Plants have two minds as we do

This discussion paper carefully analyzes the cognition-related theories proposed for behavioral economics, to expand the concepts from human behaviors to those of plants. Behavioral economists analyze the roles of the intuitive sense and the rational thoughts affecting the human behavior, by employing the psychology-based models such as Two Minds theory (TMT) highlighting intuitive rapid thoughts (System 1) and rational slower thoughts (System 2) and Prospect theory (PT) with probability (p)-weighting functions explaining the human tendencies to overrate the low p events and to underrate the high p events. There are similarities between non-consciously processed System 1 (of TMT) and overweighing of low-p events (as in PT) and also, between the consciously processed System 2 (of TMT) and underrating of high-p events (as in PT). While most known p-weighting mathematical models employed single functions, we propose a pair of Hill-type functions reflecting the collective behaviors of two types of automata corresponding to intuition (System 1) and rationality (System 2), as a metaphor to the natural light processing in layered plant leaves. Then, the model was applied to two different TMT/PT-related behaviors, namely, preference reversal and habituation. Furthermore, we highlight the behaviors of plants through the above conceptual frameworks implying that plants behave as if they have Two Minds. Lastly, the possible evolutionary origins of the nature of Two Minds are discussed.

When two become one: perceptual completion in pea plants

Pea plants depend on external structures to reach the strongest light source. To do this, they need to perceive a potential support and to flexibly adapt the movement of their motile organs (e.g. tendrils). In natural environments, there are several above- and belowground elements that could impede the complete perception of potential supports. In such instances, plants may be required to perform a sort of perceptual "completion" to establish a unified percept. We tested whether pea plants are capable of performing perceptual completion by investigating their ascent and attachment behavior using three-dimensional (3D) kinematic analysis. Pea plants were tested in the presence of a support divided into two parts positioned at opposite locations. One part was grounded and perceived only by the root system. The remaining portion was elevated from the ground so that it was only accessible by the aerial part. Control conditions were also included. We hypothesized that if pea plants are able to perceptually integrate the two parts of the support, then they would perform a successful clasping movement. Alternatively, if such integration does not occur, plants may exhibit disoriented exploratory behavior that does not lead to clasping the support. The results demonstrated that pea plants are capable of perceptual completion, allowing for the integration of information coming from the root system and the aerial part. We contend that perceptual completion may be achieved through a continuous crosstalk between a plant's modules determined by a complex signaling network. By integrating these findings with ecological observations, it may be possible to identify specific factors related to support detection and coding in climbing plants.

Preliminary testing for affiliate stigma scale: A reliable and valid stigma measure for caregivers of women with breast cancer

Objective

Families of breast cancer patients may face discrimination and societal rejection due to prevailing myths, misconceptions and causal beliefs related to breast cancer. This study aims to develop and validate a measurement tool that is sensitive to the affiliate stigma experienced by caregivers of women with breast cancer.

Methods

The scale was developed in two phases: (1) item generation based on interviews amongst 18 caregivers of women with breast cancer; (2) psychometric properties of the scale, including content validity, structural validity, and internal consistency reliability. Data were collected from May to June 2023 in 426 caregivers of women with breast cancer from 5 tertiary A hospitals.

Results

An exploratory factor analysis produced a 24-item scale across four dimensions, including internal stigma, social isolation, perceived stigma, and reaction. The scale showed good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The total score of the scale was significantly and positively correlated with scores in caregiving burden and negatively correlated with scores in self-esteem and in social support. The item-level content validity index fell within the range of 0.8-1.0.

Conclusions

This is a valid and reliable instrument captured the spectrum of stigma relevant to caregivers of women with breast cancer and may serve as a unique instrument that can be used globally. This study is a step forward for stigma-related studies among caregivers of women with breast cancer and provides a reference for developing effective interventions for those with potentially stigmatized conditions.

From error to insight: Removing non-systematic responding data in the delay discounting task may introduce systematic bias

Delay discounting (DD), which reflects a tendency to devalue rewards as the time to their receipt increases, is associated with health behaviors such as sleep disturbances, obesity, and externalizing behavior among adolescents. Response patterns characterized by inconsistent or unexpected reward valuation, called non-systematic responding (NSR), may also predict health outcomes. Many researchers flag and exclude NSR trials prior to analysis, which could lead to systematic bias if NSR (a) varies by demographic characteristics or (b) predicts health outcomes. Thus, in this study we characterized NSR and examined its potential beyond error by comparing it against DD with a secondary data analysis of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study-a population-based study that tracked youths (N = 11,948) annually from 8 to 11 years of age over 4 years. We assessed DD and NSR using the Adjusting Delay Discounting Task when youths were approximately 9.48 years old (SD = 0.51). We also examined three maladaptive health outcomes annually: sleep disturbances, obesity, and externalizing psychopathology. Our analysis revealed variations in NSR across races, ethnicities, and body mass index categories, with no significant differences observed by sex or gender. Notably, NSR was a stronger predictor of obesity and externalizing psychopathology than DD and inversely predicted the growth trajectory of obesity. These findings suggest that removing NSR patterns could systematically bias analyses given that NSR may capture unexplored response variability. This study demonstrates the significance of NSR and underscores the necessity for further research on how to manage NSR in future DD studies.

Learning novel transitive verbs in causative action events: A cross-linguistic comparison between English- and Japanese-speaking infants

This study investigated whether typologically different languages, English and Japanese, influence the early representations of novel transitive verbs in dynamic causative events. We hypothesized that Japanese, with its syntactic and pragmatic advantages for verb learning, facilitates this process earlier than English. Using a habituation method with a three-switch design, we compared Japanese-speaking 20-month-olds with their English-speaking counterparts to determine whether Japanese-speaking infants map novel transitive verbs onto actions only, similar to adults, earlier than English-speaking infants. The results showed that Japanese-speaking infants mapped the novel transitive verbs onto actions only, whereas English-speaking infants mapped them onto both actions and objects affected by the actions. This finding suggests that Japanese-speaking infants acquire adult-like representations of novel transitive verbs earlier than their English-speaking counterparts, providing evidence that properties of languages affect the development of initial representations of novel transitive verbs in infants.

Executive functions and mathematical ability in early elementary school children: The moderating role of family socioeconomic status

Children's executive functions (EFs) and family socioeconomic status (SES) play critical roles in the development of mathematical ability in early elementary education. However, the potential interplay between EFs and SES remains underexplored. This study addressed this gap by comprehensively investigating the moderating role of SES in the relationship between EF subcomponents (i.e., interference inhibition, response inhibition, and working memory) and children's concurrent and future mathematical abilities (i.e., arithmetic operations and logical-visuospatial skills). A total of 172 participants (Mage = 6.78 years; 107 boys) took part in the study at the beginning of first grade in elementary school (T1) and 20 months later (T2). We measured EFs, SES, and mathematical ability at T1 and mathematical ability at T2. Results from hierarchical linear regression models indicated that working memory was positively associated with T1 arithmetic operations and logical-visuospatial skills as well as with T2 arithmetic operations. Furthermore, family SES was positively associated with arithmetic operations at both T1 and T2. Notably, we found a significant interaction effect between interference inhibition and SES on T1 arithmetic operations and logical-visuospatial skills. Specifically, interference inhibition was positively related to T1 arithmetic operations and logical-visuospatial skills for children from low- and middle-SES families, but not for children from high-SES families. Our findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of how cognitive and environmental factors jointly influence mathematical development, underscoring the need for targeted interventions for children from different SES backgrounds to support their mathematical ability development.

