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1. Differential psychology
Differential psychology- (from the Latin diffеgentia - difference) is a branch of psychology that studies psychological differences both between individuals and between groups of people united on any basis, as well as the causes and consequences of these differences.
The subject of differential psychology (DP) are the patterns of emergence and manifestation of individual, group, typological differences. According to the definition of the founder of differential psychology, V. Stern, it is the science of significant differences in mental properties and functions.
Differential psychology has a three-part structure that includes the areas of individual, group, and typological differences.
Objectives of differential psychology:
1. Study of sources of variability in measured traits. The area of individual differences most closely related to this DP task.
2. Analysis of group distribution of characteristics. This task intersects with such a section of DP as the area of group differences. Within the framework of this task, the psychological characteristics of groups united by any characteristic - gender, age, racial-ethnic, etc. are studied.
3. Studying the features of the formation of types in various typologies. Related to this task is the area of DP, which studies typical differences (type - symptom complex, stable combination of certain characteristics) based on the analysis of individual typologies (for more details, see Topic 8). As an example, here we can cite one of the oldest typologies - the typology of temperament, based on the predominance of a certain fluid in the body (blood, mucus, bile, black bile), and the types of temperament (sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic) identified in this typology.
2. The place of differential psychologyamong other scientific disciplines
DP studies the individual specifics of the course of cognitive mental processes, emotions, abilities, intelligence, etc. In this area of its study, DP is in close intersection with general psychology.
DP studies the age specificity of cognitive processes, response styles, explores individual variability in the relationships of psychological, social, biological, calendar ages, existing periodizations of mental development, etc. In this area of its study, DP is in connection with with developmental psychology.
Speaking about individual variability in the properties of the nervous system, interhemispheric asymmetry, temperament, etc., DP finds its relationships with psychophysiology.
DP studies individual variability due to the social status of the subject, his belonging to a certain socioeconomic group, and in this area of his study is in connection with social psychology.
Speaking about different approaches to understanding the “norm” and deviations from it, developmental deviations, character accentuations, DP forms connections with medical psychology.
DP explores individual characteristics determined by the ethnocultural affiliation of the subject. This area of DP is in intersection with ethnopsychology.
It is possible to trace connections between DP and a number of other psychological disciplines. It is only necessary to note that in DP the main emphasis is placed not only on identifying and stating certain characteristics of the subject, but also on the factors, causes and consequences that are associated with these characteristics.
3 . Methods for studying individual differences
Differential psychology is characterized by:
1. General scientific methods (observation, experiment).
2. Actually psychological methods - introspective (self-observation, self-esteem), psychophysiological (method of galvanic skin reactions, electroencephalographic method, dichotomous listening method, etc.), socio-psychological (conversation, interview, questionnaire, sociometry), developmental psychological (" transverse" and "longitudinal" sections), testing, analysis of activity products.
3. Psychogenetic methods.
There are several types of psychogenetic methods, but all of them are aimed at solving the problem of determining the dominant factors (genetics or environment) in the formation of individual differences.
A) Genealogical method- a method of studying families and pedigrees, which was used by F. Galton. The premise for using the method is the following: if a certain trait is hereditary and encoded in genes, then the closer the relationship, the higher the similarity between people on this trait. Thus, by studying the degree of manifestation of a certain trait in relatives, it is possible to determine whether this trait is inherited.
B) Adopted children method
IN) Twin method
· control group method
The method is based on the study of two existing types of twin pairs: monozygotic (MZ), formed from one egg and one sperm and having an almost completely identical chromosome set, and dizygotic (DZ), whose chromosome set is only 50% identical. DZ and MZ pairs are placed in an identical environment. A comparison of intrapair similarity in such mono- and dizygotic twins will show the role of heredity and environment in the emergence of individual differences.
Separated twin pair method
The method is based on the study of intra-pair similarity between mono- and dizygotic twins separated at an early age by fate. In total, about 130 such pairs are described in the scientific literature. It was found that separated MZ twins exhibit greater intrapair similarity than separated DZ twins. Descriptions of some pairs of separated twins are sometimes striking in the identity of their habits and preferences.
Twin pair method
The method consists of studying the distribution of roles and functions within a twin pair, which is often a closed system, due to which the twins form a so-called “total” personality.
control twin method
Particularly similar monozygotic pairs are selected (perfectly identical experimental and control groups), and then within each pair, one twin is exposed and the other is not. By measuring differences in the traits targeted in two twins, the effectiveness of the intervention is assessed.
It should be noted that numerous twin studies show that:
The correlation between the results of tests on mental development of monozygotic twins is very high, for fraternal twins it is much lower;
In the area of special abilities and personality traits, the correlations between twins are weaker, although here too monozygotic twins show greater similarity than dizygotic twins;
For many psychological traits, differences within pairs of dizygotic twins are no greater than differences within pairs of monozygotic twins. But significant differences appear most often among dizygotes;
In relation to schizophrenia, the percentage of concordance between monozygotic, dizygotic and siblings is such that it indicates the presence of a hereditary predisposition to this disease. Here, the case of four monozygotic twins (Jeniyan quadruplets), well known in the history of psychogenetics, may be very interesting; all four twins, albeit at different times, developed schizophrenia.
4. Mathematical methods.
The use of statistical analysis methods was one of the prerequisites for distinguishing differential psychology into a full-fledged science. It should be noted that here, too, one of the pioneers was the famous Englishman F. Galton, who began to use this method to prove his theory of the heritability of genius.
4 . Channels for obtaining information about individuality
personality individual heredity cerebral
Sometimes methods for studying personality are divided into three groups - based on the channel through which the information was received.
L (life registry data) - data based on recording human behavior in everyday life. Since even for scientific purposes it is impossible for one psychologist to comprehensively study human behavior under different conditions, experts are usually brought in - people who have experience interacting with the subject in a significant area.
L-data is difficult to make valid because it is impossible to get rid of distortions associated with the personality of the observer, the halo effect (systematic distortions) operates, and instrumental distortions associated with imperfect survey methods (incorrectly formulated questions) are also possible. Another disadvantage of L-data is its high time consumption.
To increase validity, you need to comply with the requirements for expert assessments:
1) define traits in terms of observable behavior (preliminarily agree on what we will record as a manifestation of anxiety, aggressiveness, etc.),
2) ensure the duration of observation,
3) involve at least ten experts per subject,
4) rank the subjects during one meeting according to no more than one attribute, so that there is no guidance effect and the experts do not repeat their list.
Assessments must be formalized and expressed in quantitative form.
T (objective test data) - data from objective tests (tests) with a controlled experimental situation. Objectivity is achieved due to the fact that restrictions are placed on the possibility of distortion of test scores and there is an objective way of obtaining assessments based on the test subject’s reaction.
Examples of using T-data are the well-known experiments of G.V. Birenbaum and B.V. Zeigarnik on remembering unfinished actions, experiments with modeling situations to study altruistic behavior. That is, it is necessary to create a holistic objective situation for the manifestation of certain personality traits.
This data acquisition channel also requires a lot of time and personnel and is used more often at the pilot stage to define a hypothesis, which is then tested using other, more cost-effective methods.
In order to increase the validity and heuristics of the study, it is useful to use the following tactics:
1) masking the true purpose of the research,
2) unexpected setting of tasks,
3) uncertainty and vagueness in formulating the goals of the study to create a zone of uncertainty and stimulate the activity of the subject,
4) distracting the subject’s attention,
5) creating an emotional situation during testing (“Everyone before you completed this task with ease!”),
6) use of the emotional content of the test situation,
7) recording automated reactions,
8) fixation of involuntary indicators (electrophysiological, biochemical, vegetative changes),
9) fixation of “background” indicators (physical status, level of activity and fatigue, etc.).
Q (questionnaige data) - data obtained using questionnaires, questionnaires and other standardized methods. This channel occupies a central place in personality research due to its high efficiency (can be used in a group, automatically process the results). However, it is not considered highly reliable.
Distortions in the information received may be associated with the following reasons: the low cultural and intellectual level of the subjects (it is difficult for rural residents and children under ten years of age to fill out questionnaires), lack of self-knowledge skills and special knowledge, the use of incorrect standards (especially in a limited society, when a person compares himself with relatives rather than the population as a whole). In addition, different motivations of subjects can lead to distortions either towards social desirability (dissimulation, weakening of symptoms) or emphasizing their defects (aggravation and simulation).
Thus, there is no absolutely perfect way of knowing individuality, but by being aware of the disadvantages and advantages of each of the listed methods, you can learn to obtain completely reliable information with their help. But scientific research does not end there.
Techniques and methods of scientific classification
The received data (regardless of the channel) can be combined (9). Let's assume that we examined a certain large sample of subjects (Ivanov, Sidorov, Petrov, Fedorov) according to psychological manifestations, which we can conventionally designate as A, B, C, D, and compiled them into a single table.
It is easy to notice that Ivanov’s results resemble Fedorov’s results. We can combine them into one column instead of two and give a name to the personality type we introduced (for example, IvaFedoroid). We can now classify everyone who resembles Ivanov and Fedorov in their psychological qualities as one type. That is, a type is a generalization made from a group of subjects with similar qualities. At the same time, of course, as a result of such a generalization, we lose the individual differences between Ivanov and Fedorov (for example, we ignore the discrepancy in indicators for trait D).
Next, we can pay attention to the fact that signs A and C, B and D take almost the same values. This may be due to the fact that there is a common factor behind these manifestations. And we can combine the columns of our matrix, assigning new names to psychological qualities - for example, instead of A and C ac, and instead of B and D - bd. A consistent way of behaving in different situations and conditions is called a personality trait.
And the table is reduced, and the psychologist receives data on personality types and personality traits (in a rigorous study, these procedures, of course, are carried out using factor analysis).
Ultimately, it is not very important which methodology was chosen to study the individual properties of a person, the main thing is that it is applied correctly and turns out to be useful for increasing new scientific knowledge. And for this to happen, the results obtained must be generalized (the procedure of dividing a certain set into subsets is called taxonomy, or classification).
In the psychology of individual differences, not all typologies have been compiled with these requirements in mind. However, among the empirical (non-scientific) classifications there are very interesting ones, while a strictly scientific one may turn out to be completely useless.
So, it is obvious that some methods are used to study traits, and others to study individuality. Therefore, to draw up a program of scientific or practical research, it is necessary to consistently determine the following points:
1. What is the subject of consideration - a sign or an individuality?
2. To what level of individuality does the phenomenon under consideration belong?
3. Which paradigm does the researcher adhere to - natural science or humanities?
4. What is preferable to use - qualitative or quantitative methods?
5. Finally, what specific techniques should be introduced into the program?
5 . The concepts of personality, man, individual, individuality and their relationship
Along with the concept of “personality,” the terms “person,” “individual,” and “individuality” are used. These concepts are substantively intertwined.
Man is a generic concept, indicating that a creature belongs to the highest degree of development of living nature - to the human race. The concept of “man” affirms the genetic predetermination of the development of actually human characteristics and qualities.
An individual is a single representative of the species “homo sapiens”. As individuals, people differ from each other not only in morphological characteristics (such as height, bodily constitution and eye color), but also in psychological properties (abilities, temperament, emotionality).
Individuality is the unity of the unique personal properties of a particular person. This is the uniqueness of his psychophysiological structure (type of temperament, physical and mental characteristics, intelligence, worldview, life experience).
The relationship between individuality and personality is determined by the fact that these are two ways of being a person, two different definitions of him. The discrepancy between these concepts is manifested, in particular, in the fact that there are two different processes of formation of personality and individuality.
The formation of personality is the process of socialization of a person, which consists in his assimilation of a generic, social essence. This development is always carried out in the specific historical circumstances of a person’s life. The formation of personality is associated with the individual’s acceptance of social functions and roles developed in society, social norms and rules of behavior, and with the formation of skills to build relationships with other people. A formed personality is a subject of free, independent and responsible behavior in society.
The formation of individuality is the process of individualization of an object. Individualization is the process of self-determination and isolation of the individual, his separation from the community, the design of his individuality, uniqueness and originality. A person who has become an individual is an original person who has actively and creatively demonstrated himself in life.
The concepts of “personality” and “individuality” capture different aspects, different dimensions of a person’s spiritual essence. The essence of this difference is well expressed in the language. With the word “personality” such epithets as “strong”, “energetic”, “independent” are usually used, thereby emphasizing its active representation in the eyes of others. Individuality is spoken of as “bright”, “unique”, “creative”, meaning the qualities of an independent entity.
Personality structure
There are statistical and dynamic personality structures. The statistical structure is understood as an abstract model abstracted from the actually functioning personality that characterizes the main components of the individual’s psyche. The basis for identifying personality parameters in its statistical model is the difference between all components of the human psyche according to the degree of their representation in the personality structure. The following components are distinguished:
· universal properties of the psyche, i.e. common to all people (sensations, perceptions, thinking, emotions);
· socially specific features, i.e. inherent only to certain groups of people or communities (social attitudes, value orientations);
· individually unique properties of the psyche, i.e. characterizing individual typological features. Characteristic only of one or another specific person (temperament, character, abilities).
In contrast to the statistical model of personality structure, the dynamic structure model fixes the main components in the individual’s psyche no longer abstracted from a person’s everyday existence, but, on the contrary, only in the immediate context of human life. At each specific moment of his life, a person appears not as a set of certain formations, but as a person who is in a certain mental state, which is one way or another reflected in the momentary behavior of the individual. If we begin to consider the main components of the statistical structure of personality in their movement, change, interaction and living circulation, then we thereby make a transition from the statistical to the dynamic structure of personality.
