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3 a brief description of the methods of differential psychology. Psychological methods proper

Differential psychology is a part of science that deals with identifying and studying the psychological differences of both one person and a certain group of people. As a rule, in the course of research, special attention is paid to the psychological manifestation of people belonging to different age, ethnic and

And although differential psychology as an independent science has emerged quite recently, it is very important. The term was first used in 1900, when Stern developed a concept that defines and explains the differences between individuals and their groups.

This branch of science sets itself two main tasks. First, in the course of research, scientists try to identify individual differences. Secondly, psychologists are faced with the task of explaining the reason for their occurrence and origin.

Differential psychology and the work of Francis Galton... Considering the work of this scientist, one can understand some of the features of differential psychology. During his experiments, most psychologists gave preference to studying the general features of humanity. At the same time, Galton was interested in the individual characteristics of each person and the possibility of their heredity. It was during this period that the opinion arose that mental and physical abilities, talent and some non-standard are transmitted genetically from relatives.

That is why he carefully studied his patients, both from a psychological and physiological point of view. For example, he assessed the level of muscle tone, determined the upper threshold of auditory sensitivity, etc. Then a special test was developed - the subject was asked to create a certain image in his imagination, and then describe in detail all the features. Galton, on the other hand, studied some individual qualities of the image, and also compared the results of the experiment of close relatives, for example, determined the level of similarity of images among brothers and sisters.

It was he who for the first time sent out capacious questionnaires to all scientists in England in order to determine the level of their intelligence and identify the peculiarities of thinking.

Differential psychology and its methods... As in any other science, scientists use a wide variety of them. They can be divided into different groups.

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Differential psychology is a branch of psychological science that studies psychological differences, typological differences in psychological manifestations in representatives of various social, class, ethnic, age and other groups. This approach differs significantly from others: often in modern psychology, they try to identify common psychological processes that are characteristic of all people.

For example, when evaluating the efficacy of a new therapy, the average efficacy of therapy in one treatment group may be compared to the mean efficacy of a placebo (or known therapy) in a control group. In this context, differences between people in their response to experimental and control manipulations are in fact viewed as errors and not as interesting phenomena to study.

Individual differences are important when we want to explain how different people behave. In any study, there is significant variation between the two: reaction rates, preferences, values, and health-related behaviors are just a few examples. Individual differences in factors such as personality, intelligence, or physical factors (such as height, gender, age, and other parameters) can be used to understand this source of variance.

The founder of differential psychology is William Stern, who introduced the concept itself, as well as, interestingly, the term "IQ". Of course, this industry was not his purest invention, because traces of it can be found even in antiquity. For example, Plato's Republic emphasized the importance of the division of labor according to the inclinations and abilities of people. But earlier studies were unsystematic and unrelated to each other.

Research area

Examining individual differences usually involves examining:

  • personality;
  • intelligence;
  • abilities;
  • intelligence quotient;
  • interests;
  • values;
  • self-efficacy;
  • self-esteem.

Differential psychology tasks

Differential psychology tasks are mainly aimed at:

  • Development of a theoretical basis for psychodiagnostics.
  • Determination of patterns and principles of the emergence of differences between people.
  • Study of the features of their manifestation.
  • Analysis of the features of the formation of types in various topologies. An example is the typology of temperament.
  • Study of the features of the variability of the measured characteristics.
  • Analysis of the group distribution of features.

The tasks and problems, the solution of which can be found by the efforts of differential psychology, determine the applied bias of this science, which is felt especially strongly in our time.

The results obtained with the help of differential psychology are successfully applied in psychotherapy, education, judicial practice, personnel selection and for career guidance.

Differential psychology methods

The methods used in differential psychology can be roughly divided into several groups:

  • general scientific;
  • psychogenetic;
  • historical;
  • psychological.

Let's consider them separately.

General scientific methods

Observation and experiment are general scientific methods.

Observation Is a descriptive research method that consists in the purposeful perception and registration of human behavior.

Observation benefits:

  • Reflects the context of the subject's life.
  • A person is perceived as an integral personality.
  • The facts of natural human behavior are collected.

Disadvantages of surveillance:

  • Recording results in a descriptive form.
  • The lack of the possibility of repeated observation with exactly the same psychological parameters (moreover, the person will behave as he wants, and not as the researchers want).
  • The fusion of the observed fact with the accompanying phenomena (the impossibility of separating them in any way).

Experiment - the experience of obtaining scientific knowledge carried out in special conditions. Purposeful intervention in human activity is performed.

Unlike observation, an experiment can be repeated many times, and the data are unambiguous and of the same type. The main disadvantage is the disappearance of the naturalness of the process and the absence of a holistic picture of a person's personality.

If we talk about laboratory experiments, then the above drawbacks remain. However natural experiment as close as possible to the conditions of normal human activity. In this case, he may not even know that an experiment is being carried out on him.

There is also modeling, which tries to recreate a fictitious psychological reality. The presence of advantages or disadvantages is determined by the skill of the execution.

