Psychic reflection. Fundamentals of mental function

Psyche according to materialistic teaching is understood as a property of specially organized matter - the brain.

That the psyche is truly a product of the activity of the brain, special property it is proven by numerous experiments on animals and clinical observations over people. Thus, with certain lesions of the brain, changes in the psyche always inevitably occur, and quite definite ones at that: with damage to the occipital-parietal parts of the cortex of the left hemisphere of the brain, a person’s orientation in space is disrupted, and with damage lower sections- perception of speech, music. These and other examples indicate that the psyche is inseparable from the activity of the brain. A natural scientific analysis of brain activity is given in the works of Ivan Mikhailovich Sechenov and Ivan Petrovich Pavlov. Sechenov wrote that the reflexes of the human brain include three parts. First- this is stimulation in the senses. Second- processes of excitation and inhibition occurring in the brain. Third- external movements and actions of a person. The psyche is the central link of the reflex.

Pavlov's teaching about conditioned reflexes, arising in the cerebral cortex, revealed the physiological mechanism mental activity. However, studying physiological mechanisms The work of the brain is not exhausted by the study of the psyche. You should always remember that the psyche is reflection of the surrounding world by the brain. Therefore, it has its own content, i.e. what a person reflects in the world around him.

Peculiarities mental reflection . What characterizes the psyche as a reflection?

The mental consciousness of a person is considered as a result of the reflective activity of the human brain, as subjective reflection of the objective world.

Psyche is a “subjective reflection of the objective world.”

1 feature – activity. Mental reflection is not a dead, mirror-like, one-act reflection, but a process that is constantly developing and improving, creating and overcoming its contradictions. Psychic reflection is active a multi-act process during which external actions refracted through internal features the one who reflects, and therefore it is a subjective reflection of the objective world. If in inanimate nature an object reflecting an impact is passive and only undergoes certain changes, then living beings have an “independent power of response,” i.e. any impact takes on the character of interaction, which, even at the lowest stages of mental development, is expressed in adaptation (adaptation) to external influences and in one or another selectivity of responses.

Feature 2 – subjectivity.Psyche- this is a reflection in which any external influence is always is refracted through previously established characteristics of the psyche, through which mental condition, which is in this moment in a specific living being (human) . Therefore, the same external influence can be reflected differently by different people and even by the same person in different time and at different conditions. We constantly encounter this phenomenon in life, in particular in the process of teaching and raising children. So, all students in the class listen to the same explanation from the teacher, and educational material assimilate differently; All schoolchildren are subject to the same requirements, but students perceive and fulfill them differently. The refraction of external influences through the internal characteristics of a person depends on many circumstances: age, achieved level of knowledge, previously established attitude towards this species influence, degree of activity and, most importantly, the formed worldview. Thus, the content of the psyche are images of real objects, phenomena, events that exist independently of us and outside of us (i.e., images of the objective world). But these images arise in each person in a unique way, depending on his past experience, interests, feelings, worldview, etc. This is why reflection is subjective. All this gives the right to say that psyche is a subjective reflection of the objective world. This feature of the psyche lies in the renewal of such an important pedagogical principle, as the need to take into account age and individual characteristics children in the process of their education and upbringing. Without taking into account these features, it is impossible to know how each child reflects the measures of pedagogical influence.

3 feature. Contents of the psyche is the image objective, objects, phenomena, events existing independently of us and outside of us (i.e., the objective world). The emerging images are snapshots, casts existing phenomena, events. The subjectivity of mental reflection in no way denies the objective possibility of correct reflection real world.

Next important feature mental reflection is and what it wears anticipatory character (“advanced reflection” Pyotr Konstantinovich Anokhin). The anticipatory nature of mental reflection is the result of the accumulation and consolidation of experience. It is in the process of repeated reflection certain situations is gradually taking shape future reaction model . As soon as a living creature finds itself in a similar position, the very first impacts trigger the entire response system.