6 . Environment and heredity in the determination of individual differences
Determining the sources of individual variations in the psyche is the central problem of differential psychology. It is known that individual differences are generated by numerous and complex interactions between heredity and environment. Heredity ensures the sustainability of the existence of a biological species, the environment ensures its variability and the ability to adapt to changing living conditions. Heredity is contained in the genes passed on by parents to the embryo during fertilization. If there is a chemical imbalance or incompleteness of genes, the developing organism may have physical abnormalities or mental pathologies. However, even in the usual case, heredity allows for a very wide range of behavioral variations, which are the result of the summation of reaction norms at different levels - biochemical, physiological, psychological. And within the boundaries of heredity, the final result depends on the environment. Thus, in every manifestation of human activity one can find something from heredity, and something from the environment; the main thing is to determine the extent and content of these influences.
In addition, humans have social inheritance, which animals lack (following cultural patterns, transferring accentuation, for example schizoid, from mother to child through cold maternal upbringing, forming family scripts). However, in these cases, they note rather a stable manifestation of characteristics over several generations, but without genetic fixation. “The so-called social heritage in reality cannot withstand the influence of the environment,” writes A. Anastasi.
There are several prejudices regarding the concepts of "variability", "heredity" and "environment". Although heredity is responsible for the stability of a species, most hereditary traits are modifiable, and even hereditary diseases are not inevitable. It is also true that traces of environmental influences can be very stable in the psychological appearance of an individual, although they will not be genetically transmitted to subsequent generations (for example, developmental disorders of a child as a result of birth trauma).
Different theories and approaches assess differently the contribution of two factors to the formation of individuality. Historically, the following groups of theories have emerged from the point of view of their preference for biological or environmental, socio-cultural determination.
1. In biogenetic theories, the formation of individuality is understood as predetermined by congenital and genetic inclinations. Development is the gradual unfolding of these properties over time, and the contribution of environmental influences is very limited. Biogenetic approaches often serve as the theoretical basis for racist teachings about the original differences between nations. A supporter of this approach was F. Galton, as well as the author of the theory of recapitulation Art. Hall.
2. Sociogenetic theories (a sensationalistic approach that asserts the primacy of experience) claim that initially a person is a blank slate (tabula gasa), and all his achievements and characteristics are determined by external conditions (environment). A similar position was shared by J. Locke. These theories are more progressive, but their drawback is the understanding of the child as an initially passive being, an object of influence.
3. Two-factor theories (convergence of two factors) understood development as the result of the interaction of innate structures and external influences. K. Bühler, W. Stern, A. Binet believed that the environment is superimposed on the factors of heredity. The founder of the two-factor theory, V. Stern, noted that one cannot ask about any function whether it is external or internal. We must be interested in what is in it from the outside and what is inside. But even within the framework of two-factor theories, the child still remains a passive participant in the changes taking place in him.
4. The doctrine of higher mental functions (cultural-historical approach) L.S. Vygotsky argues that the development of individuality is possible thanks to the presence of culture - the generalized experience of humanity. The innate properties of a person are the conditions for development, the environment is the source of his development (because it contains what a person must master). Higher mental functions, which are characteristic only of man, are mediated by signs and objective activities, which represent the content of culture. And in order for a child to appropriate it, it is necessary that he enter into a special relationship with the world around him: he does not adapt, but actively appropriates the experience of previous generations in the process of joint activity and communication with adults who are carriers of culture.
The contribution of heredity and environment is attempted to be determined by the genetics of quantitative traits, which analyzes various types of dispersion of trait values. However, not every trait is simple, fixed by one allele (a pair of genes, including a dominant and a recessive one). In addition, the final effect cannot be considered as the arithmetic sum of the influence of each of the genes, because they can, while appearing simultaneously, also interact with each other, leading to systemic effects. Therefore, by studying the process of genetic control of a psychological trait, psychogenetics seeks to answer the following questions:
1. To what extent does genotype determine the formation of individual differences (i.e., what is the expected measure of variability)?
2. What is the specific biological mechanism of this influence (on what part of the chromosome are the corresponding genes localized)?
3. What processes connect the protein product of genes and a specific phenotype?
4. Are there environmental factors that change the genetic mechanism being studied?
The heritability of a trait is recognized by the presence of a correlation between the indicators of biological parents and children, and not by the similarity of the absolute values of the indicators. Suppose that research has revealed similarities between the temperamental characteristics of biological parents and their children given up for adoption. Most likely, children in adoptive families will be influenced by common and different environmental conditions, as a result of which, in absolute terms, they will also become similar to their adoptive parents. However, no correlation will be noted.
Currently, the debate between supporters of the factors of heredity and environment has lost its former sharpness. Numerous studies devoted to identifying the sources of individual variations, as a rule, cannot provide an unambiguous assessment of the contribution of the environment or heredity. For example, thanks to the psychogenetic studies of F. Galton, carried out in the 20s using the twin method, it was discovered that biologically determined characteristics (skull size, other measurements) are determined genetically, and psychological qualities (intelligence quotient according to various tests) give a large scatter and are determined by the environment. It is influenced by the social and economic status of the family, birth order, etc.
The current state of affairs in the field of studying the interaction of environment and heredity is illustrated by two models of environmental influences on intellectual abilities. In the first model, Zajonc and Markus argued that the more time parents and children spend together, the higher the correlation of IQ with the older relative (exposure model). That is, in terms of intellectual abilities, the child is similar to the one who has been raising him longer, and if the parents, for some reason, devote little time to the child, he will be similar to the nanny or grandmother. In the second model, however, the opposite was stated: McAskie and Clark noted that the highest correlation was observed between the child and the relative who is the subject of his identification (identification model). That is, the most important thing is to be an intellectual authority for the child, and then he can be influenced even remotely, and regular joint activities are not at all necessary. The coexistence of two essentially mutually exclusive models once again shows that most differential psychological theories are narrowly limited in nature, and practically no general theories have yet been created.
7. Methods
Adopted children method. The method consists in the fact that the study includes 1) children who were given up to be raised by biologically alien parents-educators as early as possible, 2) adoptive and 3) biological parents. Since children have 50% of genes in common with each biological parent, but do not have common living conditions, and with adopted children, on the contrary, they do not have common genes, but share environmental characteristics, it is possible to determine the relative role of heredity and environment in the formation of individual differences.
Twin method. The twin method began with an article by F. Galton, published in 1876, “The History of Twins as a Criterion for the Relative Strength of Nature and Nurture.” But the beginning of real research in this direction occurs at the beginning of the 20th century. There are several varieties of this method.
8 . Asymmetry of the hemispheres as a factor in the development of individuality
One of the most important individual properties is functional asymmetry and specialization of the hemispheres - a characteristic of the distribution of mental functions between the right and left hemispheres. The process of asymmetry formation is called lateralization. Asymmetry is a property of all living things, manifesting itself in different ways - in tropisms, the direction of folding of the molecular helix, etc. (the phenomenon of asymmetry in the living world is called chirality). In animal physiology, the concept of “paw” (similar to “hand”) is used, and observations show that in mammals, too, all paired organs have one or another degree of asymmetry; there are dominant (leading) and subordinate limbs. Taking into account the early habituation of children to right-handedness, practical psychologists sometimes suggest focusing on the criterion of “posity” to determine the leading hemisphere.
Cerebral dominance and dominance of the hand (ear, eye) are usually connected by contralateral relationships (i.e., with the leading right hand, the left hemisphere is responsible for speech). But sometimes they also have an ipsilateral relationship (located on one side of the body). There is no absolute dominance either - each person has an individual combination of cerebral dominance, dominance of the arm, leg, eye and ear. There are people who are equally skilled with their right and left hands - they are called ambidextrous. Left-handedness sometimes brings inconvenience to a person, but it can have different origins, and therefore the upbringing and education of left-handed children should be based on the data of a neuropsychological examination.
Cerebral dominance in function is not a condition, but a process that occurs throughout a person’s life. If in the early stages of the study of asymmetry data from clinical practice were mainly used, then with the advent of new methods (in particular, the dichotic listening method), it was established that any mental function is carried out thanks to the joint work of both hemispheres, and its anatomical substrate is represented twice - in the right hemisphere figurative, concrete level of function implementation, and in the left - abstract, verbal-logical. And if at first only the principle of dominance for speech functions was noted, now they talk about different strategies for processing information: the left hemisphere carries it out sequentially, similarly, the right hemisphere - in parallel, synthetically.
The left hemisphere is usually responsible for operating with verbal-sign information, reading and counting, the right hemisphere is responsible for operating with images, spatial orientation, distinguishing sounds and melodies, recognizing complex objects, and producing dreams. Since left-hemisphere thinking is analytical, it acts by carrying out a series of sequential operations, resulting in the formation of an internally consistent model of the world, which is easy to consolidate in signs and words.
Right hemisphere thinking is spatial-figurative, simultaneous (one-time) and synthetic, which makes it possible to simultaneously grasp heterogeneous information. The result of the functioning of the right hemisphere is polysemy, which, on the one hand, is the basis of creativity, and on the other, complicates understanding between people, because it is based more on symbols than on meanings. In men, the asymmetry is more pronounced than in women, which, apparently, limits their compensation capabilities and learning ability.
The dominance of the hemispheres in the implementation of a particular function is not fixed, but depends on the content of the activity, when changing which it is possible not only to smooth out the asymmetry, but even to change the sign to the opposite. It usually determines the most developed area of the psyche - for example, right-hemisphere people have better developed emotions and intuition, left-hemisphere people have better perception and thinking, however, both can include different hemispheres, and the concept of “right hemisphere” itself does not mean that the center of speech is necessarily located on the right - it only emphasizes the fact that the right hemisphere is most involved in the process under discussion. Depending on the ratio of dominant and subordinate functions, the structure of the personality as a whole is formed, as K.-G wrote about. Jung, and the subordinate function is often the strongest. (It is more difficult to control, because a person in relations with the world is accustomed to relying on other information channels and here he finds himself defenseless. So, for example, a mathematician-programmer, accustomed to interacting with the world “left hemisphere,” may completely not control his own emotions and easily fall into a state love or affect.) In twin pairs, usually one relies on symbolic information, the other on symbolic; dominance also determines the content of typical neuroses (whether they arise in the sphere of ideas or feelings).
Right-handed people have greater control over the muscles on the right side of the body, so hidden emotions are more likely to be seen on the left side of the face. Since right-handedness predominates in our culture, it is understandable that most modern people lack this.
9. Gender in the structure of personality
On the one hand, individual characteristics are not reducible to a biological foundation, and on the other hand, they are largely determined by innate regulatory mechanisms. Thus, the main idea of the theory of integral individuality of B.S. Merlin and the special theory of individuality of V.M. Rusalova’s idea of the hierarchical subordination of all individual differences with the determining role of biological factors constantly gaining confirmation. This fully applies to the psychology of gender. When studying gender issues, two terms are used abroad: seX, if we are talking about the biological basis of behavior, and gendeG, when they mean the sociocultural content of behavior.
Gender as a biological phenomenon refers to individual characteristics - it is determined at the moment of conception of a person, it cannot be changed. However, a person can accept or reject their gender, experience it as a reward or punishment in different ways under the influence of cultural and social influences: parents’ expectations, ideas about the purpose of their own gender, its value, etc. Therefore, the natural foundations of behavior can either be strengthened or, conversely, inhibited, weakening the productivity of human activity and leading to the emergence of neuroses. (Recall that libido (sexual desire) in psychoanalysis was considered as the main drive that determines human activity and is transformed through sublimation into creative energy, and in Jung’s theory it began to be considered as a source of life force in general.)
As for the differences in psychological qualities among people of different sexes, they began to stand out as a subject of research relatively recently, especially in Russian psychology, which is focused on understanding personality as a set of social relations. This is largely due to the fact that universal human culture, including psychoanalysis, was created mainly by men, and the word “man” in various languages often coincides with the word “man” and differs from the word “woman”.
Both features related to reproductive behavior (mating behavior, reproduction, caring for offspring), and simply the quality of cognitive processes, emotional sphere and behavior may differ in male and female groups. At the same time, ideas about gender-role psychological variations include both everyday prejudices and cultural stereotypes about what is due to men and women. It is not always possible to separate real facts and everyday ideas, but attempts in this direction have been made for a long time.
Thus, back in 1942, K. McNemar established and confirmed statistically that girls have more developed aesthetic tastes, they have better speech, and finer coordination, while boys have better mathematical and mechanical abilities. Girls have better verbal fluency; women are more adaptive, educated, they have a higher level of social desirability, while men are more intelligent, resourceful, and inventive. All new types of professions are first mastered by men, and only then by women. In addition, women prefer stereotypical types of professional activities, while men, on the contrary, are more likely to experience neuropsychiatric disorders in those types of activities that are stereotypical.
So, biological sex and psychological sex are ambiguously connected: it is obvious that a man can have a feminine character, and a woman can behave like a man. In order for a person to accept, realize his gender and learn to use its resources, he must successfully go through a process called gender-role socialization. (Nartova-Bochaver).
10. Biological mechanisms of sexual differentiation
The question of why boys and girls are born has interested humanity for a long time. Various explanations have been given for this. For example, Aristotle believed that the main thing is how a man and a woman caress each other, who is more passionate during sexual intercourse. If a man is more passionate, then the result will be a boy, if a woman, then a girl.
The mystery of the appearance of a child of a certain gender was revealed only in the second half of the twentieth century. with the help of geneticists.
As is known, the carrier of hereditary properties is the chromosomal apparatus. Each human cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes - 22 pairs of so-called autosom, identical for men and women, and one pair sex chromosomesm, which differs between them. For women it's two X-chromosomes (pattern XX), men have one X-- and one U - chromosomes (pattern XU),T. e. male genetic sex is heterogameticm, and female - homogametic.
The embryo is initially programmed to develop into a female individual. However, the presence U-chromosomes stop the development of the fetal genital organs that have not yet been differentiated (which otherwise would have turned into ovaries) and directs their development according to the male type, turning them into testes.
