Stages of development of the subject of psychology. The main directions of development of psychological schools

Decor elements 21.09.2019
Decor elements

The emergence and development of psychology as a science. The main stages of the formation of psychology as a science.

The formation of psychology as a science was closely linked with the development of philosophy and natural sciences. The first ideas about the psyche were formed in primitive society. Even in ancient times, people paid attention to the fact that there are material, material (objects, nature, people) and non-material phenomena (images of people and objects, memories, experiences) - mysterious, but existing independently, regardless of the surrounding world.

The largest philosopher of antiquity Democritus (V-IV centuries BC) asserts that the soul also consists of atoms, with the death of the body, the soul also dies. The soul is a driving principle, it is material. A different idea of ​​the essence of the soul develops Plato (428-348 BC). Plato argues that everything is based on ideas that exist by themselves. Ideas form their own world, the world of matter opposes it. Between them, as a mediator, is the world soul. According to Plato, a person does not so much learn as remember what the soul already knew. The soul is immortal, Plato believed. The first work dedicated to the soul was created Aristotle (384-322 BC). His treatise "On the Soul" is considered the first psychological work.

TO early XVII century, The formation of psychological views during this period is associated with the activities of a number of scientists: Rene Descartes (1595-1650), B. Spinoza (1632-1677), D. Locke (1632-1704) and others.

An important role in this regard was played by evolutionary teaching Charles Darwin (1809-1882). There is a number of fundamental studies devoted to the general laws of the development of sensitivity and specifically to the work of various senses (I. Müller, E. Weber, G. Helmholtz, etc.). Of particular importance for the development of experimental psychology were the works of Weber, devoted to the question of the relationship between the increase in irritation and sensation. These studies were then continued, generalized and subjected to mathematical processing by G. Fechner. Thus, the foundations of experimental psychophysical research were laid. The experiment begins to take root very quickly in the study of central psychological problems. In 1879, the first psychological experimental laboratory was opened in Germany (W. Wund), in Russia (V. Bekhterev).

1879 is the conditional date of the origin of psychology as a science (system).

V. Wolf - the founder of psychology.

First stage. Times of antiquity - the subject of psychology is the soul. During this period, there were two main directions in understanding the nature of the soul: idealistic and materialistic. The founders of the idealistic trend were Socrates and Plato (the soul is an immortal principle). The materialistic direction in understanding the soul was developed by Democritus, Anaxagoras, Anaximenes. Aristotle is considered the ancestor of psychology, who in his work "On the Soul" summarized the knowledge of the soul at that time, understanding this as a way of organizing a living body, he identified three types of soul: a vegetable soul, an animal soul and a rational soul.

The second stage of the 17th - 19th centuries. - consciousness becomes the subject of psychology... Consciousness was understood as the ability of a person to feel, remember, think. In the 17th century, the works of R. Descartes played an important role in changing the subject of psychology. He first identified the psychophysical problem, i.e. the relationship of soul and body. He introduced the concept of consciousness and reflex.

XIX century - Wilhelm Wundt... Wundt is considered the founder of experimental psychology. Wundt and co-workers identified 3 main components of consciousness: sensations, images and feelings.

The third stage 1910-1920 - USA - behaviorism emerges... J. Watson is considered the founder of behaviorism. Behavior becomes the subject of psychology... Classical behaviorism denied the role of consciousness in behavior. It was believed that in the formation of behavioral skills, consciousness does not play any role, and skills are formed by mechanical repeated repetition of the same action. Classical behaviorism does not deny the existence of consciousness.

The fourth stage 1910 - 1920 - Europe. Psychology becomes the subject of psychology... Various psychological trends and schools emerge.

Basic concepts in foreign psychology: behaviorism, depth psychology, gestal psychology, humanistic psychology, cognitive psychology, genetic psychology.

Behaviorism(English behavior - behavior) is one of the directions in foreign psychology, the program of which was announced in 1913 by the American researcher John Watson, who believed that the subject of study should not be consciousness, but behavior. By studying the direct connections between stimuli and reactions (reflexes), behaviorism has drawn the attention of psychologists to the study of skills, learning, experience; opposed associationism, psychoanalysis. Behaviorists used two main directions for studying behavior - conducting experiments in laboratory, artificially created and controlled conditions, and observing subjects in their natural habitat.

Depth Psychology (Freudianism) is a group of directions in modern foreign psychology, focused mainly on unconscious mechanisms psyche.

Gestalt psychology- a direction in foreign psychology, proceeding from the integrity of the human psyche, not reducible to the simplest forms. Gestalt psychology examines the mental activity of the subject, which is based on the perception of the surrounding world in the form of gestalts. Gestalt (German Gestalt - form, image, structure) is a spatially visual form of perceived objects. One of the striking examples of this, according to Keller, is a melody that is recognizable even if it is transposed to other elements. When we hear a melody for the second time, then, thanks to memory, we recognize it. But if the composition of its elements changes, we will still recognize the melody as the same.

Cognitive psychology- a section of psychology that studies cognitive, i.e. cognitive, processes of human consciousness. Research in this area is usually related to issues of memory, attention, feelings, presentation of information, logical thinking, imagination, decision-making ability.

Humanistic psychology- a number of areas in modern psychology, which are focused primarily on the study of human semantic structures. In humanistic psychology, the main subjects of analysis are: the highest values, self-actualization of the individual, creativity, love, freedom, responsibility, autonomy, mental health, interpersonal communication... Humanistic psychology emerged as an independent trend in the early 60s of the XX century, as a protest against the dominance of behaviorism and psychoanalysis in the United States, receiving the name of the third force.

Genetic psychology-. The subject of her research is the development and origin of intelligence, the formation of concepts: time, space, object, etc. Genetic psychology studies children's logic, the peculiarities of the child's thinking, the mechanisms of cognitive activity, the transition of forms of thinking from simple to complex. The founder of genetic psychology, the Swiss psychologist J. Piaget (1896-1980) is one of the most famous scientists, whose work constituted an important stage in the development of psychology.

Domestic psychology. Vygotsky's cultural-historical concept of the development of the psyche. Subject-activity approach of S.L. Rubinstein. Development by A.N. Leontiev of the theory of activity. An integrative approach to human cognition B.G. Ananyeva.

Vygotsky and his concept ... He showed that man has a special type of mental functions that are completely absent in animals .. Vygotsky argued that the highest mental functions of man, or consciousness, are of a social nature. In this case, the higher mental functions mean: voluntary memory, voluntary attention, logical thinking and etc.

The first part of the concept - "Human and nature". Its main content can be formulated in the form of two theses. The first is the thesis that during the transition from animals to humans there has been a fundamental change in the relationship of the subject with the environment. Throughout the existence of the animal world, the environment has acted on the animal, modifying it and forcing it to adapt to itself. With the appearance of man, the opposite process is observed: man acts on nature and modifies it. The second thesis explains the existence of mechanisms for changing nature on the part of man. This mechanism consists in the creation of instruments of labor, in the development of material production.

Second part of the concept- "Man and his own psyche." It also contains two provisions. The mastery of nature did not pass without a trace for man, he learned to master his own psyche, he acquired higher mental functions, expressed in the forms of voluntary activity. Under the higher mental functions of L.S. Vygotsky understood the ability of a person to force himself to remember some material, to pay attention to some object, to organize his mental activity. A person mastered his behavior, like nature, with the help of tools, but special tools - psychological. He called these psychological tools signs.

The third part of the concept- "Genetic aspects". This part of the concept answers the question "Where do the means-signs come from?" Vygotsky proceeded from the fact that labor created man. In the process of joint work, communication took place between its participants with the help of special signs that determine what should be done to each of the participants labor process... Man has learned to control his behavior. Consequently, the ability to command oneself was born in the process of a person's cultural development.

The subject of psychology Rubinstein is the "psyche in action." Psychology studies the psyche through activity. Rubinstein introduces the principle of the unity of consciousness and activity, which meaningfully means the unity of the subjective and the objective. Consciousness is formed in activity and manifests itself in it.

The psyche, personality, consciousness are formed and manifested in activity.

The psyche is cognized in activity, but it is experienced directly.

The psyche exists already in the prenatal period and forms the basis for further activity, and activity is a condition for the development of the psyche.

. Development by A.N. Leontiev of the theory of activity ... According to A.N. Leont'ev, "a person's personality is" produced "- created by social relations, into which the individual enters in his objective activity." Personality first appears in society. A person enters history as an individual endowed with natural properties and abilities, and he becomes a person only as a subject of social relations. Thus, the category of the subject's activity comes to the fore, since “it is the activity of the subject that is the initial unit of psychological analysis of the personality, and not actions, not operations or blocks of these functions; the latter characterize activity, not personality ”.

An integrative approach to human cognition B.G. Ananyeva. Ananiev considers a person in the unity of four sides: 1) as a biological species; 2) in ontogenesis, the process of the life path of a person as an individual; 3) as a person; 4) as part of humanity.

Personality is a “conscious individual” (BG Ananiev), that is, a person capable of conscious organization and self-regulation of their activities based on assimilation social norms morality and legal behavior. B.G. Ananyev suggested anthropological approach to human research , which was realized through systemic and long-term genetic research. In these studies, he shows that individual development is an internally contradictory process. Development, according to Ananiev, is an increasing integration, a synthesis of psychophysiological functions. B.G. In practice, Ananyev began to study man as a holistic phenomenon. He identified in it important interrelated features, which we call macrocharacteristics, such as an individual, a subject of activity, personality and individuality. The scientist studied these macrocharacteristics in a real environment - in the aggregate of interconnectedly acting natural, social and spiritual factors.

4.Modern psychology, its tasks and place in the system of sciences .

In recent years, there has been a rapid development of psychological science, due to the variety of theoretical and practical problems facing it. In our country, interest in psychology is especially indicative - it is finally beginning to be given the attention it deserves, and in almost all branches of modern education and business.

The main task of psychology is to study the laws of mental activity in its development. Tasks: 1) learn to understand the essence of phenomena and their regularity; 2) learn how to manage them; 3) use the knowledge gained in the education system, in management, in production in order to increase the efficiency of various branches of practice; 4) be the theoretical basis for the activities of the psychological service.

