A Brief History of Psychology: From Antiquity to the Present Day

Have you heard of Sigmund Freud? Surely yes. Someone will even be able to show off a quote from the famous psychoanalyst. But psychological science does not live on Freud alone! It has developed over many centuries and is rich in people who have thought and drawn conclusions about the nature of the soul, mind, and psyche.

We invite you to expand your horizons and get acquainted with the ideas of outstanding thinkers, as well as learn how psychology has turned from a speculative discipline into a real science.

Psychology in the Ancient World

The history of psychology begins with Ancient Egypt. It was there around 1550 BC. e. The Ebers Papyrus was created - a collection of medical texts, one of the oldest works containing medical knowledge. It mentions mental health conditions such as dementia and depression for the first time.

But the earliest psychological experience is considered to be the experiment of Pharaoh Psammetichus I, described by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus in the book “History”. In order to determine which race was the most ancient - the Egyptians or the Phrygians, the pharaoh did the following: he gave two newborn children to the shepherd and ordered them to be raised in a remote hut. The main condition of the experiment was complete silence, i.e. the shepherd was forbidden to talk in the presence of babies. In this way, Psammetichus I wanted to find out in what language the very first word would be uttered by the children, and in accordance with this, draw a conclusion about the most ancient race.

After 2 years, the long-awaited “bekos” came from the children’s lips. It turned out that this is a Phrygian word meaning “bread.” So the Egyptians decided that the Phrygians were a more ancient race than themselves [Waterfield R., Dewald C., 1998].

If we consider psychology as a discipline that studies the mind, then the philosophers of Ancient Greece were certainly the first to contribute to its development. For them, understanding the structure of the soul and mind was an important part of intellectual research. The theories of the ancient Greeks were closely related to ethical, physical and metaphysical concepts. Let's see how their thought developed.

Thales and Anaximenes

Thales and Anaximenes were Greek thinkers who were more interested in cosmogony and cosmology than in the study of man. Thales of Miletus believed that the whole world has a soul. He viewed it as a source of life and movement.

Thales's compatriot Anaximenes fleshed out this concept by drawing an analogy between the human soul and the matter that, in his opinion, surrounded the cosmos. He identified both with air or breath. This comparison meant that the human soul performs a vital function.

The idea of ​​the unified nature of outer space and the human soul belongs to that set of ideas that gave rise to belief in the soul as an element of God in man.

Heraclitus

Heraclitus of Ephesus was a philosopher who developed the concepts listed above. Unlike Anaximenes, he believed that the main material of the soul is fire. By fire, he most likely understood something similar to energy, and not fire as a material element.

Heraclitus believed that feelings are the first source of information about the world, but they can be misleading when misinterpreted. If the soul interprets feelings correctly, then a person is able to cognize the Logos - the principle of organization of everything in the world or the truth.

Here you can trace a number of fundamentally new ideas for that time. Firstly, the psyche (soul) began to be perceived as the recipient of sensory impressions. Secondly, by interpreting them, a person could understand the principle of the structure of the world, which does not lend itself to strictly empirical research. Thirdly, psyche and Logos became identical concepts. Thus, Heraclitus wanted to say that the soul (psyche) has depths that cannot be comprehended.

Empedocles

The philosopher and physician Empedocles gave a slightly more detailed description of the process of sensory perception and thinking. In his opinion, the Universe was a mixture of four elements: fire, water, earth and air, and it was controlled by two polar forces: love and struggle.

The model of perception, according to Empedocles, looked like this: each object continuously emitted tiny particles, and a person absorbed them through the pores in the senses. For example, fiery and watery secretions from external objects entered the fiery and watery pores of the eyes.

Speaking about thinking, the philosopher argued that the blood around the heart is the center of human thought, and temperament depends on how balanced the four elements of existence are in it. Today, such conclusions seem naive, but the ideas of Empedocles and other ancient philosophers were an important stage in the history of the formation of psychology as a science.

Anaxagoras and Democritus

Unlike Empedocles, Anaxagoras viewed perception as the result of the interaction of opposites, believing that a person is able to recognize external heat thanks to the cold inside himself.

In the philosophical system of Anaxagoras, the dominant position was occupied by the concept of Reason, which was a controlling force that created the cosmos from chaos by rotating previously motionless masses. According to Anaxagoras, Reason is unique, original, eternal, autonomous, unlimited and self-sufficient, and is also part of the human being and acts as the leading force of the soul, which dominates the body and completely tunes its functions.

According to the philosopher Democritus, the soul was a network of spherical and mobile atoms that permeated the entire structure of the body. He also supported the previously formed idea that it was similar in substance to the cosmos.

