Bogoyavlenskaya, D. B., Sukiasyan, I. A. Establishment and Role of Formal Models in Psychology

Abstract: The author views the development of formalized psychological models from a historical perspective. The author traces back the evolution of the relation between abstract mathematical reflection and scientific methodological interpretation of perceived reality in the process of such model establishment. The author shows a different role of mathematics in formalization of objective data obtained through empirical and theoretical approaches. Empirical approach assigns a leading role to mathematical methods that view a phenomenon as a collection of formal features, both significant and insignificant. Theoretical approach studies the contents of a phenomenon and uses mathematical methods only to give a certain shape to such contents. The author also shows how a model of the highest form of psyche is built based on each approach. Psychometric paradigm adopts a universal explanatory principle (association) and natural scientific methods for measuring particular features. It does not study the qualitative features of creativity though. Quite on the contrary, activity paradigm provides a theoretical definition of creativity, defines the nature of creativity as a psychological phenomenon and develops a specific psychological method. Whether such formal model is adequate or not is defined through understanding of the essence of the phenomenon being modeled opposed to description of such model based on measured features.

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