Even in ancient times, people visited the idea that how he perceives his environment and himselfhow this process takes place and what it is based on.
Let's try to determine what consciousness is and what place this concept occupies in the structure of scientific knowledge.
What is it in psychology: the definition of
Consciousness is the highest form of the human psyche, which is formed and develops under the influence of socio-historical conditions in the process of communication and work activity.
It is also called generalizing. element of all mental acts.
Indeed, in the activity of the psyche there are no separate phenomena and acts, since all are interconnected, although they retain their inherent specifics.
Consider also Main characteristics this concept:
- separation of subject and object, that is, a person understands what is “I” and what is not;
- reflection by means of various cognitive processes (such as thinking, perception, imagination, sensation, etc.) of the world that surrounds a person;
- ensuring aspirations in human activities. This is explained by the fact that he is able to understand his motives and desires, set a goal for himself, make the necessary adjustments and make the necessary efforts;
- emotional and evaluative attitude to all aspects of life;
- self-esteem as their own actions, and in general with respect to themselves.
The stream of consciousness is a term coined by the philosopher W. James, which means a stream of sensations, thoughts, memories that continually arise and intertwine with each other.
This concept comes from the fact that this process is involuntary and continuousit is impossible to stop him. In addition, the term is often used in relation to the internal dialogue of the individual.
Occurrence
When did psychology appear as a science of consciousness?
The term "consciousness" appeared yet in the writings of ancient philosophers.
But only at the end of the 19th century, researcher V. Wund proposes to use it as subject of psychology. Thus begins a new direction - psychology as a science of consciousness.
V.Wund became the founder classical psychology of consciousness, combining the ideas and achievements of predecessors in this area. It was he who managed to organize a holistic scientific psychological school.
The essence of this trend lies in the fact that the phenomena of this act cannot be reduced to physical stimuli that affect the subject. Psychic life is characterized by the presence of original causes.
Gradually narrowing the class of mental processes, representatives of this direction were able to detect a number of important laws of the functioning of the psyche.
Thus, the direction in question ultimately served as the basis for separating psychology as an independent discipline.
Subject of study
Subject of psychology changed with the development of this discipline, constantly expanding and complementing.
At first it was science of the soul - this explained everything that was incomprehensible to man and that it was impossible to reasonably explain.
But the formation of the scientific direction is connected with the term "consciousness". This definition was studied and interpreted by various researchers, for example, J. Locke believed that this is the first thing that a person discovers in himself.
So, the subject of research of this phenomenon was considered by many scientific figures. In the late 19th century, begin to actively conduct experiments. The most significant of these were the experiments of W. Wundt, which we have already mentioned above.
What is the psychological mechanism of self-consciousness?
Self-identity is Understanding and assessment of the individual as a person and the subject of cognitive and practical activities.
In other words, a person distinguishes himself from the whole surrounding world, determines his place in it. Important in this concept is the formation and the formation of personality.
This concept has a direct connection with society and human activities, because it does not appear immediately in a person, but develops in the process of its development under the influence of many social factors.
It is worth noting that the definition under consideration is also closely related to by reflectionwhich acts as its psychological mechanism.
Reflection means a person’s thoughts about himself, about his life and his purpose.
Wherein its levels can be very different. So, it can be a simple understanding of oneself or deep thoughts about the content and meaning of one’s existence.
The property of highly organized matter
Many researchers agree that consciousness can be characterized as a product or a property of highly organized matterthat is a person. The nature and essence of the relationship between property and matter itself is actively studied in various disciplines.
Moreover, it is often characterized as a property of the brain. But such a definition is wrong. The fact is that the brain is primarily a biological organ.
Consciousness is formed under the influence of social factors. Therefore, it is more correct to define it as a property of such highly organized matter as a person.
Psyche, psychophysiology and psychodiagnosis
Such concepts as "psyche" and "consciousness" are closely linked. Let's try to understand this issue.
