Cognitive Psychology Research Articles

Quantum physics: A better model to understand consciousness-related brain functions

With the development of quantum mechanics, it is applied to different fields, including biology. As intricate as human brains, quantum physics is replacing classical physics in explaining consciousness-related brain functions. The bilayer phospholipid membrane enables neurons in the brain to store and protect quantum information, and the abundance of 1/2-spin phosphorous creates potential for quantum entanglement that allows information to transfer along long distances and process consciousness. Scientists have used Schrdinger's cat thought experiment to explain how the uncertain and superimposed states in quantum physics can be applied to our decision-making behavior with conditions of "Yes" or "No." Scientists also conducted experiments to witness the quantum entanglement of particles in the brain. The observation of the phenomenon broke the pre-assumption that quantum entanglement is too fragile to occur in the chaotic environment in human brains, and it allows the possibility of ongoing conscious processing there. To further understand the decision-making mechanism, physicists should also integrate the knowledge in neuroscience, psychology, sociology, and other interdisciplinary subjects.

Psychological factors enhanced heterogeneous learning interactive graph knowledge tracing for understanding the learning process

IntroductionWith the rapid expansion of online education, there is a burgeoning interest within the EdTech space to offer tailored learning experiences that cater to individual student's abilities and needs. Within this framework, knowledge tracing tasks have garnered considerable attention. The primary objective of knowledge tracing is to develop a model that assesses a student's proficiency in a particular skill based on their historical performance in exercises, enabling predictions regarding the likelihood of correct responses in future exercises. While existing knowledge tracing models often incorporate information such as students' exercise answering history and skill mastery level, they frequently overlook the students' mental states during the learning process.MethodsThis paper addresses this gap by introducing a novel psychological factors-enhanced heterogeneous learning interactive graph knowledge tracing model (Psy-KT). This model delineates the interactions among students, exercises, and skills through a heterogeneous graph, supplementing it with four psychological factors that capture students' mental states during the learning process: frustration level, confusion level, concentration level, and boredom level. In the modeling of students' learning processes, we incorporate the forgetting curve and construct relevant cognitive parameters from the features. Additionally, we employ the Item Response Theory (IRT) model to predict students' performance in answering exercises at the subsequent time step. This model not only delves into the psychological aspects of students during the learning process but also integrates the simulation of forgetting, a natural phenomenon in the learning journey. The inclusion of cognitive parameters enhances the description of changes in students' abilities throughout the learning process. This dual focus allows for a more comprehensive understanding of students' learning behaviors while providing a high level of interpretability for the model.Results and discussionEmpirical validation of the Psy-KT model is conducted using four publicly available datasets, demonstrating its superior performance in predicting students' future performance. Through rigorous experimentation, the integration of psychological and forgetting factors in the Psy-KT model not only improves predictive accuracy but also enables educators to offer more targeted tutoring and advice, enhancing the overall efficacy of the learning experience.

Make Lectures Match How We Learn: The Nonlinear Teaching Approach to Economics

This paper proposes a nonlinear teaching approach, based on learning theories in cognitive psychology, with a special focus on large-cohort economics modules. The fundamental rationale is to match the features of teaching with the nature of learning. This approach was implemented in an undergraduate economics module, which received qualitative feedback and quantitative evaluation. Formal econometric models with both binary and continuous treatment effects were developed and estimated to quantify the effects of the proposed approach. Evidence shows that the nonlinear teaching approach significantly improves the effectiveness and efficiency of the learning-teaching process but does not promote student attendance.

Rhetorical strategies in Chinese and English talk show humor: a comparative analysis

Humor is a kind of cognitive psychology activity, and it is diverse among individuals. One of the main characteristics of talk shows is to produce humorous discourse to make the audience laugh; however, rare studies have made a deeper comparative investigation on the rhetorical strategies in different language humorous utterances. Therefore, the current study adopted a mixed method of sequential explanatory design to identify the types of rhetorical strategies in the monolog verbal humor of Chinese and English talk shows, examine their similarities and differences. Two hundred monolog samples from 2016 to 2022, which consisted of 100 monologs of Chinese talk shows (CTS) and 100 monologs of English talk shows (ETS), were downloaded from the internet as language corpus. Berger’s theory was adopted to identify the types of rhetorical strategies. Based on the obtained findings, this study found that both language talk show hosts use a variety type of rhetorical strategies to produce humorous discourse. The comparison of similarities and differences revealed that the most frequently used rhetorical strategies in both talk shows were almost similar (e.g., satire, exaggeration, facetiousness, and ridicule), but the percentage of usage of these various rhetorical strategies in both talk shows was slightly different. Interestingly, misunderstanding occurred 20 times in CTS but was not found in ETS. Meanwhile, simile and personification were used more often in ETS. Conclusively, this study contributes valuable insights on the use of different types of rhetorical strategies to create verbal humor in different language contexts.

