Lit.: Pavlov I.P., Poln. coll. soch., 2nd ed., vol. 3, book. 2, M.-L., 1951; Orbeli L. A., Izbr. works, vol. 3, M.-L., 1964.
Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .
See what the "First Signaling System" is in other dictionaries:
first signaling system- see signaling systems. Brief psychological dictionary. Rostov-on-Don: PHOENIX. L.A. Karpenko, A.V. Petrovsky, M. G. Yaroshevsky. 1998 ... Great Psychological Encyclopedia
The system of reflection of reality in the form of sensations and perceptions, common to animals and humans; forms the basis of higher nervous activity and is reduced to a set of diverse (up to very complex) conditioned and unconditioned reflexes to ... ... Biological encyclopedic dictionary
A system of conditioned reflex connections that are formed in the cerebral cortex of animals and humans when exposed to specific stimuli (light, sound, pain, etc.). A form of direct reflection of reality in the form of sensations and ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
The concept introduced by I.P. Pavlov to designate a system of animal orientation to direct stimuli, which can be visual, auditory, tactile signals associated with adaptive conditioned reflex ... ... Psychological Dictionary
A system of conditioned reflex connections formed in the cerebral cortex of animals and humans when exposed to specific stimuli (light, sound, pain, etc.). A form of direct reflection of reality in the form of sensations ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
First signal system- the term of I.P. Pavlov, denotes sensory cognition, a system of analyzers, sense organs. * * * a system of conditioned reflex connections that are formed in the cerebral cortex of animals and humans when exposed to the receptors of the sense organs ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy Natural science. encyclopedic Dictionary
See Signal Systems. Philosophical Encyclopedia. In 5 x t. M .: Soviet Encyclopedia. Edited by F. V. Konstantinov. 1960 1970 ... Philosophical Encyclopedia
We perceive the world around us thanks to two systems: the first and the second signal.
To obtain information about the state of the body and the external environment, the first signaling system uses all of a person: touch, sight, smell, hearing and taste. The second, younger, signaling system allows you to perceive the world through speech. Its development takes place on the basis of and in interaction with the first in the process of human development and growth. In this article, we will look at what the first signaling system is, how it develops and functions.
How does this happen in animals?
All animals can use only one source of information about the surrounding reality and changes in its state, which is the first signaling system. The external world, represented through various objects that have a variety of chemical and physical properties, such as color, smell, shape, etc., act as conditional signals that warn the body about changes that need to be adapted to. So, a herd of deer slumbering in the sun, smelling a creeping predator, abruptly takes off and flees. The irritant became a signal of an approaching danger.
Thus, in higher animals, the first (conditioned reflex) signaling system is an accurate reflection of the external surrounding world, which allows you to correctly respond to changes and adapt to them. All of its signals refer to a specific object and are specific. which form the basis of the elementary subject-related thinking of animals, are formed by means of this particular system.
The first human signaling system functions in the same way as in higher animals. Its isolated functioning is observed only in newborns, from birth to the age of six months, if the child is in a normal social environment. The formation and development of the second signaling system takes place in the process and as a result of education and between people.
Types of nervous activity
Man is a complex creature that has gone through complex changes in its anatomical and physiological, as well as psychological structure and functioning in its historical development. The whole complex of diverse processes occurring in his body is carried out and controlled by one of the main physiological systems - the nervous one.
The activity of this system is divided into lower and higher. The so-called lower nervous activity is responsible for the control and management of all internal organs and systems of the human body. Interactions with objects and objects of the surrounding reality through such neuropsychic processes and mechanisms as intelligence, perception, thinking, speech, memory, attention are referred to as higher nervous activity (HNA). Such interaction occurs through the direct impact of various objects on receptors, for example, auditory or visual, with further transmission of the received signals by the nervous system to the information-processing organ - the brain. It was this type of signaling that the Russian scientist I.P. Pavlov called the first signaling system. Thanks to it, the birth and development of a second signaling system, characteristic only for people and associated with an audible (speech) or visible word (written sources), became possible.
What are signal systems?
Based on the works of the famous Russian physiologist and naturalist I. M. Sechenov on the reflex activity of the higher parts of the brain, I. P. Pavlov created a theory about GNA - the higher nervous activity of a person. Within the framework of this doctrine, the concept of what signal systems are was formulated. They are understood as complexes of conditioned reflex connections formed in the cortex (isocortex) of the brain as a result of the receipt of various impulses from the outside world or from systems and organs of the body. That is, the work of the first signaling system is aimed at performing analytical and synthetic operations to recognize signals coming from the sense organs about objects in the external world.
