Head of Laboratory – Dr. Sci .(Psychology) Nikolai Muskhelishvili

Tel.: (095) 196-00-24; E-mail: muskh.symbol@ru.net

The leading researchers of the laboratory include: Dr. A. Kiselev

Direction of research is concerned with specific characteristics of communications connected with the alterations of human consciousness states. This activity is based on the metapsychological approach proposed by leading scientists of Laboratory for describing the phenomena of consciousness and indirect communications.

Analysis of processes of knowledge transmission in cultural and scientific traditions reveals significant place of indirect communication therein. Unlike direct communication that carry a verbalised meaning, indirect communication is capable of convening non-verbalisable purport. The generation of text in its author’s consciousness occurs by spontaneous verbalisation of organiser-image that is the meaning of this text, with the assistance of some set of partially or completely unconscious cognitive structures forming the author’s "tacit knowledge". Imaginative mechanisms of mutual substitution of images play important role in this process. The functioning of these mechanism imposes on the text its imprint that contributes to text’s fascination. Fascination appeals to addressee’s tacit knowledge to generate in his consciousness imaginative processes and autocommunications. Fascination plays in direct and indirect communication different roles. Due to existence of universal mechanisms of verbalisation the text in direct communication generate not a series of infinitely mutually substituting images in the addressee’s consciousness but an image that bears close analogy with organiser-image. In this case fascination prepares the addressee for text appropriation by inciting him to the search of this image through autocommunications. In contrast to this the fascination in indirect communication stimulates imaginative processes of mutual substitution of images collectively convening a non-verbalisable purport. Such an indirect communication may be the source of a novel knowledge not explicitly contained in perceived text but arising in addressee’s consciousness as a text of interpretation of the whole imagery’s meaning.