Baseline electrophysiological markers of reward and error processing are associated with improved outcomes in prize-based contingency management.

We conducted a preregistered experiment testing the comparative efficacy of five common communication strategies (fear, disgust, values affirmation/gain frame, disrupt-then-reframe, or self-efficacy) in people who do and do not avoid colorectal cancer (CRC) information. Participants (N = 274; 45-74 years, not CRC screening adherent, no history of CRC, 49% CRC information avoiders) were randomly assigned to view one of five brief CRC screening intervention videos or an attentional control video, after which they completed assessments of affect and screening intentions followed by manipulation checks. Participants who watched the fear, disgust, disrupt-then-reframe and self-efficacy videos, rather than the control video, had stronger intentions to talk to a doctor about screening and those who watched fear and self-efficacy videos had stronger intentions to be screened. Video effects on intentions did not vary between avoiders and nonavoiders, but affective responses did. Nonavoiders reported more positive affect if they viewed CRC videos rather than the control video, but the trend reversed for avoiders. There were indirect effects of avoidance on intentions through positive affect. Depressed positive affect in response to threatening information may be part of an avoidance affective signature that could undermine motivation to engage in health behaviors such as cancer screening.

Stroke motor rehabilitation research is critical for improving functional recovery and quality of life. However, the success of therapeutic interventions is highly dependent on the theoretical basis and methodological rigor of the studies that evaluate them. This paper outlines ten essential recommendations/guidelines for stroke motor rehabilitation research aimed at enhancing the scientific quality and reliability of findings. Our recommendations span issues related to mechanistic understanding, methodological rigor, and transparency, while providing specific suggestions for implementation in the context of stroke motor rehabilitation research. To improve our mechanistic understanding of how and why an intervention works, these guidelines emphasize the importance of having a clear scientific rationale for the active ingredient in the proposed therapy (e.g., physical or occupational therapy), ensuring manipulation checks for key therapeutic components, and assessing outcomes at multiple levels using the ICF framework. To improve methodological rigor, the paper also highlights the necessity of adequately dose-matched control groups, minimizing baseline imbalances and biased treatment effects through randomization and blinding, and employing larger sample sizes to minimize the risk of false-positive trials. Finally, to enhance transparency and reproducibility, we advocate for pre-registering outcomes and protocols, performing robustness checks, presenting data in multiple formats, and the publication of open data. We anticipate that following these recommendations will pave the way for more reliable, impactful results that advance the development of effective therapeutic interventions.

Despite widespread acknowledgement of the importance of disseminating null results, researchers often struggle to successfully publish null findings. One common criticism leveled against such findings is that null results could be driven by design factors like inadequate sample size or measurement error. In this essay, we provide an overview of several tools and practices that researchers can implement, both during the design stage and during post-hoc analysis, to make null results more credible. Specifically, as researchers design their studies, they can make use of power analysis and preregistration, while taking care to follow best practices for variable measurement and—in the case of experimental studies—manipulation checks. During the analysis stage, researchers can move beyond “failing to reject the null hypothesis” by using confidence intervals, equivalence tests (such as the two one-sided tests (TOST) procedure), or Bayesian statistical approaches such as the Bayes Factor.

Digital Therapeutic Alliance (DTA), the collaborative bond between users and therapeutic AI tools, may determine whether people engage with health chatbots, yet factors shaping this alliance remain unclear. We examined whether autonomy-supportive versus controlling communication styles influence DTA formation and whether personality traits moderate this relationship. In a preregistered experiment, 750 daily smokers viewed vignettes of a smoking-cessation chatbot using either communication style. Structural equation modeling revealed that communication style did not significantly affect DTA, despite successful manipulation checks. However, DTA strongly predicted chatbot usage intentions. Among personality traits, only agreeableness predicted DTA; other Big Five dimensions and style-by-personality interactions were non-significant. Technological innovativeness and baseline quit intention also predicted usage intentions. These findings highlight that relational dynamics matter for chatbot acceptance, but subtle conversational variations alone may not shape alliance formation. We discuss implications for human-centered chatbot design and future research directions.

Mindfulness during exercise and its effects on affective responses: a systematic review and meta-analysis with implications for exercise behavior.

