Sensitizing a Gifted Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder towards Social Cognition: From Assessment to Treatment

Social cognition difficulties are well documented in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This clinical case study reports on social cognition assessment and treatment of a gifted child, SC (9 years), with ASD and an extraordinarily high verbal IQ (146). The assessment of theory of mind, emotion recognition and pragmatic abilities showed some weaknesses in these areas. The 4-month treatment was divided into 14 sessions and was aimed at helping SC to improve his abilities to recognize emotions and comprehend mental states. The main technique used in the intervention was “social reading” with video clips. The initial assessment was repeated after the treatment and in a follow up session. The results of this case study suggest that “social reading” can be considered as a beneficial technique for children with high-functioning ASD, and especially in giftedness conditions.

Differential Impact of an Executive-Function and a Social Cognition Training on Preschoolers with Externalizing Behavior Problems

In preschoolers, externalizing behavior problems are a primary cause of consultation. It is known that externalizing behavior (EB) could result from individual and environmental risk factors. Individual risk factors included notably social cognition (SC) and executive functions (EF). A high level of EB has usually been related to dysfunction in SC and to poor skills in EF. The aim of the present experimental study is to compare the impact of two very targeted child-oriented trainings in the increasing of social competence and decreasing of EB in preschoolers. One training targeted SC abilities while the second one targeted EF capacities. These two trainings were compared on 48 preschoolers presenting clinically relevant levels of EB. The comparison of those results highlighted how each training could help preschoolers with EB in their behavior, emotion regulation and social adjustment. In comparison to a waiting-list control-group, the two trainings were effective in decreasing EB and differentiated impacts of the two trainings were obtained on different dimensions of profiles of social competence and emotion regulation. Results are discussed for their research and clinical implications.

Bandura’s Social Learning Theory and Its Importance in the Organizational Psychology Context

This systematic review is focused on the importance of the Bandura Social Cognitive Theory and its theoretical components such as self-efficacy in workplace of today.The themes have been described through the course of the decades.These theories have been utilized heavily in research and real-life case studies,have been further developed by Bandura and other researchers,and have been implemented in organizational psychology.During the past 10 years they have helped in reshaping Human Resources Development.Major latest contributions and applications are discussed touching even the recent outbreak of the pandemic.The influence of the theory is immense and the importance of self-efficacy in the workplace has been addressed and proven by research.

The Cross Sectional Study on the Association between Sexual Awareness and Cognitive Social Capital among High School Students in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Purpose: We aimed to reveal the association between cognitive social capital and sexual awareness among high school students in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where adolescent premarital sex is considered to be wide-spreading as consequence of socioeconomic changes, in comparison to our previous study in Hanoi, 2012. Methods: We conducted a questionnaire-based survey and a cross sectional study in late 2014, with 2051 eleventh graders at three high schools in Ho Chi Minh City. Complete data was received from 1935 respondents (94.3%). We assessed basic attributes, sexual knowledge, sexual awareness, sexual experience of peers, cognitive social capital such as a sense of community belonging, and Rosenberg Self-Esteem score. After the independent t-test and multiple logistic regression analyses on sexual awareness were performed assigning trivalent Rosenberg Self-Esteem score, sexual knowledge, and sexual experience of peers as independent variables (model 1), followed by analysis adjusted for cognitive social capital (model 2). This study was approved by Japanese Red Cross Akita College of Nursing (No. 24-003). Results: Of 1935 respondents, 99.9% were 16 or 17 years old and mostly from nuclear families (71.1%). Of all participants, 45.8% in males and 49.4% in females correctly answered on sexual knowledge, 47.6% of males and 28.3% of females accepted premarital sex, 60.0% of male and 65.0% of females knew peers with sexual intercourse experience, and 78.1% of males and 79.1% of females agreed with a sense of community belonging. When multiple logistic regression analyses performed, in model 1, sexual awareness was significantly associated with Rosenberg Self-Esteem score in female. In model 2, above association disappeared but significant association was found between sexual awareness and cognitive social capital in both sexes OR (95% CI), male 1.39 (1.05 - 1.84), female 1.99 (1.49 - 2.65). Discussion: The conservative traditional culture in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City seems to be similar to the concept of cognitive social capital and it is considered to have influenced sexual awareness of high school students in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Conclusion: Cognitive social capital is significantly associated with sexual awareness among high school students in urban areas of Vietnam.

