CPU automated control systems and industrial safety. The concept of theory in psychology


Theory is an internally consistent system of knowledge about a part of reality, it is the highest form of scientific knowledge. According to K. Popper, “theories are networks designed to capture what we call the “world” in order to understand, explain and master it. We strive to make the cells of these networks ever smaller.

Each theory includes the following components:

Initial empirical basis;

Many assumptions (postulates, hypotheses);

Logic - the rules of logical inference;

Theoretical statements, which are the basic theoretical knowledge.

There are qualitative theories that are built without a mathematical apparatus (psychoanalysis by Z. Freud, the theory of self-actualization by A. Maslow) and formalized theories in which the main conclusions are based on mathematical analysis of data (field theory by K. Levin, theory of cognitive development by J. Piaget).
A theory is created not only to describe, but also to explain and predict reality. It is considered scientific if it is likely to be rejected (recognized as false) in the process of empirical verification. Such a check is carried out not on the entire volume of the objects under study - the general population, but on a part or subset of this population, which has all its properties. This part of the population is called the sample.

The main rules for sampling are:

2) the criterion of equivalence (the criterion of internal validity), according to which the subjects must be equalized according to other (in contrast to the independent variable) characteristics;

3) the criterion of representativeness (the criterion of external validity), which determines the compliance of the subjects with that part of the population, to which the results of the study will then be transferred.

The theory, according to S.L. Rubinstein, "this is a circle of phenomena that develop and function according to their own internal laws. Each discipline that rises to the level of science must reveal the specific laws of determination of the studied phenomena." The main task of any science, including psychological science, is to reveal the main specific patterns of the phenomena being studied.
theoretical foundation psychological theory is the principle of determinism, i.e. the principle of causation of mental phenomena, aimed at explaining and revealing these causes. The functions of psychological theory are:

1) an explanation of the occurrence of certain phenomena (for example, anxiety), or retrotelling;

2) prediction of their occurrence;

3) discovery and proof of links between several determinants and mental phenomena.

Features of the psychological theory are - the explanation of the causation of mental phenomena, the substantiation of the diversity of factors affecting the mental phenomenon, the differentiation of everyday and scientific ideas.

Implicit and Explicit Concepts

In a certain sense of the word, all people are researchers, and as true researchers they strive to construct their own system of ideas about a part of reality, to create their own theory. Such a concept is called ordinary or implicit. By comparison, a scientific theory is called explicit. What distinguishes a scientific theory from an implicit one is that it can be explicated, verified, made explicit. Implicit theories are considered not explicit, not articulated, not tested in the experiment.

The concept of "implicit personality theory" was proposed by J. Bruner and R. Tagiuri in 1954 and is still used to refer to an unconscious hierarchical system of ideas about the mental organization of other people. Its content is made up of ideas about the qualities of a person. In the study of implicit theories of personality, two main approaches are distinguished - traditional and alternative (psychosemantic). The traditional direction is represented by the works of J. Bruner and R. Tagiuri, as well as the psychology of "common sense" by L. Ross, the theory of causal attribution by G. Kelly, D. Shader and others. An alternative approach, thus named by its founder J. Kelly, arose in in line with the theory of personality constructs and was developed by the psychosemantic direction (P. Vernon, V.F. Petrenko, A.G. Shmelev, etc.). Representatives of the latter approach, in addition to highlighting the content components of the implicit personality theory, conduct a factor analysis that allows you to evaluate and combine the qualities and relationships between individual components into a personal semantic space.

A theory is considered explicit if it is articulated, understood and tested empirically, or, more strictly, experimentally. The criteria for an explicit theory are breadth of coverage, parsimony, and relevance to empirical research. Consider the most famous explicit theories of personality.



The experiment is set up in order to test theoretical predictions.

Theoryis an internally consistent system of knowledge about the partreality (subject of theory). The elements of the theory are logically dependent on each other. Its content is derived according to certain rules from some initial set of judgments and concepts - the basis of the theory.

