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CN 11-1911/B
25 April 2024, Volume 56 Issue 4 Previous Issue    Next Issue
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Reports of Empirical Studies
Morphological structures of two-character words influence character position encoding
SU Xingzhi, LI Xiaoxuan, LI Rongrong, ZHAO Changze, CUI Lei
2024, 56 (4):  383-393.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00383
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The Transposed-Letter effect (TL effect) demonstrates the importance of letter position encoding in word recognition, highlighting its stable flexibility. In order to understand the processing mechanisms of word recognition, recent research investigated letter position encoding in words with different morphological structures. If the compound word is processed in the morphological decomposition manner, the transposition across morphemes will cause more interference than within morphemes. Resulting in a reduced TL effect. In Chinese, it was also found that the character position encoding is flexible, which is demonstrated by the Transposed-Character (TC) effect. It was examined whether the character position encoding is different between the monomorphemic word and the compound word. And no significant difference was found between them. It indicates that the compound word is accessed in a holistic route. However, the Chinese compound word consists of various types of morphological structures. Since the semantic role of each morpheme is different across morphological structures, the subordinative compound word, which is formed by a modifier and a semantic headedness, might have more rigid character position encoding than the coordinative compound word, which is formed by two semantic headednesses. Then causes different processing mechanisms. Therefore, this study employed eye-tracking technology and the boundary paradigm to explore character position encoding in different morphological structures of two-character words.
Seventy-eight students participated in the experiment, which utilized a 3 (Word type: monomorphemic word, subordinate compound, coordinative compound) × 3 (Preview type: identical preview, transposed preview, unrelated preview) within-participants design. We hypothesized the TC effect exists in all types of the two-character word. However, for the processing of the subordinative compound word, the assignment of the semantic role is needed. Thus, the character flexibility of the subordinative compound word should be lower than that of the coordinative compound and monomorphemic word, which is indicated by the lower TC effect for the subordinative compound word.
The results showed that the fixation times (First fixation, Gaze duration, and Regression path reading time) of transposed previews were significantly shorter than those of unrelated previews. It indicates a significant TC effect and demonstrates the flexibility of character position encoding. Furthermore, the fixation time of identical previews was significantly shorter than that of transposed previews. It indicates that character position encoding is important in accurate word recognition. We also found an interaction effect between word type and preview type. The subordinate compound word exhibited a smaller TC effect than the coordinative compound word and the monomorphemic word. However, the TC effect of the coordinative compound word did not differ from that of the monomorphemic word. Additionally, the difference between the identical preview and the transposed preview conditions was greater for the subordinate compound word than for the coordinative compound word and the monomorphemic word. However, the difference between identical preview and transposed preview conditions of the coordinative compound word did not differ from that of the monomorphemic word. The means and standard deviations are shown in Table 1, and the results of the linear mixed effects models are shown in Table 2.
In conclusion, the character position encoding of the monomorphemic word and the coordinative compound word showed greater flexibility than that of the subordinate compound word. At the same time, no significant difference was observed between the monomorphemic word and the coordinative compound word. These findings suggest that the morphological structure of the two-character word directly influences the TC effect, supporting the dual-route race model of the processing of the morphological complex word and providing empirical support for the Chinese reading model.

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Spatial generalization of serial dependence in visual duration perception
WANG Biyao, CHEN Chen, HU Xiaofei, WANG Di, LI Baolin
2024, 56 (4):  394-411.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00394
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To establish a stable and sensitive experience of the world, the brain tends to use recent history when forming perceptual decisions. This results in serial dependence in perception, by which previous trials affect the current perception. The serial dependence effect can be divided into (at least) two categories: the effect of previous stimuli (i.e., the stimulus serial dependence effect) and the effect of previous decisions (i.e., the decisional serial dependence effect) on the current perception. Although separate stimulus and decisional serial dependence effects have been demonstrated in duration perception, their spatial selectivity is unclear. In the present study, we investigated whether and how serial dependence in duration perception generalizes across different visual positions of stimuli.
The modified temporal bisection task was used in three experiments. During the Experiment 1, the visual stimulus (a white Gaussian blob) was pseudorandomly presented in the central or peripheral (10° from the left fixation) visual field. Participants were asked to judge whether the duration of the test stimulus (i.e., 300, 395, 520, 684, or 900 ms) was shorter or longer than a reference stimulus of intermediate duration (i.e., 520 ms) once the test stimulus disappeared. To investigate the separate effects of previous stimuli and previous choices on the current duration perception, one-sample t-tests were conducted on the βprev_stimulus and βprev_choice coefficients. The results found that the βprev_stimulus coefficients in all conditions were significantly smaller than zero (CC: t(23) = −4.88, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = −1.00, 95% CI [−1.28, −0.52]; PP: t(23) = −4.61, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = −0.94, 95% CI [−0.83, −0.32]; PC: t(23) = −5.57, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = −1.14, 95% CI [−0.96, −0.44]; CP: t(23) = −3.71, p = 0.001, Cohen’s d = −0.76, 95% CI [−0.87, −0.25], see Figure 1A), and the βprev_choice coefficients were significantly larger than zero (CC: t(23) = 12.82, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 2.62, 95% CI [1.06, 1.47]; PP: t(23) = 17.49, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 3.57, 95% CI [1.18, 1.50]; PC: t(23) = 3.08, p = 0.005, Cohen’s d = 0.63, 95% CI [0.09, 0.47]; CP: t(23) = 4.22, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.86, 95% CI [0.15, 0.45], see Figure 1B). The 2 (position: central vision, peripheral vision) × 2 (context: consistent, inconsistent) repeated-measures ANOVAs were conducted on the βprev_stimulus and βprev_choice coefficients, respectively. Results based on βprev_stimulus showed that the main effect of position was marginally significant (F(1, 23) = 3.93, p = 0.060, ηp2 = 0.15), while the main effect of context (F(1, 23) = 0.69, p = 0.415) and their interaction (F(1, 23) = 0.83, p = 0.372) were not significant. The main effect of context was significant (F(1, 23) = 198.87, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.90), while the main effect of position (F(1, 23) = 0.54, p = 0.468) and their interaction (F(1, 23) = 0.34, p = 0.567) were not significant, for the βprev_choice. These results showed that previous stimulus duration and previous choice exerted opposing effects on serial dependence of duration perception: specifically, a repulsive stimulus serial dependence and an attractive decisional serial dependence. In other words, current duration estimates were repelled away from the previous trial’s stimulus duration but attracted toward the previous choice. Moreover, these results showed that the stimulus serial dependence fully transferred across the central and peripheral visual fields, while the decisional serial dependence effect could only be partially transferred across the central and peripheral visual fields.
