The concept of “imagination” in psychology. Types of imagination. Ways to create images of the imagination. Development of imagination. Analytical-synthetic nature of imagination processes Imagination is associated with the creation of new images

In general and special psychology, a distinction is made between active and passive imagination.

Passive imagination, in turn, is divided into intentional and unintentional. Active imagination - creative and recreative.

The passive form of imagination occurs when, in the imagination, they replace activities with fantastic ideas that are far from real life, their activities, analysis of their mistakes, etc. A similar form of passive imagination is found in both adults and children. Intentional imagination is expressed in fantasy images, but it is not associated with volitional action. These images have a connection with needs and interests and can often be joyful, tempting and pleasant. They were called "dreams".

Creative imagination is inherent in people of all ages. It is formed from early childhood in the form of new images that are aimed at productive activity (“When I grow up I will be this or that,” “I will do this and that,” etc.). This type of imagination is extremely important, and it must be developed in all children, as a form of any creativity and determination, aimed at finding ways to satisfy creative needs. Recreative imagination is imagination that is based on the creation of images that correspond to a deliberate description. Recreative imagination arises in children when studying geographical maps, reading books, listening to stories, watching filmstrips, movies, etc. Children’s habit of empathizing with images of nature, books, and movies will help them bring images of imagination closer to their activities in life.

Research shows that imagination develops during the learning process and is formed in stages. In the development of imagination, an important role is played by increasing the activity of children, improving visual-figurative and verbal-logical thinking. Images of creative imagination are created through various techniques and methods. The transformation of material in the imagination is subject to certain laws that express its peculiarity.

Imagination is characterized by processes that represent elements of clarity. Thus, the operation of generalization when creating an image of imagination is the operation of typification. Typification, as a specific generalization, consists of creating a complex, holistic image that is synthetic in nature. For example, there are professional images of a worker, a doctor, etc.

Combination, which is the selection and creation of certain features of objects or phenomena, is also a technique of imagination. Combination is not a simple mechanical combination of initial elements, but their combination according to a specific logical scheme. The basis for combination is human experience.

The next significant way to create creative images is to emphasize, emphasize certain features, characteristics, aspects, properties, exaggerate or understate them. A classic example is caricature. The technique of reconstruction also has a certain significance in the activity of imagination, when the entire structure of the image is recreated by part, attribute, property.

There is a method of aplutination, that is, “gluing together” different parts that are not connected in everyday life. An example is the classic character of fairy tales: the man-beast or the man-bird.

Hyperbalization is a paradoxical increase or decrease in an object or its individual parts (example: Little Thumb).

The mechanism of functioning of the imagination is also the technique of likening, which in the form of allegories and symbols plays a significant role in aesthetic creativity. In scientific cognition, the technique of assimilation is also important: it allows you to construct diagrams and represent certain procedures (modeling, schematization, etc.).

The technique of dismemberment is that something new is obtained as a result of separating parts of objects.

The method of substitution is the replacement of some elements with others.

There is another example of an analogy. Its essence is to create something new by analogy (similarity) with the known.

When defining the peculiarity of imagination associated with the above-mentioned methods of reality, it should be emphasized that all of them, in one way or another, occur not only in abstraction, but also in the form of sensuality. These processes are based on mental operations, but the form of all transformation here is precisely sensuality. The ultimate source of imagination operations is objective-practical activity, which serves as the foundation for the transformation and design of the content of imagination images. Consequently, the basis for imagination is sensory images, but their transformation is carried out in a logical form.

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………….2

General characteristics of imagination…………………………….3

Ways to create images of the imagination…………………………6

Types and forms of imagination……………………………………………………….9

Conclusion…………………………………………………………….12

List of references……………………………..13

INTRODUCTION

Man constantly comes into contact with his environment. Every second our senses are affected by dozens and hundreds of different stimuli, many of which remain in human memory for a long time. Moreover, one of the most curious phenomena of the human psyche is that the impressions received in previous practice from objects and phenomena of the real world are not only stored in memory for a long time, but are also subject to certain processing. The existence of this phenomenon has made it possible for humans to influence the environment and purposefully change it.

It should be noted that the impact of an animal on the external environment and changes in the external environment by humans have fundamental differences. Unlike an animal, a person influences the environment systematically, directing his efforts towards a predetermined goal. This nature of the change in reality in the process of labor presupposes a preliminary representation in the mind of what a person wants to receive as a result of his activity. For example, a spider performs certain operations that resemble those of a weaver, and bees, in the construction of their wax cells, resemble human builders. However, any worst specialist differs from the best bee or the most skillful spider in that he acts according to a pre-planned plan. Any work involves the development of such a plan, and only then its implementation in practice.

Thus, considering the process of a person creating something new, we are faced with another phenomenon of the human psyche. His The essence is that a person creates an image in his mind that does not yet exist in reality, and the basis for creating such an image is our past experience, which we received by interacting with objective reality. It is this process - the process of creating new mental images - that is called imagination.

