UDC 159.9 (075.8) ББК 88я73 В17

Reviewers: Department of General and Differential Psychology, Belarusian State Pedagogical University. M. Tanka; Doctor of Psychology, Professor V.A. Yanchuk

Weinstein, L. A. B17 General psychology: textbook / L.A. Weinstein, V.A. Polikarpov, I.A. Furmanov. - Minsk: Lie, school,2009 .-- 512 p.

ISBN 978-985-513-428-3.

The textbook is written in accordance with the Standard Curriculum of the Course "General Psychology" for students of psychological faculties and psychological specialties of higher educational institutions, taking into account the modern achievements of psychological science. The content of the textbook meets the requirements of the State Educational Standard for the specialty 1-23 01 04 "Psychology".

For university students studying in the specialty "Psychology", graduate students and teachers.

UDC 159.9 (075.8)BBK 88ya73

Educational edition

Weinstein L.A. General psychology

Editor O. V. Fedkova

Computer layout O. Yu. Nightingale

Signed for printing on November 28, 2008 from the customer's transparencies. Format 60x84 / 16.

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Republican unitary enterprise "Publishing house" Belarusian Printing House "". LP # 02330/0131528 dated 04/30/2004. Etc. Independence, 79, 220013, Minsk.

ISBN 978-985-513-428-3 Original Russian Text © L.A. Weinstein, V.A. Polikarpov,

I.A. Furmanov, 2009 © Sovremennaya Shkola Publishing House, 2009

Chapter 12. Emotions 12.1. The concept of emotions

The term "emotion" (from Lat. Emovere - to excite, excite) is customary to denote a special group of mental processes andthe state in which the subjective attitude of thekeen on external and internal events of his life.

Ideas about the nature, patterns and manifestations of emotions in the course of the development of psychological science have undergone significant changes, including both doubts about the existence of any patterns of functioning of emotions or the possibility of their experimental study, and a complete denial of the need to use such a concept (Fig. 63) ...

The first theoretically grounded interpretation of emotional phenomena belongs to psychologists-introspectionists: emotions are a special group of phenomena of consciousness that have

which have two main manifestations: pleasure and displeasure. Also, representatives of introspective psychology drew attention to the connection between emotional phenomena and the activity of internal organs. The development of research in this direction has led to a rather radical change in late XIX v. views on the nature of emotional phenomena, which began to be considered as specific kind or derivative of physiological processes(the theory of James-Lange, J. Devey and others). After criticizing these views, the problem of studying emotions interested behaviorists (W. Cannon, J. Watson, E. Tol-man) and psychoanalysts (3. Freud). In parallel, one more direction developed, explaining the origin of emotions based on their evolutionary and biological purpose, from the functions that they perform in adapting a person to the world around him (Charles Darwin and others). By the beginning of the 50s. neobehaviorism begins to develop rapidly, within the framework of which the emphasis on the consideration of emotions is shifting: now it is not so much a reaction to a certain situation as variables that influence the occurrence and course of a behavioral reaction (J. Brown and I. Farber, D. Lindsley). After the cognitive "revolution", ideas of cognitive determination of emotions begin to be developed (M. Arnold, S. Shekhter, R. Lazarus). Somewhat later, biologically oriented theories appear, which, however, emphasize emotions as expressive reactions, and not as physiological changes (E. Tomkins, K. Izard, R. Plutchik).

Despite conceptual disagreements in most theories, when defining emotions, three components were taken into account that characterize emotion as a mental phenomenon:

    experienced or perceived sensation of emotion;

    processes occurring in the nervous, endocrine, respiratory, digestive and other systems of the body;

3) observable expressive complexes of emotions (facial expressions, pantomime).

The concept of emotions, developed in Russian (reflective) psychology, is based on the thesis that mental processes are a specific product of brain activity, the essence of which is to reflect the surrounding reality. Emotions -this is one of the types of the functional state of the brain, a form of

giving birth and regulating brain activity. In addition, emotions are “a person's attitude to the world, to what he experiences and does, in the form of direct experience” (S. L. Rubinstein).

