Contents
7.1. Stress (state of emotional tension)
Emotional tension is distinguished among emotional states (Naenko, Ovchinnikov, 1970), characterized by an increased level of activation (excitation).
VL Marishchuk (1974) proposed to separate the concepts of «emotional tension» and «emotional tension». The first, from his point of view, is characterized by the activation of various body functions in connection with active volitional acts, the second leads to a temporary decrease in the stability of mental processes and performance. Such a division does not seem very logical, and primarily because the author calls volitional tension emotional tension. Most authors do not separate the concepts of «emotional tension» and «emotional tension» (Man — production — management, 1982; Kulikov, 1997, etc.).
L. V. Kulikov generally believes that there is no need to add the definition “emotional” to the word “tension”, because it is difficult to imagine any tension as unemotional. I think that this statement is unnecessarily categorical, although in essence it is true. After all, the release of emotional stress is due not to the fact that there is tension accompanied by emotional experiences, but to the fact that the cause of a person’s mental stress is a developed strong emotion. No wonder N. I. Naenko and O. V. Ovchinnikov also identified operational tension, which is associated with a high pace of work. With this type of tension, emotional experiences can also take place, but they are secondary, and not primary, as with emotional tension.
Actually, L.V. Kulikov also notes that emotions can be the cause of stress in accentuated personalities.
Emotional tension can have both positive and negative effects on performance. According to E. A. Ivanov et al. (1969), emotional tension before a parachute jump increases muscle strength, but upsets motor coordination (Arkhangelsky, 1934).
E. L. Nosenko (1978) studied changes in speech under emotional stress, observed in natural, and not in laboratory conditions: before an exam, before a surgical operation in patients, in dispatchers when performing test tasks in the presence of an authoritative commission, in military personnel when performing professional activities with great personal responsibility. I will use the description of these changes given by the author himself. “The state of emotional stress is characterized by difficulties in formulating thoughts and choosing words for their adequate expression, which are manifested in an increase in the number and duration of pauses, indecision, search words, semantically irrelevant repetitions, “filled” pauses, searching and describing gestures accompanying speech. One of the manifestations of these difficulties is also a decrease in the vocabulary diversity of speech. In addition, there are significant shifts in the implementation of those speech operations that require conscious control over the quality of their implementation. In particular, there is a more contrasting than in the normal state manifestation in speech of tendencies towards syncretism in the field of linear syntax (i.e., to the incompleteness of “the morphological design of words in a phrase in accordance with syntactic obligations”) and to undividedness in the field of actual syntax ( expressed in the fact that sequences of words that could be represented as syntactically continuous chains are divided into separate syntagmas connected by simple juxtaposition). An increase in the number of syntactically and logically incomplete phrases, a violation of the integrity of superphrasal units, an increase in the number of uncorrectable errors also testifies to the weakening of conscious control over the quality of the lexical and grammatical formulation of an utterance in a state of emotional tension.
In a state of emotional tension, spontaneous speech manifestations are activated; the number of habitual sayings, “parasite” words, clichés increases sharply. These habitual speeches are articulated at a higher rate than in speech occurring in the normal state, which leads to a change in the rate of articulation. The number of non-communicative gestures accompanying speech significantly increases, the fact of the appearance of which is not recognized by the speaker. The presence of difficulties in the choice of words and in the formulation of thoughts, on the one hand, and the activation of spontaneous manifestations, on the other hand, lead to sharp fluctuations in the overall rate of speech in certain parts of the speech chain, with which, to a certain extent, fluctuations in the fundamental tone frequency are also associated. (p. 78).
Based on the analysis of the above features of speech in a state of emotional tension, Nosenko identified a number of quantifiable indicators that can be used in diagnosing this condition:
1. The average length of a segment of speech delivered without pauses of indecision. It is calculated by dividing the time of «pure speech» (or the number of words in an utterance) by the number of pauses of indecision. Pauses with a duration of 250 ms and more are taken as pauses of indecision.
2. The pace of articulation i.e., the ratio of the number of syllables in the statement to the time spent on their pronunciation (i.e., the amount of time of «pure speech»).
3. Latent period of speech reaction.
A. The range of fluctuations in the rate of speech in the process of oral utterance. This indicator characterizes two differently directed shifts: the occurrence of difficulties in the operational choice of words in speech and the revival of spontaneous speech activity, accompanied by an increase in the rate of speech. The wider the range of fluctuations in the rate of speech in certain parts of the speech «chain», the more likely it can be argued that the speaker is experiencing a state of emotional tension.
5. The duration of the time interval after which zones appear in the speech stream, where the frequency of the fundamental tone of the voice exceeds the average frequency typical for a given speaker.
6.Number of phenomena of indecision (semantically irrelevant repetitions, reformulations, «filled pauses», unfinished words or phrases).
7. The coefficient of vocabulary diversity of speech, characterizing the ratio of different words in the statement to the total number of words.
8. Average number of gestures (per 100 words of the utterance) accompanying speech, in particular search and non-communicative gestures.
9. The average number of syntactically incomplete phrases in oral utterances.
10. Average number of errors (slips of the tongue, paraphasia) in speech.
Emotional stress. At present, it has become fashionable to use the term «stress» instead of the term «emotional tension». Even pressing a dynamometer, not to mention passing an exam, performing at a competition, is considered stressful. As a result, this concept is gradually losing its original purpose assigned to it by G. Selye in his first works. As noted by Yu. G. Chirkov (1988), stress is contradictory, elusive, foggy. It hardly fits into the narrow framework of definitions. Its weakness lies in the uncertainty, the vagueness of boundaries. And this is always fraught with the loss of the essence of the phenomenon, the appearance of confusion in the use of the term itself, the emergence of unjustified discussions about its essence. Unfortunately, as will be seen from what follows, Selye himself had a hand in this.
Obviously, for the first time the term «stress», meaning nothing more than voltage, mentioned in 1303 in Robert Manning’s poem Handlying Synne:
“And this torment was manna from heaven, which the Lord sent to people who were in the wilderness for forty winters and were under great stress.”
G. Selye (1982) believes that the word «stress» came into English from Old French and medieval English and was first pronounced as «distress». The first syllable then disappeared due to smearing or «swallowing». There is also a point of view that the word «stress» comes from the Latin squeeze — drag out. Be that as it may, the word itself does not contain anything new for denoting human states. What was new was the meaning that Selye put into it.