Although the number of studies on conformity effects using multiple robots is increasing, simply increasing the number of robots is impractical. In this study, we developed a system in which a single robot dynamically switches among three distinct characters while retaining one body, and compared its effects with two conditions: one in which a single robot presents a fixed character (one character, one body) and another in which three robots each present a fixed character (three characters, three bodies). A laboratory experiment using a color perception task was conducted in which participants' conformity to the robot's opinions and the psychological pressure they experienced were measured and compared across conditions. The results indicated that a single robot displaying multiple characters produced a significantly greater conformity effect both the three-robot condition and the single-robot fixed-character condition, and also induced higher psychological pressure than the fixed-character condition. These findings suggest that, despite being a single physical entity, a robot that dynamically switches among multiple characters can effectively simulate group influence, offering a resource-efficient approach to robot-based social influence. Future research should include manipulation checks, use validated multi-dimensional measures, and explore more naturalistic dialogue settings to enhance theoretical clarity and real-world applicability.

Background: Bullying case is often experienced by school students in Indonesia. Despite existing efforts, such as government regulations and school-based interventions, bullying remains a pervasive issue, highlighting the need for more effective programs.Purpose: This study aimed to test the effectiveness of the 'Sadar dan Perangi’ bullying program in reducing bullying intentions among elementary school students. The program's effectiveness was evaluated based on its ability to lower bullying intentions among participants.Method: The participants were 39 elementary school students in grades 4 and 5 with moderate bullying intentions. This study used a quasi-experimental, untreated control group design with dependent pre- and post-test samples. The research instruments used were the Sadar dan Perangi Bullying Program module and the bullying intention scale. In addition, the empathy scale and bullying knowledge were used as manipulation checks. The data were analyzed using a mixed-design ANOVA.Findings: Sadar dan Perangi Bullying Program can reduce bullying intentions of elementary school students in the experimental group (MD=-75; p<0.050).Implication: This study implies that the program has been proven to reduce bullying intention. Therefore, government support is needed to reduce bullying through policy, resource, and budget support for schools.

Background: Bullying case is often experienced by school students in Indonesia. Despite existing efforts, such as government regulations and school-based interventions, bullying remains a pervasive issue, highlighting the need for more effective programs.Purpose: This study aimed to test the effectiveness of the 'Sadar dan Perangi’ bullying program in reducing bullying intentions among elementary school students. The program's effectiveness was evaluated based on its ability to lower bullying intentions among participants.Method: The participants were 39 elementary school students in grades 4 and 5 with moderate bullying intentions. This study used a quasi-experimental, untreated control group design with dependent pre- and post-test samples. The research instruments used were the Sadar dan Perangi Bullying Program module and the bullying intention scale. In addition, the empathy scale and bullying knowledge were used as manipulation checks. The data were analyzed using a mixed-design ANOVA.Findings: Sadar dan Perangi Bullying Program can reduce bullying intentions of elementary school students in the experimental group (MD=-75; p<0.050).Implication: This study implies that the program has been proven to reduce bullying intention. Therefore, government support is needed to reduce bullying through policy, resource, and budget support for schools.

