On the Content of Social Psychology

1. Attitude to the Discussion: A discussion of social psychology was opened in the pages of Voprosy psikhologii. [Translated in this journal, 1963, 1 (3), 32-38. — Ed.] This event has both a good and bad side. The good side is that, finally, the central organ of Soviet psychology has begun to speak about social psychology. Soviet psychologists will at last state their positive word about social psychology. The discussion will permit a more profound definition of the content of social psychology and will attract the attention of the Soviet public to the phenomena of social psychology. The bad side is that while much is said about the content of social psychology, the most urgent problems for Soviet social psychology is not so much one of its content as of the development of concrete methods and concrete investigations. A. V. Baranov's article [5] presents an incorrect understanding of the history and contemporary state of social psychology in the USSR.     

Value Foundations of Conceptions of Activity in Psychology and Contemporary Methodology

The rebirth of Russian ethnic psychology became a reality in the 1980s. This was abetted by factors intrinsic to ethnopsychology and by purely external factors, in particular, the politics of glasnost, which accelerated the breakdown of ideological shibboleths such as "a single Soviet people," interethnic conflicts, which unexpectedly became a serious problem for the country, etc. But in this period as well, the inadequacy of methodological developments in ethnic psychology also became obvious after having been one of the main hindrances to the development of this science.     

Current Soviet Psychology: A Systematic Review

Scope and Nature of the Present Report: This presentation is based on materials, primarily books, that have become available since the completion of the chapter on "Recent Developments in Soviet Psychology," published in Vol. 15 of the Annual Review of Psychology (Brozek, 1964, pp. 493-594). It is closer to a commentary on Soviet contributions that are of potential interest to American psychologists (a "bibliography with comment") than to a critical appraisal. The latter is the task of topical reviews and monographic presentations.     

Noted Figures in the History of Soviet Psychology: Pictures and Brief Biographies

Presented below are Soviet evaluations of the careers and contributions of noted figures in the history of Soviet psychology. The passages are drawn from the Pedagogical Dictionary [Pedagogicheskiy slovar'; Moscow: Acad. Pedag. Sci. RSFSR, 1960] and Pedagogical Encyclopedia [Pedagogicheskaya entziklopediya; Moscow: Acad. Pedag. Sci., 1964-1965], unless otherwise indicated.     

Administrative Reform: Psychology Faculties

At the end of 1965 an event occurred that will significantly affect the development of Soviet psychology: on December 6, 1965, V. N. Stoletov, Minister for Higher and Specialized Secondary Education of the RSFSR, issued a decree changing the Psychology Departments [otdeleniy] of Moscow and Leningrad Universities into separate Schools [fakul'tety] of Psychology, and establishing their structure. Students will be admitted to the Schools of Psychology beginning September 1, 1966.     

Guest Editor's Introduction : Bakhtin's Dialogic Pedagogy

This issue of Soviet Psychology opens with an extensive round-table discussion of the shortcomings of institutionalized psychology in light of the ongoing changes in Soviet society associated with Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness). The participants varied widely in their professional expertise, thus providing an unusually broad view of Soviet psychologists' public views about the problems facing their science.     

Editor's Note

As readers of Soviet Psychology are aware, it has been my policy over the years to present historical materials that are pertinent to understanding contemporary Soviet and world psychology. By and large, I have come upon such materials through discussions with Soviet scholars or by following the lead in relevant articles. When I first read Jaan Valsiner's lucid and informative book Developmental Psychology in the Soviet Union, I was immediately struck by the gold mine of materials to which Professor Valsiner had succeeded in gaining access. First among these was the work of Mikhail Basov, to whom Valsiner devoted an especially illuminating chapter in his monograph.     

The Problem of Child Development In Soviet Psychology

The problem of child development was central in Soviet psychology from the start. Interest in child development arose, on the one hand, in connection with the needs of pedagogical practice, for the reconstruction and improvement of the educational system for the new generation, and, on the other hand, as a result of the theoretical importance of the problem in working out a genetic approach to the study of the human mind [psikhika].     

Investigations on Educational and Child Psychology in Armenia

The leading Soviet psychology journal, Problems of Psychology, which is a major source of articles for this journal, regularly contains summary articles on research. Sometimes these reviews summarize a particular topic of research (e.g., programmed instruction); sometimes, as in the case of this article on Armenian psychology, the review covers research from a particular locale.     

The Paths of Development of Mathematical Psychology

This article reviews current developments in Soviet mathematical psychology and relates them to the very extensive extant literature in the United States. Programmatic articles of this kind are frequent in Soviet journals. They serve the dual purpose of highlighting current areas of concern and pointing to probable future areas of growth. Mathematics in large doses is now a standard part of the Soviet psychologist's education, and can be counted on to be an important feature of future psychological research.     

In Lieu of an Introduction

Nikolai Veresov: Tatiana, in this volume of our journal we publish a selection of your articles. Two of your other articles were published in Soviet Psychology in the 1970s. Introducing you to the readers of that journal, James Wertsch (1978) wrote: "The author … is one of the leading young investigators from the Luria school of neurolinguistics. She has studied and conducted extensive research both with Luria and with A. A. Leontiev, a major figure in Soviet psycholinguistics. Her analysis of inner speech as a mechanism in speech production reveals the strong influence that L. S. Vygotsky has had on Soviet psychology."¹ But first of all, I suppose our readers would be interested in learning more about your life, about events that preceded your scientific achievements. Could you please tell us briefly about your childhood and your family? How did your parents influence your course of life and your occupational choice? What did they do?     

