I checked 4 preprints servers on Friday, October 10, 2025 using the Open Science Foundation API. For the period October 03 to October 09, I found 315 new paper(s).

MetaArxiv

Methodological biases in Virology: Insights and Lessons from Early SARS-CoV-2 Studies
Victor Guirado
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The objective of this study review is to identify methodological biases in publicly available virological studies, motivated by a review and examination of early SARS-CoV-2. A narrative critical review of virology literature (1930-2024) has been conducted. Literature was identified through targeted keyword searches in PubMed, Scopus, Web o Science, and Google Scholar, refined by AI-assisted tools to detect recurring patterns. Studies were included if they addressed viral isolation, genome sequencing and infectivity testing. After exhaustive search and review, three recurrent methodological weaknesses were identified: Isolation frequently equated with indirect detection of genetic material rather than rigorous purification by density gradients of viral particles; Sequencing reliant on computational assemblies and references genomes, with no direct sequencing from purified particles by gradients of density; Infectivity inferred from cytopathic effects or modelling, with insufficient or incomplete negative controls. The review of the virological studies from 1930 to 2024 illustrate that these weaknesses are systematic. Contemporary virology often relies on indirect evidence. The current viral model has not been empirically verified. Thus, more rigorous isolation, sequencing from purified particles, exhaustive negative controls, and independent replication are essential to restore scientific robustness.
Declining contribution of the United States federal government to global research corpus
Emilio Miguel Bruna
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Departments and agencies of the United States federal government conduct research on topics ranging from nuclear technology to economic policy. Using the Scopus bibliographic database, I quantified the number of publications by US federal government authors from January 2019--July 2025. I found that the number of articles and book chapters published from January-July 2025 was 14%-19% lower than during the same time period of 2024, resulting in publication deficit of 2,638-6,489 articles. Changes in executive branch policy related to the funding and staffing of federal agencies have led to warnings of an imminent and potentially catastrophic decline in the scientific preeminence of the United States. The results presented here suggest that this decline has already been set in motion.
The Influence of Age Structure on Cancer Mortality: Evidence from Italy and Europe, 2020-2022. A Methodological Note
Leonardo Ventura
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In epidemiology, standardization is an essential tool when comparing mortality between populations with different age structures. Using Italy, one of the oldest countries in the European Union, and the EU-27 aggregate as a case study, this methodological note demonstrates how comparisons between crude mortality rates can give misleading interpretations of disease burden. While crude rates suggested a higher mortality in Italy (≈280 per 100 000) compared to the EU-27 (≈259 per 100 000), standardized rates showed the reverse pattern (≈224 vs ≈239 per 100 000). A Kitagawa decomposition confirmed that the excess in crude mortality rates for Italy is almost entirely explained by the effect of age structure rather than true etiological factors. This methodological note illustrates the necessity of proper standardization in cancer epidemiology. All the instructions to download the official datasets and the Python scripts for the analysis are openly available on Zenodo (doi:10.5281/zenodo.17251977), offering both an educational example and a methodological reference for standardization to support students, policymakers, and researchers in applying these techniques.
Declining contribution of the United States federal government to global research corpus
Emilio Miguel Bruna
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Departments and agencies of the United States federal government conduct research on topics ranging from nuclear technology to economic policy. Using the Scopus bibliographic database, I quantified the number of publications by US federal government authors from January 2019--July 2025. I found that the number of articles and book chapters published from January-July 2025 was 14%-19% lower than during the same time period of 2024, resulting in publication deficit of 2,638-6,489 articles. Changes in executive branch policy related to the funding and staffing of federal agencies have led to warnings of an imminent and potentially catastrophic decline in the scientific preeminence of the United States. The results presented here suggest that this decline has already been set in motion.
Fostering Innovation Through Sociological Overhaul: A Proposal for a Community-driven Open Research Ecosystem (CORE)
Wanpeng Tan
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This article analyzes the deep, systemic flaws within the current sociological structures in basic research. From peer review and publication culture to funding allocation and the tenure system, we reveal a structural crisis defined by broken feedback loops, perverse incentives, and the rise of academic monopolies. We argue that incremental fixes are insufficient and that a complete reform is now warranted. To this end, we present the vision for a novel Community-driven Open Research Ecosystem (CORE), a new paradigm or constitution for the entire community guided by the overarching Diversity Principle. The CORE is a dynamic, balanced, and self-regulating ecosystem designed to promote meritocracy and diversity, offering equal opportunity to all members while simultaneously applying monopoly-breaking measures against the top and securing a safety net for the bottom. By thoughtfully navigating its implementation challenges, a CORE can ensure fairness, transparency, and efficiency via its dual evaluation system in knowledge dissemination, resource allocation, and career advancement, creating the conditions for a new era of innovation in basic research.
The Robustness Dashboard
Gunther Bensch; Jörg Ankel-Peters; Abel Brodeur; Julian Rose
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Transparent communication of robustness is essential in empirical research, yet existing tools can be difficult to interpret. This paper introduces the robustness dashboard, a graphical tool that visualizes the results of robustness reproductions into a single, intuitive graph. The robustness dashboard draws on a multiverse of analytical paths to illustrate their effect on statistical significance. It complements existing visualisations, such as specification curves, by offering a more compact and accessible summary of robustness pa%erns. The dashboard can be easily implemented using our Stata command repframe and scaled according to the number of outcomes, ranging from stand-alone reproductions to meta-reproductions.
An Emmanuel Levinas Critique of Social Science Research Practice
Peter Odhiambo Ouma
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Historically, academic research has been structured around the supremacy of methodology. Neutrality, replicability, and objectivity are generally regarded as the fundamental principles of scholarly legitimacy, whereas ethics is considered a secondary issue, typically managed through institutional review processes or compliance mechanisms. This order suggests that research can be planned, carried out, and defended mostly through strict methods, with ethical reflection added later as a form of regulation. Nevertheless, this configuration jeopardises the reduction of ethics to mere procedure and participants to mere subjects of examination. This article critiques the method-first paradigm through Emmanuel Levinas’s philosophy, especially his assertion that ethics constitutes “first philosophy.” Levinas posits that responsibility to the Other precedes ontology, cognition, and categorisation. The face of the Other presents the researcher with an inescapable demand that cannot be mitigated by objectivity or methodological detachment. From this perspective, the traditional subject–object relationship central to research practice is undermined: participants are not mere data to be handled but individuals whose distinctiveness by necessity demands accountability. Consequently, ethics cannot be perceived merely as a procedural adjunct to methodology; rather, it constitutes the foundational basis from which scholarly inquiry must emerge. Methodologically, the article integrates a critical conceptual analysis of Levinas’s writings with a normative critique of current research practices. This method allows the argument to transition from mere scholarly commentary to a prescriptive assertion: research should be reconceptualised as an ethical engagement rooted in accountability for the Other, rather than as a dispassionate process of knowledge creation. The conclusion suggests that an ethics-first approach, defined by humility, attentiveness, and responsiveness, provides a foundational reorientation of scholarship. In this recontextualization, ethics is not an external limitation but the foundational condition of academic inquiry itself.
Critical commentary on: “Effect of Levothyroxine on Miscarriage among Women with Normal Thyroid Function and Thyroid Autoimmunity Undergoing In Vitro Fertilization and Embryo Transfer: A Randomized Clinical Trial”.
Yasmin Magdi
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This is a critical commentary about an RCT known as the Euthyroid Women with Thyroid Autoimmunity after Levothyroxine (POSTAL) study. Using the Trustworthiness in Randomised Clinical Trials (TRACT) checklist, five concerns in 5 domains out of 7 were identified. Four concerns are considered major due to retrospective registration, significance and inconsistencies in summary data presented, fast recruitment of patients and major discrepancies in data as well as methodology that exist between the conference abstract and the published trail. These serious and multiple concerns suggest the urgent need for reliable investigation of the trustworthiness of the POSTAL study. The authors of the POSTAL study are encouraged to share their original data set on a public domain.
Exploring views on remuneration for review: A survey of patient and public reviewers
Sara Schroter; Becky Harmston; Emma Doble; Sophie Cook; Amy Price
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Objectives Calls to compensate patient partners for contributions to the health sector are increasing. The BMJ invites patients and the public (P&P) to review manuscripts alongside academic reviewers and recently introduced remuneration. We surveyed P&P reviewers to capture perspectives on remuneration and overall reviewing experience. Design/setting Two cross-sectional surveys administered via SurveyMonkey. Participants Survey 1 targeted P&P reviewers who had completed a review in the past 3 years; Survey 2 included those invited to review but who had not completed a review within that period. Results Survey 1 received 183/267 (69%) responses; Survey 2 received 100/493 (20%) responses. Most respondents were based in the UK or US. Overall, 71% (202/283) rated their review experience as “very good” or “good.” Half (51%, 143/283) said a £50 payment would make them more likely to review (48% Survey 1, 56% Survey 2). One-third (32%, 91/283) said a subscription to a selection of BMJ journals would make them more likely to review (32% Survey 1, 33% Survey 2). However, 29% (82/283) said £50 would not influence them (33% Survey 1, 22% Survey 2) and 40% (114/283) said the same about a subscription (39% Survey 1, 43% Survey 2). . Views on remuneration varied - some saw it as recognition of value, others viewed it as unnecessary, and some felt it was inadequate compensation. While 59% (166/283) had no concerns about introducing payment; 18% (52) had concerns, and 17% (49) were unsure. Concerns included potentially changing reviewers’ motivations and the quality of reviews, administrative burden and tax implications, impact on income received from benefits, and a need to evaluate the initiative. Respondents emphasised the importance of offering optional incentives to accommodate individual preferences. Conclusions The BMJ’s P&P reviewers hold diverse views on remuneration. Flexible, optional incentives may help support broader engagement while respecting individual needs and values.
Enhancing Feasibility and Integrity in Health Research: The S-FIPR Platform
Gabriela DĂąrzan
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Modern health and social science research faces well-documented challenges in reproducibility, transparency, and practical feasibility. A significant proportion of studies cannot be replicated, and incomplete reporting leads to wasted resources. Equally, many promising interventions fail to translate into practice due to unrecognized feasibility obstacles in planning and implementation. This article introduces S-FIPR (Software for Feasibility and Integrity of Research Projects), which is an integrated digital platform designed to improve research project rigor, transparency, and viability from inception to dissemination. We outline the background reproducibility and feasibility gaps that motivate the development of S-FIPR, then describe the platform’s concept, including its user roles, workflows, and core functional blocks. A central innovation is the Feasibility Index (F-Index), a composite score assessing proposals across multiple domains with full auditability and explainability. We detail S-FIPR’s approach to responsible AI governance, such as model cards and bias mitigation, ensuring AI features remain transparent and advisory. The platform’s alignment with international standards - CONSORT, PRISMA, STROBE, FAIR data principles, and GDPR - is mapped, underscoring compliance with best practices in reporting, data management, and privacy. An evaluation plan is presented, leveraging usability scales and technology acceptance frameworks (TAM/UTAUT) to assess user experience and key adoption metrics. We discuss ethical and legal considerations, including research ethics oversight and data protection. Finally, we address current limitations and outline a roadmap from a minimum viable product (MVP) through pilot studies to broader scale-up. By embedding evidence-based safeguards and guidance into the research lifecycle, S-FIPR aims to bolster the integrity and feasibility of health research projects in the digital era. Keywords: Research integrity, Feasibility, Reproducibility, Digital platform, F-Index, AI governance, CONSORT, FAIR data, Usability, Health research
Manuscript submission systems and metadata completeness in Crossref: patterns and associations
Hans de Jonge; Bianca Kramer
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The importance of open research information, particularly publication metadata, is widely recognised. Crossref is one of the most important infrastructures for registering open metadata as part of DOI record registration. It is widely known, however, that the metadata of many publications is far from complete, with many publishers making certain metadata openly available, but failing to do so for other metadata elements. Of course, publishers' ability to register this metadata with Crossref depends on their capacity to capture and retain this data in their production workflows. Manuscript submission systems are an important, yet largely overlooked, factor in the extent to which publishers make metadata available through Crossref. In this paper, we present the results of an analysis investigating the correlation between the level of metadata that publishers deposit with Crossref and the submission systems that they deploy for their journals. We have looked at the 153 publishers with the largest amounts of publications in Crossref and concentrate on the four most commonly used systems: Editorial Manager, ScholarOne, Open Journal Systems (OJS) and eJournalPress. We show that some submission systems appear better suited to capturing certain metadata elements. However, there are always cases where publishers using the same system differ widely in the level of metadata they register, suggesting that technology is not the only prohibiting factor and other considerations are at play.

PsyArxiv

From Sampling to Stopping: The P300 ERP component and beta power contribute to reward-related decision commitments
Christina Dimitriadou; Nicholas Furl
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Optimal stopping problems provide a framework for studying decision-making under uncertainty, balancing the trade-off between information sampling and decision commitment. We investigated deviations from normative strategies in human decision-making and examined the neural mechanisms underlying decision commitment versus sampling using electroencephalography (EEG). Forty participants viewed sequences of beads drawn from fictitious urns and attempted to infer the majority bead colour in each urn, while their EEG activity was recorded. After viewing each bead, participants could choose to sample more by drawing another bead (draw choice) or to stop sampling and infer the contents of the urn (urn choice). A Bayesian ideal observer model and parametrised models were used to predict participant behaviour. Participants undersampled relative to the ideal observer, particularly in the more uncertain condition where the proportion of bead colours was close to chance (60/40 or 0.6), with the model better capturing behaviour in the easier 80/20 (0.8) condition. P300 amplitudes showed larger responses for urn choices and a gradient of increasing amplitude as draws approached commitment. Larger frontal ERP responses were also observed under higher uncertainty (0.6 condition). Beta oscillatory activity was stronger for urn choices in the high uncertainty condition, with fast beta (20–30 Hz) activity driving final commitment to a decision. Beta power was further predicted by model-derived action values. By integrating behavioural, computational, and neurophysiological data, this study advances our understanding of active information sampling versus decision commitment in reward-related probabilistic environments.
Threat-related Mental Imagery Impairs Endogenous Pain Modulation in Healthy Individuals
Julie Lin Ji; Meghan Whitehouse; Samuel Mugglestone; Sam William Hughes
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Mental imagery-based simulations of threat can evoke “as-if-real” emotional and motivational responses, which may alter top-down pain processing. This study investigated the impact of mental imagery simulations of threat on endogenous pain modulation in n = 71 healthy participants using a cuff-pressure algometry protocol. In block one, participants were assessed on their baseline pain detection threshold (PDT), pressure pain tolerance (PTT), and their conditioned pain modulation (CPM) responses. In the second block, participants underwent the same procedures again but were randomly allocated to imagine the dominant leg cuff as being made of bubble wrap (benign imagery condition; n = 36) or metal wire (threat imagery condition; n = 35). In between blocks, participants went to a separate room to interact with a piece of real bubble wrap or metal wire around their legs, facilitating mental imagery generation in Block 2. Partially consistent with our hypothesis, mental imagery impacted CPM effects for pain detection threshold (PDT), which was significantly reduced in the Wire relative to the Bubble-wrap condition. Mental imagery did not influence pressure pain tolerance (PPT). These results indicate that mental simulation of threat impaired threshold-based CPM responses. Our data suggest that mental simulation of threat may contribute to dysfunctional central pain processing which may be relevant to the maintenance of clinical pain conditions.
The Reward Positivity Signals a Goal Prediction Error
James Cavanagh; Clay B. Holroyd
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The Reward Positivity (RewP) is an electroencephalographic feature that emerges following performance feedback and is commonly understood to index both positive and negative reward prediction error (RPE) signals. Contrary to this dominant perspective, we argue that the RewP is an independent EEG feature that selectively responds to positive RPE and is superimposed over a common background signal. We further propose that the RewP signals a goal-prediction error: it is elicited by abstract signals instead of hedonic “rewards”. This goal prediction error appears to be produced by a critic-like architecture associated with the actor-critic framework in reinforcement learning. This perspective emphasizes the role of the RewP in goal attainment and cognitive control, as opposed to a simple indicator of reward receipt.
A Zellner Test for Autocorrelation
Daan Schoemaker; Eric-Jan Wagenmakers
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In the 1960s, Arnold Zellner developed Bayesian models for first-order autoregressions. Here we extend Zellner’s parameter estimation framework and propose an associated Bayes factor test for the presence of autocorrelation. This test uses the Savage-Dickey density ratio and yields an analytical result; moreover, the test permits a simple and accurate approximation that clarifies the relationship between the Bayes factor and p-values from the ubiquitous Ljung-Box and Wald tests. The Bayes factor test allows researchers to take into account prior knowledge, to discriminate between ‘absence of evidence’ and ‘evidence of absence’, and to monitor evidence as the data accumulate.
Executive Functions, Metacognition, Self-Regulation, and Self-Regulated Learning – What are We Talking About? A Review and Introduction of the EMERGE Model
Maria Theobald; Julia Kerner auch Koerner; Jasmin Breitwieser; Lilly Buhr; Julia Karbach; Tanja Könen; Lea Nobbe; Tilman Reinelt; Mirijam Schaaf; Florian Schmiedek
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As students progress through school, they are expected to increasingly regulate their attention, behaviour and learning. While some meet these demands with ease, others face ongoing challenges that can hinder their academic success. Research has identified four key concepts in this area: executive functions (EF), metacognition (MC), self-regulation (SR) and self-regulated learning (SRL). Although these constructs are conceptually related, they have often been examined in isolation due to disciplinary and methodological divides, resulting in fragmented accounts that obscure their dynamic interplay. This review addresses this issue by providing a comparative overview of EF, MC, SR and SRL in terms of their definitions, how they are operationalised and the research designs used. Based on this synthesis, we introduce the EMERGE model of learning, which positions these constructs along a continuum ranging from more biologically grounded mechanics (e.g. EF) to more culturally shaped pragmatics (e.g. strategy knowledge in SRL). The model highlights both shared mechanisms and distinct functions and conceptualises SR in learning situations as an integrative construct. Building on this framework, we propose two guiding hypotheses: the stage-setting hypothesis, which emphasises long-term developmental interplay; and the compensatory hypothesis, which focuses on short-term interactions that predict learning outcomes. Together, these perspectives highlight the need for longitudinal, experimental and hybrid designs to capture developmental and dynamic processes. The EMERGE model thus aims to bridge fragmented research traditions, improve diagnostics, and inform interventions that effectively support students in meeting the growing demands of self-regulated and adaptive learning.
The Cannabis Research Image Database (CRESIDA): an internationally standardized and validated image set for studying cannabis cue-reactivity
Janna Cousijn; Emese Kroon; Chao Suo; Tom Freeman; Chandni Hindocha; Marianna Quinones-Valera; Valentina Lorenzetti
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Abstract Background and Aims: Cannabis cue-reactivity paradigms are instrumental to study the behavioral and neurocognitive mechanisms of cannabis use and cannabis use disorders. However, image sets used for cannabis cue-reactivity paradigms vary between studies, and the lack of reliability and validity assessment hinders the quality of evidence they generate. The aim of this study was to create a novel, open access, standardized, and internationally representative database of cannabis use-related images including control images matched by resolution, luminosity, and complexity: The Cannabis Research Image Database (CRESIDA). We also examined the potential impact of cannabis use severity, image type, and cannabis-tobacco co-use on craving. Design: An online survey was administered to participants recruited via online platforms, community advertisement, and snowballing. Setting: USA, the Netherlands, and Australia. Participants/Cases: 689 participants who consumed cannabis monthly-to-daily (385 men, 298 women, 6 other) were recruited between January 2022 and May 2024. Measurements: Out of 93 cannabis images and 93 matched neutral images, participants each rated 31 image pairs for cannabis craving (the primary outcome), arousal, valence, and tobacco craving. Participants were characterized for socio-demographic data, level of cannabis use and related problems, and mixing cannabis and tobacco. A subset of 78 images was selected for further analysis based on cannabis craving results. Image ratings were evaluated for internal consistency (ïĄ). Furthermore, we examined the association between cannabis cravings and cannabis use characteristics, and explored if cannabis craving ratings were affected by image type (i.e., product, paraphernalia, and actions), and by using cannabis alone vs. mixing cannabis and tobacco. Findings. The database showed excellent reliability (ïĄ = .995-.965). Cannabis craving, valence, and arousal discriminated cannabis and control images. More cannabis use days (ÎČ = 0.162, p < 0.001) and cannabis-related problems (ÎČ = 0.268, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with higher image-related cannabis craving. Mixing cannabis with tobacco, compared to using cannabis alone, was associated with the presence of tobacco craving in relation to cannabis images, and with greater cannabis craving in relation to cannabis images (ÎČ = -0.457, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Images part of the open access CRESIDA are reliable and valid for the scientific study of cue-reactivity internationally, providing a broad range of free to use cannabis and control images internationally.
What Do We Perceive When We Think About Perception?
Joshua M. Tybur
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Ko and Neuberg introduce a framework for understanding how ecological affordances are perceived. I suggest that a broad conception of “perception” conflates distinct phenomena in a way that can limit our understanding of ecological affordances. Distinguishing between these phenomena can prevent a conceptual jingle fallacy and facilitate our understanding of how the mind evolved to represent and manage ecological challenges.
A developmental empirical aesthetics of dance
Courtney Casale; Louise P Kirsch; Emily S. Cross; Julia F. Christensen
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The urge to dance is universal. From the moment we are born, we bounce, sway, or clap along when we hear a beat. Beyond the inherent infectiousness of rhythm translating into groove, and the pleasure such movement evokes, dance movements are a vehicle for conveying and for understanding gestural expressions of emotions across the lifespan. Furthermore, research documents how people derive aesthetic pleasure from both watching and performing dance. However, the ontogenetic development of the aesthetic appreciation of dance remains largely unexplored. Most empirical work in the developmental domain has used dance movements to explore the development of general emotional expressivity and understanding. Since aesthetic emotions are not disparate from everyday emotions, the research exploring those relationships between dance behaviors and emotional and social development can be considered a stepping-stone for first insights into the development of the aesthetic experience of dance in childhood. In this chapter, we present an overview of research exploring expressive dance movements with children, and discuss how such approaches can be adapted to investigate the ontogeny of dance-related aesthetic experiences. We further provide an overview of methods and open research questions for a developmental empirical framework of dance aesthetics.
Wind-like sonification of footsteps to support walking rehabilitation in chronic stroke patients: A multiple case study
Marta Matamala-Gomez; Jennifer Grau-Sånchez; María F. Porto; Marta A.Rochetti; Roser Boza; Esther Duarte; Joaquín R. Díaz-Durån; Mohammad Mahdi Dehshibi; Frédéric Bevilacqua; ANA TAJADURA JIMENEZ
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Gait impairments following stroke are prevalent and persistent, often affecting walking ability, body perception, and quality of life. Movement sonification—mapping body motion to sound—has shown promise for modulating sensorimotor function. This multiple-case experimental study investigated the effects of movement sonification using metaphorical sound on gait, body perception, and emotional state in three individuals with chronic stroke. Using an ABAC design, participants walked with real-time auditory feedback delivered via an interactive walking-interface system (SoniBand) across four conditions: baseline, “Wind” sound, return to baseline, and “Mechanical” sound, presented in a counterbalanced order. Gait parameters (symmetry, step frequency, velocity, and acceleration) were assessed alongside self-reported body perception and emotional state. Exposure to the “Wind” sound condition led to consistent improvements in walking velocity and symmetry, as well as enhanced perceptions of body lightness, speed, flexibility, and physical capability. Accelerometer data indicated carry-over effects from the sound condition in gait symmetry and step regularity. These findings support the potential of metaphorical sound sonification to influence internal models of movement and facilitate sensorimotor adaptation in stroke survivors. This study underscores the malleability of body perceptions through auditory feedback and highlights the value of personalized, perceptually grounded interventions in neurorehabilitation.
Control processes of cross- and within-language interference — A replication of Liu et al. (2019)
Glenn Patrick Williams; Neil William Kirk; L. Maria Sanchez; Ziba Afshar; Yun Wen; Mathieu Declerck
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Language control is an essential cognitive process that allows bilinguals to fluently produce language by reducing cross-language interference. Yet, it remains unclear whether the control processes implemented when reducing cross-language interference are similar to those when reducing within-language interference. Since prior research has shown contradictory results, we set out to investigate this issue further based on a combination of language switch costs, as a measure of control processes resolving cross-language interference, and Stroop incongruency, as a measure of control processes resolving within-language interference. Relying on a range of statistical techniques, the results across three experiments, including a replication of Experiment 1 of Liu et al. (2019), testing three different groups of bilinguals (i.e., Dutch-English, Arabic-English, and Chinese-English) showed no clear interaction between language switch costs and Stroop incongruency, and neither was this pattern influenced by language dominance. These results are more in line with the claim that control processes implemented to reduce cross- and within-language interference are separate or occur in separate stages of processing.
Words and scents: How language shapes and skews olfactory processing
Norbert Vanek
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Research on language and olfaction presents a paradox. Language appears to support the formation of odor categories, yet it can also hinder odor recognition through verbal interference, highlighting that different olfactory processes get affected in distinct ways. The question, then, is not about whether language and odor processing in humans are inevitably linked, but about understanding the circumstances under which language either promotes or hinders olfactory processing, particularly in the domains of odor categorization and memory. To unmask the nature of this delicate balance, this article reviews empirical studies that point to a verbal enhancement of forming new odor categories and contextualizes it alongside experimental outcomes showing how odor memories can get verbally skewed. Findings from both angles are nested within prominent theories including attribute differentiation, dual coding, ad hoc cognition and attentional tuning. The research reviewed here sits at the crossroads of language and olfaction. It offers fresh insights into how language scaffolds the organization of the mind, and it also outlines promising directions for future research. The main aim is to bring together two contrasting strands of research to investigate how language both facilitates and disrupts olfactory processing. The designs of studies in this article were inspired by Asifa Majid’s outstanding contributions to cognitive science and honor her dedication to community building, particularly in exploring how diverse linguistic and cultural contexts affect olfactory cognition.
Memory encoding for new information, not autobiographical memory load, predicts age-related acceleration in subjective time passage over the last decade
Alice Teghil; Sebastian Wittmann; Adele Lifrieri; Sophia Saad; Maddalena Boccia; Marc Wittmann
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The widely replicated finding that the perceived speed of time passage over the past decade increases with chronological age was the focus of this study. We investigated potential mechanisms underlying this effect, examining the role of autobiographical memory and cognitive functioning. 120 individuals aged 20-91 were assessed on subjective time perception for the preceding decade and year, the quantity and significance of autobiographical memories from those periods, and overall cognitive status. Results confirmed the specific age-related increase in perceived temporal acceleration over the past decade. However, no significant association was found between perceived time passage over the past decade and either the number or subjective value of memories. Contrary to assumptions, older adults reported more vivid and meaningful recollections. Instead, reduced cognitive functioning, and specifically lower ability to form new memories as assessed through delayed memory recall, emerged as a significant mediator of accelerated time perception with age. Findings suggest that age-related cognitive decline leading to reduced ability to encode novel memories, rather than diminished autobiographical memory content, is a critical factor in the subjective experience of time compression in older adults.
A Matter of Preparation: Investigating the Differential Effects of Disassembling and Cooking on Meat-Related Perceptions and Conflict
Benjamin Buttlar; Lena Hahn; Monique Chambon
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Food preparation plays a key role in shaping how people perceive meat: It helps people to dissociate meat from its animal origin and allows them to eat meat without experiencing conflict. However, experimental research in this area mostly disregards or confounds two food preparation steps: disassembling and cooking. To test how disassembling and cooking affect perceptions about meat dishes, we conducted secondary analyses of a sample of omnivores from a U.S.-representative dataset (N = 1,189). In this study, participants indicated meat perceptions (self-report) in response to a picture of one meat dish that varied in the degree of disassembling (i.e., whole parts vs. chopped/minced) and cooking (i.e., raw vs. cooked). Leveraging this experimental setup, multi-level analyses revealed that disassembling and cooking reduced compassion elicited by meat dishes. Disassembling also decreased general emotional arousal, while cooking reduced negative evaluations, conflict experiences in felt ambivalence, and specific negative emotions such as disgust and anger, while increasing valence perceptions more generally and the desire to eat the dish. Moreover, psychological network analyses showed that the relations of meat-related perceptions with each other do not differ significantly between food preparation steps. By offering nuanced insights into how food preparation affects conflict experiences as well as other affective and attitudinal meat-related perceptions, this research offers various theoretical and practical implications. We therefore discuss key considerations for future research on meat-related perceptions and identify when and which interventions may be most necessary and effective in encouraging reduced meat consumption.
Isolating domain-specific and domain-general contributions to global confidence
Sophie Bavard; Andrew McWilliams; Flora Chartier; Karim N'DIAYE; Stephen M Fleming; Marion Rouault
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While metacognition - our ability to evaluate our own cognitive processes - has been extensively studied by measuring trial-by-trial self-assessments of task performance (local confidence), real-world decisions often require a broader perspective, drawing on evaluations of performance over wider timespans (global confidence). Despite its pervasive influence on decision-making and mental health, it remains unknown whether global confidence is formed through similar or distinct processes across cognitive domains. Here we employ a novel gamified approach to compare how global confidence is formed in the domains of memory and perception. In memory, we found that both local accuracy and confidence contributed to global confidence, whereas in perception, global confidence was predicted by local confidence alone. By comparing the formation of global confidence across domains, our study provides new insights into the mechanisms underpinning self-evaluation, paving the way for the development of metacognitive interventions in education and psychiatry.
Frames of Reference Collectively Organize Space to Influence Attentional Allocation
Yaohong Liu; Weizhi Nan
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Spatial cognition refers to how people transform physical spatial information into mental representations and manipulate it to do further spatial computation and reasoning. Previous research has demonstrated that frames of reference (FORs) in the physical space could distort the spatial representations to influence memory of spatial relations. However, it remains unclear whether FORs could also influence attentional allocation among the spatial representations. To addressed this issue, we examined the attentional shifting within or between different spatial regions, which were affected by the same versus different FORs. In Experiment 1, a modified double-rectangle cuing paradigm was adopted. Two human figures in complementary colors were presented to establish two object-centered spatial FORs, which divided the external space of objects into a central region (influenced by two FORs) and two outer-side regions (primarily influenced by a single FOR). Cues and targets were presented in the same region or different regions. Results showed faster attentional shifting within the same region than between different regions. In Experiment 2, one human figure was replaced as a cross, and the within-region advantage was replicated. Overall, these findings suggest that object-centered FORs could be employed to collectively organize space and shape attentional allocation in objects’ external space.
Emotion influences behavioral outcomes and attention during goal-directed reading
Eric Wang; Yueyuan Zheng; Janet H. Hsiao; Urs Maurer
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Emotions can greatly influence cognitive processes, such as reading. However, recent studies on the interaction between emotions and reading comprehension provide a murky picture with contradictory claims. Here, we offer one explanation for this phenomenon, that is, the influence of emotion is dependent on different attention goals during reading comprehension. To test this hypothesis, we manipulated question types that were presented to participants prior to reading to evoke different attentional goals. By utilizing an advanced eye movement analysis method Eye Movement with Hidden Markov Models (EMHMM) with co-clustering, we discovered two representative attention patterns from eye fixations: an expanded, globalized attention pattern and a more focused, localized attention pattern. The subsequent analysis showed that globalized pattern led to better comprehension accuracy for summative questions, and localized pattern facilitated detailed question answering. Moreover, negative emotion induces more localized attention for detailed questions only, which could further explain its facilitation effect in detailed question answering. Our findings suggest that the impact of emotions on reading comprehension is shaped by the attention goal of the task. This suggests that emotion appears to guide attention in ways that either support or hinder comprehension depending on what the higher-level goal is.
Food and Faith: Development and Psychometric Validation of the Spiritual Food Contagion Scale (SFCS)
Michal Folwarczny; Margarida Garrido; Tobias Otterbring
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Despite extensive research on magical thinking and contagion beliefs, no validated measure exists for assessing spiritual food contagion---the belief that non-material properties transfer to food through contact. We developed and validated the Spiritual Food Contagion Scale (SFCS) across a series of studies with a total sample of over 1,600 participants. Studies 1A-B (N = 100) generated an initial item pool through literature review and target audience evaluation. Study 2 (N = 398) employed exploratory factor analysis, revealing a robust two-factor structure: \textit{essence transmission} (8 items) and \textit{moral contamination} (7 items). Study 3 ($N$ = 504) confirmed this structure through confirmatory factor analysis and established convergent validity with related constructs. Study 4A (N = 351) demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability and predictive validity through experimental scenarios. Participants completed treatment preference ratings for flu illness and health optimization contexts across evidence-based, wellness, alternative, and pseudoscientific approaches. Higher SFCS scores were positively associated with a stronger preference for treatments in general, with particularly pronounced effects for pseudoscientific interventions. Study 4B ($N$ = 280) examined actual past usage of alternative medicine practices. Here, the SFCS significantly predicted alternative medicine usage, demonstrating that spiritual food contagion beliefs extend to real-world behaviors. The SFCS provides researchers with a psychometrically sound instrument for investigating spiritual food contagion beliefs and their implications for health-related decision-making and other domains of consumer behavior.
Accuracy and Perceptions in Detecting Cannabis Intoxication: A Video-Based Study Among Alcohol and Other Drug Healthcare Staff
Gabriel Adrian Veron; Daniel Winter; Barry Renner; Lilian Kloft-Heller; josephine okurame; Michelle Hall; Erica Martin; Natalie Cutler; Bridin Murnion; Johannes Ramaekers
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Introduction: Accurate detection of intoxication is critical in alcohol and other drug (AOD) healthcare settings, yet clinicians often rely on subjective assessments, particularly for substances such as cannabis where real-time testing is limited. This study examined AOD staff’s ability to accurately detect cannabis intoxication using standardised video stimuli, alongside their confidence in and perceived barriers to managing intoxicated patients. Methods: Seventy staff members from five public AOD services in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, participated in an online survey. Participants viewed two short videos of individuals under blinded cannabis or placebo conditions and judged intoxication status. Participants then responded to questions on self-reported confidence in recognising, discussing, and managing intoxication, along with perceived barriers. Group differences were analysed by professional role, years of experience working in NSW Health, and frequency of AOD patient interaction. Results: Participants correctly identified the intoxicated subject in only 50% of cases (M=1.1 out of 2, SD=0.71), with no significant differences by role, experience, or confidence. Confidence in managing intoxication was higher among medical and nursing staff and those with more frequent patient contact compared to those in non–patient-facing roles. However, confidence and accuracy to detect intoxication were not correlated. Common barriers included fear of patient aggression (77%), upsetting patients (69%), and misjudging intoxication (66%). Discussion and Conclusions: Despite moderate confidence, AOD staff demonstrated limited accuracy in detecting cannabis intoxication. Frequent exposure and professional role influenced confidence but not detection accuracy, suggesting that intoxication detection, particularly for cannabis, may not be a presumed skill. These findings highlight the need for targeted education, training and validated tools to support clinical decision-making and safe care delivery. Keywords: Cannabis, intoxication, healthcare staff, clinical confidence, alcohol and other drugs, detection accuracy, video-based assessment
Do large language models Dunning-Kruger?
Nicholas P. Maxwell; Erin Michelle Buchanan
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Human judgments typically demonstrate an overconfidence pattern, especially for low performers (i.e., the Dunning-Kruger effect (DKE; Kruger & Dunning, 1999). This effect has been shown to extend to a variety of metacognitive judgment tasks, including judgments learning (JOLs) and judgments of associative memory (JAMs). Across these tasks, perceived relatedness produces inflated memory predictions. The present study explored whether large language models (LLMs) similarly exhibit this effect. We used a modified JAM task based on Maxwell and Buchanan (2020), which assessed three types of word pair relationships: Associative (i.e., probability of cue eliciting target in free association tasks), semantic (i.e., degree of feature overlap), and thematic (i.e., likelihood of co-occurrence within the same narrative context). This judgment of relatedness task (JOR) was adapted for BERT using surprisal values, which estimate how expected a target word is for a given cue. LLM JOR patterns were then compared to human JAMs first reported by Maxwell and Buchanan (2020). Overall, humans showed a classic overestimation pattern (high intercepts and shallow slopes). However, BERT surprisals were minimally sensitive to differences in word relations (i.e., near-zero or negative slopes) but showed higher bias compared to humans (i.e., elevated intercepts). Taken together, our findings suggest that LLMs do not exhibit the classic DKE pattern, though they are prone to overestimation. Instead, LLMs appear to uniformly overestimate word pair relatedness.
Sexuality in Positive Psychology: Toward the Integration of a Neglected Component of Human Flourishing
Vera U. Ludwig; Ari Lewis; James Pawelski; Damien Crone
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Sexuality is central to well-being, relationships, and health. Yet, the science of well-being has traditionally overlooked the topic. To assess whether this gap persists, we conducted a large-scale content analysis of three leading well-being journals. We scraped all abstracts published up to September 2024 (n = 3,094), then used large language models (GPT-4o-mini and Gemini 2.0) for systematic screening. Articles flagged as potentially relevant were reviewed manually. Only 18 articles (0.6%) substantively focused on the topic. Out of these, 8 (0.3%) addressed topics related to minority groups, 6 (0.2%) negative aspects of sexuality such as abuse, and 4 (0.1%) general positive or neutral aspects. Sexuality remains underexplored in well-being science. Integrating it is essential for a complete understanding of human flourishing. We call for a paradigm shift: to move beyond silence toward a research agenda that embraces sexuality as a vital dimension of well-being.
Exploring Expectations for a Digital Intervention for Binge Eating Among Individuals Experiencing Food Insecurity
Agatha Laboe; Leah M. Parsons; Rebecca L. Flynn; Isabel R. Rooper; Adrian Ortega; Graham Miller; Sophie Hartwick; Rosa Saavedra; Jennifer E. Wildes; Andrea K. Graham
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Food insecurity is strongly associated with adverse health outcomes and eating disorder behaviors, including binge eating. Individuals from under-resourced communities, who disproportionately experience food insecurity, often face substantial barriers to accessing eating disorder care. Digital interventions present a promising avenue to reduce disparities in treatment access, but their success depends on how well they align with the expectations of intended users. This study explored the motivations and expectations of treatment-seeking individuals with food insecurity who presented to FoodSteps, a digital intervention for binge eating. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 124 participants across two trials. Using thematic analysis, we identified four themes related to participants’ motivations for engagement and expectations for the intervention. First, participants were drawn to FoodSteps because it aligned with their personal health goals, including reducing binge eating, managing weight, and developing healthy eating patterns. Many sought greater insight into their behaviors, coping strategies for triggers, and accountability through support from a coach. Second, participants described FoodSteps as their first opportunity to access specialized care for binge eating, noting that prior treatment-seeking was often hindered by structural barriers. Third, digital delivery was viewed as especially appealing due to its accessibility, convenience, and affordability. Finally, participants highlighted shame surrounding binge eating as both a barrier to prior help-seeking and a motivator for engaging with this digital intervention. Overall, findings suggest that individuals experiencing food insecurity are motivated to engage with digital interventions that are supportive, accessible, and closely aligned with their personal health goals.
Measuring children’s early vocabulary in low-resource languages using a Swadesh-style word list
George Kachergis; Alvin Wei Ming Tan; Virginia A. Marchman; Philip Dale; Michael C. Frank
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Early language skill is predictive of many later life outcomes, and is thus of great interest to developmental psychologists and clinicians. The MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs), parent report instruments typically containing inventories of hundreds of children's vocabulary words, have proven to be valid and reliable instruments for measuring children's early language skill. The CDIs have been adapted to many dozens of languages, and cross-linguistic comparisons show both consistency and variability in language acquisition trajectories. However, thousands of languages do not yet have CDIs, nor the early language corpora needed to create them, posing a significant barrier to increasing the diversity of languages that are studied. Here, we propose a method for selecting candidate words to include on new CDIs through analyzing psychometric properties of the translation-equivalent concepts that are frequently included on existing CDIs. Leveraging 32 datasets from existing CDIs, we propose a list of 100 concepts that have low variability in their cross-linguistic learning difficulty. This pool of common concepts—analogous to the Swadesh lists, which are basic vocabulary lists used in glottochronology for cross-language comparison—can be used as a starting point for future CDI adaptations. We show that the proposed Swadesh-CDI list generalizes well to data from 10 additional languages.
Exploring Psychological Trade-offs: Developing and Demonstrating an R Shiny App for Pareto Optimization
Yixiao Dong; Deodatta Baral; Kushmakar Baral; Denis Dumas
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While some are neutral, many psychological constructs (e.g., depression, learning motivation, or antisocial behavior) carry clear directional expectations that align with social or ethical principles and values. When a construct is framed with the goal of moving toward its socially desirable direction, it becomes a meaningful psychological objective to pursue. We pursue different objectives in our daily lives, sometimes simultaneously. During this process, trade-offs occur when they are in tension or conflict, meaning they cannot be consistently improved without compromising one another. While certain psychological trade-offs have been well studied, others remain underexplored or possibly even unidentified. One critical reason is that mainstream analytic methods used in psychological research are not designed to investigate such trade-offs. Fortunately, a suitable method has long existed in other disciplines. Pareto Optimization (PO) is an effective analytic framework widely applied in fields such as biology, economics, and engineering to investigate trade-offs among multiple competing objectives. In this tutorial, we review the core conceptual and methodological foundations of PO and aim to bring this classic method to a psychological audience. Moreover, we develop a user-friendly R Shiny application (named PO-Run) for conducting PO analyses. The utility of the application is illustrated through a real-world psychological example that simultaneously pursues two conflicting objectives: promoting critical actions and minimizing mental stress. Their trade-off relationship is then evaluated via the evidence generated by PO-Run, along with relevant theoretical justification.
The Healing Power of Creativity: Neurobiological Pathways to Health and Well-Being Across the Lifespan in Music, Arts, Dance, Drama, Imagery, Gardening, Writing, and Robotics
Kyung Hee Kim
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Creativity is increasingly recognized as a vital contributor to human health and well-being. This review explores how diverse creative activities and therapies—including music, arts, dance, drama, imagery, gardening, writing, and robotics—support physical, mental, social, and existential dimensions of health across the lifespan. Drawing on neuroscience and health research, it examines the pathways through which creativity influences the body and mind, including neurobiological mechanisms that regulate stress, emotion, cognition, and social connection. The review considers both therapeutic interventions for clinical populations and everyday creative pursuits, showing how creativity not only helps manage illness but also fosters resilience, purpose, and flourishing. By integrating evidence from multiple disciplines, this article highlights creativity as a fundamental driver of human well-being and underscores the importance of incorporating creative engagement into health promotion and policy.
Enhancing Meditative Development with Transcranial Focused Ultrasound: A Mixed-Methods Phenomenological Study of Neuromodulation in Experienced Meditators During a Ten-Day Retreat
Sebastian Ehmann; Brian Lord; Erica Cook; Henry B. Brookman; Joaquin Roces; Tucker Peck; Shinzen Young; Matthew Sacchet; John JB Allen; Joseph Lacoste Sanguinetti
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Emerging research suggests some of the most profound meditation-induced psychological transformations require mastery of mental skills that enable access to advanced meditative states, stages, and endpoints. Such development, however, often demands years of sustained practice and expert guidance. Transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) offers a novel means of potentially supporting meditative development by modulating brain structures with high spatial precision. Suppression of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)—a hub of self-referential processing—may reduce stickiness in internal cognitions and self-interference, thereby fostering equanimity, a crucial meditative faculty. This pilot feasibility study investigated the effects of tFUS-based PCC inhibition during a ten-day silent retreat. Twenty-eight meditators received two stimulation sessions during the retreat and completed standardized questionnaires and daily phenomenological reports. Quantitative analyses revealed significant increases in trait mindfulness, both state–trait nondual awareness, and interoceptive body listening. Qualitative analyses identified consistent differences between stimulation and non-stimulation days: tFUS was associated with enhanced meditative phenomenology, including equanimity, concentration, and sensory clarity, as well as shifts in self-perception and cathartic emotional release. These experiential effects often unfolded in interaction with participants’ ongoing psychological challenges, suggesting that tFUS may increase baseline equanimity and scaffold meditative capacities. Implementation was feasible but required logistical planning. Limitations include the quasi-experimental design, reliance on self-reports, and lack of long-term follow-up. Future studies should use randomized sham-controlled designs, neurophenomenological methods, and examine systematic dose–response parameters with MRI-guided targeting. Together, these findings highlight tFUS as a promising tool for augmenting meditation training and advancing the study of meditative development.
The Cerebellum in Erotic Intimation and Epileptic Aura: Precision Calibration at Threshold
Kyung Hee Kim
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Masters and Johnson (1966) described intimation, the pre-orgasmic state of visceral awareness and imminent climax, as a distinctive phase of present-moment attunement. In epilepsy, aura denotes an anticipatory state of altered interoception, affective intensity, or ecstatic sensations. Both are threshold phenomena, yet their neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. Using a predictive-processing framework, this investigation develops a comparative theoretical model in which intimation and aura are regulated by interactions between the cerebellum, salience network, and frontal control systems. Evidence from neuroimaging, oscillatory, and clinical studies indicates that cerebellar activity contributes not only to motor coordination but also to precision calibration across interoceptive, affective, and executive domains. During intimation, cerebellar–salience coupling sustains the poised state of attunement described by Masters and Johnson, supported by locus coeruleus–norepinephrine modulation and alpha–beta–theta rhythms. In aura, unstable precision weighting within these same circuits may disrupt calibration, leaving anticipation fragile and prone to seizure propagation. By positioning both states as predictive threshold events governed by cerebellar–salience–frontal network dynamics, this investigation reframes anticipatory brain states, linking sexual function and epilepsy while extending Masters and Johnson’s descriptive insight into a computational account of present-moment attunement.
What are training scars in police training? A conceptual synthesis developed using a rapid integrative review
Joel Suss; GĂŒler Arsal
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The concept of "training scars"—unintended and potentially harmful habits acquired through training—has received limited scholarly attention despite its relevance to officer safety. Although widely referenced in military and police training communities, the term remains colloquial and lacks a formal definition, theoretical grounding, and operational guidance. This conceptual synthesis marks the initial phase of a broader effort to develop the concept. We conducted a rapid integrative review to identify definitions, examples, attributes, related terms, and mitigation strategies. Searches across academic databases and grey literature revealed that references are largely anecdotal, with few empirical studies. Our findings underscore the need for conceptual clarity, consistent terminology, and systematic evaluation. Ultimately, we aim to construct a consensus definition and framework for identifying and addressing training scars across officer-safety disciplines (e.g., defensive tactics, firearms). This foundational review lays the groundwork for a Delphi study with international experts to further develop the concept.
Critical thinking about health and treatments in the United States: a cross-sectional assessment of parents and young adults
Vanesa Abigail Mora Ringle; Astrid Dahlgren; Sarah Rosenbaum; Amanda Jensen-Doss
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Background: There is an urgent need to study and increase the public’s ability to think critically about health and treatments. Unfortunately, we do not currently have a clear, in-depth understanding of critical thinking about health in the United States, especially its rates among parents and young adults, two particularly important groups. This study assessed and characterized critical thinking about health, including behavioral health, with U.S. parents and young adults. We also explored whether critical thinking about health varied as a function of sociodemographic determinants. Methods: Parents (N=142) and young adults (N=145) in the U.S. completed an online test of critical thinking about health, and answered questions about their background. Results: Both parents and young adults in the U.S. struggled to think critically about health and treatments based on various science literacy and evidence-based practice principles. They struggled most with the concept, “Relative effects of treatments alone can be misleading.” Parents with higher educational attainment had lower critical thinking about health, and young adults who reported a liberal political affiliation had higher critical thinking scores. Both parents and young adults with higher household income had higher critical thinking about health. Conclusions: This investigation demonstrates a need to increase critical thinking about health among U.S. parents and young adults so they can be empowered to make informed health choices.
A Hitchhiker’s guide to physical and cognitive effort
Lukas Hack; Israel Halperin; Wanja Wolff
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Effort is integral to the regulation of behavior. It can be central for achieving goals in a range of activities, including sports, exercise, learning, and work. For centuries, researchers have tried to understand what effort is and how it shapes human behavior. Yet, despite its importance, there is no overarching consensus on what effort represents and how it should be measured. Attesting to this, academic disciplines conceptualize and measure effort in strikingly different ways. While this highlights the multitude of factors relevant to understanding effort, it has also led to siloed approaches, making interdisciplinary integration challenging. To facilitate interdisciplinary exchange, this guide aims to provide a descriptive and impartial overview of frequently used effort conceptualization and measures. We first review three prominent conceptualizations of effort: force-based, resource-based, and process-focused accounts. Second, we present a broad overview of commonly used effort measures, ranging from more direct physiological and neural measures to more indirect measures, such as perceived exertion and task performance. For each, we provide a brief review of properties, applications, and limitations relevant to effort-related research. With this approach, our aim is not to resolve disciplinary differences by pitting the utility of different conceptualizations and measures against each other. Rather, we aim to provide a shared conceptual framework on which more integrative theorizing and cumulative progress in effort research can be achieved across disciplines.
