Game practice: new tools in psychology
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© Katerina Rabei
Complexity and change are a natural part of the process of Life. Organisms become more complex, science develops, and tools change. And psychology, a relatively new science, also does not remain the same. It has a lot of directions and technologies, and the newest and freshest is the Gaming direction.
Gamification is a topic that has long been popular in a variety of fields, from education to marketing. And this is not surprising, because play is the easiest and most natural way of learning for any creature. And its introduction into psychology was only a matter of time, which has finally come.
The very first self-discovery game “Leela” appeared many thousands of years ago in India. Now there are hundreds of similar games, they are different both in content and in their tasks, but their external form is similar. And the goal of each game is to find the answer to an exciting question.
Questions can range from “What is my highest purpose?” to “how to get married?” The main thing is that the player is really interested in finding the answer. And with the help of the game, a process comparable to assembling a puzzle occurs: a single picture is formed from disparate pieces: if not entirely, then with clarity - what details are missing to complete the picture.
There are now a huge number of psychological, transformational, integration and other games. They all differ in form, content, goals and content. There are games that are aimed at solving issues in one narrow area (for example, romantic relationships or finances), and there are universal ones, differing in mechanics and content, which allow you to find answers to player requests.
But what they all have in common is that any game consists of 4 elements: the playing field, the leader, the player(s) and the element of chance. The playing field determines the essence of the game, its content: some games are made on the basis of existing techniques (for example, mythical archetypes, the Dilts pyramid, socionics, etc. are used), some are completely original developments. From the outside it looks like a set of positions, tasks, cards and chips, where every detail should help the player look at the situation differently than he is used to.
The leader is the one who directs the gameplay. The game itself is just a tool, but the effectiveness of the tool depends on the master who uses it. The facilitator (also called a game practitioner) manages group dynamics, creates a trusting and safe space, monitors timing, but most importantly, helps interpret certain positions in the context of the issue. This is a fundamentally important point: the presenter does not give ready-made solutions, but helps the player find his own answers.
A player (or several players) forms a process that is controlled by the leader. The flow of the game directly depends on each player: his request, personal history, willingness to be honest with himself and try to look at the situation differently - set the tone for the entire game.
The element of chance (usually a cube, arrows, cards) is the most important detail that makes a game a game. He is absolutely unpredictable, and this is what perfectly allows you to start thinking differently. Chance allows you to go beyond the usual way of thinking, and the solution most often lies outside the usual patterns. Using a cube also allows you to reduce significance, because overvaluation increases anxiety, which prevents you from looking at things objectively and making informed decisions. Coincidences and surprises also increase involvement, turn on excitement and, turning a serious issue into a game, allow you to look at the situation from the outside, to see it as if “for make-believe”.
This is just the external structure of the gameplay. The steps within the process are directly dependent on each individual game. But even here it is possible to identify some patterns similar to the construction of a literary work: introduction, development, climax and completion.
At the “introduction” stage, the players get to know each other (or the player and the presenter). In it, a request is formed, there is a small disclosure of what is behind the question - personal history, circumstances, and sometimes values and desires. Immersion in a game rarely happens right away - it takes time to fully immerse yourself in the process. And depending on the individuality of the player, the assistance of the Leader may be needed so that the Player can move from the position of thinking about their area of known information to the position of perceiving from a blank slate.
Development takes up a large part of the process. This is a direct passage of playing positions, in a group game - sharing experiences with other participants, obtaining new information and views. Each move allows you to either add something new to the vision of the situation, or focus on some particular aspect of the issue. And in fact, movement around the playing field and positions are not so important: they are just triggers that allow players to reveal their unobvious inner content.
The climax is a certain moment of clarity that comes to the player when he sees the solution to his problem. The climax is not necessarily bright and obvious - for some players it may occur after the game, a day or even a month later. But this is the very moment when understanding and feeling are synchronized, aligned and come into balance.
Completion is the final stage of any game, at which players collect and summarize everything useful that was in the gameplay - and not always only their personal, sometimes also what resonated with them in the processes of other players.
But despite certain patterns that can be traced almost always, psychological games are a complete improvisation in which there is no clearly defined scenario. The uniqueness of each process is directly related to the uniqueness of each participant - and thanks to this, there are many probabilities of exactly how each game will play out: it is always unpredictable.
Play is the first method of learning that a person masters. There is not a single culture that lacks games. Children have the courage and imagination to try on any role and live out any scenario, even the most incredible. As a child, you can, without any embarrassment, take a piece of cardboard and say “this is a dinosaur.” And although our words do not turn the paper into a real dinosaur, we get genuine joy and pleasure.
With age, people lose these abilities - fearlessness, vivid imagination, natural ability to transform.... Life gets more complicated, the stakes get higher, and we take our valuables more and more seriously. For some reason, many are accustomed to thinking that seriousness, responsibility and maturity are one and the same.
When resolving their issues, making elections, assessing certain situations, most people often rely on the picture of the world to which they are accustomed. On the one hand, this is great, because constancy reveals beliefs, values, and this is how personality and uniqueness are revealed. But at the same time, this limits and prevents you from seeing what lies beyond these boundaries, and yet the answers and solutions are not immediately visible - most likely, they lie where no one has looked yet.
It may seem that since the answers lie outside the safe, familiar area, then to find them it is necessary to leave the comfort zone, leave the space of safety, i.e. get into a zone of discomfort, or even some painful experiences. But games are an amazing technology that, instead of leaving your comfort zone, allows you to expand your comfort zone.
The game is a universal tool, because... in her space everything is possible. That is, EVERYTHING. The playing field is a map of another world in which you can change yourself, you can imagine “what if...”, look at situations from points of view that simply never occurred to you before. And the main thing is that it’s all for fun, and not for real. But not for real - that means it’s not serious and not scary. Although there is a certain paradox hidden in this: the process that is taking place does not seem to be real, but the result from it is quite noticeable. Complete immersion in your request and living it at the level of feelings and emotions gives much more than cold analysis.
