will effort reflex activity
The modern understanding of the volitional process is characterized by consistency. This consistency is ensured by the fact that arbitrary processes provide control over the performance of an action, conscious and deliberate control of activities. An analysis of the views of various authors shows that the number of allocated functions is somewhat different. So, in the work of S. A. Shapkin, built on the analysis of the concept of the will of H. Hekhauzen and his student Yu. Kul, three functions of volitional processes are distinguished: initiation of action; keeping the original intent up to date; overcoming obstacles that arise on the way to the realization of intentions.
In the work of E. P. Ilyin, four functions are distinguished: self-determination; self-initiation; self-control; self-mobilization and self-stimulation. It is easy to see that self-initiation corresponds to the initiation of action, self-control - to the maintenance of the actual intention; and self-mobilization and self-stimulation - overcoming obstacles. Only the function of motivation does not find a correspondence in the system of views of H. Hekhauzen and Yu. Kuhl, because, as we have already noted, these researchers separated motivation from the volitional state of consciousness.
If we try to give a brief description of the theory of control over the action of Y. Kul, then it should, first of all, be noted that, unlike the traditional understanding of the will, Y. Kul relies on modern ideas about the systemic structure of the human psyche and tries to explore the volitional sphere of the personality as a system, consisting of fairly autonomous subsystems. The implementation of the functions of an entire system of control over action is possible only with a flexible, coordinated interaction of subsystems that ensure the retention of intentions in an active state and the achievement of goals in a situation conducive to this, as well as the termination of purposeful activity in a situation unfavorable for this. The concept of "will" describes the category of interacting mental functions that, in the event of difficulties in the implementation of an action, mediate the temporal, spatial, content and style coordination of individual mechanisms within and between different subsystems, such as perception, attention, memory, emotions, motivation, activation system, motor skills and etc. These mechanisms are implemented, as a rule, at an unconscious level, but can take the form of conscious strategies. Then we are talking about motivational control, attention control, perceptual control, emotional control, effort activation control, coding and working memory control, behavioral control.
Thus, modern ideas about the plurality of processes that mediate volitional regulation prompted Yu. Kul and other psychologists to abandon the concept of "will" in the traditional sense and replace it with the concept of "action control". In addition, Yu. Kul was one of the first to suggest that there is an alternative form of action regulation, in which no additional resources are required to overcome obstacles, and when regulation is carried out due to the redistribution of "duties" between the components of the mental system. He speaks of two types of volitional regulation. About self-control, which manifests itself in deliberate attention and support of the subject's efforts to increase the level of his own activity. This type corresponds to the traditional understanding of the will. Another type of volitional regulation was called by him self-regulation. Phenomenologically, this manifests itself, first of all, in involuntary attention to the target object and in the absence of efforts on the part of the subject aimed at energizing his behavior. With self-regulation, the system operates according to the "democratic" principle, constant control of the "I" is no longer needed. It should be noted that the terms self-control and self-regulation are used by Yu. Kuhl in a different sense than by E. P. Ilyin.
As for the views of E. P. Ilyin, he understands arbitrary control as an integral psycho-physiological formation, which includes motives, intellectual activity, moral sphere, i.e. psychological phenomena, but, on the other hand, is based on the properties of the nervous system, on physiological processes. Let us consider in more detail the components of the will in the broadest sense of the word. We omit the analysis of the motivational aspect, since it was analyzed in detail by us above. Let's start with self-initiation and self-braking (hereinafter simply - initiation and braking).
The formation of motivation is a motivational process, but in order for the intention to come true, the action must be launched. How this happens remains one of the darkest questions in psychology. N. N. Lange wrote that we feel motives for action, then we feel the action itself, but the transition between these two states remains out of consciousness. Mental world: Selected psychological works / N.N. Lange; ed. M.G. Yaroshevsky. - Voronezh: NPO "MODEK", 1996, p. 331
There are two main points of view on this issue. The first is the notion of initiation, the initiation of a voluntary action involuntarily, with the help of emerging representations and the ideomotor acts associated with them. The second is the idea of launching arbitrary acts with the help of an effort of will.
A supporter of the involuntary initiation of a volitional action was W. James, who believed that the essence of a volitional act is characterized by the decision element “let it be”. THOSE. voluntary movement is carried out according to the principle of an ideomotor act. An ideomotor act is the transition of the idea of muscle movement into the actual execution of this movement (i.e., the appearance of nerve impulses that provide movement as soon as an idea of it arises). The principle of the ideomotor act was discovered in the 18th century by the English physician Hartley, and was subsequently developed by the psychologist Carpenter. It was assumed that the ideomotor act has an unconscious, involuntary nature. However, further research has shown that muscle contractions can be quite conscious. Currently, ideomotor training is quite widespread in sports, using the representation of certain movements. E. P. Ilyin believes that W. James exaggerates the role of ideomotor, tk. in most cases, initiation is carried out with the help of a starting pulse, and pre-starting influences in these cases only facilitate starting.
Similar views were expressed by G. Munsterberg, in whom the will, in essence, is reduced to a deliberate actualization of the image of the goal - a representation. The representation plays the role of a conditioned signal for him, and the action itself, accordingly, is of a conditioned reflex character.
Under the influence of W. James, N. N. Lange also tried to understand the mechanism for launching volitional actions. He also reduced volitional impulses to ideomotor.
Ideas about the conscious initiation of volitional actions are associated with the idea that their launch is always carried out with the help of volitional effort. However, this provision raises more and more doubts, but not about the conscious nature, but about the participation of volitional effort in this process. As a consequence, the proposal to distinguish between volitional impulse and volitional effort. Volitional effort is understood as a conscious and deliberate exertion of the physical and intellectual forces of a person. Volitional effort is characterized by internal tension, for its manifestation, the presence of difficulties is necessary. But the launch of an action can also occur without effort. Thus, it is expedient to single out a volitional impulse, rather than an volitional effort, as a trigger mechanism for action. Their functions are different. The function of the volitional impulse is to initiate action and to make the transition from one action to another. The idea of launching voluntary actions with the help of a strong-willed impulse, and not only and not so much with the help of a strong-willed effort, can be seen in the statements of many psychologists (Selivanov V.I., Kalin V.K., etc.). The nature of volitional effort has not yet been revealed. But volitional efforts are most clearly manifested during physical exertion. N. N. Lange pointed out three points with which the feeling of volitional effort is associated:
* change in breathing;
* ideomotor tension;
* inner speech.
Thus, it can be assumed that one of the mechanisms for enhancing motivation is muscle tension. It enhances the excitation of the centers from which the volitional impulse of the beginning and execution of the action comes. The tension of the respiratory muscles also leads to an increase in proprioceptive impulses to the cortex. Efforts can be physical and intellectual, mobilizing and organizing. This is the main problem of the functional block self-initiation.
Consider the block of self-control. The mention of self-control is found even in Aristotle, but as a scientific phenomenon this phenomenon began to be studied at the turn of about a century ago, although there are earlier works on certain issues.
