In Search of the Blue Bird: On the 50th Anniversary of P.Ya. Galperin’s “Introduction to Psychology”

Background. This publication commemorates the 50th anniversary of P.Ya. Galperin’s seminal work, “Introduction to Psychology”. P.Ya. Galperin served on the editorial board of the journal “Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Series 14. Psychology” (currently Lomonosov Psychology Journal) from its founding until his death, but he did not publish any works in this journal during his lifetime. This material partially fills this gap and includes brief archival notes by P.Ya. Galperin for “Introduction to Psychology” and the author’s reflections on the place of P.Ya. Galperin’s work in modern Russian psychology.

Objective is to analyze P.Ya. Galperin’s book “Introduction to Psychology” through the prism of the main theoretical problems of psychological science and practice and to demonstrate its fundamental significance for modern psychology. The purpose of this article is to draw the attention of contemporary psychologists to this work, which has been reprinted numerous times while remaining largely underread from the standpoint of the scientific potential that it contains.

Methods. Theoretical methods for analyzing scientific literature on psychology are used in the article. Historical and archival method was applied as a supplementary method.

Results. It is shown that in his work “Introduction to Psychology”, P.Ya. Galperin discusses fundamental problems in psychology and related sciences, convincingly demonstrating how the solution to psychology’s fundamental question about its subject matter determines the direction of all subsequent research. P.Ya. Galperin’s book not only identifies fundamental questions but also provides answers that remain relevant today. Following P.Ya. Galperin’s concept, issues that depend on the progressive development of both psychology and related fields of knowledge are raised. It is suggested that “Introduction to Psychology” can be viewed as a work significantly ahead of its time and one that changed the face of Russian psychology.

Conclusions. The scientific consistency and internal logic of P.Ya. Galperin’s work “Introduction to Psychology”, on the one hand, and the author’s personal readiness to follow the chosen research line, on the other, determined its place as fundamental in Soviet and Russian psychology.

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