Zeitschrift für Psychologie: Band 188, Heft 1 1980 [Reprint 2021 ed.] 9783112470060, 9783112470053

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Band

ISSN 0044-3409

188

(1980)

Heft

1

ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR

mit Zeitschrift für angewandte Psychologie

Schriftleitung Friedhart Klix, Berlin • Hans-Dieter Schmidt, Berlin • Hubert Sydow, Berlin Redaktion:

I

Jürgen Mehl, Berlin • Friedrich Kukla, Berlin

XII

XXIInd International Congress of Psychology Leipzig GDR, J u l y 6 - 1 2 , 1980

Z . Psychol.

EVP 12,50 M je Heft

JOHANN A M B R O S I U S BARTH LEIPZIG

INHALT WEIGH,, E G O N 1 8 . 4 1 9 0 1 - 4 . 6 . 1 9 7 9 . M i t 1 B i l d LOMOV,

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B. F. (MOSCOW). Cognitive processes a n d c o m m u n i c a t i o n . With 4 figures . . . .

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HACKEE, W., u n d SIGRID VON SUCBO (Dresden). Studie z u m E i n f l u ß von K l a s s e n z a h l u n d Klassengröße auf das Bilden u n s c h a r f e r Klassen bei konfiguralen O b j e k t e n . Mit 7 Abbildungen

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EYSENCK, H . J . (London). A unified t h e o r y of p s y c h o t h e r a p y , b e h a v i o r t h e r a p y a n d s p o n t a n e o u s remission. W i t h 3 figures

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KRAUSE, W., u n d L. SPBTJNG (Berlin). E x p e r i m e n t e l l e Analysen kognitiver Prozesse als G r u n d l a g e f ü r eine r e c h n e r g e s t ü t z t e D i a g n o s e f i n d u n g bei s c h i z o p h r e n e n D e n k s t ö r u n g e n . Mit 9 A b b i l d u n g e n

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WEINBICH, L. Psychophysiologische U n t e r s u c h u n g e n z u m des Menschen. Mit 6 A b b i l d u n g e n Buchbesprechungen

Signalerkennungsverhalten 74 97

Hinweise f ü r A u t o r e n

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Register zu B a n d 187

I-XI

Manuskripte für Originalabhandlungen und Buchbesprechungen werden an Dr. J. Mehl, Sektion Psychologie der Humboldt- Universität, DDR -1020 Berlin, Oranienburger Str. 18 erbeten. F ü r diese Zeits c h r i f t w e r d e n g r u n d s ä t z l i c h n u r A r b e i t e n a n g e n o m m e n , die v o r h e r w e d e r i m Inland noch i m Ausland v e r ö f f e n t l i c h t worden sind. Mit der A n n a h m e des M a n u s k r i p t e s u n d seiner Verö f f e n t l i c h u n g g e h t das alleinige R e c h t der Vervielfältigung, V e r b r e i t u n g u n d Ü b e r s e t z u n g auf den Verlag ü b e r . Von Originalarbeiten liefert der Verlag an Stelle eines H o n o r a r s 50 Sond e r d r u c k e . B u c h b e s p r e c h u n g e n w e r d e n n i c h t v e r g ü t e t , d a f ü r wird das B e s p r e c h u n g s e x e m p l a r E i g e n t u m des R e f e r e n t e n . Beachten Sie bitte die Hinweise für die Manuskriptgestaltung! Der Bezugspreis b e t r ä g t f ü r den B a n d m i t 4 H e f t e n 50,— M zuzüglich P o s t g e b ü h r e n . Auslandspreise sind den Z e i t s c h r i f t e n k a t a l o g e n des Außenhandelsbetriebes B u c h e x p o r t zu e n t n e h m e n . Bestellungen n e h m e n entg e g e n : In der D D R der P o s t z e i t u n g s v e r t r i e b u n d der Verlag J o h a n n A m b r o s i u s B a r t h . I n den sozialistischen Ländern der z u s t ä n d i g e P o s t z e i t u n g s v e r t r i e b . In d e r B R D / B e r l i n (West) die F i r m a Z e i t u n g s v e r t r i e b Gebr. P e t e r m a n n , K u r f ü r s t e n s t r . 111 D - 1000 Berlin (West) 30 u n d der örtliche Buch- und Z e i t s c h r i f t e n h a n d e l . In allen anderen S t a a t e n d e r örtliche B u c h - u n d Zeitschriftenhandel. Bestellungen des Buch- und Z e i t s c h r i f t e n h a n d e l s sind zu r i c h t e n an B u c h e x p o r t Volkseigener A u ß e n h a n d e l s b e t r i e b d e r D D R , DDR - 7010 Leipzig, L e n i n s t r . 16, P o s t f a c h 160. Die Lieferung erfolgt regelmäßig bis zur A b b e s t e l l u n g , die f ü r das Ende des Q u a r t a l s erfolgen m u ß , so daß sie zu dem g e w ü n s c h t e n Termin noch b e r ü c k s i c h t i g t werden k a n n . Adresse des Verlages: J o h a n n Ambrosius B a r t h , D D R - 7010 Leipzig, S a l o m o n s t r . 18b, Postfach 109, Ruf 29 52 45. Anzeigen w e r d e n e r b e t e n f ü r I n l a n d a n : DEWAG L E I P Z I G , D D R - 7 0 5 0 Leipzig, O s t s t r . 105, Ruf 7 97 43 03; f ü r Ausland a n : I n t e r w e r b u n g G m b H — Gesellschaft f ü r W e r b u n g und Ausl a n d s m e s s e n der D D R , D D R - 1157 Berlin-Karlshorst, H e r m a n n - D u n c k e r - S t r . 89, Ruf 5 0909 81. F ü r die Anzeigenpreise gelten die Festlegungen g e m ä ß P r e i s k a t a l o g Nr. 286/1 v o m 1.7.1975.

