Developmental psychology

The data reported in the article describe the attitudes of teenagers to problems concerning sexual violence and aggression. Given the lack of any national systems that could monitor negative factors in the teenage environment, including sexual aggression, special value lies in the data obtained through questionnaires, as these data allow us to evaluate the prevalence of such factors, and they also describe the typical lifestyles of modern Russian teenagers.
The main objective of the study was to describe the age dynamics and gender specifics of teenagers’ attitudes toward the problem of sexual aggression: its prevalence, probable reasons for it, ways of dealing with such situations.
This article is based on data from a research project conducted in 2012 in the Krasnoyarsk region. The research particularly addressed various aspects of schoolchildrens sexual behavior and their attitudes toward sexual violence. The main research method was a paper questionnaire. It was administered to 1,540 children in the 7th, 9th, and 11th grades.
The results showed that every tenth teenager indicated the presence of sexual-violence victims in their circle. According teenagers’ opinions about the reasons for sexual violence the main reasons are “bad luck,” “provocative appearance” “carelessness”. The majority of teenagers will seek help in case of rape.
The answers of teenagers who have sexual experience regarding possible solutions for sexually traumatic situations show their readiness to take responsibility for their behavior and its consequences, as well as for their mental and physical health. In this respect sexual experience can be viewed as an indicator of teenagers’ personal and psychological readiness to lead a grownup life independently of their parents.
To sum up, analyzing schoolchildren’s replies, even to those questions that were not asked directly but in oblique form, allows us to conclude that the teenage environment involves an aggressive (unlawful) component, which usually appears to be a “hidden layer” of interpersonal relations in the microsocial circle of a schoolchild. As a result, the threat of becoming a victim of bullying (ostracism) can block a teenager’s search for help.

Based on theoretical analysis, in the present paper, we defined the structure of the characteristics of personality psychological maturity, which is considered an adult development criterion. The objective of this paper was to identify the mechanisms that contribute to the formation of psychological maturity in adulthood development. We first assumed that one of the possible mechanisms is the normative crisis of development. In turn, previously formed psychological maturity traits can relieve the experiences associated with this normative crisis. The aim of the present study was to analyze the formation of psychological maturity during periods of emerging and middle adulthood, with a specific focus on normative crisis experiences. The study design included cross-sectional and longitudinal methods. The participants included 309 adults. The emerging adulthood group ranged in age from 18 to 25 years, and the participants in the middle adulthood group were between 38 and 45 years of age. To study crisis events and experiences, we used three author-designed questionnaires. A self-actualization test by E. Shostrom (SAT), the Big Five personality test by Costa and MacCrae, a value and availability ratio in various vital spheres technique by E.B. Fantalova, a purpose-in-life test by D.A. Leontiev, and a coping test by Lazarus were used to define the personality characteristics used to overcome difficult life situations.

In this paper, we described experiences specific to the crises associated with emerging adulthood and middle adulthood in the context of developmental tasks. Using cluster analysis, we defined groups with different intensities of crisis experiences and analyzed psychological content of crisis experiences in different groups. Using ANOVA, we found that participants with low intensity crisis experiences show more developed characteristics of psychological maturity. During emerging adulthood, the overcoming of crises associated with the separation from family contributes to the formation of such aspects of psychological maturity as self-management, life organization and responsibility. In a longitudinal study of midlife crises, the data suggest that in groups where there are more intense crisis experiences, there are more significant dynamics in the meaning and value sphere over the course of a year that lead to the achievement of greater personal integrity and congruence.

The current study proved the hypothesis regarding the role of the crisis mechanism of psychological maturity development in two phases of adulthood. It also proved that psychological maturity contributes to a decrease in the intensity of crisis experiences.

