Place of psychology in the system of sciences Modern psychology is located at the junction of several sciences. Thus, the behavior and psyche of a person cannot be understood without knowledge of his natural and social entity. In this regard, psychological knowledge is based on information about biology.

1.1. The place of social psychology in the system of scientific knowledge Social psychology is a branch of psychology that studies the psychological characteristics and patterns of behavior and activities of people, due to their inclusion in social groups, as well as psychological

7. Place of psychoanalysis among other sciences If we consider psychoanalysis from a scientific-theoretical point of view, as if from the outside, it will not be so easy for us to determine its place among various scientific systems. Sometimes one gets the impression that psychoanalysis is like a chameleon,

THE ROLE OF THE PERSON IN THE NEW WORLD OF BEHAVIOR SCIENCES In the previous lecture, I tried to show, albeit very briefly, the achievements of the behavioral sciences, as well as their ability to predict and control behavior. I tried to draw that new world to which we are unrestrained

A person as a subject of research can be considered from various points vision: as a biological object, as a social being, as a carrier of consciousness. At the same time, each person is unique and has its own individuality. The variety of manifestations of man as a natural and social phenomenon led to the emergence of a significant number of sciences that study man. as a field of humanitarian, anthropological knowledge is closely connected with many sciences. It occupies an intermediate position between the philosophical, natural, social and technical sciences.

First of all, it is necessary to dwell on the relationship and philosophy. Having become an independent science, psychology has retained a close connection with philosophy. Today, there are scientific problems and concepts that are considered both from the standpoint of psychology and philosophy, for example, the meaning and purpose of life, worldview, Political Views, moral values, essence and origin human consciousness, nature human thinking, the influence of the individual on society and society on the individual, etc.

For a long time there was a fundamental division of philosophy into materialistic and idealistic. Most often, this opposition was of an antagonistic nature, i.e., there was a constant opposition of views and positions. For both of these main currents of philosophy are of equal importance: materialistic philosophy was the basis for the development of problems of the activity and origin of higher mental functions, the idealistic direction made it possible to study such concepts as, for example, responsibility, the meaning of life, conscience, spirituality. Consequently, the use in psychology of both areas of philosophy most fully reflects the dual nature of man, his biosocial nature.

Another science, which, like psychology, studies problems related to the individual and society, is sociology, which borrows from the social methods of studying personality and human relationships. At the same time, psychology makes extensive use of traditional sociological methods of collecting information in its research, such as surveys and questionnaires. There are problems that are jointly studied by psychologists and sociologists, such as the relationship between people, the psychology of the economy and state policy, the socialization of the individual, the formation and transformation of social attitudes, etc. Sociology and psychology are closely related both at the level theoretical research, and at the level of use certain methods. Developing in parallel, they complement each other's studies in the study of the relationship between man and human society.

Another science closely related to psychology is pedagogy, since the upbringing and education of children cannot but take into account the psychological characteristics of the individual.

Psychology is closely related to history. One example of a deep synthesis of history and psychology is the theory of cultural and historical development of higher mental functions of a person, developed by L. S. Vygodsky, the essence of which is that the main historical achievements of mankind, primarily language, tools, sign systems, have become a powerful factor that has significantly advanced the phylo- and ontogenetic development of people. Others, no less famous example the relationship of history and psychology is the use in psychology historical method, the essence of which is that in order to understand the nature of any mental phenomenon, it is necessary to trace its phylo- and ontogenetic development from elementary forms to more complex ones. In order to understand what they are higher forms of the human psyche, it is necessary to trace their development in children. Thus, the opinions of psychologists and historians agree that modern man with his psychological qualities and personal properties is a product of the history of human development.

A distinctive feature of psychology is its connection not only with social, but also with technical sciences. This is due to the fact that a person is a direct participant in all technological and production processes. Psychological science considers man as an integral part of technological progress. In the studies of psychologists involved in the development of sociotechnical systems, a person acts as the most complex element systems "man - machine". Thanks to the research of psychologists, samples of technology are created that take into account the mental and physiological capabilities of a person.

Psychology is closely related to medical And biological sciences. This connection is due to the dual nature of man - both a social and a biological being. Most psychic phenomena and, above all, mental processes, has a physiological condition, therefore, knowledge in the field of physiology and biology helps to better understand certain mental phenomena. Today, the facts of psychosomatic and somatic mutual influence are well known. The essence of this phenomenon is that the mental state of a person is reflected in his physiological state, and vice versa, various diseases, as a rule, affect mental state sick. With this in mind, in modern medicine active development received methods of psychotherapeutic influence.

Thus, modern psychology is closely connected with various fields of science and practice. It can be argued that wherever a person is involved, there is a place for psychological science. Therefore, the rapid development of psychology, its introduction into various fields of scientific and practical activities led to the emergence of various branches of psychology.

The problem of the position of psychology in the system of sciences worried many researchers. Most of them paid attention to the fact that psychology integrates the knowledge of all scientific disciplines that study a person, and this explains its special place in the system of scientific knowledge.

To determine the place of psychology in the system of other sciences, it is necessary to clarify their classification, taking into account the characteristics of the main structural elements inherent in any scientific knowledge: object, subject, methodological grounds and, finally, psychological scientific knowledge itself.

First of all, the sciences differ in their object. Often the object is fixed in the very name of a science: for example, geology is the science of the earth, biology is the science of wildlife, etc. At the same time, not a single science is able to describe its object in its entirety, since knowledge is infinite, as the world is infinite. The forced specialization of the sciences is serious problem in terms of building a unified scientific picture of the world: the difference in approaches and languages ​​makes it difficult to generalize. In this regard, frontier sciences play an important role.

In addition, any science is limited in its approach to the object by the tradition in which it was formed, by the categorical (conceptual) apparatus, by the language that has developed in it, by those means of analysis and empirical research, which dominate in it, etc.

The categorical structure of psychology is an extremely general, deep, historically developing cognitive structure that reflects mental reality in its integrity and specific characteristics.

