Characteristics of the cognitive process. Feeling

In the evolution of living beings, sensations arose on the basis of primary irritability, which is the property of living matter to selectively respond to biologically significant environmental influences by changing its internal state and external behavior. In their origin, sensations from the very beginning were associated with the activity of the body, with the need to satisfy its biological needs. The vital role of sensations is to promptly and quickly convey to the central nervous system, as the main organ of activity control, information about the state of the external and internal environment, the presence of biologically significant factors in it.

Sensations in their quality and diversity reflect the variety of environmental properties that are significant for humans. Human sense organs, or analyzers, are adapted from birth to perceive and process various types of energy in the form stimulus stimuli(physical, chemical, mechanical and other influences).

The types of sensations reflect the uniqueness of the stimuli that generate them. These stimuli, being associated with different types of energy, cause corresponding sensations of different qualities: visual, auditory, skin (sensations of touch, pressure, pain, heat, cold, etc.), gustatory, olfactory. They provide us with information about the state of the muscular system proprioceptive sensations indicating the degree of muscle contraction or relaxation; the position of the body relative to the direction of gravitational forces is indicated by sensations of balance. Both of them are usually not realized.

Signals coming from the internal organs are less noticeable, in most cases, with the exception of painful ones, they are not recognized, but are also perceived and processed by the central nervous system. The corresponding sensations are called interoceptive. Information from the internal organs enters the brain in a continuous stream, informing it about the conditions of the internal environment, such as the presence of biologically useful or harmful substances in it, body temperature, the chemical composition of the liquids present in it, pressure and many others. In addition, a person has several specific types of sensations that carry information about time, acceleration, vibration, and some other relatively rare phenomena that have a certain vital significance. According to modern data, the human brain is a complex, self-learning computing and at the same time analog machine, working according to genotypically determined and lifetime acquired programs that are continuously improved under the influence of incoming information. By processing this information, the human brain makes decisions, gives commands and controls their implementation.

Not all existing types of energy, even if they are vitally significant, are perceived by a person in the form of sensations. To some of them, for example radiation, he is psychologically insensitive at all. This also includes infrared and ultraviolet rays, radio waves that are outside the range that causes sensations, and slight fluctuations in air pressure that are not perceived by the ear. Consequently, a person, in the form of sensations, receives a small, most significant part of the information and energy that affects his body.

Usually generate sensations electromagnetic waves, ranging over a significant range - from short cosmic rays with a wavelength of about 18 cm to radio waves with a wavelength measured many kilometers. Wavelength as a quantitative characteristic of electromagnetic energy is subjectively presented to a person in the form of qualitatively diverse sensations. For example, those electromagnetic waves that are reflected by the visual system are located in the range from 380 to 780 billionths of a meter and together occupy a very limited part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

1. The meaning of sensations and their origin

2. 1) The role of sensations in human life

2) Origin of sensations

3. Sensations (visual, auditory, olfactory, vibration, taste, skin). Perception. Attention. Memory. Imagination. Thinking. Speech.

4. 1) In activity, a person creates objects of material and spiritual culture, transforms his abilities, preserves and improves nature, builds society, creates something that without his activity would not exist in nature. Sensations have a huge impact on activity. They determine a person’s occupation and profession.

2) By their origin, sensations from the very beginning were associated with the activity of the body, with the need to satisfy its biological needs. The vital role of sensations is to promptly and quickly convey to the central nervous system, as the main organ of activity control, information about the state of the external and internal environment, the presence of biologically significant factors in it.

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Definition – the simplest mental process
reflections of individual properties in the cerebral cortex
objects, phenomena of the surrounding world, internal
states
person,
which
influence
on
corresponding sense organs.
Thus, a person receives information about
the world around you and your internal state with
through the senses in the form of sensations.

The emergence of sensations

The emergence of sensations

Types of sensations

Types of sensations

Types of sensations

Basic patterns of sensations

10. Basic patterns of sensations

11. Basic patterns of sensations

12. Development of sensations

Evgeniy Kornienko

Do they arise out of nothing, or is there some kind of primary sensation?

Let a universal self-learning machine with a prescribed objective function be built. Even though she hasn’t learned anything yet, she knows absolutely nothing and can’t do anything. It has just been turned on, and we assume that it does not yet have subjective sensations and experiences, like any other machine.

What is this mythical car? Is it possible to use for reasoning a less speculative “sensing object”, for example, a “person” that is well known to us?

Man is inferior to machine in that we do not know exactly how he works. The first sensations appear in a person when he is actively developing. The formation of its organs is dynamic. These difficulties can be circumvented by using a pre-fabricated machine that is simply turned on to follow the development of her experience and draw conclusions about her perception of the world and herself. Using the example of a self-learning machine, although fictitious, but with a reproducible design, one can try to trace the origin of consciousness from scratch.

The machine does not yet know how it works. She can only learn something from her own experience, which does not yet exist at the beginning. We know how the organs and “brains” of the machine work. We know how the self-learning process is organized to optimize a given objective function. But this knowledge is not “machine knowledge.”

In the process of gaining experience, she will have to communicate with conscious beings - “subjects”. You will have to show other subjects your condition and your intentions. We will have to be guided by the state and intentions of other subjects when searching for and choosing appropriate behavior.

A machine has a body - a set of organs, systems and signals with the help of which it ensures its integrity and interacts with the outside world and with other entities. The state of organs and the body as a whole is set and controlled by special sensors: effectors and sensors.

