The structure of psychological science, the main branches of psychology. Branches of fundamental psychology

Major neoplasms the infantile period are grasping and walking, creating the prerequisites for the formation of object-manipulative activity of the subsequent period of development.

At about 5 months, a turning point occurs in the development of the child, it is associated with the occurrence of the act of grasping - the first organized, directed action. This is a real revolution in the development of a child in the first year of life. The act of grasping is prepared by his entire previous life. It is organized by an adult and is born as a joint activity of a child with an adult, but this is usually not noticed.

The act of grasping is a behavioral act, and behavior presupposes the obligatory participation of orientation. Therefore, in order for grasping to occur, it is necessary for the hand to become

into the organ of touch so that it "opens up". Initially, the child's hand is clenched into a fist. Until the hand has become an organ of perception, it cannot become an organ of grasping. Grasping is carried out under the control of vision: the child examines his hands, watches how the hand approaches the object.

The act of grasping is extremely important for the mental development of the child. It is associated with the emergence of object perception. When the stimulus falls on the eye, there is no image yet. The image arises when there is a practical, effective contact between the image and the subject. Grasping creates space. This is the space of an outstretched hand, its extent is small, but the object breaks out of the previous scheme. Prior to this, the perception of the object was carried out through the mouth, now, when the child reaches for the object, the mouth closes. Thanks to the act of grasping, the hand develops: there is an opposition of the thumb, which serves as one of the generic differences between man and his closest monkey ancestors.

Based on the act of grasping, the possibilities of manipulating the object expand, and at the age of 4 to 7 months, effective actions arise: simple movement of an object, moving it, extracting sounds from it. At the age of 7-10 months are formed related actions: the child can manipulate two objects at the same time, moving them away from himself and relating them to each other: the child moves the object away from himself, bringing it closer to another object in order to put, place or string on it. By the end of infancy (10-11 to 14 months) there is a stage functional actions: these are more perfect actions of stringing, opening, inserting, but if earlier the child performed the action in one way shown to him and on the same objects, now he tries to reproduce the action on all possible objects.

At first glance, it seems that the development of actions is a spontaneous process. Indeed, it would seem that a child of the first year of life can hardly be taught anything, but a person turned out to be more cunning. D. B. Elkonin said that a man came up with programmed education for children of the first year of life a long time ago. These are toys in which the actions that the child must carry out with their help are programmed. Manipulating a child with toys is a covert cooperative activity. Here the adult is present not directly, but indirectly, as if programmed into the toy.

Grasping, direction to the object stimulate the occurrence of sitting - when the child sits down, other objects open in front of him. There are objects to which

you can't rush. Again, the law of anticipatory acquaintance of the child with the world, anticipatory orientation, manifests itself. The child reaches for the object, it is attractive, but it can only be obtained with the help of an adult. Thanks to this, communication takes on a different character, it becomes communication about objects. M. I. Lisina called him situational business.

Changing the subject of communication requires new means and ways of influencing an adult. A pointing gesture arises from a hand extended to an inaccessible object. It is already objectively related and contains the germ of the word. L. S. Vygotsky wrote beautifully about the emergence of the pointing gesture: “At first, the pointing gesture is simply an unsuccessful grasping movement directed at an object and denoting the upcoming action. The child tries to grab an object that is too far away, his hands, extended to the object, remain hanging in the air, his fingers make pointing movements. This situation is the starting point for further development... Here there is a movement that objectively points to an object, and nothing more. When the mother comes to the aid of the child and interprets his movement as an indication, the situation changes significantly. A pointing gesture becomes a gesture for others... However, a movement becomes a gesture for oneself in no other way than being first an indication in oneself, i.e. having objectively all the necessary functions for pointing and gesture for others, i.e. comprehended and understood by the people around as an indication."

By 9 months (the beginning of the crisis of the 1st year), the child gets on his feet, begins to walk. As D. B. Elkonin emphasized, the main thing in the act of walking is not only that the child’s space expands, but also that the child separates himself from the adult. For the first time there is a fragmentation of a single social situation "We", now it is not the mother who leads the child, but he leads the mother wherever he wants. Walking is the first of the main neoplasms of infancy, marking a break in the old situation of development.

