Consciousness in Psychology

The psychic in the evolution of living beings developed as a reflection of reality in the brain. The highest level of its development is inherent in human consciousness.

Psychology, the emergence of people's consciousness explains the social way of life of people and their work activities, which prompt the development of consciousness.

Consciousness in psychology is a rather complex concept. In its definition, many difficulties arise that are associated with different approaches to the study of this issue. The problem of consciousness is one of the most complex in psychological science.

According to V. Wundt, consciousness in psychology is that we find in ourselves certain mental states. From this position, consciousness is an inner glow, which sometimes is brighter or darker, and can generally go out.

W. James defines consciousness as the master of mental functions, practically identifying him with the subject.

K. Jaspers considers consciousness in psychology a special mental space, a kind of "scene". Stout writes that consciousness is unqualified, as it is the quality of mental processes and phenomena.

Representatives of the French school (Halbwachs, Durkheim, etc.) also recognize the lack of quality of consciousness, but understand it as a plane that is the basis for projecting concepts, concepts that make up the content of social consciousness. They practically unite the concepts of consciousness and knowledge (consciousness is the product of social knowledge).

An interesting view of consciousness in the psychology of L.Vygotsky. According to his definition, consciousness is a reflection of a person's reality, himself and his own activities. Consciousness is not given initially, it is not generated by nature, it is the product of the activity of the society that produces it.

B. Ananiev writes about consciousness as a mental activity, a dynamic correlation of logical and sensory knowledge, to their system. In his opinion, consciousness is an integral part of the effect of action.

Consciousness is the highest level of self-regulation and mental reflection, which is inherent only in man. It appears as a changing set of images of the sensory and mental levels in the inner experience of a person who are able to anticipate his practical activities.

Consciousness is characterized by intentionality (directed at the object), activity,

Ability to introspection, reflection, various levels of clarity, motivational and value character.

The consciousness of any person is unique. His study faces serious difficulties. First of all, this is due to the fact that psychological phenomena are presented to a person and are realized to them to the extent that he is able to understand them.

Secondly, consciousness is not localized in the external environment and it can not be dismembered in time. Therefore it can not be studied by standard psychological methods (measure, compare).

The structure of consciousness in psychology is divided into three levels of reflection of reality: sensory-emotional (reflection of the object of reality by the senses); Rational-discursive (the reflection of the object is mediated, that is, the selection in it of generalizing essential features and properties); Intuitive-volitional (integral perception of the object, determines self-consciousness, leads to unity of feeling and reason).

Self-consciousness in psychology is defined as the totality of the processes of the psyche, through which a person realizes himself as a subject of reality. Self-consciousness reflects the being of the person not in a mirror. A person's idea of himself is not always adequate. Human motives do not always reflect his real motivations. Self-knowledge is the result of knowledge, that is, it is not given only in experiences. It is not inherent in man initially, but is a product of development.