Journal of Psychological Science

Sex-Related Differences in Brain Age Prediction from Movie fMRI

Bi Suyu, Tian Xiaoxi, Tian Lixia

2025, 48(2): 259-267. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250201

Abstract ( 276 )

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A novel research paradigm in cognitive neuroscience is the use of movies as stimulus material to investigate the neural mechanisms of cognitive and mental activities in subjects during watching movies. Previous studies have suggested that there are sex-related differences in the relationship between the visual and auditory design of movies and the cognitive and mental activities of viewers. Sex differences determine aesthetic differences, and aesthetic differences have different effects on different links in the whole process of film communication. Although it is well documented that there are obvious differences in the cognitive and mental activities between males and females when watching the same movie, the underlying neural mechanisms remain largely unknown. It is important to investigate the sex-related differences in functional brain activity during movie watching.
With the development of functional brain imaging technology, brain age prediction is considered to be an important indicator of an individual's level of brain aging. In addition, a large number of studies have shown that the gap between predicted and actual age is closely related to the deterioration of human brain function. Predicted brain age has been shown to be greater than actual age in patients with Alzheimer's disease, patients with traumatic brain injury, and patients with psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and major depressive disorder. Comparing the similarities and differences in brain age prediction between males and females is expected to reveal different brain ageing trajectories. In particular, comparing male and female brain age prediction models based on movie viewing would be expected to reveal similarities and differences in the patterns of brain functional networks reflected by males and females in response to audio-visual stimuli from films.
Accordingly, this study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 528 subjects (261 males, aged 18~87 years) to investigate sex differences in the functional brain network while watching the classic psychological suspense short film 'Bang! You're Dead', directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Using these data, we obtained functional brain connectivity information during movie viewing, performed individualized brain age prediction for males and females separately, and explored the similarities and differences in brain connectivity between males and females during movie viewing. Specifically, a whole-brain functional connectivity matrix was constructed based on the functional activity of the subjects while watching the film. A machine learning technique was then used to predict the brain age of male and female viewers, and the differences in the functional connectivity driving the predictions were analyzed. We examined the similarities and differences in the overall process of brain aging between males and females through the correlation coefficients between the predicted age and the true age, and examined the similarities and differences in the functional brain networks driving the prediction of brain age between males and females.
Our results show that brain connectivity during film viewing can predict the brain age of both men and women with high accuracy. Specifically, the model prediction accuracy for brain age based on male functional brain imaging data was = .821 (± .007, .866), MAE = 8.240 (±.123) years, whereas the model prediction accuracy for brain age prediction for female data was = .848 (± .004), MAE = 7.978 (±.101) years. When analyzing the connections that drive the predictions, there are clear sex differences in the connections associated with the default mode network, reflecting differences in the integration of endogenous and exogenous information between the males and the females. Specifically, the contribution of functional connectivity in prediction models based on male data only explains 2.7% of functional connectivity contributing in prediction models based on female data. Overall, the study demonstrates significant differences in functional brain connectivity between male and female viewers during film viewing, providing neuroscientific evidence for the study of the diverse cognitive psychological activities of film viewers.

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Advances of Eye Movement Data Analysis in Face Processing

Wang Lihui, Liu Meng, Wang Zhenni

2025, 48(2): 268-279. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250202

Abstract ( 246 )

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Eye-tracking has long been a classic and popular research method in psychological studies. Traditional analysis of eye-movement data mainly focuses on the spatial distribution and the duration of the eye fixations. In the current review, we use eye movement in face processing as an example to introduce the new methods of data analysis that have been developed in recent years.
In the first part of the review, we briefly introduce the traditional methods of data analysis and discuss their limitations. The main traditional approach is to gather the fixations during face processing and to plot the fixation distribution in the form of a heatmap to show the critical facial regions for information processing. However, in the spatial dimension, the boundaries of the regions of interest (ROI) are often poorly defined, limiting the power to obtain highly quantitative results and to make conclusive statistical inferences; in the temporal domain, the dependencies between the sequential fixations are often not quantified.
In the second and major part of the review, we discuss how the application of machine learning and computational modeling to the analysis of eye movement data can advance the understanding of the cognitive mechanism of visual processing. Based on recently published work, we introduce three new methods for eye movement data analysis in face processing. We elucidate the technical implementation and the open-source toolkits supporting these methods. We also cover the scientific questions and the statistical inferences related to these methods. The first method concerns how to combine machine-learning approaches to quantify the clustering of fixations and to define accurate boundaries of the face ROIs. In contrast to the intuitive fixation densities shown by the traditional heatmaps, the machine-learning approaches render quantitatively separated fixation clusters and the specific landmarks of the face ROIs. The second method is to take into account the multidimensional features of the eye movement data to reveal structural patterns of visual processing. The model trained with the multivariate eye movement features can be used to recognize and predict specific patterns of eye movements. Importantly, the model has the advantage of recognizing and predicting the pattern of microsaccades, which is not covered by the traditional method. The representational similarity analysis can provide quantitative distinctions between the different patterns of eye movement data. The third method concerns the modeling of the dependencies between the fixation sequences. The hidden Markov model quantifies the transitional probabilities between the fixation clusters to show the statistical dependencies between the fixation sequences. Based on the model, individual-level eye movement strategies can be distinguished, and the order of the eye movement pattern can be quantified in terms of entropy. The most recent model developed by the recent artificial intelligence (AI) technique is to use the top-notch Transformer model to train and predict the fixation sequences.
In the third part of the review, we summarize how the advances in eye movement data analysis benefit both basic research and clinical applications. Specifically, we highlighted that the traditional methods, which are largely theory-driven, and the newly developed methods, which are largely data-driven, should not be treated as exclusive. Instead, the two types of methods are mutually complementary to advance the understanding of face processing, and the good practice of combining the two kinds of methods will benefit future studies. Although the current work focused on face processing, the introduced methods reflect how visual information is obtained and processed in general. The basic principle can be generalized and the methods can be applied to other areas such as memory, text reading, and the identification of various mental disorders. In combination with the booming AI techniques, the ongoing and further development of eye movement data analysis would advance these investigations. Although the current work focuses on the relation between face images and eye movements, the methods can also help to understand the neural mechanism of face processing by modeling the function between the eye movements and the neural activities during face processing. In summary, the current work provides new perspectives and methodological foundations for both basic research and applications of eye tracking.

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Sniffing Out Originality? The Influence of Odors on the Evaluation of Creative Ideas

Xing Liangyu, Yu Tingting, Qiao Xinuo, Hao Ning

2025, 48(2): 280-294. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250203

Abstract ( 262 )

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Olfaction serves as a critical channel through which humans interact with their environment. Extensive research has explored the effects of odors on psychological phenomena, including emotion, memory, and decision-making. However, its impact on creative thinking, particularly during the evaluation phase, remains underexplored. The evaluation of creative ideas is a pivotal stage in creative thinking, and understanding the role of odors may provide insights into how environmental factors may enhance creativity. This study aims to fill this gap by using Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) to investigate how odors influence the evaluation of creative ideas and the associated neurophysiological mechanisms.
Among natural odors, lavender and rosemary have been extensively studied for their psychological and physiological effects. Lavender is widely recognized for its relaxing properties, while rosemary is known to enhance alertness. In this study, these two odors were selected as olfactory stimuli to examine their different effects on creativity evaluation. A 3 (odors: air, rosemary, lavender) × 3 (novelty of ideas: low novelty, medium novelty, high novelty) mixed design was conducted: odors served as a between-subjects variable, while novelty of ideas served as a within-subjects variable. Ninety-one participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: Air (n=30), Rosemary (n=31), and Lavender (n=30). Odors, derived from pure essential oils, were delivered via the Sniff-0 portable scent controller (CyNexo srl, Italy). Participants were asked to complete the Self-Assessment Manikin scale to measure the valence and arousal of their emotional states before and after the creative evaluation task. During the task, they rated the originality of ideas from three novelty levels (low, medium, and high). Brain activity was recorded using electroencephalography (EEG) during the evaluation process, and ERP data were analyzed to explore the neurophysiological correlates of odor-induced creativity modulation.
The behavioral results revealed a significant interaction between odors and novelty of ideas. Specifically, exposure to the rosemary scent significantly increased originality ratings for low-novelty ideas compared to the air condition. This effect is likely attributed to the alertness-inducing properties of rosemary. Mediation analysis revealed no evidence that emotional pathways mediated the effects of odors on creativity evaluation, suggesting that these effects are more directly related to cognitive processing rather than emotional changes.
The ERP results showed that odors significantly influenced brain activity during creative idea evaluation. In the N400 time window, novelty modulated amplitude patterns differently across odors conditions. In the air condition, highly novel ideas elicited larger N400 amplitudes compared to ideas with lower novelty, reinforcing the role of the N400 as a reliable neural marker for processing novel information. In the lavender condition, highly novel ideas induced significantly greater N400 amplitudes than medium- and low-novelty ideas. This effect may be attributed to the calming properties of lavender, which potentially “slowed” cognitive processing, leading to pronounced neural responses only for highly novel stimuli. A distinct pattern emerged in the rosemary condition, where medium-novelty ideas elicited the largest N400 amplitudes. This suggests that rosemary uniquely influenced the evaluation of novelty. Medium-novelty ideas, which are often perceived as both useful and original, may have prompted greater cognitive effort in participants who experienced heightened alertness from rosemary exposure. This increased attentional engagement could explain the amplified N400 responses observed for medium-novelty stimuli. For the late positive complex (LPC), differences emerged between the rosemary and air conditions in specific brain regions. In the frontal region, LPC amplitudes were more negative under rosemary condition and positive under air condition, whereas in the parietal region, LPC amplitudes were positive under rosemary condition and negative under air condition. These LPC variations, observed only between rosemary and air condition, may reflect lingering effects of N400 activity. Taken together, the N400 and LPC findings implicate that rosemary influenced cognitive processing throughout the evaluation process, extending beyond initial conflict detection.
Overall, odors influence how individuals evaluate creative ideas. The effects of rosemary appear to enhance arousal levels and regulate cognitive activity related to novelty processing, facilitating a sharper perception of originality. These findings have theoretical implications for understanding the mechanisms of creative evaluation and practical applications for using odors to enhance creative thinking. The study highlights the potential of sensory integration in creative practices and encourages further exploration of the complex interplay between sensory input and cognitive processes.

