Theoretical studies

Relevance. Knowledge of the spontaneous development of learning skills (LS) of University students is important and relevant, because the lack of LS adversely affects the success of independent learning, reducing the level of social and professional mobility of students and their competitiveness in the labor market.

Objective. Determining the dynamics and extent of spontaneous development of basic and additional LS students with an engineering profile in usual side developmental   nature of learning at the University, as well as of their relationship with academic performance.

Methods. For the diagnosis of basic LS specially designed tasks to build knowledge on the material of technical disciplines were used. Additional LS were tested using the author's questionnaire with scaling.  

Sample. 135 students of the 1st, 4th and 6th courses of technical universities of Moscow: 89 boys and 46 girls aged 18 to 33 years.

Results.  During the full 6-year course of study, students of engineering profile showed an increase in the level of basic LS: non-independent knowledge building (+31.25%), independent knowledge building (+12%), mixed knowledge building (+81.96%). The growth of additional skills as conscious work with the cognitive sphere (+2.8%) and with emotional states (+13.33%) was established, but the ability to work with motives and volitional regulation decreased (-8.18%),  as well as to work with knowledge as learning objectives (-16.12%), and to plan the order and time of activities (-10.21%).

Conclusion. It is necessary to take into account the reduced opportunities of students in decoding and generalization in the process of obtaining knowledge from messages with their ambiguity and a large amount of specific content. These types of basic LS need to be purposefully developed. The negative dynamics in the development of a number of additional LS also indicates the need for their special development at the University.

Relevance. The designing of tools to identify a psychological distress in network is one of the most significant challenges of the era of information technology. There are evidences of certain peculiarities of the speech and textual activity of frustrated person. However, for texts in Russian, any tool for monitoring of the intensity of frustration in online content does not currently exist. 

Objective. The purpose of our work is the listing of text features to carry out automatic analysis of the network content for detecting texts of frustrated users.

Methods. The material of the study is a set of posts and comments of 2-10 sentences collected in social networks LiveJournal, Pikabu and Facebook were written by 100 Russian-speaking users aged 27-64 years. The texts were divided as written by unexcited persons (500 texts) and by frustrated persons (500 texts). For automatic text analysis, the "RSA Machine" created in Federal Research Center "Computer Science and Control" of Russian Academy of Sciences was used, which allows to determine 197 text features, to compare texts, and to identify the most important dividing features. Mathematically, the texts were classified using the machine learning.

Results. The Random Forest method with a preliminary binarization procedure revealed the most significant features of text written by frustrated person: the sentiment; the frequency of punctuation, negative word forms and first-person pronouns; the number of semantic roles causative, liquidative and destructive; number of particles, invectives and words from the vocabulary of resistance.

Conclusions. Using the identified features the network texts written by frustrated person can be confidently determined; it is applicable for monitoring in order to ensure information and psychological security.

Relevance. There are set of terms and theories, that describe human`s experience of interaction with the outside world. This leads to difficulties in comparing and analyzing the results of empirical studies of human representations of the world. This phenomenon is clearly manifested in the study of human concepts of the personal computer, actively developed by psychologists and specialists in human-computer interfaces design.

Objective. In this work we pretend to explain the requirements for empirical study of personal computers mental models (MM) structure in the framework of cultural-activity paradigm, based on the analysis of the history of MM research in various areas of cognitive psychology and cultural activity approach.

Results. We discussed the main approaches to the study of mental models in psychology, characteristics of MM and specificity of methods of their study. The concept of MM is compared with similar constructs developed in various areas of psychology: "cognitive map", "scheme", "mental representation", "meaning", "image of the world". We also analyzed the possibility of operationalization of this construct. The MM concept are compared with the A.N. Leontiev`s concept of the «image of the world» and features of the MM researches in cultural activity paradigm was showed. The concept of MM is discussed in the context of different approaches to the study of meanings in linguistics and psychology: the approach of fixed meanings and research of embodied cognition. Finally, we describe the main characteristics of MM, which should be taken into account to plan an empirical study of human representations of personal computers.