Socrates

As one of the greatest thinkers of antiquity, Socrates saw value not in the celestial bodies, but in the vast universe of the human soul, and was the first to use the word "psyche" as the focus of reason and character. He defined knowledge as belief supported by rational explanation, and also believed that truth lies within each person and cannot be imposed by outside authority.

Using dialectics as his primary method of seeking knowledge, Socrates argued that the best way to understand one's inner world is to ask oneself questions and consciously reflect on the answers. It is easy to see that such an approach is the basis of modern introspection and an integral part of any psychotherapy.

Plato

Plato was a student of Socrates. Based on the philosophy of the teacher, he believed that all knowledge is given to a person from birth, and its comprehension is possible through introspective study of one’s inner experience. Plato was the founder of dualism in psychology, dividing man into two independent and antagonistic elements: a material, imperfect body and a soul containing pure knowledge.

Aristotle

Plato's dualism was to some extent overcome by his student Aristotle, who adhered to the idea of ​​​​the inseparability of soul and body.

He assumed that the mind is the result of mental activity, and assigned a large role to understanding the mental processes occurring within the individual, including the work of the senses, through which a person perceives the environment.

Aristotle made an important point about the purposes that our actions serve, thus anticipating ideas put forward in the 20th century by the eminent psychologists Alfred Adler and Edward Tolman. The ancient Greek philosopher argued that human actions are not meaningless, but always pursue some goal, so it is not easy to understand behavior without reference to this intention.

Aristotle also believed that every person strives to realize his or her potential. This thought has overtones of self-actualization, a concept later explored by psychiatrist Kurt Goldstein and psychologist Abraham Maslow.

As you can see, ancient philosophers made significant contributions to our understanding of the world and ourselves. Some of their ideas may seem strange today, but they formed the basis of many fields of knowledge, including psychology.

If after learning about these ideas you remain interested and continue to read, then you most likely have an inquisitive mind and love to learn. The need to gain knowledge is laudable! To make this process easier, we invite you to the online program “Best Self-Education Techniques”. There you will learn special techniques that will help you better assimilate any material you read, activate your thinking, and learn more productively and with interest.

Feel

Sensations are mental processes that are mental reflections of individual states and properties of the external world, arising from direct influence on the senses, a person’s subjective perception of external and internal stimuli with the participation of the nervous system. In psychology, sensations are usually understood as the process of reflecting various properties of objects in the surrounding world.

Sensations have the following properties:

• Modality is a qualitative indicator of sensations (for vision - color, saturation, for hearing - volume, timbre, etc.);
• Intensity is a quantitative indicator of sensations;
• Duration is a temporary indicator of sensations;
• Localization is a spatial indicator.

There are several classifications of sensations. The first of them belongs to Aristotle. They identified five basic senses: touch, hearing, sight, taste and smell. But in the 19th century, due to the increase in the types of sensations, the need for a more serious classification arose. Today there are the following classifications:

• Wundt's classification - depending on the mechanical, chemical and physical properties of stimuli;
• Sherrington classification - based on the location of receptors: exteroceptive, interoceptive and proprioceptive sensations;
• Head's classification - based on origin: protopathic and epicritic sensitivity.

Read more about sensations in the article “Sensation and Perception.”

Psychology in the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages period is often associated with witch hunts, superstition and demonic possession. In many ways this is true, but this is not the whole truth. Let's find out how things were in those days with the study of the mind and the development of psychological science.

In the Middle Ages, researchers sought to understand the connection between man and God, so theological views extended to psychology. Western European theologians held the idea that God was the creator, towering above all beings, and humans, being the pinnacle of his creation, possessed a soul that connected them with the divine. According to Christian beliefs, man was endowed with an inner spirit that was separate from the soul and body, reflecting the belief in the tripartite nature of God.

The most prominent representative of psychological thought of that time was Aurelius Augustine, who became the first philosopher who suggested that a person has an “inner self”: if he is one with it, then he is healthy, but internal disunity leads to the development of illnesses.

Augustine came to the following conclusions from various areas of psychology:

1. Babies are self-centered and socially unaware. Fear of punishment is a barrier to learning because it inhibits curiosity.
2. Memory is the most important aspect of the mind and the command point of mental functioning; all skills and habits depend on its state.
3. Thoughts and impulses suppressed during wakefulness can manifest themselves in sleep. At the same time, a Christian should not experience pangs of conscience, since it is impossible to sin in dreams.
4. All people experience an internal struggle between self and God. This conflict leads to chaos in the outside world.
5. Love is the basis of happiness, and the desire to possess what a person cannot have is the source of suffering. It is necessary to develop the ability for unconditional love, which changes the nature of thinking for the better.

