Talismans 

Author of the theory of instincts of social behavior. The theory of instincts. James's instinctive theory of motivation

William McDougall(1871-1938) - author of the theory of instincts, American psychologist (English by birth). In 1908, his book “Introduction to Social Psychology” was published.

Instinct - an inherited or congenital predisposition that determines in its owner the ways to educate and pay attention to a certain class of objects, to be emotionally aroused by specific qualities of these objects and to act in a very specific way or, at least, to experience an urge to such actions.

Functions of instincts:

urge,

Activity management.

McDougall tried to reduce all behavior to motivational factors. Any human behavior is purposeful and focused on achieving the intended goal state.

Instinct includes 3 components:

    Cognitive component – a predisposition to selective perception of the surrounding world depending on specific states of the body (a hungry animal notices only food).

    Emotional component – the core of instinct is a specific emotional state characteristic only of a given subject that accompanies each instinct.

    Motor component – instrumental type activity, i.e. in ways to achieve the goal.

Over time, McDougall replaced the concept of instinct with the concept inclination.

Addiction – this is 1) disposition (predisposition); being actualized, the disposition gives rise to 2) an active tendency, desire, impulse, attraction to a certain goal; this tendency is desire.

Psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud

Based on biodeterminism, i.e. at the heart of behavior everyone living beings lies the dynamics of drives.

Sigmund Freud(1856-1939) - Austrian psychologist, creator of psychoanalysis. In 1915, his work “Attraction and Their Fates” was published, where the theory of motivation was developed.

Freud gives the psyche the main function associated with the perception of internal stimuli. Needs generate the energy of irritation, which is subjectively experienced as traumatic and unpleasant. The subject tries to get rid of this energy or reduce it as much as possible, i.e. S. Freud's motivational theory is based on two principles:

1. Hedonic – any decrease in the level of accumulated irritation is accompanied by the experience of satisfaction, and any increase is accompanied by dissatisfaction.

2. Homeostatic - The higher the level of accumulated irritation (tension), the lower the balance of the body.

The motivational process is aimed at reducing the energy of attraction. Self ATTRACTION consists of elements:

    TENSION – motor moment of drive – the sum of forces to which drive corresponds

    GOAL – associated with satisfaction, which can only be achieved by eliminating the irritable state of the source of attraction

    OBJECT OF ATTRACTION - something with the help or in which attraction can achieve its goal

    SOURCE OF ATTRACTION - that somatic process in an organ or part of the body, the irritation from which is represented in the mental life of the subject as an attraction.

All mental life- this is the dynamics of conflicts, which are based on the needs of the “I” aimed at maintaining its existence.

I would like to put things in order in this one of the most important and confusing scientific topics, and, of course, find out their role in nature and in human society, as part of nature; and also accurately determine their position in the general architecture of consciousness.
Unlike physics, where paradoxes are first discovered experimentally, and then a new theory is required, in the topic of consciousness the analytical approach can immediately reveal significant paradoxicalities regarding habitual judgments. And this is because there is a lot of baseless chatter on the topic of consciousness, which is quickly accepted as a scientific truth, and then gives rise to baseless judgments that become habitual. In this regard, in the topic of instincts, as a part of consciousness, many surprises will await us, called paradoxes in science, but not objective, as in physics, but anthropogenic. And one of these paradoxes is the ambiguity of the innateness of instincts. It may also seem paradoxical to consider a person’s instincts, moreover, with an emphasis on particular importance in this aspect, which many are not accustomed to.
The analytical approach requires an underlying model and a rigorous theory. As the fundamental scientific tools, we will take the integration model of consciousness and the theories that are part of it, starting with the theory of the level organization of consciousness.
Yes, you heard right: theories included in the model, in the model of consciousness. Consciousness is a super complex object, therefore it occupies a special place in theoretical terms, and its model objectively requires many theories included in this model, which distinguishes this subject. In this sense, the phrase “theory of consciousness” is completely absurd, because the explanation of consciousness requires many theories, not just one. And the theory of instincts is one of these incoming theories, but not general and fundamental, but specific.

