Where to start studying human psychology: on your own?

Among the diversity of human life, the inner space of the individual remains unknown to many. And this internal life is in many ways more important for a person than the external one, since injuries inflicted on the psyche do not heal for decades, unlike wounds on the body. Psychologists know this well - people whose lives are devoted to studying the secrets of the soul. And, of course, the desire to understand others is valuable.

Those who set out on the path of self-education must go through a difficult path. What are the main difficulties of studying, why is it so difficult to master the science of psychology; where to start studying? Let's try to figure it out.

Methodology

When a person decides to study a science such as psychology, it is worth thoroughly becoming familiar with the methodology of science. And devote a lot of time to reading various literature.

But where to start studying psychology on your own? How to find the knowledge base on which you can rely further and study science in depth? Without fundamental, orderly concepts, no real science exists. First, the subject of science and methodology are studied. Methodology is a systematic analysis of the methods that are used in a given science to obtain knowledge.

Study of psychology: forms of training

The choice of the form of training plays no less important role in the study of psychology than everything else. But it depends on what goal you initially set for yourself. If your task is a full-fledged study of child psychology, real practice, work as a psychologist in a government or commercial institution, the best choice will certainly be a university where you can master the corresponding specialty. The training there is carried out by professional teachers, students are provided with a wide variety of practical training, knowledge is given in a clear, systematized form, proven over decades.

If the goal is simply to learn to better understand people, understand the characteristics of the human personality, master the skill of self-help and helping loved ones in difficult life situations, or simply self-development and increasing the level of one’s education and intelligence, independent studies are quite suitable.

Today, trainings and seminars on teaching psychology for non-specialists are constantly held, courses and other educational events are organized. In bookstores and the Internet you can find many worthy tutorials, study guides, programs and other materials from which anyone can learn the basics of psychology and take for themselves what they need.

We would like to pay special attention to our own free course “Human Psychology”. It is devoted to the main branches of psychological science, such as general psychology, methods of psychology, personality psychology, motivation, developmental psychology and social psychology. You can also learn from it about the best books and textbooks, many psychological effects, interesting experiments and games. And after completing the course, you will have to pass two exams: one in theory, the second in practice.

Thus, anyone can study psychology on their own. The only thing you need to understand is that you won’t be able to master this truly amazing science in a couple of days, weeks or months. Firstly, this will not be possible due to the enormous amount of information that needs to be read, studied and understood. Secondly, the acquired knowledge will definitely have to be applied in practice, which also requires a lot of time. And thirdly, the field of psychological science itself is constantly developing, becoming wider and more multifaceted, which means that you need to constantly update your knowledge base, study new trends and keep up with the times.

If you are determined to start studying psychology, it is possible that you will devote your whole life to it. But this is a worthy path, through which you will become better, smarter, more experienced and wiser. So analyze life and people, observe, build cause-and-effect relationships, ask questions and look for answers. Studying psychology is the beginning of a new life, and this life is worth living.

In conclusion, we invite you to learn even more about the benefits of studying psychology for humans. Take a break from reading, relax and take an hour of your time to watch a video with the participation of a psychologist, Doctor of Psychological Sciences, psychotherapist of the European and World Registers, author of over thirty books and teaching aids, Sergei Viktorovich Kovalev.

We also recommend reading:

Storytelling
Robert Cialdini, Noah Goldstein, Steve Martin “The Psychology of Persuasion” - summary
Cognitive economics: the science of thinking
Psychology of Advertising
Practical psychology
Psychology of choice
Wundt's method of studying psychology
Psychology of money
False and real self-development
Cognitive psychology and cognitive psychotherapy
Reverse psychology

Key words:1Self-knowledge

Start with yourself. Why and for what

The beginning of the study of human psychology is the understanding of personal motives. First of all, you need to understand why the first step to studying people’s behavior is being taken: to have a good understanding of the development of children and help them grow harmonious, or for your own personal growth, or you want to become a professional and get the opportunity to help outsiders.

It is also important to decide in advance which side of science you will study thoroughly: theoretical or practical. After all, it’s difficult to find without knowing what exactly. Especially in the ocean of information.

