2023

Background. Media multitasking (MMT) is common among adolescents, especially with the introduction of digital educational tools in mixed reality environments. However, there has been limited research on MMT in educational settings with electronic learning tools including augmented reality (AR).

Objective. To study MMT in conjunction with metacognition, technology attitudes, and effectiveness of learning activities for 13–14 year olds in a mixed reality learning situation.

Design. The experiment involved organizing learning activities in MMT format using digital tools, including AR. The MMT experimental group was given the option of searching the internet for information about a problem; the control group was given only a video, the e-textbook and AR application. Eye tracking measured task switching, while MMT efficiency was assessed by the number of completed tasks and test results. Metacognition was measured using the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI), and attitudes toward digital devices were examined using the Technology Attitudes Questionnaire.

Results. Most of the adolescents (80%) preferred MMT, and no significant differences in test performance were found between the groups. Multitasking correlated with better cognitive control and metacognition scores and negatively correlated with technophobia. Learning activity effectiveness in mixed reality was assessed by the number and time of fixations on tasks in conjunction with metacognition and cognitive control. Interactive digital tools in education improve learning efficiency.

Conclusion. Adolescents' preference for multitasking does not reduce learning productivity, but it does not guarantee success either. This suggests an internalization process of using digital technologies among adolescents. As a result, MMT may be gradually mastered as a new tool that is necessary for adaptation and success in an increasingly complex technological reality. Cognitive control and metacognitive planning significantly contribute to MMT efficiency, highlighting the importance of a conscious MMT strategy for effective learning.

Background. Executive functions are actively developing in children of preschool age.  Executive functions’ development is also influenced by the way children are using digital devices.  Joint media engagement is one of the parameters of digital device usage that has been poorly studied so far, although this is of great importance from the point of view of cultural-historical psychology.

Objective. Our research aimed to explore the association between young children’s development of executive functions over a year, and their joint media engagement with parents and siblings in preschool children.

Design. Four hundred ninety (490) typically developing children (52% of them were boys) participated in the study. It was a longitudinal study: during the first stage, the children were 5-6 years old; the second stage followed one year later. The NEPSY-II subtests (Inhibition, Statue, Memory for Designs, Sentences Repetition) and the Dimensional Change Card Sort were used to assess executive functions. A questionnaire for mothers was used to get information about the children’s joint media engagement and screen time.

Results. Children who watched video content and played video games together with their siblings developed more inhibitory control over the year than those children who did it alone. Co-viewing of video content with parents was associated with a decrease in cognitive flexibility over the year, as opposed to watching it alone.

Conclusion. The obtained data allows us to conclude that joint media engagement is important for executive functions development, and that there are optimal formats of joint media engagement. Based on the limitations of this study, recommendations for future research were suggested.

Background. The majority of mistakes students make while using “well-learned” decimal counting, can be attributed to their miscomprehension of the structure and arrangement of the “positional” numeral system. Digital support may merely serve an illustrative and training function, or it may provide the special environment for locating the problem of positional counting as a part of meaningful actions by the students. Following the Activity approach, we aimed to scaffold the students’ own learning actions, in such a way as to reveal the origin of the multi-digit number concept. Thus, we used counting in other-base systems as a way for students to reconsider the reasoning behind familiar operations in the most common base-ten system.

Objective. The purpose of this paper is to present the approach to computer support which we have designed, based on our analysis of the activity content related to the multi-digit number concept, and to discuss some preliminary results of the first training series.

Design. The approach to educational environment design developed within the Learning Activity theory defines the ways in which a computer becomes essential. The computer should provide a transparent interface which allows students to perform transformations with objects which will react accordingly. The additional opportunities to perform concept-mediated orientation procedures should also be scaffolded by digital means.  For the purposes of our study, the computer-based educational module “Interstellar wanderers” was designed. Four groups of students from 2nd to 5th grade (8-12 years of age, 20 children in total) participated in the experimental computer-based lessons (over 30 hours); classroom observations, videotaped discussions, and logs of students’ individual work in the computer simulation were used for analysis.

