General concept of communication as the basis of interpersonal relationships

Intraspecific relationships

The diverse population of a population constantly interacts with each other. Satisfying the needs for nutrition, distribution of food areas, choosing a place to build a nest, mating, raising offspring, protecting the occupied territory, resettlement, etc. are carried out with constant interaction of individuals included in each population, which ensures its existence.

These connections developed as the species formed and developed as an integral system. Therefore, all individuals included in the population have both a common origin and numerous specific adaptations to living together (Fig. 10.1).

Rice. 10.1. Connections of individuals in a population (using the example of mammals)

These devices, named by S. A. Severtsov (1951) con-! grueng/yami,

cover morphophysiological and ethological (behavioural) traits. These include: structural features that ensure meetings of opposite-sex individuals, reproduction, raising young animals, adaptations that ensure settlement or association in flocks (for migration or for the winter), various “signals” - smells, color, voice, behavior, etc. - all , which attracts or distracts individuals, warns them about the occupied territory (Fig. 10.2).

Rice. 10.2. Information load of different dog poses

These devices can be of the nature of individual and group contacts. They are carried out differently at different stages of development of organisms and can change during the life of an individual, in different seasons of the year, and also due to changes in living conditions.

The relationships between members of a population depend primarily on whether the species has a solitary or group lifestyle. The forms of existence of individuals in a population are extremely different.

Solitary lifestyle. Individuals of a population are isolated and independent of each other. Characteristic of many species, mainly at certain stages of the life cycle. Completely solitary existence of organisms does not occur in nature. The reason for this is the impossibility of carrying out their main vital function - reproduction. However, some species are characterized by very weak contacts between cohabiting individuals. Thus, in species with internal fertilization, meetings between males and females can be very short-term, for copulation to occur. The rest of the time, animals live separately, independently of each other, for example, predatory ground beetles, ladybugs and many other insects. A similar way of life is led by individual aquatic inhabitants (solitary sea anemones) with a disrupted method of fertilization, in which there is no need for direct meeting of partners. Often species with a solitary lifestyle form temporary aggregations of individuals in the period preceding reproduction, in wintering areas, etc. In late autumn, urticaria butterflies gather in large numbers in attics, ladybugs and ground beetles - near stumps and tree butts in dry litter , pike and catfish - in wintering pits at the bottom of the reservoir. However, such aggregations are not accompanied by the establishment of close connections between animals. Each of them is relatively independent from the others.

The complication of relationships within populations occurs in two directions: strengthening connections between sexual partners and the emergence of contacts between parent and daughter generations. In populations, on this basis, families are formed that are diverse in composition and duration of existence. Parental pairs can be created for a short or long period, and in some species - for the entire life of adults. Among the birds, black grouse and wood grouse do not form stable family pairs. In many passerines, the female and male stay together throughout the nesting period. Married pairs of swans, cranes, and pigeons are preserved for many years. The choice of partners in animals is accompanied by special mating behavior, often of great complexity - “dancing”, “courtship”, etc.

In many insects, birds and mammals, courtship often prevents aggressive and defensive reactions of individuals of the opposite sex, leads to synchronization of puberty, stimulates readiness for mating, which is of great importance for reproduction, for which the male and female must be ready at the same time .

During the period of choosing sexual partners, competitive relations intensify in animal populations. Many animals engage in male fighting, ritual displays, and other types of specialized behavior that are aimed at eliminating competitors (Figure 10.3).

Rice. 10.3. Tournament fights during the “mating season”

mammals (according to A. O. Ruvinsky et al., 1993)

Despite the frequent ferocity, these clashes rarely lead to major injuries to rivals; for the most part, they are limited to expelling one of them from the territory where the female is located. The current hawks quickly rush at each other, and then suddenly freeze with their collars ruffled, after which they repeat the throws again. In such battles, the fish are dominated by a ritual of threat, or the opponents bite each other in the mouth - the least vulnerable part of the body, but do not inflict more dangerous bites on the side.

Consequently, the period preceding reproduction in animal populations is characterized by active search and a sharp increase in contacts between individuals.

Family lifestyle. Strengthens the bonds between parents and their offspring. The simplest type of such a connection is, for example, the care of one of the parents for laid eggs - protection of the clutch, incubation, additional aeration, etc. In birds, care for the chicks continues until they are raised on the wing, and in a number of large mammals, such as bears , tigers, cubs are raised in family groups until they reach sexual maturity, for several years. Depending on which parent takes care of the offspring, families are distinguished between paternal and maternal

and
family
types. Both the male and the female usually take part in protecting and feeding the offspring in families with stable pair formation.

Further complication of behavioral connections in populations leads to the formation of larger associations of animals - colonies, packs, herds.

Rice. 10.4. Colonial nesting sites in birds

(from N. M. Chernova, A. M.

Bylovoy, 1981):

A - colonies of white geese in the tundra;

B - rook colonies

Colonies are group settlements of sedentary animals that can exist for a long time or be created for the breeding season, like birds (geese, rooks, loons, seagulls, etc.), Fig. 10.4.

Animal colonies are distinguished by their diversity - from simple territorial aggregations of single forms to associations where individual members, like organs in a whole organism, perform different functions of species life. Thus, the siphonophore Salacia - a single, at first glance, individual - is formed by many individual specialized individuals and represents a colony.

The development of a colony begins with one individual, which reproduces by budding. Individual budding individuals can either lead an independent life or become specialized parts of the mother colony.

Animal settlements, where some functions of their lives are performed jointly, which increases the likelihood of survival of individuals, is a more complex form of colony. Such general functions of the colony most often include protection from enemies and warning signals. Seagulls, swallows, geese and other birds noisily attack a predator threatening clutches or chicks. The alarm raised by a bird that notices the danger mobilizes the others. Birds together manage to drive out large predators that they could not cope with alone - owls, hawks, arctic foxes, etc. Individual nesting sites are often preserved in colonial bird settlements. Thus, herring gulls have loose colonies; a distance of 3-5 m is maintained between nests.

City swallows often make their nests close to one another. Territorial instincts do not manifest themselves here at all. Social weavers build a large communal grass nest in trees with numerous holes leading into individual nesting cavities.

Colonies of mammals (marmots, viscachas, pieds, pikas) more often arise on the basis of the growth of family groups, with the preservation of connections between budding families.

Complex colonies of social insects, such as ants, termites, and bees, arise from a rapidly expanding family. In colony families, insects jointly perform most of the main functions: reproduction, protection, providing food for themselves and their offspring, construction, etc. Here there is a mandatory division of labor and specialization of individual individuals and age groups to perform certain operations. Members of the colony operate on the basis of constant exchange of information with each other.

As the colonial association becomes more complex, the behavior, and often the physiology and structure of an individual, becomes more and more subordinate to the interests of the entire colony.

Packs are temporary associations of animals that exhibit biologically useful organization of actions. Flocks facilitate the performance of any functions in the life of the species: obtaining food, protection from enemies, migration. Schooling is most widespread among fish and birds, and among mammals - many canines. In flocks, imitative reactions and orientation toward neighbors are highly developed.

The actions of the flock according to the methods of coordinating actions are divided into two categories: ) equipotential -

without pronounced dominance of individual members;
2) packs with leaders,
where animals are guided by the behavior of one or several, as a rule, the most experienced individuals. Associations of the first type are known in fish, small birds, and migratory locusts. In large birds and mammals, the second type of flock is usually found.

Schools of fish vary in size, shape, density, and often reform several times a day. Fish group in schools during daylight hours, when making visual contact with other individuals, and disperse at night. The protective role of schooling fish associations is great. When there is danger, a school of fish quickly maneuvers around a predator, who, for example, rushes into its middle and ends up in the desert. The behavior of fish in a school is characterized by an imitation reflex - imitation of the actions of neighbors.

Flocks of birds are formed during seasonal migrations or in sedentary and nomadic forms, during winter feeding. When migrating, flocks are formed by those species that are characterized by colonial nesting or collective feeding. Solitary nesting and feeding species do not form flocks in flight.

There is a constant signaling, sound and visual communication between individuals in flocks of sedentary birds, which is used to detect favorable roosting and resting places, food sources, rising air currents, etc. Thus, like the pioneers of the Wild West in westerns, Virginia quails form at night back-to-back ring (Fig. 10.5). This habit not only helps them protect themselves from predators, but also keeps them warm on cold autumn and winter nights. Frightened quails fly scattered in different directions.

Rice. 10.5 Quail rings (according to P. Farb, 1971)

In winter, wolf packs appear for group hunting. They manage to cope with large ungulates in a pack, which hunting alone is often fruitless. When hunting in a group, wolves usually practice stalking, going out to intercept the prey, driving the prey into an ambush, or capturing it in a ring, which requires coordination and coordination of the actions of all individuals (Fig. 10.6).

Rice. 10.6. Wolves hunting reindeer

(according to N.M. Chernova et al., 1995)

In schools of mammals, the role of leaders is significant and the relationships between individuals are specific, which brings these group formations closer to herds.

Herds are longer and more permanent associations of animals compared to packs. Here all the main functions of the life of the species are carried out: obtaining food, protection from predators, migration, reproduction, raising young animals, etc. The basis of the group behavior of animals in herds is the relationship of dominance-subordination, based on individual differences between individuals. One option for organizing herds is groups with temporary or relatively permanent leaders. These are individuals on whom the attention of others is concentrated, and they, in turn, determine by their behavior the direction of movement, feeding places, reaction to a predator, etc. The leader’s activity is not directly aimed at subjugating other individuals. The more experienced member of the herd becomes the leader. The herd acts as a unit, imitating the leader. Thus, herds of reindeer are usually led by old women. They navigate migrations and attacks from predators better than others, because from time to time they have to do this alone.

Associations in large herds are identified, which represent family or age groups with internal, more friendly contacts than with members of other similar groups. Regardless of the general leadership, relationships of administration and subordination can develop in intraspecific groups.

The behavioral organization of herds with leaders and hierarchical subordination of individuals is the most complex. Unlike leaders, leaders are characterized by behavior aimed directly at actively leading the herd: special signals, threats and direct attacks. Here, divisions of “rights” and “responsibilities” and more complex forms of social behavior that are beneficial to the group as a whole often arise. In a herd, the rank of each individual is determined by many factors: age, physical strength, experience and hereditary qualities of the animal. As a rule, the weak are dominated by the strong and experienced, with a stable type of nervous system. This is manifested in the right to a female, advantage when eating food, movement in a group, etc.

Dominance-submission varies widely among species. The main ones are the “linear” hierarchy of the “triangle” type, despotism. With linear

hierarchies in a series of ranks A-B-C, etc. individuals belonging to each are subordinate to the previous ones, but dominate the subsequent ones. In such a series, the last animals are the most powerless in the group. Thus, leaders in packs of sled dogs actively subjugate the entire pack by threatening and beating the disobedient ones. Animals of lower rank behave submissively in front of everyone else and approach food last. They are expelled from the best resting places, are not allowed near females, etc.

In some animals, hierarchical subordination is carried out according to the “triangle” type:

A attacks B, B attacks C, and C subjugates A. This relationship can persist in the group for quite a long time.
The next variant of hierarchy is despotism,
or the dominance of one animal over all other members of the group.

The rank of an animal in a group is determined by clashes between individuals in the form of direct fighting or ritual threats. Once the rank of all group members has been established, direct confrontations between them cease and order is maintained by signal or ritual behavior. A hierarchically organized herd is characterized by a regular order of movement, a certain organization in defense, location in resting places, etc. For example, when predators begin to loom, female elephants form a circle around the cubs to protect them from attackers (Fig. 10.7).

Rice. 10.7. Female elephants protect their young from predators

In a herd of baboons, the safest places in the center are females preparing to breed or with cubs, along the edges are the leaders, young males and non-breeding females. Large males walk in front and behind the herd, ready to repel an attack. There are known cases when, when a herd was being pursued by predators, the dominant male returned for the lagging cub, although he was in great danger.

The biological meaning of the hierarchical dominance-submission system is to create coordinated group behavior that is beneficial to all its members. After the “alignment of forces,” the animals do not waste extra energy on individual conflicts, and the group as a whole receives advantages by obeying the strongest and most experienced individuals. This is of great importance for raising young animals, providing protection from predators, warning from danger, migrations, etc. For example, in difficult situations (hunger strikes, etc.), mostly weak, subordinate individuals die, but under the protection of the group they have more opportunities survive than alone. The hierarchy is clearly expressed not only in herds of mammals, but also in colonies of birds and a number of invertebrates: insects (crickets, darkling beetles, etc.), some crustaceans, etc.

