4 what are the features of the directed association method. Methods of associative search for ideas: the method of focal objects, a garland of associations and metaphors

Sections: Primary School

Behind last years The attitude of school teachers to the use of modern educational technologies has changed: from doubt to implementation. What is the main difference between traditional teaching methods and new ones? The teacher’s activities are explanatory and illustrative in nature, and the teacher himself becomes a translator of this knowledge. Students perceive what is being communicated, comprehend, remember, memorize, reproduce, train, etc. Their activity is reproductive in nature. Is it good or bad? Neither one nor the other - reproductive activity is inevitable for any type of learning. Consequently, the main difference between new technologies is the idea of dialogue, where the student is seen as a subject of learning. It is the student’s activity that comes first in learning, and the teacher directs and corrects his work.

One of the components of innovative teaching technologies is the associative method.

To create conditions for favorable implementation into work practice this method It is necessary to work together to enhance cognitive activity and cognitive interest among students and teachers. When working with associations, special attention should be paid to the systematic presentation of the material being studied. One of the most important conditions for applying the method is the emotionality of the teacher: facial expressions, gestures, expressiveness of speech.

The associative method is implemented through associative images. There are certain requirements for images:

An associative image must be connected by some common feature.

The associative connection can be by:

Blossom;23
- location;
- form;
- sound;
- action;
- taste;
- material;
- purpose;
- quantity

You should not impose your association on your child!

The value of an idea is that each person has their own associative image given the given requirements: connection and a common given theme.

The use of the associative method is implemented through a system of exercises. One of these exercises is the exercise associative chain. In literary reading lessons, a thematic associative chain is used. Students build a chain of associations on a given topic or add gaps in the thematic chain. For example, the theme “Vegetable garden”. Children build a linear chain of associations: earth, shovel, garden bed, vegetables, harvest. That is, each student offers his own associative word for a given topic. At the next stage of work, a general chain of associations is created on a given topic: harvest - autumn - school - holiday. You can give the task to use only adjectives, only nouns, only verbs in the associative chain. The work also uses tasks to restore gaps in the associative chain. The teacher sets the first and last word, and the children must restore the middle. For example: the first word is “melody”, and the last is “dandelion”. Children restore the chain: melody - waltz - lightness - wind - flight - fluff - dandelion.

For students primary school It is often difficult to remember mathematical terms and components of operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Associative chains help students navigate the names of components and remember them faster. So in mathematics lessons you can use an associative game. For example: the word “subtraction” is given, children are asked to build a chain of associations. They may get the following result: minus – components of subtraction – minuend – subtrahend – difference – result of subtraction. You can also work in a playful way to restore the logical chain “composition of a number”, “algorithm for solving a problem”, etc.

Associative chains can also be used in lessons about the surrounding world when studying special terminology, natural areas, when working with a map, when studying the animal world, etc.

In addition to the associative chain, symbolization is used in the work of elementary schools. The children are offered the following tasks and exercises: using color to express the mood of the work, the character of the hero of the work, the color of their mood, etc.

Using signs and symbols, students are asked to depict the coat of arms of a hero, the coat of arms of a number, the coat of arms of a mathematical action. With the help of symbols and signs invented by the children themselves, educational material or individual elements of the lesson are formed into semantic groups. So, for example, during lessons on the surrounding world, each child comes up with his own symbol of living and inanimate nature. In such a way that, based on its elements, other children can name the components of living and inanimate nature. Also speaking about associative perception, at various stages of the lesson, children are asked to choose from musical works the one that they associate with the work of art, with the character of the hero, with the mood.

For better memorization vocabulary words The technique of associative memorization is used.

The spelling is presented in the form of a bright image associated with personal experience child. Also used short tales or stories about a word using associative pantomime. For example: when learning the vocabulary word “tomato,” children point with their finger at the round or oval shape of a tomato, and they associate this movement with the letter “o” in the spelling of this word. Working on the word “people”, we say that at the parade people shout “Hurray!” with joy. The emphasis is on the letter “a”. This is associated with the spelling of this letter in the word “people”. Children also easily remember the correct spelling of dictionary words when they rely on personal feelings associated with this word. For example: when children say the word “lemon,” they associate it with something sour and their lips stretch. Willy-nilly, they pronounce the sound “and” in the word “lemon”.

In elementary school, visual reference cards with vocabulary words are used, where the spelling is a vivid image and contributes to better memorization of vocabulary words. At the first stage, children are offered ready-made reference cards, and then they themselves offer their own versions of such cards. Moreover, each child’s associations may be different. An associative image must have in its writing a letter that is not in doubt, which is doubtful in the dictionary word. For example: in the word “weather,” someone draws the unstressed vowel “o” in the form of a sun, and someone draws it in the form of a round cloud from which it rains. Also, the associative method of work helps elementary school students create reference maps with vocabulary words in the form of puzzles.

Moreover, when composing a rebus, children must not only encrypt the word, but also come up with a variant that would help their classmates better remember this vocabulary word.

The results of this method are:

Creative activity of children;
Liberation of the personality of each child;
Creating a situation of success;
Enrichment vocabulary;
Development of logical thinking;
Improving students' memory;
Gaining experience working in groups, in pairs, independently;
Strengthening motivation in learning.

