Research

EFFECTS OF RETRIEVAL PRACTICE ON COGNITIVE CATEGORIZATION AND SUBSEQUENT ELABORATIVE PROCESSING OF VERBAL-SPATIAL MEMORY

The research explored if integrated verbal-spatial associations in working memory impact hierarchical organization in cognitive processes and knowledge construction activities among young adult learners. Three types of exposure (verbal/spatial/verbal-spatial) and rehearsal strategies (overt retrieval/covert retrieval/restudy) were used. Verbatim recall was better in covert retrieval and restudy groups than overt retrieval with verbal-spatial exposure. For complex tasks of creating hierarchical categories among exposed items, covert and restudy groups with verbal-spatial exposure outperformed the overt retrieval group. Importantly, in the covert retrieval and restudy groups, conscious awareness and restudying, respectively, combined with attention-demanding verbal-spatial exposure, led to richer item connections, enhancing syntactic processing, coherence, and global elaborative processing in learning tasks.

Some specific questions include:

Do exposure type (verbal/visuospatial/verbal-spatial) and rehearsal strategies (overt/covert/restudy) can induce any effects on factual knowledge-induced verbatim recall of exposed materials?
Do exposure type (verbal/visuospatial/verbal-spatial) and rehearsal strategies (overt/covert/restudy) have any influence in creating hierarchical categories of learning stimuli?
Do exposure type and rehearsal strategies can create any variations in syntactic processing and coherence while forming applicability-based proses induced from factual knowledge-induced hierarchically categorized words?
Do exposure type and rehearsal strategies influence the applicability of factual knowledge reflected through global elaborative processing (i.e., combination of recall, categorization, syntax, and coherence) of exposed materials?

Who needs financial therapy? Effects of childhood financial status and present financial behavior on financial anxiety in university students

Students reporting increased financial and life stressors also reported higher financial anxiety in academic and social domains (Britt et al., 2016). University financial counseling programs may enhance student academic performance by addressing students’ resource needs (Britt et al., 2016). Previous research (Pandey et al., 2020) indicates that a significant percentage of young adults face challenges in financial well-being, monthly spending control, and financial skills. Seeking financial advice positively influences attitudes towards money and improves financial behavior, including saving, spending, and expense tracking (Pandey et al., 2020). For financial therapists dealing with money-related anxiety and goal setting, Cognitive Behavior Financial Therapy (CBFT) and Solution Focused Financial Therapy (SFFT) are foundational steps in the financial planning process. These therapeutic approaches can be easily implemented in a financial planning setting to assist students in improving their financial situation and aligning with future goals. In light of this, the present study investigates the impact of financial therapy on reducing financial anxiety and modifying current financial behavior in university students.

Objectives:

To investigate the effects of childhood financial status and present financial behavior on financial anxiety of students
To determine the differences between pre- and post-measures of financial anxiety and present financial behavior after receiving cognitive behavioral financial therapy
To explore the differences between pre- and post-measures of financial anxiety and present financial behavior following solution-focused financial therapy
To explore the contribution of childhood financial status on present financial behavior in university students

Effectiveness of mindfulness meditation and guided imagery relaxation in reducing career decision making difficulties among university students

Identifying and modifying students’ negative career thoughts is crucial for healthy career development, decision-making, and behaviors (Waqar & Hanif, 2013). Cognitive information processing theory (Sampson et al., 2004) suggests internal factors like commitment anxiety and career tension can hinder a student’s problem-solving process, requiring attention from career practitioners. In light of the complex decision-making process (Santos et al., 2018), university counselors are encouraged to define and address student career challenges, supporting clear pathways for decisions (Chuang 2010; Kong et al., 2015). This study explores the impact of mindfulness meditation and guided imagery relaxation on reducing career decision-making difficulties among university students. Some questions include:

Effectiveness of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for the adjustment of undergraduate newcomers admitted to programs with negative schemas

