What is the essence of psychology? Speaking somewhat metaphorically, in the development and improvement of detailed instructions for and for a person so that he can effectively and environmentally manage himself, his life, his happiness. Distinguish everyday and scientific psychology. The latter provides more objective and rational knowledge that allows you to stay in harmony with your inner nature and find suitable ways for its successful implementation in society.
Everyday psychology
The concept of psychology has worldly and scientific meanings, and they differ significantly. Everyday psychology has knowledge of a point nature, as it describes specific situations, tasks, and specific people. Such knowledge is very approximate and vague. Formed and accumulated spontaneously.
The method of obtaining them is random experience and its subjective interpretation, and, as a rule, on an unconscious level. Knowledge of everyday psychology is usually transmitted with great difficulty. According to the domestic psychologist Gippenreiter Yu. B., the eternal problem of "fathers and children" consists in the fact that children do not want to learn from the experience of fathers.
Scientific psychology
Scientific psychology is based on focused research and experimentation, strives for generalizations, for which special terms and concepts are introduced and used. Such knowledge is quite rational and aware, moreover, it accumulates and is transmitted much easier. The tasks of psychology include their integration into everyday life and human activities. Scientific psychology has vast, diverse and sometimes unique factual materials that are not fully accessible to carriers of worldly psychology.
The development of scientific psychology
In 1879 there was a separation of psychology, which was formerly a section of philosophy, into an independent direction of science. It was in that year that W. Wundt opened the first psychological experimental laboratory. So from science, theoretical psychology developed into experimental.
What does psychology do as a science? He studies the psyche and mental phenomena of man. The development of scientific psychology took place in several stages, at each of which it was defined differently:
- The science of the soul, the presence of which they tried to explain any incomprehensible phenomena in the life of an individual person.
- The science of consciousness, by which we understood the ability to think, desire, feel. The main method of study was introspection.
- The science of behavior. The tasks of psychology are to conduct experiments and observe the visible manifestations of a person: reactions, actions, behavior.
- The science of objective laws, manifestations and mechanisms of the psyche.
Gradually, the subject and structure of psychology underwent evolutionary transformations. The field studied by psychology expanded and began to include, in addition to the conscious, also unconscious phenomena.
Subject
Today, the subject of the study of psychology is the psyche, mental phenomena of man and mental phenomena in collectives and groups. In the framework of general psychology, which studies the most general laws on the basis of a generalization of theoretical and experimental psychological research, mental processes are described: sensation, attention, perception, imagination, representation, thinking, memory, speech, emotions, will, as well as mental states and personality traits.
Tasks
Like any other science, psychology solves a number of unique and specific tasks. Based on the definition of the subject, the following tasks of psychology are distinguished:
- The study of mental phenomena.
- The study of the laws of their formation and development.
- The study of physiological processes causing mental phenomena.
- The introduction of psychological knowledge into the life of people.
Solving the problems of psychology allows us to identify ways of correctly mastering practical tools for the formation and development of mental processes, states and personality traits, as well as to develop scientific and practical methods for education and training, rationalization of labor processes and the interaction of people in various activities.
Methodology
Research methods are techniques and tools that help to obtain the information needed to build a scientific theory and make practical recommendations. The development of science in any industry directly depends on the perfection, reliability and validity of the methods it uses. All this is true in relation to psychology.
She studies the phenomena complex, diverse and very difficult for scientific knowledge. Therefore, its successes throughout the entire development period were most directly dependent on the quality of the research methods used.
Since psychology is a relatively young science, it often relies on the methods of either the more "adult" sciences, such as philosophy, history, physics, biology, mathematics, medicine, physiology, or resortes to the methods of more modern ones - computer science and cybernetics. At the same time, any independent science is characterized by methods unique to it, and psychology also has such methods. All methods of general psychology can be divided into three groups:
- Subjective: various types of observation - standard, free, external, included, self-observation; polls - oral, written, free, standard; two types of tests - task tests and quiz tests;
- Objective: tests - projective and objective; experiments - natural and laboratory;
- Modeling: logical, technical, mathematical, cybernetic.
There are also other methods of studying mental phenomena, such as conversation - as one of the options for a survey, involving greater freedom of the procedure, or a method of studying documents, analyzing human activities. To increase the effectiveness of the study of mental phenomena, the integrated use of various methods is recommended.
Branches of scientific psychology
In modern psychology, a whole series of developing relatively independent areas - industries. They are usually divided into fundamental and applied. The first group includes those that study the basic issues of psychology and make up a basis uniting all its branches, such as:
- zoopsychology;
- comparative psychology;
- differential psychology;
- general psychology;
- psychology of Personality;
- age-related psychology;
- neuropsychology;
- psychogenetics;
- psychophysiology;
- psychology of abnormal development;
- social Psychology;
- transpersonal psychology.
The applied branches of psychological science include those that have practical application in human life, such as:
- medical psychology;
- pedagogical psychology;
- economic psychology;
- political psychology;
- legal psychology;
- family psychology;
- psychology of art;
- labor psychology;
- sports psychology;
- psychology of religion.
Kedrov B. M. in his classification of sciences assigns psychology a central place. He considers it, on the one hand, as a product of other sciences, and on the other, as a possible source of explanation for their formation and development.
Age-related psychology
Acquaintance with age-related psychology is very interesting in that it considers psychological crises as necessary stages for a transition to a new round of development, and along with this, natural ways to overcome them are described. In general, she is studying the laws of human development and the age dynamics of his psyche. According to Shapovalenko I.V., the main tasks of developmental psychology are as follows:
- Investigate the age development of the person, taking into account the historical situation.
- To study the patterns and characteristics of the course of mental processes in different age periods.
- To establish age-related opportunities, features, patterns of assimilation of knowledge and the implementation of various activities.
- To study the driving forces, their sources and mechanisms of human mental development throughout his life.
- Determine age norms for the development of mental functions, identify psychological resources and the creative potential of a person.
- Make the most accurate periodization of mental development.
- Create methods of age and clinical diagnosis.
- Promote the creation of services to ensure systematic monitoring of mental health during the development of children.
- To develop programs for psychological support and assistance to people in crisis periods of their lives.
- To develop the most optimal organization of educational processes for representatives of any age categories.
Today there are many age periodizations, for example, foreign authors - Z. Freud, C. Jung, C. Horney, J. Piaget, E. Erickson, D. Bromley, and domestic - Vygotsky L. S., Elkonin D. B. , Bozhovich L. I., Lisina M. I., Leontiev A. N. A lot of attention is paid to solving the problems of developmental psychology, since it reveals the ways of harmonious and comprehensive development of man.
Scientific psychology, thanks to a wide industry network, contains a tremendous amount of knowledge about a person’s personality and how to apply this knowledge to various areas of his life. They are just waiting to be used as instructions for improving the quality of life of each person.