Articles

Background. Despite the abundance of human face recognition models and research carried out in this area over the past half-century, there are still open questions about the uniqueness of the facial perception processes and about the oneness or difference of the mechanisms of perception of familiar and unfamiliar faces.

Objective. Research into the mechanisms of perception of (a)symmetry of familiar and unfamiliar faces.

Study Participants. 34 people participated in the study: 25 classmates (11 female and 14 male, Мage = 16, SD = 0,49) and 9 teachers (6 female and 3 male, Мage = 33, SD = 8,71).

Methods. Methods of inversion and horizontal mirroring of face images were used to compare the mechanisms of perception of facial symmetry in familiar and unfamiliar faces. Mirroring allowed to change the face itself without violating its recognition and maintaining the overall degree of its (a)symmetry. The inversion impaired the perception of the facial configuration. Study participants assessed the degree of asymmetry in the images of familiar (photographs of classmates) and unfamiliar faces in four presentation conditions: original / mirrored faces presented upright / inverted.

Results. The study results demonstrated that when presented upright, familiar mirrored faces are perceived as more asymmetrical than the original ones; no difference was revealed for unfamiliar faces. When inverting images, the ratings of the original and mirrored versions of the faces do not differ significantly for both familiar and unfamiliar faces. A small inversion effect was found in the ratings of original familiar faces: inverted familiar faces were rated as more asymmetrical than upright ones.

Conclusions. The study results generally support the hypothesis that the mechanisms of perception of (a)symmetry in familiar and unfamiliar faces differ. Furthermore, there is reason to consider the assessment of a face (a)symmetry as involving not only configural, but also analytical mechanisms of its perception.

Background. The relevance of the work is due to insufficient knowledge of adolescents’ understanding disappointment, its causes and ways of its overcoming.

Objectives. The study had purpose to investigate into ideas about disappointment among the young people aged 17–25 years.

Study Participants. The study involved 285 people (180 girls and 105 boys) aged 17–25 years.

Methods.. The study implemented content analysis of mini-essays on the topic: “My idea of disappointment” including answers to the following questions: “What is disappointment?”, “What feelings did you experience when disappointed?”, “The greatest disappointment in my life.”

Results. The study allowed to analyze the concepts of disappointment among young people, to identify its different types and describe the specifics of experiencing disappointment in the selected age groups. All subjects understand disappointment as a manifestation of negative emotions in response to an expected result. The study has identified three types of disappointment: in oneself, in others, in activities. When describing feelings associated with disappointment, negative emotions predominated in the 17–20-year-old group. In the 21–25-year-old group, in addition to negative ones, there were also positive feelings as grounds for revising plans and their implementation.

Conclusions. In the young people aged 17–25 experiencing disappointment, the nega- tive emotions reinforce their negative self-affirmation and destroy their confidence in the truth of their feelings towards themselves and others. Only a small number of young people can see the possibility of positive changes in a situation of disappointment, which makes it difficult to correct behavior and attitudes towards others in the process of overcoming disappointment. The results obtained allow for introducing the concept of disappointment, which affects interpersonal relationships, into the social psychology. The proposed recommendations can be used by educators and psychologists practicing support to the people of different ages aimed at overcoming frustration of disappointments.

Background. The current situation of society development is characterized by the emergence of new external stimuli as the challenges generating contradictions and barriers in the education system on the one hand, and on the other hand-expanding horizons, prospects, resources and meta-resources for the development of personality of subjects of education and especially the teachers as the future of children and youth largely depends on them.

Objectives. Theoretical substantiation, empirical verification and technological ac- tualization of psychological resources for determining the personal and professional development of a teacher.

Study Participants. University students (n = 663), university professors (n = 100), high school students (n = 125), school teachers (n = 90).

Methods. The study consisted of four stages. A special methodological program has been developed for each stage.

Results. The study revealed the specifics of the content structure of psychological resources relevant for the personal and professional development of teachers:reflexive projecting, constructive coping, emotional and value engagement. It is demonstrated that the complex of interrelated and interdependent resource-prog- nostic constructs — metaresources acts as the main factor (predictor) determining the high level of personal and professional development of a teacher. The data analysis allowed to create a structural model of resource determination of personal and professional development of the subjects of education at the target, content (person- al, interpersonal), technological, organizational, and strategic levels of psychological training for teachers.

Conclusions. The concept of resource-prognostic determination of the teachers’ development, based on the idea of the maximum possible reliance on self-development and self-organization, assumes the most effective implementation of the totality of a teacher’s resources (meta-resources) in an individually unique situation. The technology of actualization of psychological resources for determining the personal and professional development of teachers (future teachers) has proven its effectiveness in experiments, which allows to recommend this technology for implementation in the educational process of schools, colleges, universities.