PLACE AND FORMATION OF INSTINCTS IN THE STRUCTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS

According to the integration model of consciousness, instincts certainly belong to its first range, i.e. to reflexive-intuitive, consisting of the following levels:

1. signal
2. definitely reflexive
3. reactive
4.conditioned reflex
5. effective
6. associative
7. impressive
8. intuitive
9. presentational

This range covers images from neural signals to representations. The other two ranges are not given here due to their irrelevance to this topic. Let us only note that the second range extends from ideas to personalities, and the third from personalities to ethnicity.
In the above range, as in all three, odd numbers correspond to figurative levels, and even numbers correspond to connecting levels. Instincts in their primary manifestation belong to the level of reactions that are formed on the basis of combining signals with the help of an unconditioned reflex, i.e. unconditional reflex connections. Simply put, instincts are the figurative product of an unconditioned reflex. Why?
Any type of image or any image level of consciousness can manifest itself in three different phases: the thinking phase, the behavioral phase, and the perceiving phase, as described in the integration model of consciousness. In the phase of behavior, an unconditional reflex product manifests itself as a reaction, in the phase of perception - as an urge, and in the phase of thinking - as an instinct, but not the whole instinct, but its primary stage. At this primary stage, any instinct manifests itself primitively, and is difficult to distinguish from what we call a reflex, except perhaps by some prolongation, which is generally characteristic of the phase of thinking at any of the figurative levels. The instinct acquires a much greater extension in time and participation in difficult life circumstances in the second and third stages of its formation, i.e. with the participation of a conditioned reflex and a combination reflex, but only in all three phases: thinking, behavior and perception.
So, regarding the conditioned reflex, i.e. its product: both actions, desires, and drives are subject to the presence of instinct. And regarding the combination reflex, i.e. its product: actions, experiences, and impressions, the presence of instinct is also quite obvious.
From this it is clear that instincts influence our desires, experiences, impressions, drives... which corresponds to intuitive empirical truth and is unlikely to raise doubts in anyone.
After the conditioned reflex stage, instincts are further formed at the associative stage. Thus, instincts force us to experience their third stage of formation and choose a series of actions based on this. By the way, we are impressed by what is more consistent with our instincts
In order to understand more clearly the principle of operation of instincts, we need to answer three questions:

1. What is the ambiguity of innateness?
2. Why are the same instincts RELATIVELY the same in different individuals of the same species?
3. How do instincts influence our most complex life manifestations?

WHAT IS THE ambiguity of innate instincts?

Firstly, if we keep in mind the primary stage of instinct formation, then this is similar to the triggering of an unconditioned reflex, as we are too accustomed to say. In fact, a certain set of unconditioned reflex connections connect a certain set of neural signals into a single reaction. Due to the composite essence of the reaction, they occur in our country every time with some variety and originality, if we take a closer look at this problem. We sneeze differently every time, although according to the same pattern, we pull our hand away from hot things differently, orgasm occurs differently. All this cannot be ignored, and this indicates the clearly composite nature of the unconditioned reflex, or rather the formation of its reaction. More evidence can be read in the integration model of consciousness. Instinct, as an image similar to reaction, but not in the phase of behavior, but in the phase of thinking, has a similar composite character.
There is already a factor other than innate. And, if we take into account that there are also stages that depend on conditioned and combinational reflexes, then the innateness of instincts appears even more ambiguous. The most paradoxical thing is that we can neither deny their innateness completely nor fully recognize it. There is certainly an innately dependent component here, but there is also a variable-situational one, there is a trained one, as well as a hereditary one. Those. There is also a guarantee of the sameness of instincts in animals of the same species (including humans), but there is also an originality in each of them.

WHY ARE THE INSTINCTS RELATIVELY THE SAME?

In all animals, including humans, instincts can be considered relatively the same within the same species. Here the reader will have two questions: firstly, why does a person?; and secondly, why are they the same if the author spoke about originality within one species, and even for the same person (animal) in different situations it can manifest itself somewhat differently?
It must be said that this work on instincts was started for the sake of human instincts, since this topic is extremely relevant due to its complexity.
Well, in different ways, it’s like, for example, you won’t find two identical trees. Let's just say that instincts within a species are relatively the same, since everything is relative.
Predetermination, of course, exists, since there is an innate component, and it creates the biochemical and physiological prerequisites for sameness, but there is another mysterious component, usually little taken into account, this is the aspect of developmental parallelism, ensured by the presence of the same internal foundations and the same conditions of formation . And, it must be said, the phenomenon of parallelism can even be very clear, often sometimes even leading to the false idea of ​​complete predeterminedness, although in fact the predeterminedness is only apparent.
Those. in parallel, in different people, independently of each other, instincts can develop as if in the same direction. Then they will be similar at first glance, and distinguishable only at a glance with artistic attention. Again, as in the example with trees: we note the similarity of these trees by species, but the artist will distinguish them by the composition of branches and other things.
And, as we see in life, instincts really develop somewhat differently in people of different classes, different civilizations, different eras, different nationalities and simply different psychotypes. Those. on the one hand we will observe small differences, and on the other - global similarities. And the main meaning here lies simply in the conditions of the formation environment in which the individual (individual) grows, develops and is educated. And the entire voluminous social set of individuals will develop in parallel conditions. Each of these environments will develop its own instinctive parallelisms, but there will also be universal parallelisms. And this is one of the reasons why instincts (especially human ones) have not been clearly described and characterized. And this is precisely the contribution of conditioned and combined reflexes to the individual development of instincts. Since representatives of the same social environment will have the same conditioned and combinational reflexes (rather similar in many ways), then the instincts in their complex phase of development will be formed almost identically.
If we take an example from a completely different area, from biology, then tissue similarities, as well as the similarities of organs, sometimes greatly confused the evolutionists of the past in relation to some species of animals, when the relationship of origin only seemed, but in some cases turned out to be false, because animals with similar organs could even belong to different evolutionary branches. So the eye of an octopus and the eye of a mammal have many similarities. So, when scientifically studying systematicity in the broad sense of the word, one cannot discount these parallelisms. And with regard to the development of instincts in people, the same thing happens, i.e. on a similar basis, under similar conditions, similar instincts develop, although they might not be very similar if these people were in different developmental conditions. But, it must be said that when a professional selects a puppy for his professional needs, he looks specifically at the uniqueness of the instinctive accents in the same litter, although, of course, the general set of instincts is certainly the same.

