Motives of activity, mechanisms of formation of motives. Mental mechanisms of motivation development. Mechanisms of motive formation

Let us note right away that purely psychological theories of emotions that do not affect them physiological basis, does not exist. This is no coincidence, since emotion is like psychological phenomenon difficult to separate from the physiological processes occurring in the body.

Researchers have repeatedly made attempts to connect physiological changes in the body with specific emotions and show that different emotions are accompanied by different complexes of organic signs. Therefore, the first theories of emotions are devoted to the study of their physiological basis.

Evolutionary theory of emotions

In 1872, Charles Darwin published the book “The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals,” in which he showed that anthropoids and children born blind have much in common in the external expression of various emotional states. Darwin proved that the evolutionary principle is applicable not only to the biological, but also to the psychological and behavioral development of living things, and that there is no impassable gap between the behavior of animals and humans.

According to evolutionary theory, emotions appeared in the process of evolution of living beings as important adaptive mechanisms that contribute to the organism’s adaptation to life situations. Bodily movements accompanying various emotional states, according to Darwin, there are rudiments of real adaptive reactions of the body.

Organic theory of emotions

Darwin's ideas were adopted and developed in the theories of W. James and K. Lange. James believed that different emotions are characterized by certain physical conditions, called organic manifestations of emotions. Tears are an organic manifestation of the emotion of grief, laughter is an organic manifestation of the emotion of joy. According to the James-Lange theory, it is organic changes that are the root causes of emotions. Reflecting in the brain through the system feedback, they generate an emotional experience of the corresponding modality. First, under the influence of external stimuli, changes characteristic of emotions occur in the body, and only then, as a consequence, does the emotion itself arise. So, we have fun because we laugh, we are sad because we cry.

Psychoorganic theory of emotions

A number of counterarguments to the James-Lange theory were proposed by W. Cannon. He noted the fact that the bodily changes that accompany different emotional states are very similar to each other. Their diversity is not enough to explain the qualitative differences in human higher emotional experiences. Secondly, the internal organs, with changes in the states of which James and Lange associated the emergence of emotional states, are rather insensitive structures that very slowly come to a state of excitation. Emotions usually arise and develop quite quickly. In addition, artificially stopping the flow of organic signals (for example, from the lacrimal gland) to the brain does not stop emotions.

Cannon's provisions were developed by P. Bard, who showed that in fact both bodily changes and the emotional experiences associated with them arise almost simultaneously. More recent studies have discovered brain structures associated with emotions. They turned out to be the hypothalamus and limbic system. In experiments conducted on animals, it was found that electrical influences on these structures can control emotional states, such as anger, fear (J. Delgado).

Activation psychological theory of emotions

Further development of theories of emotions occurred under the influence of electrophysiological studies of the brain. This is how the Lindsay-Hebb activation theory arose. According to this theory, emotional states are determined by the influence of the reticular formation of the brain stem. Activation theory is based on the following basic principles:

1. Emotions arise as a result of the so-called “activation complex” associated with the activity of the reticular formation.
2. The work of the reticular formation determines the dynamic parameters of emotions: their strength, duration, variability, etc.

After psychological theories emotions that explain the relationship between emotional and organic processes, theories have emerged that describe the influence of emotions on the human psyche and behavior. The effectiveness of activity, as it turned out, depends on the nature and intensity of emotional experience, which was experimentally proven by Hebb. To achieve the highest results in activity, both too weak and very strong emotional arousals are undesirable. For each person there is an optimum of emotional excitability, which ensures maximum efficiency in work.

Human emotions depend not only on organic processes, but also on cognitive factors. In this regard, new concepts have been proposed that explain human emotions by the dynamic features of cognitive processes.

Cognitive dissonance theory

One of the first such theories was the theory of cognitive dissonance by L. Festinger. According to it, a positive emotional experience occurs in a person when his expectations are confirmed (that is, when the real results of activity correspond to the intended cognitive representations, or, what is the same, are in consonance). Negative emotions arise in cases where between expected and valid results there is inconsistency or dissonance in the activity.

IN modern psychology cognitive dissonance theory is used to explain social behavior person. According to this theory, emotions are considered as the main motive of actions. The underlying cognitive factors are given a much greater role in determining human behavior than organic changes.

Cognitive-physiological theory of emotions

S. Shekhter showed that a significant role in the emergence emotional processes in addition to perceived stimuli, memory plays a role ( past experience person) and a person’s motivation (his assessment of the situation from the point of view of his actual needs).

Confirmation of this theory of emotions is the influence on a person’s experiences of verbal instructions, as well as additional emotional information in the form of the experiences of other people.

