The concept of "mental activity. Report “Types of mental activity

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1.1 Mental activity and its characteristics.

The concept of "intelligence" (from the Latin Intellectus - understanding, understanding, comprehension) does not have an unambiguous definition, but everyone recognizes that the level of ability inherent in each person to use mental operations is one of the fundamental characteristics of intelligence The creators of the first intellectual tests A. Bige, T Simon and D. Wexler believed that a person with intelligence is one who “correctly judges, understands and reflects” and who, thanks to these abilities, can cope well with life circumstances, i.e. adapt to the environment, to the circumstances of life.

Another point of view is not intelligence due to the fact that here the main importance is attached to the connection of intelligence with the psychophysiological abilities of a person to process incoming information faster or slower (speed of perception, memorization and reproduction, etc.), otherwise - with speed parameters of response to external stimuli. And in later studies, the main indicator of intelligence in this approach is the time spent by a person on solving the proposed tasks.

Quite a few definitions of intelligence have been proposed in the past, based on the presence and severity of abilities for intellectual activity. However, it should be remembered that the concept of abilities defines a wider range of mental phenomena than the concept of intelligence.

Intelligence is often defined as the generalized ability to learn. The adequacy of this approach has been substantiated by many researchers. For example, it has been shown that scores on intelligence tests are in good agreement with performance in school and other educational institutions. However, it is well known that many gifted people did not perform well at school (Einstein, Darwin, Churchill).

According to the psychologist Gilford, creative people are characterized by divergent thinking, in which the search for a solution to a problem is carried out in all possible directions. This "fan-shaped" search allows a creative person to find a very unusual solution to a problem or to suggest many solutions where an ordinary person can find only one or two. People with creative thinking sometimes find it difficult to adapt to traditional learning, which requires direct and clear answers from the student to the question posed, focuses on finding the only correct solution, which is characteristic of convergent thinking.

Psychologist Spearman (1904) formulated the following postulates: intelligence does not depend on other personality traits of a person; intelligence does not include non-intellectual qualities (interests, achievement motivation, anxiety, etc.) in its structure. Intelligence acts as a general factor of mental energy. Spearman showed that the success of any intellectual activity depends on a certain general factor, general ability, so he singled out the general factor of intelligence (factor G) and factor S, which serves as an indicator of specific abilities. From Spearman's point of view, each person is characterized by a certain level of general intelligence, which determines how this person adapts to the environment. In addition, all people have developed specific abilities to varying degrees, manifested in solving specific problems. Subsequently, Eysenck interpreted the general factor as the speed of information processing by the central nervous system (mental pace).

Later, Thurstone (1938), using statistical factorial methods, investigated various aspects of general intelligence, which he called primary mental potencies. He identified seven such potencies:

1) counting ability, i.e. the ability to operate with numbers and perform arithmetic operations;

2) verbal (verbal) flexibility, i.e. the ease with which a person can communicate using the most appropriate words;

3) spatial orientation, or the ability to identify various objects and forms in space;

4) memory;

5) the ability to reason;

6) the speed of perception of similarities or differences between objects and images.

Intelligence factors, or primary mental potencies, as shown by further studies, correlate, are connected with each other, which indicates the existence of a single general factor.

Later, Guilford (1959) singled out 120 factors of intelligence, based on what mental operations they are needed for, what results these operations lead to and what their content is (content can be figurative, symbolic, semantic, behavioral). Under the operation, Guilford understands the ability of a person, or rather, a mental process - a concept, memory, divergent productivity, convergent productivity, evaluation. Results - the form in which information is processed by the subject: element, classes, relationships, systems, types of transformations and conclusions. Currently, appropriate tests have been selected for the diagnosis of more than 100 factors indicated by Gilford.

According to Catell (1967), each of us has a potential intelligence from birth, which underlies our ability to think, abstract and reason. Around the age of 20, this intelligence reaches its greatest flowering. On the other hand, a “crystal” intellect is formed, consisting of various skills and knowledge that we acquire as we accumulate life experience, a “crystal” intellect is formed precisely when solving problems of adaptation to the environment and requires the development of some abilities at the expense of others, as well as acquiring specific skills. Thus, the "crystal" intellect is determined by the measure of mastering the culture of the society to which the person belongs. The factor of potential or free intelligence correlates with the factor of "crystalline or connected intelligence", since potential intelligence determines the primary accumulation of knowledge. From Cattell's point of view, potential or free intelligence is independent of cultural involvement. Its level is determined by the level of development of the tertiary zones of the cerebral cortex. Partial, or private, factors of intelligence (for example, visualization - manipulation of visual images) are determined by the level of development of individual sensory and motor areas of the brain.

Hebb (1974) considers intelligence from a slightly different perspective. He singles out intellect A - this is the potential that is created at the moment of conception and serves as the basis for the development of the intellectual abilities of the individual. As for intelligence B, it is formed as a result of the interaction of this potential intelligence with the environment. This "resulting" intellect can only be assessed by observing how a person performs mental operations. Therefore, we will never be able to know what intelligence A was.

