Scientific research methods are those techniques and means by which scientists obtain reliable information, which is then used to build scientific theories and develop practical recommendations.

To the main methods psychological research include observation and experiment.

Observation is a scientific method of research, not limited to simple registration of facts, but scientifically explaining the causes of a particular psychological phenomenon; This is a purposeful collection of psychological facts of behavior and activity of an individual for the purpose of their subsequent analysis.

Observation requirements:

Preserving the naturalness of mental manifestations;
must be purposeful;
recording the results.

Processes general procedure observation (observation program):

Defining the task and purpose (for what? for what purpose?);
definition of object, subject and situation (what to observe?);
choosing an observation method that has the least impact on the object under study and most ensures the collection of the necessary information (how to observe?);
setting the time frame for observation and drawing up its schedule (how long should the observation be carried out?);
selecting a method for recording the observed and developing forms for registering the observed as necessary (how to keep records?);
determining the method of processing and interpreting the information received (what is the result?).

There are the following, complementary, types of observation:

Short-term (slice) and long-term / longitudinal (continuing for a long time, for example, monitoring the mental development of a child from the moment of his birth);
direct and indirect (involving the use of auxiliary means, for example, video equipment);

Selective (aimed at tracking individual parameters of the observed) and continuous (fixing any manifestations and changes in the object of observation in certain situations).

A special type is participant observation, in which the observer becomes a member of the group under study, observing the processes occurring in it “from the inside” (for example, in the study of small groups in social psychology).

Depending on the chosen object, external (behavioral acts, actions, physiological changes) or internal (experiences, thoughts, mental states and processes), there are two main variations of the observation method: objective observation and self-observation.

The method of objective observation is a research strategy with registration of external (behavioral, psychophysiological, etc.) characteristics or changes of the observed object. Typically, this type of observation acts as a preliminary step before planning and implementing an experiment.

The method of self-observation is a strategy for obtaining empirical data through observation of oneself, one's own mental states and processes. Elements of this method form the basis of almost any psychological research. By comparing the results of introspection presented in a self-report (a verbalized protocol about the current individual life) with a similar reflection of the introspection of other people, their fundamental relationship is established, and then the data of internal experience are compared with external manifestations of the psyche.

Methods of introspection include classical introspection, developed within the framework of introspective psychology (W. Wundt), and phenomenological introspection.

Introspection (from the Latin Introspecto - looking inside) is a method of psychological introspection, which consists of observing one’s own mental processes, without using any aids, tools or standards.

An experiment is a research strategy in which purposeful tracking of a process is carried out in a situation of regulated changes in its individual characteristics and conditions. In this way, the research hypothesis is tested. Experiment, along with observation, is one of the main methods in general and psychological research in particular.

An experiment differs from observation primarily in that it presupposes a special organization of a research situation; the active intervention of a researcher in it, systematically manipulating one or more variables (factors) and recording accompanying changes in the “behavior” of the object being studied. To conduct an experiment means to study the influence of an independent variable on one or more dependent variables.

The experiment assumes relatively complete (total) control over the introduced variables. If during observation it is often not possible to foresee significant changes, then in an experiment they can not only be predicted, but also planned and consciously caused. The ability to manipulate variables is one of the important advantages of the experimenter over the observer. Since the time of F. Bacon, experimental proof has served as the main way to ensure the scientific rigor of any theoretical position.

The specificity of a psychological experiment is the active intervention of the researcher in the activity of the subject in order to create conditions in which a psychological fact is revealed.

The main advantage of a psychological experiment is that it provides the opportunity to specifically induce certain mental processes and phenomena, influence their characteristics, and establish dependence psychic phenomena from changeable external conditions. A properly organized experiment allows you to test hypotheses about cause-and-effect relationships, not limiting yourself to just stating the connection - correlation - between psychological variables. This advantage explains the widespread use of experiment in psychology. The bulk of empirical facts in the sphere of the psyche were obtained experimentally.

But the experiment is not applicable to every research problem. Thus, it is difficult to experimentally study character and complex abilities. The disadvantages of the experiment turn out to be reverse side its advantages. It is extremely difficult to organize an experiment so that the subject does not know that he is the object of research. If this fails, then it is more than likely that the subject will desire to influence the results of the experiment in a direction favorable to himself, his conscious or unconscious anxiety, fear of evaluation, stiffness, etc.

The use of experiment encounters fundamental limitations associated with the impossibility in some cases of arbitrarily changing variables. Thus, in differential psychology and personality psychology, empirical dependencies mostly have the status of correlations and often do not allow drawing conclusions about cause-and-effect relationships. One of the difficulties in using an experiment in psychology is that the researcher is usually involved in a communication situation with the subject and can unwittingly influence his behavior.

It is customary to distinguish two main types of experiments:

1) a laboratory experiment, usually carried out in specially equipped rooms and on subjects who consciously participate in the experiment, although they may not be aware of its true purpose;
2) a natural experiment, the participants of which do not know that they are acting as subjects.

A laboratory experiment is a research strategy aimed at simulating the activity of an individual in artificially created conditions, using special research tools (for example, equipment), carefully designed instructions, etc. The leading feature of a laboratory experiment is to ensure the reproducibility of the characteristic being studied and the conditions necessary for its manifestation. The requirement for the purity of the data obtained is associated with certain limitations: in artificial laboratory conditions it is almost impossible to simulate everyday life circumstances; it is possible to reproduce only individual fragments of them. The main advantage of a laboratory experiment is the high accuracy of control over variables, main drawback- awareness of the subjects about the research situation itself.

A natural experiment is a research strategy first proposed by A.F. Lazursky in 1910. It is carried out in conditions close to the daily life of the subject, and the latter does not know that he is participating in the study. Due to this, high experimental purity is achieved. This method allows the psychologist to actively influence the experimental situation without disturbing its naturalness for the participants. Natural experiments provide reliable information, but cannot be carried out repeatedly, since when repeated they lose their naturalness and secrecy from the subjects.

Currently, the problem of the ethics of conducting psychological experiments of this type is widely discussed, since they involve the use of hidden recording equipment (cameras, video cameras, voice recorders), which is considered unacceptable in the absence of the voluntary consent of the experiment participant. Conducted in violation of ethical standards, such experiments can become a source of mental trauma for the “captive subject.” The most ethical version of a natural experiment should be recognized as a psychological-pedagogical experiment, or experimental learning, where the study of a student’s mental characteristics that are subject to formation is carried out in the process of training and education.

A special type is a field experiment, which involves the use of a minimum of equipment in a situation as close as possible to natural (field experimentation is carried out, in particular, in ethnopsychology when studying the characteristics of “national character”, cross-cultural differences, forms of interethnic communication). If the area under study is relatively little studied and there is no system of hypotheses, then a pilot experiment is used, the results of which help clarify the direction of further research. When two competing hypotheses are put forward and an experiment allows one to choose, it is said to be a decisive experiment. A control experiment is carried out with the aim of checking any dependencies on the so-called control group of subjects, which, due to certain characteristics, is not sensitive to the effect of the factor under study. Depending on the position of the experimenter (observational or active), a distinction is made between a stating experiment and a formative experiment.

In the first case, the research task comes down to identifying the structures and connections that emerge during individual development. In the second, the research is carried out in the process of training the subject and the targeted formation of his mental characteristics and processes, such as perception, attention, memory, thinking, etc. In other words, a formative experiment is a research strategy that involves identifying patterns of mental development in a situation of active influence by the researcher on the subject (whose role is usually played by the child, as the object of education and training). Synonyms - transformative, creative, educational, educational, genetic modeling experiment; method of active formation of the psyche.

A formative experiment makes it possible not to limit oneself to the registration of revealed facts, but, through the creation special conditions development, to reveal patterns, mechanisms, dynamics and dominant trends in the formation of the psyche and the formation of personality, while simultaneously identifying opportunities for optimizing these processes.

The results of an experiment can be distorted due to a number of factors - research artifacts associated with the expectations of the experimenter or subjects. One of the most common artifacts is due to the Pygmalion effect (or Rosenthal effect), which is expressed in the fact that the experimenter, deeply convinced of the validity of the hypothesis he has put forward, involuntarily transmits his expectations to the subjects and, through indirect suggestion or other influence, changes their behavior in the desired direction . The influence of the subjects on the results of the experiment is expressed in the so-called Hawthorne effect: knowing or guessing the hypothesis accepted by the experimenter, the subject intentionally or involuntarily begins to behave in accordance with his expectations.

The use of a blind method helps eliminate (or minimize) these artifacts, the essence of which is that the subjects are kept in the dark regarding the goals of the study and the accepted hypotheses, and the division of the subjects into experimental and control groups is carried out without the knowledge of the experimenter.

Auxiliary research methods

Psychodiagnostic methods are aimed at identifying stable qualities and structural components of personality - personality traits, in other words, they apply to the entire class of specific mental manifestations classified as mental properties.

They are used not only in psychological research, but also in various areas of social practice, when solving such applied problems as:

1) career guidance and selection;
2) forecasting the social behavior of subjects, for example, marital stability, tendencies towards behavioral deviations (deviations), the nature of the response to extreme situations, etc.;
3) optimization of education and training processes;
4) advisory and psychotherapeutic assistance;
5) pathological examination of the patient (in medical or clinical psychology);
6) forensic psychological and psychiatric examination;
7) forecasting the psychological consequences of changes in the social environment, change of place of permanent residence, habitual type of activity, etc. The testing method should be recognized as the most developed and widespread psychodiagnostic tool.

Psychological testing- a method of objectively measuring one or more aspects whole personality through verbal responses to questions formulated in a certain way or through other behavioral manifestations. D. Cattell is considered the founder of testing, but for the first time this method was applied on a large scale and reasonably by F. Galyoun, who is called the “Galileo of psychodiagnostics.”

The methodological testing tool is a system of special tasks - a test.

Test (from the English test - test, check) - a standardized procedure for psychological measurement (otherwise - a psychometric procedure), which allows you to determine the degree of expression of certain mental characteristics, properties, abilities. Usually it includes a series of relatively short (in time) tests, which can be various tasks, questions, or simulated situations. Execution results test tasks are indicators of mental properties or personality states, their values ​​are translated into standard (normalized) data. There are tests of intelligence, abilities, personality tests, as well as achievement tests, with the help of which the level of knowledge, skills and abilities in specific areas is determined. academic disciplines or types professional activity.

The development of tests involves their statistical testing according to the criteria of validity, reliability, homogeneity, differentiating power, reliability and predictiveness.

