Psychology to practice

Background. Very scarce works are devoted to the study of hockey players' brain activity, which is connected, among other things, with the large amount of motor activity in athletes and the complexity of EEG registration.

Objective. The aim of the study was to investigate electroencephalographic markers (in alpha, beta, and theta EEG bands) during a puck kicking task of varying difficulty under virtual reality conditions in ice hockey players compared to freestyle wrestlers.

Methods. The previously developed VR-PACE technology was used for the study, which allows practicing puck reflection skills in hockey in a virtual scene. In the study, pucks were presented in blocks (five blocks in total), the difficulty increased from block 1 to block 4, in block 5 the subjects only observed the pucks. EEG recordings were made using a wireless electroencephalograph BrainScanner V3.1 (research edition) by “NeuroDrive” throughout the entire task, analyzed by 20-second segments in each block and in each of the backgrounds (before and after). Twenty-two male subjects (average age=20, SD=2.4 years) participated in the study.

Results. The results showed significant differences between the groups, as well as significant within-group differences between the “before” and “after” conditions of the experiment in terms of the Individual Alpha Frequency (IAF), as well as the average and total power of theta, alpha, and beta rhythms. The overall trend in both groups is similar (after the experiment, there is a decrease in IAF, an increase in alpha rhythm power in central and parietal electrodes, and a decrease in occipital electrodes; a decrease in theta rhythm power in frontal and occipital electrodes; and a decrease in beta rhythm across all electrodes). However, the hockey group exhibits significantly more pronounced shifts in EEG, indicating greater alertness and attention (higher powers of theta, alpha, and beta rhythms both before and after the experiment), as well as greater relaxation (higher power of mu rhythm after the experiment).

Conclusions. The study examined the electroencephalographic correlates (IAF, power in the alpha, beta, and theta frequency bands of EEG) in hockey players and freestyle wrestlers while performing a task of deflecting a puck in virtual reality (VR). The dynamics of the EEG indicators indicate more efficient brain function in hockey players when performing the puck reflection task in a virtual reality setting, confirming the hypothesis of neural efficiency.

Background. The study of the psychological resources of a person experiencing a life-threatening disease is important due to the increased number of social requests related to improving the quality of a patient’s full-fledged adaptation to life. The effectiveness of coping with the psychological consequences of a serious illness is determined by the system of internal conditions of the individual as well as by the age characteristics, due to which a subjective assessment of the psychotraumatic situation, the nature of a person’s appeal to potential opportunities are specified.

Objective. The study focuses on human resources when coping with the psychological consequences of post-traumatic stress, depending on age and the characteristics of the life-threatening brain disease (local or vascular pathology of the brain).

Study Participants. 125 people showing no signs of cognitive deficits and who have given their informed consent were involved in the study. Of those, 64 people had a diagnosis of benign meningioma (30–70 years), and 61 people were diagnosed with cerebrovascular disease (31–69 years).

Methods. To assess the level of psychotraumatization in respondents, the “Impact of Event Scale” technique was used, emotional and personal characteristics were studied using the Freiburg Personality Inventory and the “World assumptions scale” technique.

Results. It has been established that, regardless of the type of disease, caused by local or vascular pathology of the brain, and the age of a person, a common resource for coping with psychotraumatic experiences is, on the one hand, accepting the situation of the disease and on the other, distancing oneself from experiences that mark it as hopeless, causing despair. For people with symptoms of cerebrovascular disease coping with stress, it is more important to regulate relationships with the outside world and maintain their functionality. While for people with meningioma, a positive self-attitude and the focus on unlocking inner potential, which becomes especially relevant in older age, are more important.

Conclusions. The resourcefulness of a person in a situation of severe illness is determined by the rational nature of emotional self-regulation, including through selective appeal to social support. Specific resources associated with the peculiarities of the stressful situation of brain disease become more significant with age and manifest themselves in the specifics of the personality orientation (outward or inward).

Background. Improving the work on psychological prevention of stagnation in professional and personal development of employees (military personnel) as well as counteracting the spread of negative information and psychological effects provide for professional efficiency and reliability of the personnel of law enforcement agencies.

