Interpersonal Cognition and Methods of its Development in Future Teachers

Abstract

This article deals with researches on the cognitive component of interpersonal cog­nition and studies a possibility of improving it during teachers' education. Mistakes people make while estimating one another are analyzed on the basis of empirical researches. The author suggests a model describing main interpersonal cognition principles that is capable of minimizing such mistakes. The author describes the researches conducted under her supervision, in which the strategies based on the interpersonal cognition principles were studied. It has been shown that teachers using a model set of the interpersonal cognition principles are much better at es­timating children's personality characteristics, than those who are unable to use them. The author also presents the method called The Development of the Strate­gies of Interpersonal Cognition, and considers forms and conditions of its usage in education of future teachers.