Answer from wild fantasy[expert]
Unconditioned reflexes are relatively constant, hereditarily fixed reactions of the body to certain influences of the outside world, carried out with the help of the nervous system.
instinct (from lat. instinctus - motivation), a set of complex innate reactions (acts of behavior) of the body that occur in response to external or internal stimuli; complex unconditioned reflex (food, defensive, sexual, etc.)
It follows that instinct is an unconditioned reflex

Answer from Yannna50[guru]
"Instinct (from Latin instinctus - motivation), a set of innate complex reactions (acts of behavior) of the body, arising, as a rule, almost unchanged in response to external or internal stimuli. The mechanism of instincts, according to I.P. Pavlov, is an unconditioned reflex , therefore, he considered the concepts of instinct and unconditioned reflex to be identical.
Usually, only complex unconditioned reflexes (food, defensive, sexual, etc.) are called instinct, in contrast to simple unconditioned reflexes (blinking, sneezing, coughing, etc.).

Answer from Fork[guru]
Instinct - a set of behavioral reactions aimed at normal life. The instinct of self-preservation, procreation, These are, in fact, two main, and, accordingly, sub-instincts - nutrition, and others. and the unconditioned reflex is the reaction of the body to the corresponding stimulus. That is, there is a feeding instinct - a newborn baby takes the breast and sucks it. This unconditioned sucking reflex is, as it were, a consequence of the existing sub-instinct of nutrition, arising from the instinct of self-preservation. There is an instinct for procreation. And there are corresponding reflexes - an erection in men, for example. Well, I think it's understandable.

Know yourself and you will know the universe and the gods.

/ Ancient Greek proverb /

A person is born and begins his physical development, which is no different from the development of any other living organism. The leading physiological system of his body is the nervous system, which was formed in higher animals and humans in the process of evolution of living beings. The development of the central nervous system was caused by the need to adapt to the effects of the external environment. Thanks to the activity of the nervous system, we are connected with the surrounding world, we are able to admire its perfection, to learn the secrets of its material phenomena. At the highest stage of its development, the central nervous system acquires another function - it becomes an organ of mental activity, in which sensations, perceptions and thinking appear on the basis of physiological processes. The human brain is an organ that provides the ability social life, communication of people with each other, knowledge of the laws of nature and society. The activity of the nervous system allows a person to actively influence the surrounding nature, transform it in the desired direction.

Academician Ivan Pavlov determined that the nervous activity of the body proceeds at three levels. At the first - basic - a general constant direction of human activity is set throughout life, nervous activity proceeds at the level of instincts given to him by nature and which are the general guidance for the life of the organism. At the second level, the action of the organism is controlled by unconditioned reflexes acquired as a result of evolution. The third level is determined by the action of conditioned reflexes, which were formed as a result of the acquired knowledge and life experience.

All animals have two basic instincts - the instinct of self-preservation and the instinct of reproduction. In man, as a bisexual species of the animal world, the instinct of reproduction becomes a sexual instinct, since it has a difference in form and content relative to the female and male individuals. Instincts, being a general guide to action, do not say anything about how to act in various situations. For example, the instinct of self-preservation gives a signal about the threat to life and mobilizes the forces of the body, but it does not tell you how to overcome the threat, unconditional reflexes of instincts come into play here.

Unconditioned reflexes are congenital, hereditarily transmitted reactions of the body. Unconditioned reflexes are a general guide to action. Their purpose is to suggest possible solutions in specific conditions. The action is performed by the organism, or rather, by the brain, without considering and analyzing the conditions, since the conditions themselves in this case do not provide either time or opportunity. A classic example of an unconditioned reflex action is pulling your hand away from a hot kettle. It should be emphasized that not all unconditioned reflexes appear immediately at the time of birth. Many unconditioned reflexes, for example, those associated with sexual intercourse, occur in animals and humans a long time after birth, but they necessarily appear under the condition of normal development of the nervous system.

