The unconscious in psychology: concept, classes, methods of manifestation and problems

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

For the first time, the concept appeared in the days of ancient Greece, when the philosopher Plato developed the doctrine of cognition-remembering. This is how the general idea of the definition arose, which did not undergo significant changes until the advent of modern times. The first concept was proposed by Leibniz in 1720. He believed that the unconscious is the lowest form of mental activity.

The emergence of a definition in psychology

The well-known Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud has taken up this issue seriously. In the course of his activity, he began to conduct an experimental development of the concept of the unconscious. In the psychology of that time, it was generally accepted that this term meant many actions in the implementation of which a person does not fully realize. This meant that certain decisions were not conscious. Freud put into the meaning of the concept the repression of our secret desires and fantasies that are contrary to established normssocial morality and behavior. In addition, according to the psychologist, such actions and decisions in reality disturbed the individual too much, and therefore he preferred that they were not conscious.

Sigmund in those years was also a practicing physician. In short, the psychology of the unconscious, in his understanding, clearly correlated with the fact that the main regulator of human behavior from time immemorial has been the desires and drives of individuals. The doctor noted that completely unconscious experiences can quite strongly influence the quality of life. Due to such an internal conflict, various neuropsychiatric diseases may well develop. Freud began looking for a solution that could help his patients. Thus, his own method of healing the soul called "psychoanalysis" was born.

Methods of manifestation of the unconscious

The main problem for people in the presence of these experiences is considered to be the lack of subjective control. The unconscious in psychology or the subconscious refers to such mental processes that cannot be reflected in the consciousness of the individual, that is, they are absolutely not controlled by his will. Among the main types of manifestation, one can distinguish those presented in the list below.

1. Unconscious motivation or motivation to act. The real meaning of the act is not accepted by the individual for any reason, for example, social and social unacceptability, internal contradictions or conflicts with others.motives.
2. Supraconscious processes. These include creative insight, intuition, inspiration and other similar manifestations.
3. Atavisms and behavioral stereotypes. They appear for the reason that they have been worked out by the individual to complete automatism, and therefore do not require awareness if the situation is familiar.
4. Subthreshold perception. It implies the presence of a large amount of information, due to which it cannot be fully understood.

Classes of the unconscious in psychology

Carl Gustav Jung continued to study the issue after Freud. Based on the definition of the unconscious as the subject of psychology, he created a whole separate discipline - analytical psychology. In comparison with the interpretations in psychoanalysis, the theoretical base and fabrications based on it have been significantly expanded. In particular, there was a division into new classes. Jung distinguished between the personal or individual unconscious and the collective unconscious.

The last definition implied the possibility of filling archetypes with some content. By default, the collective unconscious carried empty forms, otherwise called pro-forms. The individual part, in turn, had information about the mental world of a single person. According to Jung, the personal unconscious had an attractive influence on the consciousness of the individual, but did not assimilate it.

Having a language foundation

French explorer and philosopher Jacques Marie Emile Lacan also acceptedactive participation in the development of ideas existing at that time, and later formed his own theory. At the basis of his hypothesis, the concept of the unconscious in psychology, in terms of its structure, was very similar to linguistic forms. He suggested that Freud's psychoanalysis could be viewed as working with patients' speech.

Subsequently, Lacan created a special technique called the "clinic of the signifier". He indicated that, first of all, one should work with the word, the necessity and the possibility of translation. Therapy made it possible to help people with the most complex mental disorders. However, not all modern experts share this theory. Some of them believe that the unconscious in psychology may well function according to a language-like algorithm, but it is not influenced by any linguistic laws.

Main levels of structure

The ideas of Freud and Jung made it possible to expand the understanding of the concept by the Italian psychologist and psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli. Based on the expert's conclusions, a new discipline appeared - psychosynthesis. The researcher presented in his work three main levels that demonstrate the unconscious in human psychology.

1. Inferior. This level refers to the simplest forms of mental activity. With their help, the individual controls his own body, mania, phobias, desires, dreams, complexes, drives and impulses.
2. Medium. The main content is considered to be allelements that freely penetrate the consciousness in the waking state of a person. The purpose of the middle level of the unconscious is to develop mental activity, increase the possibilities of fantasizing and assimilate the experience gained.
3. The Supreme. Also called the superconscious level. Roberto believed that human heroic aspirations, intuition, contemplation, inspiration and altruism are manifested here.

The relationship between the conscious and the unconscious

The general characterization of such relationships today has become much more transparent than it was during the lifetime of scientific minds who first tried to describe such relationships. The study of consciousness and the unconscious in psychology has advanced in many respects thanks to the use of modern technologies that have shed light on many processes occurring in the human brain. For example, it has been scientifically proven that an individual is able to make decisions due to the presence of certain learned information that was not conscious to him to any extent.

Psychologist Bion in 1970 concluded that the mind is just a slave to emotions. In his opinion, the existence of consciousness is necessary only for the rationalization of incoming information. It is worth noting that a similar idea was repeated by many other scientists before and after the publication of Bion's statement.

The Unconscious and Adaptability

Trace the manifestation of one or another part of the mindin human behavior is sometimes quite difficult. It is customary to include experiences, feelings, thinking, will, emotions, cognition, reflection and attitude to the world around in the structure of consciousness. A huge invisible work takes place unconsciously at a certain moment of the individual's activity. Each person periodically asks the question of why a particular thought or emotion manifested itself in response to any stimulus. This is the work of the unconscious part of the mind.

Babies have a very developed ability to imitate the actions of other people. The instinct to imitate lies precisely in the area of the unconscious. In psychology, it is generally accepted that such behavior allows individuals to learn and survive. Adaptation manifests itself to this day in the form of imitation of certain gestures, postures, mannerisms and habits in people. Scientists back in 2005 conducted an experiment and proved that all individuals, to a certain extent, tend to unconsciously copy the behavior of others.

Influencing ideas and intuition

Specialists believe that it is the deep areas of the psyche that are responsible for the so-called "eureka", which during the life at least once visited almost any person. Sometimes it seems to people that a new idea, as it were, arises from absolutely nowhere, streamlining all the chaos of thoughts in an absolutely incredible way. However, in psychology, the conscious and the unconscious are considered to be a single entity that constantly operates in tandem. One cannot function properly withoutother.

The same generation of ideas is mostly the merit of the unconscious, but their subsequent evaluation and selection of the most promising ones is already regulated by the conscious part of the mind. That is why many guides, trainings and experts advise, when solving complex problems, to resort to one method that has been tested for centuries - to completely abstract from this activity for a while. The unconscious part will go about its business for this period, and after a certain period of time, when spending leisure time, a person may suddenly find a solution to a complex problem.

Ongoing study

Today, many new disciplines have emerged that are, to varying degrees, interested in advancing the study of this problem. The unconscious in psychology has not yet been thoroughly studied, and much knowledge is still based on the teachings developed by specialists in past centuries. In particular, modern research usually draws on the concept of Sigmund Freud. Of the most promising theories at the moment, we can mention the development of the use of cybernetic methods for modeling the unconscious.