Keywords
legal psychology
cognitivism
clinical paradigm
anthropological paradigm
How to Cite
Abstract
Background. The formation of the paradigmatic character of legal psychology took place in the context of the integral development of socio-behavioral sciences, due to the mutual influence of various scientific approaches, in particular, cognitivism, one of the main representatives of which was the American researcher – Herbert Simon. Simon’s teaching combined cognitive and behaviorist concepts and approaches to the study of human behavior and the decision-making process, which will later significantly affect the formation of the main legal and psychological paradigms.
Objective. To systematize Herbert Simon’s scientific ideas, that are applied in legal and psychological science, which includes distinguishing the elements of his psychological cognitivism and determining its influence on the constitution of anthropological and clinical legal psychological paradigms.
Methods. Study uses the structural-functional method, which helped to determine the elements of Herbert Simon’s cognitive approach to the development of anthropological and clinical legal psychological paradigms. To actualize the reception of Simon’s ideas, the method of bibliometric analysis was used, which includes the study of current scientific literature, which is devoted to the interpretation of Simon’s ideas.
Results. The article examines the concepts of «decision-making», «bound rationality», «cognitive limitation», «administrative behavior», which are key to Herbert Simon’s cognitive theory and are actively used in legal psychology. Using the paradigmatic approach to the evolution of science authored by Thomas Samuel Kuhn, as well as the ideas of Noah Chomsky, like his view of the phenomenon of the «cognitive revolution», the evolution of the reception of the ideas of cognitivism in anthropological and clinical paradigms were traced. Article outlines the transformative influence of Simon’s cognitivism on the state of normal science in the field of legal and psychological science.
Conclusions. Ideas of Herbert Simon became the theoretical basis for the formation of the concept of «socio-legal consciousness». This is because Simon’s teaching is also based on the work of German classical philosophy, which is traced in ideas related to the moral and legal autonomy of a person. According to him, moral and legal autonomy of a person is a component of «administrative behavior» of the individual under consideration of the decision-making process in the system of «administrative organizations». Herbert Simon’s theoretical work will later be included in the conceptual and categorical apparatus of legal psychology with epistemological interpretations inherent in the cognitive paradigm and used in clinicism and anthropological theory.
Key words: paradigm, legal psychology, cognitivism, clinical paradigm, anthropological paradigm.
Received: January 13, 2026
Accepted: March 11, 2026
Published: March 30, 2026
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