As you know, in order to perform various types of activities, a person must possess some individual qualities. A person’s abilities are nothing more than his individual psychological characteristics.

You can find out more in our article useful information about and their impact on life. After all, it is thanks to abilities that one can achieve success in Everyday life, at work and in relationships with others. That's why this topic seems the most useful and necessary for careful study.

Human abilities

It's no secret that everyone has many different abilities and among them the following categories can be distinguished:

  • ordinary;
  • special;
  • are common;
  • communicative;
  • subject-activity.

In the second part of the article, these categories will be discussed in more detail.

Categories of human abilities

So, considering the outstanding and ordinary abilities of a person, it should be noted that they vary from person to person. In this case, outstanding ability refers to the successful performance of a certain type of activity. They, as a rule, do not boil down to any skills or knowledge that a person has. Simply because of such abilities, these skills can be acquired quickly and easily.

As a natural prerequisite for the development of outstanding and ordinary abilities, one should consider inclinations, which are expressed in the form of anatomical and physiological characteristics. Inclinations are recognized as static and are considered innate. However, the nature of the inclinations is quite difficult to determine, since higher-level mental functions in the brain are not localized in any specific area.

In order for a person to determine the degree, a special hierarchy has been created, distinguished by its dynamism. At the same time, it becomes clear that abilities exist and develop in the same way as the motives of activity and human needs. Therefore, such human abilities as genius and talent appear.

Talent is a personal combination of abilities. This concept is viewed as qualitative, and in practice talent is presented as a person’s talent in any specific activity. We can say that talent is a very high degree of giftedness. Very often, the concept of talent includes significance, passion, and excellence in a certain type of activity.

In this case, genius turns out to be the qualitatively highest degree of development, which is expressed in a person’s giftedness and talent. The main difference between a person’s genius and his giftedness should be considered the presence in the first case of creativity of the highest level, originality and uniqueness.

Thus, human abilities are a set of properties that allows one to achieve success in a particular area.

Lecture: Human abilities

General characteristics of human abilities

Usually Abilities are understood as such individual characteristics that are conditions for the successful implementation of one or more activities. However, the term “ability,” despite its long-standing and widespread use in psychology, is interpreted ambiguously by many authors. If we summarize all the possible options for currently existing approaches to the study of abilities, they can be reduced to three main types. In the first case Abilities are understood as the totality of all possible mental processes and states. This is the broadest and oldest interpretation of the term “ability.” From the point of view of the second approach Abilities mean high level development of general and specialized knowledge, skills and abilities that ensure the successful performance of various types of activities by a person. This definition appeared and was accepted in the psychology of the 18th-19th centuries. and is quite common nowadays. Third approach is based on the assertion that abilities are something that is not reduced to knowledge, skills and abilities, but ensures their rapid acquisition, consolidation and efficient use on practice.

In Russian psychology, experimental studies of abilities are most often based on the latter approach. The greatest contribution to its development was made by the famous domestic scientist B. M. Teplov. He identified the following three main features of the concept of “ability”.

Firstly, abilities are understood as individual psychological characteristics that distinguish one person from another; no one will talk about abilities where we're talking about about properties in respect of which all people are equal.

Secondly, abilities are not called all individual characteristics, but only those that are related to the success of performing any activity or many activities.

Thirdly, the concept of “ability” is not limited to the knowledge, skills or abilities that have already been developed by a given person.

Abilities can be classified into:

    Natural (or natural) abilities, basically biologically determined, associated with innate inclinations, formed on their basis in the presence of elementary life experience through learning mechanisms such as conditioned reflex connections (for example, such elementary abilities are perception, memory, the ability for elementary communication);

    Specific human abilities, having a socio-historical origin and ensuring life and development in the social environment. Specific human abilities are in turn divided into:

A) general which determine a person’s success in the most various types activities and communication (mental abilities, developed memory and speech, accuracy and subtlety of hand movements, etc.), and special, which determine a person’s success in certain types of activity and communication, where a special kind of inclinations and their development are required (mathematical, technical, literary and linguistic, artistic and creative abilities, sports, etc.).

