Negative mental states and their prevention

What is a person's mental state

Mental state is a characteristic of a person’s mental activity. Mental states can be divided according to the following criteria:

• motivational and incentive
• emotional-evaluative
• activation-energy

In addition to the mental state of an individual person, in psychology they also distinguish the mental state of a group of people, this mental state is in turn divided into:

• public opinion
• public mood

Mental states have certain properties, these include:

• integrity
• immobility
• relative stability
• originality
• typicality
• polarity
• manifold

A person’s mental state is associated with mental processes.

Mental states can be called holistic, since they control human behavior at a certain point in time.

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A complex and holistic character is manifested in cases where a person is convinced or confident in something. In this example, a number of components are involved, such as cognitive, emotional, volitional components.

Mental states can be called mobile because they have a beginning, a process and an end.

Unlike mental processes, the dynamics of mental states themselves are not particularly important, therefore mental states are characterized by stability.

A person’s mental states can influence the qualities of a person, and sometimes even break the basic qualities of a person.

As stated above, mental states are diverse and polar. In other words, for every positive mental state of a person, there is an opposite negative psychological state.

Text of the book “Psychophysiology of human conditions”

It has been established that military pilots lose the ability to effectively control an aircraft when they are forced to operate in simple and non-stressful conditions. The higher their preparation was, the more the relief of the usual tension in their activities made itself felt. Obviously, simple conditions are not a sufficient stimulus for the inclusion of a stereotype tuned to acute situations. Consequently, the conditions of activity are included in the stereotype.

Since the state of readiness for competition is associated with a dominant state, one should not give a reason for the premature discharge of this dominant. It is necessary to maintain the athlete’s desire to show results before the decisive start, restraining him in qualifying competitions and preliminary races. Otherwise, the athlete may suffer a major setback, as happened at one of the Olympics with one famous javelin thrower. In the qualifying competition, where 16 athletes were selected to continue competing the next day and compete for Olympic medals, she showed the best result of the season in the world (although she only had to fulfill a relatively low standard). In this regard, many correspondents have already “reserved” a gold medal for her. However, in the main competitions the athlete was nicely replaced. With a weak result for herself, almost 5 m worse than the previous one, she lost the championship.

So, sports form is associated with the maximum mobilization of an athlete to demonstrate high achievement, and this mobilization must be supported by his physical, technical and tactical preparedness. However, although this is a stable, but still temporary state of the athlete (its duration is determined by many factors, including individual characteristics: some athletes can be in a mobilized state for several weeks, others for several days). In light of the above, two conclusions can be drawn: firstly, during the season, an athlete may enter and exit the sports uniform several times; secondly, it is characteristic of both great masters and advanced athletes, since the latter can also mobilize for any competition and show their best result in the season.

3.8. State of parabiosis

Mental and physical influences that are excessive in strength, duration or frequency lead to the development of inhibitory conditions, which N. E. Vvedensky called parabiosis

(“para” – about, “bios” – life).

According to Vvedensky’s ideas, during the transition from excitation to an inhibitory state, parabiotic stages arise. A feature of these stages is a violation of power relations and a change in the quality of response.

In the first stage, called equalizing

, both to a strong and to a weak stimulus the reaction in magnitude turns out to be the same.
In the second stage - paradoxical
- a smaller reaction occurs to a strong stimulus than to a weak one.
In the third stage - inhibitory
- there is no response to either a strong or weak stimulus.

These types of reactions were also identified in the laboratory of I.P. Pavlov when studying conditioned reflex activity in animals (Pavlov called them hypnotic, or inhibitory, phases). It was possible to show that not only the quantitative characteristics of reactions (their magnitude), but also the quality of the reactions themselves can be distorted: there is no reaction to a positive signal, but there is a reaction to a negative one. The stage in which these qualitative perversions are observed has been called ultraparadoxical

.

In the same laboratory, N.I. Krasnogorsky identified three stages of development of extremely strong excitation, similar in characteristics to Vvedensky’s stages of parabiosis. Krasnogorsky called them excitatory

(from Lat. excito - to excite).
The simple
excitatory stage is characterized by increased excitation, increased responses, but with the preservation of the law of force.
The equalizing
excitatory stage is characterized by an equal increase in the response to both weak and strong stimuli (due to a greater increase in the response to a weak stimulus).
The paradoxical
stage is characterized by extreme overexcitation; conditioned stimuli, if they cause responses, are short-lived and very strong, but may not cause them. These responses are similar to spasms of disordered activity. Excitatory stages can appear after inhibitory parabiotic stages, but they can also occur independently. Pavlov associated the appearance of apathy in a person with the paradoxical phase, and the appearance of negativism with the ultraparadoxical phase.

Inadequacy of human behavior may be associated with the presence of these stages. For example, in basketball, there were cases when players threw the ball into their basket, having lost orientation under great mental stress. It is also known that a person, upon hearing the news of the death of a loved one, may begin to smile and giggle instead of bursting into tears.

