The course is one of the first attempts to systematize materials related to the development of rational teaching methods among students. It can be useful primarily to current students, graduate students, engineers and scientists. The course of lectures is an introduction to the vast field of psychology of scientific and technical creativity relevant in the modern rapidly changing world. As the authors write in the preface - "Its goal is to develop an active, creative attitude among students to the process of mastering knowledge, which should be carried out using rational methods and techniques of their mental activity, as well as to form in them a desire to improve the structure of the person. The objectives of this course: to give students knowledge about various aspects of mental activity, to form rational skills, skills, habits, as well as external conditions of mental work and rest, to accustom them to constant work on themselves."