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The Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms of Human Reversal Learning and Their Applications in Psychopathology

Xiang Jie, Feng Tingyong

2025, 48(2): 295-305. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250204

Abstract ( 190 )

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In today's rapidly changing environment, cognitive and behavioral flexibility are becoming increasingly crucial. Reversal learning refers to the ability to adjust previously learned responses or strategies in the face of environmental changes or new rules, reflecting an individual's cognitive or behavioral flexibility. The reversal learning paradigm, originally applied in animal studies and later extended to human research, is widely used to assess cognitive flexibility. In a classic reversal learning paradigm, participants select between two stimuli to receive a reward; after a reversal of outcomes, they must adjust their choice. This process can be further complicated by probabilistic reversal learning to probe adaptability to changes. Despite numerous studies exploring the cognitive mechanisms, neural bases, and applications of reversal learning in the field of psychopathology, systematic reviews focusing on the cognitive and neural foundations of reversal learning and its applications remain scarce. This study aims to combine cognitive computational modeling and MRI research to comprehensively examine the cognitive processing models and neural mechanisms underlying reversal learning. It further analyzes the applications of reversal learning in psychopathology, with the goal of promoting the flexible use of reversal learning in future research and providing theoretical support for psychopathological studies.
The reinforcement learning models (RLM) allow for a nuanced analysis of the cognitive processes involved in reversal learning. These models divide the reversal learning process into decision-making, feedback reception, and learning stages, and provide corresponding computational metrics for each stage, such as value estimation (Q value), decision bias (P value), and decision stability (β value) during the decision-making stage; feedback sensitivity (ρ ), feedback strength (R ), feedback valence, and prediction error (PE) during feedback reception; and learning rate (α) in the learning stage.
The decision-making process in reversal learning is primarily influenced by the fronto-parietal network, including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), and parietal cortex. The processing of feedback intensity during the feedback phase is mainly associated with bilateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Positive feedback processing primarily involves the medial OFC, ventral striatum (VS), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), amygdala, and other brain regions associated with reward processing and emotional responses. In contrast, the processing of negative feedback and reward prediction errors (PE) relies on the fronto-parietal control network (dlPFC, vlPFC, IFG, and superior parietal lobule), the salience network (inferior frontal cortex, insula, and dACC), the emotion processing network (OFC and amygdala), the reward and motivation system (including the striatum and its specific regions such as dorsolateral striatum, ventral pallidum, ventral striatum, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, medial OFC, anterior insula, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex), and the default mode network (mPFC and dPCC). This highlights a clear functional dissociation between the brain regions involved in processing positive and negative feedback. Finally, the learning phase predominantly engages the coordinated activity of the mPFC and dACC. These brain regions support successful completion of reversal learning tasks by integrating feedback information, monitoring errors, and adapting behavior.
Reversal learning paradigms have been widely used in neuropsychological research, such as in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), addictive behaviors, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), depression and schizophrenia. For instance, individuals with ADHD may exhibit altered learning rates, leading to suboptimal responses to feedback, while those with OCD might demonstrate excessive sensitivity to negative feedback, resulting in rigid and perseverative behaviors. By integrating computational models and MRI techniques, reversal learning research not only reveals the dynamic characteristics of cognitive processing but also provides new perspectives for understanding cognitive flexibility deficits in various neuropsychiatric disorders.
According to the analysis of the existing research, there are three potential directions for future research. First, refine cognitive computational models to analyze more precisely the cognitive processing mechanisms underlying reversal learning. Second, update neural computational models to gain deeper insights into the neural basis of reversal learning. Finally, when applying reversal learning to psychopathology, individual differences should be fully considered.

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Situational Interaction Test for Multiple Object Tracking: Evidences from Multimodality Criterion

Xie Xudong, Yao Danxu, Ji Ming

2025, 48(2): 306-317. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250205

Abstract ( 275 )

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Dynamic visual attention is a crucial cognitive skill that involves focusing on multiple moving objects in an ever-changing environment. In occupations such as Air Traffic Control (ATC), pilots, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle pilots, operators are required to perform numerous search tasks with high speed and accuracy, requiring strong dynamic tracking abilities. In fact, the effectiveness of task performance and hazard detection in specialized occupations, including aviation, relies heavily on dynamic visual attention capabilities. Therefore, enhancing methods for selecting and assessing dynamic visual attention is a critical issue in psychological research and a vital aspect of safety management. Multiple object tracking (MOT), which refers to the simultaneous tracking of multiple targets in a dynamic environment while minimizing interference, is a widely used paradigm in dynamic visual attention research. However, previous MOT tasks have predominantly been developed for laboratory settings, often consisting of meaningless elements lacking interactivity. These tasks often focus on minimizing inter-individual differences and systematically controlling for condition variables. Consequently, conducting assessments of individual differences using traditional MOT tasks, which may not accurately reflect real-world visual attention abilities, becomes challenging. Mainstream research has highlighted the importance of cognitive tests that assess situational interaction, emphasizing the need to develop ecologically valid multi-object tracking tests.
In this study, we developed an MOT situational interaction test. The test was conducted with a grassy field as a background, viewed from an oblique top-down angle, where participants were tasked with tracking butterflies within a designated space, incorporating interactive manipulations during the process. The test comprised three distinct phases. In the cue phase, the target butterfly was identified by its wing flapping. During the tracking phase, all butterflies flapped their wings simultaneously and began flying. In this period, participants were required to continuously track the position of the target butterfly. In the reaction phase, all butterflies returned to the grass and remained stationary. Participants were required to select all target butterflies using the mouse. The accuracy of target selection during the reaction phase was recorded. To increase interaction with the scene elements, a detection task was introduced within the first two seconds of the tracking phase. At the beginning of the tracking phase, a flower bloomed on the grass, and a butterfly landed on it. If the butterfly landing on the flower was the target, participants were instructed to press the spacebar to repel it; otherwise, no action was required.
Experiment 1 examined the internal consistency, discriminant, and construct validity of the situational test. A total of 115 undergraduate students were recruited to complete the traditional multiple objects tracking task, the situational test, the trail making test, and the attention-shifting test. Experiment 2 assessed the discriminant validity of the situational test using a known-groups methodology, combined with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to measure brain function. A total of 139 male participants were recruited. Of these, 67 participants were undergraduate students from a university, majoring in science disciplines at both the high school and university levels. The remaining 72 participants were pilots from a Chinese airline company, with an average flight experience of 772 hours. Participants were asked to complete the situational test, during which behavioral data and cortical oxygenation data were recorded.
The results revealed that the situational test exhibited strong internal consistency and discriminant validity. The correlation between scores on the situational test and those on the traditional MOT, connectivity, and attentional distraction tests was significant. Pilot participants scored significantly higher than university students, and the oxygen concentration in the medial superior frontal gyrus of the pilot participants was also significantly greater. This evidence suggests that the situational test possesses strong reliability and validity, making it a valuable tool for assessing individual differences in visual attention.

