Interiorization is the process of forming the structures of the human psyche through the acquisition of life experience. The concept comes from the French “interiorisation”, which means the transition from outside to inside, and from the Latin “interior”, which means internal. The term interiorization itself and synonyms for it are very rare. This is a specific term, often used only in the appropriate context. Therefore, there are no synonyms for the word interiorization as such, and only in rare cases is it used together with the word “transition”, which means, accordingly, the transition from external to internal.
Before a certain complex action is assimilated by the human mind, it is realized from the outside. Thanks to internalization, people can talk about themselves, introduce themselves and that it is very important to think to themselves without disturbing others.
Social interiorization means borrowing the basic categories of individual consciousness from social experience and ideas. This state is expressed in the ability of the human psyche to operate with images of any objects that are not in the field of vision at the moment. These can be objects, objects, phenomena, events with which a person has ever interacted, or he can imagine something that he has never even seen, construct events that can happen, or once happened. A person can go beyond the boundaries of a given moment, events can move in the past and future, in time and space.
The concept of internalization is characteristic only in relation to people; animals do not have such an ability, their brain does not have the opportunity to go beyond the existing situation. The instrument of internalization is the word, and the means of transition from situation to situation is speech action. The word identifies and records the most important properties of things and the methods developed by human practice by which information is processed. Human behavior goes beyond the influence of the external situation that previously determined the behavior of the animal. The correct use of words contributes to the assimilation of significant properties of things, phenomena and methods of information management. Thanks to the process of interiorization, a person, with the help of words, is able to adopt the experience of all humanity, as well as previous generations, or the experience of unknown people, hundreds and even thousands of kilometers away. In Russian science, Vygotsky was the first to introduce this term. He believed that all functions of the human psyche are formed as external, social forms of communication between people in the form of work or other activities.
Vygotsky understood the concept of internalization as the transformation of external actions into a person’s internal conscious plan. The development of the psyche begins from the outside under the influence of social factors existing in society. Collective forms of activity are built into human consciousness through internalization and become individual. After Vygotsky, Halperin began studying this phenomenon and made it the basis of systematic, step-by-step education. Nietzsche understood this concept in his own way. He said that instincts that do not come out, still manifest themselves, but from the inside - this is what he called interiorization.
Activity structure
Human activity has its own structure: motive, methods and techniques of activity, goal and result; It is also necessary to distinguish the subject and object of activity in the structure of activity.
The subject is the one who carries out the activity; the object is what it is directed at. The role of the subject in psychological activity is key in the subjective activity theory of S.L. Rubinstein and in the psychological theory of activity of A.N. Leontyev. The subject in the broadest sense of understanding is all of humanity. In a narrower sense - a specific person and the characteristics of his psyche. An activity is always the activity of a subject (more precisely, a joint activity of subjects), since in the process of mastering the means of communication (speech, writing) and the activity itself, a person always uses the experience of generations...
Motives are the internal drives of a person that force him to perform a particular activity. It is the motive that gives the activity a certain specificity in terms of the choice of ways and means to achieve the goal. Motives can be various needs, interests, attitudes, habits and emotional states. A variety of activities gives rise to a variety of motives. People approach their activities differently, depending on their motives. In the psychological theory of activity, the object is its real motive. There is no such thing as activity without motive. The so-called “unmotivated” activity is not activity without a motive, but activity with an objectively or subjectively hidden motive.
Methods and techniques are the actions that a person takes to achieve the goals of an activity. Methods and techniques for achieving results in activities may consist of one or more operations.
Goals are the most significant objects, phenomena, tasks and objects for a person, the achievement and possession of which constitute the essence of his activity. …Human activity…is conscious and purposeful. In it and through it, a person realizes his goals. A goal is the result of an activity. Goals can be near and far, personal and public, depending on the importance a person attaches to them and what role his activities play in public life.
The result is what a person achieves in the process of activity. The results may not coincide with the goals of the activity.
