special need

The previous chapters give an idea that a special need for mental search, for mental exertion is most characteristic of gifted children, even those whose unusual abilities are not immediately visible.

The need for mental activity is indicated in the scientific literature by various terms that are similar in meaning: mental activity, cognitive need, research need. This is not exactly the same thing, but still about one thing - about the need to "wiggle your brains", about the pleasure of thinking, the joy of learning. To designate this very general feature of the category of children that interests us, we will here use the expression "cognitive need".

In psychology, the cognitive need did not immediately acquire the rights of citizenship. For a long time, scientists believed that this need only serves all others. One has to eat, but food needs to be eaten, to find out where it is, how to get it, and this is where the cognitive need arises. Who are friends, who are enemies, whose territory is again a cognitive need for help. It was believed that hunger, thirst, the instinct of procreation, the protection of offspring are primary - the cognitive need serves only as a means of satisfying them. Therefore, we know less about the cognitive need than about others.

It took a lot of research and debate among scientists to recognize that the need for cognition is not a "servant" of other needs, but an independent, independent need. (Of course, this independence is relative: all needs are closely interconnected, forming a complex and fairly fixed system for the individual.) Yes. there is a special need for impressions, for the influx of new information, for cognition.

Unsaturation

The cognitive need is characterized primarily by activity: a person himself is looking for a change of impressions, new information, he needs the process of cognition itself.

This need is also distinguished by the following: the acquisition of new knowledge does not extinguish, but, on the contrary, strengthens it. As knowledge is enriched, the desire for knowledge grows. The cognitive need in a developed form becomes unacceptable - the more a person learns, the more he wants to know. In this sense, it is fundamentally different from any organic needs. In the latter, one can sharply draw a line - the need is there (the person is hungry, thirsty) or it has disappeared, satisfied (the person is full, does not feel thirsty). A real cognitive need cannot be satisfied. It is boundless, as knowledge itself is boundless. And here there is no satiety - it is impossible to "recognize".

Of course, cognitive activity, like any other, has its own specific goals, setting a certain result. However, in this case, the focus on the result sets only the direction of the movement of thought. The end result here is impossible. Any knowledge, any result is only a milestone, a stage on the path of knowledge.

Joy of knowledge

Relentless activity, striving for the very process of cognition is possible only due to another feature of this need - the pleasure of mental stress. The desire for knowledge develops and strengthens because the mechanism of positive emotions turns on along with it. Without emotions, there is no need, including cognitive.

Joy during intellectual activity (which some people experience more, others less intensely, but which is familiar to many) can now be recorded. A number of strictly physiological indicators (electroencephalographic, biochemical) indicate that at the moment of intellectual stress, along with the part of the brain occupied with mental work, as a rule, the center of positive emotions is also excited. For some people, this connection is so strong and strong that the deprivation of intellectual activity leads them to a serious condition.

What exactly “turns on” the feeling of pleasure during full-fledged intellectual activity? Some scientists believe that the matter here is in the mental tone, which becomes optimally high at the moment of mental stress (that is, high activity in itself is pleasant). Others believe that joy, pleasure is the result of a certain connection between the center of positive emotions and the activity of the brain departments that are in charge of mental work. We turn on one, and the other turns on at the same time. Evolution, so to speak, saw to it that homo became sapiens, and chose such a mechanism. Still others believe that at the moment of successful intellectual activity, there is a kind of discharge of the search, problematic tension - this produces a feeling of satisfaction. Whichever point of view is more correct, the fact remains: full-fledged mental activity causes a feeling of joy, pleasure, which in the process of intellectual activity is enhanced and strengthened.

So, the cognitive need stands on three "pillars": activity, the need for the very process of mental activity and the pleasure of mental labor.

In the course of age-related changes, different stages in the development of a cognitive need, its qualitatively different levels, clearly appear.

The need for experiences

The first level can be called the level of need for impressions. This is the initial level, a kind of foundation of cognitive aspirations. The biological prerequisite for the need for impressions is the orienting reflex (the “what is it?” reflex). A classic example is a baby turning its head towards a rattle. A very tiny child rejoices at a new sound (not too sharp), a new colored object. This is where mental activity begins. New stimuli do not yet form a definite system in the child, but they prepare the basis for understanding his surroundings. In children, the activity of cognitive needs is especially pronounced.

The Belgian scientist Nutten conducted such an experiment.

In the experimental room, two automatic machines were installed - A and B. Automatic machine A - all shiny, with multi-colored light bulbs, bright pens. Machine B is much simpler and more modest in appearance, there is nothing colorful or bright in it, but on the other hand, you can move the handles and, depending on this, turn the lights on and off yourself.

When the five-year-old children who participated in the experiment entered the room, of course, they first of all paid attention to the elegant machine gun A. After playing with it, they discovered machine B, and it turned out to be the most interesting for them. The children moved the handles, turned on and off the light bulbs - in a word, they showed cognitive activity.

The experience changed in every possible way, but the conclusion turned out to be the same every time: the kids prefer the most elegant, bright object the one with which they can actively act (remember which (toys children love the most).

Psychologists have established that the more diverse the stimuli received by the child in the early period, the more intensively his mind develops. Whereas in children brought up in a monotonous environment, deprived of attention and richness of impressions (for example, in some orphanages), there is not only a lag in development, they even fall ill. This disease has a corresponding name - hospitalism. The main cause of gospptalism is the lack of incentives, the lack of impression.

Becoming curiosity

The need for impressions gradually turns into curiosity, which can be considered as the second level of development of the cognitive need. At two or three years old, all children love to learn - to ask questions, to listen when they are read to; love to break toys to see what's inside. Even then, the child begins endless “why”: “Why is the sun shining?”, “Why is the wind blowing?”, “Why is the car driving itself?” and even “Why does the cat squint when I stroke it?”. In these “why” questions, the desire is not only to find out, but often to reflect, not just to get information, but to put thinking to work. By the time he enters school, the child already has his own, albeit very naive, picture of the world.

At the level of curiosity, interest is shown not in a separate stimulus, but in the object as a whole, in certain activities. Such curiosity is already largely due to education and is associated with age-related maturation. However, even at this level, cognitive activity is more spontaneous than purposeful.

Curiosity, directed in all directions, reaches its apogee in a teenager (“auto-moto-bike-photo-cinema-radio circle”).

Formation of inclinations

And, finally, the third level of cognitive need is reached when it is already mediated by socially significant tasks. Now its manifestations are not spontaneous, but are associated with the development of more stable inclinations, for example, with the intention to determine the future field of activity.

Cognitive striving at this third, highest level takes on a different character than before: not so much directly emotional as consciously purposeful. At the same time, naturally, the role of external factors increases (to a greater extent - orientation to the result, to specific achievements), but still the need for knowledge does not cease to satisfy internal needs, continues to be joyful, giving a feeling of fullness of life.

It is essential that each subsequent level not only absorbs the previous one, but necessarily slows it down, partially cancels it. If this does not happen, then the development of the cognitive need is delayed, remains at a more primitive level, albeit a pronounced one. The role of certain manifestations of this need depends on what age stage they are confined to.

What is a cognitive need?

Three whales of cognitive need

The cognitive need did not immediately acquire the rights of citizenship. For a long time, scientists believed that this need only serves all others. You need to eat, but you need to find food, find out where it is, how to get it - this is where the cognitive need arises. Who are friends, who are enemies, whose territory is again a cognitive need for help. In a word, hunger, thirst, the instinct of procreation, the protection of offspring - the cognitive need serves only as a means of satisfying them.

That is why we know less about the cognitive need than about others. It took a lot of research, a lot of debate among scientists (sometimes bloody in the scientific sense, of course), to make a serious discussion about the cognitive need possible. First of all, its independence was proved. We describe several experiments. The first experiment is rather unusual. The man plunges into the water; the water is not particularly warm and not cold, about 34 degrees. The face is covered with a paraffin mask so that the person cannot see or hear. He also cannot move in water. There is a button that the subject can press if he becomes completely unbearable. All organic needs of necessity are fully satisfied.

