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General psychology. Lecture notes: briefly, the most important

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Table of contents

1. General characteristics of psychology as a science
2. Feeling and perception
3. Memory as a higher mental function
4. Attention as an object of psychological research
5. Emotional sphere of the psyche
6. Mental states
7. Motivational sphere of the psyche
8. Thinking (Part 1)
9. Thinking (Part 2)
10. Thinking (Part 3)
11. Speech and speech activity
12. Will and volitional processes
13. Consciousness
14. Unconscious
15. Personality (part 1)
16. Personality (part 2)

The famous German psychologist of the XIX century. Hermann Ebbinghaus says: "Psychology has a long past and a short history." These words perfectly reflect the essence of the historical development of the branch of psychological knowledge. After all, as an independent science, psychology was formed only by the end of the XNUMXth century. However, as a special branch of knowledge, it has existed since ancient history. Aristotle, who wrote the first systematic treatise on the soul, is usually considered the founder of psychology. But "knowledge about the soul" (namely, this is the literal translation of the term "psychology" from the Greek language - "psyche" and "logos", that is, "soul" and "word, knowledge") for a long time was attributed to the field of philosophy, religion or medicine.

For many centuries, the soul was considered the subject of psychology. Ideas about it in all ages have been uncertain. Each researcher offered his own concept. So, for example, in ancient Greece, the philosopher Heraclitus considered the soul and mind to consist of the world fire - the origin of all things; Anaximenes - from the air; Empedocles - from the fusion of the roots of all things, the four eternal elements: earth, water, air and fire. Alcmaeon first suggested that the "organ of the soul" is the brain. Before him, it was believed that the soul "located" in the heart, in the blood, or even exists separately from the body. All these concepts are very far from modern ideas about psychology, however, one way or another, they contributed to the accumulation of knowledge about a person.

Aristotle was the one who first spoke about the inseparability of the soul from the body. He also talked about the existence of three types of soul: plant, animal and rational. In his opinion, in humans, all these three species coexisted together. It was a big breakthrough in the knowledge of the psyche. After all, if we translate these ideas into the language of modern psychology, then we can say that Aristotle discovered the existence of three levels - an elementary way of reflecting at the level of the simplest reactions to external stimuli, psychophysiology, for which the autonomic nervous system is responsible, and consciousness - a product of active brain activity. Thus, according to Aristotle, the soul is the active expedient principle of the living body, inseparable from it.

In addition to philosophers, theologians also had their own idea of ​​the soul. According to theistic views, the human soul is a unique immortal spiritual principle created by God. Pantheism defined the soul as an individual manifestation of a single spiritual substance (the microcosm as a reflection of the macrocosm).

In modern times, Rene Descartes proposed a dualistic view that separates the soul and body as two independent substances. In modern European philosophy, the term "soul" began to be predominantly used to refer to the inner world of a person.

So, knowledge about the soul, of course, accumulated, but at the same time, there was, as they say, a dispute about terms. The struggle between idealistic and materialistic ideas about the soul dragged this branch of knowledge into the sphere of either theology or natural science. But neither one nor the other sphere could give a complete picture of a person. Only in the century before last, clear ideas about the subject of psychology, its own methodology and categorical apparatus (a set of basic concepts) were formed.

Thus, at present, the subject of psychology as a science is not the concept of the soul, blurred in its interpretation, but a more rigorous concept of the psyche. The object of the study of psychological science is the patterns of emergence and development, as well as manifestations of the human psyche. In addition, the object of psychology research includes the mental processes and states of a person, the mental qualities of a person as a biosocial system, that is, a unique creature that is a complex alloy of biological and social properties.

In modern science, the psyche is understood as the property of highly organized matter to actively and adequately reflect the realities of the surrounding world.

So, we can say that by the end of the XIX century. psychology as a system of knowledge has reached the paradigm stage - the stage of a formed science. The term "paradigm" was introduced by the American philosopher and historian of science Thomas Kuhn. He put forward the concept of scientific revolutions as a change of paradigms - the initial conceptual schemes, ways of posing problems and research methods that dominate the science of a certain historical period. In the process of formation and development of any science, he put forward three stages: pre-paradigm, when the methodology and categorical apparatus have not yet been fully developed, the stage of domination of the paradigm, and, finally, the stage of the crisis of science in the transition to a new paradigm. Psychology also has all these stages. Soviet psychology was based on the Marxist theory of reflection. At present, the emphasis has shifted. Gradually, a new paradigm of Russian psychological science is being formed. What it will be depends largely on the new generation of psychologists.

To understand the essence of the psyche, it is necessary to turn to the reflex theory of reflection. This theory is the natural scientific foundation of modern psychology. According to this theory, the basis of higher nervous activity is a reflex, through which all vital acts are carried out.

The reflex has a five-link structure. The first link is the transformation of external or internal irritation into a nerve impulse, which is transmitted to the brain by an afferent (centripetal) flow. The second and most important link is the processing of the transmitted nerve impulse into a sensation that evokes the corresponding image, thought, emotion. This is followed by the action of an efferent (centrifugal) flow of nerve impulses that transmit a command from the brain to the corresponding organ. The fourth link is the reaction of this organ to the brain impulse. The final link is a "report" on the performance coming from the organ to the brain. Here is an elementary example - the skin receptor of the hand transmits a pain impulse. The brain deciphers it as a burning sensation from a hot object, sends a command to the muscles of the hand, it pulls away from the object. The brain receives a response signal about the execution of the command. As you understand, in reality this happens ten times faster than you can read the description of this example.

Reflexes are divided into unconditional and conditional. Unconditioned reflexes are innate. Pulling the hand away from the burning object is just an unconditioned reflex - it is a direct reaction to pain irritation. Conditioned reflexes are acquired spontaneously in the course of life or are formed artificially with repeated repetition of a reaction to a stimulus. For example, a conditioned reflex can be called the reaction of a mother who is able to sleep peacefully with any noise, but wakes up instantly when she hears her baby whimpering. The creation of artificial conditioned reflexes was used only in laboratory conditions on animals. Similar experiments are described in the works of IP Pavlov, who introduced the concept of a conditioned reflex into psychology.

The theory of reflex reflection made it possible to single out one of the most important categories of psychology - consciousness. In order to approach this concept, a few words should be said about the phylogeny of the psyche, which can be traced precisely to the theory of reflection.

Phylogeny is the process of the historical development of living organisms. The phylogeny of the psyche, in accordance with the theory of reflection, can be briefly outlined as follows. The simplest organism is characterized by the lowest level of reflection - irritability. This is the ability to respond to environmental influences through elementary adaptation, for example, to temperature changes. For more highly organized beings, correspondingly more complex forms of adaptation are characteristic, which occur already at the level of physiology. These are muscle contractions, the transmission of excitation through nerve cells between the peripheral and central nervous systems, the formation of reflexes. Such reactions already characterize the emergence of the psyche.

In man, who, as traditionally recognized, is the crown of evolution, the process of reflection occurs at the highest level. These are not only physiological reactions, but a complex set of reactions of the brain and the entire nervous system to the world around us. The psychological approach is a strictly scientific approach, therefore, discarding the spiritual components of the human inner world, psychology accepts the definition of the human psyche as the most complex system of reflection, response, and adaptation to the world around us both at the biological and social levels known in nature.

This highest level of mental reflection, inherent only to man, is called consciousness. It is consciousness in modern psychology that is the main category in the study of mental phenomena. The category of consciousness is the most extensive in the terminological apparatus of psychological science after the category of the psyche. The difference between these concepts is as follows. The psyche and mental manifestations are inherent in all animals with a nervous system. Dogs and cats, monkeys and rats and a huge number of animals have a psyche and its various manifestations (up to intelligence). For example, it is believed that an adult dog has the intelligence and emotional sphere of a five-year-old child. Similar phenomena are studied by zoopsychology. But only man is conscious. A separate lecture will be devoted to this manifestation of the psyche. Here, in the introductory part, we only need to separate the two basic concepts of psychological science in order to avoid confusion in the future.

Human behavior has also always been the object of psychological research. This term is usually called the interaction of a person with the outside world, due to his external and internal activity, his individual characteristics and the methods and patterns of such interaction perceived from the social environment. Behaviorism should be singled out among theories of studying behavior. The peculiarity of this psychological current lies in the fact that its representatives opposed behavior to consciousness. They believed that behavior is the subject of psychology. Behaviorism is the leading trend in American psychology in the first half of the XNUMXth century. The founder of behaviorism is Eduard Thorndike. On the basis of experiments on animals, he formulated the law of trial and error, which served as the basis of his theory. This law was discovered by him while observing animals placed in the so-called problem box. It was a labyrinth, through which the animal could receive positive reinforcement in the form of food. Animals (mostly rats, whose intelligence is considered quite high), driven by hunger, having made several unsuccessful attempts to get through the maze, finally found a way out. Thorndike concluded that the behavior of animals with intelligence depends on random associative links between the desire to receive an object and its receipt. From his experiments, he drew far-reaching conclusions, for example, that human behavior is a function absolutely separated from consciousness. In those days, the concept of consciousness was identified with the concept of the psyche. By excluding consciousness from the number of objects of study of psychology, Thorndike thereby created the so-called psychology without the psyche. The "stimulus-reaction" scheme was adopted as the main scheme of behavior, i.e., human behavior was regarded as a mechanical response by one's actions to some important stimulus. He wanted to eat - he got food in the usual way for himself. I wanted to sleep - I chose the most convenient place to sleep, etc. Any behavioral reaction was deprived of awareness. But what is suitable for animal psychology is by no means always applicable to human psychology. Behaviorism was very weak in explaining higher mental manifestations, such as feelings, thinking, and creativity.

This trend was replaced by neobehaviorism, which is associated primarily with the name of Edward Tolman. He took over from behaviorists the idea of ​​behavior as a subject of psychology, but made some amendments. Between the stimulus and the response, he allowed the existence of another link - the so-called intermediate variables. They meant some characteristics (such as goal setting), which were very difficult to explain without accepting the existence of the psyche and consciousness. Thus, the complete biologization of human behavior and the denial of consciousness have failed. Despite the fact that supporters of this theory exist to this day, most psychologists have recognized it as untenable. Truth does not tolerate extremes, and bringing any system to its full logical conclusion often leads to absurdity, especially when the object of study of the system is a person. No matter how interesting and original the completed doctrine of man may be, it can never be taken as absolutely true. There is always some kind of mystery in a person that slips between the fingers. Therefore, modern psychology is not limited to any one system. There are many of them, and each has its share of truth. Domestic psychology in this sense can be compared with Russian Orthodoxy. Both of these belief systems try to dogmatize as few postulates as possible. There is a basic paradigm, but private opinions are always taken into account, the system remains open to new information. Perhaps this is the difference between Russian culture and Western or Eastern culture, which prefer stricter frameworks and fixed points of rules both in the humanities and in beliefs.

So, the opinion of domestic psychology about human behavior is that it is inseparable from consciousness and basic mental processes. This means that behavioral reactions depend on many factors: the innate properties of the individual, the qualities acquired under the influence of the social environment, the qualities developed in the process of education and self-education of a person, the level of development of higher mental functions at the moment.

Higher mental functions are one of the basic concepts of modern psychology. It was introduced by the famous Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky. Higher mental functions are the most complex mental processes that are formed in a person in the course of his life. These functions are not innate, unlike the simpler ones. At birth, a person receives only the inclinations for their formation, which occurs only under the influence of society. The higher mental functions include thinking, speech, memory, will, etc. All these functions have the properties of plasticity. This makes it possible to restructure consciousness in case of violation of any of the functions. For example, a violation of intellectual development can be compensated by an improved development of memory, a violation of the will - by a correction of the emotional sphere, etc. It is possible to replace a missing link with a functionally new one. It is on the basis of this plasticity and interchangeability of elements that the modern methods of medical psychology are built.

The activity approach in psychology is a theory that explains many patterns in the development and functioning of mental functions. The main representatives of the development of an active approach in Russian psychology are M. Ya. Basov, S. L. Rubinshtein and A. N. Leontiev. This approach as the initial method of studying the psyche uses the analysis of the transformation of mental reflection in the process of activity.

According to the ideas of modern psychology, the concept of activity is applicable only to a person. By definition, this concept means such interaction of a person with the outside world, in the process of which the goals consciously set by him are achieved. In this system of concepts, the simplest element of activity is action. In any action, it is customary to distinguish indicative, executive and control parts. The indicative part is associated with goal setting, the executive part, respectively, with the implementation of this action, and the control part, with an assessment of how accurately and correctly this action was carried out. Here we can draw an analogy with the reflexes described above and the multi-stage system of their recognition and control. In psychology, there is also the concept of operation. This is a more complex process in relation to the action. An operation can include several actions related to the same goal. For example, you want to drink tea. This is the purpose of your activity. To achieve the goal, you need to perform an operation - preparing a cup of tea. This operation breaks down into many separate actions, each of which has a purpose. You need to get up from your chair, go to the kitchen, fill the kettle with water, etc. In other words, your psyche performs a number of transformations of the reflection of reality in parallel with how you carry out the simplest actions that add up to a certain operation, which is a component of your overall activity.

Mental processes and states are also one of the objects of psychological research. In general, the concept of the mental as a process means that the mental is irreducible to a certain sequence of stages in time - it constantly changes and develops, as the interaction of a person with the outside world changes. Mental processes include perception, attention, memory, feelings, etc. Mental processes are more short-lived than mental states. They are momentary reactions to the situation and are determined by the content of consciousness at the present time. Mental states can be long-term. They are the result of prolonged exposure to the psyche of any stimulus - external or internal. They can lead, for example, to painful changes in the emotional sphere, such as apathy, depression or, conversely, a state of affect. Therefore, the factor of self-regulation is very important for a person, allowing him to control his mental state.

In conclusion, the lecture should be said about the branches of psychology. This course of lectures explains the basic concepts of general psychology. General psychology is the basic branch on which the rest of the branches of psychological science rely.

As an example of other industries, we can cite such industries as family psychology - it deals with problems of relationships in the family; differential psychology - considers age and gender differences in people; social psychology - studies the interaction of a person with large and small social groups, as well as the influence of the social environment on the formation of personality; medical psychology - studies the violation of various mental functions and ways to correct these violations. There are also labor psychology, pedagogical psychology, age psychology, personality psychology, etc.

Lecture number 2. Sensation and perception

Perception in general psychology is the reflection of objects, situations or events in their integrity. It arises from the direct impact of objects on the senses. Since an integral object usually acts simultaneously on various senses, perception is a complex process. It includes in its structure a number of sensations - simple forms of reflection into which the composite process of perception can be decomposed.

Sensations in psychology are the processes of reflection of only individual properties of objects in the surrounding world. The concept of sensation differs from the concept of perception not qualitatively, but quantitatively. For example, when a person holds a flower in his hands, admires it and enjoys its fragrance, then the holistic impression of the flower will be called perception. And separate sensations will be the aroma of a flower, the visual impression of it, the tactile impression of the hand holding the stem. However, at the same time, if a person with closed eyes inhales the fragrance of a flower without touching it, it will still be called perception. Thus, perception consists of one or more sensations that create the most complete idea of ​​the object at the moment.

Modern psychology recognizes that sensations are the primary form of human cognition of the surrounding world. It should also be noted that although sensation is an elementary process, many complex mental processes are built on the basis of sensations, starting with perception and ending with thinking.

So, perception is a collection of sensations. For the emergence of sensations, an object of external influence and analyzers capable of perceiving this influence are necessary.

The concept of an analyzer (an apparatus that performs the function of distinguishing external stimuli) was introduced by Academician IP Pavlov. He also studied the structure of the analyzers and came to the conclusion that they consist of three parts.

The first, peripheral part is the receptors. These are nerve endings located in our sense organs, directly perceiving external stimuli.

The second part is the conductive paths along which excitation is transmitted from the periphery to the center.

The third part is the central part of the analyzer. These are areas of the brain responsible for recognizing the appropriate stimulus (visual, gustatory, olfactory, etc.). It is here that the impact of the stimulus is transformed into a mental process, which in psychology is called sensation.

So, the classification of sensations is built on the basis of a list of receptors, with the help of which these sensations become available.

Analyzers distinguish between two types of receptors: exteroreceptors that analyze signals coming from the outside world, and interoreceptors that analyze internal information such as hunger, thirst, pain, etc.

Exteroreceptors are the basis of perception, since they provide an objective view of the outside world.

As you know, a person has five senses. There are one more types of external sensations, since motor skills do not have a separate sense organ, but they also cause sensations. Therefore, a person can experience six types of external sensations: visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile (tactile), gustatory and kinesthetic sensations.

The main source of information about the outside world is the visual analyzer. With its help, a person receives up to 80% of the total amount of information. The organ of visual sensations is the eye. At the level of sensations, he perceives information about light and color. Colors perceived by a person are divided into chromatic and achromatic. The former include the colors that make up the spectrum of the rainbow (i.e., the splitting of light - the well-known "Every hunter wants to know where the pheasant is sitting"). To the second - black, white and gray colors. Color shades containing about 150 smooth transitions from one to another are perceived by the eye depending on the parameters of the light wave.

The auditory analyzer is next in importance in obtaining information. Sensations of sounds are usually divided into musical and noise. Their difference lies in the fact that musical sounds are created by periodic rhythmic vibrations of sound waves, and noises are created by non-rhythmic and irregular vibrations.

Many people have an interesting feature - the combination of sound and visual sensations into one general sensation. In psychology, this phenomenon is called synesthesia. These are stable associations that arise between the objects of auditory perception, such as melodies, and color sensations. Often people can tell "what color" a given tune or word is.

Slightly less common is synesthesia, based on the association of color and smell. It is often inherent in people with a developed sense of smell. Such people can be found among tasters of perfumery products - not only a developed olfactory analyzer is important for them, but also synesthetic associations that allow the complex language of smells to be translated into a more universal language of color. In general, the olfactory analyzer, unfortunately, most often people are not very well developed. People like the hero of Patrick Suskind's novel "Perfumer" are a rare and unique phenomenon.

Of great importance in people's lives is the development of the kinesthetic (motor) analyzer. Kinesthetic sensations, as mentioned above, do not have a special sense organ. They are caused by irritation of nerve endings in muscles, joints, ligaments, bones. These irritations occur when the body moves in space, during physical exertion, when performing movements associated with fine motor skills (drawing, writing, embroidery, etc.). A developed kinesthetic analyzer is important, of course, for all people. But it is especially necessary for those whose profession or hobby is connected with the performance of complex movements, when it is very important not to make a mistake. These are ballet dancers, figure skaters, climbers, circus performers and many more people in whose life there is movement as the main factor in life.

This is followed by skin sensations, sometimes they are divided into two types: tactile (tactile) and temperature. Sometimes collectively they are called tactile. For general erudition, consider the first option. Tactile sensations allow us to distinguish the relief and surface structure of objects with which our skin comes into contact, temperature sensations - to feel heat or cold. This analyzer performs a compensatory function for visually impaired or blind people, as well as auditory. In addition, the tactile analyzer is the only way to communicate for deaf-blind-mute people. A learning system and language have long been developed that allow such people to fully develop their consciousness and communicate with others. This language is created on the basis of touching the skin. Every touch has its own meaning. It is roughly similar to the language of hieroglyphs.

It would seem that the taste analyzer, given to us by evolution, is useless for survival and it is not known why. This is a kind of luxury against the background of other vital sensations (moreover, the taste analyzer is much more developed in people than the olfactory one). But nature is wiser than us, we can only state, but not always analyze its quirks and unexpected generosity. So, the organs of taste sensations are the tongue and the soft part of the palate. There are zones of recognition of sweet, bitter, sour, salty. Well, a full flavor bouquet is made up of these simple sensations in the brain.

Psychophysics is a branch of psychology that studies the quantitative relationship between the strength of the stimulus and the magnitude of the resulting sensation. This section was founded by the German psychologist Gustav Fechner. It includes two groups of problems: measuring the threshold of sensations and building psychophysical scales. The threshold of sensations is the magnitude of the stimulus that causes sensations or changes their quantitative characteristics. The minimum amount of stimulus that causes sensation is called the absolute lower threshold. The maximum value, the excess of which causes the disappearance of sensation, is called the absolute upper threshold. As an explanation, we can cite auditory stimuli that are beyond the threshold zone: infrasounds (frequency below 16 Hz) are below the threshold of sensitivity and are not yet audible, ultrasounds (frequency more than 20 kHz) go beyond the upper threshold and are no longer audible.

Adaptation of the sense organs to the stimuli acting on them is called adaptation. An increase in sensitivity with a weak action of the stimulus is called positive adaptation. Accordingly, negative adaptation is a decrease in sensitivity under the action of strong stimuli. The easiest way is visual adaptation (for example, when moving from light to dark and vice versa). It is much more difficult for a person to adapt to auditory and pain stimuli.

The magnitude of the stimulus that causes the minimum analyzable change in sensation is called differential. The dependence of the strength of sensation on the magnitude of the stimulus is described in the Weber-Fechner law. According to this law, the dependence is logarithmic. But this is not the only psychophysical view of the quantitative ratio of stimulus and sensation.

On the basis of sensations and perception in general, images are formed. In psychology, the concept of an image is ambiguous and is interpreted both in a broader and in a narrower framework. In the context of ideas about sensations and perception, an image can be defined as a product of the functioning of the human brain, which makes up a subjective picture of a particular object of the surrounding world based on objective sensations. In other words, sensation is an objective reaction of the organism, which is the basic element of reflection. Perception is not a mechanical sum of sensations, but their totality, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. After all, we perceive the object as a whole, without dissecting it into individual properties. The image is even more complex and subjective. It includes not only a holistic view of the object, but also all kinds of characteristics that depend on the individual experience of each person. For example, snakes cause disgust or fear in someone, and someone keeps a serpentarium at home. Or, seeing a fern bush in the forest, one person imagines how well this specimen will fit into his herbarium, another thinks about arranging the bouquet, the third thinks about the mystical property of this plant one night a year to indicate the location of the treasure.

The ability to create images determines the fact that the process of perception underlies the formation of the basic mental functions of a person: thinking, memory, attention, emotional sphere. It should be noted here that in perception there are both innate and acquired qualities. Innate are the properties of analyzers given to man by nature. However, these properties can change over the course of life, both for better and for worse. For example, kinesthetics can develop if a person leads an active lifestyle, or lose their accuracy if a person moves little or leads an unhealthy lifestyle. Vision, hearing, smell can change their sharpness depending on the life situation. So, in a person who has lost his sight, feelings are aggravated that compensate for this loss. Accordingly, the perception as a whole and, as a result, the images of objects change.

The process of perception is closely connected with the process of learning - the acquisition of individual experience. There is a two-way relationship between these two processes. The child begins to experience life through perception. In an adult, experience affects the perception and formation of images.

Perception is divided into different types. They may depend on the predominance of one or another type of analyzers included in the reflective process. For example, when listening to a piece of music, auditory perception predominates. Similarly, other types of perception may predominate, which are based on any one of the sensations.

In addition, there are more complex types of perception based on several sensations. For example, when watching a movie, visual and auditory analyzers are involved.

In addition to classification based on the prevailing analyzers, there is also a classification according to the types of perceived objects themselves. This concerns the perception of space, time, movement, the perception of one person by another. Such types of perception are usually called social perception.

Under the perception of space understand the perception of the forms of objects, their spatial values ​​and relationships in three dimensions. Distinguish the perception of space with the help of vision, touch and kinesthetic apparatus. Vision gives an idea of ​​the shape, volume and size of objects. Touch forms the perception of the position and size of small objects with which a person can directly come into contact. The kinesthetic apparatus complements tactile and visual perception and makes it possible to perceive the spatial forms of relations and sizes of both small and large objects in three dimensions.

Next comes the perception of time. It reflects the duration and sequence of phenomena or events and depends on the speed of change of mental processes. Thus, the perception of time for each person is individual, since it depends on the subjective characteristics of the psyche.

The perception of movement is inseparable from spatio-temporal perception, since any movement, i.e., the movement of objects, occurs precisely in these dimensions.

It is customary to distinguish between the perception of movement relative and irrelative. The first includes the simultaneous perception of both a moving object and a certain fixed point, relative to which this object moves. The second is the perception of a moving object, isolated from the perception of other objects. For example, if a person watches the movement of a soccer ball or players across the field, this is a relative perception of movement, since his vision captures the fixed boundaries of the field. If a person sailing on the sea on a yacht watches the splash of waves or how the wind drives clouds across the sky, such a perception of movement will be irrelevant - there is no fixed point.

In addition, there are such concepts as objectivity and constancy of perception. Objectivity means that a specific object is always perceived. Abstract ideas do not refer to the process of perception, but to the process of thinking or imagining. From the point of view of the modern theory of reflection, the objectivity of perception is revealed as an objective quality, due to the peculiarities of the impact of objects in the external world.

Constancy of perception means that the perceived object does not change its characteristics when it moves away from a person or approaches him, is drawn in a picture or shown on a screen. For example, the visual image of an elephant, due to the adequacy of consciousness, will be an image of a large animal, regardless of whether the elephant is in close proximity to a person, it is removed at some distance, or a person sees it on TV. (Of course, in this case we are talking about an adult person who in his experience has a visual image of an elephant. A small child who does not have sufficient experience of perception, seeing an elephant and a mouse in pictures of the same size, will not form an adequate representation without additional information.) If not there is a violation of consciousness, then the visual (in this case) analyzer will correctly assess the perspective, the background on which the object is located, and the brain will give an adequate idea of ​​it. With a disorder of perception, constancy may disappear. This happens, for example, with hallucinations. In addition, distorted perception may occur. This happens with the deliberate creation of illusions - a technique used by illusionists using mirrors, appropriate lighting and other things, or with spontaneously arising illusions, when in obscure lighting a stump can be mistaken for an animal, or in a drowsy state, thunder can be perceived as gun salvos. The emergence of spontaneous perception illusions depends on many factors: personal experience, cultural traditions, social environment, the prevailing natural landscape in the area where a person lives. For example, the illusions of Europeans and Africans or urban and rural residents will differ significantly due to the above factors.