Not all machine states and actions are observable from the outside. Only part of the machine's behavior is observable in the form of discernible states or dynamic actions.

Certain states, positions, or subtle activities of a machine can be interpreted as an “intention”—an upcoming action. Intention as an incipient action is actually caused by the operation of the hidden process of optimizing the objective function. We cannot yet say that the manifested intention has any subjective (experienced) meaning for the machine itself.

The expressed intention is preceded by an intention barely perceptible by the machine itself, which has not yet developed into an observable action, but has already created efforts or other changes in its systems measured by the machine’s own sensors. From the machine's own experience, such changes will, in a moment, lead to the observable expression of intention and then to the execution of action.

Such an invisible state of one’s own state can be interpreted as a desire, a justified or inexplicable preference for one action over another. This “inner state” has not yet manifested itself as “behavior.”

If the machine had to explain its state in words, then in the first case it would say “I raise my hand,” and in the second case it would have to use the formula “I want to raise my hand.” At the same time, the concept “I want” is associated by the machine with a certain (internal) state measured by its sensors.

At the same time, the internal state is the same observable state for the machine as the clearly expressed state and behavior of its own body and other objects in the external world. Quite “external” organs, for example, the same hand, can have an internal state. In this context, "internal" is what is invisible from the outside. The complete state of the organs and systems of the machine consists of an externally observable (objective) state and an internal (internal) state perceived only by the machine itself.

What is the origin of the idea, “I want to raise my hand,” which the machine may or may not express in words? This idea is based not on changes in the external world, but on a change in its internal state observed only by this machine.

Both the machine itself and the external observer may not see objective external changes leading to a certain internal state of the machine. Moreover, this condition depends not only on external, but also on internal reasons. Usually the opposite happens: intention acts as the cause of subsequent events in the external world. Due to the lack of a logical chain from external objects to the internal state, it is not always possible to describe one’s state in “objective” terms.

If some features of the internal state of the machine are observed by specialized “internal” sensors or have a nature unusual for external sensors, then they also cannot be expressed through “external” concepts, just as the sensations of hunger or fear cannot be represented through tactile or auditory sensations.

Over time and as needed, the machine will select appropriate signals to express different shades of its internal state. Over thousands of years of communicating with each other, we have also invented words, gestures and other “external” signals to express our internal states.

The internal state perceived by the subject, not expressed through the properties of material objects, is the “ideal” sensation.

The thought experiment being carried out is aimed at demonstrating that the internal state of a specially designed machine can become a subjective sensation for it. But this does not mean that vision or other external organs provide the machine with only “objective” information about the world. External material objects are also perceived as a collection of sensations. Observation can be interpreted as a sensation of the qualities of the external world, and sensation can be considered an observation of one’s internal state.

According to the design of our machine, "internal" and "external" surveillance is performed by conventional sensors. There is nothing “ideal” about this. The ideal is that the machine perceives and uses only “qualities” that associatively link the states of various sensors to select behavior. The universality of the machine prevents its brain from using specific data to interact with sensors and effectors. The brain operates only by “recognizing” situations. Apparently, elementary “recognition” is the basis of “qualities” that can be perceived by a machine as subjective sensations.

We know that the output of each sensor is the “result of the current measurement”. But the machine cannot perform a “measurement” at our request, since it does not use any prescribed logical models of the external world or its state, for example, information about the design of sensors and how to connect them to the system is not used. The machine does not know about the existence of sensors.

In order not to confuse our knowledge of the machine and the machine’s own knowledge, it is enough to ask it “what it knows about its design.” And if she could speak, she would not say anything intelligible. For the purity of the thought experiment being carried out, we deprived her of the opportunity to initially possess such knowledge. But this does not stop her from learning. She may even learn to speak.

Thus, the own state and the external world observed by a universal self-learning machine are perceived by it in the form of sensations, and not in the form of measurement results, numerical or symbolic data.

A machine may or may not do what it intends to do as circumstances change, assessments of the importance and feasibility of various actions change - the objective function optimization algorithm is constantly running. The result is an impression of “free will” and “willpower,” such as the ability to give up what you want or tolerate what you don’t want. This impression is also one of the internal states not observable from the outside.

Sensations are constantly being detailed and filled with ever new meaning as a result of the interaction of subjects who have to take into account each other’s “mental” state.

Feelings of both its state and the external world do not appear in the machine immediately, but after accumulating some experience, when, as a result of self-learning, it discovers an associative connection between different events, in particular, between its state and its subsequent actions. The first sensation is the first recognition and the first knowledge about oneself and the world.

Since the machine does not immediately detect any patterns, its first sensations arise, take shape and become detailed gradually. In the absence of the necessary experience, some sensations may be forgotten, just as fragile knowledge is forgotten. Some feelings may appear quite late, not before corresponding natural connections are discovered between different internal states or between the state of the machine and external circumstances. Some senses can be developed through special exercises.

It is not so easy to connect the spiritual world of a person with certain objective phenomena and actions or with subjective intentions. This connection is often not visible due to the high level of detail and the social conditioning of our feelings.

Although the internal state is not observable in the form of an “alien sensation,” it can be determined instrumentally - measured. It is quite possible to establish exactly what objective states of the body correspond to the feelings of hunger, fear, and pain. Such simple and strong primary feelings can be reliably associated with an objective internal state. Some "complex" experiences develop only with deep knowledge that is inaccessible to animals and our naive self-learning machines.

