Theories of mental development.

Basic concepts of child mental development. Mental development is an irreversible process of directed and natural changes leading to the emergence of quantitative, qualitative and structural transformations in the human psyche and behavior.

The main properties of development that distinguish it from all other changes are:

A) irreversibility- the ability to accumulate changes, “superstructure” new changes over previous ones;
b) focus- subordination to a single, internally interconnected lines of development;
V) pattern- the ability to reproduce similar changes in different people.

The main factors (leading determinants) of human development are also identified. These include:
1) heredity- the ability of an organism to repeat similar types of metabolism and individual development over a number of generations;
2) Wednesday- social, material and spiritual conditions of human existence;
3) activity- the active state of the organism as a condition for its existence and behavior; systemic educational factor of interaction between heredity and environment.

Heredity influences the individual properties of a person and is a prerequisite for its development, Wednesday(society) - on the social properties of the individual; activity- on individual and social properties.

Mental development of the child, the transformation of a helpless baby into a person occurs according to certain laws that he studies child psychology. This problem is one of the most pressing in modern psychology. Interest in it is not only of a theoretical nature, it is largely caused by pedagogical practice, which requires constant improvement of teaching and education for the concept of child psychology that you need.
The core of the theory of mental development is the disclosure of its driving forces, the identification of the role of biological and social factors (heredity, environment, training and upbringing) in the formation of personality. In the discussion on these issues, the polar views of representatives of the biologization and sociology trends crystallized. Supporters of biologization trends (agricultural Hall, D. Selley, S. Bueser, D. Maley, etc.). They proceed from the recognition that all mental characteristics of a person are congenital, the change in periods of development, the emergence of various mental processes, properties, and qualities of the individual are determined by heredity. They view mental development as a gradual quantitative development, maturation of hereditary structures (abilities, interests, character traits), which the child inherits in the same way as body structure, facial features, the shape of hands, etc. They deny the emergence of new qualities.
Within this concept, several theories have emerged. Proponents of the biogenetic theory believe that a child, in a short period of his life, overcomes all the stages that humanity goes through in its development.

Representatives of psychoanalytic theory assign a decisive role to biological drives. In their opinion, the basis of creativity, as well as dreams, are biological drives, which a person, embarrassed, hides from himself, displaces into the “sphere of the unconscious” (3. Freud). They view creativity as the sublimation (transformation) of the impossible and unrealized into early childhood sexual, irrational drives, desires. Therefore, we need to give a way out internal forces child.

According to modern biologization concepts social forms Behaviors are represented in humans by special genes (material carriers of heredity) selected during the process of evolution. Cowardice, lies, selfishness, aggressive instinct, and other vices have long been characteristic of humans. Mutation of genes that are carriers of morality, according to representatives of biologizing concepts, leads to insensitivity (this explains crimes and other asocial manifestations in human behavior).
The biologization concept is one-sided, often used as a screen by those who do not want or do not know how to educate others and themselves, and tries to explain all shortcomings by negative heredity, against which a person is powerless. It opens up space for justifying the natural inequality of abilities of people of different races and nationalities. Racists, for example, believe that members of the white race are superior in heredity to black people, and therefore must dominate them. Life and teaching experience convincingly refute these statements, since every child, no matter what race or nationality it belongs to, can, under appropriate conditions, achieve a high level of development.

The sources of the sociological direction began in the Middle Ages with the theory of tabula rasa, according to which the human psyche at the moment of birth is a “blank slate”, however, under the influence of external conditions, upbringing gradually arises in it inherent in man mental qualities. The representative of this trend was the French philosopher Claude Henri Helvetius (1715-1771), who believed that all people are born with the same natural data, and further inequality of their mental abilities and moral qualities is due to unequal external conditions and educational influences. These statements were against the prevailing concepts of the innate conditioning of mental development and social inequality of people at that time.

One of the manifestations of the sociological concept of development was widespread in the 20-30s of the 20th century. sociogenetic theory, whose supporters argued that the main factor in a child’s mental development is its adaptation to the social environment.
What is common to biologizing and sociologizing theories of development in their views on the child is that they leave the mechanistic concept of development and consider it as a passive object external influences, like a toy (in one case in the hands of heredity, in another social environment). Therefore, they cannot be taken as the basis for understanding the patterns of child development.

On modern stage The theory of convergence of biological and social factors is widespread. According to it, the psychology of children and mental development are determined by the interaction of heredity and environment: heredity is assigned a determining role, and the environment is assigned the role of a regulator of the conditions in which heredity is realized. However, this theory does not explain cases when children with different characters having the same heredity (identical twins).

Modern science convincingly proves that neither heredity nor environment, as they are understood by supporters of the convergence of two factors, determine the development of a child.

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Federal Agency for Education

State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "Tobolsk State Social and Pedagogical Academy"

named after D.I. Mendeleev".

Department of Psychology

Theories of mental development

The abstract was completed by:

Student of group 21

Faculty of Foreign Languages

Krasnova Yu.Yu.

Checked by: Ph.D.

Bostandzhieva T.M.

Tobolsk 2010

Introduction

The main theories of mental development received their form in the psychology of the twentieth century, which is directly related to the methodological crisis of psychology at the beginning of that century. The search for objective research methods exposed the problem ultimate goal psychological research. Scientific discussions have revealed differences in the understanding of mental development, as well as the patterns and conditions of its occurrence. The difference in approaches gave rise to the construction of different concepts about the role of biological and social factors, about the importance of heredity and environment in the development of personality. At the same time, the emergence of various scientific schools in developmental psychology contributed to the further accumulation and systematization of empirical data on human development in different periods of life. The construction of theories of mental development made it possible to explain the characteristics of behavior and identify the mechanisms of formation of certain mental qualities of the individual.

In Western psychology, human mental development is traditionally considered in line with the established schools of psychoanalysis, behaviorism, Gestalt psychology, genetic and humanistic psychology.

Psychoanalytic theory

Already at the beginning of the century, the Viennese psychiatrist and psychologist S. Freud proposed his interpretation of human personality, which had a huge impact not only on psychological science and psychotherapeutic practice, but also on culture in general throughout the world.

Discussions related to the analysis and assessment of Freud's ideas lasted for decades. According to Freud's views, shared by a significant number of his followers, human activity depends on instinctive impulses, primarily the sexual instinct and the instinct of self-preservation. However, in society, instincts cannot reveal themselves as freely as in the animal world; society imposes many restrictions on a person, subjects his instincts, or drives, to “censorship,” which forces a person to suppress and inhibit them.

Instinctive drives thus turn out to be repressed from the conscious life of the individual as shameful, unacceptable, compromising and pass into the sphere of the unconscious, “go underground”, but do not disappear. While maintaining their energy charge, their activity, they gradually, from the sphere of the unconscious, continue to control the behavior of the individual, reincarnating (sublimating) into various forms of human culture and products of human activity.

In the sphere of the unconscious, instinctual drives are combined, depending on their origin, into various complexes, which, according to Freud, are the true cause of personality activity. Accordingly, one of the tasks of psychology is to identify unconscious complexes and promote awareness of them, which leads to overcoming internal conflicts of the individual (method of psychoanalysis). Among such motivating reasons, for example, was the Oedipus complex.

Its essence is that in early childhood, every child is expected to experience a dramatic situation that resembles the conflict that forms the main content of the tragedy of the ancient Greek playwright “Oedipus Rex” by the ancient Greek playwright: the ignorant incestuous love of a son for his mother and the murder of his father.

According to Freud, the erotic attraction of a boy at the age of four to his mother and the desire for the death of his father (Oedipus complex) collides with another force - the fear of terrible punishment for incestuous sexual impulses (catastrophe complex). Freud's desire to derive all personality activity from sexual impulses alone (then the “death instinct” was added to them) met with objections from many psychologists, which became one of the reasons for the emergence of neo-Freudianism (K. Horney and others), which is characterized by a combination of classical Freudianism with certain deviations from it. In understanding personality, neo-Freudians abandon the priority of sexual drives and move away from the biologization of man.

The dependence of the individual on the environment comes to the fore. In this case, the personality acts as a projection of the social environment, by which the personality is supposedly automatically determined.

The environment projects its own onto the personality the most important qualities, they become forms of activity of this person (for example, the search for love and approval, the pursuit of power, prestige and possession, the desire to submit and accept the opinion of a group of authority figures, flight from society).

