Analytical-synthetic method

The analytical-synthetic method was created in the 60s of the last century. This method most fully and consistently reflects the phonetic and phonemic nature of Russian writing.

Focused on the development of phonemic hearing, the formation of mental operations of analysis and synthesis, this method purposefully prepares children to master writing skills, promotes the development of thinking and speech.

The main provisions of the analytic-synthetic method:

1. The unit of learning is the sound denoted by the letter.

2. Throughout the work, methods of analysis and synthesis are combined: dividing the sentence into words, words into syllables, syllables into sounds, then in reverse order.

3. the order of studying sounds and letters is determined by the frequency of their use in speech

4. A syllable is taken as a unit of writing as a reflection of the syllabic principle of Russian graphics.

Language analysis and synthesis involves: analysis of sentences into words and synthesis of words in a sentence; syllabic analysis and synthesis; phonemic analysis and synthesis.

Development of syllabic analysis and synthesis

To master writing skills, the ability to divide a word into its constituent syllables is of great importance. When mastering writing, the significance of syllabic analysis is due primarily to the fact that at the initial stages the child learns to merge sounds into syllables, synthesize syllables into a word, and recognize words on the basis of this combination. In addition, syllabic analysis helps to more effectively master the sound analysis of a word. The word is divided into syllables, then the syllable, which is a simpler speech unit, is divided into sounds.

Children with dysgraphia often skip vowels when writing. This is due to the fact that when relying on internal or whispered pronunciation, children more easily perceive consonants, which are kinesthetically clearer. Vowels are perceived as shades of consonants. The division into syllables contributes to the isolation of vowels. Syllabic analysis is based on vowel sounds.

The degree of complexity of syllabic analysis largely depends on the nature of the syllables that make up the word and their pronunciation difficulty. The more the sounds of a syllable are merged in pronunciation, the easier it is to separate the syllable from the word.

In the process of forming syllabic analysis and synthesis, it is important to take into account the gradual formation of mental actions. Initially, work is carried out based on auxiliary means, materialized actions. In the future, syllabic analysis and synthesis is carried out in terms of loud speech. At the subsequent stages of speech therapy work, it becomes possible to transfer this action to the internal plan, its implementation on the basis of auditory-pronunciation ideas.

In the process of developing syllabic analysis in terms of speech, the ability to distinguish vowel sounds into words is important. Children must learn the basic rule of syllabic division: there are as many syllables in a word as there are vowels. Relying on vowels allows you to eliminate and prevent reading and writing errors such as skipping or adding vowels.

In order to more effectively form the ability to determine the syllabic composition of a word based on vowels, preliminary work is needed to develop the differentiation of vowels and consonants, to isolate vowel sounds from a word.

Speech therapy work on the differentiation of vowels and consonants begins with a clarification of ideas about these sounds, their differential acoustic and pronunciation features.

Writing disorders are often accompanied by a large number of spelling errors. This is due to the lack of formation of language generalizations in children, the inability to use the studied spelling rules. In this regard, exercises on the selection and definition of a stressed syllable in a word are very useful. These exercises contribute to a better assimilation of one of the basic spelling rules studied in elementary school - the rules for the spelling of unstressed vowels.

Development of phonemic analysis and synthesis

The most common mistakes in dysgraphia are distortions of the sound-syllabic structure of the word. The decomposition of a word into its constituent phonemes is a complex mental activity.

Phonemic analysis can be elementary or complex. Elementary phonemic analysis is the selection (recognition) of a sound against the background of a word; it appears spontaneously in preschool children. A more complex form is the isolation of the first and last sound from a word, determining its place (beginning, middle, end of a word). And, finally, the most difficult form of phonemic analysis is the determination of the sequence of sounds in a word, their number, place in relation to other sounds (after which sound, before which sound). Children master such phonemic analysis only in the process of special education (V. K. Orfinskaya).

Taking into account the different complexity of the forms of phonemic analysis and synthesis and the sequence of mastering them in ontogenesis, speech therapy work is carried out in the following sequence:

1. Isolation (recognition) of sound against the background of a word, i.e. determination of the presence of a sound in a word.

2. Isolation of sound at the beginning at the end of a word. Determine the first and last sound in the word, as well as its place (beginning, middle, end of the word). When forming the indicated action, the following tasks are offered: determine the first sound, the last sound in the word; determine the place of the sound in the word.

3. Determination of the sequence, quantity and place of sounds in relation to other sounds.

I. Isolation (recognition) of sound against the background of a word

In the process of developing elementary forms of phonemic analysis, it must be taken into account that the ability to isolate and isolate a sound depends on its character, position in the word, and also on the pronunciation features of the sound range.

With great difficulty, children determine the presence of a vowel in a word and highlight it at the end of the word. This is due to the peculiarities of the perception of the syllable, the difficulties of dividing it into constituent sounds. The vowel sound is often perceived by children not as an independent sound, but as a shade of a consonant sound.

Work on the selection of sounds against the background of the word begins with articulatory simple sounds ( m,w x, in and etc.). First of all, it is necessary to clarify the articulation of the consonant. To do this, the position of the articulatory organs is determined first with the help of visual perception, and then on the basis of kinesthetic sensations received from the articulatory organs. At the same time, attention is drawn to the sound characteristic of this sound. The presence or absence of sound in syllables presented by ear is determined.

Then the speech therapist invites the children to determine the presence or absence of sound in words of varying complexity: monosyllabic, two-syllable, three-syllable, without confluence and with a confluence of consonants. The speech therapist gives children words both with and without practiced sound. The given sound must be at the beginning, middle and end of the word (except for voiced consonants).

First, the presence of sound is determined by ear, and on the basis of one's own pronunciation, then either only by ear, or only on the basis of one's own pronunciation, and, finally, according to auditory-pronunciation ideas, i.e. mentally.

The sound is associated with the letter.

II. Separation of the first and last sound from a word

Extraction of the first stressed vowel from a word. The work begins with the clarification of the articulation of vowel sounds. The vowel sound is distinguished on the basis of onomatopoeia using pictures. When specifying the articulation of a vowel sound, the child's attention is drawn to the position of the lips (open, extended in a circle, extended in a tube, etc.). First, the vowel sound in words is pronounced with intonation, i.e. with voice emphasis, then with natural articulation and intonation.

The definition of a stressed vowel at the beginning of a word is also carried out in three versions: a) by ear, when the word is pronounced by a speech therapist, b) after the child pronounces the word, c) on the basis of auditory representations, for example, on the task of choosing a picture for the corresponding sound.

III. Development of complex forms of phonemic analysis (determining the quantity, sequence and place of sound in a word)

Speech therapy work on the formation of complex forms of phonemic analysis (determining the sequence, quantity, place of sound in a word in relation to other sounds) is carried out in close connection with teaching reading and writing. The teaching of written speech begins with the child's acquaintance with the sound matter of the language: the recognition of sounds, their isolation from the word, with the sound structure of words as the basic units of the language.

In the process of reading, the sound structure of the word is recreated according to its graphic model, and in the process of writing, on the contrary, the literal model of the word is reproduced according to its sound structure. In this regard, one of the important prerequisites for the successful formation of reading and writing processes is not only the ability to isolate and distinguish sounds in speech, but also to perform more complex operations with them: determine the sound composition of a word, the sequence of sounds in a word, the place of each sound in relation to other sounds. The written word models the sound structure of the word, transforming the temporal sequence of speech sounds into a sequence of letters in space. Therefore, the reproduction of the letter model is impossible without a clear idea of ​​the sound structure of the word.

When forming complex forms of phonemic analysis, it must be taken into account that any mental action goes through certain stages of formation: drawing up a preliminary idea of ​​the task (an indicative basis for the future action), mastering the action with objects, then performing the action in terms of loud speech, transferring the action to the internal plan, final formation of internal action (transition to the level of intellectual skills and abilities).

The processes of education and upbringing become more complicated as the student matures. Instead of the total perception of the explained, associated with the irradiation of excitation, there appears the ability to isolate in the perception of individual aspects of objects and phenomena, followed by an assessment of its integral state. Thanks to this, the mental activity of the student goes from the particular to the general. The physiological mechanism of such changes is due to the analytical and synthetic activity of the cerebral cortex.

Analysis(analytical activity) is the ability of the body to decompose, dismember the stimuli acting on the body (images of the outside world) into the simplest constituent elements, properties and signs.

Synthesis(synthetic activity) is a process opposite to analysis, which consists in highlighting among the simplest elements, properties and features decomposed during the analysis, the most important, essential at the moment and combining them into complex complexes and systems.

The unity of the analytical-synthetic activity of the brain lies in the fact that the body, with the help of sensory systems, distinguishes (analyzes) all existing external and internal stimuli and, based on this analysis, forms an idea about them.

GNI is the analytical and synthetic activity of the cortex and the nearest subcortical formations of the GM, which manifests itself in the ability to isolate its individual elements from the environment and combine them in combinations that exactly correspond to the biological significance of the phenomena of the surrounding world.

Physiological basis of synthesis make up the concentration of excitation, negative induction and dominant. In turn, synthetic activity is the physiological basis for the first stage in the formation of conditioned reflexes (the stage of generalization of conditioned reflexes, their generalization). The stage of generalization can be traced in the experiment if a conditioned reflex is formed to several similar conditioned signals. It is enough to strengthen the reaction to one such signal in order to be convinced of the appearance of a similar reaction to another, similar to it, although a reflex has not yet formed to it. This is explained by the fact that each new conditioned reflex always has a generalized character and allows a person to form only an approximate idea of ​​the phenomenon caused by it. Therefore, the stage of generalization is such a state of the formation of reflexes in which they appear not only under the action of reinforced, but also under the action of similar unreinforced conditioned signals. In humans, an example of generalization is the initial stage of the formation of new concepts. The first information about the subject or phenomenon being studied is always distinguished by a generalized and very superficial character. Only gradually does a relatively accurate and complete knowledge of the subject emerge from it. The physiological mechanism of generalization of the conditioned reflex consists in the formation of temporary connections of the reinforcing reflex with conditioned signals close to the main one. Generalization is of great biological importance, because. leads to a generalization of actions created by similar conditional signals. Such a generalization is useful, because it makes it possible to assess the general significance of the newly formed conditioned reflex, for the time being without regard for its particulars, the essence of which can be dealt with later.

The physiological basis of the analysis make up the irradiation of excitation and differential inhibition. In turn, analytical activity is the physiological basis for the second stage in the formation of conditioned reflexes (the stage of specialization of conditioned reflexes).

If we continue the formation of conditioned reflexes to the same similar stimuli with the help of which the generalization stage arose, then we can see that after a while conditioned reflexes appear only to the reinforced signal and do not appear on any of the ones similar to it. This means that the conditioned reflex has become specialized. The stage of specialization is characterized by the appearance of a conditioned reflex to only one main signal with the loss of the signal value of all other similar conditioned signals. The physiological mechanism of specialization consists in the extinction of all secondary conditional connections. The phenomenon of specialization underlies the pedagogical process. The first impressions that a teacher creates about an object or phenomenon are always general and only gradually they are refined and detailed. Only that which corresponds to reality and turns out to be necessary is strengthened. Specialization, therefore, leads to a significant refinement of knowledge about the subject or phenomenon being studied.

Structure of the thinking process

In order to better understand the methodology of working with the subconscious, it seems appropriate to more fully consider the process of human thinking, displaying the structure of thinking in the form of a simplified diagram shown in the figure.

Rice. Scheme of the process of thinking and exchanging information with the external environment

In general, the process of thinking and information exchange with the outside world is as follows.

Information from the surrounding world enters the human senses, causing the corresponding biophysical processes in them, as a result of which biosignals are formed, which, after transformation produced by the corresponding part of the subconscious, give visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory and taste images. In addition, information from the surrounding world comes to other organs and parts of the human body, adding to it additional information about the surrounding world. For example, some highly sensitive people can "see" with their hands, while others receive information directly through the subconscious in the form of intuitive knowledge. Please note that already at this stage, part of the information from the surrounding world is lost, because a person cannot feel some signals on a conscious level, although they have a strong influence on him (for example, ultrasound, radio waves or X-rays), that is, a person a priori analyzes not reality itself, but only a fragment of this reality accessible to him.

The information received by a person is processed by a generic program, which has the strongest influence on a person’s worldview, modifying the primary information received by a person in accordance with the program of behavior and existence specified at the birth of a person. The birth program is valid from the moment a person is born and remains unchanged throughout his life. Strictly speaking, in the computer sense, a generic program is not a program, since it does not contain a specific list of actions that a person must perform during his life, but is implemented through a certain set of innate properties (instructions), the number of which is in the thousands and even tens thousand. Such properties may include:

• propensity for a certain type of activity, which is the basis for the formation of dynasties;
• a tendency to a certain manner of behavior (activity, passivity, etc.);
• certain character traits (purposefulness or aimlessness, courage or cowardice, hardness, gentleness, etc.);
• color, tactile, auditory or taste preferences or rejections (remember how Pavel Kadochnikov treated tomatoes in the movie "Tiger Tamer"?);
• certain tendencies towards children, towards parents or towards the opposite sex.

For clarity, we have given as examples the most noticeable components of generic programs, while their main volume is made up of the smallest details that determine the whole bizarre mosaic of human behavior and, ultimately, his fate.

A generic program in the form of a package of worldview concepts may carry a predisposition to certain diseases and unpleasant moments in human life, but it would be wrong to consider generic programs as some kind of inevitable punishment or fate that haunts a person. Generic programs also have positive functions, as they convey to a person the characteristic features of his kind, without which the improvement of mankind would be impossible. The generic program is transmitted to a person at the moment of birth and, together with information at the gene level, determines his starting personality.

The purpose of the existence of the tribal program is to transfer to future generations the information and experience accumulated by the ancestors.

Social prescriptions reflect the requirements of the social group to which a person belongs. One of the dominant social prescriptions is the language that defines and limits the circle of communication of a person. There is such an opinion: how many languages ​​a person knows, so many lives he lives, which, to a certain extent, is true, because the possession of an additional language opens up a new array of prescriptions for a person. An equally important factor is the national characteristics of the life of a given person, because people of different nationalities perceive the same factors differently. Family customs, religious dogmas and customs of everyday life are also very significant and the interpretation of the same fact by a Muslim and a Catholic, a European and an African will be very different.

To some extent, social prescriptions are present in the generic program, but most of them are acquired by a person in the process of learning, the mechanism of which will be described below.

Examples of social prescriptions:

• characteristic words inherent in this social group (jargon);
• characteristic manner of dressing (compare the clothes of hippies, Japanese, Chinese and Indians);
• characteristic gestures and their meaning (a fist with a raised thumb in Europe means approval, and in the east condemnation);
• attitude towards fellow tribesmen (restrained among Russians and more caring among Jews, Tatars, etc.);
• women's rights (limited among the peoples of the East, equal among Europeans and somewhat exaggerated in the USA);
• attitude to spices (Georgians consume more spices than Evenks), to alcohol and other social characteristics (as Saltykov-Shchedrin said: “What is good for a Russian is death for a German!”).

The purpose of social prescriptions is to form in a person properties that allow him to best fit into the corresponding social group. However, when the situation changes, social prescriptions may come into conflict with other interests of the individual.

Individual (personal) prescriptions are based on generic programs, social prescriptions and personal experience, clarifying and individualizing the personality. Individual prescriptions include four main individual properties of a person (character traits, thoughts, emotions and behavior), behind which a person’s attitude to himself, to close people and to people in general, his likes and dislikes, ideology, commitment to something, purpose and mode of existence, type of activity, level of aggressiveness and all other individual characteristics that distinguish one member of a given social group from another.

Individual prescriptions are formed only in the process of training a person and are aimed at ensuring the best possible progress towards the goal in the form in which the person represents it at any particular moment in time.

Examples of individual prescriptions:

• individual style and pace of speech, its emotional richness, gesticulation and other individual manners of communication;
• individual style of dressing, personal image;
• appearance (hairstyle, make-up, etc.);
• level of erudition, education, profession, specialty, amount of professional knowledge;
• habits, addictions, hobbies, including favorite dishes, attitude towards alcohol, gambling, etc.;
• attitude towards a spouse, attitude towards parents, attitude towards one's own and other people's children, attitude towards the state, etc.

The purpose of the formation of individual prescriptions is the best disclosure of the individual properties of a given person. Individual prescriptions very often come into conflict with the generic program and with social prescriptions, giving rise to internal conflicts of the individual.

In the course of human life, social and individual prescriptions are subject to significant changes, reflecting the development of society and the development of a person as a member of this society, and with a significant change in social prescriptions, a person may even end up in a different social group, while the instructions of the generic program remain unchanged all the time.

Information from the surrounding world that has passed the above stages of processing is recorded by the core of the subconscious, which is a kind of repository of accumulated subconscious experience and subconscious summary rules. The core of the subconscious continuously monitors all changes in the information that enters it, clarifying social and individual prescriptions and thus forming a subconscious model of the surrounding world, which, as you can see, is very far from reality due to the applied subjective rules for processing information.

