Deceptions of perception of healthy people psychiatry. Culture of thinking

- illusions- a distorted perception of a real-life external environment of an object. There is no critical assessment. Illusions are:

Paraidal - an illusion with imagination (look at the clouds - we see animals)

Physiological - due to the chemistry in the body.

Affective - against the background of affect and fear. For example, many, especially children, at night perceive objects in rooms as scary monsters.

Verbal - distorted perception of speech

Hallucination- perceptual deceptions, when a person perceives objects out of direct connection with environmental stimuli.

There are hallucinations in the norm, do not indicate pathology:

Hypnogogic - when falling asleep

Hypnopompic - upon awakening

Suggested - after a hypnosis session

There are also:

Elementary - a sound or a separate image is perceived, but it is not differentiated. For example, some sound or spot appeared. They may also be healthy.

Simple - only one analyzer is involved. Someone specific voice, for example.

Complicated - two or more analyzers are involved (I don’t just talk with a drum, but I also see and feel)

Peudo hallucinations:

Kondinsky and Clerambo are both psychiatrists, Kondinsky suffered from schizophrenia and both of them committed suicide. Pseudo hallucinations- noted in schizophrenia, and just hallucinations with organic brain damage. But this is not a strict rule.

Pseudo hallucinations- are in the nature of subjective perception, are perceived as something abnormal. If they were true, then we would not be able to feel them (Someone is signaling something to me a thousand kilometers away). They have the character of obsession - as if someone put other people's thoughts into their heads. Someone moves my tongue and speaks some thoughts. "I look at the world through mental glasses."

true hallucinations are of an objective nature. projected into outer space. If these hallucinations existed in reality, then we could perceive them with the help of our senses. (If there really was a devil, then we would have seen him)

Hyperesthesia - sharpening of perception. It happens in neurotic patients. It happens against the background of emotional states.

hypothesia- weakening of perception. in neurotic patients. Stocking-glove anesthesia - we touch the arms and legs with a needle - they do not feel, they just crossed the barrier - they immediately feel. Hysterical blindness and deafness.

Depersonalization- Altered perception of self. They can be in a healthy person, for example, in adolescence. "I know I'm beautiful, but I didn't feel like that." I feel very big.

Derealization is an inadequate perception of the world. I see everything around too big.

De-ja-vu is the syndrome of what has already been seen.

Ja-me-vu - the syndrome of the invisible.

From Zeigarnik:

From the theoretical provisions of A. N. Leontiev, A. V. Zaporozhets, L. A. Venger, V. P. Zinchenko, Yu. B. Gippenreiter, it follows that the development of perception is determined by the tasks that arise before a person in his life. Research in general psychology is characterized by an approach to perception as an activity that includes the main specifics of the human psyche - activity and partiality.

S. L. Rubinshtein points out that human perception is always generalized and depends on the direction of the individual. Therefore, perception should be considered as a perceptual activity characterized by generalization and motivation. In recent years, a number of foreign authors have also tried to show that the product of the perception process depends on the emotional and personal characteristics of a person.

Therefore, it was to be expected that perception could be disturbed in various characteristics of activity - in violation of generalization, personal conditioning. These disorders are manifested in the difficulty of recognition, in the distortion of the perceived material, in the deception of the senses, false recognition, in the restructuring of the motivational side of perceptual activity. Let's dwell on some of them.

Agnosia

Agnosia is the difficulty in recognizing objects, sounds. A lot of works are devoted to the problem of agnosia, especially visual agnosia. Starting with A. Petzl, visual agnosias were divided into: a) agnosia of objects, the so-called Lissauer's "mental objective agnosia", when patients did not recognize objects and their images. Volpert's "simultaneous agnosia" also adjoins this group (patients recognized individual objects, their images, but did not recognize the images of the situation); b) agnosia for colors and fonts; c) spatial agnosia.

We will focus only on those cases of agnosia that appeared in mental illness. In a number of patients (with organic brain lesions of various origins), the phenomena of agnosia were manifested in the fact that the patients singled out one or another sign of the perceived object, but did not carry out the synthesis; so, one patient describes the image of a nail as something round, saying: "a cap is on top, a stick is on the bottom, I don't know what it is"; another patient describes the key as "a ring and a rod." At the same time, the patients described exactly the configuration of the object, they could even accurately copy it, but this did not facilitate their recognition. Similar facts, indicating the impossibility of the synthesis, were described by E. P. Kok in the study of patients with lesions of the parieto-occipital systems, as well as by E. D. Khomskaya and E. G. Sorkina.

First of all, the question arose that the patients' perception of the structure was disturbed, as was the case with the patient Sh. figures only after he "traced them motorically", for example, with head movements.

In other patients, agnosia was of a different nature. Without recognizing objects, they recognized their shape and configuration, even when the latter were presented tachistoscopically, they could describe them. So, for example, during tachistoscopy presentation of a garden watering can, the patient says: “a barrel-shaped body, something round, in the middle it moves away like a stick on one side”, another patient, during tachistoscopy presentation of a comb, says: “some kind of horizontal line, small , thin sticks. Sometimes patients could draw an object without recognizing it.

As an illustration, we cite the data of a pathopsychological study and the case history of patient V., which was described by me together with G. V. Birenbaum in 1935.

Patient V., aged 43, bibliographer. Diagnosis: epidemic encephalitis (Dr. E. G. Kaganovskaya).

She fell ill in 1932. There was a sharp drowsiness, which lasted about a week and was replaced by insomnia. There was salivation, left-sided paresis of the leg and pain in the area of ​​the outer part of the left shoulder, fever. There were illusions and hallucinations. Mice "ran" on the wall around the fan, figures jumped on the floor, "dancing faces" were spinning. With these phenomena, the patient was admitted to the Botkin hospital. A few days later, short-term disturbances of consciousness appeared, the patient could not find her ward, bed. In 1933, she was transferred to the VIEM psychiatric clinic. By the time of our study, the mental status of the patient had changed. The patient is in a clear consciousness, correctly oriented in the environment. Somewhat amimic. Quiet, slightly modulating voice. Many lies, complaining of fatigue and headaches. With difficulty and not immediately gives anamnestic information, while dwelling on details that are not related to the essence of the issues. She reads little, "there is not enough, - the patient notes, - a lively imagination." Outwardly good-natured, emotional. This state, however, is quickly replaced by irritability, malice, reaching affective explosiveness. Along with emotional lability, there is, in general, a poor and rather uniform affective life with a very narrow circle of attachments, an indifferent attitude to people, to work, to social life, to literature, which was previously very beloved. Against this background of general emotional monotony, there is an interest in recovery.

An experimental psychological study does not reveal any gross changes in the mental activity of the patient. The patient correctly assimilated the instructions, conveyed well the content, subtext of the read book, understood the conventional meaning of proverbs and metaphors. Only some passivity and lack of interest in the experimental situation were revealed.

