Soviet Psychology

ISSN: 0038-5751 (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/mrpo19

Toward the Establishment of a Developmental

Reflexology

V. M. Bekhterev & N. M. Shchelovanov

To cite this article: V. M. Bekhterev & N. M. Shchelovanov (1969) Toward the Establishment of a
Developmental Reflexology, Soviet Psychology, 8:1, 7-25

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.2753/RPO1061-040508017

Published online: 19 Dec 2014.

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 V. M. Bekhterev and N. M. Shchelovanov

TOWARD THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A

DEVELOPMENTAL REFLEXOLOGY*

A reflexological study of child development was first at-

tempted by Academician V. M. Bekhterev in a s e r i e s of studies
published in Vestnik psikhologiya from 1908 onward.(l) An in-
dependent reflexology department was established at the Petro-
grad Pedological Institute in 1922. Here, under the direction
of Bekhterev and Department Head N. Shchelovanov and their
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colleagues (Director M. P. Denisova, N. L. Figurin, Director

A. M. Lukina, Director V. N. Dobrokhotova, Director Z . F.
Khlestova), a systematic investigation was carried out that in-
volved continuous observation and recording of all the responses
of children to external and internal stimuli, as well as the re-
flexological experiment and other methods. An extremely large
amount of factual data was accumulated (over 4,000 pages of
daily reports and protocols of experiments involving infants up
to the age of six months who were under the care of the Infant
Department of the Institute). The present report is a summary
of analyses of only a part of these factual data.
We believe that psychology does not have a developmental
method, since it is impossible to study empirically the con-
sciousness of infants or older children. Hence psychology is
deprived of the most valuable method of the disciplines of nat-
ural science.

*Report to the Plenary Session of the Conference on Psycho-

neurology, Leningrad, January 3, 1924 (an abbreviated account).

7
 8 SOVIET PSYCHOLOGY

At the present time, general adult reflexology has reached a

certain stage of refinement, thanks to the numerous experimen-
tal investigations carried out in the laboratories of Bekhterev,
where, since 1907, a special reflexological experiment has been
employed for the first time on humans. This method makes it
possible to form new functional connections in the nervous sys-
tem and to elucidate the basic principles of the development of
higher reactions o r combinative reflexes in man. These inves-
tigations led to the publication of the work General principles
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of human reflexology, in which pertinent methodological, gen-

eral biological, and empirical data on human reflexology are
given.
But the cerebral mechanisms of an adult human are extreme-
ly complex. Their functioning is conditioned not only by direct-
acting external and internal stimuli (chemical, etc.) but by all
past experience as well, as a result of which complex, function-
al connections a r e formed in the nervous system. Consequently,
even if a reflexological experiment is utilized, it is extremely
difficult to elucidate thoroughly the complex, functional, ner -
vous system relationships that lie at the basis of adult behavior-
al mechanisms and to establish the general principles and in-
dividual peculiarities of nervous system functioning. It is all
the more difficult, and sometimes even impossible, to deter-
mine the origins of different personality characteristics and
peculiarities in personal responses, i.e., to ascertain which
are hereditarily organized and which a r e produced by individ-
ual experience through interaction with the environment (both
the physical and the social, as is predominantly the case with
humans).
For this reason the developmental method acquires an es-
pecially important significance for reflexology. The subject
-
matter of developmental study the human child - is born
the most incompletely developed of the newborn of all living
creatures. Its nervous system, especially its higher levels,
is both morphologically and functionally quite undeveloped at
birth, so that its development, as well as that of the human or-
ganism in general, takes place gradually over a long period of
 FALL 1969 9

time. This drastic simplicity, which distinguishes a child from

an adult and makes it impossible to interpret a child's reac-
tions by analogy with adult experiences, is also extremely valu-
able for objective investigation. A carefully coordinated study
of the development of a child's responses from the moment of
birth, carried out in a special institution (the Pedological De-
partment) in which everything is available for work with the
suitable methods, and studies of the histogenesis of the nervous
system, such as are now being carried out in the histological
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laboratory of the Institute for Brain Research in conjunction