Group effect. Many species of animals, as already noted, develop normally only when they unite in fairly large groups. For example, cormorants (Phalacrocarax bougainvillei) can exist in a colony of at least 10,000 individuals and with at least 3 nests per m3. Life in a group, through the nervous and hormonal systems, affects the course of many physiological processes in the animal’s body. Close communication between individuals is observed through smells, sounds, and specific behavior. Thanks to the complex signaling system of individuals and their mutual exchange of information, the efficiency of the group’s functioning increases, aimed at satisfying the important vital needs of all its members. Optimization of physiological processes leading to increased vitality during coexistence is called the “group effect.”

The group effect manifests itself as a psychophysiological reaction of an individual to the presence of other individuals of its species. For example, sheep outside the herd have an increased heart rate and increased breathing. At the sight of an approaching herd, these processes are normalized. The group effect is manifested in accelerating the growth rate of animals, increasing fertility, faster formation of conditioned reflexes, increasing the average life expectancy of an individual, etc. Animals in a group are usually able to maintain an optimal temperature, for example, during hilling, in nests, in hives. Outside the group, fertility is not realized in many animals.

An equally important indicator of the group effect is phase variability.

It was first discovered by B.P. Uvarov in 1921 in locusts, and later in Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and other insects. In locusts, two forms are clearly distinguished: solitary and gregarious (Fig. 10.8).

The main reason here is the different density of individuals in the population. Their great crowding determines the formation of a gregarious form. Individuals of both forms differ in color, behavior, speed of development, and structure. Each form is characterized by a certain activity. Individuals in herd form are very mobile and tend to migrate. This is a means of regulating the number of locusts in their reserves. A crowded lifestyle at an increasing pace leads to a reduction in the egg tubes. Hence, the higher the degree of gregariousness, the lower the fertility, i.e. Fecundity in gregarious locusts is inversely proportional to population density. Isolated female Asian locusts lay 1000-1200 eggs, while those in severe crowding lay only 300. However, the latter have a mass of hatching larvae, their survival rate and overall viability are much higher. The group effect and its highest manifestation in locusts—phase variability—are functionally related to population density and serve as a mechanism for regulating their numbers. Mutual stimulation of individuals causes the formation of a gregarious form, which is characterized by a decrease in fertility, a decrease in mortality at early ages, an increase in the speed of development and an increase in activity.

Rice. 10.8. Forms of migratory locusts:

1 – single; 2 - standard

Outbreaks in rodent populations are stopped more often due to crowding effects such as increased aggressiveness due to increased adrenaline secretion, lethargy associated with low blood sugar, than due to lack of food or infections. Droppings, secretions, and metabolic products can spoil the available sufficient food supplies. High densities sometimes lead to cannibalism even in normally purely herbivorous species, such as the mealworm. Thus, the positive group effect occurs up to some optimal level of population density. When there are too many animals, this threatens everyone with a lack of environmental resources; other mechanisms come into play, which lead to a decrease in the number of individuals in the group through its division, dispersal, or a drop in the birth rate. We will consider these mechanisms in more detail later.

Aggression, intraspecific parasitism and competition. Aggression -

This is a form of communication characterized by the extermination of individuals of its own species.
Among intraspecific relationships, various forms of aggression are quite common, when the extermination of some individuals of a species by others helps maintain the population size, its density in the occupied territory and ensures the high vitality of the surviving individuals. In some cases, aggression is represented by cannibalism,
or devouring individuals of its own species. Thus, in the American cryptobranchiate salamander, the laid eggs are guarded by the male. Protecting her from others, he himself feeds on her to maintain strength. Another form of cannibalism in salmonids. Adult fish enter rivers to spawn and usually rise to the uppermost sources. In shallow waters, in conditions of well-aerated water, they spawn and die exhausted there. Spawning occurs in late autumn and in shallow water; fish corpses are not carried away by the flow of water, but freeze into the ice. In the spring, as the ice melts, the corpses of fish thaw and their decomposition begins. By this time, the young usually emerge from the eggs. The voracious fry pounce on the softened corpses of fish and eat them. This allows most fry to survive and grow quickly in places where there is no other food available to them. In general, cannibalism is widespread among fish. In cod, burbot, and Balkhash perch, adult fish eat their young. A similar thing is observed in insects. Cannibalism has been observed in ants and in the predatory larvae of some mosquitoes. In all of the above cases, aggression turns out to be useful to the species, providing a unique example of “mutually beneficial connections.”

The phenomenon of intraspecific parasitism can also be assessed as useful ,

which is found in some animals. It can be in the form of ectoparasitism (external parasitism) and endoparasitism (internal parasitism).

Intraspecific ectoparasitism

especially clearly expressed in deep-sea angler fish. As a device to ensure the fertilization of eggs, the female constantly carries the male on her. The dwarf male (size of the male is 1.5-2 cm, female - 9-10 cm) is still in the juvenile stage attached to the female: in some species - to a special process on the gill cover, in others - to the abdomen or forehead (Fig. 10.9 ).

Rice. 10.9. Deep sea angler fish:

a - female; b - dwarf male (according to N.M. Chernova et al., 1995)

The skin of the male at the points of attachment fuses with the skin of the female, as if plunging into it, interpenetration and some fusion of the blood vessels of both organisms occur. Becoming an integral part of the female, the male moves at her expense. At the same time, the male’s intestines are underdeveloped, the teeth are reduced, while the gills, kidneys, heart and reproductive system remain quite developed.

Intraspecific endoparasitism

observed, for example, in Bonellia, an annelid worm living in the Mediterranean Sea. The male is an internal parasite of the female, settling in her nephridia tubules, through which eggs pass out. Even at the larval stage, the male enters the mouth, and then into the esophagus and later through the tissue reaches the nephridia, where it remains to live. Both cases of intraspecific parasitism arose in conditions of poverty of food, at a very low population density, as an adaptation to the restoration of offspring, where the meeting of males and females occurs quite rarely. The transition to parasitism in these species usually occurs during the larval stages, when newly hatched fry and larvae still remain in one common school. With a relatively high density of young individuals in such conditions, the occurrence of males and females occurs frequently. This and a number of other specific features allow the species to ensure its reproduction and long-term existence in the fight against other species.

Intraspecific competition

(for food, a sexual partner, living space, a place for reproduction, etc.) increases both with the increase in population density and the degree of specialization of the species. Most often, competition for food begins when, as a result of reproduction, while there is still a sufficient supply of food, the population density increases. Insufficient nutrition can often lead to a decrease in fertility, until a decrease in population allows the species to reproduce again.

In plants, intraspecific competition often manifests itself in the form of “passive struggle”. Passive struggle leads to the appearance of special adaptive features in the structure, providing them with an advantageous placement of their organs. This was especially clearly demonstrated by V.N. Sukachev (1945) in experiments with thickened crops. It was shown that not only the above-ground parts of the plants were located at different heights, but also their roots were distributed at different depths (Fig. 10.10).

Differentiation of young individuals is observed when nasturtium is sowed thickly. Among its seedlings that appeared simultaneously, three groups of young plants, more or less different from each other, can soon be distinguished. In some, rapid growth of the stem is observed, bringing the cotyledons and first green leaves upward. In another group, rapid upward growth is carried out not due to the growth of the stem, but with the help of the rapid growth of cotyledon petioles and the first green leaves. In the third group, there is no rapid growth of either the stem part or the petioles, but the rate of leaf expansion turned out to be high. By the time when the plants of the first two groups had, in addition to the cotyledons, only two green leaves, these had four, and in one case even six green leaves with very small leaf blades. During flowering, adult plants outwardly look the same and practically do not resemble in any way the division of individuals into three groups that is observed in seedlings.

Rice. 10.10. Aboveground and underground layering in herbaceous

phytocenoses (according to V. G. Khrzhanovsky et al., 1994)

Territoriality. Territorial behavior is found in a wide range of animals, including some fish, reptiles, birds, mammals, and social insects. This phenomenon is based on the innate desire of an individual for freedom of movement in a certain minimum area (Fig. 10.11).

The first stage of development of territoriality is individual space,

surrounding each individual.
It is clearly visible, for example, in swallows perched on a telephone wire, or in starlings in a flying flock. The individual protects it from invasion and opens it to another individual only after courtship ceremonies before mating. The second stage is a defensible place for living, resting or sleeping in the middle of an undefended activity zone
(for many predators of the hunting area). Animals on the second stage are distributed almost evenly.

Rice. 10.11. Territorial behavior of animals

(according to N.M. Chernova et al., 1995)

The most rational use of space is noted at the third stage of territoriality, where real territories are formed -

areas from which other individuals are expelled. The owner of the site psychologically dominates it, and for expulsion in most cases, only demonstrations, threats, persecution, or, at most, feigned attacks that stop at the boundaries of the site, marked visually, acoustically or by smell (olfactory) are enough. 10.12.

Rice. 10.12. Brown bear marking a tree

(according to N.M. Chernova et al., 1995)

In birds that nest in colonies, an individual protects only its nest, and the entire colony and its surroundings as a whole are defended by the entire population.

Interspecies relationships

They can be indifferent, harmful or beneficial to partners. With neutralism

both species live in the same territory without interacting with each other, for example, woodpeckers near thrushes in a beech forest or hydroid polyps on a mollusk shell.
There may be competition
for the same food or living space, for example, between two species of passerines - the warbler and the nightingale.

When kept together in culture, Paramaecium caudatum is somewhat more quickly replaced by the growing population of P. aurelia, since the latter eats up the bacteria - food that the first species also needs. However, P. aurelia, which feeds in the surface bacterial film, does not compete with P. bursaria, which eats microorganisms that sink to the bottom.

Mutualism

brings benefits to both partners -

vital
symbiosis
not very significant proto-cooperation Thus, ruminants and the microorganisms of their rumen cannot exist without each other, but hydra, on the contrary, can live without chlorella algae, just as it can live without it.

Often the benefits and harms are one-sided. It makes no difference to the lion whether vultures and jackals eat the remains of his food (commensalism);

For dung beetles, it is unimportant that in flight they carry coprophagous nematodes to new dung heaps - their substrate.
In parasitism and predation,
one partner benefits for himself to the detriment of the other. These two types of relationships, as noted earlier, differ in that in the first case the attacking organism is smaller than its victim, and in the second it is larger. As a rule, the reproductive potential of a parasite is greater than that of its host, while that of a predator is less than that of its prey.

Predator-prey relationship.

In an environment that does not have shelter for reproduction, the predator sooner or later destroys the population of the prey and then dies out itself. Under natural conditions, the following temporary and cause-and-effect chain arises: prey reproduction ® predator reproduction ® sharp reduction in the prey population ® decline in the predator population ® prey reproduction, etc. This cybernetic system with negative feedback leads to a stable equilibrium. Waves of fluctuations of predator and prey follow each other with a constant phase shift, and on average the numbers of both predator and prey remain constant (Fig. 10.13).

V. Volterra (1931), studying the predator-prey relationship, derived the following laws. 1. The law of the periodic cycle -

the process of destruction of prey by a predator often leads to periodic fluctuations in the population numbers of both species, depending only on the growth rate of the populations of the predator and prey, and on the initial ratio of their numbers.
2. Law of conservation of averages -
the average population size for each species is constant, regardless of the initial level, provided that the specific rates of increase in population numbers, as well as the efficiency of predation, are constant.
3. The law of violation of average values ​​-
when the populations of both species decrease in proportion to their numbers, the average size of the prey population increases, and the population of predators decreases.

Rice. 10.13. Relationship between predator and

victim (according to A.V. Yablokov, A.G. Yusufov, 1998)

Protection from enemies.

It can be active, for example, bites, injections, blows, including electric ones (in stingrays and other fish), splashing secrets, etc., the use of shelters, and much more often passive, which includes a camouflaging (
mimetic)
appearance, a warning appearance ( so-called mimicry), masking or warning behavior. Plants develop thorns, thorns, burning hairs, poisons, and bitter substances.

Masking appearance

consists of imitating inedible objects (sticks and caterpillars of moths imitate twigs) or visually merging with the surrounding background: the green color of the inhabitants of the foliage (caterpillars, bugs, grasshoppers, etc.), brown of the ground inhabitants (larks, sandpipers, female ducks). Adaptation to the color and pattern of the substrate can also be carried out through a physiological change in body color (flounder, cuttlefish, tree frogs, stingrays) or a change in color during the next moult, for example, grasshoppers.