There is much more to psychological, integration and transformation games than may seem at first glance. We're just not used to thinking about games as anything more than just entertainment, but in vain. A lot of different techniques are packaged into game forms; many games are based on metaphors, esoteric practices, technologies for developing creative thinking, and much more. etc.
The very idea of using games to work in the field of self-knowledge and self-development is incredibly interesting. But still, we should not forget that the game is just a tool, and the key is not the game itself, but its Leader. And at least half of the success primarily depends on the skill of the one running the game.
However, to be completely honest, there is no point in talking about games - you just have to play them. After all, everyone has some unresolved questions, right?
Katerina Rabei, Moscow, co-author and presenter of psychological and transformational games, co-author of the game practice course GameCoaching 2.0.
© K.B. Rabei, 2020 © Published with kind permission of the author
Psychodiagnostics as a branch of psychology.
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Psychodiagnostics as a branch of psychology.
Psychological diagnostics is a special area of psychological knowledge, which represents both a theoretical direction that develops methods for identifying and studying individual psychological characteristics of a person, and the scope of practical activity of a psychologist.
Psychodiagnostics as a science (theoretical discipline) examines the patterns (theory, principles and tools) of measuring individual psychological characteristics of a person. In other words, it studies the patterns of making valid and reliable diagnostic judgments, the rules of “diagnostic inferences”, with the help of which the transition is made from signs or indicators of a certain mental state, structure, process to a statement of the presence and severity of these psychological “variables”.
This is a research area and represents the activity of constructing psychodiagnostic techniques. Since they are used for practical purposes, they are subject to special requirements related to increasing the accuracy and objectivity of indicators; they are developed according to certain rules and tested against a number of criteria. First of all, this is done in order to evaluate their quality and practical usefulness, suitability for solving applied problems.
Psychodiagnostics as a practice (practical activity) is a psychological examination of an individual for the purpose of making a psychological diagnosis. This is the basis of the activity of any practical psychologist (M.K. Akimova). Making a psychological diagnosis provides a solution to a number of practical problems related to taking into account psychological differences between people.
Diagnosis is recognition. Consequently, psychodiagnostics is a branch of practical psychology, the purpose of which is to recognize the psychological (socio-psychological) state of a specific psychological (socio-psychological) object (individual, group, organization) or its deviation from some normative state. Based on the results of psychodiagnostics, such directions are built work such as psychocorrection, psychological counseling, psychotherapy, etc. Psychodiagnostics acquires its significance only as part of psychological practice itself, for the organization of which it is needed as one of the factors. Psychodiagnostics carried out on its own already acquires a different status. It can be part of scientific research (but not practical activity), or it can be entertainment (like a horoscope published in an entertainment magazine). It can also acquire the features of psychological practice if its data have some practical effect, for example, on the object being examined.
Historical aspect of the development of psychological diagnostics (F. Galton, G. Rorschach, J. Piaget, R. Ketell, G. Yu. Eysenck).
At the end of the 19th century, psychology emerged from philosophy as an experimental science. Wundt founded the first experimental psychology laboratory. In his laboratory, they studied mainly sensations and the motor acts caused by them - reactions, as well as peripheral and binocular vision, etc. Similar experimental laboratories are being created in other countries based on the model of Wundt's laboratory. In England, Galton for the first time included in the new complex science of “anthropometrics” he proposed special measuring tests not only of a person’s physical characteristics, but also tests for visual and hearing acuity, time of motor and verbal associative reactions, etc. It was Galton who proposed the term “test”, and his name is rightfully associated with the beginning of not prehistory, but the actual history of psychodiagnostics. The achievements of F. Galton and his students include the following:
1. Within the laboratory, three main directions of psychodiagnostics of the 20th century were identified. Diagnostics of intelligence and abilities (the main direction of the laboratory). The first ability test was created, which is a set of psychophysiological tests. Diagnosis of characterological characteristics (using questionnaires). Questionnaires were defined by F. Galton as “statistics of human behavior in daily affairs.” F. Galton came up with the idea of projective diagnostics, namely, the idea of using the method of free association to study personality.
2. The fundamentals of psychometrics (psychometrics) - the science of psychological measurement - have been developed; a mathematical and statistical apparatus has been created that is used to construct tests.
The main point of criticism of F. Galton and his followers was that the tests they developed turned out to be invalid, that is, the test results did not correspond to the real successes of the subjects and the observations of experts.
III. Psychodiagnostics in the 20th century
In the 40-60s, all modern tests appeared, for example, the Cattell IQ test. And all of them are still in use today. Intelligence tests appeared first and received all the criticism, but intelligence tests are the most valid and objective.
The term psychodiagnostics appeared in 1921 and belongs to the Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach (1874-1922). For a long time, psychodiagnostics was identified with testing. Psychodiagnostics became firmly established in psychology after the use of not testing, not psychometry, but projective methods that did not make a direct diagnosis. Based on the associative method, the Ink Blot techniques of G. Rorschach were developed (1921)
Historical roots of psychodiagnostics: physiognomy, phrenology, graphology.
At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, such sciences as phrenology, physiognomy, graphology and palmistry became widely known.
Phrenology – translated from Greek means “temper”, “character” and “teaching”. Phrenology is the doctrine of F. Gall about the connection between a person’s mental characteristics and the external shape of the skull. Physiognomy is the study of the connection between a person’s external appearance and his belonging to a certain type of personality. Derived from the translation of two Greek words “nature” and “knower”. Physiognomy is based on the idea that a person’s psychological characteristics can be determined by a person’s external signs.
Graphology comes from two Greek words: “writing” and “study”. Graphology is the study of handwriting, which was recognized as a type of expressive movements that reflect the psychological properties and psychophysiological states of the writer. Today, the dependence of handwriting on the emotional state and some typological properties of the higher nervous activity of the writer has been most reliably established. With some mental illnesses, the handwriting of patients acquires specific characteristics.