It turned out that most of the subjects do not withstand long in this state. Some - two or three hours, some - a little more. All, without exception, characterize their condition in the water as extremely difficult. Some subjects experienced mental disorders, however, they disappeared rather quickly.

What is going on? A person has a very comfortable temperature of the environment, nothing threatens him, he does not experience either hunger or thirst - and yet he has extremely negative emotions. He's bad!

Psychologists have come to the conclusion that a special need is at work here - the need for impressions, the need for an influx of new information. The need for impressions is one of the elementary manifestations of the cognitive need.

Then the experience decided to change a little. Now the subject was no longer immersed in water, but left in an ordinary room. True, not quite normal. The room was closed from external influences, no sounds of any kind reached here, there were no windows in it. The subject was thus completely isolated from the outside world. As in the previous experiment, all the natural needs of a person were completely satisfied, he knew for sure that nothing threatened him. As soon as he is completely unbearable, he can give a signal, and the experiment will be terminated.

It turned out that a long stay in this psychological chamber was extremely painful for the subjects. And although their stay in these conditions was no longer measured in hours, but in days, the condition of the subjects at the exit was very difficult. And precisely because the cognitive need was not satisfied. As soon as a person was given appropriate intellectual food (books, paper, etc.), the experimental picture changed dramatically.

The independence of cognitive needs from organic needs is already demonstrated by young children. They vividly show this need (stretch for a toy, look around) just when they feel neither hunger nor thirst, when nothing bothers them.

Of course, the cognitive need of a person is completely and only a human characteristic. However, animals also have certain prerequisites for its development; some of the roots of this need can be traced to them.

Here is an experiment demonstrating the independence of the cognitive need in animals.

Bananas have just been placed in the cage where the monkey is sitting. A monkey from another cage extends its paw towards them. The grate is large, so a little effort - and the neighbor will take all the bananas. But at this time, a box appears in the cage, in which something mysteriously knocks (it's just a metronome). The monkey has a difficult choice, a struggle of motives, as psychologists say. What to prefer? The monkey chooses the box (although not all monkeys do this, and besides, the monkey must be sufficiently fed).

Now psychologists are convinced that the cognitive need is not a servant of other needs, but an independent, independent science of the individual.

The means of satisfying the cognitive need is always new knowledge, new information. It was the absence of new impressions that caused in people that grave condition that arose in the experiments described above.

New knowledge, of course, does not at all mean the need to move to a new object every time. Take, for example, reading books - perhaps the most common way to satisfy a cognitive need. Very often, rereading a book you already know, you suddenly discover something completely new in it. There is even evidence that people who are prone to re-reading books are distinguished by a special depth of mind. And one well-known literary critic believes that any serious book must be read twice without fail. From the first time, the reader learns only the plot of the work or a set of specific facts; the very same idea of ​​the author, his most important task can be assimilated, already knowing all this specifics. Curious point of view!

By the way, one of the definitions of creativity means getting new information from familiar objects. (Everyone knows what it is; there is someone who doesn't know it, and the result is a discovery.)

The following is also very important: the acquisition of new knowledge does not extinguish the cognitive need, but, on the contrary, strengthens it. The cognitive need in a developed form becomes unsaturated - the more a person learns, the more he wants to know.

In this sense (as in many other respects) the cognitive need is fundamentally different from any organic need. In the latter, one can sharply draw a line: the need is there (the person is hungry, thirsty) or has disappeared, satisfied (the person is full, does not feel thirsty).

A real cognitive need cannot be satisfied: it is boundless, as knowledge itself is boundless.

For a long time there was a dispute about how the cognitive need operates - actively or passively.

Proponents of the first point of view believed that as soon as a person begins to get used to the environment, he has a specific state of boredom, and he himself is looking for new experiences, new information. There is a need for knowledge. Whatever this need is expressed, it is always active. A person reads books, makes experiments or, at worst, goes to the cinema, buys an illustrated magazine.

Supporters of the second point of view believed that the cognitive need is something like a mirror in which everything is reflected. Something appeared in the field of view - a person makes an assessment (consciously or unconsciously), whether it is new or already familiar, interesting or not, worth considering or not worth considering. If it is new, interesting, then the cognitive need begins to act. In other words, a cognitive need arises when there are already opportunities to satisfy it. Not boredom, i.e., an internal need makes a person look for something new, and external stimuli cause a state of cognitive need. A person passively follows a new stimulus, a new problem, unable to get away from them.

The dispute was settled by several very striking experiments. We present only some of them.

In the same experiment in the psychological chamber, which was described above, there were several subjects in whom a serious condition did not appear at all (or was very smoothed out), despite a long stay in the chamber. It turns out that these subjects found a source of satisfaction of the cognitive need in vigorous activity. They composed poems, came up with problems. One of the subjects, a mathematician by education, recalling and re-deriving a theorem he had once learned, at the same time deduced several new ones. By the way, these days his condition improved dramatically, and in terms of the total points he endured this very difficult test best of all.

The activity of the cognitive need is especially pronounced in children.

The Belgian scientist Nutten conducted such an experiment. In the experimental room, two automata were installed - A and B. Automaton A was all shiny with multi-colored light bulbs, bright handles. Depending on this, turn on and off the light bulbs yourself.

When the five-year-old children who participated in the experiment entered the room, then, of course, they first of all paid attention to the elegant machine gun A. After playing with it, they found machine B, and it turned out to be the most interesting for them. The children moved the handles, turned on and off the light bulbs - in a word, they showed cognitive activity.

The experience changed in every possible way, but the conclusion each time turned out to be the same: the kids prefer the most elegant, bright object the one with which they can actively act. (Remember which toys children love the most.)

Now scientists no longer doubt: the cognitive need is characterized primarily by activity.

... Scientists continue to struggle with the famous Fermat's theorem, although its conclusion has long been known. It is not known how it was proven. In a number of sciences - astronomy, biology, medicine - the most complex experiments are being conducted, the results of which will be known only to distant descendants (for example, experiments on long-term suspended animation of animals).

Of course, on the scale of all science, this work is quite understandable. However, what motivates each individual scientist who undertakes work, the result of which is already known, or, on the contrary, will certainly not be known to him? The motivation here is not at all simple, but there is no doubt that there is a need for the very process of searching for truth.

The student wants to solve the problem on his own (there are still such students), although the solution can be obtained from a neighbor.

Ask a friend a riddle and immediately offer a clue, and you will see how your subject's face will stretch. You spoiled for him a small, but still a holiday of the mind - the opportunity to find out on your own to solve this trifling task.

Even in the distorted cognitive need - the love of detective stories - there is the joy of intellectual search. (It is said that an English detective lover filed for divorce from his wife only because she wrote the name of the criminal in the margin. The court considered his statement well-founded.) Montaigne gives an amusing fact. Once, when Democritus was eating figs that smelled of honey during dinner, he suddenly thought about where this unusual sweetness came from in figs, and in order to find out, he got up from the table, wanting to inspect the place where these figs were plucked. . His maid, having learned why he was alarmed, laughingly told him not to trouble himself: she simply put the figs in a honey vessel. Democritus was annoyed that she had deprived him of an opportunity to investigate and had taken away from him the object that aroused his curiosity. Go away, he told her, you have caused me trouble; I will still look for the cause of this phenomenon as if it were natural. And he did not fail to find some true basis for explaining this phenomenon, although it was false and imaginary.

Of course, like any activity, cognitive activity, driven by a cognitive need, has its own specific goals, its own range of actions planned based on the result. And the cognitive need also means orientation to a certain result. However, orientation to the result sets only the direction of movement of thought. The cognitive need, first of all, is the need for movement towards a result, in the very process of cognition.