Genetic and environmental factors in the development of intelligence,

So far, very little is known about the genetic preconditions for intelligence. Of the hundreds of thousands of genes located on chromosomes, only a few have been identified, which, being responsible for a number of physical signs of the body, can cause gross violations when damaged.

intellect. The most well-known chromosomal abnormalities in Down's disease, where the typical "Mongoloid" appearance of the patient accompanies mental retardation. However, only 3-4% of Down syndrome cases are inherited. In other cases, the main factor of the disease is the elderly age of the parents.

It is also known that anomalies in the content of the number of sex chromosomes in the nucleus of a fertilized egg not only lead to a change in secondary sexual characteristics, but are accompanied by mental retardation and behavioral disorders. A greater number of boys among the mentally retarded became clear when it was found that very often this trait is linked to the X chromosome.

The mental development of the child can be affected by the mother's illness during pregnancy (rubella, diabetes, syphilis), as well as her use of a number of medicinal and toxic substances. However, no matter what hereditary inclinations a child is born with, its further development is largely due to environmental factors - nutrition, upbringing, and others.

There is also much discussion about the discovery of lower average scores on intelligence tests among people from less well-to-do strata of society and some ethnic groups. The results of these studies are interesting in themselves, but they did not answer the main question - about the causes of group differences.

Probably, it is impossible to consider intelligence as a certain unambiguous phenomenon, explained by one cause or one mechanism. It is necessary to recognize the existence of a complex structure of intelligence, including general and specific factors. Rather, general factors are based on certain neurophysiological mechanisms of information processing, while particular (specific) factors are the main types of actions, information processing operations acquired during learning and accumulation of life experience. It is also obvious that the inheritance is not

general intelligence or specific actions and operations, but certain neurophysiological characteristics of the brain areas that are included in the functional systems related to intelligence factors. These neurophysiological features can be considered as the makings of abilities.

1.2 The structure of intelligence. Explanatory approaches in experimental psychological theories of intelligence.

Despite the powerful methodological support for the study of intellectual abilities, testology has not been able to generate any acceptable concept of intelligence. In addition, adherents of views on intelligence as a single structure have come to a paradoxical conclusion about a variety of different abilities that are not always dependent on each other, and adherents of the idea of multiple intelligences have become convinced that there is a common beginning for all manifestations of intelligence. In order to streamline the material accumulated in this area of psychological research, there are several main approaches, each of which is characterized by a certain conceptual line in the interpretation of the nature of intelligence.

1. Phenomenological approach (intellect as a special form of the content of consciousness);

2. Genetic approach (intelligence as a result of increasingly complex adaptation to environmental requirements in natural conditions of human interaction with the outside world);

3. Sociocultural approach (intelligence as a result of the process of socialization, as well as the influence of culture in general);

4. Procedural and activity approach (intellect as a special form of human activity);

5. Educational approach (intelligence as a product of purposeful learning;

6. Informational approach (intelligence as a set of elementary processes of information processing);

7. Functional-level approach (intellect as a system of multi-level cognitive processes);

8. Regulatory approach (intellect as a factor of self-regulation of mental activity);

1. Phenomenological approach.

One of the first attempts to build an explanatory model of intelligence was presented in Gestalt psychology, in which the nature of intelligence was interpreted in the context of the problem of organizing the phenomenal field of consciousness. The prerequisites for such an approach were set by W. Köhler. As a criterion for the presence of intellectual behavior in animals, he considered the effects of structure: the emergence of a solution is due to the fact that the field of perception acquires a new structure, in which the relationships between the elements of the problem situation that are important for its resolution are grasped. In this case, the solution itself arises suddenly, on the basis of an almost instantaneous restructuring of the image of the initial situation (this phenomenon is called insight). Subsequently, M. Wertheimer, characterizing the "productive thinking" of a person, also brought to the fore the processes of structuring the content of consciousness: grouping, centering, reorganization of available impressions.

The main vector along which the image of the situation is being restructured is its transition to a “good gestalt”, that is, an extremely simple, clear, dissected, meaningful image in which all the main elements of the problem situation are reproduced in full, primarily its key structural contradiction. The ability to insight is a criterion for the development of intelligence. It can be said that the manifestation of intellectual action is such an instantaneous reorganization of the content of consciousness, due to which the cognitive image acquires the “quality of form”.

A special place in the Gestalt psychological theory was occupied by the studies of K. Dunker, who managed to describe the solution of the problem with

the point of view of how the content of the subject's consciousness changes in the process of finding the principle (idea) of the solution. The key characteristic of intelligence is insight (sudden, unexpected understanding of the essence of the problem). The deeper the insight, that is, the stronger the essential features of the problem situation determine the response, the more intellectual it is. According to Dunker, the deepest differences between people in what we call mental giftedness have their basis precisely in the greater or lesser ease of restructuring conceivable material. Thus, the ability to insight (ie the ability to quickly rearrange the content of the cognitive image in the direction of identifying the main problematic contradiction of the situation) is the criterion for the development of intelligence.

