Psychic reflection does not have the following property. Forms of mental reflection

FEATURES OF MENTAL REFLECTION

Parameter name	Meaning
Article topic:	FEATURES OF MENTAL REFLECTION
Rubric (thematic category)	Psychology

Etymologically the word ʼʼpsycheʼʼ (Greek soul) has a dual meaning. One meaning carries the semantic load of the essence of a thing. The psyche is the essence where the externality and diversity of nature gathers into its unity, it is a virtual compression drive, it is a reflection of the objective world in connections and relationships.

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 need, with needs, this 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 neurophysiological activity of the brain, but contain the characteristics of external objects, and not internal physiological processes through which the mental 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 they identify the psyche with nervous processes and do not see the qualitative differences between them. Mental phenomena are correlated not with a separate neurophysiological process, but with organized sets of such processes, i.e. the 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. 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. The human psyche includes at least three components: the external world, nature, its reflection - full-fledged brain activity - interaction with people, active transmission of human culture and human abilities to new generations.

Mental reflection is characterized by a number of features˸

1) it makes it possible to correctly reflect the surrounding reality, and the correctness of the reflection is confirmed by practice; 2) the mental image itself is formed in the process of active human activity; 3) mental reflection deepens and improves; 4) ensures the appropriateness of behavior and activity;

5) refracted through a person’s individuality;

6) is of a proactive nature.

- Fundamentals of mental function. Features of mental reflection

Etymologically, the word “psyche” (Greek soul) has a dual meaning. One meaning carries the semantic load of the essence of a thing. The psyche is an entity where the externality and diversity of nature gathers into its unity, it is a virtual compression of nature...

- Psyche and consciousness. Features of mental reflection and forms of behavior at different stages of mental development in phylogenesis.

Psyche is a sacred property of highly organized living matter, which consists in the subject’s active reflection of the objective world and the construction of a picture of this world inseparable from it, and the subsequent regulation of one’s behavior on the basis of this picture (A.N. Leontyev). Psyche is the highest form...

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There are three functions of the psyche: communicative, cognitive and regulatory.

Communicative– provides the opportunity for people to communicate with each other.
Cognitive– allows a person to understand the outside world around him.

Regulatory the function ensures the regulation of all types of human activity (play, study, work), as well as all forms of his behavior.

In other words, the human psyche allows him to act as a subject of work, communication and cognition.

Speaking about mental reflection, it should be borne in mind that it is addressed not only to the present, but also to the past and to the future. This means that the reflection of the present is influenced not only by the present itself, but also by past experiences stored in memory, as well as by a person’s forecasts for the future.

In general, mental reflection has the following specific features:

This is the most complex and most developed type of reflection;
it allows you to correctly reflect the surrounding reality, which is then confirmed by practice;
it has an active character, i.e. associated with the search and selection of methods of action adequate to environmental conditions;
it constantly deepens and develops in the course of activity;
it is subjective;
it is anticipatory.

In addition, when speaking about mental reflection, it should be borne in mind that it is procedural in nature. This means that it is a continuous process unfolding over time that continues throughout a person’s life.

Mental reflection is ideal in form; it is thoughts, sensations, images, experiences, i.e. something that is inside a person that cannot be touched with hands, recorded using measuring instruments, or photographed. At the same time, it is subjective in content; belongs to a particular subject and is determined by its features.

The physiological carrier of the human psyche is its nervous system. Ideas about the relationships between the nervous system and the human psyche are based on the theory of functional systems by P.K. Anokhin, according to which mental and physiological activity constitute a single whole in which individual mechanisms are united by a common task and goal into jointly operating complexes focused on achieving a useful, adaptive result.

The mind is a property of the brain. Connection between the brain center and external environment carried out using nerve cells and receptors.
However, mental phenomena cannot be reduced to neurophysiological processes. Mental has its own specifics. Nervously- physiological processes- substratum, carrier of the psychic. The relationship between the mental and the neurophysiological is the relationship between the signal as information and the signal as a carrier of information.

Every person is the owner of psychic reality: we all experience emotions, see surrounding objects, feel smells - but few people have thought that all these phenomena belong to our psyche, and not to external reality. Psychic reality is given to us directly. By and large, we can say that each of us is a mental reality and only through it can we judge the world around us. What is the psyche for? It exists in order to combine and interpret information about the world, correlate it with our needs and regulate behavior in the process of adaptation - adaptation to reality. Back at the end of the 19th century. W. James believed that the main function of the psyche is the regulation of goal-directed behavior.

