Studying a student's emotional states is an important aspect of the educational process. Emotions can strongly affect students' ability to learn, their motivation, and their overall academic success. Various methods and tools can be used to study a student's emotional states. Here are several ways to do this:

1. Questionnaires and surveys: Creating questionnaires or surveys in which students can assess their own emotional states can help in studying their feelings and experiences at school. Questions may concern the student's degree of satisfaction with the learning process, level of stress, motivation, and so on.

2. Conversations and interviews: Personal conversations and interviews with students allow them to express their emotions and views in more detail. This can help teachers and counselors better understand their individual needs.

3. Observation: Observing students' behavior and reactions in the classroom and during lessons can also provide insight into their emotional states. A teacher can pay attention to facial expressions, gestures, mimicry, and other signs of emotion.

4. Use of technology: There are technological tools, such as text-analysis and voice-recognition programs, that can help analyze students' written work or oral responses in order to identify emotional states.

5. Emotional intelligence tests: There are standardized tests and assessment tools designed to measure students' emotional intelligence and emotional skills.

6. Collaboration with psychologists and counselors: School psychologists and counselors can play an important role in studying and supporting students' emotional needs. Working together with them can help identify and address problems.

Determine, through observation of the student being studied, the features of his or her emotional sphere in learning activities and behavior:

1. Which emotional states predominate in the student during the learning process, while carrying out social assignments, during leisure time, and so on?

2. What is his or her attitude toward learning, and what feelings arise from success and failure in schoolwork, from praise and reproach, and when solving difficult and easy tasks?

3. How are moral qualities manifested in the student — friendship, comradeship, collectivism, sympathy for others, respect for elders, a sense of duty?

4. What aesthetic feelings does the student display when completing schoolwork, in contact with nature and people, in appearance, manners, and behavior, and when perceiving works of art?

5. What intellectual feelings does the student display when completing schoolwork (curiosity, surprise, pleasure at successfully completed work, disappointment at failures, sense of humor, doubt)?

Studying Impulsivity

Purpose of the study: to determine the level of impulsivity.

Materials and equipment: V.A. Losenkov's test questionnaire, consisting of 20 questions, each with a four-point answer scale, and a pen for writing.

Study procedure

The study can be conducted with a single subject or with a small group. The subject is given the text of the questionnaire with a four-point answer scale for each question. When working with a group, the researcher must ensure that each person completes the test strictly individually.

Instructions to the subject: "The test questionnaire offered to you contains 20 questions. Each question is accompanied by an answer scale. Read each question carefully and circle the number of the answer you choose. There are no 'bad' or 'good' answers in this test. Try to feel at ease and answer sincerely. The preferable answer is the one that comes to mind first."

Questionnaire

I. If you take on some task, do you always see it through to the end?

1. Definitely yes.

2. Probably yes.

3. Probably not.

4. No, not always.

II. Do you always react calmly to sharp or unfortunate remarks directed at you?

1. Definitely yes.

2. Probably yes.

3. Probably not.

4. Definitely not.

III. Do you always keep your promises?

1. Definitely yes.

2. Probably yes.

3. Probably not.

4. Definitely not.

IV. Do you often speak and act under the influence of a passing mood?

1. Very often.

2. Quite often.

3. Quite rarely.

4. Almost never.

V. Do you maintain good self-control in critical, tense situations?

1. Yes, I always maintain control.

2. Probably always.

3. Probably not.

4. No, I do not maintain control.

VI. Does your mood often change without any visible or sufficiently good reason?

1. This happens very often.

2. It happens from time to time.

3. This happens rarely.

4. This never happens at all.

VII. Do you often have to do things hastily when deadlines are pressing?

1. Definitely yes.

2. Probably yes.

3. Probably not.

4. Definitely not.

VIII. Would you call yourself a purposeful person?

1. Yes, I definitely would.

2. I probably would.

3. Most likely I would not.

4. No, I definitely would not.

IX. In your words and actions, do you follow the proverb "Measure seven times, cut once"?

1. Yes, always.

2. Often.

3. Rarely.

4. No, almost never.

X. Are you conspicuously indifferent toward those who unfairly grumble at or pick on you, for example, on a bus or streetcar?