The study compares the effects of different cognitive task durations to induce MF on 4-a-side small-sided soccer games (SSGs) in psychophysiological responses, kinematic profile, and technical performance. Sixteen young soccer players (age: 15.2 ± 0.4 years) randomly performed the mental fatigue (MF) conditions (30-, 45-, and 60-min Stroop Task) and CON sessions (30-, 45-, and 60-min documentary) immediately before a 4-a-side SSGs (4 × 4 min, and 4 min rest). Kinematic profiles were analysed with GPS. Heart rate (HR), the rating of perceived exertion (RPE), MF visual analogue scale, enjoyment, and technical performance were assessed during SSGs. The manipulation checks revealed that players experienced increased MF levels in all MF inducement durations compared with the CON [30-min, CI95%diff = 5.40 (3.20 to 7.50), p < 0.001; 45-min, CI95%diff = 8.30 (6.00 to 10.50), p < 0.001; and 60-min, CI95%diff = 12.3 (10.00 to 14.50); p < 0.001]. Technical performance varied with the duration of MF exposure. Successful pass presented higher values for the CON condition in the 30-min [CI95%diff = 0.68 (0.21 to 1.16); p = 0.035], but remained similar for the 45- [CI95%diff = −0.45 (−1.17 to 0.26); p = 0.523], and 60-min [CI95%diff = 0.67 (−0.08 to 1.43); p = 0.401]. For the unsuccessful pass the CON condition presented lower values in the 30-min [CI95%diff = −2.36 (−2.89 to −1.83); p < 0.001] and 60-min [CI95%diff = −2.80 (−3.63 to −1.97); p < 0.001], but remained similar for the 45- [CI95%diff = −0.47 (−1.03 to 0.09); p = 0.413]. Regarding the one-touch pass, the CON condition presented higher values in the 30- [CI95%diff = 0.63 (0.31 to 0.94); p < 0.001], 45- [CI95%diff = 2.21 (1.76 to 2.64); p < 0.001], and 60-min [CI95%diff = 1.73 (1.26 to 2.19); p < 0.001]. The findings of this study show that the different durations of cognitive tasks significantly affected several internal load metrics and technical performance, but not external load metrics. Understanding the effects of different cognitive task durations during SSGs allows coaches and sports scientists to customize training and recovery programs better, potentially improving player performance.

IntroductionPlayful activities provide critical opportunities for rhythmic interactions, which may affect social and cognitive development in early childhood. Prior research suggests that motor synchrony promotes closeness and prosocial behaviour, but few studies have examined its role in social learning and in group settings.MethodThis study investigated whether motor synchrony in a clapping game, enhances preschoolers' closeness with others, imitation, over-imitation, and sharing behaviour. In a group setting, motor synchrony and asynchrony were experimentally induced between the child and two experimenters. We hypothesized that children would feel closer, imitate more, and share more with an adult partner who moved in synchrony compared to one who moved asynchronously.ResultsBayesian analyses revealed no credible evidence that the children affiliated, imitated, over-imitated, or shared differently with their synchronous vs. asynchronous partner (BF10 = 0.045–0.216). Manipulation checks indicated that although the adults adhered to the stimuli, there was overall low motor synchrony.DiscussionThese findings highlight the challenges of inducing motor synchrony in playful group settings and raise questions about the level of synchrony necessary to impact social affiliation and learning in young children.

Recent findings show that simply observing how another person responds to a stimulus is sufficient to create stimulus-response (SR) episodes, which can later be retrieved from memory to guide one’s own actions. However, this only occurs if the observed person is socially relevant for the observer. This social relevance can result from task demands (e.g., cooperation or competition) or the relationship between the interacting people. An essential component of successful social relationships, which should therefore also increase the social relevance of another person, is trust. In two online experiments we investigated whether trusting versus distrusting an interaction partner modulates observationally acquired SR binding and retrieval (oSRBR) effects. Trust was manipulated by a variation of the Investment Game. Interaction partners behaved either trustworthily or untrustworthily by keeping or violating a previous promise. After that, participants performed an online interactive color classification task to assess oSRBR effects. Both experiments yielded successful manipulation checks. Significant oSRBR effects emerged, but these were not modulated by trust. We discuss potential reasons underlying these findings, particularly whether and how distrust may also have facilitated the occurrence of oSRBR effects.

Background: Mental fatigue is a common complaint of older adults. The possible impact of mental fatigue on the physical function of older people is concerning since physical function losses are associated with more visits to medical centres and higher medical expenses. The review examined studies that investigated the effects of mental fatigue on the physical function of older people. We searched the PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. Methods: The review tracked the state of studies through the categorisation of studies by features, a tabular summary of study characteristics, and risk of bias analysis. Seventeen studies met the inclusion criteria. Publications on the effects of mental fatigue in the older adult's population are relatively scarce. Results: The most common combined method to induce mental fatigue was mental maths and quiet sitting, but when analysing experimental and control conditions separately, the most common methods were laboratory-based tasks for induction with low ecological validity and the use of a movie, documentary or reading as a control condition. The review suggested the lack of experimental research design. Most studies were interested in understanding the differences in mental fatigue effects between age groups of healthy participants. Conclusion: Overall, older people display greater force fluctuations. Studies have mainly examined balance and muscle function using low ecological fatigue induction and a combination of subjective and objective measures for manipulation checks. Chronic conditions are underrepresented. The existing evidence calls for more rigorous research to inform healthcare decisions.