The end result here is impossible. Any knowledge, any result is only a milestone, a stage on the path of knowledge.

The activity of the cognitive need, the desire for the process of cognition itself is possible only due to another feature of this need - the pleasure from mental stress, the positive emotional state associated with it. Therefore, the cognitive need manifests itself, develops, strengthens as a need, because the mechanism of positive emotions is turned on along with it. Without emotions, there is no need, including cognitive.

Cognitive activity (but not a need) can be carried out (and sometimes very successfully) without such pleasure - out of a desire to earn an A, a diploma, world fame.

The student diligently studies so that they do not scold at home. A student sits over textbooks during a session to receive a scholarship. This does not apply to cognitive needs. But here is the same student, having come from school and having barely had lunch, grabs a book about animals and, forgetting about everything, reads until he finishes. Having swallowed one book, he takes on the next. Every time the need for knowledge grows. And the more this need is reinforced, the stronger it becomes.

In its highest development, the cognitive need becomes, as already mentioned, insatiable. Impossible to recognise.

Joy at the moment of intellectual activity (which some people experience more, others less intensely, but which is familiar to everyone) can now be registered. A number of strictly physiological indicators (electroencephalographic, biochemical) indicate that at the moment of intellectual stress, along with the part of the brain occupied with mental work, as a rule, the center of positive emotions is also excited. For some people, this connection is so strong and strong that the deprivation of intellectual activity leads them to a serious condition.

What exactly includes the feeling of pleasure in full-fledged intellectual activity?

Some scientists believe that the matter here is in the mental tone, which becomes optimally high at the time of intense mental activity, i.e. high activity in itself is pleasant. Others believe that joy, pleasure is the result of a certain connection between the center of positive emotions and the activity of the brain departments that are in charge of mental work. We turn on one, and the other turns on at the same time. Evolution, so to speak, saw to it that Noto became hargsth, and chose such a mechanism. Still others believe that at the moment of successful intellectual activity, there is, as it were, a discharge of the search, problematic tension; this produces a sense of satisfaction.

We will not go into scientific disputes in which scientific truth should be born. The fact remains: full-fledged mental activity causes a feeling of joy, pleasure, and this feeling in the process of intellectual activity intensifies and strengthens.

So, the cognitive need stands on three pillars: activity, the need for the very process of mental activity and the pleasure of mental labor.

Human needs as a source of his activity

08.04.2015

Snezhana Ivanova

The very needs of a person are the basis for the formation of a motive, which in psychology is considered as the “engine” of a personality ...

Man, like any living being, is programmed by nature to survive, and for this he needs certain conditions and means. If at some point in time these conditions and means are absent, then a state of need arises, which causes the appearance of a selective response of the human body. This selectivity ensures the occurrence of a response to stimuli (or factors) that are currently the most important for normal life, life preservation and further development. The experience by the subject of such a state of need in psychology is called a need.

So, the manifestation of a person's activity, and, accordingly, his life activity and purposeful activity, directly depends on the presence of a certain need (or need), which requires satisfaction. But only a certain system of human needs will determine the purposefulness of his activities, as well as contribute to the development of his personality. The very needs of a person are the basis for the formation of a motive, which in psychology is considered as a kind of “engine” of a personality. and human activity directly depends on organic and cultural needs, and they, in turn, give rise to, which directs the attention of the individual and its activity to various objects and objects of the surrounding world with the aim of their knowledge and subsequent mastery.

Human needs: definition and features

Needs, which are the main source of personality activity, are understood as a special internal (subjective) feeling of a person's need, which determines his dependence on certain conditions and means of existence. The activity itself, aimed at satisfying human needs and regulated by a conscious goal, is called activity. The sources of personality activity as an internal motivating force aimed at satisfying various needs are:

• organic and material needs (food, clothing, protection, etc.);
• spiritual and cultural(cognitive, aesthetic, social).

Human needs are reflected in the most persistent and vital dependencies of the organism and the environment, and the system of human needs is formed under the influence of the following factors: the social conditions of people's lives, the level of development of production and scientific and technological progress. In psychology, needs are studied in three aspects: as an object, as a state, and as a property (a more detailed description of these values ​​is presented in the table).

The Importance of Needs in Psychology

In psychology, the problem of needs has been considered by many scientists, so today there are quite a lot of different theories that understand needs as needs, as well as the state, and the process of satisfaction. For example, K. K. Platonov I saw in needs, first of all, a need (more precisely, a mental phenomenon of reflecting the needs of an organism or personality), and D. A. Leontiev considered needs through the prism of activity in which it finds its realization (satisfaction). Famous psychologist of the last century Kurt Lewin understood by needs, first of all, a dynamic state that occurs in a person at the moment of the implementation of some action or intention by him.

An analysis of various approaches and theories in the study of this problem allows us to say that in psychology, the need was considered in the following aspects:

• as a need (L.I. Bozhovich, V.I. Kovalev, S.L. Rubinshtein);
• as an object of satisfaction of need (A.N. Leontiev);
• as a necessity (B.I. Dodonov, V.A. Vasilenko);
• as the absence of good (V.S. Magun);
• as an attitude (D.A. Leontiev, M.S. Kagan);
• as a violation of stability (D.A. McClelland, V.L. Ossovsky);
• as a state (K. Levin);
• as a systemic reaction of the personality (E.P. Ilyin).

Human needs in psychology are understood as dynamically active states of the personality, which form the basis of its motivational sphere. And since in the process of human activity, not only the development of the individual takes place, but also changes in the environment, needs play the role of the driving force of its development, and here their subject content is of particular importance, namely the volume of the material and spiritual culture of mankind that affects the formation of needs. people and their satisfaction.

In order to understand the essence of needs as a driving force, it is necessary to take into account a number of important points highlighted E.P. Ilyin. They are as follows:

• the needs of the human body must be separated from the needs of the individual (at the same time, the need, that is, the need of the body, may be unconscious or conscious, but the need of the individual is always conscious);
• a need is always associated with a need, by which it is necessary to understand not a deficit in something, but a desire or a need;
• from personal needs it is impossible to exclude the state of need, which is a signal for choosing a means of satisfying needs;
• the emergence of a need is a mechanism that includes human activity aimed at finding a goal and achieving it as a need to satisfy the need that has arisen.

Needs are passive-active in nature, that is, on the one hand, they are due to the biological nature of a person and the lack of certain conditions, as well as his means of subsistence, and on the other hand, they determine the activity of the subject to overcome the deficit that has arisen. An essential aspect of human needs is their social and personal nature, which finds its manifestation in motives, motivation and, accordingly, in the entire orientation of the individual. Regardless of the type of need and its focus, they all have the following features:

• have their object and are the awareness of need;
• the content of needs depends primarily on the conditions and methods of their satisfaction;
• they are able to reproduce.

In the needs that form human behavior and activity, as well as in the production motives, interests, aspirations, desires, inclinations and value orientations from them, the basis of the individual's behavior lies.

Types of human needs

Any human need initially represents the organic interweaving of biological, physiological and psychological processes, which determines the presence of many types of needs, which are characterized by strength, frequency of occurrence and ways to satisfy them.

Most often in psychology, the following types of human needs are distinguished:

• isolated according to origin natural(or organic) and cultural needs;
• distinguished by direction material needs and spiritual;
• depending on which area they belong to (fields of activity), they distinguish the needs for communication, work, rest and knowledge (or educational needs);
• according to the object, needs can be biological, material and spiritual (they also distinguish human social needs;
• by their origin, needs can be endogenous(there are waters due to internal factors) and exogenous (caused by external stimuli).

Basic, fundamental (or primary) and secondary needs are also found in the psychological literature.

The greatest attention in psychology is paid to three main types of needs - material, spiritual and social (or public needs), which are described in the table below.