B) theoretical, determining a person’s propensity for abstract-logical thinking, and practical, underlying the propensity for concrete practical actions. The combination of these abilities is characteristic only of multi-talented people;

B) educational, which influence the success of pedagogical influence, a person’s assimilation of knowledge, abilities, skills, the formation of personality qualities, and creative associated with success in creating works of material and spiritual culture, new ideas, discoveries, inventions;

D) abilities to communicate, interact with people and subject-related abilities, related to the interaction of people with nature, technology, symbolic information, artistic images, etc.

Levels of ability development and individual differences

In psychology, the following classification of levels of development of abilities is most often found: ability, giftedness, talent, genius.

All abilities in the process of their development go through a number of stages, and in order for a certain ability to rise in its development to a higher level, it is necessary that it has already been sufficiently developed at the previous level. But for the development of abilities, there must initially be a certain foundation, which constitutes makings. The makings are understood as anatomical and physiological characteristics nervous system, constituting the natural basis for the development of abilities. For example, developmental features of various analyzers can act as innate inclinations. Thus, certain characteristics of auditory perception can act as the basis for the development of musical abilities.

It should be noted that the innate anatomical and physiological features of the structure of the brain, sensory organs and movement, or innate inclinations, determine the natural basis of individual differences between people. According to I.P. Pavlov, the basis of individual differences is determined by the predominant type of higher nervous activity and the peculiarities of the relationship of signaling systems. Based on these criteria, three typological groups of people can be distinguished: artistic type (predominance of the first signaling system), thinking type (predominance of the second signaling system) and average type (equal representation).

The typological groups identified by Pavlov suggest the presence of various innate inclinations in representatives of one or another group. Thus, the main differences between the artistic type and the thinking type appear in the sphere of perception, where the “artist” is characterized by holistic perception, and the “thinker” is characterized by fragmentation of it into separate parts; in the sphere of imagination and thinking, “artists” have a predominance of figurative thinking and imagination, while “thinkers” are more characterized by abstract, theoretical thinking; V emotional sphere Individuals of the artistic type are characterized by increased emotionality, while representatives of the thinking type are more likely to have rational, intellectual reactions to events.

It should be emphasized that the presence of certain inclinations in a person does not mean that he will develop certain abilities. For example, an essential prerequisite for the development of musical abilities is a keen ear. But the structure of the peripheral (auditory) and central nervous system is only a prerequisite for the development of musical abilities. The structure of the brain does not provide for what professions and specialties related to musical hearing may arise in human society. It is also not provided for what area of ​​activity a person will choose for himself and what opportunities will be provided to him for the development of his existing inclinations. Consequently, to what extent a person’s inclinations will be developed depends on the conditions of his individual development.

Thus, the development of inclinations is a socially conditioned process that is associated with the conditions of upbringing and the characteristics of the development of society. Inclinations develop and transform into abilities, provided that there is a need in society for certain professions, in particular, where a fine ear for music is needed. The second significant factor in the development of inclinations is the characteristics of upbringing.

The makings are non-specific. The presence of a certain type of inclinations in a person does not mean that on their basis, under favorable conditions, some specific ability must necessarily develop. Based on the same inclinations, different abilities can be developed depending on the nature of the requirements imposed by the activity. Thus, a person with good hearing and a sense of rhythm can become a musical performer, conductor, dancer, singer, music critic, teacher, composer, etc. At the same time, it cannot be assumed that inclinations do not influence the nature of future abilities. Thus, the features of the auditory analyzer will affect precisely those abilities that require a special level of development of this analyzer.

The next level of development is abilities. These are individual psychological characteristics of a person that ensure success in activities, communication and ease of mastering them.

Abilities are largely social and are formed in the process of specific human activities. Depending on whether conditions for the development of abilities exist or not, they can be potential And relevant.

Potential abilities are understood as those that are not realized in a specific type of activity, but are capable of being updated when relevant social conditions change. Actual abilities, as a rule, include those that are needed specifically in this moment and are implemented in a specific type of activity. Potential and actual abilities are an indirect indicator of the nature of the social conditions in which a person’s abilities develop. It is the nature of social conditions that hinders or promotes the development of potential abilities, and ensures or does not ensure their transformation into actual ones.

It should be noted that no single ability can by itself ensure the successful performance of an activity. The success of any activity always depends on a number of abilities. Observation alone, no matter how perfect, is not enough to become a good writer. For a writer, observation, imaginative memory, a number of qualities of thinking, abilities associated with in writing, the ability to concentrate and a number of other abilities.

