http://psy-journal.hse.ru en-us Copyright 2025 Mon, 15 Dec 2025 09:15:27 +0300 https://psy-journal.hse.ru/en/2025-22-4/1110856650.html https://psy-journal.hse.ru/en/2025-22-4/1110856692.html The difficulty of achieving insight is usually explained by a number of factors. According to modern scientific theories, the difficulty is determined by perceptual and procedural factors, as well as the factor of the solver's motor activity, which can contribute to solving problems. The main goal of this work is to study the role of motor activity in solving the insight nine-dot problem. In this study, we provoke subjects to solve the nine-dot problem from a certain side (left or right). The motor activity embodies the principle of solving the problem from the left or from the right side. We assume that provoking a solution from the left side will lead to a faster representation change and effective problem solving, because it will reduce the problem space and provoke the most frequent and simple solution from the left dot. To activate motor activity, we have developed tasks similar to Schulte tables. We demonstrated that the motor activity, provoking a solution from a certain side, contributes to an increase in the number of trials made from that side. There were no significant differences in the number of participants who solved the main problem or in the number of trials that went outside the square between the groups with provocation from the right or the left side. Thus, motor activity influences the process of solving the nine-dot problem; however, provocation from the left side does not contribute to overcoming the sources of difficulty, which contradicts our hypothesis. https://psy-journal.hse.ru/en/2025-22-4/1110856725.html This study builds upon the theoretical framework proposed by V.M. Allakhverdov, which posits that the contents of consciousness emerge from the dynamic interaction between processes of identification and differentiation: a conscious (positive) meaning is highlighted against a background of rejected (negative) meanings, which nonetheless remain active. Within the proposed model, the concept of a "window of awareness" is introduced, defined as a range of semantic and perceptual integration within which compatible elements may be combined into a coherent conscious representation. The central hypothesis under investigation is that the presence of unconscious competing alternatives narrows this window of awareness, whereas their conscious recognition expands it. This hypothesis was tested in two experiments designed to assess the range of semantic (Experiment 1) and perceptual (Experiment 2) integration. In both experiments, ambiguous figures were employed as stimuli. In Experiment 1, when one meaning of an ambiguous figure remained unconscious, participants produced fewer associations, and those associations were semantically more closely related compared to unambiguous analogues of the same images. Conversely, when both meanings of an ambiguous figure were consciously perceived, the number of associations increased, while their semantic similarity decreased. In Experiment 2, the conscious perception of both interpretations of an ambiguous figure led to greater variability in participants’ subjective assessments of the images’ contour color. The obtained results do not fit classical models of inhibition, as they imply the continued activity of suppressed meanings, which still influence cognitive processing by determining the breadth of the window of awareness. However, these effects are consistent with models emphasizing the interaction between bottom-up and top-down processes: the narrowing of the window of awareness occurs when top-down control, aiming to stabilize the dominant interpretation, guides bottom-up processing toward features that confirm it. As a result of such refinement, the representation of the selected meaning becomes more specific and semantically constrained. https://psy-journal.hse.ru/en/2025-22-4/1110856752.html The negative compatibility effect (hereinafter referred to as NCE) manifests itself in a slowed response to a target stimulus that is preceded by a masked prime matching the target or implying the same response. This effect occurs at specific stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) between the prime and target (100–200 ms) in tasks requiring rapid responses to simple stimuli, such as right- or left-pointing arrows. Factors promoting the NCE include high response readiness, strong stimulus-response associations, and prolonged training. The dominant theoretical account attributes this effect to automatic motor inhibition. In the present study, the NCE was reproduced both in a task requiring the same motor response for all stimuli and under conditions that disrupted automatic stimulus-response associations—specifically, when the requirement to respond in each trial (trial type: Go/NoGo) was determined by a combination of two parameters. In the first experiment, upon the appearance of a target arrow, participants had to press a key as quickly as possible, regardless of the arrow's direction. Subsequently, a word was presented that could either match or mismatch the arrow's direction, and participants were required to indicate this correspondence. In the second experiment, black left- and right-pointing arrows served as masked primes, while orange and blue arrows were used as target stimuli. Participants had