Intelligence, in turn, contributes to the formation of these personality traits. This relationship can be displayed as follows: Personal qualities of the subject Intellectual development. 1.2 The use of didactic games as a means of developing the intellect of preschoolers The game is the main activity of the child at preschool age, playing, he learns the world of people, playing, the child develops. AT...

The account, in our opinion, turns out to be associated with the originality of the "vision" of reality. Thus, the structural orientation in the study of the intellect returns, as it seems to us, the status of mental reality to the intellect and means that the study of the intellectual capabilities of a person unfolds "inside" the individual intellect. A real phenomenology of the intellect, with...

Energy boundaries of various groups of physical condition, kcal/min

The results of many studies indicate the inadmissibility of exceeding 33-40% of the maximum aerobic capacity during physical activity throughout the full working day. Therefore, it can be roughly considered, taking into account age fluctuations, that for persons of group I of physical condition, 8-hour labor energy costs should not exceed 15 kJ/min(3,5 kcal/min), II - groups - 15-19 kJ/min,(3,5-4,5 kcal/min), Group III -19-23 kJ/min(4,5-5,5 kcal/min), Group IV - 23.4-27 kJ/min(5, 6-6,5 kcal/min) for persons of group V, they may be higher than these values.

There is a widespread misconception that mental work is easy work. This idea is based on the fact that during mental labor energy costs (and this is one of the main criteria for assessing the severity of labor) are much lower than during physical labor.

In physiological terms, the main feature of mental labor is that during it the brain performs the functions of not only a coordinating, but the main working organ. At the same time, the analytical and synthetic functions of the central nervous system are significantly activated, the reception and processing of information becomes more complicated, new functional connections are formed, new complexes of conditioned reflexes, the role of the functions of attention, memory, the tension of the visual and auditory analyzers and the load on them increase.

Despite significant physiological differences, the division of labor activity into physical and mental is somewhat arbitrary. With the development of science and technology, the boundaries between them are increasingly smoothed out.

Nevertheless, most types of labor activity can be classified as predominantly mental: managerial work, creative (the work of scientists, writers, artists, composers, designers, etc.), the work of operators, teachers and teachers, medical workers. One of the most numerous groups where mental labor predominates are pupils and students. Their work activity is characterized by a strain of memory, attention, perception, frequent stressful situations (control classes, tests, exams), and a largely sedentary lifestyle.

Physiological features of mental labor. Low mobility, a forced monotonous posture during mental work contribute to a weakening of metabolic processes, congestion in the muscles of the legs, abdominal organs and small pelvis, and worsen the supply of oxygen to the brain. Making up only 1.2-1.5% relative to body weight, the brain consumes more than 20% of its energy resources. The blood flow to the working brain increases by 8-10 times compared to the state of rest, and its consumption of oxygen and glucose will increase.

The content of glucose in the blood increases by 18-36%, the concentration of adrenaline, norepinephrine and free fatty acids in the blood increases. In the brain tissue, the consumption of glucose, methionine, glutamine and other essential amino acids, vitamins of group B increases. The functions of the visual analyzer deteriorate - visual acuity, stability of clear vision, contrast sensitivity, visual performance. Increased visual-motor reaction time.

Mental labor also has the highest degree of attention strain: when reading specialized literature, the strain is almost twice as high as when driving a car in the city, and 5-10 times higher than when performing many types of mechanized physical work.

The formal completion of the working day often does not stop the process of professionally directed mental activity. They say that a thought cannot be folded like hands, and even in a dream it does not quite sleep. A special state of the body develops - fatigue can turn into overwork. This condition should be considered already as a serious violation of the normal physiological functioning of the body, as a pre-pathology, and sometimes even a pathology. During mental work, the state of overwork is characterized by the lack of a full recovery of working capacity by the next working day, sleep disturbances (up to persistent insomnia), a decrease in resistance to the effects of adverse environmental factors, and an increase in neuro-emotional excitability.

During mental labor, the state of overwork is not as demonstrative as during physical labor. People who are engaged in mental work, even in a state of overwork, are able to perform their professional duties for a long time without a noticeable decrease in the level of labor activity and labor productivity.

Labor intensity. When developing criteria for a professional assessment of the degree of nervous tension in the process of work, they use characteristics that reflect the tension of the sensory apparatus, higher nerve centers that provide the functions of attention, thinking, and regulation of movements. Special tables have been compiled for the classification of labor according to the degree of neuro-emotional stress based on 14 indicators (intellectual load; duration of concentrated observation, the number of production-important "objects of simultaneous" observation; the number of signals per hour; the number of signals for action per hour; time of active actions; the need for an independent search for mismatches; monotony; visual strain; accuracy of work; shift; mode of work and rest). Using such tables, sanitary doctors and other specialists can determine the degree of stress in certain types of work in various industries (for example, Table 4.3).

Later, Thurstone (1938), using statistical factorial methods, investigated various aspects of general intelligence, which he called primary mental potencies. He identified seven such potencies:

counting ability, i.e. the ability to operate with numbers and perform arithmetic operations;

verbal (verbal) flexibility, i.e. the ease with which a person can communicate using the most appropriate words;

spatial orientation, or the ability to identify various objects and forms in space;

reasoning ability;

the speed of perception of similarities or differences between objects and images.