Another major neoplasm of this age is appearance of the first word. The peculiarity of the first words is that they are in the nature of pointing gestures. Walking and enrichment of objective actions require speech that would satisfy communication about objects. Speech, like all neoplasms of age, is of a transitional nature. This is an autonomous, situational, emotionally colored speech, understandable only to relatives. This speech is specific in its structure, consisting of fragments of words. Researchers call it "the language of nannies." But whatever this speech may be, it represents a new quality that can serve as a criterion that the old social situation is developing.

the child's body fell apart. Where there was unity, there were two: an adult and a child. A new content has grown between them - objective activity.

Summing up the first stage of child development, we can say that from the very beginning there are two interrelated lines of human development: the line of development of orientation in the meanings of human activity (in situational-personal communication) and the line of development of orientation in the ways of human activity (in situational-business communication) .

Introduction

Psychology studies the patterns of emergence, development and functioning of mental processes, states, properties of a person engaged in a particular activity, patterns of development and functioning of the psyche as a special form of life.

Features of psychology:

psychology is the science of the most complex concept known to mankind so far. It deals with a property of highly organized matter called the psyche;

psychology is a relatively young science. Conventionally, its scientific design is associated with 1879, when the German psychologist W. Wundt at the University of Leipzig created the world's first laboratory of experimental psychology, organized the publication of a psychological journal, initiated international psychological congresses, and also formed an international school of professional psychologists. All this made it possible to form the structure of psychological science;

psychology has a unique practical significance for any person, as it allows you to better know yourself, your capabilities, strengths and weaknesses, and therefore change yourself, manage your mental functions, actions and your behavior, better understand other people and interact with them ; it is necessary for parents and teachers, as well as for every business person, in order to make responsible decisions, taking into account the psychological state of colleagues and partners.

Modern psychology is a widely developed field of knowledge, including a number of separate disciplines, scientific directions, branches, sections.

The purpose of this work: to study the main branches of psychology.

1. Subject, object, tasks of psychology. The place of psychology in the system of sciences

Psychology is the science of the patterns of origin, development and manifestation of the human psyche and consciousness.

The subject of psychology is: the psyche, its mechanisms and patterns as a specific form of reflection of reality, the formation of the psychological characteristics of a person's personality as a conscious subject of activity.

Figure 1 - The subject of study of psychology

The main object of psychology is social subjects, their vital connections and relationships, as well as subjective and objective factors that contribute to or hinder their achievement of peaks in life and creative activity.

The main tasks of psychology:

the study of mechanisms, patterns, qualitative features of the manifestation and development of mental phenomena;

the study of the nature and conditions for the formation of the mental characteristics of a person at different stages of its development and in various conditions;

use of acquired knowledge in various branches of practical activity.

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.

Philosophy - for centuries, the phenomena that psychology is currently studying were designated by the general term "soul" and were considered the subject of one of the sections of philosophy, called psychology in the 16th century.

Pedagogy - together with psychology, they study the problems of education and training.

Medicine, physiology - supply psychology with scientific knowledge about the psyche, more precisely about its material substratum: the sense organs and higher nerve centers.

Neurophysiology and biology - led to the development of the scientific apparatus of psychology, which, thanks to the widely developed experimental work, began to separate itself from both philosophy and physiology, since the laws of the psyche established in the laboratories did not coincide with the anatomical and physiological ones. Thus, for example, it was shown that mental processes, being the product of the interaction of the individual with the external environment, are themselves an active causal factor in behavior.

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.

2. The main branches of psychology

Modern psychological science is a diversified field of knowledge and includes more than 40 relatively independent branches. Their occurrence is due to:

firstly, the widespread introduction of psychology in all areas of scientific and practical activity,

secondly, the emergence of new psychological knowledge.

Some branches of psychology differ from others, first of all, by the complex of problems and tasks that this or that scientific direction solves. At the same time, all branches of psychology can be conditionally divided into fundamental (general, or basic) and applied (special).