There are many forms non-empy logical (theoretical) knowledge:

*laws,

*classifications and typologies,
*models, diagrams,
*hypotheses, etc.

Theory acts as the highest form of scientific knowledge.

Each theory includes the following main components.

1) the original empirical basis (facts, empirical patterns);

2) the basis is the set of primary conditional assumptions (axioms, postulates, hypotheses) that describe the idealized object of the theory;

3) the logic of the theory - the set of rules of inference that are valid within the framework of the theory;

4) the set of statements derived in the theory, which constitute the main theoretical knowledge.

Idealized object of the theory is a symbolicsymbolic model of a part of reality.Laws formed in theory, in factdescribe not reality, but an idealized object.

By way P buildings are distinguished:

*axiomatic and *hypothetical-deductive theories.

First are built on a system of axioms, necessary and sufficient, unprovable within the theory;

second - on assumptions that have an empirical, inductive basis.

There are theories:

1. high-quality, built without the involvement of a mathematical apparatus;

2. formalized;

3. formal.

to qualitative theories. in psychology include:

A. Maslow's concept of motivation,

The theory of cognitive dissonance L. Festinger,

The ecological concept of perception by J. Gibson, etc.

formalized theories, in the structure of which the mathematical apparatus is used:

is the theory of cognitive balance by D. Homans,

- the theory of intelligence by J. Piaget,

- K. Levin's theory of motivation,

- The theory of personal constructs by J. Kelly.

Formal theory (there are few of them in psychology) is, for example:

D. Rush's stochastic test theory (Sh.T - item choice theory), widely used in scaling the results of psychological and pedagogical testing.

- "Model of a subject with free will" by VL Lefebvre (with certain reservations) can be classified as highly formalized theories.

Distinguish between the empirical basis and the predictive power of a theory . Theory is created not only for , to describe the reality that served as the basis for its construction: the value of a theory lies in what phenomena of reality it can predict and to what extent this forecast will be accurate.

The weakest theoriesad hoc(For this case), allowing to understand only those phenomena and patterns for the explanation of which they were developed.

As a rule, at a certain time there is not one, but two or more theories that equally successfully explain the experimental results (within the limits of experimental error).

The well-known methodologist P. Feyerabend puts forward:

* "principle of perseverance": do not abandon the old theory, ignore even the facts that clearly contradict it.

* The second principlemethodological anarchism:"Science is essentially an anarchist enterprise: theoretical anarchism is more humane and progressive than its law and order alternatives... This is also proved by the analysis of specific historical events, and an abstract analysis of the relationship between the idea And action.

* The only principle not impeding progress is called "everything is allowed" (anything goes)...

For example, we may use hypotheses that contradict well-supported theories or sound experimental results. It is possible to develop science by acting constructively" [Feyerabend P., 1986].

Theory is the most developed form of scientific knowledge, which gives a holistic display of the regular and essential connections of a certain area of ​​reality. Examples of this form of knowledge are Newton's classical mechanics, Ch. Darwin's evolutionary theory, A. Einstein's theory of relativity, and others.

Any theory is an integral developing system of true knowledge (including elements of delusion), which has a complex structure and performs a number of functions.

In the modern methodology of science, the following are distinguished main elements of the structure of the theory:

1) Initial foundations - fundamental concepts, principles, laws, equations, axioms, etc.

2) An idealized object is an abstract model of the essential properties and relationships of the objects under study (for example, "absolutely black body", "ideal gas", etc.).

3) The logic of the theory is a set of certain rules and methods of proof aimed at clarifying the structure and changing knowledge.

4) Philosophical attitudes, socio-cultural and value factors.

5) The totality of laws and statements derived as consequences from the foundations of a given theory in accordance with specific principles.

