The influence of military-training experience on personality characteristics and cognitive functions of cadets of Naval institute

Abstract

The effect of military-training experience on personality characteristics and cognitive functions of cadets of the first course of the Naval Institute was studied. We had shown that military-training experience influences on psychological characteristics and cognitive functions of cadets. Cadets which graduated from Suvorov Military (Nakhimov Naval) High Schools in comparison with the cadets without of military-training experience had a higher level of military-professional motivation, sociometric status, physical training, extroversion, aggression, and depression. Cadets without military-training experience had a higher level of nonverbal intelligence. They had mean intelligence quotient of 114 points. Cadets with military-training experience had intelligence quotient of 110 points. This corresponds to good and normal level of nonverbal intelligence. Cadets without military-training experience also had a higher level of deductive numerical, visual and figurative thinking, properties of concentration and stability of attention. The analysis of discriminant functions at the aprioristic grouping of all sample on an indicator of the effect of military-training experience had allocated a range of important psychological determinants of military-occupational adaptation. These include: sociometric status, included figures of J. Vitkin, striving for achievements, indicators of the techniques «Mixed lines», «Establishing patterns», «Matrixes J. Raven», striving for achievements, physical fitness, aggressiveness, emotional stability, and social professional adaptation. The classification accuracy was 85,6%, which confirmed the validity of the choice of the indicator of the presence (absence) of pre-university military training experience as a grouping variable.