One of the main features of human consciousness is active in choosing goals and means of achieving them- this expresses the freedom of will of a person.

In his thoughts and actions, a person is free not because they are not causally conditioned, but because objective conditions do not force him to act unambiguously. He always has the opportunity to decide, choose exactly how he should act. The decisions, choices and actions of people are different in different situations but their expediency, rationality, consequences for the person himself and for other people, according to the degree of responsibility. The decisions made depend on the totality of external circumstances and on the maturity of the person himself, his ability to self-determination and self-determination of his actions. The purposeful formation of this ability is carried out in the process of upbringing the personality.

Achievement by a person of consciously set goals related to the satisfaction of his needs is the main content of the subject's activity in the form of activity. Implementation of each specific type activities and, above all, labor, aimed at transforming the world around them, requires a person to perform a complex system of deliberate, arbitrary action.

Arbitrary actions- these are actions that are performed on the basis of conscious goals and the idea of ​​ways (ways) to achieve them.

Quite often, a person cannot fulfill his intention easily and quickly. On the contrary, he has to overcome various kinds of obstacles and make a lot of efforts in order for the goal to be achieved.

example

For example, to get the profession of a teacher, you need to enter a pedagogical university, fully complete all curricula, read and master a large number of special sources, pass the required number of tests and exams. The ultimate goal of becoming a teacher can be attractive, but achieving it will require performing actions, many of which are difficult, undesirable, or unpleasant for the person. At the same time, he has actual needs and motives, desires and aspirations that are not directly related to this goal, but at the moment are the most attractive for him: reading, sports, recreation and much more. To effectively carry out learning activities, the student will have to persuade or force himself to do less attractive and more difficult activities, giving up the easier and more enjoyable ones. This can cause tiredness, fatigue, and irritation. These feelings also require overcoming, otherwise they will worsen the results of activity. You will need to make a choice between what you want and what you need to do, i.e. permit intrapersonal conflict.

Actions that are carried out on the basis of conscious goals, but at the same time are performed in conditions of conflict, overcoming internal or external obstacles, are called volitional actions.

Psychologically, volitional actions are characterized by the formation of a person's ability to self-determination and self-regulation of their activities and various mental processes.

The goals that people set for themselves differ for a number of factors:

• a) range(near and far). The more distant the goal is, the more intermediate actions have to be performed in the course of its achievement;
• b) difficulties to achieve, which depends on the number and complexity of obstacles;
• v) subjective significance, reflecting the place of the target in the system life values a person and determines the depth of internal conflict in the rejection of immediate desires;
• G) degree of novelty. A new goal a person will not be able to achieve with the help of habitual actions, which requires great effort and tension from him.

By the combination of these factors, volitional actions are divided into simple and complex. Simple volitional actions are familiar to a person, and obstacles are easily surmountable.

example

"So ns want to do exercises today, pour cold water over myself, but ... I decided to temper myself and I will do all this," the person argues.

V complex volitional actions overcoming internal conflicts and external obstacles requires a lot of effort.

example

Preparing for a difficult exam, completing education, achieving success in sports, overcoming negative character traits or, on the contrary, forming the desired quality in oneself are examples of complex volitional actions that serve as the basis for work, educational and other activities. A person also has to carry out such complex volitional actions that can determine or change the course of his life, fate, for example, choosing or changing a profession, joining a political party.

The professional and personal growth of a person is impossible without the implementation of complex volitional actions. However, it should be borne in mind that the high subjective significance of the goal, the acuteness of contradictory tendencies in the internal conflict, the difficulties of overcoming external obstacles can exceed the capabilities of a person, turn out to be overwhelming.

example

So, if a young man chooses future profession excluding their real abilities or an athlete sets an unrealistic goal for himself, without calculating his capabilities, each of them may fail, failing to fulfill his plan, failing to achieve his goal, and at the same time experiencing all the bitterness of disappointment.

Volitional actions have a complex psychological structure. In their structure, several stages are distinguished: the emergence of motivation and the preliminary setting of a goal, discussion and struggle of motives, decision-making and the final choice of a goal, execution and achievement of a result. The peculiarity of volitional actions is that the goal in them, as a rule, is subordinated not to one, but to two or three or even more motives, different in content, strength and significance for the subject. Motives can be of the same direction or multidirectional.

For example, a student needs to prepare for an exam. He is interested in the subject, intends to get an excellent grade and wants to be highlighted by the teacher. In this case, three different motives: cognitive, getting high marks and prestigious - have general focus, so there is no struggle between them. Under their influence, a goal is formed - to thoroughly prepare for the exam. Internal conflicts here are associated with the need to perform a difficult action, with overcoming tiredness and fatigue. It will also take a lot of effort to comprehend, assimilate and memorize complex educational material, for the rational organization of activities. The matter will be different if the initial motives have different focus.

example

So, with a great interest in the subject and the material being studied, the student is indifferent to what grade he will receive. In such a situation, he can focus his attention on a narrow range of issues, get carried away with particulars. As a result, he will not have time to repeat all the material and will not receive a high rating. Or, on the contrary, there is a desire to get an excellent mark, but there is no interest in this subject. Studying it is boring and tedious. Other options are also possible. For example, a strong motive arises outside of educational activities, for example, to watch an interesting video. A person begins to weigh all the pros and cons, considers the advantages and disadvantages of this or that choice, analyzes his motives ("what is more important to me?") And opportunities ("can I successfully do both?") ... He gives preference to one action (prepare for the exam), then another (watch a movie), doubts, changes his mind.

The described stage in the structure of volitional action was named discussing and fighting motives... How more difficult situation, the more important motives become for a person, the more difficult it is for him to make a choice. If the motive for assessment for a student dominates over others or he has formed a stable cognitive interest in the subject, the struggle is likely to end with the refusal to watch the film. If other motives are dominant or a person is lazy, lack of desire to work, to do something, he will choose a more attractive action, for which he does not have to strain too much.

Making a strong-willed decision largely relies on the beliefs of the subject, his understanding of the social significance of his choice. At the same time, this process is quite complex, controversial and contradictory. Scientists who investigated the nature of volitional action described psychological mechanisms influencing the choice of the subject of the goal in a situation of struggle of motives.

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L. S. Vygotsky saw the essence of this process in the person's mastery of his actions and mental processes, including motivation.

LN Leont'ev attached decisive importance to social motivation, the formation and transformation of semantic formations in human consciousness. He gives a very revealing example in this respect. The man decided to make a parachute jump, but at the last moment abandoned such an intention. However, the next day he came again, explaining that he was ashamed to admit his weakness to his fellow workers: he told them that he had jumped, and now he considered himself obliged to do so.

L. I. Bozhovich emphasized the special role of understanding the action, analyzing one's motives, predicting the consequences.

V. A. Ivannikov drew attention to the fact that meaning formation and intellectual work are developing as a single process. Through a conscious change in the meaning of one's own actions, there is a conscious influence on the force of motivation. This is how the opportunity is achieved to perform an action without an actually experienced motive.

L. Festinger investigated situations when a person, knowing the negative consequences of a particular action, still chose it. He called this selection mechanism cognitive dissonance. For example, a person understands that smoking is harmful, but he still smokes.

VI Selivanov linked the choice of singing with the motive of obligation ("I must!"), Which is formed in the subject as a special personal quality.