One of the first who dealt with this problem from a psychological point of view was Z. Freud. He associated self-control with the instance of "I". In our country, self-control was considered by N. N. Lange, N. A. Belov. But these works are little known. It was only in the 1960s that these issues began to be widely discussed, which was facilitated by the penetration of the ideas of cybernetics into psychology and physiology. Ideas about feedback eventually led to the creation of models of mechanisms for foresight, comparison, and so on. (N. A. Bernstein, P. K. Anokhin). The grounds for revising the Pavlovian idea of the reflex arc were the facts according to which the same effect could be achieved in different ways. Various control schemes have been proposed using the reflex ring. The model of the functional system by P. K. Anokhin was widely used. The model includes an afferent synthesis block, a decision-making block, an action result acceptor and an efferent program of the action itself, receiving the action results and forming feedback to compare the obtained results with the programmed ones. The flow of afferent synthesis is influenced by situational and triggering afferentation, memory and motivation of the subject. The decision block is associated with the confidence or uncertainty of a person in the decision being made, which is influenced by the availability of information from the subject, the novelty of the situation, and personal characteristics. In action programming, a person analyzes the probability of achieving the set goal, the presence or absence of information. With incomplete information, different programs are developed. In the process of performing the action and / or at its end, control takes place, the comparison of the reverse results with what was expected, if necessary, the result is corrected.
The feedback functions are, first of all, in providing information about the beginning, completeness-incompletion of the action, in correcting with interference, in providing learning. Feedback can be external and internal. External feedback is used primarily to control the result, internal - for the nature of the action. The outer feedback ring is closed only functionally, but not morphologically, the inner one is closed both functionally and morphologically.
At the initial stages of mastering an action, the role of the external (and, above all, visual) feedback loop is important. Then the role of the inner contour increases. In addition, there is also evidence that at the first stages the role of kinesthetic information is high, and then verbal information becomes the leading one. It can thus be concluded that not only the contour is important, but also the type of information.
The action of the next block - the comparison mechanism - can fail, which is largely due to the time limit.
It should be noted that the question of self-control functions is rather complicated. Some mean by it the ability to restrain the first base impulses and subordinate them to higher goals (for example, Sally), others believe that self-control involves the ability to be critical of one's actions (G. A. Sobieva), others see it as a tool for conscious activity planning ( Kuvshinov V.I.). The above interpretations of self-control are distinguished by a sufficient breadth of understanding. There are also narrower interpretations of self-control, which reduce the functions of self-control to verification (Itelson L. B. - self-examination in activity; Aret A. Ya. - the process of tracking oneself, checking oneself; Ruvinsky L. I. - correcting activity).
Whether a skill is a voluntary action is a matter of much debate within this functional unit. There is no consensus here, but many researchers believe that the skill remains an arbitrary action, only the control over its implementation changes. According to E. P. Ilyin, automation is only the ability acquired as a result of training to turn off the dynamic control over the action, which does not imply the necessity and inevitability of such a turn off.
The block of self-mobilization practically deals with volitional regulation, which, according to the views of E. P. Ilyin, is a particular type of arbitrary control. In everyday life, this concept is often identified with willpower, obviously because it is associated with overcoming difficulties. At the same time, the content of volitional regulation is understood by different psychologists in different ways: as the strength of a motive; as a struggle of motives; as a change in the meaning of the action; as an input into the regulation of emotions. In all these interpretations, the main condition for the mobilization of energy is volitional effort, although, as noted above, its nature is still not clear.
It is incorrect to define willpower as an independent volitional quality (Kornilov K.N., Platonov K.K.) or as some kind of abstract indicator (Nemov R.S.). It is more correct to speak of various manifestations of will power, called volitional qualities. In ethics, volitional qualities are considered moral, and their manifestation depends on the moral character traits. This is where the evaluative approach to will comes from. But such an approach is hardly justified. Behavior should be evaluated morally, not qualities.
In each specific case, volitional regulation is manifested through volitional states. Volitional states were studied by N. D. Levitov and other researchers. E. P. Ilyin refers to volitional states the state of mobilization readiness, the state of concentration, the state of determination, etc.
The state of mobilization readiness was studied mainly by sports psychologists (Puni A., Genov F.). But it doesn't just show up in sports. It reflects self-tuning to the full mobilization of one's capabilities, moreover, necessary for this particular activity. Mobilization is facilitated by a clear statement of the task. Sometimes the emotional mechanisms that support this state are turned on. In many cases, there is no direct correlation between mobilization and its results.
The state of concentration is associated with deliberate concentration of attention, which ensures the effectiveness of perception, thinking, memorization, etc. The dominant of A. A. Ukhtomsky acts as the physiological basis for the state of concentration. It is beneficial for the organism to limit indifferent impressionability.
The state of determination implies readiness for action, readiness to initiate action in the presence of risk or unpleasant consequences. It is quite short-term and is associated with self-discipline.
Speaking about volitional regulation, it is impossible not to touch upon the question of how it relates to emotional regulation. These two types of regulation are related, but not identical. Very often they generally manifest themselves as antagonists. Remember the affect - as a rule, it suppresses the will. The optimal combination would probably be such a combination when a person combines a strong will with a certain level of emotionality.
How often do you force yourself to do things you don't feel like doing? Or maybe you want something desperately, but you can't find the strength to put in enough effort to achieve the desired result? Willpower is what helps a person to do incredible things. Read on to find out how to properly motivate yourself.
Definition
What is willpower? It is an effort to achieve a set goal. Not always a person can immediately and without problems complete the task. Sometimes he doesn't get it right the first time. You have to make a second attempt, and sometimes a third. In order not to stray from the chosen path, you need to have willpower that will help a person achieve what he wants. Volitional effort is inextricably linked with motivation. People will do something only when they know what awaits them for the time and effort spent. The reward is not always material, sometimes there is enough aesthetic or moral pleasure.
How often does a person have to make volitional efforts? Every time he runs into a problem he hasn't faced before. Difficult and incomprehensible situations are stress, which takes a lot of effort and sometimes time to deal with.
Each person is born with different inclinations and abilities. But here the character is formed under the influence of the surrounding world and educators. What determines the development of human willpower?
- Habits. That person who is used to obeying parents, teachers and senior comrades will not be able to make decisions on his own. She does not have a habit that will help in a difficult life situation to make an effort of will and achieve her goal.
- Environment. People grow up in different environments. Someone gets used to fighting for their existence from childhood, while someone simply does not need it. To survive in a metropolis, a child must be strong, courageous and persistent. But in rural areas, kindness, openness and submission to parents are encouraged in children.
- Positive perception of the world. It makes sense to make strong-willed efforts only when a person is counting on a positive outcome of events. If a person does not have confidence that everything will be resolved in the best way, she will have no desire to act.
- Decision-making speed. The person who can react quickly to a changing world will be more successful than the person who thinks about the situation for a long time.
