Pub Date : 2025-11-13DOI: 10.1038/s41562-025-02326-y
Catastrophic forgetting is a common problem for artificial learning systems, but whether it occurs in humans is unclear. We revealed that both humans and neural networks show similar patterns of forgetting, which reflect a fundamental trade-off: reusing prior knowledge speeds up new learning but can corrupt old memories. Individuals differed in how they navigate this balance.
{"title":"Parallels between human and artificial minds when new learning erases old knowledge","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s41562-025-02326-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41562-025-02326-y","url":null,"abstract":"Catastrophic forgetting is a common problem for artificial learning systems, but whether it occurs in humans is unclear. We revealed that both humans and neural networks show similar patterns of forgetting, which reflect a fundamental trade-off: reusing prior knowledge speeds up new learning but can corrupt old memories. Individuals differed in how they navigate this balance.","PeriodicalId":19074,"journal":{"name":"Nature Human Behaviour","volume":"10 1","pages":"12-13"},"PeriodicalIF":15.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145498180","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 : 2025-11-13DOI: 10.1038/s41562-025-02312-4
Hugh Riddell, Constantine Sedikides, Hamsini Sivaramakrishnan, Phoebe Wan, Silvio Maltagliati, Ben Jackson, Cecilie Thøgersen-Ntoumani, Daniel F. Gucciardi, Nikos Ntoumanis
There is growing interest in how and why individuals adjust their goals in response to difficulties encountered during goal striving and the outcomes of such adjustments; however, research on these topics is fragmented across theoretical perspectives and life domains. To address this issue, we conducted a systematic search of databases (Web of Science, Scopus, PsycInfo, Business Source Ultimate, Proquest Dissertations and Theses Global, Medline; last updated May 2025) of empirical studies examining antecedents or outcomes of goal adjustment. Studies were eligible if they examined predictors or wellbeing/functional/goal-related outcomes of goal disengagement, goal reengagement, or goal-striving flexibility. We identified 1,421 effect sizes from 235 studies, which we categorized and mapped onto a conceptual model. Further, we used random-effects meta-analyses to examine the strength and direction of associations between model categories and goal adjustment variables. Despite relatively high-quality ratings (assessed using QualSyst), the overall standard of accumulated evidence was determined to be low to moderate due to the reliance on cross-sectional studies, risk of publication bias and high heterogeneity. Nonetheless, we identified associations between multiple antecedent categories and goal disengagement, reengagement and flexibility, as well as associations between these different aspects of goal adjustment and wellbeing, functional and goal-related outcomes. We conclude that different aspects of goal adjustment are predicted by unique combinations of antecedent variables, and predict distinct outcomes. Our conceptual model consolidates the literature on goal adjustment and provides a roadmap for a more systematic investigation of this field going forward.
人们对个人如何以及为什么调整目标以应对目标奋斗过程中遇到的困难以及这种调整的结果越来越感兴趣；然而，对这些主题的研究在理论视角和生活领域是碎片化的。为了解决这一问题，我们对Web of Science、Scopus、PsycInfo、Business Source Ultimate、Proquest Dissertations and Theses Global、Medline等数据库进行了系统的检索，检索了关于目标调整的前因或结果的实证研究。如果研究检测了目标脱离、目标再投入或目标努力灵活性的预测因素或健康/功能/目标相关结果，则该研究是合格的。我们从235项研究中确定了1421个效应值，并将其分类并映射到概念模型中。此外，我们使用随机效应荟萃分析来检验模型类别和目标调整变量之间关联的强度和方向。尽管评分相对较高（使用QualSyst进行评估），但由于依赖于横断面研究、发表偏倚风险和高度异质性，累积证据的总体标准被确定为低至中等。尽管如此，我们确定了多个前因类别与目标脱离、再投入和灵活性之间的关联，以及目标调整与幸福感、功能和目标相关结果的这些不同方面之间的关联。我们得出结论，不同方面的目标调整是由独特的前因变量组合预测，并预测不同的结果。我们的概念模型巩固了关于目标调整的文献，并为该领域今后更系统的研究提供了路线图。
{"title":"A meta-analytic review and conceptual model of the antecedents and outcomes of goal adjustment in response to striving difficulties","authors":"Hugh Riddell, Constantine Sedikides, Hamsini Sivaramakrishnan, Phoebe Wan, Silvio Maltagliati, Ben Jackson, Cecilie Thøgersen-Ntoumani, Daniel F. Gucciardi, Nikos Ntoumanis","doi":"10.1038/s41562-025-02312-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-025-02312-4","url":null,"abstract":"There is growing interest in how and why individuals adjust their goals in response to difficulties encountered during goal striving and the outcomes of such adjustments; however, research on these topics is fragmented across theoretical perspectives and life domains. To address this issue, we conducted a systematic search of databases (Web of Science, Scopus, PsycInfo, Business Source Ultimate, Proquest Dissertations and Theses Global, Medline; last updated May 2025) of empirical studies examining antecedents or outcomes of goal adjustment. Studies were eligible if they examined predictors or wellbeing/functional/goal-related outcomes of goal disengagement, goal reengagement, or goal-striving flexibility. We identified 1,421 effect sizes from 235 studies, which we categorized and mapped onto a conceptual model. Further, we used random-effects meta-analyses to examine the strength and direction of associations between model categories and goal adjustment variables. Despite relatively high-quality ratings (assessed using QualSyst), the overall standard of accumulated evidence was determined to be low to moderate due to the reliance on cross-sectional studies, risk of publication bias and high heterogeneity. Nonetheless, we identified associations between multiple antecedent categories and goal disengagement, reengagement and flexibility, as well as associations between these different aspects of goal adjustment and wellbeing, functional and goal-related outcomes. We conclude that different aspects of goal adjustment are predicted by unique combinations of antecedent variables, and predict distinct outcomes. Our conceptual model consolidates the literature on goal adjustment and provides a roadmap for a more systematic investigation of this field going forward.","PeriodicalId":19074,"journal":{"name":"Nature Human Behaviour","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":29.