with studies on the development of complex responses, mark
the beginnings of an approach to an elucidation of the most im-
portant problems of evolution. It has been confirmed that reac-
tions undergo gradual changes toward greater complexity, dif-
ferentiation, variety, and scope, and that complex interactions
take place between responses. In addition, gradual changes take
place in the general characteristics of responses and in the ba-
sic functional states such as sleeping and waking. These dis-
coveries help to shed light on the role not only of external, di-
rectly observable stimuli in eliciting responses but also of the
internal conditions of occurrence and elaboration of responses.
A physiological and neurological analysis discloses the basic
principles of the physiological development of the nervous sys-
tem and shows the relationship between changes in nervous
system function and the ontogenetic development of brain con-
nections. Since personality development is a consequence of
natural characteristics, on the one hand, and the interaction of
the individual with the environment (physical and social), on the
other, a developmental method will distinguish what in the de-
velopment of personality is attributable to biological factors
and what is attributable to social factors, i.e., which responses
o r individual constituents of complex responses together with
their neurophysiological foundations are hereditarily organized
and which are formed through personal experience. In addition,
the developmental method will help to determine which heredi-
tarily organized responses o r simple reflexes underlie the de-
velopment of higher responses o r systems of combinative re-
 10 SOVIET PSYCHOLOGY

flexes and in what order, at what time, and under what condi-
tions these responses o r systems of reflexes develop.
In the empirical part of this report we present the character-
istics of the content and development of the chief types of re-
sponses during the first five months of a child's life and estab-
lish the most important developmental principles of these re-
sponses. Special attention is given to the gradual formation of
dominant processes (or, for brevity's sake, dominants) in the
central nervous system.
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The principle of the dominant has recently been proposed by

Prof. Ukhtomskiy as one of the general and most important
principles of nerve center function, and is based on his exper-
imental data on warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals. The
principle implies essentially that the strongest focus of exci-
tation, regardless of which section of the central nervous sys-
tem it occurs in, determines the discharge paths of nervous
excitation. This focus attracts, as it were, excitation from oth-
er nerve paths and induces inhibition in other nerve centers.
In an analysis of factual material on the development of a
child's responses, an examination of the gradually increasing
complexity of interaction between responses raises fundamen-
tal questions. In the processing of data gathered at the Pedo-
logical Institute, a special type of response has been distin-
guished, examples of which are the food responses of an in-
fant from the very beginning, then, as the child develops, re-
sponses to appropriate stimuli to the eye and ear, manifested
as visual and auditory concentration, and, finally, certain
other responses that have been called functionally predominant
on the basis of physiological criteria. These last responses
have been distinguished as a special type not only because of
their physiological peculiarities but also because they play an
important role in the genesis of all complex responses gener-
ally. The principle of the dominant in nerve center function,
which was proposed by Prof. Ukhtomskiy and firmly substan-
tiated in animal experiments, fully elucidates the neurophysio-
logical basis of these functionally predominant reactions. For
t h i s reason, the writers established that those dominant pro-
 FALL 1969 11

cesses that are present at birth o r that develop gradually in an

infant's nervous system a r e the chief factors in the development
of later complex responses and in the functional perfection of
an infant's nervous system as a whole.
A newborn infant has only one distinct dominant, which oc-
curs during sucking o r during positive food responses in gen-
eral, such as in primary orienting food responses, e.g., turning
of the head with open mouth, or "searching." Sucking and
searching are induced by both external stimuli (touching the
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lips and, on the first days, simultaneously touching the tip of

the tongue induce sucking, whereas touching the corners of the
mouth o r the chin near the mouth causes searching) and inter-
nal stimuli. For example, hunger in a child elicits not only a
general reaction, usually movements and crying, but also spe-
cific food responses, sucking and searching, even when there
a r e no external stimuli operating. It may thus be inferred that
hunger ("hungry bloodtf)acts as a chemical stimulant, first on
the entire nervous system, eliciting a general reaction, and,
secondly, predominantly o r selectively on food centers, pro-
ducing specific food responses even without external stimuli.
The selective action on food centers takes place even during
satiation, when positive food responses usually do not occur
even under the influence of their usual external stimulants,
which in such cases cause instead a defensive food response
in the form of compression of the lips. When food responses
occur, all prior general responses such as movement and cry-
ing a r e arrested o r inhibited; in addition, it often happens that
a fading o r extinguished sucking response is again revived o r
even strengthened by outside stimuli, for example, skin stimu-
li (fondling). This is an indication of the presence of broad
functional connections and a dominant process in the nervous
system. Thus, positive food responses in a newborn infant are
physiologically very strong and refined, which is in full ac-
cord with their biological significance for the child. Another
dominant, less pronounced, in a newborn child occurs as a re-
sult of a quick change of position (for example, when the child
is changed from a horizontal to a vertical position): a crying
 12 SOVIET PSYCHOLOGY

