Mental functions including. The concept of higher mental functions

higher mental functions(WPF)- specifically human mental processes. They arise on the basis of natural mental functions due to their mediation by psychological tools. The sign acts as a psychological tool. VPF include:, speech. They are social in origin, mediated in structure and arbitrary in the nature of regulation. Introduced by L. S. Vygotsky, developed by A. N. Leontiev, A. V. Zaporozhets, D. B. Elkonin,
P. Ya. Galperin. Four main features of the HMF were singled out - mediation, arbitrariness, systemicity; are formed by internalization.

Such a definition does not apply to either idealistic or “positive” biological theories and allows you to better understand how memory, thinking, speech, perception are located in the human and with high accuracy made it possible to determine the location of local lesions. nervous tissue and even recreate them in some way.

Structure

Higher mental functions are a specifically human acquisition. However, they can be decomposed into their constituents. natural processes.

With natural memorization, a simple associative link is formed between two points. Such is the memory of animals. This is a kind of imprint, an imprint of information.

A –> X –> B

Human memory has a fundamentally different structure. As can be seen from the diagram, instead of one simple or reflex connection, two others arise between elements A and B: AX and BX. Ultimately, this leads to the same result, but in a different way. The need to use such a "workaround" arose in the process of phylogenesis, when natural forms became unsuitable for solving the problems facing man. At the same time, Vygotsky pointed out that there are no such cultural techniques that would be impossible to completely decompose into its constituent natural processes. Thus, it is precisely the structure of mental processes that is specifically human.

Development

As mentioned above, the formation of higher mental functions is a process fundamentally different from the natural one. organic development. The main difference is that the raising of the psyche to the highest level lies precisely in its functional development, (ie the development of the technique itself), and not organic. Development is influenced by 2 factors:

Biological: for the development of the human psyche, it is necessary that it has the greatest plasticity; biological development is only a condition for cultural development, because the structure of this process is set from outside;

Social: the development of the human psyche is impossible without the presence of a cultural environment in which the child learns specific mental techniques.

Interiorization

Initially, any higher mental function is a form of interaction between people, between a child and an adult, thus it is an interpsychic process. At this stage of formation, higher mental functions represent an expanded form of objective activity, which is based on relatively simple sensory and motor processes. Later, in the process of internalization, the external means mediating this interaction pass into internal ones, thus the external process becomes internal, that is, intrapsychic. Outer actions collapse, becoming automated mental actions.

Experimental studies

Experimental development of memory problems was also carried out by Leontiev already within the framework of the activity approach. The main result of these studies was the development of a parallelogram of development.

brain organization

The psychophysiological correlate of the formation of higher mental functions are complex functional systems that have a vertical (cortical-subcortical) and horizontal (cortical-cortical) organization. But each higher mental function is not rigidly tied to any one brain center, but is the result of the systemic activity of the brain, in which various brain structures make a more or less specific contribution to the construction of this function.

HMF synonyms: higher cerebral functions, higher nervous activity (obsolete term), higher cortical functions (obsolete term), higher mental functions.
Animals also have HMF elements: dogs, cats, horses, monkeys, dolphins. But it is in people that HMFs reach their maximum development and, in turn, are the basis for the development of a person as a member of society. A feature of the HMF of a person is the ability to be creative, discover, and predict the situation. So, HMF is the basis for the development of a person as a member of society.

Morphological substrate of HMF, conditions of their formation


Morphological substrate of HMF:

  • the cerebral cortex (the totality of the central links of the analyzers);
  • stem-subcortical structures (hence the term “higher stem-subcortical functions”, which was used earlier, and now abandoned).

These formations are united in a hierarchical system.
There are numerous multilateral connections between the cortex, trunk and subcortical formations. For example, each of the 13-14 billion neurons located in the cerebral cortex is connected to 10,000 of its “brothers”. The subcortical-stem structures serve as an energy source that tones the cortex and provides one or another, necessary for the situation, level of wakefulness and differentiated activation of a particular function (due to the influence of the reticular formation): depending on the task solved by the body, certain centers are activated - reading, hearing , speeches and more.
Modern research methods have made it possible to establish that individual groups neurons are "responsible" for the perception and recognition of different angles of the same face, for the perception of the main object and the "background" on which it is presented. The point of view that existed earlier that all the possibilities of the brain, supposedly, are not used to the full extent, is untenable, since at any given moment only those parts of it that are involved in performing the ongoing function and solving the existing task work. In addition, in order to compensate, some redundancy is needed. cellular elements. Finally, we must not forget about the constant incapacitation of brain cells with aging. For example, there is evidence that at the age of 60 a person loses up to 40-50% of neurons; however, the existing ones are usually sufficient both for performing social and professional activities and for solving problems of a creative nature.
The brain of a newborn baby is like a book with blank, blank pages. In addition to some instincts and forms of innate behavior, the brain does not possess anything. At the same time, the child's brain has the unique ability to learn everything through the assimilation and creative interpretation of incoming information. This ability is determined by the genetic program, training and education. The implementation of the training program allows you to learn the necessary everyday and professional skills and knowledge, the principles and laws of communication in a social environment. It is precisely for this that the human child has the longest period of childhood, which it is inappropriate to shorten. And it is precisely this circumstance - the ability to learn everything and, on this basis, creatively improve environment and himself - and determines the power of the future adult.
In evolutionary terms, Nature was faced with the task of how to develop. The update could go in two ways:

  • by the eternal life of the created organism, some parts of which, wearing out, will die off;
  • through sexual reproduction and the death of old individuals, giving life to new organisms and making room for them.

Obviously, Nature has chosen the second path: this is a more advantageous path from the point of view of mankind and living beings in general, since it is this path that provides both full adaptation to the constantly changing conditions of existence, and the possibility of assimilation of the experience accumulated by generations. This path frees workplace our children, who will one day be ready to occupy it.
Learning is possible under certain conditions and in a certain way affects the morphological substrate of the HMF. It has been shown that in animals - primates grown in an enriched sensory environment, the layers of the cerebral cortex are thicker, and the structure of neurons is more complex than in individuals grown in depleted conditions. Thus, learning can influence the structure of the cerebral cortex. In this regard, for correct formation morphological substrate of HMF are necessary certain conditions which are provided in the family with sufficient parental care and which cannot be fully modeled in the conditions of an orphanage.

Conditions for the formation of the VPF:

1. The presence of social contacts - a child is born without knowledge and skills, speech. Education is possible only in human society, in an environment of one's own kind. Contact with parents, upbringing, training, imitation of adults in games is extremely important (in fact - role playing, where children "try on" the future roles of father, mother, wife, husband, boss and subordinate, comrade, model the solution of problems of a domestic, family, social nature. The formation of speech is possible only if the child hears the names of objects, situations and actions (or he is shown other equivalents denoting them, in the absence of hearing, for example). In this regard, education in an enriched sensory environment, with a constant influx of information, is important. On the other hand, it is harmful to stay in an overenriched environment due to the child's inability to limit, "cut off" redundant information.

2. Availability functional systems, that is, interacting structures designed to perform one or another higher function.

3. The presence of a genetic program largely determines a person's abilities.

The life of a child in conditions of inattention to his physical needs, with a lack of communication, with psychological neglect, when parents do not pay attention to the child, do not respond to his appeal, scream, do not talk to the baby, when parents do not have warm feelings for their children, when children are deprived of a sense of their own security (physical and mental) - all this weakens the development of the HMF and negatively affects the formation of the emotional and psychological sphere.
Effective learning is possible in the first years of life, and “missing” these tough deadlines has an extremely negative effect on the formation of the HMF, connections between brain structures are conserved, and effective learning, primarily speech, walking, social skills, writing, becomes impossible after 7-10 years or more. .

Thinking

Thinking (M.) is an abstract knowledge of the essence of phenomena, their relationship through mental operations. In neurology, M. is understood as the ability to make decisions that determine human behavior, the ability to solve problems of a domestic, professional, and creative nature.

Morphological substrate for the implementation of M.:

  1. Frontal lobes. They program human activity aimed at solving existing problems, provide a "social" program of behavior, a critical assessment of actions and their consequences, that is, an assessment of the adequacy of the chosen form of behavior. Decision-making requires an analysis of the information contained in the memory and received during life, and information about the surrounding conditions and the state and capabilities of one's own organism.
  2. Zones of visual, auditory, gustatory, olfactory, skin analyzers in the cerebral cortex, with their relationships (for example, in the "visual image - sound - taste" system).
  3. Hypothalamus, thalamus, stem formations. Here is the starting point of motivations, the centers of sensations of thirst, hunger, sexual behavior, and other instincts.

For M.'s implementation the coordinated activity of all 3 levels is necessary. Logical-semantic thinking is provided by the left hemisphere in the right-handed person; figurative, sensual - by the right hemisphere.
Assessing the level, degree of organization of M., it is necessary to take into account age (child, adult, elderly person), level of education (several classes, secondary school, higher education, etc.), as well as social status, attention, memory.


Intelligence

Intelligence (I.) - the ability to think, to rational knowledge. And. depends on the genetic program, education and training. For example, a superintelligent teenager may not be able to read and write if he did not have the conditions for appropriate learning. I. can be checked using various test, including non-verbal programs.

