The process of ontogeny is determined by successive changes in the organism from lower levels of vital activity to higher levels. There is a structural and functional improvement of the individual.
Исследования онтогенеза проводятся в рамках several scientific disciplines. So, for example, morphophysiological ontogeny (the formation of the organism) is the object of study of biological science. In turn, mental and social ontogeny is studied in various fields of psychology (psychogenetics, age and child psychology, social and pedagogical psychology).
Термин "филогенез" (греч."phyle" - "species, genus, tribe," and "genos" - "origin") is used to refer to the process of appearance and historical development of a species. In psychological science, this development of the psyche of animals in the process of evolution, as well as the evolution of the forms of human consciousness.
The concept of "ontogenesis" has a more particular meaning.It is (in psychology) the process of development of the psyche of the individual. In this case, we are talking about the permanent nature of development - from the birth of a person to the time of his death. The concepts of philo- and ontogeny are borrowed from biology by biology, the German biologist E. Haeckel is their author.
On the basis of these concepts, together with F.Mueller, Haeckel formulates the biogenetic law (1866). According to him, each individual in the process of individual development (ontogeny) in a brief form passes through all stages of development of its species (phylogenesis).
Subsequently, the biogenetic law wasserious criticism from the scientific community. For example, as a counterargument, the Scientific Council of the University of Jena indicates the fact that the human embryo lacks a tail and gill slits. Despite the support of biogenetic law by Charles Darwin (who declared him the main proof of his evolutionary theory), the idea was regarded by the Academic Council as insolvent, and its author was accused of scientific fraud.
Nevertheless, the biogenetic law and actuallythe idea of recapitulation (the Latin "recapitalatio" - "a condensed, brief repetition of the former before") had a significant influence on the development of biological science, including the development of evolutionary ideas. Its influence biogenetic law had on the development of psychology. In the ontogenesis of the individual psyche, the role played by the experience of previous generations can not help but play a role.
A separate fundamental psychologicalthe problem is the question of which factors are the leading factors in the development of the psyche that condition its ontogeny. This in psychology is defined by the concept of the driving forces of mental development. There are two main approaches to solving this problem - biogenetic (natural) and sociogenetic (social).
Supporters of the first direction emphasizedgenetic factor (heredity), considering it leading in the process of individual development of the psyche. Accordingly, the role of the social factor has been minimized. Among the most famous representatives of the biogenetic approach - R. Descartes, M-F. Rousseau, G. Spencer, S. Hall, D. Baldwin.
The opposite, sociogenetic approach inAs the driving forces of mental development, the social factor - the role of the social environment - was singled out. Man, thus, acts as a product of external (mediated) influence. The importance of the heredity of the individual was ignored by supporters of this approach. Representatives - J. Locke, E. Durkheim, P. Janet.
Also, attempts were made to combine bothfactor - hereditary and social - to explain the psychological specifics of the concept of "ontogeny." This in psychology turned into a third direction - the theory of two factors. The first researcher was V. Stern, who formulated the principle of the convergence of two factors. According to this principle, the hereditary line in the development of personality intersects with the line, conditioned by its social environment (convergence takes place).
Accordingly, the ontogeny of human psychologyis carried out in the process of merging the internal and external conditions of the functioning of the psyche. For example, the innate instinct of the game will determine how and when the child will play. In turn, the material and process conditions will be determined by the actual external environment.
Special methods were needed to identify the specific relationship between external and internal factors that determine ontogeny. In developmental psychology, it is a twin method.
The twin method was based on a comparativeanalysis of the mental development of mono- and dizygotic twins. It was understood that if dizygotic twins (DZ - different heredity) develop in different social conditions in different ways, hence, the genetic factor is decisive. If development is approximately on the same qualitative level, the social factor is the main one. With monozygotic twins (MZ - the same heredity), the situation is similar. Subsequently, the coefficients of differences between DZ- and M3-twins living in different / identical conditions are compared. The twin method is actively used in psychogenetics.
Thus, the psychology of personality development in ontogeny, according to the theory of convergence, is due to two axes:
For example, the famous British psychologist G. Eysenck considered intellect as a derivative of the external environment by 80%, and internal (hereditary) - only by 20%.
The disadvantage of the two-factor theory of developmentpersonality is considered its limitation, arising as a result of the mechanical addition of hereditary and social indicators. In turn, ontogeny is (in psychology) a more complex process, not reducible only to mathematical calculations. It is important to consider not only their quantitative ratio, but also the qualitative specifics. In addition, in such laws there is always room for individual differences.
What is it - ontogeny - in terms ofpsychoanalysis? If in the previous theory we observed the convergence (convergence) of the axes of hereditary and social elements, then in the theory of Freud the reverse process occurs. These factors are considered from the position of confrontation, the source of which is the discrepancy between the aspirations of the natural, instinctive component of the personality ("Id", "It" is unconscious) and social ("Super Ego", "Super-I" - conscience, moral standards).
When the individual is driven by hidden drives anddesire, this is a manifestation of his natural, unconscious structure. Attempt to control these aspirations, reject them, condemnation, attempts to oust them from memory is the work of the social component of the individual (the internalized system of values, norms and rules of behavior, formed by the individual under the influence of the social environment).
This theory has also been repeatedly criticized by the scientific community, first of all, for the sharp contrast between the biological and social components of the human personality.
Returning to the idea of recapitulation (biogeneticlaw), considered by us above, it is possible to note similar moments in the analytical psychology of the Swiss psychologist K.G. Cabin boy. This is the theory of the collective unconscious. Just as E. Haeckel saw in ontogenesis a brief repetition of phylogenesis, Jung views the individual as the bearer of the psychic experience of previous generations.
The introduction of the category of activity, in the opinion ofdomestic psychologist DB Elkonin, allows to a certain extent to solve the problem of identifying the dominant factors in the ontogeny of the psyche. The development process is, first of all, the activity of the subject himself, conditioned by his objective activity.
