Psychic reflection. Fundamentals of the function of the psyche

Psyche according to materialistic doctrine as a property of specially organized matter - the brain.

The fact that the psyche is really a product of the activity of the brain, special property it is proved by numerous experiments on animals and clinical observations over people. So, with certain lesions of the brain, changes in the psyche always inevitably occur, and, moreover, quite definite ones: with the defeat of the occipital-parietal regions of the cortex of the left hemisphere of the brain, the orientation of a person in space is disturbed, and with damage lower divisions- perception of speech, music. These and other examples show that the psyche is inseparable from the activity of the brain. A natural-science analysis of the activity of the brain is given in the works of Ivan Mikhailovich Sechenov and Ivan Petrovich Pavlov. Sechenov wrote that the reflexes of the human brain include three links. First It is an arousal in the sense organs. Second- the 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, by studying physiological mechanisms The work of the brain is not limited to the study of the psyche. It should always be remembered that the psyche is reflection of the world around. 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 It is “a subjective reflection of the objective world”.

1 feature - activity. Psychic reflection is not a dead, mirror, one-act reflection, but a process that is constantly developing and improving, creating and overcoming its own contradictions. The mental reflection is active multi-stage process, during which external actions refract through internal features the one who reflects, and therefore it is a subjective reflection of the objective world. If in inanimate nature the object reflecting the impact is passive and only undergoes one or another change, then living beings have an “independent force of reaction”, i.e. any influence acquires 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 is subjectivity.Psyche- this is a reflection in which any external influence is always refracted through previously established features of the psyche, through mental condition, which is in this moment in a particular living being (human) . Therefore, the same external influence can be reflected differently by different people and even by the same person in different ways. 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 of the teacher, and educational material learn differently; the same requirements are imposed on all schoolchildren, and students perceive and fulfill them differently. The refraction of external influences through the internal characteristics of a person depends on many circumstances: age, the level of knowledge achieved, the previously established attitude towards this species impact, degree of activity and, most importantly, from the formed worldview. Thus, the content of the psyche is images of real objects, phenomena, and 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 peculiar way, depending on his past experience, interests, feelings, worldview, etc. That is why reflection is subjective. All this gives the right to say that the 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 features 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. The content of the psyche is the image objective, independently of us and outside of us existing objects, phenomena, events (ie the objective world). The images that emerge are snapshots, casts existing phenomena, events. The subjectivity of mental reflection in no way denies the objective possibility of correct reflection real world.

The next important feature mental reflection is and what it wears leading character (“leading reflection” Petr Konstantinovich Anokhin). The anticipatory nature of mental reflection is the result of the accumulation and consolidation of experience. It is in the process of multiple reflection certain situations gradually develops future reaction model . As soon as a living being finds itself in a similar position, the very first influences cause the entire system of response.

Cumulative another one peculiarity mental reflection (from lat. cumulo - accumulate). The type of reflection is such that the last impression is superimposed on the previous one and changes the reflectivity of the psyche, i.e. the inner experience of the individual is included in the reflection and changes the reflectivity.

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 momentary act, it lasts in time.

Functions of the psyche

(Let us turn to the definition of the psyche, given in the textbook by Anatoly Gennadievich Maklakov)The mind is a property highly organized living matter, which is active reflection the subject of the objective world, in the construction by the subject 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 every 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 obtain information about the world around it. At the same time, the receipt of information is connected with the creation of a certain psychic by this highly organized matter, i.e. subjective in nature and idealistic (non-material) in its essence image a, which with a certain measure of accuracy is a copy of the material objects of the real world.

Thirdly, the information received by a living being about the surrounding world serves as the basis for the regulation internal environment of 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, which has a psyche, is able to respond to a 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, it is not a dead, mirror image, but a process that is constantly developing and improving, creating and overcoming its own contradictions.

Secondly, in the mental reflection of objective reality, any external influence is always refracted through previously established features of the psyche, through specific states of a person. 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. The emerging images of the material world are snapshots, copies of existing objects, phenomena, events.

