Behavioral Sciences Research Articles

Neuroadaptive Bayesian optimisation can allow integrative design spaces at the individual level in the social and behavioural sciences… and beyond.

Almaatouq et al. propose an integrative experiment design space combined with large samples for scientific advancement. We argue recent innovative designs combining closed-loop experiment designs and Bayesian optimisation allow for integrative experiments at an individual level during a single session, circumventing the necessity for large samples. This method can be applied across disciplines, including developmental and clinical research.

Assessing the factors influencing intention to use e-government in Tanzania: the perspective of trust, participation and transparency

PurposeThis research involves empirical evidence from the Tanzanian context to find out whether participation, trust and transparency have a significant impact on the acceptance of e-government systems.Design/methodology/approachThe research employs a survey of 153 respondents followed by structural equation modelling-variance based (CB-SEM) analysis using PLS 4. The conceptual framework was developed by extending the technology acceptance model (TAM) with additional constructs before testing it in quantitative research.FindingsResults of the model show that the perceived ease of use (PEU) had neither a significant relationship with behaviour intention nor with perceived transparency, while all the other relationships were found to be significant.Research limitations/implicationsAmong others, this research provides theoretical underpinnings to the area of acceptance of technologies as well as providing areas for future research and policy implications.Practical implicationsThe study presents the relationships involving transparency, trust and participation in e-government systems by the citizens and how they can potentially influence intention to use e-government systems.Social implicationsThe regulatory authorities, mobile service operators and government can use this research to enhance decision-making and governance towards effective use of mobile phone technology in accessing government services.Originality/valueThis research delivers a refined, extended model of TAM that comprises extra constructs, namely, trust, transparency and participation. This model provides the basis for upcoming research in the area of technology acceptance, e-government and in behavioural science.

Exploring the landscape of adult autism research in psychology: a bibliometric and network analysis.

The global prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is increasing. ASD manifests with persistent social communication and interaction challenges, limited interests, and repetitive behaviors. As the scientific literature on ASD in adults varies greatly, mapping the recent global research becomes valuable for enhancing comprehension of this subject. This study aims to map recent global scientific publications on ASD in adults. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, bibliometrics, and network analyses, we assessed 850 articles indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection between 2013 and 2022 assigned to the research area of psychology. Findings indicate an annual average growth of 11.69%. Key keywords include Emotion, Anxiety, and Depression, with Anxiety, Depression, and Mental Health as central nodes in the network. Rehabilitation, Behavioral Sciences, and Psychiatry frequently co-occur, and Psychology, Psychiatry, and 'Neurosciences and Neurology' are central nodes in the network of research areas. The United States of America and the United Kingdom lead in publications, with the United Kingdom being the most central country in the network. King's College London and the University of California are the main research organizations, with King's College London as the central node in the network. The American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5-TR was the most cited reference in the period. This comprehensive analysis contributes to understanding the landscape of ASD research in adults, providing insights for future research and fostering collaborations.

Role of artificial intelligence in behavior management of pediatric dental patients-a mini review.

The influence of behavioral science on various organizations has been experiencing remarkable growth worldwide. With the integration of recent technological advancements, behavioral science's impact has expanded into diverse fields such as finance and policy. The term "artificial intelligence" (AI) has become increasingly prevalent, but it is essential to provide clarity before proceeding. AI pertains to the theory and creation of systems capable of executing tasks that typically necessitate human intelligence. Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) in pediatric dentistry has emerged as a promising avenue to enhance patient care, improve diagnostic accuracy, streamline treatment planning, and augment patient engagement. AI-driven tools such as image analysis, natural language processing, and machine learning algorithms assist in early caries detection, orthodontic treatment planning, behavior management, and personalized oral hygiene education for pediatric patients. This paper presents an overview of AI's applications in pediatric dentistry, particularly behavior management, highlighting its potential to revolutionize traditional pediatric dental practices.

Explore your experimental designs and theories before you exploit them!

In many areas of the social and behavioral sciences, the nature of the experiments and theories that best capture the underlying constructs are themselves areas of active inquiry. Integrative experiment design risks being prematurely exploitative, hindering exploration of experimental paradigms and of diverse theoretical accounts for target phenomena.