Cumulativeness another one peculiarity mental reflection (from Latin cumulo - accumulate). The type of reflection is such that the last impression is superimposed on the previous one and changes the reflective ability of the psyche, i.e. the internal experience of the individual is included in the reflection and changes reflective abilities.

Permanence(French permanent, from Latin permaneo - I remain, continue, i.e. continuously ongoing, constant) is also distinctive feature psyche from other forms of reflection. The psyche is not a one-time act; it lasts over time.

Functions of the psyche

(Let us turn to the definition of the psyche given in the textbook by Anatoly Gennadievich Maklakov)Psyche is a property highly organized living matter, consisting in active reflection subject of the objective world, in the subject’s construction of a picture of this world inalienable from him and regulation on this basis of behavior and activity.

From this definition follows a number of fundamental judgments about the nature and mechanisms of manifestation of the psyche. Firstly, psyche is a property only living matter. And not just living matter, but highly organized living matter. Consequently, not all living matter has this property, but only that which has specific organs that determine the possibility of the existence of the psyche.

Secondly, main feature psyche lies in the ability to reflect the objective world. What does this mean? Literally this means the following: highly organized living matter with a psyche has the ability to receive information about the world around it. At the same time, obtaining information is associated with the creation of a certain mental state by this highly organized matter, i.e. subjective in nature and idealistic (immaterial) in its essentially an image a, which with a certain degree of accuracy is a copy of material objects of the real world.

Third, the information received by a living being about the surrounding world serves as the basis for regulation internal environment a living organism and the formation of its behavior, which generally determines the possibility of a relatively long existence of this organism in constantly changing environmental conditions. Consequently, living matter with a psyche is capable of responding to change external environment or on the impact of environmental objects.

Thus, the psyche performs a number of important functions.

1. Reflection of the influences of the surrounding reality. The psyche is a property of the brain, its specific function. This function is in the nature of reflection. The mental reflection of reality has its own characteristics.

Firstly, this is not a dead, mirror reflection, but a process that is constantly developing and improving, creating and overcoming its contradictions.

Secondly, with the mental reflection of objective reality, any external influence is always refracted through previously established characteristics of the psyche, through specific human states. Therefore, the same impact can be reflected differently by different people and even by the same person at different times and under different conditions.

Thirdly, mental reflection is a correct, true reflection of reality. Emerging images of the material world are snapshots, copies of existing objects, phenomena, and events.

2. Regulation of behavior and activity. The human psyche and consciousness, on the one hand, reflect the influence of the external environment, adapt to it, and on the other hand, regulate this process, constituting the internal content of activity and behavior. The latter cannot but be mediated by the psyche, since it is with its help that a person realizes motives and needs, sets goals and objectives for his activity. Develops ways and techniques to achieve its results. Behavior in this case acts as an external form of manifestation of activity.

3. A person’s awareness of his place in the world around him. This function of the psyche, on the one hand, ensures correct adaptation and orientation of a person in the objective world, guaranteeing him a correct understanding of all the realities of this world and an adequate attitude towards them. On the other hand, with the help of the psyche, a person realizes himself as a person endowed with certain individual and socio-psychological characteristics, as a representative of a particular society, social group who is different from other people and has a unique interpersonal relationship with them.

Psyche- a function of the brain that consists in reflecting objective reality in ideal images, on the basis of which the vital activity of the body is regulated.

Psychology studies that property of the brain, which consists in the mental reflection of material reality, as a result of which ideal images of reality are formed, necessary for regulating the interaction of the body with the environment.

The basic concept of psychology is the concept of mental image. Mental image- a holistic, integrative reflection of a relatively independent, discrete part of reality; this is an information model of reality used by higher animals and humans to regulate their life activities.

Mental images ensure the achievement of certain goals, and their content is determined by these goals. Most common property mental images are their adequacy to reality, and the universal function is the regulation of activity.

Mental reflection of the world by a person is connected with his social nature, it is mediated by socially developed knowledge. Animals also have psyche as a reflective ability. But the highest form of the psyche is human consciousness, which arose in the process of social and labor practice. Consciousness is inextricably linked with language and speech. Thanks to consciousness, a person voluntarily regulates his behavior.

