Human psychology. What is psychology? Define psychology as a science.

1.2. The place of psychology in the system of sciences. Branches of psychological science

1.3. Methodological principles of psychology. Methods of psychology

1.1. How to understand another person's behavior? Why do people have different abilities? What is the “soul” and what is its nature? These and other questions have always occupied the minds of people, and over time, interest in a person and his behavior has constantly increased.

A rational approach to understanding the world is based on the fact that the reality around us exists independently of our consciousness, can be studied experimentally, and the observed phenomena are completely understandable from a scientific point of view.

Modern science, firstly, studies man as a representative of a biological species; secondly, he is considered as a member of society; thirdly, the objective activity of a person is studied; fourthly, the patterns of development of a particular person are studied.

Psychology studies this inner world of human mental phenomena, whether conscious or unconscious by him.

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

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

Psychology - the science of the patterns of emergence, functioning and development of the psyche. The psyche cannot be reduced simply to the nervous system. Mental properties are the result of the neurophysiological activity of the brain, but they contain the characteristics of external objects, and not the internal physiological processes through which the mental arises. Signal transformations taking place in the brain are perceived by a person as events taking place outside him, in external space and the world. The brain secretes psyche, thought, just as the liver secretes bile. The disadvantage of this theory is that they identify the psyche with nervous processes and do not see the qualitative differences between them.

Hence,objects Russian psychology is currently represented by the system of mental phenomena of living beings (people and animals), as well as the psychology of large (social, ethnic, religious, etc.) and small (corporate, industrial, etc.) groups of people. In turn, hersubject are the patterns of formation, functioning and development of the named mental and psychological (socio-psychological) phenomena.

The objects and subject matter of psychology determine the list of scientific problems solved within its framework.

Thus,psychology is the science of the psyche and mental phenomena. In order to answer this question, it is necessary to construct a classification of mental phenomena. Animals also have mental phenomena (of course, at a different level of organization). Therefore, psychology, while studying humans, is also interested in the psyche of animals: how it arises and changes in the process of evolution of the animal world, what are the reasons for the difference between the human psyche and the psyche of other living beings.

In order to engage in any activity, communicate with other people, in order to navigate the world around us, a person first of all needs to know it. Psychology studies what properties of reality a person knows through mental processes - sensations, perception, thinking, imagination, etc. Psychology also examines the psychological characteristics of various types of activity and communication and their influence on the psyche.

Although mental phenomena are subject to general laws, they are individual for each person. Therefore, psychology studies the individual psychological characteristics of people, their personalities, motives of behavior, temperament and character. We will divide mental phenomena into three main classes: mental processes, mental states And mental properties of personality.

Z The goals of psychology basically boil down to the following:

Learn to understand the essence of mental phenomena and their patterns;

Learn to manage them;

Use the acquired knowledge in order to improve the efficiency of those branches of practice at the intersection of which already established sciences and industries lie.

The system of mental phenomena studied by modern psychology.

Mental phenomena are the totality of all phenomena and processes that reflect the basic content of the human psyche and which psychology studies as a science.

1 TO cognitive mental processes include mental processes associated with the perception and processing of information. They are divided into: cognitive, emotional, volitional.

2. Under mental properties personality, it is customary to understand the most essential characteristics of a person, providing a certain quantitative and qualitative level of human activity and behavior. Mental properties include orientation, temperament, abilities and character.

3. Mental states are a certain level of performance and quality of functioning of the human psyche, characteristic at a specific point in time (exaltation, depression, fear, vigor, despondency, etc.)

The phenomena studied by psychology are associated not only with a specific person, but also with groups. Mental phenomena associated with the life of groups and collectives are studied in detail within the framework of social psychology.

All group mental phenomena can also be divided into mental processes, mental states and mental properties. In contrast to individual mental phenomena, mental phenomena of groups and collectives have a clearer division into internal and external.

Collective mental processes that act as the primary factor in regulating the existence of a collective or group include communication, interpersonal perception, interpersonal relationships, the formation of group norms, intergroup relationships, etc. Mental states of a group include conflict, cohesion, psychological climate, openness or closedness of the group , panic, etc. The most significant mental properties of a group include organization, leadership style, and efficiency.

1.2. So, for a long time, being one of the sections philosophy, psychology inevitably took from this science fundamentally important theoretical principles that determine the approach to solving problems. Thus, philosophy is the methodological basis of psychology.

The connection between psychology and natural sciences- biology, physiology, chemistry, physics, etc., with the help of which you can study the physiological and biological processes of the brain that underlie the psyche.

Psychology is being brought closer to humanities(sociology, history, linguistics, art history, etc.) study of the interaction of the individual and his immediate environment; interest in the peculiarities of the mental, spiritual makeup of a person in various historical eras; the role of language in the cultural and mental development of a person, the problem of creativity.

No less obvious is the connection between psychology and pedagogy. Effective training and education can only be based on knowledge of the patterns according to which the human psyche develops.

The connections between psychology and medicine. These sciences find common points of contact in the study of the problem of mental disorders, psychological substantiation of the peculiarities of interaction between doctor and patient, diagnosis and treatment of a number of diseases.

The relationship between psychology and technical sciences manifests itself, on the one hand, in identifying optimal psychological conditions for the interaction of man and machine, on the other hand, in the development of technical means and instruments for studying manifestations of the psyche.

Modern psychology is among the sciences, occupying an intermediate position between the philosophical sciences, on the one hand, the natural sciences, on the other, and the social sciences, on the third. This is explained by the fact that the center of her attention always remains a person, whom the above-mentioned sciences also study, but in other aspects. It is known that philosophy and its component - the theory of knowledge (epistemology) resolves the issue of the relationship of the psyche to the surrounding world and interprets the psyche as a reflection of the world, emphasizing that matter is primary and consciousness is secondary. Psychology clarifies the role that the psyche plays in human activity and its development.

According to the classification of sciences by Academician A. Kedrov, psychology occupies a central place not only as a product of all other sciences, but also as a possible source of explanation for their formation and development.

Rice. 1. Classification by A. Kedrov

The structure of modern psychology includes a wide range of branches of psychological science.

Thus, animal psychology studies the peculiarities of the psyche of animals. The human psyche is studied by other branches of psychology: child psychology studies the development of consciousness, mental processes, activity, the entire personality of a growing person, and the conditions for accelerating development. Social psychology studies the socio-psychological manifestations of a person’s personality, his relationships with people, with a group, the psychological compatibility of people, socio-psychological manifestations in large groups (the effect of radio, press, fashion, rumors on various communities of people). Pedagogical psychology studies the patterns of personality development in the process of learning and upbringing. We can distinguish a number of branches of psychology that study the psychological problems of specific types of human activity: labor psychology examines the psychological characteristics of human labor activity, the patterns of development of labor skills. Engineering psychology studies the patterns of processes of interaction between humans and modern technology with the aim of using them in the practice of designing, creating and operating automated control systems and new types of technology. Aviation and space psychology analyzes the psychological characteristics of the activities of a pilot and cosmonaut. Medical psychology studies the psychological characteristics of the doctor’s activities and the patient’s behavior, develops psychological methods of treatment and psychotherapy. Pathopsychology studies deviations in the development of the psyche, the breakdown of the psyche in various forms of brain pathology. Legal psychology studies the psychological characteristics of the behavior of participants in criminal proceedings (psychology of testimony, psychological requirements for interrogation, etc.), psychological problems of behavior and the formation of the personality of the criminal. Military psychology studies human behavior in combat conditions.

1.3. Generally methodology determines the principles and techniques that guide a person in his activities.

Domestic psychology identifies the following as methodological principles of materialistic psychology:

1. Principle determinism, which is used to analyze the nature and essence of mental phenomena when considering the latter in connection with phenomena of the external world. According to this principle, the psyche is determined by the way of life and changes with changes in external conditions, while being a determinant of human behavior and activity.

2. Principle unity of consciousness and activity, asserting that consciousness and activity are in an inextricable unity, which is expressed in the fact that consciousness and, in general, all mental properties of a person are not only manifested, but also formed in activity. This principle allows, when studying an activity, to identify those psychological patterns that ensure the success of achieving its goal.

3.Principle development means that manifestations of the psyche can be correctly understood if they are considered in continuous development as a process and a result of activity.

Methodological principles are embodied in special empirical methods of psychology, with the help of which essential facts, patterns and mechanisms of the psyche are revealed.

TO basic methods Psychological research includes observation and experiment.

Observation as a method of psychology is to record the manifestations of mental phenomena in behavior on the basis of their direct perception.

Scientific observation is undertaken with a strictly defined goal, predetermined situations and behavioral characteristics that should become the object of study, as well as a developed system for recording and recording the results. It is important that several people participate in the observation, and the final assessment should be the average of the observations. These measures are taken to reduce the influence of observer characteristics on the perceptual process.

