Factors in the emergence of emotions and feelings in humans. Theories of human emotions Theories explaining the mechanisms of the emergence of emotions briefly

) occurs not always and not automatically, but due to the following factors and circumstances:

• on the characteristics of the specific situation that gives rise to the experience.

Emotions, as a rule, arise in the situation that triggers them. A feeling of resentment - in an offensive situation, fear - in a terrible one, a feeling of disgust - when confronted with a disgusting one, a feeling of pain - when critical impacts are caused to the body. See Emotions and the Situations That Generate Them

For most people, resentment and resentment are natural synonyms, but they are not. To be precise, resentment is an everyday situation (unfair violation of rights, damage to honor or status), and resentment is the experience of this event.

Initially, resentment was understood not as a feeling, but as a life event. Among the people, resentment is any nuisance ("That's what an insult happened!"). Later, resentment began to be understood as actions that lower the status of a person. "He did not invite to the feast - he offended." In the XII-XIII centuries. the main meaning of the word insult is "violation of princely law, injustice." It's not a matter of feelings, it's a matter of harm, just like stealing.

Legally, resentment is a deliberate and illegal expression of disrespect for another person by deliberately insulting him by treating him. If this is done, it is recognized as an offensive situation, regardless of whether the person experienced a feeling of resentment or not.

• on the type of personality and person.

​​​​​​​If a person walks around already irritated, he will be irritated at everything simply because he is already irritated. If a person is cheerful and joyful, most of the situations that arise will cause positive emotions in him. See emotions and mood

• from one view or another of the situation.

A specific emotion is triggered by a specific vision. The child ran, fell: how will he see it? Is it interesting or scary? If the child perceives the fall as an insult, he will burst into tears from resentment. If he sees danger in this, he will be scared. If he perceives it as an adventure, he will laugh with joy. See Emotion and Vision

• from some internal benefit.

The child broke an expensive service, he is threatened with parental punishment, if he is terribly upset, his mother will no longer scold him, but will regret it.

I'm confused - they tell me. Comfortable!

When a girl needs to put pressure on her young man, it is usually enough for her to be offended by him. It does not help to "take offense", you can "cry": the manipulation is old, but almost flawless.

When someone rereads the mother-in-law, her heart immediately begins to ache, and this ends the unnecessary bickering.

When the boss does not want to pay wages on time, he walks around angry, and employees do not pester him with inappropriate questions...

A person not only cognizes reality in the processes of perception, memory, imagination and thinking, but at the same time he relates in one way or another to certain facts of life, experiences certain feelings in relation to them. This inner personal relationship has its source in activity and communication in which it arises, changes, strengthens or dies out. Patriotism is also called a feeling, which largely determines a person's life path. A feeling is also called a disgust that has seized a person for a liar who deceived someone from petty motives. The same concept is also used to denote the fleeting pleasure that arose due to the fact that after a long rain the sun flashed.

Feelings- these are the internal relations of a person experienced in various forms to what is happening in his life, what he learns or does.

The experience of feeling acts as a special mental state experienced by the subject, where the perception and understanding of something, knowledge about something acts in unity with a personal attitude to the perceived, understood, known or unknown. In all these cases, they speak of the experience of feeling as a special emotional state of a person. At the same time, the experience of feeling is a mental process that has its own dynamics, current and changeable. In particular, for example, to experience the severity of the loss loved one means to actively rethink one's place in life, which has changed after an irreparable loss, to overestimate life values, to find strength in oneself to overcome a critical situation, etc. The emotional process that proceeds violently in this way, as a result, has a certain balance of positive and negative assessments of the situation of loss itself and oneself in this situation. So, the experience is connected with the objective need to endure the situation that has become critical, to endure it, to endure, to cope with it. This is what it means to experience something emotionally. Experience, thus, acts as a special emotional activity of great tension and often great productivity, contributing to the restructuring inner world personality and finding the necessary balance.

Various forms of experiencing feelings - emotions, affects, moods, stressful conditions, passions and, finally, feelings in the narrow sense of the word - form the emotional sphere of the individual, which is one of the regulators of human behavior, a living source of knowledge, an expression of complex and diverse relationships between people. Feelings contribute to the selection of objects that meet the needs of the individual, and stimulate activity aimed at satisfying them. The experience of joy at a scientific discovery activates the search activity of a scientist, maintains the intensity of the process of satisfying a cognitive need. Interest as a form of manifestation of need always has a bright emotional coloring.

Feelings subjectively - for a person - are an indicator of how the process of satisfying his needs takes place. The positive emotional states that have arisen in the process of communication and activity (delight, pleasure, etc.) indicate a favorable flow of the process of satisfying needs. Unsatisfied needs are accompanied by negative emotions (shame, remorse, longing, etc.).

In psychology, there is an idea that emotional states are determined by the quality and intensity of the individual's actual need and the assessment that he gives to the probability of its satisfaction. This view of the nature and origin of emotions was called the informational concept of emotions (P. V. Simonov). Conscious or unconscious, a person compares information about what is required to satisfy a need with what he has at the time of its occurrence. If the subjective probability of satisfaction of the need is high, positive feelings appear. Negative emotions are generated by the real or imagined impossibility of satisfying the need, more or less realized by the subject, or by the drop in its probability compared to the forecast that the subject gave earlier. The informational concept of emotions has undoubted evidence, although, most likely, it does not cover the entire diverse and rich emotional sphere of the personality with an explanation. Not all emotions by their origin fit into this scheme. For example, the emotion of surprise clearly cannot be attributed to either positive or negative emotional states.

The most important characteristic of emotional states is their regulatory function. The experiences that arise in a person act as signals informing a person about how the process of meeting his needs is going on, what kind of obstacles he encounters, what you need to pay attention to, what you need to think about, what needs to be changed. A teacher who inadmissibly rudely shouted at a student who really was guilty, but probably would not have caused such a violent reaction from the teacher, if it were not for the latter’s fatigue and irritation after an unpleasant conversation with the headmaster, can, having calmed down, experience the emotion of grief, annoyance at his incontinence , shame. All these emotional states prompt the teacher to somehow correct the mistake, to find a way to show the boy that he regrets his harshness, in general to build his behavior and his relationship with him on the basis of an objective assessment of the situation that led to the conflict.

Emotion signals a successful or unfavorable development of events, a greater or lesser certainty of the position of the subject in the system of his subject and interpersonal relations, and thereby ensures the regulation, debugging of his behavior in conditions of communication and activity.

Feelings- one of the specific forms of reflection of reality. If the objects and phenomena of reality are reflected in cognitive processes, then the attitude of the subject with his inherent needs to the objects and phenomena of reality that he knows and changes is reflected in feelings.

Let's take a simple example. If a history teacher is informed that in one of the foreign countries the study time for teaching his subject has been sharply reduced, then this will cause some emotional interest in the fact and an attempt to comprehend and understand it, but no more. At the same time, if the same teacher is informed that the study time has even been slightly reduced for the passage of one of the specific topics in history according to some new instruction, this will cause him a strong emotional reaction. The relationship between his needs (the desire to present historical facts in the most complete and accessible way) and their subject (program material) changed and gave rise to an emotional reaction.

Like all mental processes, emotional states, experiences of feelings are the result of brain activity. The emergence of emotions has as its beginning the changes that take place in the external world. These changes lead to an increase or decrease in vital activity, the awakening of some needs and the extinction of others, to changes in the processes occurring inside the human body. The physiological processes characteristic of experiencing feelings are associated with both complex unconditioned and conditioned reflexes. As you know, systems conditioned reflexes are closed and fixed in the cerebral cortex, and complex unconditioned reflexes are carried out through the subcortical nodes of the hemispheres, visual tubercles related to the brain stem, and other centers that transmit nervous excitation from higher departments brain to the autonomic nervous system. Feelings are the result of the joint activity of the cortex and subcortical centers.

