Editorial

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

This special issue of “Psychology in Russia: State of the Art” is dedicated to the 120^th anniversary of Lev Vygotsky, an outstanding Russian (Soviet) psychologist whose cultural-historical approach has given rise to numerous theoretical advances, empirical research and applied methods in psychology and education worldwide.

Though a journal issue cannot comprehensively and comprehensively describe Vygostky’s legacy, we hope to outline some important trajectories of its development. Such attempt is successfully made by Alfredo Ardila in the article “L.S. Vygotsky in the 21st century” in the “Theory and methodology” section. Joaquim Quintino-Aires claims the opposite: “the crisis in psychology” continues and it is the time to begin dialog, not to summarize it.

In the “Neuropsychology” section Janna M. Glozman outlines historical aspects of Vygotsky’s contribution to applied neuropsychology. Aleksandr M. Chernorizov, Sergei A. Isaychev, and Yury P. Zinchenko with the colleagues review new approaches and perspectives in psychophysiological methods for the diagnostics of human functional states. Cultural-historical approach to neuropsychological studies is represented by the paper on psychophysiological, developmental, and cross-cultural aspects of face cognition by Aleksandr M. Chernorizov, Zhong-qing Jiang, Anastasia V. Petrakova, and Yury P. Zinchenko. Neurophysiological correlates of artistic image creation by representatives of artistic professions are revealed by Liudmila A. Dikaya, Igor S. Dikiy, Viktorija V. Karpova, and Anastasiya Y. Lavreshina. Finally, Arnoldo Téllez and Teresa de J. Sánchez propose the model of the functional units of the brain and the concept of neuropsychology of dreaming, based on the works by Aleksandr Luria, an outstanding neuropsychologist and Vygotsky’s collaborator.

In the “Educational psychology” section two articles deal with psychological assessment techniques. Larisa F. Bayanova, Ekaterina A. Tsivilskaya, Roksana M. Bayramyan, and Kirill S. Chulyukin describe pilot results of application of a cultural congruence test for primary school students. Yulia Solovieva and Luis Quintanar apply the concept of zone of proximal development to assessment of intellectual development in pre-school children. The paper by Vladimir S. Sobkin, Aleksandr N. Veraksa, Darya A. Bukhalenkova with the colleagues dwells on the concept of social situation of development and analyses the connection of socio-demographic factors and child-parent relationships to the psychological aspects of children’s development.

In the “Clinical psychology” section the ideas by Lev Vygotsky and Aleksandr Luria are applied to psychological support and development of various populations of children. Lidia F. Fatikhova and Elena F. Sayfutdiyarova have investigated understanding of unsafe situations by children with intellectual disabilities. Héctor Juan Pelayo González, Yulia Solovieva and Luis Quintanar with the colleagues propose interventions for psychomotor development in newborns with low weight according to A.R. Luria’s conception. Pedro Ferreira Alves, Tâmara Ferreira Rodrigues, Claudia Tirone, and Diego Prade describe Rita Leal School model: a new, cultural- historical perspective on autism. To study personality attributes of children with behavior problems Ana Beatriz Saraiva and Jorge Ferreira have performed an exploratory analysis with the Exner Comprehensive System of the Rorschach Inkblot Test and suggested some implications for the socio-historical clinical practice approach. The section is summarized by a methodological article by Aleksandr Sh.Tkhostov that outlines the prospects of development of L.S. Vygotsky’s ideas in clinical psychology.