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Domain-General Conflict Adaptation Induced by Conflict Observation

Chen Yongqiang, Li Zhifang, Chen Antao

2025, 48(2): 318-333. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250206

Abstract ( 136 )

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The generality and specificity of conflict adaptation across various domains can enhance our understanding of how the brain processes information and adapts to the environment. However, it remains unclear whether conflict adaptation is domain-general or domain-specific. Limitations in task design and insufficient control for confounding factors have contributed to this unresolved issue. In factorial designs, conflicts that compound within a single trial typically interact rather than operate independently, making it difficult to draw conclusions about domain specificity or generality. In contrast, task-switch designs can largely prevent such interactions by presenting different conflicts in separate trials. However, results obtained using task-switch designs have been inconsistent. Furthermore, feature integration, contingency learning, or temporal learning may have confounded the outcomes of previous factorial and task-switch designs. The present study aims to determine whether conflict adaptation is domain-general or domain-specific by employing a LOOK-DO transition, a task-switch design, and a confounder-minimized procedure in three experiments.
To control for feature integration and contingency learning, the stimuli were divided into two groups. Stimuli within each group were paired randomly, with no combinations made across groups. Stimuli from different groups were presented alternately. The LOOK-DO design required participants to observe in the previous trial and respond in the current trial, thereby helping to eliminate the influence of temporal learning on conflict adaptation. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to identify the central letter among five horizontally aligned letters in a letter version of the Flanker task. Prior to the presentation of these letters, a cue (“*” or “+”) was displayed for 500ms, followed by a jittered blank screen for 300~500ms. If the cue was “*”, participants needed to observe whether a conflict was present. Conversely, if the cue was “+”, participants were instructed to identify the central letter and provide a keypress response. An inter-trial interval of 800~1200ms preceded the next trial. In Experiment 2, participants completed both the Flanker task and a color-word Stroop task in separate trials within one of eleven blocks. The other settings in Experiment 2 were consistent with those in Experiment 1. Experiment 3 involved the same tasks as Experiment 2 but included the collection of EEG data from participants.
The main results indicate that conflict observation induced conflict adaptation in the Flanker task. This finding suggests that merely observing a conflict can trigger subsequent control adjustments, resulting in conflict adaptation. Furthermore, the LOOK Stroop conflict prompted the conflict adaptation in the DO Flanker task, and vice versa. This demonstrates that conflict observation can trigger cross-task conflict adaptation. The replication of the behavioral findings from Experiment 2, coupled with the significant conflict adaptation observed in the N450/SP during the Flanker-Stroop sequence and in the P3 during the Stroop-Flanker sequence, strengthens this conclusion. Overall, the above results indicate that conflict signals can initiate a general control adjustment process that leads to cross-task conflict adaptation at both the behavioral and neural levels. Furthermore, the significant conflict effects observed in the N2 and P3 components during the LOOK Flanker trials, as well as in the N450 and SP components during the LOOK Stroop task, provide compelling evidence that mere observation can generate conflict signals and trigger control adjustment processes. This finding aligns with the original definition of conflict in conflict monitoring theory, which defined conflict as the coactivation of incompatible representations. The generality of conflict adaptation may stem from the similar selective attention mechanisms present in both the Stroop and Flanker tasks. Additionally, observing conflict may enhance response readiness and improve the efficiency of the selective attention processes required to resolve the current conflict, ultimately facilitating the generality of conflict adaptation. Future research should operationally define similarity in different ways and utilize observation-response designs to further explore the relationship between similarity and conflict adaptation.

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The Impact of Facial Smoothness on Cooperative Intentions and Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Facial Trustworthiness

Tan Jingbin, Wang Shengyuan, Jin Zehui, Gao Dingguo

2025, 48(2): 334-345. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250207

Abstract ( 207 )

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Cooperation, defined as the act of working together toward a shared goal, inherently involves balancing competing individual and collective interests—the core of cooperative dilemmas. Biological market theory posits that partner selection in cooperative contexts depends on three key factors: perceived capacity to provide benefits, willingness to cooperate, and accessibility. Facial cues, particularly attractiveness and trustworthiness, serve as heuristic indicators of these cooperative qualities. In the digital era, the widespread use of photo beautification tools and the increasing prevalence of online collaboration platforms have created new opportunities for curated self-presentation. This convergence raises critical questions about how photo beautification influences cooperative dynamics—a gap this study seeks to address by examining facial skin smoothing, one of the most commonly used photo-editing techniques. While moderate skin smoothing enhances perceived attractiveness and trustworthiness by creating a more polished appearance, excessive editing may paradoxically undermine these qualities by reducing perceived naturalness.

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Specificity of Attentional Bias in College Students with Problematic Social Networking Use

Cao Mei, Chen Duanduan, Yang Haibo

2025, 48(2): 346-358. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250208

Abstract ( 219 )

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Existing research has shown that there is an interactive effect between the subjective perception of context and the cognitive response to specific cues in individuals with addiction (Brand et al., 2016; Brand et al., 2019). Regarding this interaction, the dual-process theory (Bechara, 2005) posits that addictive behaviors result from the competition and restraint between an individual's automated impulsive processes and controlled reflective processes. In the occurrence of addictive behaviors, attentional bias is an external manifestation of an individual's cognitive response to specific cues, primarily driven by impulsive rather than rational thinking (Bechara, 2005). This bias makes individuals more sensitive to relevant stimuli in social networks, granting these stimuli greater processing priority and affecting attention allocation (Nikolaidou et al., 2019), which further reinforces the attentional bias (Brand et al., 2016; Brand et al., 2019). In this cyclical process, it increases the individual's craving for these cues, leading to problematic social media use (Kuss & Griffiths, 2017). This includes attention bias towards addiction-related stimuli (Brand et al., 2019; Brand et al., 2016).
The inconsistencies observed in the research may stem from differences in the priority of social network information, meaning that there are varying strengths of cues related to social networks, with higher-priority cues being more likely to produce attentional bias (Field & Franken, 2014). Furthermore, internet addiction should be specified as an addiction to content rather than the medium itself (Starcevic, 2013), a phenomenon that has been validated in the context of smartphone use (Montag et al., 2019; Panova & Carbonell, 2018), and the same applies to problematic social media use. Therefore, social information within social network content has a higher priority compared to the social medium (including social media app icons or vocabulary related to social networks).
This study aimed to investigate the distinctive attentional biases towards social information among college students with problematic social networking use compared to those with normal use. The research addressed two main questions through two experiments: whether individuals with problematic social networking use exhibit attentional bias towards social information and what patterns characterize this attentional bias. The innovation of the study is to examine the social information in social networks rather than the media, and combined approach of behavioral and eye-tracking measures to provide a comprehensive understanding of attentional biases. The use of trial-level bias scores enhanced the sensitivity of detecting attentional biases, which may be more reliable than traditional measures. The integration of eye-tracking technology revealed distinct components of attentional bias, offering insights into the temporal dynamics of attention allocation in problematic social networking use.
In experiment 1, a classic dot-probe task was employed to measure attentional bias in the context of social networking activities. The second experiment integrated the dot-probe task with eye-tracking technology to further explore the specific processing patterns of attentional bias. Participants were selected based on their scores on the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale to distinguish between problematic and normal users. The results indicated that the problematic social networking use group demonstrated significantly higher attentional bias measures, suggesting a specific attentional bias characterized by a vigilance-maintenance pattern.
In conclusion, college students with problematic social networking use exhibit a specific attentional bias towards social information, characterized by a vigilance-maintenance pattern. This finding aligns with the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model and the incentive-sensitization theory of addiction, suggesting that social networking cues become salient and attract attention in problematic users. The study contributes to the literature by providing a nuanced understanding of attentional processes in problematic social networking use and offers directions for future research, including expanding the subject pool and exploring neural mechanisms using advanced neuroimaging techniques.

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Memory Enhancing Effect of "Sad Places" in Older Adults: Evidence from Visuospatial Delayed Recall

Ma Yuting, Xu Hongzhou, Gui Wenjun, Hu Xinyue, Yu Jing

2025, 48(2): 359-370. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250209

Abstract ( 152 )

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Negative emotions can promote the formation and maintenance of memory, which is adaptive for human survival. This may help us recall important information that is directly or indirectly related to future survival. However, it is unclear how this emotional enhancement of memory changes with aging. Currently, research on negative emotions has focused more on immediate recall, while delayed memory tasks have not been extensively studied. The present study investigated the effects of aging on the negative emotional enhancement of memory effect in delayed recall and the neural mechanisms underlying it.
The experiments used a 2 (age: young adults vs. older adults) × 2 (valence: neutral vs. negative) mixed design, with age as the between-subjects variable and valence as the within-subjects variable. The present study used a paradigm of visuospatial associative memory under delayed recall, which required young adults (n = 39) and older adults (n = 35) to process neutral and negative stimuli and remember the location of the stimulus on a map. This experiment comprised two distinct phases: the learning phase and the test phase. In the learning phase, participants were asked to repeat the learning process until they correctly recalled the correct location of all emotional pictures on the background map. In the test phase, a delayed recall condition was added in addition to the immediate recall condition, with a 12-hour interval between the immediate associative memory test and the delayed associative memory test.
The results showed that these young and older adults showed the same pattern of immediate recall. There was no significant difference in the immediate recall performance of neutral and negative stimuli between young and older adults. However, after 12 hours, older adults showed better delayed recall performance for associative memory for negative stimuli than for neutral stimuli, whereas there was no difference between the negative and the neutral conditions for young adults. After a delay, negative stimuli showed negative emotional enhancement effects in older adults'associative memory. Neural representation similarity analysis during the memory retrieval phase showed that there were significant differences in the emotional neural representation of the superior occipital gyrus and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex between young adults and old adults. And the neural representation of the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex in older adults was significantly correlated with the accuracy of associative memory after a 12-hour delay. Moreover, the activation of the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex in older adults can significantly predict their associative memory performance after a 12-hour delay.
Delayed recall of negative stimuli shows greater adaptability and has survival implications. From an evolutionary perspective, negative emotional stimuli imply that an event is directly or indirectly related to survival. Preserving memory for negative emotional stimuli after a delay is more adaptive, thus ensuring that we can recall this important information in the future. This may be a protective mechanism that helps older adults adapt to dangerous information in the outside world and avoid injury in daily life.