Palmistry is derived from two Greek words: “hand” and “prophecy”. Palmistry is one of the most ancient teachings about the individual characteristics of a person, his character traits, the events he has experienced, determined by the skin texture of the palms. The pattern on the surface of the palms is called papillary (fingertips) and flexor (palm). The study of the embryonic development of finger patterns in connection with heredity gave impetus to the emergence of a new branch of knowledge of dermatoglyphics. In the middle of the last, that is, the twentieth century, the interest of anthropologists and physicians in the study of dermatoglyphics increased. The reason for this was advances in the study of human chromosomal diseases. Works are appearing that indicate a connection between individual features of skin patterns and chromosomal abnormalities.
Basic concepts of psychodiagnostics.
Psychodiagnostics is the science of constructing methods for assessing, measuring, classifying the psychological and psychophysiological characteristics of people, as well as using these methods for practical purposes.
Methods (from the Greek methodos - the path of research or knowledge) are those techniques and means by which scientists obtain reliable information; these are the ways of knowledge through which the subject of any science is known.
The method of psychology is specified in research methods.
A technique is a specific embodiment of a method as a developed way of organizing the interaction of the subject and object of research based on specific material and a specific procedure. The methodology meets the specific goals and objectives of the study, contains descriptions of the object and the study procedure, a method of recording and processing the data obtained. Based on a specific method, many techniques can be created.
A test is a standardized and usually short and time-limited test designed to establish quantitative and qualitative individual psychological differences between people.
psychodiagnostic process - is a complex procedure for making a psychological diagnosis by a practical psychologist, requiring special training of the diagnostician.
Questioning is a psychological verbal-communicative method in which a specially designed list of questions - a questionnaire - is used as a means of collecting information from the respondent.
conversation is a method of collecting primary data based on verbal communication. If certain rules are followed, it allows one to obtain reliable information about events of the past and present, stable inclinations, motives for certain actions, and subjective states.
Observation is a purposeful, organized perception and recording of the behavior of the object under study.
projective technique is a group of techniques designed to diagnose personality. They are characterized by a global approach to personality assessment, rather than identifying individual traits. The most significant feature is the use of vague stimuli, which the subject must himself supplement, interpret, develop, etc. In this case, a projection (transfer) of the mental properties of the subject onto the task material occurs, which makes it possible to identify his hidden personal characteristics.
intelligence test is a special class of tests aimed at measuring and assessing the general level of cognitive development of individuals when solving a wide range of mental problems.
Anamnesis is a set of information about a person obtained by various methods in order to organize effective work with him.
psychodiagnostic characteristics (conclusion) - a brief psychological description of the state of development of a person for the period of examination based on data from an objective qualified psychodiagnostic study.
The concept of method and methodology. Requirements for adaptation of methods and techniques.
Requirements for methods
It is advisable to adhere to different requirements for psychodiagnostic methods of different types.
1. Measuring methods (tests) must meet the following requirements:
a) the goals, subject and scope of application of the methodology must be clearly formulated. The subject, diagnostic construct (concept), must be formulated in theoretical terms and correlated at the theoretical level with a system of relevant concepts. The scope of application must be clearly defined, which means a special social environment or sphere of social practice (production, medicine, family life, etc.), a contingent of subjects (gender, age, education, professional experience, job position). The purposes for using the results must be specified: for predicting the success of professional activity, for psychological intervention, for making legal, administrative decisions, for predicting the stability of the team, etc.; b) the procedure must be specified in the form of an unambiguous algorithm, suitable for transmission to a laboratory assistant who does not have special psychological knowledge, or input into a computer used for presenting tasks and analyzing answers; c) the processing procedure must use statistically sound methods for calculating and standardizing the test score (according to statistical or criterion-based test norms). Conclusions (diagnostic judgments) based on the test score must be accompanied by an indication of the probabilistic level of statistical reliability of these conclusions; d) test scales must be tested for representativeness, reliability and validity in a given area of application. Other developers and qualified users should be able to replicate standardization studies in their field and develop private standards (norms); e) procedures based on self-reporting should be equipped with reliability controls to automatically screen out unreliable protocols; f) the main methodological organization of a certain department (area of application) must maintain a data bank collected on the test and make periodic adjustments to all method standards.
2. Expert methods:
a) this paragraph repeats the content of paragraph a) for tests. Addition: instructions for use are provided with an indication of the required qualifications of experts, their required number to obtain reliable data using the method of independent assessments; b) instructions for use must undergo special tests to ensure the unambiguity of their implementation by experts in relation to a certain reference set of data (texts, drawings, sound or video recordings, etc.); c) the procedure for processing the results must include such documentation of intermediate stages of processing that would allow the final result to be double-checked by another expert; d) user-developers should be able to reproduce a normative study measuring operational consistency on a reference data set; e) the parent organization must maintain a data bank, providing user training and retraining (in accordance with the revised methodology standards).
Any technique that does not meet the above requirements cannot be considered a professional psychodiagnostic technique. Methods must be certified within the framework of the main methodological organizations, whose responsibilities include compiling libraries of “certified psychodiagnostic methods”. All instructional literature on methods that have not been certified cannot be considered suitable for use in practical psychology. This does not exclude the possibility of using uncertified methods for research purposes.
Basic concepts of psychometrics in psychodiagnostics. Concept of measurement.
Psychodiagnostics includes differential psychometrics - the science of measuring various mental properties. The result of activities in this direction is an assessment of the possibility of measuring various mental properties and the creation of adequate procedures for their measurement.
As a theoretical discipline, psychodiagnostics examines the patterns of making valid and reliable diagnostic judgments, with the help of which the transition is made from signs, or indicators, of certain mental qualities, structures, states or processes to the presence and/or severity of these psychological variables in the object of study.
Psychodiagnostics is inextricably linked with the subject areas of psychological science: general psychology, medical, developmental, social, etc. The phenomena, properties and features studied by the listed sciences are measured using psychodiagnostic methods. The results of psychodiagnostic measurements can show not only the presence of a particular property, the degree of its expression, the level of development, they can also act as a way to verify the truth of theoretical and psychological constructs of various psychological directions.
Just as psychodiagnostics “serves” the subject areas of psychological science, psychodiagnostics itself “serves” the so-called differential psychometry. The purpose of differential psychometry is to develop requirements for psychodiagnostic measurement methods. These requirements relate to the adaptation of methods, the interpretation of the data obtained, the procedure for developing methods, the development and use of mathematical tools for analyzing the data obtained.
