PARADIGMATIC DIVISION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY: RESULTS AND PROSPECTS

Abstract

The paradigmatic dichotomy is a fundamental methodological problem of psychological science and has accompanied it throughout its history. The roots of the dichotomy lie in ancient philosophy, but despite the archaic nature of this problem, it is still relevant to psychologists today. The history of psychology is a process of struggle between antagonistically opposed scientific schools, with their own subject matter, terminology and methodological approaches (structuralism and functionalism; later psychoanalysis and behaviorism; then classical cognitive science and humanistic psychology; now connectivism (neocognitive science) and positive psychology, neuropsychoanalysis and neo-Freudianism; dialectical pairs replace each other on a new round of historical development, but the essence of the still insurmountable conflict remains the same). It is a struggle between the naturalistic approach (studying the lower structures of mental activity by objective natural methods) and the humanistic approach (studying the higher structures by mixed, qualitative and quantitative methods) in psychology. However, in the modern world, leading psychologists have already made effective attempts to synthesize the paradigms to which our article is devoted. The first serious steps toward overcoming the paradigm split have already been taken. The article analyzes the historical trends in the development of psychology, taking into account the vector of the Western understanding of the paradigm split as a dialectical relationship between the «mentalistic» and «behavioristic» directions. The author also analyzes the current state of development of both approaches, as well as integrative approaches to combining the methodology and research areas of different schools, such as affective neuroscience, evidence-based positive psychology, modern cognitive psychology, and neuropsychoanalysis. The author analyzes the points of contact and vectors of divergence of paradigmatic approaches on the basis of the analysis of research by their contemporary representatives. The author substantiates the right of the humanistic paradigm to exist and to be treated on a parity basis by natural psychologists. Proposals are made to achieve a «golden mean» in the choice of paradigmatic methodology. Forecasts of the development of the paradigm split are made.