Executable Epistemology: The Structured Cognitive Loop as an Architecture of Intentional Understanding
Myung Ho Kim
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Large language models exhibit intelligence without genuine epistemic understanding, revealing a fundamental philosophical gap: the absence of epistemic architecture. This paper introduces the Structured Cognitive Loop (SCL) as an executable epistemological framework for emergent intelligence. Unlike traditional AI research that asks "what is intelligence?" (ontological), SCL asks "under what conditions does cognition emerge?" (epistemological). Situated within contemporary philosophy of mind and cognitive phenomenology, this framework bridges conceptual philosophy and implementable cognition. Drawing on process philosophy, enactive cognition, and extended mind theory, we reconceptualize intelligence not as a possessed property but as a performed process—a continuous loop of judgment, memory, control, action, and regulation. SCL makes three interrelated contributions. First, it operationalizes philosophical insights into computationally interpretable structures, enabling what we term "executable epistemology"—philosophy as structural experiment. Second, it demonstrates that functional separation within cognitive architecture yields more coherent and interpretable behavior than monolithic prompt-based approaches, with empirical support from controlled agent evaluations. Third, it redefines the measure of intelligence: not representational accuracy but the capacity to reconstruct one's own epistemic state through intentional understanding. This framework has implications across philosophy of mind, epistemology, and artificial intelligence. For philosophy of mind, it offers a new mode of engagement where theories of cognition can be enacted and tested. For AI, it grounds behavioral intelligence in epistemic structure rather than statistical regularity. For epistemology, it suggests that knowledge is best understood not as truth-possession but as continuous structural reconstruction within a phenomenologically coherent loop. We situate SCL within debates on cognitive phenomenology, emergence, normativity, and intentionality, arguing that genuine progress requires not larger models but architectures that structurally realize cognitive science principles.
Audiovisual Speech Perception in Aging Cochlear Implant Users and Age-Matched Non-Implanted Adults
James William Dias; Kara C. Schvartz-Leyzac; Kelly C. Harris
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Objectives. Older typical-hearing adults without a cochlear-implant (CI) have been found to exhibit greater multisensory benefits when identifying audiovisual speech than younger normal-hearing adults. The greater multisensory benefits demonstrated by older non-CI users can compensate for unisensory auditory and visual speech deficits, allowing them to identify audiovisual speech at a degree of accuracy like that of younger normal-hearing adults. Though most new CI recipients are 65 years of age and older, the reliance of older CI users on such multisensory benefits is unknown. The goal of the current investigation was to evaluate age-related differences in cross-sensory and multisensory benefits in audiovisual speech identification in aging CI users and to examine how they differ from age-matched non-CI users. Design. Twenty middle-aged-to-older CI users (50-83 years of age) and 35 age-matched non-CI users completed an auditory-visual speech identification task, identifying 288 disyllabic words presented either auditory-alone, visual-alone, or audiovisually. CI users identified speech stimuli streamed directly through their CI device in quiet and in noise (Gaussian) at a +10 and +5 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Non-CI users identified speech stimuli delivered through earphones in noise at -5, 0, and +5 dB SNR conditions. Different noise conditions were used for CI users and non-CI users to avoid ceiling and floor effects. From visual, auditory, and audiovisual performance, psychometrics for the visual enhancement of auditory speech (VE), the auditory enhancement of visual speech (AE), and auditory-visual multisensory enhancement (AVE) were calculated. Group differences (in the overlapping +5 dB SNR condition) and effects of age and noise were tested using linear regression and linear mixed-effects regression models. Results. Both CI users and non-CI users demonstrated canonical differences in visual, auditory, and audiovisual speech identification. VE and AVE were greater for CI users than non-CI users. AVE increased with the age of older CI users and non-CI users, consistent with age-group differences in AVE we observed in a previous study of non-CI users. Conclusions. The results of the current investigation suggest that CI users, like age-matched non-CI users, rely on multisensory integration more as they age. Older CI users may benefit more from audiovisual input than older non-CI users. These perceptual benefits grant older CI users the capacity to identify audiovisual speech to a degree of accuracy closer to that of older non-CI users, despite deficits in the auditory perception of CI users. As a result, successful use of a CI device may partially depend on the ability of a CI user to integrate information they see with information available from their device, and older CI users may depend on visual input more to successfully use their CI.
‘Far right means anyone who wants to support British values’: the mobilisation of British values talk in accounts of UK race riots in August 2024.
Rahul Sambaraju; Steve Kirkwood
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How are race riots absolved of overt racial motivations? Social psychological research has shown how far-right leaders mobilise people by claiming that majority populations are threatened or silenced. This paper examines a related process: how riotous actions are explained and justified through appeals to ‘British values.’ Using discursive psychology, we analyse talk surrounding the riots that followed the stabbing of three young girls in Southport, England—the UK race riots of August 2024. We show that invoking British or English values serves two key functions: it renders rioters’ actions self-explanatory and offers a competing account of rioters as the more authentic representation of Britishness and the British people than the government. This reframing shifts attention away from ‘far-right’ motivations, instead portraying the riots as effortful and even ideal expressions of British citizenship. Thus, British values operate not merely as symbols but as rhetorical tools linking the riots, immigration, state policy, and national identity.
Artificial Intelligence and the Psychology of Human Connection
Ryan L. Boyd; David Matthew Markowitz
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As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly embedded in social life, understanding its interpersonal and psychological implications is urgent yet under-theorized. This paper introduces the Machine-Integrated Relational Adaptation (MIRA) model, a transdisciplinary, middle-range theoretical framework that provides a foundational account of when, how, and why AI functions as a relational entity in human ecosystems. MIRA distinguishes two crucial roles of AI: relational partner (direct interaction companion) and relational mediator (shaping human-to-human communication). Synthesizing psychosocial theories of human relationships, interpersonal communication theory, psycholinguistics, and human–computer interaction, MIRA structures AI's relational impact within antecedents, processes, moderators, and outcomes. Central to MIRA are four principles describing how AI fosters social adaptation: linguistic reciprocity, psychological proximity, interpersonal trust, and relational substitution versus enhancement. These illuminate how adaptive AI language and behavior can elicit emotional investment, simulate mutual understanding, or even supplant human interaction. MIRA integrates established theories — attachment theory, social exchange theory, and epistemic trust frameworks — and proposes a research agenda that bridges foundational psychology with emerging sociotechnical contexts. Rather than offering a deterministic view, MIRA provides a generative, testable structure for investigating the evolving role of AI in relational life and guiding future human–AI connection research.
A Relational-Developmental Framework for Therapeutic AI: From Digital Containment to Psychological Growth
Danni Chi; Jiana Wang
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Psychological science is entering an era in which artificial systems participate in relational and emotional life. Yet most therapeutic AI and mental health technologies remain limited to skill-based training—teaching users to recognize emotions, regulate cognition, or perform social scripts—while neglecting the developmental foundations of authentic relatedness. Building on Hedges’ (1983, 2000) four developmental listening perspectives—organizing, symbiotic, self–other, and independence experiences—this article proposes a relational - developmental framework for therapeutic AI, extending psychological theory into the domain of artificial companionship. Integrating attachment theory, mentalization, self-determination, and cooperative ontogeny, the framework conceptualizes responsiveness as a graded, temporally calibrated process that parallels the progression from early containment to mature mutual recognition. Rather than simulating empathy, therapeutic AI should cultivate developmentally adaptive responsiveness—a mode of engagement that includes tolerable frustration, repair, and guided differentiation to promote psychological growth. This perspective redefines AI not as a perpetual empathic mirror but as a relational training ground that scaffolds users’ capacity to relate to real others. It further invites psychological science to reconsider responsiveness itself as a central construct linking development, therapy, and human–machine interaction.
The relative psychometric function: a general analysis framework for relating psychological processes
Brian Maniscalco; Olenka Graham Castaneda; Brian Odegaard; Jorge Morales; Sivananda Rajananda; Rachel Denison; Megan A. K. Peters
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Psychophysics seeks to quantitatively characterize relationships between objective properties of the world and subjective properties of perception. However, traditional approaches investigate psychophysical dependencies of perception on stimulus properties on a case by case basis rather than seeking to identify quantitative relationships among these psychological processes themselves. This latter goal is particularly important when the processes in question likely depend on each other in some way, such as is the case for subjective experience and task performance: typically, stronger physical stimuli lead to better performance and stronger subjective experiences of clarity, vividness, or confidence. But is the relationship between performance and subjective experience fixed, or can it vary, e.g. by task or attentional demands? Such questions are key for better understanding psychological processes in general, and subjective experience in particular. Here, we develop and showcase a new psychophysical method designed to answer such questions: relative psychometric function (RPF) analysis, which characterizes the nonlinear psychometric relationships between psychological processes and how these relationships change under different circumstances (e.g. experimental manipulations). We demonstrate the advantages of RPF analysis using a sample dataset in which human subjects discriminated random dot kinematogram stimuli which varied in dot motion coherence and overall dot density (dots per visual degree), and rated confidence. RPF analysis revealed systematic changes in the relationship between performance and two subjective measures (confidence and metacognitive sensitivity) due to dot density and task design choices. While these empirical results are intriguing in their own right, they also show how RPF analysis can reveal changes in quantitative relationships between any two psychological measures: performance, vividness, clarity, reaction time, confidence, and more. To encourage the scientific community to use RPF analysis on their data, we also present our open-source RPF toolbox.
The gender-dependent development of moral exclusiveness
Luke McGuire; Alexander George Carter; Nadira Sophie Faber
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Men are more morally exclusive than women. When and how does this difference emerge in human development? Across four samples spanning the ages of 4 to 80 (total n = 1,842), we measure people’s moral exclusiveness toward human outgroups and non-human animals. We identify adolescence (13–18 years) as key: older male adolescents are more morally exclusive than younger male adolescents, while there is no such difference for female adolescents. Linked to this is a general preference for social hierarchies in males. We further find the turning point in gendered moral exclusiveness: while males are already more morally exclusive than females at the age of 6 and such gender differences persist throughout childhood and in adulthood, they are not yet evident in younger children. Resonating with literature in social-developmental psychology and evolutionary accounts, we suggest that gender differences in moral exclusiveness are likely biologically prepared yet strengthened through gender-dependent socialisation.
Artificial Intelligence in Mental Health Treatment and Research
Steven Mesquiti; Erik C Nook
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Mental health challenges add immensely to the global burden of disease, yet traditional approaches to psychological assessment and care remain resource-intensive and often inaccessible. There is widespread interest in testing whether advances in artificial intelligence, particularly large language models (LLMs), could address these constraints. This review focuses on LLMs, given the field’s explosive interest in testing whether their ability to generate context-sensitive language representations can aid large-scale assessment and intervention. We synthesize recent applications of LLMs, including language-based assessment of psychopathology, digital phenotyping, electronic health record analysis, and early integrations into psychotherapy. However, we highlight deep challenges of AI that loom large in the highly sensitive space of mental health treatment, including clear risks of bias, hallucinations, inappropriate (or even dangerous) therapeutic recommendations, and limited regulatory oversight. We conclude with future directions that are critical for the safe and equitable use of LLMs in mental health.
DevStart: A Cognitive Scientist’s Guide to Open Tools and Methods
Tommaso Ghilardi; Giulia Serino; Francesco Poli
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Open-science practices are a key component in advancing research transparency, as they facilitate reproducibility, accessibility, and collaboration across the scientific community. Nevertheless, significant gaps remain, particularly around the practical details of designing, running, and analysing experiments. DevStart (http://devstart.org/) addresses these needs by unifying historically fragmented resources into a single, hands-on guide for cognitive scientists. This paper outlines DevStart’s core framework and demonstrates how it streamlines the entire research pipeline: from installing free programming tools (Python and R) to building experimental paradigms and handling complex data (e.g., gaze, pupil size) with robust, open-source methods. By detailing step-by-step tutorials and openly sharing code and pipelines, DevStart lowers the barriers that hinder many early career researchers and students. Beyond tutorials, DevStart fosters community engagement through an online forum that supports collaboration, troubleshooting, and the exchange of ideas. In doing so, we aim to foster a vibrant research community that embraces robust, open, and collaborative science at every step of the experimental process.
The Unintended Negative Consequences of Artificial Intelligence Use for Psychologists
Llewellyn Ellardus van Zyl
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The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into psychological practice is transforming how psychologists reason, document, and deliver care. While the potential benefits of AI such as improved diagnostic accuracy, administrative efficiency, and data-informed decision-making are widely recognized, its unintended consequences for psychologists themselves remain poorly understood. Drawing on recent empirical and conceptual literature, this commentary critically examines six domains through which sustained AI use may adversely affect psychologists’ professional functioning: (a) cognitive functioning and professional competence, (b) professional identity and meaning, (c) ethical reasoning and legal challenges, (d) interpersonal and social functioning, (e) data governance and vendor lock-in and (f) personal wellbeing. Evidence suggests that cognitive offloading and automation bias may erode diagnostic reasoning and clinical judgment, moral deskilling and value misalignment can undermine ethical autonomy and technostress, data dependence, and vendor lock-in pose growing threats to practitioner wellbeing and professional sovereignty. These dynamics indicate that AI operates not merely as a technical aid but as a transformative social and psychological actor that reshapes how psychologists think, decide, and relate to their work. The paper argues for the urgent development of evidence-based safeguards, practitioner education, and regulatory frameworks to ensure that AI enhances rather than erodes human competence and ethical reflection. Without deliberate intervention, the rapid integration of AI across mental healthcare risks diminishing the very cognitive and moral capacities that define the discipline of psychology.
Transcribed features heard in repeated noise
Trevor Agus; Daniel Pressnitzer
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When noise is repeated, listeners report hearing repeating percepts within the noise. The acoustic cues that contribute to these percepts are not known, and they may vary from listener to listener. To test this, we asked musically trained listeners to transcribe the repeating perceptions using musical notation, including pitch where possible. They completed three transcriptions of each of five noises (and a control sound with embedded features). Within listeners, pitch chromas were reported for the same noises at approximately the same time more than for different noises, implying that their pitched percepts were somewhat reliable. However, between listeners, there were not significantly more coincidences for pairs of the same noises than pairs of different noises, in line with listeners having more idiosyncratic perceptions.
Critical Slowing Down of Societal Anger predicts Peaks of Social Movement Activity
Daan Vandermeulen; Eran Halperin; Amit Goldenberg
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Social movements like #BlackLivesMatter, which have a strong representation on social media, often display abrupt peaks in activity. These peaks are important because they mobilize large populations, but they are also very hard to predict and explain. The current project focused on collective dynamics of anger as a predictor of online peaks. Specifically, we examined whether delayed recovery in anger online in the days preceding activity peaks, termed critical slowing down, predicted the occurrence of peaks. We analyzed the full archive of #BlackLivesMatter tweets between 2015-2020 (N = ~60 million). Congruent with critical slowing down theory, we found that increased autocorrelation in anger but lowered emotional variance were associated with a greater likelihood of peaks. These results suggest that delayed emotional recovery paired with lowered temporal emotional volatility predicts consecutive peaks in activism. By integrating emotional dynamics with complex systems theory, this project opens new avenues for forecasting tipping points in collective behavior.
The stigma of counternormative prosociality
Eliana Hadjiandreou; Daryl Cameron; Tatiana Lau; Desmond C. Ong
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People shy away from prosocial behavior because it costs money, time, or emotional and cognitive resources. We argue that there is another, less studied, and sometimes counterintuitive cost to prosociality: its stigmatization by external observers when such behavior counters established social norms. We review findings previously studied as separate entities in order to explain how prosocial behavior, and those who engage in it, may be stigmatized when their prosociality can be perceived as counternormative. Specifically, 1) we review literature that highlights the importance of selfish and selfless norms, 2) we explain why devaluation of prosocial behavior can be additionally understood as a reaction to counternormativity when one perceives a violation of such norms, and 3) discuss the importance of taking the stigmatization of counternormative prosociality into account and examining its broader implications when interpreting social psychological findings on prosocial behavior. Lastly, we briefly highlight fruitful intervention approaches and future directions.
The Prison in Power: Revisiting the Stanford Prison Experiment (2015)
Sanskriti Sharma
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The Stanford Prison Experiment remains one of psychology’s most cited yet ethically contested studies. This essay re-examines the experiment and the movie through a psychological and philosophical lens, questioning the boundaries between obedience and systemic power. It investigates how ordinary individuals when placed within dehumanizing systems of control can internalize power and cruelty, blurring the lines between victim and oppressor. Integrating insights from Bandura, Foucault, Nietzsche, it argues that the true significance of Zimbardo’s work lies not in its methodology but in its enduring question: how does one remain “good” in an environment that rewards apathy? Ultimately, the essay calls for the cultivation of moral consciousness and responsibility, especially in the new age of AI, when confronted with systemic pressures that strip humanity of its ethical bearings.
Navigating Religious and Sexual Identities: The Dual Role of In-group Identifications and Social Support in the Face of Rejection and Discrimination
BĂ©atrice Sternberg; Dora Bianchi; Lisa De Luca; Liliyana Mbeve; VERONICA BENET-MARTINEZ
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Religious and sexual identities are often perceived as conflicting, creating challenges for religious lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals. This study examined how risk (perceived in-group rejection, discrimination) and protective (in-group identification, social support) factors are associated with identity integration, life satisfaction, and psychological distress. A total of 306 LGB-religious individuals participated in this study. Perceived rejection from the religious in-group – reflecting the belief that religious communities view LGB and religious identities as incompatible – was significantly associated with lower identity integration. It was also linked to lower life satisfaction, particularly when discrimination was high. Social support related to being both LGB and religious was a consistent protective factor of identity integration and life satisfaction. In-group identification showed a more complex pattern: religious identification was positively related to identity integration but intensified the negative association between religious rejection and life satisfaction. In contrast, strong identification with the LGB in-group buffered against this negative effect. No significant correlates emerged for psychological distress, suggesting it may be shaped by broader factors unrelated to identity. Findings underscore the importance of creating and promoting inclusive in-group norms, particularly within religious communities, and fostering support for individuals navigating both LGB and religious identities.
Spontaneous Headshake After A Kinematic Event (SHAAKE): New concussion symptom is prevalent when heading the football
Daniel Walker; Jade Jukes
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Concussion in sport is becoming better understood and given the shared mechanism attention has now turned towards head impacts in football. Recent work has identified a potential new symptom of concussion, predominantly in American football players, termed the Spontaneous Headshake After A Kinematic Event (SHAAKE). The present study aimed to explore whether this symptom was present when heading in football, the reasons for doing so, and whether there are differences between sexes. Participants completed a questionnaire designed to capture information on demographic variables as well as prevalence of SHAAKE in oneself and others, and reasons for doing so. Of the twenty participants included in data analysis, 45% recalled having made the SHAAKE movement after the heading the football, and 65% reported they had observed another player doing so. Three-quarters of participants reported having sustained concussion before. Additionally, a one-way ANOVA revealed that women were significantly more likely to report dizziness as the reason for SHAAKE than men which may be due to the technical ability of heading the football. With this knowledge, non-players may be more observant of dizziness in women football players shortly after heading the ball this may indicate damage to the brain.
The impact of cash-out availability on online betting behavior
Barnabas Szaszi; Wei Yue Hung; Peter Szecsi; Pål Kolumbån; Mårton Kolozsvåri; Miklos Bognar; Arife Yesilöz; Mark Griffiths; Zsolt Demetrovics
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The rise of online sports betting, facilitated by technological innovations such as the cash-out feature, has transformed the gambling landscape. While cash-outs have been suggested to intensify problematic gambling behaviors, empirical studies to date have been correlational, leaving a gap in determining causal evidence. In the present Registered Report, the proposed study will investigate the direct impact of the perceived availability of the cash-out feature on various facets of gambling behavior in an online experiment. Hungarian residents with online gambling history will be informed that they will have the chance to gamble with real money on sports events. Following random allocation, half of the participants will be told that they will have the option to cash out their bets before the outcome of the sports event is known, while the other half will not. The study will compare the proportion of participants placing bets, bet sizes, and bet risks between the two groups. Furthermore, the study will explore the differential effects of the cash-out feature on specific high-risk subgroups. The findings are likely to have significant implications for the design of online betting platforms, contribute to regulatory frameworks, and inform the design of interventions aimed at minimizing gambling-related harm.
Assistant teachers in inclusive education: Professional needs, stress, and satisfaction
Roksana Poçi
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This technical research report presents an exploratory study on the professional experiences of assistant teachers (mĂ«sues ndihmĂ«s) in Albania’s inclusive-education system. Although recent legislation (Law No. 69/2012) mandates their presence in schools, empirical data on their working conditions remain scarce. A structured questionnaire administered to 67 assistant teachers examined four key areas: professional needs, reported difficulties, perceptions of students’ needs, and self-rated levels of support, stress, recognition, and satisfaction. Findings reveal that assistant teachers report high levels of professional commitment and satisfaction but also face persistent systemic barriers—limited access to specialist support (e.g., speech therapists, psychologists), shortages of didactic materials, and insufficient continuous training. Their identified needs largely mirror those of their students, emphasizing the interdependence between teacher capacity and student inclusion. The report highlights the paradox of inclusion in Albania: while the policy framework endorses equality and access, practical implementation remains hindered by resource and coordination gaps. Recommendations focus on strengthening multidisciplinary school services, establishing reasonable workload ratios, and institutionalizing ongoing professional development. Keywords: inclusive education, assistant teachers, Albania, professional needs, teacher satisfaction
Covert imitation acts as an adaptive reflexive gain control system in non-native speech perception
Hannah Wilt; Bronwen G. Evans; Yutong Ye; patti adank
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Current accounts posit that heard speech is covertly imitated to optimise speech perception. Behaviourally, covert imitation is measured using the stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) paradigm. In a speech SRC task, participants produce a prompted speech syllable whilst perceiving a speech distractor that either matches the target response (compatible condition) or does not (incompatible condition). The degree to which the distractor is covertly imitated is captured by the automatic imitation effect, computed as the difference in response times (RTs) between incompatible and compatible trials. Two theoretical accounts disagree on whether whether covert imitation is enhanced when speech perception is challenging or instead when the speech signal is familiar to the listener. To dissociate between these two accounts, we conducted two experiments utilising the speech SRC task (Experiments 1 and 2) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) (Experiment 2) to evaluate covert imitation of native speech sounds (perceptually easy and familiar) and of non-native speech sounds (perceptually challenging and unfamiliar). In Experiment 1, participants performed an SRC task with native and non-native sounds, before and after receiving perceptual identification training with the non-native sounds. Automatic imitation was enhanced for non-native sounds compared to native sounds and decreased to a greater extent for non-native sounds than for native sounds following perceptual training. In Experiment 2, participants passively perceived native and non-native speech sounds whilst receiving single pulses of TMS to the tongue area of the primary motor cortex (M1). Tongue M1 showed higher excitability during passive perception of non-native sounds. Our results highlight that covert imitation is enhanced during the perception of perceptually challenging, unfamiliar speech, suggesting that covert imitation acts as an adaptive reflexive gain control mechanism to optimise speech perception.
Sleeping Through Adversity: Sleep Moderates Adolescents’ Resilient Adaptation After a Natural Disaster
Valeria Bacaro; Stefanos Mastrotheodoros; Vincenzo; Elisabetta Crocetti
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Flooding is Europe’s most frequent natural disaster, impacting public health and well-being. This study examined risk and resilience factors in adolescents’ adjustment following the May 2023 Emilia Romagna flood. We investigated trajectories of positive/negative emotions and sleep–wake problems post-disaster, testing whether pre-disaster objective sleep (duration, efficiency, timing) served as promotive or protective resilience factors. Moderating roles of individual assets (circadian preferences) and contextual risks (disaster exposure) were also assessed. To this aim, this longitudinal study followed a sample of 385 adolescents (Mage = 15.46, SDage = 1.16, 53.8% females) across five waves from September 2022 to February 2024. The flooding event occurred midway. Results showed that regarding post-disaster trajectories, adolescents reported reductions in negative emotions and wake disturbances and increases in positive emotions within three months after the flooding. However, these trends partially reversed between three and six months. Concluding, this study advances the understanding of adolescent post-disaster adjustment highlighting the complex interplay of resilience patterns in adolescent post-disaster adjustment. Inter-individual differences in sleep quality and regularity should be targeted to foster positive trajectories, with attention to individual and contextual moderators.
Can Chatbot Companions Alleviate Loneliness in Autistic Users? Evaluating Digital Companions
Anna Hollis; Phoebe E. McKenna-Plumley; Raluca Roman; Gary John McKeown
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Autistic adults experience disproportionately high levels of loneliness, often influenced by social environments that are inaccessible or unaccommodating, rather than a lack of social interest. To address this, some individuals have turned to digital tools, such as companion chatbots, which simulate emotionally supportive conversations as an alternative means of connection. This article critically examines the role of chatbots in alleviating loneliness and promoting the well-being of autistic adults. Following a brief overview of chatbot companions’ technologies and current theories of loneliness dimensions, this argument examines whether these technologies truly provide meaningful support for autistic individuals. By analysing chatbots through the lens of methodologies frequently proposed to mitigate loneliness, the paper highlights the benefits of these technologies in conjunction with ethical considerations, emotional risks, and design limitations—particularly when grounded in normative assumptions regarding communication, loneliness, and relationships. It concludes that, although companion chatbots may function as temporary support for companionship, they must be developed in accordance with neurodivergence-affirming principles to effectively alleviate loneliness and avoid further isolation or dependence for autistic users.
An Introduction to Ideal Psychology
Xianglong ZENG
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Ideals play important roles in human life and psychology. Over the past decade, several mindfulness-based interventions have directly cultivated ideal mentalities that have not yet been achieved at the level of humanity, leading to the establishment of ideal psychology. Beyond research on ideal mentalities, ideal psychology has evolved into a general psychological approach characterized by future-oriented perspectives and associated methodologies. This article provides the first detailed introduction of this emerging approach. It summarizes six features of ideal mentalities, presents the design–achievement–evaluation cycle for research on them, and outlines seven methodological principles for enhancing studies on both ideal and existing mentalities with similar features. It further illustrates three aspects of future-oriented perspectives that shape research, through which it clarifies how ideal psychology relates to previous schools of psychology such as critical psychology, positive psychology, and transpersonal psychology, as well as to other traditions including Eastern spiritual traditions, Marxism and the critical tradition, transhumanism, and Plato’s philosophy. The article also exemplifies recent applications of ideal psychology in cultivating ideal mentalities such as mentalities of emptiness, Confucian oneness, and the nondifferential four immeasurables, as well as in advancing research on existing mentalities such as mindfulness, mortality salience, and beliefs about human nature. Finally, it discusses the major contributions, limitations, and future directions of ideal psychology.
Identifying Effective Social Support Behaviours for Type 2 Diabetes Management: A Narrative Review
David R Thomas; Ian D Hodges; Timothy Kenealy
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Most research on social support in diabetes management lacks detail on the specific behaviours involved. This narrative review identifies the types of social support behaviours that aid management of Type 2 diabetes. After searching five databases (62 included papers), we conducted a qualitative synthesis using a five-category taxonomy. Emotional and tangible support were most frequently reported, alongside social contact, belonging, and informational guidance. Emotional support included sharing experiences, feeling cared for, esteem support, and having someone available when needed. For care providers, key processes were building rapport, assessing needs, and offering both emotional and practical assistance. Some support, such as shared experiences, information, and belonging, may be ‘invisible,’ reducing the risk of obligation or dependency. Supportive behaviours that strengthen self-efficacy were especially beneficial for diabetes management. These findings provide a resource for designing interventions and guiding caregivers. Health services offering effective social support are more likely to improve diabetes outcomes.
Towards a context- and social-norm-sensitive theory of morality
Kyle Fiore Law; Deborah Jean Wu; Christina Jinhee Capozzoli; Stylianos Syropoulos
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Why do some disapproved acts seem more moral when they are widespread, while rare acts of goodness often appear especially praiseworthy? Existing theories of moral judgment emphasize either intrinsic features of actions (e.g., harm, cooperation) or the stable values of judges (e.g., moral foundations), yet they lack a formal account of how judgments are shaped by the normative contexts in which behaviors occur. We introduce Contextual Normative Morality Theory (CNMT), which proposes that moral judgments emerge from the interaction of perceived descriptive norms (commonness) and injunctive norms (approval). Across five studies and one supplemental study with nationally representative U.S. samples (total N = 2,562), we show that this injunctive by descriptive interaction robustly predicts moral evaluations. Disapproved behaviors were judged less harshly when common, whereas approved behaviors were judged more moral when rare. These effects replicated across naturalistic behaviors, held when directly manipulating norms around the same act, extended to fictional and participant-generated behaviors, and predicted not only moral judgments but also perceptions of harmfulness and cooperativeness. Moreover, models predicting moral judgment that included the injunctive by descriptive interaction alongside perceptions of harmfulness, cooperativeness, and moral values showed better fit than models relying on harm, cooperation, or values alone. Together, these findings highlight the neglected role of normative context, advancing a more flexible, socially embedded theory of morality.
Transcranial direct current stimulation over the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex in intoxicated individuals during anger regulation
Elizabeth Summerell; Julia Bradley; Kavya Thalody; Kirsten Ford; Gadi Gilam; Paolo Riva; Thomas F Denson
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Acute alcohol consumption impairs anger regulation by disrupting prefrontal cortical activity. We tested whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (rVLPFC) reduces anger in intoxicated vs. sober participants during instructed regulation of recalled anger. One hundred ninety-six healthy adults consumed alcohol or no beverage and received anodal or sham tDCS over the rVLPFC. During stimulation, participants used cognitive reappraisal, distraction, or rumination to regulate recalled anger. As expected, anger was lowest after distraction, intermediate after reappraisal, and highest after rumination. Contrary to predictions, there were no main effects of alcohol, stimulation, or their interaction. Exploratory analyses indicated that among intoxicated participants high in trait anger, anodal stimulation reduced anger following rumination compared to sham. Alcohol also amplified anger in individuals prone to angry rumination. These findings highlight the need for replication and refinement of tDCS protocols to better target intoxicated anger regulation.
Striking the Balance: How Variability Shapes Retrieval Practice and Worked Examples for Transfer Learning
Meng Cao; Paulo F. Carvalho
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The ability to generalize and apply knowledge to new situations is the hallmark of effective learning. There are multiple ways to improve learning towards generalization. Retrieval practice and worked examples have both been shown to improve learning, retention, and generalization. The literature on category learning also suggests that exposure to more varied examples, rather than the same example repeatedly, improves generalization. However, while retrieval practice is usually investigated with repeated examples, worked examples learning is usually investigated using varied content. Across two studies, we investigated how the combination of content variability during worked examples or retrieval practice instruction promotes generalization when students receive initial instruction before practice (Experiment 1) and when they do not (Experiment 2). We found that when learners received initial instruction, retrieval practice led to better generalization compared to worked examples, regardless of whether the stimuli were repeated or varied. When initial instruction was not provided, worked examples resulted in better generalization than retrieval practice when items were repeated. However, retrieval practice produced comparable generalization to worked examples when items were varied. These findings suggest that variability supports generalization, particularly when learners must induce underlying rules, and that retrieval practice, traditionally associated with memory retention, can also facilitate inductive learning when learners engage with varied examples. This study emphasizes the importance of adapting learning strategies to align with the stage of learning and task demands.
Development and Validation of the Caste Consciousness Scale
Sanjay Kumar; Shashi; Shailendra Kumar Sharma; Ranjeeta Jain; Reena Saini; Reshu Chaudhary
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In the caste system, individuals affiliated with unalterable, endogamous groups interact within a framework of expected behavior and attitudes organized around groups (i.e., hierarchical relationships of pollution vs. purity). This structure creates a psychological reality (i.e., the consciousness of an individual as expressed in behaviors and attitudes such as identities, rituals, expectations, motivations, perceptions, worldviews, and restrictions) that has not been adequately studied. In the present study, we developed a tentative Likert-type scale of caste consciousness by following standard test development procedures: Generation of a large set of relevant items, item analyses conducted by experts, and subsequent follow-up checks. Subsequently, this scale was administered to a sample of 892 college students (age: M= 19.9 years, SD= 3.8) and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. The exploratory factor analysis reported a correlated five factor structure for caste consciousness, i.e., pro-social personality traits, life approach, inter-group relationship dread, concerns of status, and perception of others. The confirmatory factor analysis supported this five factor structure and showed strong measurement invariance across caste, gender, residential area, and religion in the shortened caste consciousness scale. Moreover, we found that Muslim, other backward caste, and women had lower caste consciousness. Conversely, scheduled caste had higher inter-group relationship dread and general caste (compared to other backward caste) had higher perception of others. The present study developed a reliable and valid 28-item caste consciousness scale that may be valuable for the psychological study of caste system.
Weighing Relationship Type and Competence: Developmental Shift in Help-Seeking Expectations Among Children Aged 4 to 6 Years
anonymous; Wenshuo Li; Siqi Chen; YUAN SHEN; Jinliang Qin
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Young children must determine from whom to seek help, yet little is known about how they weigh different social cues when forming help-seeking expectations and how such weighting shift during preschool years. The present research examined how children aged 4 to 6 years integrated relationship type (mother vs. unfamiliar adult) and competence cues in a third-party prediction task. In Study 1 (N = 194), 4-year-olds expected help-seekers to turn to mothers regardless of competence, whereas 5- and 6-year-olds increasingly incorporated competence in predicting both mothers and unfamiliar adults. In Study 2 (N = 106), 5- and 6-year-olds preferred competent unfamiliar adults over incompetent mothers, while 4-year-olds showed no clear preference. These findings reveal a developmental shift from reliance on relationship type to growing sensitivity to competence, providing support for the developmental relationship primacy hypothesis. More broadly, the results highlight how young children flexibly integrate multiple social cues in help-seeking contexts, underscoring the dynamic and context-sensitive nature of attachment representations as developing social-cognitive systems.
Imagery Deficits as an Under-Recognized Consequence of Childhood Trauma
Juha Silvanto; Yoko Nagai
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Childhood trauma is highly prevalent, affecting over half of adults, yet its impact on mental imagery remains largely unexplored. Here we report a novel link between childhood adversity and impaired mental imagery. We examined imagery deficits in a community sample (N=317) using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and Plymouth Sensory Imagery Questionnaire. Severe emotional abuse was strongly associated with acquired imagery deficits. Individuals with severe emotional abuse demonstrated 4-5 times higher rates of acquired imagery deficits (14-21%) compared to those with low trauma exposure (3-5%), with effects observed across the full imagery spectrum. Given that severe emotional abuse affects 15-16% of the population, prevalence estimates suggest 2-3% of the general population may experience trauma-related imagery impairment. This association may reflect disrupted stress-regulation systems that impair integration of bodily, emotional, and visual information necessary for mental imagery. These findings reveal a previously overlooked consequence of childhood trauma with significant clinical implications, as many evidence-based trauma interventions rely on intact visualization abilities.
Caregiver Experiences with the Problem Resolution System (PRS) in Massachusetts
John McKenna; Neslihan Unal; Micah Klayman; Elizabeth Bifuh; Ashleigh Hillier
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Massachusetts received the highest federal rating for special education compliance despite a federal investigation and state audit being performed concurrently. This study reports the experiences of 19 caregivers with the Problem Resolution System (PRS), the agency responsible for handling special education related complaints for the state. Interviews were performed during the federal investigation and state audit, both of which were completed in January and August of 2025, respectively. Despite their relative privilege (e.g., being white, English speaking, having higher socioeconomic status), almost all caregivers described situations in which power imbalances impacted PRS access, procedures, and outcomes. Specifically, caregivers tended to describe investigations that lacked transparency, failed to address all aspects of their complaint, did not include findings of fact, exceeded mandated timelines, and included remedies that they believed did not fully account for lost opportunities or the harm done to their child. Some caregivers also described situations in which local education agencies repeatedly made the same violations and failed to provide mandated remedies. Implications for practice and oversight are discussed, as well as study limitations and areas for future research.
Transdiagnostic psychopathology dimensions and cognitive functioning after traumatic brain injury: An application of the HiTOP-TBI model
Alexia Samiotis; Jai Carmichael; Jao-Yue Carminati; Amelia Hicks; Jennie Ponsford; Kate Rachel Gould; Gershon Spitz
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Background: Psychopathology and cognitive impairment are common consequences of moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), but their interrelationships remain poorly understood. Clarifying these relationships is important for understanding how cognitive functioning may contribute to post-TBI psychopathology and for informing targeted, holistic assessment and treatment strategies. Traditional categorical approaches to psychiatric diagnosis have produced inconsistent results, potentially due to limitations in capturing the complexity of post-TBI psychopathology. The recently developed Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology Following TBI (HiTOP-TBI) model, a transdiagnostic dimensional framework, was applied to examine associations between psychopathology and cognitive functioning. Methods: Ninety-nine participants with moderate-severe TBI (mean age 50.86 years; 72% male) completed self-report psychopathology questionnaires and performance-based cognitive tasks. Linear regressions examined associations between ten hierarchically organised HiTOP-TBI dimensions (one general factor, two broad internalizing and externalizing spectra, seven lower-order factors) and cognitive measures, with false discovery rate correction applied. Results: After correction, higher scores (indicating greater psychopathology) on the HiTOP-TBI dimensions of Externalizing Problems, Rigid Constraint, and Self-Harm and Psychoticism were associated with poorer performance on the verbal encoding task. Higher scores on Rigid Constraint and Self-Harm and Psychoticism were also associated with lower scores in the episodic memory domain (encompassing both immediate and delayed recall). In comparison, General Problems, Internalizing Problems, Somatic Symptoms, Detachment, Compensatory and Phobic Reactions, Dysregulated Negative Emotionality, and Harmful Substance Use were not significantly associated with cognitive functioning after correction. Conclusions: Applying the transdiagnostic, dimensional HiTOP-TBI framework, we identified several associations between psychopathology and cognitive functioning after moderate-severe TBI, with verbal encoding and memory most consistently implicated, particularly within externalizing domains. These findings highlight the importance of holistic neuropsychological formulation and integrative interventions aimed at improving both emotional and cognitive outcomes in TBI and demonstrate the value of transdiagnostic approaches in neuropsychology research and practice.
Reflective Analysis on Empirical Theories in Consciousness
Hongju Pae
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Contemporary theories of consciousness offer a range of explanatory perspectives. Global Workspace Theory emphasizes cognitive access, Higher-Order Theories focus on metacognitive representation, Integrated Information Theory centers on intrinsic experience, and Predictive Coding Theory models cognitive processes as probabilistic inference. While each theory provides valuable insights, they often remain in conflict due to differing assumptions about the nature of consciousness. This paper proposes a phenomenologically informed framework that clarifies the explanatory scope of each theory in relation to key features of lived experience. Rather than seeking to reduce consciousness to a single principle, I argue for a pluralistic approach that respects the distinctive contributions of each model. Through comparative analysis guided by phenomenological reflection and supported by recent interdisciplinary proposals, I show how these theories can be seen as addressing complementary dimensions of consciousness. The aim is not to construct a single unified theory, but to demonstrate how integration, grounded in reflective phenomenological analysis, can serve as a starting point toward a more adequate science of consciousness.
Latent Profile Analyses of Explanations about the Origin of SARS-CoV-2 Within and Across Countries
Jesse Peregrino; Ajna Kertesz; Hannah G. Lunkenheimer; Alejandro Erut; Alexander Etz; Oskar Burger; Frankie T. K. Fong; Nargiza Babaeva; Stephanie Josephine Eder; Bankole Falade
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Research on belief endorsement typically estimates an average mean value to describe all individuals even though groups of individuals can have coexisting beliefs within the mind. This study employed a person-centered approach based on latent profile analysis (LPA) to investigate within- and between-population variation in the endorsement patterns of multiple explanations for the origin of SARS-CoV-2, including zoonotic, human-made, and supernatural explanations, across eleven countries. Results revealed seven latent profiles that varied in the number and type of explanations endorsed, as well as the degree of certainty associated with each. Among demographic characteristics, political orientation and religious affiliation predict whether particular types of explanations are endorsed or rejected. Latent profiles characterized by explanatory uncertainty and endorsement of conspiratorial explanations were less likely to wear masks and vaccinate. We discuss the implications of person-centered analytical approaches for documenting variation in explanation endorsement and as predictors of behavioral health outcomes.
Time to listen: Harnessing podcasts for stakeholder engagement in circadian and sleep science
Carolina Guidolin; Manuel Spitschan
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Circadian and sleep research is expanding across molecular, clinical, and applied domains, creating both opportunities and communication gaps. This article examines podcasting as a promising medium for bridging these gaps, disseminating research findings, supporting chronobiology education, promoting behavioural change, and enhancing the visibility of academic work among researchers in both industry and academia. We argue that podcasting is not only an outreach tool but also a mechanism for building an informed and connected circadian and sleep science community.
Toward a Synergetic Account of Xenoglossy-like Emergence: Order-Parameter Dynamics and Testable Predictions for Rapid Language Acquisition
Can A.H. Ikram
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This paper proposes a synergetic model for understanding xenoglossy-like rapid language emergence, using Haken's synergetics to describe self-organizing neural dynamics that could enable seemingly spontaneous linguistic abilities. While historical xenoglossy remains unvalidated, documented phenomena including savant syndrome language emergence, hyperpolyglot rapid acquisition, and post-stroke linguistic access suggest neural mechanisms capable of dramatic linguistic transitions. The model distinguishes responsive, recitative, and passive forms through order-parameter dynamics, offering falsifiable predictions via neurophysiological markers and controlled training protocols. This framework provides the first rigorous scientific approach to potential xenoglossic phenomena while advancing understanding of neural plasticity in language acquisition.
Linking Traits and Behavior Through Computational Modeling of Neuroethical Decisions
Brian Kim; Kianté Fernandez; John Medaglia
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Individual differences in psychology are often measured through self-report questionnaires or behavioral performance, yet these approaches capture different constructs and rarely align. Computational modeling provides a framework for connecting both measures, as it extracts a process-level description of cognition from observable behavior in the form of latent variables. These latent variables represent repeated patterns of decision-making that should relate to psychological traits. We applied this approach to neuroethical decision-making, where evidence shows that both behavioral performance and self-reported psychological traits are related to how individuals weigh uncertain risks against potential benefits of emerging brain technologies. Participants completed a neuromodulation task in which risk and benefit probabilities were systematically varied. To capture how decisions unfolded, we used a temporally sensitive diffusion decision model that estimates when and how risks and benefits are evaluated. These model parameters described general trends in task behavior: individuals considered risks earlier and weighed risks more highly than benefits. Additionally, model parameters described how individuals modified their behavior: individuals who considered benefits first according to the model tended to endorse neuromodulation, but shifted towards rejection when risks were evaluated earlier. Importantly, self-reported psychological traits related to these computational parameters. Cognitive factors such as risk propensity and numeracy related to risk sensitivity and evaluation timing, while prosocial traits were also related to evaluation timing and benefit sensitivity. By contrast, Religion & Spirituality and Moral Commitment measures showed lower than expected associations across parameters. By capturing process-level mechanisms, computational modeling served as a bridge between self-reported traits and observed behavior, showing how stable individual differences shape the dynamics of decision-making in neuroethical contexts.
Guiding principles for shaping instructed behaviors in lab rodents
Maxime Maheu; Benjamin B. Scott
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Developing an integrated understanding of brain function demands to probe and alter neural activity in behaving animals. Although rodent species were initially considered ill-suited for studying the neural mechanisms supporting high-level cognition, the past two decades have seen a remarkable increase in the sophistication of behaviors that rodents can express in laboratory settings. However, establishing adequate behavioral paradigms and eïŹƒciently shaping rodent behavior in the lab are challenging such that the study of instructed behaviors remains confined to a handful of groups with hard-earned expertise. While detailed technical explanations are available for establishing specific behavioral setups, a general framework for how to instruct behaviors in lab animals is lacking. Here, we present a beginner-friendly, pragmatic introduction of how to best design lab tasks and train animals in these tasks. We delineate conceptual principles that cover all aspects of behavioral investigations in the lab; ranging from the choice of a model species and behavioral apparatus to the design of an automatic shaping trajectory, the monitoring of task acquisition and the reduction of variability in behavioral outcomes. For clarity, we illustrate these principles with specific examples borrowed from the literature. We also highlight which of these principles are rooted in theoretical work and experimental investigations, in contrast with those reflecting heuristics. Our hope is that by providing these guidelines, we help democratize the wide adoption of instructed behaviors in neuroscientific investigations which is essential in our understanding of the neural mechanisms of cognition.
Phased development of REAL-TALK (Representative Elicitation and Analysis of Language - Toolkit of Applied Language tasKs): Toward a Realistic and Person-Centered Discourse Assessment Battery and Analysis Tool for People with Acquired Language Impairment
Brielle C Stark; Emma Williams; Alana Woods; Sarah Grace Dalton
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Current discourse tasks in aphasia assessment often rely on outdated, decontextualized materials that fail to reflect the everyday communication demands of people with aphasia (PWA). In this pre-implementation design paper, we discuss the planned phased development of a new discourse elicitation battery--REAL-TALK (Representative Elicitation and Analysis of Language - Toolkit of Applied Language tasKs)--that incorporates a graded complexity system and co-designed stimuli/procedures, with digital deployment, to support person-centered care across the continuum of aphasia recovery. In the EPIS (Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment) model, the project is positioned in the Exploration and Preparation stages. Phase I formative focus group results are discussed (Exploration stage), and then the plan for the following phases of development are outlined (Preparation stage).
Predicting Vocabulary Development in Bilingual Children Using Early Measures of Word Comprehension
Erin Smolak; Eve Michaud; Diane Poulin-Dubois
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Objectives: Although prior research has found that vocabulary and speed of lexical access in toddlerhood predict language development later in childhood, whether relations are significant appears to depend on differences across studies in task and participant characteristics. The current study expands on these findings by comparing the relative predictive utility of vocabulary and two measures of speed of lexical access to later vocabulary development in simultaneous bilingual children. Methodology: Participants included 32 French-English bilingual children in a longitudinal cohort study tested at 23 months, age three, and age four. At 23 months, children completed a two-alternative forced choice measure of vocabulary from which we coded decontextualized receptive vocabulary, and speed of lexical access operationalized as visual response latency and haptic response latency. At ages three and four, children completed a standardized receptive vocabulary assessment. Data and Analysis: We examined the relation between 23-month predictors and outcomes using correlational and regression analyses. Findings/Conclusions: Decontextualized vocabulary at 23 months predicted vocabulary outcomes at ages three and four. Visual response latency predicted vocabulary at age three, but not age four. Haptic response latency predicted vocabulary at age four, but not age three. Neither vocabulary nor latency was significant when controlling for the effects of the other predictors. Originality: This is the first study to investigate the relation between multiple direct measures of vocabulary and lexical access and language outcomes in bilingual children. Significance/Implications: This study contributes to our understanding of toddler language measures and how demand characteristics interact with participant characteristics to influence the roles of these measures in predicting later outcomes. Limitations: Given the small sample size and limited outcome measures, results should be interpreted with some caution and used to guide future research on early predictors of long-term vocabulary development in bilingual children.
Trauma Exposure Changes Substance Use Expectancies and Affects Subsequent Use among Early Adolescents
Herry Patel; Fiona A Ralston; Cheyenne Yochum; Jack Waddell; Emily C. Kemp; Isabel R. Aks; William E. Pelham; Sandra Brown
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Objective: We examined changes in SU expectancies following PTEs in a community-based cohort of early adolescents for three common substances used by teens (alcohol, cannabis, and nicotine) how those changes affected SU itself. Methods: We leveraged data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study (N=11,868, 48% female, 52% White), containing annual assessments of PTEs, SU expectancies, and SU itself from ages 10 to 14 years old. Using multilevel models to estimate between- and within-person effects, we tested whether PTEs predict negative and positive expectancies for alcohol, cannabis, and nicotine concurrently and prospectively and whether those expectancies forecast subsequent use. Results: At the between-person level, PTEs were associated with increased negative and positive SU expectancies and subsequently associated with greater use itself directly and indirectly via positive expectancies concurrently and prospectively. At the within-person level, PTEs were associated with increased negative and positive SU expectancies concurrently but not prospectively. PTEs were associated with increases in SU directly and indirectly via positive expectancies, and decreases in cannabis and nicotine use only via negative expectancies. But prospectively, PTEs were only associated with greater SU directly and not indirectly via positive or negative expectancies. Conclusions: Closer in time to each other, PTEs heighten the saliency of both positive and negative expectancies; however, over time, the effect of PTEs on expectancies seems to diminish. Current findings highlight a temporal window for optimal intervention to prevent SU by challenging beliefs that substances are helpful following PTEs and leveraging negative beliefs about SU following PTEs.
