Religious symbols are a manifestation of the reality outside of human cognition, connecting people with the divine. Due to its multifaceted nature, symbols encompasses both favorable and challenging aspects concerning this relation. However, the ambivalence in the relationship between individuals and symbols has not yet been empirically explored. In the current study, we argue that the semantic differential method provides means to address issues related to this duality. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between individuals and religious symbols, particularly focusing on the symbols of the Christian cross and the Bible. Further, it was examined whether any differences exist between different age groups. The study was conducted with the participation of Catholic youth (N = 239), age ranging from 12 to 24 years. Using principal component analysis and the semantic differential, we discovered that the relationship between individuals and religious symbols unfolds on two independent dimensions: opportunity and challenge. Older age groups (18 and 24 years) obtained significantly higher scores than the younger age groups on both dimensions, pointing to ambivalence in the relationship with the symbols of the cross and the Bible.

The current study investigated the relationship among executive functioning, activation of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), and forgiveness among students enrolled in Christian colleges in the United States. Guided by the regulatory model of forgiveness framework, employing a two-study methodology, our aim was to uncover the neurocognitive correlates of forgiveness. In the first study, 159 participants (67% women) completed neuropsychological tasks sensitive to PFC impairments alongside self-reported forgiveness measures. Results revealed a significant positive correlation between executive functioning and both state and dispositional forgiveness. In the second study, 36 participants (46% women) engaged in an ultimatum game followed by a dictator game, with changes in regional cerebral blood oxygenation (rCBO2) serving as an indicator of dlPFC activation. We found heightened right dlPFC activation during fair allocation of money to unfair opponents compared to unfair allocation within the same participants, suggesting a higher cognitive load in forgiving decision-making. Despite limitations associated with convenience sampling and a small sample size, these findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying forgiveness, with potential implications for interventions aimed at fostering forgiveness and enhancing overall well-being.

The current study aimed to verify the psychometric properties of the Flow Short Scale (FSS) on a group of 528 Polish board game players. Participants were asked to refer to a state of engagement during playing their most preffered board game. The experience of flow as a specific state rather than a general disposition was thus verified. The validity of the FSS was established based on a threefaced construct validation method. Participants were randomly divided into three subsamples (N1 = 115; N2 = 213; N3 = 200). Exploratory analyses were conducted on the first subsample to examine the quality of test items. Then, in the second subsample, a total of 36 models were verified for the goodness-of-fit criteria. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model with two factors, fluency and absorption - but without Items 1 and 5 - was found to have an optimal goodness-of-fit in the third subsample. Gender measurement invariance was then cross-validated on the entire sample, indicating homogeneity of the FSS at the strict invariance level. The convergent validity of both FSS subscales with the Immersion Questionnaire, tested on the entire sample, was also confirmed. In conclusion, the Polish adaptation of the FSS is a reliable and accurate tool for investigating the state of flow experienced by board game players.

The current study explored contemporary approaches to assessing psychomotor efficiency in sports psychology and transportation. The study's significance lies in the increasing demand for precise methods to evaluate psychomotor skills, essential for enhancing athletic performance and optimizing safety in transportation. The study involved 1007 participants from the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, categorized by gender and age. Methodologies from the Psychophysiological Variable Measurement Polypsychograph System, including Addition Tests, Number Test, Line Test, Simple Coordination Test, and Complex Coordination Test, were analyzed. The results emphasize robust test reliability and reveal noteworthy correlations. Pearson correlation coefficient values, intra-class correlations, and test-retest reliability (Rtt) substantiate method efficacy, ranging from 0.59 to 0.92. Interdependence between Raven's matrix tests and the Psychophysiological Variable Measurement Polypsychograph System methods affirmed the applied method's validity in assessing cognitive facets of efficiency. Additionally, substantial correlations between reaction time using traditional indicators and computerized counterparts demonstrated the validity of the method in the motor aspect. The current study provides essential insights for sports psychology and transportation. The discussed diagnostic tools are crucial for scientific inquiry and diagnostic applications, particularly in the precise selection of individuals with heightened psychomotor proficiency.

