The other-race effect (ORE) is a robust phenomenon manifested as faster and more accurate recognition of same-race faces, and is particularly stable for female face recognition. However, the underlying mechanism of the female-face recognition advantage in the ORE remains unclear. The present study used two behavioral experiments to explore the ORE under supraliminal and subliminal conditions by systematically manipulating the presentation time of the first face. The results showed that the ORE became increasingly significant as the involvement of cognitive resources decreased in the supraliminal condition, and this effect was primarily driven by female-face materials. Under the subliminal condition, the ORE was attenuated overall but persisted for female-face materials. These findings suggest that the ORE is modulated by cognitive resource availability, and that same-race female face recognition may reflect a processing mode consistent with intuitive processing, potentially operating with limited cognitive resources.

Building on the importance of sociality in grounding abstract concepts, this study investigated how concept type shapes recognition memory for social stimuli. Participants engaged in text-based dialogues about abstract or concrete concepts with virtual agents, after which recognition of names and faces, as well as perceived closeness, was measured. The procedure included a preliminary, context-based validation of linguistic dimensions adapted from Italian into Romanian, given the absence of prior norming studies. Discussions of abstract concepts elicited more uncertainty expressions, questions, turn-taking, general statements, affective content, and overt beliefs, thus offering converging evidence for the adequacy of the translated stimuli and previously reported differences in socio-cognitive engagement. Differential recognition effects facilitated by abstract concept conversations were observed for faces, but not for names. The higher salience of faces could not be ascribed straightforwardly to cognitive load or faster processing, as this interpretation was incompatible with the reaction times observed, which did not differ across conditions in either the encoding or the recognition phase. This, coupled with the absence of corresponding effects for names, which are typically recognized at least as well as faces in matched recognition paradigms, is consistent with a greater involvement of social cognitive processes during abstract concept processing. Overall, the results indicate that abstract concept processing modulates recognition memory for social stimuli. The experimental design is intended to be simple and reproducible, enabling cumulative future research on the relationship between concept types and other cognitive processes.

Social cognition encompasses the emotional and cognitive processes that enable individuals to understand and respond to the emotions and mental states of others, which is essential for effective social interaction. Traditional assessments of social cognition have been criticized for providing limited contextual information, relying on static stimuli, and failing to reflect social cognitive functioning during real-life interactions. This review focuses on advancing virtual reality (VR) methods for assessing social cognition, highlighting their capability to create interactive and realistic social scenarios that enhance ecological validity. A focused narrative review was conducted using predefined eligibility criteria to identify VR-based tools for the assessment of social cognition in adults. Studies were selected based on their use of multidimensional approaches, particularly those assessing theory of mind alongside other social cognitive components and demonstrating potential for clinical application. REALSoCog Task, the VR version of the Norwegian adaptation of the Awareness of Social Inference Test (N-TASIT), and CogMap for Social Cognition (CogMap-SC) are prominent tools that utilize VR to assess various components of social cognition. These VR-based assessments provide a more sensitive and comprehensive approach to measuring social cognition. Although these tools offer significant advantages in assessing social cognitive functioning, it is crucial to acknowledge their limitations, including technological challenges and limitations in the evaluation of their psychometric properties. Overall, this review provides an overview of the potential of virtual reality-based tools in advancing the assessment of social cognition.

This study examines predictors of students' perceived learning effectiveness from generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in higher education by integrating psychological, behavioral, and cognitive perspectives. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was employed. Quantitative data were collected through a survey of 658 higher education students and analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression to examine the statistical contribution of GenAI usage patterns, perceived critical-thinking change, trust in GenAI, attitudes toward GenAI, self-efficacy for learning with GenAI, and cognitive offloading, while controlling for GPA, instructor policy toward GenAI, language of study, access type, and frequency of use. The results showed that, in the theoretically specified order of entry, the psychological block-comprising self-efficacy, attitudes, and trust-produced the largest incremental increase in explained variance. Trust remained positively associated with perceived learning effectiveness, whereas cognitive offloading was not statistically significant in the final model. Contextual variables showed limited explanatory power after psychological, behavioral, and cognitive variables were introduced. The final model explained 68.8% of the variance in students' perceived learning effectiveness from GenAI. To explain these findings, qualitative interviews were conducted with 11 students. Thematic analysis indicated that students perceived GenAI as most beneficial when used intentionally and reflectively for explanation, idea generation, and revision. Students with higher self-efficacy described more strategic engagement, including iterative prompting and verification of outputs, while excessive reliance on GenAI was perceived as potentially reducing cognitive engagement. Overall, the findings suggest that students' perceived learning effectiveness from GenAI is associated with psychological readiness, behavioral usage patterns, and perceived cognitive engagement, while contextual control variables exhibit comparatively limited explanatory power. The study provides theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research.

