APPERCEPTION- a property of perception that exists at the level of consciousness and characterizes the personal level of perception. It reflects the dependence of perception on the past experience and attitudes of the individual, on the general content of the activity of the mental person and his individual characteristics. The term was proposed by the German philosopher G. Leibniz, who understood it as a distinct (conscious) perception by the soul of a certain content. He separated perception as a vague presentation of some content, and apperception as a clear and distinct, conscious vision of this content by the soul, as a state of special clarity of consciousness, its focus on something. In Gestalt psychology, apperception was interpreted as the structural integrity of perception. According to Bellak, apperception is understood as the process by which new experience is assimilated and transformed by the traces of past perceptions. Such an understanding takes into account the nature of stimulus effects and describes the actual cognitive processes. Apperception is interpreted as the result of an individual's life experience, which provides a meaningful perception of the perceived object and hypotheses about its features. Differ:

1) stable apperception - the dependence of perception on stable personality traits: worldview, beliefs, education, etc.;

2) temporary apperception - situationally arising mental states affect it: emotions, expectations, attitudes, etc.

(Golovin S.Yu. Dictionary of practical psychologist - Minsk, 1998)

APPERCEPTION(from lat. ad - to + perception - perception) is an old philosophical term, the content of which in the language of modern psychology can be interpreted as mental processes that ensure the dependence of the perception of objects and phenomena on the past experience of a given subject, on the content and direction (goals and motives) its current activities, from personality traits feelings,attitudes etc.).

The term "A." introduced to science G.Leibniz. For the first time, he separated perception and A., understanding the first stage of a primitive, vague, unconscious presentation of c.-l. content (“many in one”), and under A. - the stage of clear and distinct, conscious (in modern terms, categorized, meaningful) perception. A., according to Leibniz, includes memory and Attention and is a necessary condition for higher knowledge and self-awareness. In the future, the concept of A. developed mainly in it. philosophy and psychology ( And.Kant,And.Herbart,AT.Wundt and others), where, with all the differences in understanding, A. was considered as an immanently and spontaneously developing ability of the soul and the source of a single stream of consciousness. Kant, without limiting A., like Leibniz, to the highest level of cognition, believed that A. causes a combination of ideas, and distinguished between empirical and transcendental A. Herbart introduced the concept of A. into pedagogy, interpreting it as awareness of new material perceived by subjects under the influence of a stock of ideas - previous knowledge and experience, which he called the apperceptive mass. Wundt, who turned A. into a universal explanatory principle, believed that A. is the beginning of a person’s entire mental life, “a special mental causality, an internal mental power” that determines the behavior of an individual.

Representatives gestalt psychology reduced A. to structural integrity of perception, depending on the primary structures that arise and change according to their internal laws.

Addendum: A. - the dependence of perception on the content of a person's mental life, on the characteristics of his personality, on the past experience of the subject. Perception is an active process in which the received information is used to put forward and validate hypotheses. The nature of these hypotheses is determined by the content of past experience. At perception to. - l. of the subject, traces of past perceptions are also activated. Therefore, the same object can be perceived and reproduced differently by different people. The richer the experience of a person, the richer his perception, the more he sees in the subject. The content of perception is determined both by the task set before a person and by the motives of his activity. An essential factor influencing the content of perception is installation subject, which is formed under the influence of immediately preceding perceptions and represents a kind of readiness to perceive the newly presented object in a certain way. This phenomenon has been studied D.Uznadze and its collaborators, characterizes the dependence of perception on the state of the perceiving subject, which in turn is determined by previous influences on him. The influence of the setup is broad, extending to the operation of various analyzers. In the process of perception, emotions are also involved, which can change the content of perception; with an emotional attitude to an object, it easily becomes an object of perception. (T. P. Zinchenko.)

(Zinchenko V.P., Meshcheryakov B.G. Big psychological dictionary - 3rd ed., 2002)

Part three, final

B. M. Bim-Bad

Logical analysis of phenomena and interpretations of apperception

From a consideration of the history of the category of interest to us, it can be seen that as a term apperception is ambiguous, it was filled with different content within the framework of individual areas, schools, currents of theoretical and experimental psychological and pedagogical science. And every interpretation of this category, every modification of its meaning is related to educational theory and practice.

Passing from historical to logical analysis, we emphasize that throughout the history of the scientific study of apperception, it was understood and is now understood as something complementary perception, which is mixed with perception and percept (the object and result of perception), and therefore has its own special properties in comparison with perception.