Psychogenetic methods

If general scientific methods are used in psychology in general, then psychogenetic methods are used specifically in differential psychology. This group of methods is aimed at identifying environmental and heredity factors. There are genealogical and twin methods.

Genealogical Is a method for the study of families and genealogies (invented by F. Galton and described in the book "Hereditary Genius"). The main point: if a trait is hereditary and encoded in genes, then the closer the relationship, the higher the similarity between people for this trait. The researcher compiles a family tree. Presumably, as the degree of kinship decreases, there should be less similarity.

Twin method: among twins, dizygotic ones are distinguished (in terms of their genetic set, they are similar to ordinary brothers and sisters, with the only difference that they were born at the same time) and monozygous (developed from one egg and therefore have identical gene sets). In this case, the psychological characteristics of the members of the twin couple are investigated, allowing to determine the degree of influence of hereditary factors and the environment on the formation of certain mental qualities of a person.

Historical methods

Historical methods are used to study the biography of prominent personalities who have made a significant contribution to the development of culture and science. But sometimes quite ordinary people also become objects.

These methods include diary, biographical and autobiographical.

Diary is devoted to the study of the life of a particular person and contains a description of his behavior and development.

Biographical used when using the biography of an outstanding person. If a psychologist is interested in assessing psychological characteristics person, he conducts psychography.

Autobiographical based on direct impressions and retrospective human experience. IN modern form from his information technology it became possible to use video and audio materials.

Psychological methods

Particular cases of application of these methods are self-observation and self-esteem, which directly reveal the object of study.

Introspection is to observe your own mental processes... There is only one advantage, but the key: a person can do better than other people. But the disadvantage is subjectivity, bias.

Self-assessment reflects more stable mental characteristics. The disadvantage of the method is that a person may be ashamed to reveal his qualities or judge them superficially. However, these disadvantages can be brightened up by anonymity (in this case, a questionnaire can also be used).

There is no absolutely ideal way of cognizing a person, therefore the main task of psychologists is to combine them, taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Books

This is short description differential psychology as a science. Since the topic is quite complex and voluminous, one read article will clearly not be enough. Here is a list of books with which you can study it in more detail.

  • "Differential Psychology" Sofya Nartova-Bochaver.
  • "Differential psychology. Individual and group differences in behavior "Anna Anastazi.
  • "Differential psychology and psychodiagnostics" Konstantin Gurevich.
  • "Differential psychology: textbook" Valery Mashkov.
  • "Differential Psychology" Alexander Libin.
  • "Differential psychology and its methodological foundations" William Stern.
  • "Neurotic Styles" David Shapiro.

We wish you good luck!

Differential psychology subject

Differential psychology Is a section of psychological science that

studies psychological differences as well as typological differences

psychological manifestations in representatives of various social, class, ethnic, age and other groups. Differential psychology has 2 tasks: highlighting individual differences and explaining their origin.

Differential psychology has areas of intersection with various other branches of psychological knowledge. So, it differs from general psychology in that the latter focuses on the study of general laws of the psyche (including the psyche of animals). Comparative psychology (once this term was used as a synonym for differential psychology, which is a literal translation of the word) is currently studying the characteristics of the psyche of living beings at different stages of the evolutionary ladder. She often uses the knowledge of animal psychology, deals with the problems of anthropogenesis and the formation of human consciousness. Developmental psychology studies the characteristics of a person through the prism of patterns inherent in the age stage of his development. Social psychology considers the features acquired by a person due to his belonging to a certain social group, large or small. Finally, differential psychophysiology analyzes the individual characteristics of the human psyche from the point of view of their conditioning by the properties of the nervous system.

Currently, differential psychology studies the individual, subject-meaningful and spiritual-worldview qualities of an individual, the peculiarities of self-awareness, stylistic characteristics of a person and the implementation of various types of activity.

Development stages of differential psychology

In its development, psychology, like all other scientific disciplines, went through three stages: pre-scientific knowledge, natural science paradigm of knowledge and humanitarian paradigm.

Pre-scientific knowledge is characterized by the predominance of the observation method, the accumulation of everyday knowledge and a low level of generalization. The natural science paradigm proclaims the need to establish cause-and-effect patterns when relying on experimental data and generalizes these patterns. The dominance of the humanitarian paradigm testifies to the maturity of the scientific discipline and is noted not only in the sciences of society and man, but also in the sciences of nature. Modern psychology allows himself to strive for psychography, cognition - for understanding and description. Thus, differential psychology naturally stood out from the general psychology within which it existed. long time under the name of the psychology of individual differences.

Differential psychology methods

By the type of experience used, methods are distinguished introspective (based on subjective experience data) and extraspective (based on an objective result that is measurable).

According to the activity of the influence, observation and experiment .

By the level of generalization of the obtained regularities nomothetic (general, psychology-oriented explanations) and idiographic (focused on the singular, psychography, psychology of understanding).

By stability - a change in the studied phenomenon is distinguished ascertaining and formative methods (in which the final state of the studied quality differs from the initial one).

The methods used by differential psychology can be conditionally divided into several groups: general scientific, psychogenetic, historical, and psychological proper.