In its final form, the doctrine of stress as a general adaptation syndrome under the action of damaging agents was formulated by G. Selye, although before him similar phenomena were observed by some physiologists and clinicians. So, W. Cannon in 1914 described a neuroendocrine phenomenon, which he called the “flight-defense” reaction. The central organ involved in this reaction is the adrenal medulla. The response itself is seen by Cannon as a mobilization of the organism, preparing the muscles for action in response to a perceived threat. This mechanism enables the individual to either fight the threat or flee from it.
As A. A. Viru points out (1980), in some works of domestic scientists, the mechanisms of non-specific adaptation are revealed. So G. Selye had predecessors, and his doctrine of stress as a general adaptation syndrome was not created from scratch.
The more fashionable the concept of “stress” became, the more Selye moved away from his original understanding of this phenomenon. This evolution of his views is well shown in the work of V. Ya. Apchel and V. N. Tsygan (1999), so I will use their description.
The authors note that G. Selye interprets the concept of «stress» in different ways. If in his first works, stress was understood as the totality of all non-specific changes that occur in the body under the influence of any strong influences and accompanied by a restructuring of the body’s defense systems, then in later works, stress began to be understood as a non-specific reaction of the body to any requirement presented to it, i.e. There was a simplification of this phenomenon and the concept corresponding to it. Obviously, like other scientists, Selye could not resist the temptation to create a “comprehensive and only correct” doctrine, especially since critics of his original concept strongly pushed him towards this (he did not take into account the role of the central nervous system, then the mental factor, then the muscle load when playing sports).
Initially, Selye and his collaborators paid attention only to the biological and physiological aspects of the problem of stress. Therefore, it has become traditional to understand stress as a physiological reaction of the body to action. negative factors that pose a threat to the body. Stress is expressed by a general adaptation syndrome, which manifests itself regardless of the quality of the pathogenic factor (chemical, thermal, physical) and has certain stages:
— an alarm reaction, during which the body’s resistance first decreases («shock phase»), and then protective mechanisms are activated («anti-shock phase»);
— the stage of stability (resistance), when due to the tension of functioning systems, the body adapts to new conditions;
— the stage of exhaustion, in which the failure of protective mechanisms is revealed and the violation of the coordination of vital functions is growing.
According to Selye, the leading role in the development of the general adaptation syndrome is played by the endocrine system, in particular the pituitary gland.
It is important to note that at the first stages of creating the doctrine of stress, Selye emphasized that not only functional changes in the internal organs, which are reversible, but also morphological irreversible changes, i.e., serious diseases, occur. And there is a lot of evidence for this when, as a result of mental trauma, a person develops a pathology of internal organs, up to oncological diseases.
These examples show weaknesses in Selye’s original position — the denial of the leading role of the central nervous system in the genesis of stress, which was insisted on by Russian scientists who preached the idea of centrism.
Gradually, as he studied stress, Selye came to understand the role of the psychological factor in its development. This was largely facilitated by the work of scientists who summarized the experience of the Second World War. In publications, such concepts as «mental stress», «emotional stress» began to appear more and more often. This led to the blurring of the concept of «stress», since their content began to include both primary emotional reactions that occur during critical psychological influences, and emotional and mental syndromes generated by bodily injuries, and affective reactions with their accompanying physiological mechanisms (Kitaev-Smyk, 1983).
This has led to a mixture of psychophysiological and physiological approaches to the study of stress.
R. Lazarus (1970) was the first to try to distinguish between the physiological and psychological understanding of stress. He put forward a concept according to which a distinction is made between physiological stress associated with exposure to a real physical stimulus, and mental (emotional) stress associated with a person’s assessment of the upcoming situation as threatening, difficult. However, such a division is also rather arbitrary, since in physiological stress there are always elements of mental (emotional), and in mental stress there cannot but be physiological changes. Speech, therefore, should be more about the causes of stress (physical and psychological) than about the differences in the observed changes in the body. In this regard, the position of VL Marishchuk (1984, 1995) is more justified, who believes that any stress is both physiological and mental (emotional).
At the final stage of developing his teaching, G. Selye began to talk about two types of stress — distress, associated with negative emotional reactions, and eustress, associated with positive emotional responses. This led to the fact that all physiological phenomena, including sleep, were included in the scope of these concepts. Thus, Selye writes that even in a state of complete relaxation, a sleeping person experiences some stress and that complete freedom from stress means death. It seems to me that such an interpretation means the death of the very concept of «stress».
It becomes natural for researchers to find some boundaries of stress as a mental (emotional) stress. According to L. Levy (1970), emotional stress can be considered as a section of a kind of continuum of emotional states, the lower point of which is small shifts in physiological homeostasis in conditions of complete indifference. Pleasant and unpleasant emotions are accompanied by changes in the levels of physiological homeostasis.
In a stressful state, as noted by S. Mayer and M. Landenslager (Maier, Landenslager, 1985), the body produces the hormone cortisol, which contributes to the appearance of additional energy (due to the breakdown of proteins) and maintains blood pressure. However, it weakens the immune system, i.e. immunity to infectious diseases. Hence, in a state of stress or after it, people often fall ill with colds, flu, etc. (Fig. 7.1).
In this regard, it is hardly legitimate to say that stress is good for the body, if we mean a truly threatening level of emotional stress, and not a level that is within the normal range and does not pose any danger. However, stress should not be limited to pathology, which is pointed out by V. Ya. Apchel and V. N. Tsygan.
In general terms, the cause of stress, according to A. Welford (Welford, 1973), is a discrepancy between the body’s capabilities and the requirements placed on it, for example, at high emotional richness activities, i.e., a large number of emotional situations (Witt, 1986). According to P. Fress (1975), stress can also be caused by personal and social conflicts that cannot be resolved.
The question arises: what shifts can be considered stressful, and what are not?
