Today, the results of intellectual activity can serve as intangible business assets.
Therefore, it is reasonable to study the existing types of mental activity and determine their significance for entrepreneurship.
The result of the intellectual is the spiritual, creative work and thoughts of a person.
In the field of sciences, literature, technology, art and design, this activity can rather be called artistic design.
The results of such activities can be used as intangible assets of companies.
In addition, the following can be types of mental activity:
- operational - associated with the implementation of current mental operations;
- analytical - analysis, processing of the information received;
- creative - revealing the creative potential of a person, spiritual inclinations;
- labor - professional;
- social - arising from social, family relations, the status of a person, personal connections.
Also types of mental activity grouped into two main subgroups:
- directly related to material production.
- outside the material-production relations.
The thought processes of the first group are associated with engineering professions:
- with design production process(constructors),
- with operational - technicians, engineers, operators, foremen,
- accounting - statisticians, accountants,
- managerial -, divisions, enterprises of functions;
Professions of the second group are involved:
- in scientific activity(scientists),
- in applied knowledge (doctors, teachers, psychologists),
- in literature, art (artists, writers, painters).
Any kinds mental activity based on the mental internal, the basis of which is the work of the brain.
Almost all adults are conscious thinkers. Many business processes can depend on the results of their activities, their quality, the speed of thought processes.
So, if, for example, a business is based on the marketing promotion of third-party companies, then the productivity of the entire business and, as a result, its profit will depend on the speed and creativity of the mental activity of the employees of this company.
In addition, many types of mental activity are so fruitful that their results can be used for a long time, bringing a constant profit for the entire time of their use.
These are the results of intellectual work, such as:
- works of science, art, literature for which patent, copyright, related rights arise.
In business, mental activity can bring the following intangible assets:
- trademark, trademark, brand;
- know-how, innovative achievements, new formulas, recipes, industrial designs;
- own software;
- inventions, patents.
In a highly competitive market, timely, widespread use of the results of various types of mental activity contributes to improving business efficiency, quality, individual characteristics of goods, works, services.
Today, exceptional mental work: utility models, inventions, trademarks, industrial designs are integral part enterprise assets.
These rights can be invested in business and other activities. They can also serve as a contribution to the creation of a legal entity (company, partnership).
In this regard, many states guarantee the freedom of artistic, literary, technical, scientific, and other types of creativity.
Physical activity (work) of a person
By nature, it is divided into two types - static and dynamic.
At static work metabolism is accelerated, energy consumption increases, but less than with dynamic. A feature of this type of work is its pronounced tiring effect, due to prolonged contraction and tension of the muscles, the absence of conditions for normal blood circulation, as a result of which the accumulation of final and intermediate metabolic products occurs. This very quickly leads to the development of fatigue.
Dynamic work associated with the movement of a person and parts of his body in space. As a result, the energy expended during such work is converted into mechanical and thermal energy. Dynamic muscle contractions are of a primary nature, which favors full blood circulation and oxygen metabolism, and this leads to less fatigue.
The working capacity of the muscles also depends on the load - the greater it is, the faster the muscles get tired. To perform physical work, it is very important to choose the average values of the rhythm and load. This improves productivity and reduces fatigue.
In the process of work, more blood flows to any part of the body than at rest. How great job muscles perform, the more nutrients and oxygen are supplied to them with blood. The greater the physical load, the faster the muscle fibers grow, the person becomes stronger. Physical exercise have a positive effect on the entire body, strengthen health, harden a person, make him more resistant to various adverse effects environment.
Physical activity activates metabolic processes. So, with an intense load, the minute volume of the heart, in comparison with the state of rest, increases 6 times, and the amount of oxygen absorbed - 3 times. As a result, the supply of tissues with oxygen increases 18 times.
The amount of physical work depends on:
Ø specific professional activity;
Ø human features;
Ø degree of fitness;
Ø physical development.