In the future, the subconscious model of the world created by the subconscious mind is processed at the conscious level. At the same time, a certain part of the conscious mind, which can be called a tactical analyzer, determines what is happening with the person himself and in the world around him right now, at a given moment in time, and what the person should do immediately to achieve a local goal (for example, for security purposes) and how to do it, while another part of the conscious mind, which can be called a strategic analyzer, evaluates the origins and causes of the occurrence of this situation (for example, the causes of danger), extrapolates the development of the situation into the future and determines what and how will need to be done with the expected development of events . The subconscious model of the surrounding world, as well as information of tactical and strategic properties, enters the core of consciousness, which is a kind of repository of accumulated conscious experience, conscious images and summary rules that determine a person’s idea of ​​himself and the world around him. This is a conscious model of the surrounding world, which, as you can see, is even more distant from reality, since it is built on a deliberately distorted subconscious model of the surrounding world, which, moreover, has undergone additional situational processing.

To compare the significance of consciousness and subconsciousness, we note that the human intellect forms only 400-500 semantic positions in a lifetime, and even those are of a dynamic nature, i.e. are erased when they are not used, while the subconscious accumulates more than 5 billion actions during this time and stores them throughout a person's life.

Both the subconscious and conscious parts of the mind act solely in the interests of a person, using all the means at their disposal to achieve a person’s current and global goals, but they do this in different ways - the subconscious mind by perceiving information from the outside world and formally processing it in accordance with established algorithms, and consciousness through the development of strategic and tactical decisions.

From the consideration of the described process of thinking of a person, the fact that a person is a self-learning system follows, and to consider this fact, let us again turn to the figure.

So, at the initial stages of the life path in the human subconscious, there are only instructions for the generic program, and therefore all incoming information is processed only on the basis of these instructions. The result of such processing enters the conscious part of the human mind, which develops tactical instructions and at the same time builds a model for the further development of events, taking into account the reaction of the person. Based on these calculations, the corresponding signals are sent from the conscious part of the mind to the core of the subconscious mind, correcting the subconscious model of the surrounding world, as a result of which the core of the subconscious mind issues the necessary commands to the corresponding organs and parts of the human body, the actions of which are transmitted to the outside world, which, in turn, reacts to actions (deeds) of a person in accordance with the laws in force in this world.

The changed information from the surrounding world in the same way again enters the core of consciousness, and if a difference is found between the expected and real reaction of the surrounding world to human behavior, then information is transmitted to the core of the subconscious mind, which corrects the corresponding social or individual prescriptions, and also generates new signals for organs and parts of the human body and thus has a new impact on the world around. Such iterations are carried out repeatedly until the differences between the actual and expected consequences of human behavior become small enough, after which the process of teaching a person this skill can be considered completed. Considering that a person generates approximately sixty thousand thoughts every day, it can be assumed that he creates the same number of subconscious and conscious models of reality every day, therefore, from a technical point of view, the learning process is quite fast, but in practice, the speed of the reaction of the surrounding world to some human impact, for example, on genetic engineering experiments, is small enough that in this case, a person’s entire life may not be enough to complete the learning process, although in other cases, for example, when learning to ride a bicycle, learning takes place in real time.

Suppose that a certain goal is set - a one-year-old child must take a few steps. Based on this goal, his subconscious and consciousness process information coming from the outside world (the place where the child is, his position in space, environmental conditions, the distance to be overcome, the presence of obstacles, etc.) and develop a series of instructions for parts and organs of the body, through which the child has an impact on the world around him (steps on the ground, on the floor). The generalized model of the surrounding world, which includes information about the movement of the child, is continuously compared with the expected result of his actions, and if the expected and real results of the impact on the world around him do not match, the behavior is corrected, as a result of which, after a certain number of attempts, the child will learn walk, and in the process of learning the first (or new) individual and social prescriptions will appear - certain character traits will be formed and the rules of behavior on a walk will be established.

According to the same scheme, a person’s self-learning takes place in all other areas, including the most complex processes of his interaction with society, because in this case, too, the discrepancy between the desired and reality is the source of personality development.

Let's elaborate on the diagram above. Consider the process of forming an act, taking into account the emotional state on the basis of the material presented in the book by A.D. Redozubova “Colored emotions of a cold mind. Book One.

Rice. The "classic" scheme for the formation of an act.

Let's comment on the presented scheme.

Emotions, existing or predicted, create motivation for action. Motivation dictates the desired result. Next comes the thinking process. Actions are planned in order to achieve the result prescribed by motivation. The result is compared with the plan, negative emotions signal mismatch, and positive emotions signal success. Both lead to adjustments in motivation. The results achieved, both successful and not, are stored in memory in order to use this experience in the future.

The "classic" way, as a rule, leads to the fact that everything revolves around the mechanism of motivation. This quite logically follows from the most "classical" paradigm, in which "emotions push us to actions." “Dissatisfaction” with the current state and “desire” to receive a reward are combined into an apparatus of motivations. And it is this apparatus that becomes the main "responsible for the subsequent commission of actions."

At one time, the Soviet physiologist P.K. Anokhin had a great influence on the formation of ideas about the principles of the brain. He created the theory of functional systems. Functional systems, according to P.K. Anokhin, are self-organizing and self-regulating dynamic central-peripheral organizations, united by nervous and humoral regulations, all of whose components interact to provide various adaptive results that are useful for the functional systems themselves and for the body as a whole, satisfying its various needs. Evaluation of the parameters of the achieved results in each functional system is constantly carried out with the help of back afferentation.

Simply put, according to Anokhin, the work of the brain is the result of the interaction of many functional systems. The basic principle to which this interaction is subject is: “In the functional systems of the body, the deviation of the result of the activity of the functional system from the level that determines normal life activity makes all elements of the functional system work towards its return to the optimal level. At the same time, a subjective information signal is formed - a negative emotion that allows living organisms to assess the need that has arisen. When the result returns to the level optimal for life, the elements of functional systems work in the opposite direction. Achieving the optimal level of result is normally accompanied by informational positive emotion.

In other words, according to Anokhin, the body “knows” its optimal state, through emotions “signals” about deviations from it, and functional systems do everything necessary to return back to the optimal state. The main mechanism is the mechanism of motivation. The role of motivation is the formation of a goal and the support of purposeful forms of behavior. Motivation can be considered as an active driving force that stimulates the finding of a solution that is adequate to the needs of the organism in the situation under consideration.

This scheme can vary in detail and occur in different interpretations. One thing remains unchanged - the "guiding and guiding" role of emotions that create motivation. Indeed, in our life we ​​are constantly convinced that emotions and sensations often precede our actions. The remarkable thing about this scheme is that it absolutely naturally falls on the everyday idea of ​​the reasons that prompt us to act. This scheme is a balm for the soul of those who have always intuitively felt how it all happens and wanted to formalize it. This scheme is so obvious that its appearance and development was absolutely inevitable. In any situation, there is a simple, understandable wrong solution for everyone. In reality, everything happens quite differently. Moreover, as is often the case with statements that are obvious at first glance, the error lies in the most important basic statement.

“After this, therefore, as a result of this” (Latin post hoc ergo propter hoc) is a logical trick in which the causal relationship is identified with the chronological, temporal.

"After means due" - it was this logical trap that sent the supporters of the "classical" model down the wrong path. The observation that often emotions precede actions led to the assumption that it is emotions that are their immediate cause. So, this assertion is wrong. Namely, the whole model is built on it. Let's build another model.

The assumption that "emotions push to actions" makes it inevitable to build a "classical" model. In it, each element is far from random, but is dictated by the need to achieve compliance with what is observed in reality. However, let's take a bold step and abandon the thesis “emotions push”, we will proceed from the fact that emotions and sensations only evaluate what is happening and do not directly affect human behavior in any way. So, it turns out that in this case a completely logical model arises.

Rice. Behavioral scheme for the formation of an act

This model works like this:

1. Initially, all actions are the result of unconditioned reflexes.

2. Everything that happens to us is evaluated by sensations. This assessment is reflex in nature and is determined by the state of the sensors.

3. The general meaning of what is happening is evaluated by emotions.

4. Feelings and emotions form the state of "good - bad."

5. Each action that leads to a change in the state of "good - bad" is fixed by memory. Remembered:

• "Picture" of what happened.
• Action taken under these circumstances.
• What change in the state of "good - bad" did this lead to.

6. As experience accumulates, memory begins to "take control." When a situation that has already occurred before is recognized, the memory forces one to take an action that previously led to a positive change in the state of "good - bad", and blocks actions that were remembered as worsening this state.

7. The strength with which a particular memory affects the performance or non-commission of an act depends on the degree of change in the “good-bad” state that is remembered.

8. Control actions from different memories related to similar situations are added together.

9. At each moment, an action is automatically performed, which, based on our experience, promises the greatest possible improvement in the state of "good - bad."

10. New experience, as soon as it is acquired, begins to participate in the formation of behavior.

11. The fundamental difference from the "classical" scheme is that only unconditioned reflexes and memory determine the current act. This act is “inevitable” under the circumstances and does not directly depend on our assessment of what is happening. Evaluation is important only for acquiring new experience. If in the “classical” scheme emotions induce actions, then in our model, as, in fact, in life, the current action does not depend on them in any way. At first glance, this may not seem obvious. The reason is clear. If millions of our actions are performed against the background of emotions, then the idea of ​​a causal relationship is involuntarily formed. We repeat once again: "after that does not mean because of that." If you watch TV for a long time, you may get the impression that weather forecasters control the weather.

To feel the principle of control through emotional evaluation, imagine an army that has a charter. The charter contains all possible actions for all occasions. Such an army reacts to any input only strictly according to the charter. The army is at war, and the result of each battle is evaluated. Evaluation can be complex and consist of an analysis of casualties, prisoners taken, booty captured, positions lost or regained. According to the results of the evaluation, the charter is changed every time. Winning strategies are reinforced, losing ones are cancelled. In such an allegory, it is easy to understand how planning is carried out. It is enough to imagine a headquarters where generals simulate possible battles on military maps, evaluate the expected result, and then change the charter based on the virtual experience gained.

The charter with which the army begins its combat path is an analogue of the system of unconditioned reflexes. The one that is created as a result of gaining experience of war is an analogue of human memory. The rules for accounting for losses and evaluating trophies, written down from the creation of the army in the charter, are a system of evaluative perception. The ability of generals to evaluate a position based on a variety of factors, gained as a result of battle experience, is the apparatus of emotions.

The stronger the experienced experience, the stronger the memory associated with it influences our actions. Moreover, only that experience affects future behavior, which was accompanied by a change in the state of "good - bad." Children are not afraid of heights. Having learned to crawl, they explore all available territory, and they are not embarrassed when they climb where they can fall. If there is a staircase at home, then the child stubbornly storms its steps, despite the attempts of the parents to stop him. But sooner or later the child falls from somewhere, falls painfully. And only such a fall gives him meaningful experience. After falling, for example, from the table, all attempts to storm the stairs stop. One strong electric shock is enough to permanently avoid accidentally touching bare wires in the future, if there is a chance that they are energized. The list of examples is endless. Our whole life is one big example.

The very idea that behavior is determined by previous experience and has no direct connection with thinking is called behaviorism (from the English behavior - behavior). The American psychologist John Watson is considered the founder of behaviorism. Watson generally denied consciousness as a subject of scientific research, reducing mental phenomena to various forms of behavior, understood as a set of reactions of the organism to stimuli from the external environment. In February 1913, Watson delivered his famous lecture "Psychology from the Behaviorist's Perspective" in New York. He stated: “It seems that the time has come when psychologists should discard all references to consciousness, when it is no longer necessary to delude ourselves into thinking that a mental state can be made an object of observation. We are so entangled in speculative questions about the elements of the mind, about the nature of the contents of consciousness (for example, ugly thinking, attitudes and attitudes of consciousness, etc.), that I, as an experimental scientist, feel that there is something false in the premises and problems themselves. that flow from them. The most significant contribution to the foundation of behaviorism was made, perhaps, by Edward Thorndike, who did not consider himself a behaviorist. Thorndike was the first to apply the principle of "trial, error and fixing random success" to explain all forms of animal and human behavior.

But the hopes for behaviorism did not materialize. Appealing to success as a factor in reinforcing behavior, behaviorists called for focusing only on "sensory stimuli", that is, sensations. Emotions were not recognized by them as an objective phenomenon and therefore did not find a place in their philosophy. As a result, in the second half of the twentieth century, behaviorism gave way to cognitive psychology, which emphasized the study of information processes. At the same time, cognitive psychology rehabilitated the concept of the psyche, and took a number of axiomatic premises as a basis:

1. The idea of ​​a gradual processing of information, that is, that the stimuli of the outside world go through a series of successive transformations inside the psyche.

2. Assumption about the limited capacity of the information processing system. It is the limited ability of a person to master new information and transform existing information that makes one look for the most effective and adequate ways to work with it.

3. Postulate about encoding information in the psyche. This postulate fixes the assumption that the physical world is reflected in the psyche in a special form that cannot be reduced to the properties of stimulation.

Behaviorism and cognitive psychology are usually opposed to each other, since the models resulting from them are quite different. But this is not so much a lack of approaches as the limitations of models, which is manifested mainly in the interpretation of the concept of "success". Both models describe the same mechanism, but only look at it from different angles. Let's try to imagine how these two models can be combined.

In our brain design:

1. Initial behavior was determined by unconditioned reflexes.
2. The state of "good - bad" was a consequence of evaluative perception.
3. Memory neurons recorded what was happening as a picture on sensors and executive neurons, while remembering the nature of the change in the state “good - bad” (at the time of fixation).
4. Later behavior was a consequence of the combined influence of unconditioned reflexes and memory.

Now imagine that such a brain changes as it learns. Memory "pulls over" the functions of unconditioned reflexes and begins to control behavior, reacting to what is happening. The unconditioned reflexes of such a brain are set "from birth", but memory is determined by the environment in which this brain had to be formed. That is, unconditioned reflexes are the result of evolution and natural selection, and memory and the behavior associated with it are the result of learning received throughout life.

It is enough to allow memory to influence the state of "good - bad", just as it affects the executive neurons. Memory neurons that have recorded any events, when recognizing a picture on the sensors similar to the one they remember, will try to activate the “good-bad” state that corresponds to their memory. Moreover, they will do this the stronger, the more accurate the recognition.

With learning, such a memory will acquire the ability to evaluate what is happening from the standpoint of fear and anticipation. Recognition of any signs that corresponded to "bad moments" will make "bad". Recognizing "good" signs will make "good". And since new memories will be built on the basis of the “good - bad” state, formed not only by the assessment of sensations, but also by memory, they will carry both the fear of fear and the anticipation of anticipation.

In such an improved model, emotions are a natural consequence of its organization. Memory that affects the state of "good - bad" - these are emotions.

To illustrate the basic principle that is responsible for the formation of human behavior, we will show what a simple brain might look like.

Rice. The simplest robotic brain capable of experiences. Due to the influence of memory on the state, emotions can be formed in it.

Sensors are neurons that receive information about the world around them and are in a state of activity as long as the stimulation to which they respond is present.

Executive neurons - they are activated if the sum of the input signals exceeds a certain threshold value. When activated, the executive neurons actuate the actuators associated with them. The signals coming to the inputs of the executive neurons can be activating or inhibitory.

Unconditioned reflexes are neurons, the connections of which are set initially. These connections form a matrix of reflections. The neurons themselves are activated when a strictly defined pattern of sensor activity occurs. Reflex neurons give either an activating or inhibitory signal to the executive neurons.

Reflexes of evaluative perception are neurons that work in the same way as the neurons of unconditioned reflexes, with the only difference being that their signals go to the neurons of the "good - bad" state.

The state of "good - bad" - neurons that summarize the received signals and store the value with the current sum. They describe the picture of the state of "good - bad."

Memory - neurons that can be in three modes:

1. Mode 1. Initial. All memory neurons are pristine and do not affect the operation of the system.
2. Mode 2. According to a certain principle, memory neurons capture a picture of the activity of other neurons associated with them (sensors and executive neurons). They remember the situation and the action taken. At the same time, they also remember how this action changed the state of "good - bad."
3. Mode 3. Having memorized its picture, the memory neuron goes into a new state. In this state, the neuron is activated if it "recognizes" the picture that corresponded to the moment of memorization, while it sends signals to the executive neurons that were active at the moment of memorization. Signals can be activating or inhibitory. This is determined by whether the neuron remembers a positive or negative change in state.

A device with such a brain, which, by the way, is not difficult to implement in practice, partly behaves like a living organism. At first, its behavior is completely determined by reflexes and is a reaction to the state of the sensors. Images are sewn into the reflexes, the recognition of which causes responses. As experience is accumulated, the ability to recognize new initially unknown images and respond to them arises. In conditions where there are not so many sensors that display the outside world, conflicting memories can be recorded in memory. With the same picture, the same actions can lead to different results. This means that either two different external situations were identified due to insufficient information, or the phenomenon itself is random. But in any case, the device begins to follow the behavior that is most likely to promise a positive change in the state of "good - bad."

