Sensation is a general concept. Types and properties of sensations What are the signals coming from the internal organs called?

Feeling- this is a mental cognitive process consisting in reflecting individual properties of objects that have a significant impact on the senses of the individual. Sensation occupies a special position in a person’s life: it helps to perceive the world around us, build interdisciplinary connections based on your own impressions. Human sensations interact very closely with all the senses: vision, hearing, smell and touch are “conductors” into the mysterious inner world of the individual.

Feelings are both objective and subjective. Objectivity lies in the fact that in this process there is always a reflection of an external stimulus. Subjectivity is expressed in the individual perception of a particular analyzer.

How does the analyzer mechanism work? Its task consists of three stages:

The irritant influences the receptor, as a result of which the latter experiences a process of irritation, which is transmitted to the corresponding analyzer. For example, if you shout loudly, the individual will definitely turn towards the source of the noise, even if it is not addressed to him personally.

The nature of human sensations is extremely diverse. What can be classified as sensations? These are, first of all, our feelings, which constitute the essence of emotions: feelings of anxiety, a sense of danger, the unreality of what is happening, uncontrollable joy and sadness. The process of sensation consists of numerous experiences, which, creating a moving string of events, form the emotional sphere of a person with its individual characteristics.

Types of sensations

• Visual sensations are formed as a result of the contact of light rays with the retina of the human eye. She is the receptor that is affected! The visual analyzer is designed in such a way that a light-refracting component, consisting of a lens and a glassy transparent liquid, forms an image. There may be different sensations. Thus, the same stimulus has a different effect on people: one person, when he sees a dog running up to him, will carefully turn to the side, another will calmly pass by. The strength of the stimulus’ impact on the nervous system depends on the development emotional sphere and individual characteristics.
• Auditory sensations arise through special stimuli - auditory waves that propagate sound vibrations. The auditory sensations that the human analyzer can detect consist of three types - speech, music and noise. The first arise as a result of perceiving the speech of another person. When we listen to a monologue, we involuntarily begin to pay attention not only to the meaning of the spoken phrases, but also to the intonation and timbre of the voice. Musical sounds can give our ears unimaginable aesthetic pleasure. Listening to certain melodies, a person calms down or, conversely, excites his nervous system. There are known cases when musical accompaniment helped an individual in solving complex problems, inspired new discoveries and creative achievements. Noise almost always negatively affects a person’s auditory analyzers and their state of mind. Constant exposure to noise has a negative impact on the psyche and can lead to complete or partial hearing loss.
• Vibration sensations also classified as auditory. It has been noticed that people with disabilities(blind and deaf) the ability to perceive vibrations increases several times! For a healthy person, short-term vibrations have a positive effect: they calm you down, stimulate you to activity, or encourage you to take specific steps. However, if the same type of vibrations are repeated for too long, they will become a source of poor health and lead to a state of irritation.
• Olfactory sensations are called upon to “guard” our health. Before eating food, a person smells its aroma. If the product is stale, the olfactory analyzer will immediately send a signal to the brain that this food should not be consumed. Smell can also help you recognize familiar places or return to different experiences. For example, inhaling the aroma of fresh strawberries heated in the sun, we remember the warm summer and the special mood that accompanied the holiday at that moment.
• Taste sensations directly related to the ability to recognize the taste of food and enjoy its diversity. The tongue contains taste buds that are sensitive to these sensations. Moreover, different lobes of the tongue react differently to the same food. So, sweet is best perceived by the tip, sour - by the edges, bitter - by the root of the tongue. To create a complete picture of taste sensations, it is necessary that the food be as varied as possible.
• Tactile sensations carry the opportunity to get acquainted with the state of the physical body, determine what it is: liquid, solid, sticky or rough. The largest clusters of tactile receptors are on the tips of the fingers, lips, neck, and palms. Thanks to tactile sensations, a person, even with his eyes closed, can accurately determine what object is in front of him. For blind people, hands partially replace vision.
• Feeling pressure perceived as a strong touch. Characteristic feature This sensation is complete concentration on one place, as a result of which the force of impact increases.
• Painful sensations are formed as a result of exposure to unfavorable factors on the skin or internal organs. The pain can be stabbing, cutting, aching, it varies in intensity. Pain sensations are located deeper under the skin than touch receptors.
• Temperature sensations associated with the heat transfer function. The human body has receptors that react differently to heat and cold. For example, the back and feet are most sensitive to cold, while the chest remains warm.
• Kinesthetic sensations are called actually tactile. They are necessary to form a sense of balance and determine the position of the body in space. A person, even with his eyes closed, can easily tell whether he is now lying, sitting or standing. Perception of movement and motor activity- important components of kinesthetic sensations. They create a feeling of confidence when moving the body in space.

Development of sensations and perception

To develop all types of sensations, it is necessary to use a specially selected set of exercises. It is recommended to pay attention to irritants that will arise naturally during the day and try to observe them. Thus, the sunrise can bring no less pleasure than painting or playing a musical instrument. By learning to notice the beauty of the environment, a person “trains” his senses, engages their work, refines his perception, and therefore becomes happier. Below are exercises that can be used both together and separately from each other.

