Abstract: Imagination as a mental cognitive process. Types and processes of imagination Study of imagination in special psychology

I. Imagination as a mental cognitive process .

1.1 Imagination- the ability of consciousness to create images, ideas, ideas and manipulate them; plays a key role in the following mental processes: modeling, planning, creativity, play, human memory. A type of creative imagination is Fantasy. Imagination is one of the forms of mental reflection of the world. The most traditional point of view is to define imagination as a process.

Imagination is a mental process consisting in the creation of new images (ideas) by processing the material of perceptions and ideas obtained in previous experience

Imagination is a necessary element of human creative activity, expressed in the construction of an image of the products of labor, ensuring the creation of a program of behavior in cases where the problem situation is also characterized by uncertainty.

The relationship between imagination and organic processes is most clearly manifested in the following phenomena: ideomotor act and psychosomatic disease. Based on the connection between human images and his organic states, the theory and practice of psychotherapeutic influences is built. Imagination is inextricably linked with thinking. According to L. S. Vygotsky, it is permissible to say about the unity of these two processes.

Both thinking and imagination arise in a problem situation and are motivated by the needs of the individual. The basis of both processes is advanced reflection. Depending on the situation, the amount of time, the level of knowledge and its organization, the same problem can be solved both with the help of imagination and with the help of thinking. The difference is that the reflection of reality, carried out in the process of imagination, occurs in the form of vivid ideas, while anticipatory reflection in the processes of thinking occurs by operating with concepts that allow a generalized and indirect knowledge of the environment. The use of a particular process is dictated, first of all, by the situation: creative imagination works mainly at that stage of cognition when the uncertainty of the situation is quite great. Thus, imagination allows you to make decisions even with incomplete knowledge.

In its activity, the imagination uses traces of past perceptions, impressions, ideas, that is, traces of memory (engrams). The genetic relationship between memory and imagination is expressed in the unity of the analytical-synthetic processes that form their basis. The fundamental difference between memory and imagination is revealed in the different direction of the processes of active operation with images. Thus, the main tendency of memory is to restore a system of images that is as close as possible to the situation that took place in experience. Imagination, on the contrary, is characterized by the desire for the maximum possible transformation of the original figurative material.

Imagination is included in perception, influences the creation of images of perceived objects and, at the same time, itself depends on perception. According to Ilyenkov’s ideas, the main function of imagination is the transformation of an optical phenomenon, consisting of irritation of the surface of the retina by light waves, into the image of an external thing.

Imagination is closely related to the emotional sphere. This connection is dual in nature: on the one hand, the image is capable of evoking strong feelings, on the other, an emotion or feeling that once arises can cause active imagination. This system is discussed in detail by L. S. Vygotsky in his work “Psychology of Art”. The main conclusions he comes to can be stated as follows. According to the law of the reality of feelings, “all our fantastic and unreal experiences, in essence, proceed on a completely real emotional basis.” Based on this, Vygotsky concludes that fantasy is the central expression of emotional reaction. According to the law of unipolar energy expenditure, nervous energy tends to be wasted at one pole - either at the center or at the periphery; any increase in energy expenditure at one pole immediately entails its weakening at the other. Thus, with the intensification and complexity of fantasy as the central moment of the emotional reaction, its peripheral side (external manifestation) is delayed in time and weakens in intensity. Thus, imagination allows you to gain a variety of experiences and at the same time remain within the framework of socially acceptable behavior. Everyone gets the opportunity to work through excessive emotional stress, discharging it with the help of fantasies, and thus compensating for unmet needs.

Imagination is part of the individual’s consciousness, one of the cognitive processes. It reflects the outside world in a unique and unique way; it allows you to program not only

future behavior, but also to imagine the possible conditions in which this behavior

will be.

Imagination is expressed in: constructing an image of the means and the final result of the subject’s objective activity; creating a behavior program when the problem situation is uncertain; producing images that do not program, but replace activity; creating images that match the description of the object. Imagination is inherent only to man. It is generated by labor activity and

develops on its basis. The specificity of imagination is the processing of past experience. In this respect, it is inextricably linked with the process of memory. It transforms what is in memory. Imagination is closely interconnected with

process of perception. It is included in perception and influences the creation of images of perceived objects. It enriches new images, makes them more

productive. The closest connections exist between imagination and thinking. This is especially true in a problematic situation. The most important importance of imagination is that it allows you to imagine the result of work before it begins, thereby orienting a person in the process of activity.

Dream- a cherished desire, an idealized goal that promises happiness.

Any person can have a dream, but they also talk about the dreams of social groups, social classes. Dream is one of the main themes of romantic literature and films. It is usually believed that daydreaming is characteristic of the younger generation. A dream is also an ideological cliché used in propaganda, for example “the dream of freedom”, “the dream of a bright future”, “the dream of secure relationships”. The American Dream is a popular cliché in the United States. Sometimes a color is assigned to a dream - “blue dream”, “pink dream”.

Dreams are the most valuable thing a person has, they light a fire in his soul, they force people to work 20 hours a day and sleep only 4 hours, and at the same time not feel tired. Such people are called dreamers. Dreams make a person perform miracles. Other people simply say, "It's impossible." If a person has a dream and is ready to go towards it, then nothing is impossible for him. If what he dreams of is not yet in nature, then it will be created for him. Whatever a person can imagine, he can achieve.

A feature of imagination in the form of a dream is the construction of images of a desired future that has not yet been realized, and sometimes in the near future, unrealizable.

