Animal mental development

In Russian psychology, the opinion has long been established that animal behavior is essentially instinctive behavior. Instincts are also associated with those forms of behavior that are acquired by a particular animal during its life.

Instinctive behavior is a species-specific behavior that is equally directed in all representatives of the same animal species. As a rule, instinctive behavior is determined by biological expediency and consists in ensuring the possibility of existence (survival) of a specific representative or species as a whole. But it would not be entirely correct to say that the behavior of an animal is only genetically determined and does not change during its life.

The conditions in which the animal finds itself are constantly changing, therefore individual adaptation, as pointed out by I.P. Pavlov, exists in all animals. For example, annelids typically respond to being touched with a stick with defensive movements, but when this movement is associated with feeding, it triggers food-seeking behaviors in them. The possibility of changing behavior in daphnia, mollusks, bees, etc. has also been proven.

A feature of animal behavior in the early stages of development is that it is always stimulated and controlled by individual properties of objects affecting the animal. For example, as soon as an insect falls into a web, the spider runs towards it and entangles it with its thread. What causes this spider behavior? In special experiments it was found that this behavior of the spider is due to the vibration of the web, which transmits the vibration of the insect’s wings. As soon as the vibration stops, the spider stops moving towards its victim, but as soon as the vibration is resumed, the spider begins to move again. The fact that it is the vibration of the web that determines the behavior of the spider is proven by the following experiment: a vibrating tuning fork brought to the web causes the spider to move, while at the same time the vibration of the wings of a fly, grabbed with tweezers and brought directly to the spider, causes the spider to flee. This means, indeed, the movement of the spider towards the victim is due to the vibration of the web.

Several questions involuntarily arise. Firstly, what explains the incentive effect of certain properties of objects and, secondly, why is any animal behavior possible at all? The answer to the first question is simple: the vibration of the web is consistently associated with the absorption and assimilation of food by the spider - an insect caught in the web. Consequently, such behavior of animals has a biological meaning, since it is associated with the satisfaction of biological needs, in this case with the absorption of food.

It should be noted that the biological meaning of the influence of objects that excite and direct the behavior of an animal is not constant, but changes and develops depending on the specific living conditions of the animal and the characteristics of the environment. If, for example, you start feeding a hungry toad worms, and then put a match and a lump of moss in front of it, it will grab the match, which, like worms, has an elongated shape. But if you first feed the toad spiders, it will not pay attention to the match and will grab the moss. Round shapes now took on the meaning of food for her.

This stage of development, characterized by the fact that the behavior of an animal is stimulated by individual properties of an object due to the fact that they are associated with the implementation of the basic vital functions of animals, is called the stage of elementary behavior. Accordingly, this level of psyche development is called the stage of elementary sensory psyche.

Now it is necessary to answer the question, why is this behavior possible in animals? Such animal behavior is possible due to the existence of certain organs, which are the material basis of the psyche. At the stage of elementary behavior in the development of animals, differentiation of sensory organs is observed. For example, if in lower animals cells sensitive to light are scattered over the entire surface of the body and these animals have only general photosensitivity, then in worms these cells are drawn towards the head end of the body and take on the shape of plates, which allows them to more accurately orient themselves in relation to to the world Mollusks are at a higher stage of development. Due to the arching of the plates, the light-sensitive organs acquire a spherical shape, due to which the mollusks are able to perceive the movement of surrounding objects.

Animals that have reached the stage of elementary behavior in their development have more developed organs of movement (which is associated with the need to pursue prey) and a special organ for communication and coordination of behavioral processes - the nervous system. Initially, it is a network of fibers running in different directions and directly connecting sensory cells located on the surface of the body with the contractile tissue of the animal (reticular nervous system). A feature of such a nervous system is the absence of inhibition processes, and the nerve fibers are not differentiated into sensory and motor and have bilateral conductivity.

In the process of further development of the nervous system, the separation of central nerve nodes, or ganglia, is observed. This level of nervous system development is called the nodal nervous system. The appearance of nodes in the nervous system is associated with the formation of segments of the animal’s body. In this case, a complication of the animal’s behavior is observed. Firstly, the appearance of chain behavior is characteristic, which is a chain of reactions to individual, sequential stimuli. Describing this type behavior, A.N. Leontyev cites as an example the behavior of some insects that lay eggs in the cocoons of other species. First, the insect moves towards the cocoon under the influence of smell. Then, when approaching the cocoon, the insect acts visually. Finally, the deposition itself takes place depending on whether the larva is mobile in the cocoon or not, which is detected by direct contact with the cocoon, i.e., based on touch.

Chain behavior is characteristic of worms, insects and arachnids, in which it reaches the highest stage of development. They search for food, according to the famous Russian zoopsychologist V.A. Wagner, “through any one sense organ without the assistance of other organs: touch, less often smell and vision, but always only one of them.” It should be emphasized that this line of behavioral development does not lead to further progressive and qualitative changes.

A feature of another form of behavior is that it is carried out under the simultaneous influence of an increasing number of stimuli. This behavior is characteristic of chordates and vertebrates. For example, the behavior of fish is directed by the simultaneous influence of olfactory, tactile, visual and other stimuli. In this case, information about the influencing stimuli is combined, which is possible only with a more developed nervous system than the nodal one. If in the nodal nervous system of invertebrates individual nerve nodes - ganglia - are connected only by thin bridges, then in chordates and vertebrates the nervous system is a continuous cord, or tube, with a thickening of the head end - the simplest brain, which allows the animal to perform more complex behavioral acts based on simultaneous actions of different stimuli. This nervous system is called the tubular nervous system.

Changes in animal behavior are explained by the development of the nervous system and brain. The volume of the brain increases and its structure becomes more complex. Among the sense organs, vision begins to predominate. At the same time, the organs of movement also develop. The main physiological basis of animal behavior at this stage of development is the formation of neural connections in the cerebral cortex - conditioned reflexes.

The nervous activity of the cerebral cortex was first studied by I. P. Pavlov. Among the most important laws and principles discovered by Pavlov, first of all, one should include the principle of closing conditioned (temporary) nerve connections. It is as follows. If, with sufficiently strong excitation of a part of the cortex under the influence of a stimulus that causes an innate reaction (unconditioned reflex), in another part of the cortex excitation is created by the action of a stimulus that in itself does not cause a certain unconditioned reflex, i.e. is neutral, then this second excitation enters in connection with the first. As a result, when such a connection is repeated many times, a neutral stimulus (for example, sounds or light) will independently cause the same reaction (for example, salivation) that was previously caused by an unconditioned stimulus (for example, food). The stimulus, which was previously neutral, now turns into a conditioned stimulus, and the reflex caused by it becomes a conditioned reflex. Consequently, as a result of repeated repetition of the procedure, a new neural connection is closed.

Further, in his research, Pavlov discovered the principle of inhibition of these connections. At the same time, Pavlov identified two types of inhibition: external and internal. If during the action of the conditioned stimulus some new, extraneous stimulus begins to act, then the conditioned reflex will not manifest itself - it will slow down. In this case, we are faced with the phenomenon of external inhibition. An example of internal inhibition is the extinction of a conditioned reflex. If a conditioned stimulus (for example, sound or light) is not reinforced several times in a row by an unconditioned stimulus (for example, food), then this conditioned stimulus ceases to cause a conditioned reflex - its temporary inhibition occurs.

The next principle established in Pavlov's research was the principle of generalization and concentration of excitation in the cerebral cortex. It is expressed in the fact that any conditioned stimulus first produces generalized (“diffused”) excitation, which then, under certain conditions, begins to concentrate in certain areas of the cortex. If, for example, a conditioned reflex is developed in response to some stimulus, then initially it will be caused by many other similar stimuli (for example, other sounds). But if only one strictly defined sound stimulus is reinforced with an unconditioned stimulus (food), then reflexes in response to other sounds will slow down, and differentiation of the conditioned reflex will occur.

Pavlov also discovered the law of mutual induction of excitation and inhibition processes. This law is as follows. If one area of ​​the cortex is in a state of excitation, then inhibition occurs in other areas of the cortex that are functionally connected to it; and vice versa, if the conditioned stimulus causes certain area inhibition of the cortex, then in other areas, according to the law of induction, excitation occurs.

The presence of the mechanisms described above, as well as the possibility of objective perception of the surrounding world, make it possible to form certain behavioral skills in animals. Therefore, the development of animals possessing similar mechanisms and abilities is at the stage of skills and objective perception.

The main feature of this stage is the consolidation of the formed movements, i.e., the animal can, in the appropriate situation, repeatedly make movements, which form the basis of the acquired skill. At the same time, the form of consolidation of sensory experience changes: the animal begins to develop ideas. For example, if in front of a dog’s eyes you hide bread in one place and meat in another, then take the dog to a place where the meat is not visible, then the dog will first run to the place where the meat is hidden, and then to the place where it is hidden. bread. This suggests that the dog reproduces an image of the external environment, i.e., an idea of ​​it. The above example also allows us to say that at the stage of skills and object perception, animals develop not only motor, but also figurative memory.