and stirring child becomes temporarily quiet and motionless.

Here the dominant process in the nervous system is apparently
elicited by stimulation of the semicircular canals, since merely
the varied muscle- joint stimuli arising from passive movements
of every description do not cause inhibition of movements and
crying unless there is also movement of the head. All of the
other various reactions of a newborn infant differ from these
dominant reactions in that when they occur they do not inhibit
other reactions and have a seemingly local character. Such
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are reflexes elicited by external stimuli to different sensitive

'
areas, e.g., the skin, mucosa, tendons, ears, eyes, etc. It is
convenient to classify these reflexes in two groups: (a) simple
specific, and (b) complex specific reflexes. Complexspecific
reflexes elicited by appropriate stimuli to the eyes and e a r s
(for example, turning the eyes and head toward an active light
stimulus, and following a shiny moving object with the eyes and
head) in a newborn a r e fully analogous to simple reflexes inso-
far as they have no marked effect (inhibition) on other concur-
rent responses, i.e., they have a local character. Complex
specific reflexes differ from simple reflexes not just in their
complexity but chiefly in the fact that, whereas simple reflexes
(skin, tendon, etc.) undergo comparatively slight changes in
their subsequent development, complex reflexes begin to inter-
act with other responses occurring in concert with broad and
dominant nervous system processes. The latter are induced
by stimulation of the eyes and e a r s and are manifested as con-
centration o r as positive functioning of the stimulated organ
along with general a r r e s t of all other concurrent responses.
In addition to the responses indicated, general o r complex non-
specific reactions in the form of general movements, frequently
accompanied by crying, often occur in response to both exter -
nal and internal stimuli (hunger, or, as the leading example of
an external stimulus, temperature changes affecting large skin
areas, such as occur during defecation, urination, and diaper -
changing). During these reactions, limb movements are char-
acterized by small-amplitude flexions in all joints in an i r r e g -
ular rhythm, even while the limbs as a whole still retain a
 FALL 1969 13

general flexed position and the legs usually move alternately.

A vocal response usually occurs as soon as movements have
begun; in some of our observations this was within a minute on
the first day, and thereafter within a few seconds. The flexed
position of a r m s and legs was due to dominance of flexors;
Kernig's sign was distinct in the legs of the full-term infants.
A flexed position was assumed each time the limbs were freed
of diapers in a waking state; bending of the limbs and throwing
back of the head are among the first movements a sleeping
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child makes on awaking. Such general reactions, i.e., move-

ments and crying of a newborn child, occur relatively frequent-
ly throughout the first month; this is the result of functional pe-
culiarities of the infant nervous system, which is inclined to-
ward irradiation of excitation.
Responses are gradually modified and refined as the child
develops. From the extremely large quantity of material we
have on hand, we shall give here only data that are pertinent
to the development of responses to stimulation of the eyes and
ears and to the development of combinative reflexes, which a r e
the most essential for characterizing child development.
The development of eye responses has the following stages:
1. A reflex stage beginning on the first day. All movements
of the ocular apparatus take place, but as local reflexes that
do not interfere with other responses.
2. From the third week on, eye responses begin to inter-
act with (inhibit) other reactions. From about the 20th day,
a red light begins to inhibit crying, and the eye is arrested
briefly by the stimulus. On the 22nd day, other movements
a r e arrested as the eyes follow a moving stimulus. On the
same day, sucking is stopped by a red light. During the
same period, the excitability of eye responses is somewhat
reduced, i.e., it becomes more difficult to arrest o r catch
the eye with a bright o r shiny object, o r to induce the eyes
to follow an object moving before them. This is apparently
attributable to the fact that when interaction with other
response systems begins, nervous excitation due to stimula-
tion of the retina is also directed to the innervation of
 14 SOVIET PSYCHOLOGY