The process of sexual differentiation begins from the moment of fertilization of the egg and goes through a number of stages, each of which has its own specific tasks, and the developmental results achieved at each stage become. The main stages and components of sexual differentiation are reflected by J. Money (1980) in the following diagram (Fig. 1.1).
Rice. 1.1. Stages and components of sexual differentiation
Genetic sex determines true, or gonadal, sex, i.e. sex determined by the structure of the gonad (testicle or ovary). Yes, pattern XU, characteristic only of male cells and making them incompatible with the immunological system of the female body, programs, due to the presence in U-chromosome gene SGU, the transformation (at 4-8 weeks) of the rudimentary gonads of the male fetus into testes capable of producing sperm. On the chromosome X pattern XX there is a gene DSS, which directs the development of the indifferent sex gland into the ovaries, which are capable of producing eggs. The appearance of testicles or ovaries causes gameticfloor (from Greek gAmetes- husband, gAmete-- spouse). So the gene DSS plays at the pattern XX same role as gene SGU at the pattern XU.At the end of the 3rd month, the testicles begin to produce the male sex hormone testosterone (androgens). Arises hormonal l , which in the embryo determines the differentiation of internal reproductive organs (internal morphological sex ) and external genitalia (external morphological sex ), as well as special nervous mechanisms, the so-called “genital centers”, which further regulate masculine or feminine behavior person. With the onset of puberty in boys, the amount of androgens increases, since they are produced not only in the adrenal cortex, as in women, but also in the male gonads. And the more androgens in the body, the more masculine behavior manifests itself.
The hypothalamus, in which the reproductive centers are located, not only differentiates under the influence of germinal hormones, but is itself a psychoendocrine organ; his prenatal program, oriented towards male and female behavior, determines the nature of his reaction to the sex hormones of puberty, and this reaction, in turn, causes the corresponding sex-dimorphic behavior.
During puberty, a large number of hormones are released that ultimately determine biological differences in sex. During this period, testosterone levels in boys increase 18 times, and in girls estradiol levels increase 8 times.
In the absence or deficiency of embryonic androgens during the corresponding critical period, sexual differentiation automatically, regardless of chromosomal sex, occurs according to the female type. An example is the development of a child in cases where, due to the pathological influence of ecology (intoxication, radiation), the gonads do not form ( state of agonadism). On the other hand, if the mother takes drugs during pregnancy that stimulate the appearance of the male hormone (testosterone), then the female embryo can be “defeminized,” which will subsequently manifest itself in the masculinization of female behavior. Such girls prefer the company of boys and games typical of boys; they are self-confident and independent, that is, they are defined as tomboys. All this proves that androgens play a significant role O a greater role for intrauterine sex differentiation than estrogens.
It has been established that the younger the parents are, the higher the likelihood of having a boy. Thus, for mothers 18-20 years old, the ratio of boys born to girls was 120:100, and for mothers 38-40 years old - 90:100. The type of pregnancy also matters: first-time mothers give birth to boys more often; The higher the birth order, the lower the probability of having a son. In addition, if by the time of ovulation the sperm is already in the woman’s genital tract, the likelihood of having a girl is greater, but if it gets there after ovulation, the likelihood of having a boy increases. Already in the 19th century. It has been observed that pregnancy with a boy lasts a week longer than pregnancy with a girl.
Differences in the speed of development of male and female organisms are visible already at the embryonic stage. In girls, skeletal development occurs faster. After birth, they are 1-2 weeks ahead of boys in bone formation. At the same time, in terms of length and weight, boys at birth are 2-3% larger than girls. (Ilyin, psychophysiology)
11. The expediency and biological purpose of the presence of two sexes in nature
The biological purpose of men and women could be expressed very briefly: the task of men is to impregnate women, and the task of women is to give birth to children. This position reflects the most influential concept of the 19th century. - Darwinism and its development in the form of social Darwinism XX V . , which focuses on “natural selection” and the main and highest purpose of a woman in society - motherhood, which is an integral factor in the prosperity of the nation. As I.I. believed Mechnikov, for the sake of this mission, nature allows women to lag in development. Here is what he wrote about this at the beginning of the twentieth century: “Many naturalists are fully aware of the fact that a woman appears as if corresponding to a man in adolescence, therefore, lingers at a certain stage of development. No one, of course, will deduce from my words, so that I assert that a woman is incapable of development. I only assert that the progressive development of a woman must be accomplished at the expense of her ability to reproduce, feed and raise children, just as the increased activity of worker bees, ants and termites could not occur otherwise. how, together with the appearance of infertility or fertility in emergency exceptional cases, the United States provides us with actual proof of this opinion. Yankee women have been taking care of their own development for a long time and have made enormous strides in this regard, but they were accomplished, apparently, at the expense of reproduction and. family life" (1913). Of course, the speech is from I.I. Mechnikov is not talking about the loss of the ability to bear children as a result of the emancipation of women, but about a change in their social role in family life and attitude towards the birth of a large number of children. It is no secret that the more educated a woman is, the fewer children she has. This is payment for her intellectual development.
From the standpoint of social Darwinism , the majority of representatives of science and education unanimously opposed women’s attempts to achieve social equality, proving the physiologically determined limitation of not only the physical, but also the mental and social activity of women. In 1887, the Chairman of the British Medical Association proposed that, in the interests of social progress and the betterment of the human race, the education and other activities of women should be prohibited by the constitution as potentially dangerous, causing overload of the female body and the inability to produce healthy offspring.
Even such a progressive figure as Herbert Spencer, in his work “Principles of Biology” (1867), argued that excessive mental work negatively affects the physiological development and reproductive functions of women.
“Finally, women, who participate in the production process on an equal basis with men, have the opportunity to manage the life of the outside world together with them. But they also have the exclusive right to control the procreation. At any moment they can refuse to give birth to children. And in the near future, thanks to artificial With insemination, they will be able to decide this issue on their own. The reverse process is impossible: a woman is needed to procreate. Thus, the seemingly unshakable idea of the union of the two sexes as the primary condition for childbirth is being called into question today, even when biologists and geneticists predict that it will soon be possible to fertilize the nucleus. female cell without a sperm, it becomes clear how close we have come to the seemingly fantastic idea of parthenogenesis, which in this case will be female.
Even if the women of the third millennium do not take advantage of this opportunity, it is likely that men will be sensitive to such a change in their status. Apparently, they are facing serious trials. Perhaps they will feel even more acutely the loss of characteristics characteristic of their gender, their uniqueness and need. Therefore, we can assume that they will try with all their might to regain at least part of their former power. Already, biologists are predicting the incredible: in less than half a century, men will be able to “bear” children. And this is no longer science fiction. Soon we will have to radically reconsider the relationship of the sexes, the definition of their specific qualities and the attitude towards their equality" (Elisabeth Badinter. - UNESCO Courier. 1986).
But in the statement of I.I. Mechnikov also has a biological subtext: nature regulates the development of females reproducing offspring, and there really is a mystery in this regulation. Girls outpace boys in development for many years, overtake them in absolute terms, and suddenly, with the end of puberty, they begin to lag behind male subjects in development. For what it happens? For what Should a woman be inferior to a man in physical development?
Although the role of men in the reproduction of offspring cannot be discounted, the main role is still assigned to the woman: it is she who bears the fetus, the usefulness of this fetus depends on her efforts, and the effect of these efforts is closely related to the nature of her professional and social activities, to the lack of physical and mental stress, so characteristic of a woman striving to make a professional or social career. Therefore, one can understand the fears of many scientists: whether as a result of such aspirations, the family structure and upbringing of children will suffer. G. Spencer, guided by such fears, considered it necessary to limit the possibilities of any activity of a woman so that all her energy was devoted to the child and home life, since only such a way of life is, from his point of view, the most effective form of human organization. Among the Germans, this principle was developed in the form of three K intended for a woman: KindeG children), KbWithhe (kitchen) and KiGWithhe (church).
As J. Williams and D. Best (1986) note, a woman's freedom of movement was limited, since she always needed to care for babies. And since the woman found herself “locked in a cave,” it made sense for her to take up housekeeping. At the same time, men could be away from home and therefore could engage in hunting and wars. This was also beneficial because women’s engagement in dangerous activities could lead to the disappearance of female offspring.
D. Bass (1989), and also D. Kenrick (1987), those who adhere to biosocial, or evolutionary, view, it is believed that traits such as male dominance and female caring could have appeared through natural selection and evolution. From their point of view, men were chosen for traits associated with dominance and social status, and women for traits indicating high reproductive capabilities and the ability to care for offspring. It is assumed that such traits have a positive effect on the reproductive process and, therefore, begin to occur more often in the population. Research on couple mate choice does show that women are more attracted to men who appear dominant, while men are more attracted to attractive and younger women, with these differences showing up across cultures. (Ilyin, Psychophysiology)
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Primary defect Speech disorders
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The idea of the structural organization of dysontogenesis belongs to L.S. Vygotsky. The structure of a defect consists of primary, secondary and subsequent orders of defects (violations). Let us present the definitions of the components of the defect structure given by V.M. Sorokin. Primary, or nuclear, disorders are slightly reversible changes in the operating parameters of a particular function caused by the direct influence of a pathogenic factor. This problem in special psychology currently requires detailed study; it is complex and ambiguous. There are two points of view on the structure of the defect: 1) the concept of “primary defect” is considered as a disorder underlying the clinical picture; 2) the concept of “primary defect” is considered as a primary violation of the operation and mental function. There are indications in the literature that the primary defects are organic lesions of the brain and analytical systems. In fact, in our opinion, such violations do not represent psychological phenomena and cannot be included in the structure of psychological analysis (M.V. Zhigoreva, A.M. Polyakov, E.S. Slepovich, V.M. Sorokin, I .A. Shapoval, etc.). Primary disorders directly result from the biological nature of the disease. However, we are talking about violations in the work of mental functions, and not their anatomical and physiological prerequisites. For example, the primary defect in hearing impairment is loss or insufficiency of auditory perception, and not the absence of hearing! Disturbed development is determined by the time of occurrence of the primary disorder and the severity of its severity. The presence of a primary disorder affects the entire course of further development of the child. Secondary, or systemic, disorders are reversible changes in the development of mental functions directly related to the primary one. For example, a secondary defect in hearing impairment is speech impairment. Such disorders have a greater degree of reversibility under the influence of corrective measures, but the correction of these disorders can be very lengthy and labor-intensive, which does not exclude the possibility of spontaneous recovery in some cases. Secondary disorders and preserved functions are the main object of psychodiagnostics and psychological and pedagogical correctional influence. The presence of a primary disorder does not automatically lead to the appearance of secondary deviations, the formation of which is associated with the action of various mechanisms. The same primary disorder will change the composition of secondary deviations with age. This explains the significant differences in the structure of the latter in the same nuclear disorder in people of different ages. In addition, the differences largely depend on the individual characteristics of a person, in particular on his compensatory capabilities, and even more so on the timeliness and adequacy of correctional work, the effectiveness of which is higher, the earlier it begins. As a result of the combination of primary and secondary disorders, a complex picture of disorders is formed, which, on the one hand, is individual for each child, and on the other, has many similar characteristics within each type of impaired development.
It is important to separate two concepts: underdevelopment and speech impairment. Underdevelopment (lag) of a specialist’s speech is understood as a qualitatively lower level of formation of a particular speech function or the speech system as a whole.
Speech disorder refers to an attitude (disorder) caused by changes in the structure or functioning of the speech and auditory systems or a delay in the general and psychological development of the child. Underdevelopment or retardation of speech is primarily associated with the upbringing and living conditions of the child, while speech impairment is a serious but normal defect caused by pathological changes in the child’s body. Speech development delays may be due to:
1 – insufficient communication between the child and the adult;
2 – the second reason for delayed speech development of a child can be caused by insufficient development and functioning of the motor (motor) sphere. A close connection has been revealed between the formation of speech and the development of finger movements (fine motor skills). A structural speech defect is understood as the totality (composition) of speech and non-speech symptoms of a given speech disorder and the nature of their connections. In the structure of a speech defect, there is a primary, leading disorder (core) and secondary defects, which are in a cause-and-effect relationship with the first, as well as systemic consequences. The different structure of a speech defect is reflected in a certain ratio of primary and secondary symptoms and largely determines the specifics of targeted corrective action. The structure of the defect in speech disorders includes specific deviations in mental development. In speech disorders of various origins, the mechanisms of speech disorder are varied and ambiguous in terms of severity, time and location of brain damage. Thus, the picture of mental disorders against the background of early intrauterine damage is characterized by various developmental delays - intellectual, motor and psycho-emotional. With lesions caused by the disintegration of speech functions, first of all, gross disturbances of cognitive processes, thinking, as well as serious personal problems arise. At the same time, it is impossible to unambiguously link the chronological maturation of the psychological activity of children with speech disorders with the degree of developmental delay. Certain forms of mental disorders, including cognitive activity. There is no direct relationship between the severity of a speech defect and motor or mental disorders, such as anxiety, aggressiveness. Reduced self-esteem and others. At the same time, attention should be paid to the high plasticity of the child at an early age, which manifests itself in significant possibilities for compensating for the defect, which makes it possible to weaken primary disorders and achieve unique results in habilitation and correction of not only speech, but also behavior in general. ?One of the first principles to formulate for the analysis of speech disorders was Levin. She identified three principles: development, a systematic approach and consideration of speech disorders in the relationship of speech with other aspects of the child’s psychological development. The development principle involves an evolutionary-dynamic analysis of the occurrence of a defect. It is important not only to describe the speech defect, but also to dynamically analyze its occurrence. In children, neuropsychic functions are in the process of continuous development and maturation, it is necessary to evaluate not only the immediate results of the nervous defect, but also its delayed effect on the formation of speech and cognitive functions. Analysis of a speech defect in the dynamics of a child’s age-related development, assessment of the origins of its occurrence and prediction of its consequences require knowledge of the characteristics and patterns of speech development at each age stage, the prerequisites and conditions that ensure its development. Based on modern psychological data, the principle of analyzing speech disorders with a developmental position interacts with the principle of an active approach. The child’s activity is formed in the process of his interaction with adults, and each stage is characterized by one that is closely related to the development of speech. Therefore, when analyzing a speech disorder, assessing the child’s activity is important. For a child of the first year of life, the leading form of activity is emotionally positive communication with an adult, which is the basis for the formation of the prerequisites for verbal communication. Only on its basis does the child develop a need to communicate with an adult, its prerequisites develop in the form of vocal reactions, their coloration, sensory functions, i.e. the entire communication and cognitive complex, which is of decisive importance in the further psychological development of the child. In children in whom this type of activity develops poorly, for example, a long-term illness requiring hospitalization, or insufficient communication with others, the prerequisites for speech development are not sufficiently formed, and such a child may lag behind in speech development in the first years of life. In a child of the second year of life, the leading form of activity that stimulates his speech development is objective-based communication with an adult. Only in the process of performing the simplest objective actions with an adult does the child learn the basic purpose of objects, the experience of social behavior, develop the necessary stock of knowledge and ideas about the environment, passive and active vocabulary, and begin to use forms of verbal communication. If there is no change in the leading form of activity, and emotional-positive communication continues to predominate, then the child experiences a delay in speech development. This is observed in children with cerebral palsy. From the age of three, play becomes the leading form of activity, during which intensive development of speech occurs. Special studies have shown the connection between the development of speech and symbolic play in children of primary preschool age. In this regard, the game is proposed as a way to assess and predict speech development, as well as for the purpose of correcting speech disorders. And finally, at school age, leading educational activities form the basis for improving the child’s oral and written speech. Speech disorders are considered in speech therapy within the framework of clinical-pedagogical and psychological-pedagogical approaches.