As soon as a person starts work, regardless of the level of its intensity, the human body needs an increase in oxygen. Each person has a different maximum oxygen uptake. (IPC). The higher IPC, the higher the working capacity, i.е. resistance to extreme conditions. In men under the age of 25 IPC approximately equal to 2.8-3.0 l/min, and for athletes - 5.0-6.0 l/min. With an increase in the load on the human body, oxygen consumption increases. After a certain period of time, increasing the load does not cause an increase in the concentration of oxygen in the body. This state of oxygen saturation is called oxygen boundary. Naturally, such a load is very fast (for 5-10 min) exhausts the person.
Thus, physical work makes high demands on the functions of the main organs and systems of a person. Lack of training leads to a deterioration in the state of the cardiovascular, respiratory and central nervous systems, and constant physical activity improves their functions.
Human mental activity
It is accompanied by lower energy costs than physical, but this does not mean that it is easier, because. in such activities, the main working organ is the brain.
During mental activity:
Ø the analytical and synthetic functions of the central nervous system (CNS);
Ø it becomes more difficult to receive and process information;
Ø there are functional connections and new complexes of conditioned reflexes;
Ø the role of the functions of attention, memory, the tension of the visual and auditory analyzers, as well as the load on them, increases.
Mental activity is characterized by:
Ø tension of attention, perception and memory;
Ø a lot of stress;
Ø immobility;
Ø forced posture.
All this predetermines congestion in the muscles of the legs, organs of the abdominal cavity and small pelvis, deterioration in the supply of oxygen to the brain, an increase in the need for glucose, deterioration in the functions of visual analyzers, and as a result, a slowdown in visual-motor reactions.
In addition, during mental labor, the degree of stress is on average 5-10 times higher than during physical labor. And the end of the working day does not interrupt the process of mental activity at all. As a result, a special state of the body develops - fatigue, which over time can develop into overwork. All this leads to disruption of the normal physiological functioning of the body.
People engaged in mental activity, even in a state of overwork, are able to perform their duties for a long time without a significant decrease in the level of working capacity and productivity.
As a rule, people of intellectual labor are unable to turn off the mechanism of processing information at night. In fact, they work not only 8-12 hours a day, but almost constantly with short switching. This is confirmed by the informative theory, according to which a person during sleep processes information received during the period of active wakefulness.
Physical and mental activities require different tensions of certain functional systems body, so the load is classified according to its severity and intensity.
The severity of the work is the stress of functional systems due to physical activity.
tension- characterized by the level of tension of the central nervous system.
Similar information.
How does mental activity affect our psyche, given that it is carried out voluntarily, when a person is really interested in doing what he does? Of course, it calms and concentrates, gives a person's behavior more prudence and sobriety. In general, when a person thinks, he is less susceptible to emotions, they take up much less space in his head, where work is literally in full swing. Therefore, the impact of mental activity on the human psyche is the most favorable, positive for his life. In general, the smarter and more educated a person is, the less he is subject to self-manipulation, by influencing his basic instincts. Although, according to statistics, more than ninety percent of people lead an unconscious lifestyle, a person with a higher level of thinking has a correspondingly larger field of consciousness of his actions.
What we do and why, how it happens and what is behind it, all these are questions that we simply must find answers to if we do not want to be puppets and live not like people, but like controlled puppets. And active mental activity, perfectly contributes to the ability to increase your level of thinking. This does not mean that you need to know a lot, cramming is not a mental indicator, it is just cramming. Indeed, mental activity is an activity in which a person simply thinks a lot, calculates, calculates, asks questions, looking for answers to them. In this state, people can even get away from all their external problems, which in fact they do, plunging headlong into their work. This is very good way, calm down or overcome depression, and generally get rid of unnecessary emotions that overflow and prevent us from objectively responding to the reality around us.
The head must work - this is its main task, and our behavior must be controlled by us, which provides us with active mental activity. If we think carefully before doing something, we will reduce the number of mistakes in our lives to a minimum. But if we act unconsciously, obeying external stimuli and reacting to them as they want, then of course we can do anything, which we will regret for a long time. So occupy yourself with something that requires the most active mental labor, thereby developing in yourself the habit of thinking so that your head does not hurt from this. And then, even if we talk about mental work, then it has much more prospects than physical work. After all, as you know, thinking is very hard work, because so few people do it. It is very useful to engage in mental work, you just don’t have to forget at the same time, do something else, otherwise you won’t be full of thoughts alone, and things don’t get done by themselves.