V. L. Marishchuk believes that stress can only be called a condition that is characterized by a significant release of steroid hormones (at least by the amount of a probable deviation from the initial indicators). Nevertheless, it should be recognized that any boundary established by researchers will be conditional, since we must not forget that stress is tension, and the latter has only a degree of severity. Scientists, on the other hand, are trying to give stress as an emotional state a certain modality, a qualitative specific content, which, from my point of view, is not correct. After all, strong emotional stress (excitation) can be with anger, and with horror, and with grief, and with ecstasy. (In this regard, V. V. Suvorova’s attempt to separate stress from emotion is not entirely clear when she writes: “Unlike emotions, stress is an emergency state” [1975, p. 19].) All these states are different in the quality of experiences , but similar in their degree. Such experiences lead to the appearance of a general adaptation syndrome, since strong emotional arousal becomes a threat to the body and personality. The understanding of stress as an emergency, threatening condition, as a general defensive reaction is inherent in most domestic authors (Abramov, 1973; Apchel, Tsygan, 1999; Bodrov, 1995,2000; Waldman et al., 1979; Suvorova, 1975; Ukolova et al., 1973 ; Chirkov, 1988; and others).
Readers who are specifically interested in this topic can find useful information in the works of J. Witkin (1995, 1996), B. A. Vyatkin (1981), L. P. Grimak and V. A. Ponomarenko (1971), Yu. Gubacheva and others (1976), V. I. Myasnikova and M. A. Novikova (1975), K. V. Sudakova (1981), as well as in the books «Actual problems of stress» (1976), «Psychic stress in sports» (1973), «Psycho-emotional stress» (1992), «Stress and anxiety in sports” (1983), “Emotional stress” (1970).
7.2. Boredom (a state of monotony)
Boredom and the state of monotony associated with it are, in their characteristics, the opposite of the state of emotional stress. It is often found in production (Vinogradov, 1966; Zolina, 1967; Fetiskin, 19746; 1993; Fukin, 1982), in educational activities (Fetiskin, 1993), in educational and musical (Shurygina, 1984) and sports and training activities. (Fetiskin, 1974a; Fidarov, Boldin, 1975; Sopov, 1977), and just in ordinary life (the so-called «monotony of everyday life»). This is how the writer Viktor Astafiev in his work “Tsar-Fish” describes the state of the fur hunters, cut off from the world by a blizzard and in a state of sensory deprivation: “… In the winter, lonely and silent tundra, even successful fishing does not cure abandonment and longing. It happened that experienced fishermen stopped going to the traps, fell on the bunks and, suppressed by spiritual oppression, having lost faith that somewhere in the world there was still life and people, indifferently and stupidly froze alone, plunging into a gauze of viscous sleep, further and further floating away into boundless silence, relieving one from worries and anxieties, and most importantly, from longing that sucks a person in a marsh charus. They “… limply sank into silence, relaxed from idleness, were lazy to shovel snow from the hut, sweep the floor and even cook food … the spiritual connection of people was broken, they were not united by the main thing in life — work. They were fed up, weary of each other, and discontent, anger accumulated against their will.
I was told about a similar socio-psychological state by an officer of a nuclear submarine who tested it when the ship was in autonomous navigation for many months, as well as by a well-known polar explorer who worked at radio and weather stations beyond the Arctic Circle.
In the psychological literature, one of the first mentions of the state of monotony is found in the work of G. Munsterberg (Munsterberg, 1912). Physiologists, psychologists, and sociologists are interested in studying this state. And this is no coincidence. Monotony affects the efficiency of activity, the mood of a person, and his development as a person. The Canadian scientist W. Heron (Heron, 1957), who studied the influence of a monotonous environment on the psyche and human activity, came to the conclusion that it is necessary to constantly change the sensory environment of a person for his normal existence. Even animals instinctively avoid monotonous environments. The rat, for example, prefers to use different paths to food in the maze rather than the same one; she tends to leave the space in which she spent a lot of time, and actively seeks out new or less explored areas. This indicates that the desire for a variety of experiences is the most important biological need.
Causes of the state of monotony. All authors dealing with the problem of monotony agree that this state is the result of monotonous activity (monotonicity). The only question is what kind of activity should be considered monotonous.
In the literature of the first half of the 1955th century, there is an ambiguous understanding of the terms «monotonicity» and «monotony». Many authors understand monotony as a state arising from monotonous activity and replace the concept of “boredom” with this term (Maier, 1957; Bartenwerfer, 1964; Levitov, 1947). Others (for example: Bartley, Shute, 1960) call monotony the prolonged and unpleasant monotony of activity. In this case, monotony characterizes the work, and not the state of the person. Finally, some authors characterize the monotony of the work with the concept of «monotony» (Fedoryshyn, XNUMX). I consider it reasonable to use the term “monotony” by V. G. Aseev only to indicate the nature of labor, the environment surrounding a person, and to use the term “monotony” for the state that occurs in a monotonous environment.
Attempts have been made to separate the concepts of «boredom» and «boring» on the grounds that the former has a broader meaning, and the latter characterizes only those mental states that arise as a result of the negative influence of repetitive activity (Mayer, 1955; Ryan, Smith, 1954). However, the authors make the same mistake, contrasting the characteristics of the emotional state (boredom) with the characteristics of activity (tediousness).
It is expedient, as N. D. Levitov (1964) and V. G. Aseev (1974) do, to single out the actual (objective) and apparent monotony of the work, situation.
Objective monotony (monotonicity) is associated with the poverty of the sensory impact on a person, with the low workload of his intellectual sphere (excessive fragmentation of work operations, the simplicity of automated actions combined with their repeated repetition at the same pace, low and medium load intensity). This applies to both intellectual and sensory and motor activities.
subjective (apparent) monotony can accompany objective monotony, being its reflection in the human mind. In this case, two conditions are necessary, namely: that the activity performed does not give mental freedom from activity, attracts attention to itself and at the same time does not provide sufficient conditions for reflection on this task, would not give rise to creativity (Hacker, 1967) . This causes, according to G. Bartenwerfer (Bartenwerfer, 1957), «return with a narrowed attention span.»
But the subjective monotony of activity and situation can take place without objective monotony. It may be due to the attitude of a person to the activity and situation. The role of motivation for assessing the situation is noted by many authors. It has been shown, for example, that work without knowledge of its results quickly leads to a decrease in interest in it (Fraser, 1958). On the contrary, interest in the work and the completeness of the feedback received by a person do not allow subjective monotony to manifest itself even in the case of objective monotony of labor.
