On a beautiful summer evening I was having a traditional cocktail with my best friend Alice. Aliska is an incredible person. She is interested in everything and everyone. Every week she has a new love, a new business idea and enrollment in new courses.
That evening I watched her waving her arms enchantingly as she talked about her latest love interest. Then, her intonation changed. Alice lowered her voice and solemnly declared: “In general, I’ve finally found myself.”
“Well, now she’s going to announce that she’s signed up for a macramé course,” I almost rolled my eyes.
But my friend surprised me: “I want to be a psychologist. Where do you think I should start studying psychology?”
Of course, psychology is now increasingly popular. But I never thought that “you’re a psychologist” is what I would call my Aliska!
A clear answer to the question: “Why do you want to become a psychologist?” I never heard from my friend. You'll have to figure it out yourself. And help... where can I go?
So why has interest in human consciousness increased so rapidly? And where to start studying psychology?
Tip #1. State the purpose of your study
The first truth I learned is as old as the world. Before you start studying psychology, you need to clearly define: why do you need this knowledge?
My friend Lola is very popular with men. She is beautiful, smart and incredibly attractive. But even women are fascinated by her and want to take her out for “one more” cup of coffee! There is no secret. Lola is a professional in the field of psychology, and has long found the key to human consciousness.
She once told me that every person is a child. Once you find the key to your inner child, the barrier between you will disappear. To do this, just listen carefully and analyze.
Motives for starting to study psychology can be different:
- establishing contact with others,
- building business relationships,
- decent upbringing of a child,
- improving the quality of marriage and 100 and 1 other reasons.
After all, our behavior, our way of thinking, our actions - all this is our psychology. Starting to study this science means starting to dive deeper into motives and consequences.
Taking a sip of coffee, I thought. After all, it’s unlikely that the most influential people in this world are specialists in only one “industry”? Without building quality relationships with the people around you, you will not rise too high.
Draw your own conclusion.
Branches of directions in psychology
You need to determine for yourself the direction of psychology in which you will be interested, which will be closer to you. Which branch of psychology do you want to start studying?
- the study of cognitive psychology;
- knowledge of Gestalt psychology;
- start studying associative psychology;
- or will your choice be humanistic or depth psychology?
It is necessary to master both the practical and theoretical parts of science. Practical skills must be improved in communication: the ability to listen, analyze people’s behavior.
Tip #2: Start observing
The second step that should be taken at the beginning of the path to studying psychology is to observe. It is impossible to begin to delve into this science without observing human behavior.
You can follow your loved one, mother-in-law or friends. Colleagues are also very interesting guinea pigs. If only because they represent a cooperative group of people, and they already have their own jokes and hierarchies.
Starting with intuitive observation is a great idea.
To make this advice more effective, keep a separate journal. There you will write your discoveries about people that you made only through observation.
Let's take Lola's advice: analyze and observe, try to build cause-and-effect relationships, understand the motives of actions. To ask questions.
This way, you will be able to study people from different angles. And when the first book on psychology falls into your hands, you will intuitively understand what it is about.
Let us characterize the main methods of modern scientific psychology.
Observation.
This is a method by which a psychologist purposefully and systematically perceives and records the diverse manifestations of the mental activity of the people he studies and the conditions under which it occurs. During observation, the researcher does not interfere either with the natural course of the mental activity of these people or with the conditions under which it occurs. For example, a psychologist needs to study the peculiarities of the educational work of fifth-graders. For this purpose, he selects several students and systematically attends lessons, where he discreetly observes the attention, actions and deeds of these students, records in detail their answers to the teacher’s questions, their own questions, facial expressions, postures, etc. Observations in the classroom he supplements with observations of students’ educational work at home, then analyzes, summarizes the collected materials and draws certain conclusions from them. Using the method of psychological observation, it is possible to quite fully and objectively record the external manifestations of a person’s psyche in various conditions of his life and activity—in conditions of work, study, play, etc.
Depending on the purpose of the study, observation can be continuous or selective. During continuous observation, the researcher records all manifestations of the psyche of the people he studies and, if possible, in a variety of conditions of their life. Using continuous observation, it is possible, for example, to study the age-related psychological characteristics of a primary school student, a teenager, a senior school student, or to identify the individual personality traits of certain students and then draw up psychological and pedagogical characteristics on them. During selective observation, the psychologist records only those manifestations of the psyche that are directly related to the topic of his research. Thus, when studying the attention of first-graders, he writes down only facts that can characterize the child’s attention - his concentration, stability, etc.