As for man and animals, they were not created as experimental machines and were not once “turned on.” The first senses develop in an unborn child simultaneously with the development of the sense organs themselves.

Organs measure the qualitative properties of the world, the brain integrates these measurements into an associative semantic network, and at the same time they become sensations.

The justification for the fact that we get a creature and not an automaton is its ability to universally learn and its interest in new achievements. The universality of learning is justified by the design of the “universal brain.” The incentive for self-learning is the internal objective objective function Wish.

We deliberately do not introduce mechanisms or algorithms into the machine that could dictate what and how to learn. The machine itself will learn something depending on what organs it receives and what the surrounding world will be like.

Visible curiosity and interest in the results of its actions, avoidance of unfavorable situations should convince us that the machine experiences emotions. Which? How can we see her curiosity and emotions? After all, we did not program any behavior, including the way of expressing emotions.

The fact that some behavior of a machine is an expression of its emotions will become clear only later, after communicating with it, and after it reaches a certain level of intelligence. After all, nowhere does it say what wagging a dog’s tail means. We ourselves figured out the meaning of this wagging by comparing the different behaviors of the dogs with what we thought they should feel.

And finally, we were convinced that the car felt something. How does she feel? How did her sensations and her subjective inner world arise?

Let's say the machine has mastered precise manipulation of objects using its hands and reliable discrimination of objects using its eyes. Now she touches and sees. Objectively, we can compare the acuity of our and her vision, the ranges of visible light waves.

Our machine has a universal brain that doesn’t care what kind of sensors it services. Despite the absolutely equal attitude of the brain to all sensors and all signals coming from them, the machine has learned to see different colors. Yellow and green colors are different qualities of the external world. Strictly speaking, these are different states of the organ of vision. Attributing these states to properties of the world is simply a way of describing the external world in terms of our perception. So the machine has different sensations of the external world.

After the machine has mastered its organ of vision well, we will conduct the following experiment. Let's turn off the organ of vision - the eyes, and send signals to the corresponding inputs of the brain that imitate some visible images. In this case, the machine will continue to see. She will sense visual qualities in the absence of the organ of vision.

Let’s complicate the experiment and apply signals corresponding to complete darkness to the vision inputs. All the same, different visual sensations will remain. We see visual images in a dream, when the organ of vision actually sees nothing of the kind. These images are remembered associatively under the influence of signals from other senses. Sensations persist as long as the experience of such sensations is in memory.

Phantom sensations are known from medical practice: movement of missing fingers, pain in a missing leg. I wonder how long this phenomenon lasts - what is the capacity of the organs' RAM?

Consequently, the sensors (organs) themselves are not providers of perceived qualities. They supply something else to the brain, some information; and the sensation of color, pain, touch, etc. can be extracted by the isolated brain from past experience.

Let's take advantage of the fact that both eyes and hands have both motor and sensory functions.

Let's conduct a more radical experiment. Let's disconnect the machine's arms from the nerve channels of communication with the brain and connect them to those channels that previously served the organ of vision. And we will connect the eyes to the channels that were previously connected to the hands.

As in the first experiment, the machine will initially continue to touch and see, but these will be unusual or meaningless images. Due to its versatility, her brain will gradually learn the correct interaction with the rearranged organs, one that contributes to the optimization of the target function. The machine will again develop adequate sensations of color and visible images, touch and precise hand movements.

A similar, but less radical, change occurs in a person who begins to wear reversible glasses. You can conduct a similar experiment to imitate hearing with visual images or vice versa. The impressions of a blind woman who used a sound locator to compensate for her missing vision are on the page “Seeing with Hearing.”

From this experience it follows that the specific sensations of qualities related to vision do not depend on which inputs of the universal brain the eyes are connected to. Visual sensations are formed gradually and are integrated into the system of other sensations of the properties of the world as experience in using vision accumulates.

According to the method of formation, this system inevitably becomes a model of the external world, the structure of which does not depend on the method of connecting organs to the brain.

So, the primary source of visual sensations is the external world, but after the system of visual sensations is formed, it remains in consciousness, and objectively in memory, for some time even without the participation of the organ of vision.

In the absence of positive (leading to optimization of the target function “Wish”) experience of interaction with the outside world, there are no sensations of the qualities of this world at all. They are not inherent in a self-learning system in itself.

The Wish Sensor is an essential and indispensable part of the universal brain. The main function of the universal brain is to minimize the Wish signal.

As more and more physically different organs are connected to the universal brain, our feeling machine has more and more qualitatively different sensations of the properties of the external world, but only if the use of new organs affects the Wish function.

It is not just the improvement of the Wish value that is important, but the practical impact on the Wish value. Some chronically correct behavior ceases to influence the Wish and becomes unconscious, while a small change in this behavior could worsen the value of the Wish.

We can say that the organs measure the qualitative properties of the world, the brain integrates these measurements into an associative semantic network, and at the same time they become subjectively perceived or unperceived (automatic) sensations. In a deterministic, algorithmic machine, the sensor signals are always automatic.

In a universal learning machine, these signals, if they contribute to achieving a better value of the target function, become sensations, and after their use ceases to change the target function, for example, when the optimum is reached, these sensations cease to be recognized. Thus, awareness exists only during learning, or in any situation where the current use of the relevant organs influences the magnitude of the target function Wish.

