Subjects: Psychology >> Other Disciplines of Psychology submitted time 2024-05-10
Abstract： The Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR) is closely associated with individual psychological health. Traditional studies have used the mean value of CAR over several days to explore this relationship; however, research conclusions have been highly inconsistent due to the influence of state-dependent factors such as sleep. Therefore, this study introduces CAR variability across multiple days as a novel measure to quantify CAR and investigates its relationship with psychological health by considering trait anxiety and psychological resilience as key variables under controlled or manipulated sleep efficiency scenarios. It was hypothesized that under controlled sleep efficiency conditions, smaller CAR variability reflects positive psychological health characteristics, specifically higher psychological resilience scores and lower trait anxiety scores. Conversely, under manipulated sleep efficiency conditions, greater CAR variability was hypothesized to better reflect positive psychological health characteristics, specifically higher psychological resilience scores and lower trait anxiety scores. Two experiments were conducted to test these hypotheses. In Experiment 1, 28 participants reduced CAR variability by increasing sleep efficiency stability under three similar natural sleep days. In Experiment 2, 41 participants experienced a full night of sleep deprivation following two natural sleep days to increase CAR variability. All participants wore a sleep wristwatch to assess their sleep efficiency during the experimental period and provided four saliva samples at awakening and at 30, 45, and 60 minutes post-awakening to assess CAR. The Trait Anxiety Inventory (TAI) and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) were used as key variables reflecting individual psychological health. Finally, the relationship between CAR variability over multiple days and trait anxiety/psychological resilience was examined. Experiment 1 found no significant differences in participants’ sleep efficiency or CAR across the three natural sleep days. Additionally, a significant positive correlation was observed between CAR variability and trait anxiety scores over the three days, indicating that smaller CAR variability in a stable environment is associated with lower levels of trait anxiety. Experiment 2 found no significant differences in participants’ sleep efficiency and CAR across the first two natural sleep days. However, on the third day, following a full night of sleep deprivation, CAR showed a marked blunting, with post-deprivation CAR levels significantly lower than those on the preceding two natural sleep days. Moreover, Experiment 2 found a significant positive correlation between CAR variability before and after sleep deprivation and psychological resilience. This suggests that higher CAR variability in a changing environment is associated with higher levels of psychological resilience. When the traditional CAR mean was used as a measure to explore its relationship with trait anxiety and psychological resilience, no significant correlations were found in either experiment. These results indicate that CAR variability is a reliable physiological indicator of psychological health. Smaller CAR variability in stable environments is associated with lower levels of trait anxiety, whereas greater CAR variability in more variable environments is associated with higher levels of psychological resilience. This study emphasizes the importance of considering CAR variability over multiple days to understand how individuals adapt to daily stressors and challenges, providing new perspectives and evidence for promoting psychological health and designing effective intervention strategies in the future.
Peer Review Status:
Awaiting Review
Subjects: Psychology >> Developmental Psychology submitted time 2024-01-17
Abstract： Picky eating is a common dietary issue among children characterized by lack of variety of foods consumed due to rejection of familiar (or unfamiliar) foods. The influencing factor model of picky eating behavior in children indicates that environmental and cognitive factors are key elements influencing this. Studies have found that instrumental feeding exacerbates picky eating behavior in children. However, due to the relatively young age of children in previous studies, research on the relationship between instrumental feeding and picky eating behaviors in school-aged children is insufficient. Furthermore, the brain plays a central role in guiding eating behavior; however, to date, limited neuroscientific research on the neural basis of picky eating behaviors in school-aged children exists. This study aimed to utilize resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data combined with a machine learning method to explore the neural basis of picky eating behaviors in children. Additionally, it attempted to show the neural mechanisms through which instrumental feeding influences picky eating behavior.
A total of 139 children were recruited for this study. Instrumental feeding and picky eating behaviors were assessed through parent-reported measurements and rs-fMRI was conducted. A total of 87 children were included in the formal analyses as those who did not participate in the two behavioral measurements and with unqualified rs-fMRI scans were excluded. This study utilized regional homogeneity and functional connectivity to evaluate the resting-state neural substrates of picky eating behaviors. Subsequently, a machine learning method is employed to validate the stability of our results. Additionally, a mediation model was constructed to investigate the mediating role of resting-state neural substrates in the relationship between instrumental feeding and picky eating behavior.
Results showed that picky eating behavior was positively correlated with regional homogeneity in the right caudate. Functional connectivity results showed that picky eating behavior was positively correlated with functional connectivity between the right caudate and left putamen. A prediction analysis based on a cross-validation machine learning method indicated a significant correlation between picky eating behavior scores predicted by the aforementioned neural substrates (i.e., regional homogeneity in the right caudate and functional connectivity between the right caudate and left putamen) and the actual observed picky eating behavior scores. The mediation model further suggested that functional connectivity between the right caudate and left putamen could mediate the relationship between instrumental feeding and picky eating behavior. Specifically, instrumental feeding might negatively influence the functional connectivity between the right caudate and left putamen, and further reduce picky eating behavior.
