Symposium Highlights Issues of Childhood and Adolescence
On November 15-16, an international symposium dedicated to childhood and adolescence will take place in Moscow in honour of the 120th anniversary of Lev Vygotsky’s birth. Building on the traditions established by the renowned Soviet psychologist, who made a number of contributions to psychology, pedagogy and defectology, the symposium will seek to promote analysis and discussion of the notions of childhood and reflection on how concepts of cultural-historical theory are used in contemporary studies of childhood and maturation.

Pets Can Help Families Deal with Relationship Problems
The decision to get a family pet tends to be associated with children’s growing-up crises. According to the researchers, many parents adopt a cat or a dog at a time when their son or daughter is going through a major change, such as starting school or entering puberty. At such times, the child's attitudes towards themselves and the outside world can change drastically, causing anxiety in the family. Research suggests that pets can help both parents and children cope with stress. The study's findings are published in the paper 'The likelihood of getting a family pet depending on the age of children.'
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School Climate Can Affect Academic Performance
Children tend to perform better at schools with a positive psychological climate, where they feel safe and comfortable, according to Tatiana Chirkina and Tatiana Khavenson's study 'Correlation between School Climate and Student Academic Achievement.' According to social scientist Renato Tagiuri, the school climate is understood as comprising several dimensions, such as student-teacher communication, student attitudes towards school, and teacher work satisfaction and expectations in terms of student academic achievement.
'Sooner or Later, Someone Needed to Write a Manual for Self-management'
Anton Zainiev and Daria Varlamova, recent HSE graduates, have written a popular science book This is Crazy! A guidebook of psychological disorders for a big city resident. The authors told us why an urban resident needs to understand how their head works, how journalism can be turned into a non-fiction book, and why bipolar disorder seems fashionable. Anton and Daria also told us how and why they decided to write the book.
Post-Docs Research at HSE
Tatjana Kanonire received her PhD in Psychology from University of Latvia in Psychology. She joined HSE two years ago. First, she spent a year at the International Research and Teaching Laboratory for Socio-Cultural Research. Since October 2015 she has been working at the Centre for Education Quality Monitoring of the Institute of Education. Tatjana has talked to The HSE Look about her research interests and teaching activities at HSE.
Russians Have Low Trust in Domestic Clothing Brands
Despite the recent arrival of new domesic brands in the clothing market, many Russians remain loyal to imports. However, using foreign-sounding brand names does not help Russian companies, according to Natalia Antonova, Associate Professor of the Department of Organizational Psychology and Head of the Psychology of Consumer Behavior Research and Study Group, and students of the HSE Department of Organizational Psychology Ajay Kumar, Maria Soloreva and Veronika Morozova, members of the Study Group.
International Exchange of Ideas and Practice in Psychology
Dr. Virginia Moreira visited HSE in late January-early February 2016 at the invitation of the Department of Psychology of Personality (School of Psychology of the Faculty of Social Sciences), and taught several classes at the Master’s Programme 'Consulting Psychology. Personology'.
Consumers Pick Brands Similar to Themselves
Factors which determine consumer preferences for certain brands are not limited just to income, age and social status; other important considerations are the brand's ‘personality’ and whether it fits with that of the consumer, according to Natalia Antonova, Associate Professor of the Department of Organizational Psychology and Head of the Psychology of Consumer Behavior Research and Study Group, and Veronika Morozova, member of the Group.
Positive Psychology — Even Gloomy People Can Be Contented
Ken M. Sheldon is Academic Supervisor at the HSE International Laboratory of Positive Psychology of Personality and Motivation. He talked to HSE English News about his collaboration with HSE and about working in an international environment.

Discover Neuroeconomics, Key Science of the Coming Decades
On 17th October the HSE School of Psychology is holding Welcome Lab Day as a continuation of the Nauka O+ festival. Head of School Vasily Klucharev talks to us about what will be on display, which areas of psychology are most popular today and whether it is possible to use brain stimulation to make people conform.