Feel - is a reflection of specific, individual properties, qualities, aspects of objects and phenomena of material reality that affect the senses in this moment.
For the emergence of sensations, it is first of all necessary to have objects and phenomena of the real world affecting the sense organs, which are called in this case irritants.
The effect of stimuli on the sense organs is called irritation.
In the nervous tissue, the process of irritation causes excitation. Excitation of the systems of nerve cells, the most perfect in their organization, with the obligatory participation of the cells of the cerebral cortex, gives sensation.
I.P. Pavlov. The physiological basis of sensations is a complex analyzer activity of the sense organs.
Analyzer- This is a system of cells that are most complexly organized and are perceiving apparatuses that directly carry out the analysis of stimuli.
The analyzer is characterized by the presence of three departments:
1. peripheral (receptor),
2. transmitting (conductor),
3. central (brain).
The peripheral (receptor) section of the analyzers consists of all the sense organs - the eye, ear, nose, skin, as well as special receptor apparatus located in the internal environment of the body (in the digestive, respiratory, cardiovascular system, genitourinary organs). This section of the analyzer reacts to a specific type of stimulus and processes it into a specific excitation.
Function peripheral department - fulfills the role perceiving apparatus.
Receptors are divided into:
1. exteroceptors- to be on the surface of the body. They respond to external stimuli. Such receptors are possessed by visual, auditory, skin, taste, olfactory analyzers.
2. interoceptors are found in internal organs and tissues. Receptors located on the surface of the internal organs of the body respond to changes occurring inside the body. Organic sensations are associated with the activity of interoceptors.
3. Intermediate position is occupied proprioceptors, located in the muscles and ligaments, which serve to sense the movement and position of the body's organs, and also participate in determining the properties, qualities of objects, in particular when they are touched by hand.
Analyzers depending on the location of the receptor, they are divided into:
1. external analyzers(which have receptors on the surface of the body)
2. internal analyzers(whose receptors are located in the internal organs and tissues).
3. Intermediate position occupies motor analyzer, whose receptors are found in muscles and ligaments.
Common to all analyzers are pain, thanks to which the body receives information about the destructive properties of the stimulus for it.
Properties of sensations:
1. Adaptation- increase or decrease in the sensitivity of analyzers as a result of continuous or prolonged exposure to stimuli.
2. Contrast- weak stimuli increase sensitivity to other simultaneously acting stimuli, and strong ones decrease this sensitivity.
3. The lower threshold of sensation- the minimum amount of stimulus that causes a barely noticeable sensation. Signals with less intensity lower threshold are not felt by humans. upper threshold- the maximum value of the stimulus that the analyzer is able to adequately perceive. The interval between J o and J max is called the "sensitivity range"..
4. Difference threshold of sensation- the smallest difference in intensity between homogeneous stimuli, when they are still felt as different.
5. Sensitization - an increase in the sensitivity of analyzers due to an increase in the excitability of the cerebral cortex under the influence of the simultaneous activity of other analyzers. The sensitivity of the analyzer can be increased by pharmacological means.
6. Sequential images are a continuation of the sensation when the action of the stimulus has already ceased. When the receptor of one or another sense organ is felt, it is in a state of excitation for some time .. after the cessation of exposure to the stimulus, the excitation in the receptor does not disappear immediately.
Types of sensations
There are the following bases for the classification of sensations:
1. by the presence or absence of direct contact with a stimulus that causes sensation. Allocate remote and contact reception. Sight, hearing, smell are related to remote reception. These types of sensations provide orientation in the nearest environment. Taste, pain, tactile sensations - contact.
2. by location receptors. Ek stereoreceptive sensations- reflect the properties of objects and phenomena of the external environment. Interoceptive(organic) Feel, which arise from receptors located in the internal organs and signal the functioning of the latter. These sensations form the organic feeling (well-being) of a person. proprioceptive sensations These are sensations that reflect the movement of the body. With the help of muscle-motor sensations, a person receives information: about the position of the body in space, about relative position all its parts, about contraction, stretching and relaxation of muscles, etc.
3. by time of occurrence in the course of evolution.
4. by modalities(kind of) stimulus. According to the modality of the stimulus sensations are divided into visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, static and kinesthetic, temperature, pain, thirst, hunger.
Let us briefly characterize each of the modalities of sensations.
visual sensations. They arise as a result of exposure to light rays (electromagnetic waves) on the sensitive part of our eye - the retina, which is the receptor of the visual analyzer. Light affects two types of light-sensitive cells in the retina - rods and cones, so named for their external shape.
auditory sensations. These sensations are also distant and also have great importance In human life. Thanks to them, a person hears speech, has the ability to communicate with other people. Irritants for auditory sensations are sound waves - longitudinal vibrations of air particles, propagating in all directions from the sound source. The human hearing organ responds to sounds in the range from 16 to 20,000 vibrations per second.
Auditory sensations reflect the pitch of the sound, which depends on the frequency of the sound waves; loudness, which depends on the amplitude of their oscillations; timbre of sound - forms of vibrations of sound waves.
All auditory sensations can be reduced to three types - speech, music, noise.
vibration sensations. Vibration sensitivity is adjacent to auditory sensations. They share the nature of reflected physical phenomena. Vibration sensations reflect vibrations of an elastic medium. This type of sensitivity is figuratively called "contact hearing". No specific vibration receptors have been found in humans. At present, it is believed that all tissues of the body can reflect the vibrations of the external and internal environment. In humans, vibrational sensitivity is subordinated to auditory and visual.
Olfactory sensations. They refer to distant sensations that reflect the smells of objects around us. Olfactory organs are olfactory cells located in the upper part of the nasal cavity.
The group of contact sensations, as already noted, includes taste, skin (pain, tactile, temperature).
Taste sensations. Caused by the action on the taste buds of substances dissolved in saliva or water. Taste buds - taste buds located on the surface of the tongue, pharynx, palate - distinguish between sensations of sweet, sour, salty and bitter.
Skin sensations. There are several analyzer systems in the skin: tactile(sensation of touch) temperature(feelings of cold and heat) painful. The system of tactile sensitivity is unevenly distributed throughout the body. But most of all, the accumulation of tactile cells is observed on the palm, on the fingertips and on the lips. Tactile sensations of the hand, combined with musculo-articular sensitivity, form touch- a specifically human, labor-developed system of cognitive activity of the hand.
