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17PROGNOSTIC SYSTEMATIZATION
DEVELOPMENT OF A TEST TASK FOR IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUAL STYLE FEATURES OF ORGANIZATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Semen I. Avgustevich Ph.D., Russia savgust@mail.ru
Those, who read books, will always be ahead of those, who watch TV. And those, who write books, will be ahead of those, who read them. However, to think for yourself is more important than to write.
Abstract
The idea of this test task was born because of the need for human resources and specialized services (HR - human resources) to have a prognostic technique in its arsenal that would provide more or less reliable information about psychological characteristics of new and old employees. Our observations and expert assessments that we used to discuss this topic state that about 20-25% of newcomers experience difficulties in adapting to a new workplace due to the fact that their individual characteristics make it difficult for them to contact the "aborigines" (employees that have been with the company for a longer period of time) and irritate their colleagues. They do not always meet the requirements of a particular working environment. The conflict traumatizes both the team and the novice, but it could have been avoided if they had been prepared to face them in advance.
Key words: prognostic technique, personality types, individual style features, organizational activities, test task.
ISSN 2313-4097
A few stories to make clear what it is all about.
It is said that once a traveler asked an old man who was sitting by the road:
- Father, are we far from the nearest town?
The old man pointed his hand along the road and told him:
- Go.
The puzzled traveler shook his shoulders and silently went in the direction, which the old man showed. After walking a few dozen steps he heard the old man shouting at his back:
- Three days to go. You will reach the town in the afternoon of the third day.
- Why did not you answer my question at once? - asked the traveler.
- I had to see how you would walk, - said the old man.
In fact, you can walk in many different ways. You can walk humming happily, stepping easily and naturally, waving a twig, and looking curiously around. Or you can bend over, as if you are burdened by some heavy weight, looking at your feet, moving slowly, as if you were doomed to be executed. Every person has his/her own manner and style of walking. It is connected to one's individuality. In addition, a lot depends on where and why a person is going, what distance he\she has already covered and how much more has to be covered, whether the sun is shining or piercing wind is blowing in the face. These circumstances are important. But the most important thing is how the person is walking. Walking is a specific type of activity. In this story, the prognosis for future activities was based on the demonstration of style of this activity.
The meaning of the word "style" refers to the manner of solving the task a person is faced with. Sometimes, speaking of activities, the concept of "style" is combined with the concept of "manner" (from the French word "maniere"), denoting the usual habitual way of acting for a person [1]. It is important to point out that we are talking about permanent or long-lasting features of the activity, which are being revealed all the time. Style codifies certain ways of activity. It is natural to expect their manifestation under certain similar circumstances. Handwriting expertise and
graphology (description of personality traits through manner of writing) are based on the idea that a certain style of activity always reveals itself. In this article we intend to tell you how, according to peculiarities of the performance of a certain activity, i.e. systematization, it is possible to discover and describe features of cognitive tasks' solutions in the process of organizational and managerial activity.
Ancient Greeks and Romans used the word "style" to denote the instrument of writing, i.e. styles. It was a stick or rod, the sharp end of which was used to write on plates wiped with wax, while the blunt end was used to erase and smooth out what was written. Everyone had his/her own style, which was different from the styles of others, the letters could be more acute or longer. Having looked at the writing-board, without yet having read it, everyone could immediately tell who wrote this text: this text, for example, was written by Caesar's stylus, and this is the stylus of Brutus. Gradually, the concept of "writing style" began to extend to both the form and the content of the text. And then people began to speak of Caesar's style, having meant not as much the peculiarity of writing letters, but rather the construction of phrases and meanings of the text. Everything that was produced by the hands of a particular person reflected the author's inherent creative feature. Style, therefore, began to mean characteristic originality of activity, which was unique for a particular person and manifested in all of his/her deeds. In addition, it should be borne in mind that style appears where freedom of expression exists. Style is formed only if there is a positive attitude towards an activity [2-4].
Today, style is seen as a universal characteristic of human life linking the biological, psychological and social aspects of being into a single whole. A person's style manifests itself in everything ranging from features of information processing to manner of communication and ways of achieving the goal [5, 6].
