History of Psychology as Science by Mat D. Zandor - HTML preview

Chapter 2. History of Psychology

1. History of psychology as a science - its subject, method, tasks and functions

Psychology as a science studies the facts, mechanisms and patterns of mental life. The history of psychology describes and explains how these facts and laws were revealed to the human mind.

Tasks of the history of psychology:

To study the patterns of development of knowledge about the psyche

To reveal the relationship of psychology with other sciences on which its achievements depend.

To determine the dependence of the origin and perception of knowledge on the socio-cultural context

To study the role of the individual, her individual path in the formation of science itself.

In its development, psychology has gone through several stages. The pre-scientific period ends approximately in VII-VI centuries. BC, i.e. before the beginning of objective, scientific research of the psyche, its content and functions. During this period, the ideas about the soul were based on numerous myths and legends, on fairy tales and the initial religious beliefs that connect the soul with certain living beings (totems). The second, scientific period begins at the turn of the 7th-6th centuries. BC. Psychology in this period developed within the framework of philosophy, and therefore he received the conditional name of the philosophical period. Also, the duration of the psychological school (associationism) and the definition of the psychological terminology proper, which differs from that adopted in philosophy or natural science, is also set somewhat arbitrarily.

In connection with the conditionality of the periodization of the development of psychology, which is natural for almost any historical study, some discrepancies arise in establishing the time boundaries of individual stages. Sometimes the emergence of an independent psychological science is associated with the school of W. Wundt, ie, with the beginning of the development of experimental psychology. However, psychological science was defined as independent much earlier, with the recognition of the independence of its subject, the uniqueness of its position in the system of sciences - both science and the humanities and natural at the same time, studying both internal and external (behavioral) manifestations of the psyche. Such an independent position of psychology was also fixed with the appearance of it as a subject of study in universities as early as the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century. Thus, it is more correct to talk about the emergence of psychology as an independent science precisely from this period, referring to the middle of the 19th century. the formation of experimental psychology.

The time of the existence of psychology as an independent science is much less than the period of its development in the mainstream of philosophy. Naturally, this period is not homogeneous, and for more than 20 centuries the psychological science has undergone significant changes. The subject of psychology, the content of psychological research, and the relationship of psychology with other sciences have also changed.

2. The main historical stages of the development of psychology. Development of ideas about the subject and methods of psychological research

Psychology has gone a long way of development, there has been a change in the understanding of the object, object and purpose of psychology. We note the main stages of its development.

I stage - psychology as a science about the soul. This definition of psychology was given more than two thousand years ago. The presence of souls tried to explain all the incomprehensible phenomena in human life.

II stage - psychology as a science of consciousness. Occurs in the XVII century in connection with the development of natural sciences. The ability to think, feel, desire was called consciousness. The main method of studying was the observation of a person for himself and a description of the facts.

III stage - psychology as a science of behavior. Occurs in the XX century. The task of psychology is to experiment and observe what can be seen directly, namely: behavior, actions, human reactions (motives that evoke actions were not taken into account).

IV stage - psychology as a science that studies objective laws, manifestations and mechanisms of the psyche.

Psychology is at the same time one of the most ancient, and one of the youngest sciences. Already in the V century BC. e. Greek thinkers were interested in many problems over which psychology is still working today - memory, learning, motivation, perception, dreams, pathology of behavior. But, although the forerunner of psychology was the science of antiquity, it is believed that the modern approach began to be formed in 1879.

First of all, the methods of research distinguish modern psychology from the "old" philosophy. Until the last quarter of the 19th century, philosophers studied human nature, based on their own limited experience, through reflection, intuition, generalization, and then began to use carefully controlled observation and experimentation, honing the research methods to achieve greater objectivity.