Any of your mental activity must necessarily be reflected in a specific result, this also affects the psyche, because in this case you have visual confirmation of your thoughts, that is, that they are correct. Thought - done! Or, he thought and came up with something like that, which no one had ever invented before, and then he did, so to speak, turned his idea into reality. That's great. But just constantly engaging in mental activity without striving for some, even if not material, but at least a more or less tangible result, well, this, somehow, is not very correct in my opinion. And yet, in spite of everything, you still think more, even if you don’t come up with anything special, you will at least load your brain with work so that it does not fall asleep.
Energy boundaries of various groups of physical condition, kcal/min
The results of many studies indicate the inadmissibility of exceeding 33-40% of the maximum aerobic capacity during physical activity throughout the full working day. Therefore, it can be roughly considered, taking into account age fluctuations, that for persons of group I of physical condition, 8-hour labor energy costs should not exceed 15 kJ/min(3,5 kcal/min), II - groups - 15-19 kJ/min,(3,5-4,5 kcal/min), Group III -19-23 kJ/min(4,5-5,5 kcal/min), Group IV - 23.4-27 kJ/min(5, 6-6,5 kcal/min) for persons of group V, they may be higher than these values.
There is a widespread misconception that mental work is easy work. This idea is based on the fact that during mental labor energy costs (and this is one of the main criteria for assessing the severity of labor) are much lower than during physical labor.
In physiological terms, the main feature of mental labor is that during it the brain performs the functions of not only a coordinating, but the main working organ. At the same time, the analytical and synthetic functions of the central nervous system are significantly activated, the reception and processing of information becomes more complicated, new functional connections are formed, new complexes of conditioned reflexes, the role of the functions of attention, memory, the tension of the visual and auditory analyzers and the load on them increase.
Despite significant physiological differences, the division of labor activity into physical and mental is somewhat arbitrary. With the development of science and technology, the boundaries between them are increasingly smoothed out.
Nevertheless, the majority of types of labor activity can be classified as predominantly mental: managerial work, creative (work of scientists, writers, artists, composers, designers, etc.) work of operators, teachers and lecturers, medical workers. One of the most numerous groups where mental labor predominates are pupils and students. Their work activity is characterized by a strain of memory, attention, perception, frequent stressful situations (control classes, tests, exams), and a largely sedentary lifestyle.
Physiological features of mental labor. Low mobility, a forced monotonous posture during mental work contribute to a weakening of metabolic processes, congestion in the muscles of the legs, abdominal organs and small pelvis, and worsen the supply of oxygen to the brain. Making up only 1.2-1.5% relative to body weight, the brain consumes more than 20% of its energy resources. The blood flow to the working brain increases by 8-10 times compared to the state of rest, and its consumption of oxygen and glucose will increase.
The content of glucose in the blood increases by 18-36%, the concentration of adrenaline, norepinephrine and free fatty acids in the blood increases. In the brain tissue, the consumption of glucose, methionine, glutamine and other essential amino acids, vitamins of group B increases. The functions of the visual analyzer deteriorate - visual acuity, stability of clear vision, contrast sensitivity, visual performance. Increased visual-motor reaction time.
Mental work inherent and the greatest degree of tension of attention: when reading special literature the stress is almost double that of city driving and 5 to 10 times that of many types of mechanized physical work.
The formal completion of the working day often does not stop the process of professionally directed mental activity. They say that a thought cannot be folded like hands, and even in a dream it does not quite sleep. A special state of the body develops - fatigue can turn into overwork. This condition should be considered already as a serious violation of the normal physiological functioning of the body, as a pre-pathology, and sometimes even a pathology. During mental work, the state of overwork is characterized by the lack of a full recovery of working capacity by the next working day, sleep disturbances (up to persistent insomnia), a decrease in resistance to the effects of adverse environmental factors, and an increase in neuro-emotional excitability.
During mental labor, the state of overwork is not as demonstrative as during physical labor. People who are engaged in mental work, even in a state of overwork, are able to perform their professional duties for a long time without a noticeable decrease in the level of labor activity and labor productivity.