Background. The significance of studying resource-based thinking is due to its important role in the organization and successful implementation of various types of activities. The study of the relationship between humor and resourcefulness of thinking can provide the ways to find resources for a subject to more effectively resolve the difficulties arising in the course of his life activities.

Objective. The study had its purpose to investigate the interrelation between humor style and resourcefulness of thinking.

Study Participants. The study sample (N = 150) included senior psychology students (50 people), high school students profiled in social science, humanities, etc. (50 people), working people aged 30–45 years (50 people).

Methods. “Martin’s questionnaire of humor styles” and “Methodology for diagnosing the resource-based thinking” (for professions of a socionomic type) by Serafimovich, Medvedeva, Surina. The Pearson correlation coefficient and the Student’s parametric t-test were used to process quantitative data.

Results. The study revealed that a self-supporting style of humor is prevailing among students and adults, while minimally manifested among schoolchildren. Significant differences were found in the indicators of self-deprecating humor: they are significantly higher among students compared to adults. The study discovered some agerelated specifics in the development of resource-based thinking: in adults, its general level as well as the motivational-goal component is significantly higher than in schoolchildren. It has been shown that self-supporting style of humor is positively correlated and self-deprecating style of humor is negatively correlated with almost all components of resource-based thinking. Besides, the self-supporting style of humor and the general level of resource-based thinking are positively interrelated, while aggressive and self-deprecating styles of humor are negatively related to the general level of resource-based thinking.

Conclusions. For the first time, the relationship between humor and resourcefulness of thinking is shown as the ground for autocreative processes, i.e. processes of selfformation of new states. There exists a significant relationship between the prevailing style of humor and the level of resource-based thinking. A high level of resource-based thinking corresponds to the self-supporting style of humor, while its low level corresponds to the self-deprecating style of humor.

Background. Development of a creative personality is considered among the priority tasks for the modern education system of the Russian Federation. The article presents a critique of the education system imposed on Russia, which can be represented in the image of “up the stairs leading down”. The author emphasizes the relevance of providing the rationale for the essential factors in the educational process in order to ensure the development of students’ creative abilities, which should not be reduced only to the development of their intelligence.

Objective. Identification and justification of the dominant factors in the educational process aimed at developing the students’ creative abilities.

Study Participants. Children (from older preschoolers to school graduates), university students, and specialists of various occupations took part in the long-term research. The studies were carried out in Moscow and the Moscow region, as well as in other regions of the Russian Federation and abroad.

Method. The author’s method “Creative Field” was implemented in a number of relevant techniques taking into account the age characteristics of the subjects. The techniques are based on different materials, which made it possible to conduct crosssectional experimental studies on a large sample of subjects of different ages and professions, as well as a number of longitudinal studies lasting from 10 to 54 years.

Results. The analysis of experimental studies shows that creativity as the ability to develop activity on one’s own initiative is possible only if there is a unity of the level of intelligence development corresponding to the task and the dominance of cognitive motivation in the personality structure. The integration of these factors determines the mechanism of creativity. The author has substantiated the dominant factors of the educational process aimed at developing the students’ creative abilities.

Conclusions. The development of intelligence increases the possibility of mastering complex activities, and the dominance of cognitive needs gives rise to the ability to be creative. The decisive role in the development of a student as a creative personality is the teacher’s position as of researcher and the value of knowledge.

Background: An estimated 3 to 60% of mothers worldwide suffer from depression that often goes undiagnosed and untreated. Meanwhile, a growing body of research confirms adverse effects of maternal depression on child executive functioning. Due to the fact that impairments become less easily reversible as a child grows older, we need to understand the mechanisms of the negative impact of maternal depression on the child executive functioning outcomes, in order to determine periods when interventions will be most critical and effective.

Objective: To review foreign studies on the mechanisms of the negative impact of prenatal, postpartum and chronic maternal depression on child executive functioning outcomes.

Methods: We searched for articles in PubMed, Research Gate, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect using the following keywords: “maternal depression”, “postpartum depression”, “prenatal depression”, “antental depression” in combination with “child executive functions”. The review includes all relevant articles that were published in English to 2008 and contain these keywords.

Results. Maternal depression during pregnancy is associated with changes in the fetal prefrontal cortex and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. The main pathways for postpartum and chronic maternal depression to affect the development of child executive functions is via stressful and chaotic environment, decreased maternal sensitivity, more reliance on coercive parenting methods, and harsh-intrusive pattern of mother-child interaction. Moreover, children of depressed mothers exhibit more psychiatric disorders and often adopt an avoidant social style, both of which may also hinder their cognitive development. Most researchers emphasize the role of intensity and chronicity of maternal depression rather than the timing of onset (prenatally or postpartum).

Conclusions: The results of our review underscore the importance of timely diagnosis and treatment of maternal depression, as well as interventions aimed at improving mother-child interaction.

Background. Illness representations determine a patient's successful adaptation in the context of chronic somatic illness.

