The Concept of “Psychological-Cognitive Barrier” in a Scienti[c and Psychological Discourse

The article examines the problem of psychological aspects of creative activity. Representatives of various sciences – philosophy, history, linguistics, pedagogy – concern the problem of creativity, its mechanisms, and manifestations. Psychologists study the inward nature of the complex phenomenon of creativity and creative activity. For many decades, psychologists have been studying creativity from various perspectives. It can be a way of solving mental problems, a search for solutions to internal problems, a process of eZective elimination of contradictions, or a way of constructing a new reality. A creative person's personality and features of his / her creative work took a special place in all of these studies. A number of studies have shown that there are many obstacles of internal and external nature in the way of the person's cognition of the new. By overcoming these obstacles the person reach a new level of cognition and development. A number of works of A. A. Antonov, I. F. Burganova, V. V. Mukhortov, A. F. Esaulov, etc. are devoted to the study of these obstacles, which are called psychological-cognitive barriers (by B. M. Kedrov). The authors make an attempt to analyze the role and significance of psychological-cognitive barriers in the general theory of creative activity. The psychological-cognitive barrier may arise not only at the highest levels of human intelligence – in scientific activity, when creating theories and concepts – but also at relatively low levels of mental activity. In many respects the effectiveness of overcoming the psychological-cognitive barrier is determined by the degree of its complexity, structure, and specificity of the selected coping strategy.