General scientific methods are a modification in relation to the psychological reality of those methods that are used in many other sciences.

Observation - Purposeful systematic study of a person, based on the results of which an expert assessment is given. There are several types of observation.

The advantages of the method are that 1) facts of natural human behavior are collected, 2) a person is perceived as an integral personality, 3) the context of the subject's life is reflected.

The disadvantages are: 1) the fusion of the observed fact with the accompanying phenomena, 2) passivity: the researcher's non-intervention dooms him to a wait-and-see position, 3) the absence of the possibility of repeated observation, 4) fixing the results in a descriptive form.

Experiment - a method of purposeful manipulation of one variable and observation of the results of its change. The advantages of the experimental method are that 1) it is possible to create conditions that cause the studied mental process, 2) multiple repetition of the experiment is possible, 3) it is possible to maintain a simple protocol, 4) the experimental data are more uniform and unambiguous compared to observation.

The disadvantages include: 1) the disappearance of the naturalness of the process, 2) the lack of a holistic picture of a person's personality, 3) the need for special equipment, 4) separation from the natural perception of the reality being studied (the experimenter is more focused on the readings of the arrows of instruments, tests, etc.).

Modeling- recreation of psychological reality of various content (situation, state, role, mood). An example of psychological modeling can be mood induction (changing the background of a subject's mood by telling him emotionally colored stories, awakening memories, etc.).

Psychogenetic methods... This group of methods is aimed at isolating environmental and heredity factors in individual variations. psychological qualities.

Historical methods (methods of document analysis)... Historical methods are devoted to the study of outstanding personalities, characteristics of the environment and heredity, which served as impulses for their spiritual development.

Psychological methods.This group constitutes the main content of the differential psychological research methods.

1) Introspective methods (self-observation and self-esteem) open the object of study directly, which is their main advantage.

2) Psychophysiological (hardware) methods designed to study the psychophysiological foundations of human behavior. They require laboratory conditions and special instruments; in practical psychodiagnostics are rarely used.

3) Socio-psychological methods include surveys and sociometry. Surveys are based on self-reported data of respondents, and not on objectively recorded facts. The types of surveys are conversation, interviews, questionnaires.

4) Age-psychological methods of "transverse" and "longitudinal" sections.

5) Psychosemantic methods represent a group of maximally individually oriented methods that allow one to determine unconsciously acting dimensions (constructs) in relation to the world and oneself.

Differential psychology.

Tutorial.

Part 1

Vyboyshchik psychology: textbook. Part 1 - Chelyabinsk: SUSU Publishing House, 2006 .-- 61p.

INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………… ... 3

CHAPTER 1. DIFFERENTIAL PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE ... ... ... ..... 4

The knowledge gained in the course will allow you to understand how the general patterns of the functioning of the psyche are manifested in specific people, to feel the uniqueness and versatility of individuality, to learn how to analyze and synthesize information about a person, and also to provide qualified assistance to clients in the process of individual and group psychological counseling.

In addition, mastering the course can contribute to the professional growth of future psychologists through the development of the ability to formulate problems, integrate information and transmit it from different areas of psychology.


The discipline is based on the courses "General Psychology", "Psychological Workshop", "Psychophysiology", " Higher mathematics"And is the basis for a deeper study in the courses" Experimental Psychology "," Psychological Diagnostics "," Psychological counseling"," Theories of personality ". When mastering the discipline, students can also use information from the courses "Developmental Psychology", "Social Psychology", "Clinical Psychology".

CHAPTER 1

DIFFERENTIAL PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE

Subject, purpose and objectives.

Historical prerequisites for forming a separate science.

Status in the system of human sciences.

1.1 Subject and structure of differential psychology

In the most general terms, the term "differential" is interpreted as different, different in some attribute (attributes), or criterion, therefore differential psychology can be defined as the science of differences between people.It is important to remember that this definition does not fully disclose the content of differential psychology and can be used only at the first stages of acquaintance with this discipline.

A deeper understanding of the content of differential psychology allows you to understand the definition of it subject, which in the modern interpretation is formulated as follows: study of the structure of personality based on identificationindividual, typological and group differencesbetween people by comparative analysis.

Based on the subject of study, differential psychology includes three sections, which are devoted to three types of differences: 1) individual, 2) group and 3) typological.

1. Individual differences.The section is devoted to the study of the manifestations of general psychological patterns at the level an individual... Individual differences can be conditionally divided into two groups: a) intra-individual and b) inter-individual. The specificity of these two groups is as follows.

Inside-individual differences imply:

Differences between a person and himself at different periods of life (for example, in childhood, youth and maturity; at the beginning of training and after its completion, etc.),

The difference between a person and himself in different situations and different social groups (for example, in a student group or in a family, in public transport or at a disco),

The ratio of various manifestations of personality, character, intelligence in an individual (for example, the ratio of verbal and non-verbal intelligence; the ratio of volitional and emotional personality traits).

Under inter-individual differences are understood:

Differences between an individual and most other people (correlation with the general psychological norm),

Differences between a person and a specific group of people (for example, a student or professional group).

