Theoretical studies

Relevance. The term “family pain” is used in family psychotherapy to refer to the emotional state of dysfunctional family members. Research on this phenomenon in dysfunctional alcoholic families can expand the understanding of the family system and allow us to formulate the goals of psychotherapy with such families.

Objective. To investigate the “family pain” experienced by adult children of alcoholics.

Methods. The sample consisted of 52 people who were in a recovery program for adult children of alcoholics (ACA), and 50 controls. We implemented a phenomenological analysis of ACA groups, a content analysis of images of “family pain”, and factor analysis of the characteristics of “family pain”.

Results. The study showed significant differences between the images of “family pain” experienced by adults who were raised and still live in alcoholic families, by those whose parents were alcoholics and had died by the time of the survey, and by those whose parents were not alcoholics. People who live with their alcoholic parents describe “family pain” as a familiar, long process with effects on the whole family. The experience of “family pain” includes anger, shame, and self-pity. People whose parents were alcoholics and have died describe “family pain” as a feeling of guilt towards their parents and a process of experiencing their parents’ death. The control group had difficulty describing “family pain”, or described it as a process of experiencing their parents’ death.

Conclusions. Representations of “family pain” are associated with the subjective meaning of family dysfunction for the participant and the experience of negative emotions in the family.

Relevance. The spread of coronavirus infection is accompanied by the dissemination of information messages in the form of radical beliefsaffecting people’s behaviour. 

The aim of the study was to reveal the relationship between beliefs about coronavirus and its treatment, magical thinking, anxiety and the protective behaviour against to the pandemic. Methods. 402 adults aged 18–64 years old filled checklist including beliefs about causes, manifestations, consequences and control of the pandemic, Illness and Treatment Locus of Control Scale, Treatment Self-Efficacy Scale, Magical Ideation Scale as well as scales measuring anxiety and protective behaviour in pandemic and monitoringof information about coronavirus. 

Results. Factor analysis revealed three groups of radical beliefs about coronavirus: negligence as the cause of the occurrence and spread of coronavirus, a particular meaning of morbidity and negative consequences of the pandemic. 

Conclusion. Belief inthe negligence as a cause of coronavirus was more typical for people with an intrinsic locus of causes of the causes of illness but extrinsic locus of control of treatment and for those who were prone to protective behaviour in the pandemic. Belief about the particular meaning of coronavirus was associated with the magical thinking, the intrinsic locus of control of the causes of illness, less anxiety about infection and poorer compliance with self-isolation. Radical beliefs about the consequences of the pandemic were related to more frequent monitoring of the information about the pandemic, extrinsic locus of control of treatment but intrinsic locus of control of causes of illness and a pronounced anxiety regarding future negative consequences of the pandemic.

We present the results of an empirical study of the relationship between self-assessment of creative abilities, originality of creativity (verbal and social) and values. The relevance of the research is related to the demand for creativity as an important competence in the labor market. The ambiguity of the relationship between different types of creativity and self-assessment of creativity, as well as the discrepancy between the results of diagnostics of creative potential using various methods, actualizes the problem of realizing creative potential.

The aim of the work was to study the relationship between different types of creativity, self-assessment of creativity and values, as well as to identify the ratio of creativity indicators diagnosed using the Real Word Divergent Task (RWDT) method and tasks for verbal creativity.

The study involved adolescents aged 15–16 years (N = 50; 26 – men) – students of one of Moscow school. The following methods were used: “Self-assessment of creative abilities” (E. Tunik), tasks on verbal creativity and creativity in social interaction of positive and negative connotations of RWDT, Portrait value questionnaire of Sh. Schwartz.