A pertinent question: how to set the initial unconditioned reflexes and reflexes of evaluative perception? Nature answered this question by launching the process of natural selection and its inherent trial and error method. For the robot, you can try to set the reflexes expertly, guided by a certain logic. And you can try to repeat the path of nature, but then you have to set the environment, natural selection and the conditions for survival and inheritance.

The entire described design is one of the varieties of the perceptron. Perceptron is a neural network consisting of input (S), associative (A) and reactive elements (R), with a variable interaction matrix determined by the sequence of past network activity states. The term was coined by Frank Rosenblatt in 1957. He also owns the first implementation in the form of an electronic machine "Mark-1" in 1960. Perceptron became one of the first models of neural networks, and Mark-1 became the world's first neurocomputer.

Rice. Perceptron Rosenblatt

The principle itself, when a new experience changes the structure of a neural network, is called “reinforcement learning”. For the perceptron, it is necessary to specify a reinforcement control system. The task of this system is to evaluate the success of the interaction of the device with the environment and, based on the knowledge gained, change the weights of the associative elements in such a way as to increase the chances of the device for subsequent success. What is considered success is the question that entirely depends on the reinforcement control system and, accordingly, the tasks for which it is created. In our case, the reinforcement system is the external environment, evaluative perception and the nature of its participation in the formation of memory.

You can gain experience not only by doing actions. When we imagine something, we give an emotional evaluation to our fantasies. And then we remember this "virtual" experience, and it instantly begins to control our behavior on a par with real experience.

Harvard neurologist Alvaro Pascual-Leone conducted a series of experiments in the 1990s, the results of which made a lot of noise. He taught two groups of people how to play the piano. At the same time, one group really engaged in the game, and the second spent most of the allotted time in "mental training", imagining how they play. It turned out that both groups achieved the same success in the game. What's more, the changes in the motor cortex of people who exercised mentally were similar in size to the corresponding changes in those who actually practiced on the keyboard.

Getting a virtual experience through the evaluation of your own fantasies is what we do all the time. When we think about an action, a picture of the future result flashes through our minds. This picture receives an emotional evaluation, and immediately a memory of the virtual experience is formed. Further, depending on the sign of emotional evaluation, memory will either “push” us to perform the presented action, or vice versa, it will “prevent” it. By the way, it is precisely this understanding of how fantasies and behavior correlate that tries on behaviorism and cognitive psychology, since, on the one hand, it states the unconscious basis of all actions, and on the other hand, it shows how cognitive processes change memory, and, accordingly, influence on behavior.

Let us return to the comparison of the proposed (behavioral) model and the "classical" scheme.

According to Anokhin, a negative emotion is an informational signal that notifies of a certain need and, accordingly, triggers the mechanism for its implementation, and a positive emotion is a signal that a result has been achieved. With us, emotions, both positive and negative, only state our state and serve to form memory, and the current, momentary behavior is determined by unconditioned reflexes and already present memory.

Thus, the description of emotions that we introduced does not correspond to the understanding that was put into this term by P.K. Anokhin. For him, emotions are a harbinger of action, an incentive signal, an indicator of mismatch. In our model, emotions are a mechanism that forms the state of "good - bad", allowing you to give an emotional assessment of what is happening or presented, which is necessary for the formation of memory.

The paradigm that explicitly or implicitly sits at the heart of "classical" theories, and even a simple "everyday" understanding of the basics of human behavior, boils down to the formulation: "emotions signal our desires and needs and push us to commit acts aimed at satisfying them." This worldly obvious formulation is perhaps one of the biggest mistakes of the twentieth century.

Analytical and synthetic activities

The mental activity of a person goes from the particular to the general. The physiological mechanism of such changes is due to the analytical and synthetic activity of the cerebral cortex.

Analysis (analytical activity) is the ability of the body to decompose, dismember the stimuli acting on the body (images of the outside world) into the simplest constituent elements, properties and signs.

Synthesis (synthetic activity) is a process opposite to analysis, which consists in highlighting among the simplest elements, properties and features decomposed during the analysis, the most important, essential at the moment and combining them into complex complexes and systems.

The physiological basis of synthesis is the concentration of excitation, negative induction and dominant. In turn, synthetic activity is the physiological basis for the first stage in the formation of conditioned reflexes (the stage of generalization of conditioned reflexes, their generalization). The stage of generalization can be traced in the experiment if a conditioned reflex is formed to several similar conditioned signals. It is enough to strengthen the reaction to one such signal in order to be convinced of the appearance of a similar reaction to another, similar to it, although a reflex has not yet formed to it. This is explained by the fact that each new conditioned reflex always has a generalized character and allows a person to form only an approximate idea of ​​the phenomenon caused by it. Therefore, the stage of generalization is such a state of the formation of reflexes in which they appear not only under the action of reinforced, but also under the action of similar unreinforced conditioned signals. In humans, an example of generalization is the initial stage of the formation of new concepts. The first information about the subject or phenomenon being studied is always distinguished by a generalized and very superficial character. Only gradually does a relatively accurate and complete knowledge of the subject emerge from it. The physiological mechanism of generalization of the conditioned reflex consists in the formation of temporary connections of the reinforcing reflex with conditioned signals close to the main one. Generalization is of great biological importance, because. leads to a generalization of actions created by similar conditional signals. Such a generalization is useful, because it makes it possible to assess the general significance of the newly formed conditioned reflex, for the time being without regard for its particulars, the essence of which can be dealt with later.

The physiological basis of the analysis is the irradiation of excitation and differential inhibition. In turn, analytical activity is the physiological basis for the second stage in the formation of conditioned reflexes (the stage of specialization of conditioned reflexes).

If we continue the formation of conditioned reflexes to the same similar stimuli with the help of which the generalization stage arose, then we can see that after a while conditioned reflexes appear only to the reinforced signal and do not appear on any of the ones similar to it. This means that the conditioned reflex has become specialized. The stage of specialization is characterized by the appearance of a conditioned reflex to only one main signal with the loss of the signal value of all other similar conditioned signals. The physiological mechanism of specialization consists in the extinction of all secondary conditional connections. The phenomenon of specialization underlies the pedagogical process. The first impressions that a teacher creates about an object or phenomenon are always general and only gradually they are refined and detailed. Only that which corresponds to reality and turns out to be necessary is strengthened. Specialization, therefore, leads to a significant refinement of knowledge about the subject or phenomenon being studied.

Analysis and synthesis are inextricably linked. Analytical-synthetic (integrative) activity of the nervous system is the physiological basis of perception and thinking.

The connection of the organism with the environment is the more perfect, the more developed the property of the nervous system is to analyze, isolate from the external environment the signals that act on the organism, and synthesize, combine those of them that coincide with any of its activities.

Abundant information coming from the internal environment of the organism is also subjected to analysis and synthesis.

On the example of sensation and perception by a person of parts of an object and the whole object as a whole, even I.M. Sechenov proved the unity of the mechanisms of analytical and synthetic activity. An individual, for example, sees an image of a person in a picture, his entire figure, and at the same time notices that a person consists of a head, neck, arms, etc. This is achieved thanks to his ability "... to feel every point of a visible object separately from others, and at the same time all at once."

In each analyzer system, three levels of analysis and synthesis of stimuli are carried out:

1) in receptors - the simplest form of isolating signals from the external and internal environment of the body, encoding them into nerve impulses and sending them to the overlying departments;

2) in subcortical structures - a more complex form of isolation and combination of stimuli of various kinds of unconditioned reflexes and signals of conditioned reflexes, which are realized in the mechanisms of the relationship between the higher and lower parts of the CNS, i.e. analysis and synthesis, which began in the receptors of the sense organs, continue in the thalamus, hypothalamus, reticular formation, and other subcortical structures. So, at the level of the midbrain, the novelty of these stimuli will be assessed (analysis) and a whole series of adaptive reactions will arise: turning the head towards the sound, listening, etc. (synthesis - sensory excitations will be combined with motor ones);

3) in the cerebral cortex - the highest form of analysis and synthesis of signals coming from all analyzers, as a result of which systems of temporary connections are created that form the basis of GNI, images, concepts, semantic distinction of words, etc. are formed.

Analysis and synthesis are carried out according to a specific program, fixed by both congenital and acquired nervous mechanisms.

For understanding the mechanisms of the analytical and synthetic activity of the brain, I.P. Pavlov’s ideas about the cerebral cortex as a mosaic of inhibitory and excitatory points and, at the same time, as a dynamic system (stereotype) of these points, as well as cortical systemicity in in the form of a process of combining "points" of excitation and inhibition into a system. The systematic nature of the brain expresses its ability to higher synthesis. The physiological mechanism of this ability is provided by the following three properties of GNI:

a) the interaction of complex reflections according to the laws of irradiation and induction;
b) the preservation of traces of signals that create continuity between the individual components of the system;
c) fixing the emerging bonds in the form of new conditioned reflexes to the complexes. Consistency creates integrity of perception.

Finally, the "switching" of conditioned reflexes belongs to the well-known general mechanisms of analytic-synthetic activity.

Conditioned reflex switching is a form of variability of conditioned reflex activity, in which the same stimulus changes its signal value from a change in the situation. This means that under the influence of the situation there is a change from one conditioned reflex activity to another. Switching is a more complex type of analytical and synthetic activity of the cerebral cortex compared to a dynamic stereotype, chain conditioned reflex and tuning.

The physiological mechanism of conditioned reflex switching has not yet been established. It is possible that it is based on complex processes of synthesis of various conditioned reflexes. It is also possible that a temporal connection is initially formed between the cortical point of the conditioned signal and the cortical representation of the unconditioned reinforcer, and then between it and the switching agent, and finally between the cortical points of the conditioned and reinforcing signals.

In human activity, the switching process is very important. In pedagogical activity, a teacher working with younger students especially often has to meet with him. Students in these classes often find it difficult to move both from one operation to another in line with one activity, and from one lesson to another (for example, from reading to writing, from writing to arithmetic). Insufficient switching of students by teachers is often qualified as a manifestation of inattention, absent-mindedness, and distractibility. However, this is not always the case. Switching violation is very undesirable, because it causes the student to lag behind the teacher's presentation of the content of the lesson, in connection with which there is a weakening of attention in the future. Therefore, switchability as a manifestation of flexibility and lability of thinking should be educated and developed in students.

In a child, the analytical and synthetic activity of the brain is usually underdeveloped. Young children learn to speak relatively quickly, but they are completely unable to distinguish parts of words, for example, to break syllables into sounds (weakness of analysis). With even greater difficulty, they manage to compose separate words or at least syllables from letters (weakness of synthesis). These circumstances are important to consider when teaching children to write. Usually, attention is paid to the development of the synthetic activity of the brain. Children are given cubes with the image of letters, they are forced to add syllables and words from them. However, learning progresses slowly because the analytical activity of the brain of children is not taken into account. For an adult, it doesn’t cost anything to decide what sounds the syllables “yes”, “ra”, “mu” consist of, but for a child this is a lot of work. He cannot separate a vowel from a consonant. Therefore, at the beginning of training, it is recommended to break words into separate syllables, and then syllables into sounds.

Thus, the principle of analysis and synthesis covers the entire GNI and, consequently, all mental phenomena. Analysis and synthesis are difficult for a person due to the presence of verbal thinking. The main component of human analysis and synthesis is motor speech analysis and synthesis. Any kind of analysis of stimuli occurs with the active participation of the orienting reflex.

Analysis and synthesis occurring in the cerebral cortex are divided into lower and higher. The lowest analysis and synthesis is inherent in the first signal system. Higher analysis and synthesis is an analysis and synthesis carried out by the joint activity of the first and second signal systems with the obligatory awareness of the subject relations of reality by a person.

Any process of analysis and synthesis necessarily includes as an integral part its final phase - the results of action.

Mental phenomena are generated by brain analysis and synthesis.

Two signal systems of reality

Analytical-synthetic activity is the physiological basis of thinking and perception.

Distinguish:

1) a sensual form of perception through sensations, the immediate, otherwise the first signal system of reality (I SDS).

I.P. Pavlov called the first SDS all temporary connections formed as a result of the coincidence of stimuli directly emanating from the external and internal environment of the body with any of its activities. Otherwise, I SDS is understood as the work of the brain, which determines the transformation of direct stimuli into signals of various types of body activity;

2) an insensible form of perception through words, concepts, indirect, speech, otherwise the second signal system of reality (II SDS).

I.P. Pavlov attributed to II SDS all speech temporal connections formed as a result of the coincidence of words with the action of direct stimuli or with other words.

The specific features of the higher nervous activity of a person are represented by the second signal system, which arose as a result of the development of speech as a means of communication between people in the labor process. “The Word made us people,” wrote I.P. Pavlov. The development of speech led to the emergence of language as a new system for displaying the world. The second signaling system represents a new signaling principle. It made it possible to abstract and generalize a huge number of signals from the first signal system. The second signal system operates with sign formations (“signals of signals”) and reflects reality in a generalized and symbolic form. The central place in the second signal system is occupied by speech activity, or speech-thinking processes. This is a system of generalized reflection of the surrounding reality in the form of concepts.

II SDS system covers all kinds of symbolization. It uses not only speech signs, but also a variety of means, including musical sounds, drawings, mathematical symbols, artistic images, as well as derivatives of speech and strongly associated human reactions, for example, mimic-gestural and emotional vocal reactions, generalized images. arising on the basis of abstract concepts, etc.

I SDS is the physiological basis of concrete (objective) thinking and sensations; and II SDS - the basis of abstract (abstract) thinking. The joint activity of human signaling systems is the physiological basis of mental activity, the basis of the socio-historical level of reflection as the essence of the psyche and the transformation of images and signals into representations.

II SDS is the highest regulator of human behavior.

From the point of view of signaling systems, human GNI has three levels of its mechanism: the first level is the unconscious, its basis is unconditioned reflexes; the second level is the subconscious, its basis is I SDS; the third level is conscious, its basis is II SDS.

However, it would be erroneous to think that SDS II is consciousness. II SDS is a specific mechanism of the highest level of a person's GNI, through which a reflection of reality, which has long been called consciousness, is manifested.

Philosopher and psychologist E.V. Shorokhova believes that “... II SDS, interacting with I SDS, serves as the physiological basis for specifically human forms of reflection of reality - a conscious reflection that regulates the purposeful systematic activity of a person not just as an organism, but as a subject of socio-historical activity ".

The interaction of two signal systems reflects the subjective and objective aspects of GNI and is the result of the dynamics of nervous processes that determine the work of both signal systems.

Speech has significantly increased the ability of the human brain to reflect reality. It provided the highest forms of analysis and synthesis.

Signaling about a particular subject, the word distinguishes it from a group of others. This is the analytic function of the word. At the same time, the word as an irritant has a generalizing meaning for a person. This is a manifestation of its synthetic function.

I.M. Sechenov identified several stages in the development and formation of the generalizing function of the word. The child saw the tree for the first time, touched and smelled it. The word "tree" for him means only this particular tree. This is the first stage of the generalizing function of the word; it refers to one particular thing. In the future, as individual experience accumulates (the child has seen many different Christmas trees), the word “Christmas tree” will mean for him all the Christmas trees in general. This is the second step: the word denotes a group of homogeneous objects - Christmas trees. The third stage of the generalizing function of the word: and firs, and pines, and birches, and willows, etc. the child means the word "tree". And, finally, the word “plant” appears, which generalizes a wide range of concepts - trees, shrubs, herbs, flowers, garden plants, etc. is the fourth step. Generalizing words that play a large role in the development of the generalization process are called "integrators".

Thinking is the highest form of reflection of the objective world because it is capable of generalization and abstraction.

Research conducted by I.P. Pavlov showed that the process of formation of a conditioned reflex already contains elements of generalization and that generalization is the result of learning.

I.P. Pavlov distinguished two forms of generalization:

a) congenital, arising from the combination of the actions of differentiated stimuli;
b) acquired, arising in connection with the improvement of signaling systems.

The innate form of generalization is the most primitive. It manifests itself mainly in the form of generalization of conditioned signals in the initial period of the formation of temporary connections.

An important place in the development of the generalizing activity of the human cerebral cortex is occupied by the irradiation of nervous processes from one signal system to another. Such a higher form of generalization is still manifested in the unification of phenomena and objects according to a common feature. In adaptive activity, the highest forms of generalization allow a person to develop ready-made forms of behavior that he could use in cases that have a similar situation.

The physiological mechanism of acquired complex forms of generalization is embedded in a person in the properties of the word as a signal of signals. The word in this quality is formed due to its participation and the formation of a large number of temporary connections. The degree of generalization cannot be considered as a constant, stable category, because it changes, and, most importantly, depending on the conditions for the formation of temporary connections among students in the process of their learning. Physiologically, generalization and abstraction are based on two principles:

a) the formation of systemicity in the cerebral cortex;
b) gradual reduction of the signal image.

Based on these ideas about the essence of the mechanism of the generalization process, it turns out to be more understandable and the idea of ​​the foundations for the formation of new concepts. In this case, the transformation of words into integrators of various levels should be considered as the development of broader concepts in a person. Such changes lead to the construction of an increasingly complex system and to a wider development of the scope of integration. The extinction of conditional links included in this system narrows the scope of integration and, consequently, makes it difficult to form new concepts. From this follows the conclusion that the formation of concepts in the physiological sense has a reflex nature, i.e. its basis is the formation of temporary connections to a speech conditioned signal with adequate unconditional reflex reinforcement.