Game-based cognitive training and its impact on executive functions and math performance: A randomized controlled trial

Executive functions (EFs) are the focus of interventions aimed at their development and subsequent improvement of indirectly trained skills such as academic performance. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the presence of near-transfer effects (EFs improvement) and far-transfer effects (mathematics improvement) of the Cucca Curiosa intervention in Brazilian children aged 7 to 10 years, with 28 participants per age group. This stratified trial included 112 children randomly assigned to the experimental group (EG) or control group (CG). Child Brief Neuropsychological Assessment Battery  (NEUPSILIN-Inf), Five-Digit Test (FDT), Day-Night Stroop task, and Mathematics Test (TEMA) were administered at pretest and posttest levels. The EG participated in the 1-week Cucca Curiosa program, consisting of five sessions (averaging 13 min, with a maximum of 26 min), whereas the CG remained in passive waiting. Data analysis revealed that the intervention significantly improved children's executive and mathematics performance in the short term. The mediation analysis identified that EFs are essential mediators that explain how the intervention improves mathematical performance, reinforcing the importance of focusing on the development of EFs as a strategy to improve academic performance. Further studies are necessary to assess long-term effects, transfer to other skills, and potential benefits in reducing psychopathological symptoms.

Sharpening the number sense: Developmental trends in numerosity perception

Numerosity perception, the ability to process and estimate the number of objects in a set without explicitly counting, has been widely studied, and one well-established finding is that children become more accurate at perceiving numerosity with age. The question remains, however, what the underlying cognitive processes and mechanisms are that drive this improvement. Some authors have suggested that this is due to an increased numerical precision (i.e., the sharpening hypothesis), whereas others have proposed that the more accurate performance is due to the improved ability to inhibit non-numerical features of the display such as object size and spacing of items (i.e., the filtering hypothesis). The current study examined the developmental trajectory of numerosity perception across three age groups (M = 5.65, M = 11.03, and M = 20.10 years). As expected, more accurate performance was observed with age. Regression and analyses of variance revealing the contribution of numerical and non-numerical predictors in performance show that the performance in all age groups was primarily driven by numerical information and that its contribution increased with age. In addition, a consistent bias toward non-numerical features was observed in all age groups. These results support the sharpening hypothesis for children from 5 years of age to early adulthood, suggesting that from this age onward children increasingly focus on numerical information as they get older. These results have important implications for the understanding of the development and specific improvements of numerical perception.

Effects of postural loading during static posture holding on concurrent executive function task performance

This study investigated the effects of postural loading during static posture holding on the performance of concurrent executive function tasks. Three executive function tasks, the letter memory, number-letter, and Stroop tasks, were employed for updating, shifting, and inhibition, respectively. Static posture holding involved three levels of postural loading (PL1, PL2, and PL3), corresponding to OWAS classes 1, 2, and 4, respectively. Increased postural loading resulted in decreased performance across tasks. At PL2 and PL3, compared to PL1, total score in the letter memory task decreased by 4.56% and 13.68%, switch trial reaction time in the number-letter task increased by 1.47% and 15.63%, and incongruent trial reaction time in the Stroop task increased by 4.15% and 13.44%. These findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between postural loading and executive functions, and offer valuable insights into how managing postural demands may enhance cognitive task performance.

Unfamiliar familiarity: A scoping review on the role of familiarity in consumer acceptance of cultivated meat

The potential introduction of cultivated meat products to the market, framed as sustainable alternative to conventional animal-source foods, underscores the need to examine psychological barriers and predisposing factors influencing consumer acceptance. Familiarity is often considered a facilitating factor, based on the premise that higher familiarity with cultivated meat is associated with greater acceptance. However, evidence remains contradictory and poorly integrated. This review examines and organizes the literature on familiarity with cultivated meat and its influence on consumer acceptance. A scoping review of peer-reviewed and grey literature was conducted on June 7, 2024, following PRISMA-ScR and Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines. Comprehensive searches across Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and PsycInfo included no restrictions on participant type, geographic location, social and cultural contexts, language, or publication time. 63 articles were analyzed to examine (i) definitions of familiarity, (ii) methodologies measuring familiarity with cultivated meat, and (iii) evidence regarding its influence on consumer acceptance of cultivated meat. Results indicate that current research on familiarity is largely based on non-representative samples, with data recency limitations, and inconsistent operationalization. Familiarity is often conflated with the related yet distinct constructs of awareness and knowledge, revealing a lack of clarity in literature. The review also identified various approaches for assessing familiarity, all lacking psychometric rigor, hindering replicability and comparability of findings. This review highlights the need for further research to clarify the theoretical and operational definition of familiarity and its role in consumer acceptance of cultivated meat.

The influence of writing systems on comics layouts

Writing is a significant human invention claimed to affect numerous aspects of cognition, including the ordering of pictures. However, picture sequences like those in comics often have complex directional paths within their layouts. Here we therefore examine whether comic page layouts are affected by the directionality of writing systems and/or encode distinctive conventionalized patterns. Using the TINTIN Corpus of 1030 annotated comics from 144 countries and territories (14,311 pages, 76,361 panels), we observed that lateral directionality between rightward and leftward writing systems did affect the reading direction of comic page layouts. However, additional variance was observed particularly by Japanese manga, which showed a preference for greater right-to-left and down "S-paths" and increased vertical columns beyond the influence of writing systems. This suggests that, while writing systems may affect picture sequencing, visual narrative layouts can also be encoded above and beyond the influence of writing directionality.

The dominoes of features: Dynamic sequential refinement of working memory representations

Despite the adaptative nature of working memory (WM) refinement (e.g. repulsion), a fundamental question remains unaddressed: what constitutes the unit of WM refinement? Specifically, does the refinement process apply to the entire object (object-based), specific features (feature-based), or potentially involve other mechanisms? Utilizing dual-feature objects and the continuous memory task, we examined whether the repulsion distortion induced in one feature (the trigger feature) could be transmitted to other features (the dependent feature) of the same object. Across one preliminary experiment and five formal experiments, we supported that the WM refinement is neither strictly object-based nor feature-based, but occurs dynamically and sequentially across distinct features. Specifically, the repulsion induced by the trigger feature was transmitted to the dependent feature only during extended maintenance periods, not during short maintenance. Our findings supported the dynamic sequential refinement of WM: refinement induced by a trigger feature could extend to other features, but this transmission is time-consuming.

The benefit of removing information from working memory: Increasing available cognitive resources or reducing interference?

Removing information from working memory is thought to free up capacity and improve the retention of other information. However, whether this benefit arises from reducing interference from the to-be-forgotten information or from freeing up cognitive resources remains unclear. We examined this by comparing removal immediately following encoding an item (immediate removal), or delayed until after other items have been encoded (delayed removal). Interference theories predict that both types of removal should reduce interference and improve memory performance. In contrast, if removal frees up cognitive resources, the beneficial effect on memory should be greater the earlier it occurs, as the resources can then be allocated to subsequently encoded items. Experiment 1 showed that both immediate and delayed removal failed to reduce interference from the to-be-forgotten items but improved memory for item-location bindings of other items still maintained in working memory. In Experiment 2, removal only facilitated item-location bindings for items encoded afterward. These results suggest that removal frees up working memory capacity by increasing available resources rather than by reducing interference.

Applying multiscale entropy for evaluating website visual complexity in an agile project: Using physiological data

The perceived visual complexity of a website immediately and persistently impacts the user experience. However, existing visual complexity research methods in the literature are not suitable for agile website development, often associating visual complexity with website structure and requiring advanced programming skills and large participant samples. This study proposes an accessible, definition-independent method to evaluate website complexity using multiscale entropy analysis of physiological signals. Our results show that the multiscale entropy derived from physiological data can effectively differentiate websites with varying complexity levels, even with a small number of participants. This approach achieves robust and significant effects, enabling its simultaneous application with user experience assessment in the agile website development process. The proposed MSE-based method provides an objective, unified tool to evaluate visual complexity without the burden of defining and calculating visual complexity, allowing design teams to focus on the website itself during agile software development projects.