According to the results, originality is higher in tasks for verbal creativity compared to situations in social interaction; originality in situations of lies and prosocial situations in social interaction significantly correlate; there is no correlation between self-esteem of imagination and creativity indicators measured using the RWDT method and tasks for verbal creativity; self-esteem of creative abilities has a positive relationship with the highest value of “Openness to change”; the predictor of self-esteem of imagination is the value of “Independence of thought”. The results confirmed the hypotheses about specificity of creativity, about the absence of a link between creativity measured as self-report and objective methods; about the presence of a direct link between the highest values of “Openness to change” and the components of creativity measured by self-report, and did not confirm assumption about the absence of a direct link between originality in prosocial situations and situations with negative connotations.

Conclusions are made that 1) creativity is specific in various areas, 2) creativity in situations of lies and prosocial situations in social interaction is a single construct; 3) self-esteem of imagination is not associated with divergent thinking, measured using the RWDT method and tasks for verbal creativity; 4) high self-esteem of imagination is mediated by the motivational goal of thinking creatively, having original ideas, learning new things and phenomena.

Relevance. The study of the self-motion (“vection”) illusion is an important task for modern psychology and neuroscience due to the widespread use of virtual reality systems. The study of psychophysiological mechanisms of this phenomenon has particular importance as an example of intersensory interactions.

Objective. To study the psychophysiological mechanisms of the self-motion illusion in a virtual reality system using electroencephalography.

Methodology. Eleven healthy subjects took part in the experiment. The stimulation was a virtual opto-kinetic drum that rotated clockwise and counterclockwise around a vertical axis with angular velocities of 30, 45 and 60 angular deg/s. The duration of each rotation was 60 seconds. The subjects were presented with 18 rotations; there was a series with instructions for free viewing of the visual scene (3 speeds × 2 directions × 2 repetitions) and a series with instructions to fix the gaze in the center of the virtual scene (3 speeds ×2 directions × 1 repetition). After each rotation, the subjects filled out the “Simulator Sickness Questionnaire” and evaluated the intensity of the illusion on a 10-point scale. Stimulation was presented in the HTC Vive virtual reality helmet. Electroencephalogram recording during the observation of cylinder rotations was performed using Mitsar-EEG-10/70-201.

Results. Significant differences were found in the intensity of the illusion, the total score on the questionnaire, and the power of the alpha rhythm in the parietal zones, depending on the speed of rotation. The higher the rotational speed, the greater the values of these dependent variables. Large values for beta-rhythm power in the occipital areas were found in the series with fixed eyes, in the subjects with high values for the intensity of the illusion.

Conclusions. Differences were shown in the bioelectrical activity of the brain during the experience of the self-motion illusion, related to mechanisms of visual-vestibular integration and greater attention to the performance of the motor task of gaze fixation.

Background. This study examined a set of personality traits related to self-control or willpower, (WP), and how self-ratings of these self-control traits are influenced by the cognitive constructs of action (versus state) orientation and meaningfulness.

Design. The subjects were 943 university students, aged 17–29 (M = 19.5 years), who volunteered to complete J. Kuhl's (1996) Action-State Orientation (ASO) scale, a Russian adaptation of the Purpose In Life test (PIL) as a measure of meaningfulness and sense-making capacity, and self-ratings of self-control traits, such as “persistence”, “decisiveness”, and “self-discipline” that produced an aggregate measure of WP and four willpower factors reflecting (1) emotional regulation, (2) commitment to action, (3) energy, and (4) execution.

Results. State-oriented ineffective sense-makers (those who scored low on both ASO and PIL) rated themselves the lowest on WP. Conversely, action-oriented effective sense-makers (high scorers on both ASO and PIL) produced the highest WP self-ratings. Mediator-modelling regression analyses showed ASO and PIL to be predictive of self-rated WP – both independently, and by mediating each other’s influence on aggregate WP ratings. However, the predictive power of PIL was substantially higher than that of ASO, and the overall pattern of prediction varied across the four willpower sub-factors.

Relevance. Research into the factors determining attraction between people is the most generally accepted paradigm in modern social psychology. The principal innovation of this study is its differentiation of the factor of the similarity of attitudes (both positive and negative), which was not introduced in previous works, either theoretical or empirical. At the same time, it seems apparent that “similarity of attitudes” is too global a characterization and requires further discrimination. Distinguishing between positive and negative attitudes makes obvious empirical sense: To what extent is similarity in some negative attitudes more important than in positive ones?

