Pub Date : 2024-01-23DOI: 10.1177/09637214231217314
A. D. R. Surtees, Henry Briscoe, Andrew R. Todd
Emotions shape how people understand and interact with others. Here, we review evidence on the relationship between anxiety—a future-oriented emotion characterized by negative valence, high arousal, and uncertainty—and mentalizing—the ascription of mental content to other agents. We examine three aspects of this relationship: how people with anxiety disorders perform on mentalizing tasks relative to controls; how situational anxiety alters mentalizing performance; and how autistic people, who experience the impacts of mentalizing differences, are at high risk of anxiety. We propose a bidirectional model for understanding how short-term and longer term anxiety are related to mentalizing. Key to this relationship is the aversive experience of uncertainty and the motivations that result from it.
{"title":"Anxiety and Mentalizing: Uncertainty as a Driver of Egocentrism","authors":"A. D. R. Surtees, Henry Briscoe, Andrew R. Todd","doi":"10.1177/09637214231217314","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214231217314","url":null,"abstract":"Emotions shape how people understand and interact with others. Here, we review evidence on the relationship between anxiety—a future-oriented emotion characterized by negative valence, high arousal, and uncertainty—and mentalizing—the ascription of mental content to other agents. We examine three aspects of this relationship: how people with anxiety disorders perform on mentalizing tasks relative to controls; how situational anxiety alters mentalizing performance; and how autistic people, who experience the impacts of mentalizing differences, are at high risk of anxiety. We propose a bidirectional model for understanding how short-term and longer term anxiety are related to mentalizing. Key to this relationship is the aversive experience of uncertainty and the motivations that result from it.","PeriodicalId":10802,"journal":{"name":"Current Directions in Psychological Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":7.2,"publicationDate":"2024-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139603121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-19DOI: 10.1177/09637214231217678
Marius C. Vollberg, David Sander
Scientists increasingly apply concepts from reinforcement learning to affect, but which concepts should apply? And what can their application reveal that we cannot know from directly observable states? An important reinforcement learning concept is the difference between reward expectations and outcomes. Such reward prediction errors have become foundational to research on adaptive behavior in humans, animals, and machines. Owing to historical focus on animal models and observable reward (e.g., food or money), however, relatively little attention has been paid to the fact that humans can additionally report correspondingly expected and experienced affect (e.g., feelings). Reflecting a broader “rise of affectivism,” attention has started to shift, revealing explanatory power of expected and experienced feelings—including prediction errors—above and beyond observable reward. We propose that applying concepts from reinforcement learning to affect holds promise for elucidating subjective value. Simultaneously, we urge scientists to test—rather than inherit—concepts that may not apply directly.
{"title":"Hidden Reward: Affect and Its Prediction Errors as Windows Into Subjective Value","authors":"Marius C. Vollberg, David Sander","doi":"10.1177/09637214231217678","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214231217678","url":null,"abstract":"Scientists increasingly apply concepts from reinforcement learning to affect, but which concepts should apply? And what can their application reveal that we cannot know from directly observable states? An important reinforcement learning concept is the difference between reward expectations and outcomes. Such reward prediction errors have become foundational to research on adaptive behavior in humans, animals, and machines. Owing to historical focus on animal models and observable reward (e.g., food or money), however, relatively little attention has been paid to the fact that humans can additionally report correspondingly expected and experienced affect (e.g., feelings). Reflecting a broader “rise of affectivism,” attention has started to shift, revealing explanatory power of expected and experienced feelings—including prediction errors—above and beyond observable reward. We propose that applying concepts from reinforcement learning to affect holds promise for elucidating subjective value. Simultaneously, we urge scientists to test—rather than inherit—concepts that may not apply directly.","PeriodicalId":10802,"journal":{"name":"Current Directions in Psychological Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":7.2,"publicationDate":"2024-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139525771","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-19DOI: 10.1177/09637214231217989
Brandon M. Turner, V. Sloutsky
In explaining how humans selectively attend, common frameworks often focus on how attention is allocated relative to an idealized allocation based on properties of the task. However, these perspectives often ignore different types of constraints that could help explain why attention was allocated in a particular way. For example, many computational models of learning are well equipped to explain how attention should ideally be allocated to minimize errors within the task, but these models often assume all features are perfectly encoded or that the only learning goal is to maximize accuracy. In this article, we argue for a more comprehensive view by using computational modeling to understand the complex interactions that occur between selective attention and memory. Our central thesis is that although selective attention directs attention to relevant dimensions, relevance can be established only through memories of previous experiences. Hence, attention is initially used to encode features and create memories, but thereafter, attention operates selectively on the basis of what is kept in memory. Through this lens, deviations from ideal performance can still be viewed as goal-directed selective attention, but the orientation of attention is subject to the constraints of the individual learner.