Consciousness does not photographically reflect the phenomena of reality. It reveals objective internal communications between phenomena.

Contents of the psyche are ideal images of objectively existing phenomena. But these images arise from different people peculiar.

They depend on past experience, knowledge, needs, interests, mental state, etc. In other words, psyche is a subjective reflection of the objective world. However, the subjective nature of the reflection does not mean that this reflection is wrong; verification of socio-historical and personal practice provides an objective reflection of the surrounding world.

So, psyche- this is a subjective reflection of objective reality in ideal images, on the basis of which human interaction with the external environment is regulated.

Contents of the psyche includes not only mental images, but also extra-imaginative components - general value orientations personality, meanings and meanings of phenomena, mental action.

The psyche is inherent in humans and animals. However, the human psyche, like highest form psyche, is also designated by the concept of “consciousness”. But the concept of the psyche is broader than the concept of consciousness, since the psyche includes the sphere of the subconscious and superconscious (“Super Ego”).

Psychic reflection is not a mirror, mechanically passive copying of the world (like a mirror or a camera), it is associated with a search, a choice; in mental reflection, incoming information is subjected to specific processing, i.e. mental reflection is an active reflection of the world in connection with some necessity, with needs, it is a subjective selective reflection of the objective world, since it always belongs to the subject, does not exist outside the subject, depends on subjective characteristics. The psyche is a “subjective image of the objective world.”

The psyche cannot be reduced simply to the nervous system. Mental properties are the result of the neurophysiological activity of the brain, but they contain the characteristics of external objects, not internal ones. physiological processes, with the help of which the psyche arises. Signal transformations taking place in the brain are perceived by a person as events taking place outside him, in external space and the world. The brain secretes psyche, thought, just as the liver secretes bile. The disadvantage of this theory is that it identifies the psyche with nervous processes, do not see qualitative differences between them.

Psychic phenomena correlate not with a separate neurophysiological process, but with organized sets of such processes, i.e. psyche is a systemic quality of the brain, realized through multi-level functional systems brain, which are formed in a person in the process of life and his mastery of historically established forms of activity and experience of mankind through his own active activity. Thus, specifically human qualities (consciousness, speech, work, etc.), human psyche are formed in a person only during his lifetime, in the process of assimilating the culture created by previous generations. Thus, the human psyche includes at least three components: the external world, nature, its reflection - full-fledged brain activity - interaction with people, the active transmission of human culture and human abilities to new generations.

Mental reflection is characterized by a number of features:

it makes it possible to correctly reflect the surrounding reality, and the correctness of the reflection is confirmed by practice;
the mental image itself is formed in the process active work person;
mental reflection deepens and improves;
ensures the expediency of behavior and activities;
refracted through the individuality of a person;
is preemptive.

At the stage of elementary sensitivity, the animal reacts only to individual properties objects of the external world and its behavior is determined innate instincts(nutrition, self-preservation, reproduction, etc.). At the stage of objective perception, reflection of reality is carried out in the form of holistic images of objects and the animal is able to learn, individually acquired behavioral skills appear.

Stage III of intelligence is characterized by the animal’s ability to reflect interdisciplinary connections, to reflect the situation as a whole; as a result, the animal is able to bypass obstacles and “invent” new ways to solve two-phase problems that require preliminary preparatory actions for their solution. The intellectual behavior of animals does not go beyond biological need, operates only within a visual situation.

Human psyche- better quality high level than the psyche of animals (Homo sapiens - Homo sapiens). Consciousness and the human mind developed in the process labor activity, which arises out of necessity, the implementation of joint actions to obtain food during a sharp change in living conditions primitive man. And although the specific biological and morphological characteristics of humans have been stable for 40 thousand years, the development of the human psyche occurred in the process of labor activity. Thus, the material, spiritual culture of humanity is an objective form of embodiment of the achievements of the mental development of humanity.