If you touch the surface of the body, then press on it, the pressure can cause painful feeling. Thus, tactile sensitivity provides knowledge about the qualities of an object, and pain sensations signal the body about the need to move away from the stimulus and have a pronounced emotional tone.
The third type of skin sensitivity is temperature sensations - is associated with the regulation of heat transfer between the body and the environment. The distribution of heat and cold receptors on the skin is uneven. The back is most sensitive to cold, the chest is the least sensitive.
The position of the body in space is signaled static feeling. Static sensitivity receptors are located in the vestibular apparatus of the inner ear. Sudden and frequent changes in body position relative to the ground plane can lead to dizziness.
The concept of sensation
Sensation is one of the simplest cognitive mental processes. The human body receives a variety of information about the state of the external and internal environment in the form of sensations with the help of the senses. Sensation is the very first connection of a person with the surrounding reality. The process of sensation arises as a result of the impact on the sense organs of various material factors, which are called stimuli, and the process of this impact itself is irritation.
Feelings arise on the basis of irritability. Sensation is a product of development in the phylogenesis of irritability. Irritability – common property of all living bodies to come into a state of activity under the influence of external influences (pre-psychic level), i.e. directly affecting the life of the organism. At an early stage in the development of living things, the simplest organisms (for example, a ciliate shoe) do not need to distinguish between specific objects for their life activity - irritability is sufficient. At a more complex stage, when a living thing needs to determine any objects that it needs for life, and, consequently, the properties of this object as necessary for life, at this stage, irritability is transformed into sensitivity. Sensitivity- the ability to respond to neutral, indirect influences that do not affect the life of the organism (an example with a frog that reacts to a rustle). The totality of feelings creates elementary mental processes, processes of mental reflection.
Irritation causes excitation, which passes through the centripetal, or afferent, nerves to the cerebral cortex, where sensations arise. Thus, sensation is a sensory reflection of objective reality.
Feeling- the simplest mental process of reflecting a separate quality (property) of an object with the direct impact of stimuli on the perceiving part of the analyzer.
At this level, there is still no synthesis of sensations into a better reflection. This is the level of the most elementary reflection. Each stimulus has its own characteristics, depending on which it can be perceived by certain sense organs. Thanks to sensations, a person distinguishes objects and phenomena by color, smell, taste, smoothness, temperature, size, volume and other features. Sensations arise from direct contact with an object. So, for example, we learn about the taste of an apple when we try it. Or, for example, we can hear the sound of a mosquito flying or feel its bite. In this example, sound and bite are sensory stimuli. At the same time, attention should be paid to the fact that the process of sensation reflects in the mind only a sound or only a bite, in no way connecting these sensations with each other, and, consequently, with a mosquito. This is the process of reflecting the individual properties of the object.
Nevertheless, sensations are the main source of information for a person. On the basis of this information, the entire human psyche is built - consciousness, thinking, activity. At this level, there is a direct interaction of the subject with the material world. Those., Feelings underlie all human cognitive activity.
The physiological basis of sensations
The physiological basis of sensations is the activity of complex complexes of anatomical structures, called by I. P. Pavlov analyzers. Analyzer- anatomical and physiological apparatus for receiving influences from the external and internal environment and processing them into sensations. Each analyzer consists of three parts:
1) peripheral department, called a receptor (the receptor is the perceiving part of the analyzer, a specialized nerve ending, its main function is the transformation of external energy into a nervous process);
2) conducting nerve pathways(afferent department - transmits excitation to the central department; efferent department - a response is transmitted through it from the center to the periphery);
3) analyzer core- the cortical sections of the analyzer (they are also called the central sections of the analyzers), in which the processing of nerve impulses coming from the peripheral sections takes place. The cortical part of each analyzer includes an area that is a projection of the periphery (i.e., a projection of the sense organ) in the cerebral cortex, since certain areas of the cortex correspond to certain receptors.
Questions
Lecture 1.6. Feelings and perception
1. The concept of sensations. The physiological basis of sensations.
2. Types and properties of sensations.
3. Characteristics of the main types of sensations.
4. The concept of perception.
5. Properties and types of perception.
6. Development of the sensory-perceptual sphere of the child.
The world of human mental phenomena is diverse (mental processes, mental properties, mental states). Mental processes are divided into cognitive and emotional-volitional. In this lecture, we start talking about cognitive processes, thanks to the functioning of which a person cognizes the reality surrounding him. Learning processes include: sensation, perception, representation, attention, memory, imagination, thinking, speech.
Human knowledge of the world begins with the accumulation of information with the help of the senses. To describe sensory cognition in psychology, the concepts of "sensation" and "perception" are used. Do a little experiment: ask a friend to close his eyes and touch his palm with an unfamiliar object, and then ask what he can say about the object. If the subject does not know what it is, then he will answer: “Something hard, smooth, cold” or “Soft, warm, rough.” These words express the feelings that a person experiences. Sensations arise as images reflecting individual properties of objects.
Feeling- a cognitive process in which, as a result of the direct impact of stimuli on the sensory organs, individual properties of objects of the objective world are reflected.
Sensations are considered the simplest and primary form of orientation of the organism in the surrounding world. The ability to sense is present in all living beings with a nervous system.. Lowly organized animals reflect only individual that are of direct importance for their life properties of objects and phenomena. The same for a newborn. In the first weeks of life, he reacts only to certain properties of objects. These facts indicate that sensation is the initial form of development of cognitive activity.
Unlike animals, a person's feelings are influenced by socio-historical development. People's feelings are mediated by their practical activities, consciousness, and individual characteristics. In sensation, it is conditionally possible to distinguish objective And subjective side. objective side connected with the characteristics of the influences of the external world, with the peculiarities of the properties of reflected objects and phenomena. The subjective side of sensations is determined by the individual characteristics of the sense organs, which are determined by both genetic and life-acquired factors. It has been proven that the nature of sensations can change under the influence of ongoing activities, diseases, special exercises and etc.