On the relation between single word and multiple word processing during learning to read

The current study investigated the development of single word processing and multiple word processing skills in French-speaking children from Grade 2 to Grade 6. A total of 150 children participated in two tasks: a Lexical Decision Task (LDT) and a Grammatical Decision Task (GDT). The LDT was used to test single word processing abilities, whereas the GDT was used to test multiple word processing abilities, with stimuli presented at varying display times (LDT: 83-300 ms; GDT: 150-700 ms). Signal detection theory analysis revealed that all children performed well in the LDT, whereas only Grade 4 and Grade 6 children performed above chance in the GDT. A cluster analysis was used to investigate the different types of relation between sensitivity (d') in the LDT and GDT. The analysis revealed two clusters that differed in reading fluency and sensitivity in both tasks. Children from Cluster 2, who exhibited the highest sensitivity in the LDT, were the only ones to perform on average above the chance level in the GDT. Moreover, a strong correlation (r = .64) between LDT and GDT performance was found in this group. Finally, we found that a sensitivity of 1.95 in the LDT almost perfectly predicted cluster membership. Such sensitivity was achieved at Grade 3, suggesting that the ability to process multiple word sequences first requires sufficient efficiency in processing words in isolation. Once this turning point is reached, single word processing skills support the development of multiple word processing, which could take several years to mature fully.

Predicting time, shaping control: Unveiling age-related effects of temporal predictability on the dynamics of cognitive control in 5- to 14-year-old children

Understanding how individuals learn to synchronize actions with the temporal structure of their environment is crucial for understanding goal-directed behavior. This study investigated the effects of temporal predictability on cognitive control and action regulation in children aged 5 to 14 years. In our temporally cued version of the Simon task, children were explicitly informed that visual cues would either predict (temporal cues) or not predict (neutral cues) the onset of a target. They used this information to respond to lateralized targets when the target position was either compatible or incompatible with the response hand. Temporal cues speeded reaction times (RTs) to compatible targets in the older (11- to 14-year-old) children and induced a greater number of fast impulsive errors to incompatible targets across all age groups. This pattern replicates previous results in adults and demonstrates that knowing when an event is likely to occur induces a fast, although impulsive, response style. Surprisingly, in the youngest age group (5- and 6-year-olds), temporal cues speeded RTs to incompatible, as well as compatible, targets and helped children to inhibit fast impulsive errors to incompatible targets more efficiently. In summary, the youngest children appeared to effectively leverage the information conveyed by temporal cues to mitigate impulsive response tendencies. However, the benefits of temporal cues on impulse control started to diminish from 7 years of age, when children begin to show more mature inhibitory patterns. Nevertheless, by 11 years of age children achieve performance comparable to that of adults, with faster responses to compatible targets and impulsive responses to incompatible targets.

Perceived levels of environmental unpredictability and changes in visual attention mechanisms in adults

Selective attention mechanisms change in response to variations in sensory experiences and environmental demands. In other words, they are influenced not only by favorable contextual experiences but also by unfavorable ones. Therefore, exposure to environmental unpredictability and chaos could influence selective attention. However, there is a lack of studies directly investigating this relationship. This study examined how household chaos and daily unpredictability relate to selective attention at behavioral and neural levels in young adults (n = 39). Participants were categorized as experiencing high or low unpredictability and chaos based on their scores on respective scales. Using EEG recordings, we measured the amplitude of the N2pc and Pd components, along with accuracy and reaction times, during the performance in two visual search tasks that varied in the level of interference from distracting stimuli (presence vs. absence of a color singleton distractor). The results revealed differences in neural activity related to unpredictability but not chaos. Specifically, in the high-interference visual search task, both groups exhibited an N2pc component associated with the singleton distractor, reflecting attentional capture by distracting information. However, the high-unpredictability group showed a larger N2pc amplitude associated with the target and a larger Pd amplitude associated with the distractor. These findings suggest greater engagement of reactive attentional resources to suppress distractors and select the target, and support hypotheses suggesting that adverse contexts involving unpredictability or chaos relate to changes in how individuals process distracting or irrelevant information.

Remembering the past affects new learning: The temporal dynamics of integrative encoding

Memories link elements across event boundaries, integrating overlapping content experienced at different times and places. Such memory representations are thought to rely on memory integration mechanisms. The present study used multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) of electroencephalographic (EEG) data to elucidate the temporal dynamics of integrative encoding memory processes. Memory integration was investigated with the associative inference task. Participants learned overlapping paired associates, AB and BC pairs, comprising a word and a picture (a face or a bird) and were later tested on the AC inferred associations. MVPA was used to measure the online reactivation of previously learned AB memories while encoding overlapping but new BC events. Reliable AB reactivation was observed approximately 1500 ms after the onset of the BC event. Participants (n = 29) were divided into two groups according to their AC performance: high and low memory integration. Interestingly, while both groups showed comparable levels of AB reactivation, the reactivation effects were associated with different behavioral consequences. For participants in the high memory-integration group, reactivation was predictive of later AC performance, suggesting that an integrated ABC representation was formed during BC learning. Conversely, for participants in the low memory-integration group, the reactivation of AB was negatively correlated with BC performance, indicating that reactivation of overlapping memories impaired new learning. The present study extends previous literature by revealing the temporal dynamics of the integrative encoding mechanisms and by providing an account of inter-individual differences in the capacity to integrate memories across distinct episodes.

The relationship between executive functions and the perspective-taking skill of theory of mind: Insights from deaf and hard of hearing children with cochlear implants

Previous research in hearing children has consistently found theory of mind (ToM) is positively associated with executive functions (EF). However, this question has been far less examined in deaf and hard of hearing children (DHH) with cochlear implants. This may be because of the heterogeneity of developmental contexts and especially related to language that DHH children experience. The purpose of the study was to explore developmental differences in the perspective-taking skill of ToM and EF by using cluster analysis to compare groups of DHH adolescents who are CI users with typically developing hearing adolescents, aiming to identify subgroups with similar cognitive and processing profiles. Participants were 88 adolescents (12-16 years old) of which 34 were DHH with cochlear implants. The results showed that in the hearing group EF scores correlated positively with perspective-taking performance but not in the DHH group. The analysis of the hearing children's results revealed there were three clusters based on clear performance levels. In the DHH group, there was much variability and more complex relationships between both abilities. We conclude that DHH children's variable experience with early communication and access to language disrupts the typical coupling of ToM and EF.

Age-related differences in locus coeruleus intensity across a demographically diverse sample

Understanding the trajectory of in vivo locus coeruleus (LC) signal intensity across the adult lifespan and among various demographic groups, particularly during middle age, may be crucial for early detection of neurodegenerative diseases, which begin in the LC decades before symptom onset. Even though pathological changes in the LC are thought to begin in middle age, its characteristics across the adult lifespan, and its consistency and variation across demographic groups, remain not well understood. Using T1-weighted turbo spin echo magnetic resonance (MRI) scans to characterize the LC, we measured LC signal intensity in 134 participants aged 19-86 years, with an effort to recruit a more racially diverse sample (41 % non-White). LC signal intensity was lowest in early adulthood, peaked around age 60, and then decreased again in the oldest adults, particularly in the caudal portion of the LC, which exhibited the greatest overall signal intensity; education, income, and history of early trauma did not alter this general pattern. Rostral LC signal intensity was further heightened in women and Black participants. In higher-performing older adults, increased rostral LC signal intensity was positively associated with higher fluid cognition. The potential accumulation of LC signal intensity across the adult lifespan and its possible dissipation in later life as well as its modification by demographic factors, may be associated with differential susceptibility to neurocognitive aging.

