What is psychology: concept, subject of study, methods

Despite the fact that man is in constant development, and the world around him is changing all the time, the very nature of man and his behavior remain unchanged - they obey the same laws as many centuries ago. That is why general human psychology is still the object of interest of a huge number of scientists and specialists today.

General psychology as a science remains important and relevant. Numerous seminars, theoretical and practical courses, workshops and various types of training are devoted to teaching the basics of general psychology.

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

General psychology is a science that studies how cognitive processes, states, patterns and properties of the human psyche arise and are formed, and also generalizes various psychological studies, forms psychological knowledge, principles, methods and basic concepts.

The most complete description of these components is given 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 is such forms of mental activity as memory, character, thinking, temperament, perception, motivation, emotions, sensations and other processes, which we will touch on in more detail below. They are considered by this science in close connection with human life and activity, as well as with the special characteristics of individual ethnic groups and historical background.

Cognitive processes, human personality and its development inside and outside society, interpersonal relationships in different groups of people are subject to detailed study. General psychology is of great importance for such sciences as pedagogy, sociology, philosophy, art history, 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.

A theoretical course in general psychology usually includes the study of any specific thematic sections, areas, research, history and problems of this science. A practical course is, as a rule, mastering the methods of research, pedagogical and practical psychological work.

Application of psychological knowledge

In general, understanding yourself and people and being able to influence them is important in a variety of areas, which is why psychology can be different: children’s, family, pedagogical, corporate, military, and the like.

The principle here is simple. If you know how to name and describe your experience or some other mental activity, you are aware of it, understand it, and even master it to some extent.

An exercise in understanding other people

And before we move on to studying human psychology, we suggest you do a peer-test task to assess your ability to understand what is happening in the souls of other people. It consists of three steps:

• Read the description of the situation and write down what emotions you experienced while reading it.
• Read the responses of other users and try to understand why they experience these particular emotions.
• After that, you need to evaluate how well you understood the other person and how close your answer is to theirs.

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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 results.

1

Observation

Observation is the most ancient way of knowledge. Its simplest form is everyday observations. Every person uses it in their daily life. In general psychology, there are such types of observation as short-term, long-term (can take place even over several years), selective, continuous and special (participant observation, during which the observer is immersed in the group he himself is studying).

The standard observation procedure consists of several stages:

External observation (by an outsider) is considered objective. It can be direct or indirect. There is also self-observation. It can be either immediate - in the current moment, or 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 two other methods - conversation and experiment.

2

Conversation

Conversation as a psychological method involves direct/indirect, oral/written collection of information about the person being studied and his activities, as a result of which the 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 of questionnaires (written answers to questions).

A personal conversation between the researcher and the person being examined works best. At the same time, it is important to think through the conversation beforehand, draw up a plan and identify problems that should be identified. During the conversation, questions from the person being examined are also expected. A two-way conversation produces the best results and provides more information than just answering questions.

But the main method of research is experiment.

3

Experiment

An experiment is the active intervention of a specialist in the process of activity of the subject 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 guided by instructions. A person knows about the experiment, although he may not know its true meaning. Some experiments are carried out repeatedly and on a whole group of people - this makes it possible 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. The tests are short-term tasks that are similar for everyone, the results of which determine whether the test subjects have certain mental qualities and the level of their development. Various tests are created in order to make some predictions or make a diagnosis. They must always have a scientific basis, and must also be reliable and reveal accurate characteristics.

Because In methods of psychological research, the genetic principle plays a special role, then the genetic method is also distinguished. Its essence is the study of mental development in order to reveal 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 characteristics of the problem being studied. Therefore, along with the main methods of psychological research, a number of special auxiliary and intermediate techniques are often used.

Psychology methods are discussed in more detail in the next lesson.

The theory of activity in the works of A.N. Leontyev

A.N. Leontiev put forward the concept of activity, which is currently one of the recognized theoretical directions of modern psychology. Scheme of activity: (activity – action – operation – psychophysiological functions), correlated with the structure of the motivational sphere (motive – goal – condition).