All test methods can be divided into verbal (mediated by the speech activity of the subject) and non-verbal, which involve the use of perceptual, motor and other non-verbal abilities.

Another classification distinguishes the following types of test (psychometric) procedures:

1) objective tests - methods that presuppose the correct answer, the correct solution to the problem, and the normative completion of the task;
2) standardized self-reports, methods focused on the use of verbal abilities, thinking, memory and imagination of the subject;
3) projective techniques, in which material that is insufficiently structured and ambiguous in content, acting as a stimulus, activates the processes of imagination and serves as a kind of screen for projecting emotionally significant themes and experiences of the subject.

Survey methods and dialogic methods provide the study of personal characteristics (mental properties) based on verbal communication between the researcher and the subject.

Questioning is the main method of obtaining primary socio-psychological information based on a survey of the subject. A methodological tool is a questionnaire, survey sheet or questionnaire, organized in a special way, to obtain any information from the respondent (interviewee). Includes statements of questions that are logically related to the overall research objective, and possible options answers from which the respondent must choose the most appropriate or offer his own.

Dialogical methods assume a high dependence of the obtained diagnostic results on the characteristics of the researcher’s contact with the subject.

The main dialogical methods traditionally include conversation and its variety - interviews.

Conversation in psychology is a method of obtaining psychological information through two-way verbal communication with the subject in various situations organized by the researcher. Similar to questionnaire, refers to survey methods. Widely used in social, medical, child psychology and other psychological disciplines. In addition, it is the main way of introducing the subject into situations of psychological experimentation or influence - from strict instructions in a psychophysical experiment to free, direct communication in psychotherapy.

Conversation is used at different stages of research, both for initial orientation and to clarify conclusions obtained using other methods, especially observation.

An interview is a type of conversation in which the task is to obtain answers from the interviewee to certain (usually prepared in advance) questions.

Compared to a questionnaire, an interview presupposes greater freedom for the interviewee in formulating answers, their greater detail and breadth. Often, interview questionnaires are designed like sociological questionnaires, with the goal of obtaining a distribution of typical answers to a large number of questions. This approach is needed only at the first stage of research for initial orientation in the problem.

Interactive methods (from the English Interact - interact) involve the study of personal characteristics based on the interaction of the researcher and the subject. In this case, contact with the subject is not limited to verbal communication and may also include joint actions. An example is diagnostic games, widely used in diagnosing the level of mental development of a child, as well as in child psychoanalysis, where the game acts as an age-appropriate equivalent of the free association method (the famous “sandbox game” - “sand play”).

Psychobiographical methods are aimed at studying a personality (usually an outstanding one) based on the available documents of its biography.

Initially, psychobiography, as a specific system of methods, arose within the framework of psychoanalysis by S. Freud, who owned examples of psychological biographies of prominent figures in world culture and history (Leonardo da Vinci, F.M. Dostoevsky, US President Woodrow Wilson). It was further developed in the works of his followers - neo-Freudians (“Young Luther” by E. Erikson, the psychological portrait of Hitler in the theory of destructiveness of E. Fromm). Based on the psychobiographical approach, a special direction has emerged - psychohistory, at the origins of which was E. Erikson. This group of studies can include the so-called. “pathographies” of great people, starting with the famous work of Charles Lombroso “Genius and Madness”.

Psychogenetic methods are designed to establish the relative influence of heredity (genotype) and environment on the formation of individual and typological characteristics of the psyche. Closely intertwined with genetic methods.

The most informative is the twin method - a research strategy proposed by F. Galton in 1875. It consists of comparing the psychological qualities of monozygotic twins, who have an identical gene set, and dizygotic twins, whose genotypes are different. This method is based on the premise that twins are exposed to approximately the same influence of environmental factors, and the similarity of monozygotic twins should be greater than the similarity of dizygotic twins. Designed to identify the role of genotype and environment in the process of formation of the psychological quality under study or an entire ensemble of personality properties.

Sociometry (from Latin societas - society and Greek metred - measure) - created by J. Moreno psychological theory society and, at the same time, a special system of experimental methods - socio-psychological tests used to analyze and evaluate interpersonal relationships and emotional connections in a small group (family, work, educational or military team, etc.).

The term “sociometry” was coined in the 19th century, in connection with attempts to apply mathematical methods in the study of social phenomena.

Sociometry or applied microsociology is a special branch of social psychology that studies the interpersonal relationships of individuals (likes, dislikes, etc.) and the structure of relationships in small groups. The name itself indicates that this discipline primarily focuses on the quantitative measurement of social connections. One of the central concepts in the theory of the founder of sociometry, J. Moreno, “body” denotes the simplest unit of feeling transmitted from one individual to another and, thus, determining the number and success of interpersonal contacts in a group.

In the simplest modification of the sociometric technique (J. Moreno, 1934), each subject is asked, by answering special questions, to carry out a sequential selection and ranking of group members according to the criterion of their preference for various areas of joint activity.

Sociometric tests allow, based on the totality of responses of all group members, to evaluate each individual participant, the structure of interpersonal relationships (“sociometric structure”), the cohesion of the group (its “communicative community”), the reciprocity of connections, the volume and intensity of interactions, and other indicators. Sociometric data can be presented in the form of a table (sociomatrix) or diagram (sociogram).

Sociometry is characterized by the active use of questionnaires, interviews, various modifications of group discussions, role-playing and business games, psycho drama and sociodrama.

The analysis of the products of activity is based on the premise that in any manifestations of a person’s creative activity, significant personal properties, current needs, emotional states, features of self-perception and self-esteem are expressed (projected outward). This type of analysis applies to drawings, texts, characteristic features handwriting, complex artistic objects, etc.

One of the methods in this group - content analysis (literally “content analysis”) involves the study of documents or any other sources and allows you to identify certain semantic units of content and forms of information transmission in any text. Based on the characteristic elements of the form and content of a certain work, conclusions are drawn about the psychological characteristics of its author, social group or era.

Stages of psychological research

Psychological research, with all its scientific specificity, can be subsumed under the general scheme of empirical research; it includes such mandatory steps as:

1) preparatory stage, including the formulation of the problem and the formulation of a research hypothesis - an assumption about certain psychological patterns, made on the basis of preliminary information and requiring empirical verification. At this stage, the selection of the most adequate method, reflected in specific methods, and the organization of the empirical research procedure itself are also carried out;
2) the research itself - empirical testing of the hypothesis, carried out using specially selected or developed methods;

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Introduction Psyche (from the Greek psychikós - spiritual) is a property of highly organized matter, which is a special form of reflection by the subject of objective reality. The most important feature of mental reflection is its activity. Moreover, it not only represents a product of the active activity of the subject, but also, mediating it, performs the function of orientation and control. Thus, mental phenomena constitute a necessary internal moment of the subject’s objective activity, and the nature of the psyche, its laws can receive a scientific explanation only in the process of analyzing the structure, types and forms of activity.

Currently, there is a rapid development of psychological science, due to the variety of theoretical and practical tasks facing it. The main task of psychology is to study the laws of mental activity in its development. Over the past decades, the scope of psychological research has expanded significantly, and new scientific directions and disciplines have emerged. The conceptual apparatus of psychological science has changed, new hypotheses and concepts are constantly appearing, psychology is being enriched with new empirical data. B.F. Lomov in his book “Methodological and Theoretical Problems of Psychology,” characterizing the current state of science, notes that at present “the need for further (and more profound) development of methodological problems of psychological science and its general theory".

The area of ​​phenomena studied by psychology is enormous. It covers processes, states and properties of a person that have varying degrees of complexity - from the elementary discrimination of individual features of an object that affects the senses, to the struggle of personal motives. Some of these phenomena have already been studied quite well, while the description of others comes down to simply recording observations. Many people believe, and this should be especially noted, that a generalized and abstract description of the phenomena being studied and their connections is already a theory. However, theoretical work is not limited to this; it also includes the comparison and integration of accumulated knowledge, its systematization and much more. Its ultimate goal is to reveal the essence of the phenomena being studied. In this regard, methodological problems arise.

1. Subject and basic principles of psychology

The specificity of scientific knowledge is determined by the subject of scientific research and the corresponding methods that make it possible to reveal the patterns of the phenomena being studied. What constitutes the subject of scientific knowledge in psychology? This is probably one of the most difficult questions. Throughout the history of the development of psychological thought, positions on it have undergone serious changes; there is no consensus on this matter among modern scientists. In the most general form, as subject of psychology as an independent scientific discipline, phenomena, facts and patterns of human mental life can be named. Under mental phenomena refers to the internal, subjective experience of a person. The fundamental property of such experience is its direct presentation to the subject. This means that mental processes not only occur in us, but are also revealed to us directly: we not only see, feel, desire and think, but we also know what we see, feel, desire and think. Our inner world is like a big stage on which various events take place, and we are at the same time actors, and the audience. Mental life is not limited only to internal experience; there is a whole range of external manifestations of the psyche: acts of behavior, unconscious mental processes, psychosomatic relationships and others psychological facts in which the psyche openly reveals its properties, which makes it possible to study the mechanisms and patterns of its functioning.

Indeed, scientific knowledge requires not only a description of facts and phenomena, but also their explanation, which in turn presupposes the discovery of the laws and patterns to which facts and phenomena are subject. Connected! with this subject of study in psychology become not only psychological facts and psychological phenomena, but also laws of mental life.

The study of the subject of modern psychology is based on a number of principles, which are the starting points that make it possible to meaningfully describe the object under study, plan procedures for obtaining empirical material, generalize and interpret it, put forward and test hypotheses.

The main methodological principles of psychology are:

The principle of determinism. According to this principle, everything that exists arises, changes and ceases to exist naturally. In psychological research, this means that the psyche is determined by the way of life and changes with changes in the external conditions of existence;

The principle of the unity of consciousness and activity. Consciousness and activity are in continuous unity, but they are not identical to each other. Consciousness is formed in activity in order to, in turn, influence this activity, forming its internal plan;

Development principle. The psyche can be correctly understood only if it is considered in continuous development as a process and the result of activity. The study of any mental phenomenon must include a description of its characteristics at the moment, the history of its occurrence and formation, and development prospects.

The uniqueness of psychological science is due to both the subject of scientific knowledge and the methods that allow not only to describe the phenomena being studied, but also to explain them, to discover the underlying patterns and to predict their further development.

