General Psychology Textbook for Pedagogical Colleges - 1

GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY

(Textbook for Pedagogical Colleges)


Prof. Dr. NGUYEN QUANG UAN (Editor-in-Chief)

Assoc.Prof.TRAN TRONG THUY


PREFACE

The General Psychology textbook is compiled according to the current "Junior High School Teacher Training Program at the College of Pedagogy level" of the Ministry of Education and Training.

The textbook provides students with basic, systematic knowledge of general psychology, helping students to form skills in learning and researching psychology, have a basis to continue researching other fields of psychology, know how to apply psychological knowledge to self-training, to analyze and explain human psychological phenomena from a scientific perspective. The textbook is used for students of Pedagogical Colleges training secondary school teachers as learning materials and for psychology teaching staff as a basis for compiling lectures.

The course consists of 7 chapters:

Chapter I – Psychology is a science

Chapter II – Natural and social foundations of psychology Chapter III – Formation and development of psychology and consciousness Chapter IV – Cognitive activities

Chapter V – Emotions and Will Chapter VI – Memory

Chapter VII – Personality and the formation and development of personality

Chapters I, II, III and VII were compiled by Professor Nguyen Quang Uan, and chapters IV, V and VI were compiled by Associate Professor Tran Trong Thuy.

Authors


Chapter I. PSYCHOLOGY IS A SCIENCE

Chapter II. NATURAL AND SOCIAL BASIS OF HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY Chapter III. FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY AND CONSCIOUSNESS Chapter IV. COGNITIVE ACTIVITIES

Chapter V. EMOTIONS AND WILL

Chapter VI. MEMORY

Chapter VII. PERSONALITY AND PERSONALITY FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT REFERENCES


Created by AM Word 2 CHM

Chapter I. PSYCHOLOGY IS A SCIENCE


GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY

Human psychological life is extremely rich and wonderful, and has been studied by humans along with the history of human formation and development. From the early thoughts on psychology, psychological science has been formed, developed continuously and increasingly holds an important position in the group of human sciences.


1.1. OBJECTS AND TASKS OF PSYCHOLOGY

1.2. THE NATURE OF HUMAN PSYCHOLOGICAL PHENOMENA

1.3. CURRENT STATE, STRUCTURE AND METHODS OF MODERN PSYCHOLOGY EXERCISES


Created by AM Word 2 CHM

1.1. OBJECTS AND TASKS OF PSYCHOLOGY

ah

GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Chapter I. PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE

1.1.1. Characteristics of psychology compared to other sciences

As a science, psychology has a defined object, task and research method. Psychology has both common and unique characteristics compared to other sciences that study humans.

a) Psychology studies mental phenomena that are both close, concrete, and closely related to humans, and yet very complex and abstract.

statue

From birth, growing up, maturing until death, human psychological life is always closely linked.

With humans, from the first sensory phenomena: hearing, seeing, perceiving the world, emotions, memory, thinking, to feelings, consciousness, personality... are all very "real", constant, both latent and vivid, flexible and colorful in each person. Psychological phenomena are both concrete and abstract, intertwined and intertwined, difficult to separate clearly, difficult to measure like other physical phenomena, although in the end, psychology, no matter how abstract, will be revealed through gestures, behaviors, and diverse ways of speaking.

b) Psychology is a place where many sciences converge to study human psychological life.

As an intermediate science between natural science, social science, philosophy and technical science, technology, the research object of psychology is mental phenomena, but it does not exist in an abstract, immaterial, and unrealistic way, but it is closely linked to the neurophysiological basis, the biochemical and physiological processes in the brain, expressed through the system of human behavior and activities. On the other hand, human psychology has content, has a social nature, is constrained by economic - social conditions and has a historical character. Therefore, psychology is the place of convergence, the place of intersection between the system of human sciences. To put it more figuratively and modestly, "psychology is a bisexual flower that grows and develops on two natural and social lands. Therefore, in the achievements of psychology, as well as in its research methods, psychology has inherited and selectively absorbed many achievements and methods of related sciences.

c) Psychology is a basic science in the system of human sciences, and at the same time it is a professional subject in the system of sciences involved in human training, forming human personality in general and professional personality in particular.