Clinical and pedagogical classification of speech disorders: it can be divided into two groups depending on what type of speech is impaired: oral or written. Speech disorders, in turn, can be divided into two types:
I. Phonation (external) design of utterances, which are called violations of the pronunciation side of speech
II. Structural-semantic (internal) design of statements, which in speech therapy are called systemic or polymorphic disorders.
1. I dysphonia (aphonia) – absence or disorder of phonation as a result of pathological changes in the vocal apparatus. It manifests itself either in the absence of phonation (aphonia), or in a violation of the strength, pitch and timbre of the voice (dysphonia), can be caused by organic or functional disorders of the voice-forming mechanism of central or peripheral localization and occur at any stage of the child’s development.;
2. bradylagia - pathologically slow rate of speech. Manifests itself in the slow implementation of the articulatory speech program, is centrally conditioned, can be organic or functional;
3. Tahilalia - pathologically accelerated rate of speech. Manifests itself in the accelerated implementation of the articulatory speech program, is conditioned, organic or functional; acceleration of speech may be accompanied by agrammatisms. These phenomena are sometimes identified as independent disorders, expressed in terms of battarism, paraphasia. In cases where tachylalia is accompanied by unreasonable pauses, hesitations, and stumbling, it is designated by the term poltera;
4. stuttering is a violation of the tempo-rhythmic organization of speech, caused by a convulsive state of the muscles of the speech apparatus, is centrally conditioned, has an organic or functional nature, and occurs during the speech development of the child;
5. dyslapia – a violation of sound pronunciation with normal hearing and intact innervation of the speech apparatus. It manifests itself in incorrect sound design of speech: in distorted pronunciation of sounds, in replacement of sounds or in their mixing. In case of anatomical defects, the violation is organic in nature, and in their absence, it is functional;
7. dysarthria - a violation of the pronunciation side of speech, caused by insufficient innervation of the speech apparatus. Dysarthria is a consequence of an organic disorder of a central nature, leading to movement disorders. Depending on the location of the central nervous system lesion, various forms of dysarthria are distinguished:
II (1) alalia – absence or underdevelopment of speech due to organic damage to the speech areas of the cerebral cortex in the prenatal or early period of a child’s development;
(2) aphasia – complete or partial loss of speech caused by local brain lesions due to traumatic brain injury or brain tumors.
Impaired written speech:
1- dyslexia – partial specific disorder of the reading process. Manifests itself in difficulties in identifying and recognizing letters, in difficulties merging letters into syllables and syllables into words;
2- dysgraphia – a partial specific disorder of the writing process. It manifests itself in the instability of the optical-spatial image of the letter, in confusion or omission of letters, in distortions of the sound-voice composition of the word and the structure of sentences.
Psychological and pedagogical classification. Speech disorders in this classification are divided into two groups:
The first group is a violation of the means of communication (phonetic-phonemic underdevelopment and general underdevelopment of speech):
1- phonetic-phonemic underdevelopment of speech - a violation of the processes of formation of the pronunciation system of the native language in children with various speech disorders as a result of defects in the perception and pronunciation of phonemes;
2- general underdevelopment of speech - various complex speech disorders in which the formation of all components of the speech system related to the sound and semantic side is impaired. Common signs include: late onset of speech development, poor vocabulary, agrammatism, pronunciation defects, and phoneme formation defects. Underdevelopment can be expressed to varying degrees: absence of speech or its babbling state to expanded speech, but with elements of phonetic and lexico-grammatical underdevelopment.
The second group is a violation of the use of means of communication, which includes stuttering, which is considered as a violation of the communicative function of speech with correctly formed means of communication. A combined defect is also possible, in which stuttering is combined with general speech underdevelopment.
Since the 30s of the 20th century, the mechanism of stuttering began to be considered based on Pavlov’s teachings about the higher nervous activity of man and, in particular, about the mechanism of neurosis. At the same time, some researchers considered stuttering as a symptom of neurosis, others - as a special form of it. Stuttering, like other neuroses, occurs due to various reasons that cause overstrain and the formation of a pathological conditioned reflex. Stuttering is not a symptom or a syndrome, but a disease of the central nervous system as a whole.
Levina, considering stuttering as a speech underdevelopment, sees its essence in the primary violation of the communicative function of speech. A study of attention, memory, thinking, and psychomotor skills in people who stutter showed that the structure of their mental activity and its self-regulation were altered. They already perform activities that require a high level of automation (and therefore rapid inclusion in the activity), but the differences in productivity between people who stutter and those who do not stutter disappear as soon as the activity can be performed at a voluntary level. The exception is that psychomotor acts are performed largely automatically and do not require voluntary regulation; for people who stutter, regulation is a complex task that requires voluntary control. Some researchers believe that people who stutter are characterized by greater inertia of psychological processes than normal speakers; they are characterized by the phenomenon of perseveration associated with the mobility of the nervous system.
The mechanisms of stuttering from the position of psycholinguistics suggest at what stage of damage to speech utterances convulsions occur in the speech of a stutterer. The following phases of speech communication are distinguished:
(1) the presence of a need for speech, or communicative intention;
(2) the birth of the idea of a statement about inner speech;
(3) sound realization of the utterance.
Abeleva believes that stuttering occurs at the moment of readiness to speak when the speaker has a communicative intention, a speech program and the fundamental ability to speak normally. The author proposes to include a phase of readiness for speech during which the pronunciation mechanism of a stutterer “breaks down”, all its systems: generator, resonator and energy. Roads emerge that clearly manifest themselves in the final phase. The mechanisms of stuttering are heterogeneous.
As you know, the main task of individual psychology is the study of mental characteristics, properties or qualities that distinguish people from each other. Differences between people are found both in individual aspects of the psyche, for example, in the characteristics of volitional qualities, emotionality, perception, memory, etc., and in the characteristics of the psyche in general, in differences in characters. The question of differences in the psyche and character traits is closely related to general psychological positions. Atomistic psychology, including functional psychology, starts from the differences in mental elements and tries to derive personality differences from them. Holistic psychology recognizes the dependence of the part on the whole and considers the initial differences in characters.
The basic concept of psychology - personality and its mental activity - involves the development of problems, without illuminating which it is impossible to understand personality. These problems, which have not received sufficient attention in school psychology, but are theoretically and practically highly important, include: problems of interests, needs, values (ethical, aesthetic), character, inclinations.
Approaching the analysis of mental activity and encountering different properties of the human psyche, we are faced, first of all, with the question of their relative role, their connections with each other, as well as the unity that, hiding behind diversity, warns us against views of personality as mosaic of individual properties. In developing this question, we have long been putting forward the concept of mental relationships, the decisive importance of which is proven by everyday practice in all areas, but is not sufficiently reflected in the psychological literature. Life is full of such happy facts: as you know, the quality and success of work depend on the attitude towards it; a task that seems insoluble is solved thanks to a selfless attitude towards one’s responsibilities: pedagogical efforts turn an undisciplined and dissolute student into an exemplary one when one manages to change his attitude towards school and his responsibilities; The return of a depressed patient to life by means of psychotherapy is achieved if he begins to have a different attitude towards what painfully disrupted his neuropsychic activity.
In pre-revolutionary psychology, the importance of relationships was put forward by Lazursky in the doctrine of “exopsyche” and Bekhterev in the doctrine of “correlative activity”. Currently, the doctrine of relationships is gradually gaining more and more coverage in the materials of the works of Soviet authors. The mental attitude expresses the active, selective position of the individual, which determines the individual nature of activity and individual actions. WITH It is from this point of view that we highlight here the problems of individual psychology.
The diversity of individuality raises the question of where to begin to characterize it? A person manifests himself in active interaction with reality. The richer the individuality, the more actively it restructures reality, the wider its experience, the more mediated its reactions, the more they lose dependence on the immediate conditions of the moment and become, as it were, internally determined. As a result of this “internal” conditioning, actions in the same situation may have a contrasting character depending on the individual experience of the individual. Its activity is characterized primarily by a polar attitude of interest or indifference. In turn, selectively directed activity is determined by a positive attitude - desire, love, passion, respect, duty, etc. or a negative attitude - antipathy, antagonism, enmity, etc. The importance of these moments in the manifestation of character was noted by many authors who occupied a wide variety of methodological positions (Polan, Lossky, Stern, Adler, Künkel, Allport, Utitz). But their definitions of character are amorphous, eclectic, one-sided or descriptive, and therefore unsatisfactory.
Obviously, personality characteristics cannot be limited only to aspirations or positive tendencies; but must be complemented by highlighting her indifferent and negative attitudes. Relationships connect a person with all aspects of reality, but with all their diversity, three main categories can be established: 1) natural phenomena or the world of things, 2) people and social phenomena, 3) the subject-person himself. It cannot be emphasized enough that the perception of nature is mediated by social experience, and A person’s attitude towards himself is connected with his relations with other people and their attitude towards him. Therefore, for the typology of characters, the characteristics of relationships with people are of paramount importance, one-sidedly understood as the antagonism of the personal and the social by such authors as Adler, Jung, Künkel and others.
Personality actively manifests itself not so much in a one-sided impact on nature and things, but in the two-way interaction of people, which forms, develops or distorts character. Along with direction, we distinguish between structure, level and dynamics of character. When talking about character structure, we usually mean such traits as balance, integrity, duality, inconsistency, harmony, internal consistency, etc. It is structurally united by coordination, mutual consistency of relationships, unity of personal and social, subjective and objective tendencies. Imbalance, duality, internal contradiction depend on the inconsistency of tendencies and their conflict. The level of personality is expressed by its creative capabilities, but is also found in the relationships of the individual. According to Lazursky, the highest level of personality is characterized most of all by the exopsyche (relationships, ideals), the lowest by the endopsyche (neuropsychic mechanisms), and the middle level by the correspondence of the exo- and endopsyche.
There is no need to say that for modern psychology these formulations must be changed, and reference to A.F. Lazursky is given only as a subtle and deep empiricist observer, pointing out the importance of relationships here too. We will note two points. The growth of experience and the generalization of the entire wealth of human culture are accompanied by the replacement of tendencies - interests, more elementary, organically conditioned, “animal”, with higher, ideological, cultural ones. This rather banal opposition of lower drives to higher drives usually mistakenly takes into account the determining role of only one or another drive, but loses sight of the holistic nature of the relationship, which is different at different levels of development.
The second concerns the orientation of trends over time. The development and growth of activity makes behavior more and more internally determined, and a person’s actions are no longer determined by the situation of the moment - the framework of the current situation endlessly expands retrospectively and prospectively. A deep perspective is a task and goals projected far into the future; this is the structure of personality, its behavior and Activity, in which specific and labile relations of the acute current moment are subordinated to a stable relationship that integrates many moments of the present, past and future.
The character types described by psychologists acquire a significantly new meaning in the light of the psychology of relationships.
Kretschmer’s “sensitivity” and “expansiveness” are a passive or offensive sharpening of egocentric tendencies. Jung's "introverted" type is one isolated from communication with an accentuation of personal tendencies; The “extroverted” type is objectively sociocentric with a lack of individually defined human experience.
As is known, Ewald, focusing on Kretschmer, puts forward the significance of individual moments of reaction as the basis for determining character traits; These include: impressionability, ability to retain - retention, intrapsychic processing, ability to respond. It is extremely easy to show the formalism and lifelessness of this scheme, although it would seem to be illustrated by rich empirical material.
Isn't egoism an expression of increased sensitivity in matters of a personal nature and complete insensitivity to other people's interests? Doesn't the regent capacity also vary contrastively depending on the attitude towards the content of the experience? How can we explain that a person remembers well how he was offended, but does not remember how he was offended? Less often, but still the opposite occurs. What, if not attitude, explains the ability of one and the same person to respond, manifested by amazing incontinence towards subordinates and great restraint in relation to superiors.
The entire “reaction structure” of Kretschmer-Ewald turns out to be a dead abstract mechanism until it is revived by the content of concrete relations.