The background of the study is the historic and cultural conception of development, which considers symbolic activities significant for preschool-age children. Our objective was to identify indicators of reflection as an essential feature of preschool development during the acquisition of symbolic actions at three levels: materialized, perceptive, and verbal. The design of the study was descriptive with qualitative and quantitative analysis applied. Included in this assessment of the development of symbolic function were 180 children of preschool age (from 5 to 6 years old) who were in the third year of formal preschool education in Bogotá, Colombia. Qualitative analysis of the results pointed out specific indicators of symbolic development at each level. On the materialized level such indicators were the sequencing of actions with substituted objects, the generalization of the symbolic features of objects, and a verbal, coherent explanation of the mode of substitution. On the perceptive level the indicators were the generalization of features in graphic representations, the possibility of using an image as a strategy for voluntary memorization, and a verbal explanation of the use of an image as a substitution. On the verbal level reflective explanation of verbal substitution was established as the positive indicator. The results permit us to posit the usefulness of clear qualitative indicators for assessment of a child’s level of psychological development and readiness for school learning at the end of preschool.

This article studies the structure of the pastime of contemporary preschool children and the importance and prevalence of various kinds of activities that parents and their children share. The emphasis is on those features of parental behavior that are determined by gender role (mother/father), family status (two-parent/separated family), style of parentchild relationship, and also child’s gender. The work is based on data from 1,936 questionnaires received from parents of preschool children (from 1.5 to 7 years old) who were attending Moscow kindergartens. The research was carried out in 41 kindergartens in 9 districts of Moscow. The survey uncovered several social-psychological features of the position parents take while organizing their shared pastime with preschool children: the influence of traditional gender-role models of parental behavior; the “complementary” principle of mother’s and father’s social-role positions in the upbringing of a daughter; the distortion of traditional maternal behavior in the upbringing of a son in a separated family; the reduced organization of shared play with a child in a separated family; the influence of the style of the parent-child relationship on the participation of parents in their children’s activities. The dynamics show how the parents’ position changes as their children grow older (from 1.5 years to 7 years): namely, the decrease of parents’ organization of and participation in a preschool child’s activities has a negative impact on their emotional state while interacting with the child.

With regard to cultural-historical and activity approaches, collaborative activity with an adult, including communication as a type of meta-activity, is considered to be the necessary mechanism of child development. A child is considered to be an active partner, possessing his/her own motives, and is guided by mental representations of the parent and interactions with him/her. Russian psychologists have developed a range of parenting style classifications; however, these styles primarily emphasize a parent’s position, contrary to methodological perspectives, with inadequate consideration of a child’s own agency. The aims of the current research were to investigate actual goal-oriented interactions between preschoolers and their parents and to outline certain patterns (types) of interactions, considering both partners and analyzing interac- tions according to the activity model. A total of 75 parent-child dyads (children aged from 4.6 years to 6.11 years) participated in “collaborative activity trials” in which the observational method was based on the activity approach. Cluster analysis (k-means clusterization) revealed five different groups of parent-child dyads: conflictual, harmonious, distant and two-fold dominant (with dominant parent or dominant child). Between-group comparisons (Mann-Whitney U test) showed significant differences in a range of parameters of activity and emotional components of interactions. The harmonious type of interactions is not prevalent, although subgroups with different types of domination are the most common, which may be attributed to cultural peculiarities. Domination-subordination misbalance does not seem to seriously distort the normal developmental trajectory; however, in cases of conflictual and distant dyads, interactional issues might hinder the course of goal-oriented activity, which might serve as a predictor for potential difficulties in further learning.