Thus, in Russian psychology, two main aspects of emotions are emphasized:

    reflection aspect- emotions are a specific form of reflection of the significance of objects and events of reality for the subject. Emotions are a special class of mental processes and states associated with instincts, needs and motives, reflecting in the form of direct experience (satisfaction, joy, fear, etc.) the significance of phenomena and situations acting on an individual for the implementation of his life;

    aspect of attitude- emotions express a person's subjective attitude to the world. "Emotional life is a peculiar form of reflection of reality, in which the subjective relationship of a person to the world is expressed" (P. M. Yakobson).

Unlike introspective psychology, emotions in reflective psychology are interpreted not as an independent world of subjective phenomena, not as a specific type of spiritual facts (opposed to material facts), but as a set of processes generated by the activity of the brain (as a material substrate). In contrast to behaviorists, Russian psychologists argue that emotions are not a specific type of physiological reaction; emotion is a mental phenomenon. At the same time, they emphasize the importance of those physiological mechanisms that are a condition for the emergence of emotional processes (the basic ideas about the physiological mechanisms of emotions are based mainly on the teachings of I.P. Pavlov). In contrast to the adherents of depth psychology, it is argued that emotions are caused not by the influence of internal instinctive forces, but by the relationship between a person and the world around him.

Recognition of emotions as a special class of mental phenomena is closely related to the problem of determining their specificity (differences from cognitive or motivational-need processes). According to G.-M. Breslaw, emotions are intermediaries between motivational and cognitive processes.

K. Izard notes that emotions, unlike needs, do not have such a property as cyclicity.

The main differences between emotional and cognitive processes include the following:

    emotional phenomena relate to a single subject, while cognitive phenomena refer to diverse objects, and accordingly, the former are inherent in subjectivity, and in the latter, the objectivity of the content of experience;

    relationships that are expressed in emotions are always personal, subjective and differ significantly from those objective relationships - relationships between objects and phenomena of reality that are established by a person in the process of knowing the world around him. One and the same object or one and the same phenomenon of reality can sometimes cause a completely opposite subjective attitude;

    emotional phenomena are less influenced by social factors, more associated with innate mechanisms. They are also less mediated by speech and other sign systems, are less conscious, less manageable and voluntarily controlled than cognitive processes;

    qualitative features (modalities) of emotional phenomena - joy, fear, anger, etc. - are specific and differ from the qualitative features of the cognitive sphere (for example, sensory modalities);

    emotional phenomena are closely related to human needs. Cognitive processes are less determined by needs;

    emotional phenomena are closely related to various physiological processes and states (vegetative, hormonal, etc.). Cognitive processes to a lesser extent and in a different way interact with the work of various physiological systems;

    emotional phenomena are included as an obligatory component in the structure of the personality as the main ("nuclear") of its formations. Therefore various emotional disturbances lead, as a rule, to various personality disorders. Cognitive processes to a lesser extent determine the structure of the personality: their impairments (for example, private cognitive

mental disorders) are compatible with the integrity of the personality as such.

As noted I AM. Reikovsky, in everyday experience, order, harmony, organization are usually attributed to the functioning of intellectual processes, while emotional response is characterized by uncertainty, unpredictability and chaos. However, at present there is reason to believe that everything is just the opposite: it is thinking that can flow freely, in an indefinite and unpredictable way, while the functioning of emotions obeys rigidly defined patterns, and everything that is caused by them is rather stereotypical, stable and despite a variety of forms are similar.

The seeming paradoxicality of this thesis, or rather, its seeming inconsistency with everyday experience, is due to the fact that the ability to predict the behavior of a person who is guided by rational ideas is much greater than the ability to predict the behavior of a person who is seized by emotion and, in this regard, reacts unexpectedly to himself and for others in a way. This unpredictability of reactions and actions performed under the influence of emotions is to some extent related to the fact that the laws governing emotional processes, unlike the laws of thinking, have not been systematically studied until recently. Moreover, it was believed that, if they did exist, they would be difficult to identify and use. However, over the past decades, accumulated a large number of facts, a lot of observations and experimental data have been systematized to determine the place of emotions in common system knowledge about human mental activity.

In this way, emotions are a special class of mental phenomena that express in the form of direct experience of knowledgefor the subject of external and internal events and regulationin accordance with them, his activities and behavior.

