I.1. Preconditions for the emergence of experimental psychology.

The application of the experimental method in the knowledge of human nature did not pose a particular problem in the middle of the 19th century.

Secondly, many natural scientists(physicists, doctors, biologists, physiologists) in their practical activities, more and more often they encountered phenomena, the understanding of which required specific knowledge about the structure of the human body, especially the work of its sense organs, the motor apparatus and cerebral mechanisms.

Finally, thirdly, in the history of philosophy there have already been precedents for assimilating a person to a more or less complex mechanical device(Julien La Mettrie and Rene Descartes especially succeeded in this), so the possibility of delicate experimentation in relation to a person (which has become habitual in relation to a machine) was not so odious... Already from the middle of the XVIII century. In physiology, various experimental methods are extensively used: artificial stimulation of a drug or a living organ, registration or observation of responses caused by this irritation, and the simplest mathematical processing of the data obtained.

I.2. Beginning: physiological psychology

In the middle of the XIX century. The Scottish physician Marshall Hall (1790-857), who worked in London and Pierre Florence (1794-1867), professor of natural science at the French College in Paris, studied brain function, widely used the method of extirpation (removal), when the function of a certain part of the brain is established by removing or destroying this parts followed by observation of changes in the behavior of the animal. In 1861, the French surgeon Paul Broca (18241880) proposed a clinical method: the deceased's brain is opened and the place of its damage is found, which is considered responsible for the anomaly of behavior during the patient's life. So Broca discovered the "speech center" of the frontal gyrus of the cerebral cortex - which was damaged in a man, unable to speak clearly during his lifetime. In 1870, Gustav Fritsch and Eduard Hitzing first applied the method of electrical stimulation of the cerebral cortex (they conducted experiments with rabbits and dogs).

The development of experimental physiology led to two important circumstances that had a decisive influence on the anthropological sciences of that time.:

The factual material related to various aspects of the vital activity of organisms was rapidly increasing; the data obtained in experiments could not be established even in the most cunning speculative way;

Many life processes, which were previously the monopoly subject of religious and philosophical reflections, received new, mainly mechanistic explanations that put these processes on a par with the natural course of things.

The physiology of the nervous system, which was rapidly expanding with new knowledge, gradually conquered more and more space from philosophy. The German physicist and physiologist Hermann Helmholtz (1821-1894) moved from measuring the speed of conduction of nerve impulses to the study of vision and hearing, having already become one foot in that still unknown area, which would later be called the psychology of perception. His theory of color perception, still mentioned in all psychology textbooks, affected not only peripheral aspects that were under the jurisdiction of the physiology of the sensory organs, but also many centrally conditioned phenomena that could not yet be controlled experimentally and fully (recall, for example, the role past experience in his concept of unconscious inference). The same can be said for his resonant theory of auditory perception.

One fact is interesting in the scientific biography of Helmholtz. Measurements played a huge role in his experimental practice. First, he measured the speed of conduction of nerve impulses on the isole preparation. Then he moved on to measuring the reaction time of a person. here he was faced with a large scatter of data, not only different, but even the same subject. This behavior of the measured quantity did not fit into the strict deterministic scheme of thinking of the physicist-physiologist, and he refused to study the reaction time, considering this capricious measure to be unreliable. The brilliant experimenter was captured by his mentality.

This is common in the history of science. If then many were engaged in sight and hearing, then, perhaps, only Ernst Weber (1795-1878) - German physiologist, whose main scientific interest was associated with the physiology of the senses, focused on the study of skin kinesthetic sensitivity. His experiments with touch confirmed the presence of a threshold for sensation, in particular, a two-point threshold. Varying the sites of skin irritation, he showed that the value of this threshold is not the same, and explained this difference, and did not dismiss it as unreliable... The thing is that, being a real experimenter, Weber not only measured the thresholds, receiving, as we now say, primary data, but mathematically processed them, obtaining secondary data that were not contained in the measurement procedure itself. This is especially clearly seen in the example of his experiments with kinesthetic sensitivity (comparison of the weight of two small weights - a standard variable). It turned out that the barely perceptible difference between the weights of the two weights is not the same for different standards. The experimenter could see this difference from the initial measurements. But Weber didn't stop there. Apparently, his skill to work with numbers, not only with the stimuli of the subjects, made him take another step: he took the ratio of a barely noticeable difference (that is, the difference between the weights of two weights) to the value of a standard weight. And to his greatest surprise, this attitude turned out to be constant for different standards! This discovery (later it came to be called Weber's law) could not be made apriory, and it was not directly contained either in the experimental procedure or in the measurement results. This is the kind of creative luck that sometimes befalls thinking experimenters. Thanks to Weber's works, not only the measurability of human sensations became apparent, but also the existence of strict regularities in conscious sensory experience.

When Weber, at the age of 22, lectured on physiology at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Leipzig, the future founder of psychophysics, Gustav Fechner, entered to study there. It was 1817. The idea of ​​psychophysics, studying the laws of the relationship between mental and physical phenomena, was born to Fechner in 1850... Fechner was of a humanitarian nature and was in opposition to the materialist views, which then dominated at Leipzig University and ardently defended by the same Weber. At the same time, he operated with very high categories, stating that the Universe has two sides: not only "shadow", material, but also "light", spiritual (Shultz D.P., Shultz S.E., 1998, p.79 ). This orientation towards the universe was, apparently, the source of his scientific inspiration.

In the late 1930s, he became interested in the problem of sensations... And then a misfortune happened to him: while studying visual afterimages, he looked at the Sun through colored glass and injured his eyes. After that, for several years he was in severe depression and turned to philosophical mysticism, especially to the problem of the relationship between the physical and the mental. His way out of the state of depression was very mysterious and even mystical: “Once he had a dream from which he clearly remembered the number 77. From this he concluded that his recovery would take 77 days. And so it happened. " (Ibid, p. 80). Moreover, his depression turned into euphoria. It is at this time that the aforementioned enlightenment falls. Weber's lectures on the physiology of the senses, physical and mathematical education, hard-won philosophical knowledge were integrated into a simple but ingenious idea, which was later formulated as the basic psychophysical law.

Fechner's axiomatics:

1. Feeling cannot be measured directly; the intensity of the sensation is indirectly measured by the magnitude of the stimulus.

At the threshold value of the stimulus (r), the intensity of sensation (S) is 0.

The magnitude of the suprathreshold stimulus (R) is measured in units of the threshold, that is, the magnitude of the stimulus at the absolute threshold (r).

A subtle change in sensation ( Δ S) is a constant value and therefore can serve as a unit of measurement of any intensity of sensation.

Now it remained to determine the ratio between the unit of measurement of sensation ( Δ S) and the threshold unit of measurement of the stimulus. Fechner solved this problem in a purely mathematical way. Let's follow the logic of his reasoning.

We have two constants: ( Δ S) (axiom 4) and the Weber ratio Δ R / R. (Fechner himself wrote that, while conducting his experiments, he did not yet know about Weber's work. There remains a historical mystery: either Fechner was cunning, or in fact he acted independently. In science, as everyday life, both are found) ... One constant can be expressed through another:

Δ S= c ( Δ R: R) (1)

This is the so-called basic formula of Fechner. When measuring the threshold Δ R and Δ S- infinitesimal quantities, that is, differentials:

After integration, we get:

∫dS = c ∫ dR: R, or S = c lnR + C (2)

Here the constants c and C are unknown. If S = 0 at R = r (where r is a threshold value), then expression (2) will be written as follows:

From here C = -clnr; substituting it into (2) we get:

S = c lnR -c lnr = c (lnR - 1nr) = c lnr (R: r).

We pass to decimal logarithms: S = k lg (R: r) (3)

We take r as a unit of measurement, that is, r = 1; then:

S = k lg R (4)

That's what it is Fechner's basic psychophysical law... Please note that the derivation of the law was carried out by means of mathematics, and here no doubts can arise.

In Fechner's law, the unit of measurement is the threshold value of the stimulus r. Hence it is clear why Fechner paid great attention to how to determine the threshold. He developed several psychophysical methods that became classics: the method of boundaries, the method of constant stimuli and the method of installation. You got acquainted with them in practical classes, and now we can look at these methods from the other side.

Firstly, all these methods are purely laboratory ones: here there are artificial stimuli, not very similar to ordinary ones, a weak touch of the skin with two needles, a barely visible light spot, a barely audible isolated sound); and other unusual conditions (extreme concentration on one's sensations, monotonous repetition of the same actions, complete darkness or silence); and annoying monotony. If this happens in real life, it is very rare, and even then in an extreme situation (for example, in a solitary prison cell). And all this is necessary for the purity of the experiment, in order to minimize or completely exclude the influence on the subject of those factors that are not relevant to the experimental procedure. The artificiality of the experimental situation is an invariable attribute of any scientific experiment... But it gives rise to the not very pleasant problem of the applicability of laboratory data to real, non-laboratory situations. In the natural sciences, this problem is not nearly as dramatic as in experimental psychology. We will return to it a little later.

Secondly, the specific or instantaneous value of the threshold itself is of little interest and hardly informative. Usually the threshold is measured for the sake of something. For example, by its magnitude, we can judge a person's sensitivity to these influences: the lower the threshold, the higher the sensitivity; comparing the thresholds obtained at different times of the same subject, we can judge their dynamics in time or their dependence on certain conditions; comparing the thresholds of different subjects, it is possible to estimate the range of individual differences in sensitivity for a given modality, etc. In other words, the context in which the laboratory method is applied significantly expands its semantic scope, which means its pragmatic value. It is this contextual factor that made Fechner's methods a powerful tool for solving other, already non-Technological problems, not only in psychophysics, but in general psychology.

THE BIRTH OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

At the origins of the experimental psycho another outstanding German scientist stood in theology - Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920). He was also born into a pastor's family, received a medical education, knew anatomy, physiology, physics and chemistry. From 1857 to 1864 he worked as a laboratory assistant at Helmholtz (he was already mentioned). Wundt had his own home laboratory. Being engaged in physiology at this time, he comes to the idea of ​​psychology as an independent science. He substantiates this idea in his book "Towards the Theory of Sensory Perception", which was published in small portions from 1858 to 1862. It is here that the term experimental psychology, introduced by him, is first encountered.

The beginning of the emergence of experimental psychology is conventionally considered 1878, since it was during this period that W. Wundt founded the first laboratory of experimental psychology in Germany. Outlining the prospects for building psychology as an integral science, he assumed the development of two non-intersecting directions in it: natural science, based on experiment, and cultural and historical, in which psychological methods of studying culture ("the psychology of peoples") are called upon to play the main role. According to his theory, natural-scientific experimental methods could be applied only to the elementary, lower level of the psyche. It is not the soul itself that is subject to experimental research, but only its external manifestations. Therefore, in his laboratory, mainly the sensations and the motor acts caused by them were studied - reactions, as well as peripheral and binocular vision, color perception, etc. (Psychodiagnostics. AS Luchinin, 2004).

Theoretical foundations of science.

Wundt's psychology was based on the experimental methods of the natural sciences - primarily physiology.

Consciousness was the subject of research. The conceptual views were based on empiricism and associationism.

Wundt believed that consciousness is the essence of the psyche - a complex and composite phenomenon, and the method of analysis or reductionism is best suited for studying it. He pointed out that the first step in the study of any phenomenon should be a complete description of the constituent elements.

He focused his main attention on the ability of the brain to self-organize, this system Wundt called voluntarism (volitional act, volition) - a concept according to which the mind has the ability to organize the process of thinking, transferring it to a qualitatively higher level.

Wundt attached great importance to the ability of the mind to actively synthesize high levels of its constituent elements.

Psychology should study first of all direct experience - which is cleared of all kinds of interpretations and pre-experience knowledge ("I have a toothache").

This experience is cleared of the mediated experience that knowledge gives us, and is not a component of direct experience (we know that the forest is green, the sea is blue, the sky is blue).

The main method of the new science was introspection. Since psychology is a science about the experience of consciousness, it means that the method should also consist of observing one's own consciousness.

Experiments on introspection, or internal perception, were carried out at the Leipzig Laboratory according to strict rules:

precise definition of the beginning (moment) of the experiment;

observers should not lower their level of attention;

the experiment must be checked several times;

the experimental conditions must be acceptable for the change and control of the change in irritation factors.

Introspective analysis was associated not with qualitative introspection (when the subject described his inner experience), but with the subject's direct ideas about the magnitude, intensity, range of action of the physical stimulus, reaction time, etc. Thus, conclusions about the elements and processes of consciousness were drawn from objective assessments.

Elements of the experience of consciousness

Wundt outlined the following main tasks of experimental psychology:

analyze the processes of consciousness through the study of its main elements;

Find out how these elements are connected;

Establish the principles according to which such a connection occurs.

Wundt believed that sensations are the primary form of experience. Sensations arise when some stimulus acts on the sense organs and the arising impulses reach the brain. The limitation of this position is that he did not distinguish between sensations and the mental images that arise on their basis.

Feelings are another form of primary experience. Feelings and feelings arise simultaneously in the course of the same direct experience. Moreover, the feelings directly follow the sensations:

Irritant sensation feeling

In the course of his introspection sessions, Wundt developed a three-dimensional model of feelings (an experiment with a metronome).

The three-dimensional model of feelings is built in a three-dimensional system:

"Pleasure - discomfort" (when the metronome beats are rhythmic - very frequent);

"Tension - relaxation" (very rare blows when you expect a blow, and relaxation that comes after it);

"Rise (feelings) - fading" (frequent beat rate - slow).

Therefore, any feeling is located in a certain range of three-dimensional space.

Emotions are a complex mix of elementary feelings that can be measured using a three-dimensional continuum. Thus, Wundt reduced emotions to the elements of thinking, but this theory did not stand the test of time.

Having founded a laboratory and a journal, Wundt, along with experimental research, turns to philosophy, logic, aesthetics.

He believed that the simplest mental processes - sensations, perceptions, feelings, emotions - should be studied using laboratory research. And for higher mental processes - learning, memory, language, which are associated with aspects of cultural education, other research methods are needed, not experimental, but borrowed from sociology and anthropology.

According to Wundt, psychology begins with the direct experience of the subject. The very division of human knowledge into directly mediated Wundt borrowed from philosophy. But he put these concepts in a different sense. For a philosopher, sensory and intuitive knowledge are immediate, and rational knowledge is mediated. Wundt believed that sensory knowledge can also be mediated, for example, the subject's past experience, his previously acquired knowledge of the perceived object. Perception, according to Wundt, is a natural process, entirely conditioned by three determinants:

physical stimulation,

anatomical structure of the receiving organ,

the individual's past experience.

Wundt identified three basic categories underlying mental phenomena: sensation, perception, feeling. Feeling is the simplest element of conscious experience; it fixes a separate property of the perceived object, not the object as a whole. This situation is rare. Usually, the senses simultaneously respond to several properties of the object, therefore, there are many elementary sensations in consciousness at the same time. Combining together, they give a new quality to the perception of a whole object.... In part, such a union can be carried out automatically, passively, against the will of the subject, thanks to the mechanism of association. Associative complexes form the field of perception. This field contains a part of the content to which the subject's attention is directed. And here Wundt introduces the concept of apperception, which is very important in his concept.

Unlike automatically, passively flowing perception, apperception is an arbitrary act, entirely controlled by the will of the subject. Thanks to apperception, the elements included in the field of perception can be grouped and regrouped by the will of the subject into qualitatively new integral formations, including those that have not previously been encountered in the experience of the subject. Wundt called this creative synthesis. Not only perception, but our entire mental life is made up of the dynamics of the transitions of perception and apperception into each other. In the aforementioned edition, Wundt cites the most interesting observations of life and his own experimental data confirming this idea of ​​his.

The subject of psychological research, as Wundt envisioned it, turned out to be rather complex. Even if we take only the process of perception, a fantastically complex picture emerges. Indeed, each of its three determinants has many possible states, of which only a tiny fraction of them can be controlled. The variety of those specific combinations and interactions into which these determinants enter is also enormous.

Not only in the humanities, but also in the natural sciences the path from simple to complex is often not so much a guiding principle of a particular research as a way of presenting its results for someone who first meets them. And here the illusion arises that the cognition of the text, the cognition of the reality described in it is the same thing, that is, the path from the simple to the complex. In fact, cognition of reality begins with the realization of something unknown, some kind of problem, that is, just something complicated... In the mind of the researcher, this complex begins to acquire its concrete outlines in the form of a new construction. It can include both already known, so assumed, hypothetical elements or relations between them.

The experiment is designed to reveal the hypothetical real. Wundt was also guided by the principle from simple to complex. But the problem for him was that it was not he himself who had to find this simple, but the person whose mental processes he studied. If you want to understand what is happening in my mind when you show me a red rose, then you will not be satisfied with my answer: “I see a red rose”, because this is not the beginning, not the middle of the process, its predictable and obvious end. Wundt believed that the most basic elements of consciousness could be discovered with the help of specially trained introspection, or internal perception. In essence, it was a kind of introspection method, the beginning of which was laid by Socrates. But it turned out, Wundt himself later became convinced that even a trained introspection is not capable of solving the problem posed by him.

In the university laboratories of Wundt, which he created for the implementation of his extensive research program, a variety of methods were used. Among them, the reaction time method was especially popular. We should dwell on it in more detail, especially since now in many experimental works various modifications of "mental chronometry" are used.

Investigating the reaction time, Wundt tried to determine the temporal parameters of the four "elements of the psyche" he identified - perception, apperception, recognition, and association. Actually, only these elements, according to Wundt, could be the subject of experimental psychology.

Already in the 17th century, various ways of developing psychological knowledge were discussed and ideas about rational and empirical psychology were formed. In the XIX century. Psychological laboratories appeared and the first empirical research, called experimental, was carried out. In the first laboratory of experimental psychology W. Wundt used the method of experimental introspection (introspection - a person's self-observation of his own mental activity). L. Fechner developed the foundations for constructing a psychophysical experiment, they were considered as ways of collecting data on the subject's feelings when changing the physical characteristics of the stimuli presented to him. G. Ebbinghaus conducted research on the patterns of remembering and forgetting, in which the techniques that have become the standards of experimentation are traced. A number of special techniques for obtaining psychological data, in particular the so-called method of associations, preceded the development of schemes for experimental influence. Behavioral research (behaviorism is a direction in psychology of the 20th century, which ignores the phenomena of consciousness, psyche and completely reduces human behavior to the physiological reactions of the body to the external environment.), Which gave priority attention to the problem of controlling stimulus factors, developed requirements for the construction of a behavioral experiment

Back in the 19th century, positivism proclaimed: since science takes into account only facts, and not "things in themselves," the most accurate way to establish veils is experiment. Experiment is the core of the empirical approach to knowledge.

Back in the 17th century, the ways of forming scientific psychological knowledge were discussed and ideas about empirical psychology were formed.

In the 19th century, the philosophy of positivism proclaimed: since science takes into account only facts, and not "things in themselves", the most accurate way to establish veils is experiment.

Psychologists have adopted the above slogan. In the 19th century. psychological laboratories appeared and the first empirical research, called experimental, was carried out. In the first laboratory of experimental psychology, W. Wundt used the method of experimental introspection (introspection is a person's self-observation of his own mental activity).

L. Fechner developed the foundations for constructing a psychophysical experiment, they were considered as methods of collecting data on the subject's sensations when changing the physical characteristics of the stimuli presented to him.

G. Ebbinghaus conducted research on the patterns of remembering and forgetting, in which the techniques that have become the standards of experimentation are traced. A number of special techniques for obtaining psychological data, in particular the so-called method of associations, preceded the development of schemes for experimental influence.

Wundt laid the foundations, and Titchener developed a powerful trend in psychology called "structuralism" or "structural psychology." This trend was subsequently opposed by "gestaltism" and "functionalism".

Gestalt psychologists criticized Wundt's views on consciousness as a device of elements, or, in their words, "of bricks and cement." Functional psychology, based on the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin, instead of studying the elements of consciousness and its structure, is interested in consciousness as an instrument of adaptation of the organism to the environment, that is, in its function in human life. However, consciousness is interpreted from the standpoint of introspectionism - as a set of phenomena studied through self-observation. The most prominent representatives of functionalism: T. Ribot (France), E. Claparede (Switzerland), D. Dewey (USA - Chicago School), R. Woodworth (USA - Columbia School).

Nevertheless, it was Wundt and his school who determined the further development of psychology along the path of experiment. Thus, the psychologists of the famous Würzburg school, close to functionalism, expanded the boundaries of the laboratory experiment for the study of thinking and will, for which, by the way, Wundt himself condemned them. The method of introspection was deepened by them and called "experimental introspection." The head of the school was a German student of Wundt O. Külpe (1862-1915).

A great contribution to experimental psychology was made by the German scientist G. Ebbinghaus, who did not share the views of Wundt and his research method. Under the influence of Fechner's psychophysics, G. Ebbinghaus put forward as the task of psychology the establishment of the fact of the dependence of a mental phenomenon on a certain factor. In this case, a reliable indicator is not the subject's statement about his experiences, but his real achievements in one or another activity proposed by the experimenter. The subject was not asked about his subjective impressions. Thus, significant advances were made by Ebbinghaus in the study of memory and skills. The "Ebbinghaus curve", which demonstrates the dynamics of the forgetting process, is still used in science today. The experiment turned to the study of its internal laws. "

In Russia, the introspective approach was criticized by I. M. Sechenov, who put forward a program for building a "new" psychology based on an objective method and principle of the development of the psyche. Despite the fact that he worked as a physiologist and physician, his works and ideas provided a powerful methodological base and psychology. The natural science theory of psychological regulation by I.M. Sechenov in the form of a reflex theory gave an explanatory principle to the phenomena of mental life. And his research practice developed and strengthened the authority of experimental methods in the physiological and psychological fields.