2. Methods of psychology

“Method is the path of knowledge, it is the way through which the subject of science is learned” (S.L. Rubinstein). The doctrine of method constitutes a special field of knowledge - methodology, which is defined as a system of principles

and ways of organizing, constructing theoretical and practical activities. The methodology of psychological research of the world is represented at several levels. The basic level, which creates the basis for all subsequent levels, is the philosophical level of methodology, represented by the most general principles of knowledge of the world and ideological attitudes. Various philosophical systems offer their own explanations of the world and methods for achieving true knowledge. In psychology, over the entire history of its development, several psychological directions, schools and concepts have emerged, which come from different philosophical positions.

The second level of methodology is determined by general scientific principles, reflecting the specifics of scientific knowledge of the world and science as a special sphere of human activity. The third level consists of specific scientific principles of psychology.

This is followed by research methods, which are ways of obtaining psychological facts and their interpretation. Finally, the last level of methodology is represented by specific empirical techniques with the help of which psychological data is collected and processed.

Modern psychology has a comprehensive system of various research methods and techniques, among which there are basic and auxiliary ones. The main methods of psychology include observation and experiment.

Observation lies in the deliberate, systematic and purposeful perception of human behavior. Objective observation in psychology is aimed not at external actions in themselves, but at their psychological content; Scientific observation is characterized not simply by recording facts, but by their explanation and interpretation. Observation can be carried out both in natural conditions human life, and in a specially organized experimental environment. The following types of observation are used in research practice:

Depending on the nature of interaction with the object: included and third-party. In participant observation, the researcher acts as a direct participant in the process he is observing, which allows him to obtain a holistic view of the situation. Third-party surveillance occurs without interaction or establishing any contact with those being monitored;

Depending on the observer's position: open and hidden. In the first case, the researcher reveals his role to the observed - the disadvantage of such observation is the constraint in the behavior of the observed subjects, caused by the knowledge that they are being observed. With covert observation, the presence of the observer is not revealed;

Depending on the nature of the contact: direct and indirect. During direct observation, the observer and the object of his attention are in direct contact; The process of indirect observation includes special means that allow one to obtain more objective results: video or audio equipment, a “Gesell mirror” that transmits light in only one direction, thanks to which one can observe human behavior while remaining invisible, etc.;

Depending on the conditions of observation: field and laboratory. Field observation takes place in the conditions of everyday life and activities of the observed; laboratory work is carried out in artificial, specially created conditions;

Depending on the goals: targeted and random. Targeted observation is systematic and specially organized; random has a searching nature and does not pursue clearly defined goals;

Depending on the temporary organization: continuous and selective. In the process of continuous observation, the course of events is constantly recorded. With selective observation, the researcher selectively monitors only certain moments of the observed process;

Depending on the orderliness of the organization of observation: standardized and free. Standardized observation is carried out according to a specific, pre-developed scheme. Free observation does not have a given program and clear parameters.

In psychological research, self-observation is also widely used, in which the researcher’s own experiences, feelings, thoughts and images are revealed.

Each of these types of observation has its own advantages and disadvantages, its own capabilities for obtaining the most complete and reliable data. However, in general, organizing the process of psychological observation is very difficult, since its results depend on the personality of the observer, his attitudes and attitude towards the observed phenomena. To reduce the high degree of subjectivity in obtaining and interpreting data, it is necessary to strictly adhere to the facts and clearly record them. This increases the reliability of observations and helps to avoid mistakes.

Thanks to experiment Psychology now had the opportunity to overcome subjectivity in the knowledge of its subject; with the introduction of the method of experimental research, it began to develop as an independent science.

S.L. Rubinstein Four main features of the experimental method were identified:

1) the researcher himself causes the phenomenon he is studying - in contrast to observation, in which the observer cannot actively intervene in the situation;

2) the experimenter can vary, change the conditions for the occurrence and manifestation of the process being studied;

3) in an experiment, it is possible to alternately exclude individual conditions in order to establish natural connections that determine the process being studied;

4) the experiment allows you to vary the quantitative ratio of conditions and carry out mathematical processing of data.

The following types of experimental research are practiced in psychology:

A laboratory experiment is carried out in specially created and carefully controlled conditions by the researcher; in some cases, equipment and instruments are used, which ensures scientific objectiveness! received data. The disadvantage of this type of research is the difficulty of transferring the results obtained in the experiment to real life. The artificiality and abstractness of laboratory conditions differ significantly from the conditions of human life;

A natural experiment removes the limitations of a laboratory experiment. The main advantage of this method is the combination of experimental research with the naturalness of the conditions. The idea of ​​conducting a psychological experiment in the natural conditions of people’s lives belongs to a domestic psychologist A. F. Lazursky;

A formative experiment involves a targeted influence on the subject in order to develop certain qualities in him. He may have a teaching and nurturing character;

The ascertaining experiment reveals certain mental characteristics and the level of development of the corresponding qualities.

In addition to the above basic methods, auxiliary methods are widely used in psychology:

Conversation (interview) - obtaining information in the process of direct communication. There is a distinction between a free interview, in which there is no clear plan for the conversation and there is minimal regulation, and a structured interview, where answers to pre-prepared questions are given;

Testing is a psychological diagnostic that involves standardized questions and tasks. Created in psychology a large number of specialized tests designed to measure various mental properties and personality traits: tests of intelligence, abilities, personality achievements, projective and many others. Their use requires professional psychological training, since non-professional testing can harm a person. Currently, there are also many so-called popular tests. As a rule, they are published in newspapers, magazines, and literature accessible to the general reader. Such tests are not strictly psychological, professional tools and are intended for self-testing; no special training is required;

Analysis of the products of activity, based on the general premise of the unity of internal mental processes and external forms of behavior and activity. By studying the products of activity, you can get important information about the mental characteristics of its subject. Products of activity that are subject to careful analysis in psychology are human-written texts, manufactured objects and phenomena, drawn pictures, etc. Special forms This method includes graphology, which allows one to draw up a psychological portrait of his personality based on the features and characteristics of a person’s handwriting, and content analysis, which aims to identify and evaluate the psychological characteristics of literary, scientific and journalistic texts and determine personal characteristics on their basis the author of these texts. In psychology, the study of the results of a person’s visual activity is widely used; from this point of view, children’s drawings are of particular value, which make it possible to understand the emotional state of the child, his attitude to the world around him, to his parents, to himself.

In addition to the listed methods intended for collecting primary data on the development of the psyche, psychology uses methods of mathematical statistics, which act as a means of increasing the reliability, objectivity and accuracy of the results obtained.

3. History of psychic research

Physiologist Ernst Weber (1795-1878) studied the dependence of the continuum of sensations on the continuum of external physical stimuli that caused them. His experiments and mathematical calculations became the origins of psychophysics. The table of logarithms turned out to be applicable to the phenomena of mental life and the behavior of the subject. The breakthrough from psychophysiology to psychophysics separated the principle of causality and the principle of regularity. Psychophysics has proven that in psychology, and in the absence of knowledge about the bodily substrate, the laws that govern its phenomena can be discovered strictly empirically.

Hermann Helmholtz (1821-1894) played a great role in creating the foundations on which psychology as a science was built. The brilliant thinker is responsible for many discoveries, including those about the nature of the psyche. They discovered the speed of impulse transmission along a nerve and the law of conservation of energy. “We are all children of the sun,” he said, “for a living organism, from the position of a physicist, is a system in which there is nothing but transformations of various types of energy.” His experiments indicated that the image of an external object arising in consciousness is generated by a bodily mechanism independent of consciousness. This is how the separation of the psyche and consciousness was outlined.

The Dutch physiologist F. Donders (1818-1898) devoted his research to measuring the speed of a subject's reaction to objects perceived by him. Soon, I.M. Sechenov, referring to the study of reaction time as a process requiring the integrity of the brain, emphasized: “Mental activity, like any earthly phenomenon, occurs in time and space.”

The position that the mental factor is a regulator of the body’s behavior has also found recognition in the works of the physiologist E. Pfluger. The scientist criticized the reflex scheme as an arc in which centripetal nerves, thanks to switching to centrifugal ones, produce the same standard muscle reaction. After decapitating the frog, he placed it in various conditions. It turned out that her neuromuscular reactions changed when the external environment changed (she crawled on the table, swam in water). E. Pfluger concluded that the reason for its adaptive actions is not the neuromuscular connection itself, but the sensory function, which allows one to distinguish between conditions and, in accordance with them, change behavior.

E. Pfluger's experiments revealed a special causality - mental. Feeling (what E. Pfluger called “sensory function”) is, he believed, not physiological, but psychological essence; “sensory function” consists in distinguishing the conditions in which the organism is located and in regulating, in accordance with them, response actions. Distinguishing what is happening in the external environment and responding to what is happening in it is the fundamental purpose of the psyche, its main life meaning. The researcher’s experiments undermined the generally accepted opinion that the psyche and consciousness are one and the same (what kind of consciousness can we talk about in a headless frog!). Along with consciousness, there is a huge area of ​​​​the unconscious psyche (unconscious), which cannot be reduced to either the nervous system or the system of consciousness.

A revolution in psychological thinking was made by the teachings of Charles Darwin (1809-1882), from which it followed that man comes from the herd of monkeys. Darwin's teaching marked a sharp turn from mechanodeterminism to biodeterminism. First of all, Charles Darwin pointed to natural selection as a factor in the survival of organisms in an external environment that constantly threatens their existence. He noted that in the course of evolution, those who were able to adapt most effectively survive; those who survive the struggle for existence pass on their properties to their offspring. Since natural selection cuts off everything unnecessary for life, it also destroys mental functions that do not contribute to adaptation. This encourages us to consider the psyche as an element of the body’s adaptation to the external environment.

The psyche could no longer be imagined as an isolated “island of the spirit.” In psychology, the “organism-environment” relationship becomes fundamental, instead of the individual organism. This gives rise to a new systematic style of thinking, which later led to the conclusion that the subject of psychology should not be the consciousness of the individual, but his behavior in the external environment, which changes (determines) his mental makeup.

The concept of individual variation is an integral part of Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory. Therefore, these include variations in the sphere of the psyche. This gave impetus to the development of a new direction in psychology, the subject of which was the study of individual differences between people determined by the laws of heredity. Later it developed into a large branch of differential psychology.

In addition, Darwinism stimulated the study of the psyche in the animal world, and became the basis of zoopsychology, a broad study (using objective experimental methods) of the mechanisms of mental regulation of animal behavior.

