Earth and Environmental Sciences

Coastal zones globally face escalating risks from climate-induced hazards, such as shoreline erosion, saltwater intrusion, and flooding resulting from rising sea levels. The United Kingdom possesses one of the longest and most rapidly eroding coastlines in Europe, attributable to multiple factors. This research develops a novel Physical Coastal Vulnerability Index (PCVI) to evaluate the susceptibility of UK coastlines. The index incorporates both established and newly identified parameters, including coastal landslides, and is applied to eight case study areas: four in England, two in Scotland, and one each in Northern Ireland and Wales. The assessment covers 402 km of coastline and results indicate that over 43% of the coastline is classified as highly vulnerable, highlighting several stretches that are acutely susceptible to coastal hazards. Additionally, 2.7% of the coastline is considered very highly vulnerable, representing the most critical zones that require immediate intervention and long-term adaptation strategies to mitigate future risks. In comparison, more than 37% of the coastline is categorised as moderately vulnerable, while only 16.4% is classified as having low vulnerability. Results revealed that England and Scotland exhibit higher levels of physical coastal vulnerability compared to Wales and Northern Ireland. Specific areas, such as Trimingham, Holderness, Durdle, and Lancashire in England, are particularly at risk of hazards particularly coastal landslides due to their varied geographical characteristics. In contrast, Dundee in Scotland has the highest vulnerability because it lacks natural protections such as dunes. Kinmel Bay in Wales and Antrim in Northern Ireland are classified as having the lowest vulnerability due to their geographical locations and features. Based on these results, GIS vulnerability maps were created to illustrate the extent of coastal vulnerability. The results indicate that coastal vulnerability is not uniform across the UK, with England identified as the most vulnerable hotspot. To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate these case study areas together while combining both new and existing parameters. The research methodology used in this study can be applied to similar areas, regardless of their geographical location. The findings are valuable for local and national policymakers, providing essential insights to help implement strategies for the urgent protection of these vulnerable coastal areas.

The tool of sex is being wielded against both science and society. As certain sex- and diversity-associated words are flagged and used to deny funding or discontinue awarded grants, the language of biology and sex is being used in legislation to roll back legal protections and promote active harm against queer, and specifically trans and intersex communities. The history of sex in Western science and society demonstrates that this is but one more iteration in a long history of sex as a political tool. In order to escape from this curtailment of our work, we scientists must push outside the boundaries of our current sexed frameworks and develop new scientific imaginaries.

In gregarious species, aggressive interactions often mediate the establishment of social rank and dominance hierarchies. Following the assumption that females and males compete under different selection pressures, many studies examine aggression and dominance in each sex separately. However, social selection pressures such as competition for resources or social status may influence the sexes similarly, and more work is needed to directly examine the role of sex in aggression and dominance. To address this, we compared aggression levels, choice of aggression targets, and dominance hierarchies between sexes in captive, mixed-sex groups of highly social monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus). We examined interactions at the individual, dyadic, and group levels in 5 groups of 10 individuals each. We asked whether sex predicted aggressiveness, choice of aggression targets, and social rank. We found no evidence that one sex was more aggressive than the other. In most cases, sex did not impact the choice of target in an aggressive interaction. The sex of an individual did not significantly predict the rank they achieved in the group; females and males were equally likely to be high-ranked. Overall, we found that sex had limited impacts on aggression and rank in these mixed-sex groups. Our study provides new insights into social aggression and dominance in monk parakeets by examining both sexes and highlights the importance of studying sex similarities and differences within complex social environments.