The following types of observation are distinguished:

non-standardized when the researcher uses a general observation plan;

standardized, in which the registration of facts is based on detailed observation schemes and predetermined patterns of behavior.

Depending on the position of the observer, observation is distinguished:

- included, when the researcher is a member of the group he is observing;

- simple, when behavioral characteristics are recorded from the outside. This is a passive method of obtaining psychological facts, since the researcher cannot influence the course of events or repeat them. Using this method, it is difficult to establish the exact cause of an action, since only their external manifestations are recorded. At the same time, the passivity of the observer allows one to study behavior in natural conditions without distorting the natural course of events as a result of intervention, as can happen in an experiment.

Experiment differs from observation primarily in that it involves the purposeful organization of a research situation by a psychologist; this makes it possible to relatively strictly control the conditions for its implementation, not only to describe psychological facts, but also to explain the reasons for their appearance.

This advantage of the experiment often turns into a disadvantage: it is difficult to organize an experimental study without the subject being aware of it. A person’s knowledge that he is the subject of study, as a rule, causes constraint in the subject, anxiety, etc., especially if the research is carried out in special conditions, for example, in an equipped laboratory (laboratory experiment).

Therefore, a natural experiment is often used, in which the researcher actively influences the situation, but in forms that do not violate its naturalness, for example, in the process of human labor activity.

In stating An experiment checks for a connection between certain facts or phenomena. Formative the experiment presupposes the active, purposeful influence of the experimenter on the subject with the aim of shaping his psyche.

In addition to the main ones, auxiliary methods are distinguished in psychology:

survey-collection of primary verbal information using a pre-compiled set of questions in the process of direct (interview) or indirect (questionnaire) contact between the researcher and the subject;

tests- a system of standardized tasks that allows you to measure the level of development of a certain human characteristic - intelligence, creativity, etc.;

study of activity products- quantitative and qualitative analysis of various documentary sources (diaries, videos, newspapers, magazines, etc.).

Depending on the objectives of a particular study, psychological methods are embodied in private techniques (for example, the observation method is implemented in different ways during the study of a work collective and a study group).

The degree of reliability of the results of applying the technique largely depends on the conditions in which the study is organized (time of day, presence or absence of extraneous noise, behavior of the researcher, well-being of the subject, etc.).

At all times, humanity has been interested in questions about what a person is: what determines the reasons and patterns of his actions, the laws of behavior in society, the inner world. The task of understanding how mental images arise, what consciousness, thinking, creativity are, and what their mechanisms are, seemed intriguing. Psychology, which since its inception has been balancing between science, art and faith, seeks to answer all these and many other questions. What are the difficulties associated with its development?

Firstly, this is the science of the most complex thing known to mankind. Even the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, beginning his treatise “On the Soul,” wrote: “Among other knowledge, research about the soul should be given one of the first places, since it is knowledge about the most sublime and amazing.” And the great physicist A. Einstein, getting acquainted with the experiments of the famous psychologist J. Piaget, summed up his impressions in the paradoxical phrase that the study of physical problems is a child's game in comparison with the mysteries of the psychology of children's play.

Secondly, in psychology, a person simultaneously acts as both an object and a subject of knowledge. A unique phenomenon occurs: a person’s scientific consciousness becomes scientific self-consciousness.

Thirdly, in psychological research the difficult and ambiguously solved problem of the objectivity of scientific knowledge is particularly acute. Many scientists refused to recognize psychology as an objective scientific discipline, arguing that it was impossible to objectively study the subjective inner world of a person, which is directly open to knowledge only by him alone.

The difficulties of the formation and development of psychology are determined, finally, by the fact that it is a very young science. Despite the fact that questions about the essence and characteristics of the human psyche were raised in the works of ancient and medieval philosophers, scientific psychology received official formalization a little more than a hundred years ago - in 1879, when the German psychologist W. Wundt opened the first laboratory of experimental psychology in Leipzig.

The word “psychology” first appeared in the 16th century. in Western European texts. It is formed from the Greek words “psyche” (soul) and “logos” (knowledge, science): literally translated, psychology is the science of the soul. This definition does not correspond to modern views on psychological science. The title reflects ideas about psychology characteristic of the period of its origin and initial development within the framework of philosophy. According to the philosophical understanding of that time, the subject of psychology was the soul - the main, essential principle of objects of living nature, the cause of life, breathing, cognition, etc.

The emergence of psychology as an independent, truly scientific discipline also occurred against the background of discoveries that were made within the framework of natural science research. Psychology arose at the intersection of two large areas of knowledge - philosophy and natural sciences, and it has not yet been determined whether to consider it a natural science or the humanities. The words “psychologist” and “psychology” went beyond the scope of scientific treatises and were developed in everyday life: psychologists are called experts on human souls, passions and characters; The word “psychology” is used in several meanings - it is understood as both scientific and non-scientific knowledge. In everyday consciousness, these concepts are often confused.

Every person has a stock of everyday psychological knowledge, the basis of which is life experience. We can understand another, influence his behavior, predict his actions, help him. Being a good everyday psychologist is one of the important requirements for specialists in those professions that involve constant communication with people, such as a teacher, doctor, manager, salesman, etc. The brightest examples of everyday psychology are those works of literature and art that present a deep psychological analysis of life situations and the motives of the characters’ behavior. The content of everyday psychology is embodied in rituals, traditions, proverbs, sayings, parables, rituals that consolidate centuries-old folk wisdom. In this regard, the question arises: is scientific psychology necessary, or perhaps the knowledge and experience accumulated in everyday psychology is enough to help a person overcome life’s difficulties, understand other people and himself? To answer this question, it is necessary to realize the fundamental difference between everyday and scientific psychological knowledge. Three main differences emerge.

According to the degree of generalization of knowledge and forms of its presentation. Everyday psychological knowledge is specific: it is associated with certain people, certain situations and particular tasks. The concepts of everyday psychology, as a rule, are characterized by vagueness and ambiguity. Scientific psychology, like any science, strives for generalizations. For this purpose, scientific concepts are clearly defined and used, which reflect the most essential properties of objects and phenomena, general connections and relationships.

According to the method of obtaining knowledge and the degree of its subjectivity. Everyday knowledge about human psychology is acquired through direct observation of other people and introspection, through practical trial and error. They are intuitive, rather irrational and extremely subjective. Knowledge of everyday psychology is often contradictory, fragmented and poorly systematized. Methods of obtaining knowledge in scientific psychology are rational, conscious and purposeful. The wealth of methods used by scientific psychology provides extensive, varied material, which in a generalized and systematized form appears in logically consistent concepts and theories. To test put forward hypotheses in scientific psychology, scientists develop and organize special experiments, the essence of which is that the researcher does not expect the random manifestation of mental processes of interest to him, but creates special conditions to cause them.

By methods of knowledge transfer. The possibilities of transferring knowledge in everyday psychology from one person to another are very limited. This is primarily due to the fact that there are difficulties in verbalizing individual psychological experience, the entire complex range of emotional experiences, and at the same time there is a certain distrust in the reliability and truth of this kind of information. This fact is clearly illustrated by the eternal problem of “fathers” and “children”, which consists precisely in the fact that children cannot and do not want to adopt the experience of their elders. Each generation learns from its own mistakes. The accumulation and transmission of scientific knowledge occurs in concepts and laws, scientific concepts and theories. They are enshrined in specialized literature and are easily passed on from generation to generation.

The listed differences show the advantages of scientific psychological knowledge. At the same time, we cannot deny the need for everyday experience, which plays an important role in the development of psychology as a science. Scientific psychology:

• firstly, it is based on everyday psychological experience;
• secondly, it extracts its tasks from it;
• thirdly, at the last stage it is checked.

The relationship between scientific and everyday psychological knowledge is not straightforward. Not all professional psychologists are good everyday psychologists. And just because you become acquainted with the basics of scientific psychology does not mean that you will immediately become experts on human souls. However, constant analysis of emerging life situations using the knowledge that you will gain by studying psychology will help you better understand other people, the world around you and, ultimately, yourself.

The concepts and concepts of scientific psychology influence people’s everyday ideas about mental life. Scientific psychological concepts are penetrating into spoken language, and people are beginning to actively use them to describe their conditions or personality traits. The result of increased interest in scientific psychology in society has been the active development of popular psychology, which provides fundamental scientific knowledge to a wide audience, making it simpler and more understandable. The positive role of popular psychology is to form a general psychological culture of society and attract interest in psychology as a scientific discipline.