Undergraduate newcomers who are admitted to programs against their choices are at high risk for attrition. The transition to university life brings with it several problems along with many changes. Psychological problems experienced by university students and ways of coping with these problems have been subject to much research (Erkan, et al., 2012; Thurber & Walton, 2012; Topkaya & Meydan, 2013). Several studies have shown that freshmen endorse high levels of stress in comparison with other years (Towbes & Cohen,1996; Misra & McKean, 2000). This stress level will be higher when an undergraduate is assigned a subject that is unfavorable to him/her. This provides fertile grounds for poor coping strategies, unhealthy relationships, and deteriorating academics (Schulenberg et al., 2004). This situation can be improved through CBT based interventions. The symptoms of anxiety in undergraduate newcomers arise from maladjustment to programs they admitted with negative schemas can be reduced by modifying maladaptive schemas. Not everyone has similar schemas that explains why students encounter similar situations perceive or react differently. CBT concentrates on making better emotive responses by altering cognitions. Considered on this aspect, we hypothesize that CBT will be an effective intervention technique for the adjustment of undergraduate newcomers admitted to programs with negative schemas.

Some questions include:

Would there be any modifications in negative schemas after receiving CBT in respect to newcomers’ adjustment to programs admitted against will?
Do reduced anxiety will be evident in students following CBT compared to the anxiety levels in pre-test?
Would participants experience less stress after the CBT sessions compared to their stress levels before CBT exposure?
Would the CBT intervention effects for the outcome variables be maintained throughout the three-month follow-up test?

Smoking Susceptibility and Anti-Smoking Awareness in Adolescents and Young Adults

Most of the studies measuring the susceptibility to smoking and anti-smoking awareness targeting adolescents and young adults are primarily survey-based. From this viewpoint, to prevent never-smoking youth from being exposed to smoking and boosting the anti-smoking awareness program globally, the present study aimed to develop two scales namely, the ‘Susceptibility to Smoking Measure (SSM)’ and the ‘Anti-Smoking Awareness Scale (ASAS)’ with their factor structures and validation in a sample of adolescents and young adults in Bangladesh. Towards this end, the study goals were:

To explore the factor structures of the SSM and ASAS using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses
To determine the internal consistency reliabilities of the two measures
To investigate the convergent validity of the measures by determining the relationships of SSM with global self-esteem and ASAS with school connectedness
To evaluate the invariance of the measures across age and gender
To demonstrate the contributions of anti-smoking awareness, school connectedness and global self-esteem on smoking susceptibility
To investigate the mediating role of school attachment between the relationships of smoking susceptibility and anti-smoking awareness.

The Quality of Life in Older People and Their Perception Towards Caregivers' Commitments: Role of Autobiographical Events

The study investigated the quality of life in older people in respect to their perception towards caregivers’ commitments and the recalling of episodic contexts throughout the lifespan. The Bangla Quality of Life Scale (QOLS) originally developed by Flanagan (1978), Perception Towards Caregivers’ Commitments Scale (PTCCS), Autobiographical Memory Specificity (AMS) measure, Autobiographical Life Satisfaction (ALS) measure developed by the researcher were used to collect data from 241 elderly individuals recruited conveniently from homes and institutional care homes in Bangladesh. The Bangla QOLS confirmed the three-factor structure, measurement invariance based on gender, reliability, and validity in the socio-cultural context of Bangladesh. The PTCCS confirmed a unidimensional structure with adequate model fit indices, invariance, and had acceptable reliability and validity confirming its suitability to use in Bangladeshi older adults. The findings of the study revealed that PTCC and AMS significantly contributed to the quality of life in older people. Results of hierarchical multiple regression also revealed that the puberty, adolescence, and middle-age life satisfaction significantly contributed to experience an enhanced quality of life in older people. Furthermore, older individuals who lived in own house with the primary caregivers reported better quality of life and positive perception towards their caregivers’ commitments. Altogether, the results suggest that primary caregiving and autobiographical recall of specific positive memories protect older people from socio-emotional disturbances and ensure better overall well-being.