IN Everyday life we do not distinguish subjective reality from objective reality. Only in special situations and under special conditions does it make itself felt. When images are inadequate and lead us to errors of perception and incorrect assessment of signals, for example, the distance to an object, we talk about illusions. A typical illusion is the picture of the moon above the horizon. The apparent size of the moon at the moment of sunset is much larger than when it is located closer to the zenith. Hallucinations are images that arise in a person without the presence of external influences to the senses. They also demonstrate to us that psychic reality is independent and relatively autonomous . home function of the psyche - regulation of individual behavior based on reflection of external reality and its correlation with human needs.

Mental reality is complex, but it can be conditionally divided into exopsyche, endopsyche and intropsyche. Exopsyche is that part of the human psyche that reflects the reality external to his body. For example, we consider the source of visual images not our organ of vision, but objects of the external world. Endopsyche is a part of mental reality that reflects the state of our body. The endopsyche includes needs, emotions, feelings of comfort and discomfort. In this case, we consider our body to be the source of sensations. Sometimes the exopsychic and endopsychic are difficult to distinguish, for example, the sensation of pain is endopsychic, although its source is sharp knife or a hot iron, and the feeling of cold is undoubtedly exopsychic, signaling the external temperature, and not the temperature of our body, but it is often “affectively colored” so unpleasant that we attribute it to our own body (“hands are frozen”). But there is a large class of phenomena that differ from both endopsychic and exopsychic. These are intrapsychic phenomena. These include thoughts, volitional efforts, fantasies, dreams. They are difficult to attribute to certain states of the body, and it is impossible to consider external reality as their source. Intropsychic processes and phenomena can be considered “actually mental processes.”

Availability " mental life» - internal dialogues, experiences, reflections leave no doubt about the reality of the psyche. Its role is not limited to the regulation of momentary behavior, as W. James thought, but, obviously, is associated with determining a person’s holistic relationship to the world and finding his place in it. Ya. A. Ponomarev identifies two functions of the psyche in relation to the outside world: creativity (creation new reality) and adaptation (adaptation to existing reality). The antithesis of creativity is destruction - the destruction of reality (culture) created by other people. The antithesis of adaptation is maladaptation in its various forms(neuroses, drug addiction, criminal behavior, etc.).

In relation to the behavior and activity of a person and other people, one should, following B.F. Lomov, distinguish three main functions of the psyche: cognitive (cognitive), regulatory and communicative; adaptation and creativity are possible only through the implementation of these functions.

The psyche serves a person to build an “internal model of the world”, which includes the individual in his interaction with the environment. Cognitive mental processes ensure the construction of an internal model of the world

Second most important function psyche - regulation of behavior and activities. The mental processes that ensure the regulation of behavior are very diverse and heterogeneous. Motivational processes provide the direction of behavior and the level of its activity. The processes of planning and goal setting ensure the creation of methods and strategies of behavior, setting goals based on motives and needs. Decision-making processes determine the choice of activity goals and means of achieving them. Emotions provide a reflection of our relationship to reality, a “feedback” mechanism and regulation of internal state.

Third function human psyche- communicative. Communication processes ensure the transfer of information from one person to another, the coordination of joint activities, and the establishment of relationships between people. Speech and non-verbal communication- the basic processes that ensure communication. In this case, the main process, undoubtedly, should be considered speech, which is developed only in humans.

The psyche is a very complex system, consisting of separate subsystems; its elements are hierarchically organized and very changeable. From the point of view of B.F. Lomov, systematicity, integrity, and indivisibility of the psyche are the main features. The concept of “mental functional system” is the development and application in psychology of the concept of “functional system”, introduced into scientific use by P.K. Anokhin. He used this concept to explain the implementation of integral behavioral acts by the body. From Anokhin’s point of view, any behavioral act is aimed at achieving a certain result, and the achievement of each result is ensured by a functional system - association individual organs and body processes based on the principle of interaction to coordinate behavior aimed at achieving a goal.

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. 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, and not the internal physiological processes through which the mental 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.

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.

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 expediency of behavior and activities;
refracted through the individuality of a person;
is preemptive.

Functions feelings and emotions. None psychological the phenomenon cannot be fully studied unless it is clearly defined... Otherwise, we can say that without experiences consciousness is impossible. Experience must be distinguished from traditional psychological concept experience, meaning the direct presentation of mental contents to consciousness. Experience is presented as a special activity, special work implemented by external and internal actions, for restructuring psychological world, aimed at establishing a semantic correspondence between consciousness and being, the overall goal of which is to increase the meaningfulness of life. The range of possible carriers of experiences includes many forms and levels of behavioral and psychological processes - this includes humor, sarcasm, irony, shame, violation of the constancy of perception, etc.