Islamic Educational Psychology: The Urgency In Islamic Religious Education Learning

This research aims to reveal the important role of Islamic educational psychology in the Islamic Religious Education learning process. The method used is library research which involves collecting information and data by utilizing various materials available in the library, such as reference books, articles, journals and other relevant documents related to the topic being researched. From the research results, it is concluded that Islamic educational psychology plays an important role in learning Islamic religious education because of the interactive dynamics between teachers and students during the learning process. Without the knowledge of Islamic educational psychology in every learning process, it is certain that learning objectives will not be achieved optimally and the learning process will be ineffective. Furthermore, Islamic religious education involves instilling and strengthening the principles of faith which serve as a spiritual basis. A person's entire being is shaped by the teachings of the Islamic religion, and every attitude and behavior is influenced by his faith.

Biobehavioral approach to distinguishing panic symptoms from medical illness

Panic disorder is a common psychiatric diagnosis characterized by acute, distressing somatic symptoms that mimic medically-relevant symptoms. As a result, individuals with panic disorder overutilize personal and healthcare resources in an attempt to diagnose and treat physical symptoms that are often medically benign. A biobehavioral perspective on these symptoms is needed that integrates psychological and medical knowledge to avoid costly treatments and prolonged suffering. This narrative review examines six common somatic symptoms of panic attacks (non-cardiac chest pain, palpitations, dyspnea, dizziness, abdominal distress, and paresthesia), identified in the literature as the most severe, prevalent, or critical for differential diagnosis in somatic illness, including long COVID. We review somatic illnesses that are commonly comorbid or produce panic-like symptoms, their relevant risk factors, characteristics that assist in distinguishing them from panic, and treatment approaches that are typical for these conditions. Additionally, this review discusses key factors, including cultural considerations, to assist healthcare professionals in differentiating benign from medically relevant symptoms in panic sufferers.

From vector spaces to DRM lists: False Memory Generator, a software for automated generation of lists of stimuli inducing false memories.

The formation of false memories is one of the most widely studied topics in cognitive psychology. The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm is a powerful tool for investigating false memories and revealing the cognitive mechanisms subserving their formation. In this task, participants first memorize a list of words (encoding phase) and next have to indicate whether words presented in a new list were part of the initially memorized one (recognition phase). By employing DRM lists optimized to investigate semantic effects, previous studies highlighted a crucial role of semantic processes in false memory generation, showing that new words semantically related to the studied ones tend to be more erroneously recognized (compared to new words less semantically related). Despite the strengths of the DRM task, this paradigm faces a major limitation in list construction due to its reliance on human-based association norms, posing both practical and theoretical concerns. To address these issues, we developed the False Memory Generator (FMG), an automated and data-driven tool for generating DRM lists, which exploits similarity relationships between items populating a vector space. Here, we present FMG and demonstrate the validity of the lists generated in successfully replicating well-known semantic effects on false memory production. FMG potentially has broad applications by allowing for testing false memory production in domains that go well beyond the current possibilities, as it can be in principle applied to any vector space encoding properties related to word referents (e.g., lexical, orthographic, phonological, sensory, affective, etc.) or other type of stimuli (e.g., images, sounds, etc.).

Science of psychological phenomena and their testing.

There is no crisis of replication and generalizability in psychological science, only misunderstanding or forgetting the fundamental nature of psychological phenomena and resultant implications for empirical testing. Stability-variability is the central feature of every psychological phenomenon, meaning that brain-mind interactions can only create stable patterns from which there will always be deviations. Psychological phenomena are not comparable to COVID-19 vaccines that were very effective (95%) initially for almost everyone for a long time. Replications cannot be the gatekeepers of scientific psychological knowledge, only constructive additions and explorations contributing to theory development and measurement improvement. Once a logically justified and theoretically well-developed hypothesis is presented, the phenomenon exists as long as one of the following conditions is true: (1) it has not been shown logically that the phenomenon cannot exist or (2) it has not been shown empirically that the phenomenon does not exist. Like in physics and other sciences, generalization to theory is critical in psychological science, but less important relative to hypothetical (phantom) populations. Initial COVID-19 vaccines were effective because they worked for the right theoretical reason, the mRNA mechanism. This central principle holds true for psychological phenomena as well, with findings generalizing to the theoretical explanation regarding the presence and manifestations of behaviors brought about by the brain-mind interactions, or stated differently, generalization of psychological phenomena to specific behaviors and under specific conditions as proposed by the theory. Instead of the narrow focus on generalization to hypothetical populations, psychological phenomena and associated generalization could more productively be examined from the nine proposed perspectives. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