The main concepts of this theory are activity, consciousness and personality.

Human activity has a complex hierarchical structure. It consists of several nonequilibrium levels. The top level is the level of special activities, then comes the level of actions, followed by the level of operations, and the lowest is the level of psychophysiological functions. The central place in this hierarchical structure is occupied by action, which is the main unit of activity analysis.

The main concepts of this theory are activity, consciousness and personality. Human activity has a complex hierarchical structure. It consists of…

Subject and object of general psychology

Any science is characterized, among other things, by the presence of its own subject and object of study. Moreover, the subject and object of science are different things. An object is only an aspect of the subject of science that is studied 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. Considering this fact, we can say the following.

The object of general psychology is the psyche itself, as a form of interaction of living beings with the world, which is expressed in their ability to translate their impulses into reality and function in the world on the basis of available information. And the human psyche, from the point of view of modern science, serves as a mediator between the subjective and the objective, and also realizes a person’s ideas about the external and internal, bodily and mental.

The subject of general psychology is the laws of the psyche, as a form of human interaction with the outside world. This form, due to its versatility, is subject to research in completely different aspects, which are studied by different branches of psychological science. The subject 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 identify many objects for research within it, there are currently general theories of psychology in psychological science that are oriented towards different scientific ideals and psychological practice itself, which develops certain psychotechniques to influence consciousness and control it. But no matter how complex the ways in which psychological thought advances, constantly transforming the object of its research and thereby plunging deeper into the subject, no matter what changes and additions it is subject to and no matter what terms it is designated, it is still possible to identify the main blocks of terms, which characterize the object of psychology. These include:

• mental processes - psychology studies mental phenomena in the process of formation and development, the product of which are results formed into images, thoughts, emotions, etc.;
• mental states – activity, depression, vigor, etc.;
• mental properties of a person - determination, hard work, temperament, character;
• mental new formations are the knowledge, skills and abilities that a person acquires throughout his life.

Let's check how you understood what you just read:

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

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);

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.

Feel

Sensations are mental processes that are mental reflections of individual states and properties of the external world, arising from direct influence on the senses, a person’s subjective perception of external and internal stimuli 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.

Sensations have the following properties:

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

There are several classifications of sensations. The first of them 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 for a more serious classification arose. Today there are the following classifications:

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

Read more about sensations in the article “Sensation and Perception.”

History[edit | edit wiki text]

Main article: History of psychology

Domestic psychologist S. L. Rubinstein at the time of 1940 characterized psychology from a historical point of view as follows [13]:

“Psychology is both a very old and a very young science - it has a 1000-year past behind it, and, nevertheless, it is still in the future. Its existence as an independent scientific discipline dates back only decades, but its main problems have occupied its philosophical thought for as long as philosophy has existed. Years of experimental research were preceded by centuries of philosophical reflection, on the one hand, and millennia of practical knowledge of people, on the other.”

Antiquity[edit | edit wiki text]

Early ancient authors often paid attention in their work to the problems of human nature, his soul and mind. To date, from the entire spectrum of views of ancient authors, only the classification of temperaments of Hippocrates has reached, although many of Plato’s ideas influenced the development of the philosophical foundations of ideas about the psyche, in particular, the idea of ​​​​a person as a being torn apart by an internal conflict of motives, was reflected in psychoanalytic ideas about the structure of personality. Like most other sciences, the “grandfather” of psychology can rightly be called Aristotle, who in his treatise “On the Soul” gave a detailed analysis of the subject of psychological research.

Middle Ages[edit | edit wiki text]

Medieval writings on psychology in Europe were generally concentrated on questions of faith and reason, and Christian philosophers, starting with Thomas Aquinas, borrowed ideas from Aristotle

. Among the Eastern scientists, Ibn Sina (Avicenna) paid attention to psychological issues.