2... Group differences. The section is devoted to the study of differences between people, taking into account their belonging to a particular community, or group. We are talking about large groups that are distinguished according to the following criteria: gender, age, nationality (race), cultural tradition, social class, etc. Belonging to each of these groups is a natural manifestation of the nature of any person (as a biological and social creature) and allows get a more complete picture of the features of his personality.

3. Typological differences. The section studies the differences between people, which are distinguished by psychological (in some cases - psychophysiological) criterion or criteria, such as, for example, features of temperament, character, personality. At the same time, people are united into certain groups - types. The selection of such groups is the result of attempts to classify information about differences between people in order to explain and predict their behavior, as well as to determine the most adequate areas of application of their abilities. An example of the first typologies are classifications, the creators of which distinguished groups of people taking into account the date of birth and a number of corresponding natural criteria - the properties of stones and trees (horoscopes of the Druids), the location of the stars (astrological horoscopes). Modern typologies are based on other criteria; when developing them, certain patterns are taken into account, which will be discussed below.

1.2 Historical background of design

differential psychology into a separate science

The term "Differential Psychology" was introduced by a German psychologist William Stern, who managed to collect the ideas about the differences between people available by that time (1911) into a holistic concept.

The prehistory of the concept creation, first of all, is associated with the development of a number of empirical directions, which were distinguished by the use observation method, a low level of generalization, as well as attempts to connect some anatomical, physiological and psychological characteristics of a person.

For example, within physiognomy, founded by J. Lavater, personality traits, facial expressions and even just the image of a person's silhouette served as the basis for predicting his behavior. Supporters phrenology, developed, sought to determine the characteristics of a person by the shape of the structure of the skull. Adherents graphology, which Abbot I. Michonne was engaged in more than others, diagnosed the signs of individuality by writing letters, tilt, pressure and other characteristics of a person's precise movements, reflected in his handwriting.

By the end of the 19th century, due to the introduction into psychology experimentalmethod, the study of differences moves to a qualitative new level, involving the measurement and subsequent analysis of individual and group characteristics. The key events of this period, which served as prerequisites for the formalization of differential psychology into a separate science, include the following:

1. psychological laboratory in 1879, where he began to study mental processes under experimental conditions. Very quickly after that, similar laboratories began to open in other countries of Europe and America.

2. Discovery of the reaction time phenomenon. Back in 1796, thanks to the imaginary oversight of Greenwich Observatory assistant Kinnibrook, reaction time was discovered as a psychological phenomenon (individual differences were found between observing astronomers in determining the location of a star). The explanation for the fact was given in 1816 FrederickBessel- differences in reaction time (the intersection of the star with the grid was given 0.5 seconds later). The publication in 1822 by Bessel of the results of his long-term observations of the motor reaction time of German astronomers can be considered the first scientific report on the study of the differential psychological aspects of human behavior.

Bessel was the main argument in favor of starting to view the mental as a process with a temporal extent, with a beginning, middle and end, and not as a one-time phenomenon. Later, the Dutch researcher F. Donders developed a special scheme for calculating the reaction time, and an increase in the reaction time began to be perceived as an indicator of the complication of mental processes.

3. Using methods of statistical analysis. In 1869, a work was published in England Francis Galton(1869-1978) "Hereditary genius", in which the author interpreted the results of his statistical analysis of biographical facts outstanding people, and also substantiated the hereditary determination of human abilities. Galton's work was influenced by evolutionary theory Charles Darwin.

F. Galton in 1884 organized the first anthropometric laboratory within the framework of the International Exhibition in London. He conducts the first mass survey of people (9,337 subjects per year). Examines differences in constitutional (height, weight, body proportions), sensory (reaction time to visual and auditory stimuli, compression force), sensory (visual and hearing acuity) parameters. The result was the substantiation of methods of statistical analysis and the development of new ideas.

4. Use of psychogenetic data - a field of psychology bordering on genetics, the subject of which is the origin of individual psychological characteristics of a person, the role of the environment and genotype in their formation. The most informative was the twin method, which was first used by Galton. This method allows you to maximally equalize the impact of the environment and differentiate differences depending on the source of their origin: genetic (passed down from generation to generation), congenital (meaningful only for relatives of the same generation), acquired (associated with a difference in the environment).

1.3 The founders of differential psychology

and their ideas about the subject new science

The first major representatives of differential psychology as a scientific direction, in addition to V. Stern, were in Europe - A. Binet and F. Galton, in America - D. Cattell, in Russia -. Individual and group tests (including tests of mental abilities) were used as the main research methods, a little later - projective techniques to measure attitudes and emotional responses.

In 1895, A. Binet and W. Henry published an article entitled "The Psychology of Personality", which was the first systematic analysis of the goals, subject matter and methods of differential psychology. The authors of the article put forward two as the main problems of differential psychology: 1) the study of the nature and degree of individual differences in psychological processes; 2) the discovery of the relationship of the mental processes of the individual, which can make it possible to classify qualities and the ability to determine which functions are the most fundamental.