Quantitative and probabilistic measurements are needed in studies on aging-related-changes, not only categorical ones. The current study aimed to determine select cognitive functions in healthy elders with the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) and to examine their relations with age, and to assess time-dependent probability of cognitive decline. The study covered 101 healthy adults, without neuropsychiatric manifestations, including three age groups (basic: 63-67, middle: 68-72, oldest: 73-77 years). The CANTAB tests assessed: visuomotor speed (Motor Screening: mean latency and mean error), visual episodic memory/associative learning (Paired Associates Learning), executive function in spatial planning (Stockings of Cambridge: mean initial thinking time, mean subsequent-thinking time, problem solved in minimum moves), and semantic memory/naming ability (Graded Naming Test). The oldest group demonstrated longer mean latency, decreased mean subsequent thinking time, and better performance in mean error. Outcomes of Paired Associates Learning, mean initial thinking time and problem solved in minimum moves did not differ between the studied groups. Scores in the Graded Naming Test were lower in the older groups. Declined outcomes in problems solved in minimum moves and Graded Naming Test represented the most frequently found deviations. Risks of cognitive decline (results < -0.5 of the standard deviation from the standard zero) were 3.7 times higher in the middle group and 14.28 times higher in the oldest group in mean initial thinking time; 2.7 higher in the middle group and 7.5 higher in the oldest group in the Graded Naming Test. Declines in executive function in spatial planning, and lexical memory/ability to name objects reflect an aging-related pattern of cognitive decline, and these functions are anticipated to be the most frequently changed. Risk of decline in naming ability in adults aged above 63 years is more than two times higher per five-year interval. Cognitive decline is not equal in all domains in healthy elders.

Previous studies indicated the negative relationship between gaming disorder (GD) and cognitive control in the dual model of cognitive control (DMCC) framework. Additionally, prior research showed mixed results about the relationship between the frequency of playing action games and cognitive control. There is a research gap regarding whether GD, playing action games, or the interaction of these factors drove the results of previous studies of gamers' cognitive control. Therefore, the current study aimed to analyse the relationship between GD, playing action games, game context, and cognitive control in the DMCC framework. The study involved 77 active computer gamers (M = 24.00 years; SD = 5.26; age range: 18−45; 13 females) recruited online via the Prolific platform. The Gaming Disorder Test (GDT) was used to assess GD, and playing action games was evaluated using the modified Video Game Questionnaire (VGQ). Additionally, the AX−CPT paradigm was used to assess cognitive control in the DMCC framework. The results showed only a negative relationship between playing action games and using proactive cognitive control. Additionally, the results showed a interaction between playing action games and context conditions. Specifically, the negative relationship between weekly action game hours and proactive cognitive control was observed in game−related conditions. There was no similar effect in nongame−related conditions. Additionally, there was no relationship between GD and cognitive control. Based on the study results, it can be postulated that the decrease in proactive control in gamers was driven more by time spent playing action games than by GD.

The current study investigates the difficulty that autistic children can encounter when it comes to recognizing and memorizing faces. Sixteen faces were presented to 31 Spanish autistic and 30 neurotypical (NT) children. Immediately and 15 minutes afterwards, three options were presented and they chose which best matched the previously seen face. The results highlighted significant differences between groups: autistic children recognized fewer faces than NT children, and the NT children improved significantly in the second task (memory for faces delayed, MFD). However, differences in reaction time (RT) were similar, and both groups exhibited lower RTs (were quicker) in the MFD task than in the first task (memory for faces immediate, MFI). Nevertheless, while the NT children were quicker in successful items, the autistic children were quicker in both the successful and unsuccessful items of the MFD task. The results are consistent with the difficulty that autistic individuals have in integrating certain features into a full face and remembering this face in the future. These findings help to refine the understanding of autism in the Spanish community and question whether these kinds of tasks can be presented differently.