Certain psychological mechanisms for choosing goals are fixed in different people. Formed individual style volitional behavior. Some have a predominant tendency towards rational decisions, others follow a sense of duty. Nevertheless, for many people, the discussion and struggle of motives appears as a difficult work of consciousness. Despite the significant role of intellectual activity and the desire of a person for a deliberate reasoned choice, this process is not fully realized. A person can escape those main semantic formations, thanks to which he makes this or that choice. For example, it seems to him that the number of arguments in favor of each alternative is the same. To make it easier for himself the choice, a person throws a lot, but at the last moment he still acts in spite of the lot.

The stage of discussion and struggle of motives in the structure of volitional action ends (although returns to it are also possible) final acceptance of the goal and going to execution of the decision... At this stage, an act of will requires a person volitional efforts which he experiences as a struggle with external obstacles and difficulties. In order for volitional efforts to have a positive impact on the effectiveness of activities, it must be properly organized, taking into account an adequate assessment of the strength and capabilities of the subject, built in accordance with the plan or schedule of work. Otherwise, the person will get tired and not always be able to achieve the expected results.

example

It is useful to think about the actions performed and their sequence at the level of thinking and draw them in your imagination. An increase in the intensity of volitional efforts is facilitated by increased activity subject, high tone of activity, teamwork. Reduce the intensity of volitional efforts and reduce their influence on the effectiveness of actions; fatigue, fatigue, fear of failure, disbelief in own strength... The end result of a volitional action is assessed by a person from the point of view of its compliance with the set goal, on the basis of which he makes a decision on the continuation or completion of the activity. The performed volitional action causes a feeling of satisfaction in a person.

The will can manifest itself not only in the commission of any action, but also in its delay or refusal from it. This determines inhibitory functions of volitional activity: containment of immediate and sometimes very strong competing desires at the stage of the struggle of motives; deliberately delaying volitional action in order to ponder in detail different options, possible complications, weigh all the circumstances; managing your behavior, emotions; making not impulsive, but conscious decisions.

As special kind volitional processes highlight the actions of a person.

Deed Is an accomplished act of behavior, assessed by other people (or by the individual himself) as meaningful action, an event of vital, personal or moral content and self-determination.

It is clear that the personal (subjective) and public (objective) interpretation and assessment of a specific act, called (or not called) an act, can differ significantly.

An act can be committed in the form of an action or, on the contrary, inaction of the subject, in the form of a position taken or a relation to something. Actions are always carried out in the context of social interaction. In an act, as in a volitional action, a consciously developed intention and prediction of the expected result are presented. Their peculiarities lie in the fact that the purpose and consequences of actions are important not only for the person himself, but also for other people, and sometimes for society as a whole.

The most significant actions for society are called exploits... The names of people who accomplished feats go down in history, become standards of morality and humanism, and they educate the younger generation on their examples.

Will represents the highest level of personality activity, acts as a necessary condition for learning, labor and all other complex activities. One of the most essential abilities of a person is manifested in will - mastering his own behavior, choosing his own path.

Characterization of simple and complex actions

All volitional actions are divided into simple and complex.

Simple volitional actions consist of three structural elements: 1) motive combined with the goal; 2) the execution of the action; 3) evaluation of the result. Simple actions are usually not associated with significant volitional efforts and are implemented in the form of skills.

Each simple action is different sensory, central, motor and control and corrective components... You saw the approaching transport from afar and cleared the way for it. All four components can be distinguished in this movement. Perception of transport is a sensory component; the thought that it is dangerous to stand close to the carriageway is central thinking; direct movement - motor, motor; confirmation that you have moved to a safe area. - control.

In various movements, one or another of the first three components takes on a leading role. For example, during the starting jerk of a biathlete, the motor component dominates, while shooting at a target, when the success of the action depends mainly on visual work, the sensory component. When playing chess or writing a formula on a board, despite the presence of sensory and motor components, the central, mental component is the leading one.

In many movements, sensory and motor components are leading. These movements are called sensorimotor reactions... They are characterized by coordination, quality and time parameters. The speed at which a person can respond to a stimulus is called reaction time... The reaction time depends on: the modality of the stimulus; the intensity of the stimulus (increasing the intensity of the stimulus to a certain limit reduces the reaction time); fitness of the individual; his installation to perform this action; acting organs of the body ( right hand and the leg responds to the stimulus faster than the left).

Motor reactions are divided into simple and complex. Simple reaction - a response to a single stimulus with one specific action(for example, pressing a button in response to a red light). The time of a simple sensorimotor reaction is on average 0.2 sec. Complex reaction occurs when decisions are needed(for example, in red light - press the button, and in green light - toggle the toggle switch).

When analyzing actions associated with the use of technology, it is necessary to take into account the psychophysiological capabilities of a person interacting with technology - operator.

The time of complex sensorimotor reactions is several times longer than the time of simple reactions; it is calculated by following formula: reaction time (ms) = 270 * n * (n + 1), where n is the number of possible alternatives.

All information display and control devices must comply with a number of ergonomic requirements stipulated by the relevant GOSTs.

Devices and signaling elements should be grouped according to their function or relation to individual controlled units, the most significant elements should be highlighted in size, shape and color.

Perceiving and processing information, the operator spends time on this. Here are some data:

• signal detection - 0.1 sec;
• fixation of the object with the eyes - 0.28 sec;
• identification of a simple signal - 0.4 sec;
• reading the indication of the dial gauge - 1 sec;
• perception of a figure or transparency - 0.2 sec;
• perception of a seven-digit number - 1.2 sec.

Reaction time to stimuli different modality differently... The shortest reaction time is obtained in response to auditory stimuli, the longer ones - to light stimuli, the longest - to olfactory and tactile stimuli. In case of critical overloads, the light signals must be replaced by acoustic ones.

When controlling equipment, in addition to the reaction time, it is also necessary to take into account the time of movement of the organs of the human body and the time of interaction of the operator with the controls.

Here are the data on the time of movement of various organs of the human body.

Characteristic of movements - Execution time (sec):

• Finger movement 0.17
• Palm movement 0.33
• Pressing the hand, foot on the pedal 0.72
• Leg flexion and extension 1.33
• Flexion and extension of the arm 0.72

So, the psychophysiological performance capabilities of a person have a number of limitations.

At higher, intellectual levels of the operator's activity, even more complex psychological problems... associated with the patterns of memory, thinking and decision-making.

The main characteristics of the operator's memory: 1) the amount of memorized information; 2) the speed of memorization; 3) the duration of the preservation; 4) completeness and accuracy of reproduction; 5) ready to play.

Particularly loaded RAM operator (saving the current rapidly changing information). The average amount of RAM is 7 ± 2 characters.

A person can stably memorize changing data of no more than two simultaneously occurring processes.

The main functions of operational thinking: decision making, action planning, solving operational problems. In the course of operational thinking, the operator translates the images of the perceived signals into dynamic image- simulates the state of the controlled object. In case of unforeseen deviations of the controlled object from the normal mode of operation, when the usual control methods are unsuitable for bringing the system to the required state, it becomes necessary to quickly solve operational non-standard tasks. This requires the isolation of typical situations in a given technical system and the establishment of an appropriate procedure for the given situation.

The greatest difficulties arise when the situation becomes critical, abnormal.

Operators of technical systems should have criteria for the "degree of threat" when assessing various types of conflict situations. Large mental stress is also associated with situations when performing actions are performed in conditions with a delay. feedback when the operator learns about the results of the action after a long period of time (control of large-tonnage ships, manipulation of radioactive elements). The organizer of technological and managerial processes also solves difficult problems. Sometimes situations arise here that exceed the capabilities of perception, memory and thinking.