By combining resting-state regional homogeneity and functional connectivity analyses, this study detected altered functional brain activity related to picky eating behaviors in children aged 9 to 12. Specifically, hyperactive neural interactions within the brain areas involved in sensory sensitivity and reward processing may explain the manifestation of picky eating behavior in children. Additionally, instrumental feeding negatively influences picky eating behavior through brain activity in regions involved in sensory sensitivity and reward processing. This study provides new insights into the resting-state neural substrates of children's picky eating behavior, extends the influencing factor model of children's picky eating behavior, and provides theoretical support for interventions to improve poor picky eating behavior in children through parental feeding practices.
Subjects: Psychology >> Developmental Psychology submitted time 2023-12-25
Abstract： This research is a breakthrough from the traditional cognitive intervention in which older adults are the targets of help, and uses volunteering as the intervention approach and older adults as the subjects of help to explore the effects and mechanisms of cognitive, physical, and social activities involved in the process of helping older adults, which in turn affects their own cognitive function. To achieve these goals, the study will use randomized controlled trials, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and data modeling techniques to examine the neuropsychological mechanisms of volunteering on cognitive function in older adults, from the perspective of the hot-cold dual system. In addition, the study aims to develop a predictive model to explore the fitness of different older adults who participate in volunteering to improve their cognitive function. By focusing on the scientific aspects of volunteering for cognitive function in older adults, this research aims to increase the sustainability of the interventions, while utilizing the subjective initiative of older adults to provide a reality-based intervention for the protection of cognitive function in later life.
Subjects: Other Disciplines >> Synthetic discipline submitted time 2023-10-09 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： In 1997, the World Health Organization recognized obesity as a global epidemic. In China, the prevalence of overweight/obesity among adults has surpassed 50%, with unhealthy dietary behaviors accounting for 70% of the causes. Working memory has been shown to play a protective role in maintaining long-term healthy dietary goals by diverting attention from tempting stimuli. Therefore, this research project aims to investigate the role of food-specific working memory in individuals with overweight/obesity through cross-sectional, prospective, and intervention studies. The research will explore temporal dynamics, neural oscillations, brain spatial activation, and real-life implications. The project's objectives are as follows: (1) to explore the cognitive and neural mechanisms involved in food-specific working memory updating in overweight/obese individuals; (2) to examine the predictive function of food-specific working memory updating and related neural activity on an individual's dietary management and weight changes; (3) to investigate the effectiveness of food-specific inhibitory control training in enhancing food-specific working memory updating and promoting healthy dietary habits in individuals with overweight/obesity.Study 1 will employ electroencephalography (EEG) techniques to investigate the electrophysiological activity underlying working memory updating in overweight/obese individuals. This study will use a 2-back task with general and food-specific stimuli. The study will examine the temporal characteristics of brain activity associated with general and food-specific working memory updating in overweight/obese individuals and investigate whether there are similar behavioral and neural patterns between general and food-specific working memory updating. It is hypothesized that overweight/obese individuals will exhibit significantly different performance in the 2-back task compared to normal-weight individuals, and the neural correlates may involve changes in N2 amplitude, P3 amplitude, theta and alpha power, among others. Additionally, due to the rewarding effects of food, general and food-specific working memory updating in overweight/obese individuals may exhibit different neural patterns.Study 2 will focus on the relationship between food-specific working memory updating and related brain activity, and the development of overweight/obesity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This study will consist of two experiments—a cross-sectional study design and a prospective study design. The study will explore the predictive role of food-specific working memory updating and related brain activity on dietary management and changes in body weight in the overweight/obesity population. The study will first utilize food-specific 1-back tasks with inhibitory control and then collect data through follow-up surveys and body composition measurements. It is hypothesized that overweight/obese individuals will display poorer performance in the working memory task and exhibit less brain activation in control-related brain regions, as well as greater activation in reward-related brain regions, compared to normal-weight individuals during the task.Study 3 aims to explore effective interventions for overweight/obesity by employing food inhibition control training combined with fMRI techniques. The study will include a general and a food-specific inhibition control training delivered through general or food-specific go/no-go tests. Both trainings will be investigated, with the hypothesis that both types of training can improve food-specific working memory updating performance, and both trainings can enhance the activity in control-related brain regions involved in food-specific working memory in overweight/obese individuals, but food-specific training will yield better results. In summary, this project delves into the behavioral and neural mechanisms of working memory in individuals with overweight/obesity. By investigating the cognitive processing, spatial activation patterns, and the interplay between food-specific working memory and overweight/obesity, the research aims to provide reliable evidence and a comprehensive understanding of the cognitive and neural mechanisms in this population. The project will also examine the interdependent relationship between food-specific working memory and related brain activity, and the development of overweight/obesity, with the goal of obtaining a wholistic view of the underpinnings between working memory updating and overweight/obesity and providing evidence for the establishment of a more complete neurocognitive model. Furthermore, the project will employ inhibition control training as an intervention for overweight/obesity, laying a practical foundation for effective solutions to obesity-related issues and facilitate the innovative translation of basic research findings.
