What is psychology. What does she study and what does she do? Define the concept of psychology as a science

1. Definition of psychology as a science, Main branches of psychology

1. Psychology is a science that occupies a dual position among other scientific disciplines. As a system of scientific knowledge, it is familiar only to a narrow circle of specialists, but at the same time, almost every person who has sensations, speech, emotions, images of memory, thinking and imagination, etc., knows about it.

The term "psychology" first appeared in the scientific world in the 16th century. The word "psychology" comes from the Greek words "syhe" - "soul" and "logos" - "science". Thus, literally, psychology is the science of the soul.

Already later in the 17th-19th centuries, psychology significantly expanded the scope of its research and began to study human activity, unconscious processes, while retaining its former name. Let us consider in more detail what is the subject of study of modern psychology.

The psyche includes many phenomena. With the help of some, knowledge of the surrounding reality occurs - these are cognitive processes that consist of sensation and perception, attention and memory, thinking, imagination and speech.

Other mental phenomena are necessary in order to control the actions and actions of a person, to regulate the process of communication - these are mental states (a special characteristic of mental activity for a certain period of time) and mental properties (the most stable and significant mental qualities of a person, his features).

Modern psychology- this is a fairly branched complex of sciences, which continues to develop at a very fast pace (every 4 - 5 years a new direction appears).

Nevertheless, it is possible to single out the fundamental branches of psychological science and special ones.

The fundamental (basic) branches of psychological science are equally important for the analysis of the psychology and behavior of all people.

Special (applied) branches of psychological knowledge study any narrow groups of phenomena, that is, the psychology and behavior of people employed in any narrow branch of activity.

Let us turn to the classification presented by R. S. Nemov (1995).

General psychology

1. Psychology of cognitive processes and states.

2. Psychology of personality.

3. Psychology of individual differences.

4. Age psychology.

5. Social psychology.

6. Zoopsychology.

7. Psychophysiology.

Some Special Branches of Psychological Research

1. Pedagogical psychology.

2. Medical psychology.

3. Military psychology.

4. Legal psychology.

5. Space psychology.

6. Engineering psychology.

7. Economic psychology.

8. Psychology of management.

Psychology("psyche" - soul, "logos" - doctrine, science) - a word of Greek origin, literally means "science of the soul." This is the basis of the well-known definition, according to which psychology is the science of the psyche. In general, this is correct, although some clarifications are required. In modern public consciousness, the words "soul" and "psyche" are actually synonymous: scientific psychology prefers to use the term "psyche", religious thinkers and some philosophers speak of "soul".

The word "psychology" has many meanings. In everyday language, the word "psychology" is used to characterize the mental make-up of a person, the characteristics of a particular person, a group of people: "he (they) have such a psychology."

Prescientific psychology- this is the knowledge of another person and oneself directly in the processes of activity and mutual communication of people. In the words of the French psychologist P. Janet (1859-1947), this is a psychology that the people create even before psychologists. Here, activity and knowledge are merged, due to the need to understand another person and anticipate his actions. The source of knowledge about the psyche in prescientific psychology is:
1) personal experience (everyday generalizations arising from observation of other people, oneself); 2) social experience (representations, traditions, customs that are passed down from generation to generation).

The concepts of pre-scientific psychology coincide in their content with linguistic meanings. Rogovin emphasizes that the very essence of pre-scientific psychology corresponds to a method of explanation called "explanation from the standpoint of common sense." Pre-scientific psychological knowledge is not systematized, not reflected, therefore, it is often not recognized at all as knowledge. In pre-scientific knowledge, correct ideas can coexist with erroneous generalizations and prejudices.

Philosophical psychology- knowledge about the psyche, obtained with the help of speculative reasoning. Knowledge about the psyche is either derived from general philosophical principles, or is the result of reasoning by analogy. Philosophical knowledge about the psyche is usually ordered in accordance with certain initial principles. As Rogovin points out, at the level of philosophical psychology, the initially vague, integral concept of the soul is subjected to analysis and mental dismemberment, followed by unification on the basis of principles that directly follow from materialistic or idealistic worldviews. Compared with pre-scientific psychology, which precedes it and, especially in its early stages, has a great influence on it, characteristic of philosophical psychology is not only the search for some explanatory principle for the mental, but also the desire to establish general laws that the soul must obey in the same way. as all natural elements obey them.