The task of Experiment 2 was similar to that of Experiment 1, except that the visual stimulus was pseudorandomly located at either 5° to the left or 5° to the right of the central fixation. The one-sample t-tests showed that the βprev_stimulus coefficients in all conditions were significantly smaller than zero (LL: t(22) = −2.48, p = 0.021, Cohen’s d = −0.52, 95% CI [−0.65, −0.06]; RR: t(22) = −2.43, p = 0.024, Cohen’s d = −0.51, 95% CI [−0.67, −0.05]; RL: t(22) = −3.17, p = 0.004, Cohen’s d = −0.66, 95% CI [−0.84, −0.17]; LR: t(22) = −2.97, p = 0.007, Cohen’s d = −0.62, 95% CI [−0.81, −0.14], see Figure 2A), and the βprev_choice coefficients were significantly larger than zero (LL: t(22) = 11.50, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 2.40, 95% CI [0.92, 1.33]; RR: t(22) = 8.49, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 1.77, 95% CI [0.79, 1.30]; RL: t(22) = 4.50, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.94, 95% CI [0.28, 0.77]; LR: t(22) = 4.66, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.97, 95% CI [0.30, 0.78], see Figure 2B). The 2 (position: left, right) × 2 (context: consistent, inconsistent) repeated-measures ANOVAs were conducted on the βprev_stimulus and βprev_choice coefficients, respectively. Results of βprev_stimulus showed that none of the main effects of position (F(1, 22) = 0.01, p = 0.941), context (F(1, 22) = 0.96, p = 0.339), and their interaction (F(1, 22) = 0.02, p = 0.878) was significant. The results of βprev_choice showed that the main effect of context was significant (F(1, 22) = 68.36, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.76), while the main effect of position (F(1, 22) = 0.26, p = 0.616) and their interaction (F(1, 22) = 0.60, p = 0.449) were not significant. Additionally, the stimulus serial dependence could be fully transferred across the left and right visual fields, while the decisional serial dependence effect could only be partially transferred across the left and right visual fields. These results further indicate that the serial dependences could occur in the peripheral visual field.
In Experiment 3, the positions of both the fixation and the visual stimulus were changed; there were thus four types of positional relationships between stimuli across trials (i.e., identity, retinal position change, external position change, and both changes). The one-sample t-tests showed that the βprev_stimulus coefficients in all conditions were significantly smaller than zero (SC: t(23) = −5.84, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = −1.19, 95% CI [−1.66, −0.79]; RC: t(23) = −6.38, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = −1.30, 95% CI [−1.34, −0.68]; BC: t(23) = −6.21, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = −1.27, 95% CI [−1.58, −0.79]; NC: t(23) = −5.24, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = −1.07, 95% CI [−1.56, −0.68], see Figure 3A), and the βprev_choice coefficients were significantly larger than zero (SC: t(23) = 6.60, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 1.35, 95% CI [0.45, 0.85]; RC: t(23) =5.76, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 1.18, 95% CI [0.34, 0.72]; BC: t(23) = 7.18, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 1.47, 95% CI [0.50, 0.90]; NC: t(23) = 9.90, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 2.02, 95% CI [0.93, 1.43], see Figure 3B). The one-way repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted separately on the βprev_stimulus and βprev_choice coefficients. Results showed that the main effect of position on βprev_stimulus was not significant (F(3, 69) = 0.25, p = 0.861), while the main effect on βprev_choice was significant (F(3, 69) = 8.54, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.27). The post-hoc test (Bonferroni) revealed that βprev_choice coefficient in the NC condition was significantly larger than those in other conditions (SC: pbonf < 0.001, Cohen’s d = −1.30; RC: pbonf = 0.002, Cohen’s d = −1.07; BC: pbonf = 0.006, Cohen’s d = −0.96). These results demonstrated that the stimulus serial dependence fully transferred across different spatiotopic and retinotopic positions. However, we found that the decisional serial dependence effect was larger in the position-consistent context than in the position-inconsistent context. This indicates that the decisional serial dependence effect could only be partially transferred across different visual positions regardless of the types of positions (i.e., spatiotopic vs. retinotopic).
To sum up, both previous stimuli duration and previous choices affect subsequent perceptual decisions about duration, resulting in repulsive and attractive serial dependence effects, respectively. The repulsive stimulus serial dependence effect fully generalizes across different visual positions, suggesting it occurs primarily in higher-level visual areas. This also implies the existence of fast-duration adaptation. The attractive decisional serial dependence effect suggests that there is decision inertia in perceptual choices. Moreover, this effect is partly contingent on the visual position, which may result from the category organization function of higher-order brain areas. This suggests that the brain takes advantage of the visual position context when forming the decisional prior. These findings are helpful for understanding the plasticity of duration perception.

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Cognitive mechanisms underlying the formation of offline representations in visual working memory
LI Ziyuan, LEI Ming, LIU Qiang
2024, 56 (4):  412-420.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00412
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Visual working memory plays a crucial role in understanding the dynamic changes of visual environment. According to the state-based models of working memory, memory representations can be stored in either an online or offline state, between which they flexibly transferred according to task requirements. However, it was currently unclear how offline memory representations formed. This study aimed to empirically examine two possible state transformation hypotheses: consolidation hypothesis and fade-away hypothesis. This study utilized a sequential-encoding-sequential-retrieval memory paradigm to effectively guide memory representations to be stored in two different storage states. We manipulated the interval delay and presentation time, which were relevant to the state transformation process. The results suggested that insufficient time caused overlap and resource competition between state transformation process of memory representations and active processing of subsequent new stimuli. These findings aligned with consolidation hypothesis, indicating that state transformation acted as a process of consolidating online memory representations into the offline state, thereby forming offline memory representations.

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The spontaneity of Level-1 visual perspective taking: Under the condition of multiple avatars
DOU Yan, LI Jing
2024, 56 (4):  421-434.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00421
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The spontaneity of Level-1 visual perspective taking has been widely discussed in the field of visual perspective taking. Many studies have confirmed that Level-1 visual perspective taking is spontaneously activated, but this finding has mainly been observed in the context of a single avatar’s presence. Scenarios involving two or more avatars have received scant attention. Specifically, no suitable experimental paradigm has been developed for situations with multiple avatars in this domain. Therefore, the paradigm adapted from those employed by Samson et al. (2010) and Mattan et al. (2015) was used in this study. The stimuli of virtual scenes were modeled by 3D Max, and the experimental procedures were programmed by E-Prime, recording the accuracy rate and reaction time. In contrast to previous studies, this paper explores whether and how the multiple avatars affect the process of Level-1 visual perspective taking, and clarifies the influencing factors by varying the conditions.