Conditioned reflexes are reactions acquired by the body in the process of individual development on the basis of " life experience". They are habitual actions worked out in training and in practical experience in familiar or similar conditions. We do not think about most of our actions, because they have already become habitual. Turning on the TV, we do not look for a button on the remote control, since we know where it is located. Without thinking, we know what to do, even if it is a complex sequence of actions, such as driving a car. Conditioned reflexes are developed on the basis of unconditioned reflexes. Unconditioned reflexes are relatively constant, while conditioned reflexes are impermanent, and depending on certain conditions, they can be developed, consolidated or disappear, this property of them is reflected in their very name.

The primary task of the newborn organism, the fulfillment of which is required by instincts, is its physical and mental development. After birth and up to a certain age, the sexual instinct and its reflexes are inhibited, but they quickly wake up. Human psychology is inextricably linked with human physiology. But there is no need to talk about any psychology of the newborn, therefore, at first, all types of expression of nervous activity are instincts and their unconditioned reflexes. Since the newborn does not have any ideas and concepts about the world around him, but only instincts, then further life is formed in a clash of instincts and living conditions in society. Thus, certain restrictions are developed on the forms and methods of satisfying instincts, taking into account the interests of other people. These restrictions in the process of development are stored in the mind and become conditioned reflexes. The content of these reflexes reflects the requirements of morality, traditions, rights that exist in society. Therefore, it can be reasonably argued that all sexual relations between men and women are based on innate unconditioned reflexes, instincts and conditioned reflexes formed in the process of education in the family and society.

Man was formed in the process of evolution, therefore he has the same instincts as animals. Sechenov and Pavlov proved that human physiology and psychology can be studied to a large extent by the behavior of animals. The study of animals provides more objective data, because their behavior and manifestation of instincts are not influenced by the traditions and norms of social and religious morality. Observations of animals made it possible to reveal the influence of gender characteristics in the distribution of roles in the entire sphere of their life.

With the end of the process of puberty, the male seeks to establish himself as the leader in the pack or in the family. The male tries to attract the attention of females with bold behavior in order to prove his ability to protect them and his high potential in the extraction of livelihoods. The formation of pairs gray geese happens almost the same as in humans, Konrad Lorenz wrote in his book. A young gander is suddenly carried away by some young goose and begins to court her violently, in which her angry father sometimes hinders him very much. The young gander shows his courage in every possible way - he rushes to drive away other ganders and even those that he is usually afraid of. But he does this only when the chosen one can see him. In her presence, he flaunts physical strength in every possible way - soars into the air to fly a short distance, which any goose not blinded by passion will prudently walk. In a word, he behaves like a young man in love. If the goose responds to courtship, they together perform a ritual marriage ceremony, called by ornithologists a triumphant cry. The geese follow this oath of allegiance until the end of their lives.

Animals lack morality and law, so the decisive factor in asserting the status of a leader is physical strength. If a young male cannot establish a dominant position in his native family, then he leaves it. He takes away or beats off females from other families and creates his own. In the hierarchy of the pack, each male occupies a position corresponding to his strength. This feature of the behavior of males is visible in all species of bisexual animals, whose life activity takes place in a herd, herd or family form, so we can talk about the existence of an unconditioned leader reflex.

The female also strives for a dominant position in the family or pack. But, since females are inferior to males in their physical qualities, they can take a dominant position only next to the leader, that is, becoming his favorite and first female. Observations show that the female guards her position next to the leader from attempts by other females, not stopping even before using force. In order to become a leader, a male needs only strength, a female, in order to become a dominant in a family or pack, needs the protection of the leader, the male must bring her closer to him, and for this it is necessary to attract his attention. Female animals do not know how to do makeup, do not wear jewelry and do not dress in exclusive outfits from famous couturiers, instead they simply constantly offer themselves to the leader. Scientists note such behavior in all females whose life activity takes place in a family or pack, which means that it is necessary to talk about the presence of an unconditioned attraction reflex. But attraction itself is not the goal - it is a way to gain status, and therefore we can talk about the presence of an unconditioned dominant reflex in females.