Subjects: Other Disciplines >> Synthetic discipline submitted time 2023-10-09 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： Stress contagion refers to the phenomenon where people unconsciously absorb stress reactions from another individual in the stressed state, through observation or direct contact, and match their own physiological and psychological state to that individual. In experimental settings, individuals who experience stress are commonly referred to as demonstrators, while those who observe the demonstrator undergoing stress are referred to as observers. Sensory channels are important factors that influence the process of stress contagion, as different sensory channels transmit social information in varying ways. The experimental paradigm for stress contagion can be categorized into two types: vicarious stress and stress crossover. In the vicarious stress paradigm, the observer receives stress information transmitted by the demonstrator through one or multiple sensory channels, such as images, sounds, or pheromones that are emitted by the stressed demonstrator. In the stress crossover paradigm, the observer comes into direct contact with the demonstrator and receives stress information through multiple sensory channels after the demonstrator undergoes stress. Studies have found that different sensory information elicits similar behavioral responses during stress contagion, which are accompanied by decreased autonomic activity, increased anxiety-like behavior, and elevated cortisol levels. However, the underlying neural circuit and key regions differ depending on the type of sensory information. In stress contagion induced by visual information, the anterior cingulate cortex and insular cortex play crucial roles as key brain regions. On the other hand, in stress contagion induced by auditory information, the basolateral amygdala and periaqueductal gray are the key brain regions involved. The olfactory system's primary receptors that receive stress pheromones are the grueneberg ganglion cell, while the basolateral amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex are the key areas responsible for stress transmission. Additionally, significant activation of the amygdala was observed in different types of stress contagion paradigms, suggesting that the amygdala may be a hotspot brain region for stress contagion. To date, no studies have investigated stress contagion induced by touch alone, and future research should explore the neural mechanisms underlying touch-induced stress contagion by developing new experimental paradigms. Additionally, future studies should aim to identify the specific brain regions that should be investigated based on the sensory channels that influence the neural mechanisms of stress contagion.
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2023-07-18
Abstract： Opportunity equity is highly desired in human society. Previous studies have shown that opportunity (in)equity influences the evaluation of subsequent outcomes. However, it is unclear whether this influence occurs only at an early cognitive stage or extends to a late cognitive stage as well. Based on the notion that “people seem to be more committed to outcome equity than opportunity equity,” we hypothesized that opportunity (in)equity would affect outcome evaluation at an early stage in the cognitive process, but not at a late stage. Additionally, we indicate how limitations in the experimental design and data analysis of previous studies may have affected their conclusions.
To examine the cognitive stage at which opportunity (in)equity influences outcome evaluations in a competitive social context, we recruited 31 college students (19 females, 19.52 ± 1.46 years) to participate in a competitive two-person choice game with their opponents. To account for the difference between subjective and objective predictions and the effect of varied choice numbers, we designed the game so that the participants had four cards in all trials. In contrast, their opponents randomly received two, four, or six cards in each trial, creating three opportunity conditions: advantageous opportunity inequity (AI), opportunity equity (OE), and disadvantageous opportunity inequity (DI). Both players selected only one card from the available options to compare their outcomes, which could result in a win, draw, or loss. Similar to previous studies, we recorded and analyzed event-related potential responses to actual outcomes, focusing on feedback-related negativity (FRN) and P300. We performed principal component analysis (PCA) to disentangle the overlap of FRN and P300.
The analysis of behavioral results of our study demonstrated a significant interaction between opportunities and outcomes in relation to subjective pleasantness rating scores, indicating that opportunity (in)equity indeed influenced outcome evaluation. Furthermore, we found a significant interaction between opportunities and outcomes for both the original and PCA-FRN amplitudes, indicating that opportunity (in)equity affected outcome evaluation at an early cognitive stage. Specifically, when participants experienced a win, there was no significant difference in the original and PCA-FRN amplitudes among the three opportunity conditions. In contrast, when participants lost, AI and DI elicited more negative original and PCA-FRN amplitudes than OE, suggesting that participants were sensitive to opportunity equity in the context of loss. Moreover, we did not find a significant interaction between opportunities and outcomes, nor a main effect of opportunities, for either the original or PCA-P300 amplitudes. These results suggest that opportunity (in)equity did not have a significant influence on outcome evaluation at a late cognitive stage. Notably, draws elicited larger PCA-P300 amplitudes compared to wins and losses, indicating that participants were sensitive to outcome equity.