Results. The preliminary results of the experimental teaching showed that the computer support which we developed may scaffold students’ progress toward acquisition of the multi-digit number concept through a reflective re-thinking of the well-learned decimal system. Yet further research is needed to get a quantitative analysis of students’ performance.

Conclusion. The general principles of computer support design based on the Activity approach in education (Galperin, Davydov, & Talyzina) demand a thorough analysis of the origin of the concept being studied, as well as the design of appropriate content and means of students’ actions and corresponding contexts and tasks. The digital means which we designed to support students’ learning activity, are in demand and bring promising results.

Background. The range of digital technologies that children use from an early age has expanded significantly. Most studies demonstrate that preschoolers now spend substantially longer on digital devices and start using them at a younger age. Finding a solution for this challenge has research merits and relevance, as the data on benefits and harm of early preschoolers’ exposure to digital devices is contradictory. This poses a need to determine theoretically sound and practically validated criteria that could guide the duration and quality of children’s exposure to the digital environment.

Objective. To review studies that contain recommendations on preschoolers’ exposure to the digital environment, namely, exposure limits and evidence to justify the limitation of preschoolers’ time on digital media.

Design. The analysis starts by identifying theoretical foundations that researchers use in their studies of children’s behavior in the digital environment. This is followed by an overview of 40 studies that include research papers, official reports, and methodological recommendations made by healthcare and governmental organizations.

Results. The review identified the following ground rules for children’s exposure to the digital environment: to provide for child’s interaction with a digital device, to use educational applications that will develop skills appropriate to the child’s age, to ensure mandatory supervision of children’s engagement by an adult who limits the exposure according to child’s age-related capabilities and creates conditions for active exploration of the real rather than a virtual world. Children’s cognitive development suffers the most from passive intake of digital content.

Conclusion. The data herein can help to develop strategies to promote healthy and educational engagement of children with digital devices and media; however, the review highlights the insufficiency of psychophysiological research that would make it possible to practically validate the recommendations on the duration of preschoolers’ exposure to the digital environment.

Background. The phenomenon of sexting consists of sending and sharing sexual images, videos, or messages using smartphones and social networks. Sexting is spreading dangerously among adolescents who share private and explicit sexual content, ignoring the negative and risky consequences associated with this behavior. According to recent literature, sexting behavior is strongly related to the participants’ level of self-esteem and social media’s influence on them.

Objective. Our study was a descriptive community-based study focused on the central-south Italian context, which aimed to investigate sexually risky behavior and the main motivations for sexting, and to compare differences in self-esteem and social media’s influence among three groups of Italian girls: non-sexters, occasional sexters, and frequent sexters.

Design. Our research involved 569 Italian girls (14–19 years old) who completed the following questionnaires: the Questionnaire on Health and Sexual Behavior; the Sexting Behavior Scale; the Multidimensional Self-Concept Scale; and the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire-3. 

Results. Our results showed that most participants sexted with their partner, and had a responsible attitude toward sexuality and kept sexual risk low. Moreover, frequent sexters had higher scores on social media’s influence relative to the internalization of the body image and model for beauty and athleticism, as well as lower levels of global, academic, and competence self-esteem.

Conclusion. Our results could promote interventions in the school context in order to: a) improve awareness among youth about social media use, sexting, and safe sexuality; b) reduce the risk associated with sexting and the influence of social networks; and c) stimulate reflections by teachers and parents on adolescents’ sense of identity and self-esteem.

Background. Personal exposure is a crucial aspect of digital socialization. It pertains to the amount of time spent on social networks, the number of active accounts, interactions on different platforms, the content published on social networks, the purpose for which the content is shared, the degree of personal exposure, and the changes in social life caused by the exposure. Gender plays an important role in predicting online behavior, but previous studies have yielded contradictory results.

Objective. To characterize personal exposure to social media in young Cubans (networks used, hours of exposure, published content, how much of one's private life is exposed, alterations due to its use). To define the differences in personal exposure based on the gender variable.