3.2.Sensory processes (sensation).doc

3.2.3. Types of sensations.

3.2.3. General properties of sensations.

3.2.4. Basic patterns of sensations.

3.2.5. Thresholds of sensations.

3.2.5. Interaction of sensations.

3.2.6. Development of sensations.

3.2.1. The concept of sensations and their occurrence

Feeling – This the simplest mental process consisting of reflecting individual properties of external objects and phenomena of the surrounding world and internal states of the body that directly affect the senses.

All living beings with a nervous system have the ability to sense sensations. Only humans have conscious sensations. Feelings can be both objective and subjective. The objective nature of sensations is determined by the fact that they always reflect an external stimulus, and the subjective nature - due to its dependence on the state of the body and the individual characteristics of a person.
^

The emergence of sensations

A person inexperienced in psychology rarely thinks about the fact that the sensation of, for example, a sound and the sound itself are not the same thing. Flashes of light and the sensation they cause belong, although connected, to different realities: the physical and mental worlds. The first condition for the transformation of sensations is a physical impression, when nothing affects a person, he does not feel anything. For a sensation to arise, first of all, an impression of an object is necessary. Impressions that can cause sensations in external and internal organs include: mechanical pressure and shock, electrical movements, vibrations of heat and cold, light, sounds, blood circulation, nutrition, taste, smell, touch, hunger, etc.

When sensations arise, physical, physiological and mental processes can be distinguished. The founder of the study of physical and mental was the German scientist G. T. Fechner. He considered the main tasks to be the study of the relationship between the physical and mental worlds and the quantitative description of this relationship. Participation of physical

The physiological and mental processes in the occurrence of sensation are shown in Fig. 3.

Rice. 3. The emergence of sensations

All types of sensations arise as a result of the influence of corresponding stimulus stimuli on the human senses.

Irritants name objects and phenomena of reality that affect our senses.

The physiological mechanism of sensation is the activity of special nervous apparatus called analyzers. Analyzers take the impact of certain stimuli and transform them into sensations.

Analyzers consist of the following parts: a) receptors, or sensory organs, that convert the energy of external influence into nerve signals; b) nerve pathways through which these signals are transmitted to the brain and back to the receptors; c) cortical projection zones of the brain.

Each receptor is adapted to receive only a certain type of influence (light, sound, etc.) and has a specific excitability in relation to physical and chemical agents. For sensation to arise, the analyzer must work as a whole.

^ 3.2.2. CLASSIFICATION AND TYPES OF SENSATIONS
Sensations can be classified on different grounds, which makes it possible to group them into appropriate systems and present the existing connections and interdependencies (Fig. 4). Let us present a classification of sensations on the following grounds: 1) the presence or absence of direct contact with the stimulus causing sensations;

^ 2) location of receptors; 3) time of occurrence; 4) modality (type) of the stimulus.

Rice. 4. Classification of sensations
Based on the presence or absence of direct contact of the receptor with the stimulus causing sensations, they are divided into distant And contact reception.

Distant sensations are caused by stimuli acting on the sense organs at some distance. These include: vision, hearing, smell.

Contact sensations arise through direct interaction with a sensory organ. Taste, pain, tactile sensations are contact.

According to the location of the receptors, sensations are distinguished: exteroceptive, interoceptive, proprioceptive.

Exteroceptive sensations arise from irritation of receptors located on the surface of the body. These include: visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory and skin sensations. The latter include sensations of touch - pressure, heat, cold, pain and tactility.

Interoceptive sensations are associated with irritation of receptors located inside the body. These sensations reflect the internal state of the body. These include: sensations of hunger, thirst, cardiovascular, respiratory and reproductive systems, internal pain and static sensations, etc.

Proprioceptive, or motor, sensations reflect the movement and state of the body itself, the position of the limbs, their movement and the degree of effort applied. Without them, it is impossible to perform movements normally and coordinate them. The sense of position (balance), along with motor sensations, plays an important role in the process of perception, for example, stability.

By modalities sensation stimuli are: visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, kinesthetic, temperature, pain, thirst, hunger.

^ Visual sensations

Visual sensations play a leading role in a person’s cognition of the external world. It is known that 80–90% of information comes through the visual analyzer, about 80% of all work operations are carried out under visual control.

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

The eyeball lies in the recess of the skull that protects it. The shape of the eyeball is close to spherical. Its outer dense connective tissue shell, about 1 mm thick, is called the sclera. On the front surface of the eye, the sclera merges into a transparent membrane called the cornea. Under the sclera there is a thinner - about 0.3 mm - choroid, consisting mainly of blood vessels that supply the eyeball. The inner layer is the retina. The cornea and lens focus light entering the eye onto the retina, which lines the back surface of the eyeball. It is in the retina that the light-sensitive cells are located. Light affects two types of light-sensitive cells in the retina - rods and cones, so named for their external shape. Light-sensitive receptors in the retina convert light energy into neural impulses. Along the fibers of the optic nerve, signals are transmitted to the corresponding part of the brain, which receives and processes the information transmitted by the nerves. A schematic section of the eye is shown in Fig. 5.


^

Rice. 5.Schematic section of the eye

The light sensitivity of cones is less than that of rods. Rods are adapted to work in low light and provide a black-and-white picture of the world, while cones, on the contrary, have the greatest sensitivity in good lighting conditions and provide color vision.

The colors that a person perceives are divided into achromatic And chromatic .

Achromatic colors – black, white and gray in between (Fig. 6).

