Under psychotechnology is understood as a system of categories, principles and models that describe mental reality, a human being or social group as a developing integrity, focused on practical work with the individual psyche or group psychology, and including specific methods, techniques, abilities and skills for the purposeful transformation of the individual and the group.
Practical psychological activity psychosocial workers expressed in use in working with clients psychotechnologies, methods, techniques, psychological means , which help diagnose and resolve psychological problems of clients.
The entire arsenal of modern psychological practice of social work can be divided into 3 groups: 1) psychotechnologies of diagnostics ; 2) psychotechnologies of correction and rehabilitation , the use of which corrects and improves the socialization process and adaptation mechanisms; 3) psychotechnologies for preventing the occurrence of psychosocial problems in clients.
1) Establishing a correct diagnosis and establishing the causes of psychological problems that arise in clients is of exceptional importance for the subsequent process of correcting the identified inadequate conditions of clients. Major researchers in the field of psychodiagnostics its founders are considered F. Galton and J. Cattell and etc. Psychodiagnostics as a science and discipline - "area psychological science, developing the theory, principles and tools for assessing and measuring individual psychological characteristics of the individual.”
Psychodiagnostics as a method , is the main method of collecting, processing and analyzing data and is implemented in specific diagnostic techniques - tests. The most important form of psychodiagnostic tests are questionnaires .
Questionnaires represent psychodiagnostic techniques in the form of questions (or statements) for interviewing clients in order to obtain information about their personality as a whole or about certain aspects of it (traits, properties, etc.). Due to this questionnaires are divided on questionnaires of personality traits, motives, interests, states, etc.
Thus, based on K. Jung’s typology, a type indicator was developed - the I. Myers-Briggs personality questionnaire. It consists of 160 questions. The responses of those diagnosed are divided into 4 scales in accordance with K. Jung’s typology: extrovert - introvert, sensory - intuitive, thinking - emotional, rational - irrational. Based on the results of the survey, points are calculated on scales. The highest sum of points expresses the dominance of the corresponding personality type trait.
When choosing psychodiagnostic tests, a psychosocial worker must proceed from a clearly understood and set task of examining a given client. The test must have reliability (accuracy of psychodiagnostic changes, as well as the stability of test results to the action of extraneous random factors and after a certain time) and validity , i.e. validity of the test .
2) The most important aspect psychological practice in social work is the use of various psychotechnologies for psychocorrection and socio-psychological rehabilitation . Of utmost importance are also psychotherapy, which is a diverse set of specific techniques, techniques, and techniques used in practical work.
Psychological counseling - is the provision psychological assistance mentally normal people in order to achieve any goals, for more effective organization of their behavior and life activities. A psychosocial worker can help an individual look at himself “as if from the outside,” realize his problems that the client himself cannot cope with, change his attitudes towards others and adjust his behavior accordingly. Psychological counseling takes borderline between psychotherapy and the normal learning process based on information, advice and recommendations. The emphasis in psychocounseling, according to V.E. Kagan, unlike psychotherapy, it is not done on the disease, but on the client’s problem situation and his personal resources. In contrast to training, the most important task of psychocounseling is to encourage the client to make independent decisions.
The process of counseling and psychotherapy requires consultants have a number of general requirements, assumes Availability he has as an individual and a specialist certain qualities : tolerance, tolerance towards clients, attentiveness and sensitivity; displays of compassion and empathy towards people who seek help; emotional stability and objectivity; respect and lack of prejudice towards clients; professionalism in providing advisory assistance.
In psychosocial practice should be distinguished psychological and psychosocial counseling . When actually psychological counseling object impact the consultant acts directly the client himself or the group (for example, family members in family counseling). Psychosocial counseling sent on the client and his immediate social environment and assumes use of both personal and social resources.
Chapter 2
Deconcentration in the general array of psychotechniques 2.1. Classifications of psychotechnics The entire array of psychotechnical techniques can be streamlined by introducing a classification according to at least three criteria. The first one is functional purpose of psycho-technology. You can select preventive, operational And rehabilitationtational psychotechnics. Preventive psychotechniques are used to proactively prepare for the action of factors to be mitigated or neutralized. The following techniques are most often used for preventive purposes: Autogenic training, developed by I. Schultz, and its subsequent modifications. Autogenic training is used to proactively form an image of an upcoming action to be performed, or a state to be formed in the future. In AT-immersion, suggestive or autosuggestive attitudes can also be created to overcome undesirable functional states. Suggestive programming future situations and behavior options in them. Biofeedback (biofeedback), based on the principle of recording various physiological parameters (skin potential, EEG rhythms, heart rate, etc.), their computer processing, and presentation in the form of a dynamic visual or audio image. Conscious control of the dynamics of this image means conscious control of the corresponding parameter, and therefore the purposeful formation of a given state. The biofeedback technique, in addition to therapeutic use (compensation for paralysis, paresis, treatment of phobias, etc.), was also used for preventive training of operators. It was assumed that the technique facilitates the acquisition of self-regulation skills. The range of psychotechniques for operational needs before the advent of dKV and techniques based on it was limited and was mainly limited to the use of various psychopharmacological agents (for example, amphetamines for working in a continuous activity mode, with fatigue and monotony), functional music, feeding or suggestive information in a hidden form (“twenty-fifth frame”, suggestive orders in the periphery of vision or in the subthreshold sound range), stimulation of biologically active points, etc. Rehabilitation psychotechnics are designed to relieve the consequences of overload, stress, and traumatic experiences. Basically, they represent modifications of AT (not so much in auto-, but in heterosuggestive mode), holotropic and free breathing, various types of meditation or pseudo-meditation. Second criterion - current start of administration, starting the process. These principles are divided into autogenous, heterosuggestivenal, informational, technogenic, physical and chemical. Autogenous psychotechnics rely on the conscious efforts of the operator. The main active principle here is will. Volitional efforts can be applied to sensations (increasing sensory noise in techniques for increasing sensitivity to subthreshold stimuli and in certain types of alert hypnosis), and to images (the main array of AT techniques), and to controlling external images reflecting various physiological parameters (biofeedback techniques), and to body movements and postures (holotropic and free breathing, yogic asanas), and directly to the existing state (direct volitional control). Heterosuggestive techniques require the presence of a human suggestor. His will, speech, behavior, body movements, postures and other components of influence together form the active principle of heterosuggestive influence. But the main ones here are the mechanisms of empathy and transfer. These techniques include classical hypnosis, which uses dream metaphors to form a control channel (rapport), alert hypnosis, based on the opposite metaphors of increased vigilance and involvement in the environment, Ericksonian hypnosis, based on the use of personally significant patient metaphors for the condition, etc. Information psychotechnics can be separated into a separate group based on the transfer of control to information stored on various information media. Informational influence differs from suggestive influence in that it is not mediated by a person (yantras, archetypal images, abstract static or dynamic pictures, texts constructed according to NLP rules, etc.) Technogenic psychotechnicians use various technical systems and the corresponding methods of encoding information. Basically, these are various types of biofeedback, systems that form organized color and sound stimuli, etc. Physico-chemical state management methods, strictly speaking, cannot be classified as psychotechniques themselves, but they are often an element of more extensive psychotechniques and psychotechnologies. Self-sufficient physical and chemical means of controlling the condition are, for example, amphetamine-type drugs, which provide high performance for a long time, or modulated electromagnetic radiation, which can have a stimulating or depressing effect on the psyche. An example of chemical agents included in more extensive techniques are psychotomimetics that create altered states of consciousness (mescaline, psilocybin, LSD, dissociative drugs, etc.). Third criterion - state that should be the resulttatom use of this psychotechnics. The dynamics of the mental state as a result of psychotechnical influence can be divided into two groups - changes within normal co-states of consciousness (SC) and changes leading to the formation altered states of consciousness. It must be said that changes within the framework of the NSS are caused by almost all psychotechniques, making a shift towards mobilization, relaxation, heightened sensitivity, etc. According to the direction of shifts within the NSS, relaxation, mobilization, sensitizing (to any influences), cathartic and other types of psychotechnics can be distinguished. The result of the shifts can be a state of increased clarity of consciousness, relief of tension, changes in the functional state in the desired direction, etc. ASCs form a huge area, the classification of which is very difficult. As a rule, classifications are genetic in nature and are determined through the technique that provoked this type of ASC. In the psychotechnical space, deconcentration takes its place. It can be functionally used for preventive, operational, and rehabilitation needs. As a preventive preparation, planar DCV is included in technologies for developing skills in perceiving subthreshold stimuli; volumetric DCV can be used to prepare for work in conditions that require increased vigilance and involvement in the environment, which makes it similar to alert hypnosis. But DKV is most effective for operational tasks, since, unlike AT or meditative techniques, it does not involve leaving the activity for its implementation, which is typical for AT and meditation. DKV allows you to relieve tension, undesirable emotional states (fear, irritation, etc.), dramatically expand the capabilities of perception and processing of information. This determines the special effect of the operational use of dKV. In addition to the fact that DKV can be used directly “on the battlefield,” this form of psychotechnics also allows for training in deconcentrating techniques directly in a production environment or in the process of tactical and technical training. The rehabilitation capabilities of DKV are determined by the proximity of its planar variant to AT. Planar dHF overcomes the limitations that exist for AT. DKV is not affected by fluctuations in blood pressure and other somatic disorders that are contraindications for AT. However, it should be noted that in the absence of contraindications, the rehabilitation effect of various modifications of AT is more pronounced than dKV. Deconcentration is fundamentally autogenic in nature, since it is carried out contrary to the main organismic process and requires constant volitional effort. Deconcentration cannot be caused by unilateral techno- and pharmacogenic influences, although for particularly suggestible people a suggestive variant of the formation of this state is also possible. The states formed on the basis of dKV techniques fluctuate in a wide range from states of relaxation and mobilization to ASCs of various types. It is also possible to identify an area in which dCV techniques become inadequate. This is the area of concentrated states, states of narrowed consciousness and suggestive controlled states. Thus, among other psychotechniques, dKV occupies a fairly wide area both in terms of its use and the results of its impact. This place of DKV is determined by the initial phase of technology development. It is obvious that as the field of dCI matures, it will undergo further fragmentation and the relationships between the various forms will become as doubtful as the connection between classical hypnosis and AT, although in the early 20s their relationship was not in doubt. However, first of all, we should consider how states close to dKV are formed under natural conditions. 