In a child of primary school age, due to the insufficient development of the second signaling system, visual thinking predominates, and therefore his memory is predominantly visual-figurative in nature. However, along with the development of the second signaling system, the child develops the beginning of theoretical, abstract thinking.

The interaction of signaling systems is the most important factor in the formation of the concrete and the abstract. In the process of establishing relationships between signaling systems, interference may occur mainly due to the most vulnerable second signaling system. So, for example, in the absence of stimuli that promote the development of the second signal system, the child's mental activity is delayed, and the first signal system (figurative, concrete thinking) remains the predominant evaluative system of his relationship with the environment. At the same time, the desire of the educator to force the abstract abilities of the child to manifest as early as possible, not commensurate with the level of mental development achieved by the child, can also lead to a violation of the manifestations of the second signaling system. In this case, the first signaling system gets out of control of the second signaling system, which can be easily seen from the child's behavioral reactions: his ability to think is impaired, the dispute becomes not logical, but conflict, emotionally colored. Such children quickly develop disruptions in behavior, resentment, tearfulness, and aggressiveness appear.

Violation of the relationship between signaling systems can be eliminated by pedagogical techniques. An example of this can be the means and methods used by A.S. Makarenko. Influencing the word (through the second signaling system) and reinforcing action (through the first signaling system), he was able to normalize the behavior even in very "difficult" children. A.S. Makarenko believed that the main thing in the development of a child is the skillful organization of his various active activities (cognitive, labor, play, etc.). The interaction of signaling systems contributes to the formation of such activity and, obviously, this ensures, in addition, the necessary development of moral education.

The second signaling system is more easily subjected to fatigue and inhibition. Therefore, in the primary grades, classes should be structured so that lessons that require the predominant activity of the second signaling system (for example, mathematics) alternate with lessons in which the activity of the first signaling system would prevail (for example, natural science).

The doctrine of signal systems is also important for pedagogy because it provides the teacher with great opportunities to establish the necessary interaction between verbal explanation and visualization in the learning process, to educate students in the ability to correctly correlate the concrete with the abstract. The visibility of learning is a means of organizing a variety of student activities and is used by the teacher to ensure that learning is most effective, accessible and contributes to the development of children. The joint action of words and visual aids contributes to the emergence of students' attention, maintains their interest in the issue under study.

Interaction of the first and second signal systems. The interaction of two signal systems is expressed in the phenomenon of elective (selective) irradiation of nervous processes between the two systems. It is due to the presence of connections between structures that perceive stimuli and designate them with words. Elective irradiation of the excitation process from the first signal system to the second was first obtained by O.P. Kapustnik in the laboratory of IP Pavlov in 1927. In children, with food reinforcement, a conditioned motor reflex to a bell was developed. Then the conditioned stimulus was replaced by words. It turned out that pronouncing the words “call”, “ringing”, as well as showing a card with the word “call” evoked in the child a conditioned motor reaction developed to a real call. Elective irradiation of excitation was also noted after the development of a conditioned vascular reflex to defensive reinforcement. Replacing the bell - a conditioned stimulus - with the phrase "I give a bell" evoked the same vascular defensive reaction (constriction of the vessels of the arm and head) as the bell itself. Substituting for other words was ineffective. In children, the transition of excitation from the first signal system to the second is better expressed than in adults. By vegetative reactions, it is easier to identify it than by motor ones. Selective irradiation of excitation also occurs in the opposite direction: from the second signal system to the first.

There is also irradiation of inhibition between the two signal systems. The development of differentiation to the primary signal stimulus can also be reproduced by replacing the differentiation stimulus with its verbal designation. Usually, elective irradiation between two signaling systems is a short-term phenomenon observed after the development of a conditioned reflex.

A.G. Ivanov-Smolensky, student of I.P. Pavlov, studied individual differences depending on the characteristics of the transfer of excitation and inhibition processes from one signal system to another. According to this parameter, he singled out four types of relationships between the first and second signaling systems. The first type is characterized by the ease of transmission of nervous processes from the first to the second, and vice versa; the second type is distinguished by difficult transmission in both directions; the third type is characterized by the difficulty of transferring processes only from the first to the second; in the fourth type, transmission difficulties occur during the transition from the second signaling system to the first.

Selective irradiation of excitation and inhibition can also be observed within the same signal system. In the first signaling system, it manifests itself as a generalization of the conditioned reflex, when stimuli similar to the conditioned reflex, from the spot, without training, begin to cause a conditioned reflex. In the second signal system, this phenomenon is expressed in the selective excitation of a system of connections between semantically similar words.

A convenient object for studying semantic connections is the development of a conditional defensive reflex when reinforcing a verbal stimulus with a painful one. Registration of vascular reactions of the head and hand makes it possible to differentiate the defensive reflex from the indicative one. After the formation of a conditioned defensive reflex, the presentation of different words instead of the conditioned one shows that the center of the unconditioned defensive reflex forms not one, but many connections with a whole set of words that are similar in meaning. The contribution of each word to the defensive reaction is the greater, the closer it is in meaning to the word used as a conditioned stimulus. Words close to the conditioned stimulus form the core of semantic connections and cause a defensive reaction (constriction of the vessels of the head and hand). Words that are different in meaning, but still lying on the border of semantic proximity to the conditional, cause a persistent orienting reflex (narrowing of the vessels of the hand and their expansion on the head).

Semantic connections can also be studied with the help of an orienting reflex. The verbal stimulus includes two components: sensory (acoustic, visual) and semantic, or semantic, through which it is associated with words close to it in meaning. First, the orienting reflex to both the sensory and semantic components is extinguished by presenting words that belong to the same semantic group (for example, the names of trees or minerals), but differ from each other in acoustic characteristics. After such a procedure, a word is presented that is close in sound to the previously extinguished one, but differs greatly from it in meaning (i.e., from a different semantic group). The appearance of an orienting reaction to this word indicates that it belongs to another semantic group. The set of verbal stimuli to which the fading effect has spread represents a single semantic structure. Studies have shown that the disconnection of verbal stimuli from the orienting reaction is carried out by groups in accordance with the connections by which they are united in a given person. Similarly, i.e. groups, there is also a connection of verbal stimuli to reactions.

If we apply the procedure for developing differentiation to verbal stimuli, then we can achieve a narrowing of the semantic field. By reinforcing one word with current and not reinforcing other words close to it, one can trace how part of the conditioned defensive reactions will be replaced by orienting ones. The ring of orienting reactions, as it were, compresses the center of the semantic field.

The connection of two signal systems, which can be designated as "verbal stimulus - immediate reaction", is the most widespread. All cases of controlling behavior, movement with the help of a word belong to this type of connection. Speech regulation is carried out not only with the help of external, but also through internal speech. Another important form of the relationship between the two signaling systems can be designated as "direct stimulus - verbal reaction", it forms the basis of the naming function. Verbal reactions to direct stimuli in the framework of the theory of conceptual reflex arc E.N. Sokolov can be represented as reactions of command neurons that have connections with all detector neurons. The command neurons responsible for speech responses have potentially extensive receptive fields. The connections of these neurons with detectors are plastic, and their specific form depends on the formation of speech in ontogeny.

Based on the data on the isomorphism of color perceptual, mnemonic and semantic spaces, E.N. Sokolov proposes the following model of color semantics, which can be extended to other categories of phenomena. There are three main screens that handle color information. The first one, the perceptual screen, is formed by selective color-detector neurons. The second one, the long-term (declarative) memory screen, is formed by long-term memory neurons that store information about the perceptual screen. The third one, the semantic screen, is represented by color symbols in visual, auditory, or articulatory form, which are associated both with the command neurons of speech reactions and with the elements of the long-term memory screen. Communication with command neurons of speech reactions provides the operation of color naming. The connection with the elements of long-term memory provides understanding, which is achieved by projecting the symbol onto the screen of long-term memory. When comparing any color term with others, the projection of the semantic screen onto the screen of long-term color memory is also used. When one color term is presented, a certain set of elements of long-term color memory is excited, which corresponds to the excitation vector that determines the position of the color term on the color memory hypersphere. When another color term is presented, another excitation vector appears on the color memory map. Comparison of these excitation vectors occurs in subtractive neurons, which calculate the difference between them, similar to how it happens in color perception. The vector difference modulus is a measure of semantic difference. If two different color names cause excitation vectors of the same composition on the long-term color memory map, they are perceived as synonyms.

The development of speech. The word does not immediately become a "signal of signals". The child first of all forms conditioned food reflexes to taste and smell stimuli, then to vestibular (swaying) and later to sound and visual. Conditioned reflexes to verbal stimuli appear only in the second half of the first year of life. When communicating with a child, adults usually pronounce words, combining them with other immediate stimuli. As a result, the word becomes one of the components of the complex. For example, to the words “Where is mom?” the child turns his head towards the mother only in combination with other stimuli: kinesthetic (from the position of the body), visual (familiar environment, face of the person asking the question), sound (voice, intonation). It is worth changing one of the components of the complex, and the reaction to the word disappears. Only gradually does the word begin to acquire a leading meaning, displacing other components of the complex. First, the kinesthetic component falls out, then visual and sound stimuli lose their significance. And the word itself evokes a reaction.

Showing an object and naming it gradually lead to the formation of their association, then the word begins to replace the object it designates. This occurs towards the end of the first year of life and the beginning of the second. However, the word at first replaces only a specific object, for example, a given doll, and not a doll in general. At this stage of development, the word acts as a first-order integrator.

The transformation of a word into a second-order integrator, or "signal of signals", occurs at the end of the second year of life. To do this, it is necessary that a bundle of connections (at least 15 associations) be developed for it. The child must learn to operate with various objects designated by one word. If the number of developed connections is less, then the word remains a symbol that replaces only a specific object.

Between the third and fourth years of life, concepts are formed - third-order integrators. The child already understands such words as "toy", "flowers", "animals". By the fifth year of life, the concepts become more complicated. So, the child uses the word "thing", relating it to toys, dishes, furniture, etc.

In the process of ontogenesis, the interaction of two signaling systems passes through several stages. Initially, the child's conditioned reflexes are realized at the level of the first signal system: the immediate stimulus comes into contact with direct vegetative and motor reactions. According to the terminology of A.G. Ivanov-Smolensky, these are connections of the H-H type (direct stimulus - immediate reaction). In the second half of the year, the child begins to respond to verbal stimuli with direct vegetative and somatic reactions, therefore, conditional connections of the C-H type are added (verbal stimulus - direct reaction). By the end of the first year of life (after 8 months), the child already begins to imitate the speech of an adult in the same way as primates do, using individual sounds to indicate objects, events, and also their condition. Later, the child begins to pronounce individual words. At first they are not associated with any subject. At the age of 1.5–2 years, one word often denotes not only an object, but also actions and experiences associated with it. Only later does the differentiation of words into categories denoting objects, actions, feelings. A new type of H-C bonds appears (direct stimulus - verbal reaction). In the second year of life, the child's vocabulary increases to 200 words or more. He can already combine words into the simplest speech chains and build sentences. By the end of the third year, the vocabulary reaches 500-700 words. Verbal reactions are caused not only by direct stimuli, but also by words. A new type of C-C connections appears (verbal stimulus - verbal reaction), and the child learns to speak.

With the development of speech in a child aged 2-3 years, the integrative activity of the brain becomes more complicated: conditioned reflexes appear on the ratios of magnitudes, weights, distances, and the color of objects. At the age of 3-4 years, various motor and some speech stereotypes are developed.

Functions of speech. Researchers identify three main functions of speech; communication, regulation and programming. The communicative function provides communication between people using language. Speech is used to convey information and encourage action. The motivating power of speech essentially depends on its emotional expressiveness.

Through the word, a person receives knowledge about the objects and phenomena of the surrounding world without direct contact with them. The system of verbal symbols expands the possibilities of a person's adaptation to the environment, the possibilities of his orientation in the natural and social world. Through the knowledge accumulated by mankind and recorded in oral and written speech, a person is connected with the past and the future.

The ability of man to communicate with the help of word-symbols has its origins in the communicative abilities of higher apes.

L.A. Firsov and his collaborators propose to divide languages ​​into primary and secondary. They refer to the primary language the behavior of an animal and a person, various reactions: a change in the shape, size and color of certain parts of the body, changes in the feather and coat, as well as innate communicative (voice, facial, postural, gestural, etc.) signals. Thus, the primary language corresponds to the pre-conceptual level of reflection of reality in the form of sensations, perceptions and ideas. Secondary language is associated with the conceptual level of reflection. It distinguishes stage A, common to humans and animals (preverbal concepts). The complex forms of generalization found by anthropoids and some lower apes correspond to stage A. Stage B of secondary language (verbal concepts) uses the speech apparatus. Thus, the primary language corresponds to the first signaling system, and stage B of the secondary language corresponds to the second signaling system. According to L.A. Orbeli, the evolutionary continuity of the nervous regulation of behavior is expressed in the "intermediate stages" of the process of transition from the first signal system to the second. They correspond to stage A of the secondary language.

Language is a certain system of signs and rules for their formation. A person learns a language throughout life. Which language he learns as his native language depends on the environment in which he lives and the conditions of education. There is a critical period for language acquisition. After 10 years, the ability to develop the neural networks necessary to build speech centers is lost. Mowgli is one of the literary examples of the loss of speech function.

A person can speak many languages. This means that he uses the opportunity to designate the same object with different symbols, both verbally and in writing. When learning a second and subsequent languages, apparently, the same neural networks are used that were previously formed when mastering the native language. More than 2,500 living, developing languages ​​are currently known.

Language knowledge is not inherited. However, a person has genetic prerequisites for communication through speech and language acquisition. They are incorporated in the features of both the central nervous system and the speech-motor apparatus, the larynx. Ambidexes - persons in whom the functional asymmetry of the hemispheres is less pronounced, have greater language abilities.

The regulatory function of speech realizes itself in higher mental functions - conscious forms of mental activity. The concept of higher mental function was introduced by L.S. Vygotsky and developed by A.R. Luria and other domestic psychologists. A distinctive feature of higher mental functions is their arbitrary nature.

It is assumed that speech plays an important role in the development of arbitrary, volitional behavior. Initially, the highest mental function is, as it were, divided between two people. One person regulates the behavior of another with the help of special stimuli (signs), among which speech plays the greatest role. Learning to apply to his own behavior the stimuli that were originally used to regulate the behavior of other people, a person comes to master his own behavior. As a result of the process of internalization - the transformation of external speech activity into internal speech, the latter becomes the mechanism by which a person masters his own voluntary actions.

The programming function of speech is expressed in the construction of semantic schemes of a speech statement, the grammatical structures of sentences, in the transition from an idea to an external detailed statement. At the heart of this process is internal programming, carried out with the help of internal speech. As clinical data show, it is necessary not only for verbal utterance, but also for constructing a wide variety of movements and actions.

Verbal and non-verbal intelligence. Based on the ratio of the first and second signal systems, I.P. Pavlov proposed a classification of specially human types of higher nervous activity, highlighting the artistic, mental and average types.

The artistic type is characterized by the predominance of the functions of the first signal system. People of this type make extensive use of sensory images in the process of thinking. They perceive phenomena and objects as a whole, without splitting them into parts. The thinking type, in which the work of the second signal system is enhanced, has a pronounced ability to abstract from reality, based on the desire to analyze, split reality into parts, and then combine the parts into a whole. The middle type is characterized by the balance of the functions of the two signal systems.

I.P. Pavlov in his work "Twenty Years of Experience" wrote; “Life clearly points to two categories of people: artists and thinkers. There is a sharp difference between them. Some are artists of all kinds: writers, musicians, painters, and so on. – capture reality as a whole, completely, completely, living reality, without any fragmentation, without any separation. Others - thinkers - precisely crush it and thus, as it were, kill it, making some kind of temporary skeleton out of it, and then only gradually, as it were, reassemble its parts again and try to revive them in this way, which they still do not succeed in completely. ".

Most people belong to the middle type. According to I.P. Pavlov, the extreme types - "artistic" and "thinking" - serve as suppliers of nervous and psychiatric clinics.

For "artists" a direct, holistic reflection is characteristic, for "thinkers" - an analytical reflection, mediated by the word.

It has been established that subjects with a melancholic temperament (with weak nervous processes, their inertness and the predominance of inhibition over excitation) have higher rates of verbal intelligence and, in terms of the ratio of signaling systems, belong to the “thinking” type. Phlegmatic, sanguine and choleric, compared with melancholic, are approximately equally inclined towards the artistic type. However, melancholic people are more opposed to choleric people. Thus, the traits of temperament and cognitive features of specifically human types of higher nervous activity form a kind of different emotional-cognitive complexes.

The intellectual features of the "thinking" type are combined with increased anxiety and pessimism of a melancholic temperament. Features of the "artistic" type can be combined with any of the other three types of temperament, which are generally characterized by a more optimistic emotional mood compared to the melancholic temperament.