Will Factors
People are intelligent beings. They will only make efforts when it is really needed. What promotes active actions that involve the will?
- Goals. Willpower must be applied in order to achieve the goal. A person sets himself tasks, sometimes impossible, and goes to them no matter what. Thanks to this approach and inexhaustible enthusiasm, a person can achieve his goal, and in a short time.
- Obstacles. A person will act not only when he wants to. The second reason that can induce him to work is problems and life troubles. In order to successfully resolve a particular situation, sometimes you have to spend a lot of effort. And willpower helps a person to bring the matter to the end.
personality traits
The formation of a person starts from the first months of life. But the volitional properties of the personality are laid genetically by the parents. For this reason, the character of each individual individual becomes so different. What are the personality traits?
- Strength of will. Already in childhood it becomes clear how collected and persistent a person will be. The volitional properties of the personality are manifested in patience and the fulfillment of these promises. Fortunately, you can always re-educate yourself. It is difficult to do this, but with a strong desire, it will take only a year to develop willpower.
- Persistence. A person can be stubborn, and can be reasonable and assertive. The first property will not bring any dividends to the person. But the second will help a person achieve their goals.
- Excerpt. A person who has set a goal must definitely fulfill it. And in this case, endurance will help him. That person who knows how to bring everything he started to the end has unique personal qualities that help build an excellent career.
Character
Parents form from the child what they want and can, up to 8 years old. Then the personality has its own consciousness, and the child begins to independently think about his actions and decisions. Character is a combination of different values, personal qualities and inclinations of a person. And what is a strong-willed character, and what does it consist of?
- Determination. A person must be able to independently make a choice and bear responsibility for it. Today, many people have big problems with this item. People can make a decision, but not everyone wants to be responsible for it.
- Self-confidence. A strong-willed character can only be formed in a person who has good self-esteem. A person must know exactly their strengths and weaknesses.
- Will formation. By setting goals and achieving them, a person forms character. Thanks to success, a person’s mood rises, self-esteem rises and it seems that everything in life is easy and simple. Only a person can form what is called will.
Life position that affects the will
People lead different lifestyles. Someone prefers to relax in front of the TV, but during working hours to engage in active physical labor. And someone works with his head, and in his free time goes in for extreme sports. But it's a perfect balance that doesn't come along very often. What are the life positions that affect the volitional efforts of a person?
- Active. A person can make decisions and be responsible for his choice. A person sets goals and achieves goals. The alternation of active physical activity with brain activity helps to find harmony. An active life position makes a person participate in various events, demonstrations and social projects.
- Passive. The emotional-volitional sphere is developed in some people very poorly. A person can and will set tasks for himself, but he will not be able to fulfill them, because he will not find in himself the internal motivation to start acting. The desire to get something will be less pronounced than laziness.
The process of development of the will
The emotional-volitional sphere of development helps to focus on the main thing. Man throws aside everything secondary. How does the process of development of volitional effort proceed in stages?
- Task formation. Before any goal is realized, it must be invented. Goals are global, but they are quite small, passing. A person may consider some of his ideas feasible, while others he will perceive as something fantasy.
- Thinking about the path. When the goal is formed, the person thinks about how he will carry out his project. It can be a step-by-step elaboration of a plan or a sketch of how best to approach the task.
- Implementation of the idea. When the decision to carry out the project is made, the person has no choice but to take action.
Development of volitional qualities
Do you want to achieve your goals and not turn off the chosen path? How should the development of volitional qualities of a person take place? You need to choose some small goal with a visible result. For example, lose 3 kg in a week. Think about the path to your goal. You can start jogging in the morning or you can do daily exercise. Perhaps you should reconsider your diet or go on some kind of diet. Record your progress daily in your notebook. When you reach your goal in a week, the motivation from this first step will give you the opportunity to complete a more difficult project. This time, come up with a goal that will take a month to complete. After that, you can come up with a project that can be completed in six months. Gradually set yourself bigger goals. Reaching them, you will train willpower.
Test
Do you want to test your willpower? Then take this endurance test. It was compiled for US Army soldiers. On the surface, everything may seem very easy. Push-ups, sit-ups, everything is like in school. But not everyone can do 4 sets in 4 minutes. How long will it take you to do the exercises? Endurance test:
10 pushups.
10 jumps from an emphasis lying down. Roll over onto your back when done.
10 torso lifts from a supine position.
10 squats.
Have you successfully passed the test? What result? Not everyone succeeds in meeting 4 minutes, and this is even taking into account that 4 minutes is not the best time. It is advisable to do 4 sets in 3 minutes 30 seconds. Practice every day, reduce time and develop willpower.
Answer plan:
1) The concept of will
2) Functions of the will
4) Volitional qualities of a person
1) The question was studied by: Ebbinghaus, Wundt, Hobbes, Hartmann, Ribot, Uznadze, Vygotsky, Rubinstein, Basov)Will- cross-cutting mental process, conscious regulation by a person of his behavior and activities, expressed in the ability to overcome internal and external difficulties in the performance of purposeful actions and deeds (Maklakov A).
Any human activity is accompanied by specific actions that can be divided into two large groups: voluntary and involuntary.
The main difference between voluntary actions is that they are carried out under the control of consciousness and require certain efforts on the part of a person aimed at achieving a consciously set goal. These efforts are often called volitional regulation, or will. Will is a cross-cutting mental process, that side of a person's mental life, which is expressed in the conscious direction of actions.
Arbitrary or volitional actions develop on the basis of involuntary movements and actions. The simplest of the involuntary movements are the withdrawal of the hand when touching a hot object, the involuntary turning of the head in the direction of a sound, and so on. Expressive movements are also involuntary: when angry, a person involuntarily clenches his teeth, when surprised, raises his eyebrows, when he is happy about something, he begins to smile.
In contrast to involuntary actions, conscious actions are aimed at achieving a set goal. It is the awareness of actions that characterizes volitional behavior.
Volitional actions vary in their complexity.
Simple volitional action - the impulse to action turns into self-action almost automatically.
At the corecomplex volitional actions lies in the fact that not every goal that we set can be achieved immediately. Most often, the achievement of the goal requires the implementation of a series of intermediate actions that bring us closer to the goal.
Volitional actions, like all mental phenomena, are associated with the activity of the brain and, along with other aspects of the psyche, have a material basis in the form of nervous processes. The basis of the conscious regulation of activity is the interaction of the processes of excitation and inhibition of the nervous system.
2) Functions of the will
1.Activating (stimulating) - providing the beginning of this or that action in order to overcome the emerging obstacles;
2. Brake- consisting in restraining other, often strong desires that are not consistent with the main goals of the activity.