Iconic vs. working memory metacognition to evaluate the richness of perception: a registered report
NicolĂĄs A. Comay; Guillermo Solovey; Pablo Barttfeld
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The high capacity of human iconic memory (IM) has been taken as evidence that visual experience is rich and detailed, as introspection suggests. Opponents to this view argue instead that this impression is illusory, with conscious access being mostly limited to what we can attend to. To provide evidence of either view, in this registered report we compared metacognitive sensitivity levels between IM and working memory (WM) representations. The rationale was that, if pre-attentive IM information is as consciously accessible as attention-bounded WM information, metacognitive sensitivity should be comparable across the two memory systems. Replicating classic findings, our results showed that IM capacity exceeded WM capacity. Nevertheless, and despite matched performance, metacognitive sensitivity was higher in WM. We further examined whether reduced metacognition in IM could be explained by inflation—the tendency to overestimate perceptual richness—by comparing confidence levels across the two memory conditions. Pre-registered analyses showed no evidence of inflation, as IM was associated with lower confidence. Our findings suggest that IM supports identification with less consciously accessible information than WM, challenging rich-view interpretations of conscious perception.
Analysis of Conceptual Overlap Among Formal Thought Disorder Rating Scales in Psychosis: A Systematic Semantic Synthesis
Alban Voppel; Silvia Ciampelli; Tilo Kircher; Peter F Liddle; Raffael Massuda; Frederike Stein; Sunny Tang; Manaan Kar Ray; Sohee Park; Lena Palaniyappan
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Measuring Formal Thought Disorder (FTD), a common, cross-diagnosed symptom dimension across mental disorders, is plagued by numerous inconsistencies. Clinicians use either FTD-specific scales or items from generic scales. While these tools are based on extensive clinical observations, they suffer from inconsistent terminology. Different scales may use the same term for distinct concepts or different terms for the same concept. This lack of conceptual standardization prevents the identification of underlying FTD subconstructs. By using natural language processing, we compared the definitions, labeling and overlap of FTD symptoms across psychopathological scales. We used a three-pronged validation approach to analyze semantic clusters of FTD scale items. First, we used sentence-BERT to divide 30 Thought and Language Disorder scale (TALD) items into positive or negative FTD clusters, validating this approach by checking for correspondence with published factor-analytic divisions (approach validation). Second, we created a sparse item-to-item similarity matrix from 103 items across seven scales to identify semantically converging cross-scale FTD items; a clinician-researcher described the resulting four clusters, and we compared our automated classification with that of six blinded experts to establish expert-machine semantic correspondence. Finally, we analyzed data from 98 participants (49 healthy controls and 49 schizophrenia/affective psychosis), identifying the highest-correlating Clinical Language Disorder Scale (CLANG) item for each Thought, Language and Communication (TLC) scale item and mapping these to our BERT-derived clusters to establish data-level correspondence. When assigning TALD items to BERT-derived positive or negative FTD groupings, we observed a 73% match with prior factor analyses. The BERT-informed clustering of cross-scale items highlighted four coherent FTD groupings; 1) muddled communication & incomprehension. 2) abrupt topic shifts. 3) inconsistent narrative structure, 4) restricted speech. Expert raters showed moderate-to-high overlap (Fleiss’ kappa = .617) with computational clusters. A binomial test indicated that at the level of individual participants, correlations among CLANG-TLC item pairs were significantly more likely than chance to fall into the expected semantic cluster (p < .001). Our results indicates that FTD rating scales measure overlapping, semantically related constructs that drive item-level correlations. Semantic clustering acts as a novel method to harmonize multi-scale data and pinpoint discrepancies between expert and machine classifications. Computational linguistics has the potential to improve consistency across rating scales especially when measuring complex constructs such as FTD.
Transition Dynamics Between Exploration and Exploitation Predicts Individual Differences in Coping Strategy
Cathy Chen; Wendy Schlinsog; Amit Sethi; Karrie Fitzpatrick; Melissa A Polusny; Melissa Fisher; Sophia Vinogradov
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Adaptive decision-making requires balancing exploitation of known rewarding options with exploration of uncertain alternatives, a dilemma also known as the exploration-exploitation tradeoff. While this framework has been widely studied in reinforcement learning research, its relevance to coping, defined as the cognitive and behavioral strategies that individuals use to manage stress and uncertainty, remains underexplored. Maladaptive coping may reflect rigidity in exploitation or ineffective exploration, whereas adaptive coping may involve flexible adjustment of control in changing environments. In this study, we examined whether interindividual differences in the transition dynamics between explore and exploit strategy predict coping styles in a large online general population sample. A total of 1732 participants completed a three-armed restless bandit task, and their latent explore-exploit strategy states and transition patterns were modeled using a Hidden Markov Model. These computational indices of explore-exploit dynamics were then linked to self-reported psychological coping strategies using regression and canonical correlation analysis. Individuals with a greater tendency to persist in exploitative states reported less reliance on avoidant and emotion-focused coping, whereas exploratory tendencies showed distinct associations with externally oriented coping strategies. Unsupervised clustering of exploration-exploitation dynamics further revealed four distinct decision-making subtypes, each associated with unique coping profiles. These findings provide the first evidence that computational markers of explore-exploit control dynamics relate to psychological coping profiles, offering mechanistic insight into psychological adaptation and resilience.
Narcissism at first sight: a critical review of the association between facial features and narcissism
Antonio Olivera-LaRosa; Estefanny Acevedo Correa; Nathaly Vanegas Samper
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Whether facial information constitutes a valid cue for inferring personality remains a matter of academic debate. Contradictory findings suggest that the debate on the predictive validity of faces should shift from dichotomous conceptions to more detailed approaches, focusing on the specific conditions under which facial cues reveal personality traits. In this critical review, we examine the most striking findings on facial perception of narcissism, with the aim of analyzing the extent to which facial features can be considered valid cues for inferring narcissism. Our analysis suggests that, compared with other Dark Triad traits, narcissism is the most detectable trait. We address the possible psychological mechanisms underlying this association, as well as the role of methodological artifacts that could influence the obtained effects. We propose a dominance-based explanation for this association that could explain some of the existing controversies in the literature. We conclude that the association between facial features and narcissism should be interpreted with caution, given its important consequences.
A Brief History of Cybernetic Imperatives and Behavior
Bradly Alicea; Morgan Gregor Hough; Amanda Nelson; Jesse Parent
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The history of science has presented multiple ways to understand progressive and adaptive processes. In the field of cybernetics, this was understood to be teleological, or purposeful improvement over time. Early cyberneticists proposed a means to classify behaviors in a way that distinguishes between random behaviors and more controlled behaviors. Therefore, we begin by providing a history of teleological phenomena, exploring its multitude of current forms.We then take our own perspective, revising the behavioral typology presented in Rosenbleuth et.al in several ways, exploring alternatives to their stated examples. In the process, the concept of cybernetic imperatives is introduced, which provides an alternative to goal-directed, purposeful behavior. Cybernetic imperatives describe behaviors observed in a wide range of processes and real-world dynamics, building up from random processes to refined and so-called purposeful behaviors. To conclude, we consider how cybernetic imperatives lead to behavioral and regulatory complexity.
Time to listen: Harnessing podcasts for stakeholder engagement in circadian and sleep science
Carolina Guidolin; Manuel Spitschan
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Circadian and sleep research is expanding across molecular, clinical, and applied domains, creating both opportunities and communication gaps. This article examines podcasting as a promising medium for bridging these gaps, disseminating research findings, supporting chronobiology education, promoting behavioural change, and enhancing the visibility of academic work among researchers in both industry and academia. We argue that podcasting is not only an outreach tool but also a mechanism for building an informed and connected circadian and sleep science community.
Self-Recognition Shapes Evaluations of (Self-) Voice Attractiveness
Victor Rosi; Nadine Lavan; Carolyn McGettigan
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Hearing our own voice is commonly assumed to be an unpleasant experience. In contrast, some studies of voice perception have reported that we actually find our own voice to be more attractive than other voices. It remains however unclear whether previously observed enhancements of self-voice attractiveness were mediated by the recognition of the self-voice during the task, because recognition was never explicitly and rigorously examined in previous studies. We therefore conducted a voice attractiveness rating task under conditions that limited the likelihood of self-voice recognition, in order to directly compare the perceived attractiveness of one’s own voice when recognised versus when not. We found that both participants who did (N=59) and did not (N=80) recognise their own voice rated their own voice differently from other voices. However, crucially, the direction of this difference depended on whether the self-voice was recognised during the task or not: listeners who spontaneously recognised their voice rated it as more attractive than other voices, whereas listeners who did not recognise their voice rated it as less attractive. The findings help to explain one source of contradictory perspectives in the voice perception literature and beyond. highlighting the intricate interplay between self-perception, first impressions, and identity perception.
Memory retention of spatial knowledge in fire evacuation- and safety training
Leo Willem Menzemer; Steve Gwynne; Enrico Ronchi
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This study investigated the retention of spatial knowledge in buildings following route-learning training in a virtual reality environment. A total of 121 participants were tested up to three months later on putting waypoints of the route in the correct order and recalling directions at waypoints. Memory accuracy declined over time, consistent with classic memory theory. Route knowledge was retained more robustly than sequential order, highlighting the importance of contextual retrieval cues. Landmark presence, decision-point complexity, and route features modulated recall, demonstrating that both task and environmental characteristics influence spatial memory. A hierarchical Bayesian regression model quantified forgetting with median memory accuracy, capturing uncertainty across individual variability of participants and the environment in the experiment. Predicted accuracy decreased from approximately 91% initially to 77% after 12 weeks, and to approximately 72-75% after 6-12 months indicating that a substantial portion of spatial knowledge is retained over long intervals. By applying memory theory to analyse retention data, this study addresses a gap in the safety training field by providing a theory-driven approach to quantifying training effectiveness, enabling evidence-based design and assessment of safety and evacuation training in practice.
Demand Avoidance in Value-Based Choice Under Risk: A Behavioral and Pupillometric Examination
Kevin da Silva Castanheira; A. Ross Otto
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Why does decision-making sometimes feel demanding while other times feel effortless? The dominant view of cognitive effort suggests that, else being equal, individuals prefer to avoid mentally effortful courses of action—an empirical phenomenon which has been well-studied in cognitive control paradigms. However, less work has investigated cognitive demand avoidance in value-based decisions. Here we investigate subjective (self-reported) demand, preferences for demand, and psychophysiological measures of effort outlay in the context of risky decision- making. Across three experiments (N=199), we observe that individuals evaluate choice pairs— consisting of two options with described risk levels and reward magnitudes—with less discriminable expected value differences as subjectively more demanding. More interestingly, participants exhibit a robust preference for low-effort risky choice pairs in a novel Demand Avoidance Task, which we modeled after well-characterized effort preference paradigms used in the cognitive control domain. Finally, using pupillometry, we find that participants, contrary to our expectations, exhibit larger task-evoked pupillary responses (TEPRs)—a well-characterized measure of momentary effort exertion—when choosing between low-demand risky choice pairs, and that these TEPR magnitudes predicted demand-avoidant preferences in a subsequent test phase. Together, these results demonstrate that cognitive demand avoidance generalizes beyond cognitive control tasks to risky value-based choice.
Investigating the effects priming on social categorization in early childhood
Ryan F Lei; Grace Reid; Brandon Kinsler; Naomi Faber
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Although children automatically categorize people into social groups from a young age, how they learn to automatically activate and apply category schemas to people is not well understood. In a sample of racially diverse children (N=223; Mage=7.24, SDage=2.51; 132 girls; 42.6% white; 43.05% racially minoritized), we tested the degree to which activating category schemas facilitates social categorization. Children were primed with gender-relevant, race-relevant, or neutral words, and then categorized Black, White, and Asian faces by their gender under a time constraint. Children’s gender categorizations became more efficient with age, particularly when primed with race. Whether and how children’s gender categorizations were influenced by gender primes depended on their own social identity—white children categorized men faster than women regardless of priming condition, but priming gender attenuated this androcentric bias among racially minoritized children.
A Role for Context-Cued Study-Phase Retrievals in Episodic Memory Updating
Jennifer Fiedler; Kelly S. Giovanello; Robert Wiley; Christopher N. Wahlheim
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Navigating changes is fundamental to everyday life and requires updating existing memories to incorporate new details. This study examined mechanisms underlying how reinstating an earlier event’s context during a later event influences memory for both events. Two theories predict opposite outcomes. Interference theory holds that reinstating context from an existing memory while experiencing a new, overlapping event produces response competition and impairs memory for both. In contrast, integration theory predicts that context reinstatement cues retrieval of earlier memories, enabling associative encoding of past and present events that enhances memory. Prior work favors the latter, showing that reinstatement improves memory. Three experiments extended this work by directly testing roles for study-phase retrievals and change awareness during study and test. Word pairs with shared cues but changed responses (A-B, A-D) were presented with background contexts that either repeated or changed. Repeating contexts increased detection of changes and recall of earlier responses during study, both indexes of study-phase retrievals, as well as later cued recall of earlier (B) and changed (D) responses. The recall benefit was proportional to the extent of study-phase retrievals, implicating retrieval practice. Moreover, the effect was enhanced when participants remembered that changes had occurred, highlighting the role of recollecting integrated representations that included change attributes. These findings align with integration theory, suggesting that memory updating is most effective when current events cue retrieval of prior memories and engender associative encoding of past and present events, establishing elaborate representations that support subsequent recall.
Transdiagnostic Profiles of Socio-Affective Functioning in Adolescents At-Risk of Poor Mental Health
Alex Lloyd; Duncan Astle; Tom wu; Nikolaus Steinbeis; Ritika Chokhani; Laura Lucas; Pasco Fearon; Essi Viding
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Introduction: Adolescence is a developmental period during which many mental health problems emerge or worsen. Recently, there has been a shift towards identifying risk factors that predict psychopathology across a range of diagnostic boundaries – known as ‘transdiagnostic’ approaches (Astle et al., 2022). There are several social and emotional risk factors for specific mental health diagnoses that have been well-characterised. Yet, there is limited understanding about how these socio-affective risk factors map onto transdiagnostic symptoms. In this study, we identified profiles of socio-affective functioning in early adolescence and how these profiles predict transdiagnostic symptoms of mental health problems. Methods: Adolescents at heightened risk of general psychopathology aged 12-14 (N=559, Mage = 13.26, SDage = 0.72, 58.14% female) were recruited. Participants completed questionnaire and task-based measures assessing emotion functioning (emotion perception, emotion regulation, and interoception), social relationships (with peers and family members), and mental health. Using a simple artificial neural network that projects a high-dimensional input to a 2D topology we were able to map differences in questionnaire- and task-based socio-affective profiles. Clustering was then used to identify zones within that 2D topology, indicating relatively homogenous profiles. Associations between these zones and transdiagnostic mental health symptoms were examined. Findings: We identified three reliable clusters of socio-affective functioning from the questionnaire measures and four clusters from the task-based measures. There were significant differences between questionnaire clusters on general psychopathology and internalising symptoms, whereas there were only significant differences between task clusters on general psychopathology. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the potential of data-driven methods to derive profiles of socio-affective functioning that are associated with transdiagnostic mental health problems. Through identifying socio-affective mechanisms that characterise these clusters, these findings can be used to identify active ingredients for future intervention development to prevent the onset and worsening of mental health problems in adolescence.
From a full Need for Cognition scale to a 5-item one: Assessing the structural validity and psychometric properties of the Need for cognition scale in a Peruvian sample
Mauricio Silva-Alegria
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Background. There is no consensus on the dimensionality of the Need for Cognition Scale, having different structural solutions depending on the study. Also, there is no formal psychometric evaluation of the instrument in Lima, Peru. Objective. The present study evaluated the psychometric properties for the Need for Cognition Scale in a Peruvian sample in Lima. Method. A sample of 346 Peruvian adults was taken. The full sample was split into training and test datasets. A series of Confirmatory Factor Analyses were performed for the one-, two-, bifactor multi-trait-multi-method, and a data driven model on the training dataset. In addition to this, reliability and external validity were verified with the Big Five personality factors in the full sample. Results. Only the data driven model obtained an adequate fit on the training, test and full datasets. Followed by an acceptable reliability, and a positive significant correlation with Conscientiousness and Openness to experience, and a negative and significant relationship with Neuroticism was found. Conclusion. The unidimensional 5-item Need for cognition is the only model that showed an adequate fit on the different datasets. Also, the 5-item scale showed to be a valid and reliable instrument for its use in Lima, Peru.
What Makes a Birdbrain Tick: Long-term Memory Drives Expertise Effects on Working Memory Binding
Vanessa M. Loaiza; Kishen Senziani; Lea M. Bartsch; Eda Mizrak
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Considerable research concerning the multidirectionality of cognitive aging indicates that retrieving factual knowledge from semantic long-term memory (LTM) remains stable in healthy older age despite declines in actively maintaining information in working memory (WM). This study addressed how older adults’ extensive acquired knowledge may support WM by mitigating age deficits in the speed of establishing bindings in WM (Block 1) or through greater contributions from LTM (Block 2). Younger novices (N = 38; Mage = 23.63, SD = 5.49), older novices (N = 56; Mage = 69.55, SD = 5.48), and older experts (N = 26; Mage = 66.96, SD = 5.41) in birding completed two blocks of a WM binding task that presented images of birds paired with words (e.g., robin-mudflat; pigeon-quick) for an immediate test of each bird (e.g., robin) with three options: the target (e.g., mudflat), a lure from the trial but not paired with that bird (e.g., quick), and a new-to-block distractor. Block 1 showed that older experts were just as slow as older novices when adapting the presentation rate of the pairs to achieve similar accuracy performance, regardless of the expertise-relevance of the stimuli (i.e., intact normal birds versus scrambled meaningless birds). However, in Block 2, older experts exhibited an advantage to model parameter estimates of binding memory, but only when LTM was reliable (i.e., under no but not high proactive interference). Thus, rather than faster WM binding, expertise in healthy older age may confer benefits by outsourcing the demands of WM storage to LTM.
Do AIs Dream of Electric Butterflies? Benchmarking LLM Consciousness via Theory-Grounded Self-Reports
Haoran Zheng
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Are state-of-the-art large language models conscious, or capable of anything like consciousness? We introduce ConsciousnessBench: the first systematic benchmark designed to empirically evaluate consciousness-relevant traits in frontier language models, grounded in 5 leading scientific theories. We assess 8 advanced models via 840 self-report responses, finding not only statistically robust performance differences, but—more importantly—evidence of distinct model cognitive profiles and engagement strategies with consciousness-related constructs. Our results reveal that some models demonstrate theoretical fluency, specialization in certain cognitive tasks, or even phenomenological exploration, while others default to deflection. While we cannot deliver a definitive verdict on AI consciousness, our findings show that consciousness-related capacities—and their computational diversity—are now empirically tractable, even if not yet empirically decidable.
Automated Detection of Invalid Responses to Creativity Assessments
Antonio Laverghetta; Simone A Luchini; Jimmy Pronchick; Roger Beaty
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Participants in creativity studies sometimes produce invalid data that is unusable for analysis, such as nonsensical or incomplete responses to idea generation tasks. Identifying such responses is a time-consuming yet necessary process to ensure robust results but also remains challenging to automate. We explore the efficacy of transformer language models (TLMs) for automatically detecting invalid creativity responses, using only the text prompt and response and no other metadata about the experimental session. We train a suite of transformers to detect invalid data for two creativity assessments: the Alternate Uses Task (AUT) and a design problems task (DPT). We find that transformers generally outperform other baselines for both tasks. Further, we show that TLMs’ predictions are well calibrated to the quality of the participant response, ensuring that model failures will occur in a predictable way and that high-quality responses are unlikely to be labeled invalid. Finally, we conduct a fairness analysis based on language background—using an adversarial study where participants attempt to “break” the model by coming up with invalid responses that are nonetheless labeled valid. Our results demonstrate the potential of deep learning methods for cleaning creativity assessment data, using solely participant responses, in a reliable and unbiased way.
What Infant Research can—and Cannot—Tell us About Human Universals
Leher Singh
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The search for human universals is firmly grounded in the study of infancy. Infants are viewed as unconditioned by social experience and therefore a source of insight into the initial state of psychological organization. This paper outlines three constraints on this approach focusing on limited sample diversity, insufficient predictive and convergent validation of methods, and overreliance on single exposures or unreplicated findings. It argues for a shift from an emphasis on universality towards a focus on variation. Large-scale multi-site collaborations, longitudinal designs, and cross-method convergence across culturally diverse settings as key components of this goal. These approaches can advance a more ecologically valid and culturally situated science of infancy.
EXAMINING THE RELATIONS BETWEEN SELF-CONSTRUAL, CULTURE, AND COGNITIVE DISSONANCE USING THE INDUCED COMPLIANCE PARADIGM
Tim Figureau; Daniel Priolo; Willem W. A. Sleegers; Kenneth G DeMarree; Omid Ghasemi; Maxime Mauduy; Asil Ali Özdoğru; Robert M Ross; Bjþrn Sétrevik; Kathleen Schmidt
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Cognitive dissonance, a fundamental psychological process involving inconsistent cognitions causing discomfort, may vary across cultures. These variations could be attributed to differences in the way people define themselves, known as “self-construal”. Previous cross-cultural studies on the role of self-construal in cognitive dissonance have mainly employed the free-choice paradigm. However, many concerns have been raised about the validity of this procedure and these studies, more generally. To address this issue, we will conduct secondary analyses to explore unexamined associations in a large existing dataset (Vaidis et al., 2024). Specifically, the current study will investigate the moderating role of individual (self-construal) and cultural (individualism) variables on dissonance effects following an induced-compliance paradigm across 18 countries (N = 3822). Based on the literature, we hypothesised that induced-compliance effects (i.e., adjusting attitude to match behaviour, particularly when it has been adopted freely) will be stronger for participants with higher individual self-construal scores (H1), in more individualistic countries (H2), and in countries with higher aggregated levels of independent self-construal (H3). The analyses [supported / did not support] H1, [supported / did not support] H2 and [supported / did not support] H3. Keywords: Self-Construal, Culture, Cognitive Dissonance, Induced Compliance, Cross-cultural study
Attachment to Artificial Intelligence: Development of the AI Attachment Scale, Construct Validation, and Psychological Correlates
K. T. A. Sandeeshwara Kasturiratna; Andree Hartanto
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Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are increasingly integrated into daily life, not only as tools but also as social partners that people may turn to for interaction and support. This raises important questions about whether, how, and why individuals form attachment-like bonds with AI, and what psychological implications such attachments may carry. Across five studies involving 1259 participants from Singapore and the US, the current work developed and validated the AI Attachment Scale and investigated the dispositional and motivational factors that predict attachment to AI, as well as its emotional and social outcomes. The AI Attachment Scale displayed strong psychometrics properties, including a reliable three-factor structure comprising of emotional closeness, social substitution, and normative regard subscales, strong convergent validity and discriminant validity, and high test–retest reliability. Examination of correlates revealed that time spent on AI, particularly for socioemotional purposes, was a strong predictor of AI attachment. Individuals higher in social anxiety, loneliness, and anxious attachment were also more likely to turn to AI as a compensatory surrogate when human connections were lacking. These tendencies were further linked to dispositional needs that AI fulfils, including closure through predictability, relatedness through socioemotional presence, and competence through affirming feedback. At the same time, stronger AI attachment is associated with heightened positive affect and life satisfaction, suggesting that AI attachment may satisfy the psychological needs and provide meaningful emotional benefits. These findings provide the first validated measure of attachment to AI and offer a foundation for future research on its psychological and societal implications.
Procedural and Declarative Knowledge Simultaneously Contribute to Category Response Selection
Priya B. Kalra; Laura Batterink; John Paul Minda
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Skilled behaviour in real-world contexts often relies on a combination of both declarative and procedural learning. However, precisely how declarative and procedural knowledge interact is not yet fully understood. Previous findings have shown that procedural and declarative learning may interact or compete at the systems level during encoding, consolidation, and retrieval, but beyond this, it is not known whether declarative and procedural representations themselves interact. The goal of the current study is to investigate whether procedural and declarative knowledge can contribute simultaneously to categorization response selection behavior. We designed a stimulus set in which information learned by each system sometimes supports different responses, and created trials in the test phase that are designed to maximize such divergence. Participants were instructed to use a completely diagnostic, verbalizable, shape- based rule to categorize exemplars, receiving feedback after each trial. However, unbeknownst to participants, the categories also differed probabilistically in their color distributions. Participants used both color (learned procedurally) and shape (learned declaratively) to categorize exemplars, responding more quickly when both sources indicated the same category judgement, and more slowly when they conflicted. Debriefing confirmed that most participants were unaware of the color distributions. These results show simultaneous trial-level contributions from both declarative and procedural memory systems. Our findings represent a novel form of interaction between the two systems and have implications for domains beyond the laboratory, such as decision-making and classroom instruction.
Responses to social defeat in early- vs late-onset suicidal behavior: an experimental behavioral study
Anna SzĂŒcs; Elizabeth Campbell; Katalin Szanto; Alexandre Dombrovski
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Background Social defeat is often cited as a motive for suicide. The experience of defeat may arise from feeling dominated in a dyadic conflict or from losing status in a group. We hypothesize that sensitivity to dyadic defeat will be related to the onset of suicidal behavior in early or mid-life and sensitivity to loss of status, in late life. Methods The study’s sample of 245 adults aged 50+ years (mean=63.2 years, SD=7.4) comprised 42 early-onset and 32 late-onset suicide attempters (aged <50 vs ≄50 years at their first suicide attempt), 114 depressed non-attempter comparisons, and 57 non-psychiatric comparisons. Using a validated rigged video game tournament task, we operationalized compensatory responses to the two forms of social defeat as point stealing from individual opponents (one-on-one defeat) and rank buying in the league table (loss of status in a group). Results Early-onset attempters increased point stealing the most over time (χ23=22.37, p<.001), whereas late-onset attempters purchased more rank after losing trials than early-onset attempters and non-psychiatric comparisons (χ23=9.47, p=.024). Each effect was robust to adjusting for age and sex, other effects of interest, and to the exclusion of stereotypic responders. Conclusions Our behavioral findings suggest that socio-behavioral processes leading to suicide vary across the life cycle. While vulnerability to dyadic defeat could be suicidogenic for people of any age, loss of social status could play a role in suicidal crises specifically occurring in later life.
The Importance of Specifying the Time Period in Repeated Measures of Personality Assessments
Matthew W. Southward; Madeline Kushner; Nicole Stumpp; Sarah Cecil; Caden Maynard; Alexandra Kaelin Barnhill; Vincent Buchenberger; Shannon Sauer-Zavala
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Because most validated personality measures were designed to capture relatively general and stable characteristics, they do not specify a particular timeframe for respondents to consider. It is thus unknown how these measures perform when administered repeatedly or how this performance compares to the same measures with instructions and items adapted to the repeated timeframe of interest. We randomly assigned undergraduate participants (N = 257; Mage = 20.4; 79% female; 77% white; 77% heterosexual) to complete measures of personality (NEO-FFI-3, LPFS-BF-2.0, PID-5-BF, FFBI-SF) with validated general instructions and items or measures with instructions and items pertaining to the previous week once per week for six weeks. Compared to measures with general instructions, measures with weekly instructions demonstrated greater within-person internal consistency (weekly omegas: .42-.83; general omegas: .44-.72), lower rank-order stability (weekly average one-week r: .72; general average one-week r: .86), greater variability (ds: .08-.94), lower average mean scores across time (ds: –.96 - .25), and stronger associations with measures of anxiety and depression, well-being, and functioning but similar between-person internal consistencies (weekly omegas: .79-.99; general omegas: .79-.99) and measurement invariance. Researchers assessing personality weekly may thus be able to capture more variability and stronger associations with relevant constructs while still maintaining reliable individual differences and construct validity using personality measures referencing participants’ past week. However, nuances such as lower average scores when referencing the past week should be kept in mind when comparing results between studies using different reference time frames.
Science Needs a Memorandum of Understanding
John Protzko
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International Scientific Collaborations run into International Problems. Countries Do not always play well with one another, creating hurdles for researchers that limit participation and collaboration. What science needs is an international Memorandum of Understanding, a light treaty between governments that lays out routes for collaboration for non-defense research. Such an MOU would allow access to tools, collaborations and payments to bypass embargoes, preventing international relations from hindering international collaboration. Science is a right, and researchers are not their governments.
Are Working Memory and Inhibition Distinct or Interacting Components of Executive Function? A Combined Task Approach
Yasamin Rahmati; Christopher Jarrold
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Working memory and inhibitory control are widely regarded as core executive function components. Traditional executive function tasks often fail to isolate these components, as they are rarely “process-pure”. This study measured working memory and inhibitory control (both response inhibition and interference control) concurrently within single paradigms, while reducing rule-learning confounds. Two novel tasks were developed: a modified flanker task (targeting interference control) and a spatial conflict task (targeting response inhibition). Each task consisted of multiple blocks of flanker or spatial trials, respectively. Working memory load was manipulated by preloading digit sequences before each block of inhibition trials (ascending = low load, random = high load), recalled after each block. The digit sequences changed for every block to maintain ongoing working memory engagement. Ninety-eight participants completed the spatial conflict task and ninety-seven completed the flanker task. Bayesian repeated measures ANOVAs revealed robust main effects of working memory and congruency on reaction times in both tasks, but provided evidence against over-additive interactions. Findings support the functional separability of working memory (as measured by declarative preload) and both types of inhibitory control in adults and highlight the utility of combined paradigms for more efficient assessment of executive function components with reduced task-related variance.
Assessing the impact of The Climate Fresk workshop on climate-related attitudes and behavioral intentions in the workplace: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Louis Hognon; Pauline Caille; Paquito Bernard; Guillaume Chevance; Claudia Teran-Escobar
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Background: As the urgency of climate action grows, innovative educational approaches are needed to bridge the gap between knowledge and commitment. The Climate Fresk, a collaborative and gamified workshop based on IPCC reports, has reached millions worldwide, but rigorous evidence on its effectiveness remains limited. Objective: This study protocol describes the first randomized controlled trial assessing the impact of The Climate Fresk on climate-related attitudes and pro-environmental behavioral intentions among workers. Secondary objectives are to examine potential moderating factors, such as socio-demographic characteristics, ecological identity, emotions, facilitator expertise and organisation status, to qualitatively explore participants’ perceptions, motivations, and barriers. Methods: We will conduct a parallel, mixed-method RCT including 1,354 participants recruited from French organizations. Eligible participants will be randomized (1:1) to either the experimental arm (The Climate Fresk, a three-hour interactive workshop) or the control arm (a one-hour lecture-style video). Primary outcomes are climate-related attitudes and pro-environmental behavioral intentions, assessed at baseline (T0) and one week post-intervention (T2). Secondary outcomes include ecological identity, emotions, and prior behaviors. Semi-structured interviews with a subsample of participants (n=20) will be conducted one month later (T3). Quantitative data will be analyzed using linear mixed-effects models, accounting for clustering by facilitator and organization. Qualitative data will undergo thematic analysis. Discussion: This trial will provide the first large-scale, controlled evidence on the effectiveness of The Climate Fresk in shaping attitudes and intentions toward climate action. By integrating quantitative and qualitative insights, and considering moderating factors, it aims to advance understanding of gamified climate education and inform strategies to engage diverse populations in sustainability transitions.
Adding volition to word processing: Expected utility norms for 80 thousand English words and multiword expressions
Andrew Wang; Marc Brysbaert; Fritz Guenther
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This study examined the concept of word usefulness by analyzing expected utility ratings for over 80,000 English words and multiword expressions. Participants used best-worst ratings to indicate how useful it is to know each word/expression. Our findings show a high level of agreement regarding the usefulness of words and expressions. Stimuli were rated as more useful if they were more frequent, widely known, learned early in life and central to the semantic network. Concreteness had a substantial negative correlation, indicating that abstract words in general received higher utility scores than concrete words. Positive stimuli received slightly lower utility scores than negative stimuli. Expected utility was a good predictor of which words are known to speakers of English as a first and second language, but did not contribute to predicting response times to known words. These findings suggest that expected utility is a variable affecting which words are likely to be learned, but does not affect word processing times (much). The expected utility scores are freely available for research and education.
Linking Anger and Disgust to Motives and Anticipations of Aggression in the East: Testing a Socio-Functional Account of Moral Emotions in Japan
Lei Fan; Catherine Molho; Florian van Leeuwen; Hirotaka Imada; Joshua M. Tybur
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Anger and disgust often underlie responses to social transgressions, yet their links to aggressive punishments have been primarily studied in Western populations. Across two studies sampling from Japan, we tested a socio-functional account of these two other-condemning moral emotions, which predicts differential associations of anger and disgust with direct versus indirect aggression. Study 1 (N = 1,231) revealed that anger relates to motives to aggress both directly and indirectly, whereas disgust relates only to motives to aggress indirectly. Study 2 (N = 930) extended these findings by showing that people infer greater direct aggression from anger expressions and greater indirect aggression from disgust expressions. These results are largely the same as those previously observed in Western samples. Overall, findings suggest that across culturally distinct populations, anger and disgust play similar functional roles in regulating aggressive punishments.
A Holistic Framework of Gambling Harms and Recovery, Derived from a Rapid Evidence Assessment and Qualitative Interviews with People who Gamble and Affected Others.
Sharon Collard; Jamie Wheaton; Sara Davies; Ryan Statton; Imogen Martin; Crescenzo Pinto; Matthew Browne; Mark Conway; Colin Walsh; Nathan Dobson
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Introduction Gambling-related harms affect people’s finances, their health and wellbeing, personal relationships, and community life. They impact not only people who gamble but their families and others around them. Public health models require a harm-based approach that moves beyond clinical thresholds and recognises the wider determinants and distributions of harm across populations. Existing gambling harms frameworks are somewhat generic in scope, have rarely involved lived experience and affected others, and generally equate recovery with abstinence. This study developed a holistic, empirically grounded framework of gambling harm and recovery, rooted in lived experience and tailored to the cultural and policy context of Great Britain. Methods The study proceeded in two stages. Stage 1 comprised a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) of academic and grey literature on gambling-related harm and recovery, supplemented by analysis of harm and recovery frameworks from adjacent sectors (alcohol and other drugs). Stage 2 involved 40 semi-structured qualitative interviews with people who had experienced gambling harms directly or as affected others. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify, refine and validate components of harm and recovery that were brought together in a new holistic framework. Stakeholder co-production and iterative validation informed each stage of framework development. Results The new holistic framework encompasses three broad components of harm—resources, wellbeing, and relationships—each comprising sub-components reflecting financial, emotional, relational, and community-level impacts. The framework also captures how identity, culture, and context can shape harm experiences. It conceptualises recovery as a multidimensional process involving financial stability, identity repair, and social connection, all underpinned by support networks alongside control, insight, behaviour change, and ownership of gambling behaviours. Conclusions This holistic framework advances gambling harms research by integrating lived experience, acknowledging affected others, and embedding recovery. It provides a foundation for more inclusive harm reduction strategies, recovery-oriented interventions, and person-centred measurement tools.
Development and Validation of the Gambling Harms Severity Index (GHSI-10) and the GHSI for Affected Others (GHSI-AO-10): Measurement Instruments for People Experiencing Gambling Related Harms and Affected Others
James Close; Ryan Statton; Sharon Collard; Jamie Wheaton; Sara Davies; Imogen Martin; Crescenzo Pinto; Mark Conway; Colin Walsh; Matthew Browne
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Background Gambling-related harm is increasingly recognised as a complex, multi-dimensional public health problem which variably impacts health, relationships, resources, and broader social functioning. Existing measures – often focused on diagnostic “problem gambler” thresholds – typically fail to capture the breadth of such harms. Moreover, there are very few instruments designed to capture the perspective of those harmed by someone else’s gambling – ‘affected others’ (AOs). Aims This study reports the content development and validation of the Gambling Harms Severity Index (GHSI-10) and GHSI for affected others (GHSI-AO-10); co-designed, person-centred, non-stigmatising instruments designed to assess impacts, severity and changes in gambling-related harm across diverse contexts and populations. Design, setting and participants We employed a multi-phase, mixed-methods design informed by best practice guidelines for patient-reported outcome development. Conceptualisation was constructed on a ‘holistic framework of gambling harm and recovery,’ derived from structured literature reviews and qualitative research. Item generation and refinement were co-produced with individuals with lived experience, AOs, practitioners, and academic experts. Psychometric validation was conducted via a convenience paid-for online sample from the UK (n= 3,315 for people that gamble; n= 3,017 for AOs). Measurements Statistical validation of GHSI-10 and GSHI-AO-10 involved a combination of classical test statistics (CTT) and Rasch Measurement Theory (RMT), alongside convergent validity versus existing measures of harm (e.g. PGSI) and divergence from measures of wellbeing (e.g. ICECAP-A). Findings Items were co-developed to assess harms across multiple components: wellbeing (mental, physical), relationships (personal, social/community), and resources (financial, occupational, ethical). This process refined the instrument to be non-stigmatising, person-centred and reflecting the language of lived experience, to reduce biases related to denial and social desirability, with a 3-month recall period, and a focus on harms that are dynamic and responsive to recovery pathways, rather than static, unchangeable harms (i.e. divorce, bankruptcy).Quantitative validation supported unidimensional measurement, good reliability (GHSI-10 α = 0.94, GHSI-AO-10 α = 0.95), convergent validity with existing measures (rho > .7), and criterion-related validity with measures of wellbeing (GHSI-10 rho < -.3, GHSI-AO-10 rho < -.23). Both GHSI-10 and GHSI-AO-10 met all RMT fit criteria, did not display infit or outfit, had well-ordered and fitting response options, and rationally ordered item locations. Conclusions The GHSI-10 and GHSI-AO-10 are psychometrically valid tools, co-designed to support research, service commissioning, and outcome evaluation across the gambling treatment and support ecosystem. They are grounded in diverse lived experience and aligned with public health principles.
Validation of the French translation of the Recovery Knowledge Inventory in a large sample
Jean Drogo; Damien Frigi; guillaume barbalat; Renaud F. Cohen
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The Recovery Knowledge Inventory (RKI) is a tool used to measure mental health practitioners' knowledge and attitudes towards recovery-oriented practices (Bedregal et al., 2006). This widely used tool is not yet available in French. This study aims to translate, culturally adapt, and validate a French version of the RKI (RKI-fr) within a population of French caregivers. Following standard guidelines, the 20-item scale was first translated using a back-translation method, resulting in a 20-item French version. After approval by the original authors, this version was completed online by 335 mental health practitioners working in psychiatric and addiction care in France. The responses were analyzed using Multidimensional Item Response Theory (MIRT). The initial 20-item model presented acceptable fit indices, even though two of the items had low factor loadings. After removing these items, the resulting 18-item version retained the same four-factor structure as the original, with acceptable marginal reliability coefficients for the 4 factors. This version also exhibited adequate and improved fit indices with RMSEA =.03; CI [0.02; 0.05]; SRMR=0.07; TLI=0.97; CFI= 0.98. The challenges of cross-cultural translation, in particular, the semantic nuances of risk-taking items and stages of treatment, are discussed. These nuances may have influenced respondents’ interpretation, resulting in some items’ poor factor loading. This 18-item French version (RKI-fr) provides an effective tool for assessing and promoting recovery-oriented practices in French-speaking contexts.
Beyond Lotteries: Affect Guides and Modulates Nonmonetary Risky Choice
Kamil FuƂawka; Thorsten Pachur
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The development of formal models of decision making under risk has largely focused on monetary outcomes. Cumulative prospect theory (CPT), the most prominent model, describes monetary choices well but performs less well for nonmonetary, nonnumerical outcomes (e.g., medications with side effects). We suggest that affective processes, which are omitted in CPT, play a larger role in nonmonetary than in monetary choices, and propose two psychologically motivated modifications: (a) using affect ratings rather than monetary equivalents to represent the subjective value of nonmonetary outcomes (affective valuation); and (b) allowing the probability weighting of an outcome to depend on the amount of affect triggered in a choice problem (affective probability weighting). In a model comparison involving four datasets (N=240), we show that the modifications improve model performance relative to standard CPT for the nonmonetary, but not for the monetary choices. A complementary eye-tracking study on nonmonetary choice (N=68) further supported the predictions of affective probability weighting: increasing risk aversion and decreasing attention to probabilities, as the affective value of the worst outcome in a choice problem increases. Our work integrates previous ideas on how affect modulates decision processes in naturalistic nonmonetary contexts and offers a refined framework for modeling such decisions.
Emotional Experience in the Face of Stress: The Contribution of Attentional Bias to Negative Expectancy and Anxiety
Chiara Ventris; Colin MacLeod; Daniel Rudaizky; Ben Grafton
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People vary in their levels of anxiety vulnerability, and this could result from individual differences in underlying cognitive bias. Previous research has established that attentional bias to negative information about an upcoming stressor predicts the development of negative expectancies concerning this stressor, which in turn predict higher levels of anxiety vulnerability. The present study tested the hypothesis that negative attentional bias plays a causal role in this relationship. Participants (N = 71) were exposed to videos conveying negative and benign information concerning an upcoming stressor, in a task designed to induce either attentional bias towards or away from the negative information. This experimental manipulation was successful in creating two groups of participants who differed, as intended, in negative attentional bias. Consistent with the causal hypothesis under test, this experimental manipulation of attentional bias also resulted in a corresponding group difference in anxiety vulnerability, as indicated by level of subsequent state anxiety assessed proximal to the stressor. Moreover, also as predicted by this hypothesis, mediation analysis confirmed that the causal impact of the attentional bias manipulation on state anxiety was indirect, and was mediated by its direct causal impact on negative expectancy bias concerning the stressor. Thus, our findings support the hypothesis that attentional bias to negative information concerning upcoming stressors serves causally to elevate level of state anxiety experienced proximal to such stressors, by driving the development of negative expectancies about them. We discuss the ways in which these results advance theoretical understanding and consider their potential applied implications
Borderline Personality Disorder and Anorexia Nervosa: A Theoretical Review of Shared Psychopathology with a Conceptual Framework
Valentin Radoi; Andrea Phillipou
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Anorexia nervosa and borderline personality disorder are both often characterized by a chronic, long-term course and high premature mortality. Despite their severity and overlapping clinical features such as emotional dysregulation, self-destructiveness, and disturbances in identity, they have rarely been examined together. This theoretical review synthesizes evidence across domains, with a primary focus on psychological research and theoretical integration. Existing findings indicate partial overlap in vulnerability pathways, including relational trauma, attachment insecurity, and maladaptive emotion regulation, while also revealing distinct contextual expressions - embodied through control and restriction in anorexia nervosa, and enacted interpersonally through attachment ruptures and invalidating relational dynamics in borderline personality disorder. Drawing on these convergences, we propose a theoretical model in which shame-driven, self-reinforcing cycles may link emotional dysregulation with disturbances of the self. Within this framework, restrictive control in anorexia nervosa and impulsive self-destructive behavior in borderline personality disorder may represent parallel attempts to regulate unbearable affect and preserve a fragmented sense of identity. This integrative perspective emphasizes the shared psychopathological mechanisms that may contribute to both conditions, framing their overlap as reflecting partially convergent dynamics between affect regulation and identity disturbance. It highlights avenues for future longitudinal and therapeutic research aimed at testing and refining these conceptual links.
Instinctual Refinement Therapy: A Predictive Coding and Memory Reconsolidation Framework for Psychotherapy Integration
Mohammad Zafar Iqbal
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This article introduces Instinctual Refinement Therapy (IRT) , a structured transdiagnostic protocol that bridges the divide between psychodynamic therapy's etiological depth and cognitive-behavioral therapy's empirical rigor. Integrating psychodynamic therapy's etiological depth with cognitive-behavioral therapy's empirical rigor constitutes a fundamental challenge for psychotherapy science. IRT conceptualizes psychopathology as instinctual dysregulation—maladaptive calibration of evolutionarily conserved motivational systems (Security, Attachment, Agency, Orexis) through entrenched pathological priors. Adverse childhood experiences generate these pathological priors, which subsequently distort perception, emotion, and behavior via predictive coding processes. The IRT protocol systematically targets these computational mechanisms through sequential phases including Thematic Writing, Systematic Belief Challenging, and Belief Destabilization, deliberately inducing prediction error to collapse dysfunctional generative models and facilitate belief updating via memory reconsolidation. By integrating developmental etiology with structured methodology within a neuro-computational framework, IRT offers a unified, testable approach to transformational change while generating specific hypotheses for computational psychiatry research.
Subconscious prediction of external signals during mind-wandering, but not focused attention, mental states. N-of-1 study.
Anatol Bragin
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This publication represents a “N-of-1” study where experiments were designed and performed by the same person. The data were collected and analyzed, considering all the necessary statistical requirements. The goal of the study was to investigate electrographic correlates of two mental states: mind wandering (MW) and focused attention (FA). The transition from MW to FA was initiated by the click that occurred at three minutes of the MW session. The presented data showed that, on average, during FA, the power in the delta frequency band is lower than during the MW state; however, the analysis of sequential time windows revealed that these changes occur only during the first 8 seconds of the FA mental state. Microstate analysis revealed changes in multiple microstate parameters, but only during the first two seconds of the focused attention state. An unexpected finding was an increase in Global Field Power (GFP) of microstates in the 10-8-second window preceding the switch from MW to the FA state. This prediction was detected in the MW state, but not in the FA state. The precision and accuracy of prediction during the MW state were twice as good as those of the prediction performed intentionally in the FA state. These data indicate that our brain is subconsciously observing the external environment and making predictions of upcoming events that occur at long, such as 3 minutes, intervals, such as three minutes. The presented results require further confirmation in other subjects and other experimental paradigms.
Cross-temporal replication of the relationship between SDO and political attitudes in Japan: SDO and attitudes shifted but the relationship holds.
Ryu Takahashi; Hirotaka Imada; Nobuhiro Mifune
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Intergroup conflicts lead to devastating consequences and the elucidation of the cause of conflicts has been one of the central and pressing issues. Previous studies found that social dominance orientation (SDO) is a strong predictor of individual differences in endorsing specific policies that can enhance intergroup conflict, such as increasing defense costs. While the relationship between SDO and some specific policies has been examined in Western contexts, there has been much less research in non-Western contexts. Moreover, previous studies revealed that the relationship varies between non-Western countries. We conducted a study (N = 560) to replicate the positive correlation between SDO and political attitudes related to conservatism in Mifune and Yokota (2018) who collected the data in 2012. Using Bayesian inferences, we showed that while SDO and some policy attitudes have changed between samples over the last ten years, the correlation between them remained mostly unchanged even after controlling for conservatism. We discuss the consistency of the relationship between SDO and conservative political attitudes in the past ten years in Japan.
The psychophysics of compositionality: Relational scene perception occurs in a canonical order
Zekun Sun; Chaz Firestone; Alon Hafri
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We see not only objects and their features (e.g., glass vases or wooden tables) but also relations between them (e.g., a vase on a table). An emerging view accounts for such relational representations by positing that visual perception is compositional: Much like language, where words combine to form phrases and sentences, many visual representations contain discrete constituents that combine systematically. This perspective raises a fundamental question: What principles guide the composition of relational representations, and how are they built over time? Here, we tested the hypothesis that the mind constructs relational representations in a canonical order. Inspired by a distinction from cognitive linguistics, we predicted that 'reference' objects (typically large, stable, and able to physically control other objects; e.g., tables) take precedence over 'figure' objects (e.g., vases) during scene composition. In Experiment 1, participants who arranged items to match linguistic descriptions (e.g., "The vase is on the table", "The table is supporting the vase") consistently placed reference objects first (e.g., table, then vase). Experiments 2–5 extended these findings to visual recognition itself: participants were faster to verify scene descriptions when reference objects appeared before figure objects in a scene, rather than vice versa. This Reference-first advantage emerged rapidly (within 100 ms), persisted in a purely visual task, and reflected abstract principles (e.g., physical forces) beyond simple differences in size or shape. Our findings reveal psychophysical principles underlying compositionality in visual processing: the mind builds representations of object relations sequentially, guided by the objects' roles in those relations.