The more important the changes taking place around him and with him are for a person, the deeper are the experiences of feelings. The resulting serious restructuring of the system of temporary connections causes excitation processes, which, spreading through the cortex hemispheres, capture the subcortical centers. In the parts of the brain below the cerebral cortex, there are various centers of the physiological activity of the body: respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive, secretory, etc. Therefore, the excitation of the subcortical centers causes increased activity of a number of internal organs. In this regard, the experience of feelings is accompanied by a change in the rhythm of breathing (a person suffocates from excitement, breathes heavily and intermittently) and cardiac activity (the heart stops or beats hard), the blood supply to individual parts of the body changes (they blush from shame, turn pale from horror), the functioning of secretory glands (tears from grief, drying up in the mouth during excitement, “cold” sweat from fear), etc. These processes occurring in the internal organs of the body are relatively easy to register and self-observe, and therefore, from ancient times, they were often taken as the cause feelings. In our word usage, the expressions “the heart does not forgive”, “longing in the heart”, “conquer the heart”, etc. have survived to this day. In the light of modern physiology and psychology, the naivety of these views is obvious. What was taken as a cause is only a consequence of other processes occurring in the human brain.

The cerebral cortex under normal conditions has an inhibitory effect on the subcortical centers, and thus the external expressions of feelings are restrained. If the cerebral cortex comes into a state of excessive excitation when exposed to stimuli of great strength, when overworked, when intoxicated, then as a result of irradiation, the centers lying below the cortex are also overexcited, as a result of which the usual restraint disappears. And if in the subcortical nodes of the hemispheres and the diencephalon, in the case of negative induction, the process of wide inhibition spreads, there is oppression, weakening or stiffness of muscle movements, a decline in cardiovascular activity and respiration, etc. Thus, when experiencing feelings, in emotional states, there is and increase and decrease in the intensity of different aspects of human life.

Recently, physiological research has revealed the importance of certain highly specialized brain structures for the emergence of emotional states. The experiments were carried out on animals that were implanted with electrodes in certain parts of the hypothalamus (experiments by D. Olds).

When some areas were irritated, the subjects experienced clearly pleasant, emotionally positive sensations, which they actively sought to renew. These areas were called “pleasure centers.” When other brain structures were irritated by electric current, it was noticed that the animal experienced negative emotions and tried in every possible way to avoid the situation of impact on these areas, which were therefore called “suffering centers”. It has been established that there is a connection between different areas responsible for the occurrence of negative emotions - the “centers of suffering”, located in different parts of the brain, form a single system. In this regard, negative emotions are experienced in a rather uniform way, signaling a general ill-being of the body. At the same time, centers specialized in the production positive emotions, are less related to each other, which is the basis for a greater diversity, a more differentiated picture of positive emotions.

Of course, in the features of the functioning of the human brain, one should not see a direct analogy with the physiology of emotional states in animals, however, it is obviously possible to put forward reasonable hypotheses based on the above facts about the physiological prerequisites for the emergence of human emotions.

Essential data for understanding the nature of emotions were also obtained from the study of the functional asymmetry of the brain. In particular, it turned out that left hemisphere to a greater extent associated with the emergence and maintenance of positive emotions, and the right - with negative emotions.

All studies of the physiological foundations of emotions clearly show their polar nature: pleasure - displeasure, pleasure - suffering, pleasant - unpleasant, etc. This polarity of emotional states is based on the specialization of brain structures and the laws of physiological processes.

A feeling is sometimes experienced only as a pleasant, unpleasant or mixed shade of any mental process. At the same time, it is realized not in itself, but as a property of objects or actions, and we say: a pleasant person, an unpleasant aftertaste, a terrible bull, a funny expression, tender foliage, a merry walk, etc. Often this sensual tone turns out to be the result of former strong experiences, echoes of past experience. Sometimes it serves as an indicator of whether the object satisfies or does not satisfy the person, the activity is successful or unsuccessful. For example, the same geometric problem may be accompanied by different feelings depending on the success of its solution.

Satisfaction or dissatisfaction of needs gives rise to specific experiences in a person, which take on various forms: emotions, affects, moods, stressful conditions, and feelings proper (in the narrow sense of the word). Often the words “emotion” and “feeling” are used interchangeably. In a narrower sense, emotion is the immediate, temporary experience of some more permanent feeling. In the exact translation into Russian, “emotion” is emotional excitement, spiritual movement. Emotion is called, for example, not the very feeling of love for music, as a rooted feature of a person, but the state of pleasure, admiration that he experiences when listening to good music performed well at a concert. The same feeling is experienced in the form of a negative emotion of indignation when listening to a piece of music in poor performance. Let's take another example. Fear or fear as a feeling, that is, the prevailing peculiar attitude towards certain objects, their combinations or life situations, can be experienced in emotional processes that differ from each other: sometimes a person runs away from the terrible, and sometimes becomes numb and freezes from fear, finally, he can from fear and despair to rush towards danger.

In some cases, emotions are effective. They become motivations for actions, for statements, increase the tension of forces and are called sthenic. With joy, a person is ready to “turn mountains”. Experiencing sympathy for a comrade, he is looking for a way to help him. With an effective emotion, it is difficult for a person to remain silent, it is difficult not to act actively. In other cases, emotions (called asthenic) are characterized by passivity or contemplation, the experience of feelings relaxes a person. From fear, his legs may buckle. Sometimes, experiencing a strong feeling, a person withdraws into himself, closes. Sympathy then remains a good but fruitless emotional experience, shame turns into secret painful remorse.

Affects are called emotional processes that quickly take possession of a person and proceed rapidly. They are characterized by significant changes in consciousness, impaired control over actions, loss of self-control, as well as a change in the entire vital activity of the organism. Affects are short-lived, since they immediately cause an enormous expenditure of energy: they look like a flash of feeling, an explosion, a flurry that has flown. If the ordinary emotion is emotional excitement, then the affect is a storm.

The development of affect is characterized by various stages that replace each other. Overwhelmed by an affective outburst of rage, horror, confusion, wild delight, despair, a person at different moments reflects the world unequally, expresses his experiences in different ways, controls himself and regulates his movements in different ways.

At the beginning of an affective state, a person cannot but think about the object of his feeling and about what is connected with it, involuntarily distracting himself from everything extraneous, even practically important. Expressive movements become more and more unconscious. Tears and sobs, laughter and cries, characteristic gestures and facial expressions, rapid or labored breathing create the usual picture of growing affect. From a strong tension, small movements are upset. Inductive inhibition increasingly covers the cortex of the hemispheres, which leads to disorganization of thinking; excitation increases in the subcortical nodes. A person experiences a persistent urge to succumb to the experienced feeling: fear, anger, despair, etc. Every normal person can restrain himself, not lose power over himself at this stage. Here it is important to delay the onset of affect, to slow down its development. A well-known folk remedy: if you want to restrain yourself, try to count to yourself at least up to ten.

In the further stages of affect, if they come, the person loses control over himself, committing already unconscious and reckless actions, which later he will be ashamed to remember and which are sometimes remembered as if through a dream. Inhibition covers the cortex and extinguishes the existing systems of temporary connections, in which the experience of a person, his cultural and moral foundations are fixed. After an affective outburst comes weakness, loss of strength, indifference to everything, immobility, sometimes drowsiness.

It should be noted that any feeling can in some cases be experienced in an affective form. For example, there are cases of affective delight in stadiums or in the auditorium. Affective experiences of “crazy” love are well studied in psychology and even better described in fiction. Even scientific discoveries after many years of stubborn searching, they are sometimes accompanied by a stormy flash of triumph and joy. We can say that an affect is bad or good, depending on what kind of feeling is experienced by a person and how much a person controls himself in an affective state.