2.2. Deconcentration in vivo DKV is formed as a purposeful technique, but there are its analogues in natural conditions. Its manifestations are quite diverse. Let's briefly consider two examples - DLE in pathology and DLE as a reaction to chronic extreme conditions. DKV for schizophrenia Attention disorders in schizophrenia are often accompanied by phenomena close to DCI. Patients describe their conditions as follows: “My attention seems to be captured by everything, although I am not particularly interested in anything... While talking to you, I can hear the creaking of the nearest door and noises coming from the corridor.” “I Too many thoughts come into my head at the same time. I can't sort them." Here we see how one of the main characteristics of states of consciousness in schizophrenia is reflected in the sphere of attention - the de-hierarchization of meanings. DKV as an adequate response to chronically active extreme factors When working with contingents of volunteers who took part in local armed conflicts that accompanied the collapse of the USSR, the author drew attention to very definite shifts in the state of consciousness of fighters who did not have prior special military training. These shifts, characteristic specifically for volunteers, but not for career officers, occurred directly during combat operations, continued in the intervals between military clashes and ended quite quickly after the end of the military phase of the conflict or the volunteer’s withdrawal from the active formations. The condition of these fighters is characterized by the following features. Attention loses its focused character and becomes diffuse, not highlighting individual details, but revealing significant characteristics of the surrounding background. Decisions are made based precisely on this irrational perception, and directly reflect the extreme environment, bypassing rational analysis. Persons with this type of reaction present certain difficulties for direct command, since strict control of their behavior becomes impossible. Their actions are more effective if they make decisions independently, although this often violates standard instructions for routine and emergency situations. This contingent presents certain difficulties for a novice psychologist, since the usual test tools (psychometric tests, questionnaires) turn out to be of little significance for a real assessment of the state and capabilities. Such attention parameters as concentration and selectivity decrease sharply in relation to the norm. But the validity of projective tests increases, the results of which are not distorted by rational motives. Changes in the sphere of attention are adaptive in nature. Stressful tension in these cases is reduced due to the displacement from consciousness of actually observed threats and their actual or potential impact. Of course, we are dealing with deconcentrating states that affect not only the sphere of attention, but the deep mechanisms of environmental assessment, self-esteem and the formation of a strategy for adaptation to extreme conditions. The adaptation strategy is closely related to the phenomenon collective consciousness, often observed in chronic extreme conditions, which is characterized by identifying oneself with other members of the team and the team as a whole. Events that happen to one of the comrades are perceived as having happened to that person personally. This is also one of the factors in reducing stress tension and increasing the efficiency of real activities. At the same time, the subjective significance of both dangerous and favorable operating conditions for performing a combat mission becomes the same. A decrease in the level of tension, however, does not lead to a return to the original state, but transfers to a special state in which lack of concentration does not entail the usual negative consequences. The environment and one’s own actions in it begin to be perceived as a single whole, while incoming information is not divided into separate elements, which makes it difficult to rationally explain both the situation and one’s own decisions. Reducing the sense of danger allows you to perform actions that are beyond the acceptable risk, but, due to the fighter’s “fitness” into the environment, are adequate to the combat situation. The closeness of the described phenomenology to the dKV states formed in laboratory conditions using appropriate psychotechniques is quite obvious to the developer. 2.3. Deconce tration and relaxation The autogenic immersion technique, developed by I. Schultz, uses muscle relaxation and vasodilation (also due to relaxation of vascular muscles) as a basic technique, the subjective correlate of which is a feeling of heaviness and warmth. There are, however, other types of AT that use metaphors of alert hypnosis and are aimed at rapid mobilization. For them, the basic technique is to increase muscle tone, provoked by the formation of images of lightness and coolness in the body. DKV does not involve changing the state of muscle relaxation to begin the process. However, relaxation can be considered as one of the techniques that provokes DLE. At the very least, the experience of disappearance or dissolution of the body can be considered as a reduced form of somatic DKV, since all differentiated somatic sensations are equalized in the experience of “disappearance” - quite specific and not at all reducible to the illusion of the disappearance of the body or its fragments. A detailed analysis of self-reports usually shows the presence of a background experience, devoid of clear boundaries, dimensions, etc. At the same time, in AT-immersion, the possibility of perception and purposeful formation of various visual and auditory images, differentiated in time, remains (hence the detailed scenarios for passing through various situations in AT-2, using the natural process of differentiation of images from the initial uncertainty of “dissolution of the body” to complexly organized scenes). The second point of contact between AT and dLE is the facilitated transition from visual and somatic DLE to muscle relaxation and the drowsy state. Persons who have previously practiced AT are, of course, more predisposed to such a transition than those who do not have such experience. According to our observations, people with experience of AT tend to confuse the technique and consequences of DCV with AT. DLE, considered as the initial phase of entering relaxation, has certain therapeutic benefits for patients with poorly developed imagination or frightened by new unusual sensations. Preventive DCV helps overcome this barrier of fear or undeveloped imagination. Fear is suppressed by overload of the sphere of attention, which leaves no reserves for the conscious identification of emotional states. The ability to distribute attention across the field of perception makes the formation of special visual or somatic images unnecessary. Conversely, for those who have difficulty with DCI but find it easier to enter the AT immersion state, AT can help speed up learning the DCI technique. In this case, students enter AT-immersion, form an imaginary field of vision and distribute attention over this imaginary picture. The skill formed in such an artificial situation is transferred to conditions of normal wakefulness. These phenomena of mutual enhancement of the consequences of the use of AT and dKV indicate their deep kinship. We can postulate the presence of a certain basic technique, the differentiation of which is both dKV and AT. It comes down to the equalization of incentives - purposefully produced in dKV or arising as an indirect result in AT. These techniques are based on a fundamental metaphor of Russian physiology - the doctrine of the phases of parabiosis. The equalizing and paradoxical phases are the foundation for the description of both the dynamics of AT and the dynamics of dKV. DKV is more abstract than AT. From the very beginning, DKV is not about fixing certain somatic or visual images, but about working with attention. AT appears to be a more specialized technique. It contains significantly less potential for generating such a large number of different psychotechnical lines than dKV. You could even say that this is one of many techniques that can be approached by starting from the DKV. 2.4. “Flat” and “volumetric” states and their compliance with the procedures of traditional and alert hypnosis With planar dKV, all integral objects in the field of perception are destroyed, their semantic side disappears. Semantic energy leaves the sphere of differentiated perception and can be directed into consciousness in its pure form with its specific “deepening” (in this case we can talk about the formation of a meditative state of consciousness) or evenly distributed throughout the entire field of perception. In this case, the “flattened” field of perception dominates and a special experience of “flat consciousness” arises, which is difficult to describe, but is easily recognized as a state of desemantization of the field of perception, a specific semantic detachment from the outside world, transformed into a homogeneous background. At the same time, the inner world is updated, and its meanings acquire new depth. This experience of deep introversion is especially interesting for pronounced exraverts, who often cannot imagine what introversion is. Volumetric dCV differs from planar one both in the initiation procedure and in the nature of the initiated state. The inner world is desemantized, and the outer world, on the contrary, becomes saturated with meanings, which are enhanced by the increased intensity of perceptions. The background, acquiring visible meaning, becomes not a means of distancing from the environment, but a means of drawing into it. Volumetric DCV thus extroverts the operator's psyche. These effects allow us to build extension procedures personal experience for specialized individuals: planar DQA allows an extrovert to understand the inner world of an introvert, and volumetric DQA helps an introvert to understand how an extrovert navigates the world and himself. The correspondence of planar and volumetric DCV to the procedures of classical and alert hypnosis is interesting. In traditional hypnosis, which uses dream metaphors, the key moment in establishing rapport is the equalizing phase, when the organized structures of the psyche that are under the control of the external world or the will of the patient are destroyed. It is this moment, preceding immersion in sleep, that is most favorable for the creation of new mental structures under the control of the suggestor. Thus, DCI is an implicit but necessary component of traditional hypnosis. In this case, we are talking about planar DCV. The situation is different with Ericksonian hypnosis and suggestive techniques based on NLP, when the suggestor “adjusts” to the individual behavioral language of the hypnotized person and uses it to formulate suggestive messages. Here, the dKV stage is not observed. The procedure of alert hypnosis is directly opposite to the traditional formation of a suggestive state. Patients are given commands, against the background of intense physical work, to increase their inclusion in the environment, to create a state of increased activity and alertness. In our opinion, the key moment in establishing suggestive control here is the formation of volumetric dKV, in which the introduction of new elements, in particular suggestive commands, becomes part of the general perceptual picture and is not isolated as a separate fixed fragment. 2.5. De concentration on the visual field with eyes closed Visual deconcentration can be carried out not only with open eyes, but also when closed. In this case, the field of visual perception is a dynamic set of color spots. DQW in this case inevitably has a planar character, but its flatness is determined not by a special purposeful technique, but by the nature of the DQW object itself. The field of view with eyes closed in the waking state is devoid of volumetric characteristics. But, we emphasize, only in a waking state. The transition to the drowsy state is accompanied by the appearance of additional spatial dimensions. Strictly speaking, the moment of the appearance of dream images is the appearance of the third dimension in the field of vision. The third dimension is added by including the space of spontaneous imagination into the visual field; it is along this axis of depth that projections of internal space - dream images - arise. Observation of these images during DCV allows for a conscious transition into a dream and the preservation of waking awareness in the dream. Usually, an attempt to “examine” the emerging images leads to the destruction of the transition process itself, since attention “collapses” either on the emerging image or on the very fact of its appearance. Fixing the appearance of dream images restores the position of the “I” in psychic space. If the dKV state is formed before the start of falling into sleep and it is total, i.e. includes all the present ones, and all that have taken place since the beginning of the DQ, and all newly emerging mental contents, then such a “collapse” can be avoided. In this case, the transition to a dream occurs without special fixation in consciousness of the fact of transition. The observation of the transition and the knowledge that such a transition occurs, however, are preserved, since this knowledge is itself an element of the perceptual field over which the dQI is made. Thus, a paradoxical state is formed, undoubtedly belonging to the class of altered ones, when dream dynamics are combined with knowledge of real location in time and space, and the plasticity of the sensory fabric of a dream is combined with an active position that allows one to maintain or change the main characteristics of the dream picture.