The variety of forms of idealization and, accordingly, the types of idealized objects corresponds to and variety of types (types) of theories, which can be classified according to different bases (criteria). Depending on this, theories can be distinguished: descriptive, mathematical, deductive and inductive, fundamental and applied, formal and meaningful, "open" and "closed", explaining and describing (phenomenological), physical, chemical, sociological, psychological, etc. d.

Modern (post-non-classical) science is characterized by the increasing mathematization of its theories (especially natural sciences) and the increasing level of their abstractness and complexity.

The general structure of the theory is specifically expressed in different types(types) of theories.

So, mathematical theories characterized a high degree abstractness. They rely on set theory as their foundation. Deduction plays a decisive role in all constructions of mathematics.

Theories of experimental (empirical) sciences- physics, chemistry, biology, sociology, history - according to the depth of penetration into the essence of the studied phenomena can be divided into two large classes: phenomenological and non-phenomenological.

Phenomenological(they are also called descriptive, empirical) describe the properties and magnitudes of objects and processes observed in experience, but do not delve deeply into their internal mechanisms.

With the development of scientific knowledge, theories of the phenomenological type give way to non-phenomenological ones.(they are also called explanatory). They not only reflect the connections between phenomena and their properties, but also reveal the deep inner mechanism of the studied phenomena and processes, their necessary interconnections, essential relationships, i.e. their laws.

One of the important criteria by which theories can be classified is the accuracy of predictions. According to this criterion, two large classes of theories can be distinguished.

The first of these includes theories in which the prediction is reliable.

In the theories of the second class, prediction has a probabilistic character, which is determined by the cumulative action a large number random factors. This kind of stochastic (from Greek - guess) theories are found not only in modern physics, but also in large numbers in biology and the social sciences and humanities due to the specifics and complexity of the very object of their study.

A. Einstein distinguished two main types of theories in physics - constructive and fundamental. Most of the physical theories, in his opinion, are constructive, i.e. their task is to build a picture of complex phenomena on the basis of some relatively simple assumptions. The starting point and basis of fundamental theories are not hypothetical provisions, but empirically found general properties of phenomena, principles from which follow mathematically formulated criteria that have universal applicability.

have a specific structure theory of social sciences and humanities.

Term "theory" used quite widely. So, sometimes the theory is generally called mental activity. Often a theory means something that is actually a hypothesis. For example, Oparin's theory of the origin of life and other theories in this regard are hypotheses, not theories in the proper sense of the word. Often, a theory is called a concept, a set of views or opinions of an individual, or a point of view on a certain issue, in particular, Lysenko's theory, "theory of violence", "racial theory", etc.

In the philosophy of science, a theory is a system of objective knowledge. The scientific definition of theory is as follows: theory is a qualitatively unique form of scientific knowledge that exists as a certain system of logically interconnected sentences that reflect essential, i.e., regular, general and necessary internal connections of a particular subject area.

From point of view scientific methodology theory should be understood as true knowledge, stated in the form of a system. What is a theory as a system of knowledge?

Like any system, theory is characterized by a certain composition, i.e., a set of elements that define it ideological content, And building or structure , i.e., a set of relations and connections between its elements. The composition or content of the theory includes: basic and special concepts, principles and laws, ideas, language, mathematical apparatus, logical means . They constitute the epistemological structure of the theory.

All these elements of the content of the theory are not arranged in an arbitrary order or in a purely external way (as in a dictionary), but represent a consistent communication system in which concepts and statements are connected by the laws of logic so that from one sentence, with the help of laws and rules of logic, other sentences can be deduced. This is the logical structure of the theory . It does not follow from the subject area, but from logical patterns.

In accordance with the logical structure, there are three types of theories: 1) axiomatic, 2) genetic, 3) hypothetical-deductive.

Axiomatic theory is constructed as follows: the original sentences are accepted without proof, and all the rest are deductively derived from them.

genetic theory arises from the need to substantiate the original sentences, therefore they indicate the ways of obtaining these sentences, which, as a rule, are seen in induction.

Hypothetical-deductive theory built from a hypothetical general position from which all other sentences are deduced.