"Watching a Tree"

This exercise can be performed for quite a long time. And the longer you do it, the more deeply you can master and develop your visual sensations. Its essence is as follows: not far from your home, you need to choose one tree that you will periodically observe. Observation intervals should be equal: two to five days, at most a week. The time of year does not matter, but it is desirable to have the opportunity to observe seasonal changes.

At the set hour, leave the house and go to the selected object. For ten to fifteen minutes, simply contemplate the natural beauty embodied in this particular tree. You can think about something of your own, but most importantly, do not forget to note the essential details. When looking at a tree, try to answer the following questions as fully as possible: what it looks like, what feelings you have, what has changed since your last visit (for example, there are more yellow leaves in the fall or fresh, green leaves in the spring). The exercise perfectly develops observation skills and provides a unique opportunity to relax the soul from daily worries and worries. The strength of this task lies in its simplicity and accessibility for every individual.

“Who sings louder?”

This exercise is aimed at developing auditory sensations and can be used in practice by both adults and children. While on a walk, set yourself the goal of distinguishing the singing of birds and listening to the sounds uttered by living nature. It is best to “listen” to birds in the early morning, when there are still no extraneous sounds and there are few people on the street. You'll be surprised how much you didn't notice before. Be sure to note your observations in a special notebook and write down important thoughts that come to mind.

"Guess - ka"

You can play this game with your whole family. The exercise is aimed at developing olfactory sensations. The task is not difficult to perform: you buy several products of different categories and varieties in the store. You can choose products to suit your taste, however, keep in mind that your family should not know what exactly your choice was. Then you ask your relatives to identify the product at close range with their eyes closed. Bring cucumber, peeled banana, yogurt, milk, tomato to their noses one by one. The task of your opponents is to guess which food items you brought home. Children are allowed to ask leading questions. Exercise is a great mood lifter.

“How am I feeling right now?”

The essence of this exercise is to create a spectrum of temperature and tactile sensations for yourself as clearly as possible. To achieve the desired effect, follow simple recommendations: when taking a shower, turn on cool and warm water alternately. Notice your sensations that arise during these periods of time. You can write down the thoughts that come to you in a special notebook, then it will be interesting to read.

When going outside in warm weather, try to mentally tune in to the perception of temperature. Notice how the skin receptors “rejoice” in the sunlight, how pleasant it is for you to walk in light clothes through which air freely penetrates. When you get home, record your observations on paper.

Thus, the role of sensations in human life is quite significant. Thanks to sensations, it becomes possible to distinguish the colors and colors of one’s own mood, to see the world around us in all its diversity. The process of sensation gives each of us the ability to become the creator of our own individuality.

Types of sensations. Already the ancient Greeks distinguished five senses and the sensations corresponding to them: visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory and gustatory. Modern science has significantly expanded our understanding of the types of human sensations. Currently, there are about two dozen different analyzer systems that reflect the impact of the external and internal environment on receptors.

Visual sensations - these are sensations of light and color. Everything we see has some color. Only a completely transparent object that we cannot see can be colorless. There are colors achromatic(white and black and shades of gray in between) and chromatic(various shades of red, yellow, green, blue).

Visual sensations arise as a result of the influence of light rays (electromagnetic waves) on the sensitive part of our eye. The light-sensitive organ of the eye is the retina, which contains two types of cells - rods and cones, so named for their external shape. There are a lot of such cells in the retina - about 130 rods and 7 million cones.

In daylight, only cones are active (such light is too bright for rods). As a result, we see colors, i.e. there is a feeling of chromatic colors - all the colors of the spectrum. In low light (at dusk), the cones stop working (there is not enough light for them), and vision is carried out only by the rod apparatus - a person sees mainly gray colors (all transitions from white to black, i.e. achromatic colors).

Color has different effects on a person’s well-being and performance, and on the success of educational activities. Psychologists note that the most acceptable color for painting the walls of classrooms is orange-yellow, which creates a cheerful, upbeat mood, and green, which creates an even, calm mood. Red excites, dark blue depresses, and both tire the eyes. In some cases, people experience disturbances in normal color perception. The reasons for this may be heredity, diseases and eye injury. The most common is red-green blindness, called color blindness (named after the English scientist D. Dalton, who first described this phenomenon). Colorblind people cannot distinguish between red and green, do not understand why people refer to color in two words. Such a feature of vision as color blindness should be taken into account when choosing a profession. Colorblind people cannot be drivers, pilots, painters, fashion designers, etc. Complete absence Sensitivity to chromatic colors is very rare. The less light, the worse a person sees. Therefore, you should not read in poor lighting, at twilight, so as not to cause unnecessary strain on the eyes, which can be harmful to vision and contribute to the development of myopia, especially in children and schoolchildren.

Auditory sensations arise through the organ of hearing. There are three types of auditory sensations: speech, music And noises. In these types of sensations, the sound analyzer identifies four qualities: sound power(loud-weak), height(high-low), timbre(originality of voice or musical instrument), sound duration(playing time), and also tempo-rhythmic features sequentially perceived sounds.

Hearing to speech sounds called phonemic. It is formed depending on the speech environment in which the child is raised. Mastering a foreign language involves the development of a new system of phonemic hearing. A child’s developed phonemic hearing significantly influences the accuracy of written speech, especially in elementary school. Musical ear The child is brought up and formed, as is speech hearing. Here, the early introduction of the child to the musical culture of mankind is of great importance.

