Psychological Research Research Articles

Why might animals remember? A functional framework for episodic memory research in comparative psychology.

One of Clayton's major contributions to our understanding of animal minds has been her work on episodic-like memory. A central reason for the success of this work was its focus on ecological validity: rather than looking for episodic memory for arbitrary stimuli in artificial contexts, focussing on contexts in which episodic memory would serve a biological function such as food caching. This review aims to deepen this insight by surveying the numerous functions that have been proposed for episodic memory, articulating a philosophically grounded framework for understanding what exactly functions are, and drawing on these to make suggestions for future directions in the comparative cognitive psychology of episodic memory. Our review suggests four key insights. First, episodic memory may have more than one function and may have different functions in different species. Second, cross-disciplinary work is key to developing a functional account of episodic memory. Third, there is scope for further theoretical elaboration of proposals relating episodic memory to food caching and, in particular, future-oriented cognition. Finally, learning-related functions suggested by AI (artificial intelligence)-based models are a fruitful avenue for future behavioural research.

Integrating Classical Yoga and Modern Psychology: Insights from Neuroimaging and AI on Mind Transformation

Yoga is traditionally understood as a holistic practice that integrates physical, mental, and spiritual development. This paper explores how classical yoga concepts align with modern psychological research, emphasizing insights gained through neuroimaging and artificial intelligence (AI). By analyzing the stages of the mind, its modifications, and psychological afflictions from both traditional and contemporary perspectives, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of yoga’s impact on mental and emotional transformation. The integration of neuroimaging techniques and AI tools offers new ways to examine and enhance the efficacy of yoga practices in promoting mental clarity and emotional well-being.

Selective cultural adoption: The roles of warmth, competence, morality and perceived indispensability in majority-group acculturation.

Psychological research has begun considering the dynamics involved in majority-group acculturation, which is the extent to which cultural majority groups adopt the culture of immigrants and minority groups. However, previous research has predominantly concentrated on reactions to 'immigrants' or 'minority groups' as a homogenous entity, overlooking the nuanced perceptions and varied valuations attributed to different groups. Recognizing the heterogeneity among immigrant and minority groups, the present work investigated the influence of several perceived characteristics of immigrant and minority groups on majority-group members' adoption of their cultures. Specifically, in three pre-registered studies-one correlational (Nparticipants = 201, Ntrials = 2814) and two within-subjects experimental (Nparticipants = 144 and 146, Ntrials = 720 and 730) designs with close to politically representative samples from the U.K. and U.S. -majority-group members were more willing to adopt immigrant and minority-group cultures that they perceived as warm, competent and moral because these perceptions made immigrants and minority groups seem indispensable to the identity and economy of the mainstream society. Our studies highlight the importance of considering the differentiated acculturation that majority-group members have to various groups within the same national context. We discuss the societal and cultural repercussions of this selective uptake of other cultures.

Local brain abnormalities in emotional disorders: Evidence from resting state fMRI studies.

Emotional disorders inflict an enormous burden on society. Research on brain abnormalities implicated in emotional disorders has witnessed great progress over the past decades. Using cross-sectional and longitudinal designs, resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and its analytic approaches have been applied to characterize the local properties of patients with emotional disorders. Additionally, brain activity alterations of emotional disorders have shown frequency-specific. Despite the gains in understanding the roles of brain abnormalities in emotional disorders, the limitation of the small sample size needs to be highlighted. Lastly, we proposed that evidence from the positive psychology research stream presents it as a viable discipline, whose suggestions could be developed in future emotional disorders research. Such interdisciplinary research may produce novel treatments and intervention options. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Brain Function and Dysfunction.

Meaning-making in psychotherapy after traumatic loss: therapists’ perspectives

ABSTRACT Sudden, unexpected loss can be particularly devastating for the bereaved as they struggle to make sense of their loss. We interviewed 11 therapists who specialized in loss/trauma about how each of them helped one client make meaning after a traumatic loss. Data, analyzed using Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR), revealed that the traumatic loss had negatively impacted clients’ relationships, mental health, and beliefs/religion/spirituality; therapists utilized a range of interventions to facilitate meaning-making, including supporting clients through the grief process, as well as helping them experience/regulate emotion and change their narratives around the loss; clients made meaning in diverse ways that could be broadly categorized under meaning-as-comprehensibility and meaning-as-significance; and clients experienced positive adjustment (in mental health, relationships, etc.) through the meaning-making work. Implications for counseling psychology research and practice are discussed.