to respond either to right-pointing orange arrows and left-pointing blue arrows, or to the opposite pairing. In both experiments, reaction times were longer when the prime and target arrow directions matched. The obtained results support non-motor models of the NCE. https://psy-journal.hse.ru/en/2025-22-4/1110856853.html Control of experimental impact in cognitive and neuroscience studies is complicated by the mixed cognitive and affective effects of stimuli from different emotional image databases. One effective solution to this problem is to use semantically neutral images. We created a new database of colored abstract images, the AFIS, with annotations for emotional valence, complexity, average brightness, pixel brightness variance, and contrast. To validate these annotations, we employed several methods: a pre-trained random forest model to estimate emotional valence; ResNet50 and VGG19 convolutional neural networks to estimate the probability of semantic classification; and calculations of two-dimensional and three-dimensional fractal dimensions, as well as Lempel-Ziv complexity, to assess overall image complexity. Our results indicate that different valence classes are distinguished by their color palette composition. Furthermore, the brightness and contrast characteristics of the images contribute to the valence of the AFIS stimulus set. The fractal images included in the database are sufficiently abstract and semantically independent. The next stage of this work involves collecting expert ratings of the stimuli's emotional characteristics (valence and activation parameters) and assessments of their complexity. The Affective Fractal Image System addresses a gap in stimulus databases by providing affective norms for color palettes alongside varied complexity parameters. The AFIS database can be used to monitor subjects' levels of activation or emotional states and is applicable in studies of perception, memory, and thinking. https://psy-journal.hse.ru/en/2025-22-4/1110857040.html The objective of this study was to examine the balance between emotional reactivity and effortful control across different developmental stages from early childhood to adolescence. Participants included primary caregivers of 2,316 children (52% girls) aged 2 to 17 years (M = 8.5, SD = 3.0). The study used abbreviated Russian versions, validated by the authors, of internationally recognized parental questionnaires: the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) for preschoolers, the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire (TMCQ) for primary school children, and the modified Early Adolescence Temperament Questionnaire-Revised (EATQ-R) for adolescents. The results indicated that parents rated their children as showing higher levels of effortful control than emotional reactivity, and higher levels of positive emotionality than negative emotionality. The predominance of effortful control over emotional reactivity was significantly greater in girls than in boys. Among the components of effortful control, inhibitory control was higher than both attention control and activation control after school entry; boys showed a greater predominance of inhibitory control over activation control compared to girls. Parents rated primary school children as having higher levels of activation control than attention control, whereas adolescents showed the opposite pattern. Gender and age differences were relatively small, accounting for less than 2% of the variance in the balance between reactive and regulatory traits. The obtained results can be used to design educational and preventive programs that account for individual differences in typical and atypical development throughout childhood and adolescence. https://psy-journal.hse.ru/en/2025-22-4/1110857066.html The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the personality characteristics of football players and their in-match effectiveness as well as their level of preparedness for the season. Characteristics of motivation and personality potential (conceptualized as self-regulation potential) were examined as possible psychological predictors of success in football. The following battery of techniques was used: the Universal Perceived Locus of Causality scale (UPLOC; Sheldon, Suchkov et al., 2015); the "Flow in Professional Activity" scale (Leontiev, 2015); the Activity-Related Experiences Assessment technique (AREA; Leontiev, 2015); the General Self-Efficacy scale (Schwarzer, Jerusalem, & Romek, 1996); the Self-Control Test (Gordeeva, Osin et al., 2016); a brief version of the Hardiness Survey (Leontiev & Rasskazova, 2006); and a quantitative measure of performance derived from M. Luscher's eight-color test (Luscher, 2007) using the formula for the coefficient of autonomic tone (Shiposh, 1980). The outcome variables consisted of expert coach assessments, player self-assessments, and various objective statistical indicators of player success and effectiveness during the current season. The participants were 67 professional football players aged 18 to 21. The study identified several predictors of player success: negative predictors, which included extrinsic motivation and the commitment component of hardiness, and positive predictors, including intrinsic motivation, self-control, players' experience of pleasure in their free time, and an indicator of psychophysiological performance. The results indicate that the