Over the past decades, the range and directions of psychological research have expanded significantly, new scientific disciplines have appeared. The conceptual apparatus of psychological science has changed, new hypotheses and concepts have been put forward, psychology is continuously being enriched with new empirical data. So, BF Lomov in his book "Methodological and theoretical problems of psychology", characterizing the current state of science, noted that at present "the need for further (and deeper) development of methodological problems of psychological science and its general theory is sharply increasing."

The field of phenomena studied by psychology is enormous. It covers the processes, states and properties of a person, which have varying degrees of complexity - from the elementary distinction of individual features of an object that affects the senses, to the struggle of personality motives. Some of these phenomena have already been sufficiently well studied, while the description of others is reduced only to a simple fixation of observations.

For many decades, psychology was predominantly a theoretical (ideological) discipline. Currently, its role in public life has changed significantly. It is increasingly becoming an area of ​​special professional practical activities in the education system, in industry, public administration, medicine, culture, sports, etc. The inclusion of psychological science in solving practical problems also significantly changes the conditions for the development of its theory. Tasks, the solution of which requires psychological competence, arise in one form or another in all spheres of society, determined by the increasing role of the so-called human factor. The "human factor" refers to a wide range of socio-psychological, psychological and psychophysiological properties that people possess and which are manifested in one way or another in their specific activities.

The understanding of the possibilities of using psychological data in other sciences largely depends on the place given to psychology in the system of sciences. Currently, the most generally accepted is the nonlinear classification proposed by Academician B.M.Kedrov. It reflects the multifaceted relationship between the sciences, due to their subject proximity. The proposed scheme has the shape of a triangle, the tops of which represent natural, social and philosophical sciences. This situation is due to the real closeness of the subject and method of each of these main groups of sciences with the subject and method of psychology, oriented depending on the task at hand. side of one of the vertices of the triangle.

Psychology as a science


Public Science Philosophy. The science

Methods for obtaining psychological knowledge. Everyday psychological knowledge about yourself and other people. Sources of scientific psychological knowledge. The main differences between everyday and scientific psychological knowledge.

Ways to obtain psychological knowledge ... As the Russian philosopher and psychologist Georgy Ivanovich Chelpanov (1862-1936) once said: “Not from observing only oneself, but from observation of all living beings in general, the psychologist seeks to build the laws of mental life". These observations psychology draws from a number of other sciences. The material that a psychologist needs to build a system of psychology, we can depict in the following form. A psychologist needs three groups of data: 1) Data comparative psychology:. this includes the so-called "psychology of peoples" (ethnography, anthropology), as well as history, works of art, etc .; animal psychology; child psychology. 2) Abnormal phenomena ( mental illness; hypnotic phenomena, sleep, dreams; mental life of the blind, deaf and dumb, etc.). 3) Experimental data.

So, we see that for a modern psychologist, first of all, it is necessary to have data from comparative psychology. This includes the "psychology of peoples", which includes the history and development of religious beliefs, the history of myths, morals, customs, language, the history of arts, crafts, etc. among uncultured peoples. History, describing the past life of peoples, also describes such moments in their life as popular movements, etc., this provides rich material for the so-called psychology of the masses. The study of language development also provides very important material for psychology. Language is the embodiment of human thought. If we trace the development of language, then we can also trace the course of the development of human ideas. Works of art also provide very important material for psychology: for example, to study such a passion as "avarice", we should turn to its depiction in Pushkin, Gogol and Moliere.

The psychology of animals is important because in the mental life of animals the same "abilities" that humans have in an obscure form arise in a simple, elementary form, as a result of which more easy learning; for example, instinct in animals appears in a much clearer form than in man.

The psychology of the child is important because, thanks to it, we can see how the higher abilities develop from the elementary ones. For example, the development of the ability to speak could be traced in a child, starting from the most rudimentary form.

The study of abnormal phenomena, which include mental illness, the so-called hypnotic phenomena, as well as sleep and dreams, is also necessary for the psychologist. What is expressed unclear in a normal person is expressed very clearly in a mentally ill person. For example, the phenomenon of memory loss is also noticed in a normal person, but it appears especially clearly in the mentally ill.

If, further, we take people with various physical defects who do not have, for example, the organ of sight, hearing, etc., then observations of them can provide extremely important material for psychology. A blind person does not have an organ of vision, but he has an idea of ​​space, which, of course, differs from the idea of ​​space in a sighted person. The study of the peculiarities of the blind person's concept of space enables us to determine the nature of the concept of space in general.

Experimental data obtained empirically in the course of observation of individual mental facts give us the opportunity to classify the phenomena of mental reality, to establish a regular connection between them that is verified by experience. The most effective method for obtaining these data is a laboratory experiment.

This is the numerous material on the basis of which the system of psychology is built.

Everyday psychological knowledge about yourself and other people. Everyday psychology is psychological knowledge that is accumulated and used by a person in Everyday life... They are usually specific and are formed in a person in the course of his individual life as a result of observations, introspection and reflection. People differ in terms of psychological vigilance and worldly wisdom. Some are very perceptive, able to easily capture the mood, intentions or character traits of a person by the expression of their eyes, face, gestures, posture, movements, habits. Others do not have such abilities, are less sensitive to understanding the behavior, the internal state of another person. The source of everyday psychology is not only own experience a person, but also people with whom he comes in direct contact.

The content of everyday psychology is embodied in folk rituals, traditions, beliefs, proverbs and sayings, in aphorisms of folk wisdom, in fairy tales and songs. This knowledge is passed from mouth to mouth, recorded, reflecting the centuries-old everyday experience. Many proverbs and sayings have direct or indirect psychological content: "There are devils in a still pool", "Lay softly, but sleep hard", "A frightened crow is afraid of a bush", "Praise, honor and glory and a fool loves", "Seven times measure - cut once ”,“ Repetition is the mother of learning ”. Rich psychological experience has been accumulated in fairy tales.

The main criterion for the truth of the knowledge of everyday psychology is its plausibility and obvious usefulness in everyday life situations. Specific features of this knowledge are concreteness and practicality. They always characterize the behavior, thoughts and feelings of people in specific, albeit typical situations. In knowledge of this type, the inaccuracy of the concepts used is manifested. Everyday terms are usually vague and ambiguous. Our language contains a large number of words denoting mental facts and phenomena. By the way, many of these words are similar to similar terms in scientific psychology, but less precise in their use.

Data processing methods.

Methods quantitative analysis, here we mean a very broad group of methods of mathematical data processing and statistical methods applied to the tasks of psychological research.

· Methods of qualitative analysis: differentiation of factual material by groups, description of typical and exceptional cases.

Interpretive methods.

It must be clearly understood that the actual data themselves mean little. The researcher obtains the results in the process of interpreting the factual data, therefore, a lot depends on this or that interpretation.

· Genetic (phylo - and ontogenetic) method allows interpreting all factual material in terms of development, highlighting phases, stages of development, as well as critical moments of the formation of mental functions. As a result, “vertical” links are established between the levels of development.

· The structural method establishes "horizontal" connections between various elements of the psyche, while applying the usual methods of studying all kinds of structures, in particular, classification and typology.

Advantages:

The wealth of information collected (provides both the analysis of verbal information and actions, movements, deeds)

The natural conditions of activity are preserved

It is permissible to use a variety of those means

no need to obtain prior consent from the subject

Promptness of obtaining information

Relative cheapness of the method

Provides high accuracy of results

Re-examinations are possible under similar conditions

almost complete control over all variables is exercised

limitations:

Subjectivity (results largely depend on experience, scientific views, qualifications, preferences)

2. it is impossible to control the situation, to intervene in the course of events without distorting them

3. Due to the passivity of the observer, they require a significant investment of time

the conditions of the subjects' activity do not correspond to reality

2. the subjects are aware that they are the objects of research.

The structure of the psyche



Emotional-volitional processes
-
Emotional-volitional processes.

feelings - the highest manifestation of the human psyche, reflecting the inner world and the ability to perceive other people; the highest feelings are love, - - friendship, patriotism, etc .;

Emotions - the ability to experience and convey meaningful situations;

Motivation - the process of managing human activities, motivation to action;

Will is an element of consciousness, consisting in the ability to act in accordance with the decision often contrary to the circumstances.

Phylogenesis - historical development, which covers millions of years of evolution (the history of the development of various types of organisms).

Stage I... A.N. Leont'ev in his book "Problems of the development of the psyche" showed that the first stage in the development of the psyche is the stage of the elementary sensory psyche. Thus, for animals with an elementary sensory psyche, instinctive behavior is characteristic. Instinct is such actions of a living creature that do not require training. The animal "seems to know" from birth what to do. As applied to a person, instinct is an action that a person performs as if automatically, without thinking about it (removing his hand from the flame of a fire, waving his hands when falling into the water).

II stage evolution of the psyche - the stage of the perceptual psyche (perceiving). Animals that are at this stage reflect the world around them not in the form of separate elementary sensations, but in the form of images of integral objects and their relationships with each other. This level of development of the psyche requires a new stage of development. nervous system- the central nervous system .. Together with the instincts in the behavior of such animals, the main role is played by the skills mastered in the process of life by each individual creature. Skill - mastering in the process of life experience their individual forms of behavior for each animal, based on conditioned reflexes.

Stage III development of the psyche - the stage of intelligence ( highest level behavior). Features of the "intelligent" behavior of the animal:

- no lengthy trial and error, the right action occurs immediately;

- the whole operation takes place as an integral uninterrupted act;

- the found correct solution will always be used by animals in similar situations;

- the use of other objects by animals to achieve the goal.

Thus, in the psyche of animals, we find many existing prerequisites on the basis of which human consciousness arose under special conditions.

10. The concept of consciousness. The structure of consciousness. Conscious and unconscious as the main form of reflection of the external world .

Consciousness is the highest human a form of generalized reflection of objective stable properties and laws of the surrounding world, the formation of a person's internal model of the external world, as a result of which cognition and transformation of the surrounding reality is achieved.