Content characteristics of drawing tests. Tree test. Test "House-tree-person". Test "Non-existent animal". Family Drawing Test.
Drawing techniques in psychological diagnostics
A broad category of techniques that includes quite a few forms of relatively free self-expression. They are used both therapeutically and as diagnostic ones. The use of drawing tests to identify a person’s personal characteristics is based on the principle of projection, i.e. on externalizing one’s experiences, ideas, aspirations, etc. When drawing this or that object, a person involuntarily, and sometimes consciously, conveys his attitude towards it. It is unlikely that he will forget to draw what seems to him the most important and significant; but what he considers secondary will be given much less attention. If a topic particularly worries him, then when depicting it, signs of anxiety will appear. A drawing is always some kind of message encrypted in images. The psychologist’s task is to decipher it, to understand what the subject is telling him.
For the diagnostic use of drawings, it is very important that they reflect, first of all, not a person’s conscious attitudes, but his unconscious impulses and experiences. This is why drawing tests are so difficult to “fake” by presenting yourself in them as something different from who you really are.
Like other projective tests, drawing techniques are very informative, that is, they allow you to identify many psychological characteristics of a person. At the same time, they are easy to carry out, take little time and do not require any special materials other than a pencil and paper.
Psychological functions of drawing. 1. The function of mediating subjective emotional experiences. 2. Transfer of information. The drawing records the process of a person’s reflection of the surrounding world and his internal state, reflects the level of figurative development, graphic culture, and also serves as a means of insight into the essence of phenomena, the spiritual development of nature, the embodiment of philosophical, ethical and aesthetic ideas. The result is addressed not to logical, but to figurative, non-verbal structures of the psyche. The meaning of graphic images is very complex, because... they combine images, a person’s attitude to the world, and the subject’s personal experience.
Classification of drawing techniques (according to T.D. Zinkevich-Evstigneeva).
1. Free.
Maximum personal manifestations are in spontaneous drawings. “Free”, “Spontaneous”, “My mood”, “Self-feeling at the moment”, “Drawing with eyes closed”.
2. Thematic.
Thematic instructions are tasks that have a clear structure or idea.
2.1. Traditional – well-known, popular, proven tests.
2.1.1. “Personal” - diagnosing individual characteristics - “Man”, “Self-portrait” (R. Burns), “Tree”, “DCH”, “RNJ”, “Picture of the World”, “Drawing of a person from geometric figures” (E. Mahoney) .
2.1.2. “Family” - diagnosing the features of intra-family relationships - “Drawing of a Family” (W. Wulf), “Kinetic Drawing of a Family” (R. Burns, Kaufman), “Family in the Images of Animals”.
2.2. Non-traditional ones are not actual tests; they are used during correctional work to update various conditions.
2.2.1. “Symbolic” - symbolism of the process “Who would bewitch me into…”, “My fancy dress”, “How others see me.”
2.2.2. “Modeling” - modeling a situation of the past or future.
“Me in 5 years”, “Map of a fairyland”, “Life values”.
Psychodiagnostics as a branch of psychology.
Psychological diagnostics is a special area of psychological knowledge, which represents both a theoretical direction that develops methods for identifying and studying individual psychological characteristics of a person, and the scope of practical activity of a psychologist.
Psychodiagnostics as a science (theoretical discipline) examines the patterns (theory, principles and tools) of measuring individual psychological characteristics of a person. In other words, it studies the patterns of making valid and reliable diagnostic judgments, the rules of “diagnostic inferences”, with the help of which the transition is made from signs or indicators of a certain mental state, structure, process to a statement of the presence and severity of these psychological “variables”.
This is a research area and represents the activity of constructing psychodiagnostic techniques. Since they are used for practical purposes, they are subject to special requirements related to increasing the accuracy and objectivity of indicators; they are developed according to certain rules and tested against a number of criteria. First of all, this is done in order to evaluate their quality and practical usefulness, suitability for solving applied problems.
Psychodiagnostics as a practice (practical activity) is a psychological examination of an individual for the purpose of making a psychological diagnosis. This is the basis of the activity of any practical psychologist (M.K. Akimova). Making a psychological diagnosis provides a solution to a number of practical problems related to taking into account psychological differences between people.
Diagnosis is recognition. Consequently, psychodiagnostics is a branch of practical psychology, the purpose of which is to recognize the psychological (socio-psychological) state of a specific psychological (socio-psychological) object (individual, group, organization) or its deviation from some normative state. Based on the results of psychodiagnostics, such directions are built work such as psychocorrection, psychological counseling, psychotherapy, etc. Psychodiagnostics acquires its significance only as part of psychological practice itself, for the organization of which it is needed as one of the factors. Psychodiagnostics carried out on its own already acquires a different status. It can be part of scientific research (but not practical activity), or it can be entertainment (like a horoscope published in an entertainment magazine). It can also acquire the features of psychological practice if its data have some practical effect, for example, on the object being examined.
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Toyimbetova D.S.
Moldakhmetova G.M.
Kostanay State Pedagogical Institute
Kostanay State University named after. A. Baytursynova
Game learning methods in teaching psychology
The purpose of teaching psychology in higher education is to provide future specialists and university teachers with knowledge about the patterns of emergence, the peculiarities of the functioning of the psyche, the development and formation of the properties and characteristics of the individual as an “elementary part” of society, without orientation in which it is impossible to understand individual human behavior and the behavior of people in social groups.
When teaching psychology, it is necessary to organize the educational process so that the psychological knowledge acquired by students does not remain abstract and formal, but turns into beliefs. One of the conditions for such a transformation is the refraction of the acquired knowledge through one’s own experience, independent thinking, experiencing the cognizable and determining one’s attitude towards it. That is why independent work of students is so important, aimed at accumulating facts about human mental activity, explaining and analyzing it.
One of the main requirements in teaching psychology is the development of self-awareness of students in the process of studying psychology. Based on students' interest in the inner world of a person, the teacher helps them realize their responsibility to society for the formation of qualities and abilities that are of social value, and sets before them the tasks of self-education.