K. Horney connects the main motivation of human behavior with a “feeling of fundamental anxiety” - anxiety, explaining it with the impressions of early childhood, the helplessness and defenselessness that a child experiences when faced with the outside world. "Root anxiety" stimulates actions that can ensure safety. Thus, the leading motivation of the individual is formed, on which his behavior is based.

Psychoanalysis is characterized by the idea of ​​recognizing the unconscious as a factor determining behavior, often the opposite of conscious goals. Recognizing that "things are not what they seem" and that human behavior and consciousness are highly determined by unconscious motives that can arouse seemingly irrational feelings and behavior.

Explanation by the continuing influence of the specific treatment of significant others in very early childhood on the nature of the adult's experiences. In this view, early life experiences lead to the formation of stable internal worlds that emotionally charge the construction of external worlds and their emotional experience. Inner worlds are created in very early childhood and represent the constructed foundations of the passage of life - mental reality.

Statement of psychological defense aimed at overcoming internal anxiety as the main regulator of an individual’s mental life. Almost all schools of psychoanalysis recognize that consciousness and our internal versions of the world - established in childhood - are systematically changed in order to avoid anxiety. Psychological defense aims to create internal versions of the world that reduce anxiety and make life more bearable. Since psychological defense often manifests itself unconsciously, it is with the action of its mechanisms that many of our irrational actions and ideas are associated.

The nature of human difficulties is associated with the resolution of the basic conflict between the Self and the Super-Ego, that is, the demands of the individual and the demands of society, which gives rise to anxiety. To cope with anxiety, a person turns on psychological defenses. However, such inclusion sometimes leads to incomplete personality development. A person is not what he really is. And what he should be like for those around him (usually those rigid patterns of behavior that were laid down in early childhood).

Main method: analysis of free associations, which is used in the analysis of errors, misreadings, slips of the tongue, slips of the tongue, random or symptomatic actions, analysis of the client's dreams, self-analysis, transference analysis, interpretation of resistance, emotional retraining.

The goal is to bring repressed, affectively charged material of the unconscious into the light of consciousness, in order to include its energy in vital activities. What is possible, according to S. Freud, with emotional response (catharsis).

Advantages of psychoanalytic personality theory:

Research into the sphere of the unconscious, the use of clinical methods, non-traditional insights, methods of therapeutic practice, the study of the client’s real experiences and problems.

Flaws:

Social learning theory

Personality theories from a social learning perspective are primarily learning theories. At the beginning of its development, the theory of social learning attached extreme importance to the ideas of reinforcement, but the modern theory has acquired a clearly expressed cognitive character. The importance of reinforcement was taken into account in concepts describing a thinking and cognitive person who has expectations and ideas.

Socialization is a process that allows a child to take his place in society; it is the advancement of a newborn from an asocial humanoid state to life as a full-fledged member of society. How does socialization happen? All newborns are similar to each other, but after two or three years they are different children. This means, say proponents of social learning theory, that these differences are the result of learning, they are not innate. There are different concepts of learning. In classical conditioning of the Pavlovian type, subjects begin to give the same response to different stimuli. In Skinner's operant conditioning, a behavioral act is formed due to the presence or absence of reinforcement for one of many possible responses. Both of these concepts do not explain how new behavior arises.

A departure from classical behaviorism. In the late 30s, N. Miller, J. Dollard, R. Sears, J. Whiting and other young scientists at Yale University made an attempt to translate the most important concepts of psychoanalytic personality theory into the language of K. Hull's learning theory. They outlined the main lines of research: social learning in the process of raising a child, cross-cultural analysis - the study of the upbringing and development of a child in different cultures, personality development. In 1941 N. Miller and J. Dollard introduced the term “social learning” into scientific use.

The roots of modern social learning theory can be traced to the views of theorists such as Kurt Lewin and Edward Tolman. Regarding the social and interpersonal aspects of this theory, the works of George Herbert Mead and Harry Stack Sullivan.

Some of the most influential social learning theorists today include Julian Rotter, Albert Bandura, and Walter Mischel. Even Hans Eysenck and Joseph Wolpe are sometimes included among social learning theorists because of the nature of their therapies derived from the learning model.

Take Julian Rotter's theory as an example:

Rotter's theory has several important features. Firstly, Rotter accepts the view. on theory as a construct. This means that he is not interested in the reconstruction of reality through theory, but in the development of a system of concepts that would have predictable utility. Secondly, he pays great attention description language. This was expressed in the search for such formulations of concepts that would be free from uncertainty and ambiguity. Third, he puts a lot of effort into using operational definitions that establish real measurement operations for each concept.

Rotter's choice of the term "social learning" is not accidental. He believes that most people. behavior is acquired or learned. More importantly, it happens in a personally meaningful environment, replete with social media. interactions with other people.

The main feature of this theory is that it involves two types of variables: motivational (reinforcement) and cognitive (expectancy). It is also distinguished by the use of the empirical law of effect. A reinforcer is anything that causes movement toward or away from a goal.

Finally, this theory places primary importance on the performance rather than the acquisition of behavior.

Basic concepts. Rotter's theory requires four concepts or variables to predict an individual's behavior. First of all, this is behavioral potential (BP). This variable characterizes the potential of any behavior in question to arise in a particular situation in connection with the pursuit of a particular reinforcer or set of reinforcers. In this case, behavior is defined broadly and includes motor acts, cognitive activity, verbalizations, emotional reactions, etc.

The second important variable is expectation (expectancy, E). It is an individual's estimate of the likelihood that a particular reinforcer will occur as a result. specific behavior implemented in a specific situation. Expectations are subjective and do not necessarily coincide with actuarial probability, which is calculated in an objective manner based on previous reinforcement. The individual's perceptions play a decisive role here.

The third important concept is reinforcement value (RV). It is defined as the degree of preference given by an individual to each of the reinforcers given hypothetically equal chances of their occurrence.

Finally, the psychologist herself. situation, according to social learning theory, serves as an important predictive factor. To accurately predict behavior in any situation, it is necessary to understand psychology. the significance of a given situation in terms of its impact on both the value of reinforcers and expectations.

Problem solving expectations. IN recent years large number research was devoted to generalized expectations in the field of problem solving (problem-solving generalized expectancies). These cognitive variables are akin to attitudes, beliefs or mental. mental sets regarding how problem situations should be interpreted in order to facilitate their solution. People vary widely in these cognitions. The subject of these studies. steel, ch. arr., two types of generalized expectations: internal/external control of reinforcement (locus of control) and interpersonal trust. In the first case, people differ in their beliefs about whether the events that happen to them are caused by their own behavior and attitudes (internally) or are determined by luck, fate, chance or the will of other people (externally). In the case of interpersonal trust, there are people who rely on others to tell the truth, although there are also those who are convinced of the opposite. On the other hand, how people approach the problems they face will depend significantly on the nature of these generalized expectations.

Cognitive theory

The cognitive theory of personality is close to the humanistic one, but it has a number of significant differences. The founder is the American psychologist J. Kelly (1905-1967). In his opinion, the only thing a person wants to know in life is what happened to him and what will happen to him in the future.

The main source of personality development for Kelly is the environment, the social environment. Cognitive personality theory emphasizes the influence intellectual processes on human behavior. In this theory, any person is compared to a scientist who tests hypotheses about the nature of things and makes predictions about future events. Any event is open to multiple interpretations.

The main concept is “construct” (from the English construct - to build), which includes the features of all cognitive processes (perception, memory, thinking and speech). Thanks to constructs, a person not only understands the world, but also establishes interpersonal relationships. The constructs that underlie these relationships are called personality constructs (Francella F., Bannister D., 1987). A construct is a kind of classifier, a template for our perception of other people and ourselves.

Kelly discovered and described the main mechanisms of the functioning of personal constructs, and also formulated a fundamental postulate and 11 consequences.

The postulate states: personal processes are psychologically canalized in such a way as to provide a person with the maximum forecast of events. The corollaries clarify the main postulate.

People differ not only in the number of constructs, but also in their location. Those constructs that are updated in consciousness faster are called superordinate, and those that are updated more slowly are called subordinate. For example, if, having met a person, you immediately evaluate him from the point of view of whether he is smart or stupid, and only then - kind or evil, then your “smart-stupid” construct is superordinate, and the “kind-stupid” construct evil" - subordinate.