Z E I T S C H R I F T FÜR P S Y C H O L O G I E Band 188, 1980

Heft 1

mit Zeitschrift Kir angewandte Psychologie

Nachruf

EGON W E I G L 18. 4. 1901-4. 6. 1979

Band 94

Egon Weigl zum Gedenken

Am 4. Juni verstarb EGON WEIGL. Ein reicher, schwieriger und bis zum letzten Tage produktiver Lebensweg ist abgeschlossen. Wissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisgewinn und gesellschaftlicher Fortschritt waren die Grundmotive in der Biographie dieses engagierten Wissenschaftlers. Der Weiglsche Test zur Prüfung von Abstraktionsleistungen und die Deblockierungsmethode gestörter Sprachfunktionen markieren zwei inhaltlich zusammengehörige Etappen seiner Tätigkeit, die auseinandergerissen waren durch die Zeit des Faschismus. In dieser Zeit mußte EGON WEIGL, für den Forschung und politische Arbeit eine natürliche Einheit waren, mehr als einmal seine Existenz einsetzen. Unter komplizierten Bedingungen legte er in Rumänien den Grundstein zu seinen neuropsychologischen Einsichten und Konzeptionen, die er, seit 1961 wieder in Berlin, systematisch in dem von ihm aufgebauten Laboratorium für Sprachpathologie ausarbeiten konnte. Das Interesse an sprachpathologischen Folgen von Hirnläsionen war bei ihm stets verbunden mit der Suche nach therapeutischen Möglichkeiten. Noch als Siebzigjähriger gab er Anregungen für das rasch voranschreitende Gebiet der Neurolinguistik. Durch seine Arbeiten zur klassifizierenden Abstraktion und der Dynamik aphatischer Störungen wurde er als bedeutender Wissenschaftler weit über die Grenzen unseres Landes bekannt. Für uns wird sein Beitrag für die Psychologie immer verbunden sein mit der Erinnerung an die Persönlichkeit eines traditionsbewußten Gelehrten und ebenso kritischen wie ideenreichen Forschers. Schriftleitung, Redaktion und Verlag

From the Institute of Psychology of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. Moscow