Of course, animals do not only have memory. For example, if sound is used as a stimulus - one sound is associated with such a biologically important effect as food, and the other is not supported by anything - then the animal will react to the first sound and ignore the second. Consequently, the animal differentiates sounds. On the contrary, if both sounds are associated with one biologically significant effect, then the animal will react equally to any of their sounds. Consequently, the animal is able to make certain generalizations regarding biologically important influences. Thus, at this stage of development, animals acquire the ability to distinguish and generalize influences. However, these abilities cannot be interpreted as signs of thinking, since the ability to discriminate and generalize is related mainly to the biological role of influence.

The next, highest stage of development of animal behavior is called the stage of intellectual behavior, or intelligence. But we should immediately make a reservation: the intelligence of an animal and the intelligence of a person are not the same thing. Thanks to experiments carried out by Pavlov's colleagues and his followers, today we have a clear idea of ​​the level of development of animals at this stage and the features of the development of their intelligence. In these experiments, a banana or orange is suspended out of the reach of a monkey (chimpanzee). In order to get food, she needs to use some kind of device, such as boxes or a stick. These experiments revealed the distinctive features of animals at the stage of intellectual behavior.

Firstly, if at a lower stage of development operations were formed gradually, by the method of numerous trials and errors, then the stage of intellectual behavior is characterized first by a period of complete failure - many attempts, of which not a single one is successful, and then, as if suddenly, to the animal the solution to the problem comes.

Secondly, if the experiment is repeated, the found operation, despite the fact that it was performed only once, will be reproduced relatively easily, i.e. the monkey solves the problem immediately.

Thirdly, the monkey easily applies the found solution to the problem in other conditions, similar to those in which the solution first appeared. For example, if, after a monkey has learned to get a fruit with a stick, it is deprived of this stick, then to solve the problem it will look for a similar object.

Fourthly, animals at the stage of intellectual behavior are capable of combining in one act two successive independent operations, of which the first prepares the implementation of the second. For example, a monkey is in a cage with a banana suspended from the ceiling. Next to the cage there are two sticks: a short one and a long one. The long stick lies at a distance inaccessible to the monkey; it can be reached with the help of a short stick, which is very close. Since the monkey cannot reach the banana with the help of a short stick, but can reach the long one, he must first reach the long stick with the help of a short stick and only then get the banana with the help of a long stick.

Thus, during the transition to the third stage of animal development, a complication of their behavior is observed. In acts of behavior there is a phase of preparation for performing the main action. It is the presence of the preparation phase that constitutes characteristic feature intellectual behavior. We can talk about intelligence when the need arises to prepare for a particular operation. At the same time, new conditions for performing a certain operation cause the animal not to perform any “trial” actions, but to attempt to use previously developed operations or skills.

It should also be noted that since the monkey is already able to connect two objects such as a stick and a fruit, then, accordingly, the level of intellectual behavior is characterized by the presence of some ability to generalize the relationships and connections of things. The anatomical and physiological basis for the emergence and development of intelligence in animals is a fairly high level of development of the cerebral cortex, and primarily the frontal lobes. It has been experimentally proven that it is the so-called prefrontal fields that determine the ability to perform two-phase tasks. If they are removed, the animal loses its ability to perform complex tasks.

Thus, we examined the main stages of behavioral development in various animals. These stages are described by A.N. Leontyev. Later, based on the latest zoopsychological data, K.E. Fabry developed Leontiev's views and developed the Leontiev-Fabry concept of development of the psyche. This concept has two stages. The first - the stage of the elementary sensory psyche - has two levels: lower and higher. The second - the stage of the perceptual psyche - has three levels: lower, higher and highest. The basis for distinguishing these two stages of mental development are the main characteristics of the methods of obtaining information about the world around us. The first stage is characterized by a sensory method, or level of sensation. For the second - the perceptual method, or level of perception.

It should be noted that in addition to this approach to studying the development of the animal psyche, there are others. For example, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, one of the first researchers to discover the remains of Sinanthropus, approaches this problem from an idealistic point of view. Speaking about the existence in the world of an ideal principle, which develops together with the material, he writes: “Both energies - physical and mental, located respectively on the external and internal sides of the world... are constantly connected and in some way transform into each other.” As a result of this interaction, the emergence of various forms of the psyche occurs.

Introduction

1. The main stages of the evolutionary development of the animal psyche

2. Elementary sensory psyche

2.1.1 Protozoa

2.1.2 Coelenterates

2.1.3 Flatworms

2.1.4 General characteristics of the lowest level of the elementary sensory psyche

2.2.1 Annelids

2.2.2 Shellfish

2.2.3 General characteristics of the highest level of the elementary sensory psyche

3. Perceptual psyche

3.1.1 Insects

3.1.2 Cephalopods

3.1.4 Amphibians

3.1.5 General characteristics of the lower level of the perceptual psyche

3.1.6 Paths of evolution of the perceptual psyche

3.2.3 Indicative research activity of animals

Conclusion

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

The subject of zoopsychology - the psyche of animals - is the result of some preliminary processing: some preliminary dissection and structuring of reality. Depending on the principles (methods) of structuring adopted in given time, and the subject of science is determined. The subject of knowledge develops along with the development cognitive activity. The subject of zoopsychology, like the subjects of other sciences, has undergone changes over time.

Animal psychology studies the psyche of animals.

The psyche is determined (defined) in two ways: on the one hand, the psyche is determined by the organic substrate (the brain in humans, the nervous system of various types in animals), i.e. internal factor, on the other hand, it is determined by what is reflected, i.e. external factor. There is a double dependence of the psyche (in animals): on the organ of reflection and on the objective world.

The subject of science is also determined by the goals and objectives that this science sets. One of the main tasks of zoopsychology is the study of the development of the animal psyche in the processes of phylogenesis and ontogenesis. The modern understanding of the development of the animal psyche can be characterized by the following provisions:

1) The basic principle is evolutionary. Taxa (systematic groups) of animals that are more advanced in evolutionary terms have the potential for more perfect reflection (it should be remembered that the taxa of modern animals represent the final stages of the evolutionary process and their relative position in terms of level of development - relative concept);

2) Within related taxa, the factor determining the level of mental reflection is the animal’s lifestyle;

3) There is unity and interconnection between structure and function: not only structure determines function, but also function determines structure;

4) The development of the psyche is associated with the development of the nervous system and sensory organs - external elements of the nervous system, equipped with additional morphological structures. In parallel with the development of the nervous system, the development of the psyche is associated with the development of protective shells and mechanisms, the function of which is aimed at protecting against the action of stimuli external environment. “During development, both the structure of the nervous system of animals and its psychophysical functions act both as a prerequisite and as a result of the way of life changing during development.” (Rubinstein, Fundamentals of General Psychology);

5) The appearance of new structures or functions, minor in lower taxa, becomes a defining character in higher taxa. The jump in the new quality of reflection is determined within the previous stage. New structures may not necessarily be related to the structure of the nervous system. Thus, one of the prerequisites for the emergence of the nervous system was the formation of epithelium as a way of protection from the influence of the outside world (example: hysteria in the most “intelligent” mammals, which occurs in the event of an inability to solve a complex problem.);

6) For a living organism, protection from a stimulus seems to be a more important function than stimulus assimilation.

1. MAIN STAGES OF EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMAL PSYCHE

The evolution of the psyche of living organisms on Earth was carried out on the basis of all the general laws of this process. An increase in the general level of vital activity of organisms and the complication of their relationships with the outside world led in the course of evolution to the need for more intensive contacts with the entire diversity of the environment, to improved movement and active handling of surrounding objects. Improving orientation in time and space, promoting the survival of the fittest individuals, could only ensure the complication of behavior and mental reflection. In this case, it is necessary to pay attention to the interdependence and parallelism of the development of the psyche and motor activity. As K.E. points out. Fabry, it is movement (primarily Locomotion - (from Latin locus - place and motio - movement) the movement of animals and humans, providing active movement in space; the most important adaptation to living in a variety of environmental conditions (swimming, flying, walking) was the decisive factor in evolution On the other hand, without the progressive development of the psyche, the motor activity of animals could not be improved, biologically adequate motor reactions could not be carried out and, therefore, there could be no evolutionary development.

Of course, mental reflection did not remain unchanged during evolution, but itself underwent deep qualitative transformations.

1.1 Leontiev-Fabry concept

There are a number of hypotheses regarding the formation and development of the psyche and behavior in animals.

One of them, concerning the stages and levels of development of mental reflection, from the simplest animals to humans, is put forward by A.N. in his book “Problems of Psychic Development”. Leontyev.

Leontiev based the stages of mental development he described on the signs of the most profound qualitative changes that the psyche underwent in the process of evolution of the animal world. According to this concept, a number of stages and levels can be distinguished in the development of the psyche and behavior of animals. A.N. Leontiev identified two main stages of mental development: elementary sensory and perceptual. The first includes two levels: the lowest and the highest, and the second - three levels: the lowest, the highest and the highest. As noted by A.N. Leontiev, in the process of evolutionary development these processes are closely interconnected. Improving movements leads to an improvement in the adaptive activity of the body, which, in turn, contributes to the complexity of the nervous system, expanding its capabilities, and creates conditions for the development of new types of activity and forms of reflection. All this taken together contributes to the improvement of the psyche.