In conclusion, our study demonstrates that opportunity (in)equity influences outcome evaluation at an early cognitive stage but not at a late stage. These findings provide valuable insights into the intricate temporal dynamics of the interaction between opportunity equity and actual outcomes, and contribute to fostering a more equitable society.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Psychology >> Cognitive Psychology submitted time 2023-07-05
Abstract： Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a persistent neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity, which is closely related to the executive function deficits resulting from the dysplastic of prefrontal cortex. Based on the neuro-cognitive-behavioral developmental path, it is proposed that executive function deficits may be the pathogenesis of the core symptoms of ADHD at the cognitive level, among which the "cool" one related with the dorsal prefrontal cortex might be the dominant factor affecting inattention, and the “hot” one linked to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex could play the main role in the manifestation of hyperactivity-impulsivity. On the one hand, deficits in "cool" executive function mainly result in failures in working memory representation, lack of inhibitory control, and difficulties in cognitive flexibility, and further lead to limitations in attention maintenance, selection, and switching. On the other hand, deficits in "hot" executive function bring problems like delay aversion, reward abnormality and motivation disorders, which make one fail to inhibit behavior and more likely to make impulsive decisions, thereby displaying more symptoms of hyperactivity- impulsivity. Future studies are expected to examine and improve theoretical models of “hot” and “cold” executive function deficits affecting the core symptoms of ADHD, and provide more empirical evidence at the cognitive neural level. Meanwhile, future studies need to examine the mechanism mentioned above in ecological backgrounds, and further develop intervention projects with personalization, precision and long-acting to alleviate the core symptoms of ADHD based on executive function.
Subjects: Psychology >> Physiological Psychology submitted time 2023-06-19
Abstract： Stress contagion refers to the phenomenon where people unconsciously absorb stress reactions from another individual in the stressed state, through observation or direct contact, and match their own physiological and psychological state to that individual. The experimental paradigm for stress contagion can be categorized into two types: vicarious stress and stress crossover. In vicarious stress paradigms, the observer receives stress information transmitted through one or more sensory channels from a demonstrator. In stress crossover paradigms, the observer comes into direct contact with the demonstrator after they have experienced stress, receiving stress information through multiple sensory channels. The behavioral responses elicited by different sensory information exhibit similarities, such as decreased autonomic activity, increased anxiety-like behavior and elevated cortisol levels. The neural circuit and key brain regions involved are not entirely consistent across all sensory channels. However, stress contagion effects tend to be stronger when multiple sensory channels are involved compared to single sensory channels (visual, auditory, or olfactory). The amygdala has been identified as a central brain region for stress contagion, consistently demonstrating significant activation across various stress contagion paradigms. In future studies, it is crucial for researchers to carefully consider the experimental paradigms employed in studying stress contagion and identify specific brain regions of interest based on the underlying neural mechanisms associated with stress contagion effects induced by different sensory channels.
Subjects: Psychology >> Cognitive Psychology submitted time 2023-04-12
Abstract： Owing to its advantages in time resolution, electroencephalography (EEG) provides an important basis for studying the dynamic cognitive process of the human brain. To explore the electrophysiological mechanism of psychological processes, scalp EEG must have good test-retest reliability. Most studies explore the reliability of the resting-state EEG (rsEEG) or event-related potentials (ERP), lacking a comprehensive comparison of multiple states. We comprehensively compared the test-retest reliability of the two rsEEG with eyes-open (EO) and eyes-close (EC) states, and the ERPs of PVT and oddball tasks, from frequency, time, and spatial domains to identify more widely applicable indicators. A total of 42 healthy adults (age range = 18–26 years old; mean = 19.5 ± 1.4 years old; 14 males) underwent all three EEG recording sessions, including the present (Session 1), 90 mins later (Session 2), and one month later (Session 3). During each EEG recording session, all the participants completed the same five states including two resting states (eyes-open, eyes-closed, each with 5 minutes) and two task states (PVT and oddball task). Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) were computed to assess the test-retest reproducibility of the five states. This study compares and analyses the test-retest reliability of two resting-state and three task-state EEG from the perspectives of time, frequency, and spatial domains. Results revealed the following: (1) The test-retest reliability of rsEEG was generally better than that of ERP. (2) For rsEEG, the test-retest reliability of the EC resting-state was higher than that of the EO, with the ICC median value of approximately 0.6. Furthermore, the test-retest reliability of the alpha band was the highest in all frequency bands. (3) For the two task-states ERP, the overall ICC of the PVT paradigm was higher than that of the oddball paradigm, and the test-retest reliability was highest at about 200 ms after the stimulus onsets. (4) In the spatial domain, the test-retest reliability is higher in the central region than in the peripheral region, which may be related to the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Our research involves multiple resting-state and task-state experiments. Based on the characteristics of frequency, time, and space domains, we comprehensively compared the optimal retest characteristics of multiple EEG and suggest the possible reasons. Some suggestions for the selection of appropriate experimental paradigms and indicators for the follow-up study of EEG test-retest reliability are provided and guide the application of EEG in the basic and clinical field.
Subjects: Psychology >> Developmental Psychology submitted time 2023-03-28 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： In the current study of the relationship between regret and responsibility, the superior outcomes of foregone options are usually known. The aim of this study was to examine the possible changes in the relationship between the two in the absence of this outcome, and to clarify the role of outcome evaluation and cognitive dissonance. Results showed that when people are aware that another alternative would have been better, they tend to be more dissatisfied with the chosen option and more pleased with the foregone one. In this case, participants may have more cognitive dissonance, their responsibility will amplify regret. Nevertheless, when the superior outcome of the foregone option is unknown, people will suppress cognitive dissonance by raising the evaluation of existing result and reducing the foregone outcome’ s evaluation. Under such circumstances, personal responsibility may curb regret following a negative outcome. Mediation analysis suggested that cognitive dissonance could be an intermediary between outcome evaluation and regret.