N.S. Glukhanyuk, S.L. Semyonova, A.A. Pecherkina

GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY

Tutorial allows you to optimize psychological preparation students - future teachers of a professional school. The manual includes two sections: theoretical - lecture notes, set out in a concise form, focused on the specifics of the training and future activities of teachers vocational education and practical - conducive to acquaintance with the methods and techniques of psychological study of personality, the formation of interest in the issues of introspection. The topic of the classes corresponds to the content teaching material a sample program of the course "General Psychology".

The manual is addressed to students of vocational pedagogical universities, as well as students of the faculties of advanced training and retraining of personnel in the field of vocational education.


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See: Ibid. P. 7.

Cm.: Krysko V.G. General psychology in diagrams and comments to them. M., 1998.S. 16.

Cm.: Slobodchikov V.I., Isaev E.I. Human's psychology. M., 1995.S. 64 - 65.

Cm.: Krysko V.G. Decree. op. P. 24.

Cm.: Gamezo M.V., Domashenko I.A. Atlas of Psychology. M., 1998.S. 28 - 29.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 50.

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Cm.: O.V. Turusov Workshop on Experimental Psychology. Samara, 1997.S. 54.

Cm. Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 42.

Cm.: Druzhinin V.N. Experimental psychology. SPb., 2000.S. 310.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 46.

Cm.: Druzhinin V.N. Decree. op. S. 309.

See: Psychology: Slov. P. 428.

See: Ibid. P. 299.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. S. 74 - 75.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree op. P. 75.

Cm.: Krysko V.G. Decree. op. P. 35.

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Cm.: R.S. Nemov Psychology: In 3 vols. Book. one. General basics psychology. M., 1995. P. 289.

Krysko V.G. Decree. op. S. 154-155.

Cm.: Krysko V.G. Decree. op. P. 153.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 227.

Cm.: Krysko V.G. Decree. op. P. 160.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 254.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 254.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 256.

Cm.: R.S. Nemov Decree. op. Book. 1.P. 514 - 515.

Cm.: Krysko V.G. Decree. op. From 119.

Cm.: Krysko V.G. Decree. op. P. 184.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 100.

Cm. Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 149.

See Ibid. P. 150.

Cm. Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 151.

Cm. Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 153.

Cm.: Krysko V.G. Decree. op. P. 90.

Cm.: Krysko V.G. Decree. op. P. 92.

Cm.: Krysko V.G. Decree. op. P. 93.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 155.

See: General psychology / Ed. A.V. Petrovsky. M., 1986.S. 231.

Cm.: Gamezo M.V., Domashenko I.A. Decree. op. P. 115.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 169.

See: Cognitive Processes and Abilities in Learning / Ed. V.D. Shadrikov. M., 1998.

Cm.: Luria A.R. Attention and memory. M., 1975.S. 104.

See: Psychology: Slov. P. 264.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 163.

Cm.: Zinchenko T.P. Methodological research and practical exercises in the psychology of memory. Dushanbe, 1974.S. 142.

Cm.: Krysko V.G. Decree. op. P.111.

Cm.: Krysko V.G. Decree. op. P. 116.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 178.

See: Ibid. P. 178.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 184.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 187.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. S. 190.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 194.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 208.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 209.

See: Ibid. P. 211.

Cm.: Ismontas B.B. Decree. op. P. 269.

Cm.: Melnikov V.M., Yampolsky L.T. An introduction to experimental personality psychology. M., 1985.

Cm.: B.M. Teplov Abilities and giftedness // Reader for age and educational psychology... M., 1981.S. 32.

Rubinstein S.L. Principles and ways of development of psychology. M., 1959.S. 129.

Introduction to psychology / Under total. ed. A.V. Petrovsky. M., 1996.S. 118.

Platonov K.K. A Brief Dictionary of the System of Psychological Concepts. M., 1984.S. 140.

Gippenreiter Yu.B. An introduction to general psychology. M., 1996.S. 248.

Cm.: Gamezo M.V., Domashenko I.A. Decree. op. P. 23.

Cm.: A.V. Morozov Business psychology. Saint Petersburg, 2000, p. 272.

Cm.: Krysko V.G. Decree. op. P. 202.

Cm.: Krysko V.G. Decree op. P. 216.