As a result of social development and mastery of speech, a second signaling system arose and evolved. As the child's psyche grows and develops, the ability to understand and then to reproduce speech is gradually developed as a result of the emergence and consolidation of associative links, pronounced sounds or words with sensory impressions of objects in the external environment.
Features of the first signaling system
In this signaling system, both the means and methods of communication, and all other forms of behavior are based on the direct perception of the surrounding reality and the reaction to the impulses coming from it in the process of interaction. The first signaling system of a person is a response concrete-sensory reflection of the impact on receptors from the outside world.
First, a sensation of any phenomena, properties or objects perceived by the receptors of one or more sense organs appears in the body. Then sensations are transformed into more complex forms - perception. And only after the second signal system is formed and developed, it becomes possible to create abstract forms of reflection that are not tied to a specific object, such as representations and concepts.
Localization of signal systems
The centers located in the cerebral hemispheres are responsible for the normal functioning of both signaling systems. The reception and processing of information for the first signal system is carried out by both the perception and processing of the information flow for the second signal system, which is responsible for the development of logical thinking. The second (more than the first) human signaling system depends on the structural integrity of the brain and its functioning.
Relationship between signaling systems
The second and first signal systems according to Pavlov are in constant interaction and are interconnected in terms of their functions. This is due to the fact that on the basis of the first, the second signaling system arose and developed. The signals of the first one coming from the environment and from different parts of the body are in continuous interaction with the signals of the second one. During such an interaction, higher-order conditioned reflexes arise, which create functional connections between them. In connection with the developed thought processes and the social way of life, a person has a more developed second signaling system.
Stages of development
In the process of individual mental development of a child born on time, the first signaling system begins to take shape already a few days after birth. At the age of 7-10 days, the formation of the first conditioned reflexes is possible. So, the baby makes sucking movements with his lips even before the nipple is put in his mouth. Conditioned reflexes to sound stimuli can form at the beginning of the second month of life.
The older the child becomes, the faster his conditioned reflexes are formed. In order for a monthly baby to have a temporary connection, many repetitions of exposure to unconditioned and conditioned stimuli will have to be done. In a two- to three-month-old baby, it takes only a few repetitions to create the same temporal connection.
The second signaling system begins to take shape in children from the age of one and a half years, when, with the repeated naming of an object, together with its demonstration, the child begins to respond to the word. In children, it comes to the fore only by 6-7 years.
Role reversal
Thus, in the process of the psychophysical development of the child, throughout the entire childhood and adolescence, there is a change in the significance and priority between these signal systems. At school age and up to the beginning of puberty, the second signaling system comes to the fore. During puberty, due to significant hormonal and physiological changes in the body of adolescents, for a short period the first signaling system again becomes the leading one. By the senior classes of the school, the second signaling system again takes the lead and retains its dominant position throughout life, constantly improving and developing.
Meaning
The first signal system of people, despite the predominance of the second in adults, is of great importance in such types of human activity as sports, creativity, learning and work. Without it, the work of a musician and artist, actor and professional athlete would be impossible.
Despite the similarity of this system in humans and animals, in humans, the first signaling system is a much more complex and perfect structure, since it is in constant harmonious interaction with the second.
He introduced the concepts of the first and second signal systems, expressing various ways of mental reflection of reality. The first signaling system is present in both animals and humans.
The activity of this system is manifested in reflexes that are formed to any irritation of the external and internal environment, with the exception of the semantic content of the word. The signals of the 1st signaling system are smell, color, shape, temperature, taste of objects, etc. These signals act on the receptors of analyzers, from which nerve impulses enter the brain. Both man and animals, as a result of the activity of the 1st signaling system, analyze and synthesize these nerve impulses.
The first signal system provides a concrete-sensory reflection of the surrounding reality.
The characteristic features of conditioned reflexes of the 1st signaling system are:
1) the specificity of the signal (a particular phenomenon of the surrounding reality);
2) reinforcement with an unconditioned stimulus (food, defensive, sexual);
3) the biological nature of the achieved adaptation (to the best nutrition, defense, reproduction).
In a person in the process of his social development, as a result of collective labor activity, according to I.P. Pavlova, "an extraordinary increase" in the mechanisms of the brain. She became 2nd signal system, providing the formation of a generalized idea of the surrounding reality with the help of words and speech. The second signaling system is closely connected with the consciousness and abstract thinking of a person.
The signals of the 2nd signal system are the words of oral and written speech, as well as formulas and symbols, drawings, gestures, facial expressions. The activity of the 2nd signal system is manifested mainly in conditioned speech reflexes. The signal meaning of a word for a person lies not in a simple sound combination, but in its semantic content(unlike trained animals. Moreover, the semantic meaning of a word, for example, an orange, does not depend on the sound of this concept in various languages.
