Methods for studying the psyche. Methods of psychological research

The general trend that has clearly emerged in the improvement of research methods in various sciences over the past century is their mathematization And technicalization. This tendency also manifested itself in psychology, giving it the status of a fairly accurate experimental science. Nowadays, radio and video equipment and electronic equipment are used in psychology.

Along with the mathematization and technicalization of research methods in psychology, they have not lost their importance and general, traditional methods of collecting information are still accepted, such as observation And survey(see Table 1).

There are many reasons for their preservation: the phenomena studied in psychology are unique and complex, they cannot always be identified using technical means and described in precise terms. mathematical formulas. Despite the fact that modern mathematics and technology are themselves extremely complex, they remain quite simple in comparison with the phenomena studied by psychology. For the study of subtle phenomena and psychological categories that psychology deals with, in many cases they are simply not suitable.

Observation. This is the first of the methods used to collect primary data. It has several different options:

A) external surveillance is a way of collecting data about another
person, his psychology and behavior by observing him with
sides;

b) internal surveillance or introspection- applies
when the researcher sets himself the task of studying
the phenomenon of interest in the form in which it
directly presented to his consciousness. Worrying
corresponding phenomenon, he seems to be observing himself, his
sensations, uses similar data communicated to him
other people who conduct self-observation on his instructions;

Table 1

Basic methods psychological research, used to collect primary information

Forecasting is the core of any trading system, in this regard, done correctly, they can make you extremely wealthy.

V) free observation does not have a predetermined
program and can change its object;

G) standardized observation, on the contrary, is carried out according to
a certain, pre-thought-out program and strictly follows it;

e) at participant observation the researcher himself acts in
as a direct participant in the process followed
surveillance is underway. So, exploring relationships between people,
the experimenter can involve himself in these relationships, at the same time
without stopping to watch them;

e) outside surveillance Unlike the included one, it does not imply the personal participation of the researcher in the process that he is studying.

Each of these types of observation has its own characteristics and is used where it can give the most useful results.

Survey. This is a method in which a person answers a series of questions asked to him. Each survey option has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Oral questioning is used in cases where, at the same time, it is desirable to observe the behavior and reactions of the person answering the questions, it allows one to penetrate deeper into human psychology.

A written survey allows you to reach a large number of people. Its most common tool is a questionnaire.

Tests- these are specialized methods of psychological diagnostic research, using which you can obtain an accurate quantitative or qualitative characteristic of the phenomenon being studied.

They differ from other methods in that they require a standardized, verified procedure for collecting and processing data. With the help of tests, you can study and compare people with each other, assess their psychology and behavior.

Type of tests: test questionnaire is based on a system of questions that have been pre-selected and tested in terms of their validity 1 and reliability, based on the test subjects’ answers to which their psychological qualities can definitely be judged.

Test task involves assessing a person's psychology and behavior not on the basis of what he says, but on the basis of what he does. In tests of this type, a person is given a series of special tasks, based on the results of which the quality being studied is judged.

At the core projective tests lies in the mechanism of projection, according to which he tends to attribute positive and especially negative characteristics that a person is not aware of, not to himself, but to other people, and to “project” them onto others. When using tests of this kind, the subject is judged on the basis of how he evaluates situations, other people, and what properties he attributes to them.

Introduction Psyche (from the Greek psychikós - spiritual) is a property of highly organized matter, which is a special form of reflection by the subject of objective reality. The most important feature of mental reflection is its activity. Moreover, it not only represents a product of the active activity of the subject, but also, mediating it, performs the function of orientation and control. Thus, mental phenomena constitute a necessary internal moment of the subject’s objective activity, and the nature of the psyche, its laws can receive a scientific explanation only in the process of analyzing the structure, types and forms of activity.

Currently, there is a rapid development of psychological science, due to the variety of theoretical and practical tasks facing it. The main task of psychology is to study the laws of mental activity in its development. Over the past decades, the scope of psychological research has expanded significantly, and new scientific directions and disciplines have emerged. The conceptual apparatus of psychological science has changed, new hypotheses and concepts are constantly appearing, psychology is being enriched with new empirical data. B.F. Lomov in his book “Methodological and Theoretical Problems of Psychology,” characterizing the current state of science, notes that at present “the need for further (and more profound) development of methodological problems of psychological science and its general theory".

The area of ​​phenomena studied by psychology is enormous. It covers processes, states and properties of a person that have varying degrees of complexity - from the elementary discrimination of individual features of an object that affects the senses, to the struggle of personal motives. Some of these phenomena have already been studied quite well, while the description of others comes down to simply recording observations. Many people believe, and this should be especially noted, that a generalized and abstract description of the phenomena being studied and their connections is already a theory. However, theoretical work is not limited to this; it also includes the comparison and integration of accumulated knowledge, its systematization and much more. Its ultimate goal is to reveal the essence of the phenomena being studied. In this regard, methodological problems arise.

1. Subject and basic principles of psychology

The specificity of scientific knowledge is determined by the subject of scientific research and the corresponding methods that make it possible to reveal the patterns of the phenomena being studied. What constitutes the subject of scientific knowledge in psychology? This is probably one of the most difficult questions. Throughout the history of the development of psychological thought, positions on it have undergone serious changes; there is no consensus on this matter among modern scientists. In the very general view as subject of psychology as an independent scientific discipline, phenomena, facts and patterns of human mental life can be named. Under mental phenomena refers to the internal, subjective experience of a person. The fundamental property of such experience is its direct presentation to the subject. This means that mental processes not only occur in us, but are also revealed to us directly: we not only see, feel, desire and think, but we also know what we see, feel, desire and think. Our inner world is like a big stage on which various events take place, and we are both actors and spectators. Mental life is not limited only to internal experience; there is a whole range of external manifestations of the psyche: acts of behavior, unconscious mental processes, psychosomatic relationships and others psychological facts in which the psyche openly reveals its properties, which makes it possible to study the mechanisms and patterns of its functioning.

Indeed, scientific knowledge requires not only a description of facts and phenomena, but also their explanation, which in turn presupposes the discovery of the laws and patterns to which facts and phenomena are subject. Connected! with this subject of study in psychology become not only psychological facts and psychological phenomena, but also laws of mental life.

Subject Study modern psychology relies on a number of principles that represent the starting points that make it possible to meaningfully describe the object under study, plan procedures for obtaining empirical material, generalize and interpret it, put forward and test hypotheses.