Psychological technology (also known as psychotechnology or psychotechnics) is a method of “correct” handling of the human psyche, that is, a method of creating certain experiences - sensations, emotions, memories, actions necessary to achieve some goal. In other words, if we want to achieve something from ourselves or from other people, we must do certain things in a certain order. In a sense, psychotechnology is a map of our thinking, a description of how we think when we do something.
Psychotechnics as a scientific field has a long history. Its roots go back to the 20s, the history of labor psychology. As for the psychotechnics of influence, it is based on particular theories related to the development of advertising, the use of media, psychotherapy, etc. However, the general theory of technology is socially psychological impact there is no need to talk. Developments in the field of “behavior modification,” aimed at manipulating mass behavior and shaping public opinion and attitudes, have advanced especially far.
With the development of psychotechnologies, persuasive communication, based on facts and arguments, began to increasingly transform into suggestive communication. The main attention of researchers was transferred to the development of means and methods of external (subthreshold) influences on the sphere of the unconscious, with the goal of targeted modification mental processes, states and behavior of a person, that is, bypassing the control of consciousness over external stimulation. In recent years, developments from the field of psycholinguistics, suggestive linguistics, neurolinguistic programming, Ericksonian hypnosis, and the psychology of perception have become widespread for the needs of influencing mass consciousness. All of them are highly effective and are designed mainly for subconscious perception.
Conscious perception is the acquisition of information through focused attention. Resistance to something, as a response to information, is largely due to thinking (the function of consciousness). That (and most) part of the information that is not realized is perceived by the subconscious and utilized by a system of congenital and acquired automatisms. If advertising information configured in such a way that, by “bypassing” consciousness, it is aimed at using automatic stereotypes, then we are talking about manipulation. Psychotechnological tools make it possible to manage human behavior in an environmentally friendly manner.
Next, let's look at the psychotechnologies that underlie the well-known advertising production techniques. By putting this knowledge into practice, advertisers gain access to manipulating the mechanisms of thinking, attention, memory, the emotional and sensory sphere, and human behavior itself.
1. Target modeling. Some advertising agencies successfully use habitual buyer thinking strategies in their advertising campaigns. In terms of the neuro-linguistic direction (NLP), the method on which advertising specialists rely in their work, these familiar strategies are called “meta-programs”. Habits of thinking, like any other habit, are not clearly understood by a person, and therefore metaprograms act autonomously. In essence, metaprograms are nothing more than habitual filters that people apply to everything they see, hear or feel in the world around them. These filters seem to select only that information that will be allowed into the consciousness of the individual. What does not correspond to the meta-program is not realized and is not covered by his attention. Consequently, because of these filters, people, without realizing it or noticing it, exist in a rather limited space. There are about 25 meta-programs in total. Let's look at some of them.
Meta-program “Striving towards... - striving from...”. One of the meta-programs is the program of striving for something and from something. There are people who do something, say, make a purchase, in pursuit of some goal, and there are people who strive to avoid something. The desire for something is the motivation to achieve success, the desire for something is the motivation to avoid failure. “Striving to” best perceive the benefits that they acquire by purchasing a particular product or service. And “those who strive from” are motivated by avoidance unpleasant consequences. They first of all evaluate what problems they will be able to avoid, what will not happen to them when they become the owners of this product.
Meta-program “Man of opportunity - man of procedure.” To the question “Why did you choose this product/this job (if you need to recruit employees for the company)?” a person of opportunity will answer, mainly talking about the opportunities that will open up for him in creativity, making money, communication, and exploring new areas.
The opposite of a man of opportunity is a man of procedure. The answer to the above question will be that he needs to do this “because...” - for example, he must earn money, must support his family. He is motivated mainly by necessity, by the right course of action. A person focused on:
Similarity;
Similarity with difference;
Difference.
For example, a similarity-oriented person feels comfortable when the world remains the same. Likes to see the sameness of things with something else. A similarity-difference oriented person accepts some changes as long as they do not occur too frequently. Loves to see things improve through evolution. His language: in descriptions he emphasizes the same things, and then begins to notice differences. For example: “I wanted the first three characteristics to remain the same, but the next two to improve.” A difference-oriented person likes to see new, different, changed in things.
2. The next example of the use of specific techniques is the use of visual submodalities. Increasing the attractiveness of an object is facilitated by the use of visual submodalities, for example: approach; increase in size; illumination, color saturation; adding highlights and shine, halo, contrast. If one image should be more attractive than the other, then it is better to make the second image black and white, in gray tones, blurred, with a darkened background.
3. Another parameter that influences perception and is used by psychologists is association. Associated perception enhances the experience, dissociated perception reduces it.
4. "Frame within a frame." Animation designers and cinematographers call this visual effect the “box” technique, “reverse nesting doll” or “mirror regression”. A plot or episode of a plot using this technique is based on the fact that a similar or different object appears from one object, etc. The technique itself is not new, and its use is simply a visual effect that attracts attention. When the frame-in-frame technique is used to connect to a consumer, it begins to work on the action potential.
5. Going beyond" and destroying the visual field. The meaning of this technology, often used in stand and TV advertising, lies in the following psychological effects:
a) a product, “breaking out” of the visual field (stand, frame, magazine sheet format or “jumping effect” from a television screen, etc.), “enters” our reality - the reality of the consumer;
b) a product that destroys the boundaries of the visual field indirectly “shows” the consumer its quantitative potential. He is simply cramped within the confines of a stand or television screen;
c) a frame or boundary at the level of visual perception is not only the denominator of the meaning of something, it works in the same way as the operator of necessity. Destruction of the framework (especially in the image of a person) creates action potential in the consumer.
There are quite a lot of psychotechnologies used by advertising specialists, so I offer some of the work for independent research.
Strategies for influencing mass consciousness are focused on the use of manipulation benefits, the choice of which is carried out in accordance with the tasks and goals of the manipulator. A competent selection of psychotechnologies allows the manipulator to achieve planned results by forming in the mass consciousness the most acceptable social algorithms for himself.
Psychotechnologies are a sequential set of techniques and methods of conducting psychosomatic influences aimed at solving a problem.
Psychotechnics as a scientific field has a long history. Its roots go back to the 20s, the history of labor psychology. As for the psychotechnics of influence, it is based on particular theories related to the development of advertising. use of media, psychotherapy, etc. Developments in the field of “behavior modification,” aimed at manipulating mass behavior and shaping public opinion and attitudes, have advanced especially far.
Empirical observations and individual studies in the field of psychology of persuasion and social influence have been recorded for centuries, but it was by the middle of the twentieth century, in the era of mass upheavals and social revolutions, that the need arose for scientifically based and practically verified technologies for influencing mass consciousness. The rapid development of psychology by this time allowed scientists to create reliable tools for socio-psychological influence. Separate elements of empirical and theoretical knowledge began to be combined into highly effective psychotechnologies.
The number of scientific concepts of psychological influence (general and special) developed in the traditions of various psychological schools today amounts to several dozen. The most powerful stimulus for the development of psychotechnologies of manipulation were the years of the Cold War and the ideological confrontation of political systems.
With the development of psychotechnologies, persuasive communication based on facts and arguments began to increasingly transform into suggestive communication. The main attention of researchers was transferred to the development of means and methods of external (subthreshold) influences on the sphere of the unconscious, with the aim of purposefully modifying mental processes, states and human behavior, that is, bypassing the control of consciousness over external stimulation.
Wide practical interest in the phenomenon and possibilities of subliminal (or sublimal) influence on the psyche was caused by the work of W. Packard (1957) “Secret Influence”, where, based on the analysis of empirical data, it was proved that all people are constantly under the influence of a certain kind of symbolic stimulation, which may not be detected by the five basic senses of a person and that its amount is up to 60% of all information received by the brain. One of the main pieces of evidence was the results of an experiment conducted in 1957 by J. Vicari, a specialist in the field of commercial advertising, in a movie theater in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
While watching the movie "Picnic" every 5 seconds. Two types of advertising messages were played on the screen in front of the audience: “Drink Coca-Cola” and “Eat popcorn,” but the entire exposure time of which was below the threshold level of human visual perception (1/3000 sec.). Subsequent analysis of observations of spectator behavior showed that the sale of Coca Cola in the cinema lobby increased by 57.7% and the sale of popcorn by 18.1%. This phenomenon is called the “25th frame” phenomenon.
Subliminal films were very popular until the UN banned this method of advertising, considering it immoral. Since then, publications in the open press about such experiments have ceased.
A special group of social concepts of psychological influence, which began with the works of G. Tarde, G. Lebon, F. Allport, V. M. Bekhterev and others, includes theoretical and experimental studies of group pressure, as well as the phenomena of conformity (M. Sherif 1935; S. Ash 1948, etc.), group polarization (S. Moscovici, M. Zavalloni 1969), image creation (V. M. Shepel), etc.
In recent years, developments from the field of psycholinguistics, suggestive linguistics, neurolinguistic programming, Ericksonian hypnosis, and the psychology of perception have become widespread for the needs of influencing mass consciousness. All of them are highly effective and are designed mainly for subconscious perception.
I would like to dwell on some elements of these systems used to manipulate mass consciousness in more detail.
There is a fairly extensive set of influence techniques based on the psychology of human perception.
The fragmentation method consists of presenting information in a single stream, so that it is quite difficult to catch any trend, and almost impossible for the mass consumer. The maximum expression of the fragmentation method is the “White Noise” technique reducing the perception of facts by presenting such a quantity of news when it becomes impossible to sort them. “Noise” can be created by an abundance of contradictory comments, an abundance of contradictory opinions without any fact or analysis. “Noise” can be created by equipping facts with complex theoretical calculations and abstruse speeches by narrow specialists.