Interpret the development of psychology can be different. On the one hand, from the standpoint of a "personalistic" approach, the history of psychology can be seen as a chain of achievements of individuals: all the changes in science are due to the influence of unique people who are able to single-handedly determine and change the course of history. On the other hand, from the standpoint of a "naturalistic" approach, the "spirit of the times" determines the possibility or impossibility of self-realization of one or another genius; science exists in the context of a spiritual environment.

Until now, psychology is developing as a kind of system of psychological schools. Psychological school - a group of scientists who share theoretical orientation and working on common problems on the basis of a certain system of ideas. Thus, psychology is still in the pre-paradigmatic stage of development: for the present, none of the points of view has been able to unite all existing platforms.

Each new school arose initially as a protest movement against the prevailing system of views. The heyday and dominance of most doctrines were temporary, but they all played an important role in the development of psychology.

3. History of the development of psychological thought in the era of antiquity and the Middle Ages

The first ideas about the psyche were related to animism (from the Latin anima - spirit, soul) - the oldest views, according to which everything that exists in the world has a soul. The soul was understood as an entity independent of the body, controlling all living and non-living things.

Later, the philosophical teachings of antiquity touched on the psychological aspects that were solved in terms of idealism or in terms of materialism. Thus, the materialistic philosophers of antiquity Democritus, Lucretius, Epicurus understood the human soul as a kind of matter, as a bodily formation consisting of spherical, small and most mobile atoms.

According to the ancient Greek idealist philosopher Plato (427-347 BC), who was a disciple and follower of Socrates, the soul is something divine, different from the body, and the soul exists before the person enters in connection with the body. It is the image and the outflow of the world soul. The soul is the beginning of the invisible, the sublime, the divine, the eternal. The soul and the body are in a complex relationship with each other. According to its divine origin, the soul is called to rule the body, direct the life of man. However, sometimes the body takes the soul into its fetters.

The great philosopher Aristotle in the treatise On the Soul singled out psychology as a kind of knowledge area and first put forward the idea of ​​the inseparability of the soul and the living body. Aristotle denied the view of the soul as a substance. At the same time, he did not consider it possible to view the soul in isolation from matter (living bodies). The soul, according to Aristotle, is incorporeal, it is the form of the living body, the cause and purpose of all its vital functions. Aristotle put forward the concept of the soul as a function of the body, and not of any external phenomenon in relation to it. The soul, or "psyche", is the engine that allows a living creature to realize itself.

Thus, the soul manifests itself in various abilities for activity: nourishing, sensible, intelligent. Higher abilities arise from the lower and on their basis. The primary cognitive ability of a person is sensation, it takes the forms of sensible objects without their matter, just as "the wax takes an impression of a seal without iron." Sensations leave a trace in the form of representations - images of those objects that previously acted on the senses. Aristotle showed that these images are united in three directions: by similarity, by contiguity and contrast, thereby indicating the main types of connections - associations of psychic phenomena. Aristotle believed that the knowledge of man is possible only through the knowledge of the universe and the existing order in it. Thus, at the first stage, psychology acted as a science of the soul.

In the Middle Ages, the idea was established that the soul is a divine, supernatural beginning, and therefore the study of psychic life must be subordinated to the tasks of theology. Human judgment can be surrendered only to the outer side of the soul, which is directed towards the material world. The greatest sacraments of the soul are available only in religious (mystical) experience Stolyarenko LD Fundamentals of Psychology. - Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2005. - p.-47 ..