1.2. Subject and basic principles of psychology.

The specificity of scientific knowledge is determined by the subject of scientific research and the corresponding methods that make it possible to reveal the patterns of the phenomena being studied. What constitutes the subject of scientific knowledge in psychology? This is probably one of the most difficult questions. Throughout the history of the development of psychological thought, positions on it have undergone serious changes; there is no consensus on this matter among modern scientists. In the most general form, the subject of psychology as an independent scientific discipline can be called phenomena, facts and patterns of human mental life. Mental phenomena refer to the internal, subjective experience of a person. The fundamental property of such experience is its direct presentation to the subject. This means that mental processes not only occur in us, but are also revealed to us directly: we not only see, feel, desire and think, but we also know what we see, feel, desire and think. Our inner world is like a big stage on which various events take place, and we are both actors and spectators. Mental life is not limited only to internal experience; there is a whole range of external manifestations of the psyche: acts of behavior, unconscious mental processes, psychosomatic relationships and other psychological facts in which the psyche openly reveals its properties, which makes it possible to study the mechanisms and patterns of its functioning.

Indeed, scientific knowledge requires not only a description of facts and phenomena, but also their explanation, which in turn presupposes the discovery of the laws and patterns to which facts and phenomena are subject. In connection with this, the subject of study in psychology is not only psychological facts and psychological phenomena, but also the patterns of mental life. The study of the subject of modern psychology is based on a number of principles, which are the starting points that make it possible to meaningfully describe the object under study, plan procedures for obtaining empirical material, generalize and interpret it, put forward and test hypotheses. The main methodological principles of psychology are:

The principle of determinism. According to this principle, everything that exists arises, changes and ceases to exist naturally. In psychological research, this means that the psyche is determined by the way of life and changes with changes in the external conditions of existence;

The principle of the unity of consciousness and activity. Consciousness and activity are in continuous unity, but they are not identical to each other. Consciousness is formed in activity in order to, in turn, influence this activity, forming its internal plan;

development principle. The psyche can be correctly understood only if it is considered in continuous development as a process and a result of activity. The study of any mental phenomenon should include a description of its characteristics at a given moment, the history of its occurrence and formation, and development prospects.

The uniqueness of psychological science is determined both by the subject of scientific knowledge and by methods that allow not only to describe the phenomena being studied, but also to explain them, to discover the underlying patterns and to predict their further development.

1.3.Methods of psychology.

“Method is the path of knowledge, it is the way through which the subject of science is learned” (S.L. Rubinstein). The doctrine of method constitutes a special field of knowledge - methodology, which is defined as a system of principles and methods of organizing, constructing theoretical and practical activities. The methodology of psychological research of the world is represented at several levels. The basic level, which creates the basis for all subsequent levels, is the philosophical level of the methodology, represented by the most general principles of knowledge of the world and ideological attitudes. Various philosophical systems offer their own explanations of the world and methods for achieving true knowledge. In psychology, over the entire history of its development, several psychological trends, schools and concepts have emerged, which come from different philosophical positions.

The second level of methodology is determined by general scientific principles, reflecting the specifics of scientific knowledge of the world and science as a special sphere of human activity. The third level consists of concrete scientific principles of psychology. Next come research methods, which are ways of obtaining psychological facts and interpreting them. Finally, the last level of methodology is represented by specific empirical techniques with the help of which psychological data is collected and processed.

Modern psychology has a comprehensive system of various research methods and techniques, among which there are basic and auxiliary ones. The main methods of psychology include observation and experiment. Observation consists of the deliberate, systematic and purposeful perception of human behavior. Objective observation in psychology is aimed not at external actions in themselves, but at their psychological content; Scientific observation is characterized not simply by recording facts, but by their explanation and interpretation. Observation can be carried out both in natural conditions of human life and in a specially organized experimental environment. The following types of observation are used in research practice:

Depending on the nature of interaction with the object: included and third-party. In participant observation, the researcher acts as a direct participant in the process he is observing, which allows him to obtain a holistic view of the situation. Third-party surveillance occurs without interaction or establishing any contact with those being monitored;

Depending on the observer's position: open and hidden. In the first case, the researcher reveals his role to the observed - the disadvantage of such observation is the constraint in the behavior of the observed subjects, caused by the knowledge that they are being observed. In covert surveillance, the presence of the observer is not revealed;

Depending on the nature of the contact: direct and indirect. During direct observation, the observer and the object of his attention are in direct contact; the process of indirect observation includes special means that allow one to obtain more objective results: video or audio equipment, a “Gesell mirror” that transmits light only in one direction, thanks to which one can observe human behavior while remaining invisible, etc.;

Depending on the conditions of observation: field and laboratory. Field observation occurs in the everyday life and activities of the observed; laboratory work is carried out in artificial, specially created conditions;

Depending on the goals: purposeful and random. Targeted observation is systematic and specially organized; random is exploratory in nature and does not pursue clearly defined goals;

Depending on the temporary organization: continuous and selective. In the process of continuous observation, the course of events is constantly recorded. In selective observation, the researcher selectively monitors only certain aspects of the observed process;

Depending on the order of the organization of observation: standardized and free. Standardized observation is carried out according to a specific, pre-developed scheme. Free observation does not have a set program and clear parameters.

In psychological research, self-observation is also widely used, in which the researcher’s own experiences, feelings, thoughts and images are revealed. Each of these types of observation has its own advantages and disadvantages, its own possibilities for obtaining the most complete and reliable data. However, in general, organizing the process of psychological observation is very difficult, since its results depend on the personality of the observer, his attitudes and attitude towards the observed phenomena. To reduce the high degree of subjectivity in obtaining and interpreting data, it is necessary to strictly adhere to the facts and clearly record them. This increases the reliability of observations and helps to avoid errors.

Thanks to the experiment, psychology had the opportunity to overcome subjectivity in the knowledge of its subject; with the introduction of the method of experimental research, it began to develop as an independent science. S.L. Rubinstein identified four main features of the experimental method:

The researcher himself causes the phenomenon he is studying - in contrast to observation, in which the observer cannot actively intervene in the situation;

The experimenter can vary, change the conditions for the occurrence and manifestation of the process being studied;

In an experiment, it is possible to alternately exclude individual conditions in order to establish natural connections that determine the process being studied;

The experiment allows you to vary the quantitative ratio of conditions and carry out mathematical processing of data.

The following types of experimental research are practiced in psychology:

A laboratory experiment is carried out under specially created and carefully controlled conditions by the researcher; in some cases, equipment and instruments are used, which ensures the scientific objectivity of the data obtained. The disadvantage of this type of research is the difficulty of transferring the results obtained in the experiment to real life. The artificiality and abstractness of laboratory conditions differ significantly from the conditions of human life;

A natural experiment removes the limitations of a laboratory experiment. The main advantage of this method is the combination of experimental research with the naturalness of the conditions. The idea of ​​conducting a psychological experiment in the natural conditions of people’s lives belongs to the domestic psychologist R. Lazursky;

A formative experiment involves a purposeful influence on the subject in order to develop certain qualities in him. He may have a teaching and nurturing character;

the ascertaining experiment reveals certain mental characteristics and the level of development of the corresponding qualities.

In addition to the above basic methods, auxiliary methods are widely used in psychology:

Conversation (interview) - obtaining information in the process of direct communication. There is a distinction between a free interview, in which there is no clear plan for the conversation and there is minimal regulation, and a structured interview, where answers to pre-prepared questions are given;

Testing is a psychological diagnostic that involves standardized questions and tasks. Psychology has created a large number of specialized tests designed to measure various mental properties and personality traits: tests of intelligence, abilities, personal achievements, projective and many others. Their use requires professional psychological training, since unprofessional testing can harm a person. Nowadays there are also many so-called popular tests. As a rule, they are published in newspapers, magazines, and literature accessible to the general reader. Such tests are not strictly psychological, professional tools and are intended for self-testing; no special training is required;

Analysis of the products of activity, based on the general premise of the unity of internal mental processes and external forms of behavior and activity. By studying the products of activity, one can obtain important information about the mental characteristics of its subject. Products of activity that are subject to careful analysis in psychology are texts written by humans, manufactured objects and phenomena, drawn pictures, etc. Special forms of this method are graphology, which allows one to draw up a psychological portrait of his personality based on the features and characteristics of a person’s handwriting, and content analysis, which aims to identify and evaluate the psychological characteristics of literary, scientific and journalistic texts and determine on their basis the personal characteristics of the author of these texts. In psychology, the study of the results of human visual activity is widely used; from this point of view, children's drawings are of particular value, which make it possible to understand the emotional state of the child, his attitude to the world around him, to his parents, to himself.

In addition to the listed methods intended for collecting primary data on the development of the psyche, psychology uses methods of mathematical statistics, which act as a means of increasing the reliability, objectivity and accuracy of the results obtained.

1.4.Structure of modern psychology.

Currently, psychology is a complex and branched system of areas of scientific research, the structure of which consists of many relatively independently developing branches. The expansion and enrichment of the structure of psychology is determined by the influence of two factors:

Firstly, the social life and activity of modern man is becoming more complex, therefore, new tasks and questions are being posed to psychology, the answers to which require a thorough study of new psychological realities;

Secondly, the development of science itself and its research methods make it possible to constantly expand the horizons of psychology; today there are up to a hundred branches of psychology that are at different stages of their development and emergence as independent scientific disciplines.