1. I react this way almost always.

2. I react this way quite often.

3. I rarely react this way.

4. I never react this way.

XI. Do you doubt your strengths and abilities?

1. Yes, often.

2. Sometimes.

3. Rarely.

4. Almost never.

XII. Do you easily become enthusiastic about a new endeavor but can quickly cool toward it?

1. Definitely yes.

2. Probably yes.

3. Probably not.

4. Definitely not.

XIII. Are you able to restrain yourself when a superior reproaches you unjustly?

1. Definitely yes.

2. Probably yes.

3. Probably not.

4. Definitely not.

XIV. Do you feel that you have not yet found yourself?

1. I agree, that is exactly how it is.

2. Most likely, this is so.

3. I would hardly agree with this.

4. I definitely disagree with this.

XV. Can your opinion of yourself change more than once under the influence of some new circumstances?

1. Certainly so.

2. Quite likely.

3. Unlikely.

4. Almost impossible.

XVI. Is it usually difficult to make you lose your temper?

1. Definitely yes.

2. Probably yes.

3. Probably not.

4. Definitely not.

XVII. Do you have desires that, for various reasons, cannot be fulfilled?

1. Such desires arise in me often.

2. Such desires arise from time to time.

3. I rarely have such desires.

4. I never have knowingly unfulfillable desires.

XVIII. When discussing important life problems with someone, do you notice that your own views have not yet fully taken shape?

1. Yes, I notice this often.

2. I sometimes notice this.

3. I notice this quite rarely.

4. No, I never notice this.

XIX. Does it happen that some task bores you so much that, without finishing it, you take up a new one?

1. Yes, this happens often.

2. This sometimes happens.

3. This happens quite rarely.

4. This almost never happens.

XX. Are you a somewhat unbalanced person?

1. Definitely yes.

2. Probably yes.

3. Probably not.

4. Definitely not.

Processing the results

When processing the results, the value of the impulsivity index "Pi" is calculated. It represents the sum of the points scored on the scales of the entire test questionnaire.

In this test questionnaire the answer scale is a four-point scale.

For questions 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 13, and 16, the scale number corresponds to the number of points, that is, 1, 2, 3, or 4.

For questions 4, 6, 7, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, and 20, the points are calculated on the scale in reverse order, that is, scale point 1 corresponds to 4 points; scale point 2 to 3, scale point 3 to 2, and scale point 1 equals 4 points.

Thus, the impulsivity index can vary among different people from 20 to 80 points.

Analysis of the results

Impulsivity is a trait opposite to the volitional qualities of purposefulness and persistence. The greater the value of the impulsivity index "Pi," the greater the impulsivity.

The level of impulsivity can be characterized as high, medium, or low.

If the "Pi" value falls within the range of 66–80, then impulsivity is of a high level, that is, strongly expressed; if its value is from 35 to 65, then its level is medium, moderate impulsivity; and if 34 or less, then impulsivity is of a low level. A high level of impulsivity characterizes a person with insufficient self-control in communication and activity. Impulsive people often have vague life plans, lack stable interests, and become absorbed first in one thing, then in another.

People with a low level of impulsivity, on the contrary, are goal-directed, have clear value orientations, show persistence in achieving their goals, and strive to see things they have started through to the end.

If impulsivity is high, a self-development program should be drawn up aimed at reducing it and increasing purposefulness. In doing so, the characteristics of the individual's locus of subjective control should be taken into account.

Studying Moods

Purpose of the study: diagnosing mood as an emotional state of the personality.

Materials and equipment: a color-range mood scale, a set of 8 colors proposed by A.N. Lutoshkin, including: red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, violet, black, and white. The set of colors is made from colored paper in the form of 3x3 cm squares.

Study procedure

The study is conducted using the color-writing technique either with a single subject or with a group of up to 16–20 people. In the case of group instruction, each participant must be provided with a set of colors from which to choose the one corresponding to their mood.