In one experiment, people were given a physiologically neutral solution as a “medicine,” accompanied by various instructions. In one case, they were told that this “medicine” would cause them to experience a state of euphoria, and in the other, a state of anger. After some time, the subjects were asked what they felt. It turned out that their emotional experiences corresponded to those expected from the instructions given to them.

It was also shown that the nature of a person’s emotional experiences depends on how the people nearby experience the situation. This means that emotional states can be transmitted from person to person. Moreover, in humans (unlike animals), the quality of communicated emotional experiences depends on the personal attitude towards the person with whom the person empathizes.

Emotions, according to this theory, appeared in the process of evolution of living beings as vital adaptive mechanisms that contribute to the adaptation of the organism to the conditions and situations of its life. In simple words, living beings adapted to the conditions in which they existed.

Psychoorganic theory of James-Lange

Lange (1890), James (1892) put forward the theory that emotions are the perception of sensations caused by changes in the body due to external irritation. External irritation, which causes affect, causes reflex changes in the activity of the heart, breathing, blood circulation, and muscle tone. As a result, different sensations are experienced throughout the body during emotions, which make up the experience of emotions.

According to the James-Lange theory, the order of events is formulated as follows: we are sad because we cry; we are afraid because we are trembling; enraged because the volume. If bodily manifestations did not immediately follow perception, then, in their opinion, there would be no emotion. If we imagine some emotion and mentally subtract from it one by one all the bodily sensations associated with it, then in the end there will be nothing left of it. So, if from the emotion of fear you eliminate heartbeat, difficulty breathing, trembling in the arms and legs, weakness in the body, etc., then there will be no fear. Those. human emotion, devoid of any bodily lining, is nothing more than an empty sound.

They argued that emotions can arise without any impact on the psyche, under the influence of purely chemical and medicinal influences. It is known that wine “makes a person’s heart happy”, with wine one can “fill out melancholy”, thanks to wine fear disappears - “a drunken sea is knee-deep”.

Fly agaric causes fits of rage and a tendency to violence. In ancient times, an infusion of fly agaric was given to warriors to put them in a “bloodthirsty state.” Hashish can cause violent fits.

Emotions also arise under the influence of internal causes in pathological cases. With diseases of the heart and aorta, melancholy appears. In many diseases, fear or joy appear without direct objects of these emotions: the patient is afraid, without knowing what, or is happy for no reason.

Charles Darwin based his book “The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals” on the evolutionary path that emotions take in their development. He argued that emotions are a consequence of physiological manifestations. He drew a parallel with the animal world. For example, he explained the sweating of the hands, which occurs when feeling fear, by the fact that the ancestors of humanity, ape-like primates, showed such a reaction when they experienced fear; as a result of sweating, it was easier for them to cling to tree branches.

Darwin's evolutionary biological theory became proof that there is no impassable gap between the behavior of humans and animals. Analyzing the external manifestations of emotions, Darwin identified a number of common features, for example, in the expressive bodily movements of anthropoids and blind children. Thus, he tried to show that human emotions and feelings are of animal origin, like man in general. Emotions, according to this theory, appeared in the process of evolution of living beings as vital adaptive mechanisms that contribute to the adaptation of the body to the conditions and situations of life. Darwin explains the behavior and development of expressive movements using the principles:

A number of expressive movements, bodily changes that occur during various emotional states, are the rudiments of previously expedient instinctive movements, real adaptive reactions of the body. They retain, to a certain extent, their biological meaning and at the same time are biologically significant signals for representatives not only of their own, but also of other species (the principle of expediency, usefulness); 2) Some expressive movements could arise in contrast, expressing opposing feelings (the principle of antithesis); 3) Some expressive movements are simply a discharge of the nervous system and are observed with strong emotions and outbursts of affect (the principle of generating actions by the properties of the nervous system).

Thus, emotional states in this concept are assessed in relation to the motivation to act. Emotions, according to Charles Darwin, arose in the process of evolution as a means of identifying the significance of certain conditions for satisfying the needs that are relevant for living beings.

Concepts and. F. Herbart, V. Wundt.

In the 18th – 19th centuries of the last millennium, research was widely carried out on the nature of the emergence of emotions and their essence. As a result, two main positions emerged. One of the positions was intellectualistic, formed by I. F. Herbart (1824-1825), it was said that the manifestation of emotions is a consequence of mental phenomena. Herbart believed that emotion serves as a coherent element between ideas. Emotion is a mental disorder caused by a mismatch (conflict) between ideas. This affective state involuntarily causes vegetative changes. For example, the image of a broken mobile phone, which is compared with the image of the same phone, but in working order, generates sadness. In turn, this affective state, almost reflexively, causes organic changes that characterize anger.