This study comprises three experiments. In Experiment 1, the paradigm adapted from the classic “dot-perspective task” was employed (see Figure 1) to investigate whether participants would spontaneously compute another perspective in the presence of a single avatar (target avatar). In Experiment 2, an additional avatar (irrelevant avatar) is introduced to explore how the consistency in the number of dots seen by the avatars would affect the perspective-taking process (see Figure 2). Subsequently, Experiment 3 excluded the influence of the consistency in the number of dots seen by the avatars and investigated whether consistency in the line of sight would impact the presence of multiple avatars (see Figure 3).
The results of three experiments are shown in Table 1-3.
In Experiment 1, the results of 2×2 repeated measures analysis of variance for accuracy were as follows: (1) The main effect of judging perspective was not significant, F(1, 31) = 0.01, p = 0.93. (2) The main effect of self-avatar dot-number consistency was significant, F(1, 31) = 32.31, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.51, 95% CI = [0.03, 0.07], the accuracy under consistent condition (M = 0.97, SE = 0.01) was higher than that under inconsistent condition (M = 0.92, SE = 0.01). (3) The interaction effect of judging perspective and self-avatar dot-number consistency was not significant, F(1, 31) = 0.12, p = 0.93.
The results for response time of correct responses were as follows: (1) The main effect of judging perspective was significant, F(1, 31) = 53.83, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.64, 95% CI = [−91.45, −51.66], the response time was shorter when judged from the self’s perspective (M = 732.72 ms, SE = 29.01 ms) than from the avatar’s perspective (M = 804.27 ms, SE = 29.24 ms). (2) The main effect of self-avatar dot-number consistency was significant, F(1, 31) = 96.09, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.76, 95% CI = [−80.78, −52.96], the response time was shorter under consistent condition (M = 735.06 ms, SE = 27.38 ms) than that under inconsistent condition (M = 801.93 ms, SE = 30.38 ms). (3) The interaction effect of judging perspective and self-avatar dot-number consistency was significant, F(1, 31) = 42.86, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.58. Simple effects analysis showed that under the self’s perspective, the response time was significantly shorter when self-avatar dot-number was consistent (M = 715.49 ms, SE = 27.87 ms) than when inconsistency was present (M = 749.94 ms, SE = 30.72 ms), F(1, 31) = 16.12, p < 0.001; under the avatar’s perspective, the response time was also significantly shorter when self-avatar dot-number was consistent (M = 754.62 ms, SE = 27.72 ms) than when inconsistency was present (M = 853.92 ms, SE = 31.24 ms), F(1, 31) = 143.93, p < 0.001; however, under the avatar’s perspective, the regression line for the response time affected by self-avatar dot-number consistency was steeper (see Figure 4).
In Experiment 2, the repeated measures ANOVA with 2×2×2 design was conducted. The results of accuracy rate are as follows: (1) The main effect of judging perspective was significant, F(1, 33) = 13.18, p < 0.01, η2 p = 0.29, 95% CI = [0.02, 0.06]. When judged from self’s perspective (M = 0.95, SE = 0.01), the accuracy rate was higher than that from avatar A’s perspective (M = 0.91, SE = 0.01). (2) The main effect of self-avatar A dot-number consistency was significant, F(1, 33) = 25.10, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.43, 95% CI = [0.03, 0.07]. When self’s and avatar A’s dot number was consistent (M = 0.96, SE < 0.01), the accuracy rate is higher than that when inconsistent (M = 0.91, SE = 0.01). (3) The main effect of avatar A-B dot-number consistency was not significant, F(1, 33) = 0.53, p = 0.47. (4) The interaction effect of judging perspective and self-avatar A dot-number consistency was significant, F(1, 33) = 10.80, p < 0.01, η2 p = 0.25. When judged from avatar A’s perspective, the accuracy rate is significantly higher when self’s and avatar A’s dot number was consistent (M = 0.96, SE = 0.01) than when inconsistent (M = 0.87, SE = 0.02), F(1, 33) = 21.34, p < 0.001; while judged from self’s perspective, there was no significant difference in accuracy rate between the two conditions, F(1, 33) = 2.60, p = 0.12. (5) The interaction effect of judging perspective and self-avatar A dot-number consistency was not significant, F(1, 33) = 3.24, p = 0.08. (6) The interaction effect of self-avatar A dot-number consistency and avatar A-B dot-number consistency was not significant, F(1, 33) = 0.77, p = 0.39. (7) The three-way interaction effect of three variables was significant, F(1, 33) = 6.90, p < 0.05, η2 p = 0.17. Only when judged from self’s perspective and self’s and avatar A’s dot number was inconsistent, the accuracy rate of avatar A-B dot-number consistency (M = 0.96, SE = 0.01) was significantly higher than that of inconsistency (M = 0.93, SE = 0.01), F(1, 33) = 5.41, p = 0.03. No significant effect was found in other directions, Fs < 2.45, ps > 0.13. See Figure 5 for details.
