Structural and content-related changes in semantic abilities in adolescents: a cross-temporal study
- Authors: Sipovskaya Y.I.1
-
Affiliations:
- Institute of Psychology Russian Academy of Sciences
- Issue: Vol 16, No 5 (2025)
- Pages: 585-617
- Section: Psychological Studies
- Published: 31.10.2025
- URL: https://medbiosci.ru/2658-4034/article/view/363630
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.12731/2658-4034-2025-16-5-844
- EDN: https://elibrary.ru/VRRAKU
- ID: 363630
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Abstract
Background. Clip thinking is a systemic response to the challenges of the information reality, diagnosed in representatives of various age cohorts. However, its key destructive component lies in the erosion of the conceptual apparatus and the reduction of complex cognitive functions, such as analysis, synthesis, and critical evaluation of information. This poses significant risks to the education system and the intellectual potential of society as a whole, starting with its foundational components – the semantic abilities of conceptual experience—and affecting the most sensitive age periods, such as adolescence.
Purpose. To reveal the influence of the time factor on the manifestations of semantic abilities of conceptual experience in late adolescence.
Materials and methods. The article presents an empirical study aimed at a comparative analysis of the manifestations of semantic abilities in late adolescents across different chronological periods (2010-2015 and 2021). Study participants: 77 school students (40 girls and 37 boys) aged 15. To diagnose manifestations of intellectual competence, the "Description of Indefinite Figures" method was used—a modification of the methodology by E.Yu. Artemyeva. This method measured the abilities of conceptual experience, specifically the development of the ability to generate semantic features of various types: exteroceptive (distant and contact), proprioceptive, apperceptive, and emotional-personal modalities. The study was conducted in 2 secondary schools in the Moscow region (Moscow and Khimki) in two cohorts (2010-2015 and 2021) among late adolescents (median age – 15).
Results. The results demonstrate statistically significant differences in the degree of severity of semantic abilities depending on the time factor. Empirical data indicate higher rates of semantic productivity in the 2010–2015 group compared to the 2021 cohort, manifested both in the number of generated semantic features (intellectual productivity) and in the diversity of categories used. Furthermore, intergroup differences in the structure of semantic abilities were identified: participants from the 2010–2015 study predominantly used semantic features of the extrasensory and emotional-evaluative types, whereas participants from the 2021 study showed a higher frequency of using proprioceptive features. At the same time, no statistically significant differences were found between the groups in the indicators of apperceptive-type semantic features. The methodological novelty of the study lies in the application of a narrative approach to assessing semantic abilities, as well as in identifying the dynamics of the structural and substantive characteristics of conceptual experience within a changing socio-cultural discourse. The obtained results contribute to the understanding of the age-related and temporal specifics of the development of semantic abilities, opening prospects for further study of the factors determining the formation of conceptual experience. A relevant direction for future research is the study of semantic abilities in other age periods to build a dynamic model of the formation and development of semantic abilities.
About the authors
Yana I. Sipovskaya
Institute of Psychology Russian Academy of Sciences
Author for correspondence.
Email: sipovskayayi@ipran.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7226-0560
SPIN-code: 6174-7627
Scopus Author ID: 57211157567
ResearcherId: Q-3627-2016
PhD in Psychology, Senior Researcher
Russian Federation, 13, Yaroslavskaya Str., Moscow, 129366, Russian Federation
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