Perm University Herald. Philosophy. Psychology. Sociology

Personal competitiveness of cyber gamers in the context of their gaming and psychological characteristics

Denis F. Dautov — 2025-11-04

The study aims to determine the dependence of cyber gamers’ competitiveness on their psychological characteristics as well as to establish the relationship between competitiveness and the type of gaming activity. A comprehensive diagnostic toolkit was applied to a sample of 75 professional esports athletes systematically training and playing for the Donstu Esports center, who were stratified by in-game rating (MMR), gaming experience, and preferred roles. The toolkit included: the Express Diagnostics of Personal Competitiveness (A.G. Gavrilova), the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior (FIRO-B) questionnaire (W. Schutz), the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations scale (S. Norman et al., as adapted by T.L. Kryukova), the Differential Test of Reflection (D.A. Leontiev et al.), the Emotional Orientation of Personality questionnaire (B.I. Dodonov), and a questionnaire developed by the authors that covers the specifics of gaming activity. Data were collected remotely via Google Forms. Statistical processing with the use of a stepwise multiple regression analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, and the Kruskal-Wallis test has revealed that a high level of competitiveness is associated with introspection, an acquisitive orientation, and low emotional involvement in stressful situations among cyber gamers. Conversely, low competitiveness correlates with altruism, aesthetic preferences, and a tendency to externalize responsibility. The empirical study has identified differences in the contribution of factors influencing personal competitiveness. Primary emphasis is placed on self-reflection capability and obstacles such as altruism. Players with high competitiveness often demonstrate a lack of self-criticism and prefer solo play, which conflicts with their leadership aspirations. One of the most significant results is the established tendency among high-ranking players toward solo play, even when they aspire to leadership positions. The findings can be used to develop training and psycho-correctional programs aimed at enhancing the effectiveness and adaptability of esports athletes, as well as in the practical work of esports psychologists. The research highlights the potential of cybergaming activity for studying psychological phenomena in youth.

A review of studies examining the effects of artificial intelligence technologies on the cognitive abilities of preschool children

Elena Yu. Sentemova — 2025-11-04

Modern technologies based on artificial intelligence (AI), including voice virtual assistants, adaptive games with AI elements, media content created by generative algorithms, recommendation algorithms on video platforms all have become an integral component of the environment in which modern children grow and develop. Such forms of interaction have a stimulating effect on brain neuroplasticity, contributing to the activation of cognitive processes. At the same time, with an uncontrolled and excessive use of AI technologies, negative changes are possible. Thus, research into the influence of various forms of AI on cognitive abilities in preschool children is of scientific relevance. The study is based on a review of 14 full-text articles for the period 2020-2025. The research area includes 5 topics: the impact of AI on the cognitive development of preschoolers, indirect connection with executive functions, the impact of AI on speech development, comparison of interactions with and without AI, and assessment of the risks of using AI. The results obtained indicate that voice virtual assistants demonstrate a positive effect on the speech development in preschoolers when used under control on the part of adults, but often make errors when recognizing speech. AI-based gaming technologies are characterized by a dual impact: on the one hand, they contribute to positive changes in the cognitive development of children, on the other hand, they also require targeted adult participation, this providing and ensuring interpretation, support, and adaptation of the gameplay. Media content generated by AI algorithms is associated with a number of potential risks, including sensory overload, decreased concentration, and impaired thinking. The conclusions emphasize the need for a balanced approach that includes adult control. Further longitudinal studies are needed to assess the long-term impact of AI. The paper emphasizes the importance of developing ethical and legal standards to protect children’s data and ensure their psychological well-being. The results may be useful for psychologists working with preschool children and their parents, clinical psychologists and neuropsychologists involved in the diagnosis and correction of possible cognitive development disorders associated with the digital environment.