Noises can evoke a certain emotional mood in a person (the sound of rain, the rustling of leaves, the howl of the wind), sometimes serve as a signal of approaching danger (the hiss of a snake, the menacing barking of a dog, the roar of an oncoming train) or joy (the patter of a child’s feet, the steps of an approaching loved one, the thunder of fireworks) . In school practice, we often encounter the negative effects of noise: it tires the human nervous system.

Vibration sensations reflect vibrations of an elastic medium. A person gets such sensations, for example, when he touches the lid of a sounding piano with his hand. Vibration sensations usually do not play an important role for humans and are very poorly developed. However, they reach a very high level of development in many deaf people, for whom they partially replace missing hearing.

Olfactory sensations. The ability to smell is called the sense of smell. The olfactory organs are special sensitive cells that are located deep in the nasal cavity. Individual particles of various substances enter the nose along with the air that we inhale. This is how we get olfactory sensations. In modern man, the olfactory sensations play a relatively minor role. But blind-deaf people use their sense of smell, just as sighted people use vision and hearing: they identify familiar places by smells, recognize familiar people, receive signals of danger, etc. A person’s olfactory sensitivity is closely related to taste and helps recognize the quality of food. Olfactory sensations warn a person about a dangerous air environment for the body (smell of gas, burning). The incense of objects has a great influence on a person’s emotional state. The existence of the perfume industry is entirely due to the aesthetic need of people for pleasant smells.

Taste sensations arise with the help of the taste organs - taste buds located on the surface of the tongue, pharynx and palate. There are four types of basic taste sensations: sweet, bitter, sour, salty. The variety of taste depends on the nature of the combinations of these sensations: bitter-salty, sweet-sour, etc. A small number of qualities of taste sensations does not mean, however, that taste sensations are limited. Within the limits of salty, sour, sweet, bitter, a whole series of shades arise, each of which gives the taste sensations a new uniqueness. A person’s sense of taste is highly dependent on the feeling of hunger; tasteless food seems tastier in a state of hunger. The sense of taste is very dependent on the sense of smell. With a severe runny nose, any dish, even your favorite, seems tasteless. The tip of the tongue tastes sweets best. The edges of the tongue are sensitive to sour, and its base is sensitive to bitter.

Skin sensations - tactile (touch sensations) and temperature(feelings of warmth or cold). There are different types of nerve endings on the surface of the skin, each of which gives the sensation of touch, cold, or heat. The sensitivity of different areas of the skin to each type of irritation is different. Touch is felt most on the tip of the tongue and on the tips of the fingers; the back is less sensitive to touch. The skin of those parts of the body that are usually covered by clothing, the lower back, abdomen, and chest, is most sensitive to the effects of heat and cold. Temperature sensations have a very pronounced emotional tone. Thus, average temperatures are accompanied by a positive feeling, the nature of the emotional coloring for warmth and cold is different: cold is experienced as an invigorating feeling, warmth as a relaxing one. High temperatures, both in the cold and warm directions, cause negative emotional experiences.

Visual, auditory, vibrational, gustatory, olfactory and skin sensations reflect the influence of the external world, therefore the organs of all these sensations are located on or near the surface of the body. Without these sensations, we could not know anything about the world around us. Another group of sensations tells us about changes, condition and movement in our own body. These sensations include motor, organic, sensations of balance, tactile, pain. Without these sensations we would know nothing about ourselves.

Motor (or kinesthetic) sensations - These are sensations of movement and position of body parts. Thanks to the activity of the motor analyzer, a person gains the opportunity to coordinate and control his movements. Receptors of motor sensations are located in the muscles and tendons, as well as in the fingers, tongue and lips, since it is these organs that carry out precise and subtle working and speech movements.

The development of kinesthetic sensations is one of the important tasks of learning. Lessons in labor, physical education, drawing, drawing, and reading should be planned taking into account the capabilities and prospects for the development of the motor analyzer. For mastering movements, their aesthetic expressive side is of great importance. Children master movements, and therefore their bodies, in dancing, rhythmic gymnastics and other sports that develop the beauty and ease of movement. Without the development of movements and mastery of them, educational and work activities are impossible. The formation of speech movement and the correct motor image of a word increases the culture of students and improves the literacy of written speech. Learning a foreign language requires the development of speech-motor movements that are not typical for the Russian language.

Organic sensations tell us about the work of our body, our internal organs– esophagus, stomach, intestines and many others, in the walls of which the corresponding receptors are located. While we are full and healthy, we do not notice any organic sensations at all. They appear only when something in the body’s functioning is disrupted. For example, if a person ate something not very fresh, the functioning of his stomach will be disrupted, and he will immediately feel it: pain will appear in the stomach.

Hunger, thirst, nausea, pain, sexual sensations, sensations associated with the activity of the heart, breathing, etc. – these are all organic sensations. If they were not there, we would not be able to recognize any disease in time and help our body cope with it.

“There is no doubt,” said I.P. Pavlov, “that not only analysis of the external world is important for the body, it also requires signaling upward and analysis of what is happening in itself.”