The method of “limited convergence of points of view” means that points of view that are entirely supported by public opinion are not attacked by propaganda, even if they do not suit the managers - the work is carried out gradually. Already existing points of view are taken as a basis and are gradually “converted” to those acceptable to the manipulator,
Distraction method or Smoked herring (red herring). To throw a dog off the scent, it is enough to drag a smoked herring through the trail - hence the term invented by propagandists. It is used to divert the audience’s attention from important but objectionable information to managers with the help of other information presented in the most sensational form. A distracting emotional dominant is created.
Method of creating facts You can create facts in a less labor-intensive way: you just need to convey real plausible, real implausible and fictitious plausible facts in a selection of news doubts directed at the second category are debunked quite easily, and facts of the third category penetrate into consciousness automatically. The objective approach method is also close to creating facts.
The method of an objective approach consists in selecting facts and skillfully commenting on them; by excluding some little-known facts or adding them, you can “identify” a non-existent trend. (And thereby actually “launch” it! This effect, called the Oedipus effect, has been known for quite a long time: “... but here we can refer to universal history: there you can find many events that, if they were not predicted, would never and were not fulfilled")
The method of historical analogies is good, firstly, because of its intellectuality (the propagandist flatters the audience’s erudition: you remember...), and secondly, because almost any necessary example can be found in history. The method of historical analogies, moreover, helps to a large extent in constructing metaphors that program the object of influence.
The method of appealing to social needs, on the contrary, is good by appealing to emotions, bypassing the intellect (which brings to mind the words of B. Disraeli: “What we call public opinion is, in essence, a public emotion”25). Don't forget that one of the most powerful emotions is fear. At the moment, the method of appealing to public needs is well used in the media.
The method of “throwing mud” most clearly shapes the attitude towards the topic chosen by the propagandist. It is used mainly in counter-propaganda and consists of selecting such epithets and terminology that give the subject of conversation a clear ethical assessment. (“The main thing is to constantly take into account in our ideological work those ideas, perceptions, assessments, factual information, sentiments, rumors that the enemy is spreading or may spread.”) This method is considered, perhaps, among the crudest propaganda techniques, but nevertheless not more often used by current political opponents.
The mud-slinging method is especially effective when using semantic manipulation techniques.
Semantic manipulation. Its essence is that for a propaganda message, words are carefully selected that evoke either positive or negative associations and, thus, influence the perception of information.
A technique used by “propagandists” of all times and peoples. Associated with the magical idea of a name. What we call a person influences our understanding of him. So our man is a scout, theirs is a spy. We are liberators, they are occupiers. We are fighters for independence, they are militants. We have troops, they have illegal armed gangs. And it’s not worth talking about the fascists. An exact definition of this word has not yet been given. However, in October 1993, near the White House and the Moscow City Council, people chanted one slogan: “Fascism will not pass!”
Semantic manipulation techniques are extremely popular in today's media. To be convinced of this, just read any issue of Moskovsky Komsomolets. For example, here is a note under the classic headline for this newspaper: “The communists have let everyone go” (the note is not about the executions, but about the losses of the city economy after the communist rally held on February 23). Words: lethal force, damage to the organizers of the procession, those who went on a spree about Maslenitsa, damage, red-brown, communist festivities, frighten dissidents with your strength, undermine the financial condition of the city. Where can one not draw a conclusion about subversive forces who went on a spree for some reason and wanted to wreak havoc and frighten dissent. Together with a picture in which skeletons trail behind demonstrators with a flag and the inscription “We will restore order.”
Note in the newspaper “Zavtra” (No. 8, February) “We will not take a bribe from bloody hands!” (about Boris Yeltsin’s speech in Sverdlovsk, who announced his decision to participate in the elections). Words: Satarov’s scribble, otherwise it will be worse, handouts prepared by the servants, drunk to the point of darkness, drunk and blindly chose to torment him, rob him, bring him out of the world, fooled people, to the last thread, teeth on the shelf, kill, blow up palaces, corrupted the people, biting pack, atrocities, bribery, oath-breaking, stealing, auctioning off Moscow, leaf comedy, corrupt courtiers, poisonous toad, etc. On a note, a cartoon: Yeltsin, petrified in the form of a statue of Cheops, in the weeds, with mafiosi and prostrate people.
In both cases, there is a clear attempt to create an image of an enemy who brings threat and destruction. Based on the frequency of use of semantic manipulation in certain media, one can accurately determine both the political point of view of the media and the social “customer” of a particular interpretation of reality.
Skillful use of semantics alone can significantly influence the decision-making process of an individual, a social group, or society. Semantic manipulation techniques include the use of quotation marks.
“The most important way to free yourself from boring truths is to stop paying the usual tribute of respect and reverence, and begin to treat them simply, even with a tinge of familiarity and contempt. Put, as Dostoevsky did, in quotation marks such words as goodness, progress, self-sacrifice, idea etc. With this alone you will achieve more than with a series of the most brilliant and scientific evidence,” wrote Lev Shestov (“The Apotheosis of Groundlessness”)
The quotation mark pattern has long been used to discredit any concept or group. It is enough to put them in quotation marks and they begin to express the derogatory nature of a word or concept. "Good" uncle or Good uncle. So in our political press, democrats turn into “democrats” and philanthropists into “philanthropists”.
The practice of using quotation marks was and is so popular that readers have developed a certain pattern of perception that works very effectively. So if in an article about the disagreements between the Roerich communities and the Orthodox Church we give both points of view, but put quotation marks in one of the opinions, then the effect is clear. In the article "Hierarchy of Light or Terrible Eclecticism?" (“Trud” October 13, 1994) it is used in this way: “The Orthodox Church does not know whether the followers of the “Roerich communities” are spiritual... Their “spirituality” is known to us.” The same pattern also includes the unquoted quotation of expressions such as “so-called”, a certain citizen, a certain organization.
Use of rumors. Rumors are information transmitted in interpersonal communication concerning current phenomena and events in public life and reflecting people’s desire to speculate on an unclear situation. Rumors are often based on false information and are usually the result of a lack of information. Rumors perform a dual function: explaining the situation and relieving the emotional stress experienced by the individual.
Many people attach more importance to news communicated in a whisper than to news announced openly. A person who has received such news, even from the media, but presented with a conspiratorial air, believes that he has become the owner of unique news and this very fact contributes to his self-affirmation. In general, this leads to the consolidation of this message in memory. The media, reporting “news in a whisper,” achieves efficiency in presenting information on the one hand, and at the same time relieves itself of responsibility for the reliability of the information. The very presentation of the news in the form: “The rumors that such a statesman is a thief have not been confirmed to us.” contributes to the fact that something to the contrary is deposited in the mass consciousness. According to the principle: if there are rumors, it means there is a reason.
Trust in rumors in Russia is high, because for too long, official information, to put it mildly, did not always correspond to reality or did not report some events at all. Rumors, as well as information leaks from official bodies, perfectly serve to probe public opinion, to create a negative image of certain political figures and their actions.
There are two decisive conditions, the combination of which constitutes the main cause of the emergence and spread of rumors and the severity of which mainly determines the intensity of circulation:
1. Audience interest in a certain topic.
2. Scarcity reliable information.
The lack of reliable information does not mean the objective reliability of available information, but a subjective assessment of the degree of one’s own awareness.
Thus, the most accurate information obtained from a source that is not trusted by the audience maintains an information deficit, while false information from a source prestigious for a given audience eliminates the deficit and blocks the spread of rumors.
Use of misinformation. Spreading false information. A rather crude but effective method of manipulation. Its strength lies in the fact that disinformation is usually used at the moment of making any important decision and when the truth is known - the goal of disinformation will already be achieved. Disinformation contains lies by the very nature of the object, by one or another of its qualities. The American expert in the field of advertising and propaganda, Arthur Meyerhof, in his book “The Strategy of Suggestion” writes: “Propaganda as such does not necessarily have to distort the truth. It would be better to say that it can be based on various combinations of selected truths, half-truths and deliberate lies.”( Meyerhoff A. The Strategy of Persuasion p.105.)
A fundamental aspect of disinformation: the recipient's point of view. For him, this message must be received as true information otherwise the maneuver fails. Consequently, the addressee must be a priori positive towards the source of false information. There are two components to disinformation: a story that feeds on a certain amount of attention, and a false story that responds to that attention. The entire art of disinformation consists of the following components:
a lie must look true and correspond to possible reality (as F. Engels noted, for the “profession of liars” the obligatory rule is that “one must lie plausibly, that is, a lie needs at least a particle of truth, otherwise it will not take root)” (Marx K. Engels F. Soch. vol. 19 p. 326);
it is necessary to know the addressee and the sources he trusts;
sending a message through recognized sources;
time limit for the one who transmits it, so that there is no opportunity to check;
the chain of intermediaries must be long enough so that it is not possible to identify the main source of disinformation.
As a rule, the refutation of misinformation goes unnoticed in most cases and no longer affects the social and psychological attitude formed by the lie.
As practice has shown, third-party journalists (not “our own”) from well-known influential publications are used to present “misinformation.” They are given important exclusive information for some time (“fed”). And when a journalist completely trusts a source, he is used on occasion as a channel for “misinformation.”
Disinformation is too “strong” a technique to be used often for manipulation. However, the need for it remains. The well-known propaganda theorist Michael Chukas, in his book “Propaganda Comes Mature,” formulated the need for disinformation as follows: “... truth is not suitable as a weapon to fight for the interests of a nation state... Even if the truth is used, it must serve some propaganda purpose. Otherwise, it will not be an effective weapon because...truth always trails behind lies."
Using rumors and disinformation, manipulators often use so-called information leaks aimed at one or another psychological effect. The effect of misinformation can be quite dangerous. Suffice it to recall how, in the events in Pervomaisky, using disinformation about the allegedly destroyed hostages and elders, federal troops used Grad mass destruction installations against the militants and the hostages they detained.
Leaks of classified information. Leaks received through the media from “anonymous sources”. As a rule, this “secret” information concerns the alleged political actions of the authorities or persons claiming power.
They are most often organized by the authorities themselves in order to probe public opinion on a particular political issue. In the event of a negative reaction, public opinion is subjected to additional processing in order to prepare it for a specific political action. And if the reaction is extremely negative, then the authorities always have the opportunity to “refute” the sensational information, declaring it “the idle fabrications of journalists.”