Mood is a general emotional state that colors all human behavior for a considerable time. The mood is joyful or sad, cheerful or lethargic, excited or depressed, serious or frivolous, irritable or good-natured, etc. Being in a bad mood, a person reacts to a friend’s joke or remark in a completely different way than in a cheerful mood.

Typically, moods are characterized by lack of accountability and weak expression. The person doesn't even notice them. But sometimes the mood, for example, cheerful and cheerful or, conversely, dreary, acquires significant intensity. Then it leaves its mark on mental activity (on the train of thought, ease of thinking), and on the characteristics of the movements and actions of a person, even affecting the productivity of the work performed.

Mood can have very different immediate and more distant sources. The main sources of moods are satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the whole course of life, in particular, with how relationships develop at work, in the family, at school, how all sorts of contradictions that arise at work are resolved. life path person. Prolonged bad or sluggish mood of a person is an indicator that something in his life is unfavorable.

Moods are highly dependent on the general state of health, in particular on the state of nervous system and endocrine glands that regulate metabolism.

Individual diseases can also greatly affect the general mood of a person. Physical education and sports are very useful for improving mood, but the content of the activity, satisfaction with it and the moral support of the team or loved one are especially important.

The sources of mood are not always clear to the person experiencing it. However, the mood always depends on any reasons, and one should be able to understand them. So, a bad mood can be caused by an unfulfilled promise, an unwritten, although a promised letter, an unfinished business. All this gradually oppresses a person, although he often says that he “simply”, “it is not known why” is in a bad mood. In this case, it is necessary to find out and, if possible, eliminate the objective reasons that give rise to such a state (keep your word, write a letter, finish the work you have begun, etc.).

A special form of experiencing feelings, close in its psychological characteristics to affect, but in duration approaching moods, is stressful conditions (from the English word stress - pressure, tension), or emotional stress. Emotional stress occurs in situations of danger, resentment, shame, threats, etc. The intensity of affect is far from always achieved, the state of a person under stress is characterized by disorganization of behavior and speech, which manifests itself in some cases in erratic activity, in other cases - in passivity, inactivity in situations where decisive action must be taken. At the same time, when stress is insignificant, it can contribute to the mobilization of forces, the activation of activity. Danger, as it were, spurs a person on, makes him act boldly and courageously. The behavior of an individual in stressful conditions significantly depends on the type of the human nervous system, the strength or weakness of his nervous processes. The exam situation usually well reveals a person's resistance to the so-called stressful (i.e., generating emotional stress) influences. Some of the examinees are lost, find “memory lapses”, cannot concentrate on the content of the question, others on the exam are more collected and active than in everyday circumstances.

The experience of feelings in the form of emotions, affects, moods, stressful conditions, as a rule, is accompanied by more or less noticeable external manifestations. These include expressive facial movements (facial expressions), gestures, postures, intonations, dilation or contraction of the pupils. These expressive movements in some cases occur unconsciously, and in others - under the control of consciousness. In the latter case, they can be deliberately used in the process of communication, acting as non-verbal communication means. With clenched fists, narrowed eyes, threatening intonations, a person demonstrates his indignation to those around him.

The following basic emotional states can be distinguished (according to K. Izard - “fundamental emotions”), each of which has its own spectrum psychological characteristics and external manifestations.

Interest (as an emotion) - positive emotional condition, contributing to the development of skills and abilities, the acquisition of knowledge, motivating learning.

Joy is a positive emotional state associated with the ability to sufficiently fully satisfy an urgent need, the probability of which up to this point was small or, in any case, uncertain.

Surprise is an emotional reaction that does not have a clearly expressed positive or negative sign to sudden circumstances. Surprise inhibits all previous emotions, directing attention to the object that caused it, and can turn into interest.

Suffering is a negative emotional state associated with received reliable or seemingly such information about the impossibility of satisfying the most important vital needs, which up to this point seemed more or less likely, most often occurs in the form emotional stress. Suffering has the character of an asthenic (weakening a person) emotion.

Anger is an emotional state, negative in sign, as a rule, proceeding in the form of affect and caused by the sudden appearance of a serious obstacle to satisfying an extremely important need for the subject. Unlike suffering, anger has a sthenic character (that is, it causes an increase, albeit short-lived, of vitality).

Disgust is a negative emotional state caused by objects (objects, people, circumstances, etc.), contact with which (physical interaction, communication in communication, etc.) comes into sharp conflict with the ideological, moral or aesthetic principles and attitudes of the subject. Disgust, when combined with anger, can motivate in interpersonal relationships aggressive behavior, where the attack is motivated by anger, and disgust is motivated by the desire to "get rid of someone or something."

Contempt is a negative emotional state that occurs in interpersonal relationships and is generated by a mismatch of life positions, views and behavior of the subject with life positions, views and behavior of the object of feeling. The latter are presented to the subject as base, not corresponding to accepted moral standards and aesthetic criteria. One of the consequences of contempt is the depersonalization of the individual or group to which it refers.

Fear is a negative emotional state that appears when the subject receives information about the possible damage to his life well-being, about the real or imagined danger that threatens him. Unlike the emotion of suffering caused by direct blocking of the most important needs, a person experiencing the emotion of fear has only a probabilistic forecast of possible trouble and acts on the basis of this (often insufficiently reliable or exaggerated) forecast. You can recall the popular saying: "Fear has big eyes." The emotion of fear can be both sthenic and asthenic in nature (“Fear of fear buckled”) and proceed either in the form of stressful conditions, or in the form of a stable mood of depression and anxiety, or in the form of affect (horror as an extreme version of the emotion of fear).

Shame is a negative state, expressed in the realization of the inconsistency of one's own thoughts, actions and appearance not only with the expectations of others, but also with one's own ideas about proper behavior and appearance.

The above list of basic emotional states (the total number of emotions whose names are recorded in dictionaries is huge) is not subject to any classification scheme.

Each of the listed emotions can be represented as a gradation of states that increase in severity: calm satisfaction, joy, delight, glee, ecstasy, etc., or shyness, embarrassment, shame, guilt, etc., or displeasure, chagrin , suffering, grief. It should not be assumed that if six of the nine basic emotional states have negative character, this means that positive emotional states have a smaller share in the general register of human emotions. Apparently, a greater variety of negative emotions makes it possible to more successfully adapt to adverse circumstances, the nature of which is successfully and subtly signaled by negative emotional states.

Feelings are not always unambiguous. An emotional state can contain two opposing feelings in a peculiar combination; for example, love and hate are combined during the experience of jealousy (the phenomenon of ambivalence of feelings).

The great English naturalist Charles Darwin suggested that the expressive movements accompanying human feelings originated from the instinctive movements of his animal ancestors. The clenched fists and bared teeth of the ancient great apes were unconditioned reflex defensive reactions that forced the enemy to keep a respectful distance.

Human feelings, being by origin associated with complex unconditioned reflexes, nevertheless, are of a social nature. The fundamental difference between the feelings of man and animals is revealed, firstly, in the fact that they are immeasurably more complicated in people than in animals, even in those cases when analogous feelings are involved; this becomes obvious when comparing anger, fear, curiosity, cheerful and depressed states in both, both in terms of the causes of their occurrence, and in terms of the characteristics of their manifestation.

Secondly, a person has many such feelings that animals do not have. The wealth of relationships that arise between people in the labor, political, cultural, family life, led to the emergence of many purely human feelings. Thus, contempt, pride, envy, triumph, boredom, respect, a sense of duty, etc. arise. Each of these feelings has its own specific ways of expression (in intonations of speech, in facial expressions, gestures, laughter, tears, etc.) .

Thirdly, a person masters his feelings, restraining their inappropriate manifestations. Often people, experiencing strong and vivid feelings, remain calm on the outside, sometimes they consider it necessary to make an indifferent appearance so as not to reveal their feelings. A person sometimes even tries to express other, opposite feelings in order to contain or hide the real ones; smiles at the moment of grief or severe pain, makes a serious face when you want to laugh.