movements, the respiratory mechanism, etc., as a result

of which movements and crying are arrested when eye r e -
sponses occur. But the reverse is also the case. When
functional connections exist between eye movements and,
for example, general movements, excitation arising in the
innervation system of general movements is also able to prop-
agate innervation to the eye, and in some cases thereby to
create unfavorable conditions for its functioning, as is evident
in a decrease in the excitability of eye responses.
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3 , From the second month on, reactions from the eyes become
specifically dominant so that eye responses to an appropriate
stimulus occur more quickly, while at the same time prior re-
sponses, such as general movements and even crying, are ar-
rested. But this reaction always quickly subsides until approx-
imately the middle of the second month, i.e., concentration of
the gaze on the source of a stimulus while other movements
are arrested lasts only briefly. During the second half of the
second month, the functional mechanisms of eye responses and
t h e i r interaction with other responses are perfected, as is seen
in the fact that these responses to a stimulus occur more quick-
ly, even if they occur during general unrest and in the gradual
increase in the duration of concentration on a source of visual
stimulation as other movements and other reactions are simul-
taneously arrested. Records show instances of concentration
on light stimuli for about ten minutes, which is evidence of the
high functional competence of the visual system and of its dom-
inant character. Visual concentration begins to occur not just
in those cases in which a special stimulus is applied to the eyes
to induce a reaction; in addition, independent eye movements,
especially toward resonant objects in the field of vision, begin
to be noticed.
4. In the middle of the third month, the head and eyes begin
to turn toward an unseen object. This response is apparently
one of the first audiovisual combinative reflexes, i.e., it arises
out of a newly completed audiovisual connection formed as a
result of many repetitions of combined auditory and visual stim-
uli (i.e., visible and at the same time resonant objects). As
 FALL 1969 15

soon as this connection is formed, i.e., as soon as the eyes be-

gin to turn toward resonant objects, considerably more opportu-
nities to receive visual stimuli, and hence to develop visual con-
centration, are created. During this same period visual concen-
tration also becomes to a considerable extent the quantitatively
dominant state in the infant's overall behavior.
5. During visual concentration, functional interactions occur-
ring when there a r e eye reactions are not restricted just to in-
hibition of general movements, arrest of respiration, and cry-
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ing. As soon as inhibitory interaction has been established, sev-

eral specific motor reactions begin to accompany visual con-
centration. More will be said about these later.
The development of interaction between responses to audi-
tory stimuli: Responses to an auditory stimulus pass through
the following developmental stages.
(1) Local reflexes. A sharp and abrupt sound (handclap,
shrill bell, etc., at a short distance) causes quivering o r
blinking of the eyelids in a newborn independent of other
responses. In very rare instances, some of our infants
gave a general start in response to a sharp sound.
(2) From the third week on, cases of inhibition of various
responses by an auditory stimulus a r e noted in our daily
records. Thus, for example, on the 15th day one of our in-
fants stopped sucking upon hearing bell sounds, did the same
on the 22nd day, and on the 23rd day fell silent and stopped
moving in response to the sounds. But in this initial stage
of development of interactions, inhibition usually does not
set in at once and lasts only briefly, although the auditory
stimulus may continue. In addition, sometimes during this
period not only do auditory stimuli not cause inhibition of
responses in progress when the stimulus is presented, but
a reflex itself (blinking) does not even appear. Auditory stim-
uli are still unable to wake the child during this time. Sharp
sounds cause quivering of the eyelids, head movements, and
sometimes general movements in a sleeping child, although
he does not awaken. These movements subside with repeat-
ed stimulation. These facts indicate that as yet there exist
 16 SOVIET PSYCHOLOGY