B - 67 Executive Functions as a Mediator between ADHD Symptoms and Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms in Emerging Adults

Abstract Objective Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with comorbid disorders such as anxiety and depression in emerging adults (Prevatt et al., 2012; Mochrie et al., 2020). However, there is limited research examining this association. This study explored the potential mediating role of executive functions in the relationship between ADHD symptoms and anxiety and depressive symptoms, respectively. Method A sample of 842 college students (mean age of 18.96 years) completed the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS-v1.1; Kessler et al., 2005), the Executive Function Index (EFI; Spinella, 2005), and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale – 21 (DASS-21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). The sample was selected from a Psychology Research Program (PRP) pool of a southern university and consisted of 630 women (74.8%), 197 men (23.4%), 13 non-binary (1.5%), and 2 preferred not to answer (0.2%). Results PROCESS 4.2 (Hayes, 2022) model 4 was used with 5000 bootstrap resamples to examine indirect effects. The confidence interval for the indirect effect of ADHD symptoms through executive function was significant for depressive symptoms, B = 0.85, SE = 0.20, 95% CI [0.48, 1.26], as well as anxiety symptoms, B = 1.36, SE = 0.23, 95% CI [0.94, 1.85]. Conclusion ADHD symptoms in college students were associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety when students reported having stronger executive function skills. Given this association, future research could seek to clarify the role of executive functions in protecting individuals with ADHD from impairments associated with anxiety or depression, and whether treatment that builds executive functioning skills is of value in clinical populations.

A multi-dimensional typology of allyship action in violent intergroup conflict settings: Differentiating actor, target, and type of action

ABSTRACT Despite an increase in social psychological research on allyship, less attention has been paid to allyship action in violent intergroup conflict settings. In this contribution, first, we introduce a multi-dimensional typology of allyship action in such settings by differentiating allyship based on the a) actors (i.e. individuals, collectives, and societies), b) targets (i.e. victim- vs perpetrator-focused), and c) types of those actions (i.e. low- vs high-cost action). Second, we mostly draw on examples from our own research programmes and where relevant from global conflicts and previous studies on allyship to show the applicability of the proposed typology. Finally, we discuss theoretical and practical implications, reflect on the limitations of past studies and suggest directions to address research gaps. Our typology contributes to the collective action and intergroup conflict literatures by showing how allyship action has been studied in conflict settings andthe similarities and differences between conflict and non-conflict settings.

Conducting research within the acronym: Problematizing LGBTIQ+ research in psychology

ABSTRACTLGBTIQ+ research acknowledges shared experiences of groups marginalized due to gender identities, sexualities, and sex characteristics. This universalist coalition approach has resulted in much affirmational research and progressive policy development. However, it risks homogenizing the unique experiences and needs of specific groups; a risk lessened by a particularist subgroup approach. In this theoretical paper, we reflect on the challenges of a coalition or subgroup approach by considering interdependencies and boundaries between sex, gender, and sexuality‐based identities. Through tracing the historical development of LGBTIQ+ research and activism and using examples from intersex studies, intersectionality, and political actions, we explore tensions between the collective identities that make up the LGBTIQ+ acronym. We further offer suggestions for reimagining LGBTIQ+ research, advocating for community‐driven approaches that respect the situated knowledge of LGBTIQ+ individuals, and use adaptable and inclusive research practices that bridge academia and activism that aim to improve the lives of the marginalized.

Harnessing the therapeutic effects of nature for chronic Pain: A role for immersive virtual reality? A narrative review.

There is a growing interest in the relationship between nature and pain relief. Evidence from environmental psychology, neuroscience and physiology-based studies point towards analgesic effects of nature being mediated through various cognitive, affective and/or autonomic factors. Being able to harness these therapeutic effects using immersive virtual reality (VR) could help to optimize and improve accessibility of nature-based environments as part of chronic pain management plans. In this narrative review, we present evidence supporting a new theoretical framework for nature-based analgesia and suggest ways for applying this through immersive VR. We provide an overview of the evidence on (1) the therapeutic effects of nature on pain, (2) environmental psychology theory that underpins the health benefits of nature, (3) key mechanistic evidence from nature neuroimaging and physiology-based studies, (4) previous studies that have used VR-based nature in pain research and (5) how to design effective VR interventions that can be used to integrate nature into immersive 360 environments. We have demonstrated how environmental psychology, neuroscience and physiology-based research can be used to form a novel theoretical framework for nature-based analgesia. Using this framework, we identify how key aspects of nature can act as analgesic and how this can be harnessed using immersive VR. Through developing this theoretical framework, we have provided a foundation on which to guide future experimental and clinical studies as well as helping to improve the accessibility of nature for chronic pain patients through immersive VR technologies. This review article summarizes key multidisciplinary evidence to help understand how nature exerts beneficial effects on pain processing. The use of this theoretical framework alongside advances in immersive VR technologies provides a springboard for future research and can be used to help develop new nature-based therapeutics using VR.

