Frontiers in Psychology最新文献

Background: Cognitive impairment following acquired brain injury (ABI) is common. In this study, we investigated whether music-based group exercise (MBGE) is superior to standard therapy (ST) in improving cognitive deficits. In addition, motivational aspects were investigated. The trial has been registered with the German Register for Clinical Studies (DRKS00025566).

Method: In the experimental group of this randomized controlled trial, sensors were attached to conventional rehabilitation exercise equipment that used software (Jymmin^®) to convert physical activity into good-sounding music. Three patients exercised at the same time and produced a piece of music together. The control group trained individually using the same machines, but without the music-producing sensors. The training schedule comprised four weeks, with three 30-min training session per week, respectively. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment, four subtests of the Test Battery for Attention, the Bayer Activities of Daily Living Scale, the Multidimensional Mood Questionnaire and a questionnaire on motivational aspects and preferred training constellation were carried out before (T1), after the intervention (T2) and 3 months later (T3).

Results: 35 patients (MBGE: n = 17; ST: n = 18) completed the intervention and were included in the analysis. Both groups benefited from the exercise but no significant differences were found between the groups neither in the cognitive assessments, activities of daily living (ADL) nor mood. Group constellation was associated with greater enjoyment, whereas individual therapy was associated with subjectively perceived better concentration and more intensive training.

Discussion: MBGE was not found to be superior to ST regarding cognition, ADL and mood. Both approaches demonstrated similar potential to positively influence these areas. Generally, individual preferences for group or single constellation should be considered. Further studies are needed to strengthen the evidence base for music-assisted therapy that addresses cognition and mood in people with ABI.

Clinical trial registration: https://drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00025566, identifier DRKS00025566.

Background: formulation serves as a bridge between real-life situations and mathematics, is a critical skill in processes that are crucial for mathematics education, such as problem solving, mathematical literacy, modeling, realistic mathematics education, conceptual thinking, and STEM education, but also emerges as a skill that must be considered for cognitive processes such as cognitive load theory, metacognitive norms, and psychological self-regulation. The fact that most research conducted in the context of formulation remains at a descriptive level and that students are not proficient in this process highlights the need for intervention-based research to develop formulating skills.

Methods: in this study, a pre-test-post-test control group quasi-experimental design was chosen to reveal the effect of the Relationships, Using Variables, Drawing Diagrams, and Simplification strategies on the ability to formulate. The participants were 52 tenth-grade students studying at an Anatolian High School in the Marmara Region of Türkiye. Two existing classes at the selected school were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n = 26) and the control group (n = 26). The experimental group received a total of 6 h of strategy-based training over 3 weeks, while the control group students continued their normal learning. The research data were obtained using a formulating test consisting of 15 formulation problems classified within the formulation process in PISA problems.

Results: pre-test scores showed that both groups had similar levels of formulation ability, with no significant difference between them (p > 0.05). Post-test results revealed that students in the experimental group performed better than those in the control group, with a significant difference between them (Mexperimental = 8.346 vs. Mcontrol = 6.808, t ₍₅₀₎ = 3.161, p = 0.003, Cohen's d = 0.876). The pre-test-post-test difference for the experimental group students indicates a high level of effect (d = 1.081).

Conclusion: the findings show that strategy-based instruction, utilizing relationships, using variables, drawing diagrams, and simplification strategies, significantly improved students' formulating skills. The strategy-based instruction designed within the framework of the Worked Examples approach has positive effects on students' cognitive load management, metacognitive awareness, and problem-solving performance. The research also contributes to the field of educational psychology both theoretically and practically.

Background: Innovative instructional approaches are increasingly advocated in physical education to enhance both motor skill development and psychological adaptation. However, few studies have directly compared micro-level (AI-assisted) and macro-level (Big-Unit) teaching models, or examined the psychological mechanisms underlying performance improvements in adolescent winter-sport environments.

Methods: A three-arm, quasi-experimental longitudinal study was conducted with 129 first-year middle school students (AI-assisted: n = 42; Big-Unit: n = 43; Conventional: n = 44). Participants completed an 8-week speed-skating intervention consisting of 24 on-ice lessons. Learning motivation, self-efficacy, psychological resilience, and related psychological constructs were assessed at baseline (T1), mid-intervention (T2), and post-intervention (T3). Skating performance was evaluated using electronic 500-m timing. Linear mixed-effects models, ANCOVA, and structural equation modeling were applied to assess Group × Time interactions and mediation pathways.

