In the first signaling system, all forms of behavior are based on direct perception of reality and reactions in response to immediate (natural) stimuli. A person perceives the external world based on the activity of the first signaling system. Consequently, the analysis and synthesis of specific signals, objects and phenomena of the external world that make up the first signal system are common to animals and humans.

In the process of human development, an “extraordinary increase” in the mechanisms of brain function appeared. This is the second signaling system of reality, the specific stimulus of which is a word with an inherent meaning, a word that denotes objects and phenomena of the surrounding world. By the second signal system of reality, I.P. Pavlov understood the nervous processes that arise in the cerebral hemispheres as a result of the perception of signals from the surrounding world in the form of speech designations of objects and phenomena of nature and society. The word is perceived by a person as heard (auditory analyzer), as written (visual analyzer) or as spoken (motor analyzer). In all cases, these stimuli are united by the meaning of the word. Words acquire meaning as a result of the emergence of a strong connection in the cerebral cortex between the excitation centers that arise under the influence of specific objects in the surrounding world, and the excitation centers that arise when spoken aloud, denoting specific objects or actions. As a result of the formation of such connections, words can replace a specific stimulus environment and become its symbol.

The emergence of the second signaling system introduced a new principle into the activity of the human brain. The word, as a signal of signals, makes it possible to escape from specific objects and phenomena. The development of verbal signaling has made generalization and distraction possible, which is expressed in phenomena characteristic of humans - thinking and concepts.

The ability to think through abstract (abstract) images, concepts expressed in spoken or written words, made possible the emergence of abstract-generalized thinking.

So, the second human signal system is the basis of purely human verbal logical thinking, the basis for the formation of knowledge about the world around us through verbal abstractions and the basis of human consciousness.

In every human behavioral act, the participation of three types of interneuron connections is revealed: 1) unconditioned reflex; 2) temporary connections of the first signaling system; 3) temporary connections of the second signaling system. An analysis of the physiological mechanisms of human behavior shows that it is the result of the joint activity of both signaling systems, subcortical and brain stem formations.

Second signaling system as a higher regulator human behavior prevails over the first and to some extent suppresses it. At the same time, the first signaling system to a certain extent determines the activity of the second.

Both signaling systems (the states of which are determined by the function of the cerebral cortex as a whole) are closely related to the activity of subcortical centers. A person can voluntarily inhibit his unconditioned reflex reactions, restrain many manifestations of instincts and emotions. It can suppress defensive (in response to painful stimuli), food, and sexual reflexes. At the same time, the subcortical nuclei, nuclei of the brain stem and the reticular formation are sources of impulses that maintain the normal tone of the cerebral cortex.

First and second signaling systems

I.P. Pavlov considered human behavior as a higher nervous activity, where animals and humans have in common the analysis and synthesis of immediate environmental signals, which constitute the first signal system of reality. On this occasion, Pavlov wrote: “For an animal, reality is signaled almost exclusively only by irritations and their traces in the cerebral hemispheres, directly arriving in special cells of the visual, auditory and other receptors of the body. This is what we have in ourselves as impressions, sensations and ideas from the environment. external environment both natural and from our social, excluding the word, audible and visible. This is the first signal system of reality that we have in common with animals.”

As a result labor activity, public and family relations humans have developed a new form of information transmission. A person began to perceive verbal information through understanding the meaning of words spoken by himself or others, visible - written or printed. This led to the emergence of a second signaling system, unique to humans. It significantly expanded and qualitatively changed the higher nervous activity of man, as it introduced a new principle into the work cerebral hemispheres brain (relationship of the cortex with subcortical formations). On this occasion, Pavlov wrote: “If our sensations and ideas related to the surrounding world are for us the first signals of reality, concrete signals, then speech, especially especially the kinesthetic stimuli coming to the cortex from the speech organs, are the second signals, signals of signals . They represent an abstraction from reality and allow for generalization, which constitutes... specifically human thinking, and science is a tool for a person’s highest orientation in the world around him and in himself.”

The second signaling system is the result of the sociality of humans as a species. However, it should be remembered that the second signaling system is dependent on the first signaling system. Children born deaf make the same sounds as normal children, but without reinforcement of the emitted signals through auditory analyzers and without the ability to imitate the voices of those around them, they become mute.

