Predictors of the Intention to Be Vaccinated against COVID-19 in a Sample of Italian Respondents at the Start of the Immunization Campaign

COVID-19 vaccines are the most promising means of limiting the pandemic. The present study aims at determining the roles of several psychological variables in predicting vaccination intention in Italy. An online questionnaire was disseminated between 9 March and 9 May 2021. The sample included 971 participants. Results showed that most of the participants were willing to vaccinate. Acceptance rates were correlated with age, marital status, and area of residence. Intention to be vaccinated was positively correlated with perceived risk, pro-sociality, fear of COVID-19, use of preventive behaviors, and trust in government, in science, and in medical professionals. Intention to be vaccinated was negatively associated with belief in misinformation. The degree of acceptance is likely to be a result of the campaign tailored to address people’s negative attitudes towards vaccines. Trust in government and trust in science were among the strongest psychological predictors of vaccination intention. Fear of COVID-19, but not perceived risk, was associated with increased vaccine uptake, suggesting that the affective component of risk perception was more important than the cognitive component in predicting participants’ behaviors. Belief in misinformation was associated with reduced vaccination intention. Future studies will take into consideration these variables, to better understand the multifaceted process underlying vaccination intention.

Measuring What Counts in Life: The Development and Initial Validation of the Fulfilled Life Scale (FLS)

In a recent work, we introduced a theoretical model for fulfillment in life that covers cognitive and affective components and distinguishes different time frames. The present study evaluates this model and describes the construction of the Fulfilled Life Scale (FLS) to assess fulfillment regarding the whole lived life retrospectively. We investigated the scale in two samples (Sample 1: N = 282 adults aged 50–93 years; Sample 2: N = 406 adults aged 40–85 years). The model of the cognitive component combines three sources of fulfillment (self, life, impact/legacy) with three criteria (wholeness, fit, value), yielding nine facets. Employing hierarchical factor analysis, we inspected all solutions between one and nine. We identified three optimal factors, which we labeled unfolded self and life, the worthwhile life, and positive impact and legacy. Next, we selected marker items and replicated the factor structure in Sample 2. The three scales were positively intercorrelated and showed good internal consistency in both samples. For the affective component, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses established a one-factor structure in both samples, and high internal consistency was obtained. Across a range of related constructs, we demonstrated construct and criterion validity. Notably, cognitive and affective fulfillment incrementally predicted a global rating of a fulfilled life and mental well-being, even after controlling for subjective and eudaimonic well-being. Overall, the study proves that the FLS is necessary to capture people’s experience of a fulfilled life, which could not be assessed sufficiently with previous well-being measures. Both cognitive and affective fulfillment were able to predict additional variance in mental well-being. Moreover, the study reveals psychometric support for the FLS and presents the first evidence on its validity. Lastly, applications in research and practice are discussed, especially in the context of living and aging well in the second half of life.

Measuring fear evoked by the scariest animal: Czech versions of the Spider Questionnaire and Spider Phobia Beliefs Questionnaire

Background Although tiny in size and mostly harmless, spiders evoke exceptional fear in a significant part of the population and arachnophobia is one of the most common anxiety disorders with prevalence 2.7–6.1%. Two standard measures have been widely used to reliably assess the emotional and cognitive component of spider fear, the Spider Questionnaire (SPQ) and Spider Phobia Beliefs Questionnaire (SBQ). We aimed to develop and validate their Czech translations, describe distribution of spider fear in the Czech population, and analyse its association with disgust propensity and other sociodemographic characteristics. Methods In Phase 1, we developed Czech translations of both questionnaires using a back-translation procedure and then tested their psychometric properties against their English versions in a counterbalanced experimental design using the Mann-Whitney U test and two-sided t-test. In Phase 2, we analysed scores on the Czech SPQ and SBQ on a larger sample. We evaluated the effects of age, gender, level of education, biology background, and association with the assessments of snake fear (i.e. the Snake Questionnaire, SNAQ) and disgust propensity (i.e. the Disgust Scale-Revised, DS-R) using a Spearman correlation, redundancy analysis, and general linear models. Results We have demonstrated that the Czech SPQ and SBQ are equivalent to their originals and show excellent test-retest reliability (SPQ: 0.93; SBQ: 0.87–0.90). In total, 398 (10.3%) out of 3863 subjects reached the cut-off point for potential spider phobia. In addition, SPQ and SBQ scores were highly correlated (0.73–0.79), significantly more than with the SNAQ (0.21–0.32) or the DS-R (0.36–0.40). Two multivariate statistical methods revealed a significant association between the gender, age, level of education, biology background, or disgust propensity and the SPQ scores. Conclusion The Czech SPQ and SBQ may produce reliable and valid assessments of spider fear, but they must be further psychometrically tested considering the limitation of this study before wider use. We corroborate previous findings that fear of spiders is significantly associated with sociodemographic variables, such as gender, age, or education, as well as with the individual level of disgust propensity.