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145498178","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 : 2025-11-12DOI: 10.1038/s41562-025-02327-x
Vivek Sagar, Andrew Sheriff, Qiaohan Yang, Naelly Arriaga, Guangyu Zhou, Gregory Lane, Thorsten Kahnt, Christina Zelano
Sensorimotor feedback is a fundamental mechanism of active sensing. In olfaction, the primary motor behaviour is the sniff. Thus, in active olfactory sensing, we would expect the dynamics of the sniff to change according to detailed odour characteristics. Furthermore, percept-related modulations of sniffing behaviour should correspond to neural activity in participating brain regions. Here we analysed a high-precision functional MRI dataset including more than 4,300 sniffs per participant taken of 160 odours during ~18 hours of scanning, to probe the relationship between odour-induced sniff modulations and perceptual features at a high level of granularity. We found that fine-grained perceptual odour information—and even odour identity—can be decoded from sniffing dynamics, and that olfactory brain regions, particularly the amygdala, are involved in percept-driven modulation of sniffing behaviour. Thus, olfactory cortical areas participate in real-time modulations of sniffs according to perceptual properties of the odour at a high level of granularity. Sagar et al. show that human sniff behaviour is sensitive to the perceptual characteristics of the odour being detected.
{"title":"The human brain modulates sniffs according to fine-grained perceptual features of odours","authors":"Vivek Sagar, Andrew Sheriff, Qiaohan Yang, Naelly Arriaga, Guangyu Zhou, Gregory Lane, Thorsten Kahnt, Christina Zelano","doi":"10.1038/s41562-025-02327-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41562-025-02327-x","url":null,"abstract":"Sensorimotor feedback is a fundamental mechanism of active sensing. In olfaction, the primary motor behaviour is the sniff. Thus, in active olfactory sensing, we would expect the dynamics of the sniff to change according to detailed odour characteristics. Furthermore, percept-related modulations of sniffing behaviour should correspond to neural activity in participating brain regions. Here we analysed a high-precision functional MRI dataset including more than 4,300 sniffs per participant taken of 160 odours during ~18 hours of scanning, to probe the relationship between odour-induced sniff modulations and perceptual features at a high level of granularity. We found that fine-grained perceptual odour information—and even odour identity—can be decoded from sniffing dynamics, and that olfactory brain regions, particularly the amygdala, are involved in percept-driven modulation of sniffing behaviour. Thus, olfactory cortical areas participate in real-time modulations of sniffs according to perceptual properties of the odour at a high level of granularity. Sagar et al. show that human sniff behaviour is sensitive to the perceptual characteristics of the odour being detected.","PeriodicalId":19074,"journal":{"name":"Nature Human Behaviour","volume":"10 1","pages":"137-147"},"PeriodicalIF":15.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145492613","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 : 2025-10-30DOI: 10.1038/s41562-025-02318-y
Eleanor Holton, Lukas Braun, Jessica AF Thompson, Jan Grohn, Christopher Summerfield
In artificial neural networks, acquiring new knowledge often interferes with existing knowledge. Here, although it is commonly claimed that humans overcome this challenge, we find surprisingly similar patterns of interference across both types of learner. When learning sequential rule-based tasks (A–B–A), both learners benefit more from prior knowledge when the tasks are similar—but as a result, they also exhibit greater interference when retested on task A. In networks, this arises from reusing previously learned representations, which accelerates new learning at the cost of overwriting prior knowledge. In humans, we also observe individual differences: one group (‘lumpers’) shows more interference alongside better transfer, while another (‘splitters’) avoids interference at the cost of worse transfer. These behavioural profiles are mirrored in neural networks trained in the rich (lumper) or lazy (splitter) regimes, encouraging overlapping or distinct representations respectively. Together, these findings reveal shared computational trade-offs between transferring knowledge and avoiding interference in humans and artificial neural networks. When learning new tasks, both humans and artificial neural networks face a trade-off between reusing prior knowledge to learn faster and avoiding the disruption of earlier learning. This study shows that people and artificial neural networks have similar patterns of transfer and interference and vary in how they balance this trade-off.