3.Stabilizing- with associated with volitional efforts to maintain activity at the proper level in the event of external and internal interference;
3) The mechanism of willpower. Process steps
The volitional process goes through a series of stages. Different authors distinguish from 3 to 6 stages:
1. The emergence of motivation and goal setting;
2. Awareness of available opportunities;
3. Emergence of motives (for and against these possibilities);
4. Struggle of motives and choice;
5. Making a decision (one opportunity);
6. Implementation of the decision.
At the first stages, the emerging need is reflected in consciousness in the form of a vague attraction, the object of which is not realized. As the need grows and awareness of its object, attraction turns into desire, which becomes an incentive to action. The possibility of fulfilling the desire is evaluated. At the same time, a person sometimes has several inconsistent and even contradictory desires at once, and he finds himself in a difficult position, not knowing which one to realize. Often there are incompatible motives between which a choice must be made. The mental state, which is characterized by the clash of several desires or several different impulses, is commonly called the struggle of motives. In the struggle of motives, the will of a person is manifested, the purpose of the activity is formulated, which finds its expression in decision-making. Following the adoption of a decision, planning of activities to achieve the set goal follows, ways and means are determined. After that, the person proceeds to the execution of the planned actions.
It is necessary to distinguish between motives and volitional action! Motivation refers to the reasons that motivate a person to act. Motives are based on needs, emotions and feelings, interests and inclinations, and especially our worldview, our views, beliefs and ideals, which are formed in the process of educating a person.
Volitional and emotional regulation are often viewed as antagonists (when the will suppresses the emotional reaction or, on the contrary, the affect suppresses the will). Emotions and will in real behavior can act in different proportions. Each of these types of regulation individually has its drawbacks: excessive emotional regulation is uneconomical, wasteful, and can lead to overwork. Excessive volitional - can lead to a breakdown of higher nervous activity. Therefore, the personality should optimally combine emotional and volitional regulation.
4) Volitional qualities of a person
The volitional qualities of a person are considered as an alloy of innate and acquired, as a phenotypic characteristic of a person's capabilities. Volitional qualities combine the moral components of the will, which are formed in the process of education, and genetic ones, closely related to the typological features of the nervous system. For example, fear, the inability to endure fatigue for a long time, to quickly make a decision, to a greater extent depend on the innate characteristics of a person (strength and weakness of the nervous system, its lability).
To volitional qualitiesrelate:
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL to QUESTION 12. Placed in accordance with the paragraph of the plan
1) Will is a mental function that literally permeates all aspects of human life. In the content of volitional action, three main features are usually distinguished:
1. Volya provides purposefulness and orderliness of human activity. But the definition of S.R. Rubinshtein, “A volitional action is a conscious, purposeful action by which a person achieves the goal set for him, subordinating his impulses to conscious control and changing the surrounding reality in accordance with his plan.”
2. Will as a person's ability to self-regulate makes him relatively free from external circumstances, truly turns him into an active subject.
3. Volya is a person's conscious overcoming of difficulties on the way to the goal. Faced with obstacles, a person either refuses to act in the chosen direction, or increases efforts. to overcome the difficulties encountered.
3) Undervolitional regulation is understood as the intentionally exercised control of the urge to act, consciously taken out of necessity and performed by a person according to his own decision. . If it is necessary to inhibit a desirable but socially unapproved action, they mean not the regulation of the impulse to action, but the regulation of the action of abstinence.
The mechanisms of volitional regulation are: mechanisms for filling the deficit of motivation, making an effort of will and intentionally changing the meaning of actions.
Mechanisms for replenishing the deficit of motivation consist in strengthening weak, but socially more significant motivation through the evaluation of events and actions, as well as ideas about what benefits the achieved goal can bring. Strengthening motivation is associated with emotional revaluation of value based on the action of cognitive mechanisms. Cognitive psychologists paid special attention to the role of intellectual functions in making up for the deficit of motivation. Withcognitive Mechanisms are associated with the mediation of behavior by an internal intellectual plan, which performs the function of conscious regulation of behavior. The strengthening of motivational tendencies occurs due to the mental construction of the future situation. The anticipation of the positive and negative consequences of an activity evokes emotions associated with the achievement of a consciously set goal. These motives act as an additional motivation to the deficit motive.
Needmaking an effort determined by the severity of the situation.Willpower - this is a way by which difficulties are overcome in the process of committing a purposeful action; it provides the opportunity for the successful flow of activities and the achievement of previously set goals. This mechanism of volitional regulation is correlated with various types of self-stimulation, in particular with its speech form, withfrustration tolerance , with the search for positive experiences associated with the presence of obstacles. Usually, four forms of self-stimulation are distinguished: 1) a direct form in the form of self-orders, self-encouragement and self-hypnosis, 2) an indirect form in the form of creating images, ideas associated with achievement, 3) an abstract form in the form of building a system of reasoning, rationalizations and conclusions, 4) combined form as a combination of elements of the three previous forms.
A deliberate change in the meaning of actions is possible due to the fact that the need is not rigidly connected with the motive, and the motive is not unambiguously connected with the goals of the action. The meaning of activity, according to A.N. Leontiev, are in relation to the motive to the goal. The formation and development of motivation for action is possible not only due to the replenishment of the deficit of motivation (by connecting additional emotional experiences), but also due to a change in the meaning of activity. We can recall the experiments of Anita Karsten (K. Levin's school) on satiety. The subjects continued to perform the task without having instructions on when it could be completed, simply because they changed the meaning of the activity, reformulated the task. Work with meanings was the subject of V. Frankl's logotherapy. The search for such a meaning or its reformulation made it possible, according to V. Frankl's own observations, for the prisoners of the concentration camps to cope with inhuman difficulties and survive. “What was really needed in these circumstances was a change in our attitude towards life. We had to learn for ourselves and teach our desperate comrades that what really matters is not what we expect from life, but rather what life expects from us. We must stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead start thinking of ourselves as those to whom life is asking questions daily and hourly.Our answer should not be in talking and thinking, but in right action, and life means ultimately taking responsibility for finding the right answer to her problems and the tasks that she constantly sets for each individual"
A change in the meaning of activity usually occurs:
1) by reassessing the significance of the motive;
2) through a change in the role, position of a person (instead of a subordinate, become a leader, instead of a taker, a giver, instead of a desperate one, a desperate one);
3) with the help of reformulation and realization of meaning in the field of fantasy, imagination.
4) To volitional qualities include, for example,purposefulness, patience, perseverance, perseverance, courage, endurance, determination.
Endurance and self-control - the ability to restrain one's feelings and impulsive actions, the ability to control oneself and force one to perform a planned action.
purposefulness - conscious and active orientation of the individual to achieve a certain result of activity.
persistence - the desire of a person to achieve the goal in the most difficult conditions. Stubbornness is guidance not by the arguments of reason, but by personal desires, despite their failure.
Initiative - the ability to make attempts to implement the ideas that have arisen in a person.
Independence manifests itself in the ability to consciously make decisions and in the ability not to succumb to the influence of various factors that impede the achievement of the goal. Negativism is an unmotivated, unreasonable tendency to act contrary to other people, although reasonable considerations do not give grounds for such actions.