The main methodological principles of psychology are:

The principle of determinism. According to this principle, everything that exists arises, changes and ceases to exist naturally. In psychological research, this means that the psyche is determined by the way of life and changes with changes in the external conditions of existence;

The principle of the unity of consciousness and activity. Consciousness and activity are in continuous unity, but they are not identical to each other. Consciousness is formed in activity in order to, in turn, influence this activity, forming its internal plan;

Development principle. The psyche can be correctly understood only if it is considered in continuous development as a process and the result of activity. The study of any mental phenomenon must include a description of its characteristics at the moment, the history of its occurrence and formation, and development prospects.

The uniqueness of psychological science is due to both the subject of scientific knowledge and the methods that allow not only to describe the phenomena being studied, but also to explain them, to discover the underlying patterns and to predict their further development.

2. Methods of psychology

“Method is the path of knowledge, it is the way through which the subject of science is learned” (S.L. Rubinstein). The doctrine of method constitutes a special field of knowledge - methodology, which is defined as a system of principles

and ways of organizing, constructing theoretical and practical activities. The methodology of psychological research of the world is represented at several levels. The basic level, which creates the basis for all subsequent levels, is the philosophical level of methodology, represented by the most general principles of knowledge of the world and ideological attitudes. Various philosophical systems offer their own explanations of the world and methods for achieving true knowledge. In psychology, over the entire history of its development, several psychological directions, schools and concepts have emerged, which come from different philosophical positions.

The second level of methodology is determined by general scientific principles, reflecting the specifics of scientific knowledge of the world and science as a special sphere of human activity. The third level consists of specific scientific principles of psychology.

This is followed by research methods, which are ways of obtaining psychological facts and their interpretation. Finally, the last level of methodology is represented by specific empirical techniques with the help of which psychological data is collected and processed.

Modern psychology has a comprehensive system of various research methods and techniques, among which there are basic and auxiliary ones. The main methods of psychology include observation and experiment.

Observation lies in the deliberate, systematic and purposeful perception of human behavior. Objective observation in psychology is aimed not at external actions in themselves, but at their psychological content; Scientific observation is characterized not simply by recording facts, but by their explanation and interpretation. Observation can be carried out both in natural conditions of human life and in a specially organized experimental environment. The following types of observation are used in research practice:

Depending on the nature of interaction with the object: included and third-party. In participant observation, the researcher acts as a direct participant in the process he is observing, which allows him to obtain a holistic view of the situation. Third-party surveillance occurs without interaction or establishing any contact with those being monitored;

Depending on the observer's position: open and hidden. In the first case, the researcher reveals his role to the observed - the disadvantage of such observation is the constraint in the behavior of the observed subjects, caused by the knowledge that they are being observed. With covert observation, the presence of the observer is not revealed;

Depending on the nature of the contact: direct and indirect. During direct observation, the observer and the object of his attention are in direct contact; the process of indirect observation includes special means that allow you to obtain more objective results: video or audio equipment, “Gesell mirrors”, which transmit light only in one direction, thanks to which you can observe human behavior while remaining invisible, etc.;

Depending on the conditions of observation: field and laboratory. Field observation takes place in conditions Everyday life and activities of the observed; laboratory work is carried out in artificial, specially created conditions;

Depending on the goals: targeted and random. Targeted observation is systematic and specially organized; random has a searching nature and does not pursue clearly defined goals;

Depending on the temporary organization: continuous and selective. In the process of continuous observation, the course of events is constantly recorded. With selective observation, the researcher selectively monitors only certain moments of the observed process;

Depending on the orderliness of the organization of observation: standardized and free. Standardized observation is carried out according to a specific, pre-developed scheme. Free observation does not have a given program and clear parameters.

In psychological research, self-observation is also widely used, in which the researcher’s own experiences, feelings, thoughts and images are revealed.

Each of these types of observation has its own advantages and disadvantages, its own capabilities for obtaining the most complete and reliable data. However, in general, organizing the process of psychological observation is very difficult, since its results depend on the personality of the observer, his attitudes and attitude towards the observed phenomena. To reduce the high degree of subjectivity in obtaining and interpreting data, it is necessary to strictly adhere to the facts and clearly record them. This increases the reliability of observations and helps to avoid mistakes.

Thanks to experiment Psychology now had the opportunity to overcome subjectivity in the knowledge of its subject; with the introduction of the method of experimental research, it began to develop as an independent science.

S.L. Rubinstein Four main features of the experimental method were identified:

1) the researcher himself causes the phenomenon he is studying - in contrast to observation, in which the observer cannot actively intervene in the situation;

2) the experimenter can vary, change the conditions for the occurrence and manifestation of the process being studied;

3) in an experiment, it is possible to alternately exclude individual conditions in order to establish natural connections that determine the process being studied;

4) the experiment allows you to vary the quantitative ratio of conditions and carry out mathematical processing of data.

The following types of experimental research are practiced in psychology:

A laboratory experiment is carried out in specially created and carefully controlled conditions by the researcher; in some cases, equipment and instruments are used, which ensures scientific objectiveness! received data. The disadvantage of this type of research is the difficulty of transferring the results obtained in the experiment to real life. The artificiality and abstractness of laboratory conditions differ significantly from the conditions of human life;

A natural experiment removes the limitations of a laboratory experiment. The main advantage of this method is the combination of experimental research with the naturalness of the conditions. The idea of ​​conducting a psychological experiment in the natural conditions of people’s lives belongs to a domestic psychologist A. F. Lazursky;

A formative experiment involves a targeted influence on the subject in order to develop certain qualities in him. He may have a teaching and nurturing character;

The ascertaining experiment reveals certain mental characteristics and the level of development of the corresponding qualities.

In addition to the above basic methods, auxiliary methods are widely used in psychology:

Conversation (interview) - obtaining information in the process direct communication. There is a distinction between a free interview, in which there is no clear plan for the conversation and there is minimal regulation, and a structured interview, where answers to pre-prepared questions are given;

Testing is a psychological diagnostic that involves standardized questions and tasks. Psychology has created a large number of specialized tests designed to measure various mental properties and personality traits: tests of intelligence, abilities, personality achievements, projective and many others. Their use requires professional psychological training, since non-professional testing can harm a person . Currently, there are also many so-called popular tests. As a rule, they are published in newspapers, magazines, and literature accessible to the general reader. Such tests are not strictly psychological, professional tools and are intended for self-testing; no special training is required;

Analysis of the products of activity, based on the general premise of the unity of internal mental processes and external forms of behavior and activity. By studying the products of activity, one can obtain important information about the mental characteristics of its subject. Products of activity that are subject to careful analysis in psychology are human-written texts, manufactured objects and phenomena, drawn pictures, etc. Special forms of this method are graphology, which allows one to draw up a psychological portrait of his personality based on the features and characteristics of a person’s handwriting, and content analysis, which aims to identify and evaluate the psychological characteristics of literary, scientific and journalistic texts and determine based on them personal characteristics of the author of these texts. In psychology, the study of the results of a person’s visual activity is widely used; from this point of view, children’s drawings are of particular value, which make it possible to understand the emotional state of the child, his attitude to the world around him, to his parents, to himself.

In addition to the listed methods intended for collecting primary data on the development of the psyche, psychology uses methods of mathematical statistics, which act as a means of increasing the reliability, objectivity and accuracy of the results obtained.

3. History of psychic research

Physiologist Ernst Weber (1795-1878) studied the dependence of the continuum of sensations on the continuum of external physical stimuli that caused them. His experiments and mathematical calculations became the origins of psychophysics. The table of logarithms turned out to be applicable to the phenomena of mental life and the behavior of the subject. The breakthrough from psychophysiology to psychophysics separated the principle of causality and the principle of regularity. Psychophysics has proven that in psychology, and in the absence of knowledge about the bodily substrate, the laws that govern its phenomena can be discovered strictly empirically.

Hermann Helmholtz (1821-1894) played a great role in creating the foundations on which psychology as a science was built. The brilliant thinker is responsible for many discoveries, including those about the nature of the psyche. They discovered the speed of impulse transmission along a nerve and the law of conservation of energy. “We are all children of the sun,” he said, “for a living organism, from the position of a physicist, is a system in which there is nothing but transformations various types energy." His experiments indicated that the image of an external object arising in consciousness is generated by a bodily mechanism independent of consciousness. This is how the separation of the psyche and consciousness was outlined.

The Dutch physiologist F. Donders (1818-1898) devoted his research to measuring the speed of a subject's reaction to objects perceived by him. Soon, I.M. Sechenov, referring to the study of reaction time as a process requiring the integrity of the brain, emphasized: “Mental activity, like any earthly phenomenon, occurs in time and space.”

The position that the mental factor is a regulator of the body’s behavior has also found recognition in the works of the physiologist E. Pfluger. The scientist criticized the reflex scheme as an arc in which centripetal nerves, thanks to switching to centrifugal ones, produce the same standard muscle reaction. After decapitating the frog, he placed it in various conditions. It turned out that her neuromuscular reactions changed when the external environment changed (she crawled on the table, swam in water). E. Pfluger concluded that the reason for its adaptive actions is not the neuromuscular connection itself, but the sensory function, which allows one to distinguish between conditions and, in accordance with them, change behavior.

E. Pfluger's experiments revealed a special causality - mental. Feeling (what E. Pfluger called “sensory function”) is, he believed, not a physiological, but a psychological essence; “sensory function” consists in distinguishing the conditions in which the organism is located and in regulating, in accordance with them, response actions. Distinguishing what is happening in the external environment and responding to what is happening in it is the fundamental purpose of the psyche, its main life meaning. The researcher’s experiments undermined the generally accepted opinion that the psyche and consciousness are one and the same (what kind of consciousness can we talk about in a headless frog!). Along with consciousness, there is a huge area of ​​​​the unconscious psyche (unconscious), which cannot be reduced to either the nervous system or the system of consciousness.

A revolution in psychological thinking was made by the teachings of Charles Darwin (1809-1882), from which it followed that man comes from the herd of monkeys. Darwin's teaching marked a sharp turn from mechanodeterminism to biodeterminism. First of all, Charles Darwin pointed to natural selection as a factor in the survival of organisms in an external environment that constantly threatens their existence. He noted that in the course of evolution, those who were able to adapt most effectively survive; those who survive the struggle for existence pass on their properties to their offspring. Since natural selection cuts off everything unnecessary for life, it also destroys mental functions that do not contribute to adaptation. This encourages us to consider the psyche as an element of the body’s adaptation to the external environment.

The psyche could no longer be imagined as an isolated “island of the spirit.” In psychology, the “organism-environment” relationship becomes fundamental, instead of the individual organism. This gives rise to a new systematic style of thinking, which later led to the conclusion that the subject of psychology should not be the consciousness of the individual, but his behavior in the external environment, which changes (determines) his mental makeup.

The concept of individual variation is an integral part of Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory. Therefore, these include variations in the sphere of the psyche. This gave impetus to the development of a new direction in psychology, the subject of which was the study of individual differences between people determined by the laws of heredity. Later it developed into a large branch of differential psychology.

In addition, Darwinism stimulated the study of the psyche in the animal world, and became the basis of zoopsychology, a broad study (using objective experimental methods) of the mechanisms of mental regulation of animal behavior.

Charles Darwin, analyzing instincts as motivating forces of behavior, criticized the version of their rationality. At the same time, he emphasized that the roots of instincts go back to the history of the species, without them a living organism cannot survive; instincts are closely related to emotions. C. Darwin approached their study not from the point of view of their awareness by the subject, but based on observations of expressive movements that previously had a practical meaning (for example, clenching fists and baring teeth in the affect of anger, that once these aggressive reactions meant a readiness to fight ). Naturalists of the pre-Darwinian period considered feelings to be elements of consciousness. According to Darwin, emotions that grip an individual act as phenomena that, although mental, are primary in relation to his consciousness. The greatest interest is in Charles Darwin's book "The Descent of Man and Sexual Selection", published in 1872.

Simultaneously with Charles Darwin, the ideas of evolutionary psychology were developed by the English philosopher Herbert Spencer (1820-1903). In his work “Fundamentals of Psychology” (1855), he defined life as a continuous adaptation of “internal relations to external ones.” The main provisions of his work are as follows. What happens inside the organism (and therefore consciousness) can only be understood in the system of its relations (adaptation) to the external environment. To survive, the body is forced to establish a connection between the objects of this world and its reactions to them. He ignores random connections that are not essential for survival, but firmly fixes the connections necessary to solve this problem and keeps them “in reserve” in case of new confrontations with everything that could threaten his existence. Adaptation in in this case means not only adaptation to new situations of the senses as sources of information about what is happening outside (as, for example, the sensitivity of the eye changes in the dark). There is a special type of association - between internal mental images and muscular actions that realize the adaptation of the whole organism. Thus a sharp turn was accomplished in the movement of psychological thought. From the “field of consciousness” she rushed into the “field of behavior”.

In the distinction between psyche and consciousness great importance had studies on hypnosis. The founder of scientific hypnology should be considered the Portuguese abbot Faria, who was the first to use the method of verbal immersion in hypnosis.

Hypnotic sessions gained great popularity in Europe thanks to the work of the Austrian physician Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815). According to his mystical theory, the world is permeated with a special liquid - magnetic fluid (from the Latin fluidus - fluid), which has healing powers. Accumulating as in reservoirs in individuals especially gifted for its perception, the magnetic fluid, according to the views of F.A. Mesmer, can be transmitted to patients through touch and heal them. Later, the English doctor Braid gave a decisive role in hypnosis to the psychological factor. From the late 70s of the 19th century, the French neurologist Jean Martin Charcot (1825-1893), teacher and mentor of the young Austrian doctor Z. Freud, began to study the phenomena of hypnosis.

The methods of experimental psychology began to be developed by the German psychologist G. Ebbinghaus (1850-1909). He experimented with mnemonic processes that were more complex than sensory processes. In the book “On Memory” (1885), the scientist presented the results of experiments conducted on himself in order to derive the laws by which learned material is stored and reproduced. When solving the problem, he composed 2,300 nonsense words consisting of three sounds - consonant + vowel + consonant (for example, “mon”, “pit”, etc.). Various options were tried and carefully calculated regarding the time and volume of their memorization, the dynamics of their forgetting (the “forgetting curve” acquired a reputation as “classical”, showing that approximately half of what was forgotten falls in the first half hour after memorization), subsequent reproduction of material of varying volumes, various fragments of this material (the beginning of the list of syllables and its end).

Psychological practice required information about higher mental functions in order to diagnose individual differences between people regarding the acquisition of knowledge and the performance of complex forms of activity. The first solution to this problem was presented by the French psychologist Henri Binet (1857-1911). In search of psychological means by which it would be possible to separate children who are capable of learning, but lazy, from those who suffer from congenital intellectual defects, A. Binet turned experimental tasks to study attention, memory, and thinking into tests, establishing a scale for each division which corresponded to tasks that could be performed by normal children of a certain age.

Later, the German scientist W. Stern introduced the concept of “intelligence quotient” (in English - IQ). It correlated “mental” age (determined according to A. Binet’s scale) with chronological (“passport”) age. Their discrepancy was considered an indicator of either mental retardation or giftedness.

The more successful experimental work was in psychology, the more extensive the field of phenomena it studied became. The understanding of consciousness as a world closed in itself collapsed. Perception and memory, skills and thinking, attitudes and feelings began to be interpreted as the body’s “tools”, working to solve the problems that life situations confront it with.

At the beginning of the 20th century, several directions in psychology emerged, differing from each other in their understanding of the subject of psychology, research methods and a system of basic concepts. In Europe these were Freudianism and Gestalt psychology, in the USA - functionalism, behaviorism and the school of Kurt Lewin.

Orthodox psychoanalysis was founded by Sigmund Freud at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, i.e. precisely during the period of breaking down the traditional ideas about the psyche and mental processes of that time. The dominant methodological principle in psychology and medicine reflected the localizationist approach of von Virchow, i.e. search for a specific “break” corresponding to any painful phenomenon.

By 1895, together with Breuer, Freud had developed the method of hypnocatharsis. After a number of clinical publications, in 1895 he wrote the monograph “Project”, in which he made the first attempt to speculatively develop patterns of human brain activity.

Conclusion

Psychology, like every science, uses a whole system of various private methods, or techniques. The main research methods in psychology, as in a number of other sciences, are observation and experiment. Each of these general methods of scientific research appears in psychology in various and more or less specific forms; There are different types of both observation and experiment. Observation in psychology can be introspection or external observation, usually called objective observation in contrast to introspection. External, so-called objective, observation can, in turn, be divided into direct and indirect. Likewise, there are different forms or types of experiment. A type of experiment is the so-called natural experiment, which is a form intermediate between experiment and simple observation.

The genetic method in psychology, i.e., the use of the study of mental development as a means for revealing general psychological patterns, is not compared with observation and experiment on the same level and is not opposed to them, but must necessarily rely on them and build on their basis, since the establishment of genetic data is in turn based on observation or experiment.

When using various methods of psychological research, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the problem being studied. So, for example, when studying sensations, it is unlikely that any other method can be as effective as experimental. But when studying the highest manifestations of human personality, the question of the possibility of “experimenting” on a person seriously arises.

Bibliography

1. Andreeva G.M. Social Psychology. M., 1988.

3. Psychology: Textbook / Ed. V.N. Druzhinina. St. Petersburg, 2003.

4. Bodalev A A. Personality and communication. M., 1983.

5. Shevandrin N.I. Social psychology in education. M., 1995.

1.2. Methods of psychology

Concept of method. The term "method" has at least two meanings.

1. Method as a methodology is a system of principles and methods of organizing and constructing theoretical and practical activities, an initial, principled position as an approach to research.

The methodological basis of scientific psychology is epistemology (theory of knowledge), which considers the relationship between subject and object in the process of cognitive activity, the possibility of human knowledge of the world, the criteria of truth and reliability of knowledge.

The methodology of psychological research is based on the principles of determinism, development, the connection between consciousness and activity, and the unity of theory and practice.

2. Method as a special technique, a way of conducting research, a means of obtaining psychological facts, their comprehension and analysis.

The set of methods used in a specific study (in our case, psychological) and determined by the corresponding methodology is called technique.

The scientific requirements for methods of psychological research, or principles, are as follows.

1. Principle objectivity assumes that:

a) when studying mental phenomena, one should always strive to establish the material foundations and reasons for their occurrence;

b) the study of personality should take place in the process of activities characteristic of a person of a given age. The psyche both manifests itself and is formed in activity, and it itself is nothing more than a special mental activity, during which a person learns about the world around him;

c) every mental phenomenon must be considered in its different conditions(typical and atypical for this person), in close connection with other phenomena;

d) conclusions should be drawn only on the basis of the facts obtained.

2. Genetic The principle (the study of mental phenomena in their development) is as follows. The objective world is in constant motion and change, and its reflection is not frozen and motionless. Therefore, all mental phenomena and personality as a whole must be considered in their occurrence, change and development. It is necessary to show the dynamics of this phenomenon, for which one should:

a) identify the reason for the change in the phenomenon;

b) study not only already formed qualities, but also those that are just emerging (especially when studying children), since the teacher (and psychologist) must look ahead, anticipate the course of development, and correctly build the educational process;

c) take into account that the rate of change in phenomena is different, some phenomena develop slowly, some develop faster, and different people this pace is very individual.

3. Analytical-synthetic approach in research suggests that since the structure of the psyche includes a variety of closely interrelated phenomena, it is impossible to study them all at once. Therefore, for study, individual mental phenomena are gradually isolated and comprehensively examined in various conditions of life and activity. This is a manifestation of an analytical approach. After studying individual phenomena, it is necessary to establish their relationships, which will make it possible to identify the interconnection of individual mental phenomena and find what is stable that characterizes a person. This is a manifestation of the synthetic approach.

In other words, it is impossible to understand and correctly evaluate the mental characteristics of the personality as a whole without studying its individual manifestations, but it is also impossible to understand individual features psyche, without correlating them with each other, without revealing their interconnection and unity.

Methods of psychological research. The main methods of psychological research are observation and experiment.

Observation is the oldest method of knowledge. Its primitive form - everyday observations - is used by every person in their daily practice. But everyday observations are fragmentary, are not carried out systematically, do not have a specific goal, therefore they cannot perform the functions of a scientific, objective method.

Observation- a research method in which mental phenomena are studied as they appear in ordinary settings, without the intervention of the researcher. It is aimed at external manifestations of mental activity - movements, actions, facial expressions, gestures, statements, behavior and human activities. Based on objective, externally expressed indicators, the psychologist judges the individual characteristics of mental processes, personality traits, etc.

The essence of observation is not only the recording of facts, but also the scientific explanation of their causes, the discovery of patterns, understanding their dependence on the environment, upbringing, and characteristics

functioning of the nervous system.

The form of transition from describing the fact of behavior to its explanation is hypothesis- a scientific assumption to explain a phenomenon that has not yet been confirmed, but also not refuted.

In order for observation not to turn into passive contemplation, but to correspond to its purpose, it must meet the following requirements: 1) purposefulness; 2) systematicity; 3) naturalness; 4) mandatory recording of results. Objectivity of observation primarily depends on purposefulness and systematicity.

Requirement focus assumes that the observer must clearly understand what he is going to observe and why (defining the goal and task), otherwise the observation will turn into the recording of random, secondary facts. Observation must be carried out according to a plan, scheme, program. It is impossible to observe “everything” in general due to the limitless variety of existing objects. Each observation must be selective: it is necessary to identify a range of issues on which factual material must be collected.

Requirement systematic means that observation should be carried out not from case to case, but systematically, which requires a certain more or less long time. The longer the observation is carried out, the more facts a psychologist can accumulate, the easier it will be for him to separate the typical from the random and the deeper and more reliable his conclusions will be.

Requirement naturalness dictates the need to study the external manifestations of the human psyche in natural conditions - ordinary, familiar to him; in this case, the subject should not know that he is being specially and carefully observed (the hidden nature of the observation). The observer should not interfere with the activities of the subject or in any way influence the course of the processes of interest to him.

The following requirement requires mandatory recording of results(facts, not their interpretation) observations in a diary or protocol.

In order for the observation to be complete, it is necessary: ​​a) to take into account the diversity of manifestations of the human psyche and observe them in various conditions (in class, during recess, at home, in public places, etc.); b) record facts with all possible accuracy (incorrectly pronounced word, phrase, train of thought); c) take into account the conditions that influence the course of mental phenomena (situation, environment, human condition, etc.).

Observation can be external and internal. External observation is a way of collecting data about another person, his behavior and psychology through observation from the outside. The following types of external surveillance are distinguished:

Continuous, when all manifestations of the psyche are recorded for a certain time (in class, during the day, during a game);

Selective, i.e. selective, aimed at those facts that are relevant to the issue being studied;

Longitudinal, i.e. long-term, systematic, over a number of years;

Slice (short-term observation);

Included, when the psychologist temporarily becomes an active participant in the process being monitored and records it from the inside (in closed criminal groups, religious sects, etc.);

Not included (not involved), when observation is carried out from the outside;

Direct - it is carried out by the researcher himself, observing the mental phenomenon during its occurrence;

Indirect - in this case, the results of observations conducted by other people (audio, film and video recordings) are used.

Internal observation (self-observation) is the acquisition of data when a subject observes his own mental processes and states at the time of their occurrence (introspection) or after them (retrospection). Such self-observations are of an auxiliary nature, but in some cases it is impossible to do without them (when studying the behavior of astronauts, deaf-blind people, etc.).

The significant advantages of the observation method are the following: 1) the phenomenon under study occurs in natural conditions; 2) the possibility of using precise methods of recording facts (film, photography and video, tape recording, timing, shorthand, Gesell’s mirror). But this method also has negative sides: 1) passive position of the observer (the main drawback); 2) the impossibility of excluding random factors influencing the course of the phenomenon under study (therefore it is almost impossible to accurately establish the cause of a particular mental phenomenon); 3) the impossibility of repeated observation of identical facts; 4) subjectivity in the interpretation of facts; 5) observation most often answers the question “what?”, and the question “why?” remains open.

Observation is an integral part of two other methods - experiment and conversation.

Experiment is the main tool for obtaining new psychological facts. This method involves the active intervention of the researcher in the activities of the subject in order to create conditions in which a psychological fact is revealed.

The interaction of experiment with observation was revealed by the outstanding Russian physiologist I.P. Pavlov. He wrote: “Observation collects what nature offers it, but experience takes from nature what it wants.”

An experiment is a research method, the main features of which are:

The active position of the researcher: he himself causes the phenomenon of interest to him, and does not wait for a random flow of phenomena to provide the opportunity to observe it;

The ability to create the necessary conditions and, carefully controlling them, ensure their consistency. By conducting a study under the same conditions with different subjects, researchers establish age and individual characteristics the course of mental processes;

Repeatability (one of important advantages experiment);

The possibility of varying, changing the conditions under which the phenomenon is studied.

Depending on the conditions of the experiment, two types are distinguished: laboratory and natural. Laboratory the experiment takes place in a specially equipped room, using equipment and instruments that allow one to accurately take into account the experimental conditions, reaction time, etc. A laboratory experiment is very effective if the basic requirements for it are met and the following are provided:

Positive and responsible attitude of the subjects towards him;

Accessible, understandable instructions for subjects;

Equality of conditions for participation in the experiment for all subjects;

Sufficient number of subjects and number of experiments.

The undeniable advantages of a laboratory experiment are:

1) the possibility of creating conditions for the occurrence of the necessary mental phenomenon; 2) greater accuracy and purity; 3) the possibility of strictly taking into account its results; 4) repeated repetition, variability; 5) the possibility of mathematical processing of the obtained data.

However, the laboratory experiment also has disadvantages, which are as follows: 1) the artificiality of the situation affects the natural course of mental processes in some subjects (fear, stress, excitement in some, and excitement, high performance, good success in others);

2) the experimenter’s intervention in the subject’s activity inevitably turns out to be a means of influence (beneficial or harmful) on the person being studied.

Famous Russian doctor and psychologist A.F. Lazursky (1874–1917) proposed using a unique version of psychological research, which is an intermediate form between observation and experiment - natural experiment. Its essence lies in the combination of the experimental nature of the research with the naturalness of the conditions: the conditions in which the activity being studied takes place are subject to experimental influence, while the activity of the subject itself is observed in its natural course under normal conditions (in a game, in classes, in a lesson, at recess, in the cafeteria, in walk, etc.), and the subjects do not suspect that they are being studied.

Further development of the natural experiment led to the creation of such a variety as psychological-pedagogical experiment. Its essence lies in the fact that the study of the subject is carried out directly in the process of his training and education. In this case, the ascertaining and formative experiments are distinguished. Task stating The experiment consists of a simple recording and description of the facts at the time of the study, i.e., a statement of what is happening without active intervention in the process on the part of the experimenter. The results obtained cannot be compared with anything. Formative the experiment is to study a mental phenomenon in the process of its active formation. It can be educational and educational. If any knowledge, skills and abilities are taught, then this is - educational experiment. If in an experiment the formation of certain personality traits occurs, the behavior of the subject changes, his attitude towards his comrades, then this is educating experiment.

Observation and experiment are the main objective methods for studying the psychological characteristics of a person in ontogenesis. Additional (auxiliary) methods are the study of activity products, survey methods, testing and sociometry.

At studying the products of activity, or rather, the psychological characteristics of activity based on these products, the researcher deals not with the person himself, but with the material products of his previous activity. By studying them, he can indirectly judge the characteristics of both the activity and the acting subject. Therefore, this method is sometimes called the “indirect observation method.” It allows you to study skills, attitudes to activities, the level of development of abilities, the amount of knowledge and ideas, outlook, interests, inclinations, characteristics of the will, characteristics of various aspects of the psyche.

Products of activity created in the process games, are various buildings made of cubes, sand, attributes for role-playing games made by children, etc. Products labor activities can be considered a part, a workpiece, productive– drawings, applications, various crafts, handicrafts, works of art, notes in a wall newspaper, etc. Products of educational activities include tests, essays, drawings, drafts, homework, etc.

The method of studying the products of activity, like any other, has certain requirements: the presence of a program; the study of products created not by chance, but in the course of typical activities; knowledge of the conditions of activity; analysis of not single, but many products of the subject’s activity.

The advantages of this method include the possibility of short term collect a large amount of material. But, unfortunately, there is no way to take into account all the features of the conditions in which the products of activity were created.

A variation of this method is biographical method associated with the analysis of documents belonging to a person. Documents mean any written text, audio or video recording made according to the subject’s intention, literary works, diaries, epistolary heritage, memories of other persons about this person. It is assumed that the content of such documents reflects his individual psychological characteristics. This method is widely used in historical psychology to study the inner world of people who lived in long-past times inaccessible to direct observation. For example, for most artistic and literary works to a certain extent, one can judge the psychology of their authors - this circumstance has long been successfully used by literary and art critics who are trying “through” a work to better understand the psychology of the author, and vice versa, having learned the psychology of the author, to penetrate deeper into the content and meaning of his works.

Psychologists have learned to use documents and products of people’s activities to reveal their individual psychology. For this purpose, special procedures for the content analysis of documents and products of activity have been developed and standardized, making it possible to obtain completely reliable information about their creators.

Survey methods– these are methods of obtaining information based on verbal communication. Within the framework of these methods, we can distinguish conversation, interview (oral survey) and questionnaire (written survey).

Conversation is a method of collecting facts about mental phenomena in the process of personal communication according to a specially designed program. The interview can be viewed as directed observation, centered around a limited number of issues that are of major importance to the study. Its features are the immediacy of communication with the person being studied and the question-and-answer form.

The conversation is usually used: to obtain data about the background of the subjects; a deeper study of their individual and age characteristics (inclinations, interests, beliefs, tastes); studying attitudes towards one’s own actions, the actions of other people, the team, etc.

A conversation either precedes an objective study of a phenomenon (at the initial acquaintance before conducting a study) or follows it, but can be used both before and after observation and experiment (to confirm or clarify what has been revealed). In any case, the conversation must be combined with other objective methods.

The success of the conversation depends on the degree of preparation on the part of the researcher and on the sincerity of the answers given to the subjects.

There are certain requirements for conversation as a research method:

It is necessary to determine the purpose and objectives of the study;

A plan should be drawn up (but, being planned, the conversation should not be of a template-standard nature, it is always individualized);

To successfully conduct a conversation, it is necessary to create a favorable environment, ensure psychological contact with a subject of any age, maintain pedagogical tact, ease, goodwill, maintain an atmosphere of trust, sincerity throughout the conversation;

You should carefully think through and outline the questions that will be asked to the test subject in advance;

Each subsequent question must be posed taking into account the changed situation that was created as a result of the subject’s answer to the previous question;

During the conversation, the subject can also ask questions to the psychologist conducting the conversation;

All the subject’s answers are carefully recorded (after the conversation).

During the conversation, the researcher observes the behavior, facial expression of the subject, the nature of speech statements - the degree of confidence in the answers, interest or indifference, the peculiarities of the grammatical construction of phrases, etc.

The questions used in the conversation must be understandable to the subject, unambiguous and appropriate to the age, experience, and knowledge of the people being studied. Neither in tone nor in content they should inspire the subject with certain answers; they should not contain an assessment of his personality, behavior or any quality.

Questions can complement each other, change, vary depending on the progress of the study and the individual characteristics of the subjects.

Data about the phenomenon of interest can be obtained both in the form of responses to direct and indirect questions. Direct questions sometimes confuse the interlocutor, and the answer may be insincere (“Do you like your teacher?”). In such cases, it is better to use indirect questions when the true goals for the interlocutor are disguised (“What do you think a “good teacher” means?).

If it is necessary to clarify the subject’s answer, you should not ask leading questions, suggest, hint, shake your head, etc. It is better to formulate the question neutrally: “How should this be understood?”, “Please explain your thought,” or ask a projective question: “ What do you think a person should do if he was unfairly offended?”, or describe a situation with a fictitious person. Then, when answering, the interlocutor will put himself in the place of the person mentioned in the question, and thus express his own attitude to the situation.