2. Regulation of behavior and activity. The psyche, human consciousness, on the one hand, reflect the impact of the external environment, adapt to it, and on the other hand, regulate this process, making up 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 himself goals and objectives of activity. Develops methods and techniques to achieve its results. Behavior in this case acts as an external form of manifestation of activity.

3. Man's awareness of his place in the world around him. This function of the psyche, on the one hand, ensures the 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, which differs from other people and is with them in a kind of interpersonal relationship.

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

Psychology studies the property of the brain, which consists in the mental reflection of material reality, as a result of which ideal images of reality are formed, which are necessary for regulating the interaction of the organism 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; it is an information model of reality used by higher animals and humans to regulate their life.

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

Mental reflection of the world man is connected with his social nature, it is mediated by socially developed knowledge. The psyche, as a reflective ability, is also found in animals. 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, speech. Thanks to consciousness, a person arbitrarily regulates his behavior.

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

The content of the psyche are ideal images of objectively existing phenomena. But these images appear various people peculiarly.

They depend on past experience, knowledge, needs, interests, mental state, etc. In other words, psyche It 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 the interaction of a person with the external environment is regulated.

The content of the psyche includes not only mental images, but also extra-image components - common value orientations personality, meanings and meanings of phenomena, mental action.

The psyche is inherent in man and animals. However, the human psyche highest form psyche, is also denoted by the concept of “consciousness”. But the concept of the psyche is wider than the concept of consciousness, since the psyche includes the sphere of the subconscious and the superconscious (“Over I”).

Psychic reflection it 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 mental reflection, the incoming information undergoes specific processing, i.e. mental reflection is an active reflection of the world in connection with some kind of 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 contain the characteristics of external objects, not internal ones. physiological processes through which the psychic arises. Transformations of signals 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 the psyche, thought, just as the liver secretes bile. The disadvantage of this theory is that the psyche is identified with nervous processes see no qualitative difference between them.

Psychic Phenomena do not correlate 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 multilevel functional systems brain, which are formed in a person in the process of life and mastering by him historically established forms of activity and experience of mankind through his own vigorous activity. Thus, specifically human qualities (consciousness, speech, labor, etc.) human psyche are formed in a person only during his lifetime, in the process of assimilation by him of the culture created by previous generations. Thus, the human psyche includes at least three components: the outside world, nature, its reflection - the full-fledged activity of the brain - interaction with people, the active transfer 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 reflection is confirmed by practice;
• the mental image itself is formed in the process vigorous activity 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 object perception, reality is reflected in the form of integral images of objects and the animal is able to learn, individually acquired behavioral skills appear.

The third stage of intellect is characterized by the animal's ability to reflect interdisciplinary connections, reflect the situation as a whole, as a result, the animal is able to bypass obstacles, "invent" new ways of solving 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 the visual situation.

Human psyche- better quality high level than the psyche of animals (Homo sapiens - a reasonable person). Consciousness, the human mind developed in the process labor activity, which arises due to the need to carry out joint actions to obtain food during a sharp change in living conditions primitive man. And although the specific biological and morphological features of a person have been stable for 40 millennia, the development of the human psyche took place in the process of labor activity. Thus, the material, spiritual culture of mankind is an objective form of embodiment of the achievements of the mental development of mankind.

In the process historical development society, a person changes the ways and methods of his behavior, transforms natural inclinations and functions into higher mental functions - specifically human, socio-historically conditioned 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 higher mental functions forms the human mind.

- a subjective view of the world from a personal position. Rethinking reality, one's worldview is formed from:

• events that have already taken place;
• actual reality;
• actions to take place.

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

The essence of the worldview passing through the psyche

1. Activation.

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

2. Focus.

Setting guidelines in life, a person sets himself tasks according to his strength. He will never take up a case that is contrary to his principles and does not bring him either moral or financial satisfaction of needs. There is a deliberate desire to transform the existing substance.

3. Adjustment.

Approach, conditions may change, but the mental is plastic to temporary transformations, 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, it is necessary to evaluate all the qualities different people to the same extent.

5. Lead.

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

6. Evaluation by the object.

Individual traits are displayed directly in thinking. Analyzed possible situations, the attitude to the events is formed.

