General patterns of sensations in psychology. Sensations, their types and basic patterns

From the point of view of psychology, sensations are a conscious or unconscious product of the processing by the central nervous system of significant stimuli that arise in the internal or external environment. All living beings with a nervous system have the ability to sense sensations. As for conscious sensations, they exist only in living beings that have a brain and cerebral cortex.

Sensations are a reflection of individual properties of objects that affect the senses.

Feelings are both objective and subjective. Their objectivity lies in the fact that they always reflect an external stimulus. And subjectivity is that they depend on the state of the nervous system and individual characteristics.

How does information from the outside world enter the brain? These channels were called analyzers. An analyzer is an anatomical and physiological apparatus specialized for receiving the effects of certain stimuli from the external and internal environment and processing them into sensations.

Each analyzer consists of three parts:

1) receptor - a sensory organ that converts the energy of external influences into nerve impulses. Each receptor is adapted to receive only certain types of influence characteristic of it;

2) nerve pathways. These pathways carry signals to the brain;

3) the brain center in the cerebral cortex.

The mechanism of action of the analyzer is as follows. The irritant object acts on the receptor, causing in it a physico-chemical process of irritation, which turns into a physiological process - excitation, the latter is transmitted along the centripetal nerve to the center of the analyzer. In the cortical region (section) of the analyzer, on the basis of a nervous process, a mental process arises, otherwise called sensation. All sections of the analyzer work as a single unit. A person has two dozen analyzer systems.

Types of sensations.

Visual arise as a result of the influence of light rays (electromagnetic waves) on the sensitive part of our eye - the retina, which is the receptor of the visual analyzer.

The visual receptor, or eye, has a complex structure, characterized by the presence of two main apparatuses: light-refracting and light-sensitive.

The light-refracting apparatus of the eye consists of a lens and a glassy, ​​transparent liquid that fills the internal cavity of the eyeball. The function of the lens is to provide a clear image of objects on the retina. The light-sensitive apparatus is the retina, which covers the posterior, inner surface of the eye chamber and consists of the terminal branches of the optic nerve.

Auditory

The irritants for auditory sensations are sound waves - longitudinal vibrations of air particles, propagating in all directions from the sound source. All auditory sensations can be reduced to three types - speech, music, noise. Strong and prolonged noise passing through the organ of hearing causes people to lose nervous energy, damage the cardiovascular system, reduce attention, reduce hearing and performance, and lead to nervous disorders. Noise has a negative effect on mental activity, so special measures are being taken to combat it.

Vibrating

Vibration sensitivity is adjacent to auditory sensations. No special vibration receptors have been found in humans. Currently, it is believed that all tissues of the body can reflect vibrations of the external and internal environment. In humans, vibration sensitivity is subordinated to auditory and visual. For deaf and deaf-blind people, vibration sensitivity compensates for hearing loss. Short-term vibrations have a tonic effect on the body of a healthy person, but long-term and intense vibrations tire and can cause painful phenomena.

Olfactory

This is a type of sensuality that gives rise to a specific sensation of smell. They are also classified as distant sensations. Olfactory sensations arise due to the penetration of particles of odorous substances spreading in the air into the upper part of the nasopharynx, where they affect the peripheral endings of the olfactory analyzer, embedded in the nasal mucosa. The sense of smell is especially important. Deaf-blind people, for example, use their sense of smell just as sighted people use their vision: they identify familiar places by smell and recognize familiar people. There are seven main odors: camphor, floral, musky, minty, ethereal, sweet, putrid.

Flavoring

Caused by the effect on taste buds of substances dissolved in saliva or water. A dry lump of sugar placed on a dry tongue will not give any taste sensations. Taste buds - taste buds located on the surface of the tongue, pharynx, palate - distinguish between the sensations of sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Parts of the tongue are sensitive to different substances in different ways: the tip of the tongue is most sensitive to sweets, the edges of the tongue are most sensitive to sour, and the root of the tongue is most sensitive to bitter. The cortical part of the taste analyzer is located in the temporal region.

The variety of taste depends on the addition of olfactory sensations to taste. If you completely exclude the sense of smell, then the taste sensitivity of a wide variety of substances increases; with saturation or oversaturation, it decreases.

Tactile

Refers to skin sensations

The tactile sensitivity system is unevenly distributed throughout the body. But most of all, the accumulation of tactile cells is observed in the palm of the hand, on the tips of the fingers and on the lips. Tactile sensations of the hand, combining with muscle-joint sensitivity, form the sense of touch - a specifically human system of cognitive activity of the hand, developed through labor. Thanks to the sense of touch, the hand can reflect the shape and spatial arrangement of objects and in this regard is a sense parallel to vision. Tactile sensations provide knowledge about the surface of the body with which the collision occurred: smooth, rough, sticky, liquid.

Pressure

Refers to skin sensations.

The pressure feels like a strong touch. A characteristic feature of the sensations of touch and pressure is their relative precise localization. Receptors are characterized by rapid adaptation. We usually feel not so much pressure as such, but changes in pressure.

Painful

Refers to skin sensations

The receptor endings of pain sensitivity are located under the skin, deeper than tactile receptors, and in places where a large number of tactile receptors are concentrated there are fewer pain receptors. Thus, tactile sensitivity provides knowledge about the quality of an object, and painful sensations signal the body about the need to move away from the stimulus and have a pronounced emotional tone. Pain sensations reflect the intensity of the stimulus, its qualities (stabbing, cutting, burning pain), and the location of the impact.