1. General characteristics of imagination.

Imagination is the process of transforming ideas that reflect reality, and creating new ideas on this basis. The process of imagination is unique to man and is a necessary condition for his work activity. Imagination is always directed towards the practical activities of man. Before doing anything, a person imagines what needs to be done and how he will do it. Thus, he already creates in advance the image of a material thing that will be manufactured in the subsequent practical activity of man. This ability of a person to imagine in advance the final result of his work, as well as the process of creating a material thing, sharply distinguishes human activity from the “activity” of animals, sometimes very skillful.

The physiological basis of imagination is the formation of new combinations from those temporary connections that have already been formed in past experience. At the same time, simple updating of existing temporary connections does not yet lead to the creation of a new one. The creation of a new one presupposes a combination that is formed from temporary connections that have not previously been combined with each other. In this case, the second signal system, the word, is important. The process of imagination is a joint work of both signaling systems. All visual images are inextricably linked with him. As a rule, the word serves as a source of the appearance of images of the imagination, controls the path of their formation, and is a means of retaining, consolidating, and changing them.

Imagination is always a certain departure from reality. But in any case, the source of imagination is objective reality. Imagination is the figurative construction of the content of a concept about an object (or the design of a scheme of actions with it) even before the concept itself is formed (and the scheme receives a clear, verifiable and implemented expression in specific material).

What is characteristic of imagination is that knowledge has not yet formed into a logical category, while a peculiar correlation of the universal and the individual at the sensory level has already been made. Thanks to this, in the very act of contemplation, a separate fact is revealed in its universal perspective, revealing its integral meaning in relation to a certain situation. Therefore, in terms of imagination, a holistic image of the situation is built before a dismembered and detailed picture of what is contemplated.

It is generally accepted that imagination arose in the process of labor - a specifically human activity, due to the existence of a need to transform objects of the real world. For example, having before his eyes a tool of labor that was not entirely perfect in its characteristics and properties, a person could imagine another tool that corresponds to his idea of what is necessary to perform a particular labor operation. But then, in the course of the historical development of man, the activity of the imagination began to manifest itself not only in work, but also in the fantasies and dreams of man, that is, in images that could not be created in practice at the moment. Extremely complex forms of imagination have appeared, necessary in scientific, technical and artistic creativity. However, even in these cases, imagination appears as the result of the transformation of our ideas obtained from reality.

It should be noted that imaginary images are created only by processing individual aspects of a person’s existing images of reality. For example, while reading science fiction novels, you probably noticed that fictional characters (aliens, monsters, non-existent animals, etc.) are still completely or partially similar in appearance to objects known to us, i.e. they were transformed by the writer’s imagination from real reality.

The activity of imagination is closely related to thinking.

By orienting a person in the process of activity, imagination creates a psychological model of the final and intermediate results of work and thereby ensures the embodiment of the ideal image into a material or ideal product.

The value of imagination lies in the fact that it helps a person navigate problem situations, make the right decisions, and foresee the results of his actions in conditions where knowledge is not enough to directly implement a cognitive need. Thanks to imagination, effective human behavior and activity becomes possible in conditions of incomplete information.

2. Ways to create images of the imagination.

Images recreated in the process of imagination cannot arise out of nothing. They are formed on the basis of our previous experience, on the basis of ideas about objects and phenomena of objective reality. The process of creating imaginary images from impressions received by a person from reality can occur in various forms.

The creation of imaginary images goes through two main stages. At the first stage, a kind of division of impressions, or existing ideas, into their component parts occurs. In other words, the first stage of the formation of imaginary images is characterized analysis impressions received from reality or ideas formed as a result of previous experience. During this analysis, there is abstraction object, i.e. it seems to us isolated from other objects, while abstraction of parts of the object also occurs.

With these images, transformations of two main types can then be carried out. Firstly, these images can be put into new combinations and connections. Secondly, these images can be given a completely new meaning. In any case, operations are performed with abstracted images that can be characterized as synthesis. These operations, which constitute the essence of the synthesizing activity of the imagination, are the second stage in the formation of imaginative images. Moreover, the forms in which the synthesizing activity of the imagination is carried out are extremely diverse.

The simplest form of synthesis in the process of imagination is agglutination, that is, the creation of a new image by attaching in the imagination parts or properties of one object to another. Examples of agglutination include: the image of a centaur, the image of a winged man in the drawings of North American Indians, the image of an ancient Egyptian deity (a man with a tail and an animal head), etc.

Agglutination is widely used in art and technical creativity. For example, everyone knows the advice that Leonardo da Vinci gave to young artists: “If you want to make a fictional animal seem natural - let it be, say, a snake - then take for its head the head of a shepherd or a pointer dog, adding cat eyes to it , the ears of an eagle owl, the nose of a greyhound, the eyebrows of a lion, the temples of an old rooster and the neck of a water turtle.” In technology, as a result of the use of agglutination, for example, an amphibious vehicle and a hovercraft were created.