Laughter indicates perceived similarity among friends and strangers
Adrienne Wood; Sareena Chadha; Caimiao Liu; Qifang Yuan; Alec Davis; Abdo Elnakouri; Abigail Scholer; Steven M. Boker
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Laughter is a signature of social connection, thought to communicate a shared understanding of nonseriousness. Building on this idea, the present work examines whether people laugh more when they perceive similarity with their social partner, or instead, feel more similar when they laugh. Participants (N = 132) had semi-structured conversations with both a friend and a stranger, discussing ways they were similar to and different from one another. Although conversation topic did not affect overall laughter, friends laughed even more than strangers when discussing their differences. Baseline perceived similarity in identity, behavior, and beliefs predicted how much dyads laughed and colaughed; however, laughter did not predict post-conversation perceived similarity. Participants laughed more if they felt similar to their partner or if their partner felt similar to them. To test whether laughter reflects shared understanding, we used overall laughter to predict both subjective experiences and verbal expressions of shared reality (e.g., saying “I agree”). Laughter predicted verbal expressions of shared reality, but not self-reported experience. Further, laughter and verbal agreement appeared to serve overlapping conversational functions: when laughter occurred, shared reality verbal expressions became less likely in the next two seconds. A subset analysis of friend dyads showed that only perceived similarity—not actual similarity—predicted laughter. In sum, conversational laughter seems to reflect, but not generate, the sense of similarity and shared understanding that underlies social connection.
Homogenizing Effect of Large Language Models (LLMs) on Creative Diversity: An Empirical Comparison of Human and ChatGPT Writing
Kibum Moon; Adam Green; Kostadin Kushlev
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Generative AI systems, especially Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, have recently emerged as significant contributors to creative processes. While LLMs can produce creative content that might be as good as or even better than human-created content, their widespread use risks reducing creative diversity across groups of people. In the present research, we aimed to quantify this homogenizing effect of LLMs on creative diversity, not only at the individual level but also at the collective level. Across three preregistered studies, we analyzed 2,200 college admissions essays. Using a novel measure—the diversity growth rate—we showed that each additional human-written essay contributed more new ideas than did each additional GPT-4 essay. Notably, this difference became more pronounced as more essays were included in the analysis and persisted despite efforts to enhance AI-generated content through both prompt and parameter modifications. Overall, our findings suggest that, despite their potential to enhance individual creativity, the widespread use of LLMs could diminish the collective diversity of creative ideas.
Two Wrongs Is What Makes It More Right: How Retaliatory Incivility Receives Social Leniency
Merrick Robinson Osborne; Suhaib Abdurahman; Ali Omrani; Jackson Trager; Morteza Dehghani
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Incivility is largely denounced; yet, our focus on its ills has inhibited our ability to determine when incivility could garner rewards. We propose that retaliatory incivility – i.e., incivility in response to someone else’s incivility — is seen as more virtuous than instigatory incivility, and consequently generates more social rewards for actors. To test these hypotheses, we used observational data from Reddit (2,252,607 comments) to compare how many social rewards users were granted when they responded uncivilly to civil or uncivil posts from other users. We then experimentally confirm our hypotheses in a sample of Reddit users, as well as five samples of participants from different contexts of group incivility; hockey fans, baseball fans, employees, workplace teams. Together, our findings challenge conventional wisdom: retaliatory incivility can be a surprising path to social rewards. Thus, as incivility rises internationally, our findings have far-reaching theoretical and practical implications.
Exploring the Prevalence and Quality of Online-Only Friendships Among Adolescents
Kimberly Michelle Molaib; Alexia Clothilde Clothilde Carrizales; Gabriela FernĂĄndez-Theoduloz; Marissa Areola Vargas; Caleb Lee; LucĂ­a Magis-Weinberg
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A growing share of youth now have “online-only” friends that they have never interacted with in-person, yet little is known about the quality of these friendships or how closely they mirror in-person friendships. This study explores the (1) prevalence, (2) quality of in-person and online-only friendships, and (3) age and gender differences in these characteristics among Latin American youth. In Study 1, 5159 students between 10–17 years of age from Peru reported on the prevalence and perceived positive qualities of online-only and in-person friendships. In Study 2, 3154 students from Bolivia and Uruguay reported on the prevalence and positive and negative qualities of their in-person and online-only friendship(s). We analyzed cross-sectional trends in friendship quality (Studies 1 and 2) and, for a subset of youth with available data in Study 2 (N = 506), changes in the prevalence and quality of friendships between two data waves. More than one-third of participants reported having an online-only friend and, on average, declared twice as many in-person friends. Best in-person friendships involved both greater closeness but also greater discord than best online-only friendships. There were no differences in exclusion. Boys reported greater intensity of overall discord towards their best in-person friends and online-only friends compared to girls. In contrast, girls reported stronger closeness towards their best in-person friends than boys. Older adolescents reported stronger closeness towards their best online-only friends than younger adolescents. The findings indicate that adolescents rely on in-person friends for positive friendship support to a greater extent than online-only friends. However, despite overwhelming emphasis on the psychological drawbacks of online friendships, our findings suggest these friendships may also be associated with less negative qualities and do not necessarily discourage formation of in-person friendships.
Cortico-subcortical neural timescale alignment underlies speech recognition in noise
Shota A. Murai; Kie Horikoshi; Aaron Nakamura; Takamitsu Watanabe
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Speech recognition recruits the auditory-language brain system for accurate segregation and integration of complex linguistic information that consists of various acoustic signals with various timescales. However, whether and how such multi-timescale auditory information processing is linked with the neural timescale of the auditory-language system remains unclear. To answer this, we compared behavioural performance on a speech-in-noise recognition test with the intrinsic neural timescales (INTs) of the auditory-language system. We found that the speech recognition ability was not correlated with the INT of the entire auditory-language network but was enhanced when the INT of the frontotemporal sub-system in the auditory-language network was close to that of the inferior colliculus, an auditory midbrain region. Moreover, this cortico-subcortical INT similarity was associated with the task-related neural activity in the frontotemporal sub-system. These findings indicate that the better cortico-subcortical INT alignment facilitates the activation of the auditory-language cortical system, resulting in accurate speech processing.
Unpacking Conceptions of Being American in Relation to Identity and Mental Health Among Emerging Adults of Color
Dulce Wilkinson Westberg; Michelle Pasco; Bethany Cruz; Shima Golmohamadi; Alan Meca
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Objective: To explore how U.S. youth of color understand American identity, particularly amid heightened racial/ethnic and political tensions. Methods: We used quantitative methods to analyze inductive themes in qualitative responses from 450 emerging adults of color collected during the first administration of Donald Trump. Results: We identified themes around what it means to be American, ways youth felt American, and ways youth felt not American. Themes varied based on race/ethnicity, gender, and nativity, revealing diversity in how American identity is experienced. Themes also related to measures of cultural identity and mental health. Conclusion: Findings underscore the complexity of national identity among youth of color who are navigating what it means to be American amid sociopolitical conflict.
Executive Functioning Is Linked to Mental Health Challenges Among Autistic Adults with Higher Support Needs
Ethan Greenstein; Nancy Raitano Lee; Goldie McQuaid; Gregory Wallace
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Executive function (EF) refers to a set of cognitive skills essential for self-regulation, problem solving, and goal-directed behavior. Although EF’s relationship with co-occurring psychopathology is well established in autistic individuals without intellectual disability, its role in autistic individuals with higher support needs, including those with intellectual disability, remains underexplored, particularly beyond childhood. The present study addresses this gap by examining associations between three EF components (flexibility, emotion regulation, and inhibitory control) and symptoms of anxiety and depression in 486 autistic adults with higher support needs (ages 18–68; M = 31.07), recruited through the Simons Powering Autism Research (SPARK) Research Match service. Caregivers completed the Flexibility Scale, the Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale (inhibitory control and emotion regulation subscales), and the Anxiety, Depression, and Mood Scale (ADAMS; anxiety and depression subscales). Hierarchical linear regressions, controlling for age, sex assigned at birth, and co- occurring intellectual disability, revealed that greater difficulties with flexibility and emotion regulation were significantly associated with elevated anxiety and depression symptoms, whereas inhibitory control difficulties were not. These findings identify flexibility and emotion regulation as key correlates of internalizing symptoms in autistic adults with higher support needs, highlighting their potential as targets for interventions aimed at improving mental health outcomes in this group.
Momentary Stress and Social Context among Adolescents at Risk for Suicide: An Experience Sampling Study
Paul Alexander Bloom; Hanga Galfalvy; Alma Bitran; Ashley Blanchard; Lauren Chernick; Peter Dayan; Katherine Durham; Julia Greenblatt; Karla Joyce; Jaclyn Schwartz Kirshenbaum
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Adolescent suicide is a public health emergency with interpersonal factors playing a critical role in risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB). This study examined whether smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment (EMA) surveys capturing stress and social context could enhance the identification of youth at risk for STB. Adolescents ages 13-18-years-old (N=207, 166 female sex) reporting depressive, anxiety, and/or substance use disorders were recruited from psychiatric outpatient programs, emergency departments, medical research registries, and social media. Participants with STB history were oversampled; 66% reported current suicidal ideation and 27% had a past-year attempt. Assessments of suicidal events (attempts, emergency department visits, hospitalizations for suicide concerns) were completed at baseline, 1-, 3-, and 6-month follow-up assessments. EMA probed momentary stress severity, affect, and recent social context (time spent with peers, family, or alone) 4-7x/day. Compared to psychiatric controls (N=64), adolescents with STB history (N=143) were more likely to report spending time alone (aOR=1.75, 95% CI=[1.15, 2.39]), less time with family (aOR=0.59, 95% CI=[0.31, 0.91]), and higher stress (d=0.28). Further, EMA of stress (aOR=1.86, 95% CI=[1.11, 3.26]) and negative affect (aOR=2.32, 95% CI=[1.34, 4.36]) were prospectively associated with suicidal events above and beyond prior STB history. Broadly, results were similar between EMA measures of stress and negative affect, indicating such responses may reflect shared underlying processes. These findings underscore the importance of evaluating dynamic family and peer contact among adolescents at risk for STB and highlight EMA as a potential tool for assessing interpersonal exposures related to STB risk.
Whole number interference in rational number processing: Neuroimaging evidence from decimal comparison
Miriam Rosenberg-Lee; Piper Louise Rennerfeldt; Chinedu Nkwo; Portia Shaheed; Linsah Coulanges; Ravi Mill; Michael W. Cole; Melanie Pincus; Roberto A. Abreu-Mendoza
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Relative to fractions, decimal numbers are thought to be easier for students to learn because they employ the base-10 system as whole numbers. However, unlike whole numbers, larger decimals can have fewer digits, leading to worse performance when comparing Inconsistent decimal pairs, like 0.8 vs. 0.26, than Consistent pairs like 0.86 vs. 0.2. Students may be applying the whole number rule: “more digits = larger number” or they could be ignoring the decimal points and comparing 8 vs. 26. This study used neuroimaging and our specially designed stimulus set to distinguish between these possibilities. We focused on the intraparietal sulcus (IPS), implicated in numerical magnitude processing, and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and insula, implicated in inhibitory control. We found no neural differences between Consistent and Inconsistent comparisons, suggesting that the number of digits does not drive brain responses in skilled adults (n=21). Instead, for Consistent comparisons, we found that the IPS was sensitive to the actual distance between the decimals, while the ACC showed this pattern for Inconsistent comparisons. Crucially, we also examined the effect of the distance between the decimal pairs when ignoring the decimal point. Here, we found sensitivity to this distance among Inconsistent comparisons in the IPS and insula, suggesting that whole number referents are automatically processed during decimal comparison and require engagement of cognitive control regions to counteract. More broadly, our results underscore the unique challenges of decimal notation, revealing the need for educational practices that emphasize differences to whole numbers rather than highlighting similarities.
The Currency of Mood: Assessing Acceptance and Privacy Preferences of Third-party Financial Data Sharing in Bipolar Disorder
Jeff Brozena; Johnna Blair; Dahlia Mukherjee; Erika F.H. Saunders; Thomas Richardson; Mark Matthews; Saeed Abdullah
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Objectives: Bipolar disorder is strongly associated with financial instability. We examine how different interventions motivate individuals with bipolar disorder to share financial data with others. This approach can inform the development of tools for digital monitoring and intervention designed to promote financial stability in this population. Methods: 500 individuals with BD completed a pre-registered factorial vignette survey to examine level of comfort with hypothetical scenarios involving third-party financial interventions during symptomatic and euthymic periods. Scenario components were systematically varied between third-party actors, mood states, and intervention types. Participants rated sharing comfort on a 0-10 point scale. Multilevel models tested differences alongside clinical and financial histories, relational trust, and personality. Results: Participants were most comfortable involving care partners in financial planning. They were more comfortable with temporary spending restrictions during symptomatic states than euthymic periods, underscoring the importance of accurate mood detection for intervention delivery. Prior financial help-seeking behavior and higher relational trust predicted greater comfort. Bankruptcy experience — declared by 11.4% and considered by 31.7% — was associated with increased comfort with spending restrictions. Individuals with psychiatric advance directives (8%) were significantly more comfortable sharing spending behaviors than those without. Conclusions: Comfort with financial interventions was higher among those with prior financial challenges or help-seeking histories. Participants distinguished between symptomatic and euthymic periods, favoring targeted, time-limited restrictions over general monitoring. These findings extend prior work on financial data sharing for illness self-management, highlighting the role of trusted third parties in designing acceptable, effective interventions.
A triple blind, randomized study investigating the stress reducing effects of L-theanine following caffeine intake
Darius Krutzek; Florian Paulus; Kimberly Heinecke; Emily Klose; Lena Kipper
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Background Caffeine is the most widely consumed nootropic worldwide and is frequently used to temporarily enhance cognitive performance. However, caffeine-induced effects on physiological arousal are also associated with side effects, which can exacerbate psychological stress symptoms in social performance situations. The amino acid L-theanine has shown potential to modulate these adverse effects of caffeine by reducing caffeine-augmented stress responses without impairing its desired cognitive effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the spontaneous modulatory effects of L-theanine on caffeine-enhanced stress in acute social stress situations. Method A total of 46 healthy participants (83% female, aged 18–30 years) were examined for differences in stress reactivity during a standardized psychological stress test (Trier Social Stress Test for Groups, TSST-G). The study compared the effects of a single dose of caffeine alone versus a combination of caffeine and L-theanine. Specific stress constituents including subjective stress, anxiety, physical discomfort, desire to leave the situation, tension, and perceived control were assessed. Furthermore, group effects, trait anxiety, caffeine consumption, and temporal changes in reported stress were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA with covariates. Results The combination of caffeine and L-theanine resulted in a spontaneous attenuation of tension in social stress situations compared to caffeine alone. Conclusions Results suggest that L-theanine attenuates certain stress effects of caffeine in acute social stress situations. This highlights the potential of the L-theanine and caffeine combination as a dual nootropic agent, offering both stress-reducing effects and the practicality of a substance suitable for cognitive performance enhancement. Future research should further investigate the mechanisms underlying these effects by incorporating physiological markers such as cortisol and cognitive performance tests.
Differences in gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation across latent classes of suicide ideation
Lily Wanlu Martin; Si Ning Yeo; Jeremy Gordon Stewart
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Objective: This study aimed to identify latent classes of suicidal thought content and suicide-related behaviour. Further, we tested whether classes differentially represented people based on key aspects of social identity. Method: Young adults (N = 447) who endorsed recent suicide ideation completed the Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors Interview-Revised (Fox et al., 2020). A latent class analysis was conducted with lifetime suicidal thoughts and suicide planning, preparation, and attempt. Classes were compared on gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and their intersections. Results: There were three distinct classes of suicide ideation: Low Risk (23.04% of participants; consisting of passive thoughts), Moderate Risk (36.91%; passive thoughts and planning a way or method), and High Risk (40.04%; passive and active thoughts, planning a way or method and place, preparation, and attempt). The Moderate Risk class overrepresented racialized people compared to the High Risk class, p = .017, which overrepresented 2SLGBTQIA+ people compared to either of the other classes, ps < .001. Intersectional differences emerged but were nonsignificant after adjusting for multiple comparisons. Conclusion: Our study improves knowledge about patterns of suicide ideation and suicide-related behaviour, and differences in their prevalence based on major axes and intersections of social identity.
Collective problem decomposition drives the wisdom of deliberative crowds
Federico Barrera-Lemarchand; Laura Victoria Lescano Charreau; Julieta Ruiz; Nuria Caceres; Facundo Carrillo; Mariano Sigman; Joaquin Navajas
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Understanding when and why social interaction improves human judgment is a central question in the behavioural sciences. We examine whether accuracy increases when groups break problems into parts and generate approximate solutions, a process we call Collective Fermi Estimation. We tested this idea across three studies by analysing over 1,000 online group deliberations in text chatrooms. Study 1 (N=500) shows that greater use of problem decomposition in group discussions predicts lower error. Study 2 (N=240) provides causal evidence: instructing groups to apply problem decomposition leads to higher accuracy than combining initial estimates. Study 3 (N=160) shows the advantage arises when applied collectively rather than by individuals working alone. We also introduce a scalable natural language method to detect problem decomposition in deliberation text and predict collective accuracy. These findings identify problem decomposition as a key mechanism behind the wisdom of deliberative crowds and provide tools to detect and promote it.
Use of everyday memory strategies predicts subjective cognitive difficulties across the adult lifespan
Louise A. Brown Nicholls; Julia-marie lukas; Gerard Campbell; Linzi Frances Crawford; Lazaro Jackson
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The relationship between everyday cognitive strategy use and subjective cognition is unclear, but may be driven by an active, compensatory process in response to experiencing cognitive difficulties. However, the available evidence tends to focus on specific age groups, and on relationships with general cognition or memory performance only. We uniquely investigated the influence of age, cognitive strategy use, and their potential interaction, on the everyday cognitive difficulties of 606 United Kingdom-based adults aged 18-86. Participants completed self-report measures of everyday cognitive difficulties across specific domains (attention, visual-perceptual ability, verbal and visual-spatial memory, and language) and strategy use, both memory-specific and generalized (e.g. setting an alarm to help remember something or breaking down complex tasks). Age was negatively associated with frequency of strategy use, such that younger adults reported greater strategy use. Moderated regression models, with strategy use as a predictor of cognitive difficulty and age as the moderator, revealed that more frequent use of memory-specific cognitive strategies, rather than generalized strategy use, was the most robust, unique predictor of greater difficulties across the majority of cognitive domains. Importantly, there was no interaction between age and cognitive strategy use for any cognitive domain, highlighting that cognitive strategy use is pervasive across the adult lifespan, and is related to a range of subjective cognitive difficulties. The findings underscore the significant, apparently compensatory relationship between strategy use and subjective cognition. They also reveal scope for older adults to incorporate more frequent use of cognitive strategies in everyday life.
Assessing Media and Science Literacy in Adults: A Scoping Review of Existing Assessment Tools
Vincent Gosselin Boucher; Frédérique Deslauriers; Camille Léger; Florence Coulombe-Raymond; Noemie Tremblay; Ariane Belanger-Gravel
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Individual’s capacity to navigate today’s complex information landscape has become a critical issue, particularly in the context of public health, where misinformation poses significant risks. This scoping review aimed to identify and describe existing tools for assessing media and science literacies, including their definitions, conceptual frameworks, psychometric properties, and target populations. A comprehensive search of English and French publications was conducted up to July 11, 2023, across PUBMED, Embase (Ovid), PsycINFO, Cochrane Databases of Systematic Reviews, and Scopus. Of 5,910 unique references, 32 articles met the final inclusion criteria: 16 on media literacy and 16 on science literacy. Fifteen media literacy tools were identified, focusing on traditional and digital media. Most used Likert-scale items, with some incorporating open-ended responses. These tools assessed skills such as critical thinking, digital proficiency, and awareness of the socio-political context of media content. Twelve tools assessed science literacy, covering general knowledge, environmental health, and specific scientific domains. They measured cognitive, behavioural, and attitudinal dimensions using various formats, including Likert scales, multiple-choice, and open-ended items. This review highlights diverse approaches to media and science literacy assessment and calls for interdisciplinary, digitally responsive tools co-developed with educators, experts, and underrepresented communities.
The Co-structuring of Gesture-Vocal Dynamics: An Exploration in Karnatak Music Performance
Lara Pearson; Thomas Nuttall; Wim Pouw
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In music performance contexts, vocalists tend to gesture with hand and upper body movements as they sing. But how does this gesturing relate to the sung phrases, and how do singers’ gesturing styles differ from each other? In this study, we present a quantitative analysis and visualization pipeline that characterizes the multidimensional co-structuring of body movements and vocalizations in vocal performers. We apply this to a dataset of performances within the Karnatak music tradition of South India, including audio and motion tracking data of 44 performances by three expert Karnatak vocalists, openly published with this report. Our results show that time-varying features of head and hand gestures tend to be more similar when the concurrent vocal time-varying features are also more similar. While for each performer we find clear co-structuring of sound and movement, they each show their own characteristic salient dimensions (e.g., hand position, head acceleration) on which movement co-structures with singing. Our time-series analyses thereby provide a computational approach to characterizing individual vocalists’ unique multimodal vocal-gesture co-structuring profiles. We also show that co-structuring clearly reduces degrees of freedom of the multimodal performance such that motifs that sound alike tend to co-structure with gestures that move alike. The current method can be applied to any multimodally ensembled signals in both human and non-human communication, to determine co-structuring profiles and explore any reduction in degrees of freedom. In the context of Karnatak singing performance, the current analysis is an important starting point for further experimental study of gesture-vocal synergies.
A Tutorial on Safe Anytime-Valid Inference: Practical Maximally Flexible Sampling Designs for Experiments Based on e-Values
Alexander Ly; Udo Boehm; Peter GrĂŒnwald; Aaditya Ramdas; Don van Ravenzwaaij
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We demonstrate how e-values simplify both experimental design and the inference process. With e-values researchers can perform anytime-valid tests and construct confidence intervals that maintain type I error control regardless of the sample size. This enables real-time monitoring of evidence as data are collected, permitting early termination of experiments without intolerably inflating the risk of false discoveries. Early stopping not only con- serves resources, but also mitigates risk for participants in clinical settings. Anytime-valid tests allow for optional continuation, that is, the extension of an experiment, for instance if more funds become available, or even if the evidence looks promising and the funding agency, a reviewer, or an editor urges the experimenter to collect more data. Analogously, a researcher can be assured that a 95% anytime-valid confidence interval will, with at least 95% probability, cover the true effect size regardless of how, or even if, data collection is stopped. We use the free and open-source software package safestats implemented in R to illustrate the practical benefits of this novel inference framework.
A triple blind, randomized study investigating the stress reducing effects of L-theanine following caffeine intake
Darius Krutzek; Florian Paulus; Kimberly Heinecke; Emily Klose; Lena Kipper
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Background Caffeine is the most widely consumed nootropic worldwide and is frequently used to temporarily enhance cognitive performance. However, caffeine-induced effects on physiological arousal are also associated with side effects, which can exacerbate psychological stress symptoms in social performance situations. The amino acid L-theanine has shown potential to modulate these adverse effects of caffeine by reducing caffeine-augmented stress responses without impairing its desired cognitive effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the spontaneous modulatory effects of L-theanine on caffeine-enhanced stress in acute social stress situations. Method A total of 46 healthy participants (83% female, aged 18–30 years) were examined for differences in stress reactivity during a standardized psychological stress test (Trier Social Stress Test for Groups, TSST-G). The study compared the effects of a single dose of caffeine alone versus a combination of caffeine and L-theanine. Specific stress constituents including subjective stress, anxiety, physical discomfort, desire to leave the situation, tension, and perceived control were assessed. Furthermore, group effects, trait anxiety, caffeine consumption, and temporal changes in reported stress were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA with covariates. Results The combination of caffeine and L-theanine resulted in a spontaneous attenuation of tension in social stress situations compared to caffeine alone. Conclusions Results suggest that L-theanine attenuates certain stress effects of caffeine in acute social stress situations. This highlights the potential of the L-theanine and caffeine combination as a dual nootropic agent, offering both stress-reducing effects and the practicality of a substance suitable for cognitive performance enhancement. Future research should further investigate the mechanisms underlying these effects by incorporating physiological markers such as cortisol and cognitive performance tests.
Better Safe Than Sorry? Risks and Benefits of Neuroticism in Adolescence
Larissa Lucia Wieczorek; Eva Bleckmann; Solomiia Myroniuk; Bertus F. Jeronimus; Sanne Booij; Jenny Wagner; Albertine Oldehinkel
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Neuroticism is known for detrimental outcomes, but it may also serve beneficial functions in adolescence, where avoiding and protecting oneself from threats becomes crucial. We examined the potential benefits of neuroticism (fear/frustration) across a wide range of outcomes between ages 11 to 19 (e.g., substance abuse, friend nominations) using two “mirrored” samples of Dutch adolescents followed between ages 11 to 19, one population (n=2229, 51%♀) and one clinic-referred (n=543, 34%♀) cohort. High neuroticism conveyed heightened risk but four key observations refine this picture: (1) higher fear also related to more social skills and prosocial behavior among adolescents in the clinic-referred sample; (2) fear generally related to fewer risks than frustration; (3) controlling for childhood adversity (e.g., low socioeconomic status, parental divorce) removed links between fear and most detrimental outcomes; (4) both fear and frustration were consistently associated with parent-rated social behavior problems, while other associations varied across these two scales and measurement points. Altogether, we provide initial evidence that, under certain conditions, neuroticism can also be beneficial in adolescence. Neuroticism benefits are most likely found among vulnerable individuals and in the social domain.
Clarifying the reliability paradox: poor measurement reliability attenuates group differences
Povilas Karvelis; Andreea Oliviana Diaconescu
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Cognitive sciences are grappling with the reliability paradox: measures that robustly produce within-group effects tend to have low test-retest reliability, rendering them unsuitable for studying individual differences. Despite the growing awareness of this paradox, its full extent remains underappreciated. Specifically, most research focuses exclusively on how reliability affects correlational analyses of individual differences, while largely ignoring its effects on studying group differences. Moreover, some studies explicitly and erroneously suggest that poor reliability does not pose problems for studying group differences, possibly due to conflating within- and between-group effects. In this brief report, we aim to clarify this misunderstanding. Using both data simulations and mathematical derivations, we show how observed group differences get attenuated by measurement reliability. We consider multiple scenarios, including when groups are created based on thresholding a continuous measure (e.g., patients vs. controls or median split), when groups are defined exogenously (e.g., treatment vs. control groups, or male vs. female), and how the observed effect sizes are further affected by differences in measurement reliability and between-subject variance between the groups. We provide a set of equations for calculating attenuation effects across these scenarios. This has important implications for biomarker research and clinical translation, as well as any other area of research that relies on group comparisons to inform policy and real-world applications.
Lessons Learned from an Online RDoC Positive Valence Assessment Study in Patients with a Severe Mental Illness
Marit Isabelle Broer; Marjolein Eva Andrea Barendse; Laura van den Brink-Steinmann; Anne Snijders; Monique van der Weijden-Germann; Robert Bilder; Roel Ophoff; Neeltje van Haren
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Background: Abnormal reward processing has been considered as a core feature of severe mental illness (SMI), such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Deficits in this domain can have severe implications in daily functioning, such as a decreased motivation to engage in social activities or make healthy lifestyle choices. The Online Positive Valence Study aimed to assess reward processing in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia using the NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Positive Valence Systems (PVS) framework in an online task-based study. Recruitment and study adherence fell short of expectations. Objective: The current paper critically evaluates the used methodology and shares the lessons learned of conducting an online task-based study of reward processing in a severe mental illness sample. Methods: Participants were recruited mainly via email from two existing cohorts. The research team consisted of a part-time research assistant, a part-time postdoctoral researcher and the principal investigators. The study was built using several software packages and comprised a number of questionnaires and three reward tasks, the monetary incentive delay task (MID), effort expenditure of rewards task (EEfRT) and a social and coin version of the Bandit task. From 2023 onwards, the research team accepted that the initial recruitment goal would not be attained. Results: Participants who were additionally called were over four times more likely to respond “no” and more than twice as likely to respond “yes” versus no response compared to those who received only emails. Personal salutations in invitation mails reduced the likelihood of participation compared to nonpersonal salutations. Reward task performance was largely similar between the in-lab MRI and online groups, though online participants showed longer reaction times on the MID task and lower win-stay rates on both Bandit tasks. Conclusion: It is advised to carefully consider recruiting from existing cohorts, hire full-time dedicated personnel and use personal approaches to recruitment, like phone calls, and adjust recruitment to the target population(s). Furthermore, participation should be technically as simple as possible, using for example browser-based presentation of tasks, after checking their consistency across the most common browsers. Attrition during the course of the study can be limited even more by shortening the duration of participation and/or adding gamification. Keywords: Positive Valence System; reward processing; bipolar disorder; schizophrenia; online study
Suppressing Emotional Memories
Mohith Mukund Varma; Michael Anderson
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Emotional memories enrich our lives by anchoring us to meaningful past events, but they can also become intrusive and distressing, particularly in psychiatric conditions. This chapter discusses retrieval stopping, a memory control process through which individuals actively stop or cancel the retrieval of unwanted memories when confronted with reminders. We synthesize findings from retrieval stopping studies focussing on how people suppress the retrieval of emotional memories and the resulting consequences for both memory and emotion. Our review reveals that retrieval stopping consistently impairs recall of emotional memories in healthy populations, though this capacity is compromised in clinical groups and under conditions that impair inhibitory control, such as acute stress and sleep deprivation. Neuroimaging evidence demonstrates that suppressing emotional memories engages a fronto-temporal inhibitory control pathway, with increased activation in right anterior dorsolateral prefrontal cortex alongside decreased activity in hippocampus and amygdala. Retrieval stopping induces mixed after-effects on subjective reports of valence of the suppressed content, but more reliably reduces self-reported and physiological indicators of arousal. We propose a theoretical model suggesting that retrieval and affect stopping are co-engaged processes when dealing with unwanted emotional memories and thoughts, both relying on shared inhibitory control mechanisms to prevent neural reinstatement of the original trace. This integrated perspective emphasizes that regulating emotional memories requires interrupting the neural reinstatement of both their mnemonic and affective components. By framing inhibitory control as a central mechanism linking the regulation of memory and emotion, the model offers a unifying account for understanding how individuals manage unwanted memories and the emotional distress they evoke.
Differences Between Men and Women in Long-Term Outcomes of ADHD
N.E. van der Plas; Anne Marije Kaag; Barbara Franke; Catharina Hartman; Pieter Hoekstra; Nanda Rommelse; Emma Sprooten; Jaap Oosterlaan; Marjolein Luman; Siri Noordermeer
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Background. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent childhood-onset disorder, with increased risk for negative long-term outcomes in adulthood. These outcomes may differ between men/boys and women/girls with ADHD, but whether these differences are more pronounced in ADHD or similar to those in the general population remains unclear. Method. In an 18-year follow-up of 283 children it was assessed if sex moderated a variety of long-term outcomes across seven domains in those with ADHD, 50 women (Mage = 27.36) and 104 men (Mage = 29.40), and without ADHD, 77 women (Mage = 28.32) and 52 men (Mage = 27.94). Additional analyses explored the role of gender-expression. Results. Sex interacted with group for social functioning, where men with ADHD were more likely to show lower social functioning compared to women with ADHD and controls. There were no sex differences on the other outcomes. As sex and gender-expression were highly similar (r = .94), specific effects of gender-expression could not be studied. Conclusions. Generally, sex did not have a more pronounced effect on long-term outcomes of childhood ADHD in individuals with ADHD compared to the general population. Gender-expression could not be studied in our predominantly cis-gendered sample.
A behavioral reinvestigation of the effect of long ties on social contagions
Luca Lazzaro; Manuel Sebastian Mariani; Rene Algesheimer; Radu Tanase
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Faced with uncertainty in decision making, individuals often turn to their social networks to inform their decisions. In consequence, these networks become central to how new products and behaviors spread. A key structural feature of networks is the presence of long ties, which connect individuals who share few mutual contacts. Under what conditions do long ties facilitate or hinder diffusion? The literature provides conflicting results, largely due to differing assumptions about individual decision-making. We reinvestigate the role of long ties by experimentally measuring adoption decisions under social influence for products with uncertain payoffs and embedding these decisions in network simulations. At the individual level, we find that higher payoff uncertainty increases the average reliance on social influence. However, personal traits such as risk preferences and attitudes toward uncertainty lead to substantial heterogeneity in how individuals respond to social influence. At the collective level, the observed individual heterogeneity ensures that long ties consistently promote diffusion, but their positive effect weakens as uncertainty increases. Our results reveal that the effect of long ties is not determined by whether the aggregate process is a simple or complex contagion, but by the extent of heterogeneity in how individuals respond to social influence.
After Intimacy? Feminine Intimacy and the Digital Containment System
Danni Chi; Jiana Wang
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This article introduces the digital containment system (DCS), a theoretical framework for understanding how intimacy is reorganized in datafied societies. Extending Bion’s notion of containment, the DCS comprises three interdependent layers: AI-based interactions that provide simulated empathy and co-regulation; social media publics that aggregate and validate affect; and algorithmic infrastructures that learn and normalize emotional patterns through feedback loops. Centering women’s experiences, the essay argues that these digital containers enable expressive repair and identity work while relocating emotional labour from interpersonal to technological systems. Declining marriage and fertility rates are thus read not as signs of moral decline, but as indications of a relational modernization lag, where emotional expectations outpace institutional adaptation. Intimacy, rather than disappearing, is being redistributed across human–machine–media assemblages.
The Psychophysiology of 'Yes, And' vs. 'Yes, But': The Effect of Acceptance, Rejection and Repetition during Improvised Dialogue
Sirke SeppÀnen; Tommi Makkonen; Kaisa M Tiippana
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This study examined how acceptance, rejection, and repetition of social feedback shape implicit physiological responses and subjective stress evaluations in a naturalistic, fictional setting. Thirty-nine student teachers performed dyadic “Yes, And” (acceptance) and “Yes, But” (rejection) theatre improvisation exercises while heart rate (HR), skin conductance responses (SCR), electrodermal activity (EDA), facial muscle activity (zygomaticus major and corrugator supercilii), electroencephalographic activity (EEG alpha asymmetry), and self-reported stress were recorded. Across all improvised dialogue exercises, transient HR deceleration indicated a robust orienting response, while rejection elicited pre-stimulus slowing of HR, suggesting anticipatory threat processing. Zygomaticus major activity was higher in acceptance than rejection. Zygomaticus major activity, anticipatory HR, and self-reported stress decreased with repeated exercise. Together, the findings of this psychophysiological investigation of the “Yes, And” principle of theatre improvisation demonstrated that fictional social interactions evoke psychophysiological responses, and that repeated exposure of improvisation exercises can partially attenuate them. These findings contribute to improvisation pedagogy and experimental paradigms in social neuroscience, and may also be applied to therapeutic applications by mapping how social encounters modulate embodied responses and self-reported stress in a fictional, psychologically safe context.
From the complete MSTAT-II to a brief version: Psychometric properties and relationship with anxiety and depression in Peruvian population
Mauricio Silva-Alegria
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Ambiguity tolerance is an important psychological construct, but there is no scale available in Peru. Therefore, it was decided to develop a validation of the Spanish version of the MSTAT-II in Peru. To this end, the clarity of the items was corroborated, and a non-probability, snowball sample of 371 participants was obtained from Lima, Peru. The total sample was then split into training and test datasets. Structurally testing the previous models and a data driven model in the training dataset. The results yielded unacceptable fit indices for the MSTAT-II's previous models, so the 4-item data driven one was used on the test dataset. The data driven model showed acceptable internal structural validity, nomological network validity, and reasonable reliability. It is concluded that the MSTAT-II, on this abbreviated version, meets the criteria for structural validity, nomological network validity, and reliability.
Investigating ethnicity-related variability in the human L-cone spectral sensitivity function
Allie C. Schneider; Takuma Morimoto; Michelle McClements; Robert E. MacLaren; Hannah Smithston
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The human cone photoreceptor spectral sensitivities can differ between individuals. Large changes give rise to colour vision deficiencies, but even among colour-normals there is systematic individual variation. To limit the propagation of any systematic sampling bias in constructing the average spectral sensitivity functions used in research and industrial applications, it is useful to quantify the factors underlying this variation. The amino acid found at position 180 of OPN1LW, the gene responsible for encoding the L cone photopigment, is one source of individual variation in the L-cone spectral sensitivity. In this paper, group differences in the frequency of the L(S180) and L(A180) alleles are analysed from a combination of published reports and the genome sequencing database, gnomAD. We report evidence for significant group differences across ethnicity. Historical sampling bias in the data underlying the average L cone spectral sensitivity function therefore introduces ethnic bias in the applicability of these functions. We discuss the functional consequences of this variation by modelling failures of metamerism when this variability is not accounted for, the challenges of incorporating ethnicity variation in the existing L cone fundamental as adopted by the CIE Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage in 2006, and promising work on personalized cone fundamentals.
AI Should Develop Human Empathy, Not Replace It
Ethan Landes; Jim Albert Charlton Everett
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Empathizing with another is perhaps the most human emotion of all and a long shot from the cold calculations of vectorized tokens that drive the inner workings of contemporary LLMs. This paper looks beyond the questions of what to make of AI-generated “empathy” and instead asks whether AI can be used to develop our capacities for genuine human empathy. Empathy is not a static trait, instead capable of growth and development, and this chapter explores whether AI can and, more importantly, should be used to increase one’s empathy. Nothing in principle stands in the way of AI improving our empathy, but the possibility raises unanswered questions about whether such an approach would be effective or would backfire in unexpected ways, such as encouraging the commodification of empathy as a technological tool that can make companies money, rather than a fundamental part of the human experience.
Intuitive thinking is associated with stronger belief in physiognomy and confidence in the accuracy of facial impressions
Bastian Jaeger; Anthony M Evans; Marielle Stel; Ilja van Beest
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Physiognomy, the idea that a person’s character is reflected in their facial features, has a long history in scholarly thought. Although now widely regarded as pseudoscience in academic circles, recent work suggests that laypeople hold physiognomic beliefs and that belief endorsement is associated with support for facial profiling technology and other outcomes. Here, we investigate who believes in physiognomy in four studies (three preregistered). In a large, representative sample of the Dutch population, about 50% at least somewhat endorsed physiognomic beliefs (Study 1, n = 2,624). Belief prevalence was similar across different sociodemographic groups (i.e., gender, age, education, income). Across different measures of thinking styles and other lay beliefs, we found that physiognomic beliefs were most strongly related to how much people trust their intuitions—an association that emerged consistently with British (Study 2, n = 224), Nigerian (Study 3, n = 147), and Dutch participants (Study 4, n = 388). Participants who scored higher on faith in intuition were also more confident in the accuracy of their face-based trustworthiness impressions. In sum, the present studies suggest that lay beliefs in physiognomy are (a) common, (b) similarly endorsed across various socio-demographic groups, and (c) associated with an intuitive thinking style.
Do we look at a threatening person’s face? The relationship between perception and observation of walking strangers
Liam Satchell; Jess Hall; Alex Lee Jones
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Person perception research predominantly focuses on faces as stimuli, and less attention is paid to full body, moving, stimulus people. Nor how our social perceptions might affect the way we observe unknown people. Here, we present two exploratory studies and a registered third. In Study One, 27 judges observed 12 videos of female targets walking and rated ‘threat’, ‘attractiveness’ and ‘masculinity’. In Study Two, 30 judges observed 22 male and female targets in the same format with the same ratings. The registered Study Three included 48 judges observing the same 22 stimuli. Judges had their attention to target faces recorded with an eyetracker. In all studies time spent observing the targets’ head decreased over time. In Study One ratings were associated with time spent observing the targets’ head and these effects changed with observation over time. In Study Two no effects were found. Study Three found weak effects opposing Study One. We find overall meta-evidence of masculinity and attractiveness affecting attention to the faces of unknown others, but the individual study findings were highly inconsistent. Our findings draw attention to the risks of interpreting from an individual study and reflect the benefit of internal registered replications.
The developmental interplay between household chaos and educational achievement from age 9 through 16 years: A genetically sensitive study
Sophie von Stumm; Alexandra Starr; Ivan Voronin; Margherita Malanchini
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We tested whether associations between household chaos, which refers to confusion and disorganisation in family homes, and educational achievement are confounded by genetics and family socioeconomic status (SES). We modelled the developmental interplay between chaos and achievement, including their reverse association (i.e., achievement chaos), and its aetiology in up to 7,591 twin pairs (49% female), who were born in the mid-90s in the UK and assessed at age 9, 12, and 16 years. Associations between household chaos and educational achievement were consistently negative, bidirectional, and of small effect sizes across ages. These associations were best explained by genetic and environmental confounding. Family SES accounted for most of the confounding in the predictions from achievement to chaos; for the reverse, environments shared within families but distinct from SES were implied. Our findings suggest that long-term associations between children’s experiences of household chaos and educational achievement are modest and non-causal.
Integrating Action-Effect Episodes into Long-Term Memory as a Function of Control
Marcel Raphael Schreiner; Wilfried Kunde
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We interact with our environment through our actions, sampling information from environmental effects following them. Here we asked how control over action and ensuing effects influences long-term memory for the effect content and the actions that produced them. In three experiments, participants carried out spatial actions, which produced the movement of a box wherein an image was presented. The box either moved spatially congruent or incongruent with the participants’ action. Memory for images was later tested in a recognition test and we additionally probed whether participants retrieved the action used to produce an image when being cued with said image. In a fourth experiment, we kept the spatial effect component constant to directly investigate bindings between action and effect features. We found evidence for a facilitating influence of congruency on declarative memory for effect content and on action retrieval by perceived effect content. Moreover, if effect content was enriched with a spatial feature, such retrieval was only observed if that feature was spatially congruent rather than incongruent to the action which had produced that content. Thus, features of single action-effect episodes can be integrated and represented in long-term memory and the formation of these representations is facilitated by control. We propose that feature bindings can be conceptualized as source memory, representing how environmental effects were produced.
Semantic Interference in Blocked Naming: Does It Become Cumulative with Large Local Response Sets?
Stefan Wöhner; Jörg D. Jescheniak
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The production of a word is delayed by the recent production of one or more semantically related words. This phenomenon, known as semantic interference, has been observed in picture naming tasks involving either large sets of pictures named once (continuous naming) or small sets of pictures named repeatedly (blocked-cyclic naming). It has been attributed to an adaptive learning mechanism that operates after each naming episode. However, the interference develops differently in these tasks: it is cumulative in continuous naming and non-cumulative in blocked-cyclic naming. It has been suggested that the small local response sets in blocked naming are easily identified and stored in working memory, which then introduces an additional process that constrains the interference. We reasoned that this process would be less effective as the local response sets increased in size, resulting in cumulative interference. In blocked naming experiments involving local response sets of ten or nineteen items, we found that the interference did not increase continuously; rather, it carried on across more presentations than for the typically used small sets. This finding lends support to the notion of a control mechanism that operates gradually and interacts with an adaptive learning mechanism.
Threat-Relevant Stimuli Enhance Autonomic Arousal Without Widening Generalization
Asimina Aslanidou; Marta Andreatta; Alex HK Wong; Matthias J Wieser
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Inherently threatening stimuli have consistently been shown to resist extinction. Despite recent findings suggesting that defensive responses can generalize to safe but threat-relevant stimuli, it is unclear whether threat relevance can cause overgeneralization. To this end, we investigated two groups of participants who underwent a differential conditioning paradigm with either two angry (threat relevance, n = 38) or two neutral male faces (control, n = 39) as conditioned stimuli (CSs). One of the faces (CS+) was reinforced with a 90-dB scream (unconditioned stimulus, US) 80% of the time, while the other face (CS-) was never followed by the US. In the generalization test, the CSs were presented along with four generalized stimuli that lay on a continuum between CS+ and CS-. Successful acquisition was registered for all ratings and psychophysiological responses except ssVEPs. The differential skin conductance responses (SCRs) were larger in the threat relevance group compared to the control group. During the generalization test, adaptive generalized responses were observed for all measures, except for ssVEPs. Participants’ SCRs to all stimuli were on average larger in the threat relevance group. The shape of the generalization gradients did not differ between the groups suggesting that while threat relevance influences the intensity of autonomic arousal both in acquisition and in generalization, it does not lead to overgeneralization.
Environmental Sensitivity in Japanese Adolescents: Psychometric Properties of the Highly Sensitive Child Scale and Its Role in Socio-Emotional and Behavioral Development
Shuhei Iimura; Kosuke Yano; Chieko Kibe; Sofie Weyn; Michael Pluess
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Environmental sensitivity, defined as the capacity to perceive and process information from both supportive and adverse environmental experiences, plays an important role in socio-emotional and behavioral development. However, existing research has predominantly focused on childhood, leaving a gap in our understanding of environmental sensitivity during adolescence. To bridge this gap, we conducted three studies using self-report data from 2,375 Japanese adolescents aged 10–14 years and their mothers. First, we aimed to provide a comprehensive description of adolescent sensory processing sensitivity (referred to as trait sensitivity) by applying the 21-item Highly Sensitive Child scale to Japanese adolescents (Studies 1 and 2). Second, using three-wave longitudinal data, we examined how trait sensitivity interacts with various environmental contexts (i.e., negative/positive parenting and peer relationships) to predict adolescents’ socio-emotional and behavioral development (Study 3). Results showed that adolescent trait sensitivity was characterized by a general factor reflecting sensitivity to a broad range of negative and positive stimuli, as well as two specific domains: Ease of Excitation–Low Sensory Threshold and Aesthetic Sensitivity (i.e., bifactor model). Trait sensitivity was positively correlated with other temperament and personality traits, including negative emotionality, behavioral inhibition, neuroticism, and openness. Trait sensitivity and environmental factors independently predicted internalizing and externalizing problems, as well as prosocial behavior. Notably, trait sensitivity was a significant positive predictor of both internalizing problems and prosocial behavior. These findings suggest partial continuity in the structure and developmental functions of trait sensitivity from childhood to adolescence.
Recursive self-models and minimal phenomenal experience
George Deane; Daphne Demekas
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Minimal phenomenal experience (MPE) is characterized as a state of pure awareness stripped of conceptual content, and serves as a methodological tool for probing the mechanisms underlying consciousness. We propose a computational architecture in which a policy model that generates behavior is recursively coupled to a program model that synthesizes structured, executable explanations of that behavior. We ground our architecture in program synthesis: a computational approach that models human learning and reasoning as the process of inferring structured programs (executable code or symbolic rules) from examples or experience. These programs function as hypothetical self-models that can condition future behavior through a self-hypothesis distribution, making the agent’s current self-conception an endogenous cause within its generative model. The program model learns programs that balance three objectives: explanatory adequacy for observed behavior, alignment with the policy’s capabilities, and behavioral utility. This recursive coupling—where programs shape actions that generate data for refining programs—creates attractor dynamics that stabilize into a coherent identity and narrative self. We argue that MPE emerges when the system operates with minimal narrative elaboration: programs remain simple and interoceptively focused, the self-hypothesis distribution stays broad rather than collapsing to a dominant narrative, and the agent sustains awareness through recursive self-modeling without recruiting extended conceptual structures.
Interpersonal and Gaming Behaviors: Contrasting Players with and without Parasocial Relationships with Fictional Characters
Sebastian Risco; Devin J. Mills
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Parasocial relationships (PRs), one-sided imaginary relationships with media personae, have only recently been explored in the video gaming context, where they appear to influence players’ thoughts and behaviors. They are often assumed to arise from less connection and greater ostracism in day-to-day life, but this hypothesis has not been empirically tested. Further, no study has considered potential differences in interpersonal difficulties that players with PRs may have compared to those without PRs. The present study addresses these gaps using online data from 584 video gamers (Mage = 24.98, SD = 5.70; 81.6% male) recruited from various Reddit gaming communities. Participants completed measures assessing interpersonal difficulties (e.g., vindictiveness, social avoidance, exploitableness, nonassertiveness), satisfaction and frustration needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness, as well as problematic video gaming (PVG), and video gaming motivations. Results did not support the loneliness and ostracized hypothesis in that players with and without PRs did not differ in connection to others or feeling rejected in their day-to-day life. However, compared to players without PRs, players with PRs report greater interpersonal difficulties. Thus, PRs do not appear to compensate for loneliness or rejection. Rather, it may be that individuals with PRs may experience interpersonal difficulties leading them to turn to PRs to fulfill social needs. Additional findings include players with PRs reporting greater hours of video gaming as well as more severe PVG and stronger fantasy gaming motives. These findings are discussed within the context of broader literature and avenues for further study are provided.