Not only in teacher training, educational scientists use the achievements of psychology, but also in many areas of social life such as literature, art, military, law, medicine, commerce, diplomacy, tourism, advertising, all use the knowledge of psychological science. In political ideology work, in social leadership management, in family education as well as self-education, self-training of each person, psychology plays a particularly important role.

1.1.2. Subject of psychology

The word “psychology” was born in the ancient history of mankind. In Latin, the word “Psyche” means “soul”, “mind”, “spirit”…; the word “logos” means “doctrine”, “science”. Therefore, “Psychologie” is the science of the soul.

In the work "Dialectics of Nature", F. Engels pointed out that the world is always in motion, each science studies a form of motion of the world. Sciences that analyze the forms of motion of the natural world belong to the group of natural sciences. Sciences that analyze the forms of motion of society belong to the group of social sciences. Sciences that study the intermediate transitional forms of motion from one form of motion to another are called intermediate sciences, for example: mechanics - physics, physics - biology, chemistry - biology, psychology... In which psychology studies the transitional form of motion from biological motion to social motion, from the objective world to the human brain, giving rise to psychological phenomena as a spiritual phenomenon.

Thus: the object of psychology is psychological phenomena as a mental phenomenon caused by the objective world affecting the human brain, commonly called psychological activities. Psychology studies the formation, operation and development of psychological activities, the laws of psychological activities are the mechanism that creates them.

1.1.3. The task of psychology

– The basic task of psychology is to study the nature of psychological activity, the laws of psychological emergence and development, the mechanism of psychological evolution and expression, the laws of the relationship between psychological phenomena, specifically to study:

+ What objective and subjective factors create human psychology?

+ Mechanism of formation and expression of psychological activities.

+ How human psychology works.

+ Functions and roles of psychology in human activities.

– The specific tasks of psychology can be stated as follows:

+ Research the nature of psychological activity both quantitatively and qualitatively.

+ Discover the laws of psychological formation and development.

+ Find out the mechanism of psychological phenomena.

Based on research achievements, psychology offers effective solutions for the formation, development of psychology, and the most effective use of psychology in human factors. To carry out the above tasks, psychology must be closely linked and coordinated with many other sciences.

1.1.4. Position and meaning of psychology

a) Position of psychology

+ Humans are the subject of research in many branches of science. Each branch of science studies a certain aspect of humans. In the sciences that study humans, psychology occupies a special position.

Psychology is related to many sciences. Academician of philosophy Kedrov (Soviet Union) said: psychology is located at the center of a triangle with three vertices: natural science, social science and philosophy.

– Philosophy provides the theoretical basis and guiding methodology of psychology, the general principles and directions to solve its specific problems. In return, psychology contributes many important achievements to enrich philosophy.

– Psychology is closely related to natural sciences: human physiology, high-level nervous activity, which is the natural basis of psychological phenomena. The achievements of biology, genetics, evolutionism… contribute to clarifying the formation and development of psychology.

– Psychology has an organic relationship with social sciences and humanities, technology, and vice versa, many achievements of psychology are applied in the fields of economics, society, law, medicine, culture and arts, education, business, tourism, etc. Psychology is the basis for educational science. Based on the achievements of psychology and the study of the laws and mechanisms of formation and development of human psychology, pedagogy builds content, teaching and educational methods. Conversely, pedagogy realizes the psychological content that needs to be formed and developed in humans.

b) Meaning of psychology

Psychology has very fundamental theoretical significance, actively contributing to the fight against unscientific views on human psychology, affirming the views of dialectical materialism and historical materialism.

– Psychology directly serves the education career.

