Memory distrust and imagination inflation: A registered report.

Imagination inflation happens when a person's subjective confidence that an event has occurred increases after they imagine it occurring. In this project, our primary aim is to test whether memory distrust is related to the imagination inflation effect in people who are aware of the discrepancies between their own memories and what they have imagined. Our secondary purpose is to investigate whether the influence of memory distrust on imagination inflation is moderated by traits that are described as disengagement from reality and to test whether memory distrust mediates the relationship between self-esteem and imagination inflation. In a three-step procedure, participants (N = 300) will assess their confidence that a list of childhood events happened to them; then, they will imagine three of these events and reassess their confidence. Half of the participants will undergo a memory distrust induction procedure. In order to sensitize participants to discrepancies, some of them will be given cues about the source and/or perspective of the imagined events.

Spatial summation of pain is associated with pain expectations: Results from a home-based paradigm.

The purpose of this study was to reproduce the previously observed spatial summation of pain effect (SSp) using non-laboratory procedures and commercial equipment. An additional aim was to explore the association between expectations and SSp. The Cold Pressor Task (CPT) was used to induce SSp. Healthy participants (N = 68) immersed their non-dominant hands (divided into 5 segments) into cold water (CPT). Two conditions were used 1) gradual hand immersion (ascending condition) and 2) gradual hand withdrawal (descending condition). Pain intensity was measured on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Psychological factors, such as the participants' expectations of pain intensity were also measured on a VAS. Results showed significant SSp (χ2(4) = 116.90, p < 0.001), reproduced with non-laboratory equipment in a home-based set-up. Furthermore, two novel findings were observed: i) there was a significant correlation between expectations and perceived pain, indicating a link between pain expectations and SSp, ii) spatial summation increased with the increase in duration exposure to the noxious stimulus (Wald χ2(8) = 80.80, p < 0.001). This study suggests that SSp is associated with pain expectations and can be formed by a mixture of excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms potentially driven by temporal characteristics of neural excitation. Moreover, this study proposes a new feasible way to induce SSp using a home-based set-up.

How do forewarnings and post-warnings affect misinformation reliance? The impact of warnings on the continued influence effect and belief regression.

People often continue to rely on certain information in their reasoning, even if this information has been retracted; this is called the continued influence effect (CIE) of misinformation. One technique for reducing this effect involves explicitly warning people that there is a possibility that they might have been misled. The present study aimed to investigate these warnings' effectiveness, depending on when they were given (either before or after misinformation). In two experiments (N = 337), we found that while a forewarning did reduce reliance on misinformation, retrospectively warned participants (when the warning was placed either between the misinformation and the retraction or just before testing) relied on the misinformation to a similar degree as unwarned participants. However, the protective effect of the forewarning was not durable, as shown by the fact that reliance on the misinformation increased for over 7 days following the first testing, despite continued memory of the retraction.

Survey of Beliefs about Hypnosis among Students, Therapists, Followers of Paranormal Beliefs, and the General Public in Poland.

The aim of the present study is to examine beliefs about hypnosis in a Polish sample, with a focus on possible misconceptions. The research included groups with different backgrounds regarding hypnosis: 1st- and 5th-year psychology students, psychotherapists using hypnosis, people interested in paranormal phenomena, and people from the general population. The results demonstrated mild misconceptions about hypnosis and significant differences in beliefs about hypnosis between the aforementioned groups. Additionally, within a Polish sample, psychotherapists using hypnosis and 5th-year students' views were most similar in their current scientific knowledge about hypnosis, while the groups targeting individuals unexposed to hypnosis and followers of paranormal beliefs showed significantly more misconceptions.

Vascular Inflammatory Markers as Predictors of Peripheral Arterial Disease Patients' Quality-of-Life Changes after Endovascular Treatment.

The association between chronic inflammation and depression, anxiety, anhedonia, and quality of life (QoL) has been recently emphasized. However, the pathophysiology of this relationship remains unsolved. This study aims to assess the dependence between vascular inflammation represented by eicosanoid concentration and quality of life in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). A total of 175 patients undergoing endovascular treatment due to lower limbs ischemia were covered with eight years of observation after the endovascular procedure, including ankle-brachial index (ABI), color Doppler ultrasound examination, urinary leukotriene E4 (LTE4), thromboxane B2 (TXB2) and 5-Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (5-HETE) measurement and quality-of-life assessment with VascuQol-6. The baseline concentrations of LTE4 and TXB2 reversely correlated with preoperative VascuQol-6 and were predictive of the postoperative values of VascuQol-6 at each follow-up. At every follow-up timepoint, the results of VascuQol-6 reflected the LTE4 and TXB2 concentrations. Higher concentrations of LTE4 and TXB2 were correlated with lower life quality during the next follow-up meeting. Changes in VascuQol-6 at eight years vs. preoperative values were reversely related to the preoperative concentrations of LTE4 and TXB2. This is the first study to confirm that changes in life quality in PAD patients undergoing endovascular treatment are highly dependent on eicosanoid-based vascular inflammation.

