Nebylitsyn, V. (1972). Fundamental Properties of the Human Nervous System
Although today differential psychology embraces a large and ever-increasing body of facts, conclusions, and practical recommendations which have wide applicability, a number of critical problems are still unresolved or only partly resolved. One of the most important of these is the relationship between individual variations in human behavior and individual features of a range of correlated physiological functions. Adequate concepts exist for understanding individual variations in some physiological functions underlying specific aspects (speed, tempo, rhythm, amplitude) of the flow of psychical activity. This fact alone is of considerable importance, especially when we consider that such dynamic features can-and sometimes do in a fundamental way-modulate psychological functioning. If we consider, in addition, that in certain circumstances these variables have a direct and sometimes decisive effect on the final behavioral outcome, it seems obvious that the parameters of physiologically active systems determine a number of important features of complex human behavior.
According to Pavlov, the most important of these is that system comprising central nervous system properties, which determine the generation of excitatory and inhibitory processes in the structures of the central nervous system. The concept of basic nervous system properties as leading parameters of the psychophysiological organization of individuality seems to be one of the outstanding achievements of the Pavlovian school. It provided the framework within which investigators could attempt to determine experimentally individual features of behavior and reactivity. Soon, however, the concept was reified into the theory of four "types of higher nervous activity," a theory which was undoubtedly premature, and which, from a scientific practical point of view, was considerably less productive than the concept of nervous system properties. For some reason, however, the theory of four "types of higher nervous activity" was accorded wide acceptance. Criticism of this theory, which was soon expressed in the writings of B. M. Teplov, led to the formulation of a number of firmly based postulates, which provided the basis for an experimental program aimed at a wider understanding of basic nervous system properties in man. These investigations were undertaken under Teplov's supervision in the Institute of Psychology of the Academy of Pedagogical Science of the RSFSR, of which Teplov was the Director. Methodology for investigating nervous system properties, the physiological maintenance of these properties, the underlying organizational principles, and finally, their significance as factors of individual behaviorall these problems were studied in Teplov's laboratory. Results of these investigations were published in four volumes, Typological Features ofHigher Nervous Activity in Man, edited by Teplov, and in a number of scientific journals.
The primary aim of the present volume is to describe in a detailed and systematic fashion experimental studies of the physiological bases of basic nervous system properties both in Teplov's laboratory (which involved the present author) and in other laboratories. A further aim is to discuss some of the conclusions from the experimental results, which differ from traditional views about the nature, maintenance, and structure of the basic nervous system properties. In reading this material, the reader should remember that the study of nervous system properties in man is still far from complete and that a number of problems are still being conceptualized and formulated. For these reasons, certain parts of this book are somewhat fragmentary or hypothetical in nature.
v. D. NEBYLITSYN
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