The importance of psychology in human life

Already in early childhood, personality formation occurs. Each person absorbs information from the world around him. Under the influence of this knowledge, a person’s character is formed. On the path of life, every individual encounters many problems. Depending on character and desire, a person can cope with difficulties or, conversely, submit to fate.

Self-control is of great importance in all kinds of problematic situations. If an individual knows how to control his emotions, it is difficult to unbalance him. Such a person knows how to behave in society, how to please people, and achieve the desired result.

There are simple rules, following which you can easily achieve success:

you need to learn to understand people;
You need to maintain good relationships with everyone around you;
it is always necessary to respect the interests of other members of society;
you cannot give up in the face of difficulties;
you need to fight for your interests in any situation;
Don’t constantly blame yourself for mistakes and often remember your failures;
to achieve success, you need to constantly do something;
You can’t be afraid to take action and take responsibility.

People behave differently when they find themselves in an unfamiliar situation. Some are starting to take active action. More timid and suspicious individuals, on the contrary, may lose heart. Different reactions to the same situation are explained by individual personality characteristics, upbringing, education, and moral training.

A morally unprepared individual does not know how to behave correctly when faced with danger. Instead of acting or running away, he may lose clarity of thought, become completely motionless and vulnerable.

In order for an individual to be able to cope with various troubles that are likely to come his way along the path of life, he needs to prepare for negative situations, strengthen his psyche and will. This task can be accomplished with the help of knowledge from the field of psychology. If a person is psychologically prepared for any trouble, nothing can scare him; he can adequately react to danger and act correctly in any situation.

Psychology books. Which ones do a beginner need?

What books should you start studying psychology with? When setting the goal of learning the basics of any science, you need to start with the basics: the most basic categories, terms and concepts - all this can be found in any first-year textbook. Such textbooks are available in all city libraries. Although they are not very eloquently written, and are full of definitions and tables, they are worth mastering. It will be easier later. After reading this first book, you need to find the classics of psychology: C. Jung, C. Horney, A. Adler, E. Fromm and, of course, you need to familiarize yourself with the works of Freud.

A lighter and more interesting book by I. Yalom “When Nietzsche Wept.” You can then look for any author’s book in the direction that is currently more interesting.

There are a lot of original books; it is important to find an author who is a professional and has been working in this field for at least 10 years. Then the experience that the author conveys to the reader is authoritative, and one can rely on it in the future.

We must not forget that it is important for a psychologist to know the basics of philosophy and sociology. It is important to develop humanitarian thinking; science is not only theories and theses.

Fiction also contains a lot of useful information for the future psychologist. Classic writers clearly analyzed the nature of the inner world and the actions of their fictional heroes. A particularly deep analysis can be found in the books of F. Dostoevsky.

1-7

“The Psychology of Influence” - Robert Cialdini

Every day, the average person is subjected to a wide variety of manipulations by the media, salespeople, politicians, etc. The book “Psychology of Influence” will help you see the mechanisms of influence on people in a completely different light, thereby protecting yourself from manipulation.

She captivates readers with her light and interesting style, as well as her effective presentation. After all, as we know, “who is forewarned is forearmed.” “Psychology of Influence” covers topics of conflicts, social and personality psychology, management and marketing. This book is written in simple language and with a lot of interesting examples and stories of famous brands. In addition, the book will be useful to managers, salespeople and psychologists. Be sure to read it!

"Games People Play" - Eric Berne

Eric Berne is an outstanding psychologist and psychoanalyst who pioneered transactional analysis. In his books, he describes the essence of this analysis, gives interesting examples, teaches readers to become more aware of their thoughts and feelings, as well as control their actions and build harmonious relationships with people around them. These books help many women and men find a way out of difficult life situations: realize mistakes, see the causes of difficulties in themselves and in the chosen communication scenario. Eric Bernay's book is absolutely not complicated, and after reading it you will look at people completely differently. We recommend reading it.

"The Psychology of Lying" - Paul Ekman

The book will be useful to everyone, without exception. This is scientific literature, the result of many years of work and research by the author, and not some kind of “pulp fiction.” The book interestingly and clearly describes the peculiarities of people's behavior, their facial expressions, gestures that betray insincerity and lies. “The Psychology of Lies” is recommended for study by psychologists, teachers, managers and ordinary people who want to protect themselves from manipulators, recognize the first signs of lies in others, and better understand people and the characteristics of their nonverbal behavior.

