The article attempts to study the physiological foundations of mental processes. In particular, a possible version of the relationship, or rather, the unity of the defense mechanisms of the psyche (emotions) and conditioned, unconditioned reflexes, is proposed. That is, how reflex mechanisms and processes become the basis of defense mechanisms. Thus, repression, displacement, inversion of emotions are represented by stages of a single process. A scheme for dividing complex mental phenomena into components is proposed. The main factors that determine the behavior of humans and animals are highlighted. Including: experienced trauma, dreams, emotions, attractions. They help to answer the question about the motives of a person's behavior, the mechanism for making certain decisions.
Psychological patterns are considered on examples: social behavior, the phenomenon of attractiveness and beauty, perception of color, taste preferences, motives of sexual behavior, etc. In the course of reasoning and presentation by the author of his own ideas, an overview of already known hypotheses, theories and ideas in psychology and psychophysiology is given.
Some changes and additions have been made to the text of the article on 01.12.16, which, in general, do not change the main essence and content. First of all, this applies to some terms and concepts. Thus, in the title and formulations of the proposed psychological law (and in the text of the article), the more established concept of "mental phenomenon (process, mechanism, state)" is now unambiguously used instead of the concept of "mental image" in its broader interpretation.
The text of the article as amended on 03.03.19 is supplemented with sections: introduction, protective mechanisms of the psyche and conclusion. Made additions to the sections: repression and displacement, inversion motivation
And although additions, clarifications, abbreviations have been made in the article, it still needs to be improved.
Before reading the article, and to make it easier to navigate the topics and ideas discussed, I recommend that you first read the introduction, conclusion and conclusions (see, also, the first section: "Defense mechanisms of the psyche").
The object and subject of this article are well-known and widespread psychological phenomena. First of all, we are talking about the defense mechanisms of the psyche and the emotions associated with them. The phenomena of the psyche proposed for consideration are not speculative hypothetical constructs. Really observed and well described by research psychologists. Consider the defense mechanisms of the psyche, discovered by the founder of psychoanalysis Z. Freud [8]. The first and foremost of these is repression.
Now the phenomenon of repression has a broader interpretation than in classical psychoanalysis. In the article, repression refers to the suppression of any unpleasant experiences to varying degrees of awareness. It can be considered that the result of repression is the elimination (weakening) of the emotional component of psychotrauma. As the basic mechanism of mental defense, repression is the basis or is an integral part of all other, more complex defense mechanisms. Except for two also basic ones: displacements and inversions. In the theory of conditioned reflexes, repression is comparable to the stage of generalization.
The defense mechanism and the psychological phenomenon of "displacement" in the modern interpretation is practically indistinguishable from the psychoanalytic one. Displacement (albeit in relation to dreams), like repression, Z. Freud [7,8] referred to the basic phenomena. This, in my opinion, is his main achievement as a scientist. Another important achievement of Freud is the discovery of such phenomena as reactive formation and sublimation. That is, the possibility of the existence of such mechanisms. But more on that below. The article shows that displacement, as a psychological phenomenon, is a broader and more universal concept. It not only transcends the dream, but also underlies all mental processes (along with repression). For example, displacement underlies or is an integral part of all other defense mechanisms related to groups: displacement, inversion, motivation (see the section "Defense mechanisms of the psyche"). In addition to the basic, in fact, inversion and motivation. In the theory of reflex formation, the displacement will correspond to the stage of consolidation (specialization) of the conditioned reflex.
The inversion of emotions in the article is considered only in one sense. This is the transformation of a negative emotion of attitude to some object, object by way of getting rid of it into a positive emotion. And less often in the opposite direction. Since this will mean that the mental process is rolling back.
Two groups of mental phenomena are distinguished:
1. Primary, basic (basic), simple:
- repression, displacement, inversion of emotions, motive.
2. Secondary (derivatives), minor (routine), complex (compound):
- everyone else.
These concepts refer to both the process and its result.
Motive and motivation, with some assumptions, can also be called psychological defense. In general, this is a defense against inaction, apathy. A motive (and then motivation) is built on the basis of primary, simple mental phenomena (defense mechanisms). The starting point for all mental processes is physical or mental trauma. Then there is "repression" and then "displacement". Further, on the basis of the negative emotion of displacement, a positive emotion arises (may arise). That is, an "inversion" occurs, which can grow into a motive. It is important to note that the process with kickbacks, stops, but only moves in one direction from injury to motivation. Positive emotions are a consequence (result) of negative emotions experienced. There are no pleasures without trials and hardships (trauma). Similar thoughts in one form or another have already been expressed by psychologists, philosophers, and writers. In this article, this idea is formulated in the form of a law.
Example. Why can asceticism be attractive? Why are the hardships and hardships in such a lifestyle (that is, in a situation of trauma) accompanied by positive emotions and motivation? The general answer is that the psyche always adjusts to the given situation. In more detail, the answer is this: the mechanisms of repression and displacement are turned on, and then the mechanisms of inversion and motivation can also turn on. What is important, the motivation is not to avoid these hardships, but rather the positive motivation of striving for an ascetic lifestyle. Likewise in the case of anorexia. Emotions in this case are also positive, but the motivation is destructive. You can give as many sophisticated and ordinary examples of a person's emotional reaction as you like, but the pattern will be the same. It's just that there are abnormalities in hearing, and less attention is paid to the usual emotional reaction. That is, this pattern is universal, and it provides, basically, the norm of behavior now, and helped to survive in difficult conditions of the wild.
It is also interesting to trace this regularity of the psyche in evolutionary terms, starting from the moment animals emerged on land. Namely: how the dangers associated with gravity could cause the appearance of defense mechanisms in vertebrates, and later in warm-blooded animals and, naturally, in humans?
In this sense, displacement in a dream clearly has a warning function. For example, nightmares of falling reinforce and maintain the fear of heights at the required level. In this case, the reaction of pain that previously occurred during falls in reality turns out to be displaced from consciousness (it is also absent in the plot of the dream), but is symbolically represented in the dream in the form of fear of falling. The adaptive nature of such displacements is beyond doubt. If animals or people are constantly, in any situation, fear possible damage and pain reactions, this will restrain movement and reduce search activity. Nightmares such as "falls", as well as displaced states in a milder form (symbols) are intended precisely to put "marks" on really dangerous situations in the form of fear of heights, fear of falling objects, fear of tight spaces or in other more difficult life situations ... In other words, without dreams, the fear of heights and fear of tight spaces, necessary for survival, could not arise. Likewise with more complex problems. In a dream, accents are put down, important points, for example, with regards to relationships in a team, personal relationships. For example, emotions arise regarding a person, but we no longer remember the reasons for the situation that gave rise to them, the source (dream).
If one examines dreams not at one time, but in a temporary development, then, for example, a certain dynamics is observed in the theme of falls. At first, mostly in childhood, there are nightmares of "simple" falls. As you grow older, the stories of dreams you see more and more emphasize cases of avoiding falls, for example, when walking along the edge of cliffs, roofs of tall houses, etc., while experiencing fear, which, as it were, prevents a fall. Further, as fear is overcome, one may have a dream with wonderful flights over the surrounding area or a more realistic dream on the same topic, colored with positive emotions. We can say that this is one and the same dream, stretched out over many years, or that this is one and the same mental process, which under the influence of the environment undergoes phase changes. The study of such processes, and not only in dreams, formed the basis of this article.
The defense mechanisms of the psyche are important for understanding the nature of human behavior by psychological phenomena, phenomena. There are many ways to describe them. We will take as a basis the defenses (some already in a modern interpretation) proposed by the founders of psychoanalysis and their followers. Let's try to distinguish groups according to similar characteristics, which are simultaneously stages of the mental process. And since these groups are stages, the complex phenomena (defense mechanisms) related to the next group include all the previous stages.
Repression group: repression, suppression, isolation, denial, dissociation, ignorance (avoidance).
Let us note for these states the different degrees of removal from the consciousness of unpleasant experiences.
Displacement group: displacement, substitution, displacement of malice, transfer, projection of negative emotions, depreciation, auto-aggression, conversion (somatization).
Displacement is a basic, primary mental phenomenon. The stage of the mental process following repression. The result of displacement (for the whole group) will be negative emotion.
Inversion group: inversion, cancellation (compensation), projection of positive emotions, acting out (discharge), primitive idealization and depreciation (returns to the displacement group), introjection, identification with the aggressor (Stockholm syndrome), regression, cognitive Group*.
Actually, the inversion of emotion is a basic, primary mental phenomenon. The other phenomena listed here are complex and may include repression and displacement stages. The result of inversion (for the whole group) will be a positive emotion.
Completed gestalt, context and content reframing (NLP) can also be referred to the inversion group.
Motivation group: motivation, sublimation, reactive formation or reaction formation, compensation, overcompensation.
Motivation is also a primary mental phenomenon. The other phenomena listed here are complex and may include all of the previous stages. The name speaks for itself. Phenomena belonging to the group are characterized by the appearance, as a result of the mental process, of signs of motivation or motive.
* Cognitive group: intellectualization, moralization, rationalization. These phenomena are characterized by the presence of thought processes. This whole group can be attributed to the group of "inversion of emotions".