Intelligence factors, or primary mental potencies, as shown by further studies, correlate, are connected with each other, which indicates the existence of a single general factor.

Genetic and environmental factors in the development of intelligence,

The mental development of the child can be affected by the mother's illness during pregnancy (rubella, diabetes, syphilis), as well as her use of a number of medicinal and toxic substances. However, no matter what hereditary inclinations a child is born with, its further development is largely determined by environmental factors - nutrition, upbringing, and others.

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Introduction

At different stages of historical and individual development, the human psyche has a different content and structure: at the early initial stages, the cognitive side of the psyche is sensual in nature, it appears in the form of sensation and sensory perception; the primary act of human activity has a predominantly sensory-practical character. At the highest stages of development in the cognitive side of the psyche, intellectual moments acquire an increasing share, at first relatively elementary, directly woven into the fabric of material practical activity; then they stand out from it, acquiring relative independence, ideal, theoretical activity. However, at the same time, every act of concrete activity always includes a unity of cognitive and effective moments, and at higher levels, knowledge becomes more and more effective, and action more and more conscious.

The emergence of human consciousness and human intellect can be correctly explained only depending on its material basis, in connection with the process of the formation of man as a historical being. The development of more and more sophisticated senses was inextricably linked with the development of more and more specialized sensory areas in the human brain, and the development of more and more perfect movements with the development of an increasingly differentiated motor area.

The development of labor activity and the new functions that the human brain had to assume in connection with the development of labor were reflected in a change in its structure, and the development of its structure, in turn, determined the possibility of the emergence and development of new, increasingly complex functions. Following labor and next to it, speech that arose in joint labor activity was a significant stimulus for the development of the human brain and consciousness. The organ of human conscious activity is the cerebral cortex, therefore the main question is the relationship between the human psyche and the cerebral cortex, concretized in science as a question of functional localization or localization of mental functions in the cerebral cortex.

The cognitive sphere of personality includes attention, sensation and perception, memory, thinking, imagination. Individual manifestations and personality traits include will, feelings, temperament, character, abilities of each person.

Chapter I. Human mental activity

1.1 Definition of mental activity

Mental activity (as well as muscular) is primarily the activity of the central nervous system, its higher department - the human brain cortex.

Mental activity, which includes the process of modeling, develops on the basis of the functioning and interaction of three formations of the cerebral cortex: sensory, neural and operational fields of the cerebral cortex. The patterns of functioning of these brain formations are reflected in the modeling activity of a person. This means that in the process of building a new model, the features of the functioning of the operational field, the different speed and completeness of the manifestation of information stored in memory traces of different strength, as well as the state of aftereffect that occurs in the cortical traces covered by mental operations, are manifested.

Directed-organized mental activity in the process of finding the optimal solution allows you to clearly see the progress of solving the problem, analyze data in connections and relationships, and organize your actions based on the essence of the problem.

Purposeful mental activity for 11 hours a day is very stressful and, of course, tiring. But, firstly, fatigue from mental activity, if it is not excessive, is normal, like any fatigue from work. Secondly, modern general and special requirements for a specialist are so great that even these 11 hours of hard daily work are barely enough.

Mental activity requires finely differentiated excitation of limited areas of the cerebral cortex and simultaneous inhibition of other adjacent areas. Strong feelings are associated with a high level of excitation of the subcortical centers. Impulses from the subcortex bombard the cerebral cortex, leading to its diffuse excitation, and intellectual activity deteriorates. This is the neurophysiological basis of the Yerkes-Dodson law.

1.2 Features of mental activity

The features of mental activity in a team also determine the features of the psychological climate in it. With mental activity against the background of noise, there is a decrease in the pace of work, its quality and productivity.

The logicality of a person's mental activity is characterized by consistency in his presentation of thoughts and the concentration of the mind on a clearly defined object or phenomenon.

In the process of mental activity, various parts of the cerebral cortex are activated, in which beds and oxygen consumption increase; with an increase in the degree of mental or emotional stress, an increase in heart rate, an increase in blood pressure, and an increase in the intensity of metabolic processes are observed.

The optimal duration of joint mental activity of a large number of people is only 40-45 minutes. Therefore, after 40-60 minutes, the participants of the meeting lose their attention: there is noise, unnecessary movements, and conversations. If you continue to continue the meeting without a break, then most of the participants become fatigued. After a 30 - 40-minute break, those present feel better, their normal state is restored and the discussion of problems can be continued.

It makes no sense to stimulate the mental activity of a person who, due to professional training, qualifications and other qualities, is not capable of this type of activity.

Creativity is a mental activity (labor), in the process of which new values, new discoveries, inventions, the establishment of unknown sciences, facts, the creation of new information valuable to mankind - works of science, literature, art, technical solutions are created according to the plan.

In all areas of human mental activity, there is an extremely large number of various processes that are carried out according to strictly defined rules.

Psychologists testify that mental activity is activated when a person is faced with some kind of difficulty, since certain efforts are needed to overcome it. That is why the mind of a person becomes sharper, more sophisticated, because he endlessly has to face many difficulties, problems and the need to solve them.