Friendship, love and generally normal relationships between people are possible only when people have similar constructs. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine a situation where two people communicate successfully, one of whom is dominated by the “decent-dishonest” construct, and the other has no such construct at all.

The structural system is not static, but constantly changes under the influence of experience, i.e. personality is formed and develops throughout life. The personality is predominantly dominated by the “conscious”. The unconscious can only relate to distant (subordinate) constructs, which a person rarely uses when interpreting perceived events.

Kelly believed that individuals have limited free will. The constructive system that a person has developed over the course of his life contains known limitations. But he did not believe that human life is completely determined. In any situation, a person is able to construct alternative predictions. The outside world is neither evil nor good, but the way we construct it in our heads. Ultimately, according to cognitive scientists, a person’s fate is in his hands. The inner world of a person is subjective and, according to cognitivists, is his own creation. Each person perceives and interprets external reality through his own inner world.

The main conceptual element is the personal “construct”. Each person has his own system of personal constructs, which is divided into 2 levels (blocks):

1. The block of “core” constructs is approximately 50 basic constructs that are at the top of the construct system, i.e. in the constant focus of operational consciousness. A person uses these constructs most often when interacting with other people.

2. The block of peripheral constructs is all other constructs. The number of these constructs is purely individual and can vary from hundreds to several thousand.

Holistic personality traits appear as a result of the joint functioning of both blocks, all constructs. There are two types of holistic personality:

cognitively complex personality with a large number of constructs

a cognitively simple personality with a small set of constructs.

A cognitively complex personality, compared to a cognitively simple one, is distinguished by the following characteristics:

1) has better mental health;

2) copes better with stress;

3) has more high level self-esteem;

4) more adaptive to new situations.

To assess personal constructs (their quality and quantity), there are special methods (“repertory grid test”) (Francella F., Bannister D., 1987).

The subject simultaneously compares triads with each other (the list and sequence of triads are compiled in advance from people playing important role in the past or real life given subject) in order to identify such psychological characteristics, which two of the three people being compared have, but are absent in the third person.

For example, you have to compare the teacher you love, your wife (or husband) and yourself. Suppose you think that you and your teacher have a common psychological quality - sociability, but your spouse does not have such a quality. Consequently, in your constructive system there is such a construct - “sociability-unsociability”. Thus, by comparing yourself and other people, you reveal the system of your own personal constructs.

Thus, according to cognitive theory, personality is a system of organized personal constructs in which a person’s personal experience is processed (perceived and interpreted). The structure of personality in this approach is considered as an individually unique hierarchy of constructs.

To the test question “Why are some people more aggressive than others?” Cognitive scientists answer: aggressive people have a special constructive personality system. They perceive and interpret the world differently, in particular, they better remember events associated with aggressive behavior.

As a result of the construction of psychoanalytic and other theories of personality, psychology has been enriched with a huge number of concepts, productive research methods and tests.

She owes them an appeal to the area of ​​the unconscious, the possibility of carrying out large-scale psychotherapeutic practice, strengthening connections between psychology and psychiatry, and other significant advances that have updated the face of modern psychology.

In the process of life, people often manifest themselves as social individuals, subject to a certain technology of society, the rules and norms that are imposed on them. But the system of prescriptions cannot provide for all specific options for situations or life events, and a person is forced to choose. Freedom of choice and responsibility for it are the criteria for the personal level of self-awareness.

List of used literature

1. Petroshevsky A.V., Yaroshevsky M.T. Psychology. Textbook for higher education Ped. Un. - 2nd ed. - M.: - Publishing center "Academy", 2000. - 512 p.

2. Personality psychology: Under. Ed. Yu.B. Hippenreiter. - M:, 1985

3. Leontyev A.N. Selected psychological works. Volume 3-2: - M; 1983.

As a result of scientific disputes, in the 20th century, the difference in approaches to human mental development gave rise to various theories that explain both his behavior and the formation of certain traits.

Basic theories of mental development

1. Psychoanalytic. Its founder is S. Freud. All mental processes have their origin in the unconscious part of each of us. In addition, it is generally accepted that the development of the psyche is influenced by the formation of the sexual instinct, which begins in infancy.
2. Genetic. This theory of human mental development provides for the study of the psyche purely from the point of view of the interaction of the individual and his environment. The foundation of the psyche is intelligence, thanks to which memory and emotional states are improved.
3. Behavioral. The behavior of each of us, starting from the moment of birth and ending with the last day of life, is what is most important in this scientific assumption. Behaviorists do not consider it reasonable to consider a person’s imagination, consciousness, and feelings separately from the development of his behavior.
4. Gestalt. Representatives of this theory believe that the level of mental development determines perception. Moreover, such formation is divided into training and growth.
5. Humanistic. Man is an open system capable of self-development. We are all individual, because within each of us there are unique combinations of qualities. The essence of each personality lies in conscious motives, and not in instincts.
6. Cultural-historical. Its representative L. Vygotsky, who also developed the theory of the development of higher mental functions, saw the meaning of the psyche in a person’s ability to control his own consciousness and mental state. The main principle of the teaching is the analysis of development from the point of view of a specific historical period.

The first attempts to describe mental development are very ancient times. This is well known from the history of psychology.

The first to propose an age-based periodization of development were Pythagoras, Hippocrates and Aristotle.

Pythagoras (VI century BC) identified four periods in a person’s life: spring (the formation of a person) - from birth to 20 years; summer (youth) – 20–40 years; autumn (prime of life) – 40–60 years; winter (extinction) – 60–80 years.

Hippocrates identified 10 seven-year periods throughout a person’s life, and Aristotle divided childhood and adolescence into three stages: the first - from birth to 7 years; the second - from 7 to 14 years old and the third - from 14 to 21 years old.

The actual scientific approach to the study of human mental development became possible on the basis of the evolutionary teachings of Charles Darwin. By now, science has accumulated many theories, concepts and models that describe the course of human mental development. However, none of them managed to describe human development in all its complexity and diversity. And one of the main reasons for this is the general biological interpretation of development.

Throughout the development of evolutionary teaching, two points of view fought in it: one, which asserts that development is carried out according to firm laws determined by the action of an innate program, and the other, for which development is the result of influences external environment, leading to the emergence of something qualitatively new. If in the first case, individual development is simply growth, the deployment of the inclinations initially present in the body, then in the second, development is always the emergence of something new, the formation of heterogeneous from homogeneous, the sequential emergence of parts and organs in the process of development (History of evolutionary teachings..., 1966). The debate about what development is, how it is carried out and what is its result continues to this day.

Two main points of view can be distinguished.

1. Evolution is the development of already existing inclinations. Moreover, development is understood not as the emergence of a qualitatively new thing, but as a manifestation of already previous inclinations - this is the point of view of L. S. Berg, the author of the theory nomogenesis(Berg L.S., 1977). In evolution, factors of pure chance are firmly established factors of active programming, believed N.A. Bernstein (1965).

2. Evolution is the process of creating something completely new. This idea was expressed by A. Bergson. “We, of course, do not believe that in living nature there is a conscious desire for perfection. However, we express the idea that in a living system there is a physical tendency to complicate its functions and structures,” emphasizes K. S. Trincher (1965, p. 43).

If in the first case the role of internal factors, and development itself is interpreted as a process of implementing certain programs, then in the second, development is understood as a movement from the old to the new, as the process of the dying away of the old and the birth of the new, as a process of transition from possibility to reality.

The available scientific data on the innate inclinations of a newborn and the course of their implementation in ontogenesis on the basis of certain patterns force us not to oppose these points of view, but to try to reconcile them with each other. After all, man is a product not only of the evolution of nature, but also of the history of society. Moreover, living in society, each of us builds our own individual life path. Therefore, a correct understanding of human mental development cannot be achieved within the framework of one of the opposing concepts.

A similar understanding of the course of evolution has left its mark on the content of theories of mental development. Some theories emphasized endogenous (internal) causes of mental development, others - on exogenous (external) ones. In addition, within the framework of different theories, the attention of their authors focused on various areas of mental development. For example, J. Piaget explained the course of intellectual, and L. Kohlberg - the moral development of man. Thus, when classifying theories of mental development, two parameters should be used: firstly, this is the source, the driving force of development, and secondly, the area, the sphere of development.

A.G. Asmolov, analyzing possible theoretical approaches that explain human development, identifies three main ones, into which many individual theories and concepts fit (1998, p. 12).