Design. A survey specifically created for this research was used. The sample was composed of 3345 young Cuban residents between 18 and 35 years old. 

Results. The young people spent a considerable amount of time per day on WhatsApp, Instagram*, and Facebook/Messenger*. Users shared content related to humor, music/art, and their personal lives. These interactions served as a source of entertainment, a means of communication and socialization, and a platform for expressing opinions on various topics. Personal content was shared frequently. The young people reported experiencing disturbances such as family demands, decreased attention span, difficulty sleeping, and decreased social interactions. There were gender differences in the level of personal exposure, with females reporting higher levels of exposure.

Conclusion.There are high levels of personal exposure among Cuban youth. Different qualities are manifested according to gender. Females reflect the highest levels of personal exposure.

Background. New technologies offer endless possibilities for students and schools, but as the use of smartphones increases, psychological and behavioral problems may also increase.

Objective. To investigate the relationship of mobile-based social network addiction and family communication patterns on the one hand, and behavioral problems in students on the other, with a focus on the mediating role of emotional self-regulation.

Design. This study used a quantitative approach and a cross-sectional design. The participants were 384 students (female/male: 226/168; mean age: 16 ± 1.98) in secondary high schools in Tehran in the academic year 2022–2023. The students were selected using convenience sampling. The data were collected online using the Revised Family Communication Pattern Scale (1994), Mobile-Based Social Network Addiction Questionnaire (2016), Child Behavior Checklist - Adolescent Version (2001), and the Affective Style Questionnaire (2010). The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling with SPSS-25 and AMOS-24 statistical software.

Results. The study showed that emotional self-regulation plays a mediating role in the relationship between mobile-based social network addiction and internalized and externalized behavioral problems (P ≤ .05). The indirect effect of conversation orientation on internalized and externalized behavioral problems mediated by emotional self-regulation was not significant, but the indirect effect of conformity orientation on internalized and externalized behavioral problems with the mediation of emotional self-regulation was significant (P ≤ .05).

Conclusion. Based on the findings, it is suggested that school officials and parents should develop emotional self-regulation and communication skills in students and parenting skills in their parents to prevent and reduce potential harm such as internet addiction and behavioral problems in students.

Background. Romantic attachment is reflected in various aspects of dyadic interaction in a couple, since it is a self-reinforcing system of cognitive, emotional and behavioral patterns. Romantic jealousy was shown to be associated with dimensions of attachment insecurity in various studies worldwide.

Objectives. To identify differences in expressions of romantic jealousy based on romantic attachment style. To determine the influence of attachment-related anxiety and attachment-related avoidance on cognitive, emotional, and behavioral jealousy.

Design. The sample comprised 171 heterosexual individuals. The “Experiences in Close Relationships – Revised” questionnaire (ECR-R; Fraley, Waller, & Brennan, 2000; adapted for Russian by Chursina, 2022) and “Multidimensional Jealousy Scale” (MJS; Pfeiffer, & Wong, 1989) were used.

Results. A number of significant differences were identified between insecure and secure attachment styles. Avoidant attachment is characterized by cognitive jealousy, ambivalent attachment is characterized by cognitive and behavioral jealousy, while dismissing attachment showed no significant differences in the manifestations of jealousy in comparison with secure attachment style. Emotional jealousy is equally characteristic of all types. The primacy of romantic attachment in relation to cognitive and behavioral jealousy was also proved.

Conclusion. The experience of jealousy differs among romantic attachment styles. Attachment-related anxiety is a predictor of intrusive thoughts and behavioral manifestations of jealousy, while attachment-related avoidance is less, the greater the manifestation of jealousy behaviors.

Background. The quality of sleep significantly impacts children’s day-to-day performance, with at least 20% reporting issues with sleepiness. Valid tools for assessing the quality of sleep are needed.

