Crisis in Russian psychology of the mid-20th century. The main reasons for the open crisis in psychology

8. An open crisis in psychology and the emergence of the first psychological schools.

The open crisis in psychology is marked by the creation of new schools and directions in psychological science.

There are three stages in an open crisis:

The emergence of a crisis situation (from the 3rd quarter of the 70s to the tenths of the 20th century)

Open crisis (from the 10th to the 30th years of the 20th century)

Decay of school struggle (from the 30s to the present time)

Socio-historical conditions, economic, political changes. Various trends are emerging in culture, imbued with the spirit of decadence.

General scientific changes. Fundamental discoveries in physics and chemistry. Refusal of reason in favor of intuition and mysticism. Reconsidering man's place in the world.

The situation within psychology. The psychological teaching of W. Wundt is developing in Europe. In the USA - Titchener. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were 84 laboratories in the world where experimental research was carried out and new knowledge was accumulated that no theory could explain.

With the accumulation of new knowledge, a need arises to explain it, and in this regard, new schools appeared.

1909 – psychoanalysis. Freud and Jung read “Five Lectures on Psychoanalysis” in the USA

1912 - Gestalt psychology. Wertheimer's first experiment to study the phi phenomenon. The experiment was carried out on Köller and Kofka.

1913 - behaviorism. Watson's article "Psychology from a Behaviorist Point of View."

Also, a little later, schools of descriptive psychology (Dichtei and Sprangler) and the French sociological school appeared.

Each of these 5 schools opposed the tenets of traditional psychology.

Old provisions	Contrasting schools
The psyche is identified with consciousness.	Behaviorism: psyche and consciousness were not a subject of study. Gestalt psychology: did not consider the psyche and consciousness. Descriptive psychology: we agree with this position. Fr. Social School: expansion of concepts, adding the idea of prological thinking.
The area of consciousness is contrasted with other phenomena of reality	Psychoanalysis: we do not agree with this statement. The basis is a biological factor. Behaviorism: the “stimulus” - “response” scheme according to the type of the animal world. Gestalt psychology: animals also have insight, humans are not unique Descriptive psychology: a person is contrasted with the world around him. Fr. Social School: a person is opposed to the world around him.
The only method is introspection.	Psychoanalysis: modification of introspection: dream analysis, free associations. Behaviorism: an experiment Gestalt psychology: experiment. Descriptive psychology: used introspection, but did not reject other methods. Fr. Social School: historical approach.
Individualism is the study of consciousness within the individual consciousness.	Psychoanalysis: the dissemination of the results is not all Behaviorism: identification of man and animal in behavioral acts. Gestalt psychology: Gestalts are innate Descriptive psychology: individualism is the pinnacle of psychology. Fr. Social School: ???????
Atomism is the study of consciousness by breaking it down into elements.	Psychoanalysis: facts of unconscious life. Behaviorism: Behavior can be broken down into stimulus and response. Gestalt psychology: Gestalt is an indivisible unit. Descriptive psychology: opposed to atomism. Fr. Social School: studied elements within the framework of historical psychology.
The existence of the psyche is exhausted by conscious experience.	Psychoanalysis: the study of unconscious processes. Behaviorism: psyche and consciousness are not a subject. Gestalt psychology: insight is an unconscious process. Descriptive psychology: creativity is an unconscious process Fr. Social School: prological thinking is an unconscious process.

A brief description of the main psychological schools that emerged during the period of open crisis in psychology.

Psychoanalysis. S. Freud (1856 – 1939)

Psychoanalysis is a branch of psychological teaching that focuses on unconscious mental processes. Freud's psychoanalysis examined mental life from a dynamic (the inner life of an individual is the result of a collision of opposing forces), economic (the energetic characteristics of mental life) and typical (the presence of structure) points of view.

Psychoanalysis has two groups of sources:

Philosophical concepts:

Leibniz: the idea of different degrees of conscious life.

Herbart: “the concept of the threshold of consciousness,” according to which new knowledge can displace old knowledge into a zone below the threshold of consciousness.

Schopenhauer: “the concept of the will to live,” which developed the idea that a person has two drives: sexual and aggressive.

Hartmann: “Philosophy of the Unconscious” is a book that summarizes all knowledge about the unconscious, the function of which is to maintain life and preserve the human race. The unconscious is a stimulus for creativity. But there is also a “demonic” side to the unconscious.

Nietzsche: brought up the idea of the will to power, which moves a person and is expressed in affects.

Psychotherapeutic and psychopathological concepts.

Since the end of the 18th century, attempts have been made to treat the mentally ill.

Mesmer, Charcot: the idea of mental disorders, attempts at group therapy.

Darwin: On the Mental Development of the Child is a work that describes emotional and sexual development from infancy to adulthood.

Krafft-Ebbing: 1886 book "Sexual Psychopathy", which looked at the idea that one hundred people are controlled by the sexual instinct.

Mole: introduction of the term "libido" 1887. Book "Children's Sexuality".

Brier, Charcot: dreams were used as a method of therapy.

The development of Freud's ideas can be divided into 3 stages:

	Key provisions and events	Major works
	Psychoanalysis as a method of treating neuroses. Development of the first version of the personality structure: conscious, preconscious, unconscious. “A period of brilliant isolation” due to pansexualism theory. The emergence of the “Vienna Circle” (Adler, Jung, Abraham, Jones, etc.)	“Interpretation of Dreams”, “Psychopathology of Everyday Life”, “Wit and Its Relation to the Unconscious”, “Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality”
	Psychoanalysis is the study of personality and its development. New personality structure: Id, Ego, Superego. The emergence of the idea of libido, martido. 1909 - tour of America. Recognition of psychoanalysis. Expulsion from the circle of Adler and Jung. Proposals for the creation of an international psychoanalytic association.	“Five lectures on psychoanalysis”, “Analysis of the phobia of one five-year-old boy”, “Totem and taboo”, “Leonardo DaVinci”
	Expanding the scope of psychoanalysis. The spread of ideas to culture and its manifestations - religion, anthropology. The formation of psychoanalysis as a philosophical system.	“Beyond the pleasure principle”, “I and It”, “Mass psychology and analysis of the human self”, “Moses and monotheism”, “Cultural dissatisfaction”.

