In collaboration with YSU Faculty of Philosophy and Psychology and the Neuro-Psycholinguistics Laboratory at the Institute of Language after H. Acharian at NAS RA, YSU hosted a scientific-practical event dedicated to issues of psycholinguistics and fairy tale therapy.
The master class, titled "Fairy Tale as a Tool: Return to the 'Happy' Cookie", was attended by students from YSU Faculties of Armenian Philology, and Philosophy and Psychology.
The scientific-practical session was led by Siranush Hovhannisyan, Ph.D., Head of the Neuro-Psycholinguistics Laboratory at the Institute of Language after H. Acharian, researcher at the Department of Applied Linguistics, and lecturer at YSU. Within the framework of the session, students also received professional guidance from Diana Sargsyan, Ph.D., Associate Professor at YSU Faculty of Philosophy and Psychology and researcher at the Psychology Research Center.
The purpose of the event was to present to participants the emotional foundations of the concept and idea of "return," the linguistic cues that guide it, and the neuro-psycholinguistic aspects of the psychological and cognitive phenomena that generate or emerge from it. The fairy tale served as a central tool for personal growth, self-regulation, and psychological cleansing.
In the second part of the master class, a set of exercises and methods developed by the Neuro-Psycholinguistics Laboratory was applied. By engaging with this set, students participated for the first time in the country in a neuro-psycholinguistic academic experiment.
The session was organized based on a complex model, incorporating segments of academic lectures, visual screen-based imagery, spatial-scenic arrangements composed of symbolic objects (such as a balance scale, a musical jewelry box, a package containing a smile-cookie, and a lottery ticket), and hands-on activities involving the audience.
The high effectiveness of the session was confirmed by the participants' sharply positive changes in mood and emotional state during the cancellation of "Happiness Lottery", where it was revealed that the "winning" element was the projected pronoun "you." The responses from the secret packages were particularly animated, with the central symbol of "return" being the "smiling" cookie.
Siranush Hovhannisyan concluded the session with a comparison between words and cookies, emphasizing how the "aftertaste" of a word becomes part of the psychological world, forming the basis for each "return" on the journey of lived, lived-through, and anticipated experiences of the individual.