On the other hand, the structure of any specific ability includes universal or general qualities that meet the requirements of various types of activity, and special qualities that ensure success in only one type of activity. For example, while studying mathematical abilities, V. A. Krutetsky found that to successfully perform mathematical activities it is necessary:

1) an active, positive attitude towards the subject, a tendency to engage in it, which turns into passion at a high level of development;

2) a number of character traits, primarily hard work, organization, independence, determination, perseverance, as well as stable intellectual feelings;

3) the presence during the activity of mental states favorable for its implementation;

4) a certain fund of knowledge, skills and abilities in the relevant field;

5) individual psychological characteristics in the sensory and mental spheres that meet the requirements of this activity.

Moreover, the first four categories listed properties should be considered as general properties necessary for any activity, and not considered as components of abilities, since otherwise components of abilities should interests and inclinations, character traits, mental states, as well as skills and abilities.

The next level of ability development is giftedness. Giftedness is a unique combination of abilities that provides a person with the opportunity to successfully perform any activity.

In this definition, it is necessary to emphasize that it is not the successful performance of an activity that depends on giftedness, but only the possibility of such successful performance. To successfully perform any activity, it is necessary not only to have the appropriate combination of abilities, but also to master the necessary knowledge and skills. No matter how phenomenally mathematically gifted a person may be, if he has never studied mathematics, he will not be able to successfully perform the functions of the most ordinary specialist in this field. Giftedness determines only the possibility of achieving success in a particular activity, while the realization of this opportunity is determined by the extent to which the corresponding abilities will be developed and what knowledge and skills will be acquired.

Individual differences in gifted people are found mainly in the direction of their interests. Some people, for example, stop at mathematics, others at history, and still others at social work. Further development of abilities occurs in specific activities.

It should be noted that in the structure of abilities two groups of components can be distinguished. Some occupy a leading position, while others are auxiliary. Thus, in the structure of visual abilities, the leading properties will be the high natural sensitivity of the visual analyzer - a sense of line, proportion, shape, light and shade, color, rhythm, as well as the sensorimotor qualities of the artist’s hand, highly developed figurative memory, etc. The auxiliary qualities include the properties artistic imagination, emotional mood, emotional attitude towards what is depicted, etc.

Leading and auxiliary components of abilities form a unity that ensures the success of activities. However, the structure of abilities is a very flexible education. The ratio of leading and auxiliary qualities in a specific ability varies from person to person. Depending on which quality a person has as a leader, the formation of auxiliary qualities necessary for performing the activity occurs. Moreover, even within the same activity, people may have different combinations of qualities that will allow them to equally successfully perform this activity, compensating for shortcomings.

It should be noted that the lack of abilities does not mean that a person is unfit to perform a particular activity, since there are psychological mechanisms for compensating for missing abilities. Often, activities have to be carried out not only by those who have the ability to do it, but also by those who do not have them. If a person is forced to continue to engage in this activity, he will consciously or unconsciously compensate for the lack of abilities, relying on strengths of your personality. According to E.P. Ilyin, compensation can be carried out through acquired knowledge or skills, or through the formation of an individual-typical style of activity, or through another, more developed ability. The possibility of widespread compensation of some properties by others leads to the fact that the relative weakness of any one ability does not at all exclude the possibility of successfully performing the activity most closely related to this ability. The missing ability can be compensated within very wide limits by others that are highly developed in a given person. This is probably what ensures the possibility of successful human activity in a wide variety of areas.

When characterizing a person’s abilities, they often distinguish the level of their development as skill, i.e., excellence in a specific activity. When people talk about a person's skill, they primarily mean his ability to successfully engage in productive activities. However, it does not follow from this that mastery is expressed in the corresponding amount of ready-made skills and abilities. Mastery in any profession presupposes psychological readiness for creative solutions to emerging problems. It’s not without reason that they say: “Mastery is when the “what” and the “how” come at the same time,” emphasizing that for a master there is no gap between realizing a creative task and finding ways to solve it.