Cognitive processes and communication B y B . F . LOMOV

With 3 figures

When the cognitive processes first became an object of psychological experiments, the researchers saw their chief goal in discovering its characteristic features and laws in the "pure form". The experimental technique developed by them was therefore aimed at separating the process being studied (which could be sensory, perceptive, memory, mental) from the system of all other psychic phenomena, as well as from the behaviour, practical activities and relations of the individual with other people so as to analyse this process all by itself as some specific and natural property of the individual. The procedures of the experiments and the methods employed were all devised to isolate an individual to the highest possible degree from the factors t h a t might influence his motives, moods and orientations and thereby distort the process under investigation. Every effort was made to arrange experiments in such a way as to leave the subject face to face with the object, such as, for instance, an irritant which was to affect the sense organs of the subject and produce a corresponding sensation, an item which was to be perceived or memorized b y the subject, a problem which was to be solved, etc. The experimentalists concentrated on the parameters of the object of the experiment affecting its human subject and modifying his cognitive process in this or t h a t way and had them scrupulously recorded. In other words, cognitive processes were studied at the "object-subject" or, to be more precise, "active object—passive subject" level. The processes under investigation, however, could never be completely isolated from the environment and a great number of both subjective and objective factors have always distorted the expected results. The experimentalists have never succeeded in handling this or t h a t process in its pure form. The experiments revealed, for instance, t h a t the dynamics of a perceptive, memory or other cognitive process depended on the nature of the examinee's motives, his understanding of and a t t i t u d e to the task, on the instructions he received, on the conscious or unconscious influence of t h e researcher on the course of the experiment, etc. All those influences were regarded as "noise" or "interference", i. e. as something external in relation to the process in interest. Hence, the first stage in the development of experimental psychology was marked

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by an abstract approach to cognitive activities that were studied per se, irrespective of their practical significance in a man's behaviour. A major step towards overcoming this abstract functionalistic approach was made by the development of a new concept in psychology according to which the investigator was to analyse sensations, perceptions, memory, imagination and thinking in the context of man's behaviour and activity. The new approach made it possible to reveal not only their cognitive, but also the regulative function. The researchers began to focus their attention on those variables in the experimental procedures which they had previously taken great pains to eliminate or reduce to a minimum. It was proved, for instance, that the sensitivity of analysers (sense organs) is not an invariable characteristic and can grow or diminish depending on the organization of man's activity. Perception and memory, imagination and thinking depend to a great extent on the motives, aims and the whole framework of the activities the man is engaged in. Activities came to be viewed as one of the most important determinant of the cognitive or, for that matter, any other psychic process. It was postulated that all psychic processes take shape, develop and manifest themselves in man's practical activities. In experiments based on the activity concept, however, the analysis of cognitive processes still remains within the narrow confines of the "object—subject" relationship. True, the concept of this relationship has undergone a certain transformation, since mental processes are no longer regarded as a mere response or reaction of a subject to the impact received from the object, but rather in terms of the influence exerted by a subject on the object being cognized, i. e. in the context of the subject's activities, "subject—object" relationship. Nevertheless, the researchers are still mainly concerned with the activities of a separate individual. His links with other people, including the researcher himself, are often disregarded and remain outside the sphere of investigation. Recent advances in the field of psychological assessment prompt a new conceptual approach to the problem of cognition. It is obvious that communication (intercourse, "obshchenie" in Russian) is an inseparable part of the life of an individual. Further investigations into human psychology, cognitive processes inclusive, cannot therefore ignore social interaction of human beings, i. e. they should take into account not only the "subject—object", but the "subject—subject(s) relationships as well. A man's world is not confined to objects, natural or artificial (the latter being products of his labour), but is represented, first and foremost, by living individuals that surround him. In the process of communication which is a specific form of human beings' interaction, people exchange views, ideas, interests, moods, aims, etc. Through the agency of communication effected both directly and with the help of modern highly sophisticated communication systems, an individual gets access to the spiritual wealth accumulated by other people thereby overcoming the narrow limits of his personal experience, and at the same time adds to it with his own contribution gained by individual effort.

