Easy as pie. How not to treat statistics

The article discusses the methodological difficulties associated with the spread of statistical methods of data processing in psychological works. In particular, there is a simplification of the understanding of statistics by researchers, which increasingly leads to the adoption of the hypothesis of the presence of the effect, in a situation where it is not. There is a brief review of publications and examples where this issue is the subject of critical analysis. Presented a research which showed that in the repetition of experiments published in reputable journals, the significance accepted in the scientific community was observed only in 39% of the works — this effect was called the “publication shift”. The article discusses ways to solve this problem, in particular, meta-analysis, through which it is possible to confirm the results of a series of experiments relating to one problem — subject to the availability of information about the design and openness of raw data. An understanding of the probabilistic nature of statistical results must be mandatory for the evaluation of studie

Vygotsky and intersubjectivity.

Lev Vygotsky’s statement on the development of the higher psychological functions— from the interpsychological form to the intrapsychological form—is discussed in the article. I describe the changing of Vygotsky’s interest from nonverbal to verbal communication and his emphasis on verbal communication as an only kind of interpsychological function. I then analyze works that show the importance of nonverbal communication in this process. I raise the questions of what an interpsychological function is and who is its “owner.” I argue that immediate response to the behavior (verbal and nonverbal) of another person is a basis for the psychological functions of a child, and this basis continues to influence processes in later stages of human development, including adulthood. Thus, interpsychological function in the development of the child is inevitably connected with some kind of passivity in reactions to social stimulation