personality characteristics of athletes play a significant role in realizing their abilities and achieving results, which underscores the necessity of incorporating a psychological component into training programs for football players preparing for competitions. https://psy-journal.hse.ru/en/2025-22-4/1110857147.html This article examines the role of M.G. Yaroshevsky in advancing the study of conceptual foundations in psychological science. The purpose of this research was to elucidate Yaroshevsky's views on the problem of psychological categories and their historical and methodological significance. The study employed comparative-historical and bibliographic methods, alongside categorical analysis. It is argued that the scholar considered a structured system of categories to be the foundation of a research program. The analysis demonstrates that he deemed it essential to distinguish between the invariant and variable conceptual content of psychology. Yaroshevsky proposed the categorical approach as a promising direction for the history and methodology of psychology. Furthermore, he identified three types of reductionism within psychological science: disciplinary (reducing psychological concepts to biological or sociological ones), categorical (attempting to reduce all psychological concepts to a single category), and level-based (reducing complex mental phenomena to elementary components). Through historical-psychological research, Yaroshevsky documented instances of categorical reductionism in attempts to construct conceptual systems for psychoanalysis, behaviorism, Gestalt psychology, role theory, and existential psychology. In light of these unsuccessful attempts, he—together with A.V. Petrovsky and V.A. Petrovsky—proposed two versions of a categorical system for psychology (in 1999 and 2003), comprising 24 and 35 concepts, respectively. In conclusion, the large-scale, three-decade development of the problem of psychological concepts undertaken by M.G. Yaroshevsky establishes him as one of the foremost Russian scholars in this field, contributing significantly during both the Soviet and post-Soviet periods of Russian psychology. https://psy-journal.hse.ru/en/2025-22-4/1110857223.html The construct of hostile attribution bias—a general a priori tendency to process social signals as hostile — is becoming increasingly prominent in research on aggressive behavior. Contemporary models of hostile bias allow for a detailed analysis of aggressive behavior factors, yet they share a significant drawback: they fail to account for the role of personality traits in hostile bias processes. Incorporating personality dispositions — particularly hostility — as a key predictor of hostile bias appears promising. The main objective of this study is to empirically substantiate the inclusion of personality dispositions (i.e., dispositional hostility) as predictors of hostile bias. The study involved 224 participants aged 18 to 29 years (M = 21.7, SD = 2.7; 61% female). The measures included the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire and a Hostile Bias Scale developed from a Modified Hostility Scale (G.D. Emelin, S.N. Enikolopov). The Hostile Bias Scale proved to be a reliable and valid psychometric instrument. Path analysis of hostility, hostile bias, and physical aggression confirmed that hostility is a significant direct predictor of hostile bias and an indirect predictor of physical aggression. In turn, hostile bias emerged as a significant direct predictor of physical aggression. These findings can inform the development of interventions targeting aggressive behavior. Using dispositional hostility as an example, the study demonstrates that personality traits can serve as significant predictors influencing hostile bias processes. https://psy-journal.hse.ru/en/2025-22-4/1110857317.html This study continued a project aiming to empirically investigate the plurilingual creativity paradigm, which examines how linguistic and cultural diversity stimulate creative behavior. Particular attention was paid to how plurilingualism and intercultural competence jointly influence the relationship between general motivation and motivation for creativity. The online study included 261 participants representing various linguistic and cultural communities. It utilized scales to assess plurilingualism (number of languages and overall proficiency), intercultural competence (Integrative Intercultural Competence Questionnaire), general motivational characteristics (Renzulli Motivation Scale), and motivation for creativity (Creativity Motivation Scale). To test hypotheses regarding the influence of these factors, regression analysis using a multiple moderation model was conducted. The results revealed a significant three-way interaction: the number of languages and the absence of ethnocentrism jointly moderate the contribution of general motivation to motivation for creativity. It was found that plurilingualism enhances motivation for creativity in individuals with low general motivation but high openness to cultural diversity, demonstrating the stimulating effect of linguistic and cultural flexibility. The obtained data emphasize the importance of intercultural attitudes that help transform linguistic diversity into a source of creative activity. They show that supporting multicultural interaction and foreign language learning can be effective means of developing creative motivation, especially