Global research on behavioral addictions: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract: A bibliometric analysis would reveal the overall research trend, contributing journals, and supporting fund agencies on behavioral addiction. However, no previous attempt was noted on the behavioral addiction field. We aimed to perform a bibliometric analysis on behavioral addiction. We searched in the PubMed database on behavioral addiction. All the articles from the date of inception till February 22nd, 2024, were included in the analysis, using the keywords. The Harvard Catalyst software was used by the investigator for the analysis. We analyzed 3429 relevant publications with the earliest year being 1994 to the latest article in the year 2024. The maximum number of publications on behavioral addiction was seen in the year 2022 (n = 427), followed by 2023 (n = 418). The majority of articles were from the journal of behavioral addiction (n = 223). The journal with the highest average number of citations per article was cyberpsychology and behavior. The top field under which the articles are published is psychiatry (n = 848), followed by behavioral sciences (n = 569) and psychology (n = 350). This bibliometric analysis reveals the trend of scientific output in behavioral addiction, leading academic sphere, and leading journals. Further studies assessing the collaboration network among institutions, countries, and authors would foster understanding in the field.

Dimensional versus conceptual incommensurability in the social and behavioral sciences.

This commentary analyzes the extent to which the incommensurability problem can be resolved through the proposed alternative method of integrative experiment design. We suggest that, although one aspect of incommensurability is successfully addressed (dimensional incommensurability), the proposed design space method does not yet alleviate another major source of discontinuity, which we call conceptual incommensurability.

Sociological Research and Teaching in the Context of Medical Faculties - An Autobiographical Report

With the introduction of medical psychology and medical sociology as examination subjects in the medical curriculum, as enacted by the year 1970 in Germany, medical faculties established professorships and departments for these disciplines. This raised the concern of how the two separate scientific cultures of the social and behavioural sciences and of medicine, rooted in basic sciences, could reconcile their teaching and research activities in a constructive way. It turned out that the quality and the thematic affinity of new research aligning with core medical interests were important preconditions of successful integration of the new disciplines. This paper exemplifies a respective success in case of a scientific development in medical sociology. Based on a theoretical model, a longstanding, internationally collaborating research program analysing social determinants of stress-related disorders resulted in a series of innovative insights. Furthermore, the paper illustrates close links between biographical luck and structural opportunities and constraints, and it emphasizes the important role of committed inter-disciplinary scientific collaboration.

Systems and Control for Societal Impact: IFAC TC 9.2 Visions and UN SDGs

The digital revolution has opened numerous new possibilities for control systems solutions with potential for widespread societal impacts. Thus, it is important to explore how the design of control systems can be performed in such a manner that these impacts can be steered towards contributing to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). The IFAC Technical Committee 9.2, Systems and Control for Societal Impact, is deeply interested in maximizing the benefits of automation, control and intelligent systems for society while avoiding their possible negative effects by anticipating potential adverse effects. The TC 9.2 is building its vision and activities along the emerging new field of cyber-physical-human systems (CPHS). This field is growing due to the proliferation of interactions between humans and (embedded, networked, interconnected) cyber-physical systems (CPS). The interplay between humans and CPS leads to new societal impacts and requires new tools for directing and guiding these impacts. Moreover, such interactions in CPHS require interdisciplinary collaborations between engineers and social and behavioral scientists and humanists for achieving the responsible development of CPHS.In this paper, we recap the TC9.2 topics and visions. We discuss the responsible development of CPHS which is the driving goal of the TC9.2 committee. We initiate an analysis to relate TC 9.2 topics with UN SDGs, through the idea of “six transformations”. The importance of stages of research development driven by SDG goals as well as the importance of individuals, corporations, and governments in this responsible design of systems is also highlighted. The close relation of the TC 9.2 visions with Digital Revolution for Sustainable Development through CPHS is discussed in detail. Relations with other transformations are also studied.

Navigating ethical challenges in psychological research involving digital remote technologies and people who use alcohol or drugs.

Digital and remote technologies (DRT) are increasingly being used in scientific investigations to objectively measure human behavior during day-to-day activities. Using these devices, psychologists and other behavioral scientists can investigate health risk behaviors, such as drug and alcohol use, by closely examining the causes and consequences of monitored behaviors as they occur naturalistically. There are, however, complex ethical issues that emerge when using DRT methodologies in research with people who use substances. These issues must be identified and addressed so DRT devices can be incorporated into psychological research with this population in a manner that comports the ethical standards of the American Psychological Association. In this article, we discuss the ethical ramifications of using DRT in behavioral studies with people who use substances. Drawing on allied fields with similar ethical issues, we make recommendations to researchers who wish to incorporate DRT into their own research. Major topics include (a) threats to and methods for protecting participant and nonparticipant privacy, (b) shortcomings of traditional informed consent in DRT research, (c) researcher liabilities introduced by real-time continuous data collection, (d) threats to distributive justice arising from computational tools often used to manage and analyze DRT data, and (e) ethical implications of the "digital divide." We conclude with a more optimistic discussion of how DRT may provide safer alternatives to gold standard paradigms in substance use research, allowing researchers to test hypotheses that were previously prohibited on ethical grounds. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Issues in behavioral data science