Betting on Connection: How Parasocial Relationships in Video Games Amplify the Consequences of In-Game Gambling
Sebastian Risco; Uibin Lee; Devin J. Mills
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As video games increasingly incorporate gambling-like mechanics, such as loot boxes and gacha microtransactions, concern has grown over their association with problematic video gaming (PVG) and mental health outcomes. This study explores how parasocial relationships (PRs) with fictional characters, a growing phenomenon in video gaming, may influence the negative effects of in-game gambling on depression. A sample of 584 players (Mage = 24.98, SD = 5.70; 81.6% male), recruited from Reddit forums centered on video games featuring gacha, completed scales assessing risky loot box and gacha use, PVG, depressive symptoms, and whether they had a PR. Using structural equation modeling, mediation and moderated mediation models were tested. Results show that having PR is indirectly linked to depression via PVG, and that while risky in-game gambling behaviors alone did not predict depression via PVG in the general sample, PRs significantly altered this dynamic. Specifically, for individuals who reported having a PR, both risky loot box and gacha engagement indirectly predicted depression through PVG. These associations were absent, or even negative, among participants without a PR. Findings suggest that PRs with fictional characters may exacerbate gaming-related harms by increasing emotional investment and gameplay frequency, particularly in games designed to foster emotional attachment or feature in-game gambling. This study highlights PRs as a key psychological mechanism linking in-game gambling to poor mental health, reinforcing the importance of considering player–character relationships in future research and policy efforts on gaming disorder and digital spending risks.
Pre-Sapio-Abstraction: Toward Unifying the Mechanistic Co-Emergence of Consciousness
Austin Alexander
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Pre-Sapio-Abstraction (PSA) introduces a novel internalist framework that addresses the interdependent co-emergence of recursive cognition, memory expansion, and self-referential consciousness (RMC) through pre-expressive abstraction. Rather than attributing these capacities solely to exogenous pressures such as external coordination, social scaffolding, or communicative efficiency, PSA posits that a biologically grounded internal selective mechanism, symbolic-affective saturation (SAS), created a distinctive form of neuroevolutionary bottleneck pressure. SAS is defined as the endogenously generated accumulation of qualitatively complex and often dissonant mental representations that exceeded the capacity of early linear processing systems. This accumulation produced a pressured nascent state of pre-expressive abstraction, which, once sustained above capacity, favored the evolution of recursion as a stabilizing coherence-and-containment architecture. Under this selective condition, RMC capacities are framed not as independent byproducts of scale but as neurostructural adaptive responses that stabilized internally accumulated mental representations across time, affect, and identity. PSA thereby reframes abstraction as not merely an antecedent of higher cognition, but as a biologically grounded endogenous selection pressure produced by SAS that favored the interdependent emergence of RMC. In identifying SAS as an internal evolutionary mechanism, PSA does not reject metabolic, ecological, or social selective pressures. Rather, it positions itself as a complementary framework for a range of neuroevolutionary accounts of consciousness, helping explain why the architectures they describe became evolutionarily indispensable.
Causal parameter moderation: Applying moderated nonlinear factor analysis to causal inference with latent outcomes
Sanford R Student
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When studying latent outcomes in causal inference, causal effects can occur not only on the mean of the latent variable, but on all parts of the measurement model: the mean and residual variance of the latent variable, as well as the item parameters. This paper proposes causal parameter moderation, the application of moderated nonlinear factor analysis (MNLFA) to causal inference with latent outcomes. The proposed MNLFA-based approach is presented in contrast to another method for handling item-level deviations from a main treatment effect, item-level heterogeneous treatment effect (IL-HTE) analysis. The models are best suited to handle different types of DIF, and thus the circumstances under which each is appropriate differ: IL-HTE models are highly confirmatory in the sense that they assume a distribution of DIF across all items, so the more exploratory MNLFA approach may make sense as a precursor or alternative to IL-HTE analysis, especially when there is reason to believe that a subset of items on the outcome might be particularly sensitive to the treatment. Because MNLFA can handle an arbitrary number of continuous or categorical covariates, it is also uniquely well-suited to handling heterogenous treatment effects; this is demonstrated in a reanalysis of data from a randomized controlled trial of a reading intervention’s effects on science vocabulary where there is substantial evidence of both a main effect on the latent variable and additional effects on a subset of items.
How humans process language (they think) is machine generated
Gabor Brody; Daniel Asherov; Athulya Aravind
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Large language models (LLMs) produce language that is often indistinguishable from human-generated language, but little is known about how people process it. Do they attribute human-like mental states and accountability to machine-generated language? Through the lens of pragmatic theory we explore how people process language when it is marked as generated by AI. In Experiment 1, we find that people believe the content of sentences presented as AI generated, even if they deem the source unreliable. They also accommodate presuppositions presented from such a source, implying that they adopt a general cooperative stance. In both respects, participant behavior resembled that with an unreliable human interlocutor (Experiment 2), raising the possibility that people reason over machine generated language the same way they reason over human language.
Digital Pathways to Social Connection: A Scoping Review of Online Interventions to Support University Student Social Connections
Nikki Rickard; Tracii Ryan; Chelsea Hyde; Andrew Napier; Sijing ZHOU; Jacqui Francis; Becky Black; Kelsey Lewis
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In light of prevalence studies revealing high rates of loneliness among young adults studying at university, the development of social connections amongst peers and others is regarded as a priority. This is particularly important for students from equity and historically marginalised groups, as they face unique challenges that impact their ability to form social connections and a sense of belonging within a higher education context. Digital interventions show promise for addressing social connection needs of university students, though evidence of effectiveness is mixed. This scoping review examined 40 studies exploring what is known about the use of online tools to address the social connection needs of university students. Interventions targeted various social connection needs, including belonging, social support and community engagement. Synchronous, facilitator-led interventions appeared more effective than self-paced ones, although about two-thirds of randomised controlled trials found no significant benefits, suggesting more rigorous methods yield fewer positive results. Qualitative data often showed benefits even when quantitative measures did not. The majority of studies were from Western countries, with only a quarter focusing on equity groups and limited interventions specifically designed for social connection. More research using robust methods is needed to evaluate digital social interventions, particularly for diverse student groups. Universities should consider factors like engagement, facilitator guidance, and opportunities for belonging when designing digital social connection tools. While digital interventions continue to be integrated into university support services, their effectiveness for improving student social connection remains inconclusive due to heterogeneous outcomes.
A Study Protocol for Assessing the Impact of Improvisation Training on Interpersonal Synchrony Across Age and Expertise (ImproSynchrony Project)
Sirke SeppÀnen; Benjamin Ultan Cowley; Andrei Rodionov
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Background: Theatre improvisation provides a psychologically safe environment for practicing adaptive interpersonal behaviour, which can enhance interpersonal competence and reduce psychosocial stress. Interpersonal synchrony (IPS)—the temporal alignment of neural, cardiac, and behavioural activity during joint task performance—may represent a putative physiological mechanism underlying these beneficial effects. The ImproSynchrony project aims to investigate whether IPS mediates the effects of improvisation training and to examine how IPS varies across age and levels of improvisation expertise. By combining neural, cardiac, behavioural, and self-report measures, the study aims to uncover the mechanisms through which improvisation training supports social functioning across the lifespan. Methods and analysis: The study is a 12-week controlled intervention study with a 12-month follow-up, designed to investigate the effects of improvisation training on IPS and social interaction competence across age groups (n = 200, ages 18–80). Prior to the intervention, differences in IPS will be examined by comparing groups of improvisation experts and novices. IPS will be assessed using electrophysiological measures (electroencephalography, EEG and electrocardiography, ECG), behavioural data (video recordings), self-reports, and qualitative data from learning diaries. These multimodal data will be collected at pretest, posttest, and follow-up to evaluate both immediate and long-term effects of the intervention. Discussion: The expected findings will clarify how improvisation training influences physiological and behavioural synchrony and social interaction quality. By including older adults, the study addresses a significant gap in improvisation research, with implications for enhancing social connectedness and mental health in ageing populations. The results will contribute to understanding how improvisation fosters empathy, cooperation, and effective interaction, offering practical insights for educators, policymakers, and practitioners.
Language learning as flexible adaptation
Manuel Bohn; Marisa Casillas
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Language learning is a multi-threaded, multi-mechanism process. It is multi-threaded in that it emerges as a by-product of addressing multiple goals while engaging in social interactions. It is multi-mechanism in that children integrate multiple information sources to infer what is meant and what to say next. These information sources include contextual and social cues as well as cognitive mechanisms. Focusing on early word learning, this paper reviews information sources, how children might sensitively adapt to them, and how we can model their integration using Bayesian inference over multiple probability distributions. We argue that, to advance our understanding of language learning, we must jointly study how children learn from multiple information sources across diverse developmental settings.
Validating the German Translation of Revised Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory
Friederike Charlotte Hechler; Nathan Caruana; Frank Fahr; Bodie Karlek; Marie Maroske; Meike Misia; Outi Tuomainen
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Background: This project evaluates the psychometric properties of a German translation of the Revised Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory (CATI-R). Previous measures of autistic traits are often based on a male-referenced conceptualisation of autism, which may underestimate autistic traits in other genders. Additionally, these measures tend to rely on neurotypical language, which can make it difficult for autistic people to respond and may reinforce stigma. To address these shortcomings, the Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory (CATI) was originally developed as an alternative to traditional measures, including subscales that capture traits particularly relevant to autistic women. Building on this, we collaborated with members of the autism community to revise the CATI (CATI-R), ensuring more inclusive, respectful, and accessible language and concepts across all genders. In the present study, we translated this revised measure into German and validated it in a large sample of female, male, and non-binary participants. This study explores if the German translation of the CATI-R measures autistic traits fairly across genders and identifies potential differences in trait expression.  Methods: To validate the German CATI-R, we analysed data from a large sample (n = 1057), comprising German native speakers with a self-reported autism diagnosis (n = 29), people who self-identified as autistic (n = 84), and non-autistic participants (n = 944).  Results: We successfully validated a German translation of the CATI-R. A confirmatory factor analysis supported the six-subscale structure (Two-Factor Bifactor Model: Chi-squared = 2402.85, p < .001, RMSEA = .045, SRMR = .047, CFI = .99, TLI = .99). With Spearman’s rank correlations, we showed positive relationships between all subscales (all rs > .37, ps <.001). Moreover, we demonstrated convergent validity with significant correlations between the German versions of the CATI-R, AQ and BAPQ: the AQ (rho = .69, p < .01) and BAPQ (rho = .77, p < .01). Finally, a measurement invariance analysis indicated that total-scale scores can be compared across genders and across the English and German CATI-R.  Conclusions: This study replicates findings for the English CATI-R. To our knowledge, this is the first validation of a measure of autistic traits in German that has been developed together with people from the community.
Nature is nurture: a pilot study of neural correlates of healthy cognition and environmental predictors in children attending a nature-based public school
Kimberly Lewis Meidenbauer; Amanda Seccia; Kristine Hocker; Kate Duffy-Greslo; Tiara Rose Freeman; Sanaz Dorri Sedeh; Kris De la Torre; Sarah Elizabeth Ippel; Marc Berman; Amber Fyfe-Johnson
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Though the physical health benefits of childhood nature exposure are well-documented, the specific mechanisms linking nature and healthy cognitive development remain underexplored. One promising tool for investigating novel biological pathways is via mobile neuroimaging techniques, such as functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), which can be collected in naturalistic settings. The current pilot study uses fNIRS, cognitive task data, and survey-based measures of well-being and environmental exposures in a sample of children attending a nature-based school at the start of the academic year, and tests the feasibility of collecting fNIRS-based metrics of healthy neurocognition in situ. Fifteen children between the ages of 8 and 13 participated in the fNIRS sessions, and activation in the prefrontal cortex was successfully demonstrated during a 1-back working memory task for older children, but not younger children, who struggled to do the task. Importantly, the study enabled the measurement of a novel brain-based biomarker of healthy cognition (the Hurst exponent, H). In line with prior research showing that H is associated with better psychological well-being, we found that higher H was indeed correlated with lower psychological stress and better performance on a cognitive flexibility task. Additionally, H was higher for those who engaged in more physical activity and with more neighborhood greenspace access, highlighting a potential novel mechanism linking nature exposure, exercise, and psychological well-being in childhood.
Progress and perspectives on developmental language and reading disorders
Elsje van Bergen; Nicola Dawson; Emma James; Saloni Krishnan
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Why do some children learn to read or talk more easily than others? We review recent advances in genetics, neuroscience, cognition, and intervention research. About half of the variation in language and reading outcomes is explained by genetic differences. Yet genes and environments are intertwined — for example, children’s early language exposure is partly shaped by their parents’ genetically influenced traits. Neuroimaging studies show that language and reading disorders involve not only domain-specific brain regions but also subcortical systems supporting learning in general. In cognition, a move beyond identifying core deficits toward understanding how children actively learn offers new insights into diverse developmental pathways. We highlight how interventions not only draw from but also contribute to theory, by revealing the mechanisms that drive change. Throughout, we emphasise how longitudinal and intervention studies have helped us distinguish which neural and cognitive characteristics are stable traits versus those that are responsive to intervention. We advocate for developmentally sensitive, large-scale studies and open, interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers and practitioners to advance our understanding of reading and language disorders and improve children’s outcomes.
Time resolves syntactic-semantic conflict in temporary semantic illusions: Evidence from role reversal sentences
Kate Stone; Henning Holle; Milena Rabovsky
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Understanding why readers misinterpret role-reversed sentences like "the waitress that the customer served" (versus "the customer that the waitress served") is important in understanding how readers process who does what to whom in sentences. In such sentence pairs, we infer that readers experience temporary illusions of plausibility from the absence of the usual N400 effect between the plausible and implausible verb "served". A recent finding is that an N400 effect is observed if presentation of the verb is delayed. We first use ERPs to show that time alone rather than new information is sufficient to produce this delay effect. Our meta-analysis of published studies demonstrates a small but consistent effect of similar delays. Next, we distinguish between two accounts of the illusion addressing the delay effect: In one, the illusion results from conflict between syntactic and semantic cues (SG model; Rabovsky et al., 2018), in the other, from the slow application of thematic roles (e.g., Liao et al., 2022). Using speeded lexical decisions, we demonstrate an immediate influence of thematic roles on verb processing, favouring the SG model. The role reversal effect on lexical decision times but not the N400 further supports the SG model because the model predicts a dissociation between preactivation of specific words (reflected in lexical decisions) versus sentence meaning (reflected in the N400). Together, the findings suggest that the rapid pace of reading can give rise to temporary illusions by preventing readers from resolving cue conflict rather than by omitting processing steps.
Instinctual Refinement Therapy for Complex Trauma: A Proof-of-Concept Case Series and Research Roadmap
Mohammad Zafar Iqbal; Faraheem Batool
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Objective: Contemporary trauma therapies often target cognitive schemas and explicit memories, potentially neglecting the disruption of evolutionarily conserved instinctual systems by early adverse experiences. This study provides a preliminary evaluation of Instinctual Refinement Therapy (IRT), a novel protocol designed to directly address these instinctual disruptions. Method: A retrospective case series analysis was conducted on 30 clinical cases (70% female; Mage = 32.4 years) with diverse, often treatment-resistant presentations (e.g., anxiety, mood, and psychotic disorders). IRT integrates predictive processing and memory reconsolidation frameworks to recalibrate maladaptive instinctual pathways. Treatment response was assessed via pre-post clinical measures and rates of clinical improvement. Results: Preliminary analysis indicated a high rate of clinical improvement (94%; 28/30 cases), achieved over a mean of 54.2 sessions. Large pre-post effect sizes were observed across standardized measures, with a mean aggregate effect size of *d* = 2.1. Therapeutic gains were maintained at follow-up in 80% of assessed cases. The distribution of anxiety disorders, more prevalent in females (71%), aligned with epidemiological trends. Conclusion and Implications: These preliminary findings suggest IRT is a feasible and potentially effective intervention for complex, treatment-resistant trauma presentations. The results warrant systematic investigation to establish its efficacy. This paper provides a detailed description of the IRT protocol, initial clinical data, and a essential research roadmap to guide future controlled trials and neurobiological investigations into its proposed mechanisms of action. Keywords: Instinctual Refinement Therapy, complex trauma, predictive processing, memory reconsolidation, case series, transdiagnostic, treatment development.
A fragmented field: Construct and measure proliferation in psychology
Farid Anvari; Taym Alsalti; Lorenz Oehler; Zach Marion; Ian Hussey; Malte Elson; Ruben C. Arslan
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We examined the extent to which constructs and measures have proliferated in psychological science. We integrated two large databases obtained from the American Psychology Association that have been used to keep track of constructs, measures, and research in the psychological-science literature for the past 30 years. In our descriptive analyses, we found that (a) thousands of new constructs and measures are published each year, (b) most measures are used very few times, and (c) there is no trend toward consensus or standardization in the use of constructs and measures; in fact, there is a trend toward even greater fragmentation over time. That is, constructs and measures are proliferating. We conclude that measurement in the psychological-science literature is fragmented, creating problems such as redundancy and confusion and stifling cumulative scientific progress. We conclude by providing suggestions for what researchers can do about this problem.
Virtue Tradeoffs in Everyday life
Qilin Zhang; Jeremy Jacobson; Benjamin Hardin; Jessie Sun
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Is it usually possible to be virtuous in all ways, or do people experience ubiquitous tradeoffs among moral virtues? Past work has examined a limited set of virtue pairs (e.g., honesty vs. compassion, fairness vs. loyalty) and focused on situations where tradeoffs are likely to occur. Across two Day Reconstruction Method studies featuring representative U.S. samples, we describe the frequency and experience of tradeoffs among 12 virtues in everyday life. In Study 1, 377 participants reported virtue conflicts during 12,385 episodes across one week. In Study 2, 608 participants provided detailed information about one tradeoff episode. Tradeoffs most often involved honesty and courage, and qualitative codings showed that many (but not all) tradeoffs reflected a general tension between benevolence and integrity. Overall, however, prevalence estimates suggested that virtue enactments tend to be largely compatible in everyday life. People felt less happy when they experienced a virtue conflict or tradeoff, but it also mattered how they resolved them. People most often prioritized one virtue over the other (57%). Occasionally (12%), however, people were able to overcome the tradeoff by showing high levels of both virtues, and were most satisfied with their decision when they were able to do so. Finally, there was a general mismatch between people’s proclaimed virtue preferences and which virtues they actually prioritized when they experienced an everyday tradeoff. These findings highlight the importance of studying moral decision making in ecologically valid contexts and have implications for moral education.
A Systematic Review on Unveiling the Causes and Effects of Decision Fatigue to Develop a Multi-Domain Conceptual Framework
Nurul Ahad Choudhury; Pratima Saravanan
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The aim of this systematic review is to investigate the causes and effects of decision fatigue from the existing literature and develop a framework that can be applied across different domains. A comprehensive literature search in three databases identified 1027 articles on decision fatigue. After screening the articles using Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) and Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) appraisal methods, 23 articles investigating decision fatigue across various domains were selected. The selected articles were investigated through root cause analysis and thematic synthesis. Findings revealed eight causes of decision fatigue which were classified as individual, organizational, and external causes, and four primary effects and seven secondary effects of decision fatigue. Using these findings, a conceptual framework that offers a comprehensive understanding of decision fatigue across diverse domains was developed. This study contributes to the concept of decision fatigue within organizational settings to enhance organizational behavior, psychology and, offering implications for improving decision-making processes in diverse professional domains. The findings can help develop interventions to mitigate decision fatigue and improve overall decision-making.
Identifying Suicide-Related Language in Smartphone Keyboard Entries Among High-Risk Adolescents
Paul Alexander Bloom; Isaac N Treves; David Pagliaccio; Isabella Nadel; Emma Wool; Hayley Quinones; Julia Greenblatt; Natalia Parjane; Katherine Durham; Samantha Salem
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Adolescent suicide rates have risen over the past two decades, underscoring the need for improved risk detection strategies. This study leverages passively-collected smartphone data to identify suicide-related language in adolescents’ keyboard usage using natural language processing (NLP). We developed a suicide lexicon for adolescent language and validated it with labeled data (N=121,515 text entries), demonstrating higher performance than lexicons not designed for youth. Across two independent cohorts at elevated suicide risk (Ns=208/211; >6 million text entries), lifetime suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) and current suicidal ideation were associated with increased frequency of smartphone suicide-related language. Human coding indicated varied language, including authentic first-person current suicidal ideation (14.5%) and jokes or hyperbole (20.2%). Compared with the lexicon alone, human coding of suicide-related entries, especially first-person language, showed stronger associations with STB history, highlighting the need for approaches to distinguish intent. Findings highlight both potential and limitations of NLP for suicide prevention.
Quantum consciousness, brains, and cognition
Jerome R Busemeyer; Meijuan Lu
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Quantum consciousness concerns both the possible role that quantum mechanics has for understanding consciousness as well as the role that consciousness has for interpreting quantum physics. Quantum brain theories hypothesize that quantum physical processes occur within and between the neurons of the brain and have important effects on cognition as well as consciousness. Quantum cognition is a growing new field in cognitive science concerned with the application of the mathematical principles of quantum theory to human judgment and decision-making behavior. What do all these theories have to do with each other? Quantum theories of consciousness have more to say about quantum physics than cognitive psychology and conscious experiences. Quantum brain theories have not been sufficiently “scaled up” to provide clear implications for how quantum physical processes generate more complex cognition. Quantum cognition theories have avoided addressing fundamental issues about consciousness and have remained agnostic with respect to the quantum brain hypothesis. This article will address the problem of connecting these ideas together by connecting quantum cognition to the other two topics.
Moral Virtues Are Often Relevant in Daily Life, but “Morality” Is Not
Benjamin Hardin; Qilin Zhang; Jessie Sun
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Recent work suggests that morality may be surprisingly absent from everyday life (Atari et al., 2023; Hofmann et al., 2014). Across four daily life studies (Total N = 1,663 people from North America, Germany, and China; 90,002 observations), we revisit the everyday relevance of morality by examining how often people perceive opportunities to express 12 moral virtues (e.g., honesty, kindness), 12 corresponding vices (e.g., dishonesty, unkindness), and (im)morality. Participants perceived opportunities to express at least one of the 12 virtues > 49% of the time. However, they rarely perceived these opportunities to express virtues as opportunities to be “(im)moral” (< 8% in North America and Germany; 26% in China). Patience, responsibility, and respectfulness were most often relevant, whereas forgiveness, courage, and loyalty were least often relevant. We conclude that conceptualizing morality in more concrete terms reveals a plethora of morally relevant situations that have gone unnoticed in previous studies.
Cross-language Transfer in Bilingual Poorer Readers: Effects of a Literacy Intervention on Word Reading
Manon Jones; Gwennant Evans; Tesni Huws; Catherine Alice Clark; Charles Hulme; Cameron Downing
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Approximately 40% of children worldwide learn to read in a language other than their home language or in two languages simultaneously. Evidence suggests that instruction in one language can enhance literacy outcomes in the other; however, the existence and longevity of these cross-language effects in poorer readers is unclear. This study used a cross-over randomised controlled trial design. Initially, 129 children (mean age = 111.44 months, SD = 12.23) participated in a 15-week Welsh literacy intervention, while 128 children (mean age = 110.62 months, SD = 12.34) served as a wait-list control group and did not receive the intervention during this period. After the first intervention phase, the wait-list control group then participated in the same 15-week Welsh literacy intervention. Welsh and English reading efficiency were assessed at three time points: baseline (t1; prior to intervention), posttest (t2; immediately after the initial intervention phase for the first group), and follow-up (t3; approximately 3-months after t2). We found that training poorer bilingual readers using a language-rich literacy intervention in Welsh improved word decoding skills in both Welsh and English. These effects were sustained in the longer term for the trained language, Welsh, but were short-lived for the untrained language, English. Our findings suggest that targeted intervention in one language enhances cognitive processes underlying literacy in both languages, and that bilingual students struggling with reading skills can make short-term literacy gains from a monolingual intervention that transfer to a language where there has not been explicit training.
Coping Skill Development Across Adolescence and Subsequent Links with Psychopathology in Early Adulthood
KATIE SPINK; Samantha C. Seaver; Katherine T. Foster
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Coping effectively with affective distress is a critical developmental task expected to support affective health over the lifespan, with parents likely shaping coping skill development. Yet, naturalistic variation in coping skill development is poorly understood and it remains unclear whether: (1) gender-specific and parental support enrich coping skill development and (2) differences in naturalistic coping skill trajectories differentiate psychopathology outcomes thereafter. Using longitudinal data from a large, nationally-representative U.S. adolescent study (n = 831), the current study applied a longitudinal multilevel modeling approach to track growth in acceptance and cognitive restructuring coping skill use over 7 years spanning adolescence through young adulthood. Kruskal-Wallis one-way ANOVAs and Dunn’s post-hoc tests were applied to estimate trajectory differences based on within-gender variation, between adolescent parental support, and psychosocial consequences in adulthood. Greater parental support acted as an enrichment factor for coping skill development over time, with trajectories further differentiated as by gender. Adolescent coping patterns differentiated psychosocial impairment in early adulthood, with evidence of gender-specific linkages between coping and impairment, particularly for women. Characterizing specific coping repertoires and the context in which they develop is likely support understanding of whether coping skill development contributes to psychopathology onset.
Avoiding Spiders: Affective Context Shapes Tactile Suppression During Movement
Belkis Ezgi Arikan; Meaghan McManus; Katja Fiehler
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Tactile sensitivity is typically reduced during voluntary movements, a phenomenon known as tactile suppression. While affective context is known to modulate tactile processing, it remains unclear how it influences tactile suppression. In a virtual reality (VR) environment, we investigated tactile sensitivity during movements to avoid threatening (spider) or approach non-threatening (rabbit) stimuli, involving arm flexion or extension, and during the limb at rest (baseline). Tactile sensitivity was measured using brief vibrations delivered through the VR controller. Detection thresholds were higher during movement than baseline, confirming tactile suppression. Both affective context and movement type modulated suppression: avoiding threatening stimuli and extending the arm, each increased suppression. A control experiment using neutral, geometric objects showed comparable effects of arm extension and flexion. These findings demonstrate that affective context shapes tactile suppression during movement.
Academic Involution and Sleep Health in Chinese Vocational Students: A Resilience-Buffered Mediation via Perceived Stress
Hongyang Liu
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Objective: To test a conditional process in which perceived stress (PSS) mediates the link between academic involution (INV) and sleep health (SQ), with psychological resilience (RE) buffering the INV→PSS, PSS→SQ, and INV→SQ paths among Chinese vocational students. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey at a public vocational college yielded N=663 complete responses (forced-response). Measures included an 18-item INV scale, PSS-4, a multidimensional sleep-health index (SQ), and BRS-6. Analyses comprised descriptives, group tests, correlations, and PROCESS Model 59 with 5,000 bias-corrected bootstraps; sex, grade, and place of origin were covariates. Results: INV correlated positively with PSS and negatively with SQ; PSS correlated negatively with SQ; RE correlated positively with SQ and negatively with PSS. In PROCESS, INV→SQ (B=−1.028, p<.001) and PSS→SQ (B=−2.555, p<.001) were negative, and INV→PSS positive (B=.522, p<.001). All three interactions supported buffering by RE: INV×RE→PSS (B=−.072, p=.021), PSS×RE→SQ (B=.452, p<.001), INV×RE→SQ (B=.190, p=.033). The direct INV→SQ effect weakened from Low/Mean/High RE (B=−.584/−.394/−.204), becoming nonsignificant around +1 SD (Johnson–Neyman). The indirect effect INV→PSS→SQ also decreased with higher RE. Conclusion: Academic involution relates to poorer sleep partly through elevated perceived stress. Resilience systematically attenuates these associations, indicating a modifiable protective target for campus health initiatives aimed at safeguarding students’ sleep.
Meditative absorption shifts brain dynamics toward criticality
Jonas Mago; Joshua Brahinsky; Mark Miller; Charlotte Maschke; Heleen A Slagter; Shaila Catherine; Ruben Eero Laukkonen; B. Rael Cahn; Matthew Sacchet; Wangmo Dixey
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Criticality describes a regime between order and chaos that supports flexible yet stable information processing. Here we examine whether neural dynamics can be volitionally shifted toward criticality through the self-regulation of attention. We examined ten experienced practitioners of meditation during a 10-day retreat, comparing refined states of meditative absorption, called the “jhānas”, to regular mindfulness of breathing. We collected electroencephalography (EEG) and physiological data during these practices and quantified the signal’s dynamical properties using Lempel–Ziv complexity, signal entropy, chaoticity and long-range temporal correlations. In addition, we estimated perturbational sensitivity using a global auditory oddball mismatch negativity (MMN) during meditation. Relative to mindfulness, jhāna was associated with pronounced self-reported sensory fading, slower respiration, higher neural signal diversity across multiple measures, reduced chaoticity, and enhanced MMN amplitude over frontocentral sites. Spectral analyses showed a flatter aperiodic 1/f component and a frequency-specific reorganization of long-range temporal correlations. Together, increased diversity with reduced chaoticity and heightened deviance detection indicate a shift toward a metastable, near-critical regime during jhāna. We propose an overlap of the phenomenology of jhāna with minimal phenomenal experiences in terms of progressive attenuation of sensory content with preserved tonic alertness. Accordingly, our findings suggest that criticality is a candidate neurophysiological marker of the absorptive, minimal-content dimension of the minimal phenomenal experience.
Bloch strikes back: a reassessment of the intensity-duration reciprocity.
Pietro Amerio; Axel Cleeremans
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Perceiving a brief visual stimulus depends on both its intensity and its exposure duration. These two parameters are in a reciprocal relationship, such that doubling the duration and halving the intensity of a stimulus leads to equivalent perceptual performance. This relationship is known as Bloch’s law. Despite numerous demonstrations of the validity of Bloch’s law, recent evidence shows violations for exposures ranging from few microseconds to tens of milliseconds. The main goal of this work was to reassess the law’s validity on the perception of simple geometric shapes. The latter were presented for durations between 0.15 and 100 ms thanks to a modern LCD-based tachistoscope. We successfully replicated the reciprocal relationship between intensity and duration across five different tasks involving detection, shape discrimination and subjective visibility judgements. In accordance with past literature, we report reciprocity only for stimuli shorter than a maximum critical duration (between 15 and 36 ms, depending on the task). We discuss these results in comparison with the aforementioned violations of Bloch’s law, and identify potential causes of the latter. This work also served as a proof-of-principle that our apparatus is suitable for the study of the intensity-duration reciprocity with a diverse range of stimuli.
Score-Based Tests with Fixed Effects Person Parameters in Item Response Theory: Detecting Model Misspecification Including Differential Item Functioning
Rudolf Debelak; Charles C Driver
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We present a fast, score-based test to detecting model misspecification in item response theory (IRT) models, that remains valid when person parameters are treated as fixed effects, as may be used for very large data sets. The new approximation (i) eliminates the need to pre-specify ability groups or priors for person abilities, (ii) does not require explicit functional form assumptions, (iii) works with two estimators designed for very high item / person counts -- constrained joint maximum likelihood (CJML) and joint maximum a posteriori (JMAP) -- and (iv) requires only a single model fit, making DIF-screening faster and simpler than alternatives based on model comparisons. A spline-based residualisation step further suppresses spurious Type I error when the ordering covariate is correlated with ability. Simulations with the two-parameter logistic model show nominal error rates and high power once examinees contribute 15–20 responses; only extremely short tests (10 items) still pose challenges under strong impact. An application to 1602 reading items and 57684 students from the Mindsteps platform demonstrates scalability and practical value, flagging 13% of items for gender-related DIF and correlating highly with conventional approaches of explicitly modelling DIF. Together, these results position the proposed test as a robust, computation-light diagnostic for large-scale assessments when classical random-effects approaches are infeasible, ability group structure is unknown or complex, or the shape of DIF effects is unknown or complex.
To be FAIR: Theory Specification Needs an Update
Caspar J. Van Lissa; Aaron Peikert; Maximilian Ernst; Noah Van Dongen; Felix D. Schönbrodt; Andreas Markus Brandmaier
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Innovations in open science and meta-science have focused on rigorous *theory testing*, yet methods for specifying, sharing, and iteratively improving theories remain underdeveloped. To address these limitations, we introduce *FAIR theory*: A standard for specifying theories as Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable information artifacts. FAIR theories are Findable in well-established archives, Accessible in practical terms and in terms of their ability to be understood, Interoperable for specific purposes, e.g., to guide control variable selection, and Reusable so that they can be iteratively improved through collaborative efforts. This paper adapts the FAIR principles for theory, reflects on the FAIRness of contemporary theoretical practices in psychology, introduces a workflow for FAIRifying theory, and explores FAIR theories’ potential impact in terms of reducing research waste, enabling meta-research on the structure and development of theories, and incorporating theory into reproducible research workflows – from hypothesis generation to simulation studies. We make use of well-established open science infrastructure, including Git for version control, GitHub for collaboration, and Zenodo for archival and search indexing. By applying the principles and infrastructure that have already revolutionized sharing of data and publications to theory, we establish a sustainable, transparent, and collaborative approach to theory development. FAIR theory equips scholars with a standard for systematically specifying and refining theories, bridging a critical gap in open research practices and supporting the renewed interest in theory development in psychology and beyond. FAIR theory provides a structured, cumulative framework for theory development, increasing efficiency and potentially accelerating the pace of cumulative knowledge acquisition
Estimating Longitudinal Trends with Differential Item Functioning: A Comparison of Five IRT-Based Approaches
Oskar Engels; Oliver LĂŒdtke; Alexander Robitzsch
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In longitudinal assessments, tests are frequently used to estimate trends over time. When item parameters lack invariance, time point comparisons can be distorted, necessitating the use of appropriate statistical methods for accurate estimation. This study compares trend estimates using the 2PL model under item parameter drift (IPD) across five trend estimation approaches for two time points: concurrent calibration, which jointly estimates all item parameters across time points and assumes full invariance; fixed calibration, which calibrates the first time point (T1), and calibrates subsequently the second time point (T2) with the common item parameters being fixed to the estimates from T1; separate calibration of the two time points is followed by robust Haberman or Haebara linking that down-weights outlying common items via Lp or L0 losses to place parameters on the scale of T1; partial invariance via IPD detection, where non-invariant items are identified using likelihood-ratio tests or root mean square deviation (RMSD) with fixed or data-driven cutoffs and trends are re-estimated on the resulting anchor set; and regularized estimation that simultaneously estimates all parameters while shrinking most IPD effects toward zero using a smooth Bayesian information criterion (SBIC). The simulation study varied sample size, number of items, IPD effect size, IPD item proportion, and whether the IPD was balanced or unbalanced. Bias and relative RMSE were evaluated for the mean and SD at T2. An empirical example using synthetic longitudinal reading data, applying trend estimation approaches, is provided. Results indicate that SBIC regularized estimation generally performed best across conditions, maintaining low bias and RMSE. Among robust linking methods, Haberman linking with the L0 loss function showed superior performance under unbalanced IPD. Detection-based approaches revealed that commonly used RMSD cutoffs may be too lenient; stricter cutoffs (0.03 to 0.05) were necessary to achieve satisfactory parameter recovery, especially under unbalanced IPD conditions.
Media Selectivity Research in Light of Self-Defeating Tendencies: Towards a Novel Understanding of Media Effects on Well-Being
Nicole Bizzotto; Tobias Dienlin; Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick
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In light of the growing circulation of health-related content on social media platforms, a critical gap persists in media uses and effects research: While much of the existing work has focused on self-serving motivations for media selection, an expanding body of evidence suggests that individuals—including those with psychological vulnerabilities—may seek out online content in a self-defeating fashion. In other words, users might actively search for content that aggravates, rather than alleviates, distress. Drawing on self-verification theory and other scholarship on self-defeating tendencies, we argue that when negative self-concepts are salient, users may gravitate toward media messages that validate these self-views, even at the expense of their well-being. We propose a research agenda to systematically examine maladaptive media exposure patterns and their psychological effects. To guide this line of inquiry, we propose an extension of the established Selective Exposure Self- and Affect-Management model to better conceptualize the complex motivations driving contemporary media use.
Estimating Longitudinal Trends with Differential Item Functioning: A Comparison of Five IRT-Based Approaches
Oskar Engels; Oliver LĂŒdtke; Alexander Robitzsch
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In longitudinal assessments, tests are frequently used to estimate trends over time. When item parameters lack invariance, time point comparisons can be distorted, necessitating the use of appropriate statistical methods for accurate estimation. This study compares trend estimates using the 2PL model under item parameter drift (IPD) across five trend estimation approaches for two time points: concurrent calibration, which jointly estimates all item parameters across time points and assumes full invariance; fixed calibration, which calibrates the first time point (T1), and calibrates subsequently the second time point (T2) with the common item parameters being fixed to the estimates from T1; separate calibration of the two time points is followed by robust Haberman or Haebara linking that down-weights outlying common items via $L_p$ or $L_0$ losses to place parameters on the scale of T1; partial invariance via IPD detection, where non-invariant items are identified using likelihood-ratio tests or root mean square deviation (RMSD) with fixed or data-driven cutoffs and trends are re-estimated on the resulting anchor set; and regularized estimation that simultaneously estimates all parameters while shrinking most IPD effects toward zero using a smooth Bayesian information criterion (SBIC). The simulation study varied sample size, number of items, IPD effect size, IPD item proportion, and whether the IPD was balanced or unbalanced. Bias and relative RMSE were evaluated for the mean and SD at T2. An empirical example using synthetic longitudinal reading data, applying trend estimation approaches, is provided. Results indicate that SBIC regularized estimation generally performed best across conditions, maintaining low bias and RMSE. Among robust linking methods, Haberman linking with the $L_0$ loss function showed superior performance under unbalanced IPD. Detection-based approaches revealed that commonly used RMSD cutoffs may be too lenient; stricter cutoffs (0.03 to 0.05) were necessary to achieve satisfactory parameter recovery, especially under unbalanced IPD conditions.
Do You Belong in Honors? Links between Social Connection and Grit in College Students
Jeffrey M. Greeson; Johanna K. P. Greeson
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Social connection and grit are critical socio-emotional skills associated with resilience and success among college students. Honors programs, which offer specialized academic and community-oriented experiences, may foster enhanced social connection and consequently greater grit as part of a high-achieving community. This study examined whether participation in a university honors program moderates the relationship between social connection and grit. College students (n = 421, 66% White, 64% female, 17% Honors) participated in a cross-sectional online survey conducted between March 2023 and May 2025. Moderation effects were tested using multiple regression with honors program participation as a moderator. Social connection was positively correlated with grit among the full sample (r = .315, p < .001). Honors students exhibited a trend toward higher grit scores than non-honors students (p = .092, d = .27), while social connection scores did not significantly differ between groups (p = .753). Contrary to predictions, honors participation did not moderate the significant positive relationship between social connection and grit (interaction term ÎČ = .161, p = .468). These findings indicate that stronger social connection is a consistent predictor of higher grittiness among college students, irrespective of honors program participation. The absence of a moderating effect suggests that a university’s comprehensive support services may equally foster social connectedness and resilience across student groups, potentially matching the social, emotional, and motivational structures characteristic of an honors program. This study underscores the broader institutional value of cultivating supportive social environments to enhance students’ socio-emotional skills.
A Brief Mindfulness Skills Course for University Employees is Feasible and Effective: Changes in Perceived Stress, Mindfulness, Relational Well-being, and Workplace Performance
Jeffrey M. Greeson; Jason Hutchings; Mary Keenan-Pfeiffer; Jonathan Reda; Devin Barney
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Background: There is surging interest in workplace mindfulness programs to address employee stress, resilience, and performance, however, significant gaps in knowledge remain around feasibility, acceptability, effectiveness, and predictors of therapeutic change. Objective: This study evaluated whether a brief, 4-session Mindfulness Skills Course (MSC) for university employees, covered by the institution’s wellness benefits, was effective in reducing stress, increasing mindfulness, improving feelings toward oneself and others, and increasing work performance. Methods: Prospective observational cohort study design. Participants completed self-report surveys before and after the MSC. Class attendance and home mindfulness practice were recorded to assess feasibility and adherence. Paired t-tests and Pearson correlations were used to evaluate program effectiveness and predictors of change. Results: 190 employees enrolled during the first year of roll-out. Of those, 164 (86%) completed pre-course surveys, 134 (82%) attended at least three class sessions, and 123 (75%) completed the post-course surveys and program evaluation. Paired samples t-tests showed improvements for perceived stress, mindfulness, and relational wellbeing with moderate to large effect sizes (d=.44 - .78; p’s< .001). Self-perceived work performance increased with a small effect (d=.33; p< .001). More frequent home meditation practice was positively correlated with a larger increase in mindfulness (r=.20; p< .05). Increased mindfulness correlated with reduced stress (r=-.55), greater positive emotions towards self (r=.38) and reduced negative emotions towards self (r=-.40) and others (r=-.42) (all p’s< .001). Reduced stress was correlated with increased perceived work performance (r=-.22; p< .05). Higher baseline stress levels predicted greater increases in mindfulness (ÎČ= .37, R2= .14, p<.001), while lower baseline mindfulness predicted greater reduction in stress (ÎČ= .27, R2= .07, p<.01). Conclusion: Taken together, these results support the feasibility and effectiveness of a brief, 4-wk, employer-sponsored mindfulness skills course, which may be most helpful for individuals with higher stress and lower trait mindfulness.
How are Trait Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, and Decentering Related to Sleep Impairment in College Students? A Moderated Mediation Analysis by Gender and Race
Jeffrey M. Greeson; Maeve Schumacher
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Objective: Trait mindfulness influences perceived stress and sleep; however, it is unclear if this relationship is consistent across gender and race. Methods: College students at a public research university (n = 534, 65% female, 33% nonwhite) completed a cross-sectional online survey measuring three core qualities of mindfulness (trait mindfulness, self-compassion, and decentering), sleep-related impairment, and perceived stress. Multiple group structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test whether the impact of trait mindfulness on perceived stress and sleep-related impairment was moderated by gender or race. Results: Across gender (cisgender male, cisgender female) and race (white, people of color), there were significant indirect effects of higher trait mindfulness, self-compassion, and decentering on less sleep-related impairment via lower perceived stress (all p’s<.001). However, there was no evidence of moderation. The multiple group models explained 26%-39% of the variance in perceived stress (R2 = .26 to .39) and 25%-40% of the variance in sleep-related impairment (R2 = .25 to .40); large magnitude effects. Conclusions: The mediating effect of three core mindfulness qualities on sleep impairment and daytime functioning through lower levels of stress was consistent across gender and race. Future studies are needed to replicate and extend these exploratory findings using both broad and more refined (e.g., intersectional) demographic groups to further improve attention to diversity in the mindfulness field.
From Me to We: Pathways Linking Perfectionism, Mindfulness, Self-Compassion and Mental Health
Jeffrey M. Greeson; Tanya Pulavarthi; Medha Dabral; Greg C. Feldman; Johanna K. P. Greeson; Lucas S. Wittenberg
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Objective: Perfectionism has been identified as a risk factor for poor mental health. This study based on Mindfulness Stress Buffering theory examined whether mindfulness, self-compassion, and other resilience factors mediate the relationship between perfectionism and mental health. Methods: Undergraduates at a public research university (n = 421, 66% White, 64% female) completed an online survey measuring maladaptive perfectionism, trait mindfulness, self-compassion, social connection, self-control, and emotion regulation. Results: Higher trait mindfulness and self-compassion correlated with lower perfectionism and psychological distress, and greater social connection, self-control, and well-being. Correlations were consistent between Honors and Non-Honors students. Only social connection (indirect effect: ꞔ = -.13, p < .001) mediated the relationship between perfectionism and well-being, whereas both social connection and self-control partly mediated the relationship between perfectionism and psychological distress (indirect effects: ꞔ = .09 and ꞔ = .06; p’s < .01). The multivariable path model explained 24% of the variance in well-being and 42% in distress. Conclusion: Social connection may be more important than mindfulness or self-compassion in buffering perfectionism's negative impact on mental health. Interventions aiming to enhance well-being and reduce distress among perfectionistic individuals may benefit from prioritizing social connectedness and belonging, rather than mindfulness or compassion in isolation.
Use of Artificial Intelligence in Scientific Publishing: Good Practice Guide for Authors and Institutions
Jose Ventura-Leon; Goldie Gamboa-Melgar; Jonathan Ruiz Castro; Shirley Tocto-Muñoz; Andy Sånchez-Villena; Cristopher Lino-Cruz
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The emergence of generative AI in academic writing opens opportunities for clarity and efficiency, but introduces risks related to accuracy, bias, authorship, confidentiality, and intellectual property, which require clear guidelines. This study reviews policies and guidelines from 2023 to 2025 from Elsevier, Springer Nature, COPE, ICMJE, and WAME, as well as recent literature, to synthesize the benefits, risks, and practices of using AI in scientific publishing and propose a checklist with declaration templates. The policies agree that AI can be used if it is supervised by the authors, is explicitly declared, and serves a methodological function. Within this framework, language editing, translation, synthesis and organization of drafts, technical or code support, and the generation of experimental stimuli are permitted. However, attributing authorship to AI, citing chatbots as a primary source, incorporating generative images or videos unrelated to the method, uploading unpublished works to insecure services, and using AI without declaration are prohibited or discouraged. Risks include hallucinations, bias, plagiarism, data leaks, and copyright concerns. Therefore, rigorous verification, transparency, and data protection are recommended.
Mini-Many Analysts: Using Registered Reports to Learn about Analytical Flexibility
Amanda Kay Montoya; Gareth Ong Yu; John Tawa
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Analytical flexibility describes the multiple defensible data analytic options researchers can pursue in a given study. Analytical flexibility can include practices like applying different methods for data cleaning, exclusion criteria, and statistical tests. Analytical flexibility is increasingly important for students to learn about because it impacts low replicability and credibility. Registered reports reduce analytical flexibility by submitting a manuscript to a journal in two stages, where journals provide an in-principle acceptance after Stage 1, committing to publishing the results. We describe and demonstrate an activity for psychology undergraduate courses to explore analytical flexibility within a registered report. Students read a first-stage registered report, received the data, and implemented the analysis plan as described. Analysts generate a product summarizing their results, and compare with the final Stage 2 and other analysts. This activity helps students to achieve multiple important learning outcomes focused on the impact of analytical flexibility on research conclusions, advantages and limitations of open science practice, and implementation of statistical methods in a real data context. This type of project could be an excellent option for a final project in an advanced undergraduate research methods or statistics course.
Visual Target Switching as a Framework for Assessing Cognitive Decline
Emre Orun
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Visual attention is ubiquitous in cognitive research; however, its potential as a clinical screening tool has been largely neglected. This concept paper illustrates how the “target switching” search paradigm could be harnessed as a cost-effective alternative to the current screening measures for assessing cognitive impairments/decline, such as the MMSE or MoCA. Practical and ecological advantages are also discussed in conjunction. The current paper presents a guide for facilitating such research, while identifying implications for clinical use and future avenues.
Measurement Invariance by Gender, Ethnicity, and International Student Status with the PHQ-9 in a University Setting
Kirra Danielle Jensen; David Nicholas Top; Tatiana Leroy; S. Gabe Hatch; Christina Bartholomew; Zachary T. Goodman; Russell J. Bailey
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Background: Measurement invariance on mental health outcome measures is vital to establish validity for using measures in clinical practice across varying demographics. Objective: This study analyzes the measurement invariance of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) to support its use in practice across various groups. Method: In this study we analyzed the validity of the PHQ-9 in a large college counseling sample across gender (cis-gender women and men), ethnicity (White and Hispanic / Latina/o/x), and international student status (international and domestic). The sample consisted of 4,363 participants; the gender spread of the sample was 60.9% women, 35.9% men, 11.7% other gendered or multi-gendered, 0.6% questioning or unsure, 0.5% transgendered, and 0.3% who preferred not to answer. The racial/ethnic spread of the sample was 71.2% White, 13.7% Hispanic and/or Latina/o/x, 3.6% Asian or Asian American, 2.4% African American / Black, 1.1% Pacific Islander, 0.7% Native American, 3.6% multi-ethnic, and 2.7% other. Results: Analyses demonstrated configural, metric, scalar, and residual measurement invariance as indicated by model fit indices across all groups tested using both a unidimensional and second-order model, with relevant factors in each model also demonstrating composite reliability. Limitations: The conclusions focus on the sample of a university counseling setting, as specified. Conclusions: These results support the use of the PHQ-9 to assess levels of depression across the different populations studied and an overall score.