It is known that without communication with people, the second signaling system (especially speech) does not develop. Thus, children carried away by wild animals and living in an animal den (Mowgli syndrome) did not understand human speech, did not know how to speak, and lost the ability to learn to speak. In addition, it is known that young people who have been isolated for decades, without communication with other people, forget spoken language.

Physiological mechanism human behavior is the result of a complex interaction of both signaling systems with the subcortical formations of the cerebral hemispheres. Pavlov considered the second signaling system to be the “highest regulator of human behavior”, which prevails over the first signaling system. But the latter, to a certain extent, controls the activity of the second signaling system. This allows a person to manage his unconditioned reflexes, restrain a significant part of the instinctive manifestations of the body and emotions. A person can consciously suppress defensive (even in response to painful stimuli), food and sexual reflexes. At the same time, the subcortical formations and nuclei of the brain stem, especially the reticular formation, are sources (generators) of impulses that maintain normal brain tone.

All patterns of conditioned reflex activity are common to higher animals and humans. And a person develops conditioned reflexes to various signals from the external world or internal state the body, if only various irritations of extero- or interoreceptors are combined with any irritations that cause unconditioned or conditioned reflexes. And in a person, under appropriate conditions, external (unconditional) or internal (conditional) inhibition occurs. And in humans there is irradiation and concentration of excitation and inhibition, induction, dynamic stereotypy and other characteristic manifestations of conditioned reflex activity.

Common to both animals and humans are the analysis and synthesis of direct signals from the external world, which constitute first signaling system reality.

On this occasion, I.P. Pavlov said: “For an animal, reality is signaled almost exclusively only by irritations and their traces in the cerebral hemispheres, directly arriving in special cells of the visual, auditory and other receptors of the body. This is what we also have in ourselves as impressions, sensations and ideas from the surrounding external environment, both natural and social, excluding the word, audible and visible. This - first signaling system reality, we have in common with animals.”

A person is in the process of social development, as a result of work activity, an extraordinary increase in the mechanisms of brain function appeared. She became second signaling system, associated with verbal signaling, with speech. This highly sophisticated signaling system consists of the perception of words - spoken (aloud or silently), heard or visible (reading). The development of the second signaling system has incredibly expanded and qualitatively changed the higher nervous activity of humans.

The emergence of speech signaling introduced a new principle into the activity of the cerebral hemispheres. “If our sensations and ideas,” said I. P. Pavlov, “relating to the world around us, are for us the first signals of reality, concrete signals, then speech, especially especially kinesthetic stimuli coming to the cortex from the speech organs, are the second signals , signals signals. They represent an abstraction from reality and allow generalization, which constitutes our superfluous specifically human higher thinking, which creates first universal human empiricism, and finally science - a tool for man’s highest orientation in the world around him and in himself.”

A person uses verbal signals to designate everything that he perceives with the help of his receptors. The word “signal of signals” makes it possible to escape from specific objects and phenomena. The development of verbal signaling made possible generalization and abstraction, which find their expression in human concepts. “Every word (speech) already generalizes.

Feelings show reality; thought and word are common.” Second signaling system is inextricably linked with the social life of a person, is the result of the complex relationship in which the individual finds himself with the social environment around him. Verbal signaling, speech, language are means of communication between people; they developed among people in the process of collective work. Thus, the second signaling system is socially determined.

Outside society - without communication with other people - the second signaling system does not develop. Cases have been described in which children carried away by wild animals remained alive and grew up in an animal den. They did not understand speech and could not speak. It is also known that people who, at a young age, were isolated for decades from the society of other people, forgot their speech; their second alarm system stopped functioning.

The doctrine of higher nervous activity made it possible to reveal the patterns of functioning of the second signaling system. It turned out that the basic laws of excitation and inhibition are common to both the first and second signal systems. Excitation of any point in the cerebral cortex in humans is brought into connection with the areas of speech perception and its expression, i.e., with the sensory and motor centers of speech. Evidence of this is given in the experiments of A. G. Ivanov-Smolensky and his colleagues on children.

After the formation of a conditioned reflex to any sound or light signal, for example, to the sound of a bell or the flashing of a red lamp, the verbal designation of the conditioned signal, i.e. the words “bell”, “red color”, is immediately evoked without prior combination with an unconditioned stimulus conditioned reflex. Under the opposite conditions of the experiment, when a conditioned reflex was developed in response to a verbal signal, i.e., when the conditioned stimulus was the words “bell” or “red lamp,” the conditioned reflex was observed at the very first use as a stimulus of the sound of a bell or the flashing of a red lamp, which have never been combined with unconditional irritation before.