…

Just the facts

During a basketball match, a few seconds before the end, the Dynamo team, losing by one point, took possession of the ball. It would seem that the player holding the ball should have strived to quickly organize an attack on the opponent’s hoop in order to score the ball and win the match. However, he was in no hurry to part with the ball and held it until the final whistle sounded. After the match, he explained to his surprised teammates that he was "playing for time" because he believed his team had won the point.

I had the opportunity to observe a gymnast whose parabiotic stages persistently manifested themselves during a training camp. According to her coach’s description, the gymnast “came apart” and lost her “athletic form.” It ended with her refusing to participate in the USSR championship.

Section III

Mental conditions

Chapter 4

Motivational-volitional states

4.1. Motivational states

Need as a state

. A fairly large number of psychologists consider need as a state, in particular, as a state of tension (Dzhidaryan, 1976; Myasishchev, 1957; Rudik, 1967, etc.). It's hard to disagree with this. After all, the experience of need, the very fact of its occurrence, indicate changes in the state of the body and personality. When a person says that he misses someone or something, this means that he has a motivational state caused by the need to communicate with loved ones as a result of a long separation or the desire, for example, to work after a long rest or a forced break.

Another thing is what kind of state this is and whether it is the only expression of a need, that is, is it enough to say that a need is a specific state of the organism and personality. B.I. Dodonov (1973), calling the experience of need a need state, believes that it is not yet a need, since it is not the primary source of human activity and does not seem to fulfill its main function - incentive. From his point of view, the state of need only signals that the satisfaction of the need has encountered difficulties or cannot continue to be carried out without careful orientation in the external situation, that is, without intensifying cognitive activity. The state of need forces us to look for the cause of “suffering”, to find out what a person lacks. All this is true. The only strange thing is that the author, calling this state of need, separates it from the need itself, without recognizing its function of motivation. But this condition encourages the search for the causes of “suffering.”

Bulgarian philosopher Lyuben Nikolov (1984) criticizes the view of need as a state of need manifested “here and now” from other positions. In his opinion, anyone who accepts that need occurs only when the organism is in a state of disturbed equilibrium must also accept that when the organism leaves this state, the need also disappears. But is it really possible to say, Nikolov continues, that after satisfying hunger, the need for food ceases to be inherent in the body? The fact that at a given moment an organism or subject does not experience a need in the form of a specific tension - aspiration, does not mean that the corresponding need ceases to be inherent in it after the extinction of this form of its manifestation. A satisfied need, the author writes, is not the absence of a need. Nikolov believes that the experience of satisfaction is one of the forms of existence of needs.

A similar position is taken by D. A. Leontyev (1992), believing that, having accepted a need state as a need, one cannot talk about needs that do not appear “here and now,” that is, about latent needs. It turns out, he writes, that if the need is latent, then it is as if it does not exist. As an argument, Leontyev gives the following example: if a person does not currently feel attracted to something or someone, is he really deprived of this need?

Of course, it would be naive to deny that man, as a biological and social being, is the owner ( carrier)

) needs (environmental requirements) that are not currently updated, but appear from time to time. If you ask an adult what needs he might have, he will list a good dozen (including, however, the values ​​that he would like to have in order to satisfy existing needs; but this mistake is characteristic not only of ordinary people, but also of sociologists (Ossovsky, 1985), and psychologists too, as has already been discussed).

However, this only means that, firstly, a person has physiological and psychological mechanisms for responding to the need that periodically appears to him (i.e., the body and personality have these properties

;
obviously, this is why K. Obukhovsky considers needs to be properties), and that, secondly, he has long-term memory for experienced needs
. [4] Therefore, needs are “latent” (D. A. Leontyev) or “potential” (B . S. Magun) is nothing more than
knowledge
about emerging needs (“known needs”). And it would be more accurate to talk not about “latent” or “potential” needs, but about “known” needs, i.e., about what a person needs in order to exist comfortably.

Thus, both Nikolov and Leontyev had an involuntary substitution of one thing - that a person is inherent

needs - to others - what a person
has
a need at the moment.

Obviously, one should distinguish between the phrases “to experience (feel) a need” (A. Pieron, 1970, for example, writes that to experience a need is, in essence, to feel a lack of something), “to have a need” (without realizing it) and “ to be the owner of a need,” i.e., its bearer as a living reactive being (similar to how a person has reason, abilities, mental functions, etc., which at the moment do not necessarily have to be in an actualized state).

It should be borne in mind that for a person, need is one of the motivating

forces that determine his activity (primarily mental), therefore, denying the view of need as an operational state charged with the energy of motivation leads the problem of a person’s voluntary activity to a dead end. In addition, the meaning of organizing a person as a living being is not that everything should always be there (even in a latent state, like smoldering coals that only need to be fanned to get a flame), but that at a certain moment this necessary thing will appear , self-organized (it was not for nothing that Pavlov said that the human and animal body is a self-organizing system).

So, it is the actual need that can be considered as a need state. Since it is related to motivation, it can be classified as a motivational state.

