Evgeny Pavlovich Ilyin — mentor and teacher

Abstract

The article describes how creative ideas, technologies, and diagnostic methods produced by E. P. Ilyin were productively implemented in scientific creativity. The author pays particular attention to the methods of diagnosing the strength of the nervous system (i. e. the “Tapping test”), the mobility of nervous processes, and the “external” and “internal” balance of nervous processes in order to assess how they may correlate with musical preferences.

Data collected by the author while studying groups of students suggests that individuals with a more sensitive nervous system (NS) prefer to listen to calmer music genres, while people with a stronger NS tend to choose more energetic aggressive music. Students with a weaker NS are more inclined to use music for inspiration, self-exploration, meditation, relaxation — generally speaking, music cheers them up and makes everyday life easier for them; students with a stronger NS use music to regulate their state, to focus on action, and to prepare themselves for activity.

Students with a weaker NS tend to experience emotions of sadness, fear, and anger, while students with a stronger NS gravitate towards the feeling of joy. The first group of students is acutely sensitive to their environment; they exhibit stronger feelings and reactions to the cruelty and injustice of the world. The second group is less sensitive to external threats, as they do not take them as seriously. Typological characteristics of the subjects with a predominance of excitement in the balance of the nervous system appear to determine the choice of more energetic active music.

The author illustrates the connection between the patterns of the “external” and “internal” balance of nervous processes. The “external” balance is associated with emotional response, while the “internal” one is associated with deeper (internal) processes in the central nervous system. The outcomes of the study suggest that there is an inverse relationship of excitement in the “internal” balance with relatively calm music. There pattern is as follows: energetic aggressive music causes internal arousal and external restraint, while calm music causes internal restraint and external excitability.