no broad connections through which nervous excitation can be

propagated.
(3) From the middle of the second month on, auditory stim-
uli cause specifically dominant responses, manifested in a
rapid and complete inhibition of previously operative motor
responses that persists for a short time even after the stim-
ulus stops, During this time it is possible to wake the child
with auditory stimuli (sharp and sudden bell sounds). One in-
fant was awakened on the 44th day at the beginning of sleep
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and on the 54th day during deep sleep. The rapidity of devel-
opment of inhibition and its duration increase with time.
Thus, on the 68th day accordion-playing induced inhibition
in the form of almost total arrest of all movement for almost
ten minutes.
It should be noted that auditory stimuli have different effects
as a function of the state of the child at the time they are ap-
plied. When motor responses and crying are manifested, inhi-
bition usually occurs, although sometimes when a response is
very pronounced it cannot be arrested. But when a child is mo-
tionless, auditory stimuli usually cause motor responses
whether the child is sleeping or awake.
When interaction has already been established, i.e., from the
middle of the second month on, the general response varies as
a function of the nature of the external stimulus, so that sharp
and abrupt sounds produce a general quivering and then inhibi-
tion, whereas sibilant and generally piercing and long-lasting
sounds such as "shshshsh" o r ''rrrrr" first produce a sharply
pronounced inhibition and then movements and crying, which a r e
especially distinct in somewhat older children. A variety of al-
ternating sounds (e.g., a set of bells) begins gradually to liven
movements, especially if they are presented in conjunction with
visual stimuli,
Before turning to an analysis of the factual material present-
ed, we must also give some empirical data on the development
of the first and earliest combinative reflexes, i.e., responses
that are developed through personal experience from contact
with the environment. Combinative reflexes are the result of
 FALL 1969 17

the establishment of new central nervous system functional

connections formed as a result of simultaneous o r consecutive
functioning of different nerve centers activated by two o r more
simultaneously o r consecutively acting external o r internal
stimuli on different sensitive areas.
The very first combinative reflex is elaborated during the
first month of life, and consists of the following: If a child is
taken in one's a r m s in a feeding position, he displays a set of
food responses without any special stimulus acting on the food
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zone. The child begins to "search,Tti.e., he turns his head to

the side, usually opening his mouth at the same time, and then
makes rhythmic sucking movements, i.e., movements with the
tongue, lower jaw, etc. Our colleagues at the Infant Depart-
ment were astonished at the early appearance of this reaction
(which in some infants clearly appeared as early as the middle
of the first month) and hence became especially interested in
its elucidation. It could be assumed that this is a simple r e -
flex in response to a direct stimulus, for example, an olfactory
o r heat stimulus from the mother's breast, o r a combinative
reflex in response to some constituent of a complex stimulus
acting as a kind of signal always preceding feeding and persist-
ing during the act of feeding itself. Usually, breast-feeding of
children is preceded in our institution by the same circum-
stances: first, the child's diaper is changed; next, he is weighed,
before each feeding; then he is taken by the mother in the feed-
ing position and given a breast, which he sucks. When the child
is in the feeding position he is exposed to a number of stimuli,
for example, muscle-joint stimuli, stimuli from the semicir-
cular canals, visual, olfactory, and temperature stimuli, etc.
A s is evident from the above, all the usual conditions are p r e s -
ent for fostering a combinative reflex, i.e., the same condi-
tions as we create for elaborating artificial combinative re-
flexes in a special laboratory experiment, namely, the func-
tioning of one of the basic responses (sucking) and the regular-
ly concurring and preceding action of specific external stimuli.
Our colleagues carried out analytical experiments in which dif-
 18 SOVIET PSYCHOLOGY

ferent components were excluded from this complex reflex at

different times. From the results obtained, we can regard it
as a fact that the occurrence of food responses under the con-
ditions indicated amounts to a combinative reflex arising in
response to a specific, although complex, signal, namely, to
the position in which the child usually is held during feeding.
Let us look at some of the numerous experiments performed
by our colleagues to analyze this response: If the child is taken
in a vertical position and brought up to the mother's bared
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breast, with a drop of milk secreted on the nipple, a food r e -