The next level of development of human abilities is talent. The word “talent” is found in the Bible, where it has the meaning of a measure of silver that a lazy slave received from his master during his absence and chose to bury in the ground, instead of putting it into circulation and making a profit (hence the saying “bury your talent in the ground” ). Currently, talent is understood as a high level of development of special abilities (musical, literary, etc.). Just like abilities, talent manifests itself and develops in activity. The activity of a talented person is distinguished by its fundamental novelty and originality of approach.

The awakening of talent, as well as abilities in general, is socially conditioned. Which talents will receive the most favorable conditions for full development depends on the needs of the era and the characteristics of the specific tasks facing a given society.

It should be noted that talent is a certain combination of abilities, their totality. A separate isolated ability, even a very highly developed one, cannot be called a talent. For example, among outstanding talents you can find many people with both good and bad memory. This is due to the fact , that in human creative activity, memory is only one of the factors on which its success depends. But the results will not be achieved by inflexibility of the mind, rich imagination, strong will, deep interest.

The highest level of development of abilities is called genius. ABOUT They say genius when a person’s creative achievements constitute an entire era in the life of society, in the development of culture. There are very few people of genius. It is generally accepted that over the entire five-thousand-year history of civilization there were no more than 400 people. The high level of talent that characterizes a genius is inevitably associated with excellence in various fields of activity. Among the geniuses who achieved such universalism are Aristotle, Leonardo da Vinci, R. Descartes, G. V. Leibniz, M. V. Lomonosov. For example, M.V. Lomonosov achieved outstanding results in various fields of knowledge: chemistry, astronomy, mathematics, and at the same time he was an artist, writer, linguist, and had an excellent knowledge of poetry. However, this does not mean that all individual qualities of a genius are developed to the same extent. Genius, as a rule, has its own “profile”, some side dominates in it, some abilities manifest themselves more clearly.

In the psychology of abilities, there are many definitions. Let us present two concepts that reflect the essence of the conceptual provisions of the problem of abilities in Russian science.

Capabilities- this is a cumulative psychological quality of a person, constituting a system of predispositions to certain types of activities and being a necessary prerequisite for its successful implementation.

Capabilities– this is an individual property of a person that manifests itself in a specific activity and characterizes it in terms of speed, quality and ease of execution.

Abilities are:

A system of properties of the psyche, and not just consciousness. The prerequisites for its formation are the natural, physiological and hereditary characteristics of the body, the conditions are the social environment and the level of its development, and the dominant factor is the needs, interests, values ​​of society and the demands of the era;

Lifetime mental formations that continue to develop into old age. Abilities cannot be opposed (as well as identified) with knowledge. The latter turn out to be a source of continuous development of abilities. Abilities are not limited to knowledge, skills and abilities, but cannot exist without them;

Realization of inclinations and inclinations as innate prerequisites for abilities. They are morphological, structural and functional features of the organization of the central nervous system;

Such a complex of properties that is found not only and not even so much in knowledge, skills and abilities, but in the dynamics of their acquisition and development, i.e. – how quickly, deeply, easily and firmly knowledge, skills and abilities are acquired.

Abilities have qualitative and quantitative characteristics. The quality of abilities is determined by the answer to the question: what abilities does a person have, quantity - how great are they? Each ability acts in conjunction with others. Therefore, the success of an activity can be achieved in various ways. This is due to the compensatory capabilities of the individual’s abilities. Compensating for some abilities with the help of developing others is a remarkable property that can be successfully used in the pedagogical process. Research by B.M. Teplov showed that even the absence of absolute musical ear cannot serve as a basis for refusing to develop musical abilities. The subjects were able to develop a set of abilities that compensated the individual for the lack of absolute pitch.

Qualitative determination of abilities allows an individual to choose a profession by finding out which inherent abilities correspond to the preferred type of activity. To do this, it is necessary to determine the quantitative parameters of personal abilities. Measuring abilities and presenting them in quantitative form is a long-standing dream of psychologists working in the field of career guidance and pedagogy. Unfortunately, the methods of these measurements are far from perfect.