Probiotic supplementation is increasingly used in aquaculture to improve fish performance. However, growth responses vary over time and therefore, effects of probiotic supplementation may not be fully resolved using endpoint- or timepoint-based standard statistical comparisons. We examined growth responses of juvenile red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus; 4-15 g) exposed to the multi-strain probiotic PrimaLac®, administered directly to tank water rather than to feed. Fish were assigned to one of three treatments: untreated controls, a 28-day probiotic exposure in which supplementation occurred during the first 28 days of a 56-day experiment and was then discontinued, and a 56-day probiotic exposure in which supplementation continued throughout the full experimental period. Conventional ANOVA and Bayesian ANOVA comparisons of observed wet mass and total length found that probiotic supplementation improved growth relative to controls, but did not distinguish growth responses between the two probiotic exposure treatments. In contrast, a mechanistic hierarchical Bayesian growth model using a latent size trajectory and daily geometric growth-rate parameter λ, revealed phase-dependent differences in inferred growth dynamics that were not fully captured by observed size comparisons alone. The model indicated higher growth rates during the early portion of the experiment and suggested that growth in the 28-day treatment was reduced after supplementation ceased. Yet the 56-day treatment showed a more persistent response under continued probiotic exposure. By quantifying uncertainty in latent growth trajectories and phase-specific growth rates, the Bayesian growth model provided a process-oriented framework for interpreting time-dependent growth responses in aquaculture experiments. These results demonstrate the value of mechanistic hierarchical Bayesian modeling for resolving probiotic-associated growth dynamics, while also highlighting the need for companion microbiological analyses to link growth responses with specific host- or environment-associated microbial mechanisms.

Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) are sometimes portrayed as a key urban energy transition solution, that may aid in meeting the need for rapid decarbonization. However, a European aim of 100 such districts by 2025, has not been achieved, and scaling has been slower than desired. The technical means to create PEDs are available, yet PEDs remain niche experiments. Our research focuses on understanding why this is the case. To this end, this paper undertakes a cross-national analysis of perceived barriers and enablers to PED impact, particularly regarding collaborative dynamics. This analysis is based on 25 semi-structured interviews with PED stakeholders across 10 European countries. This paper shows that without strategic orchestration to include missing stakeholders, PEDs and similar urban energy transition projects may struggle to evolve and achieve systemic impact. Stakeholders identify regime-level governance, regulatory, and financial mechanisms as primary hindrances. Interpreting these results through the lenses of the multi-level perspective (MLP) demonstrates how these perceptions align with documented resistance patterns in transition literature. Policy recommendations to surmount these perceived systemic voids and mitigate regime-level resistance, include mandating or incentivizing specific stakeholder participation in publicly funded urban energy transition projects. Using MLP shows that PEDs are perceived as being hindered by regime-level governance, regulatory and financial mechanisms, and contributes to the academic debate on regime-level resistance to energy transitions. Furthermore, it offers preliminary, perception-based implications for policymakers working in PED creation, development, and replication, pending further empirical validation.

Introduction Ambient air pollution is an important urban environmental threat with effects that extend beyond physical health to subjective wellbeing (SWB). Existing reviews have mainly focused on health outcomes and have given limited attention to governance, perception, spatial behavior, and psychosocial pathways. Methods This integrative conceptual review used systematic methods to synthesize 49 peer-reviewed studies published between 2020 and 2025. Studies were identified from eight databases: Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Wiley Online Library, PubMed, Emerald, JSTOR, and Google Scholar, with 4,247 records initially identified. Screening followed PRISMA 2020 guidelines with two independent reviewers. Quality appraisal used a CASP/MMAT-adapted five-dimension framework. Due to methodological heterogeneity, no meta-analysis was conducted. Results Cross-sectional surveys dominated the evidence base, while only a small number of longitudinal studies were identified. Five main pathways linking air pollution with reduced SWB emerged: psychological stress, environmental perception and appraisal, social and spatial behavior, physical health damage, and governance trust moderation. Subjective pollution perception often showed associations with SWB comparable to, or stronger than, objectively measured exposure. Governance trust, urban design quality, age, income, and occupation also appeared to shape vulnerability and wellbeing outcomes. Discussion The review proposes an integrative heuristic framework connecting five pathway strands with four theoretical traditions: Stress Appraisal Theory, Environmental Stress Theory, Environmental Justice Theory, and Place Attachment Theory. It also identifies key research gaps for Indian megacity contexts and recommends future empirical studies using stronger longitudinal, spatial, and mixed-method designs. Urban street quality, including walkability, green infrastructure, and public realm quality, emerges as an important determinant of citizens’ subjective wellbeing.