There is a wide range of hypotheses affecting the probable causes of emotional phenomena.

Emotion as biofeedback from organs involved in expression. One of the first concepts describing the causes of emotional experience, which has retained its significance to this day, is the concept proposed by W. James and S. Lange (James, 1884; Lange, 1895). These researchers lived in different countries and at the same time independently put forward similar ideas. They explained the emergence of emotional experience by the functioning of the feedback mechanism from the effector organs involved in the expression of emotion. According to this notion, we are sad because we cry, angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble, happy because we laugh. Thus, in this concept, the relationship between awareness of emotion and behavior

Its first expression is the opposite of the obviously observed one: awareness of the emotional state occurs after a physiological reaction.

This hypothesis was initially rejected due to the existence of a significant number of facts that contradict it. However, many researchers are now returning to it again. This is because psychotherapeutic practice relies heavily on the existence of such feedback, and includes techniques such as smiling to change mood or relaxing muscles to calm down.

The importance of feedback from effectors is also confirmed by neurological practice (Hohman, 1966). So, when examining patients with spinal cord injuries, a clear pattern is found, according to which, the higher the level of damage, the less the intensity of emotions experienced by these patients.

Experiments also support the value of reverse stimulation from effectors. In one of the studies, subjects were asked to change the tension of those facial muscles that corresponded to a certain emotion, but nothing was said about the emotion itself (Ekman e. a., 1983; Levenson e. a., 1990). So mimically reproduced the expression of fear, anger, surprise, disgust, grief, happiness. At the moment of muscle tension, vegetative functions were recorded. The results indicated that simulated expression did change the state of the autonomic nervous system. When imitation of anger, heartbeats became more frequent and body temperature rose, when fear was reproduced, the heart rate increased, but the body temperature fell, when simulating a state of happiness, only a slowdown of the heartbeat was noted.

The physiological substantiation of the possibility of participation of reverse stimulation in the formation of psychological experience can be such a sequence of events. During a person's life, classical conditioned reflexes are formed, associatively linking changes in the facial muscles with one or another state of the autonomic nervous system. That is why feedback from the facial muscles can be accompanied by vegetative changes.

So far, there is no reason to reject the possibility that these connections may be innate. Evidence of the possibility of such an assumption may be the fact that when observing other people's emotions, people involuntarily repeat them. Any of those reading these lines, looking at the drawing (Fig. 13.6), cannot intuitively follow the emotion depicted on it.

It is possible that the conditioned reflex connection connecting emotional manifestation and mental experiences arises at very early stages of ontogenesis in the corresponding critical period. It can be so close to the moment of birth and be so brief that it leads to an illusory idea of ​​the innate nature of this kind of connection.

Emotion as the activity of brain structures. W. Cannon (Cannon, 1927) and P. Bard (Bard, 1929) proposed a concept, the essence of which is

that psychological awareness and physiological response in the process of emotional response occurs almost at the same time. Information about the emotional signal enters the thalamus, from it simultaneously to the cerebral cortex, which leads to awareness, and to the hypothalamus, which leads to a change in the vegetative status of the body (Fig. 13.8). Further research has revealed a significant number of brain structures involved in the formation of emotion.

Hypothalamus. WITH using the technique of self-irritation, the pleasure center was discovered (Olds, Fobes, 1981). In such an experiment, electrodes implanted in the brain of a rat, a pedal contact, and a source of electric current are included in one circuit. Moving, the rat could press the pedal. If the electrodes were implanted in the area of ​​the lateral hypothalamus, then after a single pressing the rat did not stop doing it. Some of them stepped on the pedal up to 1000 times an hour and died because they stopped performing the actions necessary for survival.

It is possible to change the emotional state of an animal by introducing certain biological active substances in certain areas of the hypothalamus (Iktmoto, Panksepp, 1996). The role of this brain structure in emotional response has been demonstrated many times. In the lateral hypothalamus

Rice. 13.8. The Kennon-Bard model assumes the simultaneous flow of information from the thalamus to the cortex and subcortical structures.

soul, two types of neurons have been identified that respond differently to emotional situations. One type of neurons was called motivational, since it showed maximum activity in motivational behavior, and the other type was called reinforcing, since these cells were activated when the animal was satiated (Zaichenko et al., 1995).

Tonsil (amygdala). X. Kluver and P. Bucy (Kluver, Bucy, 1939) removed the temporal lobes of the cerebral cortex in monkeys and described a syndrome later named after them. In the monkey, which was an aggressive alpha male before the operation, after extirpation of the temporal lobe, the former aggressiveness and fear disappeared, but hypersexuality was revealed. On the one hand, these data indicate the importance of the temporal lobes for the development of aggression; on the other hand, they demonstrate the existence of a reciprocal relationship between sexuality and aggressiveness. This contradicts the view of K. Lorenz (Lorenz, 1969), who asserted the identity of aggressiveness and male sexuality, since, from his point of view, sexual behavior is an integral part of aggressive behavior.

It has been established that Klüver-Bucy syndrome is caused by the absence of the amygdala. It has now been proven that this structure forms the body's response to an aversive stimulus (causing an avoidance response). Any emotional response is associated with the circumstances in which it occurs. This is how a classic conditioned reflex is developed, where the reinforcement is one or another emotional state of the body. This type of learning is called conditioned emotional response.

The amygdala plays a role in several types of emotional behavior: aggression, fear, disgust, maternal behavior. This structure is the focus of the sensory and effector systems, responsible for the behavioral, autonomic and hormonal components of the conditioned emotional response, activating the corresponding neural circuits located in the hypothalamus and brain stem.

J.E. LeDoux (1987) showed that the central nucleus of the amygdala is necessary for the development of a conditioned emotional response, since in its absence it was not possible to develop a reflex (Fig. 13.9). As can be seen from the figure, the amygdala is associated with the lateral hypothalamus, which is responsible for the autonomic component of the emotional response, and with the periaqueductal gray matter, which organizes the behavioral response. The amygdala also has projections to the hypothalamus involved in the release of stress hormones. That is why irritation of the central nucleus of the tonsil leads to ulceration of the gastrointestinal tract. However, when the tonsil is surgically removed, an ulcer does not form under stress. Apparently, it implements this function through the caudate nucleus.

Sensory association cortex analyzes complex stimuli of sufficient complexity. Although individual emotional reactions in a person are caused by simple stimuli, most of them are quite complex, for example, the appearance of a person in the field of vision. The amygdala receives information from the inferior temporal cortex and the cortex of the temporal tubercle. To the latter are projections from the visual, auditory and

Rice. 13.9. Involvement of the amygdala in the formation of a conditioned emotional response (Carlson, 1992).

somatosensory association cortex. Thus, the amygdala has information of any modality.

D and. L. Downer in the experiment destroyed the left amygdala in monkeys, simultaneously performing commissurotomy (Downer, 1961). Thus, the left half of the brain was deprived of a structure synthesizing information from all sensory inputs, and could not compensate for this lack of information from the right hemisphere. Prior to the operation, touching the monkey caused an aggressive reaction. After the operation, this behavior was evoked only when the animal looked with the right eye. When viewed with the left eye, there was no aggressiveness. This suggests, in particular, that the right hemisphere of the brain is of particular importance for emotional reactions.

The role of the thalamus in the implementation of the conditioned emotional response. Most of the emotional reactions are quite primitive, since they arose quite early on the path of evolutionary development. The destruction of the auditory cortex does not entail the absence of an emotional conditioned response, while the destruction of the thalamus inevitably leads to the impossibility of its development.

For the formation of a conditioned emotional response to sound, the preservation of the medial part of the medial geniculate body, which sends auditory information to the primary auditory cortex of the cerebral hemispheres, is necessary (Fig. 13.10). In addition, the neurons of the medial geniculate body project into the amygdala. The destruction of these connections leads to the impossibility of developing an emotional conditioned response to a sound signal. In the same way, in order to develop a conditioned emotional response to a visual signal, the lateral geniculate bodies that carry visual information to the brain must be preserved.