Sensation is not a simple reflection of the influences of the external world by the sense organs. An important part of the sensations is the body's response to the impact. This reaction is mediated and active. Feeling is mediated by the consciousness of a person, his life experience, formed skills, etc. Feeling is interconnected with many mental phenomena. For example, the information accumulated with the help of the senses is a necessary condition for the development thinking. There is also a direct interdependence of many sensations with emotions a person (spring birdsong, sea surf, music often cause positive emotions in a person). Feelings are always emotionally colored. The fact of various psychophysiological effects of color on a person has been experimentally proven: green calms, red excites. Of two boxes of the same weight, painted in white and black, the first seems lighter, the second - heavier. Special sensations coming from the internal organs determine the well-being of a person, his emotional tone. It is no coincidence that in the language the words “sensitivity” (meaning the characteristic of the cognitive function of sensations) and “feeling” (experience) have the same roots.
Conscious sensations are inherent only in living organisms that have a brain and a cerebral cortex. In case of violations in the brain or temporary shutdown of the cerebral cortex in a natural way or with the help of biochemical preparations, a person loses the state of consciousness and with it the ability to have sensations, that is, to feel, to perceive the world consciously. This happens during sleep, during anesthesia, in painful states of consciousness.
Organic sensations are correlated with the objects of the external world, give rise to desires, serve as a source of volitional impulse. Movements and actions aimed at achieving the goal are regulated by the sensations that are necessary to build the action. Thus, sensations provide the vital activity of a person.
Feelings are not the only form of reflection of the world. More high forms sensory reflection ( perception, performance) cannot be reduced to a sum or combination of sensations. Each of the forms of reflection has a qualitative originality, but without sensations as the original form of reflection, the existence of cognitive activity is impossible.
Without sensations, mental activity of a person is impossible. At present, in connection with the task of space exploration and the bottom of the World Ocean, many experiments are being carried out to reveal the effect of sensory isolation (complete or partial absence of stimuli) on the human psyche and body. Experiments have shown that in less than a day, with complete sensory isolation, disturbances of consciousness are observed: hallucinations appear, obsessions arise. Thus, the constant "transformation of the energy of an external stimulus into a fact of consciousness", carried out in sensations, is a necessary condition for the normal functioning of the psyche.
Physiological basis sensations. Sensation can arise only when an object acts on the sense organ. A sense organ is an anatomical and physiological apparatus located on the periphery of the body or in internal organs and designed to receive the effects of certain stimuli from the external and internal environment.
The physiological foundations of sensation are deeply and systematically studied within the framework of the reflex concept of I. M. Sechenov and I. P. Pavlov. It is shown that its essence sensation is a holistic reflex, uniting peripheral and central departments nervous system . I. P. Pavlov introduced the concept "analyzer" and showed that the activity of the analyzers reveals the physiological mechanism of the emergence of sensations. Analyzer- a nervous formation that carries out the perception, analysis and synthesis of external and internal stimuli acting on the body.
The analyzer consists of 3 blocks:
1). Receptor- the peripheral part of the analyzer, which performs the function of receiving information from stimuli acting on the body. The receptor is designed to perceive a certain stimulus from the external or internal environment and to convert its energy from a physical or chemical form into a form of nervous excitation (impulse).
2). Afferent(conductive) and efferent(exit) paths. Afferent pathways are parts of the nervous system through which the resulting excitation enters the central nervous system. Efferent pathways are sections along which the response impulse (based on information processed in the central nervous system) is transmitted to receptors, determining their motor activity (reaction to a stimulus).
3). Cortical projection zones(central section of the analyzer) - areas of the cerebral cortex in which the processing of nerve impulses received from receptors takes place. Each analyzer in the cerebral cortex has its own "representation" (projection), where the analysis and synthesis of information of a certain sensitivity (sensory modality) takes place.
Thus, sensation is essentially a mental process that occurs during the processing of information received by the brain.
Depending on the type of sensitivity, there are visual, auditory, olfactory, taste, cutaneous, motor and others analyzers. Each analyzer from the whole variety of influences allocates incentives of only a certain type. For example, the auditory analyzer highlights the waves formed as a result of vibrations of air particles. The taste analyzer generates an impulse as a result of " chemical analysis"molecules dissolved in saliva, and olfactory - in the air. The visual analyzer perceives electromagnetic oscillations, the characteristic of which generates one or another visual image.
The transformation of the energy of an external influence into a nerve impulse, its transmission to the brain, the formation of a sensation and a response - all this is unfolded in time. The period of time from the application of irritation to the occurrence of a response is called latent(hidden) period. It is not the same for different sensations. So, the latent period of tactile sensations is 130 milliseconds, pain - 370.
State budgetary educational institution
Supreme vocational education
"Yaroslavl State medical Academy»
Ministry of Health Russian Federation
Department of Pedagogy and Psychology with EITI course
COGNITIVE MENTAL PROCESSES
(FEELING, PERCEPTION, ATTENTION, MEMORY, THINKING, IMAGINATION)
Tutorial for 1st year students of medical, pediatric, dental, pharmaceutical faculties
Yaroslavl
UDC 15
Vasilyeva L.N., Senior Lecturer of the Department of Pedagogy and Psychology with the EITI Course of the Yaroslavl State Medical Academy, Candidate psychological sciences, Misiyuk Yu.V., Senior Lecturer of the Department of Pedagogy and Psychology with the EITI course of the Yaroslavl State Medical Academy, Odintsova O.Yu., Lecturer of the Department of Pedagogy and Psychology with the EITI course of the Yaroslavl State Medical Academy.
Reviewer:
Baraboshin Alexander Timofeevich, head of the course of the Department of Pedagogy and Psychology with the EITI course of the Yaroslavl State Medical Academy, associate professor, candidate of medical sciences.
Cognitive mental processes (sensation, perception, attention, memory, imagination). Yaroslavl, Yaroslavl State Medical Academy, 2013, 60 p.
Mental processes: sensation, perception, attention, memory, imagination in real life are inseparable and inextricably linked and affect the successful operation. It is cognitive mental processes that provide a person with knowledge about the world around him and about himself. The textbook reveals the concept, properties, types and main characteristics of cognitive mental processes, their development in ontogenesis.
Addressed to first-year students of medical, pediatric, dental, pharmaceutical faculties.
Approved for publication by the Central Coordinating Methodological Council (Minutes No. 7 dated 06/18/2013).
© Vasilyeva L.N., Misiyuk Yu.V., Odintsova O.Yu.