Conclusion. In the construction of empirical research of personal computer`s MM we should require special attention to such characteristics of MM, as their consistency, cultural dependency and integrity; methods of such study should take into account the own activity of the subject.

Relevance. Individual’s entire life is accompanied by jealousy, whether or not the individual recognizes the presence of jealousy.The study of jealousy is continued near the half of century while relations between love and jealousy have stayed unclear. The link between jealousy and partnership satisfaction, especially with such important element as a sexual satisfaction, remain unclear also. 

Objective. The clarification of these links, taking into account the dramatic increase of virtual communications between real or potential partners. Our aim was to verify too the construct validity of the Russian and Latvian versions of the new jealousy scale by Dijkstra, Barelds, and Groothof.

Methods. For this reason besides the scale of Dijkstra and his colleagues were used the 45-item scale of Love by Sternberg, the 16-item Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire by Herman, the 25-item Revised Self-Report Jealousy Scale, he Frequency Index of Sexual Satisfaction by Breslav. The sample of the study comprised 75 participants aged 22 to 57 who had stayed in a more or less long-time romantic relationships.

Results. The hypothesis about the correlation between love, satisfaction with partnership relations and sexual satisfaction was confirmed. A significant positive correlation of love and jealousy was also revealed on the 42-item scale used to measure the proneness to reactive jealousy in real and virtual environment.

Conclusion. The correlation between proneness to reactive jealousy, love, and satisfaction with partnership relations found in the study suggests a certain potential of the protective function of this type of jealousy and charges researchers with new tasks in understanding the nature of jealousy and its consequences.

Relevance. In modern psychology, coping is understood as a multicomponent phenomenon. Research conducted using questionnaires allows you to study only one of the components. The proposed simulation puzzle game models the situation of solving group problems and opens up the possibility of observing and research poorly studied aspects, in particular, the ratio of individual and group coping, the dynamics of overcoming a difficult situation.

Objective. The goal is to test a simulation puzzle game as a tool for studying coping with a difficult situation, analyzing the possibilities of a technique for studying human activities to solve difficult life tasks.

Method. A group of 3 people are invited to collect on the proposed silhouette 3 identical figures of 12 elements of pentamino. In the course of the game, a protocol is kept and the video is recorded. At the end of the game is debriefing. The study involved 72 people.

Results. The analysis of signs of a difficult life task in comparison with conditions of game and results of supervision is carried out. A categorical apparatus for content analysis of replicas of participants elaborated.Selected indicators of the coping process: number of proposed solutions, content of replicas, ways of coping, role (individual indicators); time of collecting the puzzle, the emotional background, the implementation of successful initiatives, satisfaction of participants with the game (group indicators). The possibilities of debriefing to analyze the experience of problem solving are described.

Conclusions. Asimulation puzzle game allows you to study the processes of individual and group copying. Using the game model, conditions are created in which the experience of interaction with difficult life situations is reproduced.

Relevance. The article discusses the possibility of a new technique for testing the professional knowledge. This is a technique of "matrix testing" (or semantic scaling). In the introduction, the author introduces a distinctive system of constructs that allows to localize a new technique in the context of a number of traditional (testing method) and non-traditional methods of assessing educational achievements and professional knowledge.

Objective. The author has set the purpose to reveal potential of "semantic scaling" for a quantitative assessment (measurement) of student competence.

Method. The method of semantic scaling was applied by the author to scale sports with the help of special scales-criteria that denote different types of interaction between athletes and motivational regulation of their activities and thus turn the technique into "psychosemantic scaling". The study was conducted on 150 senior students of the faculty of psychology of MSU, who attended a special course of the author on "Psychology of competition".

Results. The main result (the insignificant correlation coefficient between the success of this technique and the total efficiency of students during the course) does not allow to conclude that the main goal is achieved. More interesting were the additional results from the application of this technique, namely: subset of sport species, obtained by cluster analysis, allow us to talk about the "psychological classification" of these species, or at least on the "psychosemantic classification". This classification is much closer to the classical "Olympic classification", but has a number of specific features.