Any carrier of experience leads to the desired effect because it produces some changes in the psychological world of a person. However, to describe them it is necessary to create a concept of the psychological world, and every researcher who studies the processes of experience, wittingly or unwittingly, relies on an existing concept or creates a new one. Thus, we can identify five main paradigms for analyzing the technology of experience. In order to more clearly highlight the specificity of experience as a special mode of functioning of consciousness, it is necessary to name the two remaining combinatorial possibilities. When consciousness functions as an active Observer, grasping its own activity, i.e. Both the Observer and the Observed have an active, subjective nature; we are dealing with reflection. And finally, the last case - when both the Observer and the Observed are objects and, therefore, the observation itself as such disappears - fixes the logical structure of the concept of the unconscious. From this point of view, the widespread physicalist ideas about the unconscious as a place of silent interaction of psychological forces and things become understandable Typology of modes of functioning of consciousness

We do not have the opportunity to dwell on a detailed interpretation of this typology, it would take us too far from the main topic, especially since the main thing has already been achieved - a system of correlations and oppositions has been formulated that defines the main meaning of the traditional psychological concept of experiencing.

Within this general meaning most widespread V modern psychology received a variant of this concept, limiting the experience to the sphere of subjectively significant. At the same time, experience is understood in its opposition to objective knowledge: experience is a special, subjective, biased reflection, and a reflection not of the surrounding objective world in itself, but of the world taken in relation to the subject, from the point of view of the opportunities provided by it (the world) to satisfy actual motives and needs of the subject. In this understanding, it is important for us to emphasize not what distinguishes experience from objective knowledge, but what unites them, namely, that experience is conceived here as a reflection, that we're talking about about experiencing-contemplation, and not about experiencing-activity, to which our study is devoted.

1. The fundamental property of the psyche is its active nature. The mental is generated in activity; on the other hand, activity itself is controlled by mental reflection. Mental reflection is anticipatory in nature: the mode of action, performing a regulatory function, is ahead of the action itself. Indeed, before doing something, a person does it in his mind, he builds an image of a future action.

2. The main way of existence of the psyche, from the point of view of S.L. Rubinstein, is its existence as a process. Mental phenomena arise and exist only in the process of continuous interaction of the individual with the world around him, the continuous influence of the external world on the individual and his response actions. However, the mental exists not only as a process, but as a result, a product of this process. The result of a mental process is a mental image, which is fixed in a word, that is, signified. Images and concepts are means of understanding the world; they record knowledge about the world. But they reflect not only knowledge about objects and phenomena, but also the subject’s attitude towards them; they also reflect their significance for a person, for his life and activity. Therefore, the image and concept are always emotionally colored. Every act of reflection is the introduction into action of new determinants of behavior, the emergence of new motives. Objects and phenomena, reflected in images and concepts, encourage a person to continuously interact with the world.

It can be argued that the holistic act of reflection of an object by the subject is the unity of such opposite sides as processivity and effectiveness, knowledge and attitude, the intellectual component (images and meanings) and the emotional and motivational.

3. Mental reflection has such a characteristic as partiality, it is always subjective, that is, mediated by the experience of the subject, his motives, knowledge, emotions, etc. All this constitutes the internal conditions that characterize the activity of the subject, his spontaneity mental activity. The mediation of external influences by internal conditions in the process of mental reflection is called the principle of determinism, formulated by S.L. Rubinshtein: external reasons act through internal conditions. This crucial point was overlooked by the bnhevnorns, their stimulus-response formula lacks the central link, that is, human consciousness, which determines the nature of human reactions to external influences.

The psyche is an entity where the diversity of nature gathers to its unity, it is a virtual compression of nature, it is a reflection of the objective world in its connections and relationships.

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 a psychic reflection the incoming information is subjected to specific processing, i.e. a psychic reflection is an active reflection of the world in connection with which -necessity, with needs, 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.”

Objective reality exists independently of a person and can be reflected through the psyche into subjective reality psychic reality. This mental reflection, belonging to a specific subject, depends on his interests, emotions, characteristics of the senses and level of thinking (different people can perceive the same objective information from objective reality in their own way, from completely different angles, and each of them usually thinks , that it is his perception that is the most correct), thus a subjective mental reflection, subjective reality may differ partially or significantly from objective reality.

But it would be wrong to completely identify the psyche as a reflection of the external world: the psyche is capable of reflecting not only what is, but also what could be (prediction), and what seems possible, although this is not the case in reality. The psyche, on the one hand, is a reflection of reality, but, on the other hand, it is sometimes “inventing” something that does not exist in reality, sometimes these are illusions, mistakes, a reflection of one’s desires as real, wishful thinking. Therefore, we can say that the psyche is a reflection of not only the external, but also its internal psychological world.