Varieties of the need state to a certain extent are attraction and curiosity; N.D. Levitov (1964) considers them exactly as states. He also talks about interest

as a state reflecting the actualization of interest. But if situational interest (as the experience of interest, passion) can be attributed to states (though, rather, to procedural, active states, rather than motivational ones), then stable interest obviously characterizes an attitude, not a state. In addition, interest has another meaning - as material interest, receiving benefits. Based on all of the above reasons, we do not classify interest as a motivational state.

State of passion

. The state of enthusiasm is characterized by complete immersion in an activity, having interest in it and receiving pleasure from it, and detachment from distractions. As Csikszentmihalüi (1990, 1999), who studied the mentioned state, notes, it occurs when a person’s attention is captured by something to such an extent that it seems to him that nothing is more important or nothing exists at all.

Passion has a number of characteristics. Firstly, people in this state are fully aware of their actions, understand their meaning and continue to do so, even without knowing what it will lead to. Secondly, they are able to perceive immediate feedback. At every stage they go in the right direction and make the right choice. Thirdly, they are confident that they are capable of the task facing them. They are not anxious or bored; they are faced with a problem that they can solve. In a passionate state, people lack fear and anxiety.

Apathy

. This is a mental state characterized by the absence of any needs, loss of interest in activities and even in life, which becomes aimless. External signs of apathy in the latter case are a person’s detachment from other people and from the world around him as a whole, indifference to everything and passivity, lack of the need to love and be loved. A person loses the ability to express emotions normally. He has no desire to have any desires, much less satisfy them. With apathy, everything depreciates.

From the standpoint of psychoanalysis, apathy is the result of the work of the defense mechanisms of the self, which contribute to the neutralization of painful experiences associated, for example, with hopeless despair, and the resolution of intrapersonal conflicts by changing life attitudes in such a way that a person’s needs lose any significance for him.

…

Point of view-13

According to R. May, apathy, accompanied by a lack of feelings, emotions, passions and a manifestation of indifference to the surrounding world, other people and oneself, is becoming a characteristic feature of modern man. The opposite of love is not so much hatred as apathy. The opposite of will is not indecision, but detachment and indifference. Apathy leads to the elimination of love and will, it provokes violence. It is apathy that becomes one of the manifestations of mental illness. “Apathy and the schizoid world go hand in hand as the cause and effect of each other.”

Leibin V. M. Dictionary-reference book on psychoanalysis. St. Petersburg: Peter, 2001. P. 49

G.S. Sullivan (1999) believes that in a state of apathy, the unfulfilled need does not disappear, but is only significantly reduced, as a result of which the tension, although reduced, remains at a level sufficient to maintain the vital functions of the body. In his opinion, apathy is an exclusively energy-consuming state of the body.

State of laziness

.
Laziness is a motivational state with a minus sign, characterized by a lack of desire to work or do anything and accompanied by the experience of pleasure from idleness (Platonov, 1984). In this regard,
it is hardly correct an unmotivated Laziness is motivated by the desire to maintain the existing state of peace.

State of confusion

.
This is a state when a person does not know what to do, what to prefer. Confusion is an intellectual state characterized by a loss of logical connection between ongoing or planned actions. The perception of the situation, its analysis and assessment are disrupted, as a result of which it becomes difficult to make reasonable decisions. Therefore, confusion is characterized by inappropriate actions or complete inaction. It may accompany panic, but in itself is not an experience of danger, although it may be its consequence. A more negative state is also possible - confusion, confusion
as an expression of panic.

4.2. Volitional states

In each specific case, volitional regulation manifests itself through volitional states. However, as E. Yu. Sosnovikova (1975) notes, the volitional state is not identical to will and volitional qualities, since the volitional state can also be experienced by a weak-willed person.

The discussion of volitional states was first started by N.D. Levitov. True, he very carefully titled the chapter dedicated to them in his book: “Mental states in the volitional activity of man.” Levitov talks about states of volitional activity and passivity, about determination and indecisiveness, about “confidence - uncertainty”, about the “struggle of motives” as a complex and typical volitional state, about “restraint - lack of restraint” and even about repentance. However, most of the phenomena he identifies, from my point of view, are not states, much less volitional ones (although it all depends on what is considered a state). Sosnovikova, for example, rightly believes that the “struggle of motives” cannot be attributed to states. From her point of view, a volitional state is the long-term suppression of one motive by another.

In the same way, in my opinion, “confidence” or “uncertainty”, which characterize the process of assessing a situation, forecasting success or failure, are not volitional states, i.e., they are associated with the information side of a person’s mental activity, with his intellectual activity. Uncertainty can also be a personality trait if a person has an inadequate underestimate of his capabilities or is characterized by increased suggestibility, obsession with thoughts, and emotional instability (Dashkevich, 1985).

Levitov also speaks of a volitional state, characterized by a certain ratio of “decisiveness - indecisiveness.” In the psychological literature, these terms most often mean volitional qualities rather than states. There is another term for the volitional state - “determination”. Levitov does not separate these two terms, believing that they are similar in meaning and are often used as synonyms. Therefore, in his work, when speaking about the volitional state, he uses one or another term. I believe that, in order to avoid confusion, it is advisable to separate these two concepts, giving each of them its own meaning.