Issues of self-education are closely related to the formation of the professional orientation of students (which means interest in their future profession - teacher, educator, coach, manager, etc.). By analyzing the results of observations, the teacher helps students better understand the causes of certain phenomena. For example, to understand the reasons for children’s inattention in some lessons, changes in behavior, etc.
To teach students to observe and comprehend their observations, the teacher himself must be able to observe, analyze, and generalize psychological facts.
Of no small importance here is the issue of using methods, technologies of learning and teaching.
It is active methods
teaching is the response of didactics to the need for the natural laws of knowledge acquisition discovered by psychological science, and it is they that ensure the approval of the system of developmental education at the university. The teaching of each academic subject has its own specific methods that activate students’ thinking when solving educational problems in the profile of this discipline. There are also more general ones. From the point of view of psychology, they can be divided into “three groups of methods that are most interesting for use in controlling the formation of thinking. These are methods: a) programmed learning, b) problem-based learning and c) interactive (communicative) learning” [45; 12]. This is the classification given by V. Ya. Lyaudis. [4]
Teaching psychology is focused not only on students mastering a certain amount of knowledge, but also on the development of their personality, their cognitive and creative abilities, the formation of modern key competencies in various spheres of life, which corresponds to the main orientations of the modern concept of education.
Among these competencies the following can be noted:
— it is necessary to learn to act within the framework of agreed goals and objectives;
- you need to be able to coordinate your actions with the actions of your partner; learn to cooperate and compromise.
- you should be able to develop independently;
The formation of such competencies is possible through relevant experience in communication activities, and such experience can be obtained in the interactive learning mode. [1]
Interactive learning is training that is based on the psychology of human relationships and interactions. In the activity of the teacher, the central place is occupied not by the individual student as an individual, but by a group of interacting students who, discussing issues, argue and agree among themselves, stimulate and activate each other. When using interactive methods, the most powerful effect on intellectual activity is the spirit of competition, rivalry, and adversarialism, which manifests itself when people collectively search for the truth. In addition, there is such a psychological phenomenon as contagion (not imitation, but contagion), and any thought expressed by a neighbor can involuntarily evoke its own, similar or close to the one expressed or, conversely, completely opposite.
Game-based interactive teaching methods: business educational game, role-playing game, psychological training.
The best way to reproduce and study problems in the educational process is a game containing a group exercise to develop a solution in conditions that simulate reality. From this point of view, the game as an active form of educational activity of students acts as one of the main forms of organizing problem-based learning in the educational process of universities.
The educational game combines two unique principles of learning: the principle of modeling future professional activity and the principle of problem-solving.
In an educational game, the process of solving a problem should be exploratory and exploratory. It is equally important that the solution to most problems is probabilistic in nature. The requirements for educational tasks are simple and feasible: the task must be relevant, its solution must require basic knowledge, imagination and creativity from the student. The task should be quite complex and at the same time accessible to solution; it should encourage the application of existing knowledge and the search for new (for him) principles and facts, methods of solution, thanks to which students will acquire new knowledge and skills.
The activity of a teacher in an educational game comes down to its planning, organization and management of its implementation in the light of achieving a professional goal - solving the set pedagogical tasks.
The purpose of students' gaming activities is threefold: obtaining knowledge, skills and abilities necessary for future professional work; self-assessment in the role played, which has great educational significance for the student; victory in a competition between groups of students.
A business game imitates various aspects of human activity and social interaction, removes the contradictions between the abstract nature of an educational subject and the real nature of professional activity. A business educational game is a simulation of professional activity and role-playing interaction according to the game rules of the specialists participating in it, in a certain conventional time, in an atmosphere of uncertainty, when positions clash, with role-playing and operating. [2]
Role-playing is used to solve complex problems of mastering new material, consolidating and developing creative abilities, as well as for the formation of general educational skills. It enables students to understand and explore material from a variety of perspectives. Role-playing involves students' activities within the framework of their chosen roles, guided by the nature of their role and the internal logic of the action environment, and not by an external behavior scenario. Players are free to improvise within the chosen rules, determining the direction and outcome of the game. The concepts of role-playing and business games are not identical, although their content partially coincides.
Business games also involve the distribution of roles between participants, but the procedure of business games, unlike role-playing games, is structured and regulated, while role-playing games are a free process of improvisation within the framework of role-playing “restrictions”, the direction of which is determined by the participants themselves in accordance with their individual features. If in a business game, as a rule, players are faced with the need to achieve a common goal, then in a role-playing game, the role-playing goals of the players may not coincide and even contradict. In role-playing games, several participants can sequentially play the same role in a given situation, which makes it possible to analyze different behavioral options and their effectiveness. Role-playing allows you to expand the repertoire of behavioral reactions, develop professionally important personality qualities (creativity, flexibility, ability for effective interpersonal interaction, etc.). However, managing a role-playing game, analyzing its process and result requires the teacher to have specific skills and competence in the psychology of group processes. In particular, the ability to organize group reflection, which should end any role-playing game, during which the personal impressions, experiences and self-esteem of the participants in the game are correlated with the impressions, experiences and assessments of observers, as well as with the objective results of the game.
Recently, game-based teaching methods have become increasingly widespread. Game methods are based on psychological and pedagogical principles and are successfully used in the practice of higher education. Methodically correctly constructed business games serve as an effective learning tool. They can be carried out before the presentation of lecture material, after it, or the entire educational process can be organized on the basis of DI. It should be noted that when relying on existing knowledge, the business game is more qualitative and meaningful. [3]
However, not any content of professional activity is suitable for game modeling, but only that which contains problems and cannot be learned individually. The negative side of business and role-playing games is associated with an insufficiently deep understanding of their essence, primarily as a pedagogical phenomenon, the main thing in which is not the external form, but the complex psychological and pedagogical factors that act through it and thanks to it. In addition, the use of game methods in teaching requires serious training from the teacher in special areas. Taking into account all the features of the use of game teaching methods, it is possible to most successfully and effectively organize a separate educational lesson and the entire educational process as a whole, in relation to any field of education and almost any discipline.