– Psychology helps us scientifically explain psychological phenomena that occur in ourselves, in others, in the community, in society. It is the basis for self-training, self-improvement of personality and building good communication relationships, interpersonal relationships, and social relationships. In addition, psychology also has practical significance in many areas of social life.


Created by AM Word 2 CHM

1.2. THE NATURE OF HUMAN PSYCHOLOGICAL PHENOMENA

ah

GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Chapter I. PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE

1.2.1. What is psychology?

In daily life, many people often use the word "psychology" to talk about people's hearts, such as "Mr. A is very psychological". "Ms. B talks openly and intimately"... With the meaning that Mr. A and Ms. B have an understanding of people's hearts, thoughts, aspirations, and personalities. That is the way to understand "psychology" at the level of normal cognition. Human psychological life includes many rich, diverse, and complex psychological phenomena from feelings, perceptions, memories, thoughts, imaginations to emotions, wills, temperaments, abilities, ideals, beliefs...

In Vietnamese, the terms "psychology" and "soul" have existed for a long time.

– In the Buddhist Dictionary of Doan Trong Con: “Tam” means: the heart is moved, is the reason, consciousness, the spirit of human beings in general about the universe. “Li” is understood as the reasoning about “the heart”.

– In the Vietnamese Dictionary (1988) a general definition is given: psychology is thoughts, feelings...: making up the inner life, the inner world of a person.

– In everyday use, the word “heart” is often used with the phrases: “mind”, “feelings”, “confidential”, “heart”, “heart ground”, “human heart”, “good heart”, “evil heart”… which have the same meaning as the word “heart”, referring to emotions, while the word “soul” is often used to express human thoughts, spirit, consciousness, will… “Soul” and “psychology” are always linked.

1.2.2. The nature of human psychological phenomena

There are many different views on the nature of human psychological phenomena:

– The idealist concept holds that human psychology is created by God, by heaven and enters the human body. Human psychology does not depend on the objective world or the real conditions of life. According to subjective idealists, human psychology is a mental state that exists in every human being, it is not related to the outside world and does not depend on the body. By the method of introspection, each person observes and experiences his own psychology, then subjectively deduces the psychology of others (“the heart of a fig is the same as the heart of a jackfruit”, “judging others by oneself”). Such concepts cannot explain the nature of human psychological phenomena, leading to the understanding of human psychology as something mysterious and unstudyable.

The vulgar materialist concept holds that psychology, soul, as well as all phenomena, are made up of matter, directly produced by matter, just like the liver secretes bile. They equate the physical and physiological with the psychological, denying the role of the subject, the positive and dynamic nature of psychology and consciousness, denying the social and historical nature of human psychology.

– The scientific concept of the nature of human psychological phenomena is the concept of dialectical materialism and historical materialism. The scientific concept holds that: Human psychology is a function of the brain, a reflection of objective reality in the human brain through the subject of each person. Human psychology has a social nature and is historical.

a) Psychology is a function of the brain.

– Dialectical materialism holds that matter comes first, then psychology and spirit. But not everywhere there is matter, there is psychology. Science has proven that the simplest psychological phenomenon is sensation, which begins to appear in animals with ganglion nervous systems (worms). Only when the brain appears, does psychology appear at a higher level. The brain is a special, highly organized material. F. Engels affirmed: “Our thinking consciousness… is a product of the matter of the physical organ, that is, the brain.” V. Lenin wrote: “Psychology, consciousness… is a product of highly organized matter, a function of a particularly complex mass of matter, the human brain.”

– Psychological images are created by the objective world affecting the body’s senses and then transmitting them to the brain. The brain operates according to a reflex mechanism: from which psychological phenomena are born. There are two types of reflexes: unconditioned reflexes and conditioned reflexes. Unconditioned reflexes are the basis of instinct, while conditioned reflexes are the physiological basis of psychological phenomena. Conditioned reflexes help the body adapt to a constantly changing environment.