At the same time, a pathopsychological study revealed gross impairments in object recognition. The patient often did not recognize (40%) the images presented to her. So, she calls the painted mushroom "haystack", matches - "crystals". The patient does not catch the plot of the picture immediately, but only after prolonged fixations on individual details. The process of perception is in the nature of guessing: "What could it be - a comb? What is it sitting on - on an armchair, a chair? What could it be - a stove, a trough?" When showing the well-known painting "The suicide bomber", the patient says: "What kind of woman is this, what is she thinking about? What is she sitting on? On the bed? What are these shadows?"

Even with the correct name, the patient always noted doubt and uncertainty, she is looking for strong points in the drawing in order to confirm the correctness of her conclusion with them. So, the patient recognized the image of the book, but the usual doubts for the patient immediately set in: "Is it a book, is it some kind of square. No, the square has no protrusions and something is written here. Yes, this is a book." With such a pronounced disturbance in the recognition of drawings, the patient perfectly recognized geometric shapes, supplemented unfinished drawings in accordance with structural laws. Moreover, without recognizing the object in the drawing, she perfectly described its shape. For example, not recognizing the design of the drum and cabinet, she described their shape extremely accurately and even copied them well.

In the course of the study, it turned out that the patient always recognized real objects well and found it difficult to recognize models from papier-mâché (for example, the patient did not recognize an airplane, hardly recognized a dog, furniture).

Thus, a kind of gradation of her disorders was created. The patient recognized objects well, recognized models worse, and drawings of objects were even worse. She was especially bad at recognizing those images that were schematically drawn in the form of contours. Therefore, the assumption arose that the reason for the difficulty of recognition, obviously, is caused by the generalization, formalization that is inherent in the drawing. For verification, the following series of experiments was carried out: the patient was presented with images of the same objects in different versions: a) in the form of a dotted contour; b) in the form of a black silhouette, c) in the form of an accurate photographic image, sometimes against the background of specific details, for example, a pen and an inkwell were drawn next to the paperweight. The experimental data confirmed our assumption. The patient did not recognize dotted images at all, somewhat better, but still very poorly recognized silhouette images and better concrete ones.

Thus, the experiment revealed the peculiar gradation indicated above. As A. R. Luria points out, "the process of visual analysis turned into a series of speech attempts to decipher the meaning of perceived signs and synthesize them into a visual image." The patient could not perceive the drawing "from the eye", the process of perception acquired the character of an extended disautomated action. This is evidenced by the following fact: having recognized the photographic image, the patient could not transfer this recognition to the silhouette image. After the patient recognized the scissors in the colored image, the experimenter asks: "Did I show you this object before?" The patient ponders and says with surprise: “No, I see him for the first time; oh, do you think those sticks that you showed me? No, these are not scissors (the patient draws them from memory). What could it be? I don’t I know". Even when she manages to make the transfer, she remains insecure. Recognizing the painted hat, she says to the contour one: "What is this, also a hat?" To the affirmative answer of the experimenter, she asks: "What does this line have to do with it?" (points to the shadow). When she is presented with this drawing again in a subsequent experiment, she remarks: "You then said that it was a hat."

The given data showed that perception is disturbed in its specifically human characteristic as a process that has the function of generalization and convention; therefore, it seemed legitimate to us to speak of a violation of the generalizing function of perception. This is also evidenced by the ways in which it was possible to compensate for this defect. So, if the experimenter asked to indicate a certain object: "indicate where the hat is or where the scissors are," then the patients recognized correctly. Thus, the inclusion of the presented object in a certain circle of meaning helped recognition. The name of the approximate circle of objects to which this object belongs (“show furniture, vegetables”) helped less. Therefore, it was to be expected that such agnostic disorders should be especially clearly identified in dementia patients.

Pseudo-agnosia in dementia

A study of visual perception in patients in whom clinical and experimental psychological data revealed organic type dementia revealed the features noted above: the patients did not recognize silhouette and dotted patterns. Another feature was added to this: their perception was diffuse, undifferentiated. Perception disorders are revealed in this group especially clearly when situational pictures are exposed. In addition to the fact that dementia patients do not catch the plot, they also show a number of other characteristic phenomena. Not understanding the meaning of the plot, they often describe individual objects without seeing their plot connection. Separate parts of the drawing merge, mix with the background, images of objects are not recognized. The object of recognition is determined by the part of the picture on which the patient fixes his attention. So, the patient calls the mushroom a tomato, if the head of the mushroom appeared as part of it, or he sees a cucumber in the mushroom, if he fixes attention on its stem. Therefore, when a drawing is presented to the patient, it is often indifferent: they show him a part of it or the whole.

In some patients, agnosia also extended to the structure, to the form of the image. GV Birenbaum described in 1948 the patient K., who, against the background of organic dementia, had disorders of visual gnosis in the form of a violation of the perception of form. She (called such a violation “pseudo-agnosia.” When showing a triangle, he says: “It’s a wedge somehow, but I can’t name it, I see a wedge in three places, a wedge is a triclinic.” When the quadrangle is exposed, the patient says: “It’s hard for me to say (circles finger) - straight, straight, straight and straight". When exposing an unfinished circle, he sees first of all a flaw: "here is some kind of failure", at the same time he perceives the symmetry of the form. For example, when showing a cross, not being able to name the figures, the patient declares : "At least look wherever you want, it lies correctly. " Often the patient perceives the shape of the object, but then its structure rapidly collapses.

Such a phenomenon can be interpreted as a violation of "optical attention". For example, when examining a picture in which a peasant is drawn, standing with a pensive look at a cart whose wheel has bounced off, the patient says: “Here is the wheel, and this is a man standing,” pointing to the horse. "It's some kind of bird." Experimenter: "It's a horse." Sick: "It doesn't look like a horse." There is a clear violation of not only semantic, but also structural components. Having recognized the cart and the wheel, he not only does not draw the corresponding conclusion that there is a cart with a horse, but the sharply protruding ears of the horse give the patient the impression that it is a bird. When trying to understand the plot of the picture, patients often incorrectly describe its content due to incorrect recognition of details and structural decay. This disorder resembles the phenomenon described by A. Pick as "senile agnosia", or as a disorder of "simultaneous perception". It is expressed in the fact that the subject, describing individual objects, does not know how to catch the general meaning of the picture.

With colored plot drawings, dementia patients easily give in to the diffuse impression of bright coloring of individual parts of the picture and can also describe them according to the above type. Perception, freed from the organizing role of thinking, becomes diffuse, structural disintegration easily occurs, insignificant elements of the drawing become the focus of attention and lead to incorrect recognition.

Owing to the loss and disorder of semantic components in dementia patients, orthoscopic perceptions suffered sharply. It was enough to show these patients an object or drawing upside down, as they no longer recognize it. Examples: a drawing of a cat (from a children's lotto series) is presented upside down. The patient says: "Some kind of monument." Exposition of the same drawing in the upright position: "That's the monument! Cat-cat." The drawing - "boot", from the same loto series, is given inverted. Patient: "Some kind of urn." In direct exposure, the patient immediately recognizes the shoe. With a slight removal of objects in dementia patients, the constancy of their size was not preserved.

Thus, impaired perception in dementia confirms the leading role of the factor of meaningfulness and generalization in any act of perceptual activity.