Introduction Previous research on Debussy’s Préludes has largely focused on harmony and texture, with tempo and rhythm receiving less attention and rarely being supported by quantitative analysis. This study investigates Canope ( Préludes , Book II ), a work whose impressionistic, Eastern-inspired soundscape is fundamentally shaped by layered tempo and rubato-driven rhythms. Methods Using the visualization platform Vmus, we comparatively analyze 15 recordings (1953–2018) by pianists from French, Russian, Polish, German, and Chinese backgrounds. Macro-level tempo structures and note-to-note inter-onset intervals (IOIs) are examined to capture micro-temporal deviations and phrase-level flexibility, revealing interpretative nuances in rhythmic articulation Results Our findings indicate that performances of Canope creatively reconstruct the score through temporal elasticity. A dual pattern emerges across both macro-level shaping and micro-rhythmic rubato: shared characteristics aligning with provisional artistic-tradition clusters, alongside individual idiosyncrasies that resist such categorization. Together, these elements shape the realization of Debussy’s Eastern-inspired imagery. Discussion Contemporary trends reveal both cross-school integration and a shift toward personalized artistic expression, with individual deviations acting as sites of innovation and cross-tradition dialogue.

Construct proliferation (CP) in organizational research is typically framed as a problem of redundancy, multiple constructs that differ in name but not in substance. While this framing captures an important aspect of CP, it is incomplete. In this Perspective, I argue that prevailing approaches overemphasize the jangle side of the jingle–jangle fallacy while neglecting the equally consequential problem of semantic divergence under shared labels. I further propose that CP reflects deeper structural dynamics, including misalignment between academic and practitioner audiences and a lack of coordination in how constructs are defined, used, and evaluated. These dynamics contribute to what can be understood as taxonomic incommensurability, where constructs cannot be meaningfully integrated despite apparent similarity. Finally, I outline how recent advances in semantic analysis offer a promising, underutilized tool for addressing CP at the level of meaning rather than measurement alone. Addressing CP, therefore, requires not only improved psychometric practices but a broader shift toward conceptual clarification, cross-domain coordination, and stronger integration between research and application.