Let us dwell in more detail on the epistemological structure of the theory.

The main and most important, as well as the initial element of the epistemological structure of the theory, is the principle that organically links other elements of the theory into a single whole, into a coherent system.

Under the principle(from Latin principium - beginning, basis) in the theory of knowledge they understand the fundamental principle, the starting point of a concept, that which underlies a certain body of knowledge.

IN scientific theory the principle constitutes its fundamental basis, around which all its concepts, judgments, laws, etc. are synthesized, revealing, substantiating and developing this principle. Thus, the theory of materialistic dialectics is based on the principle of development. All its laws and categories are subject to the disclosure of the essence of development, its manifestation in all areas of reality, at different levels, under different conditions. Therefore, as long as there is no synthesizing principle, there is no theory.

This position is well illustrated by the history of the formation of classical mechanics. Even Galileo managed to formulate a number of laws related to classical mechanics, including the law of inertia. However, he failed to create a logically coherent, unified theory. There was only a simple sum of disparate provisions, not united by a single synthesizing principle, a single principle. I. Newton succeeded in completing the formation of the theory of classical mechanics later, who took the law of inertia as the main one and united around it all the concepts, laws and other provisions of mechanics (dynamics, statics, kinematics, Kepler's laws, etc.)

When a contradiction arose between classical mechanics and the data obtained as a result of the study of electromagnetic phenomena by Maxwell, Lorentz and Hertz, Einstein took up the solution to the problem. He wrote: “Gradually, I began to despair of the possibility of getting to the bottom of the true laws through constructive generalizations of well-known fats. The more and more desperately I tried, the more I came to the conclusion that only the discovery of a general formal principle could lead us to reliable results. Einstein managed to discover this principle only after ten years of reflection. This is the principle of relativity.

It can be seen from the examples that the principle is not given in finished form at the beginning of the formation of a theory. This is preceded by a long process of studying the phenomena of the corresponding area of ​​reality covered by created theory. The formation of the theory, in essence, occurs after the principle is found.

Usually, when creating a theory, a number of principles are used, which differ in the degree of generality. But at the same time, they must be compatible with each other and satisfy two conditions: first , they should not be in formal-logical contradiction with each other, and second, the principle of a lesser degree of generality should concretize the principle of a greater degree of generality. The latter, as a rule, is a philosophical position. These principles include the principle of development, the principle of interconnection, the principle of the unity of the world. Philosophical principles play a very important guiding, methodological role in the creation of any scientific theory.

The value of a principle is determined by the degree of its development and truth. It is clear that a scientific theory cannot be built on the basis of false, unscientific or anti-scientific principles. Theologians also create their theories, but on the basis of false principles, therefore their theories are not scientific.

In its synthesizing role, the principle resembles the idea discussed above. These concepts are quite close in their meaning and content, but still not identical. The idea is put forward before the hypothesis as an abstract-theoretical knowledge of the essence of the object of study in the most general approximation. The principle is already a specific theoretical knowledge that underlies a certain body of knowledge, thanks to which a system of knowledge arises.

Laws occupy an important place in the epistemological structure of theory. Law is a reflection of essential, stable, recurring and necessary connections between the phenomena investigated by this theory. The theory usually includes several laws varying degrees community. The core of the theory is one or more relatively independent and equal laws. They are the most general and not deducible from other laws of this theory.

The second group of laws of this theory consists of those that are derived from the first group, but in their action retain relative independence in relation to each other. The third group of laws includes those that are deducible from the second group, and so on until the consequences of these laws that characterize a particular phenomenon are obtained. Consequences make it possible to discover new properties, aspects of these phenomena, as well as to discover previously unknown phenomena. So, Mendeleev purely theoretically discovered a number of elements, thanks to the consequences of the periodic law.

The principle of the theory and the laws that reveal it, which are at the top rung of the hierarchical ladder discussed above, constitute the core of scientific theory, its main essence.