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The Effectiveness of Working Memory Training for Children: Debate and Future Directions

Sun Jiumo, Lu Yilun, Wang Guanghai, Hao Xiurong, Zhang Tingyu, Liu Jieqiong, Cai Dan, Jiang Fan

2025, 48(2): 371-381. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250210

Abstract ( 180 )

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Working memory (WM) is a limited-capacity memory system responsible for temporarily holding and processing of information. It is a crucial determinant of children's performance in higher order cognitive functions. While working memory develops naturally as children grow older, researchers and clinicians are increasingly interested in whether working memory can be enhanced through training, thereby improving intelligence and daily functioning. The effects of training can be categorized into near transfer and far transfer. With the growing number of relevant studies, the transferability of working memory training in children—particularly far transfer—has become a topic of controversy.
In this study, we reviewed the effects of working memory training in typically developing children and those with neurodevelopmental disorders by synthesizing findings from existing studies. In typically developing children, working memory training was found to produce small to moderate near transfer effects. Evidence for far transfer remains minimal. Although some randomized controlled trials suggest that such training may have positive effects on intelligence and academic performance, meta-analyses indicate that these effects are primarily short-term and limited, largely confined to tasks directly related to the training. However, recent studies suggest that if relevant influencing factors are reasonably controlled or if stratified training is conducted based on the characteristics of typically developing children, such as their initial working memory levels, the potential for improving far transfer effects warrants further exploration. Transfer is influenced by the relationship between the training task and the target task; when the two differ significantly, transfer becomes difficult to observe. Moreover, individual differences such as motivation, initial working memory, and other ability levels cannot be ignored when considering their impact on far transfer effects. For children with neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), small to moderate improvements in specific near and far transfer effects have been observed in both the short and long term. However, reductions in ADHD symptoms remain unstable. Approximately 1 in 5 children with ADHD exhibit cognitive deficits, suggesting that only a small proportion of ADHD children may benefit from cognitive training, including working memory training. Furthermore, impairments in the central executive system are more pronounced in children with ADHD. Yet, most current training programs primarily target the storage systems of working memory and lack sufficient focus on training the central executive system.
The results of the review indicate that working memory training has a limited effect on far transfer, prompting researchers to explore potential moderators of these results and to investigate measures to enhance the effectiveness of training. Both research design and individual differences significantly influence training outcomes. Key design factors, including task structure similarity, follow-up duration, training amount and frequency, and the engaging nature of the training, impact the results. Additionally, individual differences in children—such as age, baseline ability levels, motivation, and sleep—also affect the training effect. Evaluating the effectiveness of working memory training without considering these moderators is not rigorous. Strategies such as improving participant motivation, optimizing study protocols, and controlling for external factors have been proposed.
This study further integrates and synthesizes the diverse conclusions in the field of children's working memory training. It clarifies which findings have been consistently validated across multiple studies and highlights key populations and directions for future research and practical practice. The study explains the reasons for the small far transfer effects observed in typically developing children and the limited symptom improvement in children with ADHD. It also identifies methodological issues in the current research and offers suggestions for improvement in future studies. Future research should focus on examining the mediating and moderating factors influencing training effects, incorporating tasks targeting the central executive system, strengthening research on combined interventions, and prioritizing targeted approaches to precisely identify and classify children who are most likely to benefit from training.

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From Symmetrical to Asymmetrical: The Developmental Stages of Perceptual Span in Chinese Reading Among Primary School Students

Wu Jingen, Li Sainan, Yuan Xiaoyuan, Wang Yongsheng, Yan Guoli

2025, 48(2): 382-392. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250211

Abstract ( 144 )

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The perceptual span in reading is "the area of effective vision or the region from which useful information can be obtained during a fixation in reading" (Rayner, 1986, p. 212) and has been extensively tested in the moving window paradigm (Rayner, 2014). Previous studies have revealed that the perceptual span of first graders (Li et al., 2021) and second graders (Yan et al., 2018) is three characters, extending one character to both the left and right of the fixated character, which shows a symmetrical characteristic. Compared to first- and second-graders, the perceptual span of fifth-graders (Yan et al., 2013) and adult readers (Inhoff & Liu, 1998) is five characters, extending one character to the left of the fixation character and three characters to the right of the fixated character, which shows an asymmetric characteristic. How does the perceptual span develop from a smaller and symmetrical span to a larger and asymmetrical span in Chinese reading for primary school students as chronological age increases and reading ability develops? Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the development process of the perceptual span in Chinese reading among primary school students by conducting a cross-sectional study.
We compared the perceptual span of children at the end of the first, second, third, and fifth graders as they read the same sentences in the moving window paradigm. Three types of window conditions were set up, corresponding to a total of six window sizes. The asymmetric-left condition (L2R1, L3R1) was that the window extended 2 and 3 characters to the left of the fixation character, but only 1 character to the right of the fixation character. Correspondingly, the asymmetric-right window condition (L1R2, L1R3) was that the window extended 2 and 3 characters to the right of the fixation character, but only 1 character to the left of the fixation character. The remaining symmetric window condition (L1R1, L2R2) was that both extended 1 character or 2 characters to the left and right of the fixation character. The Full Line (FL) condition had no masking and displayed normal text and served as the baseline. A total of 11 short stories were selected from different versions of Chinese textbooks and edited to be suitable for first graders. There were 12 sentences in each window condition. A fixed order of sentence presentation was used to maintain the integrity of a theme story, while the seven window conditions in the moving window paradigm were counterbalanced across seven blocks using a Latin square design.
The present study found that only enlarging the visual area of the right fixation could continuously improve both reading speed and eye movement measures for primary school students as chronological age increases and reading ability develops. Therefore, these evidences indicate that the developmental process of the perceptual span in Chinese reading is that the left side of the perceptual span is constant, but only the right side of the perceptual span increases, leading to a more asymmetric perceptual span to the right of fixation, supporting the attentional bias view (Li et al., 2022; Pollatsek et al., 1981) and the foveal load hypothesis (Henderson & Ferreira, 1990). The present results revealed that the perceptual span of the first- and second-graders extended 1 character both to the left and to the right of the fixated character, which shows a symmetric perceptual span, and that of the third- and fifth-graders extended 1 character to the left and 2 characters to the right of the fixated character, which shows an asymmetric perceptual span, based on the reading speed measure. The results consistently prove that the development process of perceptual span in Chinese reading consists of two stages, that is, the first stage is a smaller and symmetric perceptual span and the second stage is a larger and asymmetric perceptual span. Finally, our findings indicate that the turning point in the development of the perceptual span in Chinese reading is the third year of primary school, which is in the developmental stage of reading to learn, according to the view of stages of reading development (Chall, 1996).