So, if we consider the definition of the psyche in its broad sense, as the space of a person’s inner world, then, in this case, consciousness should be characterized as the highest form of the psyche, that is, like all phenomena that a person is aware of and in which he is aware of.
But quite often these definitions are interpreted in a narrower sense. Then the psyche is rather directed to the external world, and consciousness to the internal one.
As a psychophysiological phenomenon, it is one of the most complex manifestations of brain function.
Self-awareness occupies an important place in the structure of the discipline. As we noted earlier, this is a process in which the subject becomes able to determine his attitude to himself and to know himself.
Psychodiagnostics of self-awareness is aimed at identifying its product of the subject's self-representation. You can use the following psychodiagnostic techniques:
- Self report - performed in the form of descriptions of their feelings and emotions.
- Checklists - lists of qualities are offered and from them a person needs to choose those that are most suitable for him.
- Questionnaires - include various statements about the subject's attitude to himself in various areas of life. He needs to determine how much he agrees with them in accordance with the scale developed for the questionnaire.
- Free self-description - imply subsequent analysis and processing.
Altered states
An altered state of consciousness is understood as a special state of a person, which is unusual for him and visible to others.
For better understanding, we note that wakefulness and sleep are attributed to normal conditions.
From the clear and normal consciousness, the changed is different in that the individual loses the ability to clear self-determination.
At the same time appear disturbances in ordinary thinkingA person acts more according to feelings and certain images. He loses the sense of time, and sometimes reality.
Altered states if they are experienced briefly are characteristic of a healthy psyche.
They can be caused in various ways. However, sometimes they appear as the result of any pathology.
Mostly the occurrence of an altered state use a different chemistry such as ethyl alcohol (alcohol), narcotic substances (for example, marijuana, cocaine, medicines, etc.). At the same time, the person himself most often causes them.
If the altered state arises often and not from the use of chemicals, then most likely it is a question of mental illness.
Problem learning
In the structure of scientific knowledge, this concept and its study are distinguished by several significant difficulties arising among researchers. Especially it concerns direct study of its nature.
TO major issues This concept can be attributed:
- unlike other mental functions, it is not localized in time and space. As a result, there are certain difficulties of his research in certain areas of science;
- psychological phenomena occur in a person directly at the moment when he becomes aware of them.
In addition, it should be noted that the term itself is quite a long period of time. did not have a clear description and definition.
It was the difference of conscious mental processes from the unconscious.
In other words, so called some color that accompanies most of the acts of the psyche.
Only after a large amount of time was the organization of this mental act changed and supplemented. So, now included such components as the object and sign included in the structure of this concept.
Thus, despite the problems of consciousness, it is still referred to the highest level of understanding of the processes of the psyche and self-regulation that a person has.
Behaviorism - a criticism of the psychology of consciousness
Behaviorism as a direction appeared thanks to the works of the scientist J. Watson. He decided to revise the subject of psychology, since he decided that it is necessary to investigate not the consciousness, but directly the behavioral processes. This is the basis of behaviorism.
The founders and followers of behaviorism do not recognize the idea of studying this process at all, they consider the method of self-knowledge and reflection insolvent.
In their opinion, only that which can be observed externally, that is, the facts of individual behavior, can be the subject of science.
They can see clearly and observe. In addition, with regard to behavioral phenomena, it is possible to achieve the explicit agreement of several observations.
As for the facts of consciousness, they are accessible only to the subject himself and cannot be observed from the outside. In connection with this completely impossible to prove their authenticity.
As we have already noted, it began with the ideas of J. Watson, who did not recognize the existence of this process as a representative or element of scientific research.
He declared that it was necessary to deal with those acts and processes whose existence was definitely proven. In addition, they must be observed from the outside.
Self understanding and self awareness is important to manIn this regard, such a direction as consciousness is actively studied and developed in our days. Nevertheless, many more questions concerning this mental phenomenon remain ambiguous and unsolved.
Behaviorism and Psychology:
