Psychology Objective (Histor.)

“Objective” psychology is a direction in medical psychology that developed in the first half of the 20th century. The main idea of ​​this direction was to study mainly the body's reactions to the influence of external, situational factors, taking into account the minimization of the patient's subjective experiences. It was created as a result of criticism of subjective psychology, which interpreted mental processes exclusively through the prism of consciousness and the inner world of a person.

Initially, “objective” psychology was associated with physiological and neurological research aimed at studying the physiological mechanisms underlying mental phenomena. However, over time, it has become more and more an independent discipline, studying psychological phenomena in their objective manifestations.

The founder of “objective” psychology is the German psychologist and physiologist Emil Kraepelin. In his works, he identified a number of mental illnesses, which he considered associated with certain physiological disorders in the body. He also developed research methods that made it possible to more accurately study mental phenomena, for example, the choice reaction technique.

“Objective” psychology has become widespread in Germany and the USA. In Germany it was associated with the development of psychiatry, in the USA - with occupational psychology and engineering psychology. In both cases, the main interest was the study of objective indicators of mental phenomena that could be measured and constructed into qualitative and quantitative characteristics.

However, by the middle of the 20th century, “objective” psychology began to lose its popularity. This occurred in connection with criticism of her research methods, which did not take into account the subjective aspects of mental phenomena and did not pay due attention to emotional and motivational factors. In addition, at present, “objective” psychology does not meet modern requirements that apply to psychology as a science.

Nevertheless, the ideas and methods of “objective” psychology had a significant influence on the development of psychology in general and on the formation of modern methods for studying mental phenomena. She played an important role in the development of physiological psychology, neurology and psychiatry, as well as in the study of the psychological aspects of work and technology.

Today, “objective” psychology is considered as one of the historical phases in the development of psychology. Its basic ideas and methods remain important and useful, but they need refinement and modification to meet modern requirements. Modern psychology takes into account not only objective, but also subjective aspects of mental phenomena, and also pays great attention to the study of emotional and motivational factors.

Thus, “objective” psychology had significant significance in the history of the development of psychology and made an important contribution to the study of mental phenomena. She played an important role in the formation of modern methods for studying mental processes and had a significant influence on other scientific disciplines. Despite the fact that "objective" psychology has given way to more advanced research methods, its ideas and methods remain important and useful for understanding mental processes and their interaction with the physiological mechanisms of the body.

Introduction In the world of psychology, there are many directions and schools that study various aspects of the human psyche. One such area is objective psychology, which was popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Brief History Objective psychology was created by the French psychologist Charles Richet. He believed that mental phenomena should be studied independently of their subjective perception by man. Richet believed that a person’s mental state is determined by physiological processes in his body.

Basic Principles The basic principle of objective psychology was that the human psyche can only be studied through his behavior and reaction to external stimuli. Mental states cannot be defined solely on the basis of subjective sensations and emotions.

Research Methods Various methods such as observation, survey and experiment have been used to study mental phenomena. Objective psychologists conducted research in laboratories and tried to create artificial conditions in order to understand how various factors influence psychophysiological processes.

Criticism However, criticism of objective psychology was due to the fact that it underestimated the role of subjective factors in mental development. Additionally, objective psychologists have sometimes ignored social and cultural dimensions in their research.

Conclusion The general direction of scientific thought of the first half of the last century - technical progress, economic and social development - led to naturalism in ideas about the psyche characteristic of that era. But many discoveries of those days had scientific significance for society, which was just beginning its path to a true understanding of man as a unique system of nature.