A special position among all areas is occupied by general psychology, which unites various branches into holistic scientific knowledge. Studying the essence and general patterns of the emergence, functioning and development of the psyche, it represents the methodological and theoretical basis of all psychological disciplines. An important place in the structure of psychological knowledge is occupied by the history of psychology, the focus of which is on the processes of development of ideas about the nature and essence of the psyche from ancient times to the present day.

Branches of psychology are usually classified according to different criteria.

1. Branches of psychology that study psychological problems of specific types of human activity:

   labor psychology studies the psychological characteristics of human labor activity, psychological aspects of the scientific organization of labor;

   medical psychology studies the psychological aspects of health and illness, the psychological foundations of the activities of medical personnel;

   educational psychology examines the psychological patterns of the processes of teaching and upbringing;

   legal psychology is divided into forensic psychology, which studies the mental characteristics of the behavior of participants in criminal proceedings, criminal psychology, which deals with problems of behavior and the formation of the personality of the criminal, the motives of the crime, as well as penitentiary psychology, which studies the psychology of prisoners in correctional institutions;

   engineering psychology analyzes the processes of information interaction between humans and technical devices, solving problems of engineering and psychological design in the “man-machine” system;

   sports psychology examines the psychological characteristics of the personality and activities of athletes, the conditions and means of their psychological preparation;

   industries that deal with the psychological aspects of advertising, business, management, creativity and many other types of human activity.

2. Branches of psychology that study various aspects of mental development:

   developmental psychology traces the development of the psyche in ontogenesis - its sections are child psychology, adolescent psychology, youth psychology, adult psychology, gerontopsychology;

   comparative psychology studies the patterns, origin and development of the psyche of animals and humans;

   psychology of abnormal development, or special psychology, studies disorders of the mental development of a child.

3. Branches of psychology that study the relationship between the individual and society:

   social psychology studies mental phenomena in the process of relationships between people;

   ethnopsychology focuses on the ethnic characteristics of the people’s psyche, ethnic stereotypes, etc.

Even mentioning a small part of the currently developing branches of psychology allows us to judge how multifaceted this science is. At the same time, psychology is a single scientific discipline based on a single subject of research and a single method and included in the general scientific context.

1.5.The place of psychology in the system of scientific knowledge.

An analysis of the main trends in the development of the world community and the forecasts of many scientists agree that the first century of the third millennium will be the century of the flourishing of human sciences, the century of human science and social science. B.G. Ananyev in his book “On the Problems of Modern Human Science” wrote that “this is evidenced by three important features of the development of modern science, related specifically to the problem of man:

Transformation of the human problem into a general problem of all science as a whole, all its sections, including exact and technical sciences;

Increasing differentiation of the scientific study of man, in-depth specialization of individual disciplines and their fragmentation into a number of increasingly private teachings;

Modern science more and more fully embraces the diverse connections and relationships of man with the world: nature and man, society and man, man and technology.”

In a system of certain connections, a person is studied as a product of biological evolution - the species Homo sapiens:

The subject and object of the historical process is a person in history; a natural individual with an inherent genetic development program and a certain range of variability;

the main productive force of society is the subject of labor; subject of cognition, communication, management and education.

The history of science has never before seen such a variety of approaches to the study of man. knew. The increasing diversity of aspects of human knowledge is a specific phenomenon of our time, associated with the progress of science and its application to various areas of social practice.

Along with the process of differentiation of scientific knowledge about man, there is a counter process of integration. The tendency to combine various sciences, aspects and methods of human research into certain complex systems leads to the emergence of new border disciplines and the connection through their many previously distant areas of natural science and history, the humanities and technology, medicine and pedagogy. With the emergence of cybernetics, physical and mathematical sciences are approaching the study of man. Pharmacology is developing on the borders between biochemistry, endocrinology, physiology of higher nervous activity and psychology. At the junction between cybernetics, biology, physiology and psychology, the development of bionics takes place with its main section - modeling of brain systems, and above all analyzers of the external environment. On the borders between cybernetics, physiology, psychology and pedagogy, the theory of programmed learning is being developed.

Science and practice feel the need for a unified theory of human knowledge, for the rapprochement and integration of all means of human knowledge. Promoting the problem of man as a common one for all modern science radically changes the position of psychology in the system of sciences, since it is psychology that can become a connecting link between all areas of human knowledge, a means of uniting various sections of natural science and social sciences in a new, holistic knowledge about man.

It is possible to overcome interdisciplinary disunity in understanding a person and create a general picture of his world only by considering it as a certain system. In his book “Man as a Subject of Knowledge” B.G. Ananyev points out: “Human studies is the area where the systems approach is organically determined and intensively developed. Here a synthesis of knowledge must be carried out, lying, as it were, on different planes, but invariably crossing the plane of psychological knowledge. As a result, components of psychological knowledge are included in the research of a wide variety of humanities and natural sciences, and new perspectives for understanding the mental are opening up in psychology.”

Domestic psychologist B.F. Lomov wrote that the most important function of psychology is that it “is an integrator of all scientific disciplines, the object of study of which is man.” The interaction of psychology with other sciences is carried out through branches of psychological science: with social sciences through social psychology, with natural sciences - through psychophysiology, comparative psychology, with medical sciences - through medical psychology, with pedagogical ones - through developmental psychology and educational psychology, with technical ones - through engineering psychology. , etc.

Thus, psychology has developed close ties with scientific disciplines of all groups: natural, humanitarian and technical. Analysis of the content of psychological knowledge shows that it is not possible to accurately determine which of the above groups psychology itself can be attributed to. Psychology develops at the intersection of all three areas of scientific research.

Self-test questions.

1. What are the main differences between scientific and non-scientific psychological knowledge?
2. What are the features of psychology as an independent science?
3. What is the subject of psychological knowledge?
4. What are the main research methods in psychology?
5. What is the place of psychology in the structure of modern science?

Literature.

1. Gippeyreiter Yu.B. Introduction to general psychology: A course of lectures. M., 1988. Lecture.
2. Godefroy J. What is psychology. In 2 volumes. T. 1. M, 1992. Ch. 2.
3. Nurkova V.V., Berezanskaya N.B. Psychology: Textbook. M., 2004. Ch. 1.
4. Ananyev B.G. Man as an object of knowledge. St. Petersburg, 2001.
5. Slobodchikov V.I.; Isaev E.I. Human Psychology M, 1995.

Psychology is a long-established science, highly developed and divided into many areas and schools. This is not even one, but a whole system of sciences. Their number is currently difficult to accurately determine, since some psychological sciences today are still just taking shape, becoming independent. In any case, judging by the branches of psychology listed in the dictionary attached to the previous chapter of the textbook, there are at least 80 of them.

The topics, problems and research methods used in these branches of psychology are so different that it is almost impossible to give an accurate and comprehensive definition of the subject of this science. However, we will have to do this in the textbook, since a working definition of the subject of the science discussed in it is still necessary for those who begin to study this scientific discipline. Of course, this definition, like all the others, cannot claim to be exhaustive and absolutely accurate. It will be only the author's, i.e. one of many possible definitions of the subject of psychology. Along with it, there may well exist (and indeed exist) many other, equal definitions.

In addition, when searching for a definition of the subject of modern psychology, one should take into account the fact that along with scientific psychology there is also practical and alternative psychology. Practical psychology is recognized, widespread in the modern world, largely scientifically based, and therefore should also be reflected in the universal definition of the subject of psychology. Alternative psychology is popular among a significant part of the population and has a certain influence on people’s consciousness. Therefore, it is advisable to mention it at least briefly in the universal definition of the subject of psychology.

Finally, it should be borne in mind that the current state of psychology is not static, but dynamic. It is constantly changing in all its areas, primarily related to science and practice, and therefore its definition cannot be fit into any frozen definition. A description of the complete subject of modern psychology, therefore, requires at least several detailed judgments, with the obligatory separation of definitions of the subject of psychology as a science and practice. The corresponding description, in addition, must remain “living”, i.e. such that it can be modified, adding to the already established understanding of the subject of psychology new things that continuously developing science and practice bring into it.

We, of course, would like to offer not a frozen, outdated and therefore losing accuracy definition over time, but a dynamic one, corresponding to a system of scientific knowledge that is constantly evolving, regularly absorbing new things. But science, alas, has not yet “learned” to offer such definitions.

What has been said and the reservations made above do not mean that it is currently impossible to make any special demands on the definition of the subject of psychology. These requirements actually exist and are as follows.

