The concept of imagination and its physiological basis. Physiological basis of the imagination process

Like all mental processes, imagination due to activity of the brain, its cortex. It closes connections when perceiving and consolidating impressions from the surrounding world. When a person stops perceiving an object, the state of excitation in certain centers of the cortex remains in the form of a “trace”. This “trace” excitation of the neurons of one analyzer is combined in one way or another with the excitation of another analyzer. The formation of such associative connections in the human cerebral cortex is the physiological basis of imagination. In this case, subcortical centers also play a certain role, in particular, hypothalamus. This structure of the lower parts of the brain is involved in the construction of successively alternating excitations during their mutual transitions from the first signal system to the second and vice versa. The ability to replace direct stimuli with verbal ones provides such analytical and synthetic activity of the human brain, which is based on the operation of trace and directly evoked verbal signs - finely differentiated stimuli. This is how images arise not only of the past, but also of the future, not only of the real and probable, but also of the incredible and unreal. Leading reflection The Russian scientist P.K. named such a formula for mental reflection, which provides forecasting, foresight (vision ahead). Anokhin.

“Numerous irritations with words,” wrote I.P. Pavlov, “... removed us from reality, and therefore we must constantly remember this so as not to distort our relationship to reality.”

It is precisely thanks to the fact that imagination is closely related to the second signaling system, it can have a profound and powerful physiological effect on the entire body. It is on this connection between a person’s images and his organic states that the theory and practice of psychotherapy is built.

Let's look at some classic examples.

Example one. The French writer G. Flaubert said that while describing the scene of the death of Madame Bovary, he felt the taste of arsenic in his mouth.

Example two. Among medical university students, the so-called “third-year syndrome” is common, when, having become familiar with the symptoms of a number of diseases, learning and imagining them, they begin to “discover” them in themselves.

Example three. If a person only imagines the movement of any part of his own body (arms, legs, head), but does not actually perform this movement, nerve impulses are formed in the muscles responsible for the required movement, which are recorded during the actual execution of movements. This phenomenon even received a special name “ ideomotor act", i.e. imaginary action.

The ideomotor act explains why what a person is afraid of happens. This is easy to understand from the following experiment: here is an athlete standing on a finely balanced platform. As soon as he has the idea that he will fall, the center of gravity of the body instantly shifts in the direction in which, in his opinion, he may fall. In other words, just the idea of falling immediately causes an involuntary movement in the direction of falling.

This is why it is so important to cultivate images of a positive future, train yourself to achieve victory, or, at a minimum, not set yourself up for defeat.

Types and techniques of imagination

There are the following main types of imagination: active And passive.

Active imagination– this is imagination, which is the creation of images in connection with a set goal or a task that has arisen, i.e. allows you to imagine the end result before starting work. Active imagination develops in the process of work, especially when work requires independent effort, when the necessary information is missing, when initiative and willingness to achieve a goal are required.

Active imagination can be restorative and creative.

Recreating imagination is imagination, the images of which are based on a given description of them. Thus, the imagination of literary characters when reading books is a recreating imagination. Studying geographical maps and imagining a particular area is a recreating imagination. Working with stereometric material, studying drawings, three-dimensional figures is also a recreating imagination. It develops artistic and spatial thinking, enriches the imagery of the psyche.

Creative Imagination involves the creation, construction of new images, original ideas embodied in products of technical, scientific, artistic or other creative human activity. Creative imagination is a precious gift. It is closely connected with thinking, with mental operations of comparison, analysis, synthesis, abstraction and generalization. In the creative imagination, the analytical-synthetic nature of the brain processes inherent in this function of the psyche is clearly manifested.

Creative imagination is characterized by a number of techniques, i.e. established ways of creating new images.

These are agglutination, analogy, hyperbolization, emphasis and typification.

Agglutination(from the Greek word “to glue”) is the technique of combining parts from various objects into one whole. For example, the image of a mermaid is the body of a woman and the tail of a fish; centaur - the torso of a man and the body of a bull. The same technique is used in technology (amphibious aircraft) and in art (accordion - accordion body, piano keyboard), etc.

Analogy- a technique for constructing an image based on the principle of similarity. For example, a helicopter was created based on the principle of similarity to a dragonfly, and a locator was created based on the principle of similarity to the orientation organ of a bat.

Hyperbolization- a technique with the help of which, by exaggerating or minimizing something, one achieves maximum expressiveness of an idea. So, the image of Gulliver is, of course, an exaggeration, as is the image of Thumb.