Online misinformation can distort witnesses' memories. Analysis of co-witness discussions using an online version of the MORI-v technique.

Introduction: The memory conformity effect occurs when people witness a given incident and then talk to each other about it, and the statement of one person affects the memory account of another person with respect to that incident. The main objectives of this experiment were (1) to examine the effectiveness of a modified version of the MORI-v technique in inducing the memory conformity effect and (2) to investigate how the manner in which participants discuss the observed event influences the magnitude of this effect. In general, the modified online MORI-v technique consists of the following main elements: (1) original material, that is, two versions of a short film which are identical except for certain critical details; for example, in one version, a thief puts on a red cap, but in the other version it is black; (2) the collaborative recognition test, that is, a discussion about the original material which leads to mutual misinformation; and (3) an individual recognition test that checks the effect of the discussion on the memory account of the original material. Methods: A total of 72 participants (36 pairs) aged 18-54 took part in the research. Participants were tested using the online MORI-v technique: They were familiarized with the original material on their computers at home, and then they talked about it via a video communication app and completed an individual recognition test on their computers. Importantly, the discussions were recorded and analyzed in detail after the experimental session. Results and discussion: Using the online MORI-v technique, the effect of memory conformity was demonstrated, that is, in the individual recognition test, the proportion of correct answers to questions about discussed details (related to misinformation) was lower than the proportion of correct answers to questions about non-discussed details. It was also demonstrated that if one participant introduced misinformation during the discussion about a particular item and the other did not question it, the latter's answer to that item during the individual recognition test was most often incorrect. However, if one participant introduced misinformation during the discussion about an item and the other questioned it, the latter's answer about that item during the individual recognition test was most often correct.

Vaccination against misinformation: The inoculation technique reduces the continued influence effect.

The continued influence effect of misinformation (CIE) is a phenomenon in which certain information, although retracted and corrected, still has an impact on event reporting, reasoning, inference, and decisions. The main goal of this paper is to investigate to what extent this effect can be reduced using the procedure of inoculation and how it can be moderated by the reliability of corrections' sources. The results show that the reliability of corrections' sources did not affect their processing when participants were not inoculated. However, inoculated participants relied on misinformation less when the correction came from a highly credible source. For this source condition, as a result of inoculation, a significant increase in belief in retraction, as well as a decrease in belief in misinformation was also found. Contrary to previous reports, belief in misinformation rather than belief in retraction predicted reliance on misinformation. These findings are of both great practical importance as certain boundary conditions for inoculation efficiency have been discovered to reduce the impact of the continued influence of misinformation, and theoretical, as they provide insight into the mechanisms behind CIE. The results were interpreted in terms of existing CIE theories as well as within the remembering framework, which describes the conversion from memory traces to behavioral manifestations of memory.

The impact of clinical and psychological factors on asthma control: the experience of a single asthma center in Poland.

OBJECTIVE: The asthma control test (ACT) is commonly used to identify patients with uncontrolled asthma. The goal of this study was to determine whether clinical parameters such as asthma history and medications, exacerbation rate, comorbidities, lung function, and socioeconomic status are risk factors for uncontrolled asthma assessed with the ACT, and to evaluate the psychological status of controlled and uncontrolled asthmatics. METHODS: Adult asthmatics (n = 104) were recruited from a single asthma center, Poland. Asthma control was assessed with the ACT, using <20 as the cutoff point for uncontrolled asthma. Data on clinical factors were collected and spirometry was performed. Patients completed the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire, General Health Questionnaire, Acceptance of Illness Scale, Life Orientation Test-Revised, and Eysenck's Personality Inventory. RESULTS: Asthma was uncontrolled in 42.3% of patients. Asthma exacerbations in the preceding 12 months and high inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) doses were identified as independent risk factors for uncontrolled asthma. Uncontrolled asthmatics had a significantly worse psychological status than controlled asthmatics. The groups did not differ in terms of personality traits, but in the controlled asthma group numerous significant correlations between psychological factors and personality traits were observed. In the uncontrolled asthma group, however, the occurrence of correlations between personality traits and other psychological variables was rarer. CONCLUSIONS: The study identified independent risk factors for uncontrolled asthma, namely, exacerbations in the recent 12 months and treatment with high-dose ICS. Uncontrolled asthmatics have a significantly worse psychological status than controlled asthmatics, irrespective of personality traits.