Augustine also coined the term “original sin” and believed that all people are born sinners. This view influenced the church for several centuries and did much to hinder the study of reason until the Renaissance.

Memory

Memory is a mental function and a type of mental activity designed to preserve, accumulate and reproduce information. The ability to store data about events in the surrounding world and the body’s reactions for a long period of time, and use it.

The following memory processes are distinguished:

• Memorization;
• Storage;
• Play;
• Forgetting.

Memory is also divided into typologies:

• By sensory modality - visual, kinesthetic, sound, gustatory, pain;
• In terms of content – ​​emotional, figurative, motor;
• According to the organization of memorization - procedural, semantic, episodic;
• According to time characteristics – ultra-short-term, short-term, long-term;
• According to physiological characteristics - long-term and short-term;
• According to the availability of funds - non-mediated and indirect;
• According to the presence of a goal - involuntary and voluntary;
• According to the level of development - verbal-logical, figurative, emotional and motor.

You will find ways and techniques for developing memory in a separate training on our website.

Psychology in the Renaissance

The development of psychology as a science was greatly influenced by the progressive ideas of humanism that appeared during the Renaissance. His followers rejected belief in divinity as the source of human consciousness, arguing that humans were self-aware and self-determining. This concept stimulated scientific interest in anatomical and psychological research: inventor Leonardo da Vinci and others began conducting experiments to understand how people reason.

During the Renaissance there were many scientists who contributed to the development of modern psychological science, but the key figures were:

Rene Descartes

The French mathematician and philosopher Descartes believed that the body and mind are two separate entities that mutually influence each other. This concept is called "Cartesian dualism". Descartes considered the body to be a physical structure, like a machine, that can be studied and measured, while the mind is an entity that does not belong to the material world, but is the source of ideas and thoughts.

The philosopher was both a nativist and a rationalist: he believed that some human knowledge is innate, and that truth can be known through experience and the activity of the mind. He owns the saying: “I think, therefore I exist.”

Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes can be called the first social psychologist because he believed that understanding the psychology of people is necessary for effective government. Hobbes concluded that self-interest determines human behavior, for example, the desire for pleasure stimulates movement towards a desired object, and the fear of pain or disgust leads to avoidance of the object. Hobbes's doctrine is now known as psychological hedonism.

John Locke

Unlike Descartes, the philosopher Locke was of the opinion that the mind is a blank slate, devoid of any ideas, and all knowledge is a consequence of experience. He distinguished only two of its sources: sensation and reflection. By sensing, a person turns his senses to the world and passively receives information in the form of images, sounds, smells and touches. This leads to the birth of ideas such as “yellow”, “sour” or “soft”. In the second case, while thinking, a person turns his mind to himself and again passively receives such ideas as “thought”, “faith”, “doubt”, “will”.

George Berkeley

In part, the views of the British philosopher Berkeley coincided with Locke's idea that knowledge is the result of sensory experience. However, as Berkeley developed his theory, he came to a breathtaking conclusion: there is no world of physical objects, only a world of ideas. Those. the idea that material objects exist, and that by interacting with them, a person experiences certain sensations, is just an act of faith, a game of the mind.

David Hume

Being an ardent empiricist, the Scottish philosopher Hume believed that all knowledge comes from sensory experience, therefore the idea of ​​​​innate knowledge, as well as metaphysical concepts, are just sophisms. He questioned scientific, religious, and moral theses because they all relied on assumptions beyond experience and were therefore likely to be erroneous. Hume's skepticism led him to the conclusion that since the self cannot be observed, it is a kind of psychological chimera.

Well, we say “thank you” to the Renaissance, which became an important milestone in the history of the formation of psychology, and move on to the next stage.

Imagination

Imagination is the ability of a person’s consciousness to create and manage ideas, ideas and images. It plays a major role in mental processes such as planning, modeling, play, memory and creativity. This is the basis of a person’s visual-figurative thinking, which allows him to solve certain problems and understand the situation without practical intervention. A type of imagination is fantasy.

There is also a classification of imagination:

• By degree of direction - active and passive imagination;
• According to the results - reproductive and creative imagination;
• By type of images – abstract and concrete;
• According to the degree of volitional effort - unintentional and intentional;
• Techniques: typification, schematization, hyperbolization, agglutination.

Mechanisms of imagination:

• Typing;
• Accenting;
• Schematization;
• Agglutination;
• Hyperbolization.

Imagination is directly related to creativity. Sensitivity to emerging problems, ease of combining things, and observation skills contribute to finding creative solutions. The characteristics of imagination can be considered accuracy, originality, flexibility and fluency of thinking.