{"title":"Cognitive Inertia: Cyclical Interactions Between Attention and Memory Shape Learning","authors":"Brandon M. Turner, V. Sloutsky","doi":"10.1177/09637214231217989","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214231217989","url":null,"abstract":"In explaining how humans selectively attend, common frameworks often focus on how attention is allocated relative to an idealized allocation based on properties of the task. However, these perspectives often ignore different types of constraints that could help explain why attention was allocated in a particular way. For example, many computational models of learning are well equipped to explain how attention should ideally be allocated to minimize errors within the task, but these models often assume all features are perfectly encoded or that the only learning goal is to maximize accuracy. In this article, we argue for a more comprehensive view by using computational modeling to understand the complex interactions that occur between selective attention and memory. Our central thesis is that although selective attention directs attention to relevant dimensions, relevance can be established only through memories of previous experiences. Hence, attention is initially used to encode features and create memories, but thereafter, attention operates selectively on the basis of what is kept in memory. Through this lens, deviations from ideal performance can still be viewed as goal-directed selective attention, but the orientation of attention is subject to the constraints of the individual learner.","PeriodicalId":10802,"journal":{"name":"Current Directions in Psychological Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":7.2,"publicationDate":"2024-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139525514","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-18DOI: 10.1177/09637214231212806
Melissa E. Libertus
Even before starting formal schooling, children show substantial variations in math skills suggesting that the home learning environment plays an important role in shaping young children’s math skills. Here, I review interventions aimed at providing young children with opportunities to learn math at home to identify what types of parent-guided activities may be effective at improving young children’s math. I also review interventions that may impact the frequencies and quality of the learning opportunities that parents provide to their children even if benefits for children’s math outcomes were not found or have not been tested yet. While some studies show that parent-guided math activities can impact children’s math skills, future work should carefully consider for whom interventions are most effective as both child and parent characteristics such as children’s general cognitive skills or foundational number skills as well as parents’ attitudes toward math may impact the effectiveness of the interventions.
{"title":"Parent-Focused Interventions to Support Children’s Early Math Learning","authors":"Melissa E. Libertus","doi":"10.1177/09637214231212806","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214231212806","url":null,"abstract":"Even before starting formal schooling, children show substantial variations in math skills suggesting that the home learning environment plays an important role in shaping young children’s math skills. Here, I review interventions aimed at providing young children with opportunities to learn math at home to identify what types of parent-guided activities may be effective at improving young children’s math. I also review interventions that may impact the frequencies and quality of the learning opportunities that parents provide to their children even if benefits for children’s math outcomes were not found or have not been tested yet. While some studies show that parent-guided math activities can impact children’s math skills, future work should carefully consider for whom interventions are most effective as both child and parent characteristics such as children’s general cognitive skills or foundational number skills as well as parents’ attitudes toward math may impact the effectiveness of the interventions.","PeriodicalId":10802,"journal":{"name":"Current Directions in Psychological Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":7.2,"publicationDate":"2024-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139614154","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-12DOI: 10.1177/09637214231217663
Emily A. Impett, H. Park, A. Muise
The public has something of an obsession with love languages, believing that the key to lasting love is for partners to express love in each other’s preferred language. Despite the popularity of Chapman’s book The 5 Love Languages, there is a paucity of empirical work on love languages, and collectively, it does not provide strong empirical support for the book’s three central assumptions that (a) each person has a preferred love language, (b) there are five love languages, and (c) couples are more satisfied when partners speak one another’s preferred language. We discuss potential reasons for the popularity of the love languages, including the fact that it enables people to identify important relationship needs, provides an intuitive metaphor that resonates with people, and offers a straightforward way to improve relationships. We offer an alternative metaphor that we believe more accurately reflects a large body of empirical research on relationships: Love is not akin to a language one needs to learn to speak but can be more appropriately understood as a balanced diet in which people need a full range of essential nutrients to cultivate lasting love.