Paul Ekman is considered one of the most famous and talented psychologists studying the psychology of emotions and communication. There is the TV series “The Theory of Lies” or “Lie to Me,” where the main character of the film was almost completely “based” on Paul. Unfortunately, the series was canceled. A famous psychologist worked there as a consultant. At the moment, Paul Ekman has devoted himself entirely to the study of human emotions and micro-movements.

"The New Positive Psychology" - Martin Seligman

A bright and informative book in which a famous modern psychologist examines human feelings and behavior that can cause useful experiences. They lead to a life that is not only happy and enjoyable, but also worthy and meaningful.

"The Psychology of Emotions" - Carroll Izard

The book will help you understand the nature of human emotions, understand the reasons for the occurrence of a particular feeling. Excellent literature for your self-development.

"Body Language, Love Language" - David Givens

Psychology of relationships. Five stages of courtship

Stage one: attracting attention. Second: the shine in your eyes

Stage number three: communication. Four: feelings and sensations. Fifth stage: intimacy and love. What and how your face attracts, what and how your body attracts.

Non-verbal communication. The art of flirting. The art of seduction. A gripping psychological bestseller.

"Social Psychology" - Stephen Myers

A reference book for an educated person who wants to learn more about people, the formation of character, the behavior of others, love and friendship. “Social Psychology” covers dozens of important topics; human behavior is analyzed from the point of view of social psychology. From the book you will learn to what extent you are influenced by your profession, your hobby, and even the ordinary people you meet on the streets every day. The undoubted advantage of Myers' book is that it is written in a very lively and understandable language, each topic contains interesting examples, and talks about popular psychological experiments in psychology, sociology and history. Experiments conducted in psychology help to better understand human nature, and famous films have been made based on many popular experiments. This book is recommended for reading by everyone without exception. And psychologists and educators should study the book like the Bible.

Magazines and publications

In today's incredibly vast space of information, finding an accessible and interesting journal on psychology is not a problem. Many universities publish their own magazine and post free versions on the Internet quite freely. You just need to find the journal that will be educational and useful for you in your chosen field of science.

"Russian psychological journal".
Journal of the Higher Attestation Commission "Bulletin of VlGU".
"Experimental Psychology".
"Existential and humanistic psychology."
Online magazine psychologies.ru.
Other.

The online magazine psychologies.ru was created for a wide range of readers. If you need scientific publications written by qualified employees of institutes, it is better to read official publications. Such as: “Russian Psychological Journal”.

Additions and auxiliary materials:

Psychological games and exercises

Games and exercises created specifically to understand the characteristics of the human psyche. There are different types of such games and exercises: for children and for adults, mass and single, for men and women, arbitrary and targeted, etc. The use of psychological games and exercises helps people understand others and themselves, form some qualities and get rid of others, etc. This includes exercises for developing various qualities, overcoming stress, increasing self-esteem, role-playing, developmental, health games and many other games and exercises.

The world of psychology. Main directions

In what directions is modern psychology developing? Where to start studying trends in the development of the main directions of this science? You cannot succeed in everything at once, and you need to decide on the direction in which a person will feel most confident, what is closer to him to learn and apply.

The classic directions are:

cognitive direction;

Gestalt psychology;

associative psychology;

humanistic;

deep.

And there are also new directions: psychodrama, coaching, transpersonal psychology and neurolinguistic programming.

The main criterion is the result!

System-vector psychology of Yuri Burlan gives massive, sustainable results in all areas of life.
Having completed the training once, a person masters systems thinking. The laws of interaction between people are revealed to him, and he begins to understand his nature, his deep unconscious desires. He also begins to understand the people who surround him, their psyche, their thoughts and actions. By understanding oneself, a person gets rid of depression, obsessive thoughts, fears, grievances, and superstitions. By mastering systems thinking, a person begins to build relationships in a couple, in the family and at work at a qualitatively new level and begins to experience joy every day!

Here is what the psychologist says about system-vector psychology:

Start studying psychology with free online training on system-vector psychology by Yuri Burlan. You will immediately understand that this is practical psychology for every day. At the very first lectures, you will be surprised to recognize yourself and your loved ones. Systemic knowledge works in any life situations because it reveals our unconscious.