Read more about imagination in psychology in the article “Mental processes: types and brief description.” In addition, the lesson “Development of Creative Imagination” from our course on creative thinking is devoted to the problems of developing imagination.

Psychology as an independent discipline

The German physician Wilhelm Wundt is considered to be the father of psychology. He wrote the first textbook in the discipline, entitled Fundamentals of Physiological Psychology, which outlined the key connections between physiology, thinking and behavior, and in 1879 he founded the world's first experimental psychology laboratory.

Wundt's main research method was introspection, or self-observation, in which subjects focused on their own mental processes and reported these experiences to scientists. This approach is still used in neuroscience, although many experts criticize introspection for its lack of objectivity.

Thousands of students attended Wundt's lectures, hundreds received degrees in psychology, and Wundt's student Edward Titchener became the founder of structuralism.

O. Kasman

Otto Kasmann played a significant role in psychology, despite the fact that for a long period he was the main pastor and theologian in the German city of Stade. It was this public religious figure who called all psychic phenomena scientific objects. There is practically no information about this founder, since quite a lot of events happened over four centuries. However, Otto Kasmann left us valuable works called Psychologia anthropologica and Angelographia.

The theologian and activist made adjustments to the term “anthropology” and explained that the biological nature of man is directly related to the abstract world. Despite the fact that Kasman made an invaluable contribution to psychology, the pastor himself carefully studied anthropology and tried to draw a parallel between this teaching and philosophy.

Structuralism

Structuralists believed that the best way to understand how the mind functions was to break it down into its basic elements and examine each of them. Titchener concluded that there are three groups of mental components that form conscious experience:

1. Feel.
2. Images.
3. Attachments (feelings, emotions).

He used introspection (self-analysis) as the only method for studying these elements, believing that those processes that cannot be studied using this technique do not belong to the field of psychology. As a result, the structuralists' over-reliance on dubious and rigorous methodology led them to a fruitless dead end. Essentially, structuralism died with Titchener, and was replaced by an alternative approach known as functionalism.

Perception

Perception is a cognitive process that forms the subject’s picture of the world. A mental operation that reflects an object or phenomenon that affects the receptors of the sense organs. Perception is a complex function that determines the reception and transformation of information and forms a subjective image of an object for the subject. Through attention, a whole object is discovered, its special features and content are highlighted, and a sensory image is formed, i.e. comprehension occurs.

Perception is divided into four levels:

• Detection (perceptual action) – image formation;
• Discrimination (perceptual action) is the perception of the image itself;
• Identification (recognition action) - identification of an object with existing images;
• Identification (identification action) – categorization of an object.

Perception also has its own properties: structure, objectivity, apperception, selectivity, constancy, meaningfulness. More information about perception can be found in the articles “Sensation and Perception” and “Mental Processes: Types and Brief Description.”

Functionalism

Unlike structuralists, who sought to discover the components of consciousness and understand how they are organized, functionalists were more interested in how the mind works, what mental processes take place in it, and what role consciousness plays in human behavior.

One of the main representatives of functionalism was the outstanding psychologist and philosopher William James. He promoted the idea that reason and self-awareness served some practical purpose. Those. Functionalists viewed thinking and behavior in terms of how they help a person adapt to the environment, function successfully in the world, and achieve success. This approach to psychology was formed under the influence of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

Because the functionalist James had difficulty reconciling the objective nature of psychology with its focus on consciousness, which is not directly observable, over time he moved away from the scientific-experimental approach and delved into philosophical speculation. His works were written in an accessible, non-trivial, sometimes humorous and even colloquial language, for which Wundt criticized them. “This is literature. It’s beautiful, but it’s not psychology,” he said about James’s book “Principles of Psychology” [Fancher RE, Rutherford A. Pioneers of Psychology: A History., 2017].

Eventually, functionalism lost its dominance and was replaced by other psychological theories.

Attention

Attention is the selective perception of a particular object. It is expressed in how a person relates to an object. Attention can often be backed by such psychological characteristics of the individual as need, interest, focus, attitudes and others. Attention also determines how a person navigates the world around him and how this world is reflected in his psyche. The object of attention is always in the center of consciousness, and the rest is perceived more weakly. But the focus of attention tends to change.

The objects of attention are, as a rule, what has the greatest significance for a person at the moment. Maintaining attention for a long time on an object is called concentration.

Attention functions:

• Detection
• Selective attention
• Divided attention

Attention can be voluntary and involuntary. It differs in form into:

• External – aimed at the outside world;
• Internal – aimed at the inner world of a person;
• Motor

Properties of attention: direction, distribution, volume, intensity, concentration, switchability, stability.

