Levels of mental reflection. Chapter II Psychic Reflection

The psyche is the essence where the diversity of nature gathers into its unity, it is a virtual compression of nature, it is a reflection of the objective world in its connections and relationships.

Psychic reflection is not a mirror, mechanically passive copying of the world (like a mirror or a camera), it is associated with a search, a choice; in mental reflection, incoming information is subjected to specific processing, i.e. mental reflection is an active reflection of the world in connection with some necessarily, with needs, this is a subjective selective reflection of the objective world, since it always belongs to the subject, does not exist outside the subject, depends on subjective characteristics. The psyche is a “subjective image of the objective world.”

Objective reality exists independently of a person and can be reflected through the psyche into subjective mental reality. This mental reflection, belonging to a specific subject, depends on his interests, emotions, characteristics of the senses and level of thinking (the same objective information from objective reality different people can perceive in their own way, from completely different angles, and each of them usually thinks that his perception is the most correct), thus a subjective mental reflection, subjective reality may differ partially or significantly from objective reality.

But it would be wrong to completely identify the psyche as a reflection of the external world: the psyche is capable of reflecting not only what is, but also what could be (prediction), and what seems possible, although this is not the case in reality. The psyche, on the one hand, is a reflection of reality, but, on the other hand, it is sometimes “inventing” something that does not exist in reality, sometimes these are illusions, mistakes, a reflection of one’s desires as real, wishful thinking. Therefore, we can say that the psyche is a reflection of not only the external, but also its internal psychological world.

Thus, the psyche is a “subjective image of the objective world”, it is a totality subjective experiences and elements internal experience subject.

The psyche cannot be reduced simply to the nervous system. Indeed, the nervous system is an organ (according to at least, one of the organs) of the psyche. In case of disruption of activity nervous system the human psyche suffers and is disturbed.

But just as a machine cannot be understood through the study of its parts and organs, so the psyche cannot be understood through the study of the nervous system alone.

Mental properties are the result of the neurophysiological activity of the brain, but they contain the characteristics of external objects, and not the internal physiological processes through which the mental arises.

Signals transformed in the brain are perceived by a person as events taking place outside him, in external space and the world.

Mechanical identity theory states that mental processes in essence, there are physiological processes, i.e. the brain secretes the psyche, thought, just as the liver secretes bile. The disadvantage of this theory is that the psyche is identified with nervous processes and they do not see qualitative differences between them.

Unity theory states that mental and physiological processes occur simultaneously, but they are qualitatively different.

Mental phenomena are correlated not with a separate neurophysiological process, but with organized sets of such processes, i.e. the psyche is a systemic quality of the brain, realized through multi-level functional systems brain, which are formed in a person in the process of life and his mastery of historically established forms of activity and experience of mankind through his own active activity. Thus, specific human qualities(consciousness, speech, work, etc.), human psyche are formed in a person only during his lifetime in the process of assimilating the culture created by previous generations. Thus, the human psyche includes at least 3 components: the external world (nature, its reflection); full brain activity; interaction with people, active transmission of human culture and human abilities to new generations.

Mental reflection is characterized by a number of features;
it makes it possible to correctly reflect the surrounding reality, and the correctness of the reflection is confirmed by practice;
the mental image itself is formed in the process of active human activity;
mental reflection deepens and improves;
ensures the appropriateness of behavior and activity;
refracted through a person’s individuality;
is anticipatory.
Functions of the psyche: reflection of the surrounding world and regulation of behavior and activity of a living creature in order to ensure its survival.

Psyche– a systemic property of highly organized matter, which consists in the subject’s active reflection of the objective world, in the subject’s construction of a picture of the world that is inalienable from him and self-regulation on this basis of his behavior and activities.

By, consciousness = psyche.
By, consciousness is a small part of the mind, it includes what we are aware of every moment.
. Consciousness is a reflection of objective reality in its separation from the subject’s existing relations to it, i.e. a reflection that highlights its objective, stable properties. In consciousness, the image of reality does not merge with the subject’s experience: in consciousness, what is reflected appears as “what is coming” to the subject. The prerequisites for such reflection are the division of labor (the task of realizing one’s actions in the structure general activities). There is a separation between the motive of the entire activity and the (conscious) goal. separate action. There is a special task to understand the meaning of this action, which has no biological meaning (pr/r.: beater). The connection between motive and goal is revealed in the form of human activity labor collective. An objective and practical attitude towards the subject of activity arises. Thus, between the object of activity and the subject there is awareness of the very activity of producing this object.

Specifics of psychological reflection

Reflection is a change in the state of an object, which begins to carry traces of another object.

Reflection forms: physical, biological, mental.