One of the most common ways of processing images of perception into images of imagination is increase or reduction of an object or its parts. Various literary characters have been created using this method.

Agglutination can also be carried out using incorporating already known images into a new context. In this case, new connections are established between ideas, thanks to which the entire set of images receives a new meaning. Typically, when introducing ideas into a new context, the process is preceded by a specific idea or goal. This process is completely controllable, unless it is a dream, when control of consciousness is impossible. When incorporating already known images into a new context, a person achieves correspondence between individual ideas and the holistic context. Therefore, the entire process is subordinated to certain meaningful connections from the very beginning.

The most significant ways of processing ideas into images of the imagination, following the path of generalization of essential features, are schematization And accent.

Schematization can occur under different conditions. Firstly, schematization can arise as a result of an incomplete, superficial perception of an object. In this case, the representations are schematized randomly, and they sometimes highlight minor details that were accidentally discovered during the perception of the object. As a result, distortions arise that lead to the creation of imaginary images that distort reality. A similar phenomenon often occurs in children.

Secondly, the reason for schematization in the case of a sufficiently complete perception of the object may be the forgetting of any unimportant details or parts. In this case, significant details and features come to the fore in the presentation. At the same time, the representation loses some individuality and becomes more generalized.

And finally, thirdly, the reason for schematization may be a conscious distraction from unimportant, or secondary, aspects of the object. A person consciously directs his attention to the essential, in his opinion, features and properties of an object and, as a result, reduces ideas to a certain scheme.

Emphasis is to emphasize the most significant, typical features of the image. As a rule, this method is used when creating artistic images. The main feature of this processing of images of perception into images of imagination is that, reflecting real reality and typifying it, an artistic image always gives a broad generalization, but this generalization is always reflected in a specific image. Moreover, the processing of ideas when creating a typical image is not accomplished by mechanical addition or subtraction of any features. The process of creating a typical image is a complex creative process and reflects certain individual characteristics of the person creating this image.

3. Types and forms of imagination.

The activity of the imagination can be characterized in terms of participation in this process of volitional regulation, depending on the nature of the activity and the content of the images created.

Depending on the participation of will and activity, imagination is divided into arbitrary And involuntary.

Involuntary is an imagination when the creation of new images is not based on a special goal. The involuntary emergence of ideas is closely related to a person’s feelings. An extreme case of involuntary imagination is dreams, in which images are born unintentionally and in the most unexpected and bizarre combinations.

The process of imagination can be arbitrary when it is directed with the special purpose of creating an image of a certain object, a possible situation, imagining or foreseeing a scenario for the development of events. The arbitrary creation of images takes place mainly in human creative activity.

Depending on the nature of a person’s activity, his imagination is divided into creative And reproductive.

Imagination, which is included in creative activity and helps a person create new original images, is called creative.

Imagination, which is included in the process of mastering what other people have already created or described, is called reproducing or reproductive.

Thus, a designer-inventor who creates a new machine has a creative imagination, while an engineer who creates an image of a machine from verbal descriptions or a drawing has a reproductive imagination.

An important role in creative imagination is played by language, which is a way of understanding the creative concept and a tool of analytical and synthetic activity.

Reproductive imagination is the process of a person creating images of new objects based on their verbal description or graphic image.

Depending on the content of the activity, imagination is divided into technical, scientific, artistic and other types related to the nature of a person’s work.

The artistic imagination has predominantly sensual images, extremely vivid and detailed.

Technical imagination is characterized by the creation of images of spatial relationships in the form of geometric figures and structures, their easy dissociation and combination into new connections, and their mental transfer to different situations.

Images of technical imagination are most often combined in drawings and diagrams, on the basis of which new machines and new objects are then created.

Scientific imagination finds its expression in constructing hypotheses, conducting experiments, and developing generalizations carried out in the creation of concepts. Fantasy plays an important role in planning scientific research, in constructing an experimental situation, and in making predictions during an experiment.

A special form of imagination is a dream.

A dream is the process of a person creating images of a desirable future.

Dreams can be real, effective and unreal, fruitless. The effectiveness of a dream is a necessary condition for the implementation of a person’s creative plans aimed at truly transforming reality. Such dreams, in a certain understanding, are the driving force behind a person’s actions and deeds, helping him set goals, deal with difficulties, and resist adverse influences.

Dreams can be empty and fruitless. Then they disorient a person, deprive him of a vision of real life prospects, and make him unable to withstand the difficulties of real life.

Only an active, creative dream has a positive impact on a person’s life; it enriches a person’s life, makes it bright and interesting.

CONCLUSION

It should be noted that along with perception, memory and thinking, imagination plays an important role in human activity. The process of imagination is unique to man and is a necessary condition for his work activity.

