Theory Of Higher Nervous Activity Research Articles

Pavlov's conceptualization of unconditional reflexes, or instincts, within the framework of the theory of higher nervous activity.

According to I. P. Pavlov's theory of higher nervous activity, the establishment and dissolution of conditional reflexes enhances the higher organism's adaptation to the external environment. Pavlov asserted that, ontogenetically, conditional reflexes are based upon innate, unconditional reflexes (UR) or instincts. Pavlov did not distinguish between URs and instincts, but he preferred the former term. Phylogenetically the URs emerged out of well-established conditional reflexes during the development of higher organisms. An outgrowth of the experimental conditioning procedure, developed during the second decade of this century, was the observation and delineation of new URs. While studying human nervous and psychiatric disorders in the 1930s, Pavlov elucidated other URs. Pavlov identified 13 major URs, but he failed to formulate an exhaustive classification scheme of URs.

Pavlov as a psychologist

American psychologists are informed on Pavlov’s work on conditional reflexes but not on the full development of his theory of higher nervous activity. This article shows that Pavlov’s theory of higher nervous activity dealt with concepts that concerned contemporary psychologists. Pavlov used the conditioning of the salivary reflex for methodological purposes. Pavlov’s theory of higher nervous activity encompassed overt behavior, neural processes, and the conscious experience. The strong Darwinian element of Pavlov’s theory, with its stress on the higher organisms’ adaptation, is described. With regard to learning, Pavlov, at the end of his scholarly career, proposed that although all learning involves the formation of associations, the organism’s adaptation to the environment is established through conditioning, but the accumulation of knowledge is established by trial and error.

Pavlov's Religious Orientation

A number of works written in the Soviet Union in the post World War II era assert that I. P. Pavlov was an atheist and materialist. Pavlov's presumed anti-religious attitude is used as a weapon in the Soviet State's struggle against religion. Pavlov's own statements show that he was, indeed, an atheist. Nevertheless, Pavlov opposed the persecution of religion. According to his theory of higher nervous activity, religion is an instinct evoked by difficult environmental conditions in biologically weak individuals. Since instincts in Pavlov's theory are innate and permanent, it follows that the Soviet's anti-religious campaigns create a trying environmental condition which would evoke religious responses in weak individuals rather than eliminate religious behavior.

Fifty Years of Development of The Theory of Higher Nervous Activity And Neurophysiology in the Soviet Union

We look back on the road we have traversed with pride and satisfaction. But attitudes of self-complacency and smugness are alien to us. Some branches of Soviet neurophysiology are still far from the stage of development required by the contemporary state of science and practical needs, and the lag in technical equipment for experiments has not yet been completely overcome. Nevertheless, a sober evaluation of the complexity of unresolved problems cannot but lead to the firm conclusion that the progress of the science of the brain in the middle of the twentieth century would have been inconceivable without the contribution made by Soviet neurophysiologists. in the clarity of their initial methodological approach, the richness of their ideas, and the originality of their analysis of empirical data, Soviet physiologists of higher nervous activity occupy a leading position among the ranks of investigators attacking the riddle of matter that possesses knowledge of itself.