Tourists frequently experience two types of price discrimination: algorithm- and human-led. However, research on their influence on tourist attitudes toward destinations is limited. This study conducted four experiments to compare the impact of algorithm- and human-led (by local travel agency staff) price discrimination on tourists’ attitudes toward destinations, using attribution theory and a single-factor between-subjects design with manipulation checks. The results indicated that human-led price discrimination had a more negative effect on tourist attitudes and that the main effect was mediated by trust in the residents. The moderating role of current socioeconomic status was also examined, revealing that the negative influence of human-led price discrimination on trust in residents was stronger among tourists with high socioeconomic status. This study extends existing literature on price discrimination and attribution theory. Practically, it underscores how tourist attitudes toward a destination can be affected by leveraging price discrimination by type.

In this paper, we discuss different sources of noise or other detrimental effects in the elicitation of experimental data. These effects may emerge due to the loss of control in unsupervised web-based elicitation, be task-related, or emerge due to questionnaire designs that lack sufficient means to identify inapt participants. We describe a stepwise process to reach elicited data at the highest attainable level in web-based Acceptability Judgment Tasks (AJTs). In the first step, the questionnaire design, we focus especially on a careful construction of appropriate filler and control items and introduce an alternative to instructional manipulation checks appropriate for AJTs, namely attention items. The second step is to choose the right platform to elicit experimental data from. Lastly, we will show how to employ latency- and response-based methods – analyses of response times as well as of responses to the specialized items – to reliably detect inapt participants.

Purpose This study aims to explore the influence of police officer gender on public perceptions during an interaction between an officer and a citizen suspected of driving under the influence. Design/methodology/approach Using an experimental survey with a sample of 1,193 USA adults, participants were randomly assigned to read a hypothetical news story in which the officer’s gender was manipulated (Control: no gender, T1: male, and T2: female). The study sought to determine whether officer gender affected evaluations of the officer’s conduct, including appropriateness, reasonableness, the need for backup, and the potential for de-escalation. Findings While no significant differences were found for most evaluations, respondents were significantly more likely to recommend that a female officer call for backup, indicating that gendered expectations may shape perceptions of when additional support is needed during conflict. The findings suggest that officer gender does not significantly affect broader evaluations of police conduct in less contentious scenarios. Research limitations/implications Manipulation checks of officer gender should be analyzed as misidentification may reveal patterns of gender biases in policing perceptions. Practical implications Police training and policy should address gender biases in perceptions of officers and promote greater diversity and inclusion, especially as officer gender may not significantly shape public perceptions of police-citizen interactions. Social implications Media portrayals may reinforce perceptions of women officers needing greater assistance in handling situations. Originality/value The study relies on a nationally representative sample, testing public perceptions of a different but everyday police-citizen interaction, specifically a traffic stop scenario, to assess whether officer gender influences evaluations of procedural justice and decision-making. Further, the study examines respondents who misidentified the officer’s gender to uncover patterns in these misidentifications.

Recent awareness of the importance of rigor and robustness have deemed replication efforts vital for scientific advance. Yet the value of replication projects may often be undermined by post-hoc disputes with the original authors about the replication outcomes, for instance, concerning data quality, unanticipated deviations from the data collection protocol, or diverging implementations of the analysis strategy. In this comment, we reflect on the tension between replicators and original authors and advocate for analysis blinding as a means to prevent such unproductive post-hoc discussions. Analysis blinding involves the alteration of data to remove the key effect of interest while preserving all other aspects. This methodology allows for an assessment of important properties of the data (manipulation checks, outliers, data quality) without introducing bias or risking the perception of attempting to manipulate the results. We discuss three replication studies we were responsible for in the Holzmeister et al. (2025) project and demonstrate how to effectively blind data for each of them. We argue that analysis blinding has the potential to prevent fruitless discussions and tension between original authors and replication teams in replication projects while preserving a healthy scientific debate.

