Psychology. Chapter 1. Subject and tasks of psychology (Vadim Stupnitsky, 2011)

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.

Tasks and significance of psychology.

The following tasks are distinguished in psychology:

1. Discovery and study of the laws of human mental activity.

The study of the laws of mental activity is necessary in order to use them in practice when organizing various types of educational, labor, and creative human activities. The laws of psychology show how the objective world is reflected in the human brain, how a person perceives the world around him, how mental activity develops with age, and a person’s mental properties are formed.

2. Study of the dependence of mental phenomena on human living conditions and activities.

Psychology explains how a person’s personality develops under the influence of various conditions.

3. Discover the essence of mental phenomena.

Knowledge of the psychology of students, the psychology of their education and upbringing forms the basis of all methods and pedagogy. Without knowledge of the psychological foundations of children's development, it is impossible to correctly build the process of education and training. Is it possible to educate will, character, and develop a person’s abilities without knowing what will, character, abilities are and how they develop.

4.Discover and study new mental facts and patterns.

Psychology can be considered both a science and an academic subject. Psychology as a science has the task of studying and scientifically explaining mental phenomena. Psychology as an academic subject in pedagogical educational institutions has the goal of introducing future teachers and educators to the basic principles of scientific psychology in order to psychologically substantiate the important provisions of pedagogy and methods of teaching and education. Learn to understand your own mental life and the mental life of children of different ages. Learn to organize work on self-education, purposefully manage the behavior and activities of children.

Thus, psychology studies the patterns of mental activity in order to correctly understand a person and skillfully influence him.

At the same time, psychology sets itself a number of other tasks:

1) study the qualitative (structural) features of mental phenomena and processes, which is not only theoretical, but also of great practical importance;

analyze the formation and development of mental phenomena and processes in connection with the determination of the psyche by the objective conditions of people’s lives and activities;
explore the physiological mechanisms underlying mental phenomena, since without their knowledge it is impossible to correctly master the practical means of their formation and development;

4) promote the systematic implementation of scientific knowledge of psychology into practice (development of scientific and practical methods of training and education, rationalization of the labor process in various types of human activity).

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.

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:

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

External observation (by an outsider) is considered objective. It can be direct or indirect. There is also self-observation. It can be 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.

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.

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.

A Brief History of the Development of Psychology

Psychology is a science, on the one hand, very old, and on the other, very young. On the one hand, its age is 2400 years. The first systematic presentation of mental phenomena was proposed by the ancient Greek scientist Aristotle

in his treatise “On the Soul”.

Aristotle is considered the founder of psychology.

On the other hand, scientific and experimental studies of mental phenomena and patterns began in the middle of the 19th century, and truly scientific psychology began to take shape later - at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries.

In the history of the development of psychology as a science, 4 periods can be distinguished.

Period I: Psychology is the science of the soul. This period lasted from the 4th century BC to the 16th century AD.

The science of psychology began with Aristotle’s treatise “On the Soul,” therefore, translated from ancient Greek, psychology means “the science of the soul.” Scientists during this period were engaged in the study of mental or mental phenomena that every person can detect in his consciousness through introspection. The main method of studying the psyche was introspection, i.e. introspection.

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Unity of psyche and activity

... tviy and internal conditions of development, the unity of the psyche and activity, systematicity and development - these are the basic methodological principles. The activity of a psychologist, the end result of which is ... questionnaires, batteries of tests, characterize the limitations of the methods. Observable and measurable characteristics of the object being studied according to its characteristics, as well as others , inaccessible to direct observation and...

During this period, Socrates, Plato, Heraclitus, and Democritus made a great contribution to the development of science .

II period: Psychology - the science of consciousness. It lasted from the 16th century to the beginning of the 19th century AD.

This is a time of discoveries in the field of physiology and anatomy. Discoveries in the field of physiology and anatomy were a new starting point in the development of psychology; they brought new impetus to the development of science. This is a new era in the development of psychological data.

Descartes discovered the reflex. Czech scientist I. Prochazka

- reflex arc.
The German scientist E. Weber
studied the work of the senses.
C. Darwin
and Russian scientists
I.P. Pavlov and I.N.
Sechenov studied the functioning of the nervous system and brain.

These discoveries in the field of physiology made it possible to come to the idea that the psyche is determined by the work of the nervous system and cerebral cortex, i.e. The psyche is based on the activity of the nervous system and brain.