The word for a person is the same and even stronger physiological stimulus, as objects and phenomena of the surrounding world. The second signaling system is comprehensive, capable of replacing and generalizing all stimuli of the 1st signaling system. Signals of the 1st signal system, coming from various parts of the body and the environment, continuously interact with the signals of the 2nd signal system. In this case, conditioned reflexes of the second and higher orders are formed.
The second signaling system forms the physiological basis abstract speech thinking that is unique to man. Abstract thinking allows a person to be distracted from specific objects and phenomena of the surrounding world, to think in words that replace these objects, to verbally compare and generalize them in the form of concepts and conclusions. The structures of the right and left hemispheres of the brain take part in the implementation of the functions of the 2nd signaling system.
Man, like animals, is born only with unconditioned reflexes. In the process of growth and development, both in humans and animals, the formation of conditioned reflexes of the 1st signal system occurs. In humans, the process of development of GNI does not end there, and on the basis of the 1st signaling system, conditioned reflexes of the 2nd signaling system are formed. They begin to form when the child begins to speak and learn about the world around him. His conditioned reflexes to verbal stimuli appear only in the second half of the first year of life. Consequently, human behavior consists of unconditioned reflexes, conditioned reflexes of the 1st signal system and conditioned reflexes of the 2nd signal system.
Under physiological conditions, the 2nd signaling system somewhat slows down the activity of the 1st signaling system. With the advent of the 2nd signaling system, a new form of nervous activity arises - distraction and generalization many signals to the brain. This leads to a high degree of human adaptation to the environment. The second signaling system is the highest regulator of various forms of human behavior in the surrounding world.
The characteristic features of conditioned reflexes of the 2nd signal system are:
1) distribution of the signal meaning of words to all related, similar facts and phenomena, i.e. an ever broader generalization of concepts and a distraction from specific particulars (a person is walking, a train is also running, the clock is running, it is raining, etc.);
2) simultaneous formation and restructuring of temporary nerve connections. For example, you can explain to a visitor how to find the house he needs, and a person who has never been in this city will come directly to the destination. An animal, in order to find the right path in the maze, will make a lot of trial and error.
3) Display in the second signal system of temporary connections formed in the first, and vice versa. For example, if a person develops a conditioned reflex of getting up to the sound of a bell, and then instead of turning on the bell, say the word "bell", then the person will get up. Or, if words describe the look and taste of a dish loved by a person, then the person will begin to salivate.
4) The more abstract and abstract the concept expressed by the word, the weaker the connection of this verbal signal with the specific signal of the 1st signal system.
5) Higher fatigue and susceptibility to external influences of the reflexes of the second signaling system compared to the first.
The interaction of two signal systems is expressed in the phenomenon of selective irradiation of nervous processes between the two systems. It is due to the presence of connections between the sensory areas of the cerebral cortex, which perceive stimuli, and the nervous structures that designate these stimuli with words. There is also irradiation of inhibition between the two signal systems. The development of differentiation to a signal stimulus can also be reproduced by replacing the differentiation stimulus with its verbal designation.
In the process of ontogenesis, the interaction of two signaling systems passes through several stages. Initially, the child's conditioned reflexes are realized at the level of the first signal system: the immediate stimulus comes into contact with direct vegetative and motor reactions. In the second half of the year, the child begins to respond to verbal stimuli with direct vegetative and somatic reactions, therefore, conditional connections “verbal stimulus - direct reaction” are added. By the end of the first year of life (after 8 months), the child already begins to imitate the speech of an adult in the same way as primates do, using separate sounds to indicate objects, events, and also their condition.
Later, the child begins to pronounce individual words. At first they are not associated with any subject. At the age of 1.5-2 years, one word often denotes not only an object, but also actions and experiences associated with it. Only later does the differentiation of words into categories denoting objects, actions, feelings. A new type of connection appears: a direct stimulus - a verbal reaction.
In the second year of life, the child's vocabulary increases to 200 words or more. He can already combine words into the simplest speech chains and build sentences. By the end of the third year, the vocabulary reaches 500-700 words. Verbal reactions are caused not only by direct stimuli, but also by words. A new type of connection appears: verbal stimulus - verbal reaction.
With the development of speech in a child aged 2-3 years, the integrative activity of the brain becomes more complicated: conditioned reflexes appear on the ratios of magnitudes, weights, distances, and the color of objects. At the age of 3-4 years, various motor and some speech stereotypes are developed.
FEATURES OF THE HIGHER NERVOUS ACTIVITY OF THE HUMAN.
Distinguish between the first and second signal systems.