Firstly, this biogenetic an approach that “focuses on the problems of human development as an individual with certain anthropogenetic properties (inclinations, temperament, biological age, gender, body type, neurodynamic properties of the brain, organic impulses, etc.), who goes through various stages of maturation as he realizes phylogenetic program in ontogenesis".

Secondly, this sociogenetic an approach whose representatives focus on studying the processes of “socialization of a person, his mastery of social norms and roles, the acquisition of social attitudes and value orientations...”. Apparently, this direction also includes learning theories(B. Skinner, A. Bandura), according to which the acquisition of various forms of behavior by a person occurs through learning.

Representatives personogenetic approach puts at the forefront “the problems of activity, self-awareness and creativity of the individual, the formation of the human “I”, the struggle of motives, the education of individual character and abilities, the self-realization of personal choice, the constant search for the meaning of life during life path individuality."

To the approaches named by A.G. Asmolov, one should add theories cognitive directions. They occupy an intermediate direction between biogenetic and sociogenetic approaches, since both the genotypic program and the conditions in which this program is implemented are considered the leading determinants of development. Therefore, the level of development (level of achievement) is determined not only by the development of the genotype, but also by the social conditions due to which the child’s cognitive development occurs.

In general, it should be noted that this division is conventional, since many of the existing theories, strictly speaking, cannot be classified “in pure form» to none of the above approaches. Below will be given brief description some theories that reflect the content of a particular approach in a concentrated form.

Within the framework of the biogenetic approach, the main theories are recapitulation theories E. Haeckel and S. Hall and theory psychosexual development Z. Freud.

Biogenetic approach

Recapitulation theories

Theories of recapitulation claim that the human body in its intrauterine development repeats the entire series of forms that its animal ancestors went through over hundreds of millions of years, from the simplest single-celled creatures to primitive man. However, other scientists have expanded the time frame of the biogenetic law beyond uterine development. Thus, S. Hall believed that if in 9 months an embryo repeats all stages of development from a single-celled creature to a human being, then a child during childhood goes through the entire course of human development from primitive savagery to modern culture.

This idea was most clearly developed by Hutchinson. He singled out 5 periods human culture, according to which the interests and needs of a child change from birth to adulthood (Pedology, 1934).

The first one is period of savagery . During this period, the child has a desire to dig in the ground; he drags everything he comes across into his mouth. Edibility becomes the measure of everything. The period of savagery lasts up to 5 years, and reaches its maximum development at 3 years.

Next period- This period of hunting and prey capture . It is characterized by the child's fear of strangers, secret actions, cruelty, the formation of children's gangs, games of captivity, ambushes, and hide-and-seek predominate. It lasts from 4 to 12 years, but shows its main features at the age of 7 years.

The third period is called the period shepherding . Tenderness towards animals is expressed, the desire to have your own pet; children during this period love to build huts, huts, and dungeons. Lasts from 9 to 14 years, and the peak occurs at 10 years.

Topic 2. Basic theories of mental development
Plan:

1. 
   Biogenetic and sociogenetic concepts.
2. 
   Psychoanalytic theories of development.
3. 
   Cognitive and humanistic theories of mental development.
4. 
   Domestic theories of development.

1. Biogenetic and sociogenetic concepts
According to biogenetic concept development, the basic mental properties of the individual are inherent in the very nature of man, in his biological beginning. Thus, intelligence, personality traits, character traits, etc., are genetically programmed.

German naturalist E. Haeckel (1834–1919) and German physiologist

I. Müller (1801–1958) formulated a biogenetic law, according to which animals and humans during intrauterine development briefly repeat the stages that a given species goes through in phylogenesis. This process was transferred to the process of ontogenetic development of the child. Theories of mental development arose related to the idea of ​​repetition in this development of human history, they are called theories of recapitulation (“compressed repetition”).

Stanley Hall's theory of recapitulation. American psychologist S. Hall (1844–1924) believed that a child’s development briefly repeats the development of the human race. The basis for the emergence of such a theory was observations of children, as a result of which the following stages of development were identified: cave, when the child digs in the sand, the stage of hunting, exchange, etc. Hall also assumed that the development of children's drawing reflects the stages that fine art went through in the history of mankind.

Studying the mental development of a child, Hall came to the conclusion that it is based on the biogenetic law formulated by Darwin’s student E. Haeckel.

In the theory of recapitulation that he created, Hall argued that the sequence and content of these stages are given genetically, and therefore a child cannot evade or bypass any stage of his development.

Hall's student Hutchinson, based on the theory of recapitulation, created a periodization of mental development, the criterion of which was the method of obtaining food. He identified 5 main phases in the mental development of children, the boundaries of which were not rigid, so that the end of one stage did not coincide with the beginning of the next:

from birth to 5 years – digging and digging stage. At this stage, children love to play in the sand, make Easter cakes, and manipulate buckets and scoops;

from 5 to 11 years – hunting and capturing stage. At this stage, children begin to be afraid of strangers, they develop aggressiveness, cruelty, a desire to isolate themselves from adults, especially strangers, and a desire to do many things in secret;

from 8 to 12 years – shepherd stage. During this period, children strive to have their own corner, and they usually build their shelters in courtyards or in a field, in the forest, but not in the house. They also love pets and try to have them so that they have someone to care for and patronize. At this time, children, especially girls, develop a desire for affection and tenderness;

from 11 to 15 years – agricultural stage, which is associated with an interest in the weather, natural phenomena, as well as a love of gardening, and in girls, floriculture. At this time, children become observant and cautious;

from 14 to 20 years – stage of industry and trade, or the stage of modern man. At this time, children begin to understand the role of money, as well as the importance of arithmetic and other exact sciences. In addition, the children have a desire to exchange different objects.

Hutchinson believed that from the age of 8, i.e. from the shepherd stage, the era of civilized man begins and it is from this age that children can be systematically educated, which is impossible at the previous stages. At the same time, he proceeded from Hall’s idea that learning should be built upon a certain stage of mental development, since the maturation of the organism prepares the basis for learning.

Both Hall and Hutchinson were convinced that going through each stage is necessary for normal development, and fixation on any of them leads to the appearance of deviations and anomalies in the psyche. Since in reality a child cannot be transported to the same situations that humanity has experienced, the transition from one stage to another is carried out in the game. This is why there are children's games of war, Cossack robbers, etc. Hall emphasized that it is important not to constrain the child in the manifestation of his instincts, which are thus eliminated, including childhood fears.

Although Hall brought together a large amount of factual material, which contributed to the further development of developmental psychology, his theory was immediately criticized by psychologists who pointed out that the external similarity of children's play with the behavior of animals or primitive people does not mean the psychological identity of their behavior.

Austrian psychologist K. Bühler (1879-1973) represented the entire developmental path from ape to adult cultured person As he climbs up a single biological ladder, in his opinion, a child, a passive, helpless creature, devoid of any mental movements, gradually “transforms” into a human being. For Bühler, the task was to find eternal, fundamental, independent external influences laws of development in their purest form. Experiment form for research child development in the first years of his life, he borrowed from the field of animal psychology, in fact, children solved problems of the type that were offered to monkeys in animal psychology research.

Based on experimental data, Bühler created theory of three stages in child development . In its development, a child naturally goes through stages that correspond to the stages of evolution of animal behavior forms: instinct, training, intelligence. He considered the biological factor (self-development of the psyche, self-development) as the main one.

Instinct is the lowest stage of development; a hereditary fund of behavior patterns, ready for use and requiring only certain incentives. Human instincts are vague, weakened, split, with large individual differences. The set of ready-made instincts in a child (newborn) is narrow - screaming, sucking, swallowing, protective reflex.

Training (the formation of conditioned reflexes, skills that develop during life) makes it possible to adapt to various life circumstances and is based on rewards and punishments, or on successes and failures. Children's play, according to Bühler, is a natural continuation of play in animals and arises at this stage.

Intelligence is the highest stage of development; adapting to a situation by inventing, discovering, thinking about and realizing a problem situation. Bühler strongly emphasizes the “chimpanzee-like” behavior of children in the first years of life.

During the transition from one stage of mental development to another, emotions also develop, and there is a shift in pleasure from the end of the activity to the beginning. The evolutionary early relationship between action and emotion is as follows: first the action, and then the pleasure from its result. Further, the action is accompanied by functional pleasure, i.e. pleasure from the process itself. And finally, the idea (anticipation) of pleasure precedes the actual action.

