Short Polish version of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale - exploring its multidimensional structure in a sample of emerging adults.

BACKGROUND: Sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) is a heritable trait and persons who are characterized by a high level of it are termed highly sensitive. The first and the most frequently used scale developed to measure high sensitivity is the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS), which has become increasingly popular and has been adapted to many languages in recent years. The present article forms a part of the publications which deal with the subject of tool adaptation and the exploration of their structure. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: This article presents the results of research conducted on a Polish sample of emerging adults consisting of 470 persons. The aim of this study is to further analyse the psychometric properties of the HSPS, as well as to provide initial evidence for the properties of the scale on a Polish sample. The analyses conducted to date have been extended and the item response theory (IRT) model has been included. Also, a proposal for a shortened scale is presented. RESULTS: The results show that the Polish version of the HSPS constitutes a reliable method whose validity is proven by correlations with the Pavlovian Temperament Survey as well as being a reliable measure of the SPS construct. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained support the multi-factor structure of the scale. There is a need for further analysis of the cultural aspect in sensitivity studies as well as for exploring gender differences.

HSPS-10-Short Version of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale for Students Aged 12-25 Years.

The aim of the article is to present a short version of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSPS-10) as a useful tool for the assessment of adolescents and young adults and to improve their self-awareness. (1) Background: The original American HSPS was developed as a tool for the assessment of Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS), which is understood to be an inherited temperamental trait. The basis for the research is the concept of SPS, which may be included within the broader construct of the Environmental Sensitivity (ES) model. (2) Methods: The research used a Polish-language, short version developed on the basis of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale, where the respondents answered 10 questions in a 7-point Likert scale. (3) Results: The test results show that the Polish, HSPS-10 is a reliable and valid measurement of the SPS construct and that the results obtained using the abbreviated version indicate a three-factor structure. The structure and psychometric properties of the tool are consistent across different age groups. (4) Conclusions: HSPS-10 is a simple and quick tool for group screenings as well as the individual assessment of school students and adults aged 12-25. The developed standardized procedure allows for the early recognition and identification of changes in the SPS over the course of life.

Improving Debt Literacy by 2/3 Through Four Simple Infographics Requires Numeracy and Not Focusing on Negatives of Debt.

Borrowing behavior may be more resistant to formal educational treatments than other financial behaviors. In order to study the process and results of infographics-based debt education, we used eye tracking technology (SMI RED 500 Hz) to monitor the oculomotor behavior of 108 participants (68 females) aged 18 to 60 who were shown 4 infographics. The study used an experimental design with repeated measures and an internal comparison group. We also used scales of debt literacy and a set of information literacy scales: numerical, graph, and linguistic. The results confirm that short-term infographics-based debt education can improve debt literacy significantly. The difference in processing the educational contents that were not known to participants before the educational session suggests that participants with better information literacy make more considerable debt literacy progress. Specifically, we found that numerical literacy is a significant mediator of debt education results, depending on the initial level of debt literacy; this relation is moderated by the focus of visual attention on negatives of debt. We found no significant relationship between debt literacy education results and those of graph and linguistic literacy.

Acoustic Neurofeedback Increases Beta ERD During Mental Rotation Task.

The purpose of the present study was to identify the effect of acoustic neurofeedback on brain activity during consecutive stages of mental rotation of 3D objects. Given the fact that the process of mental rotation of objects is associated with desynchronisation of beta rhythm (beta ERD), it was expected that suppression in this band would be greater in the experimental group than in the controls. Thirty-three participants were randomly allocated to two groups performing the classic Shepard-Metzler mental rotation task (1971). The experimental group received auditory stimuli when the level of concentration fell below the threshold value determined separately for each participant based on the engagement index [ß/(α + Θ)]. The level of concentration in the control group was not stimulated. Compared to the controls, the experimental group was found with greater beta-band suppression recorded above the left parietal cortex during the early stage and above the right parietal cortex during the late stage of mental rotation task. At the late stage of mental rotation, only the experimental group was found with differences in beta ERD related to varied degrees of the rotation angle and the control condition (zero angles, no rotation) recorded above the right parietal cortex and the central area of cerebral cortex. The present findings suggest that acoustic feedback might improve the process of mental rotation.