Why should we consider the environments in which we live so fundamental to addressing the major challenges of our time? Climate change, inequality, demographic ageing, digital transformation and social fragmentation are often considered economic, technological or political problems. However, human responses to these challenges do not emerge in the abstract, but within their specific contexts.We know that these contexts can include natural and built environments, sensory landscapes, institutional arrangements, and, increasingly, digital architectures. And it is precisely through these contextual cues that environments can shape attention, regulate stress, influence perceived control, identity, and even affect trust. Often, this happens outside of conscious awareness.We believe that environmental psychology is in a privileged position to study these interactions between people and their environment. Although this discipline has broadened its scope, moving from pro-environmental behaviour to regenerative environments and the latest environmental neuroscience and digital contexts, what we see today is excessive fragmentation. Therefore, the central challenge for the next decade should be theoretical integration: clarifying how contextual conditions become psychological processes and how these processes scale to collective outcomes.We suggest that environmental psychology can be productively reframed as a science of context, i.e. a discipline that seeks to understand how sensory, spatial, social, cultural, and institutional conditions shape perception, behaviour, well-being, and ultimately collective futures (see Figure 1). Environmental psychology has long been defined as the study of interactions between humans and their environment (e.g., Gifford, 2014). However, bibliometric and theoretical reviews have repeatedly highlighted its fragmentation and conceptual ambiguity (Giuliani & Scopelliti, 2009;Milfont & Page, 2013). Recent bibliometric evidence confirms this pattern. Analysing over 4,300 articles published between 2004and 2024, Ratcliffe et al. (2026) identified several thematic clusters ranging from human-nature relationships and attachment to place to pro-environmental behaviour, climate change and virtual environments. Despite this vitality, there is still a lack of analysis capable of integrating these strands. As early as 1995, Stokols described this situation as a "paradox" of environmental psychology, highlighting how the discipline was united by a common interest in human-environment relationships, but often scattered in its conceptual boundaries.We suggest that this integrative level lies in the concept of context. Across different research traditions, environments are not merely objects of evaluation but conditions of human experience. Understanding how contextual conditions shape psychological processes therefore could provide a common analytical framework linking otherwise separate domains of environmental psychology.The limits of existing models become particularly visible in research on pro-environmental behaviour. Meta-analytic evidence shows that traditional socio-psychological models explain behavioural intentions more successfully than actual behaviour. Bamberg and Möser (2007) estimated that intentions account for only about 27% of behavioural variance, while Kollmuss and Agyeman (2002) described the "value-action gap" between how much people care about the environment and the pro-environmental behaviours they actually engage in. However, dominant models focus primarily on internal variables such as attitudes, norms, and perceived control, underestimating the role of contextual structures and habitual action. For example, many environmentally relevant behaviours are often habitual and triggered by stable environmental stimuli (Verplanken & Wood, 2006). In addition, structural interventions, such as infrastructural changes or regulation, have been shown to often have stronger effects than informational strategies alone (Steg & Vlek, 2009). This suggests that the challenge should be not only motivational but also contextual. Rather than treating context as a background moderator, environmental psychology should conceptualize it as constitutive of psychological processes. Indeed, if we think about habits, we can clearly see that once a routine is established, behaviour is triggered more by stable contextual stimuli than by deliberate intention. From this perspective, lasting behavioural change requires the transformation of the contextual architectures in which habits are embedded. So we could argue that environments do not simply constrain action, but actively participate in defining it.To function as an integrated discipline, environmental psychology must clarify the mechanisms through which environments exert influence. Three broad mechanisms can help explain this process: perceptual signaling, embodied regulation, and meaning-making.Environments constantly produce sensory and symbolic signals. Spatial configuration, density, noise, light, greenery, pollution, and digital interface design can modulate attention, cognitive load, and affective states. These signals can indicate possibilities for action (i.e., affordances, Gibson, 1977) and/or indicate what is salient and what is not. Furthermore, context is also represented by culture. Individuals are always embedded in layers of both place and culture (Tam & Milfont, 2020). Importantly, cultural norms, values, and institutional traditions shape how environmental signals are interpreted, which affordances are recognized, and which behaviours are considered legitimate or appropriate. Culture therefore operates as a constitutive dimension of environmental experience. Recent work in environmental neuroscience has begun to specify some of these pathways more precisely, especially by examining how measurable features of physical and social environments affect brain processes and behaviour (Berman et al., 2019). For example, Kühn and Gallinat (2024) have recently proposed that environments operate through identifiable "active ingredients" that are processed through particular sensory channels and neural mechanisms. These approaches are important because they help clarify how environmental signals are translated into embodied and neurocognitive processes, thereby contributing to a multilevel understanding of person-context transactions in environmental psychology.Exposure to the environment also influences physiological and neural processes. Environmental neuroscience has begun to show links between environmental properties and the regulation of stress and mental health (e.g., Kühn & Gallinat, 2024). This is consistent with what has previously been shown by environmental psychology: contact with restorative environments contributes to individuals' affective and physiological recovery (Hartig et al., 2014). However, previous analyses have highlighted the difficulty of the field in integrating molecular-level mechanisms with molarlevel experience (Giuliani & Scopelliti, 2009). A central challenge is therefore to link embodied responses, such as stress physiology and attention restoration, with lived meaning and social interpretation. The development of such multilevel accounts remains essential for understanding how environmental exposure becomes psychologically and behaviourally relevant.-Meaning, Identity, and LegitimacyEnvironments not only regulate physiological states, but also communicate with the people who live in them. The way space is organized, its maintenance, its accessibility, its symbols, can indicate belonging or exclusion, fairness or abandonment. Through repeated exposure, individuals develop meanings associated with the place that shape their identity and attachment to it (Proshansky et al., 1983(Proshansky et al., -2014)). Therefore, in order to address broader social dynamics, including social cohesion and democratic stability, it is important to understand how environments contribute to identity formation processes and perceptions of legitimacy. Although these links remain empirically underdeveloped, they indicate an important frontier for future interdisciplinary research.In sum, all of the mechanisms mentioned above illustrate how contextual conditions can become psychological processes through perception, embodiment, and meaning-making.The distinctive contribution of Environmental psychology may lie in linking micro-level psychological processes to macro-level societal outcomes. Conceptual models of the human dimensions of climate change already reflect this multi-level logic. In fact, they link cognitive, affective, and motivational processes to human contributions, consequences, and responses such as mitigation and adaptation (Swim et al., 2011). However, a clear understanding of how context transforms individual experiences into social dynamics is still lacking.Behavioral responses to climate change depend more on the contextual structures in which people live and act than on individual attitudes alone. For example, it has been shown that if the infrastructure, mobility systems, and social cues embedded in everyday environments are not changed, information campaigns alone will have limited effects (Verplanken & Wood, 2006;Steg & Vlek, 2009). In this sense, sustainability should be understood primarily as a process of transforming the contexts that organize behavior. In this regard, Bratman and colleagues (2019) have proposed considering exposure to nature as a 'psychological ecosystem service', highlighting how land use decisions can have direct effects on people's cognitive processes and affective states. At the same time, transitions to sustainability also involve place-based identities. Climate mitigation or adaptation strategies often require concrete changes to local landscapes and environments, for example through new energy infrastructure, changes in land use, or transformations of the territory. These changes can challenge the emotional relationship that people have with the place where they live and, for this reason, can generate resistance even among individuals who claim to be concerned about the environment (Devine-Wright, 2013).Context is unevenly distributed. Access to green space, exposure to pollution, housing quality, and environmental amenities are systematically stratified by socioeconomic status (Bratman et al., 2019). Chronic exposure to adverse environments contributes to sustained stress, diminished perceived control, and reduced wellbeing. Inequality is therefore not only economic but spatially and environmentally experienced. Contextual asymmetries are not limited to territory. Institutional environments also structure behaviour: in organisational contexts, perceived support and relational fairness influence environmental engagement, while breaches of the psychological contract undermine pro-environmental behaviour (Paillé & Mejía-Morelos, 2014). Whether spatial or institutional, environments communicate reciprocity and legitimacy, shaping both wellbeing and action.-Ageing and Lifespan Contexts Demographic ageing intensifies the importance of person-environment fit. Environmental gerontology shows that spatial accessibility, walkability, and restorative environments influence autonomy, identity, and functional ability across the lifespan. Environmental exposure is also linked to health outcomes particularly relevant for ageing populations (Hartig et al., 2014;Ruotolo et al., 2024). Therefore, contextual design contributes to shaping dignity and sustained agency. Converging evidence indicates that both direct contact with nature and dispositional connectedness to nature are independently associated with increased wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviour (Capaldi et al., 2014;Martin et al., 2020). This suggests that context matters not only because individuals are exposed to environments, but also because environmental effects are shaped by how these environments are perceived and by individuals' psychological relationship with them.The environments in which people live are increasingly hybrid, combining physical spaces with digitally mediated contexts. In the past, some authors had already called for the development of an environmental psychology of the Internet, anticipating the importance of these new contexts (Stokols & Montero, 2002). Today, the algorithmic systems embedded in digital platforms influence what people see, how they compare themselves to others, and which social norms appear most relevant. In this sense, digital infrastructures function as real environmental contexts. In fact, they organize attention, guide possibilities for action, and help shape identity and sense of agency, in a similar way to what happens in physical environments. Extending the analysis of context to digital systems is therefore an important frontier for environmental psychology.Taken together, these examples show that people's behaviour and well-being cannot be understood by looking at individuals alone. To understand human behaviour, it is therefore necessary to study people and the contexts in which they live together, since psychological processes emerge through the interaction between individuals and their environments. From this perspective, environmental psychology can be understood as a discipline that analyses how contextual conditions shape psychological processes and behaviours within interdependent human-environment systems (Liu et al., 2007).If environmental psychology is to operate as a science of context, methodological innovation is essential.First, research should increasingly complement self-reported measures with observations of behaviour in situ. Schultz and McCunn (2024) highlight the importance of moving beyond stated intentions toward measures of behaviour in naturalistic contexts. For a discipline concerned with person-context transactions, understanding behaviour requires examining how actions unfold within the environments where they occur. Importantly, these environments are not limited to physical settings: in an increasingly hybrid world, behaviour also takes place within virtual environments, digitally mediated contexts and algorithmic architectures that structure attention, interaction, and decision-making.Second, methodological pluralism should be embraced as integration rather than fragmentation. Qualitative and mixed methods provide indispensable insight into lived experience (Lloyd & Gifford, 2024), while physiological and neuroscientific approaches offer complementary evidence of embodied processes. The key challenge is achieving coherence across levels of analysis. Systems thinking provides one possible framework for integrating this disciplinary pluralism (Hogan & Weathers, 2003;Lezak & Thibodeau, 2016). Environmental psychology deals with complex adaptive systems in which causes and effects are distributed, delayed, and mutually reinforcing. Systems thinking helps make these dynamics explicit (Aletta et al., 2025), leveraging on non-linearity paradigms, threshold effects, and emergent outcomes. This perspective aligns closely with environmental psychology's core commitment to people-environment transactions: environments shape behaviour and experience, while human actions simultaneously reshape environments, altering subsequent perceptions, norms, and exposures.Thirdly, the field must address its cultural limitations. For example, Tam and Milfont (2020) documented the predominance of Western, educated, industrialised, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) samples in environmental psychology. A discipline focused on context cannot remain contextually limited. From this perspective, cross-cultural research becomes essential. Recent initiatives also highlight the need to raise the academic level of the Global South and other structurally marginalised contexts through more equitable research and publication practices (Aruta et al., 2026).Finally, for environmental psychology to develop as a cumulative science of context, it is necessary to insist on open science practices and transparent research procedures. This would allow research claims to be evaluated, reused, and extended to different studies and contexts (Nosek et al., 2015). In this regard, practices such as pre-registration, data sharing, and analytical transparency would facilitate comparison, reanalysis, and cumulative integration of results. Even more interestingly, reproducibility could be thought of as a systemic issue, i.e., linked to research incentives, reporting standards, and the efficiency with which knowledge is accumulated (Munafò et al., 2017). Strengthening open and reproducible practices is therefore essential for building robust and policyrelevant evidence.Since Barker's pioneering work (1968) on behavioural environments, environmental psychology has recognised that human behaviour is inseparable from the ecological contexts in which it develops. Environmental psychology should not be reduced to the study of nature, the built environment, sustainability or digital systems alone. Instead, its coherence may lie in the level of analysis: examining how contextual conditions shape psychological processes across different scales.Humans are continually shaped by their environments. Environmental cues influence perception and stress regulation, just as repeated exposure contributes to identity and action, and aggregated contextual patterns shape social outcomes. Therefore, the great challenge for the next decade should be integration. In other words, we will need to link environmental cues to cognitive and neural mechanisms, connect individual psychological processes to structural conditions, and align disciplinary knowledge with social transformation.

