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ÐÅÇÞÌÅ ÍÀ ÀÍÃËÈÉÑÊÎÌ ßÇÛÊÅ
PROSPECTS FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL DIAGNOSTICS
Ê. Ì. GOUREVITCH
In the western testological literature critical opinions center around two main issues: validity (average coefficients of which approximate .40) and social partiality of tests (which is manifested in that subjects from middle and higher classes and white subjects produce better results in testing than, correspondingly, subjects from lower social groups and black subjects). These phenomena are to be explained by the fact that all tests are culture-saturated and the subjects who are foreign to this culture are therefore always at a disadvantage when being tested. Thus when constructing tests for use in this country it has to be taken into account that tests like other methods represent a certain culture and can not ever be universal. The author discusses the notion of "norm" and suggests to further develop this notion proceeding from social requirements to a modern man as a member of society.
THEORY AND PRACTICE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DIAGNOSTICS
V. I. SLOBODTCHIKOV
The author considers the problem of theoretical provision for potential scientific-applied diagnostical projects.
Main attention is given to the analysis of existing connections between organizational principles of the experimental-psychological study and corresponding methods of the diagnostical work. This analysis is especially important for the objective coordination of psychological-diagnostical and experimental work in relation to the psychological reality with which they deal, and for the overcoming of the utilitarian practice of uncritical borrowing of the data and methods.
The article is concluded with basic requirements to the organization of the psychological study which can garantee real validity, reliability, and practical efficiency of the corresponding diagnostical work.
PROBLEMS OF THEORETICAL SUBSTANTIATION OF THE SUBJECT-MATTER
IN DESIGN OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS
YU. Z. GILBOUKH
The essence and ways of theoretical substantiation of the subject-matter to be tested by a particular test developed for this aim are discussed in the paper. Basic paradigms and procedures which can be of use in this context are presented. Main attention is given to the paradigm of interaction, in realization of which development of the conceptual model of the psychological characteristic to be tested and development of a corresponding test are to be regarded as two organically related aspects of the same creative process. A list of components which should necessarily comprise the conceptual model of the psychological characteristic under testing is presented. Methods of identification of such characteristics, and of establishing such properties of them which can be measured, are analysed. In conclusion special accent is made on the necessity to clearly specify terms which are of relevance in this context.
ROLE OF SUBJECTIVE ATTITUDE TO ETHICAL STANDARDS IN REGULATION OF MORAL BEHAVIOR IN PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN
S. G. YAKOBSON, L P. POTCHEREVITM
Role of polar ethical standards in regulation of moral behavior has been studied. Experiments on development of ethically positive behavior m 29 six-seven years old children who manifested unjust behavior in distribution of toys between themselves and two other kids revealed that the following conditions are necessary for that: 1) the child should compare with standards not his particular acts, but himself as
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a whole, 2) the child should posess personal polar attitudes to both standards. The latter is possible when the standards are introduced in the form of images of people who either posess the polar qualities significant for the child, or are connected by antagonistic relations and are capable therefore of inducing in the child empathy with one of them.
The necessity of personal attitude to standards with which the child identifies himself (in the process of comparing himself with them) confirms the hypothesis that the image of self is an important factor in the regulation of moral behavior.
COOPERATION WITH AGE-PEERS AS A PREREQUISITE IN THE EDUCATION
OF JUNIOR SCHOOLCHILDREN
G. A. TSOUKERMAN, M. P. ROMANIEYEVA
The article deals with the role of cooperation with age-peers in the psychological development of junior schoolchildren. Described is a formative experiment which has permitted to compare the effect of tuition in a class where the learning cooperation among the children was deliberately created and in a class where the children interacted mainly with the teacher. It has been proved that interaction with children of the same age is a "conditio sine qua non" for the development in a child of the ability to control his own actions. This can be explained by the fact that control is a function which traditionally belongs to adults. And when a child considers himself but a pupil under constant control, he simply has no need to assimilate this function. Only when he starts acting from the position of a teacher in relation to other children does he assimilate the "teacher's" controlling activity.
PSYCHOLOGY OF PERCEPTION BY CHILDREN OF PARENTS' ROLE
A. I. ZAKHAROV
Interviews with 961 children of 3—16 years age group have been analysed with the aim to reveal age and sex aspects of the identification of children with parents of the same sex. In boys this process is most pronounced at 5—7 years, and in girls — at 3—8 years. At this age the need to perform socialized sex roles in interactions with age-peers constitutes the social-psychological basis for the role identification. Efficiency of this identification depends on competence and status of the parent of the same sex in the eyes of the child. Another factor is the availability in the family of a grand-parent of the same sex.
DYNAMICS OF ESTIMATION-STANDARDS IN ADOLESCENCE AND YOUTH
V. F. SAFIN
The paper presents results of an experimental study of correlations between stereotyped estimation-standards of "self", of ideals, age-peers, class-mates, adults, and expected estimations of "self" by others. Dominant estimation-standards of adolescents, senior schoolchildren and younger high-school students have been revealed. Factorization of the data enables the author to conclude that although the system of estimation-standards functions as a whole, in senior youth there clearly sets apart a standard for "self"-estimation, which acquires dynamically stable characteristics and turns consequently into a condition and an indicator of the self-determination of personality.