Physical reflection- direct contact. This process is finite in time. These traces are indifferent for both objects (symmetry of interaction traces). According to A.N. Leontiev, destruction occurs.

Biological reflection– a special type of interaction – maintaining the existence of an animal organism. Transformation of traces into specific signals. Based on signal transformation, a response occurs. (to the outside world or to yourself). Selectivity of reflection. Hence the reflection is not symmetrical.

Psychic reflection– as a result, an image of the object appears (cognition of the world).

Images– sensual, rational (knowledge about the world).

Features of mental reflection: a) purely subjective education; b) the psychic is a symbol of reality; c) the mental reflection is more or less correct.

Conditions for constructing an image of the world: a) interaction with the world; b) The presence of a reflection organ; c) full contact with society (for a person).

Subject and tasks of psychology.

Psychology is the science of the laws of development and functioning of the psyche. The object of psychology is the psyche. The subject of the study of psychology is, first of all, the psyche of humans and animals, which includes many phenomena. With the help of such phenomena as sensations and perception, attention and memory, imagination, thinking and speech, a person understands the world. Therefore, they are often called cognitive processes.

Other phenomena regulate his communication with people and directly control his actions and actions. They are called mental properties and states of the individual (these include needs, motives, goals, interests, will, feelings and emotions, inclinations and abilities, knowledge and consciousness).

Psychology also studies human communication and behavior

Tasks of psychology:

1. Qualitative study of all mental phenomena.

2. Analysis of all mental phenomena.

3. Study of psychological mechanisms of mental phenomena.

4. Implementation psychological knowledge into the lives and activities of people.

The connection between psychology and other sciences. Branches of psychology.

It is impossible to understand the psyche and behavior of a person without knowing his natural and social essence. Therefore, the study of psychology is related to human biology, the structure and functioning of the central nervous system.

Psychology is also closely connected with the history of society and its culture, since the main historical achievements - tools and sign systems - played a crucial role in the formation of human mental functions.

Man is a biosocial being; his psyche is formed only within the framework of society. Accordingly, the specifics of the society in which a person lives determines the characteristics of his psyche, behavior, worldview, and social interactions with other people. In this regard, psychology is also connected with sociology.

Consciousness, thinking and many other mental phenomena are not given to a person from birth, but are formed in the process individual development, in the process of upbringing and education. Therefore, psychology is also related to pedagogy.

The following branches of psychology are distinguished:

1) General psychology - studies cognitive and practical activities.

2) Social psychology - studies the interactions between the individual and society

3) Developmental psychology - studies the development of the psyche from the conception of a person to his death. It has a number of branches: child psychology, psychology of adolescents, youth, adults and gerontology. Pedagogical psychology has as its subject the psyche (student and teacher) in conditions educational process(training and education).

4) Labor psychology - examines the psyche in the conditions of work.

5) Psycholinguistics - deals with the study of speech as a type of psyche.

6) Special psychology: oligophrenopsychology, deaf psychology, typhlopsychology.

7) Differential psychology - explores all kinds of differences in the psyche of people: individual, typological, ethnic, etc. 8) Psychometry - comprehends the issues of mathematical modeling of the psyche, problems of measurement in psychology, methods quantitative analysis results of psychological research.

9) Psychophysiology - studies the relationship between the interaction of biological and mental, higher physiology nervous activity and psychology.

Methods of psychology.

The main methods of psychology, like most other sciences, are observation and experiment. Additional ones are introspection, conversation, survey and biographical method. IN Lately Psychological testing is becoming increasingly popular.

Self-observation is one of the first psychological methods. This is the choice of a method for studying mental phenomena, the advantage of which is the ability to directly, directly observe a person’s thoughts, experiences, and aspirations. The disadvantage of the method is its subjectivity. It is difficult to verify the data obtained and repeat the result.

The most objective method is experiment. There are laboratory and natural views experiment. The advantage of the method: high accuracy, the ability to study facts that are not accessible to the eye of the observer using special instruments.

Questionnaires are used in psychology to obtain data from a large group of subjects. There are open and closed types of questionnaires. In open-type questionnaires, the answer to the question is formed by the subject himself; in closed-ended questionnaires, subjects must choose one of the options for the proposed answers.

The interview (or conversation) is conducted with each subject separately, and therefore does not provide an opportunity to obtain detailed information as quickly as using questionnaires. But these conversations make it possible to record a person’s emotional state, his attitude, and opinion on certain issues.

There are also various tests. In addition to tests intellectual development and creativity, there are tests aimed at studying individual characteristics person, the structure of his personality.

4. The concept of the psyche and its functions.

Psyche is general concept, denoting the totality of all mental phenomena studied by psychology.