The recognition of collective optimal experience remains structurally unresolved in psychology. Existing frameworks—from group flow to collective effervescence—have extended optimal experience to the collective level, yet they have generally treated individual reports as the primary endpoint for determining whether such experience has occurred, leaving unresolved how collective recognition might be established at the relational rather than individual level. This recognition problem is addressed through an empirical analysis of bisosilin , the evaluative term used by Bunun singers to determine whether their ritual polyphonic chant pasibutbut had reached completion. Drawing on two-stage qualitative fieldwork with 24 participants, the findings indicate that recognition does not depend on any individual’s internal state, but rather on whether a specific relational configuration—comprising sonic alignment, bodily coordination, and shared intentional orientation—has been achieved. On this basis, the study advances a central theoretical claim: collective optimal experience is not first generated and only subsequently recognized, but is established as a structural event in which generation and recognition are constituted as structurally inseparable aspects. To account for this process, two analytical frameworks are proposed. First, a three-layer model of body grammar (action, perceptual, and consciousness grammar) specifies the necessary structural conditions of collective optimal experience while showing that these conditions enable but do not establish it. Second, the process–uncertainty–alignment (PUA) model explains how these conditions are dynamically activated, leading to a nonlinear transition—termed critical convergence—at which point establishment occurs. This implies that collective optimal experience is not an internal state to be measured but a condition that becomes identifiable only insofar as it is collectively recognizable. Accordingly, retrospective self-reports capture the aftermath of establishment rather than its occurrence. This study does not introduce a new type of collective peak experience but instead redefines the generative mechanism and establishment condition of collective optimal experience as a structural event.