Determination - the absence of unnecessary hesitation and doubt in the struggle of motives, timely and quick decision-making. Impulsiveness - haste in making decisions, thoughtlessness of actions.
Subsequence - All actions follow from the same principle.
The will is formed in the course of the age development of a person. In a newborn child, reflex movements predominate. The first desires are very unstable. Only in the fourth year of life do desires acquire a more or less stable character. At the same age, for the first time, a struggle of motives is noted. For example, children 2 years old may choose between several possible actions. However, the choice made depending on the motives of the moral order becomes possible for children not earlier than the end of the third year of life.
THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF WILL
1. Heteronomic theories reduce volitional actions to complex mental processes of a non-volitional nature - associative and intellectual processes. So, for example, in studies devoted to memorization, an associative connection is established between objects A and B in such a way that if I hear A, then I reproduce B. But the reverse sequence also looks natural, i.e. if B, then A. In the first case, a person acts involuntarily, and in the second, where the law of reversibility of associations operates, arbitrarily. G. Ebbinghaus gives an example: a child instinctively, involuntarily reaches for food, establishing a connection between food and satiety. The reversibility of this connection is based on such a phenomenon, in which, having felt hunger, he will purposefully look for food. A similar example can be given from another area - personality psychology. So, Erich Fromm believed that when parents behave aggressively towards their child (by resorting to such a mechanism of "escape from freedom" as sadism), they often justify their behavior with the words: "I do this because I love you." The child establishes an associative link between punishment and the manifestation of love in the form of a verbal statement. Having matured, a boy or girl (according to the principle of reversibility of associations) will expect sadistic actions from their partner, who has made a declaration of love. This expectation will be purposeful.
According to Ebbinghaus, will is an instinct that arises on the basis of the reversibility of associations or on the basis of the so-called "sighted instinct" that is conscious of its goal.
For other heteronomous theories, volitional action is associated with a complex combination of intellectual mental processes (I. Herbart). It is assumed that impulsive behavior first arises, then on its basis an action developed on the basis of habit is actualized, and only after that - an action controlled by the mind, i.e. volitional action. According to this point of view, every act is volitional, because. every action is reasonable.
Heteronomic theories have advantages and disadvantages. Their merit is the inclusion of the factor of determinism in the explanation of the will. Thus, they oppose their point of view on the emergence of volitional processes to the point of view of spiritualistic theories, which believe that the will is a kind of spiritual force that is not amenable to any determination. The disadvantage of these theories is the assertion that the will is not substantial, has no content of its own and is updated only when necessary. Heteronomic theories of will do not explain the phenomena of arbitrariness of actions, the phenomenon of inner freedom, the mechanisms of formation of volitional action from non-volitional.
An intermediate place between heteronomous and autonomous theories of will is occupied by the affective theory of will by W. Wundt. Wundt sharply objected to attempts to derive the impulse to volitional action from intellectual processes. He explains the will with the concept of affect. The most essential for the emergence of the volitional process is the activity of external action, which is directly connected with internal experiences. In the simplest volitional act, Wundt singles out two moments: affect and the action associated with it. External actions are aimed at achieving the final result, while internal actions are aimed at changing other mental processes, including emotional ones.
2. Theories of autonomous will explain this mental phenomenon on the basis of the laws inherent in the volitional action itself. All theories of autonomous will can be divided into three groups:
motivational approach;
free choice approach;
regulatory approach.
Motivational Approach means that the will, one way or another, is explained using the categories of the psychology of motivation. In turn, it is divided into: 1) theories that understand the will as a superhuman, world force, 2) theories that consider the will as the initial moment of motivation for action, and 3) theories that understand the will as the ability to overcome obstacles.
Will as a world force embodied in man was the subject of research by E. Hartmann and A. Schopenhauer. Much has been said about Schopenhauer's pessimism. Here is the assessment given to the theory of A. Schopenhauer by L.I. Shestov: “Take at least Schopenhauer: it seems that in philosophical literature we will not find anyone who would so persistently and stubbornly prove the aimlessness of our life, but, on the other hand, I find it difficult to name a philosopher who could so temptingly seduce people with the mysterious charm of accessible and worlds inaccessible to us" (Shestov L.I., 1993, p. 281). Schopenhauer believed that the essence of everything is the will of the world. She is a completely irrational, blind, unconscious, aimless and, moreover, never ceasing or weakening impulse. It is universal and is the basis for everything that exists: it generates everything (through the process of objectification) and governs everything. Only by creating the world and looking into it, as in a mirror, does she get the opportunity to realize herself, first of all, in the fact that she is the will to live. The will that exists in every person is simply the objectification of the world will. This means that the doctrine of the world will is the original, and the doctrine of the human will is secondary, derivative. Schopenhauer presents different ways of getting rid of the will of the world. General is the position that all methods are realized through spiritual activity (cognitive, aesthetic, moral). It turns out that knowledge, aesthetic contemplation is able to get rid of "serving" the world will. He pays great attention to moral methods.
The same approximate understanding of the will as an active force that ensures the actions of a person was characteristic of G.I. Chelpanov. He believed that the soul has its own power to make choices and induce action. In the act of will, he singled out aspiration, desire and effort; later he began to associate the will with the struggle of motives.
Will as the initial moment of action motivation is the subject of research by various authors (T. Hobbes, T. Ribot, K. Levin). Common to all concepts is the position that the will has the ability to induce actions. T. Ribot added that it can not only encourage action, but also inhibit some undesirable actions. Kurt Lewin's identification of the incentive function of the will with a quasi-need as a mechanism for inducing intentional action led Western psychology to identify motivation and will. Lewin distinguished between volitional behavior, carried out in the presence of a special intention, and field behavior, performed in accordance with the logic (forces) of the field. In understanding the will, Levin invested mainly a dynamic aspect. This is an internal tension caused by some unfinished action. The implementation of volitional behavior is to relieve tension through certain actions - movements in the psychological environment (locomotion and communication).
Will as the ability to overcome obstacles was studied in the works of Yu. Kuhl, H. Hekhauzen, D.N. Uznadze, N. Akha, L.S. Vygotsky. In this case, will does not coincide with motivation, but is actualized in a difficult situation (in the presence of obstacles, struggle of motives, etc.), such an understanding of will is primarily associated with volitional regulation.
Yu. Kul connects volitional regulation with the presence of difficulties in the implementation of intentions. He distinguishes between intention and desire (motivation). Active intentional regulation is activated at the moment of the appearance of an obstacle or competing tendencies in the path of desire.
H. Hekhauzen identifies four stages of action motivation, which include different mechanisms - motivational and volitional. Motivation before making a decision correlates with the first stage, volitional effort with the second, the implementation of the action with the third, and assessment of the results of behavior with the fourth. Motivation determines the choice of action, and will - its strengthening and initiation.
