Theoretical and Experimental Psychology. 2026. 2.

Background. In modern scientific knowledge, with the emergence of the psychology of the possible, the role of such a tool of scientific intelligence as possibilistic thinking is increasing. There is a need to analyze three types of unusual meanings as the functional units of possibilistic thinking: the use of unlikely meanings of words and situations by a knowledgeable subject; the understanding of various circumstances by people with mental disabilities; and the comprehension of extraordinary situations — impossible, inexpressible, unthinkable.

Objective. The study had its purpose to conduct a multidisciplinary analysis of the problem of unusual meanings.

Results. The role of unusual meanings in possibilistic thinking is considered from multiple and diverse perspectives of different scientific disciplines. At the same time, the status of the substantive center and core of the problem study is given to the psychological analysis of possibilistic thinking. While ordinary meaning is mundane, predictable, and unoriginal, devoid of novelty and creative interpretation (corresponding to understanding-recognition in the psychology of understanding), the unusual meanings, as components of possibilistic thinking, are manifested in the subject's understanding-interpretation and understanding-comprehension of the human world; they reflect hidden realities. Consequently, unusual meanings express the discovery of previously unknown properties of the analyzed situation. The study provides an analysis of three types of unusual meanings and substantiates that all of them are characterized by the understanding subject's orientation toward the unusual and unexpected.

Conclusions. The psychological basis of unusual meanings lies in the subject's tendency to exploit unlikely meanings of words and situations, actualizing possible paradoxical, yet acceptable, developments. The rethinking of the problem of unusual meanings in the social sciences and humanities is largely driven by new discourses that have emerged in human history over the past hundred years. These discourses describe new types of events — "overdeterministic" ones. Such events have the ability to instantly spread throughout the world and have a profound impact on large groups of people. The proposed multifaceted approach enables the integration of knowledge, methods, and perspectives from various scientific disciplines to achieve a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the essence of unusual meanings.

Background. The restoration of physical health after complex surgical interventions is considered within the framework of a resource-based approach that allows for revealing the significant contribution of psychological resources to rehabilitation. In these circumstances, it is particularly important to study the regulatory and intrapersonal resources providing successful overcoming a difficult life situation associated with health limitations.

Objective. To assess the contribution of conscious self-regulation, psychological well-being, coping strategies, cognitive emotion regulation, character accentuations, and the phenomenon of secondary gain from illness to the restoration of patients' physical health after major joint surgery.

Sample. The study involved 130 patients (77 men, 53 women) with knee and hip joint pathologies undergoing elective surgical treatment; the mean age was 55.8 years (SD = 12.78). The assessment was carried out 1.5 months after surgery.

Methods. Physical health was assessed using the INSALL and HARRIS scales, as well as the leg support capacity indicator. Psychological characteristics were measured using the "Self-Regulation Profile Questionnaire by Morosanova — SRPQM-2020" (V.I. Morosanova, N.G. Kondratyuk), C. Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scale, K. Leonhard's Character Accentuation Questionnaire, R. Lazarus's Coping Strategies Questionnaire, N. Garnefski's Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and W.J. Friedman's Secondary Gain from Illness Questionnaire. Statistical data processing included correlation, cluster and factor analyses, regression analysis with stepwise inclusion, and structural modeling.

Results. Conscious self-regulation acts as a universal regulatory resource for recovery: its specific competencies (modeling, programming, evaluation of results, flexibility) are associated with better adherence to medical recommendations and successful restoration of leg support capacity. Psychological well-being, active coping strategies, and adaptive cognitive emotion regulation are associated with better physical condition, whereas catastrophizing, feelings of helplessness, and pronounced secondary gain from illness are associated with slower rehabilitation. Character accentuations have a dual effect: when self-regulation is well developed, demonstrative accentuation performs a resource function, whereas under insufficient regulation the anxious, excitable, and dysthymic accentuations become risk factors.

Conclusions. Conscious self-regulation acts as a meta-resource for restoring health after surgery, mediating the influence of personality traits, coping strategies, and psychological well-being on physical outcomes.

Background. Nowadays, there is a growing need to develop rehabilitation programs for patients with cognitive impairment aimed at improving their quality of life and daily social functioning. In this regard, there is increasing scientific interest in the study of cognitive functions, including the phenomenon of prospective memory. However, in domestic psychology there is a shortage of work in this area.

Objective. The study had its purpose to provide a scientific mapping of publications on prospective memory research.