The main difficulty that beginners to master Alexander's technique face, and which Alexander himself met, is that one cannot rely on one's own sensory (sensory) perception. This means that our spatial imagination (the sense that tells us how the parts of our body are located in relation to each other and in space) is distorted and presents false information.

First of all, it is necessary for the student to understand that he has some kind of defect or defects that require correction. Second, the teacher must accurately diagnose these defects and decide how to deal with them. The student will know that he suffers from the fact that his mind misperceives the actions he performs and that his sensory perception, or kinesthetic sense, is deceptive and unreliable. In other words, he will realize that the registering mechanism by which he determines what muscular effort he needs to perform even the simplest daily actions is false and harmful, that his mental (mental) idea of ​​​​states such as tension and relaxation is not applicable to practice.

For there is no doubt that a person on a subconscious level trusts too much the distorted perception or sensation that guides his organism at the psychophysical level, and that in the end he turns out to be emotionally unbalanced, with all the detrimental consequences that follow from this.

F. M. Alexander

An exercise

1. Without looking at the soles of your feet, place them nine inches apart with your toes pointing straight ahead, i.e. parallel.

2. Now look at your feet to check if their real position matches the intended one.

3. Now really place your feet at a given distance, parallel to one another.

4. How do you feel? Try this exercise on as many people as possible; you will notice that the position of the feet will be very different for everyone. Now do another exercise:

1. Ask your friend to sit on a chair.

2. Put your hand on his lower back.

3. Ask him to sit up straight.

4. Watch how he bends his back, shortening the spine, and instead of straightening, hunches over.

Kinetic feeling

This term is occasionally used in connection with the Alexander technique. The kinesthetic sense sends signals to the brain about every movement of the joints or muscles. Through the nerves, these impulses are transmitted to the brain, informing about the position of the limbs in space and the location of individual muscles and muscle groups, as well as joints relative to each other.

An exercise

To actually understand what kinesthetic feeling means, do the following:

1. Close your eyes.

2. Slowly extend your left hand to the side.

3. Without opening your eyes, check if you can feel where in space your hand is.

4. If you succeeded, then your kinesthetic sense was involved.

Alexander discovered that if the kinesthetic sense gives wrong information, it can have the most serious complications. During classes, you come across a typical example of deceptive sensory perception: the student is not able to answer correctly, right? whether it's worth it. It seems to many that they are standing straight, although in fact they lean back almost twenty degrees. This is especially noticeable in group classes: everyone can see that a person is leaning back, and he is convinced that he is standing straight.

Deceptive sensory perception. It seems to a person that he is standing straight, although in fact his back is bent like a bow.

A person thinks he is standing straight, but in fact he is leaning back.

Right and wrong

To achieve the necessary changes, to develop a new, better way of moving, it is necessary to do exactly what we consider wrong. Alexander once remarked: “The last thing to do is to do what we think is right, because no one really knows what it is. Everyone wants to be right, but no one thinks about whether their idea of ​​what they think is right is correct. When people are wrong, they think that what is actually right is wrong.”

So, the problem is actually not simple. It is human nature to want to move, sit, or stand in whatever way is most comfortable. We will not even think of moving in a way that seems strange to us - yet this is precisely what is required. Alexander came across this discovery only thanks to the mirror. He was dismayed to find that he was doing the exact opposite of what he wanted to do, believing that he was stretching his head forward and up, he was actually throwing it back and lowering, and even more actively than before.

Alexander advised students to "try to feel and act wrong" - in this case, there is hope that they will act correctly. That is why it is important to take a course of classes first, otherwise each problem (or potential problem) can only be aggravated and further increase muscle tension. Being well trained and remaining an outside observer, the teacher will easily notice the unnecessary tension that arises when trying to do something right. It can also teach you to feel lightness and ease of movement, which will help you in the future.

From an early age, we are taught to do the right thing. We are rewarded when we are right and punished when we are wrong, and like Pavlov's dogs, we develop reflexes about what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad. As we grow up, we build on what our parents and teachers instilled in us, and often do not dare to think for ourselves. Let's turn to history. There was a time when Europeans "knew" that the earth was flat. They were so convinced of this that anyone who thought otherwise was a threat to their belief system and was ridiculed or declared insane. And only when Christopher Columbus made a trip around the world, people admitted that they were mistaken. In the same way, we persist in many false beliefs about ourselves and are ready to challenge anyone who says that we are mistaken.

It is very important to have an inquisitive mind and a developed sense of humor when trying to make your way through the tangle of illusions and realities. Often the student is stumped when he discovers that what he thought was true is based on a false premise. However, bewilderment is replaced by confidence when an understanding of the top comes, what is reality and what is not. Here is what Richard Bach says in his "Illusions": "When the problem is solved, you become aware of something that was previously inaccessible";

To get an idea of ​​deceptive sensations, do the following exercises:

Exercise 1

1. Close your eyes.

2. Raise the index finger of your right hand so that it is at eye level and level with your right ear.

3. Raise the index finger of your left hand so that it is at eye level and level with your left ear.

4. Without opening your eyes, line up both fingers and point them up into the air."

5. Open the stasis and compare what is with what you thought.

Exercise 2

1. Ask a friend to stand in front of you with their eyes closed.

2. Ask him to raise his hands to shoulder level.

3. Check: a) if one hand is higher than the other; b) whether both hands are level with the shoulders. Exercise 3

1. Close your eyes.

2. Clap your hands, making sure that they connect at the same level and symmetrically (i.e. so that the fingertips of both hands are at the same level).

3. Open your eyes and check if this condition is met.

The impact of deceptive sensory perception on the structure of the human body is especially pronounced in old age, when in many people the deterioration of posture and incoordination become noticeable.

The only way for followers of the Alexander method to cope with deceptive sensations is to understand and accept that during the course of training they must master movements that at first may seem unnatural to them. Then, within a short period of time, the new way of life will become natural for them, and the old habits will seem ridiculous.

It is important to emphasize that the expression "deceptive sensations" refers specifically to sensual, and not to emotional sensations. At the same time, a deceptive self-perception, certainly affecting our physical condition, cannot but affect the emotional background as well. Emotions begin to control the mind to such an extent that the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bwhat is really happening is disturbed, and the ability to distinguish good from evil is lost. Thus a vicious circle occurs.

An exercise

Stand sideways to a mirror. Stay straight. Try to straighten up even more. Now, with the help of a mirror, check whether this is so: how much your idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthat you are standing upright corresponds to reality. If these impressions do not match, stand up straight, this time looking in the mirror, and ask yourself how much you can trust your feelings. Take your time during the exercise to notice as many details as possible.

Prohibitions

The term "prohibition" has been used to characterize the spontaneous suppression of impulses or emotions ever since Sigmund Freud used the term in this Meaning in his writings on psychoanalysis.

The modern dictionary gives this definition of this concept: "Suppression of the direct manifestation of instinct."