Scientific psychology emerged relatively recently - in the second half of the XIX century. Usually its appearance is associated with the use of the experimental method in psychology. There are undoubtedly some reasons for this: the "creator" of scientific psychology, W. Wundt, wrote that if we define the physiological psychology he developed by the method, then it can be characterized as "experimental". Another thing is that the method of experiment remained with Wundt auxiliary, creating optimal conditions for the psychological method proper - self-observation. In addition, Wundt himself repeatedly emphasized that experimental psychology is by no means the whole of psychology, but only a part of it. Although the 19th century gave many examples of the successful use of the experimental method, enough time passed before psychology became a truly experimental science.

Knowledge in scientific psychology has an empirical, factual basis. Facts are obtained in a specially conducted research, which uses special procedures (methods) for this, the main ones among which are purposeful systematic observation and experiment. Theories constructed by scientific psychology have an empirical basis and are (ideally) subjected to comprehensive testing.

The science of psychology appeared in the middle of the 19th century. She has come a long and difficult way in the study of the state of mind of the individual. With the help of this science, the character, attention, memory of a person is determined. Many people like psychology. It helps to understand not only the people around you, but also yourself. Psychology is very broad. You can write and talk about it a lot. In this article, we will look at some important aspects of the psychology of social groups and personality.

Psychology as a science

Consciousness, attention, memory, will, human soul - this is a whole science of personality. It's called psychology. Only through this science does a person know himself and those around him. Not everyone understands what psychology is. The definition is pretty simple. This is a science that studies the behavior, thoughts, processes of both humans and animals. A good knowledge of psychology helps to understand any personality. After all, everyone is interested, for example, what drives a child when he performs some action that is incomprehensible to parents. Or you want to understand what kind of inner world your boss has.

Psychology will answer all questions concerning the human soul. This science will help to correctly understand your loved one, child, director or subordinate. In order to understand themselves or a loved one, some people visit a psychologist on their own initiative. Just because they want to be happy. However, someone is afraid to turn to a psychologist, but in vain. If it doesn’t work out for you, a specialist will definitely help you understand the problem and sort it out. So we figured out the question of what psychology as a science is. Now you can understand the intricacies of personality.

Understanding personality in psychology

Man is an individual. It is unlikely that anyone asks the question: “What is a personality in psychology?”. This is the youngest psychological science. It is very extensive. Let's stop on the main thing.

No one even thinks that it is necessary to communicate loyally with a person, even with a small child. First of all, he is a person who deserves a normal attitude towards himself. After all, one person may not pay attention to your words, the other, on the contrary, passes even facial expressions through himself, not like words.

As you may have guessed, psychology is directly related to personality. A person thinks, pays attention to you, knows how to listen, manages his emotions, character, feelings, etc. All this is controlled by personal psychology. A person heard bad or good news, and accordingly showed certain emotions at that time. Any unpredictability affects the state of mind very much. Therefore, if you cannot cope with yourself, something is eating you, try to understand yourself first. Maybe you were stressed or overjoyed the other day, switch to a good, positive, but calm book, or just go for a walk. This will help you to relax and understand your inner world. Now you have an idea what a personality is in psychology? It has some subsections: character, state of mind, attention, thinking, etc.

Representation of memory in psychology

Memory is in some way a storage device that stores, and over time, voices some events or facts. It can be short term or long term.

Psychologists have identified several types of memory:

1. Visual - saw and remembered.
2. Auditory - heard, remembered, voiced after a while.
3. Motor - memorization of movements.
4. Tangible - remembering by touch.
5. Figurative - even after a certain time, the seen image pops up in memory.
6. Emotional - a person remembers the feelings he experienced earlier.