V.I. Selivanov and V.K. Kalin speak about volitional states. Selivanov defines these states as “a class of mental temporary states that are optimal internal conditions of the individual that contribute to overcoming the difficulties that have arisen” (1974, p. 9). The question of the signs that make it possible to distinguish volitional states into a special group, has, according to Kalin, great theoretical significance, since its positive solution will be a partial answer to another question: is it possible to talk about a specific phenomenology of will? Unfortunately, it must be stated that not much progress has been achieved in this direction.

Volitional states become the subject of discussion when they say: a person has become bolder, braver, ventured, mobilized, etc. Consequently, we can talk about states of courage, determination, “combat excitement,” as well as states of concentration, mobilization, readiness, vigilance (this state reflects a person’s readiness to respond to expected stimuli and is associated with the organization of attention).

State of mobilization readiness

. It is known that a person, depending on circumstances, can mobilize his available capabilities in different ways. In this regard, O. Graf (1943) put forward the idea of ​​several levels of performance. He proposed a scheme of interaction between physiological and mental readiness for work (Fig. 4.1).

The graph identifies four levels of performance (mobilization). Level A corresponds to a person’s protective reserves, activated in extreme situations that cause excitation of the sympathoadrenal system. The name of this level, according to Graf, emphasizes its low dependence on will. Level B is maximum performance, manifested in a normal situation through volitional effort. Levels B and D correspond to performance achieved without special volitional efforts.

The state of mobilization readiness was studied mainly by sports psychologists (Puni, 1972, 1977; Genov, 1971), but it undoubtedly manifests itself in other types of activity, including intellectual (in students before exams, in a scientist before a report, in an artist before going on stage, etc.). This state is characterized as quite stable, lasting from several hours to several days, reflecting the emergence of a target dominant that directs a person’s consciousness to achieve a high result, and the readiness to deal with any difficulties during the upcoming activity. This is the readiness to show maximum volitional effort, to prevent the development of an unfavorable emotional state, to direct consciousness not to experience the significance of the upcoming activity and the expectation of success or failure, but to control one’s actions. The described state reflects self-tuning to the full mobilization of one’s capabilities, and precisely those that ensure the achievement of results in a given type of activity.

Psychologically, the mobilization state is characterized by the transfer of information necessary for effective activity from long-term memory to operational memory; activation of thought processes (acceleration of operational thinking); sharpened perception of adequate stimuli, creating confidence in success.

Volitional mobilization, if necessary, includes emotional mechanisms in regulation with the participation of the sympathoadrenal system, so that the regulation process approaches the extreme (for example, by inducing “sports anger” in oneself, annoyance with oneself or a state of inspiration, etc.). However, the level of mobilization of the body's reserves, which is achieved during affects and is caused involuntarily, cannot be achieved with self-excitation.

Since volitional mobilization is a dominant state, one cannot give reason for the premature discharge of this dominant (a phenomenon quite often observed in sports practice). It is necessary to preserve a person’s desire to perform the upcoming activity, his energy charge.

In many cases there is no direct relationship between volitional mobilization and its result

. Indicative in this regard is the fact that the maximum value of muscle tension is achieved with a volitional effort, which the subjects do not consider to be maximum, and further strengthening of volitional impulses does not lead to an increase in muscle tension. The data of E. P. Ilyin, V. V. Skrobin and M. I. Semenov (1967) are consistent with this: among schoolchildren, the maximum frequency of movements was often greater when they tried to work “fast, but not very fast” and not when the instruction was given to “work as quickly as possible.” Typological characteristics of a person also matter. Thus, knowledge of the opponent’s result, if it is high, helps to increase mobilization readiness in persons with a strong nervous system; For those with a weak nervous system, this result can be depressing, so it is better for them to compete with themselves, with their own best result. Difficult tasks cause excessive stress in “anxious” subjects, which leads to a deterioration in performance.

Mobilization is also facilitated by a clear and specific setting by the mentor (coach, teacher) of the task for the upcoming activity, taking into account the student’s capabilities.

Mobilization readiness is caused by a person consciously, and it should not be confused with a pre-start (pre-work) state, which can arise involuntarily (conditioned reflex), as a result of a person getting into a familiar working environment.

For a person, a state of combat excitement

. This condition was first discussed by B. M. Teplov (1954). It is positively emotionally colored and associated with active conscious activity at the time of danger. A person experiences an increase in mental activity and a kind of pleasure from experiencing danger. Pushkin’s brilliant lines can serve as an excellent illustration of this:

There is rapture in battle, And in the dark abyss on the edge, And in the furious ocean, Among the menacing waves and stormy darkness, And in the Arabian hurricane, And in the breath of the Plague.[5]

Conditions that characterize a person’s mobilization include composure (attentiveness, concentration).

A state of concentration. This volitional state is associated with deliberate concentration of attention on the process of activity. It was about this concentration in the creative process that A. S. Pushkin wrote: “I forget the world.”