End of the 19th century marked by an increase in the instrumental base of psychology: a "test experiment" is added to the research experiment. If the task of the research experiment was to obtain data about a separate phenomenon or psychological patterns, then the task of the second was to obtain data characterizing a person (a group of people). In fact, these are various tests, the results of which give reason to judge the level of development of certain qualities of a person. Thus, the test entered experimental psychology as a full-fledged method. Its main advantage from the very beginning was its practical orientation.

Psychologist James McKean Cattell is considered the ancestor of test methods, who applied them to the study of a wide range of mental functions (sensory, intellectual, motor, etc.). He discovered the phenomenon of anticipation (anticipation). Further, the test becomes the leading psychodiagnostic method.

Modern experimental psychology is understood as a field of psychological knowledge based on the application of an experiment.

Thus, the application of the experimental method to the study of mental phenomena played a decisive role in the formation of psychology as an independent science and its separation from philosophy.

1.2 Experiment as a pivotal method of experimental psychology

Experiment – it is a scientific method of collecting facts in specially created conditions that ensure the active manifestation of the studied mental phenomena; it is a method for studying a certain phenomenon in controlled conditions. Popper's criterion puts forward the possibility of setting up an experiment as the main difference between a scientific theory and a pseudoscientific one. Usually an experiment is carried out as part of a scientific study and serves to test a hypothesis, to establish causal relationships between phenomena. The experiment is the basis of the empirical approach in modern scientific knowledge.

V.A. Drummers defines experiment in psychology as "the study of mental phenomena in special experimental conditions."

Experiment differs from observation by active interaction with the object under study.

Depending on the characteristics of the research problems being solved, laboratory and natural experiments can be ascertaining or formative.

An ascertaining experiment is an experiment that establishes the presence of some immutable fact or phenomenon. An experiment becomes ascertaining if the researcher sets the task of identifying the present state and the level of formation of a certain property of the phenomenon under study, the actual level of development of the studied property in the subject or experimental group is determined.

A formative experiment is an experiment in which the study of the subjects is carried out directly in the process of teaching and upbringing, with the aim of actively shaping the mental characteristics to be studied.

The creator of a holistic teaching on the formative psychological and pedagogical experiment is V.V. Davydov. The widespread use of the formative experiment is associated with innovations and changes in the psychological and pedagogical process. The formative experiment, along with the study of the mechanisms of the formation of mental properties, contributes to the solution of educational problems.

A synonym for a formative experiment in psychological and pedagogical literature is a psychological and pedagogical experiment. A psychological-pedagogical experiment is an experimental study that uses the methods of psychology for pedagogical purposes. It is based on an approach to the development of the psyche as a phenomenon led by training and education. The essence of the psychological and pedagogical experiment lies in the fact that at first they study the features of the mental activity of children (not only the registration of the allocated facts, but also the disclosure of patterns, mechanisms, dynamics, development trends). Then, on this basis, special training is organized to optimize the identified processes and move them to a higher level.

A psychological and pedagogical experiment establishes the level of development of memory and other aspects of mental activity of the subjects, and studies the possibilities and ways that ensure the improvement of this activity. Here, the study of the subjects is carried out in the learning process, the influence of training and education on the development of the mental activity of children, on the formation of certain personality qualities is traced. That is why it provides a combination of psychological research with pedagogical search and design of the most effective forms of the educational process.

Let's give an example of such an experiment. When studying the peculiarities of the memory of younger schoolchildren, it was found that children often mechanically memorize material, instead of meaningfully memorizing it. The reason for the established fact was the children's ignorance of the methods of meaningful memorization, with the help of which the understanding of the material and its logical assimilation is achieved. Teaching children the techniques of semantic grouping teaching material, the experimenter achieved that schoolchildren began to memorize not mechanically, but meaningfully.

To study the processes of teaching and upbringing in pedagogy, a complex pedagogical experiment is used, which can be probing or testing (testing assumptions, particular hypotheses, for which it is necessary to obtain or clarify individual facts), as well as creative or transformative, associated with testing general hypotheses, developed models and structures, complex innovations.
If we set the goal of cognizing the phenomenon as such, outside of its comparison with other phenomena, then an absolute complex pedagogical experiment is organized. If an experiment is aimed at choosing the most optimal conditions or means of pedagogical activity, then it will be comparative in nature and therefore called a comparative experiment. In turn, the comparative experiment can be organized in such a way that the experimental group (experimental object) is compared with the control group, which was not affected by the experimental changes; it is possible to organize a comparative experiment as a variable experiment, when there is no control object, and several experimental options are compared with each other in order to select the best one. A mixed version is also possible, in which several experimental groups and one or several control groups are created. The experiment is characterized by:

2. Creation of a premeditated artificial situation in which the studied property is manifested best of all and it can be more accurately and more easily evaluated.

To obtain more objective research data, it is necessary to ensure equality of all conditions, factors under which this or that condition occurs. Only the independent variable should change.(for example, the types of student activities in the lesson: auditory perception of educational material; auditory perception of educational material and its grouping; independent performance of the proposed tasks and other activities of children).

In experimental studies, it is important that all subjects are equal in age, health, and motives for participation. The motives for participation vary only when it is precisely their influence on a particular mental phenomenon that is studied.

The reliability of the hypothesis being tested is achieved either by repeated repetition of experiments, or by a sufficient number of subjects with subsequent mathematical processing.

The reliability of the hypothesis being tested is achieved by repeated repetition of experiments, or by a sufficient number of subjects with subsequent mathematical processing.

The results of each experiment are recorded, recorded general information about the subjects, the nature of the experimental task, the time of the experiment, the quantitative and qualitative results of the experiment, the characteristics of the subjects are indicated.

It is important to note that experimental psychology is currently not limited to just one experiment.

Conclusions on the first chapter

1. The application of the experimental method to the study of mental phenomena played a decisive role in the formation of psychology as an independent science and its separation from philosophy.

2. Modern experimental psychology is understood as the field of psychological knowledge based on the use of experiment, experimental psychology is not currently limited to one experiment.

3. Experiment –

1. The active position of the researcher himself. The researcher can call a mental phenomenon as many times as necessary to test the hypothesis put forward.

Depending on the characteristics of the research problems being solved, laboratory and natural experiments.

Chapter 2. Experimental method

2.1 General characteristics of a psychological experiment

Experiment is one of the main methods of scientific research. In general scientific terms experiment is defined as a special research method aimed at testing scientific and applied hypotheses, requiring a strict logic of proof and based on reliable facts. In an experiment, a certain artificial (experimental) situation is always created, the causes of the phenomena under study are identified, the consequences of the actions of these causes are strictly controlled and evaluated, and the connections between the phenomena under study are clarified.

Experiment as a method of psychological research corresponds to the above definition, but has some specificity. Many authors identify the “subjectness of the object” of research as a key feature of a psychological experiment. A person as an object of cognition has activity, consciousness and thus can influence both the process of his study and its result. Therefore, special ethical requirements are imposed on the experimental situation in psychology, and the experiment itself can be considered as a process of communication between the experimenter and the subject.

The task of a psychological experiment is to make an internal mental phenomenon accessible to objective observation. In this case, the phenomenon under study should be adequately and unambiguously manifested in external behavior, which is achieved through purposeful control of the conditions for its occurrence and course.

2.1 The structure of a psychological experiment

2) an experimenter;

The subject's response is an external reaction by which one can judge the processes taking place in his internal, subjective space. These processes themselves are the result of the impact on him of stimulation and conditions of experience.

If the answer (reaction) of the subject is denoted by the symbol R, and the effects on him of the experimental situation (as a combination of the effects of stimulation and the conditions of the experiment) - by the symbol S, then their ratio can be expressed by the formula R = = f (S). That is, the reaction is a function of the situation. But this formula does not take into account the active role of the psyche, human personality (P). In reality, a person's reaction to a situation is always mediated by the psyche, personality.

An example of the course of the experiment on the specified structure is given in Appendix 1.

Conclusions on the second chapter

Experiment is one of the main methods of scientific research. The task of a psychological experiment is to make an internal mental phenomenon accessible to objective observation.

The main components of the experiment are:

1) the subject (the investigated person or group);

2) an experimenter;

3) stimulation (the method of influencing the subject chosen by the experimenter);

4) the subject's response to stimulation (his mental response);

5) the conditions of the experiment (additional to stimulation of the impact, which can affect the reactions of the subject).

Conclusion

The aim of the study was to study experiment as the leading method of experimental psychology.

In the course of the analysis of scientific literature, the concept of experiment and its features are revealed, the use of experiment as a scientific method in psychology is substantiated, the structure of a modern experiment is studied.

Experiment – it is a scientific method of collecting facts in specially created conditions that ensure the active manifestation of the studied mental phenomena; it is a method for studying a certain phenomenon in controlled conditions. Experiment differs from observation by active interaction with the object under study. Experiment in psychology is understood as the study of mental phenomena in special experimental conditions. The experiment is characterized by:

1. The active position of the researcher himself. The researcher can call a mental phenomenon as many times as necessary to test the hypothesis put forward.

2. Creation of a preliminarily thought out artificial situation in which the studied property is manifested best of all and it can be more accurately and more easily evaluated.

The main components of the experiment are:

1) the subject (the investigated person or group);

2) an experimenter;

3) stimulation (the method of influencing the subject chosen by the experimenter);

4) the subject's response to stimulation (his mental response);

5) the conditions of the experiment (additional to stimulation of the impact, which can affect the reactions of the subject).

Bibliography

1. Valeev GC. Methodology and methods of psychological and pedagogical research. M., 2014.

2. Drummers V. A. State and prospects of development of experimental psychology // Scientific research in education. - 2012. - No. 2.

3. Zhuravlev D.V. Methods of psychological research. M., 20144.

4. Zarochentsev KD Experimental psychology. M .: Prospect, 2009.

5. Control . Course of positive philosophy // The founders of positivism. Issue 4.SPb., 1912.

6. Krysanova O.A. Methodology and methods of psychological and pedagogical research. M., 2009.

7. Nikandrov VV Experimental psychology. SPb .: Rech, 2008.

8. Fedotova G.A. Methodology and methods of psychological and pedagogical research. M., 2010.

9. Shipilina L.A. Methodology and methods of psychological and pedagogical research. M., 2012.

The training manual contains work program, a thematic plan and a course of lectures in the discipline "Experimental Psychology", specialty 01 "Psychology". The manual sets out the methodological foundations of psychological research and experiment, describes the stages of preparation and conduct of the experiment, highlights the issues of processing and interpretation of the data obtained. Tutorial intended for undergraduate and graduate students.

The history of the development of experimental psychology. The role of the experimental method in psychological research

Lecture plan

1. Historical contexts of the development of psychological knowledge.

2. An experimental method in psychology. Wilhelm Wundt.

3. Experimental study of higher mental functions. Herman Ebbinghaus.

4. Structural direction of experimental psychology and functionalism.

5. Applied aspects of experimental psychology.

6. Experimental psychological research in Russian psychology.

1. Historical contexts of the development of psychological knowledge. Psychology is one of the most ancient sciences and at the same time one of the youngest. Emphasizing this inconsistency, the German psychologist G. Ebbinghaus said that psychology has a very long prehistory and a very short history of its own. For millennia, psychology has developed in the bosom of philosophical knowledge, understanding and explanation of the world, its own history begins in the middle of the 19th century, when it emerged as an independent science.

Since mythological times, a person has been occupied with his own experiences, sufferings, passions, behavior, attitude to the world around him, which found expression in the spiritualization of the body and natural things, in attributing to the body and surrounding objects a special mysterious non-material substance called "spirit".

In later times, reflections on human nature make up a significant part of philosophical and theological treatises. Already in the VI-V centuries. BC e. Heraclitus, Anaxagoras, Democritus, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and other ancient thinkers were interested in many of the problems that psychologists still work on today: the nature of sensations, perception, memory and their mechanisms, motives, affects, passions, learning, types of activity, features character, pathology of behavior, etc.

By the middle of the XIX century. the application of the experimental method in the knowledge of human nature did not pose a particular problem. First, the rejection of medieval authoritarianism and scholasticism in the natural sciences, accompanied by the ubiquity of various forms of experiment in them, had become an established fact by that time. Secondly, many natural scientists (physicists, physicians, biologists, physiologists) in their practical activities increasingly came across phenomena, the understanding of which required specific knowledge about the structure of the human body, especially about the work of its sensory organs, locomotor apparatus and cerebral mechanisms.

Already from the middle of the XVIII century. in physiology, a variety of experimental methods are used: artificial stimulation of a drug or a living organ, registration or observation of responses caused by this irritation, and the simplest mathematical processing of the data obtained. In the German biologist's Handbook of Human Physiology I. Müller(1801-1858) reflected the richest experience in physiological studies of all functions of the human body.

In the middle of the XIX century. Scottish physician based in London M. Hall(1790-1857) and professor of natural history at the French College in Paris P. Florence(1794-1867), studying the function of the brain, widely used the method of extirpation (removal), when the function of a certain part of the animal's brain is established by removing or destroying this part, followed by observing changes in its behavior.

In 1861 a French surgeon P. Broca(1824-1880) proposed a clinical method - posthumous study of the structure of the brain in order to detect damaged areas that were responsible for behavior. They opened the brain of the deceased and looked for damage that caused the anomaly of behavior during the patient's life. For example, as a result of a study of the brain of a man who was unable to speak clearly during his lifetime, the "speech center" (the third frontal gyrus of the cerebral cortex) was discovered.

The development of experimental physiology led to consequences that had a decisive influence on the anthropological sciences of that time: the factual material related to various aspects of the vital activity of organisms rapidly increased, the data obtained in experiments could not be established by speculative means; many life processes, which were previously the monopoly subject of religious and philosophical reflections, received new, mainly mechanistic explanations that put these processes on a par with the natural course of things.

The development of psychology as an independent science begins with experimental psychology, at the origins of which were German scientists. For the first time, experimental methods of studying consciousness were applied by G. Helmholtz (1821-1894), E. Weber (1795-1878), G. Fechner (1801-1887), W. Wundt (1832-1920).

The rapidly developing physiology of the nervous system gradually conquered more and more space from philosophy. German physicist and physiologist G. Helmholtz(1821-1894), measuring the speed of conduction of nerve impulses, began the study of vision and hearing, which was the basis for the formation of the psychology of perception. His theory of color perception affected not only the peripheral aspects studied by the physiology of the senses, but also many centrally conditioned phenomena that have not yet been able to control experimentally and fully (for example, his resonant theory of auditory perception).

German physiologist E. Weber(1795-1878), whose main scientific interest was associated with the physiology of the sense organs, studied cutaneous and kinesthetic sensitivity. His experiments with touch confirmed the presence of a threshold for sensation, in particular, a two-point threshold. By varying the sites of skin irritation, he showed that the magnitude of this threshold is not the same, and explained this difference. Thanks to the works of E. Weber, it became obvious not only the possibility of measuring human sensations, but also the existence of strict regularities in conscious sensory experience.

Studying the laws of communication between mental and physical phenomena was engaged G. Fechner(1801-1887), the founder of psychophysics. Deep knowledge of the physiology of the senses, physical and mathematical education, philosophical knowledge were integrated into a simple but brilliant idea, which was later formulated as the basic psychophysical law. G. Fechner developed the psychophysical methods that have become classical: the method of boundaries, the method of constant stimuli and the method of setting. They have become a powerful tool for solving scientific problems not only in psychophysics, but also in general psychology.

2. An experimental method in psychology. Wilhelm Wundt. From the middle of the XIX century. a situation arises when it becomes possible to apply the experimental methods of natural sciences to the study of philosophical and psychological problems of the relationship between soul and body, mental and physical. Despite the fact that the formation of the theoretical and methodological foundations of psychology was influenced by such ancient sciences as philosophy, medicine, biology, it is believed that the modern approach in psychology dates back to the formation in 1879 of the first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, which was headed by a German physiologist , philosopher, psychologist Wilhelm Wundt.

Wilhelm Wundt(1832-1920) entered the university at the Faculty of Medicine, but realized that medicine was not his vocation, and devoted himself to the study of physiology. In 1855 (at 23) he received his doctorate and for ten years he lectured and worked as a laboratory assistant for H. Helmholtz in Geldelberg. In 1875 he became a professor of philosophy at the University of Leipzig, where he worked for 45 years. This was the most important period of his scientific career.

In 1879 W. Wundt founded the famous psychological laboratory, in 1881 - the journal Philosophical Teachings (since 1906 Psychological Teachings), the organ of his laboratory and new science. Similar laboratories were later established in France, England, USA, Russia, Japan, Italy. In Moscow in 1912 a laboratory was equipped, which became an exact copy of Wundt's.

The main works of W. Wundt, reflecting the results of his research, are: "To the theory of sensory perception" (1858-1862), "Elements of psychophysics" (1860), "Lectures on the soul of man and animals" (1863), "Fundamentals of physiological psychology" (1873, 1874). Having founded a laboratory and a journal, W. Wundt, along with experimental research, turns to philosophy, logic, aesthetics (1881-1890). At the end of his life, he published a ten-volume work "The Psychology of Nations" (1900-1920). For the period from 1853 to 1920. W. Wundt prepared more than 54 thousand pages of scientific text, that is, he wrote 2.2 pages daily. Most of the scientist's works have been translated into Russian.

The psychology of W. Wundt was based on the experimental methods of the natural sciences, primarily on physiology. Consciousness was the subject of research. The basis of conceptual views was empiricism (a trend in the theory of knowledge that recognizes sensory experience as the only source of reliable knowledge) and associationism (a trend in psychology that explains the dynamics of mental processes by the principle of association).

W. Wundt believed that consciousness is the essence of the psyche, a complex phenomenon, for the study of which the method of analysis, or reductionism, is best suited. He noted that the first step in the study of any phenomenon should be a complete description of its constituent elements.

According to the scientist, psychology should study, first of all, direct experience, which is cleared of all kinds of interpretations and "pre-experience" knowledge, from mediated experience that knowledge gives. This experience is not part of the direct experience.

The main method of the new science was introspection- a method of psychological research, which consists in observing one's own mental processes without using any tools or standards. Since psychology is the science of the experience of consciousness, it means that the method should also presuppose observations of one's own consciousness. To obtain information about the senses, the researcher used some stimulus, and then asked the subject to describe the received sensations.

Experiments on introspection, or internal perception, were carried out in the Leipzig laboratory according to strict rules: precise determination of the moment of the beginning of the experiment; observers should not lower their level of attention; the experiment must be performed several times; the conditions of the experiment must be acceptable for the change and control over the change in the factors of irritation.

Introspective analysis was associated not with qualitative introspection (when the subject described his internal experience), but with the subject's immediate ideas about the magnitude, intensity, range of action of the physical stimulus, reaction time, etc. Thus, conclusions about the elements and processes of consciousness were made only on the basis of objective assessments.

The Leipzig Laboratory studied the psychological and physiological aspects of sight and hearing and other senses. Visual sensations and perceptions (psychophysics of color, color contrast, peripheral vision, negative afterimage, blindness, volumetric vision, optical illusions), tactile sensations, as well as the "sense" of time (perception or assessment of different periods of time) were studied. Special attention was paid to experiments aimed at studying the time and speed of reaction, attention and feelings, and verbal associations.

Thus, W. Wundt can be called the founder of modern psychology. Thanks to him, a new branch of science arose - experimental psychology. He tried to develop a rigorous theory of nature human thinking... W. Wundt conducted research in a specially created laboratory and published the results in his own journal. Some of Wundt's followers founded laboratories and continued his research with remarkable results.

3. Experimental study of higher mental functions. Herman Ebbinghaus... Just a few years after W. Wundt's statement about the impossibility of experimental study of higher mental functions, a German lone psychologist G. Ebbinghaus(1850-1909), who worked outside any universities, began to successfully apply the experiment to study the processes of memory, learning, etc.

G. Ebbinghaus's study of the processes of memorization and forgetting is an example of brilliant work in experimental psychology - the first experience of considering psychological rather than psychophysiological problems. Over the course of five years, G. Ebbinghaus conducted a number of serious studies on himself. He argued that the difficulty of the memorized material can be estimated by the number of repetitions for its subsequent error-free reproduction. They used meaningless lists of three-letter syllables as material for memorization. Finding such combinations was an extremely difficult task for G. Ebbinghaus: he spoke English, French as well as his native German, studied Latin and Greek.

Syllables should be chosen so as not to evoke associations. Its meaningless syllables usually consisted of two consonants and one vowel (for example lef, bok or aus, tap, sip etc.). He painted all possible letter combinations, having received 2300 syllables, from which he randomly chose syllables for memorization. Moreover, not only individual syllables should have been devoid of meaning, but also the text (list of syllables) as a whole.

In the course of the experiments, the features of learning and memorization in different conditions, the difference in the speed of memorizing meaningless syllables and meaningful material, the dependence of the volume of memorized material on the number of repetitions were determined. The study of G. Ebbinghaus was distinguished by its thoroughness, strict control over the observance of the experimental conditions, and mathematical analysis of the data.

Other important works of his are "On Memory"; Principles of Psychology (1902); "Essays on Psychology" (1908).

G. Ebbinghaus did not make a large theoretical contribution to psychology, he did not create a psychological system, did not found his own school, did not educate students. His place in the history of psychology is determined by the fact that he laid the foundation for the experimental study of memory processes.