Methods of psychoanalysis: catharsis, dream analysis, free associations, hypnosis, analysis of jokes, slips and erroneous actions.

Freud had followers and apostates. I'll just add a little bit here as a reminder.

The apostates criticized Freud's theory and made several innovations:

Ego's rights are expanded, it has its own energy and functions.

A reassessment of the influence of biological and social factors on the development of personality in favor of social ones.

Reassessment of the role of childhood sexuality and the Oedipus complex.

Renegades:

A. Freud: child psychoanalysis. Introduces gaming methods of diagnosis and correction, since classical psychoanalysis does not take into account the imperfection of verbalization in children.

K. Jung: the idea of the collective unconscious. The idea of archetypes. Libido, according to Jung, is an energy that has different intensity at different ages. A person’s personality is determined not only by childhood experiences, but also by goals for the future. Adding “human innate experience” to the realm of the unconscious.

A. Adler: a feeling of inferiority that develops by the age of 5 and determines a person’s behavior. Disadvantages perpetuate an inferiority complex. Social interest and desire for superiority. Indivisibility of personality into structures. A person has an inherent “Creative Self” that shapes him.

K. Horney: Basal anxiety, caused by lack of attention from parents. Revaluation towards social factors.

G. Sullivan: The concept of interpersonal psychiatry. A decisive role in the development of personality is played by MLO, the violation of which leads to neurosis.

E. Fromm: Social Freudianism. The concept of “existential contradiction” that arises when ties with nature are severed. The productive way is to recreate connections with nature and society. But social conditions block this path and the person is forced to “run.”

W. Reich: Body-oriented psychoanalysis. The basis for a healthy personality is freely circulating energy. Neurotic individuals direct energy to muscle tension, which leads to the appearance of a “muscular shell”.

Heirs:

G. Allport: Rational motives play a decisive role in a person, and only neurotics live under the influence of emotions. Personality is something that is inherent in each of us, it is unique. "Proprium" - inherent.

G. Murray: Id is impulsive tendencies. In addition to the energy of life and death, it contains a socially desirable impulse - love and empathy. Projection is the main defense mechanism. TAT.

E. Erickson: the concept of “Identity Crisis”, covering a person’s entire life. Human development is overcoming the conflicts inherent in each stage.

E. Burn: transactional analysis. Three Ego states: Parent (control and care), Child (play), Adult (control of the outside world). The concept of a script.

J. Lacan: introducing linguistics into psychoanalysis. Consideration of structure from the point of view of language. Verbal diagnostic methods.

Behaviorism.

Refuses to consider the subjective world of man. Objects proclaim behavior, which includes all externally observable reactions of the body to external stimuli.

Sources:

Objectivism and mechanism. O. Kont. The truth is only that knowledge that can be observed.

Functionalism. Angel: “soon the term “consciousness” will disappear from psychology.”

Zoopsychology. J. Loeb – theory of animal behavior based on forced movements. The principle of associative memory - an animal can be taught to react in a certain way to a certain stimulus.

1900 - “labyrinth” by W. Small

1906 Turner article “Some preliminary remarks on the behavior of ants”

I. P. Pavlov: Conditioned reflex.

1910 – 8 zoopsychology laboratories.

1912 - Animal Behavior magazine.

V.M. Bekhterev: objective psychology. Combination reflexes. Behavior top level can be explained as a combination of lower-level motor reflexes.

E. Thorndike: Problem box. Law of Exercise: The more often an action is used in a situation, the stronger the connection between the action and the situation. Law of Effect: Any action that appears in a situation is associated with that situation, and when the situation occurs again, the probability of that action is high.

Behaviorists:

J. Watson (1878 - 1958):

1913 - a call for the study of behavior, a deliberate attack on psychology. Subject: “Stimulus” - “Reaction”. Stimuli can be simple or complex. Reactions can be explicit or implicit. Methods: observation, reaction testing, verbatim recordings, conditioned reflex method (1915). “Psychology as a science of behavior”, “Psychological care for a child”.

Neobehaviorism 30-60 years. E. Tolman, K. Hull, B. Skinner.

E. Tolman: goal-directed behaviorism. Purposive behavior can be explained in terms of objective behaviorism, that is, any behavior is aimed at a goal. Experiments with rats have established that rats form cognitive maps that can be inherited. In behavior there is an "intervening variable" - an organism that is not subject to observation, but influences the reaction. The appearance of the term “gestalt signs” - associative connections that are developed during the repeated execution of an action. A cognitive map is a network of gestalt signs.

K. Hull: radical behaviorism. Human behavior can be reduced to the language of physics. The organism is a self-sustaining robot made from natural materials. Methods: simple observation, systematic controlled observation, experimental testing of hypotheses, hypothetico-deductive method.

B. Skinner: introduction of the term “operant response” - the orientation of behavior towards a goal. A system of rewards and punishments for learning. Over time, Skinner transferred his developments to social life - an air cradle for babies, a teaching machine. Development of programmed learning.

3. Social behaviorism:

A. Bandura: studying cognitive processes using experiment. Indirect reinforcement based on someone else's experience. Social learning is modeling behavior based on the behavior of other people. The concept of self-efficacy is a feeling of confidence in problem-solving competence. It can be social and active. Working with phobias and neuroses.

J. Rotter: Social learning: assessing possible positive and negative consequences. Locus of control: internal and external.

Gestalt psychology. Understanding consciousness as a dynamic whole, a field, each point of which interacts with the others. The unit of analysis is the gestalt, as a holistic figurative structure.

The philosophical premise of Gestalt psychology is “critical realism”:

E. Mahkh: analysis of sensations - how a person perceives figures and melodies. He proved that the perception of these objects may be independent of the perception of these elements.

Brentano: Psychology must study the processes or acts of consciousness.

K. Ehrenfensier: identified the qualities of an object that can be explained by the simple addition of elementary sensations.

Gestalt psychology as psychology of perception:

“Phi-phenomenon” - movements that do not exist. 1912 article “An Experimental Study of the Perception of Motion.”