4. History of the development of psychological thought in the Renaissance and Modern Times (XVII century).

Since the XVII century. a new era begins in the development of psychological knowledge. In connection with the development of natural sciences with the help of experimental and experimental methods, the laws of human consciousness began to be studied. The ability to think and feel was called consciousness. Psychology began to develop as a science of consciousness. It is characterized by attempts to comprehend the inner peace of man primarily from philosophical, speculative positions, without the necessary experimental base. R. Descartes (1596--1650) comes to the conclusion that there is a difference between the human soul and his body: "the body is always divisible by nature, whereas the spirit is indivisible." However, the soul is capable of producing in the body of movement. This contradictory dualistic teaching gave rise to a problem called psychophysical: how are the physical (physiological) and mental (psychic) ​​processes in a person related to each other? Descartes created a theory explaining behavior based on a mechanistic model. According to this model, the information delivered by the senses is directed along the sensitive nerves to the "holes in the brain that these nerves expand, which allows the" animal souls "in the brain to flow out through the thinnest tubes - the motor nerves - into the muscles that inflated, which leads to withdrawal of the extremity, subjected to irritation, or forces to perform this or that action. Thus, there is no need to resort to the soul to explain how simple behavioral acts arise. Descartes laid the foundations of the deterministic (causal) concept of behavior with its central idea of ​​the reflex as a natural motor response of the organism to external physical irritation. This Cartesian dualism is a body acting mechanically, and the "intelligent soul" that controls it, localized in the brain. Thus, the concept of "Soul" began to turn into the concept of "Reason", and later - the concept of "Consciousness". The famous Cartesian phrase "I think, therefore I exist" became the basis of the postulate that the first thing that a person discovers in himself is his own consciousness. The existence of consciousness is the main and unconditional fact, and the main task of psychology is to analyze the state and content of consciousness. On the basis of this postulate, psychology began to develop - it made consciousness its subject.

The attempt to reconnect the body and soul of man, separated by the teachings of Descartes, was undertaken by the Dutch philosopher Spinoza (1632--1677). There is no special spiritual principle, it is always one of the manifestations of an extended substance (matter).

The soul and the body are determined by the same material causes. Spinoza believed that this approach makes it possible to treat psychic phenomena with the same accuracy and objectivity as the lines and surfaces in geometry are considered. Thinking is the eternal property of substance (matter, nature), therefore, to a certain extent, thinking is inherent in both stone and animal, and is to a large extent inherent in man, manifested in the form of intellect and will at the level of man.

The German philosopher G. Leibniz (1646--1716), rejecting the equality of the mind and consciousness established by Descartes, introduced the concept of an unconscious psyche. In the human soul, the latent work of the psychic forces-countless "small perceptions" (perceptions) -continues steadily. From them arise conscious desires and passions.

5. The development of psychological thought in the Age of Enlightenment (XVIII century.) And the first half of the XIX century. The natural scientific prerequisites for the development of psychology as a science

The term "empirical psychology was introduced by the German philosopher of the 18th century by H. Wolff to designate a direction in psychological science, the basic principle of which is to observe specific psychic phenomena, to classify them, and to establish a legitimate connection between them that is verified experimentally. The English philosopher J. Locke (1632-1704) regards the human soul as passive, but capable of perception of the environment, comparing it to a clean board on which nothing is written. Under the influence of sensual impressions, the human soul, awakening, is filled with simple ideas, begins to think, t. form complex ideas. In the language of psychology Locke introduced the concept of "association" - the connection between mental phenomena, in which the actualization of one of them entails the appearance of another. Thus, psychology began to study how people understand the world around by association of ideas. The study of the relationship of the soul and body at this conclusively gives way to the study of mental activity and consciousness.

Locke believed that there are two sources of all human knowledge: the first source is the objects of the external world, the second is the activity of one's own mind. The activity of the mind, of thinking is cognized with the help of a special inner feeling-reflexion. Reflection - according to Locke - is "the observation to which the mind exerts its activities," this is the direction of the person's attention to the activity of his own soul. Mental activity can proceed as if on two levels: the processes of the first level - perceptions, thoughts, desires (they are for every person and child); processes of the second level - observation or "contemplation" of these perceptions, thoughts, desires (this is only for mature people who reflect on themselves, they will know their emotional experiences and states). This method of introspection becomes an important means of studying mental activity and people's consciousness.

6. Development of psychology as an independent science in the second half of the XIX beginning of the XX century. The development of experimental psychology and the branches of psychology.