In principle, everyone understands what memory is in psychology. This is a very complex and difficult process. It is memory that helps to pass on our experience and knowledge to our children and grandchildren. This is the longest process. After all, it is not for nothing that a grandmother who is 80 years old will remember her experience of the time when she was only 25 or 30. Quite often a person may not remember some events from his life. This mainly happens when the information was very painful, and the memory erases this process on a subconscious level.

The manifestation of attention in psychology

If a person is focused on one object and observes it, what does this mean? Of course, attention. Without this psychological aspect, it would be difficult for a person to exist. Let's turn to the terminology to understand what attention is in psychology. This is the reaction of a living organism to external stimuli. When psychologists analyzed the types of attention, they concluded: there is selective attention (when it is possible to choose an object of attention), distributed attention (focusing on several objects at the same time), switched attention (attention is not constant). What happens to a person when he chooses an object of attention? Take, for example, a child who was shown a green square and the teacher asked, "What color?" Do you think he will answer on the merits? Maybe. However, it will definitely be noticed that this is a square that has corners, etc. Attention will not be focused only on color. It's the same with an adult. For example, you will meet your old friend, stop to chat, and in any case, you will divert your attention to some trifle. Therefore, when talking, you can miss an important detail. Attention cannot be evenly distributed to every object. This is how our brain functions.

In principle, what is attention in psychology has become clear. It's just that many do not think about such issues, and this is very important. Especially for parents who raise kids and get angry at them for inattention. Listen to psychologists.

Personality abilities in psychology

Many parents with the birth of a child understand that it needs to be put on its feet. What does this mean? Grow by itself, and even give him a decent education. From preschool age, children begin to go to sections in order to understand what abilities they have and begin to develop them. It can be art or music school, swimming, dancing, and more. others

A child, on the other hand, cannot take a brush in his hands and draw from birth, but, perhaps, he has the makings of this. They need to be developed. If the parents go the way that only they like, the child will not be able to use his abilities. Therefore, it is necessary to give your baby the opportunity to do what he likes. Only then will he have a chance to develop in the right direction and become a great artist or composer. Every person has talent. One parent was able to open it in early childhood, the other could not.

Personality temperament in psychology

Character is an individual trait of each person. Temperament refers to human behavior. I. P. Pavlov developed a very long time ago the main features of temperament and divided them into 4 types:

1. Sanguine - a cheerful person, does not detain his attention on one object. Sociable, but does not stay long in one place of work. Dislikes monotony. A new environment for him is only a joy, he is happy to make contact with strangers.

2. Phlegmatic - slow, calm, stormy emotions are extremely rare. He approaches any case very thoughtfully. Never take a wrong step. No one ever knows the true feelings of a phlegmatic.

3. Choleric - very mobile, emotions always overflow. He does not know how to restrain himself, he can flare up because of a trifle. As quickly as a choleric takes on a new job, just as quickly he will get tired of it. Sometimes people around hard to endure the choleric for his excessive mobility.

4. Melancholic - a passive person who does not like to be interested in anything new. Feelings and emotions in slow motion. Very quickly offended, upset, although he does not show it. He is closed and prefers loneliness rather than noisy companies. Melancholic people in their usual environment feel calm, confident.

In any work, knowledge of temperaments is necessary. This will make it easier to communicate with people.

Psychology of emotions

Very often people do not know what feelings are. This is the emotional state of the human soul, which is expressed by certain body movements, facial expressions or voice.

Since childhood, we hear about the cessation of emotions, that we need to express our feelings less. However, psychologists say otherwise. Each person should be able to throw away emotions, and not accumulate them for years. What causes diseases, mental disorders? From the fact that a person keeps all his feelings and emotions in himself for years. You need to be able to express your opinion everywhere: at work, at home, in communication with others. Thanks to emotions, a person quickly determines for himself all the needs he needs. Don't be afraid to let your feelings and emotions out. The circle that needs you will accept you. Others don't have to prove anything. After all, health is more valuable.

The Need for Psychology

A person does not always know what he needs. A need is something that a person is in dire need of. There are 3 types:

1. Labor need - a person needs to know the world, to work.

2. Developing need - a person learns, self-actualizes.

3. Social need - a person needs to communicate with friends, team, etc.

These are sociological needs. The need ends when the goal is reached. Then a person has something else that is necessary. Need is the whole mechanism in the human psyche. In other words, needs are the mental state of the individual. Thanks to them, a person strives for his goal in order to achieve what he wants, that is, he becomes more active, and passivity disappears almost completely.