Memory

Memory (P.) - the ability to store information. There is another side - in order to use P., it is necessary to be able not only to remember, but also to reproduce information. Memorization usually proceeds according to the principle of generalization, a system of knowledge is constructed from generalizations.
The following are involved in P.'s implementation: zones of the cerebral cortex, hippocampal gyrus of the left temporal lobe(temporo-parieto-occipital regions); subcortical formations; reticular formation.
P. according to the mechanism and features is divided into short-term, intermediate and long-term.
Logically-semantic P. is associated with the left hemisphere (in the right-handed person), sensory-figurative - with the right.
Information storage substrate - RNA, neuropeptides, enkephalins.
P.'s endogenous stimulant is norepinephrine.
Exogenous stimulants P.: nootropics: cavinton (vinpocetine), semax, gliatilin (cerepro), cerebrolysin (not for epilepsy), nootropil (piracetam, lucetam) and others. It should be borne in mind that piracetam and its analogues are not indicated for epileptic readiness, may increase anxiety and are not prescribed at night.

Praxis (praxia)

Praxia is the ability to perform complex purposeful actions. Praxis - a set of everyday and professional skills. Losing this ability while saving muscle strength and coordination is called apraxia.
Zones: premotor, prefrontal fields - fields 6, 8, postcentral sections - fields 40, 39. The functional praxis system includes many cortical zones.
Damage to the post-central parts of the brain (fields 1, 2, 3, 5, and partially 7) causes kinesthetic apraxia, or posture apraxia, and oral apraxia. It is based on a violation of afferentation, which interferes with the correct construction of movements. The lower parietal foci on the left make it difficult to reproduce the position of the fingers in the absence of visual control.
Oral Apraxia - Difficulty motor speech due to the inability to fold the tongue and lips into a tube, to give a certain position to the tongue and lips.
With the defeat of the premotor areas - fields 6, 8, 44 - it is difficult to perform a series of movements. Perhaps the occurrence of dynamic appraisal, combined with efferent motor aphasia and efferent motor agration with damage to the left hemisphere.
With damage to the lower parietal lobule (fields 39, 40), spatial (constructive) apraxia is possible: it is difficult to build a geometric figure from separate parts, confuses the right and left side. In severe cases, he cannot dress himself (apraxia of dressing), light a match, show how to wag a finger, etc.
When the left hemisphere suffers, semantic aphasia, acalculia, alexia, agraphia join.
When the poles suffer frontal lobes frontal apraxia occurs - the program is violated (actions, there is no control over its results. Apraxia is combined with a violation of social norms of behavior.

AT early classifications There are 3 forms of apraxia:

  • motor: the inability to perform an action either to the patient himself or by imitation. Apraxia of one half of the body is possible (with damage to the premotor sections - fields 6, 8 of the left or right hemisphere);
  • ideational: plans of action are violated;
  • constructive (spatial): the impossibility, according to a verbal task or according to a model, to put together a figure from cubes or build a pyramid, a well (with damage to the parieto-occipital regions).

Letter (graphic)

Letter - graphics. Agraphia - a violation of the function of writing: the inability to write correctly in meaning and form while preserving motor functions. The dominant hemisphere suffers. Often combined with sensory and motor aphasia (with the defeat of field 6 - the posterior part of the middle frontal gyrus).

Reading (lexia)

Reading is provided by the work of the center in the region of the left angular gyrus. Alexia - a violation of the reading function due to a misunderstanding of the text. With damage to the left angular gyrus (field 39) is observed in isolation. Often associated with aphasia. Manifested by omissions, rearrangement of letters in words (literal paralexia), replacement of words (verbal paralexia), misunderstanding of what was read. Sometimes reading is impossible.

Account (calculia)

Account - the ability to produce arithmetic operations. Acalculia - a violation of the ability to perform arithmetic operations, a violation of the counting function (with damage to field 39 of the dominant hemisphere).

Gnosis (gnosis)

Gnosis (gnosia) - the ability to cognitive activity, to recognize familiar stimuli, images, etc. Agnosia - a violation of the ability to recognize familiar stimuli while maintaining perception.

Stand out:

  • object visual agnosia - unrecognition of familiar objects, faces, as well as their images, the temporo-occipital regions of both hemispheres suffer;
  • color agnosia in combination with letter agnosia (left hemispheric temporal-occipital lesions). Unrecognition of colors and similar letters;
  • visuo-spatial agnosia (with temporo-occipital lesions, predominantly left hemispheric). Difficulties in determining the spatial location, as well as the right-left sides of the object;
  • auditory agnosia (with lesions of the right upper temporal gyrus) - not recognizing previously familiar sounds, noises, melodies;
  • astereognosia (tactile-kinesthetic agnosia) - failure to recognize familiar small objects by touch (with damage to the parietal region of the left hemisphere);
  • agnosia on faces - failure to recognize familiar faces or their photographs (with damage to the lower occipital region of the right or predominantly right hemisphere);
  • autotopoagnosia - disorientation in one's own body;
  • olfactory agnosia - not recognizing smells;
  • gustatory agnosia is the inability to recognize taste.