Mechanisms of development of monotony. The state of monotony is considered by me as an emotional state, in contrast to a number of psychologists and physiologists, who consider it from other positions, namely, as an operational state. For example, the psychological explanation of the state of monotony, given by G. Bartenwerfer, is that monotonous work leads to a narrowing of the amount of attention, nervous exhaustion and, as a result, a decrease in the mental activity of the brain. In essence, this is an understanding of the state of monotony as mental fatigue.
The same «psycho-energetic» concept, related to the depletion of mental energy in the process of volitional maintenance of attention during monotonous work, was also adhered to by other authors (Winkler, 1922; Poffenberger, 1942). If we briefly characterize this point of view on the mechanism of development of the state of monotony, then it boils down to the following: monotony is a consequence of an overstrain of attention. J. Barmack (Barmack, 1937) saw the causes of monotony in the fact that the autonomic system does not adequately ensure the functioning of the nervous and muscular systems. The identification of the state of monotony with fatigue is also present in later works (Bornemann, 1961; Schmidtke, 1965).
It should be noted that at the same time, works appeared that criticized the view of monotony as fatigue. G. Duker (Duker, 1931), for example, found that with an increase in the pace of work, the feeling of boredom does not increase, but decreases.
In Russian literature, the most clear view of monotony as an operational state is presented by M. I. Vinogradov and Z. M. Zolina. Their explanation is based on the assumption of IP Pavlov that exposure to the same cells of a long-acting stimulus leads to their rapid depletion, to the development of transcendental protective inhibition, which radiates through the cerebral cortex and manifests itself in the phases of parabiosis.
However, all these assumptions do not explain the available experimental data. In particular, the effect of prolonged exposure to a stimulus on the same nerve cells does not explain why monotony also occurs with rare sensory stimuli. In addition, during monotonous motor activity, inhibition should initially develop precisely in the motor cortical centers, which would be manifested in a decrease in psychomotor indicators. However, according to E. V. Podoba (1960) and M. I. Vinogradov (1966), in a number of cases, a reduction in the latent period of the sensorimotor reaction was observed, which in no way indicates the development of transmarginal inhibition in the motor cortical centers. Consequently, along with the development of inhibition in certain cortical centers (which is evidenced by a violation of differentiation during the development of the stages of parabiosis), there is also an increase in excitation in the motor cortical centers. Consequently, the mechanism of the development of the state of monotony turns out to be much more complicated than the authors cited above suggest.
V. I. Rozhdestvenskaya and I. A. Levochkina (1972) associate monotony with the development of extinctive inhibition. But the specific reason for the development of this particular type of inhibition is not discussed by the authors. Meanwhile, its occurrence can be explained by the phenomenon of addiction (adaptation) to the same stimulus, which leads to a weakening of the impact of these stimuli. However, the effect of addiction on the cerebral cortex is not carried out directly, but indirectly, through the reticular formation. Being a place of convergence of sensory pathways, the reticular formation receives streams of impulses from all afferent pathways, which are processed here, summed up and transmitted further to the cerebral cortex along nonspecific afferent pathways.
In this regard, the views of M. Gaider (Haider, 1962) and W. Hacker (Hacker, 1967) on the mechanisms of monotony appear more convincing. These authors see the physiological basis for the decrease in mental activity during monotony in the neurophysiological mechanisms of the ascending influences of the reticular formation on the cerebral cortex. Hyder formulated the «deactivating theory» of monotony. According to Hacker, the narrowing of the scope of attention and its concentration on a narrow circle of objects reduces the activating effect of the reticular formation on the cortex.
However, it should be noted that a decrease in the activating effect on the cerebral cortex will be both in the case of rare stimuli entering the reticular formation, and in the case of a decrease in the strength of the stimulus when getting used to it, the disappearance of the novelty factor. In a study by G. Durup and A. Fessard (Dump, Fessard, 1936), it was shown that every new stimulus causes the appearance of fast rhythm and small amplitude potentials on the electroencephalogram, which replace the slow oscillations characteristic of a lower level of wakefulness (alpha rhythm) . If the same stimulus is presented at a constant interval, then its activating effect gradually decreases, up to the complete cessation of the blockade of the alpha rhythm. Conversely, the alpha rhythm blockade reaction is easier to obtain, the more the stimulus awakens the person’s attention.
It should be noted that in the central nervous system there are special neurons that exhibit the properties of extinction of reactions, or habituation. They are also located in the cerebral cortex. But most of all these “novelty neurons” are in the reticular formation. It has been shown that most of the cells of the reticular formation have the ability to quickly get used to repeated stimulation (Horn and Hill, 1964, etc.). Thus, there is a whole range of facts that give reason to associate the occurrence of inhibition (decrease in the level of activation) of cortical centers with a decrease in the reactivity of nonspecific structures of the reticular formation and, as a result, a decrease in its activating effect on the cerebral cortex.
In studying the mechanisms of the development of monotony, my students and I put the subjective experiences of a person at the forefront — apathy, boredom, these indispensable companions of monotonous work. And they arise as a result of a loss of interest in work with the monotony of sensory influences, that is, a decrease in the strength of the motive, its transformation from positive to negative, into a desire to stop working.
I emphasize that we are talking about boredom, apathy, and not about fatigue, as is the case in the work of V. I. Rozhdestvenskaya and I. A. Levochkina. The fact is that in their study, the subjects’ complaints about a change in state were recorded at 30-minute time intervals specified by the experimenter. This could lead to a distortion of the true picture of the developing state of monotony (it could have appeared earlier, and after 30 minutes, fatigue could already be superimposed on monotony). In experiments I conducted with coworkers, a different method of timing was used: the subjects themselves immediately reported the appearance of apathy or boredom in them, without waiting for the end of a certain time interval. This made it possible not only to obtain a true picture of the developing state of monotony, but also to more accurately determine the time of its occurrence, which is especially important when comparing the resistance of different people to the monotony factor and the influence of various factors on this stability.