New time[edit | edit wiki text]

Rudolf Gocklenius

In 1590, Rudolf Gocklenius first used the term "psychology" to refer to the science of the soul. His contemporary Otto Kasmann is considered the first to use the term “psychology” in the modern scientific sense.

Representatives of modern times (for example, Rene Descartes) believed that the body and soul have a different nature - this was a new look at the problem of psychology. “The soul and body live and act according to different laws and have different natures,” wrote Descartes.

XVIII century[edit | edit wiki text]

On August 3, 1795, the British royal astronomer Neville Maskelyne first discovered errors made by his assistant David Kinnbrook in the calculations. Kinnbroek was fired, but error analysis by another astronomer, Friedrich Bezzel, initiated the systematic study of reaction times, individual differences, and mental chronometry .

) as criteria for cognitive processes.

XIX century[edit | edit wiki text]

Wilhelm Wundt

The nineteenth century became for psychology the century of its gradual emergence as a scientific discipline, the separation of relevant areas from philosophy, medicine, and exact sciences.

Ernst Weber explores the dependence of the intensity of sensations on the intensity of the stimuli that cause them.

Hermann Helmholtz explores the nervous system as the basis of the psyche, formulates ideas about “automatic conclusions” that underlie the perception of space.

However, the main name in the history of the formation of psychology as a science is Wilhelm Wundt. A student and colleague of Helmholtz, Wundt in 1879 opened the world's first psychological laboratory, in which studies of the phenomena of consciousness took place using the method of introspection. This year is considered the year of birth of psychology as a science.

XX century[edit | edit wiki text]

The first decades[edit | edit wiki text]

The very beginning of the twentieth century was marked by rapid growth in several directions. On the one hand, psychoanalysis is actively developing - a school of psychotherapy, originally based on the works of Sigmund Freud, in which a person was described as a system of several independent personality structures fighting with each other - It (Id), I (Ego), Super-I (Superego). ). In this conflict, the It represents the biological needs of a person, of which psychoanalysts paid the main attention to sexual needs, and the Super-Ego represents the requirements of society and culture. The development of this school had a strong influence not only on practice, but also on science, forcing scientists to pay attention to phenomena that are beyond consciousness, to the unconscious determinants of mental activity. The ideas of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis were criticized, developed and expanded in various areas of depth psychology, mainly by Freud's former colleagues such as Alfred Adler (individual psychology) and Carl Gustav Jung (analytical psychology), and later by neo-Freudians such as Erich Fromm, Karen Horney, Harry Stack Sullivan, Jacques Lacan and others.

In the USA, behaviorism is actively developing - a school of psychology founded by J. Watson, based on the works of I. P. Pavlov and E. Thorndike on learning. Behaviorists followed the positivist requirement to exclude from the consideration of science all phenomena other than those directly observable. A person was viewed as a “black box” into which stimuli enter and reactions to these stimuli come out.

Gestalt psychology is developing in Germany (M. Wertheimer, K. Koffka, W. Köhler), which is a further development on the path of studying the phenomena of consciousness. Unlike their predecessors, the Gestaltists did not try to identify the “bricks” from which consciousness is built; on the contrary, they believed that their main law was that “the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts.” Within the framework of this school, many phenomena of perception and thinking were discovered.

The First World War stimulated the development of applied aspects of psychology, primarily psychodiagnostics, as the army needed a means of assessing the capabilities of soldiers. Intelligence tests are being developed (A. Binet, R. Yerkes).

1930-1940s[edit | edit wiki text]

The Nazis came to power in Germany, as a result of which many psychologists (among whom there were many Jews) were forced to emigrate to the United States. Gestalt psychology practically ceases to exist, but K. Lewin and the followers of the Gestaltists become the main figures of American social psychology. Nevertheless, thinkers such as Carl Jung and Martin Heideger remained working in Nazi Germany. Jung continues to develop his teaching about the collective unconscious; in 1934 he released one of his fundamental works, Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious

».