The problem of recognizing the objective nature of laws is a key one in the methodology of science. Materialism recognizes the objective nature of the laws of science, while objective idealism considers laws to be an expression of the world mind embodied in nature and society. Such, in particular, is the position of Hegel. In more general view one can say that objective idealism understands by laws a certain metaphysical, i.e., above natural essence, standing on the other side of phenomena.

Subjective idealism in the person of J. Berkeley did not at all recognize the existence of any general concepts, especially objective laws. A more refined position is taken by neopositivists. For them, the sign of a law is the repetition or regularity of phenomena found in systematic observations. So, R. Carnap believes that “the laws of science are nothing more than statements expressing these regularities as accurately as possible. If some regularity is observed at all times and in all places without exception, then it appears in the form of a universal law.

If regularities are established by comparing observations, then we get, according to Carnap, empirical laws . They do not have the validity of logical and mathematical laws, but they tell us something about the structure of the world. The laws of logic and mathematics tell us nothing about what would distinguish the real world from some other possible world. Carnap argues that empirical laws are laws that can be confirmed directly by empirical observation.

Unlike them theoretical laws are not observed values. They are laws about such objects as molecules, atoms, electrons, protons, electromagnetic fields and other unobservable objects that cannot be measured in a simple direct way. Theoretical laws are more general than empirical ones, but they are not formed by generalizing empirical ones. Theoretical laws, according to neopositivism, are formed by the subject of knowledge, the scientist. They are confirmed indirectly through empirical laws derived from the theory, which includes these theoretical laws.

Thus, we can conclude:

1) neopositivism does not consider the law to be a reflection of the essence, but only a fixation of repetition;

2) empirical laws do not go beyond sensory experience and do not reach the abstract level;

3) theoretical laws are subjective in nature and the results of the scientist's constructive activity.

If neopositivism in its interpretation recognizes the existence of empirical laws, then the previous form of positivism - empirio-criticism or Machism - considers law as a description of events in terms of law. Mach argued that science should not ask "why?", "How?" Carnap explains this position by the fact that earlier philosophers felt that the description of how the world functions was insufficient. They wanted a more complete understanding of the essence by finding the metaphysical causes behind phenomena and unattainable scientific method. To this the physicists, supporters of Machism, replied: "Don't ask us why?" There is no answer other than that given by empirical laws." Empiriocritics believed that the question "why?" touches on metaphysical aspects, and they are not the field of science. In this formulation, science was denied the right to penetrate into the essence of things. And this means that positivism and neo-positivism stand on the positions of agnosticism.

Concepts is also an epistemological element of the theory. A concept is such a form of thinking and a form of expression of scientific knowledge, in which the most general, essential properties of objects, phenomena of reality, their most important connections and relations are fixed. In scientific concepts, as it were, all our knowledge about the essential properties of objects and phenomena is accumulated, the most important connections and patterns are reflected and fixed. We can say that all the basic scientific data that make up the content of the theory are concentrated in scientific concepts expressed in the relevant laws.

Concepts as forms of thinking are of the following types: ordinary language, special-scientific concepts, general scientific and philosophical concepts and categories that differ in the greatest degree of generality. The last three special-scientific, general scientific and philosophical, are not only forms of thinking, but also forms theoretical level knowledge as part of scientific theory.

scientific picture peace

It can be defined as a concept that expresses the evolution of everyday, scientific and philosophical ideas about nature, society, man and his knowledge, depending on the specific historical methods and forms of cognitive activity and social practice in general. NCM develops as an understanding of the images of the world that underlie the life, culture and practice of man; simplifies, schematizes and interprets reality as any cognitive image, at the same time highlighting the essential, basic connections from the infinite variety of relations.