In progress historical development society, a person changes the ways and techniques of his behavior, transforms natural inclinations and functions into higher mental functions - specifically human, socio-historically determined forms of memory, thinking, perception ( logical memory, abstract-logical thinking), mediated by the application aids, speech signs created in the process of historical development. Unity of the Supreme mental functions forms human consciousness.

– a subjective idea of the world from a personal position. Rethinking reality, one’s worldview is formed from:

events that have already occurred;
actual reality;
actions that need to happen.

The accumulated experience and reproduction of acquired knowledge settles firmly in the past. The present contains information about internal state personality. The future is aimed at realizing goals, objectives, intentions reflected in dreams and fantasies.

The essence of the worldview passing through the psyche

1. Activation.

The psyche is fickle, it changes under the influence of external factors and is constantly improving in development. Everyone has their own opinion about how the world around them is built. Faced with the contradiction of other people, consciousness changes, transforms into reality, carrying a different meaning.

2. Focus.

By setting guidelines in life, a person sets himself tasks within his capabilities. He will never take on a business that contradicts his principles and does not bring him either moral or financial satisfaction of his needs. There is a deliberate effort to transform an existing substance.

3. Adjustment.

The approach and conditions may change, but the psyche is flexible to temporary transformations and adapts to any change.

4. Uniqueness.

Everyone has inherent specific motivational characteristics and goals for self-development. The view of the world is refracted through the prism of life guidelines. This prevents the study of psychological science from only one angle; all qualities must be assessed different people to the same extent.

5. Anticipation.

Society creates a platform for the future, displaying surrounding objects and ongoing events in current life. It attracts only the best and most significant for subsequent introduction into activity.

6. Evaluation by the object.

Individual traits are reflected directly in thinking. Analyzed possible situations, an attitude towards current events is formed.

There are several stages that pass in consciousness from the bodily to the sensory:

Sensory. A physical external aggressor acts on cognitive processes person, causing them to react in body and mind. A reaction occurs only to a significant stimulus.
Perceptual. A person unconsciously strives to general view display a complex of irritating elements.
The individual focuses on the cumulative manifestation, reacting to biologically insignificant stimulants that provoke the emergence of sensitivity to important stimuli.
Thoughtful. A strong relationship is established between objects. A person controls it with the help of brain function.

Stages of psychic reflection

The first one is basic. The individual is guided by his feelings and information received from others, determines his behavior in the future. His actions are influenced by objects of reality. Having passed this stage, others are raised to it. This level is never empty, it is multifaceted and constantly changing.
The second level has the main feature of creativity and imagination. This highest level development of the psyche, a person switches to it when he is created new model inferences about the world around us. She comprehends the actions and adds previously laid down images.
A creative person has difficulty coping with emotions; her thinking consists of continuous ideas. Artistic abilities are superimposed on the pictures that appear in the head, and their assimilation depends on subsequent interaction.
The third - its main criterion is the presence of speech. Logic and communication are associated with mental activity based on concepts and techniques used by ancestors. He pushes into the background imagination, memory, sensory images, relying only on rationality in thinking and experience from the previous generation. This allows you to plan and manage your life path.

Only by rethinking and incorporating all stages into his consciousness can a person present the world in a generalized form from a unique point of view, different from those around him. And show it through behavior: facial expressions, gestures, posture.

Patterns of internal mental activity

2.1. The concept of the psyche

2.1.1. Features of mental reflection

2.1.2. Structure and functions of the psyche

2.1.3. Psyche and features of the brain structure

In order for a manager to successfully influence the psyche of his employees with a view to its development, he needs to rely on individual experience(empirically acquired knowledge about the psyche) and knowledge of psychology. Psychology as a science studies the human psyche.

Psyche- this is a person’s subjective reflection of objects and phenomena of objective reality, which is a function of the brain.

Psychology is guided by the following principles:

· human psyche - superior product development of matter, brain function;

· mental processes- these are subjective images of objective reality;

· personality and human activity are in unity, the psyche is manifested and formed in activity;

· the most important aspects of the human psyche are socially conditioned;

· external influences influence a person through his inner world (mental states, experience, qualities, etc.).