© Yaroslavl State Medical Academy, 2013.
| INTRODUCTION | 4 s. |
| § 1. FEELINGS | 7 s. |
| 1.1. Physiological basis of sensations | 8 s. |
| 1.2. Classification of sensations | 8 s. |
| 1.3. Properties of sensations | 9 p. |
| 1.4. sensation phenomena | 11 p. |
| 1.5. Development of sensations in ontogeny | 14 p. |
| § 2. PERCEPTION | 15 s. |
| 2.1. Physiological basis of perception | 16 p. |
| 2.2. Classification of perception | 16 p. |
| 2.3. Perceptual Properties | 20 s. |
| 2.4. Phenomena of perception | 22 p. |
| 2.5. Development of perception in ontogeny | 22 p. |
| § 3. WARNING | 23 p. |
| 3.1. Physiological basis of attention | 24 p. |
| 3.2. Classification of types of attention | 25 s. |
| 3.3. Attention Properties | 25 s. |
| 3.4. Distracted attention | 27 p. |
| 3.5. Development of attention in ontogeny | 27 p. |
| § 4. MEMORY | 29 p. |
| 4.1. Classification of types of memory | 30 s. |
| 4.2. Main characteristics of memory | 32 p. |
| 4.3. Factors affecting memory | 33 p. |
| 4.4. Basic laws of memory | 34 p. |
| 4.5. Development of memory in ontogeny | 35 s. |
| § 5. THINKING | 36 p. |
| 5.1 Operations and forms of thinking | 37 p. |
| 5.2. Types of thinking | 39 p. |
| 5.3. Individual characteristics thinking | 40 s. |
| 5.4. Diagnostic thinking of a doctor | 42 p. |
| 5.5. Speech and language | 43 p. |
| 5.6. Modern ideas about the structure of intelligence | 45 s. |
| § 6. IMAGINATION | 47 p. |
| 6.1. Physiological basis of imagination | 47 p. |
| 6.2. Types of imagination | 48 p. |
| 6.3. Imagination functions | 50 s. |
| 6.4. Imagination and creativity | 51 p. |
| 6.5. Individual features of the imagination | 53 p. |
| TEST CONTROL OF KNOWLEDGE | 55 p. |
| BIBLIOGRAPHY | 60 s. |
INTRODUCTION
The unprecedented growth of science and technology, the complication professional activity increased the dependence of a specialist's success in work on the professionalization of his cognitive processes: thinking, speech, imagination, attention, memory, thinking. The reason for the incorrect actions of a specialist doctor can be inaccurate perception, inattention, inertia of his thinking, etc. The professional preparedness of a specialist is formed along with the improvement of the sensitivity of his senses, attention, ideas, memory, imagination and other mental processes. For example, the more accurately a specialist distinguishes between close influences, determines barely noticeable changes in perceived phenomena, remembers and reproduces the necessary data, the better he performs his duties. And vice versa, insufficiently sharp vision, inertia of attention (inability to switch and distribute it), too strong a tendency to automaticity of actions, weakness of memory can lead to errors, inaccurate task performance.
The orientation of the development of sensations, perceptions and attention in students must meet the requirements that the future profession. Sensations, perceptions and attention develop in active and personally meaningful activities. The future doctor needs evenly developed basic properties of attention. He will not be able to correctly diagnose, treat, not being attentive to the objective and subjective indicators of the disease, to the condition and personality of the patient. The formation of attention and its properties in students involves the impact on the orientation of their personality, will, attitude to work. To do this, it is necessary to explain to them their upcoming professional duties, to exercise in solving problems that require correct perception and quick comprehension of situations of future work (highlighting the main and secondary in these situations). Attention and attentiveness are formed in students in the process of active learning activities, thanks to maintaining discipline and organization in all classes.
There is not a single profession in which a specialist could do without imagination. It is especially important in the medical profession. One of the main functions of the imagination is to penetrate inner world another person, which forms the basis of such a professionally important quality of a doctor as empathy (empathy). Imagination is not an innate and permanent quality of a person, like other mental processes and properties, it develops and improves.
The medical profession places high demands on the thinking of a specialist. It must be purposeful, flexible, deep, mobile, fast and accurate. For the formation of professional clinical thinking among students, it is necessary, first of all, to equip them with a system of concepts and knowledge necessary to fulfill the tasks of future work. But this weaponry should be special: mere memorization of concepts and knowledge is not enough, since thinking involves a purposeful correlation of already existing knowledge and information perceived at the moment.
The formation of thinking includes the ability to compare, analyze, carry out operations of synthesis, abstraction, concretization, classification, systematization, broadly mobilize knowledge, avoid a template, creatively take into account specific data. To form thinking means on the basis of certain knowledge, scientific facts with the help of a certain form of their assimilation and application, which ensures the vigorous activity of students, to improve operations, processes, types and forms of thinking, as well as the qualities of the mind in accordance with the tasks and conditions of professional medical activity.
The development of independent thinking is one of the most important tasks high school. When solving it, it is necessary to take into account the various manifestations of a person’s independent thinking, in particular, not only the ability to solve some new problems, but also the ability to see these problems on their own. The inability to see problems is the result of formalism in the assimilation of educational information, which consists in the fact that the student only remembers specific content problems of various sciences, but does not see what they consist of. If the problem discovered by the student himself is solved, then this is associated with a high level of mental activity, the acquisition of knowledge goes in a creative way and ensures their higher quality.
Professional Development speech helps the student to acquire knowledge, improve their thinking, memory and other qualities. Specialist without enough high level professional speech will not be able to successfully fulfill their duties. It is very important that students expand their general and professional vocabulary, develop the skills and abilities of fluent and correct use of a professional language, learn to express their thoughts concisely, clearly and logically in class, and develop speed reading skills.
A person's choice of one of many decisions and actions at each moment of time is determined by his needs and picture of the world, i.e. his knowledge and ideas about the world in general and about a particular situation in particular. All knowledge about the structure of things that is clearly observed and hidden from direct view, the patterns of relations between them, about people and their qualities, about oneself, and, finally, knowledge about the general structure of the world are the result of the integration of knowledge obtained through cognitive processes of different levels of complexity.
Each of these processes has its own characteristics and structure and makes its own special contribution to the formation of an internally connected, dynamic, but at the same time integral image of the world. Flowing simultaneously, mental processes interact with each other so smoothly and imperceptibly for us that at any given moment of time we perceive and understand the world not as a heap of colors, shades, shapes, sounds, smells that need to be understood, but precisely as a world, located outside of us, filled with light, sounds, smells, objects, inhabited by people. Thanks to these processes, the world appears to us not frozen, but in a temporal perspective, as something that develops and exists not only in the present, but also has a past and a future. The mental processes by which ideas about the world around, as well as about the organism itself and its internal environment are formed, are called cognitive mental processes.