{"title":"Popular Psychology Through a Scientific Lens: Evaluating Love Languages From a Relationship Science Perspective","authors":"Emily A. Impett, H. Park, A. Muise","doi":"10.1177/09637214231217663","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214231217663","url":null,"abstract":"The public has something of an obsession with love languages, believing that the key to lasting love is for partners to express love in each other’s preferred language. Despite the popularity of Chapman’s book The 5 Love Languages, there is a paucity of empirical work on love languages, and collectively, it does not provide strong empirical support for the book’s three central assumptions that (a) each person has a preferred love language, (b) there are five love languages, and (c) couples are more satisfied when partners speak one another’s preferred language. We discuss potential reasons for the popularity of the love languages, including the fact that it enables people to identify important relationship needs, provides an intuitive metaphor that resonates with people, and offers a straightforward way to improve relationships. We offer an alternative metaphor that we believe more accurately reflects a large body of empirical research on relationships: Love is not akin to a language one needs to learn to speak but can be more appropriately understood as a balanced diet in which people need a full range of essential nutrients to cultivate lasting love.","PeriodicalId":10802,"journal":{"name":"Current Directions in Psychological Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":7.2,"publicationDate":"2024-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139532439","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-19DOI: 10.1177/09637214231208189
Karen B. Schloss
People have associations between colors and concepts that influence the way they interpret color meaning in information visualizations (e.g., charts, maps, diagrams). These associations are not limited to concrete objects (e.g., fruits, vegetables); even abstract concepts, like sleeping and driving, have systematic color-concept associations. However, color-concept associations and color meaning (color semantics) are not the same thing, and sometimes they conflict. This article describes an approach to understanding color semantics called the color inference framework. The framework shows how color semantics is highly flexible and context dependent, which makes color an effective medium for communication.
{"title":"Color Semantics in Human Cognition","authors":"Karen B. Schloss","doi":"10.1177/09637214231208189","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214231208189","url":null,"abstract":"People have associations between colors and concepts that influence the way they interpret color meaning in information visualizations (e.g., charts, maps, diagrams). These associations are not limited to concrete objects (e.g., fruits, vegetables); even abstract concepts, like sleeping and driving, have systematic color-concept associations. However, color-concept associations and color meaning (color semantics) are not the same thing, and sometimes they conflict. This article describes an approach to understanding color semantics called the color inference framework. The framework shows how color semantics is highly flexible and context dependent, which makes color an effective medium for communication.","PeriodicalId":10802,"journal":{"name":"Current Directions in Psychological Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":7.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138962480","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-08DOI: 10.1177/09637214231211542
A. Muise, Sophie C. Goss
Sexual desire for a partner is a unique feature that distinguishes romantic relationships from other close relationships. Yet desire is one of the most fragile relationship elements, often declining over time. Research has shown that the relationship processes that foster closeness (i.e., overlap between the self and partner; interconnection) are associated with higher desire and help couples maintain desire over time. However, this work does not explain how many couples who are quite close and connected can also report low levels of desire. One perspective, mostly from clinical observations and interviews with couples, is that too much closeness in a relationship stifles desire. Here, we review the empirical evidence for the association between closeness (and related constructs) and sexual desire. From this review, we propose that higher closeness is associated with higher desire, and rather than too much closeness stifling desire, high closeness might be optimally linked to desire when paired with a sense of otherness (i.e., distinctiveness between partners that allows for new insights and acknowledgment of unique contributions). Future research refining the concept of “otherness” and considering the balance of closeness and otherness in relationships has the potential to provide new insights into sexual-desire maintenance.
{"title":"Does Too Much Closeness Dampen Desire? On the Balance of Closeness and Otherness for the Maintenance of Sexual Desire in Romantic Relationships","authors":"A. Muise, Sophie C. Goss","doi":"10.1177/09637214231211542","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214231211542","url":null,"abstract":"Sexual desire for a partner is a unique feature that distinguishes romantic relationships from other close relationships. Yet desire is one of the most fragile relationship elements, often declining over time. Research has shown that the relationship processes that foster closeness (i.e., overlap between the self and partner; interconnection) are associated with higher desire and help couples maintain desire over time. However, this work does not explain how many couples who are quite close and connected can also report low levels of desire. One perspective, mostly from clinical observations and interviews with couples, is that too much closeness in a relationship stifles desire. Here, we review the empirical evidence for the association between closeness (and related constructs) and sexual desire. From this review, we propose that higher closeness is associated with higher desire, and rather than too much closeness stifling desire, high closeness might be optimally linked to desire when paired with a sense of otherness (i.e., distinctiveness between partners that allows for new insights and acknowledgment of unique contributions). Future research refining the concept of “otherness” and considering the balance of closeness and otherness in relationships has the potential to provide new insights into sexual-desire maintenance.","PeriodicalId":10802,"journal":{"name":"Current Directions in Psychological Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":7.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138590148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-05DOI: 10.1177/09637214231206095
P. Setoh, Petrina Hui Xian Low, Gail D. Heyman, Kang Lee
Parenting by lying is a practice in which parents lie to their children to influence their emotions or behavior. Recently, researchers have tried to document the nature of this phenomenon and to understand its causes and consequences. The present research provides an overview of the research in the emerging field, describes some key theoretical and methodological challenges in studying this topic, and proposes a theoretical framework for understanding parenting by lying and for guiding future research to advance our knowledge about this understudied parenting practice.
