Selectivity of perception (selectivity)

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Our world is unreal, we live in a matrix. Everyone knows the 1999 film, which for the first time brought to a wide audience the idea that the world may not be the same as we see it. Like everything that makes an impression and takes root in the mass consciousness, there is a large grain of truth in this idea. Let's find out to what extent the world is illusory and how capable each of us is of becoming the “chosen one” to bend the matrix to our will.

To answer the question, we will talk about perception. First of all, this mental process must be understood as a mechanism for transforming signals coming from the external environment into images that are stored in memory, emotionally colored and become available for mental operations. Depending on the sense organs, the following types of perception are distinguished: vision, hearing, smell, touch, taste, kinesthesia. In the process of active learning, connections are formed between analyzers that allow the formation of images containing properties or phenomena for the recording of which there are no separate sense organs: the size of the object, weight, shape.

A holistic image of an object, formed with the help of all connected senses, makes it possible to imagine what actions can be performed in relation to the object and what consequences can be expected.

An important feature of perception is that it is not accessible to introspection; we cannot feel the physiological process of its operation. We do not feel events developing within ourselves, in our brain, but we perceive the properties of things outside of us as external. The image of reality is formed only when objects of the external world influence the analyzers. This paradox provides an explanation why the characteristics of mental functions cannot be inferred from the patterns of brain functioning. It is impossible to comprehend the secret of the psyche with the help of purely physiological experiments; it cannot be reliably said that some part of the brain is responsible for a specific mental process. To understand the work of the psyche, it is necessary to take into account the diversity of a person’s external social connections.

Selectivity of Perception

(or selectivity of perception; English perceptual selectivity) - a property of perception consisting in the selection of something from the sensory field. objects (or their parts) and features. I.v. carried out through the mechanisms of attention - involuntary and voluntary. The isolated and therefore more clearly perceived object acts as a “figure”, the remaining objects - as its “background”. In its involuntary form, I. v. determined by the ratio of the physical properties of stimuli acting on the analyzer. First of all, stimuli are identified that have the greatest intensity, a sharp difference from others in one way or another (for example, color - in vision, texture - in touch, timbre - in hearing, etc.). However, in conditions of real activity, the decisive role in I. century. the task performed by a person, the attitude, the readiness to perceive certain objects in a certain way plays a role. I.v. It manifests itself especially clearly in such specific conditions as the perception of dual (and polysemantic) images, the so-called. speech cocktail (mixing several speech streams), objects merging with the background, etc. See Dichotic listening, Visual masking, Information selection, Strupp effect.

See the meaning of Selectivity of Perception in other dictionaries

Selectivity - selectivity, plural. no, w. Not right. vm. electivity. Establish the selectivity of the highest administration (from newspapers). Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

Selectivity J. - 1. Abstract. noun by value adj.: selective (1). 2. outdated Election. Explanatory Dictionary by Efremova

Constancy of Perception - (lat. constans, constantis unchanging. constant) the relative stability of certain properties of the image of an object in the human mind, manifested when the conditions of its perception change. Large medical dictionary

Sexual Selectivity - thoughts, feelings, ideals, aspirations, value systems that in one way or another participate in the formation of the intimate sphere of an individual’s life. The basis of love is…….. Sexological encyclopedia

Constancy of Perception - (lat. constans, constantis unchanging, constant) the relative stability of certain properties of the image of an object in the human mind, manifested when the conditions of its perception change. Medical encyclopedia

Ability of Perception, Cognitive Ability - Philosophical meaning of the term: Sensory cognition, perception, representation, concept, idea (Cicero). Philosophical meaning of the term: Incomplete representation (Stoics, Seneca). Philosophical Dictionary

Phenomenology of Perception - (“Phenomenologie de la perception”. Paris, 1945) - the main work of Merleau-Ponty, which explores the problems of the specificity of the existence of existence (see Existence) and its relations…….. Philosophical Dictionary

Selectivity is an individual’s acquired or developed ability for directed perception. This quality implies control of one’s own thinking, attention, perception and consciousness in general, thanks to which the psyche is able to distinguish a certain object or event from a number of ongoing external changes.

Selectivity is a property of perception that allows you to highlight the main thing and leave minor points on the periphery in a blurred background. This is an important personality quality for maintaining mental balance and overall success of activity, since the psyche becomes exhausted quite quickly when it processes a lot of material at the same time, and there is a need to concentrate on the main thing and move away from less vital details. It is selectivity that allows a person to make a choice regarding his location and group of people for communication, the food he eats and the direction of his life’s path - categories are completely different in nature and the scale of influence on the further course of events, but they are all carried out using choice.

The selectivity of perception also depends on subjective conditions.

There are several of them. First of all, it depends on the degree of preliminary acquaintance of a person with the object. Well-known objects are easy to distinguish among unfamiliar ones. For example, we will immediately notice the familiar words “Moscow”, “Volga”, “Putin” in the flow of foreign speech. Physiologically, this means the summation of present and trace excitations.