Issues in behavioral data science

The Role of Social Sciences in Dentistry Undergraduate Courses: A Case Report from Brazil

In this article, we present an analysis of the contribution of social sciences to teaching undergraduate dentistry courses. Based on a literary review of the influence of behavioral and social sciences on oral health research and a case report from a public university in Porto Alegre, Brazil, I propose to consider the interface between health and social sciences, presenting some of our contributions to the training process of undergraduate students at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. Introductory social sciences classes have been incorporated into various healthcare faculties, such as nutrition, dentistry, physiotherapy, medicine, obstetrics, and nursing. The acknowledgment of the importance of social sciences to the formation of health care professionals is reflected in the introduction in the curriculum of topics such as human rights, ethics in the relation of professionals and patients, as well as the challenges presented by social inequalities and the humanistic perspective of integral attention. In this sense, social sciences present undergraduates with a privileged perspective to the understanding of the patient both as a subject of rights, situated in a social, cultural, economic, and political context, and as a critical interpreter and agent of his own body, capable of recognizing and identifying illness processes, choosing, and attending therapy protocols and, therefore, capable of contributing to the continuity as well as transformation of healthcare practices. The inclusion of social sciences classes in undergraduate dentistry courses has given students an invaluable perspective on patients as individuals with rights situated within a social, cultural, economic, and political context. This understanding enables students to identify and tackle social inequalities, maintain ethical standards in their professional practice, and offer holistic care when training in programs integrated into the Brazilian Unified Health System. In addition, social sciences classes equip students with critical thinking skills that enable them to analyze and interpret patient experiences, make informed decisions regarding treatment protocols, and contribute to better treatment adherence, prevention practices, and therapy continuity.

Phenomena complexity, disciplinary consensus, and experimental versus correlational research in psychological science.

The target article ignores the crucial role of correlational methods in the behavioral and social sciences. Yet such methods are often mandated by the greater complexity of the phenomena investigated. This necessity is especially conspicuous in psychological research where its position in the hierarchy of the sciences implies the need for both experimental and correlational investigations, each featuring distinct assets.

Exercise and Fear and Safety Learning.

Fear conditioning paradigms have been studied for over 100years and are of great interest to the behavioral and clinical sciences given that several safety learning processes (e.g., extinction learning and recall) are thought to be fundamental to the success of exposure-based therapies for anxiety and related disorders. This chapter provides an overview of preclinical and clinical investigations that examined the effects of exercise on initial fear acquisition, fear extinction learning and consolidation, and return of fear outcomes. This chapter highlights the collective body of evidence suggesting that exercise administered after extinction learning enhances the consolidation and subsequent recall of extinction memories to a greater extent than exercise administered prior to extinction learning. This suggests that the addition of exercise after exposure therapy sessions may improve treatment outcomes for people with anxiety and related disorders. Potential mechanisms are discussed in addition to suggestions for future research to improve our understanding of the effects of exercise on fear conditioning and extinction outcomes.

IEEE Transactions on Biometrics, Behavior, and Identity Science Information for Authors

IEEE Transactions on Biometrics, Behavior, and Identity Science Information for Authors

Natural behavior in everyday settings.

Infant behaviors-walking, vocalizing, playing, interacting with others, and so on-offer an unparalleled window into learning and development. The study of infants requires strategic choices about what to observe, where, when, and how. We argue that loosening study constraints-by allowing infants and caregivers to do whatever they choose, wherever they choose, and with whatever materials they choose-promises to reveal a deep understanding of the everyday data on which learning builds. We show that observations of infants' natural behavior yield unique insights into the nature of visual exploration, object play, posture and locomotion, proximity to caregiver, and communication. Furthermore, we show that by situating the study of behavior in ecologically-valid settings, researchers can gain purchase on the contextual regularities that frame learning. We close by underscoring the value of studies at every point on the research continuum-from cleverly controlled lab-based tasks to fully natural observations in everyday environments. Acceleration in the science of behavior rests on leveraging expertise across disciplines, theoretical positions, and methodological approaches.

