Articles

Background. The problem of fake news becomes especially prominent during periods of social exacerbation, such as the coronavirus pandemic, wherein the events have a significant impact on many lives. Generational differences are considered as a factor affecting perceptions of the reliability of news.

Objective. The aim of this study was to reveal and compare the social representations of information reliability and news verification criteria among people belonging to the Generation of Reforms (born 1968-1981), the Millennial Generation (1982-2000) and Generation Z (2001 and later) in Russia.

Design.  The study involved 431 participants and was comprised of two stages: focus groups and a survey. The data analysis methods employed were thematic analysis, qualitative and quantitative content analysis, coefficient of positive answers (according to J. Abric), Kruskal-Wallis H test, Pearson's chi-square test, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, and Kendall's t-rank correlation coefficient.

Results. We have found significant differences between the Generation of Reforms (CPA: 80,5; p = 0,000) and Generation Z (CPA: 90,2; p = 0,000), and similarities between the Millennial Generation (CPA: 90,3; p = 0,000) and Generation Z, in the structure and content of social representations regarding “fakes”. Notably, Generation Z favors a fact-checking strategy to identify news reliability, while “Reformists” rely on offline contacts.

Conclusion. Generations in Russia differ with respect to their tolerance of “fakes” and their strategies for news verification. The results advance our understanding of “fakes” as purely social constructs. The attribution of media incompetence to older and younger cohorts by each other was discussed as the generational conflict.  

Background. Infrahumanization is a result of group comparison when the ingroup is considered as fully human in comparison to an outgroup that is viewed as lacking humanness and similar to animals. Infrahumanization theory proposed that the attribution of emotions to ingroups and outgroups is based on their uniqueness, regardless of the valence of these emotions. Since the valence of information plays an important role in its processing and perception, it was decided to clarify the role of uniqueness and valence.

Objective. This article aims to explore the role of valence and uniqueness in the perception of emotions within the framework of the infrahumanization theory.

Design. Three studies were conducted. A preliminary study selected emotions with extreme values for uniqueness and valence to create a list for measuring infrahumanization for the Russian socio-cultural context. In Study 1, we tested three alternative models of perception of emotions’ uniqueness and valence. In Study 2, we replicate the results from Study 1 and check the robustness of the models obtained.

Results. In a preliminary study (N = 146), twelve emotions with different levels of uniqueness and valence were selected for the Russian socio-cultural context. CFA was used for testing the models in Studies 1 and 2. The results of Study 1 (N = 243) demonstrated the role of valence and uniqueness in the perception of emotions. Study 2 (N = 482) confirmed the results obtained in Study 1.

Conclusion. For the first time, the infrahumanization measure was adapted to the Russian socio-cultural context. Infrahumanization research should control valence for a qualitative discussion of the results.

Background. Whereas sleep and emotion are important factors affecting false memory, there is a lack of empirical research on the interaction effect of sleep and emotion on false memory. Moreover, it should be investigated further that how the effects of emotion on false memory varies from presenting emotional content to eliciting emotional state.

Objective. To examine how sleep and varying emotional context influence false memories. We predicted that sleep and emotion would interactively affect false memory when participants are presented with negative words in a learning session (Experiment 1) or when their emotional state is induced before a learning session (Experiment 2).

Design. We used the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) task. Emotional words were used to elicit emotion during learning in Experiment 1 and video clips were used to induce a particular mood state before learning in Experiment 2. Participants were divided into a “sleep group” and a “wake group” and completed an initial learning session either in the evening or in the morning respectively. After a learning session, participants in the sleep group slept at night as usual and completed a recognition test in the morning, while participants in the wake group stayed awake during the daytime and completed their recognition test in the evening. All participants completed a recognition test after the same period of time.

Results. In Experiment 1, the wake group falsely recognized more negative critical lure words than neutral ones, but no such difference existed in the sleep group, suggesting that sleep modulated the emotional effect on false memory. In Experiment 2, participants in either a positive or negative mood state showed more false recognition than those in a neutral state. There was no such difference in the wake group. We conclude that sleep and emotion interactively affect false memory.