English higher mental functions) - complex mental processes that are formed in vivo, social in origin, semiotically mediated in psychological structure and arbitrary (consciously performed) in the way of their implementation. V. p. f. - one of the basic concepts of modern psychology, introduced by L. S. Vygotsky and further developed by A. R. Luria, A. N. Leontiev, A. V. Zaporozhets, D. B. Elkonin, P. Ya. Galperin and others.

Vygotsky singled out 2 types (and levels) of mental phenomena ("natural" and "cultural" mental processes), believing that the 1st is determined mainly by the action of a genetic factor, and the 2nd is formed on the basis of the first under the influence of social impacts. Social influences determine the ways of forming V. p. f. and thus their psychological structure. The most important characteristic V. p. f. - this is their mediation by various "psychological tools" - sign systems that are the product of a long socio-historical development of mankind. Among the "psychological tools" speech plays a leading role; therefore, the speech mediation of V. p. f. represents the most universal way their formation and functioning.

V. p. f. - complex systemic formations, qualitatively different from other mental phenomena. They represent " psychological systems"", which are created "by building new formations over the old ones, while preserving the old formations in the form of subordinate layers within the new whole" (Vygotsky). The main characteristics of V. p. f. - mediation, awareness, arbitrariness - are systemic qualities that characterize V. p. f. as "psychological systems".

V. p. f. how systems have great plasticity, interchangeability of their components. Invariable (invariant) in them are the initial task (the conscious goal of the activity) and the final result; the means by which the task is realized are very variable and differ on different stages ontogeny and different ways and ways of function formation.

The pattern of formation of V. p. f. is that initially they exist as a form of semiotically mediated interaction between people (i.e., as an interpsychological process, interpsychic function) in the context various kinds their joint activity and only later - as a completely internal (intrapsychological, intrapsychic function) process. The transformation of external means of implementing functions into internal ones is called interiorization. Dr. The most important feature that characterizes the logic of the development of V. P. F. is their gradual "winding down", automation (see also Intellectualization). At the first stages of the formation of V. p. f. represent a detailed form of activity, which is based on relatively elementary sensory and motor processes; then these actions and processes are curtailed, acquiring the character of automated mental actions. At the same time, the psychological structure of V. p. f.

Psychophysiological basis of V. p. f. are complex functional systems, including big number afferent and efferent links and having a vertical (cortical-subcortical) and horizontal (cortical-cortical) organization. Part of the links of the functional system is rigidly "fixed" to certain areas of the brain, the rest are highly plastic and can replace each other, which underlies the mechanism for restructuring functional systems as a whole. T. o., V. p. f. associated with the work of not one "think tank" and not the entire brain as a homogeneous equipotential whole, but are the result of systemic activity of the brain, in which various brain structures take a differentiated part (see Localization of the c.p.f.).

The theory of V. p. f. developed not only in line with the problems general psychology, but also in the study of issues of applied areas of modern psychological science.

Children's and pedagogical psychology use the concept of V. p. f. when studying the patterns of development of mental processes in ontogenesis, the mechanisms of their control and formation. Cultural-historical psychology on the basis of ideas about the social conditioning of V. p. f. analyzes the differences in "cultural" processes depending on the conditions of life and labor activity of people. In pathopsychology, the analysis of the features of cognitive impairment in various mental illness is based on the provisions on the mediation and systemic nature of the structure of V. p. f. In neuropsychology, the concept of V. p. f. is central to the analysis of brain mechanisms various violations mental processes in patients with local lesions of the brain - when diagnosing the lesion and determining the ways and means of restoring V. p. f. That., various areas practical application of the theory of V. p. f. confirm its high productivity and scientific significance. See Will, Decontextualization, Sign mediation, Prolepsis. (E. D. Khomskaya.)

Higher mental functions

term L.S. Vygotsky. HMF - in vivo formed, social in origin, mediated in structure and arbitrary in terms of the method of implementation of complex mental processes. The law of the development of the HMF - "every function in the cultural development of the child appears on the scene twice, on two planes, first social, then psychological, first between people, as an interpsychic category, then inside the child, as an intrapsychic category" (L.S. Vygotsky) .

Higher mental functions

Specificity. Complex mental processes, social in their formation, which are mediated and therefore arbitrary. According to Vygotsky, mental phenomena can be "natural", determined mainly by a genetic factor, and "cultural", built on top of the first, actually higher mental functions, which are completely formed under the influence of social influences. The main sign of higher mental functions is their mediation by certain "psychological tools", signs that have arisen as a result of the long socio-historical development of mankind, which primarily include speech. The psychophysiological correlate of the formation of higher mental functions are complex functional systems that have a vertical (cortical-subcortical) and horizontal (cortical-cortical) organization. But each higher mental function is not rigidly tied to any one brain center, but is the result of the systemic activity of the brain, in which various brain structures make a more or less specific contribution to the construction of this function.

