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Extreme Psychology and Personal Safety
2025. Vol. 2, no. 3, 66–81
doi:10.17759/epps.2025020304
ISSN: 3034-3666 (online)

Psychological training of Rosgvardia cadets for basic handling of weapons using virtual reality methods

 
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Abstract

Context and relevance. Training cadets to work with combat weapons is part of firearms training and is conducted in many departmental educational organizations. The initial use of combat weapons at the firing range is a significant stressor for students, affecting their emotional well-being; failures in handling weapons can reduce cadets' motivation to acquire the specialty. Therefore, finding new methods to reduce cadets' stress during their first interaction with combat weapons is highly relevant. Hypothesis. Conducting weapons interaction training in virtual reality improves the emotional state of cadets and increases their confidence in firearms training. Methods and materials. Methods: emotional state questionnaire “Thermometer Scale” by T.N. Berezina, SAN Questionnaire, “Self-assessment of emotional states” technique (authors: A. Wessman and D. Ricks), expert assessment of confidence in handling weapons; methods of mathematical statistics (Mann-Whitney U criterion, Wilcoxon T criterion). Subjects: 100 people aged 18 to 22, cadets of the Russian National Guard. All subjects were divided into 3 groups. Experimental group: 31 cadets, underwent preliminary training in virtual reality, and then participated in real shooting ranges at the training ground. Control group 1: 39 cadets, did not undergo preliminary training, immediately participated in the shooting ranges. Control group 2: 30 people, did not undergo training, did not participate in the shooting ranges. The experimental group underwent training in interaction with weapons in virtual reality, 1—3 lessons of 40 minutes, the VR simulator PavlovVR was used. Results. Immediately after the first shooting ranges with combat weapons, the cadets' anxiety index increases and there is a general depression of the emotional sphere; the number of both positive and negative emotions decreases, and the mood decreases at the trend level. Preliminary training in virtual reality leads to an improvement in the “Activity” and “Mood” indicators, there is an increase in the number of positive emotions and a decrease in negative ones. According to the results of the expert assessment, during the shooting ranges, 90% of the cadets in the experimental group demonstrated confidence in handling weapons (in relation to 59% of the control group). Conclusions. Conducting virtual reality training for Russian National Guard cadets can be an effective way to train them in firearms.

General Information

Keywords: legal psychology, virtual reality, psychological preparation of cadets, combat weapons, fire training, emotional state, self-confidence

Journal rubric: Technologies for Supporting Activities in Extreme Conditions

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/epps.2025020304

Acknowledgements. The authors thank the project manager T.N. Berezina for her assistance.

Received 24.07.2025

Revised 31.08.2025

Accepted

Published

For citation: Buzanov, K.E., Bogan, V.A. (2025). Psychological training of Rosgvardia cadets for basic handling of weapons using virtual reality methods. Extreme Psychology and Personal Safety, 2(3), 66–81. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/epps.2025020304

© Buzanov K.E., Bogan V.A., 2025

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

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Information About the Authors

Kirill E. Buzanov, graduate, Engineering and Economics Institute, National Research University “Moscow Power Engineering Institute” (INEI NRU MPEI), project employee, Moscow State University of psychology and education, Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3219-0043, e-mail: kirilla4@mail.ru

Vitaly A. Bogan, teacher-psychologist, Psychological Service of the City of Moscow, Moscow, Russian Federation, e-mail: zikolaev@yandex.ru

Contribution of the authors

Buzanov K.E. — preparation of VR simulators, writing of the article.

Bogan V.A. — idea, organization of the study, collection and processing of data.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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