Scientific traditions as a mechanism for forming continuity in the development of psychological cognition. Part 1. Status and difficulties in studying

The relevance of the problem of scientific traditions and continuity of psychological knowledge as an important issue in the methodology of modern psychology is considered and substantiated. An analysis of the definitions and understanding of the term “tradition” in the developments of psychologists and related specialists is given, the main difficulties in deployment of research in this area and their problem field are outlined. The paradoxical nature in the study of traditions is indicated — the recognition of its relevance and importance for understanding the dynamics of psychological knowledge, as well as fixation of the need for development and, at the same time, a small number of modern special publications on this topic. Often publications that use the term “tradition” in their titles characterize it only indirectly and rather generally, and sometimes imply a completely different phenomenon under study. It is concluded that the problems of traditions in Russian psychology mostly have the character of unexpressed, unreflected knowledge.