Voiskounsky Alexandr E.

Background. Digital texts have become widespread in today’s society, both in day-to-day and professional life, as well as in education. Still there is some risk and we cannot realize all the potential outcomes since psychology has not thoroughly explored their use.

Objective. We studied the differences between the effectiveness of reading parallel and consequent texts.

Design. Our sample was 45 adults of ages 18 to 59. We adapted “Similarities,” the “Analytic-Holistic” cognitive style scale, and “Complex analogies” for online use.

Results. We found individual preferences for either parallel or consequent text presentation. The results of the parallel text presentation were worse than those with the consequent, and positively correlated with holistic style and verbal intellect. Success in working with parallelly presented text depends on the individual’s cognitive features and abilities. Parallel reading is a comprehensive cognitive task and requires more cognitive skills and higher intellect than consequent reading.

Development and state of the art of psychological studies related to the Internet mediation are analyzed. Current tendencies and prospects of such studies are thoroughly discussed. Among these studies such parameters as distribution, reputational leveling and anonymity need to be specially mentioned. Dispersion or distant collaboration between almost or totally unfamiliar people is related to attempts to state an empirical quotient C, or collective intelligence for small groups. Such quotient is believed to be relatively disconnected to the individual IQs of the group participants. While such attempts lack theoretical base, they are characteristic for applied psychological studies. For bloggers, networkers or videogame players reputational leveling means extension of their reputations, namely the level gained in a videogame, or credibility in the communities of users of multiple Web services. Reputational leveling may be the result of real achievements or of well-organized self-presentations. In the cyberspace there is only partial anonymity, as it is seen in the field of cybersecurity and struggle against cybercrime. A recent tendency is to mark network activity of networkers, namely their “likes” or “dislikes”. After these marks are collected, numerous Big Data methods help correlate particular samples of these marks with both socio-demographical and psychological characteristics of the users. Once this is done, targeted advertisements can be sent out. This methodology is said to be exploited recently during important election campaigns. Among the possible means of confronting such influences we should mention a phenomenon of alternative identities. Networkers were earlier found to develop and support alternative identities which partly differ from the networkers’ real-life personalities. Although alternative identities are often supported independently of the aims connected with obstruction to sending out the targeted advertisements, this phenomenon may decrease the effectiveness of any impact related to the social networks.

Psychological studies in social perception (named also person perception, or interpersonal cognition) are reviewed in the paper. Special interest is given to social perception in electronic — computer and Internet mediated- interaction, first of all in social networking. Construction of self-presentations is listed among the main psychological mechanisms of social perception management. It is shown that networkers often develop multiple and alternative self-presentations which include verbal as well as visual and audio materials. Self-presentations form the basis for network identities, or virtual identities; networkers often experiment (play, in their own words) with their identities by changing elements of self-presentations. The paper proceeds to empirical exposure of differences between real-life and electronic identities.

Development of psychology of computerization, initiated by O.K. Tikhomirov, is traced and analyzed. The psychology of computerization deals with the specifics of the impact of computers on transformation of psychic processes and functions, as well as with the Artificial Intelligence models and concepts being compared to human thinking processes. This field of research is an essential component of the personal meanings theory of thinking, was also originated by O.K. Tikhomirov. The paper states that the current stage of the psychology of computerization is characterized by the studies of the modern information technologies’ impact on the sociocultural transformations in their psychological aspects. The paper contains the developing nomenclature of research problems have been investigated within the period of over two decades, and the perspective to give an adequate term to this field of research.

The contribution of the O.K. Tikhomirov’s school in the field of psychology of thinking is analyzed, and the main elements of the personal meanings theory of thinking are presented: namely, personalityrelated determination of thinking, regulative function of emotions, actual genesis of goalsetting and senseformation processes, creative thinking, and the impact of information technologies on the transformations of intellectual and communicative activities.

In the article experimental investigations, performed in virtual reality (VR) systems, are considered. Perspective modifications of research paradigm in cognitive, orga4 nizational, social, clinical psychology are described. The possibility of application of VR technology in educational psychology, psychotherapy and psychological rehabilitation are discussed.