Accenting- highlighting, protruding in the image of one feature. Often used in caricatures, jokes, satire and friendly cartoons.

Typing– the most difficult technique of creative imagination. The images of the most famous literary characters are a striking method of typification. When we say Childe Harold, Faust, Othello, Eugene Onegin - this is a high level of generalization typification. A typification that contains a whole bunch of human culture, the virtues and vices of a person of his time, his era. And, at the same time, it is a typification of a person’s character - romantic, jealous or contemplative.

Passive imagination– this is imagination, replacing purposeful productive actions.

Passive imagination can be intentional or unintentional.

Intentional Passive Imagination- these are images that a person indulges in without intending to bring them to life. Beautiful dreams dreams- this is another name for this type of imagination. Dreams are closely related to a person’s desires, to his needs, but they do not even involve thinking through real ways to implement them. This type of imagination is fraught with a certain danger, namely the danger of going into the fictitious world of personal illusions, which can neuroticize a person, i.e. cause mental disturbances in him.

Passive imagination can also occur unintentionally. This occurs when consciousness control is weakened, half asleep, in sleep (dreams), in a state of passion (i.e. stress accompanied by strong emotions), with mental or somatic illnesses (hallucinations).

In essence, unintentional passive imagination is the simplest type of imagination. It is typical for preschool children, since the instability of “trace” excitations in the cerebral cortex leads to the ease of children’s fantasy and lack of criticism of emerging images.

A special type of imagination is dream. A dream is a socially determined and imaginary image of the desired future.

A dream is an extremely powerful motivator of human life. She can perform motive, i.e. motivating reason for human activity. That is why any object made by the mind and efforts of a person can be considered as his materialized, realized dream. Be it an airplane or a car, a spaceship or a man-made house.

A dream come true is the highest happiness of a person. Therefore, the process of imagination is directly related to the meaning of people’s lives. The main thing is that the dream is aimed at transforming life in accordance with the ideals and moral values of humanity.

Imagination and creativity

Imagination is a mental process that is a prerequisite and condition for such productive human activity in which a product is created, i.e. an ideal (in an image, in a text) or material (in the form of a tool, product) object that has personal or social value.

A child’s drawing and painting by an artist, a hare sculpted from plasticine or a sculpture of a hero, a children’s airplane model and a jet airliner are all products of creativity.

Imagination occupies a central place and is the focus of creative activity. Creation- one of the highest manifestations of man, the actual human manifestation. After all, an animal does not create anything except the purely instinctual construction of a nest or burrow. And people, unlike animals, are capable of creation. The study of this creative process showed that it differs in such stages: 1) the emergence of an idea (the emergence of an image, a dream, a plan in the imagination); 2) concentration, accumulation of knowledge required for its implementation; 3) conscious and unconscious work of the psyche and, above all, imagination in combination with thinking to search for options for implementing the plan; 4) insight and its implementation; 5) checking what has been done.

Scientific and literary creativity, musical and artistic creativity, theatrical and cinematic creativity, the creativity of an inventor and the creativity of a teacher have their own characteristics.

But all these types of creativity have one thing in common. This is a huge tension of all forces and the emergence of a special, inherent state, which is called inspiration.

Inspiration- this is a state of the highest rise of all creative forces, in which all mental processes, driven by the imagination, are combined into one endless creative impulse, inexorably leading to the solution of a problem, to the embodiment of a plan, to the manufacture, generation of a new product, the creator of which is a person.

In the history of mankind, imagination has primarily played a culture-forming role. All world religions, the essence of which is to affirm and maintain ideal images and patterns of behavior, are based precisely on the universal acceptance of imaginary causes and principles of human existence. These imaginary models and standards served, and even now sometimes still serve, as an absolute measure of the correctness or incorrectness of human actions. The crown of culture-forming images of the imagination are religious ideas of different eras. These ideas, having great motivating power, prompted many artists, who, as we know, have a very developed imagination, to create numerous artistic canvases, sculptures and other works of art; the design of temples is a special direction in architecture. Thus, imagination stimulates creativity.

Imagination endows people in whom it is developed with special traits. This is, first of all - spirituality, i.e. the ability to be distracted from the immediate, mundane and see the image of the desired future. This is then - romance, i.e. the tendency to neglect the comforts of life in order to achieve one's dreams. This - observation, i.e. the ability to deeply and subtly perceive the world around us in its nuances and the most diverse manifestations, while at the same time being distracted from the unimportant. And finally - creativity. Creativity– this is a person’s ability to see something new in the familiar, notice the possible in the impossible and make efforts to bring the idea to life.

