Moscow University Psychology Bulletin, 2022, 1, 344 p.

The article deals with the issue of ability to anticipate future events in preschool children with visual impairments. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that the development of the prognostic ability in older preschool age makes it an important condition for the process of socio-psychological adaptation of children with disabilities, including preschoolers with impaired vision.

The aim of the study was to revial the specifics of future events anticipation in visually impaired preschool children.

The study involved 60 preschoolers aged 5 to 7 years, including 30 children with visual impairments and 30 children with unimpaired vision.

As a result of the analysis of structural and functional components, it was found that visually impaired preschoolers predict actions more often, and they also have a lower level of the speech-communicative function as compared to the one in their normo-typical peers. In children with visual impairments, the ability to anticipate manifests itself more successfully in organized activities, as well as in their relationships with parents, rather than with surrounding adults or children.

The study revealed the specifics of the ability to anticipate future situations in visually impaired preschoolers with speech impairments. It was found that children of this nosology experience real difficulties in forming a prognosis, since visually impaired preschoolers have a lower level of development in regulatory, cognitive and speech-communicative functions compared to the one of their peers without visual impairments. Preschoolers with visual impairments can set and hold goals, as well as cope with the mental replay of various options for actions and are aware of the consequences of their implementation in relation to themselves and people around them. However, they have difficulties in understanding and defining both their own emotions and the emotions of people around them in predictable situations.

The relevance of the study is due to the lack of social experience in a situation of forced self-isolation and the need for a detailed study of its general social and individual consequences.

The research is based on the authors’ concept of situational activity of a person, which considers a person as a social subject who performs activity depending on the specific characteristics of personal-situational interaction regulated by the social context.

The purpose of the study is to describe and analyze the situational activity of a person who has experienced forced self-isolation.

Methods & sample. The study was conducted with the use of the author's inventory “Assessment of situational activity of a person” (АSA). The measurement was carried out twice: in September 2020 and in May 2021. The sample of the first measurement consisted of 130 people: 37 men and 93 women aged 22–39 years. The sample for repeated measurement (30 subjects: 12 men and 18 women) was stratified and selected based on the analysis of the data of the first measurement.

The analysis allowed us to formulate the conclusions:

1. The situation of forced self-isolation is a life difficulty that causes contradictions in the perception of a person's characteristics due to the lack of stable social norms for experiencing such events.

2. The individual evaluation model of forced self-isolation is characterized by high intensity of the physiological component, hypertrophy of the mental component, and disharmony of the reflexive component of situational activity

3. An individual in most cases chooses the strategies of coping and hyper-coping types of situational activity. At the same time, the choice of hyper-coping strategies indicates an extreme mismatch in the processes of personal-situational interaction, which can be considered in some cases as a trend to form undesirable social behaviors.

Relevance. The paper is devoted to an extremely relevant in theoretical and practical terms problem of cultural differences in memory organization, which is considered on the example of memorizing plot material by representatives of Russian and Azerbaijani culture.

Methodology and sample. The study involved 60 people, 30 people in each cultural subsample. A specially developed technique of verbal video plot reproduction was used. The narrative was presented without speech and sound accompaniment, which allowed to use identical stimulus material for different cultures.

Results. The results obtained indicate the cultural specificity in memorizing and reproducing plot material. It is shown that significance of social and individual-psychological factors of memory organization changes depending on affiliation to collectivistic or individualistic culture. The representatives of Azerbaijani culture are more likely to include a moral conclusion in the plot, whilst those of Russian culture are more inclined to analyze the motivation of characters.

Conclusion

1.               The representatives of Russian culture are more likely to demonstrate the subjectivity of the reconstructed plot and greater projective freedom of interpretation regarding events and details. This can be explained by the activity of individual cognitive factors in relation to memorization.

2.               The tendency to moral assessments and moralizing in reproduction of a plot is more specific to the representatives of Azerbaijani culture. This trend indicates an active role of social norms and rules in mnemonic processes determination as compared to individual factors (e.g., motivation).

3.               The motivation of characters as the basis of storyline is more peculiar to the representatives of Russian culture compared to the Azerbaijanis. This finding testifies to the greater importance of the individual personal determinants of mnemonic processes for Russians.

