Editorial: A Tribute to Yevgeniy Nikolaievich Sokolov (1920–2008)

Abstract

On May 14, 2008, Professor Yevgeniy Nikolaievich Sokolov, of M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, passed away at age of 87. Professor Sokolov was born on September 23, 1920, in a family of civil servants residing in city of Nizhni Novgorod (Gorki). In 1939, he finished General Education with honors at School nr. 2 of Gorki. In 1940, he enrolled in Department of Naval Construction of Industrial Institute of same city. The German invasion of Soviet Union interrupted his studies, and he joined Soviet Army as a translator in Intelligence Units. Due to war merits, he was awarded Order of Red Star, Order of Great Patriotic War and medals For Victory over Germany in Great Patriotic War 1941-1945, For Defense of Moscow and For Liberation of Warsaw. Between 1945 and 1946, he studied at Maurice Thorez Pedagogical Institute of Moscow of Foreign Languages (specialty: modern German language), concluding his studies as an external student in only two years. In 1947, he carried out his doctorate studies in Psychology Section of Philosophy Institute of Academy of Sciences of USSR. This Psychology Section was directed by Sergey Leonidovich Rubinstein (1889-1960), who founded it in 1945 in Philosophy Institute, within framework of Psychological Laboratory of Professor Sergey Vasilievich Kravkov (1893-1951). There, Sokolov wrote his Candidature Thesis. The main topics that interested Kravkov (the interaction of sensory organs, nature of color vision, and electrophysiology of visual perception) had a notable influence on Sokolov's research interests. His Candidature Thesis, entitled Issues of Psychology of Perception from Pavlovian Approach was defended in 1950 and, besides analysis of Pavlovian heritage, it also included results of specific investigations of mechanisms of visual perception (subsequently, in 1958, these data were summarized in famous monograph Perception and Conditioned Reflex). Professor Kravkov, being a collaborator of Philosophy Institute, also carried out his investigations in Psychology Institute of Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of USSR, because in latter, in contrast to Philosophy Institute, there were proper conditions to perform real experiments. Sokolov also carried out many experiments there. In 1950, Sokolov was invited by Boris Mijailovich Teplov (1896-1965) to Moscow State University (MSU) to Psychology Department of Philosophy Faculty, directed by Teplov (S. L. Rubinstein had been dismissed and was only replaced in 1956 in Psychology Section of Philosophy Institute of Academy of Sciences of USSR). Between 1950-1960, Teplov's scientific work involved psychophysiology of individual differences, based on Pavlov's theory of properties of types of nervous system. Sokolov worked in Laboratory of Analyzers attached to Psychology Department of Philosophy Faculty. His first psychophysiological investigations in MSU were devoted to study of sensory processes involved in formation of mechanism of creation of elemental (primary) sensations of light and sound. Subsequently, these investigations were extended to include investigations of orientation reflex. Sokolov continued this work in collaboration with Physiology Department of Higher Nervous Activity of Biology Faculty of MSU. During these investigations, methods were developed to study structure of orienting reaction at different stages of appearance of conditioned reflex; an original model (which is still current nowadays) was proposed: the nervous model of stimulus, which explained dynamics of extinction (and recovery) of orienting reaction. In 1953, Alexandr Romanovich Luria (1902-1977) offered Sokolov a second post at his Laboratory in Institute of Defectology of Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of USSR, where objective recording methods of vegetative and electroencephalographic reactions were employed to diagnose vision and hearing alterations. …