Results: Both AI-assisted and Big-Unit teaching produced significantly larger improvements in 500-m performance than conventional instruction (AI: -5.59 s; Big-Unit: -7.60 s; Conventional: -1.80 s; all p < 0.001). All 13 psychological outcomes showed strong Group × Time interactions favoring the innovative groups [all χ² ₍₄₎ > 137.28, q < 0.001]. ANCOVA confirmed substantial adjusted Group effects for changes in learning motivation, self-efficacy, psychological resilience, and anxiety/stress (partial η² = 0.650-0.927). Mediation analyses identified a statistical suppression pattern, in which increases in learning motivation and self-efficacy served as significant indirect pathways linking innovative instruction to performance gains. However, the direct technical impact remained the dominant driver.

Conclusion: AI-assisted and Big-Unit teaching substantially enhance both technical performance and psychological functioning in adolescent speed skating. Statistical mediation models support learning motivation as a plausible mechanism linking teaching mode to performance, with self-efficacy providing additional support. These findings highlight the complementary potential of technology-enhanced and mastery-oriented pedagogies to modernize physical education through both direct technical renovation and indirect psychological adaptation.

This pilot controlled study (N = 42) compared flipped and traditional classroom instruction in a short university-level cryptography course and examined whether personality traits exhibit preliminary associations with students' academic performance and engagement. Students in the flipped condition outperformed those in the traditional setting, reinforcing the documented instructional benefits of flipped learning. Although two group-specific correlations (conscientiousness in the flipped group and neuroticism in the traditional group) reached statistical significance, the small sample size limits the stability and generalizability of these effects; therefore, personality findings are interpreted as exploratory. The study contributes transparent methodology, reliable measures, and an instructional design model to support replication. Implications for practice, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Introduction: Research on student writing feedback literacy is increasing, but individual learner factors remain underexamined, and most existing studies focus on English learners rather than Japanese learners. This study explores the relationships between Japanese learners' growth mindset and student writing feedback literacy, as well as the mediating role of achievement goals.

Methods: Data were collected through a questionnaire completed by 309 Japanese learners in China. The survey assessed growth mindset, achievement goals, and student writing feedback literacy. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and bootstrapped mediation analysis were used to examine the direct and indirect relationships among the variables.

Results: SEM results revealed that the direct effect of growth mindset on student writing feedback literacy was not significant. Mediation analyses showed that development-approach, development-avoidance, and demonstration-approach goals positively mediated the relationship between growth mindset and student writing feedback literacy, with all indirect effects being statistically significant.

Discussion: Achievement goals serve as a key mediating mechanism linking Japanese learners' growth mindset and student writing feedback literacy. Such practices as development-oriented instructional goals and formative assessment may provide a supportive context for fostering a growth mindset and development-focused achievement goals, thereby supporting the development of student writing feedback literacy.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1643166.].

Introduction: Childhood trauma is associated with a more severe clinical course in bipolar disorders; however, the latent profiles of childhood trauma and their differential impacts on cognitive functioning and quality of life remain underexplored.

Methods: Using latent profiles analysis, 275 bipolar patients were categorized into distinct trauma profiles based on Childhood Trauma Questionnaire scores. The characteristics of sociodemographic, clinical, pharmacological and biochemical variables, as well as objective and subjective cognitive functioning, and quality of life, were compared across profiles and with 63 healthy controls.

Results: Three distinct profiles emerged: high trauma (HT, 14.55%), high neglect (HN, 30.18%) and low trauma (LT, 55.27%). Compared to healthy controls, all bipolar groups exhibited worse performance on nearly all aspects of objective and subjective cognitive functioning, and quality of life. Both the HT and HN profiles were significantly associated with subjective cognitive functioning. Notably, only the HT profile was significantly associated with objective cognitive functioning, whereas the HN profile was specifically linked to quality of life.