The selectivity of perception also depends on the nature of human activity. A turner, before turning a part on a machine, will definitely pay attention to the material, size and shape of the part (according to a drawing or sample); and during turning - to ensure that what comes out from under the cutter meets the requirements of the sample; the artist, drawing the same object, will pay attention to the relationship between the whole and the parts, to the general appearance of the object in a certain position against a certain background, to the distribution of light and shade, to the severity of the contours; a child, playing with this object, will highlight in it only those features that can be used in the game: he will look to see if there is a hole to thread a rope or wire through, and will try to see if this object can be carried, rolled, or put in a cart. So, depending on the nature of the activity (in our example - labor, visual and play) a person identifies different signs in the same object of perception.

But even during the same activity, for example educational, a person may face different tasks, which will affect the selectivity of perception. The teacher shows the students several plants during the lesson. In one case, he sets the children the task of comparing plants with each other by shape, size, color and smell, in another - to carefully examine and describe the parts of one plant, in the third (in the school plot) - to weed the same plants from weeds. The different content of the tasks will determine the direction of choice and analysis in the students’ perception.

• The selectivity of perception is influenced by the entire makeup of a person’s personality, his needs, interests, inclinations, feelings and other stable manifestations of his personality.

A flax grower, looking at the window of a bookstore, will immediately notice a new book about growing his favorite crop, and a doctor or plasterer will only glance at it, looking for more interesting new items. A physics teacher who is creative in his work will notice new and interesting material on physics everywhere for students - in nature, in production, in a technical magazine, in radio messages, in scientific films.

What it is

The personality quality of selectivity appeared in the course of evolution and initially concerned basic vital issues - a person chose what to eat so as not to get poisoned, where to sleep so as not to be in danger, where to move in order to improve his life. Physiological data still remains as an example of selective behavior, however, rational control of the mind over what is happening has also been added to this. So selectivity in terms of nutrition now comes down not only to the instinctive choice of food without poisons, but also to controlling the number of calories in it or the method of preparation and its harmfulness.

Selectivity concerns the choice of place of work and residence, as well as the model of building relationships with others.

A person physically cannot be present everywhere and pay equal attention to all external stimuli, which is why there is a need to choose the direction of his attention and the main vector of energy. Only in this way can you get any tangible results, and not rush between the most striking stimuli.

Spontaneously constructing one's activities and making elections based on the first internal impulses is a sign of a lack of selectivity. Such behavior can lead to rather disastrous consequences, despite the fact that in the process of following events in this way, quite vivid feelings are experienced, often characterized as a feeling of fullness of life and maximum emotions. However, succumbing to impulse, a person is able to suffer material collapse, miss serious and trusting relationships, and waste his life energy.

It is this quality that helps you achieve your goals in the shortest way; it is the basis for planning your future, where things that require special attention are laid out in advance.

Selectivity schedules our days to suit the priorities set, automatically leaving areas without energy that drain energy or interfere with implementation. But it helps not only to go towards something in the future, but also preserves existing life choices. Thus, a person who has given up drinking will not have a party in a bar, a girl who has decided to preserve her virginity will not live in a brothel, and a person with arachnophobia will not go to work in an entomology museum. All this speaks of our choices to maintain the picture of the world that is most pleasant and inspiring to us, but if such choices are violated, a complete distortion of life values ​​and loss of our inner uniqueness is possible.

Selectivity is always a little more complex in its mechanism than simple decision-making based on desires or necessity. This quality allows you to calculate the possible consequences of a choice several steps ahead, so that desires and needs can change places. This is how an activity that is not the most pleasant is chosen, one that can lead to the fulfillment of a larger-scale desire than receiving pleasure in the present. In the same way, the choice can be made in favor of the current moment, when an assessment of internal resources will show almost complete depletion and the need for immediate replenishment, before a depressive disorder develops. That is, selectivity helps to choose the good in the long term and the integrity of the body and psyche.

This concept is closely connected with freedom and the manifestation of internal responsibility, since it represents a moment of choice. Any turn on the path of life implies certain consequences that follow, and then a person’s readiness to accept these changes, to be responsible for his actions and choices comes to the fore. Freedom has the character of an internal meaning, because even understanding what should be done does not always lead to action. Internal paralysis, focus on the opinions of others, takes away from a person his personal free manifestations of his choices, leaving selectivity exclusively as a theoretical quality.

Thanks to the quality of selectivity, one can judge a person’s taste in relation to any issues - from food to art, preferences for communication or pastime. This is a kind of marker of personality development and its needs, a reflection of opportunities and internal readiness to realize these opportunities. Every time people interact, selectivity allows you to assess how close and in the same circle a person is without asking unnecessary questions. In the effective space of elections, a person demonstrates as much as possible what he is focused on - developing or maintaining stability, luxury and self-indulgence, or asceticism for the sake of knowledge.