{"title":"Parenting by Lying","authors":"P. Setoh, Petrina Hui Xian Low, Gail D. Heyman, Kang Lee","doi":"10.1177/09637214231206095","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214231206095","url":null,"abstract":"Parenting by lying is a practice in which parents lie to their children to influence their emotions or behavior. Recently, researchers have tried to document the nature of this phenomenon and to understand its causes and consequences. The present research provides an overview of the research in the emerging field, describes some key theoretical and methodological challenges in studying this topic, and proposes a theoretical framework for understanding parenting by lying and for guiding future research to advance our knowledge about this understudied parenting practice.","PeriodicalId":10802,"journal":{"name":"Current Directions in Psychological Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":7.2,"publicationDate":"2023-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138599532","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-30DOI: 10.1177/09637214231205866
A. Ladak, Steve Loughnan, Matti Wilks
Artificial intelligences (AIs), although often perceived as mere tools, have increasingly advanced cognitive and social capacities. In response, psychologists are studying people’s perceptions of AIs as moral agents (entities that can do right and wrong) and moral patients (entities that can be targets of right and wrong actions). This article reviews the extent to which people see AIs as moral agents and patients and how they feel about such AIs. We also examine how characteristics about ourselves and the AIs affect attributions of moral agency and patiency. We find multiple factors that contribute to attributions of moral agency and patiency in AIs, some of which overlap with attributions of morality to humans (e.g., mind perception) and some that are unique (e.g., sci-fi fan identity). We identify several future directions, including studying agency and patiency attributions to the latest generation of chatbots and to likely more advanced future AIs that are being rapidly developed.
{"title":"The Moral Psychology of Artificial Intelligence","authors":"A. Ladak, Steve Loughnan, Matti Wilks","doi":"10.1177/09637214231205866","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214231205866","url":null,"abstract":"Artificial intelligences (AIs), although often perceived as mere tools, have increasingly advanced cognitive and social capacities. In response, psychologists are studying people’s perceptions of AIs as moral agents (entities that can do right and wrong) and moral patients (entities that can be targets of right and wrong actions). This article reviews the extent to which people see AIs as moral agents and patients and how they feel about such AIs. We also examine how characteristics about ourselves and the AIs affect attributions of moral agency and patiency. We find multiple factors that contribute to attributions of moral agency and patiency in AIs, some of which overlap with attributions of morality to humans (e.g., mind perception) and some that are unique (e.g., sci-fi fan identity). We identify several future directions, including studying agency and patiency attributions to the latest generation of chatbots and to likely more advanced future AIs that are being rapidly developed.","PeriodicalId":10802,"journal":{"name":"Current Directions in Psychological Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":7.2,"publicationDate":"2023-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139202659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-13DOI: 10.1177/09637214231205865
Ariel Knafo-Noam, Ella Daniel, Maya Benish-Weisman
Values, abstract motivational goals—guides for the right and wrong, the desirable and undesirable—relate to many important attitudes and behaviors. Although meaningful understanding of values exists already at age 5, most developmental value research has focused on adolescence. Not enough is known about what happens to children’s values during middle childhood, the period between these two life stages. We propose five criteria for value maturation, reflecting key cognitive and social advances in this period: (a) that children’s value coherence increasingly reflects the motivational associations among values and that, with age, values become increasingly (b) abstract (c) consistent, (d) stable, and (e) related to behavior. Values undergo profound developmental changes during middle childhood indicating that, the importance of adolescence notwithstanding, middle childhood is crucial for value maturation.
{"title":"The Development of Values in Middle Childhood: Five Maturation Criteria","authors":"Ariel Knafo-Noam, Ella Daniel, Maya Benish-Weisman","doi":"10.1177/09637214231205865","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214231205865","url":null,"abstract":"Values, abstract motivational goals—guides for the right and wrong, the desirable and undesirable—relate to many important attitudes and behaviors. Although meaningful understanding of values exists already at age 5, most developmental value research has focused on adolescence. Not enough is known about what happens to children’s values during middle childhood, the period between these two life stages. We propose five criteria for value maturation, reflecting key cognitive and social advances in this period: (a) that children’s value coherence increasingly reflects the motivational associations among values and that, with age, values become increasingly (b) abstract (c) consistent, (d) stable, and (e) related to behavior. Values undergo profound developmental changes during middle childhood indicating that, the importance of adolescence notwithstanding, middle childhood is crucial for value maturation.","PeriodicalId":10802,"journal":{"name":"Current Directions in Psychological Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136351580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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