1921 - Journal of Psychological Research

Kofka conducted experiments related to perception in order to explain the dynamics of image formation.

The principle of isomorphism: the brain can be considered as a dynamic system in which the same elements that are currently active interact. GM is the equivalent of the outside world.

Köller: "The Intelligence of Apes" 1930. The emergence of the concept of “insight”.

Gestalt psychology as personality psychology:

Kurt Lewin: 1926 - “Intentions. Will. Needs.”, 1935 – “Dynamic Theory of Personality”. Human activity occurs in conditions of interaction of fields that influence a person, forming a geological space. Objects have inherent valence. Lewin introduces the concept of “emotional-cognitive representation”, meaning by it the alternation of cycles of the emergence and release of tension. After the 1930s, Lewin transferred field theory to group processes. Develops a theory of leadership styles.

B. Zeigarnik: the effect of unfinished action.

Gestalt therapy: F. Pearls: the individual has the ability to self-regulate. The “here and now” principle. The role of nonverbal language in diagnosis. The main procedure is a game that allows you to experiment (the influence of psychodrama). The goal of therapy is personality integration. Client-centered approach.

Descriptive psychology: an ideographic approach.

1894 – V. Dilthey “Descriptive Psychology”.

A call to abandon the experiment, since it is a natural scientific method. The subject is the developed person and the inner mental life. Understanding was considered the main method of understanding a person and his problems. Assess subjective experiences and integrate them into a social context. A person’s values change throughout life: play, then ideals, then awareness of actual values, then particularly significant values. Dilthey's psychology is the pinnacle of psychology, since man can be known in his highest manifestations - creativity and freedom.

Sprangler: values as an emotional attitude towards something. Classification of values:

Theoretical values - field of science

Economic values - material goods

Aesthetic values – self-expression

Social values - communication

Political values – power, influence

Religious values – the meaning of life

French sociological school:

E. Durkheim, Lévy-Brull.

Man is a dual being – social and biological. Biological influences practical activities person. The social, under the influence of society, forms the social part of the psyche, which distinguishes a person from an animal. Society is considered as a special reality, which consists of different opinions, knowledge, that is, of quantitative ideas that are enshrined in language. The historical approach is an analysis of the influence of human development on the formation of his psyche.

Lévy-Brull: pre-logical thinking, characteristic of primitive man. Pre-logical thinking is subject to the laws of participation - involvement, that is, all objects that are similar to each other have a common magical power. This type of thinking does not require proof; it is irrational.

Prelogical thinking gives way to logical thinking as phylogenesis progresses.