What matters more than the facts themselves is how we perceive them. It turns out that information is perceived by us to a large extent depending on the frame in which it comes to our attention.

In the age of technological progress, when the amount of information increases exponentially every year, it is simply unrealistic to absorb everything that befalls us. A person has unique “filters” through which he perceives information. They “cut off” the flows of unnecessary information that does not correspond to a person’s own model of the world. Perceptual filters determine the interpretation of information. A person’s perception of the same sensation may differ due to its different interpretation, which is why each person creates a different map or model of the world.

A man sees what he wants to see

Investigating the influence of filters on the perception of information, psychologists Peter Ditto and David Lopez conducted the following experiment: they told a group of volunteers that they were participating in a medical study that revealed the presence of a serious genetic disease - a deficiency of a certain enzyme.

Subjects were asked to apply a drop of saliva to a test strip and note whether the strip turned green. Half of the participants were told that the strip would turn green if they had an enzyme deficiency, and the other half were told that the strip would turn green if they did not have this dangerous disease.

The notorious strip, by the way, was the most ordinary one, cut out of paper, and simply could not turn green. Psychologists determined how long it took the subjects to evaluate the test result. It turned out that those who hoped for a change in the color of the strip spent 15-17 times more time interpreting the result! People were ready to wait endlessly for “good” news and refused to believe in bad news.

Projection effect

The same psychologists asked a group of students to evaluate the personality traits of their fellow student by studying information about him, presented in the form of separate cards with information. The information, it must be said, was far from impartial. The subjects could interrupt the experiment at any time, stop sorting through the cards, and render their verdict.

The results showed that if students liked a fellow student, they carefully went through all the cards in search of positive information that would allow them to make a favorable review about the person. If a fellow student aroused hostility among the subjects, they did not bother themselves much - they sorted through 2-3 cards with negative information about him and quickly reported their assessment - also, of course, negative.

A person who is pleasant to us evokes positive emotions in us. And the need for positive emotions is one of the most important human needs. Therefore, we protect the person who satisfies this need of ours in “his pleasantness”, not allowing bad thoughts about him. Moreover, to enhance our own positive emotions, we endow this person with all sorts of virtues. Psychologists called this effect the projection effect. This effect is dangerous because it distorts information not only in our assessment of a particular person, but, more importantly, in scientific research. Psychologists warn that a scientist who “sorts through” information and selects only that which corresponds to his theory, the projection effect can lead to distortion of facts.

Selectivity in relationships

Selectivity in people is a key point in building prosperous and happy relationships at any level. Regarding intimate relationships, selectivity involves preference for one particular person over other members of his gender. In many ways, this type of selectivity is due to the biological laws regulating the choice of partner for further reproduction of offspring. Accordingly, the role of somatic reactions and subconscious choices in this context is much greater than when choosing a job or place of residence. The mind can control certain manifestations, the strategy of courtship or ignoring, but the first impetus for paying attention is always biology.

The categories that influence selectivity in relationships include species and individual. The first presuppose traditions inherent in each representative of a certain ethnic group or group of people. There may also be certain external parameters and behavioral patterns that are considered favorable. A greater variety of options is provided by the individual level of choice, including the characteristics of the partner’s characterological manifestations, his external data, age and social characteristics.

Previously, selectivity in relationships based on social status was more categorical than in the modern world, but there are rules that cannot be circumvented.

No one will now prohibit marriage between workers and the intelligentsia, but a crack will appear quite soon when people are faced with the difference in their life philosophies and preferences, cultural background and education.

The difficulty with selectivity in relationships lies in the frequent contradiction between biological and social factors, between what the body wants and what the mind understands. These may be options when a bright passion flares up between people, but they have nothing to talk about, their countries are at war and everyone they know, and they themselves, after thinking logically, will condemn this connection. There are also frequent cases when everything converges at the level of the mind - both age and career success, people from the same society have many common themes, but are completely opposite to each other within the framework of physical perception.

But there are also relationships, in addition to intimate ones, where the moment of selectivity is also extremely important. This means not only who is considered a friend and how many such people there can be, but also the regulation of the degree of intimacy, the format of interaction, and the level of trust. Relationships are built in all spheres of human existence, and it can be impossible to remain friends with everyone not only due to personal hostility, but also from the perspective of competition or learning the difficulties of interaction with other people.

Those who are able to clearly filter their social circle can build a favorable emotional background, enlist support and reliability. People who do not know how to keep their distance, who allow everyone who knocks into their home or psychological space, end up in a poor mental state, and often also blamed for the problems. Excessive naivety and a small number of acquaintances significantly reduce selectivity in relationships; as the number of friends increases, the question of choice automatically arises.

The world is huge and it is impossible to devote equal time to everything and everyone who is present in it, and this is not required, because many characters and events simply do not deserve attention and, at best, simply do not affect life in any way. It makes sense to make a choice and go to those and where there is pleasure and development of one’s own personality, leaving everything else without guilt. This may seem like a betrayal at some points, especially if they are trying to manipulate a person’s opinion, but in this case, betrayal occurs even in the store, when instead of apples you take pears.