The images of the surrounding world are the most complex mental formations, various mental processes take part in their formation, the significance of which in the structure of a holistic picture can be revealed by artificial (experimental or logical) division of this image into its component parts, as well as violations of the course of these processes. The division of a single mental process into separate cognitive processes (sensation, perception, attention, memory, imagination) accepted in psychology is thus conditional. At the same time, this division is based on the objective specific features of each of these processes, which distinguish them from each other in terms of the contribution they make to the construction of a holistic image.
Let us consider in more detail those basic cognitive mental processes that are involved in the construction of images of the surrounding world.
FEEL
The simplest cognitive process is sensation, which is a kind of primary source of a complete image of the world. In the course of practical activity, a person equally relies both on the data of sensory experience and on thinking; they are closely intertwined. The primacy of sensations does not mean that the whole image is a simple sum of them. Feelings provide only the source material on the basis of which a holistic image is built. At the same time, sensation as a reflection in the human mind of individual aspects and properties of an object, perception as a holistic image of an object created on the basis of a complex of sensations, and representation as a sensually visual image of an object are traditionally referred to as forms of sensory cognition.
Feeling –this is a mental cognitive process of sensory reflection of individual properties of objects and phenomena of objective reality with their direct impact on the senses. The need to constantly receive sensations is well manifested in the case when the sense organs are completely deprived of external influence. As experiments have shown, if a person is placed in an environment isolated from any sensations, the psyche ceases to function normally. Similar results were observed in the 1950s. John Lille, neuroscientist who developed the pressure chamber . She looked like a dark soundproof tank, isolated from sounds, light and smells. The tank was filled with a high-density solution, the temperature of which corresponded to the temperature of the human body. The person placed in the tank was as if in weightlessness. However, the subject pretty soon asked to finish the experiment due to the occurrence of hallucinations, thinking disorders, distorted perception of time, space, his body, etc. Specific problems of a psychological nature arise with sensory deprivation, that is, with the restriction of the influx of external influences, which is well known in the development of people who are blind or deaf, as well as those who have poor vision and hearing. Numerous observations have shown that impaired information flow in early childhood, associated with deafness and blindness, causes severe delays in mental development. If children born blind-deaf or deprived of hearing and sight in early age, do not teach special techniques that compensate for these defects due to touch, their mental development will become impossible, and they will not develop independently. Thus, sensations are necessary for normal human life. They are the main source of knowledge about the outside world. To this, perhaps, we can only add that sensations also reflect the state of the human body with the help of receptors located in his body.
Physiological basis of sensations
The phenomena of the external world and the state of the body that affect our senses (for example, sound waves, photons of light, temperature, etc.) are called irritants. The process by which stimuli affect the sense organs is called irritation. Irritation, in turn, causes in the nervous tissue excitation. Sensation occurs as a reaction of the nervous system to a particular stimulus. and, like any mental phenomenon, has a reflex character. Sensations are provided by the activity of special nervous apparatuses called analyzers. Each analyzer consists of three parts:
1) Peripheral department, called a receptor (the receptor is the perceiving part of the analyzer, its main function is the transformation of external energy into a nervous process);
2)Afferent or sensitive nerves (centripetal) that conduct impulses in nerve centers;
3) Central Division Analyzer- these are the sections of the analyzer in which the processing of nerve impulses occurs.
For a sensation to arise, the work of the entire analyzer as a whole is necessary.
Physiological studies show that sensation is not a passive process. As a result of sensations, motor reactions arise, sometimes in the form of a vegetative reaction (vasoconstriction, galvanic skin reflex), sometimes in the form of muscle reactions (eye rotation, neck muscle tension, hand motor reactions, etc.). Motor reactions are provided by efferent neurons that carry a nerve impulse to the executive organs.
Human sensations are a product historical development qualitatively different from the sensations of animals. In animals, the development of sensations is entirely limited by their biological, instinctive needs. A person can feel much large quantity properties of the objects around it. This is due to the fact that a person in the process of historical development has formed an incomparably wider range of needs.
Classification of sensations
Exist different approaches to the classification of sensations:
1. According to the main modalities, they distinguish:
- smell;
- taste;
- touch
- vision;
- hearing.
2. Systematic classification of Ch. Sherrington divides sensations into 3 types:
- interoceptive These are sensations that signal the state of the internal processes of the body. They arise due to receptors located on the walls of the stomach and intestines, the heart and the circulatory system, and other internal organs. This is the most ancient and elementary group of sensations. They are little conscious and have the most diffuse form, most often close to emotional states.
- proprioceptive- these are sensations that transmit signals about the position of the body in space and form the basis of human movements. They play a decisive role in their regulation. This is a sense of balance (static) and a motor (kinesthetic) sensation. Receptors for proprioceptive sensitivity are found in muscles and joints (tendons, ligaments) and are called Paccini bodies. Excitation occurs in these receptors when the muscles are stretched and the position of the joints changes. Proprioceptive sensations also include a specific type of sensitivity called a sense of balance, or a static sensation. Balance receptors are located in the semicircular canals of the inner ear.
- exteroceptive are sensations that provide signals from the outside world. Exteroceptive sensations are the main group of sensations that connect a person with the external environment. Exteroceptive sensations are usually divided into two subgroups:
a) contact sensations caused by exposure directly applied to the surface of the corresponding receptor. Taste and touch are examples of contact sensation.
b) distant sensations caused by stimuli acting on the sense organs at a distance. These senses include smell, hearing and sight.
3. Genetic classification of H. Head allows you to distinguish between two types of sensitivity:
- protopathic sensitivity - more primitive, less differentiated and localized, which includes organic feelings (hunger, thirst, etc.);
- epicritical sensitivity - finely differentiated, rational, younger genetically. This type of sensitivity includes the main types of human sensations.
Properties of sensations
The main properties of sensations include: quality, intensity, duration, spatial localization, absolute and relative thresholds.
1. Quality - this is the main feature of this sensation, which distinguishes it from other types of sensations (a visual sensation is qualitatively different from an auditory one, etc.).
2. Intensity - is a quantitative characteristic that depends on the strength of the acting stimulus and functional state receptor, which determines the degree of readiness of the receptor to perform its functions.