The results for response time of correct responses were as follows: (1) The main effect of judging perspective was significant, F(1, 33) = 99.37, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.75, 95% CI = [−189.28, −125.11]. When judged from self’s perspective (M = 796.72 ms, SE = 36.88 ms), the correct response time was shorter than that judged from other perspective (M = 953.91 ms, SE = 40.29 ms). (2) The main effect of self-avatar A dot-number consistency was significant, F(1, 33) = 121.44, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.79, 95% CI = [−79.47, −54.70]. When self’s and avatar A’s dot number was consistent (M = 841.77 ms, SE = 37.35 ms), the correct response time was shorter than that when inconsistent (M = 908.86 ms, SE = 38.50 ms). (3) The main effect of avatar A-B dot-number consistency was not significant, F(1, 33) = 0.04, p = 0.85. (4) The interaction effect of judging perspective and self-avatar A dot-number consistency was significant, F(1, 33) = 75.07, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.70. When judged from avatar A’s perspective, the correct response time when self’s and avatar A’s dot number was consistent (M = 888.16 ms, SE = 38.75 ms) was significantly shorter than that when inconsistent (M = 1019.67 ms, SE = 42.48 ms), F(1, 33) = 146.30, p < 0.001; but this significant difference did not exist when judged from self’s perspective, F(1, 33) = 0.11, p = 0.75. (5) The interaction effect of judging perspective and avatar A-B dot-number consistency was significant, F(1, 33) = 11.04, p < 0.01, η2 p = 0.25. When judged from self’s perspective, the correct response time when avatar A’s and B’s dot number was consistent (M = 787.07 ms, SE = 37.09 ms) was significantly shorter than that when inconsistent (M = 806.36 ms, SE = 37.21 ms); but this significant difference did not exist when judged from avatar A’s perspective, F(1, 33) = 2.29, p = 0.14. (6) The interaction effect of self-avatar A dot-number consistency and avatar A-B dot-number consistency was significant, F(1, 33) = 21.25, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.39. When the self’s and avatar A’s dot number was consistent, the correct response time when avatar A’s and B’s dot number was consistent (M = 825.45 ms, SE = 38.13 ms) was significantly shorter than that when inconsistent (M = 858.10 ms, SE = 37.05 ms), F(1, 33) = 14.42, p < 0.001; when the self’s and avatar A’s dot number was inconsistent, the correct response time when avatar A’s and B’s dot number was inconsistent (M = 894.13 ms, SE = 36.78 ms) was significantly shorter than that when consistent (M = 923.58 ms, SE = 41.11 ms), F(1, 33) = 5.63, p < 0.05. (7) The three-way interaction effect of three variables was not significant, F(1, 33) = 2.58, p = 0.12; see Figure 6 for details.
In Experiment 3, the repeated measures ANOVA with 2×2×2 design was conducted. The results of accuracy rate are as follows: (1) The main effect of judging perspective was significant, F(1, 36) = 106.09, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.75, 95% CI = [0.04, 0.06]. When judged from self’s perspective (M = 0.96, SE = 0.01), the accuracy rate was significantly higher than that judged from avatar A’s perspective (M = 0.91, SE = 0.01). (2) The main effect of self-avatar A dot-number consistency was significant, F(1, 36) = 105.11, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.75, 95% CI = [0.04, 0.06]. When self’s and avatar A’s dot number was consistent (M = 0.96, SE = 0.01), the accuracy rate was significantly higher than that when inconsistent (M = 0.91, SE = 0.01). (3) The main effect of avatar A-B line of sight consistency was significant, F(1, 36) = 10.36, p < 0.01, η2 p = 0.22, 95% CI = [0.01, 0.03]. When avatar A’s and B’s line of sight was consistent (M = 0.94, SE = 0.01), the accuracy rate was significantly higher than that when inconsistent (M = 0.92, SE = 0.01). (4) The interaction effect of judging perspective and self-avatar A dot-number consistency was significant, F(1, 36) = 74.76, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.68. When judged from avatar A’s perspective, the accuracy rate when self’s and avatar A’s dot number was consistent (M = 0.96, SE = 0.01) was significantly higher than that when inconsistent (M = 0.86, SE = 0.01), F(1, 36) = 129.44, p < 0.001; but this significant difference did not exist when judged from self’s perspective, F(1, 36) = 0.67, p = 0.42. (5) The interaction effect of judging perspective and avatar A-B line of sight consistency was not significant, F(1, 36) < 0.001, p = 0.99. (6) The interaction effect of self-avatar A dot-number consistency and avatar A-B line of sight consistency was not significant, F(1, 36) = 0.72, p = 0.40. (7) The three-way interaction effect of three variables was significant, F(1, 36) = 12.16, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.25. When judged from self’s perspective and self’s and avatar A’s dot number was consistent (F(1, 36) = 10.60, p < 0.01), or when judged from avatar A’s perspective and self’s and avatar A’s dot number was inconsistent (F(1, 36) = 9.52, p < 0.01), the accuracy rates under the condition of avatar A-B line of sight consistency (M = 0.97, SE = 0.01; M = 0.88, SE = 0.01 separately) were significantly higher than that under the condition of inconsistency (M = 0.94, SE = 0.01; M = 0.84, SE = 0.01 separately), the effects in other directions were not significant, Fs < 1.10, ps > 0.30; see Figure 7 for details.
The results for response time of correct responses were as follows: (1) The main effect of judging perspective was significant, F(1, 36) = 116.77, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.76, 95% CI = [−152.23, −104.12], indicating that the correct response time was shorter when judged from self’s perspective (M = 786.71 ms, SE = 28.17 ms) than from avatar A’s perspective (M = 914.89 ms, SE = 27.66 ms). (2) The main effect of self-avatar A dot-number consistency was significant, F(1, 36) = 62.78, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.64, 95% CI = [−66.50, −39.40], indicating that the correct response time was shorter when self-avatar A dot-number consistency was present (M = 824.32 ms, SE = 27.10 ms) than when it was absent (M = 877.27 ms, SE = 27.87 ms). (3) The main effect of avatar A-B line of sight consistency was significant, F(1, 36) = 11.20, p < 0.01, η2 p = 0.24, 95% CI = [6.84, 27.73], indicating that the correct response time was shorter when their line of sight was inconsistent (M = 842.16 ms, SE = 27.37 ms) than when consistent (M = 858.43 ms, SE = 27.44 ms). (4) The interaction effect between judging perspective and self-avatar A dot-number consistency was significant, F(1, 36) = 18.53, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.34. The correct response time was significantly shorter when self-avatar A dot-number consistency was present (M = 774.27 ms, SE = 28.01 ms; M = 874.38 ms, SE = 28.04 ms separately) than when it was absent (M = 799.15 ms, SE = 29.05 ms; M = 955.40 ms, SE = 28.11 ms separately) under both self’s perspective (F(1, 36) = 7.58, p = 0.01) and avatar A’s perspective (F(1, 36) = 70.78, p < 0.001). However, the regression line of self-avatar A dot-number consistency on correct response time was steeper under avatar A’s perspective than under self’s perspective. (5) The interaction effect between judging perspective and avatar A-B line of sight consistency was significant, F(1, 36) = 12.00, p < 0.01, η2 p = 0.25. When judged from avatar A’s perspective, the correct response time was significantly shorter when avatars’ line of sight was inconsistent (M = 896.55 ms, SE = 27.39 ms) than when consistent (M = 933.23 ms, SE = 28.37 ms), F(1, 36) = 26.79, p < 0.001; however, there was no such difference when judged from self’s perspective (F(1, 36) = 0.07, p = 0.79). (6) The interaction effect between self-avatar A dot-number consistency and avatar A-B line of sight consistency was significant, F(1, 36) = 5.22, p < 0.05, η2 p = 0.13. When self’s and avatar A’s dot number was inconsistent, the correct response time was significantly shorter when avatars’ line of sight was inconsistent (M = 863.01 ms, SE = 27.64 ms) than when consistent (M = 891.54 ms, SE = 28.61 ms), F(1, 36) = 12.88, p < 0.01; however, there was no such difference when self’s and avatar A’s dot number was consistent (F(1, 36) = 0.93, p = 0.34). (7) The three-way interaction effect of three variables was not significant, F(1, 36) = 0.96, p = 0.33; see Figure 8 for details.