A clear, most significant line passes between the elementary sensory and perceptual psyche, marking the main milestone in the grandiose process of evolution of the psyche.

Such a division, however, is too superficial and does not cover the entire diversity of the animal world.

Later, taking into account many studies concerning behavior, this hypothesis was refined and refined by K.E. Fabry. Therefore, the hypothesis of mental development considered in our training course is usually called the Leontiev-Fabry concept.

K.E. Fabry believes that both within the elementary sensory and within the perceptual psyche, significantly different levels of mental development should be distinguished: lower and higher, while allowing for the existence of intermediate levels. It is important to note that large systematic groups of animals do not always and do not completely fit into this framework. This is inevitable, since within large Taxon - (from the Latin taxare - to evaluate) a set of discrete objects connected by a certain commonality of properties and characteristics that characterize this set. This can be explained by the fact that qualities of a higher mental level always originate at a previous level.

According to Fabry, the discrepancies between psychological and zoological classifications are due to the fact that the morphological characteristics on which the taxonomy of animals is based do not always determine the characteristics and degree of development mental activity the latter. Animal behavior is a set of functions of animal effector organs. And in the process of evolution, it is the function that primarily determines the shape and structure of the organism, its systems and organs. Their structure and motor capabilities only secondarily determine the nature of the animal’s behavior and limit the scope of its external activity.

So, on the one hand, lifestyle determines the development of adaptations in the effector sphere, and on the other hand, the functioning of effector systems, i.e. behavior ensures the satisfaction of vital needs and metabolism during the interaction of the body with the external environment.

From the point of view of A.N. Severtsov, changes in living conditions give rise to the need to change behavior, and this then leads to corresponding morphological changes in the motor and sensory spheres and in the central nervous system. But not immediately and not even always, functional changes entail morphological ones. Moreover, in higher animals, purely functional changes without morphological rearrangements are often quite sufficient, and sometimes even the most effective, i.e. adaptive changes in behavior only. Therefore, behavior in combination with the multifunctionality of motor organs provides animals with the most flexible adaptation to new living conditions.

These functional and morphological transformations determine the quality and content of mental reflection in the process of evolution.

Moreover, innate and acquired behavior are not successive steps on the evolutionary ladder, but develop and become more complex together, as two components of one single process. The progressive development of instinctive, genetically fixed behavior corresponds to progress in the field of individually variable behavior. Instinctive behavior reaches its greatest complexity precisely in higher animals, and this progress entails the development and complication of their forms of learning.

2. ELEMENTARY SENSORY PSYCHE

According to Leontiev’s ideas, the stage of the elementary sensory psyche is characterized by primitive elements of sensitivity that do not go beyond the simplest sensations. The lowest level of the stage of the elementary sensory psyche, at which the simplest and lower multicellular organisms living in an aquatic environment are located, is characterized by the fact that here irritability is presented in a fairly developed form - the ability of living organisms to respond to biologically significant environmental influences by increasing the level of their activity, changing direction and speed of movement. Sensitivity as the ability to respond to biologically neutral properties of the environment and readiness to learn by conditioned reflexes is still missing. The motor activity of animals does not yet have a searching, purposeful character.

At the highest level of development of this stage of the psyche in animals, there is the separation of a specialized organ that carries out complex manipulations. Manipulative - a type of psychological influence used to achieve a one-sided gain through hidden encouragement of a communication partner to perform certain actions, presupposes a certain level of dexterity and mastery in its implementation. Such an organ in lower animals is the jaws. They replace hands, which only humans and some higher living beings have. The jaws retain their role as the main organ of manipulation and exploration of the surrounding world over a long period of evolution, right up to the release of the animal's forelimbs for this purpose.

2.1 Lowest level of sensory psyche

At the lowest level of mental development there is a fairly large group of animals; Among them there are also animals that stand on the border between the animal and plant worlds (flagellates), and, on the other hand, relatively complex unicellular and multicellular animals.

2.1.1 Protozoa

The most typical representatives of the group of animals considered here include protozoa. The body of representatives of this type consists of a single cell that provides all the vital needs of the animal. The phylogeny of protozoa went virtually parallel to the development of multicellular animals, which was reflected in the formation of organ systems, the so-called Organelles, in the simplest analogues. Organelle - 1) “organs” of protozoa, performing various functions: motor and contractile, receptor, attack and defense, digestive, excretory and secretory. The term "organelles" is often used as a synonym for organelles; 2) (Organelle) a specialized subcellular particle that performs a specific function. At the lowest stage of life development, the simplest unicellular animals exhibit a variety of behavior. Under a microscope, in a drop of water you can see how amoebas and ciliates move, feed, reproduce and die. The complexity of the movements of these organisms is amazing.

The movements of protozoa are very diverse, and among representatives of this type there are methods of locomotion that are unique to them and completely absent in multicellular animals. This, for example, is a peculiar way of moving amoebas using the “transfusion” of plasma from one part of the body to another. Other representatives of the protozoa, gregarines, move in a peculiar “reactive” way - by secreting mucus from the rear end of the body, pushing the animal forward. There are also protozoa that passively float in water.

The elementary movements of protozoa are otherwise called kinesis. A typical example of kinesis is orthokinesis - forward movement with variable speed. If, for example, there is a temperature gradient (temperature difference) in a certain area, then the movements of the ciliate-slipper will be the faster, the further the animal is from the place with optimal temperature. Consequently, here the intensity of the behavioral (locomotor) act is directly determined by the spatial structure of the external stimulus.

Orientation. The orienting elements in representatives of the type under consideration and in other lower invertebrates at a given level of mental development are the simplest taxis. In orthokinesis, the orienting component - orthotaxis - manifests itself in a change in the speed of movement without changing its direction in the gradient of the external stimulus. In klinokinesis, this component is called klinotaxis and manifests itself in a change in the direction of movement by a certain angle. Taxis are understood as genetically fixed mechanisms of spatial orientation of the motor activity of animals towards favorable (positive taxis) or away from unfavorable (negative taxis) environmental conditions. For example, negative thermotaxis is expressed in protozoa, as a rule, in the fact that they swim away from zones with relatively high temperature water, less often - from zones with low temperatures. As a result, the animal finds itself in a certain thermal optimum zone (preferred temperature zone). In the case of orthokinesis in a temperature gradient, negative orthothermotaxis provides a linear distance from unfavorable thermal conditions. If a clinokinetic reaction takes place, then clinotaxis provides a clear change in the direction of movement, thereby orienting random clinokinetic movements in the stimulus gradient (in our example, in the thermal gradient).

Photosensitivity. Euglena floats towards the light source in a spiral, at the same time, as already mentioned, rotating around its own axis. This is significant, since euglena, like some other protozoa that react strongly and positively to light, has well-developed analogues of photoreceptors. These are pigment spots, sometimes even equipped with reflective formations, allowing the animal to localize light rays. Moving towards the light source in the described manner, euglena turns either its “blind” (dorsal) side or its “sighted” (ventral) side towards it. And every time the latter (with the unobstructed part of the “eye”) turns out to be facing the light source, the trajectory of movement is adjusted by turning at a certain angle towards this source. Consequently, the movement of euglena towards the light is determined by positive photoclinotaxis, and if it comes under the influence of two light sources, alternating irritation of the photoreceptor, either on the left or on the right, gives the movement of euglena an external resemblance to the tropotaxis behavior of bilaterally symmetrical animals with paired eyes.

“Eyes” have also been described in other flagellates. Photoreception reaches particular complexity in one of the representatives of dinoflagellates, which already has analogues of essential parts of the eye of multicellular animals; the pigment spot is equipped not only with a light-proof screen (analogue of the pigment membrane), but also with a light-transmitting formation in the form of a spherical lens (analogue of the lens). Such a “peephole” allows not only to localize light rays, but also to collect and, to a certain extent, focus them.

Plasticity of protozoan behavior. So, the behavior of protozoa in both the motor and sensory spheres in a number of species has already reached a certain complexity.

In organisms lacking a nervous system, a number of forms of adaptive behavior resembling learning have been discovered.

Sensitization. Sensitization is an increase in the body's sensitivity to the effects of an agent that promotes behavior modification. A striking example of this kind is the so-called training. A ciliate is a microscopic unicellular animal with a more complex body structure than other protozoa that usually lives in water. Under normal conditions, slipper ciliates move in the water as if in jerks. Their movements are chaotic. There are no patterns or the slightest purposefulness in the behavior of ciliates.

If the ciliates are transferred to a small container shaped like a circle, no more than 1 mm deep and 3-5 mm in diameter, then its behavior will change dramatically. At first, it will move chaotically through the vessel, occasionally bumping into its walls. However, after 3-4 minutes the behavior of the ciliate will change: its path will become rectilinear, and soon it will begin to describe a regular geometric figure, the shape of which depends on the shape of the vessel.

Habituation of protozoa. An example of such an elementary accumulation of individual experience is habituation. Let us remember that addiction means the cessation of a reaction to a constantly acting stimulus. According to the accepted system of classification of learning, it is classified as a type of non-associative learning.

