general characteristics imagination. Functions of the imagination. Types of imagination. Imagination and creativity.

Imagination - special shape human psyche, standing separately from other mental processes and at the same time occupying an intermediate position between perception, thinking and memory.

Thanks to imagination, a person creates, intelligently plans and manages his activities. Almost all human material and spiritual culture is a product of people's imagination and creativity. Imagination takes a person beyond his immediate existence, reminds him of the past, and opens up the future. Possessing a rich imagination, a person can “live” in different times, which no other living creature in the world can afford. The past is recorded in memory images, arbitrarily resurrected by an effort of will, the future is presented in dreams and fantasies.

Imagination is the basis of visual-figurative thinking, allowing a person to navigate a situation and solve problems without the direct intervention of practical actions. It helps him in many ways in those cases of life when practical actions are either impossible, or difficult, or simply impractical (undesirable).

From perception Imagination is different in that its images do not always correspond to reality; they contain elements of fantasy and fiction. If the imagination draws to consciousness such pictures that nothing or little corresponds in reality, then it is called fantasy. If, in addition, the imagination is aimed at the future, it is called a dream.

Imagination can be of four main types: active, passive, productive and reproductive. Active imagination characterized by the fact that, using it, a person at will, by an effort of will, evokes the corresponding images. Images passive imagination arise spontaneously, regardless of the will and desire of a person. Productive imagination differs in that in it reality is consciously constructed by man, and not simply mechanically copied or recreated. But at the same time, she is still creatively transformed in the image. IN reproductive imagination the task is to reproduce reality as it is, and although there is also an element of fantasy here, such imagination is more reminiscent of perception or memory than creativity.

The phenomenon of imagination in the practical activities of people is, first of all, associated with the process artistic creativity. The source of any direction in art can only be life, which also acts as the primary basis for fantasy. But no imagination is capable of inventing something that a person would not know.

Most often, the creative process in art is associated with active imagination: before capturing any image on paper, canvas or sheet music, the artist creates it in his imagination, making conscious volitional efforts to do so. Less often, the impulse of the creative process becomes passive imagination, since “spontaneous” images, independent of the will of the artist, are most often the product of the subconscious work of the creator, hidden from him.

The work of the human imagination, of course, is not limited to literature and art. It manifests itself to no lesser extent in scientific, technical, and other types of creativity. In all these cases fantasy how a type of imagination plays a positive role.

But there are other types of imagination. This - dreams, hallucinations, daydreams And dreams.

Dreams can be classified as passive and involuntary forms of imagination. Their true role in human life has not yet been established, although it is known that in human dreams many vital needs are expressed and satisfied, which, for a number of reasons, cannot be realized in life.

Hallucinations are called fantastic visions that apparently have almost no connection with surrounding a person reality. Usually they are the result of certain mental or bodily disorders and accompany many painful conditions.

Dreams unlike hallucinations - this is quite normal mental condition, which is a fantasy associated with a desire, most often a somewhat idealized future.

Dream It differs from a dream in that it is somewhat more realistic and more closely related to reality, that is, it is, in principle, feasible. Dreams and daydreams occupy a fairly large part of a person's time, especially in youth. For most people, dreams are pleasant thoughts about the future. Some also experience disturbing visions that generate feelings of anxiety, guilt, and aggressiveness.

Functions of the imagination. People dream so much because their minds cannot be idle. It continues to function even when it does not enter the human brain. new information when it doesn't solve any problems. It is at this time that the imagination begins to work.

In human life, imagination performs a series of specific functions. First one of them is to represent reality in images and be able to use them when solving problems. This function of imagination is connected with thinking and is organically included in it. Second function imagination is to regulate emotional states. With the help of his imagination, a person is able to at least partially satisfy many needs and relieve the tension generated by them. This is vital important function especially emphasized and developed in psychoanalysis. Third function imagination is associated with its participation in voluntary regulation cognitive processes and human states, in particular perception, attention, memory, speech, emotions. With the help of skillfully evoked images, a person can pay attention to the necessary events. Through images, he gains the opportunity to control perceptions, memories, and statements. Fourth function imagination consists in the formation of an internal plan of action - the ability to carry them out in the mind, manipulating images. Finally, fifth function- this is planning and programming activities, drawing up such programs, assessing their correctness, and the implementation process.