) The fundamental branches of psychological science are of general importance for understanding and explaining various mental phenomena. This is the basis that not only unites all branches of psychological science, but also serves as the basis for their development. Fundamental branches, as a rule, are united by the term "general psychology".

General psychology is a branch of psychological science that includes theoretical and experimental research that reveals the most general psychological patterns, theoretical principles and methods of psychology, its basic concepts and categories.

General psychology - studies the patterns of development of the psyche in the most generalized and abstract form. This is the psyche of an adult (middle-aged) normal (not sick) person (whether a man or a woman), in constant conditions of life and activity.

The main concepts of general psychology are:

mental processes;

mental properties;

mental states.

The emergence of general psychology as an independent and fundamental branch of psychological science is associated with the name of S.L. Rubinshtein, who prepared and published in 1942 the fundamental generalizing work "Fundamentals of General Psychology", which included advanced achievements of both domestic and world science.

) Applied are the branches of psychology, the achievements of which are used in practice. In most cases, with the help of applied branches of psychological science, they solve specific problems within a certain direction.

Traditionally, social, pedagogical, developmental, engineering psychology, labor psychology, clinical psychology and psychophysiology, and differential psychology are distinguished as branches of psychology.

Social Psychologystudies the socio-psychological manifestations of a person's personality, his relationship with people, with a group, the psychological compatibility of people, socio-psychological manifestations in large groups (the effect of radio, the press, fashion, rumors on various communities of people).

Pedagogical psychologystudies psychological problems, patterns of development of the psyche and personality in the process of training and education.

Age-related psychologystudies the ontogenesis of the psyche, that is, its development from the conception of a person to his death; patterns of development of a normal healthy person, psychological characteristics and patterns inherent in each age period: from infancy to old age, and in this regard is divided into child psychology, the psychology of youth and adulthood, gerontopsychology (the psychology of old age).

There are a number of branches of psychology that study the psychological problems of specific types of human activity.

Labor psychologyexamines the psyche in the conditions of human labor activity, the patterns of development of labor skills.

Engineering psychologystudies the regularities of the processes of interaction between man and modern technology in order to use them in the practice of designing, creating and operating automated control systems, new types of technology.

medical psychologystudies the psychological characteristics of the doctor's activity and the patient's behavior, the manifestations and causes of various disorders in the psyche and human behavior, mental changes occurring during illness, develops psychological methods of treatment and psychotherapy.

Framed clinical psychologywhich studies the manifestations and causes of various disorders in the psyche and behavior of a person, as well as the mental changes that occur during various illnesses, as a more frequent part of pathopsychology, which studies deviations in the development of the psyche, the disintegration of the psyche in various forms of brain pathology.

Psychophysiologystudies the physiological foundations of mental activity, and differential psychology - individual differences in the psyche of people.

legal psychologystudies the psychological characteristics of legal activity (for example, the behavior of participants in the criminal process, the mental problems of the formation of the personality of the offender, the characteristics of his behavior, and so on).

differential psychologystudies the differences between individuals, between groups of individuals, as well as the causes and consequences of these differences.

Political psychologystudies the psychological components of the political life and activities of people, their moods, opinions, feelings, value orientations, etc.

Psychology of artstudies the properties and states of an individual or a group of individuals that determine the creation and perception of artistic values, as well as the influence of these values ​​on the life of both an individual and society as a whole.

In addition to those named, there are other branches of psychology that are no less interesting for scientific research and no less significant for practical human activity, including: military psychology, advertising psychology, environmental psychology, animal psychology, sports psychology, space psychology, etc.

Military psychologystudies the psychology of the personality of a soldier, the psychology of a military collective and the psychological characteristics of their professional activities in its various forms and types.

pathopsychologyfocuses on the features of mental disorders due to certain deficiencies in the structure and functions of the body, in particular in children.

Parapsychologyexplores anomalous individual and socio-psychological phenomena.

Psychology of religionstudies the psychological factors of religious consciousness.

Environmental psychologystudies the psychological aspects of the interaction between man and the environment.

Zoopsychology(or comparative psychology) reveals the features and patterns of the psyche of animals at different stages of time development of the animal world.