The function of consciousness consists in the formation of the goals of activity, in the preliminary mental construction of actions and the anticipation of their results, which provides a reasonable regulation of human behavior and activities. A certain attitude towards the environment, towards other people is included in the consciousness of a person.

The following properties of consciousness are distinguished: building relationships, cognition and experience. This immediately implies the inclusion of thinking and emotions in the processes of consciousness. Indeed, the main function of thinking is to identify objective relations between the phenomena of the external world, and the main function of emotion is the formation of a person's subjective attitude to objects, phenomena, people. In the structures of consciousness, these forms and types of relations are synthesized, and they determine both the organization of behavior and the deep processes of self-esteem and self-awareness. Really existing in a single stream of consciousness, an image and a thought can, colored with emotions, become an experience.

Consciousness develops in a person only in social contacts. In phylogeny, human consciousness developed and becomes possible only under conditions of active influence on nature, under conditions of labor activity. Consciousness is possible only under the conditions of the existence of language, speech, arising simultaneously with consciousness in the process of labor.

And the primary act of consciousness is the act of identification with the symbols of culture, organizing human consciousness, making a person human. The isolation of the meaning, the symbol and identification with it are followed by the implementation, the active activity of the child to reproduce samples of human behavior, speech, thinking, consciousness, the active activity of the child to reflect the world around him and the regulation of his behavior.

Division of the psyche into conscious and unconscious is the basic premise of psychoanalysis, it gives it the opportunity to understand and subject to scientific research important pathological processes in mental life ..

Consciousness is, first of all, a body of knowledge about the world. It is no coincidence that it is closely related to cognition. If cognition is consciousness in its active orientation outward, towards an object, then consciousness itself, in turn, is the result of cognition. Here dialectics is revealed: the more we know, the higher our cognitive potential, and vice versa - the more we cognize the world, the richer our consciousness. Next important element consciousness - attention, the ability of consciousness to concentrate on certain types of cognitive and any other activity, to keep them in focus. Further, apparently, one should name memory, the ability of consciousness to accumulate information, store, and, if necessary, reproduce it, as well as use previously acquired knowledge in activity. But we not only know something and remember something. Consciousness is inseparable from the expression of a certain attitude towards objects of knowledge, activity and communication in the form of emotions. The emotional sphere of consciousness includes feelings proper - joy, pleasure, grief, as well as moods and affects or, as they were called in the past, passions - anger, rage, horror, despair, etc. To those named earlier, one should add such an essential component of consciousness, which is will, which is a meaningful aspiration of a person to a specific goal and guides his behavior or action.

1. A person possessing consciousness separates himself from the surrounding world, separates himself, his “I” from external things, and the properties of things from themselves.

2. Able to see himself in a certain system of relationships with other people.

3. Able to see himself as being in a certain place in space and at a certain point in the time axis connecting the present, past and future.

4. Able to establish adequate cause-and-effect relationships between the phenomena of the external world and between them and their own actions.

5. Gives an account of his feelings, thoughts, feelings, intentions and desires.

6. Knows the characteristics of his individuality and personality.

7. Able to plan his actions, foresee their results and assess their consequences, ie. is capable of carrying out deliberate voluntary actions.

All these signs are contrasted with the opposite features of unconscious and unconscious mental processes and impulsive, automatic or reflex actions.

The totality of mental phenomena, states and actions that are not represented in the consciousness of a person, lying outside the sphere of his mind, unaccountable and not amenable, at least to this moment, control, is covered by the concept unconscious ... The unconscious appears as an attitude, instinct, attraction, as sensation, perception, representation and thinking, as intuition, as a hypnotic state or dream, a state of passion or insanity. Unconscious phenomena include both imitation and creative inspiration, accompanied by a sudden “illumination” of a new idea, born as if from some kind of impulse from within, cases of instant problem solving that did not succumb to conscious efforts for a long time, involuntary memories of what seemed to be firmly forgotten, and other

Play is a special kind of activity that does not result in the production of any material or ideal product. The game does not create a socially significant product. The formation of a person as a subject of activity begins in play, and this is its enormous, lasting significance.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Tver State University

Department: Russian history

Abstract on the topic:


"The history of the development of psychological knowledge and the main directions in psychology"

Prepared 4th year student of OZO M.M. Chikunova

Checked:_______________

Tver 2007


Chapter I. The main historical stages of the development of psychological knowledge.

  1. First stage: psychology as a science of the soul.

  2. Second stage: psychology as the science of consciousness.

  3. Third stage: psychology as a science of behavior.

  4. The fourth stage: psychology as a science of facts, laws, mechanisms of the psyche.

  1. Behaviorism.

  2. Psychoanalysis.

  3. Gestalt psychology.

  4. Humanistic psychology.

  5. Transpersonal psychology.

  6. Ontopsychology.

  7. Trends and prospects for the development of psychological science.
Conclusion.

Bibliography.

Introduction
Psychology has a long history: the first scientific concepts emerged in the 7th century. BC e. Therefore, the question arises of the periodization of the history of psychology, the task of which is to dismember this process, highlight the stages, and determine the content of each of them.

In the history of psychology, there are two large periods: the first, when psychological knowledge developed in the depths of philosophy, or rather (6th century BC - mid-19th century); the second - when psychology developed as an independent science (mid-19th century - present).

In the last chapters, the themes of the development of psychological science will be considered in more detail, as well as its main directions, prospects and trends in the development of domestic and foreign psychology.
Chapter I. The main historical stages of the development of psychological knowledge

1.1 The first stage: psychology as a science (Aristotle, Democrat, Plato)
Aristotle in his treatise "On the Soul" singled out psychology as a kind of learning knowledge and for the first time put forward the idea of ​​the inseparability of soul and body.

The soul, according to Aristotle, is a form of a living organic body. The soul makes the body alive. In the soul - the reason - the basis of all manifestations of the living body.

The soul as a form of the body means that it is the essence of the body, the cause and purpose of all its actions. The soul is inextricably linked with the body: is it there ??? body. It is not the soul that acts, but the corresponding body, but the animate body.

The main function of the soul is the realization of the biological coexistence of the organism. Center "psyche?" is in the heart when impressions are received from the senses. They form a source, which, combined with each other as a result of a rational phenomenon, subjugate behavior. Sensory perceptions constitute the beginning of cognition. The storage and reproduction of sensations creates memory. Thinking is characterized by composing general concepts, judgments and inferences. A special form of intellectual activity is ??? mind), brought in from the outside in the form of divine intelligence.

Thus, the soul manifests itself in various capacities for activity: nourishing, feeling, intelligent.

Higher abilities arise from the lower and on their basis. The primary cognitive ability of a person is sensations that leave a trace in the form of representations-images of those objects that previously acted on the sense organs. Aristotle showed that these images are connected in three directions: in similarity, in complexity and contrast. Thus, he indicated the main types of connections - associations of mental phenomena.

Democritus understood the soul as the cause of the movement of the body. The soul is understood as a product of the distribution of atoms in the body. Democritus ascribes movement to the soul in the material sense as spatial movement. The soul, according to Democritus, is mortal and destroyed along with the body. He believed that the soul belongs to everyone, even the dead body. It is characteristic that, distinguishing the soul from the body, Democritus considers it to be a body, albeit a special body.

The beginning and source of knowledge is sensation and perception. They give knowledge about things. Democritus calls sensory cognition a "dark" kind of cognition. For Democritus, such an understanding of the process of cognition is characteristic, in which his sensory level does not break away from thinking, although they certainly differ.

Feeling is considered in the system of atomistic materialism in connection with ethical problems, as the basis for ethics. Democritus distinguished between pleasure and displeasure as indicators of useful and harmful. He considered the goal of life to be “a calm state of mind, which is not the same as pleasure. The achievement of this goal consists in moderation and harmony of life.

The problem of will is solved by Democritus on the basis of the doctrine of necessity and chance. Everything that exists in life is subject to necessity. According to Democritus, nothing happens by chance and there is a reason for everything. Democritus rejects the idealistic doctrine of expediency in nature and the movement of the soul is entirely conditioned from the outside.

According to the ancient Greek idealist philosopher Plato, the soul is something divine, different from the body, and it exists before it unites with that. She is the image and the outflow of the world soul. This principle is invisible, sublime, divine, eternal. Soul and body are in a complex relationship with each other. By its divine origin, the soul is called upon to govern the body, to direct the life of a person. However, sometimes the latter shackles her body in tears ?? Various desires and passions, it takes care of food, is prone to illness, fear, temptation. Mental phenomena are subdivided by Plato into reason, courage and lust (motivation). Reason is in the head, courage in the chest, lust in the abdomen.

The harmonious unity of the rational principle gives the integrity of the mental life of a person. The soul dwells in the body, and after death it enters the divine "world of ideas." And depending on what way of life a person led, after his death a different fate awaits the soul.


    1. Stage Two: Psychology as a Science of Consciousness
(Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Gartley)
In the 17th century, the name of R. Descartes is associated critical stage in the development of psychological knowledge. Descartes came to the conclusion about the difference between the human soul and his body. He spoke about the divisibility of the body and the indivisibility of the spirit. However, the soul is capable of producing movements in it. This gave rise to a problem called psychophysical. Descartes created a theory to explain behavior based on a mechanical model. Movement occurs as a result of the impact of an object on the body, which is mechanically driven to the brain, and from the brain to the muscles.

The explanation of involuntary movements is historically the first attempt at the reflex principle.

Thus, the concept of "soul" began to turn into "mind", and later into consciousness. The phrase “I think - it means I exist” became the basis of the postulate, which asserted: the first thing that a person discovers in himself is his consciousness.

The English philosopher J. Locke considers the soul as a passive, but receptive environment. Under the influence of sensory impressions, she begins to think, i.e. form complex ideas. Locke introduced the concept of "associations" into the language of psychology. At the same time, the study of the relationship between soul and body gives way to attention to mental activity and consciousness. In his opinion, there are two sources of knowledge: the object of the external world and the activity of the mind, which is cognized with the help of reflection.

