Articles

Background. Today’s common typologies and categories of children’s toys are mainly decided by the manufacturers and retailers of children's products. Such categorizations are not based on a theoretical understanding of child development and therefore cannot provide information about the opportunities that toys provide for the young.

Objective. This study proposed three criteria for categorizing toys based on the cultural-historical approach: their degree of realism; their degree of anthropomorphism; and their degree of detail. These criteria were chosen as a result of an analysis of theoretical works carried out in the framework of cultural-historical approach.

Design. The proposed criteria were tested through an experiment measuring children's toy preferences. The participants were 129 children of ages 3-4 years. Experimental data confirmed that most children do prefer realistic and detailed toys rather than those with fewer of these properties. The contribution of socio-demographic factors and the children’s individual developmental indicators to their toy preference was also analyzed.

Results. The study revealed that among various socio-demographic factors, only the child’s gender and the number of siblings in the family acted as significant predictors for the toy preferences. None of child's developmental characteristics (non-verbal intelligence, executive functions, and emotional understanding) were found to be significant predictors of preference for particular toys.

Conclusions. The assumption that toys can be assessed in terms of their realism and degree of detail found empirical support. The results of this study may be useful in designing further research and in the practical issue of toy selection for children age 3-4 years.

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic is a multifaceted stressor. Its impact suggests long-term psychological effects. Self-determination promotes flexibility of goals and actions and helps to overcome the difficulties caused by stress.

Objective. To analyze coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic presented in Russian scientific studies (RQ1), and their relationship with self-determination (RQ2).

Design. Relevant studies (2020–2022) were selected from the Russian citation index (RSCI) database. Strict selection criteria were used. Twenty-four articles were selected for the final review. For dynamic analysis, four stages of the pandemic were identified.

Results. Prevailing coping strategies have changed over time. At the beginning of the pandemic, respondents used familiar coping mechanisms. Six months later, active coping strategies were more often used, but deprivation and avoidance strategies increased. A year later, there was an increase in denial and avoidance strategies. Using non-constructive coping strategies may indicate that, due to the long course of the pandemic, meeting basic psychological needs became increasingly frustrated, leading to helplessness, alienation, and lack of control. Later dynamics reflect the growth of effective coping strategies and confirm that when basic needs are blocked for a long time, people seek alternative ways to satisfy them.

Conclusion. The dynamics of coping strategies during the pandemic reflected their close relationship with basic psychological needs, as described in the theory of self-determination. The results confirmed the importance of self-determination as a dispositional variable in predicting coping mechanisms.

Background. The assertion of sex differences in verbal abilities is a highly controversial subject. Some studies have demonstrated a female advantage; other studies have found higher rates in males. The results depended on the type of verbal ability that was studied, the cultural context, and the ages of the subjects. There are two types of theories that have been developed to explain the existence of sex differences in cognitive abilities. Social theories explain the differences as caused by social determinants. Biological theories consider biological factors such as prenatal development conditions and hormone levels, among others, as the cause of sex differences.

Objective. To investigate sex differences in verbal abilities in children of different ages.

Design. Two different editions of Wechsler tests were used. For children age 2.5 to 5 years, the Wechsler Preschool Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI-IV) was used. For children age 6 and older, we administered the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-V). The total sample included 313 children.

Results. The study found significant sex differences in performance on the Verbal Comprehension Scale in children of different ages. At the age of 2 to 4 years, the girls performed better than the boys. In the group of boys, there was a significant increase in verbal abilities at the age of 8–9 years. By the age of 10–11 years, boys began outperforming girls on the Verbal Comprehension Index. Scores on the Verbal Comprehension and Visual Spatial subtests for the boy sample showed stronger correlations than in the girl sample in all age groups.

Conclusion. Sex differences in verbal abilities varied depending on the age of the children. The boys showed a stronger integration of their verbal abilities into the structure of their intelligence than the girls.