At the end of the lecture, we will review the existing theories of perception. The emergence of the first views on the nature of perception dates back to ancient times. For example, Plato believed that all objects are the materialization of the ideas of the Creator. And the perception of objects and the appearance of their images are the memory of the immortal soul, which before its incarnation was also in the world of these ideas. The idealistic approach of the ancient thinker to the views on the psyche and the process of perception subsequently did not find development in psychological science.

In the process of the formation of psychology, the associationist approach to perception began to prevail. Associative psychology is one of the main trends in the psychology of the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries. The main explanatory principle of mental life was the concept of association. This term was introduced by John Locke. It means a connection that occurs under certain conditions between two or more mental formations (sensations, motor acts, perceptions, ideas, etc.). Various interpretations of associative psychology have been given by David Hartley, George Berkeley and David Hume.

At the beginning of the XX century. in contrast to the mechanistic associative approach to the psyche and perception as its basic function, the Gestalt psychology school was formed. The concept of gestalt - a holistic image - formed the basis of the views of this school. But the concept of this school regarding the process of perception also turned out to be unviable, although it played a big role in overcoming the mechanistic nature of the associative approach. Gestalt psychology ascribes to perception the ability to transform the action of material stimuli in the external environment. Thus, according to the views of this school, consciousness is not an objective function of the psyche, based on an adequate reflection of the surrounding world. Perception is detached from the external world, perceived as a category of subjective idealism. It loses any objectivity whatsoever.

Another step in overcoming associationism was made by M. I. Sechenov. Thanks to him, in parallel with the development of the Gestalt concept, the reflex concept of the psyche developed, which is currently accepted as the basis by many foreign psychological schools. The reflex concept of reflection is a compromise between the mechanistic materialism of the associationists and the subjective idealism of the representatives of Gestalt psychology. According to her, perception is not a mechanical process, but also is not a process completely divorced from the objective realities of the world. Perception is a creative process in its own way. It combines the real properties of the perceived object and the individual characteristics of the perceiving subject. In his book "Reflexes of the Brain" I. M. Sechenov provided a theoretical justification for the integrity of the relationship between the organism and the external environment. And in his work "Elements of thought", he wrote about the process of perception as follows: "An organism without its external environment that supports existence is impossible, therefore, the scientific definition of an organism must also include the environment that affects it."

In the middle of the last century, an activity approach to the study of the psyche was formulated in Russian psychology. One of its main authors was Academician A. N. Leontiev. This approach is characterized by the fact that each mental phenomenon is considered in connection with human activity. The process of perception is inextricably linked with activity. At each stage of ontogenesis (individual development), a person has a leading type of activity. The process of perception is directly involved in the formation of any type of activity at each age stage. In addition, with the expansion of areas of activity, perception changes qualitatively. This mutual influence is similar to the mutual influence of perception and learning. Here it is necessary to separate two concepts. In psychology, there are two terms that are synonymous with the term "perception". They are taken from the Latin language and introduced into the terminological apparatus of psychology precisely in order to emphasize the difference between the two types of perception. These are the terms "perception" and "apperception". Perception - direct perception of objects of the surrounding world. Apperception - perception, depending on the past experience of a person, on the content of his mental activity and his individual characteristics. Distinguish stable apperception, depending on the formed personality traits, such as worldview, beliefs or beliefs, education, and temporary apperception, depending on the situational mental state.

Lecture No. 3. Memory as a higher mental function

Memory is one of the highest mental functions of a person, closely related to the rest. In the most general terms, the psychological category of memory can be defined as the totality of mental processes of organization and preservation of past experience, which make it possible to use this experience in the future. These processes, called mnemonic in psychology (from the Greek "mnemos" - "memory"), include memorization (or trace formation), preservation, recognition, recall (reproduction), forgetting.

In accordance with modern concepts of neurophysiology and biochemistry, all memory phenomena are carried out either by changing the activity of electrical excitation of the biopotentials of the corresponding neurons (short-term memory), or, with longer-term changes, at the biochemical level - in RNA and DNA molecules (long-term memory).

Memory, like any higher mental function, is associated with the individual mental properties of the individual. In addition, there is an interaction of mnemonic processes with such individual qualities of a person as experience, knowledge, skills, abilities. This connection is two-way, since memory, on the one hand, depends on these qualities, on the other hand, it itself contributes to their further development.

Let us consider in more detail the mnemonic processes.

Memorization - imprinting in the mind of a trace of an object. In this case, the object of memorization is understood as objects of the surrounding world, and events, and ideas, and the relationship between them, and their language display, and the emotional background corresponding to the object, i.e. any manifestation of human life is an object of memorization. This process is the first in the chain of mnemonic processes - it is necessary for any subsequent manifestation of memory.

Memorization can be mechanical or semantic. The first type is carried out by repeated repetition of mnemonic material. Well, for example, it can be cramming the multiplication table, repeatedly repeating foreign words when learning a language, or repeating a sequence of some movements, say, dance moves, to memorize a choreographic composition. The semantic type of memorization appears when the mnemonic material is associated with thinking. The logical train of thought and the associativity of the structure of the material are of primary importance in this type. Both types of memorization are often used simultaneously - when memorizing some material, such as lectures, or when learning by heart the text of a role. The more semantic formations are involved in the memorization process, the longer the object will remain in memory. Therefore, modern teaching methods try to avoid mechanical cramming and use logic and associations as much as possible.

It should be noted the important role that the motives of mnemonic activity play in the process of memorization. The types of such motives can be different. For example, E. Harlock studied the impact of rewards on the process of memorization. He found that in the experimental group, whose motivation was encouragement (in the form of praise), productivity is significantly higher than in control groups, where good results were not encouraged in any way. V. Sims and J. Mahler studied the influence of competition motivation on memorization productivity. Qualitative and quantitative characteristics of memorization turned out to be the highest in the situation of personal superiority.

Another of the main motives that increase the parameters of memorization is the level of claims of the subjects.

Experiments and studies conducted by Russian psychologists P. I. Zinchenko and Z. M. Istomina confirmed the significant role of motivation in memorization, but found that the same motives in different subjects can have a completely different effect on this process.

The next in the chain is the save process. An object can remain in consciousness indefinitely, or it can be forgotten over time. It depends on the way of remembering, and on the importance of the object for a particular person, and on the frequency of subsequent reproductions of this object. Let's return to the mentioned examples. If a dance composition represents a certain plot, and each movement serves as the development of the plot and the transmission of the image, then the artist will retain it in memory much longer than when this composition is a set of movements not connected by a common logic. At the same time, the duration of saving this composition also depends on the frequency of its performance. It is the same with the role, and with the training material. Even being logically meaningful at one time, but then no longer applicable, knowledge will quickly be erased from memory. And an example of the effect of associativity on the preservation of material is the study of a language. Mechanical listening to a recording of foreign words is much less effective than learning by associating them into any logical bundles, visual aids and live communication.

From the foregoing, it is clear that the process of forgetting is inevitably inherent in human memory. We cannot store all the information that has ever been imprinted in our minds. Part of it is forgotten as unnecessary. In addition, there is a process of ousting unpleasant, traumatic information from the sphere of consciousness. Thus, a sharply negative emotional coloring of information for a given subject is also a forgetting factor.

The next process of memory is recognition. This term is understood as the manifestation of memory during the repeated perception of an object. The simplest example is recognition by appearance or by the voice of a person you know.

The process of reproduction or recall differs from recognition in that the object is remembered without repeated perception, that is, you can simply reproduce in memory the appearance or voice of a friend. Well, of course, this also includes more complex forms of reproduction - recalling the studied material, the sequence of movements, the nuances of any event in your life, etc. Psychologists believe that reproduction is possible even when an object is forced out of consciousness into the subconscious sphere. Such "extraction" of memories can be carried out, for example, under hypnotic influence on a person.

Each person has different types of memory. The three main groups are figurative, emotional and verbal-logical memory.

Figurative memory is divided into several subspecies in accordance with the type of analyzer that creates a trace (in this case, an imprinted image). Such subspecies are visual, auditory, motor, olfactory, tactile, taste memory. Depending on the degree of development of one or another analyzer in each person, some subspecies of figurative memory prevail over the others. It is rare that all analyzers are developed in the same way.

Figurative memory is closely related to the type of human activity. So, for an artist, the most important is visual memory, for a musician - auditory, for a person who knows martial arts - motor, etc. For example, Mozart and some other composers could accurately reproduce the most complex musical works after a single listening. And such artists as Levitan, Aivazovsky, Vasnetsov had an amazing visual memory, allowing them to paint their famous paintings not only from nature, but also from memory.

The predominance of one or another type of memory does not necessarily determine the profession. Simply, for example, people with a predominance of visual memory perceive material better when they read it, and not when they listen. In order to, say, learn a poem by heart, it is more convenient for them to read it, rather than listen to it. An attempt to perceive the text at the same time also by ear worsens the quality of memorization, since when an auditory analyzer is connected, in this case, visual inhibition occurs.

As a special type of visual memory, eidetic memory is distinguished. "Eidos" in Greek means "view, image". A few people, called eidetics, are endowed with a developed eidetic memory. They have a unique innate ability, having looked briefly at any object, to accurately reproduce all the details. For example, by looking at a house they see for the first time, and immediately turning away or closing their eyes, they can tell exactly how many windows it has, which of them are lit, on which balconies clothes are dried, which curtains are on each of the windows, etc. Thus, there is an instant imprint of the object with the help of only one visual analyzer. It is believed that the ability to eidetic way of remembering can be developed to some extent through training. But this applies to people with a predominant visual type of memory. And in this case, the results will not reach the abilities shown by eidetics.

Emotional (or affective) type of memory consists in remembering, preserving, recognizing, reproducing emotions and feelings ever experienced by a person. As a rule, the impetus for the reproduction of objects of emotional memory is the memories of the events that caused these emotions. After all, every significant or insignificant event of our life is accompanied by a whole range of emotions. It is the emotional memory that allows the memories of these events to become more voluminous, more reliable. Without emotions, they would be stingy and sketchy. What can memories of the day of his wedding or the day of his mournful loss mean for a person, if he is not given the opportunity to resurrect those feelings and emotions that overwhelmed him? They would be a reproduction of a sequence of events that does not affect his soul - and nothing more.

In addition, the emotional coloring of memories allows them to last longer. The stronger the emotions remembered in connection with any event or object, the easier it will be to reproduce the image stored in memory. This implies the conclusion that emotional memory is inextricably linked with figurative memory. After all, emotions are connected not only with the events of life. They can be triggered by a piece of music, a picture, a smell, a taste sensation, a feeling of hunger or pain. If we remain indifferent to any piece of music, we are unlikely to be able to reproduce it in our minds. If a canvas evoked an exciting and strong range of feelings in us, we will surely remember it for a long time. In the same way, we will remember and later be able to recognize the smell that aroused admiration or disgust in us more quickly and vividly than the one that did not arouse any emotional reaction.

Emotional memory is especially important for people of creativity, representatives of various types of art. This is due to the fact that they, by the nature of their activity - be it painting, literature, music or something else - are obliged to most vividly reproduce images. And in this the best assistant is emotional memory.

The verbal-logical type of memory is characterized by the fact that information is stored in verbal form and combined into semantic blocks that are connected by a chain of associations. Thus, only the information read or heard can serve as the material of verbal-logical memory.

In the course of ontogenetic development of a person, there is a change in the ways of memorization, and in the process of growing up and mastering logical thinking, it is verbal-logical memory that becomes increasingly important.

A new word in the concept of memory was introduced by cognitive psychology. This is one of the leading trends in foreign psychology, founded in the middle of the last century. Representatives of this trend drew an analogy between cognitive processes, in particular human memory, and the processes of processing, storing and updating information in computing devices. Based on this analogy, they made a conclusion that was accepted and supplemented by Russian psychologists. It lies in the fact that the memory function has two subsystems - long-term memory and short-term. Subsequently, they began to allocate more RAM.

Long-term memory ensures that information is stored for a long time - from several hours to several decades. Drawing an analogy with a computer, we can compare this form of memory with a hard disk, the volume of which is not unlimited, but nevertheless allows you to store the basic necessary information and access it if necessary. Humans have a very large long-term memory. However, the amount of information remembered during life is immeasurably greater. Therefore, in order to retain the maximum amount of information, it must be well structured. This means that a meaningful interpretation of any newly incoming mnemonic material is necessary, linking it into one system with the existing one. Mere rote repetition is not enough to store information in long-term memory.

Short-term memory serves to retain for some time data coming either from the senses - for transfer to long-term memory, or from long-term memory to operational memory - in order to work with these data. It represents the initial stage of information processing.

Thus, we can say that long-term memory is responsible for the process of storing information, and short-term memory begins to work at the moment of memorization, recognition or reproduction.

Working memory is the process of storing, storing and reproducing information in order to achieve a specific goal in a certain period of time. Both operational and long-term memory in the process of their formation go through the stage of short-term.

Sensory memory is also distinguished as a separate subsystem. It refers to the process of retaining the products of sensory information received from the senses before they enter short-term memory. This hold lasts for a very short time - less than a second. The sensory information that is recorded during this period of time by consciousness enters short-term memory. The eidetic type of memory mentioned above in its form is precisely sensory memory. In eidetics, it is largely developed.

In an experimental study of memory, its individual components become the subject of consideration. This can be, for example, the amount of RAM, the characteristics of arbitrary memorization, the accuracy of saving images, etc.

Anomalies of memory are most often in its weakening. The weakening of memory is called "hypomnesia". Hypomnesia can be temporary, arising in connection with fatigue, information overload, pain syndromes, a situation of severe emotional shock. When these factors are eliminated, memory returns to normal without psychotherapeutic intervention. It can also take more stable forms - with neurotic and some somatic disorders. In this case, memory function returns gradually after the treatment of such disorders. Here, as a rule, one cannot do without the help or at least the recommendations of a psychotherapist. In addition, it is necessary to use nootropic drugs - drugs that restore and maintain brain functions.

Hypomnesia can be observed in alcoholic psychosis. This is the well-known in psychiatry Korsakov's syndrome (discovered by the Russian psychiatrist S. S. Korsakov in 1897) - a violation of memory for upcoming events while maintaining it for past events. This syndrome is also observed in old people suffering from cerebral atherosclerosis: the events of the distant past, their youth, adulthood, such people remember perfectly, but they cannot remember what they did yesterday or an hour ago.

In addition to hypomnesia, there is amnesia - a complete loss of memory. It is mostly caused by brain injury. There are retrograde amnesia, when a person cannot remember anything from the part of life that preceded the disease, and anterograde amnesia - loss of memory of everything that happened after the injury. There is also partial amnesia - the loss of only one type of memory while maintaining the rest.

There is another memory anomaly - hypermnesia. In contrast to the weakening of memory, here, on the contrary, there is an increase in the possibilities of recall. In some people, hypermnesia for certain types of memory is congenital, in some it is pathological, resulting from brain injuries, against the background of high temperature or exposure to any psycho-traumatic factors. Pathological hypermnesia is manifested in the fact that the memory retains a huge amount of unnecessary and unimportant details. Moreover, such a manifestation is involuntary and does not depend on the level of intelligence. Congenital hypermnesia is characterized by the conscious ability to retain in memory a much larger amount of information than is available to an ordinary person. People with phenomenal memory are called mnemonists. About one of these people, who has unique abilities to memorize, the famous Russian psychologist A. R. Luria wrote in the book "A Little Book of Great Memory".

The interaction of memory and activity lies in the dependence of the type of memorization on its inclusion in the structure of activity. Being a mental process occurring against the background of any activity, memorization is determined by the characteristics of this activity. On the basis of involvement in the activity, memorization is divided into two types - voluntary and involuntary.

The main characteristic of any human activity is orientation. Consequently, the relationship between memorization and activity is primarily characterized by the dependence of memorization on the characteristics of orientation.

The direction of activity is a conscious intention to achieve a particular goal. Intention, therefore, is the basis of a person's conscious activity, the desire to achieve the desired result in accordance with the intended program of action.

The focus on memorizing any material is called mnemonic orientation. It is divided into the following types: focus on completeness, accuracy, consistency, memorization strength. Sometimes these types act together, sometimes separately - depending on the ultimate goal of the activity. For example, when memorizing a text by heart, all four types are needed. And, let's say, when processing information, the purpose of which is to form one's own opinion about any object, it is necessary mainly to focus on accuracy and completeness, and the consistency and strength of memorization are not important.

So, if the purpose of the activity is the conscious memorization of the material, then in this case the memorization is arbitrary. If the mnemonic task is not set, and memorization is a side effect of the activity, then this is involuntary memorization. In their pure form, these two types of memorization are not so common. Usually one of the types predominates, but the second is mixed in with it.

Involuntary memorization is directly related to the process of learning in the early stages of ontogenesis, since the process of accumulating life experience occurs through the unconscious, i.e., involuntary, assimilation of information about the world around. At the later stages of ontogenesis, voluntary memorization is also woven into the learning process. This happens when a person is already capable of goal-setting in activities.

In experiments conducted by Academician A. A. Smirnov, a well-known Russian specialist in the field of memory research, the following pattern is observed - with age, the efficiency index of involuntary memorization relatively decreases. This is explained by the fact that the productivity of involuntary memorization is determined primarily by the intensity of the intellectual activity necessary to perform the activity. Children put much more effort into performing any activity. Adults, on the other hand, due to mental development, require a much lower intensity of intellectual activity, so the proportion of involuntary memorization decreases with age.

The development and training of memory is the main applied task of research in the field of memory. In modern psychology, there are a large number of author's methods aimed at expanding the possibilities of memorizing textual, sound, figurative and other types of information. The most relevant are methods for increasing efficiency in memorizing verbal material in text or oral form. This is due to the fact that we receive most of the information related to learning, development, adaptation in society in verbal form - when reading textbooks, fiction, the press, listening to lectures, radio programs, communicating with people, etc. .

As an example of increasing the efficiency of memorizing verbal information, we can mention one of the most well-known methods - the method of algorithmization of verbal material. It is used to improve the memorization of scientific and popular science texts, journalism, oral presentations and speeches, as well as to increase the speed of reading. The first step is to separate essential information from non-essential information; the second stage is the separation in essential information of the main thought from secondary thoughts; the third stage is the "compression" of the main idea to a word-image to form a "key" for further reproduction of the information of the entire text.

Lecture No. 4. Attention as an object of psychological research

Attention is one of the most important mental processes. It is not an independent form of reflection or cognition. It is usually referred to the field of phenomena of perception. Attention characterizes the concentration of perception on a particular object. Such an object can be either a specific object or an idea, image, event, or action. Thus, attention is a mechanism for isolating a single object from the entire space of perception and fixing perception on it. It provides a long-term concentration of mental activity on a given object.

Unlike cognitive processes (such as perception, memory, thinking, etc.), attention does not have its own specific content - it manifests itself within these processes and is inseparable from them. Attention characterizes the dynamics of mental processes. Therefore, we can say that it is closely connected with all mental processes. So, for example, in a person who is listening to something or observing a certain object, attention is directly connected with perception, if a person remembers information - with memory, if a person thinks about something - with thought processes, etc.

The functions of attention include the activation of the mental and physiological processes necessary to focus on a given object, and the inhibition of processes that interfere with this. Attention provides an organized and purposeful selection of information coming from the senses.

Attention is the focus of consciousness on certain objects that have a stable or situational significance for the individual and the concentration of consciousness, suggesting an increased level of sensory, intellectual or motor activity.

There has been a lot of controversy in psychology regarding the physiological foundations of attention. The physiological interpretation of attention has been of interest to scientists throughout the study of this process. In modern domestic psychology, the interpretation of A. A. Ukhtomsky is accepted. He expressed the opinion that at the level of physiological processes, attention is a dominant focus of excitation in some areas of the cerebral cortex, which causes, accordingly, a decrease in the level of excitation in neighboring areas.

The ascending and descending parts of the reticular formation are responsible for the general level of attention - a set of structures in the central parts of the brain that regulate the level of excitability and tone of the lower and higher parts of the central nervous system, including the cerebral cortex. Irritation of the ascending part of the reticular formation leads to the emergence of rapid electrical oscillations in the cerebral cortex. This increases the mobility of nervous processes and reduces the threshold of sensitivity.

Allocate a number of functions of attention. First of all, this is the selection of significant, relevant, i.e., corresponding to the needs, corresponding to this activity, influences and ignoring other - insignificant, side effects. Further, the function of retaining the objects of this activity is singled out (preservation in the mind of images or a certain subject content) until the act of behavior is completed, cognitive activity, until the goal is achieved. The regulation and control of the flow of activity is the crowning function of the process of attention.

It should be noted that attention can be manifested in sensory, mnemonic, mental and motor processes. Sensory attention is associated with the perception of various stimuli. Allocate visual and auditory sensory attention - according to the type of perceiving analyzers. The objects of mental attention are ideas, thoughts, the objects of mnemonic attention are memories, and the objects of motor attention are movements. At the moment, sensory attention is the most studied. In fact, all the data characterizing attention were obtained in the study of this particular type of attention.

According to the parameter of purposefulness, three types of attention are distinguished. The first is involuntary attention. This term refers to focusing on an object without any volitional effort and conscious intention. This is the simplest kind of attention. It is characterized by passivity in relation to the object. The object in this case is not related to the goals of human activity in the current period of time. The stimuli of the external environment themselves trigger the mechanism of involuntary attention. Its occurrence depends on the physical characteristics of the stimulus, such as intensity, duration, contrast with the general background of perception, the suddenness of its appearance against the general background of perception. These factors can act both singly and in various combinations. For example, the purpose of the activity of a park landscaping worker for a certain period of time was to plant flower seedlings along the alley of the park. The general background of perception was the morning silence of the park and the greenery of seedlings. Suddenly, a red sports car drives into the alley of the park with a strong roar at high speed (the situation, of course, is hypothetical). In this case, the factors that turn on the mechanism of involuntary attention will be suddenness, color contrast, and the intensity of sound stimulation. The physiological basis of involuntary attention is an orienting reaction - a reaction to the novelty of a stimulus, called by IP Pavlov the "What is it?" reflex.

The second type of attention is voluntary. It occurs when the focus and concentration of attention are associated with a consciously set goal by a person. Arbitrary attention requires volitional efforts from a person; it is active in nature. This is a consciously organized mental process with intentional actualization of the volitional components of the personality. It is characterized by a complex structure determined by socially conditioned forms and modes of behavior. Most often, voluntary attention is associated with the learning process or work activity. Volitional acts that include this type of attention are often accompanied by inner speech, which gives the self-setting of the subject to focus attention precisely on this object. For example, the object of arbitrary attention of the aforementioned gardener is the observance of equal intervals when planting seedlings.

And, finally, the third type of attention is post-voluntary. According to the definition of N. F. Dobrynin, this type of attention occurs when this type of conscious and purposeful activity reaches automatism. In this case, each operation already exists holistically. In consciousness, it does not break up into separate actions. At the same time, the correspondence between the direction of activity and its goals is maintained. But only the performance of an activity does not require such tension of volitional and thought processes as with voluntary attention. Let's take the same example with the landscaping worker. Now there will be two of them - one beginner and the other experienced. The beginner must turn on the mechanism of voluntary attention in order to avoid mistakes. The experienced already, as they say, have their hands full. It does its job automatically. This does not require a lot of attention - the hands "do it themselves", the inclusion of thought and volitional processes is minimized here. The formation of post-voluntary attention helps to save the body's energy resources.

Attention has several basic properties. These are volume, persistence, selectivity, concentration, distribution, switching, and distractibility.

Volume is the number of objects that can be perceived simultaneously or in a short period of time. It has been experimentally established that there are an average of 7 such objects. Studies of the volume of attention were carried out using a tachistoscope. This is a device that allows you to present visual stimuli (numbers, letters, images of objects) for limited, sometimes very short, periods of time. The invention of this device was based on the following reasoning. First, it is necessary to establish what is the minimum time required for the perception of one unit of attention, i.e., one object (the so-called presentation time). Then, during this time interval, present not one object, but a different number of them, in order to find out how many of them can be captured by attention in a time sufficient for a one-time grasp.

For the first time the idea of ​​this device was proposed by W. Wundt - on a mechanical basis. Subsequently, with the advent of electronic computing technology, a tachistoscope operating on an electronic basis was created.

It was also found that if the presented elements are formed into groups, then 7 groups will be fixed by attention. Therefore, if, for example, individual letters are presented, then 7 letters will be recorded, if syllables are made up of letters, then attention will perceive 7 syllables. The same with figures and numbers, the same with simple and compound pictures. In addition, the fact was revealed that disparate objects, for example, arbitrary combinations of letters, are recorded in a smaller volume, and meaningful combinations (in this case, words) are recorded in a larger volume.

The limited scope of attention determines the fact that some of the perceived objects enter the zone of attention, while the rest remain in the background. This property of attention is called selectivity. In the case of involuntary attention, selectivity is affected by the characteristics of the stimuli already discussed above. When voluntary attention is turned on, objects with consciously set parameters are selected from the background. Selectivity of attention has quantitative and qualitative characteristics. The first determines the speed of selecting an object from the background, the second determines the accuracy, i.e., the degree of compliance with the specified parameters.

Stability is understood as the ability of a person to focus on the object of attention without deviating from the direction of mental activity. Stability is characterized by temporal parameters, i.e., the duration of maintaining focus on the object of attention at the same qualitative level. The factor that significantly affects the stability of attention is the interest in the object. In addition, to create sustained attention, the intensity of impressions from the object or the variety of actions performed with it is necessary. In the absence of these conditions, stability decreases markedly.

Concentration of attention is the same stability, but in the presence of interference. For example, the duration of concentration on reading a text depends on the stability of attention, and the duration of the same concentration against the background of a loud music radio channel depends on the degree of concentration.

