What is psychology: concept, subject of study, methods

Greetings, dear readers!

Psychology (from the Greek words “psyche” (soul, character) and “logos” (science) is a science that studies the human psyche , patterns in the behavior of individuals and their groups, as well as the features of their interaction with each other. Psychology studies all mental processes - both conscious and unconscious by a person.The main goal of this science is the accumulation of knowledge that is of practical value for various spheres of life and professional activity.

Psychology is a relatively young science, which appeared in 1879. But the “Doctrine of the Soul,” which served as its prototype, existed in ancient times. For many centuries, human mental processes have been studied at the intersection of biology, medicine, philosophy, pedagogy and other sciences. And only at the end of the 19th century a modern understanding of what psychology was formed, and it became a completely independent science. Its creator is considered to be the German doctor Wilhelm Wundt.

What does psychology study?

The main object of study of this science is human mental processes - feelings, emotions, goals, motivation, imagination, thinking, decision-making, temperament and other features of behavior and perception. Psychology tries to answer the question of what motivates a person in various situations , why he makes certain decisions, what processes occur in his “inner world.”

The tasks of modern psychology include studying and solving problems in various spheres of human life - both personal and professional. Within this science there are a large number of separate applied areas that study individual aspects of human activity. Simple examples include the following areas:

• age-related psychology;
• social Psychology;
• family psychology;
• psychology of sports;
• psychology of religion.

The tasks of each direction are obvious from the name. Thus, developmental psychology studies the characteristics of human behavior at different stages of life. The object of study of social psychology is the interaction of people in society and the characteristics of their behavior dictated by this interaction. Family psychology deals with strengthening the family and resolving intra-family contradictions. There are areas that study human behavior in sports, religion, industrial production, education and other areas.

Psychology - the science of the psyche

Literally translated, psychology is the science of the soul .

– soul,
logos
– concept, doctrine), thus psychology is the science of the psyche and mental phenomena.

What is the psyche? Materialist scientists define it as a special form of reflection of the surrounding world, characteristic of highly organized matter

.[1]

1Reflection is understood as the ability of material objects, in the process of interaction with other objects, to reproduce in their changes some features and traits of the phenomena affecting them. It should be noted here that the psyche arises where there is a rather complexly organized nervous system, which means that mental phenomena are characteristic not only of humans, but also of animals. Moreover, science does not exclude the possibility that, over time, quite complex computer systems may be artificially created in which psychic phenomena may arise.

The peculiarity of psychology that determines its difficulties is the intangibility of mental phenomena,

which makes them inaccessible to direct study. The psyche cannot be seen, heard, tasted or touched. Neither a super-powerful microscope nor the most sensitive methods of chemical analysis will help in studying it. We can study the psyche only indirectly, drawing certain conclusions about mental phenomena only from the external, material signs of their manifestations. This is the complexity of psychology as a science, but this is what makes it fascinating.

Psychology is the science of the psyche and mental phenomena.

Psyche

– a special form of reflection of the surrounding world, characteristic of highly organized matter (humans and animals). For a person who has the highest form of psyche - consciousness, another definition of psyche is given.

The human psyche is a subjective image of the objective world, which arises in the process of interaction of a person with his environment and other people.

Features of psychology as a science

The differences between psychology and other sciences are shown in Fig. 1.1.

Rice. 1.1. Features of psychology as a science

Main directions of psychology

The main directions of psychology are presented in Fig. 1.2.

Rice. 1.2. Main directions of psychology

Freudianism and neo-Freudianism:

the predominant role of the subconscious in a person’s mental life.

Behaviorism:

behavior as the main object of research and refusal to attempt to study the mechanisms of mental activity.

Gestalt psychology:

an attempt to explain the phenomena of mental life based on the concept of a holistic image (gestalt), irreducible to the sum of individual elements of perception.

Humanistic psychology

– perceives a person as an active, free, creative and autonomous subject with a desire for self-realization.

Subject of psychology

The subject of psychology changed during its formation as a separate science. At first, the subject of its study was the soul, then consciousness, then human behavior and his unconscious, etc., depending on the general approaches that psychologists adhered to at certain stages of the development of science.

Currently, there are two views on the subject of psychology.

In the first of them, the subject of study of psychology is mental processes, mental states

and
mental properties of the individual.
According to the second subject of this science are the facts of mental life, psychological laws

and
mechanisms of mental activity.
Let's consider the first approach to the subject of psychology (Fig. 1.3).

Rice. 1.3. Subject of Study of Psychology (first version)

Mental processes

act as primary regulators of behavior; they have a beginning, a course and an end. Usually there are three types of them: cognitive, emotional and volitional. The main types of mental processes are given in table. 1.1.