T. Hobbes opposed the doctrine of Descartes about two substances. Substance and body mean the same thing. Man is a body in a series of many natural bodies. His movements are reality. Consciousness is a parallel arising manifestation of these movements. Sensations are the manifestation of movements in the senses.

Thus, the psyche is a shadow of real material processes - it is an epiphenomenon. Hobbes reduces the whole psyche to images. The beginning of all performances is sensation. Ideas that cannot be expressed in images are empty sounds.

Feelings and will are the second, apart from cognition, component of consciousness.

Hobbes's doctrine of ability implies the absence of innate advantages of people over others ??

From the epiphenomenalism of Hobbes, subjectless psychology begins, in which consciousness is considered as an ???mic interweaving of its contents.

D. Gartley gave the first complete system of associative psychology. In his main work "On man, his structure, his duties and his hopes" (1745) - Gartley develops the doctrine of the psyche as a natural beginning. All spiritual abilities are explained through an appeal to the organic structure of the brain. There are three basic elementary elements of life: sensations (sensations), ideations (ideas of sensations), affections (pleasure, displeasure). From these three elements, mental life is built using the association mechanism, which are passive reflections of nerve connections in the brain. The psyche is not congenital. Inborn only the ability to affect, as well as the ability to receive sensations. Everything that is in the mental life of a person is a product of upbringing.


1.3 Stage Three: Psychology as a Behavioral Science

The separation of psychology into an independent science in the 60s. XIX century. It was accompanied by intensive development of experimental research.

The widespread development of experiment in psychology took place under the influence of natural science. In different countries, the development of these studies took place in a peculiar way. In 1879 ??? in Leipzig opened the world's first experimental psychological laboratory, and in 1885. V.M. Bekhterev organized a similar laboratory in Russia.

In the field of consciousness, Wundt believed there is a special psychic causal, subject to scientific objective research ?? Consciousness was broken down into mental structures, the simplest elements: sensations, images and feelings. This direction was called structuralist.

W. James proposed to study the functions of consciousness and its role in human survival (functionalist approach). Psychology, according to functionalists, is "useful ?? about the functions of consciousness."

In Russia, psychiatrists stood at the origins of experimental psychology: V.M. Bekhterev, S.S. Korsakov, A.A. Tokarsky, P.I. Kovalevsky, I.A. Sikorsky and others. In their laboratories, research was carried out on a wide range of problems, including, in addition to psychological, anatomy and physiology of the nervous system, psychiatry.

N.N. Lange established that self-observation cannot capture the stages of the processes of perception and attention, and will not allow revealing the laws of the processes under study.

A.F. Lazursky developed a method of natural experiment, which consists in observing by special program for the subject in natural conditions... Along with laboratory techniques, it allows you to explore the personality of a person, his character and interests.

A great contribution to the formation of Russian scientific psychology was made by I.M. Sechenov. In his book Reflexes of the Brain (1863), the basic psychological processes receive a physiological interpretation. Their scheme is the same as for reflexes.

An important place in the history of Russian psychology belongs to G.I. Cheknakov (creation of a psychological institute in 1912), V.I. Bekhterev, I.P. Pavlov.

In 1913. J. Watson announced the need for objective experimental methods of study. Psychology, in in this case, is the science of behavior, and all concepts related to consciousness should be excluded from everyday life.

Important merits are: the introduction of objective registration methods and ?? external reactions, processes, the discovery of scientific laws, behavioral reactions.

The main disadvantages of this approach are - ignoring the processes of consciousness, underestimating the ability of a person's mental activity.
1.4 The fourth stage: psychology as a science of facts, laws, mechanisms of the psyche
Contact with practical life led to the development of applied psychology.

The greatest development was received by medical and educational psychology, to a lesser extent - research in the running of trade, ??, public life.

Hermann Ebbinghaus, in his work on capital (1885), was the first to formulate the laws of memory on the basis of a psychological experiment proper. He introduced two methods of studying memory: the memorization method and the saving method.

A prominent researcher of memory was G.E. Mucker. He came to the conclusion that the mind is set on memorization (semantic work on the text ensures its memorization).

The experimental development of thinking was the subject and task of the researchers of the Würburg school, which was headed by O. Küllné.

One of the first works was the work of K. Marbet that the process of judgment proceeds in the form of thoughts.

Another problem of this school was the analysis of the active side of thinking. G. Watt ?? Described thinking as a specific task-solving process.

Applied research has developed greatly in Germany. Emil Kreshlin in the clinic, an association experiment showed differences in the nature of associations in schizophrenia and manic-depressive psychosis. Does he own ?? drawing up personality research schemes.

E. Meymon proclaimed the emergence of experimental pedagogy. Psychology has taken an important place in legal practice.

In France, in addition to pedagogy (A.B ?? used tests to determine the individual abilities of a child), another area of ​​applied research was medicine, especially psychiatry and neurology.

J.M. Charcot singled out hysteria as a disease and explained its symptoms - paralysis, signs - by physiological signs.
Chapter II. The main directions in psychological science.
2.1 Behaviorism
The founder of behaviorism was J. Watson (1878-1958). He declared behavior to be the subject of psychology.

Behavior analysis should be strictly objective and limited to externally observable reactions. Anything that does not lend itself to objective registration is not subject to study. It is impossible to study what is happening inside a person. The task of psychology is to determine the likely stimulus based on the reaction, and to predict a certain reaction according to the stimulus.

Personality, from the point of view of behaviorists, is nothing more than a set of behavioral reactions inherent in this person... By changing the incentives and reinforcement (praise, etc.), you can program it for the desired behavior. Thorndike's law of effect clarifies that the stimulus-response relationship is enhanced if there is reinforcement.
2.2 Psychoanalysis
This direction got its name from the name of the founder Z. Freud (1856-1939). In psychological life, he distinguished three levels: consciousness (sensations, ?? at a particular moment in time), preconsciousness (available memory), unconscious) instincts, emotions, etc.).

According to Freud, the human psyche consists of 3 levels: It, I, Super-I.

It is an unconscious part of the psyche.

I am the level of consciousness.

Over - I ??? bearers of moral standards.

I am influenced by: It is the Super-I - society.

To save oneself from the conflict between I and It, Freud identified the following defense mechanisms: repression of desires (involuntary removal of unpleasant desires and feelings into the unconscious), denial, rationalization (an unconscious attempt to justify one's behavior), opposition, projection, substitution, isolation, regression ( return to early implementation).
2.3 Gestalt psychology
Gestalt psychology originated in Germany, thanks to the efforts of T. Wertgeiner, W. Keper, K. Levin, who put forward a program for the study of the psyche from the point of view of holistic structures (gestals). Supporters of this trend opposed the associative psychology of W. Wundt, who interpreted complex psychological phenomena as built associative images from simple ones.

The concept of generalstalt appeared when sensory formations began to be studied. Then the “primacy” of their structure in relation to the components (sensations) included in these formations was revealed.

Thinking consists in discretion, awareness of the structural requirements caused by the elements of the problem situation, and in actions that meet these requirements. The construction of a complex mental image takes place in the general stalt. This is a special mental act of instant grasping of relationships (structures) in the perceived field.
2.4 Humanistic psychology
The most prominent representatives of this trend are G. Olpport, G.A. Murray, G. Murrari, K. Rogers, A. Maslow. The subject of psycho ?? research is a healthy creative person.

The goal of the personality is not the need for homeostasis, as psychoanalysis suggests, but self-realization. Man is open to the world; endowed with the potential for continuous development and self-realization. Love, creativity, influence ??? meaning - these are the concepts that characterize the basic needs of a person.

Spiritual ?? is a kind of branch of humanistic psychology. Spirituality gives a person access to love, conscience and a sense of duty.
2.5 Transpersonal psychology
The founders of this trend can be considered K.G. Jung, R. Assagioni, A. Maslow.

Transpersonal psychology considers a person as a spiritual cosmic being, inextricably linked with the Universe, space, humanity, which has access to the global informational space field. Thanks to the unconscious, he is connected with the unconscious psyche of other people, as well as with cosmic information, with the world mind.


2.6 Ontopsychology
Ontopsychology is the science of subjectivity. Ontopsychology was born out of awareness, out of the experience of “feeling bad”. Being that is recognized as all-inclusive. Comprehensively studying history - the cultural evolution of a person, ontopsychology discovered the existence at a deep level of a certain people, behind which a person begins to feel a sense of loss.

Ontopsychology deals with the study of being in the human psyche. "Onto" refers to the point at which "I exist." From his "Here - Being" a person can learn any truth, because outside the phenomenological distinguish between and ???

So, ontology perceives a person from the point of view of his “tissue essence”: in joy or in sorrow. Where it is most pronounced, it is a junction with reality.
2.7. Trends and prospects for the development of psychological science
One of the modern trends in the development of Russian psychology is the activity period

A noticeable feature of modern Russian psychology is the tendency to equalize the distortions that took place after 1917. in the form of a violation of continuity in the development of domestic science and its isolation from the world.

Another feature of post-Soviet psychology is its convergence with practice.

In general, the position of psychology is determined as large, which is the result of its construction on the model of natural science.

Modern foreign psychological science is conceptually fragmented. It should be noted tendencies towards the integration of various psychological theories and approaches in the study of specific problems, in the analysis of factual material.

At the moment, there is a practical orientation of psychology and a continuous expansion of the spheres of practical attachment of psychological developments in solving important social problems.

Speaking about the prospects for the development of modern psychological science, it should be noted that at present, psychology has become a popular science. It is of real interest for various types of modern social practice - for a piggy bank, ?? law, medicine, education, military affairs. The activities of counseling psychologists and the psychological service at school have reached a significant scale.

It is necessary to note the work of psychology in parallel with religion on the problems of the human psyche, which has great importance currently.

Psychological science has taken a firm place in all areas of human life.

Conclusion
So, in its development, psychological science has gone through four stages.

At the first stage, the idea of ​​the indivisibility of the soul and the living body was first put forward.

The second stage is proclaimed ?? with the difference between a person's soul and his body. Soul ???, but capable of being perceived by the environment.

At the third stage, psychology was separated into an independent science (60s of the 19th century) and the beginning of the experimental study of the psyche at the stage of studying human behavior was laid.