Background. Emotion Regulation comprises a set of strategies (cognitive, emotional, and physiological) that allow individuals faced with internal or external stimuli to manage their emotional response, to adapt to the environment, and to achieve goals. The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) is used to assess Emotion Regulation. It has been translated into several languages (including Spanish) and has been adapted around the world, but its psychometric properties have not been tested in Ecuador.

Objective. To confirm the bifactor structure of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and its reliability in a sample of Ecuadorian college students.

Design. A quantitative and instrumental study using Confirmatory Factor Analysis with Robust Maximum Likelihood estimation. The sample consisted of 400 participants (62.5% women), aged 18 to 25 (M = 21.1; SD = 1.95) from two universities in Ecuador and seven different undergraduate courses.

Results. The bifactor model of the test is confirmed with an adequate adjustment ꭓ² = 35.99; p > .001; ꭓ²/df = 1.43; CFI = .98; TLI = .96; SRMR = .034; and RMSEA = .033 CI_95%: [.033–.052]; ω_H = .70; ω_Hs1 = .23; ω_Hs2 = .35. Reliability is high with ω = .86 CI_95%: [.81–.88].

Conclusion. The bifactor model of the ERQ is an adequate and reliable test to assess Emotion Regulation among Ecuadorian college students.

Background. Kindness and acts of kindness have the potential to cause tremendously positive effects on subjective well-being, reflected in improvements in mental and physical health, and interpersonal relationships. Fostering knowledge about kindness may help in self-development and psychotherapeutic interventions aimed to improve an individual’s emotional well-being. However, existing research data and understanding of this phenomenon in Russia, as well as descriptions of acts of kindness, are presently relatively limited.

Objective. To study the Russian understanding of kindness, its meaning in the Russian context; to categorize a variety of identified acts of kindness; and to define kindness based on the data derived from a Russian sample.

Design. There were 291 Russian participants, recruited using an online recruiting platform, who filled out an online questionnaire that identified definitions of kindness with corresponding examples. Also captured in the sample were the participant’s age, gender, and religiosity. The data underwent qualitative analysis through open, axial, and focused coding.

Results. As a result of qualitative analysis, four theme categories emerged to define kindness: a) personal states and qualities (one’s own states and self-perception, moral values and qualities, self-regulation and emotional stability); b) openness to others (attention to others, love and positive attitude); c) emotional and cognitive understanding of others and tolerance, actions and behavior (altruistic sacrifice, help, politeness and respect, forgiveness, generosity, pleasing actions). Concrete examples of kind acts and behavior were categorized. A definition of kindness was formulated based on the data.

Conclusion. The research results can be used in training, counselling, and therapeutic sessions to increase subjective well-being. Directions for further research have been defined.

Background. Post-industrial society faces multiple stresses and developmental risks, both environmental and biological. The issues of mental health have become more dramatic and subject to debate. The current discourse about the religiosity-mental health nexus makes the study of differences in attitudes towards mental health among children from religious and non-religious families experiencing religious and secular education significant and relevant for practice.

Objective. We studied the attitudes toward different spheres of life of children from Orthodox and non-religious families experiencing religious and secular education. We hypothesized differences in attitudes toward mental health by children from Orthodox families and non-religious families regardless of school choice. We expected the positive attitudes toward mental health to be greater for the children experiencing religious and secular education.

Design. Our study assessed 340 primary school boys on a number of measures. The boys’ average age was 10.4 years old. The participants were divided into three groups, taking into consideration the family’s religiosity and educational characteristics.

Results. The boys from Orthodox families had more positive attitudes toward family, life, people, their bodies, and their mental health than the boys from non-religious families. These differences were also significant between groups of boys from religious and non-religious families experiencing secular education. The boys from religious families experiencing religious education had more positive attitudes toward their physical and mental health than the boys from religious families experiencing secular education.

Conclusion. Positive attitudes toward both physical and mental health are more likely to be formed within religious families.