Objectives. The article is aimed at studying the issues of negative information and psychological impact as determinants of stagnation in professional and personal development of representatives of law enforcement agencies.

Study Participants. The study was conducted on a sample of 163 people (62 police officers, 87 military personnel, 14 employees of the penal enforcement system). The participants are men who have been in office for more than 3 years and are experiencing negative information and psychological effects; the average age is 32.4 years.

Methods. Questionnaire for studying the impact of negative information and psychological effects on the personnel of law enforcement agencies; questionnaires for assessing the stagnation of professional and personal development and assessing the information stress tolerance by V.E. Petrov’s employees were applied. Descriptive statistics, frequency analysis, evaluation of differences using the Mann-Whitney U-test, correlation analysis by Ch. Spearman were used for statistical processing of the empirical data.

Results. With intense negative information and psychological impact, representatives of law enforcement agencies expressed: a subjective feeling of stagnation, loss of motivation for self-realization, awareness of stagnation in development. Such characteristics of personality and behaviour as information intelligibility, moderate information activity and sensitivity to stress, stress regulation of behaviour act as protectors from stagnation under the influence of negative information and psychological effects.

Conclusions. The study found that representatives of law enforcement agencies integrate negative intensive informational and psychological impact into the overall assessment of the level of psychological stress in the service. The etiology and generalization of information stress and stagnation of professional and personal development among police officers, the penal enforcement system officers, and military personnel are largely similar. Countering negative information and psychological effects and overcoming stagnation phenomena in professional and personal development can serve as the basis for a system of prevention of deviant behaviours in the personnel of law enforcement agencies.

Background. The ability to regulate cognitive activity is an important quality of the subject of educational activity. The development of children’s cognitive activity is one of the main tasks of preschool education. Despite all the attention paid to cognitive activity in research, the question of its mediated forms remains open. The study of the influence of cultural means on the cognitive activity of preschoolers will allow solving the problems of its development through the creation of psychological and pedagogical conditions aimed not only at its appearance and support “here and now”, but also at the formation of the ability to independently regulate it.

Objective. The goal is to find out whether older preschool children can independently regulate their cognitive activity, and what cultural means contribute to this.

Study Participants. The study involved 60 children of the seventh year of life (M = 75 months), 25 of them were boys and 35 were girls attending preparatory kindergarten groups in Moscow. Each experimental group included 20 children.

Methods. An ascertaining experiment aimed at identifying the abilities of older preschool children to regulate cognitive activity was carried out. In two experimental groups, different means of regulation were introduced: figurative and verbal. In the third experimental group, the children simply completed the proposed tasks. In total, the children were offered 3 tasks: to make something out of 3 different sets of cubes. The Kruskal — Wallis criterion was used for statistical data processing.

Results. The results obtained in the study indicate that until the end of preschool childhood, the cognitive activity of children in the implementation of productive activities retains a pronounced situational dependence on the characteristics of the material they use. This dependence persists despite the introduction of figurative or verbal means of regulation. Only a small number of children have been found to be able to regulate cognitive activity, which manifested itself as stimulation of its dynamic component.

Conclusion. Most preschoolers 6–7 years have no experience of awareness and regulation of cognitive activity. The emergence of opportunities to regulate cognitive activity is facilitated by situations in which the child identifies oneself as a subject of activity. The most accessible means for older preschoolers to identify themselves as a subject of cognitive activity is an image.

Background. Along with toys that society offers for children’s play, the values of this society are broadcast. Children’s play turns out to be dependent on the ideology, adults’ ideas about its structure, meaning and place in children’s life. The attitude towards toys reflects the attitude of adults towards children, and changes along with the socio-cultural situation. The study of this dynamics is necessary not only to expand scientific understanding of toys, but also to understand what contribution adults make to the construction of the phenomenon of childhood.

Objectives. The aim is to study the dynamics of attitudes towards toys during the period from the late 19th to early 21st centuries.

Study Material. The study used 110 sources, 85 of which made up the final list of references.

