Executive functions are actively developing in children of preschool age. Executive functions' development is also influenced by the way children are using digital devices. Joint media engagement is ...one of the parameters of digital device usage that has been poorly studied so far, although this is of great importance from the point of view of cultural-historical psychology.
Our research aimed to explore the association between young children's development of executive functions over a year, and their joint media engagement with parents and siblings in preschool children.
Four hundred ninety (490) typically developing children (52% of them were boys) participated in the study. It was a longitudinal study: during the first stage, the children were 5-6 years old; the second stage followed one year later. The NEPSY-II subtests (Inhibition, Statue, Memory for Designs, Sentences Repetition) and the Dimensional Change Card Sort were used to assess executive functions. A questionnaire for mothers was used to get information about the children's joint media engagement and screen time.
Children who watched video content and played video games together with their siblings developed more inhibitory control over the year than those children who did it alone. Co-viewing of video content with parents was associated with a decrease in cognitive flexibility over the year, as opposed to watching it alone.
The obtained data allows us to conclude that joint media engagement is important for executive functions development, and that there are optimal formats of joint media engagement. Based on the limitations of this study, recommendations for future research were suggested.
The development of the executive functions in older preschoolers largely determines their subsequent successful adaptation and schooling. The purpose of the research is to identify the developmental ...features of the executive functions in older preschoolers with different sibling positions. The relevance of the theme is due to the growing number of children with insufficient development of self-regulation. The study involved 393 preschoolers attending senior groups of kindergartens: 153 - single children in the family, 99 - oldest, 21 - middle, 110 - youngest children, 10 - twins). The levels of development of the participants’ executive functions were determined using three subtests of the neuropsychological complex NEPSY II (“Inhibition”, “Sentences Repetition” and “Memory for Design”) as well as the “Dimensional Change Card Sort” technique by F. Zelazo. It was revealed that auditory-speech memory is best developed in the oldest children in the family. The results obtained make it possible to suggest a different structure of connections between different components of executive functions in children with different sibling positions. The level and structure of the developed executive functions in the single and youngest children in the family are more similar to each other than in the oldest and single children or in the oldest and youngest ones.
Amid the spread of COVID-19, a study of mental health in university students from different regions of Russia (
n
= 3057) was undertaken during the period from April 9 to April 20, 2020. The results ...were compared to studies conducted earlier within a large-scale research project examining student mental health. Mental health indicators were analyzed during three different periods: long before the onset of the pandemic (period 1); in the early days of the spread of COVID-19 in Russia, though prior to the implementation of containment measures (period 2); during tough measures to contain the first wave of the pandemic (period 3). The comparison of indicators showed no differences in the levels of psychological well-being (
F
= 0.918;
p
= .4), significantly lower levels of depression, anxiety and stress during the period 1 compared to the periods 2 and 3 (
p
< .001), and the highest levels of anxiety and stress during the period 2. We also established a higher increase in the levels of depression (
F
= 6.883;
p
= .001), anxiety (
F
= 11.868;
p
< .001) and stress (
F
= 10.384;
p
< .001) in young men compared to the changes in the same indicators in young women during the pandemic. However, both before and during the pandemic, these indicators showed better mental health in young men than in young women. Thus, when studying the impact of the pandemic on students' mental health, it is crucial to take into account the possible dynamics of their mental state within relatively short periods of time and to pay particular attention to gender differences.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Features of imagination in 5–6-year-old children Almazova, Olga V.; Bukhalenkova, Daria А.; Chichinina, Elena А.
Teoretičeskaâ i èksperimentalʹnaâ psihologiâ,
09/2023, Volume:
16, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Background. Te relevance of the study is due to understanding of important role of imagination in the cognitive and emotional development of children as well as the contradictory results of modern ...research on imagination development in older preschool age. Objective. Te study had its purpose to assess the level of productive imagination of the present-day preschoolers educated in the senior groups of kindergarten and to identify types of imagination being based on statistical data processing. Methods. Te study implemented the technique “Complete the drawing” (a modifed Torrens’ Test) and the typology of productive imagination by O.M. Dyachenko (2007). Drawings of preschoolers were analyzed in terms of elaboration, fexibility, and originality of images. Processing the obtained data included calculation of the mean and median values, standard deviations; the cluster analysis method; the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis’s criterion and Kolmogorov-Smirnov’s, Mann-Whitney’s criteria were used. Sample. Te study involved 768 preschoolers of older groups of kindergartens in four regions of Russia (Moscow, the Republics of Sakha and Tatarstan, Perm Territory) aged 58 to 72 months (of which 47.9% were boys). Results. Modern methods of statistical data processing have made it possible to identify and compare signifcantly diferent types of productive imagination in preschoolers. According to the results of the assessment of imagination development of the of older preschool children in diferent regions of Russia, a similar distribution was obtained for 6 types of productive imagination. Te study revealed the low level of imagination development in about half of older preschoolers: children either do not accept the task at all (type 0), or draw individual objects that are not detailed (type 1). Productive imagination at the age of 5–6 years develops heterochronously: children with diferent types of imagination have relatively high scores for various parameters (types 2, 3, 4). Less than 5% of older preschoolers are characterized by a high level of imagination development when children use “inclusions” (type 5). Conclusion. Te results of the study expand the understanding of productive imagination in today’s preschool children and contribute to studying its development in the changed conditions of educational environment. Te typology of productive imagination built on the basis of quantitative methods can be useful for both researchers and practicing psychologists, preschool educators.