Genesis. Initially, the highest mental function is realized as a form of interaction between people, between an adult and a child, as an interpsychic process, and only then - as an internal, intrapsychic one. At the same time, external means mediating this interaction pass into internal ones, i.e. they are internalized. If at the first stages of the formation of a higher mental function it is an expanded form of objective activity, based on relatively simple sensory and motor processes, then in further action collapse, becoming automated mental actions.

Higher mental functions (HMF)

Complex mental processes that are formed in vivo are social in origin and arbitrary in the way they are implemented. HMF is one of the basic concepts of modern psychology. Speech plays a priority role in the implementation of the WPF. The main characteristics of the HMF: mediation, awareness, arbitrariness.

Higher mental functions

the relationship between higher psychological functions was once a real relationship between people. The relationship of psychological functions is genetically correlated with the real relationship between people: word regulation, verbalized behavior = power - submission. (17.1, 53) They are a personalized, internalized attitude social order, the basis of the social structure of the individual, their composition, genesis, function (mode of action) - in a word, their nature is social. Even being in person turned into psychological processes, they remain quasi-social. The individual personal is not contra, but the highest form of sociality. (17.1, 54) any higher mental function that arises in the process of human historical development appears on the scene twice: first as a function of socio-psychological adaptation; as a form of interaction and cooperation between people, as an interpsychological category; then - as a form of individual adaptation, as a function of personality psychology, as an intrapsychological category. (8.3, 450) Higher mental functions have developed as the highest forms of activity, which have a number of differences from the elementary forms of the corresponding activity! The basic law of the evolution of the animal world is the law mental development along pure lines A thing outside a certain situation does not exist for an animal. in the foreground of the development of higher mental functions is not so much the development of each mental function (“development along a clean line”) as a change in interfunctional connections, a change in the dominant interdependence of the child’s mental activity at each age level. (8.2, 368 - 369) Some conclusions related to the most important rules, which control the development process of interest to us: 1. The history of the development of each of the WPFs. is not a direct continuation and further improvement of the corresponding elementary function, but implies a radical change in the direction of development and further movement of the process in a completely new way; each c.p.f. is thus a specific neoplasm. 2. V.p.f. are not built on top of elementary processes, like a second floor, but are new psychological systems that include a complex interweaving elementary functions which, being included in the new system, themselves begin to act according to new laws; each c.p.f. represents the unity higher order, determined mainly by a peculiar combination of a number of more elementary functions in a new whole. 3. With the collapse of the vpf, with painful processes, the connection between symbolic and natural functions, as a result of which a number of natural processes are split off, which begin to act according to primitive laws, as more or less independent psychological structures. Thus, the decays of the w.p.f. represent a process qualitatively the reverse of their construction. (1.6.1, 56 - 59) In the process of a child's mental development, not only internal reorganization and improvement of individual functions takes place, but also interfunctional connections and relationships change radically. As a result, new psychological systems arise, combining in complex cooperation a number of individual elementary functions. These psychological systems, these unities of a higher order, taking the place of homogeneous, individual, elementary functions, we conditionally call higher psychological functions. (1.6.1, 81) V.p.f. child, the highest properties specific to man arise initially as forms of the child's collective behavior, as forms of cooperation with other people, and only later do they become internal individual functions of the child himself. (7.1, 95) higher functions, which are the product of the historical development of man, stand in a different relation to heredity than the functions that are the product of a predominantly evolutionary process of development. (7.1, 67 – 68) See Activities, Personality, Mental functions

Higher mental functions (HMF)

Now let us return to that line of development of the child, which is associated with the formation of higher mental functions. Why did L. S. Vygotsky turn to a new concept for psychology - "higher mental functions"? After all, even before him, psychologists talked about the development of perception and thinking, attention and memory, and mental development in general. L. S. Vygotsky, apparently, was the first to understand that the development of the child’s psyche, understood as quantitative growth in various parameters, cannot ensure the successful activity of a person passing to life in the world complex mechanisms and technologies. A simple increase in the amount of memory cannot ensure success in school and university education, and an increase in the amount of attention cannot ensure successful, error-free control of complex apparatus and mechanisms. L. S. Vygotsky draws attention to the fact that in animals the development of behavior and psyche in evolution is accompanied by the development of their brain. In a person in his history, we observe huge changes in behavior and psyche, but no morphological changes in the brain have occurred during this time. How can these changes in human activity and psyche be explained?

The structure of the HMF: mediation, consistency

Based on the works of K. Marx, L. S. Vygotsky noted that the development of labor activity is explained by the complication of the tools with which a person is armed in labor. The use of tools allows, without changing the brain mechanisms and executive bodies, to carry out more and more complex activities, forming new functional systems. L. S. Vygotsky developed the hypothesis that the human psyche is also armed in history. At first, these were real objects of the external world, then specially made changes in the environment or man-made devices used as signs of some events. The most universal sign, according to L. S. Vygotsky, was the word, the language of man.