Fig.6. Achromatic colors in the transition from black to white

(from left to right).
Achromatic colors reflect rods that are located at the edges of the retina. Cones are located in the center of the retina, function only in daylight and reflect chromatic colors. The sticks function at any time of the day. That's why at night all objects seem black and gray to us. In low light, the cones stop working and vision is carried out by the rod apparatus - a person sees mainly gray colors.

Chromatic colors are all shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Newton's classic experiments in decomposing white light into its components and again producing composite radiation from its parts are the first steps towards understanding the problem of color perception by the eye.

The stimulus for the visual analyzer is light waves with a wavelength from 390 to 760 nm. Therefore, when we talk about "blue" or "red" color, we are actually talking about short- or long-wavelength light, respectively, which thus affects the visual system, causing the perception of blue or red colors. Light with a wavelength of about 650–700 nm produces the sensation of red. At a wavelength of 570 nm, yellow sensations appear, at 500 nm, green, and at 470 nm, blue. White color is the result of exposure of the eye to all light waves that make up the spectrum.

In other words, colors depend on how exactly the visual system interprets light rays with different wavelengths that are reflected from objects and act on the eye. Light rays, paints, color filters and the like have no color. They just selectively use radiant energy, emitting or transmitting rays with a certain wavelength through themselves, reflecting some of them and absorbing others. Therefore, color is a product of the visual system, and not an inherent property of the visible spectrum.

Different color sensations are caused by different wavelengths, as shown in Fig. 7.

Rice. 7. Color wheel
Any color can be obtained by mixing two bordering colors. For example, red is made by mixing orange and violet. Opposite colors are called complementary colors - when mixed they form a warm color.

In this case, the spectral sensitivity of the eye looks like a curve shown in Fig. 8. All color tones, including neutrals (grays), can be obtained by mixing three primary colors - red, blue and green (Fig. 9). The work of color television is based on this.

Disturbances in the functioning of the rod and cone apparatus lead to certain defects in visual sensations. Thus, a malfunction of the rod apparatus (known as the disease “night blindness”) manifests itself in the fact that a person sees very poorly or does not see anything at dusk and at night, and during the day his vision is relatively normal.

When the action of the cone apparatus is weakened, a person poorly distinguishes or does not distinguish chromatic colors at all. This disease is called “color blindness” (named after the English physicist Dalton, who first described it). The most common type is red-green blindness. It is known that about 4% of men and 0.5% of women suffer from color blindness.

Color has different effects on a person’s well-being and performance. It can help improve your mood or, conversely, worsen it. Green color, for example, creates an even, calm mood, red color excites, dark blue depresses.

Along with color, the degree of illumination of the workplace also affects the mental state. Insufficient lighting causes changes in eye strain when performing work, which leads to the rapid development of fatigue and the appearance of myopia.
^

Auditory sensations

The irritants for auditory sensations are sound waves - longitudinal vibrations of air particles, propagating in all directions from the sound source. The human hearing organ responds to sounds ranging from 16 to 20,000 vibrations per second. The human ear is most sensitive to sounds of 1000–3000 vibrations per second. The structure of the ear is shown in Fig. 10.

Auditory sensations are a reflection of sounds of various heights (high – low), strength (loud - quiet), timbre , various quality (musical sounds, speech, noises).

The pitch of the sound depends on the vibration frequency of the sound waves, the strength of the sound is determined by the amplitude of their vibrations, and the timbre is determined by the form of vibration of the sound waves.

^ Fig. 9. Ear structure:

9 - external auditory canal; 2 - eardrum;

3 - Eustachian tube; 4 - hammer; 5 - anvil;

6 - stirrup; 7 - semicircular canals; 8 - 10 - snail;

11 - 12 - Eustachian tube; 13 - temporal bones of the skull
Musical sounds – singing and sounds of various musical instruments. Noises – this is, for example, the sound of a motor, the sound of rain, the roar of a train, etc.

Speech sounds combine musical sounds (vowels) and noises (consonants). Hearing for distinguishing speech sounds is defined as phonemic. It is formed during life, in the process of communication, depending on the speech environment in which the child is raised. Mastering a foreign language involves developing a system of phonemic hearing, which requires a system of exercises. Musical ear is no less social than speech ear. It is brought up and formed in the same way as speech.

^ Olfactory and gustatory sensations

Olfactory sensations are a reflection of smells. They arise due to the penetration of particles of odorous substances spreading in the air into the upper part of the nasopharynx, where they affect the peripheral endings of the olfactory analyzer, embedded in the nasal mucosa. The sense of smell provides a person with information about the presence of various chemicals in the air.

In modern man, the olfactory analyzer is less developed than in his distant ancestors, since in a healthy person the orienting function is performed primarily by vision and hearing. For example, dogs are about a thousand times more sensitive to smells than we are.

Flavoring sensations are included in the group of contact sensations. Flavoring sensations are a reflection of certain chemical properties of flavoring substances dissolved in water or saliva. The main taste qualities are sourness, saltiness, sweetness and bitterness. Probably all other taste sensations are caused by a combination of these four qualities. The sense of taste plays an important role in the eating process when distinguishing between different types of food and its taste.

^ Skin, tactile and pain sensations

Skin, tactile and pain sensations are formed during contact interaction with objects.

Skin sensations . There are several analyzing systems in the skin: tactile , temperature , painful.

Tactile sensations - These are sensations of touch. The tactile sensitivity system is unevenly distributed throughout the body. Most of all, the accumulation of tactile cells is observed in the palm, on the fingertips and on the lips.

Temperature sensations arise as sensations of cold and heat.