He shared the opinion of Herbart and W. Wundt. He believed that emotions are, first of all, changes characterized by the direct influence of feelings on the course of ideas and, to some extent, the influence of the latter on feelings, and organic processes are only a consequence of emotions. (maklakov)

He built his theory through simple experiments using a metronome. Wundt identified a “three-dimensional space” of emotions: “The entire system of feelings can be defined as a variety of three dimensions, in which each of the dimensions has two opposite directions that exclude each other.” The main dimensions of emotional processes and states: pleasure - displeasure, excitement - peace, tension - release (release from tension).

Wundt considers “bodily” reactions only as a consequence of feelings. According to Wundt, facial expressions arose initially in connection with elementary sensations, as a reflection of the emotional tone of sensations; higher, more complex feelings (emotions) developed later. “However, when some kind of emotion arises in a person’s consciousness, it every time evokes by association a lower feeling or sensation corresponding to it, close in content.” It is this that causes those facial movements that correspond to the emotional tone of sensations. So, for example, facial expressions of contempt (pushing the lower lip forward) are similar to the movement when a person spits out something unpleasant that has fallen into his mouth.

The James–Lange theory of emotion is the subject of much debate. According to this theory, emotion arises as a result of a physiological effect on the body. Scientists proceed from the fact that the common causes of emotions are not mental, but internal, physiological, nervous processes. Emotions are the result of organic changes that occur in the human body in response to a stimulating object or fact that it encounters.

Emotional experiences arise in the following sequence:

There is a perception of an object, phenomenon or fact that will excite emotions;

External manifestation of emotions (crying, laughing, attacking, screaming);

The emergence of mental action (emotion itself): feelings of joy, anger, fear.

Many theories of emotions (the same suggests common sense) proceed from the fact that external manifestations of emotions (crying, attack or flight) follow the emergence of emotions such as fear or anger. James and Lange changed this sequence, placing the stage of external manifestations between the perception of the exciting stimulus and the emotion itself.

Also N.N. Lange and W. James decided to answer the question “What is the source of the vitality of emotions.” They believed that bodily changes are the root causes of emotions. Reflected in a person’s head through a feedback system, they generate an emotional experience of the corresponding modality. First, under the influence of external stimuli, changes characteristic of emotions occur in the body, and only then, as a consequence, does the emotion itself arise.

The advantage of this theory is that it provides a natural scientific, biological basis for emotional reactions. It also reveals the issue of unnecessary emotions, which are the remnants of animal existence, but, oddly enough, from the point of view of retrospective experience, turn out to be such important, such significant experiences, closest to the core of the personality.

However, from a scientific point of view, the James-Lange theory turned out to be vulnerable to criticism. The fact is that the set of human emotional experiences is much richer and wider than the range of bodily reactions. The same organic reaction can be combined with very different feelings. Thus, it has been reliably established that the release of the hormone adrenaline into the blood causes excitement. But this excitement can take on different emotional colors depending on external circumstances.

The James-Lange theory of emotions is still relevant today. The phases of emotional experience identified by its creators are not questioned.

Having published the book “The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals” in 1872, Charles Darwin showed the evolutionary path of development of emotions and substantiated the origin of their physiological manifestations. The essence of his ideas is that emotions are either useful or represent 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 the primitive In his history, any anger led people to a fight, and this required energetic muscle contractions and, consequently, increased breathing and blood circulation, ensuring muscle work. He explained sweating of hands in fear by the fact that in the ape-like ancestors of humans, this reaction in case of danger made it easier to grab tree branches .

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

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

3.2. “Associative” theory of W. Wundt

" W. Wundt's (1880) ideas about emotions are quite 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. According to Wund, facial expressions arose initially in connection with elementary sensations, as a reflection of the emotional tone of sensations; higher, more complex feelings (emotions) developed later. However, when some kind of emotion arises in a person’s consciousness, it each time evokes by association a lower feeling or sensation corresponding to it, close in content. It is this that causes those facial movements that correspond to the emotional tone of sensations. So, for example, facial expressions of contempt (pushing the lower lip forward) are similar to the movement when a person spits out something unpleasant that has fallen into his mouth.

3.3. “Peripheral” theory W. Jam Su-G. Lange

American psychologist W. James (1884) put forward a “peripheral” theory of emotions, based on the fact that emotions are associated with certain physiological

68 Ptava 3, Theory and. explaining the mechanisms of emotion

reactions," which were mentioned above. He wrote: "Usually they are expressed as follows: we have lost our fortune, are upset and cry; we have met a bear, are frightened and take flight; we are offended by the enemy, enraged and strike him. According to what I am defending hypothesis, the order of events should be slightly different, namely: first state of mind is not immediately replaced by a second one. Between them there must be bodily manifestations. And therefore the most rational way to express it is this: we are sad because we cry; enraged because we beat another; we are afraid because we are trembling... If bodily manifestations did not immediately follow perception, then the latter would be in form a purely cognitive act, pale, devoid of color and emotional warmth. We might then see a bear and decide that it would be best to flee, we might suffer an insult and find it fair to repulse the blow, but we would not feel fear or indignation” (1991, p. 275).