The effectiveness of the free association method is determined by the capacity and quality of the stimulus material (for example, when studying elite alcoholic drinks, the response “tear of a Komsomol member” was given to the stimulus “vodka”).

Example 1. When studying image characteristics, the method of free associations was used. The following is a summary of the data.

Individuality Potential consumers associate unique, special, antique, special, inimitable, rare, interesting.

Elegance associated with individual, fashionable, unique, light, simple, stylish, elegant, sophisticated.

Noble perceived as faithful, antique, oak, decent, reliable, mahogany products.

Reliable- strong, solid, old, oak, noble, permanent, durable, high quality, prestigious.

Traditionality associated with the definitions constant, classic, understandable, standard, familiar, accessible. This image characteristic is perceived ambiguously in terms of attitude: there is both positive and negative at the same time. The positive is associated with the attitude towards the traditional as reliable, the negative – as unfashionable, somewhat backward.

Safety associated with large, environmentally friendly, proven, reliable, durable, insured.

Qualitative perceived as neat, high-tech, stable, strong, reliable, durable, permanent, practical, expensive.

Exquisite associated with expensive, a lot of excess, elegant, beautiful, unusual, stylish, chic.

Comfort associated with lightness, coziness, convenience, softness, coolness, warmth.

Respectable in the perception of the participants it is chic, stylish, solid, expensive, strict, with bells and whistles.

Kudos is perceived as expensive, for the elite, high quality, fashionable, reliable, beautiful.

Example 2. The image characteristics indicated in Example 1 were studied by the method of free color associations. The results for the group of subjects are presented below:

· Kudos – blue, black, yellow, white, red.

· Comfort – beige, brown, green.

· Respectability – black, white, gray, green.

· Sophistication – gold, purple, white, gray, green.

· Quality – black (5 choices), silver.

· Traditional – black, white.

· Individuality – burgundy, purple, blue.

· Elegance – white, beige.

· Nobility – gray, brown, red, burgundy, beige.

· Reliability – green, brown, gray.

· Safety – yellow, blue, green, white.

Scope of application of the free association method:

1. To study the opinions and attitudes of respondents about the functions of a product or service, since verbal techniques, to a greater extent than non-verbal ones, reflect the impression of utilitarian and social functions.

2. To determine the desired image characteristics of a product, service, organization, brand, etc.

3. The method allows you to more accurately track trends in the sentiment of target audiences.

5. The method allows you to understand the place of the product in common system social values of the target group, in the rank scale of similar products.

Method of directed associations (forced connections)

When using this technique, participants are asked to determine which of several presented images, concepts, qualities of one category are most suitable for the stimulus material.

Example 3. To clarify the brand name and the most significant image characteristics, the method of directed associations was used. The subjects were asked to choose from the designated image characteristics the 5 most important for each name of the organization that produces and sells wood products. The selected characteristics had to be recorded in the appropriate column.

	Darles	Angarra	Dubrava	Lesko	Tekko	Crown
Kudos
Comfort
Respectability
Sophistication
Quality
Traditionality
Individuality
Elegance
Nobility
Reliability
Safety

Areas of application of the directed association method:

1. This method is used in cases where respondents have difficulty expressing their attitude to the subject of discussion, when the topic of discussion is too uninteresting or mundane.

2. In cases where the author of the study needs to activate participants during a discussion or flucus group when they are tired. In this case, the method of directed associations allows you to increase the quality and quantity of statements by group members.

3. To clarify data obtained during other studies.

Methodology for carrying out the associative method:

1. Determination of the research topic. For example, the image characteristics of a beer brand.

2. Creation or selection of stimulus material. If a study was previously conducted, for example, on the desired image characteristics of organizations providing tourism services (tour operators), using content analysis or a survey, then the research data is used as the basis for stimulus material. A list of verbal stimuli (words, phrases, etc.) or non-verbal (images, product samples, etc.) is determined.

3. Determination of the form of conduct and sampling (participants). Among the forms of implementation are:

The presenter reads or demonstrates stimulus material, the subjects give verbal associations, which are recorded by the presenter or assistant;

The presenter presents the stimulus material, the subjects independently record the associations;

The presenter distributes stimulus material to each participant, who record verbal associations in writing.

Sample matches target group, its volume is determined depending on the objectives of the study.

4. Direct research using the associative method.

5. Processing and interpretation of results. In addition to statistical (quantitative) processing of results with determination of the frequency of occurring associative variants, relationship maps are drawn up (see the case on the relationship between image characteristics and color range in the formation of a trademark). The primary map of relationships reflects all the obtained dependencies between the stimulus material and the associations that have arisen. Based on the analysis of the primary map of relationships, the most comprehensive relationships are selected, which is reflected in the secondary map (the case contains a secondary map).

