Department of Psychology

This study applies the Response Escalation Paradigm (REP) to examine jealousy scores across five stages of increasing relationship threat (Huelsnitz et al., 2018). Participants rated their jealousy in scenarios involving a romantic partner with either a human or AI rival in virtual reality (VR), among other conditions. Consistent with hypothesis 1, jealousy rates increased across the stages in each condition. Consistent with hypothesis 2, people reported higher jealousy for the human rival in VR compared to the AI rival in VR at Stage 1. Inconsistent with hypothesis 3, participants did not experience faster escalation (the rate of increase in jealousy as the level of threat increases across the scenarios) for the human rival in VR relative to the AI rival in VR. Exploratory analyses did not reveal significant gender differences in jealousy responses. Overall, results indicate that individuals feel jealous about AI rivals as they do with human rivals.

Infants communicate with their caregivers in a variety of ways – even before the onset of verbal language. One of the strategies infants employ is the use of deictic gestures (i.e., index points, showing, giving) to engage in communication about external referents with their partners. Previous associations have been identified that reveal relationships between infant deictic gesturing behaviors and maternal gesturing, however the number of studies that assess maternal interactive qualities simultaneously with these gesturing behaviors is minimal. In the current study, manual data annotation was employed to explore the relationships between infant deictic gesturing frequencies, maternal deictic gesturing frequencies, global maternal behaviors (sensitivity and intrusiveness) and dyadic characteristics. Infants between the ages of 12-months and 24-months (N = 61) and their mothers participated in free-play recorded via online videoconferencing. Frequencies of initiative deictic gestures were calculated. Dyads were classified as having a “pointer” or “non-pointer” infant and mother, respectively. Several significant associations were identified, including a negative association between maternal sensitivity and maternal giving (p = .009) and a positive association between maternal sensitivity and infant index finger pointing (p = .030).

Improving skills in athletic competition often requires structured guidance from coaches, who direct performers’ intentions and attention toward achieving task objectives. Traditionally, coaching follows a linear top-down model, relying on technical demonstrations, extensive verbal instructions, and corrective feedback to promote the execution of "ideal" movement patterns for improved performance. In contrast, non-linear bottom-up coaching approaches, such as differential learning (DL), intentionally introduce unconventional movement variations that may initially appear random or counterproductive. These variations encourage performers to explore the perceptual-motor landscape and disrupt established movement solutions, thereby fostering adaptability and skill development. The current study explored these considerations by investigating an alternative to the traditional action selection model of the basal ganglia (BG). The proposed model suggests that the BG mediates cortical signals from cognitive and perceptual areas to perform analog computations to generate the appropriate velocity, direction, and force output through negative feedback mechanisms. According to this model, D1 and D2receptors within the direct and indirect pathways modulate adaptive gain in velocity control by fine tuning the final motor output.

Social media’s role in daily life is on the rise, but as social media use increases, so do questions about its potential benefits or harms. This set of studies examined the relationship between social media use, wellbeing, and perceived network responsiveness, a measure of an individual’s perception about the degree to which their online social networks are caring, validating, and understanding. Two pre-registered correlational studies which employed surveys of undergraduate students (Study 1a: N = 218, Study 1b: N = 179) found that perceived network responsiveness was positively correlated with life satisfaction and negatively correlated with loneliness. A pre-registered experimental study was also conducted in which young adults recruited from a crowdsourcing platform (N = 236) were randomly assigned to either reduce social media use to ten minutes per platform per day or to continue their normal use for one week. Participants completed nine surveys (an initial survey, seven daily surveys, and one follow-up survey) about their wellbeing, perceived network responsiveness, and social media use. The results of the initial survey also showed that perceived network responsiveness was positively correlated with life satisfaction and negatively correlated with loneliness. Contrary to predictions, the relationship between experimentally manipulated social media use and change in wellbeing outcomes (i.e., life satisfaction and loneliness) was not significantly moderated by perceived network responsiveness. Additionally, there were no significant differences between conditions with regard to wellbeing outcomes. Overall, these studies demonstrated an association between perceived network responsiveness and wellbeing while underscoring the need for focus on the more social aspects of social media use.

The present study examined the relationship between Action Identification and Homosexual Identity Formation. Specifically, it examines how homosexual male individuals view their actions differently when they are “in the closet” (not open about their sexual orientation) compared to being out today (open about their sexual orientation). Homosexual male participants (N=142) took an online survey containing the internalized Homophobia scale, Self-concept clarity scale, and general demographics questions and took the Behavioral Identification Form with an additional 20 items twice (BIF+). The participants were instructed first to answer the BIF+ as if they were in the closet and later took the same form as they are today, being comfortable with their sexual orientation. Using the original 25-item BIF, a paired t-test revealed a significant difference in the out-of-the-closet (M = .65, SD = .19) from the closeted (M = .60, SD =.21), t(141) = 3.3, p < .001. The effect size measured by Cohen’s d was d=.28, indicating a small effect. With the additional 20 items, a paired t-test for the BIF+ revealed a significant difference in the out-of-the-closet (M = .69, SD = .15) condition, compared to being closeted (M = .63, SD = .19), t(141) = 4.4, p<.001. The effect size, measured by Cohen’s d, was d=.37, indicating a small effect. These findings suggest that when homosexual men are closeted, they tend to view their actions at a lower level compared to when they are open about their sexual orientation.