TRACE-ing fixations in the Visual World Paradigm: Extending linking hypotheses and addressing individual differences by simulating trial-level behavior

I review several alternative linking hypotheses for relating eye tracking data from the VWP to cognitive theories and models. While some models are able to simulate VWP data surprisingly well (such as the TRACE model), there is still ample ambiguity to resolve in the meaning of fixation proportions over time, despite decades of work with the VWP. I also present a simple fixation model based on probabilistic sampling from underlying lexical activation that allows simulation of individual trials. Unsurprisingly, a properly-parameterized sampling procedure approximates the underlying activation patterns when sufficient trials are averaged together. However, the utility of simulating trial-level behavior is not in reconstructing central tendencies (which can be derived directly without simulating fixations), but in addressing, for example, individual differences. I also discuss critiques and misunderstandings of linking models to the VWP, and analogies to a simpler paradigm - lexical decision - to illuminate the logic of linking hypotheses in the VWP.

Exploring the effect of driver drowsiness on takeover performance during automated driving: An updated literature review

INTRODUCTION

Vehicle automation technology has considerable potential for reducing road crashes associated with human error, including issues related to driver drowsiness. However, before full automation becomes available on public roads, it will be essential for drivers to take back control from automated driving systems when requested. This poses a challenge for drivers, particularly as automation may further exacerbate drowsiness. This paper aims to update a systematic review published in 2022 (Merlhiot & Bueno, Accident Analysis and Prevention, 170, 106536), to discuss factors affecting driving drowsiness and takeover performance with a particular focus on those not identified in previous review.

METHOD

Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines, three databases: Web of Science, PubMed and Scopus were searched for studies published between March 2021 and October 2024. The following eligibility criteria were applied for study inclusion: 1) participants must have interacted with a simulated or real-world vehicle featured with driving automation Level 2 or above; 2) with at least one measurement indicator of driver drowsiness; 3) with at least one measurement indicator of takeover performance; 4) be conducted within a controlled experimental design. From an initial selection of 182 articles from databases, a total of twelve published articles were obtained after removing duplicates, title, abstracts and full texts checking. Additionally, 17 articles from the previous review were included, resulting in a total of 29 articles for this review study.

RESULTS

Driver drowsiness (e.g, increased Karolinska Sleepiness Scale levels, blink frequency) tended to increase with both the duration of automated driving and automation levels. Engaging in non-driving related tasks (NDRTs) alleviates drowsiness (e.g, lower heart rate and percentage of eye closure), but reduces takeover performance (e.g., longer braking reaction times, stronger longitudinal acceleration, shorter minimal time to collision). Compared to older drivers, younger drivers were more susceptible to drowsiness, while older drivers had worse takeover performance (e.g., delayed steering reaction time, higher collision rates). Sleep inertia and circadian rhythms were also identified as factors influencing takeover performance. The road monitoring task helps prevent excessive participation in NDRTs and improves takeover performance (e.g, reduced brake reaction times and maximum steering velocity, increased the minimum time to collision). Digital voice assistants and scheduled manual driving help maintain alertness (e.g, decreased blink duration) and enhance takeover performance (e.g, shorter reaction time to resume steering). There were several limitations of the methodologies applied in the existing studies, among which were: 1) a lack of verification through real-world driving experiments; 2) insufficient diversity in the measurement of driver drowsiness; 3) singularity of takeover scenarios; 4) failure to reveal the mechanism by which drowsiness affects takeover performance.

CONCLUSION

Factors such as duration of automated driving, NDRT engagement, driver age, sleep-related issues and automation levels influence the development of drowsiness and subsequent takeover performance. This literature review highlights several necessary directions for future research: 1) what underlying factors affect drowsiness and take over performance; 2) how to prevent the occurrence of driver drowsiness; 3) how to alleviate driver drowsiness once it occurs; 4) how to assist drowsy drivers to regain control of the vehicle safely and quickly.

Gaze dynamics during natural scene memorization and recognition

Humans can rapidly memorize numerous images, which is surprising considering the limited visual sampling of each image. To enhance the probability of recognition, it is crucial to focus on previously sampled locations most likely to support memory. How does the visuomotor system achieve this? To study this, we analyzed the eye movements of a group of neurotypical observers while they performed a natural scene memorization task. Using comprehensive gaze analysis and computational modeling, we show that observers traded off visual exploration for exploiting information at the most memorable scene locations with repeated viewing. Furthermore, both the explore-exploit trade-off and gaze consistency predicted accurate recognition memory. Finally, false alarms were predicted by confusion of the incoming visual information at fixated locations with previously sampled information from other images. Together, our findings shed light on the symbiotic relationship between attention and memory in facilitating accurate natural scene memory.

Object persistence explains event completion

Our minds consistently distort memories of objects and events. Oftentimes, these distortions serve to transform incoherent memories into coherent ones, as when we misremember partial events as whole ("event completion"). What mechanisms drive these distortions? Whereas extant work shows that representations of causality, continuity, familiarity, physical coherence, or event coherence create memory distortions, we suggest that a simpler and more fundamental mechanism may be at play: object persistence. Merely seeing an object take part in an event can create a persisting memory of its presence throughout that event. In 8 pre-registered experiments (N = 317 adults), participants performed a simple task where they watched an animation, then chose whether or not a frame from the animation contained an object. Participants falsely remembered seeing an object when it was not there (E1). These effects persisted in the absence of causality (E2), continuity (E3), event familiarity (E4), object familiarity (E5), even when the events violated physical laws (E6), and when the events themselves were not coherent (E7). However, the effect disappeared when we abolished object persistence (E8). Thus, object persistence alone creates rich, enduring, and coherent representations of objects and events.

Linguistic alignment with an artificial agent: A commentary and re-analysis

In this manuscript we provide a commentary and a complementary analysis of Cirillo et al.'s (2022) study on conceptual alignment in a joint picture naming task involving a social robot (Cognition, 227, 105,213). In their study, Cirillo and collaborators present evidence suggesting automatic alignment by examining response proportions, reflecting adaptation to the lexical choices made by the artificial agent (i.e., providing category names instead of basic names for specific semantic categories). Here, we conducted a complementary analysis using the openly available dataset, employing a multiverse approach and focusing on response times as a more nuanced measure of cognitive processing and automaticity. Our findings indicate that alignment in the Category condition (i.e., when the robot provided a superordinate label) is associated with longer response times and greater variability. When providing the basic label in the Basic condition, RTs are much shorter and variability is reduced, compatible with the Basic-level advantage phenomenon. Non-alignment to each condition completely reverses the pattern. This suggests that aligning when producing a superordinate label is a strategic and effortful rather than an automatic response mechanism. Furthermore, through comprehensive visual exploration of response proportions across potentially influential variables, we observed category naming alignment primarily emerging in specific semantic categories, and mostly for stimuli with basic labels at low lexical frequency and newly designed pictures not taken from the MultiPic database, thus suggesting a limited generalizability of the effect. These insights were confirmed using leave-one-out robustness checks. In conclusion, our contribution provides complementary evidence in support of strategic rather than automatic responses when aligning with Category labels in the analyzed dataset, with a limited generalizability despite all the balancing procedures the authors carefully implemented in the experimental material. This is likely to reflect individual task strategies rather than genuine alignment. Lastly, we suggest directions for future research on linguistic alignment, building on insights from both Cirillo et al.'s study and our commentary. We also briefly discuss the Open Science principles that shaped our approach to this work.