1.3 Ways to stimulate mental activity

The use of mental tasks stimulates the mental activity of trainees, contributes to the development of skills for accurately expressing thoughts, building logical reasoning and a convincing system of argumentation.

Light muscular work stimulates mental activity, and hard, exhausting work, on the contrary, lowers it, reduces the quality. There is evidence that for many representatives of creative mental activity, walking was a necessary condition for the successful completion of work.

Psychology considers memory as a property of mental activity to preserve and reproduce what was in the mind.

Chapter II. Imagination and intuition

Fantasy, creative imagination helps a person to realize his plans and fantasies, helps him rise high to the heights of creativity and science, elevates him above the world of animals that live only by instincts.

Imagination is able to live according to its own law, different from logic. Therefore, such two concepts as imagination and intuition are so similar and so compatible.

Imagination and intuition are inseparable because imagination is not subject to the laws of logic. It is born and nurtured by the course of an individual's life, by the assimilation of the cultural and spiritual treasures accumulated by humanity.

Imagination and intuition contribute to scientific discovery. Discoveries in science are often achieved by some general logic of movement: from searching and discovering facts to observations and experiments, and then from hypotheses to theories and predictions. But you must admit that logic is not the only tool of human thinking. Such additional, and sometimes basic tools are imagination and intuition. The role of imagination and intuition in scientific research should never be underestimated. It is induction, instead of deduction, which is based on imagination and intuition, that allows one to make the greatest conquests of human thought. Imagination and intuition lie in all true achievements of science.

2.1 Intuition

Definition of intuition.

"Everything has its origin in intuition." emerson

In the process of cognition, along with rational operations and procedures, irrational ones also participate (the latter are produced by various parts of the brain on the basis of certain biosocial patterns that operate independently of the consciousness and will of a person). The creative-irrational side of the process of cognition is represented by various psychological and irrational factors - such as will, fantasy, imagination, emotions, intuition, etc. Intuition plays a particularly important role in the process of cognition (and, above all, scientific), creativity.

Intuition is the ability to comprehend the truth by direct observation of it without substantiation with the help of evidence. The source and essence of intuition in different philosophical concepts is considered differently - for example, as a result of divine revelation or an instinct that directly determines the form of behavior of an individual without prior learning (Bergson), or as a hidden unconscious first principle of creativity (Freud), however, even with different interpretations of intuition various philosophical concepts and schools, almost all emphasize the moment of immediacy in the process of intuitive knowledge (as opposed to the mediated fixed nature of logical thinking).

Intuition, imagination, creative perception or comprehension, intuition at the subconscious and conscious levels; relies on the subconscious ability to assimilate important information, "process" it, so that it is illuminated by ideas, theories, concepts, symbols, models, interpretations, possibilities, strategies, etc.

The mind and mental activity occupy a central place in the professional activity of a person. Intuition is significantly different from thoughts, feelings and sensations, according to its main characteristic it is a flair. The meaning of the word "intuition" comes from the Latin expression "in yourself". Intuitive feeling is the result of "identifying with" rather than "looking into" the object of attention. It means that you are part of something. Intuitive is a process, but not of perception, but of experience and experience. High motivation shows that this person has a talent for experiencing abstract ideas, involves creativity, concepts, theories, evaluations and choices on opportunities. New ideas and creativity should have an important place in his profession.

As an immediate moment of cognition, intuition unites the sensual and the rational. Intuition is not carried out in a logically detailed and demonstrative form: the subject of cognition would seem to instantly cover a complex situation with thought and "enlightenment" occurs. The role of intuition is especially great where it is necessary to go beyond the limits of the methods of cognition in order to penetrate into the unknown. In the process of intuition, complex functional transitions are made, in which, at a certain stage, the disparate activity of operating with abstract and sensual knowledge (respectively, carried out by the left and right hemispheres of the brain) is suddenly combined, leading to the desired result, to a kind of "enlightenment", which is perceived as a discovery. , as a "highlighting" of what was previously in the darkness of unconscious activity. Intuition is not something unreasonable or superreasonable; its complexity is explained by the fact that in the process of intuitive cognition, all those signs by which a conclusion is made (a conclusion is made) and those methods by which it is made are not realized. Thus, intuition is a special type of thinking, in which the individual links of the thinking process are carried out in the mind more or less unconsciously, but the result of the thought is extremely clearly realized - the truth. Intuition is sufficient to perceive the truth, but it is not enough to convince others and oneself of one's correctness (the truth of knowledge).

Moderate motivation shows that the person is open-minded, inquisitive, creative and innovative, has new ideas and concepts and prefers to be engaged in creative or developing activities. The perception, thinking, logic, decisions and actions of this person are based on the facts that he received as a result of personal experience. . Experience is the result of the process of cognition, development, transformation of abilities into skills that are necessary in professional activities.

Creativity as a feature of human activity.