{"title":"Humans and neural networks show similar patterns of transfer and interference during continual learning","authors":"Eleanor Holton, Lukas Braun, Jessica AF Thompson, Jan Grohn, Christopher Summerfield","doi":"10.1038/s41562-025-02318-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41562-025-02318-y","url":null,"abstract":"In artificial neural networks, acquiring new knowledge often interferes with existing knowledge. Here, although it is commonly claimed that humans overcome this challenge, we find surprisingly similar patterns of interference across both types of learner. When learning sequential rule-based tasks (A–B–A), both learners benefit more from prior knowledge when the tasks are similar—but as a result, they also exhibit greater interference when retested on task A. In networks, this arises from reusing previously learned representations, which accelerates new learning at the cost of overwriting prior knowledge. In humans, we also observe individual differences: one group (‘lumpers’) shows more interference alongside better transfer, while another (‘splitters’) avoids interference at the cost of worse transfer. These behavioural profiles are mirrored in neural networks trained in the rich (lumper) or lazy (splitter) regimes, encouraging overlapping or distinct representations respectively. Together, these findings reveal shared computational trade-offs between transferring knowledge and avoiding interference in humans and artificial neural networks. When learning new tasks, both humans and artificial neural networks face a trade-off between reusing prior knowledge to learn faster and avoiding the disruption of earlier learning. This study shows that people and artificial neural networks have similar patterns of transfer and interference and vary in how they balance this trade-off.","PeriodicalId":19074,"journal":{"name":"Nature Human Behaviour","volume":"10 1","pages":"111-125"},"PeriodicalIF":15.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-025-02318-y.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145396871","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-29DOI: 10.1038/s41562-025-02334-y
Jorge Cuartas, Pamela Morris-Perez
The bioecological model of human development is among the most influential frameworks in the social sciences. We argue that it is time to integrate natural ecosystems into this model. This approach will shape research, practice and policy to promote both healthy human development and an environmentally sustainable future.
{"title":"Bringing natural ecosystems into the bioecological model of human development","authors":"Jorge Cuartas, Pamela Morris-Perez","doi":"10.1038/s41562-025-02334-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41562-025-02334-y","url":null,"abstract":"The bioecological model of human development is among the most influential frameworks in the social sciences. We argue that it is time to integrate natural ecosystems into this model. This approach will shape research, practice and policy to promote both healthy human development and an environmentally sustainable future.","PeriodicalId":19074,"journal":{"name":"Nature Human Behaviour","volume":"10 1","pages":"7-9"},"PeriodicalIF":15.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145382103","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 : 2025-10-23DOI: 10.1038/s41562-025-02323-1
Yizhang Zhao,Tianyu Qiao,Yirao Chen,Meiying Kuang,Wei Bai,Yankun Yi,Xinxin Huang,Wen Li,Weidong Wang
Attention has become a vital form of capital in the digital age, yet the mechanisms underlying its allocation on social media remain poorly understood. Using a nationally representative, online and offline-integrated dataset of a Generation Z cohort in China, we provide large-scale evidence on the determinants of success in attracting attention. Our findings reveal that 'how you express yourself' (using various emojis and expressing multiple emotions) is more influential than 'who you are' (in terms of gender, education, family background and personality traits) in attracting attention on social media. Further analysis confirms a causal effect of the variety of emojis and types of emotions on attracted attention, while simulation processes using agent-based models suggest that empathy evocation is the primary underlying mechanism. We also show that the mode of expression is largely independent of individual characteristics and that the attention gained from highly appealing expressions is easier to acquire than to sustain, as it is highly sensitive to changes in expression modes over time. Overall, our research identifies three key features of attention capital allocation on social media: low alignment with traditional resources, considerable manipulability and ease of acquisition but difficulty sustaining it over time.