Subjects: Psychology >> Developmental Psychology submitted time 2023-03-28 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： Oxytocin is a prosocial hormone that also has an important influence on human beings’ empathic responses. It can promote emotion recognition, enhance the empathic concern regarding others’ unfortunate experiences, and weaken the level of personal distress. With reference to the mechanisms, oxytocin may influence an individual's empathic response by promoting his/her embodied-simulation ability, weakening the tendency of self-centeredness, and regulating the emotional representation mechanism. Future studies could focus on the effects of oxytocin on the different types of empathic responses, the effects of oxytocin on gender differences in empathic responses, and actively using oxytocin in clinical interventions for empathy deficits.
Subjects: Psychology >> Developmental Psychology submitted time 2023-03-28 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： As a common strategy used to lose weight in female group, restrained eating becomes increasingly popular nowadays. However, previous studies have proved that it was not an effective method to lose or maintain weight. Although restricting their consumption consciously, in many circumstances, restrained eaters are even easier to overeat compared with unrestrained ones. Many studies have explored the causes of restrained eaters’ overeating and factors influencing it. This article reviewed researches about overeating among restrained eaters at home and abroad and summarized the two psychological mechanisms: attentional bias and inhibitory control deficit. What’s more, this article also generalized five influencing factors of overeating among restrained eaters, including preload, emotional arousal, ego depletion, cognitive resource distraction, personality and social factors. At last, we discussed inadequacies of previous studies and looked forward to the future researching directions.
Subjects: Psychology >> Developmental Psychology submitted time 2023-03-28 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： Negative body image is one of the most important problems affecting adolescents’ healthy growth. Understanding the harm of negative body image to adolescents and its influencing factors is of great significance to the physical and mental health of adolescents. The negative effects of negative body image on adolescents mainly include five aspects: self-concept, emotional experience, weight control strategies, eating disorder and social life; and the main influencing factors of adolescents' negative body image formation are biological factors (BMI), sociocultural factors (parents, peers and mass media) and psychological factors (personality factor and cognitive style). Future research is needed to further (1) develop the theoretical model of adolescent body image development from the perspective of biopsychosocial model; (2) examine the role of emerging factors such as social media; (3) elucidate the cognitive processing characteristics of adolescents in processing body-related information; (4) accelerate the localization speed of negative body image amongst Chinese adolescents.
Subjects: Psychology >> Developmental Psychology submitted time 2023-03-28 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： Intertemporal decision-making refers to the phenomena that people always give less weight to future gains and losses than recent gains and losses. Although controversial, Mischel and colleagues had demonstrated that children with higher delay gratification ability had higher academic achievement later in life through the famous “Marshmallow Experiment”. Both delay gratification and inter-temporal choice deal with the decision-making behavior over time. Previous studies had discovered three neural network systems that support intertemporal decision making in the adult brain, but few evidences had been reported in children. These brain network systems were mainly located in the frontal cortex, which developed rapidly in children and adolescents. The current study aimed to provide a comprehensive survey for understanding the dynamic development of inter-temporal decision-making in children and adolescents in mainland China within the critical period of the inter-temporal decision-making by cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. Neuroimaging data will also be collected to examine the relationship between intertemporal decision-making development and brain mutation, with a special focus on the prefrontal-striatum neural network. Finally, a model with multimodal neuroimaging and behavioral fusion would be proposed to predict the inter-temporal decision-making ability. These evidences would provide services for parents, schools, as well as the society to cultivate and improve the intertemporal decision-making ability in children and adolescents.