The actions discussed above have a simple structure. They tend to be stereotyped.

More detailed structure have complex volitional actions(fig. 1). In their structure, the stages of goal formation, pre-decision, modeling of significant conditions of activity, programming of performing actions, processing of current information about the achieved intermediate results, current correction of actions and assessment of the final result are essential.

Let's consider in more detail stages of complex volitional action.

Awareness of the possibilities of satisfying actualized needs, the struggle of motives (the stage of pre-decision)

Each need allows different possibilities for its satisfaction. The process of choosing one of these possibilities is the process of forming the goal of the action.

Rice. 1. The structure of a complex volitional action

In difficult conditions of behavior, this choice is often accompanied by a clash of conflicting motives - struggle of motives. The struggle of motives can be short-term and very long, associated with a large expenditure of nervous energy (sometimes very painful). The struggle of motives is the confrontation of various desires. Before desire turns into a goal of activity, a person evaluates, justifies it, weighs all the pros and cons. The struggle of motives is especially intense between personal and socially significant desires, between the arguments of feeling and reason. This tension increases if a responsible decision is to be made.

Desires vary by their level, i.e. according to the degree of social significance and emotional strength. So, the famous hero M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin could not determine what he wanted more - a constitution or sevryuzhin with horseradish. In this grotesque, the incomparability of desires of various levels is subtly noted.

If from two desires of the same level one becomes stronger, then there is no struggle of motives. Doubts and hesitation arise when choosing one of the options in a row in the same way strong desires... A volitional effort here is manifested in a person's ability to be guided by his principles, life positions, in overcoming emotions in order to achieve a meaningful goal.

In the activities of various people, there is not always a confrontation of motives. Often people are guided by certain constantly dominant motives. If these motives are socially valuable, then human behavior is socially adapted, that is, adapted to the requirements of the social environment. But some people are guided by motives that do not take into account the requirements of the environment, and their behavior becomes socially unadapted.

Needs are the stimuli of behavioral activity. However, the very needs and desires of a person arise, as a rule, taking into account the possibilities of their realization. The current situation itself can form situational motives - motives-incentives.

Human behavior is guided complex system factors. a complex of motives. So, in labor activity, a hierarchy of motives is manifested: benefits, satisfaction, convenience. prestige, security, etc. The general orientation of the personality will determine where this or that of the above motives will be, what is the strength of the corresponding motive.

In addition to the value criteria of the individual, the strength of the motive can be influenced by the clarity, brightness, emotionality and accessibility of the goal, the skills available to achieve it, the conditions that contribute to its achievement. The strength of the motive, in turn, affects the nature of the action performed, for example, it can dull attention to obstacles and limitations. In an effort to achieve a desired goal, people often neglect dangers, take unnecessary risks, overestimate the likelihood of desired events and underestimate the likelihood of undesirable consequences. There are two general strategists of human behavior: striving for success or avoiding failure... Anything that contradicts the formed motivation causes a feeling of discomfort - the cognitive dissonance. Own position the person usually seems to be more correct and fair than the positions of other people. To realize their attitude, people often put forward defensive motives, sometimes not corresponding to real conditions. Motive is a subjective substantiation of the meaning of a specific goal achievement.

But the motive does not always accurately reflect in the mind what really prompted a person to action. Sometimes a special motivation of a person to realize the motive of his own behavior leads him to a critical assessment of his act and to change his behavior.

So, the initial factors of activity are the needs, attitudes, life attitudes of a person, on the basis of which the corresponding motives of activity are formed. A possible struggle of motives ends with a decision.

Decision making is a choice from a number of possible goals that is assessed as the most optimal in the given conditions for a given personality

Decision making is the choice of a behavior option in a situation of uncertainty. The choice can be transitive - reasonable, optimal, taking into account the conditions for the development of events, and non-transitive - suboptimal, when real possibilities, variants of the development of events are not analyzed.

Actions performed without a reasonable calculation, without taking into account the possibilities of implementing plans, are associated with a low intellectual level of the subject, limited operational and long-term memory, significant defects in the motivational and regulatory sphere.

The following are distinguished types of decision making:

• impulsive decisions (hypothesis-building processes clearly prevail over control processes);
• solutions with risk;
• balanced;
• careful;
• inert (control processes sharply prevail over the processes of building hypotheses, proceeding uncertainly and slowly).

People with a high level of intelligence development are characterized by the predominance of balanced types of decisions and the limitation of extreme types (impulsive and inert), in extreme conditions they combine risk with discretion most effectively. Unbalanced people prefer impulsive decisions, and inert people prefer cautious, protracted decisions.

When making a decision, a person strives for maximum success with minimum losses. But different people evaluate benefits and losses differently. So, at the risk of damaging his reputation in some business, one person unconditionally rejects this action, another hesitates, the third does not attach importance to this risk.

Operating with the initial data in the decision-making process, a person loads his RAM, the volume of which is very limited. Many people tend to alleviate the stress of decision making by simplifying the relationships between raw data, limiting the need for comparisons. People often ignore the relationships between the initial data, do not predict the possible development of events.

Quite often it is necessary to make a decision in conditions of uncertainty, to anticipate the course of events. Determining the probability of an event, i.e., the relative frequency of its occurrence, serves as the basis for making a decision in a risky situation.

An estimate of the probability of an event (if it is not calculated mathematical methods) is subjective. Usually people rely on typical circumstances, take into account only those events that are vividly imprinted in their memory.

People tend to overestimate the likelihood of unlikely events (for example, the likelihood of winning the lottery) and underestimate events with a high probability (for example, the inevitability of punishment for a crime). It is often mistakenly believed that expected events, which did not occur for a long time, should occur in the near future.

Subjective assessments are very stable, and the role of intuition is usually overestimated. Relying on intuition, people often make erroneous decisions. (Let's try to at least approximately solve the following problem. Let's mentally divide Earth in two halves. Further, we will also divide one of the halves into two parts, etc. How many divisions must be done in order to obtain an atom in the last of them? Hundreds of thousands, millions or billions? We intuitively tend to agree with these astronomical numbers. 13 reality only needs 80 divisions.)

When making a decision, people seek to find an appropriate justification for it, convince themselves of its correctness, exaggerate the merits of the chosen option of action and play down its shortcomings.

There are no benchmark solutions that are right for all situations in life. The correctness of this or that decision depends on the principles on the basis of which it was made, the objective significance of the factors taken into account, their usefulness in a given situation, for a given individual and society (Fig. 2).

Making a decision is usually accompanied by a subjective feeling of some relief (since this relieves the tension characteristic of the struggle of motives), a positive emotional experience that activates activity. The decision-making ends with the final formation of the goal of the action.

Purpose of action

This is a mental model of his future result, which in the future also acts the backbone factor in the organization of all means of achieving it.

The goal determines the significance of everything that has this or that relation to it, organizes the field of the subject's conscious sphere. Our goals dominate our perception, our thinking, and our memory. Only in relation to our goals does a certain impact acquire an informational character.

Goal setting and goal achievement - the main area conscious activity human... Fortunately, as Aristotle said, is achieved by two circumstances - the correct definition of goals and the vision of the means to achieve them.

The main goals of life determine the main content of a person's life, his personal meanings and values.

Satisfy all the desires of a person, KD Ushinsky said, but take away his purpose in life and you will see what an unhappy and insignificant creature he will become. Purpose in life is at the core of human dignity and happiness.