Leaks are also used by representatives of any opposition within the power structure or outside in order to publish any unpopular opinions or measures of those in power.
The technique of information leakage was used very effectively to probe business circles and the public in February 1996, when the Interfax news agency distributed the text of a closed note by Russian Interior Minister Anatoly Kulikov with proposals for the nationalization of banks. The note was sent to the Security Council and the government. The economic statements of the Minister of the Interior were “leaked” by government officials. As a result, there was a flurry of protests from the business elite, and the organizers of the leak realized that it was not worth using the nationalization of banks as an election step.
When creating a propaganda text, it is also necessary to take into account the peculiarities of perception.
Law of sequence. A pattern is used according to which the most significant events are read on radio or television first, placed on the front page of a newspaper, featured on the cover of a magazine, etc. Messages read at the end of news reports, printed on the last pages of a newspaper, even regardless of their interpretation, lose their social significance in advance. In Russia, the last page can also be considered important for posting materials; it was from here that the Soviet reader learned to read newspapers. But we must take into account that the materials published there before inevitably bore a tinge of entertainment and were not considered serious by the reader.
The law of the dormant effect. Any information is absorbed by the audience better if this information contains elements designed to provoke psychological protest. Two things follow from this law: important principles: the principle of alertness (information about a threat is quickly and firmly assimilated; while the rest of the information contained in the text is not perceived and is blocked) and the principle of resonance (information that directly concerns a given individual is quickly and firmly assimilated).
The law of the dormant effect is implemented in methods of creating sensations and emotional dominance.
Acceptance of emotional dominance. The technique of creating an emotional dominant is associated with the experiments of Spiesman (1964). The experiment consisted of the following: four groups of subjects were shown a film about how one of the Australian tribes performs circumcision on teenagers during an initiation ceremony. The first group watched a documentary without sound; the second group listened to a commentary spoken in a pathetic tone, emphasizing the cruelty and trauma of such practices; the third group was offered a commentary in which, on the contrary, the emphasis was placed on the ordinary nature of the scene and the insignificance of the injury used; The demonstration of the fourth group was accompanied by a neutral commentary, which described the details of the various phases of this practice as objectively as possible.
After analyzing the recordings of the heart rate and psychogalvanic response of the subjects, the researchers noted that the least emotional reaction was observed in the last two groups. On the contrary, the emotional reaction was relatively strong in the group that received only visual information, and the strongest was in the subjects who listened to the emotionally charged commentary.
Sensation. Sensation is news presented with the expectation of surprise, of acute emotional perception. Arthur McEwen, one of Hearst’s employees, defined the essence of the sensation this way: “News is everything that makes the reader exclaim: “Wow!”
Sensation is the most proven method of emotionalizing propaganda. A method designed to ensure that the information or ideological thesis hidden in this information will be perceived uncritically by the audience, due to the fact that emotions will suppress the desire to critically comprehend what is being communicated.
Sensation is one of the ways to create emotional dominance. Intensifying emotions allows you to compensate for the lack of evidence and arguments, which are so necessary in the process of persuasion and are not necessary in the process of suggestion. Sensational presentation of material provides the opportunity to present the material not in a strict logical sequence, not in context with other events, but to snatch from the event only what most intensely affects emotions and, naturally, what the best way meets the interests of the “creators” of the sensation. A sensation perceived emotionally and not rationally allows one to effectively form the socio-psychological attitudes necessary for the manipulator.
Manipulators care not just about sensations, but about sensations that have a certain effect. This is how planned sensations arise.
Researcher D. Boorstin in his book “Image: A Catalog of Pseudo-Events in America” introduced the concept of “pseudo-event” into political use: “It does not happen by itself, but because someone planned, set up or provoked it... Its connection with the surrounding reality is doubtful."
A planned sensation, as a rule, has a very specific purpose. It can attract public opinion to certain events or distract it from processes that it is important for the manipulator to keep in the “shadow”. A powerful propaganda effect is ensured by a certain “chain” of planned sensations, when each subsequent sensation “reinforces” the previous one, forming the socio-psychological attitudes necessary for the manipulator.
Law of precedence. Any information is assimilated by the audience in the first interpretation; in the future, any attempt to change the interpretation is perceived either as fundamentally new information, or as a lie (or a desire to evade the truth). This is why primacy in the presentation of information and especially comments is so important. The following is built on the law of precedence manipulation technique, as an inoculation effect.
Innoculation (from Lat. grafting) effect. Its essence is that if a person initially forms a negative attitude toward a message or rejects a poorly reasoned message, then he is, as it were, “immunized” against accepting and all subsequent information of similar content from this source, even if the further message is prepared well and convincingly. The inoculation effect is used if it is known that unwanted information will soon spread. When the content of such information is known, it is possible to preempt it with another message, which initially forms in the recipient an attitude towards subsequent negative perception of unwanted information. By the time she comes out, the recipient will already be “vaccinated” accordingly.
Law of consistency. In a situation where two communicators defend points of view that are alternative to each other, the time sequence of presentation of messages begins to take on greater importance. Thus, the message of the first communicator will become more influential for the audience if the time interval between the first message and the second speech is small, but, however, this interval should be large between the last speech of the opponent and the decision of the audience as an arbiter. This effect is called the “primacy effect.” The second tactic, known as the “recency effect,” works in favor of the speech of the last communicator. In this case, it is necessary that the time interval between both speeches be as large as possible, and the gap between the second message and the final decision of the audience should be as short as possible. [Bodalev A.A. Sukhov A.N. Social Fundamentals psychological theory M. 1995.p.361362.]
The paradox of repetition. If the information is of the same type, then the process of dullness is directly proportional to the number of unmotivated repetitions. A consequence of the law and salvation from dullness is the principle of protection: information that an individual (audience) considers unnecessary, which does not “catch” him (her) is forgotten first of all.
Wagon with an orchestra (bandwagon). Using the recipient’s desire to act “like everyone else.” “Everyone has already bought this product! What are you waiting for?” this question is directly or indirectly present in almost every advertisement. The technique is widely used in political advertising to create an image for political leaders. This technique is most actively used to manipulate mass consciousness when popularizing the results of public opinion polls. The calculation is based on the fact that people will want to “be with the majority” and that the psychological mechanisms of imitation and imitation will work.
Reception of symbolization. Intentional accentuation and recording of scenes containing symbolic information. Such information becomes symbolic after providing it with appropriate commentary or context. Thus, unable, due to censorship reasons, to express its attitude to the Vilnius events of 1991, the nightly Television News Service (TSN) after its release launched a story with a rough sea, accompanied by disturbing music. An emotional effect was thereby achieved.
The symbolization technique was used in the selection of the screensaver for "Russian News". Initially, it depicted a galloping three horses in a harness. Then the horses were “unharnessed”, as if demonstrating freedom of presentation of information.
Associative linking. Association connection between individual events, facts or phenomena reflected in the mind and fixed in a person’s memory. There are three types of associations: associations by contiguity, which are based on spatial and temporal relationships between objects and phenomena (that is, what is remembered as adjacent, as neighboring), associations by similarity, when a new object is similar (or seems similar) to an earlier one a well-known object and associations by contrast, when sharply different opposite facts and phenomena are associated.
When mounting a propaganda message, manipulators calculate exactly what associations it should evoke. At the same time, the message itself, as a rule, looks extremely neutral and objective. But in it you can always find disguised stimuli that direct a person’s consciousness to certain associative connections. These pre-planned associative connections significantly expand the possibilities of influence on the recipient, enhance the emotional impact on him, providing scope for his imagination and, accordingly, memorization.
The associative binding manipulation is applied not only by using "built-in" hidden stimuli integrated into the message, but also by carefully selecting the order of these messages. Here, the psychological regularity of human thinking is used, which is characterized by a certain inertia and the impression received from the previous message is, to some extent, superimposed on the subsequent one. An artificially associative connection arises, coloring the message in certain tones.
With the help of associative linking, a certain phenomenon is endowed with additional features. Seemingly insignificant details introduced into an article, a TV show or a movie, evoking certain associations can direct the audience’s imagination in a given direction.
Associations that form an image can be evoked at the level of the unconscious by the most seemingly insignificant means. It is enough to place a light ornate font in an advertisement to create an image of lightness and grace for the advertised product. or, conversely, a heavy, simple font in advertising industrial equipment creates an image of strength and reliability of this equipment. During the years of the “Third Reich,” the Nazis printed the slogan “Germany above all” in an old Gothic font to create an image of the traditionality of this time-honored slogan. Some magazines in the West are specially printed on yellowish, “old” paper, giving the publication the same image of a time-tested publication.
In modern Russia, the technique of associative linking was not forgotten. It is enough just to remember the photographs and cartoons of Khasbulatov with a pipe in his hands - a hint at the “coming” Stalin. Or Barkashov’s swastika against the background of the besieged White House in 1993. Or a photograph of Defense Minister Pavel Grachev in a prison uniform (Moskovsky Komsomolets, 01/10/95).
In the 1995 election campaign, the authors of the NDR video made good use of associative linking, where they first showed a brochure with a swastika on the deputy’s table, then they “rolled” towards Zhirinovsky speaking on the podium - more than transparent associations. Chernomyrdin was demonstrated, either after first-graders going to school, or among metallurgists in a metal smelting workshop. This was how the image of a leader working in the “thickness of the people” was created.
Associative linking was skillfully used to create a negative image of the former chairman of the State Committee of the Russian Federation for the Press, who admitted in August 1994 his sympathies for nationalists. "Obshchaya Gazeta" (N 35 2 8.09.94) in the material "Boris Mironov: "I am a fascist..." gave a photo block on which a photograph of Boris Mironov (from a Black Shirt perspective) was combined with a photograph of a young man painting on the wall a swastika. A certificate was embedded in the block: “Fascism terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary forces” from the “Big Encyclopedic Dictionary.”
The technique of associative linking works in the methods of personal witnessing and the witnessing of “mere mortals”
Personal testimony (testimonial). In one colony of monkeys, an attempt was made to tame them to sweets. We started with young individuals at the lower levels of the “monkey hierarchy.” The taste for candy spread extremely slowly: after a year and a half, only 51% of the inhabitants of the colony consumed candy, and there was not a single leader among them. In another troop of monkeys they tried to accustom the monkeys to wheat, but this time they started with the leader. Eating wheat, which had been completely unknown to the monkeys until then, spread to the entire troop within 4 hours.