According to attentional theories of associative learning, organisms tend to prioritize items with a higher predictive value over those with a lower predictive value. We investigated whether experiencing a semantic categorization task with naturalistic object images influences attentional selection in a subsequent visual search task. Participants first categorized either between tool and vehicle or between fruit and vegetable. In the subsequent search task, they searched for a new target object and ignored a distractor that was either from the category they had to distinguish in the former learning task or from a nonrelevant category. We assumed that the extent these distractors interfered with selecting the target depended on their former response predictiveness. Search times were analyzed by using a hierarchical learning curve model. The results showed that objects from previously response predictive categories impaired performance to a greater degree than objects from nonpredicitive categories, regardless of particular object categories. The findings suggest that categorization learning from both basic and superordinate level categories can impact attentional control settings similarly, with fruit and vegetable more likely being basic level categories and tool and vehicle being superordinate level categories.

The nursing profession entails a specific workload related to interacting with patients and their families, fostering relationships with medical professionals, and managing epidemiological hazards. There exists a need for a Polish-language questionnaire for detecting stressors in nursing to be developed and made available, given the abundance of research on stress in nursing and a lack of publicly accessible diagnostic instruments that are psychometrically validated and permit comparative studies. The purpose of this article is to present the Questionnaire of Stressors in Nursing (QSN), a tool used to measure the occurrence and intensity of stressors in nurses’ work. Our aim was to make this tool accessible for every researcher interested in studying occupational stress in nurses. A total of 436 nurses between the ages of 23 and 63 participated in the study using the 24-item pilot version of the questionnaire. The Questionnaire of Stressors in Nursing (QSN) is characterized by satisfactory psychometric properties (reliability, discriminatory power, validity). It can be used to diagnose the type and intensity of stressors experienced in the workplace. 3-factor structure of the Questionnaire of Stressors in Nursing was established, including: Organization and working conditions, Patient and their family, and Interpersonal relations. The Questionnaire of Stressors in Nursing (QSN) can be recommended for use in scientific research in the field of work and organizational psychology, health psychology, in comparative studies of different groups of nurses, and also in applied research on the design of occupational health and safety measures, as well as in professional counseling.

The current study aimed to assess the effect of age and education on executive functions and visual learning in older adults with hypertension. Further, the contribution of executive functions to visual learning was investigated at different stages of aging. Color Trails Test, Ruff Figural Fluency Test, and Visual Learning and Memory Test for Neuropsychological Assessment were used. A twoway analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed main effects of age and education on executive functions and visual learning. A linear regression confirmed the contribution of cognitive flexibility to visual learning in groups aged 51-60 and 71-80. In the 61-70 and 71-80 groups, visual learning appeared dependent on productivity. Specific relationships were found between executive functions and the errors in visual learning. Our study confirms the need of using complex visual learning tasks as a measure sensitive to age-related changes and unveils the greatest impact of executive functions on visual learning in individuals aged 71-80.

The purpose of the current study was to verify the hypothesis on the role of alexithymia in the narratization of a romantic relationship. Assuming that the skills of experiencing, regulating, and verbalizing emotions constitute an important structural element of a self-narrative with an expressive thread, we hypothesized that the narratives of individuals with high levels of alexithymia, in whom these skills are impaired, would be characterized by a lower clarity of the self-narrative thread, which may be particularly evident when describing romantic relationships. In addition, we assumed that alexithymia would be negatively associated with self-narrative inclinations. The study was conducted online and involved 359 adults who had been in a romantic relationship for at least six months. Two questionnaires were used, namely, the TAS-20 to investigate alexithymia and the IAN to investigate romantic inclinations. In addition, participants described, in accordance with the instructions received, the romantic relationships they were in. The participants’ narratives were then evaluated in terms of the degree of clarity of the self-narrative thread by competent assessors. A significant positive relationship of narrative clarity with self-narrative inclinations was found, as well as a negative relationship of narrative clarity with the level of alexithymia. In addition, the mediating role of narrative inclinations on the relationship between the difficulty in naming emotions and externally oriented thinking and narrative clarity was confirmed.