Rice. 2. Determination of behavioral decisions

The main goals of a person are determined by social factors, those social forces that determine his development. However, these factors affect the personality indirectly, through the active life of the personality itself.

The focus of action on a goal that is significant for a given individual, the achievement of which is associated with the possibility of failure, dangerous consequences, is called risk... In the behavior of people, both fear of risk, avoidance of it, and an increased propensity to take risks are manifested.

Awareness of the task and choice of methods of activity

Following the advancement of the goal of the activity, its tasks are realized, possible ways and means of achieving it are planned in detail. Human activity takes place under certain conditions and depends on them. Correlation of the goal of the activity with the given conditions is the awareness of the tasks of the activity.

The conditions of activity can be specially specified (for example, in math problem), but in most cases should be identified as a result of the study of the initial situation. The choice of methods of action is also associated with a more or less significant struggle of motives, since some methods may be available, but contrary to moral norms, others - socially approved, but personally unacceptable.

So, correlating the goal of activity with the conditions, a person again makes an appropriate decision on achieving the goal by a set of specific actions, and then forms a program for their implementation.

Formation of a program, an indicative basis for action

Already when choosing the goal of action, the means of achieving it are usually outlined, but after the final decision on how to achieve the goal in these conditions, a detailed program of action, an internal plan of action, and its tentative basis are formed.

The approximate basis of an action is a system of ideas about the criteria for the effectiveness of a given action. A person acts depending on what kind of knowledge he is guided by in the given conditions, what connections and relationships of things he takes into account.

Before carrying out a physical action with a material object, a person performs these actions in the mind with ideal images of things. Any action is performed as a result of knowledge of the principle of action, the establishment of a connection between the goal and the ways of achieving it. This knowledge regulates, orients the action; forming an indicative basis of action, a person transforms in his mind the initial conditions into a system necessary to achieve the goal.

Execution of actions and its current adjustment

Actions are performed in a certain way - by a system of operations, generalized actions. In labor processes, the methods of action are, to a certain extent, predetermined by the tools of labor, by the rules for their use (a hammer - for introducing one object into another, pincers - for removing an object, etc.). But depending on the level of his mental development, experience, knowledge and other individual characteristics, each person carries out activities in his characteristic ways. The ways people act differ in the number of intermediate operations, the unity of individual operations, accuracy and speed of action. Each person develops stereotypes, habitual ways of performing actions: a characteristic way of holding objects (pens, cigarettes, spoons, knives, etc.), a peculiar way of using them. Performing actions - a system of simple actions, implemented by a complex of movements.

Physical actions - movements - have certain mechanical characteristics: trajectory, speed or pace(repeat rate of cycles) and strength. In many cases, the success of the activity depends on the reaction time (the speed of response to an external signal). So, safety depends on the speed of reaction to danger signals. road traffic, from the speed of the goalkeeper's reaction - the outcome of the hockey match, from the reaction speed of the operator of the control panel - trouble-free operation.

The reaction time depends on the readiness to respond to the corresponding signal, such as nervous system, age and gender of a person, his mental state. The reaction time increases significantly in a conflict and anxious situation.

The verbal-associative reaction differs in time from the sensorimotor. It is more difficult to react with a word than with a movement; verbal reactions are slowed down (by 0.3-0.5 sec).

An external action is performed by a system of movements that are controlled on the basis of data entering the brain from different senses, are under sensory control... The physical action is performed through continuous muscular and visual control and the implementation of corrective movements. For example, with closed eyes, actions are performed inaccurately, and if you put prismatic glasses on your eyes, then many actions are generally impossible to perform. Correction of actions is made based on the analysis of intermediate results and changes in the external environment. So, braking the car by pressing the foot on the brake pedal, the driver correlates his movement with the condition of the road, the danger of the current situation, the weight of the car, the quality of tires, etc.

The goal of an action determines those benchmarks by which actions are corrected. So, performing braking in order to ensure his greatest safety, the driver will correlate his actions with other sensory landmarks. The actually obtained results of all operations are constantly compared with the previously specified dynamic action model... Inaccurate actions are corrected as a result of analyzing the reasons for not achieving the goal. At the same time, sometimes it may turn out that the approximate model of action itself was formed incorrectly. In these situations, the level of critical thinking of the individual is manifested.

The system of techniques, conditioned by the goal, motives, conditions of action and mental characteristics of the actor, is called the mode of action. It is determined by the orienting, mental and sensory-motor characteristics of the subject and indicates the measure of the individual's mental capabilities.

The method of action manifests the psychophysiological and characterological characteristics of a person, his knowledge and skills, skills and habits, the neurophysiological basis of which is dynamic stereotype... Individualized stereotyped actions make it possible to identify a person by the mode of action.

The way of performing actions cannot be reduced to the automatisms of motor skills. Peculiarities of psychomotor skills are combined in the way with the peculiarities of thinking, memory, life experience, general abilities and temperament of the individual. Such a complex combination of various factors gives a unique individualization of the behavioral act, manifested, in particular, in a crime.

So, the achievement of the goal depends on the strength of the initial motivation, the ability of the individual to mobilize his psychophysiological capabilities, on the analysis and correction of intermediate results. Usually, people strive for the best possible performance in an activity in accordance with generally accepted quality standards.

Some people strive to achieve success at all costs, showing great initiative and not fearing the risk of failure. Others strive, first of all, to avoid any failure, to shy away from such types and methods of activity that are associated with risk, the need to show initiative and be responsible; people of this mental make-up prefer a strategy of behavior that minimizes the possibility of harming their prestige.

Achievement of the result of activities and its final assessment

The expediency of behavior is determined primarily by the achievement of the result.

The neurophysiological mechanisms of the result as a structural element of action were placed in the center of attention by Academician P.K. Anokhin. “In fact, a reflex, a“ reflex act ”and“ reflex action ”are of interest only to a researcher - a physiologist or a psychologist. The animal and man are always interested in the results of actions. " Biological systems constantly work on the basis of feedback, constantly compare the achieved result with the previously formed goal.

However, there is a specificity of feedback in human activity, in contrast to the behavior of animals. It consists in the fact that the goals of human activity, as a rule, are not associated with the direct satisfaction of biological needs. The achieved result of an action is not always a direct biological reinforcement, as in the behavioral acts of animals (the effectiveness of an aggressive act of a predator is determined by the presence of food in its mouth). A person, in most cases, evaluates the achieved result. The result of the activity is assessed not by the formal achievement of the goal, but by the extent to which it satisfies the corresponding need and meets the motives of the activity. The result of the activity may not coincide with the desire and aspirations of the person, and then another behavioral act is performed. The goal is only a criterion for the correctness of progress towards the planned result. The result obtained is considered from the point of view of its compliance with the motivation that caused the action. Only this compliance is the criterion for successful performance. The correctness of the implementation of a practical action is revealed directly as a result, the correctness of the performance of cognitive actions is monitored and evaluated with the help of other control actions. The need for feedback in actions is the less, the higher the level of the indicative (theoretical) basis of the action. Actions of a moral character are assessed in terms of their compliance with moral norms.

Activities that do not lead to success are mutated. While maintaining the previous motive, the goal and program of activity change. The essence of will is manifested in the persistent achievement of the required result.

Satisfaction with the result reinforces the image of the given act of behavior, facilitates its repetition in the future.