In this Hypothesis and Theory article, we propose the PAL-D (Predictive–Affective Loop for Directors) framework as a mid-level model linking director-side design decisions to the viewer’s predictive–affective response in film and television. Building on predictive processing, event segmentation research, and research on emotion and appraisal, we first lay out the viewer-side PAL (Predictive–Affective Loop) model, which characterizes viewing as a hierarchical Gaze–Prediction–Appraisal–Integration architecture in which prediction error, physiological arousal, appraisal, the prevailing affective condition, and an integrated episode-level affective condition interact over time. We then introduce PAL-D as a director-side grid that proposes four representative target-state patterns—calm, tension, crisis, and relief—four higher-order design axes (sensory density, framing and focus, narrative–contextual cueing, and affective–empathic cueing), and six perceptual–formal levers (camera position and distance, camera movement, framing and composition, light and color, editing rhythm and transitions, and sound and music). PAL-D treats the time course of prediction error as the primary organizing dimension and treats each target state as an intended trajectory of prediction error with characteristic arousal and affective profiles, against which empirically observed trajectories can later be compared. Rather than a fully quantified model, PAL-D is offered as a hypothesis-generating framework that makes explicit how specific combinations of target state, design axes, and formal levers are expected to modulate the viewer’s predictive–affective loop. We outline applications to scene design, film and media education, experimental and observational research, and human–AI collaborative directing, and we indicate how its central quantities can be measured. PAL-D introduces no new psychological principles; its contribution is an integrative, predictive structure rather than a new mechanism. It is a mid-level model specialized for passive viewing, and it treats story-level construction, production conditions, and individual and cultural differences as wider-scope factors, isolating the segment-level predictive–affective trajectory through which these factors act. The framework thus aims to provide a common predictive–affective vocabulary through which filmmakers, media psychologists, and cognitive scientists can jointly analyze and test director-side design of visual narratives.