• 1. The definition of the subject of science should reflect as completely as possible the content of the main scientific research currently being carried out in this field. In this regard, the most successful definition can be considered to be one that covers the greatest number of diverse scientific topics, problems and developments.
• 2. The corresponding definition should not contain logical contradictions and errors, i.e. must correspond to the logic of definition of concepts accepted in science.
• 3. This definition, naturally, must differ from the definitions of subjects in other sciences.
• 4. The proposed definition must correspond to existing directions and schools, i.e. integrate and present in a generalized form what scientists who call themselves psychologists do.

Before we try to propose a definition of modern psychology that meets all these requirements, we will make a brief excursion into the history of psychology and try to find out how in ancient times the idea of ​​the subject of science was given and changed over time - first about the soul and then about psychology. An excursion into history will allow us to find an understanding of the subject of psychology that would take into account not only the current state of this science, but also its historical, ancient and recent past.

The word “psychology”, which has become established today as the name of the modern science of the psyche, is of Greek origin. It is formed from two words: “soul” (psyche) and “logos” (logos) - teaching. Consequently, in its original meaning the word “psychology” was literally understood as “the study of the soul.” Until the 16th century This teaching acted as part of philosophy, was not independent and retained its ancient name. Starting from this century, the philosophical doctrine of the soul received the modern name “psychology”, proposed to it by analogy with the names of many other sciences that by this time had separated from philosophy and become independent, for example, “philology”, “biology”, “zoology”, "geology", etc.

In the XVII-XVIII centuries. The name “psychology” was finally assigned to the science of the soul. Initially, the term “psychology” referred only to phenomena that a person detected in his consciousness. Later, in the 18th-19th centuries, the scope of psychological research expanded and also included unconscious mental phenomena (the unconscious).

When studying the historical process of transforming ideas about the subject of psychology, it is important to keep in mind the following circumstance. Since ancient times, knowledge about the soul has interested people not only in itself - in order to understand the nature of the phenomena that people discovered in their consciousness (soul), but also in order, using this knowledge, to explain events occurring in the world around them, including human and animal behavior. Consequently, from the moment the ideas about the soul and the science of the soul arose in Ancient Greece, the subject of the corresponding science included, at a minimum, the explanation of the behavior of people and animals with the help of mental phenomena.

Modern scientists not only include human behavior (option - activity) in the subject of psychological research, but also recognize psychology’s right to act as the main science that claims to understand and explain behavior. In this regard, the name “psychology”, if we mean the science to which it currently refers, is not entirely accurate and to some extent has lost its original meaning, limiting its subject only to mental phenomena represented in the consciousness or subconscious of a person . In its scientific research, modern psychology has gone far beyond the limits of not only consciousness as such, but also mental phenomena themselves, having included in the scope of its research the study and explanation of the behavior of people and animals (animal psychology).

Considerable difficulties also arise with the inclusion of behavior (activity) in the subject of psychological study. There is still no consensus on how to represent human behavior (activity) as a subject of psychology. Let us recall that S. L. Rubinstein believed that human activity (behavior) is not the subject of psychology. Answering him, A. N. Leontyev noted that mental processes themselves are types of activity, therefore activity must necessarily be included in the subject of psychological research. To prove the correctness of his position, A. N. Leontyev gives the following arguments:

• 1) the mental processes themselves are derived from various types of practical human activity;
• 2) without studying human activity, its structure and development, it is impossible to understand the human psyche;
• 3) the psyche, divorced from activity, turns into something incomprehensible and unknowable.

It inevitably follows from this that, without including activity (behavior) in the definition of the subject of psychology, we, firstly, significantly limit it, turning psychology into a science that describes and explains only mental phenomena. Secondly, in this case we misrepresent the human psyche itself, illegally separating and isolating it from human activity, or wrongfully considering activity as something alien or external to the psyche.

Retaining its former name for psychology is, in general, apparently correct, since psychologists, both today and in the past, were primarily interested in the knowledge and understanding of mental or mental phenomena. But it is obvious that such a definition of science, taking into account the above arguments, is no longer enough today. However, attempts to call psychology differently cannot be considered successful, for example, the science of behavior, as the behaviorists proposed, the science of the unconscious, as psychoanalysts believed, the science of reactions or reflexes, as was believed, for example, by K. N. Kornilov or V. M. Bekhterev. Such names for science are obviously much less successful than the old name "psychology"

The brief excursion into the history of psychology made above shows that while maintaining the same name - “psychology” or “science of the soul” - the content of the research conducted by psychologists has changed several times over the long history of the development of this science. In ancient times, the soul was considered as something that objectively exists and differs from material objects and phenomena. Therefore, it was correct to define and limit the subject of the corresponding science only to mental (mental) phenomena. At the same time, already in ancient times the soul, as we established in the first chapter, was understood in different ways: both as the source of all kinds of movements observed in the world, and as the fundamental principle of life, and as a reason that explains the behavior of humans and animals.

At first, the subject of study of the science of the soul was indeed mainly only the functions of the soul and its possible manifestations. These functions were described in detail by ancient scientists. The question of the origin of the soul itself was resolved by materialists and idealists in different ways. The first tried to identify mental phenomena with one of the varieties of matter: movements of air, fire, ether, small and mobile atoms, etc. The latter declared the soul to be something immaterial, in no way connected with the material world either in origin or existence. Idealists believed that the soul cannot be derived from matter and cannot be reduced to it. Many of them, in addition, not finding a satisfactory answer to the question of the origin of the soul (there is still no convincing answer to this in science, including materialistically oriented ones), agreed that God endowed man with a soul, and through it he controls human behavior.

In the XVI-XVII centuries. A new, natural-scientific, mechanistic picture of the world arose, which was reflected in the works of many European scientists - physicists and mechanics, primarily R. Descartes and I. Newton. Descartes proposed excluding control of the simplest movements of the body from the list of functions of the soul, limiting its role only to higher mental processes: thinking and affects. The range of phenomena to be studied in the science of the soul, starting from this time, narrowed to what is represented in the human consciousness. As a result, psychology began to be called the science of human consciousness, its content and dynamics, studied using the method of internal introspection - introspection.

However, already in the 18th century. scientists (for example, G. Leibniz) started talking about the existence of the unconscious in the human psyche and behavior. This idea gradually won an increasing number of supporters, and received final recognition in the second half of the 19th century, thanks to the works of Z. Freud. In this regard, it became necessary to once again change the idea of ​​the subject of psychology as a science, including the study of unconscious mental phenomena. Such a change did occur over time, but it had virtually no effect on the definition of the subject of psychology. For at least another hundred years after scientists started talking about the unconscious and recognized its existence, psychology continued to be defined as the science of consciousness and its structure, and this was quite consistent with what was mainly studied in this science. In the first half of the 20th century. almost none of the psychological scientists explicitly included unconscious mental phenomena in the definition of the subject of science.

At the end of the 19th century. The first applied branches of scientific psychology emerge, such as clinical and educational psychology. The emergence of these branches of psychology also required a redefinition of the subject of psychology. As a result, at the beginning of the 20th century. A situation is emerging that is conducive to the emergence of a new, more modern and comprehensive understanding of the subject of psychology, which includes, in addition to mental phenomena represented in the human mind, the following points.

• 1. The idea that psychology should recognize and study unconscious mental phenomena.
• 2. The idea that the subject of psychology is not only mental phenomena as such, but also the activities (behavior) of humans and animals.
• 3. An indication of why all this should be studied in psychology (the functional purpose of the mental phenomena themselves and the applied significance of scientific knowledge about the psyche).

However, the need to redefine the subject of psychology at this time historically coincided with two events that temporarily postponed to the future the search for an adequate, updated and accurate definition of the subject of this science. This is, firstly, the beginning of the division of psychology into a number of sciences and areas of research; secondly, the crisis that has struck world psychological science.

The newly emerged psychological sciences specialized in the study of certain groups of mental phenomena and forms of behavior in humans and animals. Each of them, accordingly, acquired its own narrowly and specifically understood subject, different from the subject of research in psychology in general and other psychological sciences. Under these conditions, the specificity of understanding the subject of psychology began to depend on the direction in which the development of psychological ideas took place. Thus, in psychoanalysis, behaviorism, Gestalt psychology, and then in humanistic and cognitive psychology, the subjects of scientific research began to be understood differently. This has given rise to additional difficulties in searching for a holistic understanding of the subject of psychology as a science.

The crisis of world psychological science, in addition, aggravated the contradictions between the newly emerging areas of psychology, and the presence of competition between them also became an obstacle in the search for a general definition of the subject of psychology as a whole. Representatives of each direction of research, insisting on its only correctness, naturally offered their own definition of the subject of psychology. So, for example, in behaviorism it became behavior and its natural scientific explanation, in Gestalt psychology - structurally understood cognitive processes and other mental phenomena, in psychoanalysis - the unconscious and its role in controlling the psyche and behavior of a person, in functionalism - the life purpose of various mental phenomena , in humanistic psychology - personality in its highest, spiritual manifestations.