Psychological observations must meet several requirements. First of all, the researcher must prepare himself for conducting them: study the scientific literature on the topic of research, accurately understand the task that he sets for himself, select objects of observation, draw up a plan, develop forms of recording observation material (own recording, sound recording, photography, filming, etc.). ). In the process of observation itself, the researcher needs to skillfully select facts to record in accordance with the purpose of the study, but at the same time be completely objective and record not only what confirms his assumption, but also what may contradict it. At the end of the observations (and there should be a lot of them), the researcher is obliged to subject the collected material to a thorough psychological analysis and draw only those scientific conclusions that actually follow from it.
The advantage of the method of psychological observation in the practice of scientific research is that with its help it is possible to collect rich factual material directly from the life and activities of an individual. However, the possibilities of using this method are still limited. Firstly, using the observation method, the psychologist cannot interfere with the natural course of the mental phenomenon being studied, therefore he is not able to change it, speed it up, slow it down, or repeat it the required number of times. Secondly, some mental phenomena may be caused by several simultaneous causes, and which of them is the main one cannot always be revealed by simple observation. In addition, in complex conditions of human activity, random circumstances can mask the true causes of a phenomenon. Thirdly, factual data collected by observational methods are difficult to accurately quantify, and the researcher often has to limit himself to only qualitative analysis.
Experiment.
The other main method of psychology—experiment—does not have these shortcomings. Through an experiment, a researcher can cause the mental phenomenon under study, creating the necessary conditions for this, can simplify these conditions to the limit, replace them with others, speed up or slow down the course of the mental process, can repeat the process being studied several times and, due to the equality of experimental conditions, subject the collected material to quantitative processing.
There are two types of experiment - laboratory and natural. Laboratory psychological experiments are usually carried out in specially created laboratories equipped with appropriate technical means. In our country there are many problematic psychological laboratories equipped with the latest instruments, technical experimental installations, and cybernetic devices. Problem laboratories are available in Moscow at the Research Institute of Psychology - laboratories for studying various types of sensations, perception, memory, thinking and speech, a laboratory for studying types of higher nervous activity and temperament, etc. Problem psychological laboratories have been created in Leningrad, Kiev, Kazan, Tbilisi and other large cities of the country.
A laboratory experiment can be carried out without psychological equipment.
The laboratory experiment method has some disadvantages. The persons being studied (subjects) always know that they are undergoing some kind of experiment, the purpose of which is precisely unknown to them. This fact can cause unnecessary nervous tension in the subjects. The conditions of the laboratory experiment themselves are unusual and artificial. Finally, through a laboratory experiment it is difficult to study complex but vital phenomena of the human psyche - feelings, will, interests, character, etc.
A psychological laboratory experiment is much more difficult than a physical or physiological experiment. The fact is that the object of the experiment - the subject, regardless of the desire of the experimenter, can regulate his reactions during the experiment: intentionally (and sometimes involuntarily) speed up or slow down them, that is, behave in a way that is unusual for him. The behavior of the subject is influenced by his physical and mental state during the experiment (fatigue, absent-mindedness, tension, degree of interest in the results of the experiment, etc.), as well as his attitude towards the experimenter, the degree of trust in him.
A natural experiment, in contrast to a laboratory experiment, is carried out in conditions familiar to the subject - in kindergarten, in a classroom during a lesson, at a machine, etc. The subject does not suspect that he is the object of research, and performs experimental tasks as naturally as all others tasks. When a researcher sets a goal to reveal some patterns of the students’ psyche in the process of teaching and upbringing, he conducts an experiment directly at school, often speaking to students as a teacher. This type of natural experiment is called psychological-pedagogical.
The success of using a natural experiment depends on the development of experimental tasks, careful consideration of the experimental conditions, and the accuracy and completeness of recording its progress.
Conversation method.
It consists in the fact that the researcher studies some mental phenomena by analyzing a person’s verbal reactions to specially formulated questions arising from the purpose of the study. The success of the conversation depends on the researcher’s preparedness for it. He must draw up a conversation plan in advance, think through and accurately formulate questions, avoiding questions that are difficult to understand, as well as questions of a suggestive and confusing nature. The conversation should be conducted calmly, naturally, in a tone of friendly attitude towards the subject, taking into account his age and individual characteristics. All questions and answers are accurately recorded, for example using a tape recorder. The method of conversation is used to study a person’s ideas and concepts about the world around him, interests and inclinations, motives for actions and deeds. Conversation often serves as an auxiliary method in conjunction with observation and experiment.
Method for analyzing products of human activity.