Background. The Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15) is one of the most frequently used instruments to measure medically unexplained symptoms in the general population as well as in groups of patients with mental and physical health problems.

Objective. This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the PHQ-15 in assessing a Russian community sample.

Design. A total of 1153 Russian adults age 18 or older participated in this cross-sectional study. They completed the Russian versions of the PHQ-15 and Symptom Check List-90-Revised, SCL-90-R (SCL-90-R). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to examine the factor structure of the Russian PHQ-15, and multi-group confirmatory factor analyses were used to test measurement invariance across sex and age. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients and Pearson’s correlation coefficients were used to evaluate the internal reliability and convergent validity of the Russian PHQ-15.

Results. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a three-factor solution highlighting pain-fatigue, gastrointestinal, and cardiopulmonary symptoms. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a bifactor structure for the Russian PHQ-15 merging general and specific somatic symptoms. A multi-group confirmatory factor analysis showed partial invariance across sex and age. The Russian PHQ-15 demonstrated acceptable Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranging from 0.72 to 0.75 for specific factors and a good Cronbach’s alpha for the total score (α = 0.85), proving the questionnaire’s internal reliability. Finally, positive correlations between the PHQ-15 and SCL-90-R dimensions, and positive intercorrelations between PHQ-15 specific factors, suggested convergent validity.

Conclusion. The Russian PHQ-15 is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing medically unexplained symptoms in the general population. This instrument can be used in diagnostic and counseling settings.

Background. Perceived discrimination is an acculturative stressor that negatively predicts psychological and socio-cultural adaptation, partially mediated by the individual’s acculturation attitudes. However, despite being under similar conditions of high perceived discrimination, some African immigrants in Russia appear to adapt more successfully than others. Why the individual differences? Neuroticism is a trait that intensifies the experience of negative emotions and sensitivity to stress. Perhaps it amplifies the reaction to acculturative stressors (e.g., perceived discrimination) in terms of acculturation attitudes, with significant implications on adaptation.

Objective. This study sought to determine whether the personality trait of neuroticism influences how African immigrants in Russia react to perceived discrimination in terms of their acculturation attitudes and how this may relate to adaptation.

Design. A moderated mediation analysis was carried out, investigating neuroticism as a moderator in the relationship between perceived discrimination, acculturation attitudes, and adaptation of African immigrants in Russia (N=157).

Results. Perceived discrimination was found to be strongly associated with poor psychological and sociocultural adaptation, which was partially mediated by the integration attitude; neuroticism strengthened this indirect negative association.

Conclusion. When highly neurotic African immigrants perceived elevated levels of discrimination, they were more averse to adopting a positive attitude toward integration, and as a result, were more maladapted. This result suggests that the differences in the levels of adaptation among African immigrants in Russia under similar conditions of high perceived discrimination may be partially due to their levels of neuroticism. 

Background. The development of environmental consciousness is a necessary part of the full development of society. The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has increased attention to the problems of man's relationship with nature, green behavior of both the consumer and the producer. Attitudes towards a green economy are especially important to study in countries rich in natural resources, as there are more opportunities to overcome the contradictions between economic growth and green innovation.

Objective. The purpose of this study was to identify the determinants of Russian attitudes toward a green economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The main hypothesis was that demographic factors determine attitudes toward a green economy in different ways, including the willingness to take actions in support of it, and acknowledgement of the connection of the need for green transformations with the pandemic.

Design. Subjects were given the questionnaire "Green Economy" which contains 19 statements with which they needed to express their degree of agreement on a 5-point Likert scale. Potential determinants of their attitudes toward a green economy were collected using an additional questionnaire, which included indicators of gender, age, family and professional status, religiosity, income level, education level, and place of residence (locality). The study involved 874 respondents from the Russian Federation (62.4% female; 37.6% male; the average age was 37.34 years).

