The place of psychology in the system of sciences Modern psychology is at the intersection of several sciences. Thus, human behavior and psyche cannot be understood without knowledge of his natural and social essence. In this regard, psychological knowledge is based on information about biology

1.1. The place of social psychology in the system scientific knowledge Social psychology is a branch of psychology that studies the psychological characteristics and patterns of behavior and activity of people, determined by their inclusion in social groups, as well as psychological

7. The place of psychoanalysis among other sciences If we consider psychoanalysis from a scientific-theoretical point of view, as if from the outside, it will not be so easy for us to determine its place among various scientific systems. Sometimes it seems that psychoanalysis is like a chameleon,

THE PLACE OF PERSONALITY IN THE NEW WORLD OF BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES In the previous lecture I tried to show, albeit very briefly, the achievements of the behavioral sciences, as well as their ability to predict and control behavior. I tried to draw that one new world to which we are uncontrollably

Similar documents

The place of psychology in the system of sciences. Subject, object and methods of psychology. The structure of modern psychology. Reasons and patterns of human actions, laws of behavior in society. The relationship between psychology and philosophy. The difference between everyday psychology and scientific psychology.

course work, added 07/28/2012


Scientific and everyday psychology: differences in goals, method, language. Stages of the formation of scientific psychology, its place in the system of sciences. Methods psychological research. Consciousness is the highest form of mental reflection. The theory of the unconscious in Freud's theory.

training manual, added 03/15/2010


Study of the subject, structure and place of psychology in the system of sciences. A process of differentiation that generates significant branching into individual industries. The subject of psychological science and its main categories. Structure and sections of medical psychology.

test, added 05/05/2015


Historical stages in the development of psychology as a science. The main branches and the process of differentiation of modern psychology. Tasks and place of psychology in the system of sciences. The main directions of psychology of the 19th century: Freudianism and behaviorism. Skinner's behavioral concept.

lecture, added 02/12/2011


The place of psychology in the system of sciences. Methods of obtaining knowledge in everyday and scientific psychology: observation, reflection, experiment. Branches of psychology: children's, developmental, pedagogical, social, neuropsychology, pathopsychology, engineering, labor.

abstract, added 02/12/2012


The place of social psychology in the system of scientific knowledge. The subject and object of study of social psychology, the structure of modern social psychology. Methodology and methods of socio-psychological research. The problem of the group in social psychology.

book, added 02/10/2009


Patterns of development of the history of psychology. The evolution of psychological knowledge. Systems of psychological methods. The relationship of psychology with other sciences. The structure of modern psychology. The main factors and principles determining the development of psychology.

test, added 11/11/2010


Identification of the subject area of ​​educational psychology as an independent field of research. Educational psychology among other human sciences. The relationship between “phenomena” and “essence” in the process of cognition. Model of the structure of scientific knowledge.

thesis, added 12/20/2013


Relevance of ethnopsychological knowledge. Subject and basic concepts of ethnic psychology. The place of ethnopsychology among other sciences, its role in the development of social psychology as a branch of scientific knowledge. Main branches, sections of ethnic psychology.

test, added 02/26/2011


Comparison of existing views on the position of psychology in the system of sciences. Applied significance and functions, tasks of pathopsychology. Connections of psychology with social and technical sciences, its special branches related to training and education.

Until now, in order to determine the features of the scientific method of cognition, we have spoken about science in general. The term “science” refers to individual branches of scientific knowledge that differ from each other in a number of significant characteristics. One of them is psychology. In order to further determine the place of psychology in the system of sciences, let us consider this in more detail.

First of all, sciences differ in their object. The subobject of a particular science is understood as that aspect of reality that this science is aimed at studying. An object- an object or phenomenon externally opposed to the subject, towards which his cognitive or objective-practical activity is directed. Subject- a person as a bearer of objective-practical activity and knowledge.

