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Bekhterev 1969
Bekhterev 1969
To cite this article: V. M. Bekhterev & N. M. Shchelovanov (1969) Toward the Establishment of a
Developmental Reflexology, Soviet Psychology, 8:1, 7-25
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V. M. Bekhterev and N. M. Shchelovanov
7
8 SOVIET PSYCHOLOGY
flexes and in what order, at what time, and under what condi-
tions these responses o r systems of reflexes develop.
In the empirical part of this report we present the character-
istics of the content and development of the chief types of re-
sponses during the first five months of a child's life and estab-
lish the most important developmental principles of these re-
sponses. Special attention is given to the gradual formation of
dominant processes (or, for brevity's sake, dominants) in the
central nervous system.
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3 , From the second month on, reactions from the eyes become
specifically dominant so that eye responses to an appropriate
stimulus occur more quickly, while at the same time prior re-
sponses, such as general movements and even crying, are ar-
rested. But this reaction always quickly subsides until approx-
imately the middle of the second month, i.e., concentration of
the gaze on the source of a stimulus while other movements
are arrested lasts only briefly. During the second half of the
second month, the functional mechanisms of eye responses and
t h e i r interaction with other responses are perfected, as is seen
in the fact that these responses to a stimulus occur more quick-
ly, even if they occur during general unrest and in the gradual
increase in the duration of concentration on a source of visual
stimulation as other movements and other reactions are simul-
taneously arrested. Records show instances of concentration
on light stimuli for about ten minutes, which is evidence of the
high functional competence of the visual system and of its dom-
inant character. Visual concentration begins to occur not just
in those cases in which a special stimulus is applied to the eyes
to induce a reaction; in addition, independent eye movements,
especially toward resonant objects in the field of vision, begin
to be noticed.
4. In the middle of the third month, the head and eyes begin
to turn toward an unseen object. This response is apparently
one of the first audiovisual combinative reflexes, i.e., it arises
out of a newly completed audiovisual connection formed as a
result of many repetitions of combined auditory and visual stim-
uli (i.e., visible and at the same time resonant objects). As
FALL 1969 15
and on the 54th day during deep sleep. The rapidity of devel-
opment of inhibition and its duration increase with time.
Thus, on the 68th day accordion-playing induced inhibition
in the form of almost total arrest of all movement for almost
ten minutes.
It should be noted that auditory stimuli have different effects
as a function of the state of the child at the time they are ap-
plied. When motor responses and crying are manifested, inhi-
bition usually occurs, although sometimes when a response is
very pronounced it cannot be arrested. But when a child is mo-
tionless, auditory stimuli usually cause motor responses
whether the child is sleeping or awake.
When interaction has already been established, i.e., from the
middle of the second month on, the general response varies as
a function of the nature of the external stimulus, so that sharp
and abrupt sounds produce a general quivering and then inhibi-
tion, whereas sibilant and generally piercing and long-lasting
sounds such as "shshshsh" o r ''rrrrr" first produce a sharply
pronounced inhibition and then movements and crying, which a r e
especially distinct in somewhat older children. A variety of al-
ternating sounds (e.g., a set of bells) begins gradually to liven
movements, especially if they are presented in conjunction with
visual stimuli,
Before turning to an analysis of the factual material present-
ed, we must also give some empirical data on the development
of the first and earliest combinative reflexes, i.e., responses
that are developed through personal experience from contact
with the environment. Combinative reflexes are the result of
FALL 1969 17
time to time when the child was lying in his crib, not in a feed-
ing position in his mother's arms. The first observation of a
food reflex in the form of very vague sucking motions in re-
sponse to a light-sound signal was made on the 47th day after
birth. Distinct food responses in the usual crib position of a
child, in the form of sucking movements and "searching," i.e.,
side movements of the head, began to be observed as a response
to a light-sound signal on the 71st day. Further tests with the
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pendicular to the body) so that the hands hit the visible object.
A visual-motor connection is formed as a result of frequent
coincidence of visual concentration with physical contact.
The facts presented give rise to a number of questions con-
cerning the formation of combinative reflexes and make it pos-
sible to explain the external conditions of formation of combina-
tive reflexes. In addition, and what is especially important,
these data help to shed light on the internal physiological-neuro-
logical conditions, with the aid of developmental analysis, taking
into consideration all the circumstances of their initial appear-
ance, beginning with their complete absence in the newborn.
The facts show a definite relationship between the formation of
a combinative reflex and the development of dominant processes
in the central nervous system, since a comhinative reflex can
be developed only when a sensitive area when stimulated gives
r i s e to a dominant functional interaction in the central nervous
system. Thus there are naturally no combinative reflexes in a
newborn infant. There are, however, two dominants: the food
response ‘and the response produced by change of position. And
we see that when these dominants a r e present, a connection
forms only between them: specifically, a combinative reflex
manifested as a food response that occurs when the child is
placed in the usual breast-feeding position. No other combina-
tive reflexes a r e obtained from other sensitive areas until the
appropriate dominants appear. Later during the second and at
the beginning of the third month, development and functional re-
finement of dominant processes in response to eye and e a r
stimuli take place. Thereafter, dominant processes induced by
the corresponding stimuli result in the formation of new func-
FALL 1969 21
plexity of initially local reflexes that are elicited from the same
sensitive areas even in a newborn child.
5 . Dominant relationships in the functioning of complex neu-
ral mechanisms a r e the fundamental condition for the forma-
tion of discriminated motor reactions arising against a back-
ground of the original general motor responses and simple re-
flexes, as well as through the later formation of new functional
connections, which then leads to the development of higher re-
sponses of the combinative-reflex type among movements.
6. The time and order of appearance of the earliest combina-
tive reflexes correspond to the order and time of appearance of
dominants. The establishment of new functional connections,
i.e., the formation of combinative reflexes, is possible only in
the presence of general dominant processes (concentration)
that take place not only in the cerebral cortex but also in lower
levels of the nervous system, so that the mechanism of com-
binative reflexes is not confined to just the cortical processes.
Consequently, even the subcortical regions, and other parts of
the organism that innervate them, such as the vascular system,
glands, etc., also affect the formation and functioning of combi-
native reflexes. The possibility of formation of new connections
in the subcortical sections themselves, for example, the appear-
ance of a food response in the feeding position during the first
month of life, must also be admitted.
7. One of the most fundamental problems of the developmental
method is the evolution of a waking state as a functional
state, which is the basic prerequisite for all higher reactions
in general.
FALL 1969 25
Footnote