Introduction. During the period of modern socio-economic reform, the requirements for the professional qualities of employees in all spheres of life are increasing. In this context, the professional qualities of specialists in extreme professions attract the attention of researchers in order to find answers to the in-demand requests coming from both practitioners and society (M.Sh. Magomed-Eminov, V.D. Nebylitsyn, V.V. Rybnikov, Yu.S. Shoigu, etc.). The study of the development of reliability as a personal and professional quality of employees at the Russian Emergencies Ministry remains a little-studied and urgent issue for psychological science.

The goal is to identify psychological determinants that contribute to/hinder the development of reliability of employees at the Russian Emergencies Ministry in the course of their professional activities.

Methods and sample. The sample consisted of 156 people (men, aged 20 to 45 years, active employees of fire and rescue units of the EMERCOM of Russia, in Moscow).

Research methods included expert assessments, a Mini-cartoon test, a 16-factor personality questionnaire by R. Kettell, Leary's Interpersonal Behavior Circle, a “Trust-distrust” technique (A.B. Kupreichenko), a “Subjective assessment of interpersonal relations” technique (S.V. Dukhnovsky).

Results and conclusions. Psychological determinants that contribute to/hinder the development of reliability of employees of the Emergencies Ministry of Russia, as well as personal characteristics of employees that negatively affect the content and mechanisms of reliability development were identified. As a result of the conducted research, we can draw a general conclusion that the socio-psychological training resulted in forming personal self-regulation skills in extreme conditions, ensuring psychological stability, stimulating activity, developing communication skills, team building, updating the resource potential of the individual, expanding models of constructive interaction. The development of motivation, goals, values of professional activity succeeded, as evidenced by qualitative, quantitative and statistical results.

Relevance. In the study, we discuss the neuropsychological measures and relationship of two important groups of cognitive functions, namely, executive functions and functions of activation regulation. The study of the structure of these functions and the possibility of assessing their state in children of preschool and primary school age by methods of neuropsychological diagnostics and computerized testing are important from two points of view. First, it is an important issue in neuropsychological practice. Second, it is one of the ways to better understand cognitive development at this age.

Objectives. Development and estimation of factor models that establish the relationship between the results of neuropsychological diagnostics and various groups of cognitive functions associated with executive functions and regulation of activation. Methods. 434 children from 6 to 9 years old (from senior preschoolers to third graders) participated in the study. All children underwent neuropsychological examination adapted for children of 6–9 years, and they also performed tests from a computerized neuropsychological examination battery for children of 6–9 years. The results were used to conduct a confirmatory factor analysis.

Results and conclusions. We proposed models that include three factors. The first factor corresponds to executive functions and two others relate to the regulation of activation. According to our model, the functions of activation can be divided into two factors: a factor of hyperactivity/impulsivity and a factor of fatigue/sluggishness. Model fit indices showed good agreement with empirical data. The combined use of indicators of both traditional and computer neuropsychological examination makes the estimations of the model better. Thus, in the study we revealed parameters of the performance on the neuropsychological tests that can be used as indicators of the state of executive functions and functions of activation regulation. The weakness in one of the components of activity regulation can lead to specific patterns of behavior which are manifested in the neuropsychological examination. A more serious and extensive deficit of one of the functions can lead to the appearance either of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or of sluggish cognitive tempo.

The article presents the results of an empirical study of the relationship of psychological characteristics (traits of the Big Five, values, cognitive styles) with behavior when contacting telephone scammers pretending to be bank employees. The relevance of the study is associated with an increase in the number of victims of telephone fraud, especially among the elderly, and the need to clarify psychological characteristics that allow to resist manipulative influence.

The aim of the work was to identify the psychological characteristics of people at risk of telephone fraud and prone to manipulative influences. The research is based on the hypothesis that such characteristics are revealed as “Cooperation” and “Conscientiousness” on the “Big Five”, as well as the style of thinking “naive optimism” and security values.

The study involved respondents aged 50+ (N = 70, 26 of them were men, the average age was 61 years). The following questionnaires were used: an abbreviated version of the “NEO-FFI” questionnaire “NEO PI-R” by P. Costa and R. McRae; “Portrait value Questionnaire by Sh. Schwartz — Revised PVQ-R”; CTI Constructive Thinking Inventory, by Epstein. In order to find out whether the respondents had encountered fraudsters, what feelings it had caused and what actions would be taken when contacting “imaginary” bank employees by phone, the authors developed a questionnaire.