At the fourth stage, psychology studied forms, patterns, and ??? psyche. The development of psychology as an applied field of knowledge began.

The following directions in psychological science have had a great influence on modern psychology: behaviorism, Gentstalt psychology, psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology, transpersonal psychology, ontopsychology.

Behaviorism, in spite of the shortcomings (underestimation of the ability of a person's mental activity), contributed to the introduction of objective methods of registration and analysis of external reactions, the discovery of patterns of receipt, etc.

Gestalt psychology developed the concept of a psychological image, approved a systematic approach to mental phenomena

Psychoanalysis introduced a number of important topics into psychology: unconscious motivation, defense mechanisms, the influence of childhood mental trauma on behavior in adulthood, etc.

Transpersonal psychology has recognized the importance of the spiritual and cosmic dimensions and opportunities for the evolution of consciousness.

Humanistic psychology has discovered the presence of spiritual change in people seeking self-realization.

So, having gone through several stages in its development, each of which made a significant contribution to development, psychological science continues to develop at the present time. At the moment, psychology is in high demand in several ?? areas of public life by science.


Bibliography

  1. Gippenreiter Yu.B. An introduction to general psychology. - M., 1996.

  2. Gofrua J. What is psychology. In 2 books. - M., 1996.

  3. Zhdan A.N. History of Psychology. From antiquity to modern times. -M., 2002.

  4. R.S. Nemov Psychology: in 3 books. Book 1. - M., 1996.

  5. Petrovsky A.V., Yaroshevsky M.G. History of Psychology. - M., 1994.

  6. Rubinstein S.L. Fundamentals of General Psychology. –SPb., 2000.

  7. Stolyarenko L.D. Fundamentals of Psychology.

Oral-historical project "Temple of St. Seraphim of Sarov in the city of Tver"

“Shmyleva Tatyana Ivanovna headman of the Church of St. Seraphim of Sarov in the city of Tver. The decision to lay a church in the Sominka microdistrict came from several parishioners. One of them, Marina Nikolaevna Penkova, was the main initiator of such a project. Why? Because here Sominka is an area that is dangerous for people in terms of sects. We have both Adventists and Babtists here (there is a church of them here). There was also Moon's church here. There were also other small Protestant organizations that tried to lure some of our citizens.

And therefore, in order for people to be nourished by the Orthodox Church (historically, it turned out that Orthodoxy is still closer to us), and then this idea was born.

And with this proposal Marina Nikolaevna Penkova and I came to the rector of the parish of Saint Blessed Xenia of Petersburg, Priest Sergius Dmitriev. He explained to us how to write a letter of appeal to Vladyka with a request from people who live on Sominka and live here in the microdistrict. And such a letter appeared. We received the master's blessing. Moreover, the parish of Xenia of Petersburg just took under its patronage, one might say, under its control, the laying and construction of the temple. And the temple, it was considered attributed to the parish, thus. parish church.

In October 2003. the rite of the foundation stone of the temple was performed by Vladyka Victor, i.e. Archbishop of Tver and Kashin. And with, however, not a large congestion, a concourse of people, well, in any case, the people of the nearby villages of Kiselevo, the village, which is called in the Tvertsa area (on Volynskaya street), nearby cottages, which were built by oil workers, in general, who were happy to accept, that there is a poor temple.

Why was this particular location chosen? (i.e. this temple is quite far from the city highways, as if on the outskirts).

There were two churches nearby at one time at the Volyn cemetery: the Church of the Annunciation Holy Mother of God, Temple of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. One temple was destroyed in 41. during the war, and another during the Khrushchev thaw, just when there was strong persecution of the Orthodox Church. And here there is a place left here, many famous Orthodox people, philanthropists and merchants, and just very religious people who helped in their time to build churches in the city of Tver, are buried in the cemetery. The daughters of the last priests, destroyed churches, who helped to collect bit by bit and restore history are still alive. The rector of our parish, as I have already said, is Priest Sergiy Dmitriev. Today we have four churches in our parish: the Church of St. Xenia of St. Petersburg in Youth, the house church of the Holy Martyr Feoktist in Youth, the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God of Unfading Color in Chernogubovo, the Church of St. Seraphim of Sarov. But the priest responsible for our church is priest Gennady Podvorny, who mainly serves here and who is ??? people who go to this temple.

But our temple is still individual why, because it is an exact copy of our temple, which existed in the Nectar desert.

(Interviewer: How did people learn about the temple?)

At one time, when several people were just going to build a temple, who had already formed the initial community and who wanted the temple to be here, they pasted advertisements in the Sominka microdistrict at the entrances, dropped advertisements into mailboxes and thus learned about the construction of the temple. There was information about the construction in the media about every event (about the bookmark, about some events that took place here) and in the newspaper "Tverskoy Miryanin".

(Interviewer: How did the Orthodox church community develop?)

First, at the first prayer service to Seraphim of Sarov, who is the service ?? on the street, the icon was put on a tree and there were three of us: Marina Nikolaevna, me and my father. This is the first prayer service with the abbot. Then people began to come to the prayer service and read the akathist on the street near a tree. Then, when the worship cross had already been erected, an akathist was read near the worshiper's cross on the street (int .: that is, gradually?) Yes, gradually. But all the same, probably, but to prayers, as if through the intercession of Seraphim of Sarov, in such a short period of time he announced the temple and a strong community was already formed. This is only with God's help.

(Inter .: How was the parish life of the church organized?)

At first, the parishioners helped to simply protect the territory, because there were many acts of vandalism just in relation to Orthodox burials, which are located here at the local cemetery. Satanists gathered here for their orgies.

Therefore, when the building materials began to be brought in, there was a danger that they could be set on fire, carried away, or ruined. Therefore, people even spent the night in cars. For example, the first community members were guards at the same time and at the same time helped to bring bricks, remove construction waste. Those. in labor, in prayer and labor, it turned out that way.

(Inter .: What further plans does the temple have?)

For three years (we will take three years from October to 2006) the temple was built. He would have taken action earlier if he had not been set on fire. But everything ??? from the Lord. I set it on fire and served a good cause. More people learned that there is such a temple, because it is still the only one in the Tver region. Seraphim of Sarov temple. And after the arson, we decided to enlarge the area - to build the refectory already made of brick and brick it over so that there would be no more such manifestations.

And during the construction of the refectory, the remains of people were found in a large number... The prosecutor's office of the Tver region opened a criminal case. And when they conducted an investigation, it turned out that they belonged to the people who were shot, i.e. the examination was carried out, i.e. our church stands on the bones of the new martyrs, those who suffered in the 30-50s. for the Orthodox faith.

But in general, the temple is standing, services are being improved regularly. And this year it was exactly two years on the Annunciation, as the first liturgy was served in the church.

And now the Pritta house is under construction. Why such a need arose? The area is large, the temple is not very large. Sunday school is needed (somewhere you need to study). And therefore, in our house, the Pitch will have, in addition to the office premises, a room for a Sunday school (for children and for adults).

A museum is also planned recent history Orthodox Church. Just (since we have many new martyrs here, for whom they pray, and they pray for us before the Lord in turn). There will be a museum about the history of the persecution of the Orthodox Church, just after the revolution and until the end of the 60s.

(Inter .: And do you also participate in organizing canon trips?)

Yes, but we are just an attributed church. We do not organize ourselves, we are organized by the parish. Our parish center is located in the home church of the Holy Martyr Theoktist in Youth. And as soon as a canonical trip is organized, our parishioners must take part in it. We also went to Diveevo, but once a year we go by all means, went to Pochaev and to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Moreover, these trips sometimes have the following character: we bring a piece of the relics of some saint so that people who are unable to travel far can venerate the shrine. We have several such icons in our church with particles of relics and also in other churches of the parish.

We always have a very large procession... It is youthful in general, although there are middle-aged people there. It is organized by the Tver Union of Orthodox Laity, the parish of Xenia of St. Petersburg and the youth club "Sower" along the banks of the Darkness, where there were once monasteries, ie. to holy places.

But the plans of our community, our parish are to ennoble the Volyn cemetery, since this cemetery is very ancient. Here were buried patrons, merchants who helped to build churches in the city of Tver or were engaged in ?? charity. I would like to preserve the cemetery as an interesting monument. Moreover, there is the grave of the famous Tver blessed Barbara.

And we dream that the city will help us in this to fence off the very territory of the cemetery, to clear it and do it as before. The daughter of the last priest is still alive. Elizaveta Ivanovna (she was after Moroshkin's father). She recalled that earlier on this cemetery ???, i.e. well maintained and people used to go there. In addition, as they venerated the memory of their deceased Orthodox brothers, they still rested there.

Well, we also want not only the city to participate, but we also have a training center of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Tver region on Sominka, i.e. cadets from all over the Tver region study there. Many of them are Orthodox, many are not just Orthodox, but also real believers. They helped us in excavations, helped in construction and in cleaning up the territory.

And now we want to involve them in ennobling the territory of the cemetery, since this is also a patriotic upbringing. In fact, we have already established close ties. Once a month, a priest comes to them for an appointment, i.e. The next graduation takes place and the priest always says a parting word: how to serve now in our time in our government bodies. And on the territory of the training center (we have concluded an agreement with them) a small temple of the Monk Ilya of Muromets will be built, who is known as the defender of Russia from foreign raids.

And we will pray to him too. Since there are a lot of sects on Sominka and there are points where drugs are sold, the dysfunctional status of young people, therefore, of course, this is necessary.

These are our plans. "


Interviewer: Marina Mikhailovna Chikunova.

Respondent: Shmilyova Tatiana Ivanovna.