Restraint and self-control represent the strong-willed qualities of a person. It is generally accepted, and not without reason, to believe that will is closely related to character. However, how should volitional qualities be defined? For example, is it possible to say about a person in general that he is firm, persistent, stubborn, etc.?
It is well known that, while displaying unyielding persistence in some circumstances, a person can be very compliant in others. He is persistent in what is important to him and compliant in what is not essential. Perseverance in matters of principle rather coincides with compliance in personal matters. Volitional qualities of character are thus measured at the level of significant relationships.
Consequently, the assessment of a person’s functional capabilities should be based on taking into account the active relationship of the individual to a given situation. The condition for a meaningful characteristic therefore lies not only in the subject objective content, but in the subjective content, i.e. the significance of the objective for the subject, in the subject’s relation to this content.
Stubbornness as a characterological quality represents a form of self-affirmation. Moreover, it can manifest itself both in the essential and in relatively small details, regardless of the mental level of the individual insofar as its significance in all cases is determined by the egocentric tendency of the individual - prestige. On the other hand, stubbornness contrastively expresses the attitude towards the influencer. Don’t we know brilliant examples of pedagogical art that magically transform the insurmountably stubborn into soft, like wax?
On the question of functions and individual characteristics, it is also worth dwelling on the problem of memory. Here we can note the contradiction that exists between the generally accepted importance of interest for memorization and between how little interest is taken into account in the nature of memory. Ribot's paradoxically witty, although not entirely correct, formula states: in order to remember, one must forget. But what is subjectively unimportant is forgotten, but what is important is remembered.
Cuvier is cited as an example of enormous memory, usually indicating that the main thing for him was not mechanical memory, but, first of all, an amazing systematization of material. However, it is completely overlooked that both memorization and systematization occur in the field of materials of vital significance and interest.
In the characterization of memory and in its experimental study, this aspect is surprisingly little taken into account, while it has a huge influence on reproduction.
The problem of character, as is known, is closely related to the problem of temperament, and temperament manifests itself most of all in the dynamics of reactions, i.e. in excitability, pace, strength of reactions, in general psychological tone, which affects mood.
However, even here, manifestations of strength, excitability, and rate of reactions do not affect the same in different directions and are determined by the attitude to the object or circumstance that was the reason for the reaction.
Considering that the dynamic characteristics are different at the poles of active and indifferent relationships, we must, of course, not forget that human reactions already early lose their directly affective-dynamic character and are intellectually mediated.
A compelling example is the exercise of patience. Usually this quality is attributed to strong-willed character traits. It is also known that excitable, expansive people of sanguine temperament are impatient. However, how oppositely temperament manifests itself in interaction with a loved or unloved object! The endless patience of a mother with a child, a doctor with a patient, is a measure of their love or sense of duty, and not of their temperament.
On the contrary, we constantly observe how people, revealing impatience (and sometimes lack of understanding), thereby express an unwillingness to restrain themselves or understand, which, in turn, stems from a negative or hostile attitude towards the person with whom they are dealing. Impatience is a measure of antipathy, excessive interest or lack thereof. A hot, quick-tempered, proud person may turn out to be indifferent to offensive criticism if he treats the critic with disdain.
Individuals who are emotionally excitable and expansive, experiencing deep grief, react differently or completely lose the ability to react to everything that previously worried them; they are “petrified,” in their words. A heightened, painful-emotional attitude in the area of basic interests makes a person completely unresponsive in other respects.
The dynamic individual psychological properties of temperament are, at the level of developed character, a “sublated” form, the driving forces of which are determined by a conscious attitude.
Therefore, the correct understanding the structure of character, its level, dynamics and functional features is possible only from the standpoint of the psychology of relationships.
One of the most important tasks in the study of character is to establish its material basis. In the question of the physiological-materialistic interpretation of mental processes, raised long ago, and in the question of Given the material-cerebral nature of mental relations, the danger of an idealistic interpretation is obvious. Attempts to understand the bodily foundations of temperament and character, based on relatively little material about the role of metabolic biochemistry, endocrine glands, autonomic nervous system and brain, are not only not justified in fact, but suffer from a naively biological mechano-materialistic approach. They do not take into account the fact that a truly materialistic understanding of character, including the individual psychology of his relationships, can only be historical-materialistic. It must combine an understanding of the material nature of character and the socio-historical conditionality of its development. Only a historical-materialistic understanding reveals the unity of ethical character and temperament. The dualist in this matter ultimately turns out to be a mystic, since, despite the physiological interpretation of temperament, he idealistically, mystically interprets the ethical character.
The study of the metabolism of the endocrine glands and the autonomic nervous system showed us how somatic and mental characteristics express the psychophysiological nature of character. Research by Pavlov and a number of his students has brought us closer to understanding the brain conditions underlying differences in temperament. These studies show us already at the level of dog development the unity of attitude and dynamics. A dog greedily seeking food is characterized as an excitable type, determined by the dynamics of the nervous system and, in particular, a breakdown towards excitation.
The opposite can be said about a weak type dog. There is no need to say that here we have learned something essential, although not everything, about the nervous type of reaction. Less illuminated reactions of other systems (for example, sexual, self-defense) in their mutual connection with food show us that the integral characteristic of the nervous type requires addition.
The achievements of modern science and technology allow us to believe that there are great possibilities for indicating and recording the somatic side of individual psychological characteristics. The study of brain biocurrents indicates that this indicator, which directly characterizes the functioning of the brain and its parts, is individually expressive and at the same time tends to preserve individual characteristics.
Great achievements in the field of “psychophysiology of sensory organs” and movement have not yet been sufficiently illuminated in terms of characterological features, mainly based on the material of psychopathology.
These clinics provide guidance, albeit indirectly, to some extent on the question of what changes in the psyche and how they are associated with general and local disorders of the structure and function of the brain. The empirical material is so insufficient compared to the complexity of the task that only the first timid steps are taken here, especially in the problem of relationships.
Regardless of this difficulty, a mere correlative study of the characteristics of the psyche and the characteristics of the brain at one stage is in principle insufficient.
An important method for resolving the problem of psychophysiology of character is ontogenetic psychophysiology, based on the study of experience and the development of mental relationships.
The legality of starting the study from a developed form is known, but one must be clear that it represents the result of a long historical: onto- and phylogenetic development of humanity and the human individual. We have different structures, and therefore we are faced with the task of studying the development of the character and relationships of the individual, the stages and driving force of this development. Development seems to be, first of all, not a fatal revelation of predispositions, but a creative process of new formation of relationships, which at the initial stage of infant development is carried out, as shown by the theoretical considerations of old psychologists and new experience (Watson, Bekhterev, Shchelovanov, Figurin, etc.), through the new formation of conditioned reflexes
Initial positive or negative reactions to direct internal and external contact stimuli with the emergence of concentration and the increasing role of distant receptors can be characterized as conditioned reflex stage of relationships. Here variations and types, according to these authors, act as the dominant signs of temperaments.
Subsequently, perception becomes an experienced source of relationships in which the emotional component is decisive. Repeated emotional positive and negative reactions are caused conditionally. Integrated by the speech apparatus, they result primarily in relation to love, affection, fear, inhibition, and enmity. This - level of specific emotional relationships.
Activity as a source of satisfaction is increasingly mediated by selective attitudes toward individuals in the social environment. Relationships become concretely personal.
The development process is associated with the fact that new levels of relationships are characterized by different functional and mental structures. Concrete ideas about objects of relation are replaced by abstract and fundamental ones. Direct external, situational, specific emotional motives are replaced by internal, intellectual and volitional ones. But not only relationships activate the function, but also, on the contrary, the developing the functional structure is a condition for the implementation of the relationship: need, interest, love mobilize functional capabilities mental activity to satisfy needs and interests, but this already creates a new need, the satisfaction of which raises the functional characteristics to a new level on the basis of mastering new experience, new means of activity. Striving not only mobilizes, but also develops, moving towards new achievements, which create new aspirations, and so on.
Our internal activity is manifested by a tendency to activity directed towards the greatest interest and rising from an internal dark attraction to a purposeful, conscious need. The course of development takes place in conditions of continuous interaction with people and in such close connection with them that the attitude towards people becomes the defining moment in the struggle of motives. Directing one's activities in accordance with the interests of others early becomes the driving force of behavior and experience. This superstructure is at the same time an internal restructuring of a person.
For the formation of character, the struggle between immediate attraction and the demands of others is extremely important. Even more important in this struggle is the voluntary refusal to satisfy a desire based on a positive attitude - love, respect, or the compulsion of this refusal due to fear of punishment.
As pedagogical and psychotherapeutic experience shows, in the first case we have the consequence of strengthening character, in the second - its suppression, the negative significance of which has been rightly pointed out by many authors.
No less important in development is the struggle between direct drive and the objective and internal demands of duties, duty, conscience, etc.
In the process of development, depending on its history, relationships begin to be determined by the action of a non-transient moment, not by external conditions, but become multilateral, promising, internally and fundamentally oriented, internally consistent or contradictory.
Character traits become stable in the process of development, but not due to the inertia of habits or constitutional mechanisms, but due to the generality and internal stability of fundamental positions. At the same time, the dynamism of relationships, the possibility of their constant restructuring based on a new awareness of reality, make the character as dynamic, changeable, and educable as possible.
From this follow completely clear, consistent positions on the issue of variability and character development. Pedagogy and psychotherapy show us examples of the amazing transformation of people with contrasting changes in character. It is enough to point out the brilliant, truly miraculous experience of Makarenko, who turned seemingly inveterate bandits into enthusiasts of collective construction. This amazing result and the less vivid experience of many good teachers and psychotherapists, starting with establishing personal contact, changing the relationship with a pupil or patient, rebuilding and adjusting his relationship to himself and to everything around him in a new way, show us how and in what way an individual person changes of a person, how dynamic the character is, how much a change in the higher, socio-ethical aspects of relationships rebuilds the entire character of a person, both in the content of its orientation and in the external form of its manifestations.
From this we can conclude that the principle of relationships allows the doctrine of character to overcome formalism and take the path of a meaningful study of personality.
This principle helps not only in words to reject the analytical-mechanical, splitting, functional approach, but in the unity of a person’s relationship to every moment and element of multifaceted reality, see the true unity of character, manifested in the diversity of individual individual characteristics. It allows overcome metaphysical positions in the view of character and form a correct dynamic understanding of it, eliminating the theoretical prerequisites for pedagogical fatalism.
This principle, finally, most of all corresponds to the dialectical-materialistic understanding of human individuality, the awareness of the principle of historicity, which unites both the materialistic and historical understanding of mental individuality in a truly dialectical study. This construction of the psychology of individual differences is closely connected with the reconstruction of general psychological positions and makes it possible to more correctly consider individual psychology in unity with general psychology, both as its method and as an area of independent problems.
5. The problem of individual (typological) differences
When talking about the individual characteristics of a person, manifested in his social behavior, three terms are usually used: “temperament”, “character”, “personality”. According to the definition given in the latest, third edition of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, temperament is “the characteristic of an individual in terms of the dynamic features of his mental activity, i.e. tempo, rhythm, intensity of individual mental processes and states. In the structure of temperament, three main components can be distinguished : the general activity of the individual, his motor manifestations and emotionality" (1976, vol. 25, p. 415). Character is “a holistic and stable individual structure of a person’s mental life, its type, the “disposition” of a person, manifested in individual acts and states of his mental life, as well as in his manners, habits, mentality and the circle of emotional life characteristic of a person. as the basis of his behavior..." (Ibid., 1978, vol. 28, p. 193).
At first it seems that the definitions of temperament and character practically coincide, but in our everyday everyday practice we are unlikely to confuse a person’s temperament with his character. It is character, and not temperament, that we will call strong, weak, hard, soft, heavy, bad, persistent, difficult to bear, etc. The intuitively felt difference, the discrepancy between temperament and character, suggests that this difference is based on some significantly different manifestations individuality.
Temperament primarily expresses a person’s attitude towards the events taking place around him. Character is manifested in action - active, purposeful, indecisive, submissive-imitative, etc. What they have in common is that neither temperament nor character tell us anything about the social value of a given person, they refer to the fact that M. Rusalov (1985) calls the formal-dynamic aspect of the psyche, in contrast to its content aspect, which is found in the personality, since personality is “a stable system of socially significant traits that characterize the individual as a member of a particular society or community” (TSB, 1973, vol. 14, p. 578). Personality includes temperament, character, and a person’s abilities (his intellect), but is not limited to them, since personality is “the core that integrates the principle that links together the various mental processes of the individual and imparts to his behavior the necessary consistency and stability” (Ibid. , p. 579).
“Human personality,” wrote I.P. Pavlov, “is determined both by biological heredity and environment. The strength of the nervous system (temperament) is an innate property, character (form of behavior) largely consists of acquired habits” (Pavlov, 1954, p. .618). Let us emphasize that the physiological organization of the brain, the individual characteristics of its functioning and the content side of the psyche, formed as a result of social education, are not absolutely independent categories. To deduce the meaningful side of the psyche from hereditary inclinations is as absurd as denying the role of these inclinations in the peculiarities of the subject’s assimilation of social experience. Straightforward determinism is doomed in advance. It’s a different matter if we move to the position of systemic determinism, recognizing that the same social experience offered by the environment will be assimilated differently depending on the individual, including “formal-dynamic” characteristics of the subject’s psyche.
