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Гагик Завенович Оганян
 Mr. Gagik Z. Ohanyan
Academician of Armenian Technological Academy.
President of Armenian Technological Academy.
Biographic Data
Gagik Ohanian was born on 30.12.1947 in Yerevan, Armenia. Till 1917, Hakob Ohanian, his grandfather, used to deal with producing dried fruits, medical herbs and spices from Ordubad, which was a family tradition. Meanwhile he was gathering recipes of folk medicine and diet products of the people of Caucasus as well. This family tradition came to somehow find reflection in scientific works of his grandson later on.
Zaven Ohanian, G. Ohanian's father, was chairing the Department of radio announcers of the country's Radio Committee for many years, and the theaters of towns of Gavar and Kapan, afterwards. He was an Honored Artist of Armenia and is the author of a number of dramatic works.
G. Ohanian took a great interest in psychology from childhood. As higher education for this specialty was not at those times available in Armenia, he graduated from Yerevan Teachers' Training University after Kh. Abovyan in 1972 and launched his scientific work there.
In 1978, he organized the Laboratory for psycho-diagnosis at Scientific and Research Institute of Pedagogy. In order to carry on the research, he joined the Department of Armenian Energy System in 1984, where he was dealing with the issues of organizing psychological service at manufacturing enterprises.
In 1989-1993 he served as the Chairman of "Earth and Seat", an association dealing with ecological issues and the study of medical herbs of Caucasus. Since 1993, he has been elected a President of Armenian Technological Academy and in 2002 he became the President of Armenian Nutrition Society.
Principal directions of scientific works:
• Developing a psycho physiological model of activities and its application in resolution of problems in computer science, medicine and education;
• Modeling allergy and studying natural immunostimulators;
• Role of psychological knowledge in the development of an individual;
• Global and regional technological prognoses.
He is the author of 90 scientific works, including 3 monographs dedicated to the aforesaid problems, and 50 technologies for diet products to maintain the immune system.
Psychophysiological Model of Activities
One of the main directions of research by G. Ohanian involves development of a psycho physiological model of human activity. Here, the combination of genetic approach with the data of pathology of psyche and somatic is important. Only survey of mechanisms of formation and destruction of human activities can provide required materials for the development of such a model, while medical, educational and correctional methods developed on the basis of the model could affirm its correctness or acceptability as a working hypothesis.
After a four-year study of genetic psychology and, particularly, a survey of formation of complicated actions by children of preschool age, he started developing a model of activities, which he tried to consider as a process in time and space. Where, previously, he based on the ideas by P. Janet, J. Piaget, L. Vigotsky, the search for the schemes for development of a desirable model brought him to entirely new sources. The conception of reflex first described by R. Desckartes has enriched itself as much as it could be enough to serve a basis for the scheme for development of the model of activities. Though numerous studies have proved that the classic reflex arch needs to be replaced by a reflex ring, the question as what components are incorporated in the main phases of the ring, especially in complicated forms of human activities, remains open.
The history of science makes us aware of the directions that sought to explain the human psyche by reflexes or behavioral actions. But G. Ohanian goes an opposite road, however. He tries to present reactions of organism as components of more complex psychic processes.(1975, 1976, 1977).
The model of activities developed by G. Ohanian includes 3 phases, 9 principal levels and numerous components thereof.
Reference phase comprises the following levels: 1) general, not differentiated in details, comprehension of situation which a subject is in; 2) comprehension of separate components of situation; 3) becoming fully aware of the situation.
Planning phase represents the following levels: 4) determination of a subject's goal in a given situation; 5) determination of means with which to achieve the goal; 6) drawing up a plan for actions to come.
Executive phase includes the following levels: 7)motions; 8)actions; 9)achieving goals.
This represents the temporal contour of activities, while the space contour includes parameters set to determine the degree of each phase and level of development, as follows: a) amount of variants for possible answers; b) ability to choose an optimum variant out of possible ones; c) connection of the given phase or level with other phases or levels.
Further research showed that this model could serve the basis for the directions of work as follows:
Developing a new psycho physiological typology of people if a sustainable inequality of separate phases and levels is considered as a basis;
Developing a new classification of mental disorders if the inequality of development of phases and levels outstrips the limits of norms;
Developing working schemes for a deeper understanding of mechanisms of different psychosomatic diseases;
Developing algorithms of information and search systems and other software facilitating users' and developers' work.
