Knowledge needs in psychology as a factor of professional training
One of the leading factors of personality formation is the need to develop an educational environment that satisfies demands and personal characteristics of students, which actualizes a necessity to pay attention to the problem of needs. The article presents an analysis of the phenomenon of “needs” development in domestic and foreign psychology and possibilities of using theoretical concepts in the course of applied research of person' knowledge needs in psychology. In theoretical part of the work, in the context of historical analysis, concepts of the phenomenon of needs are considered: essential, structural and substantive characteristics of needs, their functions, mechanisms of deployment and interaction with the external environment are analyzed. It is shown that the needs, which are the determinants of personality activity, are directly related to the psychological constitution of a person, to the characteristics of his/her environment, and to the specifics of his/her activities. The empirical part of the work presents a study of students' knowledge needs in psychology, which, as expected, are closely interrelated with their personal characteristics. The use of the study of students' knowledge needs in psychology is an important motivational element of learning. The results of the study will be useful in the process of professional training.