The separation of psychology into an independent science occurred in the 60s of the XIX century. It was associated with the creation of special research institutions - psychological laboratories and institutes, departments in higher educational institutions, as well as with the introduction of an experiment to study mental phenomena. The first variant of experimental psychology as an independent scientific discipline was the physiological psychology of the German scientist W. Wundt (1832-1920). In 1879 in Leipzig Wundt opened the world's first experimental psychological laboratory.

Soon, in 1885, VM Bekhterev organized a similar laboratory in Russia.

In the field of consciousness, Wundt believed, there is a special psychic causality that is subject to scientific objective research. Consciousness was divided into mental structures, the simplest elements: sensations, images and feelings. The role of psychology, according to Wundt, is to give as detailed a description of these elements as possible. "Psychology is the science of the structures of consciousness" - this direction was called the structuralist approach. We used the method of introspection, introspection.

One psychologist compared the picture of consciousness with a flowering meadow: visual images, auditory impressions, emotional states and thoughts, memories, desires - all this can be in the mind at the same time. In the field of consciousness, a particularly clear and distinct area stands out - the "field of attention", the "focus of consciousness"; outside of it there is an area, the contents of which are indistinct, vague, undivided - this is the "periphery of consciousness". The contents of consciousness that fill the two described areas of consciousness are in continuous motion.Wundt's experiments with a metronome shown that monotonous metronome clicks in human perception spontaneously ritmizuyutsya, t. E. The consciousness of nature rhythmically, the rhythm of the organization can be both arbitrary and non-arbitrary. Wundt tried to study this characteristic of consciousness as its volume. The experiment showed that a number of the eight double metronome (or 16 individual sounds) is a measure of the scope of consciousness. Wundt believed that psychology is to find the elements of consciousness, to decompose a complex dynamic picture of consciousness into simple, further indivisible part. Simple elements of consciousness Wundt announced individual impressions or feelings. Sensations are objective elements of consciousness. There I also subjective elements of consciousness or feelings. Wundt offered 3 pairs of subjective elements: the pleasure - displeasure,excitation - sedation, voltage - discharging. From the combination of subjective elements are formed all the human senses, e.g., joy - is fun and excitement, hope - pleasure and tension, fear - displeasure and tension.

But the idea of ​​the expansion of the psyche into its simplest elements was false, it was impossible to collect from the simple elements of the complex state of consciousness. Therefore, the 20-th years of XX century. This psychology of consciousness practically ceased to exist.

7. Structuralism and functionalism

Founder of structuralism - E.Titchener (1867-1928). Titchener believed that the content of psychology should be the content of consciousness, ordered in a specific structure. The main tasks of psychology - an extremely precise determination of the content of the psyche, the allocation of the original elements and the laws by which they are combined into the structure.

Titchener psyche identified with consciousness, and everything outside of consciousness is referred to the physiology. The "mind" in the concept of Titchener and customary human introspection - not the same thing. Man is inclined to make "stimulus error" - to mix the object of perception and the perception of an object: describing his psychic experience, to talk about the object.

Titchener rejected concept, according to which selected elements Wundt consciousness should attach special formations in the form of mental image or values ​​deprived sensory character. This position contrary structuralism grounds, as sensor elements (sensations, images) can not create a non-touch purely intelligent structure.

Titchener says psychologist fundamental rather than applied science. He contrasted his school other areas not included in the American Psychological Association and created the group "Eksperimentalistov" publishing "Journal of Experimental Psychology."

Rejecting the view of mind as a device "from the bricks and mortar", scientists are developing a new direction in psychology - functionalism, we came to the conclusion about the need to study the dynamics of mental processes and the factors contributing to their orientation to a specific purpose.