Methods. Theoretical analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature of the late 19th — early 21st centuries devoted to the theme of children’s toys was conducted.

Results. Two shifts in attitude to toys have been found due to changes in the socio–cultural situation in Russia. The first shift is associated with the revolution and the emergence of the USSR, and the second one with the Perestroika and collapse of the USSR. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a child was understood as a subject of play activity, independently creating toys in accordance with their play ideas. So, a toy is any object that is used in play, a good toy is a homemade toy. Choosing the right toys requires observation of a child’s play. With the emergence of the USSR, play became a way of pedagogical influence on a child. Toys were regarded as means of education and training. Therefore, they were to be chosen based on the goals of communism: by playing with them, the child became a Soviet citizen. Toys are understood as created by adults for children with good toys being aimed at the development of a Soviet citizen. With the collapse of the USSR, the pluralism of opinions in the field of play and toys is growing. The number of studies in this area is increasing and there is an understanding of the need to create an objective tool for assessment of toys.

Conclusions. The study shows the dynamics of the attitude of teachers and psychologists to a toy in conditions of changing socio-cultural situations.

Background. Despite the depth of theoretical analysis of play activity there is a lack of empirical data on the choice of toys by modern children. A toy is a means of constructing play and, therefore, can largely influence its key characteristics.

Objectives. The study is a continuation of an earlier series of works aimed at experimentally clarifying children’s toy preferences and the relationship of these preferences to individual developmental performance.

Study Participants. 202 children aged 4-5 years were participants in the study. Previously published data obtained on a sample of 3–4-year-old children were used to analyze the age dynamics in toy preference.

Methods. The study used an experimental design with a multiple-choice forcedchoice method. Diagnostics of children’s mental development included assessment of the main components of regulatory functions and the ability to understand emotions and was performed using instruments standardised on a Russian sample.

Results. It was shown that children prefer highly realistic and detailed toys. In particular, such factors as the toy being detailed, the possibility of its use in playing through familiar plots, the adequacy of role-playing actions with it and the possibility to endow it with human features proved to be fundamentally important for children.

Conclusions. From the distribution of choices in experimental trials and children’s verbal explanations, it can be confidently concluded that play activity is based on the laws described in the works of Vygotsky, Elkonin, and Smirnova. It is also shown that children who choose the most realistic toys have better verbal working memory, but have a weaker ability in cognitive flexibility. According to the obtained data, as children grow older, they tend to choose less anthropomorphic toys.

Background. Determining the types of professional performance in police officers through correlating the effectiveness and “cost” of activities and identifying the expression of professionally important qualities for each of them allows us to develop and implement programmes of psychological support for employees to preserve their professional health and longevity.

Objectives. The aim of the study is to identify the professionally important qualities of Arkhangelsk police officers with different types of job performance, recommended for a higher position.

Study Participants. The study involved 78 employees of the Arkhangelsk police department (56 males, 22 females) aged from 24 to 55 years.

Methods. The parameters of effectiveness and “cost” of the activity were assessed using questionnaires, instrumental methods and the M. Luscher colour test. Professionally important qualities were diagnosed with a battery of psychological testing methods recommended for use at police departments. Statistical methods included descriptive statistics, two-stage cluster analysis, χ2 for contingency tables and multivariate analysis of variance.

Results. Four types of professional performance have been identified in police officers: 1) high performance, 2) average efficiency while saving resources, 3) efficiency due to the “cost” of the activity, 4) reduced performance. It has been established that there are no statistically significant differences between police officers with different types of professional performance regarding age, work experience, and professional orientation.

Conclusions. Police officers with different types of professional performance differ in their attitude to work, cognitive and intellectual abilities, socio-psychological, emotional-volitional and leadership qualities.

Background. Currently, the number of entrepreneurs who want to run a traditional business or a startup is growing rapidly. In scientific circles, there is also increasing interest in the phenomenon of entrepreneurship and, in particular, in the personality of the entrepreneur. The question arises as to which areas of research in the social psychology of entrepreneurship are relevant at the moment.