Scientists who study human behavior argue that there is the same subordination of female reflexes in relation to male ones, which is noted in a pack or family of animals. This is contrary to the moral principles of the emancipated part fair half humanity, but obvious to those who are familiar with the basics of the evolution of life. Nature cannot allow the struggle for the place of the leader between the male and the female, this is tantamount to the self-destruction of the species. Women fell into a position dependent on men for economic reasons. Men, by force, became the owners of the means of production and extended these relations to women. And then religion consecrated respect for the owners of property and disregard for women - part of this property.

During puberty, a person begins to operate in full force sexual instinct, which requires the implementation of the leader's reflex and dominance. The desire of a teenager to be the first everywhere, if not in everything, then at least in something - this is an external manifestation of the leader's reflex. Girls look at their image in the mirror for a long time, dress up in their mother's evening dresses, wear her jewelry, put on makeup, trying to find their own style that attracts the attention of boys - they try on the status of a dominant. In adolescence, it is difficult to ensure the implementation of unconditioned leader and dominance reflexes. All places and heights that are attractive for leader status are occupied by adults, so the guys try to realize the leader's reflex in communicating with their peers. They try to stand out with physical strength, the presence of the most sophisticated mobile phone, computer, and a lot of pocket money. Girls strive to stand out with their clothes, unconsciously trying to come through the attraction reflex to dominance. But the main opportunity for all guys to realize their leader reflexes is the possession of a girl. Possession does not have to be physical, moral is enough. There are two types of implementation of the leader's reflex - in the possession of a large number of girls or in the possession of one girl, but the one who recognizes you as the leader, for whom you are the best and irreplaceable. This is the reason why some men cannot calm down until old age, changing wives and mistresses, while others have lived happily all their lives in the same family with one woman. You can also consider two options for the implementation of the dominance reflex in girls, when one needs to shine in society, surrounded by the attention of many admirers, to satisfy the reflex, and the other needs the attention of her boyfriend, for whom she is the only and best in the world. Excessive coquetry, characteristic of some ladies, is associated with the manifestation of this particular reflex.

In childhood, conditioned reflexes of the sexual instinct with all individual features, they are determined by the specific external and internal conditions in which they were formed. Between the two extreme forms of conditioned reflexes, such as the reflex of complete disregard for social norms of morality and law and the reflex of a complete ban on sexuality, there are countless transitional forms. Conditioned reflexes of each person are developed in different conditions, depend on a large number of factors and therefore are strictly individual. Acquired conditioned reflexes of the brain are weaker than innate instincts and their unconditioned reflexes.

Men and women are not always typical in the manifestation of their unconditional reflexes of sexual instincts. There are women with a predominance of masculine traits or reflexes, women who are trying to take on the role of leader in the social circle, at work, in the family. Some men, on the contrary, consciously refuse the role of the leader and claim the status of the dominant. As a rule, everything depends on the relative predominance of female and male hormones, but it can also be caused by serious genetic abnormalities that cast doubt on a person's belonging to a certain sex, despite the presence of pronounced sexual characteristics. Often in men, the unwillingness to take responsibility is explained by conditioned reflexes acquired in childhood as a result of improper upbringing in the family. But it happens that this is just a sober calculation that allows you to get away from everyday difficulties.

Unfortunately, at a young age, many receive a deep mental trauma that haunts them for the rest of their lives. Trauma appears from excessive suppression of the unconditioned reflexes of the leader and the dominant by parents or peers, self-hypnosis of a teenager associated with experienced failures, as well as incorrectly formed conditioned reflexes. In the animal world and primitive society there were no restrictions on the manifestation of reflexes and, therefore, there were no negative consequences caused by contradictions between human physiology and social norms of morality and law. In our civilized society, families collapse from these restrictions and contradictions, people go crazy and become maniacs, but the sexual instinct and its leader and dominant reflexes will never disappear from the human genetic code. We are still only one of the species of the animal world.