Manipulating Auto-Insurance Systems to Minimize Car Accident Rates Among U.S. Teens

This paper explores various auto insurance systems and their impact on teenage driving behaviors and crash rates. The manipulation of auto insurance systems can be effective in minimizing car accident rates among teenage drivers in the United States. Auto insurance systems encompass the regulations governing insurance coverage for motor vehicles, influencing driving behaviors through incentives, penalties, and risk perceptions. The primary auto insurance systems in the U.S. are fault-based, no-fault, add-on, and choice-based systems, each with distinct implications for driving behaviors and road safety. The leading cause of death for teenagers in the U.S. is car accidents, underscoring the urgency of implementing effective strategies to mitigate crash risk among this demographic. The literature review details the factors influencing crash risk among teenagers by highlighting behavioral science theories, and the factors contributing to elevated crash risk among teenage drivers. A meta-analysis was conducted, revealing correlations between insurance system types, driving behaviors, and crash rates among teenagers. Findings suggest that fault-based auto insurance systems, due to their tort liability principles, are the most effective auto insurance systems in promoting safe driving habits among teenage drivers. The fault-based system increases accountability, mitigates moral hazard, and incentivizes cautious driving practices, thereby reducing crash rates. This research provides compelling evidence supporting the adoption of fault-based insurance systems as a critical measure to minimize car accidents among teenage drivers in the United States.

Thinking Medium: A Design-based Critique of Nudge Theory

Mainstream economic thought rests on a picture of human actors as rational, calculating, and selfish. Since the 1980’s, the sub-discipline of behavioral economics has challenged mainstream economic thought by revealing limitations in the ordinary person’s ability to reason as orthodox theory predicts. People’s choices are influenced by the manner in which options are presented. And since many of the choices people make involve basic dimensions of moral life, including the chooser’s autonomy and general welfare, the structuring of choice situations is an irreducibly ethical enterprise. These topics are explored in “nudge theory,” which represents an attempt to understand the implications of behavioral economics for people involved in the shaping of others’ decisions. Nudge theory proposes that professional designers should structure choice situations on behalf of others in a paternalistic way: leveraging the designers’ expertise and superior knowledge to promote outcomes that serve choosers’ long-term interests. In this paper, the co-authors agree that paternalism can be a valid approach to ethical design practice in a limited range of cases. But in general, the program of “libertarian paternalism” advocated by nudge theorists represents a failure of imagination that arbitrarily forecloses opportunities for collective decision-making and reinforces unhealthy social divisions. Instead, a greater sensitivity to the potential of design thinking, specifically its capacity to incorporate a wide range of heterogeneous factors and perspectives, is a key to the ethical deployment of nudges. Design itself is the best answer to the question: how can economic thought register the results of the behavioral sciences in a thoughtful, creative, and defensible way? Through a series of examples drawn from the literature, the co-authors present a design-based critique of nudge theory, illustrating the interdisciplinary potential of design and aspects of the role design thinking may play in creating more harmonious and unified societies.

The Depths of Human Experience: 'A Behavioural Sciences Analysis of Georgy Adamovich's Poems with Visual Mathematical Analysis'

The Depths of Human Experience: 'A Behavioural Sciences Analysis of Georgy Adamovich's Poems with Visual Mathematical Analysis'

Telepsychiatry in Australia: A Scoping Review.

Telepsychiatry formed part of the Australian mental health response to COVID-19, but relevant reviews pre- and post-pandemic are sparse. This scoping review aimed to map the literature on telepsychiatry in Australia and identify key research priorities. We searched databases (Medline, PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCO Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection, Proquest databases, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) and reference lists from January 1990 to December 2022. Keywords included telepsychiatry, videoconferencing, telephone consultation, psychiatry, mental health, and Australia. Two reviewers independently screened titles, abstracts, and full texts. We identified 96 publications, one-third of which appeared since 2020. Extracted data included article types, service types, usage levels, outcome measures, perceptions, and research gaps. Most publications were quantitative studies (n = 43) and narrative reports of services (n = 17). Seventy-six papers reported mostly publicly established services. Videoconferencing alone was the most common mode of telepsychiatry. There was increased use over time, with the emergence of metropolitan telepsychiatry during the pandemic. Few papers used validated outcome measures (n = 5) or conducted economic evaluations (n = 4). Content analysis of the papers identified perceptions of patient (and caregiver) benefits, clinical care, service sustainability, and technology capability/capacity. Benefits such as convenience and cost-saving, clinical care issues, and implementation challenges were mentioned. Research gaps in patient perspectives, outcomes, clinical practice, health economics, usage patterns, and technological issues were identified. There is consistent interest in, and growth of, telepsychiatry in Australia. The identified perception themes might serve as a framework for future research on user perspectives and service integration. Other research areas include usage trends, outcome measures, and economic evaluation.