Imagination significantly expands and deepens the process of cognition. It also plays a huge role in transforming the objective world. Before changing something practically, a person changes it mentally.

Images of the imagination do not always correspond to reality; they contain elements of fantasy and fiction. If the imagination draws pictures to the consciousness that nothing or little corresponds in reality, then it is called fantasy. If the imagination is directed to the future, it is called a dream. The process of imagination always occurs in inextricable connection with two other mental processes - memory and thinking.

The formation of a number of moral and psychological qualities of a person is associated with the activity of imagination - humanity, sensitivity, sense of duty, etc.

Functions of imagination: creating new images - a leading reflection of reality.

Mechanisms of imagination: dissociation of impressions and elements into new combinations.

Bibliography:

1. Maklakov A. G. General psychology. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2001. - 592 pp.: ill. - (Series “Textbook of the New Century”)

2. Maksimenko S.D. General psychology. – M.: 2004, ed. "Refl-book".

3. General psychology: Textbook. for pedagogical students Institute / Ed. A.V. Petrovsky. 2nd ed., add. and processed M., 1976. 479 p.

4. Rubinshtein S.L. Fundamentals of general psychology. T.1. -M.: 1989.

Imagination is the process of transforming ideas that reflect reality, and creating new ideas on this basis. . It is generally accepted that imagination arose in the process of labor - a specifically human activity, due to the existence of a need to transform objects of the real world. For example, having before his eyes a tool of labor that was not entirely perfect in its characteristics and properties, a person could imagine another tool that corresponds to his idea of what is necessary to perform a particular labor operation. But then, in the course of the historical development of man, the activity of the imagination began to manifest itself not only in work, but also in the fantasies and dreams of man, that is, in images that could not be created in practice at the moment. Extremely complex forms of imagination have appeared, necessary in scientific, technical and artistic creativity. However, even in these cases, imagination appears as the result of the transformation of our ideas obtained from reality.

Imagination process always flows in unbreakable connection With two other mental processes - memory and thinking. Speaking about imagination, we only emphasize the predominant direction of mental activity. If a person is faced with the task of reproducing representations of things and events that were previously in his experience, we are talking about memory processes. But if the same ideas are reproduced in order to create a new combination of these ideas or create new ideas from them, we talk about the activity of the imagination.

Speaking about imagination, one cannot underestimate its role in human mental activity, because a certain processing of images of reality occurs even in the simplest version of reproduction. Thus, when imagining any object or event, we are very often unable to reproduce the corresponding facts in all detail and with all the details. However, things and events are reproduced not in the form of incoherent fragments or scattered frames, but in their integrity and continuity. Consequently, a kind of processing of the material occurs, expressed in the replenishment of ideas with the necessary details, i.e. in the process of reproduction, the activity of our imagination begins to manifest itself.

To a much greater extent, the activity of imagination is present in the formation of images of objects or phenomena that we have never perceived. This is how ideas arise about natural areas where we have never been, or ideas about the image of a literary hero.

The activity of the imagination is closely related to human emotional experiences. Imagining what you want can evoke positive feelings in a person, and in certain situations, a dream about a happy future can bring a person out of extremely negative states, allowing him to escape from the situation of the present moment, analyze what is happening and rethink the significance of the situation for the future. Consequently, imagination plays a very significant role in regulating our behavior.

Imagination is also connected with the implementation of our volitional actions.. Thus, imagination is present in any type of our work activity, since before creating anything, it is necessary to have an idea of what we are creating. Moreover, the further we move away from mechanical labor and approach creative activity, the more the importance of our imagination increases.

It is generally accepted that the physiological basis of imagination is the actualization of nervous connections, their disintegration, regrouping and unification into new systems. In this way, images arise that do not coincide with previous experience, but are not divorced from it. The complexity, unpredictability of imagination, its connection with emotions give reason to assume that its physiological mechanisms are associated not only with the cortex, but also with deeper structures of the brain. In particular, the hypothalamic-limbic system plays a major role here.

It should be noted that imagination, due to the characteristics of the physiological systems responsible for it, is to a certain extent associated with the regulation of organic processes and movement. Imagination influences many organic processes: the functioning of the glands, the activity of internal organs, metabolism in the body, etc. For example, it is well known that the idea of a delicious dinner causes us to salivate profusely, and by instilling in a person the idea of a burn, one can cause real signs of “ burn" on the skin. This pattern has been known for a long time and is widely used in the treatment of so-called psychosomatic patients during suggestive therapy sessions. On the other hand, imagination also influences human motor functions. For example, if we imagine that we are running on a stadium track during a competition, the devices will register subtle contractions of the corresponding muscle groups.

Another example of the influence of imagination on organic processes can be a change in gas exchange at the time when we imagine performing any physical work. For example, we imagine ourselves lifting a heavy barbell in a competition. In this case, the devices will record an increase in the intensity of gas exchange. The same phenomenon will be detected in those cases when we see the face of a person lifting a barbell.