Background. The development of information technologies has led to the intensification of sociocultural interaction, allowed the creation of new systems for storing and processing information, and provided space for users to share their opinions, ideas, and standpoints. Thus, the Internet has become a major social-humanitarian scientific space. In this modern scientific space, one can single out a wide range of studies in psychology that show which topics are most popular and most widely discussed, or which moral grounds the participants of radical political movements share. Such studies show, for example, that U.S. working people experience psycho-physiological strain, and that infectious diseases spread more easily under modern conditions.

Objective. This study focused on the attitude that users of the Twitter social network hold towards money.

Design. It was carried out by analyzing the texts of messages posted by Russian and Japanese users (background research) which contained the word “money.” The research methods included program tools for word frequency analysis, semantic grouping of content, and analyzing the emotional nature of informal short messages. To interpret the results, the authors used expert analysis, theoretical justification, and content analysis.

Results. We found that Russians’ attitudes toward money can be divided into eight main categories: people, time, country, expenses, economy, philosophical speculations, power, and income. The main economic concerns were centered on the expenses and income coming from salaried jobs. Russians’ major expenses were mainly associated with everyday financial problems. A comparison of Russian and Japanese messages revealed a number of clear-cut psychological differences.

Conclusion. In conclusion, we point out that analyzing “digital traces” helps uncover a variety of psychological factors influencing human life and behavior. Within the framework of this kind of study, it seems very promising to single out the interconnection between the population’s overall psychological features and a given society’s existing social-economic circumstances.

Background. Patients with Celiac Disease (CD) experience psychological disorders and emotion-regulation disruptions. Although following a gluten-free diet alleviates their symptoms, these patients report social relationship problems.

Objective. The first aim of this study was to analyze the level of FFMQ mindfulness (describing emotions, acting with awareness, observing, non-judging of inner experience, and non-reactivity to inner experience) and harmony in life (HiL) in patients with CD. The second goal was to examine the relationship between the FFMQ and HiL scales in patients with CD. The third was to detect the effects of the duration of the illness, education level, and employment status on FFMQ-measured mindfulness and HiL.

Design. The study involved 111 Turkish patients with CD (N Females = 75, 67.6%) living in Turkey. The patients filled out the FFMQ and HiL questionnaires via a google form survey. The duration of their diagnosis, age, employment status, and education level were nominal variables. A Pearsons’ correlation test, independent ttest, multiple linear regression, and one-way ANO VA were implemented.

Results. The results showed that patients with CD had a low level of HiL. The total FFMQ score was positively related to the HiL scale. Education and duration of diagnosis had a significant impact on the FFMQ and HiL scores. Age affected the level of describing emotions, and employment status had a strong effect on acting with awareness. However, gender affected neither the FFMQ nor HiL levels.

Conclusion. The results showed that patients with CD expressed a low level of HiL. Non-reactivity to inner experience, observing, and acting with awareness were positive predictors of the HiL scores. Moreover, since the HiL and FFMQ scales showed high internal consistency, the FFMQ and HiL questionnaires can be used in further studies of patients with CD.

Background. The spatial aspect of professionals’ trust and distrust in socio-technical systems has not been sufficiently explored. The study of its structure, criteria for spatial distribution, and interrelationships of elements is of both scientific and practical interest.

Objective. To perform a comparative analysis of the trust and distrust experienced by professional operators in a socio-technical system of subject–subject and subject–object interactions.

Design. This work is based on A.B. Kupreychenko’s methodological approach to studying trust and distrust in socio-technical systems, adapted by the authors to the railway transport system in Russia. The subjects were 86 locomotive crew members. The main focus was on their trust/distrust in the operation of the socio-technical (railway transport) system, including their workmates, managers, and themselves, as well as the technical objects they operate (locomotives), manufacturers of railway equipment, and conditions of its operation.

Results. The authors identified two relatively independent groups of indicators of trust/distrust in subject–subject and subject–object interactions. Trust in the elements of subject–subject interactions (involving workmates, managers, and the study participants themselves as specialists) was reliably higher than their trust in the elements of subject–object interactions (technical objects, manufacturers of railway equipment, and conditions of its operation). The correlations between trust and distrust in the elements of the socio-technical system were positive.