The physiological basis of the state of concentration is the state of “operational rest” (according to Ukhtomsky). It arises as a consequence of an attitude to perceive a particular stimulus (signal) and perform a particular action. The emergence of concentration while waiting for this signal leads to an increase in latent excitation (excitation that is below the response threshold and is designated as the resting activation level

). Therefore, many authors rightly believe that the installation contributes to a faster response to the trigger signal. After all, the stronger the latent excitation, the sooner under the influence of the trigger stimulus it reaches the “threshold” level, the shorter the latent (hidden) period of the corresponding reactions will be.

Indeed, a number of experimental data confirm this. Precommand has been shown to shorten the latency period. On the contrary, a suddenly appearing signal leads to an increase in the latent period (Levandovsky, 1962; Seashore, 1963; Konopkin, 1964).

Starting lack of composure

(absent-mindedness) is a state opposite to mobilization readiness (as a person’s inability to mobilize and concentrate with the help of volitional effort). When a person is focused on solving a particular problem, he cannot direct his capabilities to achieve the goal. The initial lack of composure manifests itself in an abundance of unnecessary movements; in a “running” (and sometimes detached) gaze; in quick connection to everything that happens around and is not related to the upcoming activity; in excessive talkativeness; in facial expressions that do not correspond to the situation - smiles, winks at others, grimaces. The facial expression is not strong-willed and collected, but indicates that the person’s thoughts and feelings are in a chaotic state.

Lack of concentration at the start can also occur when the opponent is underestimated, as well as when there is low motivation for the upcoming activity.

State of determination

. Obviously, this term was first used by W. James, but he rather used it to designate decisiveness (as a volitional quality or as a form of its manifestation in the decision-making process). A.F. Lazursky wrote about determination as a state (1995). He described it as a peculiar feeling that is specific to all acts of will and is one of those that excites and accompanies the resolution of tension. The term “determination” emphasizes readiness for action, and therefore, in addition to the emotional and intellectual side, in a state of determination there is a specific experience, thanks to which the person himself attribute this state not to feelings, but to the volitional sphere.

This state may be brief or longer, but it cannot last for a significant period of time. N.D. Levitov writes that “determination, unlike decisiveness, is always short-term” (1963, p. 160).

Understanding the state of determination as readiness, one should realize that this is not a readiness to make a quick decision

, as Levitov believes, but the readiness
to begin to implement
the decision made,
to initiate
action in the presence of risk, the possibility of unpleasant consequences. Thus, this state occurs simultaneously with the decision, and not before it. Its characteristic feature is that as one approaches the desired object in time and space, determination can decrease if a person is not confident of success, and even turn into its opposite - indecision.

Let me give you the following example. One young athlete, a high jumper, really wanted to fulfill the first category standard at these competitions. The first two attempts at the height she needed ended unsuccessfully: the bar was knocked down. One last try left. Fearing failure, the athlete started her run 17 times, but never pushed off the ground to jump. She made the decision to jump every time, otherwise she would not have taken a running start. But she was unable to maintain the state of determination to fulfill her intention - to jump - during each run.

The state of determination arises faster when there is no time to delay the implementation of the decision made or when such delay is pointless and only creates an awkward situation.

An important factor contributing to the manifestation of determination is the ability to self-discipline, which leads to the emergence of the habit of initiating any actions or actions without hesitation, delay, or unnecessary hesitation (for example, getting up early in the morning).

State of restraint

. Restraint, according to Levitov, is a mental state in which behavior is subject to reasonable control. However, Levitov, describing this state, identifies it with volitional qualities - endurance and patience. Of course, there is an element of patience in restraint, but this is not the kind of patience that is manifested in physical effort or holding one's breath. Essentially, this is a state of volitional tension to restrain impulses that appear when certain emotional states arise (joy, anger, anger).

Restraint as a momentary state can be an expression of a person’s self-discipline and good manners, or it can also reflect his cowardice: a person restrained himself and did not be rude to his boss because he was afraid of his revenge. But in any case, this is a volitional state, since it is associated with the suppression of the emerging need with the help of volitional effort.

Classification of human mental states

The classification of psychological states of an individual is based on the following indicators. Depending on the role of the individual and the situation, the following are distinguished:

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• personal mental states
• situational mental states

Depending on the main elements:

• intellectual
• strong-willed
• emotional

Depending on depth:

• deep
• less deep
• superficial

Depending on the time spent:

• short-term
• protracted
• long-term

Depending on the impact they have on a person’s personality:

• positive
• negative
• sthenic
• asthenic

Depending on the extent to which a person is aware of what is happening to him:

• conscious
• more aware
• less aware
• unconscious

Note 1

Mental states influence mental processes, being the background of their course. For example, a state of concentration mobilizes the processes of attention, perception, memory, thinking, will and emotions of a person. In turn, this state, repeated many times, can become a personality quality—concentration.

Cheat sheet on “Psychology”

12.Mental states (activity, passivity, vigor, fatigue, apathy, euphoria).

The psyche is a reflection of objects and phenomena of objective reality, which is a function of the brain.