Apperception and perception. In their overwhelming majority, scientists tend to interpret apperception as a prerequisite and process of perception as such.

In modern psychology apperception denotes the dependence of perception on past experience, on the general content of a person’s mental activity and his personal and individual characteristics.In modern psychology, apperception is understood asprocess, during which the new content of consciousness, new knowledge, new experience are included in a transformed form into the system of the already existing "thesaurus" of the personality. Determining the influence of past experience on present perception, apperception thereby strongly influencesfuture.

Finally, it is important to emphasize that apperceptive masses are ambivalent. They only probabilistically determine perception and self-consciousness.

So, apperception is both a process, a product, and a quality of human cognition. It is apperception that explains what are the sources and reliability of human knowledge; how a person perceives external and internal information and how this perception affects his behavior; how a person studies the world, how adequately; whether there are innate ideas or whether all experience comes from contact with the external world mediated by the senses; what is the relationship between innate factors and learning outcomes in the processes of perception.

Applied value of knowledge about apperception for pedagogical practice

In a broad sense, the problem of apperception is the main problem of pedagogy, in a narrow sense it is a number of interrelated problems, the number of which tends to increase: apperception acts as one of the most important causes of individual differences. Among these problems are questions of accumulation of experience, learning, understanding, interpretation, content and nature of imagination and fantasies. Selectivity of attention and memory. The system of relations to people, institutions and society. Diagnostics of the norm and deviations from the norm in the areas of characterology, value orientations, etc.

Like all other cardinal concepts of upbringing, education and training, apperception is directly and indirectly involved in all their most important patterns, processes, phenomena and facts. And pedagogical research to a certain extent comes down to the study of apperception and apperceptive formations.

The significance of the law (axiom) of apperception for practical educational processes is also expanding: it requires not only the coordination of learning with the immediate environment, but also with the collective content.

Upbringing. The law of golden coincidence is consistent with the law of apperception and the nature of the unconscious influences of the environment, primarily learning.

The essence of the law of golden coincidence is this.

Education is an intervention in the flow of life of educators. Intervention in the form of organizing life and filling it with some content.

But the forced management of the development of a child without the inclusion in it of the self-management of the educated is either useless or harmful.

Therefore, there is a law of correspondence of educational intervention to the nature of the spontaneous process of becoming a developed personality. This is the law of the optimal ratio of educational intervention in the life of a growing person with the activity of the educated person.

A correctly developing person must understand and accept the requirements, recommendations, prohibitions of education.

Compliance with this law ensures the acceptance of education by educators. Without the student taking an active part in the educational process, it is impossible to teach him anything. The teacher-gog helps the pets to appropriate the culture, but he is not able to do this for them, instead of them. A growing person suffocates and dies when he is not given room for self-development, self-improvement.

The law of the apperceptive sequence of education says: all the best as soon as possible (but not all from the very beginning!), because what follows depends on the person who precedes in life.

"A new vessel smells for a long time of what it was filled with for the first time." (Horace).

As a person matures, it is important to provide samples of good taste as early as possible. And, in general, examples of all qualitative feelings, thoughts, deeds, words, deeds, image and lifestyle.

If at a particular age a person will definitely need one or another quality, then it is necessary to provide for the formation and strengthening of this quality with the help of education as early as possible in the course of human life.

For example, in old age a lot of courage is required from a person. But where to get it, if it was not laid in him by early education?

In the problem of choosing a culture for proper education, the most difficult thing is not even the definition of its specific content (it can be isolated at least from the biographies of remarkable people, representatives of deeds, thoughts, words), but the arrangement of its layers in the optimal sequence.

Such an arrangement that would give an individually selected and elective culture.

But the mind is not only a form and not only the content of abilities and knowledge, but a synthesis of both. The functioning of the mind is possible only as a continuous fusion of its formal components with the content of apperception.

The role of experience. The influence of individual experience on the formation and development of the mind is very great. Human experience is accumulated mainly through apperception. This law explains why the processes of accumulation and restructuring of the experience of solving problems, both everyday and cognitive, are so important.

For pedagogy, this means the need for special attention to the content of apperception in connection with changes in personal experience. The growth and changes in the content of apperception as an internalized thesaurus of personality depend on the specific conditions of the surrounding cultural environment.

