Re: Foundations Of Physiological Psychology.pdfl
Gerarda Zmuda
The article is devoted to the history of development of military psychology frompsychological and philosophical positions. The transition stage in developmentof military psychology from classical to postclassical type of rationality is focused.Analysis of combat activity as self-regulation system is presented. The latest technologiesin solving key problems of military science are discussed.
Military psychology can be defined as an area of the study and application of psychological principles and methods to the military environment (Mangelsdorff & Gal, 1991). C. Cronin compares military psychology with a microcosm which embraces psychological disciplines and which affects almost all aspects of military setting (Cronin, 2003).
Methodology of military psychology is inseparably linked wiThformation of psychological and military science. There is a transition in development of military psychology from classical to postclassical type of rationality. In the first place classical psychological science is aimed at providing knowledge and involves the exclusion of the psychological cognition of personal values and goals as factors affecting the objectivity of knowledge. In early works devoted to military psychology the influence of associative psychology is clearly traced. Thus, A. Zykov reasoning about foundations of human awareness of his/her behaviour gives the dominant role of force sensations, ideas, process of associations, irradiation of sensation tone. In a similar paradigm the research was conducted by N.I. Bondarev in 1920. The purpose of it was to study combat experience of soldiers who received minor injuries. N.I. Bondarev conducted 229 associative experiments in which soldiers described their feelings, the nature of associations, their rate of occurrence etc. Without concentrating on these findings we will note the fact of the reference to the personalities of the soldiers who had experience in actual combat operations. Formulation of the problem of studying the personality of a warrior required a different approach.
Rapid growth of military psychology during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 was due to particular goals which were set before psychologists: to strengthen the morale of soldiers, to raise their fighting spirit, to develop masking methods for accelerated learning, to recover mental functions lost after the injury etc. These issues were solved by such leading Soviet psychologists as B.G. Ananjev, P.J. Galperin, S.G. Gellershtein, T.I. Ginevskaya, A.V. Zaporozhets, A.N. Leontjev, A.R. Lurija, S.G. Rubinshtein etc.
Along with such adverse conditions as extreme sleep deprivation and the prolonged use of chemical protective clothing the effects on performance of harsh environmental conditions such as extreme heat and cold were in the focus of his interest (Cronin, 2003).
After World War II the attention to military psychology naturally increased: departments, laboratories, research groups were created. Their work was devoted to gun shooting training (P.P. Loginov), fi ring a machine-gun on the move (M.P. Korobejnikov), ability to read topographical maps (M.P. Gamezo), psychological foundations of shooting (D.B. Elkonin) etc. The US military psychology major research projects focused upon opportunities of human exposure: studying the features of psychotropic agents (E. Cameron), the effect of sensory deprivation (J. Hebb), and tactics of conducting interrogations (M. Orn).
The rapid expansion of the armed forces during World War II also focused attention on human behaviour within organizations. The need to identify and train leaders was of paramount importance to military structures which were based on small units in the United States. Selection, training and evaluation of leaders were identified as a special area of research for military psychology. In 1949 there were less than 3000 psychologists in the USA; by 1970 their number increased more than tenfold. According to American Psychological Association 25% of psychologists with doctoral degrees were involved in the field of military psychology. Leaders of research projects in military sphere were such American scientists as J. Dollard, P. Likert, G. Olport etc.
As an example of analysis of battle activities as a self-regulations system we consider the functional system of P.K. Anokhin. According to this approach a soldier as subject of combat activities is considered in three aspects: from his internal, psychic ability to perform combat activity, to support his actions by social and ergonomics environment, and to counteract the adverse and psychological conditions of the environment.
The need for systematic consideration of a warrior as a subject of military activity confirms the theory of functional systems by P.K. Anokhin. In order to effectively perform a warrior fighting a coordinated interaction of milestones listed on it is necessary:
Changes in modern society have brought to rapid growth in requirements for military personnel. It is related to physical training, expertise of military equipment, weapons, increasing the number of missions that the military have to solve. For qualified psychological work it is required to develop theoretical and methodological apparatus, which involves achievements of different areas of scientific knowledge: nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technologies, and cognitive neuroscience. Military-technical progress has led to address the new issues related to the preparation of soldiers: development of cognitive tools to make the effective use of information technologies, psychological training to use weapons of mass destruction etc.
In 1960s special attention was paid to psychological impact on the enemy by means of mass communication. It is known that more than 8 bln US dollars were spent in the USA on studying communication, persuasion, propaganda with active participation of social and military psychologists.
Relevant cross-cutting issue of military psychology was neuroergonomics which involved neuroscience disciplines and disciplines of studying human factors. Methodology noted that this area of scientific knowledge is sufficiently promising to reduce stress issues for the military. The consequence of this new direction is the introduction of noncontact psycho-physiological examination which allows to increase the validity of the results of psychodiagnostic research.
New modern high-tech tools are used in solving key problems for military psychological science, in particular, the technology of virtual reality. This technology makes it possible to stimulate such conditions close to reality in which a soldier could experience psycho-emotional and physiological states similar to actual circumstances. Immersion in virtual reality so perceptually surrounds the user that it reinforces his/her own sense of reality and the presence of what is happening in the system. Sensory information is more vivid in virtual reality.
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PSYC 110 INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY - 3 semester hours. A basic course in psychology for majors, serving as the foundation for subsequent courses. The course is designed to give students an understanding of the scientific approach to the study of human behavior and to help students develop an appreciation for the breadth and variety of psychological theories. Required of all psychology majors.
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