Collaborative memory research has uncovered both detrimental and beneficial effects. However, it remains unclear whether these phenomena are present in the item-method directed forgetting procedure. It is unclear whether they are sensitive to the emotional valence of stimuli and whether they vary in subtypes of episodic memory. To address these issues, we introduced the item-method directed forgetting (DF) procedure into collaborative memory using the free-flowing procedure. Participants studied positive, neutral, and negative words followed by either a remember or forget cue. Two test sessions (Recall 1 and 2) were conducted, which assessed both item memory and source memory. Recall 1 was performed either individually or collaboratively, while Recall 2 was always conducted individually. The results revealed that the amplitude of the detrimental effect of collaborative inhibition was influenced by the interaction of emotional valence with cue. Specifically, emotional words had a stronger impact on the to-be-forgotten (TBF) case compared to the to-be-remembered (TBR) case in terms of amplitude. This effect surpassed the effect of neutral words, indicating more strategy disruption for the emotional words. The error pruning occurred in both memory tasks during the ongoing collaboration, but was absent after collaboration. The post-collaborative memory benefit was considerably greater for TBR words compared to TBF words. This demonstrates that the mechanisms to enhance the post-collaborative performance of the retrieval strategy disruption hypothesis (RSDH) are more likely to impact stimuli that have been subjected to elaborative rehearsal. These results are discussed concerning the RSDH and other possible explanations.

A close examination of recent studies in these fields demonstrated that relationships between religion and fear of death are likely to be mediated by the structures of wisdom and meaning-making. In this study, we investigated a parallel longitudinal mediation of wisdom and meaning-making in the association between the religious meaning system and fear of death in older adults. A longitudinal study with triplicate measurements was conducted on a sample of 270 Polish older adults (141 women and 129 men; Mage = 68.32 years, SD = 6.32). Four questionnaires were used: the Religious Meaning System Questionnaire, the Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale, the Fear of Death Scale, and the Meaning-Making Questionnaire. The serial mediation analysis with a bias-corrected bootstrapping method showed that the relationship between the religious meaning system and fear of death was mediated by meaning-making and wisdom. These results suggest that one’s religious meaning system, through increasing both meaning-making processes and wisdom, has a positive effect on decreasing fear of death. The intrapersonal structures of meaning and wisdom thus play a significant role within the gerotranscendental model of positive aging.

The literature on embodied cognition has shown that the perception of action-related stimuli can trigger a covert motor simulation of the action usually associated with these stimuli. Such simulation is thus closely linked to previous experiences with the objects and hence to memory processes. Preliminary evidence shows that sensorimotor fluency originating from the motor system can influence higher cognitive processes, such as preference judgments, when observing action-related stimuli, such as letter dyads (e.g., FA, TR): fluent (i.e., easier to type) dyads on the QWERTY keyboard are preferred over nonfluent dyads. These effects were attributed to the automatic activation of fluent motor programs during the observation of dyads. With the aim of gaining a better understanding of the role of fluency in preference judgments, we further investigated this effect by comparing slow and fast typists who should have different motor programs associated with the dyads and should therefore show different preferences. Our results show that fluency affects likeability of letter dyads, but in different ways for slow and fast typists: slow participants showed a preference for fluent dyads, while fast participants did not. We concluded that fast typists, who are characterized by greater typing skills, considered both types of dyads as subjectively fluent, leading to no specific preferences, while slow typists, who are characterized by lower typing skills, preferred easy dyads.

This study addressed the lack of research on the Need for Cognition-6 items (NCS-6) in a Mexican sample, aiming to provide evidence of its psychometric properties. It examined convergent, divergent, and factorial validity, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency. Additionally, it explored the scale's potential contribution to predicting quality of life in multivariate regression along with the Big Five Factor Model (BFFM). The study consisted of 1,366 adult participants at baseline and 120 at follow-up three years later, recruited through snowball sampling. Besides the NCS-6, other utilized measures were the Big Five Inventory-2 and the Quality-of-Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire Short Form. Analyses showed high positive correlations between NFC-6 and extraversion and open-mindedness, moderate correlations with conscientiousness and negative emotionality, and a weak correlation with agreeableness. A one-factor structure model, and testretest reliability were also assessed, with results slightly below the ones reported in the literature. Internal consistency was satisfactory overall. Lastly, no evidence was found of higher explained variance when adding NFC along the BFFM in a linear regression model for prediction of quality of life. This is the first study of its kind to evaluate the psychometric properties of the NCS-6 in a Mexican sample. We suggest its use an individual scale independent of the measurement of the BFFM, especially by using individual items.