In 1900, the first edition of V. Stern's book on differential psychology, "The Psychology of Individual Differences", appeared.

The first part of the book examines the essence, problems and methods of differential psychology. To the subject of this section of psychology, Stern attributed differences between individuals, racial and cultural differences, professional and social groups, as well as differences related to gender.

He characterized the fundamental problem of differential psychology as threefold:

What is the nature of the psychological life of individuals and groups, what is the degree of their differences;

What factors determine these differences or affect them (in this regard, V. Stern mentioned heredity, climate, social or cultural level, education, adaptation, etc.);

What are the differences, is it possible to fix them in the spelling of words, facial expressions, etc.

V. Stern also considered such concepts as "psychological type", "individuality", "norm" and "pathology". Using the methods of differential psychology, he evaluated introspection, objective observation, the use of materials from history and poetry, cultural studies, quantitative testing and experiment.

The second part of the book contains a general analysis and some data regarding individual differences in the manifestation of a number of psychological qualities - from simple sensory abilities to more complex mental processes and emotional characteristics.

Stern in a substantially revised form was republished in 1911, and again in 1921 under the title "Methodological Foundations of Differential Psychology".

In the final version of his concept, V. Stern expanded the definition of the subject of differential psychology, including in its content not only individual, but also group and typological differences. At the same time, the author emphasized the integrative nature of the new science and especially noted that the comprehensiveness inherent in differential psychology is of a completely different kind than in general psychology. It lies in the fact that differential psychological research is subject to formal (and not meaningful) signs of a person. That is, such signs that:

They characterize the structure of personality,

They are distinguished by their versatility and stability,

They can be reproduced both in real life and in an experimental situation.

1.4 The purpose and objectives of differential psychology

The goal and objectives of differential psychology are determined based on several theoretical positions that are shared not only by the founders, but also by modern representatives of this direction.

1. The universality of differences. Differences (within - and between - individual) are an essential feature of human behavior, as well as the behavior of all living organisms, including humans. Charles Darwin wrote about this (1859).

2. The need for measurement when examining differences.The study of individual differences by definition is associated with measurement and quantification (D. Cattell, 1890).

3. Stability of the studied characteristics. Differential psychology studies the characteristics that are most stable over time and in different situations.

4. Determination of behavior.By comparing differences in behavior with other known coexisting phenomena, the relative contribution various factors in the development of behavior (A. Anastazi, 1937).

5. The relationship and complementarity of the general and the special when studying the differences. On the one hand, differences show the operation of the most general laws of human behavior. On the other hand, “the concrete manifestation of any general law of psychology always includes the factor of individuality” (1985).

The latter principle is of particular importance for differential psychology as an integrative scientific discipline and involves a combination of two approaches to the study of differences between people - nomotheticand ideographic.

The purpose of the first campaign is to study general patterns and their variations. main task traditional experimental research. The name itself comes from the Greek word "nomos", meaning "law" ("nomo-teteo" - to establish laws).

The Greek word "idios", from which the name of the second approach comes, means "peculiar", "belonging to someone." Accordingly, the purpose of this approach is to describe the characteristics of a particular person.

According to the concept of V. Stern (1911), the ideographic approach not only allows one to study the layer of psychological reality that is inaccessible to the nomothetic approach, but also deepens the understanding of the general laws of the functioning and development of the psyche. The nomothetic approach creates the basis for ideographic analysis and defines the reference points needed for a deeper study of personality. The principle that the two approaches complement each other opens new opportunity for researchers - withdrawgeneral psychological patterns, without losing the individual characteristics of a person and his integrity .

Based on the listed principles targetdifferential psychology in the modern interpretation is defined as “ study of the mechanisms of development and functioning of human individuality as an integral phenomenon that exists in the field of interaction of subjective and objective realities» .

The goal is realized by solving the following main tasks:

Investigation of the relationships between the measurable traits that characterize personality traits;

Analysis of the group distribution of features;

Study of the sources of differences among the measured characteristics;

Development of theoretical foundations for psychodiagnostic research and correctional programs.

1.5 Status of differential psychology

Status characterizes the boundaries of differential psychology, its many connections with other human sciences.

presented these connections in the form of a diagram shown in Figure 1.

External status

Fig. 1. Differential psychology status

As you can see from the picture, external status differential psychology is defined by the boundaries that run from the physics of sensory systems, through genetics and physiology (lower boundaries), to personality psychology, social, as well as general and developmental psychology (upper boundaries).

Internal status is determined by the sphere of the border areas of psychological knowledge, which were formed as a result of the allocation of the differential psychological aspect in them: developmental psychology and psychology of sex, social psychology of personality (analysis of the interaction of a group and an individual), general psychology of personality (structure and mechanisms of personal properties), differential psychophysiology, psychogenetics (models for the determination of human differences), psychophysics.