Mediators and Moderators of Reinforced Self-Affirmation as a Method for Reducing the Memory Misinformation Effect.

The misinformation effect occurs when an eyewitness includes information in his or her account that is incongruent with the event he or she witnessed, and stems from being exposed to incorrect external sources. This is a serious threat to the quality of witness testimony and to the correctness of decisions reached by courts. However, few methods have been developed to reduce the vulnerability of witnesses to misinformation. This article presents such a method, namely, reinforced self-affirmation (RSA), which, by increasing memory confidence of witnesses, makes them less inclined to rely on external sources of information and more on their own memory. The effectiveness of this method was confirmed in three experiments. It was also found that memory confidence, but not general self-confidence, is a mediator of the impact of RSA on misinformation effect (ME), and that contingent self-esteem and feedback acceptance, but not sense of self-efficacy or general self-esteem, are moderators of this impact. It is concluded that RSA may be a promising basis for constructing methods, which can be used by forensic psychologists in real forensic settings.

Reducing interrogative suggestibility: The role of self-affirmation and positive feedback.

Interrogative suggestibility, as measured with Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales, consists of an individual's tendency to yield to misleading questions (Yield) and to change answers after negative feedback (Shift). This study aimed to determine whether reinforced self-affirmation (RSA), a technique that aims to boost self-confidence in order to increase the tendency to rely on one's own memory instead of external cues, can reduce interrogative suggestibility. RSA consists of self-affirmation induced by means of writing down one's greatest achievements in life and of manipulated positive feedback. The efficacy of two kinds of positive feedback was explored. Shift was reduced by positive feedback relating both to memory and to the feeling that a person is very independent in their judgements, while only feedback related to memory reduced Yield. The results are discussed in terms of the different mechanisms underlying Yield and Shift. Inducing independence of judgements might not have been effective in the case of Yield because to some extent it taps opinions but not the quality of a cognitive process such as memory. An individual may believe in their own opinions and views but still be unsure about the quality of their own memory.

Clinical and linguistic validation of the Polish version of VascuQol: a disease-specific quality-of-life questionnaire assessing patients with chronic limb ischemia

INTRODUCTION Objective clinical assessments should include patient­reported outcome measures. VascuQol is an established disease­specific questionnaire assessing the quality of life in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). Quality­of­life questionnaires require geographical localization and validation. OBJECTIVES The goal of this study was to validate the Polish version of the VascuQol: a patient­reported health­related quality­of­life (HRQoL) instrument specific for PAD. PATIENTS AND METHODS The linguistic validation of VascuQol followed Mapi Institute methodology. Clinical validation process compared VascuQol, EQ­5D­3L, and SF­36 questionnaires in 100 patients with both intermittent claudication and critical limb­threatening ischemia. Cronbach α coefficients for reliability, receiver operating characteristic curves for clinical discriminative performance, standardized response means for responsiveness, and Pearson correlations for construct validity were evaluated. Additionally, in a separate cohort of 58 patients with stable disease, the test­retest was characterized with intraclass correlation, Bland­Altman analysis, and Pearson correlation coefficients. RESULTS VascuQol proved to perform better than SF­36 and EQ­5D­3L. Cronbach α coefficients showed good internal consistency (α values >0.9 for all summary scores). All test­retest Pearson r values for VascuQol were above 0.70. The intraclass correlation of absolute agreement consistency exceeded 0.8. The Bland­Altman 95% limits of agreement were between 2.72 and 4.87. There were strong and moderate correlations for total scores in all domains between VascuQol and SF­36, and for most of the domains between VascuQol and EQ­5D­3L. CONCLUSIONS The Polish version of VascuQol is a sensitive, accurate, and reliable tool for assessing HRQoL in patients with PAD.

Inducing resistance to the misinformation effect by means of reinforced self-affirmation: The importance of positive feedback.

The misinformation effect is one of the major threats for the quality of witness testimony. It involves including of information that is inconsistent with the course of an event, and which originates from sources other than the event itself, into a witness's report of the event. In the present article research is presented aiming at reducing the tendency to rely on misinformation. After viewing a video clip, participants received a post-event narrative describing the events in the film which in the misled group included some incorrect information about the clip. They were then administered reinforced self-affirmation (RSA), a technique aiming at boosting self-confidence in order to increase the tendency to rely on own memory instead of external cues. This technique consists of self-affirmation by means of writing down one's greatest achievements in life and manipulated positive feedback. Feedback about memory, perception and independence of judgements was analyzed. All types of feedback effectively reduced the misinformation effect. Mediation analyzes confirmed that RSA operates via increased self-confidence or self-independence.