Discussion: This study highlights multiple childhood trauma profiles in bipolar disorder. Findings reveal that trauma and neglect significantly influence diverse functional and clinical outcomes in bipolar disorder. Further research is crucial to elucidate their impact mechanisms.

Introduction: Loneliness is a significant psychosocial issue among older adults, particularly for those living in institutional setting, as it affects their quality of life. The present study aimed to examine the mediating role of resilience in the relationship between loneliness and quality of life among Albanian older adults living in institutional settings.

Methods: A total of 115 older adults residing in institutions participated in the study. All of them completed the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF), the UCLA Loneliness Scale and the Resilience Scale. A mediation model was performed to test the hypothesis that resilience mediates the effect of loneliness on quality of life in older adults living in institutions.

Results: The results indicate that the relationship between loneliness and quality of life is mediated by resilience. Although a negative correlation was found between loneliness and quality of life among institutionalized older adults, loneliness did not have a direct effect on quality of life. Instead, resilience played a significant mediating role, such that individuals with higher levels of resilience experienced lower levels of loneliness and reported a better quality of life.

Conclusion: These findings suggest the importance of incorporating the resilience variable in the development and implementation of prevention and treatment programs for reducing loneliness and improving the quality of life in older adults.

Classical psychoanalysis has traditionally focused on uncovering unconscious conflicts through language-the so-called `talking cure`. However, contemporary research underscores the importance of embodied simulation, body language, and their symbolic representation in understanding and addressing patient's somatic symptoms. This occurs particularly when individuals seeking psychological help are unable to use spoken words to express their feelings, which is why communication between patient and therapist takes place at a pre-verbal level, within the space of "intercorporeality." In this paper we explore the interplay between early development, mentalization, language acquisition and somatic disorders as failures of symbolization that manifest in bodily distress. In psychoanalytic psychotherapy these processes can be studied as transference-countertransference interactions. We describe the observed clinical phenomena in terms of intersubjective communication grounded in embodied simulation theory, showing how bodily symptoms emerge when mentalization fails and countertransference is enacted at a concrete, somatic level. For this, a clinical vignette illustrates how severe deficits in mentalization produce concrete somatic enactments and embodied countertransference in the therapist, suggesting a neurobiological substrate in pathological intersubjective resonance. We also compare a clinical vignette to human interaction with an AI as a vivid illustration of what happens when there is 'nobody' (or 'no body') as a human counterpart in communication. LLMs lack bodily resonance and therefore cannot substitute for the therapeutic processes that rely on embodied simulation. Thus, our paper describes phenomenological observations of interbody communication in therapy caused by symbolization failure, integrates several theoretical and experimental approaches (intersubjectivity, embodied simulation, interbrain synchronization) to explain it, points at further directions of scientific research and indicates potential dangers for therapists and patients using modern AI technologies.

Introduction: Critical thinking (CT) is a key cognitive skill essential for academic and informed decision-making. Although the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) has been widely used internationally, its psychometric properties have not yet been systematically evaluated in Slovakia. The present study aimed to examine the reliability and validity of the Slovak WGCTA-II (Form C) and to develop a shortened version using contemporary psychometric methods.

Method: Slovak university students (N = 264) completed the WGCTA-II and two versions of the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT-V, CRT-N) for criterion validity. Reliability analyses, confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), parallel analysis, and Item Response Theory (IRT) models were used to examine internal consistency, dimensionality, and item functioning. Based on theoretical relevance and psychometric performance, two core dimensions-Interpretation and Evaluation of Arguments-were retained. An independent sample (N = 137) was used to replicate reliability and model fit.

Results: The original WGCTA-II showed acceptable overall reliability but limited construct validity at the subscale level. The resulting 9-item unidimensional version demonstrated good IRT model fit (RMSEA = 0.042; SRMR = 0.076) and satisfactory reliability (ω = 0.66), replicated in the second sample. Criterion validity was supported by correlations with the Cognitive Reflection Test (r = 0.30-0.38).

Discussion: These findings provide the first psychometric evidence for the Slovak WGCTA-II, demonstrate the utility of combining CTT and IRT for robust test evaluation, and introduce a concise, culturally adapted tool for efficient assessment of critical thinking, contributing to methodological innovation in psychological measurement.