B . F . LOMOV, Cognitive processes and communication

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It is this function of mutual exchange that determines the significance of communication in man's life. By historical tradition general psychology has been studying man's psychological variables (functions, processes, states and characteristics) mainly on the basis of the analysis of the "subject—object" relationship. As to the "subject—subject(s)" relationship, it was considered to be within the domain of social psychology. The problem of communcation is treated in terms of analysis of interpersonal relations between individuals, their mutual perception and understanding of one another, structure and dynamics of the so-called small groups, mechanisms of social regulation of individuals' behaviour, mass communication processes, etc. It would be wrong, however, to relegate the problem of communication to the sphere of social psychology alone. It has been commanding of late ever growing attention of researchers working in the fields of psychology of labour (investigation of various forms of labour activities of people), engineering psychology (analysis of informative interaction processes between people at controlling complicated technical systems), medical psychology (studies of the doctor—patient relationship, e. g. in psychotherapy), etc. This universal interest in the problem of communication displayed by researchers in different fields seems to be indicative of a certain general tendency stemming from the needs of further development of psychology as a science. Investigation of this problem is becoming a major prerequisite for further development not only of special psychological branches, but the general theory of psychology at large. As a matter of fact, we inevitably run into the problem of communication each time we get engaged in some kind of specific investigation of socially determined mental functions, processes, states and characteristics of man. Communication as a socio-historical category is a very complicated dynamic system. Its structure, as revealed by analysis, consists of a hierarchy of different levels and dimensions. Without going into the problem of levels, dimensions and determinants of communication (which calls for a special theoretical investigation), we shall only emphasize what seems to be the main characteristic of communication : it is always a process of interaction of subjects and cannot be described in terms of mere actions, let alone reactions. Communication reveals those qualities of people which are inherent in them as subjects and which we are used to call the "internal world" of an individual. Communication is a mutual process and each of its participants enters it as a conscious being. 1 This does not mean, of course, that communication is a purely "spiritual contact" and a "sphere of interaction of consciousnesses" as was main1 The term " c o m m u n i c a t i o n " is sometimes used to characterize interaction of man with the external world (o. g. we speak sometimes of I lie communication of a m a n wilh a computer). This usage, however, lacks accuracy. The relationship of a man and a computer can at best he described as " p s e u d o - c o m m u n i c a t i o n " .

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tained, for instance, by D T J R K H E I M . It belongs to the material, practical life of human society and is a component part of it. During its history human society has developed special means of communication, the most important one being the language. "Language, M A R X wrote, is as old as consciousness, language is practical consciousness that exists also for other men, and for that reason alone it really exists for me personally as well; language, like consciousness, only arises from the need, the necessity of intercourse with other men" (K. M A R X and F . E N G E L S , Collected Works, Vol. 3 , p. 2 9 ) . Genetically, the primary form of communication in the life of an individual is direct, face-to-face communication with other people. That does not mean, of course, as is sometimes believed, that this form of communication is only characteristic of early stages of mental development of human beings and gives way later to other forms realized through the agency of intermediaries. Being genetically primary as it is, direct communication retains its significance during the whole life of an individual. The development of man's mentality within the framework of social relations goes side by side with the development of direct communication, i. e. enrichment of its ways and means and changes in the sphere of application and functions. Communication is one of the major determinants of mental variables of an individual. Hence, investigation of the whole system of these variables in the context of human communication (on the basis of the "subject—subject(s)" and not only "subject—object" relationships) is one of the basic tasks facing the general theory of psychology. This task is also applicable to the investigation of cognitive processes. The influence of communication on cognitive processes and functions is not a novel problem. As far back as in the twenties of the twentieth century attempts were made to assess this influence experimentally (Y. M . B E C H T E R E V , W. M O D E , F . A L L P O R T , G . M U N S T E R B E R G , E . M E U M A N N and others). Particularly important for the development of the experimental approach to this problem was Y. M . B E C H T E R E V ' S contribution who is the founder of the so-called "collective reflexology" theory. In spite of a number of erroneous propositions and general methodological inadequacy of the new concept, it nevertheless represented the first serious attempt at a systematic experimental investigation of mental processes and functions, as well as the behaviour of individuals in general, under conditions of communication. Without going into detail as regards the strong and weak sides of the "collective reflexology" theory, we may point out that Y. M. B E C H T E R E V (1921, 1925) developed the principle of comparative assessment of cognitive processes which take place in the conditions of isolation of the individual and during his interaction communication with other people. This principle has been embodied in a whole system of experimental techniques, particularly in the so-called "pair experiment" procedure which, according to G. PASK, is a " paradigm of Russian psychology". — B E C H T E R E V ' S disciple V . N . M Y A S I S H C H E V who developed an original concept of relations on the basis of B E C H T E R E V ' S and A . F . L A Z U R S K Y ' S works stressed the need for a study and special analysis of communicative processes in any psycholog-