In their dreams, people paint vivid pictures of this future in the most diverse areas of their activity: they dream about future interplanetary and stellar flights, build in their imagination the spaceships necessary for this, equip them with complex instruments and engines that have not yet been created, imagine the real situation and the conditions of these flights; they dream of discoveries and methods of using new types of energy, of the invention of unprecedented powerful machines that will forever free man from hard physical labor; about scientific discoveries designed to give man inexhaustible power over the forces of nature; about creating wonderful works of art that can ennoble a person; about the reorganization of human society on a fair social basis, about the eternal abolition on earth of poverty, property inequality, all forms of exploitation of man by man, etc.

These features make dreams an important means of awakening initiative, maintaining a person’s energy in the most difficult conditions of life’s struggle, and a powerful incentive to work for the good. By constructing pictures of the future in his dreams, a person imagines his life prospects better and more definitely; dreams help him determine and specify the goals of his life. And this is not hindered by the fact that these dreams have not yet been realized immediately and immediately, and that in order to realize them, humanity still has to go a long and difficult way. If these dreams arise from the interests of society and are based on scientific foresight, they will sooner or later find application in practical life and one way or another will be realized.

One should distinguish from positive types of dreams dreams that are divorced from life, as well as empty, groundless dreams that are not even remotely connected with reality, the urgent tasks that life imperiously puts forward to workers in science, art, technology, and political figures. Such groundless dreams and fruitless daydreams only weaken a person’s energy, make him a passive member of society, and lead him away from reality.

Dreams(they are also called as passive intentional imagination) represent the creation of imaginary images that are initially perceived by a person as unreal, impracticable, illusory, dream-like. However, passive intentional imagination is recognized by a person as his own and is formed under his conscious influence. Dreams usually occur in a person with weakened control of consciousness, often in a half-asleep state. In this case, control is manifested in the selection of fantastic paintings, and only those that would evoke the desired feelings in a person, accompanied by peculiar emotional states, figuratively called “sweet sadness.” These are pictures of something pleasant, but obviously unrealistic. The external expression of dreams is most often the prolonged immobility of a person with an emphasized apathy of posture. Reasons for the occurrence of dreams: under the influence of peace, complacency and contentment; as a result of tedious work, long transitions, when a person’s consciousness becomes dull; under the influence of special stimuli (favorite music, etc.). No matter how realistic a dream may be, a person always distinguishes it from reality, which is how it differs from both hallucinations and illusions. Dreams arise without any support for perception, and therefore easily disappear when a person is exposed to any irritant.

Hallucination or passive unintentional imagination creates images under special conditions of a person or his body, when a person does not control the process of creating these images. Varieties of passive unintentional imagination are dreams and hallucinations. By dreaming, many scientists understand the images of imagination that arise in a person during REM sleep, and represent the creation of new images as a result of a combination of images retrieved from long-term memory and perceptual images received during the previous day. According to S. Freud and his followers, dreams are a symbolic expression of the unconscious for consciousness. Hallucinations are a psychological phenomenon in which an apparent image appears in the absence of a real external stimulus outside the clouding of consciousness. This image is assessed by a person without criticism, as a truly truly existing object. The hallucinating subject is unable to renounce the internal conviction that he is currently having sensory sensations, that the object he senses really exists, although he is not affected by this object. This distinguishes a hallucination from an illusion, which distorts the image of an object that actually affects the senses. The causes of hallucinations can be organic in nature (exposure to drugs, alcohol, toxic substances, temperature, lack of oxygen, etc.) and psychogenic in nature (state of passion).

Fantasy is an unreal combination of real elements. Fantasy changes the appearance of reality reflected in consciousness; it is characterized by transposition (rearrangement) of elements of reality. Fantasy allows you to find a new point of view on already known facts and, because of this, has enormous artistic, scientific and educational value. Creative activity that gives rise to fantasy is largely spontaneous and is associated with a person’s personal talent and individual experience, which develops in the process of activity. In the field of pathopsychology, the fantasy of patients serves as the subject of diagnostic research. From the point of view of analytical psychology, fantasy is a self-image of the unconscious, formed by forgotten or repressed personal experiences and archetypes of the collective unconscious. Fantasies arise when the intensity of the conscious decreases, as a result of which the barrier separating it from the subconscious (sleep, overwork, delirium) becomes permeable.

1.2. Types of imagination.

Imagination is a reflection of external space in new unusual combinations and connections. It occupies an intermediate position between perception and thinking, thinking and memory. This is one of the most mysterious psychic phenomena. We know almost nothing about the mechanism of imagination, its anatomical and physiological basis. Imagination is unique to humans. It allows him to go beyond the real world in time and space, giving him the opportunity to imagine the finished result of his work even before starting work. Almost all human material and spiritual culture is a product of people's imagination and creativity.

Imagination can function at different levels. Their difference is determined primarily by human activity.

Involuntary imagination(it is also called passive or unintentional imagination) is the creation of new images without any external stimuli. It consists in the emergence and combination of ideas and their elements into new ideas without a specific intention on the part of a person, with a weakening of conscious control on his part over the course of his ideas. It appears most clearly in dreams or in a half-asleep, drowsy state, when ideas arise spontaneously, replace, combine and change on their own, sometimes taking on the most fantastic forms.

Unintentional imagination also occurs in the waking state. One should not think that certain new images always arise as a result of conscious, purposeful human activity. A distinctive feature of ideas is their variability due to the instability of trace excitations in brain cells and the fact that they easily come into contact with residual excitation processes in neighboring centers. The trajectory of this excitation is not, as Pavlov said, firmly fixed either in its magnitude or in its form. Hence the ease of imagination, observed, for example, in preschool children, who are often characterized by excessive imagination and lack of a critical attitude towards the images they create. Only practical testing in life gradually regulates this broad and unintentional activity of the imagination in children and subordinates it to the guidance of consciousness, as a result of which the imagination acquires a deliberate, active character.