4. Structural direction in experimental psychology and functionalism. Initially, experimental psychology developed within the framework of the structural direction of the study of the problems of consciousness, mainly following the traditions of the methodological approach of R. Descartes. The first psychological laboratories and psychological research (W. Wundt, G. Ebbinghaus, G. Müller, O. Külpe, V.M.Bekhterev, E. Kraepelin, G.I. Chelpanov, I.A. to identify the structure and elements of consciousness (as the main subject of psychology). At this stage, psychology was accumulating empirical material, developing a methodology and tools for the study of mental phenomena. There was no question of a wide applied use of the knowledge gained. This position in its extreme was clearly expressed by E. Titchener(1867-1927), American psychologist, student of W. Wundt. He believed that structural psychology was a "pure science" with no applied value, and believed that scientists should not worry about the practical value of their research.

But at the same time, another direction in psychology emerged - functionalism, which took shape in the late 19th - early 20th century. XX century. primarily in American experimental psychology, and became a conscious protest against structural psychology ("pure science"), which has no applied value.

Functionalism- scientific direction in psychology, investigating the problems associated with the role of the psyche in the adaptation of the organism to conditions environment... Representatives of functional psychology are F. Galton, W. James, D. Dewey, D. Angell, G. Carr and their followers, who developed the applied aspects of psychology (S. Hall, J. Cattel, A. Binet, etc.).

The adherents of functionalism did not strive for the formal education of their own scientific school, but, studying the behavior of the organism in the conditions of its interaction with the environment, they became interested in the issues of the practical application of the results of psychological research in solving everyday problems.

English psychologist and anthropologist F. Galton(1822-1911) in the study of problems of mental heredity and individual differences in the development of children used statistical methods, used questionnaires and psychological tests. The ultimate goal of research was to promote the birth of "quality" individuals and prevent the birth of "low-quality" ones. F. Galton created a new science of eugenics, which dealt with factors that could improve the inherited qualities of people, and argued that the human race, like domestic animals, can be improved through artificial selection. For this, it is necessary that talented people are selected from the general mass and are only married to each other for many generations. F. Galton was the first who, in order to select highly gifted men and women for further breeding work, developed tests of mental abilities, although science owes the appearance of this term to the American psychologist D. Cattell, a student of W. Wundt.

To substantiate these studies, to ensure their objectivity, reliability and reliability F. Galton used the methods of statistics. F. Galton's works in the field of statistics also led to the discovery of one of the most important quantities - correlation, the first mention of which appeared in 1888. With the support of F. Galton, his student K. Pearson derived the formula used to this day for determining the correlation coefficient, called "Pearson's correlation coefficient". Subsequently, on the basis of the works of F. Galton, many other methods of statistical assessments were developed, which are used to analyze the results of psychological research.

The final version of functionalism is set forth in the book by the American psychologist G. Carr "Psychology" (1925), which indicates that the subject of study of psychology is mental activity, ie. processes such as perception, memory, imagination, thinking, feelings, will; the function of mental activity is to acquire, fix, store, organize and evaluate experiences and use them to guide behavior. This orientation of psychological theoretical research corresponded to the needs and demands of the economic and social development of American society. The sphere of applied use of psychology began to expand rapidly.

5. Applied aspects of experimental psychology. One of the "pioneers" in American psychology, who took up its applied aspects in the field of school education, is S. Hall(1844-1924), organizer of the first psychological laboratory at Johns Hopkins University (1883). When studying child psychology, S. Hall made extensive use of the questionnaire method, which he met in Germany. By 1915 S. Hall and his students had developed and successfully used 194 questionnaires for a variety of studies.

A significant contribution to the development of the foundations of psychodiagnostics as an applied aspect of experimental psychology was made by D. Cattell(1860-1944). In one of the articles, written by him in 1890, the definition of tests of mental abilities (tests of motor, or sensorimotor abilities) appeared. While working at the University of Pennsylvania, D. Cattell conducted a series of such tests among his students and by 1901 had collected enough information to establish a connection between test results and student academic performance. The results were disappointing. Comparing them with similar ones obtained in the laboratory of E. Titchener, D. Kettel came to the conclusion that such tests cannot serve as an indicator of academic performance in college, and, consequently, of the mental abilities of students.

Although the concept of "test of mental abilities" was introduced by D. Kettel, the test method has become widespread thanks to the works A. Binet(1857-1911), a French independent self-taught psychologist who used more complex criteria for mental development. He did not agree with the approach of F. Galton and D. Cattell, who used tests of sensorimotor functions to measure intelligence. A. Binet believed that the best criterion for mental development can be the assessment of such cognitive functions as memory, attention, imagination, and ingenuity. His method provided the ability to effectively measure a person's intelligence, which was the beginning of modern testology.

In 1904, A. Binet had the opportunity to prove his case in practice. At the initiative of the French Ministry of Public Education, a commission was created to study the mental abilities of children with difficulties in schooling... A. Binet and psychiatrist T. Simon participated in the work of the commission and jointly developed a number of intellectual tasks for children of different age groups. Based on these tasks, the first intelligence test was compiled. Initially, it consisted of 30 verbal, perceptual and manipulative tasks, which were ranked in order of increasing difficulty.

In subsequent years, the test has been revised and modified several times. A. Binet and T. Simon proposed the concept of mental age determined by the level of those intellectual tasks that the child is able to solve.

After the death of A. Binet in 1911, the development of testology "shifted" to the USA, where his work received even greater recognition than in France. In 1916 g. L. Terman, a former student of S. Hall, modified the Binet-Simon test, which has since become the standard. He named it the Stanford-Binet scale after Stanford University, where the test was first introduced, and introduced the concept of intelligence quotient (IQ) into wide circulation. The Stanford-Binet scale has undergone several revisions and is widely used in modern testology.

With the outbreak of the First World War and the increased technical equipment of the troops, the army was faced with the task of distributing a huge number of recruits according to the branches of the armed forces and entrusting them with the appropriate tasks. In order to conduct testing on the complex Stanford-Binet scale, specially trained people were required. This personality-oriented test was not suitable for a large-scale testing program where a short time it was necessary to assess the abilities of many people. Supervised a special commission, a group of 40 psychologists, President of the APA (American Psychological Association) R. Yerkes... After analyzing many tests, the test was taken as a basis S. Otis and after revision prepared "army alpha test" and "army beta test" ("beta" is the version of "alpha" for non-English speaking and illiterate people).

The work of the commission proceeded slowly, and in fact, testing of recruits began three months before the end of the war. More than a million people have been tested. And although the program had almost no direct influence on military successes (by that time the army no longer needed these data), nevertheless it turned out to be very important for the development of practical and applied psychology in general. Army testing became the prototype for subsequent mass psychological examinations.

When conducting group tests for the selection of recruits for the army for complex technical specialties, the determination of personal characteristics was also encouraged. When the army needed tests to weed out recruits with neuroses, American psychologist R. Woodworth(1869-1962) developed a form of personal data - a questionnaire in which the subjects noted those signs of neurotic conditions that, in their opinion, they have. The identity data sheet served as a model for the further development of group testing.

Another student of W. Wundt is an American psychologist W. Scott(1869-1955), leaving the position of structural introspective psychology, applied psychological methods in business and advertising, investigating the problems of market efficiency and motivation in production, trade and consumption. For the needs of the army, he developed a scale for assessing the qualities of junior officers. During the First World War, W. Scott invited the military to use his knowledge in the selection of personnel for the army. Towards the end of the war, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the highest US military honor a civilian can receive. In 1919, W. Scott founded his own company, which provided consulting services to work with personnel and improve the efficiency of more than forty of the largest corporations in the United States. In 1920, he became president of Northwestern University, a position he held for nearly 20 years.

By the time the Second World War ended, applied psychology had gained its scientific recognition. “Applied psychology,” said E. Thorndike, “is a scientific work. Creating a psychology for business, industry or the military is harder than creating a psychology for other psychologists, and therefore requires more talent. "

6. Experimental psychological research in Russian psychology.

In Russia, psychology developed under the influence of the reflex theory of I.M.Sechenov, which was further developed in the teaching of I.P. Pavlov about conditioned reflexes. In Russian psychology in the pre-October period (until 1917), the natural science and empirical directions were conditionally distinguished, the representatives of which introduced greatest contribution in the development and development of problems in experimental psychology. Classical experimental studies carried out in the laboratories of I.P. Pavlov, V.M.Bekhterev, as well as psychologists N.N. Lange, N.A. Bernstein, clinicians S.S.Korsakov, A.R. Luria and others, were natural scientific basis of psychological knowledge. Charles Darwin's ideas about the evolution of the psyche of animals were developed in the works of AN Severtsov and VA Wagner.

In the 20-30s. XX century Soviet psychology is shifting to the position of the dialectical-materialist method of cognition. This process has been rather controversial. Along with this, experimental research in psychophysiological laboratories continues to expand, testological examinations are gaining momentum for the purpose of vocational guidance and vocational selection when assigned to complex types of professional activity.

During this period, more than 12 research institutes, about 150 laboratories for experimental psychology were founded, and a lot of scientific and methodological literature was published. A program of research and practical work was adopted, which indicated three main areas of research: the study of man ("the subjective moment of labor"), the study and adaptation of tools to the "material working environment", the study of rational methods of labor organization.

In the 30s. XX century. in the USSR, psychotechnics became widespread - a branch of psychology that studied the application of psychology to solving practical issues, mainly related to the psychology of labor, vocational guidance and professional selection. It was believed that foreign psychotechnical developments are "arch-bourgeois in nature", since the well-known formula "all have equal opportunities" was subjected to experimentally substantiated criticism from Soviet psychologists. The requirements of neutrality and objectivity, non-class and non-partisan nature of psychology put psychotechnics and labor psychology in a difficult position. Critics of experimental psychology actively argued that the testological procedure is becoming an instrument of racial discrimination and has assumed the function of social regulation, based on the false idea that science can become above society, its processes, norms and attitudes.

After the decree of the Central Committee of the VKPB "On pedological perversions in the system of the People's Commissariat for Education", psychotechnics (like all practical psychology) came under destruction. In a short time, all laboratories for industrial psychotechnics and psychophysiology of labor were closed, psychotechnical literature was destroyed or handed over to closed archives. The few works of psychotechnical scientists of the 20-30s. XX century. survived only in private libraries and are difficult to access for a wide range of readers.

In the 40s. XX century experimental psychological research has moved into the military sphere. In collaboration with K. Kh. Kekcheev in 1941, A. N. Leontiev investigated the problem of adaptation of the visual analyzer, in 1942 a similar problem was solved by them in the border troops. In 1945, the book “Restoring the Movement. Psychophysiological study of the restoration of hand functions after injury ", where the results of the work of A. N. Leontyev and A. V. Zaporozhets on this topic during the years of the Great Patriotic War were summed up. For the period 40-50-ies. XX century experimental developments in the field of analysis of individual higher mental functions, namely, thinking, speech, emotions, are characteristic, and there has also been significant progress in the study of the problems of child psychology.

Only by the end of the 50s. XX century experimental psychology again entered the scientific research field. In particular, in 1958, under the leadership of K. K. Platonov, the first scientific research work on psychotechnical problems began. In the 60s. XX century there has been a rapid growth in the quantity and quality of psychological research. Computer, or "adaptive", psychodiagnostics is developing (V. A. Duke, A. Anastazi, S. Urbina), where the key place is occupied by the computer and mathematical methods. Psychological experimentation is saturated with electronic computing technology, it turns into samples of artificial intelligence. Discussion flares up between philosophers, psychologists and cybernetics about the possibility of creating "artificial intelligence" similar to "natural". Formalized computer psychological techniques are making themselves more and more pronounced.

Thus, the psychological experiment at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries acquired the individual status of the main method of psychology. Under the influence of experimental psychology, the status of psychological science itself has changed. “Over the course of several decades,” wrote S. L. Rubinstein in 1946, “the actual experimental material at the disposal of psychology has grown significantly, the methods by which it works have become more diverse and more precise, the face of science has noticeably changed. The introduction of experiment into psychology not only armed it with this new, very powerful special method of scientific research, but also raised the question of the methodology of psychological research in general in a new way, putting forward new requirements and criteria for the scientific character of all types of experimental research in psychology. That is why the introduction of the experimental method into psychology has played such a large, perhaps even decisive role in the formation of psychology as an independent science. "

At present, experimental psychology is an independent branch of psychological knowledge, without close interaction with which no other branch of psychology can do. Any research in any branch of psychological knowledge is based on the methodology and methods of psychological research, experiment, methods, techniques and methods of mathematical and statistical processing of psychological data.

QUESTIONS FOR CREDITS FOR THE DISCIPLINE "EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY"

1. The subject and tasks of experimental psychology

Experimental psychology is understood as

1. the entire scientific psychology as a system of knowledge obtained on the basis of the experimental study of human and animal behavior. (W. Wundt, S. Stevenson, etc.) Scientific psychology is equated with experimental and opposed to philosophical, introspective, speculative and humanitarian versions of psychology.

2. Experimental psychology is sometimes interpreted as a system of experimental methods and techniques, implemented and specific research. (M.V. Matlin).

3. The term "experimental psychology" is used by psychologists to characterize the scientific discipline dealing with the problem of methods of psychological research in general.

4. Experimental psychology is understood only as the theory of psychological experiment based on the general scientific theory of experiment and, first of all, including its planning and data processing. (F.J. McGuigan).

Experimental psychology encompasses more than research general patterns the course of mental processes, but also individual variations in sensitivity, reaction time, memory, associations, etc.

The task of the experiment is not simply to establish or state cause-and-effect relationships, but to explain the origin of these relationships. The subject of experimental psychology is man. Depending on the goals of the experiment, the characteristics of the group of subjects (gender, age, health, etc.), the tasks can be creative, labor, play, educational, etc.

Yu.M. Zabrodin believes that the basis of the experimental method is the procedure of controlled change of reality for the purpose of its study, which allows the researcher to enter into direct contact with it.

2. The history of the development of experimental psychology

Already in the 17th century, various ways of developing psychological knowledge were discussed and ideas about rational and empirical psychology were formed. In the XIX century. Psychological laboratories appeared and the first empirical research, called experimental, was carried out. In the first laboratory of experimental psychology W. Wundt used the method of experimental introspection ( introspection- self-observation of a person for his own mental activity). L. Fechner developed the foundations for constructing a psychophysical experiment, they were considered as ways of collecting data on the subject's feelings when changing the physical characteristics of the stimuli presented to him. G. Ebbinghaus conducted research on the patterns of remembering and forgetting, in which the techniques that have become the standards of experimentation are traced. A number of special techniques for obtaining psychological data, in particular the so-called method of associations, preceded the development of schemes for experimental influence. Behavioral research ( behaviorism- a trend in the psychology of the XX century, ignoring the phenomena of consciousness, psyche and completely reducing human behavior to the physiological reactions of the body to the influence of the external environment.), Which gave priority attention to the problem of controlling stimulus factors, developed requirements for the construction of a behavioral experiment.

Thus, experimental psychology was prepared by the study of elementary mental functions - sensations, perception, reaction time, which was widely developed in the middle of the 19th century. These works gave rise to the idea of ​​the possibility of creating experimental psychology as a special science, different from physiology and philosophy. The first master exp. psychology is rightly called c. Wundt, who founded the Institute of Psychology in Leipzig in 1879.

The founder of the American exp. Psychology is called S. Hall, who for 3 years studied in Leipzig in the laboratory of W. Wundt. He then became the first president of the American Psychological Association. Other researchers include James Cattell, who also received his doctorate from W. Wundt (in 1886). He was the first to introduce the concept of an intellectual test.

In France, T. Ribot formulated an idea of ​​the subject of experimental psychology, which, in his opinion, should not deal with metaphysics or the discussion of the essence of the soul, but with the identification of laws and the immediate causes of mental phenomena.

In Russian psychology, one of the first examples of methodological work on the way of comprehending the standards of experimentation is the concept of a natural experiment by A.F. Lazursky, which he proposed in 1910. on the 1st all-Russian congress on experimental pedagogy.

Since the 70s, the training course "Experimental Psychology" has been taught in Russian universities. In the "State educational standard of higher professional education" for 1995, he is given 200 hours. The tradition of teaching experimental psychology at Russian universities was introduced by Professor G.I. Chelpanov. Back in the 1909/10 school year, he taught this course at a seminary in psychology at Moscow University, and later at the Moscow Psychological Institute (now the Psychological Institute of the Russian Academy of Education).

Chelpanov considered experimental psychology as an educational discipline according to the method of psychological research, or rather, according to the method of experiment in psychology.

3. Methodology of experimental psychology

Science is a sphere of human activity, the result of which is new knowledge about reality that meets the criterion of truth. The practicality, usefulness, effectiveness of scientific knowledge are considered to be derived from its truth. In addition, the term "science" refers to the entire body of knowledge obtained to date by a scientific method. The result of scientific activity can be a description of reality, an explanation of the prediction of processes and phenomena, which are expressed in the form of text, structural diagram, graphical dependence, formula, etc. The ideal of scientific research is the discovery of laws - a theoretical explanation of reality. Science as a system of knowledge (result of activity) is characterized by completeness, reliability, systematicity. Science as an activity is primarily characterized by method... The method distinguishes science from other methods of obtaining knowledge (revelation, intuition, faith, speculation, everyday experience, etc.). Method - a set of techniques and operations of practical and theoretical mastering of reality. All methods of modern science are divided into theoretical and empirical. With the theoretical method of research, the scientist does not work with reality, but with representation in the form of images, schemes, models in natural language. The main work is done in the mind. Empirical research is carried out to test the correctness of theoretical constructions. The scientist works directly with the object, and not with its symbolic image.

In empirical research, a scientist works with graphs, tables, but this happens "in the external plan of action"; diagrams are drawn, calculations are made. In theoretical research, a "thought experiment" is carried out when the object of research is subjected to various tests based on logical reasoning. There is such a method as modeling. It uses the method of analogies, assumptions, inferences. Simulation is used when it is not possible to conduct an experimental study. Distinguish between "physical" and "sign-symbolic" modeling. The "physical model" is being investigated experimentally. When researching with the help of the "sign-symbolic" model, the object is realized in the form of a complex computer program.

Among scientific methods allocate: observation, experiment, measurement .

In the XX century. over the course of a generation, scientific views on reality have changed dramatically. Old theories have been refuted by observation and experiment. So, any theory is a temporary structure, and can be destroyed. Hence - the criterion of the scientific character of knowledge: such knowledge is recognized as scientific that can be rejected (recognized as false) in the process of empirical verification. Knowledge, which cannot be refuted by an appropriate procedure, cannot be scientific. Each theory is just an assumption and can be refuted by experiment. Popper formulated the rule: "We don't know - we can only guess."

With different approaches to the allocation of methods of psychological research, the criterion remains that aspect of its organization, which makes it possible to determine the methods of the research attitude to the reality being studied. Techniques are then viewed as data collection procedures or “techniques” that can be incorporated into different research frameworks.

Methodology is a system of knowledge that determines the principles, patterns and mechanisms of using the methods of psychological research. Methodology exp. psychology, like any other science, is built on the basis of certain principles:

· The principle of determinism - the manifestation of cause-and-effect relationships. in our case - the interaction of the psyche with the environment - the action of external causes is mediated by internal conditions, i.e. psyche.

· The principle of the unity of the physiological and mental.

· The principle of the unity of consciousness and activity.

· Principle of development (principle of historicism, genetic principle).

The principle of objectivity

· Systemic and structural principle.

4. Psychological dimension

Measurement can be an independent research method, but it can act as a component of a complete experimental procedure.

As an independent method, it serves to identify individual differences in the behavior of the subject and the reflection of the surrounding world, as well as to study the adequacy of reflection (the traditional task of psychophysics) and the structure of individual experience.

Measurement is included in the context of the experiment as a method of registering the state of the object of research and, accordingly, changes in this state in response to the experimental impact. In psychology, there are three main procedures for psychological measurement. The basis for the distinction is the object of measurement. First, a psychologist can measure the characteristics of people's behavior in order to determine how one person differs from another in terms of the severity of certain properties, the presence of a particular mental state, or for attributing it to a certain type of personality. The psychologist, by measuring the characteristics of behavior, determines the similarities or differences between people. The psychological dimension becomes that of the subjects.

Secondly, the researcher can use measurement as a task of the subject, during which he measures (classifies, ranks, evaluates, etc.) external objects: other people, stimuli or objects of the external world, his own states. Often this procedure turns out to be a measurement of incentives. The concept of "stimulus" is used in a broad sense, and not in a narrow psychophysical or behavioral one. A stimulus is understood as any scaled object. Third, there is a procedure for the so-called joint measurement (or joint scaling) of stimuli and people. It is assumed that "stimuli" and "subjects" can be located on the same axis. The subject's behavior is viewed as a manifestation of the interaction between the personality and the situation.

Outwardly, the procedure for psychological measurement is no different from the procedure for a psychological experiment. Moreover, in psychological research practice, "measurement" and "experiment" are often used interchangeably. However, when conducting a psychological experiment, we are interested in causal relationships between variables, and the result of psychological measurement is only the assignment of the subject or the object he is evaluating to a particular class, point on a scale or space of signs. The psychological measurement procedure consists of a number of stages similar to the stages of experimental research.

The basis of psychological measurements is the mathematical theory of measurements - a branch of psychology that is intensively developing in parallel and in close interaction with the development of psychological measurement procedures. Today it is the largest branch of mathematical psychology.

Measuring scale is the basic concept introduced into psychology in 1950 by S.S. Stevens; his interpretation of the scale is still used in scientific literature today. Scale - literally there is a measuring instrument.

The scale type defines the set of statistical methods that can be applied to process measurement data.