Objective. In this study, we assessed the psychometric properties of the Russian version of the Pediatric Daytime Sleepiness Scale (PDSS). The initial adaptation of the PDSS was conducted on a sample from the Arctic regions of Russia. This location may have influenced the scale's generalizability due to variations in natural daylight across different areas of the country.

Design. To rectify this, we gathered a comprehensive, geographically diverse sample from Russia. This combined dataset comprised 3772 participants between 10 to 18 years of age, from nine different regions of Russia.

Results. We confirmed the unifactorial structure of the PDSS, which showed no regional effects. The psychometric analysis indicated that one item from the 8-item PDSS could be removed, thereby improving the scale's model fit. We also observed gender and age impacts on sleep quality: boys reported fewer sleep-related issues than girls, and younger children reported fewer problems than older children.

Conclusion. This study validates the usefulness and reliability of the Russian version of the PDSS, thereby enhancing its general applicability. Furthermore, we replicated previously reported age and sex effects on the sleep quality of school-aged children.

Background. The role of conscious self-regulation in determining students’ psychological well-being and academic performance is considered in the context of the fundamental problem of the regularities of young adolescents’ development.

Objective. To reveal the role of meta-resources of conscious self-regulation in determining young adolescents' psychological well-being and academic performance.

Design. Sample: 500 students in 4th- to 6th grade (10-12) in general schools, 149 of whom participated in a three-year longitudinal study. The Self-Regulation Profile of Learning Activity and the Well-Being Manifestation scales were used.

Results. Conscious self-regulation and academic performance increase significantly in fifth grade and decrease in sixth grade. On the contrary, psychological well-being is characterized by a systemic positive dynamic. A typological analysis identified the levels of psychological well-being of students growing, stable, and declining during the transition period. It was found that the general level of conscious self-regulation made a significant positive contribution and is a universal resource for students' psychological well-being and academic performance. Special regulatory resources for academic performance are described, depending on the trajectory of changes in psychological well-being. Increased well-being is determined by the regulatory competencies of Planning and Evaluation of results and its stability by Planning, Modelling, Flexibility, and Responsibility. The general level of self-regulation, regulatory competencies, Planning, Programming and Responsibility mediate in the relationship between student psychological well-being and academic performance. A longitudinal study found that self-regulation has a long-term positive effect on student psychological well-being and academic performance.

Conclusion. Conscious self-regulation is a meta-resource that makes a significant contribution to both the psychological well-being and academic performance. Mediator and prognostic effects of self-regulation on these properties create a psychological basis for practical work.

Background. Voluntary control of goal-directed behavior and mental activity in preschool children plays a key role in knowledge acquisition and future academic achievement. Studies of voluntary control have mainly concerned 6-8-year- old children; much less is known about the ability to exercise voluntary control at early ages. Due to the high prognostic value of the level of development of voluntary control and heterogeneous development of their individual components, it seems actually useful to study age-related changes of these components in children from 3-4 to 4-5 years old.

Objective. To compare age-related changes in executive functions (EF) in children age 3-4 years (mean age: 3.5±0.2 yrs; n = 49; 31 boys) and 4-5 years (mean age: 4.5±0.3 yrs; n = 70; 35 boys).

Design. To assess the different components of EF we used: 1) a qualitative group and individual testing procedure based on the principles of Luria’s theory of the dynamic localization and organization of higher mental functions; and 2) a computerized testing procedure which included the Bourdon-Wiersma cancellation test, the “Hearts and Flowers” conflict test (the Dots task), and the Corsi block-tapping test.

Results. The results showed that different components of voluntary control developed at different rates (heterochronically): there were significant progressive changes from 3-4 to 4-5 years for working memory, assimilation of instructions, switching between separate actions, selective concentration on a target or task, and the distribution of attention. Some other components of EF did not show significant positive dynamics during this period.

Conclusion. The results indicate the importance of applying the activity theory approach to the development of cognitive processes in preschool age.