It became clear to you what psychology is, the definition can now be given more accurate. Need, attention, memory, emotions - that's what human psychology is.

Social psychology as a science

Each person lives in a world where he has many relatives, friends, colleagues, etc. For this, a person needs social psychology. Thanks to her, people get to know each other and relationships. Relations develop not only between two individuals, but also between entire groups. You probably guessed what social psychology is. Two sciences are intertwined in this subject. Sociology and psychology. Therefore, relations are studied here not just between people, but such types are distinguished: social, economic, political, and many others. Social psychology in society allows you to occupy a certain place among people. There are 3 types of personality in social psychology:

1. Picnics - they adapt well to social environments. Strive to build relationships with the right people. They know how to defend their interests without conflict.

2. Athletics - sociable, like to pay due attention to themselves, a dominant personality.

3. Asthenics - it is not easy for them in society. They are not sociable, closed, reserved.

To each person his own. Some people like to be in the center of attention in society, others like to be in the shadows. There's nothing you can do about it. You have to accept the person as they are. Much can be written about what social psychology is. Since this is not a book, but just an article, the most important definitions and concepts are given.

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In the academic definition, psychology is the science of the laws of development and functioning of the psyche and mental activity of a person. Psychology studies the inner, more precisely the life world of a person and the causes of the behavior of normal, mentally healthy people. Psychology seeks scientific explanations for why a person behaves one way or another.

According to the successful definition of V.P. Zinchenko, psychology is an objective science about the subjective world of man and animals. A general idea of ​​psychology as a science can be made with the help of lectures by prof. V.V. Petukhov.

It seems that psychology is an invented area of ​​life, with interest and understanding related to inappropriate human behavior. Psychology, as a phenomenon of our cultural life, appeared when we began to react to inadequate behavior not just as inadequacy, stupidity and bad manners, but as a symptom worthy of respect and attention, behind which something serious is hidden. That is why "psychology" is not understood and does not want to be understood by people of the "old school", accustomed to living according to the principle "Is it necessary to do it? - We take it and do it."

From readers’ letters: “At first, dousing seemed like some kind of feat. However, I was lucky, I have a wonderful grandmother who quickly brought me back to reality. I complained: “I decided to start dousing with cold water, but I don’t know how I will do it” Grandma made a surprised face: "How? It's easy! You take a bucket of water and pour it on yourself." - Everything, on it all "psychology" has ended.

Similarly, a large number of businessmen who see psychologists as people who indulge human weaknesses have a rather negative attitude towards "psychology". A businessman does not care whether an employee wants to perform his job duties today or does not want to, he pays money only for DONE, and for NO - a fine or dismissal. If your task is to make cold calls, no one cares whether you are afraid to make these calls or not. Do not call or call badly - we find another employee. AND NO PSYCHOLOGY! Novice employees learn this, serious positions suggest this. It took a sufficient amount of time for businessmen to feel the danger posed by psychology, and for psychologists to understand that they need to be more careful with business: it has a different philosophy and different laws.

​​​​​​​Accordingly, the word "" has two different meanings: "psychological" as referring to the science of psychology (psychological journal, psychological education) and "psychological" as referring to human psychology (psychological features, psychological defenses).

Psychology as a science is devoted to many sites on the Internet. The most authoritative and popular see →

The science of psychology must be practical

Science is made by living people, and sometimes in very difficult conditions. Modern Russian psychology stands on the shoulders of L.S. Vygotsky, S.L. Rubinstein, A.N. Leontiev, P.Ya. Galperin and other courageous researchers who paved the way for the future through cruel winds. Having created academic psychology, they laid the foundation for a scientific approach to psychology.