among individuals with moderate or low levels of general motivation. Thus, the results confirm the validity of the plurilingual creativity paradigm and demonstrate that creative activity is formed through the dynamic interaction of motivational, linguistic, and intercultural factors. https://psy-journal.hse.ru/en/2025-22-4/1110857380.html This study develops and evaluates deep learning methods for automated creativity assessment in nonverbal tests, focusing on Form B of K. Urban’s Test of Creative Thinking — Drawing Production (TCT-DP). Seven pretrained architectures — MobileNet V2, AlexNet, ResNet-18, ViT, EfficientNet V2, ResNeXt-101, and DenseNet-121 — were fine-tuned to predict total creativity scores based on drawings from 1,138 participants aged 6–20 years. The dataset was split into training (70%), validation (15%), and test (15%) sets, with images resized to 1240 × 1600 pixels and subjected to random augmentations (flips, rotations, contrast, and saturation adjustments), followed by normalization using ImageNet statistics. ResNet-18 achieved the highest prediction accuracy (R² = .69) when excluding the Speed criterion, comparable to results for Form A, despite a smaller dataset and a narrower score range. The mean absolute error was 0.52 points (SD = 4.94), with prediction errors not exceeding 5 points in 70% of cases. To interpret model decisions, the explainable AI method Grad-CAM was applied, generating heatmaps based on gradients from the final convolutional layer. Qualitative analysis revealed that the model highlighted completed shapes, connecting lines, elements extending beyond the frame, and title annotations, generally aligning with expert TCT-DP criteria. However, visual biases were identified: repetitive elements and heavy shading inflated scores, while some boundary-breaking elements were overlooked, leading to underestimations. These findings underscore the potential of deep learning and explainable AI in creativity diagnostics, while highlighting limitations. Future research should explore specialized test designs and advanced XAI methods to further refine automated evaluation. https://psy-journal.hse.ru/en/2025-22-4/1110857539.html This review systematizes the findings of contemporary research on decision-making in various forms of psychopathology. The analysis is based on a three-stage model of decision-making, which includes options generation, selecting the most advantageous option, and implementing the chosen decision. Functional impairment in patients' important life domains is considered from the perspective of dysregulation in the cognitive mechanisms of everyday decision-making at one or more of these stages. Thus, in some disorders, patients generate only a limited range of options (as in cognitive impairments or depression), while in others the number of options is excessive (as in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or hypomania) or the options are peculiar (as in schizophrenia). At the stage of competitive option selection, some patients overestimate even minor risks (as in anxiety and depressive disorders), while others may be unreasonably confident in their predictions (as in mania, dementia, and psychoses). Finally, at the implementation stage, some patients may procrastinate, forget the decision, or revert to habitual behaviors (as in substance or gambling addictions), while others may initiate action prematurely (as in impulse control disorders). Such imbalances can occur occasionally in neurotypical individuals; however, in psychopathology they are persistent and inflexible. Further research into decision-making mechanisms will contribute to developing personalized methods of cognitive-behavioral therapy for mental disorders and relapse prevention. https://psy-journal.hse.ru/en/2025-22-4/1110878121.html Time pressure has become an integral part of modern life. It affects various spheres of activity and often complicates adaptation to change. In this regard, the study of coping strategies under time constraints is of particular relevance. This study aims to provide an analytical review of contemporary scientific approaches to researching coping strategies in the context of time pressure, based on articles from the Scopus and PubMed databases published between 2015 and 2025. The review was conducted following the PRISMA methodology. A database search using the keywords "time pressure" and "coping" identified 148 articles (after removing duplicates). The subsequent analysis focused on identifying a meaningful connection between coping and time pressure in both the abstract and the full text of each article. Ultimately, 41 articles were selected for in-depth review. The analysis identified the following research directions framing the relationship between time pressure and coping: time pressure as 1) a stressor determining the choice of coping strategies; 2) a component of organizational stress that influences coping; 3) a stress factor modified by personal coping resources; 4) a subject of cognitive appraisal within the stress process; and 5) a determinant of the cognitive processes underlying coping. The findings highlight the need for deeper investigation into how time pressure affects the perception of difficult life situations and subsequent coping efforts. This research has practical implications for the development of educational programs, professional training, and psychological support services.