III period: Psychology - the science of behavior. Beginning of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century.

This is the stage of experimental and differential psychology. At this stage, truly scientific psychology takes shape - the first laboratories, special equipment, and instruments for studying the psyche appear. New research methods are emerging, for example, laboratory experiments. One of the first laboratories appeared in Leipzig in Germany, its founder was the German scientist W. Wundt.

A new research method is emerging - a natural experiment, its author is the Russian scientist
A.F. Lazursky.
New methods are emerging: testing, questioning. New techniques are being developed.

A huge number of scientists both in Russia and abroad are developing the science of psychology. For example, G. Eysenck

- creates a “Test to Determine Temperament”.
R. Cattell
- “16-factor questionnaire for the study of personality.”
Psychoanalyst Z. Freud
deals with issues of the unconscious.
A huge contribution was made by Russian scientists D.M. Teplov S.L. Rubinstein, L.S. Vygotsky, A.V.
Petrovsky. IV period: The current stage of development of psychology. Scientists study facts, patterns, and mechanisms of the psyche. New branches of psychology are being created: genetic, parapsychology, psychodiagnostics. Representatives of this stage are: I.V.Dubrovina, P.Ya.Yaroshevsky, E.EKravtsova, N.I. Gutkin.

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.

Types of psychology

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

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.
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.

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.”

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.

Ticket 1. Psychology as a science, its object and subject of research.

Ticket 1. Psychology as a science, its object and subject of research.

Psychology is a science that studies the patterns of development and functioning of the psyche and the development of the psyche.

The object of study of psychology is the human mental world.

Psyche is a property of highly organized living matter, which consists in an active subjective reflection of the objective world, regulation of its internal environment and its behavior when external conditions change.

The content of the psyche are images of real objects that are individual. The materialistic understanding of the psyche is expressed in the fact that it is considered as a secondary phenomenon, derived from matter.

The subject of psychology is mental processes, properties, the state of a person, his consciousness and the patterns of his behavior.

Ticket 2. Objectives and characteristics of the basic methods of psychological science.

Tasks of psychology:

· Development of psychology methodology.

· Using psychological knowledge to improve the efficiency of those areas of practice.

· Be the theoretical basis of psychological practice.

Psychology methods:

· Methods of collecting information (observations, studying performance results, studying documents, questioning, testing, studying biography);

· Data processing methods (statistical analysis, factor analysis (identification of the most significant factors));

· Methods of psychological influence (discussion, training, formative experiment, persuasion, suggestion, relaxation).

Ticket 3. Modern ideas about the stages of mental development.

1. Irritability is a simple form of all living things to react to the influence of the external environment.

2. Sensitivity is a signal form of irritability that allows you to navigate in a more complex environment.

3. Instinctive behavior. Instincts are an innate stereotypical automatic response based on unconditioned reflexes.

4. Conditioned reflex behavior is the ability to acquire skills.

5. Rational behavior is the ability to reflect complex relationships and relationships between objects.

6. Consciousness is the highest integrated form of the psyche, the result of social historical conditions in work activity with constant communication with other people.

Ticket 4. The concept of consciousness as the highest stage of mental development.

The main difference between the human psyche and the psyche of animals is the presence of consciousness, especially self-awareness.

Consciousness -

This is the highest integrated form of the psyche, the result of social historical conditions for the formation of a person in work activity with constant communication with other people. Consciousness determines the preliminary, mental construction of actions, the anticipation of their consequences, the control and management of human behavior, his ability to be aware of what is happening in the world around him and in himself. Self-awareness is an integral sign of consciousness, a person’s assessment of himself as an individual.

Historically, consciousness arose together with thinking and speech in the process of human activity and communication. The child's consciousness also develops in the process of interaction with people. A person may lose consciousness during sleep, fainting, shock, or under the influence of anesthesia, although the psyche continues to function.

Forms of consciousness: individual, group and social. The first two are studied by psychology, the third by social sciences.

The structure of consciousness can be considered in terms of various aspects of a person’s relationship to the world. As follows from the very etymology of the word “consciousness”, its core is knowledge, as well as the forms of its manifestation and transformation (sensation, perception, idea, concept, judgment, inference). Various forms of knowledge constitute a very significant part of the content of consciousness, but do not exhaust it completely. An equally important component of consciousness is emotional experiences, as well as will, expressed in the purposefulness of human actions.

Ticket 5. The concept of mental processes, their structure and role in the mental activity of the individual.