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Plan Causes of the crisis Main trends Structuralism Würzburg school Functionalism Behaviorism Gestalt psychology Field theory of Kurt Lewin Psychoanalysis (depth psychology) Humanistic psychology Consequences of the split I. Causes of the crisis. The more successful the empirical work in psychology was, dramatically expanding the field of phenomena studied by psychology, the more obvious became the inconsistency of its versions about consciousness as a closed world of the subject, visible to him alone thanks to trained introspection under the control of the experimenter’s instructions. Major advances in new biology radically changed views on all vital functions of the body, including mental ones. Perception and memory, skills and thinking, attitudes and feelings were now interpreted as a kind of “tools” that allowed the body to effectively “operate” in life situations. The idea of consciousness as a special closed world, an isolated island of the spirit, collapsed. At the same time, new biology directed the study of the psyche from the point of view of its development. Thus, the zone of cognition of objects inaccessible to introspective analysis (the behavior of animals, children, mentally ill people) radically expanded. The collapse of the original ideas about the subject and methods of psychology became more and more obvious. The categorical apparatus of psychology experienced profound transformations. Let us recall its main blocks: mental image, mental action, mental attitude, motive, personality. At the dawn of scientific psychology, as we remember, the initial element of the psyche was considered to be the readings of the senses - sensations. Now the view of consciousness as a device of atoms - sensations - has lost scientific credit. It has been proven that mental images are wholes that can only be split into elements artificially. These wholes were designated by the German term “gestalt” (form, structure) and under this name they were included in the scientific glossary of psychology. The direction that gave Gestalt the significance of the main “unit” of consciousness became established under the name of Gestalt psychology. As for mental action, its categorical status has also changed. In the previous period, it belonged to the category of internal, spiritual acts of the subject. However, advances in the application of the objective method to the study of the relationship between the organism and the environment have proven that the field of the psyche also includes external bodily action. A powerful scientific school emerged that elevated it to the subject of psychology. Accordingly, the direction that chose this path, based on English word"behavior" (behavior), came out under the banner of behaviorism. Another area opened up by psychology gave consciousness a secondary meaning instead of a primary one. The sphere of unconscious drives (motives) that drive behavior and determine the uniqueness of the complex dynamics and structure of personality was recognized as determining for mental life. A school emerged that gained worldwide fame, the leader of which was S. Freud, and the direction as a whole (with many branches) was called psychoanalysis. French researchers focused on analyzing the mental relationships between people. In the works of a number of German psychologists, the central theme was the inclusion of the individual in the system of cultural values. A special innovative role in the history of world psychological thought was played by the doctrine of behavior in its special version, which arose on the basis of Russian culture. II. Main movements As a result of the crisis, the following movements appeared: 1 Structuralism. Let us consider, first of all, the so-called structural school - a direct heir to the direction whose leader was W. Wundt. Its representatives called themselves structuralists, since they considered the main task of psychology to be the experimental study of the structure of consciousness. The concept of structure presupposes elements and their connection, so the school’s efforts were aimed at finding the initial ingredients of the psyche (identified with consciousness) and ways to structure them. This was Wundt's idea, reflecting the influence of mechanistic natural science. With the collapse of Wundt's program came the decline of his school. The nursery where Cattell and Bekhterev, Henri and Spearman, Kraepelin and Münsterberg once mastered the experimental methods was empty. Many of the students, having lost faith in Wundt's ideas, became disillusioned with his talent. 2. Würzburg School At the beginning of the 20th century, dozens of experimental psychology laboratories operated in various universities around the world. In the United States alone there were over forty. Their topics were different: analysis of sensations, psychophysics, psychometry, associative experiment. The work was carried out with great zeal, but essentially new facts and ideas were not born. V. James drew attention to the fact that the results of a huge number of experiments do not correspond to the efforts invested. But against this monotonous background, several publications sparkled in the magazine "Archive" general psychology ", which, as it turned out later, influenced the progress of science no less than the volumes of Wundt and Titchener. These publications came from a group of young experimenters who trained with Professor Oswald Külpe (1862-1915) in Würzburg (Bavaria). Professor, native Latvia (part of Russia), was a gentle, friendly, sociable person with broad humanitarian interests. After studying with Wundt, he became his assistant. Külpe became famous for his "Essay on Psychology" (1883), which outlined ideas close to Wundt's. But soon and he, having headed the laboratory in Würzburg, opposed his teacher. The experiments carried out in this laboratory by several young people turned out to be the most significant event in the experimental study of the human psyche for the first decade of the 20th century. At first, there seemed to be nothing remarkable in the set of experimental schemes of the Würzburg laboratory. Sensitivity thresholds were determined, reaction time was measured, and the association experiment, which became widespread after Galton and Ebbinghaus, was carried out. Karl Bühler (1879-1963) worked in Würzburg in 1907-1909. He introduced a new orientation into the experimental practice of the school, which gave rise to the most acute criticism from Wundt. The technique consisted in the fact that the subject was presented with a complex problem and he had to, without using a chronoscope, describe as carefully as possible what was happening in his mind during the solution process. The historical literature suggests that "Bühler, more than anyone else, made it obvious that there are data in experience that are not sensory." After Külpe left Würzburg (first to Bonn and then to Munich), the thinking process was studied by Otto Selz (1881-1944?). He is responsible for the experimental analysis of the dependence of this process on the structure of the problem being solved. Seltz introduced the concept of the “anticipatory schema,” which enriched previous data on the role of attitude and task. Seltz's main works are “On the Law of Orderly Movement of Thought” (1913), “Towards the Psychology of Productive Thinking and Errors” (1922), “The Law of Productive and Reproductive Spiritual Activity” (1924). Seltz died in a Nazi concentration camp. The traditions of the experimental study of thinking created by the Würzburg school were developed by other researchers who did not belong to it. 3. Functionalism At the origins of this direction, which at the beginning of the 20th century became one of the dominant ones in American psychology, was the Austrian psychologist Franz Brentano. F. Brentano (1838-1917) began his career as a Catholic priest, leaving it due to disagreement with the dogma of papal infallibility and moving to the University of Vienna, where he became a professor of philosophy. Brentano's first work was devoted to Aristotle's psychology, as well as its interpretation by medieval Catholic theologians, who developed the concept of intention as a special direction of thought. In his unfinished work “Psychology from an Empirical Point of View” (1874), Brentano proposed a new program for the development of psychology as an independent science, contrasting it with Wundt’s program that was dominant at that time. He considered the problem of consciousness to be the main one for the new psychology. How does consciousness differ from all other phenomena of existence? Only by answering this question can we define the field of psychology. At that time, under the influence of Wundt, the prevailing opinion was that consciousness consists of sensations, perceptions, and ideas as special processes that replace each other. With the help of an experiment, they can be isolated, analyzed, and those elements or threads from which this special “fabric” of the internal subject is woven are found. Such a view, Brentano argued, is completely false, for it ignores the activity of consciousness, its constant focus on an object. To designate this indispensable feature of consciousness, Brentano proposed the term “intention.” It is initially inherent in every mental phenomenon and it is precisely because of this that it allows us to distinguish mental phenomena from physical ones. Intention is not just activity. In it, together with the act of consciousness, some object always coexists. Psychology uses, in particular, the word “representation”, meaning by it the restoration in memory of imprints of what was seen or heard. According to Brentano, we should talk not about representation, but about representation, that