Nevertheless, very often, from the point of view of pedagogical or opportunistic considerations, people are advised to change the style of activity. These are the tips people hear since childhood. In addition, many of us have made promises to reorganize ourselves and "start a new life on Monday" by doing morning
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exercises, jogging and learning a foreign language. This can also be viewed as a consequence of pedagogical suggestions of the possibility of "self-alteration" based on some wise advice or "at one's own will". Yes, there are situations when these dreams come true, but as a rule they do not. This is happening because the desired actions have not been originally included into the stereotypes of habitual life. Of course, changes do happen! But only as a consequence of large-scope internal psychological work, as an awareness of the need for these changes. Without powerful motivations, changes do not occur. Every person sees a lot of examples of a different life, different customs, aspirations, and actions around him/her. But a person suppresses this readiness to change him/herself due to natural desire to develop, and then to preserve and improve his/her individuality, and within individuality his/her own style of activity. Change of style requires a long time and great effort. In the confrontation between preserving one's individuality and one's readiness to "change" the usual winner is one's habitual, established way of life, one's own uniqueness and individuality, which includes the style of solving various kinds of cognitive tasks.
We share an opinion that this strange discrepancy between the knowledge of the subject (the style is permanent) and the idea of it (the style can be changed) has developed due to the fact that the study of style has been mainly carried out through quantitative methods where style is "measured", while qualitative methods, where style is observed, are not that popular in practice for various reasons. Even when a person is asked to make a choice to determine the cognitive style of activity, only the activity result is taken into account, and not the process. Although it is the process that could demonstrate hesitations about making decisions, indecisiveness, desire and willingness to correct one's action, etc. [5, 6].
Meanwhile, researchers note that the main task of a psychologist who describes individual psychological characteristics is to use all the appropriate methods and information [2, 7-9]. However, ways through which the required information is obtained differ. Qualitative consideration comes from personality as a whole, suggesting that coverage of individual functional systems can not replace observation
of the whole, e.g. pulse rate will not tell much about emotional experiences, while quantitative examination is mainly based on the viewpoint that all psychic phenomena are measurable, while the results of observation are difficult to compare and demonstrate subjectivity of interpretation. [9, p.64]. There are a lot of examples when some psychologists give preference to tests, while others prefer observation. The potentially productive path combines both research directions. In any case, we consider development of a methodology that extends the use of observation of cognitive activity and believe that it deserves inclusion into the arsenal of diagnostic tools. We believe that with accumulation of experience in using the proposed methodology and combining the results obtained with its help with the results obtained with the help of thoroughly tested and validated quantitative methods [4-6], one could count on its widespread use.
We have an inspiring example of combining different characteristics obtained by different methods, but one modality, i.e. questionnaires (tests). These are the well-known H.J. Eysenck personality questionnaires, which were popular in the 1970s-1990s and were used for measuring introversion-extroversion and stability-neuroticism. These tests were described in detail by J. Schwantzara. "Both bipolar measures here are inscribed into the system of coordinates, where they are attributed to 4 classical temperaments and other personality traits, as shown in the diagram in Figure 1. Extroversion manifests itself through sociable, active, optimistic, self-confident and impulsive behavior; introversion is characterized by reserved in terms of communication, passive, calm, thoughtful, sensible, and restrained behavior.
Neuroticism expresses itself through behavior, which is mood-influenced, quick-tempered, hypersensitive, anxious, discontented, rigid, while a stable individual is calm, carefree, relaxed, reliable, etc. Distribution of both measurements is generally normal" [9, pp. 88-89]. Therefore, the test subject can find him/herself anywhere in the quadrant. If we are talking about continuation of work related to developing the technique for its reliable use in order to predict manifestation of certain styles of organization and management, we would like to add the style of new
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cognitive tasks solution to this scheme, thus combining activity style and psycho-physiological characteristics of an his/her individual forms of behavior.
Stable
Introversion
^^ irritated anxious / unaccommodating / pessimistic — / unsociable / quiet / /Melancholic touchy restless aggressive \ —— excitable \ impulsive \ \ optimistic Choleric \ \ active
passive \ Phlegmatic \ assiduous \ \ thoughtful \ peaceful reliable quiet Sanguine J sociable / outgoing / talkative / lively / carefree / initiative
Extroversion
Neuroticism
Figure l.Two major personality types attributed to four temperament types based on Eysenck's test [9, pp. 88-89]
What are the qualities that a technique that allows activity observation should possess? What are the guidelines for developing such a technique?