Psychology: Words. Decree. op. P. 352.

Cm.: Borozdina L.V. Investigation of the level of aspirations. M., 1993.S. 84.

See: Ibid. P. 3.

See: Psychology: Slov. Decree. op. P. 417.

Cm.: Baron R., Richardson D. Aggression. SPb., 1998.S. 26.

See: Psychology: Slov. Decree. op. P. 10.

Cm.: Rogov E.I. Handbook of a practical psychologist in education. M., 1995.S. 167 - 168.

Cm.: Heckhausen H. Motivation and activity: In 2 volumes. M., 1986. S. 374.

Cm.: Gilbukh Yu.Z. How to learn and work effectively. Minsk, 1995.

Cm.: Gilbukh Yu.Z. How to learn and work effectively. Minsk, 1995.S. 141.

See: General and Social Psychology: Workshop / Ed. N. D. Cottage cheese. M., 1997.S. 248.

Cm.: Ivaschenko F.I. Tasks in general, developmental and educational psychology. Minsk, 1985.S. 96.

Cm.: Levitov N.D. Frustration as one of the types of mental states // Vopr. psychology. 1987. No. 6. P. 120.

Cm.: Fress P., Piaget J. Experimental psychology. M., 1971, p. 120.

Cm.: Tarabrina N.V. Methods of studying frustration reactions // Inostr. psychology. 1994. No. 2. P.68.

See: Methods of Social Psychology / Ed. E.S. Kuzmina, V.E. Semenova. SPb., 1997.S. 176.

Cm.: Petrovsky A.V. Personality. Activity. Team. M., 1982.S. 124 - 134.

Psychology: Words. Decree. op. P. 174.

Vainshtein L.A., Polikarpov V.A., Furmanov I.A., Trukhan E.A.

F General psychology: A course of lectures: .– Mn .: BSU, 2004. –290 p.

The course of lectures is written in accordance with curriculum discipline "General psychology" for students of the department of psychology of BSU, taking into account the modern achievements of psychological science.

ã Vainshtein L.A.,

Polikarpov V.A.,

Furmanov I.A.,

Trukhan E.A.

ISBN ã BSU, 2004


Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY ............................................ .... 6

1.1. Psychology as a Science ............................................... .......................... 6

1.2. The subject of psychology ................................................ ............................ 7

1.3. The concept of the psyche ............................................... ................................ eight

1.4. Mind and activity ............................................... ...................... 10

Chapter 2. METHODS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH OF PSYCHE ... 12

2.1. Methodological foundations of psychological cognition ......................... 12

2.2. Basic methods of psychology ............................................... ......... eighteen

2.3. Auxiliary methods of psychological research ......... 29

2.4. Additional methods used in psychology .................. 38

2.5. Objectivity psychological research and features of the psychological interpretation of the information received ............................................ ..... 43

Chapter 3. SENSOR PROCESSES ............................................. ...... 46

3.1. Sensory and perceptual processes in the structure of receiving and processing information by a person ....................................... ..................................... 46

3.2. The concept of sensations ............................................... ..................... 48

3.3. The onset of sensations ................................................ ................ 49

3.4. Classification and types of sensations .............................................. ... 51

3.5. General properties sensations ................................................. ............. 57

3.6. Basic patterns of sensations ............................................ 58

Rice. eleven... Probability dependence ................................................ ............ 60

detection from value ............................................... ......................... 60

stimulus in the near-threshold ............................................... ....................... 60

Chapter 4. PERCEPTIVE PROCESSES .......................................... 65

4.1. The concept of perception ............................................... ...................... 65

4.2. General patterns of perception ............................................... .66

4.3. Classification and types of perception .............................................. .77

4.4. Individual differences in perception ...................................... 87

Chapter 5. CAUTION .............................................. ................................. 88

5.1. General concept attention ................................................ ................ 88

5.2. Functions and theories of attention .............................................. ................ 91

5.3. Properties of attention ................................................ ............................. 91

5.4. Kinds of attention ................................................ ................................... 99

Chapter 6. MEMORY .............................................. ..................................... 103