Almost simultaneously with the provisions of Wundt, the idea that every mental act has a certain focus on objects of the external world was expressed by the Austrian scientist F. Brentano (1838-1917). Starting his career as a Catholic priest, he left it because of disagreement with the dogma of the infallibility of the pope and moved to the University of Vienna, where he became professor of philosophy (1873). Brentano proposed his concept of psychology, contrasting it with the then dominant Wundt program ("Studies in the psychology of the senses" (1907) and "On the classification of mental phenomena" (1911)).

He considered the main for the new psychology the problem of consciousness, the need to determine what is different from all other phenomena of being. He argued that Wundt's position ignores the activity of consciousness, its constant focus on the object. To denote this indispensable sign of consciousness, Brentano proposed the term intention. It is inherent in every psychic phenomenon and thanks to this it makes it possible to separate psychic phenomena from physical phenomena.

Considering that in the usual self-observation, as well as in using the types of experiment that Wundt suggested, one can study only the result, but not the mental act itself, Brentano strongly rejected the procedure of analysis adopted in the laboratories of experimental psychology, believing that it distorts the real psychic processes and phenomena that should be studied through careful internal observation of their natural course. He was also skeptical about the possibility of objective observation, only allowing this method to be limited to psychology, and, of course, only the psychic phenomena given in the internal experience were considered obvious. He stressed that knowledge about the outside world is likely to be of a nature. Modern psychological theories of personality. - L .: Science, 1990 ..

8. French sociological school and descriptive psychology

Its explanatory construction of mental development was suggested by researchers who believed that the main determinant of human development was society, society, culture. The foundations of the construction were laid by the French sociological school; A significant contribution to its development was made by the American school of cultural anthropology.

The founder of the sociological trend in psychology is considered to be E.Durkheim. His work had a serious impact on the development of psychological research on the relationship between the individual and society. The decisive role in the development of the child was assigned to the social factor, which is based on the collective representations of large communities of people. Collective representations are an integral system of ideas, customs, religious beliefs, moral institutions, public institutions, writing, and so on. They are independent of the individual, imperative towards him, total (universal) Durkheim E. Sociology of Education. - Moscow: Education, 1996. - p.55-56 ..

The development of the child occurs in the process of assimilating the traditions, customs, beliefs, perceptions and feelings of other people. The thoughts and emotions perceived by the child from outside determine the character of his mental activity and the particular perception of the world around him. The assimilation of social experience is due to imitation, which in social life has the same significance as heredity in biology. With the ability to imitate the child is born. In the French sociological school, the mechanism of the inner world of the child was revealed - interiorization as a transition from the external to the internal.

A prominent representative of the French sociological school is P. Jane. He believed that the human psyche is socially conditioned and that its development consists in the formation of a system of diverse connections with nature and society. Under the connections, P. Jane understood actions as a form of man's relationship to the world. Among them, the most significant are social actions, expressed in the relations of cooperation. Social relationships between people are the basis for the development of each person. Characteristic for the French psychological school is the allocation of levels of development of the child. P. Jane singles out four such levels. The first level is characterized by the development of motor reactions (approximation and removal), where not the reactions themselves are significant, but their social conditioning. The second level is the development of perceptual actions, on which images of perception and representation of memory are formed. These psychological formations are also oriented toward interactions with others. The third level - social and personal - is characterized by the child's ability to coordinate his actions with the actions of another person. The fourth level is intellectual-elementary behavior. At this level, the child's speech develops as a means of communicating with others and managing their actions. Mastering speech creates conditions for intensive development of the child's thinking.

9. The development of psychology in the period of the open crisis (10-30-ies of XX century). Basic psychological schools (general characteristic)

The focus of psychologists was mainly cognitive processes, but different schools differed in understanding the place of these processes in the general picture of mental life, and the main differences were related to the definition of the content of consciousness and the boundaries of its experimental study.

Basic Psychological Schools

10. The classical behaviorism of J. Watson

"Behaviorism" (from English - "behavior") - the current that emerged in the early twentieth century, asserting as a subject of psychology behavior. The founder of behaviorism is the American psy