12.10.2019

The Ukhtomsky dominant principle in nerve centers. Doctrine of the dominant by A. Ukhtomsky

I was prompted to write this article by the desire to interest readers in the personality of the Russian neurophysiologist A.A. Ukhtomsky and acquaint them with part of his scientific and spiritual heritage.

Unfortunately, this great scientist often remains unknown or underestimated. For many, familiarity with it comes down to the doctrine of the dominant, but the doctrine of the Ukhtomsky dominant is just part of its extensive creative activity. A.A. Ukhtomsky was also a philosopher with extraordinary thinking, and in addition, he studied the mechanisms of human psychological life. Perhaps his ideas may be of interest to modern specialists, as well as to those who are simply interested in psychology.

Smirnov Sergey Sergeevich- specialist in biotechnical and medical systems, researcher at YugNIRO, Kerch

The principle of dominance in the psychological sphere

Alexey Alekseevich Ukhtomsky (1875-1942) is known primarily as the author of the doctrine of the dominant. Here's what Wikipedia says about it:

The main discovery of Ukhtomsky is considered to be the principle of dominance that he developed - a theory that can explain some fundamental aspects of human behavior and mental processes.<…>By “dominant”, Ukhtomsky and his followers understood “a more or less stable focus of increased excitability of the centers, no matter what caused it, and the signals newly arriving at the excitation centers serve to strengthen (confirm) excitation in the focus, while in the rest of the central nervous system widely the phenomena of inhibition are widespread.”

It is very significant that the principle of dominance works at different levels of the organization. nervous system: from the simplest reflexes to higher nervous activity.

From Ukhtomsky’s notes on the dominant:

“The area of nerve centers most prepared for activity will have a dominant role in determining the reflex consequences of environmental influences on the body.

For the lower parts of the nervous system, the consequence will be that the organism, prepared for defecation, will be stimulated to defecate by such stimuli as would normally induce it to run away.

For the higher central apparatuses, the consequence will be that a person, prejudiced that he is surrounded by gluttons, egoists and scoundrels, will successfully find confirmation of this conviction even when he meets Socrates or Spinoza himself. The deceiver necessarily suspects deception in everything, and the thief sees theft everywhere.”

That is, it is our dominant biases that lead us to begin to judge others by ourselves. The dominant theory also explains the principle, widespread in esotericism, “what we believe is what we get.” The fact is that the dominant largely adapts the perception of reality and thinking to itself, that is, we see what we are predisposed to and have logical schemes to justify our picture of the world, which more or less accurately reflects reality. " The dominant always justifies itself, and logic is its servant", wrote Ukhtomsky.

Moreover, the dominant is not only a self-sustaining, but also a “self-reinforcing” structure. In the language of cybernetics, it forms a positive feedback loop.

For example, a certain young lady had a prejudice: “All men are narcissistic cynics and scoundrels.” She has a dominant that actively contributes to ensuring that, out of all the diversity of the world (with a variety of men), such a young lady pays attention to precisely those men who correspond to this attitude.

And if they do not quite correspond to her, then the young lady begins to provoke them to the “necessary” behavior (or at least some hint, she will figure out the rest herself), so that as a result she can say to herself with a clear conscience: “Well, I I knew it! Still, that’s exactly how it is!” As a result of such “confirmation of correctness”, the strength of this dominant grows, it becomes stronger in order to work even more “effectively” next time.

And here’s what’s scary and sad - a person can sit in the traps of such destructive dominants for decades, only strengthening them and deepening his gap with others and with himself, or rather, with the spiritual part of the personality.

In his notes, Ukhtomsky writes the following about the action of dominants:

“...everyone’s behavior is such as their worldview, and their worldview is such as their educated inclination of behavior. This is a vicious circle for everyone, from which it is extremely difficult to break out, and usually impossible without outside help! Only shock and the patient help of another can tear a person out of this fatal subject-object correlation, i.e. the fact that the world for a person is what he deserves it, and a person is what his world is! After all, it is necessary to change nothing more and nothing less than to change a person’s physiological worldview: the physiological continuity of his life, fixed by habit. And this is very painful and very difficult!

For after all, for a person in his inertia, everything usually only confirms his favorite worldview; he acts as he perceives the world, and perceives the world as he acts. “Chaque vilain trouve sa vilaine” (lit.: every scoundrel finds his own abomination (French)). What are a person’s dominants, such is his integral image of the world, and such is his integral image of the world, such is his behavior, such is his happiness and unhappiness, such is his face for other people.”

Creteic of egocentrism

Ukhtomsky criticizes the European system of values and ideology, which leads a person to individualism and egocentrism, as a result of which the “European man” closes in on himself: he is primarily interested only in his own problems, successes and failures, he does not particularly care about others and often perceives surrounding people only as objects that can be used to achieve their own goals.

This approach is harmful not only for others, but also for himself, since with such egocentrism (or pride, in other words), a person loses contact with the spiritual part of his personality - and this is a very serious loss, since it usually leads to a feeling of internal discord and loss of meaning, i.e. to a loss of sense of meaning in life.