We begin to understand ourselves based on our differences from others. For example, a person with the skin vector is in a hurry all the time; it always seems to him that the people around him are too slow. He wants to do everything, does ten things at once, but doesn’t finish any of them. Such a person has unconscious aspirations for career growth and increased social status. “Time is money” is about him.

However, in a hurry, he can make mistakes and minor inaccuracies, which are always noticed and corrected by slow and unhurried people with an anal vector, for whom the main priority is quality, not speed. Such people are scrupulous and very attentive. They won't make a single mistake. Such people become good teachers and experts in their field.

Understanding our own characteristics and the characteristics of other people, we stop experiencing everyday irritation towards each other. For example, if you were previously irritated by the slowness of your husband or child, then after training in system-vector psychology this irritation will completely go away, because you will understand from the inside what motivates him.

System-vector psychology of Yuri Burlan gives a person this tool so that he lives his own life happily, with pleasure, realizes his desires and abilities, and suffers less. And if a person is a psychologist, he is guaranteed to help other people, understanding the full depth of their psyche.

You will receive your first knowledge about the structure of the human psyche in free online training on system-vector psychology by Yuri Burlan. Change your life for the better! Register

The article was written using materials

Our whole life is an endless series of events, situations, affairs, meetings, conversations, changes, victories and defeats, hopes and disappointments. In other words, a person’s life is a constant interaction between his inner world and the surrounding reality. Every day we wake up, start our day, do different things, communicate with many people, go to work, develop a business or do something else. Human life in the modern world is life in a world of high technology, an endless flow of information, rapid development and change. And in order to meet all the requirements of the surrounding reality, a person must be internally stable, developed, able to overcome difficulties and have an unbending inner core that will always support and help remain strong. The modern world is ready to absorb a person in a matter of seconds, make him part of the gray mass, depersonalize him, empty him and throw him to the sidelines. And if a person is not ready for this, then defeat cannot be avoided. But there is a way to emerge victorious in this fight.

One of the most important knowledge for a person in our time is knowledge in the field of psychology, and one of the most important skills is the ability to apply it in practice. To understand people, to be able to find a common language and communicate with them, to be able to instantly adapt to any situation, to always help yourself and others, you need to understand psychology. So that the problems and stress that put enormous pressure on a person today do not break you or your loved ones, and you or they can continue on their path, you need to understand human psychology. To understand others at a deep level, to be able to nurture yourself, raise your children, and influence others, you need to know the nuances of people’s psychology. To achieve success, achieve new results, conquer new heights, live in prosperity, harmony and well-being, you need to have important knowledge - knowledge about human psychology.

Considering the importance of psychological knowledge, as well as the reasons that motivate people to grow and develop, their desire to become better and improve their lives, we have created this course, which is called “Human Psychology”. In the lessons of this course, we explore very important things in detail: we reveal the main and key problems of human psychology, the stages and patterns of his development and the formation of his personality, the formation of the characteristics of his behavior and communication with people. This course provides an opportunity to answer questions about how to understand human psychology, how to influence your life, those around you, and, most importantly, yourself. Studying psychology and applying the knowledge gained in life contributes to personal growth, improving personal life, establishing excellent relationships, achieving success in the professional sphere and other areas of activity. This course “Human Psychology” is an online training consisting of lessons that contain interesting theoretical information about human psychology, provides examples (experiences, tests, experiments) and, most importantly, gives a large number of practical tips that you can apply in practice already on the first day of acquaintance with the training. At the end of the course there are links to useful materials: books (including audiobooks), videos, recordings of seminars, experiments and quotes about psychology.

Psychology

(from the ancient Greek “knowledge of the soul”) is a science that studies structures and processes that are inaccessible to external observation (sometimes called the “soul”) in order to explain human behavior, as well as the characteristics of the behavior of individuals, groups and collectives.

It is a complex, but important and interesting discipline to study. As has probably already become clear, human psychology is a very fascinating area of scientific knowledge and covers many sections that you can get acquainted with on your own if you have the desire. You can even say that it is from this moment that your self-development will begin, because... you will independently decide what exactly you would like to study and begin to master new knowledge. Human psychology, in itself, has many properties, one of which is the fear of everything new and incomprehensible. For many people, this is an obstacle to self-development and achieving the desired results. We recommend that you cast aside any fears and doubts and start studying the materials on our website and this course. After a while, you will be proud of yourself, thanks to the new skills and results achieved.