All of them are closely related to human activities. And depending on its purpose, they can become more or less intense.

Read more about attention in our lesson “Attention and Memory” from the course on memory development.

The emergence of psychoanalysis

As you may have noticed, early psychology was focused on the study of the conscious mind. But in the late 19th century, the Austrian physician Sigmund Freud theorized about the importance of the unconscious, thereby undermining faith in the rational nature of the mind.

According to Freud, behavior is largely determined by past experiences (including early childhood memories) and internal impulses that a person is not even aware of. The unconscious is formed through repression, a process in which anxious experiences and repressed feelings move from the conscious mind into a reservoir, becoming part of the unconscious. To explore its contents, the father of psychoanalysis relied on hypnosis and dreams in an attempt to decipher the hidden meanings within them.

Although Freud's theory caused an avalanche of criticism in its time and is still perceived with skepticism, its influence on psychology is undeniable. We don’t know whether Freud was right, but we are sure that understanding the basics of psychology is simply necessary. What motivates us? Why do we act this way and not otherwise? How to understand the motives of other people's behavior? Our free online course “Human Psychology” will help clarify the situation. Read and be amazed at how beautiful this science is and how deep the human psyche is.

Speech

Speech is a form of communication between people through linguistic structures. In this process, thoughts are formed and formulated using language, and the received speech information is perceived and understood. Speech is a form of existence of human language, because. speech is language in action.

Language (speech) performs the following functions:

• A tool for intellectual activity;
• Method of communication;
• A way of existence, as well as the assimilation and transfer of experience.

Speech is the most important part of human activity, which contributes to knowledge of the world around us and the transfer of knowledge and experience to others. Being a means of expressing thoughts, it is one of the main mechanisms of human thinking. It depends on the form of communication and is thus divided into oral (speaking/listening) and written (writing/reading).

Speech has the following properties:

• Content – ​​the number and significance of expressed aspirations, feelings and thoughts;
• Clarity – correctness;
• Expressiveness – emotional coloring and richness of language;
• Effectiveness is the influence exerted on other people, their feelings, thoughts, emotions, etc.

You can read more about speaking and writing in our trainings on public speaking and writing.

Briefly about the history of Russian psychology

In our country, psychology as an independent discipline began to develop in the 19th century. Among the many talented scientists, we will highlight only a few key figures:

Lev Semenovich Vygotsky

Vygotsky believed that the formation of habits and behavior occurs as a result of sociocultural interaction. He assigned an important role in the process of human learning to play, believing that it helps the child learn cultural norms and social skills, as well as control his own behavior.

Vygotsky's most famous theory in the field of psychology is the zone of proximal development. It illustrates the child's learning process and suggests that children learn to solve more complex problems with the help of knowledgeable adults, mastering new things under their guidance.

Alexander Romanovich Luria

Luria argued that mental processes and conscious activity of a person occur thanks to the work of three units of the brain:

• wake-up control unit;
• block for receiving, analyzing and storing information;
• programming, regulation and activity testing unit.

Interesting fact: if you analyze the work of the Soviet scientist, you can find similarities between his theory and the popular (later) hypothesis of the triune brain of neurophysiologist Paul MacLean.

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov

In 1904, Pavlov received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He conducted experiments on dogs and is famous for the discovery of classical conditioning. The scientist discovered that a conditioned stimulus (bell), which was associated in dogs with the type of food, can itself cause a conditioned reflex (salivation).

Pavlov was not a psychologist, but he suggested that conditioning could cause certain behaviors not only in dogs, but also in humans. He turned out to be right. His discovery had a significant impact on the development of the psychological school of behaviorism.

Representation

In the process of representation, mental reconstruction of images of phenomena or objects that do not currently affect the senses occurs. There are two meanings of this concept. The first denotes the image of a phenomenon or object that was previously perceived, but is not perceived now. The second describes the reproduction of images itself. As mental phenomena, ideas can be somewhat similar to perception, hallucinations and pseudohallucinations, or different from them.

Views are classified in several ways:

• According to leading analyzers: visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile and temperature representations;
• According to the degree of generalization - single, general and schematized;
• By origin - based on perception, thinking or imagination;
• According to the degree of volitional efforts - involuntary and voluntary.

Representations have the following properties: generality, fragmentation, clarity, instability.

Read more about ideas in psychology in our article “Mental processes: types and brief characteristics.”