We need science, but today science must be practical. Now, when the already established psychological practice overtakes theory, academic psychology must come out of its crystal castle and begin to explore and comprehend those fields that are already bearing fruit through the efforts of practicing psychologists. We plan to do it ourselves, we would be grateful for help in these studies from academic science. We are open for cooperation. See →

Psychology textbooks should reflect not only what fellow scientists think, but also what fellow practitioners have been successfully doing for many years. New textbooks on psychology should be written in a living, human language, as William James, Abraham Maslow and Viktor Frankl wrote, as Yulia Borisovna Gippenreiter and Boris Sergeevich Bratus write.

In psychology, the soul must appear, the focus of psychologists can and should be such topics as the mission and meaning of life, faith and hope, joy, responsibility, conscience. This is life. If psychology, as a science, does not deal with these topics, it is out of life.

the science of the laws of development and functioning of the psyche as a special form of life, based on the manifestation in self-observation of special experiences that are not related to the outside world. The field of knowledge about the inner - mental - world of man. The term originated in the 16th century. and means the actual doctrine of the soul or the science of the soul. In the strict sense, it is understood as a science of the psyche, and a psychologist is a person professionally engaged in psychology in theoretical and practical terms, including helping people in certain situations.

The separation of psychology from philosophy occurred in the second half of the 19th century. This became possible due to the development of objective experimental methods that replaced introspection, and the formation of a special subject of human psychology, the main features of which were activity activity and the appropriation of socio-historical experience.

Psychology occupies a very special place in the system of sciences. Causes:

1) it is the science of the most complex that is known to mankind so far;

2) in it, as it were, the object and subject of cognition merge; only in it does thought make a turn on itself, only in it does the scientific consciousness of man become his scientific self-consciousness;

3) its practical consequences are unique - they are not only incommensurably more significant than the results of other sciences, but also qualitatively different: since to know something means to master it and learn how to manage it, and managing your mental processes, functions and abilities is the most ambitious task; moreover, knowing himself, a person thereby changes himself.

In historical terms, two fundamentally different stages in the development of psychology can be distinguished - the stages of pre-scientific psychology and scientific psychology. When it is simply about psychology, it is usually scientific psychology that is meant.

In general, psychology faces a twofold task: to further develop theoretical research and adequately solve—sometimes urgently—practical problems. This vocation of psychology gives reason to consider it as a scientific study of behavior and mental processes, including mental activity, as well as the practical application of acquired knowledge.

Psychology has already accumulated a lot of facts about how new knowledge about oneself makes a person different, changes his attitudes, goals, states and experiences. We can say that psychology is a science that not only cognizes, but also constructs, creates a person.

Psychology is a living, emerging, developing field of knowledge and practice. Many approaches, directions, theories coexist in it, not mutually agreeing in everything, and sometimes difficult to correlate: based on different philosophical systems, with different conceptual apparatuses, different explanatory principles. In psychology, there is no single paradigm - the dominant theoretical and practical system that defines science as a whole. Moreover, many of its directions fundamentally do not adhere to traditional scientific principles, avoid deep theoretical constructions, without asking for serious self-justification, and to a large extent turn out to be the art of working with the human spiritual world. There is also no agreement on what psychology should study in the first place, what its subject matter is.

Object of psychology; although psychology literally means the science of the soul, the question of the reality of the soul is still debatable from traditional scientific positions; until the soul can be "scientifically" discovered and proved or disproved its existence, experimented with it. The soul remains empirically elusive. This is one of the features of psychology. If we talk not about the soul, but about the psyche, the situation will not change: the psyche is just as elusive. But for everyone, the existence of a certain subjective reality, a world of mental phenomena in the form of thoughts, experiences, ideas, feelings, impulses, desires, and other things is quite obvious; it can be considered an object of psychology. Although this psychic reality is different for everyone, we can assume that it is formed according to common basic principles, try to discover and explore them.

Another feature of psychology is that, leaving the psyche as an object of reflection, it cannot make it an object of direct research: one has to look for other objects and through their study - indirectly - draw conclusions about the psyche itself. The choice of such a "secondary object" depends on what is considered the main thing that determines mental life - on the explanatory principle that is proposed by a certain school of science.