With the help of imagination, we can control many psychophysiological states of the body and tune it to upcoming activities.

With help special exercises and techniques you can develop your imagination. In creative types of work - science, literature, art, engineering, etc. - the development of imagination naturally occurs in the pursuit of these types of activities. IN autogenic training the desired result is achieved through a special system of exercises that are aimed at learning to relax through willpower separate groups muscles, arbitrarily increase or decrease pressure and body temperature.

A person’s imagination acts as a reflection of the properties of his personality, his psychological state V this moment time. It is known that the product of creativity, its content and form well reflect the personality of the creator. This fact has found wide application in psychology, especially in the creation of psychodiagnostic personal techniques. Personality tests of the projective type are based on the so-called projection mechanism, according to which a person in his imagination tends to attribute his personal qualities and states to other people. Swiping on special system a meaningful analysis of the fantasy products of the subjects; the psychologist, on its basis, judges the personality of the person to whom these products belong.

NOU "MURMANSK HUMANITIES INSTITUTE"

PSYCHOLOGY FACULTY

EXTRAMURAL

TEST

IN GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY

TOPIC: PRESENTATION. IMAGINATION.

Completed by: STUDENT

2 COURSES, FTA PSYCHOLOGY

CORRESPONDENCE BRANCH

BORODKINA I.N.

Checked by: TEACHER

SEMENOVA M.A.

Murmansk 2009

Introduction

The concept of representation, mechanisms for the emergence of representations

Main characteristics of views

View Functions

Classification and types of representations

View Operations

The concept of imagination, mechanisms of the imagination process

Physiological basis of imagination

The role of imagination in human life

Types of imagination

Operations of the imagination

Imagination and creativity

Conclusion

Literature

Introduction

We receive primary information about the world around us through sensation and perception. The excitement that arises in our senses does not disappear without a trace at the very moment when the effect of stimuli on them ceases. After this, so-called sequential images appear and persist for some time. However, the role of these images for mental life person is relatively small. Much more important is the fact that even after long time after we have perceived an object, the image of this object can be again - accidentally or intentionally - evoked by us. This phenomenon is called "performance".

The concept of representation, mechanisms for the emergence of representations

Representation is the mental process of reflecting objects or phenomena that are not currently perceived, but are recreated on the basis of our previous experience.

The basis of representation is the perception of objects that took place in the past. Several types of representations can be distinguished. Firstly, these are representations of memory, i.e. representations that arose on the basis of our direct perception in the past of any object or phenomenon. Secondly, these are ideas of the imagination. At first glance, this type of representation does not correspond to the definition of the concept of “representation”, because in the imagination we display something that we have never seen, but this is only at first glance. Representations of the imagination are formed on the basis of information received in past perceptions and its more or less creative processing. The richer the past experience, the brighter and more complete the corresponding idea can be.

Ideas do not arise on their own, but as a result of our practical activity. At the same time, the representations have great value not only for the processes of memory or imagination, - they are extremely important for all mental processes that provide cognitive activity person. Processes of perception, thinking, writing are always associated with ideas, just like memory, which stores information and thanks to which ideas are formed.

Main characteristics of views

Representations have their own characteristics. First of all, representations are characterized by clarity . Representations are sensory-visual images of reality, and this is their closeness to images of perception. But perceptual images are a reflection of those objects of the material world that are perceived at the moment, while representations are reproduced and processed images of objects that were perceived in the past.

The next characteristic of representations is fragmentation. The representations are full of gaps, some parts and features are presented vividly, others are very vague, and still others are completely absent. For example, when we imagine someone's face, we clearly and distinctly reproduce only individual features, those on which, as a rule, we fixed our attention.

No less significant characteristic ideas is their instability and impermanence. Thus, any evoked image, be it an object or someone’s image, will disappear from the field of your consciousness, no matter how hard you try to hold it. And you will have to make another effort to evoke it again. In addition, representations are very fluid and changeable. First one and then another detail of the reproduced image comes to the foreground.

It should be noted that ideas are not just visual images of reality, but are always, to a certain extent, generalized images. This is their proximity to concepts. Generalization occurs not only in those representations that relate to a whole group of similar objects (the idea of a chair in general, the idea of a cat in general, etc.), but also in the representations of specific objects. We see every object familiar to us more than once, and each time we form some new image of this object, but when we evoke in our consciousness an idea of this object, the image that arises is always of a generalized nature.