If earlier the process, for example, memorization, was built like any natural process through direct imprinting BUT ↔ AT and reproduction, then the introduction of an object-sign into this process changes the process of imprinting-reproduction (Fig. 8.3).

Rice. 8.3.

BUT- memorized object; AT - the subject of memorization; X- an aid

Now the memorization process is built as a memorization action: an event BUT maps to the sign X and playback BUT carried out through the sign X, which is always available to man. This means that memorization has become arbitrary and from a natural mental process has become a human action with operations of comparing events in the environment and signs, storing and, if necessary, making signs, various actions to create desired sign(a notch for memory, a knot for memory, a note on paper or in computer memory). Thanks to this, the psyche, as L. S. Vygotsky writes, goes beyond the brain. In fact, the psyche as a subjective experience, of course, does not go anywhere, but the process of memorization from natural, natural becomes almost the same action as the production of some object, and is no longer confined within the brain. A new functional system is being formed with internal (in terms of consciousness) and external, including motor, links, the result of which is memorization and reproduction according to external or internal requirements. brain process The impression does not disappear, but it is now included in the work of the new system using a "tool", a means of memory.

Above the natural or, as L. S. Vygotsky calls them, "natural mental processes", a person's voluntary action is built, aimed at achieving the same result as in the natural mental process. This is how higher mental functions (HMF) arise - arbitrary, mediated by signs (tools), memorization, perception, attention, thinking, etc. (Fig. 8.4).

Rice. 8.4.

But the restructuring of natural mental processes is not limited to mediation. It has already been said that new functional systems are being formed, which include various external and internal processes, mediated by signs, and all natural mental processes begin to work together in this new system. For example, memorization and reproduction begin to be carried out through the generalization and classification of events, the establishment of their connections, the identification specific features, connection with known and well-known facts, etc.

Therefore, higher mental functions become arbitrary, conscious, mediated and systematically built. All natural mental processes begin to work together when solving some problem, providing their contribution to this joint work. The system nature of the HMF allows to carry out substitution operations if some link of this system is violated.

For example, when a small area of ​​the parietotemporal-occipital cortex of the left hemisphere is affected, a person ceases to recognize the letters of the alphabet. In this case, you can connect the preserved motor memory of writing letters. If the patient is asked to circle the letters with his finger, then, to his surprise, he recognizes all the letters and can now read the text, circling each letter with his finger. Such a patient can be taught to trace letters with the fingers of a hand hidden in a pocket, and then others will not notice a defect in reading the text.

In the above example, the ability of visual recognition of letters, which was impaired due to illness, was replaced by motor recognition, and the system continues to work as a whole successfully. L. S. Vygotsky noted that new human social skills of speech, reading, writing are built according to the same rules for the operation of functional systems, which allowed him to classify them as HMF. Later, Vygotsky's colleague, A. R. Luria, showed that the brain mechanisms of higher mental functions are also built according to the system principle, when the same area of ​​the cerebral cortex is included in various functional systems that provide human skills.

The holistic nature of the human psyche

The allocation of HMF made it possible to solve another problem in understanding the psyche. There is a widespread opinion about the existence of such independent and self-sufficient mental processes as perception, memory, attention, thinking, etc. This functionalist approach is reflected in almost all textbooks on general psychology. If we accept the idea of ​​HMF, then the proposition about individual processes will have to be rejected, because the structure of all higher mental functions is the same (all natural mental processes participate in them). In this case, the human psyche should be understood as a whole, and only depending on the task being solved at the moment, it is necessary to single out HMF as perception, memory or attention. If there is a construction of a conscious sensory image, then at the moment the human psyche works as a perception; if the task is to remember and reproduce the necessary information, then the work of the psyche, organized according to the type of HMF, manifests itself as memory; if a person solves constructive or cognitive tasks, then this manifests itself as thinking (Fig. 8.5).

In the center of the circle in Fig. 8.5 shows the connections of natural mental functions (perception, attention, memory, thinking, etc.). That is, in fact, in solving any problems, all natural mental processes are involved, working together in a single mental system a person, and therefore we can understand the human psyche as a single entity capable of solving various problems.

Rice. 8.5.

By their origin, higher mental functions are social. They are social because the reason for their formation in a person is in the requirements of society, and the way of formation is the joint-separated activity of an adult and a child. L. S. Vygotsky wrote that HMF arise twice - first as a joint collective interpsychic activity, and then as an individual way of the child's behavior. Social forms of behavior become ways of individual behavior or, in other words, higher mental functions. It has already been mentioned that this process was also described in the concept of "interiorization" as a transition from outside to inside. It was also noted that this transition should be understood as the child building the same functional systems that adults have - systems that enable the child to carry out his first social actions.