Most people find it difficult to think of themselves as one of the animal world. The only thing that sets us apart from other animals is our ability to think and plan. Other animals only react to the situation in accordance with the genetic program embedded in the brain and the learned stereotypes of behavior. They cannot think, they can only react. Most people know and agree that animals are guided by instincts, which largely determine the nature of their behavior. But it is difficult for us to draw a parallel between their behavior and ours. Whatever the behavioral characteristics of a person, positive or negative, they are most likely to be genetically passed on to his children. In this respect, humans are no different from other animals. If we recognize that we are not far from animals whose instincts have been honed by millions of years of evolution, it will be easier for us to understand our basic motives, easier to come to terms with ourselves and others. Perhaps this is where the path to happiness lies.

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Unconditioned reflexes and instincts

P. A. Rudik, "Psychology"
State. educational and pedagogical publishing house of the Ministry of Education of the RSFSR, M., 1955

The main mechanism of adaptation of animals to the environment is, as already mentioned, the reflex. Whatever types of animal behavior we consider, they are all basically simple or complex reflexes.

Reflexes are the actions an animal performs in response to external stimuli. In the process natural selection many of the reflexes that proved useful for a given species of animal became fixed in the form of innate, unconditioned reflexes. With these reflexes, external stimuli act on special nervous devices, are transformed there into nervous excitations, transmitted to the central parts of the nervous system, from where special impulses are sent to the organs of movement.

Thus, unconditioned reflexes are a form of behavior in which the movements made by animals are a response to external stimuli and are carried out with the help of neuromuscular mechanisms according to certain developed connections. Examples of unconditioned reflexes can be: food, defensive, alert reflex, etc.

Unconditioned reflexes always occur as a direct response to external stimulation. Until external irritation sets in, the corresponding neuromuscular apparatus of the animal remains inactive. A feature of unconditioned reflexes is a firmly established and fixed connection between movement and external stimulation; the nature of the reflex movement, strength, its direction are determined characteristic features external irritation. This explains the stencil character of unconditioned reflexes.

With unconditioned reflexes, nerve connections are closed in the lower parts of the animal's brain, in connection with which they are made unconsciously. The animal is not aware of its actions when it reflexively responds to external irritation, does not understand the meaning and purpose of its actions, its actions are not reflected in its psyche at the moment they are performed.

In this case, the animal may have well-developed receptors for receiving irritation from the outside. He no longer has just a visual cell, like, for example, a worm, but a well-organized and complex eye, which allows you to see objects in all details; not just an elementary auditory center, but a well-organized organ of hearing, which makes it possible to differentially distinguish the tone, pitch, and timbre of sounds. But all these organs by themselves do not yet ensure the conscious behavior of the animal.

In the process of phylogenesis, more complex unconditioned reflexes develop from simple unconditioned reflexes, which are called instincts (from Latin instinctus - motivation). Sometimes instincts are expressed in relatively simple actions. The rider, with the help of smell, finds the larva of another insect under the bark of a tree, pierces the bark of the tree and lays his testicle in the found larva. This is where all the instinctive action that ensures the continuation of the species ends.

One can observe, however, very complex instincts, consisting of a chain of actions, which only in their totality ensure the continuation of the species. Ants, bees, birds, and other animals provide examples of such complex instincts.

Idealistic psychology saw in the instincts the manifestation of some internal forces inherent in the organism itself, which allow the animal to act expediently in the environment. Instincts were considered actions that are due to internal mental urges that push the animal to commit them.

The correct materialistic understanding of the nature of instincts, based on strictly scientific principles, we find in the doctrine of higher nervous activity. An instinct is a complex chain of unconditioned reflexes fixed in the process of phylogenesis. Simple unconditioned reflexes are always limited and local responses to external stimuli.

For example, reflex blinking is a strictly specialized response to external stimulation, serving the purpose of preserving the organ of vision. In contrast, instincts do not have such a local limited character, but always involve the joint coordinated action of several organs. They consist of complex actions that have important biological significance for the body.