I.M. Sechenov [3] and later I.P. Pavlov [4], V.M. Bekhterev [5] showed the important role of reflex mechanisms in the formation of higher mental functions. Remaining within the framework of this concept, for a start, let's imagine the psyche as a reflex system aimed at avoiding undesirable influences from the external environment. Note that the painful reaction is the strongest unconditioned reaction, always accompanied by the experience of fear and horror. These experiences are renewed (at least, the negative coloring of emotions) and during the conditioned reflex reproduction of the pain reaction. Physical pain is reproduced in the form of muscle spasms and other manifestations.
For example, fear in young children can cause a loud sound. D. Watson and R. Reiner [15], combining the display of white mice with banging the gong, aroused the conditioned fear of mice in the child. It turned out that the extinction of this fear after the termination of the unconditioned stimulus (loud sound) does not occur, in contrast to the classical conditioned reflex. Moreover, the fear tended to generalize, that is, it spread to a rabbit, a white fur coat, a sheet of white paper, etc. Later, studying the nature of social fears, psychologists came to similar results.
Let us consider how a conditioned fear response can be formed in situations with falls. In real life, nothing is repeated in the same setting several times. And the situation itself is changing. From birth, children are not afraid of heights, and when they start to walk, they fall a lot. For example, once a child fell and experienced pain when he quickly ran after the cat, in another case he fell from a high chair, and on the street - from a swing. In each of these situations, only one conditioned signal was constantly present - the loss of support. A conditioned reflex is developed on it - the reaction of fear.
It is unlikely that the fear of losing support and the fear of loud sounds are innate, as was commonly believed. But one cannot deny the possibility that conditional fears begin to form even before birth, reaching the stage of generalization-anxiety. The formation of objective fear can occur in the presence of a specific, objective source of pain, from which the fetus is protected. A loud sound can directly cause eardrum pain and then fear, but probably only after birth.
What adaptive value can the fear of losing support (feeling of weightlessness) have, because the child does not realize that he has ever lost support and does not foresee this in dangerous situations? That is, due to the fleetingness, the very short duration of an accidental fall, the fear of losing support is not realized and, therefore, in reality does not cause any conscious reactions. The answer to this question should be sought, most likely, in dreams. Those associations that arise with each fall: loss of support and a cat, loss of support and a chair, loss of support and a swing - sooner or later lead to the topic of loss of support in a dream, which means - on the topic of falls. Hence the nightmares of falling. Sleep "enhances" the barely smoldering sense of danger to such an extent, to such a fear of falling, that further conditioning, that is, the shift of the signal of loss of support to the conditioned signal of height, and fear of heights (acrophobia), no longer raise any questions. As well as the important adaptive value of the fear of heights to prevent falls already in reality. Perhaps the "enhancing property of sleep" is the mechanism of development and the reason for the difficult extinction (healing) of social and other fears (phobias). Including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Constant nightmares and heavy dreams are not only a symptom of PTSD, but, most likely, the main mechanism for the development of this mental disorder. That is, nightmares trigger and sustain the vicious circle of this disease.
Looking ahead, let us note the rigid connection of the main (in childhood) dream plots with manifestations of gravity. The same fear of falls, falling objects, fear of tight, confined spaces (claustrophobia) associated with the danger of collapse of shelters - all testify to this. Not excluding, of course, other fears (fear of the dark, loneliness, strangers, animals, etc.). In particular, fear of strangers or animals can be influenced by nightmares of stalking and chasing. Fear of the dark can be associated with both fear of tight spaces and fear of persecution. The protective role of all these fears is clear.
It is known that marine mammals living in water have one-hemispheric sleep and are deprived of the rapid sleep phase (L. Mukhametov) [16], during which warning dreams are generated in terrestrial mammals. And since the manifestations of gravity in water are weakened (the dangers associated with it), it can be assumed that dreams and the fast phase initially arose, along with other reasons, as a mechanism for preventing dangerous situations associated with gravity, the likelihood of which increased with the appearance of warm-bloodedness and , therefore, with increased activity.
It happens that very important signals are too weak or short-lived, but it is possible to prevent the danger. Then a conditioned reaction to an unconscious stimulus can form. For example, the orientation of blind people in space is based on the fact that inaudible sounds reflected from obstacles cause a conditioned response of facial muscles contraction, perceived as chill, touch, shading (I. Beritashvili) [17]. A conditional link occurs as a result of multiple collisions. The resulting pain is always accompanied by a contraction of the muscles of the face and neck to move away from the obstacle.
A similar warning displacement (conditional response) occurs in other situations. So, in the case of intolerance to certain foods, their taste and smell become conditioned signals of intestinal upset, as an unconditioned reaction. As a result, the taste and smell of an intolerable product, when the conditional bond is strengthened, becomes unpleasant or even disgusting. In this example, a certain physiological programming is noticeable, although with diseases of the internal organs, there is even an unconditional (genetically fixed) displacement of pain to certain areas of the skin surface (Zakharyin-Ged zones), the so-called reflected pain. In case of damage to the subcutaneous tissue, pain is also projected (displaced) onto the surface of the skin, but already in the area of inflammation.
The state of general fatigue (stress) is often accompanied by discomfort in precisely those organs or parts of the body whose function is either weakened, or they have experienced an increased load before this (displacement to the organ that will signal accumulated fatigue) ... Such a psycho-vegetative reaction can manifest itself as a feeling of heaviness in the legs, headaches, pain in the eyes, and with excitement - pain in the region of the heart. A similar mechanism seems to be involved in the formation of conversion symptoms (impaired sensitivity, paralysis, deafness, dumbness, etc.) in neuroses and in cases of psychosomatic diseases, which include: hypertension, angina pectoris, bronchial asthma, peptic ulcer, polyarthritis, neurodermatitis, etc.
The state of mental trauma (mental pain), when there is no physical injury, there is no obvious threat of injury, displaced fears associated with the possibility of injury, can, by analogy, with some assumptions be considered as an unconditioned reaction. An unconditioned irritant in this case can be any factor of the environment, more often of a social nature. The subsequent acute mental reaction (unconditioned response) proceeds with a significant participation of mental (cognitive) processes - memories, inferences, etc. As the mental trauma is overcome, the mechanisms of repression and displacement are activated, which is equivalent to the formation of a conditioned reaction. The conditioned stimulus is here, as a rule, part of the unconditioned stimulus, as a part of the whole. In this case, the conditioned reaction, which was previously an integral part of the unconditioned reaction, as a result of the displacement, as it were, takes over its entire "negative emotional charge". That is, the secondary problem at some point begins to be perceived as more urgent than the repressed main problem (assessment of the situation as a whole). As a result, the acuteness of emotions and the urgency of the main problem are reduced. Let's look at two examples.
While moving to another school, Anna faced with unusual strict requirements for her. Some teachers, she felt, treated her unfairly and she hated them. Going to school with such a mood is very difficult. Therefore, her worries about teachers dulled over time, but she developed a disgust for studying (reading books, preparing homework, etc.), although she studied well at the previous school. A displacement in this case occurred to educational matters and problems, since they became conditioned signals preceding unpleasant communication with teachers.
Kirill has a difficult situation. Due to circumstances beyond his control, he is forced to move to another city. There was a change in the usual situation. I did not want to leave the habitable house, heavy thoughts rolled over the upcoming parting with relatives and friends. It is a pity to lose his job, to leave the team, in which he adapted so hard, but with the acquisition of experience he took a worthy place. After a while, Cyril began to notice that all worries receded into the background, except for the problem associated with the loss of a job (displacement of the problem as a whole to its part).
The object of displacement (that is, a conditioned signal that causes, for example, a reaction of irritation), depending on the situation, can be anything: a piece of clothing, a character trait, a person as a whole, a group of people, a visual image, etc. etc. That is, with some tension in the relationship, for example, with one person, a displacement can occur in his appearance, demeanor. When interacting in a group - at any of the members of this group (the phenomenon of the "scapegoat"). That is, when displacement, a negative emotion is redirected to a secondary object that is related to the general situation.
In all these examples, there is a phenomenon similar to what Z. Freud called "repression" into the unconscious or preconscious, when the main problem ceases to worry, for some time it can be forgotten, but in a certain situation again remembered. When compared with the stages of the development of a conditioned reflex, this state (repression) initially coincides with the stage of generalization, when a feeling of anxiety (uncertain danger) arises. This is understandable: too many conditioned signals (fears) are not "captured" by consciousness until one, the strongest, is determined. When this happens (specialization of the conditioned reflex) - the anxiety will disappear - only one conditioned signal will become relevant (one problem). The main problem will remain crowded out. Thus, the displacement ends the process of displacement that has begun.
P. Kociunas [9] noted that when repression and displacement work in tandem, this combination promotes phobic responses. Or when repression is combined with conversion (somatic symbolization), this combination forms the basis of hysterical reactions. This is a very important observation, showing the beginning of a mental process stuck on pathology. But the course of our reasoning leads to the fact that the process may not stop, as in this example, but move on and ensure, in the main, the norm of behavior. For example, by the type of sublimation. Note that we have already referred the conversion to the offset group. And the fact that they work in tandem with displacement, we are more and more convinced of this.