Mindfulness is known to positively impact behavioral and electrophysiological outcomes of inhibitory executive control following long-term practice. For example, increased accuracy and decreased reaction time, as well as neural markers of increased inhibitory processing. More evidence is emerging demonstrating increased inhibitory control following shorter-term interventions ranging from 3 days to less than 8 weeks. However, findings following single, brief (>1 hour) remain mixed. The current study measured behavioral and EEG changes on a Stroop task in 40 college students following either a 30-minute guided mindfulness meditation or audiobook listening. A breath-counting task (objective measure of mindfulness) was administered to capture the effectiveness of the intervention. Results showed the mindfulness group had trending increased accuracy on the breath-counting task post-intervention compared to controls. Equivalent performance was seen across all Stroop trial conditions regardless of group. Regarding the EEG findings, a between-group effect emerged for congruent N2 voltage at P4 and incongruent N2 voltages at FC1 indicating the mindfulness group had reduced negative voltages across both time points. There was a within-subjects x group interaction for incongruent P3b voltage at Pz; MG increased while controls decreased (opposite of what was expected). This study provides partial evidence for a single, 30-min mindfulness induction in producing a more mindful awareness compared to an audiobook control group. Findings regarding enhanced inhibitory processing following the mindfulness intervention are mixed. Contrary to expectations, our findings implicate the effectiveness of a 30-min mindfulness induction in increased resource recruitment for evaluating incongruent words in absence of behavioral effects.

Due to the increased integration of robots into industrial, service, and educational settings it is important to understand how and why individuals interact with robots. The current study aimed to explore the extent to which individuals are receptive to nonverbal communication from a robot compared to a human, and the individual differences and stimuli attributes that are related to trust ratings. A combination of eyetracking and survey measures were used to collect data, and a robot and human both performed the same gesture to allow for direct comparison of gaze patterns. Individuals utilized the offered information equivalently from agents. Survey measures indicated that trust ratings significantly differed between agents, and the perceived likability and intelligence of the agent were the greatest predictors of increased trust.

When viewing advertisements, one could be exposed to new information about the product. During that time, one could construct ad hoc categories or simple attributes for the brand-name product. The current experiment used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure bilateral frontal and temporal cortices to understand the contribution of constructing ad hoc categories and simple attributes on purchase intentions. The current experiment also examined the feasibility of using the tensor decomposition method compared to the grand averaging method in multidimensional fNIRS signal analysis. This is to see if tensor decomposition can maintain the pattern of hemodynamic response without losing the temporal dynamics and spatial array to find a more optimized time and regions of interest to average across. The current experiments consisted of two parts: 1) participants studied brand-name products for various ad hoc categories (Experiment 1) or various simple attributes (Experiment 2) and 2) pick for purchase brand-name products in a two-alternative forced choice purchase intention test. Three methods were used to analyze the hemodynamic response data: the grand averaging method, the tensor decomposition method, and the revised grand averaging method. The revised grand averaging method is the same as the grand averaging method but uses information from the tensor decomposition method to inform what time and channel to average across. There were behavioral priming benefits compared to products that were not studied. However, there were no differences across the study conditions. Results revealed processing benefits, not purchasing benefits, for brand-name products studied for different simple attributes as marked by changes in the left prefrontal cortex. The results from tensor decomposition revealed more details on the time and channels of interest than the grand averaging method. Findings suggest that studying different simple attributes of a brand-name product produces benefits in the purchase intention process. Also, findings suggest tensor decomposition is a feasible method for fNIRS signal analysis.

Previous research has demonstrated the deleterious effects of romantic relationship breakup on the self-concept and post-dissolution outcomes (Cope & Mattingly, 2021). However, individual differences in newly validated identity orientations (i.e., the preference to expand or conserve one’s sense of self; Hughes et al., 2020) may influence identity recovery. The current studies examined the influence of self-expansion preference on self-concept clarity and identity restoration mechanisms (i.e., relationship rekindling) following relationship dissolution using cross sectional (Study 1), intensive longitudinal (Study 2), and dynamical (Study 3) methods. Across studies, self-expansion preference emerged as a trait-level predictor of post-breakup experiences including self-concept clarity, distress, and relationship rekindling desire. Implications for individual experiences of romantic relationship dissolution are discussed.

During the transition into adolescence, peer relations become increasingly important and peer influence grows, commensurate with changes in the child’s social world. Previous findings indicate that youth with relatively fewer reciprocated friendships are particularly susceptible to influence in dyadic settings, raising the possibility that friendedness may also heighten susceptibility to group influence. The current study examined the hypothesis that a lack of reciprocated friendships increases susceptibility to academic and behavioral peer group norms because youth with few friends are eager to increase affiliative opportunities and minimize the risk of being perceived as social misfits.
Participants were 419 (204 girls, 215 boys) middle school (5th-7th; M=12.01 years old) Lithuanian students in 23 classes. Students identified up to five friends from a class roster. Adolescents were classified into two groups based on friendedness: few (i.e., 0-1; n=169) over several (i.e., 2 or more; n=250) reciprocated friendships. Self-reports of conduct problems, school burnout, and school grades were collected twice during an academic year (M=12.3 weeks apart). Academic achievement, disruptiveness, physical aggression, and popularity were assessed through peer nominations. Status-based norms were calculated as within-classroom correlations between peer reports of popularity and each target outcome. Descriptive norms (means and medians) were calculated as classroom averages and medians of each target outcome. Multilevel models examined whether friendedness moderated associations between norms (status-based and descriptive) and changes in target outcomes.