The mere fact of the presence in animals, deprived of even the rudiments of a nervous system, of elements of behavior reminiscent of the learning process is of exceptional interest to general ideas about the evolution of the psyche.

2.1.2 Coelenterates

Representatives of the coelenterate phylum already exhibit the rudiments of a nervous system.

In his simplest form it is found in Hydra - (Greek Hydra) an invertebrate of the coelenterate type; a rather small animal plant - a marine animal with a cylindrical body, having a mouth surrounded by a corolla of tentacles. Particularly characteristic is the cohabitation of the sea anemone Sagartia parasitica with the hermit crab. It always settles on the shell of a mollusk inhabited by this cancer. The sea anemone uses the hermit crab as a means of transportation, and thanks to it, it moves to new areas rich in food. Such a nervous network does not have special centers, and excitation occurs in all directions. Such a primary nervous system is called scattered or diffuse.

In some coelenterates, due to the complication of the structure of the body, nervous tissue begins to concentrate in certain places of the body. In jellyfish, for example, at the edge of the umbrella, where the tentacles and sensory organs are located, the nervous tissue forms a ring cord. From here the network extends in all directions nerve cells with long shoots.

Observations and experiments show that coelenterates distinguish mechanical, chemical, light and temperature stimuli quite subtly.

A scattered nervous system does not always lead to unity of action of all parts of the body as a whole. Under weak stimuli, for example, movements of individual tentacles of sea anemones are observed. The parts of the hydra separated from the body that have preserved the nerve cells react in the same way. Long-acting irritation gradually spreads throughout the body.

At the same time, non-associative habituation-type learning in coelenterates is carried out better and lasts longer than in protozoa.

Thus, progress in the development of functional mechanisms of behavior in coelenterates in comparison with protozoa lies in the emergence of a new habituation property - fitness.

2.1.3 Flatworms

Lower ciliated worms, or turbellarians, have a much more advanced nervous system compared to previously described groups of animals.

One of the remarkable phylogenetic features of ciliated worms, which include Planarians - a suborder of ciliated worms, is that they represent the level of "transition" of a diffuse nervous network into a concentrated system. In ciliated worms, for the first time in evolution, nerve elements are concentrated at the anterior end of the body, i.e. rudiments appear Cephalization - (from the Greek kephale - head) - the process of separation of the head and the inclusion of one or more body segments in the head section in animals in the process of their historical development. The integrating significance of the nervous system at this stage of phylogenesis is expressed in the regulation of important functions of the body by the cerebral ganglion.

2.2 Highest level elementary sensory psyche

The next, highest level of the stage of the elementary sensory psyche, which is reached by living creatures such as echinoderms, annelids and gastropods, is characterized by the appearance of the first elementary sensations, as well as organs of manipulation in the form of tentacles and jaws. The most studied of them are annelids, which include sea-dwelling polychaetes (polychaetes), polychaetes (oligochaetes), the most famous representative of which is the earthworm, and leeches. A characteristic feature of their structure is external and internal metamerism: the body consists of several, mostly identical, segments, each of which contains a “set” of internal organs, in particular a pair of symmetrically located ganglia with nerve commissures, as a result the nervous system of annelids has the appearance of “ neural staircase."

The variability in the behavior of animals at this level of mental development is complemented by the emergence of the ability to acquire and consolidate life experience. At this level there is already sensitivity. Motor activity improves and acquires the character of a targeted search for biologically beneficial effects and avoidance of biologically harmful effects.

Types of adaptive behavior acquired as a result of mutations and transmitted from generation to generation thanks to natural selection are formalized as instincts.

The emergence of the nervous system of invertebrates. The nervous system first appears in lower multicellular invertebrates. The presence of nervous tissue contributes to a sharp acceleration of excitation conduction: in protoplasm, the speed of excitation does not exceed 1-2 microns per second, but even in the most primitive nervous system, consisting of nerve cells, it is 0.5 meters per second!

The nervous system exists in lower multicellular organisms in very diverse forms: reticulate (for example, in hydra), ring (jellyfish), radial (starfish) and bilateral. As the nervous system develops progressively, it sinks under the muscle tissue, and the longitudinal cords become more pronounced, especially on the ventral side of the body. Everything at the same time higher value acquires the anterior end of the body, a head appears and with it the brain - an accumulation and compaction of nerve elements at the anterior end. Finally, in higher worms, the central nervous system already fully acquires the typical structure of the “nervous ladder”, in which the brain is located above the digestive tract and is connected by two symmetrical commissures (“periopharyngeal ring”) with the subpharyngeal ganglia located on the abdominal side and then with paired abdominal nerves. trunks.

Only with the presence of a brain is truly centralized “coding” of signals coming from the periphery and the formation of integral “programs” possible. innate behavior, not to mention the high degree of coordination of all external activity of the animal.

2.2.1 Annelids

Among the large group of annelids, which are the evolutionary descendants of flatworms, a special place is occupied by representatives of the class Oligochaete - earthworms, on which the main experiments were carried out related to the study of their reactions to various environmental agents and the development of conditioned reflexes. In worms, nerve nodes (ganglia) are located along the entire body in the form of a symmetrical chain. Each node consists of pear-shaped cells and a dense plexus of nerve fibers. Nerve fibers extend from cells to muscles and to internal organs(motor fibers). Under the skin of the worm there are sensitive cells that are connected by their processes (sensitive fibers) to the nerve ganglia. A nervous system of this type is called a chain or ganglion system. Body earthworm consists of a number of segments. Each segment has its own ganglion and can respond to stimulation while being completely separate from the rest of the body. But all the nodes are connected to each other by jumpers, and the body acts as a whole. The head node of the nervous system is located in the upper part of the head, receives and processes the greatest amount of irritation. It is much more complex than all other nodes of the worm's nervous system.

2.2.2 Shellfish

Molluscs are a large and highly variable group. Among them there are shelled and shellless, aquatic and terrestrial, attached to the substrate and very mobile forms. All mollusks, with the exception of one class, have a more or less separate head containing a mouth opening. In addition, the head may have various tentacle-like appendages - “horns” and eyes. Other sense organs usually include chemical sense organs and balance organs. The central nervous system of mollusks exhibits varying degrees of complexity in representatives of different classes. In more primitive forms, the structure of the nervous system resembles that of annelids. In others, the central nervous system is already clearly differentiated into several pairs of interconnected nerve nodes. A group of cephalopods with a fairly advanced brain and sensory organs stands completely apart. In terms of the level of mental development, cephalopods are quite comparable to lower vertebrates.

The behavior of gastropods living in different environments is already quite diverse. In particular, they exhibit rather complex sexual behavior, expressed in peculiar mating dances. Fertilized snail eggs are laid in specially dug holes, the holes of which are carefully sealed after the laying is complete. Some species enclose their eggs in a special cocoon of air-hardening foam.

3. PERCEPTIONAL PSYCHE

A qualitative leap in the development of the psyche and behavior of animals occurs at the next, perceptual stage. Here sensations are combined into images, and the external environment begins to be perceived in the form of materially formed objects, dissected into details in perception, but figuratively integral objects, rather than individual sensations. In the behavior of animals, there is an obvious tendency to focus on objects in the surrounding world and the relationships between them. Along with instincts, more flexible forms of adaptive behavior arise in the form of complex, variable motor skills.

Motor activity turns out to be very developed, including movements associated with changes in direction and speed. The activity of animals acquires a more flexible, purposeful character. All this occurs already at the lowest level of the perceptual psyche, at which, by assumption, there are fish, other lower vertebrates, some species of invertebrates and insects.

The next, highest level of the perceptual psyche includes higher vertebrates: birds and some mammals. In them one can already detect elementary forms of thinking, manifested in the ability to solve problems in a practical, visually effective way. Here we note the readiness to learn, to master ways to solve such problems, memorize them and transfer them to new conditions.

Monkeys reach the highest level of development of the perceptual psyche. Their perception of the external world is, apparently, figurative in nature, and learning occurs through the mechanisms of imitation and transfer. In such a psyche, the ability to practically solve a wide class of problems that require research and manipulation of objects is particularly highlighted. In the activity of animals there is a special, indicative-exploratory, or preparatory, phase. It consists of studying the situation before taking practical action in it. A.N. Leontyev called this level of mental development the “level of intelligence.”

3.1 Lowest level of development of the perceptual psyche

3.1.1 Insects

Further development and the complication of the segmental nervous system is observed in higher invertebrate animals - insects.

Compared to worms and mollusks, their external and internal body structure becomes more complex, which is divided into a head, chest, abdomen, wings, limbs, etc. appear.

Accordingly, and in unity with this, the nervous system becomes more complex and improved. Nodes related to one particular part of the body merge together and form nerve centers. The head node, which perceives visual, olfactory, tactile and other irritations and regulates the movements of the limbs, wings and other organs, becomes more complex.

The behavior of insects mainly consists of instincts. This inherited form of complex behavior gave rise to the spread of different opinions about the rational, expedient and at the same time mysterious and incomprehensible organization of life of such creatures as insects.

In reality, there is nothing mysterious or intelligent in the instinctive behavior of insects. Having arisen and strengthened in the process of adaptation of animals to living conditions, instincts manifest themselves approximately equally in individuals of the same species.