Alexander discovered that in order to learn how to skillfully control your body, you must first of all impose a ban (or delay) on your habitual, instinctive reactions to specific stimuli. By stopping for a moment before taking an action, we have time to use our mental abilities to decide which way will be most effective and appropriate for performing this action. This is a vital step towards gaining freedom of choice at every level.

Before the brain can be used as an instrument of action, it must be used as an instrument of inaction. The ability to delay (postpone) our reactions until we have adequately prepared ourselves is what is meant by the term prohibition.

This pause before the action has nothing to do with the concept of "freeze" or "suppress", as well as with the slow execution of the action.

If we want to change our habitual responses to specific stimuli, we must consciously decide to stop acting on our former automatic unconscious patterns: that means we must say no to our ingrained habits.

By putting a ban on the primary instinctive impulse, we are able to make a completely different decision. Prohibition is an essential and integral part of Alexander's methodology. He himself gives the following definition of prohibition: “So, prohibition is a special reaction to a specific stimulus. Few would agree with this definition. It is easier to think that it is about how best to sit in a chair or get up from it. But this is not true. The main decision of the student should be what he generally agrees to do and what not.

There are many old sayings and proverbs about the importance of thinking before acting:

Not knowing the ford, do not poke your head into the water.

Seven times measure cut once.

The morning is wiser than the evening.

Hurry up and make people laugh.

Fast doesn't mean good.

First think, then say.

Haste is the enemy of success.

If you can keep from habitual actions, then you are halfway to success. To refrain from some act is an act in itself, the same as an action, because in both cases the nervous system is involved. In addition, it is possible and desirable to put a ban on all bad habits and tendencies, not only before the performance of a particular action, but also at any other time.

Exercises

1. Every time the phone rings or the doorbell rings, wait a second or two before answering or opening. (This may be harder. Than it looks.)

2. If you find yourself involved in a heated discussion or argument, try to count from ten to one before each answer. (In addition to being a useful ban practice, you will be able to rethink what you wanted to communicate.)

3. During the simplest action - brushing your teeth, for example, or washing your face - stop for a moment and check if there is unnecessary tension in the body. If you do this every day for a week, you will find that the area of ​​increased tension is always the same. Try to relieve this tension as much as possible and continue your activity, trying to understand if you feel changes;

4. Do the following:

a) Place a chair in front of a mirror.

b) Get up from your chair and sit down again as you normally would and see if there are any particular tendencies (i.e. something that repeats itself every time). Don't be upset if you don't succeed.

c) Do the same again, only this time, wait a second or two before each repetition, until you consciously abandon the usual manner of sitting down and getting up from a chair. You will soon see that there are many ways to perform these simple steps.

d) Consider whether there is a difference between the old and the new ways of sitting down and getting up. (You may notice this difference in a mirror or feel the difference on a sensory level.) You may need to do these exercises several times to get the best results.

One of the most notable tendencies Alexander identified in himself was that he constantly tensed his neck muscles. At first, he thought that this was his individual feature, but further observations showed that tension in the muscles of the neck is inherent in almost everyone.

This habit invariably leads to tilting the head back, which in turn causes compression of the intervertebral discs and a reduction in the length of the spine. Constant tension in the back is one of the main reasons for the "drying" of people in old age. Leaning the head back is also detrimental to what Alexander called "primary control." This term refers to a system of reflexes that are triggered in the neck and are able to control all other reflexes that keep the body in a coordinated and balanced state. It is called "primary" because the action of this reflex is associated with all other reflexes that arise in the process of the life of the body.

If we habitually throw our heads back, interfering with the work of "primary control", the consequences can be very serious. First of all, coordination and balance suffer, and in order not to fall, we will try to keep the body in a more rigid, fixed position.

Facts

In the mid-1920s, Rudolf Magnus, a professor of pharmacology at the University of Utrecht, became interested in the problem of how physiological mechanisms influence the intellectual and emotional state. Together with colleagues, he conducted a series of experiments to determine the nature of reflexes and their effects on the body and wrote over three hundred articles on this issue. From Magnus' point of view, it is the neck-head reflexes that play the main role in the orientation of the animal. They regulate the position of the body, both during the performance of an action and during rest.

Magnus' experiments confirmed what Alexander had discovered a quarter of a century earlier: the head controls movement. Now it seems obvious to us, since all the senses are located in it. In humans (unlike animals that move naturally and easily), the head is constantly thrown back when moving, which is the source of many problems.

An exercise

To make sure that the head leans back when moving under the influence of tension in the muscles of the neck, do the following:

1. Sit on a chair.

2. Place your left hand on the left side of your neck and your right hand on the right side of your neck so that both middle fingers touch at the back of your head.

3. Get up:

4. Sit down again.

5. Keeping your hands in the indicated position, you can notice the slightest movement of the head. Feel how your neck is pressed against your hands. This indicates that the neck muscles are tense and the head is tilted back.

6. Do the exercise several times; on the second and third repetitions, you will notice an increase in tension.

Another important discovery of Magnus was what he called the "restorative reflex." He noticed that after the action, reflexes begin to work, returning the animal (or person) to its former relaxed state. During the functioning of this restorative mechanism, the relationship of the head, neck and back becomes especially important. Therefore, it can be argued that when a person strains the muscles of the neck and throws his head back, he disrupts the natural coordination of movements and prevents the body from returning to a state of rest and balance.

Exercises

Stand so that your arms hang freely along the body. Focus and try to feel your hands. Don't you think that one of them is longer, heavier or more intense than the other?

Raise one arm to shoulder level and hold this position for a few seconds. Lower your hand. Repeat the same with the other hand, but at the same time try to follow your action.

Note if there is any difference in the sensations of both hands after this exercise. Often in the second hand there is a lightness that is not in the first.

Body control

For a long time, Alexander explored the possibility of conscious control of his body. He admitted that he had never thought about how he controls his movements before. He simply acted out of habit in what he considered "natural" and "correct." As a result of reflection, he came to the following definition of management:

This is the process of coordinating the work of the body and its individual parts with the help of signals sent by the brain.

You can control individual parts of the body or the entire body at a particular moment, or you can control future actions by consciously deciding how and what you will do. But in any case, there may be problems associated with overexertion of the neck muscles and a violation of the “primary control”. Therefore, when mastering the Alexander technique, one of the main tasks is to learn how to relax the neck area so that “primary control” is restored.

This requires the following:

1. the neck should be free, 2. so that the head can move forward and upward, 3. so that the back lengthens and expands.

These instructions may vary slightly during class. For example:

"The neck must be free"

translates to release your neck, or imagine that your neck is relaxed, or try not to tense your neck, or relax your neck (Alexander himself originally used this exact wording, but changed it when he found that his students relaxed the neck muscles too much).

"So that the head can - move forward and above

sounds like: imagine the head stretched forward and lifted, or push the head forward and lift it, or let the head move forward and lift, or be careful not to tilt the head back and down.

"To lengthen and expand the back"

might sound like: imagine your back lengthening and widening, or allow your back to lengthen and widen, or be careful not to slouch, or let your torso lengthen and widen.