These provisions follow from the theory of reflection, which forms the core modern theory knowledge.

Mental reflection is not a mirror, mechanical, passive copying of the world; it is associated with search and choice. Incoming information is subjected to specific processing in connection with some necessity or needs. Mental reflection is subjective, since it belongs to the subject and depends on his subjective characteristics.

However, the psyche cannot be reduced simply to properties nervous system. Although the brain is an organ whose activity determines the psyche, the content of this psyche is not produced by the brain itself, its source is the external world.

Mental properties are the result of neurophysiological activity of the brain. The transformation of signals taking place in the brain is perceived by a person as a set of events in external space and the world as a whole. The great Russian physiologist I.M. Sechenov proved that the basis of everything mental is a reflex act.

The great Russian scientist-physiologist I.P. Pavlov created the doctrine of higher nervous activity(GND), identified four types of GND and substantiated this experimentally. He developed new principles physiological research, providing knowledge of the activity of the organism as a single whole, located in unity and constant interaction with the environment.

The human psyche is not given to a person in a ready-made form from the moment of birth and does not develop on its own. Only in the process of communication and interaction of a person with other people, in the process of his assimilation of the culture created by previous generations, does he develop a human psyche and specifically human qualities (consciousness, speech, work, etc.). Otherwise, nothing human appears either in behavior or in the psyche (the Mowgli phenomenon).

The psyche includes at least three components:

· the outside world, nature, its reflection;

· full brain activity;

· active transfer of human culture and human abilities to new generations.

Expedited mental development people contributed to three major achievements of humanity:

1) invention of tools;

2) production of objects of material and spiritual culture;

3) the emergence of language and speech.

Mental reflection is characterized by a number of features:

· it makes it possible to correctly reflect the surrounding reality, and the correctness of the reflection is confirmed by practice;

· the mental image itself is formed in the process of active human activity;

· mental reflection deepens and improves;

· ensures the integrity of behavior and activities;

· refracted through a person’s individuality;

· is anticipatory in nature.

Psychology as a science

I. Definition of psychology as a science

Psychologyis the science of mental processes, mental states and mental properties of an individual. She studies the patterns of development and functioning of human mental activity.

II. The concept of the psyche. Fundamentals of mental function. Features of mental reflection.

Psyche -this is a property of highly organized living matter, which consists in the subject’s active reflection of the objective world, in the subject’s construction of an inalienable picture of this world and the regulation of behavior and activity on this basis

1) psyche is a property only of living matter; 2) the main feature of the psyche is the ability to reflect the objective world.

2. Psychic reflection– this is: 1) an active reflection of the world; 2) during mental reflection, incoming information is subjected to specific processing, and on its basis psychic is created , i.e. subjective in nature and idealistic (immaterial) in nature image, which, with a certain degree of accuracy, is a copy of material objects of the real world; 3) it's always subjective selective reflection of the objective world , since it always belongs to the subject, does not exist outside the subject, depends on subjective characteristics.

The psyche is a subjective image of the objective world.

Mental reflection is not a mirror, mechanically passive copying of the world (like a mirror or a camera), it is associated with a search, a choice; in mental reflection, incoming information is subjected to specific processing, i.e. mental reflection is an active reflection of the world in connection with some necessity, with needs, it is a subjective selective reflection of the objective world, since it always belongs to the subject, does not exist outside the subject, depends on subjective characteristics. The psyche is a “subjective image of the objective world”.

Mental phenomena are correlated not with a separate neurophysiological process, but with organized sets of such processes, i.e. psyche is a systemic quality of the brain, implemented through multi-level functional systems of the brain, which are formed in a person in the process of life and his mastery of historically established forms of activity and experience of mankind through his own active activity. Thus, specifically human qualities (consciousness, speech, work, etc.), the human psyche are formed in a person only during his lifetime, in the process of assimilating the culture created by previous generations. Thus, the human psyche includes at least three components: external world, nature, its reflection - full-fledged brain activity - interaction with people, active transmission to new generations of human culture, human abilities.