Since the higher mental functions are formed only in the child's own adequate activity, they turn out to be arbitrary from the very beginning.

One of the directions for the development of the HMF is the transition from external means of mediation to internal ones.

In the studies of A. N. Leontiev (a colleague of L. S. Vygotsky), the development of the ability of children to use external and internal funds memorization: younger children do not know how to use any means, middle-aged children use external subject means(cards), adults make good use of both external and internal means.

The concept of higher mental functions, their structure and development. The concept of internalization (L.S. Vygotsky).

Response plan

    1. highlighting the concept of HMF

      concept of HMF

    The structure of the WPF.

    1. HMF structure

      distinctive properties of HMF

    1. emergence of HMF

      HMF development

    The concept of internalization.

    1. concept of internalization

      stages of internalization

    The concept of higher mental functions (HMF).

    1. Identification of the concept of HMF

In the 1920s and 1930s, Vygotsky's cultural-historical theory was formed under the influence of the position of Marxist philosophy on the decisive role of tool labor in the process of anthropogenesis. Vygotsky continued to develop the idea of ​​a connection between instrumental and sign (speech) activity.

A distinctive feature of a person is his ability to transform the environment by means accumulated and developed within the framework of cultural tradition. Cultural experience is preserved and passed on from generation to generation not only in the form of manufactured tools, but mainly through symbolic speech that captures the accumulated experience.

If the external environment was transformed with the help of material tools, a person's own psyche was also mastered by a person with the help of tools, only mental ones - signs. The sign not only replaces a specific object or action, but also performs the function of generalization, forming concepts. Thus, the world, as it were, splits into the material and “denoted” in consciousness, which opens the way for thinking as “out-of-practice” knowledge.

Studying the problems of personality development, L.S. Vygotsky singled out the mental functions of a person, which are formed in specific conditions of socialization and have some special features. He defined these functions as the highest. In general, he defined two levels of mental processes: natural and higher. If natural functions are given to an individual as a natural being and are realized in spontaneous response, then higher mental functions can be developed only in the process of ontogenesis in social interaction.

      The concept of HMF

Higher mental functions- complex mental processes that are formed in vivo, social in origin, mediated in psychological structure and arbitrary in the way of their implementation. V. p. f. - one of the basic concepts of modern psychology, introduced into domestic psychological science by L. S. Vygotsky. (Higher mental functions: logical memory, purposeful thinking, creative imagination, voluntary actions, speech, writing, counting, movements, perceptual processes (processes of perception) ). The most important characteristic of the WPF is their mediation by various "psychological tools" - sign systems, which are the product of a long socio-historical development of mankind. Among the "psychological tools" speech plays a leading role; therefore, the speech mediation of HMF is the most universal way of their formation.

    The structure of the WPF.

    1. Structure of the WPF

For Vygotsky, a sign (word) is that “psychological tool” through which consciousness is built. The sign is playing important role in the structure of the WPF. It becomes a means of mediation between one act of human activity and another (for example, in order to remember something, we use an information coding system in order to reproduce it later). At the same time, the very nature of the structure of higher mental functions can be designated as systemic. The HMF is a system that has a hierarchical character, i.e. some parts of this system are subordinate to others. But the HMF system is not a static formation; throughout a person's life, it changes both in the parts of which it consists and in the relationship between them.

      Distinctive properties of VPF

      arbitrariness(the person himself manages his mental function, i.e. the person sets tasks, goals). Arbitrary VPF are according to the method of implementation. Due to mediation, a person is able to realize his functions and carry out activities in a certain direction, anticipating a possible result, analyzing his experience, correcting behavior and activities. The arbitrariness of HMF is also determined by the fact that the individual is able to act purposefully, overcoming obstacles and making appropriate efforts. A conscious desire for a goal and the application of efforts determines the conscious regulation of activity and behavior. We can say that the idea of ​​the HMF comes from the idea of ​​the formation and development of volitional mechanisms in a person;

      awareness WPF;

      mediation(means are used). The mediation of the HMF is visible in the way they function. The development of the capacity for symbolic activity and mastery of the sign is the main component of mediation. The word, image, number and other possible identification signs of a phenomenon (for example, a hieroglyph as a unity of a word and an image) determine the semantic perspective of comprehending the essence at the level of unity of abstraction and concretization. In this sense, thinking as operating with symbols, behind which there are representations and concepts, or creative imagination as operating with images, are the corresponding examples of the functioning of the HMF. In the process of functioning of the HMF, cognitive and emotional-volitional components of awareness are born: meanings and meanings;

      sociality by origin. HMF is determined by their origin. They can develop only in the process of interaction of people with each other. The main source of occurrence is internalization, i.e. transfer ("rotation") of social forms of behavior into the internal plan. Internalization is carried out during the formation and development of external and internal relations personality;

      consistency.