Representatives of the biogenetic direction attracted the attention of scientists to the study of the interdependence of physical and mental development. This is of great importance for psychophysiology. However, attempts to understand the patterns of mental development based only on biological laws naturally were not crowned with success. They underestimate the role of social factors of development and overestimate its uniformity.

A diametrically opposed approach to the development of a child’s psyche is adhered to by supporters sociogenetic concept. They believe that there is nothing innate in human behavior and every action is only a product of external influence.

Behaviorist concepts . Behaviorism is a trend in American psychology of the 20th century that denies consciousness as a subject scientific research and reducing the psyche to various forms of behavior, understood as a set of reactions of the body to environmental stimuli. Man, according to J. Watson (1878 - 1958), is a biological being that can be studied like any other animal. Thus, in classical behaviorism the emphasis is on the process of learning based on the presence or absence of environmental reinforcement.

Representatives of neobehaviorism, American psychologists E. Thorndike (1874–1949) and B. Skinner (1904–1990) created the concept of learning, which was called “operant conditioning.” This type of learning is characterized by the fact that in establishing a new associative connection between stimulus and response, an unconditioned stimulus, i.e., reinforcement, plays an important role.

Based on existing theories, we can conclude that in sociogenetic theories, the environment is considered as the main factor in the development of the psyche, and the child’s activity is not taken into account.

Convergence theory (two factor theory) . Developed by a German psychologist
V. Stern (1875–1938), who was a specialist in the field of differential psychology, which examines the relationship between biological and social factors. The essence of this theory is that the mental development of a child is considered as a process that takes shape under the influence of both heredity and environment. The main question of convergence theory is to establish how acquired behaviors arise and how they are influenced by heredity and the environment.

According to Stern's theory:

A child in the first months of infancy is at the stage mammal: this is confirmed by thoughtless reflexive and impulsive behavior;

In the second half of life it reaches the stage of a higher mammal ( monkeys) thanks to the development of grasping objects and imitation;

Later, having mastered upright walking and speech, he reaches the initial stages human condition;

In the first five years of play and fairy tales, he stands on the level primitive peoples;

The new stage - entering school - is associated with mastering social responsibilities higher level. The first school years are associated with simple content ancient and Old Testament worlds, middle classes - with Christian culture, and the years of maturity are with culture new times.
2. Psychoanalytic theories of development
Psychoanalysis- one of the first psychological directions that appeared as a result of the division of psychology into different schools. The subject of study in this school was the deep structures of the psyche, and the method of their study was psychoanalysis developed by this school.

On the one hand, psychoanalysis is a theory that explains the mental development of personality (personality theory), on the other hand, it is a method of personality research, and on the third, it is a method of psychological assistance.

Basics psychoanalytic concept were founded by the Austrian psychologist and psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Under the influence of Goethe and Darwin, Freud chose the medical faculty of the University of Vienna, which he entered in 1873. Having received his doctorate at the age of 26, Freud, due to financial difficulties, was forced to engage in private practice. At first he worked as a surgeon, however, after taking a course in psychiatry, he became interested in this area, primarily in the connection between mental symptoms and physical illnesses.

Freud interned in Paris at the J. Charcot clinic, where he studied the role of hypnosis in the treatment of hysteria; his work here for the first time lifted the curtain on the unconscious, demonstrating in hypnosis sessions the role of unconscious motives in human actions. Upon returning to Vienna, he, together with the famous psychiatrist I. Breuer, began to study the dynamics of hysteria. However, he gradually moved away from Breuer, who was wary of Freud's assumptions about the connection between neuroses and sexual deviations. Breuer was also wary of the new method of treating hysteria, psychoanalysis, proposed by Freud instead of hypnosis, although he agreed that hypnosis was ineffective.

Freud first spoke about psychoanalysis in 1896. According to Freud, the development of a child’s psyche is an adaptation, its adaptation to the surrounding, predominantly hostile environment. The driving forces of mental development are innate and unconscious instincts (or feelings, as with later psychoanalysts). From the point of view of psychoanalysis, the basis of mental development is not the intellectual sphere, but the emotions and motives of children.

Three stages can be distinguished in the scientific work of S. Freud:

The first stage (1886-1897) is associated with the development of a model of affective trauma. During this period, he considers the causes of neurotic disorders to be: 1) real external traumatic events that occurred in childhood (for example, sexual abuse) and 2) affects caused by unbearable ideas and traumas. In the first model, the mental apparatus is endowed with such functions as adaptation to events occurring in external reality, amplification and removal of excitation, perception, attention, and transfer of mental energy from one state to another. It was during this period mental trauma was seen as a consequence of sexual seduction that actually took place, in reality. Later he comes to the conclusion that we're talking about not about real sexual actions that were performed against the child, but about his own fantasies, ideas, desires.

Second stage (1897-1923). During this period, a new topic model is developed. The energy of attraction is considered as the most important motivational factor in the behavior of children and adults. Sexuality is understood as something that consists of taking into account the opposite of the sexes, receiving pleasure, enjoying the functioning of organs, and procreation.

During this period, Freud identifies such drives as sexual desire(Libido) and the drive for self-preservation. The latter drive is defined as needs associated with bodily functions necessary to maintain the life of the individual. The topical (spatial) model of the mental apparatus is presented at three levels - unconscious, preconscious and conscious. The unconscious consists of mental contents that function according to their own laws and rules, and is a repository of psychic energy and innate drives. They act at the level of the unconscious primary processes, which are characterized by illogicality, timeless and spatial dynamics.

At the preconscious and conscious level, secondary processes operate - attention, judgment, reasoning, controlled action. The preconscious is located between the unconscious and the conscious; it is separated from the former by censorship, which does not allow unconscious contents into the preconscious. The transition from preconsciousness to consciousness is due to the second censorship, which does not so much distort as select contents that disturb the individual. The preconscious includes thoughts that are not directly conscious, but can easily be realized. The conscious includes conscious thoughts and feelings and operates on the basis of secondary processes according to the principle of reality.

The third stage (1923-1939) is the time of creating a structural model of the psyche. Freud identified the drive to life (Eros) and the drive to death (Thanatos). The first included sexual attraction and the desire for self-preservation, the second included the desire for destruction, complete elimination of tension, and peace. The idea that in addition to the attraction to life, there is an attraction to death, arose from Freud after the First World War. Defining this concept, he means the organism’s desire, firstly, for destruction and, secondly, for a natural transition to an inorganic state.

The structural model of the mental apparatus replaces the topical one. Instead of three levels - unconscious, preconscious and conscious, Id (It), Ego (I), Super-Ego (Super-I) are distinguished.

It is an innate unconscious authority, a repository of innate desires and repressed ideas. The basic principle of the It's work is the principle of pleasure, i.e. desire for immediate release of mental tension.

Ego - is formed from the Id, appearing with the emergence of knowledge about the external world. This authority operates according to the principle of reality, using perceptual and cognitive strategies, i.e. attention, logical thinking, reasoning and evaluation. The purpose of the I instance is to delay the gratification of instincts to preserve the integrity of the body and psyche.

The super-ego is formed towards the end of the third, phallic stage of psychosexual development and represents a system of values, standards, and norms of behavior acquired by the child through communication with adults. The superego consists of conscience and ego ideal. Conscience is formed as a result of punishment, and the ego-ideal is formed as a result of parental encouragement.

Internal conflicts, according to Freud, are conflicts between different personality structures. On the one hand, there is It, which contains powerful biological needs and which functions on the principle of pleasure, that is, it requires immediate release of tension; on the other hand, there is the Super-Ego, which consists of moral norms and rules, most often prohibiting the immediate satisfaction of the needs of the Id. Between these two conflicting structures, the I is located, which, despite the tension experienced in connection with the conflict, must preserve the integrity of the body and psyche.

The ability to support your mental health depends on psychological defense mechanisms that help a person, if not prevent (since this is actually impossible), then at least mitigate the conflict between the Id and the Super-Ego.

Psychological defense mechanisms- techniques that reduce the level of anxiety caused by internal conflict between different structures of the psyche.

Freud identified several defense mechanisms, the main ones being repression, regression, rationalization, projection and sublimation.

Repression- the most ineffective mechanism, since in this case the energy of the repressed and unfulfilled motive (desire) is not realized in activity, but remains in the person, causing an increase in tension. Since desire is repressed into the unconscious, a person completely forgets about it, but the remaining tension, penetrating through the unconscious, makes itself felt in the form of symbols that fill dreams, in the form of mistakes, slips, and slips of the tongue.