The distribution of attention is a property that is characterized by a person's ability to focus on several objects at the same time. An example is a kindergarten teacher who must keep all the children in his group in the field of attention. By the way, this is why it is believed that a group in a kindergarten or summer camp should consist of no more than 8-9 children, otherwise the teacher or counselor will not be able to effectively control the behavior of everyone.

Switching is a property that causes the movement of attention from one object to another. The ease or difficulty of switching depends both on the characteristics of the objects of attention and on the individual characteristics of a person. In particular, it depends on the mobility of the nervous system (parameters of the speed of transition from excitation to inhibition and vice versa) and on personal characteristics - the degree of interest in objects, the level of motivation, activity, etc. There are intentional (voluntary) and unintentional (involuntary) switching of attention. Deliberate switching of attention is accompanied by the participation of human volitional efforts.

Distractibility is the involuntary movement of attention from one object to another. It occurs when a person is exposed to extraneous stimuli at a time when he is engaged in any activity. Distractibility is external and internal. External occurs when exposed to external stimuli. At the same time, voluntary attention is replaced by involuntary. Internal distractibility can be caused either by strong emotions, experiences that are not related to the current activity, or a lack of interest in this activity.

All of the listed properties of attention represent a functional unity. Their separation is only a technique of experimental psychology, which studies the properties of attention, isolating each as far as possible in laboratory conditions.

The important role of attention in the processes of reflection and cognition has made this concept particularly controversial. Representatives of various psychological schools and trends have been discussing its essence for many decades. Ideas about attention changed like a swinging pendulum - from one extreme point to another.

Associationism - a current in English empirical psychology - did not include attention at all in the system of psychology. After all, attention is a selective attitude of a person to an object. And the representatives of this trend denied both the person and the object of perception - in their interpretation, consciousness was reduced only to ideas and their associations.

But in the late XIX and early XX centuries. the concept of attention begins to occupy an increasingly significant place in psychology. It serves to express the activity of consciousness. Therefore, this concept is used to overcome the associationist approach, which reduces consciousness to mechanical connections of sensations and ideas. However, attention is mainly considered as an external force in relation to the entire content of consciousness, which acts from the outside, creating the material given to consciousness. This is an idealistic understanding of attention. It again evokes a "reverse go-ahead" reaction: a number of psychologists (Foucault, Delevre, and others) again deny the legitimacy of this concept. The most radical attempts, completely eliminating attention from psychology, were made by representatives of behaviorism and Gestalt psychology. The first, mechanistic, attempt to remove attention from the field of view of psychology was started by T. Ribot's motor theory of attention, and then developed by behaviorists and reflexologists. They reduced the process of attention to reflex installations. The second attempt, belonging to the representatives of Gestalt psychology, reduced the phenomenon of attention to the structure of the sensory field.

Supporters of voluntarism in psychology (W. Wundt, W. James) saw the essence of attention exclusively in the volitional process. But with such a view, the existence of involuntary attention cannot be explained. A number of psychologists expressed the opposite opinion, reducing the function of attention to the fixation of images solely through emotions. Such an interpretation denied the existence of voluntary attention - after all, it can turn on in spite of emotions.

The teachings of I. P. Pavlov about the centers of optimal excitability and the teachings of A. A. Ukhtomsky about the dominant (the focus of excitation in the cerebral cortex, leading to inhibition in neighboring areas) laid the foundation for a new look at the process of attention. They gave a physiological justification for the phenomena of attention.

Cognitive psychology, formed in the late 1950s and early 1960s. gave the following definition to the concept of attention - this is the concentration of mental effort on sensory or mental events. In the study of attention by cognitive psychology, five directions have been outlined: selectivity and throughput of attention, the process of excitation of the cerebral cortex, attention control, cognitive neurostudies, attention in the context of consciousness as a whole.

The first direction established that we can only pay attention to some, but not all, signals from the outside world.

The second direction led to the conclusion that we have some control over the stimuli to which we pay attention.

The result of research in the third direction was the conclusion that many processes of activity become so habitual that they require very little conscious attention and proceed automatically (for example, driving a car).

Research in the field of neurocognitology has shown that our brain and central nervous system are the anatomical basis of attention, as well as all cognitive processes.

Finally, the fifth direction allowed representatives of cognitive psychology to conclude that attention brings events into our consciousness.

At the heart of the domestic psychology of attention lies the theory of P. Ya. Galperin, in which an activity approach to this mental process is carried out. The main provisions of this theory are as follows.

Attention is a mental action aimed at the content of a person's consciousness at a given moment in time - an image, thought or object of the surrounding world. It is one of the components of orienting and research activities.

The function of attention is to control the current content of consciousness. In every human action there are orienting, performing and controlling parts. The latter is represented by attention. Thus, attention as an action does not create a separate product, isolated from other mental processes.

As a separate, independent act, attention stands out when "a new act of control turns into a mental and reduced" (Galperin P. Ya. "On the problem of attention").

Control is carried out by means of a sample, measure, criterion, which make it possible to evaluate the result of an action and refine it.

Voluntary attention is planned control, that is, carried out according to a pre-created plan or pattern.

To form a new method of voluntary attention, a person must set himself the task - along with the implementation of the main activity in a given period of time, also evaluate its progress and results.

All specific acts of both voluntary and involuntary attention are the result of the formation of new mental actions.

The development of attention in the process of ontogenesis was studied by L. S. Vygotsky. He came to the conclusion that this process in the child occurs in parallel with the development of his organized behavior. According to L. S. Vygotsky, the key to the development of attention is not inside the child's personality, but outside it. Attention in children is formed in the process of education and upbringing. At the same time, its intellectualization, which takes place in the process of the mental development of the child, is essential. Attention, which at first relied only on sensory content, begins to switch to mental connections. As a result, the scope of attention expands.

The study of the development of attention in children formed the basis of some pedagogical ideas. The weakness of voluntary attention in childhood has led a number of teachers, starting with the German teacher and intellectual psychologist I. Herbart, to the idea that the pedagogical process must be built entirely on the basis of involuntary attention. The teacher must capture the attention of the students. To do this, it is necessary to strive to present educational material brightly and emotionally rich.

Such views certainly make sense. But with such an approach to the pedagogical process, children will not develop voluntary attention, which is indispensable in work activities. Therefore, in the pedagogical process it is necessary to be able to use involuntary attention and promote the development of voluntary attention.

There are a number of special exercises used to develop various properties of attention. Below are some of them.

The "typewriter" is a classic exercise for both children's theater studios and auditoriums of theater institutes. It develops concentration skills. Each member of the group is given 1-3 letters from the alphabet, the teacher calls a word or phrase. Participants of the exercise should "tap" it on their typewriter, indicating their letters with claps. It is necessary not to miss your letters and make a clap in time.

"Witnesses" - an exercise to expand the scope of attention. Two or more competitors are presented for a short time with either a set of objects laid out on a table or some kind of picture replete with details. After that, the participants in the exercise - "witnesses" should name the "investigator" as many objects they saw as possible or list the largest number of details of the picture.

"Correction test" - an exercise used both for research and for the development of stability and concentration. The participant of the exercise is given a proof test form containing a set of letters of the Russian alphabet, arranged in random order - 40 lines of 30 letters. The initial task is explained to him - to cross out any letters in the form, for example, "d" and "o". Strike out the first letter with a horizontal line, the second - crosswise. The fewer mistakes made, the greater the stability of attention. Then a new form is given and it is proposed to cross out the other three letters in a different way (for example, with a slash, vertical and circling). Each time the number of letters and ways of crossing out increases, reaching 5-7.

The attention concentration exercise is carried out in the same way, only the participant is offered to simultaneously count out loud, sing a song, listen to the presenter pronounce letters of the alphabet in a sequence other than on the form, etc.

Lecture number 5. The emotional sphere of the psyche

In the process of cognizing reality, a person in one way or another denotes his attitude to cognizable objects: objects, surrounding people, ideas, phenomena, events, to his own personality. This attitude manifests itself in the form of emotions.

Emotions are a special sphere of mental phenomena, which in the form of direct experiences reflects a subjective assessment of the external and internal situation, the results of one's practical activity in terms of their significance, favorable or unfavorable for the life of a given subject.

Emotions have a number of functions.

1. Signal. Its essence is to give an emotional signal as a reaction to one or another influence of the external environment or the internal state of the organism. The feeling of discomfort or pleasure causes a certain emotion in a person. These emotions serve as a signal for actions to eliminate discomfort or a signal for fixing a source of pleasure. For example, being in an unfamiliar company, a person feels awkward. This serves as a signal to take some action: find an acquaintance, or take the initiative in getting to know the members of the company, or simply leave. An example of a positive signal is that a person gets aesthetic pleasure from looking at a painting at an exhibition. The emotions that arose at the same time serve as a signal to fix in the mind the name of the picture, its author, the name of the exhibition hall, so that if you wish, you can visit it again and experience the same emotions again.

Emotions have external manifestations, expressed in facial expressions, movements. A person can express his attitude to an object without words. "How do you like it?", - in response - an approving nod or a sour mine. On the other hand, by external manifestations one can judge the emotions of a person. A smile is a manifestation of joy, goodwill, a frown - a person is focused or sad, etc. In the same way, by posture, by gestures, one can recognize the psycho-emotional state of a person. Psychologists have identified a whole "language" of the body, which makes it possible to judge both momentary emotions and the characteristics of the emotional sphere of the individual as a whole (for example, the degree of anxiety, confidence, openness, truthfulness, etc.). Only very well trained people can fully control facial expressions and movements so as not to betray their true feelings (for example, scouts).

2. Regulatory. Emotions can regulate the functioning of both individual mental processes and human activity as a whole. A positive emotional background improves the quality of activity. A dreary mood can lead to the fact that everything "falls out of hand." Fear, depending on the characteristics of the individual, can either paralyze a person, or, on the contrary, mobilize all his resources to overcome danger.

3. Cognitive. Emotions can both stimulate and suppress the process of cognition. If a person is interested, curious about something, he will be more willing to be included in the process of cognition than if the object is unpleasant to him, causes disgust or just boredom.

Traditionally, such types of emotional processes are distinguished as emotions proper, affects, stresses, moods and feelings. Certain types of emotional processes are included in all mental processes, in all types of human activity, from sensations to conscious activity.

Affect is characterized by the greatest power of emotional reaction and its relative short duration. This process completely captures the human psyche, while the reaction to the main stimulus seems to absorb the reactions to all adjacent stimuli. In a state of passion, a person may not respond to pain, not feel fear or shame, etc. Thus, this process determines the person's actions in the situation that caused such a reaction. Affect, as a rule, cannot be controlled by consciousness, the volume of which is sharply narrowed - it itself drives a person's behavior.

The cause of affect is the emotional tension accumulated as a result of an affectogenic situation. If this tension does not have a timely discharge "in parts" and continues to accumulate, then over time it will lead to the emergence of an affect - an acute and violent discharge of all the accumulated tension at once.

It is not uncommon for crimes to be committed in a state of passion. This is due to the fact that affective situations are provoked mainly by negative emotions. For example, a certain A constantly accumulates irritation and anger towards a certain B. This is due to the fact that B behaves towards A in an unacceptable way for A. But B occupies a more advantageous position (high position or, on the contrary, helplessness, giving B a feeling of permissiveness), so A cannot throw out his emotions. Then, sooner or later, a moment may come when A falls into a state of passion and commits a criminal act in relation to B (up to murder). In this case, we do not consider the objective rightness or wrongness of A and B (after all, this can be either a prisoner and a sadistic guard, or a hysterical mother and a naughty child, or a nurse and a tyrant patient), but we trace only the mechanism of the emergence of affect.

So, the distinguishing features of affect:

1) high intensity of emotional reaction, entailing its violent external manifestation;

2) exit of the emotional sphere from the control of consciousness;

3) situationality, i.e. reaction to a certain situation;

4) generalization of the reaction, when the dominant stimulus "overshadows" the accompanying ones;

5) short duration, because, being an intense process, the affect quickly "becomes obsolete". Emotions proper are a longer type of phenomena in the emotional sphere. Unlike situational affect, emotions can be a reaction not only to what is happening at the moment, but also to memories and anticipated events.

Emotions express a person's assessment of the situation and the significance of the upcoming action or activity in general from the point of view of the current need at the moment. For example, if an incoming irritation is perceived as a threat to life, then it is followed by emotional arousal, which is a signal for the transition from automatically maintaining the physiological balance of the body to active orientation activity, the search for conditions for adaptation. Thus, experiences associated with the sensation of pain mean the need to determine its source and take the necessary actions to relieve pain or prevent further development of a painful condition (take medicine, remove a splinter from a finger, etc.). The experience of hunger signals that the resources of internal support have been exhausted, and they need to be replenished from the outside. If the emerging emotional experience signals a satisfactory, comfortable state of the body and mental processes, this means a positive assessment of the current activity, indicating that there is no need to change it. For example, a person is cheerful, he has high efficiency, his actions evoke positive emotions in him. Therefore, there is no need to take breaks for rest and you can continue your current activities.

The two main factors influencing the occurrence of emotions are the presence of a need and the likelihood of its satisfaction. The variety of emotions is provided by additional factors:

1) the degree of vital necessity to satisfy the need;

2) the time gap between the emergence of a need and the possibility of its satisfaction;

3) individual and personal characteristics of the subject;

4) the ability of the subject to a holistic assessment of the situation, extracting information from the totality of circumstances. Feelings are the longest and most stable emotional processes. They can last for years, decades (for example, the feeling of love). Many psychologists consider emotions only as concrete forms of the flow of feelings. Feelings have a pronounced objective character. This means that a person cannot experience a feeling in itself, regardless of the subject, but only to someone or something. The object of feeling can be both real and imaginary, fictional. For example, feelings of sympathy or antipathy may arise in relation to another person, a literary character, a movie character. In Russian psychology, there is a widespread opinion that feelings reflect the social nature of a person and develop as significant personal relationships to the surrounding reality. Thus, feelings can be defined as the internal attitudes of a person experienced in various forms to what is happening in his life, in his practical and cognitive activity. When experiencing a feeling, the perception of an object and the idea of ​​it appear in unity with a personal relationship to this object - perceived, understood, known or unknown. The experience of feeling is both a special emotional state of a person and a separate type among the processes of the emotional sphere.

Feelings are classified according to their direction and influence on activity. According to their orientation, they are divided into intellectual feelings - associated with cognitive activity; practical - associated, respectively, with practical activities; aesthetic - a sense of beauty caused by communication with art or the perception of the beauty of nature; moral - caused by the experience of relationships with other people. According to the nature of the influence on the activity, feelings are divided into sthenic - activating activity (for example, joy, inspiration) and asthenic - depressing it (anxiety, despondency).

Feelings have a number of properties. They are polar, that is, each feeling has its opposite (respect - contempt, anxiety - calmness, joy - suffering). Feelings can also be ambivalent - when the same object causes two conflicting, opposite feelings (you can simultaneously love and hate, admire and fear). Feelings are dynamic - they tend to change over time (grief and despair can turn into sadness, respect - into tenderness, passionate love - into even affection). And finally, feelings are always subjective. They depend on the individual and personal qualities of a person, on the state of health (when a person is sick, he is more prone to despondency than to joy), on the worldview (for example, an aesthetic attitude to nature as a source of inspiration or a pragmatic one - as a source of enrichment), from cultural and historical traditions (for example, for some peoples, the symbol of grief is black, for others it is white).

Feelings are closely related to human needs. They orient it towards the allocation of items that meet current needs, and stimulate activities aimed at meeting these needs.

Mood is a long emotional state that can serve as a background for all other manifestations of the emotional sphere. At the same time, its intensity is low - the mood cannot completely displace either feelings or emotions. It only paints them in a certain stable emotional shade. For example, the anticipation of a holiday can create an elevated mood for several days. Against this background, troubles will not cause such strong annoyance, which could arise in a depressed mood, and small pleasures will bring much more joy than on an ordinary boring day. Or, on the contrary, the cold autumn rain that has charged in the morning can create a dreary mood for the whole day, so the interest in work will fade somewhat, and the meeting with friends will not be as fun as it used to be on other days. But there are exceptions when the mood acquires a high intensity and is able to kill feelings and emotions. For example, being in a mood of strong annoyance or annoyance after talking with the boss, a person can undeservedly offend his family, whom he really loves with a surge of negative emotions.

In addition to duration and low intensity, the mood has another property - vagueness, lack of accountability. A person, as a rule, rarely realizes the reasons that caused this or that mood (with the exception of very obvious reasons). Well, when this is an elevated mood, it is not necessary to look for reasons here - just rejoice, have fun, be gentle, friendly. However, you can experience vague anxiety, and causeless longing, depression, lethargy. Then it is better to try to analyze your mood and try to find out what prompted it to start. Perhaps the cause of longing lies only in inclement weather, the cause of lethargy and depression is in the lack of walks in the fresh air, the cause of anxiety is in a phrase accidentally heard somewhere that stirred up an unconscious complex of personal associations. If a person can independently or with someone's help establish the root cause of a bad mood, then it will not be difficult for him to get rid of this mood.

Stress is another type of manifestation of the emotional sphere. Stress is a special form of experiencing feelings caused by a tense, overwhelming, extreme situation (in a word, one that sharply disrupts the general emotional background, changes mood). Stress can be caused both by purely emotional reasons, such as the news of misfortune, undeserved resentment, fear, and by other factors called "stressors" in psychology. Emotional stress always accompanies a person's reaction to other, non-emotional, stressors. Physiological causes can serve as such stressors: hunger, hypothermia, pain, overwork. They can also be difficult situations, consisting, for example, in the need to make an urgent responsible decision or to prevent a threat to life or health, in the need for a sharp change in the strategy of behavior, etc. Stressors can be not only strong really acting emotional or physiological stimuli, but also imagined, imaginary, reminiscent of grief, threat, fear, pain. An organism under stress is characterized by a complex of adaptation reactions to extreme conditions: anxiety, resistance, exhaustion.

Anxiety occurs as a result of triggering the signaling function of emotions. Resistance is provided by the redistribution and mobilization of the physical and mental reserves of a person. However, as a result of this, the reserves are significantly reduced, which leads to the exhaustion reaction that occurs after exposure to stress. If stresses are frequent and prolonged, then this can lead not only to mental health problems - depression, neuroses, but also to a very negative impact on physical health. Under the influence of frequent stresses, cardiovascular and gastric diseases can develop or worsen. In addition, the body's immunity decreases, therefore, susceptibility to viral infections and even a simple cold increases. However, it is impossible to avoid stressful situations in our lives, so it is necessary to develop the ability to self-regulate - this will help reduce the level of negative effects of stress.

In psychology, a number of basic emotional states are distinguished. Numerous shades of emotional experiences are made up of them, just as color shades are made up of the primary colors of the spectrum.

1. Joy. This is an emotional state that has a bright positive connotation. It is associated with the ability to fully satisfy the current current need in conditions where the probability of this until now was small or at least uncertain. Joy refers to sthenic emotions.

2. Suffering. Negative emotional state, which is the opposite of joy. Suffering arises when it is impossible to satisfy an actual need or when information about it is received, provided that until now the satisfaction of this need seemed quite probable. Emotional stress often takes the form of suffering. Suffering is an asthenic emotion.

3. Anger. negative emotional state. Most often occurs in the form of affect. It is caused, as a rule, by the emergence of an unforeseen serious obstacle to the satisfaction of an extremely important need for the subject. Unlike suffering, anger has a sthenic character - it allows you to mobilize all your strength to overcome obstacles.

4. Fear. negative emotional state. It occurs when there is a real, perceived or imagined threat to the life, health, well-being of the subject. Unlike the emotion of suffering, caused by the real lack of the possibility of satisfying a need, the experience of fear is associated only with a probabilistic forecast of possible damage. Has an asthenic character.

5. Interest. A positive emotional state that promotes cognitive activity: the development of skills and abilities, the acquisition of knowledge. Interest motivates learning. This is a sthenic emotion.

6. Surprise. This emotion is neutral in sign. It is a reaction to a situation or object that has suddenly arisen in the absence of information about the nature of this object or situation. When surprised, all other emotions are temporarily suspended, all the attention of a person goes to the object of surprise. Depending on the information received, it can turn into fear, interest, joy, anger.

7. Disgust. negative emotional state. It arises in case of contact with objects that cause a sharply negative attitude of the subject at any of the levels - physical, moral, aesthetic, spiritual. Another person, object, phenomenon, event, etc. can become an object. Disgust for another person, combined with anger, can cause aggressive behavior towards him.

8. Contempt. negative emotional state. Arises in interpersonal relationships, i.e., only another person or group of people can be the object of contempt. This emotional state is the result of views, attitudes, forms of behavior of the object that are unacceptable for the subject, regarded by the subject as unworthy, base, not corresponding to his ideas about moral norms and aesthetic criteria.

9. Shame. negative emotional state. It arises when the subject realizes his own inconsistency with the situation, the expectations of others, as well as the inconsistency of his thoughts, actions, forms of behavior with his own moral and aesthetic standards.

Despite the fact that in the "spectrum" of basic emotional states, most of them are negative, one should not think that negative emotions predominate in a person's life. In fact, there are no less positive emotions. It's just that the gradation of the main negative emotional states is clearer. This is due to the fact that the greater specificity of negative emotions contributes to the formation of a more flexible system of human adaptation to the outside world.

The development of ideas about emotions went along several main directions.

According to Charles Darwin, emotions arose in the process of evolution as a means by which living beings determined the significance of certain conditions to meet their urgent needs. Primary emotions were a way of keeping the life process within its optimal limits and warning of the destructive nature of a lack or excess of any factors.

The subject of Charles Darwin's study was emotionally expressive movements in mammals. Based on his research, Darwin created the biological concept of emotions. The essence of the concept is that emotionally expressive movements are a vestige of instinctive actions built on the principle of expediency.

The next step in the development of the biological theory of emotions was made by P. K. Anokhin. According to his research, positive emotions arise when the result of a behavioral act coincides with the expected result. Otherwise, if the action does not lead to the desired result, negative emotions arise. Thus, emotion acts as a tool that regulates the life process and contributes to the preservation of an individual and the whole species as a whole. If a certain way of behavior repeatedly leads to the satisfaction of a need, then with the help of emotions it is fixed as successful. If it does not contribute to the achievement of the desired result, then emotions lead to its inhibition and stimulate the search for another way.

W. James and, independently of him, G. Lange formulated the motor (or peripheral) theory of emotions. According to this theory, emotion is secondary to a behavioral act. It is only the body's response to changes in muscles, blood vessels and internal organs that occur at the time of action. The paradoxical aphorism of W. James expresses the main idea of ​​the theory: "We are sad because we cry, we are scared because we tremble, we are happy because we laugh." In other words, the signal caused by an emotiogenic stimulus includes a certain model of behavior, while the feedback leads to the emergence of an emotion. The James-Lange theory played a positive role in the development of ideas about the nature of emotions, pointing to the connection of three links in the chain: an external stimulus, a behavioral act, and an emotional experience. However, the reduction of emotions only to the awareness of sensations that arise as a result of peripheral reactions does not explain the connection of emotions with needs.

PV Simonov conducted research in this direction. He formulated the information theory of emotions. According to this theory, emotion is a reflection of the ratio of the magnitude of the need and the probability of its satisfaction at the moment. P. V. Simonov derived the formula for this dependence: E = - P (In - Is), where E is an emotion, its strength and quality, P is a need, Ying is the information necessary to satisfy the need, Is is the existing information. If P \u0d 0, then E \uXNUMXd XNUMX, that is, in the absence of a need, there is no emotion. If In › Is, then the emotion is negative, otherwise it is positive. This concept is one of the cognitive theories about the nature of emotions.

Another cognitive theory belongs to L. Festinger. This is the theory of cognitive dissonance. Its essence can be conveyed as follows. Dissonance is a negative emotional state that occurs when the subject has two conflicting information about the same object. The subject experiences positive emotions when the actual results of the activity are consistent with the expected ones. Dissonance is subjectively experienced as a state of discomfort, from which a person seeks to get rid of. There are two ways to do this: change your expectations so that they correspond to reality, or try to get new information that would be consistent with previous expectations.

Lecture No. 6. Mental states

The beginning of the scientific development of the concept of mental state in Russian psychology was laid by the article by N. D. Levitov, written in 1955. He also owns the first scientific work on this issue - the monograph "On the Mental States of Man", published in 1964.

According to Levitov's definition, a mental state is an integral characteristic of mental activity over a certain period of time, showing the peculiarity of the course of mental processes depending on the reflected objects and phenomena of reality, the previous state and mental properties of the individual.

Mental states, like other phenomena of mental life, have their own cause, which most often consists in the influence of the external environment. In essence, any state is a product of the inclusion of the subject in some kind of activity, during which it is formed and actively transformed, while exerting a mutual influence on the success of this activity.

Continuously changing, mental states accompany the course of all mental processes and activities of a person.

If we consider mental phenomena in the plane of such characteristics as "situational - long-term" and "variability - constancy", we can say that mental states occupy an intermediate position between mental processes and mental properties of a person. Between these three types of mental phenomena there is a close relationship and a mutual transition is possible. It has been established that mental processes (such as attention, emotions, etc.) under certain conditions can be considered as states, and frequently repeated states (for example, anxiety, curiosity, etc.) contribute to the development of appropriate stable personality traits.

On the basis of modern research, it can be argued that the non-innate properties of a person are a static form of manifestation of certain mental states or their combinations. Mental properties are a long-term basis that determines the activity of the individual. However, the success and characteristics of activity are also greatly influenced by temporary, situational mental states of a person. Based on this, we can give the following definition of states: a mental state is a complex and diverse, relatively stable, but changing mental phenomenon that increases or decreases the activity and success of an individual's life in a particular situation.

On the basis of the above definitions, it is possible to single out the properties of mental states.

Integrity. This property is manifested in the fact that states express the relationship of all components of the psyche and characterize all mental activity as a whole over a given period of time.

