Articles

Possibilities of the human activity approach in psychological research are discussed. The paper states about the necessity of subsequent development of psychological human activity theory: first of all the general structure of human activity is to be specified. Particular importance must be given to diachronic aspect of its structural analysis. The system of essentially different components that constitute its process must be described, and their interdependencies must be revealed. The author emphasizes the significance of the final component of the human activity, i.e. the action of satisfying the initial drive of the subject. Regarding this action as the activity “realization phase” can give the key to the problem of reinforcement. The pair of notions — “orientation” and “execution” — will be of value when solving the problem of set consciousness.

The paper focuses on security problems under modern world globalization. The research makes apparent that globalization acts as a risks multiplier in every scope of individual’s activity. Corporate security prospects are analyzed in the view of macro-psychology.

The paper is aimed to present several results of the number of big scale international projects; their purposes were: 1) diagnosis of the contemporary adolescents’ psychological well-being actual level; 2) search of the ways to improve this level. Adolescent psychological well-being actual level has been monitored on different experimental fields in Russia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan. After that multifactor intervention (with adolescents, their parents, teachers, and school administration) took place. The study results achieved demonstrate the intervention strategy efficacy and productivity, and allow defining a direction of further movement.

Introduction.

Motives of the terrorist activity are revealed through the analysis of psychological mechanisms of realization of basic human needs at the stages of involvement in a terrorist organization and participation in them. Psychological appeal of terrorism in the context of the problem of the influence of modern technology on the dynamics of the boundaries of the norm and pathology is discussed.

Some key aspects of the terrorism as an object of psychological research are described: 1) ideological principles as an object of political psychology; 2) emotions such as aggression and hatred as an object of development psychology and psychology of personality; 3) terrorists’ organizations as an object of social psychology; 4) psychological motives inciting people to participate in terrorism activity as an object of clinical psychology; 5) usage of global informational space by terrorists as an object of psychology of mass communication. Instead of conclusion all participants of the round table are invited to discuss the following issues: a) terrorism as social-psychological phenomenon; b) psychological essence of the terrorism, psychological features of terrorists; c) motivation of terrorists; d) reduction of inter-ethnical tension as a factor of decreasing of terrorists’ activity; e) psychological mechanisms of mass-media influence on peoples’ behavior in a risk conditions of terrorists attacks; f) mass-media publications as a way to prevent the terrorism; g) psychological mechanisms of involvement into terrorist organizations; h) psychological rehabilitation of people survived different kinds of violence, including terrorist acts; i) psychological accompanying of antiterrorism measures; j) psychological training of specialists in counteraction to terrorism and elimination of consequences of terrorists’ acts.

«Vestnik» — main scientific publication by psychologists of Moscow University.

The article is devoted to the problem of increasing of scientific standards and applied value of dissertations in pedagogics and psychology. Significant growth of quantity of dissertations in psychological and padagogical specialities is mentioned, and the reasons for the growth are pointed out. The indications of decreasing of dissertations’ scientific standards are listed with supporting factual data and typical examples. Some prompt actions undertaking for increasing the scientific standards and applied value of dissertations in pedagogics and psychology are described.

Chapter 2 is devoted to comparative analysis of vector encoding of information at perceptual and semantic levels. With this purpose new concepts are entered and carefully proved: «a memory map», «a map of semantic units», «an excitation vector of memory», «a semantic difference», «a semantic evoked potential». Experimental psychophysiological researches of color and emotion perception are analyzed to illustrate the basic similarity of perceptual and semantic subjective spaces. The neural mechanisms providing the coordination of perceptual and semantic processes are discussed.

The concepts of ethnic identity and ethnicity are compared to each other; the main approaches of research on ethnicity are analysed. The restrictions of the primor- dialistic approach are discussed. The psychological analysis of the constructivist model of ethnicity as well as of its criteria is proposed in here. The analysis of the ethnological theories allows concluding that the unilateral vision of ethnic identity nature is illegiti- mate and ethnic identity should be studied as result of the cognitive-emotional process of self-determination of individual towards the ethnic groups in the social space — as result of belonging to the ethnic community experience.

The spherical model of visual perception, based on the hypothesis of vector encoding of information by neurons-detectors, is suggested and discussed. The following global features of the model are under special consideration: sphericity, universality, and the connection of its metric parameters (spherical angles, Cartesian coordinates) with subjective and neurophysiological aspects of vision. Theoretical states are illustrated by the data of experimental researches of different forms of visual perception in human and animals – perception of ‘color’, ‘direction of moving’, ‘spatial frequencies’, ‘orientation’.

The article is devoted to short review of history of one of the leading scientific schools in Russian psychophysiology founded by Professor of Moscow Sate University E.N. Sokolov. The basic ideas and scientific achievements of the school are described and analyzed.

The article puts special emphasis on the necessity of giving a scientifically grounded definition to such a concept as «giftedness». By taking a retrospective look on the problem the author reveals reasons why the perception of giftedness as «intellect above average» is so widespread. Determining a unit of analysis of giftedness (i.e. ability to develop activity on one’s own initiative) and creating a method for its measurement («systematic observation») made it possible to realize F. galton’s concept of giftedness.

The materials of the interview with Professor E.A. Klimov, held in 2006, are presented. Subject of conversation is the experience of the Dean of the Faculty, the impressions from lecturers, the scientific life of MSU, the comparison of Moscow State University with other universities

The blogs as the platform for a virtual personality construction are considered in the article on the assumption of the positions of L.S. Vygotsky’s cultural-historical approach. Internet journalism practices are considered as the example for the processes of virtual «I» formation. The authors affirm that the appearance of consecutive and stable «I-representation» in Internet is the necessary condition for a change in dynamics of social nets development from motives which are out of Internet (in physical space) towards situation when a virtual personality is enough full-fledged to be a motive for new social interactions creation not leaving Internet. As a result a virtual personality turns into a net-creating factor and Internet loses its unoriginality in relation to physical space.