Charles Darwin, analyzing instincts as motivating forces of behavior, criticized the version of their rationality. At the same time, he emphasized that the roots of instincts go back to the history of the species, without them a living organism cannot survive; instincts are closely related to emotions. C. Darwin approached their study not from the point of view of their awareness by the subject, but based on observations of expressive movements that previously had a practical meaning (for example, clenching fists and baring teeth in the affect of anger, that once these aggressive reactions meant a readiness to fight ). Naturalists of the pre-Darwinian period considered feelings to be elements of consciousness. According to Darwin, emotions that grip an individual act as phenomena that, although mental, are primary in relation to his consciousness. The greatest interest is in Charles Darwin's book "The Descent of Man and Sexual Selection", published in 1872.

Simultaneously with Charles Darwin, the ideas of evolutionary psychology were developed by the English philosopher Herbert Spencer (1820-1903). In his work “Fundamentals of Psychology” (1855), he defined life as a continuous adaptation of “internal relations to external ones.” The main provisions of his work are as follows. What happens inside the organism (and therefore consciousness) can only be understood in the system of its relations (adaptation) to the external environment. To survive, the body is forced to establish a connection between the objects of this world and its reactions to them. He ignores random connections that are not essential for survival, but firmly fixes the connections necessary to solve this problem and keeps them “in reserve” in case of new confrontations with everything that could threaten his existence. Adaptation in this case means not only adaptation to new situations of the senses as sources of information about what is happening outside (as, for example, the sensitivity of the eye changes in the dark). There is a special type of association - between internal mental images and muscular actions that realize the adaptation of the whole organism. Thus a sharp turn was accomplished in the movement of psychological thought. From the “field of consciousness” she rushed into the “field of behavior”.

In distinguishing the psyche and consciousness, studies of hypnosis were of great importance. The founder of scientific hypnology should be considered the Portuguese abbot Faria, who was the first to use the method of verbal immersion in hypnosis.

Hypnotic sessions gained great popularity in Europe thanks to the work of the Austrian physician Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815). According to his mystical theory, the world is permeated with a special liquid - magnetic fluid (from the Latin fluidus - fluid), which has healing powers. Accumulating as in reservoirs in individuals especially gifted for its perception, the magnetic fluid, according to the views of F.A. Mesmer, can be transmitted to patients through touch and heal them. Later, the English doctor Braid gave a decisive role in hypnosis to the psychological factor. From the late 70s of the 19th century, the French neurologist Jean Martin Charcot (1825-1893), teacher and mentor of the young Austrian doctor Z. Freud, began to study the phenomena of hypnosis.

The methods of experimental psychology began to be developed by the German psychologist G. Ebbinghaus (1850-1909). He experimented with mnemonic processes that were more complex than sensory processes. In the book “On Memory” (1885), the scientist presented the results of experiments conducted on himself in order to derive the laws by which learned material is stored and reproduced. When solving the problem, he composed 2,300 nonsense words consisting of three sounds - consonant + vowel + consonant (for example, “mon”, “pit”, etc.). Various options were tried and carefully calculated regarding the time and volume of their memorization, the dynamics of their forgetting (the “forgetting curve” acquired a reputation as “classical”, showing that approximately half of what was forgotten falls in the first half hour after memorization), subsequent reproduction of material of varying volumes, various fragments of this material (the beginning of the list of syllables and its end).

Psychological practice required information about higher mental functions in order to diagnose individual differences between people regarding the acquisition of knowledge and performance complex shapes activities. The first solution to this problem was presented by the French psychologist Henri Binet (1857-1911). In search of psychological means by which it would be possible to separate children who are capable of learning, but lazy, from those who suffer from congenital intellectual defects, A. Binet turned experimental tasks to study attention, memory, and thinking into tests, establishing a scale for each division which corresponded to tasks that could be performed by normal children of a certain age.

Later, the German scientist W. Stern introduced the concept of “intelligence quotient” (in English - IQ). It correlated “mental” age (determined according to A. Binet’s scale) with chronological (“passport”) age. Their discrepancy was considered an indicator of either mental retardation or giftedness.

The more successful experimental work was in psychology, the more extensive the field of phenomena it studied became. The understanding of consciousness as a world closed in itself collapsed. Perception and memory, skills and thinking, attitudes and feelings began to be interpreted as the body’s “tools”, working to solve the problems that life situations confront it with.

At the beginning of the 20th century, several directions in psychology emerged, differing from each other in their understanding of the subject of psychology, research methods and a system of basic concepts. In Europe these were Freudianism and Gestalt psychology, in the USA - functionalism, behaviorism and the school of Kurt Lewin.

Orthodox psychoanalysis was founded by Sigmund Freud on turn of the 19th century and XX centuries, i.e. precisely during the period of breaking down the traditional ideas about the psyche and mental processes of that time. The dominant methodological principle in psychology and medicine reflected the localizationist approach of von Virchow, i.e. search for a specific “break” corresponding to any painful phenomenon.

By 1895, together with Breuer, Freud had developed the method of hypnocatharsis. After a number of clinical publications, in 1895 he wrote the monograph “Project”, in which he made the first attempt to speculatively develop patterns of human brain activity.

Conclusion

Psychology, like every science, uses a whole system of various private methods, or techniques. The main research methods in psychology, as in a number of other sciences, are observation and experiment. Each of these general methods of scientific research appears in psychology in different and more or less specific forms; exist different types and observation and experiment. Observation in psychology can be introspection or external observation, usually called objective observation in contrast to introspection. External, so-called objective, observation can, in turn, be divided into direct and indirect. Likewise, there are different forms or types of experiment. A type of experiment is the so-called natural experiment, which is a form intermediate between experiment and simple observation.

The genetic method in psychology, i.e., the use of the study of mental development as a means for revealing general psychological patterns, is not compared with observation and experiment on the same level and is not opposed to them, but must necessarily rely on them and build on their basis, since the establishment of genetic data is in turn based on observation or experiment.

When using various methods of psychological research, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the problem being studied. So, for example, when studying sensations, it is unlikely that any other method can be as effective as experimental. But when studying the highest manifestations of human personality, the question of the possibility of “experimenting” on a person seriously arises.

Bibliography

1. Andreeva G.M. Social Psychology. M., 1988.

3. Psychology: Textbook / Ed. V.N. Druzhinina. St. Petersburg, 2003.

4. Bodalev A A. Personality and communication. M., 1983.

5. Shevandrin N.I. Social psychology in education. M., 1995.

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Topic 1

METHODS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Psychological research: requirements for the organization and its stages

Characteristics of the main empirical methods of psychology

Mastery of methods for studying personality psychology is one of the necessary components of a lawyer’s professional activity. A lawyer must be able to identify, analyze and take into account the individual psychological characteristics of a person (witness, suspect, accused), the goals of their actions and actions, hidden motives of behavior. The choice of methods for studying the personality of subjects of various legal relations in the professional activity of a lawyer, as well as the adequacy of the methods themselves, largely depends on the goals that he faces and on the nature of the issues that require resolution.

Psychological research:
requirements for the organization and its stages

Scientific research is a way to obtain objective knowledge about the surrounding reality.Psychological research− This is a way of scientific knowledge of the essence of mental phenomena and their patterns.

Psychological research includes a number of mandatory stages (Fig. 1) .

Any scientific research, including psychological research, must meet a number of strict requirements:

1. Study planning involves the development of a logical and chronological research scheme, consisting of a detailed design of all its stages.
2. Locationresearch must ensure isolation from external interference, meet sanitary, hygienic, engineering and psychological requirements.

1. Study the state of the problem. Statement of the problem, selection of the object and subject of research

2. Development or refinement of the general initial research concept. Hypothesizing

3. Study planning

4. Data collection and factual description. In theoretical research - search and selection of facts, their systematization

5. Data processing

Determining the goals and objectives of the study

Defining Experimental Designs

Selection of research methods and techniques

Definition mathematical methods processing data

6 . Evaluating the results of hypothesis testing, interpreting the results within the framework of the original research concept

7. Correlation of results with existing concepts and theories. Formulation of general conclusions. Assessing the prospects for further development of the problem

Rice. 1. Main stages of psychological research

3. Technical equipmentmust correspond to the tasks being solved, the entire course of the research and the level of analysis of the results obtained.

4. Selection of subjectsdepends on the goals of a particular study andshould ensure their qualitative homogeneity.

5. Instructions for subjects should be clear, concise and unambiguous.

6. Protocol research must be both complete and targeted (selective).

7. Processing the resultsresearch includes quantitative and qualitative methods of analyzing empirical data obtained during the study .

Classification of research methods

Using psychological methodsname the basic techniques and means of understanding mental phenomena and their patterns.

It should be noted that, although all methods are aimed at revealing the patterns of the human psyche and behavior, each method does this in accordance with its inherent characteristics.

Future lawyers need to clearly understand the features of each method in order to actively use them in their professional activities. In psychology, there are four groups of research methods (Fig. 2) .

Organizational methods.This group includes comparative, longitudinal and complex methods that are used throughout the study and represent various organizational and research approaches.

Comparative methodinvolves comparing the objects under study according to various characteristics and indicators.

Longitudinal methodinvolves repeated examinations of the same individuals over a long period of time.

Complex methodresearch consists in considering an object from the perspective of various sciences or from various points of view.

Classification

Methods of psychological research

Organizational

Data processing methods

Interpretive methods

Empirical

Comparative

Phylogenetic

Ontogenetic

Typology

Methods of mathematical and statistical data analysis

Methods of qualitative analysis

Genetic

Structural

Complex

Longitudinal

Analysis of processes and products of activity

Biographical

Observation

Experiment

Psychodiagnostic methods

Expert assessment method

Rice. 2. Classification of methods of psychological research
B.G. Ananyeva

Empirical methods.These are, first of all, observation and experiment, as well as psychodiagnostic methods (conversation, questioning, testing, etc.), the method of expert assessments, the method of analyzing the process and products of activity, the biographical method (Fig. 3).

Basic

Auxiliary

Psychodiagnostic
methods:

1. conversation
2. survey
3. testing

Observation

Observation:

1. open
2. hidden
3. passive
4. active
5. laboratory
6. natural
7. random
8. systematic
9. included
10. not included
11. solid
12. selective
13. longitudinal
14. periodic
15. single

Experiment:

1. laboratory
2. natural
3. stating
4. formative

Expert method
ratings

Process and product analysis method
activities

Biographical method

Empirical research methods

Observation

Rice. 3. Basic empirical methods of psychology

Data processing methods.These include quantitative(statistical) and qualitative(differentiation of material into groups, its analysis) methods.

Interpretive methods.This group includes genetic (analysis of material in terms of development, highlighting individual phases, stages, critical moments, etc.) and structural(identifying the connection between all personality characteristics) methods.