Our ideas are always the result of a generalization of individual images of perception. The degree of generalization contained in a presentation may vary. Representations characterized by a high degree of generalization are called general representations.

View Functions

Representation, like any other cognitive process, performs a number of functions in the mental regulation of human behavior. Most researchers identify three main functions: signaling, regulating and tuning.

The essence of the signaling function of ideas is to reflect in each specific case not only the image of an object that previously influenced our senses, but also diverse information about this object, which, under the influence of specific influences, is transformed into a system of signals that control behavior.

The regulatory function of ideas is closely related to their signaling function and consists in the selection of the necessary information about an object or phenomenon that previously influenced our senses. Moreover, this choice is not made abstractly, but taking into account real conditions upcoming activities.

The next function of views is customization. It manifests itself in the orientation of human activity depending on the nature of the influences environment. So, studying physiological mechanisms voluntary movements, I.P. Pavlov showed that the emerging motor image ensures the adjustment of the motor apparatus to perform the appropriate movements. The tuning function of representations provides a certain training effect of motor representations, which contributes to the formation of an algorithm of our activity. Thus, ideas play a very significant role in the mental regulation of human activity.

Classification and types of representations

Since ideas are based on past perceptual experience, the main classification of ideas is based on the classification of types of sensation and perception. Therefore, it is customary to highlight the following types representations: visual, auditory, motor (kinesthetic), tactile, olfactory, gustatory, temperature and organic.

Representations can be classified according to the following signs: 1) according to their content; from this point of view, we can talk about mathematical, geographical, technical, musical, etc. ideas; 2) by the degree of generalization; from this point of view we can talk about private and general ideas. In addition, the classification of ideas can be carried out based on the degree of manifestation of volitional efforts.

Most of the ideas we have are related to visual perception. Characteristic feature visual representations is that in some cases they are extremely specific and convey all the visible qualities of objects: color, shape, volume.

In area auditory ideas Speech and musical performances are of utmost importance. In turn, speech representations can also be divided into several subtypes: phonetic representations and timbre-intonation speech representations. The essence of musical ideas lies mainly in the idea of the relationship between sounds in pitch and duration, since a musical melody is determined precisely by pitch and rhythmic relationships.

Another class of representations is motor representations. By the nature of their occurrence, they differ from visual and auditory ones, since they are never a simple reproduction of past sensations, but are always associated with current sensations. Every time we imagine the movement of any part of our body, a weak contraction of the corresponding muscles occurs. It has been experimentally proven that whenever we motorically imagine pronouncing a word, instruments record a contraction in the muscles of the tongue, lips, larynx, etc. Consequently, without motor ideas we would hardly be able to use speech and communicate with each other it would be impossible.

It is necessary to dwell on one more, very important, type of representation - spatial representations. The term "spatial representations" is applied to those cases in which the spatial form and placement of objects are clearly represented, but the objects themselves may be represented very vaguely. As a rule, these representations are so schematic and colorless that at first glance the term “visual image” does not apply to them. However, they still remain images - images of space, since they convey one side of reality - the spatial arrangement of things - with complete clarity. Spatial representations are mainly visuomotor representations, and sometimes the visual component comes to the fore, sometimes the motor component.

Along with perception, memory and thinking, imagination plays an important role in human activity. In the process of reflecting the surrounding world, a person, along with the perception of what is acting on him at the moment, or the visual representation of what influenced him before, creates new images.

Imagination is the mental process of creating something new in the form of an image, idea or idea..

A person can mentally imagine something that he did not perceive or do in the past, he may have images of objects and phenomena that he had not encountered before. Being closely connected with thinking, imagination is characterized by greater problem uncertainty than in thinking. situations.

The process of imagination is characteristic only of man and is a necessary condition for his work activity..

Imagination is always directed towards the practical activities of man. A person, before doing anything, imagines what needs to be done and how he will do it. Thus, he already creates in advance an image of a material thing that will be manufactured in the subsequent practical activity of a person. This ability of a person to imagine in advance the final result of his work, as well as the process of creating a material thing, sharply distinguishes human activity from the “activity” of animals, sometimes very skillful.