Thus, we can conclude that imagination plays a significant role both in the regulation of the processes of the human body and in the regulation of its motivated behavior.

Types of imagination

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

Free imagination has much greater meaning for a person. This type of imagination manifests itself when a person is faced with the task of creating certain images, outlined by himself or given to him from the outside. In these cases, the process of imagination is controlled and directed by the person himself. The basis of this work of imagination is the ability to arbitrarily evoke and change the necessary ideas.

Among the various types and forms of arbitrary imagination, one can highlight recreative imagination, creative imagination And dream.

Recreating Imagination manifests itself when a person needs to recreate a representation of an object that matches its description as fully as possible. We encounter this type of imagination when we read descriptions of geographical places or historical events, as well as when we get to know literary characters. It should be noted that the recreating imagination forms not only visual ideas, but also tactile, auditory, etc. Thus, reading the description of the Battle of Poltava in A. S. Pushkin’s poem “Poltava”, we clearly imagine the roar of gun shots, the screams of soldiers, the beat of drums, the smell of gunpowder.

Most often we are faced with recreating imagination when it is necessary to recreate some idea from a verbal description. However, there are times when we recreate the idea of an object not using words, but on the basis of diagrams and drawings. In this case, the success of recreating the image is largely determined by the person’s abilities to spatial imagination, i.e., the ability to recreate an image in three-dimensional space. Consequently, the process of reconstructive imagination is closely related to human thinking and memory.

The next type of voluntary imagination is creative imagination.It characterized by the fact that a person transforms ideas and creates new ones not according to an existing model, but by independently outlining the contours of the created image and choosing the necessary materials for it. Creative imagination, like recreating, is closely related to memory, since in all cases of its manifestation a person uses his previous experience. Therefore, there is no hard boundary between the reconstructive and creative imagination. When recreating the imagination, the viewer, reader, or listener must, to a greater or lesser extent, complete the given image with the activity of his creative imagination.

A special form of imagination is dream. The essence of this type of imagination is the independent creation of new images. At the same time, a dream has a number of significant differences from creative imagination. Firstly, in a dream a person always creates an image what you want whereas creative images do not always embody the desires of their creator. In dreams, what attracts a person and what he strives for finds its figurative expression. Secondly, a dream is a process of imagination that is not included in creative activity, that is, it does not immediately and directly produce an objective product in the form of a work of art, a scientific discovery, a technical invention, etc.

The main feature of a dream is that it is aimed at future activity, i.e. a dream is an imagination aimed at the desired future. Moreover, several subtypes of this type of imagination should be distinguished. Most often, a person makes plans for the future and in his dreams determines the ways to achieve his plans. In this case, the dream is an active, voluntary, conscious process.

But there are people for whom the dream acts as a substitute for activity. Their dreams remain just dreams. One of the reasons for this phenomenon, as a rule, lies in the failures in life that they constantly suffer. As a result of a series of failures, a person abandons the implementation of his plans in practice and plunges into a dream. In this case, the dream appears as a conscious, voluntary process that has no practical completion. It should be noted that this type of dream cannot be considered only as a negative phenomenon. The positive meaning of this type of dream is to ensure the safety of the regulatory mechanisms of the body's systems. For example, failures in practical activities in most cases contribute to the formation of a negative mental state, which can be expressed in an increased level of anxiety, a feeling of discomfort, or even depressive reactions. In turn, a negative mental state acts as one of the factors causing difficulties in a person’s socio-psychological adaptation, the formation of maladaptive disorders and premorbid characteristics of any disease. In this situation, a dream can act as a unique form of psychological defense, providing temporary escape from problems that have arisen, which contributes to a certain neutralization of the negative mental state and ensuring the preservation of regulatory mechanisms while reducing the overall activity of a person.

It should be noted that these types of dreams are active, voluntary and conscious mental processes. However, imagination can also exist in another - passive form, which is characterized by involuntary play of the imagination. An example of such involuntary imagination, as we have already said, is a dream.

If voluntary, or active, imagination is intentional, that is, associated with volitional manifestations of a person, then passive imagination can be intentional and unintentional. Intentional passive imagination creates images that are not associated with the will. These images are called dreams. In dreams, the connection between imagination and the needs of the individual is most clearly revealed. It is easy to predict what a person will dream about as he anxiously awaits an event that is significant to him. People tend to dream about pleasant and tempting things. But if dreams begin to replace activity and dominate the mental life of the individual, then this already indicates certain disorders of mental development. The predominance of dreams in a person’s mental life can lead him to a separation from reality, a withdrawal into a fictional world, which, in turn, begins to inhibit the mental and social development of this person. Thus, a schoolchild, without preparing for classes and receiving unsatisfactory grades, can create for himself an illusory, fictitious life, where he succeeds in everything, where he succeeds in everything.