1. First of all, this technique should not be aimed at obtaining separate parts experimental data, no matter how unique and exotic this data it, but rather it should be aimed at obtaining information about the main problem that resulted in the study [10-12]. In our case, this means obtaining data about how a typical subject usually solves cognitive tasks related to organization and management.
2. Activity proposed in the experiment should be perceived as something simple and understandable by the subject, and this is the opinion that should be
supported by the tester. In fact, the proposed task should be rather difficult to solve and should require a reference to subject's own resources [3].
3. In the course of completing the task contact between the person conducting the experiment (tester) and the subject (testee) should be preserved, which allows to control the subject, encourage or criticize him/her. This is necessary for identification of stylistic features of the relationship in the process of cognition in the course of solving the problem [4].
4. Modality of the task (tactile, visual, etc.) does not matter. The one, which is chosen, should be convenient for the tester in order to register the results. It has to be understandable for the subject as well. The most important thing is that it should not incapacitate the subject; he/she should be utilizing typical methods of searching for effective ways of acting. The test task can be fulfilled using the environment for solving simple puzzles and a calm conversation to satisfy the tester's curiosity.
5. Personality creates style. Style reflects the experience, education, culture, knowledge and compliance with the task. This connection, if desired and necessary, can be detected using any well-known and acceptable methods, both during the experiment and after it [7-9].
6. Organization of experimental activity presupposes controlled scenario that can be reduced, undone, disguised or detailed, deployed, filled with questions. The degree of openness, unfolding, and demonstrativeness is determined by the conditions and circumstances of the experiment (cognitive task) and activity of the subject. The main thing is that all of this work should be aimed at prognosis, at achieving the goal of the experiment [9, 12].
7. For the sake of simplicity of understanding, we believe that the subject's activity is integratively and systematically connected with the type of temperament, with the way he/she experiences the task situation, with the willingness to obtain a result (for example, in the form of encouragement, tester's approval). These moods of the subject are actively and enthusiastically supported by the tester.
8. The task posed for the subject must be solved in different ways. It is necessary to encourage any attempts to find even the most non-ordinary, dead-end solutions. Always remember that the situation is controlled by the tester, who will always have an opportunity to criticize and discuss the subject's decisions. Do not interfere with the subject, do not limit him/her. This is the case when style-related features of activity are revealed [3, 5, 6, 13, 14].
What does the prognostic technique have to show (reveal)?
1. First of all, it should give information about prevalence of a particular type of temperament, considering temperament only as the most generalized psycho-physiological characteristic of a person from the position of activity, which is associated mainly with dynamic rather than its substantial aspects.
2. It is desirable to have an idea regarding intellectual level of the subject and, primarily, about his/her ability to effectively carry out analysis-synthesis operations, since it is these tasks that are present in the overwhelming majority of intellectual operations.
3. The main task is to identify stylistic features of activity, which reflect dynamism, determination, efficiency, readiness for decision making and action. This characteristic is closely correlated with the type of temperament, as it is its derivative. However, in terms of psychological characteristics, it is quite independent and reflects the subject's willingness to independently, purposefully and freely choose the goals of activity, to show activity when interacting with the surrounding world.
4. The fourth characteristic concerns learning capability, which is extremely important for a beginner, especially while making acquaintance with the organization and content of his/her new activity [15]. In a more generalized form it is related to the development of individuality, which, according to V.S. Merlin, happens because of the universal motive of behavior, namely: to always protect one's individuality and become a more harmonious person [13, 14].
5. The fifth characteristic concerns individual (stylistic) peculiarity, i.e. reaction to criticism. Non-acceptance of criticism can derail all positive qualities and become a "time bomb" capable of giving rise to conflict situations [12]. In today's society people often find themselves in difficult situations, which possess features of uncertainty, conflict, and even extreme. Therefore, it is worthwhile imagining in advance how a person will behave under difficult conditions.
