Changes in the characteristics of perception channels in the process of mastering the discipline «Osteopathy»
Authors: Fisenko P. V. , Potekhina Yu. P. 
Published: October 2021

Introduction. Perception is a holistic reflection of objects and phenomena. A person has all the channels of perception — auditory, visual, kinesthetic. Only the expression degree of each channel in the overall structure of perception is different. Psychologists studied the specific weight of perception channels in its overall structure in a single-stage «slice». There is no reliable data on changes in perception in one group of subjects over a long period of time. Osteopathic researches have examined the development of touch during learning process. At the same time, there have not been studied the dynamics of perception as a whole system.

The goal of the study is to research the changes of the perception channels among students of the cycle of professional retraining in the specialty «Osteopathy» in the process of 4-year education and to compare it with the perception channels characteristics of teachers of the cycle.

Materials and methods. From 2018 to 2021 a cohort, prospective study was conducted. The study involved persons enrolled in a long (3,5 years) cycle of professional retraining in the specialty «Osteopathy» from I to IV courses — 63 people (35 men, 28 women, age from 26 to 52 years, median 36,5 years), and also teachers of osteopathy with at least 5 years of work experience — 20 people (14 men, 6 women, age from 31 to 55 years, median 48 years). An annual survey was conducted based on the questionnaire of S. A. Efremtseva «Diagnostics of the dominant perceptual modality», which consists of 48 questions aimed at identifying the predominant (dominant) channels of perception in three directions: auditory, visual or kinesthetic. The maximum score for each of the three modality channels is 16, the minimum is 0. The survey was anonymous. In the questionnaire, the participants provided only data on their gender, age, study group number, and the date of the study.

Results. The general structure of the students′ perception underwent changes during their learning. The specific weight of the kinesthetic channel in the general structure of listeners′ perception grew annually and doubled in the IV year in comparison with the beginning of training. At the same time, the specific weight of other channels of perception decreased steadily. The expression of all channels of listeners′ perception in absolute numbers also increased (p<0,005). The kinesthetic channel showed the most stable positive dynamics. Its expression began to grow already in the second year of the learning (p<0,001), while the expression of the auditory and visual channels had a statistically significant difference only when comparing 3rd and 4th years of the learning (p<0,005). The perception channels among the teachers of osteopathy were characterized by high absolute indices with similar values for individual channels. In half of the subjects, the kinesthetic channel prevailed in the structure of perception, and in the second half the polymodal channel prevailed with a high rate of kinesthetics. The expression of all perception channels of the osteopathic school students during the learning process gradually approached to that of the osteopathy teachers. At the 4th year of the learning, students did not statistically significantly differ from teachers by the absolute values of perception channels indicators.

Conclusion. The students of the osteopathic school showed a regular increase in the expression of all perception channels during their learning (p<0,005). The expression of the kinesthetic channel grew most rapidly. The largest increasing across all channels occurred in the 4th year of the learning. During the first three years of the learning, the listeners, in terms of the perception channels expression, gradually approached the teachers who had high indicators by all channels. At the 4th year, the students did not differ statistically significantly from the teachers. Therefore, the primary training in osteopathy should last at least 3,5–4 years for the high perception index formation of perception of an osteopathic physician.