The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-11-24
There S No RQH0y Drama Here,
Sh0W Mechanics of the Brain


Fifth Avenue, motion picture Of
Prof. Ivan Pavlov's work on con
ditioned reflexes, under the title
Mechanism of the Brain"-a Sow
kino production imported from the
soviet Union and shown here by It's
American agency, AmkinO,
The most remarkable thing about
this presentation is that it is &C
tually being shown in a public
heatre, and the Fifth Avenue Play
house is to be complimented upon its
appreciation of the fact that all
america is not yet fundamentals
Arkansas or Broadway.
I The picture is a scien ific as well
as a kino masterpiece. This is to
be expected when one has combined
he work of the fore most physiolo-
nist in the world, and one. of the
worlds leading directors - V. L.
Pudovkin, the producer Of Mother
and "The End of st. Petersburgh. !"
The director is not directly in evil
tlence, however; his work is skill
fully and unobtrusively subordinated
% that of the scientist, and the re
suit is that one does not feel he is
seeing a movie, but is actually in
the laboratory.
The picture is based upon Prof.
Daylov's work ia retIeXes. 1t is now
available in book form as Lectures
m Conditioned Reflexes," published
~ the International Publishers, 1t
slows in beautifully clear and ami
mated form what volumes of books
,on physiological psychology or be-
haviorism could not do. 1t is the
textbook of the future, as the many
students and instructors of the uni
yersities which have seen 1t will
recognize Immediately.
The picture shows the development
Of the brain, using the behavior of
he crocodile, duck, dog, orang-utang,
nd human child. It shows in purely
nateriahstic fashion, that excludes
nee and forever the concepts mind,
ssoUl, psyche, etc, how an animal or
s-,Arson reacts to change in his en-
'vironment-the workings of the for
r,ula; external stimulant excites the
s-onse organs, which send nerve i'm
.7ulses to the brain, where a central
( onnection is made, and nerve i'm
1llse goes back to the gland and
nuscle, causing them to react.
We see how the unconditional re-
lex, hitherto known among US as a
,-nple reflex or as an instinct in
2erited at birth, is changed into a
conditioned reflex Cor habit. A dog
Or monkey or child hears a metro
rome or bell, or sees a red disk, and
given food Immediately there
fter. The food causes a flow of
aliva, which is measured in a test
ube attached to the salivary duct.
After a few repetitions, the mere
sound or sight of the stimulant, even
without food being given, is enough
% produce the flow, which is
measured. This is shown with ex-
traordinary clarity and convincing
ness.
Three unconditional reflexes are
used mainly-those of food, defense
and curiosity, although negative Tin
nibitory) ones are also demonstrated,
which shows how rabbit is lost. The
use of diagrams, carefully labelled
and explained, precedes the actual
experiment, and these diagrams are
especially enlighteniag as showing
how operations upon various spheres
f a dogs brain deprive him of the
use of the organs involved. A par
ticularly vivid piece of work is done
with a 22-year old idiot, showing
how his movements and reactions are
practically the same as those of a
one or two year old child. Similarly
with a fargone case of syphilis. The
technic of showing the localization
of conditioned reflexes in the train
is exceptionally effective.
The one drawback of the picture,
as of the book, is the failure to show
clearly the implications for educa-
ton, psychology, medicine, and So
Geology generally, of the great work
of Pavlov. But implicit in this work
lis the new light shed upon the nature
Of sleep, hypnosis, fear, insanity, etc.
in short, upon our whole behavior.
No word short of revolutionary
sums up the researches of Pavlov,
and this picture is the finest pos
.sible introduction to it.
A G r.