Objective. To determine the impact of coinciding negative and positive attitudes on attraction to strangers in women.

Methods. The study involved two stages. The sample at the first stage comprised 162 women, at the second there were 47; the average age of the participants was 19 years. The main methodological technique was a modified version of D. Byrne’s “fake stranger”. Statistical processing of the data included one-way analysis of variance and subsequent assessment of the significance of the differences in the dynamics of the attraction obtained by introducing additional information in the form of positive and negative attitudes corresponding to respondents' own attitudes.

Results. The introduction of additional information about attitudes that coincide with those of the respondent had a significant impact on attraction. The differences between the coincidence of the so-called positive and negative attitudes were analyzed. The authors propose a number of interpretations of the results in line with concepts relevant to modern socio-psychological science, relating to various theoretical orientations (psychoanalysis, cognitivism, interactionism, etc.).

Conclusion. In the case of coinciding negative attitudes, the increase of the resulting attraction to the object is more significant than in the case of coinciding positive attitudes.

Relevance. The study of the "pole" of a group as an object is important for a more complete understanding of the patterns of the group’s development. Information about the incompleteness and impermanence of the subjective manifestation of a group has not yet been considered from the standpoint of different forms of its function as an object. Understanding of the essence of groups that have not developed subjective potential is limited.

Objective. To develop an appropriate system-subject approach to the theoretical foundations of the study of the group as an object.

Method. Theoretical analysis of the group as an object from the standpoint of a system-subject approach.

Results. The article describes the features of the group as an object, reflecting not only internal but also external connections, the underdevelopment of various forms of activity, and moral and psychological damage to the community and its social environment. External and intra-group factors of the group as an object were considered, showing the effect of the protective mechanisms of its development. The forms of the group as an object were identified, taking into account the coverage of group life, the stability of its manifestation, and the stage of group functioning.

Conclusion. A comprehensive analysis of intra- and inter-group factors and attributes of the group as an object allows us to test whether its manifestations are signs of its immaturity or of its destruction. The stability of “objectness” as a variant of immaturity or of destruction of the group is a promising direction of study.

The study performed a comprehensive examination of interrelationships among intelligence, motivation, and personality traits in problem solving that requires a combination of prognostic activity and following logical rules.

Objective. To determine the role of motivation, personality traits, and intelligence in predicting choice of strategies and the effectiveness of problem solving (using the Wason selection task). 

Method. Seventy-five undergraduate and graduate students from Moscow and Saint Petersburg participated in the study (age M = 21.2, SD = 2.6) and were asked to perform a problem-solving task on a computer. They also received a set of questionnaires: the Ten Item Personality Inventory (Big Five), Personal Preferences Schedule (motivation), two subtests aimed at measuring verbal crystallized intelligence (Mill-Hill and Verbal Analogies) and fluid intelligence (Three-Dimensional Rotation, Matrix Reasoning).

Results. Fluid intelligence showed a positive correlation with extraversion, while verbal intelligence showed a negative correlation with agreeableness and conscientiousness. These three personality traits were also related to problem-solving effectiveness. Fluid intelligence showed a negative correlation with guilt, while verbal intelligence showed a positive correlation with achievement motivation. Intelligence scores were not related to the success of problem solving in the Wason selection task, and neither were emotional stability and openness to experience. 

Effectiveness and the duration of decision making in different attempts to perform the task were correlated with motivation of autonomy, guilt, aggression, and, at the statistical trend level, with motivation of achievement and intraception.

Conclusion. The data largely supported the general hypothesis regarding the role of non-specific motivational tendencies in solving the Wason selection task. For this deterministic problem, we found positive correlations of decision making with motivation of autonomy and endurance, whereas negative correlations were obtained for motivation of aggression.