Conclusion. The positive result of the study can be considered a high similarity of the obtained matrices with the reference matrix (ideal model), from which it can be concluded that the technique of "psychosemantic scaling" contributes to the conceptual learning of students-psychologists – their independent work on mastering the system of concepts in this subject area.

Relevance. Knowledge of the laws of emotion dynamics has not only theoretical, but also practical meaning: this knowledge is necessary to provide psychological assistance in solving the problem of maintaining relationships, to develop of emotional intelligence and regulation of emotions, to diagnose disorder of the emotion dynamics that underlies a number of affective disorders (such as depression).

Objective. Consideration of large (in terms of the number of experiments, subjects and factors studied) studies of Verduyn's group at the University of Leuven (Belgium) and Maastricht University (Netherlands). This group studied the duration of subjective experience of emotions of different types.

Methods. Review and analysis of modern Western studies of the duration of emotions and its determinants, their results and methods.

Results. The integration of data on the absolute and relative duration of emotions of certain types, as well as the contribution of such factors as the emotional intensity, the flow pattern, cognitive assessments, emotion regulation strategies, the social sharing, the cognitive processing of information about the emotional event  has been done. The possibilities and limitations of the main methods of studying the emotion dynamics are revealed.

Conclusions. It is necessary to continue the research of the emotion dynamics of on the material of other age, professional, cultural groups. Also, a perspective direction is the study of the dynamics of other components (not just a subjective experience) of emotion.

Relevance. The problem of self-esteem contingenciesis currently less studied empirically than the level and the stability of self-esteem. But at the same time self-esteem contingencies is verypromising topic that allows to better understanding the problems of the psychological well-being and personal maturity of the adolescent.

Objective. The study is devoted to the connection of such types of self-esteem contingencies of adolescent as self-esteem based on competence, self-esteem based on teacher approval, self-esteem based on parental approval and compensatory self-esteem with various aspects of adolescent well-being and satisfaction of basic psychological needs by parents.

Methods. 223 adolescents were recruited for the study. Techniques were filled during school lesson. It was used Rosenberg’s self-esteem scale, the multidimensional scale of schoolchildren’s life satisfaction, the scale of basic psychological needs satisfaction in family and an author’s scale for diagnosing self-esteem contingencies.

Results. It was shown that the types of self-esteem contingenciesmake a different contribution to psychological well-being. Self-esteem based on competence contributes to self-satisfaction, self-esteem based on the approval of parents - family satisfaction, and self-esteem based on the approval of teachers - satisfaction by school. Compensatory self-esteem although leads to self-satisfaction, hinders satisfaction with family and school. At the same time, adolescents whose parents satisfy their basic psychological needs are more satisfied and have more authentic types of self-esteemcontingencies.

Conclusions. The self-esteem based on competence and self-esteem based on obtaining approval and support from significant people are more authentic, healthy and contributing to psychological well-being than compensatory one. The findings provide grounds for adolescent’s training aimed at developing psychological competencies that promote self-esteem such skills of constructive thinking, formulation and advocacy of their position, self-evaluation and coping with distress. As well as for counseling with parents and teachers to build relationships based on the provision of autonomy, support and respect for adolescents.

Relevance.The effects of self-organization of subjects and groups in their joint activities are not well understood. The purpose of the work is to analyze and systematize the facts of manifestations of self-organization in the professional activity of people in a limited social space and historical time (in organizations, in a profession, in professional specialization, etc.).

Objectives. 1) A description of the facts of self-organization as a phenomenon of “psychological niches” in the models of the labor activity of subjects in similar and in different areas. 2) Identification of the determinants of the effects of self-organization of human activity.

Method. Analysis and synthesis of diagnostic data by the method of 16 PF R.B. Cattell, more than 700 professionals (drivers, private security guards, heads of departments of large industrial enterprises) obtained in the author’s studies (1994–2017), and more than 400 civil servants in the diagnostic data in 1995 and 2000, by the method of 16 PF.

