Animated Presentation of Topic of Adulting and Age-Specific Features of Its Perception

The article substantiates topicality of psychological study of animated cartoons as a mass media from the point of view of their influence on children socialization. The topic of moving into adulthood acquires a specific significance for senior preschoolers and junior pupils as the sphere of social interaction is expanding, the motives of social behavior are being developed and a new role - a role of a pupil - is being realized. The article presents a comparative psychological analysis of animated cartoons in terms of the topic of adulating How to grow big (1967) and I want to be an adult from the series of Mi-Mi-Bear (2015). It shows that the first media product corresponds to the age-specific features of perception by the preschoolers and junior pupils and can perform a creative role in the childs development, forming his/her conative and value-based guidelines, while the second one contains attributes of violating psychological security of the developing media space. The article describes the results of a comparative empiric study of the features of the semantic assessment of these cartoons in groups of junior and senior pupils. It identifies that the semantic assessment of the cartoons characters is performed in terms of factors of cheerfulness, emotional nearness, strength and intensity. The results of the investigation prove that the junior school children perceive the cartoon characters not differentially, not critically, with that the degree of their identification with the hero is higher, which determines the children vulnerability to impact of the media texts.