The essence of this method is that some mental processes and personality traits are studied indirectly, based on the material results (products) of human activity. Things created by man necessarily bear the imprint of their creator. The objects of psychological analysis can be the works of a writer, paintings by an artist, inventions of a designer, etc. Draft versions, sketches, drafts and other unfinished products of human creative activity are especially valuable, by which one can judge the creative process itself. For the same purpose, diaries, letters, and memories of the persons studied are subjected to psychological analysis. When studying children, the psychologist analyzes the products of their children's creativity and educational activities - drawings, modeling objects, applications, models, written works, drawings. Even a cursory acquaintance with the creative and educational works of students gives some idea of the skills of these children, their abilities and attitude to work. However, judgments obtained from the analysis of human products must be verified by other research methods.
Biographical method.
Using it, the psychologist studies a person based on data from his life history. Thus, having learned that a student has moved from school to school three times in recent years, one can assume that his poor performance in mathematics is explained by frequent changes of teachers. The biographical method is usually used in combination with other research methods.
Questionnaire method
The questionnaire method is a psychological study through mass questioning. A questionnaire is a sheet with questions ranging from 5 to 25, proposed to be answered by people of a certain category - students, young workers, people of any profession, etc. Based on the answers to the questions, the researcher judges certain aspects of the psyche of the interviewed persons, for example, their interests, ideals, aspirations, judgments about books, films, events in public life. Forms are usually not signed. This research method is good because it covers a large number of people at once, but the reliability of the personal data is only probable: some of the interviewed people give inaccurate and incomplete, or even deliberately incorrect answers, others leave questions unanswered. The questionnaire gives the researcher only a preliminary orientation to the material.
Test method.
Tests are small series of specially selected questions and tasks of a diagnostic nature. There are, for example, tests to determine the professional suitability of a person (driver, dispatcher, pilot). The tasks are designed in such a way that by their completion one can judge the level of knowledge, skills and abilities of a person and those of his personal qualities that are necessary to perform a certain type of work. The test method is widespread in the West, in particular for determining the mental development of schoolchildren.
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⇐ The task of psychology. Relationship between psychology and other sciences
About modeling mental activity ⇒
Tip #4: Training
If your goal is to help people, this advice is for you.
After all, naturally in this case it is worth starting the study of science by choosing a suitable educational institution.
Well, I don’t believe in self-taught specialists! Qualified teachers, practice and much more will make you a specialist. Provided you work independently and fall in love with the subject you are studying, of course.
After Googling, I realized that psychology covers almost all areas of life. Look, isn't it amazing?
What literary sources are best to use to master psychology?
Absolutely any science is studied from the basics: definitions, concepts. Such information can be obtained from any junior year textbook. You just need to visit any library.
Such books often contain a lot of tables and terms, but they need to be studied. This will make the further path easier. Subsequently, we move on to the classics of psychological sciences:
- E. Fromm;
- K. Jung;
- A. Adler;
- and, of course, Freud.
There are a lot of books, choose authors who have been doing their business for more than a decade. Only in this case his experience will become a support for you. Many fiction books will also be useful to the future psychologist: the authors analyze the actions and behavior of the characters. Perhaps the best among many is F. Dostoevsky. There are many free versions of interesting psychology magazines on the Internet, and they are not difficult to find.
License for educational activities No. 038379
Full course program "FUNDAMENTALS OF PSYCHOLOGY"
1. The importance of consciousness in the psychology of behavior
1.1 Methodology of reflexological research and questioning 1.2 Behaviorism and experimentation on human behavior 1.3 The nature of consciousness in psychology and the structure of behavior 1.4 Self-observation and self-awareness 1.5 Biology and physiology of behavior, consciousness and reflexes 1.6 Origins of social behavior and consciousness
2. The crisis of psychology in the mid-20th century
2.1 The subject and tasks of general psychology 2.2 Stages of development of ideas and general ideas in psychology 2.3 Comparison of particular teachings, ideas and general psychology 2.4 Problems of studying the unconscious, acts of behavior and stimuli 2.5 The question of the application of the biogenetic principle, Münsterberg and causal psychology
3. Method for studying higher mental functions
3.1 Justification for the choice of method, its difference from the methods of old and new psychology 3.2 Principles of methods of child psychology and the method of constructing an experiment 3.3 Analyze rudimentary functions, sign and tool 3.4 Concepts of cultural memory, cultural arithmetic, signification, autostimulation and half-speech 3.5 Features of mediating activity