Methods. The study was conducted by means of a bibliometric analysis of publications from the professional databases "eLIBRARY" and "PubMed" covering the period from the first mention of the term "prospective memory" up to 2024, both in Russia and internationally. Scientific mapping of publications on prospective memory was performed using the "Bibliometrix" software package. An analysis of the co-occurrence of keywords was carried out by means of the "VOSviewer" software tool.

Results. Methodological imperfections in the neuropsychological conceptual apparatus and the tendency towards integrative processes in modern neurosciences lead to the interpenetration of methodological traditions in modern neuropsychology: on the one hand, research is carried out within the framework of cognitive methodological foundations, while on the other hand — in clinical and clinical-psychological traditions. The study provides an analysis of the annual dynamics of research, the most active regions, institutions, scientific journals, leading authors in the field, the frequency of different definitions of prospective memory, and various approaches to studying the phenomenon.

Conclusions. The study results highlight the problem of insufficient development of the prospective memory phenomenon in Russian psychology, whereas internationally the research on prospective memory is a relevant and developing area of scientific inquiry.

Background. Time is a multifaceted and interdisciplinary category. A psychological level of analysis allows for a complementary consideration of time with concepts reflected in a person's specific semantic space. Considering the emotional component of the time concept allows for a glimpse into its subjectively significant aspects.

Objective. To identify the features of the emotional component of the adults' time concepts.

Study Participants. The study involved 760 respondents aged 18 to 70 years (205 men; 555 women).

Methods. A limited-choice associative experiment was used to collect data. The study implemented L.G. Babenko's linguo-psychological methodology in which the denotative-ideographic groups and functional-semantic categories serve as the units of analysis corresponding to the associated words included in the emotive thesaurus. Data processing utilized frequency analysis and rank calculations, identifying the core and peripheral levels of the emotional component of the time concept.

Results. The study allowed for identifying the emotional component in the semantic field of associations to the word "time" and analyze its characteristics. Denotative-ideographic groups of emotive vocabulary, reflecting adults' concepts of time, are represented unevenly. Of the entire set of denotative-ideographic groups, only three core groups are represented in the semantic field: love, joy, and grief. Functional-semantic categories are also represented unevenly: "emotional characterization" is represented to the greatest extent, while "external expression of emotions" and "person as the center and bearer of emotions" are represented to the least.

Conclusions. The emotional component of the time concept in adults is dichotomous, with the positive pole being more prominent. The positive pole contains emotions of love, joy, and happiness, while the negative pole contains grief and cruelty.

Background. Studying the differential aspects of psychological resources of professional self-determination allows for a qualitatively new theoretical and methodological understanding of the problem, while practically enabling the prediction of individual students' readiness for a specific field of study and the creation of personalized professional development trajectories.

Objective. To identify latent profiles of psychological resources underlying students' readiness for career choice.

Study Participants. The sample consisted of 894 students from Russian universities (64.2% — girls), mean age — 19.45 y. o. (SD = 1.79).

Methods. Self-Regulation Profile Questionnaire — SRPQM 2020, Career Adapt-Abilities Scale — CAAS, Short Version of the Stanford Time Perspective Inventory — ZTPI-15, Extra Short Version of the Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2-XS), Academic Motivation Scale — AMS, Self-Realization Activity Questionnaire, Life Satisfaction Scale. Data were analyzed using R and IBM SPSS, employing Latent Profile Analysis (LPA), one-way ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis.

Results. The study allowed to reveal four types of profiles based on the relationships among temporal, general psychological, and professionally oriented regulatory resources of students: "highly adaptable", "harmoniously adaptable", "resiliently adaptable" and "maladaptable". It was found that groups of students with different typological profiles differ in terms of their readiness for professional choice, personal and motivational characteristics, components of conscious self-regulation, and career adaptability. For the "highly adaptable" group, significant resources included regulatory flexibility and agreeableness; for the "harmoniously adaptable" group — regulatory persistence and hedonic present; for the "resilient adaptable" group — control (a component of career adaptability) and programming of actions. For the "maladaptable" group, the only positive resource was the regulatory competence of results evaluation, while negative past and neuroticism hindered the certainty of their professional plans, as well as the realism and stability of their professional choice.

Conclusions. The findings demonstrate that effective psychological and pedagogical support for students must be differentiated and take into account individual and typological differences in the psychological resources that contribute to their readiness for professional self-determination.

Background. Face recognition and face-name memory are important aspects of interpersonal communication. Event-related potential (ERP) methods and their source localization provide opportunities to investigate the spatiotemporal characteristics of brain activity in this domain. However, in current cognitive models of face recognition, the source localization of the N400 component associated with personal identity nodes (PINs) in semantic information remains insufficiently studied.