Objective. The study is aimed at creating a map of scientific landscape in the field of entrepreneurship, as well as at highlighting relevant areas of entrepreneurship research in social psychology.

Methods. Scientific mapping was carried out using the VOSviewer programme version 1.6.15. A scientometric analysis of keywords from 3,235 scientific articles published in the field of social psychology over the past 5 years was carried out (according to The Lens platform). The interpretation of the map in order to highlight the current directions was made using the metaphor of the city.

Results. Current research topics include personal and environmental aspects. Among the relevant areas of entrepreneur’s research are socio-psychological personality traits (optimism, enthusiasm, perseverance, traits of the dark triad, etc.), entrepreneurial intentions, motivation. When studying entrepreneurship, the question of the choice to become an entrepreneur as well as the process of entrepreneurial self-determination are important. At the same time, at this stage of research, the thematic bundle “identity-self-determination-intentions” is of interest only from the point of view of intentions.

Conclusions. Entrepreneurship as a phenomenon in modern social psychology is of scientific interest in terms of point constructs: entrepreneurial intentions, socio-psychological personality traits, values. It is the study of entrepreneurial identity that seems promising, since it will allow to predict the professional path of young people and their predisposition to entrepreneurship.

Background. Remote work has been gaining popularity for a long time. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work has become a necessity for many people. However, the personality traits of people for whom remote work is suitable are poorly understood.

Objectives. The study focuses on the personality traits of successful freelancers working remotely.

Study Participants. 184 Freelancers (115 females, 69 males, aged from 14 to 60) were recruited from Advego.com. Freelancers were divided into two groups of beginners and experts, based on the number of tasks completed. Groups were compared with each other. The group of experts was also compared with a group of 98 females (aged from 16 to 72) who were not freelancers.

Methods. An empirical study was carried out using a five-factor personality questionnaire by H. Tsuji in the version of A.B. Khromov.

Results. Significant differences were found between expert freelancers and women of different professions for the following personality traits: extraversion (p = 0.0001), agreeableness (p = 0.0001), openness to experience (p = 0.0001). The hypothesis that freelancers have a higher level of conscientiousness than non-freelance women was not confirmed.

Conclusions. The personality traits of freelancers who are successfully adapted to remote work are revealed including lower levels of extraversion, agreeableness, and openness to experience. The results obtained can be used to select staff for remote work.

Background. Problems of finding meaning of what is being read can accompany students’ already formed skills of fluent reading, reducing their academic success. The issues of reader’s literacy are in the focus of modern psychological and pedagogical research, and the consideration of the mechanisms of its formation at the initial stages of learning to read is therefore relevant.

Objectives. The study performs the analysis of the quality of children’s orientation in the initial period of learning to read and of the conditions for its actualization.

Study Participants. 26 subjects (6–7 years old) took part in the diagnostic examination, including 10 first-graders and 16 senior preschoolers who studied reading in the kindergarten preparatory group or as a part of preschool training. Experimental teaching for children aged 6–7 years was conducted in two preschool groups of 4 people and in one group of 6 first-graders.

Methods. The assessment of children’s capability to read meaningfully (the first part of the study) was carried out individually according to the modified technique of D.B. Elkonin “fusion of words” (Elkonin, 1998). To test and refine the designed training materials (the second part of the study), 30 half-hour classes were conducted within experimental teaching in each group.

Results. A qualitative analysis of the filled in diagnostic forms and videotaped children’s actions and reasoning allowed us to identify and describe reading strategies demonstrated by children, which we defined as formal (found in 73% of the subjects) and meaningful (27%) — in accordance with the nature of attempts to comprehend what they read, which participants resorted to in the process of deciphering the “fusion of words”. The results of our experimental teaching showed the effectiveness of the approach we developed to create some conditions for meaningful mediation of initial reading.

Conclusions. One of the important conditions for the formation of the meaningfulness in reading during the transition “from letters to words” is to provide the orientative function of referring to reality, standing both for the word itself and for the sentence in which it should be read correctly. The method of “end-forward” reading of deformed words and simplest texts, which we developed, can be considered as a resource for improving the literacy in initial reading.