is, about special spiritual activity, thanks to which the previous image is realized. The same applies to other mental phenomena. K. Stumpf (1848-1936) was a professor at the departments of philosophy in Prague, Halle and Munich. From 1894 he worked at the University of Berlin, where he organized a psychological laboratory. Under the influence of Brentano, he considered the subject of psychology to be the study of psychological functions, or acts (perception, understanding, volition), distinguishing them from phenomena (sensory or represented in the form of forms, values, concepts and similar contents of consciousness). Stumpf attributed the study of phenomena to a special subject area - phenomenology, connecting it with philosophy, and not with psychology. Stumpf considered functions (or acts) to be the proper subject of psychology. Thus, it is not the red color of the object that is subject to study (which, according to Stumpf, is a phenomenon and not a function of consciousness), but the act (or action) of the subject, thanks to which a person is aware of this color in its difference from others. Among the functions, Stumpf distinguished two categories: intellectual and emotive (or affective). Emotive functions consist of opposite pairs: joy and sadness, desire and rejection, desire and avoidance. Some phenomena that have been called “sensory sensations” can also acquire an emotional connotation. W. James (1842-1910) dealt with many problems - from studying the brain and the development of cognitive processes and emotions to personality problems and psychedelic research. One of the main issues for him was the study of consciousness. James comes up with the idea of the “stream of consciousness”, i.e. about the continuity of the work of human consciousness, despite the external discreteness caused by partially unconscious mental processes. Continuity of thought explains the possibility of self-identification, despite constant breaks in consciousness. James emphasizes not only continuity, but also dynamism, the constant variability of consciousness, saying that the awareness of even familiar things is constantly changing and, paraphrasing Heraclitus, who said that you cannot step into the same river twice, he wrote, that we cannot have exactly the same thought twice. Functional psychology examined the problem of action from the angle of its biological-adaptive meaning, its focus on solving problem situations that are vital for the individual. But in general, functionalism (both in the “Chicago” version and in the “Columbia” version) turned out to be theoretically untenable. The concept of “function” in psychology (as opposed to physiology, where it had a solid real basis) was not productive. It was neither theoretically thought out nor experimentally substantiated and was rightly rejected. After all, a function was understood as an act emanating from the subject (perception, thinking, etc.), initially aimed at a goal or problem situation. The determination of the mental act, its relationship to the nervous system, its ability to regulate external behavior - all this remained mysterious. In an atmosphere of increasing weakness of functionalism, a new psychological movement was emerging. American functionalism is being replaced by behaviorism. 4. Behaviorism Behaviorism, which determined the face of American psychology in the 20th century, radically transformed the entire system of ideas about the psyche. His credo was expressed by the formula according to which the subject of psychology is behavior, not consciousness. (Hence the name from the English behavior - behavior) Since it was then customary to equate the psyche and consciousness (processes that begin and end in consciousness were considered mental), a version arose that by eliminating consciousness, behaviorism thereby eliminates the psyche. The true meaning of the events associated with the emergence and rapid development of the behaviorist movement was different and consisted not in the annihilation of the psyche, but in a change in the concept of it. One of the pioneers of the behaviorist movement was Edward Thorndike (1874-1949). He himself called himself not a behaviorist, but a “connectionist” (from English, “connection” - connection). However, researchers and their concepts should not be judged by what they call themselves, but by their role in the development of knowledge. Thorndike's work opened the first chapter in the annals of behaviorism. Thorndike outlined his conclusions in 1898 in his doctoral dissertation “Animal Intelligence. An Experimental Study of Associative Processes in Animals.” Thorndike used traditional terms - “intelligence”, “associative processes”, but they were filled with new content. That intelligence has an associative nature has been known since the time of Hobbes. The fact that intelligence ensures the successful adaptation of an animal to its environment became generally accepted after Spencer. But for the first time, it was Thorndike's experiments that showed that the nature of the intellect and its function can be studied and assessed without recourse to ideas or other phenomena of consciousness. Association no longer meant a connection between ideas or between ideas and movements, as in previous associative theories, but between movements and situations. The theoretical leader of behaviorism was John Braadus Watson (1878-1958). His scientific biography is instructive in the sense that it shows how the development of an individual researcher reflects the influences that determined the development of the main ideas of the movement as a whole. The motto of behaviorism was the concept of behavior as an objectively observable system of reactions of the body to external and internal stimuli. This concept originated in Russian science in the works of I. M. Sechenov, I. P. Pavlov and V. M. Bekhterev. They proved that the area of mental activity is not limited to the phenomena of the subject’s consciousness, cognizable through internal observation of them (introspection), because with such an interpretation of the psyche, the splitting of the organism into soul (consciousness) and body (organism as a material system) is inevitable. As a result, consciousness became disconnected from external reality and became isolated in the circle of its own phenomena (experiences), placing it outside the real connection of earthly things and involvement in the course of bodily processes. Having rejected such a point of view, Russian researchers took the innovative path of studying the relationship of the whole organism with the environment, relying on objective methods, while interpreting the organism itself in the unity of its external (including motor) and internal (including subjective) manifestations. This approach outlined the prospect for revealing the factors of interaction between the whole organism and the environment and the reasons on which the dynamics of this interaction depend. It was assumed that knowledge of the causes would allow psychology to realize the ideal of other exact sciences with their motto “prediction and control.” 5. Helstatt Psychology In the same years when the behaviorist “revolt” against the psychology of consciousness broke out in the United States, in Germany another group of young researchers rejected the psychological “establishment” with no less decisiveness than Watson. This group became the core of a new scientific school. The core was formed by a triumvirate, which included Max Wertheimer (1880-1943), Wolfgan Köhler (1887-1967) and Kurt Koffka (1886-1941). They met in 1910. in Frankfurt am Main, at the Psychological Institute, where Wertheimer sought an experimental answer to the question of how the image of perception of visible movements is built, and Köhler and Koffka were not only subjects, but also participants in the discussion of the experimental results. In these discussions, ideas for a new direction in psychological research emerged. E. Husserel (1859-1938) saw his task as reforming logic, not psychology. The intention to build psychological knowledge along the lines of physical and mathematical knowledge distinguished Gestaltism from other phenomenological concepts. Both behaviorists and gestaltists hoped to create a new psychology along the lines of the natural sciences. But for the behaviorists the model was biology, for the Gestaltists it was physics. The concept of insight (from the English insight - discretion) has become key in Gestalt psychology. It was given a universal character. It became the basis of the Gestalt explanation of adaptive behavior, which Thorndike and the behaviorists attributed to the principle of “trial, error and accidental success.” The watershed between Gestaltism and behaviorism also created, in the generally accepted opinion, the problem of the whole and the part. Gestaltism defended the idea of integrity as opposed to the behaviorist view of a complex reaction as a sum of elementary ones. The ideas of Gestaltism significantly influenced the transformation of the original behaviorist doctrine and prepared the ground for neobehaviorism, which began to take shape at the turn of the 30s. 6. Kurt Lewin's "field" theory The theory of the German psychologist K. Lewin (1890-1947) was formed under the influence of the successes of the exact sciences - physics, mathematics. The beginning of the century was marked by discoveries in field physics, atomic physics, and biology. Having become interested in psychology at the university, Levin tried to introduce the accuracy and rigor of experiment into this science, making it objective and experimental. In 1914, Levin received his doctorate. Having received an invitation to teach psychology at the Psychological Institute of the University of Berlin, he became close to Koffka, Köhler