Basic definitions of a systematic approach in psychology. A systematic approach to the description of mental phenomena
The principle of consistency (B.F. Lomov)
A system is a set of interrelated objects that form a certain integrity, in which, as a result of their interaction, new, integrative properties arise that are absent in these objects. Man is the most complex system known to science, with unique characteristics and diverse qualities. He is simultaneously a physical, biological and social being. In this regard, all mental phenomena should be studied in unity with physical, biological and social phenomena (but not reduced to them).
Systems approach suggests that the study of all these qualities should not take place separately, but in a system, be aimed at understanding the relationship and mutual influence of all components.
A systematic approach involves considering all mental phenomena in several ways:
1) as a certain qualitative unit, as a system that has its own specific patterns (identification and study of mental processes);
2) as part of its species-generic macrostructure, the laws of which it obeys (the study of the psyche in the context of all other forms of reflection);
3) in terms of microsystems, the laws of which it also obeys (the study of biophysical and biochemical processes);
4) in terms of its external interactions (the study of the psyche in connection with the conditions of its formation and development, i.e. in the context of human life).
Methodological foundations of modern psychology
To general theory, or the methodological foundations of science include the following concepts:
paradigm
principle
Paradigm (gr. paradeigma - example, sample) theoretical and methodological structure adopted by a certain scientific community, which determines the way of setting and solving research problems
Having a paradigm methodological basis unity of the scientific community (schools, directions), which greatly facilitates professional communication. The paradigm takes precedence over other means of regulating scientific activity and combines logical-atomic components (laws, standards, rules) and the total scientific activity into a single functioning integrity.
AT last years In domestic psychology, the humanitarian paradigm is increasingly spreading as a general approach to man and a research strategy in certain branches of psychology, in contrast to the natural-scientific paradigm that dominated before. The specificity of humanitarian knowledge is that:
1) The object of study in the humanities are spiritual and cultural phenomena, i.e. phenomena, one way or another connected with a person and society, and expressed with the help of texts.
2) The direct subject of humanitarian knowledge is the comprehension (interpretation) of the deep content of the text.
3) The object and subject of humanitarian knowledge determines a number of specific features of the latter:
a) axiological: the values of the researcher determine the content of interpretation schemes
b) reflexivity: the results obtained through the study can change the behavior of the object of study
c) the intention of the researcher to understand that a dialogue, collision, conflict of two active subjects - the researcher and the subject is allowed
d) subjectivity or subjective form of results
e) the fundamental impossibility of extracting texts from the world of culture, outside of which they lose their significance
f) the need to establish a relationship with the object
g) study of single, unique and unrepeatable objects
4) Based on the specifics of humanitarian knowledge, from the fact that the content of the text is hidden from the researcher, interpretive methods of research come to the fore.
Methods of humanitarian psychology - methods of describing and understanding human nature: included observation, self-reports, introspection, biographical method, conversation, clinical examination, analysis of the results (products) of activity, psychoanalytic method.
The paradigm is:
sample for research
what problems and how to investigate them,
set research problems and solve them.
(for example: natural science paradigm - mass, reaction research. Humanitarian paradigm - each person is unique, explore - values, meaning of life, unique single case)
Paradigm - what I will explore and by what methods.
Categories
most general concepts which reflect the properties and regularities of the phenomena of objective reality and determine the nature of the scientific and theoretical thinking of the era
1. Reflection- category of materialistic philosophy. This category allows you to determine the place of the psyche in the general interaction of the phenomena of the surrounding world. It is not enough to attribute a mental phenomenon to the category of reflection - it is necessary to identify its specificity, the difference between mental reflection and other levels and forms. The highest form of reflection - consciousness.
Solving tasks for identifying the specifics of mental reflection requires studying activities man, the real being of mental reflection.
From the understanding of activity as a socio-historical category emerges the need to investigate not only the individual, but also social activities - communication. But neither activity nor communication in themselves have any psychological characteristics. Has them public subject activities and communication personality.
Principles
Principle
(lat.) - the basis, in logic - the main position, the starting point, the premise of any theory, concept.
The principle of psychology is a concisely formulated theory of psychology, reflecting its regularity, summarizing its past experience and becoming the initial requirement for further research and the construction of a further theory.
Basic principles of psychology
1) Principle of determinism
: the current state of the psyche and behavior of the individual is determined (conditioned) by previous events of his life, and the whole variety of phenomena of human life that can be observed is determined by the interaction of two groups of factors: heredity and the surrounding biosocial environment
2) The principle of unity of consciousness and activity:
the psyche, consciousness, personality develop in inseparable unity with activity - a complex, specific human form of purposeful activity.
3) Principle of development (historicism) or genetic principle
: during the transition of mental phenomena from one level of organization to another, with the emergence of new forms of mental phenomena and processes, they change, which has a natural character.
4)System principle:
phenomena of reality must be investigated in their dependence on the whole that they create, while acquiring the properties of the whole.
5) System-structural principle
6) The principle of personal approach
Principles are deeply connected with regularities and laws.
Laws of psychology
regularity - an objectively existing, repeatable causal relationship of certain phenomena in their interaction, which, if it is sufficiently well known, is reflected in the formulation of the law.
A psychological law is a still insufficiently disclosed psychological law, which is provided for, but cannot yet be precisely formulated.
The laws of psychology have the form of tendencies. The variability of the manifestations of psychological laws does not negate the fact that something common is expressed in them, but this common acts as a tendency.
Types of laws in psychology
Relatively elementary dependencies (for example, the basic psychophysical law);
laws that reveal the dynamics of mental processes in time (the sequence of phases of the process of perception, decision-making, etc.);
laws characterizing the structure of mental phenomena ( modern ideas about memory)
Laws that reveal the dependence of the effectiveness of behavior on the level of its mental regulation (the Yerkes-Dodson law, which reveals the relationship between the level of motivation and the success of performing behavioral tasks; laws that characterize levels of performance, stressful conditions);
laws describing the process of a person's mental development on the scale of his life;
laws that reveal the foundations of various mental properties of a person - the laws of neurodynamics (neurophysiological foundations of temperament);
· laws about the relationship between different levels of organization of mental processes and properties (the laws of the relationship between different levels of organization in the structure of personality).
A purely scientific approach requires not only to define an objective law, but also to outline the scope of its operation, as well as the conditions under which it can operate, its limitations.