Background. Volunteering is an activity in which people are involved initiatively and voluntarily, in order to improve the living conditions of the community. Research shows the ever-increasing role of volunteers in solving social problems. However, the organizers of volunteer activity face with the problem of the insufficient level of sustainable involvement of people in volunteering. Student life is a period of active socialization when the volunteer activities of students allow them to acquire important qualities necessary for successful socialization. Emotions are the evidence of involvement ensuring the sustainability of motivation. Therefore, it is important to understand how students reflect volunteerism in their ideas which will allow the organizer of volunteer activities to form a sustainable motivation for participants.

Sample. The study involved 173 university students.

Objective. The goal is to identify the features of the emotional component of the image of volunteering in the perceptions of university students in psychological and educational areas.

Methods. The thesaurus of emotive vocabulary by L.G. Babenko was used to compile the profile. Data collection was carried out by the method of limited associations. The task of the respondents was to give nine associations to the word “volunteer” in the form of the principle parts of speech (three verbs, three nouns, three adjectives). As a result, the frequency of these associations by categories of emotive vocabulary was revealed and a rating of these categories was formed.

Results. The most frequent in terms of the number of associations used are the categories of emotive vocabulary: kindness, pity, sincerity, and joy. These emotive categories characterize the emotional component of the image of volunteering in the thesaurus of students. An analysis of denotative-ideographic groups, taking into account functional-semantic categories, shows that these categories are represented unevenly in students’ associations. The category of emotional attitude is the most pronounced while the categories of emotional impact and the emotional attitude are not represented at all. A rating of denotative-ideographic groups was built according to the frequency of associations about volunteering used by the respondents.

Conclusion. The categories of emotive vocabulary are complementary to the content of volunteer activities. The emotional component of the image, identified with the help of denotative-ideographic groups and functional-semantic categories, reflects both the characteristics of the emotional regulation of volunteer activity and the personal constructs of students.

Background. Stereotyping is an important part of social cognition. Therefore, it attracts a lot of attention from psychologists and sociologists. Ethnic stereotypes are not only a reflection of established prejudices and false ideas, but also a kind of social “barometer” indicating possible social problems. Modern studies have revealed the relationship between stereotypes and real ethnic diversity, and also indicate that the subjective feeling of disadvantage is a breeding ground for the emergence and existence of ethnic stereotypes.

Sample. The study involved 88 people, representatives of 4 countries.

Objective. The article aims to substantiate theoretically, to identify empirically, as well as to classify ethnic stereotypes in the perception of advertising by young people, representatives of four ethnic groups.

Methods. The study simulated a situation of interethnic interaction, in which the participants acted as the “authors” of 6 advertising messages and 3 commercials. They had to write stories selecting the “main characters”, whose participation would illustrate the attractiveness of the advertised product or service. A set of typical images of representatives of different ethnic groups was proposed. Psychological diagnostics was aimed at establishing differences between groups. were An express questionnaire “Tolerance Index” (G.U. Soldatova, O.A. Kravtsova, O.E. Khukhlaev, L.A. Shaigerova) and emotional empathy questionnaire (Emotional Empathic Tendency Scale, EETS) designed to determine the level of empathic tendencies, the ability to empathize as a personal trait by A. Mehrabian and N. Epstein were used.

Results. Areas of social practices where autostereotypes and heterostereotypes appear were identified. Themes where new stereotypes appear were identified. The diagnostics showed that there is no statistically significant difference in the indicators of tolerance and empathy between representatives of the 4 groups.

Conclusions. The results of the study can be explained by the fact that participants demonstrated the unity of social group, the youth. The results obtained can be interpreted as evidence that for modern young people, the decisive factor in the formation of stereotypes is information transmitted through various means, which clearly acquires a transnational character.

Background. In Moscow schools there is a programme for vocational guidance for schoolchildren. One of these projects includes specialized classes in the project “Mathematical Vertical” for schoolchildren of grades 7-9. However, at present, studies of various psychological aspects of the influence of education on the personal characteristics of adolescents in special classes providing professional orientation for schoolchildren are not enough.

