The problem of adaptation in psychology

Kuzembaeva Kuralai, magistr of pedagogy and psychology

According to different fields of knowledge adaptation concerns to general knowledge. It is not only used in experiential science, but also used in social knowledge. The term (word) adaptation is meaningful and consists of outer and inside aspects: Biological and Psychological aspects.

Biological aspect is common between human being and animals. It shows adaptation of inside and outside organs of parts of body to environment which are temporary, such as: temperature, atmosphere pressure, wet, light and other physical conditions and also changes in organs of body: illnesses, limited functions of certain organs of parts of body and others.

Psychological aspect is human being’s adaptation to social life, the desires and requests of society and his/her own interests as an individual personality according to his/her own motives and interests.

The process of adaptation of individual person is called social adaptation. It is performed by learning educational rules and values of society. Human’s communication with other active movements which he/she performs is based on social adaptation. The important method to get the social adaptation is getting general knowledge, bringing up, work and training.

Adaptation is a dynamical process. As a result of it living organs’ moving systems own being unchangeable, constant, live and develop against the environmental changes and instability. The process of adaptation will always take place until the meaningful changes in organs and environment happens. And to get the highest level of traverse and physical action which gives possibility to changes, the adaptation will be continued.

So adaptation is a complex and multilateral process. It is the result of special traverse between personality and the society. There are two components connected to each other while the adaptation process is forming: the human being and the environment which she / he is living in it. The main factor to find out the specific of social-psychological adaptation is to find out the process of interaction between human and the environment. We understand social-psychological adaptation as a personal adaptation. It means person’s adaptation to social and problematic conditions.

In psychology there given different definitions to adaptation which need separate searching. We also need to clear person’s social- psychological adaptation which is described according to psychological terminologies. It shows the main different aspects of adaptation and its result, person’s adaptation to special social conditions or his/her adaptation to steady structures.

The Neobehaviouristical definition of adaptation:

The Neobehavioristical definition of adaptation is in wide-spread use in foreign countries psychology. For example it is used in G. Aizenk and his followers’ works.

In their work, at first they give general definition to adaptation and according to this definition they give definition to social adaptation.

They discuss the adaptation in two ways: a) when all needs and requires of individual character and environment is satisfied completely. In this way there is a balance and confirmed condition between person and natural, social environment.

B) The process of getting to this confirmed condition.

According to R. Henkid adaptation includes different kinds of changes take place in environment and organs’ reactions showed by them to adapt themselves to the changes. These changes are biological. There are searching works about psychological changes and use of psychological mechanism of adaptation in Behavioristical definition. In such a condition the problem of person’s adaptation can be taken as the disadvantages of this opinion.

Behaviorists search the social adaptation as the process of changes in specification- collectivism traverse, changes in social communication or physical changes in culture, social- economical and collective changes. In this definition the speech is about adaptation of collective not individual character. And there is no speech about individual changes during the adaptation process. But they (behaviourists) speak about the description of adaptation in modification of traverse that comes by training and learning.

According the definition given above and R. Henkid’s extra notifications it must be said that there are elements that effect directly on problem of person’s social-psychological adaptation. It has been proved that the term “Social adaptation” is used as the process of getting to balance of collective with the environment without any incompatibility between them.

The psychological conception of person’s adaptation:

The psychological conception of person’s adaptation is closely connected with the name of German psychoanalytic H. Hartman. But the problems of adaptation are also discussed in lots of Z. Freid’s works, the mechanism of defense adaptation and its processes, and also in Anna Freid’s works.

To concept the psychoanalytical adaptation according to psychoanalytical direction, we take Z. Freid’s work on structure of person’s psychological sphere as a principle. There are three levels of authority in them: Id, Ego and Super Ego. These structural comprehensions are known to common. So let’s say about it as a former of moral system, and Ego provides person’s rational understanding process. Ego, Id and Super Ego build reality and resistance.

H. Hartman and other psychoanalytics show that there are differences between adaptation as a process and the result of this process. To their opinion there is no destruction in well-adapted person’s productiveness, his/her talent in enjoying of life, and psychological conformity and balance. In adaptation the person changes and also the environment actively changes. As a result adapted communication takes place between them. Because of effect of evolutional biology human-being owns structural adaptation methods. These methods develop, ripe and used in adaptation process.

The terms “Alloplastic” and “Autoplastic” changes which were included by Z. Freid are widely used by his followers and according to it they divide the adaptation process into two types: a) Alloplastical adaptation changes come because of effects of changes in outer world according to person’s own requires and needs. b) Autoplastical adaptation helps person to adapt himself / herself to the environment and performed by individual changes in person such as changes in his/ her structure, habits, etc. One other type of adaptation is added to these two types: Individual character’s organs service in searching comfortable environment for itself.

Scientists made classification of social - psychological adaptation with the help of discussing the information which have been collected from scientific literatures and other searching works. It includes these types of social - psychological adaptation: ordinary and usual adaptation, deviant adaptation, conformist and pathological adaptation.