Table 1.1. Types of mental processes

In addition to the above, there is another classification of mental processes. According to it, mental processes are divided into individual and group, and then into internal and external (Fig. 1.4).

Rice. 1.4. Types of mental processes

can be formed on the basis of mental processes ,

which characterize the state of the psyche as a whole. These include, for example, states of activity or passivity, vigor or depression, efficiency or fatigue, irritability, absent-mindedness, good or bad mood. Mental states influence the course of mental processes. They can be external and internal, individual and group (Fig. 1.5).

Rice. 1.5. Types of mental states

The following examples can indicate the degree of influence of negative mental states:

♦ a group mental state such as panic is the cause of financial crises, defaults and bank failures;

♦ another mental state - conflict - can lead to the breakdown of business negotiations or the destruction of family relationships.

Let us note that both of these states are intermediate in nature, since, on the one hand, they are internal mental experiences, and on the other hand, they have a pronounced external manifestation.

In addition to negative group psychological states, there are also positive ones, for example, the cohesion of the enterprise team or a favorable psychological climate within the organization.

The third group of mental phenomena, distinguished within the framework of the first approach, is mental properties,

which are characterized by greater stability and constancy. They determine the uniqueness of a person and are the basis of his personality. When we call a person brave, hot-tempered, honest or gambling, then with these words we describe precisely the stable personality traits.

Some authors believe that within the framework of this classification one more type of mental phenomena can be additionally distinguished: mental formations

- what becomes the result of the development of the human psyche. The latter are formed in the process of a person acquiring life and professional experience. These include: knowledge, skills, abilities, habits, attitudes, views, beliefs, etc.

According to the second approach, the subject of psychology is the facts of mental life, psychological laws

and
mechanisms of mental activity
(Fig. 1.6).

Rice. 1.6. Subject of Psychology (second version)

To the facts of mental life

we can include the speed of the sensorimotor reaction, some processes of sensation and perception of reality (for example, optical illusions), facts of psychological defense of established beliefs, emotional reactions that arise when receiving new information, etc. The mental fact (optical illusion) is demonstrated in Fig. 1.7: at first glance it seems that the upper segment is larger than the lower one, although they are equal to each other.

An example of mental law

is the Weber-Fechner law concerning relative thresholds of sensations: “the intensity of sensation is proportional to the logarithm of the strength of stimulation.”

Rice. 1.7. An example of an optical illusion

Another example: the law of changes in the rate of development of a motor skill. In Fig. Figure 1.8 shows the exponential nature of the change in the rate of development of a motor skill - the speed of working on the keyboard: at first the result grows very quickly, and then slows down.

Rice. 1.8. Motor Skill Curve

Mechanisms

psychic phenomena are the most difficult to identify and study. To date, they have been little studied, but the progress of psychology is associated precisely with this direction. An example is the occurrence of a feeling of pleasure when the electrical activity of certain centers of the hypothalamus in the diencephalon increases.

Object and tasks of psychology

The main task of psychology as a science is to study the objective laws of the formation, development and manifestation of mental phenomena and processes.

Particular tasks of psychology are:

♦ study of the mechanisms of mental phenomena and processes;

♦ analysis of patterns of development of mental phenomena and processes in the process of ontogenesis, social interaction of people and work activity;

♦ promoting the introduction of knowledge of psychological science into the practice of people’s lives and activities.

As for the object of psychology, we encounter some difficulties in defining it. It is usually believed that the objects of science are the carriers of the phenomena and processes that this science studies. Thus, the object of psychology must be recognized as a person. However, according to the ethical standards of Russian methodology, a person cannot be an object, since he is a subject of knowledge. To get out of this terminological contradiction, we can designate the object of general psychology as the psyche in all the diversity of its manifestations in the process of interaction between the organism and the surrounding world.

History of the emergence and development of psychology

The fact that psychology is an ancient science is evidenced by its name. The term is derived from the Greek words “psyche” (soul, character) and “logos” (science). Also in ancient Greek mythology, the beautiful princess Psyche is described, who was the personification of the human soul. She had a mystical influence on people - Eros (Cupid) himself could not resist her charms and fell in love.

The first scientific works that can be called psychological belong to Plato and Aristotle (5th and 4th centuries BC). Avicenna (X-XI centuries) made a significant contribution to the development of the doctrine. An independent scientific direction was formed in the 18th century thanks to the German scientist Christian Wolf. Psychology became a modern scientific discipline in 1879, when Wilhelm Wundt created his psychological laboratory and began conducting the first research.