Objective of the study was to assess school motivation, meaningfulness of life, assertiveness, as well ae to identify differences in these indicators between students in the 7th grade of the “Mathematical Vertical” project and their peers in the regular class, as well as to determine the correlations between the indicators under consideration.

Methods. The questionnaire “Assessment of the level of school motivation” by N.G. Luskanova; the test by D.A. Leontiev to assess the level of meaningful life orientations; the assertiveness test by V. Capponi and T. Novak were used.

Sample. The material was obtained for 50 students of the 7th grade. 28 adolescents (of which 50 % were boys) were students in a “regular” class, 22 subjects were students in a mathematical class (73 % were boys). The average age of adolescents was 13 years.

Results. A low level of educational motivation was revealed among students in both classes. Male teenagers from the advanced mathematics class had a higher level of meaningfulness in life than their peers from the regular class. There were no gender differences in assertiveness test scores, while the number of assertive students was higher in the regular class compared to the maths class. The work also showed direct correlations between the levels of school motivation and meaningfulness of life, between assertiveness and meaningfulness of life.

Conclusion. It seems appropriate to introduce a number of measures in various classes of the school with the purpose of the development of assertiveness, awareness and formation of life meanings and orientations, an active position in relation to one’s own life, which can positively affect the level of school motivation.

Background. The modern labor market is characterized by constant, not always predictable changes, which directly affect labor resources. In this regard, one of the priority tasks of career consultants is to constantly monitor these trends in order to timely adjust their work to them.

Objective. The article aims to analyse the tasks and challenges that career consultants face in their work in the conditions of dynamically changing labor market.

Methods. The research used the analysis of literature supplemented by the respondents’ qualitative answers. They were asked to express the opinion about requests, tasks and difficulties they had in their work in 2022.

Sample. The data was obtained through an online survey of career consultants (24 participants).

Results. The main characteristics of the BANI-world model and their reflection in the modern local labor market are considered. The main requests and tasks that career consultants are working with in the current conditions are identified. Career consultants’ work challenges, limitations, and possible ways to overcome them are formulated.

Conclusion. The research materials indicate increased requirements for professional consultants. They are to be ready to work with a wide range of career guidance issues, to provide deep and long-term psychological support for clients in the current socio-economic conditions. The results obtained could be used as the basis for further clarification of the local trends in the study of activity characteristics in modern career consultants, difficulties in their work, as well as assistance in resolving them.

Background. Currently, the number of entrepreneurs who run traditional business or create a startup is growing. A startup is a special type of entrepreneurial activity that increases the risks of doing business. In this regard, the question of the personality traits of the entrepreneur who has a traditional business and the founder of the startup arises.

Objective. The aim is to identify distinctive professional values of entrepreneurs who prefer traditional business (hereinafter referred to as TB entrepreneurs) and startup entrepreneurs.

Methods. The hypotheses were tested by a survey including two test methods: the Rokich values method, a modified method from the Bushkova-Shiklina study. The paper compared the set of professional values of traditional business entrepreneurs (TB) and startup founders. Differences in values were checked through Pearson’s chi-square calculation (χ2 — Pearson consent criterion).

Sample. The sample consisted of 90 people. Of these, 46 participants (25 men and 21 women) are entrepreneurs, and 44 (27 men and 17 women) participants are startup founders living in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The age of respondents is from 20 to 40 years.

Results. Statistically significant differences in the values of TB entrepreneurs and startup founders could not be found. The set of common values of TB entrepreneurs and startup founders is the same: interest in work, financially secure life, development. However, each group of entrepreneurs has its own specific values. TB entrepreneurs emphasise professionalism while startup founders emphasise success.

Conclusions. TB entrepreneurs and startup founders have similar values. The personalities of TB entrepreneurs and startup founders have many similarities, similar values and directions in life, despite the fact that the activities of these two groups are not identical and have their own characteristics. A startup should be considered as a subtype of entrepreneurship. TB entrepreneurs demonstrate professionalism as a specific professional value. Startup founders have another specific professional value which is freedom.