This study was developed because vandal behavior is an increasing threat in the world. Countries, commercial companies, and individuals experience great damage to property as a result of individual vandal acts. In addition, vandalism threatens not only “tangible assets” but also the cultural and historical heritage of modern humanity. Despite the threatening spread of vandalism, the study of its psychological foundations, including its origins, in the context of individual life courses is in many ways terra incognita. The objective of the present study was to investigate the genesis of vandal behavior and the sociopsychological and individual personality factors in the formation of readiness to destroy public property and the property of others. A comprehensive study of children, adolescents, and young adults (N=1522), as well as of their social environment, revealed mechanisms of the readiness to commit vandal acts that were present since childhood. The study was conducted by examining four age groups: preschoolers (4–6 years), primary school pupils (7–9 years), adolescents (12–15 years), and young adults (17–22 years); the instruments used were specific-age batteries, observation, expert techniques, and questionnaires. We found that the characteristics of parent-child relationship are is the basis for forming the boundaries of the permissible activity of the child; disturbance in the parent-child relationship can lead to the development of forms of vandalism in children. We describe the specificity and intensity of the vandal activity of adolescents and young adults in the context of their environment, and we look at the individual characteristics that promote deviant behavior. Thus, vandal activity is not only a specific characteristic of adolescents and young adults, and it is not always very destructive. Basic vandal activity originates in the early stages of ontogenesis as a result of a deformation in social interaction that becomes fixed and converted into the destructive actions of people trying through this form of activity to understand themselves in social space.

This article presents the results of a theoretical and methodological analysis and empirical study of semantic formations in the structure of a world image as factors in teenagers’ self-destructive behavior in contemporary Russian society. During the teenage years the value-semantic bases of a world image are being formed. A world image is the integral, multilevel representation of the subject, which consists of social reality and himself/herself; it exists in the mind as a unity of sensual fabrications, significations, and personalized meanings. Transformations of semantic components of a world image that are inadequate for the environment or that are externally and internally rigid can serve as preconditions for disadaptation and for one of its extreme forms—self-destructive behavior. The purpose of our empirical research was to determine the main characteristics of basic conceptual formations in the structure of a world image—that is, attitudes, intentions, motives, and values— that serve as predictors of disadaptation in modern teenagers. The teenagers in the study were born in different generations with a ten-year interval (1990–1991 and 2000–2001). Our empirical research of the semantic world-image structures that serve as bases for the self-destructive behavior of modern teenagers consisted of two phases. The first phase provided a comparative analysis of the relationships, value preferences, and basic conceptual intentions that raise the possibility of disadaptation and self-destructive behavior among teenagers. In order to perform this analysis, we analyzed data from the Character-Pathological Diagnostic Poll (PDP) of A. E. Lichko. During the second phase, a comparative analysis was carried out of the basic semantic components of teenagers’ images of the world and self-destructive and normative behavior. The main conceptual world-image structures were defined with the help of projective methods: the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and the modification for teenagers and youth (TAT-Y), which was developed by A. N. Alekhin and others. The main changes in the value-semantic orientations and personality dispositions of Russian teenagers in the late 20th to early 21st centuries were defined. The features of the semantic organization of these teenagers’ world image as a precondition for disadaptive behavior were uncovered, and the personality preconditions for their self-destructive behavior were identified: their world image is fragmentary and self-contradictory; their personality features include cognitive distortions, a negative emotional state, ambivalence of motives and disposition, and disharmony with world-image semantic structures. The indicator for social disadaptation and behavioral deviation in modern Russian teenagers is evident deformation of personal relationships as the basic cognitive structure of their world image.

This article illustrates the process of reaching conversation in the case of Anna, a 10- year-old girl, in a countryside Portuguese primary school, through neuropsychological habilitation and psychotherapy. This case identifies the theoretical and methodological concepts from Vygotsky’s cultural historical conceptualization in psychotherapy practice. Vygotsky introduced a new form of thinking in psychology, the concept of play, as a cultural and relational tool on a child’s (consciousness) development. During psychotherapy, Anna progressed through the following stages: 1) not playing (deploying the toys, with no relations between them or awareness of social rules); 2) worldplay (building worlds using wooden blocks and other toys, establishing relations between the characters and their possessions); and 3) imaginary situation (with no toys). At the end of this process, she was able to talk about her issues, communicating in a more adaptive way, especially in a schooled society. When she reached conversation, Anna’s activity was also changed. Therefore, there was a qualitative change regarding her needs, motives and ways of acting and reacting to herself, others, and cultural tools or events.