Distribution of the Allelic Variants of Three Hordein-Coding Loci of Spring Barley in Russia

The distribution of alleles of the hordein-coding loci Hrd A, Hrd B, and Hrd Fwas investigated in 101 spring barley cultivars grown in 12 regions of Russia in 1999. It was demonstrated that the genetic structure of populations of these cultivars in the regions studied was affected by climatic factors, such as the average June temperature and average annual rainfall. The distribution patterns of the Hrdalleles in 25 agricultural provinces of the former Soviet Union and 12 regions of Russia were compared. The factor structure of genetic variability in the regions of barley cultivation in the former Soviet Union was found to differ from that in Russia. The change of the factor structure is likely to be related to diminishing the barley-production area under study and to the new administrative subdivision.     

The Crisis of "the Activity Approach" in Psychology and Possible Ways to Overcome It

Soviet reflex theorists, like their American S-R counterparts, face a major theoretical hurdle: it is one thing to assert that in principle complex human behavior may be accounted for by the appropriate combination of elementary conditioned reflex patterns; it is quite another to demonstrate the adequacy of such an explanation for any particular bit of complex behavior.     

What and How to Teach Future Teachers about Psychology: (A Few Principles and Problems of Psychology Instruction in Pedagogical Institutes)

The question of the content and methods to be used in a psychology course for future teachers must be decided in conjunction with what we take to be the main element in all our pedagogical work in the schools. The basic tasks in the field of national education have been posed by the new Program of the CPSU, and were given further concrete elaboration by the Central Committee Plenum of the CPSU in June of 1963; they can be successfully fulfilled only in the event that the main element of all our pedagogical efforts becomes the unity of upbringing [vospitanie] and instruction [obuchenie]. (1) The basic principle of Soviet pedagogy has always been that of upbringing. The job of upbringing remains important now primarily because communist consciousness is one of the most important conditions for the existence of the communist society. At the moment, however, the principle of upbringing has acquired a special, specific significance.     

Allelic diversity at gliadin-coding gene loci in cultivars of spring durum wheat (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Triticum durum</Emphasis> Desf.) Bred in Russia and former Soviet republics in the 20th century

Allelic diversity at five gliadin-coding gene loci has been studied in the most important spring durum wheat cultivars released in Russia and former Soviet republics in the 20th century (66 cultivars). Seven, 5, 8, 13, and 2 allelic variants of blocks of gliadin components controlled by the loci Gli-A1 ^d , Gli-B1 ^d , Gli-A2 ^d , Gli-B2 ^d , and Gli-B5 ^d , respectively, have been identified. The allelic diversity did not exhibit a consistent trend during the period studied. Nei’s diversity index (H) was 0.68 in the period from 1929 to 1950, increased to 0.70 in 1951–1980, and decreased to 0.58 after the year 1981. It has been found that the most frequent alleles in this collection are relatively rare in other regions of the world, which suggests unique ways of the formation of the diversity of durum wheat cultivars in the former Soviet Union. The efficiency of electrophoresis of storage proteins as a method for identification of durum wheat cultivars by the gliadin electrophoretic pattern has been estimated.     

Guest Editors' Introduction

The articles in this issue of Soviet Psychology span an unusually large range in terms of both history and current concerns.     

Editor's Note

This issue of Soviet Psychology — Vol. V, No. 1 — marks a new point in the development of English translations of Soviet psychology and psychiatry. Our original journal, published in Volumes I-IV as Soviet Psychology and Psychiatry, has given birth to two new journals: Soviet Psychology and Soviet Psychiatry. This will give International Arts and Sciences Press the opportunity to publish twice as much material from the fund of Soviet theory and research in the study of human behavior. The increased space in this new journal will allow for a broader coverage of Soviet work in psychology, as outlined in our last issue, the special Handbook of Soviet Psychology.     

Weissia papillosissima Laz. (Pottiaceae,Musci), a species new to the European bryophyte flora

Abstract

Weissia papillosissima Laz. is reported for the first time in Europe at different localities in the Iberian Peninsula. Previously it was known only from Tadhikistan in the former Soviet Union. The. species is described and illustrated and its distribution mapped and discussed.     

Publisher's Note

Beginning with the next volume (Vol. 27), Soviet Psychology will be published in six issues per volume on the basis of the calendar year.     

Introduction

In this and the next issue of Soviet Psychology, the international readership will have an opportunity to gain access to the work of Russian developmental psychologist Mikhail Basov, whose relevance for developmental psychology in Russia and, later, the Soviet Union has been profound (see Valsiner, 1988, chap. 5). Basov's intellectual development paralleled that of his contemporary Lev Vygotsky, whose ideas are currently increasingly mentioned in the international discourse of psychologists and educators, and whose synthesis of ideas from various sources in international social sciences continues to command respect (see Kozulin, 1990; van der Veer and Valsiner, 1991).