sponse does not occur. However, i f the child is taken in the
feeding position by one of the experimenters (a man), the child
begins to make sucking movements.
It is evident that the first and earliest combinative reflex is
the food response to a feeding position. During the first month
this reflex is elaborated in all normal, breast-fed infants, since
all the necessary external conditions for its formation a r e p r e s -
ent in breast -feeding. We shall consider later an analysis of
the internal physiological and neurological conditions of this
and all other combinative reflexes in general.
Proceeding further on the basis of the above-mentioned "nat-
ural experiments," our colleagues also produced artificial, i.e.,
specially developed, combinative reflexes to a food response
during breast-feeding as follows: Beginning from the ninth day
after birth, an audiovisual signal (a round red lamp lit in the
child's field of vision at a relatively short distance from his
eyes, with a simultaneous ringing of an electric bell) was pre-
sented to the child every day before each feeding and for a cer-
tain time during feeding (six times a day), i.e., when the child
was in a feeding position near the breast without initially seeing
it, and then for a short time after the child had begun to suck.
In this case also, the best conditions were evidently present
for the development of a combinative reflex, which in fact did
occur as soon as the corresponding internal neurological and
physiological conditions were created for formation of a visual-
food and auditory-food connection. Tests f o r the presence o r
absence of a corresponding combinative reflex were made from
 FALL 1969 19

time to time when the child was lying in his crib, not in a feed-
ing position in his mother's arms. The first observation of a
food reflex in the form of very vague sucking motions in re-
sponse to a light-sound signal was made on the 47th day after
birth. Distinct food responses in the usual crib position of a
child, in the form of sucking movements and "searching," i.e.,
side movements of the head, began to be observed as a response
to a light-sound signal on the 71st day. Further tests with the
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different components of this signal gave different results: a

response to the sound component was obtained in almost every
test, but to the light component, only very seldom.
The earliest discrimination was observed with this same ar-
tificial combinative reflex. The daily records of our infant
showed that food responses to a light-sound signal rarely oc-
curred from the 121st day onward. When they did occur, they
were faint and delayed. Beginning at the same time, food re-
sponses no longer occurred when the child was held i n the a r m s
of the mother o r any other persons. As a rule, sucking move-
ments began only when the child was brought up to the breast
and perceived it. At the same time, the child began to c r y more
often and distinctly when feeding was arrested while he was in
the mother's arms. A discrimination had evidently been devel-
oped, since the child displayed a direct food reaction only in
response to a food object, and food reactions did not occur in
response to signals.
From among the natural combinative reflexes developed
during the first months of life, the following a r e yet to be men-
tioned: At the end of the second month, indistinct turning of
the head and eyes toward an invisible auditory stimulus occurs.
In the middle of the third month (from the 75th day on, in the child
in whom food reflexes in response to light and sound were ob-
tained), this reaction of turning toward an invisible sound was
more distinct, more frequent, and more rapid. At the begin-
ning of the fifth month, there occurred a distinct search f o r the
mother, who disappeared from the field of vision by hiding be-
hind the crib, but continued to speak.
Discrimination of complex visual stimuli also occurred at
 20 SOVIET PSYCHOLOGY

the beginning of the fifth month. Thus, a somewhat more com-

plex response is obtained when the mother approaches than
when others approach.
At this same time, the first attempts to grasp visible objects
are noticed, although the hand movements a r e still crude.
Grasping of visible objects is a visual-motor combinative r e -
flex, elaborated as follows: in visual concentration, especial-
ly on approaching objects, the a r m s are raised upward (per-
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pendicular to the body) so that the hands hit the visible object.
A visual-motor connection is formed as a result of frequent
coincidence of visual concentration with physical contact.
The facts presented give rise to a number of questions con-
cerning the formation of combinative reflexes and make it pos-
sible to explain the external conditions of formation of combina-
tive reflexes. In addition, and what is especially important,
these data help to shed light on the internal physiological-neuro-
logical conditions, with the aid of developmental analysis, taking
into consideration all the circumstances of their initial appear-
ance, beginning with their complete absence in the newborn.
The facts show a definite relationship between the formation of
a combinative reflex and the development of dominant processes
in the central nervous system, since a comhinative reflex can
be developed only when a sensitive area when stimulated gives
r i s e to a dominant functional interaction in the central nervous
system. Thus there are naturally no combinative reflexes in a
newborn infant. There are, however, two dominants: the food
response ‘and the response produced by change of position. And
we see that when these dominants a r e present, a connection
forms only between them: specifically, a combinative reflex
manifested as a food response that occurs when the child is
placed in the usual breast-feeding position. No other combina-
tive reflexes a r e obtained from other sensitive areas until the
appropriate dominants appear. Later during the second and at
the beginning of the third month, development and functional re-
finement of dominant processes in response to eye and e a r
stimuli take place. Thereafter, dominant processes induced by
the corresponding stimuli result in the formation of new func-
 FALL 1969 21

