What is reflection in psychology? The concept and essence of reflection

Reflection is understood as a skill that allows not only to control the focus of attention, but also to realize one's own thoughts, sensation and general condition. Thanks to reflection, a person has the opportunity to observe himself from the outside and see himself through the eyes of the people who surround him. Reflection in psychology implies any personality traps aimed at introspection. They can manifest themselves in assessing their actions, thoughts and events. From the degree to which a person is educated and knows how to control himself, the depth of reflection will depend.

Psychological content

Reflection in psychology occupies an important place in the integral structure of the personality, as evidenced by a wide range of features and its multifunctionality. Similar processes occur in virtually every area of psychological activity.

Reflection in thinking is proof that a person can control his thoughts and actions, and his thinking activity is productive.

Philosophical aspect

Many philosophers believe that reflection in psychology is one of the sources of knowledge. His subject is directly the thought itself. For the mechanism to work effectively, there must be an objectification. It is necessary to compare the results with the methods and process of the reflexive representation.

The role of this phenomenon

Reflexion is necessary in order for a person to be able to establish and regulate adequate requirements for himself, which are based on criteria established from outside, and the specifics of the object itself. The concept of reflection in psychology makes it possible to perform self-observation, self-analysis and self-reflection.

Types of Reflection

Because experts can not come to a single approach to studying this phenomenon, there are several types and classifications:

• Cooperative. In this case, by reflection is meant the "liberation" of the subject and his "exit" into a new position in relation to past activities. The emphasis is on the results, not on the procedural subtleties of the mechanism.
• Communicative. Reflection is the most important component of harmonious development of communication and interpersonal perception. This indicator is most often used to address issues that are related to problems of perception and empathy in communication between people. The functions of the phenomenon in this case are the following: regulative, cognitive and development. They are expressed in the change of ideas about the object to more adequate in this situation.
• The personal. It gives an opportunity to study own actions, analyze images and internal "I". It is used in those cases when self-decay of the personality takes place, correction of self-consciousness and construction of a new "I" is required.
• Intellectual. The object is knowledge related to a certain subject, and ways of interacting with it. This kind of reflexion is used in engineering and pedagogical psychology.
• Existential. The object is the deep sense of personality.
• Sanogenic. The main function is the regulation of emotional states and the reduction of suffering and experiences.
• Reflection in the psychology of communication. It implies a complex system of relationships that arise in the process of interaction of individuals.

Forms of the phenomenon

It is customary to consider reflection in three basic forms, which differ depending on those functions that are performed:

• Situational. It ensures the involvement of the subject in the event and encourages him to analyze and comprehend "here and now."
• Retrospective. Used to evaluate those actions and events that have already occurred. This form is necessary for structuring and better mastering of experience, awareness of one's own mistakes and weaknesses. Applying retrospective reflection, you can identify the causes of their failures and defeats.
• Perspective. Used to think about future activities, it involves planning and determining constructive ways of influencing.

How useful reflexion

Experts are sure that it is reflection in psychology that is considered to be a generator of new ideas. It allows you to build a realistic picture and process the information received. As a result of introspection, a person changes and improves himself. Reflexive mechanism allows you to convert implicit thoughts into explicit ones and gain deeper knowledge.

This phenomenon applies to all spheres of human life, including professional life. The concept of reflection in psychology is necessary in order to learn to take control of your own life and not go with the flow. People who are not familiar with this phenomenon, do not know how to organize their actions and clearly realize where it is necessary to move on.

It is very important not to confuse the reflection with self-consciousness. It implies an orientation to oneself. Reflection concentrates on what has already happened. It is necessary for every person, especially those people who are engaged in intellectual work and have interpersonal contact and group relationship.

How to train and develop reflection

It has long been no secret that reflection in psychology is very important . Exercises that help to develop it must be done regularly, only then they will bring the result. This will help to change for the better and learn to adequately perceive their own actions and thoughts.

• Analysis of actions. After making decisions or difficult situations, you need to think about your actions and look at yourself from the outside. It is necessary to think, perhaps there was one more way out, more successful under the circumstances. We also need to analyze what conclusions can be drawn and what mistakes should not be repeated the next time. This will help to understand what is the reflection in psychology. Examples can be different, but the goal of the exercises is one: to realize the fact of one's own uniqueness and to be able to control one's actions.
• Evaluation of the past day. A person should take the habit at the end of each day to analyze all events and mentally "drive away" the memory of the episodes that occurred. Concentrate on those who cause feelings of dissatisfaction. It is worth looking at them with the eyes of an uninterested observer, perhaps this will help to identify your own shortcomings.
• Communication with people. Social reflection in psychology means communicating with people and constantly improving their own communication skills. Periodically, it is necessary to compare the opinion of the person who has formed, with reality. For open people, this will not be a problem, but a closed person will have to work on himself more.

It is necessary to expand the circle of acquaintances and communicate with people who have a separate and cardinally unlike point of view. Attempts to understand such a person cause the reflexion to become more active. This makes the mind more flexible, and the vision wider. As a result of this exercise, people will learn to make informed and informed decisions, as well as to see different ways of solving the problem.

Social reflection in psychology is a fairly powerful weapon that helps to better understand yourself and other people. Over time, there is the ability to anticipate other people's thoughts and predict actions.

Signs of Reflection

Psychologists distinguish several basic signs of such a phenomenon as reflection:

• Depth. It is characterized by the degree of penetration into the inner world of a person who already contains the worlds of other people.
• Extensive. This indicator reflects the number of people whose worlds are being considered.

What processes are associated with reflection

The ability to regulate, control and control one's thinking is impossible without such processes as synthesis, analysis and evaluation.

Using analysis, you can break all the information into blocks and structure it. No less important is the definition of the main and the establishment of the relationship with the secondary. Synthesis helps to combine all the elements and get a whole new object. Evaluation makes it possible to determine the importance of the material and the goal itself. The criteria may differ, they are determined depending on the situation.

Kinds of listening

Not every person knows what is the main meaning and what is implied in this definition. Reflection in psychology is the ability to control oneself. Help develop this skill helps listening:

• Unreflective listening is an active silence. The technique implies encouraging phrases and gestures, as well as those that will encourage a person to open up.
• Reflexive listening is the feedback from the speaker. It can be achieved with the help of such methods: clarification, rephrasing, reflection of feelings and resumption.