Based on experiences and experiments conducted by scientists different countries, it is shown that insects have not only the ability to communicate with each other, but also some elements of logical thinking.

3.1.2 Cephalopods

The nervous system of cephalopods is more complex than that of all other invertebrate animals. Its ganglia are very large and are so closely packed together that, in essence, they form a single highly specialized nerve mass. In the subtlety of their feelings, accuracy of perception and complexity of responses and behavior, cephalopods are superior to many marine animals. Scientists who studied their behavior in experiments came to the conclusion that the formation of conditioned reflexes and inhibition processes in cephalopods has much in common with higher vertebrates. Wherein think tanks, responsible for these functions in vertebrates, are not homologous in origin to those of cephalopods. The eyes reach a great degree of perfection in cephalopods. The eye of an octopus is not much different from the eye of a mammal or even a human. The visual acuity of these animals is exceptionally great. They can only compete with the eyes of an owl, a cat and a human. The size of the eyes is also record-breaking. Thus, the eyes of a cuttlefish are only ten times smaller than itself, and the eyes of a giant octopus reach 40 cm in diameter. These are the largest eyes in the animal world! In addition to eyes, octopuses also have light-sensitive cells scattered in the skin. In addition to them, the skin contains tactile, olfactory and gustatory cells. The taste sensitivity of cephalopods is very high. Their sense of balance is also well expressed.

Experiments have shown that cephalopods learn well. They are able to distinguish geometric figures in shape, color and size. The developed conditioned reflexes are retained for a long time. Observations in aquariums have shown that octopuses are well tamed, recognize people caring for them and willingly come into contact with them.

In fish, for example, the conditions of existence in water not only created a number of structural features of the body, but also a kind of instinctive activity in the field of reproduction, nutrition and self-preservation.

Most fish lay eggs, which the males water with milk (sperm) and then leave to their fate. Before spawning, some fish make a hole in the sand where they deposit fertilized eggs. Few fish (stickleback) build special nests for eggs.

The number of eggs varies different fish- from a few units to millions.

It is characteristic that fish that lay a small number of eggs store them in safer places than fish with high fertility.

Special experiments have shown that the smell of food attracts fish. Fish swam in aquariums to meat packages without reacting to empty ones.

The behavior of fish is mainly instinctive and stereotypical. But, despite the fact that the forebrain (large) brain of fish is poorly developed and that the cerebral cortex is absent, fish are still capable of mastering some simple skills.

3.2 The highest level of development of the perceptual psyche

The higher vertebrates include only two classes: birds and mammals, within which manifestations of the higher mental abilities of animals are found. Among lower vertebrates, intermediate stages of mental development are outlined, characterized by different combinations of elements of the lower and higher levels of the perceptual psyche.

3.2.1 Development of the nervous system of higher vertebrates

The central nervous system of vertebrates consists of the spinal cord and brain, which lie within the spinal column and skull. The brain is divided into five sections: the anterior, intermediate, middle, cerebellum and medulla oblongata. These parts of the brain have different relative positions and different relative size in different classes of vertebrates.

The brain of vertebrate embryos develops from the brain tube. At the anterior end of the brain tube of the embryo, a vesicle is formed, which is subsequently divided into three parts: the anterior, middle and posterior brain vesicles. In the process of development, the medulla oblongata and cerebellum are formed from the posterior bladder, the midbrain is formed from the middle bladder, and the cerebral hemisphere and diencephalon are formed from the anterior bladder.

The development of the nervous system does not occur as a uniform, linear process. Depending on the conditions of evolution of the animal world, the structure of the nervous system changes and becomes more complex, with various deviations and simplifications. The visual centers of the brain and the cerebellum in birds are relatively more developed than the same centers of the brain in mammals. Accordingly, birds also have especially well developed visual sensations and the ability to coordinate movements. The olfactory areas of dogs are superior to the olfactory lobes of the human brain. The special development of one or another area of ​​the brain and the corresponding sensory organs is explained by the adaptation of animals to living conditions and is the result of a long process of natural selection.

The brain reaches its goal highest development in mammals. In these animals, the cerebral cortex becomes extremely complex, forming folds (gyri) and furrows. The internal structure of the cerebral cortex also becomes more complex as we move from lower to higher forms of animals.

The development of the frontal and parietal regions of the cerebral hemispheres is especially enhanced.

3.2.2 Development of the main directions of studying the behavior of vertebrates

The classical studies of Academician I.P. are of great importance for understanding the behavior and psyche of animals. Pavlova.

Studying the patterns of higher nervous activity, I.P. Pavlov: opened new avenues of research physiological mechanisms perception, attention, memory, etc. Followers of I.P. Pavlov's method Conditioned reflex - (temporary connection) 1) a reflex developed under certain conditions during the life of an animal or person; 2) the concept introduced by I.P. Pavlov - to designate the dynamic connection between the conditioned stimulus and the individual's reaction, initially based on the unconditioned stimulus. In the course of experimental studies, the rules for the development of conditioned reflexes were determined: joint presentation of an initially indifferent and unconditioned stimulus with some delay of the second; in the absence of reinforcement of the conditioned stimulus by the unconditioned, the temporary connection is gradually inhibited; 3) an acquired reflex, in which functional connections between the excitation of receptors and the characteristic response of effector organs are established during the learning process. In Pavlov's classic experiments, dogs were trained to associate the sound of a bell with feeding time, so that they would produce saliva in response to the ringing of the bell, regardless of whether food was given to them or not; 4) a reflex formed when any initially indifferent stimulus approaches in time, followed by the action of a stimulus that causes an unconditioned reflex. The term Conditioned reflex was proposed by I.P. Pavlov. As a result of the formation of a Conditioned reflex, a stimulus that previously did not cause a corresponding reaction begins to cause it, becoming a signal (conditioned, i.e., detected under certain conditions) stimulus. There are two types of Conditioned reflexes: classical, obtained using the specified method, and instrumental (operant) Conditioned reflexes, during the development of which unconditional reinforcement is given only after the occurrence of a certain motor reaction of the animal (see Operant conditioning). The mechanism of formation of the conditioned reflex was initially understood as the creation of a path between two centers - the conditioned and unconditioned reflex. Currently, the accepted idea is that the mechanism of the conditioned reflex is a complex functional system with feedback, i.e. organized according to the principle of a ring, not an arc. The conditioned reflex of animals forms a signaling system in which the signal stimuli are agents of their environment. This method makes it possible to objectively study the uniqueness of the perceptions of different animals. In essence, conditioned reflexes underlie many methods used to study animal perception. For example, in the discrimination apparatus, animals also received food reinforcement with one signal and did not receive it with other signals.

CONCLUSION

Animals cannot tell us about their inner world. However, it is possible to get an idea of ​​it by carefully observing animals. Kurt Ernestovich Fabry writes in this regard: “Inaccessible to direct observation inner world an animal can be revealed through the motor activity of the animal, accessible to the perception of the researcher, and the analysis of this activity.” This position has historically been completely denied in psychological science, for example, in the psychology of consciousness, or elevated to an absolute, for example, in behaviorism. Behaviorism generally replaced the concept of “psyche” with the concept of “behavior”. Behaviorists considered behavior to be the only scientific reality and the true subject of psychology, while modern animal psychologists believe that the study of behavior is a method by which one can answer the question of the patterns of functioning of the mental proper, for example, the patterns of how animals construct an image of the world.

The concept of “image of the world” must be developed based on animal ecology. This is the main methodological concept of modern animal psychology, and at the same time “ pain point” Zoopsychology. The fact is that in animal psychology, both before and now, the prevailing tendency is towards the study of individual mental functions and abilities. Zoopsychological data on the discrimination of the properties of objects by animals, on the development of motor skills, on the ability to abstract, on the orientation of animals in space, etc. have been accumulated and generalized. Nevertheless, the idea of ​​the psyche of a particular species of animal or the psyche of a particular individual remains very mosaic, like a patchwork quilt.

At present, a transition must be made from the traditional consideration of isolated mental characteristics to the analysis of the holistic behavior of the animal in natural environment a habitat. Traditionally, the study of the psyche of animals takes place in laboratory experimental conditions, which are far from nature. Often the tasks that researchers set for animals are artificial and far from real-life situations; The very logic of their production is sometimes anthropomorphic, that is, inspired by the peculiarities of the functioning of the human psyche, and not the psyche of animals.

List of used literature

1. Zorina Z.A., Poletaeva I.I., Reznikova Zh.I. "The basis of ethology and genetics of behavior." M.: "Higher School", 2002.