As long as psychology is in a state of fragmentation, confrontation and division of a previously unified science into many directions and schools that compete with each other - and such a state is characteristic of it in our days - a general definition of the subject of psychology that suits everyone without exceptions of scientists are impossible to find.

However, by the end of the 20th century. the situation has changed for the better. There was a smoothing out of acute contradictions and open competition between individual directions and schools of psychology, their rapprochement began (it, unfortunately, has not yet been completed), and this opened up the prospect of searching for a unified definition of the subject of psychology. Although such a definition does not yet exist, it is still possible to outline ways to find one in the future.

The easiest way to understand and realize what modern psychology is doing is through a brief listing and description of the phenomena that are currently being studied in it. Therefore, the next paragraph can be considered as an attempt at a detailed descriptive definition of the subject of psychology through the presentation of the system of phenomena studied in it.

Psychology is, first of all, the science of phenomena that are called mental or psychological. Psychology, in connection with the study of such phenomena, poses and solves the following most important questions.

• 1. What are mental phenomena?
• 2. What distinguishes some mental phenomena from others?
• 3. What groups (classes, varieties) are mental phenomena divided into?
• 4. How do mental phenomena differ from phenomena studied in other sciences?
• 5. Where did psychic phenomena come from and how did they arise (if they really once arose)?
• 6. How do mental phenomena characteristic of humans differ from similar phenomena characteristic of animals?
• 7. How do mental phenomena relate to processes occurring in the human body, in particular in the brain?
• 8. What influence do mental phenomena have on human behavior?
• 9. How do mental phenomena depend on human activity?

Since ancient times, the science of the soul has been called upon to provide an explanation of what is happening in the world, primarily the various movements carried out by living objects: animals and humans. In modern scientific language, these movements are defined through the concept of “behavior.” Consequently, the explanation of behavior, based on knowledge about mental (mental) phenomena, has been and still represents one of the main tasks of psychology and has always been part of its subject. This must be understood as follows. Behavior as such is not a subject of psychological study in its pure form. However, it is subject to scientific explanation in psychology, although psychology does not act as the only science that explains it. Representatives of many other humanities and social sciences, along with psychology, can lay claim to solving this problem. People's behavior is explained, for example, by biology, medicine, physiology, history, sociology, philosophy, law, pedagogy and many other sciences.

The situation is different with the inclusion of activity in the subject of psychology. It, unlike behavior, is the subject of direct psychological study. Mental phenomena are in one way or another connected with activity (not behavior) and are derived from it. It is impossible to answer the questions formulated above about what is the nature of mental processes, where they come from, how they are formed and developed, without studying human activity.

Mental phenomena characteristic of a person are manifested in his activity, are formed in it and are known through activity. One of the reasons why introspection as a research method turned out to be untenable in the study of mental phenomena was precisely that this method of cognition separated the psyche from activity and ignored the fact of their interconnection and interdependence. Knowledge of activity, according to A. N. Leontyev, is at the same time knowledge of the human psyche, since mental phenomena act as the most important components of human activity, and activity, in turn, includes mental processes.

Thus, in a brief form summarizing the above, the working definition of modern psychology may sound like this: psychology is the science of human activity, of the mental phenomena associated with it, which are born, develop and regulate it. An additional characteristic of the subject of psychology, which specifically emphasizes its scientific and practical significance, can be the understanding of psychology as a science that explains mental phenomena and, based on them, human behavior and activity.

Concluding the discussion of the issue of defining psychology as a science, we can draw the following conclusions.

• 1. Throughout the history of the existence of this science, despite the changes that occurred in the general scientific worldview and in views on the nature of mental phenomena, they were invariably included in the definition of the subject of this science.
• 2. In connection with the inclusion of mental phenomena in the subject of psychology, the following questions were raised and resolved:
• 1) what is the nature of mental phenomena in contrast to other phenomena that exist in the world and are studied by various sciences;
• 2) how mental phenomena are related to other phenomena that do not appear as mental;
• 3) how human behavior (activity) depends on mental phenomena;
• 4) how are mental phenomena formed (developed, changed)?
• 3. From ancient times to the present day, there has been a gradual narrowing of the prevalence in the world and limitation of the functions of spiritual (mental) phenomena.
• 4. At the same time, the understanding of the subject of psychology expanded: from phenomena associated only with consciousness to unconscious mental phenomena and practical human activity.
• 5. Attempts to recognize psychology as an invalid science, to exclude mental phenomena from the definition of the subject of psychology, or to replace it with a completely different science that explains behavior without reference to mental phenomena, were unsuccessful.
• 6. Currently, the subject of psychology has more or less been defined, and the situation associated with the search for such a definition has stabilized. However, psychologists have not yet come to a single, universal definition of the subject of their science.

• We will not define the subject of practical psychology in this textbook, since its content is mainly devoted only to scientific, general psychology.
• Discussed further in the sixth chapter of the textbook, the materialistic point of view of A. N. Leontyev on the emergence of an elementary mental phenomenon in the form of sensitivity from the property of irritability inherent in living matter, unfortunately, does not finally and consistently resolve the question of the origin of the psyche. This hypothesis, firstly, still does not have experimental, empirical or experimental confirmation, and secondly, it gives rise to and leaves unanswered a number of rather complex questions, for example the following: 1) why do the reactions of living matter sound, light, favitation, etc. P. are they associated specifically and only with the presence of the psyche? After all, plants and even some inanimate objects, as proven in biology, physics and chemistry, respond to this kind of influence. This means that it is necessary to recognize the presence of a psyche in them too, i.e. return to the ancient, long-rejected teaching of panpsychism; 2) on what basis are the stimuli to which living things react divided into biologically significant (biotic) and biological nephral (abiotic)? From a physical point of view, light and heat are phenomena of the same nature, i.e. electromagnetic waves of different lengths. The same can be said, for example, about sounds and sensations of vibration: behind them there are also physical phenomena of the same nature - fluctuations in air pressure with different frequencies. Light and sound, according to the definition of A. N. Leontyev, are abiotic influences associated with sensitivity and, consequently, with the psyche, and heat and vibration are biotic stimuli that are important for the body and correlated, accordingly, with irritability. It turns out that the body's reactions to stimuli of the same nature in one case are declared biologically significant, in another - neutral, in one case they are associated, and in another they are not associated with the presence of the psyche.
• True, it is also not entirely correct to definitely state that this was the case. The recognition of the existence of the unconscious in the human psyche was nevertheless reflected in the understanding and definition of the subject of this science. This, in particular, was manifested in the fact that most scientists cease to define the subject of this science as just the study of consciousness. In addition, the inclusion of human activity or behavior in the subject of psychology also means removing the limitation of its subject only to phenomena of consciousness, since both activity and behavior can be of a consciously uncontrolled nature.
• Note that this will be an attempt to offer a truly integral definition of science - such as it actually is not. Instead, there are many separate fundamental and applied psychological sciences, for each of which there is a particular definition of its subject. Here we propose a working definition that applies to all psychological sciences and, at the same time, does not completely correspond to the definition of the subject of any of the special psychological sciences.
• There are fundamental differences between activity and behavior that will be discussed in detail below.

Chapter 1 Psychology as a science

Despite the fact that psychology is a relatively young science, its role in modern society is great. In the hundred years since psychology was named an independent science, it has had a significant impact on the understanding of human nature and the characteristics of his psyche. The popularity of psychology is explained simply - it studies everything related to a person. It is quite natural that most of us want to understand why people behave one way or another in different situations, be able to predict the reactions of our interlocutors, and influence the thoughts and actions of others. These and many other questions are the field of study of the science of psychology.

Psychology is a science that studies the laws, patterns of development and functioning of the psyche. The term “psychology” is formed from two words: “psyche” (Greek. ????" - soul) and “logos” (Greek. ??"??? - word, knowledge, thought). Thus, psychology is the science of the human soul.

Subject of study Psychology considered different phenomena at different stages of the development of scientific knowledge.

For example, since ancient times, psychology has been considered as a subject soul. Ancient Greek philosophers put forward the idea of ​​a soul that is in unity with the human body. It was believed that the soul determines all bodily processes and controls a person’s thoughts and feelings.

Later, the subject of psychology began to be considered consciousness. Consciousness is the subject’s ability to relate himself to the world, to oppose himself to it. Thus, the active interaction of man with the external environment began to be considered as a subject of science.

Within the framework of the first psychological school, created by Wilhelm Wundt, the subject of psychology began to be considered human experience. Wundt used the method of introspection for research - observation of one’s own mental processes (self-observation). Psychology as a science had to study not only individual features of sensation or perception, but also judgments and emotional assessments.

Subsequently, they began to consider as a subject of science activities and behavior a person, based on the fact that the easiest way to recognize a person is by his actions.