6. We refuse to include identification of moral qualities in prognostic methodologies, as they can characterize a person from the ideological point of view. We believe that they are based on value orientations, which are, on the one hand, rooted in the circumstances of birth, life and personal environment of an individual, and, on the other hand, in all their seeming inviolability, they are able to change depending on the conditions of life. As one philosopher joked: "I returned from the dentist and realized that I could not be entrusted any state secrets, even the smallest ones". Of all the values, we consider only one worth of prognosis, which is one's willingness to match the future environment intellectually. This is revealed through one's consent to undergo the prognostic procedure and actively participate in it. Those who reject the procedure, consciously devaluate discussion of their intellectual identity. Thus, in our opinion, they are confident that they can occupy vacancies related to organization and management, relying not on their intellectual and psychological qualities, but rather on administrative decisions, which immediately takes them beyond the boundaries of our professional discussions.
Therefore, using the techniques that predict features of organizational and managerial activities of the subject, we would like to receive information about the type of his/her temperament; efficiency of thinking activity; dynamism; learning capability; attitude to criticism and readiness to appreciate and discuss intellectual activity.
Is it really possible?
On the one hand, today, same as "yesterday" and even "the day before yesterday," the newcomer is welcomed by personnel officers and / or members of
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his/her future team; having asked a few simple questions, they (within 5 to 10, sometimes 20 minutes) make a decision regarding his/her work and make a prediction about his/her professional future career. Based on what? Based on their practical ideas about people, about the world and about future problems that have to be solved. How reliable is this prognosis? It is hard to say. On the other hand, there are well-known, well-proved and tested, fairly accurate methods and techniques in the psychological world that allow us to describe personality of a beginner within the system of more than twenty parameters. However, is anyone ready to recruit workers using it? Arranging an examination, using large-scale fundamental techniques is on the edge of violation of employee's rights.
The technique has to be fairly flexible, it should not take much time, should not leave the employee with the feeling of taking an exam, must seem simple to the subject, leave him/her with the feeling that he/she has coped with the task in general. We are aware of the fact that such an approach can discourage some professional psychologists, who were brought up respecting traditions of academicism. However, we would like to remind you that there are many examples when strange methods have become established and customary in psychological practice over time.
We have decided that the basis for such a prognostic technique should be formed by operation of systematization. It is good, because every action aimed at compiling a system can be fragmentarily fixed, considered, demonstrated and explained. Systematization is an activity lasting in time, which, in case of appropriate organization, can be perfectly observed, it is easy to describe and interpret.
Etymologically, the term "systematization" goes back to the word "system" (from the Greek work "systema"), which refers to a whole consisting of separate autonomous parts. In modern language, systematization denotes mental activity, in the course of which analyzed objects are combined into a certain system based on the chosen (revealed) principle [15-17].
Systematization is the leading intellectual operation in the process of organizational activity. It naturally enters the essence and content of the management
subject's daily managerial tasks [12]. It is also not unfamiliar for the management object. In addition, it is possible to classify impacts in order to understand how to respond to them. First of all, it is important to understand whether these impacts are related to approval, condemnation or can be viewed as a signal of other relations.
Systematization in organizational psychology includes realization of management object, e.g. of the collective as a system that includes different elements, such as individuals forming a hierarchy of relations between them.
Understanding the system involves seeing its structure, the possibility of observing and studying its elements, their relationships among themselves, and, consequently, realization of analysis and synthesis operations. And, most importantly, it involves classification, which is the distribution of objects among groups according to their similarities and differences [12, 18].
We have designed stimulus material, which is a set of cards with images of various geometric shapes and lines. A set of these cards has the tentative title "test field". It is important that the appearance of these cards does not imply that they are somehow related, although some of them are very similar to each other.
There are 6 groups of images in the set. Each group contains 5 cards. Groups received tentative names that are convenient for describing actions and protocols (they are: "angles", "lines", "beds", "pipes", "fish", "steps"). Each group has a pair, which is "ideologically" similar to it. All groups differ from each other in "complexity", but when they are in the "ideological" pair, they are very close. For example, groups "fish" and "steps" form a pair, since they have a contour. Within each group there is the "simplest" image; the rest are more complicated than the previous one. Thus, some images are significantly different from others, in other cases images are very similar. This is done for the subject to come across tasks of varying complexity.
The essence of this strange material corresponds to the idea of a prognostic problem. In organizational and managerial activities there are oftentimes problems that are impossible to solve, moreover, one does not know how to approach them.