2. Zorina Z.A., Poletaeva I.I. Elementary thinking of animals. M., 2001.

3. Krushinsky L.V. Formation of animal behavior in normal and pathological conditions. M., I960.

4. Panov E.N. Animal behavior and ethological structure of populations. M., 1983.

5. Panov E.N. Communication in the animal world. M., 1970a.

6. Savelyev S.V. Introduction to animal psychology. M., 2000.

7. Sergeev B.F. Stages of evolution of intelligence. M., 1986.

8. Fabri K.E. Fundamentals of zoopsychology. M., 1976.

The recognition of animals’ ability to mentally reflect reality and to appropriately regulate behavior must be specified, because we are talking about prehistory human psyche. The first question that arises is when exactly and in connection with what, animals acquired a psyche. The second question is about the stages or levels of mental development in phylogenesis, i.e. about the main qualitative changes in the psyche as a product of the evolution of the animal world. There are two functions of the psyche: reflection of reality (orientation in it) and regulation of behavior in accordance with what is reflected. The concept of mental development by A. N. Leontyev (1903-1979) will help us answer the questions posed. In the foreground in this concept are the stages of mental reflection of reality.

Prepsychic reflection. Let's imagine a single-celled animal, an amoeba, in a vessel with water. Let us also imagine that a drop of acid fell nearby. Our animal begins to actively move its pseudopods in order to get away from the influence that destroys the body. It rushes towards a more favorable chemical environment. How can we comment on this event in the context of the category of reflection?

The animal reflected with its movement the impact of an object that directly destroys the body. This activity is called “taxis” (or “tropism”). These tropisms are diverse. Plant shoots are drawn towards the light (phototropism), their roots make their way to moist areas of the soil (aquatropism), the amoeba moves towards a more favorable chemical environment (chemotropism), the bug rushes towards a heat source (thermotropism), etc. In all cases it clearly appears essential feature body activity - response by movement to a biologically significant stimulus, i.e. to influences that directly contribute to the reconstruction or destruction of the organism. The considered level of reflection of reality is called irritability.

Irritability is based on automatic processes that occur in the body as a result of physicochemical reactions. These processes provide a certain level of self-regulation of a living system. Let us emphasize that we are talking about a biological form of reflection of reality, which must be treated as the highest prepsychic form of reflection.

Stage of elementary sensory psyche. When an insect gets caught in a web, it begins to break free and thereby creates vibration. A spider, connected by threads of a web to a network, crawls out of its hiding place, rushes towards the insect, entangles it, paralyzes it and feeds on the substance of its body. Let us pose the question: “What does spider behavior “include?” According to the picture we described - vibration. Next question: “Will the spider get full from the vibration itself?” Of course not. “Why does he react to her?” This is where we come to the most important thing, if we say that vibration is not a directly biologically significant stimulus, but a signal of a biologically significant object. Reacting to such a signal means the appearance of a mental reflection of reality. This reaction occurs because the vibration is in a stable connection with the substance of the insect’s body, from which the spider will be fed.

Such signals always act as individual properties of objects. Not only vibration, but also color, smell, shape, sound, etc. Indeed, you need to react to the roar of a predator or its smell, because it’s too late to react when you’re in its teeth. The ability to reflect individual properties of objects is called sensitivity, or sensation. The presence of sensation allows us to imagine the first stage of mental reflection of reality - the stage of the elementary sensory (sensitive) psyche.

At this stage of mental development, according to A.N. Leontiev, there are insects, worms, and crustaceans. The reason for the appearance of this stage is the transition from a homogeneous environment of existence to an environment of discrete (finite) objects.

Stage of perceptual psyche. Let's start with an example that expands our knowledge about the previous stage, i.e. stages of the elementary sensory psyche. Two catfish living in an aquarium have learned to bypass the gauze partition on their way to food. The behavior of the fish is thus determined by two factors: a) the smell of food (a signal of the property of the object to which the activity is directed); b) barrier (conditions in which the subject is given). Researchers remove the partition. And what? The fish continue to make a roundabout movement. Only gradually does it disappear.

Now let’s imagine that we fed a mammal for a long time in such a way that it had to avoid an obstacle on its way to food. One day the obstacle will be removed. Will it still make the detour? Definitely not. What is behind this difference in animal behavior?

In fish, the effect that causes detour movement (obstacle) merges with the effect of food (smell). Food and obstacles are not reflected as different “nodes” of properties, as various items. The reflection of reality remains unified. As for the mammal, it reflects each object (food and obstacle) separately, as different “nodes” of properties. So it turns out: if there is an obstacle on the way to food, then you need to get around it, if there is none, then there is nothing to get around. Reflection, in which an object is reflected as a whole, in the totality of its properties, is the main feature of the stage of the perceptual (perceiving) psyche. This reflection is called perception.

This stage of mental reflection is inherent in amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The appearance of this level is associated with the transition of vertebrates to a terrestrial lifestyle.

Animal intelligence stage X. Some animals take it up another notch. A.N. Leontiev illustrates this stage of reflecting reality with the experiments of the German researcher W. Köhler (1887-1967) with great apes. Let's look at one of his experiences. Let's imagine an enclosure with a chimpanzee monkey inside. There is a stick between the animal and the net, and on the other side of the net there is an attractive fruit, such as a banana. What is the typical pattern of animal behavior? First, the monkey actively makes all sorts of attempts to reach the banana using its forelimbs. Unsuccessfully. Finally, the tired animal stops its actions, calmly surveys the situation, suddenly takes a stick, begins to use it to bring the fruit closer to itself and grabs it.

What did the animal reflect this time, if we take into account that at the previous stage the object as a whole was reflected? It reflected the relationship, the connection between objects in the situation of the visual field. The mention of the visual field is very important, because if the stick were behind the animal’s back, it would never solve the problem. The monkey remains a slave to his visual field. This level of reflection of reality is called the rudiments of thinking. These rudiments are the most important thing in that level of mental development that is called animal intelligence. The fact of the sudden reflection of this connection is enshrined in the concept of “insight” by V. Köhler, which he defined as a sudden restructuring of the visual field in accordance with the problem situation. This term is widely used today in the psychology of thinking to denote any sudden understanding of relations that are not necessarily related to the visual field.

The reason for the appearance of the stage under consideration is considered to be the transition to a varied diet, which necessitated the need for a scale of examination activity that is unusual for animals at previous stages of mental development. The diet of wild chimpanzees includes more than 80 “meals”. These are fruits, leaves, seeds, flowers, stems, insects, small animals, etc. (Task 3.)

In animals at the stage of the elementary sensory psyche, the leading method of regulating behavior is instinct. The term instinct refers to genetically fixed, hereditary forms of animal behavior. They provide the most important vital functions for the existence of the animal and the continuation of the species. Many instinctive forms of animal behavior are so complex that they fascinate researchers and readers. However, despite their apparent expediency, they remain mainly a certain structure of unconditioned reflexes. Instincts play a role in the most various forms enemy activity, reproduction (marriage rituals), raising offspring.

With the advent of the perceptual psyche, behavior increasingly depends on the experience of the individual acquired during life. We are talking about forms of behavior that an animal learns. The result of such learning is captured in the concept of “skill.” A skill is an automated behavior formed through repeated repetitions (in an exercise). If an insect is born with an almost complete set of behavioral programs, then what can a newborn puppy do? Not much. He can find the mother's nipple and attach himself to it. But an adult dog is considered a very “smart” animal. This in itself means that she learns a lot during her lifetime. The basis of acquired behavior during life is a conditioned reflex.

Its first variety is the classical conditioned reflex, which was studied by I.P. Pavlov (1849-1936), his colleagues and followers. Thus, if you repeatedly combine feeding an animal (food is an unconditioned stimulus) with a bell (a conditioned stimulus, initially indifferent to nutritional needs), then after some time the bell becomes a stimulus that causes a food reaction without the presentation of food. Thus, the animal learns to carry out “old behavior in new conditions.”

Another type of conditioned reflex is the operant (or instrumental) reflex. The patterns of its formation were studied mainly by American researchers, in particular B. Skinner (1904-1990). The formation of a conditioned reflex is carried out in reinforcement of a reaction that spontaneously arises in an individual (and not a stimulus, as in the formation of a classical conditioned reflex). At first, a hungry animal located in a limited space can only accidentally make some movement (for example, step on a pedal), leading to the appearance of food (reinforcement). Further, this movement tends to become more frequent - and so on until a skill is formed.

The animal learns to carry out “new behavior in new conditions.”

One of the popular TV shows on zoopsychology clearly showed that the behavior of a vulture throwing a stone at an egg laid by another animal is determined both by instinct (the very essence of behavior is to throw a stone on an egg) and by learning (throwing in such a way as to hit). From the same point of view, the phenomenon (an extraordinary, exceptional phenomenon) of imprinting is interesting - a special form of learning in the earliest stages of animal life, which has the character of direct imprinting. This form of learning was specially studied by the Austrian zoopsychologist K. Lorenz (1903-1989). Newborn ducklings, when hatched from an egg, are known to follow their mother duck. It turned out that if the researcher replaces the mother duck with a moving ball of rags, then the ducklings follow the ball and after that they no longer follow the mother. The surprising thing was that imprinting is learning the first time. It turned out that the researcher was dealing with the intravital completion of instinct. The instinctive program provides for following a moving object, but the object itself is not “recorded” in the program.

Intellectual behavior of animals. It is based on the reflection of the connection between objects in the situation of the visual field and has a variety of manifestations. It turns out that primates are capable of deciding more complex tasks, for example, use a short stick to reach for a long one and use this long stick to bring the banana closer to you. (Task 4.)