If an object exists independently of science, then the subject is formed together with science and fixed in its system of categories. In a certain respect, we can say that the development of science is the development of its subject matter.

According to the principle of the object, two main scientific objects are distinguished (according to B. M. Kedrov): nature (organic and inorganic) and man (i.e., human beings). human society and thinking). The line between them is, of course, conditional. According to the features of these objects, the natural sciences and the humanities are distinguished. The latter are divided into social and philosophical.

Thus, three main sections of scientific knowledge are singled out, each of which is represented by a complex of sciences. In addition to the three main sections, there are large sections located at the junction of the main ones. This classification is presented in the form of the so-called "triangle of sciences":

Along with the classification of sciences according to the object, other ways of distinguishing them are possible. For example, the division of sciences into fundamental and applied is accepted. Fundamental (sometimes called "pure") are sciences that know the world, regardless of how possible practical use received knowledge. Applied sciences, on the contrary, are practice-oriented, applying the knowledge of fundamental sciences to it, and serve the immediate needs of society.

Emphasizing the special position of psychology in the system of sciences, Kedrov placed psychology almost at the center of the “triangle of sciences”, shifting it closer to philosophy and emphasizing the “generic connection” with the theory of knowledge (see Fig. 1). In the diagram, solid lines characterize first-order connections (between the three main sections of science), and dotted lines characterize second-order connections.

The problem of determining the specifics of psychological science begins already with the clarification of the object and subject of the study of psychology. As you know, the object is such a part of reality that is in interaction with the subject.

In all so-called natural sciences ah, the object-subject area is a certain part of the material world, which in the process of cognition is copied, photographed, displayed by our sensations, existing independently of them. That is, in the process scientific knowledge reflection occurs objective reality in ideal images of consciousness.

For psychology, the object of study is the psyche, i.e. originally intangible object. Consciousness, according to the distinctive scheme that has developed even within the framework of philosophical knowledge, refers to the world of ideal objects. Therefore, traditional ideas about science as a perfect image the material world is no longer “working”. For as soon as we reflect and feel something, we automatically deal with material object.

If we want to study "ideal" objects, then we must come to terms with the idea of ​​the impossibility of their scientific reflection in the traditional sense of this concept (see Fig. 2).

As you can see, the essence of the problem lies in the fact that psychology, by its definition, undertakes to study (and therefore scientifically reflect) that which in itself is a reflection, and therefore does not exist as a material reality. This situation was once well illustrated by L.S. Vygotsky using the example of the study of mirror reflection. Recall that Lev Semenovich Vygotsky went down in the history of psychology as brilliant theorist and practitioner psychological research. Having received a university education as a lawyer in Moscow, and after the revolution he worked as a school teacher in Gomel, after his first speech at the 2nd All-Russian Psychoneurological Congress in 1924, he actively joined in the development of problems of scientific psychology. At the same time, his productivity as a psychologist was exceptionally high: in less than ten years of activity as a professional psychologist, he wrote about 180 works. Many of them to this day determine the direction of development of psychological thought throughout the world. A tragic death from consumption cut short his life, but did not stop the movement of his ideas.

“Compare consciousness,” wrote L. S. Vygotsky, “as is often done, with a mirror reflection. Let the object A be reflected in the mirror as a. Of course, one could say that a is just as real as A, but it otherwise real, in itself. A table and its reflection in a mirror are not equally real, but in different ways. Reflection as a reflection, like the image of a table, like a second table in a mirror, is unreal, it is a ghost. But the reflection of a table as a refraction of light rays in the plane of the mirror "Isn't an object as material and real as a table? Anything else would be a miracle."

Within the framework of the model proposed for analysis, to identify A and a, a table and its mirror image, would be idealism: in general, it is non-material, only A is material, and its materiality is a synonym for its existence independent of a. But it would be exactly the same idealism to identify a with X - with the processes occurring by themselves in the mirror. Both A and X are real processes, and a is the apparent, i.e. unreal, result arising from them. The reflection does not exist, but the table and the light equally exist. Then we would say: there are things (table) and their ghosts (reflection). But there are only things - (the table) and the reflection of light from the plane, and ghosts are apparent relations between things.

Therefore, no science of mirror ghosts is possible. But this does not mean that we will never be able to explain the reflection, the phantom: if we know the thing and the laws of reflection of light, we will always explain, predict, voluntarily summon, change the phantom. This is what people who own mirrors do: they study not mirror reflections, and the movement of light rays and explain the reflection. The science of mirror ghosts is impossible, but the doctrine of light and things that reflect it fully explains ghosts.

It is the same in psychology: the subjective in itself as a phantom must be understood as a consequence, as a result ... of two objective processes. The riddle of the psyche will be solved, like the riddle of a mirror, not by studying ghosts, but by studying two series of objective processes, from the interaction of which ghosts arise as apparent reflections of one in the other. Appearance itself does not exist.

Thus, psychology has two ways to reveal its object. In the first case, psychology insists on the immateriality of its object of study - the soul, which makes it impossible in principle to develop scientific knowledge about it. And then the psychological ideas receive their further development within the framework of one or another philosophical or religious idea of ​​the soul. In particular, psychological knowledge has been widely developed within the framework of Christian doctrine. At the same time, no matter how "unscientific", "subjective" the ways and methods of religious knowledge of the soul may seem to some, they, in the opinion of their supporters, have shown themselves to be more true and objective than the claims of the "exact sciences". For in this case the way of knowing psychic reality is more in line with great secret human soul, resonates, responds to the object itself, its language and life.

Another line of study of the mental is connected with an attempt to implement its principles and methods of natural scientific knowledge. The formation of psychology as a science corresponding to this structure began in the middle of the 19th century, when the principles of natural scientific knowledge began to be considered as the most acceptable form of a reasonable approach to the world. Since that time, psychology, along with such sciences as physics, chemistry, biology, and others, has been trying to use the requirements of objectivity, universality, and necessity as criteria for the reliability of knowledge. This means that the human psyche begins to be considered in the logic of cause-and-effect relationships and is explained by the laws natural world.