The mental processes by which images of the environment are formed, as well as images of the internal environment of the organism itself, are called cognitive mental processes. They provide a person with knowledge about the world around him and about himself.

All mental processes are conventionally divided into 3 large groups:

1. Cognitive, aimed at reflecting the surrounding reality (These include: sensations, perception, thinking, memory, imagination).

2. Volitional, aimed at regulating and organizing behavior (These include: speech, will, attention.

3. Emotional (emotions, feelings).

Each of these processes, regardless of classification, has its own characteristics and makes its own special contribution to the formation of an internally connected, dynamic, but at the same time holistic picture of the world. Occurring simultaneously, these processes interact so harmoniously and so imperceptibly for us that we perceive the world not as a jumble of shapes, colors, smells, etc., but precisely as a world located outside of us

, holistically filled with light, sounds, smells, objects, representing a kind of organic unity.

Mental processes act as the most important components of any activity. In order to satisfy his needs, communicate, play, study and work, a person must perceive the world, pay attention to certain moments or components of activity, imagine what he needs to do, see, remember, think about. Consequently, without the participation of mental processes, human activity is impossible; they act as its integral internal moments

But it turns out that mental processes do not just participate in activity, but they develop in it. As a result of practical manipulation with three-dimensional, nearby and distant objects, a person learns to perceive and evaluate forms. Tracking movements of the hand and eye, accompanied by coordinated contractions of certain muscle groups, contribute to the formation of the perception of movement and its direction.

Imagination, like perception, is associated with activity. Firstly, a person is not able to imagine or imagine something that has never appeared in experience, was not an element, subject, condition or moment of any activity. The texture of imagination is, although not a literal, reflection of the experience of practical activity.

This applies even more to memory,

moreover, to its two main processes simultaneously: memorization and reproduction. Memorization is carried out in activity. This is structuring, comprehension, associating material with known facts, including various objects and movements in the memorization process, etc. Recall also involves performing certain actions aimed at promptly and accurately recalling the material imprinted in memory.

Thinking

- This is the highest level of human knowledge of reality. The sensory basis of thinking is sensations, perceptions and ideas. Information enters the brain through the senses. The content of information is processed by him. This transition from sensation to thought is a complex process; its implementation would be impossible without the holistic interaction of all mental processes.

Absolute threshold

• lower absolute threshold of sensation

– the lowest strength of the stimulus, at which a barely noticeable sensation occurs;

• upper absolute threshold of sensation

– the greatest strength of the stimulus at which a sensation of this type still occurs;

• sensitivity range

– the interval between the lower and upper threshold of sensations;

differential threshold - the smallest value of differences between stimuli when the difference between them is still perceived.

Mechanisms and processes of memory

Memorization is a process aimed at assimilation and preservation of information, life circumstances and activities perceived by a person. There is a distinction between involuntary and voluntary memorization.

Preservation is a complex dynamic process of development, systematization, generalization of material, and mastery of it.

Reproduction is one of the most active and creative processes; it consists in restoring information, extracting it from memory.

Forgetting is the inability to remember, reproduce, or incorrect reproduction of any material or information.

Logical thinking.

Intuitive thinking.

Speech is a historically established form of communication between a person and another person or with himself, mediated by the use of natural language.

Types of speech:

Oral speech is verbal communication using linguistic means perceived by ear.

• Written speech – verbal communication using written texts.

• Inner speech is the use of language outside the process of actual communication.

• Inner speech is the use of language outside the process of real communication.

• Sign language is a way of interpersonal communication between people using a system of gestures.

Properties of speech:

1) The content of speech is determined by the number of thoughts, feelings and aspirations expressed in it, their significance and correspondence to reality.

2) The understandability of speech is determined mainly by the totality of the listener’s knowledge in the area to which the interlocutor’s speech belongs in its content.

3) The expressiveness of speech is associated with its emotional richness. In its expressiveness, speech can be bright, energetic or, conversely, sluggish and pale.

4) The impact of speech consists in its influence on the thoughts, feelings and will of other people, on their beliefs and behavior.

TYPES OF ATTENTION

Depending on the activity of the individual :

Involuntary (unintentional) attention occurs without a person’s intention to see or hear anything, without a predetermined goal, without an effort of will.

• Stimulus intensity.

• Novelty, unusualness of objects.

• Abrupt change, as well as dynamic objects.