Context reinstatement can be defined as an effect that enhances memory by reinstating contextual features from the encoding phase during retrieval. Early experimental studies revealed varying degrees of this effect in both recall and recognition memory tasks. These findings led to the development of different hypotheses regarding the factors influencing context reinstatement, often linking it to recollection-based memory processes. The main objective of the present review is to examine the methodological factors affecting context reinstatement with a primary focus on-but not limited to- two prevailing hypotheses: the outshining hypothesis and the item-context-ensemble hypothesis. In addition, the review critically considers the extent to which context reinstatement may be associated with recollection- and familiarity-based memory processes and the potential influence of response bias, an issue that has been largely overlooked in previous research. Reinstating the study context at test seems to aid memory in experimental designs where (i) the context was semantically rich, (ii) the stimulus was unfamiliar, (iii) the cue load was low, (iv) interactive encoding between the context and the stimulus was employed, and (v) the retention interval was relatively long. Methodological heterogeneity across studies and the tools used to assess memory accuracy may be key sources of conflicting findings. Building on the limitations of existing research, this review offers recommendations to support more systematic and insightful investigations of context effects on memory.

This paper examines the claim that the phenomenal "for-me-ness" is the core feature of every conscious experience. Any conscious episode is intrinsically given as mine, and this mineness, while non-reflective and non-cognitive, belongs to the personal and phenomenal level. The compatibility checks for the for-me-ness thesis comes from cases such as depersonalization, schizophrenia, infancy and autism. I argue that this view lacks evidential support beyond the phenomenological descriptions it was built to interpret and that these phenomena receive better explanations that do not require positing for-me-ness.

This study examined the effect of problematic short-video use on attention network performance among college students. Based on the screening results of the SPAI, the adapted IAT, and a scale adapted from the DSM-5 IGD symptom criteria, 34 college students were included in the problematic short-video use group and 37 in the control group. Both groups completed the Attention Network Test (ANT), with reaction time and accuracy recorded, and the effects of the alerting, orienting, and executive control networks calculated. Independent-samples t tests and repeated-measures analysis of variance were used to compare group differences. The results showed that the orienting network effect in the problematic short-video use group was significantly lower than that in the control group, whereas no significant differences were found in the alerting network effect or the executive control network effect. Repeated-measures analysis of variance showed a significant main effect of cue condition on reaction time and a significant group × cue condition interaction; the main effect of target condition was significant, but the group × target condition interaction was not significant. Accuracy results showed that the problematic short-video use group had lower overall accuracy than the control group, but the group × cue condition and group × target condition interactions were not significant. College students with problematic short-video use mainly showed a reduced orienting network effect, suggesting that they may have lower efficiency in using spatial cues, shifting attention, and locating targets, rather than a general decline in attention function. This study provides preliminary behavioral evidence for understanding the relationship between problematic short-video use and attention network performance.

Previous studies have revealed conflicting results as regards whether second language (L2) learners decompose morphologically complex words during online reading or process them in a whole-word manner. To resolve such controversies, first language (L1) morphological characteristics have been proposed as one factor leading to variation in L2 performance. Evidence for the argument of L1 morphological effects includes (1) that L2 learners from an L1 with a similar/congruent morphological feature outperform those from an L1 without a similar corresponding morphological feature and (2) that there is an advantage for L2 learners from an L1 with a more complex morphological system. In this paper, we examine the design of these studies and identify two potentially confounding factors that most studies have failed to consider when comparing L2 learners from different L1 morphological backgrounds: cognateness and L1 writing system. We suggest that studies examining L1 morphological effects recruit L2 groups whose L1s differ in their morphological system characteristics but share the same type of writing system, while also stringently excluding cognates in the design of experimental materials.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on the prefrontal and posterior parietal cortex can enhance mental rotation (MR) performance, whereas little is known about cerebellar tDCS (ctDCS). This study aimed to evaluate effects of ctDCS on a MR task. Fifty-five healthy subjects were randomly assigned to active-ctDCS (1.5 mA; 20 min; n = 28) or sham-ctDCS (n = 27). Participants performed a MR task before (T0) and after (T1) stimulation. In each trial, two shapes appeared on a computer screen, one randomly rotated by 0, 45, 90, or 135 degrees. Subjects pressed the A or L key to indicate whether the shapes were identical or mirrored. A linear mixed model was run on the reaction times (RTs) recorded in each trial. Percent change in RTs (%RT) from T0 to T1 was also computed and analyzed using a second mixed-effects model with planned contrasts. A significant main effect of Time revealed RTs decreased from T0 (M = 3079.35, SE = 102.27) to T1 (M = 2565.36, SE = 102.27). No significant main effects or interactions involving Group were observed in either RT or %RT models. Planned contrasts revealed a single significant difference between groups in the 0° same condition, with the ctDCS group showing a greater reduction in %RT compared to the sham group. No other significant effects were found. ctDCS did not produce a global improvement in MR but showed selective effects under minimal spatial transformation demands. Further studies with different stimulation protocols are needed to clarify its role.