Characteristics of the main empirical methods
psychology

Observation method

Observation – one of the main empirical methods of psychology, consisting in the deliberate, systematic and goal-oriented perception of mental phenomena in order to study their specific changes in certain conditions and search for the meaning of these phenomena, which is not directly given .

A description of phenomena based on observation is scientific if the psychological understanding contained in it inside the observed act provides a natural explanation for its external manifestation.

Only exteriorized (external) manifestations of verbal and nonverbal behavior are available for observation:

1. pantomime (posture, gait, gestures, poses, etc.);
2. facial expressions (facial expression, expressiveness, etc.);
3. speech (silence, talkativeness, verbosity, laconicism; stylistic features, content and culture of speech; intonation richness, etc.);
4. behavior towards other people (position in the team and attitude towards this, method of establishing contact, nature of communication, style of communication, position in communication, etc.);
5. the presence of contradictions in behavior (demonstration of different, opposite in meaning, ways of behavior in similar situations);
6. behavioral manifestations of attitude towards oneself (towards one’s appearance, shortcomings, advantages, opportunities, one’s personal belongings);
7. behavior in psychologically significant situations (task completion, conflict);
8. behavior in the main activity (work).

Factors that determine the difficulty of knowing the internal through observing the external are:

1. the ambiguity of connections between subjective mental reality and its external manifestation;

There is the following classification of types of observation
(Fig. 4) .

From a chronological point of view of the organization observations

Depending

From position

observer

By order

Depending

from

regularity

Depending on activity

observer

Active

Random

Systematic

Systematic

Selective

Solid

Random

Hidden

Passive

Open

Laboratory

Natural

Clinical

Single

Periodic

Longitudinal

Observation

Not included

Included

Included

Not included

Rice. 4. Classification of types of observation

Depending on the observer's position:

1. open – observation, in which the observed are aware of their role as the object of study;
2. hidden - an observation about which the subjects are not informed, carried out unnoticed by them.

2. Depending on the activity of the observer:

1. passive – observation without any direction;
2. active – observation of specific phenomena, lack of interference in the observed process;

1. laboratory (experimental)– observation in artificial created conditions. The degree of artificiality can be different: from the minimum in a casual conversation in a familiar environment to the maximum in an experiment using special premises, technical means and forced instructions. In medical practice, this type of observation is often called clinical observation, i.e. monitoring the patient during his treatment;
2. natural (field)– observation of objects in the natural conditions of their daily life and activities.

3. Depending on the regularity:

1. random – observation not planned in advance, carried out due to unexpected circumstances;

1. systematic– deliberate observation, carried out according to a premeditated plan and, as a rule, according to a predetermined schedule;
2. included – observation, in which the observer is part of the group under study and studies it as if from the inside;
3. not included – observation from the outside, without interaction of the observer with the object of study. This type of observation, in essence, is objective (external) observation.

4. By order:

1. random – observation not planned in advance, carried out due to unexpected circumstances;
2. solid – constant monitoring of the object without interruption. It is usually used for short-term study or when it is necessary to obtain the most complete information about the dynamics of the phenomena being studied;
3. selective – observation carried out at separate time intervals chosen by the researcher at his own discretion;
4. systematic- deliberate observation, carried out according to a premeditated plan and, as a rule, according to a predetermined schedule.

5. From the point of view of the chronological organization of observation:

1. longitudinal – observation over a long period of time;
2. periodic – observation for certain periods

time kov;

1. single – description of an individual case.

The observation method has its own characteristics (Fig. 5).

Features of the application of the observation method

The wealth of information collected (analysis of both verbal information and actions, movements, deeds)

Subjectivity (results largely depend on experience, scientific views, qualifications, interests, performance of the researcher)

Maintaining the naturalness of operating conditions

It is acceptable to use a variety of technical means

It is not necessary to obtain the preliminary consent of the subjects

Significant time consumption due to observer passivity

Inability to control the situation, interfere with the course of events without distorting them

Rice. 5. Features of using the observation method

A description of phenomena based on observation is scientific if the psychological understanding contained in it of the internal (subjective) side of the observed act provides a logical explanation for its external manifestation. The traditional way of recording data is an observation diary, which consists of special notes from the observer, reflecting facts from the life of the observed person.

Requirements for recording data in the observation diary:

1. adequate transmission of the meaning of observed phenomena;
2. accuracy and figurativeness of formulations;
3. mandatory description of the situation (background, context) in which the observed behavior took place.

The observation method is widely used in legal practice. For psychologists and lawyers, external observation is one of the main methods of studying not only human behavior, but also his character and mental characteristics. Based on external manifestations, the investigator judges the internal reasons for a person’s behavior, his emotional state, difficulties in perceiving, for example, a witness to a crime, his attitude towards the participants in the investigation, justice, etc. This method is used in legal practice and for educational purposes (for example, by an investigator during investigative actions). During a search, interrogation, investigative experiment, the investigator has the opportunity to purposefully observe the behavior of persons of interest to him, their emotional reactions and, depending on this, change the tactics of his observation.

The mastery of the “behavioral portrait” method by legal psychologists and lawyers allows them to create a more complete picture of the specific person being monitored (the person’s mental state, character traits, social status). A behavioral portrait helps investigators and operational workers in identifying suspects, accused, witnesses and victims, and in searching for and apprehending escaped criminals.

Self-observation (introspection)- this is observation of one’s own internal mental processes, but at the same time observation of their external manifestations.

In legal practice, the testimony of victims and witnesses actually represents self-reports about their conditions and experiences. Self-observation can be used by a lawyer as a method of self-knowledge, allowing him to identify his characterological characteristics, personality traits in order to better control his own behavior, in time to neutralize, for example, the manifestation of unnecessary emotional reactions, outbursts of irritability in extreme conditions caused by neuropsychic overload. kami.

Experiment

Experiment is a method of collecting empirical data under specially planned and controlled conditions in which the experimenter influences the phenomenon being studied and records changes in its state . The following types of experiment are distinguished: laboratory, natural, ascertaining, formative (Fig. 6, Table 1).

Experiment

Natural

(carried out in real
living conditions)

Laboratory

(carried out in conditions
laboratories)

b

Experiment

Formative

(involves the purposeful influence of the experimenter on the mental phenomenon being studied)

Ascertaining

(limited to stating changes in the studied
mental phenomena)

Rice. 6. Classification of types of experiment:

A – depending on the experimental conditions;
b – depending on the position of the experimenter in the study

Psychic phenomena

Table 1.

Features of the use of laboratory and natural experiments

A psychological experiment, in contrast to observation, presupposes the possibility of activeinterference of the researcher in the activities of the subject (Table 2) .

table 2

Comparative analysis of observation and experiment

In the practice of psychological and legal research, both laboratory and natural experiments have become widespread. Laboratory experiments are common mainly in scientific research, as well as in forensic psychological examinations. When conducting a laboratory experiment, complex laboratory equipment is used (multichannel oscilloscopes, tachistoscopes, etc.).

Using a laboratory experiment, we study, in particular, such professional quality lawyer, as attention, observation, etc. The natural experiment is widely used by officials fighting crime, primarily by investigators. However, its application in no case should go beyond the framework of criminal procedural norms. This refers to the conduct of investigative experiments, the purpose of which is to test certain psychophysiological qualities of victims, witnesses and other persons. In difficult cases, it is recommended to invite a specialist psychologist to participate in them.

Conversation

Conversation – an auxiliary method of obtaining information based on verbal (verbal) communication. The researcher asks questions, and the subject answers them. The form of the conversation can be a free or standardized survey (Fig. 7).

Standardized survey

Free poll

Errors in wording questions are eliminated

The data obtained is more difficult to compare with each other

The obtained data are easily comparable with each other

Has a touch of artificiality (resembles an oral questionnaire)

Allows you to flexibly adjust research tactics, the content of the questions asked, and receive non-standard answers to them

Rice. 7. Features of using a standardized and free survey

Standardized survey− a survey characterized by a predetermined set and order of questions.

A free survey is similar in form to a regular conversation and is natural, informal. It is also conducted according to a specific plan, and the main questions are developed in advance, but during the interview the researcher can ask additional questions, as well as modify the wording of the planned questions. A survey of this type allows you to flexibly adjust the research tactics, the content of the questions asked, and obtain non-standard answers to them.

In legal practice, this type of conversation can be used as collecting anamnesis (amnesis - information about the past of the subject, obtained from himself or - with an objective anamnesis - from people who know him well).

A casual conversation allows the investigator to study the main features of the interlocutor’s personality and develop individual approach and make contact with the person being interrogated. Such a conversation very often precedes the main part of the interrogation and the achievement of the main goal - obtaining objective and complete information about the crime event. During the conversation, the investigator needs to pay attention to establishing personal contact with the interlocutor. A favorable climate for conversation is created by:

1. clear, concise and meaningful introductory phrases and explanations;
2. showing respect for the personality of the interlocutor, attention to his opinion and interests;
3. positive comments (every person has positive traits);
4. a skillful manifestation of expression (tone, timbre of voice, intonation, facial expressions, etc.), which is designed to confirm a person’s conviction in what is being discussed, his interest in the issues raised.

A conversation between a psychologist from the internal organs department and a victim of a crime can and should cause a psychotherapeutic effect. Understanding the emotional states of another person, expressing sympathy for him, the ability to put oneself in his place, demonstrating compassionate attention to the immediate needs of a person - important condition contact with the interlocutor.

Conducting a conversation is a great art that both psychologists and lawyers must master. This method requires special flexibility and clarity, the ability to listen to the interlocutor, understand his emotional states, respond to their changes, and record the external manifestations of these states. In addition, the conversation helps the lawyer demonstrate his positive qualities and desire to objectively understand certain phenomena. Conversation is an important tool for establishing and maintaining psychological contact with witnesses, suspects, etc.

Questionnaire

Questionnaire is a collection of facts based on the subject’s written self-report according to a specially designed program. Questionnaire is a questionnaire with a pre-compiled system of questions, each of which is logically related to the central hypothesisresearch. The survey procedure involves three stages:

1 . Determining the content of the questionnaire. This could be a list of questions about facts of life, interests, motives, assessments, relationships.

2 . Selecting the type of questions. Questions are divided into open, closed and semi-closed.Open questionsallow the subject to construct an answer in accordance with his desires, both in content and form. Processing responses to open questions difficult, but they make it possible to discover completely unexpected and unforeseen judgments.Closed questionsprovide a choice of one or more answer options included in the questionnaire. These kinds of answers are easily processed quantitatively.Half-closed questionsinvolve choosing one or more answer options from a number of proposed ones, at the same time the subject is given the opportunity to independently formulate an answer to the question. The type of question can influence the completeness and sincerity of the answer.