Physiological basis imagination is the formation of new combinations from those temporary connections that have already been formed in past experience. At the same time, simple updating of existing temporary connections does not yet lead to the creation of a new one. The creation of a new one presupposes a combination that is formed from temporary connections that have not previously been combined with each other. In this case, the second signal system, the word, is important. The process of imagination is a joint work of both signaling systems. All visual images are inextricably linked with him. As a rule, the word serves as a source of the appearance of images of the imagination, controls the path of their formation, and is a means of retaining, consolidating, and changing them.

Imagination is always a certain departure from reality. But in any case, the source of imagination is objective reality.

Imagination is the figurative construction of the content of a concept about an object (or the design of a scheme of actions with it) even before the concept itself is formed (and the scheme receives a clear, verifiable and implemented expression in specific material).

What is characteristic of imagination is that knowledge has not yet formed into a logical category, while a peculiar correlation of the universal and the individual at the sensory level has already been made. Thanks to this, in the very act of contemplation, a separate fact is revealed in its universal perspective, revealing its integral meaning in relation to a certain situation. Therefore, in terms of imagination, a holistic image of the situation is built before a dismembered and detailed picture of what is contemplated.

The leading mechanism of imagination is the transfer of some property of an object. The heuristic nature of transfer is measured by the extent to which it contributes to the disclosure of the specific integral nature of another object in the process of its cognition or creation by a person.

In psychology, a distinction is made between voluntary and involuntary imagination. The first manifests itself, for example, during the purposeful solution of scientific, technical and artistic problems in the presence of a conscious and abstracted search dominant, the second - in dreams, so-called unchanging states of consciousness, etc.

A dream is a special form of imagination. It is addressed to the sphere of a more or less distant future and does not imply the immediate achievement of a real result, as well as its complete coincidence with the desired image. At the same time, a dream can become a strong motivating factor in creative search.

Types of imagination

There are several types of imagination, among which the main ones are: passive and active. The passive, in turn, is divided into arbitrary(daydreaming, daydreaming) and involuntary(hypnotic state, dream fantasy). Active imagination includes artistic, creative, critical, recreating and anticipating... Close to these types of imagination is empathy– the ability to understand another person, to be imbued with his thoughts and feelings, to sympathize, rejoice, empathize...

Under conditions of deprivation they intensify different types imagination, therefore, apparently, it is necessary to give their characteristics.

Active imagination always aimed at solving a creative or personal problem. A person operates with fragments, units of specific information in a certain area, their movement in various combinations relative to each other. Stimulation of this process creates objective opportunities for the emergence of original new connections between the conditions recorded in the memory of a person and society. In an active imagination there is little daydreaming and “groundless” fantasy. Active imagination is directed to the future and operates with time as a well-defined category (that is, a person does not lose his sense of reality, does not place himself outside of temporary connections and circumstances). Active imagination is directed more outward, a person is mainly occupied with the environment, society, activities and less with internal subjective problems. Active imagination, finally, is awakened by a task and directed by it; it is determined by volitional efforts and is amenable to volitional control.

Recreating Imagination– one of the types of active imagination, in which new images and ideas are constructed in people in accordance with stimulation perceived from the outside in the form of verbal messages, diagrams, conventional images, signs, etc.

Despite the fact that the products of reconstructive imagination are completely new images that have not previously been perceived by a person, this type of imagination is based on previous experience. K. D. Ushinsky viewed imagination as a new combination of past impressions and past experience, believing that the recreating imagination is a product of the influence of the material world on the human brain. Basically, reconstruction/imagination is a process in which recombination occurs, the reconstruction of previous perceptions in a new combination.

Anticipatory imagination underlies a very important and necessary human ability - to anticipate future events, foresee the results of one’s actions, etc. Etymologically, the word “anticipate” is closely related and comes from the same root with the word “see,” which shows the importance of understanding the situation and transferring certain elements of it into the future based on knowledge or predicting the logic of the development of events.

Thus, thanks to this ability, a person can “with his mind's eye” see what will happen to him, to other people or to surrounding things in the future. F. Lersch called this the Promethean (looking forward) function of the imagination, which depends on the magnitude of the life perspective: what younger man, the more and more clearly the forward orientation of his imagination is represented. In older and older people, the imagination is more focused on events of the past.

Creative imagination- this is a type of imagination during which a person independently creates new images and ideas that are valuable to other people or society as a whole and which are embodied (“crystallized”) into specific original products of activity. Creative imagination is necessary component and the basis of all types creative activity person...