The phenomenon of catalytic exteriorization
This theory belongs to Carl Gustav Jung, who studied the phenomenon of random coincidences for a long time, deeply, and with a serious scientific approach. As a result, many cases of “coincidences,” “previsions,” and manifestations of intuition were described. For example, this could be the ability to anticipate a call from a loved one. In this case, the thought that appears about communicating with a specific person will soon “materialize” into a real call from him. Jung gave this phenomenon the name “synchronicity.” The origin of such phenomena is said to be that the emotional cycles of loved ones are often well synchronized. The psychologist scientist uses the same phenomenon to explain the emergence of the same inventions (for example, radio) in different parts of the globe almost simultaneously. This example is explained by the large amount of accumulated knowledge that is equally available to scientists in different countries and allows them to make a specific discovery. Without a mystical approach, synchronicity is explained:
- a certain amount of attention and attentiveness, the ability to notice new trends and patterns behind simple coincidences (for this you need to have systems thinking), the ability to listen, hear, analyze and remember;
- skillful use of external random stimuli to solve one’s own creative problems;
- high development of empathy;
- developed skill of projective visualization, which leads to self-motivation and active actions to bring the desired result to life.
Interesting! The concept of exteriorization of sensitivity refers to theories that are more about magic than about psychology. This term refers to the transfer of the body’s sensitivity outward, into the surrounding biofield or onto any foreign objects. This phenomenon is used to explain “bewitchment for love,” “hexing,” causing harm with the help of any objects (photos, wax dolls, etc.) “saturated with the sensitivity of the object,” etc.
The processes of exteriorization and interiorization permeate the entire life and daily activities of every person. In study, work, creativity, and in everyday life, both of these processes are inevitably present. Without exteriorization, learning and creativity, the creation of material objects and the solution of all kinds of problems are impossible; human development and his full existence in society are impossible.
Internal activities, external activities, their relationship
All activities include both internal and external components.
Currently, external and internal activities are increasingly intertwined and interconnected: Physical labor, which carries out the practical transformation of material objects, is becoming more and more “intellectualized,” including the performance of complex mental actions; at the same time, the work of a modern researcher, specifically cognitive, mental activity, is increasingly filled with processes that are external in their form of action.
The activity approach operates on the “principle of the unity of external and internal activities.”
Internal activity, arising from external practical activity, is not separated from it and does not stand above it, but retains a fundamental, two-way connection with it. Internal (mental, mental) activity in its origin is derived from external (objective) activity. At first, objective actions are performed, and only later, with the growth of experience, a person acquires the ability to perform externally directed actions in the mind in order to transform objective reality through reverse transformation (exteriorization). The process of transforming external, object-oriented actions into internal, mental actions is called internalization. The transition from an internal, mental plan of action to an external plan of action, implemented in the form of techniques and actions with objects, is called exteriorization. The inextricable connection between internalization and externalization expands a person's cognitive abilities; a person acquires the ability to operate with images of objects that are outside his field of vision.
Interiorization and exteriorization
The activity approach considers interiorization and exteriorization as mechanisms for assimilating socio-historical experience. The idea of the emergence of internal (internalization) mental activity, the activity of human consciousness from external, practical activity arose through the study of socio-historical experience. Human activity - work, learning, play - is associated with cooperation in work, with the use of tools, with the creation of socially significant products. The transfer of social experience is impossible without its expression in external form: in speech, demonstration. Thanks to this, a person “absorbs” the experience of generations. And this is not just copying, the translation of external activity into internal, this is the process of forming consciousness, consciousness as co-knowledge - knowledge that is common, shared with others, separate from them, knowledge perceived by one person as known to others.
The transformation of external, practical activity into internal, mental activity, into the activity of consciousness, is called internalization. Internalization is a transition in which processes that are external in form, with external, material objects, are transformed into processes that occur on the mental plane, on the plane of consciousness; here they undergo a specific transformation - they are generalized, verbalized, reduced, and most importantly, they become capable of further development that goes beyond the limits of possible external activity.