Rice. 11.1.Types of imagination

they envy where he occupies a position that he cannot hope for at the present time and in real life.

Unintentional passive imagination is observed when the activity of consciousness is weakened, its disorders are in a half-asleep state, in sleep, etc. The most indicative manifestation of passive imagination are hallucinations, in which a person perceives non-existent objects. As a rule, hallucinations are observed in certain mental disorders.

Thus, when classifying types of imagination, we proceed from two main characteristics. This is the degree of manifestation of volitional efforts and the degree of activity, or awareness (Fig. 11.1).

Mechanisms for processing ideas into imaginary images

The processes underlying agglutination are very diverse. As a rule, they can be divided into two main groups: processes associated with a lack of criticality, or a lack of analytical perception, and voluntary processes, i.e., controlled by consciousness, associated with mental generalizations. The image of a centaur apparently arose when, in conditions of insufficient visibility, a man galloping on a horse was perceived as some kind of unprecedented animal. At the same time, the image of a winged man most likely arose consciously, since it symbolizes the idea of fast and easy movement through the air and is concretized in a sensual image.

The most significant ways of processing ideas into images of the imagination, following the path of generalization of essential features, are schematization And accent.

Individual characteristics of imagination and its development

People's imagination is developed differently, and it manifests itself differently in their activities and social life. Individual characteristics of imagination are expressed in the fact that people differ in the degree of development of imagination and in the type of images with which they operate most often.

The degree of development of imagination is characterized by the vividness of images and the depth with which the data of past experience is processed, as well as the novelty and meaningfulness of the results of this processing. The strength and vividness of imagination is easily assessed when the product of imagination is implausible and bizarre images, for example, among the authors of fairy tales. Poor development of imagination is expressed in a low level of processing of ideas. Weak imagination entails difficulties in solving mental problems that require the ability to visualize a specific situation. With an insufficient level of imagination development, a rich and versatile emotional life is impossible. life plan.

People differ most clearly in the degree of vividness of their imagination. If we assume that there is a corresponding scale, then at one pole there will be people with extremely high levels of vividness of the images of the imagination, which they experience as visions, and at the other pole there will be people with extremely pale ideas. As a rule, we find a high level of development of imagination among people engaged in creative work - writers, artists, musicians, scientists.

Significant differences between people are revealed regarding the nature of the dominant type of imagination. Most often there are people with a predominance of visual, auditory or motor images of the imagination. But there are people who have a high development of all or most types of imagination. These people can be classified as the so-called mixed type. Belonging to one or another type of imagination very significantly affects the individual psychological characteristics of a person. For example, people of the auditory or motor type very often dramatize the situation in their thoughts, imagining a non-existent opponent.

It should be noted that a person is not born with a developed imagination. The development of imagination occurs during human ontogenesis and requires the accumulation of a certain stock of ideas, which can later serve as material for creating images of the imagination. Imagination develops in close connection with the development of the entire personality, in the process of training and education, as well as in unity with thinking, memory, will and feelings.

It is very difficult to determine any specific age limits that characterize the dynamics of imagination development. There are examples of extremely early development of imagination. For example, Mozart began composing music at the age of four, Repin and Serov could draw well at the age of six. On the other hand, the late development of imagination does not mean that this process will be at a low level in more mature years. History knows of cases where great people, for example Einstein, were not distinguished by a developed imagination in childhood, but over time they began to be talked about as geniuses.

Despite the difficulty of determining the stages of development of imagination in humans, certain patterns in its formation can be identified. Thus, the first manifestations of imagination are closely related to the process of perception. For example, children aged one and a half years are not yet able to listen to even the simplest stories or fairy tales; they are constantly distracted or fall asleep, but listen with pleasure to stories about what they themselves have experienced. This phenomenon clearly shows the connection between imagination and perception. A child listens to a story about his experiences because he clearly imagines what is being said. The connection between perception and imagination continues at the next stage of development, when the child begins to process received impressions in his games, modifying previously perceived objects in his imagination. The chair turns into a cave or an airplane, the box into a car. However, it should be noted that the first images of a child’s imagination are always associated with activity. The child does not dream, but embodies the processed image in his activities, even though this activity is a game.

An important stage in the development of imagination is associated with the age when a child masters speech. Speech allows the child to include in his imagination not only specific images, But and more abstract ideas and concepts. Moreover, speech allows the child to move from expressing images of imagination in activity to their direct expression in speech.

The stage of mastering speech is accompanied by an increase in practical experience and the development of attention, which allows the child to more easily identify individual parts of an object, which he already perceives as independent and with which he increasingly operates in his imagination. However, the synthesis occurs with significant distortions of reality. Due to the lack of sufficient experience and insufficient critical thinking, the child cannot create an image that is close to reality. The main feature of this stage is the involuntary nature of the emergence of imagination. Most often, images of imagination are formed in a child of this age involuntarily, in accordance with the situation in which he finds himself.