The most important feature of human activity in general (not only cognitive) is creativity - the activity of knowing, comprehending and transforming the world around us. In a broad sense, creativity creates a unique symbiosis of sensual, rational and non-rational levels of cognition. In real life, people are faced with rapidly changing situations, resolving which a person makes instant and often non-standard decisions - such a process can be called creativity. The mechanisms of creativity, its nature have been studied by philosophy and science since antiquity (creativity as a manifestation of the divine principle in man - the Christian tradition, creativity as a manifestation of the unconscious - Z. Freud, etc.). The mechanisms of creativity have not yet been thoroughly studied, but it can be asserted with sufficient authority that creativity is a product of human biosocial evolution. Probably, the creative possibilities of a person are determined not only by the neurophysiological features of the brain, but also by its "functional architecture". It is a system of organized and interconnected operations carried out by different parts of the brain, with the help of which the processing of sign information, the development of images and abstractions, the recall and processing of information stored in memory, etc. are carried out.

In a certain sense, creativity is a mechanism for adapting a person in an infinitely diverse and changing world, a mechanism that implements the adoption of non-standard decisions, which ultimately ensures the survival and development of a person as a biological species and a social being.

The creative process does not oppose the sensual and rational stages of cognition, but complements and even organizes them. The mechanisms of creativity, proceeding subconsciously and not obeying certain rules and standards of rational activity, at the level of results can be consolidated with rational activity and included in it (this also applies to individual and collective creativity).

2.2 Imagination

Definition of imagination.

Imagination is the mental process of creating an image of an object, a situation by restructuring existing ideas. Images of the imagination do not always correspond to reality; they have elements of fantasy, fiction. If the imagination draws pictures to the consciousness, to which nothing or little corresponds to reality, then it is called fantasy. If the imagination is turned to the future, it is called a dream. The process of imagination always proceeds in close connection with two other mental processes - memory and thinking.

Imagination is a change and transformation by a person of his ideas based on:

1. isolation from the integral image of the object of any of its elements or properties. Such, for example, is the presentation of one form of a stone tool as suitable for cutting, the other as piercing; idea of the size of the stick as a means to lengthen the arm;

2. changing the size, size of objects in the direction of exaggeration (hyperbole) or its underestimation in comparison with the real ones and in this way creating all kinds of fantastic images (giants, gnomes, etc.);

connecting in your imagination their parts or elements isolated from different objects and creating in this way a mental image, representing a new object that did not previously exist in nature (the sphinx of the ancient Egyptians, the bull-man of the Assyrians, the centaur of the ancient Greeks);

3. designing an object in connection with its purpose, for example, a spear; mentally endowing this weapon with the properties of hitting a target from afar (throwing) or close by (delivering a blow, a powerful thrust) and, in connection with this, giving a special form to each of these tools (a light dart and a heavy spear);

4. mental strengthening of any property or quality, giving this property a disproportionately greater or special value in the characteristics of the object (cunning in a fox, cowardice in a hare);

5. transfer to other objects (the leader of the tribe is cunning, like a fox; enemies are cowardly, like hares);

6. creating a new image as a result of generalizing the features observed in a number of similar objects (typification of the image in fiction; for example, the literary heroes Onegin, Pechorin, Oblomov, Samgin, Korchagin and others are endowed with features typical of that era, that class, whose spokesmen they are).

The physiological basis of imagination is the residual trace processes of excitation and inhibition, irradiation and concentration, positive and negative induction, analysis and synthesis in the cortical sections of various analyzers. As a result of this complex nervous activity, new combinations of temporary connections formed in the past experience that did not take place in the real process of perception arise, which form the basis of images of the imagination.

Classification of imagination processes.

According to the results:

Reproductive imagination. (Recreation of reality as it is).

Productive (creative) imagination with relative novelty of images;

With an absolute novelty of images.

Degree of focus:

Active (voluntary) - includes recreating and creative imagination.

Passive (involuntary) - includes unintentional and unpredictable imagination.

By type of images:

Specific

abstract

According to the methods of imagination:

Agglutination is a combination of objects that are not connected in reality;

Hyperbolization - an increase or decrease in an object and its parts;

Schematization - highlighting differences and identifying similarities;

Typification -- highlighting the essential, recurring in homogeneous phenomena.

Types of imagination.

Imagination is a reflection of external space in new unusual combinations and connections. It occupies an intermediate position between perception and thinking, thinking and memory. This is one of the most mysterious psychic phenomena. We know almost nothing about the mechanism of imagination, its anatomical and physiological basis. Imagination is unique to man. It allows him to go beyond the limits of the real world in time and space, makes it possible even before the start of work to imagine the finished result of work. Almost all human material and spiritual culture is a product of people's imagination and creativity.

Imagination can function at different levels. Their difference is determined, first of all, by human activity.

§ active imagination- using it, a person, by an effort of will, voluntarily evokes in himself the corresponding images.

§ passive imagination- his images arise spontaneously, in addition to the will and desire of a person.

§ Productive imagination- in it, reality is consciously constructed by a person, and not just mechanically copied or recreated. But at the same time, in the image it is still creatively transformed.

§ reproductive imagination- the task is to reproduce reality as it is, and although there is also an element of fantasy, such imagination is more like perception or memory than creativity.