3 main forms of mental phenomena:

-mental processes

-mental states

- mental properties of personality

They are all interconnected and transform into one another. For example, such a mental process as observation, depending on the object and conditions of observation, can cause states of fatigue and passivity or excitement and activity. If an employee, by the nature of his activities, has to systematically observe, then various mental states are combined into one whole and the mental characteristic of his personality—observation—becomes relatively stable. This mental state influences the mental state of the person. Influencing the mental state, observation as a personality influence on mental processes.

Personal activity

- a special type of activity or special activity, characterized by the intensification of its main characteristics (purposefulness, motivation, awareness, mastery of methods and techniques of action, emotionality), as well as the presence of such properties as initiative and situational awareness.
Passivity
is a characteristic of a child’s personality and behavior, determined by a particularly low level of activity.
Often characterizes children raised in conditions of lack of communication. Typically, passive children are distinguished by a predominance of reactive behavior over proactive behavior, a flattened emotional sphere, a low level of development of activity and communication, a poorly formed self-image and low self-esteem. fatigue
frequently .
This leads to countless small mistakes that have a negative impact on both professional and personal life. vigor
depends on basic internal and external factors, which can be considered as "switches" on the control panel of the mind
.
Apathy is a state of indifference to everything that happens, suppressed emotions and a decrease or complete absence of interests and aspirations.
Euphoria
(from the Greek eyphoria) is an increased joyful, cheerful mood, a state of complacency and carelessness that does not correspond to objective circumstances, in which facial and general motor animation and psychomotor agitation are observed.

13. Mental education (knowledge, basic skills, simple skills, complex skills, complex skills).

Psychological education is a psychological phenomenon that is formed in the process of a person acquiring life and professional experience, the content of which includes a special combination of knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Knowledge –

This is the totality of information, concepts and ideas about objects and phenomena of objective reality acquired by a person.

Initial skills –

This is the independent application of acquired knowledge in the practical activities of a person.

Simple Skills –

These are simple techniques and actions performed automatically, without sufficient concentration.

Complex Skills–

these are learned

automated motor, sensory and mental complex actions, performed accurately, easily and quickly with little effort of consciousness and ensuring the effectiveness of human activity.

Transforming an action into a complex skill allows a person to free up consciousness to solve more important tasks of the activity.

Complex skills –

This is the ability of a person, achieved in the learning process, to creatively apply knowledge and skills and achieve the desired result in the continuously changing conditions of practical activity.

14.Motivational sphere of personality. Characteristics of the motivational sphere: breadth, flexibility, hierarchy.

The breadth of the motivational sphere is the qualitative diversity of motivational factors - motives, needs, goals, presented at each of their levels. The more diverse motives, needs and goals a person has, the more developed the motivational sphere is.

Flexibility of the motivational sphere. A more flexible motivational sphere is considered to be one in which, to satisfy motivational impulses of a more general nature, more diverse motivational incentives of a lower level can be used.

Breadth is the diversity of the potential range of objects that can serve as a means of satisfying a need for a person, and flexibility is the mobility of connections that exist at early levels of the hierarchical organization of the motivational sphere.

Hierarchical character of the structure of each of the levels of organization of the motivational sphere, taken separately.

15.Types of motivation: dispositional motivation, situational motivation. Conscious and unconscious motivation.

-internal (the starting and final points of explanation are the psychological properties of the subject of behavior) - motives, needs, goals, intentions, desires, interests, etc. - dispositional motivation

- external (external conditions and circumstances of his actions) - incentives emanating from the current situation - situational motivation.

Motives can be updated under the influence of a specific situation, and the activation of specific dispositions leads to a change in the situation.

16. Concept and specificity of human needs. Characteristics of human needs.

Need, want - an internal state of psychological or functional feeling of insufficiency of something, manifests itself depending on situational factors. Needs are classified into biological and social, material and spiritual, individual and social.

17.Human needs. Types of needs. Classification of human needs in foreign (A. Maslow, E. Fromm) and domestic psychology (A. N. Leontiev, A. V. Petrovsky, P. A. Rudik).

There are many classifications of needs. The first classification divides all needs by origin into two large groups - natural and cultural. The first of them are programmed at the genetic level, and the second are formed in the process of social life.

E. Fromm (1998) believes that a person has the following social needs: for human connections (associating oneself with a group, feeling “we,” avoiding loneliness); in self-affirmation (the need to verify one’s own importance in order to avoid feelings of inferiority and infringement); in affection (warm feelings for a living being and the need for reciprocal ones - otherwise apathy and aversion to life); in self-awareness (awareness of oneself as a unique individuality); in the system of orientation and the object of worship (involvement in culture and ideology, partial attitude towards ideal objects).

Maslow tried to explain why people are driven by different needs at different times. The scientist believes that human needs are arranged in order of hierarchical importance from most to least urgent. In order of importance, the needs are arranged in the following order:

— physiological needs;

— self-preservation needs;

- social needs;

- needs for respect;

- needs for self-affirmation.