Orbitofrontal cortex located at the base of the frontal lobes (Fig. 13.11). It has direct inputs from the dorsomedial thalamus, temporal cortex, and ventromedial tegmental area. Indirect connections go to it from the amygdala and olfactory cortex, are projected into the singular cortex, the hippocampal system, the temporal cortex, the lateral hypothalamus, and the amygdala. It is connected in multiple ways to other areas of the frontal lobes of the brain.

Rice. 13.10. Medial section of the brain through the medial geniculate body, which receives information from the auditory systems and projects to subcortical structures (Carlson, 1992)

The role of the orbitofrontal cortex first began to be determined in the middle of the 19th century. Important information about the function of this area in emotional behavior was provided by the case of the bomber Phineas Gage. The metal rod ejected by the explosion pierced the frontal part of his brain. Gage survived, but his behavior changed significantly. If before the injury he was serious and thorough, then after this incident he turned into a frivolous and irresponsible person. His behavior was characterized by childishness and carelessness, it was difficult for him to draw up a plan for future actions, and his actions themselves were capricious and random.

Rice. 13.11. Orbitofrontal cortex.

Such injuries reduce the processes of inhibition and self-concentration, change personal interests. Back in the 40s of the XX century, a lot of material was collected on the role of the orbitofrontal cortex in emotional behavior. Most of the data indicated that damage to it, changing the emotional sphere of a person, does not affect the intellectual level.

For example, in one curious case, a person suffered from a syndrome of obsession, which manifested itself in the constant washing of hands. This anomaly prevented him from leading a normal life and eventually led to a suicide attempt. The patient shot himself in the head through the mouth, but survived, although he damaged the frontal cortex. At the same time, obsession disappeared, and the intellectual level remained the same.

Numerous studies on the destruction of the orbitofrontal cortex,

conducted on animals, testified to a significant change in their behavior: the disappearance of aggressiveness and the absence of visible intellectual deviations. This led the Portuguese scientist Egas Moniz to the idea of ​​convincing neurosurgeons to perform a similar operation on humans. He believed that such an operation could remove a pathological emotional state from aggressive psychopaths, while keeping their intelligence intact. Several such operations were actually carried out, and their results confirmed the original thought of the author. For this, E. Moniz received the Nobel Prize in 1949.

Later, this operation, called lobotomy performed on thousands of patients. Especially many of these surgical interventions were performed on American soldiers who returned after World War II with a syndrome that later became known as the “Vietnamese”, “Afghan”, etc. an alarming situation to start a physical attack without having time to consider whether such a reaction is justified. In all other respects, they do not differ from the norm, being, moreover, physically healthy and able-bodied. It is now obvious that E. Monitz was wrong, since lobotomy leads not only to a decrease in the intellectual level, but, no less important, to irresponsible behavior. Such patients cease to plan their actions, take responsibility for them and, as a result, lose their ability to work and live independently. Lobotomy as an operation was quite well developed and was carried out not even in the operating room, but in a regular doctor's office. It was performed with a special knife called transorbital leisotome. The surgeon, using a wooden mallet, inserted a knife into the brain through a hole made just below the upper eyelid, and then turned it right and left to the orbital bone near the eye. Essentially, the operation was performed in the dark, because it was not clear where the knife was located or what structures it cut, so there was more damage than necessary, although the main consequence was the separation of the prefrontal region from the rest of the brain (Carlson, 1992).

The results of NMR tomography indicate that the more the activity of the prefrontal cortex, the left temporal region (tonsil), the bridge, the greater the amplitude of the approximate GSR (Raine et al., 1991). It is now believed that the orbitofrontal cortex is included in the evaluation of the sequence of actions. If this area is damaged by a disease, then the subject can theoretically assess the emotional significance of the stimulus, i.e., he can easily analyze situations in pictures and diagrams. However, he will not be able to apply this knowledge in life. Similarly, Gage, who was mentioned earlier, lost one job after another, spent all his savings, and eventually lost his family.

It can be assumed that the orbitofrontal cortex is not directly involved in the decision-making process, but ensures the translation of these decisions into life, into specific feelings and behavior. The ventral connections of this area of ​​the cortex with the diencephalon and the temporal area bring to it information about the emotional significance of the signal. Dorsal connections to the singular cortex allow it to influence both behavior and autonomy.

Rice. 13.12. Singular bark (Carlson, 1992).

Singular bark plays an important role in the formation of emotional experience (Fig. 13.12). J.W. Papez (1937) suggested that the singular cortex, entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and thalamus form a circle that is directly related to motivation and emotion. Psychologist P.D. MacLean (1949) also included the amygdala in this system and called it limbic. The singular cortex provides an interface between the decision-making structures in the frontal cortex, the emotional structures of the limbic system, and the brain mechanisms that control movement. It interacts back and forth with the rest of the limbic system and other areas of the frontal cortex. Electrical stimulation of the singular gyrus can cause the experience of positive or negative emotions (Talairach e. ​​A., 1973).

Damage to the singular cortex is associated with akinetic mutism, in which patients refuse to speak and move. Significant trauma to this area is incompatible with life. There is reason to believe that it plays an initiating role in emotional behavior.

The difficulties that arise when trying to draw a directly distinguishable line between emotional and non-emotional phenomena force us to look for the distinguishing features of emotions in a broader context of their manifestation, in particular in external and internal conditions their occurrence. Existing concepts differ in the importance they attach to this issue: if for some of them it is one of many, then for others it is one of the central issues under consideration. The latter include, for example, the theories of W. James, J.-P. Sartre, P.K. Anokhin, P.V. Simonov, a group of so-called "conflict" theories. In response to the question under consideration, it is usually recognized that emotions arise in cases where something significant for the individual occurs. Differences begin when trying to clarify the nature and degree of significance of an event that can excite emotion. If for W. Wundt or N. Groth any perceived event is significant, i.e. emotional already by virtue of the fact that at the moment of perception it is a part of the life of an individual who does not know an impartial state and is able to find at least a slight shade of interesting, unexpected, unpleasant, etc. in everything, then, according to R.S. Lazarus, emotions arise in those exceptional cases when, on the basis of cognitive processes, a conclusion is made about the presence, on the one hand, of some threat, on the other hand, the impossibility of avoiding it. However, these outwardly so different points of view are not mutually exclusive, they just talk about different things. In the work of Lazarus, a scheme is given for the emergence of only those "obvious" emotional states that, in the terminology adopted in Soviet psychology, should rather be attributed to affects. In a very similar way, Claparede presents the emergence of emotions-affects, however, his concept states that a preliminary assessment of the threat is not made by intellectual processes, as Lazarus believes, but by a special class of emotional phenomena - feelings.

Thus, the solution of the question of the conditions for the emergence of emotions is determined primarily by what particular class of emotional phenomena is discussed in a particular work. With a broad interpretation of emotions, their occurrence is associated with stable, ordinary conditions of existence, such as reflection of an impact or object (emotions express their subjective meaning), exacerbation of needs (emotions signal this to the subject), etc. With a narrow understanding of emotions, they are considered as a reaction to more specific conditions, such as the frustration of a need, the impossibility of adequate behavior, the conflict situation, an unforeseen development of events, etc. regarding the conditions of their occurrence and, consequently, the inevitable limitations of attempts to cover these conditions in some generalized principle or position. These attempts are capable of arming us with knowledge as abstract as the concept of "emotion in general", and brought to the full coverage in them of the whole variety of emotional phenomena, they can only state (as a generalization of existing points of view shows) the dual conditionality of emotions: on the one hand, needs (motivation), on the other hand, the characteristics of influences.