According to the results obtained, respondents who constitute a risk group exposed to the manipulative influence of fraudsters were identified. People aged 50+ with pronounced security values, naive optimistic way of thinking, high self-control, who put the interests of the group above their own, inclined to cooperate, make up a group at risk of being manipulated by telephone scammers.

It is concluded that 1. The key characteristics of a victim of telephone fraud are not the
desire to get rich, but the fear of losing what is available. 2. At the level
of attitudes, it is possible to form the ability to resist telephone fraud in
people aged 70+. 3. The characteristics of resistance to manipulative influence
may be a combination of low self-control and cooperation with other people, the
lack of significance of security values and the lack of naive optimism.

Relevance. Children’s safe behaviour is one of the conditions for keeping them safe and sound, healthy and socially integrated, as this is the top-priority objective of the contemporary society. Teenagers are one of the most vulnerable age groups. They are frequently endangered because they show higher rates of careless behaviour. Teenagers with impaired intellectual development having this behavioural tendency cause a lot of concern in both their parents and the entire community.

Objective. The research is aimed at studying safe behaviour in teenagers with unimpaired and impaired intelligenge. The research aims to define peculiarities and differences in these teenage groups in situations that appear threatening to their lives, heath or social well-being.

Methodology. The study involved 109 parents of teenagers aged 12–15. 46 parents are parents of children with unimpaired intellectual development (19 girls and 27 boys). 63 parents had teenage children with impaired intellectual development (35 boys and 28 girls). A questionnaire was offered.

Results. The researchers arranged a poll among the parents and obtained data on how safe behaviour is formed in teenagers with impaired intellectual development compared to their peers with unimpaired intelligence. The findings show difference in behavioural patterns of teenagers with impaired and unimpaired intelligence in such situations as crossing a street, handling electric appliances and sharp cutting tools, acting during outdoor leisure and using gadgets. Additionally, the study defined gender differences in teenage boys’ and girls’ behavioural patterns when facing dangerous dogs, arguing or fighting and even during outdoor leisure.

Conclusions. The findings reveal the justification basis for different approaches to how to form the culture of safe behaviour in teenagers, if they have or do not have impaired intellectual development or if they belong to different sexes.

Relevance. In 2020 along with regular stress related to final examinations, school graduates faced additional difficulties due to COVID-19 quarantine restrictions. Specifically, this stress could manifest itself in increased anxiety, depressive symptoms, and other signs of the low level of psychological well-being.

The study aimed to compare anxiety and depression levels in school graduates and 9–10 graders and to analyze the role uncertainty coping patterns play in their psychological well-being.

Method. The following questionnaires were used: The Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire in Russian adaptation by Kornilova; The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) adapted by Adryushchenko, Drobizhev, Dobrovolskiy, and our original survey “Applicants` main fears”. The study sample included 170 participants aged 16–18 from different Russian cities and towns. Among them, 96 were school graduates planning to apply for university, and 74 were students of 9 and 10 grades. The research was conducted online with the use of Google-forms. Participation was completely voluntary and anonymous.

Results: The study showed that anxiety and depression symptoms were impacted by the preference towards uncertainty coping patterns. Vigilance as a coping pattern led to lower levels of anxiety and depression in both groups. There were no significant differences in anxiety and depression between graduates and 9–10 graders.

Conclusions: Preferred uncertainty coping patterns can impact the psychological well-being of graduate and undergraduate school students.

Objective. Knowledge, expectations and fears about chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer, affecting the subjective well-being and emotional condition of patients, may indirectly affect treatment satisfaction and complaints of side effects.

The aim was to compare treatment representations in patients referred to radiation therapy and chemotherapy, and to identify its relationship with health anxiety and subjective well-being.

Methods and participants. 53 patients referred to radiation therapy and 63 patients referred to chemotherapy completed the Scale of Treatment Representation in Oncological Diseases, Illness and Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire, Satisfaction with Life Scale and Scale of Positive and Negative Experiences.

Results. According to the results, the key difficulties with regard to radiation therapy in patients are a lack of understanding of treatment process and a general concern about the need for it. Compared to radiation therapy, with chemotherapy, patients tend to be more doubtful about the effectiveness of treatment and more anxious about the need for it. Moderated mediation analysis demonstrated that lack of understanding, doubts about the effectiveness and anxiety about radiation and chemotherapy are associated with subjective ill-being indirectly - through a higher level of health anxiety.