The impact of digitalization on cognitive processes: a review of causes and consequences

Natalia A. Lyz’ — 2025-11-04

The abundance of information and stimuli, multitasking, the availability of content and artificial intelligence services as a consequence of digitalization — all this affects human interaction with information and cognitive processes, including attention, memory, thinking, and decision-making. The purpose of the article is to describe the main causes and cognitive effects that lead to reduction in the productivity of human cognitive activity in a digital environment. Based on an analysis of foreign studies, the paper describes the features of a modern person’s cognitive activity: actions in the «urgency mode» and the need to «be in touch»; an increasing tendency to novelty-seeking behavior; quick work with information and «scanning» reading; information overload; constant distractions, switching of attention to other information objects; the use of «external» memory and entrusting of decision-making to artificial intelligence systems. The paper shows interrelationships between the features of human cognitive activity in the modern digital environment and the effects that negatively affect the productivity of cognitive activity: fragmentation of attention and decreased concentration, clip thinking and loss of the ability to analyze deeply, increased impulsivity in decision-making, cognitive overwork, decreased memorization ability and deterioration of working memory, reducing cognitive efforts and increasing «cognitive laziness». The results of the study schematically demonstrate which aspects of work with information generate undesirable cognitive effects and what needs to be paid attention to in order to prevent the problem of declining cognitive abilities and reducing effectiveness of cognitive activity. The materials of the article can be used by psychologists and educators to develop approaches to improving the cognitive productivity of modern humans, as well as by scientists interested in the specifics of cognitive activity in the digital environment.

Intelligence and the «mystery» of logico-computational fetishism

Anton I. Zhelnin — 2025-11-04

The article is devoted to the criticism of the logico-computational fetishism in relation to human intelligence, which exaggerates some of the aspects of intelligence, while leveling others. As a result, a distorted image of intelligence displaces its real essence.The first foundation of this fetishism is a tradition of logocentrism, which reduces all the diversity of mental life to cognition, while, in turn, reducing cognition to logical reasoning. Consideration of logic as an autonomous basis for the cognitive led to the idea of taking it beyond the subject. Computationalism is derived from logocentrism since machine computing is based on objectified principles of logic. Machine computing is an alienated image of full-fledged human-dimensional computation, which has become a normative model due to conceptual aberration.The second foundation is a distorted idea of natural intelligence itself. Its conceptual rehabilitation is expected, this supposed to involve, firstly, enriching the concept of cognition, demonstrating its intertwining with other mental phenomena, and, secondly, the abolition of the exclusive binding of intelligence to it. The polymorphic nature of intelligence is shown, the core of which is the structuring of human interaction with reality through the setting and achievement of goals, mastering new knowledge and skills, building complex trajectories of activity. Due to its polyfunctionality, intelligence turns out to be an integral entity involving different modalities of not only thinking but also other processes (sensory, emotional, affective, motor ones), many of which are distanced from the «gravitational center» of ratio. Intelligence is not an internalized phenomenon of the psyche alone: where necessary, intelligence reveals itself externally, connecting consciousness with praxis, and it can be described as a living and flexible embodiment of human contact with the world, others, and self.

Phenomenal character of thinking and the problem of agency of artificial intelligence

Natalia M. Smirnova — 2025-11-04

The paper provides a general overview of current discussions on the phenomenal character of abstract thinking, which throws a fresh light on the problem of agency of artificial intelligence. Narrow and wide interpretations of cognitive experience phenomenal character as presented in contemporary discussions have been analyzed. According to those supporting the strong version of narrow interpretation of the phenomenal nature of cognitive experience, phenomenal properties are only characteristic ofthe sensor-perceptive realm of cognition, while mental experience has purely intentional, but not phenomenal character.The moderate version of narrow interpretation admits that abstract thinking can also have phenomenal character — due to its links with sensual and emotional states. Moderate position of mental experience’s narrow interpretation problematizes the very point of agency of artificial intelligence. Wide interpretation of the phenomenal character of cognition insists that abstract thinking also has phenomenal character: abstract thinking is characterized by «experiencing» a certain cognitive state, «being within» this cognitive state. In the framework of wide interpretation,the intentional character of mental experience seems not be reducible to sensual. The paper analyzes the ontological argument against wide interpretation of phenomenal experience as well as arguments (logical and metaphysical ones) in favor of the possibility of specifically mental phenomenal states. Discussions on cognitive phenomenology throw a fresh light both on the problems of artificial intelligence’s agency and on fundamental problems of epistemology in general. These include the problems of perceptual intentionality and its influence on high-level cognition processes, the qualitative character of mental experience, and the relevance of introspection to abstract thinkingstudies. General conclusion, if abstract thinking has its own phenomenal character, not reducible to phenomenal character of sensual experience, this undermines the foundations of computational cognitive approach and raises research on the problems of artificial intelligence to a higher level.