13. Current situation reforming higher education in Russia
· Implementation of the "Bachelor-Master" system. The system of specialty that existed in Soviet times as a matrix for obtaining higher education included, as a rule, 5 years of full-time education and 6 years of part-time education. The undergraduate system introduced today in accordance with the Bologna Convention prescribes the transition to a four-year system of education. As a result, the basic training courses available in the educational program are cut to a minimum and are often set to teaching in the junior courses of the institute, which has a very significant effect on their assimilation by university students. Disciplines that have a special and narrow-profile nature, or are served interspersed with basic academic subjects, or have a fragmentary-mosaic character. Such an educational matrix naturally forms half-educated specialists who are unable to think globally or perform a variety of practical tasks. The situation is no better in the second stage of modern higher education – magistracy. As a rule, the specializations that undergraduates should subsequently follow are hastily invented within the framework of specialized departments, after which a certain system of special courses taught by other departments (and formulated by them) is “knocked out” for them. As a result, a certain chaotic discord "on a given topic" is created in the undergraduate's head. If we take into account that many undergraduates do not have a basic specialized education, the picture we describe becomes even more vivid.
· Introduction of a point-rating system for evaluating student performance. This measure, although not spelled out in the existing Russian legislation, is being very actively implemented by educational departments in studying proccess. In the absence of a unified centralized system for assessing the knowledge and progress of students (and such a system is hardly possible to develop), each educational institution decides on the issue of scoring at its own discretion. On practice, seminar session, which, by definition, should take place discussions and creative discussions of the material covered, is rapidly turning into a "race for points", when an individual student, afraid of not being admitted to the session, tries to be sure to have time to say two words so that, God forbid, not to leave without earned figure. Thus, the holding of seminars acquires a formalist character, in which creative component obviously killed.
14. Multi-level system of education and features of the construction of psychological courses
The purpose of the multi-level system of higher education is to expand opportunities high school in meeting the diverse cultural and educational needs of the individual and society. Previously, as you remember, in the first place was society, social order. Now, as can be seen already from the Law of the Russian Federation on Education (see section 2.1), the personality and its interests come to the fore.
The essence of the multilevel education system in our country is that it represents a set of basic educational programs of various levels, duration and purpose.
A multi-level education system enhances flexibility of general cultural, professional and scientific training of specialists, taking into account the changing needs of a market economy. It takes into account domestic and foreign experience in the development of higher education and the international classification of education adopted by UNESCO, meets the requirements of our time to form a single educational space within the entire world community.
Through the efforts of a group of scientists headed by the State Committee of the Russian Federation for Higher Education, the State Educational Standard for Higher Education was developed, and by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. vocational education based on a layered system.
The first level includes two years of study in educational programs of bachelors and vocational training in the volume of secondary specialized educational institution with an average duration of study of 3-3.5 years. Individuals who successfully complete a two-year bachelor's program are issued a certificate of incomplete higher education, and they can be enrolled in a university for mastering the university's bachelor's program. Persons who have mastered the entire program of the 1st level are issued a diploma of incomplete higher education and are assigned a qualification according to the list of specialties of secondary vocational education.
Programs of the 2nd level provide an opportunity for individuals to master the system of scientific knowledge about man and society, history and culture already within the framework of the university, to receive fundamental natural science training and the foundations of professional knowledge in areas. These programs provide basic higher education. Persons who have completed Level 2 programs are prepared to continue their education in Level 3 educational and professional programs or independently master the professional knowledge and skills necessary to adapt to work. The term of study at the university under the 2nd level programs is at least 2 years for those who successfully completed two years of college education under the 1st level program, and 4 years - on the basis of general secondary education. Graduates of universities who have received basic higher education are issued a diploma of higher education with a bachelor's degree and an indication of the direction of study. Persons who have studied at least 4 years in the university under the programs of the 2nd level, receive higher education, and they are awarded the academic degree of engineering.
Bachelors can continue their studies at the 3rd level program in the master's program (1-2 years) or become a graduate with a complete higher education. The Master of Science program is predominantly research-based. Upon completion, a diploma of higher education is issued with a master's degree.
Those who complete the graduate training program are also issued a diploma of higher education with the assignment of qualifications in the specialty received.
Graduates of the university who have completed any educational program of the 3rd level are eligible for admission to graduate school, and the master's examination in a foreign language is counted as entrance examination to graduate school.
The multilevel system of higher education has touched both the structure and the content of education. In 1992, a new model of university education was developed, in which "knowledge, skills and abilities are not considered as the goal of education, but as a means of developing the student's personality." A modern university graduate of any level of education should be able to adapt to the emerging conditions of a market economy, be flexible in his professional activity. He must be familiar with the latest technologies be able to use a computer, databases and data banks that summarize the entire world experience. But most importantly, over the years of study at the university, he must develop the traits creative personality, to form the skills of a researcher, the ability to find and highlight the essential, to anticipate and prevent or minimize emergency situations, to develop or take into account environmentally friendly technologies.
15. State standard of education in the direction of "Psychology", its purpose
Professional qualification requirements.
The specialist must be able to solve tasks corresponding to his qualifications:
based on the accumulated theoretical knowledge, skills research work and information retrieval to be able to navigate in modern scientific concepts, competently set and solve research and practical problems;
participate in practical applied activities, master the basic methods of psychodiagnostics, psychocorrection and psychological counseling;
· possess a complex of knowledge and methods of teaching psychology in higher educational institutions.
1. In accordance with the acquired knowledge, skills and abilities, a specialist is ready to participate in solving complex problems in the system of the national economy, education, healthcare, management, social assistance to the population and can carry out the following types of professional activities:
o diagnostic and corrective;
o expert and advisory;
o educational;
o research;
o cultural and educational.
Specific content vocational training a specialist is determined by the educational program of a higher educational institution and should include theoretical training, laboratory workshops and practices.
Opportunities for continuing education.
A psychologist (specialist) who has mastered the basic educational program of higher professional education in the specialty 020400 “Psychology” is prepared to continue his education in graduate school.
2. General requirements to the main educational program for preparing a graduate in the specialty 020400 "Psychology".
The task of the main educational program for training a specialist is to combine professional education with the development of a humanitarian culture, the formation of a spiritually rich, intellectually equipped, socially responsible personality.
3.1. Main educational program training of a specialist is developed on the basis of this state educational standard and includes academic plan, programs academic disciplines, programs of educational and production practices.
3.2. The requirements for the mandatory minimum content of the main educational program for training a specialist to the conditions for its implementation and the timing of its development are determined by this state educational standard.
3.3. The main educational program for training a specialist consists of disciplines of the federal component, disciplines of the national-regional (university) component, disciplines of the student's choice, as well as optional disciplines. Disciplines and courses of the student's choice in each cycle should substantially supplement the disciplines specified in the federal component of the cycle.