Despite the fact that a negative emotion arises for a secondary problem, the general psychological state of a person is relieved. This explains why there is a desire to do piercings, tattoos, dye hair in an unusual color, etc. For example, a person does not like something in himself. He gets a tattoo or piercing, the focus shifts, and his problem is no longer relevant. The same applies to the area of team relationships. Minor problems will always be found and cultivated within any community. Gossip, omissions, hostile relationships. Or even the "scapegoat" phenomenon. The search for the extreme is a sign of some more serious problems within the team, which are masked in this way and allow you to somehow continue to work.
Of course, the offset process should not be taken literally, oversimplified, with a programmed result. The environment changes every minute. Along with it, accents of perception also change. Therefore, the displacement object is unstable, since due to the complexity of the main problem, there can be no unambiguous solution. Note that simple but highly traumatic factors, as a result of generalization, cause complex psychoemotional reactions; not "captured" by consciousness, they are inevitably repressed and displaced. Simple reactions are often subject to displacement of other, more complex reactions (problems).
It becomes obvious, as Z. Freud also believed [7,8], that repression (and, therefore, displacement) lies at the basis of all psychic movements. In repression, we see only the outer side of such deeper processes as inhibition, parabiosis, and also induction phenomena. The phenomenon of inhibition was discovered by I.M.Sechenov in 1862. [3] in an experiment showing the inhibition of spinal reflexes by stimulation of the diencephalon. IP Pavlov [4], observing the processes of excitation and inhibition during the strengthening and extinction of conditioned reflexes, discovered induction phenomena. Positive induction, when there is an increase in the positive reflex by an inhibitory stimulus, explains the fact that the incipient generalization and repression contribute to the subsequent displacement. On the other hand, negative induction, when a positive stimulus is applied at the beginning of differentiation, facilitates specialization by increasing differentiation inhibition. That, accordingly, with the already completed displacement, makes an increase in the repression depth inevitable, and for the displacement that has begun, the mechanism of irreversibility and acceleration is activated. Repression, apparently, includes both elements of external inhibition and beyond. In the latter case, presenting a highly agitated state as an emotional dominant, it can be assumed that a long-acting stimulus, causing the effect of transcendental inhibition, leads to the termination of a repression-type response. In this case, it is impossible to exclude the participation of the mechanisms of parabiosis discovered by N.E. Vvedensky (1901) [6]. Again, looking ahead, we note that the phases of falling asleep (equalizing, paradoxical, inhibitory) are very similar to the phases of parabiosis.
Modern research of processes united by the concept of "repression" began with the discovery of the phenomenon of increasing the threshold of perception of taboo words (McGinnies, 1949) [18]. In further studies, it was found that the unconscious zone (the difference between conscious and subthreshold stimuli) is especially well expressed in brain pathology with symptoms of asthenia and decreased excitability of the sensory organs (G. Gershuni) [19]. If we consider such symptoms as conversion manifestations and results of displacements, then we can say that displacement is an integral, final part of repression. In other words, the displacement mechanism is realized with the help of repression. Indeed, an example from the same work - an air contusion of the brain - can be interpreted as a displacement of the traumatic response to the organ of hearing (deafness), which led to the expansion of the unconscious zone and, consequently, repression. In other cases, the size of this zone can vary widely and depends on the emotional state (E. Kostandov) [20].
A paradoxical situation arises here: information about the danger does not reach awareness, but leaves traces, accumulates. Until a real threat arises (then the threshold of awareness will be overcome). And these traces of memory in the form of various associations (temporary connections), as it turned out, are very difficult to fade away if they were not conscious and arose on the basis of the dominant motivation and emotion (E. Kostandov) [21].
And, returning to the topic, we emphasize once again: "the displacement" is a conditional reaction of warning of a certain danger or problem.
The fact of displacement indicates the presence of any problem (mental, physical).
An undisplaced problem indicates that it has become a bias target for some other, more serious problem.
Recall that in the case of mental trauma, fear and other negative emotions shift from one object to another. This achieves either a warning of danger, or the removal of the general tension, or both at the same time. It all starts with repression. The main problem no longer "loads" the consciousness completely. Negative emotions are softened (repressed and displaced), which gives the body the opportunity to solve everyday tasks, since, being displaced, emotions are actualized in a secondary problem only occasionally, when exposed to appropriate stimuli.
Further, if the danger has receded, or when displaced and undisplaced emotions (problems) interfere with the solution of other tasks, that is, if there are motivations of a higher order, an "inversion" occurs - the replacement of negative emotions with positive ones. And on the basis of these positive emotions, motivation already arises. Behavior changes radically: the strategy of avoidance is replaced by the strategy of achievement. What used to cause fear, disgust, irritation now arouses interest, a desire to possess it, or to experience previously avoided sensations.
When Anna developed a negative attitude towards her studies due to problems with teachers, the situation seemed hopeless, if not for one event. In this school, amateur performances were traditionally strong. Anna began to actively participate in it and, having a beautiful voice, successfully performed at a school concert. After that, she felt a special attitude towards herself and the sympathy of others. She felt somehow embarrassed to study badly, and she decided to become one of the first students in school. Under the influence of this strong motivation, the negative attitude towards learning was replaced by a positive one (an inversion occurred). With the emergence of interest in learning and the appearance of the first successes, relations with teachers have improved (that is, the main problem will also be resolved).
In connection with the move, Kirill worsened about losing his job. But when meeting with the management, it turned out that a branch of the company would be opened in the city where he was moving, and Kirill, as a promising employee, was offered to head it. After this proposal (strong motivation), all worries about parting with the work collective disappeared (inversion). Moreover, business relations with some members of the team now began to be perceived by him as hostile on both sides (an inversion of feelings from tolerance and, consequently, latent tension, to complete rejection, which, oddly enough, served as a relaxation). As soon as this problem receded, other worries suddenly intensified, already about parting with friends (a new shift arose to part of the main problem). Since the motivation is very strong (career aspirations), then this problem quickly dissipated: Kirill had a desire to test himself with loneliness and other difficulties.
This type of inversion and motivation (as in the last example) can be described as "the desire to hurt oneself", meaning the word pain and mental trauma too. In such situations, inversions of the "desire to hurt another" type also occur. But on closer inspection, it turns out that wanting to hurt another is tantamount to hurting yourself if you care about that other person. Without going into details, let us note that Z. Freud already noted a similar phenomenon - the possibility of simultaneous existence in a person of opposite tendencies in the form of perversions.
With regard to the last example, we note that other difficult life situations are similarly resolved: one by one, one after the other, all obstacles that stand in the way of realizing the main goal (strong motivation) are removed (inverted). Let's look at other examples.
The fear of heights, which inevitably arises when faced with reality, in some situations can interfere with the satisfaction of vital needs (motivations of a higher order). Therefore, the fear of heights, which arose and intensified in dreams, is weakened in dreams. For example, when it becomes necessary to harvest fruits from a tall tree, the mutual influence of the motivation of hunger and the emotion of fear of heights turns on the dreaming mechanism, which begins to generate dreams about wonderful flights, exciting adventures in the mountains or fearless climbing trees. Weakened (inverted) in this way fear in dreams is already more easily inverted in a real situation. In the presence of a dominant motivation, the fear of heights and falls begins to be perceived as a state of euphoria - and the fear is overcome.
Similarly, the fear of tight spaces (claustrophobia) associated with the possibility of shelter collapse is eliminated. When more and more often there is a need to shelter from bad weather (motivation to avoid adverse influences), in dreams, plots of exciting adventures in caves, labyrinths, etc. may appear. These inversions in a dream weaken fear. In reality, in appropriate situations, inversion and motivation are brought to automatism and can occur for no apparent reason. So children love to build huts and houses and hide in them regardless of weather conditions, as well as the desire to swing on a swing, overcoming the fear of heights.
As a result of the inversion of perception (or inversion of emotions), "tasteless" and "inedible" becomes desirable and appetizing. Here are some trivial examples:
1. Potatoes, eggplant (nightshade) contain a small amount of bitter taste and poisonous solanine.
2. Bitterness is the basis of the taste of peaches.
3. Cilantro tastes and smells like forest bugs.
4. Currant leaves smell like cat urine.
5. Arugula tastes like burnt rubber.
6. Tarragon contains wormwood bitterness.
7. Hot peppers, radishes, radishes, horseradish, mustard contain natural pungency and bitterness.
Inversion is also observed after the pain reaction. Those organs that, in an unfavorable situation (stress), became the object of displaced pain, in favorable conditions (the presence of motivation to recover faster) cease to hurt, cause unpleasant sensations and, possibly, due to the rush of blood, increase their functional activity, which is a prerequisite for healing. At least this is the result of itchy skin (inversion of pain), which improves the blood supply to the healing wound by scratching.
A wide range of all kinds of inversions occurs under the influence of sexual desire. So, smells or visual images, in other cases causing disgust, in intimate relationships can acquire the property of an additional exciting factor.
In everyday life, inversion and motivation can look like a desire to overcome any obstacle, solve a problem, acquire the right thing, perform some action, etc.
As a mechanism of mental defense, "inversion of emotions" (or "inversion") increases resistance to stress, traumatic situations, softens feelings.