In a monkey troop, the authority of the leader is determined by a clear criterion of strength. For us, the criteria of authority may be different, but one of the most significant is the “external sign” of authority - title, rank, etc., denoting the value of an individual through his social role. It is enough to say that before us is a “professor”, “general”, “director”, and certain attitudes of perception, previously formed assessments and expectations come into force. The opinion of the title holder acquires a completely different power of influence than if he were incognito.
American psychologist Robert Cialdini, in his book “Influence: Science and Practice,” cites data from many studies that reveal, in particular, the nature of the influence of authority on behavior. So, according to the conditions of one of the studies, a psychologist brought the same person to five different college classes, introducing him as a guest from Cambridge University. Moreover, in the first class he called him a student, in the next an assistant, in the third a teacher, in the fourth a senior teacher, and finally in the fifth a professor. After the guest left the room, students were asked to roughly estimate his height. The height of the “professor” turned out to be significantly higher than the height of the “student”. With each increase in title, the guest "gained" in height.
An authoritative person or celebrity confirms the dignity of a particular product, or person, or phenomenon. There is a psychological mechanism of “transfer” at work here, in which the merits of the “witnessing” are transferred to the product, to another person, to phenomena.
In advertising practice, singers and actors are often used to advertise a product. But we must take into account that “personal testimony” is also used to create an image for ideas, including political ones. Not out of simple love, Central Television often showed us Rostropovich with a machine gun in his hands, defending the White House in August 1991. It is not at all by chance that the NDR movement attracted Nikita Mikhalkov to the election campaign, using his image in its advertising. However, other blocs also recruited cosmonauts and military personnel.
When used skillfully, citing authority can be a powerful tool of influence. For it to work, it is necessary to “calculate”, using the method of sociological surveys, individuals who are significant for the group that is supposed to be influenced, whose opinions are perceived uncritically. After this, it is important to get them to speak in the required manner, or to refer to some statements of authorities that form the necessary reaction in the social group.
Evidence from "mere mortals". The effectiveness of this advertising is no less than celebrity testimonials, but for its success it involves some compensating mechanisms, namely the use of attractive characters, the use of humor, layering of testimonies, etc. Cumulative effect layers many pieces of evidence into one advertisement.
An example of the successful use of the testimony of “mere mortals” was a series of propaganda videos by Boris Yeltsin’s team in the 1996 presidential election campaign. Representatives of various social types (teachers, workers, collective farmers) talked about their simple lives and voiced the main propaganda theses of the Yeltsin team: “Reforms should be completed by the one who started them,” “Don’t change horses in midstream,” “Yeltsin is stability, Zyuganov national catastrophe."
The communicator effect. People's opinions are more strongly influenced by communicators who appear to be experts in their field and inspire trust.
The impression of the communicator's sincerity and credibility (and therefore the effectiveness of influence) can be increased if he clearly and concisely argues a position that is trustworthy in that it clearly does not affect his pragmatic interests and does not bring him any benefit (and is best contrary to the interests of the communicator) and if he, moreover, does not clearly try to “head-on” influence people’s opinions.
However, if the communicator has very high authority in front of a given audience, then he will still influence it, even if the audience knows about his pragmatic goals and intentions from the sole desire to identify with an authoritative person and take her as an example.
The most “persuasive” effect is obtained by the communicator’s appeal to the emotions (both positive and negative) of the audience in combination with logical argumentation and specific instructions for performing actions within the framework of the assigned tasks.
The effect of "presence". Television has almost unlimited possibilities for manipulating mass consciousness thanks to psychological characteristics influence on the viewer by the formation of a stable illusion of “objectivity” and “reliability” of what is depicted on the screen.
With the help of numerous tests, scientists have proven that the “illusion” of the viewer’s complicity in the action shown on the television screen is only so deep that the version of this action is considered as the only reliable one.
Montage plan angle are just some of the means of forming the image of a particular event on the screen. English writer James Aldridge wrote about this: “the television camera, highlighting a part of a whole event and conveying this part with literal accuracy, replaced the phenomenon with a detail.” A detail carefully selected by the reporter and news director.
In Russia, where newspaper circulation has fallen significantly and television has become almost the only news provider, this “presence effect” is widely used. Most of the technologies noted in this work are used on television: plan, angle, editing, milton and meta-modeled text, anchors, reframing, gradation of messages in order, non-verbal marking of the text: gestures, facial expressions of the presenter, etc., rhythmization of the text. To these technologies one can add the reception of emotional dominance and symbolization, as well as various strategies for presenting information.
Features of the psychophysiology of perception make their own demands on visual solutions reproduced on the screen: movement from left to right is perceived easier and more favorably than movement on the contrary. Diagonal movement from the lower left corner of the screen to the upper right is usually associated with overcoming the achievement of something significant; the reverse movement is perceived as the loss of certain positions. Moving diagonally from the lower right corner of the screen to the upper left and vice versa can cause vague negative sensations. A sharp and frequent change of frames (especially from a medium shot to a close-up) is associated with an invasion of the viewer’s personal space and can arouse negative emotions.
That is why experts criticized the DDA election video, where Yegor Gaidar walks along the railway tracks diagonally from the upper right corner to the lower left, which viewers clearly associated with the loss of certain positions.
Among the entire arsenal of television expressive means in first place in terms of the power of emotional impact: music, then the expressive manifestation of human behavior and finally color and shape. [Zazikin V.G. Psychology in advertising p.42.]
Contamination of verbal and iconic messages. The requirements of persuasive communication require the use of verbal and iconic (figurative) messages. Combining written text and illustration, words and images, helps build trust in the message.
Methods of neurolinguistic programming. Neurolinguistic programming technology was developed in the USA between 1975 and 1979. The creators of NLP, John Grinder and Richard Bandler, using the expert system and ecological approach to thinking of Gregory Bateson, studied the work system of the outstanding “supercommunicators” Virginia Satir in psychotherapy and Milton Erickson in hypnosis and then synthesized their communication techniques into the sociocultural technology of NLP. Simply put, NLP can be defined as a system of tools for understanding and changing human behavior and thinking.
The effectiveness of NLP models was quickly assessed and they were transferred from the field of psychotherapy to business and education.
In 1987, one of the most popular works by D. Grinder and R. Bandler, “From Frogs to Princes,” was translated into Russian, and from that moment NLP received intensive development in Russia. Now in our country there are up to 200 specialists in this new direction in psychology. NLP is widely used in both advertising and political campaigns. According to the director of the Moscow NLP Center Andrei Pligin, during the 1993 State Duma elections, about 12% of deputies were consulted by specialists in this area, and in 1995 there were already about 40%. It is known that for the 1996 presidential elections, NLP specialists also prepared special programs for candidates. (The presentation of neurolinguistic programming technologies is not the scope of this work.)
An attempt has been made to systematize approaches to defining the concept of “psychotechnology”. As a basis, the use of this term as a unifying metaphor is considered, through the categories of productive activity, an indicative basis for actions, an algorithm for solving psychological problems, and an integrative model. The relationship between the terms “psychotechnics” and “psychotechnology” is considered. A working definition of “psychotechnology” is proposed that meets the objectives of practice.
Keywords : definition, psychotechnology, psychotechnics, metaphor, algorithm for solving psychological problems, productive activity, indicative basis for actions, integrative approach
Psychotechnology
. Sometimes used as a synonym for applied psychology. The term is used quite loosely and its meaning depends on the theoretical orientation of the author.
Oxford Dictionary of Psychology
/ed. A. Rebera. - M.: AST; Veche, 2002.
In recent decades, numerous developments at the intersection of psychology and other areas of science and practice (information systems, mass communications, linguistics, neurocybernetics, psychotronics, etc.) have become widespread. The applied aspects of these studies have found application in various areas of human activity. They put down their roots in politics and business, management and organizational consulting; form the basis for the development and implementation of advertising and election campaigns; adopted by defense departments and intelligence services; are designed to serve the humanitarian purposes of preserving health, development and education; with their help serious crimes are committed; individual fellow citizens voluntarily part with their money or property, become followers of religious destructive cults, voluntarily give up their money, habitual life values etc. All these developments are characterized by a high degree of influence on the human psyche. Recent world and especially domestic history is replete with examples of how huge masses of people were, and continue to be, subjected to subtle and sophisticated psychological treatment.
Speaking about these and other developments, it should be noted, first of all, their high manufacturability. It is based on clear knowledge, timely identification and effective use of patterns and sequences of manifestation of mental processes, human behavior in various conditions and life situations; characterized high level performance, skill.
All of the above relates to the term, which has recently become quite widespread and equally broadly interpreted - “ psychotechnologies" Even the most cursory glance at Internet search engines shows an ever-increasing interest in this topic. So, for example, as of July 1, 2010, the Yandex search engine revealed 3,170 requests per month and 302 thousand responses, and as of January 22, 2011, there were already 3,995 and 316 thousand messages related to psychotechnologies, respectively.
Most psychological dictionaries and encyclopedias, including their Internet versions, do not define the concept of “psychotechnology.” An attempt is being made to Wikipify this definition: see: psychol. " a set of methods and techniques of applied psychology aimed at solving specific task "(http://ru.wiktionary.org/wiki).
At the same time, the price lists of many large publishing houses contain information about the release of entire series of books “Psychological Technologies”, “Modern Psychotechnologies”, “The Best Psychotechnologies of the World”, advertising publications mainly on NLP, transactional analysis and psychological training. Separate monographs and articles are also presented concerning the applied aspects of the use of psychotechnologies in the fields of management, business, education, medicine and sports, etc.
