The biological, psychological, and social capacities that enable individuals to engage in personally and culturally valuable behavior are referred to as "hidden human reserves" in the U.S.S.R. and as "human potentials" in the United States. There is a tradition of interest and research in both countries despite the fact that this area has been ignored by many scientists. The topics studied include imagery, self-regulation, hypnosis, accelerated learning, and imagination. The individual's biological predisposition, cultural background, and life experience combine to produce a capacity for development that needs to be more intensively investigated. Practical applications have been implemented in such fields as healing, sports, language learning, creative problem solving, and psychotherapy.
A method to tap the "forgotten assets" of... human potentialities is rapidly emerging as a discrete field of scientific inquiry.... Commitment is not restricted to the United States. Scientists in the U.S.S.R. and other countries are also at work.... As early as 1964 the following appeared in Soviet Life Today...: "The latest findings in anthropology, psychology, logic, and physiology show that the potential of the human mind is very great indeed." (Otto, 1969)
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