Warning Appearance

can be used to scare off an aggressor with an unusual pattern, eye-shaped spots that appear on many butterflies when they open their wings, an imitation of a snake's head (found in many caterpillars) or animals dangerous to the attacker (repellent appearance). Another use of warning appearance is to warn with bright signal colors and a striking design about the real negative properties of the victim for the attacker: bitter taste, inedibility, poisonousness, ability to bite or sting. Examples include ladybugs, harlequin bugs, motley caterpillars, and wasps. It should be noted that in this case, some part of the population is sacrificed, from which the aggressor learns bitter experience. Often, harmless organisms imitate the warning coloration of dangerous species. For example, hoverflies, hawk moths, and many longhorned beetles imitate the appearance of wasps. This mimicry is nothing more than deception.

Fluctuations in numbers and

Homeostasis of populations

In nature, population sizes fluctuate. Due to the size of the population range, the number of individuals in populations can also change significantly. Thus, among insects and small plants of open spaces, the number of individuals in individual populations can reach hundreds of thousands and millions of individuals. On the contrary, populations of animals and plants can be relatively small in size. On one of the lakes in the Moscow region, the population size of the dragonfly Leucorrhinia albifrons reached about 30 thousand individuals, the population size of the sand lizard Lacerta agilis - from several hundred to several thousand individuals, and the population size of the land snail Cepea nemoralis - only 1000 individuals.

Due to the fact that any population has a strictly defined genetic, phenotypic, age-sex and other structure, it cannot consist of fewer individuals than necessary to ensure the stable implementation of this structure and the population’s resistance to environmental factors (Fig. 10.14 ).

This is the principle of minimum population size.

The minimum population size that ensures the existence of a species is specific to different species. Going beyond the minimum threatens the population with death. Further reduction, for example, of tigers in the Far East, will inevitably lead to their automatic extinction due to the fact that the remaining units, not finding breeding partners with sufficient frequency, will die out within a few generations. Rare plants, such as orchids, lady's slippers and others, may find themselves in the same situation.

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Communication: definition, components, levels

In psychological science, there is no single generally accepted definition for communication. In Russian psychology, the idea of ​​the unity of communication and activity is used. G.M. Andreeva believes that there is a close relationship between activity and communication, communication is considered as a side of joint activity and as its unique derivative. Some psychologists distinguish the following types of communication: 1) interpersonal, group, intergroup 2) trust and conflict 3) intimate and criminogenic 4) business and personal 5) direct and indirect 6) therapeutic and non-violent

R.S. Nemov considers communication as a type of intraspecific and interspecific contacts and identifies in it the content determined by the transmitted information; the purpose for which a person has this type of activity; means by which information is transmitted.

D.A. Belukhin understands by communication, first of all, communication with oneself, because Communication with other people depends on the level of its development, content and forms.

Physician A.B. Dobrovich points out that intraspecific communication is a decisive condition for the survival of any species of homo sapins. He calls the primary function of communication the regulation of joint activity, without which people would not have become human several million years ago. He considers the other function to be the formation of human consciousness. The third includes self-determination of the individual in her thoughts and actions.

Jerzy Melibruda proposes to give homo sapins a definition of homo communicant. K. communication is an indispensable condition for any form of social individual life. Communication can be assessed using two criteria: 1 the effectiveness of communication 2 the degree of satisfaction of needs and enchantment of one’s feelings. We will adhere to the point of view according to which communication is the process of establishing and developing contacts between people.

Components of communication:

The above definition allows us to imagine the structure of communication as a mutual connection of three components; communicative, perceptual and interactive. Communicative – exchange of information between individuals. Perceptual - establishing mutual understanding. Interactive - interaction between others. Each of the listed parties does not exist in isolation from each other.

Levels of communication: Each of the partners occupies one of four role positions in contact: the position of non-participation, the position of extension from above, extension from below, extension next to.

1. conventional – requires a high culture of communication. 2. primitive – the lowest level

3 . manipulative - partner - opponent in the game who needs to be defeated.

4.standardized – “mask contact”. 5. playful – subtlety of content and richness of shades. 6. business – business comes first. 7. spiritual – the highest level of human communication, “the partner is perceived as a bearer of the spiritual principle,”

People communicate with each other on primitive, manipulative, standardized, conventional, playful, business and spiritual levels. The communication process can be assessed using two criteria: the effectiveness of communication and the degree of satisfaction of the need for enchantment of feelings.

Lecture 20. Communication is the basis of interpersonal relationships. Communication as an exchange of information. Communication as interaction. Communication as people's perception of each other.

What makes people reach out to each other, why does a person so persistently, tirelessly seek the company of his own kind, why does he have such a strong, powerful desire to tell others about himself, about his thoughts, his aspirations, about his experiences as unusual impressions? , and the most ordinary, ordinary ones, but for some reason interesting to him? Why do we have such a noticeable tendency to look into the spiritual world of those around us, to unravel the secret of our own “I”? Why do we so need friends, comrades, interlocutors, in general, all those with whom we could come into contact? Or in other words: why do we need communication with other people so much? What is it: a habit: learned by us in the usual conditions of social existence for us, grown from imitation in the process of our development, or is it something more, inseparable from us, just as firmly connected with us, such as, for example, the need to breathe, eat , sleep?

What is communication?

Communication is a need for man as a social, intelligent being, as a bearer of consciousness. Considering the way of life of various higher animals and humans, we notice that two aspects stand out in it: contacts with nature and contacts with living beings. The first type of contacts was called activity and it can be defined as a specific type of human activity aimed at understanding and transforming the surrounding world, including oneself and the conditions of one’s existence. In activity, a person creates objects of material and spiritual culture, transforms his abilities, preserves and improves nature, builds society, creates something that would not exist in nature without his activity. The second type of contacts is characterized by the fact that the parties interacting with each other are living beings (organism to organism) exchanging information. This type of intraspecific and interspecific contact is called communication. Communication is characteristic of all living beings, but at the human level it takes on the most advanced forms, becoming conscious and mediated by speech. The following aspects are distinguished in communication: content, goal and means.

Content of communication

- information that is transmitted from one living being to another in inter-individual contacts. The content of communication can be information about the internal motivational or emotional state of a living being. One person can convey information about existing needs to another, counting on potential participation in their satisfaction. Through communication, data about their emotional states (satisfaction, joy, anger, sadness, suffering, etc.) can be transmitted from one living being to another, aimed at setting up a living being for contacts in a certain way. The same information is transmitted from person to person and serves as a means of interpersonal adjustment. We behave differently towards an angry or suffering person, for example, than towards someone who is well disposed and experiencing joy. The content of communication can be information about the state of the external environment, transmitted from one creature to another, for example, signals about danger or the presence of positive, biologically significant factors, say, food somewhere nearby. In humans, the content of communication is much broader than in animals. People exchange information with each other that represents knowledge about the world, acquired experience, abilities, skills and abilities. Human communication is multi-subject, it is the most diverse in its internal content.

Purpose of communication

- this is what a person experiences this type of activity for.
In animals, the purpose of communication may be to encourage another living being to take certain actions, or to warn that it is necessary to refrain from any action. The mother, for example, warns the baby of danger with her voice or movement; Some animals in the herd can warn others that they have perceived vital signals. A person’s number of communication goals increases. In addition to those listed above, they include the transfer and receipt of knowledge about the world, training and education, coordination of reasonable actions of people in their joint activities, establishment and clarification of personal and business relationships, and much more. If in animals the goals of communication usually do not go beyond satisfying their biological needs, then in humans they are a means of satisfying many different needs: social, cultural, cognitive, creative, aesthetic, the needs of intellectual growth, moral development and a number of others. It is useful to keep in mind eight functions (goals) of communication: 1) contact,
the goal of which is to establish contact as a state of mutual readiness to receive and transmit messages and maintain relationships in the form of constant mutual orientation;
2) information exchange of messages,
i.e. reception - transfer of any information in response to a request, as well as exchange of opinions, plans, decisions, etc.;
3) incentive stimulation
of the communication partner’s activity, directing him to perform certain actions;
4) coordination
- mutual orientation and coordination of actions when organizing joint activities;
5) understanding
- not only an adequate perception of the meaning of the message, but the partners’ understanding of each other (their intentions, attitudes, experiences, states, etc.);
6) emotional arousal
in the partner of the necessary emotional experiences (“exchange of emotions”), as well as changing one’s own experiences and states with his help;
7) establishing relationships
- awareness and acceleration of one’s place in the system of role, status, business, interpersonal and other connections of the community in which the individual will act;
exerting influence
- changing the state, behavior, personal and semantic formations of a partner, including his intentions, attitudes, opinions, decisions, ideas, needs, actions, activities, etc. Let us characterize the structure of communication by identifying three sides in it.
The communicative side of communication,
or communication in the narrow sense of the word, consists of the exchange of information between communicating individuals.
The interactive side
consists in organizing interaction between communicating individuals, i.e. in the exchange of not only knowledge, ideas, but also actions.
The perceptual side of communication
means the process of perception and cognition of each other by communication partners and the establishment of mutual understanding on this basis. Of course, each of these sides does not exist in isolation from the other two, and their identification is carried out only for the purpose of analysis. All aspects of communication indicated here are highlighted in small groups-collectives, that is, in conditions of direct contact between people.

Communication as an exchange of information.

The communicative side of communication

When we talk about communication in the narrow sense of the word, we first of all mean the fact that in the course of joint activities people exchange with each other various ideas, ideas, interests, moods, feelings, attitudes, etc. All this can be considered as information, and then the communication process itself can be understood as a process of information exchange. However, in the communication process there is not just a movement of information, but, at a minimum, an active exchange of it. The main “addition” is in the specifically human exchange of information for each participant in the communication. The nature of the exchange of information between people, in contrast to cybernetic devices, is determined by the fact that through a system of signs partners can influence each other. In other words, the exchange of such information necessarily involves an impact on the partner’s behavior, that is, the sign changes the state of the participants in the communicative process. In this sense, a sign in communication is similar to a tool in work. The communicative influence that arises here is nothing more than the psychological influence of one communicator on another with the aim of changing his behavior. For example, an authoritarian tone of communication, even if the speaker has the right to command, causes either protest or passivity (which is also a protest, isn’t it?). The effectiveness of communication is measured precisely by how successful this impact is. This means (in a certain sense) a change in the very type of relationship that has developed between the participants in communication. Nothing similar happens in “purely” information processes. Further, communicative influence as a result of information exchange is possible only when the person sending the information (communicator) and the person receiving it (recipient) have a single or similar system of codification and decodification. In everyday language, this rule is expressed in the words: “everyone must speak the same language.” This is especially important because the communicator and the recipient constantly change places in the communication process. Any exchange of information between them is possible only under the condition of the intersubjectivity of the sign, i.e., under the condition that the signs and, most importantly, the meanings assigned to them are known to all participants in the communicative process. Only the adoption of a unified system of meanings ensures that partners can understand each other. Understanding all the messages our partners send us is far from easy. In everyday life, we don’t often say: “I don’t understand.” Meanwhile, you should always keep the question with yourself: “What is the literal meaning of what was said or what is happening? What are the partners’ intentions?” We should not forget about Goethe’s profound remark: “Everyone hears what he understands.” What if, in fact, we simply do not allow the most significant things to be understood or we suppress them as unpleasant and unacceptable? To describe these situations, social psychology borrows from linguistics the term “thesaurus,” which denotes a common system of meanings accepted by all members of a group. But the whole point is that even knowing the meaning of the same words, people can understand them differently. Even L. S. Vygotsky noted that a thought is never equal to the direct meaning of words. Therefore, in the case of auditory speech, communicators must have identical not only lexical and syntactic systems, but also the same understanding of the communication situation. And this is possible only if communication is included in some general system of activity. Finally, in the context of human communication, completely specific communication barriers can arise. These barriers are not related to vulnerabilities in any communication channel or to encoding and decoding errors. They are social or psychological in nature. On the one hand, such barriers may arise due to the fact that there is a lack of understanding of the communication situation, caused not just by the different “language” spoken by the participants in the communication process, but also by the deeper differences that exist between the partners. These can be social, political, religious, professional differences, which not only give rise to different interpretations (interpretations) of the same concepts used in the process of communication, but in general a different attitude, worldview, and worldview. This feature of interpersonal communication is “captured” surprisingly soulfully by the poet F. I. Tyutchev: How can the heart express itself? How can someone else understand you? Will he understand how you live? A spoken thought is a lie. Exploding, you will disturb the keys, Feed on them - and be silent. Barriers of this kind are generated by psychological reasons, the belonging of communication partners to different social groups, and when they appear, the inclusion of communication in a broader system of personal and social relations becomes especially clear. Communication in this case demonstrates this characteristic that it is only a side of communication. Naturally, wartime opponents are negotiating. But the whole situation of the communicative act is significantly complicated by their presence.