3. Duration(or duration) Feel - it is a temporal characteristic of the sensation that has arisen. It is determined by the functional state of the sensory organ, the time and intensity of the stimulus. When a stimulus is exposed to a sensory organ, sensation does not occur immediately, but after some time - the so-called latent (hidden) period Feel. The latent period of various types of sensations is not the same: for example, for tactile sensations it is 130 ms, for pain - 370, and for taste - only 50 ms. Similarly, the sensation does not disappear at the same time as the stimulus ceases. This inertia of sensations manifests itself in the so-called aftereffect. For example, a visual sensation is stored as a sequential image. So, for example, if in complete darkness we light a bright lamp for a while, and then turn it off, then after that we “see” the bright light of the lamp against a dark background for some time. The aftereffect also explains why we do not notice the breaks between successive frames of an animated film: they are filled with traces of the frames that acted before - successive images from them.
4. Spatial localization stimulus allows you to localize it in space. Contact sensations are related to the part of the body that is affected by the stimulus.
So far, we have been talking about the qualitative difference between the types of sensations. However, no less important is quantitative analysis intensity of sensations. Not every irritation causes a sensation. For a sensation to arise, the stimulus must reach a certain magnitude. The minimum value of the stimulus at which a sensation first occurs is called absolute lower threshold of sensation (or the threshold for the appearance of a sensation). Stimuli that do not reach it lie below the threshold of sensation. So, for example, we do not feel individual dust particles and small particles descending on our skin. Light stimuli below a certain brightness limit do not cause visual sensations in us. The value of the lower absolute threshold characterizes absolute sensitivity sense organs. The weaker the stimuli that cause sensations (i.e., the lower the absolute threshold value), the higher the absolute sensitivity of the sense organs.
Different analyzers have different sensitivities. The threshold of one human olfactory cell for some odorous substances does not exceed 8 molecules. It takes at least 25,000 times more molecules to produce a taste sensation than it does to produce an olfactory sensation. A person has a very high sensitivity of visual and auditory analyzers.
The absolute sensitivity of the analyzer is limited not only by the lower, but also by the upper threshold of sensation. Upper absolute threshold Feel called the maximum strength of the stimulus, at which there is still an adequate sensation to the acting stimulus. A further increase in the strength of stimuli acting on our receptors causes a painful sensation (for example, with super-loud sound, blinding brightness of light, etc.).
The value of the absolute thresholds, both lower and upper, varies depending on various conditions: the age of the person, the functional state of the receptor, the strength and duration of the stimulation, etc.
From absolute sensitivity it is necessary to distinguish relative, or difference, sensitivity, i.e. . sensitivity to a change in stimulus, discovered by the German scientist M. Weber. Difference sensitivity is a relative value, not an absolute one. This means that the greater the value of the initial stimulus, the greater must be the addition to it in order for a change in sensation to occur. For example, we notice changes in the illumination of a room depending on the initial level of illumination. If the initial illumination is 100 lux (lux), then the increase in illumination, which we first notice, should be at least 1 lux. The same applies to auditory, motor, and other sensations. The minimum difference between two stimuli, causing barely h noticeable difference in sensations is called threshold of discrimination , or difference threshold. The discrimination threshold is characterized by a relative value that is constant for a given analyzer. For the visual analyzer, this ratio is approximately 1/100 of the intensity of the initial stimulus, for the auditory - 1/10, for the tactile - 1/30.
sensation phenomena
1. Sensory adaptation. Both the absolute and relative sensitivity of our sense organs can vary within very large limits. For example, in the dark, our vision becomes sharper, and in strong light, its sensitivity decreases. This can be observed when a person moves from a dark room into a brightly lit one. In this case, the human eye begins to experience pain, it takes some time for the analyzer to adapt to bright lighting. In the opposite case, when a person has moved from a brightly lit room to a dark room, he also sees nothing at first (temporarily "goes blind"), and it takes 20-30 minutes for him to become sufficiently well oriented in the dark. Studies have shown that the sensitivity of the eye during the transition from bright light to darkness is aggravated by 200,000 times. The described changes in sensitivity are called adaptation sense organs to the environment. Adaptation is a change in the absolute and relative sensitivity of the sense organs under the influence of external influences. The phenomena of adaptation are characteristic both for the auditory sphere and for smell, touch, and taste. The change in sensitivity, which occurs according to the type of adaptation, does not occur immediately, it has its own temporal characteristics. These time characteristics are different for different sense organs. So, in order for vision in a dark room to acquire the necessary sensitivity, about 30 minutes should pass. The adaptation of the auditory organs is much faster. Human hearing adapts to the surrounding background after 15 seconds. There is also a rapid change in sensitivity to touch (weak contact with the skin of our clothes ceases to be perceived after a few seconds). The phenomena of thermal adaptation (getting used to temperature changes) are well known. However, these phenomena are clearly expressed only in the middle range, and addiction to extreme cold or intense heat, as well as to painful irritations, almost does not occur. The phenomena of adaptation to smells are also known. Thus, there are three types of the phenomenon of adaptation:
1. Adaptation as the complete disappearance of sensation during prolonged action of the stimulus;
2. Adaptation as a dulling of sensation under the influence of a strong stimulus. (These two types of adaptation refer to negative adaptation, since it reduces the sensitivity of the analyzers.)
3. Adaptation is also called an increase in sensitivity under the influence of a weak stimulus. This type of adaptation is defined as positive adaptation. For example, in the visual analyzer, the dark adaptation of the eye, when its sensitivity increases under the influence of darkness, is a positive adaptation. A similar form of auditory adaptation is silence adaptation.
Physiological mechanism The phenomenon of adaptation consists in changes in the functioning of receptors. So, for example, it is known that under the influence of light visual purple, which is in the rods of the retina, decomposes. In the dark, on the contrary, visual purple is restored, which leads to an increase in sensitivity. The phenomenon of adaptation is also explained by the processes taking place in the central sections of the analyzers. With prolonged stimulation, the cerebral cortex responds with internal protective inhibition, which reduces sensitivity.