Tactile sensations- a combination of skin and motor sensations when feeling objects, that is, when a moving hand touches them. A small child begins to explore the world by touching and feeling objects. This is one of the important sources of obtaining information about the objects around it.

For people deprived of vision, the sense of touch is one of the most important means of orientation and cognition. As a result of exercise, it reaches great perfection. Such people can thread a needle, do modeling, simple construction, even sewing and cooking. The combination of skin and motor sensations that arise when feeling objects, i.e. when touched by a moving hand, it is called touch. The organ of touch is the hand.

Feelings of balance reflect the position occupied by our body in space. When we first get on a two-wheeled bicycle, skate, roller skate, or water ski, the most difficult thing is to maintain balance and not fall. The sense of balance is given to us by an organ located in the inner ear. It looks like a snail shell and is called labyrinth. When the position of the body changes, a special fluid (lymph) oscillates in the labyrinth of the inner ear, called vestibular apparatus. The organs of balance are closely connected with other internal organs. With severe overstimulation of the balance organs, nausea and vomiting are observed (the so-called seasickness or air sickness). With regular training, the stability of the balance organs increases significantly. The vestibular system gives signals about the movement and position of the head. If the labyrinth is damaged, a person can neither stand, nor sit, nor walk; he will fall all the time.

Painful sensations have a protective meaning: they signal a person about trouble that has arisen in his body. If there were no sensation of pain, a person would not even feel serious injuries. Complete insensitivity to pain is a rare anomaly, and it brings serious trouble to a person. Painful sensations have a different nature. Firstly, there are “pain points” (special receptors) located on the surface of the skin and in the internal organs and muscles. Mechanical damage to the skin, muscles, diseases of internal organs give the sensation of pain. Secondly, sensations of pain arise from the action of a super-strong stimulus on any analyzer. Blinding light, deafening sound, extreme cold or heat radiation, very strong odor cause and painful sensation.

There are various classifications of sensations. A widespread classification according to the modality of sensations (specificity of the sense organs) is the division of sensations into visual, auditory, vestibular, tactile, olfactory, gustatory, motor, visceral. There are intermodal sensations - synesthesia. The well-known classification by Ch. Sherrington distinguishes the following types of sensations:

exteroceptive sensations (arising from the influence of external stimuli on receptors located on body surface, outside);

proprioceptive (kinesthetic) sensations (reflecting the movement and relative position of body parts with the help of receptors located in muscles, tendons, joint capsules);

interoceptive (organic) sensations – arising from the reflection of metabolic processes in the body with the help of specialized receptors.

Despite the variety of sensations that arise during the operation of the senses, one can find a number of fundamentally common features in their structure and functioning. In general, we can say that analyzers are a set of interacting formations of the peripheral and central nervous systems that receive and analyze information about phenomena occurring both inside and outside the body.

Classification of sensations is made on several grounds. Based on the presence or absence of direct contact of the receptor with the stimulus causing the sensation, distant and contact reception are distinguished. Vision, hearing, and smell belong to distant reception. These types of sensations provide orientation in the immediate environment. Taste, pain, tactile sensations are contact.

Based on their location on the surface of the body, in the muscles and tendons, or inside the body, exteroception (visual, auditory, tactile, etc.), proprioception (sensations from muscles, tendons) and interoception (sensations of hunger, thirst) are distinguished, respectively.

According to the time of occurrence during the evolution of the animal world, ancient and new sensitivity are distinguished. Thus, distant reception can be considered new in comparison with contact reception, but in the structure of contact analyzers themselves there are more ancient and newer functions. Pain sensitivity is more ancient than tactile sensitivity.

Let's consider the basic patterns of sensations. These include sensory thresholds, adaptation, sensitization, interaction, contrast, and synesthesia.

Sensitivity thresholds. Sensations arise when exposed to a stimulus of a certain intensity. The psychological characteristic of the “dependence” between the intensity of sensation and the strength of stimuli is expressed by the concept of the threshold of sensations, or the threshold of sensitivity.”

In psychophysiology, two types of thresholds are distinguished: the threshold of absolute sensitivity and the threshold of sensitivity to discrimination. That lowest stimulus strength at which a barely noticeable sensation first occurs is called the lower absolute threshold of sensitivity. The greatest strength of the stimulus at which a sensation of this type still exists is called the upper absolute threshold of sensitivity.

Thresholds limit the zone of sensitivity to stimuli. For example, of all electromagnetic oscillations, the eye is capable of reflecting waves with a length from 390 (violet) to 780 (red) millimicrons;

There is an inverse relationship between sensitivity (threshold) and the strength of the stimulus: the greater the force needed to produce a sensation, the lower a person’s sensitivity. Sensitivity thresholds are individual for each person.

An experimental study of sensitivity to discrimination made it possible to formulate the following law: the ratio of the additional strength of the stimulus to the main one is a constant value for a given type of sensitivity. Thus, in the sensation of pressure (tactile sensitivity), this increase is equal to 1/30 of the weight of the original stimulus. This means that you need to add 3.4 g to 100 g to feel a change in pressure, and 34 g to 1 kg. For auditory sensations, this constant is equal to 1/10, for visual sensations – 1/100.