Voluntary (deliberate) attention is an active, purposeful concentration of consciousness, maintaining the level of which is associated with certain volitional efforts necessary to combat stronger influences.

• Focused.

• Organized.

• Increased stability.

Post-voluntary attention –

attention that comes after voluntary attention through entry into activity and interest arising in connection with this, as a result of which concentration is maintained for a long time without tension and volitional efforts.

By nature of direction:

Externally directed (perceptual) attention is directed to surrounding objects and phenomena.

Internally directed – attention is directed to one’s own thoughts and experiences.

By origin:

· Natural attention

- this is the innate ability of a person to selectively respond to certain external or internal stimuli that carry elements of information novelty.

· Socially conditioned attention

develops during the life of the subject (intravital) as a result of training and upbringing.
It is associated with a selective conscious response to objects, with volitional regulation of behavior .
According to the regulation mechanism:

· Direct attention

is not controlled by anything other than the object to which it is directed and which corresponds to the actual interests and needs of a person.

· Indirect attention

regulated using special means, such as gestures.

By its focus on the object:

• sensory (aimed at perception),

• intellectual (aimed at thinking, memory work),

• motor (directed towards movement).

By intensity dynamics:

• Static attention is such attention, the high intensity of which easily arises at the very beginning of work and is maintained throughout the entire duration of its implementation.

• Dynamic attention has opposite qualities; at the beginning of work it is not intense; a person needs a certain amount of effort to force himself to be attentive to this type of action; he slowly gets involved in work; the first minutes pass in constant distractions, and only gradually and with difficulty does he concentrate on work.

BASIC PROPERTIES OF ATTENTION

There are 5 main properties of attention: concentration, stability, volume, distribution and switching.

Focusing attention is keeping it on one object or one activity while distracting from everything else.

Sustainability of attention is the duration of maintaining intense attention on an object or some activity.

Attention span is the number of objects that are perceived simultaneously with sufficient clarity.

Distribution of attention - the ability to perform two or more types of activities simultaneously

Switching of attention - voluntary movement of attention from one object to another or from one activity to another in connection with a new task

Leadership styles

Authoritarian (or directive, or dictatorial) management style: it is characterized by strict individual decision-making by the manager (“minimum democracy”), strict constant control over the implementation of decisions with the threat of punishment (“maximum control”), lack of interest in the employee as an individual .

Democratic (or collective) management style: management decisions are made on the basis of discussion of the problem, taking into account the opinions and initiatives of employees (“maximum democracy”), the implementation of decisions made is controlled by both the manager and the employees themselves (“maximum control”), the manager shows interest and benevolence attention to the personality of employees, to taking into account their interests, needs, characteristics. The democratic style is the most effective, because it provides a high probability of correct informed decisions, high production results, initiative, employee activity, people's satisfaction with their work and team membership, a favorable psychological climate and team cohesion. The liberal-anarchist (or permissive, or neutral) style of leadership is characterized, on the one hand, by “maximum democracy” (everyone can express their positions, but they do not strive to achieve real accounting or agreement on positions), and on the other hand, by “minimum control” ( even the decisions made are not implemented, there is no control over their implementation, everything is left to chance), as a result of which the results of work are usually low, people are not satisfied with their work, the leader, the psychological climate in the team is unfavorable, there is no cooperation, there is no incentive to work conscientiously, sections of work are made up of the individual interests of the subgroup leaders, hidden and overt conflicts are possible, and stratification into conflicting subgroups occurs.

An inconsistent (illogical) leadership style is manifested in the leader’s unpredictable transition from one style to another (now authoritarian, now laissez-faire, now democratic, now again authoritarian, etc.), which causes extremely low work results and the maximum number of conflicts and problems.

The situational management style flexibly takes into account the level of psychological development of subordinates and the team

Ticket 1. Psychology as a science, its object and subject of research.

Psychology is a science that studies the patterns of development and functioning of the psyche and the development of the psyche.

The object of study of psychology is the human mental world.

The subject of psychology is mental processes, properties, the state of a person, his consciousness and the patterns of his behavior.

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.

Branches of psychology.

General psychology

studies the content, features and general patterns of functioning of the psyche and human consciousness, mental processes, properties of the state and personality formation.

Social Psychology

explores psychological phenomena and processes determined by a person’s belonging to specific communities.

Zoopsychology

(or comparative psychology) reveals the characteristics and patterns of the psyche of animals at different stages of development of the animal world.