Table 1. Conditionality of volitional mental states by the structural stages of complex volitional action

Activity stages	Volitional states
Awareness of a number of goals that can satisfy an emerging need	Motivational states, the state of goal-setting, the struggle of motives
Making a decision to achieve a specific goal	Determination, determination
Awareness of the tasks and ways to achieve the goal	Integrity, independence
Execution of an action and its current correction	Perseverance, perseverance, tolerance (tolerance for difficulties), endurance
Final assessment of the result of action	Criticality

In most cases, human activities are carried out in interaction with other people. In these conditions, psychology interpersonal relationships ... Success group activities largely depends on psychological compatibility individuals and their group cohesion.

Systematically performing socially significant and effective actions, the individual forms a system of positive personal qualities - the human psyche is formed in his activities.

Conscious regulation of activity requires a system of volitional mental states: initiative, purposefulness, confidence, decisiveness, perseverance, etc. These volitional states are manifested in aggregate throughout the entire activity. However, at some of the stages, certain volitional states acquire a leading value. So, the choice of a goal is primarily associated with a state of purposefulness, decision-making - with a state of decisiveness, the execution of an action - with a state of perseverance (Table 1).

Will Is one of the most complex phenomena in modern psychology. It is a kind of inner force that can control your decisions, actions, and, as a result, the results of actions. It is thanks to the strong-willed character personality is able not only to set goals that are impossible at first glance, but also to achieve them, overcoming any obstacles on the way to this.

CHARACTERISTICS OF WILL ACTION:

1. is deliberate, purposeful, intentional, accepted for implementation by its own decision;

2. is an action necessary for external (social) or personal reasons, that is, there are always grounds on which the action is accepted for execution;

3. has an initial or manifested deficiency of motivation (or inhibition) during its implementation;

4. As a result, it is provided with additional incentive (inhibition) due to the functioning of certain mechanisms and ends with the achievement of the intended goal.

All volitional actions are divided into simple and complex. Simple volitional actions consist of three structural elements:

1) motive combined with a goal,

2) the execution of the action;

3) evaluation of the result.

Simple actions are usually not associated with significant volitional efforts and are implemented mainly in the form of skills.

Each simple action distinguishes between sensory, central, motor, and control-corrective components. You saw the approaching transport from afar and cleared the way for it. All four components can be distinguished in this movement: the perception of transport is a sensory component; the thought that it is dangerous to stand close to the carriageway is a central thinking component; direct movement is a motor, motor component and certification that you have moved to a safe area is a control component.

In various movements, one or another of the first three components takes on a leading role. In many movements, sensory and motor components are leading. These movements are called sensorimotor reactions. They are characterized by coordination, quality and time parameters. The rate at which a person can respond to a stimulus is called reaction time (RT). The reaction time depends on: the modality of the stimulus (there is more VR to a visual stimulus than to an auditory one); the intensity of the stimulus (increasing the intensity of the stimulus to a certain limit reduces VR); fitness; attitudes towards the performance of this action by the acting organs (the right hand and leg respond to the stimulus faster than the left); age and gender; the complexity of the reaction to a complex stimulus.

Motor reactions are divided into simple and complex. A simple response is a response to a single stimulus with one specific action (for example, pressing a button in response to a red light). A complex reaction is associated with the need to make decisions (for example, with a red light - press a button, and with a green light - switch the toggle switch).

DIFFICULT WILL ACTIONS

The above simple actions, operations, skills have a simple structure, these actions, as a rule, are performed in a stereotyped manner.

Complex volitional actions have a more detailed structure. In the structure of a complex volitional act, the stages of formation of a goal, pre-decision, modeling of significant conditions of activity, programming of performing actions, processing of current information about the achieved intermediate results, current correction of actions and assessment of the final result are essential

Each stage of a complex volitional action is characterized by a specific volitional state, the manifestation of the corresponding volitional qualities of the individual.

Let us consider in more detail each stage of a complex volitional action.

1. awareness of the possibilities of satisfying an actualized need, the struggle of motives (the stage of pre-decision);

Each need allows different possibilities for its satisfaction. The process of choosing one of these possibilities is the process of forming the goal of the action.

In difficult conditions of behavior, this choice is often accompanied by a clash of conflicting motives - a struggle of motives. The struggle of motives can be short-term and very long, associated with a large expenditure of nervous energy (sometimes very painful). The struggle of motives is the confrontation of various desires. Before a desire turns into a goal of activity, a person evaluates, justifies it, weighs all the pros and cons. The struggle of motives is especially intense between personal and socially significant desires, between the arguments of feeling and reason. This tension is heightened if a particularly responsible decision is to be made.

Desires differ in their level, that is, in the degree of social significance and emotional strength. If from two desires of the same level one becomes stronger, then no struggle of motives occurs.

Doubts and hesitation arise when choosing one of the options in a row of equally strong desires. A volitional effort here is manifested in a person's ability to be guided by his principles, life positions in overcoming emotions in order to achieve a goal.

In the activities of various people, there is not always a confrontation of motives. Many people are guided by motives that do not take into account the requirements of the environment, and their behavior becomes socially unadapted.

2. Making a decision. From a number of possible goals, the individual chooses the one that is assessed as the most optimal in the given conditions for a given individual.

There are five types of decision making:

1) impulsive - the processes of constructing hypotheses sharply prevail over the processes of control;

2) decision with risk;

3) balanced;

4) careful;

5) inert - control processes sharply prevail over the processes of building hypotheses, proceeding uncertainly and slowly.

When making a decision, a person strives for maximum success with minimum losses. But people evaluate benefits and losses differently. So, at the risk of damaging his reputation in some business, one person unconditionally rejects this action, another hesitates, the third does not attach importance to this risk.

3. The goal of the action, that is, the mental model of its future result in the future, is the system-forming factor of all means of achieving them.

The goal determines the significance of everything that has this or that relation to it, organizes the field of the subject's conscious sphere. Our goals dominate our perception, our thinking, and our memory. Only in relation to our goals does this or that impact acquire an informational character.

4. Awareness of the tasks of the activity and the choice of methods of activity. Following the advancement of the goal of the activity, its tasks are realized, the ways and means of achieving the goal are planned in detail. Human activity takes place under certain conditions and depends on them. Correlation of the goal of the activity with the given conditions is the awareness of the tasks of the activity.

5. Formation of the program - an indicative basis for action. The approximate basis of actions for a person is knowledge, a system of ideas and concepts. A person acts depending on what kind of knowledge he is guided by in the given conditions, what connections and relationships of things he takes into account. Forming an indicative basis for action, a person transforms in his mind the initial conditions into a system necessary to achieve the goal.

6. Execution of actions and its current adjustment. Actions are performed in a certain way - an individualized system of operations, generalized actions. Depending on the level of mental development of a person, his experience, knowledge and other individual characteristics, each person carries out activities in his characteristic ways.

7. Achievement of the result of the activity and its final assessment. The expediency of behavior is determined primarily by the achievement of the result

Will, volitional actions

Will theory

Volitional regulation mechanisms

The development of will in a person

Literature

will personality behavior overcoming

1. The general concept of will. Will functions

Will is present in many acts of human behavior, helping the guy to overcome resistance, as well as other desires and needs on the way to the intended goal. For example, if a person is not thirsty bitters, but he knows that it is extremely necessary for his health, then, suppressing his unwillingness by willpower, he forces himself to systematically carry out the prescribed treatment.