Conclusions. Trust and distrust perform the functions of integrating/differentiating elements of a socio-technical system according to their predictability in various operating conditions. The degree of trust/distrust in the system elements and their “location” in the space of trust/distrust are important when professionals make decisions in the course of performing professional actions. The results of the study can be used for designing socio-technical systems to increase the predictability of their operation in unstable conditions.

Background. The spread of COVID-19 has forced organizations to quickly offer remote work arrangements to employees.

Objective. The study focuses on remote work during the first wave of the pandemic and describes how Russian employees experienced remote work. The research has three main objectives: (1) to investigate the influence of gender and age on employees’ perceptions of remote work; (2) to investigate the relationship between remote work and psychosocial variables, such as remote work stress, remote work engagement, and family–work conflict; (3) to examine whether and how much such psychosocial factors are related to remote work satisfaction and job performance. These objectives were the basis for developing six hypotheses.

Design. A cross-sectional study involved 313 Russian employees. Data were collected using an online survey distributed in April and May 2020. The hypotheses were tested using ANOVA, correlations, and multiple linear regression analyses.

Results. Women experienced more stress and more engagement when working remotely; older employees perceived remote work as a less positive experience; opinions about remote work and remote work engagement were positively related to remote work satisfaction; leader–member exchange (LMX) was a significant predictor of job performance.

Conclusion. During the lockdown, remote work was perceived as a positive experience. We discuss some practical implications for organizations and managers.

Background. This study is an attempt to identify psychological markers for pupils’ maladaptive states. Аggression is seen as behavior while aggressiveness is seen as the state of being ready for such behavior. Anxiety is considered a stable personality trait. Two hundred and sixty pupils of the 8^th grade from five different schools took part in the research. Schools that have a selection principle for admission are called prestige schools.

Objective. The purpose of this study was to discover correlations between trait anxiety and aggressiveness among adolescents in different types of educational institutions. At the same time, we were interested in manifestations of maladaptive perfectionism and destructive personality tendencies as revealed by quantitative and qualitative research methods.

Design. The first stage of the study was a survey to define risk groups for hostility and anxiety among the adolescents. All tests except the one for sociometry were done on an individual basis. The second stage included methods for qualitative analysis of personality. The pupils from identified risk groups were paid special attention. We were interested in the recurrence of destructive personality tendencies as they appeared in each method.

Results. About one third of all the participants from four out of the five schools formed the hostility risk group. In the prestige and non-prestige schools alike, hostile adolescents were more likely to find themselves at least somewhat isolated in their social group (class). Hostile teenagers have more self-esteem problems and issues with forming a Self-concept in general, as well as pronounced destructive personality tendencies in some cases. However, the pictures of trait anxiety in prestige and non-prestige schools were different. Hostile teenagers from non-prestige schools were more likely to greatly underestimate their intelligence and communication skills. In this case, according to the teachers’ expert opinion and the results of participant observation, that assessment reflected the reality. The hostile teenagers at the prestige educational institutions presented a different picture of trait anxiety. Objectively, the achievements of these pupils were great, but they constantly procrastinated, didn’t believe in success, and had communication problems.

Conclusion. This study has shown that the markers of a pupil’s maladaptive state are trait anxiety (school, interpersonal, self-esteem), hostility, and maladaptive perfectionism. 

Background. This study used self-determination theory to examine the intergenerational continuity of the social situation of development with a focus on what determines a woman's basic psychological need support for her child.

Objective. To assess the relationship between the basic need support a woman received from her own mother, the woman’s basic need support toward her own child, and the quality of the woman-child interaction.

Design. The scales, "Parent-child interaction" and "Basic Psychological Needs," were administered. Eighty-seven women (29-40 years old) with children age 4-5 years assessed the basic need support provided for them by their mother in childhood and at present, and her estimate of the basic need support she herself provides to her own child. Analyses included descriptive statistics, Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, factor analysis, and multiple linear regression.

