Psychological and Physiological Responses to Different Views through a Window in Apartment Complexes

Background and objective: With increasing land use intensity in urban areas, apartment buildings have been recognized as a typical type of urban residence. In this study, the impacts of different views through a window on health-related responses were investigated using psychological and physiological parameters. Methods: Photos of three different types of views taken on low (2-12 m), middle (28-35 m), and high (over 54 m) floors of dense apartment building areas were used as visual stimuli. Twenty-two healthy adults participated in the indoor experiment. Semantic differential methods and profile of mood states were used as psychological tools. Autonomic nervous activity was evaluated using blood pressures, pulse rate and heart rate variability (HRV). Results: Analytic data showed different characteristics of psychological and physiological outcomes in three different apartment views. In the analysis of psychological parameters, significantly negative responses to the views on middle floors were found in the subscales of tension-anxiety and anger-hostility, compared to low floors. Significantly positive scores in the subscale of vigor were found on low floors with abundance of vegetation and high floors with a view of the sky. A significantly increased value of HF was found on low floors (2,294.96 ± 169.79), compared to the middle(1,553.45 ± 84.66) and high (1,523.02 ± 70.49) floors. Despite the high scores in openness and vigor, high floor views showed significantly higher LF/HF values (1.83 ± 0.09), the indicator of the sympathetic nervous system, than low (1.30 ± 0.07) and middle floor views (1.34 ± 0.06), which might be related to the unconscious fear of heights. Conclusion: Views from different heights in an apartment building can affect the psychological states of residents. Green space through the window may have a positive health outcome by reducing physiological stress.

OPTIMIZING THE BEHAVIOR OF THE EMERGING ADULT BY DECREASING OF MALADAPTIVE MENTAL SCHEMAS

The article presents the research results on the effects of a program for optimizing emerging adults’ behavior in Romania. Behavior optimization was achieved by improving maladaptive mental schemas through group cognitive-behavioral interventions. The research was conducted in two stages. The research's initial stage consisted of an investigation of a group of 212 young people (19-30 years old) belonging to the NEET category (Not in Education, Employment, or Training). The psychological tools assessed the personality, the level of manifestation of cognitive and emotional maladaptive schemas, Personal Autonomy, and Self Efficacy. The second stage of the research involved 48 NEET young people who participated in a personal development program to optimize behavior for a period of 18 months. Participants experienced improvements in dysfunctional mental schemas, reported increases in personal autonomy and flexibility, and adaptive changes in personality structure. This research is a first in Romania and joins the efforts to improve the psycho-social condition of young NEETs in Romania (currently at 16.8%).

Znaczenie academic resilience w czasach pandemicznych. Diagnoza i możliwości wsparcia uczniów

The article is devoted to the phenomenon of resilience in the educational area, which is defined as an increased probability of success in school, despite experiencing adversities caused by the characteristics of the individual, his living conditions and experiences. The academic resilience construct was used, referring to the convention of the authors of the PISA/OECD study, and placed in the current context of the pandemic threat experience. In order to characterise the students belonging to the academic resilience group, two research questions were formulated: What is the scope of the phenomenon of academic resilience? and What individual and contextual factors are specific to this group of students? The analyses were performed on panel data from a nationwide project “Paths of educational development of young people – post-secondary schools”, in which a number of psychological tools and questionnaires examining the socio-educational functioning of students were used. Comparative analyses of the means for the distinguished group against the three reference groups show similarities and differences of intellectual and social functioning as well as attitudes, relationships, anti-social and anti-school behaviour, and leisure activities. The obtained picture of academic resilient students is not unequivocal, but thanks to the study it acquires a more specific character. Knowledge about these students can allow for the preparation of effective compensation measures in education, support the functioning of children from low-status families, and increase the efficiency of functioning during difficult experiences, such as the recently experienced school closures and the introduction of distance learning.

Departmental evaluation of the effectiveness of psychological work with officials of the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation

The article discusses the organizational principles of the construction of psychological work in the Department of Internal Affairs, as a desirable and promising practical field. As you know, psychological work is one of the demanded and dynamically developing types of moral and psychological support for the activities of the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation. The successful implementation in the process of working with personnel of the functions of organizing and carrying out psychological work is inextricably linked with the development of criteria for evaluating the activities of psychologists. In this regard, the proposed article analyzes the criteria and indicators for assessing the effectiveness of psychological work, identifies their main groups. It should be understood that the assessment of psychological work is closely related to accounting. Well-organized accounting largely ensures the objectivity of the assessment, and the presence of a reasonably chosen assessment criterion allows you to determine the necessary accounting indicators. Not being able to correctly assess the real results of psychological work units in the formation and development of professionally important personal qualities of employees, psychological stability and readiness to effectively perform operational and service tasks, being content with estimates reflecting only the external indicators of this activity, it is impossible to fully judge the effectiveness of functioning psychologists. The authors emphasize the importance of taking into account the objects of assessment, which implies the obligatory differentiation of criteria for assessing the development of professionally important personal qualities and the effectiveness of specific areas and types of activities of psychologists. Through the prism of the results of psychological work in 2020, the previously identified criteria and indicators are analyzed. The impact of the psychological tools used is discussed. The most important scientific research in the field of work psychology, conducted in 2020, is highlighted.