In laboratory conditions, motivational effects appear when stimulating self-irritating zones. For the first time this phenomenon was discovered by D. Olds in 1960. Further detailed study of these zones, in particular, the area of the lateral hypothalamus, showed that the response depends on the strength of the applied electric current. It ranges from showing exploratory behavior to strong motivational and self-irritating effects. The mechanism for the emergence of dominant motivation is associated with physiological needs. When needs are not met, or negative environmental factors (cold, heat, etc.) cannot be avoided, then this psychophysiological state arises.
Further, the motivation resulting from the inversion can become dominant. A similar process (according to our scheme, this is displacement, inversion, and motivation inclusive) Z. Freud called "sublimation". But he considered a special case when sexual forbidden impulses, drives, do not find their expression and are sublimated into socially acceptable activity. It is clear that as a result of this, the motivation that caused this activity becomes relevant. Today we believe that processes similar to sublimation are triggered by a wide range of traumatic factors, including sexual ones. (see below)
Other researchers have described similar processes as well. In particular, BF Skinner (Skinner BF) in experiments with the use of punishment received conflicting results. It turns out that the behavior that causes unpleasant consequences does not disappear completely. It only changes, manifesting itself in other forms.
Allport (G. Allport, 1937) formulated the "principle of functional autonomy", according to which instrumental actions generated by biological needs can be further motivated independently of these needs.
A. N. Leont'ev (1975) showed the possibility of a full-fledged motive to move to another object (subordinate goal) and expressed this in the concept of "shifting a motive to a goal". That is, actions that previously served to achieve subordinate goals can be split off from the initial (leading) motivation. And these goals acquire the property of a full-fledged (leading) motive.
An example with Anna. As a result of a strong desire to become one of the best students in the school, she had significant academic success. But it takes a lot of effort to become the first. She realized that leadership had already ceased to attract her. By this time, friendships had already developed with classmates. She just became interested in studying, learning something new every day. The emphasis has shifted from leadership to interest in learning.
Consider, for example, through the prism of this regularity, such concepts as love and friendship. In particular, a woman's love for a man: Women are afraid of unfamiliar men, as well as some acquaintances (displacement). But some of them like (inversion) or even cause excitement (motivation). Or men to women: Women often reject the courtship of men and behave demonstratively. Especially men are annoyed by hysterical, spoiled persons (displacement). But some women are pretty pretty (inversion). And one of them is especially worrisome (motivation). Friendship of women: All women are rivals or rivals. Especially annoying are "upstarts" or "gray mice" (displacement). But at work there is a good female team (inversion). And especially the boss supports and helps. She is so kind and considerate (motivation). Friendship of men: Men are aggressive in some situations. For example, in an evening cafe, the company is at the next table (displacement). But in a closed men's club (or in a student group) there are mostly decent people (inversion). It's good to go fishing and have picnics in a narrow circle. Trusting relationships (motivation) also develop.
In general, the inversion of emotions occurs when the context, background, environment, environment, the strength of the emotional response changes, after time, location (distance from the place of danger) and the weakening of the danger itself. That is, with a change in the situation, when unconscious impulses are involuntarily triggered, changing the sign of emotional response from negative to positive.
There is no clear line between inversion and motivation. Inversion often occurs in cases of displacement to insignificant problems, needs (an apparent defect in appearance, lack of some thing, etc.). This process may or may not be developed further. The inversion will be expressed only in the appearance of positive emotions (sensations) regarding this problem. The desire to eliminate this problem (change appearance, buy an expensive thing) will mean the onset of the stage of motivation. If the desire is not satisfied (frustration), then the motivation increases and becomes dominant. That is, when a specific unsatisfied need begins to cause stronger feelings than the initial need that caused it (the desire to look no worse than others).
Let us briefly list the main signs of the state of "motivation": strengthening of the result of inversion (that is, strengthening of positive emotions); the emergence of side motives and related activities; separation of this activity into an independent one; strengthening of the motivation that caused this activity to the status of dominant with a simultaneous weakening of the initial dominant motivation.
Inversion of emotions and motivation, as phylogenetically fixed mechanisms, work ahead of schedule. When dangerous situations have not yet arisen, and basic needs are satisfied, the process is still in development. The desire to get closer to a dangerous line, to take unnecessary risks, for this appears, so that when needs arise that are really vital, to be able to overcome dangerous situations, without hesitation, in "automatic mode".
Any actions are a consequence (have a prehistory) of collision with the surrounding reality. Under natural conditions, hunger (strong motivation) forces animals to go in search of food. The fear of meeting a predator at this moment is weakened (inverted). Having satiated (the motivation disappears), the animal again begins to fear predators (a process has occurred, the reverse of the inversion). The need for a safe rest (new motivation) forces you to climb a tree. The fear of heights is weakened (inverted). Such mental shifts are clearly visible only at the stage of learning. When automatism develops, ready-made behavioral stereotypes will be used in such situations. Inversion of emotions and motivation contribute to the formation of these stereotypes even when vital needs are satisfied (the animal continues to guard its territory even with an excess of food; the cat continues to hunt mice when it is full, etc.). When real needs arise (under the influence of the dominant motivation), the oscillatory shifts of the psyche - inversion and vice versa - will again become the norm of behavior
As a result of psychical or physical trauma, various mental phenomena arise, conventionally these are processes (perception, memory, thinking, emotional processes) and states (emotions, motives, experiences, drives, dominant motivation). Often phenomena are presented to us as a result of the work of the defense mechanisms of the psyche.
Here and in the article as a whole, negative and positive emotions should be understood more broadly (unless specifically stated), as emotional processes and states, including affects, feelings, moods, experiences. And motivation is a set of processes and states responsible for motivation and activity. These are needs, goals, motives, desires, drives. Both emotions and motives are important for their content.
From the properties of the psyche follows, also, the integrity, continuity at a given moment of the psychical state (similar to the integrity of visual, gustatory and other images, which arises from the properties of sensory systems) is determined by the property of consciousness to "embrace" events and experiences connected with them as a whole. What does it mean - the ability to keep consciousness (in the "field of vision") at the moment the actual problem of the average level of significance (emotional "charge"). As a result of generalization, strong experiences become complex - they are repressed and displaced. Minor impressions, not supported by emotions, slip out of consciousness or integrate into other mental phenomena.
These clarifications are now enough to formulate "The law of the development of psychical processes, mechanisms and states" or "The law of the development of psychical processes":
"As a result of a painful reaction or a traumatic experience, the following alternating stage changes occur:
repression, displacement, inversion, motivation ".
Other variants of the name: "The psychological law of changes in emotional states"; "The law of the dynamics of psychical phenomena"; "The law of the dynamics of defense mechanisms of the psyche"; "The law of changes in psychical states".
In this formulation of the law, "displacement" can also be understood as "conversion" if the psychical process follows the path of somatization, that is, with the emergence of psychosomatic phenomena (diseases).
Motivation can be the basis of both normal activity (sublimation according to Freud in its expanded interpretation) and deviations from the norm (behavior deviations, perversions). That is, the law is universal and includes both positive and negative assessments of behavior regarding the concept of social norm.
Any motivated state can be decomposed into stages according to this regularity. The same sublimation will be an exemplary example here. Forbidden impulses are shifted to non-forbidden ones (inversion), and then motivation for socially acceptable activities arises. Or, depending on the environment (upbringing), the process can follow the path of deviation. Only in this case, the shift will occur to a forbidden, but attractive (inversion) pattern (object) for the subject, and then the motivation will be perversion.
Changes in mental states are reversible at any stage (for example, in case of resumption of stressful, traumatic factors).
It is impossible to define a clear boundary between mental processes, states and defense mechanisms.
The defense mechanisms of the psyche are always accompanied by both unconscious and conscious processes. If it becomes necessary to designate not a mechanism in action, but its result, then, for example, displacement, inversion and motivation can also designate the result of the corresponding processes, that is, they will be states.
As a result of the processes listed in the law, a series of differing states arises, connected by a single thread. That is, as a result of the impact of any negative factor, an "emotional charge" arises, which moves, passes from one state to another.
Note that the new dominant (actual) motivation, combined with frustration, as a new problem (mental trauma), begins to move along a new spiral in accordance with the already known sequence (repression, displacement, inversion, motivation).
The law shows that strong positive emotions are always preceded by strong negative ones.
The revealed regularities can be traced at different levels of the psyche organization. For example, a psychovegetative reaction to pain during wound healing can manifest itself at the same time as residual pain in the wound itself and pleasant itching of the skin around it. Probably, neuroregulatory mechanisms of wound healing (a slowly developing process), together with reflex mechanisms, were the basis for the development of the psyche.
Research of the psyche in terms of avoiding adverse influences was carried out in the most detail by behavioral psychologists. For example, behaviorists explain motivation by the desire to relieve inner tension when needs arise (Hull, 1929). The basis of the theory of learning is the "law of effect" by E. Thorndike. According to this law, the likelihood of reproducing a form of behavior increases if previously such behavior led to a useful result (stress relief).
If we consider any stimulus in its maximum manifestation as a damaging effect, then absolutely safe and absolutely beneficial environmental factors do not exist and cannot exist. Rather, the opposite is true: any factor or any situation carries a potential danger. In fact, the psyche is a complex mechanism for tracking and assessing the degree of danger that the subject encounters in the process of life, although the external result of this work manifests itself mainly in the form of behavioral aspirations and, to a lesser extent, in the form of avoidance.
