Psychology is a science that studies the laws of human mental activity. In their practice, experts use many different methods, but the most basic ones are observation, self-observation and experiment. They are very durable and require a lot of costs, at least time. Some observations and experiments last for years and decades. What should a specialist do who has only a few minutes to examine a patient?
For such cases, many tests, questionnaires and various psychological techniques have been developed.
What is psychodiagnosis?
This is one of the branches of psychology that studies the psychological characteristics of a person through tests, questionnaires and other psychological tools. The origin of this science is in the second half of the 19th century.
It was believed that it is impossible to study or investigate a personality by any experimental methods, but individual mental processes and conditions can be evaluated.
You can study separately memory, attention, perception, thinking, speech, representation and sensitivity - these are cognitive mental processes. It was just the study of the above characteristics that the first experimenters took up. They tried to examine memory, attention, and perception in a laboratory setting.
Types of research methods
Methods of psychodiagnostics can be divided into two groups: formalized and unformalized.
The former have clear questions and several answer options, each of which indicates a separate feature. These include all types of tests, questionnaires and projective techniques. They are strictly regulated, so they are easy to computerize. The main drawback of such studies is subjectivity: they rarely take into account the state of the subject at the time of testing, the level of his self-esteem, the psychological atmosphere in the team where the test is conducted, the room temperature and many other nuances that affect the course of mental processes.
The second, poorly formalized, include observations, interviews, conversations. An analysis of the products of activity can also say a lot about the human psyche . For example, specialists during a conversation give the client a piece of paper and a pen. Often, we draw something beyond the will on the margins of a notebook, these unremarkable, meaningless squiggles can tell more about a person than he does about himself. Only a living person, a psychologist, can process this material, which takes a lot of time, but has a more accurate result.
Express techniques
Often in the conditions of conveyor work, when many people have to be interviewed or checked for professional suitability , a psychologist has a very limited time. This applies to medical commissions (for military service, for work, for a driver’s license), where this specialist is required to be present .
If the procedure of psychological research is not formalized, then specialists at the first stage often use the “Comparison of concepts” methodology.
When a specialist also possesses physiognomic skill, then in one minute you can find out the potential suitability or unsuitability of a person.
What questions are usually asked?
- What is the difference between a bird and an airplane?
- What are the differences between a sun and a light bulb?
- How is the island different from the peninsula?
- What is a rose and a fur coat like?
At first glance, these are very funny and ridiculous tasks. But they need to be answered seriously enough, although some experts evaluate the subject’s laughter as the first sign of adequacy.
How to answer?
To begin with, there are unwritten and prescribed rules of behavior, thinking and perception in society. These norms change over the years, and what was relevant many years ago can be considered a serious deviation today. What is the norm? Very simply, the norm is what is characteristic of most in a given period of time. Therefore, such questions should be answered in the way that most adequate people would do.
What is the difference between a bird and an airplane? The correct answer is obvious: the bird is a living creature, and the plane is the work of man. So say the majority of normal people. It is not necessary to be knowledgeable in the aircraft industry and ornithology. In fact, there are more differences between the two objects than similarities, so there are so many answer options by which the psychologist can determine the adequacy of a person.
What is the difference between the sun and the light bulb? Probably the same way a plane differs from a bird. Correct answer: The sun is a star, inanimate nature, and a light bulb is an artificial means of lighting.
Features of people with impaired thinking
The ability to generalize is one of the main operations of abstract logical thinking. People for whom it is not difficult to combine objects or phenomena into a single group according to common signs, think faster, solve problems better. Such individuals are characterized by a high level of verbal intelligence and the ability to see the core of the problem.
If a person does not know how to generalize, for him the world consists of many unrelated nuances, all things, ideas, knowledge create a complete mess in my head and are not laid out on shelves. The brain of such people always works at high speeds, which can at some point provoke serious mental disorders and aggression.
How do people with impaired thinking respond to these questions?
If a person does not know how to generalize, then his answer will contain one or many distinctive nuances, and there really are many of them. If he is asked to name the differences between a bird and an airplane, then he will move about in many different ways:
- size (the plane is much larger than the bird);
- speed (the plane flies much faster);
- plumage (the bird has, the plane does not);
- the bird flaps its wings, but the plane does not;
- the bird eats food, and the plane needs fuel, etc.
As you can see, many differences are found, each of them is correct, but the key is not named.
A selection of "insidious" questions of psychiatrists and psychologists
- What is the difference between the sun and the light bulb?
- What are the similarities between a fur coat and a rose?
- How does felt boots look like the sun?
- The bathtub is filled with water, near it there is a mug and a spoon. How to quickly remove all the water?
- What is the difference between relatives and family members?
- What is the difference between a tram and a train?
- What is the difference between a class teacher and a director?
- How does the photo look like a song?
- What are the similarities and differences between a cow and a car?
How to answer these questions?
- What are the similarities between a fur coat and a rose? People with a tendency to schizophrenia respond, for example, that they look like a sleeve. In fact, roses and a fur coat are a good gift for a woman.
- How does felt boots look like the sun? Both give warmth. (A person with normal thinking cannot name more than 5 points).
- The bathtub is filled with water, near it there is a mug and a spoon. How to quickly remove all the water? Many answer: "Of course, a mug!" No, the correct answer is to pull out the cork.
- What is the difference between a tram and a train? Probably the number of wagons and speed.
- What is the difference between a class teacher and a director? Post level.
- How does the photo look like a song? Both that and another can be attributed to art.
- What are the similarities and differences between a cow and a car? Similarity - the number of legs / wheels, a cow can serve as a transport, a cow moos, a car honks. Differences: a cow is a living creature, and a car is a technique.
Test your generalization ability
1. Kiev, London, Cairo - is this ...?
2. Frying pan, plate, rolling pin.
3. Tuesday, January, spring.
4. UFO, airplane, bird.
5. Laces, sole, heel.