Free imagination or as it is also called active or deliberate imagination- is the creation of new images through volitional efforts. It represents the deliberate construction of images in connection with a consciously set task in one or another type of activity. Such an active imagination already develops in children's games, in which children take on certain roles (pilot, train driver, doctor, etc.). The need to display the most correctly chosen role in the game leads to active work of the imagination.

Further development of active imagination occurs in the process of labor, especially when it requires independent, proactive actions and creative efforts: labor requires the activity of the imagination, clear ideas of the object that must be done, and the operations that must be performed.

Voluntary imagination, although in a slightly different form, takes place in creative activity. Here a person also sets himself a task, which is the starting point for the activity of his imagination, but since the product of this activity is the objects of one or another art, the imagination is subject to the requirements arising from the nature and characteristics of this type of art.

A dream or reverie is the construction of those images that have not yet been realized, and sometimes cannot be realized.

The images that a person creates in his dreams are distinguished by the following features:

1. Vivid, lively, specific character, with many details and particulars;

2. Weak expression of specific ways to realize a dream, imagination of these ways and means in the most general terms in the form of some trend);

3. The emotional richness of the image, its attractiveness for a dreaming person;

4. The desire to combine dreams with a feeling of confidence in its feasibility, with a passionate desire to turn it into reality.

Creative imagination. A characteristic feature of this type of imagination is the creation of new images in the process of human creative activity, whether it be art, science or technical activity.

Writers, painters, composers, trying to reflect life in the images of their art, resort to creative imagination. They do not simply photographically copy life, but create artistic images in which this life is truthfully reflected in its most striking features, in generalized images of reality. At the same time, these images also reflect the personality of the writer, artist, his understanding of the life around him, and the peculiarities of his artistic style.

Scientific activity also cannot be imagined as a mechanical knowledge of certain phenomena of the surrounding world. Scientific research is always associated with the construction of hypotheses; it is unthinkable without creative imagination. True, these hypotheses turn into positive knowledge and become the property of science only after testing by practice, but they must exist, otherwise science will not move forward. Physicists first made a series of hypotheses about the structure of the atom before they could actually discover the most important laws of this structure.

Creative imagination is also of great importance in the activities of a designer. Creating a new car is always a creative process, which necessarily involves imagination. For example, when creating a tank, the designers in their imagination did not accidentally, mechanically combine in a new image (along with many others) the principles of tracked and wheeled movements, the idea of ​​which they gleaned from observing movements in the real world, but creatively, as a result of long work and conscious searches, guided by the idea of ​​a tank and knowledge of the laws of motion.

Creative imagination is the creation of new images in the process of human creative activity (in art, science, etc.). Writers, artists, sculptors, composers, trying to depict life in images, resort to creative imagination. They do not simply photographically copy life, but create artistic images in which this life is truthfully reflected in its most striking and generalized features. At the same time, these images reflect the personality of the writer, artist, his worldview, understanding of the life around him, and the peculiarities of his artistic style.

Recreating Imagination or reproductive imagination- this is imagination based on what you read or hear. It occurs in cases where a person, based on one description, must imagine an object that he has never perceived before. For example, he has never seen the sea, but after reading its description in a book, he can imagine the sea in more or less vivid and complete images. Or the athlete has not yet been shown a new gymnastic exercise, he has never seen this gymnastic combination of floor exercises, but a more or less complete description of this combination will allow him to imagine this exercise with sufficient completeness and correctness. The re-creating imagination creates what is, what exists, and the way it exists. It should not depart from reality, otherwise it will not serve the goals of knowledge that it faces - to expand (based on the translation of descriptions into visual images) the circle of human knowledge about the world around us.

Thanks to the reconstructive imagination, a person can, using just one description, imagine distant countries that he has never been to, and long-past historical events, and many objects that he did not have the opportunity to encounter in reality. A huge source for the reconstructive imagination is represented by works of fiction, which allow us to create living, concrete images of many important phenomena of life with which we did not have the opportunity to become acquainted directly.

The human mind cannot be in an inactive state, which is why people dream so much. The human brain continues to function even when new information does not enter it, when it does not solve any problems. It is at this time that the imagination begins to work. It has been established that a person, at will, is not able to stop the flow of thoughts, stop the imagination.

In the process of human life, the imagination performs a number of specific functions.

The first is to represent reality in images and be able to use them when solving problems. This function of imagination is closely related to thinking and is organically included in it.

The second function of imagination is to regulate emotional states. With the help of his imagination, a person is able to at least partially satisfy many needs and relieve the tension generated by them. This vital function is especially emphasized and developed in psychoanalysis.

The third function of imagination is associated with its participation in the voluntary regulation of cognitive processes and human states. With the help of skillfully created images, a person can pay attention to the necessary events; through images, he gains the opportunity to control perceptions, memories, and statements.

The fourth function of imagination is to form an internal plan of action, i.e. the ability to perform them in the mind, manipulating images.

The fifth function of imagination is planning and programming activities, drawing up such programs, assessing their correctness, and the implementation process.

With the help of imagination, a person can control many psychophysiological states of the body and tune it to upcoming activities. There are known facts indicating that with the help of imagination, purely by will, a person can influence organic processes: change the rhythm of breathing, pulse rate, blood pressure, body temperature, etc. These facts underlie auto-training, which is widely used for self-regulation.