Conclusions. Feelings of helplessness with regard to treatment mediated the relationship between doubts and confidence about treatment effectiveness and well-being in both groups. With radiation therapy, confidence in the need for treatment was indirectly associated with better well-being - through lower health anxiety.

Relevance. The question of the role of the feelings of guilt in the rehabilitation process of people whose parents were alcohol addicts remains controversial. In cognitive behavioral therapy, the feeling of guilt is associated with taking the responsibility. In the humanistic approach, the feelings of guilt and shame are considered as emotions that hinder the acceptance of responsibility and the search for social support. The study of the experience of the feelings of guilt can help formulate the goals of rehabilitation and identify the resource factors of people whose parents were alcohol addicts.

Objective. The purpose of this study was to study the relationship between the responsibility and the feelings of guilt experienced by people whose parents were alcohol addicts.

Methods. Sample: 1) people whose parents were alcohol addicts (N = 52; M age = 24.5); 2) control group (N = 50; M age = 24.2). We used a phenomenological analysis of the statements of the participants in the twelve-step recovery program, “The Interpersonal Guilt Questionnaire” (O'Connor, Berry), “The Guilt Inventory Questionnaire” (Kugler, Jones), “Coping strategies” (Lazarus, Folkman), the content analysis of the family resource factors.

Results. People whose parents suffered from chronic alcoholism characterize the feelings of guilt as a familiar family process, as a result of increased responsibility for other people, as a result of taboo aggression towards their parents and as a result of experiencing a real or expected loss of their parents. An increased feeling of guilt is associated with avoiding finding a solution to a problem and is not associated with taking increased responsibility. Resource factors contributing to overcoming the feeling of guilt: keeping a diary, self-observation of negative emotions, communication with friends and healthy relatives, participation in rehabilitation programs. The participants in the control group are less inclined to experience the feelings of guilt and shame, and identify the confidential communication with family and friends, and sport as resource factors.

Conclusions. The feelings of guilt experienced by people whose parents were alcohol addicts is not associated with the acceptance of increased responsibility for their lives and does not contribute to the acceptance of the social support.

Relevance. The problem of identifying the cerebral mechanisms of internal speech (spoken words or even individual sounds — phonemes) based on the electrical activity of the brain is relevant and significant for a number of practical applications, in particular for improving the construction of brain-computer interfaces.

Target. Electroencephalographic research is aimed at identifying the cerebral mechanisms of internal speech, taking into account the modality of its initialization.

Methodology. In a study on 25 subjects, a 19-channel EEG was recorded in the process of performing three tasks on perception and internal pronunciation of seven phonemes of the Russian language: A, B, F, G, M, R, U, which were presented visually (in the form of letters) and audibly. The analysis of the obtained EEG data was carried out using a new author's method of localizing brain activity “virtually implanted electrode” (developed by A.V. Vartanov), which allows, according to scalp EEG data, to reconstruct electrical activity, the source of which is located in a certain place inside the head (activity was studied in 33 different points of the brain).

Results. The averaged evoked potentials were obtained for all the studied areas of the brain and the functional connections of these structures were revealed in the form of connectivity graphs for the corresponding conditions.

Conclusions. It was found that the processes of pronunciation, expressed in EP, differ depending on the modality of the initial form of the reproduced image — in visual perception, the supromarginal gyrus is more involved. The synchronized activity of a number of cerebral zones providing internal speech was revealed. A special role is played by the activity of the hippocampus and the pallidus (Gl. Palidus). The form of the EP when perceived is in many ways similar to its form when pronouncing. Activation at visual input is almost always significantly higher than at auditory input.

The Savoring Beliefs Inventory (SBI) is a measure to assess individuals’ beliefs about their capacity to savor positive life experience. Studies showed positive association of savoring with happiness and well-being. The Russian adaptation of the SBI will help to expand research in the fields of psychological well-being and emotion regulation.

Objective. The present study aimed to validate the Russian version of the SBI and determine its factorial structure.

Method. The participants were 490 adults mainly from Moscow. The following measures were used: the Russian version of the SBI, the life orientation test, the attributional style questionnaire, the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, the gratitude scale, the positive and negative affect scale, the satisfaction with life scale, the subjective happiness scale, and the Riff’s scale of psychological well-being.