In different centuries, people understood differently what psychology is. In the history of the development of this science, there are 4 stages, each of which had its own object of study:

1. Soul
   . In ancient Greco-Roman civilization, it was believed that every living creature has a soul, which completely determines its behavior. This concept made it possible to explain the characteristics of temperament by connection with the cosmos, reincarnation and other mystical phenomena.
2. Consciousness
   . In the 17th century, the French scientist Rene Descartes described the reflexive nature of behavior and introduced the concept of “consciousness.” It was a kind of “life compass” that reacts to external influences and determines a person’s reaction.
3. Behavior
   . This approach was used at the beginning of the 20th century. This was a period when experiments were actively carried out to study people's reactions to certain events.
4. Psyche
   . As knowledge accumulated, the main subject of study gradually became the human psyche and the mechanisms that determine it.

Today psychology is a complex multidisciplinary science, including about 100 fairly independent areas.

PSYCHOANALYSIS AS ONE OF THE DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGY

Psychoanalysis

- this is one of the directions in psychology, founded by the Austrian psychiatrist and psychologist Z. Freud at the end of the 19th - first third of the 20th century.

The formation of Freud's views went through two main stages. At the 1st stage, a dynamic model of the psyche was developed, including an idea of ​​its three spheres: consciousness, preconscious and unconscious. At the 2nd stage (starting from the 1920s), psychoanalysis turns into a doctrine of personality, in which three structures are distinguished: It (Id), I (Ego) and Super-I (Super-Ego). Structure It contains innate unconscious instincts (the instinct of life and death), as well as repressed drives and desires. The structure of the ego is formed under the influence of the external world and is under the bilateral influence of the id and the superego. The structure of the Super-Ego contains a system of ideals, norms and prohibitions, and is formed in individual experience through identification with the Super-Ego of parents and close adults. The struggle between the structures of the Super-I and the Id gives rise to unconscious defense mechanisms of the personality, as well as the sublimation of unconscious drives.

However, very few of Freud's followers agreed with him that sexual desires determine a person's entire life. This direction was further developed in the works of A. Adler, C. Jung, E. Erikson, K. Horney, A. Assogioli, E. Fromm and others. Thus, A. Adler creates his own version of psychoanalysis - individual psychology, in which the central place devoted to the problems of target determination of human behavior, the meaning of life, the conditions for the emergence of an inferiority complex in an individual and means of compensation (overcompensation) for real and imaginary shortcomings.

E. Erikson, using a large amount of empirical material, proved the sociocultural conditioning of the human psyche, as opposed to classical psychoanalysis, where man and society were opposed. The most important concept in E. Erikson’s concept is the concept of “psychosocial identity”: a stable image of the self and corresponding modes of behavior of the individual, which are developed throughout life and are a condition of mental health. But with significant social upheavals (war, disasters, violence, unemployment, etc.), psychosocial identity may be lost. The main role in the formation of this personal formation is played by the I (Ego), which is oriented towards the values ​​and ideals of society, which in the process of educating the individual become the values ​​and ideals of the individual.

K. Jung, one of Z. Freud's students, created his own version of psychoanalysis - analytical psychology. Based on the analysis of dreams, delusions, schizophrenic disorders, as well as on studies of mythology, works of oriental, ancient and medieval philosophers, K. Jung comes to the conclusion about the existence and manifestation of the collective unconscious in human psychology. According to K. Jung, the contents of the collective unconscious are not acquired in the individual life experience of the subject - they already exist at birth in the form of archetypes that are inherited from ancestors.

And according to K. Horney, neuroses develop due to contradictions in people’s relationships, which actualize a person’s feeling of “fundamental anxiety.” Relationships with parents in childhood play a particularly important role in the neurotic development of personality.

Types of psychology

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

1. Academic
   . This is a science whose key task is to understand the human psyche in order to achieve objective knowledge. Academic psychology studies human behavior and creates a theoretical scientific basis designed to explain all psychological phenomena and identify the relationships between them.
2. Applied
   _ This section of psychology is aimed at obtaining practical results. It explores ways to influence a person's mental state in order to improve their life, increase their productivity and level of happiness. Applied psychology is used in their work by psychotherapists, psychiatrists, teachers, trainers and other specialists who help people develop, improve and solve problems.

To better understand how academic and applied psychology differ, let’s look at each section in more detail.

Academic psychology

This is a fundamental science, the research of which is purely scientific in nature and is not initially aimed at obtaining practical results. When studying a certain mental process, the task is to study it and understand it, to find relationships with other processes.

Academic psychology is characterized by:

• explores and explains mental processes, looks for patterns;
• does not look for or study ways to influence these processes;
• creates a theoretical basis for further research within applied psychology.

Despite these features, academic psychology does engage in some applied research if it is of theoretical interest. Thanks to this, ways of influencing mental processes can be discovered, which will later find practical application in other areas.