Setting and orientation of the personality. One of the most important results of the system of apperceptions is the attitude. This is the readiness of a person to perform an action that can satisfy one or another of his needs.

And this is the orientation of the personality, which depends on the content and structure of all previous experience.

It would seem that the same conditions of life and life, or everything that happens in the classroom, are the same for all children, but they have a different effect on each. Different because the attitudes of children are different.

A paradoxical situation arises: it is possible to stimulate, to bring to life a new need, only relying on an already existing need. The existing needs depend on the general orientation of the personality. The general orientation of the personality can change only as new and new needs appear in it.

It would seem a vicious circle. But numerous experiments of psychologists, primarily the school of D.N. Uznadze (1886-1950) show that this circle can be broken.

The installation has the ability to create, organize, provide. This is the most important task of education. But this can be done only by taking into account the nature of all the previous experience of a given person. All the apperceptive mass of impressions accumulated and preserved by him.

It has long been known that the mind is not in harmony with the heart, that logical decisions sometimes contradict inclinations and desires. "The life of the heart" is apperceptively continued perceptions coming from childhood. These are fears, addictions, assessments, attitudes, values. When this "before-reason" is inconsistent with the gradually maturing mind, it turns out, like the hero of F.M. Dostoevsky: "What the mind considers a shame, the heart is entirely beauty."

The problem of the purpose of education is closely connected with the apperception of values. Gradually becoming in the human consciousness and in the subconscious, too, in the system of feelings, emotions, direct reactions and anticipations of life situations that develop in a person and change in very complex percentages as he acquires life experience. In fact, values ​​and values ​​govern human behavior to a great extent.

On the foundation of transcendental apperception is built personal(empirical, sensual, individual) apperception. But if she only stays personal, then a person is doomed to misunderstanding of others and others.

Apperception of an individual means his isolation from others, which can only be overcome by the mind, common to all and endowed with the ability to comprehend the common for all.

The need for dialogue in approaching the truth in general, and in education too, is a consequence of inevitable apperception. For the only way to seriously overcome subjectivity is through dialogue.

It is possible to stimulate, to bring to life a new need, only relying on an already existing need. The existing needs depend on the general orientation of the individual. The general orientation of the personality can change only as new and new needs appear in it. It would seem that there is a vicious circle. However, numerous experiments show that this circle can be broken, since the installation has the ability to create, organize, and provide. This is the task of education. But this can be done only by taking into account the nature of the previous experience of this person.

Diagnosis, prophylaxis, prognosis, therapy itself, for their correct alignment, need knowledge about the systems of apperceptions of a given individual.

That is why it is necessary to study pupils' apperceptions with the help of thematic and other apperceptive tests.

Education. The perception of educational material by students depends not only on the characteristics of its presentation by the teacher, but also on the specifics of the recipient, on the nature of his apperception at the moment. It is possible to start introducing new educational material only after first clarifying the existing ideas of the group members and carefully, if necessary, correcting them with the help of a heuristic conversation.

Learning is based on the association of ideas and elements of experience. Thinking determines the distribution of ideas between apperception and the subconscious with the help of apperception. Apperceptive theory is experimentally substantiated by Jean Piaget. New ideas enter into an associative relationship with existing ideas, forming a conceptual matrix (apperceptive mass). The settled mass of apperceptions needs accommodation to new experience. This implies both the intellectual leadership of the teacher and the spontaneous creative activity of students.

Apperception of the student requires to start any learning with what is close, interesting and important to him. New material can contrast with the familiar, but in the very contrast it can start from the known. For example, to introduce the concept of a wigwam, it is necessary to associate it with the types of shelters known to children from bad weather, a house, a hut. Sometimes it is useful to confront a person with something exotic, unusual, completely alien, completely new. And this can cause strong motivation, teaching can generate interest. But a person will not even notice this new if there is nothing in his experience that would allow him to compare the new with the old.

The development of skills, training are useful when it comes to achieving mastery, moreover, the conscious and voluntary achievement of mastery. Of course, the Gestaltists are right when they advocate complex education at its early stages. This is due to the holistic nature of perception.

V. F. Odoevsky quite rightly noted that a child does not need a horse in parts, he needs a whole horse. But what is important and necessary is the complementary movement from the element to the whole. Yes, the horse is necessary as a whole as something existing, but at the same time, for the development of the mental powers of a growing person, it is also important to understand the historical origin of the horse, that is, its development from the embryo, its formation, the growth of its qualities and properties.