In some experiments by L.I. Kotlyarevsky, the unconditioned stimulus was the darkening of the eye, which caused dilation of the pupil. The conditioned stimulus was the bell. After developing a conditioned reflex about the sound of a bell, it was enough to say the word “bell”, and the conditioned reflex appeared. Moreover, if the subject himself uttered this word, then a conditioned reflex of constriction or dilation of the pupil also arose. The same phenomena were observed if the unconditioned stimulus was pressure on the eyeball, which caused a reflex decrease in cardiac activity.

The mechanism of such conditioned reflex reactions is due to the fact that in the process of learning speech, long before the experiments, temporary connections arose between cortical points that receive signals from various items, and speech centers that perceive verbal designations of objects. Thus, speech centers are involved in the formation of temporary connections in the human cerebral cortex. In all the experiments described, we encounter the phenomenon of elective irradiation, which consists in the fact that excitations from the first signal system are transmitted to the second and back. Selective irradiation is an essentially new physiological principle, manifested in the activity of the second signaling system and characterizing its relationship with the first.

A word is perceived by a person not only as a separate sound or a sum of sounds, but as a specific concept, that is, its semantic meaning is perceived. This is proven by the experiments of L.A. Schwartz, who, having developed a conditioned reflex to a word, for example, “path,” then replaced it with a synonym, for example, the word “path.” The synonymous word evoked exactly the same conditioned reflex reaction as the word for which the conditioned reflex was developed. A similar phenomenon was observed when replacing a Russian word that served as a conditioned stimulus with the same word in meaning foreign language, familiar to the subject. It is essential that “neutral” words, i.e. those for which a conditioned reflex was not formed, did not evoke reactions. A word that sounded similar, for example, the word “smoke” during a conditioned reflex to the word “house,” evoked the reflex only at first. Very quickly, differentiation was formed in response to such words and they ceased to evoke conditioned reflexes.

Connections are also formed between different areas of the cerebral cortex and centers involved in the acts of reading and writing during the learning process. That is why, after developing a conditioned reflex to the sound of a bell, the inscription “bell” evokes a conditioned reflex reaction in a person who can read.

Speech signals in experiments on humans can be successfully used as reinforcement of a conditioned stimulus. For this purpose, a conditioned stimulus, for example, the sound of a bell, is accompanied by a verbal instruction - an order: “press the key”, “stand up”, “pull your hand away”, etc. As a result of a number of combinations of the conditioned stimulus with verbal instructions, (in our example - to the sound of a bell) is a conditioned reflex, the nature of which corresponds to the instructions. The word is a powerful reinforcer, on the basis of which very strong conditioned reflexes can be formed.

First and second signaling systems inseparable from each other. In humans, all perceptions and ideas and most of the sensations are verbally designated. It follows from this that the excitations of the first signal system, caused by specific signals from objects and phenomena of the surrounding world, are transmitted to the second signal system.

Separate functioning of the first signaling system without the participation of the second (except in cases of pathology) is possible only in a child before he has mastered speech.

We perceive the world around us thanks to two systems: the first and second signaling systems.

To obtain information about the state of the body and the external environment, the first signaling system uses all of the human senses: touch, vision, smell, hearing and taste. The second, younger, signaling system allows us to perceive the world through speech. Its development occurs on the basis of and in interaction with the first in the process of human development and growth. In this article we will look at what the first signaling system is, how it develops and functions.

How does this happen in animals?

All animals can use only one source of information about the surrounding reality and changes in its state, which is the first signaling system. The external world, represented through various objects possessing a variety of chemical and physical properties, such as color, smell, shape, etc., act as conditioned signals that warn the body about changes to which it is necessary to adapt. Thus, a herd of deer dozing in the sun, sensing the scent of a creeping predator, suddenly takes off and flees. The stimulus became a signal of approaching danger.

Thus, in higher animals the first (conditioned reflex) signaling system is an accurate reflection of the external world around us, allowing us to correctly respond to changes and adapt to them. All its signals relate to a specific object and are specific. constituting the basis of the elementary object-related thinking of animals are formed through precisely this system.