In general, it can be argued that differential psychology plays the role of a connecting link between general psychology and all of the above areas in the science of man. At the same time, the central area of \u200b\u200bmutual intersection is the psychology of personality. As he writes, “the intermediate position of differential psychology - and the psychology of personality as its central part - is due to the laws of human phylogenesis and ontogenesis. In the first case (phylogeny), we mean the movement of the psyche as a self-developing phenomenon from evolutionary-genetic (biological) laws to socio-cultural (social) laws. In the second (ontogeny) - transformation in the process life path biologically determined properties of an individual into personality structures, which are manifested in the integral characteristics of the interaction of an individual with the world. "

From the point of view of practical application, the connection between differential psychology and psychological diagnostics is of great importance. As V. Stern wrote, when a new concept is born (for example, "character accentuation", "behavior style"), this process is carried out in the bosom of differential psychology. When a test is created to diagnose the corresponding characteristics of a person, the task of the relay is transferred to specialists in the field of psychodiagnostics and differential psychometrics.

1.6 The problem of independence of differential psychology

Numerous connections of differential psychology with other human sciences give grounds for doubts, expressed by a number of researchers, regarding its right to be called an independent science.

For example, Anna Anastasi (1958), considers differential psychology, rather, not as a separate area of \u200b\u200bknowledge, but as an approach that is relevant for any psychological research: “The main goal of differential psychology, as well as psychology in general, is to understand behavior. Differential psychology approaches this problem through a comparative analysis of behavior in changing conditions. "

Taking into account the controversy on this issue, one should take into account the point of view of W. Stern, who believed that "differential psychology will not lose its truly scientific and independent character if it takes part in solving problems in other branches of psychology" (1911).

The following arguments can be made in favor of V. Stern's position. On the one hand, the differential approach is really important for solving many problems of psychology, on the other hand, the specificity of this approach can serve as a basis for recognizing differential psychology as an independent science for the following reasons.

First, this approach is a methodological basis for studying the subject of differential psychology, which, with the development of science, has acquired a clear, specific content - an analysis of the structure of individuality (taking into account differences at different levels). Thanks to the systematic study of the structure of individuality, psychology has been enriched with a number of unique concepts, such as the theory of integral individuality (1975–1986), an integrated approach (1976), and a special theory of individuality (1988–1991).

Secondly, it is in the differential psychological approach that the principle of combining the general and the particular is laid, in which general patterns and individual manifestations of the psychic are given substantial and equal importance. This principle allows to reduce the distance between the results of scientific research and their practical application. In addition, this principle contributes to the awareness of the value of any individual, regardless of its specific characteristics, which is of fundamental importance for the professional position of every psychologist.

CHAPTER 2

PROBLEMS AND METHODS OF STUDYING INDIVIDUALITY

Systems approach in differential psychology.

The role of heredity and environment in the formation of differences.

Differential psychology methods.

The concept of psychological norm and psychological type.

2.1 Systems approach in differential psychology

In differential psychology, the study of individuality is carried out on the basis of a systematic approach, which is methodological basis numerous studies in various fields of modern science.

Concept "system" defined as a set of elements that are in relationships and connections with each other, which form a certain unity... As general characteristics any system is distinguished by the following:

1. Integrity - irreducibility of any system to the sum of its constituent parts and non-deducibility from any part of the system of its properties as a whole.

2. Structurality - connections and relationships of system elements are ordered into some structure, which determines the behavior of the system as a whole.

3. Relationship with the environment, which can be "closed" (not changing the environment and the system) or "open" (transforming the environment and the system) character.

4. Hierarchy. Each component of the system can be considered as a system that includes another system, that is, each component of the system can simultaneously be an element (subsystem) of this system, and itself include another system.

5. Multiple descriptions. Each system, being a complex object, in principle, cannot be reduced to only one picture, one display. This presupposes for a complete description of the system the coexistence of many of its mappings.

All of the listed characteristics are directly related to the human individuality and are taken into account when selecting specific methods for studying it.

Within the framework of the systems approach, in studies of the structure of individuality, four dimensions are taken into account, which correspond to four hierarchical levels: 1) bodily (organism), 2) individual (general mental characteristics), 3) personal, and 4) integral (holistic individuality).

Level organism involves the study of the physical and physiological properties of a person, such as physique, biochemical characteristics, neurodynamic properties of the brain, as well as features of functional asymmetry.

At the level individual the peculiarities of mental processes and temperament are considered taking into account biological (gender, age, race) and social differences (cultural and professional identification, socio-economic status).

TO personal the level includes features that are formed in the process of interaction of the individual with the social environment (psychosocial properties).

Integrativethe level unites all the previous and properties and allows you to represent individuality as a unique, holistic phenomenon - an integral of all levels of internal and external interaction, which includes the processes of integration and differentiation.

2.2 The role of heredity and environment in the formation of differences

As noted above, the relationship with the external environment is one of the essential characteristics of an individual as an integral system. In addition, the environment, along with hereditary prerequisites, creates conditions for the formation of differences between people.

For a deeper understanding of the role of heredity and the environment, it is important to consider modern ideas about these concepts.

According to the traditional view presented in the textbook by A. Anastazi (1958), heredity consists of the totality of all genes that are passed on to the individual by both parents during conception. Each individual gets a unique combination of genes, with the exception of identical twins.