1.3. Ways to create images.

1. Creating an image about any part of an object, its property or individual attribute. The basis of this process is analysis in the form of mental isolation of a part or property of an object, their abstraction from the whole with a specific cognitive or practical task (for example, Gogol’s “Nose”);

2. Hyperbolization is a way of creating an image of the imagination by exaggerating the entire image of an object or its parts, endowing the object with a significantly larger number of significant features compared to reality, exaggerating the forces and possibilities of action of the object. Often used in cartoons;

3. Miniaturization (understatement) – a way of creating an image of imagination by downplaying holistic images of objects from individual properties and psychological qualities. Sometimes there is a combination of miniaturization and hyperbolization, when in creating an image both methods of enlargement and methods of reduction are simultaneously used;

4. Accenting (sharpening) is a technique for creating images of the imagination by emphasizing certain properties, features, aspects of various phenomena. One of the forms of emphasis is the selection of one of the properties of the image, which is not only dominant, but also universal, unique, characterizing the image in its entirety (almost all the main characters of works of art, allegorism of images). Emphasis in artistic creativity, in advertising, in imageology is achieved through repeated repetition of any stable expressive features, which achieves the individualization of the image and its unforgettableness;

5. Agglutination- a way of creating an image of the imagination by combining into a single system of ideas in a sequence or combination that is different from our direct perceptions and experiences (mermaids, sphinxes, centaurs);

6. Schematization consists in excluding some properties or qualities inherent in a certain object or person. Speaking about the merits of schematization, S.L. Rubinstein emphasized that the artist achieves the proper expressiveness of the object if he rids it of unnecessary, minor details that interfere with the perception of what is characteristic of the depicted object (a typical hero in typical circumstances);

7. Reconstruction of the facility according to known fragments, it is essential in creative work. This technique is actively used by archaeologists, emergency specialists, etc., it is used when restoring historical figures from preserved remains (the work of M.M. Gerasimov on creating portraits of Ivan the Terrible,

Tamerlan, etc.).

II. Development of imagination.

2.1 Development of imagination in preschoolers.

Problems of imagination development in preschool age.

Various approaches to developing imagination in children are considered. They differently assessed and interpreted the significance of this process in the mental development of the child, as well as the patterns of its formation in ontogenesis. At the same time, it is still possible to identify two key problems that were analyzed to one degree or another in all concepts: problems; the relationship between the development of the child’s imagination and the possibilities of knowing reality and the problem of the very nature of this process.

The role of imagination in the development of children's cognition and psyche in general has been viewed very ambiguously; from the complete separation of imagination from reality to the recognition of the inextricable connection between imagination and reality (T. Ribot). At the same time, it turns out that different authors, to varying degrees, analyzed two lines, two types of imagination, which have already been dominant. The first type of imagination is aimed at solving problems that a child faces in reality (research by T. Ribot, D. Dewey, M. Wertheimer, R. Arnheim, etc.), and the second is associated with the development of the emotional-need sphere of the personality and is aimed to resolve its internal contradictions, not to obtain satisfaction, albeit illusory (S. Freud, J. Piaget).

In the nature of imagination, three main approaches can be identified. Proponents of the first approach unambiguously linked the genesis of creative processes with the maturation of certain structures (S. Freud, J. Piaget). At the same time, the mechanisms of imagination turned out to be determined by structures external to this process (the development of intelligence or the development of the child’s personality). In the second approach, the development of imagination acted as a result of the accumulation of experience and the course of biological development of the individual (K. Koffka, R. Arnheim), and the mechanisms of imagination were understood as components of external and internal determinants. And finally, supporters of the third approach (A. Bain, T. Ribot) completely explained the origin and development of imagination by the accumulation of individual experience. The mechanisms of imagination were understood as some types of transformation of this experience (associations, accumulation of useful habits).

For the first time, L.S. succeeded in completely overcoming the denial of the positive role of imagination in the development of children’s cognition, on the one hand, and the rigid determination of this process by certain mechanisms inherent in the child, on the other. Vygotsky. He showed that imagination, like other mental functions, is a reflection of the surrounding reality; it is social in nature and originates in preschool childhood. L.S. Vygotsky directly emphasized that a child’s imagination arises with the need for such children’s activities as play.

Further study of the development of imagination in Soviet psychology continued the research of L.S. Vygotsky and his colleagues. The main direction of the study was to analyze the creative components of various types of children's activities. First of all, the emergence of imagination and the presence of creative components in the leading activity for preschool children - play (A.N. Leontyev, D.B. Elkonin, F.I. Fradkina, L.S. Slavina, N.Ya. Mikhailenko, N. A. Korotkova and others)

The concept of V.V. differs in its special approach to the analysis of the mechanisms of imagination and its development. Davydova. He believes that imagination is one of the main new formations of preschool childhood. Experimental studies carried out under the guidance of V.V. Davydov (E.V. Bodrova, O.L. Knyazeva, E.E. Kravtsova, V.T. Kudryavtsev, etc.) are directly aimed at studying the psychological patterns of imagination development; the basis for research in this area is the idea of ​​such basic features of the imagination as the ability to “grasp” the whole before the part and transfer the features of one object of reality to another. The development of these features of the imagination in preschoolers was examined based on the study of various activities (games, construction, artistic activities).

So, Soviet psychologists have shown that a child’s imagination is constantly connected with reality and is a socially conditioned process both in its origin and content. The emergence and functioning of imagination is determined by the developing activity of a preschooler, and above all, by his play activity. Imagination is active and inextricably linked with the motivational-need sphere of the individual.