Thus, the psyche is a “subjective image of the objective world”, it is a totality subjective experiences and elements of the subject's internal experience.

The psyche cannot be reduced simply to the nervous system. Indeed, the nervous system is an organ (at least one of the organs) of the psyche. When the activity of the nervous system is disrupted, the human psyche suffers and is disrupted.

But just as a machine cannot be understood through the study of its parts and organs, so the psyche cannot be understood through the study of the nervous system alone.

Mental properties are the result of the neurophysiological activity of the brain, but they contain the characteristics of external objects, and not the internal physiological processes through which the mental arises.

Signals transformed in the brain are perceived by a person as events taking place outside him, in external space and the world.

The theory of mechanical identity states that mental processes are essentially physiological processes, that is, the brain secretes psyche, thought, just as the liver secretes bile. The disadvantage of this theory is that the psyche is identified with nervous processes and they do not see qualitative differences between them.

Unity theory states that mental and physiological processes occur simultaneously, but they are qualitatively different.

Mental phenomena are correlated not with a separate neurophysiological process, but with organized sets of such processes, i.e. the psyche is a systemic quality of the brain, realized through multi-level functional systems of the brain that are formed in a person in the process of life and his mastery of historically established forms of activity and experience humanity through man's own active activity. Thus, specific 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 3 components: the external world (nature, its reflection); full brain activity; interaction with people, 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 more active activities person;
mental reflection deepens and improves;
ensures the expediency of behavior and activities;
refracted through the individuality of a person;
is preemptive.
Functions of the psyche: reflection of the surrounding world and regulation of behavior and activity of a living creature in order to ensure its survival.

Even in ancient times, it was discovered that along with the material, objective, external, objective world, there are immaterial, internal, subjective phenomena - human feelings, desires, memories, etc. Every person is endowed with mental life.

Psyche is defined as the property of highly organized matter to reflect objective reality and, on the basis of the mental image formed in this case, it is advisable to regulate the subject’s activity and behavior. From this definition It follows that the main functions of the psyche are the closely interrelated reflection of objective reality and the regulation of individual behavior and activity.

Reflection expresses the ability of material objects in the process of interaction to reproduce in their changes the features and traits of the objects influencing them. The form of reflection depends on the form of existence of matter. In nature, three main forms of reflection can be distinguished. The lowest level of life organization corresponds to the physical form of reflection, characteristic of the interaction of inanimate objects. More high level corresponds to the physiological form of reflection. Next level takes the form of the most complex and developed mental reflection specific to the human psyche highest level reflections - consciousness. Consciousness integrates the diverse phenomena of human reality into a truly holistic way of being and makes a person a Human.

The consciousness of a person’s mental life lies in his ability to separate himself, his own “I” from his life environment in his representation, to make his own inner world, subjectivity is the subject of comprehension, understanding, and most importantly – the subject of practical transformation. This ability of the human psyche is called self-awareness, and it is it that defines the boundary separating animal and human ways of being.

Mental reflection is not mirror-like or passive - it is an active process associated with the search and choice of methods of action that are adequate to the prevailing conditions. A feature of mental reflection is subjectivity, i.e. mediation of a person’s past experience and his individuality. This is expressed, first of all, in the fact that we see one world, but it appears differently for each of us. At the same time, mental reflection makes it possible to build an “internal picture of the world” that is adequate to objective reality, in connection with which it is necessary to note such a property as 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. Important feature mental reflection is, finally, its anticipatory nature: it makes possible anticipation in human activity and behavior, which allows decisions to be made with a certain time-spatial advance regarding the future.

Thanks to the regulation of behavior and activity, a person not only adequately reflects the surrounding objective world, but has the opportunity to transform this world 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. The idea of the regulating role of mental reflection was formulated by I.M. Sechenov, who noted that sensations and perceptions are not only triggering signals, but also original “patterns” in accordance with which movements are regulated. The psyche is a complex system, its elements are hierarchically organized and changeable. Like any system, the psyche is characterized by its own structure, dynamics of functioning, and a certain organization.

4.2.Structure of the psyche. Mental processes, mental states and mental properties.

Many researchers focus on the systematicity, integrity and indivisibility of the psyche as its fundamental property. The whole variety of mental phenomena in psychology is usually divided into mental processes, mental states and mental properties. These forms are closely related to each other. Their selection is determined by the methodological need to systematize the study of such a complex object as human mental life. Thus, the identified categories represent the structure of knowledge about the psyche rather than the structure of the psyche itself.

The concept of “mental process” emphasizes the procedural (dynamic) nature of the phenomenon being studied. The main mental processes include cognitive, motivational and emotional.