The artistic type of thinking is more often observed in people with a strong nervous system and extroverts. Verbal intelligence is characteristic of "thinkers". It is combined with well-developed cognitive abilities (mathematical, cognitive-linguistic). "Thinkers" are distinguished by a weak nervous system and a high level of introversion.

The interhemispheric asymmetry of the brain is presented differently in mental and artistic types. The statement that the function of the right hemisphere dominates in "artists" as the basis of their figurative thinking, while in "thinkers" the leading role belongs to the dominant, left hemisphere, most often associated with speech, is generally true. However, as the study of the organization of the hemispheres in people of art, professional painters, shows, they use the left hemisphere more intensively than ordinary people. They are characterized by the integration of information processing methods, represented by different hemispheres.

The connection between thinking and speech

The action of the mind, as a comprehension of the universal, is closely connected with human speech (language), which assigns to one sign an indefinite set of real and possible (past, present and future) phenomena, similar or homogeneous to each other. If we consider a linguistic sign in its entirety, inseparably from what it expresses, then we can recognize that the real essence of rational thinking is expressed in words, from which rational analysis singles out its various forms, elements and laws.

The thinking of an adult, normal person is inextricably linked with speech. Many scientists believe that thought can neither arise, nor flow, nor exist outside of language, outside of speech. We think in words that we say out loud or say to ourselves, i.e. thinking takes place in speech form. People who are equally proficient in several languages ​​are quite clearly aware of what language they are thinking in at any given moment. In speech, thought is not only formulated, but also formed and developed.

Special devices can register hidden speech (articulation) micro-movements of the lips, tongue, larynx, which always accompany the mental activity of a person, for example, when solving various kinds of problems. Only people who are deaf and mute from birth, who do not even know kinetic ("manual") speech, think on the basis of images.

Sometimes it may seem that a thought exists outside the verbal shell, that it is difficult to express another thought in words. But this means that the thought is still unclear to itself, that it is rather not a thought, but a vague general idea. A clear thought is always associated with a clear verbal formulation.

The opposite opinion is also wrong, that thought and speech are essentially the same thing, that thinking is speech devoid of sound (“speech minus sound”, as some bourgeois scientists believe), and speech is “voiced thinking”. This opinion is erroneous, if only because the same thought can be expressed in different languages ​​by hundreds of different sound combinations. It is also known that there are homonymous words (words with the same sound, but different meanings: “root”, “spit”, “key”, “reaction”, etc.), i.e. the same word can express different thoughts, different concepts.

The process of thinking is based on the complex analytical and synthetic activity of the cerebral cortex as a whole, but not of any of its individual sections. The basis of thinking is the formation of secondary signal temporary neural connections based on the primary signal connections. The secondary signal neural connections formed in the cerebral cortex with the help of words reflect the essential relationships between objects. The reflection of connections and relations) between objects becomes possible because, as I. P. Pavlov pointed out, words are a distraction from reality and allow generalization, which, according to the scientist, is the essence of human thinking. In other words, the second signal system opens up the possibility of a generalized reflection of the surrounding world.

As for the physiological mechanisms of speech proper, this secondary signal activity of the cortex is also a complex coordinated work of many groups of nerve cells in the cerebral cortex. When we talk to each other, on the one hand, we perceive audible (sound) and visible (written) speech signals, on the other hand, we pronounce the sounds of the language using the muscular vocal apparatus. Accordingly, in the cortex of the left hemisphere of the brain there are three speech centers: auditory, motor and visual. One of these centers (Wernicke's auditory center) provides understanding of perceived words. If his work is disturbed, a person loses the ability to distinguish, recognize words, although he retains the sensation of sounds, as a result of which the ability to meaningful speech is also lost. Broca's motor center of speech ensures the pronunciation of words. With the destruction of this center, a person is not able to utter a single word, although he understands the words that he hears: he only has the ability to scream and sing without words. The work of the visual center provides understanding of written speech, reading. When it is damaged, a person loses the ability to read, although his vision is preserved. Of course, the allocation of these centers is to a certain extent conditional, since the basis of speech activity is the activity of the cortex as a whole that unites the work of these centers.

Approaching the question of the possibility of non-verbal thinking Leitzen Egbert Jan Brouwer (1881-1966) - the Dutch philosopher and mathematician showed that mathematics is an autonomous activity that finds its basis in itself, independent of language and that the ideas of mathematics go much deeper into the mind, than in language, regardless of verbal perception. Natural language is capable, according to Brouwer, of creating only a copy of ideas, correlated with itself, like a photograph with a landscape.

Mechanisms of creative activity

Many representatives of creative professions - scientists, inventors, writers - note that important, critical stages in their activity are intuitive. The solution to the problem comes suddenly, not as a result of logical reasoning. Creativity is basically represented by the mechanisms of superconsciousness (Simonov P.V., 1975). If consciousness is armed with speech, mathematical formulas and images of works of art, then the language of superconsciousness is feelings, emotions. The creative process leads not only to the expansion of the sphere of knowledge, but also to the overcoming of pre-existing, accepted norms.

There are three main stages of the creative process: the idea, the birth of a guess; generation of various hypotheses, including the most fantastic ones, to explain this phenomenon; critical analysis and selection of the most plausible explanations that occur at the level of consciousness.

Illumination, discovery, finding a way to solve a problem arise in the form of an experience, a feeling that the chosen direction is the one that deserves attention. And here the decisive role belongs to feeling, intuition - the language of superconsciousness. Many inventors point out that a hunch appears as a blurry image that has yet to be put into words. However, the suddenness of the appearance of conjecture, insight is apparent, since it is a consequence of the intensive mental work of a person absorbed in a problem or work of art that captivates him.

According to R.A. Pavlygina and P.V. Simonov, the dominant is related to the phenomena of insight, insight, which are the central link in the creative process. A sudden shutdown of the dominant state can lead to a sudden closure of associations (the establishment of unexpected connections). In experiments on rabbits, it was shown that with a hungry dominant created by natural food deprivation, any side effect, including blowing air into the eye, causes not only a blinking, but also a chewing reaction. If a hungry animal is given food immediately after blowing air into the eye and thereby removes the dominant state, this leads to the formation of a stable instrumental reflex. When the same dominant is reproduced repeatedly, the rabbit seeks to regulate its state, demonstrating a blinking reaction, which was accompanied only once by the elimination of the dominant.

Another phenomenon that is also relevant to creative thinking is the establishment of an association between subthreshold stimuli. The combination of subthreshold stimulation of the paw and the circular muscle of the eye led to the formation of a connection between the blinking reaction and the movement of the paw (Pavlygina R.A., 1990). It could be detected by replacing subthreshold stimuli with suprathreshold ones: stimulation of the paw caused a blinking reaction, and eye irritation was accompanied by a motor reaction of the limb (two-way communication, according to E.A. Asratyan).

Thus, the dominant strongly resembles a motivational state during which, on the basis of specific and acquired experience, associations between stimuli, as well as between stimuli and responses, are actualized. In the process of analyzing this information, previously hidden (subthreshold) connections can be revealed, which will lead to a new vision of the problem. The phenomenon of the sudden formation of stable associations as a result of the elimination of dominant excitation is considered by researchers as a neurophysiological mechanism of creative insight.

Creativity is the creation of the new from the old elements in the inner world. Creating a new product causes a positive emotional reaction. This positive emotional state rewards the creative process and encourages the person to act in the same direction.

The identification of a new aspect in cognitive processes is due to the work of novelty detectors, which are able to capture the new not only in the external, but also in the inner world - new thoughts, new images. In this case, the orienting reaction arises not to a change in the external signal, but to the transformation of the internal image. At the same time, it is accompanied by a positive emotional experience and is itself an emotional reinforcement. Novelty detectors are highly sensitive; they immediately record the fact of the appearance of a new thought even before it is evaluated. Awareness of the emergence of a new thought is accompanied by a creative excitement that stimulates mental work. And only after the appearance of an emotional reaction, the thought begins to be critically evaluated. Thus, the unconscious comparison of various kinds of information contained in the memory generates a new thought. Its subsequent evaluation is carried out by comparing this thought with others, previously already realized. Consequently, the production of the new is carried out mainly in the subconscious, and its evaluation - at the level of consciousness.

The processes of creative thinking can be considered from the point of view of the relationship between orienting and defensive reflexes. It is known that stress with a high level of tension expresses a protective, defensive reaction that disorganizes the cognitive functions of a person. According to the Yerkes-Dodsen law, there is a so-called optimal functional state that determines the highest efficiency of activity. The study of the mechanism of optimization of the functional state leads to the idea of ​​its connection with the orienting reflex. The presence of interest, dedication to work are the prerequisites that determine the level of its success.

Creativity is associated with the development of the need for knowledge, for obtaining new information, which is achieved in the process of orienting and research activities. The latter can be considered as a chain of orienting reflexes. Each of the orienting reflexes provides a certain portion of information.

Creative thinking is an orienting-research activity, addressed to traces of memory in combination with incoming relevant information.

The orienting reflex, as an expression of the need for new information, competes with the defensive reflex, which is an expression of aggression or fear, anxiety.

Special forms of defensive behavior are depression and anxiety, which, by inhibiting orienting research activity, reduce a person's creative abilities. Depression and anxiety can arise under the influence of long-term failure in overcoming conflict situations. Developing, they lead to somatic disorders, which, forming a positive feedback loop, further deepen depression and anxiety. Breaking this circle of self-reinforcing passive-defensive behavior, which leads to a decrease in a person's creative capabilities, is possible only by eliminating conflicts and providing psychotherapeutic assistance. As the basis of "creative psychotherapy" one can consider the creation of a creative attitude in an individual, the strengthening of his orienting and research activities, which usually inhibit the defensive dominant, contributing to the disclosure of creative abilities. Such a creative attitude can be an element of the process of continuous education of a person, due to the fact that it stimulates his interest in obtaining new information.

The orienting reflex is in reciprocal relations not only with the passive-defensive, but also with the active-defensive form of behavior - affective aggression. Prolonged psychological conflicts can cause functional changes, expressed in lowering the threshold of affective aggression. As a result, minor impacts provoke aggressive behavior. Such a decrease in the threshold for aggressive behavior is sometimes observed during puberty as a result of an imbalance in the mediator balance. One of the radical ways to reduce aggressiveness can be the stimulation of orienting research activities.

Thus, the stimulation of orienting-exploratory activity can be considered as the basis for the development of a person's creative potential and a psychotherapeutic way to suppress depression, anxiety and aggressiveness - the main factors hindering a person's creative self-expression.

Considering the neuroanatomical foundations of creative thinking, P.V. Simonov associates it with the functions of the following brain structures. The amygdala nuclei highlight the dominant motivation that stimulates the search for the missing information needed to solve a particular problem. Another structure of the limbic system - the hippocampus - provides extended updating of traces retrieved from memory and serving as material for the formation of hypotheses. In humans, the hippocampus of the dominant hemisphere is involved in the analysis of traces of verbal signals, and the right hemisphere is involved in the processing of traces from nonverbal stimuli.

It is assumed that the hypotheses themselves are generated in the frontal regions of the ieocortex. In the right hemisphere, their primary emotional-intuitive assessment takes place, while obviously unrealistic assumptions are excluded. The left frontal lobes also act as a critic, who selects the hypotheses that are most worthy of attention. The interaction of the right and left frontal lobes provides that dialogue of two voices - fantasizing and critical, which is familiar to almost all creative people. The functional asymmetry of the two hemispheres of the brain, in essence, serves today as the most acceptable neurobiological basis for the interaction of conscious and unconscious components of the creative process” (Simonov P.V., 1993).

The mechanisms of intuition in solving various kinds of cognitive tasks, taking into account interhemispheric interaction, were studied by N.E. Sviderskaya (1997). Using the method of computer toposcopy of synchronous brain biocurrents with simultaneous EEG recording from 48 electrodes, she determined the foci of maximum activity during solving problems that require different ways of information processing: simultaneous and successive. Simultaneous method is used for simultaneous analysis of multiple elements of information. It is associated with the functions of the right hemisphere. The successive method represents the stepwise processing of information and refers mainly to the activity of the left hemisphere. It turned out that when solving verbal and non-verbal tasks, the focus of activity is determined not by the quality or content of information, but by the way it is analyzed. If the task required a successive method, the focus of activity arose in the anterior areas of the left hemisphere, and when performing simultaneous tasks, it was localized in the posterior areas of the right hemisphere. When solving non-standard problems, when their algorithm is not known, when it is required to use intuitive forms of thinking, activation dominates in the posterior sections of the right hemisphere. The same picture could be seen in the subjects who correctly described the nature and conditions of a person's life from his portrait or the area from its individual fragments. Successful completion of such a task is possible only on the basis of an intuitive assessment. In subjects who gave incorrect descriptions of the person and the area, the focus of activity occurred in the anterior regions of the left hemisphere. The author connects the right hemispheric activation focus with the simultaneous processing of both conscious and unconscious information.

At the same time, the simultaneous processing method, which allows one to operate simultaneously with a large number of elements - a holistic representation of an object, is more adequate for working with unconscious information. It has been established that when automating a skill (teaching computer digital codes), i.e. when moving from the conscious level of analysis to the unconscious, the focus of activation shifts from the anterior areas of the left hemisphere to the posterior areas of the right.

A decrease in the level of awareness of pain stimulation caused by hypnotic analgesia correlates with a decrease in activity in the anterior zones of the left hemisphere. The left hemispheric focus of activity indicates a successive way of processing information, which involves the analysis of the material at a conscious level.

The joint activity of both hemispheres, each of which uses its own methods of information processing, ensures the highest efficiency of activity. With the complexity of the task, it is necessary to combine the efforts of both hemispheres, while in solving simple tasks, the lateralization of the focus of activity is fully justified. When solving non-standard, creative problems, unconscious information is used. This is achieved by the joint activity of both hemispheres with a well-defined focus of activity in the posterior sections of the right hemisphere.

Analysis and synthesis. New thoughts and images arise on the basis of what was already in the mind, thanks to mental operations - analysis and synthesis. Ultimately, all processes of imagination and thinking consist in mental decomposition of initial thoughts and ideas into constituent parts (analysis) and their subsequent combination in new combinations (synthesis). These mental operations, opposite in content, are inseparably united.

“... Thinking,” wrote F. Engels in his work “Anti-Dühring,” consists as much in the decomposition of objects of consciousness into their elements as in the unification of elements connected with each other into a certain unity. Without analysis, there is no synthesis."

Let us analyze from this point of view how well-known fairy-tale images were created - a mermaid, a centaur, a sphinx, a hut on chicken legs, etc. They are, as it were, glued together, molded from parts of real-life objects. This approach is called agglutination. In order to carry out this synthetic operation, it was first necessary to mentally dismember ideas about real beings and objects. The great Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci directly advised the artist: “If you want to make a fictional animal seem natural - let it be, say, a snake - then take for its head the head of a shepherd dog or a cop dog, attaching cat eyes, ears of an owl, the nose of a greyhound, the eyebrows of a lion, the temples of an old rooster, and the neck of a water turtle” (see second flyleaf).

It was this thought process that led designers to create the trolley bus, snowmobile, seaplane, etc.

Another technique for creating fabulous images can be considered an analytical process - emphasis. Here, some part of the object or part of the body of an animal or person is distinguished and changes in size. This is how friendly cartoons and caricatures are created. They help to emphasize the most essential, the most important in this particular image. The talker is depicted with a long tongue, the glutton is endowed with a voluminous belly, etc.

Analysis and. synthesis as mental operations arose from practical actions - from the real decomposition of objects into parts and their connection. This long historical path of transformation of an external operation into an internal one can be observed in an abbreviated form by studying the development of thinking in children. When a small child first removes ring after ring from the pyramid, and then puts the rings back on, he, without suspecting it, is already carrying out analysis and synthesis in practice. No wonder the first stage of the development of mental activity is called visual action thinking. Later it is replaced by concrete-figurative thinking- the child operates not only with objects, but

and their images, and, finally, there is an "adult" - verbal-logical thinking. But visual-effective and concrete-figurative thinking is also present in the "adult", developed verbal-logical mental activity, is woven into its fabric.

There are two main types of analytic-synthetic operations: firstly, you can mentally decompose (and combine) the object itself, the phenomenon into its component parts, and secondly, you can mentally single out certain signs, properties, qualities. So, we study a literary work in parts, we single out the root, trunk, leaves in the plant. Similarly, we analyze chemicals, alloys - these are all examples of analysis of the first kind. When we examine the style of a work, its composition, a different analysis is carried out.