The subject matter of psychology has changed over time. During the reign of introspection, it was inextricably linked with its method and represented the sphere of human consciousness. In the second decade of the 20th century, in connection with the debunking of the method of introspection, there was a change in the subject of psychology: it became human behavior. Thus, completely new facts were introduced into psychology - the facts of behavior. But consciousness as an object of psychology can be opposed not only to behavior (as internally observable - externally observable), but also unconscious mental processes - as observable only indirectly, through "side effects" (-> mental unconscious process). These processes have been studied especially intensively since the beginning of the 20th century, and already the first results dealt such a blow to the psychology of consciousness, which is quite commensurate with the blow of behaviorism.

From the standpoint of the theory of activity, the subject of psychology is the laws of generation and functioning of the reflection of the mental by an individual of objective reality in the process of human activity and animal behavior. Here, activity is taken as the original reality with which psychology deals, and the psyche is regarded as its derivative and as its integral side. So the psyche cannot exist outside of activity, and activity cannot exist outside the psyche. Simplifying, we can say that the subject of psychology is mentally controlled activity. A narrower point of view - the allocation as a subject of the psychology of activity indicative - the system of mental control of activity. In the practice of research, this was realized in line with two strategic lines: in one of them, activity acts as a subject of research, in the other, as an explanatory principle. Thus, ideas about the structure of activity, about its dynamics, forms, about the process of internalization, and so on, are the result of the implementation of the first line. And the application of the concepts and provisions of the theory of activity to the analysis of mental processes, consciousness, personality is the result of the implementation of the second line. Both lines are closely intertwined, and the success of each of them forms the basis for the development of the other.

The main problems of scientific psychology are:

1) a psychophysiological problem - about the relation of the psyche to its bodily substrate;

2) the psychosocial problem - about the dependence of the psyche on social processes and its active role in their implementation by specific individuals and groups;

3) a psychopraxical problem - about the formation of the psyche in the course of real practical activity and about the dependence of this activity on its mental regulators - images, operations, motives, personal properties;

4) a psychognostic problem - about the relationship of sensory and mental mental images to the reality they reflect, etc. The development of these problems is based on:

1) the principle of determinism - the disclosure of the conditionality of phenomena by the action of the factors that produce them;

2) the principle of consistency - the interpretation of these phenomena as internally connected components of an integral mental organization;

3) the principle of development - the recognition of transformation, changes in mental processes, their transition from one level to another, the emergence of new forms of mental processes.

In the course of developing the main problems of psychology, its categorical apparatus was formed, where the categories of image, motive, action, personality, etc. are distinguished. acquiring an independent status. The transformation of psychology into a bundle of branches is due to the demands of various areas of practice that confront psychology with specific problems. These problems are usually complex and developed by many disciplines. The inclusion of psychology in the composition of interdisciplinary research and participation in them is productive only when it enriches them with concepts, methods and explanatory principles inherent only to it. And in contacts with other sciences, psychology itself is enriched with new ideas and approaches.

A serious impact on the further development of psychology was the emergence and widespread use of computers, which assumed the performance of a number of functions that were previously the unique property of the human brain - the functions of accumulating and processing information, managing and controlling. This made it possible to widely use cybernetic and information-theoretical concepts and models in psychology, which contributed to the formalization and mathematization of psychology, the introduction of the cybernetic style of thinking with its advantages, due to the use of the logical and mathematical apparatus, computers and other things, but also with its obvious and implicit shortcomings associated not so much with the humanization of the machine, but with the "cybernetization" of man and living beings in general.

Automation and cybernetization have sharply increased interest in operational diagnostics and prognostics, effective use and cultivation of human functions that cannot be transferred to electronic devices, primarily creative abilities. The study of the problems of artificial intelligence and human creativity are becoming important areas of psychology.

Along with them, social psychology and management psychology are rapidly developing, solving problems related to the role of the "human factor" in the development of society, in management processes, as well as research related to space exploration, demographic, environmental and other topical problems of our time. The inclusion of psychology in the multifaceted context of the interaction of various social, natural and technical sciences gives special sharpness to the methodological analysis of its conceptual means, explanatory principles, concepts and methodological procedures - in order to identify the most promising directions for its development.