Selectivity of perception

We have already seen that in order for our sensations to acquire meaning, our perception must act selectively. But how does this selection occur? To perceive something means to evaluate it. But we know from experience that attention is constantly switching. What determines which stimuli will attract our attention?

When explaining the focus of attention and selectivity of perception, psychologists talk about internal and external factors.

External factors. In the air conditioner example, we noted that the sound of the machine operating is at the edge of our consciousness until it disappears, which immediately attracts our attention. The most important stimulus is the one that causes a change in the environment. This change can take many forms. One of them is contrast (for example, between sound and silence). A man slightly taller than 2 m will attract more attention on the street than on the basketball court. A white-skinned TV news anchor wearing a see-through African shirt will attract more attention than if he were wearing a dark striped jacket. Large white space in a printed ad relative to the copy will have the same effect.

Another important type of change is movement in the environment. People automatically respond to visual movement. Even babies try to follow movements with their eyes, and moving neon signals rather than static ones will attract the attention of adults.

Repeated repetition of a stimulus also proves to be an effective way to attract our attention, a phenomenon that is especially widely used in advertising. In the course of studying by psychologists the so-called “simple presentation” effect, it was discovered that repetition not only attracts our attention, but also forms a more positive attitude towards a given stimulus. It follows that the more we know the brand name of a product, the higher, other things being equal, we will evaluate it and the more likely we are to buy this product. Although this connection is not an immutable law, it is already visible in the fact that widely advertised goods sell better if the choice in this situation is not of fundamental importance to us. People, when faced with racks filled with different dishwashing products, are likely to grab the first brand they know, since they all essentially do the same thing.

This principle appears to apply to other sectors of the economy as well, as illustrated by the following American example:

Several years ago, the insurance company Northwest Mutual Life conducted a national survey to determine how well people knew its name. Her name was 34th on the list of insurance companies. two weeks later she conducted a similar study again. This time her name was in third place. What contributed to such a dizzying rise from obscurity to fame? Two weeks of time and one million dollars spent on television advertising. Size can also be an important external factor. This is why newspapers and magazines use different sized fonts for their headlines: the more important the message, the larger the font.

Finally, stimulus intensity is used to attract our attention. Bright colors and loud sounds are widely used during public events - commercial, cultural or political - to attract crowds and attract attention. Many television commercials make an immediate announcement with a burst of bright colors or loud sounds; for the same reason, others begin with slow, black-and-white opening sequences.

Internal factors. The mentioned external factors refer to external incentives. However, the person perceiving them will not be a neutral observer; different people react differently to the same sensations. A woman might put on a sweater because the room is getting too cold, while her husband rushes to open the windows. She may not hear her alarm clock ringing for work, but she will instantly wake up at the first sound of her baby crying. If both read the same magazine, then she will look at materials about women's clothing, and he will look at materials about men's clothing.

Finding themselves in the same situation, a man and a woman bring different interests and motives to it. Their emotional and physical states are constantly changing, and unless they experience the same feelings at the same time, they will react differently. But the most important factor in the perception process is what exactly people expect to hear or see in a particular situation. A woman has a perceptual mindset to hear her baby cry. She expects this to happen. A man has a perceptual attitude towards the ringing of an alarm clock, which sounds at the same time in the morning, and is so strong that he wakes up a few seconds before the ringing.

See what “Selectivity of perception” is in other dictionaries:

• SELECTIVITY OF PERCEPTION - (or selectivity of perception; English perceptual selectivity) property of perception, consisting in the selection of s.l. from the sensory field. objects (or their parts) and features. I.v. carried out through the mechanisms of involuntary attention and... ... Great Psychological Encyclopedia
• SELECTIVITY OF PERCEPTION - the quality of perception to highlight a “figure from the background”, determined by the needs, orientation or experience of the individual (during apperception), will or characteristics of the perceived object... Modern educational process: basic concepts and terms
• SELECTIVITY OF PERCEPTION - (selectivity) identification of any objects (or their parts) located in the sensory field of the perception field. AND . V. manifests itself in attention. The highlighted and therefore more clearly reflected object appears as a “figure”, other objects as ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy
• selectivity of perception (selectivity) - the selection of any objects (or their parts) located in the sensory field - in the perception zone. I.v. manifests itself in attention. the highlighted and therefore more clearly reflected object acts as a figure, the remaining objects act as its background... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy
• attention is the concentration of the subject’s activity at a given moment in time on any real or ideal object (object, event, image, reasoning, etc.). There are three types of V. The simplest and most genetically original is involuntary V... Great psychological encyclopedia
• Attention - (Old Slavonic imati take) selectivity of perception of certain aspects of reality or concentration on certain activities, which the individual for some reason considers more significant for himself. * * * Mental activity, in... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy
• CONSUMER BEHAVIOR is a relatively new branch of marketing knowledge that claims to be independent, a key area of ​​marketing research that characterizes the specific behavior of various (usually target) consumer groups... ... Marketing. Large explanatory dictionary
• Need - Need, need is an internal state of psychological or functional feeling of insufficiency of something, manifests itself depending on situational factors. A striking example is thirst, an acute feeling of need for... ... Wikipedia
• Needs - Need is the source of activity of living beings. The most ancient needs in evolutionary terms are genetic programs aimed at preserving life, reproduction and development of the environment. The more useful needs... ... Wikipedia
• FLEC - (Fleck) Ludwik (1886, Lviv 1961, Jerusalem) physician, sociologist, historian of science and medicine in the 20-30s was engaged in research activities in the field of bacteriology. In 1935, he published his main work, The Emergence and Development of... ... Encyclopedia of Sociology