Types of information and means of communication

The information itself coming from the communicator can be of two types: motivating and stating.
Incentive information is expressed in an order, advice, or request. It is designed to stimulate some action. Ascertaining information
appears in the form of a message; it takes place in various educational systems and does not imply a direct change in behavior, although, ultimately, in this case the general rule of human communication applies.
The transmission of any information is possible only through signs, or rather sign systems. There are several sign systems that are used in the communication process. Depending on the type of sign system, a distinction is made between verbal communication (speech is used as a sign system) and nonverbal communication (various non-speech sign systems are used). Speech is based on the ability to use a certain type of signs, namely sign-symbols. A sign
is a phenomenon (material formation) that is introduced by someone for the purpose of directing someone’s thought through its mediation in a certain direction (towards what the sign refers to).
What a sign refers to, what it represents in thought, is called the meaning (of the sign). The meaning of the word “Moon” is the natural satellite of the Earth, the word “joy” is a strong and pleasant feeling that accompanies the successful completion of any task, a meeting with a loved one, etc. In non-verbal communication
the entire set of means is designed to perform the following functions: addition speech, representation (transmission) of the emotional states of partners in the communicative process. The first among the named means should be called the optical-kinetic system of signs, which includes gestures, facial expressions, pantomime.
Paralinguistic and extralinguistic sign systems
also represent “additives” to verbal communication. The paralinguistic system is a vocalization system (voice quality, range, tonality). An extralinguistic system with the inclusion of pauses and other inclusions in speech (for example, coughing, crying, laughter). All these additions increase semantically significant information, but not through additional speech inclusions, but through “colorful” techniques. The space and time of organization of the communicative process also act as a sign system and carry a semantic load as components of communicative situations. Thus, placing partners facing each other promotes contact and symbolizes attention to the speaker, while shouting in the back can have a certain negative meaning. The advantage of certain spatial forms of organizing communication has been experimentally proven (both for two partners in the communicative process, and in mass audiences). In the same way, some standards developed in various subcultures regarding the temporal characteristics of communication act as a kind of addition to semantically significant information. Arriving on time for the start of diplomatic negotiations symbolizes politeness towards the interlocutor. On the contrary, being late is interpreted as a sign of disrespect. In some special areas (primarily in diplomacy), various possible “tolerances” of delays with their corresponding meanings have been developed in detail. A special science that deals with the norms of spatial and temporal organization of communication - proxemics - currently has a large amount of experimental material. The founder of proxemics, E. Hall, who calls proxemics “spatial psychology,” studied the forms of spatial organization of communication in animals. In the case of human communication, a special methodology has been proposed for assessing the intimacy of communication based on studying the organization of its space. Hall recorded, for example, the norms for a person to approach a communication partner, characteristic of American culture: intimate distance (0-45 cm); personal distance (45-120 cm); social distance (120-400 cm); public distance (400-750 cm). Each of them is characteristic of special communication situations. These studies are of great practical importance, primarily in analyzing the success of the activities of various discussion groups.

Communication as interaction.

The interactive side of communication.

“The interactive side of communication” is a term that denotes the characteristics of those components of communication that are associated with the interaction of people, with the direct organization of their joint activities. The communicative process is born on the basis of some joint activity, and the exchange of knowledge and ideas about this activity inevitably presupposes that the achieved mutual understanding is realized in new joint attempts to further develop the activity and organize it. It is extremely important for its participants not only to exchange information, but also to organize an “exchange of actions” and plan them. Communication is organized in the course of joint activity, “about” it.

Types of interactions

The most common is the division of all interactions into two opposite types: cooperation and competition.
In addition to cooperation and competition, they also talk about agreement and conflict, adaptation and opposition, association and dissociation, etc. Behind all these concepts, the principle of distinguishing different types of interaction is clearly visible. In the first case, such manifestations are analyzed that contribute to the organization of joint activities and are “positive” from this point of view. The second group includes interactions that in one way or another “shatter” joint activity and represent a certain kind of obstacle to it. Cooperation
, or cooperative interaction: denotes the coordination of individual forces of participants (ordering, combining, summing up these forces).
Cooperation is a necessary element of joint activity, generated by its special nature. An important indicator of the “closeness” of cooperative interaction is the inclusion of all participants in the process. As for another type of interaction - competition,
here the analysis is most often concentrated in its most vivid form, namely on conflict, a clash of goals, interests, positions, opinions or views of opponents (subjects of interaction). The basis of any conflict is a situation that includes either contradictory positions of the parties on any issue, or opposing goals or means of achieving them in given circumstances, or a divergence of interests, desires, and inclinations of opponents. Conflicts usually arise unexpectedly, spontaneously, situationally. Most often, they are given “food” by negative assessments that are critical in nature. Therefore, it is better not to make such assessments, and if you do, do it very carefully. American psychologist Dale Carnegie believes that criticism is the “dangerous spark that can cause an explosion in the powder keg of pride.” He goes on to advise, “Instead of judging people, let's try to understand them. Let’s try to imagine why they act this way and not otherwise.” In a conflict situation involving criticism of the interlocutor’s actions, the main thing is not to lose internal composure, immediately stop criticizing, try to objectively understand the reasons that caused dissatisfaction and mitigate the tense situation in any way. A good way to prevent conflicts is the ability to listen to your interlocutor. His disposition and trust largely depend on the extent to which the interlocutor is given the opportunity to speak. Meanwhile, according to psychological research, only 10% of people know how to listen to another in case of disagreement. When analyzing various types of interaction, the problem of the content of the activity within which certain types of interaction are given is fundamentally important, since it can be very different. The cooperative form of interaction can be stated not only in production conditions, but also when carrying out any asocial, illegal acts - joint robbery, theft, etc. Therefore, cooperation in socially negative activities is not the form that needs to be stimulated: on the contrary, activities that are conflicting in conditions of asocial activity can be assessed positively.

Communication as people's perception of each other.

Concept of perception

The process of perception by one person of another acts as an obligatory component of communication and constitutes what is called perception. Since a person always enters into communication as a person, he is also perceived by another communication partner as a person. Based on the external side of behavior, we, according to S. L. Rubinstein, seem to “read” another person, decipher the meaning of his external data. The impressions that arise in this case play an important regulatory role in the communication process. Firstly, because by cognizing another, the cognizing individual himself is formed. Secondly, because the success of organizing coordinated actions with him depends on the degree of accuracy of “reading” another person. The idea of ​​another person is closely related to the level of one’s own self-awareness: the more fully the other person is revealed (in more and deeper characteristics), the more complete the idea of ​​oneself becomes. In the course of getting to know another person, several processes are carried out simultaneously: an emotional assessment of this other person, an attempt to understand the structure of his actions, and the construction of a strategy for one’s behavior. However, at least two people are involved in these processes, and each of them is an active subject. Consequently, comparison of oneself with another is carried out, as it were, from two sides: each of the partners likens itself to the other. This means that when building an interaction strategy, everyone has to take into account not only the needs, motives, and attitudes of the other, but also how this other understands my needs, motives, and attitudes. All this leads to the fact that the analysis of awareness of oneself through another includes two sides: identification and reflection. Each of these concepts requires special discussion.

Identification.

One of the easiest ways to understand another person is to liken (identify) yourself to him. This, of course, is not the only way, but in real interaction situations people use this example, when an assumption about the internal state of a partner is based on an attempt to put oneself in his place. A close connection has been established between identification and another phenomenon that is similar in content - empathy. Empathy is also defined as a special way of perceiving another person. Only here we do not mean a rational understanding of the problems of another person, as is the case with mutual understanding, but the desire to respond emotionally to his problems. Empathy must be contrasted with understanding in the strict sense of the word: empathy is affective “understanding.” Its emotional nature is manifested precisely in the fact that the situation of another person, a communication partner, is not so much “thought through” as “felt.” The mechanism of empathy is in certain respects similar to the mechanism of identification: both there and here there is the ability to put oneself in the place of another, to look at things from his point of view. However, seeing things from someone else's point of view does not necessarily mean identifying with that person. If I identify myself with someone, it means that I build my behavior the way this “other” builds it. If I show empathy towards him, I simply take into account his line of behavior (I treat it sympathetically), but I can build my own differently. In both cases, it will be obvious “taking into account” the behavior of the other person, but the result of our joint actions will be different: it is one thing to understand a communication partner by taking his position, another thing is to take his point of view into account , but act in your own way.

Reflection.

From the point of view of the characteristics of communication, both considered options require solving one more question: how will the “other”, i.e. the communication partner, understand me. Our interaction will depend on this. In other words, the process of understanding each other is “complicated” by the phenomenon of reflection. Reflection here refers to the acting individual’s awareness of how he is perceived by his communication partner. This is no longer just knowledge or understanding of the other, but knowledge of how the other understands me, a kind of double process of mirror reflections of each other, a deep, consistent mutual reflection, the content of which is the reproduction of the partner’s inner world, and in this inner world, in turn, my inner world is reflected world. There are some factors that make it difficult to correctly perceive and evaluate people. The main ones are: 1. Inability to distinguish communication situations based on such characteristics as: a) the goals and objectives of communication between people in a given situation; b) their intentions and motives; c) forms of behavior suitable for achieving goals; d) the state of affairs and well-being of people at the time of observation. 2. The presence of predetermined attitudes, assessments of beliefs that the observer has long before the process of perceiving and evaluating another person actually begins. Such attitudes usually manifest themselves in judgments like “What is there to look at and evaluate? I already know…” 3. The presence of already formed stereotypes, according to which the observed people are assigned to a certain category in advance, and an attitude is formed that directs attention to the search for traits associated with it. For example: “All boys are rude,” “All girls are insincere.” 4. The desire to make premature conclusions about the personality of the person being assessed before comprehensive and reliable information has been received about him. Some people, for example, have a “ready” judgment about a person immediately after meeting or seeing him for the first time. 5. Lack of desire and habit of listening to the opinions of other people, the desire to rely only on one’s own impression of a person, to defend it. 6. Lack of changes in people's perceptions and assessments that occur over time due to natural reasons. This refers to the case when once expressed judgments and opinions about a person do not change, despite the fact that new information about him accumulates.

Causal attribution.
The phenomenon of causal attribution is important for a deeper understanding of how people perceive and evaluate each other. It represents an explanation with the subject of interpersonal perception of the reasons and methods of behavior of other people. The processes of causal attribution are subject to the following patterns that influence people's understanding of each other: 1. Those events that are often repeated and accompany the observed phenomenon, preceding it, are usually considered as its possible causes. 2. If the act that we want to explain is unusual and was preceded by some unique event, then we are inclined to consider it the main reason for the committed act. 3. An incorrect explanation of people’s actions occurs when there are many different, equally probable possibilities for their interpretation and the person offering his explanation is free to choose the option that suits him. In the early days of research into causal attribution, it was only about interpreting (attributions of) the causes of another person’s behavior. Later, ways to explain a wider class of characteristics began to be studied: intentions, feelings, personality traits. The phenomenon of attribution itself arises when a person finds himself in conditions of a lack of information about another person: it must be replaced by the process of attribution. This process depends on two indicators: the degree of typicality of the action and the degree of social “desirability” or “undesirability.” The first refers to the fact that typical behavior is behavior prescribed by role models and is therefore easier to interpret. On the contrary, unique behavior allows for many different interpretations and, therefore, gives scope for attribution of its causes and characteristics. Similarly, in the second case, socially “desirable” is understood as behavior that corresponds to social and cultural norms and is therefore relatively easily and unambiguously explained. When such norms are violated (socially “undesirable” behavior), the range of possible explanations expands. >>> Literature GO TO CONTENTS TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Psychophysiology of behavior, communication of dogs and methods of training them

It should be noted that intraspecific communication is a crucial condition for the survival of any animal species. Communication for a subject is nothing more than a specific act of behavior. Everything that becomes an object loses its uniqueness, being equated with other similar objects. As for the subject, due to its uniqueness and inimitability, it requires an individual approach to itself. Thus, although the dog has only rudimentary subjectivity, it can become a human partner in the process of communication. This prerequisite necessitates an individual approach to it. The dog behaves as nature commands (instincts), developed habits (skills), stereotypes and elementary rational activity , which manifests itself during unexpected changes in the external environment, when instincts do not help.