Results. The results of a regression analysis showed that women, people with increased religiosity (but not too religious), younger people, and students and employees of public organizations (as opposed to employees of state and commercial organizations), as well as people from small towns or rural areas,were more positive about the idea of transition to a green economy.

Conclusion.The belief that the pandemic situation has reinforced the need for a transition to a green economy was influenced by gender, degree of religiosity, and place of residence. Women, to a greater extent than men, as well as people who were more religious and lived in small towns and rural areas, were more acutely aware of the impact of the pandemic on the actualization of environmental problems.

Background. System justification theory asserts that people’s motivation to defend, justify, and maintain the status quo depends on their socio-economic status. At the same time practically nothing is known about the mediators for the relationship between a person’s income and his adherence to system justification.

Objective. The aim of this study was to clarify the role of income in motivating an individual to justify the system, taking into account as potential mediators of this relationship his sense of control over life and level of life satisfaction.

Design. In an online study (N = 410), a double sequential mediation model was tested, with an individual’s income as an independent variable, his/her system justification as a dependent variable, and his/her perceived control over life and level of life satisfaction as mediators. The impact of education was controlled by inserting it into the model as a covariate.

Results. The results demonstrated that people with low incomes justify the system more than people with high incomes do. At the same time, there was a positive indirect effect of income on system justification, indicating that, compared to people with low incomes, those with high incomes had a more pronounced sense of control over their lives, which contributed to an increase in their level of life satisfaction, and was positively associated with justification of the status quo.

Conclusion. The results are discussed in terms of differences in the palliative function of system justification for individuals of different socio-economic status.

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic is not only a world health crisis, but also an ordeal for people’s mental health and psychological well-being. The period of the COVID-19 lockdown has changed everyday life and increased anxiety, fears, and stress from habitual activities such as meetings, shopping, and the use of public transport. As the worry and nervousness increase, they threaten the cognitive (Life-satisfaction) and emotional (Happiness) components of well-being. Emotional regulation strategies are a mechanism to cope with the threat.

Objective. This study assessed the impact of anxiety, perceived stress from COVID-19, and emotional regulation strategies on well-being during the first weeks of the lockdown in Russia.

Design. Questionnaire-based surveys were conducted online from March 31 to April 30, 2020. A total of 589 participants (18 to 73 years of age) were recruited. The Subjective Happiness Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Zung's Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and Perceived Source of Stress from COVID-19 scales were used.

Results. Among the various sources of stress, only that from restrictions on everyday life impacted well-being. High anxiety, but not perceived stress, decreased the feelings of Happiness and Life-satisfaction. Additionally, otional regulation strategies played different roles in their impact on well-being: Cognitive reappraisal lowered negative emotions, but emotional suppression increased dissatisfaction with life.

Conclusion. These findings suggest that people’s effective and relevant regulation of their emotions during public health emergencies and ability to avoid losses caused by crisis events, have become urgent needs, requiring the development of psychological interventions to support well-being.

Background. Effective prevention of psychological trauma by fear of COVID-19 requires the study of the relationships between the psychological and contextual factors that can influence the level of this fear. The social axioms, individual values, and government strategies for managing the pandemic have not yet been studied as a system of psychological and contextual factors contributing to COVID-19 fear.

Objective. The aim of this study was to assess the level of COVID-19 fear and the characteristics of the relationships between the social axioms, individual values, and fear of COVID-19 among university students from countries with different government strategies for managing the pandemic.

Design. University students from countries with different government strategies for managing the pandemic (208 Belarusians, 200 Kazakhstanis, and 250 Russians ages 18 to 25) participated in an anonymous online survey. The respondents filled in questionnaires that assessed their manifestations of COVID-19 fear (COVID-19 Fear Scale: FCV-19S) as the dependent variable; the “Social Axiom Questionnaire” (QSA-31) and the “Portrait Value Questionnaire” (ESS-21) measured the social axioms and individual values as the independent variables.