References:
1. Panina T.S. Modern methods of organizing training: Proc. Benefit. – M., “Academy”, 2006.
2. Reutova E.A. The use of active and interactive teaching methods in the educational process of a university (methodological recommendations for teachers of Novosibirsk State Agrarian University). – Novosibirsk: Publishing House, NSAU, 2012.
3. Seleveko G.K. Modern educational technologies. - M.:Nar. education, 1999.
4. Yakubovskaya L.P. Methods of teaching psychology. Tutorial. M. "Academy". 2006
Psychological diagnostics: concept, scope
Psychological diagnostics
- the science of constructing methods for assessing, measuring, classifying the psychological and psychophysiological characteristics of people, as well as using these methods for practical purposes. Two functions of psychological diagnostics can be distinguished: scientific and practical.
The first characterizes it as a research area and represents the activity of constructing psychodiagnostic techniques. Since they are used for practical purposes, they are subject to special requirements related to increasing the accuracy and objectivity of indicators; they are developed according to certain rules and tested against a number of criteria. First of all, this is done in order to evaluate their quality and practical usefulness, suitability for solving applied problems.
Psychodiagnostic techniques
- these are specific psychological tools designed to measure and assess the individual psychological characteristics of people.
The second function of psychodiagnostics is implemented by practical psychologists using diagnostic techniques. Practicing psychodiagnosticians measure, analyze, evaluate individual characteristics of a person or identify differences between groups of people united according to some characteristic. These types of activities of practical psychologists are called diagnosis and are carried out in order to solve certain applied problems. The word “diagnosis” (from the Greek diagnosis) means recognition, detection.
In various spheres of life and types of activity, practical problems arise, the success of which depends on taking into account the individual or group psychological characteristics of people. Thus, in the practice of education and upbringing it is necessary to identify psychological differences between children in order to implement an individual approach to them. To ensure effective professional activity, selection based on psychological and psychophysiological qualities is sometimes required.
A psychological diagnosis can be the basis for optimal professional self-determination of an individual. Creating a normal socio-psychological climate in a work team is often impossible without analyzing business and personal qualities.
The number of examples of practical problems requiring a psychological diagnosis can be increased many times over. Essentially, taking into account the individual psychological characteristics of people is necessary to increase the effectiveness of any activity. This also applies to the work of a practicing psychologist, whose task is to provide various types of assistance to individuals who turn to him. Individuals who find themselves in a situation of objective or subjective distress (i.e., experiencing dissatisfaction with themselves, others, their relationships with them, and life in general) need psychological help. Thus, in the work of a psychologist-consultant, psychodiagnostics occupies the most important place.
Any advice, consultation, recommendation is possible only with a preliminary analysis of the personality of the person being consulted in the light of the problems that concern him. Psychological diagnostics are no less important for the success of other types of practical assistance from psychologists - psychotherapy, training interventions, correctional and developmental work, etc. All of them must be individualized, that is, they must be based on a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the personality and individuality of the person seeking help.
So, psychological diagnostics is the basis of the activities of any practical psychologist.
, no matter what he does - individual counseling, vocational guidance, psychotherapy, etc., no matter what field he works - in school, clinic, in production, in a recruitment agency, etc.
Both of these functions of psychodiagnostics (the creation of methods and their use in practice) are not carried out in isolation; they can be found in unity, in the activities of the same specialists. Thus, the creators of methods often not only test them, but also apply them in practice, solving certain applied problems that arise in their work, and also rely on the experience of psychologists who use the methods.
At the same time, practical psychologists not only use already developed diagnostic techniques; In their activities, they are often faced with the need to draw up an observation scheme or formulate questions for a diagnostic interview, develop an achievement test or biographical questionnaire, etc. Therefore, practicing psychologists must have the skills to design such methods.
One more thing unites the creators of methods and practitioners: no matter what field a psychodiagnostician works (in research or applied), he should not forget that psychodiagnostics is one of the branches of psychological science. Therefore, without deep scientific knowledge, without understanding the principles and laws of psychology, one cannot engage in psychodiagnostics.
The development of a diagnostic technique is a complex process, significantly different from everyday ideas that it is enough to just create tasks or formulate questions. It is a mistakenly superficial and simplified attitude towards psychodiagnostic tools, when the so-called “psychological test” is considered to be any set of tasks that does not have a scientific basis and has not undergone the necessary testing. The inventor Thomas Edison was captivated by such ideas, and in 1921 he proposed as a test a random set of questions that Edison himself considered extremely simple. Among them were, for example, such as: “What is the largest telescope in the world?”, “What is the weight of air in a room with a volume of 20x30x10 feet?”, “Which city in the United States is the leader in the production of washing machines?” College graduates were able to give only a few correct answers to the questions of this “test,” and this contributed to the fact that confidence in the testing method itself was undermined and the scientific authority of psychological diagnostics decreased.
It is now generally accepted that a diagnostic technique can bring tangible useful results if it has a theoretical basis and meets established methodological criteria. Therefore, the creation of methods requires a lot of research and methodological work. But such work is inevitable, since the great social significance of psychological diagnostics and its practical value are recognized.
The lack of a theoretical basis was the main reason for critical attacks on psychodiagnostic methods (tests); they were considered “blind tests” (the expression of B. M. Teplov) due to the fact that testologists often did not know how to justify and explain what was recorded in the test results . Delving deeper into the service of practice, diagnostics at an early stage of its development began to move away from psychology. She developed her own conceptual apparatus, her own methodological procedures and criteria for achievement. There is a threat of depsychologization of diagnostics.
