Awareness of Cognitive Deficits — in the New Issue of the Journal of Clinical and Special Psychology

The spring 2024 issue of the "Clinical and Special Psychology" journal (No. 1) has been published, featuring a diverse range of research topics.

The problems of special education are addressed in studies conducted with groups of children with developmental disorders. These studies focus on the emotional development, social skills, and motor activity of children of preschool and school age. For example, the research conducted by E.S. Ignatova, L.L. Ushakova, and E.V. Kusheva examined the empathy and emotional understanding of preschool children with typical development and those with mental retardation. The work of L.N. Molchanova and A.V. Buzovkina highlighted the challenges in developing coordination skills in primary school-aged children with hearing impairments. In a case study, J. Laubova, J. Li, M. Kucera, and J. Kantor demonstrated the effectiveness of sensorimotor music therapy (SMITh) for a child with speech delay.

In the works of T.Y. Sunko, P.V. Grishel and N.S. Lykova, the focus of the study was on the semantic proactive attitude towards the future among student youth. Their research showed the contribution of internal motivations (motivation for cognition, achievement and self-development) and subjective well-being to the formation of students' general academic orientation.

O. Kose and C. Atimur demonstrated the features of memorization and reflection on memorization processes, as well as control of these processes, in their empirical study, depending on the type of stimulus material and reward.

Complaints about cognitive functioning in patients with brain tumors were investigated in the work of M.Yu. Kaverina, Yu.V. Strunina, and O.A. Krotkova. These complaints are often manifested as "memory problems". The authors demonstrated the hemispheric specificity of these complaints, depending on the location of the compression in the temporal lobes of the brain.

In a study conducted by a large group of researchers from the National Medical Research Center for Hematology, representations of illness and its causes, self-perception, behavior during illness, and adherence to treatment were examined in patients with acute leukemia and lymphoma. The identified differences between these two groups of patients suggest that there may be different factors contributing to reduced adherence to treatment.

The problem of health-saving technologies and health education is addressed in the work of P. Khairat. Using the example of a podcast on gynecological diseases, she demonstrated its effectiveness as a new generation educational tool for raising women's awareness of health.

The section "Methods and Techniques" contains two papers. E.S. Oshchepkova, N.N. Kartushina and K.S. Tarasova present a new tool for assessing pragmatic competence in preschool and elementary school children, designed for parents and educators. In the work of the team of authors — I.V. Vachkov, E.I. Viryasova, O.S. Melentyeva, and M.A. Panfilova — practical methods and techniques are proposed for helping people who experience acute stress due to the information impact of a terrorist attack. The examples of clinical case descriptions show the distinctive features of acute stress and the manifestation of traumatic experiences in people who were not directly affected by a terrorist attack, but experienced the intense information impact of the terroristic threat.

The heading "Problems of Training Specialists" is presented in a historical review by E.E. Artemova, T.A. Basilova, Yu.E. Kurtanova, and T.A. Meshkova, dedicated to the formation and development of special psychology and education in Russia, its current state, and prospects. It shows that the problems formulated by V.I. Lubovsky at the beginning of special psychology do not lose relevance to this day.

At the end of the issue, there is a column titled "Wonderful People" dedicated to the anniversary of the renowned Russian neuropsychologist, Irina F. Roshchina. This article was written by N.V. Zvereva. The article presents the main highlights of I.F. Roshchina's personal and professional life, as well as a wide range of her scientific interests.