The study examines the centennial development of the Department of Psychology at the Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University in Brno, situating its trajectory within broader transformations of Czech society and higher education. It traces the institution's evolution from its interwar establishment through ideological interventions after 1948, the reform-oriented climate of the 1960s, the constraints of the normalization period, and the post-1989 restructuring of the academic landscape. Drawing on archival sources, contemporary documents, and alumni testimonies, the analysis reconstructs shifts in institutional organization, staffing, curricula, and international engagement. It demonstrates how successive political regimes shaped the department's development while also highlighting its sustained disciplinary continuity and its contribution to the formation of Czech academic psychology.
Objectives. Mental imagery plays a key role in diverse cognitive processes and is typically assessed through self-report instruments. This study presents Czech adaptations of two widely used questionnaires: the Plymouth Sensory Imagery Questionnaire (Psi-Q), which measures the vividness of imagery across seven sensory modalities, and the Internal Representation Questionnaire (IRQ), which captures internal verbalization and visual imagery in non-communicative contexts. Sample and settings. A large sample of 1,726 Czech-speaking university students completed both instruments in a fully web-based procedure. Results. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the original seven-factor structure of the Psi-Q and a modified four-factor solution for the IRQ, with improved model fit after the removal of low-loading items. Reliability estimates for both instruments were satisfactory to high. Correlational analyses revealed that the Psi-Q is most strongly related to the Visual Imagery component of the IRQ, while other IRQ components showed only weak associations with sensory imagery. These findings validate the use of the Czech Psi-Q and IRQ and contribute to the cross-linguistic study of individual differences in mental imagery and internal representations. Limitations. The results support the use of the full seven-factor version of the PsiQ in Czech, particularly when differentiation among sensory imagery dimensions is of interest. In contrast, the single-factor model showed poor fit and is not recommended, reinforcing the interpretation that the PsiQ components represent distinct domains of sensory imagery rather than a unitary construct.
Objectives. The aim of this study was to examine university students' epistemic beliefs, i.e., their beliefs about the reliability and nature of AI-generated knowledge, and to identify qualitatively distinct groups of students who share similar patterns of these beliefs (so-called epistemic belief profiles). The study further investigated whether these profiles differ in how often and for what academic purposes students use generative AI tools such as ChatGPT.Sample and settings. The study was conducted on a statistically representative sample of 1289 students (63% women, 2% other; M-age = 22.9) from Charles University in Prague. Students reported their general epistemic beliefs about generative AI (ChatGPT-Specific Epistemic Beliefs Questionnaire; ChatGPT-EBQ), and task-specific beliefs, i.e., assessing credibility of a short AI-generated text that combined scientifically accurate and hallucinated claims.Statistical analyses. A two-step clustering was used to identify profiles based on general and task-specific epistemic beliefs. Group differences in AI use were tested using the Kruskal-Wallis test, and differences in purposes of use were examined using mixed-design ANOVA. The relationship between epistemic profiles and year of study was tested using multinomial logistic regression.Results. Three belief profiles were identified: (1) uncritical students (40.3% of the sample) tended to trust information from AI tools like ChatGPT and felt little need to question or verify it; (2) inconsistent students (38.1%) expressed skepticism about AI in general but still trusted a specific AI-generated text when reading it; and (3) critical students (21.6%) were consistently cautious, expressing low trust in AI and a strong need to check the accuracy of its content. Differences were found between profiles in the frequency (epsilon & sup2; = .06) and purposes (eta(2)(p) = .02) of AI use, with uncritical students using AI most often. Year of study was a weak but significant predictor of profile membership (OR = 1.08, p = .004; R & sup2; = .01).Limitations. Although the sample was statistically representative, the study may be affected by self-selection bias. The task-specific stimulus came from the field of educational psychology, which may have advantaged some students.
The Simple View of Reading is a cognitive model of reading that has been widely and long accepted by experts. According to this model, reading comprehension is produced by the interaction of two basic components, namely word recognition and language comprehension. The developmental level of each or the deficits present allow classifying readers into several subtypes. Although this scheme is simple, its content is complex and opens up the possibility of different interpretations and distortions. It is therefore natural that it has undergone a rather rich evolution over four decades. The aim of this study is to present the professional discourse of this model and to show the directions taken by researches verifying its validity and where the core of the criticism lies. Finally, the study present how the model is currently explained by its authors themselves. The authors also highlight the diagnostic and intervention potential of the model for clinical, counseling, and educational practice.