Results. Confirmatory factor analysis has supported the theoretically expected three-factor structure of the measure. Three factors of savoring the moment, anticipation and reminiscence were moderately related. The validity of the methodology is confirmed by correlations of savoring with indicators of psychological well-being, happiness, dispositional optimism, optimistic attributional style for positive events, gratitude, positive affect, life satisfaction and self-esteem. All three subscales of savoring and total savoring score showed high level of internal consistency. The convergent and structural validity of the method was proved.

Conclusion. The study showed that the Russian version of the SBI is a valid and reliable instrument to assess savoring ability both in total and in three aspects of the past, present and future.

Relevance: in the last decade, virtual reality (VR) technologies have been actively introduced into the training process in various types of sprints. At the same time, there are studies showing the inconsistency of VR for the formation of sports skills and their transfer to real conditions. But despite this, the use of VR can be useful for practicing specific motor skills and cognitive functions, for example, anticipation.

Objective: to develop VR-PACE technology (VR Technology for training Puck hitting And HOSKE skill Effectiveness) using virtual reality aimed at diagnosing and analyzing the skill level of a hockey player, as well as their training.

Methods: within the framework of the study, a simulation virtual environment was developed that simulates a hockey field (ice arena in Sochi) and sets four difficulty levels (four blocks) depending on the speed of the puck and the distance to it. The study involved 22 people, 13 of whom were professional hockey players (Mage=20±2.5), and seven were beginners in hockey (Mage=20±1.4).

Results: it was found that professional hockey players have a significantly smaller amplitude of head vibrations during the reflection of pucks, that is, they understand the position of their body well enough during certain actions, and they do not need to observe the full trajectory of the puck. There were also significant differences in the speed of response to the presented washers in the block with the fastest speed of presentation of 2 washers. The results obtained may indicate a better formation of technical and tactical, temporal and spatial factors in professional hockey players.

Conclusions: the adequacy of the developed tools for the analysis of professional skills of hockey players was demonstrated. It was also shown that the skill level of a hockey player is determined by the formation of a set of parameters, including spatial, temporal, technical and tactical abilities. This is manifested in the automation of a number of skills, as well as the optimization of motor responses: 1) higher and more stable amplitude of movements over the entire observation interval and minimization of unnecessary movements; 2) higher reaction speed to more complex pucks (close to real game situations); 3) concentration of attention on significant signals, anticipation.

The relevance of the stated issue is connected with the incompleteness of the transformation in modern education, which requires the search for innovative tools and methods to solve existing problems. The application of cosmism methodology to pedagogical practice seems important in the context of educational system modernization based on the principles of personality-oriented education and universal values. Taking into account the insufficient knowledge of the ontology of pedagogical cosmism, the chosen direction of research seems to be relevant.

The purpose of the work is to study practice-oriented application of the ideas of cosmism in the framework of humanistic paradigm development to student-centered education in modern educational environment.

Results. The most significant results of the study, characterizing its scientific novelty, are the following:

1. The methodological basis of the concept of cosmism lies in the assumption of the organic unity of Man, Mankind and the Cosmos, supporting the legitimacy of cosmic consciousness as a concept, defining Man as a unique Microcosm.

2. In the framework of the pedagogical concept of cosmism, the main direction is the spiritual education of the child, which consists in the discovery of the “higher self”, controlling all spheres of the personality. It also involves the improvement of the emotional, mental, physical and spiritual spheres of personality in order to form a unique quality, elevating a person to the next stage of spiritual evolution.

3. Modern trends in educational policy are consonant with the ideas, formed in pedagogical concept of cosmism. They include systemic integrity of the tasks, principles and directions of education and upbringing, regarding education as a process of development, and the ability of self-improvement of the individual.

4. Application of the ideas of cosmism is focused on solving the problems that modern education faces, including the ethical problem of education and the search for the best solutions to develop talents. These problems also include pedagogical assistance to self-improvement, and foundation of a new type of school, supporting sustainable and continuous development.

Conclusion. On the basis of the concept of cosmism and of the methodological guidelines of cosmopedagogy, analyzed in the work, it was concluded that comprehensive development of the individual is possible through the disclosure of creative energy aimed at harmonizing the inner world.