There are several types of scales:

1. Scale of names - obtained by assigning "names" to objects. Objects are compared with each other, and their equivalence is determined - nonequivalence.

2. Scale of order - ordering of objects according to the severity of some feature.

3. Scale of intervals.

4. The scale of relationships.

5. Types of psychological measurements

In the natural sciences, one should distinguish, as S.S. Papovyan, three types of measurement:

1. Fundamental measurement is based on fundamental empirical laws that allow you to directly derive the system of numerical relations from the empirical system.

2. A derived dimension is a measurement of variables based on patterns that relate these variables to others. Derivative measurement requires the establishment of laws that describe the relationships between individual parameters of reality, allowing the derivation of "hidden" variables on the basis of directly measured variables.

3. Measurement "by definition" is made when we arbitrarily assume that the system of observable features characterizes this, and not some other property or state of the object.

Psychological measurement methods can be classified on various grounds:

1) the procedure for collecting "raw" data;

2) the subject of measurement;

3) the type of scale used;

4) the type of material to be scaled;

5) scaling models;

6) the number of dimensions (one-dimensional and multidimensional);

7) the strength of the data collection method (strong or weak);

8) the type of response of the individual;

9) what they are: deterministic or probabilistic.

For the experimental psychologist, the main reasons are the data collection procedure and the subject of measurement.

The most commonly used subjective scaling procedures are:

Ranking method. All objects are presented to the subject at the same time, he must arrange them according to the size of the measured feature.

Pairwise comparison method. The objects are presented to the subject in pairs. The subject assesses the similarities - the differences between the members of the couples.

Absolute assessment method. The incentives are presented one at a time. The subject gives an assessment of the stimulus in units of the proposed scale.

Selection method. The individual is offered several objects (stimuli, utterances, etc.), from which he must choose those that correspond to a given criterion.

On the subject of measurement, all techniques are divided into a) techniques for scaling objects; b) methods of scaling individuals and c) methods of joint scaling of objects and individuals.

Scaling techniques for objects (stimuli, statements, etc.) are embedded in the context of an experimental or measurement procedure. In essence, they are not the task of the researcher, but are the experimental task of the subject. The researcher uses this task to identify the subject's behavior (in this case, reactions, actions, verbal assessments, etc.) in order to know the features of his psyche.

With subjective scaling, the subject performs the functions of a measuring device, while the experimenter takes little interest in the features of the objects "measured" by the subject and examines the "measuring device" itself.

6. Experimental psychology and teaching practice

Social activity, morality, realization of individual abilities are the main tasks of education, the success of which largely depends on the direction and pace of reforms. school life... One of the problems facing teachers is psychological and pedagogical dualism in relation to a developing personality - education and upbringing are not always based on knowledge about the psychology of a child's development and the formation of his personality.

Each student has only one of his inherent features of cognitive activity, emotional life, will, character, each requires an individual approach, which the teacher, for various reasons, cannot always implement.

IN Lately The structural approach has become traditional in the activities of child psychologists, within the framework of which personal and interpersonal relationships, etc. are considered.

Since the activity of a psychologist is more aimed at solving specific problems with which students, their parents or teachers turn to him, the main goal of the psychological service as a whole can be considered the promotion of mental health, educational interests and the disclosure of the individuality of the socializing personality, the correction of various kinds of difficulties in its development. The systematic nature of the work of a psychologist is ensured as follows. First, the psychologist considers the student's personality as a complex system with different directions of manifestations (from the individual's own internal activity to participation in various groups that have a certain influence on him). Secondly, the methodological tools used by the workers of the psychological service are also subject to the logic of a systematic approach and are aimed at identifying all aspects and qualities of the student in order to help his development.

In its most general form, diagnostic, counseling and corrective work with students must be carried out at five critical levels.

1. The psychophysiological level shows the formation of the components that make up the internal physiological and psychophysiological basis of all systems of the developing subject.

2. The individual psychological level determines the development of the basic psychological systems (cognitive, emotional, etc.) of the subject.

3. The personal level expresses the specific features of the subject itself as an integral system, its difference from similar subjects at this stage of development.

4. The microgroup level shows the features of the interaction of the developing subject as an integral system with other subjects and their associations.

5. The social level determines the forms of interaction of the subject with broader social associations and society as a whole.

In addition, the system of work of the psychological service should include various types of work with the personnel of educational institutions (joint comprehensive research, consultations, seminars, etc.), aimed not only at increasing the psychological competence of teachers, but also at overcoming the isolation of the school from real life... The need for this form of work is also due to the fact that the psychological service is not turned into an "ambulance" or "order table", performing only assigned tasks, so that the psychologist can control the psychological situation at school, he himself determines the prospects for his development, the strategy and tactics of interaction with various groups of students and individuals.

Fundamental knowledge, like the knowledge gained in the system of other sciences, is used by pedagogy to solve the problems of teaching and upbringing. Experimental psychology presupposes the necessary guidelines in modern methods of organizing experimental research and systems of methods tending to experimental ones.

One of the main methods of psychology is experiment, which relies on an accurate account of the changing independent variables that affect the dependent variable. And the personality and various groups of people are a ready-made experimental platform for psychologists.

Psychology is ahead of pedagogy, paves the way for it, provides a broad search for something new in teaching and upbringing.

Even Konstantin Dmitrievich Ushinsky emphasized that in terms of importance for pedagogy, psychology ranks first among all sciences, because in order to teach and educate, it is necessary to know the psyche of the educated and trained. Not a single problem of pedagogy can be solved without relying on psychological knowledge.

A modern holistic approach, which makes it possible to more effectively carry out the process of teaching various disciplines at school and educating students, enhances the role of psychology as a science in training a new generation of teaching staff.

So experimental psychology and pedagogical practice are closely related.

7. Research program

Science differs from any other sphere of human activity in its goals, means, motives and conditions in which scientific work proceeds. If the goal of science is the comprehension of truth, then its method is scientific research.

Research can be empirical and theoretical, although this distinction is conditional, most research is of a theoretical-empirical nature. Any research is not carried out in isolation, but within the framework of a holistic scientific program or in order to develop a scientific direction. Research by its nature can be divided into fundamental and applied, monodisciplinary and interdisciplinary, analytical and complex, etc. Fundamental research is aimed at cognition of reality without taking into account the practical effect of the application of knowledge. Applied research is carried out in order to obtain knowledge that should be used to solve a specific practical problem. Monodisciplinary research is carried out within the framework of a separate science (in this case, psychology). Like interdisciplinary research, this research requires the participation of specialists from different fields and is carried out at the intersection of several scientific disciplines. These include research: genetic; in the field of engineering psychophysiology; at the junction of ethnopsychology and sociology. Comprehensive studies are carried out using a system of methods and techniques through which scientists strive to cover the maximum (or optimal) possible number of significant parameters of the reality being studied. Univariate, or analytical, research is aimed at identifying one of the most significant, according to the researcher, aspect of reality. From the standpoint of critical rationalism (as Popper and his followers characterized their worldview), an experiment is a method of refuting plausible hypotheses. The regulatory process of scientific research is structured as follows:

1. Putting forward a hypothesis (hypotheses).

2. Planning the study.

3. Conducting research.

4. Interpretation of data.

5. Refutation or non-refutation of the hypothesis (hypotheses).

6. In case of rejection of the old - the formulation of a new hypothesis (hypotheses).

After fixing the results of the experiment, the primary analysis of the data is carried out, their mathematical processing, interpretation and generalization. Initial hypotheses are tested for validity. New facts or patterns are being formulated. Theories are refined or discarded as unusable. New conclusions and predictions are made on the basis of the refined theory. Research on the purpose of their conduct can be divided into several types. The first is exploratory research. Their goal is to solve a problem that no one has posed before.

The scientific result, ideally, should not depend on time. Scientific knowledge is intersubjective, therefore the scientific result should not depend on the personality of the researcher, his motives, intentions, intuition, etc.

The well-known methodologist M. Bunge believed that in reality it is impossible to create a study that would correspond to the ideal. The personal traits of the researcher leave a certain imprint on the experiment. But in any case, the scientific method should strive to be as close to ideal as possible.

8. Subject and object of research

The object of research is the area within which there is (contains) what will be studied. The subject of the research is the regularities of the processes taking place in this area. We can say that the subject of research is a specific part of the object of research, or a process that occurs in it, or an aspect of the problem that is being investigated. Within the framework of the research object, one can talk about various research subjects. Subject and object: through the relationship between the general and the particular: an object is a process, or a phenomenon that affects a problem situation, an object is something that is on the border of the object. Through the subject: the object is the one who is being investigated, the object is what is cognized. At one time, having separated from philosophy, psychology inherited from it the problem of consciousness, which was considered the unconditional prerogative of man. Darwin's idea of ​​evolution also touched upon this indisputable dogma, at least in the form of raising the question of the prehistory of human consciousness. At the end of the XIX century. a new direction appeared in the sciences of the living - comparative psychology. The thesis about the existence in animals of embryonic forms of consciousness, reason and even intellect was accepted in her as an axiom.

Comparative psychology, having quickly passed the stage of anthropomorphism (the work of George Romanes), emerged as an experimental discipline. The first experiments with animals were carried out by creating special controlled situations.

Beginning with the works of E. Thorndike, experiments with animals acquire more rigorous scientific outlines. In particular, the division of variables into independent (varied by the experimenter) and dependent (in the form of objectively recorded parameters and behavioral reactions of the animal) is already used here.

Variable variables:

The complexity of the problem situation;

Reinforcement or punishment mode;

Animal condition

Registered parameters:

The total time to resolve the problem;

Number of mistakes;

The nature of the activity of the animal.

Thorndike's work laid the foundation for a whole direction in experimental psychology, which is successfully developing at the present time - the study of learning processes. During this time, the arsenal of experimental techniques has been significantly enriched, which are used with equal success (albeit with appropriate modifications) both in humans (children and adults) and in animals.

In an experiment, the object of research is a person, and the object is the human psyche.

9. Scientific problem

Problem statement is the beginning of any research. Unlike an everyday one, a scientific problem is formulated in terms of a certain scientific field. It must be operationalized, i.e. formulated in terms of developmental psychology and can be solved by certain methods.

The statement of the problem entails the formulation of a hypothesis. The ability to detect a "blank spot" in knowledge about the world is one of the main appearances of the talent of the researcher. The following stages of generating a problem can be distinguished:

· Revealing the lack of scientific knowledge about reality;

· Description of the problem at the level of everyday language;

· Formulation of the problem in terms of a scientific discipline.

The second stage is necessary, since the transition to the level of everyday language makes it possible to switch from one scientific field (with its own specific terminology) to another. For example, the reasons for the aggressive behavior of people can be sought not in psychological factors, but in biogenetic ones, and the problem can be solved by methods of general or molecular genetics. You can plunge into astrological knowledge and try to formulate the problem in other terms - the influence of the planets on the character and behavior of a person.

Thus, already formulating the problem, we narrow the range of searching for its possible solutions and implicitly put forward a research hypothesis. A problem is a rhetorical question that the researcher asks nature, but he must answer it himself. Let us also give a philosophical interpretation of the concept of "problem". A "problem" is an objectively arising in the course of the development of knowledge, a question or a set of questions, the solution of which is of significant practical or theoretical interest. Problems are categorized into real problems and "pseudo problems" that seem significant. In addition, a class of insoluble problems is distinguished (the transformation of mercury into gold, the creation of a "perpetual motion machine", etc.). The proof of the undecidability of the problem itself is one of the options for its solution.

10. Scientific hypothesis

A hypothesis is a scientific assumption arising from a theory that has not yet been confirmed or refuted. In the methodology of science, theoretical hypotheses and hypotheses are distinguished as empirical assumptions that are subject to experimental verification. The former enter the structure of theories as the main parts. Theoretical hypotheses are put forward to eliminate internal contradictions in theory or to overcome the discrepancies between theory and experimental results and are a tool for improving theoretical knowledge. Fayerabend is talking about such hypotheses. A scientific hypothesis must satisfy the principles of falsifiability (to be refuted in an experiment) and verifiability (to be confirmed in an experiment). The second are the assumptions put forward to solve the problem by the method of experimental research. Such assumptions are called experimental hypotheses and do not have to be based on theory.

There are 3 types of hypotheses by their origin:

· A hypothesis, which is based on a model of reality, is necessary to test a specific theory;

· Scientific and experimental hypotheses, which are put forward to confirm or refute various laws;

· Empirical hypotheses that are formulated for a specific case.

The main feature of any experimental hypotheses is that they are operationalizable, i.e. formulated in terms of a specific experimental procedure.

According to the content, hypotheses can be divided into hypotheses about the presence of: A) phenomena; B) connections between phenomena; C) a causal relationship between phenomena. Type A hypothesis testing is an attempt to establish the truth: "Was there a boy?" Type B hypotheses are about connections between phenomena, for example, a hypothesis about the relationship between the intelligence of children and their parents. In fact, hypotheses of type B are usually considered experimental - about cause-and-effect relationships. The experimental hypothesis includes the independent variable, the dependent variable, the relationship between them, and the levels of additional variables.

Gottsdanker identifies the following experimental hypotheses:

Counter-hypothesis - an experimental hypothesis, alternative to the main assumption; arises automatically;

The third competing experimental hypothesis is the experimental hypothesis that the independent variable has no influence on the dependent variable; verified only in a laboratory experiment;

An accurate experimental hypothesis is the assumption about the relationship between a single independent variable and a dependent variable in a laboratory experiment.

Experimental hypothesis about the maximum (or minimum) value - the assumption at what level of the independent variable the dependent takes the maximum (or minimum) value.

An experimental hypothesis about absolute and proportional relationships is an exact assumption about the nature of a gradual (quantitative) change in the dependent variable with a gradual (quantitative) change in the independent one.

Experimental hypothesis with one relation - the assumption about the relation between one independent and one dependent variable.

A combined experimental hypothesis is an assumption about the relationship between a certain combination (combination) of two (or more) independent variables, on the one hand, and the dependent variable, on the other.

Researchers distinguish between scientific and statistical hypotheses. Scientific hypotheses are formulated as the intended solution to a problem. Statistical hypothesis is a statement about an unknown parameter, formulated in the language of mathematical statistics. Any scientific hypothesis requires translation into the language of statistics. The experimental hypothesis serves to organize the experiment, and the statistical hypothesis - to organize the comparison of parameters. Hypotheses, not refuted in the experiment, turn into components of theoretical knowledge about reality: facts, patterns, laws.

11. Stages of scientific research

The main stages of psychological research.

Stages	Procedures
preparatory	1. the need to solve a certain problem, its awareness, study, selection of literature. 2. formulation of tasks 3.determination of the object and subject of research 4. formulation of the hypothesis 5. selection of methods and techniques.
research	Collecting evidence using different methods. Various stages from a series of studies are carried out.
Research data processing	Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the study. 1.analysis of the fixed factor. 2. Establishing a connection: a fixed fact - a hypothesis. 3. highlighting repetitive factors. There is statistical processing, tables, graphs, etc.
Interpretation of data. Output	1. establishing the correctness or fallacy of the research hypothesis. 2. correlation of results with existing concepts and theories.

Always in the course of a real experiment, deviations from the concept arise, which must be taken into account when interpreting the results and repeating the experiment.

After fixing the results of the experiment, the primary analysis of the data is carried out, their mathematical processing, interpretation and generalization. Initial hypotheses are tested for validity. New facts or patterns are being formulated. Theories are refined or discarded as unusable. New conclusions and predictions are made on the basis of the refined theory.

Research on the purpose of their conduct can be divided into several types. The first is exploratory research. Their goal is to solve a problem that no one has posed before.

The second type is critical research. They are carried out in order to refute the existing theory, model, hypothesis, law, etc. or to check which of the two alternative hypotheses predicts reality more accurately. Most of the research carried out in science refers to the refinement. Their goal is to establish boundaries within which theory predicts facts and empirical patterns.

And finally, the last type is reproductive research. Its purpose is to accurately repeat the experiment of predecessors to determine the validity, reliability and objectivity of the results obtained.

12. Classification of psychological research methods

In science, there are general research methods that often coincide with the basic methodological principles. There are so-called general research methods. They are used in many sciences: observation, method of analysis and synthesis, differentiation and generalization, induction and deduction, etc. There is also a group of specific methods for this science. Let's consider several examples of classifications of the method of experimental psychology.

Classification of psychological research methods. B.G. Ananiev, he divided all methods into: 1) organizational (comparative, longitudinal and complex); 2) empirical (observational methods (observation and self-observation), experiment (laboratory, field, natural, etc.), psychodiagnostic method, analysis of processes and products of activity (praxeometric methods), modeling and biographical method); 3) methods of data processing (mathematical and statistical analysis of data and qualitative description) and 4) interpretation (genetic (phylo- and ontogenetic) and structural methods (classification, typology, etc.). The genetic method interprets all research material in the characteristics of development, highlighting phases, stages, critical moments of the formation of mental functions, formations and personality traits The structural method interprets all the collected material in the characteristics of systems and the types of communication between them, forming a personality or a social group.

Classification of empirical methods of Vodolev-Stolen. Group 1: 2 main features: 1. Based on the comparison of methodological features (objective tests, standardized self-reports, questionnaires, open questionnaires, scale techniques, subjective classification), individually oriented techniques (method of role repertoire grids), projective techniques, dialogic techniques (conversation, interview, diagnostic games). 2. The basis of measures of involvement in the psychodiagnostic procedure of the psychologist himself and the degree of his influence on the diagnostic result (objective methods - tests, questionnaires, scale techniques). Group 2: dialogical (conversation, interviews, diagnostic games, pathopsychological experiment and some of the projective techniques).

Classification of Pirov's methods (1966). Pirov identified several independent methods.

1 Observation.

1.1. Objective observation:

a) direct observation.

a 1) objective clinical observation (widely used in psychiatry);

b) indirect observation (questionnaire techniques)

1.2. Subjective observation (self-observation):

a) direct self-observation - a person's verbal report;

b) mediated self-observation - the study of diaries, letters, photographs of a given person, his memories, etc.

2. Experimental method.

2.1. Laboratory experiment:

a) classic

b) psychometrics;

b 1) test method

b 2) psychological scaling

2.2. Natural experiment

2.3. Psychological and pedagogical experiment

a) ascertaining

b) Formative

3. Modeling method

4. Method of psychological characterization

5. Auxiliary methods (non-specific for psychology)

a) physiological, pharmacological, biochemical, etc.

b) mathematical;

c) graphic.

6. Special methods (specific to psychology):

a) genetic method (ontological and phylogenetic aspects)

b) the method of comparative research (for example, the study of the development of a child and a small chimpanzee);

c) pathopsychological method (with the help of it, pathological deviations of the psyche from the accepted norm are investigated)

Pirov's classification is an example of a classical classification, in which the criterion is arbitrarily chosen by the author, but for all the seeming arbitrariness it quite strictly follows the established traditions. Pirov traditionally divides methods into groups of empirical methods, which, again following tradition, he divides into two separate classes - observation and experiment; per group theoretical methods, consisting of two classes - modeling and "methods of psychological characteristics", which can be called a class of methods for interpreting the results of empirical research. In a separate group, Pirov combined two classes of special methods, specific specifically for psychology and nonspecific for psychology, borrowed from other areas of knowledge.

13. Non-experimental methods in psychology: observation, conversation, questioning, tests

Observation is called purposeful, organized perception and registration of the behavior of an object. Observation, along with introspection, is the oldest psychological method. As a scientific empirical method, observation has been widely used since the end of the 19th century. in clinical psychology, developmental psychology and educational psychology, in social psychology, and since the beginning of the XX century. - in labor psychology, i.e. in those areas where it is of particular importance to fix the features of a person's natural behavior in conditions familiar to him, where the intervention of the experimenter disrupts the process of human interaction with the environment.

Distinguish between non-systematic and systematic observation. Non-systematic observation is carried out during field research and is widely used in ethnopsychology, developmental psychology, and social psychology. For a researcher conducting unsystematic observation, it is not the fixation of causal dependencies and a strict description of the phenomenon that is important, but the creation of a generalized picture of the behavior of an individual or a group under certain conditions.

Systematic observation is carried out according to a specific plan. The researcher identifies the registered behavioral features (variables) and classifies the environmental conditions.

Distinguish between "continuous" and selective observation. In the first case, the researcher (or a group of researchers) records all the behavioral features available for the most detailed observation. In the second case, he pays attention only to certain parameters of behavior or types of behavioral acts, for example, he records only the frequency of manifestation of aggression or the time of interaction between the mother and the child during the day, etc. Observation can be carried out directly or with the use of observational instruments and means of recording the results. These include audio, photo and video equipment, special surveillance cards, etc. The fixation of observation results can be carried out during the observation process or delayed. In the latter case, the value of the observer's memory increases, the completeness and reliability of the registration of behavior "suffers", and, consequently, the reliability of the results obtained. The problem of the observer is of particular importance. The behavior of a person or group of people changes if they know that they are being watched from the outside. This effect increases if the observer is unknown to the group or individual, is significant and can competently evaluate the behavior.

There are two options for participatory observation: 1) the observed are aware that their behavior is recorded by the researcher; 2) the observables do not know that their behavior is being fixed. In any case, the most important role is played by the personality of the psychologist - his professionally important qualities. With open observation, after a certain time, people get used to the psychologist and begin to behave naturally, if he himself does not provoke a "special" attitude towards himself. In the case when covert observation is used, the "exposure" of the researcher can have the most serious consequences not only for the success of the research, but also for the health and life of the observer himself. In addition, participatory observation, in which the investigator is masked and the objectives of the observation are hidden, raises serious ethical problems. Many psychologists consider it unacceptable to conduct research by the "method of deception" when its goals are hidden from the people under study and / or when the subjects do not know that they are objects of observation or experimental manipulation.