Structure of abilities. As already noted, abilities are manifested in a complex of mental properties. A single mental property cannot ensure the productivity of even one type of activity, let alone many. Success in drawing cannot be realized in artistic creativity, if there is no corresponding sensory-emotional sensitivity of the world and the originality of its intellectual representation. Having a phenomenal memory does not automatically make a person's other abilities more outstanding than usual. Each ability is an integrity, a structural unity of the abilities included in it. For example, the structure of managerial ability presupposes the unity of the following personal abilities: the ability to manage oneself, a clear and stable system of values, a clear personal goal, the ability for self-development, the ability to quickly solve problems, the ability to create, the ability to influence people, the ability to clearly understand the specifics of managerial work, ability to teach, ability to unite a team. The presented 10 abilities (mental properties) of a manager not only do not exhaust all the elements of the structure of managerial ability, but each of them individually has an equally complex structure.

Managerial ability in this case acts as a general one, meeting the requirements of many types of activities at once. Its constituent abilities are called special, corresponding to special types of activity.

In psychology, it is customary to distinguish general and special abilities. Special Abilities – abilities for certain types of activities (mathematical abilities, musical abilities, pedagogical abilities, etc.). General Abilities is the ability to develop special abilities.

The most general abilities can be called subject-active, cognitive, and communication abilities. Within the framework of the first two types of abilities, I.P. Pavlov identified three types of personality characters, determined by general abilities: artist, average type, thinker.

Subject-based, cognitive and communication abilities have endless classification possibilities. Of particular interest is the quantitative typology of abilities: giftedness, skill, talent, genius.

Giftedness most of all connected with inclinations and inclinations. The greatest degree of predisposition of an individual to a certain type of activity, discovered in its successful implementation, is called giftedness. Giftedness is the source and prerequisite for the formation of skill, talent and genius.

The second degree of expression of ability is mastery (although there are other points of view). It is typical for most people who have successfully mastered all the wisdom of their profession. Mastery – expression of the professional maturity of the individual.

Talent– the highest degree of manifestation of abilities. This is ability squared: firstly, the source of talent is giftedness, based primarily on a system of inclinations, and secondly, talent is a product of skill and hard work. Talent is the pinnacle of mastery, its creative frame. Mastery is based on knowledge, skills and abilities, talent is based on creativity.

Genius– the highest degree of creative talent. A person of genius is the personification of the spirit of the era, therefore they are credited with such natural and spiritual foundations that are lacking ordinary people. No wonder in ancient greek mythology genius is a patron spirit that accompanies a person in life and guides his activities. Geniuses are creators. They create new directions in the minds of the era, make revolutions in science and art, and create a new ideology. As a rule, a person is recognized as a genius after his death (the phrase: “there is no prophet in his own country” is proof of this), since society is not yet ready to recognize and understand an outstanding idea. Later, the creations of the genius are used by the whole world, all of humanity, thereby recognizing the special value of the discovery made.

Abilities are a dynamic concept. They are formed, developed and manifested in activity. Let's consider the factors influencing the development of abilities.

The prerequisites for the development of abilities are makings (inclinations) as biologically determined predispositions of an individual to relevant types of activity.

The social conditionality of the development of abilities is expressed depending on the determination of the latter by the social demands of society, the content and level of development of culture, the needs and interests of the individual (for example, today the development of a person’s communicative abilities is relevant and in demand).

The stages of development of abilities are associated with the formation of bodily organization (nervous system, physical appearance, secretory apparatus), with periods of formation of cognition and socialization. The development of abilities is thus accompanied by the formation of all aspects of the physical, mental and social organization personality.

The formation of special abilities occurs during sensitive (favorable) periods of a person’s life (abilities are laid in the preschool period, intensively develop during the school period and are actively formed in adolescence).

So, to summarize, we can say that every person is unique and original. Its uniqueness manifests itself and relates to the individual characteristics of the individual: temperament, character and abilities.

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Human abilities- individual psychological characteristics, which are subjective conditions for the successful implementation of a certain type of activity. Abilities are not limited to the knowledge, skills and abilities an individual has. They are revealed in the speed, depth and strength of mastering methods and techniques of activity. ability making psychological social

When people in the same circumstances achieve different successes in mastering and performing any activity, they say that some people have the appropriate abilities and others do not. The success of mastering an activity and its implementation also depends on motives, knowledge, skills and abilities. But abilities cannot be reduced to motives, knowledge, abilities, or skills. At the same time, they all act as conditions for the realization of abilities.