It seems that the psyche reacts to different traumatic stimuli in the same way, according to a single scheme, just as the body reacts to various damaging influences with stress - a single complex of physiological and morphological changes.
When a certain threshold of damaging (traumatic) impact is exceeded, the subject seeks to avoid it. If it is not possible to avoid, the mechanism of repression, displacement, and then the inversion of emotions is activated. The fact of displacement may not be obvious. The process of displacement in a broad sense can be understood as the distancing of danger in retrospect, including those cases when the illusion of distancing danger is created. Inversion, however, reflects the process of distancing danger "in hot pursuit" (also not without illusions).
Easing of danger can concern not only displaced negative emotions, but the whole problem-situation as a whole. Since the displacement is a temporary actualization of only a part of the problem situation.
The transformation of the motivation resulting from the inversion into the dominant one does not occur in all cases. In general, this entire process for a specific subject or a specific experience can stop at any stage, starting with repression. Or go back to previous stages. The effect of the traumatic factor resumed - everything starts all over again.
Within the scope of this article, it matters:
not the nature of the damaging effect or traumatic situation, but the very fact of their presence;
not the nature of emotions and feelings, but their sign (positive or negative).
The nature of the damaging effect, its biological significance, as well as the force of the impact, give only partial differences in mental responses that do not contradict the general pattern. The role of the frequency and strength of the stimulating (traumatic) effect will be discussed below.
Numerous examples and experimental studies show that there is a noticeable similarity between emotional reactions and conditioned reflex reactions. For example, the emotion of fear of heights is traced in dynamics, as a result of previous falls, awkward movements. That is, an unconditional reflex reaction of pain, causing generalization of the reflex, sooner or later is transformed into a conditioned reflex reaction of fear.
Before presenting any danger and emotionally reacting to it, there must be a background of a real encounter with this danger and experience of responding "in hot pursuit". Emotion is an unconscious assessment of a situation - the result of a long evolution. The cognitive assessment of the situation, if it led to the emergence of an emotion, is in any case a return to the previously experienced primary emotions. And the emotions and motives of activity arising from "internal" reasons, it seems, are not much different from the emotions and motives caused by external reasons.
The problematic definition of the concepts of "emotion" and "motive" is noted by many authors, especially their relationship. Perhaps something clarifies the fact that these words have a common origin from "movere". So, H. Heckhausen [10], on the grounds that the motives of behavior are not directly observable, refers them to hypothetical constructs and considers such phenomena as need, urge, attraction, inclination, striving as motives. And emotions are either part of motives (one approach), or they are, as, for example, in hedonistic concepts (another approach). There is one more difficulty: recognition of the evaluative function for emotion allows us to mistakenly believe that emotion is secondary in relation to motive and need. Or when such a state of affairs, that motives and needs are ahead of emotions, is allowed by the author himself. In this case, in order not to get completely confused, more rigid definitions of these concepts will be required, which is also a rather difficult task.
If we take the conditioned reflex theory as a guideline, then emotions in their generally accepted understanding are undoubtedly primary, and needs and motives are secondary. For example, first the emotion of hunger arises, and only then the need for food and the corresponding motive for achievement are formed. But now food becomes available. The pleasure of eating it is the same emotion of hunger, only transformed (inverted) into a positive emotion - a euphoric state with the same objective basis. That is, emotions, both primary and secondary (inversions of primary emotions, their development), underlie motivational processes, and not vice versa. Consequently, primary emotions are always negative, and secondary ones are positive (the result of inversion). If there is a displacement, then the displaced emotion (the result of the displacement) also refers to primary emotions, since it has its own initial conditioned signal and negative emotional coloring.
In the experimental study of conditioned reflexes I.P. Pavlov drew attention to the fact that emotional response to external stimuli distorts or cancels the already formed conditioned reflexes, in fact, affecting motivation. This phenomenon has been termed "external inhibition".
P.S. Kupalov called the reflexes dependent on the influence of the external environment situational or situational conditioned reflexes.
P.K. Anokhin (1975), in his concept of "afferent synthesis", calls the factors of external inhibition situational afferentation and for the emergence of adequate behavior takes into account, along with the action of the triggering stimulus and situational afferentation, also the factor of motivation and past experience (memory).
So, in an experimental or natural setting, with the onset of a painful reaction, after some time (perhaps, the pain has not yet passed), situational signals can already cause conditioned reflex reactions (anxiety at the stage generalization). If the pain is strong, repetitive, then a conditioned reflex emotion of fear may be formed in response to a single basic signal, for example, loss of support during falls. This is also "displacement" in its broader meaning. In this example, since the signal of loss of support cannot prevent falls, nightmare falls in a dream intensify this emotion of fear to such an extent that another shift of the emotion occurs, in this case to a conditional signal of height. This is how the fear of heights is formed. Further, if a person has to be at a height or his activity is motivated and associated with height, then the fear of heights is weakened over time or replaced by a feeling of euphoria. Perhaps this is due to the "accumulation" of inhibited conditioned connections to situational signals, which, when the situation is repeated, testify to the safety of the main conditioned signal. If the situation is controllable (that is, a person can either approach, say, a cliff, or vice versa, if it is very scary, move away from the edge), then these situational signals indicate (at an unconscious level) that the danger is not so great. If something is repeated, then it is not dangerous.
The "reward system" (zones of pleasure) and the "punishment system" (zones of avoidance, displeasure) existing in the subcortical structures of the brain are probably the last links in the chain where signals about the source of danger come (for example, elevation signal) and ambient signals, before switching to effector structures. Both of these systems belong to the hypothalamic-limbic complex, the region of the brain responsible for emotions. But the signal is transformed (processed) in the cerebral cortex. If the fear of heights is strong, then, naturally, the activity of the centers of punishment prevails. If staying at an altitude is habitual, then, apparently, the situational signals inhibit the center of punishment (fear), and the ratio of the situational signals and the conditioned signal (perhaps some electrophysiological parameters is purely quantitative) determines the level of excitation of the pleasure centers. So, if the conditioned signal (signs of height) is of small strength, and the situational signal is amplified, then the fear of heights passes or is replaced by a state of euphoria (inversion). In other words, if a person sees the bottom of the abyss (conditioned signal), then the fear is strong. And if he sees green grass on the edge of a cliff and is tied with insurance (situational signals), then the fear is weakened; or with insurance he sees the bottom of the abyss - a state of euphoria arises. It all depends on previous experience. That is, what conditional connections to the situation were previously formed: how much, what strength and strength, the degree of inhibition. Traces of previous experiences are stored in the cerebral cortex; it is an intermediate, but the main link in all emotional processes. The initial link - the level of the spinal cord, medulla oblongata - generates unconditioned reflexes.
Emotional processes, like conditioned reflex, are constantly in dynamics. Some stimuli arise - others disappear. There is no "frozen" conditioned reflex, emotional reaction in nature. Rather, the usual emotional state is strengthened actual conditioned connections with signs of generalization, when new (similar to the old) and some situational conditioned signals begin to evoke a conditioned emotional reaction, as well as inhibition of new and disinhibition of old (previously inhibited) conditioned connections.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons for the difficulty in defining the very concept of "emotion" and other concepts of the emotional sphere: need, motivation, motive, etc.
For example, A. N. Leont'ev [11] defined motive as an objectified need. VK Vilyunas (1990) notes signs of objectivity in emotions as well.
Objectivity is a fundamental feature. In the conditioned reflex theory, it can be analogous to a conditioned signal. And the state of generalization, when the action of the conditioned (presence of an object) and situational signals can be combined, would be most appropriate to call a "situation". Actually, it is in this sense that this term is mainly used.
The following series of basic concepts is formed (the movement of mental processes coincides with the direction according to the bottom-up scheme).
Pain reaction, as an unconditioned reflex, is objective in its physiological concreteness. But over time, signs of generalization appear, which will be manifested by a reaction to the situation by a state of anxiety (objectivity turning into a situation).
When strengthening one of the conditioned connections and inhibiting others (situational), negative emotion arises, as a reaction to this conditioned signal (the situation again becomes predominantly objective) - this is a sign of displacement.
Further, negative emotion again "overgrows" with situational reflexes (reactions), which "accumulate" affect the strength of the manifestation of this emotional reaction. At some point, the predominance of the signals of the situational reflexes with a weakening of the conditioned signal (the object of displacement that caused this emotional reaction) leads to the fact that the sign of the emotion changes to positive (the situation changes, but the object is the same) - this is a sign of inversion.
Motive (subordinate) is an emotional state that includes negative emotion (the result of exposure or deprivation) and an imaginary, previously experienced positive emotion that arises when resolving a similar problem. The predominance of the first or the second determines what will be the motive - avoidance or aspiration (the subject in the changed situation is the same).
Purpose (subordinate) - a conscious motive (objectivity in a situation is the most specific).
Dominant motivation - includes subordinate motives and goals.
This is mainly the influence of conditional situational, associative connections of the dominant motivation. That is, under the influence of the dominant motivation, new motives are formed by inverting negative emotions into positive ones.
Fundamentally important for these reasoning is the obvious fact: the division of the current motives and emotions into the main, dominant and subordinate, secondary. For example, the need for food is the dominant motivation, and taste desires, sensations (assessment of the quality of food) are subordinate emotions and motives. The dominant motivations and emotions are also called the main, leading, deep ones. In general, the dominance of motivation is relative, and exists as long as subordinate motives are actualized. Subordinate motives and emotions can also be called derivative, situational, specific.