The next stage in the development of imagination is associated with the emergence of its active forms. At this stage, the process of imagination becomes voluntary. The emergence of active forms of imagination is initially associated with stimulating initiative on the part of an adult. For example, when an adult asks a child to do something (draw a tree, build a house out of cubes, etc.), he activates the imagination process. In order to fulfill the request of an adult, the child must first create, or recreate, a certain image in his imagination. Moreover, this process of imagination, by its nature, is already voluntary, since the child tries to control it. Later, the child begins to use his own imagination without any adult participation. This leap in the development of imagination is reflected primarily in the nature of the child’s games. They become focused and story-driven. The things surrounding the child become not just stimuli for the development of objective activity, but act as material for the embodiment of images of his imagination. A child at the age of four or five begins to draw, build, sculpt, rearrange things and combine them in accordance with his plan.

Another major shift in imagination occurs during school age. The need to understand educational material determines the activation of the process of recreating imagination. In order to assimilate the knowledge that is given at school, the child actively uses his imagination, which causes the progressive development of the ability to process images of perception into images of imagination.

Another reason for the rapid development of imagination during school years is that during the learning process the child actively acquires new and diverse ideas about objects and phenomena of the real world. These ideas serve as a necessary basis for imagination and stimulate the student’s creative activity.

General characteristics of imagination and its functions

The human consciousness is capable of not only storing information about objects, but also performing various operations with it. Man emerged from the animal kingdom because he learned to create complex tools. But in order to create a stone axe, you first had to create it in your imagination. Man differs from animals in that he is able to create in his mind an image of an object or phenomenon that does not yet exist, and then brings it to life. After all, in order to transform the world in practice, you first need to be able to transform it mentally. This ability to construct new images in one’s thoughts is called imagination. The process of imagination is manifested in a person’s creation of something new - new images and thoughts, on the basis of which new actions and objects arise. Imagination is part of the individual’s consciousness, one of the cognitive processes. It reflects the outside world in a unique and unique way; it allows you to program not only future behavior, but also work with images of the past.

Imagination- this is a process of creative transformation of ideas that reflect reality, and the creation on this basis of new ideas that were not previously available.

In addition to this, there are other definitions of imagination. For example, it can be defined as the ability to imagine an absent (at the moment or generally in reality) object, hold it in consciousness and mentally manipulate it. Sometimes the term “fantasy” is used as a synonym, which denotes both the process of creating something new and the final product of this process. Therefore, in psychology the term “imagination” has been adopted, denoting only the procedural side of this phenomenon.
Imagination differs from perception in two ways:

The source of emerging images is not the external world, but memory;
- it corresponds less to reality, since it always contains an element of fantasy.

Functions of imagination:
1 Representation of reality in images, which makes it possible to use them when performing operations with imaginary objects.
2 Formation of an internal action plan (creating an image of a goal and finding ways to achieve it) in conditions of uncertainty.
3 Participation in the voluntary regulation of cognitive processes (memory management).
4 Regulation of emotional states (in auto-training, visualization, neuro-linguistic programming, etc.).
5 The basis for creativity - both artistic (literature, painting, sculpture) and technical (invention)
6 Creating images that correspond to the description of an object (when a person tries to imagine something he has heard or read about).
7 Producing images that do not program, but replace activity (pleasant dreams replacing boring reality).

Types of imagination:

Depending on the principle underlying the classification, different types of imagination can be distinguished (Fig. 10.1):

Classification of imagination

Characteristics of certain types of imagination

Active imagination(intentional) - the creation by a person of his own free will of new images or ideas, accompanied by certain efforts (a poet is looking for a new artistic image to describe nature, an inventor sets a goal to create a new technical device, etc.).

Passive imagination(unintentional) - in this case, a person does not set himself the goal of transforming reality, and images spontaneously arise on their own (this type of mental phenomena includes a wide range of phenomena, ranging from dreams to an idea that suddenly and unplannedly arose in the mind of the inventor).

Productive (creative) imagination - the creation of fundamentally new ideas that do not have a direct model, when reality is creatively transformed in a new way, and not simply mechanically copied or recreated.

Reproductive (recreative) imagination - the creation of an image of objects or phenomena according to their description, when reality is reproduced from memory in the form as it is.

Characteristics of certain types of imagination:

Dreams can be classified as passive and involuntary forms of imagination. According to the degree of transformation of reality, they can be either reproductive or productive. Ivan Mikhailovich Sechenov called dreams “an unprecedented combination of experienced impressions,” and modern science believes that they reflect the process of transferring information from operative to long-term memory. Another point of view is that in a person’s dreams many vital needs are expressed and satisfied, which, for a number of reasons, cannot be realized in real life.

Hallucination- passive and involuntary forms of imagination. According to the degree of transformation of reality, they are most often productive. Hallucinations are fantastic visions that have no obvious connection with the reality around a person. Hallucinations are usually the result of some kind of mental disorder or the effect of drugs or drugs on the brain.