Cognitive processes provide reflection of the world and transformation of information. Sensation and perception make it possible to reflect reality through the direct influence of signals on the senses and represent a level sensory knowledge the surrounding world. Sensation associated with reflection individual properties objective world, as a result of perception, a holistic image of the surrounding world is formed in all its completeness and diversity. Images of perception are often called primary images. The result of imprinting, reproducing or transforming primary images are secondary images, which are a product of rational knowledge of the objective world, which is provided by such mental processes as memory, imagination, and thinking. The most indirect and generalized process of cognition is thinking, as a result of which a person receives subjectively new knowledge that cannot be deduced from direct experience.

The processes of motivation and will provide mental regulation of human activity, inducing, directing and controlling this activity. The main component of the motivational process is the emergence of a need, subjectively experienced as a state of need for something, desire, passion, aspiration. The search for an object that satisfies a need leads to the actualization of a motive, which is an image of an object that satisfies a need, based on the past experience of the subject. Based on the motive, goal setting and decision making occur.

Emotional processes reflect a person’s bias and subjective assessment of the world around him, himself and the results of his activities. They manifest themselves in the form of subjective experiences and are always directly related to motivation.

Mental states characterize the static moment of the individual psyche, emphasizing the relative constancy of a mental phenomenon over time. In terms of their level of dynamism, they occupy an intermediate position between processes and properties. Like mental processes, mental states can be divided into cognitive (doubt, etc.), motivational-volitional (confidence, etc.) and emotional (happiness, etc.). In addition, a separate category includes functional states of a person that characterize readiness to effectively perform activities. Functional states can be optimal and suboptimal, acute and chronic, comfortable and uncomfortable. These include various states of performance, fatigue, monotony, psychological stress, extreme conditions.

Mental properties are the most stable mental phenomena, fixed in the structure of the personality and determining permanent ways human interaction with the world. The main groups of mental properties of a person include temperament, character and abilities. Mental properties are relatively constant over time, although they can change during life under the influence of environmental and biological factors and experience. Temperament is the most general dynamic characteristic of an individual, which manifests itself in the sphere of a person’s general activity and his emotionality. Character traits determine what is typical for this person way of behavior in life situations, a system of relationships towards oneself and other people. Abilities are the individual psychological characteristics of an individual that determine the successful performance of an activity, develop and manifest themselves in activity. Mental processes, states and properties represent an inextricable indivisible unity, forming the integrity of a person’s mental life. A category that integrates everything mental manifestations and the facts are complex, but single system, is “personality”.

4.3. Consciousness as the highest form of mental reflection. States of consciousness.

Fundamental characteristic human existence is his awareness. Consciousness is an integral attribute of human existence. The problem of the content, mechanisms and structure of human consciousness remains one of the fundamentally important and most complex to this day. This is due, in particular, to the fact that consciousness is the object of study of many sciences, and the range of such sciences is increasingly expanding. The study of consciousness is carried out by philosophers, anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists, teachers, physiologists and other representatives of natural and humanities, each of which studies certain phenomena of consciousness. These phenomena are quite far from each other and do not correlate with consciousness as a whole.

In philosophy, the problem of consciousness is illuminated in connection with the relationship between the ideal and the material (consciousness and being), from the point of view of origin (a property of highly organized matter), from the position of reflection (reflection of the objective world). In a narrower sense, consciousness is understood as a human reflection of existence, embodied in socially expressed forms of the ideal. The emergence of consciousness is associated in philosophical science with the emergence of labor and the impact on nature in the course of collective labor activity, which gave rise to an awareness of the properties and natural connections of phenomena, which was consolidated in the language formed in the process of communication. In work and real communication, we also see the basis for the emergence of self-awareness - awareness of one’s own relationship to the surrounding natural and social environment, understanding your place in the system social relations. The specificity of human reflection of existence is determined, first of all, by the fact that consciousness not only reflects the objective world, but also creates it.

In psychology, consciousness is viewed as highest form reflections of reality, purposefully regulating human activity and related to speech. The developed consciousness of an individual is characterized by a complex, multidimensional psychological structure. A.N. Leontiev identified three main components in the structure of human consciousness: the sensory fabric of the image, meaning and personal meaning.

The sensory fabric of the image is the sensory composition of specific images of reality, actually perceived or emerging in memory, related to the future or only imaginary. These images differ in their modality, sensory tone, degree of clarity, stability, etc. The special function of sensory images of consciousness is that they give reality to the conscious picture of the world that is revealed to the subject; in other words, the world appears for the subject as existing not in consciousness, but outside his consciousness - as an objective “field” and an object of activity. Sensory images represent a universal form of mental reflection generated by the objective activity of the subject.