2. Interaction and mutual influence of sensations Each other . A change in the sensitivity of the analyzer under the influence of irritation of other sense organs is called the interaction of sensations. All our analyzer systems are able to influence each other. At the same time, the interaction of sensations, like adaptation, manifests itself in two opposite processes - an increase and a decrease in sensitivity. The general pattern is that weak stimuli increase, and strong ones decrease the sensitivity of the analyzers during their interaction. An increase in sensitivity as a result of the interaction of the analyzers is called sensitization. A.R. Luria identified two options for increasing sensitivity (sensitization):
Based on sustainable changes occurring in the body;
Based on temporary physiological and psychological changes in the state of the body (for example, under the influence of psychoactive substances, mental disorders, etc.).
Sensitization of the sense organs is easy to notice in the following cases: when compensating for sensory defects (blindness, deafness) and the specific requirements of certain professions. Thus, the loss of sight or hearing is compensated to a certain extent by the development of other types of sensitivity. Blindness causes an increase in tactile sensitivity, and people can read books with a special Broglie alphabet using their fingers. Cases are known when people with limited capacity by sight, they were engaged in sculpture, which indicates a highly developed sense of touch. Deafness causes the development of vibrational sensations. Some deaf people develop vibrational sensitivity so strongly that they can even hear music - for this they put their hand on the instrument. Deaf-blind, holding a hand at the throat speaking interlocutor can thus recognize him by his voice and understand what he is talking about.
The phenomena of sensitization of the sense organs are also observed in persons of certain professions. Dyers can distinguish up to 50-60 shades of black. The ability of musicians to capture differences in tones that are not perceived by the average listener, or the sensitivity of the taste analyzer in tasters, is known.
The interaction of sensations is also manifested in a phenomenon called synesthesia- the appearance under the influence of irritation of one analyzer of a sensation characteristic of other analyzers. In psychology, the facts of “colored hearing” are well known, which occurs in many people, and especially in many musicians (for example, in Scriabin). So, for example, it is widely known that we regard high sounds as “light” and low sounds as “dark”. It is characteristic that the phenomenon of synesthesia is not distributed equally among all people.
All these facts show that the sharpness of absolute and difference sensitivity can change significantly and that a person's participation in various forms of conscious activity can change the sharpness of this sensitivity.
Sensations arise only with the direct impact of objects on the sense organs. The sense organ is an anatomical and physiological apparatus located on the periphery of the body or in the internal organs and specialized for receiving the effects of certain stimuli from the external environment and internal organs. The main part of each sense organ is the nerve endings, which are called receptors. The receptor is a part of the analyzer, the function of which is to transform external energy into a nervous process. Such sense organs as the eye, ear, uniting dozens of receptor endings. A receptor, nerves that conduct information about teasing, and a site in the cerebral cortex, which represent a single morphological structure. IP. Pavlov called the analyzer analyzer.
Each analyzer is a nervous mechanism, which consists of three parts: 1) a peripheral section - a receptor, 2) an afferent or sensory nerve (centripetal), which conducts excitation to nerve centers three (the central section of the analyzer), 3) cortical sections of the analyzer, in which is the processing of nerve impulses coming from the peripheral parts. The cork part of the analyzer includes a single region, which is a projection of the periphery in the cerebral cortex, since certain cells of the periphery (receptors) correspond to certain regions of the cortical cells. For a sensation to arise, the work of the entire analyzer as a whole is necessary.
Objects and phenomena of reality that affect our senses are called stimuli. The influence of stimuli on the sense organs is called irritation. Irritation causes excitation in the nervous tissue. Vi idchuttya arises as a reaction of the nervous system to a particular stimulus and has a reflex character. The action of the stimulus on the receptor leads to the emergence of a nerve impulse, which is transmitted along the afferent nerves to certain parts of the cerebral cortex. Reaction - the response is transmitted along the efferent (motor) nerve to the organ that responds to feelings. So, when a person touches a hot object with his hand, the signal goes to the brain and along the efferent nerves to the muscles, as a result of which they contract.
23 Feelings
Even the ancient Greeks distinguished five sense organs and their corresponding sensations: visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory and gustatory. modern science significantly expanded the concept of the types of sensations. OR. Luria believes that the classification of sensations can be carried out according to less than two basic principles - systematic and genetic (in other words, according to the principle of modality, on the one hand, and according to the principle of complexity ab in the level of their construction, on the other).
Systematic classification of sensations
According to the placement of receptors on the surface of the body or inside the body, the following types of sensations are distinguished:
1) exteroceptive;
2) interoceptive;
3) proprioceptive
exteroceptive sensation- This is the largest group of sensations. They provide signals from the outside world and form the basis for our consciousness. Exteroceptive sensations include visual, auditory, olfactory, sensory, tactile (tactile), thermal (temperature) and pain sensations.
interoceptive sensation- these are organic sensations, they signal the state of the internal processes of the body, bring irritation to the brain from the walls of the stomach and intestines, the heart and circulatory system and other internal organs. This is the oldest and most elementary group of sensations. They are among the least conscious and most diffuse forms of sensation and are always closely associated with emotional states.
proprioceptive sensation provide signals about the position of the body in space and form the basis of human movements, playing an important role in their regulation. Peripheral receptors for proprioceptive sensitivity are located in muscles and joints (tendons, ligaments) and have the form of special nerve bodies (bodies. Paccini). The excitation that occurs in these bodies reflects the sensations that occur when calculating muscle tension and changing the position of the joints. This group of sensations includes a specific type of sensitivity called the sense of balance, or static sensation, their peripheral receptors are located in the canals of the inner ear. Kinesthetic and static sensations belong to proprioceptive ones.
exteroceptive sensation is usually divided, depending on the presence or absence of direct contact of the receptor with the stimulus that causes sensation, into:
1) contact;
2) sufficient
Contact sensations are caused by exposure directly applied to the surface of the body of the corresponding organ of perception. Examples of contact sensations are taste, touch
Distant sensations are caused by stimuli acting on the sense organs at some distance. These include smell, hearing and vision.
Genetic classification allows us to distinguish two types of sensitivity:
1) protopathic (more primitive, affective, less differentiated and localized), which includes organic sensations (hunger, thirst, etc.);
2) epicritical (more finely differentiated, objectified and rational), to which the main human senses belong. Epicritical sensitivity is the youngest in the genetic plan, and it exercises control over protopathic sensitivity.
Let us dwell in more detail on the characteristics of certain types of sensations.
