{"title":"Using control theory to study visuomotor control abilities in normal adults, athletes, and patients with neuromotor disorders","authors":"Li Li","doi":"10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101535","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101535","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Control theory, a field rooted in engineering and mathematics, aims to understand and influence the behavior of dynamic systems to achieve desired outcomes. Its principles are particularly suited for studying human visuomotor control, as humans inherently operate as dynamic systems. Visuomotor behaviors require the continuous integration of visual input with motor responses, often in the presence of disturbances or unpredictable changes. By applying control theory, researchers gain significant insights into how the visual system processes information to produce adaptive motor outputs, enabling the simulation and prediction of precise movements, such as eye and manual tracking, driving, and playing sports. This review highlights recent progress in applying classical control theory to investigate visuomotor control across diverse populations, including normal adults, athletes, and individuals with neuromotor disorders like Parkinson’s disease. Future directions for research are also discussed, emphasizing the potential of control theory methods to deepen our understanding of visuomotor control and improve therapeutic interventions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":56191,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences","volume":"64 ","pages":"Article 101535"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144068726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Default mode network synchrony reflects shared understanding","authors":"Tal Ohad , Yohay Zvi , Yaara Yeshurun","doi":"10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101540","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101540","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The default mode network (DMN) has been linked to self-reflection and theory of mind, suggesting that it facilitates understanding others by reflecting on ourselves. This raises the question of whether shared (synchronized) DMN responses are associated with mutual understanding. The current paper reviews studies on DMN synchronization during shared understanding of external events, regarding experimentally manipulated states (with presentation of external contexts), inherent traits (e.g. paranoia), interpersonal closeness (e.g. friends), and group identity (e.g. political affiliation). It also reviews DMN synchronization in shared understanding of interpersonal events, as in communication (e.g. teachers and students). We propose four research directions: investigating the role of DMN synchronization in simulating others’ mental states, testing if DMN synchronization is a trait, exploring its causal role in shared understanding, and testing coupling beyond synchronization. Advancing knowledge on DMN synchronization could answer fundamental questions about shared understanding and foster positive interactions among individuals and groups.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":56191,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences","volume":"64 ","pages":"Article 101540"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143943491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sauro Civitillo , Eduardo Campbell-Bethancourt , Philipp Jugert
{"title":"A review of QuantCrit-informed approaches to group participants and explore ethno-racial heterogeneity in educational research","authors":"Sauro Civitillo , Eduardo Campbell-Bethancourt , Philipp Jugert","doi":"10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101537","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101537","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Quantitative studies in education often treat race, ethnicity, culture, or migration status as natural, fixed units of analysis, perpetuating oversimplified views of education inequities. While uncritical, poorly theorized, and retrospective group comparisons may reinforce deficit perspectives of marginalized communities, comparative research also has the potential to highlight the unique strengths and resources these groups possess. However, conducting group-based comparisons and showcasing ethno-racial heterogeneity remains a complex challenge. To highlight critical approaches informed by the QuantCrit framework, our review describes the importance of using alternative operationalizations of ethno-racial categories, effect coding, and person-centered analysis. It also summarizes recent educational studies that have employed these approaches to critically engage with group-based comparisons in education. Our insights aim to promote conducting group-based educational studies with quantitative approaches upholding critical reflexivity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":56191,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences","volume":"64 ","pages":"Article 101537"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143943490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kathryn Thier , Eryn Campbell , Sri Saahitya Uppalapati , John Kotcher , Edward Maibach
{"title":"The impact of public health messages on audience engagement and collective climate action","authors":"Kathryn Thier , Eryn Campbell , Sri Saahitya Uppalapati , John Kotcher , Edward Maibach","doi":"10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101539","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101539","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Motivating people to take collective climate action is an ongoing challenge. Recent research suggests that focusing on climate change as a human health issue is an encouraging approach. Here, we review the persuasive potential of health-framed climate messages and the importance of health professionals as trusted messengers in engaging audiences and increasing support for collective action, especially among people with lower levels of climate concern. We also examine the current state of the climate–health information environment. Our review suggests that: 1) communicating the health relevance of climate change and the health benefits of climate solutions has considerable potential to promote collective action, especially when communicated by health professionals; 2) many health professionals are motivated to communicate about this topic; and 3) information about this important topic is under-represented in the broader information environment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":56191,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences","volume":"64 ","pages":"Article 101539"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143943489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Matthew A Diemer , Michael B Frisby , Kelly M House