Considering the behavior of animals so far, we, having focused on the stages of development of the psyche in the animal world, have been distracted from an important reality - the interaction of an animal with its own kind. Meanwhile, the joint behavior of animals is characterized by a number of features, some of which we will point out here. This is cooperation (for obtaining food, for “everyday life”, for breeding and preserving offspring, for fighting enemies), hierarchy (sometimes two- and multi-stage), communication (sound; “language” of poses, movements and touches; signaling using smells ).

The cooperative behavior of animals, like their behavior in general, is determined by instincts, skills and “intelligence.” But in their “language” there are no means of long-term and symbolic recording of life experience, which would be the basis for its development and transmission to subsequent generations.

Each higher stage of mental development in the animal world originates in the depths of the previous one. But each subsequent stage assimilates the achievements of previous development and rearranges them, therefore the instinctive behavior of apes differs from the instinctive behavior of animals at lower stages of development. The instincts of primates are more flexible, more sensitive to changes in living conditions. Along with this, monkeys transfer acquired skills more easily to new conditions than other animals. In general, A.N. Leontiev’s concept convinces us that there is no behavior in the world that is entirely instinctive or completely acquired. (Tasks 5, 6, 7.)

A special science, zoopsychology, studies the psyche and behavior of animals. It originated in early XIX centuries. The founders of zoopsychology are considered to be J. Lamarck, C. Darwin, and domestic scientists K. F. Roulier, V. A. Wagner.

In zoopsychology, the psyche of animals is studied in dialectical unity with their behavior and the structure of the nervous system.

It is considered as a leading factor in the development of the animal psyche complicating their life activities, leading to an increase and variety of movements. Accordingly it happens complication of the physical structure of the body, reflective functions and mechanisms of movement regulation, which was ensured by the complication of the structure of living matter itself. The form of the anatomical and physiological substrate of the psyche was nerve tissue or its analogues in the simplest forms of animal life. In the process of development of life activity in animals, a nervous system: reticular, ganglion, and then the central nervous system.

In zoopsychology, according to such criteria as the form of mental reflection, the leading type of behavior and the structure of the nervous system, three main stages of mental development:

• stage of elementary sensory psyche;
• stage of perceptual psyche;
• stage of intelligence.
• 1. Stage of elementary sensory psyche. The mental reflection of animals at this stage takes the form of sensitivity only to certain properties of the environment, i.e. form elementary sensations. Accordingly, the behavior of animals corresponds to one or another individual property.

Taking into account the evolution within the stage, the domestic zoopsychologist K. E. Fabry identified the lowest and highest levels in it.

At the lowest level There are organisms that stand on the border between the plant and animal worlds, for example flagellates. Representatives of the lower level are also sponges, protozoa, coelenterates, and lower worms.

On the highest level There are a large number of multicellular invertebrates and some species of vertebrates. They are characterized by a rather complex structure of the nervous system and a complex and highly differentiated organization of the motor apparatus. Their forms of behavior are more complex and varied.

example

So, challenging behavior A spider that catches an insect caught in its web is stimulated not by the sight of the victim, not by its smell, not by the sounds it makes, but solely by the vibration produced by the wings of the insect and transmitted through the web. As soon as the vibration of the insect's wings stops, the spider stops moving towards it. But if the vibration is created, for example, by a tuning fork, the spider rushes towards the tuning fork and tries to strike it with its jaws.

This stage of mental development is called elementary because out of the entire diversity of the world, organisms perceive only a small part of it. The rest of the world doesn’t seem to exist for them. At the same time, the reflection of a narrow range of environmental properties is sufficient for their survival in natural conditions.

In the process of evolutionary development of animals at the stage of elementary sensory psyche, many of them developed a rather complex form of behavior - instinct.

Instinct is a type of behavior implemented by hereditarily programmed, stereotypical forms of action, through which an animal, without special training, adapts to conditions environment.

Animal psychology describes many examples from the life of ants, bees, birds and other animals, the behavior of which, when observed, is perceived as very complex and difficult to explain.

example

For example, ants, on the eve of bad weather, close the entrances to the anthill; having moved significantly away from it, they easily find their way home; They carry out warlike raids on the homes of fellow species of other species and steal their pupae, which then functionally enrich the colony. Complex forms of communication and interaction of animals at this stage are described: certain species of ants form living chains along which other individuals climb up, like on ropes, where they find building material for nests. The behavior of a spider attacking a tuning fork is inappropriate and useless for it. “The same can be said about seagulls, which diligently incubate foreign objects that resemble eggs in shape.

The attachment of instincts to strictly defined conditions corresponding to the model of innate behavior, and their loss of the property of purposefulness when conditions change, is explained by the ability to reflect only individual properties of the environment.

Many animal psychologists were interested in the question: are animals at the stage of the elementary sensory psyche capable of changing hereditary forms of behavior and learning? American zoopsychologist R. Yerkes taught earthworms to find a path in a maze leading to a nest (on the other side of the maze, the worm received an electric shock). In the end, Yerkes achieved a positive result; according to him, it took 180 experiments. Repeated experiments aimed at studying the possibilities of plasticity in animal behavior at the stage of the elementary sensory psyche gave similar results. Accordingly, it was concluded that the ability for behavioral plasticity and learning in animals at the stage of the elementary sensory psyche is very low and characterizes only some fragments of their life activity.

2. Perceptual psyche stage characterized by the ability to reflect external reality no longer in the form of individual elementary sensations, but in the form of reflection a set of qualities, things. At this stage, the lowest and highest levels are also distinguished: the majority of currently existing vertebrates are at different levels of the stage of the perceptual psyche. At the highest level are all mammals.

In animals at the stage of the perceptual psyche, a more complex type of plastic individual behavior is formed, the mechanism of which is the analysis and synthesis of environmental conditions, carried out on the basis of a more developed form of mental reflection. The material substrate for a new form of reflection and a new type of behavior was the complication of the structure of the central nervous system and, above all, the development cerebral cortex brain Significant changes have also occurred in the development sense organs. At the same time, they developed organs of movement.

The perceptual psyche allows animals to construct behavior that meets not only the goal, but also the conditions in which it is given. These conditions determine the method of action in which the desired object can be obtained, and this method is fixed in their behavior.

Skills are called methods of action developed and reinforced in the behavior of animals.

When conditions change, animals find and consolidate a new way of action in their behavior. Thus it happens learning animals.

Learning– is the individual adaptation of animals to their environment by changing their innate behavior programs.

Through learning, animals acquire and accumulate individual experience during ontogenesis. Based on learning, they can reinforce in their behavior the shortest path to food, find a way out of a maze, avoid obstacles, and use a variety of signals that regulate feeding or defensive behavior. In experimental learning in animals, complex forms of behavior associated with the formation of conditioned reflexes have been studied.

I. P. Pavlov developed conditioned reflexes in dogs that made it possible to assign a signal value to various stimuli (classical conditioned reflex). With several combinations of a flash of light or a bell with the arrival of food, these initially neutral stimuli acquired signaling significance. American psychologist B.F. Skinner (1904–1990) studied another type of conditioned reflex called instrumental. The animal was placed in a special cage with special devices(latches, levers), with the help of which it was possible to open a special window from the inside and get food (reinforcement). The rats found the right lever through trial and error. This is how their individual experience was formed and consolidated.

Learning involves development in animals elementary forms of memory. This was confirmed by experiments in which delayed reactions were studied.

Observation of the natural behavior of animals and the results of its experimental study indicate that animals at the stage of the perceptual psyche capable of analyzing the situation, retaining images of external reality and reinforcing useful reactions. Skills are formed through imitation, conditioned reflexes, or trial and error. Animals are capable of developing new skills and adequate behavior when their living conditions change. At the stage of the perceptual psyche, the animal retains its instinctive behavior, but it becomes more plastic and adapts to specific living conditions.

3. Stage of intelligence. At this stage there is a small number of species of highly organized mammals - anthropoid apes. The distinctive ability of animal intelligence lies in the fact that they have reflection of holistic situations and relationships between objects. A more complex form arises in animal behavior - problem solving.

example

For example, if behind the cage in which the animal is sitting, at some distance from it, you place a piece of meat tied with a ribbon, the end of which lies in the cage, then the dog will bark, whine, but will not pull the ribbon (although physically it can do this). The monkey will do it instantly.

For the first time, the intellectual behavior of animals was experimentally studied and described by the German psychologist W. Köhler. The monkeys in his experiments obtained fruits using various “tools” - sticks, boxes, etc., demonstrating “manual” or practical thinking. In contrast to the trial and error characteristic of animal behavior at the previous stage, the monkey sometimes finds a solution immediately, as a result insight, or insight.

Insight- this is a sudden and irreducible from past experience understanding of the structure and relationships of the situation as a whole, through which a solution to the problem is achieved.

example

N. N. Ladygina-Kots (1889–1963) observed the complex actions of monkeys. Chimpanzees could make tools and solve technically simple problems. For example, monkeys first folded two small sticks into a large one, and then used it to push a fruit out of a narrow pipe.