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Success is achieved by those who begin to manipulate objects and situations that are clear and understandable. This activity reveals a certain pattern, an order that helps to organize the rest of the material. Solution of any problem can be found within organization. In our case, card manipulation reveals that there is the same number of cards of all kinds, regardless of their type. This gives us a chance to compare them. The solution is found: regardless of the form, everything is built according to one principle, which is from simple to complex (or vice versa).
Instructions. First of all, before giving specific instructions to the subject, the tester in most general terms gives the definition of a system, an element and how they are interrelated. Then, a deck of randomly shuffled cards of the test field is given to the testee. The instructions are given orally.
"Here are a few cards with various images, which collectively represent a uniform system, in other words, they are interrelated by one common principle that you will discover in the process of making acquaintance with these images. Arrange these cards in a compact introspectable group and explain why you did so. Tell us why you arranged the cards in this way. In other words: group these cards into a single system and explain by what principle you grouped them. Many people solve this problem easily and quickly. I wonder how long it will take you to solve it? Please, let us know when you are ready".
^ L\_ M ---1, L —
1 № 1—1 [71 ----,
l ' □1 ¿Vn/ h—1
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Figure 2. Test field
Typical scenario for executing a test task is as follows. Approximately four out of ten people after receiving a pack of cards open a few and start to study them carefully, supposing that it is likely, that now it will become clear to them what kind of images they will have to deal with later. Other people open all the cards one by one and, having placed them in a way that they can see every card, try to understand the general principle of organizing the material. Approximately every third or fifth person, having spread the cards, notices that there are similar images, and unites them. The rest of the testees begin to form groups after studying the whole field. Most people make up groups and place them chaotically in different parts of the table workspace. It is important to note that some of the subjects somehow arrange the images, putting them in the same spatial position (top-bottom, left-right), other people do it later. Gradually, first the most active subjects, then the rest of the testees, place groups into rows and compare them. It happens so that in order to accomplish this task, some people require motivation from the tester.
After this stage those who are in a hurry state that the task has been completed. The tester reminds them that it is necessary to tell him about the unifying principle for the whole system. Then the testees proceed with detailed analysis and comparison of images. This allows them to move on to the stage of meaningful organization of images in the rows, and then to build up the row sequence. The idea regarding the need to perform these operations comes only when the subject him/herself formulates for him/herself the basic principle of constructing a system: from the smaller one - to the bigger one (or from the bigger one to the smaller one, which does not matter). The last "discovery" that the subject makes is that the rows form "ideological" pairs, and then he/she places them side by side. Throughout the time of completing the task most people change the position of cards, touch them, move them, correct their position, that is, they actively interact with them and continue to analyze.
It is important to point out that upon the completion of the experiment the testee is asked several special questions. The tester asks:
1. - What did you get in the end? How did you do it?
After joint discussion of the answer the second question is asked:
2. - Tell me, in your opinion, based on the result of this experiment, based on how it was performed, can you tell about a person, can you tell about his/her main quality, how he/she usually solves new tasks in life? We need your opinion for future meetings with people, as we would like to check the usefulness of such tasks. Tell me, should we continue this work? For example, what quality of yours did you discover here? Is it usually manifested under different conditions? Under what conditions?
— i M PI
- " i i 1—i [71 <5^
■ 1 1 i 1—I 1"
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11 1—1 | R 0 1
Figure 3. One of the variants of "correct" positioning of cards
Alongside with experimental stimulus material, in some cases auxiliary material was presented and its task was to heuristically activate understanding of such concepts as "system", "grouping", "test field", etc. The auxiliary material is an image of figures and lines, but they are all well distinguishable from each other and their number was more than twice smaller than the number of the test materials, so they were easily noticeable. The auxiliary material was intended only to facilitate understanding of the experimental task, it performed the role of the "warm-up".
Practice of using the test task for diagnostics General provisions
Work with the test field requires the subject to be able to single out essential features of the object. It is important to note that during the first half of the task, while forming the rows, the task is facilitated by the fact that elements of the same type are distinguished, they are similar to each other. It is much more difficult to find the right relationship between rows, where the essential attribute uniting the elements is not so obvious. For some testees this part of work is so difficult that they cannot begin to solve it independently.