6.1. Basic definitions ................................................ ..................... 104

6.2. Basic properties of memory ............................................... ................ 105

6.3. Types of memory ................................................ ..................................... 107

6.4. Memory mechanisms ................................................ ........................... 111

6.5. Some Universal Principles of Memory Mechanisms 115

Chapter 7. THINKING .............................................. .............................. 116

7.1. The main characteristics of thinking ............................................. 117

7.2. Psychological theories thinking ............................................... 118

7.3. Thinking and Perceiving ............................................... ................... 119

7.4. Thinking as action ............................................... .................... 120

7.5. Thinking as a process ............................................... ..................... 121

7.6. Thinking and speaking ............................................... .............................. 125

7.7. Phases of the thought process ............................................... ......... 126

7.8. The dynamics of the thought process ............................................... . 129

7.9. Types of thinking ................................................ ............................... 129

7.10. Operations of thinking ................................................ ...................... 136

7.11. Development of thinking ................................................ ........................ 137

Chapter 8. SPEECH .............................................. ............................................ 141

8.1. Speech and communication. Language and speech. Sign and meaning ............................... 141

8.2. Speech functions ................................................ ................................... 143

8.3. Motivation for speech ................................................ ................................ 145

8.4. Psycholinguistics................................................. ........................... 145

8.5. Types of speech ................................................ ........................................ 146

Chapter 9. EMOTIONS .............................................. .................................... 148

9.1. The concept of emotions ............................................... .......................... 148

9.2. Properties of emotions ................................................ .............................. 151

9.3. The structure of emotions ................................................ ............................ 156

Chapter 10. NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF EMOTIONAL RESPONSE ........................................... ........................................ 165

10.1. Reflex mechanisms of the emergence of emotions ...................... 166

10.2. Subcortical and cortical mechanisms of emotional response 167

10.3. Emotions and functional asymmetry of the cerebral hemispheres 170

Chapter 11. FORMS OF EMOTIONAL ........................................... 173

RESPONSES ................................................. .................................. 173

11.1. Emotional tone ................................................ ...................... 175

11.2. Affect................................................. .......................................... 178

11.3. Mood................................................. .................................... 181

11.4. Emotion................................................. .......................................... 183

11.5. The senses................................................. .......................................... 184

Chapter 12. THEORY OF EMOTIONS ............................................. ................... 186

12.1. Structural theories of emotion ............................................... .......... 187

12.2. Evolutionary theories of emotion ............................................... ....... 189

12.3. Physiological theories of emotions ............................................... .... 192

12.4. Cognitive theories of emotion ............................................... .... 198

12.5. Motivational theories of emotion ............................................... ...... 202

Chapter 13. CLASSIFICATION OF EMOTIONS ........................................... 207

Chapter 14. NEEDS .............................................. ..................... 214

14.1. The concept of need ................................................ ..................... 214

14.2. The needs of the body and personality .............................................. 219

14.3. Stages of the formation and implementation of the needs of the individual ........ 221

Chapter 15. MOTIVES .............................................. .................................. 223

15.1. The concept of motive ................................................ .............................. 223

15.2 Motivation process .............................................. ................... 229

Chapter 16. MAIN PROBLEMS ............................................. ....... 231

PSYCHOLOGY OF MOTIVATION ................................................ ............. 231

16.1. Problems of motivation in the theory of instincts .................................. 233

16.2. Behavioral Problems in Homeostatic Theories of Behavior ... 235

16.3. Problems of motivation in differential theories of motivation .. 239

16.4. Problems of motivation in cognitive psychology ........................ 241

16.5. Problems of motivation in personality psychology ............................. 243

16.6. Problems of motivation in the psychology of learning and activation ......... 244

Chapter 17. CLASSIFICATIONS OF NEEDS AND MOTIVES ... 248

17.1. Classification of motives based on the theory of instincts ................ 248

17.2. Classification of motives based on the relationship "individual-environment" 251

Description................................................. ................................................. 252

17.3. Hierarchical model of classification of motives A. Maslow ......... 254

17.5. Classification of needs in Russian psychology .......... 259

Chapter 18. EMOTIOGENIC SITUATIONS ......................................... 263

Chapter 19. MOTIVATION AND EFFICIENCY OF ACTION ........... 266

19.1. The power of motive and the effectiveness of learning ....................................... 266

19.2. Motivating potential of different types of stimulation .......... 268

LITERATURE................................................. ........................................ 278

Weinstein Albert Lvovich (1892 - 1970)- a famous researcher of mathematical economics, doctor of economic sciences (1961), professor (1962). One of the leading theorists of the Central Economics and Mathematics Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, where he worked since 1963.