Analysis and synthesis as the main thought processes are inherent in any person, but different people have a tendency to crush or combine the phenomena of the surrounding reality may be different. So, already at the level of perception, some tend to notice individual details, in particular, sometimes not being able to grasp the whole. They say about such people that they cannot see the forest for the trees. Others, on the contrary, quickly grasp the whole, they have a general impression of the subject, which is sometimes superficial - they do not see the trees behind the forest. Among your acquaintances, there will certainly be representatives of both types: and analytical, And synthetic, although most, of course, are mixed, analytic-synthetic type. To determine what type a person belongs to, sometimes it is enough to listen to his story about an event. Another starts a story, for example, about a new movie, from afar: he tells how he got the idea to go to the cinema, what the weather was like that day, what mode of transport he got to the cinema; a prominent place in the story will be taken by the description of the neighbors in turn - who was wearing what, who said what, how the public reacted to the attempt of the “one with the mustache” to skip the line, etc. You can hardly force yourself to listen to the end. The other gets straight to the point, but expresses it too broadly:

- "Hamlet"? Watched. They killed each other there. Remarkable Soviet psychologist B. M. Teploe in his work “The Mind of a Commander”, he considered the peculiarities of thinking of great commanders and noted that a true military genius is always both “the genius of the whole” and “the genius of details”. That was the genius of Napoleon. Historians emphasized Napoleon's ability, when undertaking the most grandiose and most difficult operations, to keep a sharp eye on all the little things and at the same time not to get confused or lost in them at all - to simultaneously see both trees and forest, and almost every bough on every tree. The military talent of the great Russian generals - Peter the Great and A.V. Suvorov - was distinguished by the same feature.

The balance between analysis and synthesis is very important in any complex human activity, and it is important for every person to cultivate it.

Comparison. Analysis and synthesis underlie such an important mental operation as comparison. No wonder they say: “Everything is known in comparison”, but about something amazing, out of the ordinary: “Incomparably!” "Comparison," wrote K. D. Ushin-sky, is the basis of all understanding and all thinking.

We learn everything in the world only through comparison, and if some new object presented itself to us, which we could not equate to anything and distinguish from anything ... then we could not make up a single one about this object. thoughts and could not say a single word about him. I. M. Sechenov considered the ability to compare the most precious mental treasure of man.

Comparing objects and phenomena, it is necessary to carry out an analysis at the first stage, and then a synthesis. For example, you were given the task to compare the psychological appearance of Tatiana and Olga Larin. To do this, you first of all highlight their individual properties, qualities, features: appearance, character (he himself is divided into separate features, which we will discuss later), relationships with other heroes of the novel, etc.

In other words, dismemberment, analysis is carried out. At the next stage, you kind of mentally apply (this operation in other cases can be effective, practical!) Homogeneous features to each other, combine, synthesize them. In this case, it is necessary to observe an important rule - comparison should be based on the same basis. You can’t, for example, comparing Pushkin’s heroines, say: “Tatyana loved the Russian winter, and Olga had a round, ruddy face” ... (In connection with this rule, pay attention to how people conduct discussions: quite often comparisons are made here for various reasons, so that the very subject of the dispute is gradually lost.)

Comparing objects and phenomena, we find in them similar and different.

The subtlety of thinking and the richness of imagination are manifested in the ability to find differences in seemingly similar phenomena and similarities in the most seemingly remote. These qualities are especially clearly manifested in the thinking and fantasy of the great masters of the word. As you know, comparison is used in literature as a special means of artistic expression.

At the same time, comparison helps us not only brightly imagine, but also deeply understand the side of reality that the author describes. As always, thought and image are inseparable. Let us recall the comparison of Vladimir Lensky with Eugene Onegin:

They agreed. Wave and stone, Poetry and prose, ice and fire Not so different from each other.

Here, the comparison is aimed at identifying differences. But in the lines of the great Soviet poet N. Zabolotsky, the charm of a beautiful female face (the portrait of Struyskaya by the Russian artist F. S. Rokotov is described) is conveyed through an unexpected convergence of opposites:

Her eyes are like two fogs, A combination of two riddles,

Half smile, half cry, half delight, half fright,

Her eyes are like two deceptions, A fit of insane tenderness,

Covered in mist of failures. The anticipation of death torments.

You probably remembered that we have already talked about poetry. Quite right. In the chapter on memory about associations. And you, of course, have already understood that comparisons with them are inextricably linked. (By the way, have you forgotten that in the psyche everything is inextricably linked?)

Comparison of concepts that are close in meaning is a very good technique for developing thinking. In the Three C's we will give appropriate tasks, like this: "Compare curiosity And curiosity".

Now close the book and reflect. Offer this mental task to your friends. Probably, many will point out a common feature: both curiosity and inquisitiveness are intellectual properties of a person that manifest themselves in the desire to learn something new. Differences here both in the motives of knowledge and in its depth. Curiosity is a disinterested thirst for knowledge, a desire to penetrate the essence of objects and phenomena. Her character was well conveyed by the poet B. Pasternak:

In everything I want to reach the essence of the past days,

To the very essence: To their cause,

In work, in search of a way, To the foundations, to the roots,

In heartbreak. To the core.

Curiosity, on the other hand, manifests itself in an aimless desire to accumulate disparate facts, “to touch everything lightly”, in sliding “on top” of phenomena. If curiosity is a sign of a deep mind, then curiosity leads to the formation of a personality with a superficial, frivolous mind. As pointed out K. D. Ushinsky,“curiosity can develop in curiosity and can remain only curiosity... At first, a person is only curious; but when independent work begins in his soul, and as a result, independent interests, then he ceases to be curious about everything indifferently, but only to what may be in any connection with his spiritual interests. In other words, curiosity grows into curiosity.

Of course, it is immediately difficult to make a comparison with sufficient completeness and accuracy. But these difficulties are gradually being overcome. Especially if you are a person... inquisitive.

Abstraction, generalization, concept. Analytical-synthetic processes also include such complex mental operations as abstraction (abstraction) and generalization. They play a special role in thinking. No wonder this cognitive process is called a generalized reflection of reality and its abstract nature is emphasized. To better understand the essence of these processes, let's take a look at ... a music store. What is not here: the copper of a huge pipe sparkles, the big drum swelled with importance, tiny flutes modestly hid on the shelves, but the battery of strings - violins, cellos, double basses. Guitars, mandolins, balalaika... Nothing like solemn harps. Stop! Nothing similar? Why are they in this store? This means that there is some similarity between all these objects, and, probably, a very significant one. Their common feature - the ability to produce musical sounds - allows us to attribute all these - large and small, copper, plastic and wood, black, brown, red and yellow, round, oblong and polygonal, old and new, electronic, etc. etc. n - objects to one concept:"musical instruments".

How are concepts formed? Here again, it all starts with analysis. Specific objects, objects are mentally divided into signs and properties. Next, some specific essential feature is highlighted (in our case, the ability to produce musical sounds) and the abstraction: we get distracted from all other signs, as if for a while we forget about them and consider objects and phenomena only from the point of view that interests us.

If now compare among themselves those dissimilar "at first glance objects, it turns out that in fact they are not without reason called by one word: they can be unite into one general group. Thus, after the analytical operation - abstraction, a synthetic one occurs - a mental generalization of objects and phenomena, which is fixed in the concept. In the concept (it is always expressed word) The general and essential features of objects and phenomena are reflected. Each science is a certain system of concepts. Thanks to them, a person learns more deeply the world around him in its essential connections and relationships.

Abstraction and generalization are important not only in scientific thinking, but also in artistic creativity. Already “in the simplest generalization,” V. I. Lenin pointed out, “in the most elementary general idea (“table” in general) eat famous piece fantasies" 14 .

Thanks to the selection of important, essential features and generalization in the thinking of a writer, poet, artist, images arise that embody the features of a whole generation - or a whole

class of people. This is exactly what A. M. Gorky spoke about in one of his conversations with readers: “How are types built in literature? They are built, of course, not in portraiture, they do not definitely take any person, but take thirty to fifty people of one line, one row, one mood, and from them they create Oblomov, Onegin, Faust, Hamlet, Othello, etc. All this - generic types. And one more thing: “... if you describe a shopkeeper, it is necessary to make sure that thirty shopkeepers are described in one shopkeeper, thirty priests are described in one priest, so that if this thing is read in Kherson, they see a Kherson priest, but they read it in Arzamas - Arzamas priest ...

All great works are always generalizations. "Don Quixote", "Faust", "Hamlet" - all these are generalizations.

Artistic generalizations, which Gorky spoke about, unlike abstract concepts, do not lose their individual originality and uniqueness. In Russian literature of the 19th century, as you know, a special artistic type was created - the image of an “extra person” (we will talk about some psychological characteristics of people of this type in connection with problems of will and character). All "superfluous people" are somewhat similar to each other, but at the same time, each of them is a living person with his own "face is not a common expression."

Concepts, especially abstract concepts, have, as it were, lost this connection with visual images, although here, too, some kind of reliance on concrete representations is possible. Ask someone what they imagine when they hear words-concepts: “progress”, “truth”, “freedom”, etc. One will say: “I don’t imagine anything, progress is a forward movement, progressive development”; another: "A rocket that rushes to the distant worlds"; third: “I see a May Day demonstration on Red Square, people marching with banners ...”

Thanks to abstraction, human thought embraces phenomena that cannot be visualized: the speed of light, infinitely small and large quantities, the relativity of space and time, etc. Such concepts have been developed by science throughout the history of mankind. They crystallize both practical experience and its theoretical understanding. Each new generation already finds systems of these concepts, assimilates them and adds something of its own to their content. As a matter of fact, at school, studying this or that subject, you master scientific concepts in this area. Now, when you read this chapter, the concepts of “thinking”, “fantasy”, “analysis”, “synthesis” and ... the concept of concepts are being mastered.

The process of assimilation of concepts is an active creative mental activity. Here is how, for example, the concept of “fetus” is formed among primary school students.

On the teacher's table are objects well known to the children: a tomato, a cucumber, a poppy head, etc. The teacher draws the attention of the students to their appearance.

The tomato is red and round!

Cucumber - green and oblong!

Poppy is light brown and looks like a cup!

And they taste different!

It turns out, - says the teacher, - these objects are not at all similar to each other?

Looks like the guys do not agree.

You can eat them! They are tasty!

But sweets are delicious too.

No, it has grown. These are plant parts.

That's right, - the teacher picks up, - a tomato, and a cucumber, and a cup of poppy are parts of plants. But the leaves are also part of the plant... What else do our objects have in common?

The guys are having a hard time. But the question is raised, the thought works. We need to give her a new impetus. The teacher takes a knife and cuts cucumber, tomato and poppy seeds in front of the children.

I guessed, exclaims the smartest one. (However, perhaps the most decisive and fastest?) - They all have bones!

Right. How can you call it?

This is the part of the plant that contains the seeds.

Remember folks, the part of the plant that contains the seeds is called fetus. Then the teacher shows the children various fruits and other parts of plants,

which are easily confused with a fruit, such as a carrot. There is a practical consolidation of the newly learned concept.

Doesn't this process resemble the general way of human cognition of objective reality, indicated in the well-known formula of V. I. Lenin? Indeed, in our example, all the main stages are present: “live contemplation” - the guys carefully studied the appearance of different fruits; "abstract thinking" - all the main mental operations took place: analysis, synthesis, comparison, abstraction; the main common feature was singled out - “contains seeds”; generalization in the form of the concept of "fruit" and, finally, practice - the students practiced with new objects - they found fruits in other plants.

Here we have seen the traditional way of assimilation of new knowledge, new concepts - from the particular to the general. Soviet psychologists D. B. Elkonin And V. V. Davydov proved that already first-graders are able to master new concepts, going from the general to the particular. Lessons in the 1st grade on experimental programs look unusual. According to the developed course, tells V. V. Davydov, children in the first half of the first grade do not “meet” numbers at all. All this time, they master information about the quantity in some detail: they distinguish it in physical objects, get acquainted with its main properties. Working with real objects, children distinguish volume, area, length, etc. in them, establish the equality or inequality of these features, and write down the relationship with signs, and then with a letter formula, for example: a-b, a>b, a<Ь. It turned out that already in the third month of training, first-graders learn to compose and write down equations of the type: “If but<Ь, then a-(-x=b or a=b-X", and then define X as a function of other formula elements. Language programs are based on the same principles.

Research D. B. Elkonina And V. V. Davydova showed that younger students have much greater opportunities for the development of thinking than it seemed with traditional methods of teaching. And one more conclusion can be drawn: even in such well-established areas of human activity as the education of young children, such discoveries and inventions are possible, the consequences of which can have a huge impact on the development of all areas of science, culture and production.

Try to trace for yourself how the assimilation of concepts takes place already at the level of senior classes. Pay attention to the role of your own creative activity in the process of cognition. No wonder we more and more often recall the ancient saying: "A student is not a vessel that needs to be filled, but a torch that needs to be lit." The creative fire ignites from the joint efforts of the teacher and the student.

moral concepts. The concepts that form the basis of scientific knowledge are developed, as we have already said, in the process of painstaking research work, and are acquired through special training. The development and assimilation of a special class of concepts, which are called moral(or ethical). In such concepts as "pride", "honor", "kindness", "perseverance", "duty" and many, many others, the experience of relations between people is generalized, ideas about the basic principles of moral behavior, about the duties of a person for attitude towards oneself, society, work. Moral concepts are most often acquired in everyday life, in the practice of communicating with other people, in the course of analyzing one's own behavior and the actions of other people, reading works of art, etc.

Soviet psychologist V. A. Krutetsky, who specifically studied the problem of assimilation of moral concepts by schoolchildren, gives an interesting reasoning of one ninth grader about the ways in which these concepts are formed in him.

Some of them, the young man says, “have been created in me quite imperceptibly, gradually, probably over the course of my entire conscious life. I didn’t notice any “milestones” on this path ... You say that I understand well and correctly what perseverance and determination are, but I can’t explain where and how I learned this ... I think it’s so imperceptibly, as imperceptibly for himself, a child learns to speak ... And so most of the concepts ... Well, but the concept of a sense of duty appeared to me, I remember when. Or rather, I had it before, but it was completely wrong. I understood it for a long time, something like this: it is the ability of a person to obey an unpleasant order, to do something very unpleasant, because the elder orders - if you don’t want it, you do it, otherwise it will fall, but you yourself don’t know what it is for. .. -I remember that the German language teacher always asked a lot of homework and always to the tedious accompaniment of conversations about a sense of duty. Even the word itself evoked some kind of unpleasant feeling in me ... But I read the book “The Young Guard” about 4 and somehow immediately understood what a sense of duty was: the boys and girls from Krasnodon could not help starting a fight against the Nazis. no one forced them, they were driven by a sense of duty, and this feeling gave them great joy and satisfaction.

Probably each of you guys can say about yourself about the same: everyone has moral concepts, but are they correct? It is often the wrong, distorted understanding of one's duty, norms and principles of behavior that leads to unseemly actions.

Another great Russian thinker N. A. Dobrolyubov wrote that the efforts of many educators to act on the heart of the child, without inspiring him with sound concepts, are completely in vain ... One can resolutely assert that only that kindness and nobility of feelings are completely reliable and can be truly useful, which are based on a firm conviction, on a thoughts.

Here, the connection between thinking and the moral character of a person is emphasized (by the way, don’t you guys think that we haven’t remembered the integrity of the psyche for a long time?). It is moral concepts that underlie the consciousness of behavior, beliefs personality. Of course, mere knowledge of moral norms and exact definitions does not yet ensure true upbringing. Still needed desire, aspiration act in accordance with these concepts, skill And habit behave accordingly. In this regard, I recall such a case. In the trolley bus, an old woman stopped near the pioneer, who was conveniently located on the seat.

Are you, brother, not giving up your seat to the elder? one of the passengers remarked reproachfully. “Don’t they teach you this at school?”

And now we're on vacation! - calmly answered the student. He certainly knew how to behave, but habits

and he had no desire to act accordingly. Quite often it happens that a person behaves precisely in accordance with his moral concepts, but these concepts are poorly assimilated, if not completely wrong. If any student thinks V. A. Krutetsky, sincerely convinced that stubbornness is “principled perseverance”, that sensitivity is “a property of weak and weak-willed people”, and modesty is “a property of the timid and downtrodden”, that acting decisively means “doing without thinking, without reflecting”, then the possible direction of his behavior will become quite obvious to us.

Moral Concepts differ from other concepts in that they change from one historical period to another, that they are of a class nature. If, for example, the law of Archimedes, discovered back in the slave-owning era, has not changed its content to the present day and is unlikely to ever change, then the concepts of good and evil, happiness and justice, etc. during this period of time filled with a whole new meaning. Today, representatives of the bourgeoisie and Soviet people or conscious fighters for the freedom of the people in capitalist countries also have different moral concepts.

SOLUTION OF THINKING PROBLEMS AND CREATIVE ACTIVITY OF A PERSON

Problem situation and task. Mental activity arose in man in the process of evolution as a way of overcoming the difficulties that he encountered in the struggle with nature. And even today everyone constantly finds himself in one or another difficult situation, when the usual methods of activity can no longer ensure success. Such situations that necessitate the search for new solutions to achieve practical or theoretical goals are called problematic. A problem situation is perceived and understood by a person as a task, requiring a response to a specific question. For thinking, awareness of the issue is, as it were, a signal to the beginning of active mental activity. Not without reason, when a child begins the process of active development of thinking, he becomes a "why-why". Here you will probably remember some of the stories of B. Zhitkov, and the book K. I. Chukovsky"From two to five." One of the sections of this wonderful book, which no psychologist, teacher, linguist, writer, and indeed any inquisitive person can do without, is called “One Hundred Thousand Whys”.