Results. The ratio of levels of basic need support demonstrated continuity across generations. Intergenerational continuity in the child’s basic need support mainly concerns the needs for competence and relatedness: the more they were supported in childhood and are now supported by the woman's mother, the more the woman supports them in her own child today. Such continuity was not found for autonomy support. A woman’s own basic need support by her mother, in childhood and currently, and the woman’s provision of basic need support for her child predicted most of the woman-child interaction parameters.

Conclusion. Intergenerational continuity with respect to provision of basic need support was shown. The woman-child interaction was predicted by basic need support across intergenerational relations.

Background. This paper addresses the issue of educational text comprehension, which is one of the major problems in secondary schools, especially when such texts are introduced in the natural sciences. Studies on text comprehension often regard reading as a standalone skill: its mechanisms are discussed from leading theoretical approaches (cognitivism, constructivism, etc.), and variables are distinguished and evaluated. Most of the researchers consider text comprehension to be active reconstruction of the meaning which the text delivers, and regard the application of the information retrieved from the text to problem-solving as the indicator for a deep comprehension level. Since we work within the framework of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), we consider educational text comprehension to be mediated through special content-related models which students have to acquire. Unfortunately, there are no studies which have directly linked reading, corresponding problem-solving, and working with content-related models (symbolic means, schemes); hence, with this research, we are seeking to fill in the gap.

Objective. Our goal is to elaborate the perspective on educational text comprehension as mediated through mastering special modeling (symbolic) means. In this article we illustrate this approach with the “Moon test” – an assessment procedure which we designed to materialize the components of orientation of students’ action as they succeed or fail to solve problems by relying on the educational text provided.

Design. We conducted the “Moon test” among the fifth graders (10-12 years old). The text, which told the students how to use the moon’s visual transformations as a calendar, was followed by 12 tasks on the topic. The tasks required using the text to master the model provided, and then solve challenging tasks which only referred to the model implicitly.

Results. To analyze the results, we grouped the tasks in four blocks: 1) model acquisition; 2) mastering; 3) application; and 4) experience. The results showed a statistically significant decrease in the students’ performance on tasks of the third and the fourth blocks, which required reasonable application of the models. Further analysis of individual patterns of performance allowed us to distinguish clusters of students with different levels of success in each block.

Conclusion. Our results attest to the importance of model mediation for reading comprehension and the development of scientific literacy.

Background. The cognitive predictors of academic achievement are associated both with basic cognitive abilities such as the information processing speed, number sense and visuospatial working memory, as well as with general ability including nonverbal intelligence. However, the ratio between cognitive development and school achievement can depend on sociocultural conditions.

Objective. The results of a cross-cultural analysis of the relationship between cognitive development and academic achievement during primary education are presented. The analysis was conducted sampling schoolchildren from Russia and Kyrgyzstan, two countries that have a similar organization of the national education system but differ in the level of socioeconomic development.

Design. The study involved 732 schoolchildren aged 7.7 to 11.8 years studying in Russia and Kyrgyzstan. Information processing speed, visuospatial working memory, and number sense were assessed using each of “Choice Reaction Time,” “Corsi Block-Tapping Test,” and “Number Sense” computerized tests.

Results. According to the results, empirical data in both samples show that a model where in information processing speed signifies basic cognitive ability is a key predictor of nonverbal intelligence, working memory, and number sense, and each of these may contribute to individual differences in academic achievement. Notwithstanding the universality of this model, cross-cultural differences were seen to engender a reduction of schoolchildren’s academic achievements, given possible impacts of less favorable educational conditions.

Conclusion. In the relationship between cognitive abilities and academic success at the primary school education, there are both similarities and differences between schoolchildren studying in Russia and Kyrgyzstan.  

Background. The aggressiveness of social networking is a significant component of the risk modern teenagers face during socialization, and cyberbullying is one of the most controversial forms of aggressive behavior on social media.

Objective. This paper deals with the study of secondary school students’ behavior on social media. The parameters characterizing teenagers’ usage of social media – their activity, intensity, motives, and self-presentation – are analyzed with respect to gender, age, and social psychological factors. The main focus is teenagers’ personal experience dealing with aggressive situations on social media: their role in aggressive situations (as aggressor, victim, or witness); the form of aggression (public or private); the aggressor’s characteristics (acquaintances or strangers, persons, or groups); and their views on what action victims should take (ignoring it, confronting it, or asking for help).