The conversation can be standardized, with precisely formulated questions that are asked of all respondents, and non-standardized when questions are posed in free form.

The advantages of this method include its individualized nature, flexibility, maximum adaptation to the subject and direct contact with him, which makes it possible to take into account his responses and behavior. The main disadvantage of the method is that conclusions about the mental characteristics of the subject are made on the basis of his own answers. But it is customary to judge people not by words, but by deeds, specific actions, therefore the data obtained during the conversation must necessarily be correlated with the data of objective methods and the opinion of competent persons about the person being interviewed.

Interview is a method of obtaining socio-psychological information using a targeted oral survey. Interviews are more commonly used in social psychology. Types of interviews: free, not regulated by the topic and form of conversation, and standardized, close to a questionnaire with closed questions.

Questionnaire is a data collection method based on surveys using questionnaires. The questionnaire is a system of questions logically related to the central task of the study, which are given to subjects for a written response. According to their function, questions can be basic, or guiding, and controlling, or clarifying. Main component questionnaires are not a question, but a series of questions that correspond to the general plan of the study.

Any well-written questionnaire has a strictly defined structure (composition):

The introduction outlines the topic, objectives and goals of the survey, explains the technique of filling out the questionnaire;

At the beginning of the questionnaire there are simple, neutral questions (so-called contact questions), the purpose of which is to create an attitude towards cooperation and interest in the respondent;

In the middle are the most difficult questions that require analysis and reflection;

At the end of the questionnaire there are simple, “unloading” questions;

The conclusion (if necessary) contains questions about the interviewee’s passport data - gender, age, civil status, occupation, etc.

After compilation, the questionnaire must be subjected to logical control. Is the technique for filling out the questionnaire clearly stated? Are all questions written stylistically correctly? Are all terms understood by the interviewees? Shouldn't some questions have an "Other Answers" option? Will the question cause negative emotions among respondents?

Then you should check the composition of the entire questionnaire. Is the principle of arrangement of questions followed (from the simplest at the beginning of the questionnaire to the most significant, targeted in the middle and simple at the end? Is the influence of previous questions on subsequent ones visible? Is there a cluster of questions of the same type?

After logical control, the questionnaire is tested in practice during a preliminary study.

The types of questionnaires are quite diverse: if the questionnaire is filled out by one person, then this is individual questionnaire, if it expresses the opinion of some community of people, then it is group questionnaire. The anonymity of the questionnaire lies not only and not so much in the fact that the subject may not sign his questionnaire, but, by and large, in the fact that the researcher does not have the right to disseminate information about the contents of the questionnaires.

Exists open questionnaire - using direct questions aimed at identifying the perceived qualities of the subjects and allowing them to construct an answer in accordance with their desires, both in content and in form. The researcher does not give any instructions on this matter. An open questionnaire must contain so-called control questions, which are used to ensure the reliability of the indicators. The questions are duplicated by hidden similar ones - if there is a discrepancy, the answers to them are not taken into account, because they cannot be recognized as reliable.

Closed(selective) questionnaire involves a number of variable answers. The test subject's task is to choose the most suitable one. Closed-ended questionnaires are easy to process, but they limit the autonomy of the respondent.

IN questionnaire-scale The test taker must not only choose the most correct answer from the ready-made ones, but also scale and score the correctness of each of the proposed answers.

The advantages of all types of questionnaires are the mass nature of the survey and the speed of obtaining a large amount of material, the use of mathematical methods for its processing. As a drawback, it is noted that when analyzing all types of questionnaires, only upper layer material, as well as the difficulty of qualitative analysis and the subjectivity of assessments.

The positive quality of the survey method itself is that it is possible to obtain a short time a large volume of material, the reliability of which is determined by the “law of large numbers”. Questionnaires are usually subjected to statistical processing and are used to obtain statistical average data, which have minimal value for research, since they do not express patterns in the development of any phenomenon. The disadvantages of the method are that qualitative analysis data is usually difficult and the possibility of correlating the answers with the actual activities and behavior of the subjects is excluded.

A specific version of the survey method is sociometry, developed by American social psychologist and psychotherapist J. Moreno. This method is used to study teams and groups - their orientation, intra-group relations, and the position of individual members in the team.

The procedure is simple: each member of the team being studied answers in writing a series of questions called sociometric criteria. The selection criterion is the person’s desire to do something together with someone. Highlight strong criteria(if a partner is selected for joint activities - labor, educational, social) and weak(in case of choosing a partner for spending time together). Interviewees are placed so that they can work independently and given the opportunity to make several choices. If the number of choices is limited (usually three), then the technique is called parametric; if not, nonparametric.

The rules for conducting sociometry include:

Establishing trusting relationships with the group;

Explanation of the purpose of sociometry;

Emphasizing the importance and importance of independence and secrecy when answering;

Guaranteeing the confidentiality of answers;

Checking the correctness and unambiguity of understanding the issues included in the study;

Accurate and clear demonstration of answer recording techniques.

Based on the results of sociometry, a sociometric matrix(election table) – unordered and ordered, and sociogram– a graphic expression of the mathematical processing of the results obtained, or a map of group differentiation, which is depicted in the form of either a special graph or a drawing or diagram in several versions.

When analyzing the results obtained, group members are assigned to sociometric status: in the center - sociometric star(those who received 8-10 elections in a group of 35-40 people); in the inner intermediate zone are preferred(those who received more than half maximum quantity elections); in the external intermediate zone are located accepted(having 1–3 choices); in the outside - isolated(pariahs, “Robinsons”) who did not receive a single choice.

Using this method, you can also identify antipathies, but in this case the criteria will be different (“Who would you not want to..?”, “Who would you not invite..?”). Those who are not deliberately chosen by group members are outcasts(rejected).

Other sociogram options are:

"grouping"– a planar image that shows the groupings that exist within the group being studied and the connections between them. The distance between individuals corresponds to the proximity of their choices;

"individual", where the group members with whom he is associated are located around the subject. The nature of the connections is indicated conventional signs:? – mutual choice (mutual sympathy),? – one-sided choice (liking without reciprocity).

After conducting sociometry, the following coefficients are calculated to characterize social relations in the group:

The number of elections received by each individual characterizes his position in the system of personal relationships (sociometric status).

Depending on the age composition of the groups and the specifics of the research tasks, various variants of the sociometric procedure are used, for example, in the form of experimental games “Congratulate your friend”, “Choice in action”, “Secret”.

