Synthesis is usually understood as the union of two or more existing elements, resulting in a completely new creation. The term itself is broad in meaning and can be applied to physical, ideological and even phenomenological entities.
"Synthesis in psychology is ... (definition)
In dialectics, synthesis is the end result of attempts to reconcile the inherent contradiction between the thesis and antithesis. Along with a similar concept of integration, synthesis, as a rule, is considered an important element of modern philosophy, psychology and many other sciences. This is the part that combines disparate elements into a single whole.
Synthesis in psychology is the recognition of traits, impulses and relationships of the complete thing or it is a process in which several biochemical components are formed into one. It is difficult to recognize the synthesis of man, especially if he has different traits, impulses and attitudes in different situations.
Subconscious perception
Analysis and synthesis in psychology are types of thinking, while subconscious perception plays an important role, implying the possibility that information that is not consciously registered can affect subsequent thought processes. Examples are words or images presented quickly, obscurely, quietly, mysteriously or out of focus, so that they are not consciously recorded.
Synthesis analysis
Any data management standard that postulates that data-driven and idea-driven procedures are actually involved in recognizing and understanding a stimulant of feelings. The individual first learns the tangible features and component aspects of the stimulator, and then decides which data is important and compiles it into an internal interpretation or understanding of what the stimulator may actually be.
This interior interpretation contrasts with the introduction of a stimulant. After that, if they are similar to each other, it can be said that the stimulant is recognized, but if not, other interpretations should be compiled and considered until a similar stimulant is found. What is synthesis analysis? The imaginary existence of “quantity” in psychology is a prerequisite for measurement.
Any person (researcher or subject) can present homogeneous concepts as quantities (redness, loudness or heaviness of various kinds of objects or events). Conversely, heterogeneous concepts can be combined with imaginary quantities, such as intelligence or personality, which are built from agreed sets of theoretical concepts. Measurements in physics, psychophysics, and psychology will be treated relatively differently.
Cognitive psychology
In his influential book Cognitive Psychology (1967), Ulrik Neisser suggested that the whole idea of a “filter” is erroneous. This would be too boring if the cognitive system sits and receives information without looking for it. If we consider the thought process as a construction, then selective attention is the result of what we are looking for, and not what we cannot filter. Neisser called this analysis synthesis. He explained the analysis by a synthesis model - analogy.
We give an example of synthesis in psychology. If we see a person picking apples in an orchard, we assume that his activity is determined by what he is looking for (ripe apples), and not by what he filters out or not choosing (immature apples, leaves, twigs, mistakes, etc. .). We make this assumption because we recognize that picking apples is a focused activity. If attention is also seen as a focused activity, then the problem of selective attention is the problem of explaining what is included, and not what is left behind.
How does synthesis analysis cope with the cocktail party phenomenon? Suppose you are at a party, straining to pay attention to what the person in front of you is saying. This is a focused activity. You are trying to build the meanings that come from this person using directional information that helps you tune into your voice. You ignore all other conversations because they are not related to your goal, but not because some kind of filter removes them.
Your attention is an act of positive selection or synthesis, not an act of negative selection or filtering. Everything that is not included in your synthesis is ignored, with some exceptions, for example, when our gaze is turned to movement in peripheral vision or when our attention is activated by naming our name. Information that seems to be "filtered" is simply that which is not "configured."
What is concentration?
One of the features of thinking is concentration, a very focused form of attention. People with great ability to concentrate ignore all distractions, because they do not contribute to the achievement of their goals. However, details are allowed in the thought process that may have a beneficial effect.
Analysis and synthesis: two key approaches
Analysis focuses on the component parts of the situation, at the heart of recognizing the differences between things. The analysis process is the process of analyzing something and recognizing the differences between the parts, as well as determining what these elements do. In the end, the parts are recreated in order to understand the whole. Often in this process it is assumed that the whole will be the same as the sum of its parts. That is, the properties of the whole are determined by the properties of the parts.