First signal system found in humans and animals. The activity of this system is manifested in conditioned reflexes that are formed to any stimuli of the external environment (light, sound, mechanical irritation, etc.), with the exception of the word. In a person living in certain social conditions, the first signaling system has a social connotation.
Conditioned reflexes of the first signaling system are formed as a result of the activity of the cells of the cerebral cortex, except for the frontal region and the region of the brain section of the speech-motor analyzer. The first signaling system in animals and humans provides subject-specific thinking.
The second signal system arose and developed as a result of human labor activity and the appearance of speech. Labor and speech contributed to the development of hands, brain and sense organs.
Activity of the second signaling system manifested in speech conditioned reflexes. We may not see some object at the moment, but its verbal designation is enough for us to clearly imagine it. The second signaling system provides abstract thinking in the form of concepts, judgments, conclusions.
Speech reflexes of the second signaling system are formed due to the activity of neurons in the frontal areas and the area of the speech motor analyzer. The peripheral section of this analyzer is represented by receptors that are located in the word-pronouncing organs (receptors of the larynx, soft palate, tongue, etc.). From the receptors, the impulses arrive along the corresponding afferent pathways to the brain section of the motor speech analyzer, which is a complex structure that includes several zones of the cerebral cortex. The function of the speech-motor analyzer is especially closely connected with the activity of the motor, visual and sound analyzers. Speech reflexes, like ordinary conditioned reflexes, obey the same laws. However, the word differs from the stimuli of the first signaling system in that it is multi-comprehensive. A kind word said in time contributes to a good mood, increases working capacity, but a word can seriously hurt a person. This is especially true for the relationship between sick people and healthcare workers. A carelessly spoken word in the presence of a patient about his illness can significantly worsen his condition.
Animals and humans are born only with unconditioned reflexes. In the process of growth and development, the formation of conditioned reflex connections of the first signal system, the only one in animals, takes place. In a person, on the basis of the first signal system, connections of the second signal system are gradually formed when the child begins to speak and learn about the surrounding reality.
The second signaling system is the highest regulator of various forms of human behavior in the natural and social environment surrounding him.
However, the second signal system correctly reflects the external objective world only if its coordinated interaction with the first signal system is constantly preserved.
First and second signal systems
I.P. Pavlov considered human behavior as a higher nervous activity, where the analysis and synthesis of direct environmental signals, which constitute the first signal system of reality, are common to animals and humans. On this occasion, Pavlov wrote: “For an animal, reality is signaled almost exclusively only by stimuli and traces of them in the cerebral hemispheres, directly coming to special cells of the visual, auditory and other receptors of the body. This is what we also have in ourselves as impressions, sensations and ideas from the external environment, both general natural and from our social, excluding the word, audible and visible. This is the first signaling system of reality that we have in common with animals.”
As a result of labor activity, social and family relations, a person has developed a new form of information transfer. A person began to perceive verbal information through understanding the meaning of words spoken by him or others, visible - written or printed. This led to the emergence of a second signaling system, unique to man. It significantly expanded and qualitatively changed the higher nervous activity of a person, as it introduced a new principle into the work of the cerebral hemispheres (the relationship of the cortex with subcortical formations). On this occasion, Pavlov wrote: “If our sensations and ideas related to the surrounding world are for us the first signals of reality, concrete signals, then speech, especially especially kinesthetic stimuli that go to the cortex from the speech organs, are the second signals, signals of signals. . They represent a distraction from reality and allow for generalization, which constitutes ... specifically human thinking, and science is a tool for the highest orientation of a person in the world around him and in himself.
The second signaling system is the result of human sociality as a species. However, it should be remembered that the second signaling system is dependent on the first signaling system. Children born deaf make the same sounds as normal ones, but without reinforcing the emitted signals through auditory analyzers and not being able to imitate the voice of others, they become dumb.
It is known that without communication with people, the second signaling system (especially speech) does not develop. So, children who were carried away by wild animals and lived in an animal den (Mowgli's syndrome) did not understand human speech, did not know how to speak, and lost the ability to learn to speak. In addition, it is known that young people who have been isolated for decades, without communicating with other people, forget colloquial speech.
The physiological mechanism of human behavior is the result of a complex interaction of both signaling systems with subcortical formations of the cerebral hemispheres. Pavlov considered the second signaling system to be "the highest regulator of human behavior", prevailing over the first signaling system. But the latter, to a certain extent, controls the activity of the second signaling system. This allows a person to control his unconditioned reflexes, to restrain a significant part of the instinctive manifestations of the body and emotions. A person can consciously suppress defensive (even in response to painful stimuli), food and sexual reflexes. At the same time, subcortical formations and nuclei of the brain stem, especially the reticular formation, are sources (generators) of impulses that maintain normal brain tone.