B. F, LOMOV, Cognitive processes and communication

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ical experiment, both in a laboratory and particularly under natural conditions. He pointed out that the communication between the subject and the experimenter, whether it be open or concealed, is bound to influence the results of the experiment in this or that way. This opinion is also shared by many other researchers. As is well known, the question of the influence of instructions on the course and results of experiments has brought about rather a wide discussion in experimental psychology. The importance of communication in the psychic development of man was e m p h a s i z e d b y G. BALDWIN, P . JANET a n d G. PIAGET. S p e c i a l a t t e n t i o n to the

problem of communication was devoted by L. S. YIGOTSKY who was working on the concept of development of the so-called higher mental functions. Discussing the problem of object and subject in psychological investigations, B. G. ANANYEV regarded man as subject in labour, cognition and communication processes. Valuable observations on the influence of communication on neurodynamics can be found in the works written by I. P. PAVLOV, A. A. UCHTOMSKY and particularly A. F. SAMOILOV.

As regards modern investigations in the field of the communication problems, we shall only point out that these problems have been attracting ever greater attention of researchers working in different fields of psychology. It would hardly be great exaggeration to say that investigations in this sphere tend to consolidate into a relatively independent branch of psychological science. Of all the array of aspects of this complicated problem or, to be more precise, a system of problems, we are specially interested in the one connected with the investigation of cognitive processes in the context of man's communication with other people. Given below are the results of some experimental investigations carried out in the Institute of Psychology of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R., as well as at the Department of Psychology of the Leningrad State University. The main aim of all these investigations was to compare the variables of sensorperceptive, memory and thinking processes under two different sets of conditions: (a) individual solution of experimental problems ; (b) joint solution of the same (or similar) problems, i. e. performance of the subject in the conditions of direct (face-to-face) communication with other subjects. As regards the first variant, the researchers used conventional (well elaborated) experimental techniques. In the second variant special attention was given to the design of the experiment that was to provide for joint actions of the subjects and, consequently, for communication between them. In other words, the researchers used the principle of the "pair experiment". Most of the experiments involved the smallest possible groups of subjects consisting of two persons (dyads), though in some series of experiments the groups included three or four subjects. Selection of the subjects into dyads for each special series of experiments called for rather a large amount of specific work.

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The groups were made up of persons possessing more or less similar characteristics in relation to the aim of the investigation (for example, age, education, motives, etc.). Selection of dyads for most of the experiments was based on the sociometric techniques and aimed at including into each dyad only such subjects whose attitude to each other was either positive, or neutral. The aim of this approach was to reduce to a minimum the influence of interpersonal relations on the results of the experiment. 2 In all experiments use was made of a concealed tape recorder and other means to record the subjects' conversation and non-verbal reactions. Specific features of sensor-perceptive processes in conditions of communication The results of modern investigations show that perception is an active process. A perceptive image (percept) is, of course, a subjective reflection of objects and phenomena of the objective world. It would be wrong, however, to regard it as a mirror image of objects acting on sense organs, or as their simple photography. The process of perception involves selection of information received through the "sensor input", its more or less complicated transformations and comparison with standards retrieved from memory. In a developed form the perceptive process includes assessment of sensor information, correction of sensor signals, advancement and verification of hypotheses and reaching of a decision. The process of perception is the controlled process: it becomes particularly evident when it is investigated in the context of the observation activities. The above characteristics of the perceptive process have been revealed in traditional laboratory experiments where the individual is set face to face with the object. It can well be expected that under the conditions of interaction with another individual, i. e. under the conditions of communication, these characteristics may become even more manifest and that communication will even affect the process of perception as such. One can hardly expect, of course, that such interaction will influence physical and chemical processes taking place in the receptor in response to the action of the irritant, or the workings of the analyzer mechanisms that have been shaped in the course of evolution. However, there is every reason to believe that communication will influence selection of sensor information, its correction, advancement and verification of hypotheses and adoption of a decision. As far back as in 1921 V . M . B E C H T E R E V showed experimentally the impact of direct communication on the accuracy of perception and number of details taken in by the subjects. In one of his investigations the examinees allowed to be in contact with one another were shown various pictures at 15 and 50-sec expositions and then invited (each one separately) to ennumerate the details which they had noticed. It 2 T h e influence of interpersonal factors on cognitive v a r i a b l e s is discussed in s o m e detail in section " S p e c i f i c f e a t u r e s of t h i n k i n g processes in conditions of c o m m u n i c a t i o n " .