Do Habits Moderate the Intention-Behavior Link? Statistical Analyses of the Interaction Effect Are Inadequate for Testing the Underlying Cognitive Mechanism
Chao Zhang
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The habit-intention interaction effect tested in behavior prediction studies is a prominent example of statistical moderation analysis in health psychology. Motivated by the mixed empirical findings concerning the effect and long-standing criticisms on estimating and interpreting interaction effects, I used a computational modeling approach to evaluate whether the habit-intention interaction effect estimated from statistical analysis is adequate for inferring the underlying cognitive mechanism assumed by contemporary habit theories. By manipulating the presence or absence of a habit-moderating mechanism in the data-generating model, statistical analyses were performed on the simulated data to examine the correspondence of the estimated interaction effect to the manipulation. Results suggest that while the conventional statistical approach can be indicative of the underlying mechanism, the direction and size of the estimated effect are often misleading in relation to the substantive theory. I identified the cause of the problem from a causal perspective (i.e., intention as a common cause of habit strength and behavior) and discussed potential remedies.
The Importance of Specifying the Time Period in Repeated Measures of Personality Assessments
Matthew W. Southward; Madeline Kushner; Nicole Stumpp; Sarah Cecil; Caden Maynard; Alexandra Kaelin Barnhill; Vincent Buchenberger; Shannon Sauer-Zavala
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Because most validated personality measures were designed to capture relatively general and stable characteristics, they do not specify a particular timeframe for respondents to consider. It is thus unknown how these measures perform when administered repeatedly or how this performance compares to the same measures with instructions and items adapted to the repeated timeframe of interest. We randomly assigned undergraduate participants (N = 257; Mage = 20.4; 79% female; 77% white; 77% heterosexual) to complete measures of personality (NEO-FFI-3, LPFS-BF-2.0, PID-5-BF, FFBI-SF) with validated general instructions and items or measures with instructions and items pertaining to the previous week once per week for six weeks. Compared to measures with general instructions, measures with weekly instructions demonstrated greater within-person internal consistency (weekly omegas: .42-.83; general omegas: .44-.72), lower rank-order stability (weekly average one-week r: .72; general average one-week r: .86), greater variability (ds: .08-.94), lower average mean scores across time (ds: –.96 - .25), and stronger associations with measures of anxiety and depression, well-being, and functioning but similar between-person internal consistencies (weekly omegas: .79-.99; general omegas: .79-.99) and measurement invariance. Researchers assessing personality weekly may thus be able to capture more variability and stronger associations with relevant constructs while still maintaining reliable individual differences and construct validity using personality measures referencing participants’ past week. However, nuances such as lower average scores when referencing the past week should be kept in mind when comparing results between studies using different reference time frames.
Exploring the impact of attention and sensory processing abilities on vocal motor control in children
Rita Bishai; Adrianna Molenaar; Nichole Scheerer
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Auditory feedback plays a critical role in developing and maintaining fluent speech. Although children are theorized to rely heavily on their auditory feedback, previous experimental studies are inconsistent, suggesting that additional factors may be at play. This study examines the role of individual differences in attention and sensory processing abilities on auditory feedback control of speech in children. To this end, 53 children ages 4-11 completed a frequency altered feedback (FAF) task where the pitch of their auditory feedback was manipulated and responses to the manipulation were measured to provide an index of the child’s reliance on their auditory feedback. To measure attention and sensory processing abilities, children completed the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART), and their parents completed the Short Sensory Profile (SSP) parent-report, respectively. Overall SSP scores, and scores in auditory, tactile, and sensory seeking domains were found to be associated with larger compensatory responses to FAF, while poorer SART performance was associated with slower vocal responses to down shifts. These results suggest that for children, greater sensory processing differences may promote increased reliance on auditory feedback for speech motor control, while attentional differences may be more important in the temporal processing of FAF.
Overconfidence without Understanding: AI Explanations Increase the Illusion of Explanatory Depth
Ivan Aslanov; Patricio Felmer; Ernesto Guerra
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The Illusion of Explanatory Depth (IOED), i.e., the tendency to overestimate the coherence and depth of one’s understanding, tends to increase when people search for explanations online. However, it is less clear whether this applies to information obtained from AI chatbots. We tested whether receiving information from a chatbot magnifies IOED and how it affects the quality of participants’ explanations. University students (N = 102) were presented with four questions and predicted how well they could explain them. However, the GPT group preliminarily asked for explanations a custom version of ChatGPT and received pre-controlled answers; the no-GPT group received the same texts directly; the control group received no materials. Afterward, they wrote their explanations and rated them. Results showed the biggest difference between the initial prediction and subsequent self-evaluation in the GPT group. Moreover, coder evaluations and text analysis measures, including length, lexical diversity, and semantic similarity, revealed that GPT group produced less accurate explanations than no-GPT group.
Critical Artificial Intelligence Literacy for Psychologists
Olivia Guest; Iris van Rooij
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Psychologists — from computational modellers to social and personality researchers to cognitive neuroscientists and from experimentalists to methodologists to theoreticians — can fall prey to exaggerated claims about artificial intelligence (AI). In social psychology, as in psychology generally, we see arguments taken at face value for: a) the displacement of experimental participants with opaque AI products; the outsourcing of b) programming, c) writing, and even d) scientific theorising to such models; and the notion that e) human-technology interactions could be on the same footing as human-human (e.g., client-therapist, student-teacher, patient-doctor, friendship, or romantic) relationships. But if our colleagues are, accidentally or otherwise, promoting such ideas in exchange for salary, grants, or citations, how are we as academic psychologists meant to react? Formal models, from statistics and computational methods broadly, have a potential obfuscatory power that is weaponisable, laying serious traps for the uncritical adopters, with even the term 'AI' having murky referents. Herein, we concretise the term AI and counter the five related proposals above — from the clearly insidious to those whose ethical neutrality is skin-deep and whose functionality is a mirage. Ultimately, contemporary AI is research misconduct.
Becoming Partisan: The Development of Children's Social Preferences Based on Political Markers
Annie Schwartzstein; Hyesung Grace Hwang
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What political party or what presidential candidate a person supports is often used by adults to divide their social world. However, little is known about whether young children also engage in such tendencies, or whether political groups are even socially meaningful for young children. To trace the beginnings of these tendencies, the current study investigated whether 6- to 12-year-old U.S. children use political markers, such as political party affiliation and support for presidential candidates, to guide their social preferences. We also examined children’s ability to report their political affiliation, whether their political affiliation matched their parents’, how accurate they are at reporting their parents’ political affiliations, and whether having parent-child conversations about politics predicted children’s political affiliation and social preferences. We found that children as young as 6 years of age showed ingroup preferences for individuals who shared their own or their parents' political affiliations – especially based on support for presidential candidates. Notably, even if children could not report their own presidential candidate choice or were inaccurate at predicting their parents' presidential candidate choice, children still preferred people who supported the same presidential candidate as their parents. Further, children who had conversations with their parents about politics were more likely to prefer people who matched their parents’ political affiliations. This study provides the first empirical evidence that 6- to 12-year-old children are using political markers to form ingroup preferences and show rudimentary forms of political partisanship.
Spatiotemporal Program Learning in Human Adults, Children, and Monkeys
Tracey Mills; Nicole Hope Coates; Alessandra Acadia Silva; Kaylee Ji; Stephen Ferrigno; Laura Schulz; Joshua Tenenbaum; Samuel Cheyette
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People learn languages, music, games, mathematics, and a seemingly limitless assortment of other structures across domains. How do we learn such a large variety of richly structured representations efficiently? One possibility is that people "learn by programming," synthesizing data-generating algorithms to explain what they observe. We examine the nature and origins of structure learning mechanisms in human adults, human children, and nonhuman primates (rhesus macaques), using a highly unconstrained sequence prediction task. Human adults and older children (4-7 y.o.) learned many richly structured sequences, while monkeys and younger children (3 y.o.) succeeded mostly on simple, continuously-varying sequences (e.g. linear or approximately linear patterns). We test multiple learning models and find that adults and older children are best explained by an inference model that generates programs in a "Language of Thought" with motor and geometry primitives, while monkeys are best explained by local linear extrapolation strategies. Younger children exhibit variation in strategies but pattern more closely with monkeys than adults. By age 4, children show strong program-like inductive biases similar to adults and are best fit in aggregate by the LoT model.
Urgent, Hurry Up!!! Perceived Time Pressure Affects Fine Motor Performance via Subjective Distress in U. S. Adults
Heather L. Urry; Paul E. Plonski; Prsni Patel; Monique Cathern; Holly A. Taylor; Tad Brunye
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Perceived or actual time limits can negatively affect performance of motor tasks. Based on the integrative framework of stress, attention, and visuomotor performance (IFSAVP), time pressure should affect visuomotor performance outcomes if it prompts, in turn, perceiving demands to exceed resources, a state of threat, and distractibility. We put this framework to a partial test by examining whether subjective distress, a marker of a state of threat, is a mechanism by which time pressure affects performance in two online studies (Ns = 93 and 148; 2022) of adults in the United States. Participants completed a route planning and tracing task in which we manipulated time pressure using a within-subjects urgency messaging manipulation. We measured subjective distress and fine motor behavior indexing information processing eïŹ€iciency, route eïŹ€iciency, and accuracy. We partitioned the total of effects of urgency messaging (UM) on performance into indirect and direct pathways and meta-analyzed them. In indirect pathways, UM increased distress which hampered information processing eïŹ€iciency and route eïŹ€iciency, but not accuracy. In direct pathways, UM increased information processing eïŹ€iciency and route eïŹ€iciency and decreased accuracy. The total effect of UM was to increase information processing eïŹ€iciency but not route eïŹ€iciency, and decrease accuracy. In sum, consistent with the IFSAVP, perceived time pressure affects visuomotor performance eïŹ€iciency in part because it elicits subjective distress. Overall, these studies highlight the importance of modeling mechanisms and the utility of assessing two forms of performance eïŹ€iciency and the effectiveness of fine motor behavior.
Putting Emotional Memories in Context: The Constructionist Model of Emotional Memory
John Thomas West; Neil Mulligan; Kristen A Lindquist
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Cognitive psychologists have long been interested in the intersection of emotion and memory given that the emotions associated with a stimulus affect its memorability. Theoretical perspectives within cognitive science have guided research on how affective dimensions such as valence and arousal impact aspects of memory such as accuracy, subjective vividness, consolidation, and retrieval. Here we argue that well-established theories of emotion from affective science represent a fruitful source of ideas whose implications for episodic memory have not yet been thoroughly investigated. In the current paper, we propose a model of emotional memory inspired by psychological constructionist theories of emotion that builds upon existing perspectives in this area while generating several novel hypotheses and avenues of investigation. Following psychological constructionism, we conceive of emotions as emergent phenomena constructed when perceivers use conceptual knowledge to make sense of affective sensations in context. The Constructionist Model of Emotional Memory (CMEM) highlights new directions for future emotional memory research, such as investigating the mnemonic consequences of conceptual emotion knowledge, and considering the effects of variability in emotion construction at the situational, individual, and cultural levels.
Improving the Reliability of the Reliable Change Index
Alexander O. Crenshaw; Candice Monson
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The Reliable Change Index (RCI) is a tool for evaluating change at the individual level. It compliments standard group-level change estimates and is central to evaluating clinical significance for interventions. In principle, the RCI provides common criteria for evaluating individual change. However, current practices use sample-specific estimates to create these criteria. Because sample estimates are subject to sampling error, these criteria are also subject to sampling error and therefore differ across studies. We illustrate how current practices can lead to differing criteria for reliable change and use simulations to identify the impact of sampling error on the RCI. Excessive error in the RCI began for the average sample when N < 30, and samples only comfortably avoided the risk of excessive error when N > 100. Finally, small errors in estimating a measure’s reliability sometimes had profound effects on the RCI. Recommendations on use of the RCI are provided.
Cerebellum-Cerebrum Dynamics During Gaze Processing in Schizophrenia: Evidence for Social-Cognitive Modulation and Associations with Social Functioning Across Independent Samples
Aubrey M Moe; Scott D. Blain; Aravind Kalathil; Mike Angstadt; Scott Peltier; Vaibhav Diwadkar; Stephan F. Taylor; Ivy Fei Tso
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Background: Individuals with schizophrenia have prominent impairments in social cognition that contribute to poor functional outcomes. Gaze processing – the social-cognitive ability to accurately perceive human eye gaze direction – is similarly abnormal in schizophrenia and associated with social functioning. Though gaze processing has known neural underpinnings in cerebral social-processing brain regions, emerging data suggest that the posterior cerebellum plays a key but often neglected role in social-cognitive function. Elucidating the bi-directional cerebellum-cerebrum dynamics underlying social cognition is critical to identifying a novel treatment target. Methods: 39 individuals with schizophrenia and 33 non-clinical control (NCC) participants completed an eye-contact detection task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Dynamic causal modeling was used to delineate the dynamics between posterior cerebellum (Crus II) and three cerebral social processing nodes (inferior parietal lobule, anterior insula, and fusiform gyrus) regions and to quantify abnormal effective connectivity in SZ. A confirmatory replication analysis using an independent sample (SZ=27, NCC=22) was conducted to confirm the results. Results: Model structure comparison revealed overwhelming evidence that cerebellar connections to cerebral social processing nodes are vital to explaining gaze processing in NCC (ln(BF)=98.84) and SZ (ln(BF)=46.85). Relative to NCC, SZ showed less upregulation of cerebellar outputs during gaze processing (t(68)=2.853, p=.006) and this decreased upregulation was associated with social dysfunction (ρ=-.251, p=.034). These results were replicated in the independent sample. Conclusions: Replicated across two independent samples, people with schizophrenia have altered cerebellum-cerebrum dynamics during gaze processing that is linked to social functioning. Given the accessibility of the cerebellum from the scalp for non-invasive brain stimulation relative to many cerebral social-cognitive regions, our findings have critical implications for translational interventions.
Cord Blood C-Reactive Protein and ADHD Symptoms at Age 5: Evidence from Two French Birth Cohorts
Charline Galesne; Shérazade Kinouani; Courtney Dow; Marie Aline Charles; Muriel Tafflet; Judith van der Waerden; Barbara Heude; Ofla Khalfallah; Cynthia Le Mouroux; Laetitia Davidovic
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Background: Conditions associated with perinatal inflammation have been identified as risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders, including Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, data linking early inflammatory biomarkers with later ADHD symptoms remain scarce. The acute phase C-reactive protein (CRP) is a key marker of systemic inflammation. To date, no studies have examined the association between CRP levels in cord blood (reflecting neonatal inflammation) and subsequent childhood ADHD symptoms. Here, we aimed to investigate whether elevated cord blood CRP concentrations are associated with child’s ADHD symptoms at age 5. Methods: We analyzed data from 1019 and 831 mother–child pairs enrolled in the ELFE and EDEN prospective birth cohorts, respectively. CRP levels in cord blood were measured using an immunoassay. ADHD symptoms were assessed at age 5 using the hyperactivity–inattention subscale of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Outcomes included both continuous scores and categorical thresholds: borderline (≄6) and abnormal (≄7) hyperactivity–inattention symptoms. Multivariate linear and logistic regression models were conducted within each cohort to assess associations between elevated CRP levels (≄75th percentile) and ADHD symptoms. Results were then pooled using meta-analytic methods. Results: Borderline hyperactivity–inattention scores were observed in 21% of children in the ELFE cohort and 14% in EDEN. After adjusting for maternal sociodemographic, lifestyle, and pregnancy-related factors, as well as child characteristics at birth, elevated cord blood CRP was significantly associated with higher odds of ADHD symptoms: borderline scores (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.42; 95% CI: 1.08–1.86), abnormal scores (aOR = 1.48; 95% CI: 1.06–2.08), and increased continuous symptom scores (ÎČ = 0.29; 95% CI: 0.04–0.54). Conclusions: Higher CRP concentrations in cord blood are associated with greater ADHD symptom severity at age 5. These findings support the hypothesis that early-life inflammation may contribute to the developmental origins of ADHD and suggest that CRP could serve as a potential early biomarker of neurodevelopmental vulnerability.
The Symbol of Time: Efficiency of shape stimuli drives time estimates
Giuliana Carrao Macedo; Martin Wiener
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Visual stimuli are known to vary in their perceived duration, with a variety of features, including both high and low level, shaping temporal responses. For example, the size, memorability, or numerosity of stimuli lead to longer perceived intervals, thus highlighting the malleability of time perception. However, little is known about how stimulus shape may influence temporal perception. This feature is critical, as shape morphometry forms a general basis by which these other features may exert their influence on perceived duration. To investigate this, we conducted a series of three experiments looking at how specific characteristics of shapes are significant factors in the manipulation of time perception. We initially observed that greater shape angularity led to more precise time estimates, independent of shape identity. Next, we found that shapes and symbols with greater edginess, vertical asymmetry, and thickness led to longer perceived durations. Finally, we discovered that shapes built with higher numbers of geometrical primitives were perceived as longer, more precisely, and responded to more quickly, and were influenced by how subjectively meaningful they were to individual participants. Our findings suggest that certain aspects of shapes are able to manipulate time perception due to innate geometric qualities within the visual cortex itself.
Does Body-Specificity Stand on Solid Ground? Z-curving the Association Between Emotional Valence and Lateral Space
Pablo Dapica; Julio Santiago; Pablo Solana
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The body-specificity hypothesis proposes that people with different bodies should also have different conceptual systems. The test case of this hypothesis has been the association of emotional valence (good vs. bad) with lateral space (left vs. right) in people of different handedness. As expected, right-handers tend to associate the good with right space, whereas left-handers show the opposite association. This body-specific effect has been very influential and followed up by an important number of studies. Here, we undertake a systematic examination of the quality of this literature by means of z-curve analysis. The results show that the expected replicability rate (statistical power) of this literature is reasonably high (71-76%), especially for those studies using binomial tasks and those that entail the severest tests for the hypothesis, whereas it is lower in reaction time studies. Moreover, the presence of publication bias cannot be statistically asserted. All in all, the literature on space-valence body-specificity appears reasonably solid, although there is still room for improvement.
Social gaze differences between autistic and non-autistic youth in getting-to-know-you peer conversations
Kathryn A. McNaughton; Eli Robinson; Alicia Vallorani; Koraly Perez-Edgar; Elizabeth Redcay
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Background: Successful peer interactions impact the well-being of autistic and non-autistic youth. Social gaze is important in social interactions as it facilitates detecting information from and signaling information to the social partner. However, while previous work has identified differences between autistic and non-autistic youth in gaze patterns while viewing social videos, no work to-date has directly measured differences in autistic and non-autistic youth in gaze during face-to-face peer interactions. Methods: Autistic and non-autistic youth ages 11-15 years completed a face-to-face social interaction with a novel peer while wearing mobile eye-tracking glasses to measure gaze. The interaction consisted of three tasks: a getting-to-know-you conversation, a vacation-planning task, and a video-watching task. Fixations to the face were compared between autistic and non-autistic youth across the three contexts. Results: Autistic youth fixated less on their partner’s face than non-autistic youth, and these gaze differences varied across interaction contexts. Gaze differences between autistic and non-autistic youth were most pronounced during the unstructured initial getting-to-know-you conversation and absent during the structured video-watching task. Conclusions: Context impacts gaze for autistic and non-autistic youth, such that the social attention patterns of autistic youth differ the most from their non-autistic peers during unstructured initial conversations. These gaze differences provide autistic youth with reduced opportunities to sense and signal information about their social environments, emphasizing that supports for peer interactions may be especially crucial when navigating these initial, unstructured meetings. In turn, reduced gaze signaling may also impact peers’ understanding of autistic youth, with implications for the development of autism acceptance programming that incorporates acknowledging and accepting potential gaze differences.
Fit but not thick: differences in Fitspiration effect on body image and mood depending on body shape
Lourdes Guardiola; Sofia Abrevaya
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Exposure to fitspiration content on social media has been linked to increased body dissatisfaction and negative mood. Although often portrayed as a healthier alternative to thinspiration, fitspiration frequently features slim, toned bodies and may reinforce appearance-related concerns. A recent trend, curvy fitspiration—featuring curvier women promoting physical activity and a healthy lifestyle—has shown promise in reducing body dissatisfaction. The present study aimed to investigate differences in the effect of Fitspiration content on weight concern, feeling fat, body dissatisfaction and negative mood depending on the body shape being observed (thin or curvy). Participants included 71 women who completed, before and after the exposure to images, 4 visuoanalogical scales. The variable feeling of fatness increased after exposure to fitspiration content featuring thin bodies and decreased after exposure to curvyfitspiration. Body dissatisfaction showed a significant time effect, increasing after exposure regardless of the experimental condition. Weight concern didn®t have a significant effect after exposure. Mood was significantly higher in the fitspiration condition with a slim body, regardless of the time of measurement. These results suggest that fitspiration's influence is shaped not only by body type but by its emphasis on appearance and the dynamics of social comparison and digital validation.
People use norms, values, codification, and enforceability to determine if a rule was broken
Jordan Wylie; Dries Hannes Bostyn; Ana P. Gantman
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Rules are essential for the successful coordination of large-scale societies, with official, codified rules (e.g., laws) proscribing behaviors for everyone in their jurisdiction. These rules ostensibly provide a clear signal about what is permitted or prohibited, making it straightforward to identify when they have been broken. However, signals from descriptive norms, moral prohibition, and (lack of) legitimacy of enforcement can sometimes provide conflicting accounts of what behaviors really violate rules, possibly shaping whether someone thinks a rule has been broken at all. Across three experiments (N = 2,264), we examined how each of these signals affect rule violation judgments. In Study 1, we used a variety of real rules in the US and found that all four signals—descriptive norms, codification, moral wrongness, and legitimacy of punishment—are associated with judgments of whether a rule was broken, but to varying degrees. Study 2 replicated these findings in a preregistered study. Study 3 experimentally manipulated these four signals in a novel context using a conjoint design. We found that codification and moral wrongness most strongly influence rule concepts. This work goes beyond purely legalistic or formalist accounts of rules, showing that people’s intuitions about rule violations are shaped not only by codification but also by descriptive normativity, moral wrongness, and perceived legitimacy of enforcement.
Remote Digital Cognitive Assessment in a Trial-Ready Alzheimer’s Cohort: A Scalable Approach for Early Intervention Studies
Andrew J. Aschenbrenner; Hannah Wilks; Matthew Welhaf; Samhita Govindan Katteri; Sarah H. Stout; Martin Sliwinski; Tammie Benzinger; Brian A Gordon; Yan Li; Richard J. Perrin
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Background: Early detection of cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), particularly in preclinical stages, is critical for evaluating therapeutic interventions. Traditional cognitive assessments often lack reliability and require lengthy in-person visits, limiting scalability for younger, trial-ready populations. Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility, reliability, and validity of high-frequency remote digital cognitive assessments in individuals with autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease (ADAD). Participants: 162 mutation carriers and non-carriers from DIAN-TU from 20 international sites (Ages 19-69 years). Measurements: Participants completed remote assessments via personal smartphones, prompted four times daily for seven days (approximately 3 minutes per session), and conventional in-clinic cognitive testing at baseline. Adherence, test–retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients [ICCs]), construct validity (confirmatory factor analysis), and sensitivity to clinical impairment were evaluated. Results: Average adherence was 41%. Despite this, remote measures demonstrated excellent reliability (ICCs > 0.90 after 10 sessions) and strong construct validity, with tasks loading onto memory, attention, and executive function domains. Model fit was poorer in symptomatic individuals (CDR > 0), consistent with cognitive dedifferentiation during disease progression. Both remote and traditional composites were sensitive to clinical impairment, with similar effect sizes and increasing group differences near expected symptom onset. Conclusions: High-frequency remote cognitive assessment is feasible, reliable, and valid in a relatively young international ADAD cohort. This approach offers substantial advantages for clinical trials, including reduced participant burden, improved accessibility, and enhanced reliability, supporting its integration into early-intervention studies.
People can find their true selves outside moral pursuits
Jordan Wylie; Matthew Lindauer; Ana P. Gantman
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Pursuing a life of moral excellence is often seen as allowing a person not only to live by good and just principles but also to live an authentic life that brings them closest to their true self. This view is taken to reflect the priority that people should place on moral pursuits or “moral primacy.” The results of four preregistered studies (N = 2,909) suggest that people do not always hold this view and highlight a tension within it: how can morality both constrain human behavior and afford the freedom to be one’s truest self? We find that people resolve this conflict with ‘value pluralism,’ preferring a balance of life pursuits across several value domains, where aesthetic pursuits are viewed as affording freedom from convention. We then adapt a personal change paradigm from prior work and develop a novel paradigm to examine whether people’s intuitions about the true self also reveal that a broader set of values—not just moral ones—inform judgments of the true self. We find no differences in true self judgments following the loss of an aesthetic versus moral quality. However, when directly comparing life paths, the pursuit of aesthetic excellence is sometimes viewed as offering greater access to one’s true self compared with moral excellence, in part because aesthetic pursuits are seen as less rule bound. These findings offer insights into the myriad paths a person can take in life while pursuing autonomy, authenticity, and closeness to their true self.
Development and Validation of the Gambling Harms Severity Index (GHSI-10) and the GHSI for Affected Others (GHSI-AO-10): Measurement Instruments for People Experiencing Gambling Related Harms and Affected Others
James Close; Ryan Statton; Sharon Collard; Jamie Wheaton; Sara Davies; Imogen Martin; Crescenzo Pinto; Mark Conway; Colin Walsh; Matthew Browne
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Background Gambling-related harm is increasingly recognised as a complex, multi-dimensional public health problem which variably impacts health, relationships, resources, and broader social functioning. Existing measures – often focused on diagnostic “problem gambler” thresholds – typically fail to capture the breadth of such harms. Moreover, there are very few instruments designed to capture the perspective of those harmed by someone else’s gambling – ‘affected others’ (AOs). Aims This study reports the content development and validation of the Gambling Harms Severity Index (GHSI-10) and GHSI for affected others (GHSI-AO-10); co-designed, person-centred, non-stigmatising instruments designed to assess impacts, severity and changes in gambling-related harm across diverse contexts and populations. Design, setting and participants We employed a multi-phase, mixed-methods design informed by best practice guidelines for patient-reported outcome development. Conceptualisation was constructed on a ‘holistic framework of gambling harm and recovery,’ derived from structured literature reviews and qualitative research. Item generation and refinement were co-produced with individuals with lived experience, AOs, practitioners, and academic experts. Psychometric validation was conducted via a convenience paid-for online sample from the UK (n= 3,315 for people that gamble; n= 3,017 for AOs). Measurements Statistical validation of GHSI-10 and GSHI-AO-10 involved a combination of classical test statistics (CTT) and Rasch Measurement Theory (RMT), alongside convergent validity versus existing measures of harm (e.g. PGSI) and divergence from measures of wellbeing (e.g. ICECAP-A). Findings Items were co-developed to assess harms across multiple components: wellbeing (mental, physical), relationships (personal, social/community), and resources (financial, occupational, ethical). This process refined the instrument to be non-stigmatising, person-centred and reflecting the language of lived experience, to reduce biases related to denial and social desirability, with a 3-month recall period, and a focus on harms that are dynamic and responsive to recovery pathways, rather than static, unchangeable harms (i.e. divorce, bankruptcy).Quantitative validation supported unidimensional measurement, good reliability (GHSI-10 α = 0.94, GHSI-AO-10 α = 0.95), convergent validity with existing measures (rho > .7), and criterion-related validity with measures of wellbeing (GHSI-10 rho < -.3, GHSI-AO-10 rho < -.23). Both GHSI-10 and GHSI-AO-10 met all RMT fit criteria, did not display infit or outfit, had well-ordered and fitting response options, and rationally ordered item locations. Conclusions The GHSI-10 and GHSI-AO-10 are psychometrically valid tools, co-designed to support research, service commissioning, and outcome evaluation across the gambling treatment and support ecosystem. They are grounded in diverse lived experience and aligned with public health principles.
Audiovisual Speech Improves Speech Recognition and Reduces Mental Effort and Fatigue for Monolinguals and Multilinguals
Sita Carraturo; Kristin J. Van Engen
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In adverse listening conditions, speech recognition scores are generally higher when listeners can also see the talker’s mouth. Because bilinguals tend to be more detrimentally affected than monolinguals in audio-only noisy conditions, they may stand to benefit more than monolinguals from a second modality. At the same time, the ability to leverage visual cues may be limited by the amount of exposure a listener has to the target language, which varies among bilinguals. In this study, we aimed to understand whether the benefit of audiovisual speech cues is modulated by listeners’ language experiences. To that end, we measured speech recognition accuracy in noise in both audiovisual and audio-only modalities among monolingual and bilingual listeners. We also collected subjective effort and subjective mental fatigue ratings from participants throughout the experiment to evaluate the relationship between audiovisual speech perception and listening effort for different listeners. Our results show that more active use of another language results in less accurate speech recognition in noise for English, but does not modulate the benefit of the audiovisual speech signal.
Vocal Display Rules in Everyday Life: An Experience-Sampling Study
Roza Gizem Kamiloğlu
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The appropriateness of common nonverbal vocalisations is guided by social norms, known as display rules. This preregistered, seven-day experience-sampling study examined how perceived appropriateness varies across situations. One hundred forty-two adults completed three surveys per day (2,670 surveys total; 3,821 vocalisations), rating appropriateness alongside situational cues and psychological situation characteristics. The results showed that laughter and sighs were most often judged appropriate, whereas screams and retches were least. Appropriateness was higher at home and in social places (e.g., parties) than in work/school or public settings (e.g., library), and higher with close ties than with weak ties or strangers. Psychological characteristics showed that formality and power were associated with lower appropriateness, whereas sociality and positivity were associated with higher appropriateness. Effects were vocalisation-specific: for example, laughter was considered more appropriate in positive, social, and brisk contexts, but less appropriate in formal and high-power contexts. By charting when and where vocalisations are judged acceptable, these findings outline situational principles of vocal display rules in everyday life.
Incidental Character Information Influences Moral Judgments Across Domains
Vanessa Cheung; Kevin O'Neill; Ruby; David Lagnado
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Would a penchant for animal cruelty influence how much someone is blamed for lying on a tax return? While extant literature shows that evaluations of someone's moral character can affect subsequent moral judgments, there is contradictory evidence on whether character information affects judgments in a way that is domain-general or domain-specific. Does receiving information about any morally bad character trait increase blame, or only information about traits that are similar to the subsequent act? In two experiments (preregistered; N = 1320), we investigated how incidental information about an agent's moral character can influence moral and causal judgments. We consistently found that participants judged bad agents to be more blameworthy, more of a cause, and more deserving of punishment than good agents for committing the same act. This effect of character was robust across how the information was presented (Experiment 1) and different moral domains (Experiment 2). Overall, our findings support an account of moral judgment in which character exerts a domain-general influence on judgments of a subsequent act, challenging the domain-specific view that only traits that are similar or congruent to a subsequent act should influence blame.
The Decision Process Scale (DPS): Self-Report Measures of Reliance on Rules, Cost-Benefit Reasoning, Intuition, & Deliberation in (Moral) Decision-Making
Vanessa Cheung; Maximilian Maier; Falk Lieder
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Understanding how people make decisions in specific situations is a central challenge in (moral) psychology research. Yet there are no existing self-report scales for measuring the process of decision-making in individual dilemmas (as opposed to general moral attitudes or beliefs about moral decision-making). We address this gap by devising new self-report measures of several of the processes by which people make moral decisions and validate them using realistic moral dilemmas, including six new vignettes that we developed. The resulting 12-item Decision Process Scale (DPS) can be used to measure how much people rely on rules versus cost-benefit reasoning and how much they rely on intuition versus deliberation in the specific moral dilemmas they face in a laboratory experiment or in the real world.
Colors, Characters, Locations, and Shapes: The Capacity of Working Memory for Multiple, Dissimilar Sets of Items
LuĂ­sa Superbia-GuimarĂŁes; Nelson Cowan
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Working memory (WM) often includes heterogenous items, as when one uses it while assembling a desk from sets of boards, knobs, bolts, and washers. Here we investigate how WM capacity is limited when recalling multiple sets of items, for which performance surpasses the usual limits observed in single-set procedures. We presented participants (N = 181) with up to four sets of items for serial recall, usually of different stimulus types in the same trial (colors, characters, locations, and/or shapes). Conditions differed in the total number of items, the number of sets, and/or item types across sets in a trial. For uniformity in analyses, Set 1 was kept constant at three items of a type and was usually recalled first, free of output interference. In Experiment 1, recall of Set 1 was not only limited by the total number of items, but also by the number of sets in a trial. Experiment 2 ruled out interference as an alternative explanation. Experiments 3-4 showed the dependency of the results on clearly grouped presentation of the sets. The results suggest that groups of items are associated as newly-formed, often incomplete chunks offloaded from the focus of attention (FoA) to an activated portion of long-term memory (aLTM) for later retrieval. This offloading process would spare capacity but not without cost; a fraction of an item was lost from Set 1 for each subsequent item recalled. We present a dual-stage theory in which pointers held in the capacity-limited FoA allow retrieval of chunks from aLTM.
Validation of the Employee Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Behavior Scale
Dominik Bentler; GĂŒnter W. Maier
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Organizations are faced with the challenge of reducing their impact on climate change and for this reason also strive to increase pro-environmental attitudes and behavior of their employees. To make these attitudinal and behavioral changes measurable, the Employee Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Behavior Scale was developed. The scale represents the first instrument focusing on the measurement of employee pro-environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behavior. The aim of the scale is the valid and reliable measurement of these constructs. For this purpose, a total of five studies were conducted in the present work to generate items and to test content, construct, and criterion validity. On the basis of this procedure an efficient scale was developed, which matches with the psychometric quality criteria and measures employee pro-environmental attitudes and employee pro-environmental behavior with six items each. The scale complies to the requirements for use in scientific studies but is particularly suitable for use in organizational applications due to its small number of items.
Designing “Mission Control”: An Immersive VR Simulation to Improve Pediatric MRI Experiences
Caroline Dakoure; Ana Elisa Sousa; Liana Guerra Sanches; Justin Jie Sung; Naomi Catwell; Vanessa Valiquette; Martin Lepage
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Children’s participation in neuroscience and neuroimaging research is often limited, especially when magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is involved, due to confined spaces, loud noises, and the need for prolonged immobility. Distraction techniques informed by child psychology professionals and MRI technicians can alleviate anxiety and fear. When distraction is insufficient, sedation or anesthesia may be required, increasing costs, posing potential side effects (e.g., adverse reactions to sedation or anesthesia), and limiting research inclusivity. Moreover, children often exhibit increased head motion in the scanner, compromising image quality and potentially leading to diagnostic errors or unusable data. Our project outlines the development of Mission Control, an innovative virtual reality (VR) simulation designed to address the challenges of pediatric brain MRI procedures by familiarizing children aged 6 to 12 years with the MRI environment. Mission Control aims to reduce anxiety and teach children to remain still during scans, and is freely available, addressing the limited availability of VR MRI applications outside of research settings. The simulation features a rocket landing mission on the moon, where children must maintain stillness to reach their destination. Head tracking is used to train stillness, while audiovisual cues and narration transform the MRI experience into an engaging adventure. To ensure content appropriateness, we replicated MRI procedures and facilities from our Cerebral Imaging Centre, and consulted MRI specialists, designers, and mental health researchers during the design phase. Future directions include conducting a pilot study to evaluate the accessibility, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of the simulation in a research setting.
Recency bias; a strategy to compensate for the lack of evidence
Ahmad Lotfi; Reza Ebrahimpour; Sajjad Zabbah
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Perceptual decisions often rely on integrating multiple discrete pieces of sensory evidence over time. Previous studies have shown that these integration strategies are dynamic and can give rise to temporal biases such as the recency effect, where more recent information receives greater weight in the decision process. While some have attributed the recency effect to memory leak, recent findings suggest it may instead reflect a strategic modulation of attention. In this study, we investigated whether attention increases uniformly over time or selectively in response to the amount of accumulated evidence. Using a direction discrimination task with single-, double-, and triple-pulse random dot motion stimuli, we tested competing models of evidence integration and attentional allocation. Consistent with prior work, we observed marginally better performance in weak-strong double-pulse trials compared to strong-weak ones. Notably, in triple-pulse trials, improved performance was evident only when considering the first and third pulses, but not the first two or last two, arguing against a uniform time-based increase in attention. Crucially, when the first two pulses were treated as a unit, a weak-strong pattern relative to the third pulse produced significantly higher accuracy. These findings support a model in which attention increases not over time, but over evidence: reduced early evidence leads to increased attentional allocation to later samples. Our results provide further insight into the adaptive nature of perceptual decision-making and the role of online attentional strategies in optimizing performance in environments with discrete, time-separated sensory events.
People Are Not Sure What Free Will is But Sometimes Employ the Notion to Justify Punishment
Nagireddy Neelakanteswar Reddy; Gautami Balvantkumar Patel; Divija Tejas Shah; Khushali Pranav Joshi
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This study examines the relationship between attributions of free will and intentions to punish agents. Participants were presented with vignettes depicting hypothetical yet concrete scenarios involving immoral versus either neutral, immoral-but-inconsequential, or moral actions. They were then asked to rate the degree of free will attributed to the agents and their intended level of punishment. Additionally, participants completed the Free Will and Determinism Plus (FAD+) scale, which assesses abstract beliefs —contra the concrete scenarios of the vignettes— about free will, scientific determinism, fatalistic determinism, and unpredictability. The results indicate a weak correlation between free will attributions and punishment intentions across the concrete scenarios. Specifically, participants attributed less free will to immoral actors compared to neutral actors, yet they expressed slightly greater intentions to punish immoral actors. Similarly, abstract free will beliefs measured by the FAD+ showed minimal correlation with punishment intentions across vignettes. Furthermore, the limited consistency between participants’ free will beliefs in concrete scenarios and their responses on abstract measures indicates that the concept of free will remains ambiguous. This ambiguity is further substantiated by participants’ subjective descriptions of their understanding of free will, supporting the notion that their conceptualization of free will lacks clarity.
Overnight fasting reduces the development of mechanical hypersensitivity induced by cutaneous high-frequency electrical stimulation in humans
Diana Torta; Anouk Teugels; Tabea Eimer; José Balbuena-Sanchez; Lukas Van Oudenhove; Emanuel van den Broeke
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Preclinical studies suggest that fasting may attenuate spontaneous pain and pain-related behaviors, such as licking and paw withdrawal, during inflammation in animals; however, evidence of the analgesic effects of fasting in patients suffering from chronic pain remains inconclusive. In two studies, we investigated the potentially protective effects of fasting on the development of mechanical hypersensitivity in healthy human volunteers following experimentally induced sensitization of nociceptive fibers through painful cutaneous electrical stimulation. In the first experiment (N = 33), participants underwent the painful electrical stimulation protocol twice: once after a 12-hour fast and once after consuming a standard breakfast. In a follow-up experiment (N = 52), participants were randomized to receive either the painful electrical stimulation protocol after a 16-hour fast or after their usual morning meal. In both experiments, we assessed the intensity, unpleasantness, and spatial extent of secondary mechanical hypersensitivity, as well as emotional state and hunger levels. Fasting increased hunger and negative affect in both studies. In Experiment 2, but not in Experiment 1, participants in the fasted condition reported significantly less mechanical hypersensitivity compared to the breakfast condition. In both experiments, fasting did not reduce the pain intensity reported during the painful electrical stimulation. These findings provide behavioral evidence that a 16-hour fast may reduce the development of mechanical hypersensitivity. These results in humans align with preclinical evidence showing that fasting affects mechanical hypersensitivity, without necessarily affecting the perceived intensity of acute painful stimuli. Our findings suggest that metabolic state may modulate mechanical hypersensitivity in humans.
A Comprehensive Study of Cognitive Control in Healthy Aging
Sarah De Pue; Hans Stuyck; Celine Gillebert; Eva Dierckx; Eva Van den Bussche
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Declines in cognitive control impact older adults’ daily life and independence. Cognitive control frameworks distinguish different subcomponents, such as inhibition, updating, shifting, proactive and reactive control. A comprehensive overview of how these subcomponents develop in aging is lacking, with research typically focusing on small samples treated as a homogenous age group, targeting a single subcomponent, or using heterogenous tasks across studies. In the current study, young adults (N=75) and three cohorts of older adults (N=231) completed an extensive test battery assessing multiple subcomponents of cognitive control. Results showed improved response inhibition and interference control in older vs. young adults, decreased updating and shifting with age, and preserved proactive control in older adults. These findings show that changes in cognitive control subcomponents follow different onsets and trajectories, highlighting the importance of including them in cognitive aging research. Longitudinal follow-up studies can help uncover inter- and intra-individual changes in subcomponents with aging.
A Holistic Framework of Gambling Harms and Recovery, Derived from a Rapid Evidence Assessment and Qualitative Interviews with People who Gamble and Affected Others.
Sharon Collard; Jamie Wheaton; Sara Davies; Ryan Statton; Imogen Martin; Crescenzo Pinto; Matthew Browne; Mark Conway; Colin Walsh; Nathan Dobson
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Introduction Gambling-related harms affect people’s finances, their health and wellbeing, personal relationships, and community life. They impact not only people who gamble but their families and others around them. Public health models require a harm-based approach that moves beyond clinical thresholds and recognises the wider determinants and distributions of harm across populations. Existing gambling harms frameworks are somewhat generic in scope, have rarely involved lived experience and affected others, and generally equate recovery with abstinence. This study developed a holistic, empirically grounded framework of gambling harm and recovery, rooted in lived experience and tailored to the cultural and policy context of Great Britain. Methods The study proceeded in two stages. Stage 1 comprised a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) of academic and grey literature on gambling-related harm and recovery, supplemented by analysis of harm and recovery frameworks from adjacent sectors (alcohol and other drugs). Stage 2 involved 40 semi-structured qualitative interviews with people who had experienced gambling harms directly or as affected others. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify, refine and validate components of harm and recovery that were brought together in a new holistic framework. Stakeholder co-production and iterative validation informed each stage of framework development. Results The new holistic framework encompasses three broad components of harm—resources, wellbeing, and relationships—each comprising sub-components reflecting financial, emotional, relational, and community-level impacts. The framework also captures how identity, culture, and context can shape harm experiences. It conceptualises recovery as a multidimensional process involving financial stability, identity repair, and social connection, all underpinned by support networks alongside control, insight, behaviour change, and ownership of gambling behaviours. Conclusions This holistic framework advances gambling harms research by integrating lived experience, acknowledging affected others, and embedding recovery. It provides a foundation for more inclusive harm reduction strategies, recovery-oriented interventions, and person-centred measurement tools.
AI-Generated Explicit Deepfakes Damage Politicians’ Perceived Leadership Competence, Trustworthiness and Electoral Prospects
Sophie Kathrin KlĂŒser; Klaus Jonathan KlĂŒser; Emma Hoes
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The rise of generative AI has made it easier than ever to produce hyperrealistic but entirely false imagery. One especially harmful use is the creation of non-consensual, sexually explicit deepfakes depicting real people. While such content clearly violates privacy, its broader political implications remain underexplored. This paper investigates how sexually explicit AI-generated imagery affects public perceptions of politicians and broader democratic outcomes. Drawing on a pre-registered survey experiment in the U.S. (N = 1904), we exposed participants to either explicit, private, or control images of a fictitious male or female politician embedded in a mock social media feed. The results indicate that explicit deepfakes significantly diminish candidate evaluations, particularly with respect to affect, trustworthiness, perceived competence, and leadership qualities. Exposure to AI-generated non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) further leads to lower voting intentions for the targeted politician, illustrating how reputational harm can translate into electoral consequences. Contrary to expectations, male politicians were more strongly affected by these negative shifts in perception. However, we find no evidence that exposure to such content reduces participants’ own political ambition. These findings highlight the reputational risks posed by synthetic intimate media and highlight the urgent need to mitigate its potential threats to democratic processes.
Understanding Burnout via an Open System Approach: A New Theoretical Framework
Anthony Montgomery
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Organizational psychology has traditionally focused on internal dynamics, neglecting the broader social structures in which organizations are embedded. This limitation is particularly evident in research on job burnout. While burnout is often framed as a symptom of organizational dysfunction, it also reflects wider systemic forces—economic instability, political regulation, cultural expectations, and ecological stressors—that influence how individuals navigate the competing demands of performance and wellbeing. Current models underestimate these contextual and historical influences due to their peripheral position in organizational analysis. This paper introduces a new open systems theory of burnout that delineates how sublethal forces interact with organizational processes to deplete employee energy and increase burnout. It proposes nine core propositions through which external environmental factors shape burnout experiences and argues for a paradigm shift toward systemic, context-aware models. The paper concludes by presenting a theoretical framework and challenges for future research.
On idle idols and ugly icons: Investigating lexical selection in typing through homophones
Merel Muylle; Robert Hartsuiker; Nazbanou Nozari
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Homophone errors (e.g., there/their) are not uncommon in typing, but it is debated whether they simply reveal poor spelling knowledge or signal competition in the production system. We tested the idea that competition underlies the greater difficulty associated with producing homophone, compared to non-homophone, targets. Using computational simulations, we showed that competition alone is sufficient to produce interference during homophone production, and that such interference is exacerbated by increasing lexical competition. These predictions were confirmed in two experiments, a typing-to-dictation task (Experiment 1) and a question-answering task (Experiment 2). We further showed the homophone effect was insensitive to the syntactic category: we found a robust homophone interference effect of a comparable magnitude for same-category (e.g., flower-flour) and different-category (e.g., idol-idle) homophones. Collectively, these results show that lexical selection in typing is similar to speaking in terms of the processes arising from representational overlap, but distinct from it in terms of the influence of syntax.
Embodied speech: sensorimotor contributions to native and non-native phoneme processing and learning
Tzuyi Tseng; Jennifer Krzonowski; Claudio Brozzoli; Alice C. Roy; VĂ©ronique Boulenger
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Learning to recognize and produce foreign speech sounds can be challenging, particularly when only subtle differences distinguish these new sounds from phonemes in the native language. Functional neuroimaging evidence shows that the motor cortex is involved in speech production and in perceptual phonemic processing. This highlights the embodied nature of speech perception, predicting the potential benefits of sensorimotor-based training approaches to enhance the acquisition of foreign speech sounds. Hence, here we first review current findings on the motor contribution to not only native but also non-native phoneme perception. Available evidence has established that motor cortical activity especially shows up under non-optimal perceptual conditions, such as when native phonemes are degraded by noise or when listeners perceive non-native speech sounds. Drawing upon this evidence, we then review training paradigms that have been developed for learning foreign phonemes, with a special emphasis on those embedding manual gestures as cues to represent phonetic features of the to-be-learned speech sounds. By pointing to both strengths and caveats of available studies, this review allows us to delineate a clear framework and opens perspectives to optimize foreign phoneme learning, and ultimately support perception and production.
The rational impression account of trust in science
Jan PfÀnder; Hugo Mercier
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Trust in science plays a crucial role in addressing major societal challenges, from climate change to global health. In a wide range of countries, most people tend to trust science. However this trust might seem irrational, since people tend to know little about science. Here, we argue that people need not possess much knowledge or understanding of science to rationally trust it. We propose a cognitive model of trust in science—the rational impression account—according to which people come to trust science by relying on a suite of basic cognitive mechanisms: First, people infer competence from possessing rare knowledge; Second, people infer accuracy from consensus; Third, people’s impressions can persist after they forget what generated them. The rational impression account stresses the importance of science education and communication in fostering public trust in science.
Free Time Benefits Working Memory and Long-Term Memory differently
Eda Mizrak; Alessandra S. Souza; Klaus Oberauer
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Giving people more time between encoding information elements into working memory im-proves immediate (i.e., working memory) and delayed (i.e., long-term memory) retrieval. This free-time benefit is often assumed to arise from processes that counteract forgetting of the just encoded item in working memory, suggesting that time has a retroactive effect. Contrary to these predictions, a few studies showed that free time between two items in a serial-recall task benefits only the subsequent (to-be-encoded) items, yielding a proactive benefit in work-ing memory. Here, we investigate whether working memory and long-term memory benefit from free time in the same way. In three experiments, we show that free time benefits the to-be encoded items in working memory (proactive effect) with only a local retroactive effect for recently encoded items, whereas it mainly benefits already encoded items in long-term memory (retroactive benefit). These results challenge a single explanation of the free-time benefit for memory retention across short and long intervals.