– The formation and expression of human psychology is closely governed by the interaction between two signal systems (the first signal system and the second signal system - language). In which, the first signal system is the physiological basis of intuitive, sensory and emotional activities: the second signal system is the physiological basis of thinking, language, consciousness, emotions and higher psychological functions of humans. Thus, human psychological phenomena have a physiological basis which is the motor nerve function system of the entire brain, psychology is the function of the brain. In other words, in terms of mechanism, psychology has a reflex mechanism of the brain.

b) Human psychology is the reflection of objective reality into the human brain through the subject.

– Reflection is a common property of all moving matter. It is the interaction between one system and another, resulting in leaving traces (images) on both systems. Reflection occurs from simple to complex and has mutual transformation: from physical, chemical, biological reflection to social reflection, including psychological reflection.

– Psychology is a mental image caused by the objective world acting on a special, highly organized matter, the brain. Karl Marx wrote: Thought and psychology are nothing more than matter transferred into the brain and transformed there.

– Psychological reflection creates a psychological image as a “copy” of the world. Psychological images are qualitatively different from mechanical, physical, biological images… in that:

+ Psychological images are vivid and creative. For example: The psychological image of a book in the mind of a literate person is very different in quality from the "dead" physical image of that book in the mirror.

+ Psychological images are subjective: each individual, when creating a psychological image of the world, puts his or her knowledge and experience into that image, making it subjective. The reason why one person's psychology is different from another's is because each person has their own characteristics of body, nerves and brain; each person has different living conditions and educational conditions, different levels of activity and communication in different social relationships.

From the above argument, when researching, as well as when forming and developing human psychology, we need to pay attention to the circumstances in which people live and work, and need to organize activities and communication relationships to form and develop psychology. In teaching, education as well as in behavioral relationships, we must pay attention to being close to the subject and suitable to the subject.

c) Human psychology has a social-historical nature.

Human psychology is qualitatively different from the psychology of some higher animals in that: human psychology is social in nature.

and historical.

First of all, human psychology has a social origin. In the world, the natural part has an influence on psychology, but the social part of the world: economic relations, social relations, ethics, law, human-human relations have a decisive meaning in human psychology. In fact, in cases where children are raised by animals from childhood, the psychology of these children is not much better than that of animals.

– Human psychology is the product of human activities and communication relationships as a social subject. Even the natural part of human (such as physical characteristics, senses, nerves, brain) is socialized at the highest level. F. Engels wrote: “The formation of the five human senses is the work of the entire historical society…”. Therefore, human psychology bears the full imprint of human history and society.

– Each individual's psychology is the result of the process of acquiring and absorbing social experience and culture (which becomes each person's own) through human activities and communication in social relationships.

– The psychology of each person is formed, developed and transformed along with the development of personal history, national history and community. The psychology of each person is constrained by the history of the individual and the community.

From the above arguments, it is necessary to pay attention to studying the social environment and social relationships to form and develop psychology. It is necessary to effectively organize diverse activities at different age stages, helping people to acquire social culture to form and develop human psychology.

In short, when considering the nature of human psychological phenomena, we can analyze it from three aspects:

About content : Human psychology is a reflection of the objective world through a subjective lens (subject).

– About the mechanism : Human psychology occurs according to the brain's reflex mechanism.

– In essence : Human psychology is social and historical in nature.

1.2.3. Functions of psychology

Psychology plays a role in regulating activities and actions; human behavior impacts reality with its dynamism and creativity. Therefore, psychology has the following functions:

– Psychology has the function of orienting activities through the system of motives, motivations of activities, and directing activities towards a specific purpose.

– Psychology controls and checks the process of activities by programs, plans, methods, and ways of conducting activities, making human activities conscious and bringing certain results.

– Psychology helps people adjust their activities to suit their set goals, and to suit the actual conditions and circumstances.

Thanks to the above mentioned function, psychology helps people not only adapt to objective circumstances, but also perceive, transform and create the world. And it is in that process that people perceive and transform themselves.