Of course, European culture has developed various ways- how to distract yourself from yourself, so as not to feel this inner emptiness, but to fill your world with such “surrogates of meaning” (in the words of V. Frankl) as various pleasures or power and social status.

“When joy and cheerfulness are bought artificially - by closing our eyes to reality, with the help of so-called “entertainment” and various special “cultural pleasures”, this only leads to pitiful and pitiful results. People, fascinated by artificial joys, without noticing it, aggravate the misfortunes of the world and find themselves completely defenseless when one fine day reality opens up for them in all its enormous and tragic significance!(A.A. Ukhtomsky, 1928).

As a healthy alternative to European individualism, Ukhtomsky invites a person to open up to the surrounding reality and the people around him. Do not “get hung up” on your Self, but seek live communication with others. And even the concept of Truth for these two “life philosophies” is significantly different.

“People desperately want to arrange the Truth for themselves so that they can rest on it, so that it is convenient and portable! And she is a living, beautiful, original Life, often painful and unexpected, moving forward and forward from greedy human lusts and dragging a person along with it! It is not given and exists not for pleasure and not for human peace, but in order to draw a person along with it and tear him away from his usual and calm environment to what is higher and ahead! It is not she who has to be pulled down to herself, but herself who has to be reached and raised up to her!

<…>Popular European thought, convinced that it is called upon to build truth for itself and according to its own interests, ends up denying the possibility of knowing anyone other than its own egocentric personality; you cannot know another, you cannot understand a friend; fundamental solipsism is inevitable.

On the contrary, a healthy and loving human spirit begins by knowing a friend and is not interested in anything else except knowing the friend, the other, all directed from itself to the other; and he ends by understanding Truth as an original and living existence. Here are logical cycles that inevitably come to opposite ends, because the beginnings are different!”(A.A. Ukhtomsky, 1922)

We can say that a self-centered individualist creates in himself “self-closing” dominants that cut him off from others and from his spiritual part, while a person free from pride creates in himself “self-revealing” dominants that allow him to be at peace with himself and the world, to feel the meaning of life and realize your destiny.

“As long as there is a common cause with people, as long as we feel that we live together, there is faith in life, in its value for us and in our value for it. As long as our narrow, self-confident understandings do not separate us, we are together, we are in a common cause, and we are happy that we are together!

But here he is, our fatal disconnector - a funny and pathetic little man in his self-confidence with complete certainty in his views, with categorical confidence in his views on the world, on the people he meets, on himself!

You tell me, my pathetic friend Wagner[referring to Goethe’s character - Faust’s assistant, “boring, obnoxious, narrow-minded scholar”] that it is impossible to rebel against persistence in one’s understandings; self-affirmation and self-confidence are essential conditions for success!<…>But who, who told you, my friend, that it is really valuable for you to be successful with your understanding?! Really, behind the squat outlines of your success, don’t you already see the breadth, beauty and importance of life, exceeding everything that is in you!(A.A. Ukhtomsky, 1923).

“... We are all one, no matter how we are covered from each other by conventional shells, which over the years become old and strong, but as soon as a happy chance softens and breaks the shell, the same dear craving for affinity between what is in one person awakens. and what is in the other!

<…>After all, each of us is just a splash of a wave in the great ocean, carrying waters from the great past to the great future! And the disaster of individualism and rationalism is that a separate wave begins to think of itself as an exclusive world point, around which the past, present, and future revolve, and rotates as this world point pleases.

They stopped seeing living faces among the people and therefore they themselves lost face, but turned into “individuals”, individualistically thinking about the world and people in order to self-satisfy their worldview.

<…>Yes, the events of the distant past, in a moment of the present, predetermine the events of the distant future. Each of us splashes briefly in this great sea to convey the tradition of the past to the tradition of the future. It’s good if we can be sensitive to what the past has bequeathed to us in art, in music, in words and in conscience, so that on our part we can be artists of our lives, in order to, in turn, convey a beautiful, meaningful, conscientious word to those who who will come after us..."(A.A. Ukhtomsky, 1927).

Double and Interlocutor

In his notes, Ukhtomsky introduces the concepts of Double and Interlocutor. These are a kind of “superstructures” formed from dominants.

The double is ours “self-closed, self-affirming, self-justifying self”. To simplify, we can call it Ego, but this is controversial, since different experts sometimes give different meanings to this term. We can also say that the Double is not our true Self, but its “self-closed” psychophysical part (there is also a spiritual part). Almost everyone has a double - this, one might say, is a phase of spiritual evolution, only few people emerge from this “larva” and move on.

The Double plays the role of a screen, separating us both from reality and other people, forcing us to see everywhere only our reflections and projections, and from our spiritual Self. This is a state in which a person (usually without realizing it) is in the power of his Double, in in Christianity is called pride. This is the egocentric position already mentioned above, which ironically can be described as follows: “I am the navel of the Earth and everything should be according to my discretion and desire.”

At the same time, as mentioned earlier, a person loses the ability to accept the world around him, and himself, and this also leads to a loss of meaning with all the ensuing consequences: here is the desire for pleasure and power as “surrogates of meaning”, and psychosomatic diseases, and various kinds of addictions, and voluntary “adjustment” to generally accepted standards of mass duping, etc.