J. J.J. Piaget briefly outlined the concept of internalization - “the transition that leads from the sensorimotor plane to thinking.”
The process of transforming internal, mental activity into external, practical, subjective activity is called exteriorization. Exteriorization is the process of generating external actions, statements, etc. based on the transformation of a set of internal structures formed on the basis of the internalization of a person’s external social activity.
The principle of unity of the external and internal structure of activity, the principle of internalization - externalization is considered in the activity approach, as already noted, as a mechanism for assimilating socio-historical experience.
How interiorization works
During the process of internalization in a small child:
- thinking arises and is formed;
- the structure of the psyche is created;
- personal self-awareness is formed and developed;
- the internalized child as an individual joins society, and skills to interact with it are formed.
In this case, real things are replaced by their mental designations and symbols. The child learns to operate with “cultural signs” - this is how L. Vygotsky defined algebraic symbols, language formulas, geographical maps, paintings and other abstract concepts. There is an internalization of values. At the same time, the knowledge, skills, tools, rules and goals developed by the society surrounding the child are processed and assimilated. A particular person’s own individual intrapersonal value system is created, which, within the framework of social participation, interacts with other people, with their value systems.
The mechanism of internalization:
- The motivation stage involves formulating the task. Interest arises in it and a desire to solve it appears. This could be, for example, a conversation between an adult and a child about what they will do together. For example, an adult will teach a child to count using cubes.
- Orientation stage. At the same time, the child is given an example of what exactly needs to be done. The baby observes and remembers the correct sequence of actions leading to the result. For example, take 2 cubes out of the box and then add 1 more to them to find out the count to 3.
- The material stage involves the child repeating learned actions and interacting with material objects, leading to the same result as in the example shown. The child moves the blocks and, through direct reinforcement, masters counting.
- Stage of external speech. The baby learns to describe material processes in words. He no longer needs to see real cubes in reality to count to 3. But he still needs the words that accompany the count to be spoken.
- The inner speech stage does not require speaking out loud. The operation of counting imaginary cubes is accompanied by mentally pronouncing the words of counting.
- The mental action stage occurs without any mental or other utterance of phrases. Having reached that stage, the child is already able to perform simple actions (adding numbers, etc.) quickly, without thinking, without imagining cubes, without saying counting words, and immediately receiving the correct answer.
Activities and mental processes
In activity... all the mental qualities of a person are not only manifested, but also formed. The activity is organically connected with the problem of personality development. Personality is formed, manifested and improved in activity. This is where consciousness is formed.
Mental processes: Perception, attention, imagination, memory, thinking, speech are the main components of human activity. Without the participation of mental processes, human activity is impossible: a person must imagine what to do, remember, think, make judgments. Mental processes are not just involved in activity, they develop in it, and themselves represent special types of activity.
Perception in the process of practical activity acquires its basic human characteristics. Its main types are formed in the process of activity: Perception of depth, direction and speed of movement, time and space. The child's manipulation of three-dimensional, near and far objects gives the perception of the object's dimensions: width, height, depth. This teaches you to perceive and evaluate forms.
Imagination is also associated with activity. Only through experience and practical activity is a person able to imagine or think. Imagination is a reflection of the experience of practical activity.
Memory and its two main processes - memorization and reproduction - are directly related to practical activity. Memorization is carried out in activity and is the activity itself, which includes actions and operations aimed at preparing material for memorization - this is structuring, understanding, associating the material with known facts, and so on. Memorization also involves performing certain actions aimed at timely and accurate retrieval of material stored in memory. And reproducing the activity makes the search process easier.
Thought, in a number of its forms, is identical to practical activity (the so-called “manual” or practical thinking). In its more developed forms - figurative and logical - the active moment is presented in it in the form of internal, mental actions and operations. Speech is also a special type of activity.