Psychic reflection- this is a universal property of matter, which consists in reproducing the signs, properties and relationships of the reflected object.

Mental reflection is characterized by a number of features:

· it makes it possible to correctly reflect the surrounding reality, and the correctness of the reflection is confirmed by practice;

· the mental image itself is formed in the process of active human activity;

· mental reflection deepens and improves;

· ensures the appropriateness of behavior and activity;

· refracted through a person’s individuality;

· is anticipatory in nature.

The most important function psyche is regulation of behavior and activity, thanks to which a person not only adequately reflects the surrounding objective world, but has the ability to transform it in the process of purposeful activity. The adequacy of human movements and actions to the conditions, tools and subject of activity is possible only if they are correctly reflected by the subject.

III. Properties of the psyche (mental reflection).

1. Activity. Mental reflection is not mirror-like, not passive, it is associated with the search and choice of methods of action adequate to the conditions, it is active process.

2. Subjectivity.Other a feature of mental reflection is its subjectivity: it is mediated by a person's past experiences and personality. This is expressed primarily in the fact that we see one world, but it appears differently for each of us.

3. Objectivity. At the same time, mental reflection makes it possible to build an “internal picture of the world” that is adequate to objective reality, and here it is necessary to note one more property of the mental - its objectivity. Only through correct reflection is it possible for a person to understand the world around him. The criterion of correctness is Practical activities, in which mental reflection is constantly deepening, improving and developing.

4. Dynamism. The process called mental reflection tends to undergo significant changes over time. The conditions in which an individual operates change, and the approaches to transformation themselves change. We should not forget that each person has distinct individual characteristics, your own desires, needs and desire for development.

5. Continuity. Mental reflection is a continuous process.

6. Anticipatory character. One more important feature mental reflection is his anticipatory character it makes possible anticipation in human activity and behavior, which allows decisions to be made with a certain time-spatial advance regarding the future.

IV. Structure of the human psyche (forms of mental reflection).

Usually there are three large groups of mental phenomena, namely: 1) mental processes, 2) mental states, 3) mental properties.

1. Mental processes – dynamic reflection of reality in various forms mental phenomena. The mental process is a flow mental phenomenon having a beginning, development and an end, manifested in the form of a reaction.

1) Cognitive mental processes: sensation and perception, representation and memory, thinking and imagination;

2) emotional mental processes: active and passive experiences;

3) Strong-willed mental processes: decision, execution, volitional effort, etc.

2. Mental state – a relatively stable level of mental activity, which manifests itself in increased or decreased activity personality.

Mental states are of a reflex nature: they arise under the influence of the situation, physiological factors, progress of work, time and verbal influences (praise, blame, etc.).

The most studied are:

1) general mental state, for example attention, manifested at the level of active concentration or absent-mindedness,

2) emotional states, or mood (cheerful, enthusiastic, sad, sad, angry, irritable, etc.).

3) a creative state of personality, which is called inspiration.

3. Mental properties of a person are stable formations that provide a certain qualitative and quantitative level of activity and behavior typical for a given person.

The highest and most stable regulators of mental activity are personality traits.

Each mental property is formed gradually in the process of reflection and consolidated in practice. It is therefore the result of reflective and practical activity.

V. Psyche and features of the brain structure.

Left hemisphere has huge reserve energy and love of life. This is a happy gift, but in itself it is unproductive. The alarming fears of the right obviously have a sobering effect, returning to the brain not only Creative skills, but also the very opportunity to work normally, and not soar in the empyrean.

Each hemisphere makes its contribution: the right one sculpts an image, and the left one looks for a verbal expression for it, what is lost in this case (remember Tyutchev’s: “A thought expressed is a lie”) and what is gained, as the interaction of the hemispheres occurs when processing the “truth of nature” into “truth” art" (Balzac).