Object of psychology

- this is a person. From this we can conclude that any psychologist (or anyone interested in psychology) is a researcher of himself, due to which a close relationship between the objective and the subjective arises in psychological theories.

Subject of psychology

in different historical eras has always been understood differently and from the perspective of different areas of psychological science:

Soul. Until the beginning of the 18th century, all researchers adhered to this position.
Phenomena of consciousness. Direction: English empirical associationist psychology. Main representatives: David Hartley, John Stuart Mill, Alexander Bain, Herbert Spencer.
The subject's direct experience. Direction: structuralism. Main representatives: Wilhelm Wundt.
Adaptability. Direction: functionalism. Main representatives: William James.
Origin of mental activities. Direction: psychophysiology. Main representatives: Ivan Mikhailovich Sechenov.
Behavior. Direction: behaviorism. Main representatives: John Watson.
Unconscious. Direction: psychoanalysis. Main representatives: Sigmund Freud.
Information processing processes and their results. Direction: Gestalt psychology. Main representatives: Max Wertheimer.
Personal experience of a person. Direction: humanistic psychology. Main representatives: Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, Viktor Frankl, Rollo May.

Main branches of psychology:

Acmeology
Differential psychology
Gender psychology
Cognitive psychology
Virtual psychology
Military psychology
Applied psychology
Engineering psychology
Clinical (medical psychology)
Neuropsychology
Pathopsychology
Psychosomatics and psychology of physicality
Oncopsychology
Psychotherapy
Pedagogical psychology
Psychology of art
Psychology of Parenting
Labor psychology
Psychology of sports
Psychology of management
Economic psychology
Ethnopsychology
Legal psychology
Criminal psychology
Forensic psychology

As is easy to see, there are many branches of psychology, and different directions study different aspects of a person’s personality and his activities. You can determine which section you personally like by reading each of them yourself. In our course, we consider human psychology in general, without highlighting any areas, types or sections, but making it possible to use new skills in any area of life.

Nonverbal communication as a basis

Without what is the science of psychology inconceivable? Where to start studying? A beginner needs to study both theory and practice. And accordingly, practice immediately: learn to listen, learn to pay attention to non-verbal signs. This practice is important in the same way that to learn a foreign language it is necessary to immediately pronounce sentences.

Nonverbal messages are a hint to the interlocutor; the theory of nonverbal communication states that gestures, facial expressions and postures of a person speak about the internal state much more than words. A good psychologist immediately “calculates” the state of a person nearby by his appearance. Even if you are not going to study psychology professionally, but are only interested in it, you need to learn to identify nonverbal signs. This will simplify communication with both loved ones and colleagues.

How to become a child psychologist

Who can become a psychologist for children? Only those who receive education in a special institution. To master basic knowledge, you need to study to become a psychologist at a pedagogical university. In parallel with your studies, you can enroll in practical courses in your profession. This will help you understand how to dialogue with your child, how to react to his actions and what to do in difficult situations. The beginning of the path to becoming a child psychologist will be practice in the final years of university.

After receiving your diploma, you can sign up for an internship at a school or preschool institution. If a specialist is confident that he is ready to work with children on an ongoing basis, he can obtain a license and begin private practice.

What character qualities need to be developed?

Working with people is absolutely impossible without working on yourself. A psychologist is one who studies souls. This is how psychology is interpreted. Where to start studying the behavior and problems of others? From working on your character qualities. Because without knowing yourself, it is impossible to know others.

Psyche was the goddess-soul; accordingly, the science of the soul cannot be studied without love for the souls of people. You must be able to put yourself in the place of another and imagine his feelings and emotions. A psychologist also needs good abilities for self-analysis and self-reflection - that is, the ability to understand one’s own emotional state and behavior. Ability to establish verbal contact with any person.

Indeed, the study of human psychology is not so easy. Where to begin? Develop awareness. For a new psychologist, this is a key point. If a beginner is faced with the question: where to start studying psychology on his own, then it is better to reformulate it - with whom to start studying. From myself. A psychologist will not be able to solve other people's problems if he does not learn to solve his own complexes, problems, fears and anxieties.