Behaviorism

At the beginning of the 20th century, scientists' approach to psychology changed dramatically. They abandoned the emphasis on the conscious and unconscious, directing their attention to the study of behavior. This is how behaviorism appeared. The goal of its proponents was to study only completely objective and observable processes: no introspection and no discussion of mental concepts.

One of the most ardent proponents of behaviorism was the American psychologist John Watson, who, adhering to a purely scientific approach, sought to study behavior without making any assumptions beyond the scope of experience available to the senses.

Watson was of the opinion that the context and environment in which a person finds himself completely determines his behavior. This idea was later developed by Berres psychologist Frederick Skinner. He introduced the concept of operant conditioning and demonstrated in rats how punishment and reinforcement affect behavior.

Thinking

In general psychology there are many definitions of the thinking process. According to one of the most popular definitions:

Thinking is the highest stage of human information processing and the process of establishing connections between phenomena and objects of the external world.

It is the highest level of human cognition, as a process of reflection of the surrounding reality in his brain.

Thinking is divided into:

• Abstract-logical;
• Visual-figurative;
• Specific subject;
• Visually effective.

And the main forms of thinking are:

• Concept – thoughts that highlight and generalize phenomena and objects;
• Judgment - denial or affirmation of something;
• Inference - conclusion.

These and other components of the thinking process are discussed in our logical thinking training.

Humanistic psychology

Behaviorism and psychoanalysis remained dominant until the second half of the 20th century, when a new school of thought emerged known as humanistic psychology. And it was born thanks to the American psychologist Carl Rogers, who firmly believed in the power of free will and self-determination. Humanists, led by Rogers , argued that:

• A person’s behavior is primarily influenced by his perception of the world around him;
• free will and conscious choice exist;
• the need to realize one’s potential (self-actualization) is natural for every person;
• Every experience is unique, so psychologists must take an individual approach to each client.

American psychologist Abraham Maslow made an important contribution to the development of humanistic psychology. He believed that Freud's psychoanalytic theory and Skinner's behaviorist theory were too focused on the pathological aspects of behavior. Therefore, Maslow delved into the study of what brings people happiness: motivation, satisfaction of needs and leads to self-realization.

The result of his research was a theory called the “Hierarchy of Needs,” which proposed that human behavior is determined by five categories of needs. Once basic needs are satisfied, motivation to achieve higher-level needs appears.

Behavioral psychology maintained its monopoly until the cognitive revolution occurred in the late 1950s.

S. Rubinstein

Sergei Leonidovich Rubinstein is one of the founders of a new school in psychology. He worked at the beginning of the 20th century at Moscow State University, was a teacher and at the same time conducted research. Sergei Leonidovich Rubinstein's main contribution was made to educational psychology, logic and history. He studied in detail personality types, their temperament and emotions. It was Rubinstein who created the well-known principle of determinism, which meant that all human actions and actions are directly related to the external (surrounding) world. Thanks to his research, he was awarded numerous medals, orders and prizes.

Sergei Leonidovich described his theories in detail in books, which were subsequently put into circulation. These include “The Principle of Creative Amateur Performance” and “Problems of Psychology in the Works of Karl Marx.” In his second work, Rubinstein considered society as a single whole that follows a single path. To do this, the scientist had to conduct a deep analysis of the Soviet people and compare them with foreign psychology.

Sergei Leonidovich also became the founder of the study of personalities, but, unfortunately, he was unable to complete the work. However, his contribution significantly advanced the development of Russian psychology and strengthened its status as a science.

Cognitive psychology

The main ideas of the cognitive revolution were that the human mind works like a computer and can be studied as a self-sufficient logical system, regardless of social, cultural, situational factors, and without reference to its physical basis.

The birth date of cognitive psychology is considered to be September 11, 1956. On that day, prominent scientists George Miller, Noam Chomsky, Allen Newell and Herbert Simon gave presentations at a symposium on information theory held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge).

Linguistics professor Noam Chomsky argued that the mental structure of language is based on universal, innate principles that are transmitted genetically, and the ability to learn it cannot be explained by reinforcement alone, thereby criticizing Skinner's behavioral theory.

American psychologist George Miller also studied language; his book “Language and Communication” became the starting point in the emergence of psycholinguistics. In addition, Miller studied human memory abilities, putting forward the theory that most people can remember no more than 7 ± 2 pieces of information using their short-term memory. Miller also found that information is remembered better when it is broken down into chunks.

In 1956, cognitive psychologist Allen Newell, together with political scientist, economist and sociologist Herbert Simon, developed the first working computer program that simulated human ability to solve complex problems. She could prove theorems just like a talented mathematician.