There are 3 main functions of the psyche:

Reflection of the influences of the surrounding world

A person’s awareness of his place in the world around him

This function of the psyche, on the one hand, ensures the correct adaptation of a person in the world. On the other hand, with the help of the psyche, a person realizes himself as a person endowed with certain characteristics, as a representative of a particular society, social group different from other people and being in a relationship with them, a person’s correct awareness of his personal characteristics helps to adapt to other people, to properly build communication and interaction with them, to achieve common goals in joint activities, maintain harmony in society as a whole.

Regulation of behavior and activity

Thanks to this function, a person not only adequately reflects the surrounding objective world, but has the ability to transform it.

5. Structure of the psyche (mental processes, conditions, properties and neoplasms).

Psyche is a general concept denoting the totality of all mental phenomena studied by psychology

Typically, the following main components are distinguished in the psyche: mental processes; mental neoplasms; mental states; mental properties.

Mental processes are a component of the human psyche that arises and develops in the interaction of living beings with the outside world. Mental processes are caused by external influences natural and social environment, as well as various desires and diverse needs.

All mental processes are divided into cognitive ones. which include sensations, ideas, attention, memory; emotional, which can be associated with positive or negative experiences, volitional, which ensures decision-making and execution.

The result of mental processes is the formation of mental formations in the personality structure.

Mental new formations are certain knowledge, skills and abilities acquired by a person throughout life, including during training.

Mental states are phenomena of vigor or depression, efficiency or fatigue. calmness or irritability, etc. Mental conditions arise due to various factors, such as health status, working conditions, relationships with other people.

On the basis of mental processes and mental states, personality properties (qualities) are gradually formed.

Characteristics of mental reflection.

Mental reflection is a correct, true reflection.

Features of mental reflection:

It makes it possible to correctly reflect the surrounding reality;

Mental reflection deepens and improves;

Ensures the appropriateness of behavior and activities;

Has a proactive character

Different for each person

Mental reflection has a number of properties:

– Activity. Mental reflection is an active process.

Subjectivity. This is expressed in the fact that we see one world, but it appears differently for each of us.

Objectivity. Only through correct reflection is it possible for a person to understand the world around him.

Dynamism. That is, the mental reflection has the property of changing.

Anticipatory character. This allows you to make decisions ahead of the future

Our consciousness is a reflection of the external world. Modern personality is capable of very fully and accurately reflecting the world, unlike primitive people. With the development of human practice, it increases, which allows it to better reflect the surrounding reality.

The brain realizes the mental reflection of the objective world. The latter has internal and external environment his life. The first is reflected in human needs, i.e. V general feeling, and the second - in sensory concepts and images.

• mental images arise in the process of human activity;
• mental reflection allows you to behave logically and engage in activities;
• endowed with a proactive character;
• provides an opportunity to correctly reflect reality;
• develops and improves;
• refracted through individuality.

Properties of mental reflection:

• mental reflection is capable of receiving information about the surrounding world;
• it is not a reflection of the world;
• it cannot be tracked.

Characteristics of mental reflection

Mental processes originate in active work, but on the other hand they are controlled by psychic reflection. Before we take any action, we imagine it. It turns out that the image of the action is ahead of the action itself.

Mental phenomena exist against the background of human interaction with the outside world, but the mental is expressed not only as a process, but also as a result, that is, a certain fixed image. Images and concepts reflect a person’s relationship to them, as well as to his life and activities. They encourage the individual to continuously interact with the real world.

You already know that mental reflection is always subjective, that is, it is the experience, motive, and knowledge of the subject. These internal conditions characterize the activity of the individual himself, and external reasons act through internal conditions. This principle was formed by Rubinstein.

Stages of mental reflection

Psychology as a science

I. Definition of psychology as a science

Psychologyis the science of mental processes, mental states and mental properties of an individual. She studies the patterns of development and functioning of human mental activity.

II. The concept of the psyche. Fundamentals of mental function. Features of mental reflection.

Psyche -this is a property of highly organized living matter, which consists in the subject’s active reflection of the objective world, in the subject’s construction of an inalienable picture of this world and the regulation of behavior and activity on this basis

1) psyche is a property only of living matter; 2) main feature psyche lies in the ability to reflect the objective world.

2. Psychic reflection– this is: 1) an active reflection of the world; 2) during mental reflection, incoming information is subjected to specific processing, and on its basis psychic is created , i.e. subjective in nature and idealistic (immaterial) in nature image, which, with a certain degree of accuracy, is a copy of material objects real world; 3) it's always subjective selective reflection of the objective world , since it always belongs to the subject, does not exist outside the subject, depends on subjective characteristics.