Methodological Challenges when Using Routinely Collected Health Data for Research: A scoping review.

Routinely collected health data (RCD) including electronic health records, disease registries, health administrative data and wearables data are not specifically collected for research purposes. Analysis of these data poses unique methodological challenges that must be addressed when conducting research, particularly as availability and use increase. This scoping review aimed to identify methodological challenges in research using RCD from existing literature (registered protocol: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/EBM4D). We searched 6 electronic databases, including medical, health economics, nursing and psychology research databases, between Jan 2015 and Jan 2023, combining multiple “RCD” and “research” search terms (e.g., epidemiologic, informatics, pharmaceutical research). After screening abstracts and full-texts, we doubly extracted methodological themes, categorizing them into different study stages. We screened more than 23,000 records and included 430 papers. Bias and confounding were the most common methodological issues identified, discussed in relation to both study design and data analysis. Data quality, including data accuracy, validation, completeness, timeliness and cleaning, also posed substantial challenges, particularly during data processing stage. Record linkage and conducting analyses using distributed health networks also pose unique methodological challenges. Heterogeneity, incorporating social determinants of health and statistical models that address methodological challenges are also described in the literature. External validity and reporting are important considerations for RCD research. Our review identified several methodological challenges facing researchers using RCD. These issues should be addressed to ensure methodologically sound research. These findings will inform the development of a standardized protocol template and accompanying educational platform aimed at enhancing methodological quality and transparency when conducting research using RCD.

Data integrity in an online world: Demonstration of multimodal bot screening tools and considerations for preserving data integrity in two online social and behavioral research studies with marginalized populations.

Internet-based studies are widely used in social and behavioral health research, yet bots and fraud from "survey farming" bring significant threats to data integrity. For research centering marginalized communities, data integrity is an ethical imperative, as fraudulent data at a minimum poses a threat to scientific integrity, and worse could even promulgate false, negative stereotypes about the population of interest. Using data from two online surveys of sexual and gender minority populations (young men who have sex with men and transgender women of color), we (a) demonstrate the use of online survey techniques to identify and mitigate internet-based fraud, (b) differentiate techniques for and identify two different types of "survey farming" (i.e., bots and false responders), and (c) demonstrate the consequences of those distinct types of fraud on sample characteristics and statistical inferences, if fraud goes unaddressed. We provide practical recommendations for internet-based studies in psychological, social, and behavioral health research to ensure data integrity and discuss implications for future research testing data integrity techniques. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Первый комментарий к докладам Л. С. Выготского на II Всероссийском съезде по психоневрологии в Петрограде (январь 1924 г.)

<p>At the Second All-Russian Congress on Psychoneurology in Petrograd (January 1924), Vygotsky delivered three papers. The first paper (“Methodology of Reflexological and Psychological Research”), was printed separately, but the text of the other two reports (“How Psychology Should Be Taught Now” and “Results of a Questionnaire on the Moods of Students of the Graduating Classes of the Gomel Schools in 1923”) has not survived. A brief account of these two reports, which appeared in the magazine Krasnaya Nov’ in 1924, is reprinted here for the first time. The author was the revolutionary M.I. Ginzburg (1877-1940), a researcher at the Moscow Psychological Institute in the mid-1920s. He wrote under the pseudonym G. Dayan. Ginzburg-Dayan was severely criticised in 1935 on charges of Trotskyism.</p>

Генезис и современное состояние содержания совместной деятельности в условиях образования