Mobility. Mental states are changeable in time, have the dynamics of development, which is manifested in the change of stages of flow: beginning, development, completion.

Relative stability. The dynamics of mental states is expressed to a much lesser extent than the dynamics of mental processes (cognitive, volitional, emotional).

Polarity. Each state has its antipode. For example, interest - indifference, cheerfulness - lethargy, frustration - tolerance, etc.

The classification of mental states can be based on various criteria. The following classification features are the most common.

1. According to what mental processes prevail, the states are divided into gnostic, emotional and volitional.

Gnostic mental states are usually referred to as curiosity, curiosity, surprise, amazement, bewilderment, doubt, puzzlement, daydreaming, interest, concentration, etc.

Emotional mental states: joy, grief, sadness, indignation, anger, resentment, satisfaction and dissatisfaction, cheerfulness, longing, doom, depression, depression, despair, fear, timidity, horror, attraction, passion, affect, etc.

Volitional mental states: activity, passivity, determination and indecision, confidence and uncertainty, restraint and incontinence, absent-mindedness, calmness, etc.

2. Similar to the previous one, but has some differences, the classification of states based on a systematic approach. According to this classification, mental states are divided into volitional (resolution - tension), affective (pleasure - displeasure) and states of consciousness (sleep - activation). Volitional states are divided into praxic and motivational; and affective - on humanitarian and emotional.

3. Classification on the basis of relation to personal substructures - the division of states into the states of the individual, the state of the subject of activity, the state of the personality and the state of individuality.

4. By the time of flow, short-term, protracted, long-term states are distinguished.

5. According to the nature of the influence on the personality, mental states can be sthenic (conditions that activate vital activity) and asthenic (conditions that suppress vital activity), as well as positive and negative.

6. According to the degree of awareness - the states are more conscious and less conscious.

7. Depending on the prevailing influence of a person or a situation on the occurrence of mental states, personal and situational states are distinguished.

8. According to the degree of depth, states can be deep, less deep and superficial.

The study of the structure of mental states made it possible to identify five factors for the formation of states: mood, assessment of the probability of success, level of motivation, level of wakefulness (tonic component) and attitude to activity. These five factors are combined into three groups of states, different in their functions:

1) motivational and incentive (mood and motivation);

2) emotional-evaluative;

3) activation-energetic (level of wakefulness).

The most important and meaningful is the motivational-incentive group of states. Their functions include conscious stimulation by the subject of his activity, the inclusion of volitional efforts for its implementation. Such states include interest, responsibility, concentration, etc. The function of the states of the second group is the initial, unconscious stage of the formation of motivation for an activity based on the emotional experience of needs, an assessment of the attitude to this activity, and after its completion - an assessment of the result, as well as forecasting the possible success or failure of the activity. The function of the states of the third group, preceding all other states, is the awakening - the extinction of the activity of both the psyche and the organism as a whole. The awakening of activity is associated with the emergence of a need that requires satisfaction, the extinction of activity - with the satisfaction of a need or with fatigue.

From the entire vast space of human mental states, it is customary to single out three large groups: typically positive (sthenic) states, typically negative (asthenic) states, and specific states.

Typical positive mental states of a person can be divided into states related to everyday life, and states related to the leading type of human activity (for an adult, this is training or professional activity).

Typical positive states of everyday life are joy, happiness, love, and many other states that have a bright positive color. In educational or professional activities, these are interest (in the subject being studied or the subject of labor activity), creative inspiration, determination, etc. The state of interest creates motivation for the successful implementation of activities, which, in turn, leads to work on the subject with maximum activity, full return of strength, knowledge, full disclosure of abilities. The state of creative inspiration is a complex set of intellectual and emotional components. It enhances concentration on the subject of activity, increases the activity of the subject, sharpens perception, enhances imagination, stimulates productive (creative) thinking. Decisiveness in this context is understood as a state of readiness to make a decision and enforce it. But this is by no means haste or thoughtlessness, but, on the contrary, balance, readiness to mobilize higher mental functions, actualize life and professional experience.

Typically negative mental states include both states that are polar to typically positive ones (grief, hatred, indecision) and special forms of states. The latter include stress, frustration, a state of tension.

The concept of stress was discussed in detail in a lecture on the emotional sphere of the psyche. But if there the emphasis was on emotional stress, then in this context stress is understood as a reaction to any extreme negative impact. Strictly speaking, stresses are not only negative, but also positive - a state caused by a powerful positive impact is similar in its manifestations to negative stress. For example, the state of a mother who learns that her son, who was thought to have died in the war, is actually alive, is a positive stress. Psychologist G. Selye, a researcher of stressful conditions, proposed to call positive stresses eustresses, and negative ones - distresses. However, in modern psychological literature, the term "stress" without specifying its modality is used to refer to negative stress.

Frustration is a state close to stress, but it is a milder and more specific form of it. The specificity of frustration lies in the fact that it is a reaction only to a special kind of situation. In general, we can say that these are situations of "deceived expectations" (hence the name). Frustration is the experience of negative emotional states, when on the way to satisfying a need, the subject encounters unexpected obstacles that are more or less amenable to elimination. For example, on a hot summer day, a person, returning home, wants to take a cool refreshing shower. But an unpleasant surprise awaits him - the water is turned off for the next day. The condition that occurs in a person cannot be called stress, since the situation does not pose a threat to life and health. But a very strong need remained unsatisfied. This is the state of frustration. Typical reactions to the impact of frustrators (factors that cause a state of frustration) are aggression, fixation, retreat and substitution, autism, depression, etc.

Mental tension is another typically negative state. It arises as a reaction to a personally difficult situation. Such situations can be caused by each individually or by a combination of the following factors.

1. A person does not have enough information to develop an optimal behavior model, make a decision (for example, a young man loves a girl, but knows her too little to predict her reaction to his attempts at courtship or explanation, so when he meets her, he will experience tension state).

2. A person performs a complex activity at the limit of concentration and actualizes his abilities as much as possible (for example, a state of vigilance, solving an intellectual problem, complex motor-motor actions are required at the same time - the situation of performing a combat mission).

3. A person is in a situation that causes conflicting emotions (for example, the desire to help the victim, the fear of harming him and the unwillingness to take responsibility for someone else's life - this complex set of emotions causes a state of tension).

Perseveration and rigidity are two similar negative mental states. The essence of both states is a tendency to stereotypical behavior, reduced adaptation to changes in the situation. The differences lie in the fact that perseveration is a passive state, close to a habit, malleable, stereotypical, and rigidity is a more active state, close to stubbornness, uncompromising, resisting. Rigidity characterizes a personal position to a greater extent than perseveration; it shows a person's unproductive attitude to any changes.

The third group is specific mental states. These include states of sleep - wakefulness, altered states of consciousness, etc.

Wakefulness is a state of active interaction of a person with the outside world. There are three levels of wakefulness: quiet wakefulness, active wakefulness, extreme level of tension. Sleep is a natural state of complete rest, when a person's consciousness is cut off from the physical and social environment and his reactions to external stimuli are minimized.

Suggestive states refer to altered states of consciousness. They can be both harmful and beneficial for human life and behavior, depending on the content of the suggestible material. Suggestive states are divided into heterosuggestive (hypnosis and suggestion) and autosuggestive (self-suggestion).

Heterosuggestion is the suggestion by one person (or social community) of some information, states, patterns of behavior and another person (community) in conditions of reduced awareness in the subject of suggestion. The impact of television advertising on people is a suggestion that comes from one community and affects another community of people. The state of reduced awareness is achieved by the very structure of commercials, as well as by "wedging" advertising at such moments of television films or programs, when the audience's interest is heightened and critical perception is reduced. Directed suggestion from one person to another occurs during hypnosis, when the subject of suggestion is immersed in a hypnotic sleep - a special, artificially induced type of sleep, in which one focus of excitation remains, reacting only to the voice of the suggestor.

Self-hypnosis can be arbitrary and involuntary. Arbitrary - a conscious suggestion by a person to himself of certain attitudes or states. On the basis of self-hypnosis, methods of self-regulation and state management were built, such as G. Schultz's auto-training, the affirmation technique (mainly associated with the name of Louise Hay, the most famous popularizer of this technique), the original tuning technique developed by G. N. Sytin. Involuntary self-hypnosis occurs as a result of fixing repetitive reactions to a certain stimulus - an object, a situation, etc.

Altered states of consciousness also include trance and meditation.

Euphoria and dysphoria are two more specific states. They are opposites of each other.

Euphoria is a state of increased cheerfulness, joy, complacency, carelessness, not justified by objective reasons. It can be either the result of exposure to psychotropic drugs or narcotic substances, or a natural reaction of the body to any internal mental factors.

For example, a prolonged stay in a state of extreme tension can cause a paradoxical reaction in the form of euphoria. Dysphoria, on the contrary, manifests itself in an unreasonably low mood with irritability, anger, gloominess, increased sensitivity to the behavior of others, with a tendency to aggression. Dysphoria is most characteristic of organic brain diseases, epilepsy, and some forms of psychopathy.

Summing up, we can say that, in terms of their structure, mental states are complex formations that differ in sign (positive - negative), subject orientation, duration, intensity, stability and are simultaneously manifested in the cognitive, emotional and volitional spheres of the psyche.

Diagnostics of mental states is carried out at two levels: psychophysiological and actually psychological. Psychophysiological studies reveal the structure, flow pattern, intensity of states and some other factors that allow revealing their nature. The study of the dynamics of the content of mental states, that is, what subsequently makes it possible to control states and correct them, is carried out by psychological methods. One of the most common psychodiagnostic methods are questionnaires. Among the most popular, for example, is the SAN questionnaire aimed at diagnosing well-being, activity and mood. It is built on the principle of the Likert scale and contains 30 pairs of statements relating to mental states (10 for each scale). The technique developed by Ch. D. Spielberger and adapted by Yu. L. Khanin is also often used. With its help, they diagnose personal anxiety and reactive anxiety. The latter acts as a mental state. You can also specify the "Questionnaire of neuropsychic stress" by T. A. Nemchin.

Of the projective methods for diagnosing mental states, the Luscher color test is often used: the preference for blue means the motive of affiliation (benevolent - hostility), the preference for green - the motive of self-affirmation (dominance - submission), the preference for red - the search for sensations (excitement - boredom), yellow - the motive constructive self-expression (reactivity - lethargy).

Among other methods for diagnosing mental states, one can single out the method of expert visual determination of the emotional state by facial expressions, automated diagnostics of emotional reactivity based on color or shape preference in the structure of a mental image, diagnostics of emotional tension by speech features, etc.

Lecture No. 7. Motivational sphere of the psyche

One of the problems actively explored by modern psychology is the problem of motivation of human behavior and activity. The essence of the problem is to study the motivating forces, due to which the mental activity of a person is turned on and directs his activity to some object; forces that drive a person when choosing one or another model of behavior, one or another method of action. These phenomena belong to the motivational sphere of the psyche.

To approach the concept of motivation, one must start with needs - the foundation of the motivational sphere - and motives - more complex mental formations, on the basis of which motivation is formed.

Needs are subjective phenomena that arise when an individual needs some object that is necessary for his life and development. They act as a source of human activity and encourage him to act in relation to the object of need.

Ideas about needs as an independent mental phenomenon were formed in the first half of the 1921th century. One of the first works devoted to this issue was the monograph by L. Brentano, published in XNUMX. Brentano proposed to consider the need as any negative feeling that the individual tries to eliminate.

In psychology, there have been many different classifications of needs. At the moment, the most relevant is the hierarchical scheme proposed by A. Maslow, a representative of humanistic psychology. Maslow suggested that all needs are innate and are divided into vital and spiritual. According to the hierarchy he built, physiological needs lie at the base of the pyramid of human needs, and its crown is the needs associated with human self-realization - the highest level of psychological manifestation. In general, the pyramid looks like this:

1) physiological needs (food, water, air);

2) safety and security (both physiological and psychological);

3) the need for love and belonging (i.e., belonging to any social group);

4) the need for respect (approval, recognition of competence, etc.);

5) cognitive and aesthetic needs (thirst for beauty, knowledge, justice);

6) the need for self-actualization (the maximum realization of one's abilities, capabilities, a view of oneself not only as a reasonable person, but also as a creative person). This hierarchy is based on the idea that the dominant needs located at the bottom of the pyramid must be sufficiently satisfied before a person can realize that he has higher-order needs and be motivated by them in his actions. Of course, this contradicts the well-known truth that "an artist must be hungry." But this truth is rather a metaphor or an exaggerated representation. Because as long as a person experiences the need for food and water - a real need, and not a problem of choosing between a piece of bread and an exquisite dish, a sip of water and a sip of expensive wine, he will not be able to think of anything but thirst and hunger. He will not do great things or care about career growth. His activity will be aimed at satisfying vital needs, since the instinct of self-preservation is inherent in all of us by nature. However, this provision applies only to extreme, polar types of needs. Maslow says that the needs of adjacent levels can often occur simultaneously. They are never satisfied on an all-or-nothing basis. A person can be motivated at two or more levels of needs at the same time. Maslow gives statistics that the average person satisfies his needs approximately at this level:

1) physiological - by 85%;

2) safety and security - by 70%;

3) love and belonging - by 50%;

4) truth, beauty, goodness - 30%;

5) respect - 40%;

6) self-actualization - 10%.

Maslow's concept was not unequivocally accepted. In domestic and world psychology, different views on the essence of needs were formed. Among the most competitive, the following concepts can be noted: a need considered as a need (D. N. Uznadze), a need as an object of satisfying a need (V. G. Lezhnev), a need as an absence of a good (V. S. Magun), a need as a necessity ( B. F. Lomov, D. A. Leontiev), need as a state of tension (V. N. Myasishchev, P. A. Rudik), need as a systemic reaction (J. Schwanzer), etc.

Next, we turn to the consideration of the next link in the chain of the motivational sphere. This is a motive - an incentive to perform actions, generated by a system of human needs. Motives have a greater or lesser degree of awareness. Their interesting feature is that in the process of activity, motives, being dynamic formations, can change. These changes are possible at any stage of activity; therefore, a behavioral act is often completed not by the original, but by the transformed motivation. For example, a policeman returning from duty and hearing a cry for help from the doorway rushes there out of a sense of professional duty. Seeing that the bully snatched a mobile phone from a very pretty girl and is trying to escape, our hero starts chasing the offender from other motives. Perhaps if the girl were less beautiful, such zeal would not have been shown and the case would have been limited to a sympathetic proposal to contact her district police officer to draw up a protocol.

There are different points of view regarding both needs and motives. Motives are considered in many aspects:

1) as an incentive, a need: since a need is a source of human activity, some researchers identify it with motives (P.V. Simonov, D.V. Kolosov);

2) motive as an object of satisfaction of needs - such a view is based on the premise that objects become objects of desires and goals of the subject's actions when the latter includes him in the practical awareness of his attitude to needs (S. L. Rubinshtein);

3) motive is intention - this point of view is based on the fact that intention is a motivating force, an act of will, therefore, it can be assumed that it is closely related to motivation and motive. (B. V. Zeigarnik, K. Levin);

4) the motive is a personal property (H. Murray, D. Atkinson, K. K. Platonov);

5) a motive is a mental state that makes a person act or not act (R. A. Piloyan, D. Gilford, E. R. Hilgard);

6) the motive acts as satisfaction - a positive emotional state, which is one of the factors that positively influence the course of activity (V. G. Aseev, A. G. Kovalev, P. M. Yakobson).

The term "motivation" in modern psychology refers to at least two mental phenomena:

1) a set of motives that cause the activity of an individual and determine the degree of this activity (i.e., motivation as a system of factors that determine behavior);

2) the process of education, formation of motives, internal control of human behavior, supporting behavioral activity at a certain level.

Motivation determines the purposeful nature of the action. V. G. Leontiev proposed to consider two types of motivation:

1) primary motivation manifests itself in the form of instinct, attraction, need;

2) secondary motivation manifests itself in the form of a motive. Motives, in turn, are divided into internal and external.

Internal motives are formed on the basis of a person's needs, his emotions, interests, external - under the influence of the situation, environmental factors.

Motivation, as a rule, is not any one motive, but a combination of them, structured in a certain way, including both external and internal components.

In modern psychology, there are a considerable number of concepts of motivation. All of them can be conditionally reduced to five main areas.

1. Behavioral theories of motivation. Behaviorists explain behavior by means of the "stimulus-response" scheme, considering the stimulus to be an active source of the body's reactions, and, consequently, human behavior. Therefore, as such, the problem of motivation is not considered by them as an object of psychology. However, it is noted that the body does not always respond in the same way to an external stimulus. To explain the differences in reactivity, the behaviorists introduced into their scheme a certain factor, which they called motivation. But this factor is reduced only to physiological mechanisms, so the content of the concept of "motivation" in behaviorism has practically nothing in common with that discussed above.

2. Cognitive theories of motivation. In these theories, motivation is understood as a mechanism for choosing a certain form of behavior, due to thinking. This approach belongs to W. James, who at the end of the XNUMXth century. singled out several types of decision-making as a conscious deliberate motivational act. The objects of thought that hinder or stimulate final action he called the grounds or motives for a given decision.

In the second half of the XX century. the motivational concepts of J. Rotter, G. Kelly, H. Hekhausen, J. Atkinson and other representatives of the cognitive trend in psychology appeared. What these concepts have in common is that, in contrast to the mechanistic view of behaviorists, the role of consciousness in determining human behavior is recognized as leading.

Cognitive theories of motivation entailed the introduction of a number of new scientific concepts into the psychology of motivation, such as "social needs", "life goals", "cognitive factors", "cognitive dissonance", "values", "expectation of success", "fear of failure" , "level of claims".

3. Theory of biological drives. This theory is based on the fact that when the balance is disturbed in the body, there is a desire to restore balance - a need, as a result, a biological impulse arises that prompts a person to satisfy it. Motivation in this case is referred to as the mobilization of energy (J. Nutten). The main premise of this approach is the idea that the state of inactivity is natural for the organism. Therefore, for its transition to activity to take place, some special stimulating forces are needed. If we consider a living organism as an active one, then the concept of "motivation" from the point of view of representatives of this concept becomes redundant. The inconsistency of these views was shown by the Russian physiologist N. E. Vvedensky at the end of the XNUMXth - beginning of the XNUMXth centuries, demonstrating that the state of physiological rest is also an active state.

4. Psychoanalytic theories of motivation. With the emergence of Z. Freud's doctrine of the unconscious at the end of the XNUMXth century. a new approach to the study of the determination of behavior has emerged. This approach implies that human behavior is primarily subject to the unconscious core of mental life, formed by powerful drives. Basically, psychoanalysts consider such drives as libido (sexual energy) and aggressiveness. These drives require direct satisfaction and are blocked by the "censor" of the personality, called the "super-ego". The "super-ego" is understood as a system of social norms and values, perceived by the individual in the process of socialization. Thus, if in cognitive concepts, human behavior is controlled by consciousness and motivation is consciously formed, then according to Freud, the process of motivation is unconscious.

W. McDougall had a similar approach. He singled out 18 instincts in humans and on this basis formulated his "thermal" concept. According to this concept, the stimulus of behavior, including social behavior, is a special innate energy that has an instinctive basis.

5. Theories of the relationship between motivation and activity. One of them - the theory of causal attribution, founded by F. Haider, became the basis for the methodological principle of active mediation of behavior.

Under the causal attribution is understood the interpretation by the subject of interpersonal interaction of the causes and motives of the behavior of other people. Based on the subjective interpretation of the motivation for the actions of the object of communication, the subject can assume a further scheme for the development of behavior, i.e., if you know what motives of activity most often prevail in your communication partner, you will be able to predict his behavior in a given situation.

The main motives considered by the theory of causal attribution are affiliation (the desire for communication) and the rejection of communication, aggressiveness and the motive for suppressing aggressiveness, altruism and selfishness, the motive for striving for power.

Empirical studies of the human motivational sphere are mainly the study of the patterns of its ontogenetic development. Psychologists observe what are the trends in the formation of certain motives in different age groups. In addition, the dynamics of motive formation in different professional or educational groups is considered.

Newborns and infants, along with vital needs for food, warmth, and other needs, also have needs that reflect their mental activity. This is a need for impressions - children eagerly catch new sounds, rays of light, touches.

Also, from infancy, children have a pronounced need for activity, caused by the need for activity for proper development (“work builds an organ”). Children constantly come up with new games, engage in activities that are absolutely uninteresting to an adult.

In the process of ontogenesis, the structure of the motif changes. This is expressed in an increase in the number of factors that determine the formation of motivation. The content of motivation also changes, because with age there is a change in dominant needs. In the course of growing up, a person awakens those classes of needs that are described in A. Maslow's hierarchy, and they arise, as a rule, in the sequence in which this researcher placed them.

So, at the age of 6, the child begins to increasingly manifest the need for knowledge of the surrounding reality, mainly those of its objects that have social significance. At the age of 9, there is a need for recognition from the social environment. By the age of 15, the need to develop one's abilities, to form new skills, becomes important. After the age of 15, most adolescents develop and dominate the need to realize themselves as individuals.

As for the need for generosity and justice, the dynamics of its development is as follows: in primary school age, it is just emerging, in adolescence it manifests itself quite clearly, by adolescence it is already fully formed and activated.

Change with age and aesthetic needs. If we consider this process on the example of the formation of interest in music, then we can trace the following dynamics. At a younger preschool age, children develop a steady interest in music, by the end of this period, the number of children who like to both sing themselves and listen to music increases - favorite musical recordings appear that the child constantly asks parents to turn on again and again. At primary school age, children with appropriate abilities have a desire to master musical literacy and performing skills. In adolescence, almost everyone develops musical preferences (from classical to hard rock), and adolescents with performance skills develop an interest in studying the history and theory of music.

Thus, the general pattern of development of the motivational sphere is the following dependence - the more socially mature a person becomes, the wider and more conscious the motivational field becomes.

Lecture No. 8. Thinking (part 1)

Thinking in psychology is defined as a process of human cognitive activity, which is a mediated and generalized reflection of reality by a person in its essential connections and relationships.

Human cognition of the surrounding reality begins with sensations and perception. However, the sensual picture of the world that our sensations and perceptions create, although necessary, is not sufficient for its deep, comprehensive knowledge. In this picture of reality, there is practically no idea of ​​the most complex interactions of various objects: objects, events, phenomena, etc. There is no explanation of the cause-and-effect relationships between them, their transitions into each other. Based on the data of sensations and perceptions and going beyond the sensible, thinking expands the boundaries of our knowledge. It allows indirectly, through inference, to comprehend what is not given directly in perception. Thinking correlates the data of sensations and perceptions, compares them, reveals their interaction. Thus, with the help of thinking, regular relationships between phenomena and objects are revealed and random coincidences are eliminated.

But, considering thinking as a relatively independent cognitive function, one should not forget that any kind of thinking, even the most developed (abstract thinking), cannot be divorced from sensory cognition of the world, since any cognitive process begins with sensations and perception. It is they that determine the adequacy of thinking as a reflection, providing a direct link between human consciousness and the outside world. This reflection is continuously tested and confirms its adequacy in the process of practical activity.

Types of thinking are distinguished according to various criteria. The main accepted classification distinguishes the following three types:

1) visual-effective thinking;

2) visual-figurative thinking;

3) verbal-logical (or conceptual) thinking.

It is in this order that the types of thinking develop in the process of phylogenesis and ontogenesis.

Visual-effective thinking is a type of thinking based on the direct perception of objects. The solution of the problem within its framework is carried out in the course of a real, physical transformation of the situation, in the process of actions with objects. Through physical contact with objects, their properties are comprehended.

In the process of phylogeny, people solved the problems that confronted them, at first precisely within the framework of practical, objective activity. Only then did theoretical activity stand out from it. This also applies to thinking. Only as practical activity develops does theoretical thinking activity stand out as relatively independent. A similar process is observed not only in the course of the historical development of mankind, but also in ontogeny. The formation of thinking in a child occurs gradually. First, it develops within practical activity and is largely determined by how the ability to handle objects develops.

At the initial stage of child development, such manipulation occurs spontaneously and without meaning. Further, the nature of actions begins to acquire meaningfulness and is already determined by the qualities of the object with which the child interacts. On this basis, the earliest genetic type of thinking is formed - visual-effective. Its first manifestations can be observed already at the end of the first - the beginning of the second year of a child's life. At the pre-school age (up to 3 years old inclusive) it is this type of thinking that is predominant. Already the first objective actions of the child allow him to identify the characteristic features of the object of manipulation and its relationship with other objects. The child learns the objects of the surrounding world through direct contact with them. He correlates with each other certain objects or parts of objects that he perceives at the moment both visually and with the help of actions. Collecting pyramids, folding cubes and similar activities of a small child are nothing but the process of comprehending the world of objects in a visually effective form, the process of developing a visually effective type of thinking. Children a little older perform more complex manipulations, thereby comprehending in direct actions more complex ways of articulating parts and objects.

The next type of thinking that appears in ontogenesis is visual-figurative thinking. This type is already characterized by reliance on images of objects, on ideas about their properties. A person imagines a situation, imagines the changes that he wants to receive, and those properties of objects that will allow him to achieve the desired result in the course of his activity. In this kind of thinking, action with the image of objects and situations precedes real actions in terms of objects. A person, solving a problem, analyzes, compares, generalizes various images. The image can contain a versatile vision of the subject. Therefore, this type of thinking gives a more complete picture of the properties of the object than visual-effective thinking.

The initial stages of visual-figurative thinking are formed in children at preschool age - from 4 to 7 years. Although the connection between thinking and practical actions is retained, it fades into the background. To cognize an object, the child no longer needs to directly manipulate it. It is quite enough for him to have a visual and distinct idea of ​​this subject. At this stage in the development of thinking, children do not yet have concepts. Therefore, the first two types of thinking we have considered are referred to the pre-conceptual stage of thinking.