Chukovsky cites, for example, a recording of questions asked at machine-gun speed by a four-year-old boy to his father for two and a half minutes:

Where is the smoke going?

Do bears wear brooches?

And who shakes the trees?

Is it possible to get such a large newspaper to wrap a live camel?

Does an octopus hatch from eggs or is it milk-sucking?

Do chickens go without galoshes?

Questions have arisen - thinking has earned. By the way, another four-year-old boy was quite right when he proved to his mother the need to pay attention to his questions in the following way:

If you don't answer me, I'll be stupid; and if you do not refuse to explain to me, then, mother, I will be smarter and smarter ...

English psychologist D. Selly wrote that if he were asked to depict a child in his typical state of mind, he would probably draw the straightened figure of a little boy who, with wide eyes, looks at some new miracle or listens to his mother tell him something new about the surrounding world.

Probably, scientists, inventors, rationalizers, and indeed creative people in all areas of life become adults who have retained this inquisitiveness, curiosity, desire for something new. A sad sight is a man who... has no questions. I had to

to observe an adult man whose intellectual capabilities were sharply reduced due to a severe brain disease: he could not at one time study in a public school and barely learned to read and write and four arithmetic operations. It is characteristic that his favorite expression was: “Clearly, clearly!”

So, awareness of the issue- this first problem solving stage. No wonder they say: "A well-posed question is half the answer."

On the second stage is clarification conditions tasks, taking into account what is known to solve it. Our wonderful aircraft designer A. N. Tupolev in a conversation with a Soviet psychologist P. M. Yakobson This is how he described the initial stages of his work:

When you start to think over a question, you are engaged in searches, then you critically look at what was done by you. You realize, you have the feeling that it is not good, it seems unpleasant, sometimes even physiologically disgusting. There is a desire to move away from those decisions that were, I want to approach from some new, unusual side, to look from a new point of view.

We will see later that the words underlined in Tupolev's statement are very important for understanding the essence of creativity. Indeed, can any mental activity be called creative? Creative activity is considered to be such an activity that gives new socially valuable results. This novelty can be objective: for example, a designer has created a new machine, a scientist has formulated a previously unknown law of nature, a composer has composed a new symphony, etc. But a person can, as a result of mental activity, also discover what was already discovered before him, but was not he knows. This discovery, so to speak, subjectively new, new for me is also a creative process. From this point of view, teaching, as we have already said, can be a creative mental activity, and its basic laws are common to a fifth grader who enthusiastically solves a new problem for himself, and a scientist who first came up with this problem.

Here the question is formulated, the conditions are clarified, and here begins the often painful thinking stage, nurturing, or, as is sometimes said, "incubating" an idea. At first, the possible solution is still vague, vague. At this stage, a very important role is played by hypothesis, assumption.

In order to study the internal patterns of creative thinking, psychologists ask subjects a particular task, introduce them to a problem situation and ask them to “think. aloud". One of these tasks is already well known to you from the famous book by M. Twain “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. Remember, Huckleberry Finn is going to reconnaissance and disguise

puts on a woman’s dress: “I put on a straw bonnet, tied ribbons under my chin, and then it was not so easy to look into my face - sort of like a chimney. Jim said that now it is unlikely that anyone will recognize me even during the day.

But everything turned out quite differently. The woman to whom Huckleberry got turned out to be very observant and quick-witted and ... However, it is better for us to do otherwise now. Let's try to repeat the experiment of the famous researcher of thinking K. Dunker. Find someone who has not read a book by M. Twain (this task in itself is not an easy one!), and pose this problem to him: once Huckleberry Finn left his island to find out how things were going in his native village. To do this, he changed into a girl's dress. He went into the first hut he met, the owner of which suspected that he was a boy in disguise. Imagine yourself in this woman's place. She, of course, wants to know who is in front of her: a boy or a girl. What does she need to do for this?

Here's what some of the respondents said K. Dunker.

Let the mouse in to cause a piercing cry from the "girl".

Make him act quickly and without hesitation.

You need to do something that would make the boy blush.

Make me wash the dishes!

As you can see, these are all hypotheses, options for paths that could lead to a solution. The woman, you remember, acted as if the subjects had told her Dunker. She drew attention to how Huckleberry threads a needle, then made him throw a piece of lead at a rat, but the most accurate and witty test was this: "And she immediately threw the lead at me, I moved my knees and caught it." "...Behind! remember, - this woman detective later told him, - when they throw something on a girl's knees, she arranges them, and does not move them together, as you moved when you caught lead.

It was not by chance that I called this woman a detective: now, when you read stories about investigators, scouts, etc., pay attention to the course of the mental activity of the main characters.

In the course of mental activity, various versions are tested - hypotheses, until, finally, one of them turns out to be true. You know from experience that this period of reflection can be long and difficult. Often, the usual ways, preconceived thoughts, which, like a barrier, prevent us from approaching the correct solution, do not give a correct solution to the problem. To overcome such barriers, according to A. N. Tupolev, it is necessary to look through the eyes of others, to approach them in a new way, breaking out of the usual, familiar circle.

Offer your comrades a puzzle: from six matches, make four equilateral triangles, the sides of which are equal to the length of the match. Of course, first try closing the book and solving the problem yourself. Hard? Many will say that this is not feasible at all; not enough matches. What's the matter? The barrier is to blame, it makes your thought rush in circles and prevents it from moving forward. What is the barrier? More on this a little later.

And now one more task - four points are given. Decide for yourself and invite your comrades to draw three straight lines through these points (like the tops of a square), without lifting the pencil from the paper, so that the pencil returns to its starting point. Do you have paper or pencil? We started. Does not exceed? You are not alone: ​​once in an experiment of six hundred participants, no one could solve the problem on their own. And again, the barrier is to blame for everything. In this task, it lies in the fact that the decisive to himself /\ to himself imposes additional

/ \ condition: lines must be

/ \ scold inside designated dot-

*y. kami square. But it costs 86*-

/ \ tear from a closed plane -

/ \ and problem solved! Conclude in-

& 1-L _____® \\ circle of a square these points in tri-

square. Like this (see fig.). Maybe someone has already figured out how to solve the problem with matches? This time you need to break out of the plane into three-dimensional space: make a three-sided pyramid of matches, and you will get four equilateral triangles. Barriers lie in wait for us at every step and arise instantly. Ask someone to solve the problem:

The mute entered the hardware store. How should he explain to the seller that he wants to buy a hammer?

Your subject expressively taps his fist "on the counter."

Right.

And how should a blind man ask for scissors?

Should be instant and silent answer: the characteristic shearing movement of the middle and index fingers.

But he can just say!

Just think about it! One task and already a barrier: everyone is explained by gestures.

And here is a very simple "trap": what was the name of Vera Pavlovna's father from Chernyshevsky's novel "What to do?" Not everyone will always answer: “Of course, Pavel!” Where is it from here

5 Order 199 \ 90

barrier? Probably out of conviction: such easy questions are not asked; If you ask, then you need to think.

Heuristic mental activity. In the process of solving problems in any sphere of human activity, a painstaking search for the only correct path is carried out. As D. I. Mendeleev stated, to look for something, at least mushrooms or

Analysis and synthesis. New thoughts and images arise on the basis of what was already in the mind, thanks to mental operations - analysis and synthesis. Ultimately, all processes of imagination and thinking consist in mental decomposition of initial thoughts and ideas into constituent parts (analysis) and their subsequent combination in new combinations (synthesis). These mental operations, opposite in content, are inseparably united.

“... Thinking,” wrote F. Engels in his work “Anti-Dühring,” consists as much in the decomposition of objects of consciousness into their elements as in the unification of elements connected with each other into a certain unity. Without analysis, there is no synthesis."

Let us analyze from this point of view how well-known fairy-tale images were created - a mermaid, a centaur, a sphinx, a hut on chicken legs, etc. They are, as it were, glued together, molded from parts of real-life objects. This approach is called agglutination. In order to carry out this synthetic operation, it was first necessary to mentally dismember ideas about real beings and objects. The great Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci directly advised the artist: “If you want to make a fictional animal seem natural - let it be, say, a snake - then take for its head the head of a shepherd dog or a cop dog, attaching cat eyes, ears of an owl, the nose of a greyhound, the eyebrows of a lion, the temples of an old rooster, and the neck of a water turtle” (see second flyleaf).

It was this thought process that led designers to create the trolley bus, snowmobile, seaplane, etc.

Another technique for creating fabulous images can be considered an analytical process - emphasis. Here, some part of the object or part of the body of an animal or person is distinguished and changes in size. This is how friendly cartoons and caricatures are created. They help to emphasize the most essential, the most important in this particular image. The talker is depicted with a long tongue, the glutton is endowed with a voluminous belly, etc.

Analysis and. synthesis as mental operations arose from practical actions - from the real decomposition of objects into parts and their connection. This long historical path of transformation of an external operation into an internal one can be observed in an abbreviated form by studying the development of thinking in children. When a small child first removes ring after ring from the pyramid, and then puts the rings back on, he, without suspecting it, is already carrying out analysis and synthesis in practice. No wonder the first stage of the development of mental activity is called visual action thinking. Later it is replaced by concrete-figurative thinking- the child operates not only with objects, but

and their images, and, finally, there is an "adult" - verbal-logical thinking. But visual-effective and concrete-figurative thinking is also present in the "adult", developed verbal-logical mental activity, is woven into its fabric.

There are two main types of analytic-synthetic operations: firstly, you can mentally decompose (and combine) the object itself, the phenomenon into its component parts, and secondly, you can mentally single out certain signs, properties, qualities. So, we study a literary work in parts, we single out the root, trunk, leaves in the plant. Similarly, we analyze chemicals, alloys - these are all examples of analysis of the first kind. When we examine the style of a work, its composition, a different analysis is carried out.

Analysis and synthesis as the main thought processes are inherent in any person, but different people have a tendency to crush or combine the phenomena of the surrounding reality may be different. So, already at the level of perception, some tend to notice individual details, in particular, sometimes not being able to grasp the whole. They say about such people that they cannot see the forest for the trees. Others, on the contrary, quickly grasp the whole, they have a general impression of the subject, which is sometimes superficial - they do not see the trees behind the forest. Among your acquaintances, there will certainly be representatives of both types: and analytical, And synthetic, although most, of course, are mixed, analytic-synthetic type. To determine what type a person belongs to, sometimes it is enough to listen to his story about an event. Another starts a story, for example, about a new movie, from afar: he tells how he got the idea to go to the cinema, what the weather was like that day, what mode of transport he got to the cinema; a prominent place in the story will be taken by the description of the neighbors in turn - who was wearing what, who said what, how the public reacted to the attempt of the “one with the mustache” to skip the line, etc. You can hardly force yourself to listen to the end. The other gets straight to the point, but expresses it too broadly:

- "Hamlet"? Watched. They killed each other there. Remarkable Soviet psychologist B. M. Teploe in his work “The Mind of a Commander”, he considered the peculiarities of thinking of great commanders and noted that a true military genius is always both “the genius of the whole” and “the genius of details”. That was the genius of Napoleon. Historians emphasized Napoleon's ability, when undertaking the most grandiose and most difficult operations, to keep a sharp eye on all the little things and at the same time not to get confused or lost in them at all - to simultaneously see both trees and forest, and almost every bough on every tree. The military talent of the great Russian generals - Peter the Great and A.V. Suvorov - was distinguished by the same feature.

The balance between analysis and synthesis is very important in any complex human activity, and it is important for every person to cultivate it.

Comparison. Analysis and synthesis underlie such an important mental operation as comparison. No wonder they say: “Everything is known in comparison”, but about something amazing, out of the ordinary: “Incomparably!” "Comparison," wrote K. D. Ushin-sky, is the basis of all understanding and all thinking.

We learn everything in the world only through comparison, and if some new object presented itself to us, which we could not equate to anything and distinguish from anything ... then we could not make up a single one about this object. thoughts and could not say a single word about him. I. M. Sechenov considered the ability to compare the most precious mental treasure of man.

Comparing objects and phenomena, it is necessary to carry out an analysis at the first stage, and then a synthesis. For example, you were given the task to compare the psychological appearance of Tatiana and Olga Larin. To do this, you first of all highlight their individual properties, qualities, features: appearance, character (he himself is divided into separate features, which we will discuss later), relationships with other heroes of the novel, etc.

In other words, dismemberment, analysis is carried out. At the next stage, you kind of mentally apply (this operation in other cases can be effective, practical!) Homogeneous features to each other, combine, synthesize them. In this case, it is necessary to observe an important rule - comparison should be based on the same basis. You can’t, for example, comparing Pushkin’s heroines, say: “Tatyana loved the Russian winter, and Olga had a round, ruddy face” ... (In connection with this rule, pay attention to how people conduct discussions: quite often comparisons are made here for various reasons, so that the very subject of the dispute is gradually lost.)

Comparing objects and phenomena, we find in them similar and different.

The subtlety of thinking and the richness of imagination are manifested in the ability to find differences in seemingly similar phenomena and similarities in the most seemingly remote. These qualities are especially clearly manifested in the thinking and fantasy of the great masters of the word. As you know, comparison is used in literature as a special means of artistic expression.

At the same time, comparison helps us not only brightly imagine, but also deeply understand the side of reality that the author describes. As always, thought and image are inseparable. Let us recall the comparison of Vladimir Lensky with Eugene Onegin:

They agreed. Wave and stone, Poetry and prose, ice and fire Not so different from each other.

Here, the comparison is aimed at identifying differences. But in the lines of the great Soviet poet N. Zabolotsky, the charm of a beautiful female face (the portrait of Struyskaya by the Russian artist F. S. Rokotov is described) is conveyed through an unexpected convergence of opposites:

Her eyes are like two fogs, A combination of two riddles,

Half smile, half cry, half delight, half fright,

Her eyes are like two deceptions, A fit of insane tenderness,

Covered in mist of failures. The anticipation of death torments.

You probably remembered that we have already talked about poetry. Quite right. In the chapter on memory about associations. And you, of course, have already understood that comparisons with them are inextricably linked. (By the way, have you forgotten that in the psyche everything is inextricably linked?)

Comparison of concepts that are close in meaning is a very good technique for developing thinking. In the Three C's we will give appropriate tasks, like this: "Compare curiosity And curiosity".

Now close the book and reflect. Offer this mental task to your friends. Probably, many will point out a common feature: both curiosity and inquisitiveness are intellectual properties of a person that manifest themselves in the desire to learn something new. Differences here both in the motives of knowledge and in its depth. Curiosity is a disinterested thirst for knowledge, a desire to penetrate the essence of objects and phenomena. Her character was well conveyed by the poet B. Pasternak:

In everything I want to reach the essence of the past days,

To the very essence: To their cause,

In work, in search of a way, To the foundations, to the roots,

In heartbreak. To the core.

Curiosity, on the other hand, manifests itself in an aimless desire to accumulate disparate facts, “to touch everything lightly”, in sliding “on top” of phenomena. If curiosity is a sign of a deep mind, then curiosity leads to the formation of a personality with a superficial, frivolous mind. As pointed out K. D. Ushinsky,“curiosity can develop in curiosity and can remain only curiosity... At first, a person is only curious; but when independent work begins in his soul, and as a result, independent interests, then he ceases to be curious about everything indifferently, but only to what may be in any connection with his spiritual interests. In other words, curiosity grows into curiosity.

Of course, it is immediately difficult to make a comparison with sufficient completeness and accuracy. But these difficulties are gradually being overcome. Especially if you are a person... inquisitive.

Abstraction, generalization, concept. Analytical-synthetic processes also include such complex mental operations as abstraction (abstraction) and generalization. They play a special role in thinking. No wonder this cognitive process is called a generalized reflection of reality and its abstract nature is emphasized. To better understand the essence of these processes, let's take a look at ... a music store. What is not here: the copper of a huge pipe sparkles, the big drum swelled with importance, tiny flutes modestly hid on the shelves, but the battery of strings - violins, cellos, double basses. Guitars, mandolins, balalaika... Nothing like solemn harps. Stop! Nothing similar? Why are they in this store? This means that there is some similarity between all these objects, and, probably, a very significant one. Their common feature - the ability to produce musical sounds - allows us to attribute all these - large and small, copper, plastic and wood, black, brown, red and yellow, round, oblong and polygonal, old and new, electronic, etc. etc. n - objects to one concept:"musical instruments".

How are concepts formed? Here again, it all starts with analysis. Specific objects, objects are mentally divided into signs and properties. Next, some specific essential feature is highlighted (in our case, the ability to produce musical sounds) and the abstraction: we get distracted from all other signs, as if for a while we forget about them and consider objects and phenomena only from the point of view that interests us.

If now compare among themselves those dissimilar "at first glance objects, it turns out that in fact they are not without reason called by one word: they can be unite into one general group. Thus, after the analytical operation - abstraction, a synthetic one occurs - a mental generalization of objects and phenomena, which is fixed in the concept. In the concept (it is always expressed word) The general and essential features of objects and phenomena are reflected. Each science is a certain system of concepts. Thanks to them, a person learns more deeply the world around him in its essential connections and relationships.