Selectivity of perception consists in the preferential selection of certain objects (or certain properties, characteristics, qualities of objects) in comparison with others.

Its physiological basis is the dominance of one focus of excitation in the cerebral cortex with simultaneous inhibition (due to negative induction) of other areas of the cortex.

This phenomenon is well illustrated by the following example: a person working with a microscope for the first time usually closes one eye, but soon becomes convinced that this is not necessary, since when looking carefully into the microscope, visual stimuli coming from the other eye are inhibited, and therefore, even Without closing the other eye, you can see only what is in the microscope's field of view.

Selectivity of perception is determined by both objective and subjective reasons. Objective reasons include the characteristics of the stimuli themselves (their strength, mobility, contrast), as well as the characteristics of the external conditions in which the object is perceived (its illumination, distance from us, etc.). Subjective reasons are, first of all, a person’s attitude towards the objects affecting him, depending on their meaning for him, on his needs and interests, as well as a person’s past experience and his mental state at the moment.

An extremely important role in the selectivity of perceptions is played by the fact that they are always included in the performance of some activity (production, scientific, educational, etc.) and are therefore always subordinate to the tasks of this activity. The same object can be perceived differently, depending on what task a person sets for himself. In the absence of a specific task, perception is very incomplete. That is why the images of such objects are unclear, even though they are often encountered, but the clear perception of which is not required by the tasks of the activity.

Often, for example, a person cannot answer the question of what numbers - Roman or Arabic - on the dial of his watch, and finds it difficult to remember the color of the plumage of birds that are well known to him. And, conversely, all this is clearly perceived if it is necessary for the activity being performed.

The dependence of perception on the tasks of activity can also be found in laboratory experiments. In one of them, a group of students was asked to draw a certain geometric figure, and the compass was given in assembled form. Another group was given the same compass, but disassembled, and the students had to assemble it from ready-made parts. After completing these tasks, the compass was removed, and both groups, unexpectedly for them, were asked to depict as accurately as possible the compass they had just used. It turned out that all the students of the first group, who used the assembled compass, depicted it inaccurately, without indicating a number of important details. The students of the second group, who assembled a compass from individual parts, depicted it correctly. The sharp difference in the accuracy of the image of the same object was determined by the difference in the tasks of the activity. In one case, the activity was aimed at drawing a figure, in the other, at assembling the parts of a compass.

The selectivity of perception is greatly influenced by the emotional attitude towards what is perceived. With an indifferent attitude towards an object, it is either not noticed at all, or its perception is superficial; if there is interest or an emotional relationship to the subject, it easily becomes an object of perception.

Perceptual selectivity can be either temporary or permanent. Temporal selectivity is determined by the needs that arise at the moment, the tasks and goals of the currently performed activity, and the emotional state at the moment. Sustained selectivity (in particular, professional) develops as a result of many years of human activity in a particular area. In the latter case, differences arise in the perception of the same objects by people of different professions or different ages. A non-technical person will notice far fewer details when examining a machine than a design engineer. An adult perceives a picture differently than a child; he not only better understands its content and meaning, but also, thanks to his knowledge and experience, perceives in it such details that children do not notice.

Consequently, a person’s past experience plays a significant role in perception. It has a strong influence not only on what exactly, but also on how a given person perceives. Of importance here is not only what has already been firmly established over a more or less long period of time in previous experience, but also what is temporary in nature and caused only by facts immediately preceding perception.

A significant impact on perception is exerted by the so-called attitude, which develops under the influence of immediately preceding perceptions and represents a kind of readiness to perceive a newly shown object in a certain way, depending on the immediately preceding perceptions. This phenomenon has been widely studied by the Soviet psychologist Uznadze and his colleagues and characterizes one of the most essential features of perception - the dependence of perception on the state of the perceiving subject, in turn caused by previous influences on him.