Human abilities, like any other personal formations, have a dual psychological nature. On the one hand, any ability has individual components that constitute its biological foundations or prerequisites. They are called makings. Inclinations represent morphological and functional features of the structure of the brain, sensory organs and movement. Most of them are genetically determined. In addition to congenital ones, a person also has acquired inclinations, which are formed in the process of maturation and development of the child in the first years of life. Such inclinations are called social. By themselves, natural inclinations do not yet determine the successful activity of a person, that is, they are not abilities. It's just natural conditions or factors on the basis of which the development of abilities occurs.

Other important condition their formation is a social environment, whose representatives, represented by parents and teachers, include the child in various types of activities and communication, equip them with the necessary ways to carry them out, and organize a system of exercises and training. Moreover, the possibilities for developing abilities are largely determined by the potential that is inherent in the inclinations. This potential can be realized in appropriate conditions, but most often it remains unfulfilled due to unfavorable conditions development of most people. Exist different opinions about the extent to which abilities are determined by heredity, and to what extent by the influence of the surrounding social environment. Numerous facts indicate the dominance of both heredity and social conditions. Confirmation that heredity has a great influence on the formation of abilities is the facts of the early emergence of abilities in many gifted people.

Soviet psychologist A.V. Petrovsky figuratively compared abilities with grain that has yet to develop: just as an abandoned grain is only an opportunity to turn into an ear under certain conditions (such as the structure and moisture of the soil, weather, etc.), so are human abilities only an opportunity to acquire knowledge and skills under favorable conditions. These opportunities turn into reality through hard work.

Abilities can be classified into:

- natural(or natural) abilities, basically biologically determined, associated with innate inclinations, formed on their basis, in the presence of elementary life experience through learning mechanisms such as conditioned reflex connections);

- specific human abilities that have a socio-historical origin and ensure life and development in the social environment.

Specific human abilities are in turn divided into:

General, which determine a person’s success in a wide variety of activities and communication (mental abilities, developed memory and speech, accuracy and subtlety of hand movements, etc.), and special, which determine a person’s success in certain types of activity and communication, where special types of inclinations and their development (mathematical, technical, literary and linguistic, artistic and creative abilities, sports, etc.);

Theoretical, which determine a person’s inclination to abstract logical thinking, and practical, which underlie the inclination to concrete practical actions. The combination of these abilities is characteristic only of multi-talented people;

Educational, which influence the success of pedagogical influence, a person’s assimilation of knowledge, skills, abilities, the formation of personal qualities, and creative, associated with success in creating works of material and spiritual culture, new ideas, discoveries, inventions. The highest degree of creative manifestations of a personality is called genius, and the highest degree of a person’s abilities in a certain activity (communication) is called talent;

Abilities for communication, interaction with people and subject-related abilities related to the interaction of people with nature, technology, sign information, artistic images, etc.

The following are distinguished: ability levels: reproductive, which ensures a high ability to assimilate ready-made knowledge, master existing patterns of activity and communication, and creative, ensuring the creation of new, original ones. But it should be borne in mind that the reproductive level includes elements of the creative, and vice versa.

A person has many different abilities, which are divided into the following main groups: naturally conditioned (sometimes they are not entirely correctly called innate) and socially conditioned abilities (sometimes they are also quite rightly called acquired), general and special abilities, subject and communicative abilities. Let's consider each of these groups of abilities separately.

Naturally determined- such abilities for which, firstly, good innate inclinations are necessary, and secondly, abilities that are mainly formed and developed on the basis of such inclinations. Training and upbringing, of course, have a positive impact on the formation of these abilities, but the final result that can be achieved in their development significantly depends on the inclinations a person has. For example, if a person is tall from birth and has good inclinations to develop precise, coordinated movements, then with other equal conditions he will be able to achieve greater success in developing his athletic abilities, associated, for example, with playing basketball, than a person who does not have such inclinations.

Socially conditioned or acquired are abilities, the formation and development of which in a person depends much more on his training and upbringing than on his innate inclinations. Such, for example, are organizational skills, communication skills, abilities related to correct behavior in society among people, and many others. Acquired, or socially conditioned, are the highest human abilities associated with the performance of various types of professional activity. However, the question of the dependence of their development on the organism or environment still remains open. It has been noted that, other things being equal, such abilities develop faster and better in some people than in others, which apparently indicates the existence of innate inclinations for the development of these abilities. However, these inclinations have not yet been studied.