K. Jung emphasized that therapy is the combined effort of the analyzer and the analysand, working together as equals. He determined psychotherapy as treatment of the soul and healing of the soul. He tried to avoid relying on formal theory and specific techniques in the process of therapy, since this could make the analysis mechanical and weaken the contact between the analyzer and the analysand. He emphasized that in the process of therapy there is interaction not only between consciousness, but also between the unconscious client and the therapist. The main methods he practiced were the directed word association method, the dream analysis method, and the active imagination method. He also used drawing and sculpting techniques. His student D. Kalff, based on the method of M. Lowenfeld, developed Jungian sand therapy, when the client creates his own world in a special sandbox.

Jung distinguished two main stages of the therapeutic process, each of which, in turn, is divided into two parts.

First stage- analytical. First comes recognition, during which the individual begins to regain previously suppressed and driven into the unconscious material. Then follows interpretation phase narrated material. The client remains dependent on the therapist for now.

Second stage - synthetic. First comes training, in which Jung emphasizes the need to move from psychological discoveries to new actual experiences, the result of which is individual growth and the formation of new habits. Last phase - transformation, This is the stage of mini-individuation, or self-learning, in which the individual takes more and more responsibility for his own development. Essentially, this is a phase personal growth, becoming a more highly developed being in the mental and spiritual sense.

Jung introduced a new technique of analysis into psychological practice; he used not free ones (like Freud), but directed word associations. In response to a word suggested by the therapist, the client had to respond with the first word that came to mind. The association given in response to a word that “offers” the client’s problem is given by him with some delay and is accompanied by an involuntary emotional reaction. This helps the therapist identify the underlying psychological complex and more accurately interpret the responses received.

Interestingly, a similar method is used in the famous lie detector.

In the book “Analytical Psychology” (Tavistock Lectures), Jung describes a case of working with a woman who received a diagnosis of “schizophrenia of a depressive nature,” which we present in abbreviations.

Jung used the Directed Association Test. He found that reactions were impaired (delayed) to the words “angel,” “persistent,” “evil,” “rich,” “money,” “stupid,” “dear,” and “marriage.” Based on this set of words, Jung had a conversation with the patient, during which he found out that in the small town where she grew up, there lived a young and rich aristocrat with whom she was in love. But the parents said that he was rich and did not think about her at all. She married someone else on their advice, gave birth to two children and was even happy.

She was already living in another city, and one day a childhood friend visited her and told her that with her marriage she had hurt a gentleman who loved her (the same one with whom she was in love). This news hit her like an electric shock. Two weeks later, she bathed her children - a boy and a girl; the water aroused suspicion and, as it turned out, was indeed contaminated with typhoid bacillus. The mother noticed that the girl was putting a sponge in her mouth, but did not stop her, and when the boy asked for a drink, she gave him this water. The girl fell ill with typhus and died, the boy was saved. Two months later, the mother ended up in a psychiatric clinic. It turned out that she committed murder, as if without realizing it, but she was punishing herself, although she was not threatened with crime.

Gathering his courage, Jung told her: “You killed your child.” There was an explosion of emotions, they eclipsed everything, but then she came to her senses. Three weeks later she was discharged. Jung observed her for another 15 years, and there was no relapse.

Unlike Z. Freud, K. Jung worked with patients with schizophrenia, and there are cases when he achieved their healing by purely psychological means.

Dream analysis was carried out by K. Jung differently than was customary in classical psychoanalysis. Basically, he sought to discover certain archetypes in a dream and interpret their meaning based on the process of development of the client's personality (the process of individuation) and the difficulties that he encounters along this path. Each dream is also a portrait of the dreamer; it reflects those personality traits or beliefs whose existence he is not fully aware of.

"To one young man, who believed that he was not interested in world domination but in serving the poor, had the following dream the day after receiving his diploma.

When I arrived at the business meeting site, it turned out that the place was a used car lot. Richard Nixon suddenly appears and looks like he's working as a salesman here. He pats me on the back and says, “Great! I want to see your enthusiasm! If you are going to become a real professional, you must master the basic art of manipulating people. Learn to think accordingly. Put on a suit, look respectable, and feel the part. Let's get out of here and sell yourself. This is the path to success."

This dream seemed extremely sarcastic to the dreamer (as is often the case with dreams). A hostile attitude toward politicians as people who are striving for world domination or who use “motivational techniques” and euphemisms to manipulate people has taken root in his mind. But from his dream, he learned that in the depths of his soul lies not only a thirst for power, but also an entire secret system of beliefs. Contrary to his ideals, he secretly believed (or some part of him believed) that the goal of life was a cheap version of world domination and that it could be achieved through the "gadgets" that the inhabitants of Madison Avenue used.

Active Imagination Method consists of free fantasy, as if composing a waking dream, in which the therapist can gently guide the client to solve his problem (see chapter “Emotional-imaginative therapy”). Active imagination is aimed at dialogue and interaction with images that arise in the imagination.

An example recorded by Jung. This was one of the first times he used active imagination. Jung made his most significant and profound discoveries in the field of the nature of the soul by turning in his active imagination to to the inner man, whom he named Philemon and who first appeared to him in a dream.