The human first signaling system functions in the same way as in higher animals. Its isolated functioning is observed only in newborns, from birth to the age of six months, if the child lives in a normal social environment. The formation and development of the second signaling system occurs in the process and as a consequence of education and between people.

Types of nervous activity

Man is a complex being who has passed through his historical development through complex changes in both anatomical and physiological, as well as psychological structure and functioning. The entire complex of diverse processes occurring in his body is carried out and controlled through one of the main physiological systems- nervous.

The activities of this system are divided into lower and higher. For control and management of everyone internal organs and the systems of the human body are responsible for the so-called lower nervous activity. Interactions with objects and objects of the surrounding reality through such neuropsychic processes and mechanisms as intelligence, perception, thinking, speech, memory, attention are classified as higher nervous activity (HNA). Such interaction occurs through the direct impact of various objects on receptors, for example, auditory or visual, with further transmission of the received signals nervous system information processing organ - the brain. It was this type of signaling that the Russian scientist I.P. Pavlov called the first signaling system. Thanks to it, the emergence and development of the second signaling system, characteristic only for people and associated with the audible (speech) or visible word (written sources), became possible.

What are signaling systems?

Based on the works of the famous Russian physiologist and naturalist I.M. Sechenov on the reflex activity of the higher parts of the brain, I.P. Pavlov created a theory about GNI - higher nervous activity of man. Within the framework of this doctrine, the concept of what signaling systems are was formulated. They are understood as complexes of conditioned reflex connections formed in the cerebral cortex (isocortex) as a result of the receipt of various impulses from the outside world or from systems and organs of the body. That is, the work of the first signaling system is aimed at performing analytical and synthetic operations to recognize signals coming from the senses about objects in the external world.

As a result of social development and mastery of speech, a second signaling system arose and evolved. As the child’s psyche grows and develops, the ability to understand and then reproduce speech gradually develops as a consequence of the emergence and consolidation of associative connections, spoken sounds or words with sensory impressions about objects in the external environment.

Features of the first signaling system

In this signaling system, both the means and methods of communication and all other forms of behavior are based on the direct perception of the surrounding reality and the reaction to impulses coming from it in the process of interaction. The first human signaling system is a response concrete sensory reflection of the impact on receptors from the outside world.

First, the body experiences a sensation of any phenomena, properties or objects perceived by the receptors of one or more sense organs. The sensations are then transformed into more complex shapes- perception. And only after the second signaling system has been formed and developed, does it become possible to create abstract forms of reflection that are not tied to a specific object, such as representations and concepts.

Localization of signaling systems

Centers located in the cerebral hemispheres are responsible for the normal functioning of both signaling systems. The reception and processing of information for the first signal system is carried out by both the perception and processing of the information flow for the second signal system, which is responsible for the development of logical thinking. The second (more than the first) human signaling system depends on the structural integrity of the brain and its functioning.

Relationship between signaling systems

According to Pavlov, the second and first signaling systems are in constant interaction and are interconnected according to the functions they perform. This is due to the fact that on the basis of the first, a second signaling system arose and developed. Coming from the environment and from different parts body signals of the first are in continuous interaction with the signals of the second. During such interaction, the emergence of conditioned reflexes more high order, which create functional connections between them. Due to developed thought processes and social lifestyle, a person has a more developed second signaling system.

Stages of development

In the process of individual mental development For a child born at term, the first signaling system begins to take shape within a few days after birth. At the age of 7-10 days, the formation of the first conditioned reflexes is possible. So, the baby makes sucking movements with his lips even before the nipple is put in his mouth. Conditioned reflexes to sound stimuli can be formed at the beginning of the second month of life.

The older the child becomes, the faster his conditioned reflexes are formed. In order for a one-month-old baby to develop a temporary connection, it will be necessary to make many repetitions of the influence of unconditioned and conditioned stimuli. In a two to three month old baby, it only takes a few repetitions to create the same temporary connection.

The second signaling system begins to take shape in children aged one and a half years, when, with repeated naming of an object, together with its demonstration, the child begins to respond to the word. In children, it comes to the fore only by the age of 6-7 years.