D.N. Uznadze correlates the formation of the will with activities aimed at creating values independent of actual human needs. Satisfaction of an urgent need occurs with the help of impulsive behavior. Another type of behavior is not associated with the impulse of actual need and is called volitional. Volitional behavior differs, according to Uznadze, from impulsive behavior in that it has a period preceding the decision-making act. Behavior becomes volitional only through a motive that modifies behavior in such a way that the latter becomes acceptable to the subject.
Overcoming obstacles, according to N. Ahu, is possible with the actualization of volitional processes. Motivation and will are not the same. Motivation determines the general determination of the action, and the will strengthens the determination. In the act of will, two sides are distinguished: phenomenological and dynamic. Phenomenological includes such moments as 1) feeling of tension (figurative moment), 2) determining the purpose of the action and its relationship with the means (objective), 3) performing an internal action (actual), 4) experiencing difficulties, making an effort (moment of state) . The dynamic side of a volitional act is the realization, the embodiment of a motivated (volitional) action.
L.S. Vygotsky considers overcoming obstacles as one of the signs of will. As a mechanism for strengthening the impulse to action, he defines the operation of introducing an auxiliary motive (means). Such an additional motive can be a lot, counting for one, two, three, etc. In his early works, L.S. Vygotsky explains the arbitrary form of regulation of mental processes through the intentional organization of external stimuli. "If you make a child often do something on the account" one, two, three ", then he himself gets used to doing exactly the same as, for example, we do, rushing into the water. Often we know that we need something or do, say, following the example of W. James, get out of bed, but we don’t want to get up ... And at such moments, an offer to ourselves from the outside helps us get up ... and we imperceptibly find ourselves getting up "(Vygotsky L.S. ., 1982, p. 465). In later works, he changes his view of the will, using the concept of semantic formations of consciousness, which, if the semantic emphasis is changed in them, can strengthen / weaken the impulse to action. In his opinion, the trend that is found when performing meaningless assignments is interesting. It consists in the fact that by creating a new situation, making changes in the psychological field, come to its comprehension.
We have considered one of the directions in the study of the will - the motivational approach. Its advantage was the study of the will as an independent mental phenomenon, the disadvantages are that the explanation of the mechanisms of the emergence of the will did not have a specific source: they proceeded either from teleological interpretations, or from natural sciences, or from cause-and-effect interpretations.
Free Choice Approach consists in the correlation of volitional processes with the problem of making a choice, with a situation in which any person often finds himself. I. Kant was interested in the issue of compatibility, on the one hand, the determinism of behavior, and on the other, freedom of choice. The causality of the material world was compared by him with the determinism of behavior, and morality assumed freedom of choice. The will becomes free when it is subjected to the moral law. "In short, the paradox of free will is resolved, or rather, it is eliminated in Kant's system very simply. The desire of the Will for self-destruction exists only in the world of phenomena. But in this world there is no freedom, there is no free will, therefore, the latter has no responsibility for this paradox cannot bear (and in fact it turns out to be nothing more than an appearance.) As for the world where it lives - the world of things in themselves - then it is dominated by the "law of duty", which categorically prevents one free will in any way limited, and even more so destroyed the other "(Nikitin E.P., Kharlamenkova N.E. The Phenomenon of Human Self-affirmation. St. Petersburg: Aleteyya, 2000. P. 13).
In addition to the philosophical point of view, there are a number of psychological interpretations of the will in line with the problem of free choice. Thus, W. James believed that the main function of the will is to make a decision about the action in the presence of two or more ideas. In such a situation, the main feat of the will is to direct consciousness to an attractive object. Choice as one of the functions of the will is also considered by S.L. Rubinstein (Rubinstein S.L. Fundamentals of General Psychology. M., 1946.).
Regulatory Approach correlates the will not with certain contents, but with the function to exercise control, management and self-regulation. M.Ya. Basov understood will as a mental mechanism through which a person regulates his mental functions. Volitional effort is defined as a subjective expression of a regulative volitional function. The will is deprived of the ability to generate mental or other actions, but it regulates them, showing up in attention. According to K. Levin, the will can really exercise control over affects and actions. This fact was proved by many experiments conducted in his school.
Studies of the regulation of mental processes, carried out within the framework of the problem of will, gave rise to a completely independent direction in psychology, dealing with the problem of self-regulation of the individual. Despite the close connection with the will and volitional processes, the subject of research in this area of psychological knowledge is the techniques and methods of regulating behavior, states and feelings.
The value of volitional effort in volitional action and factors affecting its intensity
3. Characteristics and types of willpower
Volitional effort can have a different degree of severity, both in intensity and duration. This degree characterizes the willpower shown by this or that person.
Volitional effort is also characterized by such a property as lability (mobility). This property is clearly manifested in voluntary attention and lies in the ability of a person, when necessary, to intensify attention, and when possible, to weaken its intensity. The inability to relax attention leads to rapid mental fatigue and, in the end, to inattention. The same can be said about voluntary contraction and relaxation of muscles. Volitional effort is also characterized by directionality, in connection with which there are such functions as activation and inhibition (starting and stopping in the presence of external and internal resistance, strengthening and weakening, acceleration and deceleration). In different situations, a person uses different characteristics of volitional effort to varying degrees: in one case, he makes a maximum of volitional effort once, in another, he maintains volitional effort of a certain intensity for a long time, in the third, he slows down reactions.
Types of willpower.
Volitional effort can be not only physical, but also intellectual. I will give a description of the intellectual volitional effort made by the famous parapsychologist V. Messing: “I need to gather all my strength, intensify all my abilities, concentrate all my will, like an athlete before a jump, like a hammer before hitting with a heavy sledgehammer. My work is no easier than that of a hammerer and sportsman. And those who have been to my psychological experiments, sometimes saw drops of sweat appearing on my forehead.
Intellectual volitional efforts are made by a person, for example, when he reads a complex written text, trying to understand what the author wanted to say. The tension of the athlete's attention at the start, when he is waiting for a signal to start running, can also be attributed to this type of volitional effort.
P. A. Rudik (1967) distinguished the following types of volitional efforts:
1. Volitional efforts with muscle tension. Performing physical exercises is almost always associated with volitional efforts. The athlete is motivated to these efforts by the need to perform in the process of physical exercises greater or lesser, but always exceeding normal muscle tension, to perform in a variety of conditions and exactly when it is needed. Being numerous and often repeated, such muscle tensions, even insignificant in their intensity, have a great influence on the formation of the athlete's ability to expend volitional efforts. That is why any educational and training activity that requires concentration of attention is at the same time an exercise in educating the athlete's ability to volitional efforts. Of great importance in this case is the fight against distraction, when certain external stimuli, feelings or ideas tend to completely fill our consciousness with themselves and thereby distract us from the work being done. By adjusting the difficulty of tasks that require attention from those involved, the coach thereby educates them in their ability to volitional efforts.