Design. This article is based on data obtained by researchers at the Center for Sociology of Education of the Institute of Education Management of the Russian Academy of Education in 2020-2021. Using a specially developed questionnaire, we collected responses from 40,575 students from grades 7-11 in 17 regions of Russian Federation through an anonymous online survey. Mathematical statistical methods were used for data processing, specifically, the chi-square test in the “Basic statistics-Difference tests” module of the “StatSoft Statistica 7.0” package.

Results. The data showed that the adolescents with high status among their classmates (“leaders”) used social media as an important educational resource, while those with low status (“loners”) used it to compensate for their poor real-life experience. Aggression on social media appears to be quite common among adolescents. The traditional differences between male and female subcultures appeared in the choice between private or public forms of aggression. The increase in aggressive interactions with strangers as the youth aged indicated that the realization of the teenage distinctive basic need for "expanding one’s social environment" in online interaction comes with the risks of encountering unfriendly, aggressive reactions.

Conclusion. Communication on social media reflects an adolescent’s real-life interaction in school: those who have experienced psychological or physical bullying are more likely to become both victims and offenders in aggressive situations on social media. This transfer of group bullying from real life to the virtual can be seen as the main feature of adolescent cyberbullying.

Background. Prosocial behavior is the key component of social and interpersonal relations. One of the elements of prosociality is helping behavior, which emerges already in early childhood. Researchers have identified several domains of helping behavior: instrumental helping, comforting another person, and sharing resources with others. The development of helping behavior can depend on a number of factors: children’s age, the social situation of development, communication skills, and the ability to understand the feelings and needs of another person.

Objective. In Study 1, the main goal was to determine the effects of age and cognitive, language, and motor development on instrumental helping skills in early childhood. The goal of Study 2 was to estimate the effects of rearing in an adverse social environment by comparing the capacity for instrumental helping in family-raised and institutionalized children.

Design. The authors examined toddlers’ (N = 198) ability to initiate spontaneous helping and the factors that may influence it. Cognitive, language, and fine motor skills were measured by the Bayley Scales of Infant and Child Development, 3rd edition. Children’s instrumental helping behavior was assessed according to the procedure presented by Warneken and Tomasello, with a few modifications.

Results. Study 1 demonstrated that children’s ability to initiate helping was dependent on their age: the non-helpers were significantly younger than the helpers. Children’s language skills also played a significant role in their helping behavior. The children with higher language skills helped the adult more often and more quickly. Study 2 demonstrated that institutional placement per se was not related to toddlers’ ability to initiate helping. Language ability was associated with helping behavior both in institution- and family-reared toddlers.

Conclusion. Instrumental helping in early childhood is related to children’s age, language skills, and rearing conditions.

Background. Modern neuropsychology is discussing the possibility of combining qualitative and quantitative approaches in the evaluation of cognitive functions. In Russia a battery of tests called "Methods of neuropsychological assessment for children 6-9 years old" (Akhutina et al., 2016) has been proposed; it is based on the Lurian approach to diagnosis and combines qualitative and quantitative approaches to testing. The present paper describes the development of this combined qualitative and quantitative assessment of various groups of cognitive functions in preschool and primary school children. Structural modeling enables us to analyze a possible combination of integral indices of functions that includes the results of both a face-to-face neuropsychological assessment and computerized testing.

Objective. To develop a combined qualitative and quantitative neuropsychological assessment of children, in order to 1) check the structural reliability of integral indicators of various cognitive functions; and 2) confirm the correctness of combining the results of face-to-face and computerized tests.

Design. A sample of 299 children between the ages of 6 and 9 years old (111 preschoolers, 82 first graders, and 106 second graders) underwent a Lurian face-to-face neuropsychological examination adapted for 6-to-9 year-old children, and five tests from the Computerized Neuropsychological Assessment for 6-9 Year-old Children. The five were the “Dots” test, the Schulte Tables, the Cancellation test, the Corsi Tapping Block test, and the Understanding of Similar Sounding Words test. In each of the tests (face-to-face and computerized), key parameters were identified to evaluate various cognitive functions.

