Background. The increase in drug use in the population of Russia and representatives of the youth in particular is a vital issue that is controlled and monitored by the federal state. The rapid rise in drug use in young citizens requires a systematic analysis of the causes, study of criteria and assessment of predisposition for drug use, and also the development of programs to prevent drug addiction in adolescents.

Objective. Determination of the psychological predisposition of young men to psychoactive substances using the personality profile of the Multidisciplinary Method of Personality Inventory (MMPI).

Research Progress. The research was conducted between 2008 and 2010 on the basis of secondary comprehensive schools, cadet corps, secondary professional educational institutions and universities in Rostov-on-Don and the Rostov region, Russia. The sample included 338 males from 15-16 to 22-23 years old, whose average age is 17-18 years. The evaluation of information reported by applicants on the fact of presence / absence of psychoactive substance samples was made based on the results of the psychophysiological test using a polygraph.

Research Results. The results of the MMPI test were statistically analyzed according to the nonparametric Mann-Whitney test, and to a single-factor analysis of variance. The research results show that the scores of the F-scale in the MMPI profile of young males who used psychoactive substances reveal a statistically significant increase (p = 0.008), compared to those who did not use psychoactive substances. The single-factor analysis of the F- MMPI scale did not show a statistically significant difference (p = 0.128).

Conclusion. The paper proposes to consider an increase in the F-scale in the MMPI profile as an indicator of individual predisposition to use psychoactive substances, but not to consider an increase in its indices as a cause that affects primary psychoactive substances in adolescence. The results obtained can be used by practical and clinical psychologists when working with adolescents and youths.

The paper considers the first case of using polygraph («lie detector») in the history of Russia for diagnosing possible simulation of auto amnesia symptoms (biographical amnesia).

In recent years, the number of cases of biographical amnesia have increased greatly. Today there are several scientific concepts to explain the amnesia of biographical information using a number of approaches. Some psychiatrists believe that the existence of specified disorder is false. The appeal of scientists to the method of psychophysiological research using the polygraph to diagnose possible simulation of auto amnesia is due to the fact that the object of such research is human memory, i.e. mental process of influenced by different types of amnesia.

This paper describes basic provisions of carrying out technology research for diagnosing possible cases of simulating symptoms of biographical amnesia, highlighting the progress in detail, conditions and results of the performed experiment that showed that the functional status of the patient was unsuitable for using the polygraph. Therefore, to reach a conclusion about the simulation of the symptoms of the disease is not possible.

The most probable causes of this result deal with the assumption about patient taking therapeutically potent drugs that produce a pronounced anti-anxiety effect. Reexamination after the expiration of pharmacological drug term is recommended.

The paper is of practical interest to psychiatrists, experts in the field of medical and clinical psychology, polygraph practitioners.

The paper presents a scientific approach to interpreting physiological data obtained during the psychophysiological detection of deception procedure. The approach is based on identification of individual form of human physiological response to significant stimulus (i.e. symptom complex).

The author provides a short historical overview of scientific literature about the presence of human physiological ability to respond to a significant stimulus in a certain way due to psychophysiological characteristics of individuals.

It is well known that only significant stimuli can cause pronounced and stable physiological responses from a person during psychophysiological detection of deception examination. However, the recorded physiological activity may be conditioned not only by the significance of the stimulus but also other factors. Therefore, one goal of interpreting the research results is the selection of certain reactions out of the general dynamics of vital physiological background of the human body. The changes of physiological features recorded by the polygraph are conditioned by the stimulus significance but not by other physiological activity of the subject.

The paper contains methods of evaluating the suitability of the functional state of a subject to using the polygraph from the perspective of ergonomics and integrated approach. According to the author during the polygraph testing a psychophysiological experiment should be carried out. Through the performance evaluation it allows to define exactly the functional state of a subject that contributes to detecting his/her physiological responses that describe the significance of presented stimuli (i.e. symptom complex).

For the first time in the scientific literature this paper presents an author’s definition of the symptom complex. Also it gives a detailed description of a symptom complex detection algorithm in the psychophysiological research using the polygraph. The author defines the field of application for the particular individual form of response. The paper is of profound practical and scientific importance for polygraph examiners who work with human resources, assist law enforcement in criminal investigations, conducts internal workplace investigations, perform functions of a forensic expert in court.