The intelligence of animals manifests itself primarily in situations that are unusual for them. The brain perceives and evaluates new information, which provides appropriate responses. In this case, the animal uses experience acquired in other life situations. The brain and the rational activity associated with it ensure the best adaptation of the animal’s body to environmental changes. And only by knowing what a given animal needs (needs), what it is capable of, knowing the individual characteristics of its lifestyle and behavior, will a person really be able to achieve complete and desirable mutual understanding and interaction with it, creatively influence and change its behavior in the right direction, obtaining the necessary benefits for yourself while treating the animal with care.

To more fully understand the essence of dog training, it becomes necessary to give animal lovers a brief description of such concepts as skill, technique, method, reinforcement. The trainer, setting the goal of developing a particular skill in a dog, must select all possible individual methodological techniques for influencing it in order to achieve the final result. The set of techniques that a trainer uses to develop skills in a dog constitutes a training method.

A skill is a complex reflex act, a set of actions (a combination of them) resulting from several reflexes. For example, coordinated movement of all limbs when walking, carrying objects, the dog adopting various body poses, etc. A skill is a dynamic stereotype.

The concept of “reception” always includes the actions of the trainer aimed at the dog in order to develop the desired skill. The same skill can be developed in an animal using different methods (taste rewards, mechanical, contrast, imitative, etc.). Experts know that the same skill developed for a command is subsequently developed for a gesture and other techniques are used for this. Thus, a technique is the influence of a trainer on a dog, in response to which it develops a skill.

Reinforcement is the action of the second-in-order stimulus, it follows immediately after the first (conditioned) stimulus (command, gesture, etc.) and gives the conditioned stimulus an appropriate signaling value, practical usefulness depending on what event follows (pressing with a hand, jerking a leash , blow with a rod, etc.) following the action of a conditioned signal. For example, the skill of sitting down on the command “Sit” is a defensive conditioned reflex. The trainer, having given the command “Sit,” immediately presses his hand on the dog’s lower back, he feels pain (negative emotions) and, defensively, avoids the pressure, taking the desired position and thereby avoiding or reducing painful sensations (avoidance reaction). This is fixed in the animal’s memory.

Repeating such exercises makes the “Sit” command a signal of pain, to avoid which the dog sits down in a timely manner (avoidance reaction). Following the command can then be additionally reinforced with a treat, which is accompanied by positive emotions. In this example, reinforcement satisfies the dog's need for food and allows him to avoid pain. Thus, reinforcement makes it possible (probability) to satisfy some need. In this case, centers of positive emotions are activated (“reward centers”) or centers of activity of negative emotions (“punishment centers”) are eliminated (weakened) with successful avoidance from painful influences (avoidance reaction). The same thing happens, for example, when a dog develops the skill of stopping actions that are undesirable for the trainer in response to the command “Fu”.

Psychology and pedagogy of communicationE. G. Kasimova, 2013

CONCEPT AND TYPES OF COMMUNICATION

Considering the way of life of various higher animals and humans, we notice that two aspects stand out in it: contacts with nature and contacts with living beings. We called the first type of contact activity, and it has already been discussed in Chapter. 6. The second type of contacts is characterized by the fact that the parties interacting with each other are living beings, organism with organism, exchanging information. This type of intraspecific and interspecific contact is called communication.

Communication is characteristic of all higher living beings, but at the human level it takes on the most perfect forms, becoming conscious and mediated by speech. The following aspects are distinguished in communication: content, goal and means. Content

‒ this is information that is transmitted from one living being to another in inter-individual contacts. The content of communication can be information about the internal motivational or emotional state of a living being. One person can convey information about existing needs to another, counting on potential participation in their satisfaction. Through communication, data about their emotional states (satisfaction, joy, anger, sadness, suffering, etc.) can be transmitted from one living being to another, aimed at setting up another living being for contacts in a certain way. The same information is transmitted from person to person and serves as a means of interpersonal adjustment. In relation to an angry or suffering person, for example, we behave differently than in relation to someone who is more benevolent and experiencing joy.

The content of communication can be information about the state of the external environment, transmitted from one living being to another, for example, signals about danger or the presence of positive, biologically significant factors somewhere nearby, say, food.

In humans, the content of communication is much broader than in animals. People exchange information with each other that represents knowledge about the world, rich, lifetime experience, knowledge, abilities, skills and abilities. Human communication is multi-subject, it is the most diverse in its internal content.

Target

communication is what makes a person have this type of activity. In animals, the purpose of communication may be to encourage another living being to take certain actions, or to warn that it is necessary to refrain from any action. The mother, for example, warns the baby of danger with her voice or movement; Some animals in the herd can warn others that they have perceived vital signals.

A person’s number of communication goals increases. In addition to those listed above, they include the transfer and receipt of objective knowledge about the world, training and education, coordination of reasonable actions of people in their joint activities, establishment and clarification of personal and business relationships, and much more. If in animals the goals of communication usually do not go beyond satisfying their biological needs, then in humans they are a means of satisfying many different needs: social, cultural, cognitive, creative, aesthetic, the needs of intellectual growth, moral development and a number of others.

No less significant are the differences between the means

communication. The latter can be defined as methods of encoding, transmitting, processing and decoding information transmitted in the process of communication from one living being to another.

Encoding information is a way of transmitting it from one living being to another. For example, information can be transmitted through direct bodily contacts: touching the body, hands, etc. Information can be transmitted and perceived by people at a distance, through the senses (observation by one person of the movements of another or the perception of sound signals produced by him).

Man, in addition to all these natural methods of transmitting information, has many that are invented and improved by him. This is language and other sign systems, writing in its various types and forms (texts, diagrams, drawings, drawings), technical means of recording, transmitting and storing information (radio and video technology; mechanical, magnetic, laser and other forms of recording). In terms of his ingenuity in choosing the means and methods of intraspecific communication, man is far ahead of all living creatures known to us that live on planet Earth.

Depending on the content, goals and means, communication can be divided into several types. In terms of content, it can be presented as material (exchange of objects and products of activity), cognitive (exchange of knowledge), conditional (exchange of mental or physiological states), motivational (exchange of motivations, goals, interests, motives, needs), activity (exchange of actions, operations, abilities, skills). In material communication

subjects, being engaged in individual activity, exchange its products, which, in turn, serve as a means of satisfying their actual needs.
In conditional communication,
people exert influence on each other, designed to bring each other into a certain physical or mental state. For example, to cheer you up or, on the contrary, to ruin it; excite or calm each other, and ultimately have a certain impact on each other’s well-being.

Motivational communication

has as its content the transfer to each other of certain motives, attitudes or readiness to act in a certain direction.
As an example of such communication, we can name cases when one person wants to ensure that another has a certain desire to arise or disappear, so that someone has a certain attitude towards action, a certain need is actualized. An illustration of cognitive and activity-based communication
can be communication associated with various types of cognitive or educational activities. Here, information is transmitted from subject to subject that expands horizons, improves and develops abilities.

By purpose, communication is divided into biological and social in accordance with the needs it serves. Biological

‒ this is communication necessary for the maintenance, preservation and development of the body.
It is associated with the satisfaction of basic organic needs. Social communication
pursues the goals of expanding and strengthening interpersonal contacts, establishing and developing interpersonal relationships, and personal growth of the individual. There are as many private goals of communication as there are subtypes of biological and social needs.

By means of communication, communication can be direct and indirect, direct and indirect. Direct communication

carried out with the help of natural organs given to a living being by nature: arms, head, torso, vocal cords, etc.
Indirect communication
is associated with the use of special means and tools for organizing communication and exchanging information. These are either natural objects (a stick, a thrown stone, a footprint on the ground, etc.), or cultural ones (sign systems, recordings of symbols on various media, print, radio, television, etc.).

Direct communication

involves personal contacts and direct perception of each other by communicating people in the very act of communication, for example, bodily contacts, conversations of people with each other, their communication in cases where they see and directly react to each other’s actions.

Indirect communication

carried out through intermediaries, who can be other people (for example, negotiations between conflicting parties at the interstate, interethnic, group, family levels).

Man differs from animals in that he has a special, vital need for communication, and also in the fact that he spends most of his time communicating with other people.

Among the types of communication, one can also distinguish business and personal, instrumental and targeted. Business conversation

usually included as a private moment in any joint productive activity of people and serves as a means of improving the quality of this activity.
Its content is what people are doing, and not the problems that affect their inner world. Unlike business, personal communication
, on the contrary, is focused mainly around psychological problems of an internal nature, those interests and needs that deeply and intimately affect a person’s personality: searching for the meaning of life, determining one’s attitude towards a significant person, to what is happening around, resolution any internal conflict, etc.

Instrumental

we can call communication, which is not an end in itself, is not stimulated by an independent need, but pursues some other goal other than obtaining satisfaction from the very act of communication.
Target
communication is communication, which in itself serves as a means of satisfying a specific need, in this case the need for communication.

In human life, communication does not exist as a separate process or an independent form of activity. It is included in individual or group practical activity, which can neither arise nor be realized without intensive and versatile communication.

There are differences between activity and communication as types of human activity. The result of an activity is usually the creation of some material or ideal object or product (for example, the formulation of an idea, thought, statement). The result of communication is the mutual influence of people on each other. Activity is mainly a form of activity that develops a person intellectually, and communication is a type of activity that mainly shapes and develops him as a person. But activity can also participate in a person’s personal transformation, just as communication can participate in his intellectual development. Both activity and communication should therefore be considered as interconnected aspects of social activity developing a person.

The most important types of communication among people are verbal and non-verbal. Non-verbal communication

does not involve the use of sound speech or natural language as a means of communication. Nonverbal is communication through facial expressions, gestures and pantomime, through direct sensory or bodily contact. These are tactile, visual, auditory, olfactory and other sensations and images received from another person. Most nonverbal forms and means of communication in humans are innate and allow him to interact, achieving mutual understanding at the emotional and behavioral levels, not only with his own kind, but also with other living beings. Many of the higher animals, including most notably dogs, monkeys and dolphins, are given the ability to communicate non-verbally with each other and with humans.

Verbal communication

is inherent only to humans and presupposes the acquisition of language as a prerequisite. In terms of its communicative capabilities, it is much richer than all types and forms of nonverbal communication, although in life it cannot completely replace it. And the very development of verbal communication initially certainly relies on nonverbal means of communication.

The role of communication in human mental development

Communication is of great importance in the formation of the human psyche, its development and the formation of reasonable, cultural behavior. Through communication with psychologically developed people, thanks to ample opportunities for learning, a person acquires all his higher cognitive abilities and qualities. Through active communication with developed personalities, he himself turns into a personality.

If from birth a person was deprived of the opportunity to communicate with people, he would never become a civilized, culturally and morally developed citizen, and would be doomed to remain a half-animal until the end of his life, only externally, anatomically and physiologically resembling a person. This is evidenced by numerous facts described in the literature and showing that, being deprived of communication with his own kind, the human individual, even if he, as an organism, is completely preserved, nevertheless remains a biological being in his mental development. As an example, we can cite the conditions of people who are found from time to time among animals and who for a long period, especially in childhood, lived in isolation from civilized people or, already as adults, as a result of an accident found themselves alone, isolated for a long time from their own kind ( for example, after a shipwreck).

Communication with adults in the early stages of ontogenesis is especially important for the mental development of a child. At this time, he acquires all his human, mental and behavioral qualities almost exclusively through communication, since until the start of school, and even more definitely before adolescence, he is deprived of the ability for self-education and self-education.

The mental development of a child begins with communication. This is the first type of social activity that arises in ontogenesis and thanks to which the baby receives the information necessary for its individual development. As for objective activity, which also acts as a condition and means of mental development, it appears much later - in the second, third year of life.

In communication, first through direct imitation ( vicarious learning

), and then through verbal instructions (
verbal learning
) the child's basic life experience is acquired. The people with whom he communicates are the bearers of this experience for the child, and this experience cannot be acquired in any other way than communicating with them. The intensity of communication, the diversity of its content, goals and means are the most important factors determining the development of children.

The types of communication highlighted above serve the development of various aspects of human psychology and behavior. Thus, business communication forms and develops his abilities and serves as a means of acquiring knowledge and skills.

In it, a person improves the ability to interact with people, developing the necessary business and organizational skills for this.

Personal communication

shapes a person as a personality, gives him the opportunity to acquire certain character traits, interests, habits, inclinations, learn norms and forms of moral behavior, determine the goals of life and choose the means of realizing them.