Rumination, or thinking passively and repetitively about one’s distress, and low emotional clarity, or not understanding one’s emotions, are risk factors for psychopathology. It has been suggested that people attempt to increase emotional clarity by ruminating, but whether ruminating works to help or harm emotional clarity in the moment is unknown. In N = 74 adults, following an idiographic negative mood induction, we experimentally manipulated rumination and two comparison conditions – distraction and mindfulness – to assess their effects on negative emotion, subjective and implicit indices of emotional clarity, and self-insight. Manipulation checks showed that conditions produced a pattern of distinct experiences theoretically consistent with each response style. Compared to comparison conditions, rumination was less effective in alleviating negative emotion. However, all conditions produced similar effects on emotional clarity and self-insight. Whereas each condition failed to influence subjective emotional clarity, they increased implicit clarity and perceived self-insight. Results underscore the importance of incorporating multiple measures of emotional clarity and suggest that, compared to other cognitive emotion response styles, rumination may function as a double-edged sword that keeps one entrenched in negative emotion but without impairing implicit emotional clarity and self-insight. Findings may have implications for why people ruminate despite its negative impact on well-being.

Previous research and classroom practices have focused on dispelling shame, assuming that it negatively impacts self-efficacy and performance, and overlook the potential for shame to facilitate learning. To investigate this gap, we designed an intervention with 132 tertiary education students (45.46% male, 64.4% European ethnicity) spanning diverse undergraduate majors to show how and why designing for experiences of shame and appropriately regulating them can differentially impact learning. Shame was induced through autobiographical recall, imagination, and failure-driven problem-solving before randomly assigning students to three conditions: two with explicit tips for either decreasing shame or maintaining shame (experimental groups) and one with no-regulation tips (control). Students worked on an introductory data science problem deliberately designed to lead to failure before receiving canonical instruction. Manipulation checks triangulating self-reported and facial expression analysis data suggested that shame was successfully regulated in the intended direction, depending on the condition. Our results, drawing on mixed-methods analyses, further suggested that relative to students decreasing shame, those who maintained shame during initial problem-solving had (i) similar post-test performance on a non-isomorphic question and improved performance on the transfer question, evidenced by accuracy in solving applied data science and inference tasks; (ii) complete reasoning across all post-test questions, as evidenced by elaborations justifying the usage of graphical and numerical representations across those tasks; and (iii) use of superior emotion regulation strategies focused on deploying attention to the problem and reappraising its inherently challenging nature with an approach orientation, as evidenced by a higher frequency of such codes derived from self-reported qualitative data during the intervention. Decreasing shame was as effective as not engaging in explicit regulation. Our results suggest that teaching efforts should be channeled to facilitate experiencing emotions that are conducive to goals, whether they feel pleasurable or not, which may inevitably involve emoting both positive and negative (e.g., shame) in moderation. However, it is paramount that emotional experiences are not merely seen by educators as tools for improved content learning but as an essential part of holistic student development. We advocate for the deliberate design of learning experiences that support, rather than overshadow, students’ emotional growth.

Manipulation checks are an essential component of quality experimental design in motor learning. Guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses framework, this methodological systematic review examined the utilization of manipulation checks in focus of attention research. Seventy-eight protocols from four scientific databases from September 2021—September 2023 were evaluated. A secondary analysis was conducted on 10 data sets where manipulation check failures had not been explicitly considered. No manipulation check was used in 53% of protocols, where a manipulation check was used: 19% used a single rating question, 11.5% used multiple questions, 11.5% used open questions, and 5% used other forms. When manipulation checks were utilized in studies, 68% of experiments did not report if any participants failed the manipulation check or not; the remaining reports either analyzed the failures (11%), excluded the failures (8%), ran multiple analyses (8%), or stated that no participants failed (5%). In the secondary analysis of data, when participants who failed manipulation checks were excluded, the interpretation of results changed in two of the 10 reanalyzed sources when compared with the original analysis. We conclude with recommendations on how researchers can optimize their use of manipulation checks within focus of attention research in both the collection and analysis of data.