§ involuntary imagination it is also called passive or unintentional imagination - this is the creation of new images without any external stimuli. It consists in the emergence and combination of ideas and their elements into new ideas without a specific intention on the part of a person, with a weakening of conscious control on his part over the course of his ideas. It appears most clearly in dreams or in a half-asleep, drowsy state, when ideas arise spontaneously, change, combine and change by themselves, sometimes taking on the most fantastic forms.

§ Arbitrary imagination or, as it is also called, active or deliberate imagination is the creation of new images with the help of volitional efforts. It is a deliberate construction of images in connection with a consciously set task in one or another type of activity.

§ creative imagination- this is the creation of new images in the process of human creative activity (in art, science, etc.). Writers, artists, sculptors, composers, seeking to depict life in images, resort to creative imagination. They do not just copy life photographically, but create artistic images in which this life is truly reflected in its most vivid and generalized features. At the same time, these images reflect the personality of the writer, artist, his worldview, understanding of the life around him, and the features of his artistic style.

§ Recreating imagination or reproductive imagination- this is imagination based on what is read or heard. It takes place in those cases when a person, according to one description, must imagine an object that he has never perceived before. For example, he has never seen the sea, but after reading a description of it in a book, he can imagine the sea in more or less vivid and complete images.

§ Dream or dreaming- this is the construction of those images that have not yet been implemented, and sometimes cannot be realized.

The images that a person creates in his dreams are distinguished by the following features:

1. bright, lively, specific character, with many details and particulars;

2. emotional richness of the image, its attractiveness for a dreaming person;

3. the desire to combine dreams with a sense of confidence in its feasibility, with a passionate desire to turn it into reality.

Imagination Functions:

1. Figurative representation of reality;

2. Regulation of emotional states;

3. Arbitrary regulation of cognitive processes and human states;

4. Formation of an internal action plan.

Imagination processes, like memory processes, can vary in their degree of arbitrariness or intentionality. An extreme case of involuntary work of the imagination are dreams, in which images are born unintentionally and in the most unexpected and bizarre combinations. At its core, the activity of the imagination is also involuntary, unfolding in a half-asleep, drowsy state, for example, before falling asleep.

Among the various types and forms of voluntary imagination, we can distinguish recreative imagination, creative imagination and dream. Recreative imagination occurs when a person needs to recreate a representation of an object that corresponds as closely as possible to its description.

Creative imagination is characterized by the fact that a person transforms ideas and creates new ones not according to the existing model, but independently outlining the contours of the created image and choosing the necessary materials for it.

A special form of imagination is a dream - the independent creation of new images. The main feature of a dream is that it is aimed at future activities, i.e. a dream is an imagination aimed at a desired future.

If arbitrary, or active, imagination is intentional, i.e. connected with the volitional manifestations of a person, then passive imagination can be intentional and unintentional. Intentional passive imagination creates images that are not connected with the will. These images are called dreams. In daydreams, the connection between the imagination and the needs of the individual is most clearly revealed. The predominance of dreams in the mental life of a person can lead him to a separation from reality, to escape into a fictional world, which, in turn, begins to slow down the mental and social development of this person.

Unintentional passive imagination is observed when the activity of consciousness is weakened, its disorders, in a semi-drowsy state, in a dream, etc. The most revealing manifestation of passive imagination are hallucinations, in which a person perceives non-existent objects. When classifying the types of imagination, two main characteristics are taken into account. This is the degree of manifestation of volitional efforts and the degree of activity, or awareness.

The role of imagination in various types of human creative activity.

Without a rich imagination, any creative activity of a person would be impossible. This is explained as follows.

Firstly, the product of creativity itself or the future goal of creative activity is always presented first in the imagination of the creator and only then becomes a reality. Before painting a picture, the artist builds its idea in his imagination.

Secondly, the original creative idea or project almost never remains unchanged and most often changes significantly in the course of creativity itself. This change of what is conceived in the course of creative activity is precisely its inalienable property and cannot occur otherwise than in the imagination.

Thirdly, the ability, talent of any creator is not least evaluated by people precisely by the richness of his imagination. What will remain of the paintings of the famous artist Salvador Dali, if we remove from his work what belongs to the rich creative imagination of the artist himself? Leave only what concerns the high technical skill of his brush, and this would immediately put Dali in a number of other, little-known artists who own the brush no worse than he does.

Imagination tricks.

Basic fantasy techniques.

These are the most general and universal techniques that are used in solving so many creative problems: the technique of reducing, increasing, combining, crushing, and vice versa.

Each industry has its own specific set of creative techniques.

Techniques in art:

1. Analogy: to influence the senses with a secondary object that evokes certain associations. These associations lead to the programming of the perception of the main object.

2. Balanced composition: the parts of the artwork balance each other.

3. Golden ratio: a proportion that is pleasing to the eye.

Techniques in journalism

1. Deliberate mistake: concentrates attention.

2. Rhetorical question: focuses attention.

3. Repetitive part: focuses attention.

4. Introduction: reduced version of the article.

5. Catchy headline.

6. Unexpected opinion.

Chapter III. Training and development

consciousness intelligence imagination intuition

3.1 Methods for developing the imagination

1. Game "Good-bad" or "Chain of contradictions":

goal: to learn to find contradictions in objects or systems.

method: one person says "A" is good because "B". The next one says: "B" is bad because "C". Etc.