{"title":"Attention on social media depends more on how you express yourself than on who you are.","authors":"Yizhang Zhao,Tianyu Qiao,Yirao Chen,Meiying Kuang,Wei Bai,Yankun Yi,Xinxin Huang,Wen Li,Weidong Wang","doi":"10.1038/s41562-025-02323-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-025-02323-1","url":null,"abstract":"Attention has become a vital form of capital in the digital age, yet the mechanisms underlying its allocation on social media remain poorly understood. Using a nationally representative, online and offline-integrated dataset of a Generation Z cohort in China, we provide large-scale evidence on the determinants of success in attracting attention. Our findings reveal that 'how you express yourself' (using various emojis and expressing multiple emotions) is more influential than 'who you are' (in terms of gender, education, family background and personality traits) in attracting attention on social media. Further analysis confirms a causal effect of the variety of emojis and types of emotions on attracted attention, while simulation processes using agent-based models suggest that empathy evocation is the primary underlying mechanism. We also show that the mode of expression is largely independent of individual characteristics and that the attention gained from highly appealing expressions is easier to acquire than to sustain, as it is highly sensitive to changes in expression modes over time. Overall, our research identifies three key features of attention capital allocation on social media: low alignment with traditional resources, considerable manipulability and ease of acquisition but difficulty sustaining it over time.","PeriodicalId":19074,"journal":{"name":"Nature Human Behaviour","volume":"69 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":29.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145351615","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 : 2025-10-16DOI: 10.1038/s41562-025-02307-1
Rui Pei, Samantha J. Grayson, Ruth E. Appel, Serena Soh, Sydney B. Garcia, Annabel Bouwer, Emily Huang, Matthew O. Jackson, Gabriella M. Harari, Jamil Zaki
Young adults face a rising tide of mental illness and loneliness. We propose that an overlooked barrier for social connection is how people perceive each other’s empathy. Here, our longitudinal study of an undergraduate student community (N = 5,192) reveals that undergraduates who perceive their peers as empathic report better current and future well-being. Yet we document an ‘empathy perception gap’: people systematically see others as less empathic than others see themselves. Students who perceived their peers as less empathic were less willing to take social risks and grew more isolated over time. To disrupt this cycle, we conducted two field experiments that presented students with data on their peers’ self-reported empathy and behavioural nudges to encourage social risk taking. These interventions reduced the empathy perception gap, increased social behaviours and expanded social networks months later. This work offers a promising, scalable strategy to cultivate social well-being, simply by presenting people with data about each other. Young adults face rising loneliness and mental health challenges. In a study of 5,192 undergraduates, Pei et al. find that perceiving peers as empathic is related to better well-being. Students, however, underestimate peers’ empathy. Two field experiments offered simple interventions that reduced this empathy perception gap and increased social behaviour and connection.
{"title":"Bridging the empathy perception gap fosters social connection","authors":"Rui Pei, Samantha J. Grayson, Ruth E. Appel, Serena Soh, Sydney B. Garcia, Annabel Bouwer, Emily Huang, Matthew O. Jackson, Gabriella M. Harari, Jamil Zaki","doi":"10.1038/s41562-025-02307-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41562-025-02307-1","url":null,"abstract":"Young adults face a rising tide of mental illness and loneliness. We propose that an overlooked barrier for social connection is how people perceive each other’s empathy. Here, our longitudinal study of an undergraduate student community (N = 5,192) reveals that undergraduates who perceive their peers as empathic report better current and future well-being. Yet we document an ‘empathy perception gap’: people systematically see others as less empathic than others see themselves. Students who perceived their peers as less empathic were less willing to take social risks and grew more isolated over time. To disrupt this cycle, we conducted two field experiments that presented students with data on their peers’ self-reported empathy and behavioural nudges to encourage social risk taking. These interventions reduced the empathy perception gap, increased social behaviours and expanded social networks months later. This work offers a promising, scalable strategy to cultivate social well-being, simply by presenting people with data about each other. Young adults face rising loneliness and mental health challenges. In a study of 5,192 undergraduates, Pei et al. find that perceiving peers as empathic is related to better well-being. Students, however, underestimate peers’ empathy. Two field experiments offered simple interventions that reduced this empathy perception gap and increased social behaviour and connection.","PeriodicalId":19074,"journal":{"name":"Nature Human Behaviour","volume":"9 10","pages":"2121-2134"},"PeriodicalIF":15.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145305467","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 : 2025-10-16DOI: 10.1038/s41562-025-02291-6
Simone Shamay-Tsoory
Can loneliness be reduced by changing perceptions of empathy? A large-scale study by Pei et al. shows that people tend to underestimate others’ empathy, and correcting this misconception fosters social connection and increases the formation of friendships.
{"title":"Changing empathy perceptions improves connection","authors":"Simone Shamay-Tsoory","doi":"10.1038/s41562-025-02291-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41562-025-02291-6","url":null,"abstract":"Can loneliness be reduced by changing perceptions of empathy? A large-scale study by Pei et al. shows that people tend to underestimate others’ empathy, and correcting this misconception fosters social connection and increases the formation of friendships.","PeriodicalId":19074,"journal":{"name":"Nature Human Behaviour","volume":"9 10","pages":"2006-2007"},"PeriodicalIF":15.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145308510","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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