According to the opposite point of view, the subject of psychology is unconscious motives and needs person; It is believed that a person is driven by instincts and impulses repressed from consciousness.

In its most general form, the subject of psychology can be considered patterns of formation, development and formation of the human psyche, human connections with nature and society.

Psyche– this is the ability to reflect the objective world with its connections and relationships, a set of mental processes.

Two main stages of mental development can be distinguished: elementary sensory And perceptual.

For each stage, several levels of development can be distinguished:

– the lowest level of the elementary sensory psyche is inherent in the simplest creatures, multicellular organisms. It is characterized by underdeveloped sensitivity, a reaction only to significant properties of the environment by changing the speed and direction of movement. Movements at this stage are not purposeful;

– the highest level of elementary sensory psyche is possessed by worms, mollusks and a number of invertebrates. This level is characterized by the presence of sensations, reactions to both directly affecting and neutral stimuli, and the ability to avoid unfavorable conditions;

– the lowest level of the perceptual psyche is inherent in fish, lower vertebrate creatures, and insects. This level is characterized by the variety and complexity of movements, the search for positive stimuli and the avoidance of negative environmental factors;

– the highest level of perceptual psyche is possessed by higher vertebrates – birds and a number of mammals. At this stage, animals exhibit a strong ability to learn and are amenable to training;

– the highest level of perceptual psyche is characteristic of primates, dogs, and dolphins. This level means the ability to both act according to an already known pattern and look for new ways to solve a problem, as well as the ability to use various kinds of tools.

The human psyche is the highest point in the evolution of the psyche of living beings due to the presence of consciousness, speech, and cultural characteristics.

The human psyche is a rather complex formation. There are three main groups of mental phenomena:

– mental processes;

– mental states;

- mental properties.

Mental processes– reflection of reality in various forms of mental phenomena. Mental processes can be caused externally or be the result of internal stimuli.

All mental processes, in turn, can be divided into three groups:

a) cognitive processes - sensation, perception, memory, thinking, imagination;

b) emotional processes – emotions, feelings, experiences;

c) volitional processes - will, decision making, etc.

Mental processes are closely interconnected, provide information about the outside world and shape human activity.

In addition to individual ones, there are interpersonal mental processes (communication, interpersonal relationships) and group processes (formation of group norms and moral and psychological climate, conflicts, cohesion).

Mental condition– a characteristic of a person’s mental activity that is stable over a certain period of time. The mental state is manifested in a decrease or increase in personality activity. For example, mental states can be called states of vigor or fatigue; various emotional states - sadness, sadness, cheerful mood. Conditions of this kind arise as a result of the influence of a whole variety of factors on a person - characteristics of communication with other people, the degree and nature of satisfaction of needs, obtaining one or another result, etc.

Mental properties– stable formations that provide a typical style of activity for a person and the characteristics of his behavior.

Among the mental properties of a person we can highlight:

a) life position - a system of needs, beliefs, interests that influences a person’s life;

b) temperament - a system of natural personality properties, such as mobility and balance of the nervous system, influencing a person’s perception of the outside world and his relationships with other people;

c) abilities - a system of intellectual-volitional and emotional properties that determines the creative capabilities of the individual;

d) character – a system of mental properties of a person that determines the characteristics of a person’s behavior and relationships with other people.

Psychology is associated with a number of sciences that study man in one way or another - with philosophical, social and natural sciences - occupying an intermediate place between them.

Philosophy can be considered the progenitor of a number of sciences, including psychology. It was within the framework of philosophy that for the first time we started talking about man, his nature, and personal characteristics. Psychology as a separate science has placed man at the center of its attention, studying the role of the psyche in his life. In addition to mental processes, psychology also studies the features of human evolutionary development, his physique and nervous system. Within the framework of the physiology and anatomy of the central nervous system (CNS), the question of the connection between mental processes and the human central nervous system is considered. In addition to studying the individual, psychology considers issues of group interaction and human behavior in society.

Psychology contains a number of disciplines - areas that study various facets of mental phenomena and human behavior.

General psychology studies the general patterns of the human and animal psyches.

Differential psychology - a branch of psychology that studies individual psychological differences between people.

Social Psychology studies the patterns of group formation, behavior and communication of people in groups, and problems of leadership in a group. Within the framework of social psychology, large (nations, classes, etc.) and small (work teams, families, etc.) groups are studied.

Pedagogical psychology studies the patterns of personality development in the process of education and upbringing, features of student development, interactions between students and teachers, as well as factors influencing the success of learning.

Age-related psychology studies the patterns and features of human personality development inherent in a particular age period.

Psychodiagnostics Using psychic research methods, he studies certain individual characteristics of a person. The most well-known diagnostic methods are tests, questionnaires, and questionnaires.

Labor psychology studies the characteristics of human labor activity and allows us to determine the characteristics of the formation and development of a person’s labor skills and abilities, the performance and endurance of workers. Occupational psychology has a number of sections depending on the type of activity and the work performed. For example, we can distinguish engineering, aviation, and space psychology.

Legal psychology examines the characteristics of the behavior of participants in pre-trial and trial proceedings, and the personality of the offender. There are several types of legal psychology: forensic, criminal and correctional labor psychology.

Medical psychology studies issues related to health and mental disorders of people. In addition, within the framework of medical psychology, issues of the course of various normal and pathological conditions - stress, affect, anxiety - are considered. Medical psychology includes such sections as neuropsychology and psychotherapy.

Parapsychology is not considered a scientific discipline by many, but remains quite popular. Parapsychology studies the peculiarities of the emergence and manifestation of various human paranormal abilities, such as telepathy, telekinesis, and clairvoyance.

It should be noted that due to the emergence of new sciences or social phenomena, the number of areas of psychology is increasing. For example, relatively recently there arose ecological psychology.

Literature

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2. Godefroy J. What is psychology. – M.: Mir, 1997.

3. Luria A.R. General psychology. – St. Petersburg: Peter, 2004.

4. Nemov R.S. Psychology. Book 1. – M.: VLADOS Center, 2003.

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7. Rubinshtein S.L. Fundamentals of general psychology. In 2 volumes - T. 1. - M.: Pedagogika, 1989. This text is an introductory fragment.

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Any science always has its own object and subject, its own tasks. Its object, as a rule, is the carriers of the phenomena and processes that it studies, and its subject is the specifics of the formation, development and manifestation of these phenomena. The objectives of a particular science are the main directions of its research and development, as well as the goals that it sets for itself to achieve certain results.

Subject of psychology

Any textbook on the basics of any science usually begins with a definition of its subject. But in relation to psychological science, it is extremely difficult to give such a definition for the following reasons: Firstly, the subject of any science is not given (assigned) to the researcher once and for all, but changes with the development of science. Throughout its historical path, psychological science also changed its subject, but - unlike many other disciplines - it never reached the stage of a more or less generally accepted solution to this issue. Some psychologists, when asked about the subject of psychology, answer that it is the soul, others say that psychology studies the phenomena and functions (acts) of consciousness, others - behavior, others - activity, etc. Thus, modern psychology is developing in conditions of extreme pluralism of points of view on solving both the problem of the subject of research and other fundamental issues, and psychologists have not yet created a unified general psychological theory capable of covering with its explanations all the phenomena studied in psychology and combining all the approaches and points of view available in it (many psychologists doubt that this is even possible). Secondly, psychological science is one of the most complex sciences in general. “In no other science,” wrote the famous Russian psychologist Lev Semenovich Vygotsky (1896-1934), “are there so many difficulties, insoluble controversies, and the combination of different things in one, as in psychology. The subject of psychology is the most difficult of all that there is in the world, the least amenable to study; the method of knowing it must be full of special tricks and precautions in order to give what is expected of it.” A. Einstein’s words are also widely known that solving physical problems is child’s play compared to scientific and psychological studies of children’s play. Third, psychology is in close relationship with almost all other sciences about nature, society and man, and therefore there is always a danger of replacing proper psychological research with physiological, sociological, etc., which ultimately can lead psychology to the loss of its own subject. In the history of psychology, attempts of this kind have repeatedly occurred, and therefore psychological science must clearly distinguish its subject from the subject of another science, even if the objects of these sciences coincide.

The subject of psychology is the study of the human psyche. However, the psyche is not unique to humans; it is also present in animals. Consequently, the object of psychology is not only man. It always takes into account the commonality of the psyche of animals and humans.

Problems of psychology

The main objectives of psychology as a science are the following:

1. study of objective patterns of formation, development and manifestation of mental phenomena and processes as a reflection of the direct influences of objective reality and the interaction of people;

2. study of qualitative (structural) features of mental phenomena and processes;

3. study of the physiological mechanisms underlying mental phenomena for the correct mastery of practical means of their formation and development;

4. introduction of scientific knowledge and ideas of psychological science into the life and activities of people, the study of their interaction and mutual understanding (development of scientific and practical methods of training and education, rationalization of the labor process in various types of human activity).