One can get an idea of ​​the complexity of the path that must be traversed in order to reflect in theory the real complexity of emotional life by an unsurpassed analysis of the conditions for the emergence of emotions in the teachings of B. Spinoza. It shows that the emergence of emotions, along with such analyzed in modern theories conditions, such as frustration, violation of life constants or a reflection of the possibility of achieving goals, are influenced by many other factors: associations by similarity and time, reflection of causal relationships, the “fate” of the objects of our feelings, empathy, the idea of ​​​​the justice of what is happening, etc. Of course, this material needs in adaptation to modern ideas and terminology, but, on the other hand, he reveals many aspects of the problem that are clearly lacking in these ideas.

The history of psychology has been dominated by the tradition of isolating emotional processes into a separate sphere, opposed to the sphere of knowledge in a fundamental distinction, for example, mind and heart, feelings and cognition, intellect and affect. The tendency to recognize, when comparing these spheres, the primacy and advantage of the processes of cognition is also quite pronounced. The extreme position in this regard was called intellectualism, various directions of which considered emotions as a property or variety of sensations, as a result of the interaction of ideas, or a special kind of cognition. The intellectualistic interpretation of emotions also occupies a strong position in modern foreign psychology. So, in the works of R.U. Leeper's development of arguments in favor of the motivating function of emotions ends somewhat unexpectedly with the assertion that emotions are the essence of perception.

Obviously, the views that reduce emotions to processes of cognition, and, on the other hand, recognize in one form or another only the secondary nature of emotions, their dependence on cognitive reflection, differ fundamentally. There are also differences in the degree of validity of these two points of view: the first is based mainly on theoretical concepts, while the second is also confirmed by clear phenomenological data stated in the statements that emotions accompany, “color” the cognitively reflected content, evaluate and express its subjective meaning. . Indeed, we are delighted or indignant, saddened or proud of someone or something, our feelings, thoughts, states, adventures, etc., are pleasant or painful. One might think that it is precisely because of its obviousness that the objectivity of emotions is recognized in a number of theories without much emphasis. Meanwhile, there is reason to assert that it is this particular feature of them that is central to characterizing the relationship of emotions to the processes of cognition.

The objectivity of emotions excludes the interpretation that puts them next to the processes of cognition, and requires the idea of ​​the emotional sphere as a separate layer of the mental, as if built on top of the cognitive image and occupying a position between it and internal mental formations (needs, experience, etc.). With such a “localization”, emotions easily fit into the structure of the image as a carrier of a subjective attitude to what is reflected in it (this characteristic of emotions is very common). It also makes it easier to understand both the aforementioned dual conditioning of emotions (needs and situations) and their complex relationship with cognitive processes.

According to a number of concepts, some directly emotional event can cause the formation of new emotional attitudes to various circumstances associated with this event, and the cognitive image serves as the basis for such development of the emotional process. Thus, strong emotions are able to give an emotional coloring to almost everything that is somehow connected with the situation of their occurrence (A.R. Luria, Ya.M. Kalashnik). In more common cases, the subject of new emotional relations are the conditions and signals of direct emotional influences. According to one of the central definitions of B. Spinoza, everything that is known by the subject as the cause of pleasure-displeasure becomes the object of love-hate. In all such cases, the emotional process, as it were, follows the paths laid by the processes of cognition, submitting in its development to those connections that are seen by the subject in objective reality. However, it is important to emphasize that the processes of cognition here control only the development of the emotional process, in the initial generation of which it is not cognition itself that is of decisive importance, but the correspondence of what is cognized to the needs of the individual.

But in relation to cognitive processes emotions act not only in the passive role of a "slave" process. There is compelling evidence that emotions, in turn, are the most important factor regulation of cognitive processes. So, emotional coloring is one of the conditions that determine involuntary attention and memorization, the same factor can significantly facilitate or hinder the voluntary regulation of these processes; the influence of emotions on the processes of imagination and fantasy is well known; with an indefinite stimulus material or with a pronounced intensity, emotions can even distort the processes of perception; depends on emotions whole line characteristics of speech, data are accumulating about their subtle regulating influence on thought processes. It should be noted that these diverse and very important manifestations of emotions are studied mainly in experimental psychology, while less attention is paid to them in theoretical works.

Thus, directing emotions to causes, signals, etc. significant events, the processes of cognition thereby determine their own destiny, subsequently directing their emotions to these causes, etc. to get to know them better and find out the best way to behave. Only such a complementary influence of the spheres of intellect and affect, which are responsible, respectively, for reflecting the objective conditions of activity and the subjective significance of these conditions, ensures the achievement of the ultimate goal of activity - the satisfaction of needs.

This question, as it were, continues the previous one along the line of localization of emotions in the mental system, however, it no longer covers the topological, but the functional characteristics of the emotional sphere, in other words, it considers the localization of emotions not so much in the system of psychological formations, but in the system of forces that bring these formations into movement. It can be said right away that the solution of this question is most directly related to the initial postulate about the scope of the class of phenomena classified as emotional, and depends on whether specific experiences that have a stimulating character are added to it - desires, drives, aspirations, etc.

It is obvious that the problem of the nature of the processes that induce activity is not just one of the internal problems of the psychology of emotions. From its decision follow far-reaching conceptual conclusions concerning the fundamental understanding of the psychic. So, it is this problem that is the key to distinguishing in the history of psychology dichotomous (intellect - affect) and trichotomous (cognition - feeling - will) schemes of the mental. In modern psychology, it is not so acute, but its significance continues to be defended by the so-called motivational theories of emotions.

We must not forget that the problem of determining behavior has always attracted the attention of researchers, although the section of motivation within which this problem is currently being studied is relatively new for psychology. If the barrier created by the introduction of new terminology into psychology is overcome, the history of the development of ideas about the relationship between emotions and motivation will turn out to be very long and rich. The teachings of B. Spinoza, for example, undoubtedly belong to motivational (in the modern sense) theories. In the concepts of W. Wundt and N. Groth, who separate motivating experiences from emotional ones, the latter nevertheless remain an inevitable link in the development of motivation processes.

Separation in the psychology of the section of motivation is associated with the shift of the interests of researchers from the nearest, immediate causes of behavior to more and more distant and indirect ones. Indeed, to fully explain a certain act, it is clearly not enough to say that it was performed because of a desire that arose. A specific action always corresponds to some more general life attitude, determined by the needs and values ​​of the subject, his habits, past experience, etc., which in turn are determined even more general patterns biological and social development, and only in this context can it receive its true causal explanation. The problem of motivation in the broad sense in which it stands in psychological science as a whole presupposes the clarification of all the factors and determinants that induce, guide, and support the behavior of a living being.

Only a person has the opportunity to know the true reasons for his behavior, but the mistakes that he usually makes in this case indicate that this knowledge is based on indirect reflection and conjectures. On the other hand, the subject clearly experiences the emotional urges that arise in him, and it is by them that he is actually guided in life, unless other motives prevent this (for example, the desire not to harm others, to be faithful to a sense of duty, etc.). This simple fact underlies the concepts that say that emotions (including desires) motivate behavior.

Naturally, this position is completely unacceptable for authors who see a fundamental difference between emotions and motivating experiences, referring the latter to will or motivation, or ignoring them altogether (which is very typical of modern psychology). The paradigm of such concepts is as follows: behavior is determined by needs and motives; emotions arise in specific situations (for example, frustration, conflict, success-failure) and perform their specific functions in them (for example, activation, mobilization, consolidation).

During the formation of psychology as an independent science at the turn of the 20th century, this second point of view practically replaced the tradition of a unified interpretation of emotional and motivational processes, characteristic of the entire previous period of development of ideas about emotions, and the modern academic scheme for presenting psychology interprets motivation and emotions as two relatively separate problems. , the connections between which are comparable, for example, with the connections between perception and attention, or memory and thinking. However, as is often the case, strengthening the positions of one of the opposing sides activates the actions of the other. It seems that it was this mechanism that led to the appearance in the psychology of emotions of a number of works advocating the functional unity of emotional and need-motivational processes. Old ideas began to be most vigorously defended in Russian literature - L.I. Petrazhitsky, in a foreign one, several decades later - R.U. Leaper.