A. N. Leontiev in 1956, accordingly, divided needs into objective and functional.

A. V. Petrovsky (1986) divides needs: by origin - into natural and cultural, by subject (object) - into material and spiritual; natural needs can be material, and cultural needs can be material and spiritual.

P.A. Rudik (1967) distinguishes between social and personal needs, which is hardly correct: every need is personal. Another thing is what goals (social or personal) the satisfaction of a person’s needs corresponds to. But this will characterize the motive, not the need.

19.Individual personality characteristics. Temperament. Properties of temperament. Methods for diagnosing individual personality characteristics.

A person’s individuality is determined by his appearance, manner of communication, abilities, knowledge, interests, habits, health and many other characteristics. Temperament is formed by the properties of human behavior, determined by the physiological characteristics of higher nervous activity. These properties are passed on through genes. BASIC PROPERTIES OF TEMPERAMENT:

1. Activity is the intensity of mental and motor activity. Activity can be high, medium and low.

2. The predominant attitude towards the new - manifests itself in the nature of a person’s reactions when encountering unfamiliar phenomena, situations, objects, people, food, etc. This attitude can be positive (smile, interest, curiosity), negative (anxiety, fear, avoidance), or indifferent.

3. The prevailing mood is elevated, good, depressed.

4. Emotional excitability (sensitivity) - can be high, medium and low. Accordingly, people are called excitable, balanced or little emotional.

5. Flexibility - reflects a person’s ability to quickly switch, adapt, i.e. change goal, point of view, mood, behavior, etc. Therefore, people can be divided into:

flexible, moderately flexible and inflexible.

6. Attention - reflects the ability to focus on something without being distracted by extraneous stimuli. Attentiveness can be high, medium and low.

20. Social production and human needs.

The first attempt to develop a theory of consumption is associated with the names of the following thinkers of the 19th-20th centuries:

1. Karl Marx – the idea of ​​commodity fetishism.

2. Veblen theory of conspicuous consumption

3.Simmel’s series of key ideas in fashion theory

4. Sombart concept of luxury

5.Max Weber – the concept of status groups and Protestant ethics.

21.Service as an activity, classification of types of service.

Service activity is a type of activity aimed at meeting people's needs by providing individual services. Classification of types of service by areas of its implementation .

The service sector, or service activities, usually includes a number of large sectors of the economy: trade, finance, transport, healthcare, entertainment and sports, as well as science, education and management (although activity in the last three areas is not limited to the provision of services) . A more detailed classification includes in service activities household services, freight and passenger transport services, communications, housing and communal services, educational services, culture, tourist and excursion services, physical education and sports services, medical, health resort services, and legal. Another classification of service is based on four main forms of human activity: - material-transformative (this is a change by man in the substance of nature, the creation of the world of things around us, as well as the transformation of society and the human body.); — cognitive (aimed at satisfying not the material, but the spiritual needs of a person - providing knowledge or information.); — value-orientation (to establish what significance these phenomena have for a person, to develop a certain attitude towards them, to evaluate them.); - communicative, or communication (this is the organization of communication (communication) between individuals and (or) organizations.).

23. Models of consumer decision making. The process of making a purchase. Consumer decision making process.

The consumer decision-making process can be interpreted as problem solving. This process is often viewed as rational decision making. In this case, a careful weighing and assessment of the utilitarian, functional attributes of the product takes place. In other cases, the emotion-driven, hedonic benefits of the object of choice dominate. Here the object of consumption has a symbolic meaning, expressed in sensory pleasures, dreams and aesthetic impressions. Purchase and use generally reflect a mixture of both utilitarian and hedonic preferences. Consumer decision-making is influenced by a number of external and internal factors; it solves problems of varying scale and complexity, but has a stable structure, including the following stages:

Positive mental states of a person and mental processes

Mental state depends on:

• individual mental and neuropsychic qualities
• those mental states that a person had previously
• life experience
• age
• physical condition
• situations

The main positive mental states include:

• joy
• happiness
• Love
• interest
• creative inspiration
• determination

Joy is understood as a mental state in which a person experiences a feeling of pleasure, good mood. Joy is contrasted with sadness and sadness. Joy comes more from mental satisfaction than physical satisfaction.

Happiness is the mental state of a person when he is completely satisfied with his life. Happiness is the joy we feel when we have the opportunity to fulfill ourselves.

Love is a feeling that one person experiences for another, a feeling of strong sympathy and affection. Love is an indicator of happiness. Like most mental states of a person, love has the opposite feeling - hatred.

Interest is very important in work and study. If a person is interested, this indicates his high professional suitability. But in addition to being interested in their profile, a person must also be curious about other areas of knowledge.

Creative inspiration is also an important mental state of a person. It is a combination of emotions and intellectual activity.

Creative inspiration influences many psychological processes that occur in the human psyche, for example, perception is heightened, many images arise, memory is sharpened, thinking improves, new ideas appear, and concentration increases.

In training and professional activities, such a psychological state as determination plays an important role. In this case, we should talk about breadth of thinking, intelligence, and insight.