1.2.4. Classification of psychological phenomena

There are many ways to classify psychological phenomena:

a) Based on the duration of existence and relative position of psychological phenomena in personality , people often divide psychological phenomena into three main types:

Mental processes, mental states, mental attributes.

– Psychological processes have a beginning, development and end in a relatively short period of time, including three small groups of processes:

+ Cognitive processes, including sensation, perception, memory, thinking, imagination...

+ Emotional processes.

+ Volitional action processes.

– Psychological states that last for a relatively long time, with unclear beginnings and endings. Psychological states such as: attention, mood.

– Psychological attributes are relatively stable, difficult to form, difficult to lose, forming unique personality traits. People often talk about four groups of individual psychological attributes such as: tendencies, personality, temperament, and ability. The relationship between psychological phenomena can be represented by the following diagram:

b) It is also possible to distinguish conscious psychological phenomena from unconscious psychological phenomena . Unconscious psychological phenomena are psychological phenomena that occur without our being conscious of them, or under our consciousness. Some authors also talk about "unconscious" phenomena that lie outside of consciousness (for example, some unconscious instincts, slips of the tongue, misbehavior, sleepwalking, etc.), some phenomena at the "subconscious" level lie deep within consciousness, and are occasionally "illuminated" by consciousness in certain circumstances.

c) People also distinguish psychological phenomena into:

– Vivid psychological phenomena: expressed in behavior and activities.

– Latent psychological phenomena: accumulated in the products of activities.

d) It is also possible to distinguish individual psychological phenomena from social psychological phenomena (such as: customs, habits, social formation, public opinion, social mood, "fashion" etc.).

In short, the human psychological world is extremely diverse and complex. Psychological phenomena have many different levels and degrees that are intertwined and transformed into each other.


Created by AM Word 2 CHM






Maybe you are interested!

ah

1.3. CURRENT STATE, STRUCTURE AND METHODS OF MODERN PSYCHOLOGY

GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Chapter I. PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE

1.3.1. Current status of psychological science

– Psychology was initially included in the history of philosophy, until 1879 psychology became an independent science, associated with the name of psychologist V.Vuntơ – the founder of the first psychological laboratory in Leipzig. Before that, V.Vuntơ believed that psychology only studied the subjective state of human consciousness by introspection method. The impasse of introspective psychology made V.Vuntơ establish a psychological laboratory. Psychology at this time separated from philosophy and it became an independent science, shifting from the method of describing psychological phenomena to studying psychology by experiment. At the same time, in the late 19th century and early 20th century, to rescue psychology from its impasse, many psychologists sought different research directions, including:

+ Behavioral psychology.

+ Gestalt psychology.

+ Psychoanalysis.

+ Humanistic psychology.

+ Cognitive psychology.

+ Activity psychology.

a) Behavioral psychology : Behaviorism was founded by American psychologist J.Oatson (1778–1858). J.Oatson believed that psychology does not describe or explain subjective states of consciousness but studies individual behavior objectively. In humans as well as in animals, behavior is the body's reaction to external stimuli, expressed by the formula:

S – R

(Stimulus – Reaction)

Stimulus – Response

Behaviorism admits that the body's behavior is determined by the external environment, but they have a mechanical conception of behavior, equating human behavior with animal reactions, losing the subjectivity and social nature of human psychology.

b) Gestalt psychology (also known as structural psychology): Born in Germany at the end of the 19th century, associated with the names of psychologists such as Verthaimơ Com, Kópka... They deeply researched the laws for the stability, the completeness of perception, the "illumination" law of thinking and explained: those laws are all determined by the predetermined structure of the brain: they ignored the role of life experience, social and historical experience.

c) Psychoanalysis : Psychoanalysis theory was developed by Austrian physician S. Freud, emphasizing the instinctive factor in humans, in which sexual instinct holds a central position in determining the entire psychological life and behavior of humans. Psychoanalysis overemphasizes the unconscious instinctive factor, leading to the denial of consciousness, the denial of the social-historical nature of human psychology, identifying human psychology with animal psychology, expressing the biological view of human psychology.

