Behavioral Sciences

The investigation of eye movements has been shown to provide valuable insights into a variety of cognitive processes. A limited number of recent studies have adopted eye-tracking to investigate the processes underlying simple and complex arithmetic. Here, we review and discuss these studies. We identify two lines of research: While some studies have focused on the spatial-arithmetic associations emerging during arithmetic problem solving, some others have examined the use of procedures, strategies, and rules. Generally, results point to the added value of eye-tracking as a method for investigating different underlying processes during mental arithmetic. Altogether, eye-tracking does not only confirm the evidence gained from “pure” behavioral studies, but it also gives new insights, in particular with regard to temporal dynamics, problem difficulty, use of strategies, and inter-individual differences. Such an approach holds great potential for the studying of arithmetic not only in healthy individuals but also in clinical populations.

The cultivation of aesthetic appreciation through engagement with exemplary artworks constitutes a fundamental pillar in fostering children’s cognitive and emotional development, while simultaneously facilitating multidimensional learning experiences across diverse perceptual domains. However, children in early stages of cognitive development frequently encounter substantial challenges when attempting to comprehend and internalize complex visual narratives and abstract artistic concepts inherent in sophisticated artworks. This study presents an innovative methodological framework designed to enhance children’s artwork comprehension capabilities by systematically leveraging the theoretical foundations of audio-visual cross-modal integration. Through investigation of cross-modal correspondences between visual and auditory perceptual systems, we developed a sophisticated methodology that extracts and interprets musical elements based on gaze behavior patterns derived from prior pilot studies when observing artworks. Utilizing state-of-the-art deep learning techniques, specifically Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), these extracted visual–musical correspondences are subsequently transformed into cohesive, aesthetically pleasing musical compositions that maintain semantic and emotional congruence with the observed visual content. The efficacy and practical applicability of our proposed method were validated through empirical evaluation involving 96 children (analyzed through objective behavioral assessments using eye-tracking technology), complemented by qualitative evaluations from 16 parents and 5 experienced preschool educators. Our findings show statistically significant improvements in children’s sustained engagement and attentional focus under AI-generated, artwork-matched audiovisual support, potentially scaffolding deeper processing and informing future developments in aesthetic education. The results demonstrate statistically significant improvements in children’s sustained engagement (fixation duration: 58.82 ± 7.38 s vs. 41.29 ± 6.92 s, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d ≈ 1.29), attentional focus (AOI gaze frequency increased 73%, p < 0.001), and subjective evaluations from parents (mean ratings 4.56–4.81/5) when visual experiences are augmented by AI-generated, personalized audio-visual experiences.

Moral hypocrisy characterized by “double standards” at the interpersonal level and “value-behavior inconsistency” at the intrapersonal level. The inconsistency in previous findings regarding the effects of intuitive processing modes on interpersonal moral hypocrisy may stem from differences in ego depletion and cognitive load. In three studies, we investigate the effects of intuitive processing modes and negative moods on moral hypocrisy. Study 1 explored the effects of these two intuitive processing modes on interpersonal hypocrisy. Study 2 further examined the combined influence of negative moods and intuitive processing modes on interpersonal hypocrisy, whereas Study 3 extended this framework from interpersonal hypocrisy to intrapersonal hypocrisy. We found that (a) under neutral mood conditions, cognitive load significantly reduced interpersonal and intrapersonal moral hypocrisy; (b) at the same time, ego depletion significantly increased interpersonal moral hypocrisy, whereas only marginally increased intrapersonal moral hypocrisy (p = 0.053); (c) under negative mood conditions, both intuitive processing modes increased interpersonal moral hypocrisy, but did not significantly increase intrapersonal moral hypocrisy. We further delineated the influence of distinct intuitive processing modes on moral hypocrisy.