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Speech Development and Systemogenesis of Thought

For medical students2 min readUpdated 2026-10-10

Systemogenesis of cognitive activity is the process of thinking development during individual human maturation based on learning and upbringing. The fundamental mechanism is establishing a connection between a dominant need and a word, leading to speech development and the transition from passive perception to active transformation of reality.

BabblingInnate activity and the embryonic stage of speech. Consonant rehearsal is observed even in deaf infants.
MotivationThe structural and functional foundation upon which reinforcement imprinting is built during learning.
SystemquantsSpecific brain sign units characterizing needs and methods for their satisfaction.
InstructionForms informational models in the action result acceptor prior to the onset of behavior itself.

Influence of Personality and Social Environment on Thought

An individual's cognitive process is inextricably linked to the continuous continuum of historical development of society as a whole. Furthermore, systemogenesis of thinking (its formation during individual development) directly depends on upbringing and education.

According to N.A. Ardamatsky's classification, a person's personality traits determine their approach to achieving goals. Three types of subjects are distinguished:

How Speech Develops: From Emotions to Words

At the initial stage of development, a child, similar to animals, perceives their needs and their satisfaction through specific emotions. In the process of learning, these emotional states begin to associate with specific words.

The process of acquiring the "Need — Word" connection is based on reinforcement imprinting, where motivation (the reflection of a need) serves as the basis.

The evolution of expressing needs goes through three stages:

  1. Motor expression. The child uses crying, screaming, and gestures. These are highly informative signals for parents, who recognize and satisfy the need.
  2. Verbalization. With repeated satisfaction of a recurring need, it becomes associated with a word, and the child begins to express the request verbally.
  3. Elaboration. Words appear in speech that reflect not only the basic need but also desires.

An important element of pre-speech development is babbling (rehearsing the production of a series of consonant sounds). This is an innate ability. Later, through the mechanism of imitation (first actions, then speech), the acquired knowledge is consolidated.

Learning Mechanisms and the Action Result Acceptor (ARA)

The essence of learning lies in retrieving accumulated experience under the influence of dominant motivation. This provides a qualitative leap: from passive imprinting of reality, a person transitions to active impact upon it.

Skipping to the main physiological mechanism here — the formation of the action result acceptor (ARA) via feed-forward anticipatory mechanisms. During learning, language systemquants are created in the brain — sign units fixed within extensive structures through an imprinting principle.

Thought construction can be triggered in two ways:

Preliminary instruction plays a massive role in learning (speech, music, sports). It is "imprinted" in the ARA structures, creating an informational model of cognitive activity. When a need arises, this model is activated anticipatorily. During the execution of an action, the actually achieved result is constantly compared with this model (standard) via feedback (reverse afferentation). If discrepancies occur, thought and behavior are restructured.

Mnemonic

To remember the stages of the evolution of need expression in a child, use the MEU abbreviation: Motor expression (crying) → Verbalization (word) → Elaboration (adding desires).

Frequently asked questions

Which specific cortical centers participate in the formation of speech systemquants?

The sources do not list specific cortical centers directly designated as participants exclusively in forming speech systemquants. It is indicated that during learning, language systemquants are created—sign systems that encompass extensive brain structures based on the imprinting mechanism.

For the execution and perception of speech, the sources separately name the following cortical structures:

  • Wernicke's area — posterior part of the superior temporal gyrus of the dominant (usually left) hemisphere; participates in creating the semantic structure of an utterance and analyzing heard sounds to classify them as words.
  • Broca's area — inferior frontal gyrus of the dominant hemisphere; forms the vocalization program.
  • Facial areas of the motor cortex — receive impulses from Broca's area and participate in developing motor programs for speech musculature.
  • In written speech, impulses from Broca's area are directed to the motor representations of the right or left hand.
  • Angular gyrus — processes visual and somatic information during speech perception.
  • Insular cortex — activated during simple word repetition.
What types of reverse afferentation are involved in the mechanism of speech correction?

Four main channels of reverse afferentation are involved in the mechanism of matching achieved results with the action result acceptor. These include:

  • Acoustic channels;
  • Visual channels;
  • Kinesthetic channels;
  • Intracerebral mechanisms.

Each stage of thought execution and the speech act is constantly evaluated and restructured using these feedback channels.

Through what neurophysiological mechanisms does the transition from babbling to meaningful word pronunciation occur?

The transition from babbling to verbal expression of needs and phrase reproduction is described in the sources through learning based on motivational state and reinforcement imprinting.

Key mechanisms:

  • Babbling is an innate activity and the rudimentary foundation of speech reproduction.
  • Emotional states begin to associate with special words.
  • The word denoting need satisfaction is acquired.
  • The connection between need satisfaction, surrounding people, and personal sensations is established.
  • After repeated satisfaction of a recurring need and its association with a word, the child begins to express the need verbally instead of through motor expression via gestures, cries, and tears.
  • Speech imitation is part of the systemic imprinting mechanism and reinforces acquired knowledge.
  • During speech learning, informational speech properties of external objects are imprinted on action result acceptors.
  • As informational functional systems of mental activity form, the child begins to reproduce verbal phrases.
  • During learning, language systemquants form—sign systems characterizing needs, their severity levels, satisfaction methods, and reinforcing outcome properties.
What is babbling from a physiological standpoint?

It is an innate activity involving the production of a series of consonants, serving as the rudimentary foundation of speech. It is observed even in infants with congenital deafness.

How does preliminary instruction influence the learning process?

Instruction forms an informational model of future action within the action result acceptor (ARA). Subsequently, real outcomes are continually compared against this model using reverse afferentation for monitoring and correction.

What factors determine the systemogenesis of cognitive activity?

Key factors include the awareness of internal needs and their satisfaction, verbal instructions, visual images of the surrounding reality, and memory mechanisms.

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