Negative mental states and their prevention

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Along with positive (asthenic) states, a person may experience negative (asthenic) mental states in the course of his life (activity, communication).

Mental tension

Due to the novelty, ambiguity, and confusion of a particular life situation, a state of mental tension may arise in extreme (extreme) conditions.

We can and should talk about a state of purely operational (operator, “business”) tension, that is, tension that arises as a result of the complexity of the activity being performed (difficulties in sensory discrimination, states of alertness, complexity of hand-eye coordination, intellectual load, etc.) and emotional tension caused by emotional extreme conditions (working with people, including patients, offenders, etc.).

Emotional stress is a necessary condition for productive intellectual activity, since conscious assessment is always preceded by an emotional assessment, which performs the function of preliminary selection of hypotheses. Here, even negative emotions can play a positive role due to the fact that there is an interaction between “intellectual” (emotional activation, which is a product of the intellectual process) and “situational” (emotional activation, generated by the general situation in which the intellectual process takes place) emotions.

Stress

Exposure to extreme operating conditions can lead to the emergence in a person of a specific state of neuropsychological tension, called stress (from the English “tension”).

Stress should be considered only such emotional tension, which to one degree or another worsens the course of life, reduces a person’s performance and reliability at work.

In relation to stress, a person does not have targeted and adequate reactions. This is the main difference between stress and a stressful and difficult task, to which (regardless of its severity) the person performing it reacts adequately.

In a state of stress, difficulties arise in the implementation of functions associated with the focus of thinking on solving certain problems. Under severe stress, a general arousal reaction occurs, and the person's behavior becomes (to a greater or lesser extent) disorganized, and the level of performance drops sharply. An even greater increase in stress leads to general inhibition, passivity, and inactivity.

As a rule, stressors are emotionally negative stimuli (for example, failures in activities and communication, fear of criticism or making a responsible decision, time pressure, information overload, etc.). But cases cannot be excluded, for example, the arrival of a loved one, which to a certain extent allows us to talk about emotional stress, adequate and inadequate, and the objective situation that caused them.

The degree of stress in a person’s reactions depends not only on the strength and duration of the external emotional influence (stressor), but also on the strength of the nervous system, on many qualities of his personality, on past experience, training, etc. Stress is primarily an emotional state. But due to the close connection between emotions and intellectual activity, we can talk about “intellectual stress,” “intellectual frustration,” and even “intellectual aggression.” After stress, as after other strong emotional experiences, according to the psychoanalytic concept, a person experiences catharsis (purification) as mental relief.

Anxiety - anxiety

A person’s state of stress can often be accompanied by such a complex mental state as “worry”, “anxiety”, “anxiety”. Anxiety is a psychological state that is caused by possible or probable troubles, surprise, changes in the usual environment and activities, delay of pleasant, desirable things, and is expressed in specific experiences (fears, worries, disturbances of peace, etc.) and reactions. Based on its predominant component, anxiety can be classified as an emotional state. But this state also plays a big role in the process of motivating human behavior, in certain cases directly acting as a motive.

Conditions that cause concern - anxiety (“troublemakers”) will be, for example, unexpected changes in the activity environment; failures and mistakes; the possibility of various troubles due to the specifics of activity or communication; waiting (sometimes for a long time) for a certain result, etc.

“Mild” forms of anxiety serve a person as a signal to eliminate existing shortcomings in work, to cultivate determination, courage, and self-confidence.

If anxiety arises for insignificant reasons, is inadequate to the objects and situations that caused it, takes forms indicating a loss of self-control, is “sticky” for a long time, and is poorly overcome, then this state, of course, negatively affects the implementation of activities and communication.

Frustration

Difficulties and possible failures in life under certain conditions can lead to a person developing not only mental states of stress and anxiety, but also a state of frustration.

In relation to a person, frustration in the most general form can be defined as a complex emotional and motivational state, expressed in disorganization of consciousness, activity and communication and resulting from prolonged blocking of goal-directed behavior by objectively insurmountable or subjectively perceived difficulties.

Frustration manifests itself when a personally significant motive remains unsatisfied or its satisfaction is inhibited, and the resulting feeling of dissatisfaction reaches a degree of expression that exceeds the tolerance threshold of a particular person and tends to stabilize.

We can distinguish states, typical reactions that appear in people when exposed to frustrators, i.e. obstacles, irritants, situations that cause frustration. Typical reactions to the influence of frustrators are aggression, fixation, retreat and replacement, autism, regression, depression, etc.

If a person often experiences repeated frustrations, then his personality may acquire deformation traits: aggressiveness, envy, embitterment (with frustrations in the form of aggression) or loss of business optimism and indecision (with “auto-aggression”), lethargy, indifference, lack of initiative (with depression); perseverativeness, rigidity (when fixing), etc.

The most important factors that prevent the occurrence of negative mental states in a person are the formation and development of a sense of duty and responsibility, self-control, courage, perseverance, self-criticism, intellectual activity and other positive moral, characterological, intellectual and psychophysiological qualities, as well as mastery of methods of mental self-regulation (autogenic training, etc.).

Section II PEDAGOGY

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