Psychodiagnosticsis aimed at developing methods for identifying and measuring individual psychological characteristics of a person.

Sports Psychologyengaged in the study of the psychological characteristics of sports activities.

space psychologyincludes in the range of its problems the study of the peculiarities of mental processes occurring in the human body during space flights, including the influence on his psyche of large physical overloads, unusual environmental conditions, and the state of weightlessness. In addition, this branch of psychology elucidates the features of working capacity during a flight, in particular, if it is necessary to act in conditions of extreme lack of time, etc.

In recent years, an accelerating impulse has been virtual psychology, which studies psychological virtual realities and is built on a specific philosophical basis.

Each of these areas uses the theoretical and methodological heritage of general psychology, but is rich in its own methods, approaches and techniques.

Note that applied industries are not isolated from each other. Most often, in one branch of psychology, knowledge or methods of its other branches are used. For example, space psychology, dealing with the problems of psychological support for human activity in space, is closely related to engineering psychology, medical psychology, etc.

All branches of psychological science arose and developed as a result of the expansion of the spheres of human activity, its rationalization and improvement. However, it is impossible to consider various branches of psychology as a simple practical application of psychological laws (obtained as a result of research, for example, in general psychology or social psychology) to certain cases of life. Only in the process of solving specific practical problems put forward by people's life and practice can the theoretical problems of psychology be correctly posed and understood, and general and particular psychological laws revealed.

Therefore, in each of these branches of psychology, a large place is given to theoretical research.

Scientific psychological research can be successful only when it is built not in the abstract, but taking into account practical problems. Studying the laws of the human psyche, psychology does this not in isolation from certain types of human activity, but in connection with them and with a special goal: to use the results of research to improve these types of activity.

The Appendix presents some branches of modern psychology, at present there are over 40 of them.

From all of the above, one can imagine how wide the range of practical applications of psychology is. Psychology is one of the fundamental, backbone scientific disciplines, the future of which lies at the intersection of sciences that at first glance seem far from it.

Conclusion

Thus, psychology is a scientific discipline that studies the patterns of functioning and development of the psyche. Psychologists are a branched science, numerous sections of which are united by one subject - the psyche. At present, psychology is a complex, branched system of scientific and practical knowledge. It distinguishes many industries that are relatively independent areas of scientific and applied research. Psychological sciences can be divided into two large groups: fundamental and applied. These sections are distinguished depending on whose psyche is being studied, what aspect of it, under what conditions.

Fundamental sciences represent the main system of phenomena, methods of their study and laws. The knowledge contained in the fundamental sciences is of general importance for understanding and explaining the psychology of people, regardless of who these people are and what specific activities they are engaged in. The fundamental sciences primarily include general psychology. In addition to it, social psychology, differential psychology, developmental psychology, as well as a number of areas of scientific research that occupy a border position between psychology and other sciences, including psychophysics, psychogenetics and psychophysiology, can be included among the fundamental sciences.

Applied sciences are branches of science in which the psyche and human behavior in various activities are studied and the achievements of which can be used in practice (the results of fundamental research are not designed for their direct practical use). The fundamental branches of science pose and solve questions that are equally important for all sciences without exception, and applied ones are questions that are of interest mainly for the knowledge and understanding of human psychology in special types of human activity.

The most famous branches of psychology: Social, Pedagogical, Age, Labor, Engineering, Management, Legal, Political, Medical, Art, Sports, Abnormal Phenomena, Religion, Family and Marriage, Psychodiagnostics, Ecological, Psycholinguistics, Virtual, etc.

Bibliography

psychology consciousness science

1. Gippenreiter Yu.B. Introduction to General Psychology: A Course of Lectures / Yu.B. Gippenreiter. - M.: AST, 2010. - 352 p.

2. Gorbunova M.Yu. Psychology cheat sheet / M.Yu. Gorbunova, T.V. Nozhkin. - M: Allel, 2011. - 64 p.

Lukovtseva A.L. Psychology and pedagogy. Course of lectures / A.L. Lukovtsev. - M.: KDU, 2008. - 192 p.

Nemov S.R. General psychology. Short course / S.R. Nemov. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2007. - 304 p.