Place and time of the interview:

Temple of St. Seraphim of Sarov at the Volyn cemetery, 04/29/07. 14.00-14.50h

As a science, psychology deals with the study of facts, mechanisms and their patterns in everyday mental life. The history of psychology allows us to describe and explain how these facts and laws became available to the human mind. The main tasks of the history of psychology can be distinguished:
  • The need to study the laws of the development of knowledge about all aspects of the psyche;
  • The need to disclose the relationship between the science of psychology and other sciences that affect its development and achievements;
  • The need to obtain knowledge about the origin and development of science;
  • Study of the role of personality and the individual path of its development.
The development of the history of psychology has a multi-stage process, which is aimed at obtaining and developing ideas about the latest methods of psychological research and ideas about objects. The main stages in the development of the history of psychology are:
  • Stage I (before the scientific stage - VII-VI centuries BC) - this stage is characterized by the study of psychology as a science of the soul. It was based on numerous legends, myths, fairy tales and initial beliefs in religion, which certainly connect the soul with specific living beings. At that moment, the presence of a soul in every living being helped to clarify all the incomprehensible phenomena that were taking place;
  • Stage II (scientific period - VII-VI centuries BC) - this stage is characterized by the study of psychology as a science of consciousness. This need arises with the development of natural sciences. Since this stage was considered and studied at the level of philosophy, it was called the philosophical period. Consciousness at this stage was called the ability to feel, think and desire. The most important method of studying the history of the development of psychology has become self-observation and description of the facts obtained by a person;
  • Stage III (experimental stage - XX century) - this stage is characterized by the study of psychology as a science of behavior. The main task of psychology at this stage is the formation of experiments and observation of everything that can be directly studied. These could be actions or reactions of a person, his behavior, etc. Thus, at this stage, the history of psychology can be considered as the formation of an independent science, as well as the formation and development of experimental psychology;
  • Stage IV - this stage characterizes the formation of psychology as a science that studies the objective laws of the psyche, their manifestations and mechanisms.

The subject of the history of psychology and its main tasks.

The subject of the history of psychology is the study of the formation of a concrete idea of ​​the psyche at various stages of the development of scientific knowledge. Since the history of psychology stands out as a special independent field of knowledge, it has its own subject. As a direct component of culture, the history of psychology arises and develops at all times in different countries of the world. The history of psychology describes and explains the facts and laws that were revealed to the human mind. Thus, the subject of the history of psychology is direct activity people involved in the knowledge and development of the mental world. This activity is carried out in the system of the following coordinates: social, cognitive and personal. So, scientific activity has a three-dimensional integral system:

  • Consideration and study of the soul - in this case, the soul acts as an explanatory principle about everything that happens to living beings;
  • Consideration and study of consciousness - consciousness has two functions. First, it is an object of study. Second, it acts as an explanatory principle;
  • Examination and Study of Behavior is seen as the latest new subject. Its appearance resulted in the disappearance of the object of study, ie. psyche and consciousness. The modern stage of development is characterized by a close relationship between behavior and consciousness, as well as the activity itself.
The subject of the history of psychology has the following objectives:
  • Analysis of the emergence and development of scientific knowledge about the psyche from the point of view of the scientific approach to the study of ideas about the psyche of living beings at all stages of evolution;
  • Analysis of interdisciplinary connections with sciences, on which all kinds of achievements of psychology depend;
  • The emergence of knowledge from cultural, social and ideological influences;
  • Study, analysis and development of the role of personality in the formation of science.

Basic methods of the history of psychology.

The methods of the history of psychology are definitely different from the methods of the science of psychology. It is impossible to apply any method of psychic science here. The own methods of the history of psychology can be borrowed from such related disciplines as history, science of science, sociology, etc., since they are included in the context of the science of psychology, a specific historical situation and culture.

Considering the sources of the history of psychology (archival materials, works of scientists, analysis of historical and sociological materials and fiction), several groups of methods of the history of psychology were distinguished:

  • Organizational methods, i.e. methods of planning historical and psychological research:
    • Comparative-comparative method;
    • Structural analytical method:
    • Genetic method
  • Methods based on the collection and interpretation of facts of logical material:
    • Analysis of activity products;
    • Categorical and conceptual analysis;
  • Methods of historical analysis of works and materials:
    • Historical reconstruction methods;
    • Problemological analysis;
  • Topical knowledge-based methods:
    • Thematic analysis;
    • Librarian analysis method;
  • Source analysis method;
  • Interview method;
  • Biographical method.
All of the above methods of the history of psychology were used in various teachings: materialistic teachings in ancient psychology, the idealistic teachings of Plato and Socrates, the teachings of Aristotle about the soul, the teachings of ancient doctors, etc.

Topic 3

HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT

Stages of development of psychology

The main directions of foreign psychology

The contribution of Russian psychologists to the development of psychological science

Stages of development of psychology

From the standpoint of the methodology of science, the history of psychology can be described as a sequence of stages in the formation of ideas about its subject, method and principles within the framework of scientific paradigms (Table 1).

1st stage. For many centuries, psychology remained a field of descriptive knowledge, before becoming a science that studies the processes of active reflection by a person of objective reality in the form of sensations, perceptions, thinking, feelings and other processes and phenomena of the psyche.

In ancient times, it was believed that the soul is present in nature wherever there is movement and warmth. The first philosophical doctrine based on the belief in the universal spirituality of the world was called "animism"
(from Lat. anima - soul, spirit). It was based on the belief that everything that exists in the world has elements of the soul. Further
the animalistic concept of the soul gave way to hylozoism
(from gr. hyle - substance, matter and zoe - life). The Ionian natural philosophers - Thales, Anaximenes and Heraclitus - interpret the soul as the form of the element that revives people and animals that forms the origin of the world (water, air, fire). The boundaries between the living, the inanimate and the psychic were not drawn. All this was considered as a product of a single primary matter (pra-matter).

Later, there were two opposite points of view on the psyche: the materialistic Democritus (460 - 370 BC) and the idealistic Plato (427 - 347 BC). According to Democritus, the soul is a material substance, which consists of atoms of fire, spherical, light and mobile. Democritus tried to explain all mental phenomena by physical and even mechanical reasons.

Table 1

Stages of development of psychology as a science

Stage Definition of the subject of psychology Stage characteristics
1st Psychology as a Science of the Soul This definition of psychology was given over two thousand years ago. The presence of a soul tried to explain all the incomprehensible phenomena in a person's life
2nd Psychology as a Science of Consciousness Arises in the 17th century. in connection with the development of natural sciences. The ability to think, feel, desire was called consciousness. The main method of study was considered a person's observation of himself and the description of facts.
3rd Psychology as a science of behavior Arises in the XX century. The task of psychology is to observe what can be directly seen (behavior, actions, reactions of a person). Motives causing actions were not taken into account
4th Psychology as a science that studies the facts, laws and mechanisms of the psyche Psychology as a science was formed on the basis of a materialistic view of the world. The basis of modern Russian psychology is the logical comprehension of the theory of reflection

According to the thinker, human sensations arise because the atoms of the soul are set in motion by the atoms of the air or by the atoms directly "flowing" from objects. With the death of the body, as the philosopher believed, the soul also dies. From the above it follows that the materialism of Democritus was of a naive mechanistic nature.

The works of Plato set out a view of the soul as an independent substance. The soul, in his opinion, has nothing to do with matter and, unlike the latter, is ideal. The soul is an invisible, sublime, divine, eternal principle. The body is a visible, transitory, perishable principle. Soul and body are in a complex relationship. By its divine origin, the soul is called upon to rule the body. The doctrine of Plato about the fate of the soul after the death of the body is clothed by the philosopher in the form of a myth and pursues ethical, state-pedagogical goals. Leaving the body after the death of a person, the soul, depending on what kind of life the person led, strives either to the ideal world, or is doomed to eternal wanderings near the earth. People must believe that after death the soul is responsible for all the actions of the body. This faith will make everyone fear retribution in the future life, so as not to fall into denial of all morality and duty. The idea of ​​the immortality of the soul hides another meaning: spiritual experience does not die with the death of a person, it is eternal. Plato is the ancestor of dualism in psychology, which interprets the material and spiritual, body and psyche as two independent and antagonistic principles. Plato spoke of sensation, memory and thinking. Moreover, he was the first scientist to define memory as an independent mental process. He discovered the role of inner speech and the activity of thinking in the process of cognition.

The idea of ​​Socrates (c. 470 - 399 BC), one of the most remarkable thinkers of Ancient Greece, was to help the interlocutor find the true answer with the help of specially selected questions and thereby bring him from vague ideas to a logically clear knowledge of the subjects under discussion. The philosopher considered a wide range of "everyday concepts": about justice and injustice, goodness and beauty, courage, etc. Socrates' motto "Know thyself" implied the analysis of actions, moral assessments and norms of human behavior in various everyday situations. All this led to a new understanding of the essence of the soul, to a new attitude of man towards himself as the bearer of intellectual and moral qualities.

The first attempt to systematize knowledge about the psyche was made by the encyclopedic philosopher Aristotle (384 - 322 BC), who is rightfully considered the founder of not only psychology, but also a number of other sciences. The merit of Aristotle was that he was the first to postulate the functional relationship of the soul (psyche) and body (organism). The essence of the soul, according to Aristotle, is the realization of the biological existence of an organism. Aristotle's teachings laid the foundations for a new psychological worldview - the soul ceased to be interpreted as a mythological twin of the body and was first understood as an organizing mechanism for the life of living organisms. Aristotle is credited with developing such problems of psychology as sensations, representations, mental activity, mental image, basic associations (connections) in terms of similarity, contiguity and contrast. Aristotle was one of the first for many centuries to define the content side of psychological knowledge: rational, sensual, volitional.

A significant contribution to the development of ideas about the natural scientific basis of psychology was made by ancient Greek, ancient Roman and ancient Eastern doctors.

The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (460 - 370 BC) - the founder of scientific medicine, who enriched medical psychology with medical ethics, and psychology with the doctrine of temperaments. In Sh c. BC. The Alexandrian doctors Herophilus and Erazistratus separated the nerves from the tendons and ligaments and established their relationship with the work of the brain. The Roman physician Galen (II century BC) expanded the concept of the physiological basis of the psyche, approached the concept of consciousness, and divided movements into voluntary and involuntary.

Ancient scholars posed problems that have guided the development of the human sciences for centuries. It was they who first tried to answer the questions of how the physical and the spiritual, the rational and the irrational, and many others relate in a person. dr.