3.4. The main educational program for the training of a specialist should provide for the student to study the following cycles of disciplines and the final state certification:
GSE cycle - general humanitarian and socio-economic disciplines;
the EN cycle - general mathematical and natural science disciplines;
OPD cycle - general professional disciplines;
cycle DS - disciplines of specialization;
FTD - electives.
The systems approach is a kind of reaction to the stormy and long process of differentiation in science. But this does not mean that a systematic approach is synonymous with integration. A systematic approach is the unity of integration and differentiation with the dominance of the unification trend.
The world we live in is one. Its unity consists in materiality. All phenomena and processes of reality are interconnected and interdependent. The objective forms of existence of the material substrate are space and time. The most important feature of our world is the uneven distribution of matter, energy and information (diversity) in space and time.
This unevenness is manifested in the fact that the components of the material substrate ( elementary particles, atoms, molecules, etc.) are grouped, combined into relatively isolated in space and time aggregates. The process of unification has a dialectical character, it is opposed by the process of separation, disintegration. But the fact of the existence of associations at all levels of the organization of matter speaks of the dominance of integration over disintegration. In inanimate nature, integration factors are physical fields, in living objects - genetic, morphological and other interactions, in society - production, economic and other relations.
The principle of universal interdependence of phenomena fixes the fact of combining individual objects of nature into larger formations, which is found at all levels of its organization. Therefore, this principle can be considered as one of the methodological foundations of a systematic approach.
A systematic study involves a certain choice of an object and a formulation of the problem in terms of a systematic approach.
The general tasks of systems research are the analysis and synthesis of systems. In the process of analysis, the system is isolated from the environment, its composition, structures, functions, integral characteristics, as well as system-forming factors and relationships with the environment are determined. In the process of synthesis, a model of a real system is created, the level of an abstract description of the system rises, the completeness of its composition and structures, the bases of the description, the laws of dynamics and behavior are determined.
The system approach is applied to sets of objects, individual objects and their components, as well as to properties or integral characteristics of objects. Descriptions of objects as systems - system descriptions - perform the same functions as other other descriptions: explanatory and predictive. But their main function is to integrate information about the object.
The systems approach is not an end in itself. In each case, its use should give a real, quite tangible effect. System descriptions serve as a means of solving many theoretical and applied problems facing psychologists today. In theoretical terms, this is the integration and systematization of psychological knowledge, the elimination of redundancy in the accumulated information and the reduction in the volume of description, the identification of invariants of psychological knowledge, overcoming the shortcomings of the local approach, and the reduction of subjectivism in the interpretation of mental phenomena. The system approach allows one to see gaps in knowledge about a given object, to detect their incompleteness, to determine the tasks of scientific research, in some cases - by interpolation and extrapolation - to predict the properties of the missing parts of the description.
In applied terms, these are the tasks of psychodiagnostics, designing and managing automated systems, increasing the efficiency of the learning process, and improving psychological education. System Methods allow to present educational information in a more active form for perception and memorization, to give a more holistic description of the subject of science and, for the first time in the presentation of psychology, to move from an active path to an inductive-deductive one.
A number of methodological principles have been developed in engineering psychology to successfully solve these problems. Their implementation in practice helps to increase the effectiveness of engineering and psychological research and development. The main of these principles are the following.
The principle of humanization of labor. When solving the most important practical issues, including such as increasing productivity, quality and efficiency of labor, domestic engineering psychology proceeds primarily from the requirements that a person places on technology and organization of labor, from its capabilities and characteristics of activity. The principle of humanization also emphasizes the leading, creative role of man in the labor process. Opposite to it is the principle of simplification (simplification), which is widespread in foreign engineering psychology. When implementing this principle, they strive for the maximum simplification of human activity, all creative elements are emasculated from it, and the person himself is reduced to an appendage of the machine, remaining the performer of only mechanical actions and movements.
The principle of the active operator. In the general case, the activity of a person is determined by his human nature, by the fact that a person in the process of work necessarily has in mind the ultimate goal of his interactions with the machine; by the fact that he not only processes information, makes a decision, manipulates the controls, but necessarily acts, has his own personal relationship to the actions performed, actively strives for the goal. Therefore, according to the principle of an active operator, when determining the role of a person in the MCS, it is very important that he is not just an appendage of the machine, but performs active functions. This is due to the fact that with the passive position of the operator, his transition to active actions requires a significant expenditure of effort, but the efficiency of his work may turn out to be low. With the active position of the operator, the efficiency of his activity reaches a higher value, and his psychophysiological costs turn out to be smaller. It is necessary already at the design stage of the MMS to determine the nature of future activities, its psychological structure, functions and operator activity level. From this follows the following principle, which can be defined as the principle of activity design.
The principle of activity design. The question of designing activities was raised in 1967. . The project of activity should act as the basis for solving all other tasks of building the HMS. In the same way that technical devices are designed during the development of the HMS, it is necessary to design the activities of the person who will use these devices. Moreover, these devices themselves used in the HMS (systems for displaying information, communication, entering information into a machine, etc.) should be developed on the basis of and taking into account the project of the future activity of the human operator. They cannot be considered on their own, regardless of the person. Technical devices should be approached as means of human conscious activity.
Sequence principle. According to it, the fulfillment of engineering and psychological requirements should not be a one-time event for creating a project for the operator's activity, but should be ensured at all stages of the existence of the MCS: design, production and operation. In other words, the project of the operator's activity should be not only the basis for building the MMS, but also the basis for its correct application for its intended purpose, including such issues as training and training of operators, organization of their work, monitoring and evaluation of the results of their activities, etc. Implementation In practice, the principle of succession makes it possible to develop and implement a unified system of engineering and psychological support for the MCM at all stages of its existence.
The principle of complexity. The implementation of this principle means the need to develop interdisciplinary links between engineering psychology and its interaction with other sciences of man and technology. This principle is based on the ideas of B.G. Ananiev, V.M. Bekhterev and others about the complex study of man and human factor. Emphasizing the leading, paramount importance of psychological problems, it must be borne in mind that only it does not exhaust all the "human" problems that arise in the analysis, study and optimization of the MSM. In this regard, there is a need for a thorough study of not only information interaction, but also other aspects of the functioning of the “man-machine” systems, in particular anthropometric, hygienic, physiological, etc.
The basis for the practical implementation of the considered principles is the application of a systematic approach. The essence of such an approach for the analysis of various phenomena in nature and society is disclosed in the work of V.P. Kuzmin.
It is very important to apply a systematic approach to the study of "man-machine" systems. The fact is that the human operator, being himself a specific complex system, functions in a more complex system consisting of a number of subsystems with complex relationships between them. The main features of a systematic approach in relation to engineering and psychological phenomena and processes are as follows.