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2023-03-28 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： One of the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder（ASD）is persistent social dysfunction. The severity of symptoms varies from patient to patient, and there are many different clinical manifestations, such as depression, anxiety, sleep disorders and ADHD. About 30 percent of people with ASD require psychotherapy and psychiatric care, including medication for behavioral problems. In recent years, many studies have indicated that tactile input can affect social function through regulating the oxytocin system. The affective touch conducted by C-fiber promotes the synthesis and release of oxytocin and enhances social motivation and social preference. And the social salience hypothesis of oxytocin hypothesizes that oxytocin regulates the attention orientation of individuals to social information cues in external situations. For example, oxytocin may enhance aggression and competitiveness of individuals in competitive situations while enhance cooperation in social situations. According to the social salience hypothesis of oxytocin, oxytocin increases the salience of social information through enhancing activation of corresponding brain regions. Under this theoretical framework, when social interaction happens, tactile input can enhance the synthesis and release of oxytocin, and oxytocin can also increase the salience of tactile information, which further promotes the occurrence of social interaction. Previous studies have shown that people with ASD have deficits in the oxytocin system. The main manifestations are lower peripheral oxytocin concentration than normal developing individuals and the change of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism（SNP）of oxytocin receptor. People with ASD also show abnormal tactile sensitivity, including hypersensitivity and hyposensitivity. At the peripheral level, they manifest abnormal tactile threshold. At the central level, they manifest abnormal activation in the brain’s affective touch processing regions (such as insula). Compared with typical development, people with ASD show lower activation in social brain network, which maybe is the one reason of abnormal tactile sensitivity. Moderate tactile input can promote the synthesis and release of oxytocin. Thus, we can combine the exogenous oxytocin treatment with auxiliary tactile training together in the future intervening measures. And the interventions for social dysfunction need to start as early as possible. Many people with ASD exhibit abnormal sensory sensitivity in early life, which can affect the quality of parent-child interactions. If infant cannot obtain adequate sensory input from early parent-child interaction, it will cause a growth environment similar to sensory deprivation for infant patients with ASD, which will seriously affect future social functioning in adulthood. Based on the social salience hypothesis of oxytocin, this article summarizes the possible regulations between touch and oxytocin on social function. We point out that the deficits in the oxytocin system can decrease the salience of touch information in people with ASD, reducing the attention resources in social interaction and affecting the emotional feelings for touch. Abnormal tactile sensitivity results in social avoidance, which decreases the synthesis and release of oxytocin in social contact, decreasing the social motivation and social preference, ultimately resulting in social dysfunction. Exploring the interaction between touch, oxytocin system and social function can help us understand the pathogenesis of social dysfunction, and providing new ideas for the prevention and intervention in the future.
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2023-03-28 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： Social essentialism is an intuitive theory about social categories. It is a biological attribution of differences in social categories. It implies that members of one social category share unobservable intrinsic characteristics that determine their membership and generate observable similarities between them. Studies show that social essentialism increases racial, gender, and class prejudice, but also reduces prejudice against obese people, homosexuals, and criminals. Why are there domain differences in the impact of social essentialism on prejudice? The causal discounting theory holds that people weigh the possibility of multiple candidate causal explanations perceived in the process of explaining group differences. When a given causal explanation is considered more likely, other causal explanations are automatically regarded as unlikely, that is, the possibility of alternative causal explanations is discounted. The causal discounting theory, however, fails to distinguish between social categories that promote prejudices and those that reduce prejudices, nor does it explain the internal logic of causal discounting in a process of social essentialism that leads to different prejudice outcomes. Attribution theory can provide further insight into these questions.牋Specifically, a major difference between social categories is whether group members are able to join or leave them. Based on this criterion, social categories can be classified into two categories: forced social categories and chosen social categories. Forced social categories result in significant social status differences between groups, and people often need to explain why one group has a lower status than another. However, in the chosen social categories, the stigma of groups is more prominent, so it is often necessary to explain why a group holds a stigmatized identity. More importantly,in forced social categories where stability cues are strong (e.g. race, gender, and class), social essentialism leads people to believe that differences between groups are difficult to change, thus increasing prejudice by discounting environmental explanations. In chosen social categories where controllability cues are strong (e.g. obesity, homosexuality, criminals), social essentialism leads people to believe that the stigmatized identities of some group members are uncontrollable, thus reducing prejudice by discounting chosen explanations. 牋 Future research on social essentialism could focus on the following aspects in order to yield more practical value. Firstly, it is necessary to clarify social essentialist beliefs, describe how each component relates to prejudice, and analyze these relationships across different social domains in order to gain a deeper understanding. In addition, future research should examine the mechanisms behind social essentialism's influence on prejudice in greater depth. It is mainly because social essentialism's influence on prejudice can be complex, and it will not increase or decrease prejudice on its own; also, the current research on this mechanism is primarily based on causal discount theory, so future research should examine the internal mechanisms of this effect in greater detail. Finally, future research should focus on developing practical and effective interventions that can maximize the positive effects of social essentialism while eliminating its negative effects. The main reason for this is that these interventions are helpful in reducing intergroup conflict, eliminating prejudice, and fostering harmony in society. In order to reduce prejudice in the future, there needs to be vigorous development of relevant and effective intervention programs that target social essentialism.