To clarify the question of the relationship and connections of psychology with other sciences, let us turn to the views of an outstanding domestic psychologist - B.F. Lomov. He singled out a system of connections between psychology: 1) with the social sciences (through the branch of psychology - social psychology and related disciplines); 2) natural sciences (through psychophysics, comparative psychology and psychophysiology); 3) medical sciences(through pathopsychology, medical psychology, neuropsychology and psychopharmacology); 4) pedagogical sciences(through developmental psychology, pedagogical and special psychology); 5) technical sciences (through engineering psychology). According to B.F. Lomov, the differentiation of psychology is due precisely to its relationship with other sciences.

The connection between psychology and the natural sciences is quite close. The most obvious connection is with the biological and medical sciences. She suggests:

Borrowing some general biological theoretical positions to substantiate the patterns of development of the psyche ( evolutionary theory Darwin, the biogenetic law (ontogeny is an abbreviated repetition of phylogeny), the principle of recapitulation, the principle of epigenetism, and other provisions).

The search for the biological origins of human social behavior in psychology, during which the data obtained by ethology (the direction of biology, the science of the relationship between innate instinctive behavior and the influence of the environment) are widely involved;

Research and search for physiological correlates of psychopathologies and disorders, etc.

Genetics data are also very important for psychology, providing material on the mechanisms of inheritance of certain inclinations, predisposition to mental illness, etc. The field of psychology that borders on genetics is psychogenetics, which reveals the role of the genotype and environment in the formation individual characteristics person.

The connection between psychology and physiology is realized in the study of the problems of the relationship between mental and physiological processes. This can be traced in the works of many outstanding domestic scientists: I.P. Pavlova, V.M. Bekhtereva, A.A. Ukhtomsky, N.A. Bernstein, P.K. Anokhin. Directly with higher physiology nervous activity corresponds to such a branch of psychology as psychophysiology, which studies the psyche in unity with its material substrate - the brain.

Among the natural disciplines of the applied plan, one can single out medicine, primarily such branches of it as neuropathology and psychiatry. It is noteworthy that many eminent psychologists were also clinicians (V. M. Bekhterev, V. N. Myasishchev, A. R. Luria, etc.). At the intersection of medicine and psychology, medical psychology arose, developing the psychological problems of diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and rehabilitation of patients. The connection between psychology and medicine is due to the need to determine the specifics of the relationship between the doctor and the patient (to treat not the disease, but the patient). A number of branches of medicine are directly correlated with psychology in a number of general problems, in particular regarding violations mental activity. Let us single out neuropsychology founded by A.R. Luria - a science that exists at the intersection of psychology, physiology and medicine and studies the brain mechanisms of higher mental functions based on local brain lesions. Closely related to medicine is the so-called special psychology, which studies various options pathologies of mental development.

The connection between psychology and physics is more indirect, but nevertheless it exists. Developing along with natural science, psychology reflected the worldview, which was determined by the main discoveries (or dominant principles) in the field of the physical picture of the world. Thus, ideas about the atomic structure of the world led to the "transfer of the principle" - the idea of ​​the atomic structure of the soul. Physical principles experimentation largely determined the requirements of an objective approach to the psyche, and a number of psychological theories as the main ones included such concepts as "energy", "field".

The relationship between psychology and chemistry is similar in many respects, but in some cases it is more definite. Thus, there are areas in relation to which both chemical and physiological, and psychological theories(e.g. memory mechanisms). Chemical processes considered in the analysis of important for psychology biological phenomena. Finally, there is psychopharmacology - a scientific and practical discipline that studies the patterns of effects on the psyche of drugs.

No less strong is the connection between psychology and the social (or humanities) sciences. This mainly applies to those industries psychological knowledge associated with the human personality.

For example, what brings psychology closer to history is an interest in the peculiarities of a person's spiritual appearance in various historical eras and in different cultures(features of personality, worldview, thinking, the formation of standards of behavior, relationships, features of emerging groups, etc.), which are the subject of historical psychology.

With sociology - the science of social systems and processes - psychology is connected through the study of the patterns of interaction between the personality and its social environment, intragroup and intergroup relations. One of the leading branches of psychology is social psychology, which studies the psychological characteristics of a person, due to his existence in a group, and the characteristics of the groups themselves.

Ethnopsychology studies the peculiarities of the psyche of people of different peoples and cultures, developing problems of national character, self-consciousness, national characteristics worldview, relationships, community formation, etc.

Political psychology studies the characteristics of a person and groups due to their involvement in political life (political self-awareness, values, behavior and activities, etc.) both at the level of the individual and at the level of small and large groups of various kinds.

Such traditionally distinguished humanitarian disciplines as linguistics and art history are also directly related to psychology. Psychology is close to the first one by the problem of speech formation based on the assimilation of language structures; analysis of language in connection with thinking; interest in content and expression language communication, features of the generation of statements, perception of speech, depending on the language structures; finally, the study of language in the context of cultural analysis and much more. Psycholinguistics arose at the intersection of psychology and linguistics.

Art history and psychology find common ground in approaches to problems artistic creativity and personality of the artist, perception works of art, features of the structure of the works themselves (the psychology of art).

Communication of psychology and philosophy. Philosophy is usually defined as the science of the most general laws of nature, society and thought, but this is often followed by additions that interpret philosophy as a kind of meta-science, "super-science".

Psychology has long developed within the framework of philosophy, and its separation into independent science could not mean full autonomy. Problems mental life of a person cannot be developed outside of ideas about the relationship of the material and ideal, spiritual and bodily, biological and social, subjective and objective, and these are problems of a philosophical nature.