However, the key position of L.S. Vygotsky’s idea of ​​the mediated nature of higher mental functions was not involved in the analysis of imagination. This position can form the basis for an experimental study of general patterns, and above all, the mechanisms of imagination specific to preschool childhood.

Imagination is a reflection of the future, the creation of a new image based on past experience. Imagination helps to predict events in the more or less distant future based on accumulated information.

Imagination is a mental cognitive process that consists of:

• 1. In constructing the image of the means and the final result of the subject’s objective activity;
• 2. In creating a behavior program when the problem situation is uncertain;
• 3. In the production of images that do not program, but replace activity;
• 4. In creating images that correspond to the description of the object.

The essence of imagination lies in the transformation of ideas, the creation of new images based on existing ones. The processes of imagination are of an analytical-synthetic nature, as are the processes of thinking, memory, and perception. Its main tendency is to transform memory representations, which ultimately ensures the creation of an obviously new, previously never encountered situation.

Imagination reflects reality in new, unusual, unexpected combinations and connections.

Types of imagination:

• Passive (unintentional; intentional)
• · Active (creative; recreating)

Passive imagination is characterized by the creation of:

Images that don't come to life

Programs that are not implemented or cannot be implemented at all.

Passive imagination can be intentional or unintentional.

Unintentional passive imagination is activated against the will of a person. It is observed with weakened activity of consciousness, with its disorders, in a semi-asleep state or in a dream.

Intentional passive imagination creates images that are not associated with the will that could contribute to their implementation. The predominance of dreams in the process of imagination indicates certain developmental defects.

Active imagination can be restorative and creative.

Recreating imagination is based on the creation of certain images that correspond to the description. On the basis of the recreating imagination, an attitude is formed - a representation of upcoming events and an appropriate attitude towards them. This should be taken into account when analyzing human behavior.

Sometimes a person’s behavior is guided by events he imagines that did not actually take place.

Creative imagination involves the independent creation of images that are realized in original and valuable products of activity. It is an integral part of technical, artistic and any other type of creativity.

Creative imagination is a much more complex process than recreative imagination.

Forms of manifestation of imagination.

Imagination can manifest itself in different forms. These include:

• · dreams,
• · dreams,
• · hallucinations,
• · dreams.

Dreams are desires pushed back in time.

However, imagination can also act as a substitute for activity, its surrogate. Then a person withdraws from reality into the realm of fantasy in order to hide from tasks that seem insoluble to him, from the need to act, from the hardships of life.

Such fantasies are called dreams. Dreams reflect the connection between fantasy and our needs.

Hallucinations are fantastic visions that have almost no connection with reality. If dreams can be considered a completely normal mental state, then hallucinations are usually the result of certain mental or bodily disorders and accompany many disease states.

Hallucinations are the most indicative manifestations of passive unintentional imagination, in which a person perceives a non-existent object.

Dreams also fall into the category of passive, unintentional forms of imagination. Their true role in human life has not yet been established, although it is known that in dreams many vital human needs find expression and satisfaction, which, for a number of reasons, cannot be realized in life.

Imagination is a mental cognitive process of creating new ideas based on existing experience, i.e. a process of transformative reflection of reality. A person may imagine the world around him in a somewhat erroneous and even distorted way. A distorted view of the world often takes on the characteristics of fixed concepts and beliefs that are difficult to correct. But in general, with proper reliance on the data of past experience, imagination is a powerful means for a person to understand the world and reconstruct it.

In general, imagination is a change and transformation by a person of his ideas based on:

- isolating from a holistic image of an object of any of its elements or properties;

- changes magnitude, size of objects towards exaggeration (hyperbole) or understatement in comparison with the real ones and in this way creating all kinds of fantastic images (giants, gnomes, etc.);

- connections in one’s imagination, their parts or elements isolated from different objects and in this way creating a mental image, a representation of a new object that did not previously exist in nature;

- design an object in connection with its purpose, for example a spear; mentally endowing this weapon with the properties of hitting a target from afar (throwing) or close (strike, powerful thrust) and, in connection with this, giving a special shape to each of these weapons;

- mental enhancement any property or quality, giving this property disproportionately greater or special importance in the characteristics of the object (cunning in a fox, cowardice in a hare);

- transfer this property on other objects (the leader of the tribe is as cunning as a fox; enemies are cowardly as hares);

- mental weakening any property or quality of an object, in its strong degree leading to the construction of a contrasting image, endowed with properties directly opposite to the original one (many characters of folk epics, fairy tales);

- creating a new image as a result of generalization of features observed in a number of similar objects (typification of an image in fiction; for example, the literary heroes Onegin, Pechorin, Oblomov, Samgin, Korchagin, etc. are endowed with features typical of that era, the class of which they are exponents).

Physiological basis of imagination constitute residual (trace) processes of excitation and inhibition, irradiation and concentration, positive and negative induction, analysis and synthesis in the cortical sections of various analyzers. As a result of this complex nervous activity, new combinations of temporary connections formed in past experience, which did not take place in the real process of perception, arise and form the basis of imaginary images.

In everyday life, imagination or fantasy is called everything that is unreal, does not correspond to reality, and thus has no practical significance. In fact, imagination, as the basis of all creative activity, manifests itself equally in all aspects of cultural life, making artistic, scientific and technical creativity possible.

Imagination, like all other mental processes, is a function of the cerebral cortex. Sometimes experts associate this process only with the work of the right hemisphere. The specificity of the right hemisphere is that it does not get stuck on details, but simplifies the picture of the world, gives an idea of ​​integrity, harmony, proportionality, compositional unity.

How to define imagination? What it is?