Based on the results from these three experiments, the conclusions drawn are as follows:
(1) The adapted paradigm proved to be feasible, successfully replicating the results of previous studies: which indicated that Level-1 visual perspective taking was spontaneously activated in the presence of a single avatar. The perspectives of the self and the avatar mutually interfered with each other. For self-perspective judging trials, the avatar’s perspective was spontaneously activated, leading to altercentric intrusion, and conversely, egocentric intrusion could occur.
(2) In the presence of multiple avatars, the Level-1 visual perspective-taking process remained spontaneous. Furthermore, the consistency in the number of objects seen by avatars resulted in a group-perspective effect, especially during self-perspective judgments. When the number of objects seen by the participant and the target avatar was consistent, the group perspective had a positive impact on the judgment. Conversely, if there was an inconsistency, it would impede the judgment process.
(3) When the number of objects seen by avatars was set to be inconsistent, the consistency of the line of sight could still capture the participants’ attention to both avatars. This situation leads to interference from the perspective of the irrelevant avatar, further influencing the spontaneity of Level-1 visual perspective taking, whether it was judged from the perspective of the self or the avatar.
In summary, perspective computation occurs effortlessly, flexibly, and spontaneously in scenarios involving multiple avatars, whether considering the perspective of a target or irrelevant avatar. The outcomes of perspective taking can either enhance or impede the performance in dot-perspective tasks, depending on the relationship among the “self, target avatar, and irrelevant avatar”, while exhibiting distinctive performance traits based on the specific situation.

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Reward facilitates working memory precision during retrieval
NIU Hui, HU Yanmei, ZHENG Xutao, JIANG Yingjie, LIU Jia
2024, 56 (4):  435-446.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00435
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Individual and collective temporal self-evaluation: Evidence from behavior and ERP
ZHANG Feng, PI Yu, LI Xiaobao
2024, 56 (4):  447-457.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00447
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Both behavioral and electrophysiological studies have demonstrated the future positive bias of individual temporal self-evaluation. However, the characteristic of collective temporal self-evaluation is still an open question. The present study aimed to investigate the similarities and differences between individual and collective temporal self-evaluation using a temporal self-reference paradigm among Chinese undergraduates. In comparison to Westerners, Chinese are more unified in their self-concept, and their temporal self contains more social, relational, and family selves in the context of collectivist culture. Therefore, it was assumed that the collective temporal self-evaluation might be highly similar to individual temporal self-evaluation across time, according to interdependent self-construal theory.
The present study adopted a 3 (time dimension: past vs. present vs. future) × 2 (reference object: self vs. non-self) × 2 (valence: positive vs. negative) within-subjects design and employed an event-related potential (ERP) technique to explore the individual and collective temporal self-evaluation using two experiments. Brain electrical activity was recorded from 64 scalp sites using tin electrodes mounted in an elastic cap according to the international 10-20 system, and late positive components (LPC) were used as the EEG indicators because LPC was closely related to temporal self-evaluation. In Experiment 1, 30 Chinese undergraduates (15 females, 20.97 ± 1.87 years) were recruited, and they were asked to evaluate their and Zhangsan’s past self, present self, and future self (“Zhangsan” was often referred to the name of an ordinary person in China), using positive and negative personality adjectives. In Experiment 2, 23 Chinese undergraduates (15 females, 20.74 ± 1.60 years) were recruited to assess the past, present, and future selves of Chinese and Americans.
In Experiment 1, the means and standard deviations of adjective choice rates and LPC amplitudes in different conditions were shown in Table 1. The choice rates of positive and negative adjectives under the conditions of different reference objects in different time dimensions were shown in Figure 1, and the repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant main effect of reference object, F (1, 29) = 7.90, p = 0.009, η2 p = 0.21, and a significant main effect of valence, F (1, 29) = 246.64, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.90. The interaction between time and valence was significant, F (2, 58) = 13.49, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.32, and the interaction between reference object and valence was significant, F (1, 29) = 10.33, p = 0.003, η2 p = 0.26; The interaction between time and reference object was not significant, F (2, 58) = 0.46, p = 0.633. In addition, the three-way interaction of time, reference object, and valence was significant, F (2, 58) = 6.10, p = 0.004, η2 p = 0.17. The simple effects test indicated that the past, present, and future had significantly higher choice rates of positive adjectives than the negative ones (ps < 0.05) in both individual and non-individual self-referential conditions. In individual self-reference condition, positive adjective choice rates were significantly higher in the future than in the past (t = 3.17, p = 0.011, 95% CI [2.80, 25.58]) and the present (t = 4.23, p = 0.001, 95% CI [2.83, 11.32]); There was no significant difference in positive adjective choice rates between the past and the present (p = 0.173). Negative adjective choice rates were significantly higher in the past than in the future (t = 5.22, p < 0.001, 95% CI [8.20, 23.73]) and the present (t = 3.29, p = 0.008, 95% CI [2.41, 18.69]); There was no significant difference between the present and the future (p = 0.128). These behavioral results suggested that Chinese participants tended to use more positive adjectives and fewer negative adjectives to evaluate their future self, compared to their past self and present self; They tended to use more negative adjectives to evaluate their past self, compared to their present self, indicating that individual self-evaluation was positive over time and had a trend to increase from past to future.
The repeated measures ANOVA was performed on LPC amplitudes, and the results demonstrated significant main effects of reference object, F (1, 29) = 15.68, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.35, and valence, F (1, 29) = 42.68, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.60. The interaction between time and reference object was significant, F (2, 58) = 3.51, p = 0.036, η2 p = 0.11; However, the interactions between time and valence, and between reference object and valence were not significant (ps > 0.05). The three-way interaction of time, reference object, and valence was marginally significant, F (2, 58) = 2.98, p = 0.058, η2 p = 0.09. The simple effects test indicated that in individual self-reference condition, negative adjectives evoked greater LPC amplitudes than positive ones in evaluating individual past self (p = 0.001, 95% CI [0.35, 1.27]) and in evaluating present individual self (p = 0.001, 95% CI [0.41, 1.44]); There was no significant difference between negative and positive adjectives in evaluating future self (p = 0.213). These ERP data indicated that negative adjectives evoked greater LPC amplitudes than positive ones in the tasks of evaluating past self and present self, while there was no significant difference in future self-evaluation, which demonstrated more “negativity bias” effects in individual past self-evaluation and present self-evaluation, compared to individual future self-evaluation.