If you touch the surface of the body and then press on it, the pressure can cause painful sensation. This may cause stabbing, cutting or burning pain. Pain sensitivity has important biological significance because it signals possible physical danger.

Thus, tactile sensitivity provides knowledge about the qualities of an object, and pain signals the body to move away from the stimulus.

Touch

The skin sensations of the hand, combining with muscle-joint sensitivity, form the sense of touch. Touch - a system of cognitive activity of the hand, specific to a person, developed in the process of work, which makes it possible to study the subject in more detail. Thanks to the sense of touch, the hand can reflect the shape, spatial arrangement of objects, as well as their texture. In this sense, touch (as defined by I.M. Sechenov) is a feeling parallel to vision. Thanks to the sense of touch, we gain knowledge about objects with which we come into contact, as well as their surface: smooth, rough, sticky, liquid, soft, hard.

With a detailed study of the interaction of sensations that form the sense of touch, interesting experimental data were obtained. Figure 11 shows the subject’s drawings, made on the basis of touch without visual perception of the figure and made by him after the primary ( A), and then after repeated ( B) feeling the object.

A real object B

Rice. 11. Drawings of the subject after the primary ( A) and repeated ( B) feeling the object
Thanks to the sense of touch, the subject quite accurately drew the object of touch, and repeated touching made it possible to make certain clarifications to get closer to the real figure.
^

3.2.3. GENERAL PROPERTIES OF SENSATIONS

Quality - an essential feature of sensations that allows one to distinguish one type of sensation from another. Each type of sensation has its own specific features that distinguish it from other types (for example, auditory from visual), as well as variations in sensations within a given type (for example, color, saturation). Thus, auditory sensations are characterized by height, timbre, volume, visual sensations are characterized by color tone, saturation, lightness.

Intensity sensations is a quantitative characteristic of sensations, i.e. the greater or lesser strength of their manifestation. The intensity of sensations is determined by the strength of the current stimulus and the functional state of the receptor.

Duration – temporary characteristics of sensations. It is determined by the functional state of the sense organs and depends on the time of exposure to the stimulus and its intensity.

Inertia sensation is manifested in the fact that the sensation does not arise simultaneously with the onset of the stimulus and does not disappear simultaneously with the cessation of its action, but persists for some time. The duration of inertia of sensations is not a constant value, but depends on a number of factors.

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3.2.4. BASIC REGULARITIES OF SENSATIONS

The main patterns of sensations include: sensitivity and temporal characteristics of sensations, sensitivity thresholds, the basic psychophysical law, adaptation and interaction of sensations.

^ Sensitivity and temporal characteristics of sensations

Under sensitivity understand a person's ability to have sensations. However, the sensations do not arise immediately. The temporal characteristics of the analyzer are determined by the time required for the sensation to arise under certain operating conditions. Exists time threshold And latent period.

Time threshold – the minimum duration of exposure to the stimulus required for the sensation to occur.

Between the onset of the stimulus and the appearance of the sensation, a certain time passes, which is called latent period. During the latent period, the energy of the influencing stimuli is converted into nerve impulses, their passage through specific and nonspecific structures of the nervous system, switching from one level of the nervous system to another.

This time is determined:

• 
  signal intensity (the so-called law of force: the stronger the stimulus, the shorter the reaction to it),
• 
  its significance (the reaction to a signal that is significant for a person is shorter than to signals that are not significant to him),
• 
  complexity of work (the more difficult it is to select the desired signal among the others, the greater the reaction to it will be),
• 
  age and other individual characteristics of a person.

Inertia - the time during which the sensation persists after the end of the stimulus. It is known, for example, that the inertia of vision in a normal person is 0.1–0.2 s, therefore the duration of the signal and the interval between appearing signals must be no less than the time of preservation of the sensation, equal to 0.2–0.5 s. Otherwise, when a new signal arrives, a person will retain the image of the previous one. This effect is successfully used in cinema, when individual images on a film are perceived by us as a continuous process. We do not notice the breaks between individual frames of the film, which turn out to be filled with traces of the previous frame.

It is believed that visual inertia is the most important condition for discrimination. During the inertia time, the light effects on the retina are averaged, which is necessary to isolate the useful signal from the noise. As it increases, the resolution of the eye also increases.

^ 3.2.5. THRESHOLDS OF SENSATIONS
In order for a sensation to arise as a result of the action of a stimulus on the sense organs, it is necessary that the stimulus causing it reaches a certain value or threshold of sensitivity. There are two types of sensitivity thresholds: absolute And differential (or discrimination sensitivity threshold).

The minimum strength of the stimulus at which a barely noticeable sensation occurs is called lower absolute threshold of sensation.

Opposes the lower threshold of sensations upper threshold . The greatest strength of the stimulus, at which a sensation of this type still occurs, is called the upper absolute threshold of sensation . The upper threshold limits sensitivity on the greater side, and up to a certain limit, above which pain occurs or there is no change in the intensity of sensations.

Taking into account the above, we note that the larger the stimulus value, the higher the probability of its detection. According to psychologists (A.A. Krylov et al., etc.), in the near-threshold region this probability obeys the normal distribution law. Figure 12 shows a graph of the dependence of the probability of detection on the magnitude of the stimulus in the near-threshold region.

Rice. 12. Detection Probability Dependence

on the magnitude of the stimulus in the near-threshold

The abscissa axis shows the values ​​of the stimuli used, and the axis ordinates – corresponding probabilities

To estimate the value of the absolute threshold, it is necessary to set the required probability of positive responses from subjects. Most often, 50 and 75% thresholds are used, i.e. stimulus values ​​at which subjects detect it in 50% or 75% of cases, respectively.