Labor intensity. When developing criteria for a professional assessment of the degree of nervous tension in the process of work, they use characteristics that reflect the tension of the sensory apparatus, higher nerve centers that provide the functions of attention, thinking, and regulation of movements. Special tables have been compiled for the classification of labor according to the degree of neuro-emotional stress based on 14 indicators (intellectual load; duration of concentrated observation, the number of production-important "objects of simultaneous" observation; the number of signals per hour; the number of signals for action per hour; time of active actions; the need for an independent search for mismatches; monotony; visual strain; accuracy of work; shift; mode of work and rest). Using such tables, sanitary doctors and other specialists can determine the degree of stress in certain types of work in various industries (for example, Table 4.3).
activities.
After you have mastered the material in this chapter, you should be able to:
Explain the mechanisms of physiological changes in the body during mental work.
Describe mental labor functions: attention,
memory, thinking, creative imagination.
Show the dynamics of changes in mental performance during the day.
Describe the state of mental-emotional fatigue and overwork.
To reveal the physiological mechanism and risk factors for the formation of nervous tension.
Characterize educational stress factors and manifestations of emotional stress.
§one. Physiological bases of mental activity.
The basis of mental work is the perception, processing of information and decision-making. The perception of information is mainly carried out by visual and auditory analyzers. This includes such higher mental functions as attention, memory, intellectual activity. A feature of some types of labor is increased emotional stress, others - the monotony and simplicity of the functions performed. In all cases of mental activity, the main part is the participation of the central nervous system, its higher departments.
The human brain is a complex functional system that acts as a single differentiated whole. In this regard, the so-called higher intellectual centers do not exist, and many elements or the entire cerebral cortex take part in the implementation of intellectual functions.
The brain is neither day nor night in an inactive state. Thanks to tens of billions of neurons, it can accumulate over 10 billion units of information per second, which is several times more than the most advanced computer. At the same time, it is generally accepted that only about 20% of the capabilities of the brain are used by a person in his activity.
In the process of mental labor, new functional connections are formed, new complexes of conditioned reflexes. The teachings of I.P. Pavlov about conditioned reflexes and GNI allows us to understand the mechanism of the formation of labor skills that determine the success of mental work. A conditioned reflex is the body's response to external stimuli. Human behavior, in particular, during mental work is regulated by the laws of the conditioned reflex, the processes of excitation and internal inhibition, saving human strength.
The interaction of two main nervous phenomena - excitation and inhibition - provides a person with the opportunity to be always cheerful and well oriented in the external environment. The formation and change of conditioned reflexes during mental labor is more difficult than during physical labor.
An important form of regulation of nervous processes in the cerebral cortex is nerve induction - a complex interaction of the processes of excitation and inhibition. Distinguish positive induction, in which the process of inhibition that has arisen in one point of the brain part of the analyzer immediately causes the appearance of an excitation process in another point. Negative induction, which occurs when the reflex evoked by us intensifies the state of inhibition existing in other points. Negative induction is expressed, for example, in a person's forgetfulness.
During training, the processes of irradiation - distribution, concentration of excitation and inhibition, the phenomenon of induction associated with them, occur faster and more accurately. As a result, the highest level of adaptation to working conditions is achieved.
The creation of a stable system of conditioned reflexes developed in labor is ensured by emotional interest in the work being done.
The role of emotions in the process of mental work. Emotional activity acts as a necessary condition for productive intellectual activity, if this activity is complex enough for a person that only subjectively easy tasks can be solved without emotional activity. Emotions perform very important functions in cognitive activity in the interaction of intellectual motives. The readiness for action of the higher parts of the brain depends on the normal functioning of the centers of emotions.
Neurophysiological studies show that emotions are the source of creative and cognitive activity. For higher intellectual acts, there is no sharp distinction between positive and negative emotions.
In the process of intellectual and educational activity, negative and positive emotions, i.e. emotions from success or failure, pleasure or suffering, not only often replace each other, but also intertwine with each other. For example, passing an exam even as "excellent" can sometimes cause dissatisfaction for a strong student, since in a calm state he could present the material much better.
Under influence positive emotions the functionality of the brain increases and associative activity is stimulated. Positive emotions contribute to the emergence of an emotional dominant and the emergence of new needs and motives, accelerate the pace of intellectual processes. At the same time, the individual becomes more active, mobile, cheerful. Voice, facial expressions, posture and gestures also become expressive.
