Human psychophysiology is a discipline that studies human behavior through the study of spiritual mental and physical functions of the body in their interrelation and interdependence.
The main goals of psychophysiology are:
a) Obtaining data on physical and mental mechanisms of behavior in general, enriching the theoretical basis of psychophysiology.
b) The use of theoretical information to predict the behavior of a person (group) in the future, to optimize the management of a person's behavior and for effective external management of his behavior.
Psychophysiology uses both physiological and psychological methods. Independent variables (variables that are arbitrarily altered by the researcher) in psychophysiological research are those presented during physiological or psychological research procedures. It can be the presentation of dosed physical activity, certain sensory stimulation, asking questions, presenting tasks, applying physiological or psychological tests, modeling emotional stressful situations, etc.
Depending on dent variables are physiological variables recorded as electrocardiogram, electromyogram, electrocardiogram, electroencephalogram, pressure, volume, temperature, etc., and psychological variables.
1. basic goals and objectives of psychophysiology
According to the main purposes of psychophysiology, the first category of problems of (theoretical) psychophysiology is the description of laws of relations between these independent and dependent variables, namely the description of studied functions. The second category of tasks (applied) is the development of scientifically grounded measures on the optimization of human behavior.
2. Psychophysiology can have different directions of research and their applications
According to these directions, it is possible to distinguish general psychophysiology, differential psychophysiology, clinical psychophysiology, etc.
A similar integral part of psychophysiology is the psychophysiology of professional activity. The subject of its interests is a special form of human behavior - professional activity.
3. Professional activity is a kind of labor activity peculiar to a professional
A professional is a good specialist possessing qualities of a personality, the volume of knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary and sufficient for his activity to be effective. Theoretical research in psychophysiology of professional activity is aimed at elucidating spiritual, mental and physical mechanisms of ensuring effective activity. The knowledge gained is intended to become a natural-scientific basis for the best management of personnel and their activities.
This management includes the following directions:
1. Human resource planning for staffing and personnel.
2. Guidance and advice to career choice providers.
3. Professional selection of candidates for training in professions.
4. Formation of training regimes and control (support) overtraining.
5. Organization of individual and collective professional activities, working and rest schedules.
6. Ensuring physical, mental and social adaptation to professional activity.
7. Normalization of professional activity conditions.
8. Increasing the professional potential of personnel.
9. Career management (promotion).
These directions correspond to the directions of theoretical research of the psychophysiology of professional activity.
Applied psychophysiology of professional activity, acting also in all these directions, uses the obtained theoretical knowledge to predict the results of the professional activity of the personnel, to justify the methods of optimization of the management of a person's professional activity and to justify the methods of external management of professional activity.
By the present time, there are no bases to finally close a question on mutual relations of physiology and psychology and to consider physiology as a part of psychology or psychology as a part of physiology (namely in essence as the physiology of the higher nervous activity), as some scientists try to proclaim. Such grounds could be obtained if the psychophysical problem could be unambiguously solved and scientists could come to a unanimous choice of one of its two (or more) alternatives.
For example, if scientists around the world had reasonably and unanimously accepted the hypothesis that more complex mental processes are derivatives of simpler physical processes occurring in the human nervous system organism then physiology could be considered part of psychology, as part of the overall physiology of a cell's physiology.
Or as part of psychology - psychopathology or social psychology.
However, there is no universal convincing evidence in favor of such a hypothesis yet. However, there is strong scientific evidence that contradicts the