Results. A confirmatory factor analysis verified the composition of the neuropsychological indices that were based on the results of the face-to-face neuropsychological assessment. At the same time, when the computer test data were added to the model, the fit indices of the model considerably improved.

Conclusion. The confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the validity of the identification of eight neuropsychological indices that indicate the component processes underlying complex cognitive functions in children: 1) programming and control of voluntary actions (executive functions); 2) serial organization of movements and speech; 3) the processing of kinesthetic information; 4) the processing of auditory information; 5) the processing of visual information; 6) the processing of visual-spatial information; 7) hyperactivity/impulsivity; and 8) fatigue/slowness.

Background. The phenomenon of multilingualism and its impact on child development are in the spotlight of latter-day psychology, and of utmost importance both for theory and practice. Language development is a strong predictor of psychological readiness for school and further academic success. At the same time, children's mastery of written and oral speech in school education in a multilingual environment has several distinctive features. This study was dedicated to examining the influence of executive functions on the development of the vocabulary aspects of speech (both active and passive vocabulary) of mono- and bilingual children growing up in a bilingual environment.

Objective. We aimed to analyze the relationship between bilingualism and language development (vocabulary and verbal fluency) and determine which executive functions may help overcome the resulting difficulties at preschool age.

Design. Both monolingual and bilingual children participated in the study (n = 137 and n = 81, respectively). The children’s ages ranged from 6 to 7 years (M = 78.7 months, SD = 5.87). Two independent General Linear Models (GLM) were built to define which executive functions influenced the vocabulary and verbal fluency of the mono- and bilingual subjects (controlling for age, gender, and non-verbal intelligence as well).

Results. The results confirmed that bilingualism is negatively related to language development, but showed that verbal working memory significantly helps bilinguals compensate for difficulties in developing vocabulary and verbal fluency.

Conclusion. The study demonstrated that the ability to preserve and reproduce verbal information was of more significance for children's vocabulary and verbal fluency than their language group (mono- or bilingual).

Background. This paper argues that Cultural-Historical neuropsychology provides a solid theoretical framework for the assessment of reading difficulties.

Objective. The objective of the paper is to discuss how reading process and reading difficulties are perceived through the prism of Cultural-Historical neuropsychology.

Design. This paper is of a theoretical and methodological nature, directed to practice and research in the field of neuropsychology.

Results. This paper provides an outline of the fundamental concepts and principles of Cultural–Historical theory that are relevant to the assessment of reading difficulties. It provides a blueprint for the assessment of difficulties in reading Spanish via a presentation of data on common mistakes and their relationship to neuropsychological factors.

Conclusion. The crucial role of in-school teaching in facilitating students to avoid developing reading difficulties, or to overcome them, is highlighted.

Background. Recent studies show that by the age of 5-7, children have already had experience using technology for several years. Discussions about the impact of digital interaction on children are ongoing. Nevertheless, it is becoming clear that there is a need to develop concepts and tools that will help children in the process of exploring the digital world. One of such concepts can be that of digital competence. It refers to the readiness of an individual to apply digital technologies efficiently and safely in various spheres of life.

Objective. To determine the content of digital competence for modern children of older preschool age.

Design. The study included interviewing children, organizing interaction of a child with a digital device, playing a card game, and having their parents answer survey questions.

Results. Our study found that older preschool children had a general idea of how to use digital technologies and could name those functions which they had observed or used themselves. The main purpose of the children's interactions with digital devices was entertainment. Most of the preschoolers demonstrated low motivation for learning how to use digital devices, and had not developed ideas about how to use digital devices in everyday life safely and effectively.

Conclusion. The concept of digital competence can be applied to the study of issues related to the interaction of older preschool children with the digital environment. The results we obtained can help educators and parents to develop strategies for the appropriate and child-friendly interaction of preschoolers with the digital environment.