tional connections, i.e., combinative reflexes a r e elaborated:

audio-food - such as sucking in response to a bell signal, faint
at first on the 47th day, and distinct from the 71st day on; visu-
al-food - sucking in response to simultaneous stimulation of the
eye; and audiovisual - turning of the eyes and head toward an
invisible object, vague at the end of the second month and dis-
tinct on the 75th day.
Dominant functional relationships are also an important fac-
tor for the formation of complex specific movements.
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The developmentally primary dominant, which suppresses all

other movements, affects t h e formation of the earliest discrete
specific movements in the following way: The infant's hand in-
duces sucking during general movements and crying when it by
chance comes into contact with the lips (this occurs frequently
in a newborn because of the flexed position of the limbs due to
predominance of flexors, so that when the child's diaper is
changed, his fingers usually come up close to h i s face). For
this reason, all movements, including hand movements, are
arrested o r inhibited, so that the hand remains near the mouth
for a certain time, and the child begins to hold his hand, as a
sucking object, in that position in the very first month, even
when other movements a r e disinhibited. This is one example
of discrimination of primary, complex, nonspecific movements.
Another instance of discrimination is evident when general move
ments are inhibited by a complex, nonspecific reaction result-
ing from a food response, and later from auditory and visual
stimuli that also become dominant with development. This in-
hibition is frequently incomplete, i.e., the movements of some
parts of the body are arrested while others persist, which also
evidently assists the gradual differentiation of complex move-
ments. A third instance occurs in the case of general inhibi-
tion of motor responses during visual concentration, in a child
about two months old or older, in which specific motor re-
sponses associated with convergence and accommodation of the
visual apparatus are elicited. For example, if a child is caused
to concentrate visually on some object and then this object is
repeatedly brought nearer, then drawn away, and again brought
 22 SOVIET PSYCHOLOGY

nearer the face, the general a r r e s t of movements first accom-

panying visual concentration gradually gives way to specific
movements in the form of opening of the mouth, sometimes
smiling, and throwing back of the head; if the approach and
withdrawal of the object a r e continued, movements of the arms,
alterations in breathing, and sometimes a vocal response (iso-
lated sounds) occur. In a fourth instance, in a period of general
inhibition during visual concentration, the action of another
stimulus on another organ, for example, the ear o r skin, also eli -
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cits specific motor responses, alterations in breathing, and a

vocal response. In particular, combined audiovisual o r visual-
dermal stimuli elicit discriminated vocal reactions in the form
of the first cooing, In the third and fourth cases, general inhi-
bition is accompanied by functional discrimination manifested
in specific responses to external stimuli.
- There a r e no early forms of mimicry of movements,
Note:
vocal responses, o r anything else, as some authors state.
Early mimicry of movements noted by psychologists (such
as opening the mouth [ Preyer] o r sound mimicry [ Stern]) are
spurious during the first months of life. Neither opening of
the mouth nor utterance of certain sounds is reproduction
of an active stimulus, but is simply a subsidiary reaction
occurring by means of irradiation of excitation along certain
pathways in response to complex stimuli, for example, a
visible object, i.e., a speaking person whose presence
causes visual concentration. Until the fifth month, and even
much later, we were unable to find evidence of any sort of
mimicry. Mimicry is evidently possible only against a
background of combinative reflexes.
In a newborn child, a sleeping state predominates, during
which a considerable number of varied local responses a r e
elicited, without complete awakening, in response to external
and, primarily, internal stimuli. Only partial awakening occurs.
Complete awakening occurs only when external irritations are
operative over broad skin areas (for example, exposure during
diaper -changing, a temperature stimulus, o r after defecation
and urination), as a result of which many of the functionally
 FALL 1969 23

mature regions of the nervous system are naturally activated.