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The Role of Instructor’s Social Cues in Video Learning

Wang Fuxing, Qiao Peihua, Kuang Ziyi

2025, 48(2): 393-405. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250212

Abstract ( 145 )

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Web-based and computer-assisted video learning is prevalent in college students and middle school students at present. However, there are still some issues that researchers are concerned about. Do we still need to present the image of the teacher in video learning? What characteristics of the teacher's image will affect video learning? This article reviewed the recent empirical studies on video learning in educational psychology, and explored the role of instructor in instructional video on learners’ learning performance and subjective feelings in the learning process from the aspects of eye gaze, gesture facial expression, and voice of the instructor. This review can help to explore what are the underlying factors that promote learning effectiveness in video learning.
The review found that, eye gaze may promote learning by guiding attention direction and promoting parasocial interaction. This study summarized the findings of previous studies and found that both guided gaze and direct gaze by instructors can improve learners'learning outcomes. In addition, the gestures exhibited by onscreen instructors mainly include iconic gestures, metaphoric gestures, deictic gestures, and beat gestures. Instructors’ gestures in the instructional video can not only guide learners’ attention to key learning contents, but also provide meaningful visual information for learners, promoting deeper cognitive processing of learners. We found that instructors'deictic gestures and iconic gestures can improve learners'learning outcomes. However, previous studies mainly focused on the instructors'positive facial expression influence on learning. Most studies have found the instructors'positive facial expression to improve the learners'perceived positive emotion, and improve the learning outcomes. Finally, both computer synthetic voice and human voice can facilitate video learning. It should be noted that whether using real human voice or computer synthetic voice, standard Mandarin should be adopted to avoid the confusion caused by accent to learners. At the same time, teachers should use the first-person and second-person speech styles to enhance learners'sense of involvement and participation, and try to use standard pronunciation.
Based on the conclusions of previous studies, this study also summarized the theoretical explanation of the influence of social cues on learning. Social cues may foster social bonds or direct attention. As for the foster social bonds, the theoretical explanation of instructor social cues influencing learning can be explained through social agency theory (SAT) and parasocial interaction (PSI) theory. Both SAT and PSI emphasize the positive effect of social cues on learning. The theory of PSI covers the influence of cognition, emotion, and behavior on learning, which posits that higher parasocial interaction promotes students’ responses to an instructor in a video, thereby improving students'learning outcomes. SAT also propose the instructional process of instructors in video-based learning as a social event. SAT suggests that the social responses or social cues (e.g., gestures, eye gaze) provided by human instructors during the learning process can trigger learners'cognitive schema of responding to people and activate deep cognitive processing strategies, thereby enhancing learners'transfer performance. As for the direct attention, the signaling principle provides an alternative explanation for how social cues facilitate learning. This principle suggests that cues serve to direct learners'attention to learning materials, which enables students to more rapidly select and process key information, thereby enhancing their learning performance.
In conclusion, we suggest that instructors use eye gaze (guided gaze and direct gaze), gesture (deictic gesture and iconic gesture), positive facial expressions, and first-person speech in video instruction to help learners focus their attention, better understand the content of teachers'verbal explanations, and enhance the interaction between teachers and students. Future studies need to further explore the mechanism of social cues effects in video learning, improve the theoretical hypothesis of social cues, disentangle the key factors of social cues, and explore the interaction effects of different social cues.

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Construction of the Theoretical Model of Intergenerational Transmission of Prosocial Behaviors and Its Significance

Liu Qianwen, Wang Zhenhong

2025, 48(2): 406-413. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250213

Abstract ( 200 )

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Intergenerational transmission refers to the intergenerational continuity of behaviors and characteristics between parents and children, including genetic transmission, socialization transmission, and the interactions of genes and environments. That is, there is a significant correlation between the characteristics of parents and the corresponding characteristics of children, and the parental characteristics have a predictive effect on the corresponding characteristics of children. Prosocial behaviors are considered voluntary actions performed to benefit others, such as helping, sharing, and comforting. Previous studies have well-established that prosocial behaviors can facilitate the positive development of children, including increased peer acceptance, reduced problem behaviors, better school performance, and more adaptive social functioning.
The development of prosocial behaviors would be influenced by various individual and environmental factors and their interactions, as well as parental genes and parental prosocial behaviors, which represent the intergenerational transmission effect. However, the transmission of prosocial behaviors across generations and its underlying mechanisms have not been fully investigated. Based on previous theoretical and empirical evidence, the intergenerational transmission model of prosocial behaviors was proposed. The developmental cascade model, proximal process theory, and relational developmental systems proposed that child development is a dynamic and cascading process that changes over time. The intergenerational transmission model of prosocial behavior development also adheres to this view, proposing that the intergenerational transmission or intergenerational impact of prosocial behaviors is a dynamic cascade process of various individual factors and environmental factors and their interaction over time. First, the expression of prosocial genes obtained by children from their parents is the basis of genetic transmission of prosocial behaviors. Second, parental prosocial characteristics and behaviors would directly affect their children's prosocial behaviors, as well as indirectly via complex underlying mechanisms, reflecting the cultural or social transmission. To be specific, parents with higher levels of prosocial behaviors are more likely to shape more positive family nurturing environments (e.g., family functioning, parenting, and parent-child relationships), which in turn is beneficial to the formation and development of children’s prosocial behaviors. In these processes, children’s cognitive and emotional characteristics (e.g., attachment representation, empathy, perspective-taking, and self-control) play a key role, as a mechanism linking parental or nurturing environmental factors and their prosocial behaviors. Third, different types of children’s environmental sensitivities, such as temperamental, physiological, and genetic sensitivities, may have a moderating role in the intergenerational transmission processes of prosocial behaviors. Individuals with higher environmental sensitivity are more strongly affected by external stimuli and then develop better and perform more prosocial behaviors under the condition of positive environments and correspondingly develop worse and fewer prosocial behaviors under the condition of negative environments. Fourth, several distal environmental factors, such as family socioeconomic status and social-cultural context, would also contribute to the intergenerational transmission of prosocial behaviors. Finally, consistent with the developmental cascade model, the proximal process model, and relational developmental systems theory, intergenerational transmission or intergenerational influence is a dynamic cascade process of interactions and influences of various factors over time, that is, a temporally dynamic process.
The intergenerational transmission model of prosocial behaviors provides a new theoretical framework for understanding intergenerational transmission mechanisms of prosocial behaviors and also has important implications for future empirical research. First, it is important to combine molecular genetics and epigenetics methods to systematically explore the interaction of genes and environments on the intergenerational transmission of prosocial behaviors in future studies. Additionally, combined with the longitudinal research design and cohort studies, the temporally dynamic processes and mechanisms of interaction between various environmental factors and individual factors affecting the intergenerational transmission of prosocial behaviors should be systematically investigated in the future. At the same time, exploring whether and how children's environmental sensitivity plays an important moderating role is worthwhile in systematically revealing the intergenerational transmission processes of prosocial behaviors.

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The Content Structure of Cynicism Mentality

Zhong Xiaoyu, Guo Yongyu

2025, 48(2): 414-424. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250214

Abstract ( 206 )

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Cynicism mentality is a social mentality that arises in the process of modernization. People with this mentality follow the principle of the supremacy of personal interests, and believe in moral nihilism, often show an attitude of seeing through and mocking everything, unprincipled contempt for all moral judgments, and wear a “mask” to live. Cynicism is a negative attitude to life, formed by the combination of China's moral and cultural environment and social problems during the transition period, and this trend of thought may spread like a plague among the masses. At present, the research on cynicism is mainly concentrated in the fields of philosophy and sociology, mainly through speculation to explore this phenomenon. In psychology, distrust and malicious speculation about human nature, organization, social system, and ideology are generally called “cynicism”, which is difficult to accurately describe this social psychological phenomenon and easily confused with other similar concepts. Therefore, we summarize the relevant psychological research on cynicism and divide it into dimensions. We found that previous studies focused on three fields: humanity, system, and morality, and based on this, proposed their respective sub-dimensions.
First, there is the humanity dimension, which has two sub-dimensions: “alienation from others” and “interpersonal masquerading”. There has been a lot of research in psychology on “humanity cynicism”, which generally refers to a negative assessment of the motives and moral character of others, namely the belief that others are “Machiavellians”. This skeptical attitude toward human nature makes it easy for individuals to feel disrespected, lack trust in others, and eventually produce psychological distance, forming a sense of “alienation from others”. In modern society, people cannot avoid necessary communication and cooperation, but one principle of cynicism is “interests first”, which makes them play different roles in different occasions against their will, wear a “mask” to get along with people, and hide their real purpose. It's a negative survival strategy full of pretense.
Second, there is the system dimension, which has three sub-dimensions: “alienation from the system”, “conscious falsity” and “submissive criticism”. In psychology, “system cynicism” refers to an individual’s suspicion or distrust of the social order or status quo (i.e., the state, the economic system, the governing government, the corporate unit or organization, etc.). According to existing psychological theories, cynicism implies a low level of system-justifying belief and political efficacy, a high level of psychological distance from the political community, and a sense of burnout from public affairs. But cynics know how to use the system to obtain their own interests skillfully, and after careful calculation and reflection, they become “exquisite egoists”. When the cynics know that they are powerless and unimportant, they will use negative criticism or sarcasm to relieve the strong external pressure, which is a form of self-defense.
Finally, there is the moral dimension, which has two sub-dimensions: “mocking mainstream values” and “understanding without rejection”. “Moral cynicism” is very similar to moral disengagement, resulting from the failure of individuals to self-regulate in the process of weighing their own interests against moral standards. Moral nihilism allows cynics to deride public order, mainstream discourse, or traditional values, to deny any moral standards, and to stigmatize moral ideals in ways that are not mainstream, leading them to become desensitized to ugly phenomena, to shirk their civic responsibilities, and even to approve of immoral events, even when they may know they are wrong.
Cynicism mentality can be a measure of the health of a society. In the future, the scale can be compiled according to its content structure, and the internal relationship between the three dimensions of humanity, system, and morality can be explored. In addition, it is possible to explore ways to intervene against cynicism, especially by focusing on strengthening the social structure and ultimately weakening its negative effects.