To determine the emotional state using color, subjects are shown the color-range mood scale and the principle of its use is explained.

Color-range mood scale:

Instructions to the subject: "Look at the color-range mood scale. Using the color designations on this scale as a guide, choose from your set of colors the one that corresponds to your mood today."

Mood diagnostics can be a one-time event, in which case a single day's study is sufficient. But the task may also be to study the dynamics of moods over a certain period of time, in which case the study is repeated every day over the course of a week, a month, or longer.

The task of the researcher or his or her assistant is to record the mood identified by the subject in a color matrix using colored pencils or markers.

The operational mood color matrix of the study participants looks as follows.

Operational mood color matrix

Each participant's mood is recorded in the cell at the intersection of their number or surname with the day corresponding to the date of the study.

In addition to recording participants' self-diagnosed moods in the color matrix, it is important for the researcher to keep an observation diary. The diary records whether the self-diagnosed mood corresponds to what is actually observed, along with the main events of the day that may have influenced the mood, if the dynamics of a group of students is being studied. For example: an upcoming exam, test results, quarrels that arose in the group, holidays, and so on.

Processing the results

The results require processing in cases where a group of participants is studied simultaneously, or when repeated self-diagnosis of participants' moods is carried out.

The purpose of processing the results is to calculate individual and group mood indicators.

To obtain individual mood indicators, the frequency of occurrence of each color represented on the color-range mood scale is calculated.

To compare the moods of all study participants, a summary mood color matrix is prepared.

Summary mood color matrix

In the color matrix, either with letters or by shading the corresponding number of cells with the color denoting the mood, the number of days on which a given mood occurred is recorded. In doing so, one starts with enthusiastic, then joyful, then yellow, and so on.

Analysis of the results

Analysis of the operational mood color matrix data can be carried out daily, at the end of each week, and at the end of each month.

Daily analysis of the color matrix data is related to the actual life events of the subject. Such analysis helps a person understand the causes of their experiences and is a good means of emotional self-control. In doing so, it is important to establish the degree of adequacy of the individual's emotional response depending on the events of his or her life.

The overall assessment of the emotional state corresponds to the predominant mood over the entire period of the study, which may be a week, a month, and so on. Such an assessment allows for the possibility of deviations from the norm in the subject's experiences and emotional states. Such deviations include:

• an excessively prolonged state of sadness, anxiety, or dissatisfaction;
• a mismatch between emotional states and the emerging life situations;
• excessive chronic emotional arousal (in the form of a joyfully enthusiastic mood);
• sharp polarity in the tone of emotional states;
• prolonged monotony of the emotional states displayed.

In the course of the analysis, it is important to take into account that certain chronic illnesses — for example, gastritis, cholecystitis, ulcer disease, heart disease, and so on — strongly affect a person's emotional state, changing their vital tone, activity, and the nature of their reactions. Factors that strongly influence a person's mood include the emotional-psychological climate of the family, the study group, and relationships with friends and loved ones.

Studying the State of Aggression and Anxiety

A. ASSINGER'S AGGRESSIVENESS DIAGNOSTIC METHOD

A. Assinger's test allows one to determine whether a person is sufficiently tactful in relations with colleagues, and whether it is easy for others to interact with them. For greater objectivity of the answers, a mutual assessment can be conducted, in which colleagues answer the questions on each other's behalf. This helps to understand how accurate their self-assessment is.

Underline your answer:

I. Are you inclined to seek ways of reconciliation after another workplace conflict?

1. Always

2. Sometimes

3. Never

II. How do you behave in a critical situation?

1. You seethe inwardly.

2. You remain completely calm.

3. You lose self-control.

III. What do your colleagues consider you to be?

1. Self-confident and envious.

2. Friendly.

3. Calm and free of envy.

IV. How would you react if offered a position of responsibility?

1. Accept it with some apprehension.

2. Agree without hesitation.

3. Decline it for the sake of your own peace of mind.

V. How would you behave if a colleague took a piece of paper from your desk without permission?

1. Give them a piece of your mind.

2. Make them return it.

3. Ask whether they need anything else.

VI. What words would you greet your husband (wife) with if he (she) came home from work later than usual?

1. "What kept you so long?"