First, from the standpoint of a systematic approach, mental phenomena should be considered as a multidimensional and multilevel system. Multidimensionality is manifested in the fact that when studying mental processes, it is necessary to consider them together. various characteristics: informational, operational, motivational, etc. Moreover, each of these characteristics can be considered at different levels of their study. So, for example, the decision-making process by an operator can be viewed from different angles: both as a neurophysiological act, and as some action, and as a mentally complex creative process, and as a socio-psychological formation with its own parameters. At the same time, the structure and mechanisms of decision-making will be different at different levels of mental regulation of activity.
Secondly, when studying the mental properties of a person, one must take into account the multiplicity of those relationships in which he exists. This causes the diversity of its properties. Therefore, an important task is to determine what human properties, in what cases and how should be taken into account in the design and operation of the MCS. This requires the development of a multidimensional classification of human properties. The natural properties of the nervous system, abilities, character traits, motivation and readiness for activity are all properties of a different order. And, obviously, they should be taken into account in different ways when solving various problems of optimizing "man-machine" systems.
For example, it is believed (and this is generally true) that the reliability of a person in the MSM is largely determined by the level of his training. However, V.D. Nebylitsin, who paid a lot of attention to the study of the properties nervous system and individual differences between people, showed that in difficult life-threatening situations, sometimes the natural properties of a person, determined by the properties of his nervous system, take over. As you can see, depending on the circumstances, even when solving the same problem (estimating the reliability of human activity in the MSM), one has to take into account different properties of a person.
Thirdly, the system of human mental properties is not something frozen and unchanging. A systematic approach requires considering the human psyche in dynamics, in development. This position has great importance for engineering psychology. Determining, for example, the requirements for the information display system, the designer can proceed from some experimentally verified scheme that characterizes the structure of the operation of receiving information by a person. But in the course of education, training and gaining professional experience, this structure can change. Therefore, what was done on the basis of initial recommendations may not be the best option later.
Accounting for this situation is possible by creating adaptive systems, moreover, those in which adaptation (adaptation to new, changed conditions) is carried out with the help of technical devices. There is already some experience in this direction. These include systems with interchangeable or evolving mimics; systems in which a computer, as it were, traces the strategy of human activity and, depending on this strategy, selects information transmitted to a person; systems with the use of a logical filter - a converter, included between the control object and the operator, through which information in a transformed form adequate for perception enters the operator. The filter-converter setting is carried out depending on the state of the human operator.
Finally, fourthly, the need for a different (compared to the often encountered) understanding of the determinism (causation) of mental processes follows from the systemic approach. Very often, in the analysis of mental phenomena, causes and effects are presented in the form of a one-dimensional chain. Consequently, the concept of determinism in this case is identified with the form in which it exists in classical mechanics, where we are talking about determinism of a linear, "hard" type. Such an understanding of determinism is not very suitable for engineering psychology. As noted by L.S. Rubinstein, this or that impact on a person causes some effect not directly and directly: this effect is mediated by internal conditions, by the entire mental makeup of the human personality. In the deterministic analysis of mental phenomena, the introduction by P.K. Anokhin the concept of "system-forming factor". It acts as a factor organizing the entire system of processes included in a particular act. So, in the activity of the operator, such a system-forming factor is the goal that organizes the entire system of mental processes and states included in this activity.
An example of the implementation of the considered principles of a systematic approach is the concept of inclusion, developed by A.A. Krylov. By theoretical substantiation and experimental research, he showed that new signals are not blocked at the "input" of the operator, but lead to a flexible restructuring of the information process in the operator's brain. The "new" process, being included in the system of ongoing psychological processes, leads to its restructuring into a new system. After restructuring, the nature of the course of mental processes changes. Based on the concept of inclusion, a system of particular principles for organizing information processes in relation to the activities of the operator is proposed.
The implementation of the considered principles makes it possible to solve the main problem of engineering psychology, aimed at humanizing labor and optimizing the activity of a human operator. However, the solution of this problem is not an end in itself, it should contribute to the solution of the main national economic problem - to increase the efficiency of social production. Based on this, the conditions for conducting engineering and psychological developments and their implementation in life can be formulated. Their essence is as follows.
1. The final, output result of engineering and psychological developments should be the receipt and optimization of generalized performance indicators of the operator and the “man-machine” system, and above all, such as efficiency, reliability, accuracy, speed, etc. It should be borne in mind that that stable and high values of these indicators cannot be ensured without creating optimal conditions for the operator's activity.
2. Obtaining and optimizing the required performance indicators of the operator and the MSM should be carried out already at the design stage, since the possibilities for their optimization and adjustment during operation are extremely limited. Therefore, by its nature, engineering psychology should be primarily projective.
3. In the process of development on the basis of the project of human activity, the required values of the indicators of the functioning of the HMS (the so-called potential values) must be provided. Taking into account engineering and psychological requirements during the operation of the MCS allows you to maintain its real characteristics at a level close to potential.
It is easy to see that the first condition determines the end result of engineering and psychological developments, the second shows when this result should be provided, and the third determines the method of obtaining it. Only with such an approach to engineering and psychological research and development can the creation of highly efficient "man-machine" systems be ensured by comprehensively taking into account the human factor in their design, production and operation.
General characteristics of psychology as a science. The subject and tasks of psychological science. Categories and principles of psychology.
Psychology is the science of mental processes, mental states and mental properties of an individual. She studies the patterns of development and functioning mental activity person.
Psychology as a science has a long period of formation and relatively short story. It arose many centuries ago, first as an integral part of philosophy. The word "psychology" is formed from two Greek words: "psyche" - soul and "logos" - word, doctrine. It has two meanings: psychology as a science and psychology as a set of character traits, inner world person. Psychology as a science studies the facts, mechanisms and patterns of mental life.
There is a scientific psychology and an everyday psychology. The difference between scientific psychology and everyday psychology lies in how, on the basis of what, conclusions and conclusions are made. In everyday psychology, they are built on observations, stereotyped (template, stereotyped), views, and beliefs. Because of this, they are often fragmentary, random, rather inert, and often contradict each other. Scientific psychology is based on strict facts obtained in the course of special studies and repeatedly verified, which are logically systematized and explained in special scientific theories.