In Experiment 2, the means and standard deviations of adjective choice rates and LPC amplitudes in different conditions were shown in Table 2. The choice rates of positive and negative adjectives under the conditions of different reference objects in different time dimensions were shown in Figure 2, and the repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant main effect of reference object, F (1, 22) = 9.59, p = 0.005, η2 p = 0.30, and a significant main effect of valence, F (1, 22) = 89.85, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.80. The interaction between time and valence was significant, F (2, 44) = 3.61, p = 0.035, η2 p = 0.14, and the interaction between reference object and valence was significant, F (1, 22) = 35.82, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.62; The interaction between time and reference object was not significant, F (2, 44) = 0.72, p = 0.492. In addition, the three-way interaction of time, reference object, and valence was significant, F (2, 44) = 4.19, p = 0.022, η2 p = 0.16. The simple effects test indicated that in collective self-reference condition, the choice rates of positive adjectives in the past (p < 0.001, 95% CI [48.57, 77.83]), present (p < 0.001, 95% CI [47.22, 78.20]), and future (p < 0.001, 95% CI [63.98, 88.38]) were significantly higher than negative ones; However, there was no significant difference between positive and negative adjectives in different time dimensions (ps > 0.05). Compared to evaluating Americans, participants tended to use more positive adjectives (p < 0.001, 95% CI [20.06, 37.40]; p < 0.001, 95% CI [25.46, 47.63]; p < 0.001, 95% CI [22.16, 47.02]) and fewer negative words (p = 0.015, 95% CI [−29.62, −3.61]; p < 0.001, 95% CI [−39.08, −14.32]; p < 0.001, 95% CI [−40.04, −16.78]) in the past, present and future to evaluate Chinese, indicating that participants had a stable and consistent positive bias toward their collective temporal self.
The repeated measures ANOVA was performed on LPC amplitudes, and the results demonstrated significant main effects of reference object, F (1, 22) = 9.44, p = 0.006, η2 p = 0.30, and valence, F (1, 22) = 13.19, p = 0.001, η2 p = 0.38. The interaction between time and reference object was significant, F (2, 44) = 3.25, p = 0.048, η2 p = 0.13; However, the interactions between time and valence, and between reference object and valence were not significant (ps > 0.05). The three-way interaction of time, reference object, and valence was marginally significant, F (2, 44) = 3.06, p = 0.057, η2 p = 0.12. The simple effects test indicated that in collective self-reference condition, negative adjectives evoked greater LPC amplitudes than positive ones in evaluating past collective self (p = 0.017, 95% CI [0.13, 1.17]), and in evaluating present collective self (p = 0.002, 95% CI [0.39, 1.45]); There was no significant difference between negative and positive adjectives in evaluating future collective self (p = 0.198). These ERP data illustrated that greater LPC amplitudes were evoked for negative adjectives than positive ones in evaluating collective past self and present self, while there was no significant difference in evaluating collective future self, which indicated that participants had more “negativity bias” effects in collective past self-evaluation and present self-evaluation, compared to collective future self-evaluation.
In conclusion, our study suggested that both individual self-evaluation and collective self-evaluation had a positive bias across time. Moreover, there existed a “negativity bias” effect at the neurophysiological level in individual self-evaluation and collective self-evaluation. These results demonstrated that individual temporal self-evaluation and collective temporal self-evaluation among Chinese college students had similar cognitive and neurophysiological characteristics, to some extent, providing supporting evidence for the theory of interdependent self-construal.

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The cognitive mechanism of reducing procrastination by emotion regulation: The mediation role of task aversiveness
TONG Tingting, BAI Youling, FENG Tingyong
2024, 56 (4):  458-468.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00458
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Prior studies have demonstrated that employing adaptive emotion-regulation strategies, such as cognitive reappraisal, can effectively mitigate procrastination. Nevertheless, the cognitive mechanisms that account for the impact of emotion regulation on procrastination still lack clarity. The temporal decision model of procrastination postulates that procrastination is primarily influenced by the tradeoff between task aversiveness and outcome utility. When task aversiveness exceeds outcome utility, individuals are prone to procrastination; conversely, if outcome utility outweighs task aversiveness, they are more likely to take immediate action. Consequently, emotion regulation has the potential to reduce procrastination by either diminishing task aversiveness or enhancing outcome utility.
In order to explore this matter, this study adopts Gross’s emotion regulation theory and the temporal decision model of procrastination. Specifically, the study targets individuals with high levels of procrastination, as indicated by scores above 67.5 on the General Procrastination Scale. These individuals were assigned to the positive reappraisal group (n = 34) and the ineffective strategy group (n = 34), respectively. The longitudinal tracking of both groups took place over a period of 7 days, resulting in a total of 14 data collection points obtained through empirical sampling.
The results showed that: (1) There was no notable disparity between the two groups in task executive willingness during the pre-test (M Pre-test of positive reappraisal group = 2.05, SD = 1.67, M Pre-test of ineffective strategy group = 2.42, SD = 2.17; F(1, 202) = 1.88, p = 0.172), while the positive reappraisal group demonstrated a significantly higher task executive willingness compared to the ineffective strategy group in the post-test (M Post-test of positive reappraisal group = 5.26, SD = 1.97, M Post-test of ineffective strategy group = 2.91, SD = 2.44; F(1, 202) = 57.49, p < 0.001, partial η2 = 0.22) (Figure 1a), indicating that positive reappraisal significantly enhanced individuals’ task executive willingness. (2) No significant difference was observed in task aversiveness between the two groups during the pre-test (M Pre-test of positive reappraisal group = − 5.81, SD = 1.65, M Pre-test of ineffective strategy group = −5.56, SD = 1.88; F(1, 202) = 1.06, p = 0.304), while the positive reappraisal group exhibited noticeably lower levels of task aversiveness compared to the ineffective strategy group in the post-test (M Post-test of positive reappraisal group = − 0.77, SD = 3.19, M Post-test of ineffective strategy group = − 3.75, SD = 3.02; F(1, 202) = 46.59, p < 0.001, partial η2 = 0.19) (Figure 2a). Additionally, initial outcome utility levels did not differ significantly between the two groups (M Pre-test of positive reappraisal group = 6.94, SD = 2.33, M Pre-test of ineffective strategy group = 6.81, SD = 2.62; F(1, 202) = 0.14, p = 0.714), while the positive reappraisal group demonstrated significantly higher outcome utility compared to the ineffective strategy group in the post-test (M Post-test of positive reappraisal group = 7.69, SD = 1.90, M Post-test of ineffective strategy group = 6.68, SD = 2.69; F(1, 202) = 9.58, p = 0.002, partial η2 = 0.05) (Figure 3a). (3) Mediation analysis indicated that the reduction of task aversiveness mediated the influence of emotion regulation on the degree of improvement in procrastination (that is, the increase in task executive willingness)(b = 0.44, 95% CI = [0.765, 1.561]) (Figure 4), whereas the increase of outcome utility did not mediate the impact of emotion regulation on the degree of improvement in procrastination (that is, the increase in task executive willingness) (b = 0.06, 95% CI = [− 0.013, 0.367]).
