Issue 2 On line: 25 May 2025
The Detrimental and Beneficial Effects of Collaboration in Episodic Memory are Sensitive to Both Emotional Valence and Directed Forgetting
Aiqing Nie, Bingyan Guo, Qiao Wang

Aiqing Nie, Department of Psychology, School of Education Science, Shanxi Normal University, 339 Taiyu Road, Taiyuan, China 030031.
Email: nieaiq@126.com
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.
Keywords: episodic memory, directed forgetting, emotional valence, collaboration, collaborative inhibition, error pruning, post-collaborative memory, benefitReligious Meaning System and Fear of Death in Older Adults: The Longitudinal Mediation Analysis of Wisdom and Meaning- Making
Dariusz Krok, Paweł Jan Brudek

Dariusz Krok, Institute of Psychology, Opole University; Plac Stanisława Staszica 1; 45-052 Opole, Poland.
Email: dkrok@uni.opole.pl
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.
Keywords: religious meaning system, fear of death, wisdom, meaning-making, older adultsMotor Fluency and Preference Judgments: Typing Speed as a Predictor of Letter Dyad Likeability
Mara Stockner, Giuliana Mazzoni, Francesco Ianì

Mara Stockner, Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, and Health Studies Via degli Apuli, 1, 00185 Rome, Ital.
Email: mara.stockner@uniroma1.it
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.
Keywords: motor fluency, preference judgments, simulation, keyboardValidity and Reliability of the Need for Cognition Scale-6 Items in a Mexican Sample and its Association with Big Five Personality Factors
Hannia Yamilee Chávez-González, Sofía Alamán-Aguilar, Johana Gabriela Recobos-Duque, María Jose Villa-Tená, Itzia María Martínez-Silva, Ana Isabel Alamillo-Cuéllar, Aldebarán Toledo-Fernández

Aldebarán Toledo-Fernández, Universidad Anáhuac México, Faculty of Psychology, Av. Universidad Anáhuac 46, Col. Lomas Anáhuac, Huixquilucan, Estado de México, 52786
Email: aldebaran.toledofe@anahuac.mx
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.
Keywords: need for cognition, big five personality factors, reliability, validity, MexicanQuality of Life in Socioemotional, Physical, and Psychological Dimensions and Self-Denial in Patients Suffering From Chronic Anorexia Nervosa
Julia Ostęp, Katarzyna Kurcharska

Julia Ostęp, Institute of Psychology, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw, 01-938 Warsaw, Poland.
Email: juliaostep01@gmail.com
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.
Keywords: anorexia nervosa, quality of life, well-being, illness denial, chronic illness