“And when man accepted nature as a dead and completely pliable environment for his desires, in which he could control and fornicate “sansgêne” as much as he wanted, this only closed from human eyes that meaningful and binding truth by which reality lives. Man has become blind and deafened by his passions, they are his idols! And, stunned by them, he became their slave, enslaved by them, and they became forced upon him. <…>And then, of course, the double obscures the real interlocutor for the person. The double becomes like a screen between a person and his interlocutor, replacing the latter with a double.”(A.A. Ukhtomsky, 1928).

“When people condemn others, they only reveal their own hidden Double: to a dirty person everything seems dirty in advance; the envious person and the secret money-grubber perceive money-grubbers in others; an egoist, precisely because he is an egoist, declares everyone to be fundamentally egoists. Wherever a person condemns others, he comes from his Double, and condemnation is, at the same time, a secret, very subtle, all the more poisonous self-justification, i.e., complacency in oneself and one’s points of view!”(A.A. Ukhtomsky, 1927).

However, in addition to the Double, there is also an Interlocutor. It differs from the Double primarily in that it is revealed to others, directed not inward, but outward. It is difficult to give a clear definition to the concept of the Interlocutor, but you can try to characterize it as a complex of “self-revealing” dominants that allows a person to interact with the spiritual part of his personality, to be in harmony with himself and the world, to feel the meaning of life and to realize his destiny.

“...an interlocutor is every person he meets and every being he meets, which reveals itself in content exactly as the person deserves it: to the good - good, to the evil - evil, to the loving - loving, to the well-disposed - well-disposed."

“The most living, the most concrete and the most indisputable reality is Conversation and the recognition-construction of one’s Interlocutor, either according to the type of a truly independent Interlocutor, whom I listen to and in whom I ponder, whom I greet in advance, - or according to the type of the Double, whom I do not tolerate, because he is I am in my own selfhood.”

Going beyond the usual Self - from Double to Interlocutor

The Austrian psychologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl (1905-1997), who studied the problem of loss of meaning, attached great importance to great importance dereflection (elimination of self-closure) and self-transcendence, that is, going beyond the boundaries of one’s usual self - as the main conditions for finding meaning. Ukhtomsky also expresses similar ideas, although he does it in slightly different words. He writes about the transition from Double to Interlocutor, about coming out of the shell of the “self-enclosed Self,” which ultimately allows you to see Persons, not objects, in the people around you, allows you to feel the meaning of life and find your spiritual Self.

“Only when everyone’s ears are open, the poverty of the Athenian eccentric will not prevent you from recognizing Socrates in him, from the last ragamuffin you will draw grains of love and truth, and for the one you deliberately love, you will be a truly reliable and faithful friend, open to him to the point of transparency. As long as there is no way out from the murderous Double to a living interlocutor, there is no way to recognize and understand a person as he is. And without this, all the most valuable things in life fall away!

A person complains and groans that there is no meaning of existence around him, there are no people, just like a decerebrate frog dies of hunger and thirst, being surrounded by food and water: the best aspirations of a person then degenerate into evil (the most objective evil!) - science into military-chemical technology, philanthropic doctrine into the exploitation of nature and people, and love into the ultimate disrespect for the human person and, in fact, into depravity.”

“To free yourself from your Double is an unusually difficult, but also the most necessary task for a person! In this turning point within himself, a person for the first time discovers “persons” besides himself and introduces into his activity and understanding a completely new category of person, which “can never be a means for me, but must always be my goal.” From this moment on, the person himself, having embarked on the path of cultivating this dominant, for the first time acquires what can be called a face in him.

This, if you like, is a true dialectic: only by switching oneself and one’s activities to others does a person first find himself as a person!”(A.A. Ukhtomsky, 1927).

Love

“Love in itself is the greatest happiness available to man, but in itself it is not pleasure, not pleasure, not peace, but the greatest of man’s obligations, mobilizing all his worldly tasks as a being in the middle of the world. Love says about itself: “He who approaches me approaches fire; but he who leaves me is not worthy of life.” A paraphrase of this is this: I am fire; he who approaches me must remember that he may be scorched; but he who, out of fear of being scorched, moves away from me, loses the source of life.

This is an ancient Alexandrian text that once particularly struck me with its lapidary expression of the greatest truth about how we live and how man lives. True joy, and happiness, and the meaning of existence for a person is only in love; but she is terrible, because she is terribly obliging, like no other force in the world, and out of cowardice in the face of her obligations, which command her to die for her loved ones, people come up with decent motives for themselves to retire, and replace love with surrogates, which, if possible, do not oblige them to anything .

Miracle-working programs are being invented with the expectation of a trick, so that somehow, by itself, humanity will be given what is essentially achievable only by the forces of love!”(A.A. Ukhtomsky, 1928).

