Psychophysiological Predictors of Preservatioon of Students Health under Examination Stress

Abstract

Problem and objective. The design of an individual educational trajectory with due account for the individual characteristics of cognitive processes is relevant in modern education. The objective of the study was to organize the students’ cognitive activity in the conditions of the examination load, taking into account the psychophysiological profile as a criterion of health preservation. Materials and methods. The study involved 114 first-year female students aged 17-18 studying at the Faculty of Training Elementary School Teachers of the South Ural State Humanitarian and Pedagogical University in Chelyabinsk. The general sample was randomly differentiated into the main group (Group 1, n=61), for which the program "Design of Students’ Educational Trajectory Based on the Psychophysiological Profile" was implemented, and the control group (Group 2, n=53), where traditional tests were performed. The diagnostics of the level of mental performance by the parameters of a simple visual-motor reaction was performed using a hardware-software package "Biomysh"(Biomouse) (Neurolab, Moscow). The situational and trait anxiety was assessed. The mathematical-statistical analysis was conducted with the use of Microsoft Excel and Statistica v. 7.0. Results. The population of students at the control stage of the study was characterized by an average level of mobility of nervous processes, an optimal speed of the nervous system, a moderate degree of trait and state anxiety. Upon the program completion, the students of the main group noted an increase in the average group indicator of the CNS reaction stability at high values of the reaction stability and reliability of the activity. No significant differences in the mean values of sensorimotor reactions of students in the studied groups have been identified. The indicators of state anxiety had a regular increase in mean values in both groups, but an increase in the mean value of the control group by an indicator of state anxiety was 3.5 times higher than that in the main group. Conclusion. Task scheduling with the use of the program "Design of Students’ Educational Trajectory Based on the Psychophysiological Profile" makes it possible to improve academic performance with relatively constant rates of state and trait anxiety, and thus to ensure students’ stable psychoemotional state as one of the conditions for health preservation.