Mental reflection is not a mirror, mechanically passive copying of the world (like a mirror or a camera), it is associated with a search, a choice; in mental reflection, incoming information is subjected to specific processing, i.e. mental reflection is an active reflection of the world in connection with some necessity, with needs, it is a subjective selective reflection of the objective world, since it always belongs to the subject, does not exist outside the subject, depends on subjective characteristics. The psyche is a “subjective image of the objective world”.

Mental phenomena are correlated not with a separate neurophysiological process, but with organized sets of such processes, i.e. psyche is a systemic quality of the brain, implemented through multi-level functional systems of the brain, which are formed in a person in the process of life and his mastery of historically established forms of activity and experience of mankind through his own active activity. Thus, specifically human qualities (consciousness, speech, work, etc.), the human psyche are formed in a person only during his lifetime, in the process of assimilating the culture created by previous generations. Thus, the human psyche includes at least three components: external world, nature, its reflection - full-fledged brain activity - interaction with people, active transmission to new generations of human culture, human abilities.

Psychic reflection- this is a universal property of matter, which consists in reproducing the signs, properties and relationships of the reflected object.

Mental reflection is characterized by a number of features:

· it makes it possible to correctly reflect the surrounding reality, and the correctness of the reflection is confirmed by practice;

· the mental image itself is formed in the process of active human activity;

· mental reflection deepens and improves;

· ensures the appropriateness of behavior and activity;

· refracted through a person’s individuality;

· is anticipatory in nature.

The most important function psyche is regulation of behavior and activity, thanks to which a person not only adequately reflects the surrounding objective world, but has the ability to transform it in the process of purposeful activity. The adequacy of human movements and actions to the conditions, tools and subject of activity is possible only if they are correctly reflected by the subject.

III. Properties of the psyche (mental reflection).

1. Activity. Mental reflection is not mirror-like, not passive, it is associated with the search and choice of methods of action adequate to the conditions, it is active process.

2. Subjectivity.Other a feature of mental reflection is its subjectivity: it is mediated by a person's past experiences and personality. This is expressed primarily in the fact that we see one world, but it appears differently for each of us.

3. Objectivity. At the same time, mental reflection makes it possible to build an “internal picture of the world” that is adequate to objective reality, and here it is necessary to note one more property of the mental - its objectivity. Only through correct reflection is it possible for a person to understand the world around him. The criterion of correctness is practical activity in which mental reflection is constantly deepened, improved and developed.

4. Dynamism. The process called mental reflection tends to undergo significant changes over time. The conditions in which an individual operates change, and the approaches to transformation themselves change. We should not forget that each person has distinct individual characteristics, your own desires, needs and desire for development.

5. Continuity. Mental reflection is a continuous process.

6. Anticipatory character. One more important feature mental reflection is his anticipatory character it makes possible anticipation in human activity and behavior, which allows decisions to be made with a certain time-spatial advance regarding the future.

IV. Structure of the human psyche (forms of mental reflection).

Usually there are three large groups of mental phenomena, namely: 1) mental processes, 2) mental states, 3) mental properties.

1. Mental processes – dynamic reflection of reality in various forms mental phenomena. A mental process is the course of a mental phenomenon that has a beginning, development and end, manifesting itself in the form of a reaction.

1) Cognitive mental processes: sensation and perception, representation and memory, thinking and imagination;

2) Emotional mental processes: active and passive experiences;

3) Strong-willed mental processes: decision, execution, volitional effort etc.

2. Mental state – a relatively stable level of mental activity, which manifests itself in increased or decreased activity personality.

Mental states are of a reflex nature: they arise under the influence of the situation, physiological factors, progress of work, time and verbal influences (praise, blame, etc.).

The most studied are:

1) general mental condition, for example, attention manifested at the level of active concentration or distraction,

2) emotional states, or mood (cheerful, enthusiastic, sad, sad, angry, irritable, etc.).

3) a creative state of personality, which is called inspiration.

3. Mental properties of a person are stable formations that provide a certain qualitative and quantitative level of activity and behavior typical for a given person.

The highest and most stable regulators of mental activity are personality traits.

Each mental property is formed gradually in the process of reflection and is consolidated in practice. It is therefore the result of reflective and practical activity.

V. Psyche and features of the brain structure.

Left hemisphere has huge reserve energy and love of life. This is a happy gift, but in itself it is unproductive. The alarming fears of the right obviously have a sobering effect, returning to the brain not only Creative skills, but also the very opportunity to work normally, and not soar in the empyrean.

Each hemisphere makes its contribution: the right one sculpts an image, and the left one looks for a verbal expression for it, what is lost in this case (remember Tyutchev’s: “A thought expressed is a lie”) and what is gained, as the interaction of the hemispheres occurs when processing the “truth of nature” into “truth” art" (Balzac).