5 topics with brief reviews: definitions, key facts, and class questions.
Inhibition of conditioned reflex activity is an active neural process that ensures the body's adaptation to changing environmental conditions. Without it, higher nervous activity would turn into a chaos of incessant reactions. In this section, we examine how exactly the brain "suppresses" irrelevant reflexes and optimizes behavior.
You will study two major types of inhibition: innate (unconditioned), arising under the action of novel or super-strong stimuli, and acquired (conditioned), which requires development. We will analyze in detail the mechanisms of internal inhibition and how the dynamic stereotype—the physiological basis of our habits and skills—is formed on their basis. The section concludes with P.K. Anokhin's theory of functional systems, which explains the architecture of a goal-directed behavioral act.
At colloquia and exams, students are most often asked to provide clinical or everyday examples of extinction and differential inhibition, as well as to draw the diagram of Anokhin's functional system with mandatory indication of the action results acceptor. Pay special attention to these modules!
Is training required for unconditioned inhibition to occur?
No, it is not required. This is an entirely innate property of the central nervous system that is ready to function from birth.
What is the main difference between internal inhibition and external inhibition?
Internal inhibition occurs within the conditioned reflex arc itself and requires mandatory training (development), whereas external inhibition is innate and occurs spontaneously.
Where is internal inhibition localized according to I.P. Pavlov's theory?
According to I.P. Pavlov's classical theory, this process develops directly in the cortical cells, which represent the conditioned stimuli in the brain.
What does the law of physical strength of conditioned stimuli state?
It states that with identical reinforcement, the magnitude of the conditioned reflex reaction is directly proportional to the physical strength of the stimulus (for example, a loud bell elicits a stronger reaction than a dim light).
What is the fundamental weakness of an open-loop reflex arc?
Its main disadvantage is operating "blindly" due to the lack of feedback. The system cannot know whether the goal has been achieved and is unable to compensate for external interference hindering task execution.
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