“...Soon after this fantasy, another figure rose from the depths of the unconscious. She developed from the figure of Elijah. I called this image Philemon. Philemon was a pagan and brought with him the spirit of Egypt and Hellas, with a flavor of Gnosticism. His image first appeared to me in the following dream:

The sky was blue, like the sea, and it was not clouds that floated across it, but flat brown blocks of earth. It looked as if the blocks were splitting and blue sea water appeared in the cracks between them. But it was not water, but blue sky. Suddenly, a winged creature floating in the sky appeared from the right. I saw that it was an old man with bull horns. In his hand he had a bunch of four keys, one of which he held at the ready, as if he was about to open the door. He had the wings of a kingfisher, with their characteristic colors.”

Philemon and other images from my fantasies helped me make a significant discovery: in my soul there are things that I do not create.

I. These things create themselves and live their own lives. Philemon represented a force that did not obey me. In my fantasies, I had long conversations with him, and he said things that were inaccessible to my awareness, because I clearly understood that he was saying these things, not me. He said that I perceive my thoughts as something generated by myself, but from his point of view, thoughts are like animals in the forest. ...It was he who taught me psychic objectivity, the reality of the soul. Thanks to him, I learned the difference between my Self and the object of my thoughts...

From a psychological point of view, Philemon represented the highest form of intuition. For me he was a mysterious figure. Sometimes he seemed to me like a completely real person. I walked with him in the garden, and he was for me that person whom the Hindus call a guru.

Questions for self-control

1. How does the collective unconscious differ from the individual unconscious?

2. What is an archetype?

3. What are the main personality types identified by K. Jung?

4. What are the features of the directed association method?

5. What personality types did K. Jung identify?

6. What phases did K. Jung divide the process of psychotherapy into?

7. What were the main methods of therapy used by C. Jung?

Literature

1. Grof S. A journey of self-discovery. - M., 1994.

2. Johnson R. Dreams and fantasies. - M., 1996.

3. Kroeger O., Tewson J.M. Types of people. - M., 1995.

4. Robertson R. Introduction to Jungian psychology. - Rostov n/d, 1999.

5. SamuelsE. Jung-post-Jungians. - M., 1997.

6. Fadiman D., Frager R. Theory and practice of personality-oriented psychology. - M., 1996.

7. HilmanD. Archetypal psychology. - St. Petersburg, 1996.

8. SteinhardL. Jungian sand psychotherapy. - St. Petersburg, 2001.

9. Jung K. G. Conflicts of a child's soul. - M., 1997.

10. Jung K. G. Favorites. - Minsk, 1998.

11. JungK.G. Psychology of transference. - M., 1997.

12. Jung K. G. Soul and myth. - M; Kyiv, 1996.

13. JungK.G. Problems of the soul of our time. - M., 1993.

14. JungK.G. Psychological types. - M., 1992.

15. JungK. G. Analytical psychology. - St. Petersburg, 1994.

Chapter 5. INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY

A. ADLER

Alfred Adler, like Carl Jung, was a student of S. Freud and also diverged from his teacher, building his own psychoanalytic concept. He left the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society in 1911, refusing the post of its president (9 other members of the society left with him), and founded his own organization, the Association of Individual Psychology, which gradually spread throughout Europe. Adler worked a lot in the field of education, especially in the field of training teachers themselves.

Key Ideas

As the basic principles of the mental life of an individual, Adler identified holism (the principle of integrity), embodied in the idea of the unity of an individual lifestyle, the individual’s desire for power and aggression, social interest or public feeling, the orientation of behavior towards achieving a goal. Adler argued that goals and expectations influence behavior more than past experiences; he believed that everyone is motivated primarily by the goal of superiority and mastery of the environment (the motive of power and aggression). At the same time, so-called cooperative feelings (or social interest) are innate in a person; if they are not satisfied, then the person cannot be happy. These include feelings such as love, friendship, trust, altruism, desire to serve humanity, feelings of intimacy, kinship, etc. These ideas largely contradict classical psychoanalysis and contributed greatly to the emergence of humanistic psychology.

At the same time, the key concept for him is inferiority complex(or as it is now specified - deficiency complex), he believed that all children deeply experience a sense of inferiority due to their small physical size and lack of strength and capabilities. This is especially true for children who are often ill or have certain physical disabilities. The child develops a desire to compensate for his shortcomings.

An inferiority complex can arise both as a result of the presence of a real physical defect, and in the case of a lack of attention and love, the inability to achieve the same success as other children, in the case of frequent illnesses, poverty, violence, the threat of death and as a result of spoilage in the parental family.

The feeling of inferiority causes a desire for superiority, which directs thoughts and actions towards the “goal of victory.” Adler emphasized the importance of aggression and the struggle for power in human life. However, he understood aggression not as a desire to destroy the enemy, but rather as a strong initiative in overcoming obstacles. Later, Adler viewed aggression and the will to power rather as a motive underlying the desire for superiority and self-improvement, i.e. motivation to improve oneself, develop one's abilities and potential. (Let us recall the example of Alexander Suvorov, who grew up as a sickly and frail boy, or the example of Demosthenes, who put pebbles in his mouth to fight his tongue-tiedness). As Adler believed, there is nothing terrible in the inferiority complex itself; moreover, it is to it that we owe all the improvements in the life of mankind.

The goal of superiority can be either positive or negative. If it includes social concerns and an interest in the welfare of others, then it develops in a constructive and healthy direction. It takes the form of a desire to grow, to develop skills and abilities, to work for a better way of life.

