If there is a sharp flash of light, we close our eyes; if the battery is hot, we instantly withdraw our hand…
All these actions are automatically performed by millions of people around the world, regardless of place of residence, age and gender. In a word, the same reaction to everything sharply and unexpectedly expressed in the world around us: cold, boiling water, pain, fear - this is what unites us all. Scientists call this reaction the simple and familiar word "reflex". Let us, following the scientists, show a he althy curiosity and look into this interesting question: what are innate and acquired reflexes? What is the main difference between them?
History from the 17th century
The famous Frenchman and great scientist René Descartes, back in the 17th century, became interested in human reactions to sharp stimuli and for the first time gave them a detailed description.
But in those distant times, psychology was not yet considered a science. SoDescartes concluded that any reaction to a stimulus is just a reflection of our knowledge of the properties of surrounding objects and substances.
The concept of "reflex" owes its origin to the talented Russian scientist Sechenov I. M. He was the first in the world to prove and show that any reason for the mental state of a person in general, and all his actions in particular, lies solely in the influence of the external environment to the nervous system. Simply put: if the sense organs are not irritated, then the emotional life of a person immediately comes to naught. This is where the well-known expression originates: "Tired before losing feelings." After Sechenov's death, his scientific research was continued by the great academician Pavlov I. P.
Pavlov's great discovery
It is to Ivan Petrovich that we owe a clear classification of existing reflexes and systematization of knowledge about reflexology. Academician Pavlov proved that there are two main types of reflexes: congenital and acquired.
Pavlov devoted his entire long life to science and won the Nobel Prize in Medicine at the beginning of the 20th century. Coming from a family of clergy, Ivan Petrovich became an academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Being closely engaged in the nervous regulation of living organisms, the scientist was able to clearly show what is an example of an innate reflex and what is its definition. It should be noted that many people still do not see much difference between the skills given to us genetically and the abilities we acquired in the process of life. Great Pavlov,after conducting many experiments, he concluded that innate reflexes are those for the occurrence of which no special conditions are required. Accordingly, acquired (conditional) - occur exclusively during the period of human adaptation to the external environment.
How did Pavlov's dog help people?
Who doesn't know about Pavlov's dog?! Such people practically do not exist. Investigating the process of digestion of food in dogs, Ivan Petrovich began to notice that experimental dogs began to actively salivate not at the sight of food, but already at the sight of a person bringing this food.
Seeing this, Pavlov made a simple and at the same time ingenious conclusion: salivation when receiving food is a classic reflex that has an absolutely unconditional character, that is, equally characteristic of all dogs. In other words, it is an innate reflex, the instinct to eat.
And salivation at the sight of a feeding person is a typical conditioned reflex, not typical for all dogs and developed precisely in these animals at the sight of a very specific person.
Let's think with you about innate reflexes that have genetic congestion and do not depend on the influence of the external environment.
Classification of reflexes for non-professionals
In general, all innate reflexes have a very diverse classification system.
For example, for non-professionals, the most understandable division of reflexes into: simple, complex and complex. What is an example of an innate reflex, most clearlyexpressed? This is the example we gave at the very beginning of the text, with pulling your hand away from a hot battery.
To complex reflexes, we can include, for example, sweating. And to the most complex reflexes - a long chain of simple actions.
Also, the classification according to the strength of the reaction of any living organism to an irritating factor is also extremely clear. If we proceed from it, then all innate reflexes are divided into positive (for example, the search for fresh pastries by smell) and negative (the desire to quickly escape from danger, noise, stench).
Unconditioned reflexes and their biological significance
According to their biological significance, all human reflexes are divided into five main types:
- food;
- sexual;
- protective;
- indicative;
- locomotor.
Innate human reflexes are food, as well as sexual and protective. Let's consider each of them separately.
The food reflex is the ability to swallow, suck and salivate; sexual - sexual arousal; defensive - this is the withdrawal of hands from hot or the desire to cover the head with hands in case of expectation of a blow.