Background. The digitalization of society is making changes in the lifestyle of the whole population today. However, while the older generation uses the Internet as a tool, the teenagers, youth, and young adults perceive it to be a full-fledged living environment. Today, Internet resources are the main way of involving young people in extremist groups, and radicalizing them. The role of the Internet as a means of socialization is actively discussed in scientific discourse, and questions about the prevention of the negative impact of the Internet environment are being raised, as well as about the technologies and mechanisms used for exerting extremist influence. However, it is important to understand that the features of the sense of identity of the recipient are essential for the formation of sensitivity to Internet exposure, including to extremism.

Objective. The aim of our study was to identify personal predictors of the involvement of teenagers, youth, and young adults with the Internet, as well as to analyze their personality traits and vulnerabilities for extremist influence via the Internet.

Design. Our research methods included a sociological questionnaire for analyzing the involvement of respondents in the Internet environment, and adaptations of the psycho-diagnostic methods HEXACO, “The Dark Triad,” and a modified projective technique “Houses.” Our study sample was comprised of 2051 people (528 teenagers 13-15 years old, 686 youth 16-20 years old, and 836 young adults 21-29 years old).

Results. The results of the study showed that 16.9% of respondents are characterized by maximum involvement and immersion in the digital environment. Compared with the contrasting group of respondents who are less actively immersed in the Internet environment, the “involved teenagers, youth, and young adults” are characterized by a stable complex of personal characteristics (narcissism, “Machiavellianism,” inability to forgive, lack of organization, negative mood patterns, etc.). Also, behavioral markers and zones of vulnerability are defined for respondents who are characterized by maximum involvement and immersion in the digital environment while experiencing extremist influence on them.

Conclusion: The identified personal characteristics of teenagers, youth, and young adults actively involved in the Internet environment allow us to define and specify measures to prevent the radicalization of this group.

Background. The relevanceof this study is determined by society’s growing interest in the process of socialization of persons with mental disorders, which determines the need to find new means and methods of support for them based on modern technology.

Objective. To determine the possibilities of using virtual and augmented reality in the educational environment for children with mental disorders.

Design. The authors carried out a pilot study, including a survey of teachers and an evaluation of the perception of children with mental disorders of images of augmented and virtual reality. The mental disorders referred to in the article are understood to be autism spectrum disorders, combined with mental retardation. In total, 10 teachers and 14 children of the study group were interviewed.

Results. Data from the survey of teachers showed that children with mental disorders have difficulty in processing visual information; they like the interactivity of forms, and they can be attached to certain things (books, places), which should be considered when developing scenarios for using devices with hyperreality. Data from the survey of the children showed that they like the most familiar objects, and that they usually don’t perceive complex images and unknown symbols; they tend to pay attention to the small details of objects. They usually select images which use primary colors and cool tones. Observations have shown that children with mental disorders often navigate the interface of unfamiliar devices faster than the owners of the devices. By changing the size of the image, they seem to help themselves find the answer to the question.

Conclusion. Our data confirmed the possibility of using hyperreality in the education of persons with mental disorders, and concretized ideas about the features of pattern recognition in virtual and augmented reality. Particular attention was paid to the characteristics of the form of not only the images, but also the technical devices, since the design is interpreted as an "adapter" of virtual and augmented reality images to the current state of the recipient.

Background. This article is devoted to the study of the phenomenon of “clip thinking.” The connection of this topic with modern sociocultural processes is indicated. The methodological foundations of the study are the cultural-historical approach and the "style paradigm" of the study of cognitive processes. The most significant conceptual ideas and experimental data in the study of “clip thinking” in recent years have been highlighted.

It is noted that so far, there has not been an unambiguous scientific understanding of the phenomenon of “clip thinking,” and there are not enough techniques for studying it.

Objective. The main objective was the study of the “clip-integrity” thinking of high school and university students.

Design. The article describes the author’s method of studying the “clip-integrity” of thinking, as well as the results of its testing on a sample of senior schoolchildren (89 people) and university students (76 people).