The structure of psychology as a science

Psychology at the current level of development is a very branched system of scientific disciplines, divided into fundamental And applied.

Fundamental branches of psychology develop general problems and study general patterns of the psyche that manifest themselves in people, regardless of what activity they engage in. Due to its universality, knowledge of the fundamental branches of psychology is combined with the term “general psychology.”

General psychology studies the individual, highlighting his mental cognitive processes and personality. The psychology of cognitive processes studies such mental processes as sensations, perception, attention, memory, imagination, thinking, speech. Personality psychology studies the mental structure of the individual and the mental properties of the individual that determine the deeds and actions of a person.

Applied The industry includes a number of special psychological disciplines at different stages of formation associated with various areas of human life and activity.

Among the special branches of psychology that study the psychological problems of specific types of activity, there are: labor psychology, educational psychology, medical psychology, legal psychology, military psychology, trade psychology, psychology of scientific creativity, sports psychology, etc.

Psychological aspects of development are studied by developmental psychology and psychology of abnormal development.

Social psychology studies the psychological aspects of the relationship between the individual and society.

The theory and practice of teaching and educating the younger generation is closely related to both general psychology and special branches of psychology.

The scientific basis for understanding the laws of child mental development are genetic, differential and developmental psychology. Genetic psychology studies the hereditary mechanisms of a child’s psyche and behavior. Differential psychology identifies individual differences between people and explains the process of their formation. Developmental psychology studies the stages of mental development of an individual.

For a mentally competent organization of education, you need to know the psychological patterns of interaction between people in groups, such as a family, student groups. Relationships in groups are the subject of study of the social psyche.

The psychology of abnormal development deals with deviations from the norm in human behavior and psyche and is extremely necessary in pedagogical work with children lagging behind in mental development.

Educational psychology brings together all information related to teaching and education. The subject of educational psychology is the psychological patterns of teaching and upbringing of a person.

Modern psychology is characterized by both the process of differentiation, which gives rise to numerous special branches of psychology, and the process of integration, as a result of which psychology merges with other sciences, for example, through educational psychology and pedagogy.

Psychological phenomenology

The word “phenomenology” in the title of the paragraph means in this case “a set of phenomena.” Phenomenon is a philosophical category that serves to designate a phenomenon that is comprehended in sensory (sometimes called “direct”) experience. The phenomenon is opposed to “noumenon” - a category denoting the essence of a thing, which, although manifested in phenomena, is not reducible to them, is cognized in a different - indirect - way and requires rational ways of understanding it.

1. Mental phenomena are phenomena of the “inner world”, more precisely, phenomena of consciousness, which we all know from our own experience and can be aware of. Many psychologists believed that there is no other method for understanding the phenomena of conscious life other than the method of introspection. Introspection is a special type of introspection that involves observing one’s internal experiences as they occur.

2. Gradually, facts accumulated in psychological science indicating that in addition to conscious phenomena, which the subject can give himself an account of, there are also unconscious mental processes. The subject may not even be aware of them, but these processes play a significant role in his behavior and determine the characteristics of his conscious mental life. Manifestations of the unconscious psyche are very diverse. Z. Freud was convinced that in mental life there can be nothing accidental, i.e., unconditioned by anything: any erroneous actions (slips of the tongue, slips of the tongue, etc.) are the result of desires that are significant for the subject, which remain for his consciousness hidden, and only a special interpretation of these erroneous actions can reveal their true meaning.

3. At the beginning of the 20th century. Some American psychologists have proposed various forms of behavior as phenomena that can be studied objectively. By behavior they understood all externally observable reactions of humans (and animals) to stimuli from the environment. This is how a powerful psychological movement called behaviorism arose. The founder of this movement, John Watson, wrote: “From the point of view of behaviorism, the true subject of (human) psychology is human behavior from birth to death... And since, when objectively studying a person, the behaviorist does not observe anything that he could call consciousness, feeling, sensation , imagination, will, to the extent that he no longer believes that these terms indicate genuine phenomena of psychology." Thus, behaviorists proposed to study not the phenomena of consciousness, which, in their opinion, are inaccessible to objective research, but the phenomena of behavior that can be observed by several psychologists simultaneously and therefore be studied objectively.

4. At one time, scientists also drew attention to the fact that it is impossible to understand the psychology of an individual person without understanding the characteristics of the social environment in which the person was brought up and the culture that the person assimilated. Thus, various phenomena of social relations (political, moral, religious, etc.) come into the field of view of psychologists.

5. Social relations at the psychological level are manifested primarily in interpersonal communication and joint activities, which are mediated by various objects of material and spiritual culture. They also deserve the attention of psychologists. Why should a psychologist turn to the study of objects of material and spiritual culture? Because they “objectify” human activity, human ideas about the world, his experiences and thoughts, his desires (Example: architecture).

6. Finally, various psychosomatic phenomena (external-bodily and physiological processes that express mental states in one form or another) come into the field of view of psychologists. They say that M.I. Kutuzov followed the following rule when selecting officers for junior command positions: introduce the officer into a real battle and see what his face will be like during this battle. If the face turns pale, it means that the person is afraid and cannot be hired as a commander; if he blushes, it means that the person is quite suitable for a command position. The scientific basis for this everyday observation was provided by psychophysiologist E.N. Sokolov: he established that redness of the face (i.e. dilation of the blood vessels of the head) is a sign of an orientation reflex, while pallor of the face (narrowing of blood vessels) indicates the presence of a defensive reflex.

The connection between psychology and other sciences. Philosophy. The greatest philosopher of antiquity, Aristotle, is considered the founder of psychology. Philosophy is a system of views on the world and man, and psychology is the study of man. Therefore, until recently, psychology was studied in philosophy departments of universities, and some of its sections are closely intertwined with philosophy. These are two independent sciences that can mutually enrich and complement each other. At the intersection of philosophy and psychology there is such a branch of the latter as “General Psychology”. Natural science is closely related to psychology. The development of theoretical and practical psychology in recent years would have been impossible without advances in biology, anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and medicine. Thanks to these sciences, psychologists better understand the structure and functioning of the human brain, which is the material basis of the psyche. “Psychophysiology” is located at the intersection of physiology and psychology. Sociology as an independent science is closely related to social psychology, which is the bridge that connects the thoughts, feelings and attitudes of individuals with the phenomena of mass consciousness. In addition, sociology provides psychology with facts about the social activities of people, which are then used by psychology. The connection between psychology and sociology is provided by “Social Psychology”. Technical sciences are also related to psychology, since they often have the problem of “docking” complex technical systems and humans. These issues are dealt with by “Engineering Psychology” and “Occupational Psychology”. Story. Modern man is a product of historical development, during which the interaction of biological and mental factors took place - from the biological process of natural selection to the mental processes of speech, thinking and work. Historical psychology studies changes in the psyche of people in the process of historical development and the influence of the psychological qualities of historical figures on the course of history. Medicine helps psychology better understand the possible mechanisms of mental disorders in people and find ways to treat it (psychocorrection and psychotherapy). At the intersection of medicine and psychology there are such branches of psychology as “Medical Psychology” and “Psychotherapy”. Pedagogy provides psychology with information about the main directions and patterns of training and education of people, which makes it possible to develop recommendations for the psychological support of these processes. The connection between these related sciences is provided by “Educational Psychology” and “Developmental Psychology”.

The problem of the relationship between scientific and everyday psychology

Any science has as its basis some everyday, empirical experience of people. Each of us has a stock of everyday psychological knowledge. This can be judged by the fact that each person, to some extent, can understand another, influence his behavior, predict his actions, take into account his individual characteristics, and help him.

1) Everyday psychological knowledge, specific; they are characterized by specificity, limitation of tasks, situations and persons to which they apply. Scientific psychology strives for generalizations. To do this, she uses scientific concepts. Concept development is one of the most important functions of science. Scientific concepts reflect the most essential properties of objects and phenomena, general connections and relationships.

2) Everyday psychological knowledge consists in the fact that it is intuitive in nature. This is due to the special way they are obtained: they are acquired through practical trials. In contrast, scientific psychological knowledge is rational and fully conscious. The usual way is to put forward verbally formulated hypotheses and test the logically following consequences from them.

3) The third difference lies in the methods of knowledge transfer and even in the very possibility of its transfer. Transfer of everyday experience. In the field of practical psychology, this possibility is very limited.

4) Different methods of obtaining knowledge in the fields of everyday and scientific psychology. In everyday psychology, we are forced to limit ourselves to observations and reflections. In scientific psychology, experiment is added to these methods.

5) Scientific psychology has extensive, varied and sometimes unique factual material, inaccessible in its entirety to any bearer of everyday psychology.