Role reversal

Thus, in the process of the child’s psychophysical development, throughout childhood and adolescence, there is a change in the significance and priority between these signaling systems. IN school age and until the beginning of puberty, the second signaling system comes to the fore. During puberty, due to significant hormonal and physiological changes in the body of adolescents, for a short period the first signaling system again becomes the leading one. By high school, the second signaling system again becomes a leader and maintains its dominant position throughout life, constantly improving and developing.

Meaning

The first signaling system in humans, despite the predominance of the second in adults, has great value in such forms human activity, like sports, creativity, learning and work. Without her, the work of a musician and artist, actor and professional athlete would be impossible.

Despite the similarity of this system in humans and animals, in humans the first signaling system is much more complex and perfect structure, since it is in constant harmonious interaction with the second.

1.1.First signal system 3

1.2. Second alarm system 4

1.3 Interaction of the first and second signal systems 7

References 10

1. Signaling activity of the brain

Pavlov called the conditioned reflex activity of the cerebral cortex signal activity of the brain, since stimuli from the external environment give the body signals about what is important to it in the surrounding world. Signals entering the brain, which are caused by objects and phenomena acting on the senses (resulting in sensations, perceptions, ideas), Pavlov called the first signaling system; it is found in humans and animals. But in humans, as Pavlov writes, an extraordinary increase in the mechanisms of nervous activity occurred in the process of labor activity and social life. This addition is human speech, and according to Pavlov’s theory, it is the second signaling system - verbal.

According to Pavlov’s point of view, the regulation of the relationship of the organism with the environment is carried out in higher animals, including humans, through two interconnected instances of the brain: the nervous apparatus of unconditioned reflexes, caused by a few unconditioned (acting from birth) external stimuli, is concentrated in the subcortex; this apparatus, which constitutes the first instance, provides limited orientation in the environment and poor adaptation. The second instance is formed by the cerebral hemispheres, in which the nervous apparatus of conditioned reflexes is concentrated, providing signaling of a few unconditioned stimuli by a countless number of other stimuli, analyzed and synthesized; this device dramatically expands the body’s orientation capabilities and increases its adaptability.

2. First signaling system

In the first signaling system, all forms of behavior, including methods and means of mutual communication, are based solely on the direct perception of reality and reactions to natural stimuli. The first signaling system provides forms of concrete sensory reflection. At the same time, the body first develops a sensation of individual properties, objects, and phenomena perceived by the corresponding receptor formations. At the next stage, the nervous mechanisms of sensations become more complex, and on their basis other, more complex forms of reflection - perception - arise. And only with the emergence and development of the second signaling system does it become possible to implement an abstract form of reflection - the formation of concepts and ideas.

Unlike the conditioned reflexes of animals, which reflect the surrounding reality with the help of specific auditory, visual and other sensory signals, stimuli of the second signaling system reflect the surrounding reality with the help of generalizing, abstract concepts expressed in words. While animals operate only with images formed on the basis of directly perceived signal stimuli, a person with his developed second signal system operates not only with images, but also with thoughts associated with them, meaningful images containing semantic (notional) information. Stimuli of the second signaling system are largely mediated by human mental activity.

The first signaling system is visual, auditory and other sensory signals from which images of the external world are built. The perception of direct signals from objects and phenomena of the surrounding world and signals from the internal environment of the body, coming from visual, auditory, tactile and other receptors, constitutes the first signaling system that animals and humans have.

The first signaling system, a system of conditioned reflex connections formed in the cerebral cortex of animals and humans when receptors are exposed to stimuli coming from the external and internal environment. It is the basis for the direct reflection of reality in the form of sensations and perceptions.

The term first signaling system was introduced in 1932 by I. P. Pavlov while studying the physiological mechanism of speech. According to Pavlov, for an animal, reality is signaled mainly by irritations (and their traces in the cerebral hemispheres), which are perceived directly by the cells of the visual, auditory and other receptors of the body. “This is what we also have in ourselves as impressions, sensations and ideas from the surrounding external environment, both natural and our social, excluding the word, audible and visible. This is the first signaling system of reality that we have in common with animals.”

The first signaling system provides forms of concrete sensory reflection. At the same time, the body first develops a sensation of individual properties, objects, and phenomena perceived by the corresponding receptor formations. At the next stage, the nervous mechanisms of sensations become more complex, and on their basis other, more complex forms of reflection - perception - arise. And only with the emergence and development of the second signaling system does it become possible to implement an abstract form of reflection - the formation of concepts and ideas.