Features of mental regulation of schoolchildren cognitive states depending on the level of stress situation

Abstract

Background. The relevance of the study is due to insufficient knowledge of the influence of the structures of consciousness on the self-regulation of cognitive states in various stressful situations. The author’s concept of mental regulation of psychological states served as a theoretical basis for empirical research.

Objective. To identify the features of the relationship between indicators of mental regulation and the frequency of experiencing cognitive states in four situations with different stress levels.

Study Participants. The study sample consisted of 70 schoolchildren (31 boys and 39 girls, Mage = 17.7 years) from secondary education schools.

Methods. The study implemented the author’s questionnaires “Assessment of the frequency of experiencing mental states” and “Methods of self-regulation of mental states” (M.E. Valiullina). In the instructions, the respondents were presented with four types of situations characterized by different stress levels — from the weak level with a neutral context to the strong level with a negative emotional background. Apart from that, the study participants were tested by means of well-known psychological questionnaires: “Method for Studying the System of Life Meanings” (V.Yu. Kotlyakov), “Self-attitude Questionnaire” (S.R. Pantileev), “Method for Diagnosing Reflexivity” (A.V. Karpov, V.V. Ponomareva). Statistical data processing was carried out using frequency analysis and nonlinear correlation analysis according to Spearman.

Results. The data analysis demonstrated: as the tension in the situation increases, the frequency of experiencing productive cognitive states decreases, the probability of unproductive states increases, and the number of applied regulation methods increases as well. Besides, as the tension in the situation increases, the involvement of the consciousness components (those of semantic sphere, reflection, and self-attitude) in the mental regulation of cognitive states increases, the degree of relationships integration increases, and the structure-forming indicators are highlighted.

Conclusions. The results obtained show that the level of stress in the situation significantly influences the qualitative composition of the characteristics involved in the systems “mental regulation — cognitive state — regulation method” and “mental regulation — regulation method — cognitive state”.

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