1. Ordinary, usual adaptation: We can call the ordinary, usual adaptation of human his/ her constant adaptation to any situation without pathological changes in his/ her structure and also person’s activity without destroying the rules of environment. In ordinary, usual adaptation there aren’t any changes in person’s structure and also there is no meaningful changes quality of social environment. Social - psychological adaptation divides into two groups: defensive and non-defensive.

Person’s activities which are done with the help of definite defensive mechanism

is called ordinary defensive adaptation, such as: aggression, rationalization and improvement, projection, making backward communication, sublimation and others.

2. Deviant adaptation: Deviant, pervert, non- confirmity processes are person’s requirements that help he / she satisfies them against a certain group or social environment in incapable way. Deviant adaptation is divided into two main qualified groups: a) non- conformity adaptation, b) innovator, innovational adaptation.

Non- conformity adaptation is person’s avoidance of hard, difficult situations from the members of group in incapable ways of methods and because of being in conflict with other members of group and group rules. Such a adaptation leaves person in difficult social - psychological condition. After this there will be hard situations with big problems that will need new adaptation mechanisms and traverse tactics in his / her life. Innovator, innovational adaptation is human’s making new rules, provide the actions of including new structures in certain level of culture or acting a certain role in society. People’s creative activities are called as strong factors of social – cultural progress.

3. Pathological adaptation: It is completely or in a half performed by pathological mechanisms and types of traverse. It includes innovational, psychological synonyms. To form pathological complex of morals (morality) that forms psychological process.

4. Professional adaptation: It is find out as one of the general processes of person’s social - psychological adaptation. On one side, it is person’s individual requirements to profession and the conditions that help human to put the work into effect and the process of satisfying himself / herself. On the other side the structure and content of profession, provisions and requires of social group that control person’s professional actions and movements that is called professional adaptation. Here the speech is about person’s social status among members of group, his / her role and the process of condition to put it into effect.

5. Re-adaptation: If a person who has been adapted to a social group before, comes to another group with new values, rules and different types of conduct and different leading actions he / she will need to readapt himself / herself to the new condition. It means he / she will need to adapt to new atmosphere , will need to learn new rules, values, methods of traverse, social roles and also some mechanisms of adaptation in complex or in a half and sometimes will need to review or refuse of some of his / her former values and rules.

Adaptation is a complex process. During this process there will be complex changes in person’s behaviour.

6. Hyper-adaptation: the term is used in evolutional biology and shows functions of adaptation of some organs of body under high pressure. Such an action takes place when human’s psychological activity repeats complex adaptation mechanisms for more and more times. This traverse can be called perceptional, fixed adaptation. Opposite to this type of adaptation is called Hypo-adaptation. It is formed without pressure of any adaptating mechanism’s function. So we can speak about person’s hypo- adaptation and hyper- adaptation activities separately.

7. Ideo-adaptation: Ideo-adaptation is the use of adaptive mechanisms which were formed at the first stages of human’s development, to perform new functions. Adaptive mechanism fulfills its duty till human’s certain part of life to solve conflicts from outer world. It acts to solve conflicts in patterns of inter world and conflicts between human beings with inter-analization and begin to fulfill these duties.

Human’s society is inter-human process. But it looks like to process between individual - individual, individual - collective, individual - society. Social processes are carried out by the interaction activities between these groups with each other. Every human or person as a result of socializing process owns special structure, motives of hierarchy, systems, etc.

Social process takes place between people of different groups during the adaptation actions. These actions have adaptive qualities and characteristics.

Adaptive processes have different types: a) to unite, b) to compete, c) conflict.

As the daily experiment shows different people adapt themselves to a problematic situation in different ways and in different stages, levels and degrees. These facts show that there are different levels of skills to adaptation. There are differences in adaptation stage according to everyone’s skills and talents.

Adaptive skills are potential-adaptive skills and situational- adaptive according to Y. L. Philips must be person’s potential adaptation and situational skills. It can guarantee action adaptation.

When speech is about person’s activity adaptive skills it needs to be divided into different various types of adaptation and be searched or discussed according to them. First person’s general, common adaptation can be taken as the person’s adaptation to different types of social situations. It depends on person’s ordinary adaptive patterns in ontogenesis and his / her adaptive mechanisms. After this, ordinary adaptive skills can be divided into: Ordinary-Non-defensive, Ordinary - defensive. It means it is skillful to different types of deviant adaptation.

Pathological adaptation is the result of pathological and performing of pathological adaptive mechanisms. So different skills in human can be divided into some types of actions according to pathological adaptation skills. They are depend on person’s deep pathological changes. Skills also can be divided into many types according to situational adaptation. The development of this skill and its agility, deftness depends on person’s adaptation level in being ready to quick changes in social life that provides person’s common adaptation to changed situations in social life.

Social psychology is focused on helping us understand and explain social behavior. Social theories are generally centered on specific social phenomena, including group behavior, pro-social behavior, social influence, love and much more. Before you begin studying psychology, you need to gain a clear understanding of exactly what psychology is.

By: Kuzembaeva Kuralai, magistr of pedagogy and psychology

Summary

This is an article about adaptation of psychological science.

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