The authors of different textbooks define this mental process differently. In the textbook Enikeev M.I. the following definition is proposed imagination: this is an image-information modeling of reality based on the recombination of memory images.

Imagination – This is the mental process of creating new images based on previously perceived ones, a reflection of reality in new unusual combinations and connections. Imagination allows a person to go beyond the real world in time and space, makes it possible to imagine the result of work even before starting work, and plays a huge role in transforming the objective world.

So, imagination - This the mental process of creating new images based on previously perceived ones. Imagination occupies an intermediate place between the mental processes of perception and thinking, thinking and memory. Imagination can function at different levels. Their difference is determined primarily by human activity.

Types of imagination differentiated accordingly using different criteria for classification.

By degree of tension activities distinguish imagination: passive and active .

A person uses active imagination at his own request, and through an effort of will he evokes appropriate images in himself. Active imagination can be: creative and recreative .

Creative– arises in the process of labor and offers the independent creation of images realized in original and valuable products of activity.

Creative active– arises in the process of labor and involves the independent creation of images that are realized in original and valuable products of activity.

Recreating active imagination– is based on the creation of certain images that correspond to the description (for example, when reading a literary work, we imagine the heroes).

Passive imagination– is based on the creation of certain images that are not brought to life. Passive imagination is: intentional and unintentional.

The forms of manifestation of imagination are:

c) hallucinations,

d) dreams.

Man uses various techniques and methods of the process imagination:

Agglutination –“gluing”, combination, merging of individual elements or parts of several objects into one image (mermaid = woman + fish);

Accenting – ( sharpening) - highlighting and emphasizing any one part or detail in the created image. Caricaturists use this technique, highlighting in their drawings one part of the body, a person’s face.

Hyperbolization– an increase or decrease in an object, a change in the number of parts of an object, their displacement (for example, a multi-armed Buddha; dragons with seven heads).

Schematization– smoothing out the differences between objects and highlighting the similarities between them. For example, national ornaments and patterns.

Typing– highlighting the essential, recurring in homogeneous phenomena and embodying it in a specific image (for example, literary types).

Imagination varies in several ways signs :

The brightness of the images

Degree and realism,

novelty,

originality,

breadth of imagination,

Arbitrariness,

Type of representations

Sustainability.

Functions of imagination:

1.Representation of reality in images and the ability to use them.

2. Regulation of emotional states.

3. Formation of an internal action plan.

4. Planning and programming activities.

5. Management of the psychophysical state of the body (for example, in auto-training).

Imagination provides integrity and constancy of perception. It orients a person in the endless spaces of the future and allows him to correct pictures of the past. A person’s ability to foresee and experience imaginary ethical situations is the basis of his moral behavior. Imagination helps a person to carry out a symbolic mastery of the world; it underlies the ideal reflection of reality.

It is believed that imagination can be developed within the limits associated with the genotypically determined capabilities of a person. The development of imagination involves its improvement according to the following criteria: by the diversity of imagination processes, by the originality of imagination images, assessed by other people, by the level of detail in the construction of imagination images, by the level of intellectualization of imagination images, manifested in their mental interpretation by other people, by the emotionality of other people’s reactions to products of a given individual's imagination.

In some people, imagination appears already at 2-3 years of age without special training in this direction. For others, even at a later age, special techniques do not help. In this regard, psychologists hypothesize about a certain innateness of imagination. However, in people who have imagination and are engaged in creative activities, there is an improvement in the qualitative characteristics of imagination processes.

Thus, in the study of imagination as a mental process, much has become known, but unsolved mysteries remain.

The lecture on the module is based on the literature:

1. Maklakov, A.G. General psychology: textbook for universities / A.G. Maklakov. – St. Petersburg: Peter, 2010. – 583 p.

2. Gippenreiter, Yu.B. Introduction to general psychology / Yu.B. Gippenreiter. – M.: Che Ro, 1998. – 336 p.

3. Berezovin, N.A. Fundamentals of psychology and pedagogy: textbook / N.A. Berezovin, V.T. Chepikov, M.I. Chekhovsky. – Minsk, 2004. – 336 p.

4. General psychology: textbook / L.A. Weinstein [and others]. – Mn.: Theseus, 2005. – 368 p.

5. Yarovitsky, V. One Hundred Great Psychologists / Author-compiler Yarovitsky V. – M.: “VECHE”, 2004. – 432 p.

6. Nemov, R.S. Psychology Textbook. for students higher ped. Textbook institutions: in 3 books, T.1./ R. S. Nemov. – 4th ed. – M.: Humanite. ed. VLADOS center, 2003. Book 1. General psychology. – 688 p.

7. Rubinshtein S.L. Fundamentals of general psychology / S. L. Rubinstein. – St. Petersburg: Peter, 2007. – 713 p.

8. Stolyarenko, L. D. Fundamentals of psychology / L. D. Stolyarenko. – 5th ed., revised. and additional – Rostov n/d: Phoenix, 2002. – 672 p.

9. Enikeev, M.I. General psychology: textbook for universities / M.I. Enikeev. – M.: PRIOR Publishing House, 2000. – 400 p.

10. Prygin, G.S. Mental processes: a textbook for students of humanitarian universities / G.S. Prygin. – Naberezhnye Chelny: Publishing House of the Institute of Management, 1997. – 128 p.

11. Grigorovich, L.A., Martsinkovskaya, T.D. Pedagogy and psychology: Textbook / L.A. Grigorovich, T.D. Martsinkovskaya. – M.: Garadariki, 2001. – 480 p.