Another example - a student wants to go to a disco, but his homework is not ready yet. test by tomorrow. Overcoming the momentary desire by an effort of will, the student forces himself to work, setting the goal of tomorrow's success. We observe the manifestation of will in various situations of communication. For example, a person is unpleasant to us, but our further progress objectively depends on him, therefore, by an effort of will, we restrain our dislike, put on a psychological "mask" suitable for this situation, and as a result we achieve our goal.

Any human activity is always accompanied by actions that can be divided into two large groups:

Ø Arbitrary,

Ø Involuntary.

The main difference between voluntary actions is that they are carried out under the control of consciousness and require on the part of a person certain efforts aimed at achieving a consciously set goal. Voluntary or volitional actions develop on the basis of involuntary movements and actions.

The simplest of the involuntary movements are reflex constriction and dilation of the pupils, blinking, swallowing, sneezing, etc. Involuntary movements also include pulling back the hand when touching a hot object, involuntary turning of the head in the direction of a sharp sound.

Will is a person's conscious regulation of his behavior and activities, expressed in the ability to overcome internal and external difficulties in the performance of purposeful actions and deeds.

The mechanism of will functioning consists in the conscious regulation of activity in difficult conditions of life. This regulation is based on the interaction of the processes of excitation and inhibition of the nervous system.

Most often, a person shows his will in the following typical situations:

Ø it is necessary to make a choice between two or more equally attractive, but requiring opposite actions, thoughts, goals, feelings that are incompatible with each other,

Ø in spite of everything, it is necessary to purposefully move along the path to the set goal;

Ø on a way practical activities a person has internal fear, uncertainty, doubts or external objective circumstances (obstacles) that must be overcome.

In other words, its presence or absence of will is manifested in all situations associated with choice and acceptance.

The main functions of will are:

1.choice of motives and goals,

2.regulation of the impulse to action in case of insufficient or excessive motivation;

3.organization of mental processes into a system that is adequate to the activities performed by a person;

4.mobilization of physical and mental capabilities in achieving goals in a situation of overcoming obstacles.

2. Theories of will

Will as a phenomenon human psyche long ago, even in antiquity, it attracted the attention of thinkers.

1.Thus, Aristotle introduced the concept of will into the system of categories of the science of the soul in order to explain how human behavior is realized in accordance with knowledge, which in itself is devoid of incentive power.

In Aristotle, will acted as a factor capable of changing the course of behavior:

Ø initiate it,

Østop,

Ø change direction and pace.

However, the thinkers of antiquity, and later of the Middle Ages, did not interpret the will in its modern personal understanding. So, in antiquity, the concept of "will" was absorbed by the concept of "logic". According to Aristotle, for example, any action follows primarily from a logical conclusion.

2.During the Middle Ages, there was a rite of exoris - the expulsion of the devil. In those days, a person was perceived only as a passive beginning, in which the will manifested itself in the form of good and evil spirits, sometimes even personified.

This understanding of will was due to the fact that traditional society actually denied an independent beginning in behavior. S.I. Rogov notes that personality appears in him only as a genus, as a program according to which the ancestors lived. The right to rejection was recognized only for a few members of society, for example:

Ø shaman - a person who communicates with the spirits of ancestors;

Ø a blacksmith - a person who is subject to the power of fire and metal;

Ø a robber - a criminal person who opposed himself to this society.

3.The concept of will seems to be reviving in modern times along with the emergence of the concept of personality, one of the main values ​​of which is freedom of will. A new worldview appears - existentialism, the "philosophy of existence", according to which freedom is an absolute, free will. M. Heidegger, K. Jaspers, J.-P. Sartre and A. Camus believed that any person is essentially self-willed and irresponsible, and any social norms are suppression of the human essence.

4.In Russia, an interesting interpretation of will was presented by I.P. Pavlov, considering will as an "instinct" (reflex) of freedom. As the instinct of freedom, the will acts as no less a stimulus for behavior than the instincts of hunger or danger.

A lot of controversy has arisen and is arising on the issue of the conscious or unconscious origin of the concept of "will".

Ø Supporters of idealistic views interpreted as a phenomenon of will, the inherent ability of a person to independently choose a goal and ways to achieve it. The ability to make decisions expressing personal attitudes and beliefs, they interpreted as the result of the actions of the irrational force behind these acts.

Ø At one time, the German philosophers A. Schopenhauer and E. Hartmann absolutized the will, declaring it a cosmic force, a blind unconscious origin, the derivative of which are all mental manifestations of man.

Ø Psychoanalytic psychology represented the will of a person as a kind of energy of human actions. Proponents of psychoanalysis believed that a person's actions are controlled by a certain biological energy of a person, turned into a psychic one. Freud identified this energy with the psychosexual energy of sexual attraction - the unconscious libido, thereby explaining human behavior first by the "cultured" manifestations of this life-affirming force Eros, and then by its struggle with the equally subconscious human craving for death, Tantos.

Ø Supporters of the theory of will as a special supernatural force underlying the psyche and being in general were such famous psychologists as W. Wundt and W. James. The theological interpretation of will is that the will is identified with the divine principle in the world: God is the exclusive owner of free will, endowing people with it at his discretion.

Ø Materialists interpret the will as a side of the psyche, which has a material basis in the form of nervous cerebral processes. Volitional or voluntary actions develop on the basis of involuntary movements and actions. The simplest of the involuntary actions are reflex actions. This type also includes impulsive actions, unconscious, not subordinate to the general goal of the reaction. In contrast to involuntary, conscious human actions are aimed at achieving their goals, which is characteristic of volitional behavior.

The material basis of voluntary movements is the activity of giant pyramidal cells located in one of the layers of the cerebral cortex in the region of the anterior central gyrus. These cells generate impulses for movement. Scientists came to this conclusion by studying the causes of abulia (painful lack of will), which develops on the basis of cerebral pathology and appraxia (disorders) of arbitrary regulation of movements and actions that make it impossible to carry out a volitional act resulting from damage to the frontal lobes of the brain. The doctrine of the second signaling system I.P. Pavlova significantly supplemented the materialist concept, proving the conditioned reflex essence of will.

Modern research of will in psychology is conducted in different ways. scientific directions:

Ø in behavior-oriented science studies certain forms behavior,

Ø in the psychology of motivation, the focus is on intrapersonal conflicts and ways to overcome them,

Ø in personality psychology, the main attention is focused on the allocation and study of the corresponding volitional characteristics of the personality.

At the same time, modern psychology seeks to impart an integrative character to the science of will.

Volitional regulation of human behavior and volitional personality traits

Will and its strength are manifested in volitional actions of a person's actions. Volitional actions, like everything mental activity, according to I.P. Pavlov, are associated with the functioning of the brain. An important role in the implementation of volitional actions is played by the frontal lobes of the brain, in which, as studies show, there is a comparison of the result achieved each time with a previously drawn up program of goals.

Will provides two interrelated functions: incentive and inhibitory, manifesting in them in the form of volitional action.

In accordance with these functions, the will is divided into:

Ø activating,

Ø incentive, stimulating,

Øbraking.

Incentive function promotes human activity based on specificity internal states, revealed the moment of the action itself.

The inhibitory function of the will is manifested in the containment of unwanted manifestations of activity.

The incentive and inhibitory functions constitute the "content" basis of the volitional regulation process.

Taking into account the foregoing, volitional regulation of human behavior in its most developed form is the conscious control of one's own thoughts, feelings, desires and behavior. There are various levels of mental regulation.