Analytical thinking was extremely useful for solving a wide range of problems that have clear reasons. For example, most health gains have been achieved by identifying the simple causes of many diseases: viral and bacterial vectors, nutrient deficiencies, genetic mutations, and so on.
Analytical thinking has been gaining momentum since the Enlightenment, when there was a real shift against mysticism, superstition and traditions as the main ways of thinking about the world and what we do in it. The period during which this shift in thinking occurred is the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth century, which was also called the "age of reason." This age has contributed to the use of logic and rationality.
"Theory of Everything"
People who prefer analytic thinking are pushing for the idea that most things can be “reduced” to an atomistic interpretation, ultimately implying that the physicist will be able to explain the general denominator of analysis in how everything works. It is not surprising that physicists coined the term “theory of everything” - the search for a single model to explain all the fundamental interactions of nature.
A great example of an area where analytical thinking fails is to understand human emotions. The following quotation from Gharajedaghi’s 2006 book on systemic thinking perfectly illustrates the problem: "I can love, but none of my parts can love. If you separate me, the phenomenon of love will be lost."
Synthesis: Holistic Thinking
In psychology, synthesis is the construction of a whole from disparate parts; of the whole, which at first may be completely obscure, because sometimes this whole has properties that cannot be explained by looking at the parts. In order to synthesize different things, you need to determine what similarities exist in two or more different situations, for example, consider living organisms. How can one distinguish living from nonliving?
There is no single mechanism that determines what is living and what is not. We cannot explain life by “tearing it apart,” and then re-creating it. Nevertheless, we seem to be able to easily distinguish living beings from nonliving ones. Therefore, the synthesis consists in understanding the current processes that create recognizable patterns of behavior.
If a person is faced with various situations that produce a common pattern, he can then tag this common pattern and use this label again and again. To cope or survive in new situations that we have not encountered before depends on our ability to synthesize. We can do this quickly and efficiently if we recognize a commonality with previous situations. This type of synthesis clearly helps and accelerates the learning process, and is a powerful tool in survival in a changing world.
Many "integers" can only be understood by defining their role or function in the "big whole" (context or environment) that contains them. I call the oak and blackbird “living”, realizing that there is a model of “living” behavior in each of two different entities, in the “big whole” of the ecological system or ecosystem into which they are both embedded.
An example of synthesis and analysis from the animal world
The synthesis method in psychology often intersects with analysis. Take for example the lion. Analytical thinking suggests that a lion in a zoo is the same as a lion in the wild, because it is one and the same type of living being. But holistic thinking shows that the role of the lion as part of the savannah ecology is very different from the role of the lion as part of the zoo.
Studying this predator in its "big whole", that is, in the zoo, tells little about lions in the wild. The analysis tells you that lions in a zoo and lions in the wild can be biologically identical, but the synthesis will tell you that an animal in a zoo is not the same as an animal in its natural habitat. These two approaches can lead to two different conclusions. For example, as the study of animal behavior has focused more on their actions within their natural habitats, we have steadily redefined our understanding of animal reason.
Other types of mental operations
To solve problems, a person uses many mental operations. In addition to analysis and synthesis, this is also a generalization, comparison, etc. Without them, cognitive activity, training, and productive thinking in general are impossible.
- Analysis - the distribution of the whole into individual elements, the isolation of individual characteristics, properties, qualities.
- Synthesis is in psychology the union of parts into a whole based on semantic connections.
- Comparison - a comparison of objects or phenomena with each other in order to find similarities and differences.
- Generalization - the combination of various objects in one group based on common features.
- Concretization is the filling of something generalized with details and details.
- An analogy is the transfer of knowledge about one subject to another in order to explain one or another interpretation.
These operations are indispensable in the learning process, for the search and assimilation of new knowledge. Often a person uses them unconsciously and intuitively, on a subconscious level.