Currently, psychological science is actively developing, its new branches and directions are emerging. Modern psychology is among the sciences, occupying an intermediate position between the philosophical sciences, on the one hand, natural sciences, on the other hand, and social sciences, on the third hand. This is explained by the fact that the focus of her attention is always a person, who is also studied by the sciences mentioned above, but in other aspects. It is known that philosophy and its integral part - the theory of knowledge (epistemology) - solves the question of the attitude of the psyche to the world around and interprets the psyche as a reflection of the world, emphasizing that matter is primary, and consciousness is secondary. Psychology, on the other hand, explains the role that the psyche plays in human activity and its development.
Generally, object of psychology is the psyche (a special property of highly organized matter to subjectively reflect objective reality, which is necessary for humans and animals to orient themselves in the outside world and actively interact with it, and at the human level, necessary to control their behavior), and subject - patterns of generation and functioning of the psyche, in the very general view Phenomena, facts and regularities of human mental life can be named as the subject of psychology as an independent scientific discipline.
The main task of psychology as a science is the study of objective patterns of formation, development and manifestation of mental phenomena and processes as a reflection of the direct effects of objective reality and human interaction.
At the same time, psychology puts before itself and a number of other tasks:
To study the qualitative (structural) features of mental phenomena and processes, which is not only theoretical, but also of great practical importance;
Analyze the formation and development of mental phenomena and processes in connection with the determinism of the psyche by the objective conditions of life and activity of people;
To study the physiological mechanisms underlying mental phenomena, since without their knowledge it is impossible to correctly master the practical means of their formation and development;
To promote the systematic introduction of scientific knowledge and ideas of psychological science into the practice of people's lives and activities, their interaction and mutual understanding (development of scientific and practical methods of training and education, rationalization of the labor process in various types of people's activities).
As the main methodological principles of psychology called:
1. The principle of determinism. According to this principle, everything that exists arises, changes and ceases to exist naturally. In psychological research, this means that the psyche is conditioned by the way of life and changes with changes in the external conditions of existence;
2. The principle of unity of consciousness and activity. Consciousness and activity are in continuous unity, but they are not identical to each other. Consciousness is formed in activity in order to influence this activity in turn, forming its internal plan;
3. The principle of development. The psyche can be correctly understood only if it is considered in continuous development as a process and result of activity. The study of any mental phenomenon should include a description of its features at the moment, the history of its emergence and formation, and development prospects.
Image category characterizes the psychological reality from the side of cognition and is the basis for the formation of individual and social-group pictures of the world. It is a sensual form of a psychic phenomenon. Being always sensual in its form, the image in its content can be both sensual and rational. The image is the most important component of the subject's actions, orienting him in a specific situation, directing him to achieve the goal.
category of motive. A motive is 1) a material or ideal "object" that induces and directs an activity or act; 2) mental image this subject. In a broad sense, it is something inside the subject that prompts him to act, the meaning of his actions realized by a person. With the help of a motive, human behavior, its goals, values, decision-making mechanisms can be described.
Category personality. There are quite a few approaches to understanding and explaining personality. This is due to the fact that the concept of "personality" is integral and any definition that existed earlier and now highlights only some of its aspects.
Personality in a broad sense is a specific person, as a subject of activity, in the unity of his individual properties and social roles. In a narrow sense, this is the quality of an individual, which is formed due to a person's life in society, in the process of his social development.
Personality is the most important among metapsychological categories. All the basic categories are integrated in it, all the basic categories are tied to it: an individual, an image, an action, a motive, an attitude, an experience.
Action, like an act, is the true being of a person; individuality is manifested in it. An action can be relatively independent or be included as a component in broader structures of activity.
The action structure includes 3 main components: a) decision making; b) implementation; c) control and correction.
Basic (image, motive, action, attitude, experience, individual)
Metapsychological. (consciousness, value, activity, communication, feeling, "I").
The uniqueness of psychological science is due to both the subject of scientific knowledge and methods that allow not only to describe the studied phenomena, but also to explain them, to discover the patterns underlying them and to predict their further development.
Methodology in psychology. Methods of psychology. System approach in psychology
Methodology in psychology is a system of principles and methods for organizing and constructing theoretical and practical activities, as well as the doctrine of this system. The methodology is embodied in the organization and regulation of all types human activity, not only scientific, but also technical, pedagogical, political, managerial, aesthetic, etc. The methodology is general in nature, but it is specified in relation to various areas of practical and theoretical activity. One of these areas is the psyche, the study of which involves the development of appropriate methods. Therefore, the methodology, functioning as a general system of explanatory principles and regulations, is applied in psychology in accordance with the originality of its subject, which requires the development and application of a special concrete scientific methodology. The area of methodology includes a wide range of specific scientific methods of research: observation, experiment, modeling, etc., which, in turn, are refracted in a variety of special procedures - methods for obtaining scientific data. In the field of studying the human psyche and personality, the methodology is most fully embodied in theoretical psychology.
Principle of determinism- recognition of the need to study the regular dependence of mental phenomena on the factors that give rise to them. The principle of determinism is the natural and necessary dependence of mental phenomena on the factors that give rise to them. The principle of determinism includes causality as a set of circumstances that precede the effect in time and cause it, but is not limited to this explanatory principle, since there are other forms of the principle of determinism, namely: the systemic principle of determinism (the dependence of individual components of the system on the properties of the whole), the principle of type determinism feedback (the consequence affects the cause that caused it), the statistical principle of determinism (with the same causes, different effects occur within certain limits, subject to statistical patterns), the target principle of determinism. (the goal that precedes the result as a law determines the process of achieving it), etc.
The principle of activity mediation- one of the methodological principles of psychology, which allows in the theory of activity to explain the question of the origin of internal mental activity from external labor activity on the basis of its instrumentality and social origin (L.S. Vygotsky). In the theory of knowledge, when studying the formation of mental processes and meanings (concepts), the principle of active mediation explains the assimilation by the individual of the ways of thinking developed by mankind. The principle of activity mediation in relation to an individual makes it possible to understand and adequately explain some of the decisions he makes, as well as the type of behavior in an activity situation. In relation to the group - to understand and explain the adoption of group decisions, the causes of group behavior, the processes of differentiation and integration.
Development principle- the need in the study of psychological phenomena and human personality to identify their regular changes in the processes of phylo-, onto- and sociogenesis. Any phenomenon considered by a psychologist can receive an adequate explanation if it becomes the subject of study in its development. This applies both to the phylogenetic processes that characterize the psyche of animals, and to the ontogenesis of animals and humans, as well as to the processes of sociogenesis occurring in socio-historical conditions. With regard to personality, the most important factor in its development is historiogenesis, i.e., the development of culture as the most important aspect of the social experience accumulated by mankind. The biological in the developing personality appears in a transformed form as the social.