The observation procedure consists of the following stages: 1) the subject of observation (behavior), the object (individual individuals or group), situations are determined; 2) the method of observation and data recording is selected; 3) an observation plan is being built (situations - object - time); 4) the method of processing the results is selected; 5) processing and interpretation of the information received is carried out.

A.A. Ershov (1977) identifies the following typical observation errors:

1. Gallo effect. The generalized impression of the observer leads to a coarse perception of behavior, ignorance of subtle differences.

2. The effect of indulgence. The tendency is always to give a positive assessment of what is happening.

3. Error of the central tendency. The observer seeks to give an average estimate of the observed behavior.

4. Correlation error. One behavioral trait is assessed based on another observable trait (intelligence is assessed by fluency).

5. Contrast error. The tendency of the observer to distinguish in the observed features that are opposite to his own.

6. First impression error. The first impression of an individual determines the perception and assessment of his future behavior.

Conversation is a psychology-specific method of studying human behavior, since in other natural sciences communication between the subject and the object of research is impossible. A dialogue between two people, the input of which one person reveals the psychological characteristics of the other, is called method of conversation... Psychologists of various schools and directions widely use it in their research. Suffice it to name Piaget and representatives of his school, humanistic psychologists, founders and followers of "deep" psychology, etc. Conversation is included as an additional method in the structure of the experiment at the first stage, when the researcher collects primary information about the subject, gives him instructions, motivates, etc., and at the last stage - in the form of a post-experimental interview. Researchers distinguish between clinical conversation, an integral part of the "clinical method," and focused face-to-face interviews.

The term clinical conversation was assigned to a method of studying an integral personality, in which a researcher seeks to obtain the most complete information about his individual and personal characteristics, life path, the content of his consciousness and subconsciousness, etc. To test private hypotheses, the researcher can give the subject a task, tests. Then the clinical conversation turns into a clinical experiment. An interview is called a targeted survey. The interview method has become widespread in social psychology, personality psychology, and labor psychology, but the main sphere of its application is sociology. Therefore, by tradition, it is referred to as sociological and socio-psychological methods.

In social psychology, interviews are classified as a type of survey method. The second type is a correspondence survey, questionnaires ("open" or "closed"). They are intended for self-filling by the subjects, without the participation of the researcher.

But the questionnaire survey can hardly be attributed to psychological research methods proper. The information obtained using the questionnaire is declarative and cannot be considered reliable and reliable even with the full sincerity of the subject. Every psychologist knows how unconscious motivation and attitudes affect the content of the subject's statements. Therefore, it makes sense to consider the questionnaire survey as a non-psychological method, which, however, can be used in psychological research as an additional one, in particular, when conducting socio-psychological research. Testing is a kind of procedure for measuring the properties of an object. A property is a category that expresses a side of an object that determines its difference and commonality with other objects and is found in its relation to them.

The psychological test includes a set of tasks:

For the subject - the rule for working with the test;

For the experimenter - the rule for organizing the work of the subject with the test and the rule for working with data;

· Theoretical description indicating the properties measured by the test;

· The method of introducing a scale assessment.

With a test, a property can be quantified. Now a psychological test is considered as a set of tasks with the help of which a property can be distinguished. The common name for tasks is test items. the subject is offered various answer options in relation to each problem. The response is recorded and is considered a trait that the property discovered.

14. Possibilities of using non-experimental methods in the activities of a teacher

The method of conversation, observation, testing, etc. - are methods of pedagogical research, i.e. a set of methods and techniques of cognition of the objective laws of training, education and development.

The observation method is a purposeful, systematic fixation of the specificity of the course of certain pedagogical phenomena, the manifestations of personality, collective, group of people in them, and the results obtained. Observations can be: continuous and selective; included and simple; uncontrolled and controlled (when registering observed events according to a previously worked out procedure); field (under observation in natural conditions) and laboratory (under experimental conditions), etc. Typically acts as a preliminary step before planning and implementing a pilot study.

The method of conversation is to obtain verbal information about a person, a team, a group, both from the subject of research itself and from the people around it. In the latter case, the conversation acts as an element of the method of generalizing independent characteristics. The main function of the conversation is to attract the trainees themselves to the assessment of events, actions, phenomena of life and, on this basis, to form their desired attitude towards the surrounding reality.

It is known from psychology that the younger the pupils are, the more they lag behind in the awareness of their own qualities in comparison with the awareness of the qualities of other people. The teacher can reveal the meaning of an action by comparing it with other similar actions.

The form of the conversation can be very diverse, but it should lead the pupils to reflection, the results of which should be the diagnosis and assessment of the qualities of the person behind certain actions.

The testing method is the study of a personality by means of diagnostics (psychodiagnostics) of its mental states, functions based on the performance of a standardized task.

For various aspects (components) of the development and formation of human qualities, tests are classified into:

1. tests of general mental abilities, mental development.

2.Tests of special abilities in various fields of activity

3. tests of learning, academic performance, academic achievement

4. tests to determine individual qualities (traits) of the personality (memory, thinking, character, etc.)

5. tests to determine the level of education (formation of universal, moral, social and other qualities).

Learning tests are applied at all stages of the didactic process. With their help, preliminary, current, thematic and final control of knowledge, skills, accounting of progress, academic achievements are effectively provided.

Survey - collecting primary information by posing a standardized system of questions (used in sociology, psychology, pedagogy and other research) survey methods are divided into two main types: questioning and interviewing. Questioning is widely used in pedagogical research. The questionnaire is a questionnaire for obtaining answers to a pre-compiled system of questions. It is used to obtain any information about who fills it out, as well as when studying the opinions of large social groups. The questionnaires are open (free answers of the respondent), closed (choice of answer from the proposed ones) and mixed.

An interview is a way to obtain socio-psychological information through oral questioning. There are two types of interviews: free (not regulated by the topic and form of the conversation) and standardized (similar in form to a questionnaire with pre-given questions). The boundaries between these types of interviews are flexible and depend on the complexity of the problem, the purpose and stage of the study. The degree of freedom of interview participants is determined by the presence and form of questions, the developing emotional atmosphere4 and the level of information received - by the richness and complexity of the answers.

15. The value of the experimental method for the development of psychology

In psychology, there is still no generally accepted view of experiment, its role and capabilities in scientific research.

The founder of the Leningrad school of psychology B.G. Ananiev especially emphasized the role of experiment in psychological research.

Psychology as a science began with the introduction of experiment into its arsenal of methods and has been successfully using this tool for obtaining data for almost 150 years. But during all these 150 years, the debate about the fundamental possibility of using the experiment in psychology does not stop.

Along with the traditional polar points of view:

1) the use of experiment in psychology is fundamentally impossible and even unacceptable;

2) without experiment, psychology as a science is untenable - a third appears, which tries to reconcile the first two.

The compromise is seen in the fact that the use of an experiment is permissible and makes sense only when researching certain levels the hierarchy of the system of an integral psyche, moreover, at rather primitive levels. When studying sufficiently high levels of organization of the psyche, especially the psyche as a whole, the experiment is fundamentally impossible (not even admissible).

The proof of the impossibility of using an experiment in psychology is based on the following provisions:

1.the subject of psychological research is too complex, the most difficult of all subjects of scientific interest;

2. the subject of interest of psychology is too changeable, unstable, which makes it impossible to comply with the principle of verification;

3.In a psychological experiment, inevitably there is an interaction between the subject and the experimenter (subject-subject interaction), which violates the scientific purity of the results;

4. the individual psyche is absolutely unique, which makes the psychological dimension and experiment meaningless, since it is impossible to apply the knowledge gained on one individual to any other;

5. internal spontaneous activity of the psyche.

In psychology, an experiment is essentially psychological from the very beginning. It formed independently from the very beginning. From the natural sciences, only the very idea of ​​experimentation is taken as a continuous control and change of variables in the object of research.

The task in psychology is to find such a method of contact with reality (between objective and subjective variables), which would make it possible to obtain information about subjective ones by changing objective variables.

As a research method in psychology, the experiment turned out to be:

More ethical (volunteers);

More economical;

More practical.

"The organized activity of the experimenter serves to increase the truth of theoretical knowledge through obtaining a scientific fact."

Experiment as an active method of psychological research

An experiment is an experiment conducted in special conditions for the purpose of scientific knowledge, the main feature of which is the purposeful intervention of the researcher into the object under study. The main difference between a psychological experiment and other psychological methods is that it enables an internal Ps phenomenon to adequately and unambiguously manifest itself in external behavior accessible to objective observation. The adequacy and unambiguity of the objectification of the experimentally induced Ps phenomena is achieved due to purposeful strict control, the conditions of their occurrence and course. Rubinstein: the main task of a psychological experiment is to make noun available for objective external observation. features of the internal Ps process; For this, it is necessary, varying the environmental conditions, to find a situation in which the external course of the act would adequately reflect its internal Ps content, i.e. the task of experimental variation of conditions in a psychological experiment consists, first of all, in the fact that to reveal the correctness of one single psychological interpretation of action and deed, excluding the possibility of all others.

16. Formation of the experimental method in psychology

The most important characteristic features sciences are:

a) the systematic nature of the knowledge included in it;

b) the use of certain research methods;

c) the use of only verifiable explanatory hypotheses.

G. Ebbinghaus said that psychology has a huge prehistory and a very Short story... The very term "psychology" was proposed in 1500 by a professor from Marburg, Goklenius. According to other sources, the term "psychology" (the science of the soul) was introduced into science by the German philosopher Teacher M.V. Lomonosov Christian Wolf in 1732

Psychology has come a long way towards becoming an independent science - from pre-scientific "everyday" psychology, through the formation and testing of basic psychological ideas in the systems of philosophy, to the construction of psychology as a natural science.

1. Pre-scientific psychology. At this stage, a person cognized another person and himself directly in the processes of activity and communication. At the heart of before scientific psychology common sense lies. This is the psychology that people create even before psychologists, according to P. Janet

Of course, the "stage of pre-scientific psychology" did not end in the Middle Ages, when psychological problems attracted the attention of philosophers. "Household" psychology and its main tool "common sense" still accompany us in our lives today. A good writer as a "household psychologist" will give a hundred points ahead to many of the "science psychologists" with university degrees. Suffice it to recall F.M. Dostoevsky.

2. Philosophical psychology - the development of psychological topics within a particular philosophical system.

Already in ancient philosophy were nominated:

The idea of ​​a law as an invariant relation that manifests itself in varying research conditions;

The idea of ​​preserving the primordial substance, ethical principles, unchanging principles, etc., depending on the philosophical school.

The philosophical solution to psychological problems is based on abstract, logically deducible principles.

Only in the 17th century. the problem of human cognition has acquired its own specificity.

3. Scientific psychology. Scientific psychology did not arise from scratch. The entire history of the development of this science, including the "pre-scientific period", has been carried out research that today we might call psychological. For example, back in the III century. n. e. Bishop Nemetius established that vision cannot simultaneously encompass more than 3-4 elements.

The first data on psychological experiments, writes K.A. Ra-mul, appeared only in the 16th century, but there are already quite a few references to them dating back to the 18th century. K.A. Ramoul notes that:

1) the first psychological experiments were of a random nature and were not staged for a scientific purpose;

2) the systematic setting of psychological experiments with a scientific purpose appears only among researchers in the 18th century;

3) for the most part, these experiments were associated with elementary visual sensations.

The first to talk about measurement in psychology was H. Wolf. For example, he believed that he could measure the amount of pleasure we perceived perfection.

However, it was still a long way from the experience he was talking about to a scientific experiment.

Galton came up with the idea of ​​using mathematics in psychology. He argued that until the phenomena of some area of ​​knowledge are subject to measurement and number, they cannot acquire the status and dignity of science.

The first psychologists were often physiologists (Wundt, Binet, Pavlov), and sometimes doctors (Bekhterev) or physicists (Buger, Weber, Fechner, Helmholtz) by education. They approached psychological problems like natural scientists, accustomed to obeying and trusting facts rather than mental constructs. Finally, they master the art of their methodology, and sometimes even some equipment that allows them, especially in the field of sensations, to qualitatively and quantitatively vary the stimulation.

In 1860, G.T. Fechner "Elements of Psychophysics". This work is rightfully considered the first work on experimental psychology... This is how psychophysics was born. Fechner defined psychophysics as "an accurate theory of the relationship between the soul and the body and in general between the physical world and the mental world."

Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) transformed "empirical" pre-experimental psychology into experimental psychology. Psychologists from all over the world, including Russia, were trained in the psychological laboratory he created in 1879. Fechner, before Wundt, began research that laid the foundations of natural-scientific psychology, but the first scientific psychological school was created in Wundt's laboratory. Ebbinghaus in his work "On Memory" (1885) already comes to an understanding of the problem of experimental psychology as the establishment of a functional connection between certain phenomena and certain factors. In Russia, the development of psychology proceeded along the line of physiological psychology. In 1870 Sechenov published an article "To Whom and How to Develop Psychology?" To the question "Who?" he answered: "To the Physiologist"; to the question "How?" - "Through the study of reflexes." This position was completely original for that time.

I.P. Pavlov was not a student of Sechenov, but experienced the deep influence of his works. Pavlov discovered conditioned reflexes, which he, however, at first called mental (1903). V.M. Bekhterev was more a psychiatrist than a physiologist. Bekhterev created the term "reflexology", which he defined as "a scientific discipline, the subject of which is the study of responses to external or internal stimuli." Thus, Pavlov and Bekhterev founded objective psychology before Watson, although they did not call it psychology.

The founder of the Leningrad school of psychology B.G. Ananyev especially emphasized the role of experiment in psychological research. Psychology as a science began with the introduction of experiment into its arsenal of methods and has been successfully using this tool for obtaining data for almost 150 years. But during all these 150 years, the debate about the fundamental possibility of using the experiment in psychology does not stop.

17. Types of experiment

An experiment is the conduct of research in specially created, controlled conditions in order to test an experimental hypothesis of causation. During the experiment, the researcher always observes the behavior of the object and measures its state. Experiment is the main method of modern natural science and natural science oriented psychology. In the scientific literature, the term "experiment" is applied both to a holistic experimental study - a series of experimental tests carried out according to a single plan, and to a single experimental test - an experiment.

There are mainly three types of experiment:

1) laboratory;

2) natural;

3) formative.

Laboratory (artificial) experiment is carried out under artificially created conditions that allow, as far as possible, to ensure the interaction of the research object (subject, group of subjects) only with those factors (relevant stimuli), the effect of which is of interest to the experimenter. Intervention of "extraneous factors" (irrelevant stimuli), the experimenter tries to minimize or establish strict control over them. Control consists, firstly, in elucidating all irrelevant factors, secondly, in keeping them unchanged during the experiment, and thirdly, if the fulfillment of the second requirement is impossible, the experimenter tries to track (as quantitatively as possible) changes in irrelevant stimuli during the experiment.

Natural (field) experiment carried out under the conditions of the subject's normal life activity with a minimum of the experimenter's interference in this process. If ethical and organizational considerations permit, the subject remains in the dark about his participation in the field experiment.

Formative experiment is specific specifically for psychology and its applications (as a rule, in pedagogy). In a formative experiment, the active influence of the experimental situation on the subject should contribute to his mental development and personal growth. The experimenter's active influence consists in creating special conditions and situations that, firstly, initiate the appearance of certain mental functions and, secondly, allow them to purposefully change and shape them.

“In principle, such an impact can lead to negative consequences for the subject or society. Therefore, the qualifications and good intentions of the experimenter are extremely important. Research of this kind should not harm the physical, spiritual and moral health of people. "

There are many other more detailed, but, on the other hand, more formal classifications of experimental methods, carried out on different grounds (classification criteria) and with varying degrees of rigor.

On formal grounds, several types of experimental research are distinguished. Distinguish between research (search) and confirmatory experiment. Their difference is due to the level of development of the problem and the availability of knowledge about the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. Search An (exploratory) experiment is conducted when it is not known whether a causal relationship exists between the independent and dependent variables. Therefore, exploratory research is aimed at testing the hypothesis about the presence or absence of a causal relationship between variables A and B. If there is information about a qualitative relationship between two variables, a hypothesis is put forward about the type of this relationship. Then the researcher conducts confirming(confirmatory) experiment in which the type of functional quantitative relationship between the independent and dependent variables is revealed.

18. Organization and conduct of a psychological experiment

Experimental research in psychology, as in any other sciences, is carried out in several stages. Some of them are mandatory, some may be absent in some cases, but the sequence of steps must be memorized so as not to make elementary mistakes.

The main stages of psychological experimental research

1. Any research begins with defining its topic. The topic limits the area of ​​research, the range of problems, the choice of subject, object and method. However, the first stage of the actual research itself is the primary formulation of the problem. The researcher must understand for himself what he is dissatisfied with in modern psychological knowledge, where he feels gaps, what facts and patterns defy explanation, what theories give contradictory explanations of human behavior, etc.

2. After the initial statement of the problem, the stage of work with scientific literature begins. The researcher should familiarize himself with the experimental data obtained by other psychologists, and attempts to explain the reasons for the phenomenon that interested him.

3. At this stage, the hypothesis is refined and the variables are determined. The primary formulation of the problem already presupposes options for answering it.

4. The researcher must choose a methodology, equipment and conditions for conducting a psychological experiment.

5. Plan of experimental research. The choice of a plan depends on what the experimental hypothesis is, how many external variables you must control in the experiment, what opportunities the situation provides for research, etc. With limited time and resources (including financial), the simplest experimental plans are chosen. Appropriate designs are used to test complex hypotheses requiring management of several independent variables and / or accounting for many additional variables.

The researcher can conduct an experiment with the participation of one subject. In this case, he applies any of the research plans for one subject. If the researcher is working with a group, then he can choose a number of designs using experimental and control groups. The simplest are plans for two groups (main and control). If more sophisticated control is needed, multi-group plans are used.

6. In accordance with the plan, the selection and distribution of subjects into groups is carried out.

7. Directly conducting an experiment is the most important part of the research. Let us briefly describe the main stages of the experiment.

but. Preparing the experiment. The researcher prepares the experimental room and equipment. If necessary, several trial runs are carried out to debug the experiment procedure.

b. Instructing and motivating the subjects. The instruction should include motivational components. The subject should know what opportunities are provided to him by participation in the experiment. The speed of comprehension of instructions depends on individual cognitive abilities, characteristics of temperament, knowledge of the language, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to check whether the subjects understood the instructions correctly, and repeat it if necessary, avoiding, however, additional detailed comments.

in. Experimentation. First, you should make sure that the subject is competent, that he is healthy, that he wants to participate in the experiment. The experimenter should have an instruction in which the order of his actions during the research is recorded. Usually an assistant also takes part in the experiment. He takes on auxiliary tasks: keeping a protocol, general observation of the subject, etc.

8. The choice of methods of statistical processing, its implementation and interpretation of the results

9. Conclusions and interpretation of results complete the research cycle. The result of the experimental study is the confirmation or refutation of the hypothesis about the causal relationship between the variables: "If A, then B".

10. The end product of the research is a scientific report, a manuscript of an article, a monograph, a letter to the editorial office of a scientific journal.

19. The main characteristics of a psychological experiment

Experimental research in psychology differs from other methods in that the experimenter actively manipulates the independent variable, while with other methods, only options for selecting the levels of independent variables are possible. A normal variant of an experimental study is the presence of the main and control groups of subjects. In non-experimental studies, as a rule, all groups are equal, so they are compared.

On formal grounds, several types of experimental research are distinguished.

Distinguish between research (search) and confirmatory experiment. Their difference is due to the level of development of the problem and the availability of knowledge about the relationship between the dependent and independent variables.

An exploratory (exploratory) experiment is conducted when it is not known whether there is a causal relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Therefore, exploratory research is aimed at testing the hypothesis of the presence or absence of a causal relationship between variables A and B.

If there is information about a qualitative relationship between two variables, then a hypothesis is put forward about the type of this relationship. Then the researcher conducts a confirmatory (confirmatory) experiment, in which the type of functional quantitative relationship between the independent and dependent variable is revealed.

In psychological research practice to characterize different types experimental research also uses the concepts of "critical experiment", "pilot study" or "pilot experiment", "field research", or "natural experiment". A critical experiment is carried out in order to simultaneously test all possible hypotheses. Confirmation of one of them leads to the refutation of all other possible alternatives. Setting up a critical experiment in psychology requires not only careful planning, but also high level development of scientific theory. Since our science is dominated not by deductive models, but by empirical generalizations, researchers rarely conduct a critical experiment.

The term "pilot study" is used to refer to a pilot, first, experiment, or series of experiments in which a basic hypothesis, research approach, design, etc. are tested. Usually, aerobatics is carried out before a "large", time-consuming experimental study, so as not to waste money and time later. The pilot study is carried out on a smaller sample of subjects, according to a reduced plan and without strict control of external variables. The reliability of the data obtained as a result of aerobatics is not high, but its implementation allows one to eliminate gross errors associated with the formulation of a hypothesis, research planning, control of variables, etc. In addition, in the course of aerobatics, one can narrow the "search area", concretize the hypothesis and refine the methodology for conducting a "large" study. Field research is conducted to investigate the relationship between real variables in everyday life, for example, between a child's status in a group and the amount of contact in play with peers or the area he occupies in the play room. In essence, a field study (or a field experiment) refers to quasi-experiments, since during it there is no way to strictly control external variables, select groups and distribute within their subjects, control the independent variable and accurately record the dependent variable. But in some cases, "field", or natural, experiment is the only possible way to obtain scientific information (in developmental psychology, ethology, social psychology, in clinical psychology or labor psychology, etc.). Proponents of the "natural experiment" argue that a laboratory experiment is an artificial procedure that gives ecologically invalid results, since it "takes" the subject out of the context of everyday life. But in field research errors, interference that affect the accuracy and reliability of data are immeasurably greater than in a laboratory study. Therefore, psychologists strive to plan a natural experiment as close as possible to the scheme of conducting a laboratory experiment and to double-check the results obtained "in the field" with more stringent procedures.

