  The validity of small damping approximation (SDA) for the quasi-classical
description of the averaged properties of nuclei at high temperatures is
studied within the framework of collisional kinetic theory. The isoscalar
collective quadrupole vibrations in hot nuclei are considered. We show that the
extension of the SDA, by accounting for the damping of the distribution
function $\delta f$ in the collision integral reduces the rate of variation
with temperature of the Fermi surface distortion effects. The damping of the
$\delta f$ in the collision integral increases significantly the collisional
width of the giant quadrupole resonance (GQR) for small enough values of the
relaxation time. The temperature dependence of the eigenenergy of the GQR
becomes much more weaker than in the corresponding SDA case.