A Paradigm for the missing middle

ABSTRACT This commentary highlights what I see as the most important of Walter Kintsch’s many contributions to cognitive psychology and especially text comprehension. His work filled the great void between the top and the bottom in research on comprehension. The state of the field at the time was (a) strong research foundation on word reading, (b) detail-focused research on syntactic processes by a vibrant sentence processing research community, and (c) demonstration research on the importance of higher-level top down influences. The void between (b) and (c) meant there was no possibility of a comprehension science that was both rigorous, like (a) and (b), and reflective of the role of outside-the-text knowledge, like (c). Beyond the specific empirical contributions of Kintsch’s work is that he showed that it was possible to create a paradigm for the missing middle, a characterization of how word-driven and knowledge-driven processes yield a coherent meaning-based understanding of a text a few pieces at a time. This allowed the flourishing of work on the incremental processes that result in a reader’s (often) coherent representation of text meaning.

Peran Psikologi dalam Pendidikan Islam

This article discusses the role and application of psychology in Islamic education. The aim is to find out the extent of psychology's role in Islamic education, as well as its application in the Islamic education process. This research uses a literature review approach from several book sources, journal articles and websites. The research results show that psychology plays an active role as a means of bridging educators in knowing the character, attitudes, characteristics and habits of students, so that the learning process in education can run smoothly. All obstacles can be resolved precisely and quickly. Understanding the Islamic religion in a kaffah way is an important aspect that must be considered by all pillars of education, such as: school principals, educators, students, parents and all school residents. With a balance between Islamic religious knowledge, then combined with strengthening psychological knowledge, it will have various positive impacts on Islamic religious education it self.

Construction of a competency evaluation index system for postgraduates of educational technology

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to determine the competency characteristics required for the employment of master’s degree students in educational technology.Design/methodology/approachA combined qualitative and quantitative method was used to consult multiple experts through a modified Delphi method. Competency characteristics were extracted from Chinese recruitment apps, national recruitment websites and university training programs. Ten senior teacher experts who teach educational technology master’s students were consulted through a questionnaire consultation to validate the proposed competency model. The weights of competency characteristics were determined through a combination of the analytic hierarchy process and entropy method.FindingsThe results show that when recruiting educational technology master’s students, more emphasis is placed on operational skills. The majority of companies tend to assess practical abilities rather than theoretical knowledge. Relevant knowledge of educational technology, psychology, computer science and education is considered to be the basic knowledge components of educational technology master’s students, while professional skills are the core skills required for their positions. Therefore, universities need to focus on training, educational technology graduate students in these areas of competence. The study also found that professional qualities (such as physical and mental fitness) and personality traits (interpersonal communication and interaction) receive more attention from companies and are essential competencies for educational technology master’s students.Originality/valueA competence model for educational technology master’s students is proposed, which includes aspects such as knowledge, personal skills/abilities, professional qualities and personality traits. The competence elements included in this model can serve as reference indicators for universities to cultivate the competence of educational technology master’s students, as well as reference points for recruiting units to help them select talents. This represents a new dimension in research related to the employment of educational technology master’s students. The study enriches the research objects and competence dictionary in the field of competence research.