In addition to these, there are orienting reflexes - this is the need to identify all unfamiliar stimuli, namely to turn around at a sharp noise or an unexpected touch. A congenital reflex is a locomotor reflex - this is a reflex that serves to move and allows you to keep the body in the desired (correct) position in the surrounding space.
Simonov's classification: convenient and understandable
The famous Russian scientist Simonov P. V. proposed his simple and understandable system of classification of human innate reflexes.
He divided all unconditioned reflexes into three types:
- Vital.
- Reflexes of assigned roles.
- Reflexes of self-development.
Let's try to understand what the essence of each species is and why this particular classification has become so popular in the world?
Vital - these are all those reflexes that are directly related to the preservation of human life itself. Let's list them:
- Food.
- Defensive.
- Effort saving reflex. For example, if the result of actions is expected to be the same, then a person always chooses the one that takes him the minimum cost.
- A reflex that regulates sleep and wakefulness.
Here it is especially important to understand a simple truth: if any of the listed needs is not satisfied in time, then the life of a living organism ends immediately. This is the fundamental difference between innate and conditioned reflexes.
To implement any of these reflexes, a person does not need another person. This is their main difference from role-playing reflexes, which can be carried out only through contact with another person, but not alone.
Role reflexes include parental and sexual. The last group of “self-development reflexes” includes:
- Reflex game.
- Explorer's reflex.
- Copy reflex.
"Birthplace" of unconditioned reflexes
Where is the "father's home" of all the reflexes generously given to us by nature?
Their "father's home" is our central nervous system, consisting of the brain and spinal cord. Do you remember how it happens at the medical examination: the doctor, lightly hitting the patient's knee with a rubber mallet, observes the level of involuntary extension of the lower leg by him. In other words, the doctor monitors the reflex: if the reflex is weak or, conversely, very strong, then this is considered a pathology.
Unconditioned reflexes are very numerous. So, in the brain, in its lower parts, there are many reflex centers. They form so-called "reflex arcs".
If we start moving from our spinal cord in an upward direction, then immediately on the way we will meet the medulla oblongata. All reflex processes, such as sneezing, swallowing, coughing and salivation, are possible thanks to the medulla oblongata.
Next, moving up the spinal cord, we will meet the midbrain. The midbrain responds and controls exactly those reactions that we have in response to visual or acoustic stimuli. These are such well-known reactions: constriction and expansion of the pupils when light hits them; a reflex turn of the head and the entire body in the direction of a source of sharp light and sound.
Features of unconditioned reflexes
We have already found out that the reflex arcs of our innate reflexes are of a permanent nature. But at the same time, they can be more or less activated in differentperiods of human life.
For example, sexual reflexes actively manifest themselves when the body reaches a certain age, while other reflex reactions gradually fade away. So, all babies, when pressed on their palm, unconsciously grab the finger of an adult. This grasping reflex completely disappears with the process of growing up.
The importance of unconditioned reflexes
Innate reflexes are of great importance. They, according to the latest research by scientists, are realized in the womb. For example, the sucking reflex. But over the course of life, a huge number of conditioned reflexes are added to innate reflexes. Conditional, competently superimposed on top of unconditioned reflexes, give a person adaptive opportunities and help to adapt to the world around him as best as possible.
The reflexes given to us from birth are most important precisely in the early stages of existence, at a time when we still do not have our own personal ideas and concepts about the structure of life around us. Then all our actions are guided exclusively by processes that are entirely reflex in nature.
Unconditioned reflexes are a generous gift of nature
Innate human reflex is a set of natural skills. Therefore, the skills given to us by default already at birth are an invaluable gift that helps a new little man in adapting to the unfamiliar life around him.
Only by observing newborns, one can see the whole set of unconditionalpure reflexes. The first person to analyze our natural reflexes and give them a professional assessment is a neonatologist.
Eight basic reflexes are considered to be innate human reflexes. They are "born" into the world together with the child and allow him to survive outside the mother's body. Let's name them all and then analyze each separately. Innate reflexes in humans, examples:
- breathing;
- sucking;
- gag reflex;
- Kussmaul reflex (or search);
- Perez reflex;
- withdrawal reflex;
- blink reflex;
- pupil reflex.