Summing up the discussion of the motivating function of emotions in foreign psychological literature, M. Arnold states: “The relationship between emotions and motivation, depicted in theoretical literature, remains completely unclear. Although it has been argued time and time again that emotions motivate, hardly anyone has been able to come forward and unequivocally explain exactly how this happens. There is no exaggeration in these words. So, E. Duffy, defending in one of his works the need for a unified interpretation of motivational and emotional processes, at the same time argues that both terms - motivation and emotion - are simply redundant in the psychological dictionary.

The disappointing nature of the present picture should come as no surprise for at least two reasons. Firstly, the positions of parallelism and positivism, within which modern motivational theories of emotions are formulated, do not allow the selection of the world of subjective experiences as a separate link in the processes of regulation, while it is this condition that makes it possible not only to formally combine, but also to distinguish between motivational and emotional processes in single interpretation. Secondly, while actually calling for a return to old forgotten ideas, motivational theories do not use the experience gained in their development in the past. Meanwhile, this experience is quite rich, and accusations of failure to explain "how exactly emotions motivate" would be unfair to him.

A genuine functional interpretation of emotions can be obtained only in the context of the position defended by Soviet psychology about the necessary and active participation of subjective experiences in the regulation of activity. The solution, which under these conditions is given to the question of the relationship of emotion to motivation, is conveyed in the most concentrated form by the formulation of S.L. Rubinstein, who argues that emotions are a subjective form of the existence of needs. This means that motivation is revealed to the subject in the form of emotional phenomena that signal to him about the needful significance of objects and encourage him to direct activity towards them. Emotions and motivational processes are not identified:

Being a subjective form of the existence of motivation, emotional experiences are only the final, productive form of its existence, not reflecting all those processes that prepare and determine the appearance of emotional assessments and motives.

Like many others, the question of the universality of the motivational interpretation of emotions depends on the postulated scope of phenomena that can be classified as emotional. So, according to the theory of R.U. Liper, emotions are only one of the forms of motivation responsible for inducing behavior along with such "physiologically determined" motives as hunger or physical pain. Obviously, even if the experiences of hunger and pain are not considered emotional, this does not prevent the recognition that it is they that present needs to the subject (food and self-preservation), representing a concrete-subjective form of their existence. Therefore, the solution to the question of whether all motivation is revealed to the subject in the form of emotions depends solely on how the boundary will be laid that separates experiences of an emotional and non-emotional nature.

emotion motivation universality interpretation

Bibliographic list

1. Arkhipkina O.S. Reconstruction of the subjective semantic space, meaning emotional states. - News. Moscow university Ser. Psychology. 2008, No. 2.

2. Buhler K. Spiritual development of the child. M., 2009.

3. Vasiliev I.A., Popluzhny V.L., Tikhomirov O.K. Emotions and thinking. M., 2010.

4. Vilyunas V.K. Psychology of emotional phenomena. M., 2009.

5. Woodworth R. Experimental psychology. M., 2008

10. Theories explaining the mechanisms of the emergence of emotions.

V. K. Vilyunas rightly notes that “much of what is traditionally called the promising word “theory” in the doctrine of emotions, in essence, is rather separate fragments, only in aggregate approaching ... an ideally exhaustive theory” (1984 ,

With. 6). Each of them sticks out some one aspect of the problem, thereby considering only

a special case of the occurrence of an emotion or some of its components. The trouble is that the theories created in different historical eras do not have continuity. And can there be, in principle, a unified theory for although related to each other, but still such different emotional phenomena as the emotional tone of sensations, emotions and feelings.

Since the time when philosophers and natural scientists began to seriously think about the nature and essence of emotions, two main positions have arisen. Scientists occupying one of them, intellectualistic, most clearly marked by I.-F. Herbart (1824-1825), argued that organic manifestations of emotions are the result of mental phenomena. According to Herbart, emotion is a connection that is established between representations. Emotion is a mental disorder caused by a mismatch (conflict) between ideas. This affective state involuntarily causes vegetative changes.

Representatives of another position - the sensualists - on the contrary, declared that organic reactions affect mental phenomena. F. Dufour (Dufour, 1883) wrote about this: “Have I not proved enough that the source of our natural inclination to passions lies not in the soul, but is connected with the ability of the autonomic nervous system to inform the brain about the excitation it receives, that if we cannot arbitrarily regulate the functions of blood circulation, digestion, secretion, then it is impossible, therefore, in this case, to explain by our will the violations of these functions that arose under the influence of passions ”(p. 388).

These two positions were later developed in the cognitive theories of emotions and in the peripheral theory of emotions by W. James - G. Lange.

A) evolutionary theory emotions of Ch. Darwin

Having published the book Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals in 1872, Charles Darwin showed the evolutionary path of the development of emotions and substantiated the origin of their physiological manifestations. The essence of his ideas is that emotions are either useful, or they are only remnants (rudiments) of various expedient reactions that were developed in the process of evolution in the struggle for existence. An angry person blushes, breathes heavily and clenches his fists because in his primitive history, all anger led people to a fight, and it required energetic muscle contractions and, therefore, increased breathing and blood circulation, which ensured muscle work. He attributed the sweating of the hands in fear to the fact that in the ape-like ancestors of man, this reaction in case of danger made it easier to grasp the branches of trees.

Thus, Darwin proved that in the development and manifestation of emotions there is no impassable abyss between man and animals. In particular, he showed that in the external expression of emotions, anthropoids and blind children have much in common.

The ideas expressed by Darwin served as an impetus for the creation of other theories of emotions, in particular the "peripheral" theory of W. James - G. Lange.

b) "Associative" theory of W. Wundt

The ideas of W. Wundt (1880) about emotions are rather eclectic. On the one hand, he adhered to Herbart's point of view that, to some extent, ideas influence feelings, and on the other hand, he believed that emotions are primarily internal changes characterized by the direct influence of feelings on the flow of ideas.

Wundt considers "bodily" reactions only as a consequence of feelings. By Wund-
that, facial expressions arose initially in connection with elementary sensations, both from
expression of the emotional tone of sensations; higher, more complex feelings (emo-
tion) developed later. However, when some emotion arises in the mind of a person,
then each time it evokes by association the corresponding to it, close in content
lower feeling or sensation. It is what causes those mimic movements,
that correspond to the emotional tone of sensations. So, for example, facial expressions
contempt (pushing the lower lip forward) is similar to the movement when a person
eyelid spits out something unpleasant that has fallen into his mouth.

c) Theory of W. Cannon - P. Bard

More conducted by physiologists in late XIX For centuries, experiments with the destruction of structures that conduct somatosensory and viscerosensory information to the brain led Ch. Sherrington (Sherrington, 1900) to conclude that vegetative manifestations of emotions are secondary to its brain component, which is expressed by a mental state. The James-Lange theory was also sharply criticized by the physiologist W. Kennon (Cannon, 1927), and he also had grounds for this. So, with the exclusion of all physiological manifestations in the experiment (during the dissection of the nerve pathways between the internal organs and the cerebral cortex), the subjective experience was still preserved. Physiological shifts occur with many emotions as a secondary adaptive phenomenon, for example, to mobilize the body's reserve capabilities in case of danger and the fear generated by it, or as a form of discharge of tension that has arisen in the central nervous system.

Kennon pointed out two things. First, the physiological changes that occur with different emotions are very similar to each other and do not reflect their qualitative originality. Secondly, these physiological changes unfold slowly, while emotional experiences occur quickly, that is, they precede the physiological reaction.