Independently of W. James, the Danish pathologist K. G. Lange published a work in 1895 in which he expressed similar thoughts. But if for the first organic changes were reduced to visceral ( internal organs), then for the second they were predominantly vasomotor. Joy, from his point of view, is a combination of two phenomena: increased motor innervation and dilation of blood vessels. This is where the expressive expression of this emotion comes from: fast, strong movements, loud speech, laughter. Sadness, on the contrary, is a consequence of weakening motor innervation and narrowing of blood vessels. Hence the sluggish, slow movements, weakness and soundlessness of the voice, relaxation and silence. Lange reduced his theory to the following scheme:

Weakening of motor innervation.................................................................... ....... disappointment

Weakening of motor innervation + vasoconstriction................................. sadness

Weakening of motor innervation + vasoconstriction +

organic muscle spasms................................................................. ................ fear

Weakening of motor innervation + disorder

embarrassment

muscles........................................................ ........................................................ ............ impatience

Increased motor innervation + organic convulsions

muscles + dilation of blood vessels................................................. joy

Increased motor innervation + organic convulsions

muscles + dilation of blood vessels + disorder

coordination........................................................ ........................................................ .... anger

From the perspective of the James-Lange theory, the act of occurrence of emotion is as follows:

stimulus -> occurrence physiological changes-> signals about these changes in the brain -> emotion (emotional experience). (1)

The meaning of this paradoxical statement is that an arbitrary change in facial expressions and pantomimes leads to the involuntary appearance of the corresponding emotion. Portray anger - and you yourself will begin to experience this feeling;

3.3. “Peripheral” theory of W. James - G. Lang 69

start laughing - and you will feel funny; try to walk in the morning, barely dragging your feet, with your arms down, your back bent and a sad expression on your face - and your mood will really deteriorate. On the other hand, suppress the outward manifestation of an emotion and it will disappear.

W. James did not always provide indisputable evidence for his hypothesis. For example, he describes the story of an acquaintance who experienced fear during seizures associated with difficulty in taking a deep breath, and considers this proof that the emotion here is simply a sensation of a bodily state and its cause is a purely physiological process. However, the appearance of fear in the described case can be explained in another way: a person experiences difficulty breathing was afraid that he would suffocate, and it was precisely the consciousness of this that caused him to experience fear.

You can object to me: if I say that a person was afraid, then this means that he was already afraid, that is, he experienced fear. But fear is most often just a probabilistic forecast, a person’s assessment of a future event. And it is precisely regarding this unfavorable prognosis for the life of the subject, i.e. mental process, and not physiological, an emotion arises in him (and not necessarily fear, it can also be anxiety), leading not only to the experience of danger, but also to a physiological response to it. Thus, there is no identity between fear as a forecast and fear as an emotion.

In line with the James-Lange theory, G. Münsterberg also understood the mechanism of the emergence of emotions. Considering the role of the teacher in raising children, and in particular in managing them emotional sphere, he strongly opposed the position of the teacher as a passive observer of emotional life children, powerless to interfere with the process programmed by nature. “If feelings really represented what vulgar psychology is inclined to see in them, then it would inevitably seem a hopeless task to try to exercise and educate them. Artificially give them one form or another. The teacher would be forced to play the role of a passive spectator and wait for natural development, writes Munsterberg. - What could he do in order to change the responses born in the soul, since thanks to given by nature device, exactly this or that wave of organic excitation propagates throughout nervous system? He could no more prevent the taste of sugar from being pleasant and the taste of fish oil from causing pleasure than he could prevent the grass from being green and the sky from being blue. In this case, there would be no possibility, no means to master the feeling... The teacher would have to admit that although he can force or convince the child to swallow the disgusting fish oil, despite the unpleasantness of this action, he still cannot able to transform displeasure into pleasure.

The usual view of feelings causes the teacher, if he thinks about it, to fall into a discouraging pessimism. The most important factor inner life as if it were beyond his control. He must simply wait for changes... He can only wait with folded hands. And how the perspective changes if the teacher recognizes the presence of a motor element in every feeling and understands that the feeling itself is a consequence of the reaction! ...Convince the child to take the unpleasant medicine with a laughing face and a wide stretch of the whole body so that he opens his eyes wide and stretches out his arms - in short, try