Under the environment all the stimuli to which the organism reacts are understood: from the intracellular and intercellular environment inside the organism itself to the large-scale external influences that it encounters from its conception until its death.

Heredity and environment include a large number different factorsinteracting with each other in a complex complex that operates throughout the life of the individual. During this interaction heredityb determines the stability of the existence of the individual and the boundaries within which he can develop. Wednesday provides variability and the ability to adapt to changing living conditions.

When considering the role of heredity and environment in the formation of differences, it is necessary to take into account a number of more particular provisions related to the content of these two factors.

1. The simple physical presence of objects does not mean that we attribute them to the environment: it is necessary that the object serve as a stimulus for the individual, to influence him. Thus, the environment for two individuals will always be different, even if they are placed in the same conditions.

2. Not everything that is present at birth is hereditary, since the prenatal environment can influence the basic characteristics of the organism.

3. Traces of environmental influences can be very stable in the psychological appearance of an individual, although they will not be genetically transmitted to subsequent generations (for example, developmental disorders of a child as a result of birth trauma).

4. Achievements of parents cannot be passed on to children through genetic inheritance, while social inheritance plays an important role, which means following cultural patterns (transfer of accentuation, for example, schizoid, from mother to child through cold mothering, formation of family scenarios).

5. Heredity affects what can manifest itself long after birth under appropriate environmental conditions. If such conditions do not arise, heredity may not appear. Thus, it would be a mistake to believe that inherited qualities cannot be influenced. Although heredity is responsible for the persistence of a species, most inherited traits are modifiable, and even hereditary diseases are not inevitable.

6. Similarity to parents can depend on both heredity and environment... Differences between parents and children can also be the result of each of the factors.

7. If you ask the question to what extent intellectual or personal qualities depend on heredity, and how much on the environment, then it will turn out to be meaningless, since there are as many answers to it as there are individuals. It is necessary to change the wording of the question and ask not how much, but how this influence is realized, that is, what is the measure and content of these influences.

A similar task is set by the authors of integrative models of individuality (, and others). According to the unanimous opinion of these authors, man is simultaneously a representative of a biological species with a long evolutionary history and a member of society, which is the result of historical development. Therefore, considering the structure of psychological properties, it is fundamentally important to take into account the fact of the interaction of biological and social factors, as well as their complex influence on the formation of personality.

8. As differential psychology develops, the content of the concepts of "heredity" and "environment" is clarified. So, in recent times heredity began to be understood more broadly. These are not just individual signs that influence behavior (for example, properties of the nervous system), but also congenital behavior programs, including social. Programs differ from the signs replacing each other under the influence of the environment in that in this case the trajectory of development is anticipated; the program contains both the time of its "launch" and the sequence of critical points.

Concept wednesdayhas changed too. It is not just a series of stimuli to which the individual responds throughout life (from air and food to educational conditions and the attitude of companions). This is a system of interactions between man and the world, in which man, as his individuality develops, gradually acquires a leading role.

As an illustration to the last statement, we can cite H. Werner's orthogenetic concept (orthogenesis is the theory of the development of living nature). According to this concept, all organisms are born with functions (including mental ones) fixed at the lowest point of their development. Interacting with the environment, they acquire new experience, which, in turn, is consolidated in new functional structures that again determine the minimum of interaction, but already of a new quality.

X. Werner compared the organism with the actor on the stage: in the course of development, there is a shift from stage to actor. The higher the stage, the more often the initiative comes from the individual, who becomes more and more active, beginning to manipulate the environment, and not just passively respond to it.

2.3 Methods of differential psychology

2.3.1 Classification of methods

Method translated from Greek means "the way of knowledge". To study (cognize) the structure of personality, various methods are used, which can be classified, for example, as follows.

Method classification

Method translated from Greek means "the way of knowledge". To study (cognize) the structure of personality, various methods are used, which can be classified, for example, as follows.

1. By type of experience used:

Introspective methods based on subjective experience data;

Exceptional methods based on objective, measurable results.

2. By the activity of the impact:

Observation methods,

Experimental methods.

3. By the level of generalization of the obtained regularities:

General-oriented, non-theoretical methods, psychology of explanation;

Ideographic methods focused on isolated cases, the psychology of understanding.

4. According to the stability of the studied phenomenon:

Ascertaining methods;

Formative methods, when using which the final state of the studied quality differs from the initial state.

There are other classifications of methods of differential psychology, but the most useful of them is the classification proposed Boris Gerasimovich Ananiev and reflecting the stages of a comprehensive study of individuality or individual elements of its structure. Each stage corresponds to a group of methods, the choice of which is carried out based on the specific goal and objectives of the study.

1. Organizational methods:

Cross-sectional method (comparison of individual groups of people, different in age or other criterion);

Longitudinal section method - longitudinal (study of the same persons for a long time);

Complex method (a combination of the method of longitudinal and cross sections: first, cross-sectional studies are carried out, and then at turning points - a more detailed longitudinal study).