He also showed that artificially induced physiological changes that are characteristic of certain strong emotions do not always cause the expected emotional behavior. From the point of view of Cannon, emotions arise as a result of a specific reaction of the central nervous system and, in particular, the thalamus.

Thus, according to Cannon, the scheme of the stages of the emergence of emotions and the physiological changes that accompany it looks like this:

stimulus -> thalamus excitation -> emotion ->

physiological changes.

In later studies, P. Bard (Bard, 1934 a, b) showed that emotional experiences and the physiological changes that accompany them occur almost simultaneously. Thus, scheme (2) takes on a slightly different form:

Stimulus

Physiological

changes.

d) Psychoanalytic theory of emotions

3. Freud based his understanding of affect on drive theory and essentially identified both affect and drive with motivation. The most concentrated view of psychoanalysts on the mechanisms of the emergence of emotions is given by D. Rapaport (Rapaport, 1960). The essence of these representations is as follows: a perceptual image perceived from the outside causes an unconscious process, during which an instinctive energy is mobilized unconsciously by a person; if it cannot find application in the external activity of a person (in the case when the attraction is tabooed by the culture existing in a given society), it looks for other channels of discharge in the form of involuntary activity; different types such activity are "emotional expression" and "emotional experience". They can appear simultaneously, alternately, or even independently of each other.

Freud and his followers considered only negative emotions resulting from conflicting drives. Therefore, they single out three aspects in affect: the energy component of instinctive attraction (the "charge" of affect), the process of "discharge" and the perception of the final discharge (sensation or experience of emotion).

Freud's understanding of the mechanisms of the emergence of emotions as unconscious instinctive drives has been criticized by many scientists (Holt, 1967, etc.)

Conclusion

Consideration of various emotional phenomena noted in the psychological literature gives reason to say that the emotional sphere of a person has a complex multi-level structure and includes (in ascending order of biological and social significance) emotional tone, emotions, emotional personality traits, feelings, as a result combinations of which form emotional types of people.

Emotional tone is the first and simplest form of emotional response. He has the highest lower levels manifestations. The lowest corresponds to the emotional tone of sensations, the highest - to the emotional tone of impressions from the perceived and represented. If the emotional tone of sensations arises only with the direct impact of the stimulus that causes the sensation on past events. Both for one and for another type of emotional tone, bipolarity (pleasure-displeasure) is characteristic. An emotional tone can manifest itself both independently and as part of emotions, determining their positive or negative subjective coloring, that is, the sign of emotion.

Emotion is the next emotional phenomenon, which occupies a much higher and more important place in the evolutionary development of the emotional sphere. This is the reaction of the body and personality to an emotional (significant) situation or event for a person, aimed at adaptation (adaptation) to them. At the same time, unlike the emotional tone, which is the same reaction to various sensations and impressions (either pleasure or displeasure), emotion is a specialized reaction to a specific situation. It includes an assessment of the situation and the regulation of the energy flow in accordance with this assessment (its strengthening or weakening). Emotions can be unconditioned reflex and conditioned reflex. It is essential that a conditioned reflex emotion is an emotional reaction to a foreseeable stimulus; it makes it possible to prepare in advance for a meeting or to avoid it. The expression used when an emotion appears performs two functions: signaling one's state to another person and discharging the existing nervous excitation.

Since the mental, vegetative and psychomotor levels of response are involved in emotion, it is nothing but a psychophysiological (or emotional) state.

Since emotions are specific responses to meaningful stimuli, a person cannot experience them all the time. Indeed, not all situations and stimuli that a person encounters throughout the day are regarded by him as significant. And if so, then there is no emotional response to them. The possibility of the absence of emotions is also postulated by P. V. Simonov, when he claims that if the available and necessary information are equal, emotions are equal to zero. V. L. Marishchuk and V. I. Evdokimov (2001) strongly disagree with this, according to which, “a person does not have such a state, because even a feeling of complete indifference is also an emotion or some kind of emotional disorder. Emotions are equal zero only for the deceased" (p. 78). From my point of view, it is necessary to criticize P. V. Simonov not for looking at the possibility of an emotionless state, but for his formula. And in order not to experience an emotion, it is not at all necessary to be dead.

Like emotional tone, emotions are characterized by intensity, duration, and inertia. Affect is the same emotion, but having the character of a short and intense flash. Mood, like affect, is not a specific (by modality) form of emotional response, but characterizes the emotional background of a person for a given period of time. This background may be due to an experienced emotion or a trace of it, the emotional tone of sensations and impressions (remembering something pleasant or unpleasant), as well as indicating the absence of an emotional response and its traces at the moment (neutral background).

Both emotional tone and emotion have a whole set of properties: universality, dynamism, adaptation, partiality, plasticity, retention in memory, irradiation, transference, ambivalence, switchability. At the same time, emotions have a property that emotional tone does not have: it is contagious.

Emotional properties of a person. The stable individual expression of the characteristics of emotions in a particular person (rapid or slow emergence of emotions, the strength (depth) of emotional experiences, their stability (rigidity) or rapid turnover, stability of behavior and efficiency of activity to the influence of emotions, the severity of expressiveness) gives grounds to speak of emotional human properties: emotional excitability, emotional depth, emotional rigidity - lability, emotional stability, expressiveness. As for the property of emotionality, singled out as an integral emotional characteristic of a person and his temperament, which includes, in addition to expressiveness, the presence of one or another predominant emotional background, this question remains largely unclear, as well as the very concept of emotionality.

Feelings are next in the hierarchy and most high level emotional sphere of a person. Feeling is a person’s stable biased attitude towards any animate or abstract object, it is an emotional attitude that determines a person’s readiness to emotionally respond to those situations in which the object of feeling falls. Thus, the feeling is attached to the object, and the emotion is attached to the situation; feeling is an attitude, and emotion is a reaction.

Emotions and feelings cause various types of emotional behavior: amusement, mourning, hedonism and asceticism, aggression, caring, courtship, etc. We are talking about behavior, and not about emotional reactions (changes in autonomics, expression).

Depending on the severity and dominance of emotions and feelings of a particular modality, emotional types can be distinguished: optimists and pessimists, anxious, shy, touchy, vengeful, empathic, sentimental, conscientious, inquisitive.

As for the role of emotion in managing human behavior and activities, it is very diverse. This is a signaling about the need that has arisen and the sensations experienced from external stimuli (here the emotional tone of sensations plays a role), and signaling about the situation at the time of making a decision (dangerous - non-dangerous, etc.), and the reaction to the forecast of satisfaction of the need and to the self. it is satisfaction, contributing to the extinction of an existing need. Emotional response also contributes to the regulation of the energy flow, fueling the motivational process with it and helping to prepare the body for action in a particular significant situation.

List of used literature:

1. Anokhin P.K. The value of reticulation for various forms of higher nervous activity // Physiological Journal of the USSR - 1957 - No. 11 p. 1072-1085.

2. Anokhin P.K. Emotions // Big Medical Encyclopedia v.35 - M., 1964, p.339

3. Anokhin P.K. The problem of decision making in psychology and physiology - M., 1976.

4. Aristotle Works. Metaphysics - M., 1976 - v.3, p. 65-369.

5. Wundt V. Essays on psychology. M., 1912.

6. Izard K. Human emotions - M., 1980

7. Izard K. Psychology of emotions - St. Petersburg Peter 2000

8. Ilyin E.P. Emotions and feelings - SPb Peter 2002

9. Lazursky A.F. Essay on the science of characters - M., Science 1995

10. Lange N.N. Emotions. Psychological study. - M., 1896

11. Leonhard K. Accentuated personalities - M., 1989

12. Leontiev A.N. Needs, motives, emotions: lecture notes - M., 1971

13. Rubinstein S.L. Basics general psychology- M., 1946

14. Simonov P.V. What is an emotion? - M., 1962