2. "Where have you been hanging around until now?"

3. "I was already starting to worry."

VII. How do you behave behind the wheel of a car?

1. You try to overtake a car that has "cut you off."

2. You don't care how many cars pass you.

3. You race off at such a speed that no one can catch you.

VIII. How would you describe your outlook on life?

1. Balanced.

2. Frivolous.

3. Extremely rigid.

IX. What do you do if not everything works out?

1. Try to blame someone else.

2. Accept it.

3. Become more careful in the future.

X. How would you react to a satirical article about cases of unruly behavior among today's youth?

1. "It's about time such amusements were banned."

2. "We need to give them the opportunity for organized, cultured leisure."

3. "Why do we bother with them so much?"

XI. What do you feel if the position you wanted went to someone else?

1. "Why did I even bother wasting my nerves on that?"

2. "Apparently his face is more pleasing to the boss."

3. "Maybe I'll succeed next time?"

XII. How do you watch a horror film?

1. You are frightened.

2. You are bored.

3. You genuinely enjoy it.

XIII. If a traffic jam makes you late for an important meeting.

1. You will be nervous during the meeting.

2. You will try to win your colleagues' indulgence.

3. You will feel upset.

XIV. How do you feel about your athletic achievements?

1. You always try to win.

2. You value the pleasure of feeling young again.

3. You get very angry if you have bad luck.

XV. What would you do if you were poorly served at a restaurant?

1. Put up with it, avoiding a scene.

2. Call over the maître d' and reprimand him.

3. Go and complain to the restaurant manager.

XVI. How would you behave if your child was bullied at school?

1. Talk with the teacher.

2. Make a scene with the parents of the "young offender."

3. Advise your child to fight back.

XVII. What kind of person do you think you are?

1. Average.

2. Self-confident.

3. Pushy and assertive.

XVIII. What would you say to a subordinate you bumped into in the doorway of the office if they started apologizing to you?

1. "I'm sorry, it's my fault."

2. "Never mind, it's nothing."

3. "Can't you be more careful?!"

XIX. How would you react to a newspaper article about cases of hooliganism among young people?

1. "When will concrete measures finally be taken?!"

2. "Corporal punishment should be introduced."

3. "We can't blame it all on young people — the educators are at fault too!"

XX. Imagine that you are to be reborn, but as an animal. Which animal would you prefer?

1. A tiger or a leopard.

2. A domestic cat.

3. A bear.

Scoring:

Now carefully review the underlined answers. Add up the answer numbers.

Results:

36–44 points. You are moderately aggressive, but you get through life quite successfully, since you have enough healthy ambition and self-confidence.

45 points or more. You are excessively aggressive, and are often unbalanced and overly harsh toward other people. You hope to reach the "top" of management, relying on your own methods, and to achieve success by sacrificing the interests of your family and those around you. Therefore, you are not surprised by your colleagues' dislike of you, but at the slightest opportunity you try to punish them for it.

35 points or less. You are excessively peace-loving, which is due to insufficient confidence in your own strengths and abilities. This does not, of course, mean that you bend like a blade of grass in every breeze... And yet a bit more determination would not hurt you!

If you scored three points on seven or more questions and one point on fewer than seven questions, then your outbursts of aggressiveness tend to be more destructive than constructive in nature. You are prone to rash actions and heated arguments. You treat people with disdain, and your behavior provokes conflict situations that could easily be avoided.

If, on the other hand, you scored one point or less on seven or more questions and three points on fewer than seven questions, then you are excessively withdrawn. This does not mean that you are not prone to outbursts of aggressiveness, but you suppress them all too thoroughly.

Observation, conversation, study of products of activity, and discussion of works of art can be used to complete this assignment. Based on the results, formulate a conclusion about the age-related and individual characteristics of the student's feelings and emotions.

See also

• emotions
• emotional sphere
• mood