These findings suggest that emotion regulation primarily enhances individuals’ task executive willingness by diminishing task aversiveness, consequently mitigating procrastination behavior. This provides a robust theoretical basis for interventions that aim to address procrastination by focusing on emotion regulation.

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Prompts affect the learning-by-teaching process and learning outcome in multimedia learning*
WANG Fuxing, HUANG Yu, ZHANG Yang, ZHU Wanling, LENG Xiaoxue
2024, 56 (4):  469-481.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00469
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This study mainly explores the effects of different types of prompts on the learning-by-teaching process and learning outcomes. Experiment 1 replicated learners who used learning-by-teaching strategies performed better than those who restudied. Experiment 2 included four conditions: picture prompts, text prompts, keyword prompts, and no prompts. The results showed that picture prompts and keyword prompts can effectively improve retention performance, while keyword prompts can also improve transfer performance. In experiment 3, the effects of receiving and generating prompts were compared. The results showed that, on retention test, learners performed better in keyword prompts group and generated prompts group than in the control group, while on transfer test, learners in the generated prompts group perform better than those in the control group. In addition, both experiment 2 and experiment 3 found that the number of idea units played a mediating role in the effect of prompts on learning performance. The conclusions are as follows: (1) Providing picture prompts in learning-by-teaching can promote retention while providing keyword prompts can promote both retention and transfer; (2) Compared to receiving prompts, learners who actively generate prompts can promote transfer better; (3) The number of idea units generated by learners plays a mediating role in the effect of prompts on learning. Above all, the study verified the effectiveness of RPT and GLT in the process of learning by teaching in a multimedia learning environment.

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A longitudinal study on depression and anxiety among Chinese adolescents in the late phase of the COVID-19 pandemic: The trajectories, antecedents, and outcomes
YANG Zhixu, PENG Haiyun, XIN Sufei
2024, 56 (4):  482-496.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00482
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, all age groups’ mental health has substantially declined. Compared to other age groups, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent mental health problems was more salient, particularly on depression and anxiety. Previous studies, which were primarily conducted during the phase of COVID-19 pandemic, have mainly covered the first and second phases of COVID-19-related prevention and containment in China, without adequate attention being paid to the third and fourth phases of COVID-19-related prevention and containment in China. Currently, there are three competing hypotheses for the longitudinal trajectories of depression and anxiety among Chinese adolescents in the post-COVID era, making the construction of the mental health monitoring system and the mental health service system for adolescents in China “blind spots”. Based on developmental contextualism and three-dimensional theoretical framework of mental health change, the present study thus investigated the developmental trajectories of depression and anxiety among adolescents, as well as the potential antecedent (psychological resilience) and outcome (prosocial tendency) of such trajectories in the late phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in China.
In this study, 1170 adolescents (52.3% girls; Mage = 13.32, range = 11 to 17 years, at Time 1) in Shandong province, China, were assessed at three time points with a six-month interval (Time 1 = May 2021; Time 2 = November 2021; Time 3 = May 2022) from the normalization period of the pandemic through self-report questionnaires. The adolescents completed Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale during the three measurements. Furthermore, all adolescents completed the Connor‐Davidson Resilience Scale at Time 1 and Prosocial Tendencies Measure at Time 3. Attrition analyses, common method bias analyses, and descriptive statistics were analyzed by SPSS software. The trajectories of depression and anxiety, as well as their associated antecedent (i.e., psychological resilience) and outcome (i.e., prosocial tendency) were further analyzed via latent growth curve models using Mplus software.
Table 1 presents means and standard deviations for all study variables. According to the results of the latent growth curve models (Table 2), adolescents’ depression (b = −0.10, p < 0.001) and anxiety (b = −0.09, p < 0.001) levels tended to decline. The higher the level of depression (r = −0.34, p < 0.001) and anxiety (r = −0.37, p < 0.001) at Time 1, the slower the decline over time. Furthermore, psychological resilience at Time 1 negatively predicted initial levels of depression (b = −0.43, 95% CI [−0.48, −0.39], p < 0.001) and anxiety (b = −0.28, 95% CI [−0.33, −0.24], p < 0.001), but positively predicted the decreasing speed of depression (b = 0.09, 95% CI [0.07, 0.12], p < 0.001) and anxiety (b = 0.08, 95% CI [0.05, 0.10], p < 0.001) trajectories. Concerning the outcomes, we found that the initial level (b = −0.40, 95% CI [−0.50, −0.30], p < 0.001) and speed (b = −0.49, 95% CI [−0.72, −0.26], p < 0.001) of depression trajectories significantly and negatively predicted the levels of prosocial tendency at Time 3. Regarding the anxiety trajectory, its intercept factor negatively predicted prosocial tendency at Time 3 (b = −0.45, 95% CI [−0.58, −0.32], p < 0.001), but its slope factor’s predictive effect was non-significant (b = −0.34, 95% CI [−0.70, 0.02], p = 0.061). Finally, multi-group analyses revealed that both boys and girls showed declining trends in depression and anxiety over time, while girls scored significantly higher on depression and anxiety initially than boys (Table 2).
In conclusion, this research found that the changes in mental health (particularly depression and anxiety problems) among Chinese adolescents in the late phase of the COVID-19 pandemic were developing well, which provides empirical evidence for better construction of adolescent mental health service systems in China.