20. Possibilities of using the experiment in the teacher's activities

Scientific pedagogical research - the process of forming new ped. knowledge, a type of cognitive activity aimed at discovering the objective laws of training, education and development.

The task of pedagogical research is specific or more specific goals of pedagogical research. Educational psychology - studies the patterns of the process of appropriation by an individual of social experience in the context of specially organized training. In pedagogical practice, the experiment refers to one of the scientific research methods. With the help of the experiment, it is possible to obtain reliable information, which can later be used to solve the personal and collective problems of the pupils. The specificity of the experiment lies in the fact that in it purposefully and thoughtfully, an artificial situation is created in which the studied property is distinguished, appears and is best evaluated. The main advantage of the experiment is that it allows more reliable than all other methods to draw conclusions about the cause-and-effect relationships of the phenomenon under study with other phenomena. In the activities of a teacher, an experiment is often used to identify specific qualities of a personality and its behavioral aspects in a team, as well as to identify the level of various mental processes. To develop new practical methods and theory of education, an experiment is necessary, since only through various options for interaction with children is it possible to achieve harmony in the complex art of a teacher. Educational experiment - characterized by the fact that the study of certain mental processes occurs with their purposeful formation. Via this method it is not so much the present state of knowledge, skills, and abilities that is revealed, but the peculiarities of their formation. Within its framework, the subject is first asked to independently master a new action or new knowledge (for example, to formulate a pattern), then, if this did not succeed, he is provided with strictly regulated and individualized help. This whole process is accompanied by an ascertaining experiment, thanks to which it is possible to establish the difference between the initial, "actual" level and the final, corresponding to the "zone of proximal development". The teaching experiment is used not only in theoretical psychology, but also for the diagnosis of mental development, in particular in pathopsychology. It began to be applied in Russian psychology at the end of the 30s. The zone of proximal action is a theoretical construct designed to explain the possibilities of human learning. Specificity - characterizes the process of pulling up mental development after learning. This zone is determined by the content of such tasks that the child can solve only with the help of an adult, but after gaining experience of joint activity, he becomes capable of independently solving similar problems.

In schools, the following is most often used:

Natural experiment. It is carried out in the conditions of work, study, play, etc. He entered the arsenal of psychology after the works of A.F. Lazursky, who developed the methods of natural experiment.

Psychological and pedagogical experiment. Appeared in the 30s. based on the developed by A.F. Lazurski method of natural experiment. Designed to improve the teaching of schoolchildren, and is divided into:

a) ascertaining;

b) Formative.

21. The experimenter and the subject, their personality and activity

A classical natural science experiment is considered theoretically from a normative standpoint: if a researcher could be removed from an experimental situation and replaced by an automaton, then the experiment would correspond to the ideal one.

Unfortunately or fortunately, human psychology belongs to such disciplines where it is impossible to do this. Consequently, the psychologist is forced to take into account the fact that any experimenter, including himself, is a man and nothing human is alien to him. First of all, errors, i.e. involuntary deviations from the norm of the experiment (ideal experiment). An experiment, including a psychological one, must be reproduced by any other researcher. Therefore, the scheme of its implementation (the norm of the experiment) should be as objectified as possible, i.e. the reproduction of the results should not depend on the skillful professional actions of the experimenter, external circumstances or chance.

From the standpoint of the activity approach, an experiment is the activity of an experimenter who influences the subject, changing the conditions of his activity in order to reveal the characteristics of the psyche of the subject. The experimental procedure serves as proof of the degree of the experimenter's activity: he organizes the subject's work, gives him a task, evaluates the results, varies the experimental conditions, registers the subject's behavior and the results of his activity, etc.

From a socio-psychological point of view, the experimenter plays the role of a leader, teacher, initiator of the game, while the subject appears as a subordinate, performer, student, and led participant in the game.

A researcher interested in confirming a theory acts involuntarily so that it is confirmed. You can control this effect. To do this, it is necessary to involve in the conduct of the study experimentalists - assistants who do not know its goals and hypotheses.

An "ideal subject" must have a set of appropriate psychological qualities: be obedient, quick-witted, striving to cooperate with the experimenter; efficient, friendly, non-aggressive and devoid of negativism. From a socio-psychological point of view, the model of the "ideal subject" fully corresponds to the model of the ideal subordinate or ideal student.

The intelligent experimenter realizes that this dream is not feasible.

The experimenter's expectations can lead him to unconscious actions that modify the subject's behavior. Since the source of influence is unconscious attitudes, they manifest themselves in the parameters of the experimenter's behavior, which are unconsciously regulated. These are, first of all, facial expressions and speech methods of influencing the subject, namely: intonation when reading instructions, emotional tone, expression, etc. The experimenter's influence is especially strong before the experiment: when recruiting subjects, the first conversation, reading the instructions. In the course of the experiment, the attention shown by the experimenter to the actions of the subject is of great importance. According to experimental studies, this attention increases the productivity of the subject. Thus, the researcher creates the subject's primary attitude towards the experiment and forms an attitude towards himself.

1. Automation of research. The influence of the experimenter persists during recruitment and initial conversation with the subject, between separate series and at the "exit".

2. Participation of experimenters who do not know the goals. Experimenters will speculate about the intentions of the first investigator. The influence of these assumptions must be controlled.

3. The participation of several experimenters and the use of a design that allows to eliminate the factor of influence of the experimenter. There remains the problem of the criterion for the selection of experimenters and the limiting number of control groups.

The influence of the experimenter is completely unavoidable, since it contradicts the essence of the psychological experiment, but it can be taken into account and controlled to one degree or another.

An experiment where the object of research is a person, and the object is the human psyche, differs in that it cannot be carried out without involving the subject in joint activity with the experimenter. The subject must know not only the goals and objectives of the research (not necessarily the true goals), but also understand what and for what he must do in the course of the experiment, moreover, personally accept this activity.

From the point of view of the subject, an experiment is a part of his personal life (time, actions, efforts, etc.), which he spends in communication with the experimenter in order to solve some of his personal problems.

Communication between the subject and the experimenter is a necessary condition for organizing their joint activity and regulating the subject's activity.

The organization of the experiment requires taking into account the main, i.e. known at the moment, psychological laws that determine the behavior of the individual in conditions corresponding to the experimental.

1. Physical: people participating in the experiment; objects that the subject manipulates or transforms; the means that the subject has for this; the conditions in which the experiment takes place. Similar components stand out in the activities of the experimenter.

2. Functional: modes of action that are prescribed to the subject; the required level of competence of the test subject; criteria for assessing the quality of the subject's activity; time characteristics of the subject's activity and the conduct of the experiment.

3. Sign-symbolic (instruction to the subject): description; 1) the goals of the study and the goals of the test subject; 2) methods and rules of action; 3) communication with the experimenter; 4) familiarity with the motivational attitude, payment, etc.

22. Experimental communication

A psychological experiment is a joint activity of the subject and the experimenter, which is organized by the experimenter and is aimed at studying the characteristics of the psyche of the subjects.

The process that organizes and regulates joint activities is communication. The subject comes to the experimenter, having his own life plans, motives, goals of participation in the experiment. And, of course, the results of the study are influenced by the characteristics of his personality, manifested in communication with the experimenter. The social psychology of psychological experiment deals with these problems.

S. Rosenzweig became the founder of the study of the socio-psychological aspects of the psychological experiment. In 1933, he published an analytical review on this issue, where he identified the main factors of communication that can distort the results of the experiment:

1. Errors of "relation to the observed". They are associated with the subject's understanding of the decision-making criterion when choosing a reaction.

2. Errors associated with the motivation of the subject. The subject can be motivated by curiosity, pride, vanity and act not in accordance with the goals of the experimenter, but in accordance with his understanding of the goals and meaning of the experiment.

3. Errors of personal influence associated with the subject's perception of the experimenter's personality.

Currently, these sources of artifacts do not belong to the socio-psychological (except for the socio-psychological motivation).

The subject can participate in the experiment either voluntarily or under duress. Participation in the experiment itself generates a number of behavioral manifestations in the subjects, which are the causes of artifacts. Among the most famous are the "placebo effect", "Hawthorne effect", "audience effect".

It is necessary to distinguish the motivation for participation in the study from the motivation that arises in the subjects during the experiment when communicating with the experimenter. It is believed that during the experiment, the subject can have any motivation.

The motivation for participating in the experiment can be different: the desire for social approval, the desire to be good. There are other points of view as well. It is believed that the subject seeks to prove himself from the best side and gives those answers that, in his opinion, are more highly appreciated by the experimenter. Besides the manifestation of the "facade effect" there is also a tendency to behave emotionally stable, "not to succumb" to the pressure of the experimental situation.

A number of researchers have proposed the "malevolent test subject" model. They believe that the subjects are hostile towards the experimenter and the research procedure and do everything to destroy the hypothesis of the experiment.

But the more widespread point of view is that adult subjects strive only to accurately follow the instructions, and not to succumb to their suspicions and guesses. Obviously, this depends on the psychological maturity of the subject's personality.

To control the influence of the subject's personality and the effects of communication on the results of the experiment, a number of special methodological techniques are proposed.

1. Method "placebo blind", or "double blind experience". Identical control and experimental groups are selected. The experimental procedure is repeated in both cases. The experimenter himself does not know which group receives "zero" impact, and which is subject to real manipulation. There are modifications to this plan. One of them is that the experiment is conducted not by the experimenter himself, but by an invited assistant, who is not told the true hypothesis of the research and which of the groups is being really influenced. This design eliminates both the expectation effect of the subject and the experimenter's expectation effect.

2. "Method of deception". Based on deliberately misleading subjects. When applied, ethical problems naturally arise, and many social psychologists of a humanistic orientation consider it unacceptable.

3. The method of "hidden" experiment. It is often used in field research, when implementing the so-called "natural" experiment. The experiment is so included in the natural life of the subject that he is unaware of his participation in the research as a subject.

4. Method of independent measurement of dependent parameters. It is used very rarely.

5. Control of the subject's perception of the situation.

23. The rights of the subject and their observance

"Do no harm!" - a principle that is applicable to any type of professional activity. Any engineering product contains measures to ensure the safety of the user. However, medicine and psychology are too close to the border of the intimate world of a person, directly concerned with the problems of his health and often the possibility of continuing life, in order to consider one of the principles of universal human ethics. Therefore, "do no harm!" it is specially declared as a principle of professional ethics of a doctor (the Hippocratic oath) and in many countries - as the basis of the professional code of a psychologist. It should be noted that a person quite easily demonstrates his sick body to the doctor, but does not like it very much when someone tries to "look into his soul", and in every possible way prevents this. This imposes special requirements on the professional behavior of the psychologist, on the special delicacy of communication with the subject ...

In many countries, special professional codes of the psychologist have been adopted, regulating his activities, establishing strict ethical frameworks for this activity. In Russia (and earlier in the USSR), the adoption of the relevant code did not go beyond projects and proposals.

Nevertheless, here are some of the ethical requirements specific to the experimental psychologist. When working with subjects, it is necessary:

1) obtain the consent of a potential subject, explaining to him the purpose and objectives of the study, his role in the experiment and to the extent that he was able to make a responsible decision about his participation;

2) protect the test subject from harm and discomfort;

3) take care of the confidentiality of information about the subjects;

4) fully explain the meaning and results of the study after the end of the work.

When working with animals, it is prohibited:

1) cause harm to the animal and cause suffering, if this is not caused by the tasks of the research determined by the approved program;

2) it is necessary to provide sufficient comfort for keeping animals.

24. Ethics of scientific research, its basic principles

The decision to conduct research should be based on the conscious desire of each psychologist to make a tangible contribution to psychological science and to promote human well-being. In deciding to conduct research, psychologists must carry out their designs with respect for the people involved and with concern for their dignity and well-being.

The principles explain to the researcher the ethical and responsible attitude towards the experimental participants in the course of the research work.

1. In planning an experience, the researcher is personally responsible for making an accurate assessment of its ethical acceptability, based on the Research Principles.

If, relying on this assessment and weighing scientific and human values, the researcher proposes to deviate from the Principles, then he additionally takes on a serious obligation to develop ethical guidelines and take stricter measures to protect the rights of research participants.

2. It is always the responsibility of each researcher to establish and maintain an acceptable research ethic. The researcher is also responsible for treating subjects ethically by colleagues, assistants, students, and all other employees.

3. Ethics requires the researcher to inform the subjects of all aspects of the experiment that may influence their willingness to take part in it, and also to answer all questions about other details of the study.

The impossibility of acquaintance with the complete picture of the experiment further increases the responsibility of the researcher for the well-being and dignity of the subjects.

4. Honesty and openness are important features of the relationship between the researcher and the subject. If concealment and deception are necessary according to the research methodology, then the researcher must explain to the subject the reasons for such actions in order to restore their relationship.

5. Research ethics requires the researcher to respect the client's right to reduce or discontinue his participation in the research process at any time.

The obligation to protect this right requires special vigilance when the researcher is in a position that dominates the participant.

The decision to restrict this right increases the responsibility of the researcher for the dignity and well-being of the participant.

6. Ethically acceptable research begins with the establishment of a clear and fair agreement between the researcher and the experimental participant, clarifying the responsibilities of the parties. The researcher is obliged to honor all promises and understandings included in this agreement.

7. An ethical researcher protects his clients from physical and mental discomfort, harm and danger. If there is a risk of such consequences, then the researcher must inform the subjects of this, reach an agreement before starting work and take all possible measures to minimize harm. A research procedure may not be applied if it is likely to cause serious and lasting harm to participants.

8. The ethics of work requires that, after collecting the data, the researcher provides the participants with a complete explanation of the essence of the experiment and eliminates any misunderstandings that arise. If scientific or human values ​​justify the delay or withholding of information, then the researcher has a special responsibility to ensure that there are no dire consequences for his clients.

9. If the research procedure can have undesirable consequences for the participants, then the researcher is responsible for identifying, eliminating or correcting such results (including long-term ones).

10. Information obtained in the course of the study about the participants in the experiment is confidential.

If there is a possibility that other people may have access to this information, then the ethics of research practice requires that this likelihood, as well as plans for confidentiality, be explained to participants as part of the process of reaching mutual informational consent.

25. The main ways of knowing and mastering reality

Orientation in the world always presupposes adequate reproduction; this reproduction is the essence of the cognitive attitude to reality. Knowledge is the result of a cognitive relationship. Knowledge is necessary for a person not only for orientation in the world around him, but also for explaining and anticipating events, for planning and implementing activities and developing new knowledge.

There are two main stages of cognition: sensory and abstract. Sensory cognition is called because for cognition of objects at this level, the functioning of the senses, the nervous system, the brain is necessary, due to which the sensation and perception of material objects arises. Feeling and perception are the primary forms of the cognitive process. It is on their basis, thanks to them, that a person's contact with the world of material objects is carried out. Abstract cognition is called because with such cognition the senses are not involved, but other analyzers are used (for example: auditory and visual).

The mental processes with the help of which the images of the environment are formed, as well as the images of the organism itself and its internal environment, are called cognitive processes.

Cognition is a process of reflection and reproduction of reality in human thinking, conditioned by the development of social and historical practice, the result of which is new knowledge about the world. Specially organized cognition is the essence of the educational process. Cognitive processes are levels of reflection of reality, different in complexity and adequacy, which form a system.

Each of the cognitive processes has its own characteristics. While proceeding simultaneously, these processes interact with each other so harmoniously and so imperceptibly for us that at the moment we perceive and understand the world not as a heap of colors, shades, shapes, sounds and smells, but as a single integral object. All knowledge of the highest order, including knowledge about the structure of the world, is the result of the integration of knowledge obtained with the help of cognitive mental processes of various levels. The main cognitive process includes: sensation, perception, thinking, memory.

Sensation is a reflection (the simplest) of the properties of objects through direct action on receptors. The sensory process results in a sensory image. Our behavior and performance are largely dependent on auditory (acoustic) and visual (visual) sensations. Perception - is formed through the interaction of several senses, the synthesis of sensations coming from the eyes, ears, skin, muscles. Closely related to thinking. If a person has developed perception, then he has developed observation and memory. Perception is an active process that uses information to formulate and test hypotheses. The nature of the hypotheses is determined by the content of the person's past experience. The richer a person's experience, the richer his knowledge, the more he will see in the subject or in another person - a communication partner. The senses receive, select, accumulate information, transmit its huge stream every second. If a person lost his senses, he would not be able to communicate, avoid danger.

Memory is a psychophysical process, the material basis of which is the brain and nervous system. However, memory is inextricably linked with knowledge, past experience, emotions. Memory is necessary for the accumulation of knowledge, successful and productive work and is an indispensable condition for the learning and development of an individual, for his formation as a person.

Attention in itself is not a cognitive process, but characterizes the conditions for the flow of any cognitive process. The main characteristics of attention are concentration, stability, distribution, switchability and volume. Concentration is concentration. Resilience is the long-term attraction of attention to one object or object. Distribution - the ability of a person to simultaneously concentrate on several objects, which makes it possible to do several things at once.

Thinking and imagination. These are the highest cognitive processes, the result of which is the formation of a concept.

Thinking is a special kind of mental and practical activity, the ability of a person to logically analyze a problem.

Imagination is the ability to create new images and concepts.

The way of thinking can be creative or critical. Creative thinking is associated with the discovery of a fundamentally new, with the generation of your own original ideas... A person with a critical tendency to think focuses on criticizing other people's ideas, thoughts, words.

Depending on the different circumstances that characterize the situation, the same task can be solved both with the help of imagination and with the help of thinking. Imagination works at that stage of cognition when the uncertainty of the situation is great. And vice versa, in the presence of very approximate information about the situation, on the contrary, it is difficult to get an answer with the help of thinking - here fantasy comes into force.

The value of imagination lies in the fact that it allows you to make a decision and find a way out of a problem situation, even in the absence of the necessary completeness of knowledge.

26. Methods of data collection

Usually, data processing methods are chosen at the stage of experiment planning, or even earlier - when putting forward an experimental hypothesis. An experimental hypothesis is converted into a statistical one. There are few possible types of statistical hypotheses in an experimental study: a) about the similarity or difference of two or more groups; b) about the interaction of independent variables; c) about the statistical relationship of independent and dependent variables; d) about the structure of latent variables (refers to a correlation study).

Statistical estimates provide information not about the presence, but about the reliability of the similarities and differences between the results of the control and experimental groups.

There are "links" of certain methods of processing results to experimental designs. Factorial designs require the use of analysis of variance to assess the effect of independent variables on the dependent, as well as to determine the measure of their interaction with each other.

There are standard software packages for mathematical data processing. All packages are divided into types: 1) specialized packages; 2) packages overall value and 3) incomplete general purpose packages. General-purpose packages are recommended for researchers. Western statistical packages require a good preparation of the user at the level of knowledge of the university course in mathematical statistics and multivariate data analysis. Each program is supplied with documentation. Domestic packages are closer to the capabilities of our user. Related information (reference book, output interpreter, etc.) is included in the software system. Examples are the Russian statistical packages "Mesosaurus", "Heurista".

The collection of data using diagnostic techniques is preceded by a period of familiarization with a certain set of objective and subjective indicators (conversation, medical history, conclusions of other specialists, etc.) about the subject, during which the research task is formed. The authors of all known diagnostic techniques pay special attention to a thorough preliminary study of the subject, the need to take into account his past and present. This creates the main background of the research, outlines the elements of the working picture of the personality, which is necessary for the diagnosis and prognosis.

Since psychodiagnostic examination always forms a system of interaction "experimenter-subject", in the literature a lot of attention is paid to the analysis of the influence of various variables included in this system. Usually, situational variables, variables of the survey objectives and tasks, variables of the researcher and the subject are distinguished. The value of these variables is quite large, and their influence should be taken into account when planning and conducting research, processing and using the results obtained.

IN psychological diagnostics often there are no clear instructions regarding the choice of certain techniques depending on the tasks at hand. This is especially clearly manifested in the field of diagnostics of personality traits, where the same technique is used for different purposes. Theoretically, the validity (the actual ability of the test to measure the psychological characteristic for the diagnosis of which it is declared) of a particular method in relation to the formulated diagnostic task should be a criterion for choosing it as a research tool.

However, significant difficulties arise in determining the validity of personality techniques. The known insecurity of psychiatric diagnosis must be taken into account; the existence of clinical and diagnostic inconsistencies in various schools and directions; the expediency of using psychiatric diagnosis as an external criterion for questionnaires aimed at detecting pathology. But even in the case when the empirical coefficient of the method's validity is known, it should be estimated in relation to the base level of the diagnosed parameter. The baseline level is understood as the proportion of the presence in the studied populations of the trait (feature) that we are going to diagnose. The ratio of the test validity coefficient to the baseline level allows us to answer the question of how justified its use will be.

It is also known that the validity of the test depends on the characteristics of the surveyed groups (subgroups) or the so-called moderators.

When choosing techniques, one should also be guided by what can be designated as the breadth of their coverage of personal characteristics. The accuracy of the diagnostic solution and prognosis also depends on this.