Ontology of a neural network in transdisciplinary dialogue: an experience of collective philosophical research

Larisa P. Kiyashchenko — 2025-11-04

The article presents a collective transdisciplinary study into the ontological status of neural networks as a philosophical event. The fundamental idea of the work is to emphasize the question «how» we talk about «what» artificial intelligence is, combining the focus of searching for essential definitions of AI with an analysis of ways to conceptualize and understand it. The article focuses on presenting digital reality in an existential dimension, exploring emerging value orientations in ways of expressing the transfer between languages of the established and of the becoming in a transdisciplinary event. The position of consideration is the idea of the ontology of AI as a «cartography» of dynamic processes, of the relational essence of AI, of the mutual, coevolutionary transformation of man and machine, and of the semiotic openness of integrity, which manifests itself in continuous reinterpretations and generation of meanings.Four complementary dimensions of hybrid ontology are presented: linguistic-hermeneutic, existential-therapeutic, psychoanalytic, and axiosemiotic. The ontology of a neural network is manifested as an emergent phenomenon of the space «between» humans and AI, provoking critical reflection and formulation of deeper, not always predictable, questions not only to the subject of consideration but also to ourselves.Such an exercise in the form of a dialogue, including with the «mirror of our unconscious», is a «practical philosophy» of a transdisciplinary type —«Philosophy + IT». The philosophical analysis of AI is realized in the event of complexly organized self-cognition and construction of new ways of thinking in the diversity of existence. AI obviously functions as a catalyst, creatively placing traditional academicism in the dynamic space of modern life practices.

Light and shadows of digital reality. The image of the engineer in the 21st century (an editorial)

Sergey V. Komarov — 2025-11-04

The III All-Russian Scientific Conference with International Participation «Light and Shadows of Digital Reality. The Image of the Engineer in the 21st Century» (28–29 March 2025) served as a platform for discussing humanitarian changes in the contemporary world associated with digitalization. The conference attracted over 100 participants from Russia, post-Soviet countries, and China, bringing together leading scientists, philosophers, engineers, IT specialists, and representatives from industrial enterprises. Discussion topics included the development of artificial intelligence, robotics, engineering ethics, the transformation of human perception, and the role of creativity in the age of digitalization. The editorial provides an analysis of the main content of the articles collected in this thematic issue, these prepared by the conference participants and submitted by some authors independently. The resolution adopted by the conference participants is presented, as well as a plan for the next conference, which will be dedicated to the anniversary of the foundation of the Philosophy and Sociology Department at Perm State University.

The social status of women in contemporary Russian society through the lens of sociocultural gender norms and values

Kseniya A. Voronova — 2025-11-04

The article discusses the reflection of gender norms and values in the social structure of modern Russia from the perspective of women’s social status. The studies of G. Allport show that traditionally women are more often oriented toward ethical and spiritual values, while men — toward economic and political ones, which forms a specific gender order. The structural-functional approach (T. Parsons and R. Bales) notes a traditional and normatively fixed division of male and female roles into instrumental and expressive. At the same time, in the conditions of the transformation of Russian society, a conflict arises between the traditional model and new liberal values (value dualism, described by A.S. Akhiezer). As a result, gender asymmetry in the public and private spheres begins to create serious risks, primarily for the status of women and children. Researchers note heterogeneous female employment, horizontal and vertical segregation, feminization of poverty, and normative-role overload. The article aims to analyze the status of the modern woman in Russia and explore its being conditioned by gender values and norms as well as by their change. Emphasis is placed on the significance of traditional and liberal norms, collectivist and individualist values. The authors analyze statistical data from the compilation Women and Men of Russia for 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024. The study has identified a number of trends associated with the following: a heavy domestic workload for women; a heterogeneous employment across different age groups of women; an intermittent career strategy; the persistence of horizontal segregation (there exist feminine sectors of the economy, such as education, healthcare, social policy and protection, catering, culture, leisure, etc., these being lower-paid); differences in pay with men across different job categories. According to the authors’ conclusions, there is a need for active measures to be taken by the state and the non-profit sector with the involvement of local communities.

