Introduction To B. M. Kedrov, On The Question of The Psychology of Scientific Creativity

The article by Kedrov presented here will be of great interest to students of problem solving and creativity, particularly because of the unparalleled data it contains. D. I. Mendeleev's discovery of the periodic table was one of the great advances in chemistry in the 19th century. Mendeleev's notebooks and memoranda, preserved in the archives of Leningrad University, contain a minute and detailed account of the crucial step of that discovery, providing us with precise information about the successive stages through which the discovery proceeded, and the progressive improvement in his representation and formulation of it.     

Creativity and Psychology

For a long time psychology has had a monopoly on the study of creativity. In the past few years it has become clear, however, that the means of psychology alone are not sufficient to meet the demands of contemporary practice, particularly the need to control creativity (the growth in the creative potential of scientists, inventors, etc.). Studies over a broad front are necessary, based on the principle of interdisciplinarity; this is now recognized by most researchers actively concerned with the problems of creativity. This consensus is, to a considerable degree, attributable to realization of the complexity of the problem and the impossibility of making any effective progress in it without drawing on other sciences. Nonetheless, such a broad-front approach has its difficulties. Studies of this kind must be organized in a specific way and have their own strategy.     

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.     

On Cultural Psychology

Acts of Meaning . Jerome Bruner. Jerusalem-Harvard Lectures. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990. 200 pp. $19.95 (cloth).
Cultural Psychology: Essays on Comparative Human Development . James W. Stigler, Richard A. Shweder , and Gilbert Herdt , eds. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990. 636 pp. $59.50 (cloth), $19.95 (paper).
Human Behavior in Global Perspective: An Introduction to Cross-Cultural Psychology . Marshall H. Segall, Pierre R. Dasen, John W. Berry , and Ype H. Poortinga. Pergamon General Psychology Series, 160. New York: Pergamon Press. 458 pp. $48.50 (cloth), $24.50 (paper).     

On the Problem of Man in Psychology

Very few works in our literature have been devoted to human ethology and social ethology, particularly of children. Psychological-pedagogical approaches predominate; these are based on an assessment of verbal information and on the results of experimental or educational inputs. But such studies should rest on knowledge of the distinctive features of a person's immediate behavior, and these can be ascertained solely through objective study, in which every directed input is precluded.     

On the Subject Matter of Social Psychology

Psychology and sociology (in that they have to do with social consciousness) study general problems of human consciousness. Both sciences investigate, in the final analysis, the same thing, inasmuch as all human consciousness is socially conditioned, and this is the meaning of all consciousness of the social. Soviet psychology has long since adopted this thesis.     

On Medical Psychology for Physicians

"The psychological influence of the doctor plays a role of the very highest importance in the treatment of all diseases, and the ability to make use of psychological factors in therapy has always been one of the outstanding qualities of notable physicians of all times."     

On the Question of Self-Organization of Population Dynamics on Earth

Biophysics - A new mathematical model based on the predator–prey interactions has been proposed. Strictly analytical solution has been found for a system of nonlinear differential equations...     

On the Question of the Difference between Artificial and Natural Intelligence

Biophysics - Abstract—The question occurs of whether a cybernetic system that functions on the basis of algorithms can simulate, at least in principle, the behavior of natural intelligence...     

Question 5: On the Chemical Reality of the RNA World

The discovery of catalytic RNA has revolutionised modern molecular biology and bears important implications for the origin of Life research. Catalytic RNA, in particular self-replicating RNA, prompted the hypothesis of an early “RNA world” where RNA molecules played all major roles such information storage and catalysis. The actual role of RNA as primary actor in the origin of life has been under debate for a long time, with a particular emphasis on possible pathways to the prebiotic synthesis of mononucleotides; their polymerization and the possibility of spontaneous emergence of catalytic RNAs synthesised under plausible prebiotic conditions. However, little emphasis has been put on the chemical reality of an RNA world; in particular concerning the chemical constrains that such scenario should have met to be feasible. This paper intends to address those concerns with regard to the achievement of high local RNA molecules concentration and the aetiology of unique sequence under plausible prebiotic conditions. Presented at: International School of Complexity – 4th Course: Basic Questions on the Origins of Life; “Ettore Majorana” Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture, Erice, Italy, 1–6 October 2006.     

On the Question of Heritage and Hierarchy in British Social Anthropology

On Durkheim's Elementary Forms of Religious Life. N. J. Allen. W. S. F. Pickering. and W. Watts Miller. eds. New York: Routledge, 1998. 224 pp.
Marcel Mauss:. Centenary Tribute. Wendy James and N. J. Allen. eds. New York: Berghahn Press, 1998. 260 pp.
Taboo, Truth, and Religion: Franz Baermann Steiner Selected Writings, vol. 1. Jeremy Adler and Richard Fardon. eds. New York: Berghahn Books, 1999. 279 pp.
Orientpolitik, Value, and Civilisation: Franz Baermann Steiner Selected Writings, vol. 2. Jeremy Adler and Richard Fardon. eds. New York: Berghahn Books, 1999. 296 pp.     

On The History of Soviet Military Psychology

Military psychology is a branch of psychology, which is in addition included among the military sciences. In it the psychological features of different kinds of military and, above all, of combat activity are studied in relation to social and historical conditions, military technology, personal qualities of the fighting men, and methods of military and political preparation. The general purpose of Soviet military psychology is to discover principles of human mental activity under the conditions of combat and of training for combat, and to use these principles for raising the fighting capacity of the Soviet armed forces.