Pain receptors are also located in the internal organs. The location of pain points is dynamic and moving. Pain sensitivity is characterized by low excitability.

Temperature

Refers to skin sensations

Associated with the regulation of heat exchange 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 the least. The skin is able to adapt quite quickly to different temperatures, and different parts of the skin have different adaptation rates. The faster the heat exchange occurs, the more intense the sensation it causes (metal - a good conductor - seems warmer than wool - a poor conductor - at the same temperature).

Kinesthetic

When mastering many professions and performing professional activities, proprioceptive (kinesthetic) sensations play an important role, which reflect the movement and position of individual parts of the body. Receptors for kinesthetic sensations are located in muscles and tendons. Irritation in these receptors occurs under the influence of muscle stretching and contraction. As a result of kinesthetic sensations, a person develops knowledge about the strength, speed, and trajectory of movement of body parts. A large number of motor receptors are located in the fingers, tongue and lips, since these organs need to carry out precise and subtle working and speech movements. The activity of the motor analyzer allows a person to coordinate his movements. The development of kinesthetic sensations is one of the most important tasks of vocational training.

Static

The position of the body in space is signaled by static sensations. Static sensations (sensations of balance) are sensations that correctly orient a person in the presence of gravity; they arise as a result of the activity of the vestibular analyzer. Static sensitivity receptors are located in the vestibular apparatus of the inner ear. Sudden and frequent changes in the body relative to the plane of the earth can lead to dizziness. As a result of research in recent years, it has been established that the normal operation of a static analyzer is necessary for the reflection of space by other analyzers, in particular vision.

Organic

A special place in human life and activity is occupied by interoceptive (organic) sensations that 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. There are also individual organic sensations, such as hunger, thirst, and pain. The emergence of organic sensations is accompanied by vivid experiences of negative emotions; satisfaction of the needs associated with these sensations, for example, is accompanied by positive emotions. Organic sensations have a strong influence on a person’s mental state and performance. At the same time, these sensations are strongly influenced by a person’s volitional efforts and his motives.

38. Comparative analysis of domestic and foreign ideas about the driving forces, sources and conditions of mental development.

Analysis of Fatherland. and foreign research that the problem of the driving forces, sources and conditions of mental development of phenomena. Basic for developmental psychology. In foreign psychology, this problem was considered as a metaphysical theory of two factors, heredity and environment, they interact with each other. Domestic psychologists (Vy Gothsky, Rubinstein, Leontyev) laid the foundations for the theory of the mental development of a child and clarified the specific differences between this process and the ontogenesis of the animal psyche. In the individual development of the animal psyche, the manifestation and accumulation of two forms of experience are of primary importance: species-specific and (in the form of heredity) and individual. In contrast, in the development of a child, along with the previous two, another form of experience arises and acquires a dominant role - social.

In the process of assimilation of this experience, children acquire individual knowledge and skills, develop their abilities, and form their personality.

As Vygotsky correctly noted, none of the specifically human mental qualities - logical thinking, creative imagination, volitional regulation of actions, etc. - can arise through the ripening of organic inclinations alone. Need social living conditions and education.

39. General characteristics of the diagnostic study. Stages of diagnostic research and levels of psychological diagnosis.

Methods of psychology are the main ways and techniques of scientific evidence of mental phenomena and their patterns.

In psychology, it is customary to distinguish four groups of methods for studying the psyche.

Organizational methods: comparative, comparative age, longitudinal and complex.

The comparative method is a comparison of groups of subjects in order to find similarities and differences between them.

The comparative age method is a comparison of individual characteristics of people by age in order to identify the dynamics of the mental process being studied.

The longitudinal method is repeated examinations of the same individuals over a fairly long period of time, sometimes measured in tens of years.

The integrated method involves the implementation of research programs in which representatives of different sciences take part; this kind of research makes it possible to establish connections and dependencies between phenomena of various kinds (physical, physiological, mental, social, etc.).

Empirical methods: observation and introspection; experimental methods; psychodiagnostic methods (tests, questionnaires, questionnaires, sociometric method, interviews and conversations); analysis of the process and products of activity; biographical methods.

Data processing methods: quantitative (statistical) and qualitative (differentiation of material into groups, options, description of typical cases, description of exceptions, etc.).

Interpretive methods: genetic and structural.

The genetic method is the interpretation of the processed research material in the characteristics of development, highlighting the phases, stages, and critical moments in the formation of mental neoplasms. It establishes vertical genetic connections between levels of development.

The structural method establishes “horizontal” structural connections between all studied personality characteristics.

Any psychological research has several general stages. Preparatory stage - at this stage, the collected preliminary information makes it possible to put forward a hypothesis - an assumption about any psychological patterns, which is tested at the next stage. The research itself - at the second stage, using specific techniques, data is obtained that depends on the task at hand. To collect psychological facts, as a rule, several methods are used in combination. Processing of the received data - at this stage, a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the received data is carried out, which makes it possible to identify existing connections and patterns.

Material processing includes the following stages:

– primary analysis – analysis of each individually recorded fact;

– primary synthesis – establishing connections between the data of the primary analysis and the previously put forward hypothesis;

– comparative (secondary) analysis – identifying facts that are consistently repeated;

– secondary synthesis – combining facts, comparing them with a hypothesis and establishing significant patterns. Interpretation of results. At this stage, an explanation of the obtained data is given on the basis of one or another psychological theory, and the correctness or incorrectness of the put forward research hypothesis is revealed.