Abstraction and generalization are important not only in scientific thinking, but also in artistic creativity. Already “in the simplest generalization,” V. I. Lenin pointed out, “in the most elementary general idea (“table” in general) eat famous piece fantasies" 14 .

Thanks to the selection of important, essential features and generalization in the thinking of a writer, poet, artist, images arise that embody the features of a whole generation - or a whole

class of people. This is exactly what A. M. Gorky spoke about in one of his conversations with readers: “How are types built in literature? They are built, of course, not in portraiture, they do not definitely take any person, but take thirty to fifty people of one line, one row, one mood, and from them they create Oblomov, Onegin, Faust, Hamlet, Othello, etc. All this - generic types. And one more thing: “... if you describe a shopkeeper, it is necessary to make sure that thirty shopkeepers are described in one shopkeeper, thirty priests are described in one priest, so that if this thing is read in Kherson, they see a Kherson priest, but they read it in Arzamas - Arzamas priest ...

All great works are always generalizations. "Don Quixote", "Faust", "Hamlet" - all these are generalizations.

Artistic generalizations, which Gorky spoke about, unlike abstract concepts, do not lose their individual originality and uniqueness. In Russian literature of the 19th century, as you know, a special artistic type was created - the image of an “extra person” (we will talk about some psychological characteristics of people of this type in connection with problems of will and character). All "superfluous people" are somewhat similar to each other, but at the same time, each of them is a living person with his own "face is not a common expression."

Concepts, especially abstract concepts, have, as it were, lost this connection with visual images, although here, too, some kind of reliance on concrete representations is possible. Ask someone what they imagine when they hear words-concepts: “progress”, “truth”, “freedom”, etc. One will say: “I don’t imagine anything, progress is a forward movement, progressive development”; another: "A rocket that rushes to the distant worlds"; third: “I see a May Day demonstration on Red Square, people marching with banners ...”

Thanks to abstraction, human thought embraces phenomena that cannot be visualized: the speed of light, infinitely small and large quantities, the relativity of space and time, etc. Such concepts have been developed by science throughout the history of mankind. They crystallize both practical experience and its theoretical understanding. Each new generation already finds systems of these concepts, assimilates them and adds something of its own to their content. As a matter of fact, at school, studying this or that subject, you master scientific concepts in this area. Now, when you read this chapter, the concepts of “thinking”, “fantasy”, “analysis”, “synthesis” and ... the concept of concepts are being mastered.

The process of assimilation of concepts is an active creative mental activity. Here is how, for example, the concept of “fetus” is formed among primary school students.

On the teacher's table are objects well known to the children: a tomato, a cucumber, a poppy head, etc. The teacher draws the attention of the students to their appearance.

The tomato is red and round!

Cucumber - green and oblong!

Poppy is light brown and looks like a cup!

And they taste different!

It turns out, - says the teacher, - these objects are not at all similar to each other?

Looks like the guys do not agree.

You can eat them! They are tasty!

But sweets are delicious too.

No, it has grown. These are plant parts.

That's right, - the teacher picks up, - a tomato, and a cucumber, and a cup of poppy are parts of plants. But the leaves are also part of the plant... What else do our objects have in common?

The guys are having a hard time. But the question is raised, the thought works. We need to give her a new impetus. The teacher takes a knife and cuts cucumber, tomato and poppy seeds in front of the children.

I guessed, exclaims the smartest one. (However, perhaps the most decisive and fastest?) - They all have bones!

Right. How can you call it?

This is the part of the plant that contains the seeds.

Remember folks, the part of the plant that contains the seeds is called fetus. Then the teacher shows the children various fruits and other parts of plants,

which are easily confused with a fruit, such as a carrot. There is a practical consolidation of the newly learned concept.

Doesn't this process resemble the general way of human cognition of objective reality, indicated in the well-known formula of V. I. Lenin? Indeed, in our example, all the main stages are present: “live contemplation” - the guys carefully studied the appearance of different fruits; "abstract thinking" - all the main mental operations took place: analysis, synthesis, comparison, abstraction; the main common feature was singled out - “contains seeds”; generalization in the form of the concept of "fruit" and, finally, practice - the students practiced with new objects - they found fruits in other plants.

Here we have seen the traditional way of assimilation of new knowledge, new concepts - from the particular to the general. Soviet psychologists D. B. Elkonin And V. V. Davydov proved that already first-graders are able to master new concepts, going from the general to the particular. Lessons in the 1st grade on experimental programs look unusual. According to the developed course, tells V. V. Davydov, children in the first half of the first grade do not “meet” numbers at all. All this time, they master information about the quantity in some detail: they distinguish it in physical objects, get acquainted with its main properties. Working with real objects, children distinguish volume, area, length, etc. in them, establish the equality or inequality of these features, and write down the relationship with signs, and then with a letter formula, for example: a-b, a>b, a<Ь. It turned out that already in the third month of training, first-graders learn to compose and write down equations of the type: “If but<Ь, then a-(-x=b or a=b-X", and then define X as a function of other formula elements. Language programs are based on the same principles.

Research D. B. Elkonina And V. V. Davydova showed that younger students have much greater opportunities for the development of thinking than it seemed with traditional methods of teaching. And one more conclusion can be drawn: even in such well-established areas of human activity as the education of young children, such discoveries and inventions are possible, the consequences of which can have a huge impact on the development of all areas of science, culture and production.

Try to trace for yourself how the assimilation of concepts takes place already at the level of senior classes. Pay attention to the role of your own creative activity in the process of cognition. No wonder we more and more often recall the ancient saying: "A student is not a vessel that needs to be filled, but a torch that needs to be lit." The creative fire ignites from the joint efforts of the teacher and the student.

moral concepts. The concepts that form the basis of scientific knowledge are developed, as we have already said, in the process of painstaking research work, and are acquired through special training. The development and assimilation of a special class of concepts, which are called moral(or ethical). In such concepts as "pride", "honor", "kindness", "perseverance", "duty" and many, many others, the experience of relations between people is generalized, ideas about the basic principles of moral behavior, about the duties of a person for attitude towards oneself, society, work. Moral concepts are most often acquired in everyday life, in the practice of communicating with other people, in the course of analyzing one's own behavior and the actions of other people, reading works of art, etc.

Soviet psychologist V. A. Krutetsky, who specifically studied the problem of assimilation of moral concepts by schoolchildren, gives an interesting reasoning of one ninth grader about the ways in which these concepts are formed in him.

Some of them, the young man says, “have been created in me quite imperceptibly, gradually, probably over the course of my entire conscious life. I didn’t notice any “milestones” on this path ... You say that I understand well and correctly what perseverance and determination are, but I can’t explain where and how I learned this ... I think it’s so imperceptibly, as imperceptibly for himself, a child learns to speak ... And so most of the concepts ... Well, but the concept of a sense of duty appeared to me, I remember when. Or rather, I had it before, but it was completely wrong. I understood it for a long time, something like this: it is the ability of a person to obey an unpleasant order, to do something very unpleasant, because the elder orders - if you don’t want it, you do it, otherwise it will fall, but you yourself don’t know what it is for. .. -I remember that the German language teacher always asked a lot of homework and always to the tedious accompaniment of conversations about a sense of duty. Even the word itself evoked some kind of unpleasant feeling in me ... But I read the book “The Young Guard” about 4 and somehow immediately understood what a sense of duty was: the boys and girls from Krasnodon could not help starting a fight against the Nazis. no one forced them, they were driven by a sense of duty, and this feeling gave them great joy and satisfaction.

Probably each of you guys can say about yourself about the same: everyone has moral concepts, but are they correct? It is often the wrong, distorted understanding of one's duty, norms and principles of behavior that leads to unseemly actions.

Another great Russian thinker N. A. Dobrolyubov wrote that the efforts of many educators to act on the heart of the child, without inspiring him with sound concepts, are completely in vain ... One can resolutely assert that only that kindness and nobility of feelings are completely reliable and can be truly useful, which are based on a firm conviction, on a thoughts.

Here, the connection between thinking and the moral character of a person is emphasized (by the way, don’t you guys think that we haven’t remembered the integrity of the psyche for a long time?). It is moral concepts that underlie the consciousness of behavior, beliefs personality. Of course, mere knowledge of moral norms and exact definitions does not yet ensure true upbringing. Still needed desire, aspiration act in accordance with these concepts, skill And habit behave accordingly. In this regard, I recall such a case. In the trolley bus, an old woman stopped near the pioneer, who was conveniently located on the seat.

Are you, brother, not giving up your seat to the elder? one of the passengers remarked reproachfully. “Don’t they teach you this at school?”

And now we're on vacation! - calmly answered the student. He certainly knew how to behave, but habits

and he had no desire to act accordingly. Quite often it happens that a person behaves precisely in accordance with his moral concepts, but these concepts are poorly assimilated, if not completely wrong. If any student thinks V. A. Krutetsky, sincerely convinced that stubbornness is “principled perseverance”, that sensitivity is “a property of weak and weak-willed people”, and modesty is “a property of the timid and downtrodden”, that acting decisively means “doing without thinking, without reflecting”, then the possible direction of his behavior will become quite obvious to us.

Moral Concepts differ from other concepts in that they change from one historical period to another, that they are of a class nature. If, for example, the law of Archimedes, discovered back in the slave-owning era, has not changed its content to the present day and is unlikely to ever change, then the concepts of good and evil, happiness and justice, etc. during this period of time filled with a whole new meaning. Today, representatives of the bourgeoisie and Soviet people or conscious fighters for the freedom of the people in capitalist countries also have different moral concepts.

SOLUTION OF THINKING PROBLEMS AND CREATIVE ACTIVITY OF A PERSON

Problem situation and task. Mental activity arose in man in the process of evolution as a way of overcoming the difficulties that he encountered in the struggle with nature. And even today everyone constantly finds himself in one or another difficult situation, when the usual methods of activity can no longer ensure success. Such situations that necessitate the search for new solutions to achieve practical or theoretical goals are called problematic. A problem situation is perceived and understood by a person as a task, requiring a response to a specific question. For thinking, awareness of the issue is, as it were, a signal to the beginning of active mental activity. Not without reason, when a child begins the process of active development of thinking, he becomes a "why-why". Here you will probably remember some of the stories of B. Zhitkov, and the book K. I. Chukovsky"From two to five." One of the sections of this wonderful book, which no psychologist, teacher, linguist, writer, and indeed any inquisitive person can do without, is called “One Hundred Thousand Whys”.

Chukovsky cites, for example, a recording of questions asked at machine-gun speed by a four-year-old boy to his father for two and a half minutes:

Where is the smoke going?

Do bears wear brooches?

And who shakes the trees?

Is it possible to get such a large newspaper to wrap a live camel?

Does an octopus hatch from eggs or is it milk-sucking?

Do chickens go without galoshes?

Questions have arisen - thinking has earned. By the way, another four-year-old boy was quite right when he proved to his mother the need to pay attention to his questions in the following way:

If you don't answer me, I'll be stupid; and if you do not refuse to explain to me, then, mother, I will be smarter and smarter ...

English psychologist D. Selly wrote that if he were asked to depict a child in his typical state of mind, he would probably draw the straightened figure of a little boy who, with wide eyes, looks at some new miracle or listens to his mother tell him something new about the surrounding world.

Probably, scientists, inventors, rationalizers, and indeed creative people in all areas of life become adults who have retained this inquisitiveness, curiosity, desire for something new. A sad sight is a man who... has no questions. I had to

to observe an adult man whose intellectual capabilities were sharply reduced due to a severe brain disease: he could not at one time study in a public school and barely learned to read and write and four arithmetic operations. It is characteristic that his favorite expression was: “Clearly, clearly!”

So, awareness of the issue- this first problem solving stage. No wonder they say: "A well-posed question is half the answer."

On the second stage is clarification conditions tasks, taking into account what is known to solve it. Our wonderful aircraft designer A. N. Tupolev in a conversation with a Soviet psychologist P. M. Yakobson This is how he described the initial stages of his work:

When you start to think over a question, you are engaged in searches, then you critically look at what was done by you. You realize, you have the feeling that it is not good, it seems unpleasant, sometimes even physiologically disgusting. There is a desire to move away from those decisions that were, I want to approach from some new, unusual side, to look from a new point of view.

We will see later that the words underlined in Tupolev's statement are very important for understanding the essence of creativity. Indeed, can any mental activity be called creative? Creative activity is considered to be such an activity that gives new socially valuable results. This novelty can be objective: for example, a designer has created a new machine, a scientist has formulated a previously unknown law of nature, a composer has composed a new symphony, etc. But a person can, as a result of mental activity, also discover what was already discovered before him, but was not he knows. This discovery, so to speak, subjectively new, new for me is also a creative process. From this point of view, teaching, as we have already said, can be a creative mental activity, and its basic laws are common to a fifth grader who enthusiastically solves a new problem for himself, and a scientist who first came up with this problem.

Here the question is formulated, the conditions are clarified, and here begins the often painful thinking stage, nurturing, or, as is sometimes said, "incubating" an idea. At first, the possible solution is still vague, vague. At this stage, a very important role is played by hypothesis, assumption.

In order to study the internal patterns of creative thinking, psychologists ask subjects a particular task, introduce them to a problem situation and ask them to “think. aloud". One of these tasks is already well known to you from the famous book by M. Twain “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. Remember, Huckleberry Finn is going to reconnaissance and disguise

puts on a woman’s dress: “I put on a straw bonnet, tied ribbons under my chin, and then it was not so easy to look into my face - sort of like a chimney. Jim said that now it is unlikely that anyone will recognize me even during the day.

But everything turned out quite differently. The woman to whom Huckleberry got turned out to be very observant and quick-witted and ... However, it is better for us to do otherwise now. Let's try to repeat the experiment of the famous researcher of thinking K. Dunker. Find someone who has not read a book by M. Twain (this task in itself is not an easy one!), and pose this problem to him: once Huckleberry Finn left his island to find out how things were going in his native village. To do this, he changed into a girl's dress. He went into the first hut he met, the owner of which suspected that he was a boy in disguise. Imagine yourself in this woman's place. She, of course, wants to know who is in front of her: a boy or a girl. What does she need to do for this?

Here's what some of the respondents said K. Dunker.

Let the mouse in to cause a piercing cry from the "girl".

Make him act quickly and without hesitation.

You need to do something that would make the boy blush.

Make me wash the dishes!

As you can see, these are all hypotheses, options for paths that could lead to a solution. The woman, you remember, acted as if the subjects had told her Dunker. She drew attention to how Huckleberry threads a needle, then made him throw a piece of lead at a rat, but the most accurate and witty test was this: "And she immediately threw the lead at me, I moved my knees and caught it." "...Behind! remember, - this woman detective later told him, - when they throw something on a girl's knees, she arranges them, and does not move them together, as you moved when you caught lead.

It was not by chance that I called this woman a detective: now, when you read stories about investigators, scouts, etc., pay attention to the course of the mental activity of the main characters.

In the course of mental activity, various versions are tested - hypotheses, until, finally, one of them turns out to be true. You know from experience that this period of reflection can be long and difficult. Often, the usual ways, preconceived thoughts, which, like a barrier, prevent us from approaching the correct solution, do not give a correct solution to the problem. To overcome such barriers, according to A. N. Tupolev, it is necessary to look through the eyes of others, to approach them in a new way, breaking out of the usual, familiar circle.

Offer your comrades a puzzle: from six matches, make four equilateral triangles, the sides of which are equal to the length of the match. Of course, first try closing the book and solving the problem yourself. Hard? Many will say that this is not feasible at all; not enough matches. What's the matter? The barrier is to blame, it makes your thought rush in circles and prevents it from moving forward. What is the barrier? More on this a little later.

And now one more task - four points are given. Decide for yourself and invite your comrades to draw three straight lines through these points (like the tops of a square), without lifting the pencil from the paper, so that the pencil returns to its starting point. Do you have paper or pencil? We started. Does not exceed? You are not alone: ​​once in an experiment of six hundred participants, no one could solve the problem on their own. And again, the barrier is to blame for everything. In this task, it lies in the fact that the decisive to himself /\ to himself imposes additional

/ \ condition: lines must be

/ \ scold inside designated dot-

*y. kami square. But it costs 86*-

/ \ tear from a closed plane -

/ \ and problem solved! Conclude in-

& 1-L _____® \\ circle of a square these points in tri-

square. Like this (see fig.). Maybe someone has already figured out how to solve the problem with matches? This time you need to break out of the plane into three-dimensional space: make a three-sided pyramid of matches, and you will get four equilateral triangles. Barriers lie in wait for us at every step and arise instantly. Ask someone to solve the problem:

The mute entered the hardware store. How should he explain to the seller that he wants to buy a hammer?

Your subject expressively taps his fist "on the counter."

Right.

And how should a blind man ask for scissors?

Should be instant and silent answer: the characteristic shearing movement of the middle and index fingers.

But he can just say!

Just think about it! One task and already a barrier: everyone is explained by gestures.

And here is a very simple "trap": what was the name of Vera Pavlovna's father from Chernyshevsky's novel "What to do?" Not everyone will always answer: “Of course, Pavel!” Where is it from here

5 Order 199 \ 90

barrier? Probably out of conviction: such easy questions are not asked; If you ask, then you need to think.