The transition to the conceptual stage is associated with the formation of the next type of thinking - verbal-logical. It represents the latest stage in the development of thinking in phylo- and ontogenesis. Verbal-logical thinking is a kind of thinking carried out with the help of logical operations with concepts. Concepts are formed on the basis of linguistic means. The forerunner of verbal-logical thinking is inner speech. Children up to about 5 years old, even when playing alone, speak out loud all their actions, describe manipulations. Closer to school age, they develop the ability for inner speech - they no longer speak out loud, but think through the sequence of their actions, that is, they begin to think not with the help of visual images, but with the help of words, which is the basis for the formation of concepts. However, the development of the verbal-logical type of thinking does not mean at all that the previous types cease to develop or even completely disappear. They continue to develop and improve under the influence of verbal-logical thinking. And in adulthood, all three species are present. There are many areas of activity in which visual-effective or visual-figurative thinking is necessary. For example, in the work of a designer one cannot do without a developed visual-effective type of thinking, and in the work of an artist or writer - without a visual-figurative one.

In addition to classifying the types of thinking in the "pre-conceptual - conceptual" plane, they are also distinguished by a number of different features. So, they distinguish theoretical and practical, intuitive and logical (analytical, discursive), realistic and autistic, productive and reproductive, voluntary and involuntary thinking.

Theoretical and practical types of thinking differ in the nature of the tasks that need to be solved and, as a result, in a number of dynamic and structural aspects.

Theoretical thinking is the establishment of patterns in certain processes, the identification of cause-and-effect relationships, the discovery of laws. This kind of thinking is inherent in theoretical scientists, researchers. The tasks of practical thinking include the preparation and implementation of the transformations of the world in the subject plan. Practical thinking is associated with setting goals, developing plans, projects, etc. From modern activities, the work of a programmer can be cited as an example - when writing programs that ensure the functioning of production and product accounting, there is a considerable amount of practical thinking. In general, in the process of intense labor activity, practical thinking often takes place in conditions of time pressure, the need to act in an emergency mode. Therefore, practical thinking is no less complex than theoretical.

Sometimes theoretical thinking is contrasted with empirical thinking. In this case, the criterion is different - the nature of the generalizations with which thinking deals. In the first case, these are scientific concepts, and in the second - everyday, situational generalizations.

According to the degree of development, thinking is divided into analytical and intuitive. Analytical thinking is a step-by-step process deployed in time, quite clearly represented in the mind. The main characteristics of intuitive thinking are, on the contrary, the speed of flow, the absence of clearly expressed stages and minimal awareness. Thus, for their comparison, three features are used: temporal (the time of the process), structural (division into stages), and the degree of awareness of the flow.

According to the direction vector, thinking is divided into realistic and autistic thinking. Realistic thinking is directed outward and regulated by logic. Autistic thinking has the opposite vector - it is associated with a person's desire to escape from reality, to delve into his inner world, to think in accordance with his own logic. It is sometimes also called egocentric thinking due to the unwillingness and inability to accept someone else's point of view.

According to the criterion of novelty and originality of the tasks to be solved, thinking is divided into productive (creative) and reproductive (reproducing). Productive thinking is aimed at creating a new way of solving a particular problem or improving an existing way. Reproductive thinking is characterized by the use of ready-made knowledge and skills.

According to the degree of inclusion in the thinking of volitional processes, it is divided into voluntary and involuntary. Arbitrary thinking is involved in the purposeful solution of the task. Involuntary thinking is a free flow of thoughts that does not pursue any goals (for example, the contemplation of nature).

There are three logical forms of thinking: concept, judgment, conclusion.

A concept is a reflection in the human mind of the distinctive features of objects and phenomena, their general and specific features, expressed by a word or a group of words. The concept is the highest level of generalization, inherent only in the verbal-logical type of thinking. Concepts are concrete and abstract. Concrete concepts reflect objects, phenomena, events of the surrounding world, abstract ones reflect abstract ideas. For example, "man", "autumn", "holiday" are specific concepts; "truth", "beauty", "good" are abstract concepts.

The content of concepts is revealed in judgments, which also always have a verbal form. Judgment is the establishment of links between concepts about objects and phenomena or about their properties and features. For example, "the boiling point of water is + 100 °C" - this judgment reflects the relationship between the change in the physical properties of water and the heating temperature.

Judgments are general, particular and singular. In general, something is asserted about all objects of a certain group, for example: "All rivers flow." A private judgment applies only to some of the objects of the group: "Some rivers are mountainous." A single judgment concerns only one object: "The Volga is the largest river in Europe."

Judgments can be formed in two ways. The first is a direct expression of the perceived interconnection of concepts. The second is the formation of a judgment in an indirect way with the help of inferences. Thus, inference is the derivation of a new proposition from two (or more) already existing propositions (premises). The simplest form of inference is a syllogism - a conclusion made on the basis of a particular and general judgment. For example: "All dogs have a highly developed sense of smell" - a general premise, "Doberman is one of the breeds of dogs" - a private premise and conclusion (inference) - "Dobermans have a highly developed sense of smell." Any process of proving, for example, a mathematical theorem, is a chain of syllogisms that sequentially follow one from the other.

A more complex form of reasoning is deductive and inductive reasoning. Deductive - follow from general premises to a particular judgment and from particular to singular. Inductive ones, on the contrary, derive general judgments from single or particular premises.

On the basis of such methods of reasoning, one can compare with each other certain concepts and judgments that a person uses in the course of his mental activity.

Thus, for the productive flow of mental activity, logical forms of thinking are necessary. They determine the persuasiveness, consistency, and, consequently, the adequacy of thinking. The idea of ​​logical forms of thinking passed into psychology from formal logic. This science also studies the process of thinking. But if the subject of formal logic is primarily the structure and result of thinking, then psychology explores thinking as a mental process, it is interested in how and why this or that thought arises and develops, how this process depends on the individual characteristics of a person, how it is connected with others. mental processes.

The process of thinking is carried out with the help of a number of mental operations: analysis and synthesis, abstraction and concretization, classification, systematization, comparison, generalization.

Analysis is the mental decomposition of an object into its component parts in order to isolate its various aspects, properties, and relationships from the whole. Through analysis, irrelevant connections given by perception are discarded.

Synthesis is the reverse process of analysis. This is the union of parts, properties, actions, relationships into one whole. This reveals significant links. Analysis and synthesis are two interrelated logical operations.

Analysis without synthesis leads to a mechanical reduction of the whole to the sum of the parts. Synthesis without analysis is also impossible, since it restores the whole from the parts selected by analysis. In the process of thinking, some people tend to analyze, others to synthesis (analytical or synthetic mindset). Synthesis, like analysis, can be both practical and mental. But at the basis of the formation of these processes, both in phylo- and ontogenesis, are the practical activities of a person, the development of objects and phenomena of the surrounding world by him.

Comparison is the establishment between objects of similarity or difference, equality or inequality, etc. Comparison is based on analysis. In order to carry out this operation, it is first necessary to select one or more characteristic features of the compared objects. Then, according to the quantitative or qualitative characteristics of these features, a comparison is made. It depends on the number of selected features whether the comparison will be one-sided, partial or complete. Comparison (like analysis and synthesis) can be of different levels - superficial and deep. In the case of a deep comparison, a person's thought moves from external signs of similarity and difference to internal ones, from the visible to the hidden, from the phenomenon to the essence. Comparison is the basis of classification - the assignment of objects with different characteristics to different groups.

Abstraction (or abstraction) is a mental distraction from secondary, non-essential in a given situation, sides, properties or connections of an object and the selection of one side, property. Abstraction is possible only as a result of analysis. So, for example, when examining an object, one can consider only its color or only its shape. A person mentally highlights some feature of an object and considers it in isolation from all other features, temporarily distracted from them. The separable feature becomes an independent object of thought. An isolated study of individual features of an object, while simultaneously abstracting from all the others, helps a person to better understand the essence of things and phenomena. Starting with the selection of individual sensible properties, abstraction then proceeds to the selection of non-sensory properties expressed in abstract concepts.

Thanks to abstraction, a person was able to break away from the individual, concrete and rise to the highest level of knowledge - scientific theoretical thinking.

Concretization is the opposite process. This is the movement of thought from the general to the particular, from the abstract to the concrete in order to reveal its content. Concretization is also addressed in the case when it is necessary to show the manifestation of the general in the individual.

Systematization is the arrangement of individual objects, phenomena, thoughts in a certain order according to any one sign (for example, chemical elements in the periodic table of D. I. Mendeleev).

A generalization is a combination of many objects according to some common feature. In this case, single signs are discarded. Only essential links remain. Abstraction and generalization are two interrelated sides of a single thought process, through which thought goes to knowledge.

The simplest generalizations consist in combining objects based on randomly selected features. In a complex generalization, species and generic characters are clearly distinguished.

Thinking activity is always aimed at obtaining some result. A person analyzes objects, compares them, abstracts individual properties in order to reveal what is common in them, in order to reveal the patterns that govern their development, in order to master them.

Generalization, therefore, is the selection in objects and phenomena of the general, which is expressed in the form of a concept, law, rule, formula, etc.

Lecture No. 9. Thinking (part 2)

Within the framework of each of the main psychological directions, its own conceptual approach to the concept of thinking and the study of thought processes was carried out. Let's dwell on this in more detail.

1. Thinking in the psychology of associationism. This direction of psychology is based on the principle of associations, i.e., the formation and actualization of connections between representations ("ideas"). The patterns of associations were studied in the works of D. Gartley, J. Priestley, J. S. Mill and others. They identified four types of associations:

1) by similarity;

2) by contrast;

3) by proximity in time or space;

4) in relation (causality, inherentness). The basic law of associations was formulated as follows: an association is stronger and more certain, the more often it is repeated.

At that time, the psychology of thinking had not yet formed as a special branch of psychology. Any mental process was presented to the associationists as an involuntary change of images. The development of thinking was seen as a process of accumulation and strengthening of associations. The rational was reduced to the sensible. Man as a subject of conscious, directed mental activity has not been studied. It was generally believed that thought processes were inaccessible to experimental research.

2. Würzburg school. Representatives of this trend in psychology (O. Külpe, N. Akh, K. Marbe, and others), in contrast to the associationists, considered thinking as an internal action. They put forward the thesis that thinking has its own specific content, not reducible only to visual-figurative content. The Würzburg school also owns the assertion that thinking has a subject orientation.

Representatives of the Würzburg school began the first experimental studies of thought processes. However, their experiments were limited only to the method of systematic self-observation, when qualified psychologists as subjects had to report on the processes of their own thinking when performing tasks that require mental actions. These could be tasks for interpreting complex texts, identifying relationships between objects, establishing cause-and-effect relationships, etc.

Later, N. Ahom made the first attempt to create an objective method for studying thinking. He created a methodology for the formation of artificial concepts.

Despite the great contribution of the Würzburg school to the study of thinking and overcoming the mechanistic approach of associationism, its position was internally contradictory. Having put forward the principle of activity as the main one in the study of thinking, representatives of this direction interpreted activity in a purely idealistic way. Having got rid of the extremes of "pure sensuality" of the associationists, they fell into the extremes of "pure thinking".

3. Gestalt psychology. The main position around which the whole concept of Gestalt psychology was built was the following: the content of any mental process is not individual elements, but some integral formations, configurations, forms - the so-called gestalts. The central object of research in this area of ​​psychology was perception. At the same time, the main principle of the research was the division of the object of perception into a "figure" and a "ground". The factors contributing to the perception of "figures" or gestalts were studied: the proximity of individual elements to each other, the similarity of elements, the orientation towards a "good figure" (closed, simple, symmetrical).

Subsequently, the laws discovered in the study of perception were transferred to the study of thinking. K. Koffka, one of the representatives of Gestalt psychology, actively engaged in the study of thinking, in contrast to the Würzburg school, again returned to the idea of ​​sensory contemplation, but from a different point of view. He believed that thinking is a transformation of the structure of visual situations.

A certain initial situation, which constitutes a task for thinking, is an unbalanced field, visual in its content. In this field there are places of uncertainty, empty content. As a result, tension arises, for the removal of which a transition to another visual situation is necessary. Thus, in a number of successive transitions, the structure of the visual situation changes.

It ceases to be problematic, does not cause tension. The problem is solved simply as a result of the fact that the subject sees the situation differently. At the same time, this law applied to a very wide range of phenomena: from solving problems by higher animals to interpreting the facts of scientific creativity, scientific discoveries.

4. Behaviorism (psychology of behavior). One of the most prominent representatives of this trend was J. Watson. He believed that the subject of study of psychology can only be behavior. Watson introduced the concept of the basic structural unit of behavior - the connection between stimulus and response. Complex behavior, at the human level, is a whole system of such connections. In addition, as already mentioned in the lecture on motivation, later additional factors were introduced into the "stimulus-response" chain, the influence of which affected the degree of response, all other things being equal. The concept of thinking, according to Watson's ideas, was interpreted very broadly as one of such factors. It included both all types of internal speech activity and any non-verbal forms of thought expression, such as gestures and facial expressions. “Thus,” Watson wrote, “thinking becomes a general concept that includes all our silent behavior.”

J. Watson identified three main forms of thinking:

1) simple deployment of speech skills (reproducing poems or quotations without changing word order);

2) solving problems that are not new, but rarely encountered, so that they would require trial verbal behavior (attempts to recall half-forgotten verses);

3) solving new problems that require a verbal solution before any overtly expressed action is taken.

5. Psychoanalytic concept. Within the framework of psychoanalysis, thinking is seen primarily as a motivated process. In the lecture on motivation, we have already dwelled on the fact that psychoanalysis considers sexuality and aggression as basic motives. These motives are of an unconscious nature, and the area of ​​their manifestation is dreams, slips of the tongue, slips of the tongue, symptoms of diseases (mainly neuroses).

Dreams are considered as a kind of involuntary figurative thinking. The method of free association widely used in psychoanalysis (saying everything that comes to mind in a row) allows you to study some features of mental activity, more precisely, that part of it that is due to the influence of the unconscious sphere of the psyche. It is with free association that the so-called Freudian reservations, errors, slips of the tongue occur, which are analyzed by a specialist. A dream can also be seen as a loose chain of associations.

Another approach of psychoanalysis to thinking is Freud's theory of sublimation. He argues that creativity is the product of sublimation - the satisfaction of primary needs suppressed and forced into the unconscious sphere. This opinion is more than debatable - it is difficult to imagine that the masterpieces of world culture were created only on the basis of repressed sexuality or aggression. Although such cases can be observed, it is still illegal to generalize.

In general, Z. Freud's concept is recognized as a biological one - a person in it is completely deprived of a conscious creativity, aesthetic needs, a conscious desire for self-realization. However, positive aspects in the psychoanalytic approach certainly exist. This is an emphasis on the importance of the problem of motives, an analysis of the manifestations of motives in thinking, the significance of the unconscious in thinking.

6. The concept of thinking J. Piaget. Piaget views thinking as a biological process. He uses the concept of "intelligence" because he critically perceives the interpretation of the thinking of the Würzburg school. If we consider his interpretation of intelligence in the most general form, then this is a set of biological characteristics that are fundamental to the human psyche. Organization and adaptation, the main functions of the intellect, serve as such characteristics.

Organization in the intellect is understood as its structuredness, i.e., the ability to single out something whole and the elements with their connections that make up this whole in any intellectual activity.

Adaptation includes two interrelated processes: assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation in Latin means "assimilation, fusion, assimilation." In Piaget, this term emphasizes the re-creation by the subject of certain characteristics of a cognized object, i.e., to some extent, "similarity" to it, "merging" with it in the course of cognitive activity.

Accommodation (from Latin assomodatio - "adaptation, adaptation") is the process of adapting the cognizing subject itself to the various requirements put forward by the objective world.

Thus, the process of cognition of the world is two-sided - not only does the subject reproduce the characteristics of the object being cognized, but also the subject itself changes in the course of cognitive activity.

In the course of cognitive activity, a person accumulates some experience. This experience, as applied to a certain period of human development, Piaget calls the cognitive structure of the current period. He concludes that not every content of the objective world can be assimilated by a person, but only that which, to a certain extent, corresponds to his cognitive structure at the moment.

On the basis of this conclusion, Piaget develops the doctrine of the stages of development of the intellect, to which most of his research is devoted. He distinguishes IV such stages.

I - sensorimotor intelligence (from 0 to 2 years).

II - pre-operational thinking (from 2 to 11 years).

III - the period of specific operations (from 7-8 to 11-12 years).

IV - the period of formal operations.

7. Cognitive psychology. This direction is characterized by an approach to thinking as a process of information processing. It arose against the backdrop of the development of computer technology. Cybernetics introduced the concept of artificial intelligence. A comprehensive interdisciplinary approach to the problem of intelligence in general began to develop. This had a great impact on psychological science. As a result of transferring the concepts of cybernetics to the study of behavior, a new theory of behavior arose by D. Miller, J. Galanter and K. Pribram.

Psychology as a whole began to consider the process of information processing in the human brain as its subject. Information theories of perception, attention, memory, emotions, personality have appeared.

Cognitive psychology is characterized by a synthetic approach, which seeks to consider all mental processes in the aggregate, avoiding the limitations of an isolated consideration of individual functions. However, studies of perception and memory still prevail - they are analogues of computer technology processes, rather than other mental functions.

As for mental processes, they are considered on the basis of the definition of human cognitive activity as an activity associated with the acquisition, organization and use of knowledge. But this formulation lacks the most important for the psychology of thinking link in the generation of new knowledge, since the term "acquisition" can only be understood as the acquisition of ready-made knowledge. Thus, knowledge is isolated from the motivational-emotional sphere of the personality.

In addition, the interpretation of thinking as an information processing system has a number of limitations. No distinction is made between information-computing and psychological systems, the processes of goal formation and meaning formation, the ratio of the conscious and the unconscious in mental activity are not considered, the development of thinking is not analyzed.

In domestic psychology, the activity approach has been adopted as the basis for studying the psyche. This also applies to thinking. Thinking is considered in the context of the subject's activity. The methodological principle underlying this approach is the principle of activity mediation. It reflects the determination of thought processes in the mind of an individual by the content, goals and social value of the activities carried out. Within the framework of the activity approach, it is also customary to consider thinking in the unity of its phylo-onto- and sociogenetic aspects. Domestic researchers believe that the emergence of human thinking can only be understood in the context of studying the formation of human activity, the formation of the human psyche, and the emergence of language. The development of the thinking of an individual acts primarily as part of the historical development of thinking, the knowledge of all mankind. In order to understand the new that arises at the human level, it is necessary to constantly correlate the psyche of man and animals, human activity and animal behavior.

The study of the development of thinking in phylogenesis makes it possible to isolate the common features inherent in the thought processes of each individual. The study of sociogenesis shows the influence on the development of a person's thinking of a concrete historical situation, of the society in which he lives and develops, of his immediate, immediate environment.

The general characteristics of thinking were discussed in the previous lecture. But the question of individual peculiarities of thinking has not yet been touched upon.

First of all, individual differences in thinking are manifested in the different correlation and complementarity of the three main types of thinking - visual-effective, visual-figurative and verbal-logical. They also depend to no lesser extent on the share of presence in the individual type of thinking and such types as practical or theoretical, realistic or autistic, intuitive or logical, etc. But there are other qualities of cognitive activity that form an individual type of thinking. These are flexibility, speed, independence and creative characteristics of thinking.

The flexibility of thinking lies in the ability to change the initially planned path (plan) for solving problems if it does not satisfy the conditions of the problem that are gradually revealed in the course of its solution and which could not be taken into account from the very beginning. As a component of flexibility, one can also consider a characteristic of the mobility of thinking - the ability to more or less quickly switch from one task to another if necessary.

Mobility should not be confused with quick thinking. Speed ​​refers to the ability to make the right decision in a very short time.

Independence of thinking is manifested primarily in the ability to independently see and pose a new question, a new problem, and then solve them on their own.

Creative characteristics of thinking - the ability to find new ways in solving problems. The concept of creative thinking will be covered in more detail in the next lecture.

Lecture No. 10. Thinking (part 3)

It was mentioned above that according to one of the classifications, thinking is divided into reproductive and productive (or creative). There are a number of qualities that characterize creative thinking:

1) freedom from stereotypes, i.e. non-triviality of thinking, expressed in the search for new approaches to solving creative problems, rather than using familiar patterns;

2) critical thinking - the ability to objectively evaluate the product of one's mental activity;

3) depth of thinking - the degree of penetration of the subject into the essence of cognizable phenomena;

4) breadth (or erudition) - the possibility of attracting knowledge from various fields to solve the problem;

5) independence of thinking, determined by the ability to independently and originally formulate a problem and solve it without succumbing to outside influence, the ability to defend one's position;

6) openness - the availability of thinking to new information, without neglecting its sources for any subjective reasons;

7) empathic thinking - the ability to identify oneself with another person in order to penetrate into the course of his thoughts (a quality necessary for various types of mental rivalry - from intellectual games to solving crimes);

8) anticipation - the ability to predict the development of the situation, to anticipate the results of their activities.

In creative thinking, it is customary to distinguish four stages: the stage of preparation, maturation, inspiration and verification of the correctness of the decision. These stages may partially overlap, their selection is conditional, but it helps to better understand how the process of creative thinking proceeds.

At the stage of preparation, the formulation of the problem, the collection of information, and the approximate designation of solutions take place. The maturation stage involves a period of lack of conscious attention to the task. Information seems to be digested at an unconscious level, the data received is ordered and systematized. This process is similar to how the information accumulated by the brain during the day is ordered during sleep - something is eliminated as insignificant, something is included in the knowledge system, etc. This stage can take a different amount of time - from several hours to several weeks. The stage of inspiration most often acts as a sudden insight that can come at the most unexpected moment - during a walk, a conversation, or doing any daily activities. Examples are the famous "Eureka!" Archimedes, the case of Isaac Newton and an apple, or the discovery of the periodic table of elements by D. I. Mendeleev, which the famous scientist dreamed of in a dream. The maturation stage is thus a period of unconscious immersion in the material, while the brain rests from thinking about the problem. The stage of inspiration (or insight) is the moment of a surge of mental activity, maximum concentration on the subject, after a sufficiently rested brain is "loaded" with information processed at an unconscious level. And, finally, the stage of verifying the truth of the decision is a fully conscious period of mental activity, when the decision that arose during insight is checked for adequacy by testing with practical actions.

The listed stages concern both the solution of scientific and technical problems, and the creation of works of art, when a poet, artist, musician, being immersed in the material and then leaving for some time thinking about the work, suddenly finds the most accurate images to convey his idea.

Another important mental process is directly related to creative thinking - imagination. In this process, the reflection of reality takes place in a special form of creating an objectively or subjectively new (in the form of images, ideas, ideas), based on the images of perceptions, memory, and knowledge acquired in the process of verbal communication. Imagination is an activity for the analysis and synthesis of sensory experience, which is either determined by the influence of a consciously set goal (in the process of creativity), or occurs spontaneously, under the influence of feelings, experiences that possess a person at the moment. Imagination is unique to man. Animals can operate with images that were previously present in their direct experience. But not a single living being, except for man, is able to create new images. It is only characteristic of a person that he can mentally imagine something that he did not perceive or did not do in the past. Only he can have images of objects and phenomena that he has not encountered in his past experience.

Imagination is a necessary condition for any human activity - from gaming to labor. This is due to the fact that, before carrying out this or that kind of activity, a person must at least imagine what exactly he will do and how he will do it. In a more complex, creative situation, a person must also imagine what the final product of his activity will be. Only by creating an image of the result, he can outline adequate ways to solve the problem.

Among other mental processes, imagination occupies a place between perception and memory, on the one hand, and thinking, on the other. But, despite the close relationship, it is a separate, very special mental function. We can say that this is the most ideal (or the most "mental") of mental processes, since it is closed inside the human psyche and in itself has no contact with reality, but only through other processes - at the input is perception, and at the output - thinking .

However, despite this isolation, the imagination has a huge impact on the development of human society. It is this function that gives a person the opportunity to carry out creative activities, as well as to foresee the consequences of his daily activities, to make plans for the future. Thus, the entire human culture, both material and spiritual, could not exist if people did not have the function of imagination.

Imagination images, unlike perception images, can be unrealistic, fantasy. Perception and memory are the basis for imagination. It, in turn, serves as the basis of visual-figurative thinking. This allows a person to solve problems in conditions of impossibility or inexpediency of substantive actions.

Imagination, like thinking, can be reproductive (recreating) and creative. Reproductive imagination is involved in everyday human activities, creative imagination is included in solving creative problems and is the basis of productive thinking.

There are several types of imagination. First of all, these are two large groups, each of which is divided into several subgroups: active and passive imagination. Active imagination is understood as the action of a given mental function under conditions of a consciously set goal. This subgroup includes the following forms: creative, artistic, critical, recreating and anticipatory.

Recreative imagination is the simplest form. It consists in the reproduction of previous images of perception or their combination, the combination of various elements. Creative imagination involves the creation of new images that were not present in the subject's past experience and, moreover, are of value not only for him, but also for the people who perceive these images. Critical imagination is a special case of the recreative one - it is responsible for the ability to evaluate one's own actions and the actions of others. Artistic imagination is a special case of creativity. Anticipatory imagination (anticipation - anticipation of the results of activity) is a form that is very important for a person to successfully build his life.

Passive imagination is divided into two forms. This is an arbitrary and involuntary imagination. Arbitrary imagination is turned on by the will of the subject himself, and he begins to fantasize, dream, involuntary arises in the form of dreams during natural sleep or suggested representations during hypnotic sleep.

Synthesis, realized in the processes of imagination, is carried out in various forms:

1) agglutination - the articulation of various qualities that are incompatible in everyday life parts;

2) hyperbolization - exaggeration or understatement of the image, as well as a change in its individual parts;

3) typification - highlighting the essential, repeating in homogeneous images;

4) sharpening - emphasizing any individual features.