Background. The process of teaching mathematics represents a challenge for primary education, due to the different perspectives and disciplines involved. In addition, as an active and flexible process, it requires feedback on what the students actually achieved. An analysis of the different learning and development outcomes allows the teacher to understand the mathematical content and the method of teaching it in the classroom, with the objective of promoting the students’ conceptual development.

Objective. The objective of our study was to analyze the general skills for problem solving which students developed, by applying dynamic evaluation. 

Design. A verification method was used to identify the students’ abilities and difficulties. A protocol for evaluating the process of solving mathematical problems was organized. The assessment included four simple problems and four complex ones. The participants were 15 students in the third grade of primary school attending a private school located in Mexico City.

Results. The results showed that the students identified the types of mathematical operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) required to solve the problems as their objective. Therefore, their preparation of a solution plan, its execution, and its verification were based only on empirical thinking and quantitative information. 

Conclusions. We concluded that problem-solving is an intellectual activity that requires conceptual development to carry out a solution plan, execute it, and verify it, in addition to the  main objective of answering the question posed by the problem. We propose that these characteristics be included in the organization of mathematics teaching in order to develop mathematical thinking.

Background. Nina Fedorovna Talyzina was a Russian psychologist, whose theories have been applied in educational research in many countries around the world, including Brazil. Her name is mainly connected to the Activity Theory of Learning (ATL), which has been dubbed the Galperin-Talyzina system of developmental didactics.

Objective. Investigate how N.F. Talyzina’s ideas are applied in dissertations and theses developed in postgraduate programs in Brazil.

Design. Our research was a bibliographic review which used the state of the question method to examine how Talyzina’s ideas are applied in Brazilian academic publications. Data were gathered from three responsible databases – the Brazilian Digital Library, the CAPES Catalogue, and the Institutional Repositories (1987-2022). The method of content analysis was used for data analysis, according to pre-determined categories.

Results. We found a prevalence of research based on the methodology of formative experiments carried out at different educational levels. Skills, scientific concept- formation, and problem-solving were the objects of investigation in most of the studies. The ideas proposed by L.S. Vygotsky, A.N. Leontiev, P.Ya. Galperin, and V.V. Davidov were expressed through references to Talyzina’s work as the theoretical basis of many studies, thus evidencing a crucial dialogue with the Cultural-Historical School (CHS).

Conclusion. Our study points out the growing interest in Talyzina's ideas, specifically her Activity Theory of Learning, which can be attributed to comprehensive dialogues with the ideas of L.S. Vygotsky and A.N. Leontiev which predominate in Brazilian research.

Background. Activity Theory applied by the teacher to preschool education favors the development of new psychological formations, such as perception, attention, memory, thought, language, and voluntariness, which prepare the child for school.

Objective. To highlight the contributions of N.F. Talyzina based on Activity Theory applied to preschool education and to reflect on the theory’s use in the Brazilian education system.

Design. This article is theoretically built from research in a sandwich doctorate program in Puebla, Mexico and internship supervision practices for psychologist training at a public university in Brazil’s central-west region.

Results. Activity Theory is seldom applied to teaching, including in Brazil, and there is little knowledge about the scientific contributions of one of its practitioners, the late N.F. Talyzina. We chose the preschool stage as the focus of our reflections, and we maintain that the introduction of role-playing as the main activity in early childhood education promotes the development of psychological neoformations and prepares the child for the next stage of school. Finally, we present the internship practices in applied psychology in a Brazilian children’s group, with evidence of advances.

Conclusion. There is a need for expansion of the formative experiments reported here to the Brazilian population, for scientific dissemination of the results, and promotion of teacher training and qualification in Activity Theory.

Background. Psychological time, a subjective reflection of the objective passage of time, has age specific characteristics and can be considered a resource for adaptation to difficult life situations (Pultz, & Hviid, 2016). We assume that the components of psychological time are also a resource for adaptation to retirement, smoothing out undesirable social and biological changes in retirees’ lives.

Objective. This study explores this hypothesis by identifying the contribution of the cognitive component of psychological time – temporal focus and subjective age – to the effectiveness of late socialization.

