The first signal system - what is it? The first human signal system according to Pavlov

The world around us we perceive thanks to two systems: the first and second signal.

To obtain information about the state of the body and the external environment, the first signal system uses all the sensory organs of man: touch, sight, smell, hearing and taste. The second, younger, signal system allows us to perceive the world through speech. Its development occurs on the basis and in interaction with the first in the process of development and growth of man. In this article we will consider 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 changing its state, which is the first signal system. The external world, represented through various objects, possessing a variety of chemical and physical properties, such as color, odor, form, etc., act as conditional signals warning the body of the changes to which it is necessary to adapt. So, a herd of deer asleep in the sun, sensing the smell of a stalking predator, sharply breaks off and flies. The irritant signaled the approaching danger.

Thus, in the higher animals, the first (conditioned-reflex) signal system is an accurate reflection of the external world around us, which allows us to correctly respond to changes and adapt to them. All of its signals refer to a specific object and are specific. Conditional reflexes, which constitute the basis of elementary objectively correlated thinking of animals, are formed through this particular system.

The first human signal system functions in the same way as in higher animals. Its separate functioning is observed only in newborns, from birth to the age of six months, if the child is in a normal social environment. Formation and development of the second signal system is accomplished in the process and as a result of education and social interactions between people.

Types of Nervous Activity

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

The activity of this system is divided into the lower and the higher. The so-called lower nervous activity is responsible for the control and management of all internal organs and systems of the human body. Interactions with objects and objects of the surrounding reality through such neuro-psychological processes and mechanisms as intellect, perception, thinking, speech, memory, attention, are referred to higher nervous activity (GNI). Such interaction occurs through the direct impact of various objects on receptors, for example, auditory or visual, with the further transmission of the received signals by the nervous system to the information processing organ-the brain. It was this kind of signaling by the Russian scientist IP Pavlov that was called the first signal system. Thanks to it, it was possible to conceive and develop a second signal system, characteristic only for people and associated with an audible (speech) or visible word (written sources).

What are signal systems?

Based on the works of the famous Russian physiologist and natural scientist IM Sechenov on the reflex activity of the higher sections of the brain, IP Pavlov created the theory of GNI, the highest nervous activity of man. Within the framework of this exercise, the notion of what signal systems were. They are understood as forming in the cortex (isocortex) of the brain the complexes of conditioned reflex connections as a result of the receipt of various impulses from the surrounding world or from the 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 the objects of the external world.

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

Features of the first alarm system

In this signal system, both 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 signal system of a person is a reciprocal concrete-sensory reflection of the impact on receptors from the outside world.

First in the body there is a sensation of any phenomena, properties or objects perceived by the receptors of any one or several senses. Then the sensations are transformed into more complex forms - perception. And only after the second signal system is formed and developed, it becomes possible to create abstract forms of reflection that are not attached to a particular object, such as representations and concepts.

Localization of signal systems

For the normal functioning of both signal systems, the centers located in the cerebral hemispheres are responsible. Reception and processing of information for the first signal system is performed by the right hemisphere. Both the perception and processing of the information flow for the second signal system produces the left hemisphere, which is responsible for the development of logical thinking. The second (more than the first) human signal system depends on the structural integrity of the brain and its functioning.

Interconnection between Signaling Systems

The second and first signaling systems for Pavlov are in constant interaction and are interconnected in terms of the functions performed. This is due to the fact that on the basis of the first arose and developed a second signaling system. The signals of the first coming from the environment and from different parts of the body are in continuous interaction with the signals of the second. During such interaction occurs the emergence of conditioned reflexes of a higher order, which create functional connections between them. In connection with the developed thought processes and the social way of life, the second signal system is more developed in man.

Stages of development

In the process of individual mental development of a child born on time, the first signal 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 he puts a nipple in his mouth. Conditional reflexes to sound stimuli can form at the beginning of the second month of life.

The older the child becomes, the faster conditioned reflexes are formed in him. In order for the monthly infants to have a temporary connection, many repetitions of the effect of unconditioned and conditioned stimuli will have to be done. A two-three-month-old child will need only a few repetitions to create the same temporary connection.

The second alarm system begins to take shape in children aged one and a half years, when, with repeated naming of the subject, together with its demonstration, the child begins to react to the word. In children, it is brought to the forefront only to 6-7 years.

Changing roles

Thus, in the course of the child's psychophysical development, throughout the childhood and adolescence, there is a change in the significance and priority between these signaling systems. At school age and until the commencement of puberty, the second signal system is brought to the fore. During puberty, due to significant hormonal and physiological changes in the body of adolescents, for a short period the first signal system again becomes the leading one. To the senior classes of school the second signal system again leaves in leaders and keeps the main position throughout all life, constantly being improved and developing.

Value

The first signal system of people, despite the predominance of adults in the second, is of great importance in such types of human activity as sport, creativity, learning and work. Without it, it would be impossible to create a musician and artist, actor and professional athlete.

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