A body detection inversion effect revealed by a large-scale inattentional blindness experiment

As a social species, humans preferentially attend to the faces and bodies of other people. Previous research revealed specialized cognitive mechanisms for processing human faces and bodies. For example, upright person silhouettes are more readily found than inverted silhouettes in visual search tasks. It is unclear, however, whether these findings reflect a top-down attentional bias to social stimuli or bottom-up sensitivity to visual cues signaling the presence of other people. Here, we tested whether the upright human form is preferentially detected in the absence of attention. To rule out influences of top-down attention and expectation, we conducted a large-scale single-trial inattentional blindness experiment on a diverse sample of naive participants (N = 13.539). While participants were engaged in judging the length of a cross at fixation, we briefly presented an unexpected silhouette of a person or a plant next to the cross. Subsequently, we asked whether participants noticed anything other than the cross. Results showed that silhouettes of people were more often noticed than silhouettes of plants. Crucially, upright person silhouettes were also more often detected than inverted person silhouettes, despite these stimuli being identical in their low-level visual features. These results were replicated in a second experiment involving headless person silhouettes. Finally, capitalizing on the exceptionally large and diverse sample, further analyses revealed strong detection differences across age and gender. These results indicate that the visual system is tuned to the form of the upright human body, allowing for the quick detection of other people even in the absence of attention.

Stereotypical Questions: How Stereotypes About Conversation Partners Are Reflected in Question Formulations

In conversations, activated stereotypes about conversation partners can influence communicative behaviors. We investigate whether and how stereotypes about categorized conversation partners shape topic choice and the types of questions asked. In three experiments, participants imagined having a conversation. Gender or age stereotypes of the conversation partner were manipulated by means of a picture. Results show a higher likelihood of addressing conversation and question topics consistent with stereotypic expectancies about conversation partners. Moreover, stereotypes were reflected in subtle variations in question formulations. When questions address stereotype-consistent topics, they are likelier formulated with high-frequency adverbs and positive valence, while questions addressing stereotype-inconsistent topics more likely contain low-frequency adverbs and negative valence. In addition, Experiment 4 suggests that recipients are sensitive to detect that questions reflect stereotypes about themselves, which can influence the evaluation of the conversation and partner. We discuss the consequences of biased question asking for interpersonal conversation and stereotype maintenance.

Executive function and underlying brain network distinctions for callous-unemotional traits and conduct problems in adolescents

The complexity of executive function (EF) impairments in youth antisocial phenotypes of callous-unemotional (CU) traits and conduct problems (CP) challenge identifying phenotypic specific EF deficits. We can redress these challenges by (1) accounting for EF measurement error and (2) testing distinct functional brain properties accounting for differences in EF. Thus, we employed a latent modeling approach for EFs (inhibition, shifting, fluency, common EF) and extracted connection density from matching contemporary EF brain models with a sample of 112 adolescents (ages 13-17, 42 % female). Path analysis indicated CU traits associated with lower inhibition. Inhibition network density positively associated with inhibition, but this association was strengthened by CU and attenuated by CP. Common EF associated with three-way interactions between density*CP by CU for the inhibition and shifting networks. This suggests those higher in CU require their brain to work harder for lower inhibition, whereas those higher in CP have difficulty engaging inhibitory brain responses. Additionally, those with CP interacting with CU show distinct brain patterns for a more general EF capacity. Importantly, modeling cross-network connection density in contemporary EF models to test EF involvement in core impairments in CU and CP may accelerate our understanding of EF in these phenotypes.

Evidence for word order harmony between abstract categories in silent gesture

Cross-category harmony is the tendency for languages to use consistent orders of heads and dependents across different types of phrases. For example, languages tend to either place both verbs and adpositions before their dependents (e.g., 'seethe girl', 'tothe store' as in English) or after (e.g., 'the girlsee', 'the storeto' as in Turkish). Harmony has been argued to reflect a cognitive bias for simpler rules: a single high level abstract rule is simpler to learn than multiple rules, one for each type of head and dependent (Culbertson and Kirby, 2016). This has been supported by recent experimental work indicating that learners prefer to consistently order nouns either before or after different nominal modifiers (e.g. Culbertson et al., 2012, 2020a) and different types of verbs (Motamedi et al., 2022), and generalise the relative order of verb and noun to the order of an adposition and noun (Wang et al., in press). However, these studies all use the exact same set of nouns for both the training and testing stimuli. This leaves open the possibility that participants are noticing surface-level patterns, i.e., matching the position of specific nouns across phrases. This would give the appearance of a preference for cross-category harmony, but would not reflect anything about the alignment of categories, or a preference for fewer abstract rules. This paper describes three experiments that were designed to establish whether there is a cognitive bias for cross-category harmony between the adpositional phrase and the verb phrase which persists when the possibility of using surface-level patterns is removed.

How the perception of events in children is influenced by language

Perceptual attunement occurs in a number of areas in infants' lives, preparing them to be members of their culture. Infants begin with the ability to discriminate between a wide range of distinctions found in all cultures, such as speech sounds, face perception, and tonal scales in music. Over time, infants' discrimination abilities become gradually aligned with those distinctions supported by their language and culture. At the same time, sensitivity to distinctions not supported in the ambient environment become attenuated. Here, we review the literature on perceptual attunement and propose a new domain which may undergo a similar process: the perception of motion events. For example, there is evidence that infants learning Japanese continue to attend to the grounds over which events occur (i.e., unbounded versus bounded, as in a field versus a road, respectively), while infants learning English attend less to grounds by 23 months of age. This process, which we refer to as semantic attunement, is somewhat analogous to the properties of phonological attunement, an area that has been extensively studied. We conclude by suggesting future research in this area.

The virtual hand paradigm: A new method for studying prediction and language-vision interactions

We introduce a new method for measuring prediction and language-vision interactions: tracking the trajectories of hand-reaching movements in Virtual Reality (VR) environments. Spatiotemporal trajectory tracking of hand-reaching movements in VR offers an ecologically valid yet controlled medium for conducting experiments in an environment that mirrors characteristics of real-world behaviors. Importantly, it enables tracking the continuous dynamics of processing on a single-trial level. In an exploratory experiment, L2 speakers heard predictive or non-predictive sentences (e.g., "The barber cuts the hair" vs. "The coach remembers the hair"). Participants' task was to move their hands as quickly and as accurately as possible towards the object most relevant to the sentence. We measured reaction times (RTs) and hand-reaching trajectories as indicators of predictive behavior. There was a main effect of predictability: Predictable items were touched faster than unpredictable ones. Importantly, uncertainty was captured using spatiotemporal survival analysis by prolonged fluctuations in upward and downward vertical hand movements before making a final move to target or distractor. Self-correction of prediction errors was revealed by participants switching the direction of hand-reaching movements mid-trial. We conclude that the virtual hand paradigm enables measuring the onset and dynamics of predictive behavior in real time in single and averaged trial data and captures (un)certainty about target objects and the self-correction of prediction error online in 'close to real-world' experimental settings. The new method has great potential to provide additional insights about time-course and intermediate states of processing, provisional interpretations and partial target commitments that go beyond other state-of-the-art methods.