Use of Social Cognitive Theory to Assess Salient Clinical Research in Chronic Disease Self-Management for Older Adults: An Integrative Review

The purpose of this integrative review is to evaluate research pertaining to self-management programs for older adults with chronic diseases using Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) for behavior change. The focus is application of the SCT domains to self-management programs. The exploration of the current chronic disease self-management research provides an understanding of the Social Cognitive Theory concepts studied in interventional self-management research. The integrative review explicated two areas related to the theory in need of further research. First, social support has not been thoroughly explored as a mechanism for enhancing self-management interventions. Second, moral disengagement was not identified as a focus within chronic disease research raising the question about the impact of moral disengagement on long-term adherence and behavior change.

Evaluation of the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) Program in Third through Fifth Graders in Northern Illinois

Background: The Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) is a school-based health education program, grounded in Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), and designed to improve dietary habits and increase physical activity among children and adolescents. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of CATCH program, delivered by dietetic interns and Northern Illinois University (NIU) students, to 3rd-5th graders in Northern Illinois, in increasing their nutrition knowledge and healthy choices behavior. Methods: In total, 167 elementary school children in grades 3 - 5 in Northern Illinois participated in a non-experimental program evaluation study. We delivered 6 CATCH lessons throughout the academic year to five elementary schools. Lessons were focused on “Go, Slow, and Whoa” food categories to help children understand healthier food choices. Validated questionnaires from the CATCH Global Foundation were administered in classrooms and online, pre/post intervention, to assess nutritional knowledge and healthy choices. Results: Children in third through fifth grades significantly increased their knowledge about nutrient dense foods, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, respectively. Fourth and fifth graders exhibited a significant increase in their ability to make healthier food choices, p = 0.03 and p = 0.007, respectively. As grade level increased from third to fifth grade, improvement in nutrition knowledge and adoption of healthy food choices did not increase significantly, p = 0.973 and p = 0.637, respectively. Conclusion: We conclude that children in grades 3 - 5 who participated in the 6 lessons of the CATCH program expanded their nutritional knowledge and 4th and 5th graders improved their ability to make healthier choices. Conducting evaluations of health promotion programs is imperative to determine the impact of the program, as well as to explore possible improvements in content and delivery for future implementation.

Behavioural and Neurophysiological Effects of a Stroke Rehabilitation Program on Emotional Processing in Tuberothalamic Infarct—Case Study

The aim of the study was to assess the neurophysiological and behavioural effects of a stroke rehabilitation involving Treatment As Usual (TAU) combined with Social Cognitive Training (SCT) in a right-handed patient suffered from tuberothalamic infarct compared to healthy controls (HCs) (n = 13). Methods: Both HCs and the patient were assessed by means of the following measures: Penn Emotion Perception Battery (ER40, EmoDiff40, PEAT40, PFMT), Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, and Toronto Alexithymia Scale alongside clinical scales (Mini Mental State Examination, The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Hamilton Depression Scale). The SCT was delivered individually for 60 minutes weekly in a 12-week program (12 sessions). The subject participated twice in a fMRI scanning session including the event-related task of implicit processing of 100% fearful expressions to detect physiological changes after TAU plus SCT and compared them with HCS who underwent the same assessment once. Results: Compared with HCs, the patient before therapy revealed lower scores in emotion recognition;particularly perception of anger was affected alongside worse performance on both emotion discrimination and acuity tests. After therapy, B.D. showed improvement in emotional processing. B.D. had less post-therapy activation maps compared with pretherapy ones and more significantly activated pre-and post-central gyrus and right cerebellum in response to fearful faces. Interestingly, no amygdala was significantly activated as the response to fearful stimuli before or after therapy was completed. Conclusions: Further research was needed to increase understanding about efficacy of SCT and the theory of neuroplasticity, thus helping rehabilitation programs.

Electronic Cigarette Use Scale: Development and evaluation of a measure among Chinese students

Objective:To develop the Electronic Cigarette Use Scale(ECUS)based on social cognitive theory and test its reliability and validity,so as to provide a scientific tool for evaluating the use of e-cigarette smokers in China.Methods:Based on the review of social cognitive theory and literature analysis,the item pool of ECUS was constructed to form the initial version.From January to March in 2022,using the convenient sampling method,electronic questionnaires were distributed to college students in Guangdong Province through the questionnaire star platform,and a total of 1047 valid questionnaires were collected for item screening.The total sample was randomly divided into sample 1(n=517)and sample 2(n=530)for Exploratory Factor Analysis(EFA)and Confirmatory Factor Analysis(CFA)respectively to further test the reliability and validity of the scale and finally form a 24-item scale.Results:The formal ECUS included 24 items,6 factors were extracted by EFA,and the cumulative explanatory variance was 72.774%.CFA showed that the goodness-of-fit indices were acceptable:χ^(2)/df=2.61,CFI=0.938,TLI=0.928,RMSEA=0.055,90%CI(0.050,0.061),SRMR=0.046,AIC=34694.405,BIC=35036.235.The Cronbach’saof the 24-item scale was 0.898,and the Cronbach’saof each dimension was between 0.839 and 0.954.Both convergent validity and discriminant validity reached the standard.Conclusion:The 24-item ECUS developed in this study has been tested with good reliability and validity and is suitable for evaluating the use of e-cigarette smokers in China.