Often the object is fixed in the very name of the science: for example, geology is the science of the Earth, biology is the science of living nature, etc. At the same time, not a single science is able to describe its object in its entirety for various reasons: knowledge is infinite, just like the infinite world. The forced specialization of sciences poses a serious problem in terms of building a unified scientific picture of the world: the difference in approaches and languages ​​makes it difficult to generalize; In this regard, “frontier sciences” play a big role.

In addition, any science is limited in its approach to an object by the tradition in which it was formed, by the categorical (conceptual) apparatus, by the language that has developed in it, by the means of analysis and empirical research that dominate it, etc. . Categorical structure of psychology- an extremely general, deep, historically developing cognitive structure that reflects mental reality in its integrity and specific characteristics.

In this regard, its subject is distinguished from the object of science. Item- an aspect of an object studied by a given science and expressed through scientific terms. If an object exists independently of science, then the object is formed together with science and is fixed in its system of categories. In a certain respect, we can say that the development of science is the development of its subject.

According to the principle of the object, two main scientific objects are distinguished (according to B. M. Kedrov): they are nature (organic and inorganic) and man (i.e. human society and thinking). The line between them is, naturally, conditional. According to the characteristics of these objects, natural Sciences And Humanities. The latter are divided into social And philosophical.

Thus, three main sections of scientific knowledge are identified, each of which represents a complex of sciences. In addition to them, there are large sections located at the junction of the main ones. This classification is presented in the form of the so-called “triangle of sciences” (Fig. 1.1).

Along with the classification of sciences by object, other ways of distinguishing them are possible. For example, the division of sciences into fundamental And applied.Fundamental(sometimes called “pure”) are considered sciences that understand the world, regardless of the extent to which the practical use of the knowledge obtained is possible. Applied sciences, on the contrary, are focused on practice, applying to it the knowledge acquired in the fundamental sciences, and serve the immediate needs of society.

The connection between psychology and the natural sciences is quite close. The most obvious connection is with biological sciences. This connection assumes:

Firstly, borrowing some general biological theoretical principles to substantiate the patterns of mental development [ evolutionary theory Darwin, biogenetic law (ontogenesis is an abbreviated repetition of phylogeny), the principle of recapitulation, the principle of epigenetism and other provisions];

Secondly, in the search for the biological origins of human social behavior, widespread use of data obtained ethology(direction of biology, the science of the relationship between innate instinctive behavior and environmental influences).

Genetic data are also very important for psychology, providing material regarding the mechanisms of inheritance of certain inclinations, predisposition to mental illness, etc. The area of ​​psychology bordering on genetics is psychogenetics, which reveals the role of the genotype and environment in the formation of a person’s individual characteristics.

The connection between psychology and physiology obvious in the study of problems of the relationship between mental and physiological processes. In this regard, the works of many outstanding domestic scientists played a significant role: I.P. Pavlova, V.M. Bekhtereva, A.A. Ukhtomsky, N.A. Bernstein, P.K. Anokhina. Directly with higher physiology nervous activity corresponds to such a branch of psychology as psychophysiology, which studies the psyche in unity with its material substrate - the brain.

Among the applied biological disciplines we can highlight medicine, First of all, its branches such as neuropathology and psychiatry. It is characteristic that many outstanding psychologists were also clinicians (V.M. Bekhterev, V.N. Myasishchev, A.R. Luria, etc.). At the intersection of medicine and psychology, medical psychology arose, developing psychological problems diagnostics, treatment, prevention, rehabilitation of patients. The connection between psychology and medicine is due to the need to determine the specifics of the relationship between the doctor and the patient (to treat not the disease, but the patient). A number of branches of medicine are directly related to psychology through common problems, in particular, problems of mental disorders. Let us especially highlight the foundation founded by A.R. Luria neuropsychology, a science that exists at the intersection of psychology, physiology and medicine and studies the brain mechanisms of higher mental functions based on local brain lesions. Closely related to medicine is the so-called special psychology, studying various options pathology mental development.

