Introduction

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

Petrenko, V.F. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

The release of this year's volume of Psychology in Russia: State of the Art is timed to the 30th International Congress of Psychology, that is hosted by South African Cape Town on July 22 this year, as the Russian Psychological Society as an official member of the European Federation of Psychological Associations, as well as the International Union of Psychological Science under UNESCO pays great attention to the current state of the psychological science around the world. It is precisely with this spirit of openness and shared knowledge that the society regularly publishes scientific research and participates in various forums, conferences and round-table discussions.

For the past year the Russian Psychological Society took part in a number of important international events, including the European Psychological Congress that was hosted in 2011 by Istanbul, Turkey. The congress was attended by over 3,000 psychologists from Europe, North and South Americas, Japan, China, Iran, and other countries. Russia was represented by more than a hundred members of the Russian Psychological Society – one of the largest delegations to attend the congress. Scholars from Russia's leading universities – Lomonosov Moscow State University, St. Petersburg State University, Southern Federal University (Rostov-on-Don), Tomsk State University and other universities – presented their reports and shared their knowledge in the seven symposia brought together under the "Russian Day" session. The symposia were devoted to the psychology of health, experimental study of consciousness, neuroscience, cultural-historical theory of Vygotsky, the latest technologies in psychological research and ontopsychology.

The other significant event the Russian Psychological Society took part in was the 3rd ISCAR Congress in Rome, Italy in September 2011, that brought researchers from different disciplines together to discuss a set of psychologically-oriented theoretical perspectives that were first formulated in the 1920s and 1930s by such researchers as L.S. Vygotsky, A.N. Leontiev, A.R. Luria, M.M. Bakhtin, and S.L. Rubinshtein. The Russian section of the congress was presented by a number of symposia on methodology of social-cultural research, semiotic mediation and individual development, child development and modern understanding of child development and the childhood.

The milestone and a highlight of the previous year of 2012 for Russian psychology was the highly anticipated 5th Сongress organized by the Russian Psychological Society (14-18 February 2012) held in Moscow, Russia, that tackled a wide range of topics, from cognitive psychology and military psychology to the more pressing subject of standards in psychological education and contemporary methods in psychological research. It brought together over 1500 professionals, students and graduate students from 57 regions of Russian Federation, and foreign countries such as Australia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Ukraine, and others, among whom were over 300 doctors of Psychological Sciences; and more than 400 Ph.D's. The congress was hosted by Moscow's major psychological universities: Lomonosov Moscow State University; The Institute of Psychology RAS (the Russian Academy of Science); Institute of psychology RAE (the Russian Academy of Education); I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University; EMERCOM of Russia; and Moscow State University of Psychology & Education. It covered 34 scientific fields at more than 100 thematic symposia and discussions.

Congratulatory letters the congress received from the Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin, Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation S.E. Narishkin, Education Minister A.A. Fursenko, Minister of EMERCOM of Russia S.K. Shoygu, the President of the Russian Academy of Science Yu.S. Osipov, and other Russian politicians acknowledged the increasing importance of psychology for the Russian society. The main event for Russian psychologists, it was also greeted with enthusiasm by other countries as psychological science transcends national borders – Pierre Helg, Ambassador of Switzerland to the Russian Federation and Michael J. Hurley, the Minister Counselor for Public Affairs at the US embassy in Moscow, were among the honorable guests of the congress. Furthermore, at the Congress the Russian Psychological Society awarded Prof. Ingrid Lunt (Oxford University, United Kingdom) and Prof. Juri Hanin (KIHU-Research Institute for Olympic Sports, Finland) with honorary membership.

Apart from its responsibilities in the domain of psychological science, Russian Psychological Society takes on important social matters. Thus, the established in 2011 Sport Psychology Division continues active cooperation with sport federations nationwide due to the upcoming historical Sochi Olympic Games in 2014. The Society recognizes the need to develop the support system not only for the nation's elite athletes, but most importantly, for its future generation, contributing to the development of Russian youth sports. The milestone in this domain was the establishment of Task Force Sport Psychology within European Federation of Psychological Associations that aims at the integration of the sport science.

Furthermore, aspiring to bring the important changes into Russian society, the Russian Psychological Society continues to actively work with "The Nation Health League" on development and implementation of preventive anti-drugs and anti-tobacco measures. Also the Society participated in National Health forum held in Moscow in September, 2011, the main topic of which was treatment and prevention of addictions. During the forum, it organized several symposia, in which both scientific and practical aspects of this particular problem were discussed.

The Russian Psychological Society pays special attention to EuroPsy – European qualification standard for psychologists. An important result of 5th Сongress organized by the Russian Psychological Society was approval of new Code of Ethics, that was based on Charter of the Russian Psychological Society, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, WMA Declaration of Helsinki – Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects, Universal Declaration of Ethical Principles for Psychologists, and Meta Code of Ethics of European Federation of Psychological Associations. Discussions on various important issues of EuroPsy within Russian Psychological Society and together with Russian universities, Russian Ministry of Education, Russian Educational- Methodological Council and Science's Federal Institute for Education resulted in various publications in the National Psychological Journal, and stimulated the development of certification procedures for Russian psychologists. Other important outcome of this cooperation was the creation of the first national rating of educational establishments in psychology. The further broadening of this cooperation is aspired to greatly contribute to the development of the psychological science in Russia and its integration on international level.

Psychology in Russia: State of The Art annually presents theoretical and practical advancements in both traditional, such as methodology of psychology, psychology of personality, clinical, health and organizational psychology, and new domains of psychological science, including psychology of virtual reality, sport psychology, and psychogenetics. Not being the comprehensive almanac, this edition highlights year's most promising research directions and challenges of the Russian psychology. It features works of established and renowned Russian scientists representing traditional schools of Russian psychological thought as well as works of up-and-coming young Russian scientists in various domains of psychological science.

We are grateful to Aleksander N. Veraksa, Associate Professor (Faculty of Psychology, Lomonosov Moscow State University) and Sergey V. Leonov, Associate Professor (Faculty of Psychology, Lomonosov Moscow State University) for editing this volume.