Most often, when talking about motivation itself, we are talking about the main, dominant motivation. A motive is, rather, a subordinate, concrete motivation.
The dominant motivation is usually vague and not specific. This, for example, in a state of hunger - the desire for food, as such; the subordinate motive is concrete and more conscious (when there is a desire for sweet, salty, spicy, etc.).
Regarding the problem of interaction between dominant motivation and subordinate motivation, one can cite the opinion that motivation is a set of motives (K.K. Platonov, 1986). If this is so, then the secondary motives, realized in turn, at different times and in different situations, subordinate to some main motivation, constituting this motivation, make it dominant, and the motives in the composition of this motivation (already in the aggregate) - unconscious. It turns out that subordinate motives, as it were, “feed”, strengthen the dominant motivation, due to the “energy” of which more and more new motives then arise.
Emotions differ only in sign and objectivity. For example, the subject of the emotion of fear of heights is the loss of support or the height itself. Such emotions are simple. Complex emotions consist of simpler ones: envy is a negative attitude towards someone (negative emotion) and the desire to have what he has (a positive emotion of the attractiveness of this thing); shame is an experience about one's act and a positive attitude (sympathy, respect) towards someone or others, etc. Also, social emotions are usually complicated by various protective mechanisms.
The strong influence of the dominant motivation can lead to the fact that a damaging factor (for example, too hot food) becomes the subject of a subordinate motive. Bad habits, addictions, behavioral deviations are characterized by the fact that the motive that arose under the influence of an obviously damaging (traumatic) factor becomes dominant. In general, it is impossible to divide irritants into harmful and useful, because any irritant with a large force of influence is harmful. Hence such "failures" arise in the emotional sphere.
Reduction of the damaging action or the distancing of danger (change in the situation) evokes positive emotions precisely in relation to the weakened damaging action or distant danger (phantom satisfaction). And precisely because, as already noted, there are no absolutely useful and absolutely harmless environmental factors. That is, there is no ideal goal (generally without any harm) to which one could strive. But there is an optimal path, the direction of which coincides with the weakening of the damaging factor. This direction is determined by emotions (regulatory function): avoiding a very strong damaging effect and striving for the usual medium version of this effect. So damaging factors of medium strength can become attractive.
In medicine, the effect of relieving pain when using irritating, "distracting" means is known. Severe irritation on the surface of the skin and mucous membranes eliminates pain and stimulates the metabolism in those organs that are connected by nerve pathways to the irritated surface areas (the effect is the opposite of "pain reflection").
In psychology, a similar phenomenon is known as "catharsis", "cleansing", when a mental return to the past, re-experiencing some unpleasant events gives relief in the present.
Eating behavior and gustatory habits appear to be highly regulated. For example, the seeds of many plants have a hard shell, which forces animals to switch to other food sources. People in this sense have more choice, however, the presence of small crunchy seeds gives some fruits such as strawberries and figs a special appeal (motivation). That is, after biting through hard nuts or hard crackers with their traumatic effect (previous experience), it becomes attractive (displacement and inversion) to bite through small seeds, crunch of chips, etc.
The habit of hot dishes arises in the same way. Strongly hot burns, but I like only slightly cooled food (displacement and inversion), and I do not like completely cooled food. Drinks, on the contrary, are liked only when cold, which hardens, increases immunity (V.A.Ivanov) [12]. After browning, like lightly browning (offset and inversion) and dislike steamed.
But more important in this series of examples is the perception of tastes: sweet, salty, spicy, bitter, sour, etc., as well as smells. The effect of this regularity of perception is mainly aimed at tastes and smells here.
This mental mechanism exists in order to be able to switch to less benign products (those that are available) that cause more irritation when there is a shortage of benign products. The stronger the motivation for hunger, the more acceptable will become unsafe foods (inversion of the perception of excessive taste stimuli), and, on the other hand, too bland (inversion of the negative perception of insufficient stimuli).
The same thing (avoiding both excessive stimuli and too weak ones) is observed in other examples. We are alarmed not only by loud sounds, noise, but also complete silence. It happens that too close communication gets tired, but loneliness is also a burden. Here, too, the situation of insufficient stimuli is perceived as "insipid", and, apparently, only those weak signals cause discomfort, which were previously imprinted in their excessive version.
Visual example. Let's agree that a large birthmark makes your appearance less attractive. However, a small mole gives the appearance a certain piquancy, attractiveness. The complete absence of moles and other minor skin defects, as after applying the powder, makes the face unnatural, mask-like. That is, positive emotions are caused by a signal of medium strength (a small mole). A strong signal and a very weak signal cause negative emotions.
The action of such natural factors as cold rain, strong wind, storm or, conversely, heat, invariably cause negative emotions. The same factors of lesser strength are already becoming pleasant (displacement and inversion): light wind, warm rain, moderate snowfall, or when the midday heat begins to subside in hot weather, this is already perceived as a desired coolness (motivation). Depriving all of these factors - for example, staying indoors for a long time - causes discomfort.
Training effect. After heavy loads, it is easy to do what was difficult before training.
After physical exertion during rest, a state of satisfaction, pleasant muscle relaxation occurs. On the other hand, muscle tension after prolonged inactivity also causes satisfaction (for example, after sleeping or sitting for a long time, there is a desire to "stretch").
Even a slight temporary relief or successful completion makes difficult, complex work attractive and interesting. In this case, on days of rest, a person is burdened by idleness, mentally returns to his work.
In evolutionary terms, the sleep of warm-blooded animals, which has fast (paradoxical) and slow phases, has become a kind of compromise between the need for rest, on the one hand, and the requirement for safety, the need to adapt to cold during sleep, on the other. It seems that the slow phase is the main, most ancient part of sleep. REM sleep due to warm-bloodedness could arise from a mechanism similar to warming up when coming out of a state of numbness or hibernation (hibernation is a seasonal slowdown in all functions with a decrease in body temperature). Perhaps, during the transition to warm-bloodedness, there were species of already warm-blooded animals, in which daily sleep was still similar to numbness (in some very small warm-blooded animals, such numbness with a decrease in body temperature is observed even now, for example, in hummingbirds). At some stage of evolutionary development, such a sleep-numbness could have not only a daily rhythm, but also multiple cycles (numbness - warming up) during the day or only at night. That is, as in the modern structure of sleep, which turned out to be a very valuable acquisition and was fixed in the overwhelming number of species of warm-blooded animals.
Rapid sleep phase or rapid eye movement (REM) phase guarantees an instant return of consciousness, the ability to orientate upon awakening during or at the end of this phase. Being paralyzed during this brain-active phase allows animals to remain hidden from predators. All this increases safety, and, perhaps, even the quick movements of the eyes of the sleeper, visible to others (a signal for the approaching person that the sleeper is about to wake up), perform the same function.
Another change of cycles of slow and fast phases allows you to prevent hypothermia, which can occur in the slow phase of sleep. For example, elephants, which, due to their mass, find it difficult to supercool, this cycle reaches 2 hours. For comparison: in small animals, it can last no more than 10 minutes. Moreover, at least a quarter of the cycle is occupied by the "warm-up" period - that is, the fast phase. In humans, the sleep cycle takes an intermediate position - 90 minutes.
For relaxation and restoration of mental functions, slow sleep seems to be more important. Experiments with sleep deprivation confirm this. In this phase, the most profound inhibition of the central nervous system is observed, the experiences of the past day are neutralized (displaced), which contributes to the restoration of mental balance (sometimes a few minutes of drowsy, superficial sleep is enough). However, stronger, more relevant experiences that have not passed the "sieve" of slow wave sleep are "picked up" by the subsequent REM sleep phase and become the theme of dreams. And dreams, in turn, contribute to the displacement of these experiences ("processing" of information) through awareness of symbols or increase the likelihood of being aware of these symbols during wakefulness (perhaps in cases where dreams are not remembered). All these processes relieve stress, and, at the same time, contribute to the preservation of signs of possible danger in the memory. Often in dreams, one plot can contain many different exciting topics connected by many associations. Such a concentration of events in unusual combinations - condensation, dramatization (terms from the works of Z. Freud) - enhances the emotional effect. It is these dreams that are most often remembered, that is, they are realized. The more associations, the more important the information and, therefore, the more it deserves attention.
Dreams imitate real events, that is, they use the language that is available to us. The function of the brain is the perception of real events occurring one after another, the reaction to situations. When it became necessary (in the phylogenetic sense) to track difficult to predict, dangerous situations (for example, those associated with gravity), which in reality occur rarely enough to gain the necessary experience, then the dream mechanism appeared. Thus, the function of a dream is somewhat different from the function of consciousness, and the means are the same: the ability to perceive a series of events, albeit generated (an example of expediency in living nature: the use of existing resources, mechanisms to perform new or additional tasks).
It is hard to imagine, and the example of instincts also shows that there can exist (and be formed on the basis of only genetic mechanisms) some rigidly programmed goal, motive, in accordance with which a certain model of behavior is formed. The same hunger is not only the desire for food, but also the avoidance of an unpleasant inner sensation. In other words, avoidance (a state of discomfort) is primary, and the motivation to seek food is secondary. The instinct is characterized by the fact that the "situation of avoidance" is created by internal physiological processes that are triggered by internal or external signals.
