Methodological and Conceptual Contradictions at the Meeting of Psychology and Physiology

Abstract

The paper discusses topical issues that arise as a result of intensive developments in the sciences that bridge the gap between psychology and physiology, such as psychophysiology, physiology of higher mental activity, neuropsychology, etc. The conditions that have defined the interaction of psychology and physiology, the methodological and conceptual contradictions arising at the crossing of these two sciences, as well as the limits and perspectives of their confluence are discussed within historical context. More detail is given to two specific “pain spots” that have formed in the course of the two sciences’ interaction, namely, reflex theory, and neurophysiological (and neuronal) analysis of consciousness.