DUE TO WHAT DO INSTINCTS INFLUENCE THE MOST COMPLEX MANIFESTATIONS OF OUR LIFE?

But a complete genetic determination cannot take place in relation to instincts, because it is unconditionally easy to imagine only a biochemical determination, since it is determined genetically quite clearly, but it is impossible to genetically determine the reaction to the shape of the body, the nature of the voice and its intonation, as well as to others life manifestations of the same order of complexity. And, if we take sexual instincts as an example due to their simpler consideration, then it becomes obvious that mental reactions to the forms of the female body are a product of not only an unconditional reflex, but also a conditioned and combined one, because the reaction to pheromones is gradually coupled and with the shape of the body, and with the character of the voice and with the type of behavior, as well as with many other manifestations, when we see, for example, that an object of the opposite sex is, as they say, flirting with us, and we instinctively react to him (the object). This can only be set indirectly with the participation of more complex reflexes and with the participation of the law of parallelism. Those. In this subsequent development of instinct in our psyche, and in the psyche of other animals too, in addition to the unconditional, two more reflexes are involved: conditioned and combinational. The fact that it comes to the associative is evidenced by the fact that there is an obvious connection to complex forms and to dynamic processes, which are inaccessible to the conditioned reflex, not to mention the unconditioned one, to which only direct natural smells and immediate tactility are available. And this dependence of instincts on higher reflexes raises instincts to the level of so-called spirituality, if these instincts receive encouragement.
And it must be said that these reinforcing rewards act differently at the stages of conditioned and associative reflexes. The conditioned reflex always operates primitively, and the light of the light bulb just before feeding directly “accustoms” it to react to external influences according to the food-lamp-saliva scheme in Pavlovian style. Thus, a conditioned reflex in a person can reinforce an instinct regarding the shape of the body. But, as for ritual behavior, flirtatiousness and similar complex phenomena, this is already a clear influence of the combination reflex. In some isolated tribes, you can probably even today find very artificial changes in body shape and positive reactions to them among fellow tribesmen, unlike us, people of another civilization. And their rituals of mating behavior, as a manifestation of the combination reflex, may also be different.
But instincts, as we have already said, can also influence the so-called spiritual aspects of a person, if we do not take humanists into account and look from a natural point of view, for example, at the functions of conscience, which are inherited and cannot in any way be educated in some individuals. And others, you see, almost don’t need to be educated, i.e. they don’t even need to read out the list of commandments, because they won’t do these bad things anyway.
The beast also exhibits qualities close to the so-called human spirituality when it does not touch other people’s cubs, and sometimes saves them from starvation; when he feels gratitude, for example, to a person and contacts him. We are talking about the instincts of a social group, complex instincts, instincts that regulate social behavior in packs and in society (where there is not much difference). The culture of behavior in a pack of wolves and in human society does not differ as much as humanists believe, and this is because even the culture in the notorious human society is also determined by instincts, as by some simple directive messages. Of course, culture and conscience are by no means reduced to instincts alone, but are largely predetermined by them, initiated, without which they would not work, as happens in some human individuals with corresponding genetic defects.

Representatives of mass psychology believed that social behavior can be explained through such socio-psychological mechanisms as...

Solution:
Representatives of mass psychology believed that social behavior can be explained through such socio-psychological mechanisms as, for example, imitation (G. Tarde) or psychological contagion (G. Le Bon).