The following levels of mental regulation are distinguished:

.involuntary regulation (pre-psychic involuntary reactions);

.figurative (sensory) and perceptual regulation;

.arbitrary regulation (speech-thinking level of regulation);

.volitional regulation (the highest level of voluntary regulation of activity, ensuring overcoming difficulties in achieving a goal).

As a result of volitional regulation, an act of volition arises. An elementary volitional act arises only when in a person's head simultaneously with the thought of performing an action, another thought does not appear that interferes with its implementation.

Such an act can, for example, be considered an ideomotor act, which represents the ability of one thought about movement to cause the movement itself. A more complex volitional act is associated with overcoming the so-called "competing" idea, in the presence of which a person has a specific feeling of exerted effort, which is associated with the manifestation of willpower.

The most difficult volitional act is one in which, by overcoming internal and external resistance, the decision is consciously made and then implemented. Complex volitional acts include, for example, giving up bad habits of smoking, alcoholism and bad companies. A complex volitional act is not carried out instantly in real time, sometimes it requires the application of maximum willpower to implement it. Complex volitional acts are the highest indicator of a "volitional" person. Another difference between a "strong-willed" person from a "person of habit" is the presence of developed volitional qualities in the former.

Strong-willed qualities are divided into three categories:

Ø primary volitional qualities (willpower, perseverance, endurance);

Ø secondary, or derivative, volitional qualities (decisiveness, courage, self-control, confidence);

Ø tertiary volitional qualities (responsibility, discipline, commitment, adherence to principles, efficiency, initiative).

Volitional personality traits are a dynamic category capable of change, development throughout life. Volitional qualities are often directed not so much at mastering circumstances and overcoming them, as at overcoming oneself. This is especially true for people of the impulsive type, unbalanced and emotionally excitable, when they have to act contrary to their natural or characterological data.

Volitional regulation mechanisms

All the achievements of man and mankind as a whole are not complete without the participation of will, volitional regulation of behavior. All volitional processes that make up the regulation mechanism have several essential phases:

.the emergence of motivation and goal setting;

.stage of discussion and struggle of motives;

.decision-making;

Execution.

Key concepts The 1-3rd phases are attraction and desire. Attraction is not conscious need, and desire is a conscious need, ready to turn first into a motive, and then into a goal of behavior.

However, not every desire can be immediately realized, since a person can have several uncoordinated desires at the same time, thus giving rise to a struggle of motives. The struggle of motives is often accompanied by strong internal tension, especially if the desires are polarized. In traditional psychology, the struggle of motives is considered as the core of the volitional act. Overcoming the same internal conflict goes only through the realization of the real significance and correlation of motives, their importance for a person and the consequences resulting from volitional action.

Decision-making is the final moment of the struggle of motives, giving rise to a feeling of responsibility for the action specific to the volitional act. The decision-making process is quite complicated, and its speed largely depends on such a category as a person's "determination", the degree of which depends on the following factors:

Ø the existence of reasonable grounds for the implementation of an act of will;

Ø dynamics and strength of external circumstances that determine the scale of motives;

Ø temperament and characterological characteristics of the person making the decision.

The scheme proposed by L.D. Stolyarenko (fig. 31).

Rice. 31. The dynamics of will depending on the difficulty of the external world and the complexity of the inner world of a person

Legend:

The will is not required, the desires of a person are simple, unambiguous, any desire is realizable in an easy world;

It takes volitional efforts to overcome the obstacles of reality, patience is needed, but the person himself is internally calm, confident in his righteousness due to the uniqueness of his desires and goals;

Strong-willed efforts are required to overcome internal contradictions and doubts. A person is internally complex, there is a struggle between motives and goals, he is tormented when making a decision;

It takes intense volitional efforts to overcome internal doubts in order to make decisions and take action in the face of objective obstacles and difficulties. Volitional action here acts as an intentional purposeful action consciously accepted for implementation on the basis of external and internal necessity.

The final phase of the volitional process is execution. The stage of execution has a complex internal structure: making a decision does not mean immediately fulfilling it.

Execution of a decision is very closely related to such a category as time. If the execution is postponed for a significant period, then it comes intention, which, in turn, must be carefully planned, which will determine the success and speed of execution. For the final decision-making and execution, a volitional effort is required.

Volitional effort is a form of emotional stress that mobilizes a person's inner resources and creates additional motives for action to achieve a goal.

Willpower depends on the following factors:

Ø personality outlook;

Ø moral stability;

Ø the presence of public significance of goals;

Ø attitudes towards action;

Ø the level of self-organization of the individual.

In other words, the will is a kind of reflection of the structure of the personality and its internal characteristics. The volitional action of each person is unique.

Knowledge of the mechanisms of volitional regulation and ways of developing will is necessary for every person striving for systematic and successful self-development and achievement of life goals.

The development of will in a person

Will is one of human qualities, which is potentially laid down before birth and which at the same time can be developed throughout life. The range of strong will is as great as the range of weak will.

The desire to strengthen their will, to expand the range of application of volitional action most often occurs in people with internal localization of control.

Localization of control is the tendency of a person to attribute responsibility for the results of an action to external or internal forces... Depending on this, internals and externals are distinguished.

Internals most often feel personal responsibility for their actions, explaining them with their personality traits, therefore, they strive to work on themselves, to improve themselves, including developing their will.

Externalities, however, try to explain everything by external circumstances, relieving themselves of all responsibility and thereby reducing the relevance of volitional activity and volitional training.

A person who wants to control himself and his circumstances, who wants to overcome destructive emotions and qualities, for example, like fear and laziness, can, through training, strengthen his will and increase the range of his capabilities.

Working on the development of will, one can rely on the recommendations given by L.I. Ruvinsky and S.I. Khokhlov.

1.It is better not to make decisions than to make and not follow them. The decision made must be implemented.

2.The goal should be useful, socially significant, attractive.

.The goal must be carefully considered. You cannot set goals and make decisions when you are in a state of strong emotional excitement, anger, and also when the most significant circumstances associated with the implementation of your decision cannot be taken into account.

.The goal you set should be consistent with your capabilities. It will be achieved if:

Ø volitional effort required to implement the decision;

Ø certain knowledge and skills required to implement the decision;

Ø developed one or another strong-willed quality of endurance, perseverance, diligence, courage, dedication;

Ø time and money required to implement the decision.

5.The goal must be absolutely specific:

Ø the terms are indicated, the minimum amount of daily planned work is precisely determined;

Ø total duration of work on something;

Ø the expected result is clearly stated;

Ø the means of implementing the adopted decision are indicated.

Ø the main objective should be broken down into a number of intermediate ones.

A prerequisite for the effectiveness of goal setting is the ability to make it achievable, attractive and include it as an integral part of the motives that are meaningful to us and actually acting.

Thus, its motive power depends on the awareness of the significance of the goal, its correct choice, and the combination of near, middle and long-range prospects.

For the successful implementation of our plans, inner activity is necessary. It should be purposeful and carried out competently, with an understanding of the essence of the mental processes taking place in us. Learning to manage our feelings and mental states, we get a double benefit: firstly, we develop and strengthen the necessary character traits, self-control, endurance, and secondly, we also cause the necessary mental states that help us achieve our goals.

A sufficient level of will development is a necessary basis and condition for the implementation of a self-education program. That is why self-education of the will is not only the goal of developing one of the personality traits, but also necessary for its formation as a whole.