{"title":"Looking backward to look forward: Tracing critical quantitative perspectives in critical consciousness research","authors":"Matthew A Diemer , Michael B Frisby , Kelly M House","doi":"10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101536","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101536","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper examines the evolution of quantitative approaches in critical consciousness (CC) research through a critical quantitative (CritQuant) perspective. Historically, CC scholarship relied on qualitative methods due to concerns about the restrictive assumptions and historical biases of quantitative methodologies. However, since 2005, quantitative methods have become common in CC research. We reflect on five principles of CritQuant — foundation, goals, parity, subjectivity, and self-reflexivity — to demonstrate how they align with past and present CC research. Our hope is that CritQuant, QuantCrit, and allied methodologies will continue to inform and be informed by CC and related research.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":56191,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences","volume":"64 ","pages":"Article 101536"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143935374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Evolution of neural mechanisms underlying the behavioral diversification of weakly electric fishes","authors":"Bruce A Carlson","doi":"10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101538","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101538","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding neural mechanisms underlying behavioral diversity is a fundamental challenge in neuroscience and evolutionary biology. Weakly electric fish provide an excellent system for studying this, as they exhibit convergent evolution between distantly related clades and fine-scale neural adaptations linked to behavioral divergence within clades. These fish actively generate electric fields to communicate and sense their environment. Electric organs that generate these fields and electroreceptors that detect them have evolved multiple times independently. Despite their independent origins, these clades share numerous similarities in their electrosensory and electromotor systems across several levels of biological organization. On the other hand, studies in one particular clade have related evolutionary divergence in sensory perception and behavior to changes in electroreceptor physiology and central processing in sensory and sensorimotor pathways. Together, these findings reveal both predictability in the evolution of neural mechanisms for behavior and ways in which neural adaptations can drive behavioral diversification.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":56191,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences","volume":"64 ","pages":"Article 101538"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143922220","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Data Chronicles: how teacher metrics shape urban realities","authors":"Elizabeth I Rivera","doi":"10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101531","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101531","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper critiques the reliance on teacher value-added metrics in educational policy, examining their impact on urban housing markets and demographic shifts. Drawing from the 2012 release of such data in New York City, the study reveals how these metrics perpetuate socioeconomic and racial inequities by relying on standardized test scores that embed systemic biases. Employing a QuantCrit framework, the analysis highlights missed opportunities to integrate racial equity perspectives and proposes a paradigm shift toward justice-oriented quantitative inquiry. Recommendations include adopting culturally responsive measures, enhancing community participation, and reimagining definitions of school quality to foster inclusivity. The paper also explores the broader implications of these metrics, such as their role in exacerbating gentrification and displacing marginalized populations. By integrating interdisciplinary methods and emphasizing equity, this work aims to reshape educational metrics and policies to dismantle systemic barriers and promote equitable outcomes for all students.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":56191,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences","volume":"64 ","pages":"Article 101531"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143929165","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Matthew J Hornsey , Jarren L Nylund , Michael Thai
{"title":"Morality, justice, and collective climate action","authors":"Matthew J Hornsey , Jarren L Nylund , Michael Thai","doi":"10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101541","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101541","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This review synthesizes literature on the moral arguments of those who engage in collective action to promote climate reform, as well as the moral arguments of those who engage in collective action to oppose mitigation efforts. Although these groups have competing goals, we make the case that their moral arguments cluster around similar themes: the need to avoid harm, the need to preserve fairness, and the need to maintain environmental purity. We describe reasons why expressing moral arguments can amplify and polarize intergroup contests between supporters and opponents of climate action. We finish by making recommendations for how moralized polarization around climate change can be managed in a way that reduces gridlock and facilitates constructive dialogue.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":56191,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences","volume":"64 ","pages":"Article 101541"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143929167","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}