Considering human needs as the primary source and driving force of his behavior, we believe that each human personality is determined by an individually unique composition and internal hierarchy of the basic (vital, social and ideal) needs of a given person, including their varieties of preservation and development, “for oneself” and “ for others" (see Chapter 2). The most important characteristic of a personality is the fact which of these needs and for how long time occupy a dominant position in the hierarchy of coexisting motives, which of the needs the mechanism of creative intuition-superconsciousness “works” for, in the terminology of K. S. Stanislavsky, which we will talk about in the next chapter. Above we have already referred to L.N. Tolstoy, who brilliantly guessed that it is from “motives of activity” that “all the differences between people” arise. Personality tests of the future are a system of methodological techniques that makes it possible to answer the question of to what extent the value orientations of a given individual are determined by his vital, social and ideal needs, focus on himself and others, tendencies of preservation and development. The dominant need, that is, the dominant need more often than others and longer than others - the “super-super task of life” of a given person, according to Stanislavsky’s definition - is the true core of personality, its most essential feature. The complete satisfaction of this dominant need is usually called happiness, which makes the idea of happiness a touchstone for testing a given personality. “The alpha and omega of my pedagogical faith,” said V. A. Sukhomlinsky, “is the deep belief that a person is what his idea of happiness is” (Ovchinnikova, 1976, p. 3). The difficulty of verbalizing this idea, which belongs to the sphere of superconsciousness, is reflected in the saying that happiness is a state when a person does not ask what happiness is.
If the initial, basic needs structure a person’s personality, then the individual expression and composition of additional needs (overcoming, arming, imitation and saving strength) determine his character. The need to overcome underlies a person’s volitional qualities; the degree of satisfaction of the need for equipment gives him the traits of confidence, determination, and stability in extreme situations. The tendency to imitate determines the degree of independence of a person’s actions, and the need to save energy makes a character energetic, purposeful or, on the contrary, passive, lazy, and inclined to idle pastime.
Just as the needs of humanity as a whole are a product of world history, the set and correlation of the needs of each individual person is a product of the history of his life, the individual conditions of his upbringing, and his ontogenetic development. Despite the importance of natural inclinations and abilities, personality and character are formed under the decisive influence of a specific social environment. Temperament, or the type of higher nervous activity, in the terminology of I. P. Pavlov, is most directly related to the individual characteristics of the structure and functions of the brain.
In Pavlov's approach to the problem of individual differences in psyche and behavior, two levels of analysis can be distinguished, developed by Pavlov himself to far from the same extent.
Firstly, this is, so to speak, the macro level, i.e. the properties of the processes of excitation and inhibition of nerve cells - their strength, balance and mobility. The results of experiments with conditioned reflexes and long-term observations of the behavior of dogs led Pavlov to the idea that types of nervous system, similar to the temperaments of ancient authors, are common to humans and higher mammals. In Pavlov's classification, a choleric person corresponds to a strong excitable unbalanced type, and a melancholic person corresponds to a weak type. A sanguine person is a strong, balanced, active type according to Pavlov, and a phlegmatic person is a strong, balanced, inert type. With his characteristic observation, Pavlov noted the characteristic features of emotionality inherent in each of the main types. According to Pavlov, a strong unbalanced type is prone to rage, a weak one is prone to fear, a sanguine person is characterized by a predominance of positive emotions, and a phlegmatic person does not show any violent emotional reactions to the environment at all. Pavlov wrote: “The excitable type in its highest manifestation is mostly animals of an aggressive nature... The extreme inhibitory type is what is called a cowardly animal” (Pavlov, 1973, p. 321).
Basing his classification on the properties of excitation and inhibition, Pavlov is not limited to this level. He understood that the path from elementary nervous processes to externally realized behavior lies through the interaction of macrostructures - various functionally specialized parts of the brain. Considering extreme types - strong, unbalanced and weak - to be the main “suppliers” of neuropsychic diseases, primarily neuroses, Pavlov emphasized that hysteria is very characterized by emotivity, “and emotivity is the predominance... of the functions of subcortical centers with weakened control of the cortex... the hysterical subject lives, to a greater or lesser extent, not a rational, but an emotional life, controlled not by his cortical activity, but by subcortical activity" (Pavlov, 1973, pp. 323, 406). Having identified “specially human types of artists and thinkers” with a predominance of the first (concretely figurative) or second (speech, abstractly generalized) signal system of reality, Pavlov again saw the basis for the classification as the peculiarities of the functioning of brain macrostructures. “In artists,” wrote Pavlov, “the activity of the cerebral hemispheres, occurring throughout the entire mass, affects their frontal lobes least of all and is concentrated primarily in the remaining sections; in thinkers, on the contrary, it is predominantly in the first” (Pavlov, 1973, p. 411 ).
Today we, apparently, will prefer to consider Pavlovian “specially human” types as a result of the functional asymmetry of the cerebral hemispheres, where the “artistic type” will correspond to the relative predominance of the right (non-speech) hemisphere. The discovery of the specialization of the functions of the right and left hemispheres of the brain was a true triumph of Pavlov’s idea of the “artistic” and “mental” types as poles, between which the whole variety of intermediate forms of higher nervous activity of a person is located.
As applied to humans, Pavlovian typology underwent the most systematic experimental and theoretical development in the works of B. M. Teplov and V. D. Nebylitsyn. The results of these studies, in a very brief summary, are reduced to the following fundamental points.
Teplov and Nebylitsyn came to the reasonable conclusion that we should talk not about types, but about the properties of the nervous system, the combination of which characterizes this or that individuality. It turned out that the number of these properties should be significantly expanded, that the strength and mobility of nervous processes should be discussed separately in relation to excitation and inhibition, and the list of properties should be supplemented with the parameter of dynamism, on which the rate of development of new conditioned reflexes depends.
Teplov's school convincingly explained why the so-called weak type was preserved in the process of evolution, why it was not eliminated by natural selection. If the strong type exhibits high stability in extreme situations, then the increased sensitivity of the weak type is an equally valuable quality in other conditions where the ability to quickly and accurately distinguish external signals is required. Special experiments have shown that representatives of different types of nervous systems solve the same problems equally successfully, only each of them uses their own tactics of activity.
As research progressed, it became increasingly clear that the experimental techniques traditionally used to determine types reveal only partial properties of the nervous system. A technique addressed, say, to the visual analyzer, made it possible to diagnose a strong type in a subject, while testing of the auditory analyzer characterized the same subject as a representative of a weak type. Similar contradictions were found in animal experiments. Thus, according to V.N. Dumenko and V.I. Nosar (1980), the ability to develop instrumental motor reflexes in dogs does not correlate with the type of their nervous system, determined by the secretory method. As a result, by the beginning of the 60s, a truly crisis situation arose in the field of human typology (differential psychophysiology). In an effort to find a way out of this crisis, V.D. Nebylitsyn introduced the concept of the general properties of the nervous system, which included two main parameters: activity and emotionality (Nebylitsyn, 1968). V.D. Nebylitsyn believed that the basis of activity is the individual characteristics of the interaction of the activating reticular formation of the brain stem and the anterior parts of the neocortex, while emotionality is determined by the individual characteristics of the interaction of the anterior parts of the neocortex with the formations of the limbic system of the brain. Unfortunately, the tragic death of V.D. Nebylitsyn interrupted his creative path on the threshold of a fundamentally new stage in the development of differential psychophysiology.
A group of English researchers came to similar ideas about the morphophysiological foundations of human typology, which we associate primarily with the names of G. Eysenck (Eysenck, 1981) and J. Gray (Gray, 1972).
Using specially designed tests, G. Eysenck (Eysenck, Eysenck, 1976; Eysenck, 1981) identified three main parameters: 1) extra-introversiveness, 2) emotional stability and neuroticism opposing it, and 3) psychoticism, the opposite pole of which is a stable adherence to social standards Eysenck characterizes an extrovert as an open, sociable, talkative, active subject, and an introvert as uncommunicative, withdrawn, passive. These characteristics resemble the activity parameter in the classification of V. D. Nebylitsyn (1968). The highly neuroid subject is characterized as anxious, preoccupied, easily prone to anger, and emotionally unstable. He is opposed by an emotionally stable personality. It is not difficult to see that neuroticism is very close to “emotionality” according to Nebylitsyn. Finally, Eysenck’s high-psychoid type appears as a self-centered, cold, indifferent and aggressive subject, while the low-psychoid type is a friendly, sympathetic altruist who takes into account the rights of others.
Eysenck's typology can serve as another example of the existence, although far from clear and obvious, of connections between neurodynamic and meaningful personality characteristics. Extra-introversion is a formal-dynamic parameter. At the same time, there is a pronounced tendency of these types to preferentially satisfy certain needs, especially among individuals prone to neuroticism. Thus, extroverts highly value an active, active life. Introverts - freedom and self-esteem, and neuroids - internal harmony, less concerned about external success (Furnham, 1984).
According to Eysenck, extraintroversion is based on individual characteristics of the interaction between the activating reticular formation and the anterior sections of the neocortex. J. Gray (Gray, 1972) added the hippocampus and the medial part of the septum to these two structures. An introvert has a more developed septo-hippocampal system, which inhibits behavior; in an extrovert, the incentive system is formed by the lateral hypothalamus and the medial bundle of the forebrain. The degree of neuroticism is determined, according to Eysenck, by the individual characteristics of the interaction of limbic structures with the formations of the new cortex. According to Eysenck, an emotionally unstable extrovert corresponds to the choleric temperament of ancient authors, a stable extrovert corresponds to a sanguine person, an unstable introvert corresponds to a melancholic person, and a stable introvert corresponds to a phlegmatic person.
Although the degree of extra-introversion is determined mainly using questionnaires, there is data from an experimental study of this typological parameter. If the subject in the chamber is given the opportunity to turn on increased lighting and sound stimuli at his discretion, then introverts prefer to be in silence and a darkened room most of the time, and extroverts prefer the opposite (Eysenck, 1975). Unlike extroverts, introverts are better at reproducing material presented for memorization some time after exposure. According to J. Gray, extroverts are more sensitive to reward, while introverts are more sensitive to punishment (Wilson, 1978). Introverts have been found to have stronger galvanic skin responses to emotionally salient questions (Gudjonsson, 1982). The frequency and amplitude of the alpha rhythm of the electroencephalogram is higher in extroverts compared to introverts, while the level of neuroticism does not correlate with this indicator ((Deakin, Exley, 1979; Gilliland, Andress, Bracy, 1981). Registration of auditory evoked potentials led the authors to the conclusion that the difference between extra- and introverts manifests itself at both the cortical and subcortical levels (Andress, Church, 1981) While examining the individual characteristics of a number of electroencephalogram characteristics, D. Robinson (Robinson, 1982) suggested that the basis of the parameter. The strength of the nervous system according to Pavlov and extra-introversion according to Eysenck lies in the interaction of neural populations of the diffuse thalamocortical system. During the examination of patients with damage to the mediobasal structures of the temporal lobe of the brain, S. V. Madorsky (1982) discovered that the lesion on the right is accompanied by a shift in the direction of introversion, and lesion on the left - extraversion, since patients with a right-sided pathological process are more sensitive to painful stimuli, especially if the amygdala is involved in the process. A comparison of the characteristics of evoked potentials to light stimuli and cardiovascular reactions with the level of neuroticism led to the conclusion that these characteristics can be explained by the interaction of the anterior parts of the neocortex, hippocampus, amygdala and hypothalamus (Polyantsev, Rumyantseva, Kulikov, 1985).
In recent years, attempts have been made to find analogues of extraintroversion, neuroticism and psychoticism in animals, mainly in rats. As an experimental technique, the open field technique is usually used here, where exploratory activity serves as an indicator of extroversion, and the so-called “emotionality” (the number of urinations and defecations) is an indicator of neuroticism. The degree of aggressiveness is considered as an analogue of psychoticism (Garcia-Sevilla, 1984). M. Zuckerman believes that the level of catecholamines is the basis of individual behavioral characteristics (Zuckerman, 1984). It has been shown that activity in the open field positively correlates with the speed of development of the defensive conditioned reflex in the shuttle chamber, but passive rats better retain the memory of painful stimulation after its single application (Chaichenko, 1982).
Open field behavior is associated with the functioning of the neocortex and hippocampus. This is evidenced by the results of work on breeding mouse strains with different volumes of brain structures. Small hippocampal and large neocortical volumes are positively correlated with motor activity in the open field. Sedentary mice with a large hippocampus learn passive avoidance faster (Shiryaeva, Vaido, 1980; Wimer, Wimer, Roderick, 1971). On the other hand, the consequences of destruction of limbic brain structures depend on the genetic characteristics of the animal (Isaacson and McClearn, 1978; Isaacson, 1980).
The specialization of the functions of the anterior sections of the neocortex, hippocampus, amygdala and hypothalamus, which we described in detail in the previous chapter, gave us reason to assume that the individual characteristics of the activity of each of these structures, and even more so the characteristics of their interaction, largely determine individual (typological) features of animal behavior comparable to Eysenck’s classification.
The experiments were carried out on 40 outbred adult white male rats, kept in a vivarium of 10 individuals in fairly spacious cages. The experimental chamber (Fig. 21) was a wooden box measuring 33X41X34 cm. Inside the box there were: 1) a relatively spacious part with an area of 33X23 cm; 2) a plexiglass “house” with an area of 16X14 cm with a constantly open door and a pedal floor, the pressure on which automatically turned on the time counter; 3) located next to the “house” behind a thin transparent sound-permeable partition, a room for a partner with a floor in the form of a metal lattice. The entire chamber was illuminated by diffuse light from a 100 W lamp installed near the ceiling of the room.
The animal under study was placed daily in a large compartment of the chamber for 5 minutes, and the time it spent in the “house” on the pedal was recorded, as well as the number of appearances in the “house.” During the first 5 days, each appearance of a rat in the “house” led to the inclusion of additional lighting with a 100 W lamp located 45 cm from the floor of the chamber, and a sound stimulus - a tone with a frequency of 220 Hz and a volume of 80 dB. Over the next 5 days, entering the “house” was accompanied by electrical stimulation of the paws of the “victim” rat with a force of 1-2 mA. The stimulation of the “victim” lasted 3-5 s at five-second intervals as long as the test rat was on the pedal. For the last 5 days, the entrance to the “house” again increased the lighting and turned on the sound.