Meanings are the most important components of human consciousness. The carrier of meanings is a socially developed language, which acts as perfect shape the existence of the objective world, its properties, connections and relationships. The child learns meanings in childhood through joint activities with adults. Socially developed meanings become the property of individual consciousness and allow a person to build his own experience on its basis.

Personal meaning creates partiality in human consciousness. He points out that individual consciousness is not reducible to impersonal knowledge. Meaning is the functioning of meanings in the processes of activity and consciousness of specific people. Meaning connects meanings with the reality of a person’s life, with his motives and values.

The sensory fabric of the image, meaning and meaning are in close interaction, mutually enriching each other, forming a single fabric of individual consciousness. Another aspect of the psychological analysis of the category of consciousness in psychology is close to how consciousness is understood in the natural sciences: physiology, psychophysiology, medicine. This way of studying consciousness is represented by studies of states of consciousness and their changes. States of consciousness are considered as a certain level of activation, against the background of which the process of mental reflection of the surrounding world and activity occurs. Traditionally, Western psychology distinguishes two states of consciousness: sleep and wakefulness.

The basic laws of human mental activity include the cyclic alternation of sleep and wakefulness. The need for sleep depends on age. The total sleep duration of a newborn is 20-23 hours per day, from six months to one year - about 18 hours, from two to four years old - about 16 hours, from four to eight years old - about 12 hours. On average human body functions as follows: 16 hours - wakefulness, 8 hours - sleep. However experimental studies rhythms of human life have shown that such a relationship between the states of sleep and wakefulness is not obligatory and universal. In the USA, experiments were carried out to change the rhythm: the 24-hour cycle was replaced by a cycle of 21, 28 and 48 hours. The subjects lived on a 48-hour cycle during long stays in the cave. For every 36 hours of wakefulness, they had 12 hours of sleep, which means that in every ordinary, “earthly” day, they saved two hours of wakefulness. Many of them fully adapted to the new rhythm and remained operational.

A person deprived of sleep dies within two weeks. As a result of a 60-80-hour lack of sleep, a person experiences a decrease in the speed of mental reactions, his mood deteriorates, disorientation in the environment occurs, his performance sharply decreases, his ability to concentrate is lost, and there may be various disorders motor skills, hallucinations are possible, memory loss and confusion of speech are sometimes observed. Previously, it was believed that sleep was simply complete rest for the body, allowing it to regain strength. Modern representations about the functions of sleep they prove: it’s not easy recovery period, and most importantly, this is not a homogeneous state at all. A new understanding of sleep became possible with the beginning of the use of psychophysiological methods of analysis: recording the bioelectrical activity of the brain (EEG), recording muscle tone and eye movements. It was found that sleep consists of five phases, changing every hour and a half, and includes two qualitatively various states- slow and fast sleep - which differ from each other in the types of electrical activity of the brain, vegetative indicators, muscle tone, eye movements.

NREM sleep has four stages:

drowsiness - at this stage, the main bioelectric rhythm of wakefulness disappears - alpha rhythms, they are replaced by low-amplitude oscillations; dream-like hallucinations may occur;

superficial sleep - sleep spindles appear (spindle-shaped rhythm - 14-18 oscillations per second); when the first spindles appear, consciousness turns off;

and 4. delta sleep - high-amplitude, slow EEG oscillations appear. Delta sleep is divided into two stages: at the 3rd stage, the waves occupy 30-40% of the entire EEG, at the 4th - more than 50%. This is deep sleep: muscle tone reduced, eye movements are absent, the rhythm of breathing and pulse become less frequent, the temperature decreases. It is very difficult to awaken a person from delta sleep. As a rule, a person awakened in these phases of sleep does not remember dreams, is poorly oriented in the environment, and incorrectly estimates time intervals (reduces the time spent in sleep). Delta sleep, the period of greatest disconnection from the outside world, prevails in the first half of the night.

REM sleep is characterized by EEG rhythms, similar to the rhythms of wakefulness. Increased cerebral blood flow with strong muscle relaxation with sharp twitches in individual muscle groups. This combination of EEG activity and complete muscle relaxation explains the second name of this stage of sleep - paradoxical sleep. There are sudden changes in heart rate and breathing (series frequent breaths and exhalations alternate with pauses), episodic rise and fall blood pressure. Rapid eye movements are observed with closed eyelids. It is the stage of REM sleep that is accompanied by dreams, and if a person is awakened during this period, he will tell in a rather connected way what he dreamed about.