Communication, varied in content, goals and means, also performs a specific function in the mental development of the individual. For example, material communication

allows a person to receive the objects of material and spiritual culture necessary for a normal life, which, as we found out in the chapter on activity, act as a condition for individual development.
Cognitive communication
directly acts as a factor in intellectual development, since communicating individuals exchange and, therefore, mutually enrich themselves with knowledge.

Conditional communication

creates a state of readiness for learning, formulates the attitudes necessary to optimize other types of communication.
Thus, it indirectly contributes to the individual intellectual and personal development of a person. Motivational communication
serves as a source of additional energy for a person, a kind of “recharge”.
By acquiring new interests, motives and goals of activity as a result of such communication, a person increases his psychoenergetic potential, which develops himself. Activity communication
, which we defined as the interpersonal exchange of actions, operations, skills and abilities, has a direct developmental effect for the individual, as it improves and enriches his own activities.

Biological communication

serves the self-preservation of the body as the most important condition for the maintenance and development of its vital functions.
Social communication
serves the social needs of people and is a factor contributing to the development of forms of social life: groups, collectives, organizations, nations, states, and the human world as a whole.

Direct communication

necessary for a person in order to learn and be educated as a result of the widespread use in practice of the simplest and most effective means and methods of learning given to him from birth: conditioned reflex, vicarious and verbal.
Indirect communication
helps to master the means of communication and improve it on the basis of their ability for self-education and self-education of a person, as well as for the conscious management of communication itself.

Thanks to non-verbal communication

a person gets the opportunity to develop psychologically even before he has mastered and learned to use speech (about 2-3 years).
In addition, nonverbal communication itself contributes to the development and improvement of a person’s communication capabilities, as a result of which he becomes more capable of interpersonal contacts and opens up greater opportunities for development. As for verbal communication
and its role in the mental development of an individual, it is difficult to overestimate it. It is associated with the assimilation of speech, and it, as is known, underlies the entire development of a person, both intellectual and personal.

Communication techniques and techniques

The content and goals of communication are its relatively unchanged components, depending on human needs, which are not always amenable to conscious control. The same can be said about cash means of communication. This can be learned, but to a much lesser extent than technology and communication techniques. The means of communication is understood as the way in which a person realizes certain contents and goals of communication. They depend on a person’s culture, level of development, upbringing and education. When we talk about the development of a person’s abilities, skills and communication skills, we primarily mean technology and means of communication.

Communication technique

‒ these are ways of pre-setting a person to communicate with people, his behavior in the process of communication, and
techniques
are the preferred means of communication, including verbal and non-verbal.

Before entering into communication with another person, you need to determine your interests, correlate them with the interests of your communication partner, evaluate him as a person, and choose the most appropriate technique and methods of communication. Then, already in the process of communication, it is necessary to control its progress and results, be able to correctly complete the act of communication, leaving the partner with an appropriate, favorable or unfavorable, impression of himself and making sure that in the future he has or does not have (if this desire is not present) ) desire to continue communication.

At the initial stage of communication, his technique includes such elements as the adoption of a certain facial expression, posture, choice of initial words and tone of utterance, movements and gestures, attracting the partner’s attention, actions aimed at pre-setting him for a certain perception of the message being communicated (transmitted information).

Facial expression must correspond to three points: the purpose of the message, the desired result of communication and the demonstrated attitude towards the partner. The posture taken, like facial expression, also serves as a means of demonstrating a certain attitude either to the communication partner or to the content of what is being communicated. Sometimes the subject of communication consciously controls the posture in order to facilitate or, on the contrary, complicate the act of communication. For example, talking with an interlocutor face to face from a close distance facilitates communication and indicates a friendly attitude towards him, and talking while looking to the side, standing half-turned or with his back and at a considerable distance from the interlocutor, usually makes communication difficult and indicates an unfriendly attitude towards him. Let us note that posture and facial expression can be controlled consciously and developed unconsciously and, despite the will and desire of the person himself, demonstrate his attitude to the content of the conversation or the interlocutor.

The choice of initial words and tone that initiate the act of communication also has a certain impression on the partner. For example, a formal tone means that the communication partner is not in the mood to establish friendly personal relationships. The same purpose is served by emphasizing the “you” address to a familiar person. On the contrary, the initial address on “you” and the transition to a friendly, informal tone of communication are a sign of a friendly attitude, the partner’s willingness to establish informal personal relationships. Approximately the same is evidenced by the presence or absence of a friendly smile on the face at the initial moment of communication.

The first gestures that attract the attention of a communication partner, as well as facial expressions (facial expressions), are often involuntary, so communicating people, in order to hide their condition or attitude towards their partner, look away and hide their hands. In these same situations, difficulties often arise in choosing the first words, slips of the tongue, speech errors, and difficulties often occur, the nature of which S. Freud spoke a lot and interestingly about.

In the process of communication, some other types of techniques and conversation techniques are used, based on the use of so-called feedback

. In communication, it is understood as the technique and methods of obtaining information about a communication partner, used by interlocutors to correct their own behavior during the communication process.

Feedback includes conscious control of communicative actions, observation of the partner and assessment of his reactions, and subsequent changes in one’s own behavior in accordance with this. Feedback presupposes the ability to see oneself from the outside and correctly judge how a partner perceives himself in communication. Inexperienced interlocutors most often forget about feedback and do not know how to use it.

The feedback mechanism presupposes the partner’s ability to correlate his reactions with assessments of his own actions and draw a conclusion about what caused a certain reaction of the interlocutor to the words spoken. Feedback also includes corrections that the communicating person makes to his own behavior, depending on how he perceives and evaluates the actions of his partner. The ability to use feedback in communication is one of the most important aspects of the communication process and the structure of a person’s communicative abilities.

Communication skills

‒ these are the skills and abilities of communicating with people on which his success depends.
People of different ages, education, culture, different levels of psychological development, having different life and professional experiences, differ from each other in their communication abilities. Educated and cultured people have more pronounced communication abilities than uneducated and uncultured people. The richness and diversity of a person's life experience, as a rule, is positively correlated with the development of his communication abilities. People whose professions require not only frequent and intensive communication, but also the performance of certain roles
(actors, doctors, teachers, politicians, managers) often have more developed communication abilities than representatives of other professions.

The techniques and methods of communication used in practice have age-related characteristics. Thus, in children they are different from adults, and preschoolers communicate with surrounding adults and peers differently than older schoolchildren do. The communication techniques and techniques of older people, as a rule, differ from those of young people.

Children are more impulsive and spontaneous in communication; their technique is dominated by non-verbal means. Children have poorly developed feedback, and communication itself is often overly emotional. With age, these features of communication gradually disappear and it becomes more balanced, verbal, rational, and expressively economical. Feedback is also being improved.

Professional communication is manifested at the pre-tuning stage in the choice of tone of expression and in specific reactions to the actions of the communication partner. Actors are characterized by a playful (in the sense of acting) style of communication with others, since they get used to frequently playing different roles and often get used to them, as if continuing the game in real human relationships. Teachers and managers, due to established undemocratic traditions in the field of business and pedagogical communication, are often characterized by an arrogant, mentoring tone. Doctors, especially psychotherapists, usually show increased attention and empathy when communicating with people.

Development of communication

Communication of living beings develops in phylo- and ontogenesis. This development covers all the main aspects of the process: content, goals and means. The phylogenetic development of communication is associated with changes in its content and is manifested in the following aspects:

1. Enrichment of the content of communication with new information transmitted from one being to another. First, this is information about the biological, internal states of the body; then - information about the vital properties of the external environment. Following this, the content of communication includes information of a cognitive nature, expressing objective knowledge about the world, independent of the actual needs of a living being, presented in the form of concepts. The latter occurs already at the human level, and the first two stages of the evolutionary development of communication take place at the animal level. The development of communication in human ontogenesis follows approximately the same path, reaching the third stage already by preschool age.

2. The enrichment of goals is associated with the change and development of the needs of communicating organisms: the more diverse and higher these needs, the more differentiated and perfect the target aspect of communication.

The development of means of communication in phylology and ontogenesis proceeds in several directions. Firstly, this is the identification of special organs that are a means of communication, for example hands. Secondly, the breakdown of expressive forms of movements (gestures, facial expressions, pantomimes). Thirdly, the invention and use of sign systems as means of encoding and transmitting information. Fourthly, the development and improvement of technical means of storing, converting and transmitting information used in human communication (print, radio, television, telephone, telefax, magnetic, laser and other methods of technical recording, etc.).

End of introductory fragment.

Categories

Considering the problem of when speech arose in a person, we can highlight a number of points that significantly influenced the emergence of this mental phenomenon in humans. The starting point here is considered to be work, or rather a joint form of activity, as a result of which an urgent need for communication arises. In phylogenesis, speech initially acted only as a means of direct communication between people, a way of exchanging momentary information between them. This assumption is supported by the fact that many animals have developed means of communication. In chimpanzees, for example, we find relatively highly developed speech, which is in some respects human-like. Chimpanzee speech, however, expresses only the organic needs of animals and their subjective states. It is a system of emotionally expressive expressions, but never a symbol or sign of anything outside the animal. The language of animals does not have the same meanings that human speech is rich in, much less meanings. In the various forms of gesture and pantomimic communication of chimpanzees, emotional and expressive movements, although very bright, rich in form and shades, come first.

In animals, in addition, one can find expressive movements associated with so-called social emotions, for example, special gestures of greeting each other. Higher animals, as experience of careful observation of communication shows, are well versed in each other's gestures and facial expressions. With the help of gestures, they express not only their emotional states, but also impulses aimed at other objects. The most common way chimpanzees communicate in such cases is that they begin the movement or action that they want to reproduce or to which they want to induce another animal. Grasping movements serve the same purpose, expressing the monkey’s desire to receive an object from another animal. Many animals are characterized by a connection between expressive emotional movements and specific vocal reactions. It also, apparently, underlies the emergence and development of human speech.

Another genetic prerequisite for the development of human speech as a means of communication is noteworthy. For many animals, speech is not only a system of emotional and expressive reactions, but also a means of psychological contact with their own kind. Speech, which develops in ontogenesis, initially plays the same role in humans, at least at the age of one and a half years.

But the human individual cannot be satisfied with such a communicative role of speech, which is very limited in its capabilities. In order to convey any experience or content of consciousness to another person, to convey the accumulated experience of life to other generations, there is no other way than the meaning of speech utterances, i.e. attribution of the transmitted content to any known class of objects or phenomena. This certainly requires abstraction and generalization, the expression of generalized and abstracted content in a word-concept. Only at a certain point in phylogenetic development did humans develop the ability to use speech to solve intellectual problems. Communication between psychologically and culturally developed people certainly involves generalization and the development of verbal meanings. This is the main way to improve human speech, bringing it closer to thinking and including speech in the control of all other cognitive processes.

Phylogeny (from the Greek phalon = tribe, genus, species and ... genesis), phylogeny, historical development of organisms. The term was introduced in German. evolutionist E. Haeckel in 1866. These are qualitative changes in the psyche that occur within the framework of the evolutionary development of living beings, due to the complication of their interaction with the external environment.

During the process of phylogenesis, the content of communication changes.

This change is reflected in the following:

1) saturation with new information:

- biological internal state of the body

— information about important properties of the surrounding world

- knowledge about the world.

2) the emergence of new needs leads to the enrichment of communication goals;

3) the development of means of communication occurs in several directions:

- development of organs adapted for communication, for example, hands;

- the emergence of the possibility of expressive movements (facial expressions, pantomime);

- invention and beginning of the use of iconic forms;

— emergence and improvement of technical means.

The first two stages are common to humans and animals, the third stage is unique to humans.

From the standpoint of materialism, the psyche itself, as the ability to sense, arose from the irritability of living beings and developed in connection with the formation and development of their nervous system. In its evolutionary development, the psyche went through a number of stages:

- sensory,

- perceptive,

- intellectual,

— stage of formation of consciousness.

Consciousness as a feature of the human psyche is a product of the socio-historical development of human society, the possibility of the existence of which is determined by the use and production of tools, elements of language, knowledge, and norms of behavior.

Communication is a Latin root that means “joint, common, unifying, reciprocal, reciprocal, involving the exchange of knowledge and values.” This concept is used in many disciplines. There is an opinion that any reaction of the body is designated as communication.

Communication is a complex process of interaction between people, consisting of the exchange of information, as well as the perception and understanding of each other by partners. The subjects of communication are living beings, people. In principle, communication is characteristic of any living beings, but only at the human level the process of communication becomes conscious, connected by verbal and non-verbal acts.