Among behaviorists, on the one hand, attempts begin, while maintaining a natural scientific foundation, to introduce intrapsychic variables into the explanation of behavior (E. Tolman, K. Hull), on the other hand, B.F. Skinner develops “radical behaviorism”, developing the theory of operant learning .

J. Piaget publishes the results of studies of thinking in which similar types of errors were found in children of the same age, which are practically no longer found in older children.

Psychological and psychotherapeutic practice is actively developing. Various areas of depth psychology continued to develop, and forms of psychotherapy alternative to psychoanalysis (Gestalt therapy, etc.) were being formed.

L. S. Vygotsky formulates the basic principles of cultural-historical psychology based on Marxism. Within the framework of this direction, the need was postulated to study personality directly in the process of development, occurring under the influence of history and culture. On the basis of this direction, the theory of activity was subsequently built.

The resolution “On pedological perversions in the system of People's Commissariat for Education” (1936), which eliminated pedology, practically froze the development of psychological science in the USSR for several decades.

The Second World War causes a new surge in the activity of psychologists in the field of applied technologies. Particular attention is paid to social psychology and ergonomics.

1950-1960s[edit | edit wiki text]

These decades are the era of the flourishing of psychological science, active growth in many directions. In modern textbooks, most of the material is devoted to experiments and research conducted during this period.

The theory of behaviorism could not provide answers to many questions that developing industry and military technology posed to science. The development of the most effective forms of presenting information on control panels of complex devices and other tasks required active study of not only simple reactions to stimuli, but the complex mechanisms underlying perception. As a result of such a request, a field begins to develop that will later be called “cognitive psychology” - D. Broadbent conducts his research into the mechanisms of attention, publishes the famous article about “The Magic Number Seven Plus or Minus Two” by J. Miller.

Behavior modification techniques based on the theory of behaviorism are actively developing. J. Volpe develops a technique of systematic desensitization, which turns out to be very effective in the treatment of various types of phobias.

Against this background, humanistic psychology and psychotherapy appear as an attempt to overcome the reduction of man to an automaton or animal (the theories of behaviorism and psychoanalysis). Humanistic psychologists propose to consider a person as a being of a higher level, endowed with free will and the desire for self-actualization.

There is a rapid development of social psychology in the United States. Solomon Ash, Muzafer Sherif, Stanley Milgram, Leon Festinger and other famous psychologists conduct their famous studies.

In the late 60s, along with the growing popularity of New Age culture, psychology was strongly influenced by mysticism; In the wake of the success of research into psychedelic substances and new areas of consciousness, transpersonal psychology emerges, and a number of schools of personal growth training are developing, some of which eventually turn into religious cults: (Scientology, Lifespring).

In 1966, the departments of psychology were created at Moscow State University and Leningrad State University, as well as the department of psychiatry and medical psychology at RUDN University, which demonstrates the end of 30 years of persecution of psychologists. To a significant extent, this was due to the emergence of demand for psychologists in production and in the army. Engineering psychology is actively developing in the USSR. However, due to objective reasons, domestic psychology has to remain extremely ideological in accordance with Marxist-Leninist constructs - this circumstance will give its further development a certain specificity. To this day, Marxist-Leninist theories (see reflection theory) one way or another retain influence on the training program for psychologists in some Russian universities.

1970-1980s[edit | edit wiki text]

There is a rapid growth of cognitive psychology, which followed the path of gradual refutation of its initial postulates about the essence of the human psyche as an information processing system with limited bandwidth. During this period, psychology established active connections with linguistics, which became inevitable after the “Chomskyan revolution”; psycholinguistics emerges.

In other areas of psychology, there is a stable growth and accumulation of knowledge, at the same time, the feeling of the “eternal crisis” of psychological thought is again intensifying, since none of the current directions gives hope for the imminent appearance of a truly complete theory that explains human behavior.