In the works of both Russian and foreign scientists, the principle of development was interpreted as the relationship between changes in psychological phenomena and the causes that give rise to them. At the same time, the dependence of the ongoing transformations of mental phenomena on their inclusion in an integral system was taken into account.
New formations in the course of mental development were characterized by the irreversibility of changes, their direction, the regularity of transformations, their transformation from stage to stage of development, the “building up” of new transformations over the previous ones, which had not only quantitative, but, above all, qualitative parameters. As it turned out, the most productive approach to the construction of theories addressed to mental development, in which the ideas of continuity and qualitative originality of stages (stages, periods, epochs) of development are organically combined.
At present, the principle of development is considered in unity with two other principles for constructing a psychological theory - determinism and systemicity.
reality principle- the principle of regulation of mental life, expressed in taking into account the real conditions and possibilities for satisfying desires and often in the rejection of various ways of obtaining pleasure. The impulses of the ego obey the reality principle.
The principle of self-determination- theoretical and methodological principle, according to which the cause of behavior is not the influence of the external environment in itself, but a living organism, in the behavior of which these influences are represented in filmed. Without signifying a rejection of causality as such, the principle of self-determination makes it possible to single out the specific features of determinism in the activity of a living organism. The principle of self-determination is associated with the assertion of the principles of activity and consistency, according to which the body does not seek to level the effects of the external environment, but purposefully and actively acts in it.
The principle of consistency- the need to single out and isolate a specific category of naturally interconnected objects from a great variety of phenomena, acquiring the significance and character of systemic ones.
The internal structure of these objects is described in such terms as element, connection, structure, function, organization, management, self-regulation, stability, development, openness, activity, environment, etc.
Systems approach as a methodological regulator was not "invented" by philosophers. He directed research practice (including laboratory, experimental work) in a real way before he was theoretically comprehended. The naturalists themselves singled it out as one of those working principles of science, operating with which one can discover new phenomena, come to important discoveries. For example, W. Cannon considered the principle of homeostasis as a synonym for systemicity as the dynamic constancy of the composition and properties of the system, its desire to maintain a stable state despite the action of factors that violate it. The working meaning of this principle is that, guided by it, the researcher sees in any component and function of the system one of the devices that decides main task- to keep it in balance. The systematic approach, allowing to explain the facts found on a purely empirical level, also has predictive value, directing to the search for still unknown regulators that operate invisibly in the system to ensure stability.
Mental organization is a systemic object that lives on its own, regardless of its knowledge. At the turn of the XX and XXI centuries. one of such logically built systems was developed - the categorical system of psychology, which characterizes the structure of the psychosphere. Its system-forming feature is the mutual transitions of psychological categories "along the vertical" from essence to phenomenon, which acts as an essence for new phenomena. All these transitions are subject to the realization of the idea of “ascent from the abstract to the concrete”, characterize the counter determinations of the biological and cultural-historical factors, model phylo-, onto- and sociogenesis in a single scheme, form a natural connection of psychological categories.
Method- this is a way, a way of studying objective reality, knowing the truth. Modern psychology has an extensive system of various research methods and techniques, among which there are basic and auxiliary ones. To the main methods of psychology include observation and experiment. Observation is the deliberate, systematic and purposeful perception of human behavior. Objective observation in psychology is directed not at external actions in themselves, but at their psychological content; scientific observation is characterized not just by the recording of facts, but by their explanation and interpretation. Observation can be carried out both in the natural conditions of human life and in a specially organized experimental environment. In research practice, the following types of observation:
Depending on the nature of the interaction with the object: included and third-party. In included observation, the researcher acts as a direct participant in the process he is observing, which allows him to get a holistic view of the situation. Surveillance takes place without any interaction or contact with those being monitored;
Depending on the position of the observer: open and hidden. In the first case, the researcher opens his role for the observed - the disadvantage of such observation is the stiffness in the behavior of the observed subjects, caused by the knowledge that they are being observed. In covert surveillance, the presence of the observer is not revealed;
Depending on the nature of the contact: direct and indirect. In the course of direct observation, the observer and the object of his attention are in direct contact; the process of mediated observation includes special means that allow obtaining more objective results: video or audio equipment, the Gesell mirror, which transmits light only in one direction, thanks to which it is possible to observe human behavior while remaining invisible, etc .;
Depending on the conditions of observation: field and laboratory. Field observation takes place under conditions Everyday life and activities of the observed; laboratory is carried out in artificial, specially created conditions;
Depending on the goals: purposeful and random. Purposeful observation is systematic and specially organized; random has a search character and does not pursue clearly defined goals;
Depending on the temporary organization: continuous and selective. In the process of continuous observation, the course of events is fixed constantly. In selective observation, the researcher selectively monitors only certain moments of the observed process;
Depending on the ordering of the organization of observation: standardized and free. Standardized observation is carried out according to a specific, pre-designed scheme. Free observation does not have a set program and clear parameters.
In psychological research, self-observation is also widely used, in which the researcher's own experiences, feelings, thoughts and images are revealed.
In psychology, the following are practiced kinds pilot study:
A laboratory experiment is carried out under conditions specially created and carefully controlled by the researcher, in some cases equipment and devices are used, which ensures the scientific objectivity of the data obtained. The disadvantage of this type of research is the difficulty of transferring the results obtained in the experiment to real life. The artificiality and abstractness of laboratory conditions differ significantly from the conditions of human life;
The natural experiment removes the limitations of the laboratory experiment. The main advantage of this method lies in the combination of the experimental nature of the study with the naturalness of the conditions. The idea of conducting a psychological experiment in the natural conditions of people's lives belongs to the Russian psychologist R. Lazursky;
A formative experiment involves a targeted impact on the subject in order to form certain qualities in him. It can have a teaching and educating character;
The ascertaining experiment reveals certain mental characteristics and the level of development of the corresponding qualities.
In addition to the above basic methods in psychology are widely used helper methods:
Conversation (interview) - obtaining information in the process of direct communication. There are free interviews, in which there is no clear plan of conversation and there is minimal regulation, and structured, where answers are given to pre-prepared questions;
Testing - psychological diagnostics, involving standardized questions and tasks. In psychology, a large number of specialized tests have been created designed to measure various mental properties and qualities of a person: tests of intelligence, abilities, personality achievements, projective, and many others. Their use requires professional psychological training, since unprofessional testing can harm a person. Currently, there are also many so-called popular tests. As a rule, they are published in newspapers, magazines, literature accessible to the general reader. Such tests are not actually psychological, professional tools and are intended for self-testing; special training is not required;
Analysis of products of activity based on the general premise of the unity of internal mental processes and external forms of behavior and activity. By studying the products of activity, one can obtain important information about the mental characteristics of its subject. The products of activity that are subject to careful analysis in psychology are texts written by a person, objects and phenomena produced, drawn drawings, etc. Graphology, which allows drawing up a psychological portrait of his personality by the features and characteristics of a person’s handwriting, and content analysis, which aims to identify and evaluate the psychological characteristics of literary, scientific and journalistic texts and determine, on their basis, the personal characteristics of the author of these texts, are special forms of this method. In psychology, the study of the results of human visual activity is widely used; from this point of view, children's drawings are of particular value, which make it possible to understand emotional condition child, his attitude to the world around him, to his parents, to himself.