However, some people strive for personal superiority at any cost; they try to dominate, humiliate and suppress others rather than become useful to others. According to Adler, this kind of struggle for personal superiority is a neurotic perversion, the result of a very strong feeling of inferiority and lack of social interest.

Self-improvement is impossible without the formation of specific life goals. Their formation begins in childhood as compensation for feelings of inferiority, uncertainty and weakness in the adult world. For example, many doctors chose this profession in childhood as a means of coping with feelings of insecurity and fear of death. Neurotics always have a significant discrepancy and even a contradiction between the conscious and unconscious life goals, the latter play a defensive role and revolve around fantasies of personal superiority and self-esteem.

Each individual chooses his life style, i.e. a unique way of pursuing your life goal. Habits and behavior traits that seem independent from each other get their own

meaning in the full context of an individual's life and goals, so that Psychological and emotional problems cannot be considered in isolation; they are included in the overall lifestyle as part or side of it.

If a person is committed to the goal of power over other people for the sake of the very fact of power, considering the main means of achieving this to be fighting with people, then he will develop specific personality traits: ambition, suspicion, the ability to intrigue, the ability to betray friends, easily change beliefs if necessary , cleverly take advantage of the moment, make false promises, make the right impression, etc.

If he wants to serve society and power for him is only a tool for liberating people, achieving justice and the well-being of society, then he will develop other traits in himself: integrity, loyalty to ideas, reliable friendship with like-minded people, honesty and directness, the ability to persuade, kindness and etc.

From this it is clear that the basis of the integrity of the individual, according to Aadler, is the lifestyle from which all its other features stem. That is why his school is called “individual psychology” and the guiding principle is holism. In this sense, Adler was perhaps the first and most consistent “system specialist” in psychology.

We can point to three main lifestyles of an individual:

1. Successful compensation of feelings of sex and sex as a result -
those coincidences of the desire for superiority with social interest
catfish

An example would be a successful professional career that involves serving people. Let's imagine a wonderful surgeon who saves the lives of hundreds of people. This is enormous power, the power over life and death. This is superiority over others, but a superiority that does not humiliate, but delights. At the same time, this is the realization of good social feelings both on the part of the doctor himself towards people, and on the part of people towards him.

2. Overcompensation, which means one-sided fit
aspiration to life as a result of excessive development of one trait
or abilities.

This does not mean that any phenomenal development of talent is overcompensation; talent can also develop along the path of normal compensation. Overcompensation, in Adler's understanding, is reverse side a certain deficiency that remains despite the overdevelopment of abilities; first of all, the normal interpersonal connections of a person with

other people. In this case, talent can develop as a way to justify one’s inferiority.

Also, overcompensation can lead to the enhanced development of one particular personality trait: lust for power, stinginess, suspicion, deceit, adventurism, etc. It was noted that great rulers and commanders were often short, for example Napoleon, Kutuzov, Suvorov (he was a sickly boy in childhood), Marshal Zhukov, etc. Tyrants such as Hitler and Stalin were very humiliated in childhood, in addition, they were short men. All of Stalin's inner circle were short, and the smallest was the bloody People's Commissar Yezhov.

3. Departure from illness. The person cannot free himself from feelings of inferiority, cannot compensate in normal ways, and develops symptoms of illness to justify his failure.

In the latter case, the neurotic goes into self-isolation, he does not follow the path of social achievement and lives in fantasies that revolve around ideas about his own superiority. His love of power is realized in resistance to any demands of social life, he develops hypersensitivity to any natural responsibilities: he cannot do homework, study, take exams, sleep at night and stay awake during the day, trust anyone, respect anyone, follow logic , remain faithful, work, recognize other people's rights, etc. He feels all of the above as unbearable coercion. Logic, aesthetics, rules of language, love, caring for one's neighbor, cooperation, trust, etc. - the behavior of a power-hungry neurotic seeking isolation is directed against them.

All his activity rests in the small circle of his family, where he, in fact, is a tyrant on the basis of his “illness”, and all he “does” is to defend his privileges with the help of fears, obsessions, fainting, depression and even psychosis. However, such behavior cannot be considered as malingering, since it occurs unconsciously.

A 35-year-old woman, who held a fairly prestigious position, was forced to leave her job in order to take care of her eight-year-old daughter (the grandmother who had been doing this before fell ill). Two months later, the woman herself fell ill, only mentally. After several months of drug therapy, her condition improved significantly, but there was no complete recovery. She gave the impression of a stooped old woman with a prickly and gloomy look, she could not do any household chores, was constantly in conflict with her daughter,

She almost completely stopped having sexual relations with her husband, complained that she didn’t remember anything from what she read, and was constantly blaming herself for tormenting her family, but she couldn’t do anything. The family invited a psychologist for consultations.

During therapeutic conversations, it turned out that as a child she felt a lack of love and care for herself (she grew up with her stepfather), and was very jealous of her friend who “had everything.” Then she seemed to “clench into a fist” and decided to achieve everything for herself, which she did for the rest of her life. At work, she was a “fighter for justice.” She really achieved what she wanted, but when she was forced to “sit down” at home, she got sick.