Modernity[edit | edit wiki text]

Currently, methods based on various types of tomography have become important in the study of the psyche. The use of tomography makes it possible to determine the structure and study the functioning of neural networks. To study the connections between the functioning of the psyche for various types of mental activity under various conditions with the structure and functioning of the brain, functional magnetic resonance imaging is used, which makes it possible to determine the activation of brain regions during its normal functioning (see, for example, [14]). To study mental processes at the molecular level, including metabolism, transport of substances, ligand-receptor interactions, gene expression, etc., positron emission tomography (PET) is used (see, for example, [15]). In particular, PET is used to study the participation of various neurotransmitters in neurophysiological and mental processes.

Perception

Perception is a cognitive process that forms the subject’s picture of the world. A mental operation that reflects an object or phenomenon that affects the receptors of the sense organs. Perception is a complex function that determines the reception and transformation of information and forms a subjective image of an object for the subject. Through attention, a whole object is discovered, its special features and content are highlighted, and a sensory image is formed, i.e. comprehension occurs.

Perception is divided into four levels:

• Detection (perceptual action) – image formation;
• Discrimination (perceptual action) is the perception of the image itself;
• Identification (recognition 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. More information about perception can be found in the articles “Sensation and Perception” and “Mental Processes: Types and Brief Description.”

Attention

Attention is the selective perception of a particular object. It is expressed in how a person relates to an object. Attention can often be backed by such psychological characteristics of the individual as need, interest, focus, attitudes and others. Attention also determines how a person navigates the world around him 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 has the greatest significance for a person at the moment. Maintaining attention for a long time on an object is called concentration.

functions :

• Detection
• Selective attention
• Divided attention

Attention can be voluntary and involuntary. According to forms, it is divided into:

• External – aimed at the outside world;
• Internal – aimed at the inner world of a person;
• Motor

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

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

Read more about attention in our lesson “Attention and Memory” from the course on memory development.

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Representation

In the process of representation, mental reconstruction of images of phenomena or objects that do not currently affect the senses occurs. There are two meanings of this concept. The first denotes the image of a phenomenon or object that was previously perceived, but is not perceived now. The second describes the reproduction of images itself. As mental phenomena, ideas can be somewhat similar to perception, hallucinations and pseudohallucinations, or different from them.

Views are classified in several ways:

• According to 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 voluntary.

Representations have the following properties: generality, fragmentation, clarity, instability.

Read more about ideas in psychology in our article “Mental processes: types and brief characteristics.”

Memory

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

Memory is also divided into typologies:

• By sensory modality - visual, kinesthetic, sound, gustatory, pain;
• In terms of content – ​​emotional, figurative, motor;
• According to the organization of memorization - procedural, semantic, episodic;
• According to time characteristics – ultra-short-term, short-term, long-term;
• According to physiological characteristics - long-term and short-term;
• According to the availability of funds - non-mediated and indirect;
• According to the presence of a goal - involuntary and voluntary;
• According to the level of development - verbal-logical, figurative, emotional and motor.

You will find ways and techniques for developing memory in a separate training on our website.

Imagination

Imagination is the ability of a person’s consciousness to create and manage ideas, ideas and images. It plays a major role in mental processes such as planning, modeling, play, memory and creativity. This is the basis of a person’s visual-figurative thinking, which allows him to solve certain problems and understand the situation without practical intervention. A type of imagination is fantasy.

There is also a classification of imagination:

• According to the degree of direction - active and passive imagination.
• The results show reproductive and creative imagination.
• By type of images – abstract and concrete.
• According to the degree of volitional effort - unintentional and intentional.
• Techniques: typification, schematization, hyperbolization, agglutination.

Mechanisms of imagination:

• typing;
• accentuation;
• schematization;
• agglutination;
• hyperbolization.