CONTROL QUESTIONS

1. Define the concept of “imagination.”

2. Justify the significance of imagination for the human psyche.

3. Indicate what mental formation underlies imagination.

4. Give various bases for classifying representations, as well as specific examples.

5. Name the main types of imagination and briefly describe their specifics.

6. Analyze the physiological basis of imagination.

7. Explain the psychophysiological basis of ideomotor acts.

8. Give a description of the techniques of active imagination. Justify the impossibility of using them when consciousness control is weakened.

9. Argue the relationship between creativity, creativity and dreams.

10. Justify the culture-forming role of imagination.

1. Karandashev Yu.N. Development of ideas in children: Textbook. – Minsk, 1987.

2. Korshunova L.S. Imagination and its role in cognition. – M.: Pedagogy, 1979.

3. Rozet I.M. Psychology of fantasy. – Minsk: Higher School, 1977.

4. Vygotsky L. S. Imagination and its development in childhood: Collection. works in 6 volumes. T. 2. – M.: Pedagogy, 1982.

5. Natadze R. G. Imagination as a factor of behavior. – Tbilisi: Metsniereta, 1982.

6. Nikiforova O.I. Research on the psychology of artistic creativity. – M.: Pedagogy, 1977.

7. General psychology / Ed. V.V. Petrovsky. = M.: Education, 1986.

8. Introduction to psychology / Under the general editorship of prof. A. V. Petrovsky. – M.: Academy, 1996.

9. Altshuler G.K. Algorithm of creativity. – M.: Knowledge, 1989.

Chapter 9. Will

General characteristics of will

Will is a mental process, the essence of which is the regulation by a person of behavior and activity related to overcoming internal and external obstacles.

Will is an important component of the human psyche, determined by the ability of people not only to respond to higher or internal stimuli, but by holding the image of a goal, controlling themselves with the help of speech, to achieve the intended result.

Of all living beings, will, like speech, like imagination, is peculiar only to man, since it is based on higher, ideal ways of reflecting the world and on controlling one’s own actions as opposed to certain stimuli. A person’s will can be so strong that it even overcomes the instinct of self-preservation.

The psychological manifestation of will is volitional effort, i.e. conditioned by the desire for a goal, the activation of all resources of the body and psyche to overcome the obstacles and difficulties that have arisen. Volitional effort is experienced as tension caused by the desire to perform the required actions.

The concept of will was introduced into the system of categories of the science of the soul by Aristotle in order to explain how a person achieves his goals, despite the fact that the knowledge of what needs to be done in itself is devoid of motivating power. The specificity of the will lies in the fact that often the volitional effort is not aimed at overcoming external obstacles, but at overcoming oneself, one’s own weakness, laziness, and fatigue. By its psychological nature, volitional effort is a voluntary action, i.e. determined by man himself. Therefore, people differentiate range of will: at one pole there are people with a strong will, at the other - weak-willed. The former are able to overcome enormous difficulties, the latter easily give in to them. In addition, there are people suffering from impaired will.

Like all mental processes, will has a complex structure, in which there are two aspects: the actual psychological and physiological.

Related information.

100 RUR bonus for first order

Select the type of work Diploma work Course work Abstract Master's thesis Practice report Article Report Review Test work Monograph Problem solving Business plan Answers to questions Creative work Essay Drawing Essays Translation Presentations Typing Other Increasing the uniqueness of the text Master's thesis Laboratory work On-line help

Find out the price

It is generally accepted that the physiological basis of imagination is the actualization of neural connections, their disintegration, regrouping and unification into new systems. In this way, images arise that do not coincide with previous experience, but are not divorced from it. The complexity of imagination and its connection with emotions give reason to assume that its physiological mechanisms are connected not only with the cortex, but also with deeper structures of the brain. (hypothalamic-limbic system).

It should be noted that imagination, due to the characteristics of the physiological systems responsible for it, is to a certain extent associated with the regulation of organic processes. Imagination influences many organic processes: the functioning of the glands, the activity of internal organs, metabolism in the body, etc. For example, it is known that the idea of a delicious dinner causes us to salivate profusely. This pattern has been known for a long time and is widely used in the treatment of so-called psychosomatic patients during suggestive therapy sessions. On the other hand, imagination also influences human motor functions. For example, if we imagine that we are running on a track, the devices will register subtle contractions of the corresponding muscle groups.