40. Personality. The idea of ​​personality in a broad and narrow sense.

Personality = individual: this is a special quality that is acquired by an individual in society in the totality of relationships, social in nature, in which the individual is involved. The individual does not give birth to personality, is not its basis and determinant, but is a prerequisite for the emergence of the Self and a necessary condition for its existence. A person’s personality is produced – created by the social relations into which a person enters in his activities. This means that the real basis of a personality is the totality of his social by nature relations to the world, but relationships that are realized, and they are realized by his activities, or rather by the totality of his diverse activities.

To move on to the main approaches to understanding personality, it is necessary to first identify three subject areas:

A. Nature. (Natural individual). Man as a part of nature (animal) is a subject of active adaptation to its changing conditions on the basis of innate experience formed in biological evolution.

B. Society. (Social individual). A person, as a member of a certain society, is the subject of appropriation and full (adequate) use of existing social norms (including collective conscious ideas), the owner of mental qualities, abilities, rules of communication that correspond to his social position (and are acceptable in it).

B. Culture. (Personality). A subject of culture is a person who independently and responsibly relies in his actions, thoughts, experiences (primarily in situations of motivational conflict) on universal moral principles and is capable, in particular, of meaningful transformation of his own natural properties and already assigned social rules. The subject of independent and responsible solving of one’s own problems on the basis of universal, universal human norms.

In accordance with these three subject areas, 3 options for the scope of the concept of personality can be distinguished:

1. Personality in a broad sense (includes natural, social, and cultural parts). This is Rubinstein’s understanding of personality.

Personality acts as a united set of internal conditions through which all external influences are refracted. The psychological effect of each external influence on a person is determined by the history of its development. This story will include:

1. The evolution of living beings (the properties of vision changed with the change in the eye).

2. Human evolution (features of phonemic hearing, determined by the phonemic structure of the native language).

3. Personal history of the development of a given person (change in social formation.

Personality is determined by its attitude to the world around it, which is realized in the real activities through which people learn and change the world. Personality is formed in the interaction that a person enters into with the world around him. In interaction with the world, a person is realized and formed. A person is a personality due to the conscious determination of his relationship to the environment.

2. The individual is no longer a person. One is born an individual, but one becomes a person. Personality is a relatively late product of the socio-historical and ontogenetic development of man (Leontyev). Man as a natural being is an individual who has one or another constitution, type of nervous system, temperament, etc., which change and transform during development. But these changes in innate properties do not make a person a person. A person’s personality is produced by the social relations into which the individual enters in his activities. Therefore, the real way to study personality is to study those transformations of the subject that are created by the self-movement of his activity in the system of social relations. The real basis of a person’s personality is the set of relations to the world that are social in nature, which are realized by the set of diverse human activities. In the course of human development, his various activities enter into hierarchical relationships; these hierarchies of activities form the core of the personality (example with bitter candy).

A personality is a specific person who is a representative of a certain society, defined. social groups, activities a specific type of activity, consciously. his attitude to the environment and endowed with an ind-psycho. features. Society influences the development and formation of personality. Outside of society, outside of a social and professional group, a person cannot become an individual: that is, a person is created by nature, but formed by society.

Personality (Russian mask; mask corresponds to the term persona – originally a mask, or a role played by an actor in ancient Greek theater) is a relatively stable system of individual behavior, which is characterized by the fact that it is built primarily on the basis of inclusion in the social context.

41. The problem of the development of thinking in the works of J. Piaget. Operational concept of intelligence development by J. Piaget. Theoretical and experimental criticism in domestic and foreign psychology.

According to Piaget, development comes from the individual. to the socialized, and the child is impervious to experience. Thought. is considered as bilog. process, intelligence - as a further development of some. fundamental biologist. character In the quality of such characteristics and basic. The functions of intelligence are distinguished by organization and adaptation. Piaget characterizes adaptation as that which ensures a balance between the organism's influence on the environment (assimilation) and the reverse influence of the environment (accommodation). One of the features of the functioning of people. intelligence is that not all content received from the external world can be assimilated (assimilated), but only that which at least approximately corresponds to the internal cognitive structure of the individual. In addition to the doctrine of the functions of intelligence, Piaget develops a doctrine of the stages of development of intelligence: In the development of operational intelligence in children, Piaget distinguishes various. stages:

1) art. sensorimotor intelligence. (from 0 to 2 years) Characterized by the development of child's ability. perceive and cognize objects in their fairly stable properties and characteristics.

2) art. operational thinking (from 2 to 7 years). Speech, visual representations are formed, and the active process of internalization of external actions with objects begins.

3) Art. specific operations (from 7 to 12 years)

4) Art. formal operations (from 11-12 to 14-15 years). Characterized by the ability to operate with concepts and logical reasoning.

The sequence of stages expresses the internal pattern of development. The stages are “tied” to a definition. age. Training can speed up or slow down the development process. Otnogenesis of thinking: visual-effective’visual-figurative’verbal-logical.

Perv. Manifestations of thinking are observed between the ages of 1 and 3 years. Manifestation of thoughts. are expressed in the appearance of actions using connections between objects to achieve k/l goals. The first knowledge acquired by a child is socially developed generalized ways of using objects. External orienting actions serve to form internal, mental ones. Thus, the main type of thinking in early childhood is visual-effective thinking. Ved. psycho. function of early childhood - perception.