Assessing Executive Functions: Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Yellow-Red Test in Bosnian Elementary School Students

Executive functions (EF) have been significantly correlated with many important participant characteristics, including education, behavior, and overall health. Assessing EF in children is particularly important, as doing so can help clinicians develop programs for EF remediation. However, there is a limited understanding of comprehensive performance-based EF assessment tools for children. Our goal in the present paper was to conduct a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) of the Yellow-Red test, a performance-based EF measure, in a Bosnian sample of early elementary school students. Specifically, our participants were 180 children aged 8-11 years (M age = 9.6 years, SD = 1), including 83 girls and 97 boys. The CFA showed that the data fit well with both a unidimensional model (global EF) and a two-dimensional EF model, comprised of (i) working memory and (ii) inhibition plus cognitive flexibility. A comparison of these two models showed that the two-factor model was a statistically better fit to this sample's performance than the unidimensional model. These results suggest that EF in this age group can be viewed as both a single construct and a multi-factor construct (with at least two-factors). The Yellow-Red Test, with its engaging and cross-cultural research base, is a useful instrument for detecting EF dysfunction, and it can provide valuable insights for informing tailored interventions.

Health-related quality of life of children with developmental disabilities in Singapore and associated factors: A broad-based examination

The study investigates the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of elementary-aged children with developmental disabilities in Singapore, focusing on the influences of individual and family factors. Data from 113 students from special education schools was examined, with data collected from parents, teachers, and direct assessments of the children. The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) was used to measure HRQoL across four domains: physical, emotional, social, and school functioning. Results showed that children with developmental disabilities generally experience lower HRQoL compared to typically developing peers, with the social functioning domain presenting the greatest challenges. Executive functioning difficulties emerged as the most significant predictor of overall HRQoL, affecting all domains, particularly social and school functioning. Parental psychological well-being was also significantly associated with children's emotional functioning, highlighting the broader influence of family factors on children's well-being. This study contributes to the literature by examining a broad-based sample in a multicultural Asian context. Results underscores the importance of addressing both child-specific challenges, such as executive functioning, and family-centered interventions to improve parental mental wellbeing. In the pursuit of positive quality of life for children with developmental disabilities across multiple domains, this study's findings highlight the need for a multi-component approach. Limitations and future directions, including the use of proxy reports and the need for culturally relevant interventions, are discussed.

Multimodal mobile brain and body imaging for quantification of dance motor sequence learning

Understanding motor learning in naturalistic settings presents a key challenge in neuroscience. While paradigms like the Discrete Sequence Production (DSP) task have advanced our knowledge, investigating more naturalistic tasks like dance with multi-limbed coordination can help further advance the understanding of complex mechanisms. It can advance motor learning by providing more profound insights into coordination dynamics, movement execution, balance, and decision-making. We have developed a modified DSP methodology that replaces keyboard pressing with dance-stepping, allowing simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG), behavioral, and kinematic recordings to quantify neurophysiological and motor dynamics. Using an E-PrimeⓇ script in a go/no-go approach, our method accommodates both a setup with minimal hardware and also a scalable approach with markerless motion capture and mobile EEG for neuroimaging. By leveraging Mobile Brain and Body Imaging (MOBI), we enhance the investigation of neuro-mechanisms underlying motor learning. We also discuss future directions and accessibility, including a publicly available video of the experimental procedure (https://youtu.be/zFP1rWJ2FJ8?si=DJ8q7fbfhltSLehz), enabling broader replication and application of our methodology.•Conversion of the key-press Discrete Sequence Production task to a dance version, as an applied way to investigate motor sequence learning•Multimodal investigation with motion capture and electroencephalography for kinematics and neuroimaging•Full scripts in E-PrimeⓇ are freely downloadable and video link showcases experiment conduct.

Effect of physical activity interventions on executive functions in school-age children with ADHD: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

BACKGROUND

Physical activity interventions positively influence executive functions in both the general population and individuals with ADHD. However, there is limited research focusing on school-aged children, who have the highest ADHD diagnosis rates. This study aims to provide targeted intervention strategies for improving executive function in this population, offering a practical reference for selecting specific exercise types when designing interventions for children with ADHD.

METHODS

A systematic search was conducted across PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library to identify relevant RCTs up to September 2023. Two independent reviewers handled literature screening, data extraction, and quality assessment. Stata 15.1 software was used for the meta-analysis.

RESULTS

The meta-analysis included 19 studies, revealing that physical activity interventions significantly improved executive functions in school-aged children with ADHD. Cognitive flexibility (SMD = 0.70, 95 % CI: 0.09, 1.31) and working memory (SMD = 0.74, 95 % CI: 0.20, 1.28) showed moderate to large effects, while inhibition switching had a small to medium effect (SMD = -0.35, 95 % CI: -0.74, 0.03). Subgroup analysis indicated that cognitively engaging exercises were more effective, with intervention outcomes moderated by duration, frequency, and length.

LIMITATIONS

Inconsistent measurement tools among the included studies may introduce biases.

CONCLUSIONS

Physical activity interventions are effective in enhancing executive functions in school-aged children with ADHD. Cognitively engaging exercises show the most promise, especially when tailored by intervention duration, frequency, and length.

Symbolated texts as an assistive technology: Exploring the impact on reading comprehension

BACKGROUND

It is widely assumed that pairing graphic symbols with text supports individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in accessing written content. As a result, these symbolated texts are often used as an assistive technology to increase text accessibility. Unfortunately, there is little empirical evidence that symbolated texts improve reading comprehension. Research with beginning and struggling readers suggests that pairing text with any type of image makes understanding text more difficult and impedes reading growth by distracting individuals' visual attention away from the text on the page. Despite this, there continues to be widespread use of symbolated texts.

AIMS

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of symbolated text on the reading comprehension of individuals with IDD.

METHOD AND PROCEDURES

Objective measures of reading comprehension and reading-level matched texts with and without graphic symbols were used to: (a) compare comprehension scores across text-type; (b) investigate the impact of symbols on reading rate; and (c) look for relationships between reading rate and reading comprehension scores.

OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

Results suggest that reading comprehension scores are significantly lower for symbolated texts than traditional texts. Additionally, pairing graphic symbols with text resulted in significantly slower reading times.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The findings suggest that symbolated texts may not make texts more accessible for individuals with IDD. Rather, they may actually make content less accessible. Anyone producing texts for this population should be cautious about pairing graphic symbols with text.

Exploring computational thinking, executive functions, visuospatial skills and experiences with toys in early childhood: Protocol for a controlled trial

The research aims to evaluate the effect of a robotics-based computational thinking program on executive functions and visuospatial skills in preschool children. Additionally, the study will explore the relationship between these three variables and early experiences with toys. The study will be a cluster-randomized controlled trial with pre- and post-intervention measures. Participants will be preschool children aged 5 to 6 years from both public and private institutions. The intervention will involve a new educational robotics device called ROVERSA and will consist of eight sessions distributed over four weeks, with the experimental group placed on a waitlist. To assess executive functions and visuospatial skills, standardized and validated neuropsychological measures will be used, including the Flanker task, the NIH Toolbox Card Sorting Test, the Corsi Block Test, the NEPSY-II Mental Rotation Test, the Pyramid of Mexico from the ENI-2 battery, and the Computational Thinking Test (CTt). Data analysis will begin with a hypothesis tested through ANOVA-MR, and linear regressions will be implemented to assess the relationship between variables. It is expected that the results will contribute to the discussion on teaching computational thinking and educational robotics as early learning experiences and their impact on the cognitive development of children.

Meta-analyses of executive function deficits in chemotherapy-treated rodent models

People diagnosed with cancer who undergo chemotherapy commonly encounter cognitive changes, particularly in executive functions (EFs). EFs support goal-directed behaviours, with EF deficits implicated in various neurocognitive impairments. We conducted five meta-analyses of the rodent models to investigate the impact of chemotherapy across five EF domains. A systematic search across PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and PsycINFO yielded 56 eligible papers. Our findings supported the clinical literature suggesting the selective impact of chemotherapy on different EF domains. Specifically, chemotherapy-treated animals performed significantly more poorly than controls in tasks assessing working memory, behavioural flexibility, and problem-solving, with no significant group differences in inhibition or attention. Subgroup analyses revealed that alkylating agents, antitumor antibiotics, and combination therapies were strongly associated with working memory deficits, whereas mitotic inhibitors were not. Rodent species, strain, age, sex, number of treatments, and time of behavioural assessment since the end of treatment did not moderate the drug effect on any assessed EF domains. To increase the generalisability and translational validity of the results, the overall reporting quality of animal studies needs to be improved with more details on randomisation, blinding, sample sizes, and criteria for animal exclusions.