The difficulties in analyzing NCM as a value-worldview form of knowledge are largely due to the fact that it exists in science mainly implicitly in texts and subtexts, in various unsystematized statements of scientists about the premises of the theory, and special methodological efforts are needed to identify it. NCM became the subject of special reflection in philosophical and scientific research in the second half of the 20th century; it is not always recognized the right to be an independent unit of knowledge, it is accepted as a metaphor, some kind of auxiliary illustrated image, etc. three terms included in the concept of NCM - "world", "picture", "scientific" - are very ambiguous and carry a significant philosophical and ideological load. IN contemporary literature it is realized that, although the term "world" is quite legitimate, its correct application involves clarifying this term and taking into account the fact that the concept of "world" does not exist outside the framework of certain philosophical and scientific ideas and concepts, that with their change, the subject-semantic meaning and methodological role of this concept also change. "World" is a developing concept that fixes the evolution of scientific and philosophical ideas about nature, society and cognition, changing its scope and content depending on the specific historical methods and forms of scientific activity and social practice in general.

Another component of the concept of NCM is “picture”. It is this often literal term for a long time kept ideas about NCM at an intuitive level, gave this concept a metaphorical meaning, emphasized its sensually visual character. It is obvious that the term "picture" is a tribute to the early ideas about the synthesis of knowledge as a visual colorful picture nature, in which each science brings colors and details.

In the 20th century, M. Heidegger, reflecting on the picture of the world, posed questions to himself: “... why, when interpreting a certain historical era we ask about the picture of the world? Does each era of history have its own picture of the world, and, moreover, in such a way that each time it is concerned with building its own picture of the world? Or is it just a new European way of presenting the question about the picture of the world? What is a picture of the world? Apparently, the image of the world. But what is the world here? What does picture mean? The world appears here as a designation of beings as a whole. This name is not limited to space, nature. History also belongs to the world. And yet, even nature, history, and both together in their latent and aggressive interpenetration do not exhaust the world. This word also means the basis of the world, regardless of how its relation to the world is thought of ”(Heidegger M. Time of the picture of the world // He. Time and being. Articles and speeches. M., 1993. P. 49).

For Heidegger, “the world” acts “as a designation of beings as a whole”, is not limited to space and nature, history also belongs to the world. The picture of the world is not something copied, but what a person aims at as “set before himself”; it is not a depiction of the world, but "the world understood in the sense of such a picture"; it is not the picture that transforms from the medieval into the modern European, but the world, but the being, becomes the represented being. By compiling such a picture for himself, a person brings himself onto the stage. This means that the transformation of the world into a picture is the same process as the transformation of a person into a subject as a thinking-imagining being, possessing a “new freedom” and independently deciding what can be considered reliable and true. The more aggressively the subject behaves, the more irresistibly the science of the world turns into the science of man, anthropology, and therefore only where the world becomes a picture, “humanism rises for the first time”, the being as a whole is interpreted and evaluated by a person, which began to be denoted by the word “worldview”. ".

IN modern knowledge more and more often, instead of “picture”, other terms are used: model, integral image, ontological scheme, picture of reality. These concepts, along with ideas about nature, its causality and regularity, space and time, increasingly include ideas about a person, his activity, cognition, social organization. environment. This fact reflects two significant trends in the development of NCM as a form of knowledge. Firstly, the ways of synthesizing and integrating scientific knowledge are changing, there is a transition from NCM as an image, model, visual picture to NCM as a special complex structured logical form of scientific knowledge, representing the world in its entirety. The first modification of the concept - "picture" is presented mainly in ordinary consciousness and at the early stages of the development of science, the second - "modeling", "integrality" - in a more developed, especially in modern science. Secondly, in the historically changing NCM, the “visibility function” was performed not only by images, models, but also by certain rather abstract constructions. It is known that Descartes’ picture of the world already lost its colors, became monochromatic, and as a result of Newton’s work, it became a drawing, a graph, a scheme of quantitative relationships between phenomena, unambiguously reflecting reality, which was, in principle, a huge step forward. What is happening is not a loss of visibility, but a change in the very nature of visibility and a change of objects that perform this function, in particular, objects with operational visibility receive the status of visual objects, since they began to denote a certain, fixed development of the conceptual apparatus, the correlation of principles, methodological stereotypes.