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

Read more about imagination in psychology in the article “Mental processes: types and brief description.” In addition, the lesson “Development of Creative Imagination” from our course on creative thinking is devoted to the problems of developing imagination.

Thinking

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

Thinking is the highest stage of human information processing and the process of establishing connections between phenomena and objects of the external world.

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

Thinking is divided into:

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

And the main forms of thinking are:

• Concept – thoughts that highlight and generalize phenomena and objects;
• Judgment - denial or affirmation of something;
• Inference - conclusion.

These and other components of the thinking process are discussed in our logical thinking training.

Speech

Speech is a form of communication between people through linguistic structures. In this process, thoughts are formed and formulated using language, and the received speech information is perceived and understood. Speech is a form of existence of human language, because. speech is language in action.

Language (speech) performs the following functions:

• A tool for intellectual activity;
• Method 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 knowledge of the world around us and the transfer of knowledge and experience to others. Being a means of expressing thoughts, it is one of the main mechanisms of human thinking. It depends on the form of communication and is thus divided into oral (speaking/listening) and written (writing/reading).

Speech has the following properties:

• Content – ​​the number and significance of expressed aspirations, feelings and thoughts;
• Clarity – correctness;
• Expressiveness – emotional coloring and richness of language;
• Effectiveness is the influence exerted on other people, their feelings, thoughts, emotions, etc.

You can read more about speaking and writing in our trainings on public speaking and writing.

The concept of consciousness. Functions, structure

Consciousness is the highest, human-specific form of generalized reflection of the objective stable properties and patterns of the surrounding world, the formation of a person’s internal model of the external world, as a result of which knowledge and transformation of the surrounding reality is achieved.

Properties of consciousness: building relationships, cognition and experience

Functions of consciousness:

1) reflective,

2) generative (creative-creative),

3) regulatory-evaluative,

4) reflexive - the main function that characterizes the essence of consciousness.

There are two layers of consciousness (V.P. Zinchenko).

I. Existential consciousness (consciousness for being), which includes: 1) biodynamic properties of movements, experience of actions; 2) sensory images.

II. Reflective consciousness (consciousness for consciousness), including: 1) meaning; 2) meaning.

Consciousness develops in humans only through social contacts. In phylogenesis, human consciousness developed and becomes possible only under conditions of active influence on nature, in conditions of labor activity. Consciousness is possible only in the conditions of the existence of language, speech, which arises simultaneously with consciousness in the process of labor.

Properties of consciousness: building relationships, cognition and experience Functions of consciousness: 1) reflective,

Emotions

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

Characteristics of emotions are:

• Tone (valence) – positive or negative emotions;
• Intensity – strong or weak emotions;
• Stenicity – influence on human activity: sthenic (inducing action) and asthenic (reducing activity);
• Content – ​​reflects different facets of the meaning of situations that arouse emotions.

Emotions in most cases manifest themselves in physiological reactions, because the latter depend on them. But today there is debate about the fact that intentional physiological states can cause certain emotions.

These and other issues of understanding and managing emotions are discussed in our acting training.

Humoral theory.

Back in ancient Greece, the physician Hippocrates proposed the concept of temperament. Temperament depends on the ratio of the four body fluids and which one predominates: blood (in Latin "sangve"), mucus (in Greek "phlegm"), red-yellow bile (in Greek "chole"), black bile (in Greek "melaine chole").

The mixture of these fluids, Hippocrates argued, underlies the main types of temperaments: sanguine, choleric, melancholic and phlegmatic.

Having given, in general, a correct description of the basic temperaments, Hippocrates could not give a scientific justification for them.

The mixture of these liquids, Hippocrates argued, underlies the main types of temperaments: sanguine, choleric, melancholic and... Having, in general, given a correct description of the basic temperaments, Hippocrates could not...

Constitutional theory.

It arose in the 20th century (Kretschmer, Sheldon).

The main idea is to establish a connection between temperament and a person’s physique.

Sheldon argued that body type depends on how a person’s intrauterine development proceeded.