Direct and Indirect Relationships Between Life Satisfaction, Values, and Time Perspectives: Research on a Sample of Polish Students.

This study concerned the relationships among personal values (conformity, tradition, benevolence, universality, self-direction, stimulation, hedonism, achievement, power, safety), time perspectives by Zimbardo (past negative, past positive, present hedonistic, present fatalistic, future) and life satisfaction. The main hypothesis stated that value priorities would predict life satisfaction both directly and indirectly through time perspectives. 237 Polish students (120 females) took part in the study. Path analysis demonstrated that life satisfaction was directly and positively predicted by the value of benevolence, and indirectly and negatively by conformity and tradition via the past negative time perspective. Life satisfaction was also indirectly predicted by the values of hedonism and security via the future time perspective - Hedonism was a negative, and security a positive predictor of future time perspective, and the future time perspective was a positive predictor of life satisfaction. The significance of these results for mechanisms and predictors of life satisfaction is discussed.

There was not, they did not: May negation cause the negated ideas to be remembered as existing?

In this article we demonstrate that negation of ideas can have paradoxical effects, possibly leading the listener to believe that the negated ideas actually existed. In Experiment 1, participants listened to a description of a house, in which some objects were mentioned, some were negated, and some were not mentioned at all. When questioned about the existence of these objects a week later, the participants gave more false positives for items that were negated in the original material than for items that were not mentioned at all, an effect we call negation related false memories (NRFM). The NRFM effect was replicated again in Experiment 2 with a sample of five and six year-old children. Experiment 3 confirmed NRFM in the case of negated actions. The results are discussed in terms of retention hypothesis, as well as the theory that negation can activate a representation of an entity and behaviour. It is also indicated that future research is needed to ensure that it is indeed negation which caused false alarms, not merely mentioning an object.

Age Moderates the Relationships between Family Functioning and Neck Pain/Disability.

This cross-sectional clinical study was designed to explore the relationships between family functioning, coping styles, and neck pain and neck disability. It was hypothesized that better family functioning and more effective coping styles would be associated with less pain and pain-related disability. It also was hypothesized that these relationships would be stronger in older people because they have fewer resources, more limited coping styles, and may depend more on their family for support. In this study, 88 women with chronic non-traumatic neck pain completed the Family Assessment Measure (FAM), Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS), Neck Disability Index (NDI), and a Visual-Analogue Scale (VAS) measuring the subjective intensity of neck pain. Zero-order and partial correlations and hierarchical stepwise regression were performed. CISS was not correlated with the NDI orVAS. Good family functioning was correlated with lower NDI and VAS scores. Age was found to moderate the relationship between the FAM and both NDI and VAS. This relationship was significant and positive in older patients, but non-significant in younger patients. It was concluded that better family functioning is associated with lower neck disability and pain intensity, especially in the case of older women suffering from non-traumatic neck pain.

Age and interviewer behavior as predictors of interrogative suggestibility.

OBJECTIVE: The main objective was to explore the influence of interviewer behavior-abrupt versus friendly-and the age of participants on interrogative suggestibility. METHOD: The study involved 42 young adults and 50 elderly participants. The Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale 2 was used. Data analysis involved a 2-factor between-subjects design (interviewer behavior × age) and mediation analysis. RESULTS: The scores of elderly participants were significantly lower than younger adults on memory indices and significantly higher on some suggestibility indexes. Some suggestibility indices in the abrupt experimental condition were higher than those in the friendly experimental condition. Elderly participants who were interviewed under the abrupt condition were more likely to change their answers after receiving negative feedback than younger adults. Memory quality was a mediator of the relationship between age and the tendency to yield to suggestive questions. Self-appraisal of memory was a mediator between both age and interviewer behavior and the tendency to change answers after negative feedback. DISCUSSION: Mechanisms of the relationship between age, interviewer behavior, and suggestibility are discussed on the basis of the mediational analyses. The findings suggest that a friendly manner should be adopted when interrogating witnesses.

Psychometric validation of the authorized Polish version of the Neck Disability Index.