An example of the formation of an installation can be the following experiments, the methodology of which (as well as many similar ones) was developed by Uznadze. The subject is asked to perceive two unequal objects 15-20 times in a row (for example, two balls of different volumes that are placed in his hands, or two different paper mugs that he perceives visually). After this, the subject is presented with two equal objects (two identical balls, two identical paper circles), and he must (just as when showing unequal objects) say whether they are the same or not, and if they are unequal, then which one is larger ( or less). It turns out that in these cases objects are usually assessed as unequal, and two types of responses are observed: some subjects evaluate objects in accordance with the previous perception of unequal objects (i.e., the object that is on the same side that it occupied before is considered smaller really a smaller object), while others reveal the opposite (contrasting) attitude, evaluating as smaller the object that is now in the place of the larger object.

Experiments have shown that if the specified attitude is developed in any one area (for example, visual), then it is subsequently revealed in other areas (for example, when touching objects). Its influence is therefore broad, extending to the operation of a number of analyzers.

Physiologically, this kind of attitude can be considered as one of the cases of the formation and functioning of a dynamic stereotype that develops under the influence of a certain system of stimuli.

Selectivity of perception (selectivity)

highlighting any objects (or their parts) located in the sensory field - in the perception zone. I.v. manifests itself in attention. the highlighted and therefore more clearly reflected object acts as a “figure”, the remaining objects act as its “background”.

Measurement (quantification) (in psychology)

fixation of quantitative characteristics, quantitative assessment of various mental phenomena. I. allows the use of mathematical methods. Most widely and. used in psychophysics, during testing. I. is carried out on the scales of name, order, intervals, and relationships.

Illusion

(from Latin illusio - error, delusion, illudo - deceiving, mocking, playing tricks) - 1) Inadequate reflection of the perceived object and its properties. 2) False, unrealistic hopes, dreams.

Imbecility

(from Latin imbecillus - weak, infirm) - severe mental retardation, moderate mental retardation.

Image

(from the English imadg - image) - an emotionally charged stereotype of the perception by the mass, everyday consciousness of someone or something (for example, a political figure, etc.).

Immanent

(from lat. immanens - characteristic of something, abiding in something) - internally inherent in any phenomenon, arising from its nature, essence.

Impressiveness

(from the French imposant - impressive) (in psychology) - a personality quality that contributes to a positive perception of it as solid, reliable, impressive, majestic, representative; the ability to make a positive impression, to attract attention with one’s appearance and demeanor.

Imprinting

see: imprinting.

Nervous impulse

excitation spreading along the nerve fiber and ensuring the transmission of information from peripheral receptors (sensitive endings) to nerve centers, within the central nervous system and from it to the executive apparatus - muscles, endocrine and exocrine glands, etc. Bioelectric unit i.n. – action potential. Speed ​​i.n. ranges from 0.5 m/sec to 120 m/sec. Frequency i.n. in various fibers ranges from 50 to 1500 vibrations per second.

Impulsive states

mental disorders characterized by spontaneous, sudden, unmotivated, uncontrolled by consciousness, irresistible impetuous impulses, inadequate response to situations. I.s. – one of the types of mental losses in battle.

Impulsive

(from Latin impulsus - push, urge) - inclined to act under the influence of a sudden impulse, a situation with insufficient control from the mind.

Social inhibition

(from Latin inhibere - to restrain, stop) - deterioration in the productivity of the activity being performed, its speed and quality in the presence of strangers, both real and imaginary.

Index

(from Latin index - index, list, inventory) - 1) Index, register of names, titles, etc. 2) Symbol (letter, number or combined) in a classification system. 3) A numeric or alphabetic index with which mathematical expressions are supplied in order to distinguish them from each other (for example, a1, a2, etc.). In psychology, this is often a relative value that qualitatively characterizes a particular set of phenomena.

Indeterminism

(from Latin in - a prefix with the meaning of negation and defermino - I determine) - a theory of will, based on the recognition of an individual’s ability to act or choose a method of action, regardless of the external factors and incentives affecting him. In psychology, a synonym for the term “free will”.

Individual

(from Latin individuum - indivisible) - 1) Man as a single natural being, a representative of the species Homo sapiens, a product of phylogenetic and ontogenetic development, congenital and acquired, a bearer of individual traits. 2) An individual representative of the human community.

Individualism

a personality trait, at the same time a type of worldview, expressed in the absolutization of the positions and interests of an individual and in contrasting them with the interests of society or a group of people. In moral and psychological terms, this quality is close to selfishness.

Individual psychology

one of the areas of depth psychology, developed by A. Adler and based on the concept of an individual having an inferiority complex and the desire to overcome it as the main source of motivation for individual behavior. The greatest distribution, especially in the field of pedagogy and psychotherapy, etc. received in the 20s of our century.

Individuality

an integral property of a personality, a set of individual mental characteristics that make it unique, inimitable.

Individual style of activity

(in work, study, sports) - a system of skills, methods, techniques, ways of solving the problems of a particular activity characteristic of a given individual, ensuring its more or less successful implementation.

Individual style of activity

a stable, individually specific system of relatively homogeneous techniques, methods, methods, means, skills for performing a particular activity. I.s.d. becomes possible and necessary due to the individual differences of people. It allows you to achieve the same efficiency of activity when it is performed in different ways and techniques. I.s.d. may or may not be optimal from the point of view of operational efficiency.