Design. The developed theoretical model was verified by the SEM method on the sample of retirees from Chelyabinsk, Russia (N = 291). To collect the empirical data we used the Temporal Focus Scale (Shipp et al., 2009), the Age of Me (Barak, 2009), the Life Satisfaction Scale (Diener & Lucas, 1999), the Income Satisfaction Scale (Deyneka, 2000), and questionnaire variables.

Results. Temporal focus and subjective age mediated the influence of biological and social variables on the retirees’ subjective well-being. A younger subjective age smoothed the contribution of educational level, working status, and disability, whilst the current and future focuses mediated the association between religiosity and various parameters of satisfaction.

Conclusion. The results of the study broaden the understanding of psychological time in late socialization process. A pronounced focus on the present, along with younger subjective age, can be seen as psychological resources, allowing for better adaptation to the social status of a retiree; that is, increasing the effectiveness of late socialization.

Background. Perfectionism and the Impostor Phenomenon (IP) have mainly been studied in American samples, as have the associations of Perfectionism and the Impostor Phenomenon with Self-Esteem and the Big Five personality traits. However, previous studies showed that results might depend on cultural background. There is a critical lack of such research in the Russian context which might limit generalization of the previous findings to a narrow range of cultures.

Objective. In this study, the authors investigated how Perfectionism and the Impostor Phenomenon are related to the 5-factor model of personality, and examined the mediating role of Self-esteem between the dimensions of Perfectionism and the Impostor Phenomenon, using a Russian sample.

Design. The study sample comprised 372 undergraduate students age 18 - 23 (M = 19.07, SD = 1.05). The Impostor Phenomenon, Personality Traits, and Self-Esteem were measured by relevant questionnaires.

Results. The results indicated that Adaptive Perfectionism had a strong positive correlation with Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Openness. Maladaptive Perfectionism had a strong relation to Conscientiousness and Neuroticism. Neuroticism demonstrated a strong positive correlation with impostor tendencies and was the main predictor. Self-esteem partially mediated the link between Maladaptive Perfectionism and the Impostor Phenomenon, intensifying negative feelings and Impostorism.

Conclusion. These results generally replicated the pattern from previous studies of the relationship between Perfectionism, the Big Five personality traits, Self-esteem, and the Impostor Phenomenon. Thus, it could be possible to conclude that the studied relationships might be regarded as universal for the Russian students in terms of culture.

Background. Piotr Ya. Galperin and his collaborator Nina F. Talyzina performed solid experimental work which led them to propose the theory of stage-by-stage formation of mental actions and concepts, as well as a method to investigate cognitive processes, whose conceptual and procedural streamlining demands analysis and systematization.

Objective. To investigate the formative experiment of P. Ya. Galperin and N.F. Talyzina, with the aim of analyzing their contributions to the method of psychological investigation of cognitive processes.

Design. The article is part of a theoretical research project on developmental didactics systems, of which the Galperin–Talyzina system is one. Russian works by the two authors and their translations into English, Spanish, and Portuguese, as well as works by other psychologists and educators from the Galperin–Talyzina school, were sources of the work.

Results. The experiments of P.Ya. Galperin and N.F. Talyzina studied, promoted, and analyzed the assimilation of new knowledge and mental actions, by introducing different conditions. The article systematizes the stages and procedures of such experiments, as well as the series and steps of diagnosis of the developmental level and the formation of mental actions and concepts, in relation to the type of Orienting Basis of an Action (OBA).

Conclusion. The theory was built on the basis of simultaneous production of a method to study the genesis of the cognitive processes and the theory of stage-by-stage formation of mental actions and concepts; it led us to define the method of P.Ya. Galperin and N.F. Talyzina as a gradual formation experiment.

Background. For the last few years, in the field of school education, social-emotional competencies have been gaining in importance because they result in positive attitudes and adaptation to school (Mella et al., 2021).

Objective. The current study was designed to conduct Urdu translation, cross-language validation, and confirmatory factor analysis of the Social-Emotional Competence Questionnaire (SECQ) for Pakistani adolescents.