2. Volitional efforts associated with overcoming fatigue and feelings of fatigue. In this case, volitional efforts are directed to overcome muscle inertia, lethargy, sometimes despite a peculiar sensation of pain in the muscles.
3. Volitional efforts with the tension of attention. The psychological feature of voluntary attention is its accompaniment by experiencing more or less volitional effort, tension, and prolonged maintenance of voluntary attention causes fatigue, often even more than physical stress.
4. Volitional efforts associated with overcoming the feeling of fear and risk. Their feature is a strong emotional saturation, since they are sent to fight negative emotional states: fear, timidity, confusion, embarrassment, etc.
5. Volitional efforts associated with the observance of the regime can be extremely diverse. Compliance with the regime, especially in the initial period of training, when the habit of it has not yet been developed, always requires significant efforts aimed at forcing yourself to start this type of exercise exactly at the set time and maintain the required work intensity throughout the entire time allotted for this lesson. A feature of the efforts associated with the observance of the regime is their relatively calm, emotionally, character. They allow various forms of changing classes and a detailed dosage in terms of the amount of material, the speed of work, its duration, etc. All this, in the capable hands of the coach, turns this kind of tension into an excellent means of cultivating the ability to volitional efforts.
Adhering to this principle of classification of volitional efforts, it would be necessary to say about the volitional effort associated with overcoming indecision, fear of possible failure, etc.
B. N. Smirnov singled out mobilizing and organizing volitional efforts. Mobilizing volitional efforts contribute to overcoming obstacles in the event of physical and psychological difficulties and are implemented using methods of mental self-regulation such as verbal influences:
self-encouragement, self-persuasion, self-order, self-prohibition, etc. All of them, as the mentioned author wrote, are methods of self-mobilization of volitional efforts.
Organizing volitional efforts are manifested in technical, tactical and psychological difficulties in overcoming obstacles and are realized through the use of another group of methods of mental self-regulation. Namely, various types of arbitrary focus of attention on control over the situation and one's own actions are used; counteraction to distracting factors (suppression of involuntary attention); ideomotor training; control of muscle relaxation; regulation of breathing; observation of the opponent; solving tactical problems, etc. The main purpose of organizing volitional efforts is the optimization of the mental state, the coordination of movements and actions, and the economical use of forces.
With such a wide range of functions performed by the organizing volitional effort (this includes everything that is not related to mobilization), there is a doubt: is the performance of all these control actions really associated with volitional tension, and not with a volitional impulse and simply drawing attention to the task being solved; Isn't a simple command to start this or that action taken as an effort of will?
In various concrete conditions, the efforts of will we manifest will differ in intensity. This is due to the fact that the intensity of volitional efforts, first of all, depends on both external and internal obstacles that the implementation of volitional action encounters. However, in addition to situational factors, there are relatively stable factors that determine the intensity of volitional efforts. These include the following:
1. The worldview of a person is a complex of generalized ideas (views) of a given person about the world around him and himself, about his place in the world, his relationship to the surrounding reality and to himself.
2. Moral stability of the individual. It is about the responsibility or irresponsibility of a person.
3. The degree of social significance of the goals set (for example, an athlete at regional and international competitions will make various efforts).
4. Attitudes towards activities (For example, students at school are given homework to read a paragraph, or prepare for this paragraph for independent work; it is obvious that in the second case, the percentage of probability of reading this paragraph will be greater).
5. The level of self-government and self-organization of the individual.
All these factors are formed in the process of human development, his formation as a person and characterize the level of development of the volitional sphere.
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Selivanov V.I. Education of the will in conditions of connectionlearningwith industrial work. - M.: Higher school, 1980. - S. 13 - 21
A person is able to deliberately dispose of his energy resources in order to achieve success in his activities. When encountering difficulties, this happens with the help of volitional efforts. Volitional effort manifests itself every time the subject discovers a lack of energy necessary to achieve the goal, consciously mobilizes himself to bring his activity in line with the obstacles encountered that must be overcome in order to achieve success. Observations and special experiments point to the enormous effectiveness of volitional efforts in human activity.
Science rejects the primitive idea of volitional effort only as a means of increasing mental tension. Nothing good comes from the work of a person when he works only in an exhausting mode. With such “regulation”, harmful consequences for the body (overwork, neuroses, etc.), a sharp decrease in working capacity, and the appearance of negative emotional states are inevitable.
A developed will presupposes an economical expenditure of neuropsychic energy, when conscious impulses are directed not only to intensify and accelerate processes, but, if necessary, to weaken or slow them down. It is a strong-willed person who can disconnect from annoying interference, force himself to rest or sleep at the right time, while a weak-willed person does not know how to deal with his passivity and his mental overstrain.
But not every human effort is volitional. A distinction must be made between intentional and unintentional efforts. An effort of will is only a deliberate effort, when the subject is clearly aware of the actions, sees the difficulties that impede the achievement of this goal, deliberately fights them, consciously causing the necessary tension aimed at regulating the process of activity (intensification - weakening, acceleration - deceleration, etc. .).
An unintentional effort can be primary (unconditionally reflex) and secondary (habitual, but little conscious, which is formed in a person when a deliberate, i.e. volitional, effort is repeated). When a person learns a particular skill, then in the first exercises he keeps all operations under volitional control. At the same time, volitional efforts find expression in external reactions - in the tension of the muscles of the body, in facial expressions, in speech. As the skill becomes automated, the effort of will is, as it were, curtailed and encoded. And then only one conscious-volitional impulse of a small force is already enough for a person, expressed, for example, in the form of the words “this” or “should” flashed in his head, or even an interjection, to change something in his work. When solving a habitual task, the difficulty may turn out to be greater than that, the overcoming of which is enshrined in behavioral stereotypes. In this case, there is a conscious mobilization of activity, i.e., the transition of little conscious (secondary) efforts into conscious, volitional ones.
There is no action without motivation. With an increase in the significance and strength of the motive, the ability of the individual to mobilize volitional efforts increases. But these concepts should not be identified. The strength of certain motives often creates only a general tension caused by the dissatisfaction of one or another need. This is also found outside of activity in the form, for example, of vague anxiety, anxiety, emotions of suffering, etc. Willpower is manifested only with the conscious "regulation of behavior and activity, when choosing a goal, making a decision, planning, and performing itself. We will say about willpower: it is that by means of which action is carried out in difficult conditions.
The importance of volitional effort in human life is great. But no one is acting for him. It is most often emotionally unpleasant. Volitional effort is only a necessary means of realizing the motive and goal. Willpower lends itself well to exercise. In accordance with this, psychologists often define will as the ability to consciously overcome difficulties on the way to a goal. As for motives, the situation with their formation and exercise is much more complicated. For the purposes of education, it is important to assimilate not only the idea of the unity of motivation and will, but also the idea of their difference, non-coincidence.
Volitional action, its structure. The main form of manifestation of human activity is his labor activity. In the structure of labor and any other activity, its individual "units" - actions - are distinguished.