PURPOSE: Psychometric validation of the authorized Polish version of the Neck Disability Index (NDI). METHODS: Ninety-five patients with neck pain were enrolled. Reliability was assessed through Cronbach's alpha, split-half reliability, intra-class correlation (ICC) and agreement between measures with limits of agreement using the interval of 48 hours. Validity was determined by the Pearson correlation of the NDI with VAS. Responsiveness included mainly Pearson correlations of score changes on the NDI with the Global rating of change (GRC) scale. Minimal detectable change (MDC) and factor analysis were performed. The cut-point for the change, with its sensitivity and specificity, and the area under the curve were determined with the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha and split-half reliability were satisfactory. The ICC was 0.99. Bland and Altman analysis indicated an acceptable agreement between the measures. The correlation between the NDI and VAS was 0.55. Responsiveness estimated by the correlations between change scores of the NDI and GRC was -0.73 and -0.56. The MDC was 5.96. Factor analyses demonstrated a two-factor structure. The cut-point for detecting a change was 6.5. The sensitivity was 90% and specificity was 81%. CONCLUSIONS: The Polish version of the NDI showed good psychometric properties. It can be used both in clinical and research practice. Implications for Rehabilitation The Polish version of the NDI, developed by MAPI Research Institute, was researched on a sample of 95 patients with neck pain. The psychometric properties of the adapted version of the NDI were satisfactory. The Polish version of the NDI proved to be useful in clinical practice as well as in research.

The relationships between suggestibility, influenceability, and relaxability.

This research explores the relationships between relaxability and various aspects of suggestibility and influenceability. The Jacobson Progressive Muscle Relaxation procedure was used to induce relaxation. Tests of direct suggestibility, relating to the susceptibility of overt suggestions, and indirect suggestibility, referring to indirect hidden influence, as well as self-description questionnaires on suggestibility and the tendency to comply were used. Thayer's Activation-Deactivation Adjective Check List, measuring various kinds of activation and used as a pre- and posttest, determined the efficacy of the relaxation procedure. Indirect, direct, and self-measured suggestibility proved to be positively related to the ability to relax, measured by Thayer's subscales relating to emotions. Compliance was not related to relaxability. The results are discussed in terms of the aspects of relaxation training connected with suggestibility.

Consistency of symptomatic dimensions of schizophrenia over 20 years.

Our goal was to analyze the consistency of the symptomatic dimensions of schizophrenia over the course of our 20-year prospective study. We investigated a sample of patients diagnosed with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Third version (DSM III) schizophrenia and later re-diagnosed with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth version (DSM IV) at four intervals: three, seven, twelve and twenty years from their first hospitalization. The severity of symptoms was assessed using expanded version of Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS - E). Exploratory factor analyses and then confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. A four-factor structure was found, with positive, negative, depressive and excitement factors. In the confirmatory factor analysis, the only symptomatic dimension confirmed at all follow-ups was the negative factor (emotional withdrawal, motor retardation, blunted affect and conceptual disorganization) as derived from the 20-year follow up in exploratory factor analysis. The positive syndrome derived from the three-year follow-up (hostility, suspiciousness, unusual thought content and hallucinations) was confirmed at the seven- and 20-year follow-ups. In the depressive syndrome the model from the 12-year follow-up (guilt, depression, suicidality, anxiety and somatic concern) was confirmed for the follow-ups after seven and 20 years. As regards the excitement syndrome, we confirmed the model from the three-year follow-up (motor hyperactivity, elated mood, conceptual disorganization, excitement) at the follow-ups at seven and 12 years.

Mild asthmatics benefit from music therapy.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation with music therapy in patients with asthma. METHODS: Seventy-six selected inpatients (54 women and 22 men; mean age = 56.4 years; SD = 11.8) with stable asthma underwent pulmonary rehabilitation in two groups: standard versus music therapy. RESULTS: After the intervention, an increase in analyzed spirometric values (forced expiratory volume at the first second (FEV(1)), FEV(1) as a percentage of vital capacity (FEV(1) % FVC), forced expiratory flow at 25%, 50%, and 75% of vital capacity (FEF(25), FEF(50), and FEF(75), respectively), and peak expiratory flow) was observed in both the groups (p < .05) but without any intergroup differences (p > .05). A greater increase of mean FEV(1) % FVC, FEF(50), and FEF(75) values was observed only in the patients with mild asthma from the music therapy group (p < .05). In both the groups, a dyspnea reduction was noted (p < .001). However, it was influenced neither by the type of rehabilitation nor by the gender (p > .05), but the interaction of these variables was significant (p = .044). A dyspnea reduction was observed in women in both the groups (p < .001) and in men in the music therapy group only (p = .001). A change in the value of anxiety (6.43, SD = 7.73) on the 10th day compared with the first day of the study was noticed (p < .001). However, this change was not influenced by the type of rehabilitation, gender, or a combination of these two variables (p > .05). CONCLUSION: Music therapy improves the respiratory function in patients with mild asthma and reduces dyspnea mainly in men with asthma.