Why study psychology?

Typically, a person studies psychology to become a psychologist and help people solve their problems.
Or help yourself deal with your problems. Psychology as a science is called upon to answer the eternal questions: “Who am I?”, “How do I differ from others?”, “Why do I live?” and “What is the meaning of life?” The flow of students into psychological faculties is increasing, but university training does not provide answers to these questions. When years of study are spent studying theories and various techniques, disappointment sets in from studying, and then from the ineffectiveness of the knowledge applied in work. Specialists who graduated from psychological faculties with honors also speak about the shortcomings of psychological education. There are more and more psychologists, but, unfortunately, people also have more and more problems, and the methods that psychologists practice give an unstable effect: a person has to seek their help again and again.

Proxemics

Distance and the need to maintain it when conducting a conversation are studied by such a science as proxemics. The concept was introduced into science by Edward Hall.

Edward Hall introduced 4 zones into the scientific world of psychologists that must be observed when communicating:

intimate;
personal;
social zone;
public

Understanding people's inner states is not so easy. There is no point in reading books if a beginner cannot recognize the inner mood of his interlocutor.

A psychologist cannot put pressure on a person. When he does not keep his distance, the person will close himself and will not allow him into his inner world.

Consciousness and psyche

The science that studies the psychological patterns of training and education is associated with mental phenomena:

cognitive, emotional, motivational, volitional processes;
creativity, joy, fatigue, sleep, stress;
temperament, personality orientation, character

The correct selection of techniques and development methods depends on how deeply they are considered.

The science that studies the psychological laws of teaching and upbringing depends on the specifics of the human body, on the functioning of the cerebral cortex. It distinguishes:

sensory areas that process and receive information from receptors and sense organs;
motor areas that control human movements;
association areas used for information processing.

Psychology is a great complement to other disciplines

Few fields of study complement other disciplines as much as psychology. For example, education in the field of journalism, medicine, philology, anthropology, art or economics and at the same time you can decide to start studying psychology in order to receive a richer and more complete training.

Even when it is not completely achievable, we become better people by trying to reach a higher goal.
Victor Frankl

Studying psychology enriches us, understand human behavior much better with all its social skills, language, communication, motivation, emotions and decision making. These processes are often necessary in order to have a more complete understanding of other sciences.

Psychology helps us understand ourselves better

As we delve into other theories, different approaches to personality, human development, or how culture influences our behavior, we are forced to look at our lives and the lives of others.

Studying psychology will force us to ask ourselves many questions. Questions that don't always have an answer. It will be an adventure where we get to know ourselves and other people a little more, where we can leave behind certain views and ideas that used to be so important to us.

We will learn to appreciate the scientific method

Psychology is not magic. We are not mentalists, and we do not have a radar in our minds that allows us to grasp in 5 seconds what trauma a person is suffering from , what he is afraid of, or what his strengths are.

Psychology, as we know, has many false myths associated with it, and we will have to confront them in many situations, whether we like it or not. However, there is one aspect that we must make clear from the very beginning: psychology is a social science based on the scientific method.

We must understand that in order to come to certain conclusions and certain views, we need to go through a lot of objective and patient work. This work is always based on a series of research methods and is the path to success as a psychology major. On the other hand, “pop psychology”, which the general public loves so much, and which we see every day in magazines or social networks, has nothing to do with reality.

You will develop a new perspective on mental illness

Studying psychology will allow you to bust many of the myths people believe about mental illness . For example, you will understand the difference between a syndrome, a disorder and a disease. You will understand that medicine does not cure certain diseases, it only “cures” them . You will discover the complexities of diagnosis and the many nuances associated with depression, anxiety disorder or schizophrenia.