The most important postulate of the principle of consistency in psychology states that all mental processes are organized into a multi-level system, the elements of which acquire new properties, given by its integrity.
AT common methodology the concept of a system is extremely broad. Distinguish between material systems ( solar system), among them - the system "organism - environment"; ideal systems(for example, sign); social systems. Thus, the principle of consistency means considering any subject of scientific analysis from certain positions: identifying the elements that make up the system and structural and functional relationships (and not reducible to causal ones), substantiating its levels and system-forming factors, unity of organization and functions, stability and management.
After the publication in 1957 of L. Bertalanffy's book "The General Theory of Systems", the category of system moved from philosophical and methodological to a different status - the name of an explanatory principle, concretized in various ways in scientific knowledge. At the same time, many particular systems theories appeared, which also assumed other principles than those stated in the general systems theory. The search for prerequisites for a systematic understanding of the psyche refers the formation of this principle to earlier stages. Theoretical development science in the 19th century. created the prerequisites for systemic understanding in relation to a living organism.
The implementation of the systemic principle in the theory of knowledge - before its formulation as philosophical and methodological - is associated with the approach of K. Marx to the analysis of economic systems and the theory of the origin of species by Ch. Darwin [Philosophical Encyclopedia, 1970, vol. 5, p. 19]. The development of cybernetics as a general theory of control is also called the leading one among the prerequisites for formulating the principle of consistency.
The systems approach, as Petrovsky and Yaroshevsky point out, was not "invented" by philosophers, but guided many scientific developments before the introduction of its designation. So, for example, it was presented in the biological theories of Bernard and Cannon. K. Bernard introduced the concept of self-regulation into a new scientific model of the organism. He proposed the theory of "two environments", in which the internal environment of the body was considered as a system that ensures its survival in external environment.
The American physiologist W. Kennon asserted the principle of systemicity as the principle of homeostasis, which ensures the dynamic constancy of the properties of the system in its resistance to factors that threaten its destruction. Thus, he arrived at the formulation general principles organizations" as distinguishing systems from non-systems. The principle of consistency was presented in the teachings of the biocenosis, developed in genetics, sociology and psychology.
The authors of "Theoretical Psychology" identified five principles that can be considered as predecessors of the principle of systemic psychology: holism, elementarism, eclecticism, reductionism, external methodologism. Regarding the last three, one can argue in the sense that they represent certain methodological grounds for assessing the construction of theoretical psychological explanations, not necessarily associated with the principle of consistency. At the same time, the first two undoubtedly focus the premises of the system analysis proper in psychological knowledge.
Holism, translated from Greek, is the whole (the whole), i.e., the primary non-derivable principle, which, without maintaining integrity, loses its essence.
In psychology, such entities were the soul, the organism, the machine (“Cartesian” man), the personality, and consciousness.
Elementarism (atomism) is a principle that presupposes the combination of separate elements as a whole, the essence of which does not change as a whole.
In the psychology of consciousness it was the structuralism of Wundt and Titchener, in behaviorism it was the explanation of the formation of a habit. Both holism and elementarism are not the property of historical-psychological analysis only; they are also aspects of comparing multiple theories in a given field. So, Hjell and Ziegler [Hjell, Ziegler, 1997] in the seven-category scheme for evaluating personality theories “holism-elementarism” categorize the most pronounced holism of the concept of Adler, Erickson, Maslow, Rogers, moderately strong - Freud, Kelly, Allport, moderate elementarism - the approach of Bandura, strong elementarism - Skinner.
The origin of the systematic approach is associated with the name of Aristotle. This is the primary interpretation of the organism as a system, an attempt to see in the soul the specifics of the human form of the organism, the rudiments of the concept of homeostasis (stability from the inside in spite of disturbing influences from the outside), expediency as a manifestation of the target cause, as well as the principle of activity as movement towards both form and goal. The soul and body in the concept of Aristotle cannot be separated as entities. The soul is the system-forming principle of the life of the body.
Subsequently, the principle of consistency appears in a different interpretation in the 17th century, when, according to the laws of mechanics, it is proposed to build the integrity of a person as a reflex machine. Descartes affirmed the dual determination of the soul by active internal states and passions as passive states arising under the influence of the bodily (physical). But the interpretation of the activity of the body was dispensed with without referring to the soul (or image) as its regulator.
In the post-Cartesian period of ideas about the relationship between the soul and the body, they were separated, and the unresolved psychophysiological problem does not allow them to unite within the framework of a single theory (which now refers either to the soul, or to human activity, or to the brain as a substrate). Machine-likeness as an analogue of the representation of systemicity gives a double entrance to the system: firstly, in the aspect of its consideration as a structural and expedient unity and, secondly, in the aspect of its “cogital” comprehension - with the openness of the regulatory profile in this direction. But this openness does not mean that the "organism-machine" system is open to other approaches to cognition. And this is the main catch of considering the “Cartesian” person as a system. It entailed the development of those psychological theories in which the system of causal conditioning again turned out to be closed.
In biological theories, the activity of the organism subordinated the level of mental adaptation to the environment (the activity of the soul was not needed here, and the image served the purpose of adaptation). In Gestalt theory, the structures of consciousness turned out to be unnecessary access to the structures of the body, as long as the principle of isomorphism was accepted. The isomorphism principle introduced in 1912 by Wertheimer was substantiated in detail by Köhler. He assumed that the spatial configuration of perception is isomorphic to the spatial configuration of the corresponding areas of excitation in the brain. Psychophysical isomorphism assumed topological rather than metric correspondence. In systems theory, this is a broader formulation.
Isomorphism means the presence of a one-to-one (proper isomorphism) or partial (homomorphism) correspondence of the structure of one system to the structure of another.
In psychoanalysis, systemicity was concluded in the ratio of the work of consciousness and the unconscious, with immanent causality, which emerges outward rather in violations of the regulatory function of the integral structure of the personality (“I”, “It”, “Super-I”),
The concept of I. M. Sechenov deserves a separate place from the point of view of changing the understanding of the determination of the mental and the regulation of behavior. It is considered in methodological works as an essential prerequisite for a systematic analysis of the mental. But within the framework of this manual, we are not ready for such a brief analysis of it, which would not distort the essence of the turns inherent in it to the correlation of explanatory principles in psychology and physiology.