The general line of development in preschool age (3-7 years): from solving problems that require the establishment of connections and relationships in the external plane, to solving problems in the mind with the help of images and elementary intellectual actions. This is the path of visual-effective thinking to visual-figurative thinking. In addition, processes of generalization, classification, and elements of mental modeling are formed in the activities of a preschooler. During this period, the ability to plan and control one’s own intellectual actions is improved. Preschoolers develop goal-setting actions. Basic The type of thinking in preschool age is visual-figurative thinking; separate “tkltvyns of conceptual thinking” are formed.

In junior school age Ved. teaching becomes activity. In the mental plane, classifications, comparisons, the analytical-synthetic type of activity, modeling actions are assimilated - i.e. prerequisites for formal logical thinking + the transition from empirical to theoretical thinking is taking place.

Wed. school adolescence (from 9/10 to 14/15) is characterized by a restructuring of the motivational sphere, intellect. spheres (theoretical thinking, professional orientation of interests are developing), the sphere of relationships with adults, peers, the personal sphere.. What is new in the thinking of a teenager is his attitude towards Intel. tasks as requiring their preliminary mental division. Specialist. theoretical quality thinking – the ability to think from the general to the specific. The uniqueness of this level of development also lies in the fact that the subject of the teenager’s attention becomes his own Intel. operations. THAT. reflective thinking develops. All processes in adolescence develop in the direction of intellectualization. One of the most important new features. youth (from 14/15 to 18) years in Intel. sphere – the formation of theories. thinking, the foundations of which were laid at earlier stages. Mental activity of senior school students. and students are active and independent. By the age of 15, the basics of hypothetico-deduct appear. thinking, the ability to abstract, formulate and process alternative hypotheses.

In adulthood, the integrity of the intellect increases, expressed in the formation of its hierarchy. structures. The formation of this integrity is a long-term and contradictory process, in fact. education and learning play a decisive role, i.e. activity, with the help of a cat. ZUN is assimilated. Development of intelligence, ability to learn and self-educate an adult. - strength, resistance involution processes.

The cognitive sphere in old age (~60-65 years) is one of those that aging has the greatest impact. impact. This is a connection. with organic changes. Due to the slowdown in the transmission of nervous excitement, there is a decrease in the pace of thinking. However, there are also corresponding compensation, so these processes do not affect everyday life. During the process of gerontogenesis, verbal and nonverbal intelligence undergoes changes. The non-verbal function reduces its performance, and the verbal function intensively progresses. This indicates the opposition of speech-and-mental intellects to the general process of aging. Continued work. activity leads to the preservation of the thinking process.

The general properties of sensations are quality, intensity, duration and location.

Quality- this is the property of sensation that distinguishes it from others. Sensations of one type differ qualitatively from another, as well as different sensations within the same type. Examples of qualities and sensations are different color tones and shades, sounds of different pitches, different smells, tastes, etc. The quality of each sensation is determined by the property of the object that causes it. Each analyzer reflects a wide range of qualities. The image of perception reflects the objective certainty of the world. The qualities given in sensations are included as an integral part in the objective characteristics of perceptions.

Intensity of sensations- this is their quantitative characteristic. Feelings of the same quality are always stronger or weaker. Intensity is determined by the strength of the stimulus. The quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the stimulus are closely related.

Each sensation is also characterized duration, which represents its time characteristic. The duration of the sensation depends on the duration of the stimulus.

The sensations are characteristic localization. This means that any image of sensation has elements of the spatial location of the stimulus. Color, light, sound are related to the source. Tactile, pain, temperature sensations - with the part of the body that causes this sensation. In this case, the localization of pain can be more blurred and less precise.

General patterns of sensations Sensitivity thresholds

A stimulus acting on the analyzer does not always cause a feeling. The touch of the fluff on the body cannot be felt. If a very strong stimulus is applied, there may come a time when the sensation ceases to occur. We do not hear sounds with a frequency of more than 20 thousand Hertz. Too much stimulus can cause pain. Consequently, sensations arise when a stimulus of a certain intensity is applied.

The psychological characteristic of the relationship between the intensity of sensations and the strength of the stimulus is expressed by the concept of sensitivity threshold. There are such sensitivity thresholds: lower absolute, upper absolute and discrimination sensitivity threshold.

The smallest stimulus force that, acting on the analyzer, causes a barely noticeable sensation is called lower absolute threshold of sensitivity. The lower threshold characterizes the sensitivity of the analyzer.

There is a clear relationship between absolute sensitivity and threshold value: the lower the threshold, the higher the sensitivity, and vice versa. Our analyzers are very sensitive organs. They are excited by a very small amount of energy from the corresponding stimuli. This applies primarily to hearing, vision and smell. The threshold of one human olfactory cell for the corresponding aromatic substances does not exceed 8 molecules. And to create the sensation of taste, it takes at least 25,000 times more molecules than to create the sensation of smell. The very strength of the stimulus at which a sensation of this type still exists is called upper absolute threshold of sensitivity. Sensitivity thresholds are individual for each person.

This psychological pattern must be foreseen by the teacher, especially in the primary grades. Some children have reduced auditory and visual sensitivity. In order for them to see and hear well, it is necessary to create conditions for the best display of the teacher’s language and notes on the board. With the help of our senses, we can not only ascertain the presence or absence of a particular stimulus, but also distinguish between stimuli by their strength, intensity and quality.