Thresholds of sensations are individual for each person and change throughout his life.

Sensations, in addition to the magnitude of the absolute threshold, are also characterized by a threshold for discrimination, which is called the differential threshold.

Differential threshold - the smallest amount of differences between stimuli, when the difference between them is still discernible.

For example, if you put a load weighing 100 grams on your hand, and then add another gram to this weight, then a person will not be able to feel this increase. In order to feel an increase in weight, you need to add three to five grams. The German psychophysicist E. G. Weber, studying the sensation of heaviness, came to the conclusion that when comparing objects and observing the differences between them, we perceive not the differences between the objects, but the relationship of the differences to the size of the compared objects. So, if you need to add three grams to a load of 100 grams in order to feel the difference, then you need to add six grams to a load of 200 grams in order to feel the difference.

The differential threshold of sensations for different sense organs is different, but for the same analyzer it is a constant value. For example, the relative threshold for distinguishing light brightness is 1/100, sound volume is 1/10, and taste effects are 1/5.

These patterns are psychophysiological dependencies. They were opened in the first half of the 19th century. French physicist P. Bouguer, then confirmed and refined by the German psychophysicist E. G. Weber and received the name Bouguer's law –Weber .

Bouguer–Weber law states: the differential threshold of sensation is different for different sense organs, but for the same analyzer it is a constant value.

The constant quantity itself is called Weber's constants.

The values ​​of Weber's constant for various senses are given in Table 2.

The lower and upper absolute thresholds of sensations (absolute sensitivity) and differential thresholds of discrimination (relative sensitivity) characterize limits of human sensitivity .

^ Table 2

The meaning of Weber's constant for various senses

Along with this, they differ operational thresholds sensations - the magnitude of the signal at which the accuracy and speed of its discrimination reaches a maximum. This value is an order of magnitude larger than the discrimination threshold and is used in various practical calculations.
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Basic psychophysical law

sensory range

The range of our sensations forms sensory range . Although absolute and differential thresholds are clearly different characteristics, they share a common principle or assumption.

This assumption is as follows. It is assumed that the sensory array is discrete (i.e., discontinuous). This means: up to certain limits the sensation is there, and then it disappears.

The idea that our sensory system is organized according to a threshold, intermittent principle is called the concept discreteness sensory series, and its author is G. T. Fechner. Moreover, this point of view applies to both absolute and differentiated thresholds.

Psychophysicists, inspired by the idea of ​​“absolute pitch,” or the vanishing point of sensation, conducted hundreds of experiments to determine the thresholds of sensitivity. They were surprised to find that the threshold seemed to be floating. In other words, even for very weak stimuli there is some probability of their detection, and for relatively strong ones there is a possibility of their non-detection.

The dependence of the probability of detecting (distinguishing) stimuli on their intensity is called psychometric function.

If the sensory system operates on a discrete basis, the psychometric function will look like this. Up to a certain level of stimulus intensity, the probability of detection is zero, then it is one (Fig. 13).

Subsequently, based on the results of psychophysical research, I. Muller proposed the idea of ​​continuity of the sensory series. Its essence is that there is no threshold as such: any stimulus, in principle, can cause sensations. The actual psychometric function in this case is shown in Fig. 14.

Continuity theory explains why some weak signals are not detected. It consists in the fact that the ability to detect a stimulus is influenced not only by its physical intensity, but also by the disposition of the sensory system to sensation. This location depends on many random, poorly controlled factors: a person’s fatigue, the degree of his attentiveness, motivation, experience, etc.

In this case, some factors have a favorable effect on the observer’s ability to detect a signal (for example, extensive experience), while others have an unfavorable effect (for example, fatigue). Accordingly, unfavorable factors reduce detection ability, and favorable factors increase it. Hence there is no reason to talk about the existence of some special point on the axis of sensations where they are interrupted and disappear. The sensory range is continuous, and if we could create ideal observation conditions, the sensory system would perceive as small a signal as desired.

The psychometric curve can be obtained for various senses and all types of sensations, and each type of sensation has its own thresholds.

More than a hundred years have passed since the scientific discussion that took place between G. T. Fechner and I. Müller, but the problem of discreteness - continuity of the sensory series is still in the field of view of psychologists. The initial psychophysical ideas inspired many researchers and allowed them to create a lot of psychophysical concepts that are interesting both for theory and useful in practice.

Modern concepts of sensitivity thresholds are characterized by two features. The first of these is that discrimination and detection are treated as a process, an integral part of which is uncertainty and randomness. The second is that non-sensory mechanisms are being studied more and more deeply, in a broad sense - decision-making mechanisms that “come to the aid” of the sensory system and allow solving sensory problems in different ways.
Adaptation

The sensitivity of the analyzer is unstable and varies depending on different conditions. For example, if we are in a room with some odors, after a while we stop noticing these odors, because the sensitivity of the analyzer gradually decreases. A change in the sensitivity of the analyzer as a result of its adaptation to the strength and duration of the current stimulus is called adaptation.

In the visual analyzer, adaptations are distinguished dark And light For example, when entering a poorly lit room, we initially do not distinguish objects, but gradually the sensitivity of the analyzer increases. The example given concerns dark adaptation . If dark adaptation is associated with increased sensitivity, then light adaptation is associated with a decrease in light sensitivity.