3. Determining the number and order of questions asked.

When compiling a questionnaire, you should adhere to a number of general rules and principles:

1. the formulation of questions must be clear and precise, their content understandable to the respondent, and consistent with his knowledge and education;
2. complex and ambiguous words should be excluded;
3. there should not be too many questions, since interest is lost due to increasing fatigue;

1. include questions that test the degree of sincerity.

The survey method is widely used in the study of the professional profile of officials, their professional suitability and professional deformation. Currently, this method is widely used to study certain aspects of the causes of crime (for example, the mechanism of formation of criminal intent, etc.).

Test method

Testing is the collection of facts about mental reality using standardized tools - tests.

Test – a method of psychological measurement consisting of a series short assignments and aimed at diagnosing the individual expression of personality traits and states . With the help of tests, you can study and compare psychological characteristics with each other. different people, give differentiated and comparable assessments.

Depending on the area to be diagnosed, there are intellectual tests; achievement and special ability tests; personality tests; tests of interests, attitudes, tests diagnosing interpersonal relationships, etc. There are a large number of tests aimed at assessing personality, abilities and behavioral characteristics.

The following types of tests are distinguished:

1. test questionnaire – based on a system of pre-thought-out, carefully

carefully selected and tested for validity and reliability

questions, the answers to which can be used to judge the level of expression of personality traits;

1. test task – includes a series of special tasks, based on the results

the implementation of which is judged by the presence (absence) and level of expression of the properties being studied;

1. projective test– it contains a projection mechanism, according to

to which a person tends to attribute unconscious personal qualities to the unstructured stimulus material of the test, for example, inkblots. In various manifestations of a person, be it creativity, interpretation of events, statements, etc., his personality is embodied, including hidden, unconscious motives, aspirations, experiences, conflicts. Test material can be interpreted in a variety of ways, where the main thing is not its objective content, but the subjective meaning, the attitude that it evokes in a person. It should be remembered that projective tests place increased demands on the level of education, intellectual maturity of the individual, and also require high professionalism on the part of the researcher.

The development and use of any tests must meet the following basic requirements:

1. standardization, which consists in creating a uniform procedure for conducting and assessing the performance of test tasks (linear or nonlinear transformation of test scores, the meaning of which is to replace the original scores with new, derivative ones that make it easier to understand the test results, using methods of mathematical statistics);
2. reliability, meaning the consistency of indicators obtained from the same subjects during repeated testing (retest) using the same test or its equivalent form;
3. validity (adequacy) - the extent to which the test measures exactly what it is intended to measure;
4. practicality, those. economy, simplicity, efficiency of use and practical value for many various situations(subjects) and types of activities.

Features of the test include poor prognostic ability, “attachment” of the results to a specific testing situation, the attitude of the subject to the procedure and the researcher, the dependence of the results on the state of the person being tested (fatigue, stress, irritability, etc.).

Test results, as a rule, provide only a current snapshot of the quality being measured, while most personality and behavior characteristics can change dynamically. Thus, testing a person accused of committing a crime (who is in a pre-trial detention center), when solving the problems of a forensic psychological examination, can give an incorrect, distorted idea of ​​the personality due to a state of anxiety, possible depression, despair, anger, etc.

The use of tests by specialists requires their compliance with a number of procedural requirements, which a lawyer assessing the test results set out in the forensic psychological examination report should be aware of. Testing should be carried out in favorable conditions for the test subject in terms of time, the examination environment, his well-being, the attitude of the psychologist towards him, who professionally competently sets tasks for him and conducts the examination.

Deviations from these mandatory requirements may indicate insufficient scientific competence of a psychologist and negatively affect the court’s assessment of his conclusion.

Expert assessment method

Expert assessment methodconsists of experts conducting an intuitive-logical analysis of a problem with a quantitatively substantiated judgment and formal processing of the results.

One of the most important points in using this method is the choice of experts. Experts can be persons who know the subject and the problem being studied well: a juvenile affairs inspector, parents, friends, etc. The expert assessment is derived in the form of a quantitative assessment of the severity of the properties being studied. The researcher summarizes and analyzes expert assessments.

In legal practice, this method allows you to collect as much independent information as possible about the identity of the accused in order to form an objective opinion about him. So, for example, to fully characterize the accused, one description from his last place of work is not enough. Therefore, it is very important for the investigation to consider characteristics from the places where the accused studied or worked, the opinions of neighbors, work colleagues, relatives and acquaintances about him.

Method of analyzing the process and products of activity

This method involves the study of the materialized results of a person’s mental activity, the material products of his previous activity. The products of activity reveal a person’s attitude to the activity itself, to the world around him, and reflect the level of development of intellectual, sensory, and motor skills. This method is most often used as an auxiliary one, since on its basis it is not always possible to reveal the entire diversity of human mental activity. In legal practice, the method of analyzing the process and products of activity, in conjunction with other methods, is used to study the identity of wanted criminals. Thus, based on the results of criminal activity, they judge not only the degree of social danger of the act, but also certain characterological characteristics of the individual, the mental state of the accused at the time of the crime, the motives of the crime, intellectual abilities, etc.

Biographical method

Biographical method− This is a way of researching and designing a person’s life path, based on the study of documents of his biography ( personal diaries, correspondence, etc.). The biographical method involves the use of content analysis as a technique for quantitative and qualitative processing of documentation.

In legal practice, the purpose of this method is to collect information about facts and events that have psychological significance in a person’s life, from the moment of birth to the period that interests the investigator and the court. The investigator, during interrogations of witnesses who know the subject well, and during a conversation with him himself, finds out the information necessary for the investigation: about his parents, about his relationships with others, work, interests, inclinations, character, past illnesses, injuries. If necessary, various medical documents, personal files, diaries, letters, etc. are studied.

For future lawyers, law teachers, studying and applying methods scientific psychology has a large practical value. They are necessary when working with teenagers, social groups, staff; in addition, they help to correctly build professional, business and everyday interpersonal relationships, and are also designed to help in self-knowledge in order to rationally approach own destiny and personal growth.

Psychology- this is the area scientific knowledge, exploring the features and patterns of the emergence, formation and development (changes) of mental processes (sensation, perception, memory, thinking, imagination), mental states (tension, motivation, frustration, emotions, feelings) and mental properties (direction, abilities, inclinations, character, temperament) of a person, that is, the psyche as a special form of life activity, as well as the psyche of animals.

Psychology as a science studies facts, patterns and mechanisms of the psyche.

The term “Psychic” itself comes from the Greek word “psyche”, which means “soul”.

The main tasks of psychology are:

1) qualitative study of mental phenomena;

2) analysis of the formation and development of mental phenomena;

3) study of the physiological mechanisms of mental phenomena;

4) promoting the introduction of psychological knowledge into the practice of people’s lives and activities.

The subject of psychology is the facts of mental life, the mechanisms and patterns of the human psyche and the formation of the psychological characteristics of his personality as a conscious subject of activity and an active figure in the socio-historical development of society.

The behavior of a person with a normal psyche is always determined by the influence of the objective world. Reflecting the outside world, a person not only learns the laws of development of nature and society, but also exerts a certain influence on them in order to adapt the world around him to the best satisfaction of his material and spiritual needs. In real human activity, his mental manifestations (processes and properties) do not arise spontaneously and are isolated from each other. They are closely interconnected in a single act of socially conditioned conscious activity of the individual. In the process of development and formation of a person as a member of society, as an individual, diverse mental manifestations interacting with each other gradually turn into stable mental formations, which a person directs to resolve the vital tasks facing him. Consequently, all mental manifestations of a person are determined by his life and activity as a social being, as an individual. Modern psychology views the psyche as a property of a special form of organized matter, as a subjective image of the objective world, as an ideal reflection of reality in the brain. The physiological processes taking place in the human brain are the basis of mental activity, but they cannot be identified with it. The psyche always has a certain content, i.e. what it reflects in the world around us. Therefore, the human psyche should be considered not only from the point of view of their content.

Modern psychology represents a number of scientific disciplines at different stages of formation, associated with various areas of practice. How to classify these numerous branches of psychology? One of the possibilities of classification is contained in the principle of development of the psyche in activity formulated above. Based on this, the psychological side can be chosen as the basis for classifying branches of psychology:

1.specific activity;

2. development;

3. the relationship of a person (as a subject of development and activity) to society (in which his activity and development take place).

If we accept the first basis of the classification, then we can distinguish a number of branches of psychology that study the psychological problems of specific types of human activity.

General psychology-Theoretical foundations of psychology, defines the basic concepts of this science (psychology of cognitive processes and personality psychology)

Psychophysiology-Science that arose at the intersection of two sciences - psychology and physiology. She explores the relationship between mental phenomena and their bodily manifestations

Age-related psychology-Features of changes in the psyche as a person develops and matures

Pedagogical psychology-Regularities of training and education

Medical psychology-The psyche of a sick person, as well as the characteristics of borderline states between health and illness

Social Psychology-Features of human interaction and the psychology of entire groups and large masses of people. Psychological phenomena and processes determined by a person’s belonging to specific communities

Psychodiagnostics-Develops methods that allow us to study the human psyche, and to do this as validly and reliably as possible

-Psychotherapy- Engaged in searching for and improving methods of treating people using psychological methods, without the use of pharmacological drugs

2. Research methods in psychology, their classification.

Method- this is the path, the method of cognition through which the subject of science is cognized (

Methodology(from the Greek methodos - path of research, logos - science) - a system of principles and methods of organizing and constructing theoretical and practical activities, as well as the doctrine of this system. Methodology is the study of the scientific method in general and the methods of individual sciences. This is a culture of scientific research.

Methods(from the Greek methodos - the path of research or knowledge) - these are the techniques and means by which scientists obtain reliable information; these are the ways of knowledge through which the subject of any science is known.

Method this is a way of knowing something: a mental process, activity, personality traits and other aspects of studying a person necessary for a psychologist. In psychology, there are a very large number of methods and individual varieties.

Methods: 1.Basic,2. auxiliary

Basic methods:

Observation. The researcher simply observes without changing the course of the situation. Differs in many varieties: open or hidden, included or not included, laboratory or natural, and so on.

Experiment. In this case, the researcher intervenes in the situation. He can create certain conditions for the experiment or surround the subject with special equipment. Or it can involve the subject in activities without his noticing.