The person transmitting information is called a communicator, and the person receiving it is called a recipient.

One of the main differences between man and the animal world, reflecting the patterns of his physiological, mental and social development, is the presence of a special mental process called speech. In order to be able to speak and understand someone else’s speech, you need to know the language and be able to use it.

Speech communication is a complex and multifaceted process. And, as Alexey Leontyev writes, every act of speech “is, as it were, a solution to a unique psychological problem, which, depending on the form and type of speech and on the specific circumstances and goals of communication, requires its different construction and the use of different speech means.” It is quite natural that the same applies to understanding speech.

The modern state of speech as a universal means of communication was preceded by a long process of human phylogenetic development. It should be noted that speech is a “specific human activity.” Speech, and with it language, arose for the first time only in human society.

The further stage in the development of speech was associated with the gradual separation of speech movements from labor actions and their specialization as means of communication, i.e. turning them into gestures. This division of movements into speech and labor was caused by the complication of people’s work activities. As a result, a specialized manual language and manual (kinetic) speech arose. Thus, the human hand turned out to be the main means of labor and communication. Its dominance continued for hundreds of thousands of years until man began to use sound rather than gestures to communicate. However, it is indisputable that throughout this time the human hand received maximum development and became a universal human tool.

The transition to actual sound speech probably began more than 100 thousand years ago, during the fourth ice age. Most likely, this was due to the development of production and the primary division of labor. A significant need arose for speech, with the help of which objects and phenomena could be designated much more accurately - in a system of dismembered concepts. Manual speech could no longer meet this requirement, so the role of voice sounds associated with manual gestures began to increase more and more.

It can be assumed that the development of vocal sounds began long before the need to communicate using sounds arose. This happened because during communication, hand gestures were accompanied by certain inarticulate vocal exclamations. Gradually, speech sounds developed and became more and more articulate. Over time, speech sounds were able to take on all the functions that kinetic speech performed, and, moreover, ensure the further development of human speech. As a result, language and speech rose to a new stage of development - to the stage of sound articulate speech, which became a true revolution in the development of mankind, the essence of which was that sound speech and thinking were able to separate from direct action.

Sound speech was not immediately as perfect as it is now. Most likely, after its emergence, sound speech for a long time remained close in content to kinetic speech. Initially, words, like hand gestures, had very general, vague meanings. The same word could be used to designate objects with different contents. This phenomenon is called primitive polysemantism, or polysemy of words.

With some confidence we can assume that the first words replaced entire sentences. Most likely, at the first stage of the emergence and development of sound speech there were no verbs, nouns, or other parts of speech. Therefore, the first speech forms were very primitive. They contained no hidden meaning or context. Speech was used only to convey any information and was not associated with conveying the emotional state of the speaker. Then, under the influence of labor, the meanings of words developed. Words not only acquired a more specific semantic meaning, but were also differentiated by grammatical forms. All this led to the formation of a language with complex morphology and complex syntax.

The next stage in the development of speech was the creation of writing. Written speech, like oral speech, has gone through a number of stages in its development. At first, written signs arose and developed under the influence of kinetic speech, and later, with the emergence of sound speech, they began to reflect the meaning of sounds, which led to the emergence of writing of the modern alphabetic-phonetic type.

Thus, human speech, like human thinking, is a product of socio-historical development, during which speech began to perform a number of communicative functions and occupied one of the most significant places in human social life.

Ecology DIRECTORY

Intraspecific interactions between individuals of the same species consist of group and mass effects and intraspecific competition. Group and mass effects are terms coined by Grasse (1944) that refer to the grouping of animals of the same species into groups of two or more individuals and the effect caused by overcrowding of the environment. These effects are now most often referred to as demographic factors. They characterize the dynamics of numbers and density of groups of organisms at the population level, which is based on intraspecific competition, which is fundamentally different from interspecific competition. It manifests itself mainly in the territorial behavior of animals, which defend their nesting sites and a certain area in the area. Such are many birds and fish.[...]

Intraspecific interactions between individuals are influenced by so-called demographic factors. They characterize the dynamics of numbers and density of groups of organisms at the population level, which are based on intraspecific competition. It manifests itself mainly in the territorial behavior of animals, which defend their nesting sites and a certain area in the area.[...]

Intraspecific interactions are interactions between individuals of the same species in populations. All types of biotic relationships are found in populations, but the most common are two opposite ones: competitive and mutually beneficial (mutualistic) relationships. [...]

Biotic factors: 1) intraspecific interactions; 2) interspecific interactions.[...]

Biotic factors mean various forms of interaction between individuals and populations. Biotic factors are divided into two groups: interspecific and intraspecific interactions. [...]

It is easy to see that many of the relationships presented in table. 4.1, are characteristic not only of interspecific, but also intraspecific interactions. In any case, they all manifest themselves in human society in one form or another, only they are called differently. And any other, “purely human” types of relationships simply do not exist. In relation to living nature, man acts as a typical exploiter; the circle of its immediate victims is immeasurably larger than that of any predator. And by destroying and polluting the environment, humans turn most other species into amensals.[...]

Ecological plasticity is associated with mental tolerance towards any factors of concern, especially conspecific ones. In intraspecific interactions of urban birds, soft forms of agonistic behavior predominate in the form of warnings or weakly expressed threats; the attitude towards predators is the same as in the natural environment (Korbut, 1965, 1994). [...]

Models of type (1.15) in modern literature on mathematical ecology are usually called Volterra models. Here e, - is the rate of natural growth or mortality of the 1st species in the absence of other species; coefficients ui reflect the nature of the interaction between species I and / (¡Ф] ), у ] are indicators of intraspecific interaction. The matrix Г = y «Н is usually called the community matrix or interaction matrix. The coefficients y of the matrix Γ influence the coefficient of natural population growth of the species / in the absence of other species. If so, they talk about the presence of intraspecific competition or self-limitation in the number of the 1st species. The influence of this type on the 1st type is specified using the product yijNiNj, subject to the validity of the “meetings and equivalents” hypothesis, which is as follows.[...]

In social insects, as well as in insects that temporarily form large communities, the action of pheromones must be regulated very subtly and taking into account the situation. Typically, for chemical signaling, multicomponent systems are used here, in the formation of which several glands can participate. It can be assumed that the meaning of the signal changes depending on the intensity with which one or another component of the “signal mixture” is produced by the corresponding gland. However, this aspect of intraspecific interactions has been studied very little due to its complexity. An alarmed ant of this species releases a small amount of alarm pheromones from both glands, which immediately cause concern in nearby fellow tribesmen. Attracted by pheromones, they rush to the ant that has given the alarm signal, and at the same time release the same pheromones themselves. From ant to ant, this signal spreads with the speed of a chain reaction, and soon the entire anthill comes into combat readiness. Alarm pheromones are widespread in insects [414, 415].[...]

Unlike plants, animals cannot afford to sacrifice part of their body in order to poison the attacking enemy. Their protective reaction must ensure the preservation of the integrity of the body. A weapon, even if it does not kill the enemy, must at least be a sufficiently “persuasive” deterrent. Effective animal chemical weapons include a wide variety of toxic products; in many cases it is not yet clear on what basis the effectiveness of these weapons is based. Florkin [8] proposed the general name “co-acton” for all substances involved in interspecific or intraspecific interactions of living beings. According to the classification [6, 7], protective substances that provide the organisms producing them with a certain advantage in adaptability to the environment should be classified as allomones. The structure of most known animal toxins has only been established relatively recently. Sometimes their structure is surprisingly unique. However, the number of substances studied is still very small compared to the long list of marine animals that have a reputation for being actively or passively poisonous.[...]

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In some manuals and articles that outline issues of general dog training, the authors allow an inaccurate, simplified presentation of certain concepts generally accepted in the scientific literature (animal psychology, psychophysiology of animal behavior, etc.). This sometimes makes it difficult for them to be correctly perceived even by specialists, not to mention dog lovers who are just beginning to comprehend the basics of animal training.

Pluralism of opinions on training methods is necessary, but each of them must have a scientific basis and then it will be useful for the cause. Most often, two different concepts such as “technique” and “skill” are confused, usually replacing the concept of “skill” with the word “technique,” ​​which makes it difficult to understand the semantic content of phrases.

For example, let’s turn to the article by V.F. Marov (Service Dog Breeding Club), which is generally very interesting, informative and useful, written by an experienced specialist trainer, page 7 we read: “In the first lessons, commands are given by voice, then by voice and gesture, gradually moving only to the gesture." However, it is known that a command or hand gesture can be used as a signal (conditional) for a dog. A hand gesture can be reinforced by a command (2nd order reflex) when the skill to respond to a command has already been developed.

In some cases, the conditioned signal may be a command and a gesture given simultaneously. Next we read the following phrase: “...you can start practicing techniques for performing the commands “Sit”, “Walk” and “Come to me”. Here, too, there is something to argue about with the author. It is unacceptable to develop three different skills in a dog at the same time in one lesson, since it contradicts the laws of the formation of conditioned reflexes. Of course, it is possible to combine all these skills into a complex single stereotype, but this is best done in the case when they are fully developed each individually. But this will require time and specific work in a number of classes.

The author encounters similar examples of substitution of concepts throughout the article.

The following recommendation also raises doubts: “Each lesson should begin with a repetition of all previously practiced techniques, and each lesson should end with the development of anger in dogs.” And here we are talking about skills, but the author calls them techniques. Anyone who is familiar with the patterns of skill formation in an animal will notice that such a recommendation completely excludes taking into account the individuality of behavior and the nature of the manifestation of reflexes in each dog individually. The development of anger in all dogs at each lesson, and even after exercises in all the skills being developed, will negatively affect their strengthening and the nature and degree of formation of an aggressive reaction. Apparently, the author not only believes that the dog will definitely understand and fulfill any desire of the trainer or his requirement, but also sincerely believes: everything that the owner needs is undoubtedly necessary, accessible, understandable and pleasant to his dog; she is able to master almost all the skills in one lesson, which, by the way, even a person cannot do. In addition, we must take into account the fact that, unlike humans, animals are characterized only by unintentional memorization. E. N. Mychko very correctly notes (Service Dog Breeding Club. Issue 1988, pp. 91 - 92) that a dog is not a simple mechanism that can be controlled by pressing reward and punishment buttons. The behavior of a dog and its mechanisms are very complex, diverse and determined by many features.

Therefore, it is deeply erroneous to believe that an animal’s responses (skills) are associated only with the unilateral influence of external stimuli (the actions of the trainer, the environment, etc.) on the dog’s senses. The teaching of I. P. Pavlov on conditioned reflexes serves to overcome this view. Higher nervous (mental) activity combines the physiological and mental aspects of the reflective activity of the brain in their close relationship and conditionality. The conditioned reflex is an elementary mental phenomenon, which is also fundamentally physiological. Conditioned reflexes are acquired reactions (skills) of the body to signal stimuli. When training - on the influence of the trainer and the environment in which the animal is located. However, the dog’s response is influenced not only by the properties of the stimuli used, but also by the significance of these stimuli for the animal, for its needs, at that moment; and the experience of the animal, allowing it to “take into account” the result of past actions, as well as from the state of the body as a whole and the higher parts of the brain (dominant) - the body’s predisposition to perceive external influences and those coming from the trainer,

An animal's adaptation is a solution to a problem with the brain, carried out by trial and error (the essence of animal thinking) and consisting in the selection of adaptive reactions that contribute to achieving the goal. The rest drop out

A dog, accumulating images of the environment in its memory, grasps life-important relationships between objects in time and space, and forms in its brain concrete, visual sensory guidelines for subsequent behavior.

External stimuli and the internal state of the body constantly interact and this is very important to take into account when working with an animal.

A person often transfers his own spiritual qualities, for example consciousness, onto a dog, ascribes to it abilities that it does not actually possess, and on this basis makes often impossible demands on it.

The dog, naturally, cannot cope with them and for this receives punishment from the owner. Many unwanted reflexes arise and, in particular, the dog begins to be afraid of such a trainer, runs away from him, etc. All this disrupts interaction with the dog and makes it difficult to train, since fear suppresses activity in work and curiosity. Love for an animal gives rise to observation and mutual understanding, ensuring the success of training.