Results. Fear of COVID-19 reached a higher level among the students from the countries with the weakest (Belarus) and the strongest (Kazakhstan) restrictive measures during the pandemic. Dysfunctional fear of COVID-19 was manifest among those Belarusian students who attached the greatest importance to self-enhancement values and the fate control axiom, and the least importance to the social complexity axiom, as well as among those Russian students for whom the religiosity social axiom was significant and the social complexity axiom was not. For Kazakhstani students, social axioms and values were not predictors of dysfunctional fear of COVID-19.

Conclusion. The greatest contribution of social axioms and individual values to the experience of COVID-19 fear among the students was observed under conditions where the actions of the authorities were incompatible with the existing pandemic risks (in Belarus), as well as under conditions where a variable assessment of threat level was possible (in Russia).

Background. The importance of biliteracy in bilingual children’s development has been widely investigated and discussed for the last several decades, suggesting beneficial effects of writing and reading in two languages for bilingual children as well as for adult second language learners.

Objective. To analyze research on the link between bilingualism and literacy development in two or more languages and the factors that may influence a successful or problematic biliteracy acquisition. RQ (1): What is the relationship between bilingualism and literacy of bilingual children? RQ (2): What strategies are used to develop biliteracy?

Design. The review analyzes 50 studies of literacy development in bilingual children. The selected articles have been separated based on their methodology: 25 articles gave a critical analysis of more than 1,100 studies on the topic, strengthening the theoretical basis of existing research, and 25 other articles were empirical research articles demonstrating practical evidence for the former.

Results. Our analysis revealed that literacy in bilinguals, or biliteracy, can be seen as a necessary condition for fluent development of bilingualism, though it is not a necessary condition (which is explained by the difference between structures of specific languages and writing systems, instruction in literacy, and cognitive baggage invoked by the task used to measure the skill) (Bialystok, 2002). Research suggests that bilingualism impacts children's ultimate acquisition of literacy via the beneficial effects of bilingualism overall: advanced biliteracy boosts the development of phonological and phonemic awareness and metacognitive abilities. Thus, biliteracy can be considered as an advantage in terms of maintaining bilingual acquisition in general and developing writing skills in particular.

Conclusion. There is a lack of studies on the development of writing skills in different educational contexts, across countries and cultures, which must be addressed and complemented by new empirical research. Research will enable policymakers to improve educational programs in accordance with the needs of bilingual children, who are the majority in the current global population.

Background. Emotion Regulation (ER) involves any explicit or implicit process that may alter the emotion felt, its duration and expression, and is a transdiagnostic factor of vulnerability involved in the etiology and maintenance of different emotional disorders. The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) assesses nine cognitive strategies involved in ER and is a valuable tool. Its popularity and wide use led to the development of two abbreviated versions: a version with 18 items (two items per factor) and a 27-item version (three items per factor).

Objective. To analyze the psychometric properties of both versions in the Argentinean population.

Design. The research design was instrumental. The factor structure of the CERQ-18 and CERQ-27 as well as the reliability of the scores and the construct of each dimension were evaluated. In addition, we gathered validity evidence for its relationship with other variables by associating the CERQ scores with Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) scores.

Results. The CERQ-18 presented more consistent evidence regarding its internal structure (adequate fit indices and factor loadings of moderate magnitude) and reliability. Given that the association of the two versions with the DERS is similar, we recommend that the 18-item version be used.

Conclusion. The CERQ-18 has quite similar psychometric properties to the CERQ-27 in the general population of Argentina and the findings contribute to an understanding of its internal structure.

Background. This paper presents the results of a study into the breadth, dynamics, and diversity of the interdisciplinary branch of cultural-historical psychology. The scatter of thematic areas within the cultural-historical approach indicates the urgent need to continue a systematic and holistic analysis of research related to cultural-historical topics in the context of its various directions and research groups.