Test short-term task. Based on the results of implementation, one can judge the level of existing knowledge.

There are several approaches to the classification of psychological research methods.

B. G. Ananyev identifies the following 4 groups of methods: those. organizational methods include:

1 -Comparative method ( comparison of different groups of subjects by age, type of activity, etc.), longitudinal method (examination of the same individuals over a long time) and complex (representatives of different sciences participate in the study, one object is studied by different means), combining the advantages of both the above methods.

2. Empirical methods -- These methods of collecting primary information include:

* observational methods (observation and self-observation);

* various types of experiment (laboratory, field, natural, ascertaining, formative);

* psychodiagnostic methods (standardized tests, projective tests, conversation, interviews, questionnaires, questionnaires, sociometry);

* praximetric methods are techniques for analyzing processes and products of activity): chronometry, cyclography, professiogram, assessment of products of activity;

* modeling:

* biographical method.

3 . Data processing methods include: methods of quantitative (statistical) and qualitative (differentiation of material into groups) analysis, which make it possible to establish patterns hidden from direct perception.

4 . Interpretive methods, involving various methods of explaining patterns identified as a result of statistical processing of data, and their comparison with previously established facts. These include

* genetic method - involves the study of genetic relationships (phylogenetic, ontogenetic, genetic and sociogenetic). so-called “in-depth” research;

* structural (classification, tapologization) method: psychography, typological classification, psychological profile - “breadth” research.

Methodological principles- briefly formulated theoretical provisions that summarize the achievements of science in a certain area and serve as the basis for further research.

METHODOLOGY- (Greek methodike). 1) the same as methodology. 2) part of pedagogy that sets out the rules for teaching various subjects

Method(gr. Method of cognition) - a path to something, a way to achieve a goal, a certain way of ordering the activity of a subject in any of its forms.

Function of the method- internal organization and regulation of the process of cognition or practical transformation of an object.

Research method - the general path that the researcher chooses to obtain the interest of his information of interest

Research method - this is, generally speaking, the way in which new knowledge is acquired. What experimental methods are used in psychology? Observation, testing, survey, conversation, interview.

Observation - one of the main empirical methods of psychological research. He consists in the conscious, deliberate, systematic and purposeful perception of mental phenomena. The purpose of observation is to study specific changes in the observed object under certain conditions, as well as to find the meaning of this phenomenon, which can be revealed without much effort. Exists several types of observation, which differ from each other in the ways of organization.

• 1. Participant observation", the observer turns out to be a member of the group that has become the object of study. In this case, the observer organizes the life of the group, but does not stand out in it in any way.
• 2. Random observation, in which, as in life, the observer discovers a fact that literally amazes him, since in this fact, according to the researcher, main reason mental process, its certain pattern becomes clear.
• 3. Organized or systematic observation, when a plan is specially thought out, a scheme for observing another person and focusing on his specific qualities.
• 4. Chaotic Surveillance: there is no periodicity and systematicity, means (including technical) and methods of observation change. This type of observation can be diary entries.

So, observation is a general term that is used to describe any situation in which an observer records the behavior of participants in an experiment. The term observation can be used to describe a method of data collection (i.e. we watch someone do something) or as a research design. When trying to define the term precisely, we automatically contrast observation with experimental research, since observation does not require manipulation of the independent variable. Thus, various types of non-experimental research can be classified as observational. Below are the most common observation categories.

I will give an example from the practice of my student Irina Volzingerd, who treated the girl Lena (name changed) as a psychotherapist. Observation happens external And internal(introspection).

External observation is carried out by an experimenter. He describes the child’s appearance, his reactions, problems: “Lena is 11 years old, proportionally built, thin, tall. Currently he is interested in mathematics and attends a mathematics club at Moscow State University. Before that, she was engaged in ballroom dancing, but since she outgrew her partner and they could not find a replacement for him, she had to temporarily give up dancing. Lena is not very upset about this, citing the fact that she already has a lot of lessons, a lot of homework and she gets tired of it.”

However, why are such observations needed? It is necessary to talk about what worries Lena’s mother. Her mother remarried. The girl became very attached to her stepfather. But for some reason she began to hate her father and avoid him. When her father comes to school, she hides from him in panic. Can a psychologist understand the essence of the problem if he limits himself to general psychological knowledge or philosophical reflection? Of course not. To do this, it is important to apply a variety of psychological techniques.

This is how the experimenter describes the first impression of the patient (Lena’s mother): “Self-confidence, some arrogance, condescension towards the doctor, conviction that one is right, stubbornness. The physical structure of the patient: average height, well-proportioned body, plump. Physical activity at a low level: underdevelopment of the muscular system compared to the skeleton. Muscle tension found around the shoulder girdle and at the base of the neck, and the back muscles are also tense. Habitual reaction: pursing lips - can be interpreted as “I know better!” - manifests itself in conversation, when the patient talks about something, or as a sucking reflex.”

The psychologist usually records his conversations. The experimental method is used to study cause-and-effect relationships between mental phenomena. You can even name certain stages of this method. First, the problem is formulated, then the methodology is developed, and the experiment itself is planned. A psychologist conducts a series of experiments and collects quantitative characteristics. At the final stage, the data is analyzed and subjected to mathematical processing.

Testing - This is a method that allows you to explore personality traits. Often the experimenter sets tasks that help the patient demonstrate his knowledge, skills, habits, level of education, accuracy, and mental development capabilities. Testing is widely used in determining professional training and in identifying a person's abilities. Using the test, you can penetrate into the patient's inner world.

According to the diagnostic focus they distinguish differential psychometric tests(aimed at assessing individual parameters of human cognitive processes), aptitude tests(general and special), achievement tests. Tests are often used in various areas of practical psychology.

Test in psychodiagnostics - methodology, which is a series of similar standardized short tests to which the subject is exposed. The sum of the results obtained is converted into standard units and is a characteristic of the level of the measured psychological quality. It differs from other diagnostic tools in meeting the requirements of validity, reliability and representativeness. The reliability of a test is its “noise immunity”, the independence of its results from the action of random factors. There is test-retest reliability - the consistency of the results of two tests of the same sample after a certain period of time. Correspondence of the test to what is being measured psychological quality called test validity.

Tests for mental development. The category of tests designed to determine the intelligence and success of human behavior is extremely large. The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test and the later Weksel Test of Intelligence in Children (WISP) have been used to measure specific aspects of mental development in preschool and school age. The tests usually measure specific aspects of human intelligence, such as verbal or arithmetic skills. Based on these tests, it is technically possible to determine a more general index of mental development (GID), although the practical usefulness of such a definition remains controversial. The heyday of intelligence tests came in the 1960s, when their results were used to make decisions that were of great importance for the education and careers of many people. Nowadays, such decisions are rarely made on the basis of intellectual testing, although the tests themselves have become more sophisticated and focused on specific skills.

Here is a description of the test that the psychologist used in her work with Lena. The psychologist asked the girl to draw a non-existent animal. By its nature, such a test is called projective. Lena drew a “little frog”. Here is the psychologist's interpretation:

“The depicted animal is an attitude towards one’s own person and one’s “I”, an idea of ​​one’s position in the world, as if comparing oneself in importance with this animal.” In this case, according to the psychologist, the “harmful frog” is a representative of Lena herself.

The head (frontal position) is interpreted as egocentrism, i.e. as an extreme manifestation of selfishness. A thick jawline is a strong tension in this part, which can be interpreted as suppression of one’s emotions; in the picture the “frog” itself speaks about this: “And I’m harmful! Ha-ha-ha!”, tension also appears in those moments when Lena wants to hold back her tears.

The eyes - the sharp drawing of the iris - are a symbol of the inherent experience of fear in a person. Eyelashes are hysterical and demonstrative behavior. Interest in admiring others for external beauty and manner of dressing, attaching great importance to this.

Additional details - whiskers: bristles and two large whiskers pointing upward - protection from others. In combination with the thickened lower contour of the head, this is a protection against ridicule, non-recognition, and fear of condemnation. The supporting supporting parts of the figure (legs and paws) look thin and weak, fragile in relation to the figure itself. The connection of the legs to the body is precise and careful. This is the nature of control over your reasoning, conclusions, decisions. The uniformity and one-directionality of the shape of the legs and paws means conformity (passive acceptance of other people's opinions) of judgments, their standardness, banality.

Wings - the energy of embracing activity, self-confidence, “self-expansion” with indelicate and indiscriminate oppression of others, or curiosity, the desire to participate in as many affairs of others as possible.

The tail is turned to the left, symbolizing the attitude towards your thoughts, decisions, missed opportunities, and your own indecision. The positive coloring of this relationship is expressed by the upward direction of the tail. The tail itself is darkened, located in the same part of the humanoid figure where a sexual characteristic could be depicted. Question: can the ego be interpreted as a fixation on the problem of sex, given that before this there was already a resemblance of this figure in Lena’s drawings?

The detailed interpretation of the test is given deliberately. Now we can talk about the essence of the problem. Lena, as the general experience of psychotherapy showed, was sexually abused by her father. The reader may be amazed: is this really possible? Psychologists know that in psychological practice this is far from a rare case. According to world statistics, every twentieth child may be exposed to one form or another. sexual violence by close relatives.

It is quite clear that the psychologist does not have the opportunity to have a direct conversation with the child on this topic. This can not only traumatize the girl, but even destroy the entire process of psychotherapy. This is where various kinds of tests, interviews and other psychological methods come to the rescue. In this case, with the help of an experiment, the psychologist not only managed to reveal the essence of the problem, but also general outline restore the picture of the event itself.

Method of studying the products of activity(drawings, modeling from plasticine, burning, sawing, etc.) is widely used in child psychology.

Psychologists also have statistical methods, allowing the results of observations and measurements to be subjected to mathematical processing. For example, when interviewing random passers-by on the street. Statistical methods allow you to establish dependencies between observed variables. This makes it possible to trace cause-and-effect relationships.

Experiment - in psychology, one of the main (along with observation) methods of scientific knowledge in general and psychological research in particular. An experiment differs from an observation in that the observer actively intervenes in the situation. In a broad sense, an experimental psychologist manipulates some aspect of a situation and then observes the results of this manipulation on some aspect of behavior.

Various types of research into mental processes using experiment are designated as experimental psychology. It was practical experiments that played a huge role in the transformation of psychological knowledge. On the basis of experimental data, psychology made an attempt to stand out from philosophy and form as an independent science.