Practical application of the results. The results of the study are useful for group and individual work with entrepreneurs, and also serve as a starting point for a more detailed study of the socio-psychological aspects of entrepreneur’s personality.

Relevance of the work is determined by the need to study the personality and psychological characteristics of students choosing full-time and distance learning to understand the general laws of the formation of the psychological culture of a graduate in the context of the active development of electronic educational space. 

The purpose of the study is to compare the individual characterological elements of the psychological culture of students choosing full-time and distance learning in the development of engineering specialties. 

Methods and sampling. The sample consisted of 84 respondents aged 18 to 22 years studying in the field of information technology. They were divided into two groups depending on the preferred form of education: distance learning (40 students) and full-time (44 students). The following tools were used: five-factor personality questionnaire by H. Tsuyi in the adaptation of A.B. Khromov; B. Bass technique for diagnosing the personality orientation, Yu.M. Orlov technique for identifying communication needs; viability test by S. Muddy; self-attitude test questionnaire (CCA) by V.V. Stolin and S.R. Pantileeva. 

Results. Distinctions in the reflexive-evaluative component, communicative features are highlighted. Students of distance learning have a lower level of the need for communication, lower levels of self-regulation and a more pronounced psychological distance in communication, associated with lower rates of self-acceptance, compared with full-time students. The choice of the method of organizing interpersonal interaction in the educational situation is affected by the psychological distance of the person in communication. In case of distance-learning students, the factor of “attachment-remoteness” appeared to be more significant compared to full-time students, who were characterized by a higher indicator of the need for other people to evaluate them. 

Conclusions. The active development of e-education requires to take into account the specifics of the personal characteristics of students and should not be limited only to the expansion of user competencies. This is determined by the distinguished differences in the characteristics of self-acceptance, the severity of the need for communication, as well as the psychological distance of the person in communication between students who prefer distance or full-time educational formats. 

The purpose(objective) of the empirical study is the measurement of the accuracy of expert-proctors in detecting cheating in online testing. 

Sample of the study. 35 test takers passed an online test of general knowledge on the basis of 30 multiple choice questions. Half of the subjects (18 persons) were “artificial cheaters” – they used cheat sheets with correct answers. 

Methods. The video recording of the testing process included a “screen capture” so that expert-proctors could observe all cursor movements, see a recording of the subject's facial expressions and a visual focus of attention in a separate window (recording from the front camera), and could listen to the subject pronouncing the task conditions and answers (“oral decision”). 14 experts took part in rating of video recordings, of which 8 experts showed satisfactory results in terms of the level of accuracy in detecting cheating (their accuracy that was measured using the Kappa coefficient was higher than 0.5). 

Conclusions. A high asymmetric validity of expert assessments is revealed. More accurate experts allowed a negligible (about 5 percent) number of errors of the “false alarm” type, but a relatively large number of errors of the “skip” type. Recommendations are made for the practical use of the expert assessment method in combination with automatic chronometric analysis of the degree of atypical protocols and subsequent control of face-to-face offline testing of all suspected subjects (examinees). 

Relevance. The COVID-19 pandemic reveals the problem of moral choices for a large number of people: who should be treated first; who can be considered as a subject for urgent vaccines and drugs testing; choice between personal convenience and observation of restrictions for the sake of the “common good.” 

The objective of the study was to evaluate whether the stress experienced by people during the COVID-19 pandemic can change moral decision making. 

Materials and methods. The data of an online survey conducted from March 30 to May 31 (311 people) were analyzed. The survey included sociodemographic questions, questions about assessing one’s current condition, the Simptom Check List-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), and the Moral Dilemmas Test, consisting of 30 dilemmas. 

The relationship of a number of utilitarian choices in personal moral dilemmas with sociodemographic characteristics, respondents' assessments of their state and psychopathological characteristics was analyzed. Solving personal moral dilemmas was considered within subgroups of respondents with a high level of somatization and a high level of psychopathological symptoms and it was reviewed separately. 