Pedagogical psychology

engages in research into the psychological characteristics and patterns of the processes of training and education of the younger generation. Its tasks include the study of the processes of acquiring knowledge and the formation of skills and abilities in connection with the needs of school education, the psychological justification of methods, techniques and methods of teaching and upbringing, issues of perception of the personality of students in the school community, psychological problems associated with polytechnic education and preparing students for practical activities, etc.

Age-related psychology

studies the uniqueness of the psyche of people of different ages, the process of formation of a person’s personality and his mental development, age-related characteristics of the processes of perception, thinking, memory, interests, motives of activity, etc.

Engineering

psychology aims to solve the problems of the relationship between the technical requirements of modern machines and the mental capabilities of humans - the speed and accuracy of perception processes, the volume and distribution of attention, etc.

Psychology of art

studies the psychological specifics of creative activity in various types of arts (literature, music, painting, sculpture, etc.), the peculiarities of human perception of works of art, and provides a psychological analysis of their influence on personal development.

Psychology of sports

engages in research into the psychological characteristics of sports activities.

Cosmic psychology

Among its problems is the study of the peculiarities of mental processes occurring in the human body during space flights, including the influence on the human psyche of large physical overloads, unusual environmental conditions, and the state of weightlessness. In addition, this branch of psychology clarifies the characteristics of a person’s performance during a flight), in particular, if it is necessary to act in conditions of extreme lack of time, etc.

Legal psychology

explores the psychology of offenders and criminals, as well as issues reflected in judicial practice.

Military psychology

studies the psychology of the personality of a warrior of a military collective, the psychological characteristics of their professional activity in its various forms and types.

Medical psychology

is engaged in the study of disorders and disorders of mental activity in various diseases, promoting the development of rational methods of their treatment.

Pathopsychology

focuses on the characteristics of mental disorders in connection with certain deficiencies in the structure and functions of the body, in particular in children.

Parapsychology

explores abnormal individual - and social - psychological phenomena.

All branches of psychological science arose and developed as a result of the expansion of the sphere of human activity, with its rationalization and improvement. However, one cannot consider various branches of psychology as a simple practical application of psychological laws (obtained as a result of research, for example, in general or social psychology) to certain cases of life. Only in the process of solving specific practical problems put forward by life and people’s activities can theoretical problems of psychology be correctly posed and understood and general and particular psychological patterns revealed. That is why in each of these branches of psychology a large place is given to theoretical research.

Scientific psychological research can be successful only when it is built not in the abstract, but taking into account practical problems. Psychology studies the laws of the human psyche not in isolation from certain types of human activity, but in connection with them and setting itself a specific goal: to use the results of research to improve these types of activity.

Literature

1. Dubrovina I.V. Psychology. Textbook for secondary pedagogical students. educational institutions - M.: Publishing House "Academy", 1999.

2. Krutetsky V.A. Psychology. Textbook for students of pedagogy. schools - M.: Education, 1980.

3. Petrovsky A.V., Yaroshevsky M.G. Psychology. Textbook for higher education students. textbook institutions. - 2nd edition - M.: Publishing House "Academy", 2000

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.

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.”

Comments on basic concepts

Psychology
is the science of the patterns of emergence, development and manifestation of the human psyche and consciousness.
Psyche

- a property of the brain that provides humans and animals with the ability to reflect the effects of objects and phenomena in the real world.

Mental processes are mental phenomena that provide a person’s primary reflection and awareness of the impacts of the surrounding reality. As a rule, they have a clear beginning, a definite course and a clearly defined end.

Mental processes are divided into: cognitive

(sensation, perception, attention, representation, memory, imagination, thinking, speech)

, emotional
and volitional .
Mental properties are the most stable and constantly manifested personality traits, providing a certain qualitative and quantitative level of behavior and activity typical for a given person. Mental properties include orientation, temperament, character and abilities.

Mental states are a certain level of performance and quality of functioning of the human psyche, characteristic of him at any given moment in time. These include activity, passivity, vigor, fatigue, apathy, etc.

diagram 1.. Correlation between everyday and scientific psychology

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.”

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:

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

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.

Appendix 2. Main directions of foreign psychology

Psychoanalysis

- one of the most famous areas of psychology abroad, which emerged at the beginning of the twentieth century. It is based on the position that human behavior is determined not only and not so much by consciousness as by the unconscious.