Back in the middle of the last century, various kinds of experiments were carried out in physiological laboratories. The elementary mental functions of sensation and perception were studied. The famous psychiatrist S.S. Korsakov noted about Wundt that he was able to make a significant step in the history of psychology because he was a physiologist. Many specialists from other countries studied with Wundt, who then returned to their homeland and opened experimental psychological laboratories there.

Experimental psychology initially studied the ordinary mental processes of a normal adult. In this case, such a psychological method as introspection was widely used. However, psychologists soon began to conduct experiments on animals. Then mentally ill children came to their attention. Almost all psychologists at the turn of the century who played a significant role in the development of their science were experimentalists. The first laboratory of experimental psychology in Russia was created by the famous neurologist and psychiatrist V. M. Bekhterev.

Can be called three main categories of experiment.

1. Laboratory experiments. The main characteristic laboratory experiments is the ability of the researcher to control and change the observed variables. With this ability, he can eliminate many external variables that would otherwise affect the outcome of an experiment. External variables may include noise, heat or cold, distractions, or the nature of the participants themselves.

A laboratory experiment has its advantages. Thanks to the experimenter's ability to neutralize the effects of external variables, cause-and-effect relationships can be established. In a laboratory setting, the experimenter has the opportunity to assess behavior with greater accuracy than in a natural setting. The laboratory allows the researcher to simplify complex situations that arise in real life, breaking them down into simple components.

However laboratory experiments They also have some disadvantages. Laboratory conditions do not correlate well with real life, so the results of such experiments cannot be extrapolated to the outside world. Participants may respond to the laboratory setting by either adjusting to the demands of the experiment (an imperative characteristic) or by acting in an unnatural manner out of concern for the experimenter's judgment (anxious evaluation). The experimenter often has to mislead the participants to avoid the above-mentioned biases in laboratory research. This raises serious questions regarding the ethics of such research.

2. Field experiments. In this category of experiments, an artificial laboratory setup is replaced by a more natural one. Participants are unaware of their participation in the experiment. Instead of waiting for the required conditions to arise on their own, the researcher creates a situation of interest and watches how people react to it. An example would be observing the reactions of passers-by to emergency depending on the clothing and appearance of the “victim”, i.e. disguised experimenter.

Such experiments are supported by the fact that by focusing on behavior in a natural setting, the experimenter strengthens the external validity of his findings. Because subjects are unaware of their participation in the experiment, the likelihood of anticipatory evaluation is reduced. The experimenter retains control over the independent variable and is therefore still able to establish cause-and-effect relationships. But here are the arguments against. Because many independent variable manipulations are quite subtle in nature, they may go unnoticed by participants, while subtle reactions by participants may go unnoticed by the experimenter.

Compared to a laboratory setting, the experimenter has little control over the influence of external variables that may disrupt the purity of cause-and-effect relationships. Because participants are unaware of their participation in the experiment, ethical issues arise, such as intrusion personal life and lack of informed consent.

An example of field research can be considered the study by the American psychologist E. Erickson of the life of two Indian tribes - the Sioux and the Yuroks. The author wrote that in these tribes children are raised differently. Thanks to their upbringing, Sioux children grew up courageous, physically strong, calm and self-confident, and the pressure public opinion in the form of accusations of shameful acts, shaped their real social behavior, but did not, according to E. Erikson’s conclusions, have an impact on bodily functions and fantasies. That is, the Sioux Indians were afraid of external condemnation, but not the internal voice of conscience, as was typical of their white enemies. Erickson also made a number of interesting observations about the Yurok. “They are stingy, greedy, greedy and quarrelsome; they spend a lot of effort trying to avoid pollution and bad deeds. The typical Yurok believes that all he has to do is concentrate on the thought of salmon and he can see what is really going on in the river. If such behavior is assessed from the point of view of psychopathology, then such a person should be considered psychotic.”

3. Natural experiments. This category of experiment is considered “real” because the independent variable is not under the direct control of the experimenter, and he cannot direct the actions of the participants at various stages of the experiment. When conducting a natural experiment, the independent variable is controlled by some external agent (for example, a school or hospital), and the psychologist can only study the result obtained.

Arguments for. Since there is a study of different real life situations, the psychologist has the opportunity to study problems of public interest, which can have important practical consequences.

Arguments against. Due to the fact that the experimenter has virtually no control over the variables being studied, the establishment of cause-and-effect relationships is highly speculative. Because behavior is influenced by various factors unknown or beyond the control of the researcher, natural experiments are extremely difficult to replicate under the same conditions.

Game as a method. Psychologists also turn to the game as psychological method. Anna Freud emphasized that it is difficult for an adult to realize that a child does not immediately learn to distinguish toys from non-toys. Before

At 1-2 years old, the child tries to play with all the objects that come into his field of vision. He suddenly discovers something in the world that is different from his body and his mother's body. The child discovers that his movements can change something in the world around him, without the help of his mother. The child begins to play himself.

While observing children, Anna Freud made many discoveries related to child psychology. She showed that the first “game” of an infant is nothing more than a search for pleasure using the mouth, fingers, skin surface, vision, etc. He seeks this pleasure either in his own body (autoeroticism) or in the mother’s body (during or after feeding), which is the same thing for a child. A. Freud noted that a “transitional object” becomes a replacement for the mother’s or one’s own body, usually some soft object, such as a diaper or pillow, blanket or toy bear, i.e. the first toy to be filled with a mixture of narcissistic and object libido. The predilection naturally shifts from the transitional object to other similar toys, usually toy animals, which as symbolic objects are filled with libido and aggression and open up further possibilities of expression for the child's duality.

The addiction to toy animals gradually fades into the background and retains its significance only in the evening, in bed, as an aid to falling asleep, when the transitional object, due to its dual content (narcissistic and object), acts as a mediator in the transition from active interest in the outside world to immersion in dream.

Anna Freud also shows how you can, using observation of children's play, reveal problems psychological development child.

Psychologists turn to play as a phenomenon not only to study the psychology of the child. This is best described in the books of the American psychotherapist and psychologist Eric Burn (1910-1970) “Games People Play. Psychology of human relationships" and "People who play games. Psychology of human destiny". Retelling these works is a thankless task. They are extremely entertaining and popular.

Berne proposed a unique interpretation of the human psyche, which, in his opinion, has a special structure. It can trace certain experiences that are typical for a child under six years of age. Burn called this part of the structure of the psyche "Child". The second part of the psyche is the “Parent”. These are parental values, traditions, and norms of behavior that are entrenched in our worldview. Finally, in the psyche we can distinguish the sphere where a person independently perceives the world. Burn calls it “Adult”. So, each person has his own life scenario, general outlines which begins in early childhood.

Burn developed his own method of analyzing mental processes - transactional analysis. According to the researcher, when interacting, a person inevitably demonstrates three main states. I leave the table and approach my patient. “How are you, Marina?” - I ask. She answers nonchalantly: “Wonderful.” As a matter of fact, we had gathered for a serious conversation, I was just about to subject the patient to a severe test. She is clearly not ready for the experiment. Her “wonderful” sounds flippant. This is the voice of a Child...

Child carries complexes associated with early impressions and experiences. Psychologists distinguish between a “natural” and an “adapted” Child. The Natural Child is characterized by a tendency towards fun, active movement, imagination, impulsiveness and looseness. One of my patients complains gloomily that he has difficulty communicating with women. “So what,” I say blithely, “it’s the same with me.” My interlocutor’s eyes flash with genuine delight: “Really? You too?" But there is also an adapted Child. It appears in such varieties as “rebellious” (against the Parent), “agreeing” and “alienating”.

Now there is a different character - the Parent. It is revealed in such manifestations as control, prohibitions, ideal requirements, dogma, sanctions, care, power. I look closely at my patient. I frankly don’t like that she is not ready for serious work today. She answered my question like a Child. This doesn’t suit me, and I reprimand her. The Parent speaks in me.

Parent contains norms and regulations that are uncritically acquired by the individual both in childhood and throughout life. They are the ones who dictate his line of behavior. Many automatic, standard forms of behavior have developed in the Parent as a result of a subconscious desire not to count every step. The parent may be a “caring” parent. Here I am now, during a session, trying to give advice to my patient. I provide guardianship and psychological support. But more often the Parent is the personification of prohibitions and sanctions. Here is a young mother taking her child out for a walk. “If you behave like this,” she says edifyingly, “you won’t go for a walk again.” Will a mother really deprive her child? fresh air? No, of course, she is demonstrating her despotic will and power.

Now about As an adult. This state is manifested in independence, rationality, and the ability to soberly assess the situation. I sit down next to my patient and invite him to think again about his decision. My interlocutor is convinced that life is over. He is hatching plans for suicide. I appeal to his ability to reflect. Does what happened really look like such a tragedy? Let's try to overcome the narrow view of the problem.

Psychologists often use games to analyze psychological states. Here, for example, is a game called “Scandal”. The classic version of this game is played between an oppressive father and his teenage daughter. The father came home from work and came into contact with the child. Someone jokingly said: “You can’t be rude to a girl, she can answer.” So, father and daughter gradually become embroiled in a quarrel.

There are three possible endings. The father goes into his room, slamming the door. The daughter goes to her room, the door participates in the same capacity. Finally, both go into their own rooms and again not without the participation of the door. This is how conflict between father and daughter is usually resolved. This is a life game. They can live under the same roof only if there is an opportunity to vent their anger and slam the door.

“In spoiled families, the game can take a dark and repulsive form,” writes Byrne, “the father waits for his daughter, who has gone on a date, so that after returning she carefully examines her, her clothes and makes sure that she remains innocent. The slightest suspicious circumstance often causes a terrible scandal, as a result of which the daughter can be kicked out of the house in the middle of the night. In the end, events develop in a direction that is worse for the family and the father's suspicions are justified. Then he makes a scandal and tells everything to his mother, who helplessly watched the events unfold.”

Various game situations are used in psychology to identify general patterns of behavior. Without the vast amount of empirical material, psychology would hardly be able to claim its own status. In that fundamental difference psychology from philosophy. Psychology has made many conclusions not as a result of theoretical assumptions or reflection. She presents her discoveries as a generalization of vast psychotherapeutic practice.

Modern psychology as a science is trying to develop more exact ways obtaining reliable knowledge about the properties and qualities of a person. Hence the desire to create new methods. Various types of questionnaires, questionnaires and directed interviews, i.e. special techniques that make it possible to obtain reliable data about individual qualities of human consciousness. All methods of obtaining psychological knowledge are based on the fact that the observer or researcher sets himself the task of identifying this or that quality of a person, creates conditions for this and highlights this quality, fixing it as a property of the psyche, a property of consciousness