ACCESSIBILITY OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL AS A FACTOR IN REDUCTION OF THE OVERLOAD OF SCHOOLCHILDREN
A. K. MARKOVA
The article contains modern psychological ideas concerning the problem of simplicity of the instructional material. Special attention is paid to the necessity of understanding the level of development of the learning activity in schoolchildren which is considered a determining factor of the accessibility for the schoolchildren of any instructional material.
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The author describes different levels of the accessibility of the material which have been established in her practical studies. She demonstrates that it is neither theoretical components of the instructional material nor the necessity to make independent statements which provide major difficulty for the schoolchildren, but the amount of the material for memorization and the intricacy with which it is explained to them by teachers.
PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES OF THE PERSONALITY
OF TEACHER IN THE DDR
V. Kessel
The general idea of the approach suggested in the paper consists in the following. Analysis of the personality of the most efficient teachers, followed by analysis of the most efficient procedures of control over the process of teaching, should provide the basis for methodical development in teachers of the ability to cope with complicated educational problems.
PATHOPSYCHOLOGIST'S PRACTICAL HELP TO PARENTS
S. YA. ROUBINSTEIN, I. N. SHNITSER
The authors' experience of provision of the consultative help to parents of inmates of a psycho-neurological sanatorium for children is described. The necessity in the help of this kind arose in connection with the fact that the parents — even those with a sufficiently high cultural level and eager to afford much time and attention to the education of their children — met as a rule with difficulties and sometimes made mistakes in selection of a proper educational tactics. They had no knowledge of special methods specifically designed for children with psychogenous or light organic disorders of the nervous system. Consultative advice was provided by pathopsychologists in cooperation with child psychiatrists and the pedagogical staff of the sanatorium.
THE PROBLEM OF DEVELOPING DIFFERENT TYPES OF REFLECTIVITY IN PERFORMANCE OF CREATIVE TASKS
N. SEMIONOV, S. YU. STEPANOV
Results of the series of experiments reported in the paper have shown that purposeful development of creative thinking requires stimulation of both intellectual-reflective and personality-reflective aspects of the latter. A conclusion is made therefore that further studies of the problem of finding most efficient methods of performing creative tasks must take into account forms and mechanisms of interrelation and interdetermination of the above-mentioned types of reflectivity and contribute to the development of specific ways of stimulating their appearance in particular situations.
MNEMONIC LIMITATIONS AND DATA ORGANIZATION
IN THE HUMAN MEMORY
V. D. MAGAZANNIK
The author attempts to integrate various psychological phenomena and concepts within the framework of views concerning the expediency of occurence and the quantitative regularities of development of the integral semantic formations. It has been demonstrated that role of connections between features of any kind consists in reduction of the number of subjectively considered independent elements, called "memory units", and therefore in reduction of the load on memory. Different forms of information integration — like image, language, motor and mental automatisms, patterns of behavior, etc. have been compared, and the data obtained in the analysis have been used as the basis for a discussion of possible approaches to the evaluation of quantitative indices of the operator performance.
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EFFECT OF THE COMMON ACTIVITY ORGANIZATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLECTIVES
A. P. DOULTCHEVSKAYA
Dependence of the character of interpersonal relations in an industrial collective on the peculiarities of the organization of common activity in it has been experimentally proved. Organization of work on the brigade principle promotes manifestation of collectivistic attitudes in members of working groups.
ON THE INDICES OF THE AUTOMATIZATION OF SKILLS
A. M. NOVIKOV
The article describes some methods of selection and experimental testing of objective indicators of the automatization of skills. Following indicators are suggested in particular: electrical activity of the organs of speech (which represents the "talking over of the actions" at the initial stages of training), and the latency of simple sensori-motor responses to sygnals presented during the performance of the task. Values of these indicators differ considerably before and after the period of training. The methods described are of general purpose character, and can be applied for the study of development dynamics of various skills.
MODAL STRUCTURE OF EMOTIONALITY AND COGNITIVE STYLE
A. I. PAHLEI
The data obtained in the study show that qualitative individual characteristics pertaining to emotionality and cognitive style are interconnected. It has been found that in the emotional life of highly "analytical" subjects there predominate experiences connected with distress and anxiety. "Synthetic" subjects who occupy the other cognitive pole are characterized by pronounced positive emotionality and tendency to anger. Two components of emotionality — emotional sensitivity, on the one hand, and depth, strength, and duration of emotional experiences, on the other hand, — in some cases correlate differently with the "analytic — synthetic" dichotomy. For example, unlike "complete" and "long-term" indices of anger, the short-term indices (i. e. emotional sensitivity indices of corresponding modalities) reciprocally correlate with the "analytic — synthetic" indices, i. e. in the same way as the indices of anxiety and distress.