After graduating from the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of Moscow State University. MV Lomonosov Moscow State University (1914) began his scientific career in the world-renowned Aerodynamic Laboratory of "the father of Russian aviation" NE Zhukovsky.

Since the 1920s, he devoted himself entirely to research in various fields economic science after having attended a course at the economics department of the Moscow Commercial Institute. Scientific maturity came to him in the years when he worked at the Conjuncture Institute of the USSR People's Commissariat of Finance - at that time the country's leading economic research center, headed by the outstanding Russian economist ND Kondratyev. In addition, in those years, A.L. Vainshtein conducted scientific work within the walls of the Moscow and Central Asian Universities, the Industrial and Economic Institute.

The first scientific work A.L. Vainshtein were devoted to the issues of economics and statistics of agriculture. In particular, such works of those years became famous as: "Mathematical calculus of the average distance of fields from the estate with different configurations of land use and different location of the estate" (1922) and "Taxation and payments of the peasantry in the pre-war and revolutionary times. Experience of statistical research" (1924).

A.L. Vainshtein became one of the first domestic interpreters of the method of forecasting market conditions, called the "economic barometer", became interested in the application of the methodology of harmonic analysis (Fourier series) to the study of periodicity and forecasting oscillatory processes in economics. His scientific interests In those years, they attracted: the study of the market cyclical economy of the NEP, the desire to understand the movement of the conjuncture and methods of conscious regulation of economic processes according to the "market plus plan" scheme, as well as the analysis of national economic dynamics (operational and long-term). Just like E.E. Slutsky, he noted the weaknesses of the methodology of the conjuncture barometers, assessing the statistical and mathematical methods forecasting dynamics National economy(see his work: "Problems of economic forecasting in its statistical formulation", M., 1930).

A decade in Stalin's dungeons did not break him as a scientist. In the fifties, A.L. Vainshtein took up the problem of national wealth and in this area he became a recognized authority, both in Russia and abroad. It should be noted his very tough position regarding the interpretation of the essence of this category in a number of statistical works of the 40-50s. He did not allow the national (people's) wealth to be interpreted as a combination of different-essence terms, and therefore could not be calculated as a single synthetic indicator. He sharply criticized those specialists who allowed themselves to be included in the national wealth Natural resources in their geographic, not economic, interpretation.

His works such as "The national wealth and national economic accumulation of pre-revolutionary Russia. Statistical research" (1960) and "The national income of Russia and the USSR. History, methodology of calculation, dynamics" (1969), included in the classical fund, are not only and not just numbers and their analysis. These books are an encyclopedia of Russian statistical sources of the pre-revolutionary period and statistical methodology of those years, containing a theoretical and methodological concept of calculating the system of indicators of national (national) wealth and national economic accumulation. This is a study on the history of statistical indicators, on the key ideas of socio-economic statistics - the science in which Russian scientists were world leaders in turn of XIX-XX centuries Let us note that while dealing with the problem of assessing the people's wealth, A.L. Vainshtein was the first in world science to apply the method of "continuous inventory" of fixed assets.

High mathematical culture, adherence to accurate quantitative analysis, striving for strict logic in the analysis and substantiation of conclusions led A.L. Vainshtein in the last period of his scientific life to the economic and mathematical direction. In collaboration with other prominent representatives of it - V.S. Nemchinov, V.V. Novozhilov, A.L. Lurie - he did a lot of work to develop this scientific direction, and to promote and popularize his achievements. He carried out a number of important economic and mathematical research in the following areas: the function of savings; efficiency capital investments; analysis, dynamics and structure of national income; optimality criterion for the economy. Note that A.L. Vainshtein was a very strict editor of the famous book Nobel laureate LV Kantorovich "Economic calculation of the best use of resources", referring to this work, according to the author himself, is by no means formal.