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2023-03-28 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： Longitudinal research could systematically capture the change of the target variable and thus is more convincing than cross-sectional research. It is popular in the fields of social sciences such as psychology, management, statistics, sociology, etc. The present study reviews the methodology study and model development for analyzing longitudinal data in China’s mainland. We aim to retrospect the methods used, the main research questions, and the popular research domains in longitudinal models. The target publications ranged from 1st Jan. 2001 to 31st Dec. 2020 in CNKI core collections in the relative domains, and finally, 75 articles met our selecting criterion. Results also indicated that the research topic widely includes latent growth model, multilevel modeling, autoregression, cross-lagged model, missing data, etc. Among these research topics, latent growth model ranked as the first. Typically, the latent growth model and experience sampling method were favored in the field of psychology. There are mainly four research questions retrieved from the publications. The first research question is to compare the mean difference, which is less popular. The second research question is to examine the reciprocal relationship between variables. It often uses the cross-lag model and the causal model to reveal the autoregressive and cross-lagged relationships within and between variables. The third research question is to depict growth trajectory with individual differences. It uses the latent growth model (LGM) and multilevel model (MLM) as the main methods to show a growth trajectory from the between-person perspective, as well as the individual difference included. The last one is to explore the dynamic changes. This research question does not focus on the general tendency of change but on the fluctuation between different time points. It usually uses autoregression with its extensions, MLM, time-varying effect model, and some newly developed models such as the dynamic structural equation model. The recent 20 years' publication broadens the domains of longitudinal models, such as the extension of the shape and pattern of growth, the combination of latent class analysis leading to growth mixture model and latent transition analysis. The causal effect, longitudinal mediation and moderation models are also introduced to reveal the relationship between variables. Meanwhile, models depicting growth trajectory with individual differences combines with models examining reciprocal relationships, thus they were extended and integrated to random intercept cross-lagged model, latent variable autoregressive latent trajectory, as well as general cross lagged model. Furthermore, research design becomes more complex; the intensive longitudinal data was introduced and thus the models were according developed, such as MLM, time-varying effect model, dynamic structural equation model, group iterative multiple model estimation, and so forth. Particularly, missing data issue is also hot discussed in the field. To summarize, methodology study for analyzing longitudinal data in China’s mainland has made fruitful development on the above topics and are in an advanced position all over the world. However, when comparing to the international scope, publications in China’s mainland are limited in narrow range. Many topics need to keep up with the international pace, which is a direction that Chinese scholars need to make efforts. Another future direction is to learn from other disciplines to promote the development of interdisciplinary.
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2023-03-28 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： Much evidence shows that people living in low socioeconomic conditions often engage in "short-sighted behavior". They seem to focus on meeting short-term needs and aspirations rather than long-term benefits and returns, such as investing less in education, saving too little, and borrowing too much. These choices may further deepen their disadvantage and cause them to fall into the trap of "low socioeconomic status-behavioral decision-making-low socioeconomic status". Why are people living in low socioeconomic conditions more likely to be short-sighted? Previous studies believe that low socioeconomic status shapes individual preferences and values and impairs self-control. These defects make them more likely to make irrational behavioral decisions. However, in recent years, researchers have pointed out that the seemingly irrational behavior of people living in low socioeconomic conditions is an adaptive response to a threatening environment. People who live in low socioeconomic conditions always face various risks and threats, such as resource scarcity, environmental instability and unpredictability, and a bad childhood environment. If the current demand is high and the future is uncertain, it is more beneficial to obtain the smaller benefits available at present than to wait for the larger returns in the future. Scarcity theory, construction level theory, and life history theory are three representative theoretical viewpoints that answer the mechanism behind the “short-sighted behavior” of the people who live in low socioeconomic conditions from the perspective of the interaction between individual and the environment. The psychological shift model integrates them from the perspective of threat, regards the "short-sighted" behavior of the people living in low socioeconomic conditions as the product of the operation of the general social and psychological mechanism, and points out that the psychological shift triggered by threat perception is the internal mechanism of low socioeconomic status affecting intertemporal choice. Specifically, the experience of living in low socioeconomic conditions induces a “psychological shift” in response to socioecological cues. At the cognitive level, they focus on things related to scarcity when facing the threat of scarcity. At the level of thinking, they represent events concretely and contextually when facing uncertain threats. At the behavioral strategy level, once the threat cues appear, people who experience low socioeconomic conditions in childhood may notice the threat faster and switch to the fast life history strategy. These psychological shifts lead to the occurrence of "short-sighted behavior". To attribute a more practical policy value to the psychological shift model, future research can be carried out from the following aspects: First, the research perspective that "short-sightedness" is the survival strategy of people living in low socioeconomic conditions in a threatening environment needs to be further popularized. This adaptive perspective more comprehensively and accurately describes the intertemporal choice process of people living in low socioeconomic conditions, reduces the stigmatization of people living in low socioeconomic conditions to a great extent. Second, the mechanism of poverty affecting intertemporal choice needs to be further studied. The novel and enlightening psychological shift model from the perspective of threat needs much empirical research to confirm. The multilevel relationship between low socioeconomic status and intertemporal choice in different development stages still needs to be discussed. Finally, “short-sighted behavior” intervention for people living in low socioeconomic conditions needs to be carried out widely and deeply. Based on the core mechanism of eliminating threats to reduce short-sighted behavior, future studies should combine the valuable experience accumulated in the process of poverty alleviation and the internationally agreed strategies that can significantly reduce the “short-sightedness” of the people living in low socioeconomic conditions. These actions may help develop an effective intervention program in line with China's national conditions, so as to provide scientific psychological paths for realizing common prosperity.