VV Davydov justifiably demanded that teaching begin with categories, with the apperception of categories: then empirical apperception becomes much easier.

The law of apperception obliges the educator to link the content of the assimilated culture to the pupils' knowledge of themselves and the world around them. It is harmful to force students to assimilate information, the meaning and personal meaning of which eludes their feelings and apperception.

It is absolutely useless for a person who does not know the basics of algebra to explain mathematical analysis. There is a need for a learning sequence that involves apperceptive accumulation of experience.

The law requires to begin any training with what is close, interesting and important to a person. New material can contrast with the familiar, but in the very contrast it can start from the known. For example, to introduce the concept of a wigwam, it is necessary to associate it with the types of shelters known to children from bad weather, a house, a hut. Sometimes it is useful to confront a person with something exotic, unusual, completely alien, completely new. And this can cause strong motivation, teaching can generate interest. But a person will not even notice this new if there is nothing in his experience that would allow him to compare the new with the old.

Everything that is in training should be based on previous experience. And it is best if in this experience there is something that is close, important and necessary for this person.

And the system of repetition of educational material needs to take into account the content of apperception, and not only the Hermann Ebbinghaus forgetting curve.

Apperception consists in combining and merging the past with the present, which means that, as a preliminary step, it requires the revival of the corresponding parts of the past. New material must be associated in the soul with the material that can be compared with it.

"Enveloping" new material with elements of the past fixes and emphasizes those milestones, steps along which one can go to the knowledge of the subject.

For example, listening to lectures, we, as they say, enter the world of ideas communicated to us for the first time by a professor; we listen without being at all familiar with the material offered to us, but we not only assimilate it, but sometimes we can even see the thread of thought ahead. Of course, we understand and assimilate this with the help of a teacher. This phenomenon is completely analogous to the inspiration of a child who is capable of doing in the presence of his mother what would be completely unthinkable for him without her. The presence of a senior teacher, a mother, insures against difficulties, gives strength, as if informs us of the apperceptive material that we lack.

In the presence of authority, we are able to get to where we would not have reached without it, of course: for this we would not have our own data. We take, as it were, not our forces for rent. It is not only about being with authority but using it. That is why it can be conditionally called "transfer" of apperception: we apperceive with what the teacher has. The presence of authority, which gives support and a sense of confidence to the student, affects fundamentally his whole attitude. It enriches the student with what he does not have. If the teacher is eliminated, then all inspiration will be lost. This phenomenon explains the creative significance of authority in the school, it raises children from their level to a higher one, it causes development, creates a creative leap forward. "(V. V. Zenkovsky).

The method applied by Comenius, which consists in studying the whole whole at once, with more and more deepening into this whole over the following years and the gradual assimilation of details in it, could be called the principle of concentric circles. At the same time, the lowest circle is distinguished by the smallest size, each subsequent one is larger than the previous one, and the entire series of these steps of an ideological nature is built according to the scheme represented by a top or, more precisely, a straight cone overturned to the top (in the mathematical sense).

For example, even small children can become intimately acquainted with the central person of Christ, and the Old Testament personalities deserve attention even at the highest level. Meanwhile, as a rule, students become acquainted with the person of Christ only in the second half of the school; about the Old Testament personalities, however, a childish idea is preserved, corresponding to how they were perceived. (Paul Barth).

Inevitability of divergence in reactions, differences in perception between adults and children. The teacher sometimes waits for the reaction of the children, similar to his own reaction. But the experience of adults and the experience of our pupils obviously differ. It differs in content, volume, quality, structure. It is he who determines the nature and degree of reaction and the very nature and degree of perception. Because a person is active in his perception and this activity itself depends on the content of his apperceptions.

© Boris Mikhailovich Bim-Bad, 2007.

apperception
(from Latin ad - to, perceptio - perception) - the dependence of perception on past experience, on the general content of a person's mental activity and his individual characteristics. The term A. was proposed by the German philosopher G. Leibniz, who interpreted it as a distinct (conscious) perception by the soul of a certain content. According to W. Wundt, A. is a universal explanatory principle, "an inner spiritual force" that determines the course of mental processes. In contrast to these ideas about A. as an internal spontaneous activity of consciousness, modern scientific psychology interprets A. as the result of an individual's life experience, which provides hypotheses about the features of the perceived object, its meaningful perception. Distinguish between stable A. - the dependence of perception on stable personality traits (worldview, beliefs, education, etc.) and temporary A., in which situationally arising mental states affect ((()) emotions, expectations, attitudes, etc. ).
-
Petrovsky Artur Vladimirovich