B. F. LOMOY, Cognitivo processes a n d communication

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turned out that under the conditions of communication the examinees pointed out 23.6 per cent more details and made two times less mistakes than in the case of the individual tests (without communication). In another investigation V. M. B E C H T E R E V set the examinees a task to find differences in similar pictures and similarities in different pictures. A comparison of the individual (without communication) and group (with communication) experiments showed that the results in the latter case were higher than in the former one. This was particularly manifest when the subjects were given the task to find common features in different pictures. Similar results were obtained by the researcher in the investigation of the direct time assessment. A higher degree of subjects' perception accuracy in the conditions of communication was also noted by G . M U N S T E R B E R G ( 1 9 2 5 ) , W . M O D E ( 1 9 2 0 ) , F . A L L P O R T ( 1 9 2 4 ) , M . S H E R I F F ( 1 9 3 5 ) , N . N. OBOSOV with colleagues ( 1 9 7 7 ) and others. In our experiments carried out in 1951 we studied the performance of individuals on a pair-test basis in visual search for an object under the conditions of communication between them. The examinees watching a city landscape in natural conditions were invited to find an unobtrusive object. Sometimes they were given only a verbal discription of the object, or, to be more accurate, an indication of some characteristic features of the object, at other times they were shown a reference picture giving a visual representation of such characteristic features (colour or element of the shape). The experiment was carried out in the form of a game. The investigation revealed several variants of joint fulfilment of the visual search task. In some cases the examinees found the desired object independently of each other and almost simultaneously. They got in contact with each other only for checking mutually on the results of their search, i. e. for "coordination of images". Such cases were rare and took place only when the task was comparatively easy for both individuals. In other cases, if the task proved difficult for both individuals, communication permeated, as it were, the entire process of search. The subjects determined common reference points, sometimes agreed on the division of the zone of search and on a common strategy. During the joint search they put forward various hypotheses, subjected them to mutual correction and verification and estimated the reference pictures more closely. Such cases, however, were also rare. In the most typical case of joint search (when fulfilling tasks of average difficulty) one of the subjects (let us call him A) found the desired object first and contacted his partner (B) trying to help him. Using verbal expressions and gestures, he began to control his partner's attention narrowing the zone of search and shortening the search route. At the first stage of communication the partners, as a rule, determine jointly common landmarks (reference points), the initiative in suggesting them not necessarily belonging to the one who has already found the object. Not infrequently the reference points are proposed by the partner who has not yet fulfilled the task. For

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landmarks the examinees usually select objects which are conspicuous in the area of common search for their colour, shape or location. Sometimes partners take simular (but not the same) objects for landmarks and this upsets coordination of their efforts and hampers "exchange of images". As soon as the common landmarks are determined, subject A starts plotting or dictating the route of the search to subject B. He never tries to give his partner the route t h a t he followed himself. 3 Knowing already the location of the desired object, subject A plots for his partner a new route which he considers the most expedient. Controlling the search activities of subject B, he not only indicates the position of the object sought in relation to the common landmarks (i. e. the direction of the search route), b u t sometimes goes so far as to devise certain methods to direct these activities. 4 If subject A finds a wrong object, his partner, as a rule, detects the error. Then both subjects go back to the reference picture, evaluate it more closely and set out on a new search cycle. In other words, joint search includes mutual correction of the reference pictures of the given object. The search terminates in a coordination of perceptive images and adoption of a common decision. Speaking of the means and ways of the examinees' interaction during a joint visual search, it should be pointed out that the verbal exchange performs here an auxiliary and subordinate role. The speech of the individuals under the circumstances is situation-conditioned, its vocabulary is scanty and structure is primitive. Under the conditions of a joint visual search the main means of communication consists in gestures which can be divided into three types: indicatory, descriptive and imitative (or imitating). An indicatory gesture guides the partner's eyes to the correct sightline and restricts his search zone, i. e. is used as a means to regulate selectivity of perception (through shape or background differentiation). It should be noted t h a t the indicatory gesture is used by one of the subjects in his a t t e m p t to bring his own field of vision in line with t h a t of his partner's (the gesture indicates the direction relative to the partner's position). A descriptive gesture is used as a means of reproducing the shape of these or those objects (landmarks) and also makes towards selectivity of perception (helps the partner single out the indicated object). Imitative gestures serve to control the route of visual search carried out by the partner. They reproduce separate elements of the route and certain methods of fulfilment of this or t h a t eye ranging action. The degree of comprehension of communication in the process of joint visual 3