12. General psychology: A course of lectures for the first stage of pedagogical education / Comp. E.I. Rogov. – M.: Humanite. ed. VLADOS center, 2000. – 448 p.

13. Glukhanyuk, N.S., Semenova, S.L., Pecherkina, A.A. General psychology: textbook for universities / N.S. Glukhanyuk, S.L. Semenova, A.A. Pecherkina – M.: Academic project; Ekaterinburg: business book, 2005. – 3rd ed., additional. and corr. – 368 p.

14. Lobanov, A.P. Psychology of cognitive processes: textbook / A.P. Lobanov. – Minsk: PA CRTO “Dial”, 2006. – 240 p.

15. Odintsova, M.A. General psychology / M.A. Odintsova. – Minsk: MGEI, 2005. – 162 p.

16. Kobuzovsky, V.M. General psychology: mental processes. Textbook / V.M Kobuzovsky – 3rd ed. – Minsk: Almafeya, 2008. – 368 p.

17. Andrievskaya, S.V. Lectures on “Fundamentals of Psychology and Pedagogy” [Electronic resource] / S.V. Andrievskaya // Electronic library of Polotsk State University / URI http://elib.psu.by:8080/handle/123456789/15319

The images with which a person operates include not only previously perceived objects and phenomena. The content of the images can also be something that he has never perceived directly: pictures of the distant past or future; places where he has never been and never will be; creatures that do not exist, not only on Earth, but in the Universe in general. Images allow a person to go beyond the real world in time and space. It is these images, transforming and modifying human experience, that are the main characteristic of the imagination.

Usually what is meant by imagination or fantasy is not exactly what is meant by these words in science. In everyday life, imagination or fantasy is called everything that is unreal, does not correspond to reality, and thus has no practical significance. In fact, imagination, as the basis of all creative activity, manifests itself equally in all aspects of cultural life, making artistic, scientific and technical creativity possible.

Through sensations, perception and thinking, a person reflects the real properties of objects in the surrounding reality and acts in accordance with them in a specific situation. Through memory he uses his past experiences. But human behavior can be determined not only by current or past properties of the situation, but also by those that may be inherent in it in the future. Thanks to this ability, images of objects appear in the human consciousness that do not currently exist, but can later be embodied in specific objects. The ability to reflect the future and act as expected, i.e. imaginary, situation typical only for humans.

Imagination- the cognitive process of reflecting the future by creating new images based on processing images of perception, thinking and ideas obtained in previous experience.

Through the imagination, images are created that have never generally been accepted by a person in reality. The essence of imagination is to transform the world. This determines the most important role of imagination in the development of man as an active subject.

Imagination and thinking are processes that are similar in their structure and functions. L. S. Vygotsky called them “extremely related,” noting the commonality of their origin and structure as psychological systems. He considered imagination as a necessary, integral moment of thinking, especially creative thinking, since thinking always includes the processes of forecasting and anticipation. In problematic situations, a person uses thinking and imagination. The idea of ​​a possible solution formed in the imagination strengthens the motivation of the search and determines its direction. The more uncertain the problem situation is, the more unknown there is in it, the more significant the role of imagination becomes. It can be carried out with incomplete initial data, since it supplements them with products of one’s own creativity.

A deep relationship also exists between imagination and emotional-volitional processes. One of its manifestations is that when an imaginary image appears in a person’s mind, he experiences true, real, and not imaginary emotions, which allows him to avoid unwanted influences and bring the desired images to life. L. S. Vygotsky called this the law of “emotional reality of imagination”

For example, a person needs to cross a stormy river by boat. Imagining that the boat might capsize, he experiences not imaginary, but real fear. This encourages him to choose a safer crossing method.

Imagination can influence the strength of emotions and feelings experienced by a person. For example, people often experience feelings of anxiety, worry about only imaginary, rather than real events. Changing the way you imagine can reduce anxiety and relieve tension. Imagining the experiences of another person helps to form and demonstrate feelings of empathy and compassion towards him. In volitional actions, imagining the final result of an activity encourages its implementation. The brighter the image of the imagination, the greater the motivating force, but the realism of the image also matters.

Imagination is a significant factor influencing personality development. Ideals, as an imaginary image that a person wants to imitate or strives for, serve as models for organizing his life activities, personal and moral development.

Types of imagination

There are different types of imagination. By degree of activity imagination can be passive or active. Passive imagination does not stimulate a person to take active action. He is satisfied with the created images and does not strive to realize them in reality or draws images that, in principle, cannot be realized. In life, such people are called utopians, fruitless dreamers. N.V. Gogol, having created the image of Manilov, made his name a household name for this type of people. Active Imagination is the creation of images, which are subsequently realized in practical actions and products of activity. Sometimes this requires a lot of effort and a significant investment of time from a person. Active imagination increases the creative content and efficiency of other activities.

Productive

Productive is called imagination, in the images of which there are many new things (elements of fantasy). The products of such imagination are usually similar to nothing or very little similar to what is already known.

Reproductive

Reproductive is an imagination, the products of which contain a lot of what is already known, although there are also individual elements of the new. This, for example, is the imagination of a novice poet, writer, engineer, artist, who initially create their creations according to known models, thereby learning professional skills.

Hallucinations

Hallucinations are products of imagination generated by an altered (not normal) state of human consciousness. These conditions can arise for various reasons: illness, hypnosis, exposure to psychotropic substances such as drugs, alcohol, etc.

Dreams

Dreams are products of imagination aimed at a desired future. Dreams contain more or less real and, in principle, feasible plans for a person. Dreams as a form of imagination are especially characteristic of young people who still have most of their lives ahead of them.