General psychology. Textbook for universities / Ed. R.H. Tugushev. - M.: Eksmo, 2006. - 560 p.

Tutoring

Need help learning a topic?

Our experts will advise or provide tutoring services on topics of interest to you.
Submit an application indicating the topic right now to find out about the possibility of obtaining a consultation.

Modern psychology is a very branched science with many branches. Branches of psychology are relatively independent areas of scientific psychological research. At the same time, due to the rapid development of psychological science, new directions appear every 4-5 years.

The emergence of branches of psychology is due, firstly, to the widespread introduction of psychology into all areas of scientific and practical activity, and secondly, to the emergence of new psychological knowledge. Some branches of psychology differ from others primarily in the complex of problems and tasks that this or that scientific direction solves. At the same time, all branches of psychology can be conditionally divided into fundamental (general) and applied (special).

The fundamental (they are also called basic) branches of psychological science are of general importance for understanding and explaining various mental phenomena, including the behavior of people, regardless of what activity they are engaged in. Fundamental knowledge is necessary for everyone who deals with the problems of psychology and human behavior. Fundamental knowledge is the basis that not only unites all branches of psychological science, but also serves as the basis for their development. Therefore, fundamental knowledge, as a rule, is designated by the single term "general psychology".

Applied are the branches of science, the achievements of which are used in practice. In most cases, applied branches of psychological science solve specific problems within the framework of their direction. However, in some cases, the achievements or scientific discoveries of applied industries can be of a fundamental nature, which determines the need to use newly acquired knowledge in all industries and areas.

It should also be emphasized that in most cases the applied branches of psychology are not isolated from each other. Most often, a particular industry uses the knowledge or methodology of other industries. For example, space psychology is a branch of psychological science that deals with the problems of psychological support for human activity in space, includes engineering psychology, medical psychology, educational psychology, etc. Consequently, the applied areas of psychology, according to the degree of their generalization, can be conditionally divided into synthetic own knowledge of other areas) and primary (which are a relatively narrow and specific area of ​​the applied industry). For example, medical psychology includes general medical psychology, clinical psychology, pathopsychology, psychohygiene and psychoprophylaxis, psychotherapy and psychocorrection, etc. Similarly, in engineering psychology, the following sections can be distinguished: ergonomics, labor psychology, management, etc.

Let us consider some branches of psychological science in more detail.

General psychology is a branch of psychological science that combines fundamental psychological knowledge and solves the problem of studying an individual - a specific representative of Homo sapiens. It combines theoretical and experimental research that reveals the most general psychological patterns, theoretical principles and methods of psychology, its basic concepts and categorical structure. The basic concepts of general psychology are mental processes (cognitive, volitional, emotional), mental properties (temperament, character, abilities, orientation) and mental states (Fig. 2.1).

The division of the concepts of general psychology into groups is very conditional. The concept of "mental process" emphasizes the procedural nature of the studied mental phenomenon. The concept of "mental state" characterizes a static moment, the relative constancy of a mental phenomenon. The concept of "mental property" reflects the stability of the phenomenon under study, its repetition and fixation in the structure of personality.

The emergence of general psychology as an independent and fundamental branch of psychological science is associated with the name of S. L. Rubinshtein, who systematized psychological knowledge and proposed a methodology for the study of mental phenomena.

On the basis of the basic concepts of general psychology, the concepts of other branches of psychological science are formed. One of the most well-known sciences of great practical importance is educational psychology - a branch of psychology that studies the psychological problems of training and education. Pedagogical psychology explores the issues of purposeful formation of cognitive activity and socially significant personality traits, as well as the conditions that ensure the optimal learning effect. No less significant for educational psychology are the issues of taking into account the individual characteristics of the student in the construction of the educational process and the relationship between the student and the teacher, as well as relationships within the educational team. As an independent branch of psychological science, pedagogical psychology originated in the second half of the 19th century, which was due to the penetration of ideas development. The evolution of educational psychology was largely determined by the prevailing psychological concepts. So, at the end of the XIX century. Introspective psychology has played an important role in the development of educational psychology. Later, its development was determined by the behaviorist direction, which offered to focus on strict “behavior modification” in education. At the heart of modern domestic pedagogical psychology lies the fundamental position that the essence of a person's individual mental development is the assimilation of socio-historical experience recorded in objects of material and spiritual culture. At the same time, this assimilation is carried out through active human activity, the means and methods of which are updated in communication with other people. According to the areas of application, pedagogical psychology can be divided into the psychology of preschool education, the psychology of training and education at school age, divided into junior, middle and senior school ages, the psychology of vocational training and the psychology of higher education.

