2004. vol. 1. No. 3

The article discusses the foundations, content and developments of contemporary psychology. The author argues that the systems’ principle has entered psychological theory and practice. Analysing contemporary tendencies in science, the author observes the following changes: 1) a genetic turn in the systems approach; 2) a focus on integration and holism in studies of psychological phenomena; 3) an interest in the ontology of the mind. The author suggests that the systems approach requires, first, sensitivity to the integral (systemic) qualities of reality under examination and, second, possibilities for synthesising various dimensions of research. The paper discusses the prospects for the systems approach in psychology, a science that is marked by multiple paradigms and is based on the principles of mutual inclusiveness and complementarity.

The study verifies the hypothesis that the neuron code consists of two patterns of non-fading waves of neuron activity. It is also argued that an elementary image corresponds with one single pattern of waves - the interconnected cyclic activity of the cells of one neuron group. The paper gives formulae connecting the parameters of the neuron code, such as, on the one hand, memory volume and speed, subjective estimation of stimuli intensity and the probability of choosing various actions, and, on the other hand, the neurophysiological parameters and characteristics of the information to be processed. The author suggests a method of constructing a psychological profile of a person by drawing on the background encephalogram. The profile includes such features as the abilities to learn, communicate, perform and lead other people, in accordance with the main scales of the MMPI.

The author suggests a systems methodology for teaching introductory courses in psychology, in particular, for explaining its subject matter to students. The introductory course is organized around eight so-called «constructs» and three «concenters»; this organization has potential for development.

The article describes the subject matter, methodological principles and the content and structure of economic psychology. It analyses intertwinings between economic and psychological phenomena, the interdisciplinary character of economic psychology in general, the directions of its research and the spheres of its application.

In teaching, one can come across dishonesty and rivalry as well help and cooperation. For instance, a person can hinder a competitor’s learning or misuse the situation of teaching in order to damage a competitor. In the changing world, a blow directed against a person’s ability to learn and to master new kinds of activity can be most damaging. From the point of view of scientific economics, counteraction to a competitor’s learning, or teaching a competitor knowledge that is not to his or her advantage, is an intentional effort to diminish the competitor’s human capital. The author suggests a theoretical approach towards this problem and describes the results of an empirical study.

The article compares opportunities and limitations of two approaches towards financial behaviour – one from economics, the other from psychology. It describes the main achievements of economic psychology in this area. The author analyses and classifies its various research programmes, including George Katona’s psychological theory of saving, the behavioural model of saving and the social psychology of money.

The article describes and compares the approaches towards individual behaviour derived from economics and psychology. It focuses on contemporary theories of choice in the condition of risk. In spite of all the formal differences between the two disciplines, they have a lot in common. They share both empirical methods and rational theoretical approaches towards human behaviour. Thus, they use the same logical schemes in constructing theories of choice and verifying theorems of representation, as in Daniel Kahneman’s and Amos Tversky’s conception of «heuristics and shifts». Recently, an alternative programme has emerged; it describes procedures and conditions of choice within the framework of Herbert A. Simon’s conception of limited rationality. Yet, viewing human activity as conscious, purposeful and rational, both approaches leave out its most important feature — its creative character, which cannot be reduced to given rules and is shaped by the context and the social and cultural milieu. Nevertheless, the author believes that progress in the human sciences will depend on the latter.

The author considers the question of the jury as an institution of legal socialization. She has conducted a survey of attitudes towards crime and punishment. In this study she analyses (1) how these attitudes affect the person's willingness to join a jury, and (2) how they change as a result of reaching a verdict. The results of the survey show that those who believe in non-violent prevention of crime and rehabilitation of offenders, by contrast to those who believe in efficiency of intimidation, are more willing serve on a jury. Experience of serving on a jury leads to an increasing appreciation of the efficiency of non-violent prevention of crime in contrast to intimidation and rehabilitation of offenders. Yet, after having worked ona jury, a person has a slightly less favourable image of "a typical offender" and tends to disbelieve that the main objective of punishment is restoring justice.

Whether the experience of autonomy is important to people in non-Western, collectivist societies has been hotly debated. This study investigated the cross-cultural relevance of autonomy support as a quality of interpersonal relationships. Specifically, participants from three countries — China, Russia, and the United States — responded to items reflecting the degree to which they experienced each of six relationships as autonomy supportive as well as items assessing their personal well-being and relationship satisfaction. Results demonstrated that in each country, when participants experienced their relationship partners as more autonomy supportive, they experienced greater psychological well-being and were more satisfied in their relationships. Results are discussed in terms of implications for cross-cultural theory and for practice in applied domains.