Adaptation– adaptation of sensitivity to a constantly acting stimulus, manifested in a decrease or increase in thresholds. In life, the phenomenon of adaptation is well known to everyone. The first minute a person enters the river, the water seems cold to him. Then the feeling of cold disappears, the water seems quite warm. This is observed in all types of sensitivity, except pain. Staying in absolute darkness increases sensitivity to light by about 200 thousand times over 40 minutes. Interaction of sensations. (The interaction of sensations is a change in the sensitivity of one analyzing system under the influence of the activity of another analyzing system. The change in sensitivity is explained by cortical connections between analyzers, largely by the law of simultaneous induction). The general pattern of interaction between sensations is as follows: weak stimuli in one analyzing system increase sensitivity in another. Increasing sensitivity as a result of the interaction of analyzers, as well as systematic exercises, is called sensitization.

Feelings - Reflection of the qualities of things, mediated by the activity of the senses; reflection of a separate sensory quality or undifferentiated and non-objectified impressions of the environment.

Feeling like a reflection

Sensation is the simplest mental cognitive process. Sensation occurs as a result of the influence of various material factors called stimuli on the sense organs. The process of exposure itself is called irritation.

Excitation - another process caused by irritation - passes through the centripetal (so-called afferent) nerves and passes to the cerebral cortex, where sensations arise. Sensation is therefore a sensory reflection of objective reality.

The essence of sensation is the reflection of individual properties of an object. Already from the individual properties of an object in the brain, in consciousness, an image of a complete object arises. Each stimulus has its own characteristics, depending on which it can be perceived by certain senses.

We can hear the sound of a mosquito flying or feel its bite. Sound and bite are stimuli that affect our senses. The process of sensation reflects in consciousness only the sound and only the bite, without in any way connecting these sensations with each other, and therefore with the mosquito. Already at the stage of perception, sound and bite are linked together in the human mind.

The physiological basis of sensations is the activity of complex complexes of anatomical structures, called analyzers by I. P. Pavlov. Analyzers consist of parts:

Peripheral section (receptor), the perceiving part of the analyzer, involved in the transformation of external energy into a nervous process,

Conducting nerve pathways,

Cortical sections of the analyzer (central sections of the analyzers), in which processing occurs

nerve impulses coming from peripheral parts.

The cortical part of each analyzer includes an area representing the projection of the periphery (i.e., the projection of the sensory organ) in the cerebral cortex. Certain receptors correspond to certain areas of the cortex.

For a sensation to arise in consciousness, it is necessary to use all the components of the analyzer. If any part of the analyzer is destroyed, the occurrence of the corresponding sensations becomes impossible. Visual sensations cease when the eyes are damaged, when the integrity of the optic nerves is damaged, and when the occipital lobes of both hemispheres are destroyed.

Sensation is an active process

The analyzer is an active organ, reflexively rearranged under the influence of stimuli, so sensation is not a passive process, it always includes motor components.

American psychologist D. Neff, observing an area of ​​skin with a microscope, became convinced that when it is irritated with a needle, the moment the sensation occurs is accompanied by reflexive motor reactions of this area of ​​skin.

Numerous studies have found that sensation is closely related to movement, which sometimes manifests itself in the form of an autonomic reaction (vasoconstriction, galvanic skin reflex), sometimes in the form of muscle reactions (turning the eyes, tension in the neck muscles, motor reactions of the hand, etc. .).

Sensations are not passive processes at all - they are active.

Emotions and feelings are based on sensations

Sensations are not only the source of our knowledge about the world, but also our feelings and emotions. The simplest form of emotional experience is the so-called sensory, or emotional, tone of sensation, that is, a feeling directly related to sensation.

Human feelings are partly sensations, sensations coming from the internal organs. If some unpleasant image (for example, an unpleasant person) pops up in a person’s mind, this image evokes internal sensations that determine the nature of the person’s feeling (in this case, rejection).

Some colors, sounds, smells can themselves, regardless of their meaning, memories and thoughts associated with them, cause a pleasant or unpleasant feeling. The sound of a beautiful voice, the taste of an orange, the smell of a rose are pleasant and have a positive emotional tone. The creaking of a knife on glass, the smell of hydrogen sulfide, the taste of quinine are unpleasant and have a negative emotional tone. In many ways, emotions and feelings are innate.

Historical aspect

Representatives of idealistic philosophy and psychology often expressed the idea that the true source of our conscious activity is not sensations, but the internal state of consciousness, the ability of rational thinking, inherent in nature and independent of the influx of information coming from the outside world. There were and are such trends in philosophy that assert that consciousness and reason are the primary, inexplicable properties of the human spirit. A person’s sensations did not connect him with the outside world; the opposite was proven: sensations separate a person from the outside world.

I. Müller formulated the theory of “specific energy of the sense organs”: each of the sense organs (eye, ear, skin, tongue) does not reflect the influence of the external world, does not provide information about the real processes occurring in environment, but only receives shocks from external influences that excite their own processes. Each sense organ has its own “specific energy”, excited by any influence coming from the outside world. It is enough to press or influence the eye electric shock to get a feeling of light; Mechanical or electrical stimulation of the ear is sufficient to produce the sensation of sound. Therefore, the incorrect conclusion was made that the senses do not reflect external influences, but are only excited by them, and a person does not perceive the objective influences of the external world, but only his own subjective states, reflecting the activity of his senses.