Individual style of professional activity

a stable individually specific system of psychological means, techniques, skills, methods, and ways of performing professional activities.

Indifference

(from Latin indifferens - indifferent) - neutrality, indifference, indifference.

Inductor

(from Latin induco - I introduce, encourage) - the subject addressing the message to the recipient.

Induction

(from Latin inductio - guidance, motivation) - 1) In physiology: the dynamic interaction of excitation and inhibition, expressed in the fact that excitation of some nerve cells can cause inhibition in others and vice versa. 2) In logic, psychology: a type of inference, a logical research method based on building a logical chain from a single statement to a more general one. Psychology studies the development and impairment of inductive reasoning.

Induced movement

the apparent movement of a stationary object caused by the movement of objects around it. (For example: the movement of the moon induced by the movement of clouds). When organizing observation of any object, the i.d. effect should be taken into account.

Inertia

(from Latin inertis) – low activity, inactivity, immobility. In modern physiology of higher nervous activity and psychology, the term i. are increasingly used to characterize some relatively unchanged, relatively stable properties of neurodynamics, the psyche as a whole, and their individual components.

Engineering psychology

(from the French ingenieur - specialist in the field of technology) is a branch of modern psychology that studies the patterns of functioning of the “man-machine” system.

Individual mental characteristics

a stable combination of various structural components of the individual’s psyche, which predetermines its individuality, style of activity and is embodied in its qualities.

Insight

(from the English insight - comprehension, insight) - a sudden, logically deducible understanding of the essence of a phenomenon, the situation as a whole, a solution to a problem. Concept and introduced by Gestalt psychology.

Instinct

1) a complex innate form of unconditional reflex response to certain stimuli of the external and internal environment; a complex of adaptive behavior that is relatively independent of learning; 2) an innate impulse to action, combined with specific emotional arousal.

Instinct

(from Latin instinctus - urge) - a set of innate complex reactions (acts of behavior) that predetermine the appropriate behavior of the organism in the external environment. I.P. Pavlov examined the mechanism and... as unconditioned reflex; concept i. and the unconditioned reflex should be considered side by side.

Life instinct

a psychoanalytic term denoting the impulse of self-preservation and self-reproduction; sometimes used as a synonym for libido.

Group integration

(from Latin integer - whole) - the process of ordering, structuring intra-group relations of unity, common values, optimization of relationships.

Intelligence

(from Latin intellectus - understanding, understanding, comprehension) - a relatively stable structure of an individual’s mental abilities. In a number of psychological concepts, intelligence is identified with a system of mental operations, with a style and strategy for solving problems, with the effectiveness of an individual approach to a situation that requires cognitive activity, with cognitive style, etc. In modern Western psychology, the most common understanding of intelligence is as a biopsychic adaptation to the current circumstances of life. Russian psychology is based on the principle of the unity of personality and its connection with the individual. Much attention is paid to the study of the relationship between practical and theoretical I., their dependence on the emotional and volitional characteristics of the individual. Based on the dialectical-materialist methodology, domestic psychologists recognize the dependence of a person’s intellectual abilities on the socio-economic conditions of his life.

Intelligence

(from Latin intellectus - knowledge, understanding, reason) - a relatively stable structure of abilities, which are based on both conscious and unconscious processes that ensure the processing of information of different quality and its conscious assessment. Due to its complexity and... is ambiguously understood by representatives of various philosophical and psychological schools and directions.

Intellectual qualities

personality qualities that are the result of education, training and are directly determined by the level of development of the individual’s thinking.

Intellectual qualities

personality traits that predetermine the functioning of the intellect, that is, the individual’s abilities to process information of different quality and consciously evaluate it. I.k. are the result of both education, learning and certain biological prerequisites. These qualities are personal in nature. However, in some cases, i.c. are seen as something other than personal. I.k. are a component of any professional program. Thus, in various semantic situations, the concept of i.c. used with slightly different content.

Intelligence

(from Lat. intelligens - understanding, thinking) - a set of personal qualities of a person, testifying to his active orientation towards universal human values, familiarization with the riches of world culture, following the dictates of conscience and sense of justice, his ability to compassion, decency and tact, tolerance to dissent, adherence to principles and a sense of proportion, allowing him to be classified as a bearer of advanced culture.

Intention

(from Latin intentio - aspiration) - a goal, direction of consciousness, will, feelings towards any object, a form of manifestation of a person’s cognitive need. Historically, this concept precedes the appearance of the term installation.

Interactionism

(from the English interaction - interaction) - a direction in Western social psychology (J. G. Mead and others), exploring social relations in the aspect of specific interpersonal communications, interaction between individuals in the aspect of socialization, role behavior, in the process of which a person’s ability is realized “accept the role of another” and on this basis his entry into the reference microgroup is carried out. Personality structure from the point of view of i. depends on the nature of direct interaction with others, which ensures her activity and control over her own behavior in accordance with social norms, roles, role expectations, and social attitudes of interaction partners.