Psychoanalysis goes back to the ideas of S. Freud and his followers (Freudianism, neo-Freudianism) and assumes a special methodology for studying the psyche. The main methods of psychoanalysis are: analysis of free associations; dream analysis and dream interpretation; analysis and explanation of various erroneous and unintentional (accidental) human actions.

Behaviorism

- a direction in foreign psychology that arose at the beginning of the twentieth century. and denies consciousness as a subject of scientific research and reduces the psyche to various forms of behavior that are the result of the body’s response to environmental influences.

The main scientific concepts of behaviorism were “stimulus” (an irritant from the external environment), “reaction” (the body’s response to irritation) and “connection” (association) between stimulus and response. The simplicity of the S - R scheme (and, if necessary, it can be complicated) makes it possible to easily use a quantitative description of a psychological phenomenon and apply mathematical methods to process the results of its research.

Gestalt psychology

- a direction in Western psychology that arose in Germany in the first third of the twentieth century. and providing a program for studying the psyche with the help of holistic structures - gestalts, primary in relation to their components.

Perception as a mental cognitive process, for example, among Gestalt psychologists, is not reduced to the sum of sensations, and the properties of a figure are not described through the properties of its parts. In their opinion, the internal systemic organization of perception determines the properties of the sensations included in it. The concept of figure and ground is the most important in Gestalt psychology.

Humanistic psychology

- one of the leading areas of modern foreign psychology, which emerged in the 60s of the twentieth century. and contrasting itself with psychoanalysis and behaviorism.

It views individuality as an integrative whole, as opposed to behaviorism, which is focused on the analysis of individual events. Animal research is considered unsuitable for understanding the human psyche and behavior. In contrast to classical psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology claims that a person is initially kind or, at least, neutral, and his aggression, violence, etc. arise as a result of environmental influences.

Transpersonal psychology

- a new direction in Western psychology, explaining mental phenomena with “mystical experiences”, “cosmic consciousness”, i.e. forms of special spiritual experience that require a look at the human psyche from non-traditional positions.

Appendix 1. Outstanding figures of Russian psychology who stood at the origins of its origins

Bekhterev Vladimir Mikhailovich (1857-1927) - an outstanding Russian physiologist, psychiatrist and psychologist. He founded the first experimental psychological laboratory in Russia (1885), then the Psychoneurological Institute (1908) - the world's first center for the comprehensive study of man. He developed a natural-scientific theory of behavior and scientific reflexology.

Blonsky Navel Petrovich (1884-1941) - an outstanding Russian psychologist and teacher. Considered psychology as the science of the behavior of living beings. He advocated an integrated approach to the study of personality and formulated a genetic (stage) theory of memory.

Vygotsky Lev Semenovich (1896-1934) is an outstanding Russian psychologist. He developed the doctrine of the development of mental functions in the process of an individual’s assimilation of cultural values, and many methodological principles of Russian psychological science.

Zaporozhets Alexander Vladimirovich (1905-1981) - a prominent Russian psychologist. He developed a general psychological theory of activity in the ontogenetic aspect, a theory of perceptual actions.

Kornilov Konstantin Nikolaevich (1879-1957) - famous Russian psychologist. He developed principles for the study of personality, problems of psychology of will and character.

Lange Nikolai Nikolaevich (1858-1921) - one of the founders of experimental psychology in Russia. He worked on problems of mental cognitive processes and their physiological basis.

Leontyev Alexey Nikolaevich (1903-1979) - an outstanding Russian psychologist. Together with L.S. Vygotsky and A.R. Luria developed a cultural-historical theory, put forward and substantiated in detail the general psychological concept of activity, which is a recognized theoretical direction in domestic and world psychological science.

Luria Alexander Romanovich (1902-1977) is an outstanding Russian psychologist, the founder of neuropsychology in our country. He paid special attention to the experimental study of problems of localization of higher mental functions. Nechaev Alexander Petrovich (1870-1948) - one of the founders of experimental psychology in pre-revolutionary Russia. Researched memory and individual differences in people.

Pavlov Ivan Petrovich (1849-1936) - great Russian physiologist, founder of the doctrine of higher nervous activity of man.

Rubinshtein Sergei Leonidovich (1889-1960) - an outstanding Russian psychologist and philosopher. He developed the activity approach in psychology, the principle of determinism, and the principle of the personal approach.

Sechenov Ivan Mikhailovich (1829-1905) - great Russian physiologist and psychologist. Developed a natural science theory of mental regulation of behavior.