Action- this is a complete set of movements and mental operations, completed in time and space, united by a single consciously set goal. A person makes a thing, plants a tree, solves an algebraic problem - all these are actions in which the relationship between the mental and the material is clearly represented, the regulation of the process of activity by consciousness. Actions can be individual and collective, on their own initiative and on the instructions of other people. Along with the term "action" in psychology, the term "deed" is also used.
deed usually called an action in which a person's conscious attitude to other people, society is expressed, requiring a moral or legal assessment.
As we have seen, not all actions are volitional. The criterion for classifying some actions as involuntary, and others as volitional, is not the absence or presence of a conscious goal, but the absence or presence of a person’s conscious struggle with difficulties on the way to achieving the goal. In impulsive or long-rehearsed, stereotyped actions, there is no such struggle with difficulties. A person who often has impulsive or affective actions is rightly called weak-willed. They will also call the weak-willed one who is “stuck” in the routine of habitual actions and is no longer capable of initiative and creativity.
The emergence of a motive for action, awareness of it, the "struggle" of motives, setting a goal and making a decision - the content of the first stage of the volitional process. The second stage is the choice of means to achieve the goal, planning the identified possible ways to achieve this goal. It is an important intermediate link between goal setting and execution. The third stage - execution - includes the implementation of the goal and plan in practice, as well as the evaluation of the result.
All stages of the volitional process are interconnected. The motive and purpose are somehow represented in the mind of a person throughout the action, volitional effort is a necessary component of all three stages of volitional action.
When performing a task, the formation of the individual's own goal of action is mediated by a ready-made goal, introduced from outside in the form of a demand, instruction, recommendation, order, etc.
The system of tasks teaches a person in childhood to volitional regulation of his behavior. Setting a goal in an initiative action is not formed spontaneously, but under the influence of learning this in given actions.
An initiative volitional action is always an electoral act. This introduces its own specifics into the first stage of these actions - goal setting. A person now must not only be aware of the consequences of his possible actions, but also be aware of and evaluate motives: whether they encourage a person to be active in the aspect of his leading needs and aspirations, or, on the contrary, undermine them. The evaluative function of the mind during actions on assignment can still be shifted to the manager to some extent. With an initiative action, a person must decide everything himself from beginning to end. Setting a goal in such actions is associated with great internal difficulties, fluctuations and conflicts between motives. In the process of the transition of desire into a categorical desire and the intention “I will do this,” the consciousness is hard at work assessing and selecting motives.
Whether the process of setting a goal proceeds without contradictions or in the presence of a conflict of motives, it ends with a decision. With a positive decision, the volitional action develops further and the person proceeds from goal setting to the second stage - to mental planning of execution.
Mental planning is always the disclosure of the goal in a specific body of knowledge of all those conditions that ensure its implementation in the very process of activity. This equally applies to every action and deed of a person. If the situation is well known, then usually there is no special execution plan. All habitual actions (to wash, have breakfast, go shopping) are performed by motivation alone, only because the conditions for these actions are always present, and the plan for their implementation has long been memorized, therefore, the need for a new plan disappears. But as soon as these conditions change, there is immediately an urgent need for a plan.
In objective reality, there are various possibilities for performing the same action. They have various execution plan options associated with them. These options may conflict with each other. In the process of this internal “struggle”, the final plan is developed, according to which we act. When planning collective action, creative, critical discussion takes place publicly. As a result of collective work, a plan is adopted that most fully meets the task and the possibilities for solving it.
Planning in complex actions is not only a mental, but also a volitional process. So, in order to: 1) think over a particular plan of action, a strong-willed impulse and effort are needed; 2) choose one of several options for the plan, you need to find decisiveness and apply effort; 3) to prevent the hasty adoption of the plan, restraint should be shown (strong-willed efforts are also needed to stop fruitless hesitation and slowness); 4) do not deviate from a good plan, you need to show perseverance, perseverance, etc.
Foresight is not only knowledge, reasonable calculation, but also volitional activity aimed at finding the best way to achieve the goal.
Goal setting and planning are not given to a person without a struggle. But in these preliminary stages of action, the struggle against difficulties has only just begun. Bringing an action to a successful conclusion depends on overcoming the difficulties of execution, no matter how great they may be. Often we meet such people who set high goals for themselves, develop good plans, but as soon as it comes to overcoming the difficulties of implementation, then their complete failure is revealed. Such people are rightly called weak-willed. By the ability to overcome difficulties, by the fulfillment of the intended goal, one judges the degree of development of the will. That is why the main characteristic of the will is the ability of a person to overcome the difficulties and obstacles that stand in the way of achieving the goal.
Execution can be expressed not only in the form of external active actions of a person, but also in the form of a delay, inhibition of unnecessary movements that contradict the chain. In many cases, performance in a complex volitional act can be expressed in the form of external inaction. One must distinguish between acts of active action and acts of refraining from action. Often, inhibition, delay in actions and movements require a greater effort of will from a person than a dangerous active action. Consequently, a strong-willed person is characterized not only by action that actively overcomes an external obstacle, but also by endurance, which actively overcomes internal obstacles in the name of the goal, delaying unnecessary or harmful thoughts, feelings and movements. The task of educating the will is to teach a person to manage himself in any conditions, not to lose control over his behavior.
Volitional processes. In order to do a good job, you need to accurately perceive and evaluate information, be attentive, think, remember, recall, etc.
All mental processes are divided into two groups - involuntary and arbitrary. When it is required not just to look or listen, but to peer and listen in order to better understand and remember specific information, then in all such cases we are forced to mobilize strong-willed efforts, otherwise we will not achieve success. An operator in production cannot rely only on his knowledge and skills, he must be extremely attentive in order to correctly identify the signals of control and measuring instruments, timely and quickly determine the causes of damage, make decisions on troubleshooting, etc. Those mental processes that are not carried out only consciously, but with sufficiently pronounced efforts of the individual, are called volitional processes.
Of course, even complex work cannot be carried out without the participation of involuntary, involuntary processes. It is known that voluntary attention is one of the most tiring mental functions. The protective mode for attention is created in various ways, including interest and external stimuli that switch it to involuntary attention without prejudice to the case. But something else is also known: without a sufficient development of voluntary, volitional attention, there can be no productive, let alone creative, activity.
Volitional states. These are temporary mental states of the individual, which are favorable internal conditions for overcoming emerging difficulties and achieving success in activity. These include states of optimism and general activity, mobilization readiness, interest, determination, etc. In these states, the connection of will with emotions. Actions and deeds performed intelligently, but with an emotional, passionate passion, are the most successful. But some emotional states can reduce or even block the volitional activity of the individual. These include states of apathy and excessive mental tension (stress). Stresses also arise in the conditions of labor activity (when managing complex units in production, overcoming information overload in mental work, etc.). They are stimulated by such general factors accompanying scientific and technological progress as the acceleration of the pace of life, rapid changes in social conditions, etc.