Approximate scheme of instinct (the movement of mental processes coincides with the direction according to the scheme from bottom to top):
When the genetic program (congenital reaction) is turned on or when homeostasis is disturbed, physiological changes appear in the body, causing a feeling of discomfort, which, by analogy with a painful reaction, can be interpreted as an unconditioned reaction (reflex). The unconditioned reaction becomes more complex not only by making up chains of unconditioned reactions, but also becoming more complicated when moving up the pyramid-scheme (overgrown with emotions and motives).
Search activity in one way or another weaken this tension, for example, partial or complete satisfaction of a need. However, the concept of "satisfaction of a need" in the psychological sense does not coincide in time with actual satisfaction. Satisfaction in the first sense tends to outstrip satisfaction in the second sense. For example, a person experiences the greatest pleasure only when starting to eat, and not after dinner, in a state of fullness.
Psychological satisfaction (positive emotion in a motivated state), in fact, has a phantom character. But it is precisely such a mechanism that directs behavior in a situation of avoidance in the direction of weakening internal tension, providing complex forms of behavior. For example, the instinct of nesting, parenting, courtship, sexual, protective, food, etc.
Additional explanations of the scheme can be found in the section: "Emotions, motivation".
Sex drive is formed with the participation of a complex of factors, which can be conditionally divided into somatic, physiological and psychological. The main ones are the following: the mechanism of erection, genital sensations, general sexual arousal, orgasm.
One of the levels of sex drive is psychosexual orientation. The only factor that has a significant impact in this regard is aggression, the level of which is set by the balance of sex hormones: estrogens, testosterone. Aggression can manifest itself in the form of rivalry, a hierarchy of dominance, hostile relationships.
Various types of behavior based on aggressiveness in ascending order from bottom to top:
Normal sexual (sexual) orientation in men, starting from early childhood, is formed by avoiding extreme manifestations of male aggression (and, on the other hand, loneliness) and by striving for a female (maternal) type of interaction (without explicit spirit of competition), and, therefore, gravitation towards women.
Interaction between men of the "slightly aggressive" type is typical for business, friendship and play (in childhood) relationships, as well as for family relationships.
For the formation of the psychosexual orientation of women, an aggressive type of relationship between men is also important. Aggressive manifestations - rivalry, domination - are perceived (unconsciously) by women as a sign of strength, the ability to protect. And this becomes the main reason for the attraction to men.
The final consolidation of the emerging orientation occurs when puberty begins, and when emotional experiences and mutual empathy intensify between representatives of different sexes.
The influence of the family (strict father, kind mother) does not seem to be of decisive importance in the formation of sexual orientation, since relations in the family, as a rule, are more formal, smoothed out than outside the family.
Therefore, interaction from early childhood in sex-mixed peer groups, where some aggressive and non-aggressive manifestations will take place, will be considered the norm.
The asymmetry of heterosexual orientation (that is, the difference in the value motivations of men and women) is associated with the asymmetry of the manifestation and perception of aggression in men and women. Mental study will be of varying degrees and depths (stages). In men, this is the stage of displacement, in women, it is the stage of inversion. Homosexual orientation is also asymmetrical, but vice versa. In men this is the stage of inversion, in women it is the stage of displacement. Homosexuality can arise both for biological reasons (for example, a change in the balance of sex hormones - estrogens, testosterone), and for social reasons (various isolation).
Another level of sexual desire is associated with genital sensations, which are projectively extended to members of the opposite sex. At first glance, the sequence of events looks like this: a state of sexual (sexual) arousal, accompanied by an erection of the penis, prompts sexual intercourse. However, excitation cannot be primary (in the sense of onto- and phylogenesis) in this series of events, since it is initially “not known” which signals should trigger it and for what purpose. Only the situation of avoidance created by internal, physiological mechanisms can give the correct reference point. This situation is created by an erection mechanism initially independent of external signals: in men - the penis, in women - the clitoris.
The point is that an erection can occur spontaneously, and not only during intimate relationships. And another important observation that follows from the first: an erection in most cases is not accompanied by general sexual arousal (that is, only genital arousal occurs). For example, during the rapid phase of sleep, in the morning after sleep, and sometimes during the day, a spontaneous erection that does not turn into sexual arousal can be obsessive and cause a state of general discomfort, frustration, as well as unpleasant sensations of overflow and irritation (during sleep - unconscious) directly in the genitals. This is a biologically programmed state, an internal situation that triggers an avoidance response. The subsequent pleasant sensations in the genitals (inversion of perception) and pleasant sexual arousal, stimulated by the imagination or during sexual intercourse, are secondary. They only indicate the further direction of action - bodily contacts and mechanical stimulation of the penis, following which sexual intercourse takes place. That is, there is a weakening of internal tension (relief of the state of discomfort), which ultimately determines the model of sexual behavior.
During the rapid phase of sleep, not only internal tension "accumulates" in connection with an erection, but also situational conditioned reactions to situational signals in dream plots arise. The multitude of conditional connections to the situation, perhaps, explains the ease with which an erection in appropriate situations turns into sexual arousal. That is, two factors: on the one hand - the pressure of an unconditioned reaction (a state of discomfort on an erection), - and on the other, the "accumulation" of conditioned connections to the situation - balance in a position close to an equilibrium position, which gives an overall picture of "distancing an unpleasant stimulus". This increases the likelihood of inversion - the transition of a negative emotion of discomfort into a positive emotion - pleasant genital sensations, and then into general sexual arousal.
The climax of sexual behavior is orgasm - an experience of intense sexual satisfaction, coinciding with a sharp weakening of nervous and muscular tension, associated with ejaculation in men. The physiological sensations and psychological experiences of orgasm represent the third component of the phenomenon of sexual desire.
It has already been noted that through the mechanism of inversion, a causal relationship is traced between the traumatic (dangerous) and the attractive (beautiful). For example, wildlife is both dangerous and attractive at the same time. Similar to fear at a height, when the height is at the same time attractive, the fear of getting lost in the forest, being hurt by sharp stones and branches (which probably happened, and this fear is hidden from consciousness) makes the forest attractive and beautiful in its own way.
This regularity (inversion of emotions) permeates all spheres of human life (and, naturally, at a lower level - in animals). This is what concerns the lower level of the psyche, starting with the patterns of perception of visual images, taste sensations, smells, and continuing with cultural phenomena, aesthetics - examples of interpersonal and social interaction, the phenomenon of fashion, art of design, etc.
The example of fashion is especially well traced the psychological mechanism of inversion is the transformation of negative emotions into positive ones. That is, the causal relationship of the traumatic, dangerous and attractive, beautiful. For example, the desire to get a tattoo, piercing (persing), to wear shocking clothes, at its core has obviously unpleasant emotions: either as a result of traumatic punctures (projection is possible), or as a result of dislike for those who have exceeded a certain "reasonable" threshold (in the same piercing). Excessive stimuli are avoided in favor of medium-strength stimuli. That is, the desire to have everything the same, only in smaller quantities. The desire for extravagance, in fact, is fueled by the fashion industry.
This is artificial gray hair (gray strands, highlights), and hair coloring in an unnatural color - blue, pink, purple, lilac, symbolizing increased emotional activity.
The mental processes underlying the attractiveness of piercing can be presented in several ways.
Option 1. A person is afraid of punctures, cuts (this is natural); fear shifts to sharp objects. Dislike is caused by the appearance of these foreign (sharp) objects.
Option 2. A person in his environment sees people who have pierced; the fear of punctures and cuts is shifted further, already on them (in the form of dislike for these people).
Option 3. A person in a small circle to rotate among people who have pierced; the desire to get closer to these people, to make them sympathetic (motivation) turns on the inversion mechanism: now the piercing (and the people who made it) seems attractive. There was a desire to get pierced myself too.
Option 4. A person is so fond of piercing that he expands his contacts: for example, he enters a party or joins a piercing club (motivation increases, becomes dominant).
& nbsp; & nbsp; Option 5. A person who is keen on piercing finds himself in an environment in which piercing is not welcome (school, university); motivation is sublimated, for example, into a passion for collecting piercing-related items (rings, earrings, etc.) without wearing them.
These options may reflect the attitude towards piercing in different people, that is, some one option for a particular person and be limited. But the same options are also stages of the possible development of the mental process in a person, including all the previous options-stages.
Any, even a slight scratch is accompanied by bleeding. Therefore, the sight of blood is always associated with a traumatic situation, which may be what makes red beautiful.
The following lexical series seems to confirm this pattern:
Words are arranged in ascending order of attractiveness. However, in each of the groups of words with a related root stem, there are pairs with words opposite in meaning: чёрный (black) - червонный (red), кромешный (pitch black) - красивый (beautiful). The word "чермный" (black) consonant with the word "чёрный" (black) is associated with a similarity of meaning with a group of words related to the word "красный" (red) (sound symbolism).
It follows from this that the etymological relationship of words denoting emotional states of opposite sign, in fact, shows the cause-and-effect relationship of these emotional states.