Sociometry reflects only a picture of emotional preferences within a group, allows you to visualize the structure of these relationships and make assumptions about the leadership style and the degree of organization of the group as a whole.

A special method of psychological study, which is not research, but diagnostic, is testing. It is used not to obtain any new psychological data and patterns, but to assess the current level of development of any quality in a given person in comparison with the average level (established norm, or standard).

Test(from the English test - sample, test) is a system of tasks that allows you to measure the level of development of a certain quality or personality trait that has a certain scale of values. The test not only describes personality traits, but also gives them qualitative and quantitative characteristics. Like medical thermometer, it does not diagnose, much less cure, but it contributes to both. When completing tasks, subjects take into account speed (completion time), creativity, and the number of errors.

Testing is used where there is a need for standardized measurement of individual differences. The main areas of use of tests are:

Education - due to the complication of educational programs. Here, tests are used to examine the presence or absence of common and special abilities, their degree of development, level mental development and the assimilation of knowledge by the subjects;

Professional training and selection - due to increasing growth rates and increasing complexity of production. The degree of suitability of the subjects for any profession, the degree of psychological compatibility, individual characteristics of the course of mental processes, etc. are determined;

Psychological counseling - in connection with the acceleration of sociodynamic processes. This reveals personal characteristics people, compatibility of future spouses, ways to resolve conflicts in a group, etc.

The testing process is carried out in three stages:

1) test selection (in terms of testing purpose, reliability and validity);

2) procedure (determined by the instructions);

3) interpretation of the results.

At all stages, the participation of a qualified psychologist is necessary.

The main requirements for the tests are:

Validity, i.e. suitability, validity (establishing correspondence between the mental phenomenon of interest to the researcher and the method of measuring it);

Reliability (stability, stability of results during repeated testing);

Standardization (multiple checks for large quantities subjects);

The same opportunities for all subjects (the same tasks to identify mental characteristics in the subjects);

Norm and interpretation of the test (determined by a system of theoretical assumptions regarding the subject of testing - age and group norms, their relativity, standard indicators, etc.).

There are many types of tests. Among them are tests of achievement, intelligence, special abilities, creativity, and personality tests. Tests achievements are used in general and vocational training and identify what the subjects learned during training, the degree of proficiency in specific knowledge, skills and abilities. The tasks of these tests are based on educational material. Varieties of achievement tests are: 1) action tests, which reveal the ability to perform actions with mechanisms, materials, tools; 2) written tests, which are performed on special forms with questions - the test taker must either choose the correct answer among several, or mark on the graph the display of the described situation, or find in the picture a situation or detail that helps to find the correct solution; 3) oral tests - the test taker is offered a pre-prepared system of questions that he will have to answer.

Tests intelligence serve to identify the mental potential of an individual. Most often, the test subject is asked to establish logical relations of classification, analogy, generalization between the terms and concepts from which the test tasks are composed, or to assemble a drawing from cubes with different colored sides, to put together an object from the presented parts, to find a pattern in the continuation of a series, etc.

Tests special abilities are intended to assess the level of development of technical, musical, artistic, sports, mathematical and other types of special abilities.

Tests creativity are used to study and evaluate the creative abilities of an individual, the ability to generate unusual ideas, deviate from traditional patterns of thinking, quickly and originally solve problem situations.

Personal tests measure various aspects of personality: attitudes, values, attitudes, motives, emotional properties, typical forms of behavior. They, as a rule, have one of three forms: 1) scales and questionnaires (MMPI - Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, tests by G. Eysenck, R. Cattell, A.E. Lichko, etc.); 2) situational tests, which involve assessing oneself and the world around them; 3) projective tests.

Projective tests originate from time immemorial: from fortune telling using goose offal, candles, coffee grounds; from visions inspired by veins of marble, clouds, puffs of smoke, etc. They are based on the mechanism of projection explained by S. Freud. Projection is an unconsciously manifested tendency of a person to involuntarily attribute his own psychological qualities to people, especially in cases where these qualities are unpleasant or when it is not possible to definitely judge people, but it is necessary to do so. Projection can also manifest itself in the fact that we involuntarily pay attention to those signs and characteristics of a person that most correspond to our own needs at the moment. In other words, projection ensures a partial reflection of the world.

Thanks to the mechanism of projection, by the actions and reactions of a person to the situation and other people, according to the assessments he gives to them, one can judge his own psychological properties. This is the basis of projective methods, intended for a holistic study of a personality, and not for identifying its individual traits, since every emotional manifestation of a person, his perception, feelings, statements, and motor acts bear the imprint of his personality. Projective tests are designed to “hook” and extract the hidden attitude of the subconscious, in the interpretation of which, naturally, the number of degrees of freedom is very large. In all projective tests, an uncertain (multi-valued) situation is presented, which the subject transforms in his perception in accordance with his own individuality (dominant needs, meanings, values). There are associative and expressive projective tests. Examples associative projective tests are:

Interpretation of the content of a complex picture with uncertain content (TAT - thematic apperception test);

Completing unfinished sentences and stories;

Completion of one of the statements characters on a plot picture (S. Rosenzweig test);

Interpretation of events;

Reconstruction (restoration) of the whole in detail;

Interpretation of vague outlines (G. Rorschach test, which consists in the subject’s interpretation of a set of inkblots of various configurations and colors, which have a certain meaning for diagnosing hidden attitudes, motives, character traits).

TO expressive Projective tests include:

Drawing on a free or given topic: “Kinetic drawing of a family”, “Self-portrait”, “House - tree - person”, “Non-existent animal”, etc.;

Psychodrama is a type of group psychotherapy in which patients alternately act as actors and spectators, and their roles are aimed at modeling life situations, having personal meaning for the participants;

Preference for some stimuli as the most desirable over others (test by M. Luscher, A.O. Prokhorov - G.N. Gening), etc.

The advantages of the tests are: 1) simplicity of the procedure (short duration, no need for special equipment); 2) the fact that the test results can be expressed quantitatively, which means their mathematical processing is possible. Among the shortcomings, several points should be noted: 1) quite often the subject of research is replaced (aptitude tests are actually aimed at studying existing knowledge and the level of culture, which makes it possible to justify racial and national inequality); 2) testing involves assessing only the result of the decision, and the process of achieving it is not taken into account, i.e. the method is based on a mechanistic, behavioral approach to the individual; 3) testing does not take into account the influence of numerous conditions that affect the results (mood, well-being, problems of the subject).

9. Methods of labor psychology In practical activities, labor psychology uses various methods to study the characteristics of human functioning in working conditions. Using these methods, candidates are selected for employment, studied