Conclusion

One of Ukhtomsky’s students is A.V. Kazanskaya (Koperina) - comparing I.P. Pavlov and Ukhtomsky, writes: “The difference in the worldview of these two scientists is especially clear in their attitude towards religion. After all, I.P. Pavlov was the son of a priest and also received a religious upbringing. Once, at one of his lectures, I.P. Pavlov said: “Religion is the highest of human protective conditioned reflexes.” In this definition, the entire I.P. Pavlov with his precision and clarity of thought. Alexey Alekseevich once said about religion: “Science, or knowledge of the laws of the World and Truth, is the best and highest form of serving God!” This is also what Alexey Alekseevich is all about.”

I hope that the reader discovered new facets of A.A. Ukhtomsky’s personality and saw in him not only a neurophysiologist and the author of the doctrine of the dominant, but also a highly moral person with an outstanding mind and an open heart, whose scientific, philosophical, psychological and spiritual heritage has not lost its value to this day.

Literature:

Ukhtomsky A.A., Dominant. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2002. - 448 p. (Series “Psychology-Classics”)

ATOP Bulletin No. 14

Years, based on the works of N. E. Vvedensky and other physiologists; Moreover, the first observations pointing to the idea of a dominant were made several years earlier.

The very first observation, which formed the basis of the concept of dominant, was made by Ukhtomsky in 2010:

It consisted in the fact that in a dog, during the period of preparation for defecation, electrical stimulation of the cerebral cortex does not give the usual reactions in the limbs, but increases excitation in the defecation apparatus and promotes the onset of a permissive act in it. But as soon as defecation is completed, electrical stimulation of the cortex begins to cause normal movements of the limbs. [Ukhtomsky A. A., “Dominant and integral image”, ]

However, Ukhtomsky did not publish information about the dominant for more than a decade, until the year when he gave a report on the dominant. In he publishes the work “Dominant as a working principle of nerve centers”; then the principle of dominance is discussed by him in many other, later works. Ukhtomsky borrowed the word “dominant” from the book “Critique of Pure Experience” by Richard Avenarius.

The principle of dominance

At all moments of life, conditions are created under which the performance of a function becomes more important than the performance of other functions. Executing this function suppresses other functions.

One of bright examples dominant can be called the dominant of sexual arousal in a cat isolated from males during the period of estrus. Various stimuli (a call for a bowl of food, the clatter of plates on the table being set) in this case do not cause meowing and animated begging for food, but only an intensification of the estrus symptom complex. The administration of even large doses of bromide preparations is unable to erase this sexual dominance in the centers..

The doctrine of the dominant and constellation of nerve centers

Dominant, according to Ukhtomsky, there is a complex of certain symptoms throughout the body - in the muscles, and in secretory work, and in vascular activity. It appears not as a topographically single point of excitation in the central nervous system, but as a “definite constellation of centers with increased excitability in various levels of the brain and spinal cord, as well as in the autonomic system.” Constellation of nerve centers is the interaction of nerve centers with a constantly dynamically changing state.

The role of the nerve center can change significantly: from excitatory to inhibitory for the same devices, depending on the state experienced by the nerve center in this moment. In various situations, the nerve center can acquire different meaning in the physiology of the body. “Newly arriving waves of excitation in the centers will go in the direction of the now dominant focus of excitation.”

Ukhtomsky believed that the dominant is capable of transforming into any “individual mental content.” However, the dominant is not the prerogative of the cerebral cortex, it is general property the entire central nervous system. He saw the difference between “higher” and “lower” dominants. “Lower” dominants are physiological in nature, while “higher” ones - arising in the cerebral cortex - constitute the physiological basis of “the act of attention and objective thinking”.

Numerous studies, carried out by Ukhtomsky, his colleagues and independent scientists indicated that the dominant plays the role of a general operating principle of nerve centers.

For Ukhtomsky, the dominant was what determines the direction of human perception. The dominant served as the very factor that integrates sensations into the whole picture (here a parallel can be drawn with gestalt). Ukhtomsky believed that all branches of human experience, including science, are influenced by dominants, with the help of which impressions, images and beliefs are selected.

To master human experience in order to master oneself and others, in order to direct behavior and oneself in a certain direction intimate life people, we need to master the physiological dominants in ourselves and those around us. [Ukhtomsky A. A., “Dominant and integral image”, 1924]

Properties of the dominant center

Increased excitability
Summation ability
Excitement is characterized by high persistence
Excitation is characterized by high inertia

Bibliography

Ukhtomsky A. A. Dominant. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2002. ISBN 5-318-00067-3

Links

V. P. Zinchenko, “Hypothesis about the origin of A. A. Ukhtomsky’s doctrine of the dominant”

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

See what “Ukhtomsky Dominant” is in other dictionaries:

DOMINANT- (in physiology), a focus of excitation in the center of the nervous system, which can be amplified due to external irritations, exerting an inhibitory effect on the course of these latter (for example, when a cat is preparing for defecation, then irritation of the motor... ...

dominant- (from Latin dominans dominant) a temporarily dominant reflex system that determines the functioning of nerve centers at the moment and thereby gives behavior a certain direction. The doctrine of D. was created by A. A. Ukhtomsky. Term and... Great psychological encyclopedia

