Many studies have shown that gifted children and youth have difficulties in education, emotional regulations, psychological adjustment process etc.

Our aim is to evaluate the adaptive capacity, the functional state of the gifted adolescents’ organism under external potential stressor.

The research has been conducted in schools of Yerevan, RA. The initial sample consisted of 500 high school students aged 16-18. Renzulli’s Three-Ring Conception of Giftedness was used to reveal gifted adolescents. In the course of study 35 of 500 participants were defined as gifted. The quasi-experimental design has been used with 35 participants in the comparison and experiment group each. For comparative analyses, we used Heart rate variability (HRV) method. As a potential stressor, the intellectual workload was selected. The ECG indicators have been recorded for 5 minutes each before and after the intellectual workload. We are presenting the results through Stress Index.

As we can see from the picture 1. the Stress Index (SI) of gifted girls and boys are higher from norm (the norm is 20-100). For control groups, the SI is within the norm. The SI for gifted groups of adolescents significantly higher from those of control groups. The data indicates, that for gifted adolescents the activity of central mechanisms prevails over autonomous mechanisms.

The level of stress in gifted adolescents is higher than that of the control group and rises in case when the task wasn’t solved. High results speak about psycho-emotional tension and stress. Further research is needed to understand the psychological background of such reactions.

No significant relationships.

Visual images and music have long been known as a means to optimize emotions (Galeev, 1976; Gotsdiner, 1993). Together (eg in audio-visual slide-films) they may help students and professional cope with the negative side of intensive workloads (fatigue, stress, anxiety).

Our study attempts a multi-level assessment of the relaxation effect of a slide-film as part of student education.

Sample - 46 psychology students. The 20 minute relaxation film was shown after lectures and discussion of a forthcoming examination. Measures: standard psychological and physiological functional state tests and a cognitive task before and after the film (Leonova & Kapitsa, 2003); an original questionnaire revealing individual associations and experiences felt during the film.

The results showed pronounced subjective discomfort and anxiety before the film. The relaxation film resulted in lowered blood pressure, increased subjective comfort, decreased fatigue and acute anxiety, and negative emotion scores, as well as higher productivity in performing the cognitive test (Student t-test, p<0.005-0.001). Concentration on the film subject, as well as the combination of the student’s thoughts and associations around the plot, showed a positive correlation with the amount of relaxation effect.

Our research showed that using the relaxation slide-film (with imagery and music) can provide positive effects on students’ functional state. It also revealed the importance of the relevance of individual experience to the subject of the film to obtain optimal positive effects.

No significant relationships.