Brief psychological dictionary. - Rostov-on-Don: PHOENIX. L.A. Karpenko, A.V. Petrovsky, M. G. Yaroshevsky. 1998 .

apperception
- a property of perception that exists at the level of consciousness and characterizes the personal level of perception. It reflects the dependence of perception on the past experience and attitudes of the individual, on the general content of the activity of the mental person and his individual characteristics. The term was proposed by the German philosopher G. Leibniz, who understood it as a distinct (conscious) perception by the soul of a certain content. He separated perception as a vague presentation of some content, and apperception as a clear and distinct, conscious vision of this content by the soul, as a state of special clarity of consciousness, its focus on something. In Gestalt psychology, apperception was treated as a structural integrity of perception. According to Bellak, apperception is understood as the process by which new experience is assimilated and transformed by the traces of past perceptions. Such an understanding takes into account the nature of stimulus effects and describes the actual cognitive processes. Apperception is interpreted as the result of an individual's life experience, which provides a meaningful perception of the perceived object and hypotheses about its features. Differ:
1 ) stable apperception - the dependence of perception on stable personality traits: worldview, beliefs, education, etc .;
2 ) temporary apperception - situationally arising mental states affect it: emotions, expectations, attitudes, etc.

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

apperception
Etymology. Comes from lat. ad - to + perceptio - I perceive.
Author. G. Leibniz.
Category. Theoretical construct to explain the phenomena of perception.
Specificity. The influence of previous experience and attitudes of the individual on the perception of objects of the surrounding world. Leibniz separated the concepts of perception as a vague presentation of some content to the soul, and apperception as a clear, distinct and conscious vision of this content.
After Leibniz, the concept of apperception was used primarily in German philosophy (I. Kant, I. Herbart, W. Wundt, etc.), where it was considered a manifestation of the spontaneous activity of the soul and the source of a single stream of consciousness. Wundt turned this concept into a universal explanatory principle. In Gestalt psychology, apperception was treated as a structural integrity of perception.

Psychological Dictionary. THEM. Kondakov. 2000 .

APPERCEPTION
(from lat. ad- to + perceptio- perception) is an old philosophical term, the content of which in the language of modern psychology can be interpreted as mental processes that ensure the dependence of the perception of objects and phenomena on the past experience of a given subject, on the content and direction (goals and motives) its current activities, from personal characteristics ( feelings,attitudes etc.).
The term "A." introduced to science G.Leibniz. For the first time, he separated perception and A., understanding the first stage of a primitive, vague, unconscious presentation of c.-l. content (“many in one”), and under A. - the stage of clear and distinct, conscious (in modern terms, categorized, meaningful) perception. A., according to Leibniz, includes memory and Attention and is a necessary condition for higher knowledge and self-awareness. In the future, the concept of A. developed mainly in it. philosophy and psychology ( And.Kant,And.Herbart,AT.Wundt and others), where, with all the differences in understanding, A. was considered as an immanently and spontaneously developing ability of the soul and the source of a single stream of consciousness. Kant, without limiting A., like Leibniz, to the highest level of cognition, believed that A. causes a combination of ideas, and distinguished between empirical and transcendental A. Herbart introduced the concept of A. into pedagogy, interpreting it as awareness of new material perceived by subjects under the influence of a stock of ideas - previous knowledge and experience, which he called the apperceptive mass. Wundt, who turned A. into a universal explanatory principle, believed that A. is the beginning of a person’s entire mental life, “a special mental causality, an internal mental power” that determines the behavior of an individual.
Representatives gestalt psychology reduced A. to structural integrity of perception, depending on the primary structures that arise and change according to their internal laws.
Addendum: A. - the dependence of perception on the content of a person's mental life, on the characteristics of his personality, on the past experience of the subject. Perception is an active process in which the received information is used to put forward and validate hypotheses. The nature of these hypotheses is determined by the content of past experience. At perception to. - l. of the subject, traces of past perceptions are also activated. Therefore, the same object can be perceived and reproduced differently by different people. The richer the experience of a person, the richer his perception, the more he sees in the subject. The content of perception is determined both by the task set before a person and by the motives of his activity. An essential factor influencing the content of perception is installation subject, which is formed under the influence of immediately preceding perceptions and represents a kind of readiness to perceive the newly presented object in a certain way. This phenomenon has been studied D.Uznadze and its collaborators, characterizes the dependence of perception on the state of the perceiving subject, which in turn is determined by previous influences on him. The influence of the setup is broad, extending to the operation of various analyzers. In the process of perception, emotions are also involved, which can change the content of perception; with an emotional attitude to an object, it easily becomes an object of perception. (T. P. Zinchenko.)