Images creative imagination are created through various techniques intelligent operations. In the structure of creative imagination, two types of such intellectual operations are distinguished. The first is the operations through which the ideal images, and the second - operations on the basis of which finished products are processed.

One of the first psychologists to study these processes, T. Ribot, identified two main operations: dissociation and association. Dissociation is a negative and preparatory operation during which sensory experience is fragmented. As a result, such pre-treatment elements of experience are capable of entering into a new combination.

Without prior dissociation, creative imagination is unthinkable. Dissociation is the first stage of creative imagination, the stage of preparing material. The impossibility of dissociation is a significant obstacle to creative imagination.

Association is the creation of a holistic image from elements of isolated image units. The association gives rise to new combinations, new images. In addition, there are other intellectual operations, for example, the ability to think by analogy with partial and purely accidental similarities.

Passive imagination subject to internal, subjective factors, it is tendentious.

Passive imagination is subordinated to desires, which are thought to be realized in the process of fantasizing. In the images of passive imagination, the dissatisfied are “satisfied”, for the most part unconscious needs of the individual. The images and ideas of passive imagination are aimed at strengthening and preserving positively colored emotions and at repressing and reducing negative emotions and affects.

During the processes of passive imagination, an unreal, imaginary satisfaction of any need or desire occurs. In this way, passive imagination differs from realistic thinking, which is aimed at real, and not imaginary, satisfaction of needs.

The materials of passive imagination, like active imagination, are images, ideas, elements of concepts and other information gleaned through experience.

Views are among secondary images, which, unlike primary ones (sensation and perception), arise in consciousness in the absence of direct stimuli, which brings them closer to images of memory, imagination and visual-figurative thinking.

Usually under presentation understand the mental process of reflecting objects and phenomena of the surrounding reality in the form of generalized visual images, and by imagination- a mental process consisting in the creation of new images by processing the material of perceptions and ideas obtained in previous experience.

The product (end result) of the representation is image-representation, or a secondary sensory-visual image of objects and phenomena, preserved and reproduced in consciousness without the direct impact of the objects themselves on the senses.

It is necessary to distinguish from the image-representation as a product performance as a process of deliberate and voluntary creation of an image and mental manipulation (operation) of it when solving various kinds of problems.

Representations are in a complex relationship with other mental processes.

With sensation and perception, representation is related by the figurative, visual form of their existence. But sensation and perception always precede representation, which cannot arise out of nowhere. The representation is precisely the result of generalization of a number of essential and sometimes unimportant features of an object.

Representations often act as standards. This circumstance brings them closer to the processes of identification. Identification presupposes the presence of at least two objects - real, perceived and reference. There is no such duality in ideas.

Representations are often called memory images, since in both cases a person’s past experience is reproduced. Both of them belong to secondary images that arise without relying on direct perception. But the representation lacks the processes of memorization and preservation. In the process of remembering, a person is always aware of the connection with the past, but in addition to the past, the present and the future can be reflected in the idea.

Images of the imagination are very close to ideas. Imagination, like representation, uses material previously received by perception and stored by memory. KD Ushinsky believed that the essence of imagination lies in the combination of images and representations. But still, imagination is a more creative process that develops over time, in which a storyline can often be traced. In representation, the object is more static: it is either motionless, or a limited number of manipulative operations are performed with it. Representation acts as a mechanism for recreating imagination. But besides him there is also various shapes creative imagination, which are not reducible to representation.

The degree of control a person has over the images of his imagination varies greatly. Therefore, they distinguish, imagination arbitrary(active) and involuntary(passive). The degree of arbitrariness of images varies smoothly from one form of imagination to another. Thus, the least degree of arbitrariness of imagination is found in dreams and hallucinations, and the greatest degree is found in creativity. According to the methods of creating images, they also distinguish recreating And creative imagination.

Images-representations serve as the basis for visual-figurative thinking. In thinking processes, the emphasis is on searching and discovering something new, but in imagining processes, such a task is not set.

“The interpenetration of the visual and the generalized” in representations (B. G. Ananyev) constitutes their distinctive feature and allows us to speak of representation as an independent mental process.