Results. It is shown that the personal characteristics of the subjects are associated with their professionally important qualities, typical psycho-physiological states, value orientations, and meanings of work. Self-organization in the professional activity of individual subjects and groups as a phenomenon of “psychological niches” is a manifestation: not of a single, but of a particular and typical; the multi-level relationship of social, psychological and biological adaptation mechanisms of interacting people in a dynamic social environment; “Multipolarity” of high activity areas of subjects, time consistency of periods of their interactions; effects that are more evident not in the productivity of people’s work, but in satisfaction with it, etc.

Conclusion. Finding ways to manage the processes of group self-organization of labor subjects, enhancing the positive effects generated by human interactions, and stopping (weakening, correcting) negative ones can contribute to the development of new resources for increasing the productivity of individual and collective labor.

Relevance. The relevance of identifying methodological problems in the study of bilingualism and its impact on individual and social processes is due to the economic, political and socio-psychological characteristics of modern multicultural and multilingual societies. The special significance of the study of bilingualism acquire in the Russian language context. It is characterized by the need to find a balance between raising the status of the Russian language (as the main unifying factor of civil identity) and the development and preservation of the languages of the peoples of Russia (as an important component of the ethnocultural identity of their representatives).

Objective. The work is aimed at the analysis of the main methodological problems that arise during the research of bilingualism, identifying its impact on cognitive processes and the relationship of bilingualism with ethnocultural identity.

Method. From the point of view of the system approach and cultural-historical psychology, a critical analysis of studies of bilingualism, its impact on cognitive processes and the relationship with ethno-cultural identity was carried out.

Results and conclusions. Methodological problems that complicate the study of bilingualism, systematization and generalization of their results, and the application of the results in various spheres of social practice are identified. A number of methodological challenges need to be overcome in the field of studying the impact of bilingualism and multilingualism in order to obtain valid and reliable research results and implement practical, socially significant tasks in the field of preserving the languages of the peoples of Russia along with strengthening the status of the Russian language. The need for interdisciplinary studies of bilingualism and its impact on cognitive processes and ethnocultural identity based on the application of a systematic approach, including in the Russian multilingual context, is shown.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the publication of the monograph by N.A. Bernshtein "On the construction of movements" and 60 years since the publication of his eighth essay "The urgent problems of the regulation of motor acts". In these works, for the first time, the problem of uncertainty in the organization (and dynamics of behavior) of all systems, which we now designate as homeostatic or systems of the third type, according to W. Weaver's classification, was first raised. This problem was voiced by N.A. Bernstein as the hypothesis of "repetition without repetition", within which it is possible (as suggested by Bernstein) to describe any motor acts. After a detailed study of the various types of motion in biomechanics, we ascertained that modern deterministic-stochastic science has approached its developmental boundary in the study of living systems, since the main thesis about the repeatability and predictability of the state of the biosystem (neuronets of the brain, the human psyche) is violated. We turn to the study of systems that are in a continuous chaotic regime of changes of any parameters x_i of such (unstable) systems. The Eskov-Zinchenko effect, which is a quantitative proof of Bernshtein’s hypothesis of "repetition without repetition", is that the successively obtained samples x_i (in one, unchanged state) demonstrate a kaleidoscope of statistical distribution functions f(x), i.e. f_j(x_i)≠f_j+1(x_i) for two neighboring registered (from one person) registered samples x_i (i.e., for the jth and j+1th). This erases the boundaries between arbitrary and involuntary movements from the standpoint of their objective, statistical evaluation. Statistical instability of any received samples of parameters x_i, which describe homeostatic systems, requires new concepts and new models - models of homeostasis.

