Current research in behavioral sciences最新文献

Understanding the basis of mathematical development is essential for supporting mathematics learning and to develop efficient interventions for remediating early problems. In the past decade, evidence has accumulated in support of the importance of ordering skills (i.e., tasks that tap into children's ability to recall the order of items or to judge the correctness of the order of items) in predicting early mathematics performance. Nevertheless, so far these studies have only provided correlational evidence, and intervention studies are lacking. The aim of the current study was to fill this gap by investigating the potential causal role of three types of ordering abilities (number ordering, daily event ordering and order working memory) in the development of mathematics skills during the first year of primary school. Children participated in six brief training sessions over a three-week period, and their mathematics skills and mathematics anxiety were measured before and after the training. In addition to the three training conditions, an active control group was also involved, with children completing reading comprehension exercises. Our findings showed that children's performance improved substantially on all ordering tasks as a result of training. Additionally, training in daily event ordering and number ordering has led to large increases in children's formal mathematics skills. Mathematics anxiety was not affected by the interventions. The current results provide initial evidence for the usefulness of order processing training in developing children's early mathematics skills. They also show that these results are not specific to the domain of numerical ordering.

We perceive the world in a continuum but remember our past as discrete episodic events. Dominant models of event segmentation suggest that prediction errors or contextual changes are the driving factors that parse continuous experiences into segmented events. These models propose working memory to hold a critical role in event segmentation, yet the particular functioning of working memory that underlies segmented episodic memories remains unclear. Here, we first review the literature regarding the factors that result in the segmentation of episodic memories. Next, we discuss the role of working memory under two possible models regarding how it represents information within each event and suggest experimental predictions. Clarifying the contributions of working memory to event segmentation is important to improve our understanding of the structure of episodic memories.

Caffeine is a common component of various beverages and foods with approximately 80% of the world's population consuming caffeinated products daily. Here we examined how caffeine consumption and different motivations for consuming caffeine (e.g., cognitive enhancement, negative affect relief, reinforcing effects, and weight control) relate to self-reported inattention, mind-wandering, and deep, effortless concentration (i.e., flow) in everyday life in a university student population via two online surveys (N = 224 and N = 234). Our results indicated that, contrary to what one might expect, the amount of caffeine consumed in a typical day (estimated in milligrams) was not related to attention-related experiences in everyday life. However, we found that those who are more likely to ingest caffeine to potentially enhance their cognition, or to experience the reinforcing effects of caffeine, or to help relieve negative affect showed higher levels of inattention in everyday life.

Physical appearance perfectionism and upward physical appearance comparisons have a potential role in explaining how the use of popular social networking sites can negatively impact a person's body image. Although there is considerable research on the relationship between body image and problematic Instagram usage, there is little reported on TikTok use. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the mediating relationship of physical appearance perfectionism and upward physical appearance comparison between problematic TikTok use and body appreciation. The sample included 185 TikTok users. Serial mediation analysis revealed a significant indirect negative relationship between problematic TikTok use and body appreciation through physical appearance perfectionism, but not upward physical appearance comparison, or physical appearance perfectionism and upward physical appearance comparison in serial. Thus, with the rapid growth of TikTok, this study highlights the importance of identifying the individuals who may be more vulnerable to the effects of the app. We suggest possible practice implications such as the implementation of screening strategies to identify those high in physical appearance perfectionism, and the development of workshops aimed at promoting positive body image in the face of SNS use.

The present study was a meta-analysis of research on female-male gender differences in impostor phenomenon—the tendency for high-achieving people to feel like “impostors” who are undeserving of their success. Although it was originally suggested that women experience impostor phenomenon more frequently and intensely than men do, the results of empirical research have been mixed, and contradictory claims appear throughout the literature. The present research shows, however, that the original suggestion is correct. Across 115 effect sizes and over 40 thousand participants, women scored higher than men with a mean effect size (Cohen's d) of 0.27. There was no evidence that this difference has decreased over time, but there was evidence that it varies across fields, that it is smaller in studies conducted in Asia than in studies conducted in Europe and North America, and that it is smaller in studies that use the Harvey Impostor Scale than studies that use the more common Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale. These results have important implications for research on gender differences in the impostor phenomenon, and research on the impostor phenomenon more generally.

Cryptocurrencies are innovative digital assets that became significantly popular in recent years. Despite their popularity, literature about cryptocurrencies is still lacking. Specifically, little is known about the psychological profile of cryptocurrency owners. The present paper aims to investigate the role of financial literacy, self-efficacy, risk tolerance, and impulsivity in cryptocurrency ownership in a representative sample of 1,153 Italian consumers. In particular, a Latent Profile Analysis was performed on cross-sectional data to identify different psychological profiles of consumers, and test which of these profiles is more likely to hold cryptocurrencies. Results indicate the presence of six different psychological profiles and that the psychological profile that best describes those who hold cryptocurrencies is characterized by high levels of financial literacy, risk tolerance, and self-efficacy in investment domains. Instead, a configuration of low financial literacy and high self-efficacy, risk appetite, and impulsivity scores is mostly associated with having owned cryptocurrencies in the past. These findings would suggest that psychological characteristics play a key role in cryptocurrency ownership.