Keywords: older people, caregivers, autobiographical memory, quality of life

Motivated Rule Violations in Learning Schedules and Cognitive-Emotion Regulation of University Students

In the worldwide context of education, the adverse nature of academic settings in higher study disarticulates pupils from conventional learning system. Cognitive emotion regulation can play a pivotal role in this regard. Given this, the present study intended to investigate the effects of cognitive emotion regulation of university students on motivated rule violations in learning schedules. Bangla version of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ, Garnefski et al., 2001) and Learning Schedule Adherence Scale (LSAS) developed by the researcher were used on a sample of 716 university students selected purposively. The Bangla version of CERQ confirmed the seven-factor structure in first order and two-factor structure in second order factor analyses. Measurement model invariance based on gender as well as reliability and validity evidence in Bangladesh context provided the acceptable psychometric properties of the Bangla CERQ. The LSAS confirmed a unidimensional structure with adequate model fit indices, proved invariance, and had acceptable reliability and validity confirming its suitability to use in Bangladeshi university students. Findings of the study showed that cognitive emotion regulation strategies were found to play an important role on motivated rule violations in learning schedule. The students who used positive focused emotion regulation strategies, had lower proneness to motivated rule violations and exhibited higher academic performance. On the other hand, those who used negative focused emotion regulation strategies, displayed elevated motivated rule violations and lower academic performance. Altogether, these results suggest that proper intervention strategies should be implemented after detection of cognitive-emotion regulation strategies in university students to make them competent to use adaptive coping strategies for dealing with negative life events and adverse academic conditions.

Keywords: Cognitive emotion regulation, learning schedule, motivated rule violations

Effects of Malignant Personality Traits on Online Deception and Intimacy in Romantic Relationships: Role of the Perception of Guilt

Higher proneness of young adults to use online dating sites intensifies their desires to engage in online deceptive behaviors through short-term relationships with multiple partners instead of long-term relationships. These individuals have higher scores on malignant personality traits and possess lower levels of empathy reflecting less guilt behaviors for their acts. To this end, the present study investigated the effects of malignant personality traits on online deception and intimacy as well as the role of perception of guilt in influencing the online deceptive behaviors and intimacy of young adults in romantic relationships. Bangla version of the Measures of Online Deception and Intimacy (MODI, Stanton et al., 2016), Bangla Dark Triad Dirty Dozen, DTDD (Ahmed et al., 2020), and the Perception of Guilt Scale developed by the researcher were used to collect data from 497 respondents recruited purposively. The Bangla MODI confirmed the two-factor structure, measurement invariance based on gender and marital status, reliability, and validity evidence in the socio-cultural context of Bangladesh. The PGS confirmed a unidimensional structure with adequate model fit indices, proved invariance, and had acceptable reliability and validity confirming its suitability to use in Bangladeshi young adults. However, young adults dominant in Machiavellianism were found to be more engaged in online deceptive behaviors followed by other two traits. The composite DTDD and the PGS as two predictors of MODI uniquely contributed to influence the online deceptive behaviors and intimacy among young adults. Moreover, young people who spent more time in online with closest friends were engaged in more online deceptive behaviors and

showed less empathy leading to lower perception of guilt. Altogether, these results suggest that proper intervention strategies should be implemented after detection of the malignant traits, and lack of empathy in young adults to make them competent to practice healthy long-term romantic relationships with the committed partner.

Keywords: DTDD, online deception, online intimacy, romantic relationships, guilt

Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Classroom Mindful Attention Regulation Scale (CMARS) for Young Adults

This research introduces and validates the Classroom Mindful Attention Regulation Scale (CMARS), designed to assess mindful attention regulation within classroom settings. Utilizing exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, a two-factor structure was identified, comprising self-regulation, and learning context, aligned with the theoretical models of mindfulness. Strong internal consistency reliability was demonstrated, with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from .751 to .819. The CMARS exhibited acceptable psychometric properties, including mean inter-item correlations and item-total correlations. Convergent validity was supported through positive correlation between CMARS and Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) scores. Additionally, multi-group confirmatory factor analysis established measurement invariance across gender, indicating that the CMARS assesses the same construct consistently regardless of gender. These findings imply the reliability and validity of the CMARS as a tool for evaluating mindful attention regulation in educational settings, offering insights for further research and practical applications in promoting effective learning environments.