2. Invent a fantastic plant, animal, phenomenon: goal: to learn how to use fantasy techniques. Method: give a similar task. Later, in the process of mastering the RTV course, analyze its implementation. After studying the techniques and methods of fantasizing, give a similar task again.

3. Analysis of jokes, proverbs and sayings: goal: to learn to see where the techniques and methods of fantasizing are used in creativity.

method: almost every proverb and saying is based on a particular technique. By analyzing them, you learn to discover tricks. In jokes, it is useful to analyze the final part (which causes laughter). A useful task for fantasizing is to come up with an anecdote yourself.

4. Analysis of fairy tales: separation of the fantastic from the real:

goal: to learn to see where the techniques and methods of fantasizing are used in creativity.

method: we take a fairy tale and separate in it what can really happen from what is fantastic. You get 2 stories.

5. Game "what has changed":

goal: development of imagination, overcoming the rigidity of thinking.

method: a person makes some invisible changes to the object, and other players must ask specific questions to find out what exactly has changed in the object.

3.2 Six ways to develop intuition

Intuition is the primary force. In this depth, beyond the last line, where analysis is not able to reach, everything originates.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

1. Be directly involved. Imagine yourself in the place of someone else. Better yet, experience the same. Immerse yourself in the matter completely and completely - this will strengthen your intuition. Great military leaders know this. Get out of the bunker, go to the front line and see, feel, act. Experience the same as others.

2. Allow yourself to feel the fear and move through it. You don't like fear, right? But most of us have to live with it and find ways to turn it from an enemy into a friend. Fear blocks intuition and intensifies if we resist it. Allow yourself to feel the fear. Don't resist any part of it. Concentrate right on it and go right through to the end. At the end, you will become stronger and get a feeling of greater clarity. By allowing yourself to feel fear, you will strengthen your intuition, because it will teach you to listen and accept your inner world for what it is, instead of fighting with it.

3. Interact with others on an emotional level. When you interact with another person - face to face, on the phone, online - try to recognize their emotions. Give them names. Does the person seem angry, happy, hopeful, joyful, depressed, or sad? The more you tune into people's emotions, the more you understand different situations, and the better your intuition works. Intuitive hunches and abstract ideas come from the same source where emotions are born, so the better you can identify people's emotions, the better you will be able to create and communicate with your intuition. Recognizing and labeling emotions - both your own and those around you - is an effective exercise.

4. Turn off internal judgments. When you judge someone or something - including yourself - it is not a manifestation of intuition, but of negative energy blocking intuition. When your inner critic says, "He's stupid," "She's ugly," "I'm fat," or "I'm going to lose," stop and think, "Why did I say that? What part of me is out of balance?" When you hear the voice of this critic, stop it - not by shutting it up (it won't work, it will show up somewhere else), but by directing a positive question into your mind. When I catch myself thinking, "I'll never be able to do this," I consciously change it: "How can I do this?" If I am patient enough and listen to my inner voice, it will tell me what to do. When my inner critic says, "This will never work," I ask myself, "What part of the idea will work?" or "Which idea would be better?" When you start asking positive questions, your subconscious mind will come up with solutions through intuition.

5. Be alone. The best way is meditation. Find at least half an hour a day to be alone with your thoughts. Leo, author of the Zen Habits blog, has some great tips for finding some time for solitude (En). Spend some time alone with your thoughts, feelings, images. I've spent most of my life with little or no idea of what's going on inside of me. By taking the time to listen to your inner world, you will discover what an amazing and magical being you really are. With the ability to hear yourself alone, you can learn to hear your inner voice, even when you are not alone, and create powerful and compelling intuitive ideas just when you need them.

6. Ask questions. In multitude. I call it intuitive bodybuilding. Asking questions is a great way to strengthen your intuition. The most powerful creative insights come after long Q&A sessions. Get together with a group of curious people and discuss difficult issues - philosophical, scientific, sociological, medical, literary. It is not the answers that give the main strength, but the questions - opening unexamined paths, stimulating the emergence of new questions and answers. There is hardly a better way to train your intuition than a lively Q&A session.

Conclusion

The idea of a person almost necessarily involves an assessment of his mind. Perhaps, rather than about character, about abilities, about perseverance, people judge another, as they say, by the mind. Psychological knowledge about a person also consists mainly in information about the thinking of this person as a mental process, about the formation and development of the intellect.

The human mind is not only perceived as a single property at the level of everyday consciousness, but also in the scientific understanding is a complex integral formation of the psyche. A developed mind uses images, concepts, judgments, conclusions, is able to build logical chains from simple to complex conceptual and theoretical constructions. At the same time, it was noticed that one can flexibly use the mastered operations and quickly switch, establishing connections between thoughts, the other does the same, but much more slowly.

There is an idea that even people with the highest intelligence use only a tenth of their brain capacity. This means that a person has a significant reserve, which he can and must use to maximize the development of his innate abilities.

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