However, over the past decades, the theory of psychological diagnostics has made a big step forward, and although it cannot be admitted that everything possible and necessary has already been done in this direction, the main thing has now been achieved - the general recognition that psychological diagnostics cannot be divorced from the main path of development of general psychology and all its branches. Of course, there remains a number of theoretical problems that require solutions (the relationship between the constancy and variability of individuality, genotypic and environmental factors of development, the nature and essence of abilities and giftedness, etc.), but most often these are general psychological problems, the solution of which is possible only through the joint efforts of psychodiagnosticians and representatives of other branches of psychology. The process of theoretical understanding of a number of psychological phenomena and properties is far from complete, and this is explained not only by the level of development of psychological science as a whole, but also by the complexity of the objects it studies. Ambiguous interpretation of psychological phenomena and properties, of course, hinders the development of methods for their diagnosis. But this does not mean that research should not be carried out in the direction of clarifying those characteristics that are assessed by psychodiagnostic methods.
The theoretical justification of psychodiagnostic methods is determined not least by the practical need to interpret their indicators. The question of correct assessment of the test subject's results during diagnosis should be considered one of the most important and difficult for the diagnostician. Primary information obtained using techniques acquires strictly diagnostic and, even more so, prognostic significance only as a result of its correct and qualified interpretation, which is based on a clear understanding of the essence of what is being measured. In addition, as noted above, it is obvious that a correct diagnosis is impossible without knowledge of the basic laws of psychology. For example, such as the law of apperception, according to which it is postulated that a person perceives the world (and any stimulus) not directly, taking casts from reality, but indirectly, passing it through the prism of personal experience. The latter not only directs the perception and understanding of diagnostic tasks, but also causes certain responses to them on the part of the subjects, causing differential differences. Consequently, without relying on genuine scientific psychological knowledge, a qualified interpretation of diagnostic indicators is impossible.
At the same time, it cannot be denied that the development of psychological diagnostics contributes to research in other areas of psychological science. The fact is that knowledge and assessment of individual differences between people are necessary in order to determine the boundaries of the laws of psychology, as well as to bring it closer to real life and make it practically useful. The outstanding Russian psychologist B. M. Teplov wrote that if general psychological patterns are not mediated by knowledge of individual differences, then they become so abstract that their practical value seems doubtful.
One of the acute problems of modern psychological practice is the level of professional training of specialists, including in the field of psychodiagnostics. In this regard, it is fundamentally important to understand what consequences the use of psychodiagnostic techniques by non-professionals, amateurs - people far from psychology and psychodiagnostics - can lead to. The use of diagnostic techniques by non-specialists leads, first of all, to incorrect assessments and conclusions regarding the psychological capabilities of people and, as a consequence, to a loss of confidence in psychological diagnostics and its methods. That is why the issue of training qualified psychodiagnosticians, as well as careful and constant assessment of the quality of work of those psychologists who use diagnostic methods, is currently urgent.
It should be noted that one of the symptoms of unprofessionalism is the so-called “diagnosticomania,” which manifests itself in the desire to make a diagnosis at all costs and as quickly as possible, to draw conclusions based on vague and insufficient signs.
Diagnosticomania
- This is compensation for the low qualifications of the psychodiagnostician. It is often accompanied by excessive, sometimes insufficiently meaningful, use of special psychological terminology, an inability to simply and clearly explain in clear “everyday” words the meaning of diagnostic indicators and draw adequate conclusions based on them.
Another manifestation of unprofessionalism is the idea that if a psychodiagnostic technique is used, then its conclusions can be used as unconditional recommendations. For example, when selecting workers, when distributing them into different types of work, in consulting, etc. Meanwhile, the specialist understands that the results of any technique must be included in a comprehensive assessment, which includes other data about the individual.
Unprofessionalism can also include a misconception about the capabilities of the psychodiagnostic tools used, and an absolutization of the data obtained with their help.
An unskilled user views the test subject’s diagnostic indicators as having absolute significance, ultimately determining all of his future activities, as if predicting educational and professional success.
A psychodiagnostic specialist understands the capabilities and limitations of his methods, the assumptions that were made during their development, the associated limits of conclusions that can be drawn on their basis, possible errors when using different types of methods and the likelihood of them occurring.
A specialist psychodiagnostician focuses on the basic theoretical problems of psychological diagnostics, including the relationship between diagnosis and prognosis, the predictive capabilities of diagnostic results, and the influence of sociocultural factors on diagnostic indicators.
All of the above and a number of other equally important issues relate to the theoretical foundations of psychological diagnostics. Without understanding them, it is impossible to correctly apply diagnostic techniques.
A fair assessment of the negative aspects and shortcomings of diagnostic methods should not lead to a nihilistic denial of psychological diagnostics or recognition of the unsuitability of its methods for solving practical problems. It is not the tests and other methods of psychological diagnostics that are bad, but their incorrect use without relying on knowledge of the theory of this science. In addition, quite often diagnostic methods are blamed for the shortcomings that existed in them in the 30-50s. (lack of theoretical validity, failure to take into account sociocultural differences of individuals, etc.). As was pointed out in the late 60s. XX century Leading Russian psychologists A. N. Leontiev, A. R. Luria, A. A. Smirnov, exaggeration of the shortcomings of psychodiagnostics, and an unduly broad interpretation of critical comments in relation to tests led to refusal in the 30-60s. XX century in our country from the development of scientifically based diagnostic methods.
Psychodiagnostic methods and techniques are used in various areas of practical activity
person. Let's list some
of them.
1. One of the main ones is the sphere of education and upbringing.
Psychological diagnostics acts as a mandatory stage and a means of solving many practical problems that arise in children's educational institutions. Among them are the following:
control over the intellectual and personal development of students;
assessment of school maturity;
identifying the causes of academic failure;
selection into schools and classes with in-depth study of certain subjects;
solving problems of difficult children (with deviant behavior, conflict, aggressive, etc.);
vocational guidance, etc.
2. Psychodiagnostics is actively used in the field of medicine, in particular in psychiatric and neurological clinics.
Diagnostic methods for studying the psychological characteristics of patients in these clinics are considered auxiliary, subordinate to the tasks and interests of the clinic. These methods are developed and developed within the framework of special branches of psychology - pathopsychology and neuropsychology.
A significant role in a clinical diagnostic examination is played by methods of observation and conversation, which make it possible to identify shades of the patient’s mental and physical states, some features of his personality, facts of simulation and dissimulation, etc. Along with them, experimental techniques are also used aimed at identifying disorders of cognitive activity (perception, memory, thinking), emotional-volitional sphere and some other features.