PSYCHOLOGY

psycho + greek logos - science, teaching). The science of the patterns of development and functioning of the psyche as a special form of life.

P. ASSOCIANISTSKAYA. P.'s direction, which considers the ability to form associations from primary mental units as the basis of mental activity.

P. AGE studies the features of mental activity due to age.

P. DEEP. The direction of foreign psychology and psychiatry, the subject of which is the unconscious as a source of motives for human behavior and the causes of mental disorders. Includes psychoanalysis, Adler's individual psychology, Jung's analytical psychology, neo-Freudianism, etc.

P. CHILDREN'S. Section P. age.

P. INDIVIDUAL ADLERA. See Adler individual psychology.

P. CRIMINAL. Section of the legal (juridical) P., studying the psychological patterns of the formation of illegal attitudes and their implementation in criminal behavior. In recent years, it has become increasingly important, along with forensic psychiatric forensic psychological examination.

P. MEDICAL studies by psychological methods the peculiarities of the psyche of a sick person, as well as the psychological characteristics of the professional activity of medical workers, the relationship between them and patients. Includes pathopsychology, neuropsychology, somatopsychology, psychophysiology, socio-psychological diagnostics in relation to medical practice, medical professional orientation, psychological aspects of psychoprophylaxis, psychohygiene and psychotherapy.

P. "OBJECTIVE". P.'s direction, which studies mainly the body's reactions to the influence of external, situational factors, while abstracting from the subjective experiences of the patient.

P. SOCIAL. P., studying the patterns of behavior and activities of people, due to the factor of their entry into social groups, as well as the psychological characteristics of the groups themselves.

P. AGING. Gerontopsychology. He studies the features of the psyche during aging. Section of age P.

P. JUDICIAL. A branch of legal psychology that studies the mechanisms and patterns of people's activities in the investigation, judicial review and prevention of crimes.

P. LABOR explores mental activity, personal characteristics of a person in the process of labor activity. It is important for the organization of the rehabilitation of the mentally ill.

PSYCHOLOGY

Psychology is simply impossible to define; indeed, it is not easy to characterize. Even if one does it today, tomorrow it will be seen as an inadequate effort. Psychology is what scientists and philosophers of various persuasions have created to try to understand the consciousness and behavior of various organisms from the most primitive to the more complex. Consequently, reality is not an object at all, it is about an object or about many objects. There are few boundaries here, and except for the canons of science and the ethical standards of a free society, there should be no limits either from its representatives or from its critics. It is an attempt to understand what has so far largely eluded understanding. Any attempt to limit or frame it implies that something is known about the limits of our knowledge, which is not true. As a discipline in its own right, it only emerged a century or so ago in the medical and philosophical faculties. From medicine she took the orientation that the explanation of what is done, thought and felt must ultimately lie in biology and physiology; from philosophy she took a class of deep problems concerning the consciousness of will and knowledge. Since then, it has been variously defined as "the science of the psyche", "the science of mental life", "the science of behavior", etc. All such definitions, of course, reflect the prejudices of those who give them rather than the actual nature of the field. In the course of writing this dictionary, a rather strange metaphor has emerged that seems to reflect, to some extent, an essential quality of our discipline. She is like an amoeba, relatively unstructured, but well identifiable as a separate entity with a particular mode of action in which she projects herself onto some new techniques, some new problem areas, some theoretical models, or even some other separate scientific fields, incorporating them and slowly and clumsily transforming into another form. Not very flattering, maybe for sure. For lexicographic problems, see psychologist.

Psychology

the science of consciousness, mental activity and behavior of living beings, starting from the primitive and ending this series with a person, from their birth to the end of life (science does not currently know more highly organized beings than a person).

PSYCHOLOGY (MEASUREMENTS IN PSYCHOLOGY)

procedures for determining the quantitative expression of psychological phenomena. They use a variety of scales containing a certain set of positions put in some correspondence with psychological elements. According to the classification of scales proposed in 1946 by the American psychologist and psychophysicist S. S. Stevens, the following scales are distinguished: the ratio scale, the interval scale, the ordinal scale, and the nominal scale.