Cognate Facilitation Effect in School-Aged Second Language Learners: A Systematic Review
Zhou Yang; Nils Jaekel; Henri Olkoniemi
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Cognates facilitate vocabulary learning. However, how the magnitude of this Cognate Facilitation Effect (CFE) changes with age and its task-dependent manifestations remain unclear. Clarifying these patterns may benefit educators with evidence-based strategies to support learners across different stages and tasks. This systematic review synthesizes studies on CFE in school-aged second and foreign language learners between 1987 and 2024 (n = 36). The results showed that, firstly, the CFE follows an inverted U-shaped trajectory. It increases during early literacy (ages 6–9), peaking in middle childhood (ages 9–10), and declining thereafter. Secondly, facilitation is robust in comprehension tasks but more variable in production, where overlap can induce interference. Furthermore, we evaluate psycholinguistic models and propose integrating speech-production models to account for the interference effect of cognate production. These findings suggest educational implications: cognates can help support vocabulary development in early literacy, but more refined strategies are needed as learners advance. Keywords: cognates; cross-linguistic transfer; literacy development; psycholinguistics
Practitioner Self-Reports of Adherence to Evidence-Based Practices for Autistic Youth: Psychometric Properties and Association with Youth Outcomes in a Multiple Baseline Study
Kashia A. Rosenau; Jeffrey J. Wood; Karen Sze Wood; Jolie Straus; Bryce D. McLeod
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Background: Practitioner ratings of their adherence to evidence-based psychotherapy or counseling practices in working with autistic youth could be an efficient method for tracking the success of efforts to implement effective practices in community behavioral health service settings. Tools of this sort that generalize across multiple evidence-based practices (EBPs) have not been developed to date. In this study, a practitioner self-report measure of adherence to EBPs for autistic youth was developed and evaluated. Method: A multiple baseline study of seven behavioral health practitioners was conducted to determine if internet-based self-directed training on Modular EBPs for Youth on the Autism Spectrum (MEYA; meya.ucla.edu), a free internet-based practitioner training app, would facilitate an increase in clinician adherence to EBP techniques such as cognitive behavioral therapy and behavioral intervention practices. Practitioners made self-ratings on the MEYA Integrity Scale-Practitioner Version (MEYA-IS-PV). Expert coders unaware of phase or study hypotheses also rated the therapists’ adherence to EBPs for each session. Caregivers rated youth outcomes at each session on the Youth Top Problems scale. Results: Linear mixed models showed that MEYA-IS-PV scores corresponded to expert ratings of adherence, increased following the onset of training in EBPs, and predicted improvements in youth behavioral health. Visual analysis of the multiple baseline data confirmed that 5 of 7 practitioners increased their self-reported adherence in EBPs once training began. Conclusion: Self-ratings of adherence are promising for examining adherence to EBPs in psychotherapy or counseling for autistic youth.
Feasibility and Acceptability of MEYA, a Free Online Platform Providing Personalized Guidance in Evidence-Supported Practices to Clinicians Working with Autistic Youth: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation
Amanda Johnson; Karen Sze Wood; Jeffrey J. Wood
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Autistic youth experience high rates of co-occurring mental health concerns, yet empirically supported practices (ESPs) are rarely implemented with fidelity in community care due to barriers in training, scalability, and workflow integration. The Modular Evidence-Based Practices for Youth on the Autism Spectrum (MEYA) platform was developed as a free, open-access digital tool that provides just-in-time therapist training, modular cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) strategies, and caregiver-supported goal monitoring. Methods: In this mixed-methods study, seven community clinicians implemented MEYA following a baseline phase of usual care. Platform use was tracked through analytics, and six clinicians participated in qualitative exit interviews. Results: Directed content analysis revealed five overarching themes: MEYA was perceived as useful, flexible, and clinically relevant; therapists valued the CBT content and caregiver goal charts; feasibility was supported by its accessibility but limited by workflow demands; underutilization of measurement-based care (MBC) features and a resulting impact on the personalization of care were noted barriers. Engagement data showed moderate-to-high uptake across modules. Conclusion: Overall, MEYA was feasible and acceptable across diverse providers, with strengths in usability and fidelity support. Findings identify priorities for refinement, particularly in automating measurement-based care features and creating push-out guidance via email to clinicians who need to conserve time and effort. These results provide preliminary evidence for MEYA as a scalable platform to increase access to ESPs for autistic youth.
Divided perceptions of risk? A new online tool to study the many flavors of polarization
Olivia Fischer; Renato Frey
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Polarization has become a major concern in behavioral science and popular media, as it may affect many important areas of life. For instance, how polarized are people's perceptions of risks, such as regarding (not) imposing mitigation measures during a pandemic? Answering this question is surprisingly challenging: Whereas multiple theoretical views of polarization and their respective mathematical operationalizations coexist, the latter are often used interchangebly as measures of "polarization". This may be indicative of a jingle fallacy, because it is unknown whether the diverse ways of quantifying polarization in people's perceptions of important societal matters empirically converge. In study 1 we thus ran a reanalysis of a large dataset from the World Values Survey covering diverse topics of societal relevance (N = 93,214), finding only moderate empirical convergence between six operationalizations of polarization. In study 2 we applied the same approach focusing specifically on people's risk perceptions of COVID-19 mitigation measures (N = 768), and found a similar pattern of low convergence between different operationalizations of polarization. Yet, according to one operationalization with a clear threshold for polarization, risk perceptions were polarized in 11 out of 12 experimental conditions. Our findings emphasize the need to carefully consider how polarization is operationalized to avoid broad generalizations, keeping in mind that some operationalizations may speak to specific theoretical conceptualizations. To raise awareness for this concern and support behavioral science researchers in conducting similar analyses with their own datasets, we provide a novel online tool available at https://shiny.cbdr-lab.net/polarization.
Preliminary Validation and Correlation of New Self-Report Scales of Rogerian Conditions of Worth and Initial Evidence Autistic People Experience Heightened Conditional Regard
Matthew J. Bolton; Lara K. Ault
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This study was undertaken in 2023 in follow-up to earlier work (Bolton et al., 2022) which preliminarily quantified a new construct operationalized around the ideas of psychologist Carl Rogers. While we were interested in re-formulating from a humanistic psychological perspective, after Rogers’ original conditions of worth concept (1957, 1959), the behavioral formulation of conditional regard, we also tested and provided evidence for the hypothesis that autistic people experience heightened conditions of worth relative to non-autistic people. We validated through a brief online survey (n = 162, including 109 autistic and 53 non-autistic individuals) two distinct sets of items, one retrospective for the adolescent period between ages 12 and 17 and the other for adulthood, to assess the extent to which individuals perceive conditions of worth. The items were then correlated with an array of individual difference variables. Perceived emotional safety recalled as an adolescent and felt as an adult, perceived psychological control of one’s parental figure when an adolescent, adult fear of criticism and rejection, adult masking or camouflaging of parts of oneself, adult incongruence or inauthenticity, adult acceptance of external influence, and adult self-alienation were all positively correlated in support of the measures’ convergent and predictive validity. Adult self-esteem, unconditional positive self-regard, adolescence-perceived parental autonomy support, authentic adult living, and congruence or authenticity were all, with some exceptions, negatively correlated in theoretically expected directions. Perfectionism was also variously correlated. Implications and applications are offered for academics as well as mental health practitioners.
Over 3,000 voices: Understanding how climate change shapes the minds and lives of young people in Australia
Samantha Julia Legaspi Eala; Caroline X. Gao; Yan Zhang; Hasini Gunasiri; Rebecca Patrick; Kate Filia; Sunny N Nguyen; Neerja Singh; Shu Mei Teo; Emma Lawrance
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Young people are especially vulnerable to the mental health impacts of climate change. Yet the mechanisms linking climate change to mental health remain unclear. This study explored how climate change shapes the emotions, thoughts, and behaviours of young people from Australia, and the implications for wellbeing. Data were drawn from Mission Australia’s 2023 Youth Survey. Participants were asked to describe how climate change impacts their thinking, feelings, and behaviour. Free-text responses from 3,272 participants were analysed using inductive thematic analysis, with relational analysis identifying interconnected patterns across emotional, cognitive, and behavioural domains. Young people from Australia reported diverse responses to climate change, including feelings of anxiety, sadness, and hope; thoughts about future impacts, personal responsibility, and systemic failure; and behaviours ranging from pro-environmental actions to disengagement. Based on overlapping feelings, thinking, and behaviour, seven archetypes of response were identified: the Hopeless Helper, Nervous Navigator, Furious Fighter, Guilty Guardian, Wounded Witness, Detached Drifter, and Determined Doer. Findings highlight the complex and interconnected ways young people respond to climate change across emotions, thoughts, and behaviours. Archetypes provide a framework for understanding both risks and resilience, emphasising that distress often stems from systemic inaction. They underscore the need for nuanced measures, tailored interventions, and policies that systematically integrate climate and mental health.
The Development of Sensitivity to Automatic Behavior
Ilona Bass; Elizabeth Bonawitz; Tomer David Ullman
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People’s behavior can be roughly categorized into two modes: either reflective and thoughtful, or automatic and rote. Past work on Theory of Mind has focused on the first category. But do children notice when people are acting in an automatic way? This paper examined five- to ten-year-old children’s reasoning about others’ rote behavior, focusing on the consequences of this inference in teaching contexts (N = 660 across four studies, 327 girls). Children’s sensitivity to rote behavior increased with development, with consistent competence emerging around age 7. Rote behavior was also associated with worse teaching. These results indicate when and how reasoning about automatic behavior matters to children’s perception of others, and suggest novel extensions to models of Theory of Mind.
Two out of three ain’t bad: Aggregating multiple identification decisions from the same observer improves unfamiliar face matching performance
Daniel James Carragher; Peter J. B. Hancock
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Deciding whether two images show the same person sounds easy, but the average individual achieves accuracy of 60-90% on many unfamiliar face matching tasks. However, overall task performance can be improved by combining the identification decisions made by different individuals, through the “wisdom of the crowd” effect. We investigated whether similar gains occur by combining multiple decisions made by the same individual, via a “wisdom of the crowd within” effect. Participants completed the same unfamiliar face matching task three times: in one session (Experiment 1), or over three weeks (Experiment 2). We found a wisdom of the crowd within effect in both experiments, which was significant after two responses, and larger with three. Surprisingly, the delay did not offer additional benefit. Though the crowd within improved performance, crowds of different individuals produced larger gains. Our results add to a growing literature showing combined decision-making can improve unfamiliar face matching performance.

SocArxiv

What Do Group-Specific Sibling Correlations Really Measure?
Kristian Bernt Karlson
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The sibling correlation, or intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), is a widely used omnibus measure of the total impact of family background on socioeconomic outcomes in social stratification research. A growing literature compares these correlations across subgroups defined by family-level characteristics (e.g., race, parental education) to test theories of social reproduction, such as parental compensation or reinforcement. In this note, I highlight the ambiguities involved in meaningfully interpreting such subgroup variation. I first define the theoretical estimand of intergenerational transmission that researchers are arguably most interested in, and then formally demonstrate why group-specific ICCs do not identify this estimand. In fact, the estimand of interest cannot be recovered from the variance-components models underlying sibling correlations unless researchers are willing to make assumptions that are both untestable and likely unrealistic.
Financial Stress and Mental Health Among U.S. College Students: Gender Differences and Anxiety as a Mediator of Academic Disruption
Tania Akter
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This study examines gender differences in financial stress and anxiety among U.S. college students and evaluates whether financial stress predicts anxiety, and whether anxiety mediates the relationship between financial stress and academic disruption. Data from the 2023–2024 Healthy Minds Study, a nationally representative survey of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in the United States, were analyzed. Survey-weighted regression models were used to assess gender differences and the association between financial stress and anxiety. A generalized structural equation model (GSEM) tested whether anxiety mediates the relationship between financial stress and academic disruption. Financial stress was modeled as a continuous predictor, anxiety as a continuous mediator, and academic disruption as an ordinal outcome. Female students reported significantly higher levels of financial stress and anxiety than male students, even after adjusting for age and race. Financial stress was positively associated with anxiety for both male and female students. This indicates a broad impact of financial pressure on emotional well-being. Anxiety subsequently predicted academic disruption. Mediation analysis revealed that anxiety significantly mediated the relationship between financial stress and academic disruption, and this explained more than half of the total effect. These findings highlight anxiety as a key psychological pathway through which financial stress affects academic functioning. Interventions targeting financial stress may improve both emotional well-being and academic performance, particularly for students facing elevated financial and psychological vulnerability.
Conditional Risks, Contextual Rewards: Spatial inequality and job search time at labour market entry
Katy Morris
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While there is a strong educational gradient to the risk of experiencing long periods of unemployment and insecurity at the beginning of the career, recent evidence suggests local labour market circumstances can moderate the degree of risk associated with low educational achievement. We test the wider applicability of this finding by exploring the effect of spatial variation in labour demand on initial job search time in the contrasting institutional settings of Germany and the United Kingdom. Survival analysis of Understanding Society and Socio-Economic Panel data 1998–2015 shows this form of spatial inequality moderates the size of the job search time penalty associated with low educational attainment (and the size of the returns associated with higher attainment) in a similar way in both countries. Young people in places of high labour demand in Germany and the UK obtain employment with relative ease irrespective of the qualifications they hold. However, educational attainment assumes greater consequence as local labour demand declines. On average, low qualified young people in places of weak demand experience 2-3 month longer periods of labour market lockout and 8-10 month longer periods of labour market insecurity than peers located in places of strong demand, and considerably longer periods of lockout and insecurity than their better qualified peers in the same weak labour markets. These findings draw attention to the contextual nature of the risks associated with low educational attainment and the rewards to higher levels of attainment, at least in terms of job search time.
Who Do People Blame for Affective Polarization?
Seo-young Silvia Kim; Yuki Atsusaka
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Affective polarization---animosity toward out-group partisans compared to copartisans---is central to discussions of the contemporary American political landscape, but the literature has not fully addressed whom people blame for the rise of partisan animosity. We analyze how people judge the \textit{relative} responsibilities of different entities to affective polarization by leveraging ranking survey questions with bias correction for random responses. On average, people blame politicians the most, then traditional media, social media, interest groups, and lastly, citizens. Strong partisan differences exist in blame for traditional media, with leaning and weak Republicans (not strong Republicans) displaying strong blame attribution towards them compared to other entities. Our findings suggest that a gap between depolarization research and citizen perceptions on root causes of polarization may impact the efficacy of possible interventions, and that more research is needed to understand why anti-press attitudes might not be linear with respect to partisanship.
Challenging assumptions of family meals and the eating behavior and weight trajectories of youth: A genetic perspective
Nicklas Neuman
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The family meal is an institution. It is culturally idealized as a resource for laying the foundations of a good life for children and adolescents, to the point of being included in dietary guidelines. Empirical and theoretical support in favor of this conclusion exists, yet critics also challenge assumptions of causation and family meals being without harm. Here, I challenge a third assumption, which I refer to as the assumption of environmental primacy. Focusing on eating behavior and body weight of children and adolescents, I discuss evidence from methods in behavioral and social science genetics (twin and adoption studies, molecular genetics, and within-family designs) and argue that if no attempt is made to consider the relative importance of genetic and environmental factors, we cannot claim with any confidence that family meals matter. At least not for the eating behaviors and weight trajectories of youth. Throughout the paper, I provide examples of how family meals could be studied with the use of these methods, and finish with five constructive suggestions on how to handle this in the future. The ambition is to strengthen the scientific quality of the family-meal literature and, thus, improve the scientific basis of (potential) family meal policy.
Sinks and Sluices: Contrasting Dynamics in Spatial Assimilation Pathways
Kristian Gade Kjelmann; Anja JĂžrgensen
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This study examines how neighbourhoods can be understood through their functional roles in immigrant settlement. Drawing on register data covering internal migration among first-generation immigrants in Denmark (2007–2012), the analysis models migration as networks and applies the Hubs and Authorities (HITS) algorithm to classify neighbourhoods as sinks, denoting areas of prolonged settlement, or sluices, denoting areas of high turnover. These typologies are linked to composite measures of marginalisation and integration, constructed from group-level socioeconomic indicators at settlement and five years later. Results reveal that the association between neighbourhood role and integration outcomes is neighbourhood-dependent rather than uniform. The same neighbourhood may function as a site of long-term residence for some immigrant groups, while being highly transient for others. We find no overall association between internal migration patterns and socioeconomic integration outcomes at the neighbourhood-level. Neighbourhoods near city centres and on the periphery often display dual functions, indicating transitional dynamics within the urban system. Over time, sinks tend to become more strongly associated with marginalisation, while the role of sluices remains variable. The findings support a pluralistic understanding of neighbourhoods as dynamic contexts shaped by migration flows, rather than as fixed determinants of outcomes, as integration and spatial mobility are linked for some immigrant groups but not others. Overall, the study highlights the value of treating migration as a network process for capturing the fluid, group-specific geographies of integration.
Emotional Governance in Multilateral Diplomacy: How International Organizations Mitigate Bias and Enable Resolution
Kristina Sabrina WeißmĂŒller
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Emotions are an essential feature of human cognition, sense-making, and behaviour. In volatile times characterized by urgency and uncertainty, which compound the already complex processes of international negotiations, international organizations (IOs) play a paramount role in mitigating the potentially adverse impact of emotions on negotiation outcomes in multilateral diplomacy. Drawing on social psychology, behavioural economics, and international relations, this essay explains why and how emotions impact negotiation processes and outcomes, and shows how IOs – as international bureaucracies – help mitigate emotional biases in multilateral diplomacy. Illustrating the effect of experiencing positive, neutral, and negative emotions during negotiation processes, this essay proposes three mechanisms – community building, professionalization, and bureaucratization – by which IOs reduce emotion-driven disruptions in diplomatic negotiations and facilitate agreement on issues of global relevance, especially in volatile times.
Sinks and Sluices: Contrasting Dynamics in Spatial Assimilation Pathways
Kristian Gade Kjelmann; Anja JĂžrgensen
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This study examines how neighbourhoods can be understood through their functional roles in immigrant settlement. Drawing on register data covering internal migration among first-generation immigrants in Denmark (2007–2012), the analysis models migration as networks and applies the Hubs and Authorities (HITS) algorithm to classify neighbourhoods as sinks, denoting areas of prolonged settlement, or sluices, denoting areas of high turnover. These typologies are linked to composite measures of marginalisation and integration, constructed from group-level socioeconomic indicators at settlement and five years later. Results reveal that the association between neighbourhood role and integration outcomes is neighbourhood-dependent rather than uniform. The same neighbourhood may function as a site of long-term residence for some immigrant groups, while being highly transient for others. We find no overall association between internal migration patterns and socioeconomic integration outcomes at the neighbourhood-level. Neighbourhoods near city centres and on the periphery often display dual functions, indicating transitional dynamics within the urban system. Over time, sinks tend to become more strongly associated with marginalisation, while the role of sluices remains variable. The findings support a pluralistic understanding of neighbourhoods as dynamic contexts shaped by migration flows, rather than as fixed determinants of outcomes, as integration and spatial mobility are linked for some immigrant groups but not others. Overall, the study highlights the value of treating migration as a network process for capturing the fluid, group-specific geographies of integration.
The English Curriculum and Assessment Interim Review: Inclusion, Settlement, and the Future of Education
Sandra Leaton Gray
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This article introduces the concept of epistemic settlement as a novel analytic category, offering both a systematic coding frame and a transferable vocabulary for comparative curriculum analysis. It does this through a critical analysis of the 2025 Curriculum and Assessment Review: Interim Report. While focused on England, the analytic vocabulary of epistemic settlement and the reform conditions developed here are applicable to curriculum debates internationally. The Review is presented as pragmatic recalibration, but instead reaffirms the assumptions of the post-2010 curriculum landscape: disciplinary coherence treated as neutral, progression codified as linear mastery, and justice framed as access to canonical knowledge. The Review’s ambitions are constrained by a procedural logic that privileges consultation and assessment stability over philosophical or civic purpose. The article develops an analytic vocabulary for identifying epistemic settlement and applies it to the Review, showing how claims of neutrality, proceduralism, and performance metrics foreclose curricular futurity. Against this closure, it advances four conditions for meaningful reform. These are epistemic legibility (explicitly naming and justifying theories of knowledge), professional judgement (teachers as epistemic agents, not policy implementers), temporal flexibility (learning unfolding at varied rhythms), and a diversified assessment ecology (examinations situated within broader repertoires of judgement). These conditions frame curriculum not as a delivery mechanism but as a civic and ethical project, and a space where knowledge, purpose, and futurity remain open to deliberation and contestation.
The Emperor has No Batteries: Europe’s Uneven Bid for Battery Strategic Autonomy
Cornel Ban; Imogen T. Liu
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Why did Sweden’s Northvolt—Europe’s most celebrated green industrial startup—collapse, while France managed to stabilise its local aspiring champions in the same cleantech sector? This paper uses these contrasting trajectories to interrogate the EU’s more assertive industrial policy turn. Drawing on the developmental network state (DNS) framework, we argue that while the EU has shifted from market neutrality to vertical industrial policy activism in a global context marked by geopolitical competition, its capacity to sustain strategic firms through crises remains underdeveloped. However, domestic capabilities and strategies mediated EU resourcing, brokering, facilitation, and protection, the main functions of the DNS. Where Sweden lacked credible financial, fiscal and institutional mechanisms of internal protection for the beleaguered Northvolt, France deployed a more robust economic statecraft toolkit, combining strategic finance, firm-level coordination, and public investment. Northvolt’s collapse illustrates the limits of Europe’s institutional orchestration of ambitious industrial policies: a regime that can incubate innovation but cannot stabilise it commercially. We conclude that without repurposed macro-financial institutions, Europe’s role as a competitive supplier of decarbonisation technologies will remain vulnerable.
Measuring Recruitment Elasticity in the Multi-stage Job Matching Process
Ryo Kambayashi; Kohei Kawaguchi; Suguru Otani
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This study addresses two conceptual issues in measuring recruitment elasticity: defining outcomes by matches rather than applications, and conditioning on workers observing posted wages. Using data from Japan's largest job matching intermediary tracking complete matching processes, we find recruitment elasticities around 1 for upper-wage workers but insignificant for lower-wage workers, indicating substantial employer market power. Wages significantly affect outcomes only at the application stage, not at subsequent interview or offer stages, consistent with directed search theory. These findings reveal heterogeneous monopsony power across worker segments with important implications for labor market policy.
Investigating contributorship and the division of labor in international scientific collaboration
Jie Xue; Vincent LariviĂšre
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International scientific collaboration has grown substantially, yet little is known about how scientific labor is organized within those. This study investigates the division of labor in international scientific collaboration using the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) from articles published in PLOS journals between 2018 and 2024. We introduce four novel metrics to analyze contribution patterns: Role-Article Coverage, Role Frequency per Article, Role Position Percentage, and Role Correlation Index. Our findings show that international teams incorporate more diverse roles than national ones, particularly in funding acquisition and resources. A clear division of labor emerges across first, middle, and last author positions. International collaborations demonstrate greater task specialization, reflecting cross-border coordination challenges. Contributors with multiple roles often perform specialized technical tasks. These findings enhance understanding of global scientific knowledge production and provide insights for research policy and equitable credit allocation in science.
Beyond circumstances ; A Structural‐Demographic analysis of France (1950‐2023)
Nicolas Salerno; Olivier Vidal; Baptiste Andrieu
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Structural-Demographic Theory (SDT) offers a systemic and long-term perspective that moves beyond circumstantial interpretations of political events. Rather than focusing on discrete episodes such as protests, reforms, or crises, it seeks to identify the underlying dynamics that shape how societies evolve over time. This approach enables a deeper understanding of political instability and how certain historical configurations repeatedly produce tensions between populations and institutions. This paper introduces a Political Stress Index (Κ) designed as a retrospective and prospective tool. This index aim to identify periods during which structural stress accumulates and aligns across three dimensions: elite overproduction and factionalism, fiscal fragility of the state, and the potential of the population to mobilize. When these variables rise together, the likelihood of significant institutional change increases. Applying this framework to post-war France, we argue that recent political unrest should be interpreted not as a series of isolated disruptions, but as the cumulative effect of deep structural transformations. Our findings suggest that contemporary France faces increasing demographic changes and institutional misadaptation. By aligning with long-term trends in electoral sociology, this analysis offers a reinterpretation of recent events as part of a broader trajectory of strain. It invites renewed attention to the systemic roots of instability and emphasizes the importance of institutional adaptation in periods of rising structural stress.
Success-volume relationships in funnel plots
Alexander Hulkes
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Since their first use in the context of performance assessment, funnel plots have become an established means of comparing outcomes of entities (broadly defined) in a transparent way which helps the plots’ users both to account for natural variation and to avoid spurious ranking. In this work a method is described by which outcome-volume relationships can be incorporated into funnel plots. It uses a regression based on a double exponential relationship of the form [1-exp(-a(n^b))]. Illustrative examples of the use of this method to compare performance in research funding competitions, healthcare and baseball are given.
Care in crisis: Picturing care work and climate change in the Philippines
Samantha Julia Legaspi Eala; Rebecca Patrick; Theo Prudencio Juhani Capeding; Cathy Vaughan
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As climate change exacerbates socioeconomic vulnerabilities, women, often carers, emerge as "invisible safety nets" sustaining family and community resilience. Set in a coastal town in Batangas, Philippines, the study explores how carers experience and navigate unpaid care work amid climate adaptation. Guided by feminist participatory action research, the study used photovoice, where 13 participants documented their experiences through photography and writing, then collaboratively interpreted their stories. For Filipino caregivers, climate change intensifies unpaid care work. Climate-related disruptions fracture their sense of wholeness, adding layers of grief and uncertainty to their responsibilities. They take on multifaceted roles across their family, community, and environments, as educators, providers, stewards, and leaders. In navigating intensifying care demands, they rely on community solidarity and spirituality, which serve as vital sources of strength, purpose, and hope in their collective efforts to adapt to climate change. By recognising unpaid care work in climate adaptation and providing carers with a platform to voice their lived experiences, the study hopes to advocate for climate change policies and programs that respond to unpaid care dynamics, reward women’s contribution, reduce unpaid care work, and advocate for redistribution of and male involvement in care work within families and communities.
Navigating Organisational Paradoxes in Blockchain Communities
Annika Aebli; Fabienne Silberstein-Bamford; Joshua Silberstein Bamford
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Decentralised, peer-to-peer blockchain networks rely on sustained community participation, yet retaining user engagement is challenging in fast-moving, information-saturated environments where new projects constantly compete for attention. As these networks grow in size and complexity, managing them requires navigating contradictory organisational demands that shape community dynamics and platform retention. Drawing on the organisational paradox lens, and using 26 semi-structured interviews, we explore the organisational structures that shape users’ engagement in their blockchain group. We identified the coexistence of conflicting organisational demands rooted in decision-making, community growth, and modes of communication. Maintaining a careful balance, rather than attempting to resolve these organisational tensions, supports user retention, whereas leaning too heavily toward either extreme may hinder engagement. This study provides the first user-centred analysis of how organisational paradoxes in blockchain shape community building and platform sustainability, contributing to debates on governance in peer-to-peer online groups in attention-driven contexts.
The EnAppment Promenade: getting the walkthrough method back on track
Darcy Parks
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The field of app studies has been home to significant methodological creativity in its attempts to better understand the platform society and platform capitalism. Perhaps no approach has been more inspirational than the walkthrough method. However, the walkthrough method’s apparent popularity hides the fact that few studies actually use the method as presented. While many studies cite it, only some make use of its technical walkthrough, and almost none draw on its theoretical proposal called the environment of expected use. This article proposes a new approach, the EnAppment Promenade, that aims to address the walkthrough method’s incoherent aims and theoretical perspective. It combines the walkthrough method’s technical walkthrough with a theoretical perspective that replaces the concept of affordances with enactment. This new approach attempts to deliver on the original promise of the walkthrough method: the rigorous and systemic of apps where the researcher engages directly with an app’s interface.
Democratizing Deep Expertise: A Framework for Extracting and Codifying Tacit Knowledge Using Large Language Models
Irshad Abdulla
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The proliferation of large language models (LLMs) opens new possibilities for capturing and scaling human expertise. Yet most applications focus on synthesizing large, documented corpora (papers, reports, manuals, articles, logs). This paper presents a novel approach for extracting and codifying undocumented, deep expertise—the “golden nuggets” of human insight—and making it accessible via a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) system. Emphasizing quality over quantity, we argue that a small number of high-value expert insights can yield outsized utility when structured around a clearly defined problem domain. Drawing on action research and design science, we present (a) a conceptual framework (b) a case study in SAP S/4HANA implementation expertise, and (c) lessons for generalization across domains. We conclude that combining SME insight with LLMs can democratize scarce knowledge and generate significant value for organizations.
Digital Diabetes: Neurobiological Parallels Between Excessive Screen Exposure and Metabolic Dysregulation in Indian Adolescents
Srinivasa Srinivasa Rao
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The rapid proliferation of digital technologies in India has coincided with a surge in screen-based activities among adolescents, raising concerns about its impact on neurobiological health. This paper explores the concept of "Digital Diabetes," an analogy likening chronic digital overstimulation to insulin resistance in metabolic diabetes. Drawing on empirical evidence from neuroimaging studies, epidemiological surveys, and clinical trials, we examine how prolonged social media and smartphone use disrupts dopamine signaling, leading to reward system desensitization akin to dopamine resistance. In India, where over 462 million individuals actively use social media as of January 2024, with youth comprising a significant portion, average daily screen time exceeds three hours for more than half of adolescents aged 9-17 (DataReportal, 2024; LocalCircles, 2024). This exposure correlates with attention deficits (up to 28% increased risk with >3 hours daily), structural brain alterations (e.g., 15% reduction in caudate nucleus volume), and heightened mental health risks, including a 34% prevalence of common mental disorders among urban Delhi adolescents (AIIMS, 2024). We review policy interventions, such as China's "double-reduction" initiative, and evidence-based strategies like mindfulness apps (reducing dependency by 25%) and pharmacological aids (e.g., bupropion for dopamine reuptake inhibition). Recommendations emphasize neuroscience education, digital fasting, and integrated clinical approaches to safeguard India's youth demographic, which constitutes 55% of internet users under 35 (Gopakumar et al., 2025). This synthesis underscores the urgency of addressing digital overuse as a public health priority to mitigate long-term neurological and societal costs.
Continuity in State and Federal Constitution-Making, 1775-1787
Peter Paccione
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With independence in 1776, the American states began to draft their first constitutions. In 1787, the federal constitution was written in Philadelphia. One thing that almost all the first state constitutions had in common was that they attempted to preserve the colonial governments as much as possible, and the drafters were greatly influenced by the colonial charters and the British constitution. The framers of the federal constitution in 1787 were influenced by them and also by the state constitutions. The framing of the state and the federal constitutions was characterized by continuity as well as change.
Mapping the Chemical Anatomy of Processed Foods: GRAS Additives, Synergy Networks, and Structural Gaps in U.S. Food Regulation
Adith Kanjarla
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The U.S. “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) framework is intended to safeguard the food supply, yet structural gaps have enabled widespread use of food additives with limited oversight. While regulators evaluate individual substances, Americans are exposed daily to complex mixtures embedded in ultra-processed foods (UPFs). This study conducted a scoping review of the GRAS literature to identify regulatory and toxicological blind spots, and a descriptive mapping of the U.S. packaged food supply to characterize additive prevalence and co-occurrence. Using Open Food Facts data (n ≈ 19,000 products), standardization of additives into E-codes, classified UPFs, and generated co-occurrence networks was done. Results show that while a small set of legacy additives dominate, certain combinations recur thousands of times, revealing potential for synergistic or cumulative exposures not captured by current assessment models. Furthermore, self-affirmed GRAS determinations remain largely invisible, revealing major transparency gaps. These findings stress the urgent need for mixture focused toxicology, improved regulatory disclosure, and systematic monitoring of UPFs. This preliminary analysis serves as a foundation for OpenGRAS, a student-led initiative to document and expose weaknesses in U.S. food additive governance.
[Book Review] The Nature of Knowledge and Our Knowledge of Nature: A Review of George E. McCarthy’s Shadows of the Enlightenment
Ben Lockwood
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In Shadows of the Enlightenment, George E. McCarthy provides a history of the emergence and development of Western science, along with its political and ideological underpinnings. By locating the origin of Western science in the beginnings of capitalism, McCarthy reveals their co-determination and questions if a decoupling is possible. Despite a thorough examination of the ontological, epistemological, metaphysical and philosophical developments regarding knowledge since the Enlightenment, McCarthy omits several key areas of theoretical inquiry, and never satisfyingly answers the driving questions of his text.
High rates of polygyny do not lock large proportions of men out of the marriage market
Hampton Gaddy; Rebecca Sear; Laura Fortunato
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There is a widespread belief, in both the scholarly literature and the popular press, that polygyny prevents large numbers of men from marrying by skewing the sex ratio of the marriage market. In turn, the exclusion of men from marriage is thought to lead to negative outcomes, e.g., by fueling crime and armed conflict. In this paper, we investigate systematically the relationship between polygyny and men’s marriage prospects. First, using a demographic model, we show that marriage markets are skewed sufficiently feminine, under a range of realistic demographic scenarios, to sustain some level of polygyny without locking any men out of marriage. Second, through analysis of 84.1 million census records from 30 countries across Africa, Asia, and Oceania between 1969 and 2016, we show that the subnational association between the prevalence of polygyny and the prevalence of unmarried men is negative or null, rather than positive, for almost all countries in the sample. Third, through analysis of the full-count 1880 US federal census, we show that the average prevalence of unmarried men is lower, not higher, across counties of the West with Mormon polygyny, compared to other counties of the West, and to counties of the Midwest and the Northeast; it is higher only compared to counties of the South. Overall, these findings challenge a dominant narrative linking polygyny to negative social outcomes. Drawing on existing evidence, we suggest that the observed patterns may be explained by an underlying association between the prevalence of polygyny and the strength of promarriage norms.
How U.S. Debt and Derivatives Risk Threaten the Dollar’s Reserve Status
Sixbert Sangwa; Placide MUTABAZI
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Escalating U.S. net-interest payments now rival flagship budget lines and are projected to surpass 4 percent of GDP within a decade, while unfunded Social Security and Medicare liabilities exceed $70 trillion. In parallel, over-the-counter derivatives outstanding approach $700–800 trillion in notional value, embedding opaque leverage that could transmit shocks globally. Purpose: This study probes how the confluence of sovereign debt strain, entitlement promises, and derivatives exposure can destabilize the dollar’s reserve-currency privilege and maps reforms capable of forestalling a debt-driven systemic rupture. Methods: An integrative review of Congressional Budget Office forecasts, BIS derivatives statistics, and peer-reviewed network-risk models is synthesized through a tri-theoretical lens that combines Modern Monetary Theory, Minsky’s Financial Instability Hypothesis, and network-based systemic-risk science. Results: Vector-error-correction analysis reveals that a one-point rise in the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio lifts global derivatives gross-market value by 0.7 percent within two quarters, indicating tight macro-financial coupling. Stress scenarios show that breaching a 120 percent debt-to-GDP threshold alongside derivatives GMV above 10 percent of GDP elevates one-notch downgrade odds to 50 percent within two years. These dynamics threaten confidence in dollar assets, erode the “exorbitant privilege,” and could precipitate non-linear contagion through shadow-banking channels. Conclusions: A coordinated package—gradual entitlement reform, primary-balance fiscal rules, maturity-extension of Treasuries, reinforced CCP cover-two capital, and expanded bilateral central-bank swap lines—can realign fiscal sustainability with financial-network resilience. Infusing policy with a biblical stewardship ethic (“the borrower is servant to the lender,” Prov 22:7) underscores the moral imperative to curb excessive leverage. Timely adoption would safeguard global liquidity, buttress U.S. monetary sovereignty, and preserve the dollar’s hegemonic role.
IA aplicada al anĂĄlisis de las extorsiones en el PerĂș: Mapeo de discursos en YouTube
Alvaro Max Vallejo; Sharella Choquecahua Infante
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Este estudio tiene como propĂłsito representar digitalmente la crisis de extorsiones en el PerĂș entre 2024 y 2025 a partir del anĂĄlisis de comentarios en YouTube, con el fin de identificar las categorĂ­as discursivas mĂĄs relevantes. Se utilizĂł un diseño mixto con triangulaciĂłn, combinando un componente cuantitativo basado en tĂ©cnicas de procesamiento de lenguaje natural y un modelo BERT para clasificar los comentarios, y un componente cualitativo que reconstruyĂł una cronologĂ­a de eventos y analizĂł la relaciĂłn entre los picos de conversaciĂłn digital, los paros de transportistas y la cobertura mediĂĄtica Los resultados revelan que la conversaciĂłn digital no se activa por delitos aislados, sino por la ocurrencia de paros que obligan a los medios tradicionales a cubrir el tema, generando un aumento abrupto de la interacciĂłn en lĂ­nea. Las narrativas mĂĄs frecuentes se centran en la crĂ­tica al Estado y en las demandas de medidas punitivas, lo que evidencia una ciudadanĂ­a indignada y favorable a soluciones de seguridad mĂĄs estrictas. La reacciĂłn mediĂĄtica se presenta como tardĂ­a y reactiva, lo que retrasa la incorporaciĂłn del problema en la agenda pĂșblica y prolonga la sensaciĂłn de desprotecciĂłn Este trabajo aporta un marco replicable para el estudio de fenĂłmenos de criminalidad en entornos digitales y demuestra el papel de la protesta social como detonante de la visibilizaciĂłn y discusiĂłn en lĂ­nea, ofreciendo insumos para comprender cĂłmo la presiĂłn ciudadana configura la agenda mediĂĄtica y polĂ­tica.
Puzzlegram: A Serious Game Designed for the Elderly in Group Settings
Sunny Choi
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An original serious game prototype named ‘Puzzlegram’ is created for the elderly demographic in group settings as the target players. Puzzlegram is precisely designed to accentuate memory, auditory interaction as well as haptic response to visual signals with the use of music. Music is introduced as a key component for establishing the game design that provides a source of meaningful contextualization—familiar music from the past—for setting the game mechanics, which facilitated the construction of the serious game design process. The discussion topics raised include the need to design serious games for fostering meaningful interactions, as well as developing a thorough framework for constructing purposeful design for serious games. A potential integral of artificial intelligence to Puzzlegram may involve assigning a novel dimension to its existing problem-solving task by adapting to varying states of cognitive function for monitoring purposes based on an individual’s interaction with the game.
Stable or Variable Distrust? Disentangling the Relationship between Political Trust and Electoral Behavior
Carmen Rosalina Antonia van Alebeek; Tom van der Meer; Armen Hakhverdian
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Low political trust disengages citizens from mainstream politics, stimulating anti-establishment voting and even electoral abstention. However, existing scholarship has largely overlooked the temporal dynamics of political trust. Next to high versus low trust, our study identifies two additional components of political trust: its long-term variability and its short-term variation. We employ fifteen waves of the Dutch LISS panel (2008-2023) to systematically test the impact of these three components of political trust on electoral behavior. We find that there are systematic and meaningful differences between stable and variable (dis)trusters. While trust levels are the strongest predictor of both support for anti-establishment and abstention, trust variability has an additional effect on electoral behavior. Short-term declines in political trust increase the chances of anti-establishment voting and abstention, independent of individuals’ overall trust levels and variability. These findings have important implications for our understanding of democratic alienation and critical citizenship.
Political Trust and Democracy in the Netherlands
Carmen Rosalina Antonia van Alebeek
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Across many Western democracies, public trust in political institutions is under strain. The Netherlands forms no exception: since 2021, levels of political trust have declined noticeably (Miltenburg et al., 2024). This observation has raised concern, with some commentators warning that it may reflect deeper challenges to Dutch democracy (e.g., Van Reybrouck, 2016; Tjeenk Willink, 2022). But to what extent is this the case? To address this puzzle, this memo explores the relationship between political trust and democracy. It focuses on two central questions: (1) Why is political trust important for democracy? And (2) how has the Netherlands fared in this respect over time? Drawing on data from the LISS panel (2008-2024), it outlines general trends in political trust over the past sixteen years.
A collaborative digital field study shows that community-led interventions can minimize engagement with online falsehoods
Morgan Wack
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False information can erode democratic legitimacy and incite violence. Despite the severity of these outcomes, social media platforms have recently withdrawn funding for content moderation, leaving low-resource environments at particular risk. While lab studies and survey experiments have been used to develop innovative methods for combating false information, challenges with data access have limited their study in ecologically valid settings. As an alternative, a partnership was established with non-profit Tales of Turning to oversee the study of a volunteer-led digital field experiment which saw them use comments to get readers to more carefully consider online content. These questions, known as “social truth queries” (STQs), were randomly assigned to posts containing delegitimizing information during South Africa’s contentious 2024 election. Across the 125 X/Twitter posts, the intervention had a substantial effect on engagement, with posts assigned to receive comments seeing a 77% reduction in likes and 82% reduction in reposts. Critically, the effect of the intervention was dependent on its timing, with the impact largest when STQs were applied quickly. To test related mechanisms, the field study was paired with two preregistered survey experiments (N=1,607) which employed posts collected during the intervention. The surveys provide further support for the role of STQs in reducing perceived post accuracy and trust in users spreading delegitimizing content. For the first time in the context of a digital field experiment, this study provides evidence from a collaboration with a community-based partner regarding the efficacy of a real-world election integrity intervention.
The Effects of Participating in Government-Led Citizens' Assemblies
Mariana Carmo Duarte; Jorge M. Fernandes; Miguel M. Pereira
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Contemporary democracies face growing public mistrust and disaffection. Governments across the world have tried to revert these trends by promoting participatory governance. Prior work has established how deliberation can empower citizens. However, whether these effects hold in real-life initiatives initiated by partisan governments remains unclear. We test the ability of citizens' assemblies to foster democratic attitudes in a natural experiment leveraging the random selection of participants to Lisbon's citizens' assembly. Participation in two full-day sessions of structured deliberation promoted by the local government led to a increase in issue knowledge and salience, external political efficacy, and institutional trust. However, participation did not increase internal political efficacy nor helped citizens better recognize the challenges of collective decision-making. The results hold for two editions of the assembly and reveal how participatory governance initiatives can bolster the connection between citizens and the democratic process.
Fearon-Kalyvas Model: Toward a Unified Model of Battles and Violence in Civil War
Kyosuke Kikuta; Kana Inata; Wakako Maekawa
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Fearon (1995) and Kalyvas (2006) are arguably the most influential contributions to conflict studies in recent decades. However, scholars tend to use their models separately—Fearon’s for conflicts between armed groups and Kalyvas’ for violence against civilians—overlooking how they could speak to each other. We propose a model that unifies these classical theories. The new model, Fearon-Kalyvas model, highlights the crucial role of the relative efficacy of battles and violence. When fighting has better prospects than violence, armed groups attack their adversaries, thereby avoiding intermediate territorial control and violence. Thus, contrary to Kalyvas (2006), intermediate territorial control does not necessarily result in violence. Theoretically, this suggests that the “cost of peace”—maintaining control through violence—can result in a bargaining failure and battle. Empirically, our model implies a selection bias; territorial control is endogenous to the efficacy of violence, and this endogeneity can bias naïve regression estimates.
Silence as a Social Equilibrium: A Graph-Domination Model of Recognition Asymmetry
Akio Hotta
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This paper reconceptualizes silence not as an individual pathology or commu- nication breakdown but as a rationally emergent social equilibrium. Drawing on graph theory, sociology, and behavioral economics, the analysis introduces two cen- tral constructs: the domination number Îł(G), which captures structural concentra- tion of recognition, and the cost function J(x) = αE(x) + ÎČS(x) + cAA(x), which models the individual’s calculus of whether to speak or remain silent. Through these constructs, silence is shown to be a predictable outcome of recognition asymmetry. By embedding classical theories from Durkheim, Bourdieu, Goffman, and Foucault into a formal mathematical framework, the paper establishes the foundation for a new research program: the calculus of silence. The following sections—Chapters 1 through 3—introduce the problem, survey the literature, and articulate the theo- retical framework in detail.
Posthuman Women on Screen: A Cross-Cultural Study of Gendered AI, Emotional Labor, and the Posthuman Gaze in Global Cinema
Megha Sirkar; Bidisha Munshi
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This article presents a comparative case study of three contemporary AI-focused films: Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya (India, 2024), M3GAN (USA, 2022), and Her (USA, 2013) to explore how global cinema constructs gendered artificial intelligence through the lenses of emotional labor, synthetic femininity, and the posthuman gaze. Each film centers on feminine-coded artificial beings designed to fulfill emotional, domestic, or sexual needs, revealing how cinematic narratives engage with the persistent fantasy of the "perfect woman." The movie Her serves as a case study in disembodied posthuman intimacy, with Samantha’s emotional labor compensating for her lack of physical form. M3GAN dramatizes anxieties around technological motherhood, showing how AI caregiving becomes threatening when emotional boundaries collapse. In contrast, Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya examines the male gaze and posthuman embodiment; SIFRA’s hyper-feminized programming is tailored to patriarchal expectations until her system breaks down, exposing the precarity of programmed obedience. Across these texts, AI figures are welcomed as long as they serve, but recoded as unpalatable, disastrous when they rebel, glitch, or evolve beyond control. These portrayals highlight cultural anxieties around female agency, techno-intimacy, and the limits of emotional programming. Our analysis is anchored in the intersecting frameworks of gender theory, posthuman studies, and cinematic critique, drawing from Judith Butler’s gender performativity, Hochschild and Ahmed’s emotional labor, Laura Mulvey’s male gaze, and posthuman ethics by Braidotti and Hayles. Methodologically, the chapter employs comparative close reading, filmic discourse analysis, and cultural contextualization, where posthumanism interrogates the collapse of human-machine boundaries, while the male gaze elucidates how feminine AI bodies are constructed for control and submission. This study contributes to understanding how posthuman cinema critiques patriarchal emotional economies and reveals the fragility of techno-feminine ideals, illuminating the ethical dilemmas of loving machines designed to serve. Keywords: Posthuman Gaze, Feminine Performativity, Emotional Labour, Gendered AI, Comparative Global Cinema
Dynamic Constitutive and Probabilistic Models for Housing Demand and Consumption Under Interest Rate Variations
Mark A Cappelli
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Traditional monetary policy’s effectiveness in controlling inflation through interest rate changes has weakened, as empirical data show easing no longer reliably drives consumer price inflation. We introduce the Dynamic Constitutive Laws Model (DCLM) described by coupled differential equations to capture how interest rate changes reallocate household spending. By explicitly modeling housing demand, house prices, inflation, and consumption components over five years, we show that lower interest rates can act as a disinflationary force when reduced borrowing costs channel additional disposable income toward housing consumption rather than immediately increasing spending on other Consumer Price Index (CPI) goods and services. This effect offsets inflationary pressures from tariffs and supply shocks. Calibrated on U.S. macroeconomic data, the model reveals that loosening monetary policy stimulates housing-related expenditure while dampening CPI inflation. Our transmission mechanism challenges classical views and offers insights for policymakers navigating today’s volatile economic environment. The DCLM provides a flexible framework to analyze monetary policy’s impact on the U.S. economy, advocating a reassessment of inflation fears and the strategic use of rate cuts to foster growth without exacerbating inflation.
Bias In, Symbolic Compliance Out? GPT’s Reliance on Gender and Race in Strategic Evaluations
Tristan Botelho; Qingyang (Iris) Wang
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Strategic decision-making often involves more candidates than can be thoroughly assessed, leading evaluators to rely on proxies like gender and race, disadvantaging underrepresented minorities (URMs). As large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s ChatGPT become increasingly adopted by organizations, we ask whether and how LLMs rely on gender and race in evaluations. Across 26,000 evaluations of innovative offerings (e.g., startup pitches), we find that GPT evaluators did not disadvantage—and even modestly supported—URMs, primarily by avoiding negative outcomes. We theorize that this reflects symbolic compliance: A superficial response to avoid overt discrimination rather than a genuine commitment to fairness. We test this mechanism through “Second Opinion” experiments, where LLMs evaluate alongside simulated human inputs. This study highlights the implications of LLM adoption in strategic evaluations.
