2011. vol. 8. No. 1

A model of phased identity formation within the cinematographic space is proposed. Cinema is conceived as having a modelling function, able to create new types of identity, to influence developmental processes within personality, and to modify social relationships. A work of cinematographic art reflects inner changes of identity and offers acceptable models of behaviour for the subjects of culture to identify with in their everyday life. Based on analysis of motion pictures, four stages of identity development are proposed, and their principal characteristics are described. The structure and the process of identity formation are seen as resulting from interaction with culture. The structure of the resulting identity depends on the existing cultural system. The notions of “culture 1” and “culture 2” are reconsidered, and new concepts “product culture” and “conflict culture” are introduced.

The paper presents the results of theoretical analysis and empirical study of non-spiritual life meanings that lead to life meaning crises in the course of personality development. Non-spiritual life meaning is seen as a functionally suboptimal meaning that is based mainly on egocentric values with no or minimal presence of self-transcendent values. The results of the empirical study suggest that adoption of such a pattern of values as sources of life meaning by a personality leads to a more intense experience of life meaning crisis.

The paper discusses topical issues that arise as a result of intensive developments in the sciences that bridge the gap between psychology and physiology, such as psychophysiology, physiology of higher mental activity, neuropsychology, etc. The conditions that have defined the interaction of psychology and physiology, the methodological and conceptual contradictions arising at the crossing of these two sciences, as well as the limits and perspectives of their confluence are discussed within historical context. More detail is given to two specific “pain spots” that have formed in the course of the two sciences’ interaction, namely, reflex theory, and neurophysiological (and neuronal) analysis of consciousness.

The data shows the association of attentional mechanisms and saccadic eye movement programming with levels and topography of averaged EEG potentials that reflect saccade preparation. The application of several psychophysiological visual stimulation schemes (“Step”, “Gap”, “Overlap”, “Cost-benefit”, “antisaccadic”) has allowed to reveal the contribution of different varieties of attention to saccade preparation and programming. It was established that the participation of attentional processes in saccadic eye movement control is implemented by fronto-parietal cortex networks and fronto-medio-thalamic, as well as thalamo-parietal, modulating systems of selective attention.

The authors have undertaken a study of alpha EEG dynamics associated with a task involving visual search of a relevant stimulus among several irrelevant stimuli. The control condition involved simple examination of several identical stimuli. Video-oculography was used to verify gaze direction associated with relevant stimulus search. The alpha EEG dynamics (desynchronisation) was considered as a correlate of attentional processes, and was shown to increase upon discovery of a relevant stimulus, compared to the levels recorded under control condition. The increase in desynchronisation during visual search is apparently associated with processes of stimulus relevance estimation (when voluntary modality-specific attention is involved). Even larger desynchronisation occurring in the frontal lobes supposedly reflects the significance of carrying out an adequate motor programme (when prefrontal attention mechanisms are involved).

The paper examines the problem of generation of colour names that are not associated with objects (e.g., blue, green) and the object-associated ones (e.g., lemon, rose).  Using multidimensional scaling of colour names, a universal semantic space for object-associated and non-object-associated colour names was obtained. Non-object-associated colour names provided a more stable configuration of stimulus points, compared to object-associated ones. The results suggest that generation of non-object-associated colour names is determined by psychophysiology of colour vision, whereas the generation of object-associated ones involves verbal experience.

The paper presents semantic spaces of emotion names obtained using multidimensional scaling in two samples: autistic adult subjects and healthy children of different age. The same experimental procedure, raw data processing methods, and the same unified approach to data presentation utilising posterior geometric models were used in both samples. Anomaly of the spatial semantic model associated with autism consisted in selective dropping of the “anger – fear” dimension, while the “pleasure – displeasure” dimension remained intact. In healthy children those two dimensions do not develop simultaneously: the primary “pleasure – displeasure” system serves as the basis for the “anger – fear” system, which develops later in ontogenesis. In contrast to the normal samples, in autistic subjects the reduced perception of emotion names in the “anger – fear” spectrum remains stable and is not associated with age. Neurophysiological origins of this phenomenon are discussed.

The research was done in a sample of 30 volunteers, including 18 with high hypnoability and 12 with low hypnoability. EEG was recorded using 19 standard leads in a calm wakeful state in a closed-eyes condition for 2 minutes. Spectral power and coherence were analysed. The results confirmed the existing data indicating increased spectral power in theta wave range in highly hypnoable subjects. Significantly higher coherence in theta and alpha ranges was discovered in highly hypnoable subjects, compared to those with low hypnoability. Conversely, spectral power and coherence of high-frequency waves (beta2 and gamma ranges) were lower in highly hypnoable subjects. Overall, the results suggest that highly hypnoable subjects tend towards imaginative thinking, whereas subjects with low hypnoability tend towards verbal and logical thinking.

The paper describes an original socio-cognitive model of leadership potential in organizational leaders based on theoretical analysis of the leadership phenomenon in management. The resulting model can be applied to design interventions aimed to development the leadership component in managerial activity of organizational leaders.