Development and validation of the Internet Locus of Control Scale (I-LOC)

No psychological tools have yet been developed to assess the locus of control that people experience when in the Internet environment. In a first study, we developed the Internet Locus of Control (I-LOC) Scale and validated it through a sample of 743 participants. The I-LOC consisted of 18 items revolving around two dimensions, Internal and External I-LOC, and proved to have satisfactory psychometric properties. A second study was conducted on a 219-people sample to externally validate the I-LOC Scale through two Internet-related constructs assessing online self-efficacy, comparing its sensitivity to that of the Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale (LCS). The I-LOC Scale was significantly correlated with both the measures of Internet-related self-efficacy, while the LCS correlations with Internet Self-efficacy Scale (ISS) and Social Network Confidence Scale (SNC) were weaker or non-existent. Thus, I-LOC can be considered as characterized by a higher specificity for the online context with respect to LCS.

CREATIVE RESOURCE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TOOLS «PSYCHO-GEOMETRICS COLOUR ART CONSTRUCTOR»

Due to constant economic, political, educational changes, constant traumatic situations, environmental shocks, everyone falls under the influence of stressors, in non-standard situations that require quick, original solutions. This can be achieved by realizing the creative potential of each individual, maintaining the mental and physical health of a person through a resource of art practices. Therefore, the purpose of the article is to reveal the creative resource of psychological tools. Based on the theoretical analysis of literature sources, surveys of participants in the educational process (research methods), personal experience, competencies formed by the results of advanced training during international and national scientific and practical conferences, based on the genetic and creative approach of Acad. S.D. Maksymenko, we have developed a project of a portable laboratory of creativity «Psychogeometric color art constructor», which contains a set of psychological tools that can be used for psychodiagnostic, corrective, developmental purposes, as well as to optimize mental states. Results: the portable laboratory of creativity has the following advantages: mobility of sets of figures, backgrounds, projective touch «landscape ecodisplays». Psychogeometric art designer can be easily transferred, used, even without a specially equipped cabinet; allows participants to realize their creative potential, create original "creative products"; can be used for psychodiagnostic, corrective, developmental purposes; helps to optimize the mental state of man, can provide psychological relief, used to preserve, strengthen, psychological health, increase stress resistance. We are convinced that art practices should be used in work with both children and adults, because they are based on creativity. We conducted research to reveal the psychological and pedagogical resources of art practices in the modernized educational space. As a result, it was concluded that art tools can be actively used in the educational environment for development purposes to help optimize the mental state of participants in the educational process.

Aviation Psychology – Applied Methods and Techniques

This collection of chapters on the latest methods and tools for applied research in aviation psychology guides the diverse range of professionals working within aviation on how to adapt flexibly to the continuously evolving requirements of the aeronautical landscape. Experts from the industry and academia explore selected applications, ranging from aviation system engineering to bridging the gap between research and industrialization, safety culture, training and examination. Psychological tools are explored, including designing biocybernetic adaptive systems, predictive automation, and support for designing the human role in future human–machine teaming concepts. Special chapters are dedicated to spatial disorientation, reactivity, stress, eye-tracking, electrodermal and cardiac assessment under the influence of G forces. This is essential reading for aviation psychologists, human factors practitioners, engineers, designers, operational specialists, students and researchers in academia, industry, and government. The practitioners and researchers working in other safety critical domains (e.g., medicine, automotive) will also find the handbook valuable.

The study about developing methodology of investigation of оrientation on communicative activity

Проблема коммуникативной активности человека становится чрезвычайно актуальной в связи с трансформацией прежних констант общения в современных условиях меняющегося мира; возникает потребность в создании психологического инструментария для изучения этой активности. В статье представлены результаты авторской разработки методики изучения направленности коммуникативной активности, ее теоретический и психометрический анализ. Теоретической предпосылкой создания методики изучения направленности коммуникативной активности является концептуальное представление о функциях человека как субъекта общения (В.Н. Панферов). Исходными теоретическими положениями послужили также идеи активности человека, заложенные в концепции интегральной индивидуальности (В.С. Мерлин); полифонии активности в концепции метаиндивидуального мира (Л.Я. Дорфман); интегративный подход к коммуникативной активности (С.А. Васюра). Методика выявляеткоммуникативную, информационную, когнитивную, эмотивную, конативную, креативную направленность активности человека, реализующуюся в непосредственном и Интернет-общении. На выборке 418 человек 17 - 25 лет (128 юношей, 290 девушек) обсуждены результаты валидизации методики. Доказано, что методика обладает прогностической ценностью при изучении круга явлений, относящихся к непосредственному и опосредованному (виртуальному) общению, а также к коммуникативному потенциалу личности. Методика изучения направленности коммуникативной активности может применяться в научных и прикладных исследованиях. The problem of a person's communicative activity becomes urgent due to the transformation of previous communication constants in the current conditions of the changing world, there is a need for development of psychological tools for this activity. The article contains results of developing methodology of investigation of оrientation on communicative activity, its theoretical and psychometric analysis. The theoretical premise of the methodology is the conceptual idea of human's functions as a subject of communication (V.N. Panferov). The ideas of human's activity that is a part of integrated individuality concept (V.S. Merlin), polyphony of activity in the concept of metainividual world (L.Ya. Dorfman), integrative approach to communicative activity (S.A. Vasyura) have become the underlying theory. The methodology examines communicative, informational, cognitive, emotive, conative, creative оrientation on a person's activity that implements in the direct Internet-communication. Results of methodology's validation are discussed on a sample of 418 people 17 - 25 aged (128 males, 290 females). The research has a predictive value in examining a range of features referring to both direct and indirect (virtual) communication, as well as a person's communicative potential. This study can be used in scientific and applied researches.