Psychotechnical Theory as a Format of Psychological Knowledge

The paper deals with the methodological characteristics of psychotechnical theory, a specific format of psychological knowledge developed by F.Ye.Vasilyuk. The author describes the general logic of overcoming the ‘schism’ in psychology through the discovery of the methodological importance of psychological practice. It is also shown that the philosophy of practice is implemented through the psychotechnical approach, its crucial feature being the investigation not of the mind per se, but of the experience of working with the mind. The format of psychological knowledge appropriate for the psychotechnical approach is the psychotechnical theory. Eight methodological characteristics of the psychotechnical theory suggested by F.Vasilyuk create a certain conceptual space fitted not only for psychotechnical theories, but also for classical ‘academic’ theories as well as various mixed ones. The article concludes that the psychotechnical theory presents a more general and universal format of psychological knowledge in comparison with the classical theories, and this means an opportunity to create a unified methodological tool for describing and analyzing psychological research and practice — and thus for overcoming the schism in psychology.