In many cases, psychologists rely on certain philosophical systems, and sometimes offer their own. So, Soviet psychologists were based on the philosophy of Marxism; the influence of Marxism was recognized by A. Adler, W. Reich, E. Fromm. W. James was an open opponent of materialism. Humanistic psychology uses the principles of existentialism, and so on. For psychology, certain philosophical concepts act as a methodological basis, i.e. a system of fundamental general theoretical propositions that determine the approach to problems and the method of their analysis.

In addition, in a number of cases, psychological theories developed into philosophical directions (or claimed to be) or influenced the emergence and development of philosophical theories. Thus, philosophers often consider psychoanalysis as a philosophical movement; the psychological views of W. James were reflected in the philosophical direction he founded (“pragmatism” or “psychological pragmatism”); works by S.L. Rubinstein ("Being and Consciousness", "Man and the World", etc.) are philosophical no less than psychological.

Let us also point out that in a number of cases psychological and philosophical knowledge approach directly through a specific object of analysis:

Gnoseology (theory of knowledge) and psychology cognitive activity;

Logic and psychology of thinking;

Aesthetics and psychology of art, etc.

So, we discussed the relationship of psychology with a number of fundamental sciences, asking about its place in the system of sciences and belonging to the natural sciences or the humanities. The answer to the first question is obvious: its place is in the center of the "triangle of sciences", it is historically connected with all the main areas of knowledge. In psychology, directions of both natural science and humanitarian orientation are presented. One can, however, speak of an increasing "specific weight" of the humanitarian approach due to the fact that the center of psychology is placed human personality, and this means the impossibility of a strictly objective approach to a person without discussing the problems of human values, meanings, experiences, etc.

As regards those scientific fields, which are focused primarily on practice, we note first of all the connection of psychology with pedagogy and medicine - those disciplines for which the main problem is the interaction of people.

The connection between psychology and pedagogical disciplines is direct. It is impossible to work effectively with a child or an adult without understanding the laws by which his psyche develops. Psychology is trying to identify the psychological mechanisms underlying pedagogical interactions, to study patterns pedagogical process, determine the conditions for its optimal organization ( pedagogical psychology). In accordance with general principles, pedagogy is focused on the same, so the interaction of sciences is quite natural. It is no coincidence that the names of outstanding theoreticians and practitioners of pedagogy entered the history of psychology (J.-J. Rousseau, J.-G. Pestalozzi, J. Korchak, K.D. Ushinsky, A.S. Makarenko, V.A. Sukhomlinsky and etc.), and many prominent scientists were representatives of both psychology and pedagogy (L.S. Vygotsky, P.P. Blonsky, V.V. Davydov, L.V. Zankov, D.B. Elkonin, etc.) .

The subject of pedagogical psychology is, first of all, the psychological mechanisms and patterns of mastering the sociocultural experience of a person in the educational process and the changes in the level of intellectual and intellectual development caused by this process of mastering. personal development man as a subject learning activities organized and managed by the teacher in different conditions educational process. Based on this, key task educational psychology is the study of the basic psychological mechanisms of learning. In addition, the following tasks can be considered: disclosure of the mechanisms and patterns of teaching and pedagogical influence on the intellectual and personal development of the child; determination of the relationship between the level of intellectual and personal development of the student and the forms, methods of teaching and educating influence; the possibility of taking into account the individual psychological characteristics of students; relationships between teachers and students, as well as within educational team; teacher psychology.

A person as a subject of research can be considered from different points of view: as a biological object, as a social being, as a carrier of consciousness. At the same time, each person is unique and has its own individuality. The variety of manifestations of man as a natural and social phenomenon has led to the emergence a large number sciences that study man. Psychology as a field of humanitarian, anthropological knowledge is closely connected with many sciences. It occupies an intermediate position between the philosophical, natural, social and technical sciences.

First of all, we need to dwell on the consideration of the relationship between psychology and philosophy. Having become an independent science, psychology has retained a close connection with philosophy. Today there are scientific problems and concepts that are considered both from the standpoint of psychology and philosophy, for example, the meaning and purpose of life, worldview, political views, moral values, the essence and origin of human consciousness, the nature of human thinking, the influence of the individual on society and society on the individual and etc.

Another science that studies problems related to the individual and society is sociology, which borrows from social psychology methods for studying the individual and human relationships. At the same time, psychology makes extensive use of traditional sociological methods of collecting information in its research, such as surveys and questionnaires. There are some problems that psychologists and sociologists jointly study, such as relationships between people, the psychology of economics and government policy, the socialization of the individual, the formation and transformation of social attitudes, and so on. Sociology and psychology are closely related both at the level of theoretical research and at the level of using certain methods. Developing in parallel, they complement each other's studies in the study of the relationship between man and human society.

Pedagogy is also a science related to psychology, since the upbringing and education of children cannot but take into account the psychological characteristics of the individual.

Psychology is closely connected with history. An example of a deep synthesis of history and psychology is the theory of cultural and historical development of higher mental functions of a person, developed by L. S. Vygodsky, the essence of which is that the main historical achievements of mankind, primarily language, tools, sign systems, have become a powerful factor which significantly advanced the phylo- and ontogenetic development of people. Another, no less famous example of the relationship between psychology and history is the use of the historical method in psychology, the essence of which is that in order to understand the nature of any mental phenomenon, it is necessary to trace its phylo- and ontogenetic development from elementary forms to more complex ones. In order to realize what the highest forms of the human psyche are, it is necessary to trace their development in children. Thus, the opinions of psychologists and historians agree that modern man, with his psychological qualities and personal properties, is a product of the history of human development.

Psychology has a distinctive feature; it is associated not only with the social sciences, but also with the technical sciences. This is due to the fact that a person is a direct participant in all technological and production processes. Psychological science considers man as an integral part of technological progress. In the studies of psychologists involved in the development of sociotechnical systems, a person acts as the most complex element of the "man - machine" system. Thanks to the research of psychologists, samples of technology are created that take into account the mental and physiological capabilities of a person.

Psychology is no less closely related to the medical and biological sciences.