4. Conducting an analysis of higher mental functions
4.1 Subject and tasks of the analysis of higher mental functions 4.2 We carry out dynamic analysis and analysis of complex reactions 4.3 We conduct experiments with children on the reaction of choice 4.4 The difference between higher and lower forms of behavior
5. Structure of higher mental functions
5.1 Features of the structure of higher mental functions 5.2 The complexity of mastering behavior, the importance of intelligence in development and imitation 5.3 Study of intellectual reactions and the essence of cultural development
6. Theory regarding assistance in personal growth
6.1 Help in personal growth, motivation for change 6.2 Signs of helping behavior and changes as a result of psychotherapy 6.3 Human relationships and “artificial” relationships 6.4 Objective and subjective view of psychotherapy
7. The process of psychotherapy
7.1 Conditions and stages of the process 7.2 Continuum of the psychotherapy process
8. Personality change in the process of psychotherapy
8.1 The essence, task and criteria for studying personality changes 8.2 Methods for measuring changes in self-perception, the “Self-concept” of the client and the diagnostician
9. Client-centered psychotherapy
9.1 Place of assessment and involuntary functions 9.2 We analyze the “Self-concept”, various methods and the client’s reaction to them
10. Objectives of psychotherapy in education
10.1 The role of psychotherapy in knowledge acquisition and the educational process 10.2 The essence of learner-centered learning 10.3 Ways to encourage thinking and non-directive learning
11. Objectives of psychotherapy in family life
11.1 Ability to openly express feelings and strong relationships 11.2 Creative two-way communication
12. The role and significance of psychotherapy in interpersonal communication
12.1 The essence of communication disorders 12.2 The role and significance of congruence in communication between people
13. Psychology and the creative process
13.1 Social need and motives for creativity 13.2 Internal conditions necessary for creativity
14. Theoretical basis of the sciences of human behavior
14.1 New developments in behavioral sciences and the role of personality 14.2 Behavior in groups and stages of the behavior management process 14.3 What influences human and animal behavior
15. Basics of the theory of motivation
15.1 Analysis of the individual and motivational states 15.2 Correlation of motivations, types of motives and unmotivated behavior 15.3 Conditions and influence of reality on motivation
16. Theory of motivation
16.1 Diversity of basic physiological needs 16.2 The essence of the need for safety, love, knowledge and understanding 16.3 The essence of aesthetic needs and the measurement of satisfaction 16.4 The rigidity of the hierarchical structure and functional autonomy
17. Concept of need satisfaction
17.1 Consequences of satisfying basic and other needs 17.2 The essence of healthy satisfaction and possible dangers 17.3 Features of basic satisfaction and character formation
18. Theory of instincts and needs
18.1 Provisions and shortcomings of the theory of instincts 18.2 Instincts, basic needs and their difference from higher needs
19. Theory of psychopathogenesis
19.1 The essence and origin of deprivation, frustration, conflict and threat 19.2 The essence of self-actualization
20. Relationship between psychoanalysis and psychiatry
20.1 Psychoanalysis and neurotic phenomena, psychoanalysis of illness 20.2 Analysis of symptomatic action, meaning, task and origin of symptoms 20.3 Various neurotic symptoms and an example of the analysis of obsessive symptoms 20.4 Analysis of fixation on trauma, the role of the unconscious
21. General theory of neuroses
21.1 The essence of resistance and repression, the Oedipus complex 21.2 The process of libido development and conflict of desires 21.3 Understanding the processes of development and regression and the etiology of neuroses 21.4 The origin of symptoms and the purpose of fantasies 21.5 The concept of nervousness, neurosis, neurotic fear 21.6 The nature of fearfulness in children and narcissistic neuroses 21.7 Representation, features and disadvantages of psychoanalytic therapy 21.8 The connection between libido, narcissism and egoism 21.9 The recovery process, methods of direct suggestion 21.10 The question of the patient’s interest in the doctor’s personality
22. Psychotherapy and the similarity of the methods of Buddhism, Vedanta, yoga and Taoism
22.1 Psychotherapy as a process of liberation in religious practices 22.2 The complexity of the process of psychotherapy and liberation: false sincerity and pseudo-humility 22.3 The influence of society on the psyche, the place of language and man in the world around him 22.4 The example of Maya and reincarnation 22.5 The role of the guru, teacher and psychotherapist: similarity with Buddhist principles and Taoism 22.6 Explaining relationships through neuropsychology 22.7 The need to trust human nature
Courses on the basics of psychology at the International Academy of Business are a course of lectures introducing the profession of a psychologist, which will tell you about the historical meaning of the psychological crisis, problems and research methods, experimental research and instrumental methods, psychotherapy as a process and much more. A short course of lectures on the discipline of psychology at the International Academy of Business will give you the opportunity to become a professional in this field. A practical and comprehensive course in the fundamentals of psychology is the most modern way to become a psychologist. Don't miss your chance and apply for preparatory courses in psychology right now!
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