Depending on the characteristics of the subject of representation, there are two main types of representations: visual, behind which there is a specific image, and abstract-logical, behind which there are abstract concepts (A. Richardson). Each of these types can have varying degrees of brightness, clarity and controllability.

The most common is the classification of visual representations according to modality (B. G. Ananyev). It includes visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, gustatory And organic representation. The latter are the essence of ideas about the functional states of the body, individual organs and parts of the body. Here, the type of analyzer is taken as the basis for classification.

In accordance with the two main forms of existence of matter, two types of ideas are distinguished, such as ideas about space and ideas about time. Usually, both of them are multimodal, but it is possible to highlight the reflection of spatial and temporal characteristics separately at the level of visual and kinesthetic analyzers.

Based on the temporal relevance of ideas, a classification of images into reproductive and anti cipating(anticipating) (J. Piaget). In turn, each of them can be: a) static(idea of a stationary object); b) kinetic(idea about different types of movement); V) transformative(reflection of transformations of objects known to man - from reflection of the final result to reflection of all stages of transformation of an object from the initial state to the final state).

IV.1.1. Characteristics of the presentation process. The process of representation is usually understood in two senses: as the creation of images and representations and as the operation of them. In both cases, representations acquire a dynamic character.

We can talk about changing perceptions in time And in space. As time passes, the presentation may become saturated with details, generalized, or, conversely, become more schematic; may become brighter and more distinct or, conversely, vague and undifferentiated. In space with image-representations, the following basic operations can be performed: mental rotation, large-scale transformations, various types of object movements, combining the components of the represented object, changes in spatial orientation, increment, grouping, splitting, etc.

A special group consists of information transcoding operations associated with changes in the dimensionality of an object. For example, when reading geographical map get an idea of the terrain, and in a drawing lesson imagine and depict a three-dimensional object in the form of projections on a plane.

Understanding representation as a process of operating with image-representations presupposes the presence of separate mental operations in this process. All mental operations can be divided into three groups (I. S. Yakimanskaya): 1) change in the process of imagining the position of an object (objects) or its parts (mental rotation, grouping, change in spatial orientation, mental movement of objects, etc.); 2) changes in the process of representing the structure of an object (scale transformations, changes in the representation of the dimension of objects, grouping of objects, etc.); 3) simultaneous changes in position and structure (increment, split, combination, etc.).

Operating and synthesis of images in the processes of imagination is carried out thanks to operations agglutination- combinations of qualities, properties, parts of objects that are incompatible in reality; hyperbolization- exaggeration or understatement of objects, their parts and qualities; sharpening- emphasizing any features; schematization- smoothing out differences and identifying similarities; typification- highlighting the essential in homogeneous phenomena and embodying it in any specific image.

Imagination is a special form of the human psyche, standing apart from other mental processes and at the same time occupying an intermediate position between perception, thinking and memory.

Imagination is a mental process consisting of the creation of new images (ideas) by processing the material of perception and ideas obtained in previous experience.

The specificity of this form of mental process is that imagination is probably characteristic only of humans and is strangely connected with the activities of the body, being at the same time the most “mental” of all mental processes and states (since in no way other than the imagination, the ideal and mysterious character of the psyche does not manifest itself). It can be assumed that it was imagination, the desire to understand and explain it that attracted attention to mental phenomena in ancient times, supported and continues to stimulate it in the present day.

The mystery of this phenomenon: until now we know almost nothing about the mechanism of imagination, about its anatomical and physiological basis. Where is imagination located in the human brain? With the work of which nervous organic structures known to us is it connected? On those important questions We can’t answer almost anything concrete. In any case, we can say much less about this than, for example, about sensations, perception, attention, memory, etc.

Imagination is of great importance in a person’s life; it influences his mental processes and condition, and even on the body. Thanks to imagination, a person creates, intelligently plans and manages his activities. Almost all human material and spiritual culture is a product of people's imagination and creativity. Imagination takes a person beyond his immediate existence, reminds him of the past, and opens up the future. Possessing a rich imagination, a person can “live” in different time, which no other living creature in the world can afford. The past is recorded in memory images, arbitrarily resurrected by an effort of will, the future is presented in dreams and fantasies.

Imagination is the basis of visual-figurative thinking, which allows a person to navigate a situation and solve problems without the direct intervention of practical actions. It helps him a lot in those cases of life when practical actions are either impossible, or difficult, or simply impractical.