The next branch of psychological science is very close to pedagogical psychology - developmental psychology, which studies the patterns of stages of mental development and personality formation throughout ontogenesis (the process of formation of an individual organism, including mental functions) of a person from birth to old age. Just like pedagogical psychology, developmental psychology took shape as an independent branch of psychological science at the end of the 19th century. Having emerged as child psychology, developmental psychology in the process of its development began to solve the problems of a holistic analysis of ontogenetic processes. Currently, the main sections of developmental psychology are: the psychology of childhood, the psychology of youth, the psychology of adulthood, and gerontopsychology. Developmental psychology studies the age-related dynamics of mental processes, which is impossible without taking into account the influence of cultural, historical, ethnic, and socio-economic conditions on individual development. In addition, for developmental psychology, differential psychological differences, which include age-sex and typological properties, are of great importance, therefore very often studies in developmental psychology are carried out using the methods of differential psychology.

Differential psychology is a branch of psychological science that studies differences both between individuals and between groups, as well as the causes and consequences of these differences. A prerequisite for the emergence of differential psychology was the introduction of experiments into psychology, as well as genetic and mathematical methods. The beginning of this branch of psychology was laid by F. Galton, who created a number of techniques and instruments for studying individual differences, including their statistical analysis. The term "differential psychology" was proposed in 1900 by V. Stern. Tests became the main methods of differential psychology. Initially, these were individual tests, then group tests appeared, and later projective tests.

Since both pedagogical, developmental, and differential psychology operate with the concept of "group", social psychology is in close connection with them, studying the patterns of behavior and activities of people, due to the fact of their inclusion in groups, as well as the psychological characteristics of the groups themselves. For a long time, socio-psychological views were developed within the framework of philosophy, and only by the end of the 19th century. the first independent socio-psychological concepts appeared, such as the “psychology of peoples” (M. Lazarus, X. Steinghal, W. Wundt), “mass psychology” (S. Sigle, G. Lebon), the theory of “social behavior instincts” (W. McDougall).

The emergence of social psychology as an independent discipline dates back to 1908, when the works of the English psychologist W. McDougall and the American sociologist E. Ross appeared simultaneously, the titles of which contained the term "social psychology". Modern social psychology as an independent science includes the following main sections: patterns of communication and interaction between people (in particular, the role of communication in the system of social and interpersonal relations); psychological characteristics of social groups, both large (classes, nations) and small (where such phenomena as cohesion, leadership, etc. are studied); personality psychology (this includes problems of social attitude, socialization, etc.).

In turn, political psychology and the psychology of art are very closely connected with social psychology, since in one way or another they consider phenomena not only of the individual, but also of the social plane. Political psychology is a branch of psychology that studies the psychological components of the political life and activities of people, their moods, opinions, feelings, value orientations, etc. These psychological phenomena are formed and manifested at the level of the political consciousness of nations, classes, social groups, governments, individuals and are realized in their concrete political actions.

The psychology of art is a branch of psychological science, the subjects of which are the properties and states of an individual or a group of individuals that determine the creation and perception of artistic values, as well as the influence of these values ​​on the life of an individual and society as a whole.

All the considered applied branches of psychological science are to some extent connected with education, upbringing and, in general, with the development of man and human society. But there are also branches of psychology that deal with other problems. One of these branches is medical psychology, which studies the psychological aspects of hygiene, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, examination and rehabilitation of patients. The field of research in medical psychology includes a wide range of issues related to the onset, development and course of the disease, the influence of certain diseases on the human psyche and, conversely, the influence of the psyche on the disease. Therefore, among the most important problems of medical psychology are the interaction of mental and somatic processes, the patterns of formation of the patient's idea of ​​his disease, the study of the dynamics of the patient's awareness of his condition, the use of compensatory and protective mechanisms of the personality for therapeutic purposes, the study of the psychological impact of therapeutic methods and means, etc.