It is extremely important to get a verbal report of the subject about the progress and results of work with the test field (So what did you get in the end? How did you do it?). It must be taken into account that although the course of the subject's thoughts is determined by shifting of cards, in fact it is incomparably more informational and therefore more valuable. The more detailed description the subject gives of the process and the outcome of his work, the more it reflects the depth of awareness of the performed activity. The report itself, which summarizes active thinking activity, gives intellectual and physical pleasure to the subjects.
There is an opportunity of experiencing the joy of insight, satisfaction with finding solution to the problem, knowledge of the fact that an intuitive breakthrough occurred in understanding the problem that had been posed and "suddenly" its solution was found. It is very satisfying to know that there is an opportunity to talk about the process of acquiring new knowledge, to go beyond the limits of sensory cognition, to comprehend your sensory experience, tell somebody how causal relationships and interconnections between the elements were established. Not all the participants in this task manage to give a detailed answer to the question. The most advanced answers sound like this:
- I managed to build a system out of completely unrelated elements, where each element uniquely occupies a certain place, because horizontally and vertically all elements are arranged according to the simple to complex basis, from the biggest
to the smallest. How did I do this? (It is followed by a story of how he noticed the existence of this rule in one of the rows and transferred it to another rows. Sometimes there is another story where the tested claims that he had an insight, a breakthrough in understanding, in detection, etc.). This story is an additional argument in favor of using a certain style of activity, which indicates the use of certain techniques.
The experiment is finished with the question, which turns the subject of the study into its co-participant. (...In your personal opinion, is it possible to use this test results ... to tell about a person, to find out which quality is the most impo rtant in his personality, how this person solves the new tasks in his life...?). The overwhelming majority of those who did this test task believe that according to the results of experimental activity they can tell about the main quality of a person. Providing the subject with the opportunity to draw conclusions, to anticipate events and to enrich the practice is the reward for his/her work; it harmoniously completes one's work and confirms one's satisfaction with him/herself. As far as the tester is concerned, it is the confirmation that the proposed methodology works.
Techniques for Test Task Registration
The questions that we have prepared for observation correspond with the typical scenario of the test task. In the future they should help in material processing of prognosis.
Registration of Subject's Activity in the Course of Observation Name Start time Finish time Duration
Subject's expected activity Execution
Yes No
Interested from the start Phase of acquaintance with the material is present Pausing before getting acquainted with the material Pausing in the process of getting acquainted with the material Complaints about difficulty of the task Asks for help Active acquaintance with all material Partial classification in the process of acquaintance
Subject's expected activity Execution
Yes No
Classification as a special stage Identifying the erroneous trait Number of groups defined correctly Number of elements in the group defined correctly System in the sequence of groups identified Care for accuracy of group demonstration Pausing while determining the place of a group in the system. Correction of the place of the group in the system Welcoming assistance in correcting the place of the group Joining groups into pairs Correcting the place of an element in a group Correcting the position of the element (top-bottom) Final control Avoiding correction Care for accuracy of demonstrating the entire system End of work announcement Fatigue from work Answer to the question regarding satisfaction with the result Answer to the question regarding usefulness of the task Other peculiarities of behavior and activity
Individual peculiarities of performing test tasks.
We identified three groups of actions that clearly reveal themselves when registering shifts of test material (cards) during the task. The first group is observed in all subjects; it is associated with features of test material and conditions of the task. Registration of these actions for the purposes of our research is of no interest, since it does not add knowledge about individual characteristics of activity. The second group combines typical actions characteristic of a certain unity of subjects using approximately similar style. It describes the energy of action of shifting the cards (they are moved quickly, decisively, boldly, vigorously or slowly, passively, uncertainly, thoughtfully) and their direction (shifts within the row, inside the system, inside the group or outside the row, group, or system). These actions are typical and peculiar of a certain style. The third group includes actions characterizing individuality of each subject; they demonstrate individual characteristics of a typical style. These actions are interesting, they are personal, highly individual, but they are of no use for the description of the technique. Therefore, we have chosen four
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portraits of styles that we consider typical. They are interrelated with four types of temperament. This allows us to show what the possibilities of the technique are against the background of the typical portrait of a classical temperament.
Description of peculiarities of test task performance
1. Activity prognosis: "Expressed unsuccessfulness" (Weak, passive organization type. Problematic employee.)
(Female, 55 y.o., economist).
