Anxiety-driven counterfactual thinking can be a slippery slope. Building on the premise that both positive and negative emotions can impact creativity, the present study examines how trait anxiety, optimism, and other mental health factors like therapy experience shape outputs in divergent thinking (DT) tasks. Using an online sample (N = 647), the…

Cognitive load occurs when the demands of a task surpass the available processing capacity, straining mental resources and potentially impairing performance efficiency, such as increasing the number of errors in a task. Owing to its ubiquity in real-world scenarios, the existence of offloading strategies to reduce cognitive load is not new to…

Empathy deficits in autism, particularly cognitive empathy, have been a long-held, but much debated assumption. An alternative perspective challenging this deficit model is the 'double empathy problem', proposing that empathy difficulties are bidirectional between autistic and non-autistic people. Despite this view gaining popularity, there has…

This study examines how task instruction and task appraisals predict engagement and disaffection in classroom moments. We assessed 2,560 momentary survey responses from 124 Finnish 7th grade students using a within-person analytical approach. The results showed that students were more engaged during active instruction and when they had choice in…

Background: Recent research has demonstrated the potential of mobile-assisted learning to enhance learners' learning outcomes. In contrast, the learning processes in this regard are much less explored using eye tracking technology. Objective: This systematic review study aims to synthesise the relevant work to reflect the current state of eye…

Deception is a multi-faceted social behaviour that is pervasive in human communication. Due to differences in social communication and experiences, autistic and non-autistic adults may contrast in how they respond to situations that elicit deceptive decision-making. This study examined whether autistic and non-autistic adults differed in their…

Objective: Focusing on body functionality -- what the body can do -- may benefit women's body image. This pilot study examined the effects of focusing on body functionality appreciation during an audio-guided mirror gazing task (F-MGT). Participants: 101 college women, M(SD)[subscript AGE] = 19.49(1.31), were alternately assigned to F-MGT or a…