Since then, cognitive psychology has developed rapidly. Thanks to brain imaging tools such as functional magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography, researchers are now able to study its inner workings. And with the help of genetics, modern psychologists seek to understand how physiology and heredity influence a person’s psychological state.

Modern cognitive psychology studies mental processes related to memory, intelligence, language, attention, perception, imagination, problem solving, and learning ability. By the way, you can read more about the history of the development of educational psychology in our article. And if you want to understand the peculiarities of your thinking, learn to solve complex life problems without fuss and stress, improve your analytical skills, memory and logic, we invite you to the online program “Cognitive Science”.

In ancient times, psychology was a kind of mixture of magic and religion. Early, seemingly absurd, attempts to understand the structure of the human soul and the motives of human behavior eventually grew into a scientific discipline. The history of psychology does not end here; it continues to evolve, helping people answer the most important question: “Who am I?”

Friends, we wish you to be at peace with yourself and, if necessary, not to neglect the help of such a magnificent science as psychology. Good luck!

By the way:

We also recommend reading:

• Storytelling
• Psycholinguistics as a tool for in-depth study of speech and language
• Wundt's method of studying psychology
• The problem of demarcation of scientific knowledge
• Where to start studying psychology
• Empiricism in modern philosophy in simple words
• Agnosticism as freedom of knowledge
• 7 Great Philosophy Books
• Cognitive psychology and cognitive psychotherapy
• “Have you seen it” or Where does the deja vu effect come from?
• Materialism and idealism in philosophy

Key words: 1LLL, 1Cognitive science

R. Gocklenius

Rudolf Gocklenius is an important link in psychology, despite the fact that he was a doctor of physical, mathematical and medical sciences. The scientist lived in the 16th and 17th centuries and during his long life he created many important works. Like Otto Kasmann, Goklenius began to use the word “psychology” in everyday life.

An interesting fact, but Goklenius was Kasman’s personal teacher. After receiving his doctorate, Rudolf began to study philosophy and psychology in detail. That is why today we are familiar with the name of Goclenius, because he was a representative of neo-scholasticism, which combined both religion and philosophical teachings. Well, since the scientist lived and worked in Europe, he spoke on behalf of the Catholic Church, which created a new direction of scholasticism - neo-scholasticism.

Will

Will is the ability of a person to consciously control his psyche and actions. The achievement of set goals and results can be considered a manifestation of will. It has many positive qualities that influence the success of human activity. The main volitional qualities are considered to be persistence, courage, patience, independence, focus, determination, initiative, endurance, courage, self-control and others. Will encourages action, allows a person to manage desires and realize them, develops self-control and strength of character.

Signs of an act of will:

• Efforts of will in many cases are aimed at overcoming one’s weaknesses;
• Performing any action without receiving pleasure from this process;
• Availability of an action plan;
• Putting effort into doing something.

Read more about will in psychology in the articles “Mental processes: types and brief description” and “Will and volitional actions.”

Emotions

Emotions are mental processes that reflect the subject’s attitude to possible or real situations. Emotions should not be confused with such emotional processes as feelings, affects and moods. To date, emotions have been poorly studied and are understood differently by many experts. For this reason, the definition given above cannot be considered the only correct one.

Characteristics of emotions are:

• Tone (valence) – positive or negative emotions;
• Intensity – strong or weak emotions;
• Stenicity – influence on human activity: sthenic (inducing action) and asthenic (reducing activity);
• Content – ​​reflects different facets of the meaning of situations that arouse emotions.

Emotions in most cases manifest themselves in physiological reactions, because the latter depend on them. But today there is debate about the fact that intentional physiological states can cause certain emotions.

These and other issues of understanding and managing emotions are discussed in our acting training.

Relevance of the problem

Modern applied psychology considers emotional stress to be the most harmful, because it can lead the mind to a dangerous form of disorder. Every year a person faces a lot of difficulties, and psychological preparation for him becomes simply an irreplaceable factor. For this purpose, preventive measures have been developed to help a person navigate difficult tasks, such as accidents, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters. Help in such difficult tests is provided by the concept of psychology of extreme situations.

Typical shock situations are considered to be:

• spatial disorientation;
• monotony - an unchanging state for a long time;
• temporary disorientation;
• loneliness;
• constant risk to life;
• restriction of information;
• lack of autonomy.

Motivation

Motivation is the drive to perform an action. This process controls human behavior and determines its direction, stability, activity and organization. Thanks to motivation, a person can satisfy his needs.

There are several types of motivation:

• External – due to external conditions;
• Internal – due to internal circumstances (content of activity);
• Positive – based on positive incentives;
• Negative – based on negative incentives;
• Sustainable – determined by human needs;
• Unstable - requires additional incentive.