A.L. Vainshtein was characterized by the highest scientific conscientiousness and adherence to principles, acute polemics, and at times even harshness in defending his scientific positions. But he never put publicistic acuteness above the scientific clarity of the alternative solutions he proposed.

The result of almost half a century scientific activities A.L. Vainshtein, not only more than forty major works and more than a hundred articles appeared, but also the knowledge and qualities of a researcher that he passed on to his numerous students. Before last days he was surrounded by young scientists, led a theoretical seminar, and worked directly with young scientists.

Albert Lvovich left a bright mark on the hearts and minds of those who knew him and worked with him. As a scientist, he created an atmosphere of high scientific conscientiousness and adherence to principles around himself. As a person, he was extremely attentive and sensitive to those around him.

How does the use of economic and mathematical methods affect the ratio of centralization and decentralization in the management of a socialist economy? This question can and should be resolved only depending on how soon we can come up with an optimal national economic plan. If it can be given in the next five years, then the issue should be decided in favor of centralization. Because, for mathematical reasons, the optimization of the objective function will be performed better if the plan is built on a centralized basis. If we cannot build an optimal plan for the entire national economy in the coming years, then the issue is still being resolved in favor of the greater role of decentralization.

Optimization of the national economic plan leads, on mathematical grounds, to better results when centralized management of the national economy and centralized planning. But since a complete optimal national economic plan can be issued “on-the-go”, in my opinion, only after a few five years, the principle of maximum decentralization should be proclaimed and implemented in the near future, providing maximum opportunities for “strong-willed” decisions on the ground.

In my mind the concept of a single system is defined by the unity of purpose, for which all links of the system work. This is the main feature of socialist planning, which in principle cannot be in the system of "free enterprise".

To arouse the interest of each enterprise in the realization of the national economic optimum, a mediating mechanism is needed that encourages the manufacturer to act in accordance with the national economic optimum. Such a mechanism should be a system of prices, which is built on the basis of socially necessary costs with deviations that stimulate and limit the production and consumption of various material goods through profitability.

It is possible that when forming prices, one should take into account sectoral efficiency ratios calculated on a cost basis, and thereby economically control the intensity of accumulation in the country, which is necessary to achieve an optimum. The price system linking industries and enterprises to the national economic optimum should be built taking into account the proportions of the planned long-term intersectoral balance and possible progressive changes in the economy.

The possibility of better matching the local indicators of costs and results of the socialist economy with those of the national economy has been proven. It really rests on the unity of social and personal interests that is inherent in the socialist system. Mathematics proves the possibility of such a system of measuring costs and benefits and such planned prices, in which the self-supporting profitability would be consistent with the optimal plan. In this system:


a) all tasks of the plan would be equally profitable for its executors;

b) all options not included in the optimal plan would be unprofitable;

c) discoveries and inventions that were not taken into account when drawing up the plan, but that improve it, would be the more profitable, the greater their national economic effect.

It is hardly necessary to prove the advantages of such a system of economic calculations over existing practice.

Here cause and effect are confused. The possibility of the unity of goals of each enterprise and the whole of society is justified by the unity of interests, as it were, immanently inherent in the socialist system, while in fact this unity of interests is itself observed only when the interests of enterprises and society are linked together.

we read that our commodity-money relations, if not limited, can turn into commodity-capitalist relations. How can this be? After all, distribution according to work is the production relation of socialism. After all, Soviet trade and Soviet money express socialist relations of production. After all, socialism in our country has won finally and irrevocably.

Those. if it is announced that socialism has won, then you can do anything, nothing bad can happen, the victory is irrevocable.

These contradictions are far-fetched, they are by no means inherent in the socialist economy and have developed artificially. They consist in the fact that enterprises have profitable and unprofitable products, local economic councils have special interests of their economic region, they are more willing to meet their own needs than to export products to other economic councils.

From the spot: These are separate phenomena!

No, these are, unfortunately, not separate phenomena. It is no coincidence that the government passed a number of decrees suppressing parochialism. But the roots here must be sought not in legal flaws, but in the economy, more precisely in pricing. If prices expressed the correctly understood costs of social labor, then the difference between results and costs, that is, profit, could become a consistent criterion of economic expediency at various stages of the national economy. Identity, unity of interests of enterprises, economic councils and society as a whole would be ensured.