An excellent read: https://ia802905.us.archive.org/5/items/…

An excellent read: https://ia802905.us.archive.org/5/items/MindAndTissueRayPeat/Mind%20And%20Tissue%20%20Ray%20Peat%20.pdf
INTRODUCTION
By Stanley Krippner, PhD
The importance of contemporary Soviet psychology has
been acknowledged by many authorities. Gardner Murphy
and J.K. Kovach, in the third edition of their book, Historical
Introduction to Modern Psychology, take up this issue.
Speaking of psychology in the U.S.S.R., they
describe "the magnitude of its existing and potential impact
on the entire body of modern psychology...," stressing the
point that "Soviet psychology is not a closed system."

These points are reinforced in Mind and Tissue. Its author,
Ray Peat, has presented a cogent summary of Soviet
psychology, highlighting the contributions it has made to our
understanding of human behavior. Peat traces the
philosophical origins of Soviet psychology as well as the
tradition afforded by Dostoyevski, Tolstoy, and other writers.
The gargantuan contributions of Pavlov are described,
beginning with the differentiation of the "first signal system,"
of sense perception from the "second signal system" of
language. Ray Peat then emphasizes a point often ignored:
Pavlov took the position that the whole organism had to be
the subject of scientific study. Since presumably it is the
whole organism which is conscious, a psychology which
studies isolated behavioral reactions can easily avoid a
confrontation with the issue of consciousness. This was not
true of Pavlov, who advances ideas concerning sleep,
dreaming, hypnosis, and imagery which contributed to our
understanding of human abilities.
Pavlov's successors continue to study brain function,
observing that plasticity is the outstanding property of the
nervous system. This viewpoint is an optimistic one as it
gives parents, educators, and rehabilitationists a chance to
develop those in their care by paying attention to the "latent
reserves" of a child, student, or patient.
The reader of Mind and Tissue will enjoy the special
discussion of such Soviet psychological concepts as
"inhibition," the "orienting reflex," the "effect of person," the
effects of magnetic fields on behavior, and the notion of time
as a possible source of "energy." The current enthusiasm
among some American psychologists for explaining behavior
through differences between brain hemispheres could be
moderated by examining the Soviet work on cerebral function
which emphasizes a more holographic approach. In addition,
the Soviet delineating of mental imagery components (space,
body awareness, sequencing) leads to an emphasis on
meaning and experience in describing brain function. Indeed,
it is easy to follow the historical thread that links Pavlov's
hypotheses on mental imagery with Lisina's pioneering work
in biofeedback. Additional work in what the Soviets call
"psychic self-regulation," has been done at Kazakh State
University; practical applications of this work are to be found
in many Soviet clinics and hospitals.
Finally, psychology in the U.S.S.R. views creativity
not as a psychosexual sublimation or a lack of proper social
conditioning but as an essential human trait, part of the need
for self-realization through productive work. There is a
richness in Soviet psychology that is often overlooked by
American scientists. Ray Peat's assertion that materialists
emphasize change while idealists emphasize the status quo
may well be true. If so, it confirms Murphy's and Kovach's
description of Soviet psychology as an open rather than a closed system.