Music can support social bonding, especially in face-to-face interactions, but its effects in online environments with reduced social cues are less understood. This study examined how shared music listening in an audio-only online setting affects social presence, affective responses, and subsequent cooperation. In a within-subjects design, 38 individuals were assigned to music-preference-matched dyads to complete cooperative tasks after listening to music in both a socially framed shared listening condition and a solo condition. Shared listening increased social presence compared with solo listening, and music-induced arousal was positively associated with social presence across conditions. Cognitive empathy moderated the effects of listening condition on both social presence and arousal, suggesting that individual differences in social-cognitive processing shape how shared listening in technology-mediated environments is experienced. However, shared music listening did not improve task performance and its effects on interaction quality were mixed. Group flow was adversely affected by shared listening, whereas dyad-level differences in music-induced arousal reduced emotional interdependence during cooperation, but only after shared listening. In addition, higher positive valence was associated with lower behavioral interdependence after shared listening but higher behavioral interdependence after solo listening. Together, these findings suggest that socially framed shared music listening can enhance the subjective social character of online interaction, while shaping interaction quality through affective alignment and perceived mutual adaptation rather than uniformly improving task-focused cooperation.
Research has found that lexical knowledge substantially influences second language (L2) fluency. However, researchers investigating the role of L2 lexical knowledge on speakers’ fluency have often measured lexical knowledge with written recognition tasks, which creates a mismatch between the assessment modality and the oral, productive skill. Furthermore, although some studies have considered the role of lexical processing (e.g., lexical retrieval and articulation) when researching utterance fluency, results have been mixed. The current study adds to this scholarship by using mainly productive tasks to investigate possible relationships among measures of L2 lexical knowledge and processing and to explore their role in L2 utterance fluency. High-intermediate language learners (n = 30) in an intensive English program were assessed on their lexical knowledge (i.e., form recall, meaning recognition and sentence production), oral processing (i.e., lexical retrieval speed), and articulation (i.e., preparation time and duration). Utterance fluency was measured with pause length, number of pauses, and syllable duration during a monologic topic-based speech. Correlational analysis revealed a negative correlation between form recall and lexical retrieval time, meaning that L2 learners who could recall more words retrieved them faster. Regression analyses revealed that lexical meaning scores predicted pause length, articulation preparation time predicted mean number of pauses, and lexical retrieval predicted syllable duration. The results suggest that the lexical knowledge, lexical retrieval speed, and the phonological/phonetic system (i.e., articulation preparation) are clearly and differentially involved in utterance fluency in high-intermediate speakers.
The study explored differences in decision recall between junior and senior decision-makers, focusing on accuracy (ACC) and response times (RTs) under varying feedback conditions. 117 participants completed 10 real-life decision-making scenarios, and their decision recall was examined in relation to feedback valence (positive or negative), decision-making styles, and tendencies toward Maximization. Results indicated that both junior and senior decision-makers recalled decisions with positive feedback more accurately than those with negative feedback, aligning with the "positivity bias" theory, where individuals tend to remember positive experiences more than negative ones. Seniors showed stronger recall for decisions with positive feedback but weaker for those with negative feedback compared to juniors, who performed better with negative feedback decisions recall. This pattern may reflect differences in professional experience and feedback processing across career stages, consistent with research on positivity and negativity biases. Regarding RTs, seniors had slower recall for decisions with positive feedback, potentially reflecting deeper cognitive processing, while both groups were slower to recall decisions with positive information overall. The study also found that individuals with higher Maximization tendencies, especially juniors, recalled decisions with negative feedback better, while seniors with avoidant decision-making styles were less accurate in recalling decisions with negative feedback. These findings highlight the importance of feedback delivery in professional environments and suggest that balancing positive and negative feedback is critical to maintain motivation and performance. Future research should further explore how expertise and individual differences affect decision recall and consider a neuroscientific approach to better understand the cognitive processes involved.
Interpersonal conflict often impairs decision-making and communication. This study examined whether AI-enabled role-playing (AI-RP) can regulate behavioral intentions in conflict situations and how it compares with the human counsellor–guided role-playing. Two experiments and a linguistic analysis (LIWC and BERTopic) were conducted. Participants were assigned to AI, the human counsellor, or no-interaction conditions. Behavioral intentions and interaction texts were analyzed. Both AI- and human-guided role-playing reduced revenge intentions and increased understanding compared with the control condition. These effects were context-dependent and did not transfer to parallel scenarios. The AI and human counsellor conditions did not differ in revenge or understanding outcomes, but the AI condition was associated with higher willingness to communicate in the specific context of Study 2a. Linguistic analyses showed AI responses were more structured and function-oriented, whereas the human counsellor responses emphasized emotional validation. AI-RP and the human counseling play complementary roles in conflict intervention. AI may facilitate rapid de-escalation and communication initiation, whereas in this study the human counsellor’s responses were more oriented toward emotional validation and relational repair.
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.