Next, we need to consider another mental manifestation. When studying creative thinking, psychologists singled out a relatively isolated mental function - intellect. It is closely interconnected with all cognitive functions of a person, however, in order to more successfully explore the process of solving problems, intelligence is considered as a separate function. Intelligence is based on memory, attention, the speed of mental processes, the ability to exercise, the development of understanding of the language, the degree of fatigue when performing mental operations, the ability to think logically, resourcefulness, etc.

There are many concepts of intelligence, and there have always been heated debates between representatives of various areas in psychology about what exactly to call intelligence. As a result, three most common approaches to this concept were identified.

1. The biological approach considers intelligence as the ability to consciously adapt to a new situation.

2. The pedagogical approach speaks of intelligence as the ability to learn.

3. The structural approach considers the intellect as the ability to adapt the means to the goal, i.e., from the point of view of the structural approach, the intellect is a combination of certain abilities.

However, many psychologists, due to the ambiguity and ambiguity of the concept, use such a peculiar definition: "Intelligence is what is measured by intelligence tests."

For example, the American psychologist L. Thurstone, using statistical methods, studied various aspects of general intelligence, which he called primary mental potencies. He identified seven such potencies:

1) counting ability - the ability to count, perform arithmetic operations;

2) verbal (verbal) ability - speech flexibility and giftedness, that is, the ability to quickly select words that express a thought as accurately as possible;

3) verbal perception - ease of understanding oral and written speech;

4) spatial orientation - the ability to easily imagine how this or that object will look in space from different angles;

5) memory;

6) the ability to reason;

7) the speed of perception of similarities or differences between objects and images.

J. Gilford's model of intellect includes 120 different intellectual processes - private abilities. They are formed as all possible combinations of operations of mental activity. In his classification of intellectual abilities, Guilford proceeded from what mental operations they are needed for, what results these operations lead to and what their content is (it can be figurative, symbolic, semantic, behavioral).

According to Guilford's ideas, mental operations included in intellectual action can be classified according to the following criteria:

1) by nature: evaluation, synthesis, analysis, memorization, cognition;

2) by product: unit, class, relationship, system, transformation, reasoning;

3) by content: action with material objects, symbols, semantic operations, behavior.

The first method of intellectual testing was created in 1880 by J. Cattell. It was not yet specific and measured both intellectual and sensorimotor functions (eg reaction rate). In 1903, A. Binet's test appeared. It assessed the development of such psychological functions as understanding, imagination, memory, willpower and the ability to pay attention, observe and analyze. In parallel with this, the idea of ​​a staging difference, the so-called mental age, became widespread. Combining these two methods, V. Stern in 1911 proposed a method for studying the intelligence quotient (IQ) as the ratio of mental age to chronological age. But later it was found that this approach is only valid for children under 12 years old. Starting from adolescence, individual differences come to the fore - this fact has been confirmed by many researchers of intelligence. Therefore, the Eysenck method has become more widespread. According to Eysenck's research, there is a logarithmic relationship between the complexity of a task and the time spent on solving it. The general level of intellectual abilities is determined using a set of tests using verbal, digital and graphic material. Tasks are divided into 2 types:

1) closed tasks, where it is necessary to choose the right solution from several options;

2) open tasks where you need to find an answer (there may be more than one answer, so the most open task is to find the largest number of answers in a fixed period of time).

The highest possible IQ value is 200 points, the lower limit approaches 0. The average IQ is 100 points plus or minus 16. According to research, 68% of people belong to the group of people with an average level of intelligence. 16% belong to the other two groups. These are people with reduced intelligence (IQ below 84 points) or with increased intelligence (IQ above 116).

Intellectual disorders have the following gradation.

Debility is called a mild degree of dementia (IQ less than 75 points). It is difficult to distinguish it from the psyche at the lower limit of the norm.

Imbecility is called the average degree of dementia (IQ from 20 to 50 points). These people are capable of learning, but they are adapted only to the familiar environment of life, and if it changes, they need outside help. Vocabulary, as a rule, does not exceed 300 words.

Idiocy is the most severe form of dementia (IQ less than 20 points). It is characterized by the fact that such people do not develop either thinking or speech, motor skills are inhibited, there are only emotional reactions.

Now about the increased intelligence. Many researchers talk about the ambiguous relationship between creative thinking and a developed intellect. Of course, for the development of a high level of creative abilities, a level of intelligence that would be slightly above average is required. Without a certain knowledge base, good learning ability, i.e. without an intellectual foundation, high creativity (the ability to think creatively) cannot develop. But studies show that after a person reaches a certain level of highly developed intelligence (indicators are individual), its subsequent increase does not contribute to the growth of creative abilities. On the contrary, with a very high level of intelligence (more than 170 points), a paradoxical tendency to reduce creative abilities is manifested. Greater erudition and increased reaction speed when solving intellectual problems slow down creative processes - in most cases, such people look for ready-made answers in memory, and do not use imagination and do not look for new solutions. Of course, and this has its own expediency - such people do not have to reinvent the wheel themselves every time. They can quickly summarize their experience. But it is unlikely that they will invent something fundamentally new - for spontaneous creativity, it is sometimes important to abstract from what is already known.

Lecture number 11. Speech and speech activity

Since a person is a social being, the development of his consciousness is impossible without interaction and communication with other people.

Human consciousness is formed in the process of interpersonal communication and joint activities of people. The very word "communication" in its etymology implies the presence of a certain general system for transmitting information from person to person. In the process of phylogeny, such a system was formed - human speech. It is thanks to speech that the content of the consciousness of one person becomes available to other people.

Psychology considers speech primarily as one of the highest mental functions of a person, in the entire range of its relationships with other mental functions - thinking, emotions, memory, etc. In the context of the activity approach, Russian psychology considers speech as speech activity. It acts as a holistic act of activity if it has its own motivation, which cannot be realized by any other types of activity or in the form of separate speech actions that accompany any other human activity. An example for comparison is the speech of a person speaking on the phone for the sake of actual communication and the speech of a train dispatcher in the process of coordinating the movement of multiple trains.

The structure of speech activity coincides with the structure of any other activity. It includes motivation, planning, implementation and control. In contrast to objective activity, here these phases can be very compressed in time. Sometimes, in situations of emotional arousal, the planning phase of speech activity is practically absent. It is about such cases that they say: "First he said, and then he thought."

Speech is directly related to language, which is the instrument of its mediation. It is a system of signs that convey information both orally and in writing. Language is a means of communication and abstract thinking. For oral speech, language is primarily words and ways of their formation. For writing - the rules for combining words into phrases and sentences, combining sentences into complex sentences, types of phrases and sentences, as well as punctuation and spelling - systems that form spelling.

The word, as a sign that determines human communication and thinking, has such an objective property as meaning, i.e., relation to the object designated in reality, regardless of how it is represented in the mind of the subject. In addition to the objective meaning, the word has a personal meaning. It is determined by the place occupied in the life and consciousness of a person by a given object or phenomenon, as well as by the attitude of a person to this object. Thus, words are an alloy of sensory and semantic (semantic) content.

The study of the process of functioning of an individual system of meanings is carried out by a special branch of psychology - psychosemantics.

Based on the foregoing, we can summarize - the language has three main functions. Firstly, it is a means of communication, secondly, a means of accumulating, transmitting and assimilating socio-historical experience, and thirdly, language is an instrument of intellectual activity and, in general, the functioning of the main mental processes: perception, memory, thinking, imagination.

Performing the first function, the language enables the subject of communication to have a direct or indirect impact on the behavior and activities of the interlocutor. Direct influence is carried out in the case when the interlocutor is directly indicated what he must do, indirect - when he is informed of the information necessary for his activities. The second function is due to the fact that the language serves as a means of encoding information about the studied properties of objects and phenomena. Through language, information about the surrounding world and the person himself, received by previous generations, becomes the property of subsequent generations. The third function is due to the fact that it is through language that a person carries out any conscious mental activity.

Speech and language are interpenetrating systems. They are both the same and different at the same time. They are two aspects of a single process. Speech is primarily the activity of communication - the transmission of objective or subjective information. Thus speech is language in action. Languages ​​that are not used in colloquial speech are called dead (for example, Latin).

It should be noted an interesting feature of the anatomical and physiological basis of language and speech. Speech has central and peripheral apparatuses. Peripheral apparatus - larynx, tongue (in the anatomical sense), vocal cords. In humans, they are developed so as to not only pronounce words, but also give them different intonations, different expressions, etc. So, for example, students of theater universities are well aware that the same phrase, like "Your tea, ma'am" can be pronounced with a dozen different intonations that will give these words completely different shades of meaning.

Well, the central organs, or "speech centers" - this is an even more mysterious thing. In peoples who build their speech on the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic and similar writing systems, the departments of the left, "rational", hemisphere of the brain are responsible for speech. And among the peoples whose writing is hieroglyphs, the language is "in charge" of the right, "figurative" hemisphere. This phenomenon is remarkable and has not yet been fully studied by psychologists.

Let's look at the functions of speech. Traditionally, there are three functions.

1. Significative (or nominative). This is the function of "naming", its essence lies in giving names, denoting objects of both the surrounding reality and internal processes inherent in man. Thus, mutual understanding in the process of human communication is based on the unity of the designation of objects and phenomena by both the speaker and the receiver of speech. In this way, human communication differs from the communication of animals that do not have a system of notation, as well as abstract thinking. Their communication takes place at the level of sound or other signals that directly affect reflexes.

One more feature of the significative function should also be noted. It is she who determines the fact that people understand each other, despite the diversity of languages, because the essence of signification (designation) is the same for all people.

2. Generalization function. It consists in highlighting the essential features of objects and combining them into groups, since the word denotes not only a separate, given object, but a whole group of similar objects and is always the bearer of their essential features. This function is directly related to thinking.

3. The communicative function ensures the transfer of knowledge, relationships, feelings and, accordingly, is divided into informational, volitional and expressive. This function appears primarily as an external speech behavior aimed at contacts with other people, or written speech (books, letters, etc.). This distinguishes it from the first two functions, which are related to internal mental processes.

The informational aspect of the communicative function is closely related to the first two functions - it manifests itself in the exchange of information between the subjects of communication.

The expressive aspect of speech helps to convey the feelings and attitudes of the speaker both to the message being transmitted and to the interlocutor or audience.

The volitional aspect of the communicative function is the ability to influence the interlocutor or the audience with the help of speech activity, as a result of which the latter perceive the opinion, attitude of the speaker, to a certain extent obey his will. It is about people endowed with a strong will-expressive ability that they are usually said to be endowed with charisma.

Next, consider the types of speech and their distinctive features. There are different types of speech: gesture speech and sound speech, written and oral, external and internal. The main division is internal and external speech. External speech is divided into written and oral. Oral speech, in turn, includes monologue and dialogic speech.

Let's dwell on each of the types in more detail.

Inner speech is not aimed at direct communication of a person with other people. It is silent speech, flowing more like a thought process. There are two varieties of it: internal speech proper and internal pronunciation. Speaking is a very extended speech. This is simply a mental repetition of some texts (for example, the text of an upcoming report, a speech, a poem memorized, and others in conditions where such a repetition aloud is inconvenient).

Actually inner speech is curtailed. It is more like a synopsis containing the main, meaning-bearing members of a sentence (sometimes it is only one predicate or subject). Inner speech is the basis for planning both practical and theoretical activities. Therefore, despite its fragmentation, fragmentary nature, it excludes inaccuracies in the perception of the situation. Ontogenetically, inner speech is an interiorization of outer speech and serves as the basis for the development of verbal-logical thinking.

External speech is oral and written. Oral speech is primarily audio. But the significance of gestures cannot be ruled out. They can both accompany sound speech and act as independent signs. In this case, we do not mean sign language as a separate independent language and a full-fledged communication system. We are talking about gestures in the everyday sense. Separate gestures can be the equivalent of words and sometimes even convey rather complex meanings in conditions where sound speech cannot be applied. Communication with the help of gestures and facial expressions refers to a non-verbal type of communication, in contrast to verbal (verbal). Sign language is varied. In different countries, the same gesture can have different meanings, such as, for example, the well-known nodding or shaking of the head among Russians and Bulgarians - in our country a nod means agreement, and in Bulgaria - denial, and vice versa - our negative shake of the head with them means yes. In any of its manifestations, oral speech is, as a rule, a speech-conversation, direct contact with an interlocutor or audience.

Written speech has a different function. It is more often designed to convey more abstract content that is not related to a specific situation and a specific interlocutor (with the possible exception of personal letters that are addressed to a specific person, but here, too, there is a delay in time and, consequently, a change in situation). Although it should be noted that time makes its own adjustments - the epistolary genre is dying out, but network communication is developing powerfully.

As already mentioned, oral speech has two forms. The dialogic form is more common. Dialogue, by definition, is direct communication between two or more people, the exchange of meaningful remarks and information of a cognitive or emotional nature between its participants. Dialogic speech is different in that it is a speech supported by interlocutors; it may include questions, answers, and may respond to a change in the situation. For example, you, in the company of classmates, talk about a recent trip to the sea. The interlocutors silently listen to you, as if you are reading a report to them: they ask about your impressions, express their opinions. After this conversation, you reach the library - the speech changes according to the situation: a more restrained tone, the speech becomes quieter, and then the topic changes altogether - the conversation is already about which textbooks you need to take notes.

Monologue speech is a completely different manifestation of oral speech. Here there is a relatively long sequential presentation of a certain system of thoughts, knowledge by one person. Giving a lecture in front of a large audience (when there is no direct contact between the lecturer and the audience) is a typical example. Or the actor's monologue, which is not interrupted either by the partners' remarks or, of course, by the audience's questions. Monologue speech also implies communication, but this communication is of a completely different nature. For example, the wrong construction of phrases is unacceptable for a monologue. In addition, there are special requirements for the pace of speech, the volume of its sound, intelligibility. The content aspect of the monologue should be combined with its expressiveness, which is achieved by language means, facial expressions, gestures, and intonations of the voice.

Returning to the characteristics of written speech, it should be noted that it is based on monologue speech, since it lacks direct feedback from the interlocutor. But unlike monologue oral speech, written speech is very limited in terms of means of expression, therefore, the content side and literacy of presentation are the main ones in it.

In addition to the listed types of speech, some psychologists also distinguish between active and passive speech. They can exist both orally and in writing. Active speech is a process of information transfer. The activity itself lies in the need for speech production. Passive speech is the process of perceiving information contained in someone's active speech. This can be listening, adequate understanding, and in the case of perception of written speech - reading, repeating to oneself.

The development of speech in ontogenesis has two main stages. The first is the stage of learning, when the child masters speech in the process of communication. After all, the knowledge of one's native language at the initial stage is not the result of a special educational activity. Adults, of course, organize the learning process in a certain way - they explain to the child the meaning of words, their correct pronunciation, and the correct combination. This is how oral language is learned. The second stage is learning to write. This is where learning comes into play. The child masters the syntactic norms of the language, spelling rules, punctuation. But all this happens on the basis of his practical command of oral speech. Thus, at the second stage of speech development, educational work on speech refines what originated independently of it and earlier than it.

It should be noted that for true mastery of a word, it is necessary that it is not just memorized, but enters the life of the child, is actively used by him in the process of activity. Therefore, before the first stage, there is still a preparatory, passive stage in the development of speech. The kid listens to the speech of adults, begins to compare words with objects and people, and at the same time masters his vocal apparatus. Those words that he already understands at this preparatory stage cannot be considered as yet truly learned. The actual development of speech begins from the moment the child uses the vocabulary accumulated at the passive stage to designate objects that he manipulates, to address loved ones, etc.

There are different views on the formation of the process of understanding speech. For example, representatives of associative psychology believe that understanding the meaning of words is based on associative links. Reflexologists spoke about the conditioned reflex nature of such understanding. Both of them are right to a certain extent - in the event that we consider the early, initial moments of the child's understanding of words, moments related to the preparatory stage. But it should be borne in mind that the described mechanisms for understanding words are not yet mastery of speech in the full sense. Real speech arises only when the connection between the word and its meaning ceases to be associative or conditioned reflex, but becomes semantic.

Lecture No. 12. Will and volitional processes

Any mental activity of a person can be both involuntary, unintentional, and purposeful, arbitrary. Unintentional activity does not require effort or planning. Involuntary actions are impulsive, lacking clear awareness. This may be, for example, the behavior of a person in a state of passion, trance, other altered states of consciousness.

In those situations when it is necessary to be active in order to achieve some consciously set goal, volitional processes are involved. Thus, we can say that the will is the ability of a person to consciously and actively manage their activities, overcoming obstacles to achieve the goal and creating additional motivation for action when the existing motivation is not sufficient. The amount of effort that a person makes to overcome the obstacle that has arisen characterizes the degree of development of his volitional sphere.

So, the difference between involuntary actions, i.e. actions performed without the participation of the human volitional sphere, is that they are the result of the emergence of unconscious or insufficiently clearly perceived motives (drives, attitudes, etc.), are impulsive in nature, lack clear plan.

Arbitrary actions, on the contrary, imply awareness of the goal, a preliminary presentation of those operations that can ensure its achievement, their sequence.

For arbitrary processes in general, the following features are characteristic:

1) an arbitrary reaction is always felt or realized;

2) an arbitrary reaction arises in response to the emergence of a vital need and is a means of satisfying it.

3) an arbitrary reaction, as a rule, is not forced and can be replaced at the person's own choice with another with the same vital significance;

4) in a situation where an arbitrary reaction is still forced, it can be consciously regulated in the course of its implementation.

Singling out volitional processes into a special layer of mental phenomena, psychologists do not oppose them to cognitive and emotional processes, since the same process can be both cognitive, and to a certain extent emotional, and volitional (for example, voluntary attention).

The initial motives of a person for action are needs, therefore, the rudiments of will are already contained in them. In contrast to the need, the motive is a mental stimulus to the implementation of activities, being no longer only a stimulus, but a personal processing of the stimulus (need, need). If unequivocal motives prevail, they increase the possibility of achieving the goal. The emergence of motives that contradict the achievement of the intended goal, inhibits the activity of a person (in some situations this is a manifestation of lack of will).

Thus, the will has two oppositely directed, but interconnected functions: stimulating and inhibitory.

The incentive function is provided by the activity of a person, which generates an action due to the specifics of the internal states of the subject, which are revealed at the moment of the action itself.

The inhibitory function of the will does not always prevent obtaining a positive result of activity. Acting in unity with the incentive function, it is characterized by the containment of undesirable manifestations of activity. For example, a person simultaneously has an impulse to two types of activity, but if he takes up both things at the same time, then this will be to the detriment of both one and the other. There is a struggle of motives. The motive that a person evaluates as more significant at the moment generates an incentive function of the will, and a less significant one becomes an object of an inhibitory function. In addition, the inhibitory function also manifests itself in cases where a person's motives do not correspond to his ideas about the proper model of behavior. For example, if a person is very hungry, they may be tempted to steal a loaf of bread from a bakery. But for most people, such behavior is internally unacceptable, and it will be inhibited by an effort of will.

A person's volitional manifestations are largely determined by those to whom he is inclined to ascribe responsibility for the results of his own actions. If a person has a tendency to blame external factors for his failures - circumstances, other people, it is much more difficult for him to carry out volitional efforts than for someone who takes full responsibility for the results of his activity. Consider an example that is close to students - preparing for an exam. Friends arriving at the wrong time, a noise in the next room, rainy weather that makes you sleepy, an interesting movie on TV that you can’t miss in any way - everyone is familiar with such distractions. But a person with a developed volitional sphere of the psyche and who is responsible for the results of his activity will resist all factors that may have a negative impact on these results with his willed efforts.

There are a number of personal qualities that are considered in psychology as volitional qualities:

1) determination is complete confidence in the feasibility of a decision;

2) self-control - a manifestation of the inhibitory function of the will, which consists in the suppression of such states of a person that impede the achievement of the goal;

3) courage - a manifestation of willpower to overcome obstacles dangerous to the well-being and life of a person;

4) perseverance - the ability to perform repeated volitional actions for a long time to achieve a specific goal (it should not be confused with stubbornness - inadequate perseverance without sufficient objective grounds);

5) diligence - the quality of the will, manifested in the precise, rigorous and systematic execution of the decisions made;

6) patience and endurance - also strong-willed qualities necessary for purposeful achievement of results;

7) discipline - evidence of the volitional qualities of the individual, since discipline teaches a person to overcome external and internal difficulties.

Each of the volitional qualities has its own antipode - a quality that indicates the underdevelopment of the volitional sphere, such as indecision, lack of initiative, compliance, etc.

Strong will, manifested in self-control, courage, perseverance, endurance and patience, is called courage.

Next, consider the concept of volitional action.

Volitional action is an internal motivating force, formed not only by typological and biological inclinations, but also determined by everyday education, self-control, self-persuasion. Therefore, psychologists believe that the will is educated.

However, it should be noted that the formation of volitional qualities of a person can be hindered by improper upbringing of a child. There are two extremes in education, which are very unfavorable for the development of the volitional sphere:

1) the child was spoiled, all his desires and whims were implicitly fulfilled, so the inhibitory function of the will was not formed in him;

2) the child, on the contrary, was suppressed by the hard will and instructions of adults, his initiative was suppressed, and therefore, having matured, he became incapable of making an independent decision.

Parents who want to see their child successful should take care of the development of his will in time. To do this, it is necessary to avoid the above extremes and, in addition, always explain to a child, even a small one, what causes the requirements, decisions, prohibitions that adults impose on him, what is their expediency.

Distinctive features of volitional action can be called awareness and independence in decision-making. It is characterized by the following features. First, it is an action that is necessary for external or internal reasons, i.e., there is always an objective reason for it. Secondly, a volitional action has an initial or manifested in its implementation deficit of motivation or inhibition. Thirdly, in the process of volitional action, this deficit is eliminated, which leads to the possibility of achieving the intended goal.

The structure of volitional action looks like a sequential implementation of the following stages:

1) setting a target and the emergence of a desire to achieve it;

2) awareness of the ways to achieve the goal;

3) the emergence of motives that affirm or deny these possibilities;

4) the struggle of motives, the result of which is the choice of a solution;

5) accepting one of the possibilities as a solution;

6) implementation of the adopted decision.

Volitional action can have both simple and more complex forms.

Volitional action, simple in form, is an impulse that goes directly into action to achieve the goal. In this case, the action is practically not preceded by any complex and lengthy conscious process. In this case, the goal itself does not go beyond the immediate situation, its implementation is achieved by performing actions habitual for the subject, which are performed almost automatically as soon as a stimulus arises.

For a complex volitional action in its most pronounced specific form, it is primarily characteristic that a complex conscious process mediating this action is wedged between the stimulus and the action. The action is preceded by the calculation of its consequences and the awareness of its motives, the adoption of a decision, the emergence of the intention to carry it out, the drawing up of a plan for its implementation.

Thus, volitional action becomes a complex process, including a whole chain of different stages and a sequence of different stages or phases, while in a simple volitional action all these moments and phases do not necessarily have to be presented in an expanded form.

A complex volitional action can be divided into 9 stages, carried out in stages:

1) the emergence of motivation;

2) preliminary setting of a goal and the emergence of a desire to achieve it;

3) awareness of a number of opportunities to achieve the goal;

4) the emergence of motives that affirm or deny these possibilities;

5) stage of discussion and struggle of motives;

6) accepting one of the possibilities as a solution;

7) decision making;

8) implementation of the adopted decision;

9) overcoming external obstacles in the implementation of the decision and achievement of the goal. It should be noted that a complex volitional action does not in all cases cause a struggle of motives. This happens only when the goal is subjective and arises spontaneously. If it is due to external factors and its achievement is necessary for the subject, he only needs to recognize it, forming a certain image of the future result of the action. The emergence of a struggle of motives is associated with the subject having several equivalent goals at the same time (for example, a housewife wants to cook something special for dinner and watch her favorite TV series at the same time).

In the course of making a decision, the subject understands that the further course of events depends on him. The idea of ​​the consequences of one's action gives rise to a sense of responsibility specific to a conscious volitional act.

The decision-making process itself can take many forms.

1. Sometimes the decision is not differentiated in consciousness as a special stage. Volitional action proceeds without a special, consciously singled out special decision in it. This happens in those situations when the impulse that arose in the subject at the moment does not contradict any other internal aspects of mental activity (for example, insufficient activity of the psyche), and the very implementation of the goal corresponding to this impulse does not encounter any external obstacles.

In this case, it is enough for the subject to imagine the goal and realize its necessity in order for the action to follow. (For example, a person wants to have a bite to eat, he rises from a cozy sofa in front of the TV and goes to the refrigerator - no matter how trite, but this is a manifestation of volitional effort.)

2. In some cases, the decision comes, as it were, by itself, since it is a complete resolution of the conflict that caused the struggle of motives, i.e. the decision is made not because the subject considers it optimal, but because in these circumstances no other solution already impossible. (For example, in the event of a fire, a person jumps from the third floor, not because he likes such a decision, but because he has no other chance to save his life.)

3. And, finally, it sometimes happens that to the very end, and even at the very moment of making a decision, each of the opposing motives still retains its strength, not a single possibility has disappeared by itself, and the decision in favor of one motive is not taken because the effective the strength of the rest is exhausted, not because other motives have lost their attraction, but because the necessity or expediency of sacrificing opposing motives is realized. (For example, a sleepless night is behind you, you really want to sleep, but you have to go to the lecture by 8:00, otherwise there will be problems with getting credit.)

Now a few words about the decision plan. It can be schematic or more detailed and conscious - it depends both on the personal volitional qualities of a person and on the situation requiring a decision.

Some people, when executing a decision, try to foresee all possible factors influencing the result, plan each step clearly and in detail, consistently and accurately adhere to the plan. Others are limited to the most general scheme, in which only the main stages and key points of activity are indicated. If we consider the dependence of planning on the situation, then it can be noted that usually a plan of immediate actions is developed in more detail, actions delayed in time are outlined more schematically or even indefinitely.