<p>In the article we carried out a historical and psychological analysis of psychological and pedagogical research of joint activities (its genesis) from the 60s of the XX century to the present time. Research reference points have been identified/ The first one is the beginning of the 60s of the XX century with a primary study of the genesis of the subject of joint activity in groups of children of preschool and primary school age. The secon is the end of the 80s of the XX, early XXI centuries within the framework of the development of the theory of developmental education (V.V. Davydov, V.V. Rubtsov, D.B. Elkonin, etc.) based on the positions of cultural-historical psychology L.S. Vygotsky, who emphasizes joint activity as the most important sociocultural mechanism of development. The third point takes place in the second decade - the beginning of the third decade of the XXI century, it’s the study of the issues of promoting the ideas of sociogenesis in the traditions of cultural-historical psychology and activity theory, and an attempt to look differently at the key problems of joint activities in a modern school environment. The space of possibilities for modern children is analyzed. Current research shows that educational organizations today form and develop not only the abilities of students, but also their activities (from joint games, educational activities, to role-playing experimentation and project activities).</p>

Investigating the network ties between affect, attachment, and psychopathology

ObjectivesRecent years have seen an increased interest regarding theoretical and empirical associations of adult attachment security and primary affective traits concerning psychiatric disorders. In this study, network analysis technique is applied to dissect the links between both psychodynamic personality constructs and an array of psychopathological symptoms. MethodsA total sample of 921 (69.9 % female) participants from the general population was investigated. A regularized cross-sectional partial correlation network between attachment (Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised [ECR-RD8]), primary affective traits (Brief Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales [BANPS-GL]) and psychopathological symptoms (ICD-10-Symptom-Rating Questionnaire [ISR]) was estimated via the EBICglasso algorithm. Node centrality, predictability and bridge centrality were analyzed. To evaluate the stability of the network and evaluate the significance of differences, we employed bootstrap techniques. ResultsThe network was found to be stable, allowing reliable interpretations. We observed SADNESS, as well as depressive, PTSD and anxiety symptoms as the most influential nodes within the investigated network. Attachment AV and SADNESS were observed as nodes with the highest bridge centrality. ConclusionsThe results provide a data-driven in-depth look into the complex dynamics between psychopathological symptoms, attachment security and basic affective traits. Results underscore the critical interconnections between affect, attachment, and psychopathology, advocating for a psychodynamically informed systems approach in psychological research that considers the affective dimensions underlying human mental health.

Screening depression among university students utilizing GHQ-12 and machine learning

The escalating incidence of depression has brought attention to the increasing concern regarding the mental well-being of university students in the current academic environment. Given the increasing mental health challenges faced by students, there is a critical need for efficient, scalable, and accurate screening methods. This study aims to address the issue by using the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12), a well recognized tool for evaluating psychological discomfort, in combination with machine learning (ML) techniques. Firstly, for effective screening of depression, a comprehensive questionnaire has been created with the help of an expert psychiatrist. The questionnaire includes the GHQ-12, socio-demographic, and job and career-related inquiries. A total of 804 responses has been collected from various public and private universities across Bangladesh. The data has been then analyzed and preprocessed. It has been found that around 60% of the study population are suffering from depression. Lastly, 16 different ML models, including both traditional algorithms and ensemble methods has been applied to examine the data to identify trends and predictors of depression in this demographic. The models' performance has been rigorously evaluated in order to ascertain their effectiveness in precisely identifying individuals who are at risk. Among the ML models, Extremely Randomized Tree (ET) has achieved the highest accuracy of 90.26%, showcasing its classification effectiveness. A thorough investigation of the performance of the models compared, therefore clarifying their possible relevance in the early detection of depression among university students, has been presented in this paper. The findings shed light on the complex interplay among socio-demographic variables, stressors associated with one's profession, and mental well-being, which offer an original viewpoint on utilizing ML in psychological research.

High-risk, Critical Decision-making under Time Pressure: Some Parallels and Learning from Split-second Choices Made in Extreme Adventure Sports

In a world beset with crises, everyone from professional manager down to the layman is keen to understand how to make quick decisions under emerging disruptive situations. This article, employing self-reflective analysis of critical incidents, describes the author’s personal experiences from the field of adventure sports categorised as high-risk, critical decisions, involving split-second choices—while sky-diving and flying—to trace the mental cognitive processes from a decision maker’s perspective. This is used to discuss and establish a practitioners’ operational framework for high-risk, critical decision scenarios, drawing upon established theories and frameworks from cognitive, social and psychological decision research.

Identifying analogue samples of individuals with clinically significant social anxiety: Updating and combining cutoff scores on the Social Phobia Inventory and Sheehan Disability Scale.