For preliminary probation of the model, G. Ohanian started studying activities of people of different age, including schoolboys and schoolgirls, people in manufacturing sphere, elderly people and scientific workers. Large-scale and almost entirely lacking strict regulation of scientific activity provide a rich opportunity to unveil individual and typical features of people. These are not that much apparent in other spheres. The activities of scientists, who were dealing with development of technologies, was surveyed, i.e. the performance phase of activity becomes more apparent in this group of people, and is not restricted merely by scientific publications.
The research has shown that unequal development of separate phases and levels is a fundamental phenomenon in human psychophysiology that is more obviously displayed in the creative work of scientists. While this can be an obstacle in an individual work, it could promote work in a collective work if relatively under-developed phases and levels on part of one group of workers are offset by their being developed within the other group.
Realization of deficiencies of personal activities as well as psychological consultation proved to help to a certain extent to cope with such deficiencies. This circumstance induced the need for another research dedicated to the role of psychological knowledge in development of an individual.
Another disclosure was that a relatively equal development of phases and levels of activity is noticed among people who live longer, whether or not they deal with creative work. The conclusion here is that harmonic development of all components of the model is one of requisites for an active longevity.
Among the factors for longevity, especially when Caucasus is considered, is frequent use of local specific foodstuffs by long-livers of the area. Much of such foodstuffs is treated as natural immunostimulators. This is why the development of technologies for producing food immunostimulators has become one of the most important areas of G. Ohanian's scientific work.
As people of Caucasus take a leading place worldwide for longevity in relation to the number of population, G. Ohanian has been active in recent years to develop regional projects by joint efforts of scientists from different countries to turn Caucasus to be a world center for study and maintenance of an active longevity.
G. Ohanian believes that the psycho physiological model of activities can find a broad application in solving numerous problems especially if they are related to issues of computer science, health and teaching.
Role of Psychological Knowledge in Development of an Individual
The subtitle of this part is the title of G. Ohanian’s monograph published in 1980.
In many countries, psychology was repeatedly introduced as a teaching subject in the secondary system of education. This has an implication that everybody must have a certain stock of psychological knowledge. However, the system of knowledge of academic psychology was never adapted to people's everyday life. The psychology, for this reason, could not be arranged longer among the school subjects or dragged out a miserable existence. This happened because authors of programs created virtually very simplified versions of academic psychology that has just little to do with the real life. G. Ohanian saw it in another perspective and had another point of view on the problem in question when he was designing his own experimental program of teaching psychology and textbook. He was not considering secondary education from the academic psychology's point of view. Rather, he was considering academic psychology in the perspective of pedagogic issues of secondary education. Since harmonious development of an individual implies his/her intellectual, moral and ethical, physical, professional, aesthetic, sociable and ideological education, his program along with a brief introduction to key psychical processes and qualities and development methods covered information on psychology of work, social psychology, psychology of art, psychophysiology, psychopathology and other branches of psychology. The author is of the opinion that the program could give psychology a solid ground in the system of secondary education and at maximum enable education of pupils and students.
Along with these issues, the author started studying an everyday psychological knowledge and ran across an unexpected disclosure. The original intention of G. Ohanian confined within the issue of how psychological conceptions are determined by people of different age who have not studied psychology, nor been familiar with psychological, even, popular scientific literature? It was found out that these people have, "for their personal needs" developed their own conceptions relating to psychology, and these conceptions for the most part just slightly differ from the ones that are commonplace in literature on psychology.
Unlike the authors of these conceptions, these people were guided in their lives and actions by ideas that were mostly concurrent with such conceptions.
The people in experiment easily verbalized their points on personal and others' behavior from point of view of these conceptions but without using scientific terms. Thus, there emerged everyday behaviorists, Freudians, existentialists, people with mechanistic, biologistic and sociologistic ideas on psychology. And ideas of some in experiment provided a distant remark of empiric and academic approaches to psychology.
The research has shown that all people have everyday psychological notions and human interrelation and personal regard are determined by this knowledge. Therefore, it is highly important for people to get familiar with specially selected scientific knowledge.
For development of a clearer system of psychological knowledge for secondary education, i.e. for every one, it is necessary, the author thinks, to eliminate contraposition of scientific, ordinary and religious notions of the soul.
The program and the textbook for senior pupils, methodical guidelines on organization of the package of psycho hygiene at manufacturing enterprises, recommendations on autogenously training as well as manual for the masters and tutors all relate to this direction.
These investigations caused the author to pay more focused attention to alternative knowledge and technological development of mankind, in general. Дата публикации: 18-11-2005 (Просмотров статьи : 9202)
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