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Perceived opacity leads to algorithm aversion in the workplace
ZHAO Yijun, XU Liying, YU Feng, JIN Wanglong
2024, 56 (4):  497-514.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00497
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With algorithms standing out and influencing every aspect of human society, people's attitudes toward algorithmic invasion have become a vital topic to be discussed. Recently, algorithms as alternatives and enhancements to human decision-making have become ubiquitously applied in the workplace. Despite algorithms offering numerous advantages, such as vast data storage and anti-interference performance, previous research has found that people tend to reject algorithmic agents across different applications. Especially in the realm of human resources, the increasing utilization of algorithms forces us to focus on users' attitudes. Thus, the present study aimed to explore public attitudes toward algorithmic decision-making and probe the underlying mechanism and potential boundary conditions behind the possible difference.
To verify our research hypotheses, four experiments (N = 1211) were conducted, which involved various kinds of human resource decisions in the daily workplace, including resume screening, recruitment and hiring, allocation of bonuses, and performance assessment. Experiment 1 used a single-factor, two-level, between-subjects design. 303 participants were randomly assigned to two conditions (agent of decision-making: human versus algorithm) and measured their permissibility, liking, and willingness to utilize the agent. Experiment 1 was designed to be consistent with Experiment 2. The only difference was an additional measurement of perceived transparency to test the mediating role. Experiment 3 aimed to establish a causal chain between the mediator and dependent variables by manipulating the perceived transparency of the algorithm. In Experiment 4, a single-factor three-level between-subjects design (non-anthropomorphism algorithm versus anthropomorphism algorithm versus human) was utilized to explore the boundary condition of this effect.
As anticipated, the present research revealed a pervasive algorithmic aversion across diverse organizational settings. Specifically, we conceptualized algorithm aversion as a tripartite framework encompassing cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions. We found that compared with human managers, participants demonstrated significantly lower permissibility (Experiments: 1, 2, and 4), liking (Experiments: 1, 2, and 4), and willingness to utilize (Experiment 2) algorithmic management. And the robustness of this result was demonstrated by the diversity of our scenarios and samples. Additionally, this research discovered perceived transparency as an interpretation mechanism explaining participants' psychological reactions to different decision-making agents. That is to say, participants were opposed to algorithmic management because they thought its decision processes were more incomprehensible and inaccessible than humans (noted in Experiment 2). Addressing this “black box” phenomenon, Experiment 3 showed that providing more information and principles about algorithmic management positively influenced participants' attitudes. Crucially, the result also demonstrated the moderating effect of anthropomorphism. The result showed that participants exhibited greater permissibility and liking for the algorithm with human-like characteristics, such as a human-like name and communication style, over more than a mechanized form of the algorithm. This observation underlined the potential of anthropomorphism to ameliorate resistance to algorithmic management.
These results bridge the gap between algorithmic aversion and decision transparency from the social-psychological perspective. Firstly, the present research establishes a three-dimensional (cognitive, affective, and behavioral) dual-perspective (employee and employer) model to elucidate the negative responses toward algorithmic management. Secondly, it reveals that perceived opacity acts as an obstacle to embracing algorithmic decision-making. This finding lays the theoretical foundation of Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) which is conceptualized as a “glass box”. Ultimately, the study highlights the moderating effect of anthropomorphism on algorithmic aversion. This suggests that anthropomorphizing algorithms could be a feasible approach to facilitate the integration of intelligent management systems.
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Remembering the past makes consumers easier to forgive: The influence of nostalgia on forgiveness and its internal mechanism in service failure
WANG Lili, ZHANG Xuan, CHEN Hanyu
2024, 56 (4):  515-530.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2024.00515
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Memories of personal experiences, intimate interactions, and significant life events are examples of nostalgia. Nostalgia affects not only individuals’ cognitions and emotions but also their behaviors. One prosocial behavior that nostalgia might encourage is forgiveness, which is a process that involves decreasing unpleasant feelings and fostering amiable and positive attitudes toward others. We propose that nostalgia positively affects forgiveness. Furthermore, nostalgia can also affect empathy, an altruistic and other-focused emotional experience. Previous research has demonstrated that empathy leads consumers to view issues from the standpoint of service providers, thereby increasing their forgiveness. Thus, we propose that empathy mediates the effect of nostalgia on forgiveness.
Six experiments were performed to test the proposed hypotheses (see Table 1). Experiment 1a (149 adults, 33 men) employed real restaurant decorations to activate nostalgia. Common service failure cases were utilized to measure consumers’ forgiveness. Experiment 1b (210 adults, 82 men) demonstrated that both individual and collective nostalgia promoted forgiveness. Experiment 2a (130 adults, 57 men) used snack ads to validate the mediating role of empathy in the effect of nostalgia on forgiveness. Furthermore, potential alternative explanations such as focalism, relaxation, self-esteem, and positive affect were excluded. Experiment 2b (130 adults, 60 men) demonstrated that empathy was a mediator, and perceived severity was excluded. Experiments 3 (300 adults, 142 men) and 4 (240 adults, 109 men) showed that brand image type (warmth vs. competence) and service failure severity moderated the effect of nostalgia on forgiveness. Specifically, for warm brands and for minor service failures, nostalgia promoted forgiveness. For competence brands and for severe service failures, there was no effect of nostalgia on forgiveness.
In summary, Experiments 1a and 1b provided compelling evidence for the main effect of nostalgia in promoting forgiveness, as observed in real service failure scenarios. Experiments 2a (see Figure 1) and 2b (see Figure 2) demonstrated the critical role of empathy as a mediator, effectively eliminating alternative explanations such as focalism, relaxation, self-esteem, positive affect, and perceived severity. Finally, Experiments 3 (see Figure 3) and 4 (see Figure 4) confirmed the moderating role of brand image type and service failure severity, shedding light on the nuanced interaction between nostalgia and forgiveness under varying degrees of service failure.
The current study investigated the relationship between nostalgia and forgiveness and found that individuals with high (vs. low) nostalgia perceptions are more forgiving, with empathy mediating this effect and brand image type and service failure severity moderating it. This study adds to the body of knowledge regarding the role of nostalgia and offers a new altruistic effect: increasing consumer forgiveness. Furthermore, this study contributes to the research on the antecedents of forgiveness. This study has substantial practical implications for marketing practitioners. Marketing managers can create more successful consumer interaction tactics by utilizing nostalgia. This approach helps them address service failures and provide better resolution. Marketing professionals can use this understanding to create more successful strategies for resolving customer complaints and increasing overall customer satisfaction by leveraging nostalgia’s potential to promote forgiveness.

Results

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