Medical psychology includes a number of sections, some of which have already been named. The most common of them are: clinical psychology, including pathopsychology, neuropsychology, somatopsychology; general medical psychology; psychoprophylaxis and psychohygiene; psychotherapy and psychocorrection, etc.

No less significant for solving practical problems of the economic development of society and technical progress is engineering psychology - a branch of psychology that studies the processes and means of interaction between man and machine. Engineering psychology arose as an independent science under the influence of the scientific and technological revolution, which transformed the psychological structure of production processes. The acceleration of technical development, observed in the second half of the 19th and in the first half of the 20th century, raised the question of the need to study the mental capabilities of a person in the production process and determine the means and methods of his interaction with technology. The main problems solved by engineering psychology are: analysis of human tasks in control systems, distribution of functions between humans and automatic devices; study of joint activities of operators, communication processes and information interaction between them; analysis of the psychological structure of the operators' activity; study of factors affecting the efficiency, quality and reliability of operators' activities: study of the processes of receiving information by a person; analysis of the processes of information processing by a person, its storage and decision-making; development of methods for psychodiagnostics of human abilities in the interests of solving the problems of professional psychological selection and career guidance; analysis of the processes of optimizing the training of operators, etc. An independent branch of psychology is military psychology.

Lecture plan:

1. The system of schools and directions in psychology.
2. Characteristics of schools and directions.
3. Prospects for the development of psychology.

Basic concepts:

psychological school, psychological direction, activity psychology, behaviorism, cognitive psychology, gestalt psychology, psychodynamic direction, psychoanalysis, analytical psychology, neopsychoanalysis, humanistic psychology, existential psychology, depth psychology, psychology of spirituality.

Psychological direction- an approach to the study of the psyche, mental phenomena, due to a certain theoretical base (concept, paradigm).

psychological school- a certain trend in science, founded by its major representative and continued by his followers.

So in the psychodynamic (psychoanalytic) direction there are schools of classical Z. Freud, school of C. Jung, Lacan, psychosynthesis R. Assagioli, etc.

Psychology of activity- a domestic trend in psychology that does not accept purely biological (reflex) foundations of the psyche. From the standpoint of this direction, a person develops through interiorization(transition of external to internal) socio-historical experience in the process of activity - a complex dynamic system of interaction of the subject with the world (society). The activity of a person (and the person itself) is understood here not as a special kind of mental activity, but as a real, objectively observed practical, creative, independent activity of a particular person. This direction is primarily associated with the activities of S.L. Rubinshtein, A.N. Leontiev, K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya and A.V. Brushlinsky.

Behaviorism- a behavioral approach learning as the leading mechanism for the formation of the psyche, and the environment as the main source of development. Behaviorism itself falls into two directions - reflex(J. Watson and B. Skinner, who reduced mental manifestations to skills and conditioned reflexes) and social(A. Bandura and J. Rotter, who studied the process socialization a person and taking into account certain internal factors - self-regulation, expectations, significance, accessibility assessment, etc.).

cognitive psychology- considers the human psyche as a system of mechanisms that ensure the construction of a subjective picture of the world, its individual model. Each person builds (constructs) his own reality and builds his relationship with it on the basis of "constructs". This direction gives preference to the study of cognitive, intellectual processes and considers a person as a kind of computer. To one degree or another, J. Kelly, L. Festinger, F. Haider, R. Shenk and R. Abelson contributed to it.

Gestalt psychology- one of holistic(holistic) directions, considering the body and psyche as an integral system interacting with the environment. The interaction between a person and the environment is considered here through the concepts of balance (homeostasis), the interaction of a figure and a background, tension and relaxation (discharge). The whole is viewed by Gestaltists as a structure qualitatively different from the simple sum of its parts. People do not perceive things in isolation, but organize them through perceptual processes into meaningful wholes - gestalts(gestalt- form, image, configuration, integral structure). This trend has taken root both in general (W. Keller, K. Koffka, M. Wertheimer), social (K. Levin), and personality psychology and psychotherapy (F. Perls).