This connection is due to the dual nature of man - both social and biological beings. Most mental phenomena and, above all, mental processes, have a physiological condition, so knowledge in the field of physiology and biology helps to better understand certain mental phenomena. Today, the facts of psychosomatic and somatic mutual influence are well known. The essence of this phenomenon is that the mental state of a person is reflected in his physiological state, and vice versa, various diseases, as a rule, affect the mental state of the patient. With this in mind, methods of psychotherapeutic influence have been actively developed in modern medicine.

Thus, modern psychology is closely connected with various fields of science and practice. It can be argued that wherever a person is involved, there is a place for psychological science. Therefore, the rapid development of psychology, its introduction into various fields of scientific and practical activity led to the emergence of various branches of psychology.

Psychology has a special place in the system of sciences.

First, it is the science of the most complex that is known to mankind so far. Since the psyche is a property of highly organized matter.

Aristotle also believed that, among other knowledge, the study of the soul should come first. "Because it is the knowledge of the most sublime and wonderful." "On the Soul" is the title of his treatise.

Secondly, psychology is in a special position, since the object and subject of knowledge merge in it.

Example. The person is born. At first he is small and does not remember himself. But its development is proceeding rapidly. He develops physical and mental abilities. He learns to walk, see, understand, speak. With the help of these abilities, he learns the world. He begins to act in it. But a person has questions: “Who am I?”, “What am I?”. And later "Why me?". Psychic abilities and functions are a means for the child to explore the outside world. Then he studies himself.

The same process can be seen on the scale of all mankind. IN ancient society people fought for existence. They made fire, hunted, fought, studied nature.

The possibilities of mankind grew gradually. People have created material and spiritual culture. There was writing, art, science. And man asked himself the question: what gives him the opportunity to create and explore? How is his mind?

This moment was the birth of human consciousness. This moment was the birth of psychological knowledge.

Previously, a person's thought was directed to the outside world, but now it turned to itself. With the help of thinking, a person begins to explore thinking itself.

Thirdly, the peculiarity of psychology lies in its unique practical consequences.

Learning to control one's mental processes, functions, and abilities is a more grandiose task than, for example, space exploration. At the same time, it should be emphasized that by knowing oneself, a person will change himself.

Psychology is a science that not only cognizes, but also constructs, creates a person.

Psychology is a very young science.

Scientific psychology was formalized more than 100 years ago.

In 1879, the German psychologist W. Wundt opened the first laboratory in Leipzig experimental psychology. Psychology arose at the intersection of two areas of knowledge: the natural sciences and philosophy.

Any science has some worldly experience as its basis. For example, physics relies on knowledge about the movement and fall of bodies, about light and sound, heat, and much more. This is what we face every day.

Mathematics also comes from ideas about numbers, shapes. They begin to form already at preschool age.

But it is different with psychology. Everyday psychological knowledge is concrete. They are specific to specific situations. specific people, specific tasks.

Scientific psychology strives for generalizations. To do this, she uses scientific concepts.

Scientific psychology seeks and finds generalizing concepts. These concepts make it possible to understand the trends and patterns of personality development and its individual characteristics.

Everyday psychological knowledge is intuitive. They are acquired by practical means.

This method is especially clearly visible in children. They have good psychological intuition. It is achieved by daily and hourly tests. Children subject adults to these tests. Adults don't always realize this.

Everyday psychology differs from scientific psychology in that scientific psychological knowledge is rational and conscious.

The next difference between everyday psychology and scientific psychology lies in the methods of transferring knowledge. As a rule, worldly psychology is hardly passed on from the older generation to the younger. Children cannot and do not even want to learn from their fathers. Each new generation, each young person has to acquire new experience himself.

In scientific psychology, knowledge is transferred with great efficiency. The accumulation and transfer of scientific knowledge takes place in scientific concepts and laws. They are fixed in scientific literature and communicated through speech and language.

The next difference between everyday psychology and scientific psychology lies in the methods of obtaining knowledge. In everyday psychology, the method is observation and reflection. In scientific psychology, experiment is added to these methods.

The main thing in the experimental method is that the researcher does not wait for the phenomenon of interest to him. Researcher creates special conditions to get this event. After that, the researcher identifies patterns. When the experimental method was introduced into psychology, it took shape as an independent science.

The advantage of scientific psychology lies in the vast, varied and unique material. Such material is inaccessible in its entirety to any bearer of worldly psychology. This material is accumulated and comprehended in special branches of psychological science. For example: age-related psychology, educational psychology, pathological psychology, neuropsychology, labor and engineering psychology, social psychology, zoopsychology, comparative psychology, clinical psychology, pathological psychology childhood, psychopathology and others. In these areas, various stages and levels of mental development of animals and humans are considered. We also get acquainted with defects and diseases of the psyche, with unusual working conditions, conditions of stress, information overload or information hunger. The psychologist expands the range of his research tasks, but also encounters new phenomena.

Development special industries psychology is a method of general psychology. There is no such method in everyday psychology.

The development of science is like moving through a complex labyrinth. There are many dead-end passages in the labyrinth. To choose the right path, you need to have good intuition. A good intuition arises only in close contact with life. A scientific psychologist must be good at the same time worldly psychologist. The word "psychology" in translation means "the science of the soul." Nowadays, instead of the concept of "soul", the concept of "psyche" is used. From a linguistic point of view, "soul" and "psyche" are one and the same. But with the development of science and culture, the meanings of these concepts diverged.

Exists whole line manifestations of the psyche. These are the facts of behavior, unconscious mental processes, psychosomatic phenomena. These are the results of material and spiritual culture. In these facts, the psyche manifests itself, reveals its properties and therefore can be studied through them.

In the second decade of our century, an important event took place in psychology. It has been called a "revolution in psychology". The American psychologist Watson appeared in the scientific press. He declared that the subject of psychology should be changed. In his opinion, psychology should deal not with the phenomena of consciousness, but with behavior. This direction is called "behaviorism".