Kretschmer correlated certain personality types with types of body structure.

Will

Will is the ability of a person to consciously control his psyche and actions. The achievement of set goals and results can be considered a manifestation of will. It has many positive qualities that influence the success of human activity. The main volitional qualities are considered to be persistence, courage, patience, independence, focus, determination, initiative, endurance, courage, self-control and others. Will encourages action, allows a person to manage desires and realize them, develops self-control and strength of character.

Signs of an act of will:

• Efforts of will in many cases are aimed at overcoming one’s weaknesses;
• Performing any action without receiving pleasure from this process;
• Availability of an action plan;
• Putting effort into doing something.

Read more about will in psychology in the articles “Mental processes: types and brief description” and “Will and volitional actions.”

Mental properties and states

Mental properties 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 conglomerate of needs, goals and motives of a person that determine the nature of his activities. It expresses the whole meaning of a person’s actions and his worldview.

Temperament gives characteristics to a person’s activity and behavior. It can manifest itself in increased sensitivity, emotionality, resistance to stress, the ability to adapt to external conditions or the lack thereof, etc.

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

Abilities are the mental properties of a person, reflecting his characteristics, which allow a person to successfully engage in certain types of activities. Abilities are distinguished between special (for a specific type of activity) and general (for most types of activity).

Mental states are a system of psychological characteristics that provide a person’s subjective perception of the world around him. Mental states influence how mental processes proceed, and when regularly repeated, they can become part of a person’s personality - its property.

Mental states are related to each other. But they can still be classified. The most common ones are:

• 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 - conditioned by the situation or personally;
• According to the degree of expression - superficial and deep;
• By emotional coloring – positive, neutral and negative;
• By duration – short-term, medium-duration, long-term;
• According to the degree of awareness - conscious and unconscious;
• According to the level of manifestation - physiological, psychophysiological, psychological.

mental states are common to most people

• Optimal performance;
• Tension;
• Interest;
• Inspiration;
• Fatigue;
• Monotony;
• Stress;
• Relaxation;
• Dream;
• Wakefulness.

Other common mental states include love, anger, fear, surprise, admiration, depression, detachment and others.

Read more about mental properties and states in the article “Properties of Mental States.”

Structure of self-awareness, self-esteem

The epicenter of consciousness is the consciousness of one’s own “I”. The image of “I” is the separation of oneself from the environment.

Self-awareness – awareness of oneself, one’s needs, motives, one’s qualities; the highest form of consciousness.

Self-awareness includes self-knowledge and self-relation.

Structure of self-awareness:

1) Awareness of your goals and motives.

2) Awareness: I am real, I am ideal.

3) Cognitive representations

4) Emotional-sensual self-knowledge and self-attitude.

Self-esteem is a person’s assessment of himself.

Self-awareness – awareness of oneself, one’s needs, motives, one’s qualities; the highest form of consciousness. Self-awareness includes self-knowledge and self-relation. Structure of self-awareness:

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Key performance indicators of a teacher (through the eyes of students in grades 9–11)

... to the teacher. The maximum score is 75, which indicates the student’s high assessment of the teacher’s work.

Specifics of the unconscious, its structure.

Topic 1.3. Activity as a way of existence

Concept of activity

Activity is the active interaction of a person with the environment, as a result of which he achieves a consciously set goal that arose as a result of the emergence of a certain need or motive.

Motivation

Motivation is the drive to perform an action. This process controls human behavior and determines its direction, stability, activity and organization. Thanks to motivation, a person can satisfy his needs.

There are several types of motivation:

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

Motivation can be of the following types:

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

There are certain motives that in most cases guide people:

• Self-affirmation;
• Identification with other people;
• Power;
• Self-development;
• Achieving something;
• Social significance;
• The desire to be in the company of certain people;
• Negative factors.

Motivation issues are discussed in more detail in the fourth lesson of this course, as well as in the article “How Motivation Works.”