Dreams as a psychological reality were introduced into psychology by 3. Freud. He viewed dreams as vivid expressions of the unconscious. In the understanding of modern scientists, in a dream, the processing of information received during the day continues. Moreover, the central place in the structure of dreams is played by subliminal information, to which due attention was not paid during the day, or information that did not become the property of conscious processing. Thus, sleep expands the capabilities of consciousness, organizes its content, and provides the necessary psychological protection.

The state of wakefulness is also heterogeneous: during the day, the level of activation constantly changes depending on the influence of external and internal factors. It is possible to distinguish intense wakefulness, the moments of which correspond to periods of the most intense mental and physical activity, normal wakefulness and relaxed wakefulness. Tense and normal wakefulness are called extraverted states of consciousness, since it is in these states that a person is capable of full and effective interaction with the outside world and other people. The efficiency of the performed activity and the productivity of solving life problems are largely determined by the level of wakefulness and activation. Behavior is more effective the more closer level wakefulness to some optimum: it should not be too low and too high. At low levels, a person's readiness for activity is low and he may fall asleep soon; at high activation, a person is agitated and tense, which can lead to disorganization of activity.

In addition to sleep and wakefulness in psychology, a number of states are distinguished, which are called altered states of consciousness. These include, for example, meditation and hypnosis. Meditation is special condition consciousness, changed at the request of the subject. The practice of inducing such a state has been known in the East for many centuries. At the heart of all types of meditation is concentration of attention in order to limit the field of extraverted consciousness and make the brain respond rhythmically to the stimulus on which the subject has focused. After a meditation session, there is a feeling of relaxation, a decrease in physical and mental stress and fatigue, mental activity and overall vitality increase.

Hypnosis is a special state of consciousness that occurs under the influence of suggestion, including self-hypnosis. Hypnosis has something in common with meditation and sleep: like them, hypnosis is achieved by reducing the flow of signals to the brain. However, these states should not be identified. Essential components of hypnosis are suggestion and suggestibility. A report is established between the hypnotized and the hypnotizing person - the only connection with the outside world that a person retains in a state of hypnotic trance.

Since ancient times, people have used special substances to change the state of their consciousness. Substances that affect behavior, consciousness and mood are called psychoactive, or psychotropic. One of the classes of such substances includes drugs that bring a person into a state of “weightlessness”, euphoria and create a feeling of being outside of time and space. Majority narcotic substances produced from plants, primarily the poppy, from which opium is obtained. Actually, drugs in the narrow sense are precisely opiates - derivatives of opium: morphine, heroin, etc. A person quickly gets used to drugs, he develops physical and mental dependence.

Another class of psychotropic substances consists of stimulants, aphrodisiacs. Minor stimulants include tea, coffee and nicotine - many people use them to perk themselves up. Amphetamines are more powerful stimulants - they produce a surge of strength, including creative energy, excitement, euphoria, self-confidence, and a feeling of limitless possibilities. The aftereffects of using these substances may include the appearance of psychotic symptoms of hallucinations, paranoia, and loss of strength. Neurosuppressants, barbiturates and tranquilizers, reduce anxiety, calm, reduce emotional stress, some act like sleeping pills. Hallucinogens and psychedelics (LSD, marijuana, hashish) distort the perception of time and space, cause hallucinations, euphoria, change thinking, and expand consciousness.

4.4. Consciousness and the unconscious.

An important step in studying the conscious reflection of the surrounding reality is to determine the range of phenomena that are commonly called unconscious, or unconscious. Yu.B. Gippenreiter proposed dividing all unconscious mental phenomena into three large classes:

unconscious mechanisms of conscious actions;

unconscious motivators of conscious actions;

supraconscious processes.

Among the unconscious mechanisms of conscious actions are:

unconscious automatisms are actions or acts that are performed as if “by themselves,” without the participation of consciousness. Some of these processes were never realized, while others passed through consciousness and ceased to be realized. The first are called primary automatisms, or automatic actions. They are either congenital or formed very early - during the first year of life: sucking movements, blinking, grasping, walking, eye convergence. The latter are known as secondary automatisms, or automated actions, skills. Thanks to the formation of a skill, the action begins to be carried out quickly and accurately, and due to automation, consciousness is freed from the need to constantly monitor the execution of the action;

unconscious attitudes - the readiness of an organism or subject to perform a certain action or to react in a certain direction; there are extremely many facts demonstrating the readiness or preliminary adjustment of the organism to action, and they relate to different areas. Examples of unconscious attitudes include muscular pre-tuning for the implementation physical action- motor set, readiness to perceive and interpret material, object, phenomenon in a certain way - perceptual set, readiness to solve problems and tasks in a certain way - mental set, etc. Attitudes have a very important functional significance: a subject prepared for action is able to carry it out more efficiently and economically;

unconscious accompaniments of conscious actions. Not all unconscious components carry the same functional load. Some implement conscious actions, others prepare actions. Finally, there are unconscious processes that simply accompany actions. This group includes involuntary movements, tonic tension, facial expressions and pantomimes, as well as a wide range of vegetative reactions that accompany human actions and states. For example, a child sticks out his tongue when writing; a person watching someone in pain has a sad expression on their face and does not notice it. These unconscious phenomena play important role in communication processes, representing a necessary component of human communication (facial expressions, gestures, pantomime). They are also objective indicators of various psychological characteristics and human states - his intentions, relationships, hidden desires and thoughts.