Let your neck loosen

The purpose of this indication is to reduce the excess tension that almost always occurs in the muscles of the neck. This is important so that the head is free in relation to the body, and "primary control" can be freely exercised. This condition must be met in the first place, since without the functioning of the "primary control" all other instructions will be ineffective.

Let your head move forward and up.

This command helps the natural and free functioning of the body. Since the head is balanced in such a way that when the muscles of the neck relax, it slightly moves forward, which sets the body in motion. If you only make sure that the head stretches forward, it will inevitably fall, causing increased tension in the neck. It is important to understand that “moving forward means moving the head on the spine (as if the person is about to nod in the affirmative). And the upward movement is the movement of the head away from the spine, and not from the ground (although in the “standing” position this is almost the same thing) (Fig. 17).

Let your back lengthen and expand:

Since the spine is shortened as a result of additional muscle tension when the head is tilted back, the command in question will contribute to the lengthening of the body. Indeed, people who use the Alexander technique grow two centimeters or more! The command to expand is included to maintain the size of the back

The three commands discussed above are very simple and straightforward in themselves, but at first they can be confusing. And precisely because they are so simple, and we are used to thinking in more complex categories, it is hard to believe that the solution to a long-standing problem can turn out to be so simple. If the result of our actions does not come immediately, we usually begin to think that we are doing something wrong. Be patient, be observant - and find that your ingrained habits change.

Auxiliary commands

When teaching the Alexander method, auxiliary commands are also used. If the main instructions are universal, then the secondary ones are applicable only in certain situations and with certain ailments. For example, a patient complaining of drooping shoulders might be told, "Imagine your shoulders are trying to move apart," and a patient with arthritis-affected fingers might be asked, "Imagine your fingers lengthening."

Here are other examples of auxiliary commands used in teaching the Alexander technique.

In a sitting position

Think about how the shoulders diverge in different directions. Think about how your buttocks relax. Think about how your feet are lengthening and expanding. Imagine that something is pushing between your wrist and elbow. Imagine your shoulders slumped. Imagine your knees moving over your toes. Imagine that all the weight of the legs has passed into the feet. Imagine arms getting longer and wider. Imagine your fingers getting longer. Imagine that the toes are lengthening. Think about not slouching. Imagine that your chest is sinking.

Standing

Most of the commands above are used, plus the following:

Imagine that the distance between the feet and the head increases.

Think about how your weight is evenly distributed on both feet.

Think about keeping your knees back. Think about not pushing your hips forward. Imagine that the distance between the navel and the upper part of the chest increases.

Imagine that the tension in the buttocks is reduced. Think about how the arms hang freely from the shoulders. Think about the connection between the head and the soles of the feet.

When walking

The same commands are used, but in addition the following:

Think about how the knees diverge in different directions. Imagine your knees moving over your toes. Imagine that the left shoulder "breaks away" from the right hip. Imagine that the right shoulder "breaks away" from the left hip. Imagine that the weight of the body has been transferred from the heel to the toes.

Imagine that the torso "breaks away" from the hips and rushes up.

There are also many individual commands used in specific cases, which, however, must always be preceded by basic instructions.

The words “think about…” can often be replaced by the word “let” at the request of the teacher or student. It is interesting to see whether such a substitution would have any effect. It is important to remember that any change must be achieved by thinking about it but doing nothing about it. As has been repeatedly repeated, any action will only increase muscle tension, and the effect will be just the opposite.

The last kind of commands or instructions is intended for / mental control of one's body as a whole.

An exercise

1. Look at some object.

2. Without taking your eyes off it, imagine that your eyes are getting closer and closer to this subject.

3. When the head begins to move in the direction of this object, let the Body follow it. You will see that the body is controlled by the head.

There is no right position, only right direction.

F. M. Alexander

People often equate the Alexander technique with the ability to give a certain position to various parts of the body. However, this is exactly the opposite. The main thing is that the head retains freedom of movement regardless of the position of the body.

The influence of thought on action

It is very difficult for us to believe that thoughts can lead to radical changes in a person. However, the following exercises will allow you to see the effect thoughts have on your body:

Exercise 1

Try the exercise first on yourself, then on a friend.

1. A hand weighs about four kilograms (about four bags of granulated sugar). Thinking about this, begin to slowly spread your arms to the sides.

2. The spread of the arms will take approximately half a minute. All this time, continuously think about how much your hands weigh.

3. Hold your hands in a horizontal position for another half a minute to feel how heavy they are (each four packets of sugar!)

4. Slowly lower your arms.

5. For one or two minutes, register (mentally or by writing down) the feeling in your hands.

6. Wait a few minutes until the feeling in your hands disappears. Shake your hands if necessary.

7. Leaving the arms hanging along the body, imagine that on each side a balloon is sandwiched between the arm and the chest.

8. Imagine how both balloons simultaneously slowly slide out.

9. As the balls slide out, they lightly lift your arms.

10. When the arms are at shoulder level, imagine that they are carefully propped up by the balls.

11. Now imagine that air is slowly escaping from the balls, and the arms are gradually lowered along the body.

12. Notice what feeling you now have in your hands and whether it is different from before; if it is not the same as before, it proves that thoughts affect the result, because in both cases you acted in exactly the same way.

Exercise 2

Ask a friend to focus ^ try to think only of the forehead. Now push him and let him resist.

2. Do the same, but this time ask your friend to imagine that his feet are deep in the soil.

3. Do you feel the difference in how much effort is required when pushing in both cases?

Exercise 3

This exercise will clearly demonstrate the power that thoughts have over the body.

1. Lie down comfortably. Close your eyes and imagine a situation in which you feel especially uncomfortable: for example, that your car is stuck in traffic, and you are late for work, or that your boss reproaches you for something.

2. Within a minute, you will notice how your muscles tense up from these thoughts alone.

3. Get it out of your head and start thinking about more pleasant things: like lying on a beach in the Bahamas, or walking down a country street on a summer day, 4. After a minute, you will find that your muscles have relaxed from these thoughts. But you didn’t even leave the room - the reason for the tension and relaxation of the muscles was only in the imagination.

Habits and freedom of choice

At every moment of our conscious life, the sense organs transmit information from the outside world to our brain, so we can act quite consciously. But how much are we really aware of everything that is happening around? We tend to think more about what happened in the past or what awaits us in the future. We rarely live in the present, because since childhood we have been taught that we need to think about the future.

If thoughts are occupied with the past or the future. There is no place for the real in them, and we do not think about our actions. Unable to make an informed choice, we persist in our habitual, automatic behavior. To properly use the Alexander Method, one must live for today and make conscious actions in everyday life. Then the degree of awareness increases, feelings become more acute.

Exercises

1. Go for a walk outside the city or to the nearest park.

2. Take a good look around and try not to let anything escape your view: trees, clouds, grass, etc.

3. Write down your impressions.

4. Now “turn on” your hearing… What did you hear? Perhaps the sound of the wind in the foliage of trees, or the cry of a child, or the singing of birds?