For example, in an earth wasp, this will be building a nest, finding food for the future larva, cooking this food, laying eggs, walling up the entrance to the nest, etc. Instincts are always associated with such important biological needs of the animal as the preservation of life (self-preservation instinct), as well as care for offspring (parental instinct), that is, with such needs that are dictated mainly by the interests of the whole species, and not just this individual. Instincts are characterized by the following features.

1. Innate. Instincts are an innate form of behavior inherited by animals in all its complexity and certainty, along with their nervous system. They are not preceded by any prior individual experience of the animal. An animal that performs an instinctive action shows a certain ability to cope with certain circumstances without any prior training.

2. Unconsciousness. Performing an instinctive action, the animal does not understand what it is doing. Thus, a bird will incubate the eggs of other birds, and artificial eggs, and even any objects that are in one way or another similar to eggs, although its actions in this case will be completely meaningless. Instinctive actions, which seem conscious in their content and form, as if they are performed on the basis of knowledge of the relations between things, their causes and effects, are in reality completely unconscious.

3. Template. Instincts are always performed according to the same scheme, in the same sequence, in the same way, both by a given animal when performed repeatedly, and by all animals of a given species under similar conditions. The animal always performs a set of instinctive actions in a certain sequence, and the performance of one part of such a complex is immediately accompanied by the beginning of the execution of its next part. Violation of the already completed part of the complex (for example, pulling out the testicle from the nest of an earthen wasp) does not entail the suspension of the execution of the next part of the complex (the wasp will continue to wall up the nest).

4. Variability of operations. Retaining basically the same type of action, common to all individual individuals of a given animal species, instincts are not stereotyped in their individual operations. The instincts are characterized by the absence of that standard monotony of operations, which is usual for simple unconditioned reflexes. In instincts there is an identical, constantly repeating general scheme of action, while the operations performed in this case are very variable in their details.

So, bees can build honeycombs using a variety of movements. Only the most general scheme for building cells will remain unchanged; the nature of the movements performed in this case and their number depend on the position in which the bees are located.

For instinctive actions, in comparison with simple unconditioned reflexes, it is necessary that the animal has a much more developed nervous system. At the stage of instincts we always observe perfect receptors in animals; they usually have already well-formed organs of vision, hearing, etc., as well as a complex locomotor apparatus.

Due to this, the animal corrects its behavior by excitations emanating from various receptors: it can make movements taking into account stimuli coming not from one, but from many receptors at once, for example, visual and olfactory organs at the same time, can therefore use objects in its instinctive actions. . At the stage of simple reflex acts, this is not yet the case. There was just a bouncing, grasping, flinching, or some other simple response movement. The instincts are complex actions such as digging a hole, building a nest, bringing food, chasing other animals, etc.

Concerning necessary condition for instincts is the development of such central parts of the nervous system, which provide complex coordination of the movements that make up the instinctive action. In instincts, the external stimuli that determine them act on vital centers that are in charge of complex, hereditarily fixed types of animal activity.

Instincts are to a very large extent connected with the activity of the endocrine glands. The substances or secrets secreted by the latter, entering the blood, reach certain divisions of the nervous system and excite them to activity. Many instincts are characterized by the presence of these internal irritations, due to the activity of the endocrine glands; an example is the sexual and parental instincts. External irritation alone, in the absence of internal mechanisms that induce the animal to perform a given action, is not capable of evoking these instincts.

For example, when the sex glands are removed, the wasp will not build a nest, store food for the future larva, etc., no matter what external stimuli affect it at that moment.

At the stage of instinctive behavior in animals, there is a significant development and complication of receptor processes, as well as a different, more complex role in the behavior of the animal. Thanks to the more perfect development of the peripheral nervous system, the animal is able to better analyze external stimuli that have a biological significance for it. For example, he develops such organs of vision, on the retina of which the surrounding phenomena are no longer reflected in the form of some formless transitions of light and shadow, but objectively, and the animal is guided in its behavior by this complex excitation.