The 20th century added a new understanding of the goal regulation of behavior to the systemic criteria - as a biological, economic or other expediency that is not related to the psychological idea of the goal.
Expediency in the textbook of Petrovsky and Yaroshevsky is interpreted as one of the manifestations of the principle of consistency. This is also represented by supporters of particular systems theories (for example, by R. Ackoff in relation to "purposeful systems"). But the objective function can be understood irrespective of the subject. Yes, the authors economic theory J. von Neumann and O. Morgenstern introduced a focus on the objective function of "utility maximization" for a system that operates according to the rules and does not imply a subject in the concept of a decision maker [Neiman, Morgenstern, 1970]. The substitution of the concept of a subject by the concept of a system often occurs precisely through an appeal to the target function, to expediency (including the orientation of the organism to the “required future”). But then the concept of a system no longer serves as a principle within the framework of the development of psychological theory, but as a link that makes it possible to replace the psychological explanation with another one that does not cover the specifics of psychological systems.
The development of ideas about psychological systems in the school of L. S. Vygotsky returned deterministic connections to the explanation of the formation of the mental. On the one hand, this was an appeal to social determination, expressed in terms of the social situation, the “great-We” situation, on the other hand, in the notions of sign systems as a path of cultural determination, which we will specifically dwell on later in Chapter 11. In Sechenov’s theories and Vygotsky, one can see the first methodological approaches that combined orientations towards a causal and systemic analysis of the mental and, at the same time, its exit to other systemic levels of connections (neurophysiological and social realities).
IP Pavlov continued the materialistic basis of Sechenov's doctrine in the development of ideas about two signal systems as mediating the connection between the regulation of behavior and the determination of the external world. A new context - socio-cultural determination - was introduced by Vygotsky's idea of signs as a new stage of human psychological tools that change the nature of mental functions, which allows us to say that "not only the brain controls the person, but the person controls the brain" [Petrovsky, Yaroshevsky, 2003 , With. 382].
The implementation of the systemic principle, which goes back to the Marxian method of analysis, is presented in the studies of Mamardashvili (see Chapter 8). System-activity objects became the subject of a whole methodological school of G. P. Shchedrovitsky. Although he himself considered the term “subject of science” unacceptable in the new situation, proposing the idea of mental activity as a new way of cognition: “... psychology is a special sphere of mental activity, in fact, capturing the entire universe of life, the entire society, with many scientific subjects and various kinds of techniques - anthropotechnics, psychotechnics, cultural techniques and a number of practices ... including the practices of “communication” and “interaction”” [Shchedrovitsky, 1997, p. 109]. But the exit of the mental outside, assumed in many methodological developments - into new systemic connections, bypassing psychological theory, does not always satisfy the reasons for which this principle was once introduced: level analysis and disclosure of system-forming connections for a more adequate characterization of certain systems under study. .
O. K. Tikhomirov pointed out the possibility of understanding the mental as a system within the framework of the construction of a psychological theory, speaking about the use of the concept of mental systems by L. S. Vygotsky [Tikhomirov, 1992]. In another embodiment, the principle of consistency in relation to psychological analysis was developed by B. F. Lomov.
- The principle of consistency in the methodology of B. F. Lomov
The systemic approach was seen by Lomov as an interpretation of "the mental in the multitude of external and internal relations in which it exists as a whole" [Lomov, 1984, p. 88]. He concretized the following ways of implementing a systematic approach in psychology.
First, consideration of the phenomenon in several plans (or aspects) is required: micro- and macroanalysis, its specificity as a qualitative unit (system) and as part of the generic macrostructure. Secondly, this is the consideration of mental phenomena as multidimensional, for which the abstraction realized by their sequential consideration in any one plan should not close all other possible plans.
Thirdly, the system of mental phenomena (as well as individual mental processes and states) should be considered as multilevel and hierarchical. Multilevelness is considered by the author on the example of anticipation, which, as a mental process, can be analyzed at the subsensory, sensorimotor, perceptual, representational and speech-thinking levels. Each level corresponds to the level of complexity of the tasks being solved, and in real activity they are all interconnected. A similar scheme for singling out levels is implemented for the processes of decision-making, thinking, and creativity.
Relationships between subsystems are dynamic and depend on a system-forming factor that unites individual mechanisms implemented at one level or another into the functioning of the whole. Subordination and autonomy of levels are the most important conditions for the self-regulation of the system. Different psychological laws can be correlated with different levels.
Fourthly, the multiplicity of relations in which a person exists entails the multiplicity and heterogeneity of his properties. The construction of the "pyramid" of these properties is supposed to be in cooperation with other sciences.
Fifth, the systems approach is associated with a change in the understanding of the principle of determinism. Both linear determinism and probabilistic determinism are only special cases of determination. Since the principle of human existence is “polysystemic” (he is both a biological and a social being, besides, mental phenomena can be attributed to different levels), there cannot be a universal form of determination. Determination can be considered both as biological and social, and as a causal connection, and as non-causal types of connection. These are the types of connections correlated with the concepts of "condition", "factor", "base", "mediation", etc.
Finally, the systems approach correlates with the principle of development, since systems exist only in development. In development, there is a change of determinants, and their interaction (specific at each stage). At the same time, development can include both lines of progress and lines of regression. Development is the resolution of contradictions between external and internal, between causes and conditions, between systems and subsystems, between levels, etc.
Thus, the presented principle of system analysis is shared, apparently, by the majority of modern psychologists. But from such a broad interpretation to its implementation in psychological theories, there passes the stage of meaningful orientation of the authors to their own interpretations of the above provisions. In particular, these are preferences of a “paradigm” nature, associated with different understandings of both the activity principle, and the principle of activity, and the regulatory function of the mental.
Lomov's approach was objected to due to insufficient definition specifics of psychological systems proper. Thus, O. K. Tikhomirov discussed significant differences between modern appeals to the multilevel regulation of processes in the general systems theory and the study of psychological systems within the framework of cultural-historical and activity approaches [Tikhomirov, 1983]. Not completed domestic dispute psychological schools about the systemic structure of consciousness and the role of sign systems.
Between different psychological theories, the disputes are not about the principle of consistency, but about how to understand the psychological systems themselves. Thus, it is rather a matter of substantiating what the principle of consistency gives in addition to the presentation of an explanatory scheme within the framework of a particular psychological theory.