The aim of the present study was to assess the overall level of quality of life, as well as in the socioemotional, physical, and psychological dimensions and to evaluate the level of denial of illness in people suffering from chronic anorexia nervosa. The study group consisted of 68 females suffering from anorexia and 60 women constituted the control group. The SF-36 and WHOQOL-BREF questionnaires were used to examine quality of life. The construct of well-being was assessed using the MHCSF and PWB-SF tools. The subjects' symptoms were measured using clinical scales: HADS, EAT-26, and the BPD Checklist. The Illness Denial Questionnaire (IDQ) was used to assess the level of illness denial. The results revealed a significant negative correlation between the symptoms of anorexia nervosa and quality of life, in all domains apart from the physical dimension. There was also a statistically significant correlation between quality of life and all clinical variables. A stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated anxiety as a statistically significant predictor of illness denial. Furthermore, maintaining anorexia symptoms appeared as a predictor of all domains of quality of life. Further research in chronic anorexia focusing on links between quality of life and illness denial is needed.

Numerical magnitude is known to be represented in long term memory as a position on a spatially oriented mental number line, as measured by the spatial numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect. Recently, it has been discovered that serial order in verbal working memory is also represented as positions on an oriented mental working memory (WM) line, as measured by the ordinal position (OP) effect. This led to the WM account that postulates that the SNARC effect reflects a temporary WM representation. If this is the case, one would expect the development of both the SNARC and the OP effect to be related. An alternative proposition, the dual account, postulates that the SNARC is a long-term semantic magnitude representation, whereas the OP reflects serial order WM and that both effects are independent. In a large-scale study across primary and secondary education, the relation between the two effects was investigated. No significant correlations between the two effects were found in any of the different age groups. Additionally, bootstrapping techniques were used to evaluate the consistency of the effects within participants. These analyses showed that there was only a very small minority of the participants that showed consistency for both effects. This further demonstrates the independence of the two effects. We conclude that the mental number line and mental working memory line bear no relation with each other.

Self-harming behaviour appears as a specific criterion for the diagnosis of borderline personality disorders (BPD) or it might have a transdiagnostic character. The aim of the study was to assess the level of empathy and empathic sensitivity in the group of self-harmers without suicidal intentions (nonsuicidal self-injury, NSSI) and to verify the correlation between empathy level and clinical symptoms such as anxiety, depression, psychological pain, and BPD. The study was conducted with a group of 129 women (M = 23.57; SD = 4.74) using both psychological and clinical measures, such as the Scale of Mental Pain, the Scale of Empathic Sensitivity, The Self-Injury Questionnaire-Treatment Related, Borderline Personality Checklist, and Hamilton Depression Anxiety Scale (HADS). The NSSI group consisted of 52 female self-harmers, while those in the control group did not exhibit such behaviour and did not declare any psychiatric diagnoses (N = 77). The analyses showed statistically significantly higher scores on the personal distress subscale in self-harmers compared to the control group. The study group was also characterized by significantly higher scores on the psychological pain, anxiety, depression, and BPD checklist compared to control subjects. At the same time, the severity of psychological pain and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and BPD correlates positively with the personal distress across the group. In contrast, statistically insignificant intergroup differences and correlations were shown for general empathy and empathic concern. Personal distress known as a dimension of affective empathy, appeared specific to the NSSI group.

Religiosity, defined as a personal and positive relationship with God, is a complex, multidimensional construct. Prayer, as a central element of religiosity, serves as a primary means of communication with the divine. This study aimed to explore the relationship between the subjective importance attributed to prayer and various parameters of religiosity across early, middle and late adulthood. Grounded in Walesa's cognitive-developmental theory of integral development of religiosity, we investigated whether the importance attributed to prayer was a distinct component within the broader construct of religiosity and whether this relationship varied across developmental periods. A total of 566 Roman Catholic adults from Poland participated in the study (Mage = 49.16 years; SDage = 15.72 years), spanning early (25–39 years), middle (40–59 years), and late adulthood (60+ years). Participants completed the Prayer Importance Scale (PIS) and the Structure and Level of Religiosity Test (SLRT). Network analysis was employed to examine the relationships between prayer importance and parameters of religiosity. Additional analyses assessed the stability of these networks and the potential moderating effect of age. The findings suggest that while the importance attributed to prayer is closely linked to overall religiosity, this relationship remains consistent across adulthood. The lack of age-related differences indicates that fundamental aspects of religiosity and prayer importance are established earlier in life and remain stable over time. These results contribute to the understanding of the multifaceted nature of the relationship between religiosity and prayer importance, and underscore the value of network analysis in psychological research.