Bekhterev 1857-1927

The reductionist reflexology of Vladimir M Bekhterev differed from Sechenov. It was not just physiological and psychological but also biological and social. It did not penetrate well into Sechenov/Pavlov labs. Only Bekhterev was truly reflexology in classical Soviet nosology. Bekhterev was a neurologist and psychiatrist who was aware of the German localizationists. He discussed innate and acquired reflexes (which Pavlov called conditioned reflexes). For example, a shock to a dog's leg preceded by a noise would eventually lead to the noise causing the shock. The associative reflex was, according to Bekhterev due to the formation of a connection between two cortical center. His idea appeared simple, and even though Pavlovian ideas were similar, the Pavlovian model was more sophisticated and better accepted.



Vygotsky wrote in 1930 that the most important application of reflexology was in the early infantile period"genetic reflexology." Genetic research would permit the study by developmental factors of what factors in personality are social by nature. Ultimately Bekhterev's reflexology was reducing psychology to a chain of reflexes and a schema of higher cortical connections. It fell out of favor for the most part by the mid 19830's.