Results. The study revealed that the proportion of university students with systemic (holistic) thinking is significantly higher than in the sample of schoolchildren. In schoolchildren, expressed “clip” thinking occurs one and a half times more often than among university students. The authors consider the age-typical characteristics of the respondents and the characteristics of the socio-cultural development situation, characterized, inter alia, by a change in the main information medium, as the main factors determining the identified features of thinking.

Conclusion. The possibilities of the methodology they developed allowed the authors to clarify the tasks of studying the cognitive characteristics of high school students and university students as relates to the phenomenon of “clip thinking” and its relationship with “holistic thinking,” and to set new research objectives.

Background. The socialization of personality in the modern world occurs on the Internet and social networks, transforming traditional methods of communication on the basis of ethical standards for constructing interpersonal Internet communication. The basic rules are: personal responsibility for actions performed on the network, including illegal actions; respect and equality of partners; confidentiality; copyright protection; and privacy. The relevance of the problem of ethical standards in Internet communication in adolescence is due to its importance for youth and their formation of moral consciousness as a developmental task.

Objective. This study is aimed at identifying attitudes toward ethical standards of Internet communication among youth users with different levels of moral consciousness. Our research goals were: 1) elaboration and testing of the author's technique “Ethical Dilemmas in Internet Communication” (EDI); 2) discovering attitudes towards ethical standards in Internet communication and strategies for resolving ethical dilemmas; and 3) study of the relationship between the level of the moral consciousness of respondents and their orientation toward following the basic ethical standards in Internet communication.

Design. The methods used were the author’s EDI technique, including ethical dilemmas, and the questionnaire "Justice-Care" (S.V. Molchanov). The sample consisted of 61 subjects.

Results. We found an ambiguous attitude by users of the Internet network toward the ethical standards of communication and a differentiated attitude toward following ethical standards. A high level of willingness to follow the norm was identified for copyright protection, but a low one for respecting the inviolability of personal life and taking personal responsibility for actions performed on the network. The strategies for solving ethical dilemmas in Internet communication were clear. The hypothesis about the connection of the level of moral competence and the attitude toward following basic ethical standards in Internet communication was verified.

Background. The transition from the analog economy to the digital one has been accompanied by the digitalization of all spheres of life, in particular the sphere of education, and according to the decree of the government of the Russian Federation, it requires a revision of goals, educational content, and the development of new tools that provide for lifelong learning, as well as the construction of new competency models.

Objective. To carry out a comparative logical-categorical analysis of various models describing digital competencies based on a review of domestic and foreign studies, and determine the content and place of digital competencies in modern competency models.

Design. Critical analysis and synthesis of the literature on the problems of digital competence.

Results. The vector of economic development in the Russian Federation will shift to the development of the knowledge economy over the next 10 years. This transition creates a number of problems: 1) The students are much more savvy than their teachers in the use of digital technologies, as they were immersed in the digital environment from early childhood; and 2) There is no single approach to the definition of the term "digital competence." The first part of this paper presents an analysis of the existing definitions, content, and types of digital competency. The second is a comparison of different models of digital competencies. The third part is about the inconsistency of the results of empirical research on the benefits and harms of digital technology for the mental development of children.

Conclusions. 1. Ubiquitous digitalization creates the need to develop a new competency model for the knowledge economy. 2. The concept of "digital literacy" is included in the concept of "digital competence" on the principle of "part-whole." 3. Science provides more and more evidence of the positive impact of the digital environment on the development of the psyche and human behavior. 4. A systematic approach to the formation of digital competence is needed in the form of specialized educational programs based on generalized instructions (indicative principles of action), taking into account the age characteristics of students.

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.

Background. Virtual reality technologies (VR) allow users to absorb a lot of visual information in a short time and have become an important feature in education. The advisability of using virtual reality as a tool to improve the learning processes in the modern digital environment is an open question. Despite some studies devoted to assessing the effectiveness of virtual reality applications to the education process, there are no clear conclusions on this issue.