Design. A bibliometric analysis of scientific publications indexed by the Web of Science CC was carried out for the 2010–2020 period . Our previous bibliographic study (Rubtsov et al., 2019) revealed that the number of publications on cultural-historical psychology and citations of them, has recently increased, although unevenly.

Results. According to our results, the number of publications on cultural-historical psychology is growing unevenly; publications from Russia and the United States made up almost equal shares of the sample, and third place was taken by England, followed by Finland and Sweden. The top 10 journals fell into two subject areas: Psychology and Education and Educational Research. With regard to the geographical location of the publishing houses of the top 10 journals, the highest number was taken by England and Russia. The dominant areas of research were teacher education, university education, and learning activity.

Conclusion. The most frequently used terms were Vygotsky, activity approach, CHAT, CHP, ZPD, and learning activity.

Background. The diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer are considered highly stressful and potentially traumatic events that can generate post-traumatic stress symptoms and distress among patients.

Objective. This study assessed levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms, distress, and optimism, as well as differences between these conditions relative to sociodemographic and medical variables, in Mexican patients with colorectal cancer.

Design. A cross-sectional descriptive study design was employed, in which 192 colorectal cancer patients over the age of 18 years participated. They filled out the following questionnaires in person: a sociodemographic and medical data questionnaire; the Event Impact Scale-Revised (EIE-R); the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS); and the Life Orientation Test (LOT-R).

Results. The results showed that 32.3% of the patients reported post-traumatic stress symptomatology, and 21.4% reported distress. Post-traumatic stress symptoms and distress varied according to age and monthly income. Significant differences between the sexes were also observed in the levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms and distress. Post-traumatic stress was positively and significantly related to distress, and negatively and significantly to optimism.

Conclusion. Based on these data, we concluded that a significant percentage of colorectal cancer patients present high levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms as well as distress, and that these levels may vary according to sociodemographic and medical characteristics.

Background. Incidental findings are items of visual search that are potentially of significance, but were not the main object of the initial search. They have been previously widely discussed in the field of radiology. However, the underlying perceptual mechanisms of such phenomenon are still unclear.

Objective. The current study aims to examine incidental findings in different paradigms of visual search in order to reveal their primary perceptual aspects.

Design. Two behavioral visual search experiments were conducted. The mixed hybrid search task model was used in the first experiment, while the subsequent search miss effect was employed in the second experiment. The task was to find targets among distractors, according to given instructions. Stimuli material consisted of images of real-life objects that were randomly distributed across the screen for each trial.

Results. Accuracy and reaction time of the participants were analyzed in both experiments. Similar effects were observed for both parameters. Specific targets in the first experiment and typical targets in the second experiment were found significantly faster and more accurately in comparison to categorical and atypical targets. Moreover, this tendency did not depend on the order of target identification. Hence, the prevalence of the targets was revealed to be the primary factor in the case of incidental findings.

Conclusion. The study revealed the emergence of incidental findings in both experiments. Typical or specific targets were detected significantly more accurately, compared to atypical or categorical targets. Subsequent search misses were not detected, suggesting that target prevalence could be a crucial factor that is specific for incidental findings. 

Background. Studies have shown the great importance of early mathematical development as a predictor of subsequent success, which poses the question of how to organize preschool mathematical education with a view to the children’s age characteristics, including their cognitive development. In other words, mathematical concepts and actions should be formed with the help of teaching resources appropriate to the child’s development.

Objective. To determine the effectiveness of three teaching resources (examples, models, and symbols) in formation of the concept of magnitude in older preschoolers (ages 6–7) with different levels of executive function.

Design. Four training programs (with 15 twenty-minute lessons each) were developed and conducted in a formative experiment for older preschoolers with different levels of development of executive functions. The lessons addressed the concept of magnitude (length, area, volume), using different types of teaching resources: exemplars (in traditional and game variants), models, and symbols. The total sample of 116 subjects (44% boys) was divided into 4 groups for each of the programs, plus a control group in which no sessions were conducted. The groups were equalized according to the initial level of development of concepts of magnitude and the level of development of executive functions.

