ROLE OF THE UNCONSCIOUS SET FORMED ON THE BASIS OF PERCEPTION OF REALSIZES OF VISUAL-STIMULI AND ILLUSORY REPRESENTATIONS IN THE CONSCIOUSCOGNITIVE ACTIVITY

The cognitive set can be formed in healthy humans (75 subjects have be en examined) on the basis of the Muller-Lyer's visual illusion. The ef fect of this set is expressed as a contrast illusion similar to the ef fect of the set, which is formed on the basis of the real size of visu al stimuli (pictures of circles). Time of the simple motor reaction to the probe stimulus (light spot) depends on the factor of set stabilit y. In subjects with the stable set the reaction time and its variabili ty are substantially longer than in persons with the unstable set. Ana lysis of correctness of perception of the visual stimuli and the react ion time shows that the set which has been formed at the unconscious l evel leads to a certain rigidity in cognitive activity. Thus, factor o f liability/stability of sets is an important feature of human cogniti ve activity.