Regression and rationalization are more mature types of defenses, since they provide the opportunity for at least partial discharge of the energy contained in a person’s desires. At the same time regression– a more primitive way of realizing aspirations, this is a return to an ontogenetically more early forms response. A person may begin to bite his nails, spoil things, believe in evil or good spirits, strive for risky situations, an adult woman in tense situations may act like a girl, etc., and many of these regressions are so common that they are not even perceived as such . Rationalization is associated with the desire of the Super-Ego to somehow control the current situation, giving it a respectable appearance; this is an attempt to give at least some “reasonable” explanation for one’s feelings and actions. Therefore, a person, not realizing the real motives of his behavior, covers them up and explains them with fictitious, but morally acceptable motives.

At projections a person attributes to others the desires and feelings that he himself experiences, but often does not realize them. The projection can be accurate, that is, the person on whom the feeling is projected actually experiences it, confirms the projection made with his behavior. Then the defense mechanism worked successfully, since the projector can recognize these feelings as real, valid, but alien and not be afraid of them.

The projection may be erroneous and not accurate. It must be emphasized that the introduction of such a protective mechanism made it possible to further develop the so-called “ projective methods» personality research. These methods, which consist of asking people to complete unfinished sentences or draw something, have become a significant contribution to experimental study child's personality. They encourage the subject to project the content of his own psyche and allow him to draw conclusions about the mental properties and qualities of the subject, “bypassing” his consciousness.

Most effective mechanism protection is sublimation, as it helps to direct the energy that is associated with sexual or aggressive aspirations in a different direction, to realize it in activity. In principle, Freud considered culture a product of sublimation and from this point of view he considered works of art and scientific discoveries. According to Freud, in creative activity there is a complete realization of accumulated energy.

Stages of psychosexual development. Freud identified four stages of psychosexual development - oral, anal, phallic and genital and a certain intermediate period between the phallic and genital stages, called latent due to the fact that at this time sexual energy is in an almost neutral state.

When describing these stages, S. Freud proceeds from the fact that desire is a psychological phenomenon, and underneath it lies bodily arousal (somatic source), called need. On different stages psychosexual development, mental energy is concentrated around a certain bodily (erogenous) zone.

Thus, libidinal energy, which is associated with the life instinct, also serves as the basis for the development of personality and human character. The stages of development differ from each other in the way libido is fixed, in the way the life instinct is satisfied. At the same time, Freud paid great attention to exactly how fixation occurs and whether a person needs foreign objects. Based on this, he identified three large stages, breaking up into several stages.

The first stage - libido-object - is characterized by the fact that the child needs a foreign object to realize libido. This stage lasts up to a year and is called oral stage, since satisfaction occurs when the mouth is irritated. Fixation at this stage occurs if the child cannot realize his libidinal desires, for example, he was weaned early. This type of personality is characterized, from Freud's point of view, by a certain infantilism, dependence on adults, parents, even in mature age. Moreover, such dependence can be expressed in both conformal and negative behavior.

The second stage, which lasts until the onset of puberty, is called the libido-subject and is characterized by the fact that the child does not require any external object to satisfy his instincts. Sometimes Freud also called this stage narcissism, believing that all people who have experienced fixation at this stage are characterized by self-orientation, the desire to use others to satisfy own needs and desires, emotional separation from them. The narcissism stage consists of several stages. The first, which lasts up to about three years, is anal, in which the child learns certain toilet skills (this is the first social norm that the child must learn) and begins to develop a sense of ownership. Fixation at this stage leads to the emergence of an anal character, which manifests itself in stubbornness, often rigidity, accuracy and frugality.

From three years of age the child moves on to the next phallic the stage at which children begin to become aware of sexual differences and become interested in their genitals. Freud considered this stage to be critical for girls who for the first time begin to realize their inferiority due to their lack of a penis. This discovery, he believed, could lead to later neuroticism or aggressiveness, which is generally characteristic of people fixed at this stage. This is largely due to the fact that during this period tension increases in relations with parents, primarily with the parent of the same sex, whom the child is afraid of and of whom the parent of the opposite sex is jealous. Tension subsides by the age of six, when the latent stage in the development of the sexual instinct begins. During this period, which lasts until the onset of puberty, children pay great attention to studies, sports, and games.

In adolescence, children move to the last stage, which is also called libido-object, since in order to satisfy the sexual instinct a person again needs a partner. This stage is also called genital, since in order to discharge libidinal energy a person looks for ways of sexual activity that are characteristic of his gender and his personality type.

Emphasizing the importance of parents in the development of a child’s personality, Freud wrote that it is on them that the way through these periods of mental development largely depends, and injuries received when communicating with an adult in the first years of life become the cause of mental and social deviations in behavior that may appear much later.

Modern psychoanalysis has largely modernized Freud's ideas, but the basic approaches to mental development inherent in his theory have remained unchanged. These include, first of all, the following:

Understanding mental development as motivational, personal;

Approach to development as adaptation to the environment. Although the environment is subsequently not understood by other psychoanalysts as completely hostile, it is always opposed to a specific individual;

Attitude to the driving forces of mental development as innate and unconscious;

An approach to the basic mechanisms of development as innate, laying the foundations of personality and its motives already in early childhood. The personality structure no longer undergoes a significant change in the future, hence the interest of psychoanalysis in memories of early childhood and trauma received at this age.

The further development of psychoanalysis is associated with the names of Freud's closest students, primarily with the theoretical searches of K. Jung and A. Adler. Although Jung did not directly study child development, his concept had a great influence on the emergence of new methods for interpreting the products of children's creativity, as well as on the formation of a new approach to understanding the role of fairy tales, myths and culture as a whole in the development of children's personalities.

Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung Graduated from the University of Zurich. After completing an internship with the famous psychiatrist P. Janet, he opened his own psychological and psychiatric laboratory. At the same time, he became acquainted with Freud's first works, discovering his theory. The rapprochement with Freud had a decisive influence on his scientific views. However, it soon became clear that, despite the similarity of their positions and aspirations, there were also significant differences between them, which they could not reconcile. These disagreements were primarily due to different approach to the analysis of the unconscious, since Jung, unlike Freud, argued that “not only the lowest, but also the highest in personality can be unconscious.”

Certain differences also existed on the issue of psychocorrection, since Freud believed that the patient’s dependence on the psychotherapist is constant and cannot be reduced, i.e. he adhered to the concept of directive therapy. At the same time, Jung supported directive relationships only at the beginning of a course of psychotherapy, and believed that the patient’s dependence on the doctor should decrease over time, especially in the last phase of therapy.

The final break between them occurred in 1912, after Jung published his book Symbols of Transformation. The breakup was painful for both, especially for Jung, who felt his loneliness, but could not deviate from those provisions that he considered important for his theory. Gradually he came to the idea that his interpretation of the symbol gave him the key to the analysis of not only dreams, but also myths, fairy tales, religion, and art. He studied not only European, but also Indian, Chinese, and Tibetan cultures, paying attention to their symbolism. This in many ways led him to one of his most important discoveries - the discovery of the collective unconscious. Jung's theory, called "analytical psychology".

Jung believed that the personality structure consists of three parts - the collective unconscious, the individual unconscious and consciousness. If the individual unconscious and consciousness are purely personal, lifetime acquisitions, then the collective unconscious is a kind of “memory of generations,” a psychological inheritance with which a child is born.

He considered the main archetypes of the individual psyche to be Ego, Persona, Shadow, Anima (or Animus) and Self. The ego is the central element of personal consciousness, since it, as it were, collects scattered data personal experience into a single whole, forming from them a holistic and conscious perception of one’s own personality. At the same time, the Ego seeks to resist everything that threatens the fragile integrity of our consciousness, tries to convince us of the need to ignore the unconscious part of the soul.

A persona is that part of our personality that we show to the world, how we want to be in the eyes of other people. A Dominant Person can suppress a person’s individuality, develop conformism in him, and the desire to merge with the role that the environment imposes on a person. At the same time, the Persona protects us from the influence of the environment, from curious glances trying to penetrate a person’s soul, and helps in communication, especially with strangers.