The connection between psychology and physics less immediate, but nevertheless it exists. Psychology, developing in many ways together with natural science, reflected the worldview that was determined by the main discoveries - or the ruling principles - in the field of the physical picture of the world. Thus, ideas about the atomic structure of the world led to the “transfer of the principle” - the idea about the atomic structure of the soul. The physical principles of experimentation largely determined the requirements for an objective approach to the psyche, and a number of psychological theories included such concepts as “energy” and “field” as fundamental ones.

The connection between psychology and chemistry in many ways similar, but in some cases more specific. Thus, there are areas in relation to which both chemical, physiological, and psychological theories(for example, memory mechanisms). Chemical processes are considered in the analysis of biological phenomena important for psychology. Finally, there is psychopharmacology - a scientific and practical discipline that studies the patterns of the effects of drugs on the psyche.

The connection between psychology and the sciences is no less strong humanitarian. This mainly relates to those branches of psychological knowledge that are associated with the human personality. Personality- man as a subject of social relations; systemic quality of an individual, determined by his involvement in public relations and emerging in joint activities and communication.

For example, with history psychology is brought together by interest in the peculiarities of a person’s mental appearance in different historical eras and in different cultures (personality characteristics, worldview, thinking, the formation of standards of behavior, relationships, characteristics of emerging groups, etc. - these are the subject of historical psychology).

With sociology- the science of social systems and processes - psychology is connected through the study of patterns of interaction between an individual and his social environment, intragroup and intergroup relations. One of the leading branches of psychology is social Psychology - studies the psychological characteristics of a person due to his existence in a group, and the characteristics of the groups themselves.

Ethnopsychology studies the characteristics of the psyche of people of different nations and cultures, developing problems national character, self-awareness, national characteristics worldview, relationships, community formation, etc.

Political psychology studies the characteristics of individuals and groups due to their inclusion in political life(political identity, values, characteristics of behavior and activity, etc.), both at the level of the individual and at the level of small and large groups of various plans.

Such traditionally distinguished humanities disciplines as linguistics and art history, are also directly related to psychology. Psychology is united with the first by the problem of speech formation based on the assimilation of linguistic structures, the analysis of language in connection with thinking, interest in the content and expressive aspects of linguistic communication, the peculiarities of generating utterances, the perception of speech depending on linguistic structures, and finally, the role of language in the context of the analysis of culture and much more. At the intersection of psychology and linguistics arose psycholinguistics.

Art history and psychology find common ground in approaches to problems artistic creativity and the artist’s personality, perception works of art, features of the structure of the works themselves (psychology of art).

The connection between psychology and philosophy. Philosophy is usually defined as the science of the most general laws nature, society and thinking, but this is often followed by reservations in the sense that philosophy is a kind of meta-science, “super-science”.

Psychology developed for a long time within the framework of philosophy, and its separation into an independent science could not mean complete autonomy. Problems mental life human beings cannot be developed outside of ideas about the relationships between the material and the ideal, the spiritual and the physical, the biological and the social, the subjective and the objective, and these are problems of a philosophical nature.

In many cases, psychologists are directly based on certain philosophical systems, and sometimes offer their own. Thus, Soviet psychologists were based on the philosophy of Marxism; the influence of Marxism was recognized by A. Adler, V. Reich, E. Fromm. W. James was an open opponent of materialism. Humanistic psychology is based on the principles of existentialism, etc. For psychology, certain philosophical concepts act as a methodological basis, i.e. a system of fundamental general theoretical principles that determine the approach to problems and the method of their analysis.

In addition, in a number of cases, psychological theories developed into philosophical directions (or claimed to be so) or influenced the emergence and development of philosophical theories. Thus, philosophers often consider psychoanalysis as a philosophical movement; W. James's psychological views were reflected in the philosophical direction he founded (“pragmatism” or “psychological pragmatism”); The works of S. L. Rubinstein ("Being and Consciousness", "Man and the World", etc.) are philosophical no less than psychological.