5. Write down your impressions again.

6. Now pay attention to the sense of smell ... what smell did you catch? Flowers, herbs?

7. What about touch? Do you feel a breeze in your hair, on your face, or perhaps your breath, the beating of your heart?

8. After returning home, go to the kitchen, make yourself something to eat and focus on the sensation of taste ... texture of food, its smell, etc.

9. Think about whether your feelings have become more acute than usual.

If this exercise was performed correctly, you should have a sharper sense of the taste, smell, texture of objects, and also see and hear better than before. We tend to miss out on a lot in life because we habitually pay too little attention to the present moment. It adversely affects us - physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Have you ever gone to the store and passed it because your mind was completely occupied with something else? Or drive past the right turn and not notice it for a few more minutes? Alexander calls this "habitual absent-mindedness."

We always have the opportunity to think about something really important, but our thoughts are floating somewhere, and attempts to control them often turn out to be fruitless. At first, it may seem tedious and difficult to give yourself certain directions and commands, but this is a sure path to success.

habits

The dictionary defines "habit" as follows: behavior dictated by an automatic response to a particular situation.

Two types of habits should be distinguished - conscious and unconscious.

Conscious Habits

These are habits that we are aware of, such as:

Sitting in the same chair all the time;

Constantly take food at the same time;

brush your teeth after eating;

Biting nails;

Worry in vain;

Do not screw on the cap of the toothpaste tube.

Some of these habits are completely harmless, others are even beneficial, but in general, habits harm a person's natural, laid-back behavior. Being aware of your habits, you can change them in the desired direction.

Unconscious Habits

These are habitual actions that Alexander constantly talked about. There are too many to name them all; here are just a few:

Neck muscle tension;

Pulling the knees inward;

Excessive flexion of the back;

Rest of the big toes in the ground;

Pushing the hips forward;

Shoulder lift;

Throwing the head back;

Stiff chest.

All of us unconsciously strive to acquire some, if not all, of the above habits. To achieve the desired results, it is necessary to realize what was hitherto unconscious. It is impossible to change a habit if it is at the subconscious level. It is vital to understand the consequences of long-term unconscious habits, i.e., how they affect our health and well-being.

At the heart of Alexander's methodology is an understanding of the relationship between physical, mental and emotional processes in any kind of human activity. It follows from this that any physical habit acquired during life inevitably entails a change in the mental and emotional state. Therefore, if you learn to move easily and naturally, your attitude to life and emotional mood will change.

It follows from this that the feeling of dissatisfaction of any kind ultimately stems from our inability to control the physical state, as well as thoughts and feelings. The usual way of life of an adult cannot but affect his physical condition and mentality. This, in turn, stimulates destructive habits, causing feelings of hopelessness, anger, lack of self-confidence and, as a result, a feeling of unhappiness. Then this emotional state becomes habitual.

No one enters life with a feeling of anger or hopelessness, with a sense of insecurity or lack of self-respect; all these feelings are acquired throughout life, and by no means immanently inherent in the mental or emotional make-up of a person.

Exercises

Often habits are created when we don't think about what's going on around us.

Try to be aware of your usual way of sitting. Think about whether you always sit in the same position. Ask yourself these questions:

Do you sit with your left foot crossed over your right, or vice versa?

What position are your feet usually in?

What are the arms and hands doing at this time?

Do you cross your arms or clasp your fingers?

Have you ever noticed that you tilt your head to the side? Even just by asking yourself these questions, you will be able to detect the presence of certain habits.

To better understand your own habits, try the following.

Exercise 1

1. Stand with your weight evenly distributed on both feet.

2. Now transfer the entire weight of the body to the right leg, leaning on the right thigh and not lifting the toe of the left foot from the floor.

3. Repeat the procedure, leaning on the left thigh.

4. The more comfortable of the two positions is the habitual one.

Exercise 2

Try squeezing a lemon or orange with your non-working hand (usually your left, as most people are right-handed).

Here is a funny story that happened in America and testifies to the power of habit.

The patrol car was standing at the crossroads when another car passed in the opposite direction. The policeman felt a little sleepy and imagined that the car had run a red light, which in fact was not. With his headlights and siren on, he hurried after the car and soon overtook the female driver. As he made his way to the car, he realized, to his dismay, that he had made a mistake. The woman, in complete panic, asked apologetically, “What have I done wrong?” The terribly embarrassed policeman said, "Madame, you were running a green light." However, true to her eternal habit of making excuses, the woman replied: “Oh no, no. I ran a red!”

Perception- reflection of objects and phenomena of the reality around us, directly affecting the senses.

This group includes symptoms that characterize various disorders of sensory cognition (sensations, perceptions, ideas). Many of them indicate a violation of abstract knowledge (thinking, judgment, criticism) and are often accompanied by a change in the behavior of patients. In general, the defeat of the sensory basis of cognition is characterized by a number of the following symptoms.

460 Part P. Fundamentals of general psychopathology and private forensic psychiatry

Hyperesthesia-increase in the susceptibility of natural external stimuli, neutral in the normal state. Ordinary daylight is blinding, the color of surrounding objects is perceived as unusually bright, their shape is especially distinct, chiaroscuro is contrasting. The sounds are deafening, the slamming of doors sounds like a shot, the linen touching the body seems rough, rough.

hypoesthesia- expressed in a decrease in the susceptibility of external stimuli. The environment is perceived indistinctly, unclearly, remotely, becomes dim, indefinite, having lost sensual concreteness. The surrounding objects are devoid of colors, look faded, shapeless. Everything seems frozen, motionless.

Senestopathy- these are various unpleasant, painful sensations that occur in various parts of the body, which, unlike hallucinations, are devoid of objectivity.

To psychosensory disorders include violations of the reflection of the spatio-temporal qualities and properties of objects of the external world and one's own body, their size, shape, mass, volume, location, contrast, etc.

Body schema disorder- a distorted sense of the shape, size of your body, its position in space. This disorder is expressed in the involuntary appearance of an idea of ​​an increase or decrease in the size of one's body, its severity, an increase, decrease or displacement of its individual parts.

Metamorphopsia - distorted perception of the size, shape and spatial arrangement of real objects.

Illusions - erroneous, distorted perception of a real-life object by sight or hearing (auditory and visual illusions).

hallucinations~ one of the forms of violation of sensory cognition, when perception occurs without a real object. These are sensually vivid representations, brought by the pathological process to the level of perception of real objects. Hallucinations are divided into different types of analyzers in which they occur: visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, gustatory, hallucinations of the general feeling.

visual hallucinations are formless - flame, fog, smoke (photopsies) - and objective; natural, reduced (microoptical) and increased, giant (macrooptical) size; colorless, naturally colored or extremely intense color; mobile or immobile; unchanged in content (stable) and constantly changing in the form of a variety of events that play out like on a stage or movie screen (scene-like). The content of hallucinations can be frightening, cause horror, or, conversely, curiosity, admiration.

Auditory hallucinations are divided into acoasms (hearing individual sounds, beeps, noises, shots) and phonemes, or verbal hallucinations (hearing words, conversations). According to the intensity, auditory hallucinations are quiet, loud, natural. Their content can be indifferent, threatening, ominous, warning, predictive. There are commentators (voice or voices express an opinion about each action of the patient) and imperial

Chapter 13

Olfactory hallucinations - the appearance of a variety of imaginary odors of varying intensity - from slightly perceptible to suffocating.

