p. K. ANOKHIN 227 



physiological methods of research that enabled us to discover the existence 

 of a special apparatus — the acceptor of action. As may be observed it co- 

 ordinates behaviour during the second stage of the conditioned reflex, 

 i.e. during the formation of the efferent act and the emergence of the 

 return afferentation on the adaptive results of this act. 



The entire architecture of the whole conditioned reflex offered for your 

 consideration shows that this physiological analysis may be continued. It 

 shows how living nature in the long evolutionary process mastered the 

 future and fixed in material forms — structural and dynamic — the possibility 

 of the animal's adaptation to forthcomuig ci'ciits in the external en- 

 vironment. 



The conditioned reflex is the expression of the higher aciaptation 

 formulated by Pavlov in the principle of signalling, i.e. the possibility of 

 adaptation of the animal and man to future events by just the retnote sij^iial 

 of these forthcoming events alone. 



Of course, it would be wrong to assume that the foregoing material 

 exhausts the entire content of the physiological architecture of the condi- 

 tioned reflex. The material presented is undoubtedly only the beginning 

 of its study. However, it is important that its features be outlined precisely 

 as those of an iiireoral pliysioloi^ical architecture and for us it serves as the 

 point of cieparture for further analysis. 



Making a positive evaluation o{ our concepts of the physiological 

 architecture of the conditioned reflex in one of his recent works, Alfred 

 Fessard expresses the opinion that a further fine neurophysiological 

 elaboration of the 'main points' of this general architecture will make an 

 essential contribution to the development of these concepts (Fessard, 1958). 



We fully agree with this opinion and, as may be judged from the fore- 

 going material, we are doing all we can to concretize physiologically the 

 various aspects of this general architecture. 



We also think it possible that further analysis and accumulation of facts 

 in the study of the neurophysiological bases of the conditioned reflex may 

 make us change some of our present-day views and form new concepts 

 concerning the concrete physiological mechanisms. This is the essence of 

 scientific progress. 



We beHeve, however, that any study of the intimate processes of the 

 conditioned reflex by means of analytical and very fine methods and 

 techniques may prove much more successful if it is correlated with the 

 general physiological architecture of the conditioned reflex. And it is 

 just this that prompted us to make this general architecture of the condi- 

 tioned reflex, as we conceive it today, the subject of discussion. 



Q 