N. D. Levitov shares the experience of monotony and boredom on the grounds that the first occurs with monotonous work, and the second can also arise with varied, but uninteresting work. This division is debatable. Boredom can be the result of both objective and subjective monotony (uniformity of impressions), and loss of interest in work. The state of monotony is characterized not by the development of transcendent inhibition in the motor centers, but by the appearance of an “emotional-motivational vacuum” with the monotony of work operations or with rare sensory stimuli, when the work ceases to occupy the worker and attract his attention, i.e., becomes uninteresting for him. As shown in the study by N. E. Vysotskaya, E. P. Ilyin, V. A. Perov and N. P. Fetiskin (1974), when a person becomes bored, muscle strength increases, the pace of work subconsciously increases, and the time of a simple sensorimotor reaction shortens. , the tone of muscle tension increases, the «internal» balance associated with the motor activity of a person shifts towards excitation. This indicates that the development of the state of monotony is associated with an increase in excitation in the motor cortical centers. All this happens with the parallel development of inhibition at a different level of control, associated with the reception and processing of information. This is evidenced by an increase in the time of a complex (differential) reaction and a «central delay», a deterioration in attention, a shift in the «external» (emotional-motivational) balance towards inhibition. Along with this, the reaction to the monotony of stimuli is manifested in an increase in parasympathetic influences: the heart rate and blood pressure decrease, oxygen consumption decreases, energy expenditure per kilogram of body weight decreases, there is a slight shift in the acid side (Hacker, 1967; Vysotskaya, Ilyin, Perov, Fetiskin, 1974; Zamkova et al., 1981; Fetiskin et al., 1984).
It can be assumed that all these shifts mean a decrease in the level of activation, and in the case of work mainly of a sensory nature, the level of wakefulness. The latter can be seen from a study of the labor of drivers engaged in long-distance transportation. E. Bramesfeld and G. Jung (Bramesfeld, Jung, 1932), as well as G. Bartenwerfer (Bartenwerfer, 1955) showed that when driving on monotonous roads, the driver develops a twilight state of consciousness, attention decreases, sometimes to such an extent that he sees nothing, although his eyes remain open. In real conditions, the driver, being in such a hypnotic state, can even drive a long distance, automatically controlling the control of the car. However, the speed of response to external stimuli is significantly reduced. And although the driver clearly distinguishes the approaching danger, an instant conscious reaction becomes impossible for him. Under the conditions of laboratory experiments, subjects reported that at times they fell into a drowsy state and even fell asleep for a short time.
A number of studies conducted in France and the United States have shown that long-distance truck drivers experience hallucinations. After several hours of travel, they begin to see various images, such as large red spiders on the sight glass, non-existent animals crossing the road, etc.
L. P. Grimak and V. A. Ponomarenko (1971) report similar phenomena in pilots during long night flights. Pilots no longer feel like they are piloting an aircraft, they see themselves outside the cockpit, floating freely in space. After a few seconds, they shuddered, came to their senses and grabbed the control levers.
So, it is precisely the monotony of impressions (and not deactions, as physiologists believe) and serves as the motivating cause that causes a state of monotony. For example, according to N. P. Fetiskin, work on large presses, rather than medium ones, was more monotonous for the workers of the press production of the Volga Automobile Plant, since the first working operations were simpler and performed at a slower pace. K. D. Shafranskaya and T. I. Sytko (1987), who conducted research at the press and frame plant of the Kama Automobile Association, came to the same conclusion according to the data of the subjective report of the workers.
A holistic picture of the psychological and physiological shifts that occur in a state of monotony becomes clear if we consider this state from the standpoint of a systematic approach. In my view, this picture is as follows.
The experience of apathy and boredom causes a desire to stop working. The response to this is the strengthening of the influence of the parasympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system, «in charge» of the states of comfort, peace, relaxation. This is expressed in a decrease in heart rate, in a drop in blood pressure and other autonomic changes.
The shifts that have arisen unfavorable for the continuation of work trigger self-regulation mechanisms that oppose the further deepening of this state, and this happens sometimes unconsciously. Excitation in the motor system increases, as a result of which the pace of work and the degree of tension (muscle strength) increase, the time of a simple sensorimotor reaction shortens, and a stronger toning of the cortical cells and the motivational sphere of a person occurs.
It could be assumed that a high level of excitation in the motor system during the development of monotony is a consequence of “working in” during physical activity, and not a mechanism of self-regulation of the functional system. However, the same increase in excitation in the motor system was also found during mental activity.
In favor of the fact that a change in the level of activity of the motor system is an adaptive mechanism that regulates the degree of activation of cortical levels associated with motivation is also evidenced by the facts obtained in the study of the state of mental satiety (Fetiskin et al., 1974). With the development of this condition, associated with excessive excitation at the motivational-emotional level of regulation, the level of excitation in the motor system decreases in most subjects. Obviously, this serves as a protective mechanism that reduces the tonicity of mental levels, which are already overexcited.
Thus, the changes that occur during the development of this emotional state can be represented as a functional system in which different subsystems perform different functions. Some subsystems react in a specific way to the emotional factor affecting the human psyche (inhibition develops at the emotional-motivational level of regulation), other subsystems are activated to weaken the effect of the factor that causes this state (increased excitation of the motor system and toning of the cerebral cortex). As a result, changes in human neurodynamics during the state of monotony provide greater resistance to the monotonous factor (Fetiskin, 1972a, 1974).
Of course, the action of the mechanisms of adaptation to the changed situation, aimed at maintaining the homeostatic nature of the organism and the personality as a whole, is not unlimited. At some point in time, with the ongoing influence of factors, these mechanisms dry up and deeper and more stable changes in function develop. The «acute» state of monotony becomes «chronic» (permanent).
The described picture of changes in mental and physiological parameters was revealed during physical and sensory-intellectual work carried out both in laboratory and in natural conditions (in production, in the training sessions of athletes, during the educational activities of schoolchildren and students). Thus, for different types of monotony, the mechanisms of development of the state of monotony are essentially the same (Ilyin, 1981). In this regard, I cannot agree with the statement of V. G. Aseev about the need to divide monotony into motor and sensory due to the fact that, as the author believes, fatigue and overwork occur during monotonous motor work, and mental states occur during sensory work. I have not observed such a separation in the studies carried out.