Motivation can be of the following types:

• From something (basic type);
• To something (basic type);
• Individual;
• Group;
• Cognitive.

There are certain motives that in most cases guide people:

• Self-affirmation;
• Identification with other people;
• Power;
• Self-development;
• Achieving something;
• Social significance;
• The desire to be in the company of certain people;
• Negative factors.

Motivation issues are discussed in more detail in the fourth lesson of this course, as well as in the article “How Motivation Works.”

Subject and methods of study

Psychology is an independent science that studies the patterns, mechanisms, and facts of mental life. If we talk about history, it can tell how theories, main directions were gradually revealed to the human mind.

Tasks of psychology:

1. The study of personality, its individual development in relation to science itself.
2. Study of various laws of the psyche.
3. Study of social, biological properties of personality.

The methods used by researchers in the history of psychology differ from those used by general psychology. Basic techniques:

1. Analysis of scientific references. Researchers determine which historical documents and theories appeared in a certain time period and how they influenced the development of society.
2. Study of archival materials. Finding ancient sources of information, deciphering them, providing notes and footnotes.
3. Interviewing - studying the biography of a famous scientist. To do this, he is asked a series of pre-written questions that allow him to obtain information about the person without scaring him away.
4. Categorical analysis. Taking into account certain conditions in society that contribute to the development of certain concepts and schools.
5. Systematization of scientific statements, their decoding depending on the discovery made, the surrounding situation at a certain point in time.
6. Theoretical reconstruction. Description of scientific systems of the past, their analysis.
7. Autobiographical, biographical method of study. A method designed to recreate the atmosphere in which certain scientists lived.
8. Historical-functional method. An analysis of the ideas expressed by scientists in different time periods is carried out.
9. Historical and genetic study. Study of the development of science in certain time periods, factors influencing the emergence of new discoveries.

The history of general psychology is an important science, in the study of which the following sources are used:

• psychiatry, medicine;
• fiction;
• military practice;
• art in its various manifestations;
• practices of education, training;
• papers written by psychologists in the past;
• historical materials;
• ethnography, anthropology.

The methods by which historical and psychological research is carried out are of three types - planning, interpretation, evidence.

Application of psychological knowledge

In general, understanding yourself and people and being able to influence them is important in a variety of areas, which is why psychology can be different: children’s, family, pedagogical, corporate, military, and the like.

The principle here is simple. If you know how to name and describe your experience or some other mental activity, you are aware of it, understand it, and even master it to some extent.

First aid

It is very important to be able to become a psychologist for someone in need at the right time, because a specialist is not always nearby. The problems of modern psychology affect everyone, but sometimes not everyone wants to accept their condition or believe in the emotional disturbances of a loved one, or see their changes in their thinking mechanism. You should not close your eyes, if there are prerequisites for deviations from the norm, you need to take measures:

• in case of apathy, try to awaken interest in every little thing;
• Having noticed hallucinations and a delusional state, take him to a quiet place, do not argue, remove dangerous objects;
• when a person is in a stupor, the points on the forehead located above the eyes should be massaged;
• in an aggressive state, it is necessary to let emotions spill out regarding an object that is safe for a person;
• if overexcited, take him away from people and talk calmly;
• crying subsides well while talking about experiences;
• fear goes away if a person has a massage of tense parts of the body and at the same time conducts a dialogue;
• a person in hysterics must be brought to his senses by an unexpected action: break something, hit him on the cheek or shout, and then put the victim to rest.

Such techniques in teaching psychology will help everyone be prepared in shock situations to more calmly cope with stress and maintain their nerves.

Transform yourself!

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Simply space

Space psychology studies the psychological characteristics of an astronaut’s activity, as well as factors, ways and methods of organizing his work: weightlessness, sensory deprivation, preparation for flight, etc. Similar in tasks and functional features is aviation psychology, which is associated with extreme working conditions and is characterized by complexity performed actions. The group of related and united by common parameters also includes engineering, educational, social and medical psychology.

In order to prepare a person for space flight as much as possible, approximate conditions, situations, and problems that may arise outside the earth’s surface are first created.

Cosmic psychology helps prepare a person for possible tense circumstances and stress, which allows him to quickly navigate in non-standard conditions. The young branch of natural science at this stage cannot fully manifest itself as a science; its full development is expected in the future. But it faces serious and complex tasks today, since on the basis of useful data obtained over the years, using existing experience, it is necessary to learn how to make a reasonable forecast of the characteristics and capabilities of human mental activity within the framework of space flight. Drawing up a cosmonaut's professional profile requires a huge amount of research and experimentation.