Minimally increasing the strength of the current stimulus, which causes subtle differences between sensations, is called discrimination sensitivity threshold.

In life, we constantly notice changes in illumination, increase or decrease in sound. These are manifestations of the discrimination threshold or differential threshold.

If you ask two or three people to divide a line about a meter long in half, we will see that each will have their own dividing point. You need to measure the results with a ruler. The one who divided more accurately has the best sensitivity of discrimination. The ratio of a certain group of sensations to an increase in the magnitude of the initial stimulus is a constant value. This was established by the German physiologist E. Weber (1795-1878).

Based on Weber's teachings, the German physicist G. Fechner (1801 - 1887) experimentally showed that the increase in the intensity of sensation is not directly proportional to the increase in the strength of the stimulus, but more slowly. If the strength of the stimulus increases in geometric progression, the intensity of the sensation increases in arithmetic progression. This position is also formulated this way: the intensity of the sensation is proportional to the logarithm of the strength of the stimulus. It is called the Weber-Fechner law.

Feelings are characterized by quality.

Each type of sensation reflects one or another form of movement of matter and, in the aggregate, human sensations reflect the diversity of the existing material world. At the same time, each type of sensation in a particular person has its own qualitative characteristics: auditory sensations differ in pitch, timbre, volume, melody, etc.; visual sensations - by visual acuity, color saturation, etc. Other types of sensations also have qualitative characteristics.

All sensations arise as a result of the effects of corresponding stimuli on the sense organs. However, some time passes between the onset of the stimulus and the onset of sensation: the latent period. It is necessary to convert the energy of stimuli into nerve impulses, their passage along nerve pathways and the occurrence of excitation in the corresponding department or area of ​​the brain. By duration latent period, one can judge the state of the human nervous system.

Despite the fact that each analyzer has a specialization and is subject to its own laws, all sensations are characterized by general psychophysiological patterns. These include: minimum (lower) And maximum (upper) thresholds of sensations, threshold of difference, adaptation, phenomenon of contrast, sequential images.

The minimum strength of the stimulus at which a person begins to feel it characterizes lower, minimum threshold of sensation. The lower this threshold, the higher the sensitivity of the corresponding sense organ. The value of the lower threshold varies from person to person for each sense organ. It can also change for a particular person due to a number of circumstances: fatigue, illness, stress, etc. It can be reduced through training.

The sensitivity of the sense organs depends on many circumstances: on the external environment (hearing acuity is higher in silence, the eye sees better in good lighting), the state of the receptors (tired sense organs reduce sensitivity), the state of the central part of the analyzer, the brain (fear, excitement, fatigue, intoxication, etc.) - Sensitivity is influenced by the characteristics of a person’s attention, his knowledge of the matter, mood, etc.

There is evidence that some people can perceive stimuli that are below the lower threshold of their sensitivity (subsensory stimuli). Some people exhibit special sensitivity (receptivity), increased sensitivity to the perception of individual energies - extrasensory sensations.

There is also a so-called upper threshold of sensations. A person can feel the effect of a stimulus only up to a certain limit of its strength. The maximum strength of the stimulus, beyond which the sensation of its increase ceases, is called the upper, maximum threshold of sensation.

The sensitivity of a particular organ is characterized by sensitivity range: boundary between the lower and upper thresholds. The lower the minimum threshold of sensation and the higher the maximum, the wider the range of sensitivity. And vice versa, the higher the lower threshold and the lower the upper, the narrower and smaller the range of sensitivity of a particular sense organ.

Both the minimum and maximum thresholds of the senses differ among people. This is due both to the characteristics of the sense organs themselves, and to a special training system, the level of development, emotional states of a person, the state of his mental and physical health, the degree of concentration on the perception of reality, and the peculiarities of the development of the corresponding brain structures.

All this explains the subjective, individually unique nature of a person’s sensations of objective and well-defined reality. The criterion for the truth of information received through sensations is found in the surrounding world, in reality and, of course, depends on a person’s practical experience and the degree of development of his analyzers.

One of the laws governing the process of sensation and the functioning of the sense organs is adaptation - the ability of the analyzer to adapt to the action of a stimulus and change its sensitivity. Adaptation can be aimed at either increasing or decreasing the sensitivity of the analyzer.

It is well known that if you leave a brightly lit room at night, then for some time your eyes cannot distinguish anything in the dark. This is explained by the fact that under the influence of light the sensitivity of the eyes was reduced and was insufficient to see in the dark. However, after some time, a person gets used to the darkness and begins to distinguish the road, objects, and terrain features: the organs of vision adapt to the darkness by increasing their sensitivity.

Analyzers have their own adaptation capabilities in terms of speed and range. The olfactory and tactile analyzers adapt most quickly, the auditory, gustatory and especially visual ones adapt more slowly. So, for complete adaptation of vision to darkness, it takes up to 40 minutes.

Adaptation of the senses can be carried out in three directions:

• - increasing the sensitivity of the senses, the threshold of discrimination;
• - dullness, decreased sensitivity under the influence of a strong stimulus;
• - complete disappearance of sensations during prolonged exposure to a stimulus, often of low force (for example, wearing a watch, glasses).

Psychology has established that the same stimulus is felt differently depending on previous sensations. For example, previous weak stimuli increase sensitivity to other stronger stimuli, and strong ones, on the contrary, reduce sensitivity to weaker ones. This dependence is called the contrast phenomenon, which is important to take into account when making observations.