Objective. The study had its purpose to investigate and compare the illness representations in the patients with acute leukemia and lymphoma.

Study Participants. The study involved 109 respondents: 51 patients with acute leukemia aged 18 to 64 years (Mage = 35.12; SD = 12.90; 28 women) and 58 patients with lymphoma aged 19 to 64 years (Mage = 42.22; SD = 11.17; 41 women).

Methods. The study implemented the following methods: “Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised” (IPQ-R), “Health Anxiety Inventory” (HAI), “Cognitions About Body and Health Questionnaire” (CABAH), and the “Scale of Assessment of Illness Behavior” (SAIB). Descriptive statistics and group comparison methods (Student's t-test) were used to process quantitative data.

Results. A comparative analysis of the data obtained showed that patients with acute leukemia have more difficulty in identifying the disease, were more certain about the negative impact of the disease and its unstable course, were more likely to overestimate symptom severity, and paid more attention to implementing treatment- and medication-related behaviors compared to patients with lymphomas.

Conclusions. The main targets of psychological work with patients with acute leukemia are their ideas about the disease identity, its unstable course and negative consequences, their tendency to overestimate the symptom severity and underestimate the importance of preventive behavior associated with treatment and medication. Common targets of psychological work with patients with acute leukemia and lymphoma are their ideas about the short-term course of the disease and negative emotional experiences about their disease.

Background. The relevance of the study is due to the changes currently taking place in society, which leave an imprint on the activity of a person as a subject of activity, which pose the task of studying his psychological resources in a rapidly changing world. The resource approach is practically in demand when accompanying the educational process in modern conditions.

Objective. To identify the relationship of innovative personality qualities with meta-values, self-organization and life satisfaction among university students.

Study Participants. The study involved 226 female university students of Tomsk, (average age 20.18 years, CD = 1.17 years).

Methods. The following methods were used in the study: Scale of self-assessment of innovative personality qualities (SIPQ) by N. Lebedeva, A. Tatarko; Portrait Values Questionnaire-Revised — PVQ-R by Sh. Shvartz; Scale “Regularity” of the Questionnaire of Activity Self-organization (QSA) by E.Y. Mandrikova; “Life Satisfaction Scale” by E. Diener. The results were processed using the Statistica 10.0 program. Descriptive statistics, regression and cluster analysis were used in the study.

Results. Correlation analysis showed that “Innovation Index” is most closely related to the meta-value “Openness to change” and also has positive relationships with “Planning” and “Life satisfaction”. There is no significant correlation between the “Innovation Index” and the meta-value “Preservation”. Cluster analysis made it possible to identify 4 groups of students. The greatest differences between them were identified in “Planning”, “Life Satisfaction”, and “Innovation Index”. No significant differences in values were found among female students.

Conclusion. The innovative personality traits revealed among female university students have significant relationships with their openness to change, self-organization and life satisfaction. The most significant differences between the identified typological groups of female students are observed in the level of self-organization and planning, as well as life satisfaction. The described typological characteristics of students in selected groups will make it possible to organize assistance to students in the development of psychological qualities necessary for mastering a new social role and profession. The results of the study contribute to the development of the resource approach to the study of personality characteristics of university students.

Background. In Russian psychology, there is a shortage of psychodiagnostic tools for measuring the university students’ attitudes towards digital educational technologies (DETs), which is important for the optimal digitalization of educational process.

Objective. The study had its purpose to define the concept of “attitude towards DETs”, develop the scale for diagnostics of attitudes towards DETs among university students, and reveal gender differences in their attitudes towards DETs.

Study Participants. The study involved 317 Russian university students (157 male and 160 female) aged 17 to 35 years.

Methods. Review of scientific literature on the research problem; the “Attitudes towards DETs Scale for University Students” (ATDETS-US) developed by the authors; survey to identify socio-demographic characteristics and opinions of respondents; methods of mathematical and statistical data processing (Cronbach's Alpha and McDonald's Omega coefficients, confirmatory factor analysis, Mann — Whitney U test, Shapiro — Wilk test).

Results. The concept of “attitude towards DETs” was defined based on the integration of the main provisions of Myasishchev’s Personality Attitudes Theory and the Tripartite Model of Attitude “ACB”. The authors have developed and validated the “Scale for diagnostics of university students’ attitudes towards DETs” including emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The data obtained by means of the developed Scale allowed to establish a predominance of positive attitudes towards DETs among the majority of students in the study, which was more pronounced among girls than among boys.

Conclusions. The scale developed in the study for diagnostics of the university students’ attitudes towards DETs is based on the theoretical concepts of attitudes that consist of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components. The scale has a three-factor structure, exhibits good reliability and is suitable for implementation in the research and practical developments to enhance the unavoidable processes of digitalization in higher education. Gender differences revealed female students to have a more favorable attitude towards digital technologies in education.