Monotony and fatigue. As already mentioned, in the first works on the study of the state of monotony, it was considered by many authors as a state of mental fatigue. However, some observations have allowed a number of authors to separate these states. So. G. Vernon (Vernon, 1924), one of the luminaries of English labor psychology, wrote that the feeling of monotony sometimes does not depend on fatigue, and that monotony and fatigue are two different states. “The mere thought of forthcoming monotonous work already leads to a feeling of monotony, which, therefore, should be considered as a phenomenon of a psychological nature and which is not necessarily associated with fatigue of the mental centers” (p. 89). The need to distinguish the state caused by the monotony of activity from fatigue was emphasized by N. D. Levitov (1964). The validity of this division was confirmed in the studies of N. P. Fetiskin (1972a), N. E. Vysotskaya et al. (1974), N. P. Fetiskin, E. P. Ilyin, N. E. Vysotskaya (1974). If during monotony the time of only a complex sensorimotor reaction increases, and the time of a simple reaction either remains unchanged or even decreases, then with fatigue, the time of both reactions increases. If during monotony a shift towards inhibition is observed only in the «external» balance, and in the «internal» balance there is a shift towards excitation, then during fatigue there are shifts towards inhibition in both balances. With monotony, the heart rate decreases, and with fatigue it increases. With monotony, there is a decrease in energy expenditure, while with fatigue, energy expenditure increases. An increase in the pace of work during monotony leads to an improvement in well-being, a decrease in boredom, and when tired, it only exacerbates negative changes, including the feeling of fatigue. Finally, a state of monotony precedes fatigue, but fatigue can occur without a state of monotony.
Factors of resistance to the monotony of labor
Resistance to the action of monotony is influenced by both individual and personal characteristics of a person. A. Kirn (Krn, 1960) singled out «monotonophilic» and «monotonophobic» individuals. The first ones even like monotonous activity, because “during it you can think about your own”. The second ones cannot stand monotonous work, they try to avoid it. However, the author does not reveal why some people are “monotonophiles” and others are “monotonophobes”. These reasons were identified in subsequent, mainly domestic, studies.
Influence of the properties of the nervous system and temperament. Many studies have shown the role of typological features of the properties of the nervous system and temperament in people’s resistance to the monotony of activity.
B. I. Rozhdestvenskaya and I. A. Levochkina (1972) showed that people with a weak nervous system cope better with monotonous work than with a strong one.
N. P. Fetiskin (19726) revealed a typological complex of manifestations of the properties of the nervous system in monotone-resistant subjects: a weak nervous system, inertia of excitation, the predominance of inhibition according to the «external» balance and the predominance of excitation according to the «internal» balance. In persons with this typological complex, the state of monotony appears much later than in persons with the opposite typological complex, i.e., with a strong nervous system, with mobility of excitation, with a predominance of excitation according to the “external” balance and a predominance of inhibition according to the “internal” balance ( Fig. 7.2).
C. White and I. Langdon (Wyatt, Langdon, 1937) came to the conclusion that people with patience and phlegmatic temperament are more inclined to monotonous work. VF Sopov (1977) found that during endurance training in running, those who have high anxiety, introversion, gullibility, submissiveness, and the need to avoid failure are better able to cope with monotonous monotonous work. G. Bartenwerfer (1957) and K. V. Krupetsky (1997) note that extroverts tolerate monotony worse.
Influence of educational level. The higher the educational level of the individual, the higher the demands she makes on the content of her activity, and the more difficult it is for such a person to endure a monotonous and simple activity. This explains the data of N. G. Valentinova (1963), who revealed that people with a low educational level express satisfaction with a monotonous job, while people with a secondary education find this work uninteresting and tedious.
True, in some cases the level of education is equated with the level of development of the intellect, in connection with which it is concluded that monotonous work is better perceived by intellectually undeveloped people (Viteles, 1924; Wyatt, 1927; Missiuro, 1947). N. D. Levitov considers this approach to be simplified and incorrect. He believes that a mentally developed person experiences monotony to a lesser extent, since he is aware of the need for such work and can better intensify his activity, seeing diversity in the monotonous. It seems to me that this opinion of N. D. Levitov is too optimistic. Firstly, in order to be aware of the need for this or that work, neither a great mind nor a higher education is required. Secondly, the ability to see diversity in the monotonous is inherent only to highly qualified specialists; a low-skilled worker cannot do this and, as V. Hacker wrote, becomes a victim of unstimulated indifference.
Be that as it may, but the point of view of S. White was not confirmed in the studies of P. Smith (Smith, 1955) and G. Bartenwerfer (Bartenwerfer, 1957). P. Smith even established opposite correlations: persons with lower intelligence turned out to be less monotonous seamstresses, although the difference between groups with different intelligence was not significant.
Influence of professional level. Some studies note the influence of the skill level of workers on monotonous stability. However, even here there is no unanimity of opinion. Some authors attribute this stability to the low skill level of workers. Other works (Ryabinina, 1971; Sobolev, Stepanova, 1975) indicate a greater exposure to the monotony of young and, as a rule, still unskilled workers. Perhaps this is due to the fact that among the young there are still many individuals with low monotonous stability who have not had time to weed out.
Influence of working installation. The data obtained by N. E. Vysotskaya et al. (1974) are indicative: in the first days of the week (Monday, Tuesday), when “working in”, the state of monotony occurs earlier than in the middle of the week (Fig. 7.3). For schoolchildren on Sunday, when performing monotonous intellectual work, this state occurs much earlier than on school days of the week (Fetiskin, 1981)
Influence of physical fitness. N. P. Fetiskin (1974) established that in athletes with little experience, resistance to monotonous physical activity is higher than in novice athletes. This can be explained by the emergence of non-specific resistance to adverse factors as training increases, which has been repeatedly noted by sports physiologists in relation to radiation, temperature effects, infections, etc.
Influence of motivation. In the same work of N. P. Fetiskin, another fact was discovered, which at first glance contradicts the above regularity. It turned out that in athletes with a long experience, resistance to monotony was lower than in athletes with an experience of up to five years. Here, however, it is necessary to take into account the differences in the motivation of both. For junior athletes, the desire to reach the heights of mastery also creates an increased motive, as a result of which they train with enthusiasm, with passion, as evidenced by the fact that they notice monotony only when they are tired. Athletes with a long experience against the background of high fitness have reduced motivation for training activities (manifestation of mental or emotional “burnout”), as a result of which they are reluctant to go to many training sessions, out of necessity. Complaints of monotony appear long before the onset of fatigue.