Big psychological dictionary. - M.: Prime-EVROZNAK. Ed. B.G. Meshcheryakova, acad. V.P. Zinchenko. 2003 .

apperception
APPERCEPTION (with. 57) (from Latin ad - as + perceptio - perception) - the dependence of perception on the general direction and all previous human experience. The term "apperception" was introduced by G.W. Leibniz. I.F. Herbart believed that any new idea is realized and interpreted on the condition of its connection with related ideas of past experience, which he called the apperceptive mass. The very process of connection is apperception. It is apperception that determines the distinctness, correctness and strength of perception and assimilation of new knowledge. The understanding of apperception developed by Herbart was the theoretical basis of his pedagogical teaching on the principles and methods of mastering knowledge. Herbart's doctrine of apperception in relation to pedagogy was used by W. James, P.F. Kapterev. The concept of apperception became widespread in psychology thanks to the works of W. Wundt, who gave it the meaning of the explanatory principle of the work of consciousness. Wundt made complex activities of consciousness dependent on apperception - attention, thinking, as well as volitional processes.
Modern psychology retains the name apperception to denote the fact that previous experience is reflected in every mental process; the same object is perceived differently depending on the person's worldview, education, professional affiliation, social experience. There are data that reveal the actual mechanisms of perception, explaining it as a living creative process of cognition, which reflects not an instantaneous impact, but the entire experience of the individual.

Popular psychological encyclopedia. - M.: Eksmo. S.S. Stepanov. 2005 .

Synonyms:

perception

Our past experience, goals and play one of the main roles in the perception of the world around us, its objects and phenomena.

History of the concept

The very concept of "apperception" was introduced by the psychologist G. Leibniz. D.S. Bruner coined the term "social apperception". These are groups, peoples, races, individuals. The psychologist drew attention to the subjectivity of the acceptance of surrounding people, in contrast to objects and phenomena. The philosopher raised the question of the transcendental unity of apperception, the essence of which is that awareness of one's personality cannot be separated from awareness of the environment.

He believed that apperception is a life style developed by man. On this basis, the psychologist developed a scheme, presenting this term as one of the main links in perception. I.F. Herbart transferred apperception to pedagogy, calling it the subjects' awareness of the material under the influence of previous knowledge and experience. Wilhelm Wundt introduced this term as a special internal mental force that determines human behavior.

Perception and Apperception

Apperception is one of the important mental properties of a person, the action of which is the conditional perception of objects and phenomena in the world around, depending on his views, interests and experience. As for perception, this concept includes the reception and transformation of sensory information, with the help of which a subjective image of an object is formed. The concept explains the understanding of oneself and another person, and on this basis the establishment of interaction and mutual understanding. These two terms were shared by the famous scientist G. Leibniz. The psychologist has shown that apperception is the basic condition for self-consciousness. And added to the concept of memory and attention. Thus, apperception is the combination of the main mental processes.

Physiology of perception

Objects of the surrounding world have the ability to influence In order for information to be reborn into a holistic image, complex neural connections are involved. The comprehension of perception is carried out in secondary cortical fields. The interconnection of all analyzers makes it possible, when only one of them is working, to collect the entire image of the object as a whole. For example, when we see a stone, we feel its hardness, coldness, smooth or rough surface, although we have not even touched it. An important part of the activity of perception is movement. So, if the eyes are stopped with a special device, then the person will stop seeing the object. The ability to name an object, that is, to use speech, makes it possible to call up images and easily recognize them. Thus, apperception is the relationship between perception and previously acquired knowledge, experience, interests and attitudes of a person.

Peculiarities

Perception has certain properties. They can be designated as meaningfulness, constancy and objectivity. The first property is the different perception of the same object by different people. The reason for this phenomenon is that each person has his own accumulated experience, on which he relies. Second, despite changing conditions, the perception of the properties of an object remains relatively independent. The third property suggests that people attribute all impressions of the surrounding world to various objects and phenomena (blue sky, the sound of a human voice, and so on). Meaningfulness is associated with objectivity. The past experience and knowledge are always mixed with the new impressions received, on their basis a person recognizes the subject.