Literature

1. Under total. ed. A.A. Krylova, S.A. Manicheva: Workshop on general, experimental and applied psychology. - SPb .; M .; Kharkov; Minsk: Peter, 2005

Ed. B.A. Sosnovsky: Psychology. - M .: Yurayt, 2005

A.A. Rean Psychology and pedagogy. - SPb .: Peter, 2005

Psychology Council of the UMO of Universities of the Russian Federation; Ed. Etc. Martsinkovskaya: Rec. M.Yu. Kondratyev, A.I. Podolsky: Developmental Psychology. - M .: Academy, 2005

Tikhomirov O.K. Psychology of thinking. - M .: Academy, 2005

Psychology. Minimum programs for candidate exams. - M .: Ikar, 2004

Ismontas B.B. General Psychology: Schemes. - M .: Vlados-Press, 2004

Bodalev A.A. General psychodiagnostics. - SPb .: Rech, 2004

Volkov B.S. Psychology of human development. - M .: Academic Project, 2004

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1) Simple strong-willedactions usually consist of two links - goal setting and execution. For example, you noticed that the man walking in front of you had a newspaper out of the folder. You immediately have a thought-decision "to raise and hand over the newspaper." You pick up the newspaper, catch up with the man and give him the newspaper.

In this example, the above two links of volitional action are clearly expressed - goal setting and execution. Such actions do not characterize the will of a person. In conditions Everyday life, multiple repetitions, they are automated and turn into unintended acts.

(For example, when you wake up, you usually get out of bed immediately. Even if you really do not feel like getting up, you do not need to take too much effort and action to reach the goal).

The level of formation of a person's will is characterized by complex volitional actions and deeds. Successfully passing the exam in an "unloved" subject, fulfilling a dream - entering the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of the Institute, winning the title of champion at sporting events, making any object (for example, a hanger, stool, receiver, etc.) with your own hands, mastering a new profession - all these complex volitional actions clearly indicate the will of a particular individual.

2) The structure of complex volitional actionmake up three links: awareness and goal setting, planning and execution.

1. Goal setting (preparatory stage ) - As a rule, the initial moment of volitional action is the awareness of the goal of the action, the idea of ​​what will be achieved as a result of volitional effort. A meaningful, conscious goal set by a person determines the method and nature of his actions and behavior. If the goal is not clear, not clearly represented in the mind, the person's action will be devoid of purposefulness. A wide variety of needs (both physiological and social) can serve as a stimulus for conscious volitional actions and human behavior. It should be noted that goal setting does not proceed smoothly and calmly, but as a rule, on the contrary, accompanied by a struggle of motives (this is a clash of opposing motives between which you need to make a choice, in order to make a choice you need a strong-willed effort. This struggle of motives is conditioned not only by the fact that the basis of motives is the most diverse needs, but also by the fact that they are reflected in different ways in the minds of people. In the struggle of higher motives with lower ones, the will of a person is formed. (For example, a student's decision to go with a friend or prepare for a seminar or an exam means a struggle between motives of different moral levels (between the anticipation of pleasure from communication or a movie and the need to study) and requires significant volitional efforts. means accepting it, the decision to act in this way and not otherwise.Often you can observe how a person understands the importance of specific purpose, the need for its implementation, at the same time, he is still pondering its final adoption, weighing all the pros and cons of it, and then only makes the final decision. Awareness of the goal and the final decision to accept it are certain stages of volitional action and often do not coincide in time. Between the realization of the goal and the decision to accept it, there is often a significant, both in time and in the nature of nervous tension, a period of oscillation between agreement with the goal and objections to it. Depending on the content of the motives associated with the acceptance of the goal and the rejection of it, these fluctuations will be characterized, reaching in some cases to an internal conflict. Often a person has not one, but several goals that are incompatible with each other and require the choice of one of them. It should be emphasized that in the choice of the goal of actions, the true will of a person is manifested, expressed in the ability to subordinate his actions and deeds to the requirements of objective necessity, and most importantly, to goals of social significance. An important role, along with clarity, awareness of the goal, is played by its availability, when a person, using his knowledge, skills, abilities, is able to achieve a specific goal. If the goal exceeds the capabilities of a person and he does not have enough knowledge and skills to implement it, he can only partially achieve it. Usually people set goals that they can achieve. Frequent setting goals that a person cannot achieve only leads to a weakening of the will, to disbelief in oneself, to the habit of not completing the work begun. But what has been said does not mean that it is necessary to set only easy goals, the achievement of which does not require overcoming great difficulties, the manifestation of willpower. Easy goals only weaken the will, do not contribute to the development of desire and ability to deal with difficulties, desire and ability to overcome them. It is important that the set goals for actions are accessible to a person, but at the same time would require significant efforts. Only such goals of action develop and temper the will, form volitional properties and personality traits. In the event that a goal is available, but it is difficult to achieve, a person sets a whole chain of intermediate goals and consistently fights for them. The implementation of actions caused by intermediate goals requires a certain foresight of the results of these actions, which necessitates their planning. Setting, planning intermediate goals is especially important when the final goal set by a person is a distant prospect of activity.

2. Planning - That is, after the definition and setting of the goal, execution planning takes place. A person solves a new problem - to find the most correct and shortest way to achieve the goal. This stage is characterized by the active work of thought, analysis and comparison, of all the conditions in which the action should take place. Sometimes observed "struggle of plans". In any case, it is necessary to think carefully about all the actions, to plan in advance the process of their implementation. ( people think over the ways and means of achieving the goal, choose rational among them. You have to use a strong-willed effort. Unlike the first stage, it is clearly recognized and the person sees the difficulties and actively fights with them, that is, the person consciously regulates his activities. Sometimes a volitional effort is accompanied by feelings. The amount of volitional effort will depend on the strength of the motive and the proximity of achieving the goal. The stronger the motive and the closer the goal, the more effective the performance of the activity, and the less volitional effort is needed).

3. Execution - However, for all the importance of goal setting and planning, execution is decisive. Only with the final performance of an action by a person, bringing the matter to the end, we talk about his willpower, about the volitional qualities of his personality. Like the preliminary stages, execution is accompanied by the struggle against a number of obstacles. Overcoming significant difficulties and obstacles testifies to the presence of a high level of will in a given person, which characterizes his purposefulness, determination and perseverance. (a person uses volitional effort, here it acts as a form of emotional stress - that is, a person mobilizes the internal resources of the body, (including the main cognitive and thinking processes), you need to create additional motives for action, which are either absent or insufficient)

There are other classifications of the structure of the volitional act, you will familiarize yourself with them on your own in the literature that we wrote down at the very beginning of our lecture.

Conclusions: We have considered that volitional actions are simple and complex. Difficult ones consist of 3 stages (staging, planning and execution), and simple ones consist of 2 links (staging and execution). Will is characterized by 3 positions.

Do you have any questions about the structure of volitional action?

CONCLUSIONS:

Let's summarize our lecture:

Will is the highest level of self-regulation, expressed in the ability to overcome internal and external difficulties. Inherent only in humans.

Let's write down the main characteristics of the will:

Will can be characterized by 3 positions:

1) according to the psychological status, a volitional action, this is an action with 2 meanings. The first is given by the motive of a real situation (circumstance), the second - by the motive of an imaginary situation (goal)

2) the need for volitional behavior arises when a lack or undesirability of motivation in action is detected.

3) In terms of organization, volitional action is twice arbitrary. Arbitrariness is used in the way the action is carried out and in the choice of a motive.