In sensations there is also such a phenomenon as sequential images. Its essence is as follows: after the cessation of exposure to the stimulus, excitation in the receptor of a particular organ does not disappear immediately, and therefore the corresponding sensation continues to participate in the regulation of human behavior and actions for some time.

Individual analyzers are interconnected and mutually influence their sensitivity. In this case, the sensitivity of interacting analyzers increases with weak stimuli and decreases with strong ones.

An increase in sensitivity as a result of the interaction of analyzers is called sensitization. For example, weak sound stimuli increase visual sensitivity, and irritation of the eye with red light increases the sensitivity of the black-and-white vision apparatus.

Sensitivity and other qualitative characteristics of the sense organs significantly depend on training and exercise. With a constantly and systematically operating analyzer, its sensitivity increases, and with prolonged sensory deprivation, deficiency, sensory hunger, it decreases.

A specialist’s knowledge of patterns and other features of sensations allows him to more competently solve professional problems, for example, when working at night, when performing precise and delicate functions, when collecting information about a particular incident, etc.

The main patterns of sensation include sensitivity thresholds, adaptation, interaction, contrast and synesthesia.

Let us describe each concept in more detail.

Sensitivity thresholds. Not every stimulus strength can cause sensations. So, for example, the touch of a fluff on the body cannot be felt. And under the influence of a very strong stimulus, a moment may come when sensations cease to arise altogether. We cannot hear sounds with a frequency higher than 20 thousand hertz. And a super-strong stimulus causes pain instead of this type of sensation. Consequently, sensations arise when exposed to a stimulus of a certain intensity. The psychological characteristic of the relationship between the intensity of sensation and the strength of stimuli is expressed by the concept of the threshold of sensations, or the threshold of sensitivity.

In psychophysiology, two types of thresholds are distinguished: the threshold of absolute sensitivity and the threshold of sensitivity to discrimination.

That lowest stimulus strength at which a barely noticeable sensation first occurs is called the lower absolute threshold of sensitivity. And that greatest strength of stimulus at which a sensation of this type still exists is called the upper absolute threshold of sensitivity.

Thresholds limit the zone of sensitivity of the analyzer to a given type of stimulus. For example, of all electromagnetic oscillations, the eye is capable of reflecting waves with a length from 390 (violet) to 780 (red) millimicrons; vibrations discernible by the ear as sound occupy the region from 20 to 20 thousand hertz. Currently, the characteristics of the upper and lower thresholds of all types of sensitivity have been studied in detail.

The effect on the nervous system of stimuli that do not reach the threshold value does not remain unnoticed. These stimuli change sensory thresholds and can subconsciously adjust movements and actions.

To measure absolute sensitivity thresholds, devices with scales of continuous change in stimulus strength have been created. Having started influencing the analyzer with a subthreshold stimulus, the experimenter gradually increases the strength of the stimulus until the subject says that he has a sensation. In accordance with the indicators of the subject, the physical strength of the stimulus is recorded. The measurement is made several times. Then the conditions of the experiment change: the strength of the stimulus causing the sensation decreases until the subject says that the sensation has disappeared. Having made several such measurements, the experimenter calculates the arithmetic mean of all values, which is considered the threshold strength of the stimulus.

As we said above, in addition to strength, the stimulus is characterized by the duration of the impact, i.e. the period of time during which it acts on the analyzer. It is known that there is a relationship between the strength of the stimulus and the duration of its impact necessary to achieve the threshold value. The weaker the stimulus, the longer it takes for it to cause sensation. With prolonged exposure (more than a second), the occurrence of sensations begins to depend only on the strength of the stimulus.

There is an inverse relationship between sensitivity (threshold) and the strength of the stimulus: the greater the force needed to produce a sensation, the lower a person’s sensitivity. Sensitivity thresholds are individual for each person. This psychological pattern of sensations should be provided for by the teacher, especially in the elementary grades. Because sometimes there are children with reduced auditory and visual sensitivity. In order for them to see and hear clearly, it is necessary to create conditions for the best distinction between the teacher’s speech and the notes on the board.

Thresholds of absolute sensitivity do not remain unchanged throughout a person’s life: sensitivity in children develops, reaching the highest level by adolescence.

In addition to thresholds of absolute sensitivity, sensations are also characterized by thresholds of sensitivity to discrimination. That smallest increase in the strength of the current stimulus at which a barely noticeable difference occurs in the strength or quality of sensations is called the threshold of sensitivity to discrimination.

In life, we constantly notice changes in illumination, an increase or decrease in sound intensity. This is a manifestation of the threshold of discrimination. Let me give you an example. If you ask two or three people to divide a line about a meter long in half. It turns out that each of the subjects will plot his own midpoint. Let us measure with a millimeter ruler who divided more accurately - this subject will have better sensitivity to discrimination.

An experimental study of sensitivity to discrimination made it possible to formulate the following law, which is valid for stimuli of average strength, i.e., not approaching the lower or upper thresholds of absolute sensitivity: the ratio of the additional strength of the stimulus to the main one is a constant value for a given type of sensitivity. Thus, in the sensation of pressure (tactile sensitivity), this increase is equal to 1/30 of the weight of the original stimulus. This means that you need to add 3.4 g to 100 g to feel a change in pressure, and 34 g to 1 kg. For auditory sensations, this constant is equal to 1/10, for visual sensations - 1/100.