Design. Urdu translation was done using the standard back-translation method. The data for the main study was collected using a non-random sampling method for 910 adolescents who were between 10 to 19 years old.

Results. The findings of the pilot study (n = 64) show that the Social-Emotional Competence Questionnaire is a reliable questionnaire, as Cronbach’s alpha reliabilities of both versions (English and Urdu) were acceptable (Version 1 α = 0.77; Version 2 α = 0.77). After 15 days, the Pearson product-moment correlation was checked to meet the objective of cross-language validation, which resulted in a high correlation between the two forms (r = 0.88). The riginal author of the questionnaire had proposed a factor structure consisting of five factors, namely: self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, relationship management, and responsible decision-making. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in the present study also confirmed and supported the five-factor structure in comparison to other models for the Urdu version.

Conclusion. The Social-Emotional Competence Questionnaire is a reliable and culturally-validated tool for adolescents attending school, which can be used in future research for measuring social-emotional competencies.

Background. While the traditional method of teaching consists of repetition and memorization, the constructivist theory proposes independent discovery and free play. The cultural-historical approach, on the other hand, does not insist on the early introduction of formal mathematics as implicit or explicit knowledge. According to this outlook, important psychological developmental is necessary for the child before he/she can learn mathematics in primary school.

Objective. To present a methodology for organizing the play activity of children of preschool age by introducing symbolic means on the materialized and perceptual levels as an essential aspect of preparation for learning mathematical concepts in primary school.

Design. The experiment consisted in pedagogical work in the online modality by the authors at a private college in the city of Puebla, Mexico. Eighteen children from three levels of preschool education (from three to six years old) participated in 45-minute sessions three times per week. There were six children from each preschool level.

Results. It was shown that playing with roles online allows children at least partially to include different symbolic means in their activity. This allows the children not only to satisfy their curiosity and be positively engaged in the topic of the play, but also to develop symbolic functions as preparation for intellectual actions with numerical content in primary school.

Conclusion. The article shows a feasible way to organize preschool play with roles online and thus to scaffold the formation of children’s imagination and ability to use symbolic means, which is important for future learning. The cultural-historical approach offers useful guidelines here, although more research is needed to support the development of children’s symbolic function within math-specific activity, based on activity theory applied to learning.

Background. Using the Activity Theory of education (Galperin, 1992; Talyzina, 2018), this article examines the students’ actions that constitute the early stages of forming the concept of ratios. The psychological analysis of mastery of this concept shows that it essentially depends on understanding the coordination of the changes of two independent values (area, velocity, density, etc.).

Objective. The present research considers differences in students’ operations with numbers on various tasks, based on their comprehension of ratio relations (direct and inverse proportions); these differences are revealed through posing certain modified tasks, but may stay unnoticed in regular tasks. The goal of the study was to identify the criteria for adequate assessment of the sustainability of the students’ orientation in modified tasks.

Design. A test of 15 tasks was designed based on Galperin's classification of task variations: domain specific, logical, and psychological. The formulation of the tasks disguised the operations needed to achieve the right answer, and sometimes even prompted the wrong solution. There were 12 tasks on direct proportions – four sample and eight modified; and three inverse proportion tasks: one sample and two modified. One hundred sixty (160) students (5^th-6^th grade, 11-13 years old) took the test in writing.

Results. The comparison of students’ performance on the sample and modified tasks showed significant differences. Modifications impaired the students' performance on both types of proportion problems (direct and inverse). Logical and psychological modifications had the most impact on the quality of the students' orientation and thus proved to be most indicative in terms of students’ orientation quality assessment.

Conclusion. The data suggest the following: 1) that the concepts of proportionality which the students acquired from a regular school curriculum lack "generalization," and 2) that students’ ability to apply the ratio concept is very sensitive to the way the word problem is presented. These findings are essential for evaluating students’ multiplicative thinking: their actual level of comprehension cannot be revealed through their performance on regular tasks.