Over the course of nine therapeutic meetings, the psychologist helped her realize that her illness was the result of an inferiority complex and a thirst for revenge, and that her self-blame only worsened her condition. As a result of the therapy, she was able to do household chores, her memory was restored, she resumed sexual relations with her husband, her relationship with her daughter improved significantly, the expression in her eyes became soft, her stoop disappeared, and her whole appearance acquired normal femininity.

In one of the meetings, which had a climax, she complained that the first three days after the previous session she felt well, and then “the illness overtook her again.” The psychologist reminded her that during previous meetings they had already realized that the “illness” was some part of the client’s personality. He then placed a chair in front of the client and asked her to imagine that the “disease” was on it.

“If illness overtakes you, then for some reason it is necessary. She’s probably protecting you from something?” - he said.

“I don’t understand you,” the client responded indignantly, “she took everything away from me!”

"Fine. Even if everything that she took away is on this side of the chair, now I move the chair away, and all this flows towards you in a stream... What is this?”

"ABOUT! This is love... The love of my loved ones, my husband, my daughter, my friends. This is what is most precious to me! She deprived me of all this..."

"It's clear. - The psychologist puts the chair in place. - So, “illness protects you from love...”

Aggressively: “I don’t understand your logic. She took everything from me!”

“But we agreed that this is part of your personality... So, for some reason you need it...”

“You are talking nonsense, I don’t need it. She tormented me, took everything away.”

"OK. Do you remember if there was a time in your life when you refused love?”

“Yes, there was one boy in the 9th grade. He loved me so much... He ran after me like a little dog, ready to jump out of the window at my word. And I kicked him...”

“What did it give you to ‘kick’ him?”

“The opportunity to torment... Well, power...”

“So you gave up love for power...”

"My God! (grabs his head). Indeed, I rule over them all, they rush around me... Did I really give up their love for the sake of power?! What to do?!"

“Give all the power that you feel in yourself back to this disease (points to a chair) until you get rid of it completely.”

The client works concentratedly for several minutes, mentally parting with power (the process is necessary for disidentification with a conscious undesirable quality), while it is noticeable how her body relaxes, her eyes begin to glow with a soft light. Finally she says that the “disease” in the chair has melted, she no longer needs power. She confirms that she feels the love she lost earlier coming back to her.

“How do you feel in general?”

“I haven’t felt this good for many years...”

The work continued in subsequent sessions, but by analyzing this stage, one can understand that the client, with the help of her illness, dominated the small circle of her family and that power and love are incompatible things.

What is also important is that after nine sessions, the client regained all normal mental functions, and this once again confirms that she did not have any disturbances in brain function, all symptoms were the result of an intrapsychic conflict, her descent into illness.

Another component of A. Adler’s theory is concept about the role of the birth order of a child in a family. For example, the firstborn, before the birth of the second child, receives the boundless love and care of his parents in the family. The birth of a second child means for him, as it were, “deprivation of the throne,” and he is inclined to regain his supremacy in the family. But the past cannot be returned, and therefore he usually follows the path of social achievements, strives for power and leadership. First-born children usually achieve greater social success than second-born children and have higher intelligence, which is confirmed by statistical data.

In my therapeutic experience, I became convinced of how difficult it was for the older sister to experience the birth of her brother. I know of several cases of the development of neurosis on this basis. Apparently, this is due to the fact that it is more difficult for her to compensate for the loss of the “throne” on the path of social achievements and she feels that she will still be worse than the boy, since for her parents the boy is more valuable (as it seems to her).

One of my students said that she and her brother have an excellent relationship. At first I said that, apparently, they have a very wise mother who managed to improve their relationship. She confirmed this. But then I noticed that this student has an absolutely remarkable intellect.

Tom, studying at the same time in two courses at the institute, having his own family and child, deals with rather complex problems of psychology that require a good knowledge of mathematics and equipment, and at the same time studies an unconventional method of treatment (Reiki). That is, she follows the path of social achievement, as the firstborn usually does, and is perfectly compensated in this sense.

At the same time, the sister usually loves her older brother very much, perceives him as a patron and does not compete with him, and is often jealous of his fiancée.

An only child never fights for his central position in the family with his brothers and sisters, so he may have problems communicating with peers, he expects protection and care from others. He often has a strong rivalry with his father.

The second child has to “break the records” of the eldest, it’s as if he is racing at full speed. He grows up to be competitive and ambitious. He may set unreasonably high goals for himself, which increases the likelihood of failure. Often he looks for other paths than the older child, because on the path chosen by the first child, he is not able to compete with him. But he may also be more interested in emotional intimacy than social success.

Last child never experiences being “dethroned” and is often the “baby” and “darling” of the family. But he has practically nothing of his own; he is forced to use the things of other family members. This can lead to certain neurotic problems. He becomes highly motivated to surpass older children. He often becomes the fastest swimmer, the best musician. Adler spoke of the "struggling youngest child" as a possible future revolutionary.

Today the whole world is talking about a skill, the value of which has increased several times over the past five years. This skill is creativity.