Sensitivity to discrimination, as noted by B.G. Ananyev, is the source of such a complex thought process as comparison. In the development of distinctive sensitivity, an exceptional role belongs to the word. The word highlights and consolidates subtle differences in sensations, draws a person’s attention to the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the properties of the reflected object and leads to the development of observation. Therefore, improving children's distinctive sensitivity is inextricably linked with the development of speech during the learning process.

The next pattern we will focus on is adaptation. Adaptation is an adaptation of sensitivity to a constant stimulus, manifested in a decrease or increase in thresholds. In life, the phenomenon of adaptation is well known to everyone. So in the first minute, when a person enters the river, the water seems cold to him. Then the feeling of cold disappears and the water seems quite warm. This is observed in all types of sensitivity, except pain.

The degree of adaptation of different analyzer systems is not the same: high adaptability is noted in olfactory, tactile (we do not notice the pressure of clothing on the body), light, much less - in auditory, cold. We encounter minor adaptations in pain sensations. Pain signals the destruction of an organ, and it is clear that adaptation to pain can lead to the death of the organism.

The visual analyzer distinguishes between dark and light adaptation.

The course of dark adaptation has been studied in detail. When a person finds himself in a darkened room, at first he sees nothing, but after 3-5 minutes he begins to clearly distinguish the light penetrating there. Staying in absolute darkness increases sensitivity to light by about 200 thousand times over 40 minutes. Various reasons influence the increase in sensitivity: changes occur in the receptor, the opening of the pupil increases, the work of the rod apparatus increases, but mainly sensitivity increases due to the conditioned reflex work of the central mechanisms of the analyzer. If dark adaptation is associated with an increase in sensitivity, then light adaptation is associated with a decrease in light sensitivity.

Let us pay special attention to the interaction of sensations.

The interaction of sensations is a change in the sensitivity of one analyzing system under the influence of the activities of another analyzing system. The change in sensitivity is explained by cortical connections between analyzers, largely by the law of simultaneous induction.

The general pattern of interaction between sensations is as follows: weak stimuli in one analyzer system increase sensitivity, and in another they decrease it. For example, weak taste sensations (sour) increase visual sensitivity, and a mutual influence is noted between sound and visual sensations. Increasing sensitivity as a result of the interaction of analyzers, as well as systematic exercises, is called sensitization. For example, weak taste sensations increase visual sensitivity. This is explained by the interconnection of these analyzers and their systematic operation.

Sensitization, an aggravation of sensitivity, can be caused not only by the interaction of sensations, but also by physiological factors, the introduction of certain substances into the body. For example, vitamin A is essential for increasing visual sensitivity.

Sensitivity increases if a person expects one or another weak stimulus, when he is faced with a special task of distinguishing between stimuli. The sensitivity of the individual is improved as a result of the exercise. Thus, tasters, by specially exercising their taste and olfactory sensitivity, distinguish between various types of wines and teas and can even determine when and where the product was made.

In people deprived of any type of sensitivity, compensation (compensation) for this deficiency is carried out by increasing the sensitivity of other analyzers (for example, increasing auditory and olfactory sensitivity in the blind).

The interaction of sensations in some cases leads to sensitization, to an increase in sensitivity, and in other cases to its decrease, i.e. to desensitization. Strong excitation of some analyzers always reduces the sensitivity of other analyzers. Thus, increased noise levels in “loud workshops” reduce visual sensitivity.

One of the manifestations of the interaction of sensations is the contrast of sensations. Contrast of sensations is an increase in sensitivity to one properties under the influence of other, opposite properties of reality. We are all very familiar with the contrast of sensations. For example, the same gray figure appears dark on a white background, but light on a black background.

Next, let's move on to consider such a phenomenon as synesthesia. Synesthesia is the excitation of sensations of one modality by sensations of another modality. Note that a feature of sensations is the monomodality of the image. However, the interaction of sensations that occurs in the central nuclei of the analyzer leads to the fact that a person under pressure, for example, from sounds, can experience color sensations; color can cause a feeling of cold. This mutual influence is called synesthesia. Synesthesia can be considered as a special case of the interaction of sensations, which is expressed not in a change in the level of sensitivity, but in the fact that the impact of sensations of a given modality is enhanced through the stimulation of sensations of other modalities. Synesthesia enhances the sensual tone of sensations. The phenomenon of synesthesia extends to all modalities. This is expressed in stable phrases: velvet voice, dark sound, cold color, etc. Manifestations of synesthesia vary from person to person. There are people with a very strong ability for synesthesia and people who have almost no such ability.

The considered patterns reveal the high dynamism of sensations, their dependence on the strength of the stimulus, on the functional state of the analyzing system caused by the beginning or termination of the stimulus, as well as the result of the simultaneous influence of several stimuli on one analyzer or adjacent analyzers.

Thus, it can be noted that the patterns of sensations determine the conditions under which a stimulus (irritation) reaches consciousness. Thus, biologically important stimuli affect the brain at reduced thresholds and increased sensitivity, and stimuli that have lost biological significance act at higher thresholds.

Since the time of Aristotle, many generations of scientists have focused on only five senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. In the 19th century knowledge about the composition of sensations has expanded dramatically. This occurred as a result of the description and study of their new types - vestibular, vibrational, muscular-articular, or kinesthetic, etc. - as well as as a result of clarifying the composition of some complex types of sensations (for example, the scientific awareness of the fact that touch is a combination of tactile, temperature, pain sensations and kinesthesia, and in tactile sensations, in turn, one can distinguish the sensations of touch and pressure). The increase in the number of types of sensations has necessitated their classification.