As for the relationship between action planning and volitional qualities of a person, the patterns here are as follows. The tendency to follow a detailed plan that dominates the will deprives it of flexibility. The plan rigidly determines the will, which, in turn, rigidly determines the behavior of a person. As a result, the lack of flexibility of will leads to a lack of flexibility in behavior, and this does not make it possible to respond promptly and adequately to changing circumstances.

If the volitional sphere of the subject is not only strong, but also has sufficient flexibility, then in order to achieve the final result, he will be able to correct the initial plan of action and introduce into it all those changes that, due to newly discovered circumstances, will be necessary for the optimal achievement of the goal.

At the end of the conversation about the volitional sphere, a few words about violations of the will. There are three types of such violations.

1. Abulia - the lack of motivation for activity, the inability to make decisions and execute them with full awareness of the need for this. Abulia occurs on the basis of brain pathology. For a person suffering from aboulia, the so-called field behavior is characteristic. He performs actions not purposefully, but only accidentally falling into the stimulus field. For example, aimlessly moving around the room, a person "stumbles" with his eyes on some object and takes it - not because he needs this object for some reason, but simply because it came to hand.

2. Apraxia - a complex violation of the purposefulness of actions. It is caused by tissue damage in the frontal lobes of the brain. Apraxia manifests itself in violation of the voluntary regulation of movements and actions that do not obey a given program and make it impossible to carry out an act of will.

3. Hyperbulia is, on the contrary, excessive volitional activity of a sick person. It can be observed during the manic stage of manic-depressive psychosis, is somewhat less pronounced with hyperthymia, and can also sometimes occur with some somatic diseases.

Violations of the will caused by severe mental disorders, which are relatively rare, should not be confused with ordinary weak will, the result of the conditions of upbringing described above. In the latter case, correction of weak will is possible, education of will against the background of a change in the social situation of personality development and with a person's ability to self-reflection, critical thinking.

Summing up what has been said, it should be noted that the will plays a crucial role in overcoming life's difficulties, resolving major and minor problems, and achieving success in life. One of the main differences between a person and representatives of the animal world is, in addition to abstract thinking and intellect, the presence of a volitional sphere, without which any abilities would remain useless and non-actualized.

Lecture No. 13. Consciousness

The fundamental difference between man as a species and other animals is his ability to think abstractly, plan his activities, reflect on his past and evaluate it, make plans for the future, developing and implementing a program for the implementation of these plans. All these listed qualities of a person are connected with the sphere of his consciousness.

Ideas about consciousness were formed on the basis of a variety of approaches, from the point of view of both materialistic and idealistic philosophy. Neither position gave a definitive answer and did not come to a unified definition of what consciousness is. Therefore, in psychology, the topic of consciousness is one of the most difficult. Many major psychologists of both foreign and domestic schools have addressed this topic.

The difficulty in the study of consciousness lies in the fact that it can be studied only on the basis of self-observation, therefore, it is impossible to create objective methods for its study. In addition, all mental phenomena appear before a person only to the extent that they are realized. Many of them may not reach the threshold of awareness. Therefore, self-observation data can be distorted and inaccurate. And, finally, the third factor that makes it difficult to study consciousness is the impossibility of isolating in it separate time intervals, separate units of research, since consciousness, when it works (i.e., a person is not sleeping, is not in a swoon, etc.) , is a continuous flow and represents a parallel flow of many mental processes.

As a result of many years of studying the problem of consciousness, psychologists of various trends have compiled their own ideas about it. But regardless of what positions the researchers adhered to, they invariably connected with the concept of consciousness the presence of a person's reflexive ability, that is, the ability of consciousness to cognize other mental phenomena and itself. It is the presence of such an ability in a person that determines the existence and development of psychology as a science, since without the possibility of reflection the entire layer of mental phenomena would be inaccessible to knowledge and study. Simply put, without reflection, a person, like any other animal, would not even know that he has a psyche.

In domestic psychology, it is customary to define consciousness as the highest form of a generalized reflection of the objective stable properties and patterns of the surrounding world, inherent only to man as a socio-historical subject. It contributes to the formation of an internal model of the external world in a person, which is a necessary condition for the cognitive activity of a person and his activity to transform the surrounding reality.

Consciousness is not given to a person automatically at his birth, it develops in the course of his interaction with other people, in the course of assimilation of social experience.

Thus, it is legitimate to assert that it is born in being, reflects being and creates being.

In addition, it should be noted that individual consciousness can form and develop only in close connection with social consciousness. A person cannot fully exist outside the life of society and outside the system of social relations. Therefore, he takes possession of consciousness as an ideal form of reflection only in the process of being included in real life and activity. Without mastering this form, a person cannot develop as a person. At the same time, the process of internalization (that is, the transition of external activity into internal activity) is not its transition to a pre-existing plane of consciousness. This inner plan is not given to man a priori. The process of internalization creates this plan.

It follows from the foregoing that in the phylo- and ontogenetic process of the development of consciousness, the most important role is played by human activity.

The concept of "activity" in the strict sense is applicable only to a person, in relation to an animal it is conditional and implies "life activity". Human labor activity and consciousness in phylogenesis mutually influence each other. The joint activity of people was the work of creating specific products of production - at first elementary, then more and more complex. This process required a conscious anticipation of the results of activity. Necessary for labor, it was formed in labor. The mutual development of consciousness and activity begins from the moment when a person creates the first tool of labor. It is here that the purposefulness of the action, which is based on the anticipation of the result and is carried out in accordance with the goal, is manifested, which is characteristic of human labor activity. This is the most essential manifestation of man's consciousness, which fundamentally distinguishes his activity from the unconscious, inherently instinctive behavior of animals.

An important difference between a person and an animal lies in his ability not only to create, but also to preserve tools, while an animal can use a tool only in a specific visual-effective situation. Numerous experiments with monkeys testify to this. A monkey can use a long stick to reach an object of interest (say, a banana) or knock it off the stream of the cage. But, having used a stick, the monkey immediately ceases to perceive it as a tool, can throw it away or break it, and another time in a similar situation it will again act by trial and error. A person's mind fixes the need to preserve the tool of labor. Then, in case of its loss, it will create a similar one to it. Then he improves the tool in relation to the goal of the action, exchanges the acquired skills with other people, etc. This description is schematic, but it gives an idea of ​​how, in the course of objective labor activity, a person’s memory, motivational sphere are formed, as well as visual and effective visual-figurative and abstract thinking, i.e., the most important mental processes from the sphere of consciousness, begin to form.

Another important factor in the development of consciousness is the formation and development of language. It was thanks to the language that a fundamental change in the reflective abilities of a person took place. It becomes possible to reflect reality in the human brain not only in the form of images, but also in verbal form. This allows you to plan your actions, because, operating only with images, it is extremely difficult. Thanks to the language, a person gets the opportunity to exchange experience and knowledge with other people. New generations can gain the experience of the previous ones in a concentrated form. A person acquires the opportunity to gain knowledge about such phenomena with which he personally has never met.

Summarizing the above-described interaction of human consciousness, its activities and language, we can distinguish the stages of development of consciousness.

1. The initial stage, when consciousness exists only in the form of a mental image that reveals to the subject the world around him.

2. At the next stage of development, activity also becomes the object of consciousness. A person begins to consciously relate to the actions of other people and to his own actions. This is closely related to the process of language formation, which gives names to objects and actions.

3. Awareness of objective actions leads to the internalization of external actions and operations, their transition to the plane of consciousness in a verbal-logical form. Instead of disparate images, a person forms a holistic internal model of reality in which one can mentally act and plan activities.

In the structure of consciousness, domestic psychologists, following A. V. Petrovsky, consider four main characteristics.

1. Consciousness is a set of knowledge about the surrounding world. In addition, it allows you to make this knowledge shared by all people. The very word "consciousness" implies this: consciousness is a joint, cumulative knowledge, i.e., individual consciousness cannot develop apart from social consciousness and language, which is the basis of abstract thinking - the highest form of consciousness. Thus, the structure of consciousness includes all cognitive processes - sensation, perception, memory, thinking, imagination, with the help of which a person continuously replenishes his knowledge about the world and about himself. Violation of any of the cognitive processes automatically becomes a violation of consciousness as a whole.

2. A clear distinction between subject and object, between "I" and "not I" is fixed in consciousness. Man is the only being who is able to distinguish himself from the rest of the world and oppose himself to it. At the initial stage of its development, human consciousness is directed outward. A person endowed from birth with sense organs on the basis of data delivered by analyzers is aware of the world as something separate from it, and no longer identifies himself with his tribe, with natural phenomena, etc.

In addition, only a person is able to turn his mental activity on himself. This means that the structure of consciousness includes self-consciousness and self-knowledge - the ability to make a conscious assessment of one's behavior, one's individual qualities, one's role and place in social relations. The identification of oneself as a subject and the development of self-consciousness took place in phylogeny and is taking place in the process of ontogenesis of each person.

3. Consciousness ensures the implementation of goal-setting human activity. At the end of the labor process, a real result is achieved, which in an ideal form was already formed in the mind before the labor process was started. A person imagined in advance the ultimate goal and product of his activity, thereby forming motivation. He planned actions in accordance with this idea, subordinated his volitional efforts to it, corrected the activity already at the stage of its implementation, so that the final result would correspond as much as possible to the initial idea of ​​it. Violation in the implementation of goal-setting activities, its coordination and direction is one of the types of violations of consciousness.

4. The structure of consciousness also includes the emotional sphere of a person. It is responsible for the formation of emotional assessments in interpersonal relationships and self-esteem, emotional reactions to the phenomena of the surrounding world, to internal phenomena. If a person's emotional assessments and reactions are adequate, this contributes to the regulation of his mental processes and behavior, and the correction of relationships with other people. In some mental illnesses, a violation of consciousness is expressed by a disorder precisely in the sphere of feelings and relationships.

In addition to the listed characteristics, a number of researchers (V.P. Zinchenko and his followers) distinguish two layers in the structure of consciousness - existential and reflexive. Existential is "consciousness for being", and reflexive is "consciousness for consciousness".

The living layer includes:

1) sensory images;

2) biodynamic characteristics of movements;

3) experience of actions and skills.

By means of existential consciousness complex tasks of human behavior and activity are solved. This is due to the fact that in each specific situation of behavior, for the maximum effectiveness of the behavioral reaction, the sensory image and the necessary motor program that are necessary at the given moment must be actualized. For example, when crossing the road, a person notices a car turning around a corner. He recognizes this object by comparing it with the image in his mind, in accordance with sensory experience, he estimates the speed of the car, the distance to it, and, depending on this assessment, updates the optimal movement program - speeds up the step or stops and skips the car. It would seem such an elementary task. But it is complex and complex, since it contains so many operations of the existential consciousness that make it up, and its solution occurs in an extremely short period of time.

The world of objective and production activity, and the world of representations, imaginations, and cultural symbols and signs are correlated with the existential consciousness. The world of ideas, concepts, worldly and scientific knowledge belongs to the reflexive consciousness.

Reflective consciousness includes meanings and meanings. We can assume that the existential layer of consciousness is the basis of the reflexive, contains its origins, since the meanings and meanings are born in the existential layer.

Meaning is the objective content of social consciousness, assimilated by man. Meanings are expressed in words and may contain abstract images (as opposed to sensory images of the existential consciousness), everyday and scientific concepts, operational and objective meanings, images of objective actions. After all, words and language are not only a means of communication. These are carriers of the abstract (verbal-logical) form of thinking. It is this form that is responsible for the creation of meanings and meanings.

Meaning is a person's subjective interpretation of objective meanings. Meanings are associated with the process of people understanding each other and the process of assimilation of new information. Misunderstanding can be caused by significant differences in the interpretation of meanings, i.e. when the same meaning for different people has different meanings. As an example, one can cite a misunderstanding between representatives of the generation of parents and children, and even more so grandfathers and grandchildren, due to a significant change in the meanings of each new generation - take at least youth jargon or the specific language of the "computer" generation. The greatest identity of meanings exists at the level of scientific concepts, but even here discrepancies are possible not only in different areas of scientific knowledge, but also between representatives of different positions in one science (this can be seen in the example of psychology). The processes of mutual transformation of meanings and meanings (comprehension of meanings and meaning of meanings) are a means of increasing the constructiveness of the dialogue and the level of mutual understanding.

The functions of consciousness include the following.

1. Reflection function.

2. Goal-setting function.

3. Creative function (creativity is the way and means of self-knowledge and development of human consciousness through the perception of their own creations).

4. The function of evaluation and regulation of behavior and activity.

5. The function of building relationships to the world, other people, yourself.

6. Spiritual function - which determines the formation of individuality and the development of spirituality.

7. Reflexive function, which is the main function that characterizes consciousness.

The objects of reflection are the reflection of the world, thinking about the world or worldview, methods of self-regulation, self-consciousness, the processes of reflection themselves.

Speaking about the mechanisms of consciousness, one should not have in mind exclusively the brain activity of a particular individual. The brain is the biological basis of the psyche and consciousness. But consciousness is a product of the interaction of many systems. This is the individual himself, and the social groups in which he is formed as a person, and society in a specific historical situation, and the whole path of the cultural and historical development of mankind. An important property of these systems is the possibility of creating new formations in consciousness that cannot be reduced to one or another component of the original system. Consciousness acts as an important functional organ for the interaction of these systems. The properties of consciousness as a functional organ are:

1) reactivity (ability to respond);

2) sensitivity (the ability to feel and sympathize);

3) dialogism (the ability to perceive one's own kind, as well as self-consciousness as an opportunity to conduct an internal dialogue with oneself);

4) polyphony (multiplicity of mental processes occurring simultaneously);

5) spontaneity of development (the consciousness of each person is unique, its development in ontogenesis cannot be rigidly determined either by individual qualities or by the influence of the social environment - something intervenes that cannot be controlled and classified, and this is precisely what constitutes the riddle of man, over which psychologists and philosophers struggle, theologians and anthropologists).

Lecture No. 14. The Unconscious

The concept of the psyche is much broader than the concept of consciousness. There are a number of phenomena that are not represented at the conscious level. These are those mental phenomena, processes, properties and states that have no less impact on behavior, but are not consciously fixed by a person. They belong to the realm of the unconscious (or unconscious). Thus, the unconscious in the most general terms can be defined as a set of mental phenomena, processes, states caused by such influences, in the influence of which a person does not give himself an account. There are data of analyzers that are perceived. They serve as signals that a person uses to consciously control behavioral responses. But there are also signals that do not fall into the sphere of consciousness. They are the regulators of behavior and the flow of mental processes at the unconscious level.

The unconscious principle is represented to some extent in almost all mental processes, properties and states of a person. There are unconscious sensations: visual, auditory, muscular. They cause unconscious reactions to imperceptible stimuli (for example, a reaction to ultra- and infrasounds).

Perceptual images can also be unconscious. Such images appear, for example, in recognizing something previously seen or heard, when a person cannot remember that he already perceived this object and under what circumstances this happened. Or the well-known 25th frame - its perception occurs at an unconscious level, but is not fixed by consciousness.

Unconscious movements are those that were conscious in the past, but due to frequent repetition have become automatic and therefore unconscious (for example, a person who has worn glasses for a long time and had the habit of correcting them by changing glasses to contact lenses will automatically stretch for a long time to the bridge of the nose until the automatism disappears as unnecessary).

The area of ​​the unconscious also includes mental phenomena that occur in a dream; some incentives for activity in which there is no awareness of the goal; some phenomena caused by a painful condition: delirium, hallucinations.

There is unconscious memory. It presents the genetic memory and some of the long-term. It unconsciously affects the processes of thinking, imagination, attention, motivation, attitude towards people. For example, you unreasonably experience negative emotions in relation to a person with whom you even know little. And the true reason may be hidden in the fact that he somehow reminds you of a previously familiar very unpleasant person, the memory of which was preserved only in an unconscious memory.

Thought can be unconscious. This is especially evident when solving creative problems or during the so-called brainstorming sessions. Unconscious speech is our inner speech, which is not interrupted in the waking state, but is realized by us very rarely.

Summing up, we can say that objects or situations that impede the fulfillment of the goal, make it difficult to choose a strategy of behavior or require a new way of solving, fall into the zone of clear awareness of a person. But, as soon as the decision is made and the difficulty is eliminated, the control of behavior is transferred to the sphere of the unconscious, and consciousness becomes free to resolve the following problem situations. For example, usually the process of walking is not controlled by consciousness. But if a person stumbles on a stone or sees a puddle in front of him, that is, there are signals that attract conscious attention, then the consciousness turns on to control the process of walking, after which it again continues automatically. Thus, at any moment of time, only a very small part of all processes is regulated consciously. However, consciousness can also influence unconscious processes. The unconscious unites all those mechanisms that determine the regulation of behavior that does not require the direct participation of consciousness.

So, from the above descriptions of the manifestations of the phenomenon of the unconscious, it follows that it is in no way possible to identify the psyche with consciousness. The presence in it of a vast sphere of the unconscious is an indisputable fact. But scientists from different fields of human knowledge did not immediately come to an understanding of this.

The philosophy of the unconscious was created by the German philosopher of the 1910th century. E. Hartman. Before him, philosophy was dominated by the point of view of R. Descartes that consciousness is the only form of spiritual life. In XNUMX, Boston hosted the First International Conference on the problems of the unconscious. Already by this time, scientists realized that the unconscious is a factor that must be taken into account when analyzing a wide variety of psychological and psychiatric problems: behavior, clinical cases, the nature of emotions, creativity, relationships between people. But then the unconscious was only indicated by scientists as an explanatory factor for many mental phenomena, but they could not offer approaches to its comprehension, disclosure of its features and patterns of action. The situation changed radically only after the appearance of the works of Z. Freud. It was he who managed to start a new era in the study of the unconscious.

In the modern scientific understanding of the problem of the unconscious, two main areas can be distinguished: the theory of psychoanalysis, the founder of which was Z. Freud, and the theory of the psychological attitude of D. N. Uznadze. These approaches differ in their views on the interaction of the unconscious with consciousness and the psyche in general. Psychoanalytic theory opposes the conscious to the unconscious and considers them as mutually exclusive elements of mental activity. The psychology of attitude, on the contrary, is based on the idea of ​​a holistic psyche, based on the idea of ​​the unity of the human personality. Let's take a closer look at both of these directions in order to get a more complete picture of this problem.

Z. Freud compared the sphere of the unconscious with a large front, in which all mental phenomena are located. A narrow corridor adjoins it. On the threshold between the hallway and the corridor there is a guard on duty, who not only closely examines every spiritual movement, but also decides whether or not to let him into the corridor. Moreover, even if it was skipped, this did not mean that it would certainly become conscious. This will happen only if this mental phenomenon attracts the attention of consciousness located at the far end of the corridor. Thus, according to this metaphor, the front is the abode of the unconscious, the corridor is the receptacle of the subconscious, and only a small cell at the end of the corridor belongs to consciousness, which, being at the back of the unconscious, acts as an observer. Later, Freud somewhat changed the idea of ​​the structure of the psyche. He singled out three levels: "id" ("it"), "ego" ("I") and "super-ego" ("super-I"). The unconscious "id" appears in Freud as that deep layer of the psyche, in the depths of which all mental phenomena originate. The conscious "ego" acts as an intermediary between the "id" and the outside world, the "super-ego" is the personification of the totality of social requirements, moral, ethical, cultural and historical norms. Now, as a figurative scheme, he cited the example of a rider on a horse. The "ego" is trying to subdue the "id" like a rider of a horse stronger than he is. If the rider goes on about the indomitable horse, then the consciousness will actually obey the will of the unconscious, creating only the appearance of its superiority. Equally complex is the relationship between ego and superego. As a result, consciousness can be squeezed in a vise between two adjacent levels.

Freud made a significant contribution to the study of the unconscious in the refraction of a person's personality. The concept of the personal unconscious implies those interests, needs and other personality traits that a person is not aware of, but which are inherent in him and largely determine his behavior, manifested in various involuntary reactions, actions, mental phenomena.

There are three groups of such phenomena.

1. Phenomena associated with perception, imagination, memory. This includes dreams, daydreams, daydreams. Dreams are of the greatest interest among the phenomena of this group. According to Freud, the content of dreams in most cases is due to unsatisfied desires and needs of a person. Dissatisfaction generates tension, and dreaming is a way to eliminate tension by realizing desires in a symbolic, dreamy form. If the desired forms of behavior are unacceptable for a person on a conscious level, then their explicit manifestation even in a dream is not allowed by the learned norms of morality, the so-called censorship. Consciousness and the unconscious are in conflict. And then the unconscious acts "bypassing" censorship, encrypting the content of dreams, confusing it, highlighting the secondary details of the dream, and hiding the main one in the shadows. Psychoanalysis practices a technique for interpreting such dreams, which makes it possible to bring hidden, unconscious motives of a person to the level of awareness. Only in this way can you get rid of the problems caused by these hidden motives.

2. A group of erroneous actions. This includes slips of the tongue, misspellings of words, misunderstandings when listening to them. According to Freud's ideas, motives, thoughts, and experiences hidden from the consciousness of the individual appear in such phenomena. Erroneous actions, like dreams, arise when a person's unconscious intentions collide with a consciously set goal of behavior, if it is in conflict with a hidden motive. When the unconscious wins, then there is a reservation, a typo, an error.

3. Group of involuntary forgetting. This may be the forgetting of names, intentions, promises, events and other phenomena associated with unpleasant human experiences. In this case, one of the protective mechanisms is triggered - the mechanism of displacement of memories, thoughts, experiences that are unacceptable for a person into the sphere of the unconscious.

On the protective mechanisms should dwell a little more. In addition to the already mentioned repression, there are mechanisms of substitution, identification, projection, regression, etc.

There are two types of substitution: object substitution and need substitution. Substitution of the object is expressed in the transfer of negative reactions from the object that provokes them to the object that is not involved in the conflict situation. This occurs when the "desired" object is not available due to its social status or other reasons. Thus, anger intended for the boss is often poured out on family members. The second type is a change in a positive feeling that does not find reinforcement to the opposite while maintaining the object (for example, unrequited passion is replaced by hatred). In both cases, the substitution occurs unconsciously. The protective effects are achieved by discharging the voltage.

Identification is an unconscious identification by the subject of himself with a significant person for him. If this person is a threatening authority (for example, a strict parent to a small child), then the anxiety is overcome by the subject's appropriation of some traits of this significant other.

Projection is a mechanism of the opposite property. Here the subject unconsciously ascribes his own traits that are unacceptable to him on a conscious level to another person or group of people.

Regression - an unconscious transition in the case of severe stressful situations to infantile behaviors corresponding to earlier levels of the subject's development. This dulls the sense of responsibility or guilt, and the subject begins to feel more comfortable (for example, as in childhood, when he did not have to answer for anything).

Next, consider the theory of psychological attitude. It was developed by the Georgian psychologist D.N. Uznadze and his collaborators. The concept of attitude plays an important role in psychology, since the manifestations of attitude permeate almost all spheres of a person's mental life. The concept of attitude is central to Uznadze's theory. It acts as an explanatory principle for many mental phenomena. The attitude is considered as a universal phenomenon in people's lives, which plays a decisive role in it.

Installation is the readiness of an organism or subject to perform a certain action or to respond in a certain aspect. Unlike skill, which refers to the period of the action, the set refers specifically to the period that precedes it. There are many facts of the manifestation of the installation. A person who is afraid to walk on a sports beam has the appropriate motor setup and is likely to lose his balance. Although, if a strip of the same width was drawn on the floor with chalk, he would calmly walk along it. Or if a person is asked to read a series of words, the first five of which will be English, and then mixed with English words there will be words written in Russian letters, but those that do not differ in spelling from Latin (for example, "HAKER", "SPRING", "ROSA"), he will certainly try to read them as English ("kseykep", etc.), despite the obvious abracadabra. This is the mental setting. The examples given refer to the so-called installation errors - a class of phenomena that most clearly illustrate its operation. However, as a rule, attitudes are correct (for certain physical, professional, mental and other actions). In such cases, the person with the attitude is more ready than others to perform the corresponding action, and therefore performs it more efficiently.

Not all attitudes are unconscious. You can consciously prepare for a meeting with something frightening and meet it fully armed. But you can sit in a dark room and, under the influence of unconscious fears and anxieties, "hear" the steps of a stealing robber in the harmless rustles of leaves outside the window.

Unconscious attitudes are of the greatest interest for research in order to understand the mechanism of the impact of unconscious manifestations on human behavior. Therefore, it was their study that served as the starting point for extensive research and experiments within the theory of D. N. Uznadze. Together with his colleagues, he studied in detail the conditions for the emergence of illusions for various types of analyzers - motor, tactile, visual, etc. As a result of the experiments, scientists were able to make sure that the settings in the proposed situations were really unconscious.

D. N. Uznadze attached great importance to these results. Based on them, a conclusion was made about the existence of a special, "pre-conscious" form of the psyche. According to supporters of the theory of set, this is an early stage in the development of any conscious process.

The school of D. N. Uznadze recognizes Freud's merits in developing problems related to the unconscious. However, its representatives criticize his teaching for considering the unconscious only in private aspects. They believe that the unconscious in Freud's understanding is more suitable for considering clinical cases, but does not explain behavior in general. In the theory of installation, the narrowness of the views of the supporters of the psychoanalytic approach is overcome - the unconscious is considered in it as the basis of the external and internal activity of the human psyche.

Uznadze's theory corresponds to the idea that the unconscious, which underlies the course of all mental life and determines the uniqueness of the processes of consciousness, exists and acts in the form of attitudes. After the installation works in influencing the behavioral reaction, it recedes "into the background", and in its place another appears, corresponding to the satisfaction of the next need.

In modern psychology, the concepts of the unconscious, subconscious and supraconscious are distinguished.

The unconscious is the content of the psyche, which under no circumstances can be realized.

The subconscious is those ideas, desires, emotions, memories that, due to some circumstances, have passed from consciousness to the unconscious. But under certain conditions (for example, under the influence of stress or in a post-hypnotic state), they can again move to the conscious level. The sphere of the subconscious also includes mental phenomena that have a subjective component that has not yet become consciousness (the psyche of infants, the sleepy state of an adult, a post-fainting state, etc.).