Raising the young teachers’ level of psychological readiness for professional and pedagogical activity in the conditions of supplementary professional education

Introduction. The teacher’s profession is one of the most important in any state. The modern teacher, recognising that the human being is the main subject and beneficiary of development, must possess a broad range of professional competencies and be fully prepared to engage in pedagogical activities in the constantly changing conditions that require non-standard approaches and due psychological training. The purpose of the article is to describe the content and the pedagogical conditions of the young teacher’s psychological training in supplementary professional education. Methods. A total of 213 young teachers (aged 20-30) from Sevastopol and its surrounding administrative region, having work experience from 1 to 3 years, took part in the preliminary testing; 50 young professionals took part in the formative and final stages of the experimental work (25 in the experimental group and 25 in the control group). Research methods: testing, survey, questioning, mathematical statistics methods: Pearson's chi-squared test. Data calculation was made using SPSS software, version 13.0. Results. The incoming testing showed that most young teachers are characterised by insufficient knowledge of the main issues of age-specific and pedagogical psychology, and the inability to apply psychological skills in practical pedagogical activity; novice specialists show unstable interests, an average level of communicative activity, down-toearth aspirations, anxiety, particularity of thinking. A specialised course “Psychological training of a young teacher as a condition for the realisation of new educational standards in training and education of children” was developed on the basis of the obtained data. The practical implementation of this form of learning provided for a sequence of training activities aimed at a change from the minimal reproductive level to an utmostly creative, highly productive level of mastering psychological knowledge, skills and abilities. Positive dynamics were noted in the components of young teachers’ psychological readiness for professional activity: cognitive (p<0.01), operational (p<0.01), motivational (p<0.01), communicative (p<0.01), emotional and volitional (p<0.01). Young teachers extended their knowledge of psychology, mastered new skills and abilities in practical professional activity, as concerns interaction with learners, especially with “troubled” children; developed communicative properties and features of interpersonal interaction with colleagues and students, showed increased positive motivation and alleviated emotional strain. Conclusion. The obtained results confirm the expediency of introducing psychological training for young teachers into the system of supplementary professional education, which involves the use of active forms and methods of training.

Psychology Workforce Literacy: A Gap Worth Minding

The undergraduate psychology major is often one of the most popular choices for bachelor's degree-seeking students. Although national and international organizations are devoted to broad interests, there does not seem to be much coordinated effort—on any level—to comprehend and advocate on behalf of psychology baccalaureates. In this review article, we expand on psychology workforce literacy, focusing on a psychology major's ability to navigate the college-to-career transition. Psychology workforce literacy is more than exploring and knowing the options with a psychology bachelor's degree. It is also about self-confidence to make meaningful decisions about the next steps in one's career path, and many of these ideas emerge from the career development literature. We present ideas about how faculty can prepare undergraduate students with psychological workforce literacy knowledge and skills, curriculum options, and the pedagogical/assessment supports that faculty will need to know that their efforts are effective.

The Impact of Forgiveness in Emotional Regulation and Resilience in The Face of Adversity Among Young Adults

The Impact of Forgiveness in Emotional Regulation and Resilience in The Face of Adversity Among Young Adults

The Influence of Psychological Capital and Spirituality Leadership on Work Engagement with Work Meaningfulness as a Mediator

This research aims to determine the relationship between Psychological Capital (PsyCap) and Spirituality Leadership on Work Engagement both directly and through the mediation of Work Meaningfulness among Executive Officers (PE) of Sharia People's Financing Banks (BPRS) in Indonesia. The hypothesis proposed in this research is that there is a positive relationship between psychological Capital and Spirituality Leadership on Work Engagement both directly and through the mediation of Work Meaningfulness among the BPRS PEs. The research subjects were 250 PE BPRS in Indonesia, whose minimum experience as an executive officer was 1 year. Determining research subjects used the Purposive Sampling method. Research data collection used measuring instruments in the form of the Work Engagement Scale, Psychological Capital Scale, Spirituality Leadership scale and Work Meaningfulness scale. Structural equation modeling (SEM) with the help of the AMOS 24 application to test the hypothesis that has been proposed and Direct Effect analysis is used to test the hypothesized relationship and the Sobel Test is used to test indirect variables or test mediating variables. The research results show that there is a positive and significant relationship between Psychological Capital and Spirituality Leadership on Work Engagement directly and mediated by the Work Meaningfulness variable among BPRS PEs in Indonesia. The theoretical benefit of this research is that it contributes to the knowledge of industrial and organizational psychology or knowledge about human resources psychology, especially regarding the relationship between Psychological Capital and Spirituality Leadership on Work Engagement, both directly and through the mediation of Work Meaningfulness among BPRS PEs in Indonesia.