Psychology

Most often, the term is defined as "the science of the laws of development and functioning of the psyche." Other definitions offered by some scientists reflect their interpretation and, depending on the professional inclination, emphasize the leading role of the mind or behavior. Some psychologists even believe that the study of the human psyche cannot be considered a scientific discipline in the strict sense of the word at all.

PSYCHOLOGY

psychology) is a science that studies the psyche and consciousness of a person, as well as his behavior. Psychology operates with such basic concepts as memory, rational and irrational thinking, intelligence, learning, personality, perception and emotions, and also studies their relationship with human behavior. Existing psychological schools differ in what philosophical concept they adhere to and what methods they use in their work. These include such schools of introspection as the school of Freud, Jung and Adler, as well as Gestalt psychology, behavioral and cognitive schools; Modern psychology is especially attracted by the schools of the latter trend (see Cognitive Psychology). Many practicing psychologists do not belong to any of these schools; some take eclectic positions. The various currents in psychology, on the other hand, are functional or professional subsections of psychology that are based on practical considerations. These include: anomalous, analytical, applied, clinical, comparative, evolutionary, educational, experimental, geriatric, industrial, child, physiological and social psychology. - Psychological.

Psychology

Word formation. Comes from the Greek. psyche - soul + logos - teaching.

Specificity. He studies the patterns of functioning and development of the psyche. It is based on the representation in self-observation of special experiences that are not related to the outside world. From the 2nd half of the nineteenth century. there was a separation of psychology from philosophy, which became possible due to the development of objective experimental methods that replaced introspection, and the formation of a special subject of human psychology, the main features of which were activity activity and the appropriation of socio-historical experience. The main philosophical problem of psychology is whether psychology should be considered as an objective, explanatory, hypothetical-constructive natural science or as a dialogue, understanding, interpreting, reconstructing humanities.

PSYCHOLOGY

from the Greek psushe - soul + logos - teaching, science) - the science of the laws of development and functioning of the psyche as a special form of life. The interaction of living beings with the surrounding world is realized through mental processes, acts, and states that are qualitatively different from physiological, but inseparable from them. For centuries, the phenomena studied by P. were designated by the general term “soul” and were considered the subject of one of the sections of philosophy, named in the 16th century. P. It was shown that mental processes, being the product of the interaction of the individual with the external environment, are themselves an active causal factor in behavior. If idealistic concepts incorrectly explained this activity by a special mental causality, cognizable through internal observation, then the natural scientific study of the genetically primary forms of the psyche approved the priority of objective methods, which later became decisive for P. Self-observation retains the importance of an important, but auxiliary source of information about the human psyche . Being a product and function of social processes, the consciousness of an individual subject has a systemic and semantic organization that gives properties to various manifestations of the psyche that qualitatively distinguish them from the psyche of animals. The possibility of comprehending the processes of consciousness, regardless of the subject's self-report about them, is due to the fact that they develop in the objective system of his relations with other people, the world around him. In the same system, peering into others, the subject acquires the ability to judge the internal plan of his behavior. Not all components of this plan can be translated into the language of consciousness, but even they, forming the sphere of the unconscious, serve as the subject of P. The inclusion of P. in interdisciplinary research and participation in them is productive only when it enriches them with concepts inherent only to it. , methods, explanatory principles. At the same time, as a result of contacts with other sciences, P. itself is enriched with new ideas and approaches that develop its content and categorical apparatus, ensuring its integrity as an independent science. P.'s inclusion in the multifaceted context of the interaction of various social, natural, and technical sciences gives particular sharpness to the methodological analysis of its conceptual means, explanatory principles, concepts, and methodological procedures in order to identify promising areas for its further development. P. conflicts is one of the areas of research in P. and at the same time the branch of conflictology. P. conflicts acts as a backbone branch of conflictology. Of the 16 sciences that study conflict, only P. studies all types of human conflicts (social, intrapersonal) and animal conflicts. Man is the central link in conflicts of all levels without exception. Therefore, knowledge of the P. of human behavior in conflicts is a condition for their explanation.