In the very beginning of the XX century the tendency to change the object of psychology, which was initiated by functionalism, has become much stronger and acquired in the work of American psychologist John Watson (1878-1958) the character of scientific revolution in psychology.
His work justified the idea that the main object of psychological research should be not the consciousness of man, but his behavior. Principles of a new direction in psychology Watson outlined in a special Manifesto entitled "Psychology through the eyes of a behaviorist" (1913). The direction he founded was called: behavioral behavior, and/or behavioral psychology. The main provisions of behaviorism can be reduced to the following:
- The leading factor, the source of human activity, is not internal impulses, not the psyche itself, but the external environment; the whole psyche, its content is created according to a simple scheme: stimulus - reaction:
- It is not the consciousness, not the mind that rules a person's behavior, but the case, the environment, that forms the whole human consciousness. Thus, consciousness does not play any role in the psyche, therefore, it has no place in the strict psychological science.
In doing so, Watson referred to the research of the Russian physiologist I.I. Pavlov (1849-1936), who proved by his experiments that, for example, such an incentive as the sound of a bell, in itself can cause a hungry dog to salivate. Referring to these experiments, Watson argued that new forms of behavior appear only under the influence of newly developed conditional reflexes, while consciousness, in his opinion, is completely useless.
It should be noted that today even Watson's students and followers do not support this pronounced position.
Modern neo-Behaviorists emphasize that human behavior is influenced not only by external conditions, but also by personal abilities to evaluate and use the accumulated social experience.
The same attitude to belittling the role of consciousness in human behavior is characteristic of another influential direction in psychology of the XX century, called "psychoanalysis".
The founder of psychoanalysis is the Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). For a long time he worked as a neurologist and, observing his patients, came to the conclusion that the main problem of further psychological research should be the analysis of the correlation between the conscious and unconscious in the human psyche. This problem he unreservedly solved in favor of the unconscious. He stated that our behavior is largely subject to the influence of subconscious forces, drives, the satisfaction of which is "forbidden" by the consciousness. It is the desire for violence, aggression, sexual impulses, the desire to violate the generally accepted rules of command. And the primary role in a person's life is played by sexual desires. All these desires operate without our knowledge. They are manifested in our dreams, reservations, humor, involuntary deviations from normal behavior, affect the choice of profession, our creativity, ie, determine our entire lives. As the main methods of researching the unconscious Freud used the analysis of dreams, as well as the analysis of the so-called "associative speech", ie speech free of any restrictions, self-control.
As for consciousness, Freud gave him only the role of a servant of the unconscious.
According to Freud, it is the impulses coming from the "basements of our psyche" that represent the most ancient layers of human nature that bring us closer to animals.
In this regard, Freud's opponents said: "If you believe Freud, the mind is only an appendage of the sex glands. When Freud at the end of his life, fleeing the persecution of the Nazis, was forced to move from Austria to England, some British aristocrats demanded that he was not allowed into a decent society.
Nevertheless, it is now recognized that Freud has made an important discovery in psychology, showing that the concept of psyche is broader than that of consciousness. He also created a detailed theory of the unconscious.
However, the fact that Freud's views were formed mainly on the basis of observations of mentally ill people led to the appearance of some weaknesses in his teaching. These weaknesses were already noticed by some of Freud's pupils and followers.
One such critic was the Swiss psychologist C. G. Jung (1875-1961). Speaking at a later stage of his activity against some of the provisions of his teacher, he stated that a person is able to overcome the narrow boundaries of the personal unconscious and to connect with the higher "I", the higher mind, commensurate with the whole of humanity and the cosmos.
Jung shared the views Until 1913, when he published a program article in which he argued that Freud had wrongfully reduced all human activity to a biologically inherited sexual instinct, whereas human instincts were not of a biological, but of a symbolic, spiritual nature. Along with the individual unconscious, there is also the collective unconscious, which, being super-personal in nature, forms the universal foundation of each person's spiritual life.
In a more consistent and thorough way, psychoanalytic psychology has been subjected to a new direction, which has become known as humanistic psychology.