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Human Cooperative Behavior in the Perspective of Rationality

Liu Yongfang, Xu Ke, Shang Xuesong

2025, 48(2): 425-434. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250215

Abstract ( 134 )

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Previous research on human cooperative behavior has mostly focused on the hypothesis of human nature and whether people are willing to cooperate, with relatively less attention paid to the rational hypothesis and whether people can cooperate. Based on a comprehensive review and analysis of cooperative behavior theories from both rational and irrational perspectives in history, this article proposes and argues for the bounded rationality cooperative view, with the aim of enhancing or deepening the understanding of human cooperative behavior.
The study of human cooperative behavior from a fully rational perspective originated from the concept of "rational economic man" in classical economics, and was later systematized by neoclassical economics, ultimately forming a theoretical system with rich connotations. Rational economic agents are fully rational individuals in the instrumental sense, possessing stable and orderly preferences, complete information, and impeccable computational power. They will perform conscious and rational calculations in a logical and systematic manner to obtain a complete sequence of preferences and subjective probability distributions of future outcomes, and then choose the behavior that best satisfies their preferences among all behaviors, in order to maximize their personal interests. Based on this viewpoint, researchers have explored the complex cognitive processes of cooperative behavior from different perspectives such as rational decision-making, cognitive judgment, and risk assessment. The study of cooperative behavior from an irrational perspective comes from disciplines such as biology and sociology, which view cooperation as a social behavior that individuals would not choose to engage in if they were making purely rational analyses and calculations. People expect something to happen and take action based on that expectation, and they understand that if it does not happen as they expected, the loss brought by this action will be greater than the benefit brought by it happening as expected. Therefore, cooperation is an irrational choice that individuals make when faced with an unknown event where the expected loss exceeds the expected benefit. Following this viewpoint, researchers examine how internal (e.g., individual traits and attitudes) and external factors (e.g., customs, norms, culture, and institutions) affect people's cooperative behavior.
Based on a large body of literature on bounded rationality in contemporary cognitive psychology and our original research over the years, we propose the concept of bounded rationality cooperation. We agree with the view that cooperation should be understood as a decision-making process, and we do not believe that people will make cooperative decisions based solely on their own traits, attitudes, or external pressures without thinking. However, this decision making process is not based on completely rational calculation and analysis, and particularly does not agree with the assumption of homogeneity and zero rational computational cost implied by this theory. The fully rational cooperative view focuses on the profit and loss outcomes of decision making, but ignores the time and mental costs involved in the decision making process. When these costs are taken into account, cooperative decision making is not based on completely rational calculation and analysis, but on heuristics that are more in line with human cognitive characteristics. Based on this, we propose and argue the following three propositions: (1) Cooperative decision making is a heuristic process of bounded rationality; (2) Minimizing mental cost is one of the important goals of cooperative decision making; (3) Cooperative decision making is a bounded cognitive process that balances the benefits and mental costs.
The bounded rationality cooperative view restores the true picture of human cooperative behavior and provides new insights for understanding human cooperative behavior. It not only helps to compensate or overcome the shortcomings or deficiencies of existing cooperative theories, but also has significant practical significance for solving human cooperative dilemmas and promoting cooperative behavior in real life.

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The Correlation Mechanism between Future Thinking and Problematic Network Use: An Analysis Based on Network Models

Qi Huaiyuan, Li Jiangyong, Wang Junyi, Luo Yangmei

2025, 48(2): 435-446. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250216

Abstract ( 230 )

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With the increasing use of internet devices, the prevalence of problematic internet use (PIU) has steadily increased. PIU is a clinical psychological disorder resulting from excessive internet use, with global prevalence rates ranging from 12.6% to 67.5%. PIU increases the risk of academic difficulties, negative emotions, sleep disturbances, and aggressive behaviors. It is also associated with a disregard for long-term future considerations. Future thinking, a psychological process that involves planning and predicting future scenarios, is closely linked to the development of PIU. It encompasses psychological experiences of future scenarios, self-perception, and cognitive processing of future values and emotions. A deficiency in future thinking may lead individuals to overlook the long-term consequences of internet use, thereby increasing the risk of excessive use. The future-oriented cognition model suggests that clear future expectations lead to activities like simulation, prediction, and planning, which can enhance long-term consideration and self-control. Thus, having clear expectations about future events can enhance individuals'consideration of long-term impacts, making them more likely to reflect on the potential academic, social, and health-related risks of PIU, and promoting goal-directed behavior and self-control to mitigate current excessive internet use. However, current research on the relationship between future thinking and PIU remains limited, with most existing studies focusing on the association between individual variables and PIU. The development of PIU involves complex interactions among multiple aspects of future thinking. Therefore, understanding the interplay between different components of future thinking and PIU is crucial for developing effective interventions to mitigate PIU.
This study analyzed data from 2,685 undergraduate students across eight universities in China. The cognitive components of future thinking (i.e., episodic future thinking, future self-continuity, and delay discounting), the emotional component (i.e., anticipatory pleasure), and the individual difference component (i.e., time perspective) were measured, along with the degree of PIU. Network analysis was employed to examine the complex relationships between these variables, and simulation intervention algorithms were used to identify potential intervention targets. Spearman correlations were first calculated to generate a heat map of the correlation matrix. Network analysis was then performed with 18 factors, including PIU sub-dimensions, as nodes, using a regularized partial correlation glasso network model. Finally, an Ising network model was constructed to simulate the effects of node changes on PIU and to identify key intervention targets. The NodeIdentifyR algorithm simulated 5,000 participants, applying two types of interventions to each node in the network: (1) Alleviating intervention, which reduced the node’s original parameter values by two standard deviations to simulate improved performance, and (2) Aggravating intervention, which increased the node’s original parameter values by two standard deviations to simulate worsened performance. The “sum score” indicator was used to assess the overall effect of each intervention on the three sub-symptoms of PIU.
The results indicated that (1) Multiple dimensions of future thinking (i.e., episodic future thinking, future self-continuity, delay discounting, and anticipatory pleasure) and future positivity were significantly negatively correlated with PIU and acted as protective factors. (2) In the network model, time perspective was identified as a distal factor for PIU, with future thinking serving as a mediating factor between time perspective and PIU. (3) Clarity of anticipation was found to be the most effective intervention target for preventing the worsening of PIU symptoms, while vividness of the future self was identified as the best intervention target for improving PIU symptoms.
These findings highlight the importance of understanding the complex interactions that contribute to PIU. By focusing on the most influential ones, as identified by simulation algorithms, interventions can be more targeted and effective. Addressing key factors such as the clarity of future expectations and vividness of future self-image can help individuals better understand the long-term effects of internet use, leading to improved self-control and reduced impulsive behaviors. Training people to think more clearly about future scenarios and strengthening their connection to their future selves can help reduce PIU symptoms and prevent excessive internet use in the long term.

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The Underlying Mechanism of Believing and Sharing of Misinformation: Based on the Tinbergen’s Framework

Li Yuchu, Zhang Siqi, Ding Geyi, Niu Jiawen, Rao Lilin

2025, 48(2): 447-458. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250217

Abstract ( 150 )

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Online misinformation has become a major aspect of the 21st century media ecosystem. The spread of misinformation poses an important challenge. Based on the Tinbergen’s theoretical framework, we systematically reviewed published works on the proximal and distal mechanisms of people’s believing and sharing of misinformation from both static and dynamic perspectives. To comprehensively understand a characteristic, Tinbergen (1963) pointed out that four fundamentally different types of problem (so called “Tinbergen Four Questions framework”) are raised, which he listed as “causation”, “ontogeny”, “survival value”, and “evolution” (Tinbergen, 1963). These four questions are based on a 2 * 2 matrix consisting of a dynamic versus a static view of a characteristic and a proximal versus a distal view of that feature. This structure yields four quadrants in which to place knowledge about people’s believing and sharing of misinformation.
In the causation quadrant, scholars ask static causal questions. Existing work has focused on the effects of cognitive style, motivation, and emotion on people’s believing and sharing of misinformation. Research on cognitive style showed that analytic thinking positively predicted the ability to discern between fake and real news (Pennycook & Rand, 2019b). Studies on motivation showed that (1) participants with a stronger accuracy motivation (Panizza et al., 2022) and a greater tendency to accept information consistent with their preexisting values and beliefs (Scheufele & Krause, 2019) were better at discerning truth from falsehood; (2) the most cited intrinsic motivations to share misinformation were accuracy motivation and entertainment; and (3) the most cited extrinsic motivations to share misinformation were self-promotion and political ideology (Melchior & Oliveira, 2024). Research on emotions has shown that across a wide range of specific emotions, heightened emotionality is associated with increased belief in fake news and decreased ability to discern between real and fake news (Martel et al., 2020), and that positive emotions promote gullibility (Brashier & Marsh, 2020; Forgas, 2019). But the effect of negative emotion is inconclusive. Some studies found that negative emotion reduced gullibility, while other studies found that anger promoted politically aligned motivated belief in misinformation (Weeks, 2015).
In the ontogeny quadrant, scholars ask dynamic developmental questions. Existing literature suggests that there might be a U-shaped relationship between age and people’s believing and sharing of misinformation. Compared with young adults, children, teenagers, and older adults were more likely to believe and share online misinformation (Danovitch & Lane, 2020), leading to a worse ability to discern between fake and real news.
In the survival value quadrant, scholars ask static functional questions. Existing work provides three possible explanations. First, believing in falsehoods may serve adaptive functions to detect potentially dangerous coalitions (van Prooijen & van Vugt, 2018). Second, the truth-default theory (Levine, 2014) posits that humans are vulnerable to false information because trusting others by default is beneficial for effective communication. Third, believing in falsehoods may serve adaptive functions to help individuals seek coherence and meaning (Yong et al., 2021).
In the evolution quadrant, scholars ask dynamic historical questions. Research in animals has shown that misinformation occurred in the form of false alarms is surprisingly common across a range of taxa, including insects, amphibians, fish, mammals, and birds (Gray & Webster, 2023). But extant research has neglected to examine the emergence and maintenance of people’s believing and sharing of misinformation in historical evolutionary terms.
The intersection of these four complementary questions yields new avenues for theory and research into misinformation. While extensive research has been done to understand the proximal mechanisms of believing and sharing of misinformation, existing work on the distal mechanisms is much more limited. Future research should clarify the impact of emotions, explore the distal mechanisms by which people believe and share misinformation, and strengthen localized research.