Objective. The study of features of foreign language learning material using VR.

Design. 29 young participants (22 females, 7 males) with a high level of foreign language competence were selected. They received three types of stimuli: text, 2D video, and VR. The efficiency of their learning was tested with questions before and after each experiment. VR stimuli were presented by Samsung Gear VR.

Results. It was shown that “VR” and “Text” conditions were the most efficient material for foreign language learning as compared to the “2D-video” condition. The results also showed a strong negative correlation between the participants’ baseline level of knowledge and their knowledge gain under all experimental conditions.

Conclusion. VR offers an effective method for improving the process of learning, but traditional teaching methods still play an important role in education. Young people in the modern world have developed ways to use the VR as an educational tool.

Acknowledgments: The study was supported by the Russian Federal Property Fund grant No. 18-29-22049.

Background. The relevance of this study is associated with the widespread use of social media by adolescents with a high risk of turning to aggression and violence.

Objective. The purpose of the study is to investigate the characteristics of adolescents' perceptions of peer profiles in social networks that vary in degrees of “security,” and their readiness to carry out various communicative actions depending on their psychological characteristics. We hypothesized that: 1) There is a connection between the psychological characteristics of adolescent users of a social network, and their ability to differentiate profiles of peers-users of social networks and communicative actions in social networks; and 2) The oculomotor activity of adolescent users of social networks is associated with the degree of attractiveness of a peer profile.

Design. We used the methods of “Peer attachment” (G. Armden, M.T. Greenberg, 1987 as adapted by G.V. Burmenskaya, 2015); Emotional intelligence (D.V. Lyusin, 2009); Recognition of emotions by sight (S. Baron-Cohen et al., 2001); cognitive methods for assessing social information (S.V. Molchanov et al., 2018); eye-tracking technique; and conversation. The study included 40 adolescents 14 to 17 years old.

Results.We distinguished three groups which differed in their attachment to peers, emotional intelligence, and cognitive methods of processing social information; they comprised three types – “idealizing,” “selective,” and “cautious.” We showed that the "selective type" is characterized by the highest degree of differentiation of "dangerous" and "safe" profiles of peers in social networks, and high selectivity in implementing various communicative actions. The greater attractiveness of the main information in a peer’s profile is reflected in more fixations, fixation time, and returns to the zone. 

Acknowledgments.This work was financially supported by the Russian Federal Property Fund No. 18-013-01080 “Cognitive methods for processing social information from the Internet as a factor in the formation of adolescents' ideas about the moral regulation of relations in the modern information society”.

Background. The widespread use of personal computers in everyday life has led to the need for their use in the programs of children's institutions. However, so far little is known about the impact of the use of personal computers on the cognitive abilities of preschoolers.

Objective. The goal of the study to analyze key empirical data presented in the current scientific literature and to identify the relationship between the use of information technology and the cognitive abilities of preschool children.

Design. We used three tests that, in our opinion, allow us to assess the cognitive abilities of children in this age group: “TV,” “Your vocabulary,” and “Labirint”.

Results. Our results reveal the nature of the relationship between cognitive changes in children and their user activity on a personal digital device (computer) which is firmly established in the life of not only the family, but also a preschool educational organization. As a result of the deep theoretical analysis of the data presented in foreign and domestic literature and electronic sources, we were able to structure a study, the logic of which, along with the use of mathematical statistics, allows us to come to reliable conclusions.

Conclusion. From the perspective of the development of cognitive skills in children of preschool age, the results showed that the time spent at the computer has a positive effect which is cumulative, since it has an impact on test results one year later.

Relevance. In modern medicine, the question of an individual approach to the prevention and treatment of patients with dental diseases becomes relevant. Consideration of the personal characteristics of patients is necessary both for building a successful communication with a doctor and for predicting their adherence to medical recommendations.

Objectives. The study of the relationship of individual-personal characteristics of patients undergoing dental treatment, with a commitment to follow the recommendations of the doctor.