The development and implementation of psychotechnologies is carried out by organizations at various levels, both public and private. Listing them could take several pages. Below is a list of some (of the most frequently mentioned on the Internet):
- Institutes
The most famous, apparently, is LLC “Research Institute of Psychotechnologies named after. I.S.Smirnova"
(http://www.psycor.ru );, see also its subsidiaries, for example, NPP Psychotechnologies and Security LLC (http://www.psihoteh.ru). Among others, one can name the Higher School of Psychoanalysis and Psychotechnologies (http://www.psyschool.ru/), the Institute of Psychotechnologies ( http://www.psychotechnology.ru ), Institute of Psychonetics (http://www. psychonetica.ru), Institute of Modern Psychological Technologies "Paracels" (http://www.paracels.ru), Institute of Modern Psychotechnologies of Development, Institute of Integrative Psychology of Professional Development (http:// www.integratio.ru) etc. - Laboratories
( );
Laboratory of Neurophysiology of Cognitive Activity of the Institute developmental psychology RAO ( http://www.neurodev.net.ru ); Laboratory of self-organization “Research and development of new psychotechnologies” NPO “Synergy” (http://www. synеrgia.ru), etc. - Agencies
For example, the Concordia Agency of Psychotechnologies (http://www.еrkano.ru), which is engaged in printing research. - Centers
These are available in almost all major cities Russia and republics former USSR: International Center for Modern Psychotechnologies, St. Petersburg (http://www.humans.ru ); Center for New Psychotechnologies in Business and Sports (http://www.bscenter.ru/), Psibazis LLC (http://www.psibazis.ru ), Siberian Center for NLP Technologies (http://www.nlp-sibir.ru ); Center for Psychotechnologies "EMTEL-S" ( http://emtel-s.ru ); Information Center psychological safety Research Institute of Resource Technologies (http://www.stressnet.ru); Center for Progressive Psychotechnologies ( http://kemerovo.samopoznanie.ru ); Center for Psychological Technologies "TOT" (http://www.tot-all.ru ); Medical and Psychological Center for Individuality (http://www.mpci.ruhttp://www.mpci.ru), etc. - Associations
For example: International Association of Psychotechnologies (http://kichaev.ru) and so on.
These and other organizations specialize both in the development of individual psychotechnologies (know-how) and their implementation; At the same time, a significant part of them, mainly centers, are focused on commercial activities in the field of teaching psychological, psychotherapeutic and spiritual practices. Analysis of advertising brochures, products of activity, literary sources posted on the Internet allows us to talk about the broad context of the use of psychotechnologies used in business, sales systems, personnel management, negotiations, politics, advertising, PR, election campaigns, personnel work, education, fitness, sports, crisis counseling, mind control, free breathing, personal development, spiritual growth, formation of resource states, pickup, protection from manipulation, etc.
The current level of development of psychotechnologies is associated with the development of computer programs. The most famous are the technologies of psychoprobing and psychocorrection developed under the leadership of Academician I.V. Smirnov; the “BIMENTAL” method (developed by A.I. Kuchinov et al., Institute of Medical and Biological Information Technologies), which makes it possible to submit therapeutic information to the patient’s subconscious in such a way that it directly affects the deep focus of the disease; the “Intellect-Forte” program for optimizing the mental state, developing non-verbal intelligence and intuition (Psibazis LLC, head - Doctor of Ps. A.B. Shapiro) and many others. Since the mid-1980s in the West, and more recently in Russia, the so-called. mind machines (mind machines) - special devices for audiovisual stimulation of the brain (http://www. mindmachine.ru), the use of which allows you to get rid of depression and anxiety, reduce stress, increase mental abilities, relieve pain, strengthen the immune system, solve problems with chemical dependencies, improve athletic performance, etc.
Applied research in social psychology, aimed at studying the mechanisms of psychological influence, interpersonal interaction, spontaneous behavior, mass communications, conflict resolution, etc. found their embodiment in technologies that are described in terms of “social influence”; “manipulation of personality, manipulation of consciousness” (manipulation), “hidden control of a person”, “secret coercion of personality”, “mind control”, “brainwashing”, “reflexive control”, “psychoengineering”, “ psychological coding”, “programming”, “zombification”, “schizophrenia of mass consciousness”, “shadow psychology”, etc.
Analysis of the literature allows us to identify the following reasons for formulating the concept of “psychotechnology”.
1. Metaphor of psychotechnology
How complex and time-consuming the construction of psychological definitions can be can be seen, for example, from the article by E.L. Dotsenko (1993), devoted to the psychological definition of the concept of “manipulation.” Discussing this topic, the author shows that the phenomenon of manipulation is well known to psychologists and specialists in related fields of knowledge, and each of them has specific examples and explanations of this phenomenon. The problem lies in the search and selection of criteria necessary and sufficient for constructing a definition, taking into account the fact that different authors put different content into the same concept. Exploring approaches to studying the phenomenon of manipulation by various authors, E.L. Dotsenko makes one very interesting remark: most researchers in solving this problem proceed from an intuitive understanding of its essence. He suggests using the metaphor of manipulation as a standard, since it is “the source of the intuitive understanding that researchers try to make explicit when trying to define manipulation.”
From the standpoint of intuitionism, it becomes clear why the term “psychotechnology” can be interpreted in different meanings. For some, “psychotechnology” means a training form of education, for others it means neurolinguistic programming or transactional analysis, for others it means the development and testing of psychotronic weapons, while others understand psychotechnology as methods of mind control, etc. One way or another, each of the authors is convinced that they are talking about things that are familiar and understandable, and do not require special clarification. It was this linguistic paradox that E.L. Dotsenko encountered when studying the phenomenon of manipulation. It can be resolved by metaphor, which, along with examples and analogies, is an integral part of the world model. Metaphor is involved in the implementation of cognitive operations that involve the correlation of different conceptual spheres and different worlds. Here is what E. Ortony, an English philosopher, said about this: The “work” of a metaphor is that it expresses an analogy, but not directly, but by omitting certain components.”
The metaphor of psychotechnology allows us to use the term “psychotechnology” itself as a convenient construct that does not require additional explanation. Thus, in the works of V.N. Pankratov, the term “psychotechnology” is equated to the meaning of the word “art” (in the original sense of the Greek word techne). Let us compare, for example, the books “Psychotechnology of Self-Management” and “The Art of Self-Management,” of which the latter is an expanded and expanded edition of the first book. Its contents contain chapters whose headings indicate: “Psychotechnology of formation positive thinking”, “Psychotechnology for successful self-management”, etc. However, the content of the term “psychotechnology” is not disclosed anywhere. Another series of books by the author is written on the basis of the above principle and is devoted to the art (psychotechnology) of managing people. In the chapter “Psychotechnology of effective influence on people,” the author writes: “Psychotechnology of influence on people involves mastering such psychological knowledge that would contribute to effective influence on others in order to gain trust, create a special disposition towards them, allowing you to program the desire of business partners for permanent and sincere cooperation with you."
Similar examples can be gleaned from analyzing the works of A.Yu. Panasyuk, which provide “modern psychotechnologies of persuasive influence” and “psychotechnologies of penetration into the subconscious of the interlocutor,” which are a description in various ways and techniques of speech manipulation based on the concept of “psychorhetorics” developed by the author and the problem of “psychology of subconscious communication”. The term “psychotechnology”, like that of V.N. Pankratov, is used by the author metaphorically as “the art of convincing, winning an argument.”
In this sense, the evolution of V.P.’s views is interesting. Sheinova, who in the title of his books devoted to the psychology of manipulation, gradually moves away from the concept of “hidden human management” (2000) to “psychology of influence” (2002) and “psychotechnology of influence” (2006), meaning by this the same “art of managing people" (2005). The brief review of publications presented above shows that turning to metaphor as a means of clarifying the defined concept allows, to a certain extent, to increase the objectivity of reasoning in the implied (implicit) idea of what psychotechnology is. As can be seen from the above examples, the use of the metaphor of psychotechnology turns out to be very preferable from a practical point of view, the only question is the degree of its reflection. In other words, we are talking about the degree of correspondence, the relationship between metaphorical and analytical definitions.
2. Psychotechnology as a productive activity
From a classification point of view, psychotechnologies belong to the class social technologies, which by analogy with industrial technologies are defined as a set of techniques, methods and means used to achieve specific goals. In particular, as a way of carrying out activities on the basis of its rational division into procedures and operations with their subsequent coordination and synchronization and the selection of optimal means and methods for their implementation.
The logic of the analogy is followed, for example, by M.Yu. Likhobabin, describing psychotechnology as:
- the totality and sequence of mental processes and actions in human activity;
- the science of patterns, identification and use in activity of the most effective mental processes, actions and their sequences.
It is known that, as a rule, there are two levels of using the category of activity as an explanatory principle of the psyche: 1) when studying various areas of mental reality - the psychology of cognitive processes, motivation, will, emotions, personality, intragroup processes; 2) in the construction of various branches of psychology - general, developmental, social, pedagogical, medical, engineering, etc.
Both of these approaches provide opportunities for building psychotechnologies. The first level may correspond, for example, to “psychotechnologies of internal states”, “psychotechnologies of communication”, “psychotechnologies of altered states of consciousness”, etc. You can appeal to specific directions and areas of applied psychology (second level), citing as an example “psychotechnologies business communication" ; “psychotechnologies of presentation and successful sales”; “psychotechnologies in business and management”; “training technologies”; brainwashing technologies in propaganda, etc.
Psychotechnology can be considered as a special form of productive activity of people in a specific applied aspect, based on knowledge of the laws of functioning of the psyche. Productive activity is activity that is rational and expedient in nature. “If the final result (one of the results) of an activity coincides (to some extent) with the set goal, we are dealing with rational (productive activity). Otherwise, the activity is unproductive. The coincidence of the result with the goal indicates that the actions were indeed “appropriate.”
Thus, the activity approach to the description of psychotechnologies is also promising, removing to a certain extent the blurriness of the concept under study when considering it reflexively and metaphorically.
3. Psychotechnology as an indicative basis for action
Supporters of acmeological theory in their constructions rely on the classical scheme of activity developed by A.N. Leontyev. Actions are taken as the “unit of analysis”. The structural aspects of the description of actions are: the goal towards which the actions are aimed, the conditions in which actions and operations are carried out - special “units” of activity analysis that are directly correlated with these conditions. At the same time, the integrity of the action, which includes various operations, is emphasized by the concept of “task”, which expresses the unity of purpose and conditions and denotes the desired result to be achieved in the presence of certain conditions.