General are usually called abilities that can be developed and are present in almost all people, being developed to varying degrees in them. In addition, general abilities include those with which a person can successfully cope with many different types of activities. General in this sense of the word are, for example, the mental and motor abilities of a person.

Special they call abilities that, firstly, are not found in everyone, but only in some people, and secondly, with such abilities, a person can successfully cope only with special types of activities and not cope with other types of activities. People have quite a lot of special abilities, and they make up the majority of human abilities. These are, for example, artistic and creative, mathematical, linguistic, engineering, musical and many other abilities.

Subject call abilities that are manifested in various types of activities associated with inanimate objects. This can be human activity with real material objects (their production, repair), work with sign systems and various symbols (language, scientific symbols, drawing, etc.), manipulation of ideal objects (ideas, images, etc.) .

Communication- these are abilities that are manifested in skills and abilities to communicate with different people in different life situations. These include, for example, oratorical and organizational skills, as well as the ability to persuade, inspire, and lead.

Concepts of human abilities:

In psychology, there are three concepts of abilities:

A) the theory of heredity of abilities,

B) theory of acquired abilities,

C) acquired and natural in abilities.

1. The theory of heredity of abilities dates back to Plato, who argued that abilities have a biological origin, i.e. their manifestation depends entirely on who the child’s parent was, on what traits are inherited. Training and education can only change the speed of their appearance, but they will always manifest themselves in one way or another. She argues that abilities are biologically determined personality properties, their manifestation and development depend entirely on the inherited fund. Such views are held not only by some professional bourgeois psychologists, but also by representatives of various fields of science and art (mathematicians, writers, artists). The first try to substantiate their views with data from specific studies. For example, Galton V XIX century tried to substantiate the heredity of talent by analyzing the biographical data of outstanding figures. Continuing Galton's line in XX century, Coats determined the degree of talent by the amount of space allocated in encyclopedic dictionaries famous people. Galton and Cotes came to the conclusion that talent is inherited, that only representatives of the privileged classes have rich heredity. It should be said that the research methodology they used was not

withstands scientific criticism, and the conclusions are class biased. In my time V.G. Belinsky rightly wrote that nature acts blindly and does not distinguish between classes. If history has preserved fewer outstanding names from the people, it is only because true talent and even genius died of hunger, weakened by a desperate struggle with living conditions, unrecognized and

scolded IN modern times adherents of the concept of hereditary predetermination of abilities seek to support their views by studying identical twins. Life refutes the views about the hereditary predetermination of abilities. In addition, an objective analysis of the biographies of outstanding people tells a different story: in the overwhelming majority of cases, outstanding people came from families that did not show special talents; on the other hand, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren famous people They did not show any outstanding talents. The exception is a few families of musicians and scientists. The approach to the hereditary nature of abilities is reflected in views linking a person’s abilities with the size of his brain. But these studies were not confirmed.

2. In contrast to the first concept of abilities, the second finds that abilities are entirely determined by environment and upbringing. So, in XVIII century Helvetius proclaimed that genius can be formed through education. In modern times, a prominent American scientist W. Ashby argues that abilities and even genius are determined by acquired properties and, in particular, by what program of intellectual activity was formed in a person spontaneously and consciously during the learning process in childhood and in later life. For one, the program allows you to solve creative problems, while for the other - only reproductive ones. The second ability factor Ashby considers performance. Capable is the one who, after a thousand unsuccessful attempts, makes the first thousand and comes to a discovery; incapable is the one who, after the second attempt, leaves the problem unsolved. Bourgeois ideologists also draw reactionary conclusions from this concept. They reason like this: since abilities depend on the environment, then the children of workers, developing in a difficult social environment with low cultural and intellectual level people around them cannot develop and demonstrate their abilities. At first glance, it seems that the second concept does not set a boundary for the development of the human personality and expresses faith in human capabilities. However, it has met and continues to meet scientific objections. Life observations and special studies indicate that the natural prerequisites for abilities cannot be denied. In a number of special activities they have special important. That is why, in an unfavorable environment, one person can show greater abilities than another in a favorable environment. And, conversely, with equal social conditions, in which, for example, brothers and sisters are found, sometimes sharp differences in abilities and in the pace of their development are revealed. Scientists note individual characteristics in the anatomical organization of the brain, which cannot but affect its functions. And finally, physiologists have discovered innate typological features of nervous activity, which also affect the development of abilities.