Thus, imagination plays a significant role both in the regulation of the processes of the human body and in the regulation of its motivated behavior.

Types of imagination

Recreating Imagination manifests itself when a person needs to recreate a representation of an object (description of geographical places or historical events).

Creative imagination: a person transforms ideas and creates new ones, independently outlining the contours of the created image and choosing the necessary materials for it. Creative imagination, like recreating, is closely related to memory, since in all cases of its manifestation a person uses his previous experience.

Dream- independent creation of new images - images of what is desired in the future, without inclusion in creative activity. A dream can be completed or incomplete (psychological protection).

Mechanisms for processing ideas into imaginary images

1. Analysis impressions received from reality or ideas formed as a result of previous experience. During this analysis, there is abstraction object, i.e. it seems to us isolated from other objects, while abstraction of parts of the object also occurs.

2. Synthesis- images can be put into new combinations and connections. Or these images can be given a completely new meaning.

Synthesis forms:

- agglutination: creating a new image by attaching in the imagination parts or properties of one object to another.

One of the most common ways of processing images of perception into images of imagination is increasing or decreasing an object or its parts. Various literary characters have been created using this method.

Agglutination can also be carried out using incorporating already known images into a new context.

-schematization may arise as a result of an incomplete, superficial perception of an object or when forgetting any unimportant details or parts.

-accentuation consists in emphasizing the most significant, typical features of the image. As a rule, this method is used when creating artistic images.

The cerebral cortex is involved in complex imagination processes. The physiological basis of imagination is the formation of new combinations of those neural connections that arose earlier in the process of man’s reflection of objective reality. For a new image to emerge, it is necessary that previously formed systems of connections, the structure of which was determined by the nature of the objects, be perceived, disintegrated and form new combinations in accordance with the new needs that have become more active in human activity.

The activity of imagination is closely related to emotions, inseparable from the creation of a new image. This gives grounds to say that the mechanisms of the imagination process are located not only in the cerebral cortex, but also in the subcortical centers. It has been experimentally proven that impulses that enter the subcortical parts of the brain activate the activity of the cerebral cortex, contribute to the development of an action plan, and are important in the creation of new images.

Images of objects are directly related to the emotional sphere of the individual, her feelings. A carelessly spoken word by a doctor can cause corresponding symptoms of the disease in an impressionable patient.

An insensitive word from a teacher can cause a nervous breakdown in a student. A specific manifestation of the impact of imagination on the motor sphere of the individual is ideomotor acts. Research has established that when a person imagines the movement of a part of his body, but does not perform the action itself, weak impulses are recorded in the muscles that should carry out this movement, similar to those recorded during the actual performance of movements. Ideomotor acts as a means of ideally modeling the actions to be performed are widely used by athletes, dancers, etc.

Pathologies of brain activity (due to high body temperature, the effects of drugs, alcohol intoxication, etc.) lead to hallucinations.

The synthesis of images in the processes of imagination is carried out in various forms:

Diseases of this origin are called Iatrogenesis

Hallucinations can be visual, auditory, tactile, somatic

Practical activity plays a major role in creating imaginative images. While the created image exists only in the “head”, it is not always completely clear. By translating this image into a drawing or model, a person checks its reality.

Imagination is a free, original, creative reflection of reality. Its development requires the accumulation of appropriate experience and the development of the ability to mentally combine images into new combinations and combinations, the ability to imagine possible changes in reality. Such skills are formed gradually and require the involvement of the individual in diverse activities. In the process of personality development, imagination also develops. The more a person has seen, heard, experienced, the more she knows and can do, and the more productive the activity of her imagination will be - the basis of any activity.

Physiological basis of imagination

It is generally accepted that the physiological basis of imagination is the actualization of neural connections, their disintegration, regrouping and unification into new systems. In this way, images arise that do not coincide with previous experience, but are not divorced from it. The complexity, unpredictability of imagination, its connection with emotions give reason to assume that its physiological mechanisms are associated not only with the cortex, but also with deeper structures of the brain. In particular, the hypothalamic-limbic system plays a major role here.

Thus, we can conclude that imagination plays a significant role both in the regulation of the processes of the human body and in the regulation of its motivated behavior.