G. Helmholtz did not reject the fact that sensations arise as a result of the influence of objects on the senses, but he believed that the mental images arising as a result of this influence have nothing in common with real objects. He called sensations “symbols”, “signs” of external phenomena, refusing to recognize them as images, or reflections, of these phenomena.

An extreme version of idealistic philosophy and psychology - solipsism - argued that a person can only know himself and has no evidence of the existence of anything other than himself.

Philosophers and materialist psychologists believed and still believe that an objective reflection of the external world is possible. The study of the evolution of the sense organs convincingly shows that in the process of long historical development, special perceptive organs (sense organs, or receptors) were formed, which specialized in reflecting special types of objectively existing forms of movement of matter. The high specialization of the various sense organs is based not only on the structural features of the peripheral part of the analyzer - the receptors, but also on the highest specialization of the neurons that make up the central nervous apparatus, which receive signals perceived by the peripheral sense organs.

Thus, over the course of centuries and even millennia of the development of philosophy (and, to some extent, psychology), the question of sensations has been a cornerstone issue, dividing philosophers into at least two warring camps.

State of the senses

The physiological state of the sensory organ is reflected first of all in the phenomena of adaptation, in the adaptation of the organ to a long-term stimulus; This adaptation is expressed in a change in sensitivity - its decrease or increase. An example is the fact of rapid adaptation to one long-lasting odor, while other odors continue to be felt as acutely as before.

The phenomenon of contrast, which is reflected in a change in sensitivity under the influence of a previous (or accompanying) stimulus, is also closely related to adaptation. Thus, due to contrast, the sensation of sour is intensified after the sensation of sweet, the sensation of cold after hot, etc. It should also be noted that the receptors have the property of delaying sensations, which is expressed in a more or less long aftereffect of stimuli. Just as a sensation does not immediately reach its final meaning, it does not immediately disappear after the cessation of irritation. Thanks to the delay, when stimuli quickly follow one after another, individual sensations merge into a single, coherent whole, as, for example, when perceiving melodies, films, etc.

A qualitative characteristic of a sensation is its modality, i.e. the specificity of each type of sensation in comparison with others, determined physical and chemical characteristics those stimuli that are adequate for a given analyzer. Such specific modal characteristics, for example, of visual sensation are, as is known, color tone, lightness and saturation, and auditory - pitch, loudness and timbre, tactile - hardness, smoothness, roughness, etc.

In all types of sensations, modal characteristics are organically connected with spatiotemporal characteristics. In addition, an important empirical characteristic of sensation is its intensity.

Literature

Maklakov A. G. General psychology. St. Petersburg: Peter, 2001.

A type of sensory threshold first introduced by G. Fechner. Characterizes the sensitivity of the sensory system. It is expressed by the magnitude of the stimulus, the excess of which gives a response from the body, primarily in the form of awareness of the sensation. To determine the absolute threshold, the methods of constant stimuli, minimal changes, and average error are used. Sensations signaling the consciousness about a possible violation of the integrity of the body, accompanied by a negative emotional coloring and vegetative shifts (increased heart rate, dilated pupils). In relation to pain sensitivity, sensory adaptation is practically absent. The influence of one sensation on another: both within one modality and across different ones. Skin sensitivity to vibrations. It is assumed that vibration sensitivity is a transitional form between tactile sensitivity and auditory sensitivity. Impacts in the range from 1 to 10,000 Hz can be perceived. There are various bases for classifying sensations. One of the types of chemoreception, which is the sensitivity of oral receptors to chemical stimuli. Subjectively, it manifests itself in the form of taste sensations (bitter, sour, sweet, salty and their complexes). Gustatory sensations, like olfactory sensations, help to evaluate chemical properties things. Sensory system, including all types of cutaneous reception. Increased sensitivity to the effects of physical stimuli on the senses, manifested in the occurrence of stronger subjective sensations without changing modality. A sensory threshold characterized by a minimal difference between two stimuli that are perceived as different or to which two different responses can be generated. Quantitatively expressed as the ratio of the difference between the magnitude of a constant stimulus, serving as a standard, and a variable one, which, depending on the magnitude, is perceived as equal or different from the standard, to the magnitude of a constant stimulus, since this ratio is constant in a fairly wide range of the stimulus that is familiar to the observer. A sensation caused by the action of volatile odorous substances on the receptors of the nasal mucosa. Threshold theory, based on the fact that the boundaries between felt and intangible signals (or their changes) are not points, but certain intervals, the magnitude of which depends on the tasks assigned to the subjects, as well as on their individual strategies and cognitive styles. The ability to transform energy into visual sensations electromagnetic radiation light range ranging from 300 to 1000 nanometers (in humans). The subjective severity of a sensation associated with some objective stimulus. Sensations that provide information about the movement and position of one's own body. K.o. occur when proprioceptors located in muscles, tendons, joints and ligaments are irritated. K.o. develop quite well as a result of special exercises (for example, sports). Includes two types of sensitivity: protopathic, more primitive, and affective, which has a center in the thalamus; epicritic, more objectified and differentiated, having a cortical center. Includes three main classes of sensations: exteroceptive, arising from action on receptors that are located on the surface of the body; proprioceptive, or kinesthetic, arising from the action on receptors located in muscles, tendons and joint capsules, and indicating the movement and relative position of body parts; interoreceptive, or organic, due to the receipt of information about the internal environment of the body. Exteroceptive sensations are divided into distant (visual, auditory), contact (tactile, gustatory) and olfactory. One of the two main theories of classical psychophysics. Rejection of the concept of sensory threshold. The sensory range is not discrete, structured by sensory thresholds, but is built on the principle of continuity, representing a continuous series of different degrees of clarity. Sensitivity to recognize effects harmful to the body. The smallest difference between two stimulus values ​​at which the accuracy and speed of recognition have maximum values. Sensations indicating the occurrence of processes in the internal environment of the body and associated with organic needs: feelings of hunger, thirst, pain, sensations associated with sexual activity, etc. One of the five main types of feelings in humans, consisting in the ability to feel physical touch to objects , perceive something with receptors located in the skin, muscles, mucous membranes. Features of color perception. Special organization of work nervous system gives a person the opportunity to sense and perceive the objective world.