The central part of the nervous system also develops, which makes it possible to coordinate excitations emanating from various receptors. When performing instinctive actions, the animal necessarily perceives objects that prompt it to instinctive action, and in accordance with the characteristics and nature of these objects, changes its operations. For example, a wasp acts quite differently when piercing the first and last ganglia of the caterpillar it has found. At the first attack, her movements are quick and jerky, she is forced to dodge strong blows from the writhing body of the caterpillar. She makes the last punctures calmly and slowly.

As the cerebral cortex emerges and develops in the process of phylogeny, animals develop new forms of behavior - skills and intelligence.

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Characteristics of conditioned and unconditioned reflexes

Reflex- this is the same response from the body to the same stimulus.

The nervous system of the brain is built in such a way that it can come to excitation and braking that enhances or delays reflexes.

Reflexes happen congenital and acquired(conditioned and unconditioned reflexes)

Unconditioned reflexes such as sneezing when irritating the sensitive cells in the nose, pulling back the body when in pain, etc.

Conditioned reflexes such as typing on a keyboard, driving a car, even shaking hands when meeting, etc.

Let's move on to the characteristics and differences between conditioned and unconditioned reflexes:

Unconditioned reflexes

hereditary

Most individuals of the species have

Have permanent reflex arcs

Have a lifetime

They work unconsciously spinal cord and subcortical structures

The reaction occurs with suitable stimuli

Conditioned reflexes

Acquired

Only certain individuals have

Reflex arcs appear only when conditions are present.

Can be overwritten (forgotten)

They are recognized, formed in the cerebral cortex.

They are developed on the basis of the existing unconditional. Those. with a combination of stimuli conditioned and unconditionally, a reflex appears.

Of course, when the appetite wakes up in any animal, saliva flows - this is inherent from birth - an unconditioned reflex. But it flows only at the sight of food.

However, the famous Russian physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov came up with an interesting experiment. He gave the dogs meat and at the same time, for example, rang the bell.

Naturally, in any normal dog, saliva begins to flow at the sight of meat, and at the sound of a bell, the dog, at best, looks askance. But if we repeat several times at the same time receiving food + the sound of a bell, then, at some point, just ringing the bell, we will see how the dog will also salivate, although there is no meat nearby.

Those. we created a new condition and launched a reflex, which is called conditional.

So here our whole life is a combination of conditioned and unconditioned reflexes, i.e. Supreme! nervous activity.

Several unconditioned reflexes lined up in a chain are called instinct. Instincts are highly developed in all animals, in humans to a lesser extent, except, perhaps, the instinct of self-preservation, which makes the body survive and fight in any situation associated with death or injury.

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In chapter Psychology to the question What is the difference between a reflex and an instinct? given by the author CurrerBell the best answer is a reflex - this is what a person acquires in the course of life. They are divided into conditional and unconditional. Unconditional, of course, are inherent in us from birth. For example, we breathe reflexively. Conditioned reflexes are developed as a result of repeated repetition of the same actions after a certain period of time .... and as life experience accumulates. The simplest example: when you see a lemon, you salivate reflexively because you know it's a lemon - it's edible. What if little child who does not know this, show this lemon, he will not have any conditioned reflex. As for instinct... it is our vital needs that are genetically embedded in us. it is our deepest nature. There are 7 basic human instincts: the instinct of self-preservation, procreation, altruism, exploration, dominance, freedom and the instinct of dignity. And they will manifest themselves regardless of upbringing and environment (as well as unconditioned reflexes)

Answer from Vitaly Vertyankin[guru]
the reflex is acquired, and the instinct is always from birth

Answer from Zl13[guru]
The reflex is short-term unlike instinct.

Answer from Lutch[guru]
The reflex is innate and the instinct is acquired. Put your finger on a hot frying pan and see what happens.

Answer from Maria Titova[guru]
beflex - an unconditional reaction of the body to external stimuli. instinct - innate features of the species.

Answer from __ __ [guru]
Reflexes are conditional and unconditional. That is, which are acquired and with which they are born. Instinct is an unconditioned reflex. It is not divided into conditioned and unconditioned, like a reflex.