This behavior of monkeys has a more complex structure - two-phase; it stands out preparation phase And implementation phase. The preparatory phase is not stimulated by the object itself (in in this example stick) towards which the behavior is directed, and objective relationship between objects(the ratio of stick to fruit).

K. E. Fabry described another important feature intellectual behavior of monkeys: they are able to carry out complex actions using various objects. Such actions are called manipulative. This further expands the monkeys' ability to solve practical problems.

IN last years a series of studies was carried out (Z. A. Zorina, A. A. Smirnova), in which it was possible to discover even more complex forms of intellectual behavior of monkeys: the ability to master the simplest analogues of human speech. In a situation of communication with people, monkeys learned to perform certain actions according to verbal instructions from the experimenter. But can monkeys really understand human speech? More precise experiments have shown that monkeys mainly perceive information through gestures, glances, actions, and intonation. However, some individuals achieved great success in oral communication with humans, demonstrating an understanding of oral speech at the level of two-year-old children.

The complication of the forms of mental reflection and behavior of animals at the stage of intelligence is interconnected with increasing complexity of the brain structure, development of cortical structures. The most radical anatomical and physiological transformations occurred in the frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex, which regulate intellectual behavior.

The stage of intelligence of apes represents the upper limit of the development of the animal psyche. Next begins with quality new stage in the history of the development of the psyche - a complex and long process of historical and evolutionary development Homo sapiens, or Homo sapiens.

Introduction

1. The main stages of the evolutionary development of the animal psyche

2. Elementary sensory psyche

2.1 Lowest level of sensory psyche

2.1.1 Protozoa

2.1.2 Coelenterates

2.1.3 Flatworms

2.1.4 General characteristics of the lowest level of the elementary sensory psyche

2.2 Highest level of elementary sensory psyche

2.2.1 Annelids

2.2.2 Shellfish

2.2.3 General characteristics of the highest level of the elementary sensory psyche

3. Perceptual psyche

3.1 Lowest level of development of the perceptual psyche

3.1.1 Insects

3.1.2 Cephalopods

3.1.4 Amphibians

3.1.5 General characteristics of the lower level of the perceptual psyche

3.1.6 Paths of evolution of the perceptual psyche

3.2 The highest level of development of the perceptual psyche

3.2.1 Development of the nervous system of higher vertebrates

3.2.2 Development of the main directions of studying the behavior of vertebrates

3.2.3 Indicative research activity of animals

Conclusion

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

The subject of zoopsychology - the psyche of animals - is the result of some preliminary processing: some preliminary dissection and structuring of reality. Depending on the principles (methods) of structuring adopted at a given time, the subject of science is determined. The subject of knowledge develops along with the development of cognitive activity. The subject of zoopsychology, like the subjects of other sciences, has undergone changes over time.

Animal psychology studies the psyche of animals.

The psyche is determined (defined) in two ways: on the one hand, the psyche is determined by the organic substrate (the brain in humans, the nervous system of various types in animals), i.e. internal factor, on the other hand, it is determined by what is reflected, i.e. external factor. There is a double dependence of the psyche (in animals): on the organ of reflection and on the objective world.

The subject of science is also determined by the goals and objectives that this science sets. One of the main tasks of zoopsychology is the study of the development of the animal psyche in the processes of phylogenesis and ontogenesis. The modern understanding of the development of the animal psyche can be characterized by the following provisions:

1) The basic principle is evolutionary. Taxa (systematic groups) of animals that are more advanced in evolutionary terms have the potential for more perfect reflection (it should be remembered that the taxa of modern animals represent the final stages of the evolutionary process and their relative position in terms of level of development is a relative concept);

2) Within related taxa, the factor determining the level of mental reflection is the animal’s lifestyle;

3) There is unity and interconnection between structure and function: not only structure determines function, but also function determines structure;

4) The development of the psyche is associated with the development of the nervous system and sensory organs - external elements of the nervous system, equipped with additional morphological structures. In parallel with the development of the nervous system, the development of the psyche is associated with the development of protective shells and mechanisms, the function of which is aimed at protecting against the action of stimuli from the external environment. “During development, both the structure of the nervous system of animals and its psychophysical functions act both as a prerequisite and as a result of the way of life changing during development.” (Rubinstein, Fundamentals of General Psychology);

5) The appearance of new structures or functions, minor in lower taxa, becomes a defining character in higher taxa. The jump in the new quality of reflection is determined within the previous stage. New structures may not necessarily be related to the structure of the nervous system. Thus, one of the prerequisites for the emergence of the nervous system was the formation of epithelium as a way of protection from the influence of the outside world (example: hysteria in the most “intelligent” mammals, which occurs in the event of an inability to solve a complex problem.);

6) For a living organism, protection from a stimulus seems to be a more important function than stimulus assimilation.

1. MAIN STAGES OF EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMAL PSYCHE

The evolution of the psyche of living organisms on Earth was carried out on the basis of all the general laws of this process. An increase in the general level of vital activity of organisms and the complication of their relationships with the outside world led in the course of evolution to the need for more intensive contacts with the entire diversity of the environment, to improved movement and active handling of surrounding objects. Improving orientation in time and space, promoting the survival of the fittest individuals, could only ensure the complication of behavior and mental reflection. In this case, it is necessary to pay attention to the interdependence and parallelism of the development of the psyche and motor activity. As K.E. points out. Fabry, it is movement (primarily Locomotion - (from Latin locus - place and motio - movement) the movement of animals and humans, providing active movement in space; the most important adaptation to living in a variety of environmental conditions (swimming, flying, walking) was the decisive factor in evolution On the other hand, without the progressive development of the psyche, the motor activity of animals could not be improved, biologically adequate motor reactions could not be carried out and, therefore, there could be no evolutionary development.

Of course, mental reflection did not remain unchanged during evolution, but itself underwent deep qualitative transformations.

1.1 Leontiev-Fabry concept

There are a number of hypotheses regarding the formation and development of the psyche and behavior in animals.

One of them, concerning the stages and levels of development of mental reflection, from the simplest animals to humans, is put forward by A.N. in his book “Problems of Psychic Development”. Leontyev.

Leontiev based the stages of mental development he described on the signs of the most profound qualitative changes that the psyche underwent in the process of evolution of the animal world. According to this concept, a number of stages and levels can be distinguished in the development of the psyche and behavior of animals. A.N. Leontiev identified two main stages of mental development: elementary sensory and perceptual. The first includes two levels: the lowest and the highest, and the second - three levels: the lowest, the highest and the highest. As noted by A.N. Leontiev, in the process of evolutionary development these processes are closely interconnected. Improving movements leads to an improvement in the adaptive activity of the body, which, in turn, contributes to the complexity of the nervous system, expanding its capabilities, and creates conditions for the development of new types of activity and forms of reflection. All this taken together contributes to the improvement of the psyche.

A clear, most significant line passes between the elementary sensory and perceptual psyche, marking the main milestone in the grandiose process of evolution of the psyche.

Such a division, however, is too superficial and does not cover the entire diversity of the animal world.

Later, taking into account many studies concerning behavior, this hypothesis was refined and refined by K.E. Fabry. Therefore, the hypothesis of mental development considered in our training course is usually called the Leontiev-Fabry concept.

K.E. Fabry believes that both within the elementary sensory and within the perceptual psyche, significantly different levels of mental development should be distinguished: lower and higher, while allowing for the existence of intermediate levels. It is important to note that large systematic groups of animals do not always and do not completely fit into this framework. This is inevitable, since within large Taxon - (from the Latin taxare - to evaluate) a set of discrete objects connected by a certain commonality of properties and characteristics that characterize this set. This can be explained by the fact that qualities of a higher mental level always originate at a previous level.

According to Fabry, the discrepancies between the psychological and zoological classifications are due to the fact that the morphological characteristics on which the taxonomy of animals is based do not always determine the characteristics and degree of development of the mental activity of the latter. Animal behavior is a set of functions of animal effector organs. And in the process of evolution, it is the function that primarily determines the shape and structure of the organism, its systems and organs. Their structure and motor capabilities only secondarily determine the nature of the animal’s behavior and limit the scope of its external activity.

So, on the one hand, lifestyle determines the development of adaptations in the effector sphere, and on the other hand, the functioning of effector systems, i.e. behavior ensures the satisfaction of vital needs and metabolism during the interaction of the body with the external environment.

From the point of view of A.N. Severtsov, changes in living conditions give rise to the need to change behavior, and this then leads to corresponding morphological changes in the motor and sensory spheres and in the central nervous system. But not immediately and not even always, functional changes entail morphological ones. Moreover, in higher animals, purely functional changes without morphological rearrangements are often quite sufficient, and sometimes even the most effective, i.e. adaptive changes in behavior only. Therefore, behavior in combination with the multifunctionality of motor organs provides animals with the most flexible adaptation to new living conditions.

These functional and morphological transformations determine the quality and content of mental reflection in the process of evolution.

Moreover, innate and acquired behavior are not successive steps on the evolutionary ladder, but develop and become more complex together, as two components of one single process. The progressive development of instinctive, genetically fixed behavior corresponds to progress in the field of individually variable behavior. Instinctive behavior reaches its greatest complexity precisely in higher animals, and this progress entails the development and complication of their forms of learning.