After the formulation of the diagnostic task, the choice of appropriate techniques and the conduct of the study, the results obtained should be presented in the form that is determined by the characteristics of the techniques used. "Raw" estimates are converted to standard values, IQ is calculated, "personality profiles" are built, etc.

27. Personality of the subject and experimenter

A psychological experiment is a meeting of the subject (s) with the experimenter. However, it is followed by parting. The situation of the experiment can be considered both from the outside ("entrance" and "exit" from the situation), and from the inside (what happened during the experiment).

The subject reacts not just to the experiment as an incomprehensible whole, but identifies it with some class of real life situations that he encounters, and accordingly builds his behavior.

The experimenter not only recruits a representative group, but also actively attracts people to participate in the experiment.

This means that the researcher is not indifferent to what uncontrollable psychological characteristics distinguish people involved in research from all others; what motives were they motivated by being involved in psychological research as subjects.

The subject can participate in the research voluntarily or involuntarily, against his will. Taking part in a "natural experiment", he may not know that he has become a test subject.

Why do people volunteer for research? Half of the subjects agreed to participate in experiments (long and tedious), driven only by curiosity. Often the subject wants to know something about himself, in particular, in order to understand the relationship with others.

Subjects who want to earn money and get credit (if we are talking about psychology students) voluntarily participate in the experiment. Most of the subjects who were forcibly involved in the experiment resisted this, were critical of the experiment, and hostile and distrustful of the experimenter. Often they try to destroy the experimenter's plan, "replay" it, ie. consider the experimental situation as conflicting.

M. Matlin introduced a classification, dividing all subjects into positive, negative and gullible. Usually experimenters prefer the former and the latter.

The study can be carried out with the participation of not only volunteers or forcibly recruited, but also anonymous subjects who provide their passport data. It is assumed that anonymous research subjects are more open, and this is especially significant when conducting personal and socio-psychological experiments. However, it turns out that in the course of the experiment, non-anonymous subjects are more responsible for the activity and its results.

Research work is included in the context of the psychologist's practical activity, thereby limiting freedom in choosing objects of research, varying conditions, methods of influence and control of variables. This choice is strictly subordinated to the achievement of a consulting or psychotherapeutic effect. On the other hand, the life situation of the subject is clearer, the motivation for his participation in the research is determined, which makes it possible to approach more rigorously the design and typology of the experimental situation, and, consequently, to take into account and control its influence on the subject's behavior.

The solution of a scientific and practical problem is reduced to a certain change in the fate of the subject: he may or may not be accepted for work, in a university, prescribed or not prescribed treatment, etc. At the end of the survey (point of "exit"), the subject can receive the results and determine his own behavior on their basis and life path... Otherwise, his life path is changed by another person (psychodiagnostician, administrator, etc.). In this case, the decision of the experimenter or the person to whom the psychodiagnostician entrusted the data does not depend on the further actions of the subject and is determined only by the will of others. Consequently, in the first case, the subject of choice (decision-making) is the subject, in the second - another person.

28. Observation as a method of scientific psychology. Its types

Observation is the study of certain characteristics of a process, with the aim of identifying its invariant features, without actively including in the process itself. It can be focused on the registration of acts of behavior and physiological processes. Typically acts as a preliminary step before planning and implementing a pilot study.

Signs of scientific observation

1. Observation should be directed to socially significant areas.

2. Observation should be carried out in an orderly and systematic manner. Unplanned and unsystematic observation does not lead to the knowledge of essential phenomena, relationships and determinants. Many erroneous results in evaluating people and groups are the result of judgments inferred from random, "everyday experience" observations.

3. Observation requires the widest possible collection of information. It is possible to use technical means, however, observation by means of intermediate switching on of the equipment is capable of replacing the observer only partially, it only enriches the possibilities and increases the reliability of his judgments. Often, technical means can disrupt the natural environment in the field of observation.

4. The results of scientific observation should be clearly recorded and easily reproduced.

5. Observation and processing of its results require objectivity from the observer. Therefore, it is necessary to strive:

Subjective independence in perception (reception);

Subjective independence in choosing the event to be covered;

Subjective independence in data classification;

Subjective independence in the interpretation of results.

Observation forms

1. Conscious observation... It is carried out in contact with the observer and with his knowledge. The role of the observer, like the purpose of the observation, is generally known. In some procedures, this form of observation is used primarily for the diagnosis of work behavior. Most often, for this purpose, the persons concerned are observed in very special situations or are prompted to certain acts of behavior. Conscious observation can also be group observation.

2. Unconscious inner observation... In this case, the observation is carried out in communication with the observed, but they are not aware that the person who came into contact with them is acting as an observer. This form of observation is especially suitable for studying the social behavior of small groups. Here the observer takes part in the life of the group. The features of this form are as follows: the presence of an observer is considered natural, and his social position affects the observed less, since they do not know his function of the observer.

3. Unconscious external observation... The observer remains unknown to the observed, because the first is either not noticed by the second, or does not catch his eye, appearing to be an indifferent outsider who does not reveal his functions. An observer can, for example, observe from behind a one-sided transparent wall; collect data through the intermediate inclusion of technical means.

4. Observing the environment... Through this form of observation, the researcher detects and analyzes those environmental conditions of the observed that decisively shape or influence their behavior.

29. Method of self-observation

Self-observation method - obtaining empirical psychological data while observing oneself. By comparing the results of self-observation, presented in a more or less verbalized protocol on the current individual life, with a similar display of self-observation of other people, their fundamental relationship is postulated and coordinated with external manifestations. Elements of this method are at the heart of any scientific research. In the case of following the instructions for direct reporting, when the subject of observation is one's own mental phenomena and experiences, one speaks of self-observation. Self-observation is considered as the main way of obtaining data on psychological phenomena; it is included in any external surveillance data reporting process.

Introspection - Observing one's own mental processes, without using any tools or standards. As a special method, introspection was substantiated in the works of R. Descartes, who pointed out the direct nature of cognition of one's own mental life, and J. Locke, who divided human experience into internal, concerning the activity of our mind, and external, focused on the world... In the psychology of consciousness, the method of introspection (literally "looking inside") was recognized not only as the main, but also the only method of psychology. These positions should, first of all, be categorized in terms of terminology. Although "self-observation" is an almost literal translation of the word "introspection", these two terms, at least in our literature, have different positions. The first will be titled as the method of introspection. The second is how to use introspection data. Each of these positions can be characterized by at least two of the following points: first; by what is observed and how; second, how the data obtained is used for scientific purposes.

Thus, we get the following simple table.

So, the position of introspectionists, which is represented by the first vertical column, presupposes a bifurcation of consciousness into the main activity and the activity of self-observation, as well as the direct acquisition of knowledge about the laws of mental life with the help of the latter. In our position, "data of self-observation" means facts of consciousness about which the subject knows by virtue of their property to be directly open to him. To be aware of something is to know it directly. And the second point of our position: in contrast to the method of introspection, the use of self-observation data presupposes an appeal to the facts of consciousness as to phenomena or as “raw material”, and not as information about regular connections and causal relationships. Registration of facts of consciousness is not a method of scientific research, but only one of the ways to obtain initial data. The experimenter must, in each individual case, apply a special methodological technique that will allow him to reveal the connections of interest to him. He must rely on the ingenuity of his mind, and not on the sophistication of the subject's introspection. This is the sense in which we can talk about the use of introspection data.

How is self-knowledge, self-esteem, self-awareness different from introspection?

First, the processes of knowing and evaluating oneself are much more complex and lengthy than the usual act of introspection. They include, of course, self-observation data, but only as primary material that is accumulated and processed: comparison, generalization, etc.

For example, you can evaluate yourself as an overly emotional person, and the basis will, of course, be too intense experiences you are experiencing (self-observation data). But to conclude about this property, you need to collect a sufficient number of cases, make sure they are typical, see a calmer way of responding to other people, etc.

Secondly, we receive information about ourselves not only (and often not so much) from self-observation, but also from external sources. They are the objective results of our actions, the attitude of other people towards us, etc.

30. Psychodiagnostics. Concept and history of its formation

Psychodiagnostics - includes the development of requirements for measuring instruments, the design and testing of techniques, the development of examination rules, the processing and interpretation of the results. Psychodiagnostics is based on psychometrics, which quantitatively measures individual psychological differences and uses concepts such as representativeness, reliability, validity, and reliability. The interpretation of the data obtained with the help of certain psychodiagnostic methods can be carried out on the basis of the use of two criteria: with a qualitative comparison with the norm or standard, which can be ideas about non-pathological development or socio-psychological standards, with the subsequent conclusion about the presence or absence of a certain sign ; in a quantitative comparison with a group, followed by a conclusion about the ordinal place among others. The term "psychodiagnostics" appears in 1921. and belongs to G. Roshakh, who called the examination process with the help of the "diagnostic test based on perception"

History. There is information about the use of psychodiagnostic tests from the 3rd millennium BC. in Ancient Egypt, China, Ancient Greece.

The formation of scientific psychodiagnostics is associated primarily with the penetration of the psychological science of experiment, the idea of ​​measurement. The idea of ​​quantifying psychological observations was born a long time ago, in the 30s. XIX century. For the first time, the German researcher Wolf spoke about this, who believed that it is possible to measure the amount of attention by the duration of argumentation, which we are able to trace. The same scientist introduced the concept of psychometry. However, the psychological designs of philosophers, natural scientists and mathematicians of those years began to take on flesh and blood only a century later. The realization of the idea of ​​measuring mental phenomena, starting with the works on psychophysics by E. Weber and G. Fechner (mid-19th century), determined the most important direction of research in experimental psychology of that time.

Scientific psychodiagnostics proper begins at the end of the 19th century, when in 1884 F. Galton ((02.16.1822, Birmingham - 01.17.1911, London) - an English anthropologist and psychologist, one of the founders of eugenics and differential psychology) began to conduct surveys of people according to the severity of their particular characteristics of perception, memory. F. Galton, the founder of the scientific study of individual differences, was the creator of a tool for measuring them - a test. At the beginning of the twentieth century. A. Binet ((07/11/1857, Nice - 10/18/1911, Paris) - French psychologist, one of the founders of testology) began to develop methods for diagnosing mental development and mental retardation. At the suggestion of V. Stern ((04/29/1871, Berlin - 03/27/1938) - German psychologist, founder of "personalistic psychology"), the concept of the IQ was introduced. From the same time, the first projective methods for personality analysis began to be created (C.G. Jung, G. Rorschach), which, due to the active development of psychotherapy and psychological counseling, reached their apogee in the late 1930s and 1940s. From 40-60s. personality questionnaires are actively being created.

In recent years, psychology has become widely aware of the problem of reconciling theoretical developments with empirical results, for which methods have become necessary that allow this to be done without a noticeable loss of the quality of such agreement. Tests are now the most scientifically developed part of the methodological arsenal, which makes it possible to adequately fasten theory with empiricality, in accordance with some well-known information quality standards. This understanding of tests is increasingly being confirmed in domestic and foreign literature. This can be traced in the works of Anastazi A., Burlachuk L.F., Kabanov M.M., Lichko A.E. and etc.

31. Types of psychological tests

A test (English test- trial, test, check) is understood as an ensemble of standardized, stimulating a certain form of activity, often time-limited tasks, the results of which lend themselves to quantitative (and qualitative assessment and make it possible to establish individual psychological personality traits.

The term "test", which has become extremely widespread in various fields of knowledge in the sense of testing, verification, has a long history. ETC. Pento and M. Gravitz (1972), the word “test” comes from the Old French language and is synonymous with the word “cup” (Latin test is a vase made of clay). This word denoted small vessels made of baked clay, which were used by alchemists to conduct experiments. In the Russian language, the word "test" for a long time had two meanings:

1) a probationary oath, a religious English oath that everyone entering public office must take in order to prove that he is not a secret Catholic;

2) a flat melting vessel or vessel made of leached ash for the separation of tin from gold or silver.

The term "test" as a psychological term gets close to the modern content at the end of the 19th century. In psychodiagnostics, various classifications of tests are known. They can be subdivided according to the characteristics of the used test items on verbal and practical tests, according to the form of the examination procedure - on group and individual tests, according to focus - on ability tests, personality tests and tests of individual mental functions, and depending on the presence or absence of time constraints - on speed tests and performance tests. Also, tests can differ in the principles of their design. Over the past decades, many well-known tests have been adapted to the computer environment (presentation, data processing, etc.), they can be referred to as computerized tests. Computer tests are being actively developed, initially designed taking into account the capabilities of modern computer technology.

During the formation of Soviet psychodiagnostics in the 1970s, the word “test” had, for obvious reasons, an additional negative meaning, denoting not only a research tool, but also its “bourgeois origin”. Therefore, all tests used have been renamed methods. Today there is no reason to reject the term-concept with which the whole history and the present day of psychodiagnostics are connected. It is advisable to retain the term "methodology" for non-standardized diagnostic tools, as well as those of them that, as a rule, due to claims to global personality diagnostics, rather than measure it, but evaluate it. These diagnostic tools primarily include projective techniques. It is also necessary to take into account the tradition of using the term “questionnaire” in the Russian-language literature. Questionnaires (the artificial term "questionnaire test" has gradually fallen out of use) are such psychodiagnostic tools that, unlike other tests, are aimed at the subjective assessment of the subject himself or other people.

The test, like any other instrument of cognition, has features that, in the specific circumstances of the study, can be considered as its advantages or disadvantages. The effective use of tests depends on taking into account many factors, of which the most important are: theoretical concept on which this or that test is based; application area; the whole complex of information stipulated by the standard requirements for psychological tests, their psychometric characteristics. The widespread notions of "simplicity" and availability of tests do not correspond to reality. As a means of researching the most complex mental phenomena, the test cannot be interpreted in a simplified way as a proposal for a task (tasks) and registration of its solution. The scientific use of tests is possible only on condition of reliance on general psychological knowledge, competence in the field of theory and practice of relevant psychodiagnostic research. Compliance with the ethical standards of psychodiagnostics is no less essential.

32. Tasks of psychodiagnostics and the scope of its application.

In "Fundamentals of Psychodiagnostics" edited by A.G. Shmeleva (1996), we meet the definition of the subject of psychodiagnostics, which emphasizes the already known connection of this science with "the development and use of various methods for recognizing individual psychological characteristics of a person."

Thus, most researchers recognize that psychodiagnostics as a field of psychological knowledge is aimed at developing methods for recognizing individual psychological characteristics, regardless of whether they are indicators of distress or lack thereof. At the same time, psychodiagnostics deals not only with tests (standardized measures of individual psychological characteristics), but also with qualitative (non-standardized) assessments of personality. It is also important to take into account the fact that psychodiagnostics is not an auxiliary, service discipline, a kind of technology, but a full-fledged science that studies the nature of individual differences. Psychodiagnostics is a field of psychological science that develops the theory, principles and tools for assessing and measuring individual psychological characteristics of a person.

During more than a century of development of psychodiagnostics, the main areas of application of psychological techniques have emerged, which can be designated as branches of general psychodiagnostics. The first interest in the methods of studying personality and intelligence, even at the stage of the formation of the science of individual psychological differences, was shown by education and medicine, which determined the emergence of the corresponding areas of psychodiagnostics - educational and clinical.

Educational psychodiagnostics not only widely uses a variety of psychological methods, this area should include those tests that are created in accordance with psychometric requirements, but are not intended to assess the abilities or personality traits, but to measure the success of the assimilation of educational material (success tests). Clinical psychodiagnostics is aimed at studying the individual psychological characteristics of the patient (structural and dynamic personality traits, attitude to the disease, mechanisms of psychological defense, etc.) that have a significant impact on the onset, course and outcome of both mental and somatic diseases. Both educational and clinical psychodiagnostics are those areas of general psychodiagnostics in which the most significant amount of research has been carried out today.

In addition to these areas, professional psychodiagnostics should be highlighted, since vocational guidance and professional selection are impossible without the use and development of diagnostic techniques. Each of the areas not only borrows the principles and methods of research of general psychodiagnostics, but also has a developing effect on it.

Psychodiagnostic tasks (and situations of psychodiagnostics in general) can also be distinguished from the point of view of who and how will use the diagnostic data and what is the responsibility of the psychodiagnostician for the choice of methods of intervention in the subject's situation.

1. The data is used by an allied specialist to make a non-psychological diagnosis or formulate an administrative decision. This situation is typical for the use of psychodiagnostic data in medicine. The psychologist makes a judgment about the specific features of thinking, memory, personality of the patient, and the doctor makes a medical diagnosis. The psychologist is not responsible either for the diagnosis or for what kind of treatment will be given to the patient by the doctor. According to the same scheme, psychodiagnostic data are used in psychodiagnostics at the request of the court, complex psychological and psychiatric examination, psychodiagnostics of the professional competence of an employee or professional suitability at the request of the administration.

2. The data are used by the psychodiagnostician himself to make a psychological diagnosis, although the intervention in the patient's situation is carried out by a specialist of a different profile. This, for example, is the situation of psychodiagnostics in relation to the search for the causes of school failure: the diagnosis is of a psychological (or psychological and pedagogical) nature, and teachers, parents, and other educators carry out the work to implement it.

3. The data is used by the psychodiagnostician himself to make a psychological diagnosis, and the latter serves as a basis (or the basis for the actions of his colleague psychologist) to develop ways of psychological influence. This is the situation of psychodiagnostics in terms of psychological counseling.

4. Diagnostic data are used by the examinee himself for the purpose of self-development, behavior correction, etc. In this situation, the psychologist is responsible for the correctness of the data, for the ethical, deontological aspects of the "diagnosis" and only partially for how this diagnosis will be used by the client.

33. Methods of psychological influence and their significance for pedagogical practice

For the proper functioning of the pedagogical process, at least five groups of methods of influencing the personality are needed:

1. persuasion;

2. exercise and accustoming;

3. training;

4. stimulation;

5. control and evaluation.

Methods of influencing the personality have a complex effect on students and are rarely used in isolation. The very concept of a method is a system of pedagogical techniques for achieving certain pedagogical tasks.

1. persuasion is a versatile effect on the mind, feelings and will of a person in order to form his desired qualities. If we turn to reason to convince a person of the truth of some scientific position, then in this case it is necessary to build a logically flawless chain of arguments, which will be the proof. If the task is to cultivate love for the High and the Beautiful in all their possible forms, then it is necessary to turn to the feelings of the pupil. In this case, the belief acts as a suggestion. Most often, proof and suggestion complement each other.

An important role in persuasion is played by such techniques as conversation, lecture, dispute.

2. exercise and habituation. Exercise is a systematically organized performance of various actions by trainees in order to form and develop their personality. Training is the organization of systematic and regular exercise by trainees in order to develop good habits. Exercise (training) is used to solve a wide variety of problems of civil, moral, physical and aesthetic perception and personality development. Without the systematic application of reasonably set exercises, it is impossible to achieve the effectiveness of educational work.

3. training. The classification of teaching methods is characterized by great variety. The methods are divided according to the dominant means into verbal, visual and practical.

4. methods of stimulation. To stimulate means to induce, to give impulse, impulse to thought, feeling, action. A certain stimulating effect is already outlined within each method, however, additional stimulating influence is needed, which is carried out through competition, encouragement, punishment.

Competition. Striving for primacy, priority, self-affirmation is characteristic of all people, but especially young people. In this regard, the main task of the teacher is to prevent competition from degenerating into a desire for superiority at any cost. The educational function of competition is to stimulate the development of initiative and responsibility, to achieve high results.

Promotions. One of the most effective methods of influencing the development of trainees' abilities. The feeling of satisfaction experienced by the encouraged one causes him a surge of strength, an increase in energy, self-confidence, and an increase in self-esteem. This is especially important when working with people who are timid, shy, and insecure. At the same time, the promotion should not be too frequent, so as not to lead to depreciation.

Punishment. According to well-known teachers, the system of penalties helps to form a strong human character, fosters a sense of responsibility, trains the will, corrects human behavior, generates the need to change it. At the same time, punishment should not cause a person either moral humiliation or physical suffering.

Should be avoided punishment for unintentional acts, or hastily, without sufficient reason; combine punishment with persuasion and other methods of education, take into account age and individual characteristics pupils.

In the XIX century. psychology, still developing mainly in the bosom of philosophy, began to gravitate towards mathematics and physiology.

Contrary to Kant's doctrine that psychology can never apply mathematics, and therefore will not become a true science, the German philosopher and psychologist I. Herbart(1776-1814) developed a complex apparatus for describing the "statics and dynamics" of representations - the primary elements of the soul. When a prominent mathematician decided to test his apparatus, he, to his surprise, discovered that there was not a single mistake in it. Mathematical models are used in psychology to this day.

In turn, physiologists, conducting experiments on the sense organs, began to mathematically process the results of their experimental data. This is how psychophysics was born, the subject of which was the relationship between physical influences and the mental phenomena that they cause. The objective of the study was the patterns and relationships between mental processes and their causes.

Consider the views of the most prominent representatives of the period of the beginning of experimental psychology.

Ernst Weber(1795-1878), a German psychophysiologist and anatomist, investigated the relationship between external stimuli and the sensations they cause.

Weber wondered how much the strength of the stimulus should be changed so that the subject could catch the barely noticeable sensation. Weber was looking for addiction between the continuum of sensations and the continuum of the physical stimuli that cause them. It was found that between the initial and subsequent stimuli there is a quite definite (different for different sense organs) relationship, in which the subject begins to notice that the sensation has changed. For auditory sensitivity, for example, this ratio is 1/160, for sensations of weight - 1/30, etc.

Sensation thresholds and the relationship between stimulus and intensity of sensation studied by a German physicist Gustav Theodor Fechner (1801-1887).