We considered the time spent on the pedal, which closed the electrical circuit, to be an indicator of sensitivity to the cry of pain of another individual of the same species (psychoticism in Eysenck's terminology). Extraintroversion was judged by the comparative effectiveness of two aversive influences: increasing illumination and sounding tone or signals of defensive arousal of the partner (screaming, movements, release of specific odorous substances). The total average time spent in the “house” with a pedal under the influence of both artificial and zoosocial aversive stimuli and the number of runs from the open space of the chamber to the “house” and back indicated the level of emotional stability (neuroticism).
The following criteria were adopted. A rat was considered sensitive to the pain cry if it remained on the pedal for less than 1 min. Extraversion was diagnosed when the time spent on the pedal under the influence of light and sound was at least 1 minute longer than the time during painful stimulation of another rat. Opposite attitudes were regarded as introversion. The remaining rats were considered ambiverts. We defined a rat as emotionally stable (low-neuroid) if the total average time spent on the pedal during the action of aversive stimuli exceeded 1 min 30 s.
Examples of rats with the characteristics listed above are given in Table. 1. It is clear that such a division is very conditional: the individual characteristics of the behavior of a given rat are characterized by the absolute values of the indicators we have chosen, and not by the conventional boundaries between extroverts, introverts and ambiverts. These boundaries are needed only for statistical calculations characterizing the population or comparative resistance to neurotic influences, which will be discussed below. The ratio of various types of behavior in a population of 40 examined rats is presented in Table. 2.
It is difficult to say to what extent these individual behavioral characteristics depend on genetic or environmental factors, although there is evidence that the frequency of lever pressing, reinforced by turning on the light and reducing the noise, is 71% genetically determined in laboratory rats (Oakeshott, Glow, 1980 ).
In a study conducted jointly with M. L. Pigareva, V. N. Mats and T. I. Mikheeva (Simonov, 1981), we found a dependence of the above parameters on the safety or damage of a number of limbic structures. In Fig. 22, graph I shows the average time spent on the pedal of seven intact rats, for which signals of defensive excitation of the partner (screaming, movements, release of specific odorous substances) were a more effective stimulus than increasing illumination and sounding tones. After bilateral coagulation of the frontal parts of the neocortex and hippocampus (Fig. 23), these rats showed exactly the opposite relationships: the time spent on the pedal under the influence of sound and light decreased, and during the cry of the “victim” it increased (see graph II in Fig. 22 ). Five rats with bilateral damage to the frontal cortex, lateral and ventromedial hypothalamus (Fig. 24) turned out to be equally sensitive to the combination of sound with increased illumination, and to signals of defensive excitation of the partner (see graph III in Fig. 22). These animals were characterized by fearfulness, increased aggressiveness, violent reactions to touch, along with signs of weakening aversiveness of open space. The rats slowly and rarely entered the “house”, and when the light and sound were turned on or when the partner screamed, they left the “house” after 10-20 s. If something distracted the rat (for example, it started grooming), the light, sound and scream of the “victim” lost their effectiveness.
Thus, simultaneous damage to structures
Rice. 22. Average time spent on the pedal under the influence of light and sound (A, B) or the scream of a partner (B) in intact rats (I) after damage to the frontal cortex and hippocampus (II), after damage to the frontal cortex and hypothalamus (III): Abscissa - days of experiments, ordinate - time in minutes of the “information” system (frontal neocortex and hippocampus) makes rats highly sensitive to previously ineffective artificial stimuli (light and sound) and at the same time reduces their reactivity in relation to zoosocial signals about the state of another individual. same type. As for damage to the frontal cortex, lateral and ventromedial hypothalamus, an enhanced “neurotic” reaction to any external stimulus is combined in these animals with the inability to selectively respond to signals of various biological significance.
Assessing the totality of currently available facts, we are inclined to suggest that the individual characteristics of the relationship between the “information” system (frontal cortex and hippocampus) and the “motivational” system (amygdala and hypothalamus) underlie the extra-introversion parameter (Fig. 25). The relationship between the frontal cortex - hypothalamus and amygdala - hippocampus systems determines another parameter of individual behavioral characteristics, similar in its characteristics to the parameter of neuroticism - emotional stability. From this point of view, the Pavlovian scale of strength or weakness of the nervous system corresponds more to the scale of neuroticism, and not to extra-introversion, as Eysenck (Eysenck, Levey, 1972) believes.
Currently, we do not have data on the extent to which all the parameters we studied correlate with the resistance of rats to neurotic influences. In the laboratory of M. G. Airapetyants, only one of them was used: sensitivity to the cry of pain of another individual of the same species (Khonicheva, Villar, 1981). In Fig. Figure 26 shows three groups of rats that differ in this trait. The stressful effect consisted of the development of a defensive conditioned reflex with a low probability of avoiding painful stimuli. This influence had a significantly different effect on instrumental food conditioned reflexes, the severity of the violation of which was used to judge the degree of neuroticism. The most stress-resistant rats were those with high sensitivity to the partner’s cry of pain and a low level of anxiety (a small number of runs from one compartment of the chamber to another). The least resistant rats were those in which average sensitivity to zoosocial signals was combined with high anxiety, with an inability to identify a dominant motivation, be it the aversiveness of open space or motivation to avoid painful stimulation of another individual.
Previously, we showed that high sensitivity to signals of a partner’s defensive arousal positively correlates with a small number of runs from one compartment of the chamber to another, with high motor activity in the open field test, with low “emotionality”, if judged by the number of urinations and defecations in open field, and with low aggressiveness during painful stimulation of two rats (Simonov, 1976). These data give reason to assume that the parameters of Eysenck's typology, modified to assess the individual behavioral characteristics of rats, will be suitable for predicting the resistance or instability of these animals to neurotic influences. This will make the question of the role of individual behavioral characteristics in the pathogenesis of experimental neuroses clearer.
Further research is intended to clarify the question of the genetic determinants of the types of behavior described above. The genetic components of stress resistance are now beyond doubt (Belyaev, 1979; Sudakov, Dushkin, Yumatov, 1981).
Finally, it is quite obvious that between the motivational conflict, intolerable for this type of nervous system, and the disruption of the interaction of limbic structures leading to neurotic disorders of higher nervous activity, there are a number of intermediate neurophysiological and neurochemical links that transform the psychogenic effect into a stable pathological state of the brain . The search for these links is now the most important and least developed area of experimental neurology. One of these intermediate links, apparently, is brain hypoxia, discovered during experimental neurosis in the laboratory of M. G. Airapetyants (Ayrapetyants, Wayne, 1982). According to M. G. Airapetyants and his colleagues, neurotic influences lead to a decrease in the speed of local cerebral blood flow and micromorphological changes characteristic of a hypoxic state. Under these conditions, compensatory activation of the lipid peroxidation system is observed, disrupting the structure and function of biological membranes. The introduction of antioxidants eliminates transient hypertension and cardiac hypertrophy, prevents an increase in cytochrome oxidase activity in the neocortex and hippocampus of neurotic rats (data from N.V. Gulyaeva).
Thus, the following sequence of events is outlined. Chronic emotional stress generated by motivational conflict leads to a decrease in the speed of local cerebral blood flow, causing a hypoxic state of the brain, which, in turn, disrupts the normal functioning of limbic structures. The nature of the disorder depends decisively on the individual characteristics of the interaction of these structures, determined by congenital factors and the period of early ontogenesis. These features determine the direction in which the symptoms of a neurotic breakdown will develop.
We emphasize that interest in the individual characteristics of the interaction of macrostructures of the brain in no way eliminates the need to analyze the neurophysiological foundations of individual differences at the micro level of the processes of excitation and inhibition of nerve cells. An example of this approach is the study by L. A. Preobrazhenskaya (1981) of the electrical activity of the hippocampus during the development of conditioned reflex switching in dogs. Four dogs first developed an instrumental food reflex of pressing the pedal with the right front paw in response to a conditioned sound signal (tone). Then the same conditioned signal, given against the background of a switch signal (noise and flickering of fan blades), began to be reinforced by painful stimulation of the hind paw with an electric current. This irritation could be interrupted or completely prevented by the dog by raising the left front paw to a certain level.
Metal electrodes were implanted under Nembutal anesthesia into the dorsal hippocampus according to the coordinates of the Lim atlas. Electrical activity of the hippocampus was considered rhythmic if regular oscillations lasted at least 1 s. Using the electrohippocampogram recording, we counted the number of regular oscillations in successive one-second segments, checking this number with the oscillations identified by the analyzer. In each situation (defensive and food), at least 30 measurements were made, the average value of the oscillation frequency and its error were calculated.
In Fig. Figure 27 shows histograms of the distribution of each frequency of rhythmic activity of the hippocampus in four dogs in food and defensive situations of experiments with switching conditioned reflexes. It can be seen that during the transition from a feeding situation to a defensive one, the hippocampal theta rhythm increases in all dogs: the histograms shift to the right. At the same time, each animal is characterized by its own range of changes in the frequency spectrum of regular activity, and this range correlates with the dynamics of the development of switching conditioned reflexes (Fig. 28). In dogs with a more frequent theta rhythm, the development of switching occurred relatively quickly and easily: they began to respond to the conditioned signal in accordance with the current situation after 5-6 experiments (I and III in Fig. 28). A different picture was observed in dogs, where conditioned reflex activity was unstable, wave-like, with a tendency toward neuroticism (II and IV in Fig. 28). Similar data were obtained in experiments with four other dogs. Animals with a relatively slow hippocampal theta rhythm were characterized by low sociability and an indifferent attitude towards the experimenter. They also experienced difficulties in solving other problems associated with changing their occupation.
The obtained facts coincide with the data available in the literature on the correlation of the dominant frequency of the hippocampal theta rhythm in rats with the level of exploratory activity characteristic of each animal (Irmis, Radil-Weiss, Lat, Krekule, 1970). Both of these indicators are quite stable in the same rat. Thus, we can say that the individually typical range of changes in the frequency of the hippocampal theta rhythm for a given animal reflects the parameter that Pavlov designated as inertia (or, on the contrary, mobility) of the nervous system. If we take into account the role that, according to modern concepts (Andersen, Eccles, 1962), the mechanisms of recurrent inhibition play in the genesis of rhythmic oscillations of biopotentials, then Pavlov’s position on the mobility of nervous processes of excitation and inhibition is filled with specific neurophysiological content. On the other hand, the influence of the hypothalamus on the electrical activity of the hippocampus suggests that for the mobility factor in Pavlovian understanding, the activity of the macrostructural system hypothalamus-hippocampus and its relationship with the amygdala-frontal neocortex system is of great importance. It has been established that the theta rhythm, which accompanies a person’s professional activity, is distinguished by individual stability in frequency, amplitude and representation among other rhythms of the electroencephalogram (Cheliout, Sgouropoulus, Hazemann, 1979). The constancy of the intensity of the main rhythms of the electroencephalogram was noted in individuals with high rates of mobility of nervous processes (Shevko, 1980).
In general, our hypothesis boils down to the fact that the individual characteristics of the interaction of the anterior parts of the neocortex, hippocampus, amygdala and hypothalamus underlie the types identified by I. P. Pavlov.
What features will characterize the behavior of a subject with a relative functional predominance of the frontal cortex - hypothalamus system? This will be a subject with a clearly expressed dominance of one or another need, purposefully aimed at signals from objects capable of satisfying it. At the same time, he tends to ignore competing motives and signals that distract him from moving towards his intended goal. Now let’s compare our hypothetical characterization with the description of a specific boy, Sasha P., whom V. S. Merlin and B. A. Vyatkin (1976) cite as an example of choleric temperament - a strong excitable type according to Pavlov. His interests are constant and stable, he does not get lost when encountering difficulties, and is persistent in overcoming them. During lessons, the boy listens intently and works without distractions.
According to the above data, the functional predominance of the amygdala-hippocampus system will be accompanied by the difficulty of identifying a dominant motive and the readiness to respond to a wide range of objectively insignificant signals. Hence the combination of indecision, endless fluctuations with increased sensitivity, with an overestimation of the significance of external events. Is this not Kolya M. - according to V. S. Merlin and B. A. Vyatkin, a typical melancholic person, or a weak type, according to the terminology of I. P. Pavlov? Kolya is painfully sensitive to little things, easily lost, embarrassed, and unsure of himself.
The predominance of the hypothalamus-hippocampus system should lead to a somewhat paradoxical combination of a clear identification of dominant motives with generalized reactions to signals of unlikely events, to signals of unclear meaning. And again the description of a typical sanguine person (strong, balanced, active type) Seryozha T. comes to mind, who is persistent, energetic, efficient, but only in lessons that are interesting to him (the dominant motive! - P.S.). In uninteresting lessons, he is easily distracted and gets carried away by extraneous things. Seryozha easily gets used to a new environment and is not difficult to discipline.
If the system of four structures is dominated by the amygdala-frontal cortex subsystem, we will get a subject with well-balanced needs without special emphasis on one of them. Such a subject ignores many events happening around him. Only highly significant signals can motivate him to activity. Is this not Aida N., described by Merlin and Vyatkin as an example of a phlegmatic person - a strong, balanced, inert type? She is patient, self-possessed, and has good self-control. She is calm in class and does not get distracted. This inertia also has its downside: the girl finds it difficult to switch to solving new problems and takes a long time to get used to the new environment.
We examined four variants of the functional predominance of structural “pairs” and found their correspondence to the psychological characteristics of Pavlov’s types. There are two more possible options: the frontal cortex - hippocampus and the hypothalamus - amygdala.