From the history of the emergence of psychology, let's move on to sections and branches of psychology.

Child psychology is a branch of psychology. Child psychology studies the patterns of a child's mental development. In the development of a child, a number of age periods can be distinguished. such as - infancy, early age, before school age, primary school age, adolescence, early adolescence. In the mental development of children, the assimilation of the historical experience of mankind is important. This historical experience is gradually assimilated through the maturation nervous system child. Every age period has specific development tasks.

Developmental psychology is a branch of psychology. This section studies the development of the psyche at various age stages. The principles of transition from one age stage to another are also studied. Each age stage has its own perception of the surrounding world and culture. All these tasks are solved with the help of the formation of new types of behavior and activities.

Educational psychology is a branch of psychology. It studies the appropriation of social experience by the individual. And the appropriation of social experience should occur in training.

Labor psychology is a field of psychology. She studies the patterns of formation of various psychological mechanisms in labor. The following areas can be distinguished: the rationalization of work and rest, the dynamics of working capacity, the formation of professional motivation, relations in labor collectives.

Social psychology is a branch of psychology. It studies the patterns of behavior and activities of people who belong to different social groups. It also studies the psychological characteristics of these social groups.

Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology. He studies brain mechanisms on the example of local lesions of the brain. The foundations were laid by A.R. Luria. He developed the theory of systemic dynamic localization of mental processes.

Pathopsychology is a branch of psychology. It studies the features of mental activity in mental or somatic diseases.

Engineering psychology is a branch of psychology. It studies the interaction of man and technical devices. Directions of engineering psychology:

1. Studying the structure of activities and activities of a human operator,

2. Engineering and psychological design,

3. Psychological support of professional activity.

Zoopsychology is a branch of psychology. It is devoted to the manifestations and patterns of evolution of the psyche of animals. He also studies the prerequisites for the emergence of human consciousness.

Comparative psychology is a branch of psychology. He analyzes the evolution of the psyche. Here there is an integration of data obtained in zoopsychology, historical and ethnic psychology. As a result of the analysis, conclusions are made about similar properties of the mental processes of animals and humans. Highlighted are qualitative differences that led to the development of labor activity, social life, speech and human consciousness.

Historical psychology - studies the origin and development of consciousness, personality, interpersonal relationships, and features of socialization in different cultures and economic conditions. The main thing in this direction is that the psychologist does not deal with an abstract person, but with a person of a certain country and era. And this person interacts with people. The patterns of sociogenesis are the subject of historical psychology and ethnopsychology.

Of all these sections, I choose child psychology. Many sciences are engaged in the study of the child, such as: pedagogy, psychology, anatomy, physiology, hygiene, pediatrics. important place in science is observation. And the main method of studying the mental development of a child is an experiment.

Adults have to solve educational problems every day. In this situation, parents are in a better position. They can watch the child constantly. And experts simply do not have such an opportunity. Close connection families with specialists helps to solve many problems correctly. Of particular interest in educational process shows child psychology.

Parents need knowledge of the methods, techniques of education, the psychology of the child. Parents need to know how to behave when it is difficult. What if you made a mistake, hurried or was wrong? It is well known that happy parents raise happy children. You can only give your child what you have. The science of psychology will help parents live with their children in harmony.

Psychological science knows a lot about the laws of a child's learning, about the characteristics of his development. In recent years, scientific ideas about family relationships, about the patterns of communication between children and parents, have been significantly enriched. But the process of personality education remains complex, contradictory, but always creative. Until now, there is not and cannot be a single formula, unified approach to our little selves. They are all individual, and each requires a special approach.

Psychology and pedagogy cannot deal only with the person who is.

Psychologists and educators cannot help but think about the person who will be, who should be.

Psychologists and teachers do not plan it, do not program it. The psychologist and the teacher with a special professional look see in everyone little man his best, his future. If you do not see the best in a child, then the teacher and psychologist simply have nothing to do. Where there is constant condemnation, all life becomes burdensome. Where affirmation and support prevail, creative work and mutual trust are manifested.

With the limitation of the subject and the appearance special methods his research involves significant differences between scientific and everyday psychology: 1) where and in what way psychological knowledge is acquired; 2) in what forms they are stored and 3) thanks to what they are transmitted, reproduced. Any science has as its basis some worldly, empirical experience of people.

For example, physics relies on the Everyday life knowledge about the movement and fall of bodies, about friction and inertia, about light, sound, heat and much more.

Mathematics also proceeds from ideas about numbers, shapes, quantitative ratios, which begin to form already in preschool age. But it is different with psychology. Each of us has a store of worldly psychological knowledge.

Let's think about the question; What is the difference between worldly psychological knowledge and scientific knowledge?

I will name four such differences.

First: worldly psychological knowledge is concrete; they are timed to specific situations, specific people, specific tasks. They say waiters and taxi drivers are also good psychologists. But in what sense, for what tasks? As, we know, often - quite pragmatic. Also, the child solves specific pragmatic tasks by behaving in one way with his mother, in another way with his father, and again in a completely different way with his grandmother. In each case, he knows exactly how to behave in order to achieve the desired goal. But we can hardly expect from him the same insight in relation to other people's grandmothers or mothers. So, everyday psychological knowledge is characterized by concreteness, limitedness of tasks, situations and persons to which they apply. Scientific psychology, like any science, strives for generalizations. To do this, she uses scientific concepts. Concept development is one of essential functions Sciences. Scientific concepts reflect the most essential properties of objects and phenomena, general connections and ratios. Scientific concepts clearly defined, correlated with each other, linked into laws. For example, in physics, thanks to the introduction of the concept of force, I. Newton managed to describe, using the three laws of mechanics, thousands of different specific cases of motion and mechanical interaction of bodies. The same thing happens in psychology. You can describe a person for a very long time, listing in everyday terms his qualities, character traits, actions, relationships with other people. Scientific psychology, on the other hand, seeks and finds such generalizing concepts that not only economize descriptions, but also allow one to see the general tendencies and patterns of personality development and its individual characteristics behind a conglomerate of particulars. It is necessary to note one feature of scientific psychological concepts: they often coincide with everyday ones in their external form, that is, simply speaking, they are expressed in the same words. However inner content, the meanings of these words are usually different.