The model of psychotechnologies developed by A.P. Sitnikov within the framework of the acmeological approach is based on the theory of the formation of mental skills by P.Ya. Galperin. It is described in detail in his work “Acmeological training: Theory, Methodology. Psychotechnologies".
P.Ya. Galperin distinguished between two parts of an objective action: its understanding and the ability to perform it. The first part plays the role of orientation and is called indicative, the second - executive. P.Ya. Galperin attached a special role to the indicative part, considering it a “controlling authority”, a kind of “navigator’s map”. An indicative basis of action (IBA) is a person’s system of understanding his goal, plan and means of implementation.
In modern psychology of professional activity, OOD is understood as those specific images, knowledge and ideas that guide the subject when performing goal-setting actions, planning, performing individual actions, monitoring and evaluating the results of each action and activity as a whole. 3. A. Reshetov, the content of OOD includes a psychological image of the subject of activity (its content, structure, functions) and a program of actions (“internal plan of activity”).
A.P. Sitnikov describes four possible values concept of "psychotechnology". The initial concept is “a set of actions and operations.”
Meaning I: psychotechnology as a really implemented ordered set of actions and operations, or “implementation of psychotechnology.”
Meaning II: psychotechnology as a way of organizing an ordered set of actions and operations into a specific purposeful sequence or indicative basis of actions (IBA) - “the primary form of existence of psychotechnology.”
Meaning III: psychotechnology as a description by scientific means of a purposeful sequence of actions, identification of their ordering basis, study of patterns in the methods of organizing actions in order to use the most effective of them. “Psychotechnological research” may correspond to this meaning.
Meaning IV: psychotechnology as the result of a description of the implemented methods of organizing actions and operations, aimed at its practical application, a diagram of the indicative basis of actions (OD scheme) is a set of various subject information, guidelines and instructions for performing actions. This level corresponds to the “implementation of psychotechnology.”
OOD is being considered by A.P. Sitnikov as the primary form of existence of technology, which relates to the plan of actually carried out actions, while the OOD scheme captures ideas about how these actions should be carried out (ideal plan) and is related to the ability of a professional to carry out real actions in the conditions of a real-life specific situation . The OOD scheme is the result of identifying the OOD - the objective logic of a set of actions and operations actually carried out by a professional, aimed at achieving a specific goal. In essence, it represents a complex of subject information, incl. instructions and guidelines for performing actions and operations. Possession of a DTE scheme is possession of the relevant information, i.e. knowledge of how to organize one’s actions in order to achieve a goal under existing conditions - to complete a professional task. The OOD scheme must be expanded into a real sequence of actions, the ability of a person to perform which is his professional skills and is defined by A.P. Sitnikov as possession of the indicative basis of actions. “Understanding technology as the approximate basis of an actually carried out action, by mastery of technology we will understand the ability to carry out appropriately organized actions.”
Thus, in the acmeological approach, “psychotechnology” is considered as a unit of analysis of professional activity. Psychotechnology is understood as purposeful and ordered by the appropriate development of the subject situation, its indicative basis, a set and sequence of actions.
4. Psychotechnics and psychotechnology: relationship between concepts
In psychological dictionaries, psychotechnics is defined as “a branch of psychology that studies problems of practical activity of people in a specific applied aspect”, “a direction and section of psychology in which questions of applying knowledge about the human psyche to solving practical problems were developed, mainly in terms of studying problems scientific organization labor." Currently, in its original meaning, the term “psychotechnics”, as V. Stern and G. Münsterberg understood it, has practically lost its existence. Abroad, the concept of psychotechnics has become identical to the concept of applied psychology, which is understood as “the practical use of the achievements of psychology.”
An analysis of the literature allows us to identify the following relationships between the concepts of “psychotechnics” and “psychotechnology”: Continuity (what was previously called psychotechnics has come to be called psychotechnology). The idea of continuity of concepts can be traced mainly in studies on the problems of psychology of professional activity.
Equivalence (both terms are used as synonyms to refer to the same methods of psychological work). This applies mainly to various types of integrative and spiritual practices (free breathing, rebirthing, qigong, yoga, etc.).
The independence of the term “psychotechnics” (not reducible to psychotechnology) Psychotechnics is considered as a set of psychological techniques, techniques, games and exercises used: in the preparation of athletes (“psychotechnical games”); in martial arts (“warrior psychotechnics”); in teaching acting (“creative technique training”), “body-oriented psychotechnics of an actor”, “psychotechnical games and exercises” in psychological training, "psychotherapeutic techniques".
Psychotechnology as a set of psychotechniques. E.V. Rudensky points out: “Psychotechnology is the science of the practical use of psychological techniques for managing people.” “Psychotechnics is a system of interconnected operations aimed at changing states, motives, attitudes, etc. in the individual influenced by the manager. He must consider psychotechnology as a system of practical actions that are based on system analysis communication." O.G. Bakhtiyarov proposes to distinguish: a psychotechnical technique - a one-time action performed by the operator to change the current state within the framework of a particular psychotechnic; psychotechnics - a sequence of psychotechnical techniques leading to the formation of a stable specified mental state; psychotechnology - an organized set of psychotechniques aimed at solving a specific constructively formulated problem. According to the author, psychotechniques consist of several techniques, and psychotechniques include several psychotechniques, although there are cases when a psychotechnique consists of one technique, and a psychotechnology of one psychotechnique. A similar approach can be found in the book “Master Class by Igor Vagin. The best psychotechniques”, in which “psychotechnologies of internal states” include 19 sets of psychotechniques.
5. Psychotechnology as an algorithm for solving psychological problems
T.S. Kabachenko in his book “Methods of Psychological Influence” provides the following logical scheme for constructing psychotechnologies:
- It is possible to influence a person in solving a wide range of professional tasks, as well as at the everyday level, with the help of external stimuli of various modalities, through words and non-verbal stimuli, through regulating the level of satisfaction of a person’s needs and involving him in specially organized activities. We will further refer to the listed groups of factors as means of influence.
- We will designate a set of means of influence, united by a certain algorithm for their use, aimed at solving a certain psychological problem in specific conditions as a method of influence.
- Ways to solve a specific psychological problem, i.e. many specific techniques form a method of psychological influence.
- An algorithm for solving psychological problems that leads to a certain social effect forms an influence technology.
As can be seen from the above diagram, the central connecting link in this system of concepts is the “algorithm”. There is no single definition of an algorithm. Thus, the Internet encyclopedia Wikipedia provides about 12 definitions. In accordance with the definition of the American mathematician and programmer D. Knuth, author of a well-known series of books devoted to basic algorithms and programming, an algorithm is a finite set of rules that determines the sequence of operations for solving a specific set of problems.
Thus, psychological technologies (psychotechnology, psychotechnics) can be considered as an algorithm for influencing the human psyche, methods for creating certain experiences (sensations, emotions, memories) that prompt the subject to the desired action. In reality, almost all of the humanitarian technologies used (advertising, election, PR technologies) are built on the characteristics of human psychology and involve an impact on it, i.e. contain elements of psychotechnologies.
6. Integrative model of psychotechnologies
V.V. Kozlov made an attempt to systematize various approaches to psychotechnologies and the requirements that are put forward to them from a psychoecological point of view. The author describes psychotechnology as “a system of categories, principles and models that describe mental reality, a human being or a social group as a developing integrity, focused on practical work with the individual psyche or group psychology, and includes specific methods, techniques, abilities and skills for purposeful transformation of the individual and the group." The concept of psychotechnology can be explicated only by all contexts in which psychotechnologies are described and studied; only in this sense, V.V. Kozlov emphasizes, can we talk about a complete, exhaustive explanation of psychotechnology. Another important thesis that the author develops concerns the level of reflection of the foundations and the level of methodological justification of psychotechnologies, in other words, their ideological justification, which ultimately comes down to the problem of the origin of the individual and the world. In this sense, there are psychotechnologies “from the world,” or social psychotechnologies, and transcendental psychotechnologies that go beyond its boundaries. From the standpoint of a systematic approach and from the point of view of the tasks being solved, it is proposed to distinguish three main groups of psychotechnologies:
- integrative psychotechnologies that have a complex, integral effect;
- targeted psychotechnologies that solve certain narrow problems or form specific qualities;
- metapsychotechnologies (psychotechnologies for the application of psychotechnologies), teaching their mastery.
Concluding the review of currently existing approaches to understanding the essence of psychotechnology, it should be noted that most authors agree that it contains two sides: what is inherent and can be detected in the human psyche and the executive component. Psychotechnology should include information about mechanisms understood as the internal process of formation and manifestation of a certain property of the psyche in combination with conditions conducive to this. Information about mechanisms (patterns, algorithms for the functioning of the individual and collective psyche, communication, activity) is laid in the foundation of psychotechnologies and precedes any specific methods or techniques. Technology and mechanisms form what is common in every person, and technical techniques act differently. In this sense, psychotechnology is an integral system, the unity of which includes theoretical constructs and their practical implementation, based not only on strictly scientific knowledge, but also everyday experience, taking into account all the variety of options, situations, possible contexts. Therefore, knowledge of one technique and even virtuoso mastery of it do little to ultimately achieve the desired result. Thus, in practical terms, mastery of technology appears to be a more reliable approach than mastery of technology alone. In addition, understanding the essence of psychotechnology and its mechanisms allows you to create countless new methods, techniques, exercises and techniques. To summarize the above, it should be noted once again that currently the term “psychotechnology” is widely used and used in various meanings. In practical terms, in our opinion, the meaning of this concept most fully reflects the definition given by T.S. Kabachenko to explain the mechanisms of psychological influence (influence) as “an algorithm for solving psychological problems leading to a certain social effect.”
At the same time, using the category of activity as an explanatory principle makes it possible to consider psychotechnology as:
- intrapsychic formation, a priori existing and working inside us and organizing mental functions(levels OOD-I and OOD-II);
- the executive component is the practical (algorithmized, rational and expedient) use of the identified patterns of mental activity (OOD-III and OOD-IV).
Psychotechnology- this is the organized and productive activity of people in various areas of social practice, focused on effective solution psychological tasks with a predetermined social effect, and which is a set of techniques, means and methods of psychological influence and influence, united by a certain algorithm for their application.
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