An especially important factor in the awakening of an infant is
an internal stimulus, such as hunger, because of its systemic
chemical effect on the entire central and autonomic nervous
system.
Later, when extensive, dominant, functional relationships de-
velop in response to stimulation of the eyes and ears, general
awakening can also occur as a result of a sufficiently intense
stimulation of these sense organs.
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At first a waking state is usually accompanied by general

restlessness, and frequently by a cry; then calm wakening
states with a predominance of dominant reactions, such as ob-
servation and listening, gradually evolve. Calm waking states
also become quantitatively more frequent.
Thus, the following a r e apparently necessary for a general
waking state: in a newborn, the presence of a nervous process
in different sections of the nervous system in response to pro-
longed stimuli acting on several excitable regions. Later, how-
ever, after complex functional relationships have been es-
tablished, a general waking state can be produced by merely
local stimulation leading to activation of the system of function-
ally connected centers. From the foregoing it is clear that the
developmental process first involves manifestations of local
waking under the influence of prolonged and widespread stimu-
lation, but with time a general waking state is produced even by
local irritations.
A waking state depends on: (a) the functional viability of the
nervous system, based on internal factors; (b) external stimu-
li; and (c) functional connections. If any o n e i f these factors is
absent, sleep occurs. In addition, the inhibitory effect of pro-
longed and monotonous external stimulation must be borne in
mind.
From the empirical part of the report we draw the following
conclusions:
1. In addition to inherent simple and complex specific reflex-
es and general nonspecific reflexes, inherent dominant reb
sponses, suchas the food dominant and the position dominant,
 24 SOVIET PSYCHOLOGY

a r e present in the newborn infant.

2. The first essential stage in a child's development is the
appearance of a dominant from other sensitive areas, of which
the most important a r e the visual and auditory dominants.
3. Constant activation of these dominants by means of ex-
ternal stimuli is an important factor in their development and
further refinement.
4. Subsequent dominants from the eyes and ears develop
against a background of general increase in the functional com-
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plexity of initially local reflexes that are elicited from the same
sensitive areas even in a newborn child.
5 . Dominant relationships in the functioning of complex neu-
ral mechanisms a r e the fundamental condition for the forma-
tion of discriminated motor reactions arising against a back-
ground of the original general motor responses and simple re-
flexes, as well as through the later formation of new functional
connections, which then leads to the development of higher re-
sponses of the combinative-reflex type among movements.
6. The time and order of appearance of the earliest combina-
tive reflexes correspond to the order and time of appearance of
dominants. The establishment of new functional connections,
i.e., the formation of combinative reflexes, is possible only in
the presence of general dominant processes (concentration)
that take place not only in the cerebral cortex but also in lower
levels of the nervous system, so that the mechanism of com-
binative reflexes is not confined to just the cortical processes.
Consequently, even the subcortical regions, and other parts of
the organism that innervate them, such as the vascular system,
glands, etc., also affect the formation and functioning of combi-
native reflexes. The possibility of formation of new connections
in the subcortical sections themselves, for example, the appear-
ance of a food response in the feeding position during the first
month of life, must also be admitted.
7. One of the most fundamental problems of the developmental
method is the evolution of a waking state as a functional
state, which is the basic prerequisite for all higher reactions
in general.
 FALL 1969 25

8. The primary developmental state is sleep or, more ac-

curately, the absence of a waking state; consequently, with a
developmental method it is possible both to follow the quanti-
tative expansion of waking and to shed light on the external and
internal conditions of development of the waking state. It is
therefore clear that the problem of sleep can ultimately be
solved only in connection with an elucidation of the nature of
waking, since sleep occurs when conditions necessary for the
occurrence and maintenance of waking are removed.
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Footnote

1) These studies are enumerated at the end of V. M. Bekh-

terev's book General principles of human reflexology, 2nd
ed., 1923. In addition, IS. P. Livshits and, later, Veselovskaya,
Director Boldyreva, and others did research in the same field
under the direction of Bekhterev during the initial period of
the Pedological Institute's work.

Translated by Michel Vale