Visual sensations play an important role in human interaction with the environment. The apparatus of vision is the eye - a sensory organ with a complex anatomical structure. The physical cause of visual sensations?. The human eye perceives only a small part of electromagnetic vibrations. Light waves that are reflected by an object are refracted as they pass through the lens and are focused on the retina in the form of an image. The retina is connected via the optic nerve to the cerebral hemispheres. The retina has a complex structure. One of the layers included in its composition is the layer of rods and cones, which are the final formations of the optic nerve. Rods and cones perform different functions. Rods are the organ of vision in the dark, and since under such conditions a person does not feel spectral colors, they are called non-color vision organ. Cones are the organ of "daytime" vision, they are characterized by less sensitivity to light. Since during the day?
The visual sensations include the sensation of light and color
Auditory sensations, reflecting a wide variety of properties of sounding objects and phenomena, help a person to navigate in environment and regulate your actions. They are caused by sounds we, acting on the auditory analyzer at a distance through air vibrations and sound waves. Therefore, auditory sensations are classified as distant sensations.
The sensory endings of the auditory nerve are located in the inner ear. The outer ear (pinna) collects sound vibrations and transmits them to the inner ear on the cochlea. The excitation of the nerve endings in the curls occurs according to the principle of resonance, the endings of the auditory nerve, different in length and thickness, begin to move along a certain number of oscillations per second.
Auditory sensations include the sense of language, music, and noise. With the help of auditory sensations, the following qualities of sound are distinguished: strength (loud - quiet), height (high - low), timbre (the peculiarity of a voice or a musical instrument), duration (sounding time), as well as a dark rhythmic pattern of sounds, are consistently perceived.
Auditory sensations are of great importance in perception oral speech. phonemic hearing, or sensitivity to the sounds of speech, is formed in the process of mastering the language and using it. Its development affects without zpomilkovist writing especially in elementary grades.
Vibration sensitivity is closely related to auditory sensitivity. It is believed that in the human body there are no special receptors designed to sense vibration, and all organs and tissues of the human body are capable of reflecting vibrations.
Olfactory sensations do not have the same significance in human life as visual and auditory ones, since they are not associated with orientation in the environment, their role is that they signal to a person about the freshness of food, the purity of the air, etc. In those cases, when their development is stimulated by the conditions of professional activity, they achieve considerable perfection (perfumers, firefighters, etc.).
Irritants that cause olfactory sensations are microscopic particles of odorous substances that enter the nasal cavity with air, dissolve in the nasal fluid and affect the receptor. Olfactory sensations are very often combined with other senses - taste, tactile, temperature, etc. and become complex. The connection of the olfactory sensation with others can be conditioned reflex in nature (the sight of a rose can enhance our sense of its smell).
Taste sensations are closely related to olfactory ones, they are united by a common role in nutrition processes. The organ of taste is the tongue. Taste sensations include the sensation of sour, sweet, bitter and salty. Other tastes of ki are the result of mixing basic flavors. Taste sensations increase a person's appetite, and also perform a protective function, signaling poor-quality food. The dynamics of taste sensations is closely related to the body's need for food. In a state of hunger, sensitivity increases, when saturated, it decreases.
Skin sensation includes tactile, temperature and pain sensations
Tactile sensations arise due to the impact of mechanical stimuli on the surface of the skin. The condition for their occurrence is contact with an irritant that causes deformation of the skin, tactile sensitivity is unevenly distributed throughout the body. The largest accumulation of tactile receptors on the palms, fingertips and lips.
Tactile sensations are sensations of touch and pressure. They signal the presence of a particular stimulus that collides with the surface of the body. Tactile sensations reflect important properties subject matter of the objective world: equality, roughness, hardness, softness, dryness, thinness of moisture.
Temperature sensations are divided into sensations of cold and heat. They signal changes in the temperature environment, the danger of cooling the body or overheating, and help regulate the exchange between the body and the environment. In addition, temperature sensations give a person information about the thermal properties of objects and phenomena in the environment.
The nature of temperature sensations depends on the nature of the acting stimulus. If the temperature of the object is lower than body temperature, then there is a feeling of cold, if it is higher - a feeling of warmth. Temperature sensations are local in nature, since we attribute them to a specific area of the skin, which is affected by irritants.
Pain sensations arise when exposed to various kinds of stimuli (mechanical, thermal, chemical, electrical, etc.), which cause damage or destruction of body tissues. They play an important role as components of protective reflexes, signal the harm of the stimulus to the body and the need to break contact with it, and have a pronounced negative emotional coloring. Pain sensations carry certain information about the stimulus, they reflect its intensity, quality (stabbing, cutting, burning pain), location. The spatial localization of pain is not always accurate, which is explained by the irradiation of excitation processes.
Static sensations reflect the position of the body in space, its balance. Static sensation receptors are located in the vestibular apparatus of the inner ear. This type of sensation is of great importance for the vitality of the organism, since it ensures the balance of the organism. The regulation of the balance of the body has a reflex character. The normal operation of a static analyzer is necessary to display space with the help of other types of sensations, in particular visual and rukovogovogo.
kinesthetic sensation (from the Greek "kinesis" - movement and "aistesis" - sensation) is the sensation of movements and the position of parts own body. Kinesthetic sensation receptors are found in muscles and tendons. Irritation in these receptors occurs during contraction and stretching of muscles and ligaments, friction of the joints. The result of these sensations is knowledge about the strength, speed, trajectory of movement of parts of the body of parts of the body.
In combination with other senses, kinesthetic sensations become definite and differentiated; in combination with visual sensations, they become important in a person's cognition of the spatial property of things. The combination of kinesthetic sensation with tactile acts in the form of groping.
In the course of training, it is necessary to pay attention to the development of kinesthetic sensations, which are aimed at the lessons of labor, drawing, physical education, as well as dancing, rhythmic gymnastics and other sports. At the same time, it is important to take into account the peculiarities of the development of this type of sensations in certain age periods.
Organic sensations are sensations associated with the activity of internal organs. These sensations, merging, form an organic feeling (well-being) of a person. This is the so-called senesthesia ( general feeling), which reflects the general state of the body based on signals from various organs of the body. An example is the feeling of general malaise that occurs in the patient. Organic sensations include feelings of hunger, thirst, satiety, nausea, changes in the activity of the heart, stomach, and pain sensations.
Organic sensations are caused by impulses from internal states, as well as by a change in the chemical formula of the blood. They are characterized by lack of clarity, fuzziness and uncertainty of localization. feature th organic sensations is their emotional coloring (positive or negative).