Large-scale functional networks underlying visual attention

Attention networks are loosely defined as the regions of the brain which interact to control behaviour during attentional tasks, but the specific definition of attention networks varies between research programs based on task demands and modalities. The Attention Network Task was designed to exemplify three aspects of attention, alerting, orienting, and executive control, using a visual cueing paradigm. Its proponents propose a system of networks which underlies these aspects. It is debated whether there exists a unified system of networks which underlies attention independently of other cognitive and sensory processing systems. We review the evidence for an attention system within the domain of visual attention. Neuroimaging research using fMRI, EEG, MEG, and others across a variety of tasks attributed to attention, visual cueing, visual search, and divided attention, is compared. This concludes with a discussion on the limitations of an independent "attention system" for describing how the brain flexibly controls many abilities attributed to visual attention.

Cerebellar contribution to multisensory integration: A computational modeling exploration

The remarkable ability of the human brain to create a coherent perception of reality relies heavily on multisensory integration-the complex process of combining inputs from different senses. While this mechanism is fundamental to our understanding of the world, its underlying neural architecture remains partially unknown. This study investigates the role of the cerebellum in multisensory integration through a novel computational approach inspired by clinical observations of a patient with cerebellar agenesis. With reference to the clinical data comparing an acerebellar patient with age-matched control subjects, we exploited biologically realistic spiking neural networks to model both conditions. Our computational framework enables testing multiple network configurations and parameters, effectively replicating and extending the clinical experiments in silico. To enhance accessibility and promote broader adoption among researchers, we complemented this framework with a user-friendly web-based interface, eliminating the need for programming expertise. The computational results closely mirror the clinical findings, providing support for the critical contribution of the cerebellum in multisensory integration. Beyond being a consistent proof of concept for the previous clinical observations, this study introduces a versatile platform for testing brain models through our newly developed framework and interface. Thus, this work not only advances our understanding of the cerebellar role in sensory processing but also establishes a robust methodology for future computational investigations of neural mechanisms.

Similar failures of consideration arise in human and machine planning

Humans are remarkably efficient at decision making, even in "open-ended" problems where the set of possible actions is too large for exhaustive evaluation. Our success relies, in part, on processes for calling to mind the right candidate actions. When these processes fail, the result is a kind of puzzle in which the value of a solution would be obvious once it is considered, but never gets considered in the first place. Recently, machine learning (ML) architectures have attained or even exceeded human performance on open-ended decision making tasks such as playing chess and Go. We ask whether the broad architectural principles that underlie ML success in these domains generate similar consideration failures to those observed in humans. We demonstrate a case in which they do, illuminating how humans make open-ended decisions, how this relates to ML approaches to similar problems, and how both architectures lead to characteristic patterns of success and failure.

Blind Love, Risky Romance: Exposure to Romantic Cues Increases Nonmoral and Immoral Risk Taking

Love and risk are often intricately intertwined within linguistic and cultural conventions. This study experimentally tested the hypothesis that risk-taking attitudes and behaviors are systematically influenced by romantic primes. To evaluate our theoretical framework, we conducted four complementary experiments utilizing various priming techniques (lexical cues, advertisements, and storytelling), diverse participant populations (students and general adults), and multiple measures of risk-taking behavior (self-report and behavioral data). Study 1 compared students' tendencies to engage in risk taking when exposed to romantic cues versus neutral primes. Studies 2 and 3 aimed to provide behavioral confirmation of the observed effects in nonmoral and immoral risk-taking behaviors among nonstudent participants. Study 4 sought to provide more direct evidence regarding the role of self-control in explaining the effects of romantic cues on risk taking. We found both correlational and experimental evidence indicating that participants primed with romantic cues exhibited a higher likelihood of engaging in nonmoral and immoral risk-taking behaviors compared to those exposed to neutral conditions. Across the studies, self-control was identified as a mediating factor in the observed effects. In sum, our research demonstrates that the mere presence of romantic themes significantly influences the propensity to engage in risky behaviors.

Normative or Confirmative: Effects of Information Quality and Redundancy in Decision Support Systems

ObjectiveThe study investigates users' tendency to access decision support (DS) systems as a function of the correlation between the DS information and the information users already have, the ongoing interaction with such systems, and the effect of correlated information on subjective trust.BackgroundPrevious research has shown inconclusive findings regarding whether people prefer information that correlates with information they already have. Some studies conclude that individuals recognize the value of noncorrelated information, given its unique content, while others suggest that users favor correlated information as it aligns with existing evidence. The impact of the level of correlation on performance, subjective trust, and the decision to use DS remains unclear.MethodIn an experiment (N = 481), participants made classification decisions based on available information. They could also purchase additional DS with different degrees of correlation with the available information.ResultsParticipants tended to purchase information more often when the DS was not correlated with the available information. Correlated information reduced performance, and the effect of correlation on subjective trust and performance depended on DS sensitivity.ConclusionAdditional information may not improve performance when it is correlated with available information (i.e., it is redundant). Hence, the benefits of additional information and DS depend on the information the system and the operator use.ApplicationIt is essential to analyze the correlations between information sources and design the available information to allow optimal task performance and possibly minimize redundancy (e.g., by locating sensors in different positions to capture independent data).

Participation in a home visiting program predicted maternal but not child vocabulary diversity: A pragmatic randomized trial in Brazil

The Criança Feliz (Happy Child) parenting program is a home visiting intervention serving over a million low-income Brazilian families. The current study assessed its longitudinal associations with maternal and child speech and gestures in a subsample (n = 145) from the program's impact evaluation research. We performed a between-participants pragmatic randomized trial. Mothers (79.7% Black) and children (17-25 months of age; 50.3% female) were randomly assigned to control (n = 73) and intervention (n = 72) groups. One year later, mother-child pairs were recorded playing at home, and the videos were transcribed and analyzed for speech (quantity, vocabulary diversity, sentence complexity, and number of questions) and gestures (quantity). Intention-to-treat analysis revealed that the intervention was associated with the mother's vocabulary diversity (d = .35) regardless of schooling level. No direct or indirect (via maternal speech) associations were observed with the child's speech or gestures. This preliminary evidence suggests that participation in the Criança Feliz program is related to mothers' vocabulary diversity but not to children's speech or gesture measures. The program could focus on maternal gestures, questions, and book reading (complexity feature). Future research evaluating the impact of the program on language outcomes should include pretesting and child follow-up assessments.

Patient Perspectives on Antiseizure Medication Discontinuation: A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Risk Perception, Tolerance, and Counseling

Background and Objectives

Antiseizure medications (ASMs) are standard treatment for epilepsy. Yet, because ASMs can have adverse effects, guidelines suggest considering ASM withdrawal after a period of seizure freedom. We explored patients' perceived seizure risk, seizure risk tolerance, and risk counseling techniques.

Methods

We interviewed adults at least one-year seizure free, seen for epilepsy across 3 academic institutions. Participants rated their own perceived seizure risks (0 "definitely would not have another seizure" to 10 "definitely would") on vs off ASMs, discussed what minimal clinically important differences would be to justify ASM continuation, rated how likely they might be to withdraw ASMs (1 "not at all likely" to 7 "extremely likely") under different hypothetical seizure risks, and recalled their previous seizure risk counseling.