Basic types of human needs

material needs of a person are primary, since they are the basis of his life. Indeed, in order for a person to live, he needs food, clothing and housing, and these needs were formed in the process of phylogenesis. spiritual needs(or ideal) are purely human, as they primarily reflect the level of development of the individual. These include aesthetic, ethical and learning needs.

It should be noted that both organic and spiritual needs are characterized by dynamism and interact with each other, therefore, for the formation and development of spiritual needs, it is necessary to satisfy the material ones (for example, if a person does not satisfy the need for food, then he will experience fatigue, lethargy, apathy and drowsiness, that cannot contribute to the emergence of a cognitive need).

Separately, one should consider public needs(or social), which are formed and developed under the influence of society and are a reflection of the social nature of man. Satisfaction of this need is necessary for absolutely every person as a social being and, accordingly, as a person.

Classification of needs

Since psychology became a separate branch of knowledge, many scientists have made a large number of attempts to classify needs. All these classifications are very diverse and basically reflect only one side of the problem. That is why, to date, a unified system of human needs that would meet all the requirements and interests of researchers from various psychological schools and trends has not yet been presented to the scientific community.

• natural desires of a person and necessary (it is impossible to live without them);
• natural desires, but not necessary (if there is no way to satisfy them, then this will not lead to the inevitable death of a person);
• desires that are neither necessary nor natural (for example, the desire for fame).

Informational author P.V. Simonov needs were divided into biological, social and ideal, which in turn can be the needs of need (or preservation) and growth (or development). According to P. Simonov, social needs of a person and ideal ones are divided into needs “for oneself” and “for others”.

Quite interesting is the classification of needs proposed by Erich Fromm. A well-known psychoanalyst identified the following specific social needs of a person:

• a person's need for connections (belonging to a group);
• need for self-affirmation (sense of importance);
• the need for affection (the need for warm and reciprocal feelings);
• the need for self-awareness (one's own individuality);
• the need for a system of orientation and objects of worship (belonging to a culture, nation, class, religion, etc.).

But the most popular among all existing classifications was the unique system of human needs of the American psychologist Abraham Maslow (better known as the hierarchy of needs or the pyramid of needs). The representative of the humanistic direction in psychology based his classification on the principle of grouping needs by similarity in a hierarchical sequence - from lower needs to higher ones. A. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is presented in the form of a table for ease of perception.

Hierarchy of needs according to A. Maslow

Main groups	Needs	Description
Additional psychological needs	in self-actualization (self-realization)	maximum realization of all the potentials of a person, his abilities and personality development
	aesthetic	the need for harmony and beauty
	cognitive	the desire to learn and know the surrounding reality
Basic psychological needs	in respect, self respect and appreciation	the need for success, approval, recognition of authority, competence, etc.
	in love and belonging	the need to be in a community, society, to be accepted and recognized
	in safety	the need for protection, stability and security
Physiological Needs	physiological or organic	needs for food, oxygen, drink, sleep, sex drive, etc.

Having proposed their classification of needs, A. Maslow clarified that a person cannot have higher needs (cognitive, aesthetic and the need for self-development), if he has not satisfied the basic (organic) needs.

Formation of human needs

The development of human needs can be analyzed in the context of the socio-historical development of mankind and from the standpoint of ontogenesis. But it should be noted that both in the first and in the second case, material needs will be the initial ones. This is due to the fact that they are the main source of activity of any individual, pushing him to maximum interaction with the environment (both natural and social)

On the basis of material needs, the spiritual needs of a person developed and transformed, for example, the need for knowledge was based on satisfying the needs for food, clothing and housing. As for aesthetic needs, they were also formed due to the development and improvement of the production process and various means of life, which were necessary to provide more comfortable conditions for human life. Thus, the formation of human needs was determined by socio-historical development, during which all human needs developed and differentiated.

As for the development of needs during a person's life path (that is, in ontogenesis), here everything also begins with the satisfaction of natural (organic) needs, which ensure the establishment of relationships between a child and adults. In the process of satisfying basic needs, children develop needs for communication and cognition, on the basis of which other social needs appear. An important influence on the development and formation of needs in childhood is provided by the process of education, through which the correction and replacement of destructive needs is carried out.

Development and formation of human needs according to A.G. Kovalev must obey the following rules:

• needs arise and are strengthened through the practice and systematic consumption (that is, habit formation);
• the development of needs is possible in conditions of expanded reproduction in the presence of various means and ways of satisfying it (the emergence of needs in the process of activity);
• the formation of needs occurs more comfortably if the activity necessary for this does not exhaust the child (lightness, simplicity and a positive emotional mood);
• the development of needs is significantly influenced by the transition from reproductive to creative activity;
• the need will be strengthened if the child sees its significance, both personally and socially (assessment and encouragement).

In addressing the question of the formation of human needs, it is necessary to return to the hierarchy of needs of A. Maslow, who argued that all human needs are given to him in a hierarchical organization at certain levels. Thus, from the moment of his birth, in the process of his growing up and personality development, each person will consistently manifest seven classes (of course, this is ideal) of needs, ranging from the most primitive (physiological) needs and ending with the need for self-actualization (the desire for maximum realization the personality of all its potentialities, the most complete life), and some aspects of this need begin to manifest themselves not earlier than adolescence.

According to A. Maslow, a person's life at a higher level of needs provides him with the greatest biological efficiency and, accordingly, a longer life, better health, better sleep and appetite. Thus, purpose of satisfying needs basic - the desire for the emergence of higher needs in a person (in knowledge, in self-development and self-actualization).

The main ways and means of meeting needs

Satisfaction of human needs is an important condition not only for its comfortable existence, but also for its survival, because if organic needs are not met, a person will die in a biological sense, and if spiritual needs are not satisfied, then the individual as a social entity dies. People, satisfying different needs, learn in different ways and learn different means to achieve this goal. Therefore, depending on the environment, conditions and the individual himself, the goal of satisfying needs and the ways to achieve it will differ.

In psychology, the most popular ways and means of satisfying needs are:

• in the mechanism of formation of individual ways for a person to meet their needs(in the process of learning, the formation of various connections between stimuli and subsequent analogy);
• in the process of individualization of ways and means of satisfying basic needs, which act as mechanisms for the development and formation of new needs (the very ways to satisfy needs can turn into themselves, that is, new needs appear);
• in concretizing the ways and means of meeting the needs(there is a consolidation of one method or several, with the help of which the satisfaction of human needs occurs);
• in the process of mentalization of needs(awareness of the content or some aspects of the need);
• in the socialization of ways and means of satisfying needs(they are subordinated to the values ​​of culture and the norms of society).

So, at the heart of any activity and activity of a person there is always some need that finds its manifestation in motives, and it is the needs that are the motivating force that pushes a person to movement and development.

The need is cognitive

More precisely - the need for external impressions. As such, as the need to acquire new knowledge, it develops only in situations that contribute to the realization of the need for this knowledge for life and activity.

The development of the need for knowledge is closely connected with the general development of the personality, with its ability and skills to find answers to vital questions in the content of the studied sciences and in external reality.

Dictionary of practical psychologist. - M.: AST, Harvest. S. Yu. Golovin. 1998 .