Our minds wander for half of our waking time, and evidence suggests that a wandering mind is often an unhappy one. However, the specific contents of unpleasant thoughts and feelings during mind wandering remain undiscovered. Here, we aim to investigate if mind wandering may closely relate to feelings of loneliness, such as experiencing a sense of being left out and isolated from others, within a cross-cultural context. Our study involved participants from the general populations of China (N= 1123) and Germany (N= 1018), surveyed between December 2021 and February 2022. Using an online survey tool, we assessed self-reported mind wandering (measured by the Mind Wandering Spontaneous and Deliberate Scale) and loneliness (measured by the UCLA Loneliness Scale), while controlling for self-esteem (measured by the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale), self-efficacy (measured by the General Self-efficacy Scale), and mental health status (measured by the General Health Questionnaire). Strikingly, we found that approximately half of the respondents in both China and Germany reported feelings of loneliness (49.8% in China versus 49.5% in Germany, p= 0.936). Regression analysis further revealed that higher levels of self-reported spontaneous (β = 0.04, p= 0.047) and deliberate mind wandering (β = 0.05, p= 0.009) were associated with higher levels of loneliness, even after controlling for sociodemographic variables, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and mental health status. These findings suggest that loneliness is a pervasive experience across cultures and may serve as a driving factor underlying unpleasant thoughts and feelings during episodes of mind wandering.

Intersectionality, in its original conceptualization, asserted that the combination of categories can lead to unknown experiences and to invisibility. Over time, to capture the effects which explain Black women's intersectional experiences, quantitative operationalizations of intersectionality made two changes to the concept: first, they reformulated intersectionality to a known difference in outcomes such as health status; second, they began to measure how groups experience such differences under the effect of particular categories. In this paper we demonstrate that, despite these methodological reformulations, intersectionality as invisibility still manifests in quantitative health modelling, thereby not capturing Black women's unique experiences. We use the U.S. 1972–2022 integrated General Social Survey data and the overall self-rated heath, race, and gender variables. We, step by step, outline how intersectional invisibility arises in additive, interactive, and multiplicative models with White male, or the most dominant group, set as the intercept. To visibilize Black women's experience we propose changing the intercept to Black female.

Several studies have evaluated different versions of the Inventory of Personality Organization (IPO) around the world and some shortened versions of the instrument have also been constructed. The aim of this study was to develop the first brief Greek-language version of the IPO (IPO-Brief-GR) to be used for clinical screening and research purposes regarding personality pathology defined according to Kernberg's object relations model of personality organization. Data were collected from a community sample of 543 Greek emerging adults aged 18–29 years (M = 21.45, SD = 2.51) with the 83-item IPO, from which a 30-item version was constructed, based on confirmatory factor analysis of the full measure. The psychometric properties of the IPO-Brief-GR were then examined. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a four-factor structure best fitted the data, that is, primitive defenses/identity diffusion, reality testing, aggression, and moral values. Criterion validity and internal consistency reliability were also supported. Measurement invariance across gender using an exact protocol approach (i.e., configural, metric, scalar) was found allowing latent mean comparisons. These preliminary findings support the reliability and validity of the IPO-Brief-GR for the assessment of borderline personality organization and indicate the need for further research into the psychometric properties and clinical utility of this measure.

Background

Loneliness has become a great public health concern in the Western world, with emerging adults being particularly vulnerable. Prolonged loneliness in emerging adults is associated with poor mental health such as symptoms of depression and anxiety that may have negative implications for health and well-being in later life.

Aim

To explore and gain a deeper understanding of how loneliness develops over time and how it is experienced by emerging adults in their everyday life.

Methods

The study is a thematic analysis of qualitative data consisting of cultural probes and in-depth interviews. Participants were recruited through targeted advertising on social media. During a week, participants aged 18 to 25 years old completed a cultural probe comprising open and evocative activities. These activities provided an opportunity for participants to explore their day-to-day existence, thereby contributing to the portrayal of their individual stories concerning loneliness in everyday life. After reviews of the cultural probes, in-depth interviews were conducted.

Results

Participants were 21 emerging adults (mean age 21.3), three men and 18 women. Following thematic analysis of the cultural probe material and interview data, three overarching themes were conceptualized: 1) The many faces of loneliness, 2) The interplay between low self-esteem, intrusive thoughts, and mental health in shaping loneliness, and 3) The duality of coping strategies.

Conclusion

The findings from this qualitative study offer in-depth insights into the experience of loneliness among emerging adults, highlighting its multifaceted nature and interplay with mental health. Participants' narratives revealed a duality of coping strategies, where engaging in distracting activities provided temporary relief but perpetuated long-term loneliness, and attempts to reconnect with others were sometimes hindered by past experiences. The findings contribute to a richer understanding of loneliness during this pivotal life phase, with implications for interventions needed to address social disconnectedness, thereby contributing to the broader conversation on mental health and well-being.