Psychology is literally translated from Greek as "the science of the soul". Psychology studies such mental processes as memory, thinking, imagination, emotions and feelings.
Using empirical methods, psychologists apply psychological knowledge to collect and interpret data from all kinds of research in order to better understand the individual and human society in all its manifestations.
Psychology "is different"…
Not black, white and red, of course. But this science has many shades (spectra). Therefore, modern psychology as a science consists of a large number of subsections, which include:
- general psychology;
- age psychology;
- social psychology;
- developmental psychology;
- personality psychology;
- psychology of religion;
- pathopsychology;
- neuropsychology;
- family psychology;
- sport psychology;
- animal psychology;
- and others.
Categorical apparatus in psychology
Category literally translated from Greek means "statement, sign". In general, these are very general concepts that reflect the most important patterns of being.
Scientific concepts, being in established connection with each other, are a logical system. Each of them is part of the system of categories of science.
The main categories of psychology and their characteristics
The development of absolutely every science is influenced by how its conceptual apparatus is formed.
Category - constant concepts and problems that make up the subject of psychology and content.
In modern psychology, the main categories are distinguished, which have been its base since its entry into the scientific world.
Their list is as follows:
- motive;
- image;
- activity;
- personality;
- communication;
- experience.
In different psychological schools, these categories may have different meanings. But in any case, all these categories are present in psychological teachings.
Developmental psychology
The problem of development in psychology is one of the main places. All living things develop and go through many stages of improvement. And at some stages, qualitative neoplasms appear. These neoplasms will further influence future stages in life.organism.
Developmental psychology studies specific periods of a person's life, their features and patterns. And she also finds out the reasons for the transition from one stage to another.
In psychology, there are two forms of development:
- Evolutionary (quantitative changes in the object).
- Revolutionary (quality change).
The main categories of developmental psychology are not related to individual features, but to development as a whole. These include:
- growth,
- maturing,
- differentiation,
- teaching,
- imprinting (imprinting),
- socialization.
Developmental psychology deals with the study of human life as a single continuous process of personality change. This section of psychology tracks the patterns of personality formation, helps to overcome the main age-related crises and find the necessary path for further upward movement.
Age psychology
Age psychology is also one of the "varieties" of psychology. She studies how the psyche develops, the features of this development in different age periods.
We owe the development of our domestic developmental psychology to Lev Semenovich Vygotsky. It was he who developed the theory of age as a certain unit of analysis of child development.
Vygotsky wrote:
The problem of development is central and basic for all areas of reality and for all areas of scientific knowledge.
Age psychology is also usually divided into some subsections:
- preschool psychology;
- younger student;
- teenagers;
- youthful age;
- adult psychology;
- gerontopsychology (old age).
The main categories of developmental psychology are very similar to the categories of developmental psychology.
The most basic of these are processes:
- Growth.
- Ripening.
- Learning.
- Impressions.
- Socializations.
- Phylogenesis.
- Ontogeny.
- Anthropogenesis.
- Microgenesis.
- Leading activities.
- Neoplasms.
Social psychology
Any person living among people is an element of society. Man fulfills his social role in society.
Social psychology is a science that is located at the junction of two other sciences: sociology and psychology. Thus, this section studies several subsections at once:
- psychology of personality (social);
- group psychology;
- social relations.
Due to the fact that a person is a social creation, the fact that social psychology is separated from the general one can be considered somewhat arbitrary.
The main categories of social psychology are:
- social community;
- features of human behavior in society;
- social group;
- socio-psychological organization of small groups;
- communication;
- human behavior in conflict interpersonal situations;
- large social groups.
Psychology of Personality
The human personality is a complex piece of the social puzzle. Man is the most important link in all social processes.
Psychology of personality is a science that studies personality and related developmental processes. Also, this section of science studies the features of people, their similarities and differences.
The main categories of personality psychology include the following:
- Temperament.
- Character.
- Motivation.
- Ability.
Basic concepts and categories in psychology
A concept is a word that can reflect the most general patterns and connections of a group or a phenomenon.
Category (statement, sign) are very general concepts that reflect the most important patterns of being.
Absolutely any science in its development determines its conceptual and categorical apparatus. Scientific concepts are divided based on the following principles:
- volume;
- content;
- generalization breadth.
Modern psychology as a science consists of a large number of subsections that are listed above in the article. Each subsection has both a general psychological categorical apparatus and its own, particular scientific one.
How the science of psychology arose at the junctionnatural science and philosophy. She answers the following questions:
- How are body and soul related?
- How do consciousness, thought and the brain itself relate?
- How do mental and physiological mechanisms function?
Thus, the categorical apparatus of psychology arose from two channels of different sciences.
Since 1960, psychologists of the USSR have been working on clarifying and grouping the conceptual and categorical apparatus in psychology.
The whole history of science is connected with the formation of its main categories and concepts. For example, initially Yaroshevsky singled out "image", "action", "motive", "communication", "personality" as basic psychological concepts.
Then, in the next twenty years, under the influence of the famous scientists Leontiev, Platonov, Shorokhov, Asmolov and other great Soviet psychologists, a large group of concepts was added to them:
- activity;
- personality;
- consciousness;
- psyche;
- communication;
- social;
- biological;
- psychic phenomena;
- reflection;
- consciousness;
- installation;
- unconscious;
- communication;
- activities and communication;
- activities and installation.
The main conclusion in the course of solving the problem of the categorical apparatus in psychology was the fact that it is impossible to build the entire scientific system of psychology on the basis of a single concept (category).
Thus, for twenty years (from 1960 to 1980) Soviet psychologists conductedcolossal and invaluable work on the definition of the main categories in psychology. In this regard, psychology finally secured the status of a science in the Soviet Union.