The second difference between worldly psychological knowledge is that it is intuitive. This is due to the special way they are obtained: they are acquired through practical trials and adjustments. Similar way especially clearly seen in children. I have already mentioned their good psychological intuition. And how is it achieved? Through daily and even hourly trials to which they subject adults and which the latter are not always aware of. And in the course of these tests, children discover who can be "twisted with ropes" and who cannot.

The third difference lies in the ways of transferring knowledge and even in the very possibility of transferring it. In the field practical psychology this possibility is very limited. This follows directly from the two previous features of worldly psychological experience - its concrete and intuitive character.

The fourth difference is in the methods of obtaining knowledge in the fields of everyday and scientific psychology. In worldly psychology, we are forced to confine ourselves to observations and reflections. In scientific psychology, experiment is added to these methods. essence experimental method consists in the fact that the researcher does not wait for a confluence of circumstances, as a result of which the phenomenon of interest to him arises, but causes this phenomenon himself, creating the appropriate conditions. Then he purposefully varies these conditions in order to reveal the patterns that this phenomenon obeys.

Branches of psychology, forms of cooperation between scientific and worldly psychology. The connection between scientific psychology and practice is characterized by the accuracy of setting applied tasks and methods for their solution. As a rule, such tasks were generated by difficulties arising in non-psychological areas, and their elimination went beyond the competence of the relevant specialists.

Until now, in order to determine the features of the scientific method of cognition, we have spoken about science in general. The term "science" means individual industries scientific knowledge, differing from each other in a number of essential characteristics. One of them is psychology. In order to further determine the place of psychology in the system of sciences, we will consider this in more detail.

First of all, the sciences differ in their object. The subobject of a particular science is understood to be that side of reality, the study of which given science directed. An object- an object or phenomenon externally opposed to the subject, to which his cognitive or subject-practical activity is directed. Subject- a person as a carrier of subject-practical activity and cognition.

Often the object is fixed in the very name of a science: for example, geology is the science of the Earth, biology is the science of wildlife, etc. At the same time, not a single science is able to describe its object in its entirety due to various reasons: knowledge is infinite, as the world is infinite. The forced specialization of sciences presents a serious problem in terms of building a unified scientific picture of the world: the difference in approaches and languages ​​makes it difficult to generalize; in this regard, the "frontier sciences" play an important role.

In addition, any science is limited in its approach to the object by the tradition in which it was formed, by the categorical (conceptual) apparatus, by the language that has developed in it, by the means of analysis and empirical research that dominate it, etc. . The categorical structure of psychology- an extremely general, deep, historically developing cognitive structure that reflects mental reality in its integrity and specific characteristics.

In this regard, its subject is distinguished from the object of science. Item- the aspect of the object studied by this science and expressed through scientific terms. If an object exists independently of science, then the subject is formed together with science and fixed in its system of categories. In a certain respect, we can say that the development of science is the development of its subject matter.

According to the principle of the object, two main scientific objects are distinguished (according to B. M. Kedrov): they are nature (organic and inorganic) and man (i.e. human society and thinking). The line between them is, of course, conditional. According to the features of these objects, natural Sciences And Humanities. The latter are subdivided into social And philosophical.

Thus, three main sections of scientific knowledge are singled out, each of which represents a complex of sciences. In addition to them, there are large sections located at the junction of the main ones. This classification is presented in the form of the so-called "triangle of sciences" (Fig. 1.1).

Along with the classification of sciences according to the object, other ways of distinguishing them are possible. For example, the division of sciences into fundamental And applied.Fundamental(sometimes they are called "pure") are considered sciences that know the world regardless of how practical the use of the acquired knowledge is. Applied sciences, on the contrary, are oriented towards practice, applying knowledge gained in the fundamental sciences to it, and serve the immediate needs of society.

The connection between psychology and the natural sciences is quite close. The most obvious connection is with biological sciences. This connection means:

Firstly, the borrowing of some general biological theoretical provisions to substantiate the laws of development of the psyche [Darwin's evolutionary theory, biogenetic law (ontogeny is an abbreviated repetition of phylogenesis), the principle of recapitulation, the principle of epigenetism and other provisions];

Secondly, in search of the biological origins of human social behavior, the wide use of data obtained ethology(direction of biology, the science of the relationship between innate instinctive behavior and the influence of the environment).

Genetics data are also very important for psychology, providing material regarding the mechanisms of inheritance of certain inclinations, predisposition to mental illness, etc. The field of psychology bordering on genetics - psychogenetics, reveals the role of the genotype and environment in the formation of individual characteristics of a person.

Relationship of psychology with physiology is evident in the study of the problems of the correlation of mental and physiological processes. In this regard, the works of many outstanding domestic scientists played a significant role: I.P. Pavlova, V.M. Bekhtereva, A.A. Ukhtomsky, N.A. Bernstein, P.K. Anokhin. Directly related to the physiology of higher nervous activity is such a branch of psychology as psychophysiology, which studies the psyche in unity with its material substrate - the brain.

Among the biological disciplines of the applied plan, one can single out medicine, especially in such industries as neuropathology and psychiatry. It is characteristic that many prominent psychologists were also clinicians (V.M. Bekhterev, V.N. Myasishchev, A.R. Luria and others). At the intersection of medicine and psychology, medical psychology arose, developing the psychological problems of diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and rehabilitation of patients. The connection between psychology and medicine is due to the need to determine the specifics of the relationship between the doctor and the patient (to treat not the disease, but the patient). A number of branches of medicine are directly related to psychology through common problems in particular, the problems of mental disorders. Let us highlight the founded by A.R. Luria neuropsychology, a science that exists at the intersection of psychology, physiology and medicine and studies the brain mechanisms of higher mental functions based on local brain lesions. Closely related to medicine is the so-called special psychology, studying various variants of the pathology of mental development.

