Unconscious in psychology: concept, classes, methods of manifestation and problems

The concept first appeared back in ancient Greece, when the philosopher Plato developed the doctrine of knowledge-memory. That is how the general idea of ​​definition arose, which did not undergo significant changes until the advent of a new time. The first concept was proposed by Leibniz in 1720. He believed that the unconscious is the lowest form of mental activity.

The emergence of definition in psychology

The well-known Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud took up a serious study of this issue. In the course of his work, he began to experimentally develop the concept of the unconscious. In the psychology of that time, it was commonly believed that this term was understood as many actions in the implementation of which a person does not fully realize. This meant that certain decisions were not conscious. Freud put in the meaning of the concept the crowding out of our secret desires and fantasies, which contradict the established norms of public morality and norms of behavior. In addition, according to the psychologist, such actions and decisions in reality worried the individual too much, and therefore he preferred that they not be conscious.

Sigmund was also a medical practitioner in those years. In short, the psychology of the unconscious in its understanding clearly correlated with the fact that the desire and attraction of individuals have been the main regulator of human behavior for centuries. The doctor noted that completely unconscious experiences can influence the quality of life quite strongly. Due to this internal conflict, various neuropsychic diseases may well develop. Freud began to look for a solution that could help his patients. Thus, his own method of healing the soul came to light, called "psychoanalysis."

Unconscious manifestation methods

The main problem for people with these experiences is considered to be the lack of subjective control. The unconscious in psychology or the subconscious mind denotes such mental processes that cannot be reflected in the consciousness of the individual, that is, are absolutely not controlled by his will. Among the main types of manifestations can be distinguished presented in the list below.

1. Unconscious motivation or motivation for action. The real meaning of the act is not accepted by the individual for any reason, for example, social and social unacceptability, internal contradictions or conflicts with other motives.
2. Supraconscious processes. These include creative insight, intuition, inspiration, and other similar manifestations.
3. Atavisms and behavioral stereotypes. They are manifested for the reason that the individual worked out to full automatism, and therefore do not require awareness in the event that the situation is familiar.
4. Subthreshold perception. It implies the presence of a large amount of information, because of which it cannot be fully realized.

Classes of the Unconscious in Psychology

Carl Gustav Jung continued to study the issue after Freud. Based on the definition of the unconscious as the subject of psychology, he created a whole separate discipline - analytical psychology. In comparison with the interpretations in psychoanalysis, the theoretical basis and fabrications based on it were significantly expanded. In particular, a division into new classes appeared. Jung divided the personal or individual unconscious and the collective unconscious.

The latter definition implied the possibility of filling archetypes with any content. By default, the collective unconscious carried empty forms, otherwise called pro-forms. The individual part, in turn, had information about the psychic world of an individual person. According to Jung, the personal unconscious had an attractive effect on the individual’s consciousness, but did not assimilate it.

Language availability

French researcher and philosopher Jacques Marie Émile Lacan also took an active part in the development of ideas that existed at that time, and later formed his own theory. At the heart of his hypothesis, the concept of the unconscious in psychology in terms of its structure was very similar to linguistic forms. He suggested that Freud's psychoanalysis could be regarded as working with patients' speech.

Subsequently, Lacan created a special technique called the "clinic of the signifier." He indicated that, first of all, one should work with the word, necessity and possibility of translation. Therapy helped people with the most complex mental disorders. Nevertheless, not all modern experts share this theory. Some of them believe that the unconscious in psychology may well function according to a similar language algorithm, but it is not affected by any linguistic laws.

Basic levels of structure

The ideas of Freud and Jung allowed expanding the concept of understanding by the forces of the Italian psychologist and psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli. Based on the expert’s conclusions, a new discipline has emerged - psychosynthesis. The researcher presented in his work three main levels that demonstrate the unconscious in human psychology.

1. Lower. This level refers to the simplest forms of psyche activity. With their help, the individual controls his own body, mania, phobias, desires, dreams, complexes, drives and motivations.
2. Average. The main content is considered to be all the elements that freely penetrate into consciousness in a state of human wakefulness. The purpose of the average level of the unconscious is to develop mental activity, increase the possibilities of fantasizing and mastering the experience gained.
3. Higher. Also called the superconscious level. Roberto believed that human heroic aspirations, intuition, contemplation, inspiration and altruism are manifested here.

The relationship between conscious and unconscious

The general characteristics of such relations today have become much more transparent than it was during the lifetime of learned minds, who first tried to describe such relations. The study of consciousness and the unconscious in psychology has largely advanced thanks to the use of modern technologies, which shed light on many processes occurring in the human brain. For example, the fact that an individual is able to make decisions due to the presence of certain learned information that was not conscious of him to any degree was scientifically proven.

The psychologist Bion in 1970 concluded that reason is only a slave of emotions. In his opinion, the existence of consciousness is necessary only for rationalizing the incoming information. It is worth noting that many other scientists repeated this idea before and after the publication of the statement of Bion.

Unconscious and adaptive

It is sometimes quite difficult to trace the manifestation of one or another part of the mind in human behavior. In the structure of consciousness it is customary to include experiences, feelings, thinking, will, emotions, cognition, reflection and attitude to the world. A huge invisible work unconsciously occurs at a certain point in the activity of the individual. Each person periodically asks the question of why a particular thought or emotion appeared on any stimulus. This is the work of the unconscious part of the mind.

Babies have a very developed ability to imitate the actions of other people. The imitation instinct lies precisely in the realm of the unconscious. In psychology, it is generally accepted that such behavior allows individuals to learn and survive. To this day, adaptation is manifested in the form of imitation of certain gestures, postures, manners and habits in people. Scientists back in 2005 conducted an experiment and proved that it is common for all individuals to some degree to unconsciously copy the behavior patterns of others.

Influence on ideas and intuition

Experts believe that it is the deepest areas of the psyche that are responsible for the so-called "eureka", which during the course of life has visited almost any person at least once. Sometimes it seems to people that a new idea appears to appear absolutely out of nowhere, in an absolutely incredible way ordering all the randomness of thoughts. However, in psychology, the conscious and unconscious are considered to be a single whole that constantly acts in tandem. One cannot function normally without the other.

The same generation of ideas for the most part is the merit of the unconscious, but their subsequent evaluation and selection of the most promising ones is already regulated by the conscious part of the mind. That is why many guides, trainings and experts advise, when solving complex problems, to resort to one method that has been tested for centuries - to completely ignore this activity for a while. The unconscious part for this period will do its job, and a person after a certain period of time during leisure can suddenly find a solution to a complex problem.

Ongoing study

Today, many new disciplines have appeared that are, to varying degrees, interested in promoting research on this problem. The unconscious in psychology is still not thoroughly studied, and many knowledge is still based on the teachings developed by experts in past centuries. In particular, modern research usually relies on the concept of Sigmund Freud. Of the most promising theories at the moment, we can mention the development of the use of cybernetic methods for modeling the unconscious.