Perception in psychology

In addition to combining sensations into a whole image that a person recognizes, it is understood and comprehended. All actions are carried out thanks to past knowledge. Thus, special properties of consciousness can be distinguished:

1. Categorization. Any object is perceived as a member of a generalized class. The specific properties of the group are transferred to the object itself.
2. verbal mediation. Due to this property, abstraction and generalization of the individual properties of objects occurs.
3. Influence of installations. We can say that this is an almost unconscious ability to feel, react and perceive as experience and motives suggest.
4. Subjectivity. Depending on their individual factors, different people perceive the same subject in different ways.
5. Apperception. The perception of any content is conditioned by past impressions and knowledge.

One of the founders of Gestalt psychology, M. Wertheimer, brought out six. These include:

1. Proximity effect (combining nearby shapes).
2. Similarity effect (objects similar in color, shape, and so on are grouped).
3. The factor of "common fate" (objects are combined according to the changes that occur in them).
4. Closure factor (better perception of figures that are closed).
5. Grouping factor without a trace (a number of objects are trying to be grouped so that there are no separate figures).
6. The “good continuation” factor (choosing a less curved line from two intersecting or tangent lines).

The psyche of personality

The concept of "psyche" refers to the ability of subjects to reflect the objects of the surrounding world, build a picture of reality and, on its basis, regulate their behavior and activities. The main properties of the psyche can be distinguished in the following conclusions:

1. Psyche is a property of living, highly organized matter.

2. The psyche is able to perceive information about the surrounding world and give rise to an image of material objects.

3. Based on the information received from the outside, the internal environment of the personality is regulated and its behavior is formed.

The most common methods for studying perception in psychology are tests. Basically, these are representatives of two types - apperception of symbols and thematic apperception.

The first test consists of 24 cards with symbols taken from fairy tales and myths. The subject groups the cards as he sees fit. The next stage of the study is a proposal to supplement the symbols with one more missing one. Then again there is a grouping, but already into well-known categories: “love”, “game”, “power”, “knowledge”. The subject must explain the principle of his systematization and the meaning of the symbols. The result will be the identification of priorities and value orientation of a person.

The second test is presented in the form of a set of tables with black and white photographs, which are selected according to the age and gender of the subjects. The test subject's task is to compose a plot story based on each picture. This technique is used in cases of psychotherapeutic and differential diagnostics in the selection of candidates for important posts.

Test for the study of children

The children's apperception test was created by L. Bellak and S. S. Bellak. A study using this technique is carried out with children aged 3 to 10 years. Its essence is the demonstration of various pictures, which depict animals engaged in various activities. The child is invited to tell a story based on pictures (what animals are doing, what is happening in the image, and so on). After the description, the psychologist proceeds to clarifying questions. It is important to show the pictures in a certain sequence, in the order of their numbering.

This technique makes it possible to identify the following parameters:

1. Leading motives and needs.
2. Relations with relatives (brothers, sisters, parents).
3. intrapersonal conflicts.
4. Features of protective mechanisms.
5. Fears, phobias, fantasies.
6. behavior among peers.

Taking as a basis the concept of "apperception" (this is a conscious, meaningful, thoughtful perception of reality based on past experience), it is important to correct the influence of the knowledge gained in the child in time, so that in the future he will have the correct concepts about the objects of the world.

In psychology, there is a very interesting concept of "apperception" - the conscious perception by the senses of new impressions, which thus become knowledge; synthesis of apperception occurs when a person forms a general idea of ​​​​something, using his personal impressions.

Characteristic

We can say that a person consists entirely of his ideas. And all our ideas we receive through our senses. For example, when we say: “Today it is cloudy,” we make such a conclusion based on our vision. Apperception, as a more complex process of perception, goes one step further, as it considers new phenomena in relation to all past experience. The idea of ​​a person "This is Sasha" is a perception, but "Sasha is my friend" is an apperception, because this judgment is based on your past experience.

Apperception manifests itself in one way or another throughout a person's life, and in this sense it can be attributed to a philosophical concept. In Kant's philosophy there is such a term as "transcendental unity of apperception". This philosopher interpreted this phenomenon as the unity of a person's self-consciousness, which gives a visual representation of "I think", but does not rely on the senses. This is a view that is the same for every person. Thus, transcendental apperception demonstrates the unity of thinking of all people. It is thanks to it that we make judgments about objects that are common to all mankind.