The concept of instincts of social behavior states that...

Solution:
The concept of instincts of social behavior states that the causes of human social behavior are associated with innate instincts; All social institutions are built on the action of instincts. The author of the theory of instincts of social behavior is W. McDougall. The main thesis of his theory is that innate instincts are recognized as the cause of social behavior. This idea is the implementation of a more general principle accepted by W. McDougall, namely the desire for a goal, which is characteristic of both animals and humans. Also, the concept of instincts of social behavior states that social institutions are built on the action of instincts: family, trade, various social processes, primarily war.

Methods of social ps.

Methods of active socio-psychological training include the ___________ method.

High subjectivity in data collection, relative limitations in generalizing research results are disadvantages of the method...

Personal problem In the joint venture

The combination of situational and personal aspects of social behavior was proposed within the framework of the __________ approach to the problem of personality.

Solution:
The unification of the situational and personal aspects of social behavior was proposed within the framework of the interactionist approach to the problem of personality. Having put forward “interaction” as a basic category, interactionists most fully define the very content of the concept of “social essence of the individual.” J. G. Mead substantiates the thesis that a person becomes a social being only when he includes other people in his inner world, when he correlates his own actions with possible reactions or assessments of them.

An approach to the problem of socialization, which is based on the position about the decisive importance of early childhood for the future of the individual, is called ...

Direct communication in joint venture

The mechanism of mutual understanding in the process of communication, which is based on a person’s understanding of how he is perceived by his partner, is called ...

Solution:
The mechanism of mutual understanding in the process of communication, which is based on a person’s understanding of how he is perceived by his partner, is called reflection. In the course of mutual reflection of communication participants, reflection is a kind of feedback that contributes to the formation of both the behavioral strategy of the subjects of communication and the correction of their understanding of the characteristics of each other’s inner world.

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    Biosocial nature of instincts,

    Definition of instincts of social behavior.

    Definition of instincts:

    Instinct is a hereditary predisposition to perceive certain objects of the internal and external world, the ability to experience special sensory arousal when perceiving such an object and to perform corresponding acts or, at least, to experience an impulse towards them.

    Types of complex instinctive processes:

    1. Instinctive reactions allowed by both the perception of stimulus objects and the idea of ​​them.

    2. Reactions that can change and become more complex.

    3. Complex ideas that arise simultaneously, when several processes are intertwined with one another (fear and love, tears and laughter).

    4. Instinctive aspirations, grouped around certain objects or ideas about them.

    Instincts are the root cause of human action.

    Instinct groups:

    I. Instincts that contribute to the self-preservation of the individual. Continuations of primary emotions:

    1. flight instinct and emotion of fear;

    2. instinct of repulsion and emotion of disgust;

    3. instinct of curiosity and emotion of surprise;

    4. the instinct of pugnacity and the emotion of anger;

    5. the instinct of self-humiliation or self-confidence and the emotion of negative or positive well-being.

    II. Instincts aimed at preserving the genus, species, that is, social instincts:

    1. parental instinct;

    2. sexual instinct (instinct of reproduction) – associated with the parental instinct, includes jealousy;

    3. herd instinct.

    III. Social instincts that are unique to humans, but are not particularly important:

    1. instinct of acquisition;

    2. building instinct.

    IV. Innate tendencies that are of great importance for social life. They have a general character, but do not have a permanent core of the pathogen. Pseudo-instincts.

    1. sympathy – sharing emotions with another being;

    2. suggestion - the process of assimilation of a transmitted thought in the absence of a logical basis for understanding this thought (one cries - everyone cries);

    3. imitation: occurs through the mechanism of sympathy or the mechanism of ideomotor reactions, based on the fact that the idea seeks to turn into action, or through the mechanism of social imitation.

    In other words, instinct is the ability to act expediently, but without a conscious vision of the goal and without prior training to perform this action (i.e. impulsively). This is an impulse.

    A person, unlike an animal, can be aware of his behavior.

    Additions to the lecture:

    The beginnings of ideas about instinct can be seen in Aristotle's doctrine of the soul, which assumed the existence of a certain “animal soul” that provided the mental functions of animals. The term instinct (Latin instinctus, ancient Greek ὁρμή) appeared in Stoic philosophers. A significant breakthrough in understanding the essence of instinct was associated with the emergence of the first evolutionary teachings. The first theory of evolution was developed by Jean Baptiste Lamarck. According to Lamarck's teaching, evolution occurs under the influence of the environment, mediated by behavior. Lamarck considered the psyche to be inextricably linked with the nervous system.