It is very important to test all these innate reflexes in dynamics. It is the problems with these reflexes in an infant that are the main "beacons" of a possible pathology of the central nervous system.
Let's take a closer look at examples of basic human innate reflexes.
A fascinating "journey" through the first human reflexes
As soon as we are born, our respiratory reflex "turns on": the baby's lungs open and he takes his first breath.
Almost simultaneously with the breathing skill, a sucking reflex appears. If, for example, you just touch the nipple to the mouth of a newborn, then he will immediately begin to suck. The process of sucking calms the baby and it is extremely necessary: if the child did not suck in infancy, then growing up, he may begin to suck on the ends of his hair, fingers, or bite his nails. And then the intervention of a pediatric neurologist will be required.
The gag reflex is designed to help the newborn survive. It appears immediately after birth and forces the baby to push any hard objects out of the mouth with the tongue. It does not allow the baby to choke and completely fades by six months as unnecessary.
The Kussmaul reflex is also called search reflex. It is he who allows the baby to find the nipple. This reflex should be symmetrical on both sides. So, if you barely touch the baby's cheek, he immediately turns his head in the direction of touch and opens his mouth in search of food.
The first thing a neonatologist does is check for the Perez reflex. Checking this is always extremely unpleasant for the baby and usually causes loud crying. The doctor with a little pressure runs his finger along the child's spine, expecting the baby to straighten the torso, bend the arms and legs and raise the head. This is how the work of the entire neural arc is checked.
Three basic human reflexes
Immediately after birth, a child has three protective reflexes given to him by nature:
- Retractions. For any injection, the child must pull back the leg or handle.
- Pupillary. Bright light always causes pupil constriction.
- Blinking. If you blow into the face of a newborn, he immediately squints his eyes.
These three basic reflexes, generously presented to a person in the very first seconds after his birth, protect him for the rest of his life and do not leave him until the very last days.
Entertaining facts and very useful conclusions
All human reflexes can be congenital or acquired.
All innate reflexes of human behavior can be conditionally divided into two segments: motor and spinal. Motor reflexes are oral unconditioned reflexes: search, sucking, etc. Spinal reflexes are due to the functioning of the spinal cord. These are grasping, defensive, Perez reflex, etc.
Here are just a few interesting facts that are an example of the demonstration of innate reflexes in babies. These facts cause surprise, sincere admiration and give an understanding of those huge "starting" abilities that are given to man by nature. Let's not stand aside and get acquainted with at least some of them:
- Until six months, all children are "professional swimmers": they hold their breath perfectly. At the same time, the heart rate drops sharply, and blood circulation in the fingers and toes decreases.
- Until 1985, when operating on newborns, doctors did not give them anesthesia, believing that they still did not feel pain. Babies do not yet have conscious memory, so pain does not cause them long-term harm.
- If someone touches the baby's hand, then he immediately, without hesitation, instinctively grabs it. All children have a strong grasp reflex. This reflex appears in the womb at the 16th week of pregnancy. What is most interesting, the grasp reflex is so powerful that it can support the baby's own weight.
- When the expectant mother is pregnantsuddenly there is a lesion of any internal organ, the fetus sends stem cells for its regeneration and treatment.
Psychologists have a fair opinion that any psychological dependence of a person on something is caused not by innate unconditioned reflexes, but exclusively by the formation of a negative conditioned reflex. For example, psychological drug dependence is always closely related to the fact that the consumption of a particular drug substance is strongly associated with a pleasant state. Simply put, a negative conditioned reflex is formed, which is firmly preserved throughout human life.
Therefore, we owe all our negative habits and bad character traits to conditioned reflexes firmly formed throughout life.
All unconditioned reflexes are given to us by nature from birth. They carry only good in themselves and help us survive, protect ourselves, get stronger and become stronger. Nature gives a person the best, and you just need to know how to properly dispose of it.