    The emergence and development of HMF.

    1. The emergence of HMF

Unlike the lower mental functions, which are innate, unmediated, involuntary, and isolated from one another, the higher ones are socially formed, mediated, voluntarily controlled, and combined into systems. The environment acts in relation to the development of higher mental functions as a source of development. According to Vygotsky, HMF arise initially as a form of the child's collective behavior, as a form of cooperation with other people, and only later do they become individual functions of the child himself. So, for example, at first speech is a means of communication between people, but in the course of development it becomes internal and begins to perform an intellectual function. The process of development of the psyche in the ontogeny of L.S. Vygotsky considered as a process of internalization of control relations and sign means, i.e. their transfer from the interpersonal sphere to the intrapersonal one in the course of mastering culture through verbal communication.

      Development of the WPF

Laws of formation . Vygotsky singled out the laws of formation of the HMF:

1. The law of transition from natural to cultural (mediated by tools and signs) forms of behavior. It can be called the "law of mediation".

2. The law of transition from social to individual forms of behavior (the means of a social form of behavior in the process of development become the means of an individual form of behavior).

3. The law of transition of functions from outside to inside. "This process of transition of operations from outside to inside is what we call the law of rotation." Later, in a different context, L.S. Vygotsky will formulate another law, which, in our opinion, can be considered a continuation of this series.

4. "The general law of development is that awareness and mastery are characteristic only of the highest stage in the development of any function. They arise late." Obviously, it can be called "the law of awareness and mastery."

Example . As an example of the formation of the HMF, one can cite the interpretation of L.S. Vygotsky development pointing gesture in babies. Initially, this gesture exists in the form of a failed grasping movement of the child directed at the desired object. As such, this is not yet a pointing gesture, but it can acquire the meaning of a pointing gesture if it is appropriately interpreted by close adults. At this (second) stage, the grasping movement becomes mediated by the child's social environment and acquires the meaning "help me take it," which is quickly assimilated by the child; the latter begins to use it both for the purposes of communication with close adults, and for the practical purposes of mastering the desired object, which he cannot get on his own. By doing this, the child may still be unaware of the fact that he is using the gesture as a social cue. Still later, this "for-others" pointing gesture may be consciously used by the child as a tool by which the child exercises control over his own behavior; for example (my interpretation of the meaning of the text by L.S. Vygotsky. - E.S.), to highlight a certain fragment of the picture and focus on it. This time, the child understands that what he is doing with his index finger (or an object that replaces it) is a special act carried out with the aim not to let attention creep over the picture, but to concentrate it on a certain chosen point. At this stage, the pointing gesture exists "for-itself" or, more precisely, for the child who uses it and at the same time knows that he uses it.

    The concept of internalization.

    1. The concept of interiorization

Communication in the process of labor gave rise to speech. The first words ensured the organization of joint actions. These were command words (do this, take that). Then the person began to turn the words of orders to himself (says “get up” and gets up). First there was a process interpsychological, i.e. interpersonal, collective. Then these relationships turned into relationships with oneself, i.e. in intrapsychological. The transformation of interpsychic relationships into intrapsychic ones - internalization process, i.e. means-signs (notches, knots) have turned into internal ones (images, element inner speech). Interiorization(according to Vygotsky) is the transition of the HMF from the external social plan to the internal individual plan of its existence. Internalization is carried out in the formation and development of external and internal relations of the individual. First, as a form of interaction between people (interpsychic stage). Then as an internal phenomenon (intrapsychic stage). Teaching a child to speak and think is a vivid example of the process of internalization.

      Stages of internalization

3 stagesinteriorization in ontogeny:

    an adult acts with a word on a child, prompting him to do something;

    the child adopts a way of addressing from an adult and begins to influence the adult with a word;

    the child begins to influence the word on himself.

Example: L.S.V conducted experiments in the form of a game with children 3-4 years old. The study of voluntary attention (when the object itself is not striking). Cups with lids were placed in front of the child, on which rectangles were glued, which differed in shades. gray color: light and dark grey. Rectangles and color differences were not very noticeable. A nut was placed in one cup and the children were asked to guess where it was. The nut was always in a dark gray cup. If the color was bright red, then this would be an experiment on the study of NPF. The child either guesses or loses. But there is no conditional connection, he cannot single out a signal sign. Then the experimenter, in front of the child, puts the nut into the cup and points to a dark gray spot. After that, the child begins to win. Those. the adult directed the child's attention to the desired object, and then the child himself began to direct his attention to the decisive feature. Here the sign was used - the index finger of the experimenter. And the child formulated the rule: you need to look at the spots and choose the one that is dark. Those. internalization took place, the sign turned from an external form into an internal one.

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