Imagination differs from perception in that its images do not always correspond to reality; they contain elements of fantasy and fiction. If the imagination draws to consciousness such pictures that nothing or little corresponds in reality, then it is called fantasy. If, in addition, the imagination is aimed at the future, it is called a dream.

Types of imagination:

Passive imagination: images arise spontaneously, regardless of the will and desire of a person (dreams, daydreams).

Active imagination: characterized by the fact that, using it, a person, of his own free will, evokes appropriate images in himself. Images of passive imagination arise spontaneously, regardless of the will and desire of a person.

Productive imagination: differs in that in it reality is consciously constructed by a person, and not simply mechanically copied or recreated. But at the same time, she is still creatively transformed in the image.

Reproductive imagination: the task is to reproduce reality as it is, and although there is also an element of fantasy, such imagination is more like perception or memory.

Hallucinations are fantastic visions that have almost no connection with the reality around a person. Usually they are the result of mental or bodily disorders and accompany many painful conditions.

Dreams, unlike hallucinations, are a completely normal mental state, representing a fantasy associated with a desire, most often somewhat idealized.

A dream differs from a daydream in that it is somewhat more realistic and more closely related to reality, i.e. is in principle feasible. Dreams and daydreams occupy a fairly large part of a person's time, especially in youth. For most people, dreams are pleasant thoughts about the future. Some also experience disturbing visions that generate feelings of anxiety, guilt, and aggressiveness.

Functions of imagination:

Representation of reality in images and the ability to use them when solving problems. This function of imagination is connected with thinking and is organically included in it.

Regulation of emotional states. With the help of his imagination, a person is able to at least partially satisfy many needs and relieve the tension generated by them.

Participation in the voluntary regulation of cognitive processes and human states, in particular perception, attention, memory, speech, emotions.

Formation of an internal plan of action - the ability to carry them out in the mind, manipulating images.

Planning and programming of activities - drawing up programs, assessing their correctness, the implementation process.

The phenomenon of imagination in the practical activities of people is primarily associated with the process of artistic creativity. Thus, the direction in art called naturalism, as well as partly realism, can be correlated with the reproductive imagination. It is well known that from the paintings of I. I. Shishkin, botanists can study the flora of the Russian forest, since all the plants on his canvases are depicted with “documentary” accuracy. Works of democratic artists second half of the 19th century V. I. Kramskoy, I. Repin, V. Petrov, with all their social emphasis, also represent a search for a form that is as close as possible to copying reality.

Thus, we encounter productive imagination in art in cases where the artist is not satisfied with recreating reality using the realistic method. His world is a phantasmagoria, an irrational imagery, behind which there are quite obvious realities. The fruit of such imagination is M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita”. Turning to such unusual, whimsical images allows us to enhance the intellectual, emotional and moral impact of art on a person. Most often, the creative process in art is associated with active imagination: before capturing any image on paper, canvas or sheet music, the artist creates it in his imagination, making conscious volitional efforts. Less often, passive imagination becomes the impulse of the creative process, since “spontaneous” images independent of the will of the artist are most often the products of the subconscious work of the creator, hidden from him.

The work of the human imagination, of course, is not limited to literature and art. It manifests itself to no lesser extent in scientific, technical, and other types of creativity. In all these cases, fantasy as a type of imagination plays a positive role.

There are individual, typological features of the imagination associated with the specifics of human memory, perception and thinking. Some people may have a predominant concrete, imaginative perception of the world, which internally appears in the richness and diversity of their fantasies. Such individuals are said to have an artistic type of thinking. It is assumed that it is physiologically associated with dominance of the right hemisphere of the brain. Others have a greater tendency to operate with abstract symbols and concepts (people with a dominant left hemisphere of the brain).

A person’s imagination acts as a reflection of the properties of his personality, his psychological state at a given moment in time. The product of creativity, its content and form well reflect the personality of the creator. This fact has found wide application in psychology, especially in the creation of psychodiagnostic personal techniques. Personality tests of the projective type (Thematic Apperception Test - TAT, Rorschach test, etc.) are based on the mechanism of projection, according to which a person in his imagination tends to attribute his personal qualities and states to other people. Carrying out a meaningful analysis of the subjects’ fantasy products using a special system, the psychologist uses this to judge a person’s personality.