2008. vol. 5. No. 1

The problem of psychotherapy efficiency is discussed in connection with Irvyn D. Yalom’s novel “The Schopenhauer Cure”. The answers for some principal problems are proposed: how a psychotherapist realizes his/her work, whether he/she always acts in accordance with own conceptualizations, what is the role of the patient’s personality analyses in psychotherapy, etc. Psychoanalytic and humanistic approaches are opposed. A humanistically oriented therapist does not know which structures are responsible for personality and psyche deformation but looks for means and forms of life that let the human begin a healing action and works to encourage the client, to broaden his/her outlook and understanding. The therapists who apply the humanistic approach in their work do not know what effect their attempts will have, whether the symptoms of the disease will disappear but they know that there is no other way to help without creating new problems.

Professional self­identification is traditionally taken almost exclusively as a process of choice at the stage of graduation from secondary school. However one may argue that personal significance of choice of a university undergraduate is not less significant than the secondary school graduates’ choice. An additional tension to the professional choice of the undergraduate university students is caused by its connection to the tasks of their life choices. Consequently theoretical analysis of professional self-identification must address the notions and constructs which are used in sociology and psychology as indicators of reflexive and motivational constituents of self-identification. The article presents and analyzes the results of a study of conceptions of possible of higher education undergraduates in the capital and in regional universities.

Study of refleсtion is one of the innovative directions of modern psychology. The logic of the development and stages of refleсtion research in European philosophical and psychological thought from antiquity to the present are analyzed in the article. The main scientific schools  and directions of Russian psychology of refleсtion are being differentiated and characterized. The links between philosophical and psychological interpretations of refleсtion in the Russian psychology and the development of the literary and artistic critique in the 19th century are traced as well as the interaction of the modern psychology of refleсtion with adjoining humanities.

The author proposes a formal model of subject, so-called four resources model. Proposing the model of «double refleсtion» the author demonstrates that self-refleсtion is able to increase the stimulus attraction and describes hypothetic conditions of inevitability of actions towards temptation determined by self-refleсtion and stimulus’ primary valence. The criteria for optimum of psychological well-being («I want something that I don’t have» and «I will have something I want») are formulated and quantitatively specified. Hereof  follows “the golden rule of harmony”  in interrelations of level of subject’s claims (0.62) and level of requested external resources (0.38) («golden proportion»: 0.62 + (0.62)² = 0.62 + 0.38 = 1). The model of optimum of psychological well-being is validated by the author’s own studies as well as by means of interpretation of empirical data obtained by other investigators in studies of achievement motivation (the revision of J.W. Atkinson’s classic model of risk taking).

The study of refleсtion constitutes a developing domain of foreign psychology. As the results of most studies of refleсtion are published in English the article presents analytical review which focuses mainly on Anglo-American research. Etymological propaedeutics and the character of interaction of Russian and foreign refleсtion research are analyzed and their similarity and difference with respect to the object and methods of theoretical and empirical studies are characterized.

Rapid development of modern applied psychology has resulted in the elaboration of new approaches and psychological techniques. The mediation technique is one of these new approaches originated in the USA and intensively developed in Europe, particularly in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Modern approaches, principles and methods of mediation (published in German) are analyzed in the article. The experience of use of reflective technologies of mediation in Russian applied psychology is summarized within the context of its interaction with other humanities.

The article focuses on interlevel (transition from one level to another in the process of subject’s active development) and inside-a-level (development within each level) dynamics of positive-negative asymmetry as the relation of gradients of positive and negative emotions relative to their integral value (general emotional activation). On the basis of some data and conceptions it is hypothesized that inside-a-level dynamic is characterized by the movement from negative emotional asymmetry to the positive one, whereas in case of interlevel dynamic the movement in the direction from negative asymmetry to the positive one can be observed (as predicted by some well-known theories) as well as the movement in the opposite direction.

The research is aimed at investigation of adaptation to a trauma in visually impaired people and revealing of structure of their temperament and character. The connections between the character and the units of speech of the blind are revealed. For the sample of visually impaired people anxiety with a sharp reaction towards social disapproval and a compensatory keen sense of unity with the universe, nature and people are typical. For all those visually impaired subjects that are involved in the process of overcoming their trauma, it is typical to mention the trauma in their stories. High scores on C.R. Cloninger’s «Self-Forgetfulness» scale reflect the action of compensatory mechanism which helps them to deal with painful experience induced by the loss of sight. The blind who do not mention their trauma in their stories have already passed through the adaptation process and dealt with the stress caused by the loss of sight.

The phenomenon of «critical thinking» understood as a complex of inter-related metacognitive (heuristic) strategies is analyzed. The results of empirical study of critical thinking impact on the success of professional problem solving by «experts» and «novices» in the programming domain are outlined. It is shown that critical thinking is closely connected to the success of professional problem solving and that this effect is provided by the metacognitive strategies which constitute critical thinking.  The differences between experts and novices are revealed which lie in the intensity and sustainable use of metacognitive strategies by the experts in the significant situations of difficulties (so-called «points of inflection»).