3. Acquired and natural in abilities. This concept, which combines the above theories, is confirmed by practice and special research.

The ability develops on the basis of various psychophysical functions and mental processes. It is a complex synthetic formation, including a number of qualities, without which a person would not be capable of any specific activity, and properties that are developed only in the process in a certain way organized activities. A more correct position is taken by representatives of the third concept of abilities, which is shared by the majority of Soviet psychologists. K. Marx pointed out that “man is directly a natural being. As a natural being, moreover, a living natural being, he, on the one hand, is endowed by natural forces, vital forces, being an active natural being; these forces exist in him in the form of inclinations and abilities, in the form of attraction." The concept of abilities of Soviet scientists establishes that a person has by nature the capabilities of human development inherent in all people. At the same time, Soviet psychologists recognize the presence of individual natural inclinations that are conducive to the formation and development of those or other abilities. Abilities are formed in activities under favorable social conditions of life. This concept is confirmed by practice and special research.

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In life we ​​meet and communicate with by different people. And every time we are convinced that all people differ markedly from each other in their abilities.

Capabilities– these are the individual psychological characteristics of a person, which are the conditions for the successful implementation of some type of activity.

Every ability is an ability in some activity. Ability includes mental properties and qualities that are necessary for activity in a particular area. The ease, speed and strength of the process of mastering knowledge, skills and abilities depend on the level of development of abilities, but the abilities themselves are not reduced to knowledge, abilities and skills. Those. abilities are revealed in the dynamics of acquiring knowledge, skills and abilities.

It is impossible, for example, to talk about a person’s ability to draw if no attempt was made to teach him to draw, if he was unable to acquire any skills necessary for visual arts. Only in the process of special training in drawing can it be determined whether a person has the ability for this activity.

But if a person knows and can do a lot, this does not mean that he has the best abilities. Abilities are almost always assessed in comparative terms: if two people perform the same activity, have the same training and working conditions, but one copes faster, it means that he has higher abilities.

One of the most complex issues– the question of the origin of abilities: are abilities innate or are they formed during life? The answers to this question are contradictory and often opposite. You can find statements in favor of the fact that one must be born a musician, poet, philosopher, and the opposite, that “talent is 1% of ability and 99% of sweat.”

Abilities may be innate, but only partially, i.e. they have hereditary prerequisites for their development in the form of inclinations. But it cannot be said that abilities themselves can be transmitted genetically. People from birth are endowed with various inclinations. Inclinations are only prerequisites for the development of abilities.

The development of abilities begins from the first days of life and can continue throughout life. To develop abilities, there must initially be a certain foundation, which constitutes makings.

Makings of– these are some innate anatomical and physiological characteristics of the brain and nervous system that determine the natural individual differences of people.

However, the presence of certain inclinations in a person does not mean that he will develop certain abilities. For example, an essential prerequisite for the development of musical abilities is a keen ear. But the structure of the peripheral (auditory) and central nervous system is only a prerequisite for the development of musical abilities. The extent to which a person’s inclinations will be developed depends on the conditions of his individual development. Because the structure of the brain does not provide for what professions and specialties related to musical hearing may arise in human society. It is also not provided for what area of ​​activity a person will choose for himself and what opportunities will be presented to him for the development of his existing inclinations.

Thus, inclinations are one of the conditions for the formation of abilities. The presence of a certain type of inclinations in a person does not mean that on their basis, under favorable conditions, some specific ability must necessarily develop. Based on the same inclinations, different abilities can be developed depending on the nature of the requirements imposed by the activity.

You can select ability features:

  • human abilities develop on the basis of inclinations;
  • if the ability does not develop, it may be lost;
  • abilities are synthetic in nature (for example, the ability for music cannot be reduced only to an ear for music, because to demonstrate this ability, a sense of rhythm, hard work, etc. are also needed);
  • individual abilities can partially compensate for the lack of other abilities.