The supraconscious is also an area of ​​the unconscious. This is the assimilation of social experience, norms and values ​​of a given society or group of people, culture, ideology, stereotypes of behavior, etc. It occurs not only at the level of consciousness. The mentality of a representative of a particular community of people often works at the level of unconscious attitudes. The concept of "mentality" in psychology denotes the content of the social consciousness of a given society, which remains in it "minus" universal human values ​​and norms. Often this "remnant" does not have time to change following the development of society and is an echo of inert traditions, sanctimonious morality. It is the mentality that is the basis of the supraconscious. The concept of the supraconscious is close in meaning to the concept of "super-ego".

Lecture No. 15. Personality (part 1)

The concept of personality has been the subject of consideration of many branches of human science: philosophy, ethics, law, sociology, pedagogy, psychology, psychiatry, etc. But until now, all these sciences have not agreed on a common opinion and have not given a single, generally accepted definition of what is personality.

This concept appeared in philosophy already at the end of the ancient period. Then it was denoted by the word "persona" (from the Latin persona - "mask, mask"). This term arose as an addition to the concept of "individual". The concept of an individual implied the natural, innate data of a person. But after all, one cannot reduce the idea of ​​a person only to his biological properties. Man is a much more complex system. He, at least, is still the subject and object of relations with other people, he learns, he changes depending on the social environment, the situation of development, etc. All this was already clear to the ancient philosophers, therefore all qualities that are not related to natural, they called personal (in the modern sense - personal).

The closest to psychology are the concepts of personality in philosophy and sociology. In modern philosophy, personality is considered primarily in the ethical aspect. It is interpreted by philosophers as a kind of center, which is the unity of the content of the inner world of a person with the totality of his actions aimed at other personalities.

In sociology, a person is considered as a subject of social relations, as a unit that forms the basis of society. This approach is close to social psychology. General psychology, on the other hand, considers the personality much broader, not only as the subject and object of social actions. The combination of various aspects considered by general psychology makes it possible to speak of a person as a subject of the transformation of the world on the basis of his knowledge, experience and attitude towards him. Thus, if you still try to make a single idea, then the concept of personality implies a specific person who is the bearer of consciousness, a social being, the subject of active reflection and transformation of the world and at the same time an object that itself is transformed under the influence of the surrounding world.

Psychology was formed later than philosophy, sociology and other sciences, which formed an opinion about the concept of personality. Therefore, to a certain extent, she accepted the ideas about personality that have developed in these sciences. However, having its own specific approach to the subject, psychology also gives its own definition.

In the broadest sense, psychology represents a person's personality as an integrity, an interpenetrating set of biogenic, psychogenic and sociogenic factors. In the future, psychology further differentiated the significance of these factors in human development, and the concepts of "individual", "personality" proper (and as a particular aspect of personality - the subject of activity), "individuality" were singled out (these concepts will be discussed in more detail in the next lecture) .

Personality has a dynamic functional structure. This structure includes a very large number of elements called personality traits. For the convenience of studying personality, psychologists have identified a number of substructures. This is a conditional division, since in reality all these substructures are interpenetrating and interdependent. However, they can still be considered relatively independent entities. Traditionally, there are four substructures.

The first substructure is closest to the concept of an individual. It includes temperament, age and sex differences, i.e., differences of a predominantly biological nature. This personality substructure is the object of study mainly in psychophysiology (a field of interdisciplinary research at the intersection of psychology and neurophysiology) and differential psychology. The personality traits included in this substructure depend much more on the physiological and even morphological features of the brain than on social influences on a person. Therefore, this substructure can be called biologically conditioned. The biological basis of personality is the nervous system, endocrine system, metabolic processes, anatomical features, processes of maturation and development of the organism.

As far as general psychology is concerned, temperament comes into its field of vision from this substructure first of all. This is a set of human features that characterize the dynamic and emotional aspects of his behavior, communication, and activity. A person’s reactions to the world around him depend on temperament - to other people, life circumstances, a specific situation, etc. Temperament, being an innate property, is the basis for the formation of such an individual trait as character.

Since ancient times, there have been attempts to distinguish types of temperament according to various criteria: the predominance of one or another element, one or another liquid in a person (humoral theory), dependence on the physical structure of the body (Kretschmer's theory). Modern psychology is dominated by an approach based on IP Pavlov's theory of the influence of the nervous system on the dynamic features of human behavior. According to this doctrine, the central nervous system is characterized by three properties: strength, balance and mobility of the processes of excitation and inhibition.

Thus, temperament in the modern sense is such human properties that have the following features:

1) determine the features of the dynamics of the course of individual mental processes;

2) regulate the dynamics of mental activity in general;

3) are determined by the general type of the nervous system;

4) are relatively stable and permanent. Currently, it is customary to distinguish four main types of temperament:

1) strong, balanced, mobile - sanguine;

2) strong, balanced, inactive - phlegmatic;

3) strong, unbalanced - choleric;

4) weak, unbalanced - melancholic.

Sanguine people are energetic, lively, sociable, emotionally labile, easily adapting to a new situation, easily switching from one type of activity to another.

Phlegmatic people are calm, unhurried, persistent in work, diligent in their work. It's hard to get them out of your mind. They have difficulty switching to other activities. At the same time, they react calmly to a change in the situation, adapt easily.

Cholerics are unbalanced, impulsive, prone to sudden mood swings for the slightest reason, they are quick-tempered, aggressive, and have poor control over their emotions. At the same time, they can be very proactive and decisive. As a rule, they are maximalists.

Melancholic people are sensitive, easily vulnerable, prone to a low emotional background, depressed mood, and deep feelings. Often there are timid, suspicious, unsure of themselves. It is difficult to adapt to new circumstances.

This is the characteristic of the four types of temperament. However, this division is very conditional. In its pure form, these types of temperament are rare. Tests that determine the type of temperament usually show the percentage of all four types, which allows you to identify the predominance of any of them. If a person does not have a clearly predominant type (more than 50%), then this means that his nervous system has the ability to adapt to the current situation of development, and his temperament, accordingly, may change depending on the circumstances.

In no case should it be assumed that temperaments are "good" or "bad". Each temperament has a set of certain characteristic features, some of which are more successful, others less so. If a person sets himself the goal of successfully forming as a person, he must know his strengths and weaknesses. He should not fight with his temperament, but strive to develop successful traits and smooth out those qualities of temperament that prevent him from optimally adapting to life, communication, and activity.

So, some pros and cons of the listed temperaments. Sanguine people are characterized by optimism, a tendency to see mostly attractive aspects of life, easy adaptability to changes in external conditions, mobility, sociability, activity, and high efficiency. Their disadvantages include the fact that these people are not very deep in the perception and analysis of human behavior, and in addition, they quickly become boring and lethargic in the absence of external impressions. Sanguine people easily converge with new people, therefore they have an extensive circle of acquaintances, but at the same time, as a rule, they do not differ in constancy in communication and affection.

The main advantages of phlegmatic natures are calmness, slowness, poise, patience, endurance, and a tendency to constant attachments. Their weak sides are conservatism, inertness (sometimes outright laziness), low emotionality.

Cholerics are characterized by such positive traits as great vitality, high emotionality, impetuosity. There are also properties that they need to try to restrain: this is increased excitability, lack of self-control, a tendency to quickly get involved in some business and just as quickly cool off to it.

Melancholics are characterized by a high ability for empathy (sympathy, empathy, a subtle understanding of the emotions of another person, both joyful and sad), a rich inner world and subtle intuition. But their life can be complicated by such qualities as shyness, anxiety, self-doubt, passivity, distrust of people.

The second substructure is a set of features of individual mental processes or mental functions as forms of reflection. Usually it is called the substructure of reflection forms. This is a biosocial system - the social is already present in it, but there are more biological factors. It includes individual manifestations of memory, perception, sensations, thinking, depending both on innate factors and on training, development, and improvement of these qualities.

The third substructure of personality may be briefly called the substructure of experience. It is the life and professional experience of the individual, that is, the general culture of the person and his professional preparedness. This substructure is already a socio-biological system, that is, there is more social in it than biological. It includes skills and abilities, knowledge, habits.

Skills are called automated components of conscious activity. They make it possible to act automatically, but at the same time purposefully and under the control of consciousness. Skills are acquired through prolonged practice. They can be motor, sensory, mental and volitional. According to the degree of assimilation, skills are divided into formed or not, simple and complex, long and short, scattered and complex, standard and flexible. Skills can be both acquired and lost - in the event that they have not been used for a long time. For example, if a guitarist has not picked up a guitar for several years, then his fingers will "forget" how to find the right frets and play chords on their own. This is called skill deautomatization.

Knowledge is a system of concepts acquired by a person in the course of personal experience. They are formed on the basis of conditioned reflexes and represent a system of temporary connections, in the formation of which the analytical and synthetic activity of the cerebral cortex plays a leading role. In the acquisition of knowledge, the active functioning of the processes of thinking and memory plays a leading role. Knowledge is evaluated not only and not so much by quantitative characteristics (volume, erudition), but by qualitative parameters: breadth, depth, sequence of acquisition and strength of assimilation. The knowledge system is also subject to the requirements of flexibility and openness of new information (the ability to incorporate new knowledge into an existing system). It is these two qualities that allow creative thinking to develop, preventing the development of patterns. The strength of the assimilation of knowledge depends on the interest in it, as well as on the volume and quality of teaching knowledge.

Skills - the ability of a person, based on existing skills and knowledge, to carry out professional or other activities efficiently and productively in changing conditions (for example, for a programmer, this is an opportunity to do his work on a new generation of technology, use updated versions of programming languages, etc.). The formation of skills goes through a number of stages, the first of which is the stage of "trial and error", and the final, highest - the stage of a high level of skill in this type of activity with confident, purposeful and creative use of developed and motivated skills.

Habits - actions, the implementation of which, under certain conditions, becomes a necessity for a person, turns into a stable need. Unfortunately, habits can be not only beneficial, but also inappropriate, harmful, and even threatening the health and safety of the person or those around him.

The fourth substructure is a combination of such personality traits as orientation, personality relationships and its moral qualities. This substructure is formed in the process of education. Thus, it can be considered socially conditioned. Most of the leading psychologists single out in this substructure mainly the orientation and consider it the leading component of the structure of the personality as a whole, its system-forming quality. Orientation is understood as a system of stable motives, dominant needs, interests, inclinations, beliefs, self-esteem, ideals, worldview, i.e., properties that determine the behavior of an individual in changing external circumstances.

Orientation affects not only other components of the personality structure (for example, those traits of temperament that a person would like to change), but also a number of other human properties. This includes mental states - the possibility of overcoming negative states with the help of predominant positive motivation. It is also possible to influence cognitive, emotional, volitional mental processes. For example, if a person has a high motivation in relation to the development of thinking processes, then this will affect his cognitive sphere no less than innate abilities.

In the orientation of the individual, the ideology of society as a whole and those communities (families, schools, universities) that a person represents is most fully manifested. Orientation is manifested in various areas of human activity, so we can talk about the specifics of different types of orientation, for example, cognitive and professional (as a rule, people show either humanitarian or technical inclinations to a greater extent), ethical, political and even family (a person "for a family or "for friends"). Orientation has a number of basic characteristics: intensity, level of maturity, effectiveness, breadth, stability.

Differences between people exist on each of the four described substructures. This is a difference in temperament, character, in the course of mental processes, in abilities, skills, beliefs, interests, the level of development of self-consciousness.

It should also be noted that between the substructures of the personality there are direct and inverse relationships. So, for example, purposefulness, the level of spiritual development affect the acquisition of life and professional experience, and vice versa - personal experience affects the development of a person, his value system, motivation. Temperament also influences the formation and preservation of a system of knowledge and skills, which, in turn, create conditions for correcting the properties of temperament in the direction of favoring further replenishment and improving the quality of this system. Thus, personality is a holistic structure, all elements of which are closely interconnected.

Lecture No. 16. Personality (part 2)

Man is a complex alloy of biological, psychological, social and spiritual qualities. In order for the study of a person to be adequate to his nature, psychology separates the concepts of "man", "individual", "personality", "individuality".

"Man" in psychology is a concept denoting the most elementary qualities, it is a creature belonging to the biological species "Homo sapiens" and, therefore, having the ability to develop consciousness, higher mental functions, and articulate speech. But a person cannot develop outside of human society - neither speech, nor a system of concepts, nor abilities will be formed in him. The tale of Mowgli is only a tale. In fact, there are cases when children were found who grew up in the forest, without communicating with people. Such children could not master colloquial speech, their memory and thinking were also not developed, and they were not viable.

In this regard, in psychology, the concepts of "man" and "individual" are distinguished. An individual is also a concept of a person in a biological aspect. But this concept implies the biological basis for the development of personal and individual qualities. After all, consciousness, speech, character, abilities are not transmitted as genetic inheritance. They are formed during the life of a person, during his interaction with other people. However, innately a person receives one or another predisposition, type of nervous system, inclinations of abilities, etc. These biological factors are combined into the concept of "individual". So, an individual is a person in the totality of his innate properties, on the basis of which his further development will take place.

The concept of "personality" was introduced by psychologists to designate the social essence of a person, which is formed as a result of the assimilation by a person of social forms of consciousness and behavior, the socio-historical experience of mankind. An individual becomes a person under the influence of life in society, education, training, communication, interaction with other people. The process of becoming a person is called socialization. It has a number of stages.

1. The initial stage of socialization is called the stage of adaptation. It lasts from birth to adolescence. It is characterized by the fact that the child adapts to the social environment, imitates the elders, but perceives social experience not yet selectively and not critically.

2. The second stage is the stage of individualization. A young person develops his own attitude to social norms of behavior. Social experience is accepted selectively and critically. There is a need to show their own individual traits, abilities, to be different from others. This stage lasts until about 22-25 years. It is during this period that the main personality traits are formed, which are stable throughout life.

3. Next comes the integration stage. It is characterized by the desire of a person to find his place in society, to obtain the desired social status. Integration is the reverse process of individualization. During this period, a person, as a rule, wants to have "everything was like people." Of course, there are exceptions. This is just a general trend.

4. The labor stage of socialization intersects with the stage of integration and covers the entire period of a person's labor activity, when he not only assimilates social experience, but also reproduces it due to his influence on the environment through his own activity. This is the adult stage.

5. The final stage is the post-labor stage of socialization. This is a period of old age, when a person is no longer engaged in active work. At this stage, people reach the peak of the development of wisdom and the accumulation of experience and therefore make a significant contribution to the reproduction of social experience, to the process of passing it on to new generations.

The concept of "individuality" characterizes a person in terms of his differences from other people. Just as there are no identical fingerprints, so there are no two people with identical qualities. Even twins who have the same inclinations and are brought up in the same social environment have different individual traits. Individual traits include character traits, abilities, personality orientation, motivation, etc. This is basically what relates to the fourth substructure of personality discussed in the previous lecture.

From individual characteristics, one should dwell in more detail on abilities and character traits.

Abilities, as well as character, are a certain combination of various personal qualities. But, unlike character, abilities are manifested in any one type of activity (as a rule, creative), and character determines all human behavior and all types of his activity. There are various classifications of abilities. They are usually divided into elementary and complex, as well as general and particular.

Elementary private abilities include, for example, ear for music, motor memory (this ability is developed in dancers, gymnasts, figure skaters), and the ability to empathize. They are called private, because they cannot be equally inherent in different people. They are called elementary, because they determine the success of any one, specific type of activity.

Complex private abilities are the abilities of a professional nature. They also ensure success in any one activity, but are complex. For example, an artist must have a developed sense of color, perspective, fine motor skills, artistic taste. Together, this can be called the ability to artistic creativity.

In contrast, complex general abilities do not imply the likelihood of success in any particular activity, but rather in a whole area or direction (for example, the ability to lead, the ability to play, the ability to create, to aesthetic activities, etc.). ).

Well, the general elementary abilities are the basis of all three types described above. They include features of perception, thinking, intelligence, memory, motor skills.

The physiological basis of abilities are inclinations - congenital morphological and functional features of the brain.

According to another common classification, the following types of abilities are distinguished.

1. Natural abilities (based on the innate qualities of the individual - inclinations).

2. Specific human abilities (based on the development of cultural and historical experience and aimed at the adaptation and development of a person in society). They, in turn, are divided into the following types:

1) theoretical and practical (depending on the type of activity in which they are applied);

2) educational (necessary for the process of mastering knowledge);

3) creative (used in the process of creating objects of material and spiritual culture, discoveries, inventions);

4) communicative (allowing you to actively interact with people around you);

5) object-activity (allowing a person to carry out objective activity in the field of science, technology, mastery of information and interaction with nature).

The highest degree of a person's abilities for a certain activity is called talent. The highest degree of creative manifestations of personality is called genius. A person capable of many activities is called gifted.

Now consider another important component of personality - character. In modern psychology, this concept denotes a stable set of personality traits that determines the behavior and nature of human activity. Character is the basis of personality, its core. Character traits form the mental warehouse of the individual. It can be considered that any trait is inherent in the character of a person if it can be traced in various types of activity.

In the most general form, character can be defined as a system of stable personality traits manifested in a person’s relationship to himself, to people, to the work performed, to objects and phenomena of the world, etc. Based on this definition, character traits can be classified according to the listed signs, i.e. in relation to work (industriousness, initiative, or vice versa, inertia, laziness), in relation to people (goodwill, tact, sensitivity or rudeness, callousness), in relation to oneself (altruism, self-criticism, modesty or selfishness , promiscuity), in relation to things (neatness, pedantry, carelessness), etc.

The typology of characters has many classifications. The volume of the lecture does not allow to cover all of them. Therefore, we will focus on one of the popular typologies. The German psychologist K. Leonhard proposed a typology, which he called personality (or character) accentuations. Accentuation can have a different degree of severity. In the middle degree, this is a norm with certain features. In the highest degree of severity, accentuation borders on personality pathology and is called a borderline state.

Below are the main types of accentuations.

1. Hyperthymic type - primarily characterized by extraordinary sociability, activity, expressiveness of gestures and facial expressions. Such people are usually in high spirits and demand it from others. It is difficult for them to understand that someone prefers to be in solitude. Positive features of hyperthymics are initiative, optimism, constant energy. They are distinguished by a thirst for activity, the search for new solutions to the tasks set, and a creative approach to work. These traits help them in career growth, in creative achievements. Hyperthymics are usually the ringleaders in the company, but their relationships with people are often superficial. In addition, they are not very picky about who to communicate with and who not. Therefore, they often join antisocial groups - only to be in the spotlight, to have someone to talk to, show off their temperament, wit, etc. Sometimes they tend to overestimate their own personal merits. In an unfavorable situation of development, a hyperthymic character can show frivolity, irritability, intolerance to strict discipline and forced solitude.

2. The excitable type is characterized by impulsive actions. The main ones are character traits that are developed in connection with the insufficient degree of self-control and manageability in this individual. This is due to the underdeveloped volitional sphere of personality. People with an excitable type of character tend to follow their emotions, and not listen to the arguments of the mind. At the same time, such people are prone to strong emotions, often even to affects. They are intolerant of others, the slightest contradiction causes strong irritation and anger, which they do not even try to restrain. A similar character develops, as a rule, with severe exposure from an early age to an aggressive environment on a choleric temperament. This is perhaps the only type of character in which it is difficult to find positive traits. Under especially unfavorable circumstances, such people become criminals, Nazis, etc. In milder forms, they are simply domestic tyrants.

3. Emotive type. A distinctive feature of this character is increased emotional sensitivity. The reaction of such people to both sad and joyful events or impressions is very strong. But this is not a reaction of delight or euphoria, as in exalted people, and not a depressive reaction of people with a dysthymic character. These are more subtle emotions - touching, tenderness, sadness. They say about them: "Tears close to the eyes" - they can burst into tears both from the beautiful lyrical scene in the film, and at the sight of a flock of hungry sparrows in winter. The positive features of such people are kindness, the ability to sincere sympathy. They are strongly attached to friends and loved ones and are very upset if their affection is not appreciated. But, as a rule, no one is blamed. They can be very successful in their work if they are interested in it. But leaders usually do not become. In adverse circumstances, under the influence of frequent stresses, they may show a tendency to suicide.

4. Pedantic type. At the level of the borderline state of personality, the pedantic type corresponds to the syndrome of obsession. This is a state when a person is haunted by some obsessive ideas, thoughts, actions (for example, he is afraid of the number 5, because the word "death" consists of five letters). The pedantic type of character is opposite to the demonstrative one in the aspect that these people have a very poorly developed repression mechanism. They do not know how to get rid of unpleasant thoughts and experiences. Experiences dominate them and influence behavioral responses. The positive side of the pedantic nature is that such people are very responsible, disciplined, scrupulous in their work. Their family life develops successfully only if both spouses possess, to one degree or another, traits of a pedantic type. The difficulty for pedants is making a decision, even the smallest one. And this is not at all from indecision, but because pedantic people are always trying to find the best solution, whether it is a serious scientific problem or the question of choosing wallpaper for the living room. The well-known wisdom is alien to them: "The best is the enemy of the good", they will unreasonably drag out the process of enumeration of options to the detriment of efficiency. Saving people of a pedantic nature is a developed sense of humor, this will help them look at themselves from the outside, through the eyes of other people. But if it is completely absent, then pedantry can take painful forms and turn into obsessive-compulsive disorder.

5. Alarm type. This type of character is clearly manifested in childhood. Children with increased anxiety are haunted by all sorts of fears, and their fear can reach a very strong degree, when the child cannot cope with it on his own. If the parents of such a child do not understand this, make fun of him or simply ignore him, this contributes to the consolidation of disturbing traits. If they are sympathetic to his problems, try to give a rational explanation of what the child is afraid of, then over the years, the traits of an anxious character can be smoothed out and in adulthood the person will no longer need outside help to cope with his fears. For example, a child may be terrified of thunder and lightning. During a thunderstorm, parents need to try to distract him with their favorite games, and then calmly explain (in a language that the child can understand) what a thunderstorm is. With favorable development in adulthood, a negative sense of anxiety can be transformed into a sense of responsibility and concern for loved ones. Otherwise, an anxious type of character will finally form. It can manifest itself in different ways: a person can be timid and shy, not able to defend his opinion, panic because of any problems, even far-fetched ones, experience bouts of unmotivated anxiety or fear, development of all kinds of phobias (sociophobia, claustrophobia, agoraphobia, etc.) . P.).

6. Cyclothymic type. It includes people with high emotional mobility. Their mood changes according to the principle of a pendulum - from brightly positive (then they can behave like hyperthymics) to extremely negative (in this case they manifest themselves as owners of a dysthymic type of character). Their spiritual ups and downs are not necessarily due to external factors. Pleasant or unpleasant thoughts, dreams, etc. can cause the next "pendulum swing". However, this phenomenon, like everything else in human psychology, is not fatal. It can be balanced by other personality traits. For example, a sufficiently developed volitional sphere allows you to control emotional outbursts.

7. Demonstrative type. A distinctive feature of people of this type of character is a very highly developed mechanism of displacement. This is protection for people of an artistic warehouse and a fine mental organization. They hide unpleasant thoughts and experiences deep in the subconscious. However, they are able to invent their own reality, wishful thinking, create the illusion of memories and believe that they are true. People with a demonstrative character can be very charming, pleasant in communication, sometimes eccentric. They always act a little, play for the audience. They will not weep if no one sees them and there is no one to comfort them. Often people of this type are talented professional actors. But with an unfavorable development of the personality, they become a burden for loved ones, since they can be very selfish, demand unjustifiably much, not responding with mutual feelings or obligations.

8. Stuck type. The main characteristic of this type of character is the increased stability of emotions and experiences. Usually, after a person's emotion is played out, it no longer returns to him, no matter how strong it may be. You can remember the facts that caused this emotion, your actions, the reaction of people around you, but this is no longer an emotional memory, it is only a recreation of the image of the situation. Most people have a very short emotional memory. In people with the so-called stuck type of character, emotions are stored in long-term memory along with facts. But this is not the main thing. The main thing is that they again and again strive to return to the memory of experiences, whether they are positive or negative. It is enough for them to remember the situation that gave rise to this or that emotion, as they again find themselves in the power of this emotion, regardless of what happens to them in reality. Therefore, they often respond inadequately to external stimuli. Being in the grip of a bright positive emotion, such people can ignore danger signals, being captured by a strong negative emotion - undeservedly offend well-disposed people, suffer from suspicion, etc. In its painful manifestation, a stuck character can be expressed in a paranoid syndrome (megalomania, persecution mania ).

9. Disty type. Disty accentuation of character (with a more pronounced manifestation - subdepressive) is the antipode of hyperthymic. People with this character are characterized by isolation, laconicism, and a tendency to pessimism. Their positive features are non-conflict, tolerance for others, a serious and conscientious attitude to work, discipline, devotion to loved ones. But their problem lies in the constantly lowered emotional background, the tendency to see everything in gloomy colors, to dramatize even the most insignificant problem situations. In an unfavorable situation of development, they can fall into a state of depression, be passive, inert, lose interest in life.

10. Exalted type. People with this type of character react very violently to any events in life. Every emotion they have is on the verge of affect. Their emotions can relate to loved ones, to unfamiliar people, to animals, to plants, to works of art, to religion, etc. The most insignificant reason can cause them a storm of delight or despair. Often they tend to create idols for themselves. In religion, this is a fanatical, thoughtless faith, without understanding the essence, based only on emotions. In love, this is a hurricane of passions that requires no less emotional intensity in response. These are people who live only by feelings and only by strong feelings, not recognizing anything else. They are beautiful in their own way, but it is difficult for people of a different warehouse with them. They give themselves passionately to their favorite work. But it should be creative work that could feed their emotions. Routine is not for them. But not only positive emotions are so strong. They can experience fear, despair, grief so strongly that it threatens with both nervous and somatic diseases.

Author: Dmitrieva N.Yu.

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