and Wertheimer, the founders of Gestalt psychology. The closeness of their positions is associated both with common views on the nature of the psyche, and with attempts as an objective basis experimental psychology choose physical science. However, unlike his colleagues, Levine does not focus on cognitive research, but on the study of human personality. After emigrating to the United States, Levin taught at Stanford and Cornell universities. During this period, he worked mainly on problems of social psychology and in 1945 headed the Group Dynamics Research Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lewin developed his personality theory in line with Gestalt psychology, giving it the name “psychological field theory.” He proceeded from the fact that a person lives and develops in the psychological field of objects surrounding him, each of which has a certain charge (valence). Lewin's experiments proved that for each person this valence has its own sign, although at the same time there are objects that have the same attractive or repulsive force for everyone. By influencing a person, objects evoke needs in him, which Lewin considered as a kind of energy charges that cause human tension. In this state, a person strives for relaxation, i.e., satisfaction of needs. Lewin distinguished between two types of needs - biological and social (quasi-needs). Levin's approach was distinguished by two points. Firstly, he moved from the idea that the energy of the motive is closed within the organism to the idea of the “organism-environment” system. The individual and his environment acted as an inseparable dynamic whole. Secondly, in contrast to the interpretation of motivation as a biologically predetermined constant, Lewin believed that motivational tension can be created both by the individual himself and by other people. Thus, motivation was recognized as having its own psychological status. It came down more to biological needs, having satisfied which the body exhausts its motivational potential. Levin showed the need for not only a holistic, but also an adequate understanding of oneself as a person. 7. Psychoanalysis (depth psychology) Without exaggeration, we can say that the Austrian psychologist and psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is one of those scientists who largely influenced the entire further development of modern psychology. None psychological direction has not become as widely known outside this science as Freudianism. This is explained by the influence of his ideas on art, literature, medicine, anthropology and other areas of science related to man. S. Freud called his teaching psychoanalysis - after the method he developed for diagnosing and treating neuroses. The second name - depth psychology - this direction received according to its subject of research, as it concentrated its attention on the study of the deep structures of the psyche. Although not all aspects of Freud's theory have received scientific recognition, and many of his provisions today seem to belong more to history than to modern psychological science, it is impossible not to admit that his ideas had an impact positive influence on the development of world culture - not only psychology, but also art, medicine, sociology. Freud discovered a whole world that lies beyond our consciousness, and this is his great service to humanity. Analytical psychology. Swiss psychologist K. Jung (1875-1961) graduated from the University of Zurich. After completing an internship with psychiatrist P. Janet, he opens his own psychological and psychiatric laboratory. At the same time, he became acquainted with Freud's first works, discovering his theory. The rapprochement with Freud had a decisive influence on Jung's scientific views. However, it soon became clear that, despite the similarity of their positions and aspirations, there were also significant differences between them, which they were never able to reconcile. These disagreements were primarily due to different approach to the analysis of the unconscious. Jung, unlike Freud, argued that “not only the lowest, but also the highest in personality can be unconscious.” Disagreeing with Freud's pansexualism, Jung considered libido to be a generalized psychic energy that can take various forms. No less significant were the differences in the interpretation of dreams and associations. Freud believed that symbols are substitutes for other, repressed objects and drives. In contrast, Jung was sure that only a sign, consciously used by a person, replaces something else, and a symbol is an independent, living, dynamic unit. The symbol does not replace anything, but reflects the psychological state that a person is experiencing at the moment. Therefore, Jung was against the symbolic interpretation of dreams or associations developed by Freud, believing that it was necessary to follow a person’s symbolism into the depths of his unconscious. Individual psychology. A. Adler (1870-1937) graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Vienna, starting work as an ophthalmologist. However, his interests soon shifted towards psychiatry and neurology. Adler denied the positions of Freud and Jung about the dominance of individual unconscious instincts in a person’s personality and behavior, instincts that contrast a person with society and separate him from it. Not innate instincts, not innate archetypes, but a sense of community with people, stimulating social contacts and orientation toward other people, is the main force that determines human behavior and life, Adler believed. Adler became the founder of a new, socio-psychological direction. It was in the development of these new ideas that he diverged from Freud. His theory has very little connection with classical psychoanalysis and represents a holistic system of personality development. 8. Humanistic psychology Personalism also had a great influence on the humanistic psychology that emerged in the mid-20th century. Humanistic psychology, which emerged as an alternative direction to the psychological schools of the mid-century, primarily behaviorism and psychoanalysis, formed its own concept of personality and its development. The center of this trend was the United States, and the leading figures were K. Rogers, R. May, A. Maslow, G. Allport. Humanistic psychology made a call to understand human existence in all its immediacy at a level that lies below the gulf between subject and object that was created by the philosophy and science of modern times. As a result, humanistic psychologists argue, on one side of this abyss there was a subject reduced to “rationality”, to the ability to operate with abstract concepts, on the other - an object given in these concepts. Man disappeared in all the fullness of his existence, and the world as it was given in man’s experiences also disappeared. Psychological “technology” also correlates with the views of the “behavioral” sciences on personality as an object that does not differ either in nature or in cognition from other objects in the world of things, animals, mechanisms: various kinds of manipulations related to learning and eliminating anomalies in behavior ( psychotherapy). G. Allport (1897-1967) considered the concept of personality that he recognized as an alternative to the mechanism of the behavioral approach and the biological, instinctive approach of psychoanalysts. Allport also objected to the transfer of facts associated with neurotic sick people to the psyche of a healthy person. One of the main postulates of Allport's theory was that the individual is open and self-developing. Carl Rogers (1902-1987) graduated from the University of Wisconsin, abandoning the priestly career for which he had been preparing since his youth. Speaking about the structure of the self, Rogers attached particular importance to self-esteem, which expresses the essence of a person, his self. Rogers insisted that self-esteem should not only be adequate, but also flexible, changing depending on the situation. Along with these movements, there were others, such as Neobehaviourism - this movement was led by American psychologists E. Tolman and K. Hull. Social behaviorism - American scientist George Mead (1963-1931) who worked at the University of Chicago Genetic psychology of Jean Piaget - J. Piaget (1896-1980) - one of the most famous scientists, whose work constituted an important stage in the development of genetic psychology. III. Consequences of the crisis. As a result of the crisis, various schools appeared, each of which placed one of them at the center of the entire system of categories - be it an image or an action, a motive or a personality. This gave each school a unique profile. The focus on one of the categories as the dominant of the history of the system and the assignment of subordinate functions to other categories - all this became one of the reasons for the disintegration of psychology into different - sometimes opposing - schools. This created a picture of a crisis in psychology. But if behind the opposition of schools and the hostility of theories there was no root system of invariant categories (received different interpretations), adherents of different schools could not understand each other, discussions between them would be meaningless and no progress in psychology would be possible. Each school would turn out to be a closed system, and psychology as a single science would not exist at all. Meanwhile, despite repeated warnings about its collapse, psychology continued to increase its heuristic potential. AND further development went in the direction of interaction between schools. Literature Romenets V.A., Manola I.P. – Kiev: “Libid” 1998 History of psychology: From Antiquity to the mid-twentieth century M.G. Yaroshevsky. – Moscow Academy 1997.

