Abstract: Despite the fact that L. S. Vygotsky is a prominent figure in the history of Russian psychology due to the unique contribution to the development of scientific thought and organization of work of the new scientific center, the research group under his authority becomes the subject of a separate research for the first time. This article discusses the results of biographical analysis based on the historical-psychological sources, published testimonies of his contemporaries, such as memoirs, conversations and interviews, scientific autobiographies, transcripts of speeches, biographical articles, and published archival materials. The novelty of the implemented by the author research approach consists in reference to the research activity of L. S. Vygotsky and his scientific school from the perspective of theory of the collective. It is determined that due to the work in different institutions and different goals of research activity, the group of scholars under the authority of L. S. Vygotsky cannot be defined as a collective. The leader of Soviet psychology and defectology was a head of several interrelated research groups: since 1924 at the premises of the Institute of Experimental Psychology, since 1929 – the Experimental Institute of Defectology and the Academy of Communist Education named after N. K. Krupskaya, since 1932 – the All-Union Institute of Experimental Medicine. In order to manage the effective research work of the groups, L. S. Vygotsky applied his creative, pedagogical and organizational skills. The scholar implemented a democratic management approach based on the uniformity of administration, cognition, and communication. L. S. Vygotsky’s scientific school was united by a progressive experimental and practice-oriented research program, sensitive to the public needs in building the theory and system of psychological assistance in the USSR.

Abstract: The article is devoted to the problem of internationalism and isolationism of the domestic psychology of the first half of the XX century. The object of the study is the international trends in the development of domestic practice-oriented psychology, and the subject is international scientific communication as a condition for the development of the main scientific and practical trends in the domestic psychology of the period studied. An original approach to solving the problem is proposed in the context of the idea of a self-developing collective subject of scientific knowledge involved in the system of international scientific communication. The method of historical and psychological reconstruction is being implemented. The results of the analysis of data on international cooperation in the course of the organization of scientific and practical trends, as well as on official and informal contacts of the leading representatives of Soviet pedology, psychotechnology and psychoanalysis with foreign scientists are presented. The novelty of the study consists in revealing the specifics and role of the general social and scientific and social conditions in the implementation of the inter-ethnic scientific communication of domestic psychologists: the significance of not only social need is determined (in increasing labor productivity, educating a new person, theoretical and ideological justification of social transformations, recognition and strengthening of political positions of the Soviet state abroad), but also scientific policy in relation to the scientific and practical trends of psychology ii. Conclusions are drawn about the close relationship of international scientific communication, Soviet science policy and the processes of institutionalization of domestic scientific and practical trends in the 1920s. 

Abstract: The authors of the present research defines the problem of social determination of the historical development of Russian practical psychology. Based on the material of the history of main currents of Russian practical psychology's development in the first half of the XX century the author proposes the historical-scientific solution of the aforesaid problem. The authors also give a brief description of the main modern approaches to defining conditions, prerequisites, factors and results of the social determination of the pedagogical, psychoanalytical and psychotechnical movements of the 1920's - early 1930's. The authors present the results of the empirical research of what has determined the development and crisis of those movements in the first half of the XXth century using such methods of historical and psychological research as the analysis of research findings, biographical and bibliographical analysis, historical and psychological reconstruction and development of the classification of historical stages. The authors describe the main social conditions for developing research and practical movements: 1) Soviet science policy; 2) public demand for practice-oriented researches in industrial, ideological, social and administrative spheres. For the first time in he academic literature the authors describe the main mechanism of the social determination of the development of research and practical movements of the Soviet psychology, institutionalization. The authors define specific features of the Soviet research policy towards practical psychology, its ambivalent nature and role for de-institutionalization processes (elimination of research centers, specific print media, etc.). The authors also offer their own classification of stages of research and practical movements in the Russian psychology of the first half of the XXth century taking into account the social environment.