Dreams in contrast to hallucinations, they are a completely normal mental state, which is a fantasy associated with a desire, most often a somewhat idealized future. This is a passive and productive type of imagination.

Dream It differs from a dream in that it is more realistic and more feasible. Dreams are a type of active forms of imagination. According to the degree of transformation of reality, dreams are most often productive. Dream Features:
- When dreaming, a person always creates an image of what he wants.
- It is not directly included in human activity and does not immediately produce practical results.
- A dream is aimed at the future, while some other forms of imagination work with the past.
- The images that a person creates in his dreams are distinguished by emotional richness, bright character, and at the same time - a lack of understanding of specific ways to realize the dream.

Dreams and daydreams occupy a fairly large part of a person's time, especially in youth. For most people, dreams are pleasant thoughts about the future. Some also experience disturbing visions that give rise to feelings of anxiety, guilt, and aggressiveness.

Mechanisms for processing ideas into imaginary images. The creation of imaginary images is carried out using several methods:

Agglutination- “folding”, “gluing” various parts that are not connected in everyday life. An example is the classic character of fairy tales - the centaur, the Serpent-Gorynych, etc.

Hyperbolization- a significant increase or decrease in an object or its individual parts, which leads to qualitatively new properties. An example is the following fairy-tale and literary characters: the giant Homeric Cyclops, Gulliver, Little Thumb.

Accenting- highlighting a characteristic detail in the created image (friendly cartoon, caricature).

The phenomenon of imagination in the practical activities of people is, first of all, associated with the process of artistic creativity. We encounter productive imagination in art in cases where a person is not satisfied with recreating reality using a realistic method. The following methods of creating imaginary images are distinguished:

Agglutination– “gluing together” various incompatible qualities and parts in everyday life. An example of agglutination is many fairy-tale and mythical heroes: a mermaid (a woman with a fish tail), a centaur (a horse with a man’s head), etc.

Hyperbolization- characterized by an increase or decrease in a real-life object, as well as a change in the number of its individual parts and the creation of a new fantastic image on this basis. For example, multi-armed goddesses, cyclops in mythical tales; three, six, nine-headed dragons, Thumb, giants in Russian folk tales.

Schematization- lies in the fact that when creating an image of the imagination, a separate idea merges, differences are smoothed out, similarities appear clearly. The main motifs of the art of Russian folk crafts are built on the technique of schematization: Khokhloma, Gzhel, Gorodets painting. Schematization was embodied in the creation of images of historical ethnic folk costumes: Russian, Chukchi, Uzbek, Georgian, Scottish, Spanish, etc.

Sharpening- this is underlining, emphasizing, any individual characteristics. Friendly cartoons, caricatures, lampoons reveal the essence of the technique of sharpening. As a rule, in literary works, cinema and theatrical productions, sharpening is used to create an artistic image of a “villain” or, conversely, a positive “hero”.

Typing– this is the identification of what is essentially repeated in homogeneous images. Very often this technique of creative imagination is used in literary works of art to create the image of a hero of the historical period that is described in the book. Natasha Rostova, Evgeny Onegin are collective images typical representatives of young people of the noble class of that era. The image of Ivanushka the Fool in Russian folk tales is a reflection typical character of the Russian people: dexterity, ingenuity and resourcefulness, laziness, kindness, courage, etc.

Questions and tasks

1. What is imagination? What are the features of the imagination process?

2. List the main functions of imagination. Give examples from life.

3. Describe the types of imagination. What are the features of dream images as a type of imagination?

4. Name the ways of creating imaginative images in the process of artistic creativity. Give examples of agglutination, hyperbolization, schematization, sharpening and typification in artistic creativity.

Chapter 12. Speech and communication

Summary

The concept of speech and language. The concept of speech. The concept of language. Natural and artificial languages. Dead languages. Speech is the ability and ability to use language.

Types and functions of speech. Types of speech: external speech - oral, written, affective; inner speech Inner speech as the main means of human thinking.

Functions of speech. Z naval (significative) function. Generalization function. Intelligent function. Communication function. Three sides of the communicative function: informational, expressive, volitional.

Communication concept. Communication functions. In the process of communication, interpersonal relationships are formed, manifested and implemented. The problem of relationships in the works of V. N. Myasishchev . The effectiveness of a teacher’s work and the art of communication.

Structure of communication. Communicative, interactive and perceptual side of communication (according to G.M. Andreeva). Model of the communication process (according to Laozuel)

Types and means of communication. Principles of classification of types of communication. Informal communication. Socially oriented communication. Group subject-oriented communication. Personally oriented communication. Speech and non-speech means of communication. Verbal speech and non-verbal communication.

Communication styles and their characteristics. Pedagogical communication and its effectiveness. Styles of pedagogical communication: democratic, authoritarian, liberal.