Language is a cognitive domain essential for communication; however, its responsiveness to acute physical exercise or activity is unexplored. This quasi-randomized trial examined the effects of different intervention modalities on verbal functions and attention. Ninety-eight participants were assigned to high-intensity interval training (HIIT), coordinatively demanding motor activity (COOR), or a sedentary control group (CG). A pre-post design with a 24-hour follow-up assessed semantic (VFsem) and category-switching verbal fluency (VFsw), verbal learning, and attention. No group × time effects were observed for verbal learning encoding (p = .258); however, HIIT showed a steeper learning slope compared to CG (p = .044). Following an interference list, proactive interference was unaffected (p = .428), whereas retroactive interference differed significantly between groups (p = .019), with CG showing lower susceptibility than both intervention groups. No group differences were found for consolidation after 20 min or 24 h (p's ≥ .271). Semantic verbal fluency improved significantly following HIIT relative to CG (p = .029), with no significant effects in VFsw (p = .221) or attention (p = .187). We conclude an intensity-dependent pattern following the interventions, manifesting as enhanced semantic lexical retrieval and an exploratory finding of a steeper encoding following HIIT, compared to CG, with COOR in between, accompanied by an increased susceptibility to retroactive interference.

Self-prioritization effect (SPE) refers to the perceptual benefit for self-associated information during the perceptual judgement task. Recent work on SPE shows the role of valenced self in the self-prioritization. This subtle comprehension is particularly relevant to the research of self-disgust, a negatively valenced self-conscious emotion that includes feelings of revulsion and avoidance toward the self. In the current paper, we examined whether the negative self-judgments, which are implicated in self-disgust, influence the extent of SPE. To achieve this, we employed a standard perceptual matching task with four labels: self, stranger, desirable self, and disgusting self. Individual's self-disgust was measured using the Self Disgust Scale (SDS). Our results showed standard SPE with faster responses for the self than for stranger. In addition, we also observed greater prioritization of the "desirable-self" but not the "disgusting-self." Importantly, reaction times for the "desirable-self" were comparable to the "self", whereas the "disgusting-self" showed comparable RTs to the "stranger". Additionally, we observed a significant negative correlation between SDS and both desirable and disgusting self, and no correlation between self and SDS, suggesting that individual differences in self-disgust sensitivity modulate the speed of processing for valenced self-representations. Implications for the role of the "positive-self construct" and negative-self deprioritization are discussed.

Little research has been conducted on how the two cerebral hemispheres are involved when readers generate inferences about the emotion of characters in a text. It is unclear how the cerebral hemispheres process inference-related information about text that is positively and negatively valenced. In the current study, participants read texts which promoted an inference about either a positive (Experiment 1) or negative (Experiment 2) emotional state of a character. Using the divided visual-field paradigm, participants performed a lexical decision task for target words consistent with the inferred character's emotional state, which were presented to either the left visual field-right hemisphere or the right visual field-left hemisphere. Results showed facilitation in both hemispheres when readers generated negatively-valenced character inferences, but no facilitation effects were found for positively-valenced character inferences. A negativity bias may be present in which readers more quickly infer negatively-valenced character emotions compared to positively-valenced character emotions in a text.

There is growing interdisciplinary interest in the potential for 'nature-based interventions' (NBIs) to foster physical, social, cognitive, and emotional well-being in children. This review aims to identify the methodological strengths and weaknesses of NBIs and analyze the various activities conducted in NBIs that enhance developmental domains in children. The systematic search was conducted using electronic databases such as PubMed, PsycINFO, Taylor and Francis, and Google Scholar from inception to the present. Children aged 4-12 without health or developmental conditions were eligible to participate in the review. Out of 5168 studies, 12 quantitative studies were selected with an overall sample size of (N = 2,444) inclusion/exclusion criteria. Two authors independently performed the literature search, record screening, data extraction, and quality assessment of each included systematic review. The risk of bias in the systematic reviews was assessed using a well-established modified McMaster Critical Review Form for quantitative studies. Due to the heterogeneity of activities delivered in interventions and measurements, there is a lack of evidence to draw firm conclusions regarding the effectiveness of NBIs. Despite the need to overcome some challenges and knowledge gaps, the studies consistently suggest that NBIs profoundly affect children's socio-emotional, physical, and cognitive domains.

Readers are frequently exposed to background speech while reading, which slows reading speed and reduces comprehension accuracy-a phenomenon known as the irrelevant speech effect (ISE). The Semantic Interference Hypothesis proposes that only intelligible speech disrupts reading, whereas the Phonological Interference Hypothesis predicts that both intelligible and unintelligible speech cause disruption. However, empirical findings have not provided unequivocal support for either account. The present study addressed this issue by using a three-level meta-analysis. After a systematic search and screening, 30 studies were included, yielding 606 effect sizes. The results showed that, compared to the silence condition, intelligible speech slowed down the whole reading processing and prolonged lexical processing. Unintelligible speech also slowed down reading and affected post-lexical stages of lexical processing, as reflected in longer go-past time and total fixation duration. Importantly, intelligible speech exerted a stronger disruptive effect than unintelligible speech, by increasing reading time and delaying lexical processing across all stages. These results suggest that both intelligible and unintelligible speech interfere with reading, but intelligible speech causes greater disruption than unintelligible speech. The Phonological and the Semantic Interference Hypotheses only provide partial accounts for these findings, whereas the Process Interference Hypothesis offers a more comprehensive explanation.