Objective. This study aimed to identify differences in brain activity when recognizing long-familiar celebrity faces versus recently learned faces, in particular — to test whether faces containing more semantic information evoke an N400 component with different amplitude and latency, and to determine the source localization of these differences.

Study Participants. The study included 66 university students (mean age = 21.83 years, SD = 3.57): 33 females (17 Chinese and 16 Russian) and 33 males (18 Chinese and 15 Russian). All were right-handed.

Methods. The study was carried out using electroencephalography (EEG) and implemented the methods of evoked potential and source localization. To process and analyze the obtained EEG data, a brain activity localization method, the "Virtually Implanted Electrode," developed by A.V. Vartanov (Russian Patent No. 2785268), was used.

Results. Source localization analysis showed that the N400 component differed significantly between long-familiar celebrity faces (OLD) and newly learned faces (LRN) in the medial globus pallidus, thalamus, left hippocampus, ventral striatum, and right VO1 and VO2 areas, with OLD faces eliciting greater N400 amplitude. Latency differences were observed in the range of 300–480 ms. Analysis of the directed connectivity graph indicated that both face categories activated similar neural networks, with VO1 R, VO1 L, and VO2 L showing strong activation, and the ventral striatum, left medial globus pallidus, and left thalamus contributing to the activation of the right medial globus pallidus with high correlation coefficients (r > 0.93).

Conclusions. This study demonstrates that face-name memory engages a broad neural network encompassing cortical and subcortical structures. Differences in N400 between long-familiar and newly learned faces likely reflect information contained in personal identity nodes (PINs). Key components of this network include the medial globus pallidus, thalamus, left hippocampus, ventral striatum, and VO1 and VO2 areas in the right hemisphere.

Background. The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into negotiation process has become a response to the challenges of today's highly complex and dynamic business environment. Growing volumes of information and the need to make strategic decisions in the face of uncertainty make traditional approaches to negotiation ineffective. Research into the impact of AI not only on the negotiation outcomes but also on the behavioral aspects of interactions between participants is particularly relevant.

Objective. To analyze the effectiveness of using AI technologies in the context of the socio-psychological aspects of negotiation process.

Study Participants. The study involved 60 people (aged 22–23 years), senior students of the Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University).

Methods. The study implemented methods of laboratory experiment, observation, nonparametric statistical analysis using the Mann — Whitney U-test to test hypotheses in case of deviation from the normal data distribution.

Results. The study demonstrated that using AI in the negotiation process significantly increases the economic effectiveness of transactions (average benefit), contributes to the shift of dominant behavioral strategies towards cooperation and improves socio-psychological indicators of interaction (reducing tension, increasing communicative effectiveness and satisfaction with the process). In terms of the duration of negotiations and the frequency of coming to a full agreement, pronounced efficiency trends were revealed for the group with AI, which did not reach the level of statistical significance with the available sample size (n = 5 in the group) and requires confirmation in an expanded sample.

Conclusions. The presented experiment makes a reasoned contribution to the debate about the need to use AI in modern negotiation processes. The obtained data confirm that using AI in the negotiation process increases its effectiveness and transforms the socio-psychological climate of interaction during the negotiation process, shifting the emphasis from confrontation to cooperation.

Background. Technological advances, such as the emergence of self-driving cars, challenge the established social norms and values, raising the question of whether the expectations for a driver's actions in a critical situation are the same as those for a self-driving car. Investigating the psychological factors that determine moral choices in critical situations involving interactions with technology is becoming increasingly important, which is the purpose of this article.

Objective. A study of choice factors in solving moral dilemmas (using the example of driving a car in different conditions).

Study Participants. Sample 1: online panel respondents, N = 473 people (47% — male, 53% — female), aged 18 to 73 years (M = 33.5 years, SD = 14.7 years); Sample 2: students, N = 36, aged 18 to 26 years.

Methods. The first stage implemented moral dilemmas modeled by the authors on the MoralMachine platform; Moral Foundations Questionnaire; Attitudes toward technologies questionnaire; Dark Tetrad (D.S. Kornienko); questionnaire "Personality factors in decision making". In the second stage, moral dilemmas were modeled and presented as scenarios in the Varwin Education environment, which made it possible to evaluate respondents' choices in virtual reality.