A psychodiagnostic examination of clinic patients is carried out, firstly, to clarify or diagnose the disease; secondly, to assess the effectiveness of therapy; thirdly, for the purposes of labor, military and forensic examinations.
3. Another area of practical application of psychodiagnostics is psychological counseling
, the purpose of which is to provide assistance in solving certain psychological problems. Let us emphasize that we are talking about helping individuals who do not have pathological disorders, i.e. who are within the medical and biological norm, but have encountered any difficulties of a psychological nature. These can be problems of children (lack of self-confidence, negativism, fears, etc.), students (school maladjustment, poor academic performance, deviant behavior), adults (loss of meaning in life, low self-esteem, conflictual relationships with others, disruption of parent-child relationships) . A psychological diagnosis in advisory practice is made on the basis of both observation and conversation data, and indicators of special techniques; its correctness depends on how successful the interaction between the psychologist and the client was, and is ensured by considering the diagnostic results in the context of the holistic development process of the individual.
Diagnostics in psychological counseling has a special content in relation to normal childhood. As L.S. believed Vygotsky back in the early 30s. XX century, this should be a developmental diagnosis, the main task of which is to monitor the progress of the child’s mental development. To carry out control, it is necessary to give a general assessment of the child’s mental development based on compliance with standard age indicators, as well as to identify the causes of the child’s psychological problems. The latter involves an analysis of the holistic picture of his development, including the study of the social situation of development, the level of development of activities leading for a given age (playing, learning, drawing, designing, etc.). It is quite obvious that such a diagnosis is impossible without relying on age-related developmental psychology. In addition, the practice of developmental psychological counseling requires improving the existing one and searching for a new methodological arsenal.
4. Psychodiagnostics is widely used to solve problems related to the sphere of work.
These are problems of professional selection, professional counseling, organization of vocational training, optimization of professional activities through rational distribution of personnel, identification of the causes of defects, industrial injuries, etc. The role of psychodiagnostics in the work of a psychologist associated with any professional field varies depending on the type of profession , but it should be a mandatory stage that performs the most important function - to help everyone find their place in the world of work and become a high-level professional in their chosen work.
5. The practical application of psychodiagnostics has become widespread in conducting forensic psychological examinations.
The work of a forensic psychologist requires not only knowledge of diagnostic methods and techniques, but also knowledge in the field of forensic psychological and psychiatric examination. The great social significance of the work of a forensic psychologist determines high demands on his personality, which in general can be described as the presence of personal and cultural maturity. The quality of legal proceedings, as well as respect for the rights and legally protected interests of citizens, largely depend on the competence of conducting and using the results of a forensic psychological examination.
6. In addition to the listed areas of practical activity of people who traditionally need the use of psychodiagnostics, its methods are increasingly being used in the army, police, sports, and commercial structures
, to increase the efficiency of management and group activities of people, etc.
In recent decades, there has been an increase in interest in psychodiagnostics in our country, which is largely due to the development of various areas of practice. At the same time, the need for psychodiagnostic methods is also great in psychological research, since they are distinguished by the greatest accuracy and objectivity compared to other psychological tools.
Understanding the social significance of psychological diagnostics and positively assessing the interest in it in our country at the present stage, it is impossible not to point out some common mistakes inherent in domestic practical psychology that should be overcome.
Firstly
, this is an uncritical use of foreign methods, based on a misunderstanding of the influence of the cultural factor on their results.
Secondly
, this is the use of methods without a clear understanding of what they measure; trust in the name, “label” of the technique without trying to understand the history of its creation and development (and sometimes changes) of ideas about the characteristics it measures.
Third
, this is a static approach to the individuals under study, an actual denial of development in the forecast and therefore unjustifiably categorical conclusions and conclusions. It is important to correctly understand the relationship between relative constancy and variability of individuality. The variability of an individual over time, during the process of ontogenesis, is combined with the relative constancy of developmental conditions, ensuring its stable interactions with the environment, preserving the constancy of the structure of individuality. It is the relative constancy of personality that allows a psychologist to establish a diagnosis and prognosis of its behavior and experiences.
And finally, fourthly
, another common mistake in domestic psychological practice is the use of techniques by non-specialists, associated with a lack of understanding of the importance of special education. In addition, there is also pure amateurism, charlatanism, manifested in the compilation of home-grown methods that have not undergone serious testing and their use in practice by people who do not have the necessary special knowledge not only in the field of psychological diagnostics, but who have no psychological education at all.
A real disaster for domestic psychological diagnostics is the uncontrolled flow of publications that contain diagnostic techniques. These publications should certainly be considered pirated, since the methods collected in them are published without the consent of their authors or those who are their legal successors. For
Any psychodiagnostician has an obvious and unshakable requirement to limit the spread of his methods - this is one of the main requirements included in the ethical code of a psychodiagnostician. Its compliance is necessary to ensure that diagnostic techniques do not fall into the hands of non-professionals, as well as those who will subsequently be diagnosed. Preliminary familiarization of the subject with psychological methods will not allow the diagnostician to make the correct diagnosis. Consequently, the uncontrolled dissemination of methods and their free sale deprive the professional diagnostician of his tools, making him unarmed and powerless in relation to specific practical tasks that require the identification of psychological characteristics. Therefore, it is unlikely that those who publish collections of diagnostic techniques can be considered psychodiagnosticians.
Their lack of professionalism is confirmed by the fact that in the collections they publish, no matter how beautifully they are called - “The Best Psychological Tests” (1992-1994), “Encyclopedia of Psychological Tests” (1997), “Practical Psychodiagnostics” (2000) - there are an innumerable number errors, inaccuracies both in the stimulus material and keys, and in the understanding and interpretation of the results of the methods.
The noted problems associated with the use and development of psychodiagnostic methods are a consequence of the fact that psychological diagnostics as an academic discipline appeared in our country relatively recently - in the 80s. XX century The demand for specialists in this field has significantly exceeded the supply and this has led to a stream of unprepared people pouring into psychological diagnostics.
