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the mirroring of the environment in the central ncrvous system.

This definition, however, is insufficicnt. Animals mirror the various features of objects as indications of the objects’ values and as indications of what action is to be taken, that is, they „understand” the meaning which these objects have for them, and it is only this „understanding” that can be termed „cognition”. Instcad of the term ,,undcrstanding the cnvironment”, the author suggests as a morę objective definition of the cognitive process another term, „orientation in the environment” (that is, orientation as to the indications of value and indications pointing to action). This definition is then supplemented by discussion on how to treat the acceptancc of values in the object and on how one can objectively presume action.

This definition is also applicablc to the cognitive processes in Man. Iluman cognition, however, differs from animal cognition in that 1) it is concerned with values that are not only biological, but also cultural and social as well, and 2) it is generał and abstract. These differcnces are due to the fact that Man adapts himself to his own particular social environment in which non-biological values are of equal importance with biological ones; living in a community means that Man must communicate with his fellow-men by means of articulate speech, which deveIops a new form of mirroring (Pavlov — theory of the two signalling systems). Undoubtcdly in Man the cognitive processes must have a different physiological structure than in animals, but they nevertheless fulfil the same function in the mechanism of behaviour, and therefore should also be regarded as coming within the term „orientation in the environ-ment”. The author also shows that such a conception of the cognitive processes in Man is in accordance with the known facts, and that such a conception possesses certain advantages for theoretical work (it forms a connection between diverse and apparently contradictory views of cognition), and is a handy tool in research. In conclusion the author emphasises the great importance of the PavIovian theory of the mechanism of behaviour in psychological theory.

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