Results. There was a statistically significant increase in the quality of mastery of the concept of magnitude in three experimental groups (“symbolic,” “traditional,” and “traditional with game elements”) compared with the control group. The formative effect of the “model-building” program showed no significant differences from the effect of the child’s natural development (the control group). We also showed that children with a low level of regulation learned mathematical concepts more effectively with the “symbolic” program; children with a medium level of regulation with the “symbolic” and any variant of the “traditional” program; and children with a high level of regulation with the “symbolic” and “model-building” programs.

Conclusion. The findings underline the importance of both the type of teaching resources used and the level of development of voluntary regulation, when teaching mathematics to preschoolers.

Background. We apply the theory of step-by-step concept formation (Galperin) and the theory of learning activity (Davydov) to the practice of education and teacher training.

Objective. This paper describes a feasible way to teach the basics of Galperin’s theory to students studying pedagogical psychology, by involving them into an exemplary educational module on combining chemical formulas according to the elements’ valency values.

Design. We suggested that our students participate in an educational module which was designed as an example of how to materialize orientation components of action as the basis of concept formation. The “practical” action for mastering the valency concept was to combine the correct formula for a pair of elements, whose valency was provided, and correct the formulas made by someone else. However, the core “orientation” required an extended procedure of building a “molecule” structure with a special construction kit. The key challenge for the students was to coordinate their calculation of the number of bonds needed for the molecule, and name the exact total before they would receive their atom-tokens for constructing the model.

Results. Our workshop participants took on the role of students facing their first encounter with chemistry, and embarked on the formation sequence. At the same time they analyzed the mistakes they had made by ignoring some procedural steps. Considered through the lens of Galperin’s theory, these “adult” mistakes proved how vital his theoretical principles are for educational design.

Conclusion. Our workshop thus illustrated that the search for the proper action for concept formation within Galperin’s theory framework is a challenging task. The difficulties that our participants experienced while they worked as pupils revealed the divergence of didactic approaches. The effectiveness of the concept formation approach, even within our small exemplary educational module, once again confirmed the practical value of pedagogical psychology in general, and Galperin’s theory in particular.

Background. Many culturally-plural societies like Canada or Russia seek ways to manage their cultural diversity in order to promote harmony among coexisting groups. The social sciences have long viewed intergroup contact as a beneficial intervention to achieve such harmony.

Objective. This paper proposes an adaptationist framework within which to explain how and why intergroup contact contributes to the positive and negative outcomes for individuals who live together in a plural society. We employed this framework in a case study that may serve as an example of the conceptualization and analysis of these issues in international research. Its structural framework included both positive and negative contact and the role of this contact in the distribution of intercultural and psychological adaptation among a large representative sample of the Canadian population.

Design. We used a correlational design with a representative sample of Canadians from a survey carried out by Environics in 2019, which was stratified according to the most current population statistics. The total sample was 3,111 persons age 18 and over and included the largest racialised groups in the country.

Results. Our main finding was that intergroup contact (both positive and negative) related to both psychological and intercultural adaptation. These findings have implications for improving intercultural relations, especially through the role of positive contact.

Conclusion. The experience of negative contact (e.g., discrimination) in the near term is an important factor in undermining both forms of adaptation. Nonetheless, while intergroup contact can bring both positive and negative experiences during intercultural interactions, it leads to mutual adaptation over time.

Background. The theoretical basis of the study was the resource approach (Morosanova 2014, 2017), in which the conscious self-regulation of learning activity is understood as a meta-resource, of students allowing them to consciously and independently set learning goals and manage their achievement. This approach made it possible to create models of direct and mediate contributions of self-regulation and school engagement not only to the academic performance, but also to other motivational and personal competencies.