Ukhtomsky theory of dominance- (Ukhtomsky A.A., 1923). A dominant is a focus of persistent excitation in the brain, acquiring a position of temporary dominance over its other parts, transforming and directing their activity. Dominant arousal according to the principle... ... Dictionary psychiatric terms

dominant- This principle (dominant) explains to us where integrity and unity come from in human behavior. ... (principle of dominance according to Ukhtomsky): The normal function of an organ in the body is not predetermined, unchanged once and for all... ... Dictionary L.S. Vygotsky

Ukhtomsky theory of dominance- (Ukhtomsky, 1923) – a neurophysiological theory according to which the dominant, the focus of persistent excitation in the brain, controls or modifies the activity of its other parts... encyclopedic Dictionary in psychology and pedagogy

Dialogue in the context of the ideas of M. M. Bakhtin and A. A. Ukhtomsky- Comparative consideration of scientific. and philosopher the ideas of M. M. Bakhtin and A. A. Ukhtomsky made it possible to substantiate the scientific. personality-oriented status practical psychology as a humanities science based on dialogic methodology (T. A. Florenskaya) ... Psychology of communication. encyclopedic Dictionary

INSTINCTS- (Latin i nsti nctum from i nsti ngue re, instigare to encourage), a concept that serves to designate certain types of animal and human behavior, which still does not have a single interpretation. Generally speaking, instinct is usually called the sum of biological... Great Medical Encyclopedia

Dominant is a stable focus of increased excitability of the nerve centers, in which excitations coming to the center serve to enhance excitation in the focus, while inhibition phenomena are widely observed in the rest of the nervous system.... ... Wikipedia

History of issues and practical conclusions dominance theories.

The mechanism of functioning of the dominant was considered by many scientists even before Ukhtomsky. Among them were I.P. Pavlov, V.M. Bekhterev, I.M. Sechenov. Each of these scientists at one time noted that if there is a stable focus of excitation in the cortex, impulses from nearby areas will flock to it, thus generating a reverse process in these same areas, i.e. braking. This focus, which attracts impulses from nearby areas, is dominant. However, it was for the first time possible to develop in detail the concept of dominant and explain its psychological meaning.

The phenomenon of dominance was discovered by scientists in an initially seemingly unsuccessful experiment to study reflexes. As in other similar experiments of that time, it was expected that when the animal was stimulated, one or another motor response corresponding to a given reflex would be obtained. However, this did not happen...

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And the experiment looked like this. The dog was irritated while preparing to defecate electric shock, in order to manifest a motor act, but this irritation did not lead to the expected behavior of the body, but only intensified the process of defecation and, accordingly, contributed to the completion of this act. When the process of defecation is over, repeated irritation of the same areas begins to cause the movements initially expected.

From here, the scientist makes a brilliant conclusion: the reaction of the nerve center is not its constantly given property, but is the result of its condition. This means that when stimulating one or another center in the cortex, the stability of the connection between stimulus and response can only be observed under conditions of complete inaction of a living being, which can only be created artificially.

It turns out that a given stimulus can cause different reactions and, conversely, a given reaction can be produced in different nerve centers. This raises the question about the determinant of the reaction of the nerve center, and, accordingly, the determinant of behavior.

According to Ukhtomsky, such a determinant is the centers and areas close to the given one, and ultimately the whole organism. In each unit of time there is a center whose work is of greatest significance. This is called dominant.

The dominant appears before us as a totality various symptoms manifested in muscles, work endocrine system and other systems throughout the body. It does not act as a point of excitation in the nervous system, but as a certain configuration of centers of increased excitability at different levels of the nervous system.

From here the properties that determine the dominant are derived.

The dominant area attracts excitation from nearby areas, maintaining its activity.
With increasing excitation, the dominant area inhibits third-party reflexes that arise in the process of current activity.

The emergence of a dominant is associated with the task to which the current activity is aimed. As a result, if one or another activity becomes dominant, then outside influences are not able to interfere with it, but, on the contrary, they even reinforce it with their energy. An example is often given here when a soldier wounded during a battle does not feel pain while in the process of battle.

Properties of the dominant and its inertia

The transition of a particular center to a state called dominant is determined by its following properties.

Increased excitability. The excitability threshold of a given center must, at a minimum, be equal to the strength of the stimulus.
Excitation persistence. This parameter determines the duration of the excitation process; the longer it is, the greater the persistence of excitation.
Summation of excitations. This is an opportunity to summarize incoming excitations.
Inertia, suggesting that waves of external excitation manifest themselves in the stimulation of a dominant response to its final resolution.

The last quality turns out to be especially important. The dominant is inert; it tends to be preserved and repeated regardless of changes in the external environment. The dominant often remains an indelible imprint on the nervous system.

Thus, the scientist comes to one of his most important conclusions: that the states of the nerve center, which predetermine the body’s reaction, are in turn determined by the body’s experience, the totality of past connections and ways of responding.

Stages of dominant functioning

The scientist outlined a number of stages in the functioning of the dominant.

Stimulation. The emergence of a dominant is due to the presence of either external or internal (physiological) stimuli. The dominant begins to attract more and more diverse stimuli for nourishment.
Conditioned reflex. This stage is characterized by the formation of a conditioned reflex, when, from a huge number of incoming excitations, the dominant selects the group that is most significant for it.
Objectification. This stage is characterized by the creation of a strong connection between the dominant and the stimulus. Now this stimulus will evoke and reinforce it. At this stage, all external environment is divided into various objects to which the dominant will react and to which she will not.

