A person can not exist separately from society, this has been proved once again by L.S. Vygotsky, as a result of which the highest mental functions of man, possessing special features and formed in conditions of socialization, were singled out. Unlike natural functions realized in a spontaneous response, the development of the higher mental functions of man is possible only with social interaction.
The main higher mental functions of man
As mentioned above, the notion of higher mental functions was introduced by Vygotsky, later the theory was finalized by Luria AR, Leontiev AN,. Galperin P. I and other representatives of the Vygotsky school. Higher functions are processes of social origin, arbitrary in nature regulation, mediated in their structure and systemically related to each other. The sociality of these functions is expressed in the fact that they are not congenital, but are formed under the influence of culture (schools, families, etc.). The mediation on the structure suggests that the instrument of implementation is cultural signs. Most of all, this refers to speech, but in general - this is the idea of what is accepted in culture. Arbitrary regulation means that a person is able to manage them consciously.
The higher mental functions are: memory, speech , thinking and perception . Also, some authors tend to refer here will, attention, social emotions and inner feelings. But this is a controversial issue, since higher
Mental functions can be violated, the blame for this is the defeat of various parts of the brain. It is interesting that one and the same function is violated due to the defeat of different brain zones, but its violations are of different nature. That is why in case of violations of higher mental functions, brain diagnostics is performed, since it is impossible to diagnose only by violation of one or another function.