Let us also point out that in a number of cases psychological and philosophical knowledge come together directly through a specific object of analysis:

- epistemology(theory of knowledge) and psychology cognitive activity;

Logic and psychology of thinking;

Aesthetics and psychology of art, etc.

So, we discussed the connection between psychology and a number of fundamental sciences, asking the question about its place in the system of sciences and its belonging to the natural sciences or humanitarian knowledge. The answer to the first question is obvious: its place is in the center of the “triangle of sciences”; it is connected both historically and relevantly with all the main areas of knowledge. Psychology represents areas of both natural science and humanitarian orientation. One can, however, talk about the increasing “specific weight” of the humanitarian approach due to the fact that the human personality is placed at the center of psychology, and this means the impossibility of a strictly objective approach to a person without discussing the problems of human values, meanings, experiences, etc.

With regard to those scientific fields that are primarily focused on practice, we note first of all the connection between psychology and pedagogy and medicine - those disciplines for which the main problem is the problem of human interaction.

The connection between psychology and pedagogy direct. It is impossible to work effectively with a child or an adult without knowing the patterns by which his psyche develops. Psychology tries to identify psychological mechanisms underlying pedagogical interactions, study the patterns pedagogical process, determine the conditions for optimal organization (educational psychology). Pedagogy, in accordance with its principles, is focused on the same thing, so the interaction of sciences is quite natural. It is no coincidence that the names of outstanding theorists and practitioners of pedagogy have entered the history of psychology (J.-J. Rousseau, I.-G. Pestalozzi, K. D. Ushinsky, J. Korczak, A. S. Makarenko, V. A. Sukhomlinsky and etc.), and many outstanding psychologists were also teachers (L.S. Vygotsky, P.P. Blonsky, V.V. Davydov, L.V. Zankov, D.B. Elkonin, etc.).

Modern psychology occupies a central place among the natural, social and philosophical sciences. So academician B.M. Kedrov, proposed a simple graphic diagram in the form of a triangle. The central place in the triangle is given to psychology, and the other three vertices are characterized by philosophical, social and natural sciences.

Psychology occupies a central place in the system modern sciences, since the main task is the study of man. Other sciences do not set themselves the main task of studying man; they touch upon this issue only indirectly.

The place of psychology in the system of sciences

Psychology occupies a central place among the sciences, not only as a product of their activity, but also as an explanation of their origin and development.

Natural Sciences.

The direct connection between psychology and the natural sciences is hard to miss. Thanks to the natural sciences, psychology can study psychological and physiological processes. This is very important because psychological processes influence physiological processes and vice versa. Thus, by combining the knowledge of the two sciences, it is possible to identify diseases in the early stages and properly influence them. Of the natural sciences, psychology is closely related to the medical and biological sciences. By combining the knowledge of psychology with other sciences, new branches of psychology emerge, in which the subject is narrowly defined.

Social sciencies.

Sciences such as psychology and sociology are closely related. So, for example, in psychology it is used, purely sociological methods, such as surveys and questionnaires. In addition, sociology and psychology share the same scientific concepts. In addition to sociology, psychology uses knowledge from such sciences as history, pedagogy, linguistics and others. Thus, thanks to the merging of history and psychology, the theory of cultural-historical development appeared.

Philosophical Sciences.

Psychology is very closely related to the philosophical sciences. Psychology only emerged from philosophy into a separate science in the 19th century, but is still connected with it. Psychology and philosophy are currently studying the same scientific problems. These include the concepts of worldview, morality, meaning of life, etc. To test hypotheses, psychology uses experimental methods. However, there are a number of questions that cannot be verified experimentally, so psychology turns to philosophy for help.

The status of psychology in the system of sciences

Currently, there are discussions about the scientific nature of psychology. Many scientists believe that modern psychology occupies an intermediate position between science and parascience. Since in it, there has not yet been a clear division between scientific and pseudoscientific knowledge.