Parents play an important role in the development of children's emotion regulation (ER) skills—not only through their responses to children's emotions themselves, but also as role models by demonstrating their own ER strategies. Recent studies suggest that interbrain synchrony (IBS) can provide deeper insights into such parent-child dynamics at the neural level. IBS has been suggested as a neural marker of interpersonal processes such as bond formation and information exchange, and is known to vary by emotional valence and social context. This work aimed to investigate IBS during shared mother-child emotional experiences across different social contexts to study the neural mechanisms underlying mothers' and children's ER skills. An emotional imagery task, in which 36 mother-child dyads (child age 10–14 years) imagined experiencing emotional situations both with and without each other , was applied. Brain activity was simultaneously recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) over the right frontopolar cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rdlPFC) and temporoparietal junction (rTPJ). Results revealed that for all the regions analysed IBS only varied across valences in the with each other social condition, with higher IBS observed in negative and neutral scenarios compared to positive ones. Furthermore, IBS in the with each other social condition was positively associated with children's use of cognitive reappraisal (i.e., psychological reframing situations) across valences. For the negative valence, IBS also showed a positive association with mothers' ER difficulties. These findings suggest that dyadic IBS might reflect personal traits related to ER and provide a foundation for future investigations into the neural mechanisms underlying ER development.

