2009. vol. 6. No. 3

The article examines interactions in the system of «subject and object». It is demonstrated that the interactions take place under conditions of a bigger or smaller degree of uncertainty which is still constantly present and which has to be overcome, otherwise the subject’s existence, as it is, becomes impossible. Mind and conscientiousness are interpreted as evolutionally formed mechanisms («instruments») to overcome uncertainty. The very process of uncertainty overcoming is viewed in general from psychological positions. It is proved that a mind bearing person faces uncertainty not only in external, objective world, but also in his inner, subjective world which, too, is overcome by formation of personality.

Prediction of professional success of an individual on the basis of measurement of his abilities often happens to be unsatisfactory, first of all, in the domain of social professions. «Resources» is the notion which integrates individual’s own characteristics as well as states and conditions of environment including characteristics of other people which are potentially accessible for an individual. Abilities as «functional systems» and as a kind of subject’s resources (exclusively subject’s own characteristics or internal resources) manifest themselves most effectively in an artificial environment (diagnostics, training etc.). The notion «resources» is naturally connected with an activity which takes place in real environment and reflects an ecological approach towards success. Historically first paradigm which explains success by abilities, i.e. subject’s characteristics, can have «subject’s relations» etc. as a complimentary factors. It is demonstrated by representative empirical data that important determinants of judo players efficiency are the correspondence between psychophysiological characteristics of a coach and a sportsman (strength of excitation in the nervous system), the correspondence between the coach’s and the sportsman’s styles of fighting, the correspondence between the couch’s tutorial concept (his attitudes towards different fighting styles and their efficiency, preferences for various methods of training and the like) with the sportsman’s individuality. At the same time a wider and more positive effect is provided by «weak» coaches’ styles of work. The pupils of «weak» coaches by typology are more effective in all age groups but fighters who are «weak» in terms of strength of their nervous system achieve success more often. Determinants of a successful career of civil servants are constituents of social microenvironment which reflect subject’s social relations, such as authority and role of parents (especially father), friends, other men, immediate superiors, role of circumstances.

The article examines S.L. Rubinstein’s course of life and provides comparative historical scientific analysis of peripetias of his work with some of his contemporaries (G. Kogen, B.L. Pasternak, M.M. Rubinstein, L.S. Vygotsky etc.). In view of the aforesaid, the article analyses S.L. Rubinstein’s school’s interaction and discussions with the schools of A.N. Leontiev, P.Ya. Galperin, V.V. Davydov and with works of Russian philosophers (E.V. Ilienkov) and psychologists (Ya.A. Ponomarev, V.D. Shadrikov, E.B. Starovoitenko, M.G. Yaroshevsky, etc.). It also characterizes the Development of Rubinstein’s ideas by his students and followers (K.A. Abulkhanova­Slavskaya, A.V. Brushlinsky, etc.). The article explicates roots of Rubinstein’s methodology originated from neo­Kantianism and Marxism. It offers complete periodization of life and work of S.L. Rubinstein, emphasizes and characterizes different layers of his scientific research activity in philosophy and psychology.  Main directions of development of Rubinstein’s scientific school are also differentiated and its significance for modern psychological science is demonstrated.

The logic of S.L. Rubinstein’s interest in problems of psychology of perception and the ways of their solutions form the standpoint of the principle of subject are presented. It is demonstrated that in the process of creative development the principle was filled with new specific contents and took various forms.  Invariant features of Rubinstein’s approach were 1) the idea of inclusion of the perceived reality into the system of life ties and relations, 2) the idea of self-development of subject and the perceived reality in the process of perceptual activity, 3) the notion of plurality of perceptual phenomena, and 4) their processual nature. Ontological approach outlined by S.L. Rubinstein specifies new theoretical and methodological guidelines and strategy of research in the domain of psychology of perception.

Two fundamental theses of theoretical heritage of S.L. Rubinstein are at the center of attention in the article. The first one is about a man and his position in the world; the second one is about sensory cognition and concreteness of existence. The world is juxtaposed and compared with a man on a scale of his life. A man is a starting point of the frame of reference of his world, his life, and his life is taken as an existence. A man separates himself from the surrounding world, stands apart from it and at the same time he ties himself up with it, inseparably compares himself with it. The existence in the world is «presented» to the man; it is given to him in his sensations and perception. Sensory cognition reveals endless concreteness of the existence. Sensory cognition but not abstract reasoning is connected with the existence. Thinking is also a component of life which is mediated and complicated by withdrawal from the sensory perceived reality.

The article describes an episode from S.L. Rubinstein’s life connected with his election as a member of the USSR Academy of Science in 1943. The article cites a letter to the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (bolsheviks) written by leading Soviet psychologists which substantiates the necessity of psychological section within the Academy of Science and  recommends the candidacy of S.L. Rubinstein. Persecutions of S.L. Rubinstein during anti-Semitic campaign in 1948­1953 and his courageous reaction to these persecutions are described.

The article discusses philosophical and psychological aspects of creative work of S.L. Rubinstein. It is concluded that philosophical importance of S.L. Rubinstein’s works lasts out till today.

The article briefly provides general description of philosophical and psychological system of one of the most prominent Soviet psychologists of the XX century, S.L. Rubinstein. At that, a typological analysis of the main directions of development of his creative heritage is carried out. This analysis is based on the material of the papers presented on the scientific conference «The Problem of Man in the Modern World» which was organized by the Institute of psychology of RAS and was dedicated to the 120^th anniversary of Sergei Leonidovich Rubinstein. The article gives foundations for the structure of the special theme of the present issue of «Psychology. The Journal of Higher School of Economics» which is devoted to this jubilee and also provides basic bibliography devoted to Rubinstein. In particular, it includes scientific literature on biography and works of S.L. Rubinstein, on his scientific heritage and its development in modern studies of human nature.

The article briefly describes new multi-profile diagnostic battery Aurora which is aimed at the assessment of the level of analytic, creative and practical abilities of children from 9 to 12 years old. It was elaborated on the basis of R.J. Sternberg’s theory of intelligence. Preliminary results of estimation of psychometric properties of the test battery Aurora-a obtained from the Russian schoolchildren sample are presented.

The article is devoted to the study of perception factor of justice of interaction within organization by its employees. Psychological studies demonstrate that interaction is assessed as fair if definite norms are followed in it. Organizational specificity of these norms is described in J.A. Colquitt’s model which distinguishes four aspects of justice: distributive, procedural, interpersonal and informational. The aim of the present study was the analysis of factors that influence the assessment of justice of organizational interaction (in case of certification procedure). The size of organization where the respondents work, the management style of an immediate superior, the status of the employees in the official structure and their self-estimates were taken as such factors. It is shown that all the factors revealed in the study allow predicting evaluation of justice of certification procedure. However, they have different impact on prediction of different aspects of justice of organizational interaction.

The analysis of frequency and spatial organization of cerebral cortex activity in the process of creative thinking and its comparison with functions of attention systems was carried out. Predominance of task-oriented focused attention during problem formulation, planning of its solution or critical evaluation of generated ideas is accompanied by increase of activation in cerebral cortex whereas transition to the defocused attention leads to the opposite processes of decrease of activation especially in frontal cortex which performs function of executive and supportive attention and, then, in occipital cortex which are responsible for knowledge retrieval. The resulting strategy of information selection and corresponding level of cortex activation and interaction of hemispheres is additionally defined by motivation for creative activity and by structure of intelligence which both determine the evaluated difficulty of the task.