The current state of research by Polish linguists on the Brest Bible: an overview

Abstract

2013 marked the 450th anniversary of the publication of the Brest Bible (1563), the first Protestant (Reformed) translation of the entire Bible into Polish. This translation coincided with the mature phase of the Polish Renaissance, which was at the same time a key period in the history of Reformed thought. According to researchers, the Brest Bible is characterized by typographical and translational novelty and numerous linguistic qualities which have also gained recognition for it among Catholic theologians and contemporary Bible translators. This article presents the current state of research on various aspects of the language of the Brest Bible as carried out by Polish linguists. It demonstrates the high value of the language of the Brest Bible, its place among Polish biblical translations and the important role it played in the development of Polish language and culture.     

LEARNED HELPLESSNESS ATTRIBUTIONAL STYLE AND EXAMINATION PERFORMANCE: ENHANCEMENT EFFECTS ARE NOT NECESSARILY MODERATED BY PRIOR FAILURE

Studies have replicated both negative and positive associations between helpless attributional style and academic performance. Laboratory studies indicate that when enhancement effects occur, they may be moderated by the degree of failure individuals experience prior to task performance. In a longitudinal study of 96 college students who completed four examinations in two introductory psychology courses, we examined the relationship between helpless attributional style and examination performance across the semester, and whether prior examination failure moderated this association. Correlational analyses revealed that helpless attributional style was unrelated to exam performance in the first half of the semester and was positively related to improvements in performance in the second half. Regression analyses indicated that these enhancement effects were not moderated by previous performance on examinations in the course. The present findings underscore the need for longitudinal studies that investigate the pattern of associations between helpless attributional style and performance across time in real-life contexts.     

Strategies for spatial organization in adults and children

People have a tendency to organize space by extracting meaningful shapes from the configuration of elements. However, research on spatial correspondence in children suggests that when configural processing is difficult, individuation of elements may be critical. To begin to address the distinction between the use of configurations and individuation, and changes associated with age, we relied upon perceptual grouping and manipulated the colour of the displays—promoting either extraction of configural information (monochromatic) or individuation of elements (multicoloured). In a layout reproduction task (Experiments 1 and 2), children showed a robust advantage for multicoloured arrays, whereas adults showed an attenuated advantage for monochromatic displays. Visual discrimination in adults (Experiment 3) revealed that the influence of the display type occurs at the level of perception. Taken together, these results suggest that there are (at least) two routes to establishing spatial correspondence in arrays of elements, with differential dependence over development.     

Going the distance: Extra-symbolic contributions to the symbolic control of spatial attention

Over the past 30 years, researchers have used symbolic cues such as spatial words and arrows to direct observers' attention to the location of target objects that appear at a single, fixed distance in simple visual environments; however, they have done so by using symbolic cues that provide only partial—directional—information about the spatial location of target objects. Thus, it remains unclear whether observers can only shift their attention broadly in the cued direction in response to these cues or whether they can shift their attention to the specific location of the target by combining an expectation about direction (derived from apprehension of the directional cue) with an expectation about distance (derived from some extra-symbolic cue). The results of two experiments showed that observers do shift their attention to relatively coarse spatial locations by combining expectancies about direction and distance, and that the extent to which observers do so is modulated by the presence of visible markers and the expected distance of the target. These findings are important because they provide the first evidence that extra-symbolic information about distance contributes to the symbolic control of spatial attention.     

A behavioural experiment in virtual reality to verify the role of action function in space coding

Neurophysiological data indicate that the reachable peripersonal space and the unreachable extrapersonal space are represented in segregated parietofrontal circuits and that when the unreachable space becomes reachable because of tool use, it is automatically coded by the network selective for peripersonal space. Here we directly tested the role of action's consequences in space coding. Thirty-eight participants bisected lines at either a reachable distance (60 cm) or unreachable distance (120 cm) using either a laser pointer or laser cutter. The laser cutter but not the laser pointer had an action consequence; the line broke into two pieces. The results showed that distance moderated the effect of action. At an unreachable distance, the mean bisection point was closer to the centre when participants used the laser cutter compared to when they used the laser pointer. There were no differences at a reachable distance (60 cm). This result suggests that the space in which the individual may determine a physical consequence is categorized as peripersonal space, independently from its actual distance from the individual's body.     