I began to experience a crisis. The once progressive method of introspection turned out to be ineffective, the specifics of mental reality were not clarified, the question of the connection between mental phenomena and physiological ones remained unresolved, psychological theory noticeably moved forward from experimental work.

Scientific minds began to look for new methods, which led to the emergence of several schools.

Major trends in psychology in the 20th century

Behaviorism. He had a huge influence on the development of psychotherapy, but did not answer many questions. Some scientists subsequently viewed behaviorism as a primitive doctrine of the human psyche.

Gestalt psychology. The school arose as a counterweight. Here there is an attempt to develop the problems of integrity that were posed by the Austrian school.

Depth psychology. Its origin is associated with the name of Sigmund Freud. He began to work with the unconscious of man, and his followers came to the conclusion that there is a “collective Ego.” This was a huge leap in development social psychology. Carl Jung continued and deepened the teaching.

Cognitive psychology. We can safely say that this is a continuation of the teachings of behaviorism, but more in-depth. A person is considered more fully, the role of his consciousness, perception, and not just instincts are taken into account.

Humanistic psychology. Man is seen as the pinnacle of nature's creations. Representatives of the school considered the issues of human self-actualization especially seriously. The most basic subjects for analysis: highest values, creativity, freedom, responsibility, love, etc. Existential psychology gradually appears, which is designed to develop humanistic psychology.

Stages of development of world psychology in the 20th century

Stage one. Beginning in the late 19th century and early 20th century, experimental psychology began to develop. The main contribution at this stage was made by W. Wundt, who was able to make science objective and experimental. Thanks, among other things, to Wundt, a crisis in science arose, which led to the formation of many schools.

Stage two. At the beginning of the twentieth century, right up to the 30s, there was a methodological crisis. There is no consensus in the scientific community on how to conduct experiments and what should be the subject of the experiment. At this stage, the young school played a big role.

Stage three. From the 40s to the 60s, there was the emergence of humanistic psychology. The subject of the research is cognitive processes, the development of intellectual abilities and much more. Man is no longer just an object of research, but also of serious study from the point of view of humanism.

Stage four. This stage of development continues to this day. Science continues research within various schools. Much attention is paid to experimentation, and new diagnostic methods are beginning to appear. Individual schools are beginning to unite to open new horizons in the development of science.

I. Causes of the crisis

II. Main currents

1) Structuralism

2) Wurzburg school

3) Functionalism

4) Behaviorism

5) Gestalt psychology

6) Kurt Lewin's "field" theory

7) Psychoanalysis (depth psychology)

8) Humanistic psychology

III. Consequences of the split

I. Causes of the crisis.

The more successful the empirical work in psychology was, dramatically expanding the field of phenomena studied by psychology, the more obvious became the inconsistency of its versions about consciousness as a closed world of the subject, visible to him alone thanks to trained introspection under the control of the experimenter’s instructions. Major advances in new biology radically changed views on all vital functions of the body, including mental ones.

Perception and memory, skills and thinking, attitudes and feelings were now interpreted as a kind of “tools” that allowed the body to effectively “operate” in life situations. The idea of consciousness as a special closed world, an isolated island of the spirit, collapsed. At the same time, new biology directed the study of the psyche from the point of view of its development. Thus, the zone of cognition of objects inaccessible to introspective analysis (the behavior of animals, children, mentally ill people) radically expanded. The collapse of the original ideas about the subject and methods of psychology became more and more obvious.

The categorical apparatus of psychology experienced profound transformations. Let us recall its main blocks: mental image, mental action, mental attitude, motive, personality. At the dawn of scientific psychology, as we remember, the initial element of the psyche was considered to be the readings of the senses - sensations. Now the view of consciousness as a device of atoms - sensations - has lost scientific credit.

It has been proven that mental images are wholes that can only be split into elements artificially. These wholes were designated by the German term “gestalt” (form, structure) and under this name they were included in the scientific glossary of psychology. The direction that gave Gestalt the significance of the main “unit” of consciousness became established under the name of Gestalt psychology.

As for mental action, its categorical status has also changed. In the previous period, it belonged to the category of internal, spiritual acts of the subject. However, advances in the application of the objective method to the study of the relationship between the organism and the environment have proven that the field of the psyche also includes external bodily action. A powerful scientific school emerged that elevated it to the subject of psychology. Accordingly, the direction that chose this path, based on the English word “behavior” (behavior), came out under the banner of behaviorism.

Another area opened up by psychology gave consciousness a secondary meaning instead of a primary one. The sphere of unconscious drives (motives) that drive behavior and determine the uniqueness of the complex dynamics and structure of personality was recognized as determining for mental life. A school emerged that gained worldwide fame, the leader of which was S. Freud, and the direction as a whole (with many branches) was called psychoanalysis.

French researchers focused on analyzing the mental relationships between people. In the works of a number of German psychologists, the central theme was the inclusion of the individual in the system of cultural values. A special innovative role in the history of world psychological thought was played by the doctrine of behavior in its special version, which arose on the basis of Russian culture.

II. Main currents

As a result of the crisis, the following trends emerged:

1 Structuralism.

Let us consider, first of all, the so-called structural school - a direct heir to the direction whose leader was W. Wundt. Its representatives called themselves structuralists, since they considered the main task of psychology to be the experimental study of the structure of consciousness. The concept of structure presupposes elements and their connection, so the school’s efforts were aimed at finding the initial ingredients of the psyche (identified with consciousness) and ways to structure them. This was Wundt's idea, reflecting the influence of mechanistic natural science.

With the collapse of Wundt's program came the decline of his school. The nursery where they once developed experimental methods Cattell and Bekhterev, Henri and Spearman, Kraepelin and Münsterberg. Many of the students, having lost faith in Wundt's ideas, became disillusioned with his talent.

2. Wurzburg School

At the beginning of the 20th century, dozens of experimental psychology laboratories operated in various universities around the world. In the United States alone there were over forty. Their topics were different: analysis of sensations, psychophysics, psychometry, associative experiment. The work was carried out with great zeal, but essentially new facts and ideas were not born.