The relationship between a person and a dog is, of course, dual. On the one hand, a dog is a common object of our cognition; we can train it and use it for work. On the other hand, we treat the dog as a subject, attributing to it, to a certain extent, some human character traits and abilities, that is, we spiritualize it, which allows us to better understand the animal, communicate with it, and establish contact. With the help of facial expressions, gestures, sounds (command words, etc.), intonation, smell and other signals that are constantly stereotypically repeated when communicating with a dog every day, we coordinate various movements and complex actions and thus control its behavior, communicate and We form a strong interaction (contact). This communication is ensured psychologically by the fact that the dog has a number of natural qualities similar to human ones, such as emotionality, the ability to express its experiences with certain actions, sounds, play and affection towards the owner, anger towards the enemy, facial expressions, etc. responding to the owner’s interdependent initiatives, obeying his demands. A person feels and observes how the dog responds to his love: with affection, devotion, his own love for him. All this gives us reason to talk about the “friendship” of a person with a dog, about its ability to understand its owner, his mood, sympathize with him, have compassion, and sometimes about special reliability, fidelity, devotion. There are many examples of this.

Human contact with animals and, in particular, with dogs, is important and beneficial. Communication with “lesser brothers” is even considered a kind of therapy that can relieve stress, cure some mental and cardiovascular diseases, alleviate loneliness and often prolong life.

In December 1988, the All-Union Society for the Protection of Animals was created in the USSR, the purpose of which is to foster a humane attitude towards animals, maintain moral principles in the sphere of human communication with other living beings, and a sense of compassion for all living things.

The attitude towards dogs should be careful and caring. The dog divides all people into masters and strangers (enemies). Memory traces are of a reflex nature. Memory stores complex traces-images. The dog is able to recognize images of the surrounding objective world. A conditioned reflex (skill) can fade away firmly, and the memory trace - the engram underlying it - remains for a long time, which facilitates the development of the same conditioned reflex when the same conditions are repeatedly exposed to the body. A dog can recognize its former owner after several years of separation from him. The concrete thinking of a dog grows out of conditioned reflexes, but, however, has superiority over them.

However, when comparing the behavior of a dog and a person, one should take into account the qualitative features of the human psyche, determined by work, articulate speech, social life, and consciousness. But it is also indisputable that in the psyche of higher animals there are biological prerequisites, the origins of thinking. Higher animals are characterized not only by sensations and perceptions, but also by ideas that are a consequence of the imprinted concrete image. Such phenomena of the higher nervous (mental) activity of dogs as emotions and the beginnings of thinking (extrapolating, generalizing, elementary rational) abilities are well known. The dog is able to determine the direction of further movement of a stimulus that is significant to it at the moment, moving in a straight line, and then disappearing from its field of vision, that is, extrapolation, anticipation of upcoming changes in the movement of the stimulus.

Modern man knows that the anthropomorphization (humanization) of a dog is an illusion, that its similarity with the human psyche has its limits. And yet we observe the phenomena of anthropomorphism widely in our lives.

People often use body language and facial expressions with great success in communicating with animals. Art created for children, fairy tales, fables, films, etc., in which animals and even things participate as full partners of people, express the features of children's consciousness. Adults know well that things are objects and not subjects, that they are dead and not alive, passive and not active, that they cannot be communicated with like people or even like animals. Nevertheless, this kind of communication with illusory subjects is carried out every day by each of us, expressing our need to maximize the sphere of communication. Strictly speaking, communication is intersubjective interaction.

It should be noted that intraspecific communication is a crucial condition for the survival of any animal species. Communication for a subject is nothing more than a specific act of behavior.

Everything that becomes an object loses its uniqueness, being equated with other similar objects. As for the subject, due to its uniqueness and inimitability, it requires an individual approach to itself. Thus, although the dog has only rudimentary subjectivity, it can become a human partner in the process of communication. This prerequisite necessitates an individual approach to it. The dog behaves as nature commands (instincts), developed habits (skills), stereotypes and elementary rational activity, which manifests itself during unexpected changes in the external environment, when instincts do not help. The intelligence of animals manifests itself, first of all, in a situation that is unusual for them. The brain perceives and evaluates new information, which provides appropriate responses. In this case, the animal uses experience acquired in other life situations. The brain and the rational activity associated with it ensure the best adaptation of the animal’s body to environmental changes. And only by knowing what a given animal needs (needs), what it is capable of, knowing the individual characteristics of its lifestyle and behavior, will a person really be able to achieve complete and desirable mutual understanding and interaction with it, creatively influence and change its behavior in the right direction, obtaining the necessary benefits for yourself while treating the animal with care.

To more fully understand the essence of dog training, it becomes necessary to give animal lovers a brief description of such concepts as skill, technique, method, reinforcement. The trainer, setting a goal to develop a particular skill in a dog, must select all possible individual methodological techniques for influencing it in order to achieve the final result. The set of techniques that a trainer uses to develop skills in a dog constitutes a training method.

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Literature update for site subscribers:

1. R. Robinson “Genetics of dog colors”

2. Sanin, Chebykina “Understand your friend” Guide to dog behavior!!!

3. Guryeva “5000 nicknames for your dog”

4. Amo “School for dogs. Step by step.

5. Ermakova “Central Asian Shepherd Dog. All about the breed”

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General concept of communication as the basis of interpersonal relationships

Considering the way of life of various higher animals and humans, we notice that two aspects stand out in it: contacts with nature and contacts with living beings. The first type of contact is activity. The second type of contacts is characterized by the fact that the parties interacting with each other are living beings, organism to organism, exchanging information. This type of intraspecific and interspecific contact is called communication.

Communication is characteristic of all higher living beings, but at the human level it takes on the most perfect forms, becoming conscious and mediated by speech. The following aspects are distinguished in communication: content, goal and means.

Content -

This is information that is transmitted from one living being to another in inter-individual contacts.
One person can convey information about existing needs to another, counting on potential participation in their satisfaction. Through communication, data about their emotional states (satisfaction, joy, anger, sadness, suffering, etc.) can be transmitted from one living being to another, aimed at setting up another living being for contacts in a certain way. The same information is transmitted from person to person and serves as a means of interpersonal adjustment. We behave differently towards an angry or suffering person, for example, than towards someone who is well disposed and experiencing joy. The content of communication
can be information about the state of the external environment, transmitted from one living being to another, for example, signals about danger or the presence of positive, biologically significant factors somewhere nearby, say, food.

In humans, the content of communication is much broader than in animals. People exchange information with each other that represents knowledge about the world, rich, lifetime experience, knowledge, abilities, skills and abilities. Human communication is multi-subject, it is the most diverse in its internal content.

Purpose of communication

- this is what a person experiences this type of activity for. In animals, the purpose of communication may be to encourage another living being to take certain actions, or to warn that it is necessary to refrain from any action. The mother, for example, warns the baby of danger with her voice or movement; Some animals in the herd can warn others that they have perceived vital signals. In humans, the number of communication goals increases. In addition to those listed above, they include the transfer and receipt of objective knowledge about the world, training and education, coordination of reasonable actions of people in their joint activities, establishment and clarification of personal and business relationships, and much more. If in animals the goals of communication usually do not go beyond satisfying their biological needs, then in humans they are a means of satisfying many different needs: social, cultural, cognitive, creative, aesthetic, the needs of intellectual growth, moral development and a number of others.

No less significant are the differences between the means

communication. The latter can be defined as methods of encoding, transmitting, processing and decoding information transmitted in the process of communication from one living being to another.

Encoding information

is a way of transmitting it from one living being to another. For example, information can be transmitted through direct bodily contacts: touching the body, hands, etc. Information can be transmitted and perceived by people at a distance, through the senses (observation by one person of the movements of another or the perception of sound signals produced by him).

Man, in addition to all these natural methods of transmitting information, has many that are invented and improved by him. These are language and other sign systems, writing in its various types and forms (texts, diagrams, drawings, drawings), technical means of recording, transmitting and storing information (radio and video technology; mechanical, magnetic, laser and other forms of recording). In terms of his ingenuity in choosing the means and methods of intraspecific communication, man is far ahead of all living creatures known to us that live on planet Earth.

Depending on the content, goals and means, communication can be divided into several types. In terms of content, it can be presented as material

(exchange of objects and products of activity),
cognitive
(exchange of knowledge),
conditional
(exchange of mental or physiological states
), motivational
(exchange of motivations, goals, interests, motives, needs), activity (exchange of actions, operations, skills).

In material communication

subjects, being engaged in individual activity, exchange its products, which, in turn, serve as a means of satisfying their actual needs.
In conditional communication,
people exert influence on each other, designed to bring each other into a certain physical or mental state. For example, to cheer you up or, on the contrary, to ruin it. and ultimately - to have a certain impact on each other’s well-being.

Motivational communication

has as its content the transfer to each other of certain motives, attitudes or readiness to act in a certain direction.

An illustration of cognitive

and
activity communication can
serve as communication associated with various types of cognitive or educational activities. Here, information is transmitted from subject to subject that expands horizons, improves and develops abilities.

According to goals, communication is divided into biological

and
social
in accordance with the needs it serves.
Biological
is communication necessary for the maintenance, preservation and development of the organism.
It is associated with the satisfaction of basic organic needs. Social communication
pursues the goals of expanding and strengthening interpersonal contacts, establishing and developing interpersonal relationships, and personal growth of the individual. There are as many private goals of communication as there are subtypes of biological and social needs.

By means of communication can be direct

and
indirect
,
direct and indirect
.
Direct communication
is carried out with the help of natural organs given to a living being by nature: arms, head, torso, vocal cords, etc.
Indirect communication
is associated with the use of special means and tools for organizing communication and exchanging information. These are either natural objects (a stick, a footprint on the ground, etc.) or cultural ones (sign systems, recordings of symbols on various media, print, radio, television, etc.).

Direct communication

involves personal contacts and direct perception of each other by communicating people in the very act of communication, their communication in cases where they see and directly react to each other’s actions.
Indirect communication
is carried out through intermediaries, who can be other people.

Man differs from animals in that he has a special, vital need for communication, and also in the fact that he spends most of his time communicating with other people.

Among the types of communication one can also distinguish business and personal, instrumental and targeted

.

Business conversation

usually included as a private moment in any joint activity of people and serves as a means of improving the quality of this activity. Its content is what people are doing, and not the problems that affect their inner world, unlike business

personal communication,

on the contrary, it is focused mainly around psychological problems of an internal nature that deeply affect a person’s personality.

Instrumental can be

name communication that is not an end in itself, is not stimulated by an independent need, but pursues some other goal other than obtaining satisfaction from the act of communication itself.;
Target
is communication, which in itself serves as a means of satisfying a specific need, in this case the need for communication.

In human life, communication does not exist as a separate process or an independent form of activity. It is included in individual or group practical activity, which can neither arise nor be realized without intensive and versatile communication.

The result of communication is the mutual influence of people on each other.

The most important types of communication among people are verbal and non-verbal. Non-verbal communication

does not involve the use of sound speech or natural language as a means of communication.
Nonverbal
is communication through facial expressions, gestures and pantomime, through direct sensory or bodily contact.
These are tactile, visual, auditory, olfactory and other sensations and images received from another person. Most of a person’s nonverbal forms and means of communication are innate and allow him to interact, achieving mutual understanding at the emotional and behavioral levels, not only with his own kind, but also with other living beings. Verbal communication
is inherent only to humans and, as a prerequisite, presupposes the acquisition of language. In terms of its communicative capabilities, it is much richer than all types and forms of nonverbal communication, although in life it cannot completely replace it.

Communication is of great importance in the formation of the human psyche, its development and the formation of reasonable, cultural behavior. Through communication with psychologically developed people, thanks to ample opportunities for learning, a person acquires all his higher cognitive abilities and qualities. Through active communication with developed personalities, he himself turns into a personality.

If from birth a person was deprived of the opportunity to communicate with people, he would never become a civilized, cultural and morally developed citizen, and would be doomed to remain a half-animal until the end of his life, only externally, anatomically and physiologically reminiscent of a person.

Communication with adults in the early stages of ontogenesis is especially important for the mental development of a child. At this time, he acquires all his human, mental and behavioral qualities almost exclusively through communication, since right up to the start of school, and even more definitely before adolescence, he is deprived of the ability for self-education and self-education. The mental development of a child begins with communication. This is the first type of social activity that arises in ontogenesis and thanks to which the baby receives the information necessary for its individual development. In communication, first through direct imitation (vicarious learning),

and then through verbal instructions
(verbal learning)
the child's basic life experience is acquired.

Communication constitutes the internal mechanism of joint activities of people. The increasing role of communication and the importance of its study is due to the fact that in modern society, decisions are made much more often in direct, immediate communication between people, which were previously made, as a rule, by individual people.