Applied psychology

Since applied psychology is aimed at obtaining practical results in various areas of human activity, it includes a large number of areas. Its main areas are:

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

Applied psychology refers to areas that focus on helping those in need. Typically these are people who:

• found themselves in a difficult life situation;
• plan to build a business;
• have difficulty communicating;
• are experiencing a crisis in personal or family relationships;
• are concerned about the behavior of their own children;
• experience loss of strength, depression, irritability;
• suffer from phobias and panic attacks;
• trying to get rid of bad habits;
• want to change their profession.

All of the listed problems and life situations are within the competence of applied psychology. In most of these cases, consultation with a psychotherapist is appropriate.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE PSYCHE IN THE PROCESS OF ONTOGENESIS AND PHYLOGENESIS

Phylogenesis

(from the Greek “phyle” - tribe, clan; “genesis” - origin) - the development of the psyche in vertebrates with an increasingly complex cerebral cortex (from fish to humans).

The criterion for the appearance of the rudiments of the psyche in living organisms is the presence of sensitivity, i.e. the ability to respond to vital environmental stimuli (sound, smell, etc.), which are signals of vital stimuli (food, danger) due to their objectively stable connection. The criterion of sensitivity is the ability to form conditioned reflexes. Reflex

– a natural connection of an external or internal stimulus through the nervous system with a particular activity. The psyche arises and develops in animals precisely because otherwise they could not navigate the environment and exist.

The human psyche is a qualitatively higher level than the psyche of animals. Human consciousness and intelligence developed in the process of labor activity, which arises due to the need to carry out joint actions to obtain food during a sharp change in the living conditions of primitive man. The material, spiritual culture of humanity is an objective form of embodiment of the achievements of the mental development of humanity.

In the process of historical development of society, a person changes the ways and techniques of his behavior, transforms natural inclinations and functions into “higher mental functions” - specific and human, socially, historically conditioned forms of memory, thinking, perception (logical memory, abstract-logical thinking), mediated the use of auxiliary means, speech signs created in the process of historical development. The unity of higher mental functions forms human consciousness.

The distinctive features of the human psyche are manifested to an even greater extent in ontogenesis. Ontogenesis

(from the Greek “ontos” - existing; “genesis” - origin) - the development of the individual’s psyche, starting from the prenatal stage until death from old age. Individual development, just like the development of humanity, has its own patterns, its own periods, stages and crises.

A temporary characteristic of individual development is age. In contrast to chronological age, which expresses the duration of an individual’s existence from the moment of his birth, the concept of “psychological age” means a certain qualitatively unique stage of ontogenetic development, determined by the laws of organism formation, living conditions, training and upbringing and having a specific historical origin.

Age-related development has two properties: metric and topological.

Metric property

means the duration of certain psychological processes and states in the psyche that occur throughout a person’s life. Metric properties are measured by time intervals (days, months, years).

Topological property

age development means the certainty of a particular state, phase or period of formation of an individual.

Each period of ontogenetic development is characterized by certain age-related characteristics. Age-related characteristics are specific properties of the individual’s psyche that naturally change during the process of changing age stages. Age-related characteristics form a certain complex of diverse properties, including perceptual, cognitive, motivational, emotional and other characteristics of the individual.

Methods of psychology

All methods used in psychology are divided into two large groups:

1. Empirical
   . This group includes the collection and interpretation of available facts, statistical analysis of large volumes of data, and search for patterns.
2. Experimental
   . These methods are based on artificial modeling of various situations for research purposes. This group includes, for example, social experiments.

In order to collect data suitable for research and analysis, methods such as:

• observation - the study of human emotions and reactions;
• introspection – a meaningful study of one’s own perceptions, emotions, reactions, desires and other mental processes;
• interview - a conversation with a person, allowing you to obtain information from him that is not available for observation;
• experiment – ​​purposeful modeling of a situation that allows one to obtain the necessary information about the psyche of the subject;
• survey - identifying the individual psychological characteristics of the subject using pre-formulated questions;
• testing - assessment of psychological qualities using pre-prepared tests, for which a mechanism for interpreting the reactions and answers of the subject has already been developed;
• biographical research is an analysis of a person’s life path, allowing one to determine the characteristics of his psyche, build a relatively accurate prognosis for his future life and give recommendations for its improvement.

In applied psychology, the listed methods are usually combined in order to conduct the most accurate and comprehensive analysis of the subject’s psyche. For example, almost every person at least once applied for a job and underwent an interview and testing. And psychotherapists combine methods such as interview, observation and biographical research, and also invite the client to conduct self-observation in certain situations.