Two poles are also visible in the English version:
Analysis of perception and blue (cold) color gives similar results. Most likely, this is an association of blue discoloration (cyanosis) of the skin during hypothermia. Cyanosis (bruising) also occurs as a result of mechanical injury. Therefore, blue-blue is also associated with a traumatic situation.
Let's look at the lexical row:
There are also two poles of emotional reactions. That is, the unconscious desire to overcome unpleasant experiences also makes the blue-blue color attractive and widespread. For example, blueness in clothes and other details of appearance, as well as the presence of shades of red, especially emphasize female beauty.
Saturation with these colors enhances the emotionality of any image - arouses the feeling of beauty. The prevailing popular, fairy-tale characters look exactly like this: the white and blue clothes of the Snow Maiden, the red fur coat of Santa Claus, the bluish image of Malvina, etc.
Shades of lilac and violet are also emotionally active.
At first, guesses were made about a person's appearance, and then it was proved experimentally (J. Langlois & L. Roggman; 1990) that a beautiful appearance has minimal deviations from a certain average, compositional appearance. The averaged face obtained by computer overlay was rated more attractive than most individuals.
It can be assumed that deviating appearance causes alertness both because of the association with unpleasant character traits and because of its rare occurrence. Avoid (unconsciously) the rare in favor of the familiar.
A certain stimulating effect (irritant), exerting at different times the effect of different strengths and causing a response, as if tested for the degree of danger, is "calibrated". The most acceptable (optimal) level of stimulating influence at the moment causes the most tangible positive emotion.
It is known that the effectiveness of activity depends on emotional arousal - the Yerkes-Dodson effect (P. Fress, J. Piaget, 1975). It turns out that very weak and very strong emotional arousal (with appropriate motivation) leads to a decrease in work efficiency. And there is a certain optimum of emotional excitement (optimum motivation), in which the activity is most effective.
Let's look at the results of these experiments from a slightly different point of view: imagining a situation where a certain level of emotional arousal is not set experimentally, but, on the contrary, acting with any one stimulus of different strength at different times, see what there will be an emotional reaction depending on the strength of the impact. At the same time, consider the dominant motivation to be a constant.
If the efficiency of an activity is, albeit an indirect one, but an indicator of positive emotions, and inefficiency is an indicator of negative emotions, then the results of the experiments are quite consistent with the examples discussed above.
In the examples: taste sensations, the action of natural factors, interaction with people, the sensation of attractiveness, physical and labor activity, etc., it is clear that positive emotions are evoked only by frequently acting (widespread) stimuli of moderate strength.
The effect of training, the fact of the practical application of annoying, "distracting" means, as well as the use of the phenomenon of "catharsis" in practical psychology - allow us to assess the role and influence of emotional reactions already experienced on the strength and sign of an actual emotional reaction.
Let's represent it schematically, outlining some concepts.
The concept of "emotional optimum" - reflects the idea that the optimal mental (emotional) state is achieved by avoiding rarely acting, new stimuli and deviating variants of the often acting stimulus, both in the direction of strengthening and weakening.
"Optimal level of impact" - the strength of the stimulating (damaging, traumatic) effect, optimal for a given situation.
"Optimal emotional response (excitement)" - an emotional response corresponding to the most appropriate level of stimulating influence for a given situation.
"Maximum permissible level of influence" - the maximum force of influence in the most strongly motivated state and at the maximum frequency of exposure (that is, the frequency of exposure to a stimulus of a given force in the subject's experience), the action of which still evokes positive emotions.
"Minimum impact level" - the minimum impact in the most strongly motivated state and at the maximum frequency of impact, the action of which still evokes positive emotions.
"Area of positive emotions" - an area on the scale of any impact or reactions to an impact, limited according to the two previous concepts, with variable factors of the situation.
"Negative emotions area" - the rest of the scale is divided into two parts: very weak and very strong influences.
"Situation" - in this case, it takes into account the degree of influence of the strength of the dominant motivation and the frequency of exposure (both of these factors affect what the situational conditioned connections will be and what the reaction will be to the conditioned stimulus and actual situational signals).
The observed regularity for strong, medium and weak exposure options takes place only with sufficient repetition (frequency) of all exposure options, but, as a rule, with the highest repeatability of medium-strength effects, as causing positive emotions. And rare stimuli (including extreme variants in terms of impact strength), regardless of their biological significance (strength), are always perceived by the body as new, and the response to them will be either an orienting reflex or avoidance.
In these definitions, "stimulating effect" can be understood somewhat broader, including not only a damaging physical effect, but also a traumatic experience (mental trauma), which in its optimal expression can manifest itself in memories, everyday worries, experiences when watching movies, etc. In this sense, the separation of the concepts of "impact" and "reaction" is rather arbitrary.
The state of "optimal emotional response" is characterized by a feeling of satisfaction, pleasant excitement, excitement. The subject's behavior is subordinated to the desire to achieve this state and to be in this state.
Strong motivation (as a factor in the situation) can expand the "area of positive emotions". For example, in a state of hunger, both spicy and bland food than usual will become acceptable.
Avoiding the damaging effect (stimulus), both in its excessive and weak manifestation, leads to the fact that for each specific situation its optimal level of this effect is determined. Strong traumatic influences (experiences) that cannot be avoided will be repressed, displaced and, in the presence of a dominant motivation, inverted. The reaction to weak influences (discomfort) can also undergo transformation (inversion), which will mean the return of normal well-being in new conditions (for example, in the case of loneliness). Consequently, the experience of responding to both strong and weak stimuli also changes the area of positive emotions - shifts it, respectively, either towards strong stimuli or towards weak ones. So, the effect of training, the use of annoying, "distracting" means, as well as the effect of "catharsis" - cause a shift in the area of positive emotions towards a stronger stimulus. For example, pain signals from an internal organ are no longer perceived as pain signals (inversion), and the sensation of pain disappears. In these last examples, in fact, mental processes are modeled that arise and develop in reality "by themselves".
Each optimal emotional excitement (subordinate process), if it is realized, is characterized, as already noted, by a certain increase in positive emotions (for example, a sensation of a moderately salty product). Unconscious optimal emotional arousal can merge with others into one dominant emotional arousal. This "summation effect" gives a strong positive experience, in some cases reaching the level of euphoria. Thus, the taste of the finished dish is perceived as something whole, causing pleasure, while the taste of each incoming ingredient is not recognized.
The effect of summation also occurs when perceiving the appearance of the people around. For each of the facial features, the line (characteristic) of the figure, the number of which is immeasurable, an emotional reaction arises, as when meeting a person - the carrier of this trait-characteristic, possibly deviating in one direction or another. When summing up a large number of emotions (optimal emotional excitements), in the case of averaging the corresponding traits, the result is such a strong effect of attractiveness and beauty.
During sexual intercourse, the summation of optimal emotional responses is observed at all stages and at all levels. Almost simultaneously experienced: personal sympathies, close relationships, weakening of frustration, overcoming shame and the forbidden, physical contacts, etc.
A strong positive emotional experience, a feeling of euphoria, repeating itself and intensifying due to subordinate emotions, becomes the basis of the dominant motivation.
In the monotony of the text, I would like to highlight the main idea. The article was conceived as an attempt to compare the phenomena (processes, mechanisms, states) known in psychology and the conditioned reflex theory. One line of the narrative seems to intersect with another. It turned out that a conditioned reflex (displacement) can be formed “inside” mental trauma, which plays the role of an unconditioned reflex. Then, this displaced negative emotion under the influence of the environment can turn into a positive emotion (inversion). The influence of the environment can be expressed both by the formation of situational reflexes and by motivation of a higher order. Further, on the basis of this positive emotion, a motive or even a dominant motivation can be formed. Thus, the following pattern of changes in mental states is revealed: repression, displacement, inversion, motivation. If difficulties arise in distinguishing such concepts as motive, motivation, dominant motivation - this is not yet clear - then it is just a motive.
1. Positive and negative emotions, needs, goals, motives and three defense mechanisms of the psyche: repression, displacement, inversion, motivation - are the main, basic phenomena of the psyche and mechanisms.
2. The rest of the defense mechanisms and phenomena (states and processes) of the psyche are more complex combinations of the main phenomena and defense mechanisms.
3. Only dreams perform the function of warning of danger by increasing the reaction to the symbols of danger hidden from consciousness.
4. Dreams play an especially important role in preventing the dangers associated with gravity (falls, collapse of shelters).
5. The rapid phase of sleep originally emerged in terms of evolution, as a stage of warming up, as a mechanism for preventing hypothermia. A logical continuation was the build-up of an additional function on this mechanism - warning against danger with the help of dreams.
6. Positive emotions are the result of mental processes caused by negative emotions.
7. The attractiveness of red and blue comes from the fact that they are symbols of damage and stress.
8. Taste preferences have a potentially wider range in the event of a shortage of traditional food sources (lack of food).
9. Homosexual orientation can be associated with a reaction to aggressive manifestations.
10. The perception of a person's appearance as attractive, beautiful is the averaging mechanism, which is based on the avoidance of deviating, uncommon traits associated with negative emotions for appearance with a negative background.
11. The "Law of the development of mental processes, mechanisms and states" is formulated: As a result of a painful reaction or a traumatic experience, the following alternately occurring changes-stages arise: repression, displacement, inversion, motivation.
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