3. Relationship "language" - "perception"

Perception is, as N.I. Zhinkin pointed out, “the process of analyzing an available object” (81). It should be borne in mind that perception, like other mental processes (components of the psyche), is closely related to personality and other mental processes and conditions.

The basic variants of the relation “speech (language) - perception” are essentially the same as the variants of the above relation “language” - “sensations”, namely: 1) perception can flow without using language, (2) speech (language) may be included in the process of perception at one or another of its stages and in one way or another affect the character and productivity of perception.

It should be remembered that during ontogenetic development, a person first acquires a certain system of relations in the structure of the perceived object and between different objects, and only then “fixes” these relations in their language. Of course, speech activity is not “passive” at all, but priority still belongs to sensory experience or - “sensorimotor intelligence” (as defined by J. Piaget, 1932).

At the same time, man cannot exist only in the sphere of “pure sensory”. He periodically needs to “disconnect” from the material world and being in it, it is necessary to “penetrate” into the depths of things, establish relations between objects, transform them (and more broadly - surrounding reality), etc. For this, man is given intelligence and speech ( signs of language). For the effective implementation of cognitive and creative activity, a person must learn not only to look, but also to see, not only listen, but also hear , etc. Meaningful vision and hearing, as well as other forms of true human perception, is what is realized in speech activity. tongue.

Language (through RD) provides categorization of the perceived. For example, we observe signs of some objects (suppose sharp) and, using the language, we refer them to a certain class, that is, we “categorize” them, saying: “these objects are sharp”.

In perception, the unity of the sensual and the logical is always manifested . We perceive objects around us as objects that have for us a certain practical value.

The identification of this value (practical use of objects) contributes to the language. For example, we see some kind of complex metal construction, but we don’t know what it is. When we are told: “This is a machine”, we begin to perceive this construction differently; our perception is rebuilt, and in the subject we are already trying to find some logical connection between its individual parts, etc.

In the process of perception with the help of language, both objects (“this is a chair”, “this is a cat”, etc.) and actions (“a boy runs”), processes (“apple blossoms”), states (“a cat is sleeping” ). At the same time, a language can reflect various states of the surrounding world even in the absence of a subject in a given geobiological “continuum”, for example: “Around turned green”. Language in the process of perception also reflects temporal and spatial relationships, for example: “today”, “now”, “at the moment”, “here”, “there” (someone or something); "Book on the table", etc. Depending on the appropriate (transmitted by the characters of the language) installation type O, 3, H, 6 can be perceived ("identified") or as numbers, or as letters, but, for example, the type like 3 0 13, 13 0 3 can be interpreted as mathematical signs (three, zero, thirteen) or as full-valued words: “call”, “voz”. The language reflects events and situations in terms of their “complex perception”, for example: “Peter jumps on a horse and points to the north”; "Night. The outside. Lamp. Pharmacy ”(A. Block).

Special cases of perception are the perception of signs of the oral, written and kinetic language. In these cases, a person must, at different levels of awareness, discover the values ​​behind the signs, as “universally significant entities” (AN Leontyev, 1974), and then translate these values ​​into personal meanings.

Speech (through language) can form an attitude to perception. For example, before the perception of the bell tower of the Cathedral of Peter and Paul in the Peter and Paul Fortress, the guides often say: “Now you will see the magnificent bell tower with a very high spire. At its summit, an angel soars - one of the symbols of St. Petersburg. ”

The language is able to help determine various characteristics of perception, for example: localization of the image of perception (“behind”, “left”, “under the fence”), the time of making an event (“the break will last five minutes”), determining the number of objects (“in a crowd - Five Giants "), the shape of objects (" zigzag "," ellipsoid ", their size (" large "," small "), etc.

Speech and language play a special role in shaping the integrity of the image perception in those situations where only a part of the perceived subject is presented to a person, which does not allow optimally making a clear judgment about it. In such cases, the person has to recreate, “finish painting” the image, and he resorts not only to his “figurative” experience, but also to the language. At the same time, the language helps, depending on the goals of the activity, to isolate its characteristics in the subject. For example, when one perceives one and the same book, it can be said: “large”, “solid”, “leather-bound”, “torn”, etc. With the help of a language, an image can be refined, for example: “This is a sunset” ( sunset, and not the glow of the fire, fire, not electric light on the horizon of the city), “This crow crows” (it’s a crow, not a forty or any other bird). Using language, you can more fully represent the perceived objects, actions or events. It should be emphasized that with the help of language a person penetrates much more deeply into the essence of the perceived. In the process of perception, we often reason, compare, analyze, striving for the observed external properties of the object to realize its essence and purpose, and here the meaning of language as one of the most important means of knowledge is very significant. For example, it is known that the distinction between objects or their selection improves markedly if the perception of the perceived is switched on; It is also known that in order to build an “integrative” image, parts of which are scattered or “divorced” in time, it is necessary to resort to a semantic analysis of the perceived language by means of reliance on signs of the language.

Perception is not only a “copy” of the perceived, but also its interpretation. Therefore, speech and language are also involved in this characteristic of the perception process. The perception of the subject usually occurs in a specific “situational” context. This context is simple and complex, favorable and unfavorable for perception. Speech and language signs in every possible way contribute to the isolation of the subject from the environment (situation, background). Let us recall in this connection well-known drawings illustrating the phenomenon of “figure and background”, for example: “vase” - “face”, “old woman” - “girl”. Language and speech, as a rule, are very actively helping to resolve the “conflict of perception”.

Perception can occur at different levels of awareness: at the level of consciousness, preconsciousness and at the subconscious level. If we need to “raise” the perception or some of its components to a higher level of awareness, then we often resort to using speech and signs of the language.

In the so-called “ordinary” cases, the adequacy of what is denoted by language is carried out on a subconscious level, when numerous and varied knowledge about the subject of perception (which also acts as the subject of speech) is enlivened through the language; in the cases of “non-trivial”, both non-linguistic and linguistic activity proceeds at the level of awareness.

There is often no correspondence between perception and the external form of speech (language). For example, in an external speech, the subject or object may not be expressed: “Did the alarm clock ring?” - “Called” (i.e., the alarm clock). The subject or object in such cases is expressed in internal speech (hidden); it is important for the perceiver of speech (as well as the speaker) to identify the properties of the object that are significant to him at the moment. Let us give other examples: “Farewell, free element!” (A. Pushkin). “I can’t hear the noise of the city. There is silence on the Neva Tower. ” In these examples, the subject is, as it were, "outside the brackets."

So far, it has been a question of the “positive” influence of language on perception. However, language is not always a positive effect on perception. The possibilities of speech and language in this regard are to a certain extent limited. In this regard, we can recall the well-known saying: “It’s better to see once than to hear a hundred times.” In a person's life, there are cases when the language is able to distort perception, creating an incorrect attitude to perception, incorrectly describing the perceived (for example, “someone” is visually perceiving correctly, but interprets and accordingly describes what he sees incorrectly), etc.

All that has been said does not mean that language completely (and most importantly, always and in everything) conditions and regulates perception. Speech and language mainly contribute to the implementation, "commission" of this process. The mental process of perception is initially built and implemented according to its own laws.