Mandala-based art interventions, which encompass structured coloring as well as open-ended drawing or painting, have gained increasing recognition as low-cost, non-pharmacological strategies for emotional regulation. Nevertheless, empirical evidence regarding their effectiveness, particularly among middle-aged and older adults, remains fragmented. To address this gap, the present systematic review and meta-analysis synthesized randomized controlled trials that evaluated the effects of mandala-based art interventions on anxiety and depressive symptoms in individuals aged 55 years or older. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, SinoMed, and Wanfang from database inception to May 1, 2026. Two independent reviewers screened records, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool version 2. Pooled standardized mean differences (SMDs; Hedges’ g ) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were obtained using random-effects models. Nine randomized controlled trials comprising 648 participants met the inclusion criteria. Relative to control conditions, mandala-based art interventions were associated with significantly lower anxiety symptoms (SMD = −0.95, 95% CI: −1.43 to −0.48, p < 0.0001; I 2 = 85%) and lower depressive symptoms (SMD = −1.21, 95% CI: −1.86 to −0.56, p = 0.0002; I 2 = 84%), although heterogeneity was substantial for both outcomes. Exploratory subgroup analyses by intervention frequency and mandala format were conducted descriptively. These subgroup findings should be interpreted as hypothesis-generating only because of the small number of studies, substantial heterogeneity, and absence of direct randomized comparisons. Sensitivity analyses did not change the direction of the pooled effects, but substantial heterogeneity persisted. The certainty of evidence was very low for both outcomes because of risk of bias, inconsistency, indirectness, imprecision, and the small number of trials. Therefore, the findings should be interpreted as preliminary rather than definitive evidence of clinical effectiveness. More rigorously designed, adequately powered, and transparently reported randomized trials are necessary before definitive clinical recommendations can be formulated. Systematic review registration PROSPERO , CRD420261389239.

Introduction Predictive and integrative mechanisms play a central role in real-time language comprehension. Understanding how native (L1) and non-native (L2) readers process linguistic information in real time is central to psycholinguistic research. While eye-tracking and event-related potentials (ERPs) have long provided insights into predictive and integrative mechanisms, behavioural methods with fine-grained temporal resolution remain comparatively limited. This study introduces a finger-tracking paradigm as a novel, fine-grained method for capturing real-time reading behaviour as participants trace sentences on a touchscreen. Methods Two groups of young adult participants – native English speakers (L1) and upper-intermediate English L2 learners – read sentences containing either semantic or morphosyntactic violations, or well-formed control sentences. Tracking speed were analysed both at the token (whole word) and symbol (within-word position) levels. Results L1 readers were overall faster than L2 readers and exhibited stronger sensitivity to linguistic anomalies, with modulation of tracking speed during violation processing. In contrast, L2 readers showed a reduced and more gradual sensitivity to violations, consistent with differences in the temporal dynamics of processing across the two groups. Discussion In line with neurocognitive and eye-tracking evidence, these findings suggest that L1 reading is supported by rapidly deployed predictive mechanisms that are promptly disrupted by violations, whereas L2 reading is characterised by more incremental integration and reduced anticipatory processing. Overall, finger-tracking emerges as a sensitive, fine-grained behavioural method for studying real-time language processing, revealing distinct cognitive signatures in L1 and L2 reading.

Artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted language learning tools are increasingly used in higher education, yet student acceptance of these tools may vary across academic disciplines and English proficiency levels. Building on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a baseline framework, this study examined how learning motivation, self-efficacy, anxiety, and risk perception were associated with acceptance outcomes for AI-assisted English learning in a Chinese higher education context. The study focused on perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, behavioral intention, and satisfaction, and further examined mean-level group differences and descriptive subgroup-specific association patterns by academic discipline and English proficiency. Survey data were collected from 210 undergraduates (STEM = 91, Humanities = 119; English proficiency: Low = 77, Intermediate = 103, High = 30). Data analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics 27.0 and Stata 18.0, including descriptive statistics, reliability and convergent validity analyses, full-sample adjusted linear regression models using robust standard errors, mean-level group comparisons, post hoc comparisons, and exploratory subgroup-specific regression analyses. Learning motivation and self-efficacy were consistently and positively associated with acceptance-related indicators. Anxiety did not show a uniformly negative pattern; its positive associations with acceptance outcomes were exploratory concurrent patterns and should not be interpreted as evidence that anxiety is beneficial. Risk perception was also positively but generally more weakly associated with acceptance outcomes and should be interpreted cautiously. Mean-level comparisons indicated descriptive differences in several acceptance outcomes across academic discipline and English proficiency groups. Exploratory subgroup-specific regressions further described within-group association patterns; these analyses were not formal tests of between-group differences in regression coefficients. Given the cross-sectional design, all findings should be interpreted as associative rather than causal. Overall, the study provides a learner-centered account of AI-assisted English learning acceptance by highlighting psychological correlates and group-related descriptive patterns in a Chinese higher education context.