Different analyzers have different speeds and adaptation ranges. Olfactory and tactile analyzers adapt more quickly.

The following main types of adaptation are distinguished:

• 
  dulling of sensitivity under the influence of a strong stimulus;
• 
  dulling of sensitivity under the influence of a monotonous stimulus;
• 
  exacerbation of sensitivity under the influence of a weak stimulus.

^ 3.2.5. INTERACTION OF SENSATIONS

The intensity of sensations depends not only on the strength of the stimuli and the level of adaptation of the receptors, but also on the stimuli currently affecting other sense organs.

A change in the sensitivity of analyzers under the influence of a stimulus from other sense organs is called interaction of sensations . The interaction of sensations is manifested in an increase and decrease in sensitivity: weak stimuli increase the sensitivity of the analyzers, and strong ones decrease it.

The interaction of sensations is manifested in phenomena sensitization , synesthesia And contrast.

Sensitization (from Lat. - sensitivity) - increased sensitivity of nerve centers under the influence of an irritant. Sensitization can develop not only through the use of side stimuli, but also through exercise. Thus, musicians develop high auditory sensitivity, tasters develop olfactory and gustatory sensations.

Synesthesia - this is the occurrence, under the influence of irritation of a certain analyzer, of a sensation characteristic of another analyzer. For example, during the interaction of sound stimuli, a person may experience visual images. The design of color-musical installations is based on the phenomenon of synesthesia. The phenomenon of synesthesia extends to all modalities. It must be remembered, however, that the manifestations of synesthesia vary from person to person. There are people with a very strong ability for synesthesia and people who have almost no such ability.

This must be taken into account when developing ergonomic measures to reduce fatigue and monotony in the production process (appropriate color scheme for workshop interiors).

Another manifestation of the interaction of sensations is their contrast. Contrast of sensations - this is a change in the intensity and quality of sensations under the influence of a previous or accompanying stimulus. With the simultaneous action of two stimuli, a simultaneous contrast occurs (examples of this are given when considering visual sensations). The phenomenon of sequential contrast is widely known. The feeling of sour increases sensitivity to sweets. After a cold one, a weak thermal stimulus seems hot.

In conclusion, we note that a person is born with ready-made sense organs and a ready-made ability to sense. However, people differ from each other in their feelings. Individual differences exist in all types of sensations, but are especially noticeable in vision and hearing. They manifest themselves in greater or lesser sensitivity of analyzers, both general and discriminating. Over the course of life, analyzers improve, sensations become more accurate and developed. For example, different people have different degrees of development of musical and phonemic (speech) hearing, which is expressed in the accuracy of distinguishing the pitch of musical sounds and the accuracy of distinguishing phonemes of their native and foreign languages. Persons with well-developed phonemic awareness easily learn foreign languages. At the same time, learning foreign languages ​​contributes to the development of phonemic hearing.

The level of sensitivity depends on the innate characteristics of the analyzers and on the person’s living conditions, his upbringing and the nature of his work. The conditions for the development of a person’s sensations are also his active and varied practical and professional activities. It is known, for example, that experienced steelworkers can determine the temperature with an accuracy of tens of degrees by the subtlest shades of color and brightness of the hot walls and roof of the furnace. Textile workers distinguish several dozen shades of black. Pilots can determine by ear the difference in the number of engine revolutions with an accuracy of 3%.

The development of sensations in professional activity is carried out in relation to the characteristics of this activity. In this case, it is possible, firstly, to increase the sensitivity in the analyzer for which this profession makes demands, and secondly, to increase the sensitivity in those analyzers, thanks to which sensory defects are compensated.
^ 3.2.6. DEVELOPMENT OF SENSATIONS
Man is born with ready-made sense organs and a ready-made capacity for sensation. However, people differ from each other in their feelings. Individual differences exist in all types of sensations, but are especially noticeable in vision and hearing. They manifest themselves in greater or lesser sensitivity of analyzers, both general and discriminating. Over the course of life, analyzers improve, sensations become more accurate and developed.

For example, different people have different degrees of development of musical and phonemic (speech) hearing, which is expressed in the accuracy of distinguishing the pitch of musical sounds and the accuracy of distinguishing phonemes of their native and foreign languages. Persons with well-developed phonemic awareness easily learn foreign languages. At the same time, learning foreign languages ​​contributes to the development of phonemic hearing.

A prerequisite for the development of a person’s senses is his active and varied practical activities. Special exercises for the development of sensations are also of great importance when raising a child in kindergarten and at school, aimed at increasing the absolute and distinctive sensitivity of vision, hearing, touch, etc. Children should be taught to draw, sculpt, design, look at pictures and listen to music, sing, dance, observe the surrounding nature. In sensory education, an important place is occupied by the implementation of various age-appropriate work tasks, speech development classes, collective outdoor games, and physical exercises. The child must be interested in these types of activities. Collective activities and communication with other children increase the child’s interest. Under this condition, he himself will achieve success in sensory development.

In adults, sensations intensify under the influence of professional work and life experience. It is known that experienced steelmakers can determine the temperature with an accuracy of tens of degrees by the subtlest shades of color and brightness of the hot walls and roof of the furnace. Textile workers distinguish several dozen shades of black.

The development of sensations in professional activity is carried out in relation to the characteristics of this activity in two possible directions:

A) increasing the sensitivity of the analyzer to which the profession requires;

B) increasing sensitivity in those analyzers, thanks to which sensory defects are compensated.