant repeatability, inaccuracy, complexity of analysis and identification of the necessary psychological facts.

In modern psychology, the relevance of introspection is not denied, but this method is given a secondary role. For example, it can become a source of additional information for subsequent changes in experimental methods. Self-observation is not a separate technique, since no one can refute or confirm the results presented by a person (school student, adult). The information obtained in such a case is devoid of scientific value.

In modern psychology, there are two types of experiments: natural and laboratory. The advantages of the second method lie in the active position of the researcher, which gives such an experiment positive characteristics:

• mobility;
• repeatability.

The researcher does not need to wait for the necessary facts to appear; he himself creates the situation that causes the analyzed psychological process. The use of modern measuring instruments gives laboratory psychological research accuracy and reliability.

This type of observation also has its negative features. For example, a child knows that he has become an object of study, so the naturalness of his behavior disappears. The results of such studies need to be tested in vivo to confirm the findings.

A natural experiment is similar to observation, but it has an active researcher position. The school psychologist organizes activities for the subject so that the necessary psychological qualities and characteristics arise. A psychological and pedagogical experiment is a type of natural experiment; it allows teachers to solve educational and training problems.