The predominance of the first “information” pair will give a hypothetical subject, primarily oriented towards the external environment and behaviorally dependent on the events occurring in this environment. Apparently, he can be called an extrovert, with sociability characteristic of the latter, a desire for other people, a penchant for change, movement, and mastering the environment (Smirnov, Panasyuk, 1977). Other traits will be found in a subject with a predominance of the “motivational” system. Here the sphere of internal motives and attitudes will be quite independent in relation to external influences. And indeed, according to the description of V.M. Smirnov and
A.Yu. Panasyuk, introverts tend to adhere to previously learned ethical principles; they are self-possessed, strive for order, are shy, and are uncommunicative with others.
It is easy to see that the concept of “four structures” allows us to integrate Pavlov’s classification with the parameter of extra-introversion. At the same time, there is no need to identify extroversion with the parameter of the strength of the nervous system, nor to consider extra-introversion completely isolated from Pavlovian typology. The concept of “four structures” postulates the existence of extra- and introverts with the same necessity as the temperaments of ancient authors and the types of nervous system according to Pavlov.
Of course, all the types listed above are abstractions. Real life presents us with an endless variety of intermediate options for the interaction of the four brain structures. Here we fully agree with B. M. Teplov and V. D. Nebylitsyn, who proposed to talk not about types, but about the properties that characterize this or that individuality. We are trying to understand the tendency of various types to predominantly react with one of the basal emotions, noted by I.P. Pavlov, from the standpoint of the theory of emotions we are developing and the classification based on it (see Chapter 3).
Since a choleric person (a strong, unrestrained type) is driven by a persistently dominant need, his actions, as a rule, have the features of overcoming and fighting the emotions of anger, rage, and aggressiveness characteristic of these actions. A melancholic person (weak type), on the contrary, always gravitates toward defense, toward protection, often colored by emotions of fear, uncertainty, and confusion. Possessing a pronounced motivational dominant and at the same time inquisitive, searching, open to the environment, a sanguine person (strong mobile type) more often than others experiences positive emotions. As for the phlegmatic person, despite all his emotional indifference, he nevertheless again gravitates toward positive emotions. And again we must emphasize that we are talking specifically about a tendency, about a preferred inclination, since representatives of any type are endowed with the entire arsenal of human emotions.
We believe that the parameters developed by I. P. Pavlov to characterize nervous processes, i.e., strength, balance and mobility, can be applied to the individual set and dynamic hierarchy of needs. Life shows that the strength (severity, intensity) of certain needs varies among different individuals within very wide limits. The balance parameter is determined by the clear dominance of one of the needs or their relative balance. On the other hand, the degree of balance indicates the presence of conflicting, competitive relationships between needs or their harmonious coexistence. Finally, mobility characterizes not only the speed and speed of change of motivational dominants, but also the range of transformation of primary drives into secondary, derived needs, the plasticity of the hierarchy of needs inherent in a given subject.
If the individual characteristics of the functioning of the four structures of the brain undoubtedly have an innate component, which then undergoes ontogenetic transformation, then the question of the genetic element in the formation of the hierarchy of needs remains open. However, the different ease of socialization between extroverts and introverts suggests that the interaction of the four structures correlates in a certain way with the individual set of needs. The likelihood of a subject with choleric temperament accepting the functions of a leader is higher than that of a melancholic person - a weak type of nervous system according to Pavlov’s classification. And yet, the decisive role in the formation of the structure of needs undoubtedly belongs to education by the micro- and macrosocial environment. Even in animals, leadership traits are determined not by innate inclinations, but by the relationships that develop in the animal social group (see Chapter 1). Research by ethologists has shown that a dominant individual is formed mainly by manifestations of subordination on the part of subdominant members of the group. Truly, “the king is played by his retinue.”
What has been said about the role of education applies especially to the content side of needs, to the objects of their satisfaction. The dominance of social needs in the structure of a given personality does not tell us anything about whether we are dealing with a revolutionary striving for a just reorganization of the world, or with a political maniac obsessed with the idea of world domination. Equally, the dominance of ideal needs does not exclude the disinterested preaching of false ideas. Here a person appears as a son of his era, his class, as a “set of social relations,” and the sphere of competence of sciences other than the science of higher nervous activity and psychology begins. However, each era showed the world titans and dwarfs, heroes and cowards, knights and scoundrels. This highest court of history cannot be explained simply by belonging to an era.
Finally, the results of experiments on animals with sequential or simultaneous damage to various brain structures suggest that the individual characteristics of the interaction of the four structures in the event of their pathological disturbance determine the main types of human neuroses described by clinicians.
According to the World Health Organization, the number of diseases with neurosis has increased many times over the past half century. The reason for such a sharp jump is sometimes seen in the peculiarities of life characteristic of the population of industrialized countries, in the negative consequences of the scientific and technological revolution. The etiological significance of such factors as the need to process large amounts of information with a strictly limited time for making responsible decisions, an accelerated pace of life, disruption of biological circadian rhythms as a result of shift organization of production, long-distance aviation flights, etc., plus insufficient motor activity of mental and operator persons and managerial work, led to the idea of “information neuroses” and even “information pathology” of human higher nervous activity (Khananashvili, 1978, 1983).
Recognizing the important role of these factors in the genesis of chronic emotional stress (which is in full agreement with the information theory of emotions), at the same time it is difficult for us to accept the hypothesis about the increase in the number of neuroses as a direct consequence of scientific and technological progress. “The intensification of the production process,” writes B. D. Karvasarsky, “as well as life itself, is not pathogenic in itself. That is why millions of people who are in the very thick of the scientific and technological revolution do not get neuroses, but get them more often precisely those who stand apart from social and industrial life... the level of prevalence of neuroses among people employed is lower than among dependents and pensioners" (Karvasarsky, 1982). According to G.K. Ushakov (1978), neurasthenia due to overwork is an extremely rare disease.
What is the cause of human neurotic diseases? I. P. Pavlov insightfully answered this question in his time. According to L.A. Orbeli, Pavlov “tried to find the cause of neuroses... in the extreme tension of physiological reactions, which, however, was not caused by the action of any physical factors, but by the action of social conflicts experienced by a given person. These social conflicts, official, family, class, etc. Ivan Petrovich, of course, attached much more importance to human mental activity than to simple physical phenomena" (Orbeli, 1964, p. 349). Analyzing the causes of neuroses, F. Bassin, V. Rozhnov and M. Rozhnova (1974) reasonably highlight the influence of interpersonal conflicts - family, age, household, work, etc. Uncomplicated destinies, dramatic collisions of human relationships, chronic emotional the stress of everyday troubles, sometimes lasting for years, are the most typical situations that a doctor encounters when talking with a patient suffering from neurosis. According to the Leningrad Psychoneurological Institute named after V. M. Bekhterev, conflicts of a family-domestic and interpersonal-production nature predominate among psychotraumatic factors (Karvasarsky, 1982). We emphasize that, contrary to the opinion of S. Freud, who saw the cause of neuroses almost exclusively in the disharmony of sexual relationships, the dominance of sexual conflicts was noted only in 15% of cases in patients aged 19 to 50 years. The clinic of neuroses practically does not encounter negative emotions that arise on the basis of dissatisfaction of purely biological needs. The emotional conflict of a neurotic person, as a rule, is social in nature, and each type of neurosis is characterized by its own traumatic situation (Voskresensky, 1980).
At present, it can be considered the most reasonable and generally accepted definition of neuroses as psychogenic diseases, in the development of which a significant role is played by the collision of particularly significant, emotionally intense relationships of an individual with an intolerable life situation. Disturbed personality relationships are formed on the basis of the individual properties of the nervous system under the influence of an unfavorable social environment, primarily defects in upbringing in the family (Zachepitsky, 1983). This definition, going back to the views of V. N. Myasishchev, is shared by B. D. Karvasarsky, M. M. Kabanov, V. V. Kovalev, A. E. Lichko, N. I. Felinskaya and many others.
In the above definition, I would like to clarify the real content with which the vague term “relationship” can be filled. According to V.N. Myasishchev, “the mental attitude expresses the active selective position of the individual, which determines the individual nature of activity and individual actions” (Myasishchev, 1960). As we showed above, the basis of the system of relationships characterizing this or that personality is the inherent structure of a given person’s vital, social and ideal needs, their dynamic hierarchy highlighting situational dominants, as well as motives that are steadily dominant over long periods of the life of a given subject. .
Let us recall that the competition of simultaneously actualized and often incompatible needs is realized after the transformation of these needs into appropriate emotions, i.e., taking into account the likelihood (possibility) of their satisfaction in a given specific situation. The assessment of the probability of satisfaction, in turn, can occur both at the conscious and unconscious levels of higher nervous activity. “The history of the development of neurosis,” writes A. M. Vein, “is the history of the formation of needs and the possibilities of satisfying them...” Neurosis is “a disease of unsatisfied or unsatisfied needs” (Vein, 1974, p. 105).
Two factors seem to us to be decisive for the emergence of neurosis: the situation of a difficult choice, subjectively depending on the person, and the typological features of the nervous system, which predispose to a neurotic reaction. Neurosis does not arise if the subject's choice is predetermined by the obvious dominance of some need. In the case of neurosis, the vector of behavior is usually located between competing impulses or competing ways of satisfying the same need. The situation requires the subject to make a choice, and this choice turns out to be beyond his power. In experiments on animals, we experimentally showed that the strength of emotional stress is directly proportional to the total value of competing motivations and inversely proportional to the difference between them. Tension is relatively low when one of the strong motives is clearly predominant and can reach high values if competing motivations of moderate strength are approximately equal (Simonov, 1976).
The final result of exposure to a psychotraumatic situation is determined by the individual (typological) characteristics of a person. “It should be assumed,” writes G.K. Ushakov, “that neither neuroses nor psychoses can arise without a previous constitutional or acquired deficiency of the corresponding functional systems of the brain” (Ushakov, 1978, p. 323). A. M. Vein (1974) points out the importance of dysfunction of the limbic system in neuroses in his works.
With neurasthenia, weakening of volitional impulses is combined with heightened sensitivity and irritability. Any unexpected event - a knock on the door, a phone call, a telegram - can cause anxiety, palpitations, sweating, muscle tremors.
Do these symptoms indicate a certain weakening of motivational structures (primarily the hypothalamus) along with increased functioning of the hippocampus, which supports reactions to signals of objectively improbable events?
Hysteria, on the contrary, is characterized by an overvalued idea that occupies a dominant position in the life of the subject. The hysteric imposes on the environment his version of the interpretation of external events. Here again one can suspect a pathologically enhanced functioning of the hippocampus, but now combined with a powerful motivational dominant realized by the hypothalamus-neocortex system of the right hemisphere (in right-handed people).
The most characteristic feature of psychasthenia is indecision, the inability to quickly make a decision and be guided by it (pathological dysfunction of the amygdala?). This indecision is accompanied by suspiciousness, obsessive philosophizing, obsessive fears, and hypochondria. The last group of symptoms makes one think about a defect in the functions of the frontal parts of the left hemisphere.
If we accept the general position of I.P. Pavlov that the main “suppliers” of neuroses are extreme types - strong, unbalanced and weak, and combine this position with the interaction scheme of four structures, then the following will turn out. Pathology of the frontal cortex - hypothalamus system gives hysteria according to the hypothalamic variant or obsessive-compulsive neurosis in the case of a predominant defect in the anterior parts of the neocortex. The dysfunction of the hippocampus-amygdala system caused by the disease will lead to neurasthenia, which, as a rule, does not affect higher intellectual functions, indicating the full activity of neocortical structures. Involvement of the anterior parts of the neocortex in the pathological process in combination with impaired functioning of the amygdala will lead to psychasthenic symptoms.
Until now, speaking about the dominant need and subdominant motives, we have abstracted from their quality. But such abstraction becomes impossible as soon as we enter the area of human neurotic diseases. The pronounced “social egoism” of a hysteric is qualitatively different from the “biological egoism” of a psychasthenic, focused on the slightest signs of his internal painful sensations. Feelings of unclear guilt and heightened responsibility, so characteristic of a number of cases of neurasthenia, have an even more complex origin.
In other words, the individual characteristics of the interaction of four brain structures, with all their significance, do not completely determine the symptoms of neurotic diseases. In the behavior of a hysteric, fiercely demanding the attention of others, in his elaborate theatricality, a painfully transformed social need “for oneself” clearly appears.
Concern for one's health, in which the whole world is obscured by the slightest signs of (sometimes non-existent!) diseases, is nothing more than an exaggerated biological need “for oneself” - the basis of hypochondriacal conditions. Another thing is the feeling of painful responsibility that haunts the subject of guilt, anxiety and despair at the thought that “I can’t do anything and I can’t succeed in anything.” Here the chronically unsatisfied social need “for others” already dominates.
No less clearly the importance of the quality of needs is revealed in the genesis of neurotic depression. We are talking about two common types: depression of anxiety and depression of melancholy. Anxiety depression is based on chronic dissatisfaction with conservation needs with the typical emotions of anxiety, a feeling of some kind of constant threat, an unknown danger hanging over the subject, his position in the family and at work, and over his loved ones. Melancholy depression is generated by dissatisfaction with the needs of development, advancement, and improvement of one’s position in life.
We emphasize that needs are only partially recognized by a person and are far from adequate to their real content. When a patient complains of a feeling of constant anxiety or causeless melancholy, he does not at all suspect that we are talking about the needs of preservation and development. “In the case of a person,” wrote I. P. Pavlov, “... it is necessary to find, together with the patient or in addition to him, or even with his resistance, among the chaos of life relationships, those immediately or slowly acting conditions and circumstances with which he can be the origin of painful deviation, the origin of neurosis is connected with law" (Pavlov, 1973, p. 389). We will not advance one step forward in our understanding of the etiology and pathogenesis of neuroses if we ignore the sphere of unconscious manifestations of human higher nervous activity.