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The Influence of Gain-Loss Contexts and Effort Cost on Prosocial Decision-Making: An ERP Study

Nie Yangang, Ye Wanyu, Li Zhenhua, Chen Pei, Dou Kai

2025, 48(2): 459-471. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250218

Abstract ( 167 )

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Prosocial behavior refers to voluntary actions intended to benefit others or society. Although substantial research has examined the economic and moral costs associated with prosocial behavior, the impact of effort cost has received relatively little scholarly attention. Effort cost encompasses the cognitive and motivational resources that an individual allocates toward attainment of a goal, typically characterized as burdensome and aversive. The manifestation of prosocial behavior frequently depends on an individual's willingness to invest effort for the benefit of others, encompassing both the pursuit of rewards and the mitigation of potential losses. The effort-cost-reward model posits that both social and non-social motivations play a significant role in shaping an individual's decision to invest effort in a task. Non-social motivations include elements such as rewards, punishments, risks, and perceived efficacy. Meanwhile, social motivations, which encompass the intended beneficiaries of the decision and social cues, significantly affect the decision-making process. This study investigates the impact of effort cost on prosocial decision-making behaviors and the related neural activity in contexts involving gains (e.g., helping others in achieving positive outcomes) and losses (e.g., helping others avoid negative outcomes). This study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate the influence of gain-loss contexts and effort costs on prosocial decision making. It includes a comparative analysis of the decision-making processes when individuals make decision on behalf of themselves versus others.
The study utilizes a 2 (context: gain, loss) × 2 (decision beneficiaries: self, others) within-subjects experimental design with 40 participants (M_age = 19.63 years, SD = 2.1 years). Participants were required to engage in two different conditions: making decisions for themselves and making decisions on behalf of others. In the decision-making phase, participants were presented with two lottery options. One option required high effort, characterized by a greater number of key presses, and offered either a higher probability of monetary gain or a lower probability of monetary loss. The other option required low effort, was reflected by fewer key presses, and was associated with a lower probability of gain or a higher probability of loss. In the subsequent effort phase, participants were required to press keys a specified number of times to unlock a virtual lock, with successful unlocking signifying that the selected lottery outcome had been secured. In the feedback phase, participants received information about the actual outcomes of the chosen lottery, indicating whether they had won or lost.
The behavioral results revealed that participants were more likely to exert high effort when the benefits were personally advantageous. In decision-making scenarios on behalf of others, participants showed a higher willingness to invest significant effort in gain contexts rather than loss contexts. Furthermore, under high effort cost conditions, participants displayed significantly slower response times. The ERP results indicated that high effort costs were associated with significantly larger effort-P3 amplitudes compared to low effort costs. In gain contexts, RewP amplitudes were significantly larger than in loss contexts. When participants made decisions autonomously, feedback-P3 amplitudes were significantly higher under low effort cost conditions compared to high effort cost conditions. Moreover, in loss contexts, low effort costs elicited larger feedback-P3 amplitudes than high effort costs.
This research provides novel insights into the mechanisms by which gain-loss contexts and effort costs jointly influence behavior and neural responses in prosocial decision making, applicable to both self-directed and other-directed actions. The results advance our comprehension of the effort cost-reward model by incorporating both social and non-social motivational elements. The findings of this study bear significant implications for the development of effective social policies and interventions aimed at promoting prosocial behavior. By elucidating the interaction between effort, context, and social motivations, this research highlights the complexity of human decision making and offers a nuanced understanding of how individuals navigate the balance between personal and social considerations in prosocial actions.

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Characteristics of Minority College Students’ Psychological Suzhi

Zhang Dajun, Zhu Zhengguang, Liu Guangzeng

2025, 48(2): 472-480. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250219

Abstract ( 170 )

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Good psychological suzhi is key to maintaining and developing students'mental health. Strengthening research on the psychological qualities of minority college students has great theoretical and practical significance. In Study 1, the measurement invariance of the College Student Psychological Suzhi Questionnaire-Simplified Version (CSPS-SV) was tested on Han and minority college students to confirm whether the questionnaire is suitable for assessing the psychological suzhi of Chinese minority college students. In Study 2, the CSPS-SV was used to conduct a nationwide online survey on a large sample to obtain real and reliable data, with the aim of revealing the current characteristics of the psychological suzhi of ethnic minority college students and establishing the psychological suzhi norms of Chinese ethnic minority college students based on the large sample data.
In Study 1, a cluster random sampling method was used to select 9 schools in Liaoning, Shaanxi, Xinjiang, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi for questionnaire survey. A total of 2005 valid questionnaires were collected, with an effective rate of 81.40%. Among them, 1,249 are Han students and 756 are ethnic minority students. The psychological suzhi of college students was investigated by using the CSPS-SV. The questionnaire consisted of 27 questions, including cognitive quality, personality quality, and adaptive ability, and adopted five-point Likert scoring without reverse scoring questions. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test was carried out on the responses to each item of the CSPS-SV. The results showed that the skewness value and kurtosis value of each item were significant. Therefore, the robust maximum likelihood estimation method, which is suitable for estimating data with non-normal distributions, is selected for data analysis in this study. The results of the single-group confirmatory factor analysis showed that the model fit of the CSPS-SV was better for both Han and minority college students. The measurement invariance test shows that the questionnaire has no significant difference in configural, weak, strong, and strict invariance, that is, it has sufficient measurement invariance between Han and minority college students.
In Study 2, an effective sample size of about 7,000 people is planned to be drawn according to the ratio of four out of thousands of the total minority undergraduate students in China's higher education. The sampling process considered the diversity of ethnic minorities in China, their regional distribution, and balanced demographic variables such as gender, grade, and family residence. In the end, 6,689 valid questionnaires were collected from undergraduates of 48 ethnic minorities, yielding an effective response rate of 76.57%. The results show that, overall, the psychological suzhi score of ethnic minority college students is higher and presents a negative skew distribution, indicating that most of the students'psychological suzhi score tends to be higher. From the perspective of subdimensions, the score of personality quality is significantly higher, and the score of cognitive quality and adaptive ability is at the medium level. In terms of demographic characteristics, the cognitive quality score of male students was significantly higher than that of female students. At grade level, psychological suzhi and scores of all dimensions showed a trend of first decreasing and then increasing with grade increase. In terms of family residence, the total scores for cognitive quality and psychological suzhi demonstrate a three-tiered decline from provincial capitals and prefectural cities to county towns and townships, and finally to rural areas. Additionally, this study established a national norm for psychological suzhi among minority college students.
This study extends the psychological suzhi of Han college students to ethnic minority college students, enriches the content of psychological suzhi research on Chinese college students, and lays the foundation for the subsequent psychological suzhi assessment and related research on ethnic minority college students. At the same time, the results of this study also reveal the characteristics of both common and different psychological qualities of Han and minority college in Chinese culture.