There are several stages that pass in the mind from the bodily to the sensual:

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

Steps of reflection of the psyche

• The first is basic. The individual is guided by his feelings and receiving information from others, determines the manner of behavior in the future. His actions are influenced by the objects of reality. Having passed this stage, others are built on it. This level is never empty, it is multifaceted and constantly changing.
• The second level has a main feature in creativity and the manifestation of the imagination. it the highest level development of the psyche, a person passes to it when new model inferences about the environment. She comprehends the actions and adds images that have already been laid down.
• A creative person is difficult to cope with emotions, her thinking consists of continuous ideas. Artistic abilities are superimposed on the pictures that arise 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 the concepts and methods used by the ancestors. He overshadows imagination, memory, sensual 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 including all stages in his consciousness, a person can 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. The psyche and structural features of the brain

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

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

Psychology is guided by the following provisions:

The human psyche top product development of matter, brain function;

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

The personality and activity of a person 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 is the core modern theory knowledge.

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

However, the psyche cannot be reduced simply to the 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 the neurophysiological activity of the brain. The transformation of signals that takes place in the brain is perceived by a person as a set of events in the external space and the world as a whole. The great Russian physiologist I. M. Sechenov proved that the reflex act is the basis of everything mental.

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

The human psyche is not given in finished form to a person from the moment of birth and does not develop by itself. Only in the process of communication and interaction of a person with other people, in the process of mastering the culture created by previous generations, does a human psyche and specifically human qualities (consciousness, speech, labor, etc.) form in him. Otherwise, nothing human appears either in behavior or in the psyche (Mowgli's phenomenon).

The psyche includes at least three components:

the outside world, nature, its reflection;

Full brain activity

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

accelerated mental development Three main achievements of mankind have contributed to people:

1) the 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 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 the individuality of a person;

is of a proactive 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. It studies the patterns of development and functioning of human mental activity.

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

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

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

2. Mental reflection is: 1) an active reflection of the world; 2) with mental reflection, the incoming information is subjected to specific processing, and on its basis mental , i.e. subjective in nature and idealistic (non-material) in nature image, which, with a certain measure of accuracy, is a copy of the 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.

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. 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 do not correlate with a single 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, which are formed in a person in the process of life and mastering by him historically established forms of activity and experience of mankind through his own vigorous activity. Thus, specifically human qualities (consciousness, speech, labor, etc.), the human psyche are formed in a person only during his lifetime, in the process of assimilation by him of the culture created by previous generations. Thus, the human psyche includes at least three components: external world, nature, its reflection - the full-fledged activity of the brain - interaction with people, the active transfer of human culture, human abilities to new generations.

Psychic reflection- this is a universal property of matter, which consists in reproducing the features, 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 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 of a proactive 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 (psychic reflection).

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

2. Subjectivity.Other feature of mental reflection is its subjectivity: it is mediated by the past experience of the person and his personality. This is expressed primarily in the fact that we see one world, but it appears to each of us in different ways.

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 thanks to the correct reflection is it possible for a person to know the world around him. The criterion for 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 the individual acts are changing, the very approaches to transformations are changing. It should not be forgotten that each person has bright individual characteristics, own desires, needs and desire for development.

5. Continuity. Psychic reflection is a continuous process.

6. Leading character. One more important feature mental reflection is his forward character, it makes it possible to anticipate in human activity and behavior, which allows decisions to be made with a certain temporal-spatial lead in relation to the future.

IV. The structure of the human psyche (forms of mental reflection).

Usually, three large groups of mental phenomena are distinguished, 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, which has a beginning, development and 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) Volitional 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 reflex in nature: they arise under the influence of the situation, physiological factors, progress of work, time and verbal influences (praise, censure, 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 moods (cheerful, enthusiastic, sad, sad, angry, irritable, etc.).

3) the creative state of the individual, which is called inspiration.

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

Personality properties are the highest and stable regulators of mental activity.

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

V. The psyche and structural features of the brain.

Left hemisphere has a huge stock energy and vitality. This is a happy gift, but in itself it is unproductive. The disturbing fears of the right, obviously, have a sobering effect, returning to the brain not only Creative skills, but also the very possibility of working normally, and not hovering in empyreans.

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