In another work, N. P. Fetiskin (1999) studied on a group of students the dependence of the time of the appearance of a state of monotony on neutral, developing (development of psychomotor), creative motives and the motive of duty. Previously, the state of monotony appeared with the first two motives, and later with the motive of duty. Obviously, these differences are explained by the significance of the proposed motives for the subjects.
Table 7.1 Factors affecting monotonous stability (according to N. P. Fetiskin)
The motives of activity are associated with the assessment of one’s suitability for this activity. The lower this score, the lower the motivation. Obviously, this explains the fact revealed by I. A. Shurygina on the children of the music school that the lower their level of abilities turned out to be, the more often boredom appeared in the lessons. Factors affecting monotonous stability are summarized in Table 7.1. XNUMX.
The influence of age. I. A. Shurygina (1984) showed the influence of age characteristics on the monotonous stability of the students of the children’s music school. The greatest sensitivity to the monotony of educational and musical activity was noted among adolescent students (6th-7th grade of a general education school).
Measures to combat monotony
For a long time, while monotony was associated only with work on the assembly line, it was believed that the main means of combating monotony was the complete automation of labor (V. Hacker). Although this measure is not excluded, it cannot solve the problem of monotony, if only because most types of activity cannot be automated (for example, it is impossible to force an automatic machine to perform volumetric monotonous training loads instead of an athlete). Therefore, the fight against the monotony of activity should provide for different ways, taking into account physiological, psychological, and social factors.
N. D. Levitov and V. Hacker recommend that a worker look for something interesting in a monotonous job or, while working, think about something of their own, thus filling the “motivational vacuum”. The latter, however, is possible only if the actions performed are automated. There are, for example, cases when marathon runners read detective novels and stories before the competition, so that during the run one can think about the logic of certain actions of the heroes of these books. However, the positive effect of such «free thinking» will be only if the worker does not seek satisfaction from the very process of work. Otherwise, the «free thinking» of the worker will again be locked in work and experienced as irritation with this work.
Effective means of reducing the monotonicity factor are:
1) complication of work operations, actions performed, combining them into complexes (3. M. Zolina);
2) increasing the pace of work or the supply of information (signals);
3) the division of the general task into separate parts so that intermediate (stage-by-stage) goals appear;
4) organization of pauses in work with filling them with physical exercises, listening to music and other activities corresponding to “active recreation”, according to I. M. Sechenov;
5) strengthening motivation through an explanation of the significance of the activity;
6) change of activity, jobs (Munsterberg, 1912; Ruff, 1961).
True, the latter is not always effective. As shown by N. P. Fetiskin and V. I. Molodtsova (1983), changing jobs during a work shift has a positive effect only for people with mobility of nervous processes. For the inert, this measure is ineffective; moreover, it negatively affects the performance.
7.3. Disgust (state of mental satiety)
The monotonous environment also leads to the appearance of a state of mental satiety associated with the occurrence disgust to the work being done. In general, disgust is most often associated with the emotional tone of sensations, that is, with a biological emotional response. However, K. Izard rightly notes that as a person grows up and socializes, he learns to feel disgust for the most diverse objects of the world around him, including himself. In this regard, Izard speaks of psychological disgust. By the way, K. D. Ushinsky (1974) also wrote about it: “… It is wonderful that this disgust remains when nausea passes, so that we cannot eat this dish even during a strong appetite. This applies to more than just taste sensations, and if, for example, we forcibly occupy a child with something that even he liked at first, we can arouse in him an aversion to the object. This is not understood by many teachers who, feeling a strong love for some subject, talk about it to children. to satiety» (pp. 394).
Psychological disgust does not appear before the age of seven; however, this period refers only to food aversion (Rozin, Fallon, 1987). In later life, it can also refer to perverted forms of sex, as well as other unusual ways of performing an action. It is important to note that psychological disgust as a conditioned reflex emotional reaction to what is disgusting to a person can be accompanied by a slight feeling of nausea and expresses a reaction of rejection of an unpleasant sensation or a perceived object.
To understand the disgust caused by long-term monotonous work, it is important to take into account the following remark made by K. D. Ushinsky (1974): So, we can get a positive disgust for such a dish, which we ate to the point of nausea … ”(p. 394).
The study of the state of mental satiety for the first time began, obviously, in the laboratory of K. Levin, where A. Karsten (Karsten, 1927) studied the phenomenon of the so-called «mental saturation», which consists in the fact that as a result of a long-term performance of any monotonous activity in a person there comes first simply unwillingness to fulfill it, and then, with its further fulfillment, a sharply negative attitude towards it (up to affect) and a persistent desire to stop it. A. Karsten, followed by I. M. Soloviev-Elpidinsky (1935), who worked in the laboratory of L. S. VYGOTSKY with mentally retarded children, showed that this condition is not associated with fatigue.
Later this state was studied by N. Mayer (Maier, 1955). In his experiments, subjects were asked to draw vertical lines on a piece of paper, grouping them according to a given pattern. The subjects had to, without stopping, fill out one by one sheets of paper, the stocks of which were constantly replenished. After four hours of work, the subjects refused to complete the task. To make sure that the failure was not due to muscle fatigue, the subjects were given another instruction that restored the ability to write.
It should be noted that there is uncertainty in the designation of this state. The phrase “mental satiety” is more suitable for denoting a state of monotony, and “mental satiety” should mean exactly satiety, when a satiated person continues to eat, as a result of which he develops an aversion to food. The authors, however, either do not separate these two states, or, as is the case with L. S. Slavina (1969), the state of “saturation” (monotony) is called the state of “saturation”. The lack of separation of the state of monotony and mental satiety is found in K. Levin and A. Karsten, as well as in N. Mayer. There is reason to suspect that in their experiments we can talk about monotony, and not satiety. At least in their works there are no clear symptoms of the latter.
