Introduction. The article discusses the features of value and life-purpose orientations, the motivational sphere of the individual, which is currently one of the key topics in psychology. Value orientations and life-purpose orientations are interconnected and influence the formation of the individual, its development and the way the individual achieves goals in the activity. The development of the motivational component of the individual is closely related to the value-semantic sphere, which determines the direction and content of needs and motives. Of great importance are studies of various forms of motivation that affect the attitude to the matter, the quality of the work performed, the creative component of the activity. In the study, the authors consider the motivation to achieve success, as it plays an important role in successful educational and professional activity. In the conditions of modern society, fierce competition, a rapidly changing economic situation, specialists motivated to succeed have a better chance of being in demand and self-realization.

Objective. To study the value and life-purpose orientations of students with different levels of motivation to achieve success.

Materials and Methods. The following methods were used in our study: T. Ehlers' questionnaire "Motivation for achieving success", D. A. Leontiev's test "Meaningful orientations in life", M. Rokeach's test "Value orientations". The obtained data were processed using the Kruskal-Wallis H-criterion.

Results. The study sample consisted of 60 DSTU students. As a result of the study, differences in value and meaning-of-life orientations were found in students with different levels of motivation for achieving success. The study showed that students with an average, high and very high level of motivation for achieving success showed greater awareness of their lives and have goals for the future. Students with low motivation for success are less inclined to analyze their life plans, less inclined to goal-setting, and less confident that a person's life can be subject to conscious control.

Discussion. Studying the research of other scientists, we can conclude that motivation plays an important role in the period of potential realization and professional self-realization. The study revealed differences in the values of students with different motivation for success. Students with an average level of achievement motivation were found to have a predominance of conformist values.

Introduction. Professional activity is an essential part of a person’s life and often occupies a prominent position in their value system. This is supported by numerous domestic and international studies, which demonstrate the impact of professional activity on individual psychological well-being and overall life satisfaction. Everyone has unique ideas about what they want their job to be like and about their future, and these ideas guide their choice of profession and workplace, aiming to align with their life goals. However, there is a lack of research on how people at different stages of life relate work and life parameters.

Objective. To identify age-specific ideas about the relationship between work and life parameters.

Materials and Methods. To achieve this goal, the semantic differential method was used. Statistical processing of the research results was carried out using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient.

Results. The study involved 105 participants, divided into four groups based on age: first-year students, fourth-year students, young professionals with 2–5 years of work experience, and more experienced professionals with 5–10 years of work experience. Within each group, significant correlations were found between work-related parameters and life-related parameters. First-year students imagined that six work-related factors would be connected to eight life-related factors. Fourth-year students saw six work factors connected to seven life factors. The group of younger professionals showed the most significant connections, while the more experienced professionals saw fewer work factors linked to more life factors in their future.

Discussion. The first-year students have idealistic ideas about the future relationship between work and life, while fourth-year students have more clear and objective correlations, indicating that their ideas are more realistic. Young professionals’ ideas about this relationship often reflect a desire for hedonism and a certain level of confusion. Experienced employees, on the other hand, have clear, structured, and meaningful ideas about how work and life should be balanced.

Introduction. The relevance of the problem is due to the importance of mental modelling abilities for social adaptation – understanding other people, their intentions, predicting further actions, and the ability to understand and reason about the causes of our actions.

Objective. To compare children's understanding of intentions based on unfinished ordinary and unusual actions, as well as children's understanding of the differences between intentional and unintentional actions of others.

Materials and methods. The following tasks were used to assess understanding of intentions: 1) Understanding intentions based on unfinished ordinary and unusual actions; 2) Understanding the differences between intentional and unintentional actions of others. The non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test was used to assess the differences.

Results. The study involved 39 typically developing children (M = 2 years 5 months; mental age – 3 years 4 months) and 17 children at risk for autism spectrum disorders (M = 4 years 2 months; mental age – 2 years 3 months). The results of the study demonstrate a deficit in the mental model of children at risk for autism spectrum disorders in tasks involving understanding the differences between intentional and unintentional actions of others. Children at risk for autism spectrum disorders differ from typically developing children in their attempts to reach for a toy and turn away from it when it is intentionally or accidentally denied. At the same time, preschool children at risk for autism spectrum disorders can understand the intentional actions of others as well as typically developing children in tasks where they need to complete an adult's unfinished actions.

Discussion. The results of this study are consistent with those of previous studies, which have shown that preschool children at risk for autism spectrum disorders can understand the intentional actions of others as well as typically developing children because children in both groups completed the task of completing an adult's unfinished actions. Despite this, children at risk for autism spectrum disorders had difficulty understanding the intentionality of refusal compared to typically developing children

Introduction. This study is devoted to the problem of developing research competence in Don State Technical University who study according to an individualised learning model, using project-based learning tools. The development of research competence, being a pressing issue in modern education, is closely linked not only to questions of its organization in higher education institutions, but also to the pedagogical conditions created in higher education.

Objective. Analyze the process of developing research competence in students following individual educational trajectories using project-based learning and to prove that the educational environment, in conjunction with project-based learning, allows students to develop research competence in the process of learning a foreign language, comprehensively combining language practice and research skills.

Materials and methods. Theoretical, empirical and statistical research methods were used in this work. Among the theoretical methods, we can highlight the analysis, synthesis and classification of pedagogical works on the research problem; among the empirical methods, we can highlight questionnaires, tests, and experiments. Several methods were used to diagnose the components of research competence, including the motivation diagnosis method by S. A. Pakulina and S. M. Ketko, the learning motivation method by A. A. Rean and V. A. Yakunina, and the method for studying learning motivation in higher education by T. I. Ilina, among others.

Results. This study examined the influence of the educational environment on the formation of research competence in students using the project work method in the process of studying the discipline "Foreign Language". The project work method was tested on students at T-University DSTU with positive results, confirming a high degree of research competence formation under the proposed conditions. It should be noted that the study is not complete; further study of the T-University student results of the focus group is planned, as well as a comparative analysis with students studying in a classical educational environment.

Discussion. The project method, integrated into individualized learning modules, contributes to the development of critical and creative thinking, learning autonomy, and independent learning and cognitive process skills in students. This builds skills in students that they can use for education and self-education throughout their lives. This flexible approach to learning opens up new opportunities for students, boosts their motivation to study, and makes them more active in achieving their goals in the form of a specific result, a project.