The motivation system in adolescent high school pupilsstudents of was studied (9^th and 11^th grade students) on the basis of a complex approach and a comparative analysis of emotional attitudes and a deliberate preference of values (general and educational). It was shown that the significance and accessibility of analyzed groups of values are, to a considerable extent, determined by a dominant motivation. Also, a tendency was found towards the contra-positioning of conscious and emotional attitudes with values — values which are highly attractive on the motivation-and-emotional level, but on the level of conscience, are underestimated compared with other ones. This also determines the further trend of development of a personality in the direction of acceptance of sociallyapproved general and educational values, and leads to the convergence of personality development of schoolchildren at that stage of their life. Also revealed were certain gender- related features of value orientations, which were relatinged to the more advanced development of girls when compared to boys of the same age.

The paper examines the differences in the social representations of happiness among optimists and pessimists in the group of socially active, educated young members of the international youth organization Association Internationale des Etudiants en Sciences Economiques et Commerciales . To assess the degree of optimism and pessimism we used the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) developed by E. Diener, while social representation, divided into the nucleus and peripheral zones, were examined using Verges’ technique within the framework of the concept of social mindsets offered by S. Moskovichi.

It has been shown that, irrespective of the optimism or pessimism of the participants, the nucleus of their representations of happiness contains such a value as love. However, only in optimists’ representations is this value combined in the nucleus with the values of family and friendship. In the pessimists’ nucleus zone of the representation of happiness, love is presented as an independent value, primarily associated with striking emotional experiences, which has aspects of psychological addiction. Considerable differences between optimists and pessimists have also been found in the peripheral zone of the representation of happiness. Only optimists have such associations as “knowledge”, “children”, and “faith” in their peripheral area. In our opinion, the major scale of differences between optimists and pessimists is formed by the factor of sociocentricity and egocentricity.

Results of research on social anxiety in orphaned children are presented in this article. The goal of this study was to identify the relationship between depressive states, anxiety states, characteristics of the situation at school, and fear of social evaluation in orphaned children. The differences in these parameters between orphaned children and children living with their families were also studied. The sample consisted of 123 teenagers. The main group comprised 57 orphans from an orphanage near the Moscow region, aged 10 to 16 years old. The control group comprised 66 students from a general school, aged 10 to 15 years old, and all living with their families. Differences were found in the parameters studied. The orphans were characterized by higher levels of social and general anxiety. On the one hand, they strove for the attention and approval of adults, but, on the other hand, they were more worried than their peers who lived with their families about the impression they made on others. They were afraid of receiving a negative evaluation.

This article examines the psychological peculiarities of children who are not accepted by their peers in the course of play. Problems in peer communication are analyzed in respect to the violation of “I” psychological boundaries. The phenomenology of the psychological boundaries of “I” and their violation in the course of play are investigated. New data are provided on the peculiarities of play (mainly its subject matter, including also specific plots, roles, and the organization of play space) in children who are not accepted by their peers; differences between children with low sociometric status and children from a control group were ascertained. Projective methods and observations of children’s play and communicative behavior in different situations were used. The sample included 140 children from 5 to 6 years old, 70 of whom were not accepted by their peers. Additionally 80 mothers (40 of them mothers of children who were not accepted by their peers) participated in the research. The link between the peculiarities of the children’s play, their peer relations, and violations of the psychological boundaries of “I” is described. The work provides elaboration of the notions of play developed within the framework of L. Vygotsky’s cultural-historical approach.

This work discusses certain cultural-historical concepts relating to late adoption. This term is used for the adoption of children over 2 years old. Unfortunately most people do not wish to adopt children over 2 years old. Generally they seek newborn babies, which are a rare population, probably because of birth control campaigns. The children who are available in orphanages are older children who are unwanted. This paper tries to deal with this issue emphasizing that relationships are built within a family, transforming those involved. It lays out principles for a successful adoption and illustrates this matter with a case study. Relationships should be provided so that people can interact. This interaction will lead to the transformation of all of those involved within the established relationship, which constitute the human being. We intend to demystify the difficult matter of late adoption, which is one of the key aspects concerning the return of the child to an orphanage. The adaptation of late adopted children is said to be more difficult, but when we believe that human beings can change and be modified through the relationships they establish, we see a promising possibility for late adoption. Late adoption can be successful when we view it from a relational point of view, stressing that relationships transform all the individuals involved within the group.

