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The role of unrecognized forms of reinforcement in the function of the discrimination of microintervals of time was investigated in emotionally excitable adults. The word "good" [""khorosho""] (positive reinforcement) and a word associated with the subject's negative emotions (negative reinforcement) were utilized as feedback stimuli. Experimental confirmation was obtained of the hypothesis that unrecognized phenomena of the external milieu can exert an influence on conscious mental activity and on the learning process in man. Unrecognized semantic stimuli can fulfill the function of a reinforcing factor, and thus participate in the process of learning a cognitive activity accomplished at the conscious level.

1. The amplitude of the late positive potential (P300) to a visual stimulus is essentially increased at the vertex if informational value is attached to the stimulus with respect to making a decision concerning the choice of response. In the occipital region no such changes are observed. 2. In cases with decision making the amplitude of the P300 component is clearly greater at the vertex than in the occipital region. 3. No correlation was found between the latent periods of the P300 wave and the motor response to a visual stimulus. 4. The P300 component of AEP, in the writers' opinion, reflects not the process of decision making itself, but local cortical (nonspecific) activation, which is an essential element in the neural mechanisms of decision making.