Principles applied when choosing methods for studying the human psyche

The principle of determinism

1. The principle of determinism , causality of mental activity. There are no causeless phenomena in the world. This also applies to the psyche. Any mental act of an animal or a person has its own reason. The mental activity of people is determined by the social conditions of their life, the characteristics of their upbringing and activities. Scientific psychology is not limited to a simple description of mental phenomena; it necessarily searches for the reasons for their occurrence. The method of introspection, which empirical psychology of the 19th century. considered the main thing, it helped science very little, since it did not allow us to reveal the objective causes of people’s mental activity

Principle of mental development

2. The principle of mental development . Human mental activity cannot be fully understood if it is studied statically, without movement and development. Thus, it is impossible to understand the behavior of an adult without taking into account his life history. It is also impossible to explain the peculiarities of the human psyche by ignoring the prehistory of human consciousness—the psyche of animals. It should be remembered that scientific psychology understands development not only in quantitative, but also in qualitative terms. Thus, the mental activity of a schoolchild is qualitatively different from the mental activity of a preschool child. A schoolchild not only knows more and has more skills than a preschooler, but his knowledge, skills, experiences, actions, and relationships with people are different than those of a preschooler. General psychology, studying the psyche mainly of adults, uses data obtained by child psychology to prove a number of points, for example, data on the development of individual mental processes in a child - sensations, perceptions, etc. One of the methods of general psychology - biographical - allows you to study a person’s personality in its development.

The principle of the leading role of activity in the development of the psyche

3. The principle of the leading role of activity in the development of the psyche . The human psyche, being a subjective reflection of the objective world, develops in the process of active interaction between a person and other people, in various types of his activities, from the simplest games of a small child to the creative work of an adult. Outside of human activity there can be no development of his psyche - the most important component of activity. Therefore, among the methods of psychology there should be methods that allow a comprehensive psychological analysis of a person’s performance of various mental and practical tasks characteristic of a particular activity (game, educational, labor, organizational, etc.).

The principle of the unity of human mental activity

4. The principle of the unity of human mental activity . The human psyche, his subjective world, is a single, indivisible whole, a product of the systemic activity of the brain, in which the psychologist, only for the purpose of research, to a certain extent artificially distinguishes various mental processes, states and properties. When studying individual manifestations of the psyche and consciousness, the researcher must remember the whole, the individual, see the mutual connections and dependencies between perception, thinking, memory, feelings, interests, attitudes of a person and specifically study them. The principle of unity of consciousness is especially important to observe in a laboratory experiment, when, due to the peculiarities of this method, the psychologist is distracted from many aspects of the personality of the person he is studying, except for the one that he is studying.

The principle of objectivity in the study of the psyche

5. The principle of objectivity in the study of the psyche . The most important requirement of any science is the objectivity of the research and its accuracy. This means that the scientist should not bring anything of his own into the phenomena being studied, but should study them as they really are. But is it possible to objectively study the subjective world of man? Is it possible to learn about the thoughts, feelings, desires of other people? Many bourgeois psychologists consider the subjective world of a person to be unknowable or knowable only to the extent that the subject himself can judge it. This opinion is false. The mental life of people (and animals) is as knowable as all phenomena of reality. A person’s experiences, his thoughts and desires can be judged by his actions, the content and nature of his speech, the results (products) of his activities, i.e. objectively. Modern psychology uses several methods for objective research of the human psyche; the main ones are observation and experiment.

The principle of concreteness in the study of the psyche

6. The principle of concreteness in the study of the psyche . A person lives and develops in the specific conditions of family, school, and production. He establishes very specific relationships with people, which significantly influences the behavior and mental development of this person. Thus, a child in a large family can be the eldest or the youngest, and his relationships with parents, brothers, sisters often depend on this, which affects the development of his needs, interests, habits, and his understanding of his responsibilities. It's the same at school. The teacher and comrades may treat a given child differently than other children, and this again promotes or hinders the development of certain qualities of his personality. The principle of specificity requires the psychologist to choose research methods that would allow him to study a person’s personality in specific, defined conditions of his life. Compliance with this principle is mandatory when studying the holistic behavior of an individual, for example, when compiling a psychological and pedagogical characteristics of a student.

Here you can read about modeling mental activity

You will develop critical thinking

Much of the material, theories, approaches, and fields that make up psychological research help us develop critical thinking . Whether we like it or not, this is very important if we want to be good professionals and truly want to be useful to people without losing our integrity. Only then will we be able to distinguish wood from trees and clarity from deception.

Never think you know everything. No matter how highly you value yourself, always have the courage to say to yourself: I don’t know.
Ivan Pavlov