Consumer Preferences for Native Chicken Meat in India: Implications for Sustainable Production and Household Dynamics

Indigenous and native chickens play a pivotal role in rural economies, providing income and food security. India is one of the world's top producers of poultry, with a total chicken population of 851.8 million in 2019 and 37.2% representing native or indigenous breeds. In recent years, the rising demand for native chicken meat and government-backed projects in India have led to a shift from traditional backyard chicken raising to semi-intensive and intensive farms, empowering marginalized communities and women. Consumer preferences for native chicken meat in India was examined in this study, employing a two-part model with a logit model and log-normal OLS model to analyse responses from 503 consumers. Additionally, factor analysis revealed nine key factors influencing attitudes. Gender, age, income, education, marital status, cohabitation, household size, the presence of seniors or children, and consumption frequency significantly shaped preferences. Factors such as psychological well-being, affordability, knowledge, nutrition, food quality, fitness, purity, and sustainability had negative effects on preference and quantity purchased. The study reveals a strong consumer preference for native chicken meat, attributed to its organic nature, including traditional farming and sustainable production. To enhance sustainability of semi-intensive and intensive native chicken farming, it is imperative to address pricing disparities and ensure the consistent availability of native chicken meat. Achieving long-term sustainability in native chicken farming requires aligning consumer demand with ethical and environmentally sustainable farming practices.

Learning Relational Categories: Benefits of Blocking, Classification, and Subject-Specific Examples

In order to make informed instructional decisions, teachers need psychological knowledge about relational categories. We conducted two 2 × 2 experiments to examine effective designs for learning relational categories in the context of teacher education. In both experiments, a blocked compared to an interleaved example format was more beneficial for learning relational categories when generating new examples. Experiment 1 ( N = 176) additionally showed that student teachers generated new examples more successfully when they had to classify rather than read examples. Moreover, Experiment 2 ( N = 95) revealed that student teachers who learned with examples taken from their individual subjects rather than examples from random subjects generated new examples more successfully. A mediation analysis showed that the subject-specific task value mediated the effect on example generation. The detrimental effects of an interleaved format could be partly compensated for by learning with subject-specific examples.

Are legal experts better decision makers than jurors? A psychological evaluation of the role of juries in the 21st century

Purpose The Scottish Government hope to pilot judge only rape trials to increase the woefully low rape conviction rates in Scotland. The reasoning is that by removing jurors, the court will be attenuating the role that rape myths and other cognitive and social biases have on conviction rates. However, a plethora of research from cognitive and social psychology, legal literature and decision-making science has shown that experts, including judges and other legal professionals, may be no less biased than laypeople. This paper aims to outline the research highlighting that experts may also be biased, why biases in judges can be elicited, and potential alternative recommendations (i.e. deselecting jurors who score highly on rape myths and providing training/education for jurors). Furthermore, piloting with real judges, in real trials, may not be best practice. Therefore, the authors recommend that any piloting is preceded by experimental research. Design/methodology/approach N/A Findings Furthermore, piloting with real judges, in real trials, may not be best practice; therefore, the authors recommend that any piloting is preceded by experimental research. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first of its kind to directly compared the decision-making of jurors and judges within the current Scottish legal context.

Comparing cognition across major transitions using the hierarchy of formal automata.

The evolution of cognition can be understood in terms of a few major transitions-changes in the computational architecture of nervous systems that changed what cognitive capacities could be evolved by downstream lineages. We demonstrate how the idea of a major cognitive transition can be modeled in terms of where a system's effective computational architecture falls on the well-studied hierarchy of formal automata (HFA). We then use recent work connecting artificial neural networks to the HFA, which provides a way to make the structure-architecture link in natural systems. We conclude with reflections on the power and the challenges of traditional thinking when applied to neural architectures. This article is categorized under: Cognitive Biology > Evolutionary Roots of Cognition Psychology > Comparative Philosophy > Foundations of Cognitive Science.

Testing memory of a VR environment: comparison with the real environment and 2D pictures

In recent years, there has been a growing trend in cognitive psychology research towards recreating experimental situations in virtual reality (VR). VR settings are thought to have higher ecological validity than laboratory settings using digital, two-dimensional (2D) pictures. Some studies have shown cognitive performance in VR settings to follow that of the real world. However, other studies obtained controversial results. The present study tested the memory performance of three groups of participants who were exposed to the same environment (a room) through different modalities: in real life, in VR, and through 2D pictures. The results highlighted that participants who were exposed to the target room in real life had an overall better memory performance, compared to participants who saw the room in VR or through 2D pictures. On the other hand, no differences in memory performance emerged between the VR and 2D picture groups, except for the non-suggestive verbal task. The results suggest that future research should be careful in assuming that performance in VR settings is comparable to real life and that VR is more ecological than traditional 2D media.