2. Empirical methods:

Observational methods (observation and self-observation);

Experimental methods (laboratory, field, psychological and pedagogical experiment);

Psychodiagnostic methods (tests, questionnaires, questionnaires, interviews, conversation);

Praximetric methods (analysis of processes and products of activity: chronometry, professional description, evaluation of work performed);

Modeling (mathematical, cybernetic);

Biographical methods (study of the life path, study of documentation).

3. Methods for processing and analyzing results:

Quantitative processing and analysis ( statistical methods);

Qualitative analysis (differentiation of material by class, development of typologies, description of cases).



4. Interpretation Methods:

Genetic method (explains all the material in the characteristics of development);

Structural method (explains all the material in the characteristics of the connections between individual components of the personality structure or the structure of social groups).

Empirical methods, included in the classification of B.G. Ananyev, can also be divided according to the principle of belonging to a particular science:

General scientific methods (observation, experiment) - modification of methods that are used in many other sciences, in relation to psychological reality;

Historical methods (biographical);

Psychological methods (introspective - self-observation, self-esteem; psychophysiological; socio-psychological - questioning, conversation, sociometry);

Psychogenetic methods.

A number of the listed methods deserve separate consideration in connection with the special role they played in the history of the formation of differential psychology as a separate science. In particular, we will talk about psychogenetic methods, test diagnostics, methods of statistical analysis and classification of results, as well as methods of idiographic analysis.

Psychogenetic methods

The use of psychogenetic methods is associated with the study of the role of heredity and the environment in the formation of differences, as well as with the analysis of the relative influence of each of these two factors on the individual characteristics of a person.

Genetic analysis of the factors of individual differences involves the use of three methods: 1) genealogical, 2) the method of adopted children, and 3) the twin method.

Parcel for use genealogical method serves the following position: if a certain trait is hereditary and encoded in genes, then the closer the relationship between people, the higher the similarity between them in this trait. In this case, information about relatives of the first degree of kinship (parent-offspring and sibling-sibling pairs), which on average have 50% of common genes, is necessarily used. As the degree of kinship decreases, there should be less similarity in the supposedly inherited traits.



For psychotherapeutic tasks, one of the variants of this method is sometimes used - genogram. In this method, along with kinship relations, they record: 1) relationships of psychological closeness (close - distant); 2) relations of conflict; 3) family script installations. The genogram is compiled within at least three generations and allows you to clarify the psychological context of a person's life (in this case, we can already talk about social heritability).

Foster Child Method is to include in the study: 1) children given up as early as possible to biologically alien parents-educators, 2) adopted children, and 3) biological parents.

Since children have 50% of common genes with biological parents, but do not have common living conditions, and with adopted ones, on the contrary, do not have common genes, but share the environmental characteristics of life, it is possible to breed qualities due to heredity and environment. The feature of interest is studied in pairs (child - biological parent, child - foster parent). The measure of similarity indicates the nature of the quality. Despite numerous criticisms of the validity of this method, it is currently recognized as the most pure in psychogenetics.

Using twinmethod among twins, a) monozygous (developed from the same egg and therefore have identical gene sets) and b) dizygotic (similar in their genetic set to ordinary brothers and sisters, with the only difference that they were born simultaneously) are distinguished. Subsequent analysis of differences is carried out in different ways, depending on one of four varieties of the method:

Intra-paired comparison of monozygotic and dizygotic twins;

Analysis of the distribution of roles and functions within a twin couple;

Comparative analysis the time of the appearance of the skill in twins, one of whom is previously subjected to a formative influence; if the experimental and control twins exhibit the skill simultaneously, this can be attributed to the maturation factor;

Comparative analysis of the properties of separated monozygotic twins, in which the observed similarity is attributed to the heredity factor, the differences to the environmental factor (the method is used in conditions of social cataclysms, when, due to circumstances, twins find themselves in different environmental conditions).

As mentioned above, the use of psychogenetic methods allows one to determine the relative contribution of heredity and environment to the variability of a trait. At the same time, a number of interesting patterns are revealed that make it possible to judge the sources of differences between people. So, for example, having studied for many years the reasons for individual differences in intelligence and personality, R. Plomin and D. Daniels (1987) came to the following conclusion: one of the main reasons for psychological variability is different environmentwhere children are formed. In particular:

Child birth order,

Parental relationship

Attitude towards children,

Various forms of education,

Peer relationships.

In collaboration with other scientists, R. Plomin managed to establish the fact of the genetic conditionality of such traits as interpersonal warmth, cordiality and ease of social interaction within the family (1991).

From the point of view of the complex contribution of heredity and the environment to the formation of individual differences, the most valuable is the discovery by R. Plomin and J. Defries of three types of relationships between the genotype and the environment (1985):

Passive influence, when members of one family have both a common heredity and a common environment (non-random combination of hereditary characteristics and environmental conditions);

Reactive influence, in which the innate psychophysiological characteristics of a child can affect the attitude of parents and peers towards him, thereby contributing to the formation of certain personality traits;

Active influence, in which individuals actively search for an environment (or create an environment) that is more consistent with their hereditary inclinations.