The apperceptive perception of any impression depends on the activity, which is based on comparison, comparison and connection. Transcendental apperception includes all these qualities. According to Kant's theory, the transcendental unity of apperception is the activity of a pure intellect, when a person, through perceived impressions, creates a full range of ideas and concepts.

Here is another example for a better understanding of this philosophical concept: if the sound is perceived by the ears, but does not reach consciousness, then this is perception. If a person hears the sound consciously, then we can talk about apperception. This quality of perception helps us to assimilate new concepts, enriches our consciousness.

Fundamental quality of mental life

Apperception is also one of the most complex mental processes known in psychology. This term refers to the perception of a person. So psychologists call the interpretation of the impressions that each person receives through the senses.

Without this concept, it is impossible to imagine the course of any mental process. Here is a simple example to better understand what apperception is in psychology. Let's say a person came to a thematic seminar, where some new information is told, which is in no way connected with his interests. In this case, the information will be perceived only partially. But unexpectedly, the lecturer touches on a topic that greatly excites a person. In this case, all his attention will be completely directed to the lecturer. Psychologists will say that at first the process proceeded without apperception, and then with it.

So, apperception in psychology (from the Latin words ad - “to”, perceptio - “perception”) is one of the fundamental mental properties. Any perception of objects or phenomena of the surrounding world is always due to personal experience. A person is aware of his impressions due to the understanding of the integrity of his mental life, as well as the stock of accumulated knowledge. We are constantly faced with the need to interpret our sensations.

The process of apperceptive perception is characterized by several properties:

1. Impressions perceived in this way are distinguished by greater brightness, liveliness, and distinctness. Therefore, apperceptive perception is often identified with consciousness or attention;
2. Such impressions are characterized by great tension and activity. This process is identical to the effort of the will;
3. A person apperceptively perceives what worries or interests him most, especially the personal "I". This process is closely related to the interests of the individual.

How this concept is seen by different scientists

Speaking of apperception, all scientists agree that this is a mental ability with which a person is aware of the ideas that come to him as his own. This is an actual perception with an additional awareness by a person that it relies on his personal impressions;

However, in philosophy and psychology there are many interpretations of this fundamental concept. Let's get to know some of them:

• according to Kant, this is a property of human consciousness that accompanies the process of voluntary self-knowledge. Kant believed that this property is inherent in every person, therefore he combined all our judgments into a “transcendental unity of apperception”;
• Leibniz used the term "perception" to describe an impression that did not reach consciousness. Such a "simple" perception a person receives through the senses. It is important not to confuse this term with the concept of "social perception", which refers to social psychology. Apperception, on the other hand, means a sensation that a person is already able to realize;
• The well-known psychologist Alfred Adler called the individual's ideas about the world around him the term "apperception scheme". His words are well known: "Man always sees what he wants to see." Adler was convinced that apperception is a personal conception of the surrounding world that determines human behavior;
• in Herbart's psychology, it is the merging of a new idea with those that are already in the mind by changing them. This scientist compared apperception to food digested in the stomach;
• in Wundt's psychology, it is a mental process in which perception or thought is most clearly realized;
• transcendental apperception, as a separate concept, connects new qualities with past experience;
• in general psychology, apperception means any perception;
• in child psychology and pedagogy, the transcendental unity of apperception is a kind of instrument. It allows the child to learn successfully by combining new skills with worldly experience;
• medical psychologists call this concept an individual's interpretation of his sensations.

Modern psychologists hold the view that apperceptive perception is always a reflection of the personality. Therefore, knowing what interests this person, the psychologist can understand what she is like. So, one can speak of apperception when the inner “I” participates in active perception. The scheme of apperception proposed by Adler is today considered one of the key concepts of cognitive psychology.

It is known that the feelings of any person do not reflect real facts, but only his subjective ideas that come from the outside world. This pattern of perception is constantly reinforcing itself. For example, when a person is afraid, he tends to see a threat everywhere, which further strengthens his belief that the world around him is constantly threatening him.

The apperceptive process clearly demonstrates that the individual experience accumulated by a person is always involved in mental activity. Human behavior is never passive: it always depends not only on the accumulation of new experience, but also on the impact on the perception of old experience. This is the manifestation of apperception in the mental life of each of us.