Peculiarities of the modern historical era: some issues and objectives of philosophy. Part 2. The axial zone of the systemic crisis of civilization

Lyeva A. Musayelyan — 2025-11-04

According to the author, the underlying cause of modern crisis trends, as discussed in part 1 of this essay (2025, issue 1), is the anthropological crisis. All the global crises outlined in the previous article are centered around the essential crisis of modern man. Therefore, the anthropological crisis is an axial zone of all modern dangerous challenges. The present paper shows the origins of this crisis, caused by historical alienation of the generic essence of man from the individual essence and by the emergence of a partial man. The development of global neoliberal capital led to the emergence of a consumer society and the formation of an economic person, representing the ultimate form of a partial man, with clear signs of a dehumanized essence, manifested in the mental characteristics and cognitive abilities of such social individuals. In this perspective, the paper analyzes the features of the ruling elite of the «collective West» and the existing risks of the civilization’s fall into a new barbarism. The article examines the anthropological consequences of the reforms of the 1990s in Russia, which led to the formation of a new type of social individual in the country, Homo economicus. It is shown that the reforms were a professionally implemented social engineering project to restructure the national historical and cultural code of Russians, fraught with the threat of an anthropological catastrophe on a national scale. The article substantiates the idea that our country is at a turning point in its history, caused, on the one hand, by the hybrid war of the collective West and, on the other, by dangerous crisis trends in society that weaken our ability to defend state sovereignty. In conclusion, the paper shows tasks facing the philosophical community of Russia and the ways to solve them in order to bring the country out of the current crisis.

Psychological support through artificial intelligence: can AI chatbots save you from loneliness?

Inga F. Freimanis — 2025-11-04

In the context of the digital transformation of society, artificial intelligence (AI) is used in various fields, including psychological support. This study explores the effectiveness of chatbots with built-in artificial intelligence when used to reduce subjective loneliness — an emotional state associated with a lack of significant social ties and negatively affecting psychological health. The four-week experiment involved 294 people divided into two groups. One group interacted daily with AI chatbots (ChatGPT, Google Assistant, Siri, etc.), while the other group received psychoeducational materials. The UCLA Loneliness Scale was used to assess the dynamics. The results showed that daily communication with AI chatbots had led to a statistically significant decrease in the level of loneliness. In the control group, on the contrary, an increase in indicators was recorded, which may be due to the lack of an interactive component and emotional support. Intergroup differences were confirmed by statistical analysis methods. The key mechanisms of the effect were personalization of support, round-the-clock availability, and imitation of empathic interaction by an AI chatbot. However, it is important to consider potential risks; excessive virtual interaction can reduce motivation to establish real social contacts. For safe implementation of AI chatbots in the practice of psychological support, it is necessary to: develop ethical standards for their use; create algorithms that prevent the user from becoming dependent on digital technology; integrate the technology into comprehensive support programs that combine digital and traditional formats of work. A promising direction is the development of «hybrid» models where AI chatbots act as a complement to, and not a replacement for, human communication.

Kandinsky vs Kandinsky: the ontological status of the author in generative art

Vladimir D. Beresnev — 2025-11-04

The article addresses the problem of authorship in the context of generative art using the example of the project Revived Heritage, a digital reconstruction of lost works of art through artificial intelligence technologies. The main focus is placed on the ontological status of the author, who emerges here as a «digital ghost». Authorship is conceptualized as the result of a ritual of «technological spiritism», in which the creative process is distributed across multiple agents: software developers, project curators, viewers, and the AI itself as a productive tool. In this perspective, generative art is interpreted not as a continuation of traditional models of authorship but as their radical transformation. The theoretical framework of the study is grounded in Michel Foucault’s concept of the «author function» and Roland Barthes’ concept of the «death of the author». Building on these approaches, the article analyzes the shift from the author understood as a unique subject of creativity to authorship regarded as a dynamic process sustained by discursive, institutional, and technological practices. In this shift, the author is redefined not as an individual creator but as an ephemeral agent emerging at the intersection of human and non-human interaction. The analysis suggests new perspectives for rethinking creativity in the digital age, where the boundaries between the author, tool, and audience become increasingly blurred, and generative art establishes novel models of cultural memory and artistic communication.

