Editorial

Zinchenko, Yu. P. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia Federal Scientific Center of Psychological and Interdisciplinary Research, Moscow, Russia

The present issue of Psychology in Russia: State of the Art addresses a wide range of problems that prompt current research efforts of Russian psychologists. It opens with an impressive psychophysiological study in human visual cognition that provides insights from an extensive analysis of imagination performed by Vitaly M. Verkhlyutov, Vadim L. Ushakov, Pavel A. Sokolov and Boris M. Velichkovsky B.M.

The Social psychology section discusses issues of high social significance. It begins with an article by Ana Dias and Margarida Cesar who apply cultural-historical approach to participatory learning through museum-based activities that allow vulnerable children to engage in meaningful and developing leisure. It continues with a brief but comprehensive piece on psychological aid and follow-up in crisis and emergency situations by Yulia S. Shoygu. Aleksandr A. Strokanov and Svetlana U. Zhdanova, whose article reveals both common features and noteworthy cultural differences between the two, present an interesting comparison of images of future presidents in Russian and American students.

The special Mediapsychology section consolidates notable theoretical developments, research results and applied tools in mediapsychology. Lev Vygotsky’s fundamental ideas of social mediation are as relevant as ever in the contemporary informational society and continue to inspire works of modern researchers, notably the article by Elena E. Pronina on the issue of “nonlocality” of psyche which opens this section. The section continues with a discussion of psychological prerequisites and effects of using multimedia content in the mass media by Diana Yu. Kulchitskaya. Next, to assess digital competence in adolescents and parents, Galina V. Soldatova and Elena I. Rasskazova in their pioneering work introduce the Russian version of Digital Competence Index, the tool designed by the Foundation for Internet Development and Psychology Faculty of Lomonosov’s Moscow State University with the support of Google corp. The section closes with the systemic review of videogames that may potentially facilitate treatment of childhood obesity by Daria A. Druzhinenko, Andrey I. Podolskiy, Oleg A. Podolskiy and Patrick Schmoll.

The Educational psychology section introduces three papers on higher professional education that shed light on new ways of improvement of Russian and international educational practices. In the first one Galina A. Glotova and Angelica M. Wilhelm discuss the results of the research of schoolteachers’ notions about their communicative competencies, assessed with a set of typical problematic situations. Irina B. Khanina’s comprehensive review of the study of the professional world and professional activity of a medical university lecturer through the lens of A. Leontyev’s ideas continues the section. In the section’s final article Svetlana N. Kostromina, Nina V. Bordovskaia, Sergey I. Rosum, Natalya L. Moskvicheva and Natalya N. Iskra discuss their study of research potential and cognitive features of people at different educational levels: bachelor’s, master’s, and university professor’s.