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2023-03-28 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： Having lower socioeconomic status is one of the most well-established social predictors of poor health. However, little is known about why some lower-class individuals maintain good physical health despite experiencing adversity. From a large number of empirical studies, researchers have found that psychological factors such as the “shift-and-persist” strategy can effectively protect the health of lower-class individuals in adversity and prevent them from developing certain diseases. The present study shows that in the midst of adversity, some individuals find role models who teach them to trust others, better regulate their emotions, and focus on their future. A role model is any individual who serves as an attachment figure and provides inspiration to a child and can be a parent, extended family member, or teacher. Over a lifetime, lower-class individuals with such role models develop an approach to coping with stress that helps them accept pressures and reappraisals (shift) while enduring adversity by maintaining a sense of meaning and optimism (persist). In contrast, among higher-class individuals, proactive efforts to cope aimed at eliminating stressors and the pursuit of future goals may be more effective, given such individuals' greater access to resources for engaging in preventive behaviors, resolving situations, and influencing outcomes. The “shift-and-persist” model proposes that for lower-class individuals, developing a way of life that values changing oneself in coping with pressure while insisting on enduring adversity with strength and maintaining optimism and hope for the future can reduce the stress response, thereby protecting one's health. Why can the “shift-and-persist” strategy effectively protect the health of the lower class? Researchers have explained how a “shift-and-persist” strategy can affect the health of the lower class in reference to physiology and behavior. Specifically, the approach balances adaptation to stress and persistence at the same time, changes the physiological pathway of stress, and inhibits the physiological stress response of the lower-class in the face of adversity. In other words, the “shift-and-persist” strategy reduces responses to stress, thereby reducing the acute physiological activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis. Over time, this prevents the development of the pathogenic process and ultimately slows pathogenic disease processes over the long term among lower-class individuals. Specifically, first, a “shift-and-persist” strategy can effectively reduce the repeated activation of the HPA axis among lower-class individuals and then play a protective role in health. Cortisol, the end product of the HPA axis, is one of the most widely used physiological indicators of psychosocial stress, and researchers often use it as an indicator of HPA axis activity. Second, a “shift-and-persist” strategy can effectively regulate the inflammatory process of lower-class individuals to reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases. Low-grade inflammation has been implicated in the pathogenesis and expression of several chronic diseases associated with aging. Lower-class individuals are also more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking, sedentary lifestyles and following a high-fat diet. These unhealthy behaviors increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and cancer and of early death. Preliminary evidence shows that different dimensions of the “shift-and-persist” strategy can reduce the health-threatening behavior of lower-class individuals to reduce the risk of disease. In sum, the “shift-and-persist” strategy has drawn interest from researchers, its theoretical and practical value has been continuously examined, and it presents good development prospects. To address the problem of health poverty in a period of relative-poverty in China and better serve the health of lower-class individuals, future research can focus on the following aspects. First, research must be conducted in a longitudinal fashion to establish whether “shift-and-persist” strategies can predict health trajectories over time in children and adults. Second, from a multilevel and multipath perspective, studies must comprehensively investigate the mechanism by which a “shift-and-persist” strategy affects the health of lower-class individuals. Finally, future studies should vigorously develop intervention programs to promote a “shift-and-persist” strategy.
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2023-03-27 Cooperative journals: 《心理学报》
Abstract： Amount of historical anecdotes suggest that the heuristic prototype is an effective method to get insight. The prototype heuristic theory suppose that insight obtain when people activate a prototypical example in nature and apply it to the problem at hand. In the real life, people often encounter a problem and then a heuristic prototype help them solve this problem. Some previous studies used the quartering problem and demonstrated that the automatic activation of prototype was the key process of prototype heuristic. However, this relationship was needed to test with real-life scientific innovation problems. Moreover, the mechanism of prototype activation also needed to explore further. Thus, present study used two experiments to test the cognitive mechanism of the prototype activation with real-life scientific innovation materials. In experiment 1, forty-eight participants were recruited to complete the prototype heuristic task. There were two stages in this task. In the first stage, participants needed to learn ten scientific problems that were randomly presented. They should press some buttons to indicate whether they have some knowledge of these problems. In the second phase, ten prototypes were presented and participants should first write which scientific problem learnt in the first stages could be solved by the current prototype. Then, participants needed to write how to solve the previous scientific problem with current prototype. The dependent variables were the prototype activation and the accuracy of the problem solving. In experiment 2, forty-seven participants completed the prototype heuristic task. The procedure was the same with experiment 1 and the prototype activation was the dependent variable. In experiment 1, a regression analysis was conducted. In this analysis, the problem activation was the independent variable and the accuracy of the problem solving was the dependent variable. The result of the regression analysis was R2 = 0.893, p < 0.001. This result suggested that the problem activation was the key process of problem solving. The results of experiment 2 showed that retrieval of the key words of the scientific problem significantly influenced the association of the problem and the prototype, t(44)= 27.677, p < 0.001. Moreover, match of the key words of the prototype and scientific problem significantly influenced the activation of the problem, t (44) = 8.744, p < 0.001. In addition, semantic similarity between the key words of the scientific problem and the prototype was significantly correlated with the problem activation, r = 0.202, p < 0.05. The results also showed that the difficulty of the prototype significantly influenced the problem activation, F(2,132)= 96.73, p < 0.001, h2p = 0.594. In summary, the results suggest that problem activation was the key process in the real-life problem solving enhanced by heuristic prototype. The semantic similarity between the feature function of the prototype and the required function of the problem is the mechanism of the problem activation.
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