The role of imagination in human life

In human life, imagination performs a number of specific functions. The first of them is to represent reality in images and be able to use them when solving problems. This function of imagination is connected with thinking and is organically included in it. The second function of imagination is to regulate emotional states. With the help of his imagination, a person is able to at least partially satisfy many needs and relieve the tension generated by them. This vital function is especially emphasized and developed in psychoanalysis. The third function of imagination is associated with its participation in the voluntary regulation of cognitive processes and human states, in particular perception, attention, memory, speech, and emotions. With the help of skillfully evoked images, a person can pay attention to the necessary events. Through images, he gains the opportunity to control perceptions, memories, and statements. The fourth function of imagination is the formation of an internal plan of action - the ability to carry them out in the mind, manipulating images. Finally, the fifth function is planning and programming activities, drawing up such programs, assessing their correctness and the implementation process.

With the help of imagination, we can control many psychophysiological states of the body and tune it to upcoming activities. There are known facts indicating that with the help of imagination, purely by will, a person can influence organic processes: change the rhythm of breathing, pulse rate, blood pressure, body temperature. These facts underlie auto-training, which is widely used for self-regulation.

Thanks to imagination, a person creates, intelligently plans and manages his activities. Imagination takes a person beyond his immediate existence, reminds him of the past, and opens up the future. Possessing a rich imagination, a person can “live” in different times, which no other living creature in the world can afford. The past is recorded in memory images, arbitrarily resurrected by an effort of will, the future is presented in dreams and fantasies.

Imagination is the basis of visual-figurative thinking, which allows a person to navigate a situation and solve problems without the direct intervention of practical actions. It helps him in many ways in those cases of life when practical actions are either impossible, or difficult, or simply impractical (undesirable).

IMAGINATION

Imagination- this is the mental process of creating new ideas based on existing experience, i.e. the process of transformative reflection of reality. Imagination is a special form of the human psyche, standing apart from other mental processes and, at the same time, occupying an intermediate position between perception and thinking. Thanks to imagination, a person creates, intelligently plans and manages his activities. Almost all human material and spiritual culture is a product of people's imagination and creativity. Imagination is the basis of visual-figurative thinking, which allows a person to navigate a situation and solve problems without the direct intervention of practical actions. It helps him in many ways in those cases of life when practical actions are either impossible, or difficult, or simply impractical (undesirable).

Until now, almost nothing is known about the mechanism of imagination, including its anatomical and physiological basis. Where is imagination located in the human brain? With the work of which nervous organic structures is it connected? Researchers can say much less about this than, for example, about sensations, perception, attention and memory. Presumably, the physiological basis of imagination is made up of residual (trace) processes of excitation and inhibition, irradiation and concentration, analysis and synthesis in the cortical sections of various analyzers. As a result of this complex nervous activity, new combinations of temporary connections formed in past experience, which did not take place in the real process of perception, arise and form the basis of imaginary images.

Imagination and organic processes are closely interrelated. In people with a rich imagination, as a result of a highly developed imagination, physiological signs, which usually accompany certain emotions (increased heart rate, difficulty breathing, increased blood pressure, sweating, etc.). They occur when a person imagines a situation, for example, that poses a threat to him. Physiological reactions to psychological states associated with imagination should be considered normal. They help prepare the body for the upcoming activity and, thereby, facilitate it. Almost all images associated with fantasy are accompanied by organic changes. A well-known phenomenon called ideomotor act. Its essence is that a clear idea of any movement is evoked in a person by the movement itself, which, as a rule, is not controlled either by the senses or by consciousness. If, for example, you ask a person to hold a thread with a weight suspended at arm's length and imagine how this weight rotates, then after a while you will notice that he will actually begin to describe circles and make rotational movements.

Of particular psychological interest is the connection dreams with organic states. The brain, as research shows, continues to work during sleep, involving in its activity almost all organic structures associated with psychological processes: perception, attention, memory, thinking and speech. But this usually happens at the subconscious level, against the background of the inhibitory influence exerted by the reticular formation on the human cerebral cortex. The fact of recalling the content of dreams undoubtedly indicates that memory actively works in a dream. People who sleep are not completely isolated psychologically from the perception of the surrounding reality and are able to react to it in a certain way. During sleep, the selectivity of reactions is partially preserved. A mother, for example, reacts very sensitively to the movements of her child and instantly wakes up upon hearing them. In a dream, a person can even make certain decisions, form plans, which are then often implemented in reality (as consciously accepted intentions).