The analysis of the subjects' reports shows that t h e y can seldom reproduce the exact route of the individual search, but. are rather accurate in the reproduction of the route found b y their joint effort. 4 For a more detailed investigation of the search route under the conditions of communication it would be rather instructive to carry out comparative analysis of the trajectories of the subjects' eyes m o v e m e n t s in individual and collective search tests.

B. F. Lomov, Cognitive processes and communication

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search depends on the complexity of the problem being solved by the partners and on the degree of coordination (particularly synchronization) of their actions. The more complicated the problem and the lower the degree of coordination of their actions, the more comprehensive the communication, and vice versa. The above results of experimental investigations present but a very general schcmatic picture of the perceptive process (observation inclusive) in the conditions of communication. 11 is quite natural, therefore, that a need arose for a more detailed investigation of perceptive variables in a more strict experiment. It might be advisable, in our opinion, to try the methods and experimental techniques developed in psychophysics for the solution of this problem. One of the possible approaches here may be comparative analysis of subjective scales developed by the examinee in the conditions of individual and pair experiments. This approach is being studied in our laboratory by V. N. N o s u l e n k o (1977). Proceeding from the model of sensorperceptive processes proposed by Y. M. Zabrodin in 1975, he carried out several series of psychophysical experiments aimed at investigating specific features of subjective scaling in the conditions of communication. Experimental dyads were given modified problems for loudness scaling. (a) evaluation of loudness on the basis of a freely selected model, and (b) evaluation of loudness relative to a proposed model. The results obtained in individual and pair experiments were compared. The investigations revealed a considerable difference of the evaluation scales obtained in the conditions of communication from those obtained during individual assessment of loudness. The influence of communication was expressed, in particular, in a considerable degree of scales similarity developed by the members of many dyads towards the end of the experiment. Besides, under the conditions of communication the experimental dyads developed a certain common reference model which improved the accuracy of evaluation scaling. The evaluations given by each subject of a dyad undergo a certain shift under the influence of his partner's scaling even if the subject refuses to correct his assessment (i. e. his judgement is modified "against his will"). Under the conditions of communication the level of subjective scaling may change: a subject may change to scales of a higher order, for instance, from "category" scales to "order" scales which, as is known, calls for a change in the strategy of assessment. If subjects seek co-operation 5 , the experimenters note a considerable difference between the scales based on the first evaluations and those taking into account the corrected assessments. The scales obtained during communication differ con5 The experiments carried out by V. N . Nosulenko revealed several types of examinees' behaviour during fulfilment of the scaling task under the conditions of communication: (a) one of the partners fulfils the task sooner and more accurately, and the other one tends to follow him in his assessments; (b) the partners act as if in agreement with each other; (c) the partners seek to co-operate; (d) the partners develop something in the nature of rivalry.

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Z. Psychol. Bd. 188 (1980) H. 1

siderably from the initial individual scales. Under the influence of intercourse the accuracy of assessments increases. In the experiments with a preset model the anchor effect decreases. Figure 1 illustrates the scales obtained in experiments with a freely selected reference model (Fig. l a ) and with a preset model (Fig. l b ) under the conditions of co-operation between the subjects. As is evidenced from the

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