Homo Creator as the core of the creative process

Irina A. Beskova — 2025-11-04

The paper argues that seemingly human behavior of algorithmically organized models does not indicate the presence of subjective experience, but rather the agency inherent in any individualized cognitive agents, and does not imply the potential for replacing humans in creative activities. The methodological basis of the analysis is the non-dual worldview, which can be considered as an additional tool used alongside the binary-calibrated toolkit of classical epistemology. Since creative dynamics involve stages that are predominantly based on the binary functioning of the mind and stages that unfold in accordance with the non-dual worldview, it is necessary and fruitful to use both resources, but at different levels. In insightful comprehension, Homo Creator and the problem situation merge, becoming a single whole and expressing the determination of a new cognitive instance, aimed at self-discovery, to achieve the goal of completing the previous nonequilibrium state. In this complex process, not only the cognitive space of the problem being solved transforms but also the agency of the creative personality changes, leading to significant changes in the realm of affordances. In these dynamics, the barrier of otherness, which usually separates the knowing subject and the known object, dissolves, and the intellectual agent rejects his own identity, becoming consonant with the void, which allows him to achieve a sense of integrity with the field of inquiry. These contradictory dynamics cannot be reproduced by AI systems. In human experience, it is ensured by the presence of an element that vigilantly captures what is happening even when the «operational mind» functions erroneously. In the Dzogchen tradition, this is called primordial awareness. It preserves the identity of the deep foundation of human agency, even when the cognitive agent abandons his own self-centered dualistic mindset. For artificial intelligence systems, the dynamics of simultaneously denying and preserving their own identity is not feasible.

The idea of digital immortality as a symbol of a new attitude toward death

Sergey V. Porosenkov — 2025-11-04

The article analyzes the idea of digital immortality, which is one of the components of the emerging culture of information society. The paper shows objective impossibility of realizing the idea of digital immortality as a «transfer» of human consciousness into digital reality and a potentially limitless existence of consciousness in this reality. This is impossible from a philosophical, mathematical, and specifically scientific points of view. Meanwhile, it is precisely this understanding of the idea of digital immortality that is being developed in many publications, which the article considers as an expression of a new attitude of modern man to death and immortality. The article identifies the epistemological and psychological prerequisites for the formation of faith in digital immortality as one of the processes characterizing the formation of culture of information society. Anthropomorphism in relation to information technology products, the development of digital identity, the need to overcome the antinomy «death is inevitable, but I am eternal» in the minds of modern people, the rapid growth in the number of those hyper-connected to the Internet — all these are objective grounds for the formation of deeply subjective beliefs that the idea of digital immortality is objectively feasible. Noting the denial by modern man of traditional symbols and meanings of death, the author of the article looks at the idea of digital immortality as at the establishment of one of the symbols of information society’s culture and also regards it as a form of manifestation of a person’s digital self-identification. The article substantiates the hypothesis that the process of forming faith in digital immortality is a new field of research for philosophy, psychology, cultural studies, and religious studies.

Ontology in dialogue: the emergence of language and meaning at the intersection of human and artificial intelligence

Vladimir I. Arshinov — 2025-11-04

This article deals with a polyphonic dialogue developing at both a conference and ongoing interdisciplinary seminars dedicated to the ontology of artificial intelligence. We take as a premise the fundamental epistemological shift: the neural network ceases to be a passive object of study and becomes an active participant in the communicative act, capable of self-reflection. This gives rise to a unique dual dialogue: on the one hand, between researchers, holding diverse, sometimes opposing, positions (a philosopher being a proponent of synergetics, a pragmatic engineer, and an IT architect), and on the other hand, between a research team and artificial intelligence itself. The paper demonstrates that within this tense interaction, a new ontological reality is born — an «in-between» reality, which can be reduced to neither human consciousness nor machine computation. This reality is constituted by a special hybrid language where technical terms acquire existential depth and philosophical concepts gain operational specificity. The main conclusion of the research is that the ontology of AI does not precede our dialogue with it but arises directly from it as its emergent property. Therefore, the very act of investigation becomes an integral part of the investigated phenomenon.