See what "cognitive need" is in other dictionaries:

The need is cognitive- the need felt by a person for the missing knowledge, method or conditions of action required to achieve the goal when performing a theoretical or practical task ... Modern educational process: basic concepts and terms

- (in psychology) the state of the individual, created by the experience he needs in the objects necessary for his existence and development, and acting as a source of his activity. P. acts as such a state of personality, thanks to rum it is carried out ... ... Great Psychological Encyclopedia

COGEN- (Cohen) Hermann (1842 1918) German philosopher, founder and most prominent representative of the Marburg school of neo-Kantianism. Major works: 'Kant's Theory of Experience' (1885), 'Kant's Justification of Ethics' (1877), 'Kant's Justification of Aesthetics' (1889), 'Logic… ... History of Philosophy: Encyclopedia

Economics of a country- (National economy) The country's economy is public relations to ensure the country's wealth and the well-being of its citizens The role of the national economy in the life of the state, the essence, functions, sectors and indicators of the country's economy, the structure of countries ... ... Encyclopedia of the investor

PSYCHOLOGY- the science of psychic reality, about how an individual feels, perceives, feels, thinks and acts. For a deeper understanding of the human psyche, psychologists are exploring the mental regulation of animal behavior and the functioning of such ... ... Collier Encyclopedia

ART AND SCIENCE- two ways of human exploration of the world, interconnected and interacting with each other throughout the history of culture. I. and n. they come close in that they reflect reality and cognize it, but they differ in origins and in their subject, ... ... Aesthetics: Dictionary

be interested- ▲ to feel the need to perceive to be interested, to feel the need to perceive smth. inquire. interest inner craving for to l. activities; focus of attention; need, craving for perception, knowledge of what l; ... ... Ideographic Dictionary of the Russian Language

PHILOSOPHY- (from the Greek phileo I love, sophia wisdom, philosophia love of wisdom) a special form of social consciousness and knowledge of the world, which develops a system of knowledge about the fundamental principles and foundations of human existence, about the most general essential ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

METHODOLOGY- (from the method of the game. Word, concept, doctrine), a system of principles and methods of organizing and constructing theoretical. and practical activities, as well as the doctrine of this system. Initially, M. was implicitly represented in the practical. forms of relationship... Philosophical Encyclopedia

Cinema for children and youth- the field of cinematography. The terms children's cinema, teenage cinema, cinema for children and youth are rather conditional and are used by analogy, for example, with the term children's literature, ch.o. for convenience in a professional ... ... Pedagogical terminological dictionary

LEVELS OF DEVELOPMENT OF COGNITIVE NEED AND THEIR MANIFESTATION IN THINKING

E. E. Vasyukova

The work was supported by the Russian Humanitarian Foundation. Project 970608195.

The problem of thinking motivation is one of the difficult and insufficiently studied in psychology.

L. S. Vygotsky wrote that "the thought itself is born not from another thought, but from the motivating sphere of our consciousness, which covers our inclinations and needs, our interests and motives, our affects and emotions. Behind the thought is an affective and volitional tendency ", however, this thesis was not developed by Vygotsky.

For the first time, the question of the motivation of thinking was addressed by 3. Freud, who studied such manifestations of motivation as creativity, wit, dreams. O. K. Tikhomirov criticized Z. Freud's biologizing approach to motivation, according to which sexual motives and motives of aggression were recognized as the main types of motives. It was also pointed out that 3. Freud failed to reveal the role of motive in the organization and structure of thinking.

However, already 3. Freud showed that the content of motivation determines the type of wit.

It is also important that 3. Freud consider the question of the development and features of the manifestation of the desire for knowledge.

3. Freud, in essence, shows that the limited activity of the mind, excessive analysis and creativity are manifestations of the different fate of the instincts for knowledge. According to 3. Freud, the strong desire for knowledge underlying creativity owes its dominance to childhood impressions and is a substitute for sexual desire.

Within the framework of the semantic concept of thinking by O. K. Tikhomirov, the structuring function of the motive in thinking was revealed. This means that the motive not only stimulates mental activity and gives it a personal meaning, but also organizes and structures it.

The structuring function of the motive in thinking is experimentally substantiated in the work of T. G. Bogdanova. She studied the processes of goal formation, the most creative and flexible link in the structure of human mental activity, under conditions of various motivations. We studied such types of goal formation as specifying the general requirement; setting intermediate goals in the course of achieving a common goal; processes of arbitrary production of goals; processes of generating intermediate goals. Motivation of various significance was updated using three types of situations: solving a problem according to instructions; competition; "study of mental endowment". It is shown that the significance and content of motives is a real factor that determines the originality and structural features of the processes of goal formation in human thinking. When solving creative problems in various motivational situations, the content side of goal formation changes: from the most neutral to more and more significant situations, the variety of formed solutions increases due to the setting of additional goals.

Motivation plays a significant role in determining the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of goals in their arbitrary production. In a situation with highly significant motivation, the processes of arbitrary formation of goals are deployed according to more complex principles than in the situation of solving problems according to instructions, namely through a wide transformation of the initial situation by establishing various connections between elements, removing obsessive ideas of past experience that narrow the search for possible transformations. situations that hinder the formation of new goals (in a situation with more significant motivation); through the use of elementary opportunities to change the situation (in a situation with less significant motivation).

Motivation turns out to be a factor that regulates the intensity of conscious and unconscious analysis of the situation when looking for a solution: in a situation with highly significant motivation, more intensive analysis occurs than in a situation with less significant motivation.

Motives, performing a structuring function, are included in the processes of goal formation and influence the results and the creative nature of thinking.

Thus, in an experimental study by T. G. Bogdanova, it was shown that motivation is included in the structure of mental activity and such a link as goal formation processes, at all its stages and levels, acting as one of the mechanisms for regulating goal formation processes; it is included in all its types, but participation in each of the types has specific features.

The subject of Yu. E. Vinogradov's research was the study of the conditions for the emergence of emotional processes in the course of human mental activity and their influence on the structure of this activity.

It is shown that without emotional activation it is impossible to objectively solve subjectively complex mental problems, although the presence of this activation does not guarantee the achievement of an objectively correct result.

In the course of the search activity of the subjects, there is a moment of "emotional solution of the problem" or removal

uncertainty of the task based on the mechanism of emotions, after which the search area abruptly collapses, i.e. the number of subjectively possible alternatives is immediately reduced, and the subject’s activity is directed only to the implementation of the emotionally evaluated idea of ​​the solution. This specific state, called "emotional problem solving", dramatically changes the structure of subsequent activity. The "emotional decision" is far ahead of the intellectual decision, because the feeling of certainty that the search must be carried out in some particular zone is only an emotional anticipation of finding the principle of solving the problem. After the "emotional decision" the search is localized in a narrow zone, emotional mechanisms indicate where this search should be carried out. Then there is a finding of the basic principle and the final solution of the problem. Thus, emotions are included in the process of finding a solution to the problem and take an active part in it, preparing to find the principle of solving the problem. Emotions regulate the course of the search itself, performing a heuristic function in thinking.

So, in the considered studies, the regulatory role of motives and emotions in human thinking is experimentally substantiated, in which motives perform a structuring function, and emotions - a heuristic one.

Further development of ideas about the structuring function of the motive in thinking was undertaken by us in the direction of identifying the regulatory role of the most specific motivational formations for mental activity - the cognitive need. At the same time, the division of the cognitive need into stable and situational, as well as such an important characteristic of the cognitive need as the level of its development, were taken into account. The latter is determined by the features of the subject content of the cognitive need, its dynamics and connection with other needs of the subject. The interrelation of needs of both kinds was analyzed.

A separate methodological task was to improve the methods for studying motivation, both generated in a specific situation of solving a mental problem, and stable, since the method of creating motivational situations with subsequent questioning of subjects about their motivation in the form in which it was used by T. G. Bogdanova is quite rough a tool that does not take into account the actual need-motivational sphere of subjects, the ratio of stable and situational motivational formations , .

The purpose of this work is to study the levels of development of the cognitive need formed by the time of the study and their influence on the procedural features of thinking and the characteristics of the situationally emerging cognitive need.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Test subjects. The study involved 124 chess players (rankers, candidates for master of sports, masters and grandmasters) aged from 7 to 64 years.

Methodology. The main methods for diagnosing two identified types of functional development of cognitive needs - macro and microgenesis of cognitive needs - the method of studying actualized motives (MAM) and the method of interrupting the process of solving the problem. For a detailed description of these methods, see .