Due to illness and partial blindness caused by the study of visual sensations when observing the sun, the physicist Fechner took up philosophy, focusing on the problem of the relationship between material and spiritual phenomena.

At the center of his interests was the fact, long established by a number of observers, that there were differences between sensations depending on the initial magnitude of the stimuli causing them. Ringing a bell in addition to an already sounding bell will produce a different impression than joining one bell to 10. Having engaged in the study of how the sensations of various modalities change (experiments were carried out on the sensations arising when objects of different weights are weighed, when objects are perceived at a distance, with variations in their illumination, etc.), Fechner came to the idea of thresholds of sensation, those. about the magnitude of the stimulus that changes sensation. In those cases when the minimum increase in the magnitude of the stimulus is accompanied by a barely noticeable change in sensation, they began to speak of a difference threshold.

A regularity was established: in order for the intensity of sensation to grow in an arithmetic progression, it is necessary to increase in geometric progression the magnitude of the stimulus causing it. This relationship is named the Weber-Fechner law: the intensity of sensation is proportional to the logarithm of the stimulus (stimulus).

Fechner carefully developed an experimental technique for determining the thresholds of sensations so that a minimal (subtle) difference between them could be established. The thinker also owns a number of other methods for measuring sensations (skin, visual, etc.).

Fechner's book "Foundations of Psychophysics" was of key importance for the development of psychology as an independent experimental science. In all newly emerging laboratories, the determination of thresholds and the verification of the Weber-Fechner law have become one of the main topics demonstrating the ability to mathematically accurately determine the regular relationship between the mental and the physical.

The development of psychophysics began with ideas about seemingly local mental phenomena. But it received a huge methodological and methodological resonance in the entire body of psychological knowledge: experiment, number, measure were introduced into psychology. The table of logarithms turned out to be applicable to the phenomena of mental life, to the behavior of the subject, when he has to determine subtle differences between the phenomena.

The founder of psychometry, along with Weber and Fechner, is rightfully considered a Dutch physiologist Franz Donders(1818-1889), engaged in experiments to study the speed of mental processes. Somewhat earlier, G. Helmholtz discovered the speed of passage of an impulse along a nerve. This discovery related to the process in the body. Donders turned to measuring reaction speed time subject to the objects perceived by him. The subject performed tasks that required him to react as quickly as possible to one of several stimuli, to choose responses to different stimuli, etc. These experiments proved that the mental process, like the physiological one, can be measured. At the same time, it was taken for granted that mental processes take place in the nervous system.

German naturalist, physiologist, mathematician, physicist and philosopher Hermann Ludwig Helmholtz(1821 - 1894) became a central figure in the creation of the foundations of psychology as a science with its own subject. His versatile genius transformed many natural sciences, including the science of the nature of the psyche. Helmholtz discovered the law of conservation of energy. We are all children of the Sun, he said, because a living organism, from the point of view of physics, is a system in which there is nothing but transformations of energy, the initial source of which is the sun.

Studying feelings, Helmholtz took the anatomical rather than energetic (molecular) principle as an explanatory principle. It was on the latter that he relied in his concept of color vision. Helmholtz proceeded from the hypothesis that there are three nerve fibers, the excitation of which by waves of different lengths will create the sensation of the primary colors: red, green and purple.

This method of explanation turned out to be unsuitable when Helmholtz moved from the analysis of sensations to the analysis of the perception of integral objects in the surrounding space. This prompted him to introduce two new factors: a) movement of the eye muscles; b) the subordination of these movements to special rules, similar to those by which logical inferences are built. Since these rules operate independently of consciousness, Helmholtz called them "unconscious inferences". Thus, the experimental work confronted the scientist with the need to introduce new causal factors. Prior to that, he referred to them either the transformation of physical energy, or the dependence of sensation on the structure of the organ.

Now a third has joined these two causal "grids" by which the spider catches life processes. The source of the mental (visual) image was an external object, in the clearest possible vision of which was the task solved by the eye. It turned out that the reason for the mental effect is hidden not in the structure of the organism, but outside it.

In Helmholtz's experiments, prisms were placed between the eye and the object, distorting its perception. However, the body, through various adaptive muscle movements, sought to restore an adequate image of this object. It turned out that muscle movements do not perform purely mechanical, but cognitive (even logical) work.

In the area of ​​scientific analysis, phenomena appeared that testified to a special form of causality: not physical, not physiological and anatomical, but mental. Experiments that showed that the image in consciousness is generated by a mechanism independent of consciousness should have led to the separation of the psyche and consciousness.

The introduction of a mental factor as a regulator of the body's behavior was associated with the work of a German physiologist Eduard Pfluger(1829-1910).

He experimentally criticized Descartes' scheme of the reflex as an arc, in which the centripetal nerves, due to their connection with the centrifugal ones, produce the same standard muscle response. Pfluger's experiments on a frog devoid of a forebrain caused great controversy. She was placed in various conditions, but she did not behave like a reflex automaton (as it followed from the then idea of ​​a reflex soul). If it was placed on a laboratory table, it crawled; if it was thrown into the water, it would swim, i.e. behaved in accordance with the changed conditions.

Pfluger explained this by the fact that the frog has a sensory function, which allows it to distinguish between environmental conditions and, accordingly, signals received from the outside to change behavior. Physiologists - contemporaries of Pfluger were critical of his work, ironically calling him a supporter of the doctrine of the "spinal soul", but later Pfluger's conclusions were supported by advanced physiologists (in particular I.M.Sechenov), who emphasized that Pfluger proved by his experiments the difference between the primitive psyche (sensory function) and consciousness.

My contribution to differentiation of psyche and consciousness made research hypnosis. At first, they gained great popularity in Europe thanks to the activities of an Austrian doctor. F. Mesmera(1734-1815), who explained his hypnotic sessions by the action of magnetic outflows (fluids).

Being the subject of interest of physicians using it in their practice, hypnosis not only demonstrated the facts of mentally regulated behavior with the switched off consciousness, but required the creation of a special situation of interaction between the doctor and the patient ("rapport"). The unconscious psyche exposed by hypnosis is socially unconscious, for it is initiated and controlled by another person.

In different areas of experimental work (Weber, Fechner, Donders, Helmholtz, Pfluger), ideas were formed about special patterns in factors that are different from both physiological and those that belonged to psychology as a branch of philosophy (which has as its subject the phenomena of consciousness, studied internal experience). As well as laboratory work For physiologists studying the sense organs and movements, the new psychology was prepared by the successes of evolutionary biology and medical practice, which used hypnosis in the treatment of neuroses. A whole world of phenomena was discovered that existed independently of the consciousness of the subject, accessible to the same objective study as any other natural facts.

Based on experimental and quantitative methods, researchers have established that the psychic world has its own laws and causes. This paved the way for the separation of psychology from both physiology and philosophy.

Founder of Learning Theory Edward Thorndike(1874-1949) considered consciousness as a system of connections that unites ideas on associations.

The scientist first conducted his experiments (guessing thoughts and the associated "perceptual learning") on children from an orphanage, then on animals (chickens, cats, dogs, using "problem cells"). He came to the conclusion that the higher the intelligence, the more connections he can establish. Later, the association began to mean a connection not between ideas or between ideas and movements, as in previous associative theories (Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Hartley), but between movements and situations.

As the two main laws of learning Thorndike suggested law of exercise and the law of effect. According to the first, the more often an action is repeated, the deeper it is imprinted in the mind. The law of effect states that connections in consciousness are established more successfully if the response to a stimulus is accompanied by encouragement.

To describe meaningful associations, Thorndike used the term "belonging": connections are easier to establish when objects seem to belong to each other, i.e. interdependent. Learning is facilitated if the material being memorized is meaningful. Thorndike also formulated the concept of "spreading effect" - the willingness to assimilate knowledge from areas adjacent to those areas that are already familiar. Thorndike experimentally studied the propagation of the effect in order to determine whether teaching one subject affects the mastering of another, for example, whether knowledge of the ancient Greek classics helps in the preparation of future engineers. It turned out that a positive transfer is observed only in cases when areas of knowledge are in contact. Learning one activity may even hinder the mastery of another. ("preactive braking "), and the newly mastered material is sometimes capable of destroying something already learned ("retroactive inhibition "). These types of inhibition are the subject of the theory of interference in memorization. Forgetting some material is associated not only with the passage of time, but also with the influence of other types of activity.

Founder of Behaviorism John Watson(1878-1958) wrote that Thorndike's research became the cornerstone of his teaching. I paid tribute to Thorndike and I. P. Pavlov(1849-1936). He wrote: “A few years after starting to work with my new method, I learned that similar experiments were done in America, and not by physiologists, but by psychologists. Since then, I began to carefully study American publications and had to admit that the honor of taking the first step along this road belongs to E. L. Thorndike. His experiments were ahead of ours by about two or three years, and his book can be considered a classic, both in a bold approach to a gigantic work, and in the accuracy of the results. "

Another of the founders of experimental psychology is considered Herman Ebbinghaus(1850-1909), who attempted to study memory using rigorous scientific methods.

A graduate of the University of Bonn, Ebbinghaus spent several years in England and France, earning a living from tutoring. In the shop of a Parisian second-hand book dealer, he accidentally found a book BUT

Fechner "Fundamentals of Psychophysics", which formulated mathematical laws concerning the relationship between physical stimuli and the sensations they cause.

Inspired by the idea of ​​discovering the exact laws of memory, Ebbinghaus decided to begin experiments. He put them on himself and at the same time was guided by the fact that people remember, retain in memory and reproduce the facts between which associations have formed. But usually these facts are subject to comprehension, and therefore it is difficult to establish whether the association arose through memory, or whether the mind intervened. Ebbinghaus set out to establish the laws of memory "in its pure form", for which he invented a special material. Its units were separate meaningless syllables, consisting of two consonants and a vowel between them (like "bov", "gis", "loch", etc.). It was assumed that such elements cannot evoke any associations and their memorization is in no way mediated by thought processes and emotions. There is no doubt that for his time his experiments were truly innovative. After compiling a list of meaningless sound combinations (about 2,300 syllables written on the cards), Ebbinghaus experimented with them for five years. He presented the main results of this research in the classic book "On Memory" (1885).

The scientist found out that when reading the list at the same time, as a rule, seven syllables are memorized. Increasing it required a significantly greater number of repetitions than the number of syllables attached to the original list. The number of repetitions was taken as the memorization factor. The one drawn by Ebbinghaus gained particular popularity forgetting curve. Falling rapidly, this curve becomes flat. It turned out that most of the material is forgotten in the first minutes after memorization. The study also compared the memorization of meaningful texts and meaningless syllables. Memorable material was memorized nine times faster. As for the forgetting curve, in both cases it had a general shape, although in the first case (with meaningful material) the curve fell more slowly.

Ebbinghaus also owns a number of other works and methods, which retain their importance to this day. In particular, he created the one bearing his name test for filling in a phrase with a missing word. This test was one of the first in the diagnosis of mental development and has found widespread use.

Ebbinghaus also experimented with other factors affecting memory (for example, the comparative effectiveness of continuous versus timed learning).

Although Ebbinghaus did not develop a special theory, his research became key to experimental psychology. They have shown in practice that memory can be studied objectively. It was also shown the importance of statistical processing of data in order to establish the laws to which, for all their whimsicality, mental phenomena are subject. Ebbinghaus destroyed the stereotypes of the previous experimental psychology, according to which it was believed that the experiment was applicable only to the processes caused in the mind of the subject with the help of special devices. The way was opened for the experimental study of complex forms of behavior - skills. The forgetting curve has become a reference for skill development charts.

The Ebbimhaus method radically changed the nature of the experimenter's activity, who began to be interested not so much in the subject's statements (a report on the composition of his own consciousness), as in his real actions.

The next scientist that we cannot fail to mention in the framework of our research is Edward Titchener(1867-1927), founder of structural psychology in the United States.

Titchener was born in England, graduated from Oxford University, defended his doctoral dissertation in Leipzig (in 1892), after which he moved to the United States, where he founded the first American psychological laboratory.

Structural psychology was based on the idea of ​​the psyche as a set of elements that, joining each other, can create more and more complex formations (artistic, scientific, religious images and ideas). Titchener tried to decompose the psyche into its constituent elements, which he numbered up to 30,000 and which he compared with chemical elements.

Despite the fact that the direction in psychology developed by him turned out to be a dead end and was subjected to harsh criticism, one cannot but appreciate detailed descriptions mental processes and sensations, composed thanks to similar research Titchener.

In honor of this scientist, the "Titchener illusion" is also named: a circle surrounded by other circles seems to be smaller, the larger the diameter of the circles surrounding it.

We conclude this chapter with a description of the figure of W. Wundt, since it was this scientist who played a special role in the history of psychology, realized two paths of its development (natural and cultural) and acted as the organizer of science, giving it a new impetus to development and thereby involuntarily contributed to the coming crisis in psychology.

German psychologist, physiologist, philosopher Wilhelm Wundt(1832-1920) after graduating from the medical faculty in Tübingen, he worked in Berlin, defended his dissertation in Heidelberg, where he took up the position of teacher of physiology as an assistant to Helmholtz. Becoming a professor of philosophy in Leipzig, Wundt created here the world's first laboratory of experimental psychology (1879), which was then transformed into an institute.

Wundt came to the program of developing psychology as an independent science, independent of physiology and philosophy. He put forward the idea of ​​creating an experimental psychology, the plan of which was outlined in his "Lectures on the Soul of Man and Animals" and included two areas of research: a) analysis of individual consciousness by means of experimental controlled observation of the subject for his own sensations, feelings, ideas; b) the study of the "psychology of peoples", ie. psychological aspects of culture: language, myths, customs.

Psychology, thus, received two hypostases: physiological and spiritual (cultural). The first was defined as the science of "direct experience". Wundt called it physiological psychology, since the states experienced by the subject were studied through special experimental procedures, most of which were developed by physiology. The second was inaccessible to experiment and was investigated by the methods of "understanding psychology", which will be discussed in the next chapter.

Wundt showed that on the basis of experiments, the object of which is a person, psychology can be developed as an independent science. The results obtained were presented by him in the book "Fundamentals of Physiological Psychology", which became the first major work, according to which they studied not only in the laboratory of Wundt himself, but also in other centers, where specialists in a new discipline - experimental psychology - appeared.

The task of psychology, like all other sciences, according to Wundt, was to:

• a) isolate the original elements by analysis;
• b) establish the nature of the connection between them and
• c) find the laws of this connection.

These tasks subsequently gave rise to "structural psychology".

Analysis meant dismembering the subject's immediate experience. Wundt put forward a program, one of the concepts of which was "sensory mosaic" - that "matter" from which consciousness is built. Wundt substantiated the right of psychology to independence by the fundamental difference between consciousness and everything external and material. Psychology, according to Wundt, has unique item- the direct experience of the subject, comprehended by introspection, introspection. All other sciences (physics, chemistry, astronomy, etc.) study the results of processing this experience, and therefore psychology is the dominant science among them. This direction has received the name "psychologism".

Introspection for Wundt it is not trivial self-observation, but a specially trained, special procedure that requires special training. With ordinary self-observation, it is difficult for a person to separate perception as a mental internal process from a perceived object, which is not mental, but given in external experience. The subject must be able to distract himself from everything external in order to get to the primordial "matter" of consciousness. The elements of consciousness also include feelings ( emotional states). According to Wundt's hypothesis, each feeling has three dimensions: a) pleasure - displeasure, b) tension - relaxation, c) excitement - tranquility.

In an effort to defend the independence of psychological science, Wundt argued that it has its own laws, and the phenomena studied by it are subject to a special "psychic causality." In support of this conclusion, he referred to the law of conservation of energy. Material movement can only cause something material. There is another source for mental phenomena, and they, accordingly, require different laws. Wundt attributed to these laws: the principles of creative synthesis carried out by will ("voluntarism"), the law of mental relations (the dependence of an event on the internal relationships of elements, for example, a melody from the relationships in which individual tones are located among themselves), the law of contrast (opposites reinforce each other ) and the law of heterogeneity of goals (when an act is committed, actions that are not provided for by the original goal may occur, affecting its motive).

Wundt's theoretical views became the subject of criticism by the end of the 19th century. most psychologists have been rejected. Mainly it turned out limited introspection as a research method. In the light of this method, the mental was determined by the mental, the dependence of consciousness on external objects, the conditioning of the psyche by the activity of the brain, the involvement of the mental life of the individual in the world of social connections was ignored. Another belief criticized is the assertion that only elementary mental processes (sensations, the simplest feelings) are subject to experimental study and that experiment with all its advantages proven by the progress of science is unsuitable for more complex forms of mental life. This conviction of Wundt was dispelled by both previous and subsequent events in psychology, which came to be called "open crisis." Wundt's theoretical line turned out to be a dead end.

Later, leaving the experiment, Wundt took up philosophy and the development of the "second branch" of psychology conceived by him, devoted to the mental aspect of creating the culture of various peoples. He created a 10-volume "Psychology of Nations" containing voluminous materials on ethnography, history of language, anthropology. In doing so, he followed the concept Dilthea(1833-1911), which we will discuss in the next chapter.

It is customary to trace the pedigree of psychology as an independent discipline from Wundt. Experimental psychology arose before him, in the works of his predecessors, but it was Wundt who was the organizer of a new science, created the largest school in the history of this spider. Young researchers from this school different countries Having returned to their homeland, they organized laboratories and centers there, where the ideas and principles of a new field of knowledge that had acquired independence were cultivated.

The experiment radically changed the criteria for the scientific character of psychological knowledge. Requirements of reproducibility began to be imposed on him in conditions that could be re-created by any other researcher. Objectivity, repeatability, verifiability become the criteria for the reliability of a psychological fact and the basis for its classification as scientific.

Special laboratories that emerged in various countries became centers of psychological work (initially, priority belonged to German universities). In parallel, intensive research was carried out in Russia and the United States, on a smaller scale - in France, England, Italy and the Scandinavian countries. In concrete research practice, directions were cultivated, the combination of which equipped young science with experimental weapons (psychophysiology of the sense organs, psychophysics, psychometry).

The continuation of the Wundt program can be considered the Würzburg school, professed, like Wundt, structural psychology, which, in spite of Wundt, set the task of studying thinking. The founder of the school was O. Kulpe(1862-1915), Wundt's assistant, who moved to Würzburg. By experimenting according to Wundt's scheme, and using a slightly modified instruction: "Analyze your state before answering," Külpe employees discovered an insensitive, ugly thinking, different from sensations and representations. Further research made it possible to identify: the attitude that arises when accepting the task, the task (goal), the search process, accompanied by affective tension, and other non-sensory components. All this has become part of modern ideas about thinking.

The crisis in psychology. We have already mentioned Wundt's involuntary role in the development of the crisis in psychology. It served as a kind of trigger (starting device) in the state of public consciousness that existed at that time - everywhere, at least in many countries, laboratories began to be created following the example of Wundt's. Psychology from a science driven by lone enthusiasts turned into a mass activity, which was associated with the extraordinary expected prospects of a new field of knowledge - psychology was seen as a science that could change the world. This was facilitated by Wundt himself, who placed psychology at the center of science as the fundamental principle of any knowledge.

The cause of the crisis in psychology was not at all the experimental method, for, as we have seen, the experiment was used long before the crisis. The reason was the change in the content of the experiments - instead of measuring the reaction time, sensations and perceptions at the level of associations by the method of self-observation, they began to study more complex mental processes and not only by the method of self-observation, contrary to Wundt's precept about the possibility of experimenting only in the field of physiological psychology. The method of objective observation of the behavior of subjects and experimental subjects has become widely used.

The crisis in psychology is associated with the emergence of such directions as Freudianism(1900), gestaltism(1912), behaviorism(1913), who put forward completely new research programs and new concepts, proposed new methods of studying the psyche.

Freudianism proposed unconscious motivation and the method of psychoanalysis. Gestaltism- approved the concept of gestalt as a structural integrity of consciousness, not reducible to sensations and perceptions and reflecting objects of the real world, substantiated objective research not only on humans, but also on animals. Behaviorism rejected the concept of consciousness as an incomprehensible and useless thing and suggested objectively and impartially studying the behavior of living beings (animals and humans), freeing himself from consciousness.

But differential psychology, functional psychology, and the French "sociological school", which arose in the same period of the 1910s-1930s, which is considered a crisis, and even much earlier, played an equally important role.

IN differential psychology it was shown that people are distinguished from each other by their heredity, the role of heredity in human development was revealed, and a project of eugenics was created. Functional psychology convinced of the role of mental functions as ways of solving life problems. Finally, French sociological school asserted the dependence of the psyche on the social environment.

The term "crisis" introduced into psychology L. S. Vygotsky(1896-1934), based on its medical significance, suggests a certain condition, after which the patient either dies or recovers. This is not entirely applicable to the history of psychology - the old views were by no means rejected completely, but only faded into the background until better times. And recovery as the acquisition of the previous healthy state in science seems to be impossible - there are new ideas, a new vision of the world. Therefore, the term "crisis" should be taken with a reservation, as a metaphor. Let us add that the "crisis in psychology" since the time of L. S. Vygotsky has significantly expanded its scope - from the period 1910-1930s.

om spread into the 1970s. and even on the humanistic psychology of the middle of the XXI century. Therefore, one should speak not of a crisis, but of a continuous period of changes in psychology, which began not at all with the appearance of the Wundt laboratory, but much earlier, and has not ended to this day. There is no doubt that it is associated with the formation of a new paradigm in psychology, which presupposed going beyond the limits of consciousness and psyche, its objective study. The old paradigm of introspection, the study of consciousness, associationism and related structural psychology faded into the background.