Psychodynamic direction laid the foundation for a number of psychological schools. Its “father” is Z. Freud, who developed the principles of the classical psychoanalysis, and his closest students and associates subsequently founded their own schools. This is K.Jung - analytical psychology, K. Horney - neopsychoanalysis, R. Assagioli - psychosynthesis, E.Bern - transactional analysis and others. This direction considers the "vertical structure" of the psyche - the interaction of consciousness with its unconscious part and "superconsciousness". This direction made the greatest contribution to the psychology of personality, to motivational theories, and its influence can be traced in humanistic,

and in existential psychology. Without this direction, it is now impossible to imagine modern psychotherapy and psychiatry.

Humanistic psychology- a person-centered direction, which considers human life as a process of self-actualization, self-realization, maximum development of individuality, the internal potential of the individual. The task of a person is to find his own natural path in life, to understand and accept his individuality. On this basis, a person understands and accepts other people and achieves inner and outer harmony. The founders of this direction are K.Rogers and A.Maslow.

existential psychology- The psychology of "existence", the being of a person is one of the most modern trends, most connected with philosophy. This direction is sometimes called phenomenology , since it gives value to every moment of a person’s life and considers the inner world of a person as a unique universe that cannot be measured by any instrument, but can only be known through identification, that is, by becoming this person. The development of this direction is primarily associated with L. Biswanger, R. May, I. Yalom, but K. Rogers and A. Maslow also contributed to it.

Depth psychology- a direction that unites currents and schools that study the processes of the unconscious, the "inner psyche". The term is used to designate the specifics of the "vertical" study of the psyche in contrast to the "horizontal".

Psychology of Spirituality- a holistic direction that combines "purely" scientific and religious approaches to man. This direction is the future of psychology and is to some extent connected with all others. Psychological interpretation of the concept spirituality still being developed. However, in any case, spirituality is connected with what unites people, makes a person whole and at the same time with the manifestation of human individuality.

Test questions:

1. What is the difference between psychological schools and directions?
2. What psychological schools and trends meet modern requirements?
3. Which school and direction would you choose as the leader at the present time?
4. How should the psychology of the future differ?

The expression of the tasks of science is not an easy and painstaking task, since there are general and particular tasks, theoretical and practical, broad and narrow, and so on. The main task is to study the laws of mental activity in its development.

In addition to it, psychology solves a number of other tasks:

• First you need discover the facts, i.e. describe psychological phenomena in as much detail as possible, noting their diversity and numerous manifestations. Facts are the beginning, background, empirical basis of any knowledge. However, facts alone do not make science. Some of them are repeatable and, as it were, understandable to the researcher. Others seem less important at first, but over time, as they accumulate, they require ordering and interpretation.
• From the knowledge of the facts follows a more difficult task - pattern setting or laws of discovered phenomena. This means a transition from a description to an explanation of the facts obtained, to finding cause-and-effect relationships. It becomes possible to predict this or that fact, event, provided that science has proven measures of influence on this event.
• The task then becomes identification of mechanisms for implementing the established law. Find a mechanism, therefore, understand, model the theoretical essence, driving force, connections between phenomena and essence. Knowledge of laws and mechanisms is already a complete scientific concept. With regard to psychology, the task of identifying mechanisms is quite difficult. For example, we can talk about the biochemical mechanisms of memory, but for all their material significance, they do not directly explain the psychological patterns of memory.
• The final task is practical use, competent implementation of its knowledge and results in real life. But at the same time, a large number of related problems are raised: social, economic, methodological, organizational. In addition, the psychologist comes into contact with problematic aspects, such as: moral, ethical, moral. Suppose that a scientist has proved his ability to form this or that psychological quality, which was previously considered impossible. However, what is the certainty that such a formation should be carried out for everyone? Indeed, the real harmlessness, the significance of the intervention is far from always scientifically substantiated.