Flavoring hallucinations - a sensation of taste that is not inherent in the food taken, often unpleasant and disgusting.

Tactile hallucinations - a sensation of insects, worms crawling over the body, a sensation on the surface of the body or under the skin of foreign objects.

Visceral hallucinations - a sensation of the obvious presence in the body cavity, usually the stomach, of foreign objects, living beings, motionless, moving, moving (for example, frogs).

Visceral and tactile hallucinations are often difficult to distinguish from senestopathies. The difference lies in the fact that senestopathies are pointless, painful sensations, while hallucinations are always objective and occur in one or another space.

Complex hallucinations - the simultaneous coexistence of different types of hallucinations (visual, auditory, etc.).

The appearance of a hallucinatory visual image (usually of a person) outside the patient's field of vision is called extracampal hallucinations.

Hypnagogic hallucinations - visions that involuntarily occur before falling asleep with your eyes closed in a dark field of vision.

According to the mechanism of occurrence, they are distinguished functional(they always occur against the background of some real stimulus: the sound of water, the sound of the wheels of a moving train, a conversation) and reflex(the starting point for their occurrence is a real external agent, from which they then exist independently) hallucinations.

Pseudo-hallucinations- violation of perception in any analyzer of feelings (visual, auditory, etc.), arising, like true hallucinations, without the presence of a real object, however, unlike true hallucinations, pseudo-hallucinatory images are not identified with real objects and phenomena, i.e. e. devoid of the nature of objective reality. Patients talk about special, different from real voices, visual images. These hallucinations are not projected outside, but are inside the head or body - an intraprojection is observed (voices are heard "inside the head", seen by the "inner eye"). Patients claim that their voices and visions are the result of some external influence. There is always a component of violence, "made" (voices are transmitted, and visual images are shown or transmitted using technology).

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I care about people:

I see how small

There are knowledges of people.

And I understand

What failures

They are in the minds of people.

L. Martynov

Perception can be considered as the result of the analysis and synthesis of sensations by comparing them with previous experience. Therefore, the defeat of the sense organs and their connections with the structures of the brain, leading to a decrease in the information entering the brain, as well as a memory disorder that stores the previous experience of the individual, that is, if I may say so, the lack of blocks from which perceptions are formed under normal conditions, determine impoverishment or perversion of the sphere of perceptions. Psychologists call apperceptions that participate in the formation of the latter additions to momentary sensations, depending on the characteristics of a person’s personality and his knowledge base.

Apperceptions largely determine the features of the perception of the same objects or phenomena by different people. These features depend on the age, profession, general culture of a person, his class affiliation, temperament, character, abilities, interests. So, different range of interests, different education, emotional state determines the non-identity of the impression from visiting an art gallery or a polytechnic museum, from watching a theater performance or reading a book.

If a person does not see well, hear, touch, etc., then the deficit of information entering the brain during the formation of perceptions can be at least partially compensated either due to knowledge, or thanks to imagination, fantasy. If an object that he sees poorly is familiar to him, he is able to identify it. If the lack of information about the subject is replenished mainly due to imagination, fantasy, reality is perceived in a distorted form.

The distorted perception of a real object actually existing in the external environment is called an illusion. Illusions can be visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, etc. In addition, they are divided into physical, physiological, illusions of habitual perception, affective and paraidolic.

Physical illusions are at the heart of stereocinema and holography, as well as many tricks of illusionists. An example of a physical illusion is the visibility of the refraction of an object at the boundary of various transparent media (a spoon in a glass of water, etc.).

Physiological illusions are associated with the functioning of analyzers of various types of sensitivity. So, a waltz dancer or a carousel rider has the impression that he is spinning in the opposite direction with respect to his surroundings. The feeling of the earth shaking can be experienced by a person who has come ashore after a long voyage. Pilots know that when approaching an object quickly, it seems "as if it increases dramatically in size. When flying in conditions of poor visibility, the pilot sometimes experiences counter-rotation, a false roll, and then, in order to maintain level flight, one has to be guided by instrument readings.

The physiological illusion described by Aristotle is widely known: if you roll a pea or a small metal ball on a plane with crossed index and middle fingers, while closing your eyes, it seems that you have not one ball at hand, but two. This is explained as follows: in practical life, the outer surfaces of these two fingers usually never touch the same surface at the same time, and therefore the sensations coming from them are not generalized in the process of synthesis taking place in the brain. If you touch the coccyx of your own nose with crossed fingers, then the illusion of its bifurcation, similar in principle, may also arise.

In the treatise of the great German poet and philosopher Goethe "The Doctrine of Flowers" a significant place is given to illusions: "A dark object seems smaller than a light object of the same size ... The young crescent of the moon seems to belong to a circle of a larger diameter than the rest of the dark part of the moon, which sometimes happens at the same time in a dark dress, people appear thinner than in a light one.Light sources, visible from behind the edge, make an apparent cut in it.The ruler, due to which the candle flame appears, is represented with a notch in this place.The rising and setting sun makes like a hole in the horizon..."

If you stare at an object or drawing for 20-30 seconds, and then shift your gaze to a light plane, then due to the trace processes remaining in the visual analyzer, you can see the same object on the plane for a more or less long time. This phenomenon is called eideticism, and people who are able to maintain a bright visual image for a long time after the object of observation is already out of sight are called eidetics. This property is more often possessed in childhood, but sometimes it is also inherent in adults. Eidetics were, for example, some well-known artists. Thus, the English portrait painter J. Reynolds usually carefully looked at the person from whom he was going to paint a portrait, and then let him go and worked "from memory", as if copying the model preserved in his mind. At the same time, he reproduced all the features of the face and the smallest details of the original costume.

If an object that is initially in the sphere of your attention for some time is brightly lit or sharply contoured, then, looking away from it, you can see it not only against the background of a single-color plane, but also on other surrounding objects, on which it is like would be imposed. Here is how Goethe describes such a phenomenon:

The wanderer, who looked just before sunset Directly at the swift red Sun, then involuntarily Sees him both on the dark bushes and on the rocks of the cliff Before his eyes. Wherever he casts his gaze, everywhere it shines and sways in wonderful colors...

Close to the physiological illusions of habitual perception, for example, are auditory deceptions, when a person perceives not what is said to him, but similar-sounding words to which he is "tuned". Such illusions happen to all people, but they are especially frequent in those who are hard of hearing.

Illusions of the same type also arise when reading: unfamiliar, unfamiliar, rarely used words are read as well-known. Such mistakes can be repeated many times. A.P. Chekhov once wrote: “Walking down the street every day, I read on the sign “A large selection of whitefish” and wondered how it is possible to trade only whitefish ... And only after 30 years I read carefully, as it should: “A large choice of cigars.