On the cusp of the fourth industrial revolution, in a world that seems to be slowly going crazy, people must reinvent their roles to remain relevant and useful. Otherwise, what will be left for us after the inevitable automation and robotization of all industries and most ordinary professions?

Even if the previous paragraph is difficult to read and you don’t want to believe it, re-read it again. in this understanding, it is not just the ability to find a beautiful picture or choose a rhyme for the word “chew”, but the opportunity to continue a meaningful life, the opportunity to live and rejoice, the opportunity to create and be useful.

I'll tell you about several tools that you can take and use to find new ideas right away, without having an academic background in creativity. Today will be the first post in a creative series about the basic tool of a creative person.

What are associations?

Associations in psychology are the connections that arise between individual events, facts, objects or phenomena that are in a person’s mind and fixed in his memory.

How do they work?

If there is an associative connection between phenomena A and B, the appearance in the consciousness of A entails the appearance in the consciousness of phenomenon B. The process of associative thinking proceeds in two stages: first analysis, then synthesis. You will not be able to come up with something that did not exist before, since associative thinking produces new combinations of what was encountered before.

What associations are there?

By similarity. The phenomena are similar in some ways: TV - box, cloud - cotton wool.
By contrast. The phenomena are opposite in some ways: black - white, laughter - sadness.
By location in space or time. The phenomena are close to each other: thunder - lightning, painting - wall.
Causal. The phenomena are related as cause and effect: violation - fine, sarcasm - fight.

How to use the association method to solve creative problems?

Getting the task right is half the success. And it doesn't matter who said it. You will need:

Formulate the first version of the problem.
Break the problem down into its components.
For each element of the task, write 15–20 associations.
Reformulate the problem using the associations created, write at least 10 new formulations.
Choose the most appropriate wording.
Implement.

How to create a chain of associations?

It will only take you six minutes. In three minutes you need to write down on a piece of paper a chain of associations for the word “creativity.” Each next word must be an association to the previous one.

Start of chain: creation - painting - dye - pile - buffalo - meadow- ... It’s hard to imagine how such a chain will end in three minutes. Let’s say I got the word “colony”.

Now you have two words: “creativity” and your last word in the chain. Time yourself for three more minutes and try to create and describe a product, service or service that combines the first and last word. There may be several options.

My examples (“creativity” + “colony”):

a special rehabilitation area where burnt-out office managers come to stay;
a thematic exhibition of contemporary art dedicated to human colonization of other planets;
auction of items created by prisoners.

How to train associative thinking?

Associative thinking, as part of thinking, can and should be developed. The most simple ways- play board games with friends and practice associative chaining every day.

The result of such work on oneself is more flexible thinking, interesting ideas for work and life. You can get results in 20–60 days. This is approximately how long it takes to form a stable habit.

Story

Free association method or association experiment was first used by Francis Galton and Wilhelm Wundt in the 80s of the 19th century in order to study mental processes. At the beginning of the twentieth century, E. Kraepelin, Z. Freud and K. Jung began to use it in psychiatry to study the unconscious. The essence of the method in this case was a quick spontaneous response with the first word that came to mind to the presented “stimulus word.” The universality of associative processes was the reason for the applied use of this method in the 70s of the twentieth century in management, business, advertising and inventive creativity.

Method functions

1. The association method can be an effective way creative solution problems and search for new solutions, and also be used to identify all possible signs and properties of the object under study.
2. It can be considered as a heuristic technique used to get rid of traditional, stereotypical connections, undermine stereotypes, develop a completely new view of the problem and achieve originality, freshness, surprise of ideas and solutions.
3. The method of associations acts as a way to expand the semantic space of a problem, obtain unexpected images, concepts and meanings, and highlight new possibilities.
4. The method acts as a way to awaken fantasy and imagination, activate creative thinking in solving various applied problems.

WITH power and purpose of the method

The essence of the method is to find as many distant and unexpected associations as possible to the object or problem under consideration and create new connections between these associations and the original object.
Creating meaningful connections between the problem and in different ways a found associative object (concept, image, feeling, phenomenon or process) is a means of discerning and finding an analogy, which contains a creative idea.
The use of the method allows you to break old connections, destroy stereotypes, highlight new contests and thereby build a bridge to analogies, which act as powerful generators of new ideas.
It is the analogies found with the help of associative connections that contain the most powerful, fresh and unexpected solutions.

Methodological and theoretical foundations of the method

Fundamental Principles
1. The principle of universal connection, community and unity of all objects and phenomena of the world. Everything is connected to everything. Associative connections are global in nature and arise between any objects that have any general signs. Any word can generate in the mind a limitless system of connections and relationships.
2. The principle of universality basic patterns and structures of creativity. Creative mechanisms and operating principles of one field of activity are transferred to another.
3. The principle of inexhaustibility and the endless wealth of the world. The world is wider, richer and more diverse than we see and what it seems to us. A word - a stimulus - generates a limitless system of connections in our minds, awakening the most diverse and unexpected images.
4. The principle of pragmatism. The whole world appears as a resource: everything can be useful, we have the entire Universe at our disposal.
5. The principle of unity of the conscious and unconscious, subconscious creative activity. Associations are ways of spontaneous generation of unconscious content, bridges, transition zones between conscious and subconscious processes. Associative thinking is carried out with disabled or delayed logical analysis.

