The article presents a theoretical review that reveals the problem of the role and significance of reflection in the psychological ontogenesis of a person. Eight foreign scientific approaches and several types in the study of reflection are considered. As a result, a lack of research devoted to the study of ontogenetic reflection was revealed, diagnostic tools aimed at studying ontogenetic and differential reflections were selected. We consider it necessary to fill the gap and obtain comparative data on the influence of reflection on the perception of life of different generations of people, with an emphasis on the population of "mature" age. In the light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the tragic events in Almaty in January 2022, we believe that the problem of ontogenetic reflection has acquired a special meaning. Such significant events in the international and civil-political context are reinterpreted by the example of an individual and affect the life vector.