Relationship of psychology with physics less immediate, but it exists nonetheless. Psychology, developing in many respects together with natural science, reflected the worldview that was determined by the main discoveries - or dominant principles - in the field of the physical picture of the world. Thus, ideas about the atomic structure of the world led to the "transfer of the principle" - the idea of ​​the atomic structure of the soul. The physical principles of experimentation largely determined the requirements of an objective approach to the psyche, and a number of psychological theories included such concepts as "energy", "field" as basic ones.

Relationship between psychology and chemistry in many respects similar, but in some cases more definite. Thus, there are areas in relation to which chemical, physiological, and psychological theories are put forward (for example, the mechanisms of memory). Chemical processes are considered in the analysis of biological phenomena important for psychology. Finally, there is psychopharmacology - a scientific and practical discipline that studies the patterns of effects on the psyche of drugs.

No less strong is the connection between psychology and the sciences humanitarian. This mainly relates to those branches of psychological knowledge that are associated with the human personality. Personality- a person as a subject of social relations; systemic quality of the individual, determined by his involvement in public relations and emerging in joint activities and communication.

For example, with history psychology is brought together by interest in the features of the mental image of a person in different historical epochs and in different cultures (features of personality, worldview, thinking, the formation of standards of behavior, relationships, features of emerging groups, etc. - they are the subject of historical psychology).

with sociology- the science of social systems and processes - psychology is connected through the study of the patterns of interaction between the individual and his social environment, intragroup and intergroup relations. One of the leading branches of psychology - social Psychology- studies the psychological characteristics of a person, due to his existence in a group, and the characteristics of the groups themselves.

Ethnopsychology studies the peculiarities of the psyche of people of different peoples and cultures, developing problems of national character, self-consciousness, national characteristics of the worldview, relationships, the formation of communities, etc.

Political psychology studies the characteristics of a person and groups, due to their involvement in political life (political self-awareness, values, characteristics of behavior and activity, etc.), both at the level of the individual and at the level of small and large groups of various kinds.

Such traditionally distinguished humanitarian disciplines as linguistics and art history, are also related to psychology in the most direct way. Psychology is brought together with the first by the problem of speech formation based on the assimilation of linguistic structures, the analysis of language in connection with thinking, interest in the content and expressive aspects of linguistic communication, the features of generating an utterance, the perception of speech depending on linguistic structures, and finally, the role of language in the context of the analysis of culture and much more. At the intersection of psychology and linguistics arose psycholinguistics.

Art history and psychology find an area of ​​common ground in approaches to the problems of artistic creativity and the artist's personality, the perception of works of art, and the features of the structure of the works themselves (psychology of art).

Communication of psychology and philosophy. Philosophy is usually defined as the science of the most general laws of nature, society and thought, but this is often followed by reservations in the sense that philosophy is a kind of meta-science, "super-science".

Psychology has long developed within the framework of philosophy, and its separation into an independent science could not mean complete autonomy. The problems of a person's mental life cannot be developed outside of the ideas about the relationship between the material and the ideal, spiritual and bodily, biological and social, subjective and objective, and these are problems of a philosophical nature.

In many cases, psychologists are directly based on certain philosophical systems, and sometimes they offer their own. So, Soviet psychologists were based on the philosophy of Marxism; the influence of Marxism was recognized by A. Adler, W. Reich, E. Fromm. W. James was an open opponent of materialism. Humanistic psychology is based on the principles of existentialism, etc. For psychology, certain philosophical concepts act as methodological basis, i.e. a system of fundamental general theoretical provisions that determine the approach to problems and the method of their analysis.

In addition, in a number of cases, psychological theories developed into philosophical trends (or claimed to do so) or influenced the emergence and development of philosophical theories. Thus, philosophers often consider psychoanalysis as a philosophical movement; the psychological views of W. James were reflected in the philosophical direction he founded ("pragmatism" or "psychological pragmatism"); the works of S. L. Rubinshtein ("Being and consciousness", "Man and the world", etc.) are philosophical no less than psychological.

Let us also point out that in a number of cases psychological and philosophical knowledge approach directly through a specific object of analysis:

- epistemology(theory of knowledge) and psychology of cognitive activity;

Logic and psychology of thinking;

Aesthetics and psychology of art, etc.

So, we discussed the relationship of psychology with a number of fundamental sciences, asking about its place in the system of sciences and belonging to the natural sciences or the humanities. The answer to the first question is obvious: its place is in the center of the "triangle of sciences", it is connected both historically and actually with all the main areas of knowledge. In psychology, directions of both natural science and humanitarian orientation are presented. One can, however, speak of an increasing "specific weight" of the humanitarian approach due to the fact that the human personality is placed at the center of psychology, which means that a strictly objective approach to a person is impossible without discussing the problems of human values, meanings, experiences, etc.

With regard to those scientific fields that are primarily oriented towards practice, we note first of all the connection of psychology with pedagogy and medicine - those disciplines for which the main problem is the interaction of people.

Relationship of psychology with pedagogy immediate. It is impossible to work effectively with a child or an adult without knowing the laws by which his psyche develops. Psychology tries to identify the psychological mechanisms underlying pedagogical interactions, to study the patterns of the pedagogical process, to determine the conditions for optimal organization (pedagogical psychology). Pedagogy, in accordance with its principles, is focused on the same, so the interaction of sciences is quite natural. It is no coincidence that the names of outstanding theoreticians and practitioners of pedagogy entered the history of psychology (J.-J. Rousseau, J.-G. Pestalozzi, K. D. Ushinsky, J. Korchak, A. S. Makarenko, V. A. Sukhomlinsky and etc.), and many outstanding psychologists were also teachers (L.S. Vygotsky, P.P. Blonsky, V.V. Davydov, L.V. Zankov, D.B. Elkonin, etc.).