Method for studying actualized motives. MAM is a modification of Nutten's method of completion of unfinished sentences, which gives information about the goals and projects of action, as well as about the stable needs of the subject, concretized for these goals. MAM diagnoses the structure of the motivational sphere of chess players and, in more detail, the cognitive need and the level of its development.

The MAM stimulus material consists of 30 cards, each with an unfinished phrase beginning with the words "Like a chess player...". The phrases differ in that some of them express a general desire for some object ("I want ...", "I hope ...", etc.), others are planning or decision activities ("I am determined .. . "," I have made a decision ...", etc.), the third - some activity or existing effort ("I try ...", "I achieve ...", etc.). First, the experimenter receives a sample of objects that in one way or another interest or motivate the subjects under study. The subject is not required to say what motives motivate him. The instruction orients the subject to the definition of the most conscious concrete objects of his needs. He is asked, before completing each unfinished phrase, referring it to himself, to think about what he personally really dreams of, what he wants, what he has decided, etc. It is emphasized that any answer that the subject gives is always good, as soon as he expresses frankly what he thinks. The subjects are guaranteed anonymity of their answers, and a trusting atmosphere is created.

We believe that the specific objects of goals described by the subject are concretizations of the basic needs that have developed and manifest themselves in specific circumstances. It can be assumed that these specific objects reflect the circumstances of the subject's life. The psychologist introduces more general categories of objects of motivation with which these specific objects are associated. Therefore, after the subject completes all the unfinished phrases, the psychologist analyzes the answers by content. The purpose of such an analysis is to single out stable needs, i.e., to classify the motivations of subjects through their components relating to the nature of the object (the subject itself; "other" objects; ideal entities, or abstract realities) and the nature of behavior in relation to this object (interaction and social contact; research activity; work; rest; possession).

On the basis of the ten Nutten categories, we have developed 17 categories, with the help of which the subject content of needs is indicated. When highlighting the general categories of objects of motivation, reflecting the content of the main orientations (needs) of the subject, we not only used the division of needs according to the principle of the specifics of their subject into functional and substantive ones, but also took into account the frequent occurrence of responses of subjects related not to the activity itself, but to its result. or achievement. Therefore, the need for a result and the need for achievement are singled out in a separate class.

The first stage in the analysis of the content of the responses of the subjects obtained with the help of MAM is the coding operation (assigning to each motivational object a certain category and subcategory).

The general categories (and subcategories) of objects of motivation proposed by us and their designations describe the content of the following needs (and their types).

1. The need to possess certain individual characteristics: 1) the need to be a person, 2) the need to possess a certain orientation of the personality, 3) the need to possess certain volitional characteristics, 4) the need to possess certain character traits, 5) the need to possess certain abilities and related skills, 6) the need for self-esteem, 7) the need to possess certain psychophysical properties.

2. The need for self-actualization: 1) the need to become a certain type of personality, to realize some form of life; 2) the need to develop certain individual characteristics; 3) the need to implement their plans and goals: to implement their ideas, achieve success in life, career, and their enterprises.

3. The need for professional self-determination in chess: 1) the need to become a professional chess player; 2) the need to become a coach; 3) the need to dedicate one's life to chess.

4. Need for activity: 1) need for activity; 2) the need to work on chess (work on your own games, analyze mistakes, eliminate shortcomings); 3) the need to prove something in practice; 4) the need to popularize chess.

5. The need for learning: 1) the need for the learning process itself; 2) the need for learning as a result of learning; 3) the need for training (obtaining education); 4) the need to do something; 5) the need to prepare for a game, a tournament.

6. The need for the game: 1) the need to implement a certain style of play; 2) the need to possess a certain power of the game; 3) the need to possess certain characteristics of the game; 4) the need to possess certain qualitative and procedural features of the game; 5) the need to improve the game; 6) the need for the game of chess itself.

7. The need to participate in competitions: 1) the need to participate in major competitions; 2) the need to fight the enemy; 3) the need to prove something in a game, competition.

8. The need for chess activity as an auxiliary or not the only type of activity: 1) the need to use chess as one's assistant in something; 2) the need to combine chess with other activities.

9. The need for achievement: 1) the need to achieve a unique goal as a personal success: for example, victory in a difficult struggle or in a decisive game, a successful performance in a prestigious tournament; 2) the need to do things as well or better than the opponent; 3) the need to achieve the level of the highest degree of perfection, success in activities; 4) the need to win, subject to the achievement of a certain quality of performance.

10. Need as a result: 1) need to win; 2) the need to move up the classification ladder: to receive ranks, fulfill the norm of a candidate for master of sports, master, grandmaster, etc.; 3) the need for success: in the embodiment of desires into results, in the fulfillment of desires, in life success, in success in chess, in the game, in sports results.

11. Cognitive need: 1) the need for knowledge: in skills, skills, in their improvement, in the application of knowledge; 2) the need for understanding; 3) the need to acquire and assimilate social experience, the knowledge that has already been accumulated by mankind, i.e., the need to search for and assimilate materialized social experience; 4) the need to develop subjectively new knowledge, as well as to acquire knowledge that is not fully materialized by society; 5) the need to develop objectively new knowledge.

12. The need for communication: 1) the need to expect something from others; 2) the need to help others, interact with them; 3) the need to desire something for others.

13. The need for material conditions and means of chess activity and life in general: 1) the need to have something material; 2) the need for external conditions conducive to the subject's chess activity: social environment, the availability of special institutions, time, literature, a comfortable room for playing, the opportunity to participate in major tournaments; 3) the need for external conditions conducive to the chess activity of all chess players.

14. The need for rest.

15. The need for the implementation of incredible events and objective processes in the field of chess: 1) the need for the unreal; 2) the need for the implementation of certain processes in life, similar to the processes in the field of chess;

Study solution

WHITE MOVE - DRAW

1. Rf7f5!! g4g3

The best. After 1... KrsZ 2. Rg5Rc4 3. Kpf7 Kpd3 4. Kg6 Kp3 5. Kph5 Kpf3 6. Kph4 Rf4 7. Ra5 g3+ 8. Kph3 - a draw!

2. Rf5g5 Rc6c3

3. Kpe8f7 Kpb2c2

4. Kpf7g|6 Kpc2d2

5. Kpg6h5 Kpd2e2

6. Kph5h4 Kpe2f2

If 7. Rg8? then Rf7 and Black wins.

Or 8... Ra3 9. Rg8 Rf3

10. Rg4!-draw.

9. If Rg4f4+ Rf8xf4 PAT!

FALSE TRACKS:

a) Rf4?g3 2. Rg4 Rc3 3. Kpf7 Kc2 4. Kg6 Kpd2 5. Kph5 Ke2 6. Kph4 Kpf2 7. Kph3 Rf3!, and White loses in a mutual zugzwang position.

b) 1. Rf1?Rc1 2. Rf2+(2. Rf5 Kc2 3. Rf4 g3 4. Rg4 Rg1) Rc2 3. Rf1 g3, and Black wins.

c) 1. Rg7? Rc4 2. Kpd7 Re4 3. Kpd6 Kp3 4. Kpd5 Kpd3, and Black wins.

Rice. Etude by N. Grigoriev, proposed to the subjects:

a - starting position; b - critical position (after 8. JIg5g40!); in - pat

3) the need to carry out some processes in the field of chess, for example, in the growth of the popularity of chess.

16. Aesthetic need.

17. The need to participate in this study.

After coding the answers of the subject, the percentage of answers of each category (subcategory) is calculated. Then the preferred needs and their types are determined - on the basis of identifying those categories (and subcategories) of motivations, which include more answers than the average for one category (subcategory).

The final stage of the analysis is to determine the level of development of the cognitive need identified in the subject.