The shadow is the center of the personal unconscious. Just as the Ego collects data about our external experience, so the Shadow focuses and systematizes those impressions that have been repressed from consciousness. Thus, the content of the Shadow are those aspirations that are denied by a person as incompatible with his Persona, with the norms of society. At the same time, the more the Person dominates the personality structure, the more the Shadow increases, since the individual needs to repress an increasing number of desires into the unconscious. A person without a Shadow is just as incomplete as without other parts of the soul.

Anima (for a man) and Animus (for a woman) are those parts of the soul that reflect intersex relationships, ideas about the opposite sex. Unconscious ideas appearing in images feminine in a man and the masculine principle in a woman. Their development is greatly influenced by their parents (a boy’s mother and a girl’s father).

The Self, from Jung’s point of view, is the central archetype of the entire personality, and not just its conscious or unconscious part, it is “the archetype of order and integrity of the personality.” Its main meaning is that it does not contrast different parts of the soul (conscious and unconscious), but connects them so that they complement each other. In the process of development, the personality acquires increasing integrity, the Self.

Jung also identified two personality types - extroverts and introverts. In the process of individualization, introverts pay more attention to inner part their soul, base their behavior on the basis own ideas, own norms and beliefs. Extroverts, on the contrary, are more focused on the Person, on outer part of your soul. They are well oriented in the outside world, unlike introverts, and in their activities they proceed mainly from its norms and rules of behavior. If for an introvert the danger is complete break contacts with the outside world, then for extroverts there is no less danger of losing themselves.

However, the Self, the desire for the integrity of the personality, as a rule, does not allow one of its sides to completely subjugate the other; these two parts of the soul, the two types, seem to divide their spheres of influence.

He had a great influence on the development of child psychology within the framework of the psychoanalytic concept Alfred Adler, who was often and seriously ill as a child, hoped that choosing the profession of a doctor would help him and his loved ones in the fight against illnesses. After graduating from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Vienna, he practiced as an ophthalmologist. However, due to growing interest in the functioning of the nervous system, his field of study shifted towards psychiatry and neurology.

In 1902, Adler was one of the first four members of the circle formed around the creator of the new psychological movement, Freud. However, later, Adler began to develop ideas that contradicted some of Freud's basic principles. After some time, he organized his own group, which was called the Association of Individual Psychology.

Adler became the founder of a new, socio-psychological approach to the study of the psyche of children. It was in the development of these new ideas of his concept that he diverged from Freud. Adler's main idea was that he denied the positions of Freud and Jung about the dominance of individual unconscious instincts in a person's personality and behavior, instincts that contrast a person with society. Not innate drives, not innate archetypes, but a sense of community with other people, stimulating social contacts and orientation toward other people, is the main force that determines human behavior and life, Adler believed.

Adler believed that his family, the people who surround him in the first years of life, are of great importance in shaping the structure of a child’s personality. The importance of the social environment was especially emphasized by Adler (one of the first in psychoanalysis), since he proceeded from the idea that a child is not born with ready-made personality structures, but only with their prototypes, which are formed in the process of life. He considered the most important structure to be lifestyle.

Developing the idea of ​​a lifestyle that determines human behavior, Adler proceeded from the fact that this is the determinant that determines and systematizes a person’s experience. The sense of community, or public interest, serves as a kind of core that supports the entire structure of a lifestyle, determines its content and direction. A sense of community, although innate, may remain undeveloped. This underdeveloped sense of community becomes the basis of an asocial lifestyle, the cause of human neuroses and conflicts.

If the sense of community determines the direction of life, its style, then two other innate and unconscious feelings - inferiority and the desire for superiority - serve as sources of energy necessary for the development of personality. Both of these feelings are positive; they are incentives for personal growth and self-improvement. If the feeling of inferiority affects a person, causing him to desire to overcome his shortcoming, then the desire for superiority causes the desire to be better than everyone else. These feelings, from Adler's point of view, stimulate not only individual development, but also the development of society as a whole, thanks to self-improvement and discoveries made by individuals. There is also a special mechanism that helps the development of these feelings - compensation.

If Adler showed the influence of the social environment on the development of a child’s psyche, and also indicated the path to correcting deviations that appear in the process of forming his personality (compensation, play), then Karen Horney reconsidered the role of defense mechanisms, linking them with the formation of an adequate “image of “I””, which arises already in early childhood.

Speaking about the fact that a child is born with an unconscious feeling of anxiety, Horney wrote that it is associated with “the child’s feeling of loneliness and helplessness in a potentially hostile world.”

Horney believed that the reasons for the development of this anxiety could be the alienation of parents from the child, and their excessive care, suppressing the child’s personality, a hostile atmosphere, discrimination, or, conversely, too “suffocating” care. Horney identified primarily two types of anxiety - physiological and psychological. Physiological anxiety is associated with the child’s desire to satisfy his immediate needs - food, drink, comfort. If the mother takes care of him and meets his needs, this anxiety goes away. In the same case, if his needs are not met, anxiety grows and becomes the background for the person’s general neuroticism.

However, if relief from physiological anxiety is achieved simple care and meeting the basic needs of children, then overcoming psychological anxiety is more complex process, since it is associated with the development of the adequacy of the “Image”. Horney believed that this image consists of two parts - knowledge about oneself and attitude towards oneself. There are several “images of “I” - the real “I”, the ideal “I” and the “I” in the eyes of other people. Ideally, these three images of “I” should coincide with each other, only in this case can we talk about normal development personality and its resistance to neuroses. If this coincidence does not occur, then anxiety arises. In order to get rid of anxiety, a person resorts to psychological defense, which is aimed at overcoming the conflict between society and a person, since its task is to bring a person’s opinion about himself into harmony with the opinion of others about him, i.e. bring the two “Images” into line. Horney identified three main types of defense, which are based on the satisfaction of certain neurotic needs. If normally all these needs and, accordingly, all these types of defense are harmoniously combined with each other, then in case of deviations one of them begins to dominate, leading to the development of one or another neurotic complex in a person.

A person finds protection either in the desire for people (compliant type), or in the desire against people (aggressive type), or in the desire from people (withdrawn type).

When developing a desire for people, a person hopes to overcome his anxiety through an agreement with others in the hope that, in response to his conformist position, they will not notice (or pretend not to notice) the inadequacy of his “I-image.” The development of protection in the form of withdrawal, desire “from people” makes it possible for a person to ignore the opinions of others, left alone with his “image of “I”. An attempt to overcome anxiety by imposing one’s “Image of Self” by force on other people also does not end in success, since in this case the person develops such neurotic needs as the need to exploit others, the desire for personal achievements, and power. Therefore, children who develop an inadequate “I-image” need the help of a psychotherapist to help the child understand himself and form a more adequate idea of ​​himself.

Psychoanalytic diagnostics N. Mac Williams (levels of personality development and types of personality development).

According to N. McWilliams, character structure has 2 dimensions:

Level of personality development (psychotic, borderline, neurotic);

Type of personal organization (character) (for example, paranoid, depressive, schizoid, hysterical, etc.).

Levels of personality development
Neurotic level. Neurotics rely on more mature defenses(rationalization, sublimation, compensation, etc.), primitive defenses can be used, but, as a rule, under stress. The use of primitive defenses does not exclude the diagnosis of a neurotic level of personality development, but the absence of mature defenses excludes such a diagnosis.

Neurotics have an integrated sense of identity, that is, they can describe themselves, their character traits, successfully describe other people, and these descriptions are multifaceted.

They are in contact with reality and do not have hallucinations. They view their psychological difficulties as ego-dystonic, that is, from a meta-position, detached, i.e. The neurotic has a developed observing ego.

The neurotic level is formed subject to successful completion of the stages of “basic trust” and “basic autonomy”. The nature of the difficulties lies not in the problem of security or attachment, but in the formation of identity and initiative. Thus, these are problems of the Oedipal stage of development; triadic object relations are typical for neurotics.

Border level. Occupies an intermediate position between neurotics and psychotics. They are distinguished by some stability compared to the latter and a violation of stability compared to the former.

They use primitive defense mechanisms(denial, projective identification, splitting, etc.), so it is sometimes difficult to distinguish them from psychotics. The difference is that the borderline is able to adequately respond to the diagnostician’s interpretations, while the psychotic, in this case, will become even more restless.

There are gaps in the sense of “I”, contradictions in the sphere of identity integration. They have difficulty describing themselves and are prone to hostile defense and aggression. However, self-exploration is not accompanied by feelings of existential dread and fear, as is the case in psychotics.