There are several attempts to classify sensations according to different bases and principles. The classification proposed by the English physiologist Charles Sherrington is considered the most successful and thoughtful. The basis for this classification was the nature of the reflections and the location of the receptors. Charles Sherrington identified three types of receptive fields: interoceptive, proprioceptive and exteroceptive.

Interoceptive receptors located in the internal organs and tissues of the body and reflect the condition of the internal organs. These are the most ancient and most elementary sensations, however, they are very important as signals about the state of our body. Proprioceptors found in muscles, ligaments and tendons. They supply information about the movements and position of our body in space, and individual parts of the body relative to each other. These sensations play a critical role in the regulation of movement.

Exteroceptive receptive field coincides with the outer surface of the body and is completely open to external influences. Exteroceptors represent the largest group of sensations. Charles Sherrington divided them into contact and distance. Contact receptors (touch, including tactile, temperature and pain sensations, as well as taste buds) transmit irritation through direct contact with objects affecting them. Distant sensations (smell, hearing, vision) occur when the stimulus acts from a certain distance.

From the point of view of modern science, the division of sensations into external (exteroceptors) and internal (interoceptors) proposed by Charles Sherrington is not enough. Some types of sensations - for example, temperature and pain, taste and vibration, muscle-articular and static-dynamic receptors - can be considered external-internal.

To general properties of sensations refer them quality, intensity, duration and spatial localization. Qualities - these are the specific features of this sensation that distinguish it from other types. For example, auditory sensations differ in timbre, pitch, volume; visual - by saturation and color tone; taste - by modality (taste can be sweet, salty, sour and bitter). Duration sensations are its temporary characteristics. It is largely determined by the functional state of the sense organs, but mainly by the time of action of the stimulus and its intensity. It must be borne in mind that when a stimulus acts on a sense organ, the sensation does not arise immediately, but after some time, which is called the latent period. The latent period for different types of sensations is not the same: for tactile sensations, for example, it is 130 milliseconds, for pain - 370 milliseconds, taste sensations arise 50 milliseconds after applying a chemical irritant to the surface of the tongue. Just as a sensation does not arise simultaneously with the onset of the stimulus, it does not disappear with the cessation of the latter. This inertia of sensations manifests itself in the so-called aftereffect.

Spatial localization The stimulus also determines the nature of the sensations. Spatial analysis, carried out by distant receptors, provides information about the localization of the stimulus in space. Contact sensations correspond to the part of the body that is affected by the stimulus. At the same time, the localization of pain sensations can be more diffuse and less accurate than tactile ones.

Patterns of sensations:

1. Thresholds of sensations. For sensations to arise, it is necessary that the irritation reaches a certain magnitude, a certain strength. The smallest value of the stimulus that causes a little noticeable sensation is called the lower absolute threshold of sensitivity. The lower (min) the threshold value, the higher (max) the sensitivity. The upper threshold of sensitivity is the greatest value of the stimulus at which this sensation is still preserved. (Beyond this threshold, for example, the light is already blinding). Discrimination threshold (differential sensitivity threshold): the minimum difference between 2 stimuli that causes a barely noticeable difference in sensations. For each type of sensation this value is more or less constant. For example, to notice the difference in weight, you need to subtract or add 0.33 of the original value to the original value; for auditory sensations the threshold is 0.1; for visual ones - 0.01 of the original value; As for olfactory analyzers, a person can feel musk if it contains 1/100,000,000 part. The magnitude of sensitivity thresholds depends on many reasons: training; interests; the nature of the activity (textile workers distinguish up to 40 shades of black); motives, attitude to the task.

2. Compensation. In the field of sensations and perceptions, the mental-integral system. This unity with the complete or partial loss of individual sense organs is manifested in the phenomena of compensation: in the current situation, the preserved organs seem to partially take over the functions of the lost ones. The blind have an enhanced sense of touch, hearing, and smell.

3.Adaptation. The sensitivity of analyzers is not constant. Changes in the sensitivity of analyzers occur under the influence of their adaptation to existing stimuli. The general pattern is this: when moving from weak to strong stimuli, sensitivity decreases; when moving from strong to weak, it increases. Strong adaptation is observed in temperature (thermal), tactile, olfactory, and visual sensations. Poor adaptation in pain and auditory sensations.

4. Interaction of sensations. Sensations do not exist in isolation from each other. The work of one analyzer can influence the work of another analyzer - weaken or, conversely, strengthen it. This phenomenon is called sensitization. For example, the sensitivity of the visual analyzer can be stimulated by: weak musical sounds (sharp strong sounds, on the contrary, worsen vision); wiping the face with cool water (temperature sensations); weak sweet and sour taste sensations.

5. Synesthesia. Synesthesia (from the Greek synáisthesis) is a simultaneous sensation, a joint feeling, consisting in the fact that under the influence of irritation of one analyzer, characteristic of another sensation analyzer, an impression is created corresponding to a given sensory stimulus, while it is accompanied by another, additional sensation or image . The most common is visual-auditory synesthesia, when a subject experiences visual images when exposed to sound stimuli. It is known that such composers as Scriabin and Rimsky-Korsakov possessed such an ability as the ability of color hearing.