Results. Analysis of the obtained data revealed that in the driver-driven car situation, "Machiavellianism" and "narcissism" are significant predictors of moral choice, with "loyalty to the group" serving as the moral foundation. In the self-driving car situation, the significant predictors of moral choice are "Machiavellianism," "narcissism," "respect for authority," "readiness to risk" and "techno-rationalism." Perceptions of one's choice in situations of static presentation of an ethical dilemma significantly differ from the actual choice made when it is presented dynamically in virtual reality.

Conclusions. Moral choices in a situation with a self-driving car are more complexly determined than in the same situation with a human driver. There are certain differences in the resolution of ethical dilemmas presented in different forms: when presented statically, most respondents choose to avoid hitting pedestrians, while when directly driving a car (dynamic VR-presentation), the option to hit pedestrians and the option to hit an obstacle are chosen equally often.

Background. Given the scarcity of empirical research on women's friendship in adulthood, it is particularly relevant to examine its understudied aspects. Despite the recognized role of friendship as a factor in subjective well-being, the specifics of its age-related dynamics and its contribution to the quality of life of adult women have remained virtually unexplored in Russian psychology.

Objective. To examine differences in the qualitative characteristics of friendship and subjective well-being between young and middle-aged women, and to explore the associations between friendship functions and indicators of subjective well-being.

Study Participants. The study involved 152 women divided into 2 age groups: young women (n = 90, aged 18–35) and middle-aged women (n = 62, aged 36–55).

Methods. A multimethod approach was employed, including the Life Satisfaction Index (LSI, adapted by N.V. Panina); the Subjective Well-Being Scale (G. Perrudet-Badoux, et al., adapted by M.V. Sokolova); the McGill's Friendship Questionnaire (adapted by A.A. Nesterova) assessing six dimensions of friendship — reliable alliance, stimulating companionship, intimacy, self-validation, emotional security, and help; and an author-developed questionnaire on friendship characteristics. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, and Pearson correlation coefficients.

Results. A significantly higher level of subjective well-being was observed in the sample of adult women: they reported greater interest in life, a more positive emotional tone, better alignment between goals and their attainment, and lower levels of psycho-emotional distress. At the same time, no significant age-related differences were found in friendship characteristics — its functions (reliable alliance, stimulating companionship, intimacy, self-validation, emotional security, and help) were perceived similarly across age groups. Friendship quality was positively associated with well-being, with a particularly strong link between self-validation in friendship and life satisfaction, self-esteem, and mood, as well as between all friendship functions and goal-directed persistence.

Conclusions. The functions of women's friendship demonstrate emotional invariance across adult life stages. Their contribution to subjective well-being is realized primarily through affiliative and identity-related mechanisms such as reliable alliance, emotional security, and self-validation rather than through instrumental support. Friendship thus functions as a stable psychological resource, critically supporting women's self-identification, goal-setting, and emotional resilience. The obtained results highlight the necessity of accounting for the specific characteristics of women's friendship in practice-oriented support programs.

Background. Daily work-related stressors, unlike major (life) negative events, are characterized by a lower intensity, however, due to a higher frequency of occurrence, they can lead to mental overstrain and chronic stress. In the modern realities of multitasking the search and study of psychological resources available to a person on a daily basis is of particular importance.

Objective. To study the contribution of a healthy lifestyle and daily positive events to overcoming everyday stress associated with professional activity.

Study Participants. The study involved 155 respondents aged 20 to 56 years (M_age = 31.1; SD = 9.2; 32.3% men, 67.7% women) living in St. Petersburg, Leningrad region and Moscow. The selection method is a random sampling.

Methods. "Profile of a healthy lifestyle" (Petrash, Strizhitskaya, Murtazina, 2018); Questionnaire of everyday stressors (Petrash et al., 2018); authors' questionnaire of everyday positive events; "Scale of perceived stress-10" (Ababkov, 2016), a socio-demographic questionnaire. The results were processed by means of "IBM SPSS Statistics 22", "AMOS" and "Microsoft Excel". Mathematical statistics methods included the descriptive statistics, cluster analysis (k-means), univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA), structural equation modeling (SEM).

Results. The study revealed that respondents with the lowest level of perceived stress are characterized by a greater desire to develop internal resources and achieve self-realization as well as the ability to recognize sources of stress. The analysis allowed to construct a structural model demonstrating the contribution of lifestyle parameters and daily positive events to coping with stress associated with professional activity.

Conclusions. The parameters of lifestyle and daily positive events contribute to reducing the efforts spent by a person on stress management, which leads to reducing overstain and, as a result, a decrease in the subjectively perceived intensity of stressors associated with professional sphere. Professional achievements, interpersonal communication, inner growth, and the ability to recognize sources of stress can serve as resources for coping with stress.