Theoretical foundations
Association is understood as a reflection in a person’s consciousness of the relationship between objects of reality and mental ideas, concepts, sensations, perceptions, experiences, motor acts, in which one idea of an object gives rise to another, similar to it.
Stimulus object to generate associations there can be any objects in the surrounding world: randomly selected words, symbols, pictures, melodies.
At the internal, mental level, associations are understood as connections between individual ideas, in which one of the ideas causes another, and at the psychophysiological level - as a conditioned reflex.
Associations appear without active perception, spontaneously and without logical evaluation.
The strength, originality and brightness of associations depends on the richness of a person’s inner world, experience, orientation and his individual characteristics.
Discovery and establishment of new associative connections.
In the process of the emergence of associations, extraordinary relationships are established between the object being improved or the problem being solved and randomly selected elements of the external world and the internal world, including the contents of EXPERIENCE. When discovering or creating new associative connections, the consciousness and subconscious of a person begins to generate new ideas.
The very process of discovery and birth of new associative connections and finding new analogies leads to the creation of original ideas and creative solutions to the problem.
Thus, the following creative chain is created: a problem or an object being improved - a word found using free associations - the discovery of a connection between the problem and this word - the creation of an analogy - the birth of an original idea.
Creativity is understood as the connection of distant phenomena, concepts and meanings, types of activities, different worlds and spheres of reality
At the same time, walking around useful functional analogies based on the created connections allows you to transfer operating principles, successful methods of action and methods of solving problems from familiar worlds to newly discovered ones.

Ways to create associations

1. Free associations are created by a spontaneous response to a presented word without any semantic or grammatical restrictions.
Moreover, associations can be expressed by any part of speech: a noun, an adjective, a verb, as well as an experience, an image, a symbol.
2. Directed or controlled associations limited by certain, predetermined conditions.
Example the latter are served by instructions that prescribe the creation of associations by contrast, words of a certain part of speech (nouns or adjectives), symbols, colors, names of celebrities, etc.

Associations can be generated using the following techniques:
a) a word-association is immediately given to the stimulus-word,
b) associations are generated and grouped around the central stimulus word,
c) associations are generated in the form of a flow and lined up in the form of a chain in which one association freely generates another.

In the practice of activating creative problem solving, methods for generating associations are presented as:
1. Generating many associations in response to one word stimulus.
This technique is reminiscent of “Mind mapping”, mind mapping or the creation of intellectual circuits. A randomly selected word or object being improved is kept in the focus of attention, and at the same time all association words associated with this object are freely generated.
For example: Phone - waves, computer, music, art, hand, light, heat, vibrations, jacket, world, artificial intelligence, chain, energy, weapon, robot...
2. Representations of a chain of associations, in which the stimulus word generates a sequence of associated words-associations, each of which generates the other.
For example: Phone—communication—relationships—love—rose—velvet—warmth—lamp—sun—life—health… (The telephone-health connection can serve as a source of a number of original and powerful solutions for improving the device).
Forms of generating associations:
1. Individual.
2. Group - in which each member of the group makes up his own “clouds” and “chains” of associations, which serve as the material for a common, mutually enriched pool of associations, ideas and solutions.

Method rules

1. Suggested keyword–stimulus, preferably should be a noun and evoke some kind of image.
2. It is necessary to create an atmosphere of spontaneity, play, humor and creativity, conducive to the generation of a rapid flow of free associations among participants.
3. Criticism at the stage of generating associations should be prohibited.
4. Associations should be imaginative, bright, distant, bold, and their change should occur quickly, flexibly and rapidly.
5. It is necessary to write down everything that comes to mind when criticality and logical analysis are turned off.
6. All associations and ideas must be recorded.

Procedure and main steps

1. Formulate and write down the problem on the board. You can select a keyword that expresses the essence of the problem. The word being improved object or keywords characteristic of the object being improved.
2. Define a list, cloud, a chain of associative words and writes down all associations in a notebook or on a board.
In this case, each group member creates:
A) A group of words related to the stimulus keyword (3 min).
b) A chain of words in which each word is an association to the previous one (3 min).
3. Consistently combine the keyword, with all words starting with those that are distant in meaning and standing at the end of the row.
4. Based on analogies, created by each link and the subsequent transfer of properties, forms and operating principles from the associative object to the key one, generate new ideas and solutions.
5. Systematize and evaluate received ideas and solutions and select the best ones.

Advantages

1. The method of free association is one of the simplest and at the same time most effective methods for developing new ideas.
2. The process of implementing the method is accompanied by positive emotions, activates creative thinking, awakens the imagination and imagination of the participants.
3. The use of the method undermines stereotypes, helps overcome the inertia of thinking, significantly expands the field of search and contributes to the generation of fresh, original and unexpected ideas and solutions.

Restrictions

The success of the method largely depends on the competence of the facilitator, who is able to create an atmosphere of spontaneity, play and creativity. Otherwise, participants offer stereotypical associations that cannot be a source of original ideas.

The association method is closely related to the methods of bisociations, analogies, metaphors, random words and forced connections.

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