V. James drew attention to the fact that the results of a huge number of experiments do not correspond to the efforts invested. But against this monotonous background, several publications sparkled in the journal “Archive of General Psychology”, which, as it turned out later, influenced the progress of science no less than the volumes of Wundt and Titchener. These publications came from a group of young experimenters who trained with Professor Oswald Külpe (1862-1915) in Würzburg (Bavaria). The professor, a native of Latvia (which was part of Russia), was a gentle, friendly, sociable person with broad humanitarian interests. After studying with Wundt, he became his assistant.

Külpe became famous for his “Essay on Psychology” (1883), which presented ideas close to Wundt’s. But soon he, having headed the laboratory in Würzburg, opposed his teacher. The experiments carried out in this laboratory by several young people turned out to be the most significant event in the experimental study of the human psyche for the first decade of the 20th century.

At first, there seemed to be nothing remarkable in the set of experimental circuits of the Wurzburg laboratory. Sensitivity thresholds were determined, reaction time was measured, and the association experiment, which became widespread after Galton and Ebbinghaus, was carried out.

Karl Bühler (1879-1963) worked in Würzburg in 1907-1909. He introduced a new orientation into the experimental practice of the school, which gave rise to the most acute criticism from Wundt. The technique consisted in the fact that the subject was presented with a complex problem and he had to, without using a chronoscope, describe as carefully as possible what was happening in his mind during the solution process. The historical literature suggests that "Bühler, more than anyone else, made it obvious that there are data in experience that are not sensory."

After Külpe left Würzburg (first to Bonn and then to Munich), the thinking process was studied by Otto Selz (1881-1944?). He is responsible for the experimental analysis of the dependence of this process on the structure of the problem being solved. Seltz introduced the concept of the “anticipatory schema,” which enriched previous data on the role of attitude and task. Seltz's main works are “On the Law of Orderly Movement of Thought” (1913), “Towards the Psychology of Productive Thinking and Errors” (1922), “The Law of Productive and Reproductive Spiritual Activity” (1924). Seltz died in a Nazi concentration camp.

The traditions of the experimental study of thinking created by the Würzburg school were developed by other researchers who did not belong to it.

Temporal boundaries this stage development of psychology - 10-30s of the 20th century. The essence of an open crisis in psychology is inconsistency in answers to basic methodological questions about the subject and method of psychology. During the first fifty years of the existence of psychology as an independent science, Wundt’s interpretation of the subject and method of psychology gradually lost its force. The functionalist approach undermined structuralism. This stage in the development of psychology was called the era of latent (hidden) crisis. When a generation changed and Wundt’s students left key positions, a situation was created of the equal existence of schools that gave radically divergent versions of the answer to the question of subject and method Availability special subject and method allows us to identify a separate science. At the beginning of the 20th century, a situation arose when a dozen sciences of psychology existed in parallel. Textbooks of that time were called “modern psychology.”

The main psychological schools of the period of open crisis

Behaviorism. Originated in the USA. Founder: John Watson. In 1913, his programmatic article “Psychology from the point of view of a behaviorist” was published. He called the subject of behaviorism the study of behavior objective method- an experiment without allowing introspection, the goal is to serve practice; task - predicting behavior and controlling behavior “Give me a dozen healthy, normally developed babies and my own, special world in which I will raise them, and I guarantee that by choosing a child at random, I can make him a specialist in any field - a doctor, a lawyer, an artist, a merchant, even a beggar or a pickpocket - regardless of his inclinations and abilities, occupation and race of his ancestors.” Control the influences (stimuli), and you will achieve the desired behavior (reaction). American society was excited by Watson's call to create an ideal society based on scientifically based management of human behavior. Behaviorists tried to find laws that directly linked the external situation (stimuli) and behavior (reactions) without regard to “internal” variables (psyche). Behaviorists gradually replaced the psyche itself with motor and bodily reactions, reduced emotions to physiological changes, thinking to micro-movements of the larynx that occur during internal speech, etc. The main interest of behaviorists concentrated on the theory of learning. The law of learning was discovered, which expressed the idea of a smooth decrease in errors from trial to trial with reaching a stable level of errors Experimental studies behaviorists were mainly conducted on animals. The behaviorists themselves believed that this was being done to comply with the requirement of strict objectivity - laboratory experiments on animals made it possible to most scrupulously monitor the effect of all factors. Critics of behaviorism expressed the opinion that only animals (creatures with a primitive psyche) can show a direct connection between stimuli and reactions

Gestalt psychology. Originated in Germany Founders: Max Wertheimer. Kurt Kofka, Wolfgang Köhler. The date of official birth is considered to be 1912 - the moment of publication of the first article, where the analysis of the phenomenon (the illusion of imaginary movement) made it possible to prove that a complex mental phenomenon is not a combination of elements. In their experiment, the elements are stationary, but the final image moves. This means that the image is not created from elements, it is primary. The methodological platform of the Gestaltists was the denial of the structuralist idea that the reflection of elements is primary, and the appearance of a structure connecting the elements into a single whole is secondary. Initial stage reflection is the appearance of a structure, a whole, an image (in German - “Gestalt”) - it is the laws of formation and transformation of Gestalts that should become the subject of psychology, the method of psychology should be an experiment with elements of introspection. Criticizing behaviorism, Gestaltists pointed out that they study learning in artificial conditions that interfere with the dynamics of Gestalt transformation. In Köhler's experiments, which refute the behaviorist learning scheme, a monkey, taking out a banana, makes a series of equally erroneous trials; after which he immediately, without gradually reducing the number of errors, takes the correct actions, constructing a pyramid from boxes scattered in the cage. There is no smooth learning curve here, as advocated by behaviorists, since the psychic field has been abruptly reshaped, forming a new gestalt. The main achievements of Gestaltists were obtained in the study of perception (phenomena associated with objectivity, integrity, generality; constancy of images of perception).

Psychoanalysis. Creator - Sigmund Freud. (1900 “Psychology of Dreams”, 1901 “Pathopsychology of Everyday Life”). Subject of study - personality from the point of view of motivation of behavior, mainly determined by subconscious processes. Method - psychoanalysis.