Methods and sampling. The study involved patients who underwent examination and therapeutic treatment in the dental clinic (63 women and 35 men). The study took place in two stages. At the first stage, the level of dental health was measured (by 5 indices) and a psychodiagnostic study was conducted to determine the individual and personal characteristics of patients (type of interpersonal relationships, character accentuation, extraversion / introversion); a questionnaire on attitudes towards dental health, developed by the staff at Pavlov’s University. Patients were given detailed instructions on proper oral hygiene. At the second stage (in a month), dental health indices were re-measured in patients.

Results. Adherence to the implementation of the recommendations of the dentist is associated with such personality characteristics as hyperthymic and demonstrative character traits, altruistic and authoritarian types of behavior in interpersonal relationships and extroversion. Insufficient level of care for dental health and low commitment to follow the recommendations of the dentist are associated with such personality features as anxious, fearful and dysthymic types of character accentuations and introversion.

Conclusion. The ability to predict patient behavior regarding compliance with the recommendations of the dentist based on the diagnosis of the psychological profile of patients opens up prospects for developing personalized prevention programs for each type of patient and introducing case management into the dental practice, in which an individual treatment plan is developed for each patient personal and social characteristics.

Relevance. The results of the interaction of man and the environment are fixed and function in the mind with the help of signs and symbols. The need to study the patterns of mastering the subject content presented in a symbolic form, as well as socialization in general, makes it important to appeal to the fundamental question of the correlation of symbolic function with the structure and work of consciousness.

Objective. This article represents the processual model of consciousness allowing to consider the symbolic function as a moving force of human connection with the surrounding world. The essence of this connection is cognitive. 

Methods. Analysis, synthesis and modeling. The study was carried out in the concept of a semiotic approach.

Results. Social origin of consciousness allows to model its structure. The following components of consciousness can be distinguished: the sensual fabric of an image; biodynamic fabric of the movement and action; meaning; sense.  

The symbolic function should be studied within the concept of the processual model consciousness. Logic of processual model imposes studying of signs and symbols moving from the separate nominal condition through the systemic organization to the reflection.

Conclusions. Consciousness can be studied through the processual model, where the main characteristic of its elements is the interaction and mediation by signs and symbols. The primacy of a sign or symbol is determined by the degree of orientation of the subject in the situation. The transition of a sign into a symbol occurs as a result of the inclusion of a separate sign in an increasing number of sign-symbolic systems. This is possible in the process of personal temporal and spatial inclusion in the general vector of the “chronotope”.

Relevance. Cartoons carry the information about the world, human relations, norms of behavior and values to children, forming a kind of information "zone of the nearest development" of a child in the terminology of L.S. Vygotsky. In a situation of intercultural competition, it is important to understand what symbols, values, meanings, norms of behavior, perceived from domestic and foreign cartoons, can positively and/or negatively transform the process of socialization and development of the child's personality.

Objective. Research of specificity of perception of esthetic and moral characteristics of heroes of domestic and foreign animated films by children of preschool and primary school age. 

Methods. Focus group interview, expert survey, semantic differential.

Sample. 24 kids 4-5 years; 30 pupils of primary school 8-9 years. Kindergarten teachers and teachers of primary school, 10 females 36-50 years.

Results. Foreign cartoons in the perception of children surpass domestic in quality of performance, modernity and attractiveness of the behavioral patterns of the characters, but lose in depth of the topic revelation. For preschoolers, the main carriers of values are the main characters of cartoons. Categories: "mind", "force", “beauty”, "kindness", "danger", "justice" are leadingin assessments of behavior of characters. Children record social distance through the categories of "Senior – Junior" and "Big – Small". Younger pupils do not see the moral background of the behavior of the small character of “Tom and Jerry” cartoon.

Conclusion. The results show that children are able to distinguish cartoon characters by cognitive categories, aesthetic category and also by moral. The content of the information environment, in which children immersed today, can inhibit the development of communication abilities of children and their emotional intelligence.