Labor creative activity, training, high intellectual development and social and ethical determinism peculiarly modify emotions and their external manifestation. In humans, emotional reactions in the past were much more related to muscle movements. The development of higher intellectual processes subjugated and accordingly changed the nature of emotions. Although the division of emotions into emotions of a higher and lower order is somewhat artificial, it facilitates the understanding of the nature of emotions and the identification of their role in the adaptive mechanisms of the body, especially in the process of work and learning. Emotions of a higher order control human behavioral acts, and also contribute to the solution of various mental and cognitive tasks of an educational nature.
A person purposefully uses all his rich emotional fund to solve certain problems, achieve a goal, creative activity, learning. Modification of emotional manifestations should not mean that the potential resources of emotions decrease. It testifies to their qualitative change - one qualitative manifestation of emotions passes into another. Emotional discharge is possible not only with various affective manifestations. During intense creative work and training, these emotional potentials are used gradually and purposefully, without any special external manifestations.
The volitional qualities of the individual also determine the refinement of emotional manifestations. Difficulties and obstacles in work and study often concentrate emotional energy on the solution of the task, which is not without the purposeful influence of the will. P.I. Tchaikovsky said that by inhuman exertion of will, a person will achieve more than a brilliant loafer.
Physiological changes in the body during mental work. Primary functional changes in the human body during mental labor occur primarily in the dynamics of changes in higher nervous activity.
Local activation processes develop in many areas of the brain, capturing the left and right hemispheres. The integrative interaction of the cerebral hemispheres ensures the interaction of two levels of information processing: sensory and abstract. The most important role in the implementation of mental functions is played by the frontal lobes of the brain.
Under the influence of mental work, the state of mental functions undergoes phase changes. At the beginning of work, attention, memorization, speed of performing intellectual test tasks and professional performance are improved. Prolonged mental stress has a depressing effect on mental activity: the functions of attention deteriorate - volume, concentration, switching, memory - short-term and long-term, perception - a large number of errors appear.
Daily energy consumption during mental work ranges from 10.5 to 12.5 MJ. The increase in energy expenditure in certain types of mental activity is different. So, when reading aloud while sitting, energy consumption increases by 48%, when delivering a public lecture - by 94%, for computer operators - by 60-100%.
The increase in total energy costs during mental work is determined by the degree of neuro-emotional tension. With neuro-emotional arousal, there is an acceleration of catecholamine metabolism, an increase in norepinephrine in sympathetic endings, blood levels of adrenaline and corticosteroids, which stimulate energy processes and increase the excitability of neurons.
Any mental work is accompanied by a certain psycho-emotional stress, which leads to an increase in energy metabolism, an increase in muscle tone. With intense intellectual activity, the energy needs of the brain increase to 15 - 20% of the total metabolism in the body, while the weight of the brain is only 2% of the mass body. At the same time, the oxygen consumption of 100 g of the cerebral cortex turns out to be 5–6 times greater than that consumed by a skeletal muscle of the same weight at maximum load.
Despite a significant increase in the energy needs of the brain, during mental work, gas exchange does not change, or increases very slightly. With a brain mass of 1500 g, the amount of oxygen consumed by it per minute is about 50 ml. This value does not change significantly during mental work. The observed increase in gas exchange during certain types of mental activity, such as reading, is explained by an increase in muscle activity during this period.
During mental work, significant changes in blood circulation are not observed. Due to the fixed posture and lack of movement, there is insufficient mobilization of the circulatory functions. An exception is emotionally intense work: excitement, impatience affect the state of the cardiovascular system and lead to increased heart rate, EEG changes, and increased blood pressure. So, for interpreters during simultaneous translation, the average pulse rate is 100 beats per minute, sometimes increasing to 160. doing physical labor.
When developing rational modes of work and rest, it is necessary to take into account the fact that during mental work the brain is prone to inertia to continue mental activity in a given direction. After the end of mental work, the “working dominant” does not completely fade away, causing deeper fatigue and exhaustion of the central nervous system during mental work to a greater extent than during physical work.