Keywords: CMARS, Mindfulness, Self-regulation, Attention

Relationship between Perceived Stress and Excessive Cleanliness amid COVID-19: Mediating Role of OCD Proneness

To the best of our knowledge there is no study on the relationship between perceived stress and excessive cleanliness during COVID-19 and the effect of OCD proneness as mediating factor. So, this research aims to explore the intricate relationship that exists between perceived stress and excessive cleanliness during COVID-19. Amid COVID-19, stress arises from normal disruptions carried on by lockdowns and fear of infection. This study intends to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by examining the mediating role of OCD proneness and revealing the intricate relationship between perceived stress, excessive cleanliness, and the manifestation of OCD symptoms.

Musical Exposure and Semantic Processing of Verbal Memory in Psychology Undergraduates

Musical exposure can influence the verbal learning and related semantic memory tasks in young adults. But an appropriate musical presentation with congruent musical and verbal semantics are necessary to facilitate the goal-relevant learning tasks of higher cognitive processing. Towards this end, we investigated the effects of exposure pattern and musical mood on semantic processing of verbal memory among 150 psychology undergraduates selected randomly from different public universities of Bangladesh. Findings revealed an enhanced effects of music on the acquisition of novel learning and further semantic processing in participants of the musical group. It was evident that participants exposed to audio music following learning had better semantic processing than those of audio exposure intertwined with learning. In addition, happy mood inducing fast tempo-major mode music produced better semantic processing than the sad mood inducing minor mode-slow tempo and calm mood inducing major mode-slow tempo musical pieces. Importantly, the musical and linguistic elements of happy mood inducing music with audio exposure following learning facilitated the musical memory. Altogether, the results suggested that music facilitates semantic processing of verbal memory in young adults in educational settings if the syntactic and rhythmic structures of music and novel learning are well-tuned to induce reciprocal priming effects of musical and verbal semantics.

Keywords: musical exposure, semantic processing, exposure pattern, musical mood, verbal memory

Development and Validation of the Gift Reciprocation Anxiety Scale (GRAS) for Adults in Close Relationships

Gift reciprocation anxiety is triggered by the circumstances in which a gift needs to be reciprocated. The objective of the present study is to develop and validate the Gift Reciprocation anxiety Scale (GRAS). To achieve this purpose, the current study examined the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the GRAS among Bangladeshi young individuals.

763 young people with ages ranging from 18 to 36 were conveniently chosen for the study. The new measure’s content validity was examined using content expert analysis (n = 10), and its comprehensibility was evaluated using examples of the target population (n = 30). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the GRAS’s single-factor structures. The reliability statistics were calculated using Cronbach’s alpha and omega. The measurement invariances were examined using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA). The single factor structure of GRAS had a good fit to the data Mean inter-item correlations, corrected item-total correlations, and internal consistency reliabilities were all found to be acceptable levels under the classical test theory. Based on gender, age, and marital status, MGCFA findings indicated completely invariances across age and marital status and partial invarianace across gender. An association between GRAS and RAS revealed the measure’s convergent validity. Based on the available data, various reliabilities (Cronbach alpha and omega) and validity (content and convergent) estimates were determined, and the newly developed Gift Reciprocation Anxiety Scale was proved psychometrically sound for use. In summary, our results demonstrate that GRAS is a valid and adequate instrument to assess gift reciprocation anxiety.

Development and Validation of the Road Traffic Accident-Induced Death Anxiety Scale (RTADAS) for Adults in Bangladesh

It is important to develop a scale that assesses death anxiety associated with road traffic accident for several reasons. In the recent years, road traffic accidents have taken a tremendous form and increased dramatically. As a result, it makes us feared of losing our own live or our loving ones and thus negatively affect our mental health. As shown by studies, PTSD affects 10%–20% (O’Donnell et al., 2004 & Zatzick et al., 2002) and major depressive illness affects 9%–15% (O’Donnell et al., 2004 & Shalev et al., 1998) of people who have survived from traumatic injuries. However, several variables have complicated our understanding of how severe injury affects the mind (Bryant et al., 2010). Following traumatic injury, some studies indicate higher incidence of anxiety and substance use disorders (O’Donnell et al., 2004; Blanchard et al., 1995 & Mayou et al., 2001). In this case, RTADAS can provide a valid measurement of death anxiety induced by road traffic accident, by which it can be determined who needs psychological help or therapy-based treatment. This newly developed scale also helps the Government to make policies on road safety and helps to take legal steps against sub-standard vehicles and road users who are not obey the traffic rules.