The object of research — destructive manifestations in professional activity and labor behavior, as well as the processes of deprofessionalization of individual and group subjects of labor. The definitions of “professional deformations” and “professional destructions” are analyzed. The difference in the essence of these concepts, reflecting the effect of different psychological mechanisms, is shown. “Professional deformation” leads to distortions in the structure of work activity or personality traits. “Professional destruction” leads to destruction (or destructive construction) of the structure of activity (changing its focus on other goals and results) or personality (orientation to the opposite labor and life values). The destructive effect is connected with the meaning-forming function of the motive that replaces the normative goal of the performed professional activity with another goal — personally significant and useful for the given performer, but socially harmful. “Pseudo-professionalism” (“false” professionalism) of the individual and group subject of labor is analyzed. Deprofessionalization of the subject is associated with the loss of professional identity, the destruction or non-acceptance of professional values. The problems of adaptation of a true professional in the group of pseudo-professionals (professional marginals) are considered. Conclusion: A profession as a social institution can counteract destructive processes of deprofessionalization of subjects of labor (primarily group ones) through the implementation of expert functions of professional associations.

Objectives of the study: to analyze the social, psychological and biological determinants of the activity and success of athletes; Describe the phenomenon of "psychological niches" on the model of sport. The article analyzes the results of a survey of more than 150 people - high-ranking sportsmen, freestyle wrestlers, classical and judo; Polls of coaches of the highest category (12 people); Materials of literary sources. The study showed that in the sport of higher achievements (SHA), the effects of joint activity of the subjects are systematically manifested, the consequence of which is the selection and fixing of athletes with certain individual psychological features (physique, typological properties of the nervous system, functional asymmetry, personal characteristics, styles of activity) in Certain types and specializations. In different sports and specializations, stable proportions of representatives of different types (physique, nervous system properties, functional asymmetry, personal characteristics, and styles) are preserved, as well as the success characteristic of each type in tournaments and different "ranges" of their success. Formed among athletes different types of activity styles are focused on the actualization of different stable segments of "activity spaces". These effects, determined by the interaction of social, psychological and biological conditions, are called "psychological niches", the characteristic features of which are: ordering in space and time of interactions of subjects; A limited set of mutually complementary types of adaptation of subjects in a dynamic environment; Manifestations are not single, but special, typical; Adaptation of subjects to a part of environmental conditions, as a sufficient and necessary condition for their success; Propensity to master subjects by typical operational complexes (systems, "blocks" of actions); Orientation on typical features of partners and environmental conditions; Success with interactions with typical partners (rivals), etc.

This article considers the possibilities of bringing together of the two psychological scientific fields: pathopsychology and social psychology. The realization of that approach will enable to expand opportunities of analyzing the irrational and destructive forms of social behaviour and registering various forms of pathological adaptation described in pathopsychology quite clearly. As a possible variant, there are notions of modern psychoanalysis about different types of personality structure which form in the course of interpersonal relationships during individual ontogeny. Within the framework of the proposed hypothesis about the possibility of employing pathopsychological explanatory constructs in relation to social-psychological phenomena, psychoanalytical model is transferred onto social relations. It discusses the possibilities of making use of the pathological phenomena (delusional formations, psychological defenses, addictions) for the interpretation of inadequate relations between a subject and society. The principal structures of personality organization correspond to different variants of social relationships.

The article describes the methodological analysis of three tendencies of the psychological cognition development for last three decades. Firstly, the author analyzes the psychological studies of the information processing during the human thought, sometimes based on intuitive experience or logical knowledge. It is shown that a person has two different but interacting systems for the information processing according to the dual-process theories of human thinking.

One system is focused on the heuristics, producing intuitive responses and the other one is based on analytical processing. Their descriptions correspond to the psychologists’ ideas of the Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory (CEST) by S. Epstein and two cognition styles — rational and intuitive ones. Such scientific ideas are indissolubly linked with the existence of the integrated continuum of the methods for the world understanding: from paradigmatic to narrative and then to thesaurus. Secondly, it is proved that a modern person lives in the multidimensional world, consisting of the empirical, socio-cultural and existential realities. The events and situations in these realities are understood by people after the types “understanding-knowledge”, “understandinginterpretation” and “understanding-comprehension”. Thirdly, it is reasoned that a subject does not cognize the existential reality but comprehend. Therefore, the existential experience of a subject naturally includes not only unconscious knowledge and experiences, but also incomprehensible and mysterious things. It is proved that the incomprehensibility of the reality is one of the attributes of the being. The incomprehensibility does not mean the essential impossibility of understanding. Comprehension represents such type of understanding which is focused on the phenomena and the objects of the world, requiring extraordinary efforts to be understood. Comprehension is such apprehending of the whole thing, the parts of which a subject cannot cognize and describe in details for any reasons. Mystery was analyzed as a scientific and psychological but not mystical and fantastic phenomenon. Mystery is defined on the basis of psychology of thought in which a problem situation and a problem differ.