The study of unconscious motivators of conscious actions is associated with the name of Freud. Freud's interest in unconscious processes arose at the very beginning of his medical career. The scientist's attention was attracted by the phenomena of post-hypnotic suggestion. Based on the analysis of such facts, he created his theory of the unconscious. According to Freud, there are three spheres in the psyche: preconscious, conscious, unconscious. Preconsciousness is hidden, latent knowledge that a person has, but is not present in his consciousness in this moment; if necessary, they are easily moved into consciousness. The contents of the unconscious, on the contrary, hardly become conscious. At the same time, it has a strong energy charge and, penetrating into consciousness in an altered form - as dreams, erroneous actions or neurotic symptoms - affects it big influence. Freud believed that the true reasons for human behavior are not realized by him - they are hidden and closely related to suppressed drives, primarily sexual. Awareness true reasons behavior, the scientist believed, is possible only in interaction with a psychoanalyst in a specially organized therapeutic process. The study of unconscious motivators of conscious actions is associated with the name of Freud. Freud's interest in unconscious processes arose at the very beginning of his medical career. The attention of the scientist was attracted by the phenomena of post-hypnotic suggestion. Based on the analysis of such facts, he created his theory of the unconscious. According to Freud, there are three spheres in the psyche: preconscious, conscious, unconscious. Preconsciousness is hidden, latent knowledge that a person has, but is not present in his consciousness at the moment; if necessary, they are easily moved into consciousness. The contents of the unconscious, on the contrary, hardly become conscious. At the same time, it has a strong energetic charge and, penetrating into consciousness in an altered form - as dreams, erroneous actions or neurotic symptoms - has a great influence on it. Freud believed that the true reasons for human behavior are not realized by him - they are hidden and closely related to suppressed drives, primarily sexual. Awareness of the true causes of behavior, the scientist believed, is possible only in interaction with a psychoanalyst in a specially organized therapeutic psychoanalysis.

Outstanding domestic psychologist A.N. Leontyev also argued that most of the motives of human activity are not realized. But, in his opinion, motives can manifest themselves in emotional coloring certain objects or phenomena, in the form of a reflection of their personal meaning. A person is able to understand the motives of his behavior without resorting to the help of a psychologist. However, this is a special challenge. Often, awareness of a motive is replaced by motivation - a rational justification for an action that does not reflect a person’s actual motives.

Subconscious processes are the processes of formation of a certain integral product of large unconscious work, which then “invades” a person’s conscious life. For example, a person is busy solving some complex problem, which he thinks about day after day for a long time. Reflecting on a problem, he goes through and analyzes various impressions and events, makes assumptions, tests them, argues with himself. And suddenly everything becomes clear: sometimes it arises unexpectedly, by itself, sometimes after an insignificant event, which turns out to be the last straw that overflows the cup. What has entered into his consciousness is in reality an integral product of a previous process. However, the person has no idea about the course of the latter. “Supraconscious” are processes occurring above consciousness in the sense that their content and time scale are larger than anything that consciousness can accommodate. Passing through consciousness in their individual sections, they as a whole are beyond its boundaries.

The identified classes of unconscious mental phenomena expand our understanding of the psyche, not limiting it only to the facts of conscious reflection of reality. It should be especially emphasized that the conscious and unconscious are not opposites, but private manifestations of the psyche.

Self-test questions.

What is the mind and what are its main functions?
What are the main levels of mental reflection?
What is consciousness?
What are states of consciousness? What states of consciousness do you know?
What are unconscious psychic phenomena? What classes of unconscious mental phenomena are distinguished by Yu.B. Gippenreiter?

Literature.

Gippenreiter Yu.B. Introduction to general psychology: A course of lectures. M., 1988. Bream. 5 and 6.
Psychology: Textbook / Ed. V.N. Druzhinina. St. Petersburg, 2003. Ch. 5.
Leontyev A.N. Activity. Consciousness. Personality. M., 1975.
Slobodchikov V.I., Isaev E.I. Human psychology. M., 1995.