The purpose of the study was to test the effectiveness of informational competence development in future teachers by the means of cognitive visualization. The following methods were used in the study: literature review, experiment, comparison, analysis and synthesis. Mental maps being a type of cognitive and visual technology formed the basis of the study. Empirical data affecting the development of informational competence in future teachers by the means of cognitive visualization were presented. The experimental
data analysis allowed us to set the priorities in the development of methods and techniques of lessons with future teachers using cognitive and visual technologies. The experiment consisted of four practice tests, as a result of which the average score reflecting the level of students’ preparation to interim assessment of both the control and the experimental groups was determined. Thus, mental maps proved to be an effective way to raise the level of students’ preparation to interim assessment, and, accordingly, the level of informational competence of students studying Pedagogy.

The article dwells on the analysis of academic and professional motivation as the basis for successful students’ studying at the second stage of higher professional education. The study involved 47 first-year Master’s Degree Students of the Humanities Department of Surgut State University, studying Psychology and Pedagogy (the following Master's Degree Programs: “Psychology of Development”, “Professional Education in Engineering and Technology”, “Solutions and Practices of Modern Education”). The obtained results proved that financial reasons, the opportunity to work with people and serve them in future, the need for showing personal abilities and creativity were the leading academic and professional motives of Master’s Degree Students of the Humanities Department. Both theoretical (analysis, systematization and generalization of theoretical and research data) and empirical methods (“Competition of Motives” method) were used. The Mann – Whitney U-test was used for statistical differentiation among the experimental
groups.

The article is devoted to the study of personality specifics of people with homosexual tendencies in the northern region. The article focuses on the need of distinguishing between true homosexuality and its transient form, which is a form of expression of a remonstrative adolescent position. It is proved in the text that the level of personality development in people with true homosexual tendencies corresponds with the borderline personality organization. To diagnose the criteria of the borderline level of personality development, the following features described in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5), International Classification
of Diseases, 10th and 11th Edition (ICD-10 and 11) and Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual, 2nd edition (PDM-2) were used: preferred psychological mechanisms of defense; the level of personality development; the ability of reflective thinking; basic conflict nature; specifics of relations with a psychologist. Also, the presence or absence of the following chronic states were taken into account: depression; feeling of emptiness; feeing of guilt; anger or frequent fits of passion; anxiety; feelings of loneliness, boredom, emptiness. The article describes methods of studying these phenomena and provides proofs of signs of borderline personality organization in people with homosexual tendencies.

The study analyzed stress tolerance, as well as the condition of nonspecific enhanced resistance in Surgut State University medical students at different stages of university education. The purpose of the study was to determine a methodology for prompt assessment of both the stress tolerance in Surgut
State University medical students and their condition. The authors assessed the level of students’ stress tolerance using the test developed by Yu. V. Shcherbatykh. The results were obtained at different scales, which determined stress tolerance according to psychosomatic, psychological and personal parameters.

Based on the results of the conducted research, the necessity of monitoring of an athlete functional status during preparation for the main competitions by choosing an efficient way for improvement of sports and technical skills and reduction of negative training effects is proved. Individual and overall average
indicators of heart rate variability of qualified biathlonists in competitions of 2021/2022 are demonstrated in the article. The data were obtained using Varikard 2.5.1 device and Eskim – 6 software. A tendency for correcting the training process of athletes with an inadequate response to the load is highlighted in the article. Practical recommendations for preparation of qualified biathlonists in the competition period are given. Also, the results of competitive activity of athletes in sprint are presented as the number of seconds lost to the leader.

The article presents the results of the research devoted to the efficiency analysis of a set of exercises developed by the authors for the improvement of speed and strength of university students doing basketball as an elective discipline of physical culture and sport (with the focus on 3×3 basketball). To achieve this goal, a pedagogical experiment was conducted among second-year students of Surgut State University (47 youngsters took part in the experiment, 25 of them made an experimental group EG and 22 – a control group CG in the academic year of 2021–2022. Physical fitness of the participants was tested at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the academic year. The testing included shuttle run (280 m), shuttle walking sideways in a defensive posture (3 × 10 m), chest bench press (20 kg, number of times per 30 seconds), jumping series (number of jumps per 30 seconds to the basketball backboard (275 cm). The analysis of the results obtained in the research confirmed that doing a set of selected exercises at a maximum pace in playing enhances the efficiency of special physical training of students doing basketball and 3x3 basketball.