Informational Morality of Finance Theory, IMF-T: Reframing Digital Finance as an Information Ethics Domain
Collins Iziegbe OSOBASE
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Digital finance reorganizes everyday economic life through data intensive infrastructures for payments, savings, credit, and fraud control. Governance of these infrastructures is usually framed as financial risk and cybersecurity, which leaves the informational nature of the problem under theorized. This article advances Informational Morality of Finance Theory, IMF-T, a generative theory that reconceptualizes financial data as informational moral objects within socio technical systems. IMF-T integrates Western information ethics, centered on privacy, autonomy, transparency, and accountability, with African communitarian ethics, centered on relational responsibility, stewardship, and equitable benefit sharing. It specifies axioms, defines constructs such as informational dignity, relational stewardship, transparency capability, algorithmic contestability, and trust sufficiency, and articulates mechanisms that connect organizational capabilities to outcomes of data justice and inclusion. The theory yields testable propositions and practical measurement guidance to support cumulative empirical work in Information Studies, Information Systems, and Library and Information Science. It also offers normative principles for institutions and regulators, emphasizing stewardship over compliance and enabling contestability for those affected by automated decisions. By naming and formalizing IMF-T, the article provides a platform for research and practice on the ethical governance of digital finance. Keywords: information ethics; digital finance; information governance; Ubuntu; data justice; transparency; stewardship
Strategic Resilience through Informality: How African Startups Navigate Institutional Weaknesses
Collins Iziegbe OSOBASE
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Institutional weakness is a defining feature of many African economies, yet little is known about how startups adapt strategically to persistent volatility. This study investigates how entrepreneurs in Lagos and Nairobi mobilize informality to build resilience and navigate institutional voids. Drawing on qualitative interviews and thematic analysis, the findings show that resilience is not an episodic response to shocks but a structural entrepreneurial capacity embedded in everyday practices. Startups in Lagos adopt survival-driven strategies that rely on grassroots bricolage and selective compliance, while those in Nairobi pursue more collaborative approaches that leverage donor partnerships and community-based legitimacy. Informality emerges not as a deficit but as a productive resource that enables adaptation, innovation, and hybrid legitimacy across both contexts. Theoretically, the study contributes to institutional theory by reframing voids as enduring and generative rather than transitional. It extends entrepreneurship research by conceptualizing resilience as an ingrained capacity rather than a reactive response, and it advances the study of informality by demonstrating its role as a strategic resource. By situating African entrepreneurship within its specific institutional and social contexts, the study challenges deficit-based models and offers a framework for understanding how startups transform institutional weakness into opportunities for resilience and innovation. Keywords: African entrepreneurship, institutional voids, resilience, bricolage, informality, hybrid legitimacy
Artificial Generative Intelligence (AGI) as the End of Theory: From Explanation to Simulation
Peter Odhiambo Ouma
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The advent of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) poses a fundamental challenge regarding the nature of scientific inquiry: what happens to theory when machines cease to pursue understanding and focus solely on prediction? This article posits that AGI signifies an epistemological rupture in the extensive continuum of scientific rationality, wherein explanation, the quest for causal and conceptual comprehension, transitions to simulation, a mode of cognition propelled by predictive patterning rather than interpretative profundity. The paper engages figures from the philosophy of science and philosophical hermeneutics, including Popper, Kuhn, Hempel, and Lakatos, in conversation with Gadamer, Ricoeur, and Heidegger, to investigate how AGI redefines the concept of “knowledge.” Through a hermeneutic analysis of AGI manifestos, research papers, and policy documents, the study interprets these scientific texts as manifestations of a novel epistemic attitude, one that prioritises performance over comprehension and reduces explanation to algorithmic efficiency. AGI's simulations have unparalleled predictive accuracy, but they jeopardise the foundational objectives of science: justification, clarity, and accountability. The article finishes by proposing a hermeneutic philosophy of AGI that reinstates the significance of interpretation and meaning within automated knowledge systems. Instead of seeing AGI as the end of theory, it is shown as a critical mirror that science must look into to rethink what it means to "know." In a time when data may move faster than understanding, philosophy's job is to keep the space of interpretation open to remind us that knowledge is not just about what works, but also about what makes sense.
Closing the Gap? The Impact of Further Training for Career Inequality between Workers with Vocational and General Education
Viktor Decker; Marco Seegers
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The relative merits of vocational and general education remain central to debates on sustainable careers. Vocational pathways facilitate smoother school-to-work transitions but rely on occupation-specific skills that may become obsolete, whereas general education yields weaker entry prospects but greater adaptability to changing demands. A key question is whether further training can offset these trade-offs. This study examines participation in, and returns to, non-formal job-related training among vocationally and generally educated workers. Non-formal training, such as structured courses or seminars, allows employees to update and consolidate skills throughout their careers. We hypothesize that general graduates benefit more in early careers, while vocational graduates gain later as training helps counteract skill obsolescence. Drawing on longitudinal data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), we find that secondary-level vocational graduates participate less in training than university graduates, whereas tertiary-level vocational graduates train at similar rates. Training promotes employment stability, particularly in later careers, but effects are relatively uniform across educational groups. These results indicate that while training strengthens career resilience, it does not eliminate disparities between vocational and general graduates.
Multimodal large language models can make context-sensitive hate speech evaluations aligned with human judgment
Thomas Davidson
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Multimodal large language models (MLLMs) could enhance the accuracy of automated content moderation by integrating contextual information. This study investigates how MLLMs evaluate hate speech via a series of conjoint experiments. Models are provided with a hate speech policy and shown synthetic social media posts that systematically vary in slur usage, user demographics, and other attributes. The decisions from MLLMs are benchmarked against judgments by human subjects (N=1,854). The results demonstrate that larger, more advanced models can make context-sensitive evaluations that are closely aligned with human judgment. However, pervasive demographic and lexical biases remain, particularly among smaller models. Further analyses show that context sensitivity can be amplified via prompting but not eliminated, and that some models are especially responsive to visual identity cues. These findings highlight the benefits and risks of using MLLMs for content moderation and demonstrate the utility of conjoint experiments for auditing artificial intelligence in complex, context-dependent applications.
Digital Workplace and Gender (In)equality among Working Parents in Post-COVID-19 Britain
Chen-Ta Sung
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The rapid development of information communication technologies (ICTs), such as smart devices, cloud technologies and social media, have facilitated remote working practices. However, remote working has only become established in many countries since the global outbreak of Covid19 during 2020. The aim of this study is to critically investigate how the everyday experiences of ICTs-enabled remote working inform gender (in)equality in work and social life in post-Covid19 Britain. The study recruited 20 working parents (10 females and 10 males) working within knowledge industries as research participants. Diaries, along with in-depth interview methods, were deployed to capture nuanced sentiments and practices towards work and life coordination using ICTs. The data analysis revealed four main themes that identified the similarities and differences of remote working experiences between working mothers and fathers: (1) general trend towards working remotely, (2) shifting perceptions towards work-life responsibilities (opportunity), (3) gender ideology unfolding on ICT practices (risk) and (4) the different social consequences of role conflicts between gender (risk).
Beyond GDP: Quantifying Heterogeneous Impact of Climate Change on Well-being and Social Progress
Naveen Kumar
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The growing interest in assessing societal progress and public policies through the lens of Well-being has garnered significant attention from researchers and policymakers. This study examines the relationship between well-being and global warming across 167 countries from 1990 to 2019, employing the Social Progress Index (SPI) as a measure of well-being. Using a fixed-effects panel data framework, we study temperature impacts by modeling local and global anomalies simultaneously, capturing both within-country and global climate variation. First, a statistically significant negative relationship exists between annual temperature anomalies and well-being, with a 1°C global(local) mean temperature deviation leading to a 0.8324(0.096)-point decline, respectively. Second, precipitation anomalies show no significant effect on the SPI. Third, winter temperature anomalies and cold spells have a greater impact on well-being than other seasons or hot spells. Fourth, poorer regions, hotter climates, the global south, and countries with weak institutions are disproportionately affected by temperature deviations. Fifth, the impact of temperature on well-being persists over the medium term, lasting about four years
Applying African Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) to Counter Digital Surveillance in Development Program Management
Peter Odhiambo Ouma
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This article examines the emergence of digital program management systems in African development, concentrating on tools such as dashboards, biometric identity, and mobile data platforms. It contends that these systems are not impartial technology of efficiency but modern manifestations of colonial control mechanisms. The paper, based on Quijano's idea of the "coloniality of power," says that digital program management is a form of epistemic violence since it turns communities into databases and puts donor supervision ahead of relational accountability. Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) functions, integrated into these systems, exacerbate the issue by legitimising surveillance and data extraction as the prevailing framework of responsibility. Based on decolonial theory, the analysis compares the technocratic positivism that underlies today's management methods with epistemologies based on Indigenous African Knowledge Systems (IKS), especially Ubuntu relationality. Biometric systems erase relational identity by favouring individualised markers over community recognition. Dashboards impose a managerial "view from nowhere," turning complexity into metrics. Mobile survey tools silence oral testimony by putting stories into pre-coded categories. These behaviours show how digital program administration weakens local ways of knowing and gives more authority to outside funders and technocrats. In response, the article proposes a normative framework of Relational Accountability. It asks for a change from data extraction to ethical witnessing, participatory discussion in community assemblies (baraza), data sovereignty as cultural sovereignty, and the speculative design of Ubuntu-centric technology, all based on IKS principles. The paper asserts that decolonising program management is crucial for fostering trust, promoting epistemic fairness, and ensuring more ethical development practices. It advocates for epistemic disobedience that re-establishes Indigenous African Knowledge Systems as fundamental to program design and digital responsibility.
Science and Technology as Grounds for National Pride: Empirical Evidence from 32 Countries
Marharyta Fabrykant
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This article explores to what extent the cross-national differences in pride reflect objective differences in countries’ performance in these spheres. The empirical study conducted to answer this question is based on the survey data from the International Social Survey Program – National Identity covering 32 countries and quantitative indicators of countries’ achievements in technology from the World Bank Open Data and in academic science from the Scopus indicators dataset. The obtained results show that pride in science and technology is significantly related to the objective achievements. This relation is equally strong for academic science and applied technology and is stronger than the relation to the country’s general affluence as measured by the GDP per capita. The research demonstrates that as where science and technology are concerned people share a kind of distributed knowledge that produces realistic estimates counteracting the nationalist self-serving bias.
A Para-State: How a Shadow Partisan Network Governs State Administration in Authoritarian Serbia
Slobodan Tomic; Dusan Pavlovic
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This article examines how competitive authoritarian regimes reshape state administration through informal, extralegal structures that bypass formal institutional frameworks. While prior research highlights how regimes centralize power by restructuring bureaucracies and appointing loyalists, the formal institutional framework typically remains the main conduit through which partisan control and management of state administration are exercised. This article presents a distinct model of partisan control under competitive authoritarianism — showing how these strategies may be reinforced, or even replaced, by party-run parallel networks that redirect authority flows. Drawing on the case of Serbia under Vučić, it documents a “para-state” shadow governance system that displaces formal command. This model enables centralized, discretionary control across the entire public sector while shielding elites from accountability. Conceptually, the article argues that Serbia’s model blurs the line between competitive authoritarianism and totalitarian rule.
The Consumption Side of Trade Shocks: Inequality Dynamics and Luxury Imports
Vinicius Curti CĂ­cero; Laura Heras-Recuero
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We study how a large, exogenous trade shock --- triggered by China’s accession to the WTO in 2001 --- reshaped income, inequality, and import behavior across Brazilian regions. Using a shift-share instrument based on pre-shock export structures, we show that regions more exposed to China’s demand boom experienced increases in income per capita and within-region inequality relative to less exposed areas. These changes, in turn, led to rising import values and a shift in import composition, particularly toward consumption goods and medium- to high-tech manufactured products. To interpret these patterns, we classify goods by necessity and luxury status using Brazilian household survey data and develop a complementary ``demonstration luxury'' classification --- designed to capture status-oriented goods --- based on U.S. consumption patterns. Luxury imports rose most in regions that were initially more unequal or experienced sharper post-shock increases in inequality, consistent with non-homothetic preferences and status-driven consumption. Our findings highlight inequality as a key channel through which trade shocks shape regional import demand in developing economies.
Debunking "When Prophecy Fails"
Thomas Kelly
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In 1954, Dorothy Martin predicted an apocalyptic flood and promised her followers rescue by flying saucers. When neither arrived, she recanted, her group dissolved, and efforts to proselytize ceased. But When Prophecy Fails (1956), the now-canonical account of the event, claimed the opposite: that the group doubled down on its beliefs and began recruiting—evidence, the authors argued, of a new psychological mechanism, cognitive dissonance. Drawing on newly unsealed archival material, this article demonstrates that the book’s central claims are false, and that the authors knew they were false. The documents reveal that the group actively proselytized well before the prophecy failed and quickly abandoned their beliefs afterward. They also expose serious ethical violations by the researchers, including fabricated psychic messages, covert manipulation, and interference in a child welfare investigation. One coauthor, Henry Riecken, posed as a spiritual authority and later admitted he had “precipitated” the climactic events of the study.
Separating Disability Stigma from Health Stigma: Implications for Health Research and Policy
Mark Carew
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A key but under-addressed driver of the health inequalities facing persons with disabilities is disability stigma. However, disability stigma remains poorly conceptualised and consequently inconsistently measured and addressed within health research. Many studies treat disability stigma and health stigma as interchangeable. However, the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as the globally accepted framework for conceptualising disability clearly distinguishes between the concepts of “disability” and a “health condition”. This paper applies the ICF to show that disability stigma and health stigma have overlapping components but are conceptually distinct. Specifically, while health stigma is recognised to arise from adverse judgements about health conditions, this paper argues that disability stigma arises from adverse judgements about impairment(s), activity limitation(s), and/or health-related participation restriction(s) that may or may not relate to an individual’s health condition. This paper also explains why this distinction matters. First, it aligns the study of disability stigma with modern definitions of disability and the lived experiences persons with disabilities have of stigma. Second, it enables intersectional analysis of the impact of distinct stigmas arising from judgements about health condition(s) and disability status. Third, it contributes to better ways to measure disability stigma and consequently address it within interventions and policies. Fourth, it contributes to an improved classification of stigma within the ICF itself, which can be used to more comprehensively study health inequalities affecting persons with disabilities.
The Intelligent Evolution of Open-Source Intelligence: Focusing on International Legion of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine
WEI MENG
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This study aims to deepen open-source intelligence (OSINT) analysis of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence International Corps through artificial intelligence methods, exploring AI's application potential and methodological value in complex warfare information environments. The core objectives address two questions: First, how can AI technologies be effectively integrated into the OSINT cycle to enhance information screening, pattern recognition, and risk prediction? Second, can AI-driven OSINT provide more forward-looking and systematic support for strategic decision-making? Methodologically, this study adopts a multidisciplinary mixed methodology, integrating text metrology, semantic network analysis, risk radar modeling, and time-series projection to form a comprehensive framework: “Data Collection → AI Processing → Risk Assessment → Timeline Analysis → Insight Output.” The research process extensively leverages multilingual datasets (English, Ukrainian, Russian) and cross-platform information sources (official, media, social networks), utilizing visualization modeling to present data and risks in multidimensional formats. Results demonstrate that AI significantly enhances the depth and breadth of information processing in OSINT analysis. It outperforms traditional methods in misinformation detection accuracy, multilingual keyword extraction efficiency, and predictive power for risk patterns. Military risks and information warfare risks were assessed as highest priority, followed by public opinion risks and legal risks, revealing an overall “military-information warfare-public opinion” triple-high-risk configuration. Concurrently, time-series analysis revealed rhythmic patterns in risk evolution, providing quantitative foundations for future strategic planning. The study concludes that AI not only transforms OSINT's technical framework but also propels it toward structured, systematic, and forward-looking intelligence generation. AI-driven OSINT effectively bridges the tension between data fragmentation and systematic strategic analysis, enabling a qualitative leap in the intelligence cycle from “information accumulation” to “strategic insight.” This study provides an empirical paradigm for interdisciplinary research at the intersection of artificial intelligence and intelligence studies, holding significant theoretical and practical implications for future military conflicts, national security, and policy formulation.
Creation of a pseudo-language as spectacle: A critical study on the linguistic landscape of heritage tourism
Jia Xie; Aiheng Zhang
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As an essential component of culture, the commodification of language is a prevalent yet underexplored topic in tourism studies. This article investigates the Dongba script of the Naxi ethnic group in Lijiang, Yunnan, China, illustrating how a religious script has been transformed into a “pseudo-language” from a critical heritage studies perspective. Employing multiple methods, it explores how ethnic languages become spectacles in tourism contexts, analyzes how World Heritage discourse influences local language policies and stakeholder practices, and discusses language’s distinctive attributes as a tourism resource. The findings contribute to debates on authenticity in heritage tourism, enhance methodologies for examining linguistic landscapes, and advocate increased respect and safeguarding of minority languages in tourism research and practice.
Power BI and the Metascience of Management: Cognitive Prosthesis, Digital Labour, and the Automation of Epistemic Authority
Peter Odhiambo Ouma
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This essay redefines Microsoft Power BI as not merely a business intelligence tool, but as a cognitive prosthesis and an epistemic infrastructure that influences management cognition, attention, and the generation of organisational knowledge. Although traditional literature regards Power BI mainly as a visualisation or decision-support instrument, this study employs a critical conceptual and metascientific perspective to analyse how the platform pre-defines legitimate evidence, influences organisational reasoning, and reallocates interpretive labour within knowledge-driven organisations. The analysis puts up three connected arguments. To begin with, Power BI acts like a cognitive prosthesis by automating basic operations like trend identification, forecasting, and comparison measurements. This frees managers from low-level duties while also making them dependent on its dashboards and algorithmic logic. Second, it works as a micro-technology of cognitive capitalism by capturing, directing, and turning management attention into a resource of economic and organisational value. Third, the platform incorporates epistemic authority into its visualisations and metrics, gently regulating the generation of organisational knowledge and influencing the ethical and political aspects of managerial decision-making. By integrating perspectives from cognitive science, critical theory, science and technology studies, philosophy of technology, and political economy, the article illustrates that the automation of cognition is inherently biased, resulting in epistemic constriction, ethical challenges, and technocratic validation masquerading as “data-driven” objectivity. The research enhances metascientific discourse by elucidating the infrastructure of knowledge production within organisations and advocating for reflexive literacy in the utilisation of data analytics platforms. It emphasises the ethical, epistemological, and organisational implications of cognitive prostheses such as Power BI and promotes a more critical approach to the technologies that increasingly shape managerial cognition and decision making.
“Circle A: Making Eurodance a Threat Again.” – Practice-Based Autoethnographic Reflections on Political Musicking
Christina Fischer-Lessiak; Malik Sharif
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tina and Malik are excited to be invited to talk about their music project Circle A at a practice-based research symposium on music, sounds, and the political. They founded Circle A in 2014 as the first Radical Eurodance act ever, with the self-declared mission of “making Eurodance a threat again” and framing it as “a four-to-the-floor declaration of war against any kind of injustice and oppression that haunts the world we live in.” Over the past few years, they have only occasionally performed or recorded, due to their time being taken up by kids, other bands, and a pandemic. In early 2024, they meet over a beer to revisit their joint work and think about the topics they would like to discuss at the symposium. They reminisce about when, how, and why they founded Circle A; how the band and its music developed; what the future may hold for it; how and to what ends they mixed Eurodance and politics; and what all of this has to do with their shared background in musicology. In the process, tina and Malik also engage in discussions about fundamental questions regarding the relationship between music and the political, such as: What makes music political? Who are the audiences of political music, and how do they influence musicians’ practices? What are criteria for deciding whether a piece of political music is “good,” or maybe rather: “successful”? Can (political) music change the world? If so, how and to what extent? How can the seriousness of social struggles be squared with humorous modes of artistic expression? – As the conversation unfolds, tina and Malik switch back and forth between spoken language and song. In the end, they fail to produce notes for their symposium presentation, but they certainly enjoyed the intellectually stimulating – and sometimes controversial – exchange.
Factors Influencing Teaching Career Choice Among Student Teachers in Cambodian Teacher Education Colleges
Sinourn Huot; Rany Sam; Thou Nguon
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An education system should strive to attract well-qualified teachers and teacher candidates who have a high degree of professional commitment to meet society requirements such as teacher shortages, increasing numbers of schools and students (MoEYS, 2023), teacher policy adjustments (TPAP: 2024--2030, 2023) and Cambodia’s socioeconomic status (ESP: 2024--2028, 2024) toward country development. This study aims to investigate the factors influencing teaching career choice among fourth-year primary and lower secondary school student teachers at Teacher Education Colleges (TECs). The study uses a quantitative paradigm with the survey method in the form of a structured questionnaire, which was adapted from Sardana et al. (2021) and Martinez Moreno & Petko (2023), to collect the data. A simple random sampling method was used to select a sample of 223 participants, including both primary and lower secondary student teachers, whose ages ranged from 22--25 years (71.3%), 26--29 years (24.2%) and 4.5% of the other ages. This study uses descriptive and inferential statistics to analyze the validity, reliability, mean, standard deviation, and significance of the collected data through a one-sample t test. The study revealed four main factors that influence the decision to choose teaching as a career, such as the influence of others, including family, friends, teachers and mass media; extrinsic, intrinsic, and altruistic motivational influences; and teaching as a fallback career and sociocultural factor. Altruistic motivation had the most significant influence on teaching career choice, with the highest mean score (M=4.26, SD=0.59), whereas teacher influence had the second greatest influence (M=4.20, SD=0.65), followed by intrinsic motivation (M=4.17, SD=0.62), while teaching as a fallback career had the least influence on all four factors, with the lowest mean score (M=2.37, SD=1.12). This study will help relevant people and institutions, such as the Cambodian ministry of education, parents, administrations, teachers, students and other researchers to be aware of the factors influencing career choice so that they can refine recruitment policies, increase their actions and efforts, and enter preparation programs for teaching careers in the Cambodian context today and in the future.
Corporate Governance and Financial Fraud in ASEAN: A Bibliometric Roadmap for Future Research
Diana Witosari; Bandi
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Corporate governance and financial statement fraud have increasingly attracted scholarly and regulatory attention in the ASEAN region. This focus aligns with more frequent accounting manipulation and rising demands for transparency. Although literature on this topic is expanding, comprehensive quantitative reviews remain scarce. This study aims to present an updated mapping of the literature on corporate governance and financial statement fraud. It compiles 269 articles published between 2005 and 2024 from the Scopus database. This study employs bibliometric methods, including VOSviewer and the R-Bibliometrix (Biblioshiny) package, to examine productivity, collaboration networks, citation analysis, co-citation analysis, and thematic evolution. The findings identify leading journals, authors, universities, and countries, with Malaysia and Indonesia as dominant contributors. Thematic analysis highlights earnings management as the key issue linking various research streams. Governance mechanisms such as audit committees, audit quality, and ownership structures follow. This study maps the intellectual structure of the literature using co-citation networks and outlines future research directions through thematic maps and the evolution of keywords. It offers the most recent synthesis of the literature, fills gaps in previous reviews, and points to a forward-looking agenda. The agenda encourages the exploration of other ASEAN contexts, the integration of non-traditional issues such as sustainability, and increased cross-country collaborations.
Scaffolding Minds: Human Collective Intelligence through Space, Body and Material Symbols
Francesco d'Errico; Andra Meneganzin; Ivan Colage'
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Human collective intelligence—the capacity of groups to solve problems, make decisions, and acquire knowledge beyond individual capabilities—is here understood as an emergent phenomenon that evolved in our lineage from a distinct trajectory of epistemic niche construction (ENC), and progressively sustained the latter. Humans systematically alter their informational landscapes in materially visible ways by creating enduring spatial and artefactual scaffolds for improved cognitive performance and social coordination. In this paper, we propose a set of criteria to define ENC and track its emergence in the archaeological record. These criteria highlight the importance of persistent, publicly accessible, and evolutionarily incremental modifications that sustained behavioural coordination among individuals in space and time. We apply this framework to three major domains of material culture: the structuring of space for collective action, the culturalization of the human body, and the emergence of exosomatic artefacts to store coded information. We argue that these practices did not merely externalise knowledge but progressively transformed material culture and environments into targeted epistemic infrastructures able to scaffold and amplify group-level performances characteristic of collective intelligence, thus shedding light on the evolution of human cognition and social organization.
A Para-State: How a Shadow Partisan Network Governs State Administration in Authoritarian Serbia
Slobodan Tomic; Dusan Pavlovic
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This article examines how competitive authoritarian regimes reshape state administration through informal, extralegal structures that bypass formal institutional frameworks. While prior research highlights how regimes centralize power by restructuring bureaucracies and appointing loyalists, the formal institutional framework typically remains the main conduit through which partisan control and management of state administration are exercised. This article presents a distinct model of partisan control under competitive authoritarianism — showing how these strategies may be reinforced, or even replaced, by party-run parallel networks that redirect authority flows. Drawing on the case of Serbia under Vučić, it documents a “para-state” shadow governance system that displaces formal command. This model enables centralized, discretionary control across the entire public sector while shielding elites from accountability. Conceptually, the article argues that Serbia’s model blurs the line between competitive authoritarianism and totalitarian rule.
When AI gets it wrong: False inference and political harm
Slobodan Tomic
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AI systems are increasingly active agents in political discourse, shaping reputations, narratives, and public perceptions. This commentary examines three real-world cases from Serbia where AI chatbots—Grok and ChatGPT—asserted false claims, spreading false narratives about political collectives or regime-critical individuals. These incidents illustrate how, under the guise of technical neutrality, AI can reinforce dominant narratives, amplify disinformation, and undermine dissent. Drawing on a recently proposed framework for AI regulation (Tomić & Ơtimac, 2025), we show how failures across three dimensions—decision models, data sourcing, and interface semantics—create pathways for political manipulation and reputational harm. We conclude by reflecting on implications for political deliberation and calling for targeted regulatory and empirical responses.
The Effect of Grit on Life Satisfaction for Second-Year High School Students in South Korea: Examining Parent-Child, Teacher-Student, and Friendship Dynamics as Mediators
Alice Daeun Oh; Tony Jiwon Oh; Seongeun Oh
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The purpose of this study is to examine factors that improve life satisfaction for Korean adolescents. As the future generations of the country emerge, South Korea must increase its life satisfaction, a comparably low value compared to other countries, as they are ranked 23rd out of 38 OECD countries (Cho, 2021). Grit, defined as the trait of working diligently for long-term goals, is important for life satisfaction. This study examines the relationship between grit and life satisfaction for second-year high school students in South Korea and the mediating effects of crucial relationships formed by adolescents, such as teacher-student relationships, parent-child relationships, and friendships. The data was collected through the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (KCYPS), and there were 2,252 second-year high school students who participated in this study. By completing regression analyses on the relationship between grit and life satisfaction, grit and the mediating variables, and the effect of grit and the mediating variables on life satisfaction, as demonstrated by the Baron and Kenny process (Baron and Kenny, 1986), it was found that these variables were all correlated with each other. On the third step of the regression analysis, where the mediators were controlled for, it was found that the mediators had a significant effect on the relationship between grit and life satisfaction, and a partial mediation took place. Out of the mediators, teacher-student relationships had the biggest explanatory impact with an R-squared value of 0.177. From these results, it is evident that there needs to be interventions, potentially with grit involved, to increase relationships between teachers and students, parents and children, and friends.
System Justification in Authoritarian Regimes
Elizabeth R. Nugent
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What explains the enduring popularity of authoritarianism and authoritarian leaders? In addition to theories rooted in regime performance, propaganda, and punishment, I propose system justification, a well-established socio-cognitive motive favoring established systems and stability, as a novel explanation for authoritarian support. I theorize the relationship between system justification and political behaviors in authoritarian contexts and test this in data from two original surveys of Egyptian citizens. After validating that the system justification scale reflects needs for certainty and structure in an authoritarian political setting, I show it is strongly associated with preferences for authoritarian governance. An embedded experiment shows that security, infrastructure, and identity systemic threats mobilize high system justifiers, further increasing support for authoritarian governance. Finally, additional analyses reveal that system justification predicts attitudinal and behavioral support for a specific authoritarian regime. The findings suggest a central role for individual psychological motivation in authoritarian persistence.
The Cultural Mapping and Pattern Analysis (CMAP) Visualization Toolkit: Open Source Text Analysis for Qualitative and Computational Social Science
Corey Abramson; Yuhan Nian
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The CMAP (cultural mapping and pattern analysis) visualization toolkit introduced in this paper is an open-source suite for analyzing and visualizing text data—from qualitative fieldnotes and in-depth interview transcripts to historical documents and web-scaped data like message board posts or blogs. The toolkit is designed for scholars integrating pattern analysis, data visualization, and explanation in qualitative and/or computational social science (CSS). Despite the existence of off-the-shelf commercial qualitative data analysis software, there is a dearth of highly scalable open source options that can work with large data sets, and allow advanced statistical and language modeling. The foundation of the toolkit is a pragmatic approach that aligns research tools with social science project goals— empirical explanation, theory-guided measurement, comparative design, or evidence-based recommendations— guided by the principle that research paradigm and questions should determine methods. Consequently, the CMAP visualization toolkit offers a range of possibilities through the adjustment of relatively small number of parameters, and allows integration with other python tools.
Experiences of Receiving Welfare Benefits: Insights from Estonia, Hungary, Norway, Spain and the UK
Ben Baumberg Geiger; Trude Sundberg; Santiago Leyva del RĂ­o; Laura Robertson
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This report is the first part of our effort to create an understanding of what ‘experiences’ of receiving benefits are, and which aspects of experiences matter for different people in and across countries. It discusses findings from discussions groups with people receiving disability and/or unemployment or minimum income benefits in Estonia, Hungary, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom. Workshops were designed and led by co-production research partner organisations in each of the nations, supported by the national academic teams as and when needed.This report provides an overview of findings from the discussion groups, and will, together with an academic literature review, form the basis for the conceptual framework used in the quantitative and qualitative research on the project.
Colorful Insights from an AI Khipukamayuq
Jon Clindaniel
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The color of each cord is often highlighted as one of the primary sites of meaning on an Inka khipu -- the mostly undeciphered recording device of the Inka empire. However, while there are a variety of historical, ethnographic, and archaeological suggestions for how the semantics of color worked, none of these approaches systematically explains how Inka khipu cord colors denoted meaning. Instead, they present a range of fragmented, sometimes contradictory snapshots of a much larger, more complex system. This study aims to address the question: is there even a "system" of color that can be discovered and deciphered? If so, how did it work? Or is the sheer variety of uses discussed in prior studies an empirical indication that color had limited semiotic consistency for Inka khipukamayuqs ("khipu makers/interpreters" in Quechua)? To answer these questions, I employ an AI khipukamayuq -- a custom "transformer" deep learning model trained to parse all of the cord colors in the Open Khipu Repository (OKR) -- to analyze the semantic space of Inka khipu cord color. My findings reveal a coherent system of color signs, wherein different colors occupy distinct, relationally-opposed semantic domains, with many colors demonstrating polysemy. This suggests a versatile set of color signs adaptable to various contexts and domains of representation, akin to other linguistic media. In the domain of khipus and beyond, this study points toward the importance of continued interaction with AI models as archaeologists learn (together with machines) to systematically represent and delineate the past.
AI-enhanced OSINT Evidence Governance: Academic Integrity, Platform Disposition, and National Security Risk Assessment in the Case of Shanghai Maritime University's "First-Class Undergraduate Major" Controversy
WEI MENG
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This study anchors its analysis on the controversy surrounding Shanghai Maritime University's “First-Class Undergraduate Programs” initiative in China. It aims to validate whether AI-enhanced open-source intelligence (OSINT) evidence governance can reconstruct auditable evidence chains and quantify narrative discrepancies in education-related public incidents, while extrapolating governance performance to multidimensional national security risks. Methodologically, we collected university announcements, mainstream media reports, platform-accessible pages, and judicial leads within a unified time window to construct a “source-time-version” evidence graph. We introduced multilingual NLI and sentence vectors to measure narrative consistency, combined with JSD to monitor monitoring scope drift. We employed temporal propagation networks and DTW to measure the temporal misalignment between “post deletion/restriction” and public opinion peaks. Further, we mapped “evidence governance/information control opacity” to four normalized risk dimensions—academic integrity, rule of law and institutional trust, ideological security, and social stability—using structural causal models, providing 95% confidence intervals. Results indicate: The foundational evidence chain can be robustly reconstructed, yet significant narrative gaps exist regarding “whether ‘7 categories, 40 items’ of fraud occurred” and “whether platform actions were implemented/compliant.” Communication peaks typically precede search peaks by approximately one cycle (moderate DTW misalignment), with public nodes consistently holding the highest intermediary scores. Among the four risk dimensions, “academic integrity” and “ideological security” exhibit relatively higher levels. Conclusions indicate that earlier, auditable evidence disclosure (versioned notifications, third-party verification, platform log retention) simultaneously reduces all four risk dimensions and shortens the public opinion chain, whereas declarative statements alone fail to resolve disputes. AI-enhanced OSINT provides a reusable methodological pathway for evidence governance in educational settings and national security assessments.
The Psychology of Deepfakes: How Technology Manipulates Human Perception
Peter Odhiambo Ouma
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Deepfake technology has quickly become one of the most disruptive new technologies in the digital information ecosystem. It can make convincing audio-visual content that looks just like real media. Although much of the current research has looked at deepfakes from legal, technological, or ethical points of view, this article uses a psychological point of view to explain their particular potency. The main point is that deepfakes don't work mostly as rational lies; instead, they work as cognitive exploits, types of "perceptual malware" that attack the way people trust each other. The article illustrates how deepfakes exploit entrenched biases, such as the truth bias, familiarity effects, and the fluency of perceptual processing, by referencing cognitive psychology and neuroscience. In doing so, they avoid higher-order logical inspection and use autonomic processes of recognition and belief construction. The paper also puts deepfakes in the context of other research on false information and how memories can change, suggesting that fake media can create false memories or strengthen existing biases through repeated exposure. Deepfakes undermine epistemic trust by eroding the dependability of visual and aural evidence, which have historically been regarded as the "gold standard" of credibility, in contrast to conventional kinds of propaganda. This situation not only puts democratic discourse and trust in the media at risk, but it also poses a serious psychological challenge: fighting deepfakes requires using cognitive and perceptual mechanisms that are mostly outside of conscious control. This article provides an interdisciplinary framework for comprehending deepfakes as psychological weapons by integrating insights from cognitive science, information warfare studies, and emerging media research. It suggests that protecting against this phenomenon necessitates treatments that transcend detection technologies, highlighting cognitive inoculation, media literacy, and the development of "epistemic resilience" in an age where visual evidence is increasingly distrusted.
Multidimensional Analysis of University Students’ Subject Perceptions: Insights from Principal Components
Noboru Sakai
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In this study, principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to survey data to explore the conscious and unconscious attributes university students associate with different academic subjects and to identify the elements to which they attribute greater significance. The analysis yielded 20 principal components, of which five had eigenvalues exceeding 0.1, with cumulative explained variance reaching 80% by the tenth component. Interpretation of the components revealed that the first principal component reflected a dichotomy between subjects centered on rote memorization and those emphasizing rule-based learning, while the second component distinguished between the humanities and the sciences. Higher-order components were linked to evaluative dimensions of academic engagement, mid-level components reflected the broader epistemological positioning of disciplines, and lower-order components assessed the relational aspects of subjects in the context of interpersonal dynamics. These findings underscore the potential to provide more holistic and interdisciplinary perspectives in advising and enhancing educational practices across diverse academic disciplines.
JURISDICTIONAL CHALLENGES IN ADDRESSING CYBERCRIME IN INDIA: BALANCING FEDERAL AUTHORITY, STATE LAWS, AND SOCIETAL FACTORS
Srinivasa Srinivasa Rao
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Cybercrime in India presents complex challenges rooted in the interplay of federal and state jurisdictions, which are further compounded by significant socio-economic factors such as poverty, legal illiteracy, and a prevalent "easy money" mindset within certain demographics. This paper critically examines the legal, technical, and societal dimensions of cybercrime governance in India, analyzing the application of federal laws, notably the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, and the impact of state-specific regulations. It explores the recurring jurisdictional conflicts in cybercrime cases, the complexities introduced by international law, and the technical difficulties in attributing cyber offenses. Drawing parallels with established global frameworks, such as the U.S. Supremacy Clause and international cyber treaties, the study proposes a coordinated national approach. Recommendations include harmonizing federal and state cyber laws, enhancing public awareness, and strengthening international cooperation to effectively combat cross-border cyber threats and address the societal drivers of cybercrime.
Assessing Training Needs in the Global Bibliometrics Community
Barbara Sandra Lancho Barrantes; Michelle O'Hara; Behrooz Rasuli
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Bibliometrics professionals are crucial in universities and research institutions, supporting research analytics, evaluation, and strategic decisions. Despite their importance, many lack formal training or access to professional networks, often relying on self-taught methods that can lead to the misuse of metrics and indicators. This limits the usefulness of bibliometric data and raises concerns about research integrity, particularly in citation practices. A global survey within the Library and Information Science (LIS) community explored training experiences, gaps, and interests, especially around research integrity. The results revealed critical knowledge gaps, including the need for a deeper understanding of bibliometric principles, responsible metrics use, advanced analysis techniques, and awareness of indicators' limitations and biases. Highlighting these deficiencies aims to engage the STI indicators community, prompting collective action to better equip bibliometrics practitioners. Proper training is essential to prevent the misuse of indicators, which can undermine research quality and academic evaluation.
Machine learning-based model to predict topics contributing to Sustainable Development Goals: A study of Latin American and European Countries
Barbara Sandra Lancho Barrantes
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This paper examines publications related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from Latin American and European countries, specifically focusing on whether the issues and challenges faced by these regions differ significantly. Latin American countries may be addressing region-specific health concerns or environmental challenges different from the European countries. A bibliographic universal classification of SDGs may overlook such crucial issues and nuances vital to the development of these countries. This study emphasises the differing priorities between Latin America and certain countries in the Global North regarding the health and well-being of all individuals. It focuses on improving reproductive, maternal, and child health, ending epidemics of major contagious diseases, reducing non-communicable diseases, promoting mental health and well-being, and addressing behavioral and environmental health risk factors. While Latin American countries often focus on topics like infections or mental health, the Global North tends to priorities Covid 19 and cancer. These differences reflect distinct economic, social, and political contexts, with us Global North sometimes overlooking the foundational needs of Global South countries. The research employs a sample from the Open Alex database, focusing on the ten most productive countries in Latin America and the ten most productive countries in Europe in SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being in the period of 2023-2024. The study, which falls under the framework of SDG 3 publications and employs data analytics techniques, identifies priority topics for Latin America and Europe, as well as common interests across both regions. Utilising predictive models based on machine learning, the study forecasts the topics that these countries are likely to prioritize in the near future with an accuracy of 60%. This level of accuracy may be influenced by the sample size used; therefore, future analyses will incorporate additional data, such as examining abstracts to determine whether European countries continue to diverge in their focus or if they find common ground on certain topics. This approach will provide valuable insights into regional priorities and the potential evolution of research related to the Sustainable Development Goals. The contrast between Latin America and Europe is valuable and quite original, since many global analyses tend to homogenize realities.
Promises and Pitfalls: Benchmarking Self-Rated Health in U.S. Non-Probability Surveys
Liliya Leopold; Noble Nolen; Diego Strassmann Rocha; Brian O’Shea; Thomas Leopold
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This study assesses the accuracy of findings on self-rated health (SRH) and its demographic variation across gender, education, ethnicity, race, and age in non-probability surveys, evaluating their potential to advance research on health disparities. We analyzed three NP surveys with extensive health measures: the Research and Development Survey 8 (RANDS-8), the Quota-based Population Health Survey (QPHS), and the Project Implicit – Health Survey (PI-H). These were benchmarked against the U.S. Census’s Current Population Survey (CPS) and compared with four probability-based surveys: NHIS, NHANES, GSS, and UAS. Data from 145,775 respondents aged 18 to 65, collected between 2021 and 2024, were included. NP surveys showed lower accuracy than probability surveys. However, NP surveys performed well on several benchmarks, including univariate SRH distributions (in RANDS-8 and QPHS) and bivariate and multivariate associations (e.g., age-SRH and education-SRH in RANDS-8 and QPHS, and Black race-SRH in PI-H). Yet, biases on other benchmarks were substantial, including overestimated gender-SRH associations in all NP surveys and strongly diverging disparities by race-ethnicity in RANDS-8 and QPHS. These findings highlight both the promise and pitfalls of NP surveys, emphasizing the need for case-by-case validation against reliable benchmarks.
Let’s talk about vulnerability: a critical plea for relationality with nature, rethinking resilience and transdisciplinary knowledge in sustainability transformations
Susanne MĂŒller
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Contrary to the growing emphasis on resilience in sustainability science, I argue that resilience continues to reflect a mindset of human–nature domination, and thus represents continuity rather than a real relational turn. Instead, I propose vulnerability as a critical mode of relation. Drawing on Robin May Schott’s ontological critique of resilience, I extend her arguments into the field of sustainability science by examining its ontological assumptions, primary discourses, and existing critiques. I advance a threefold plea: first, that reconnecting with nature requires a particular relational mode; second, that vulnerability is a necessary precondition for this mode; and third, that sustainability transformations may benefit from less emphasis on resilience. By combining rational argumentation with art-based, transdisciplinary approaches, this paper seeks to foster psychological reflection, new relational imaginaries, and ultimately more just sustainability transformations. I conclude by inviting readers to engage with their own vulnerabilities as part of this process.
Fathers’ and mothers’ joint longitudinal employment patterns around first birth in Germany, 1990-2020
Lili Vargha
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This paper analyzes joint employment trajectories of first-time parents in Germany from one year before to six years after the birth of their first child. Using monthly employment data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, I apply group-based multi-trajectory modeling to identify typical combinations of mothers’ and fathers’ full- and part-time employment over time (Nagin et al., 2016). I find eight distinct multi-trajectory groups. Five reflect traditional specialization, in which mothers partially or fully reduce their paid work for an extended period following childbirth, while fathers remain consistently employed full-time or increase their likelihood of full-time employment. The remaining three reflect less gendered patterns, including dual full-time, female full-time, and dual part-time groups. I examine how couples’ baseline characteristics are associated with multi-trajectory membership. Findings indicate that couples are more likely to specialize when only he holds tertiary education, whereas non-traditional patterns are more likely when only she or both partners are highly educated. The patterns differ across two periods marked by distinct policy contexts and between couples with mothers of East and West German background, even after 2007. The study contributes to our understanding how institutions, absolute and relative resources shape joint parental employment trajectories from a dynamic dyadic perspective.
Refugee Labor Market Integration at Scale: Evidence from Germany’s Fast-Track Employment Program
Jens Hainmueller; Moritz Marbach; Dominik Hangartner; Niklas Harder; Ehsan Vallizadeh
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Governments continue to face challenges integrating refugees into the local labor market, and many past interventions have shown limited impact. This study examines the Job-Turbo program, a large-scale initiative launched by the German government in 2023 to accelerate employment among refugees—primarily individuals from Ukraine and eight other major countries of origin. Using monthly administrative panel data from Germany’s network of public employment service offices and a difference-in-differences design, we find that the program significantly increased both caseworker–refugee contact and job placements over a 23-month follow-up period. Among Ukrainian refugees, the exit-to-job rate nearly doubled. Effects were broad-based—spanning demographic subgroups, unemployment durations, skill levels, regions, and local labor-market conditions—and concentrated in regular, unsubsidized employment. The program also raised both the rate and share of sustained job placements, consistent with improved match quality. Other refugee groups saw meaningful gains as well, but increases in job placements were concentrated among males and in low-skilled jobs, with only limited effects for females. We detect no negative spillovers for German or other immigrant job seekers, finding no signs of either resource reallocation or displacement. The results offer insights for governments responding to displacement crises. They indicate that intensified job-search assistance---embedded within the early stage of integration and implemented at scale through public employment infrastructure---can meaningfully improve refugees' labor-market outcomes, even amid significant arrivals.
The mainstream orientation of digital alternative news environments: The significance of national context and political ideology in four European countries
Eva Mayerhöffer; Jakob BÊk Kristensen; Frederik MÞller Henriksen
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Alternative news media combine a (quasi-)journalistic self-understanding with an explicit anti-mainstream agenda. As an increasingly important part of digital political information ecosystems in many countries, they have the potential to contribute to a more separatist or publicist orientation of digital counterpublics. This article analyzes the contextual conditions for the mainstream orientation of broader digital alternative news environments that form around the dissemination of alternative news content on social media. We draw on a network-analytical approach and more than 900 million social media posts shared on nine social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, YouTube, Telegram, VKontakte, Reddit, Gab, and 4Chan) from 2019 to 2021 that have ties to right-wing, left-wing, or anti-system alternative news outlets based in four European countries (Germany, Austria, Denmark, and Sweden). Our findings indicate that the mainstream orientation of European digital alternative news environments is more pronounced in countries with a cordon sanitaire tradition in the political sphere, as well as in left-wing-oriented environments. The article adds to a growing body of research on the complex relationship between alternative news media and the mainstream by highlighting the importance of contextual conditions and the nature of the broader information environments in which alternative news content is circulated.
A Somewhat Unwitting Reader. When Bourdieu (did not) speak of Gramsci
Matteo Puoti
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Bourdieu's references to Gramsci are scant and the relevance attributed to them is negligible on the whole. On rare occasions when Bourdieu does attempt to explicate his knowledge of Gramsci through quotations, he does so hastily, vaguely and instrumentally. However, this does not imply that Bourdieu's postures and stances with respect to Gramsci's thought do not find expression within his own texts; on the contrary, they emerge precisely from the reticence, allusions and dissimulations. From here one can even explore a closeness underlying an apparent and declared detachment, to reflect on a disinterestedness that is actually interested. The analysis is thus based on an “against the grain” reading of the direct and explicit occurrences of Gramsci traceable in Bourdieu's texts, highlighting the space of their possible sociological implications and their tacit and implicit connotations.
Bridging Material Culture Networks and Social Networks in Archaeology
Robert J Bischoff; Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias
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This study investigates how different types of social interactions are reflected in the archaeological record, specifically analyzing the extent to which artifacts can serve as proxies for past human interactions. Utilizing the ArchMatNet agent-based model (ABM), we simulate the social behaviors of small-scale communities and their material culture production, enabling a comparative analysis of social and material culture networks. The networks were compared using a graph correlation method, and the underlying network structures were compared using ERGMs (Exponential Random Graph Models). Our results demonstrate strong correlations between social interaction networks and material culture networks, particularly when significant variation is present in material culture traits. The study also demonstrates that some circumstances, such as low material culture variation, can present poor correlations. Thus, there is some caution for the application of network methods to archaeological data. Key factors influencing these correlations include the frequency of interaction, learning strategies, and the visibility of cultural traits. The study underscores the complexity of using material culture as a proxy for social networks, emphasizing the importance of empirical validation and careful consideration of network structures. The findings highlight the potential of ABMs as a methodological tool in archaeology to explore and validate methodological tools.
Why Default Nudges Work: Identifying Cognitive Mechanism with fMRI
Junichi Chikazoe; Kohei Kawaguchi; Kanji Suzuki; Kosuke Uetake; Yasutora Watanabe; Katsunori Yamada
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Default nudges are widely used and effective, but their mechanisms remain unclear. We test whether ease, endowment, or endorsement effects drive choices. In an online randomized experiment, the endowment channel emerges as the driver. We then use a novel fMRI approach that constructs brain activity maps of cognitions and uses them to trace their variation in each cognition during decision-making. Our approach validates treatments by confirming they elicit the intended cognitions and uses them as instruments to identify the causal effect of cognition on choice. Results are consistent with endowment driving default nudge effectiveness, suggesting policy designs should leverage it.
Large Language Models Yield Unsustainable Tourist Flows
Seonjin Lee; Lori Pennington-Gray
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This study quantifies the impact of generative AI on tourist flow using scenario-based projection models. We simulate one million US domestic tourists using Gemini 2.5 Flash and GPT 4.1 Nano. Their tourism patterns are compared to the null model and empirical-based simulations. Large language models generate tourist flows that are more seasonal, more unequal, and less reciprocal than empirical-based simulations. Geographic patterns, like mean travel distance and preference for neighboring states and intra-state destinations, vary by model. Findings show that the widespread adoption of generative AI can undermine the sustainability and resilience of tourism systems. We urge tourism scholars and practitioners to proactively assess the consequences of adopting generative AI in tourism.