Results

The median age (N = 32) was 46 years (interquartile range [IQR] 33-56), with a median of 3 years since their last seizure (IQR 2-11). Participants rated their two-year chance of another seizure on ASMs as a median 1 (IQR 0 to 2) on a "0-10" scale, compared with a median 5 (IQR 4 to 7) off ASMs. Participants believed that their current ASMs have a median effectiveness of 9 (IQR 7-10) on a "0-10" scale. Participants believed that a median effectiveness of 6 (IQR 4 to 9) on a "0-10" scale would warrant remaining on ASMs, although 5 participants would continue their ASM if it extended the time until next seizure by any amount no matter how small. Regarding how likely they would be to withdraw ASMs under different hypothetical seizure risks, median responses on a "1-7" scale were 5 (IQR 1-6) when shown two-year seizure risks of 10% on vs 11% off ASMs, 1 (1-3) if 10% vs 20%, and 1 (1-2) if 25% vs 50%. No participant recalled having been presented with numerical seizure estimates regarding possible ASM withdrawal, yet 16 (50%) would like this information particularly in our presented graphical format.

Discussion

Participants believed that their ASMs were highly effective and were often reluctant to withdraw. Showing hypothetical seizure risks influenced decisions, and graphical risk communication tools were generally welcomed.

Saccades and Blinks Index Cognitive Demand during Auditory Noncanonical Sentence Comprehension

Noncanonical sentence structures pose comprehension challenges because they require increased cognitive demand. Prosody may partially alleviate this cognitive load. These findings largely stem from behavioral studies, yet physiological measures may reveal additional insights into how cognition is deployed to parse sentences. Pupillometry has been at the forefront of investigations into physiological measures of cognitive demand during auditory sentence comprehension. This study offers an alternative approach by examining whether eye-tracking measures, including blinks and saccades, index cognitive demand during auditory noncanonical sentence comprehension and whether these metrics are sensitive to reductions in cognitive load associated with typical prosodic cues. We further investigated how eye-tracking patterns differ across correct and incorrect responses, as a function of time, and how each related to behavioral measures of cognition. Canonical and noncanonical sentence comprehension was measured in 30 younger adults using an auditory sentence-picture matching task. We also assessed participants' attention and working memory. Blinking and saccades both differentiate noncanonical sentences from canonical sentences. Saccades further distinguish noncanonical structures from each other. Participants made more saccades on incorrect than correct trials. The number of saccades also related to working memory, regardless of syntax. However, neither eye-tracking metric was sensitive to the changes in cognitive demand that was behaviorally observed in response to typical prosodic cues. Overall, these findings suggest that eye-tracking indices, particularly saccades, reflect cognitive demand during auditory noncanonical sentence comprehension when visual information is present, offering greater insights into the strategies and neural resources participants use to parse auditory sentences.

Reconceptualizing the relationship between anxiety, mindfulness, and cognitive control

Prior research has provided initial support for the claim that cognitive control mediates the relationship between anxiety and mindfulness; however, findings are often inconsistent. In this review, we argue that the inconsistency may be due to a lack of both conceptual and methodological precision in terms of how anxiety, cognitive control, and mindfulness are operationalized and assessed, and that this imprecision may be a critical source of study confounds and ambiguous outcomes. We unpack this argument by first decomposing anxiety, cognitive control, mindfulness, and relevant experimental paradigms into key dimensions in order to develop a non-unitary, multi-dimensional taxonomy of these constructs. Subsequently, we review and reinterpret the prior experimental literature, focusing on studies that examine the relationship between anxiety and cognitive control, mindfulness and cognitive control, and the three-way relationship between anxiety, mindfulness, and cognitive control. Across the reviewed studies, there was great variation in the dimensions being examined and the behavioral and/or neural measures employed; therefore, results were often mixed. Based on this review of literature, we propose a conceptually and methodologically precise framework from which to study the effects of mindfulness on cognitive control in anxiety. The framework theoretically aligns anxiety dimensions with specific mindfulness states and interventions, further suggesting how these will impact specific cognitive control dimensions (proactive, reactive). These can be assessed with experimental paradigms and associated behavioral and neural metrics to index the relevant dimensions with high precision. Novel experimental studies and tractable research designs are also proposed to rigorously test this theoretical framework.

An exploratory study of the association between heart rate variability reactivity and prospective memory in a sample of coronary artery disease patients and healthy controls

INTRODUCTION

Prospective memory (PM), the ability of remembering and executing intended actions, is essential to goal-directed behavior. Emerging evidence suggests that PM may covary with autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, which is often impaired in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Therefore, we aimed to explore whether cardiac vagal control, both at rest and during cognitive challenge, influences PM performance in the context of CAD.

METHODS

A total of 56 patients with CAD and 38 healthy controls completed a computerized PM test and underwent heart rate variability (HRV) measurements. Resting cardiac vagal control was measured by root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) and low-to-high frequency (LF/HF) ratio. Percentage change in these HRV variables from rest to PM task represented vagal reactivity.

RESULTS

Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that worse PM performance was predicted by CAD diagnosis after controlling for age and education, and adding RMSSD reactivity and LH/HF ratio reactivity during the PM task significantly improved the explanatory power beyond CAD diagnosis. A parallel mediation model confirmed that HRV reactivity mediated the relationship between CAD and PM performance.

DISCUSSION

The findings highlight that cardiac vagal reactivity plays a significant role in PM performance and may act as an underlying mechanism of CAD-related cognitive deficits. This underscores the importance of ANS function in regulating cognitive processes, and further supports the brain-heart connection framework.

Subthalamic nucleus dynamics during executive functioning: Insights from local field potentials in Parkinson's disease

This study explores the involvement of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in executive functions, particularly cognitive flexibility, in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Utilizing a computerized Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) and local field potential (LFP) recordings from implanted deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrodes, we investigated task-specific neural dynamics. Behavioural results demonstrated increased error rates and prolonged response times in trials requiring set-shifting and rule induction via cross-temporal information integration. Electrophysiological analyses revealed integration-specific LFP modulations, including enhanced theta-band activity linked to conflict monitoring and cognitive control during high-demand trials, and beta-band suppression associated with motor inhibition and task disengagement. These findings underscore the STN's integrative role in non-motor domains, supporting its function in cross-temporal information integration for cognitive control. The results also highlight the utility of the WCST for assessing multiple executive processes and the potential of LFP-based biomarkers to refine DBS programming. Despite the relatively small sample size, this study provides novel insights into the oscillatory dynamics of the STN, emphasizing its broader role in decision-making and executive control. Future research should expand the understanding of the STN's contributions across cognitive domains.

The fearful mind of artificial intelligence: fear and perceived existential threat of artificial intelligence as a function of its cognitive and emotional capabilities

The purpose of this research was to examine people's fear and perception of threat toward artificial intelligence (AI) as a function of various psychological features attributed to it. To investigate this, participants (Exp. 1, N = 206) read descriptions of AI with high or low cognitive and emotional capabilities. They were most (least) averse to AI described as having the strongest (weakest) of these capabilities (Exp. 1). Similarly, in Experiment 2, a representative U.S. sample (N = 686) was more afraid of and threatened by AI described as having equally strong cognitive and emotional capabilities than AI described as with weaker capabilities (weak cognition, strong emotion), but that pattern was reversed when the faculties were attributed to pharmacologically altered humans. These findings provide evidence for competing predictions about the configuration of these faculties to evoke negateve responses. Furthermore, they provide a novel test of these competing predictions applied to AI.