d) Humanistic psychology : This school was founded by C. Roger and A. Maxlau. Humanistic psychologists believe that: human nature is inherently good, altruistic, and we need to treat people openly and tactfully. Psychology needs to help people find their true selves to live comfortably, innocently and creatively. However, humanistic psychology emphasizes each person's subjective experiences, separates people from social relationships, and only pays attention to the abstract human aspect in people, so there is a lack of people in practical activities.

e) Cognitive psychology : Two famous representatives of cognitive psychology are G.Piagie (Switzerland) and Bruner (first in the US, then in the UK). This school has discovered many scientific facts about the field of cognitive psychology such as human perception, memory, language, thinking, etc. At the same time, they have built many specific research methods that contributed to psychological science in the 50s and 60s of the 20th century. However, this school has limitations: they consider human cognition as an effort of will to bring about changes in the subject's knowledge and intellectual structure, in order to balance and adapt to the world, not seeing all the positive and practical meanings of cognitive activities.

All the above mentioned schools of psychology have made certain contributions to the formation and development of psychological science. However, due to historical limitations and the lack of a complicated scientific methodological basis, they have not yet been

have a complete and correct view of human psychological activities. The birth of Marxist psychology, also known as activity psychology, has contributed significantly to overcoming the above limitations and bringing psychology to the peak of development.

f) Activity psychology : This school of psychology was founded by Soviet psychologists, such as LXVygotsky (1894–1934), XLRubinstein (1902–1960), ANLeonchiev (1903–1979). ARLuria (1902–1977). This school takes Marxist–Leninist philosophy as the theoretical and methodological basis to build historical human psychology: considering psychology as a reflection of the objective world in the human brain, human psychology is subjective and social in nature, human psychology is formed, developed and expressed in activities and in human relationships in society. That is why Marxist psychology is called activity psychology".

Nowadays, the picture of psychology is very colorful, on the one hand, psychology increasingly generalizes profound theoretical issues; on the other hand, it increasingly goes into practice, together with other sciences, contributing to the development of socio-economics, culture, education, contributing to the high promotion of human factors. The team of psychologists is increasingly strong, the treasure of theoretical knowledge and research methods, the application ability of psychology is increasingly rich, truly contributing to the treasure of knowledge of humanity, of the nation and having an effect on each person.

1.3.2. Branches of psychological science

From the first field of general psychology, there are now 40–50 different branches and sub-branches of psychological science.

1.3.3. Psychological research methods

1.3.3.1. Principles of psychological scientific methodology

a) Principle of dialectical materialist determinism.

b) Research on the principles of approach to activities - communication - personality, psychology, and consciousness.

c) Principles of psychological research in relation to other phenomena and the relationship between psychological phenomena with each other.

1.3.3.2. Psychological research methods

There are many methods of psychological research:

a) Observation method

Observation is a type of intentional perception, allowing us to collect many specific, vivid, intuitive, and objective documents in natural human conditions, so it has many advantages, but it also has limitations such as: time-consuming, laborious...

– Observation has many forms: comprehensive observation, partial observation, focused observation, direct or indirect observation...

– To observe to achieve high results, it is necessary to pay attention to the following requirements:

* Determine the purpose, content, and observation plan.

* Prepare carefully in all aspects.

* Conduct observations carefully and systematically.

* Take notes objectively and draw honest conclusions.

b) Conversation method

It is the practice of asking questions to subjects and relying on their answers to gather information about the research problem.

We can converse directly or indirectly depending on the relevance of the subject to what we need to know, we can ask directly or ask in a roundabout way.

When conversing to get good documents should:

– Clearly define the purpose and requirements (issues to be researched).

– Find out information about some characteristics of the object.

– Have a proactive plan to “steer” the story.

– Need to be flexible, skillful, and tactful when “steering” the story, both maintaining natural logic and meeting requirements.

Comment


Agree Privacy Policy *