The Operational Process of Nostalgia: The Trigger Determines the Nostalgic Experience

Nostalgia is a complex affective state with a strong cognitive component focussed on past autobiographical memories. This complex nature of nostalgia is discussed in the literature but there are scarce empirical observations of state nostalgic processes. In this study, the operational process of nostalgia is explored by the use of two types of stimuli—indirect (instructions) and direct (music)—with a sample of 285 participants (18–35 years old) in a mixed-method experimental design. Nostalgia was observed in terms of its operational process (reaction time, duration, intensity and variation), the characteristics of the recalled event (event type and contents), and the nature of the nostalgic experience (its phenomenology, affect and motivation). The studied parameters of all three nostalgic components were found to vary with the stimulus that triggered it. The study shows that nostalgia is not a constant phenomenon but depends on the conditions that give rise to it.

The Level of Knowledge About the University Building Among the Academic Community in the Context of Place Attachment

This paper presents the issues of place and attachment to place. The aim of the article is to determine the level of knowledge among the academic community of the university building in which they study or work and its surrounding area, in the context of place attachment. The cognitive component – one of many aspects of identifying with a place – was examined. With limited knowledge about the building in which the study population spends time, calculated in months or years, it is difficult to determine place attachment, identification, or experience. The research method applied was a diagnostic survey, a questionnaire consisting of questions designed by the author. Both students and academics were surveyed. The results showed that students have limited knowledge of the building where they attend classes. The university building appears to be more of an anonymous non-place, without deeper symbolic or social meanings, than a place with which the academic community identifies itself.

Internal disorder pattern as a predictor of adaptation of disabled adults

The article is devoted to the problem of adaptation of disabled adults. The influence of personal characteristics on adaptation and the problems of including people in the Societas are usually studied. This publication examines the influence of the internal disorder pattern on adaptation. The internal disorder pattern is a complex of sensations, knowledge, experiences, motivational changes associated with the violation. The results of an empirical study involving 75 disabled adults are presented. The methods of conversation, survey and statistical processing were used. It was found that the severity of the components of the internal disorder pattern differs in groups of adults with different variants of dysontogeny. The greatest number of correlations was found between the adaptation parameters and the physical component of the internal disorder pattern. The physical component is a predictor of the overall level of adaptability, internality and emotional comfort. This is important for people with severe speech and hearing disorders. The cognitive component is a predictor of internal control in a group of people with hearing impairments. There was no influence of the components of the internal disorder pattern on adaptation in groups of people with visual impairment and mobility disabilities. It is suggested that this influence is mediated through personal characteristics and self-attitude.

Interactive Development of Adaptive Learning and Memory

Across development, interactions between value-based learning and memory processes promote the formation of mental models that enable flexible goal pursuit. Value cues in the environment signal information that may be useful to prioritize in memory; these prioritized memories in turn form the foundation of structured knowledge representations that guide subsequent learning. Critically, neural and cognitive component processes of learning and memory undergo marked shifts from infancy to adulthood, leading to developmental change in the construction of mental models and how they are used to guide goal-directed behavior. This review explores how changes in reciprocal interactions between value-based learning and memory influence adaptive behavior across development and highlights avenues for future research.