Interbehaviorism

The behaviorist school (I. Kontor et al.) focused its research not on the connection between stimulus (S) and response (R), but on the nature of their relationship.

Interest

(from Latin interest - to have meaning) - an emotionally charged attitude, a focus on a particular type of activity or on an object, caused by a positive attitude towards this activity or object.

Interest

one of the forms of personality orientation, which consists in its directed cognitive activity, colored by positive emotions and attention to the object. Personal identity is usually socially conditioned.

Interiorization

(from the French interiorisation - internal) - lit.: transition from outside to inside. In psychology, the concept of i. introduced by the French sociologist E. Durkheim, who identified it with socialization. I. is one of the fundamental concepts of the cultural-historical theory of the Russian psychologist L.S. Vygotsky. In his opinion, every human form of psyche initially develops as an external, social form of communication between people, as work or other activity, and only then, as a result, becomes a component of the psyche of an individual. A special place and... occupies a place in the works of French psychologists P. Janet and J. Piaget.

Internal

a type of personality that, in case of failure, blames itself more for it than others and surrounding circumstances. For and. Characterized by the ability to inspire trust in people, to find contacts with them, special sensitivity in interpersonal relationships, to the assessment of oneself by others. I. more often achieve success in creative professional activities; they are less aggressive and are able to defend their principles more staunchly than externals.

Interoreceptors

(from Lat. interior - internal and receptor - acceptance, reception) - a group of nerve endings - receptors scattered in internal organs and tissues and perceiving irritations from the internal environment of the body. The term was proposed by the English physiologist C. Sherrington.

Interference

(from Latin inter – between, in return, and ferens – carrier) (in psychology) – deterioration in the retention of memorized material as a result of the overlay of other information that a person operates on.

Skill Interference

(from Latin inter – mutual and ferentis – transferring) – weakening/strengthening of existing skills under the influence of newly acquired ones or strengthening/weakening of acquired skills under the influence of existing ones.

Intimacy

the special nature of interpersonal relationships, giving them utmost frankness, deep affection, devotion, intimacy.

Intonation

(from Latin intono - I pronounce loudly) - a set of speech elements (melody, rhythm, tempo, intensity, accent structure, timbre, etc.), which phonetically organize speech and are a means of expressing various, including syntactic, meanings, expressive, emotional coloring. According to psychological research and... speech contains information of no less volume than its semantic content.

Intrapsychic conflict

a term from psychoanalytic schools denoting emotional tension as a consequence of conflict in the unconscious.

Introversion

the individual’s focus on himself, on his own sensations, experiences, feelings and thoughts.

Introversion

(from Latin intra - inside and versare - turn, turn) - the primary focus of the individual on his own inner world, his own “I”, personal sensations, experiences, feelings, thoughts. The term was introduced by K. Jung.

Introvert

a personality type (according to the classification of Z. Eysenck, K. Jung, etc.), whose activity, in comparison with other people, is more related to internal than to external activities. A typical introvert is characterized by the following traits: self-absorption, isolation, difficulty communicating, a tendency towards hobbies, professions not related to communication, or working with people.

Introversion

an individual characterological feature found in some people and manifested in unsociability, isolation, lack of sufficient interest in other people and a tendency to in-depth introspection.

Introjection

(from Latin intro - inside and jacio - throw, put) (in psychology) - the process of an individual including into his inner world the views, attitudes, and motives of other people perceived by him. I. is a mental identification mechanism. Its opposite is projection. In the theory of cognition of R. Avenarius, this term has the meaning of the inadmissibility of putting perceived images into the human brain.

Introspection

(from Latin introspecto - looking inside) - a synonym for introspection, gradually being used less and less often as a scientific category.

Intuition

(from Late Lat. intuitio - to look closely) - a specific ability of a person to comprehend the truth without direct logical justification, evidence, approximation; a unique type of thinking in which individual links of the thinking process pass unconsciously, and only the result of the thought - the truth - is extremely clearly realized. I. is sufficient to achieve the truth, but in order to convince other people of its truth, proof is needed.

Infantilism

(from Latin infantilis - infantile, childish) - preservation in adults of mental traits and behavioral characteristics characteristic of childhood and adolescence. A person who is inherent in and. (infantile), with normal or accelerated development of the mental and physical sphere, is distinguished by the immaturity of the emotional-volitional sphere.

Personal infantilism

(from Latin infantilis - infant, child) - preservation in the psyche and behavior of an adult of the characteristics inherent in childhood. An individual who is characterized by I. (infantile), with normal or even accelerated physical and mental development, is distinguished by the immaturity of the emotional-volitional sphere.

Informant

(from Latin informatio - clarification, presentation) - a subject included in an experiment and informing the experimenter about its progress, about the features of his interaction with the object.

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