In a number of works (Fetiskin, Ilyin, Vysotskaya, 1974; Zamkova et al., 1981; Fetiskin, Ershova, Polyakova, 1984) it was shown that the state of mental satiety is accompanied by the appearance of a feeling of irritation in relation to the activity performed, disgust for it. This increase in emotional arousal was accompanied by characteristic changes in neurodynamic and psychomotor parameters. So, according to the “external” balance, a tendency was revealed to shift it towards excitation, and according to the “internal” balance, towards inhibition. The time of a simple sensorimotor reaction remained unchanged, and often even increased, while the time of a complex (differentiation) reaction was shortened. All this occurred against the background of increased parasympathetic influences, which manifested itself in a decrease in heart rate and muscle tone at rest, as well as a decrease in muscle strength. The volume of lung ventilation and oxygen consumption decreased, and, accordingly, energy consumption. More than half of the subjects showed a shift pH to the sour side. The frequency of the main tone of speech slightly increased, which is typical for an irritated intonation of the voice.
Thus, with the development of states of monotony and mental satiety, both identical and different changes in a number of indicators are observed. The similarity lies in the strengthening of parasympathetic influences as a reaction to the monotony of activity. The difference lies in the quality of experiences associated with a decrease in emotional excitation during monotony and its increase during satiety, which is reflected in the neurodynamic indicators of «external» and «internal» balance and the time of a simple and complex sesomotor reaction. If, during monotony, excitation increased in the motor cortical centers to increase the toning of the cortex, then during satiety, on the contrary, the excitation of the motor centers decreased in order to reduce the tonicity of the cerebral cortex, which was in a state of high activation. Hence, the measure to combat the state of mental satiety is the cessation of this activity.
The state of mental satiety most often appeared as a result of a state of monotony, if the work did not stop, but could arise initially (although it cannot be ruled out that the state of monotony still existed, but not very pronounced and short-lived, as a result of which it was not reflected in the experiences person). In the latter case, persons with a weak nervous system and mobility of excitation, i.e., with characteristics that distinguish the choleric type of temperament, turned out to be unstable to a state of mental satiety. In addition, as for monotonically unstable ones, they are characterized by the predominance of inhibition according to the “internal” balance, i.e., a low need for activity.
7.4. The phenomenon of «emotional burnout»
At the end of the XNUMXth century, the phenomenon of “emotional burnout” attracted great interest of researchers as a specific type of professional chronic condition of people working with people (teachers, psychologists, psychiatrists, priests, policemen, lawyers, coaches, service workers, etc.).
The essence of the phenomenon. The term «emotional burnout» (burnout) was introduced by the American psychiatrist X. J. Freudenberg (1974) to characterize the psychological state of healthy people who are in intensive and close communication with clients, patients in an emotionally saturated atmosphere when providing professional assistance. Initially, this term was defined as a state of exhaustion, exhaustion with a sense of one’s own uselessness. Then the phenomenon of «emotional burnout» was detailed, as a result of which its syndrome was distinguished (Maslach, 1982; Pelman, Hartman, 1982). B. Pelman and E. Hartman, summarizing many definitions of «burnout», singled out three main components: emotional and / or physical exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced work productivity. In the context of this book, the main interest, of course, is the first component — «burnout».
Emotional exhaustion is manifested in feelings of emotional overstrain and in a feeling of emptiness, exhaustion of one’s emotional resources. A person feels that he cannot give himself to work with the same enthusiasm, desire, as before.
Depersonalization is associated with the emergence of an indifferent and even negative attitude towards people served by the nature of their work. Contacts with them become formal, impersonal; emerging negative attitudes may at first be hidden and manifest themselves in internally restrained irritation, which eventually breaks out and leads to conflicts. Similar conditions take place in closed work teams that perform joint activities for a long time (up to six months).
Reduced work productivity is manifested in a decrease in self-esteem of one’s competence (in a negative perception of oneself as a professional), dissatisfaction with oneself, and a negative attitude towards oneself as a person. SA Garanin (30) discovered a similar phenomenon in teachers with more than 1993 years of experience.
The three main factors that play a significant role in «emotional burnout» include the following: personal, role and organizational.
The influence of personality traits. Empathy, humanity, gentleness, enthusiasm, idealization, introversion, fanaticism are distinguished among the personal characteristics that contribute to «burnout» (X. Freudenberg). There is evidence that women experience emotional exhaustion faster than men, although this is not confirmed in all studies. A. Pines and colleagues (1982) established a connection between «burnout» and a sense of self-importance in the workplace, with professional advancement, autonomy and the level of control on the part of management. The significance of the work is a barrier to the development of «burnout». At the same time, dissatisfaction with professional growth, the need for support, lack of autonomy contribute to «burnout». VI Kovalchuk (2000) notes the role of such personality traits as self-esteem and locus of control. People with low self-esteem and an external locus of control are more threatened by tension and therefore more vulnerable and prone to burnout.
K. Kondo (Kondo, 1991) considers those who resolve stressful situations aggressively, competitively, unrestrainedly, at any cost, as well as «workaholics», i.e. people who decide to devote themselves only to the implementation of workers goals who have found their calling and work to oblivion.
The role factor manifests itself in role conflict, role uncertainty (Kondo, 1991; Kuunarpuu, 1984).
External factors. The organizational factor contributing to the development of «burnout» includes: many hours of work that is not properly evaluated, has difficult to measure content, requiring exceptional productivity; the inadequacy of the nature of the leadership on the part of the authorities to the content of the work, etc.
As V. I. Kovalchuk notes, among organizational factors, “burnt out” persons indicate the following reasons for “burnout”: excessive stress and volume of work, especially with unrealistic deadlines for its implementation; monotony of work due to too many repetitions; investing in the work of large personal resources with insufficient recognition and positive evaluation; physical exhaustion, insufficient rest or lack of normal sleep; work without further professional development; tension and conflicts in interpersonal relationships; insufficient support from colleagues; emotional saturation or cognitive complexity of communication, etc.
The presence of the syndrome of «emotional burnout» was shown in teachers (Formanyuk, 1994; Rumyantseva, 1998), doctors and nurses (Abramova, Yudchits, 1998; Malysheva, 2000; Dierendonck et al., 1994; Schaufeli, Yanczur, 1994), scientists (Noworol, Marek, 1994), managers (Vodopyanova et al., 1997). Thus, this syndrome is apparently quite common among many professions, including those not explored by psychologists.