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Key-Action Coding Incorporating Misconceptions and Its Application in Diagnostic Classification Analysis of Process Data

Zhan Peida, Gao Fangfang, Chen Qipeng

2025, 48(2): 481-494. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250220

Abstract ( 88 )

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Process data captures the nuances of human-computer interaction within computer-based learning and assessment systems, reflecting the intricacies of participants’ problem-solving behaviors. Among the various forms of process data, action sequences are particularly critical as they meticulously outline each step of a participant's problem-solving journey. However, the inherent non-standardization of action sequences, characterized by variation in data length across participants, poses significant challenges to the direct application of conventional psychometric models, such as item response theory models and diagnostic classification models (DCM). These conventional psychometric models are typically appropriate for structured data, necessitating adaptations for analyzing process data. One common adaptation is the key-action coding method, which involves identifying whether each participant's data includes critical problem-solving actions, and coding this presence or absence numerically (e.g., “1” for "contains" and “0” for "does not contain"). Zhan and Qiao (2022) introduced a key-action coding method to facilitate the application of DCMs to process data, aiming to determine participants'proficiency in problem-solving skills. However, their method did not consider the detrimental effects of misconceptions on problem-solving performance. Misconceptions, defined as false understandings based on personal experiences, often lead to incorrect responses in problem-solving scenarios. Recognizing and addressing these misconceptions, alongside assessing problem-solving skills, can provide deeper insights into the root causes of errors, enabling the implementation of targeted educational interventions. Despite the critical role of misconceptions in shaping problem-solving outcomes, few if any studies have integrated misconception analysis into the problem-solving process.
To address this gap, this study introduces a novel key-action coding method that incorporates both problem-solving skills and misconceptions, thereby enhancing the utility of DCMs in process data analysis. This method was evaluated using an illustrative example involving the "Tickets" assessment item from PISA 2012, comparing our approach with that of Zhan and Qiao (2022). Our model defined eight attributes—four related to problem-solving skills and four to misconceptions—and included 28 phantom items based on the assessment's scoring rules. This is in contrast to the original four attributes and ten phantom items in Zhan and Qiao’s method. Our analysis used four different DCMs: DINA, DINO, ACDM, and GDINA, with model-data fit assessed using metrics such as AIC, BIC, CAIC, and SABIC. A chi-square test evaluated the statistical differences in model fit, while item quality and classification reliability were measured using the item differentiation index and the classification accuracy index, respectively.
The findings demonstrate that: (1) The GDINA model exhibited the best relative fit, suggesting that the relationship between problem-solving skills and misconceptions in determining item responses is intricately complex and transcends simple conjunctive relationships (as shown in Table 3). (2) The integration of both problem-solving skills and misconceptions allows for a more detailed classification of participants, enabling the identification of specific factors that influence problem-solving success and failure, thereby facilitating targeted remedial interventions tailored to individual needs (as illustrated in Figure 4). (3) The incorporation of misconceptions modestly enhances the reliability of diagnostic classifications (as detailed in Table 4). (4) There is a moderate to high negative correlation between participants'mastery of misconceptions and their raw scores, underscoring that misconceptions adversely affect students’ overall problem-solving performance (as shown in Figure 3). In summary, this study introduces a key-action coding approach that incorporates misconceptions and examines its application in the diagnostic classification analysis of process data, specifically focusing on action sequences. This approach enables researchers to pinpoint specific factors that influence problem-solving outcomes and offers methodological support for targeted interventions. Enhancing participants’ problem-solving performance requires not only improving their skills but also addressing the negative impacts of misconceptions.
The innovation of this paper is primarily reflected in three aspects: (1) It marks the first integration of misconceptions into the methodology of process data analysis, significantly broadening the applicability of the technique. (2) It pioneers the investigation of how misconceptions negatively influence the problem-solving process, thereby enriching our understanding of the mechanisms underlying process data generation. (3) It expands the application of diagnostic classification models and underscores their practical value in analyzing process data, thereby enhancing the efficacy and scope of educational assessments.

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The Current State and Future Directions of Environmental Psychology: A Bibliometric Analysis of JEVP and EB Publications over the Past 30 Years

Dong Bo, Wang Wei, Qin Sisi, Tian Xiaoming

2025, 48(2): 495-511. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250221

Abstract ( 161 )

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This paper presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of 2,851 articles published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology (JEVP) and Environment and Behavior (EB) from 1990 to 2022 using the CiteSpace software. The study aims to provide an in-depth examination of the evolving trends, influential researchers, central themes, and future directions that have characterized the field of environmental psychology over the past three decades.
The analysis identifies four major trends shaping the current landscape of environmental psychology. First, the geographic distribution of influential research has shifted from a U.S.-centric focus to a more globally representative network, with increasing contributions from countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, and Australia. This shift reflects the growing international commitment to environmental psychology, promoting a cross-cultural and inclusive understanding of environmental issues beyond traditional geographic boundaries.
Second, the field has developed around nine core themes that reflect the discipline’s engagement with both foundational and emerging issues. Key themes include environmental perception;, environmental preference, and place attachment, which have long been central topics in the field. More recent themes, such as pro-environmental behavior, pro-environmental attitudes, and environmental activism, have gained prominence in response to contemporary concerns around sustainability, ecological responsibility, and climate change. These themes indicate that future research will likely emphasize topics related to climate change, green consumption, and sustained pro-environmental behavior, marking a shift from traditional environmental psychology topics toward addressing urgent global challenges.
Third, the findings suggest a significant shift in the field’s underlying theoretical perspective;, moving from an anthropocentric (human-centered) to an ecocentric (ecological-centered) orientation. This shift represents an expanded recognition within the field of the interconnectedness of human behavior and environmental sustainability. While traditional environmental psychology focused primarily on human responses to the environment, contemporary research increasingly explores how ecological health impacts human well-being. This shift underscores a deeper integration of ecological and ethical considerations into the study of human-environment relationships and positions environmental psychology to address pressing issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss.
Fourth, the analysis reveals a notable fragmentation of research topics and methodological approaches within environmental psychology. This fragmentation is evident in both the distribution of high-impact publications and the thematic clusters identified in this study. The findings indicate that the field has grown beyond a unified, centralized body of knowledge to encompass diverse perspectives, methodologies, and subfields. Although this diversity allows environmental psychology to engage in a variety of complex topics, it also poses challenges for the development of a cohesive theoretical and methodological framework. Consequently, one of the future challenges for environmental psychology will be to reconcile these diverse research directions into a more integrated framework that effectively addresses the core questions of the field.
Solving this fragmentation issue is essential to the future development of environmental psychology. This study proposes that the field should focus on four primary tasks: (1) clarifying and popularizing the core concept of “Human-Environment Relationships”, (2) redefining the scope of “environment”, (3) establishing foundational theories or paradigms for environmental psychology, and (4) constructing a structured content framework around this core concept. The first task—promoting a clear understanding of “Human-Environment Relationships”—is primarily an issue of outreach and education. Therefore;, this paper emphasizes the latter three tasks as essential steps in advancing the field.
First, regarding the redefinition of “environment”, the study advocates viewing it as a complex system that integrates physical, social, virtual, and other layers. This redefinition recognizes that today’s environments are not limited to physical spaces but extend to virtual and data-driven settings that reshape how people interact with their surroundings. Second;, to establish a theoretical foundation, this study suggests constructing a new paradigm characterized by ecological and dynamic perspectives to accommodate the evolving nature of person-environment relationships.
Finally, this study proposes a three-dimensional framework consisting of spatial scale, temporal scale, and the core of person-environment relation to create a structured content model for the field. This framework is intended to create a systematic structure for environmental psychology research, ensuring that studies are aligned with the discipline’s core concept of person-environment relationships.
The spatial scale dimension includes the different physical and psychological spaces that environmental psychology examines;, from the personal and home environments to community, urban, and global contexts. By addressing different spatial scales, researchers can systematically analyze how environmental factors influence individuals, groups, and societies across diverse settings. The temporal scale dimension reflects the time-dependent nature of human-environment interactions, covering short-term responses to immediate environmental factors, medium-term adaptation processes, and long-term developmental impacts. This dimension underscores not only the duration of environmental effects but also the adaptive processes that unfold over time, revealing both immediate and cumulative influences on psychological outcomes. The core of person-environment relation dimension represents the fundamental nature of human-environment interactions, organized into four perspectives: individual-centered, environment-centered, interactive systems, and emergent coexistence. The core of person-environment relation dimension addresses varied theoretical viewpoints, from considering individuals as active processors of environmental information to conceiving the environment as an autonomous influence that shapes human behavior, emphasizing dynamic and emergent qualities in these interactions.
This three-dimensional framework may help environmental psychology better organize research themes systematically, facilitating a clearer understanding of the complex, multi-layered relationships between individuals and their environments. The framework not only serves as a tool for organizing existing research but also as a guide for identifying and creating new research directions based on the core question of person-environment relationships. By structuring the discipline in this way, environmental psychology can enhance dialogue and integration across various research areas, providing theoretical and practical support to address today’s environmental challenges.
In conclusion;, this study offers a comprehensive overview of the current state of environmental psychology and identifies future directions through a bibliometric analysis of JEVP and EB publications. The findings emphasize that the future of environmental psychology requires a clarified core concept, a unifying theoretical framework, and a structured content model. Such an approach enables environmental psychology to contribute valuable insights and theoretical foundations for addressing real-world environmental issues, ultimately supporting a more sustainable and ecologically aware society.

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