We can add a fourth point to Ukhtomsky’s classification.

Resolution of the dominant. Like any other reflex, the dominant presupposes implementation in a behavioral act. This is the main mechanism for resolving the dominant.

Dominant as a determinant of mental activity

The scientist came up with the idea that the dominant is capable of being transformed into any content of the psyche. But it is not just an attribute of the cerebral cortex, but acts as a general manifestation of the entire nervous system.

However, the scientist distinguished different levels of functioning of the dominant.

Lowest level. Such a dominant corresponds to the level of physiology.
Highest level. The dominant of this level arises in the cortex and is the physiological basis of the functions of attention and thinking.

For the scientist, the dominant was also a mechanism directing our perceptions. All aspects of our experience are under the control of dominants. With their help, we select impressions, images, ideas and beliefs from the external environment. As a result, the dominant predetermines the information that we let into our consciousness.

However, Ukhtomsky also considered the negative role of the dominant, arguing that it is precisely because of the dominants we have already formed that we mindlessly obey stereotypes and cannot understand other people. Due to the fact that as a result of past experience of interaction, we have formed one or another dominant, our perception becomes stereotypical and we cannot perceive another person with an unclouded look.

Thus, not only our thoughts and ideas, but also beliefs can act as dominants, which are activated upon presentation of an already fixed stimulus and, further, determine our perception.

In connection with this problem, the scientist gave specific recommendations for resolving the dominant.

Methods for eliminating and resolving dominance

Scientists have identified a number of mechanisms for eliminating and transforming the dominant.

Natural resolution of the dominant. The essence of this mechanism is the implementation of an event or idea towards which the dominant is directed. Many people know that the anticipation of a fight is worse than the fight itself. Expectation creates a dominant, and, consequently, tension, but as soon as this very event occurs, the fear disappears, the dominant is resolved. It is possible to resolve the dominant through the behavioral implementation of intention. If a person is angry with someone, then he can only remove the aggression by implementing it in actions. But it’s not all bad and you don’t have the charm of hitting other people every time. Catharsis mechanisms can help you realize your feelings. You can write how much you hate your friend in poetic form and calm down.
Direct ban. This method The scientist considered it the most ineffective. Here we simply forbid ourselves to think or do something. However, long-term use of this technique can lead to a conflict between desire (“I want”) and demand (“I need”), i.e. to a phenomenon called collision nervous processes and, accordingly, to neuroses.
Automation of actions. This mechanism is often used in authoritarian structures, when a person is forced, for example, to automatically salute and obey. A running soldier develops “useful automatism” for the armed forces - the ability to carry out someone else’s will without thinking twice. The same applies to various student rituals. They help relieve stress and tune in to certain activities.
Replacing the dominant with a new one. This method is quite simple, and is often used in the humanistic direction and in positive psychology. It’s very easy not to think about the bad; all you have to do is think about the good. In order not to torment yourself with thoughts about the problem, you should think about the solution. It all comes down to where your attention is directed. You were sitting at the computer working, you had one dominant. You wanted to go to the toilet, another appeared. However, of course, such a particular dominant cannot change the more general worldview and deeper problems.

Ukhtomsky proposed these methods with the goal of ridding people of outdated dominants that do not allow us to adequately assess reality.

Creative search

The other side of stereotypical perception, A.A. Ukhtomsky called it a creative search, which involves mutual changes in the external environment and personality in their general interaction. Before implementing a creative search, it is necessary to correct the previous dominants (it is not possible to completely slow them down)

Acquisition of many different dominants, i.e. essentially the accumulation of various life experiences.
Awareness of your dominants, which allows them to be controlled. It is quite possible that the mechanism of psychoanalysis is based on this effect.
Feeding dominants associated with the creative process. You can dilute your main activity with additional stimuli that will fuel it. For example, you can influence yourself with the help of music while doing this or that job.

Application in hypnosis

Finally, we will touch on the importance of the dominant in the process of hypnotherapy. We have already outlined one of the important properties of the dominant - the suppression and subordination of neighboring areas of the brain, and, consequently, the subordination of the psyche in accordance with the content of the dominant.

In the case of hypnosis, this content is determined by the information that the hypnotherapist conveys to the patient. Suggestion is understood in the same way. Suggestion is the same dominant towards the implementation of which the mental activity of the subject is directed.

But the dominant determines not only the essence of suggestion, but also the process of hypnotization itself. After all, hypnosis is one way or another based on fixating attention either on a super-strong stimulus or on a weak one. The hypnotist's task is to attract the patient's attention to something using any possible means: a glass ball, a loud sound, his own attractiveness, or emotional state the patient himself. Thus, the patient’s focus of attention narrows (a stable focus of excitation is formed against the background of general inhibition), and the hypnotist can freely make suggestions.

Hypnosis: a nurse's review of the treatment of claustrophobia, fear of tunnels, elevators.