Effects of varying target luminance and cue luminance on attentional effects of spatial cues

Attentional effects of letter cues on target processing were investigated in a bilateral spatial cueing paradigm. Luminance contrast of the cue stimuli and of the target stimuli were both manipulated. Consistent with predictions derived from theoretical models of visual attention, manipulating cue luminance and target luminance had very different effects on performance. In agreement with the dorsal stream attention hypothesis (Marrett et al., 2011) orienting effects were unaffected by changes in cue luminance; but in agreement with the work of Reynolds, Pasternak, and Desimone (2000) and Carrasco, Ling, and Read (2004) orienting effects were strongly modulated by changes in the luminance and perceptual quality of the target. Theoretical implications of the results are considered and the data are explained in terms of a sensory enhancement effect, whereby attention amplifies the neuronal responses for attended stimuli.     

Dynamic orientation cues decrease the viewpoint cost of mental rotation

Mental rotation, as a covert simulation of motor rotation, could benefit from spatial updating of object representations. We are interested in what kind of visual cue could trigger spatial updating. Three experiments were conducted to examine the effect of dynamic and static orientation cues on mental rotation, using a sequential matching task with three-dimensional novel objects presented in different views. Experiment 1 showed that a rotating orientation cue with constant speed reduced viewpoint costs in mental rotation. Experiment 2 extended this effect with a varied-speed rotating orientation cue. However, no such benefit was observed with a static orientation cue in Experiment 3. These findings indicated that a visually continuous orientation cue is sufficient to elicit spatial updating in mental rotation. Furthermore, there may be differences in the underlying mechanisms of spatial updating on the basis of constant-speed rotating cues and varied-speed rotating cues.     

The effect of response style bias on the measurement of transformational,transactional, and laissez-faire leadership

Transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership are considered to be three distinct leadership styles. In this research we argue that response style behaviour in the form of acquiescence and extreme response style can distort the measurement of these dimensions of leadership. Using a sample of 864 employees selected from 135 work teams, this research demonstrates that (1) response styles affect measurement; (2) divergent validity of the three dimensions increases when response styles are taken into account; (3) gender is spuriously related to leadership upon response styles; and (4) team ratings substantially change when controlling for response styles bias. As a secondary topic of this research, we elaborate on a relatively new approach in diagnosing response styles, i.e., a confirmatory latent-class factor analysis. We explain the advantages of this approach and illustrate the steps a researcher has to take in conducting this type of analysis.     

Adolescents as “producers of their own development”: Correlates and consequences of the importance and attainment of developmental tasks

In a four-wave longitudinal study, 228 adolescents from seven age cohorts were investigated annually regarding the importance and subjective attainment of age-specific developmental tasks. Distal outcomes (educational trajectory and residential independence) were examined when the adolescents were 21 years old. The results of latent growth models (LGM) showed that there was no mean level change in the importance of developmental tasks, whereas perceived attainment of developmental tasks increased over time. In general, whereas the importance of developmental tasks was more impacted by family factors, the attainment of tasks was more influenced by individual factors. Adolescents with more parental support for autonomy had higher developmental aspirations. Adolescents with unemployed fathers showed greater increases in the importance of developmental tasks, which subsequently predicted a higher educational trajectory. Only a small proportion of adolescents perceived a high initial level of attainment of diverse tasks; for 85% of the sample, the typical growth pattern with respect to overall attainment of developmental tasks was a moderate initial level, which increased over time. Girls, early maturers, and first-born adolescents reported higher perceived attainment of developmental tasks.