Today, NCM is understood as one of the foundations of scientific research, a picture of the reality under study, presented in a special form of systematization of knowledge, which makes it possible to identify and interpret the subject of science, its facts and theoretical schemes, new research problems and ways to solve them. It is through NCM that the transfer of fundamental ideas and principles from one science to another takes place, it begins to play an increasingly important role, and not so much as a model of the world or its image, but as a synthesizing logical form knowledge, which is more of a theoretical concept than a picture of the world in the literal sense of the word. Thus, the most studied physical picture of the world characterizes the subject of physical research through the following ideas: about fundamental physical objects, about the typology of objects studied in physics, about common features interactions of objects (causality and laws of physical processes), about spatio-temporal characteristics of the physical world. The change of these ideas in connection with the change in practice and knowledge leads to the restructuring and change of physical NCM. Three historical type: mechanical, electrodynamic and quantum-relativistic pictures of the world. The construction of the latter is not yet completed. In the case when special pictures are included in the content of the general scientific picture of the world, this occurs on the basis of philosophical ideas and principles and in close connection with the foundations of the theories of these sciences and the empirical layer of knowledge. It is important to note that one of the procedures for substantiating theoretical schemes consists in their correlation with the picture of the world, due to which they are objectified, as well as the interpretation of equations expressing theoretical laws. The construction of a theory, in turn, refines the picture of the world. In general, NCM performs several theoretical and methodological functions, combining knowledge into a single whole, carrying out the objectification of scientific knowledge and its inclusion in culture, and finally, methodologically determining the ways and directions of the research process.

Theory- an internally consistent system of knowledge about a part of reality, this is the highest form of scientific knowledge. According to K. Popper, "theories are networks designed to capture what we call the "world" in order to understand, explain and master it. We strive to make the cells of these networks ever smaller.

  • Each theory includes the following components:
    • initial empirical basis;
    • a set of assumptions (postulates, hypotheses);
    • logic - the rules of logical inference;
    • theoretical statements, which are the basic theoretical knowledge.

There are qualitative theories that are built without a mathematical apparatus (psychoanalysis by Z. Freud, the theory of self-actualization by A. Maslow) and formalized theories in which the main conclusions are based on mathematical analysis of data (field theory by K. Levin, theory cognitive development of J. Piaget).
A theory is created not only to describe, but also to explain and predict reality. It is considered scientific if it is likely to be rejected (recognized as false) in the process of empirical verification. Such a check is carried out not on the entire volume of the objects under study - the general population, but on a part or subset of this population, which has all its properties. This part of the population is called the sample.

  • The main rules for sampling are:
    • 1) substantive criterion (criterion of operational validity), according to which the selection of subjects is determined by the subject and hypothesis of the study;
    • 2) the criterion of equivalence (the criterion of internal validity), according to which the subjects must be equalized according to other (in contrast to the independent variable) characteristics;
    • 3) the criterion of representativeness (the criterion of external validity), which determines the compliance of the subjects with that part of the population, to which the results of the study will then be transferred.

The theory, according to S.L. Rubinstein, "this is a circle of phenomena that develop and function according to their own internal laws. Each discipline that rises to the level of science must reveal the specific laws of determination of the studied phenomena." The main task of any science, including psychological science, is to reveal the main specific patterns of the phenomena being studied.
The theoretical foundation of psychological theory is the principle of determinism, i.e. the principle of causation of mental phenomena, aimed at explaining and revealing these causes. The functions of psychological theory are: 1) explanation of the occurrence of certain phenomena (for example, anxiety), or retrotelling; 2) prediction of their occurrence; 3) discovery and proof of links between several determinants and mental phenomena.
Features of the psychological theory are - the explanation of the causation of mental phenomena, the substantiation of the diversity of factors affecting the mental phenomenon, the differentiation of everyday and scientific ideas.


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