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.

Requirements for methods of psychological research

For the reliability of the results of psychodiagnostic research, it is necessary that psychodiagnostic methods meet a number of requirements.1. Validity - “completeness”, “suitability”, “compliance” - is determined by the correspondence of the indicators of the quality being studied, obtained using this technique, to the indicators obtained using other techniques.2. Reliability – characterizes the possibility of obtaining stable indicators using this technique. The reliability of a psychodiagnostic technique can be established in two ways: by comparing the results obtained by this technique by different people, by comparing the results obtained by the same technique under different conditions.3. The unambiguity of the technique is characterized by the extent to which the data obtained with its help reflect changes in precisely that property

, for the assessment of which this technique is used.4.
Accuracy – reflects the ability of the technique to subtly respond to the slightest changes in the assessed property that occur during a psychodiagnostic experiment.
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The structure of the human psyche. Consciousness as the highest level of mental development

... (and selectivity) to releasers. Social behavior Social behavior includes manifestations of mental activity directly related to the interaction between individuals and their groups. There are two...

Topic 1.2. Psyche and its development

The concept of the psyche, its structure and functions

Psyche is a systemic quality of the brain

The psyche is the essence where the diversity of nature gathers into its unity, it is a virtual compression of nature, it is a reflection of the objective world in its connections and relationships.

Recommended reading

In order to dive deeper into the study of general psychology, you need to arm yourself with the most popular and influential tools in scientific circles, which are the works of famous authors of textbooks and manuals on psychology. Below is a short 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, issues 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. Intended for teachers, graduate students and university students.

Rubinstein 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 research results, examples from fiction and real-life situations, and also perfectly combines 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 just beginning to master psychology.

Petrovsky A.V. General psychology.

Expanded and revised edition of “General Psychology”. The textbook presents the basics of psychological science, and also summarizes information from many textbooks (“Age and educational psychology”, “Practical classes in psychology”, “Collection of problems in general psychology”). The book is intended for students who are serious about studying 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 soul. Any educated person should know the basics of this science of life, because... It is very important to get to know not only the world around you, but also other people. Thanks to psychological knowledge, you can build your relationships with others and organize your personal activities much more effectively, as well as improve yourself. It is for these reasons that all the thinkers of antiquity always said that a person must first know himself.

Foreign theories

1. Structuralism - W. Wundt, E. Titchener (division of consciousness into separate

elements).

2. Functionalism - F. Galton, W. James, D. Dewey (mental functioning)

3. Behaviorism - E.L. Thorndike, J. Watson (studies behavior).

4. Psychoanalysis - Z. Freud (the role of the unconscious, sexual).

5. Neo-Freudianism - K. Horney, G.S. Sullivan, K. Jung (discovered extroverts and

introverts).

6. Gestalt psychology - K. Koffka, K. Köhler (psychology of the properties of the whole

determine the properties of its parts).

7. Genetic psychology - J. Piaget (study of mental development

child, his intelligence).

8. Cognitive psychology -J. Bruner, G. Simon, F. Heider (knowledge, cognition,

computer technology, cybernetics).

9. Humanistic psychology - K. Rogers, A. Maslow (creative possibilities

person)

10. Associative theories (associations - connections)

elements).

2. Functionalism - F. Galton, W. James, D. Dewey (mental functioning) 3. Behaviorism - E. L. Thorndike, J. Watson (studies behavior).

Domestic theories

1. Cultural-historical theory - L.S. Vygotsky.

2. Theory of activity - A.N. Leontiev.

3. Theory of leading activity - P.Ya. Galperin, A.R. Luria, D.B. Elkonin,

A.V. Zaporozhets.

4. Unity of consciousness and activity - S.L. Rubinstein

5. Psychology of individual differences – B.M. Teplov, V.S. Merlin.

6. Psychology of relationships – V.N. Myasishchev.

7. Human knowledge – B.G. Ananyev.