In the Soviet-Russian psychological school it is customary to consider sensation and feeling as synonyms, but this is not always true for other psychological schools. Other equivalents to the term "sensations" are sensory processes and sensitivity.

Sensory sensations

The minimum amount of stimulation that causes a barely noticeable sensation is called the absolute lower threshold of sensation. The ability to sense these weakest stimuli is called absolute sensitivity. It is always expressed in absolute numbers. For example, to create a sensation of pressure, an effect of 2 mg per 1 sq. mm of skin surface is sufficient.

The upper absolute threshold of sensation is the maximum value of irritation, a further increase in which causes the disappearance of sensation or pain. For example, an extremely loud sound causes pain in the ears, and an extremely high sound (with an oscillation frequency of over 20,000 Hz) causes the sensation to disappear (the audible sound turns into ultrasound). A pressure of 300 g/mm2 causes pain.

Along with absolute sensitivity, one should distinguish between relative sensitivity - sensitivity to distinguishing the intensity of one effect from another. Relative sensitivity is characterized by a discrimination threshold.

The discrimination threshold, or differential threshold, is a barely perceptible minimum difference in the strength of two stimuli of the same type.

The discrimination threshold is a relative value (fraction) that shows what part of the initial strength of the stimulus must be added (or subtracted) in order to obtain a subtle sensation of change in the strength of these stimuli.

So, if you take a load of 1 kg and then add another 10 g, then no one will be able to feel this increase; to feel an increase in weight gain, you need to add 1/30 of the original weight, that is, 33 g. Thus, the relative threshold for distinguishing gravity is equal to 1/30 of the strength of the original stimulus.

The relative threshold for distinguishing light brightness is 1/100; sound strength - 1/10; taste effects - 1/5. These regularities were discovered by Bouguer and Weber (Bouguer-Weber law).

The Bouguer-Weber law applies only to the average zone of stimulus intensity. In other words, relative thresholds lose significance for very weak and very strong stimuli. This was established by Fechner.

Fechner also established that if the intensity of the stimulus is increased in geometric progression, then the sensation will increase only in arithmetic progression. (Fechner's Law).

The lower and upper absolute thresholds of sensations (absolute sensitivity) characterize the limits of human sensitivity. But each person's sensitivity varies depending on different conditions.

Thus, when entering a poorly lit room, we initially do not distinguish objects, but gradually, under the influence of these conditions, the sensitivity of the analyzer increases.

If we are in a smoky room or in a room with any odors, after a while we stop noticing these odors (the sensitivity of the analyzer decreases).

When we move from a poorly lit space to a brightly lit one, the sensitivity of the visual analyzer decreases.

A change in the sensitivity of the analyzer as a result of its adaptation to existing stimuli is called adaptation.

Different analyzers have different speeds and different ranges of adaptation. Adaptation to some stimuli occurs more quickly, to others - more slowly. Olfactory and tactile analyzers adapt more quickly. Full adaptation to the smell of iodine occurs in one minute. After three seconds, the sensation of pressure reflects only 1/5 of the strength of the stimulus (searching for glasses pushed onto the forehead is one example of tactile adaptation). The auditory, gustatory and visual analyzers adapt even more slowly. It takes 45 minutes to completely adapt to the dark. After this period, visual sensitivity increases 200,000 times (the highest range of adaptation).

The phenomenon of adaptation has expedient biological significance. It helps to reflect weak stimuli and protects the analyzers from excessive exposure to strong stimuli.

Sensitivity depends not only on the influence of external stimuli, but also on internal states.

Increasing the sensitivity of analyzers under the influence of internal (mental) factors is called sensitization. For example, weak taste sensations increase visual sensitivity. This is explained by the interconnection of these analyzers and their systematic operation.

Sensitization, an aggravation of sensitivity, can be caused not only by the interaction of sensations, but also physiological factors, introducing certain substances into the body. For example, vitamin A is essential for increasing visual sensitivity.