Description of activity style. She shyly and uncertainly opens several cards, examines them, holding them in her hand, asks to repeat the task, pauses, does not start work. In response to the question: - What's bothering you? She answers: - "I'm trying to understand what to do." After an urge to action, she opens all the cards, places them chaotically on the table and again freezes in confusion. After a new urge: - "Tell me, do you remember what to do?" she answers: - "I have to form the system, but how?" She uncertainly combines similar images into groups. Having created several groups, she decides to build them into the rows. Inside the row, the cards are constantly moved, as she is seeking to improve the appearance of the row. However, she is hesitant to change the rows. She joins the rows, without taking care of their place in relation to each other. Then she announces the completion of the work. Faces criticism with tension. She says that she has a headache. She has several negative comments about the material; she believes that it is necessary to include more circles in the images. This tested requires a serious urge to action. Only after this she begins to manipulate the rows, but gets carried away and her actions become more energetic. She constructs the system with mistakes and does not notice them. She takes offense at the indication of mistakes and considers them insignificant. Announces end of work. She is satisfied with her work.
Answers to control questions.
1. I would recommend this for school children. They need to develop logic. It was interesting for me as well. This task is not hard.
2. It was not clear at first what I had to do, but it was interesting. It develops one's logic. It is useful. I like this type of tasks.
Generalized style description: It is difficult to make her start working. The problem is not actualized for a long time, hypotheses are not formed, no actions are taken. Unifying signs are not allocated, comparison is not conducted. Material and task are internally and subconsciously translated into "her own language." Only after this the testee's activity becomes dynamic.
Observed individual characteristics: calm, passive, diligent, thoughtful. Criticism is usually neglected, not used to improve the result. She reacts weakly and compulsorily to an urge to act. She is hard to teach. Self-esteem is unjustifiably overstated.
Final characteristic: weak type, inclined to introversion, expressed melancholic with elements of a phlegmatic. Constantly in need of motivation for action. The scope of self-solved tasks is narrowed. Not recommended for leadership activities. She is problematic as a performer, but she will be successful performing repeated typical tasks.
2. Activity prognosis: "Expressed successfulness" in organizational work. Reliable supervisor (top manager). (Male, 65 y.o., scientific worker in the sphere of technology.)
Description of activity style. The testee vigorously and purposefully gets acquainted with the test material; puts similar images in groups; builds up groups in rows, simultaneously allocating symmetrical images, such as the basic ones, i.e. starting the row with them. Shifts the rows parallel to each other and discovers that they are lined up in a similar way. Gets the first version of the organized system. Further, he vigorously performs correction of places occupied by individual elements in the rows and specifies the places of each row in the system.
Announces end of work. Accepts criticism naturally, constructively, uses it to improve the quality of problem solution, tests the found principle of "increasing complexity" in the rows with interest, but it is hard for him to find that the same
principle can be applied to the comparison of rows. Spends a lot of time on the transition to the correction of the rows. Announces end of the work. The work is accepted, although there are errors in the "top-bottom" position in the "corner" rows.
Answers to control questions.
1. He built the system in accordance with the task, due to the fact that he constantly compared elements and groups.
2. Very useful task. It reveals the desire for order. This is my main quality as well. Everything should have its place. The work must continue. This will help many people.
Generalized style description: Energetically gets acquainted with the material. When identifying the main features in the material, errors are possible; tends to create hypotheses for solving problems and planning activities.
Observed individual characteristics: diligent, thoughtful, purposeful, reliable, calm. Constructive perception of criticism, readiness to correct the result based on criticism. Capable to learn.
Final characteristic: strong type, inclined to introversion, expressed phlegmatic with elements of sanguine character. A reliable organizer in the formed management system. Self-sufficient in solving formulated problems. Can be taught the development of new tasks. Self-control is weak.
3. Activity prognosis: "Procedural Success" (her successfulness is limited by individual processes). Productive executive. (Female, 28 y.o., lawyer.)