Results. The results showed a high level of distress throughout the survey and an increase of utilitarian choices in personal moral dilemmas by the end of the survey. The number of choices in personal dilemmas was lower among older respondents, higher among men, and positively correlated with psychopathological symptoms. In the subgroup with a high level of somatization, personal choices slightly decreased by the end of the survey. On the contrary, in the subgroup with high levels of psychopathological symptoms, the number of personal choices significantly increased. 

Conclusions. Against the background of quarantine, assessments of moral standards change. The level of stress ambiguously affects moral decisions. A high level of somatization leads to a decrease in utilitarian personal choices, and a higher level of psychopathological symptoms leads to an increase in utilitarianшchoices. Utilitarian personal choices are more often made by men and younger people. 

Relevance. The article defines the first-ever directions of psychological aid for children infected with COVID-19 in “red zone” in the context of illness of close adult people. 

The goal of the research is psychological state of children infected with COVID-19 in “red zone” in the context of illness of close adults and determination of the required psychological aid. 

Methods and sample. Analysis of 36 clinical cases of 7–17 years old children in the context of illness of close adults, who were in critical condition in intensive care department (first group – 28 children) or in satisfactory condition being treated at home (second group – 8 children). The research included the following: observation of medical records; screening diagnostics, which included the ‘Three Wishes” technique, an adapted method of “Unfinished sentences” (for adolescents), a drawing (any topic); 10-questions questionnaire focused on child's physical well-being, its wishes for organization of everyday life and leisure activities in hospital ward, etc. 

Results.The majority of patients appeared to be in unfavorable psychological state (close to acute stress or unstable state), which manifested itself in three different ways: severe anxiety; over-excitement, impaired mood. These symptoms were constant and illustrative for children whose relatives were in critical condition in the intensive care department. Children, whose relatives were in satisfactory condition and were treated at home were observed during periods when they were influenced by additional stressors. 

Conclusions. Taking into account psychological differences and other factors (such as age, level of psychological maturity, severity of physical condition) provides an opportunity to give children and adolescents in “red zone” differentiated psychological aid. 

Acknowledgments. This research was carried out with the aid of officers of FSAI “NMRC of Children’s Health” of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation and medical psychologists M.S. Afonina, M.B. Rabinovich, V.M. Sklyadneva, M.S. Erotievich, and N.N. Pavlova.

Relevance. Over the past few years, table tennis has undergone significant changes related both to the natural process of its development and to significant changes in the rules of the competition. All this led to the need to make adjustments to the content of competitive and training activities.

The aim of our study is to study the individual psychological characteristics of tennis players that affect their choice of an individual style of activity during the game. To achieve this goal, the following methods were selected.

Methods. Analysis and synthesis of scientific and methodological literature; psychological research methods: “Tapping test” by E. P. Ilyin and proof-reading - Landolt rings; “CRIS” program by V. Sivitsky, E. Zaguzov (for a comprehensive assessment of the athlete’s psychological preparedness); multivariate questionnaire RB Kettella (adolescent-14-factor model); Spearman statistical analysis and graphic representation.

Sample. The study was conducted on a contingent of young table tennis players of both sexes aged 10-16 years of different levels of training (length of service varies from 3 to 7 years) in the amount of 61 people. The subject of the study was the individual psychological characteristics of tennis players (length of service, gender, mental performance), and significant factors affecting success in competitions were identified: leadership, emotional stability, extraversion. The obtained results of the study revealed the following correlations: between psychomotor indicators and mental performance in boys (p <0.05); the relationship between the reaction time to a moving object (RDO) and the coefficient of functional asymmetry of the left and right hands in tennis players of both sexes is functional (p <0.05). As statistically significant factors: for boys - this is group cohesion, for girls - “extraversion” (need for communication).

Results. In tennis boys, length of service is correlated with leadership and emotional stability (p <0.05). Thus, age, length of service and gender can contribute to successful performance in competitions, however, it should be borne in mind that effective athletes are characterized by realism, adequate goal setting, and maintaining a stable self-esteem for the failure factor (O.V. Matytsin, 1990).