We have singled out the criteria for the levels of development of the cognitive need: 1) the relative frequency (in%) of statements related to the cognitive need in relation to the percentage of statements related to other needs of the motivational sphere of the subject; 2) the degree of operating with ideas about the levels of development of the cognitive need in the statements of the subject regarding procedural knowledge; 3) the degree of specificity, objectivity of the need, the content of which is subject knowledge; 4) the degree of penetration into the essence of the subject; 5) the degree of strength, reality, effectiveness of the object of need, determined by the relevance of the unfinished sentence to one or another group; 6) the degree of creativity of various knowledge, procedures for obtaining it (a high degree of creativity is characterized by initiative, independence in research, going beyond the given, the creation of objectively new knowledge); 7) the degree of simultaneous use by the subject of statements about knowledge related to different subject areas and about different ways of obtaining them; 8) the degree of assignment of various categories and subcategories of objects of motivation to the number of subjects preferred in the need-motivational sphere.

The general level of development of the cognitive need is determined on the basis of private knowledge of the levels of subject content, dynamics, and the relationship of the cognitive need with other needs. To do this, the arithmetic mean of three private values ​​of the levels is included in one or another interval, each of which corresponds to a certain general level. For example, the first general level corresponds to the interval from 0.75 to 1.25 inclusive.

Acceptance of interrupting the process of solving a problem. This technique is a variation of the method of interrupted actions, widely used in experimental psychology, developed in the school of K. Levin. The methodological technique we use is a modification of the methodology of T. A. Platonova, who for the first time revealed the motivational mechanism of returning to unfinished actions. It is based on the provision on the conditions for the emergence of a cognitive need in a particular situation, which include solving problems containing the unknown, an instruction that focuses on the solution process, a natural way to interrupt activity, and, finally, the factor of communication between the experimenter and the subject in the process of solving.

We used a chess etude with false traces, apparent solutions, refuted only in a subtle and only correct way (see figure). The main idea of ​​the etude is the idea of ​​a stalemate. The solution is helped by the idea of ​​mutual zugzwang contained in one of the false traces.

The subjects were focused on understanding the sketch and formulating its complexity. When performing the task, it was required to reason aloud. The masters and grandmasters solved the etude visually, while the rest of the chess players worked visually. The interruption was carried out in two cases: if the subject came to a critical position, but did not formulate the idea of ​​the study, or after 20 minutes had elapsed from the beginning of the solution. The subjects were asked questions about the degree of difficulty of the sketch and interest in it, their change, about the direction

interest, about dedication in completing the task, about the aspirations of the subjects, etc., about the reasons for returning to the solution or about the desire to return to it.

The situational cognitive need was analyzed according to the same parameters as the stable cognitive need.

RESULTS OF THE STUDY

Tendencies are singled out and the levels and stages of macrogenesis of the cognitive need are characterized separately for each parameter, and the characteristics of the integral levels of this type of functional development of the cognitive need are given. When identifying them, we proceeded from the fact that the cognitive need of a particular individual is a reflection of the society's need for knowledge, and its development can be understood based on the general laws of knowledge and trends in the development of knowledge in society.

Trends in the development of cognitive needs are as follows. Its subject content develops from practical and empirical to theoretical and then philosophical knowledge; from the ability to use personal experience of practical activities to the skills

Table 1

Characteristics of the integral levels of macrogenesis of cognitive need (PP)

Options

subject co

holding PP

Empirical and practical knowledge. Ways to get them: your own game, analysis of your own games, familiarization with the games of grandmasters, problem solving

Theoretical knowledge. Assimilation of social values ​​(superficial, reproductive). By knowledge of the entire field of checkmate

Creative assimilation of knowledge (primarily a special section of chess) + development of objectively new (primarily empirical) knowledge

dynamic

PP properties

Determined by the dynamics of the game, during which cognition is carried out, all components of the dynamics have low values

Determined by the dynamics of the game + playing chess, the average values ​​of the components of the dynamics

Determined by the dynamics of regular chess lessons, high values ​​of the dynamics components

PP plays an insignificant role (represented only by the need to develop subjectively new knowledge), since chess is only entertainment, an element of culture. The need for play dominates. PP is included in the core of the motivational sphere

The role of chess is growing.

The plans of the subjects are connected with improvement, constant play and theoretical studies, significant advanced training. The need for the result dominates. The core of the motivational sphere includes: the need to possess certain individual characteristics, the need for self-actualization, in the game, learning, achievement. PP is close to the core

The role of chess is significant (main hobby, favorite work, vocation). PP occupies a leading position in the hierarchy of needs. The core is also made up of: the need for self-actualization, in the possession of certain individual characteristics, in the game, in communication.

apply socially developed knowledge and, finally, to the ability to create something new; from cognition included in practical activity to cognitive activity as an independent one; from the assimilation of ready-made knowledge to the development of new knowledge, etc. The trend in the development of the dynamics of the cognitive need consists primarily in increasing the value of the indicators of the dynamics of the most adequate types of activity for its manifestation, as well as in increasing the percentage of responses in which the cognitive need is expressed,

i.e., in increasing its intensity. The trend in the development of a cognitive need in terms of its connection with other needs consists both in an increase in the role of a cognitive need in the motivational sphere of the subject, and in a change in the content of needs (primarily dominant ones) included in his motivational sphere.

The following ways of macrogenesis of cognitive need have been identified: simultaneous level development of cognitive need in all parameters (we are talking about the integral level of its development); the emergence within the existing elements of a new, higher level (according to one, two or three parameters at once); the lag of the cognitive need in its development from some level (in one or two parameters, elements of this level are only emerging); and, finally, the non-simultaneous development of the cognitive need in all parameters (there are significant differences in the achieved level (stage) of the development of the cognitive need in certain parameters).

In a third of the subjects, integral levels of development of cognitive needs were found.

The characteristics of the integral levels are given in Table. one.

It is shown that mental activity and behavior in general have a different structure in subjects with different levels (stages) of development of their stable cognitive needs. The characteristics of a situationally emerging cognitive need correspond to the characteristics of the level (stage) of development of a stable cognitive need.

Features of the situationally emerging cognitive need of chess players with different levels of macrogenesis of their cognitive need are presented in Table. 2.

What are the procedural features of the thinking of chess players whose stable cognitive need has reached different levels?

I level of macrogenesis of cognitive need. The subjects used only the most simple and obvious ideas (sometimes without formulating them), made erroneous moves. They did not have a focus on finding the strongest continuations, especially for the strong side, and for the opponent they made frankly weak moves. Characterized by superficiality, shallow depth of analysis, insufficient use of existing knowledge. The subjects did not find false traces at all, they did not understand the main idea of ​​the study.

II level of macrogenesis of cognitive need. One subject knew the study and was excluded from the analysis. The subjects analyzed the sketch superficially, incorrectly assessed some options, and uncritically applied the ideas expressed. They lacked a focus on considering strong continuations for both sides, especially for the opponent. When solving the study, they were guided by the general rule, which says that the rook must be placed behind the pawns. Ideas were rarely formulated, mostly simple ideas were used, there was no diversity in their content. Only a third of the subjects found false traces (moreover, during the additional activity, either the only false trace was found in 11% of the subjects, or the second false trace in 22% of the subjects). In general, the approach to solving the problem turned out to be

reproductive and consisted in an attempt to implement the general rule of play in rook endings, which is not true for this etude.

table 2

Indicators of the situational cognitive need of subjects with different levels of PP macrogenesis

Situational PP parameters

PP macrogeesis level

I (2 persons)

II (13 people, PP occurred in 75% of the subjects)

W (7 people)

The subject content of the software

Associated with the very process of solving the sketch, with the understanding of the sketch, elements of unusualness

Has to do with learning what you don't already know, finding a way to draw

Associated with the analysis of the sketch, its understanding, with the search process, with finding the only way that is mandatory for the sketch