Description of activity style. Gets acquainted with the test material energetically, laying out the entire test field, but she spends a lot of time studying the non-essential details; matches similar images in groups not always based on real traits; builds groups into rows, which differ by the number of elements. Incompatibility of the rows hinders progress towards finding a solution. Nevertheless, work in the rows is carried out. Erroneously forms a hypothesis that destroys the comparability of rows. Therefore, progress towards the goal is slowed down. She does not notice the error for a long time. She listens to criticism, does not persist in
defending her position. Having eliminated the error, she works further vigorously and purposefully. Clearly sees the analogy of the rows, easily manipulates the rows. Announces end of work. When performing a request to carefully check the quality, discovers that "subconsciously" saw the principle for building a system, i.e. "increasing complexity" and followed it. Vigorously brings work to completion. Finds that the rows are easily united by the same principle. Announces end of the work.
Answers to control questions.
1. I am happy that I managed to build the system in accordance with the task. I used help though.
2. Very useful task. It is a pity that I have not known about it before. I often drown in small things. I know about this. When I'm not sure (which is usually), I ask my colleagues to check the result. Of course, we must continue this work, it will help many people.
Generalized style description: Energetic acquaintance with the material. Gives erroneous meaning to nonessential attributes. Creates erroneous hypotheses regarding planning and solving problems, constructive use of criticism, energetic activity.
Observed individual characteristics: Impulsive, active, optimistic, vulnerable, sociable, open. Ready to correct the result according to the content of criticism. Capable of learning. Self-critical.
Final characteristic: a weak type prone to extraversion, an expressed choleric with elements of sanguine type. She is not yet mature to become a leader, but as a performer she is quite acceptable, but needs benevolent control.
4. Activity prognosis: "Reliable, expressed successfulness" in managerial and organizational work. (Male, 58 y.o., engineer)
Description of activity style. The testee at once starts to dialogue with the tester, while simultaneously vigorously laying out the whole test field. Commenting on the images, he is calling them using invented names. At once in the process of getting acquainted with the material, he unites the group, highlighting only the
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essential traits. He continuously keeps commenting his actions: - "So, there are 5 figures in all groups, it is clear, then it turns out that we have five rows. " The first figure of each row is a symmetrical figure, then logically there is a gradual complication". Having finished work in the rows, without a pause he passes on to observation of the principle of complication in alternation of rows. After completing the work he passes on to self-control. His comment: - "So, now we need to check everything not to make any mistakes." He constantly speaks about everything he is doing. He's joking. He perceives provocative criticism calmly: "Where is the principle violated?" "I do not agree." But, in order not to argue he says: "I do not want to spoil the impression-I yield".
Cautiously he announces end of work. "It seems that everything is done very well. It seems ... What comments do you have?"
Answers to control questions.
1. "It turned out to be a clear system. Like Mendeleyev's table. Only he did everything in a dream, and I did it in reality. I immediately noticed that among all the figures there is one symmetrical figure. This was my starting point.
2. Such an obvious test. Logic-related. Can you think? - If you can, this means that you can do this task. It was interesting for me. I sort of checked myself. I think this game will come in handy for many people. Implement it, I would advise.
Generalized style description: Energetic acquaintance with the material. Constant verbalization of actions. Continuous self-control. Strong disregard for nonessential attributes. Benevolent acceptance of criticism, energetic activity, readiness to correct the result on the basis of criticism.
Observed individual characteristics: open, talkative, accessible, active, optimistic, lively. Ready to learn, if necessary.
Final characteristic: strong type, prone to extraversion, expressed sanguine type. As a leader he can be described as someone mature; he is easy-going when performing tasks of organization and management. He is capable of being a mentor for staff. Quality assurance of management - developed self-control.
Conclusion
In this paper, we have only outlined the principle of operation and utilization of the proposed technique. We left out observations of the activities of subjects in the course of their acquaintance with the test material, as well as the peculiarities of perception and evaluation of the system as a whole and its individual fragments in particular. These descriptions can be useful for those who would like to use the material presented in the present study and to develop it, while for others they are of no interest. Therefore, we transfer this data to the editorial office for safekeeping in the status of manuscripts [1], they can be used, as they say, "on demand", without requiring the editors to store this material or to be responsible for it. The second copy of the manuscripts will be kept by the author and, if necessary, on the Internet. Material can be used to those who wish to use it, if necessary.
I would like to sincerely thank all those who helped me to work on this material, first of all, associate professors Shkuratova Irina Pavlovna and Yuzhaninova Alla Leonidovna.
References
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