Ideas about volunteering among modern youth Molchanov, Sergey V.; Almazova, Olga V.; Poskrebysheva, Natalia N.
Nacionalʹnyĭ psihologičeskiĭ žurnal/Nacionalʹnyj psihologičeskij žurnal,
12/2020, Volume:
40, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Background. Currently, there is an increase in the popularity of the volunteer movement among young people. The motivational basis of volunteer activity plays an important role in the analysis of the ...level of volunteer involvement, readiness for constant participation in helping behavior. Objective of the research: studying the characteristics of motivation among young people to participate in volunteering as well as analyzing the ideas about digital volunteering. Design. The study involved 47 full-time studentsof Moscow colleges 18 to 23 years old (M = 20.1, SD = 2.3). We used a questionnaire for analyzing volunteering motivation(VFI). The questionnaire aimed at studying the volunteer activity of respondents and understanding the content of volunteer activity in different areas wasused as well as a diagnostic tool. The VFI questionnaire was usedfor the first time in a Russian sample. The translation was done independently by three experts. Aftercoordinating theirversions, a reverse translation was made into the original language, followed by a comparison of the original version with the resulting double translation. Results. The results obtained made it possible to identify 3 groups of motivational preferences in the field of volunteering for young people. The group of “active volunteers” is characterized by a high significance of most of the possible motives for helping behavior. The largest group in terms of number was the group of “pragmatists” volunteers focused on “volunteering as a career opportunity” and “volunteering as a source of development”. A group with a low level of understanding of possible options for volunteer activity was also identified — a group of “passive volunteers”. The nature of the relationship between real behavior and awareness of motivation can be two-way — on the one hand, the presence of motivation can stimulate participation in volunteering, and on the other hand, the experience of participation can help reflect the personal meaning of the process for oneself. The living experience of helping behavior determines the emphasis on “the absence of live direct interaction” as a lack of digital volunteering, especially among active volunteers and pragmatic volunteers. A certain inconsistency in ideas about the merits and limitations of digital volunteering was revealed — from assessing the capabilities of the digital form as broader, to assessing the space of self-realization in the distant online form as much narrower than in the offline form. Conclusions. The priority types of motivation are highlighted. Volunteering allows you to realize value attitudes, and is also viewed as a source of competence development. At the same time, the use of volunteer activity as a way to protect and compensate for psychological experiences is the least in demand. The concept of digital volunteering is rather vague — general characteristics of the distant form of helping behavior are indicated with a pronounced low level of awareness of volunteer structures in the Internet.
Background. Th e quality of preschool education is of great importance for the subsequent adaptation and academic success. Th e ECERS-R methodology is available for Russian psychologists for ...assessing the quality of the educational environment of a kindergarten with a large array of accumulated data. ECERS-R is aimed at assessing more the material and subject arrangement of a preschool educational institution and the nature of the child’s interaction with the environment (including social). At the same time, in our opinion, insuffi cient attention is paid to assessing the emotional climate of interactions between children and teachers and assessing the extent to which the proposed training is in the zone of proximal development of the child. Objective. To compensate for the identifi ed defi cit, work was carried out to start adapting another tool for assessing the quality of the educational environment — the CLASS methodology, based on the ideas of L.S. Vygotsky about the optimal construction of the educational process. Methods. Th e study was conducted in 41 preparatory groups of Moscow kindergartens. In these groups, to assess the quality of the educational environment, the CLASS methodology was used, which includes 10 dimensions combined into 3 main domains: Emotional support, Classroom Organization and Instructional support. Also, on a part of the sample (N=26 groups), the ECERS-R method was additionally used. Results. Analysis of the internal reliability of the instrumentation showed satisfactory results. Although the scores for all three domains are related, the Instructional Support scores were signifi cantly lower than the Emotional Support and Classroom Organization scores. Comparison of the results of the CLASS and ECERS-R methods showed a small number of relationships between the scores of the scales of the two methods. At the same time, the CLASS parameter Instructional support is more related to ECERS-R. Conclusion. Th e data obtained confi rm our assumption that the CLASS method provides signifi cant information about the quality of interaction between a teacher and children in a kindergarten group, which complements the results of ECERS-R, which means that this tool will be useful for a full assessment of the quality of the educational environment in a kindergarten.