People at the borderline level of personality development are able to understand their “pathology” and demonstrate an understanding of reality, thereby differing from psychotics. The main problem is the ambivalence of feelings they experience towards their environment. This, on the one hand, is the desire for intimacy and trusting relationships, and on the other hand, the fear of merging, the fear of being absorbed by another.

The main conflict is associated with passing through the second stage of personality development (according to E. Erikson) - the stage of autonomy (separation). Main feature border type– demonstration of a request for help and, at the same time, hardening, refusal of it. According to N. McWilliams, children with this character structure have mothers who prevent separation or refuse to come to the rescue when the child needs it.

Psychotic level. They resort to primitive (preverbal) defenses, such as withdrawal into fantasy, denial, devaluation, introjection, etc. They demonstrate hallucinations, delusions, and illogical thinking. These manifestations can be hidden, i.e. compensated.

Identity is violated, not integrated, i.e. people at a psychotic level of personality development have difficulty answering the question “Who am I?”, describing themselves superficially, distortedly, primitively, and too specifically.

They test reality poorly. At the same time, they can feel well the reasons for events, the feelings of other people, but interpret it irrationally.

Their fears are archaic, existential (life or death). The nature of the main conflict lies in the lack of formation of basic trust in the world due to violations at the first stage of development according to E. Erikson (stage of trust/distrust).

It is difficult for a psychotic to distance himself from his psychological problems; they are ego-syntonic, i.e. the observing ego is not developed. Such a person spends a lot of energy fighting existential horror, but has no energy left for reality.

Dreams and fantasies are full of images of death and violence, destruction.

Types of personal organization (character types)

Psychopathic (sociopathic). The main trait of a psychopathic character is the desire to manipulate others. Characterized by an increased level of aggression, more high threshold, leading to excitement, due to which “thrill sensations” are constantly needed. The “Super-Ego” deficit is pronounced, therefore difficulties in forming attachment to others, the value of another is determined by the degree of his usefulness, which, in turn, is determined by the consent to endure the manipulations of a psychopath.

Typical defenses: omnipotent control, projection, dissociation. High level of alexithymia (i.e. the inability to describe one’s feelings in words). When experiencing some strong feelings, as a rule, they immediately move on to action. Characterized by a desire to destroy everything that attracts.

It is believed that the formation of such a character is facilitated by a situation in which the mother is weak, depressed, masochistic, the father is hot-tempered, inconsistent, sadistic. Frequent moves and losses at an early age also increase the likelihood of developing such a character. In the family, words are used to control and manipulate; no one teaches you to use words to express yourself and your feelings. At the same time, children may be spoiled financially, but deprived emotionally.

Narcissistic. The main feature is supporting self-esteem by receiving confirmation from the outside. Develops in children who are sensitive to unexpressed messages, emotions, and expectations of other people. Formed inner feeling"inadequacy". The main emotions of a narcissist are shame and envy, fear of feeling shame. There is a tendency to criticize others (to destroy what I don’t have).

Defenses: idealization and devaluation. They idealize themselves and, therefore, devalue others or vice versa. They tend to set unattainable goals, there is a feeling of a grandiose “I” if the goal is achieved and a feeling of an irreparably defective “I” if the goal is not achieved, there is no middle ground (either the very first or the very last). “Narcissistic swing” - cycles of idealization and devaluation, can idealize another, identifying with him and feeling his own greatness, and then follows devaluation, overthrow from the pedestal.

The ability to establish close, trusting relationships is not developed; close people are viewed as “self-objects” that feed the sense of self-esteem, i.e. viewed as a function rather than a person.

This character is formed if the child is a “narcissistic extension” for the parents, through which they support own self-esteem. A child does not receive attention and love if he does not contribute to the goals of the parents. Such a family is characterized by constant evaluation; even if the evaluation is positive, the child is still in a constant situation of evaluation.

People with a narcissistic character deny remorse and gratitude, are afraid of dependence on others (“don’t believe, don’t be afraid, don’t ask”), run from their mistakes and from those who might discover their mistakes.

Schizoid. The main feature is avoidance of close relationships with others, fear of being absorbed, seeking salvation in inner world fantasies (autism). They have the ability to create and are sensitive to the states of others. There were patterns of deprivation or intrusion in the parental family. Characterized by a certain split between one’s own “I” and the surrounding world, double messages (“come to me, I’m very lonely - stay there, I’m afraid that you will swallow me”).

When choosing a partner, they gravitate toward inaccessible objects and are indifferent to accessible ones. Schizoids are attracted to opposite characters - warm, expressive, sociable people (hysteroids). As a rule, a schizoid is indifferent to how others perceive him; they tend to violate customs and norms because they are indifferent to them. A person with such a character strives for confirmation of his originality and exclusivity, but such confirmation (unlike narcissists) must be internal, not external.

It is believed that during the formation of such a character in the parental family, there were either patterns of invasion from the mother, or, conversely, rejection and neglect.

Paranoid. The main feature of a paranoid is the tendency to see the source of suffering outside oneself, in the world around us. The main emotions are fear and shame, and shame is not realized, but projected.

The main defenses are projection and denial. This character is formed in a child who in the family suffered from infringement of the sense of own strength, was suppressed when punishment depends on the whims of adults and cannot be predicted. As a rule, in such families the child is used as a “scapegoat”

Depressive. Usually these are people who suffered an early loss (not necessarily a loved one, the loss could be early weaning). They are often overweight and love everything related to oral pleasure (drinking, eating, smoking). The main feature is that aggression is directed not at the outside world, but at oneself. They rarely feel anger, the main feeling is sadness and guilt (“when I am accused of a crime that I did not commit, I wonder how I forgot about it”).

Defenses – introjection, idealization. Such a character is formed if the mother experiences the growth and separation of the child very hard, clings to him, causing him to feel guilty for leaving his mother; if grief is denied in the family or crying is suppressed; if the parents are depressed (not necessarily by nature, maybe even situationally, the mother’s postpartum depression is especially affected).

Hypomanic. Cheerful, sociable, tend to flirt with everyone, often dependent on work, a lot of unexpressed anger, sadness, anxiety. A person with such a character does not have access to a feeling of calm serenity. Either mania or depression.

Defenses – denial, reaction. An example of denial would be their tendency to treat certain events or feelings with cynical humor that actually cause a lot of anxiety, but they deny it. Reacting is leaving a situation in which they may be threatened with loss. Love and affection are especially devalued, since in this case the risk of losing a partner causes anxiety, so they often choose people as partners who are not afraid of losing, and leave their significant partners themselves.

They love everything that distracts from internal experiences - any entertainment. It is believed that such a character is formed in the event of repeated traumatic losses in childhood, in violation of the separation stage.

Obsessive and compulsive. Obsession is “thinking”, compulsion is “doing”. The main feature of this type of character is the disproportion of thinking and doing with feelings, sensations, intuition, etc. Characteristics are cleanliness, stubbornness, punctuality, restraint (fixation at the anal stage of psychosexual development according to S. Freud). Basic conflict: the desire to keep anger under control, using words to hide feelings rather than express them. The main defenses of an obsessive person are isolation, while those of a compulsive person are rationalization, destruction of what has been done (drunkenness, overeating, drug addiction - atonement for guilt).

This character is formed if parents set high behavioral standards and demand obedience from an early age, blaming them not only for their actions, but also for their feelings.

For the obsessive-compulsive type, the situation of choice is traumatic, and mania of doubt is characteristic.

Hysterical. They are characterized by a high level of anxiety, are emotional, and love professions that involve an audience: actor, dancer, politician, teacher. The basic need is the need for intimacy. Thinking is imaginative, creative. It is believed that for people with this character, a dual fixation on oral and oedipal problems is typical. A hysterical character is more characteristic of women. In childhood, a girl sees men as smart and strong, and women as weak and stupid, and therefore experiences unconscious fear and hatred of men. The only one affordable way To “neutralize” a man is to seduce him, which is why sexualization is so typical.

The main defenses are suppression, repression, regression. They easily fall into dependent relationships.

This character is formed if one or both parents are more inclined towards the brother (sister) when the adult (father) is distant. A man may develop a hysterical character if the family is matriarchal.
3. Cognitive and humanistic theories of mental development
The most famous cognitive theory is the theory Jean Piaget.

Piaget used the term schema to refer to personality structures. Schemas are ways of processing information that change as a person grows and gains more knowledge. There are two types of schemas: sensorimotor schemas - actions and cognitive schemas - concepts.