In general, based on accumulated experience, when we read, we usually grasp the whole word and often do not notice that we perceive it according to some general outline. When a group of high school students who read the novel by A. S. Novikov-Priboy "Tsushima" were asked the name of the admiral who commanded the Russian squadron, which occurs many times in the text, they all answered as one - Rozhdestvensky, while in fact we are talking about Admiral Rozhdestvensky.

Illusions of habitual perception can also be attributed to the usually erroneous assessment of two objects that have the same weight, but different sizes: a kilogram weight seems to be heavier than a kilogram of pasta.

Affective illusions arise against the background of expressed emotions (tense expectation, fear, etc.). At the same time, the lack of information entering the brain is often made up for by fantasy and imagination. Let us recall the poem by A. S. Pushkin "Ghoul": cowardly

Vanya, who enters the cemetery at night, thinks he has met a ghoul. He is horrified. But what?

Instead of a ghoul (Imagine Vanya's anger!) In the darkness in front of him, a dog At the grave gnaws at a bone.

A special place is occupied by illusions, also associated with imagination, fantasy, but arising from a careful examination of objects or drawings that have fuzzy contours and therefore evoke memories but associations. These are the so-called paraidolic illusions: apparent images of specific objects on frozen glass, in a geometric pattern of wallpaper, letters and signs in a graphic pattern on the cover of a school notebook, etc. This category of illusions includes the ability to see the outlines of an animal in a passing cloud, and in an ink blot with jagged edges - a funny or frightening physiognomy that psychologists use to test a tendency to fantasy, imagination when creating ideas. They offer for "reading" the so-called Rorschach spots (named after the author of this examination method).

Imaginary pictures that arise when divining on coffee grounds or on melted wax, which was poured into water, placed between a candle flame and a wall, and then considered its contour shadow appearing on the wall, can also be attributed to paraidolic illusions.

Hallucinations, which, as a rule, are a sign of psychopathology, should be distinguished from illusions common to all people. If illusions are a distorted reflection of reality, then hallucinations can be characterized as false (apparent) perceptions that occur when there are no objects in the environment that could cause them.

Perception disorders can also be caused by organic lesions of the nervous system, leading to a violation or distortion of information about stimuli that enters the brain. So, if a person has impaired temperature sensitivity, then he does not fully perceive the object that he picks up, since he is deprived of the opportunity to give him a temperature characteristic.

If the disease affects certain associative zones of the cerebral cortex, then this leads to agnosia, a disorder in the synthesis of sensation and recognition. Pathological foci in the brain of different localization can cause agnosia for faces, deterioration of orientation in place, time, disappearance of the ability to recognize a previously familiar object by touch (astereognosis), etc.

However, we will not be distracted by clinical manifestations caused by neurological pathology - this is not part of our task. We only emphasize that even in a healthy person, the perception of the environment can be distorted, which is often associated with a lack of information, clarity, brightness of sensations, or with objective physical or physiological phenomena ...

We have already noted that information is an indispensable condition for the development of our brain. Its flow and the sensations conditioned by it are also necessary for maintaining the activity of his psychophysiological activity. Even a temporary restriction of the flow of signals usually reduces the activity of cortical processes and contributes to falling asleep. Therefore, going to bed, we strive to reduce the number of factors that irritate our receptor apparatus as much as possible - we turn off the radio, turn off the light, wrap ourselves in a blanket, close our eyes.

A few years ago, the Americans conducted an experiment called "dead man's swimming". The subject, wearing an inflatable rubber spacesuit, was immersed in a tank of water. The suit was air-fed, but it was dark; sounds did not penetrate there, and the number of tactile stimuli was reduced to a minimum. The subject, as a rule, fell asleep, and when he woke up, he was disoriented. He did not know where the top was, where the bottom was, he could not distinguish between the right and left sides. At the same time, a peculiar disorder of consciousness occurred, which consisted in the fact that the subject was constantly pursued by some kind of obsessive thought. When a separate random phrase was transmitted to him through headphones, the originally existing thought was replaced by another, usually somehow related to the content of this phrase. And only when texts, music, ordinary radio programs began to be regularly transmitted through headphones, a person regained the ability to think normally. A similar experiment was repeated many times with different people - the result remained the same.

Thus, the lack of information not only hinders the development of mental functions, but is capable of interfering with normal mental activity in people with an already "established" personality, and as a result, they may experience mental disorders. This has been known since ancient times. And not without reason one of the most cruel methods of punishment was isolation, and in particular confinement in solitary confinement. Many prisoners lost their minds, and this was caused by the poverty and monotony of the sensations experienced, the appearance of disorders in the field of perceptions, the dissatisfaction of the cognitive needs inherent in man, separation from the world, a nagging feeling of hopelessness and longing.

However, it should be noted that not only a deficit, but also an excess of information can have a negative impact on the state of a person's mental sphere. At the same time, not only information that carries the essence to be comprehended, but also intense external stimuli that do not have a semantic load, depresses and exhausts the psyche.

Illusion is an optical illusion.

Types of optical illusion:

optical illusion based on color perception;
optical illusion based on contrast;
distorting illusions;
optical illusion of depth perception;
optical illusion of size perception;
contour optical illusion;
optical illusion "changeling";
Ames room;
moving optical illusions.
stereo illusions, or, as they are also called: "3d pictures", stereo pictures.

ILLUSION OF BALL SIZE
Isn't it true that the size of these two balls is different? Is the top ball bigger than the bottom one?

In fact, this is an optical illusion: these two balls are absolutely equal. You can use the ruler to check. By creating the effect of a receding corridor, the artist managed to deceive our vision: the upper ball seems larger to us, because. our consciousness perceives it as a more distant object.

ILLUSION OF A. EINSTEIN AND M. MONROE
If you look at the picture from a close distance, you see the brilliant physicist A. Einstein.

ILLUSION OF SIDE WALL WITH WINDOW
Which side of the building is the window on? On the left or maybe on the right?

Illusion of bars

Cafe wall illusion

Illusion of the Leaning Tower of Pisa

ILLUSION OF WAVY LINES
There is no doubt that the lines depicted are wavy.

Ship or arch?

ILLUSION - GRAFFITI "LADDER"
Now you can relax and not think that there will be another optical illusion. Let's admire the imagination of the artist.

EFFECT BEZOLDI
Look at the picture and say in which part the red lines are brighter and more contrasting. On the right, right?

ILLUSION OF COLOR CHANGE
Does the color of the horizontal gray line change into the rectangle?

ILLUSION OF A REDUCING SUN
This stunning photo of the sun was taken by the American space agency NASA. It shows two sunspots pointing directly at the Earth.

ZOLNER ILLUSION
Can you see that the Christmas tree lines in the picture are parallel?

ILLUSION-JESUS ​​CHRIST
Stare at the picture for 30 seconds (or more may be needed), then look at a bright, flat surface, such as a wall.

ILLUSION. THREE SQUARE
Sit closer and look at the picture. Do you see that the sides of all three squares are crooked?

ILLUSION. BLACK FIGURES
What do you see in the picture?

ILLUSION. ILLUSION OUCHI
Look at the center of the picture and you will see a "dancing" ball.