The use of analogue samples, as opposed to clinical groups, is common in mental health research, including research on social anxiety disorder (SAD). Recent observational and statistical evidence has raised doubts about the validity of current methods for establishing analogue samples of individuals with clinically significant social anxiety. Here, we used data from large community samples of clinical and nonclinical participants to determine new cutoff scores on self-report measures of social anxiety symptoms and symptom-related impairment. We then examined whether using these newly determined cutoff scores alone or in combination improves the identification of individuals who have SAD from those who do not, revealing the most ideal cutoff combination to be 34 or above on the Social Phobia Inventory and 11 or above on the Sheehan Disability Scale. Finally, we compared the effects of our new cutoff scores with old cutoff scores by extracting analogue samples of participants with high social anxiety from historical data on seven large groups of undergraduate Psychology research participants from the authors' institution spanning the past 5 years (2018-2023). We observed that the new combined cutoff scores identified markedly fewer students as having high social anxiety, lending credibility to their utility. We also observed a striking increase in levels of social anxiety symptoms in the undergraduate population from before to after the COVID-19 pandemic. Of note, most participants were under 30 and identified as Caucasian or Asian women, indicating that future research is needed to examine whether our findings generalize to diverse populations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Machine-assisted social psychology hypothesis generation.

Social psychology research projects begin with generating a testable idea that relies heavily on a researcher's ability to assimilate, recall, and accurately process available research findings. However, an exponential increase in new research findings is making the task of synthesizing ideas across the multitude of topics challenging, which could result in important overlooked research connections. In this research, we leverage the fact that social psychology research is based on verbal models and employ large natural language models to generate hypotheses that can aid social psychology researchers in developing new research hypotheses. We adopted two methodological approaches. In the first approach, we fine-tuned the third-generation generative pre-trained transformer (GPT-3) language model on thousands of abstracts published in more than 50 social psychology journals in the past 55 years as well as on preprint repositories (PsyArXiv). Social psychology experts rated model- and human-generated hypotheses similarly on the dimensions of clarity, originality, and impact. In the second approach, without fine-tuning, we generated hypotheses using GPT-4 and found that social psychology experts rated these generated hypotheses as higher in quality than human-generated hypotheses on dimensions of clarity, originality, impact, plausibility, and relevance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Examining Affordances of Outdoor Natural versus Built Environments

Whereas previous psychological research has examined the benefits of nature from a stress-reduction and attention-restoration perspective, the current studies focus on what possibilities for action are evoked by natural versus built environments. After a study pilot-testing a novel self-administration procedure for soliciting what individuals feel they “could do” in a built or natural outdoor site after walking in it, two studies were conducted to test quantitative differences in the action possibilities (i.e., affordances) that walkers detected when moving through a built or a natural site. A naturalistic study involved community participants who were recruited on-site at one of 12 built or natural sites within the same region of a community. A field experiment involved college students randomly assigned to walk one of four sites (forest or meadow, or one of two downtown areas in a downtown of a small town). No reliable differences were detected in number of responses to the prompt “I could…” completed by participants as a function of natural versus built sites. However, in the field experiment, participants in built rather than natural sites generated more verb and social content, and more total words. In the experiment, participants who walked natural sites had more improvement in positive affect than those who walked built sites.

Psychological Skill of University Basketball Athletes in Each Playing Position in Indonesia

The role of psychological skills in sport is one of the cores of research and practice in sports psychology. Even if there is, especially in basketball sport, it is limited to an overview of the physical aspects. For this reason, this research was aimed of examining whether there is a difference in psychological skills of basketball athletes in each playing position based on five playing positions, namely point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center. The study was conducted using a quantitative descriptive method with a retrospective causal-comparative design, or ex-post facto design, on 100 basketball athletes from seven provinces spread across 31 universities in Indonesia, consisting of 38 male athletes and 62 female athletes. All collected data were analyzed using one way-ANOVA technique. The results of the analysis found that there were differences in the psychological skills of university basketball athletes in each playing position of in Indonesia. According to the results of the analysis for psychological skills by playing position in Indonesian university basketball athletes in Table 3, (F(4,99) = 3.483, significant at p = 0.011 <0.05. The point guard position shows the highest psychological characteristics, while the lowest score is occupied by the small forward position. Coaches can use the results of this study to better understand the psychological characteristics of athletes in different playing positions as well as developing more appropriate types of psychological skills training interventions to each playing position.