The neo-Platonic doctrine of Plotinus (III century), later developed by Augustine the Blessed (IV-V century), was the bridge connecting ancient philosophy and the philosophy of the Middle Ages. In the doctrine of the latter, the concept of the soul acquires a religious content and is understood by him as a divine, eternal and independent of matter essence.

In the Middle Ages, Arabic-speaking science achieved significant success, assimilating the culture of the Hellenes, peoples Central Asia, India and China. The largest representatives are Avicenna (Ibn Sina, 980 - 1037) and Averroes (Ibn Rushd, 1126 - 1098). In the works of these scientists, the idea is carried out about the conditioning of mental qualities by natural causes, about the dependence of the psyche on the conditions of life and upbringing. From now on, the soul becomes the object of medical research.

With the strengthening of the role of religion (Catholic Christianity) in the public life of the European continent, the understanding of consciousness, the human psyche begins to acquire an increasingly idealistic, religious-theological coloration. In the Middle Ages, the church-theological concept of the soul becomes defining, including under the influence of the Inquisition.

In the Renaissance, the transition from feudal to bourgeois culture largely solved the problem of liberating science and art from the dogmas and restrictions of the church. Natural, biological and medical sciences began to develop actively, various types of arts were revived and transformed. The Renaissance era introduced a new understanding of the world, in which a research approach to the phenomena of reality was cultivated. A society of natural scientists was created, interest in the psychology of creativity and the human personality increased. Experimentation has become a priority in science.

2nd stage. In the XVII century. the methodological prerequisites for the scientific understanding of the psyche and consciousness were laid. The soul begins to be interpreted as consciousness, the activity of which is directly related to the work of the brain. The principles of scientific knowledge are formed, which are transferred to the study of man. From now on, nature is considered as a grandiose mechanism acting on physical laws, and man is like a special mechanism in which there is no longer any place for a mystical soul. The outstanding thinker of modern times Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626) substantiated the idea of ​​the decisive role of experiment in scientific knowledge, accumulation of experimental knowledge, their analysis and generalization.

The formation of psychological views during this period is associated with the activities of a number of scientists. The eminent French scientist, mathematician, philosopher and physiologist René Descartes (1596-1650) laid the foundations for the deterministic concept of behavior and the introspective concept of consciousness. According to the scientist, the reason for a person's behavioral activity lies outside him and is determined external factors, and consciousness does not take part in the regulation of behavior. In his teaching, R. Descartes contrasts the soul and the body, arguing that there are two substances independent of each other - matter and spirit. In the history of psychology, this doctrine is called dualism (from Latin dualis - dual). Introducing the concept of reflex (reflection) into science, R. Descartes was the first to explain mental manifestations as materially conditioned reflective-regulatory reflex processes. On the basis of his views in psychology, its most important concepts arose - reflex and associations. Descartes introduced to science and the concept consciousness(as direct knowledge of the soul about itself), and also outlined the path of cognition of consciousness. Consciousness is that, according to the scientist, as it appears in self-observation.

An attempt to overcome the dualism and mechanical ideas of R. Descartes about the psyche was undertaken by the Dutch materialist philosopher Benedict Spinoza (1632 - 1716), who defended the idea of ​​the unity of the world, believing that consciousness is the same reality as the material world. B. Spinoza argued that "the order and connection of ideas are the same as the order and connection of things" and that all spiritual phenomena are generated by the action of material causes and laws. He convincingly substantiated one of the leading principles of scientific psychology - the principle of determinism.

The outstanding German thinker Gottfried Leibniz (1646 - 1716) introduced the concept of the unconscious psyche, believing that in the consciousness of the subject, the work of psychic forces hidden from him continuously goes on in the form of a special dynamics of unconscious perceptions.

In the XVII - XIX centuries. the so-called empirical psychology has become widespread. One of the founders of empiricism is the English philosopher John Locke (1632–1704), who professed the experimental origin of the entire structure of human consciousness. In the very experiment, D. Locke identified two sources: the activity of the external sense organs (external experience) and the internal activity of the mind, which perceives own work(inner experience). Consciousness, according to Locke, is a person's perception of what is happening in his mind. This postulate of Locke became the initial basis for the two centuries of dominance in psychology of the paradigm of introspectionism.

D. Locke is credited with introducing the concept of "association" into science, which was understood as a combination, a connection of ideas. After D. Locke, a universal explanatory principle of the human psyche was established in psychology - association principle(connections) ideas, images. The concept of association has become the simplest and most universal explanatory mechanism for the formation and acquisition of experience by a person.

In the XVIII century. the associative theory appeared, the emergence and development of which is associated with the name of David Gartley (1705 - 1757). The patterns of the formation of associations that he established - the adjacency of the impact and the frequency of their repetition - became, in essence, the first patterns of psychology. D. Gartley enriched psychology with many foundations, and his scientific ideas had a decisive influence on the subsequent development of psychology.

The German scientist Christian Wolf (1705 - 1757) published the first major scientific and psychological works "Empirical Psychology" (1732) and "Rational Psychology" (1734) and introduced the term "psychology" into scientific circulation.

Major achievements in psychology in the 18th century. are inextricably linked with achievements in natural science, cardinal changes in the worldview, philosophical understanding of life. The concept of historicism arises: people's life is correlated with the development of society as natural historical process... The first shoots of understanding of the cultural and historical conditioning of the individual psyche appear. From now on, the human psyche begins to be considered in relation not only to the human body and brain, not only to the environment, but also to the cultural and historical development of society.

Late 18th - early 19th century characterized by major changes in the study of the nervous system, physiology of the brain, sensory organs.

The studies of the Czech physiologist Jiří Prochazka (1749–1820) were of fundamental importance in this area. He was the first to give the classical definition of the reflex and showed that the reflex occurs only to those stimuli that have adaptive significance for the organism. J. Prochazki established that all parts of the nervous system (both lower and higher) function according to the reflex principle, and all forms of mental activity are aimed at adapting the body to environmental conditions, obeying the general law of “preserving a living body”. The psyche is understood by him as the ability to differentiate external influences, evaluate them in accordance with the needs of the body and, on the basis of this, carry out selective, adaptive actions. On the basis of research and conceptual generalizations made by J. Prochazka, neurophysiologists turned to the study of the "reflex arc".

Gaining immense popularity phrenology(from the gr. "fren" - soul, mind), the author of which is the Austrian anatomist Frans Gall (1758-1829). He proposed a map of the brain, according to which different abilities are located in specific areas. Phrenology prompted scientists to experimentally study the placement, localization of mental functions in the brain. F. Gall believed that the convolutions in the cerebral cortex are the place of localization of "mental forces".

The theory of evolution by Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882), which appeared in the middle of the 19th century, anatomically brought humans and animals closer together and explained the commonality of their bodily structure. In his works ("The Origin of Man", 1870; "Expression of Emotions in Animals and Man", 1872) Charles Darwin analyzes the human psyche, compares it with the psyche of animals and gives convincing arguments to prove that emotions are not only in humans, but also in animals. Within the framework of Darwinism, one of the main categories of psychology arose - the category behavior... In his work "The Origin of Species" (1859), the scientist showed the role of adaptive mechanisms and intraspecific struggle in biological development... Under the influence of Darwinism, new branches of psychology arise: zoopsychology, genetic, comparative.

Naturalists of the first half of the 19th century. provided the discovery of a number of psychophysiological laws and contributed to the study of mental phenomena by natural scientific methods, contributed to the formation of psychology as a scientific and experimental branch of knowledge.

The founder of experimental psychology was the German philosopher, psychologist and physiologist Wilhelm Wundt (1832 –1920), who created the first experimental psychological laboratory in Europe in Leipzig, which soon became the International Center for Psychological Research. Thanks to the research of W. Wundt, by the end of the 19th century, experimental psychology was developed in many countries of the world. Subsequently, several more laboratories were opened in Germany.
(in Göttingen, Bonn, Berlin, Breslau and Munich).

It should be noted that all major achievements in the development of psychology were inextricably linked with achievements in natural science, cardinal shifts in the worldview, a new philosophical understanding of life.

3rd stage. An important role in identifying psychology as an independent branch of knowledge was played by the development of the method of conditioned reflexes in physiology and the practice of treating mental illness, as well as experimental studies of the psyche.

At the beginning of the XX century. the founder of behaviorism D. Watson proposed a program for building a new psychology. Behaviorism recognized as the only object psychological study behavior, behavioral reactions. Consciousness as an unobservable phenomenon was excluded from the sphere of behaviorist psychology.

4th stage. It is characterized by a variety of approaches to the essence of the psyche, the transformation of psychology into a diversified applied field of knowledge serving the interests of human practical activity. Features of the development of psychology as a science are reflected in Fig. one.

Scientific trends in psychology differ in their subject, the problems studied, the conceptual field, and explanatory schemes. The psychological reality of a person appears in them from a certain angle of view, certain aspects of his mental life come to the fore, are studied thoroughly and in detail, others are either not studied at all, or receive too narrow an interpretation.


Rice. 1. Features of the development of psychology as a science

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Psychology - one of the most ancient and interesting, complex and important sciences for humans. For many centuries, man has been the subject of study for many, many generations of scientists. Psychology is both a very old and a very young science. Having a thousand-year past, it, nevertheless, is still in the future. Its existence as an independent scientific discipline is barely a century old, but the main problematic has been occupied by philosophical thought since philosophy has existed.

The name itself the subject of psychology appeared in European texts in the 16th century. and translated from ancient Greek means that psychology - the science of the soul(psyche - "soul", logia - "knowledge, science").

Psychology arose as a science of the soul, and later, over the course of many centuries, psychological knowledge was accumulated within the framework of philosophical thought. One of the main questions that worried philosophers, reflecting on the essence of man, was the problem of the connection between soul and body.

To answer the question: What is psychology as a science? it is necessary to turn to the history of psychological science, to the question of how the idea of ​​the subject was transformed at each stage of its development scientific knowledge in psychology.

Stage I - psychology as a science of the soul. This definition of psychology was given over two thousand years ago. They tried to explain all the incomprehensible phenomena in a person's life by the presence of a soul.