Students' Perceptions of The Application of Recitation Methods During the Covid-19 Pandemic

This study aims to find out 1) the perceptions of students of the PAI study program class of 2019 FTIK IAIN Palangka Raya on the application of the Recitation Method during the covid-19 pandemic, and 2) the impact of the application of the Recitation Method during the covid-19 pandemic on students of the 2019 FTIK PAI study program. IAIN Palangka Raya. The type of research used in this study is mixed methods research. The subjects are 161 students of the 2019 Islamic Islamic Education study program FTIK IAIN Palangka Raya and the PAI Homebase lecturer who teaches at the 2019 Islamic State Islamic Studies study program FTIK IAIN Palangka Raya as informants. Data collection techniques using questionnaires, interviews, and documentation, data validation techniques using source triangulation and tabulation percentages, and data analysis techniques using data reduction, presentation, and verification. The results of this study indicate that: 1) PAI students' perceptions of the class of 2019 on the application of the Recitation Method during the Covid-19 pandemic on the cognitive component were in the excellent category with a percentage of 67.1%, the perception of PAI students for the class of 2019 on the affective part was in the perfect type with a percentage 52.2%, the perception of PAI students for the class of 2019 on the conative element is in the ideal variety with a percentage of 69.6% with an average rate of the overall cognitive, affective, and conative components as much as 62.97%. So, it can be said that the perception of PAI students from the class of 2019 on the application of the Recitation Method during the Covid-19 pandemic was in the excellent category as a whole. This can be seen from the responses of students who accept the application of the Recitation Method positively despite various obstacles; PAI students of the 2019 batch still try to do their assignments seriously and as much as possible. 2) As for the impact of the implementation of the Recitation Method during the covid-19 pandemic on students PAI study program batch 2019 FTIK IAIN Palangka Raya consists of positive impacts, namely a) helping to understand the material, b) honing knowledge and skills, c) fostering positive habits, and the negative impact of applying the Recitation Method during the covid-19 pandemic on PAI study program students’ class of 2019 are a) interaction barriers and b) facility constraints.

Design and Development of an AIoT Architecture for Introducing a Vessel ETA Cognitive Service in a Legacy Port Management Solution

Current Internet of Things (IoT) stacks are frequently focused on handling an increasing volume of data that require a sophisticated interpretation through analytics to improve decision making and thus generate business value. In this paper, a cognitive IoT architecture based on FIWARE IoT principles is presented. The architecture incorporates a new cognitive component that enables the incorporation of intelligent services to the FIWARE framework, allowing to modernize IoT infrastructures with Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies. This allows to extend the effective life of the legacy system, using existing assets and reducing costs. Using the architecture, a cognitive service capable of predicting with high accuracy the vessel port arrival is developed and integrated in a legacy sea traffic management solution. The cognitive service uses automatic identification system (AIS) and maritime oceanographic data to predict time of arrival of ships. The validation has been carried out using the port of Valencia. The results indicate that the incorporation of AI into the legacy system allows to predict the arrival time with higher accuracy, thus improving the efficiency of port operations. Moreover, the architecture is generic, allowing an easy integration of the cognitive services in other domains.

Dissecting Motor and Cognitive Component Processes of a Finger-Tapping Task With Hybrid Dopamine Positron Emission Tomography and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Striatal dopamine is involved in facilitation of motor action as well as various cognitive and emotional functions. Positron emission tomography (PET) is the primary imaging method used to investigate dopamine function in humans. Previous PET studies have shown striatal dopamine release during simple finger tapping in both the putamen and the caudate. It is likely that dopamine release in the putamen is related to motor processes while dopamine release in the caudate could signal sustained cognitive component processes of the task, but the poor temporal resolution of PET has hindered firm conclusions. In this study we simultaneously collected [11C]Raclopride PET and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) data while participants performed finger tapping, with fMRI being able to isolate activations related to individual tapping events. The results revealed fMRI-PET overlap in the bilateral putamen, which is consistent with a motor component process. Selective PET responses in the caudate, ventral striatum, and right posterior putamen, were also observed but did not overlap with fMRI responses to tapping events, suggesting that these reflect non-motor component processes of finger tapping. Our findings suggest an interplay between motor and non-motor-related dopamine release during simple finger tapping and illustrate the potential of hybrid PET-fMRI in revealing distinct component processes of cognitive functions.