Speech and Emotions. Types of higher nervous activity

Speech

IP Pavlov developed the theory of the first and second signal systems.

The signaling system is a system of nervous processes occurring in the brain of animals and humans, which provides a connection between the body and the external environment.
The first signaling system provides perception of the surrounding world through the senses. With the help of this signaling system, conditioned reflexes are developed to a variety of signals.

The second signaling system appeared in humans in connection with the development of speech. The signals in this system are words that can characterize and generalize various signs of objects and phenomena. Words can describe any processes, characterize the most complex sensations. In words, a person denotes everything that he perceives with the help of his senses.

The word has a generalizing function.

Example: so, the word “table” for a child at first means a certain object – the table at which he is fed. Growing up, the child begins to call the father’s desk, the kitchen table and the table for the radio with the same word. Now he summarizes the word “table” all objects that have common features of the table. Thus, a specific concept becomes generalized.

Human speech is characterized by a very high degree of generalization. A person generalizes not only the concepts of objects (their properties and characteristics), natural phenomena, but also his sensations, feelings, experiences. A person thinks in words. Human speech becomes the apparatus of abstract thinking.

The development of speech made it possible to abstract, generalize, and operate with concepts.

The importance of speaking and writing is the ability to transmit information to other people, to preserve knowledge for future generations. Through speech, the experience of one person becomes available to many, and this makes it possible to accumulate and constantly develop scientific knowledge.

A person is endowed with the ability to learn speech from birth. A child learns to speak from 5-7 months of the first year of life to 5-6 years. The language a child will speak depends on what language the people around him speak. If a child is isolated from human society, the ability to master speech disappears, and his mental development is delayed.

Human speech functions are associated with many brain structures. The formation of human speech is associated with the frontal lobe of the left hemisphere, written – with the left temporal and parietal lobes. The right hemisphere is responsible for determining the intonation of speech, is sensitive to music, perceives the shape, size of objects, their location in the environment. The nerve fibers connecting the symmetrical areas of the right and left hemispheres ensure their interaction and coordinated work.

Emotions

Emotions are the subjective reactions of a person to the effects of external and internal stimuli.

Emotions are positive and negative.

Positive emotions (joy, happiness, pleasure) arise if some need is successfully satisfied. If there is no way to achieve what you want, then negative emotions arise (disappointment, resentment, fear).

A person expresses emotions not only in words, but also with the help of facial expressions and gestures, which enhance the meaning of words and help to more accurately convey their thoughts and feelings to the interlocutor.

Different types of emotions cause corresponding physiological changes in the body.

Emotions such as joy, anger, prelaunch excitement increase muscle tone, adrenaline rush, and increased cardiovascular activity.

Fear, despondency may be accompanied by a decrease in muscle tone, vasospasm.

Changes in the activity of internal organs are the same with similar emotions in all people. Therefore, everyone understands such expressions as “sweat from fear”, “hair stood on end”, “goosebumps”, “heart aches” or “breath stuck in the goiter with joy”, etc. The physiological meaning of such reactions, the accompanying emotions are very great. They mobilize the forces of the body, bring it into a state of readiness for successful activity or for protection.

The emergence of emotional reactions is associated with the work of the cerebral hemispheres and diencephalon. The temporal and frontal lobes of the cortex are of great importance for the formation of emotions. The frontal lobe of the cortex inhibits or activates emotions, that is, controls them.

Individual characteristics of higher nervous activity. Types of higher nervous activity

IP Pavlov formulated the idea of ​​individual types of higher nervous activity. He assessed the strength, balance and mobility of excitement and inhibition.

The strength of the nervous system is manifested in its efficiency, that is, resistance to prolonged exposure to a stimulus.

The balance of nervous processes is characterized by the ratio of the processes of excitation and inhibition.

The mobility of the nervous system is the speed and ease of the alternation of the processes of excitation and inhibition.

Taking these characteristics into account, the following types of higher nervous activity (temperament) are distinguished: choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholic.

• Choleric is characterized by a strong, unbalanced type of the nervous system with a predominance of excitement over inhibition. This is an active, emotional, energetic person.
• A sanguine person has a strong, balanced, mobile type of nervous system. A person with such a temperament is calm, trusting, efficient and attentive.
• A phlegmatic person has a strong, balanced, inert type of nervous system. Usually phlegmatic people are calm, slow, inactive. They have a high working capacity, but it is difficult to form new skills and habits.
• Melancholic is characterized by a weak type of nervous system. This is an uncommunicative person, insecure in his abilities. He does not adapt well to environmental conditions, but is capable of non-standard creative solutions.

Usually, a person combines features of different temperaments, but one of them dominates.

Assessment of temperament is important when choosing the nature of professional activity.