    The first psychologist to include instinct in psychological theory was Sigmund Freud. He believed that instincts serve as a source of energy for the subconscious and manifest themselves in the form of desires. According to Freud's ideas, all living organisms are characterized by oppositely directed desires for self-destruction and self-preservation. The desire for aggression and destruction is determined by the instincts of death (thanatos), sexual desire, self-preservation, love are determined by the instincts of life (eros).

    According to hormic psychology, the source of motivation was a special intangible force “gorme”, manifested in the form of instincts. The concept of "gorme" was developed by American psychologist William McDougall. He also developed his own classification of instincts (the first two groups of instincts listed in the lecture).

    The theory of instincts of social behavior by the English psychologist W. McDougall (1871-1938). He believed that the activity of consciousness is directly dependent on the unconscious principle. The expression of instincts is emotions(for example, the fight instinct corresponds to anger and fear). All social processes were derived from instincts. It was this situation that played a negative role in the history of science.

    The main thesis of McDougall's theory is that Innate instincts are recognized as the cause of social behavior. This idea is the implementation of a more general principle accepted by McDougall, namely the desire for a goal, which is characteristic of both animals and humans. It is this principle that is especially significant in McDougall's concept; in contrast to behaviorism (which interprets behavior as a simple reaction to an external stimulus), he called the psychology he created goal-oriented or hormic (from the Greek word “gorme” - desire, desire, impulse). All social institutions are derived from instincts: family, trade, various social processes, primarily war.

    Biosocial nature of instincts.

    Guerin: all instincts are biosocial, man is inseparable from people.

    Instincts.

    Instinct group number. Name. Characteristics of the content of instinct.
    Exist Eat, drink, breathe, keep alive, have shelter, seek comfort, pleasant sensations, relax, be happy
    Grow Physically, spiritually, intellectually become stronger, expand your possessions, increase property, income, hobbies, start a family, raise children, achieve your own uniqueness, educate
    Be established Take your place in the sun, be noticeable, respected, achieve rank, rise above the weaker, compete with the stronger, have self-esteem 0 8 10
    Defend yourself Do not allow others to invade your life, your own personality, protect your tribe, homeland, faith, freedom, protect their secrets at any cost, even your own life, avoid the blows of fate, nature and people
    To interact Connect your life with others, create groups of like-minded people, partners, enter into communication and dialogue with them, share knowledge and experience, become emotionally attached to them, share joys and sorrows, be a patriot, remain faithful to the ideal and goodness, sacrifice yourself for the sake of others

    Addition to lectures:

    Unlimited social progress is associated with the emergence of man as a biosocial being, characterized by reason and a pronounced social orientation. As a rational being producing material means of production, man has existed for about 2 million years, and almost all this time, changes in the conditions of his existence led to changes in the man himself - in the process of purposeful labor activity, his brain and limbs improved, thinking developed, new creative skills were formed, collective experience and knowledge. All this led to the emergence of a modern type of man about 40 thousand years ago - Homo sapiens (reasonable man), who stopped changing, but instead society began to change at first very slowly, and then more and more rapidly.

    The social and biological principles in man are reflected in social, biological and social formations, as well as in science and culture. Being a highly developed social being, man is the only organism on Earth that has a clearly defined social essence, collectivism, language and legal knowledge. The social essence of a person determines not only the laws of development of society, but also the level of development of his social thinking, moral qualities, ethical and religious views, etc., which makes it possible to model the structure of the society of the future.

    But man is also a biological species, endowed with innate (genetic) instincts for survival, procreation and preservation of offspring (family), which at the present stage of development are increasingly closer to social instincts. Therefore, it would be more correct to characterize a person as biosocial being, that is, through a concept reflecting the duality of its nature - the dialectical unity and struggle of opposites, responsible on the one hand for peace and love, and on the other - for the destructive consequences - crimes, murders, wars, etc.

    The biological and social in the nature of modern man are organically connected with each other, and are expressed at the present stage of his historical development, primarily in the instinct of reproduction and preservation of offspring, in the need for communication, friendship, love, expression of emotions, the formation of social norms of community life, and more. Since everything biological in him becomes his inheritance (biological gene pool), and the social is not genetically inherited, but is consolidated over a number of generations as collective experience (law, science, art, culture, etc.), human evolution at the present stage includes biological (reproduction, sexual behavior, care of offspring) and social dominance of the development of human society. At the present stage of development, social dominance is predominant and shapes social behavior, which certainly affects the formation of legal thinking.

    Man is a biosocial being; he has both biological and social qualities. B The iological and social in a person is realized through his behavior, activity, culture, etc. Man not only creates culture, but we ourselves create it. This undeniable dialectical connection between the natural, social and cultural in man is what makes him the most complex of all living systems existing in the world.