Background. The relevance of this study is determined by the importance of timely assessment and development of imagination in preschoolers for their harmonious development and further successful ...schooling. Objective. The aim of the study was to develop a questionnaire for kindergarteners aimed at assessing the imagination in preschoolers. Methods. As a part of this study, a questionnaire to assess the characteristics of imagination in preschoolers was developed, which included 22 statements about children behavior, which teachers had to evaluate on a 5-point scale. Also, with a part of the sample, the “Complete the Drawing” technique was carried out. Sample. In the study, educators assessed 553 pupils of senior groups (M = 65.3; SD = 4.03 months; 48.1% of boys) attending kindergartens in 4 regions of Russia (37.1% of children from Moscow, 32.6% from the Tatarstan Republic, 22.3% from the Sakha Republic, 9.1% from the Perm Region) Results. As a result of the statistical analysis, a three-factor structure of the created questionnaire was revealed. It was found that educators rate the level of imagination development higher in girls than in boys. Comparison of teachers' assessments with the results of children's imagination assessment using the “Complete the Drawing” technique showed the relationship with such parameters of drawings as flexibility, originality and elaboration. Conclusion. The study showed the reliability of the developed questionnaire for educators, which indicates the possibility of its use in monitoring the development of modern senior preschoolers.
The relevance of the study of the conditions for the formation of the image of the world as an integral characteristic of the individual semantic system of the personality, that determines the ...interaction with the world and its life position, is due to the transitivity and high uncertainty of modern society. The aim of the study is to investigate the the image of the world in the current and future perspective among young people with different experience of participating in volunteer activities. The hypothesis was the assumption of differences in the image of the world in the time coordinates "present - future" among students with different experience in volunteering. The study used the Bipolar Semantic Differential method for two consecutive assessments of the image of the world: "The world now" and "The world in 5 years"; a questionnaire scale of basic beliefs, a questionnaire for participation in volunteer activities. The data consists of 211 Russian students aged from 18 till 23 (M=19.7; SD=1.61). Among them are 91 (43.1%) men and 120 (56.9%) women. Significant differences in world image in present and future are revealed. The image in present is contradictory, characterized mainly negatively as unpredictable, uncontrollable, anxious, complex. The image of "The World in 5 years" is positive, characterized as meaningful, active, fair and reliable (t-Student criteria, р ≤ 0.02). The connection between the characteristics of the image of the world and basic assumptions, primarily with the perception of the justice of the world, has been established. The positive role of participation in volunteer activities of student youth for the formation of a positive image of the world is proved: world nowadays is regarded as more active, and in future more controlled and benevolent (t-Student criteria, р ≤ 0.02, and significant (t-Student criteria, р = 0.043).
Актуальность исследования условий формирования образа мира как интегральной характеристики индивидуальной смысловой системы личности, определяющей взаимодействие с миром и ее жизненную позицию, обусловлена транзитивностью и высокой неопределенностью современного общества. Цель исследования - изучение особенностей образа мира в актуальной и будущей перспективе у молодежи с разным опытом участия в волонтерской деятельности. Исходной гипотезой стало предположение о различиях в образе мира во временных координатах «настоящее-будущее» у студенческой молодежи с различным опытом волонтерской деятельности. В исследовании были использованы методика «Биполярный семантический дифференциал для двух последовательных оценок образа мира: "Мир сейчас" и "Мир через 5 лет"»; опросник «Шкала базовых убеждений», опросник участия в волонтерской деятельности. Выборку составили 211 российских студентов в возрасте от 18 до 23 лет (M=19,7; SD=1,61).Среди них 91 (43,1%) юноша и 120 (56,9%) девушек. Выявлены значимые различия образа мира в настоящем и в будущем. Образ «Мир через 5 лет» - позитивный, характеризуется как осмысленный, активный, справедливый и надежный (критерий Стъюдента, р ≤ 0,02). Установлена связь характеристик образа мира с базисными убеждениями, прежде всего с восприятием справедливости мира. Доказана позитивная роль участия студенческой молодежи в волонтерской деятельности для формирования позитивного образ- а мира: мир в настоящем видится более активным, а в будущем более управляемым, доброжелательным (критерий Стъюдента, р ≤ 0,02) и ценным (критерий Стъюдента, р = 0,043).
Background. !e COVID-19 pandemic has been an unprecedented social and health emergency worldwide. Cross-cultural research on mental health during this situation is needed to better understand its ...consequences. Objective. To evaluate the di"erent psychological impacts of the crisis and lockdown situation during the #rst six weeks of COVID emergency measures in samples of the Spanish and Russian populations. Design. A cross-sectional study was conducted through an online survey (NSpain = 1041; NRussia = 743). !e prevalence of loneliness, depression, anxiety, perceived discrimination (PD), internalized stigma (IS), and perceived social support (PSS) was evaluated. Chi-square tests and t-tests were administered. The Enter Method were used to identify the predictors of the mental health impact. Results. Di"erences were found between the Russian and the Spanish populations. While the degrees of anxiety and depression did not di"er signi#cantly, loneliness, the alienation dimension of IS, and PD were more pronounced in the Russian respondents. In Spain, the predictor of less negative impact was PSS from various sources, while in Russia we only found PSS from the family. Conclusion. Although in both countries the impact at the clinical level seemed to be similar, di"erences were found at the psychosocial level. Variables with a strong cultural component may be key to determining the means of alleviating the e"ects of the crisis, with PSS being a fundamental protective factor. More crosssectional studies are needed to understand the impact of the pandemic in depth.