Dynamic features

PP is not long (avg. solution time - 6 min), unstable (no desire to return to the solution process), low dedication when completing the task, not strong enough (average interest in the study occurs in the middle or end; little encourages satisfaction)

PP is medium-long (average solution time - 13 minutes, additional activity - 16 minutes, total time for solving the study - 29 minutes), moderately stable (in 56% of the subjects - the desire to return). Average dedication, average strength (average interest - from the middle of the solution, 44% of the subjects returned to the solution, although after the question of the experimenter)

PP is long (average solution time - 17 min, additional activity - 26 min, total time - 43 min), stable (100% of the subjects wanted to return to the task), strong (the study was rated as medium interesting, interest arises at different stages of the analysis - at the beginning, middle, end, 100% - return, 71% - immediately after interruption), dedication is high

Linking PP to other needs

Associated with practical play, getting pleasure from the process or result of the decision

PP is mediated by performance motivation and motivation for cooperation with the experimenter

The cognitive need dominates - to find the "zest" of the study, to discover the main position, the desire to realize and clearly formulate the ideas found

III level of macrogenesis of cognitive need. The subjects deeply analyzed the position, grasped the main idea of ​​the etude, formulated various ideas, discovered false traces, and at the same time made strong and only correct moves for the opponent. The decision was guided by an idea rather than a general rule. All subjects found at least one false trail. 43% of the subjects found all the false traces they found before the interruption, 43% of the subjects after the interruption found one more false trace, and 14% of the subjects revealed the only false trace after the interruption. All subjects demonstrated a creative approach to solving the problem: they deeply considered false traces, overcame

stereotyped ideas, looking for new ideas, ways to design them.

With an increase in the level of macrogenesis of the cognitive need in solving a study, the effectiveness of the solution increases (Table 3). The group of subjects with a more developed cognitive need is also characterized by a higher chess qualification, although there is no mutually unambiguous connection between the category and the level of macrogenesis of the cognitive need.

Table 3

Peculiarities of thinking of chess players with different levels of PP macrogenesis

Number of test subjects

Average for

group qualification

Ideas Used

Subjects (%) who found

Chess players who solved the etude, %

false tracks

one false

two false trails

interrupts

one false trail

two false trails

first false trail

second false trail

2-3 category

Exchange of rooks, cut off the king (eternal pursuit of the rook - only for level I)

Flank attack, pinning to win a rook, mutual zugzwang, passing the turn of the move

the discussion of the results

Let us consider the obtained results from the point of view of understanding various problems of the psychology of thinking.

Thinking and knowledge. The solution to this problem requires breeding, following E. Fromm, knowledge and possession of knowledge. Having knowledge means acquiring and maintaining knowledge. Real knowledge itself is functional, it participates in the process of productive thinking, in the development of fundamentally new knowledge, in solving new problems and finding new ways to solve them. Knowledge is penetration into the very essence of the problem under study, the desire to get closer to the truth: "Knowledge by the principle of being is to know deeper". The results of our study showed the specificity of the application of knowledge in thinking by subjects with different levels of macrogenesis of their cognitive needs. The subjects with the lowest level I of macrogenesis of the cognitive need practically did not use their knowledge, their thinking was not based on knowledge. At the II level of macrogenesis of the cognitive need, chess players apply their knowledge uncritically. Using the definition of E. Fromm, we can say that they "possess knowledge", are uncritically to the stereotypes of thinking they have previously adopted, for them knowledge is "absolute truth", not questioned. Subjects with the III level of development of the cognitive need use their knowledge in the process of productive thinking, trying to understand the meaning of the study, its main position. They refer to their knowledge

critically and review them in the course of solving a specific problem. These chess players are able to approach a problem situation in an unconventional way.

Purpose and result. L.P. Guryeva showed that in the case of an indefinite goal, the signs of achieving which cannot be accurately determined, the results can be assessed as subjectively correct, without being such.

In our study, it was revealed that when solving a study with an indefinite purpose, with an increase in the level of macrogenesis of cognitive need, the coincidence of subjective and objective results of activity increases.

Needs research method. The method of creating a situation favorable for generating a situational cognitive need and for returning to an interrupted activity based on a cognitive need cannot be unambiguously interpreted as a means of generating or actualizing the same cognitive need in different subjects. Depending on the level of macrogenesis of the cognitive need of the subjects, the same situation will be perceived differently by them and will give rise to a situational cognitive need with different characteristics of its subject content, dynamics and connection with other needs. Thus, the situation as an objective factor in solving problems necessarily correlates with the subjective factor - the cognitive need of the subject and the level of its macrogenesis.

Self-determination of thinking. A number of authors speak of self-determination inherent in thinking. For example, O. K. Tikhomirov discovered the generation of a search need based on non-verbalized research acts. To a greater extent, the stage of generating a search need is inherent in masters, in contrast to chess players of the third category. As our analysis has shown, it is high-skilled chess players who have a high level of macrogenesis of cognitive need. Consequently, unconscious research acts lead to the emergence of a search need not directly, but indirectly by the cognitive needs of a high level of macrogenesis.

The phenomenon of "sensitivity to the problem". Using original methods, the experimental material of which contained a contradiction, V. Klochko investigated the initiation of mental activity (see). It was found that the detection of a discrepancy does not immediately lead to the decision of the task. For the emergence of a gnostic goal, it is necessary that the disagreement, reflected on the emotional and verbal levels, acquire a special personal meaning. The need for consistent activity should be actualized. The transition from surprise to task discretion is associated with a change in the motivational structure of activity; it is the result of the dynamics of assessments, meanings and goals.

And yet, despite the results obtained, V. Klochko's conclusion about the absence of the phenomenon of "sensitivity to the problem" seems premature, because, firstly, although the probability of detecting a contradiction depends on the type of activity of the subject with the same material, this relationship is not mutually unequivocal, secondly, V. Klochko himself indicates that behind the "discretion of the task" lies a change in the motivational structure of activity. We associate sensitivity to the problem with the cognitive need for a high level of macrogenesis.

Functions of motive in thinking. The most well-known are two functions of the motive (inciting and meaning-forming). The first is that the subject moves towards an object in which some need is defined, or, conversely, avoids it in the case of negative motivation. The second is that events are perceived in a certain way by the subject in relation to motives in terms of personal meaning, which is a form of presentation to the subject of both the goal itself and the progress of its achievement.

At the same time, it is the motive that determines the structure of the activity, for example, the ratio of the creative and reproductive components of the activity, the features of the situational cognitive need, as well as the course of the activity, its stages. L.P. Guryeva was one of the first to say that the processes of solving problems are determined by motivation, that is, they depend on what activity they are included in. Depending on what motive stimulates a person's activity, he can choose certain methods of action, reduce or expand the search for a solution to the problem. Thus, in real activity, motivation, in addition to motivating and meaning-forming, also performs a structuring function.

From the point of view of the subjective determinants of creative activity, characterized by novelty, non-traditional results, the presence of two phases in the decision process and a change in search heuristics, an important role in creativity is played by the cognitive need of a high level of macrogenesis.

So, the structure and productivity of cognitive activity depend on the level of development of a stable cognitive need. With an increase in this level, the degree of creativity of thinking increases (there is an overcoming of stereotypes in solving a problem, an increase in the number and originality of ideas used in the formation of an idea, and an increase in the depth of consideration of solutions).

The generation of a cognitive need in a specific situation of solving a mental problem depends not so much on the subject's encounter with difficulties, but on the level of development of his stable cognitive need. At the same time, the characteristics of a situationally emerging cognitive need correspond to the characteristics of the level of development of a stable cognitive need.

The more the task predisposes to the emergence of an unobvious problem situation, the more important is the stable cognitive need and the level of its development. In a non-obvious problem situation, the impossibility of using old schemes and solutions is implicit.

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Received June 30, 1997

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