Feedback from an entrepreneur about hypnosis treatment: the irrational part of behavior & allergies

Review of hypnosis treatment from an IT specialist: request for irrational emotions in communication

Ukhtomsky Alexey Alekseevich (1875-1942) - famous domestic physiologist. Developing the ideas of I.M. Sechenov about the biological and systemic nature of neuropsychic acts, he put forward the doctrine of the dominant as the main principle of the work of nerve centers and the organization of behavior. This teaching was opposed to the view of the brain as a complex of reflex arcs. According to Ukhtomsky, each observed motor effect is determined by the nature of the dynamic interaction of the cortical and subcortical centers, the actual needs of the body, and the history of the body as a biological system. The brain should be viewed as an organ of “anticipatory perception, anticipation, and environmental design.” The dominant is characterized by inertia, that is, the tendency to be maintained and repeated when the external environment has changed and the stimuli that once caused this dominant no longer act on the central nervous system. Inertia disrupts the normal regulation of behavior, but it also acts as an organizing principle of intellectual activity.

Traces of previous activity can coexist simultaneously in the form of many potential dominants. If there is insufficient consistency between them, they can lead to a conflict of reactions. In this case, the dominant plays the role of organizer and amplifier of the pathological process.

Ukhtomsky explained the dominant mechanism wide range psychic phenomena and their characteristics, for example, attention (its focus on certain objects, concentration on them and selectivity) and the objective nature of thinking (isolating individual complexes from a variety of environmental stimuli, each of which is perceived by the body as a specific real object, different from others). Ukhtomsky interpreted this “division of the environment into objects” as a process consisting of three stages: strengthening the existing dominant; selection of only those stimuli that are biologically significant for the body; establishing an adequate connection between the dominant (as internal state) and a complex of external stimuli.

The works of A. A. Ukhtomsky served as the basis for the creation of many modern physiological and psychophysiological theories.

The principle of dominance allows that if two foci of excitation simultaneously appear in the cerebral cortex, then one of them turns out to be dominant (dominant). The reflex associated with this focus at a given moment directs and transforms the activity of the entire nervous system.

The dominant focus of excitation is characterized by:

· Increased excitability and lability;

· Ability to sum and accumulate excitation;

· Inhibition of current reflexes encountered with it;

· Inertia, i.e. the ability to maintain arousal for a long time after the end of stimulation.

These properties of the nerve centers make the dominant a special and very important apparatus of coordination carried out by the nervous system. Such coordination is due to the appearance of short-lived dominants that easily replace each other. From this, the main meaning of the most important principle of the nervous system’s activity becomes clear: it lies in the emergence at each stage of the organism’s existence of one dominant focus of excitation in the nervous system, subordinating all its activity and determining the adaptive nature of the resulting reactions. All other reactions, which are less or completely unimportant at this moment, are inhibited by the mechanism of inductive relationships between the dominant focus and other parts of the central nervous system.

On the basis of the dominant focus of excitation, specific adaptive activity is formed, aimed at achieving useful results. For example, on the basis of the dominant state of the hunger center, behavior aimed at obtaining food is realized. In the presence of a dominant, or dominant, focus of excitation, irritations entering other parts of the nervous system only strengthen the dominant focus. An example would be a case that often occurs in school practice: a student received a bad grade, he is upset and crying, friends calm him down, but this causes even more uncontrollable tears. The fact is that at the moment a dominant is functioning in the student’s nervous system, and all irritations only strengthen the dominant focus of excitation.

A.A. Ukhtomsky believed that the dominant should explain both the dramatically changing behavior of a person in an outwardly little changing environment, and the persistent repetition of the same course of action in completely new conditions.

The dominant helps to understand the mechanism of such pedagogical techniques as, for example, strengthening the learned educational material. The dominant has clearly defined age-related characteristics: the younger the student, the less stable it is and the easier it can go into inhibition. This explains the lack of perseverance in children and sudden transitions from one rhythm of activity to another.

So, the interaction of various types of behavior is built on the basis of the principle of dominance discovered by A.A. Ukhtomsky.