Objective. Our study is aimed to investigate the impact of conscious self-regulation, school engagement, motivation, and personality on academic achievement, while taking into account the effects of mediation.

Design. A quantitative research design was applied, using data collected from more than 1524 students from the 5^th to 11^th grades in Russian schools and applying Structural Equation Modelling (SEM).

Results. The results allowed us to construct a statistical model of predictors of students' academic achievement. The model was verified on the total sample, as well as samples differing in gender and age. The results show that conscious self-regulation is central to non-cognitive predictors of academic achievement. For the first time, a study has revealed and described the reciprocal relationship between self-regulation, academic motivation, school engagement, and academic performance. The resulting model demonstrates that behavioral and cognitive engagement make a significant contribution to academic performance, while emotional and social engagement do not find significant links with it, although they determine other areas of school life.

Conclusion. Our paper investigates the nature and strength of the effects of major non-cognitive predictors of academic achievement. The study results substantiated the resource role of conscious self-regulation not only for students’ academic performance, but also for their academic motivation, school engagement, and attitude toward learning. The predictor model of academic achievement we developed will provide a foundation for combining existing heterogeneous concepts into a single integrated model and clarify the contradictions between them.

Background. It is known that some genes regulate neurochemical metabolism, and their polymorphisms affect cognitive performance, including the ability to categorize emotionally significant information.

Objective. The aim of our study was to analyze the recognition of emotional and neutral visual scenes in carriers of different polymorphic variants of the MAOA, COMT, DRD4, and 5HT2A genes.

Design. The study sample consisted of 87 university students (Caucasians, women 63%, average age 20.4±2.6 years). The genotypes of the COMT, 5HT2A, and DRD4 genes were determined by polymerase chain reaction. Agarose gel electrophoresis was used to determine the number of tandem repeats of the MAOA gene. Three hundred sixty (360) photographic images of scenes of different emotional valence (positive, negative, and neutral – 120 images for each category) were used as stimuli. These images were classified by expert assessments. The images were presented in a random sequence. The exposure time was 700 ms. The research participants were asked to determine the emotional valence of each scene.

Results. We found that only the COMT gene genotype affected the recognition of emotional and neutral visual scenes. Carriers of the COMT Val/Val genotype, which causes dopamine to stay in the synaptic space for a shorter time, are better in recognizing and demonstrate higher sensitivity to the emotional content of scenes. Carriers of the Val/Met genotype demonstrated the worst ability to differentiate the emotional valence of visual scenes.

Conclusion. This study has shown that the length of stay of monoamines in the synaptic space regulated by the COMT gene affects the recognition of emotional visual information.

Background. Modern society is characterized by the widespread use of social media, which provides users with communication, leisure, work, and study opportunities. With the growth of such opportunities, more time is being spent online. These circumstances explain why we developed a test entitled the Virtual Identity of Social Media Users (VISCMU).

Objective. To develop and test the psychometric characteristics of the VISMU test.

Design. The research methods included theoretical analysis, modeling, expert assessments, questionnaires, and statistical analysis. The research sample was comprised of 285 users of VKontakte and other social media.

Results. The results of factor analysis proved the acceptability of the three scales identified in the test. Expert assessments showed that the test had sufficient face and content validity. The scales were characterized by optimal indicators of internal consistency, homogeneity, and discriminatory power. The test-retest reliability values demonstrated that the test indicators were stable. Statistically significant differences in the parameter measuring virtual identity in groups with different levels of success in adult life justified a sufficient level of criterion validity. The correlation between the test scales and the components of the factor structure of the modified test "Who am I online?" indicated its compliance with construct validity norms. Positive connections between virtual identity and Internet addiction, smartphone addiction, aggressiveness, hostility, and negative relationships with vitality , indicated sufficient convergent validity. The test has been standardized and specified.

Conclusion. The test was aimed at measuring the extent to which a person’s virtual identity would reveal the specific characteristics of its impact on the individual’s personal development.