According to modern concepts, the idea of a paradigm is associated with a certain common approach within the natural sciences in description of a large class of processes, objects, systems. If we’re talking about a global paradigm, this means such (global) paradigm should cover the huge classes of objects in nature and society. Today we highlight three global paradigms throughout modern science, which cover three global clusters of all processes and objects of living nature and inanimate nature. W. Weaver was first who proposed such statements in 1948 in his famous publication “Science and complexity”. However, during nearly 70 years almost no one paid any attention to these statements (though he spoke very simply about the most important things). W. Weaver has divided all objects and systems in nature into three giant clusters: the simplest systems (simplicity), which are described now in the framework of deterministic theories and models, unorganized complexity (stochastic system) and system of third type — organized complexity (organized complexity). Under the system of the third type he understood all living systems, but no special features in their organization has been identified and learned by W. Weaver. It is now clear that he could not do the study within the framework of modern science because this requires a different (third) paradigm and different science.

The results of the development of a new computer guidance method for senior schoolchildren on the basis of “Formulas of the profession” (E.A. Klimov) and a modern scheme for the analysis of professions (N.S. Pryazhnikov) are presented. The main stages of obtaining expert estimates are shown, which made it possible to correlate the components of professional activity with the official list of enlarged specialties of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. The advantage of 3-level grades of schoolchildren (“I want”, “I can now” and “could in the future”) is considered before the traditional assessment of schoolchildren’s actual preferences. In the process of choosing a profession, the preferred characteristics of future work activity are set not in the form of direct estimates of their traditional designations (subject, purpose, means, conditions, etc.), but through paired comparisons of the main labor activities and training activities. The computer-based online testing system works with the methodology through the Web-interface on modern software platforms — Windows, Android, MacOS, iOS, Linux.

The article presents the results of a study of professional development stages of crises in the choice of profession, vocational training, and at the initial stage of professional activity. We used the methods of a comprehensive program aimed at studying the performance of educational and professional development, the severity of the crisis experiences, personality traits and coping strategies. The sample included high school students, university students, and budding professionals. In total 1,500 people aged 15 to 28 years old. The study revealed a high prevalence of crises in all the studied stages of professional development. The content and extent of the crisis is determined by the stage of development experiences, personal resources, and social situation of development. It is shown that increasing the importance of the choice of profession stage for the subsequent stages of professional development.

Attitude to work and features of the manifestation of burnout syndrome in management activities are considered in the context of the problem of psychological provision of occupational health. The article discusses the results of an empirical study aimed at studying the characteristics of attitudes toward work in the development of the burnout syndrome in management activities, which acts as one of the key criteria for the professional health of managers. It is shown that in general, the average level of burnout syndrome is characteristic for managers, the most significant contribution to the development of which is made by such functional components as lack of help and lack of psychological support of colleagues in work, as well as problems of professional development and self-improvement. Gender differences in the development of burnout syndrome among managers are analyzed. The obtained results can be used in the development and implementation of programs for early prevention and correction of burnout of managers based on the subject-resource approach to the psychological provision of occupational health of work subjects.

The article analyzes the concepts of “Ability”, “Professional suitability”, “Professional psychological selection”, in the development and understanding of which a significant contribution was made by E.A. Klimov. Professional psychological selection is considered as a system, the systemforming factor of which is the professional suitability of a person who chooses a specific profession. The content of the concept of ability includes the motivation and experience (knowledge, skills, and abilities) of the individual, by analogy with the dynamic functional structure of personality developed by K.K. Platonov. Its own definition of the term “Abilities” is presented.