44. Functional system theory by P.K. Anokhin

A system is a dynamic combination of various organs and systems of the body, formed to achieve a useful (adaptive) result. Functional systems theory is a model that describes the structure of behavior; created by P.K. Anokhin. “The principle of a functional system” - the unification of private mechanisms of the body into whole system adaptive behavioral act, the creation of an “integrative unit”. There are two types of functional systems: Systems of the first type provide homeostasis due to the internal (already existing) resources of the body, without going beyond its limits (for example, blood pressure) Systems of the second type maintain homeostasis by changing behavior, interacting with outside world, and are the basis various types behavior Stages of a behavioral act: Afferent synthesis Any excitation in the central nervous system exists in interaction with other excitations: the brain analyzes these excitations. Synthesis determines the following factors: Motivation Triggering afferentation (excitement caused by conditioned and unconditioned stimuli) Situational afferentation (excitement from the familiarity of the environment that causes a reflex, and dynamic stereotypes) Memory (species and individual) Decision making Formation of an acceptor of the result of the action (creation of an ideal image of the goal and its retention; presumably, at the physiological level, it represents excitation circulating in the ring of interneurons) Efferent synthesis (or the stage of the action program; integration of somatic and vegetative excitations into a single behavioral act. The action is formed, but does not manifest itself externally) Action (execution of the behavior program) Evaluation result of the action At this stage, the actually performed action is compared with in an ideal way, created at the stage of formation of the acceptor of the result of the action (reverse afferentation occurs); Based on the comparison results, the action is either adjusted or terminated. Need satisfaction (cessation-authorizing stage) The choice of goals and methods of achieving them are key factors regulating behavior. According to Anokhin, in the structure of a behavioral act, comparison of reverse afferentation with the acceptor of the result of the action gives positive or negative situational emotions that influence the correction or cessation of actions (another type of emotions, leading emotions, is associated with the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of a need in general, that is, with the formation of a goal) . In addition, behavior is influenced by memories of positive and negative emotions. In general, a behavioral act is characterized by purposefulness and the active role of the subject. The principle of developmental heterochrony is widely known in psychology. It means that different brain structures and mental functions mature with at different speeds and reach full maturity at different stages of development. Heterochrony of development is one of the patterns of normal ontogenesis, due to which each new stage is the result of complex interfunctional rearrangements. Superimposed on this general “skeleton” of development are individual variations, which manifest themselves in the uneven maturation of functions in a given individual: some of them are better developed in the child than on average among peers, while others are worse. Uneven development of higher mental functions (HMF) is a normal phenomenon that has adaptive significance - after all, for the population as a whole, it is beneficial to have different people different abilities. Along with the biological factors of brain maturation, a significant role in the occurrence of unevenness is played by social factors, including living conditions, intra-family relationships, parents’ attention to certain aspects of the child’s mental development.

Years, based on the works of N. E. Vvedensky and other physiologists; Moreover, the first observations pointing to the idea of a dominant were made several years earlier.

The very first observation, which formed the basis of the concept of dominant, was made by Ukhtomsky in 2010:

It consisted in the fact that in a dog, during the period of preparation for defecation, electrical stimulation of the cerebral cortex does not give the usual reactions in the limbs, but increases excitation in the defecation apparatus and promotes the onset of a permissive act in it. But as soon as defecation is completed, electrical stimulation of the cortex begins to cause normal movements of the limbs. [Ukhtomsky A. A., “Dominant and integral image”, ]

The principle of dominance

One of the striking examples of a dominant is the dominant of sexual arousal in a cat isolated from males during the period of estrus. Various stimuli (a call for a bowl of food, the clatter of plates on the table being set) in this case do not cause meowing and animated begging for food, but only an intensification of the estrus symptom complex. The administration of even large doses of bromide preparations is unable to erase this sexual dominance in the centers..

The doctrine of the dominant and constellation of nerve centers

The role of the nerve center can change significantly: from excitatory to inhibitory for the same devices, depending on the state experienced by the nerve center at the moment. In different situations, the nerve center can acquire different meanings in the physiology of the body. “Newly arriving waves of excitation in the centers will go in the direction of the now dominant focus of excitation.”

Ukhtomsky believed that the dominant is capable of transforming into any “individual mental content.” However, the dominant is not the prerogative of the cerebral cortex; it is a general property of the entire central nervous system. He saw the difference between “higher” and “lower” dominants. “Lower” dominants are physiological in nature, while “higher” ones - arising in the cerebral cortex - constitute the physiological basis of “the act of attention and objective thinking”.

Numerous studies conducted by Ukhtomsky, his colleagues and independent scientists have indicated that the dominant plays the role of a general operating principle of nerve centers.

In order to master human experience, in order to master oneself and others, in order to direct the behavior and the very intimate life of people in a certain direction, one must master the physiological dominants in oneself and others. [Ukhtomsky A. A., “Dominant and integral image”, 1924]

Properties of the dominant center

Increased excitability
Summation ability
Excitement is characterized by high persistence
Excitation is characterized by high inertia

Bibliography

Ukhtomsky A. A. Dominant. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2002. ISBN 5-318-00067-3

Links

V. P. Zinchenko, “Hypothesis about the origin of A. A. Ukhtomsky’s doctrine of the dominant”

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NERVOUS SYSTEM- NERVOUS SYSTEM. Contents: I. Embryogenesis, histogenesis and phylogeny N.s. . 518 II. Anatomy of N. p................. 524 III. Physiology N. p............. 525 IV. Pathology N.s................. 54? I. Embryogenesis, histogenesis and phylogeny N. e.... ... Great Medical Encyclopedia

Alexey Alekseevich Ukhtomsky Physiologist, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, creator of the doctrine of dominant Date of birth: July 13 (25), 1875 (18750725) Date of death: August 31, 1942 Scientific ... Wikipedia

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The Ukhtomsky dominant principle in nerve centers. Doctrine of the dominant by A. Ukhtomsky

The principle of dominance

The doctrine of the dominant and constellation of nerve centers

Properties of the dominant center

Bibliography

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See what “Ukhtomsky Dominant” is in other dictionaries:

The principle of dominance

The doctrine of the dominant and constellation of nerve centers

Properties of the dominant center

Bibliography

see also

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See what the “Principle of Dominance” is in other dictionaries:

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