Dreams

Dreams are unique dreams that, as a rule, are divorced from reality and, in principle, are not feasible. Dreams occupy an intermediate position between dreams and hallucinations, but their difference from hallucinations is that dreams are products of the activity of a normal person.

Dreams

Dreams have always been and still are of particular interest. Currently, they are inclined to believe that dreams can reflect the processes of information processing by the human brain, and the content of dreams is not only functionally related to these processes, but may include new valuable ideas and even discoveries.

Voluntary and involuntary imagination

Imagination is connected in various ways with the will of a person, on the basis of which voluntary and involuntary imagination are distinguished. If images are created when the activity of consciousness is weakened, imagination is called involuntary. It occurs in a half-asleep state or during sleep, as well as in certain disorders of consciousness. free imagination is a conscious, directed activity, performing which a person is aware of its goals and motives. It is characterized by the deliberate creation of images. Active and free imagination can be combined in various ways. An example of voluntary passive imagination is daydreaming, when a person deliberately indulges in thoughts that are unlikely to ever come true. Voluntary active imagination manifests itself in a long, purposeful search for the desired image, which is typical, in particular, for the activities of writers, inventors, and artists.

Recreative and creative imagination

In connection with past experience, two types of imagination are distinguished: recreative and creative. Recreating Imagination is the creation of images of objects that were not previously perceived in a complete form by a person, although he is familiar with similar objects or their individual elements. Images are formed according to a verbal description, a schematic image - a drawing, a picture, a geographical map. In this case, the knowledge available regarding these objects is used, which determines the predominantly reproductive nature of the created images. At the same time, they differ from memory representations in the greater variety, flexibility and dynamism of image elements. Creative imagination is the independent creation of new images that are embodied in original products of various types of activities with minimal indirect reliance on past experience.

Realistic imagination

Drawing various images in their imagination, people always evaluate the possibility of their implementation in reality. Realistic imagination takes place if a person believes in the reality and possibility of realizing the created images. If he does not see such a possibility, a fantastic imagination takes place. There is no hard line between realistic and fantastic imagination. There are many cases where an image born of a person’s fantasy as completely unrealistic (for example, the hyperboloid invented by A. N. Tolstoy) later became a reality. Fantastic imagination is present in children's role-playing games. It formed the basis of literary works of a certain genre - fairy tales, science fiction, “fantasy”.

With all the variety of types of imagination, they are characterized by a common function, which determines their main significance in human life - anticipation of the future, the ideal representation of the outcome of an activity before it is achieved. Other functions of the imagination are also associated with it - stimulating and planning. The images created in the imagination encourage and stimulate a person to realize them in specific actions. The transformative influence of imagination extends not only to a person’s future activity, but also to his past experience. Imagination promotes selectivity in its structuring and reproduction in accordance with the goals of the present and future. The creation of imaginative images is carried out through complex processes of processing actually perceived information and memory representations. Just as is the case in thinking, the main processes or operations of the imagination are analysis and synthesis. Through analysis, objects or ideas about them are divided into their component parts, and through synthesis, a holistic image of the object is rebuilt. But unlike thinking in the imagination, a person more freely handles the elements of objects, recreating new holistic images.

This is achieved through a set of processes specific to the imagination. The main ones are exaggeration(hyperbolization) and understatement of real-life objects or their parts (for example, creating images of a giant, genie or Thumbelina); accentuation- emphasizing or exaggerating real-life objects or their parts (for example, Pinocchio’s long nose, Malvina’s blue hair); agglutination- combining various, real-life parts and properties of objects in unusual combinations (for example, creating fictional images of a centaur, mermaid). The specificity of the imagination process is that they do not reproduce certain impressions in the same combinations and forms in which they were perceived and stored as past experience, but build new combinations and forms from them. This reveals a deep internal connection between imagination and creativity, which is always aimed at creating something new - material values, scientific ideas, or.

The relationship between imagination and creativity

There are different types of creativity: scientific, technical, literary, artistic etc. None of these types is possible without the participation of imagination. In its main function - anticipation of what does not yet exist, it determines the emergence of intuition, conjecture, insight as the central link of the creative process. Imagination helps a scientist to see the phenomenon being studied in a new light. In the history of science there are many examples of the emergence of images of the imagination, which were subsequently realized into new ideas, great discoveries and inventions.

The English physicist M. Faraday, studying the interaction of conductors with current at a distance, imagined that they were surrounded by invisible lines like tentacles. This led him to the discovery of lines of force and the phenomena of electromagnetic induction. The German engineer O. Lilienthal observed and analyzed the soaring flight of birds for a long time. The image of an artificial bird that arose in his imagination served as the basis for the invention of the glider and the first flight on it.

When creating literary works, the writer realizes in words the images of his aesthetic imagination. Their brightness, breadth and depth of the phenomena of reality they cover are subsequently felt by readers, and evoke in them feelings of co-creation. L.N. Tolstoy wrote in his diaries that “when perceiving truly artistic works, the illusion arises that a person does not perceive, but creates, it seems to him that he has produced such a beautiful thing.”

The role of imagination in pedagogical creativity is also great. Its specificity lies in the fact that the results of pedagogical activity do not appear immediately, but after some, sometimes a long time. Their presentation in the form of a model of the child’s developing personality, the image of his behavior and thinking in the future determines the choice of teaching and upbringing methods, pedagogical requirements and influences.

All people have different abilities for creativity. Their formation is determined by a large number of different aspects. These include innate inclinations, human activity, environmental features, learning and upbringing conditions that influence the development of a person’s mental processes and personality traits that contribute to creative achievements.