Stage II - psychology as a science of consciousness ... It arises in the 17th century in connection with the development of natural sciences. The ability to think, feel, desire was called consciousness. The main method of study was considered to be a person's observation of himself and the description of facts.

Stage III - psychology as a science of behavior ... Arises in the XX century: The task of psychology is to set up experiments and observe what can be directly seen, namely: behavior, actions, reactions of a person (the motives that cause actions were not taken into account).

Stage IV - psychology as a science studying objective laws, manifestations and mechanisms of the psyche.

History of psychology as experimental science begins in 1879 with the world's first experimental psychological laboratory, founded by the German psychologist Wilhelm Wundt in Leipzig. Soon, in 1885, V.M.Bekhterev organized a similar laboratory in Russia.

Let's consider them in more detail.

The first ideas about the psyche were associated with animism (lat... anima - spirit, soul) - by the most ancient views, according to which everything that exists in the world has a soul. The soul was understood as an entity independent of the body that controls all living and inanimate objects.

The materialistic philosophers of antiquity Democritus, Lucretius, Epicurus understood human soul how kind of matter , as a bodily formation, formed from globular, small and most mobile atoms.

But the idealist philosopher Plato understood the human soul as something divine different from the body. The soul, before entering the human body, exists separately in the upper world, where it cognizes ideas - eternal and unchanging essences. She is the image and the outflow of the world soul ... Once in the body, the soul begins to remember what it saw before birth. Mental phenomena are subdivided by Plato into intelligence, courage(in the modern sense - will) and lusts(motivation). Reason is in the head, courage in the chest, lust in the abdomen. The harmonious unity of the rational principle, noble aspirations and lust gives the integrity of a person's mental life. Plato's idealistic theory interpreting body and psyche how two independent and antagonistic principles, laid the foundation for all subsequent idealistic theories.

Great philosopher Aristotle in the treatise "On the Soul" he singled out psychology as a kind of area of ​​knowledge and for the first time put forward the idea of ​​the indivisibility of the soul and the living body. Soul, psyche is manifested in various abilities for activity: nourishing, feeling, driving, reasonable; the higher abilities arise from the lower ones and on their basis. The primary cognitive ability of a person is sensation, it takes the form of sensually perceived objects without their matter, just like "wax takes a seal without iron and gold." Sensations leave a trace in the form of representations - images of those objects that previously acted on the senses. Aristotle showed that these images are connected in three directions: by similarity, by contiguity and contrast, thereby indicating the main types of connections - associations of mental phenomena.

Influenced by the atmosphere typical for middle ages(strengthening of church influence on all aspects of the life of society, including science), the idea was established that the soul is divine, supernatural , and therefore the study of psychic life must be subordinated to the tasks of theology. Only the outer side of the soul, which is turned to the material world, can yield to human judgment. The greatest mysteries of the soul are available only in religious (mystical) experience.

For a very long time, the dominant point of view was that the nature of the soul and body is completely different, and their relationship is similar to the relationship between the puppeteer (soul) and the doll (body), i.e. it was believed that the soul can influence the body, but not vice versa.

French philosopher R. Descartes(1596-1650) concludes the sheer difference existing between the soul of a person and his body : the body by its nature is always divisible, while the spirit is indivisible. He believed that the soul and body are of a different nature and operate according to different laws. The body, according to Descartes, is material and acts according to the laws of mechanics. The soul is immaterial, and its main property is the ability to think, remember and feel. However, not only the soul can influence the body, but the body can also influence the soul.

This controversial dualistic teaching gave rise to problem named psychophysical: How are bodily (physiological) and mental (mental) processes in a person connected?

An attempt reconnect the body and soul of a person divided by the teachings of Descartes, was undertaken by the Dutch philosopher B. Spinoza (1632-1677). There is no special spirituality , it there is always one of the manifestations of an extended substance (matter ). Soul and body are determined by the same material causes. Spinoza believed what this approach provides an opportunity to consider mental phenomena with the same accuracy and objectivity how lines and surfaces are considered in geometry.

In the XVII-XVIII centuries. thanks to the rapid development of natural sciences instead of the concept of "soul" in science, the concept of "consciousness" appeared. Psychology became the science of consciousness... Consciousness included the thoughts of a person, his feelings, needs, desires - everything that a person finds, thinking about himself, looking inward.

Hence a very important question arose, how, under the influence of which a person's consciousness is formed. It was assumed that everything that exists in outside world, acts on the senses, due to which sensations arise. Feelings can be combined with each other using a chain of associations. This direction was named associationism.

German philosopher G. Leibniz(1646-1716) introduced the concept of the unconscious psyche ... In the soul of man the hidden work of psychic forces is constantly going on- countless small perceptions (perceptions). Conscious desires and passions arise from them.

English philosopher J. Locke(1632-1704) considers human soul how passive but receptive environment comparing it to a blank board with nothing written on it. Under the influence of sensory impressions, the soul of a person, awakening, is filled with simple ideas, begins to think, i.e. form complex ideas. Locke introduced into the language of psychology association concept connections between mental phenomena, in which the actualization of one of them entails the emergence of another.

The term " empirical psychology"introduced by the German philosopher of the 18th century. X. Wolf to designate directions in psychological science , the main principle of which is to observe specific mental phenomena, their classification and the establishment of a testable, natural connection between them.

In the XIX century. the development of scientific thought in many fields has led to an understanding of the value of knowledge obtained experimentally. This is how, for example, physics and chemistry developed. The development of physiology was of the greatest importance for the emergence of psychology as an experimental science.

Separation of psychology into an independent science happened in the 60s of the XIX century.

It was connected with the creation special research institutions - psychological laboratories and institutes, departments in higher educational institutions, as well as with the introduction of an experiment for the study of mental phenomena.

Psychology has become an experimental science.

W. Wundt, E. Titchener(1867-1927) and others believed that for the study of consciousness necessary dismember this complex phenomenon into separate elements- sensations, images and feelings and identify structural relationships between them. The theory developed by them is therefore called structuralism.

Representatives of another direction - functionalism - I was primarily interested in the question of how it works, how the psyche functions... The most prominent representatives of this trend were F. Galton(1822-1911), W. James(1842-1911), D. Dewey(1859-1952).

The functionalists were based on the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin and believed that the role of consciousness is in the adaptation of a person to the world around him ... Therefore, the main thing for psychologists is understand the function of consciousness, how it helps a person to adapt to the world around him, to solve life problems.

Functionalists paid much attention to the practical application of psychology, including in teaching practice. They began to write books especially for teachers.

W. James made a huge contribution into the psychology of emotions , he also owns the first studies of self-awareness and self-esteem, in particular, the famous formula of self-esteem as the relationship of success that a person achieves to his claims.

At the same time, at the end of the XIX - beginning of the XX century. many attempts were made to create physiological psychology, to study psychological phenomena using physiological methods. However, these attempts were largely unsuccessful, since it was difficult to correlate accurate, unambiguous, objective physiological indicators with subjective, psychological ones - vague, changeable, contradictory. This has led many scientists to doubt the possibility of scientific study of psychological phenomena.

As a result psychology split into two directions.

One, with the help of precise scientific methods, tried to study such relatively simple psychological processes like sensation and perception .

Second considered higher mental processes - memory, thinking , which could not be studied in such ways. For these purposes, a special research method was created - introspection(from lat. introspectare - look inside), i.e. human observation of how his psyche operates and a subjective description of this.

This situation led to the crisis of psychology as a science.

At the beginning of the XX century. emerged two directions who made a revolution in psychological science. One of these areas is behaviorism - turned to the study of external behavior, the other - psychoanalysis - to the study of unconscious processes.

Direction name behaviorism comes from the English word behavior- behavior. It was developed by the American psychologists E.L. Thorndike (1874-1949), J. Watson(1878-1958), etc. The development of behaviorism was greatly influenced by the teachings of Russian scientists I.P. Pavlova and V.M. Bekhterev on the nature of reflexes.

Founder of the direction psychoanalysis became the Austrian psychiatrist and psychologist 3. Freud (1856-1939). 3. Freud was a physician, and psychoanalysis originally emerged as a method of treating neuroses.

Arising in psychology of the late XIX - early XX century directions of psychology: depth psychology (psychoanalysis), behaviorism (non-behaviorism), Gestalt psychology in Western psychology and activity approach in Russian psychology, with various modifications, exist to this day.

The development of domestic psychology, as well as world psychology, was initially carried out in line with two main directions - philosophical and religious and natural science.

The first direction goes back to the ideas of the outstanding Russian philosopher V. Solovyova(1853-1900). Representatives of this direction - N. Ya. Grotto(1852-1899), G.I. Chelpanov(1862-1936), L.M. Lopatin(1855-1920), N.O. Lossky(1870-1965) and others - considered that the main the subject of psychology is the soul , its action, and the main method was introspection.

The second is connected with the ideas of an objectively experimental study of the human psyche. Its representatives are outstanding Russian physiologists THEM. Sechenov(1829-1905), V.M. Bekhterev(1857-1927), I.P. Pavlov(1849-1936), A.A. Ukhtomsky(1875-1942). Their ideas formed the basis reflexology - scientific direction, the founder of which was V.M. Bekhterev.

V. M. Bekhterev(1857-1927) developed an experimental direction in psychology using objective research methods.

Efforts I. P. Pavlova(1849-1936) were directed to study conditioned reflex connections in the activity of the body ... His work significantly influenced the understanding of the physiological foundations of mental activity.

In Russian psychology, other schools and directions developed, which made a significant contribution to world psychology.

Cultural and historical concept. The founder of this concept was L. S. Vygotsky(1896-1934). According to this concept, the human psyche has a cultural and historical character.

One of the most important directions development of this theory was developed A.N. Leontiev(1903-1979) theory of activity ... The activity was reviewed by A.N. Leont'ev as active interaction with the surrounding reality, expressing a person's attitude to the world and contributing to the satisfaction of his needs. The mental development of a person is largely the process of the development of his activities.

Psychology of individual differences. This trend in Russian psychology is associated with names such as B.M. Teplov(1896-1965), V.D. Nebylitsyn(1930-1972), V. S. Merlin(1892-1982).

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