Background. The issue of the nature and origin of human psyche as a universal puzzle does not have a final solution for today. So, ideas about the subject matter of psychology, the issue of nature and the origin of human psyche discussed by A.N. Leontiev have not lost their significance for modern psychology.

Objective is to introduce the original assumptions of A.N. Leontiev that he coins discussing the nature of human psyche psyche and its origin in the course of the evolution of living beings.

Design. In this paper, the early representations of A.N. Leontiev about the nature and origin of human psyche are analyzed. The heuristic assumption of A.N. Leontiev about some living beings possessing the ability to react to external influences by displaying deep emotion or changing their primary sensation of various modality, which can be considered a pre-mental (biological) reflection, which further sets as reflection. The external objective activity of living beings changes their feelings as if they refer organism condition. The activity allows not only to create a motor image of the behaviour space, but also to use the primary experiences (feelings) to create ideas about the objects.

Results. These assumptions make it possible to view the psyche as a representation of the subject of activity and perception about the objective conditions and integral objects of the behavioural space that create the illusion of opening up the space for one's behavior. Such illusion arises due to the actual physical interaction of the subject of behaviour with the real objects of the external world.

Conclusion. A.N. Leontiev’s assumptions about the nature and origin of human psyche allow to elaborate a number of important provisions on this issue, which will be of great interest for modern psychologists and will occupy a worthy place in the theory of psychological science.

The paper considers social perceptual representations of mother in children. The social perceptive image of mother is associated with a certain attitude, and, consequently, determines the willingness to act in a certain way, the willingness to implement a certain strategy of relationships. The paper presents the results of a large-scale empirical study comprising 7000 high school students.

The sample can be considered quite representative with all necessary parameters, including respondents from big cities and small towns and villages of Russia, complete and incomplete families, families with 1-2 children and large ones. The results of the study in the general sample show that the social perceptual portrait of the mother compises only positive qualities, and does not contain any negative descriptor.

In addition, a high level of concordance (coherence, unanimity) in the perception and assessment of the mother’s respondents was revealed. A comparative analysis is carried out of the mother’s image in the minds of young men and women, in the minds of respondents from complete and incomplete families, from urban and rural families, from families with one or two children and from large families, from large families with many children and many children with many children. As a general trend, the social perceptual portrait of the mother in all groups remains positive. However, certain differences are also found in some changes in most significant qualities. Summing uo, differences are also found in the level of concordance of the respondents’ choice in specific groups that differ in gender or social features.

The paper analyzes the problem of the origin of the human psyche. Some assumptions about the nature of human psyche are introduced, the main element of the latter to be deemed as subjective sensory experience, which is carrying out a role of a building material to generate an image of subject conditions of behavioral space of the acting agent and the role of the sensual language by which the subject describes his/her environment. The features of the physical, biological and psychological reflection and behaviour management based on the physical, biological and psychological processes are given particular analysis. Mental reflection is deemed as the subject discovering his/her reflection of his/her behavioural space (his field of adaptive behaviour). The impossibility of constructing the image of objective conditions of the field of action as a result of transformation of primary traces the interaction of the environment and the receiving system (analyzer) of a living being is shown. The role of perceiving the subject’s activity in constructing the image of the object and the feeling of the adequate perception of the environment is emphasized.

The notion of “consciousness” is analyzed. First of all, consciousness is understood as a special form of psyche which occurs only to humans. The second interpretation is most common in Soviet psychology, within which consciousness is considered a product of human social life. The third meaning consists in understanding consciousness as cognitive and transformative (constructive) human activity that creates new conditions of life.

Herewith consciousness is the highest level of world cognition, whereas a person is an ideal (i.e. perfect) subject of cognition and transforming activity.

The paper analyzes the problem of the image of the Russian North. The image of the North is quite popular in the Russian society and performs objective reality. This image is created by the combination of rational experience and artistic perception. Psychologist V.P. Zinchenko said that «picturesque consideration» is not a metaphor in causing the image of «visual thinking». The ratio of quantitative and qualitative characteristics and the artistic perception changes over time and is highly dependent on the worldview of the person or society who creates this image, its level of culture, ethnicity, etc. In recent years, the image of the Russian North has become increasingly popular with politicians, who are in search of Russian civilizational identity, with geographers, who develop the basis of the new understanding of the cultural outline, and also with social scientists, who strive to use it in order to reconstruct the historical memory of the Russian people that was significantly undermined in the post-perestroika period.

The possibilities of shaping the image of the Russian North using only objective geographical characteristics and also their synthesis with artistic perception are considered. The former approach is marked as lacking potential, although it prevails in the Russian geography. The history of shaping the image of the Russian North is traced. The examples the image of the Russian North in literature, painting, music are adduced.

Nowadays the development of the theory of the cultural outline, which originates in the early twentieth century and then forgotten for the ideological reasons, allows to re-connect the natural sciences and the humanities characteristics of the territory mentioned, which contributes to shaping the entire image of the Russian North. Being juxtaposed to the spiritual nihilism of modern technological culture, the image of the Russian North in the memory of the Russian people is deemed as a metaphysical “Island of Salvation” possessing moral healing power. Recognizing the distinguished image of the Russian North with the Russian people allows to consider it as virtual cultural heritage of Russia.