Sensitivity increases if a person expects one or another weak stimulus, when he is faced with a special task of distinguishing between stimuli. The sensitivity of the individual is improved as a result of the exercise. Thus, tasters, by specially exercising their taste and olfactory sensitivity, distinguish between various types of wines and teas and can even determine when and where the product was made.

In people deprived of any type of sensitivity, compensation (compensation) for this deficiency is carried out by increasing the sensitivity of other organs (for example, increasing auditory and olfactory sensitivity in the blind).

The interaction of sensations in some cases leads to sensitization, to an increase in sensitivity, and in other cases to its decrease, that is, to desensitization. Strong excitation of some analyzers always reduces the sensitivity of other analyzers. So, increased level noise in “loud workshops” reduces visual sensitivity.

One of the manifestations of the interaction of sensations is the contrast of sensations.

Contrast of sensations is an increase in sensitivity to one properties under the influence of other, opposite properties of reality.

For example, the same gray figure appears dark on a white background, but light on a black background.

Sometimes one type of sensation can cause additional sensations. For example, sounds can cause color sensations, yellow color - a feeling of sourness. This phenomenon is called synesthesia.

Notes

See also

Links

• Types of sensations 2. Smell, touch, vibration and proprioceptive sensations

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Synonyms:

See what “Sensation” is in other dictionaries:

Reflection of the properties of objects in the objective world, resulting from their impact on the senses and stimulation of the nerve centers of the cerebral cortex. O. the starting point of knowledge, its indecomposable element. Highlighting the reflection of quality... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

feeling- reflection of the properties of objects of the objective world, arising from their direct impact on receptors. Within the framework of the reflex concept of I.M. Sechenov and I.P. Pavlov, studies were carried out that showed that, according to their physiological ... Great psychological encyclopedia

Feeling- Sensation ♦ Sensation Elementary perception or an element of possible perception. A sensation occurs when some physiological change, most often of an external nature, excites one of our senses. For example, the impact... ... Sponville's Philosophical Dictionary

Cm … Dictionary of synonyms

FEELING, sensations, cf. (book). 1. units only Action under Ch. feel feel. 2. State of consciousness, perception caused by irritation of the senses (psych., physiol.). “Our sensations, our consciousness is only an image of the external world...” Lenin.... ... Dictionary Ushakova

FEELING- SENSATION, a state of consciousness caused by irritation of sensory organs connected by centripetal pathways with the higher floors of the central nervous system by cortical centers. So. In this way, sensation as a property of the complex, par excellence... Great Medical Encyclopedia

A reflection of the properties of reality, resulting from their impact on the senses and stimulation of the nerve centers of the brain. The types of sensations are diverse: tactile, visual, vibration, olfactory, etc. Qualitative... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Constructing images of individual properties of objects in the surrounding world in the process of direct interaction with them. The classifications of sensations use different bases. According to modality, visual, gustatory, auditory, tactile and... Psychological Dictionary

Feeling- this is the simplest mental process, consisting of reflecting individual properties of objects and phenomena of the material world, as well as internal states of the body under the direct influence of material stimuli on the corresponding receptors.

Reflection- a universal property of matter, which consists in the ability of objects to reproduce with varying degrees of adequacy the signs, structural characteristics and relationships of other objects.

Receptor- a specialized organic device located on the surface of the body or inside it and designed to perceive stimuli of various nature: physical, chemical, mechanical, etc., and convert them into nerve electrical impulses.

Sensation constitutes that initial area of ​​the sphere of mental cognitive processes, which is located at the border sharply separating mental and pre-psychic phenomena. Mental cognitive processes– dynamically changing mental phenomena, in their totality providing cognition as a process and as a result.

Psychologists have traditionally used the term “sensation” to designate an elementary perceptual image and the mechanism of its construction. In psychology, they talk about sensation when a person is aware that his senses have received some kind of signal. Any change in the environment that is accessible to vision, hearing and other modalities is psychologically presented as a sensation. Sensation is the primary conscious representation of a formless and objectless fragment of reality of a certain modality: color, light, sound, indefinite touch. In the area of ​​taste and smell, the difference between sensation and perception is much smaller, and sometimes there is virtually none. If we cannot identify a product (sugar, honey) by taste, then we are talking only about sensations. If odors are not identified with their objective sources, then they are presented only in the form of sensations. Pain signals are almost always presented as sensations, since only a person with a very rich imagination can “construct” an image of pain.

The role of sensations in human life is extremely great, since they are the source of our knowledge about the world and about ourselves. We learn about the richness of the surrounding world, about sounds and colors, smells and temperatures, sizes and much more thanks to our senses. With the help of the senses, the human body receives a variety of information in the form of sensations about the state of the external and internal environment.

internal environment.

The sense organs receive, select, accumulate information and transmit it to the brain for processing. The result is an adequate reflection of the surrounding world and the state of the organism itself. On this basis, nerve impulses are formed that enter the executive organs responsible for regulating body temperature, the functioning of the digestive organs, movement organs, and glands. internal secretion, for tuning the senses themselves, etc.

The senses are the only channels through which the external world “penetrates” the human consciousness. The senses give a person the ability to navigate the world around him. If a person were to lose all his senses, he would not know what was happening around him, would not be able to communicate with people around him, obtain food, or avoid danger.