Janna Glozman’s book provides a comprehensive information on both Russian and Western developmental neuropsychology. The reader, especially form the West, may find fist hand information on Vygotsky and Luria’s collaboration with emphasis put on social aspects of child development. At the same time the reader can learn about principles of Luria’s syndromological (qualitative) approach and Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development. Two important notions that had a great impact both on the neuropsychological and developmental studies...

This article is devoted to Lev Vygotsky’s and Alexander Luria’s contribution to the theory and methods of neuropsychology, and particularly, developmental neuropsychology. The first part of the article covers the principle foundations of neuropsychology as elaborated by Vygotsky and Luria. The goal of the second part is to show what interpretation of learning disabilities can be derived from it.

The theoretical model of the establishment of the syndrome of early infantile autism is elaborated including all the stages of this establishment. According to Vygotsky and his ideas about the hierarchical organization of pathological syndromes, there is the definition of the difference between the structure and the function of the primary (biological) and secondary (sociological) phenomena of the syndrome of early infantile autism.

The article shows the role of the attachment system (child-mother interactions) in development of a wide spectrum of individual personality characteristics. Emotional attachment of the child to mother is considered as a complicated system of internal regulation and a basis of typology of mental development. Results of a series of empirical studies show the connection between the type of attachment, formed at the early stages of child development, and characteristics of his/her autonomy, consciousness (self-concept and self-esteem) and empathy in preschool and middle childhood.

This study, which is a part of a Moscow longitudinal twin project, aims to explore genetic and environmental contributions to inter-individual variability of temperamental traits in adolescence on the basis of a Russian sample. 85 monozygotic (MZ) and 64 same-sex dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs aged 12 – 14 years completed the children version of Rusalov Structure of Temperament Questionnaire (C-STQ). The results of model-fitting analyses indicate considerable hereditary determination of individual differences in 3 out of the 8 C-STQ dimensions - social tempo, objectrelated emotional sensitivity, and social emotional sensitivity. Non-shared environmental effects explained the rest of the total variance in these dimensions. Individual differences in the other STQ dimensions were due to environmental factors.

The recent revolutionary changes in the cognitive psychology of development, touching upon the basic conceptions of psychology, are generalized in this article. The problem of theoretical changes connected with systemic evolutionary approach, dynamic nonlinear system theory, and connectionism, is discussed. The author analyses four basic theses of revolutionary changes: from sensory-motor infant to representative one; from the leading role of activity to the unity of perception and action; about the continuity of the subject formation, instead of axiom of subjectivity of the adult, mature person; about the continuance of genetic and environmental instead of social primacy in the mental development of a person. There are key arguments of new conceptions, obtained by the author and other researchers.

An important direction of human cognitive development is the development of abilities at activities in complex dynamical environments containing multiple interacting structures (Dorner, Frensch & Funke, Spector, Voss). Cognition of the interacting structures by experimentation is the main function of causal-experimental thought (Demetriou). Usually preoperational children are not considered to have well-expressed abilities for causal-experimental thought. In the paper I describe heuristic rules for design of didactic multivariable objects stimulating preschoolers’ combinatorial experimentation and causal-experimental thought, the objects designed, and several studies of the children’s cognitive activity (exploratory learning) aimed at the objects and revealing their abilities to combinatorial experimentation. Participants: 623 children of 3-7 years old. It has been shown that the children successfully explore the objects containing hidden mechanical, logical and mathematical relationships by using strategies of combinatorial experimentation of various levels of complexity.