Neural mechanisms of social learning and decision-making

One of the hallmarks of human society is the ubiquitous interactions among individuals.Indeed,a significant portion of human daily routine decision making is socially related.Normative economic theory,namely game theory,has prescribed the canonical decision strategy when"rational"social agents have full information about the decision environment.In reality,however,social decision is often influenced by the trait and state parameters of selves and others.Therefore,understanding the cognitive and neural processes of inferring the decision parameters is pivotal for social decision making.Recently,both correlational and causal non-invasive neuroimaging studies have started to reveal the critical neural computations underlying social learning and decision-making,and highlighted the unique roles of"social"brain structures such as temporal-parietal junction(TPJ)and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex(dmPFC).Here we review recent advances in social decision neuroscience and maintain the focus on how the inference about others is dynamically acquired during social learning,as well as how the prosocial(altruistic)behavior results from orchestrated interactions of different brain regions specified under the social utility framework.We conclude by emphasizing the importance of combining computational decision theory with the identification of neural mechanisms that represent,evaluate and integrate value related social information and generate decision variables guiding behavioral output in the complex social environment.

Social brain dysfunctions in patients with Parkinson’s disease: a review of theory of mind studies

Human social interaction is essential in daily life and crucial for a promising life,especially in people who suffer from disease.Theory of Mind(ToM)is fundamental in social interaction and is described as the ability to impute the mental states of others in social situations.Studies have proposed that a complex neuroanatomical network that includes the frontal cortex mediates ToM.The primary neuropathology of Parkinson’s disease(PD)involves the frontal-striatal system;therefore,patients with PD are expected to exhibit deficits in ToM.In this review,we summarize the current research with a particular focus on the patterns of impaired ToM,potential mediators of ToM,and the impact of ToM deficits on clinical disability in PD.Further studies to investigate the progression of ToM and its relationship with dementia in subjects in PD are needed.

Understanding the psychological aspects of the radicalisation process:a sociocognitive approach

Understanding the psychological dimensions underlying the radicalisation process is a con-siderable challenge in the context of the legal judicial treatment of perpetrators of acts of radical violence.This clinical and qualitative study is based on an analysis of legal expert interviews of people at different stages of the radicalisation process.It highlights common psychological characteristics in personality,mechanisms of moral neutralisation and socio-cognitive and interpretive treatment during radicalisation.These observations suggest the applicability of a model of cognitive-emotional transformation of self and meaning-building in radical violent engagement.

Sentiment Analysis for Chinese Text Based on Emotion Degree Lexicon and Cognitive Theories

The mass data of social media and social networks generated by users play an important role in tracking users’sentiments and opinions online.A good polarity lexicon which can effectively improve the classification results of sentiment analysis is indispensable to analyze the user’s sentiments.Inspired by social cognitive theories,we combine basic emotion value lexicon and social evidence lexicon to improve traditional polarity lexicon.The proposed method obtains significant improvement in Chinese text sentiment analysis by using the proposed lexicon and new syntactic analysis method.

Creative leaders create ＇unsung heroes＇ leader creativity and subordinate organizational citizenship behavior

As leader creativity is found to be effective at promoting outcomes for organizations, more and more organizations select creative individuals as leaders. However, the influence of leader creativity has not received enough attention. Thus, this research seeks to focus on the potential influences of leader creativity in organizations. Based on social cognitive theory, we explore the relationship between leader creativity and subordinate organizational citizenship behavior （OCB）. We find that leader creativity is positively related to subordinate OCB, and perceived team creative efficacy mediates the relationship. Moreover, creative self-efficacy moderates the relationships between perceived team creative efficacy and subordinate OCB. We then discuss implications and limitations, and suggest directions for future research.

Study Abroad Experience and Career Decision-Making: A Qualitative Study of Chinese Students

This research explores factors influencing Chinese overseas students’career decision-making.Based on the social cognitive career theory,a semi-structured interview schedule was devised to qualitatively investigate how Chinese students evaluated different factors and coped with career decision-making while studying abroad.The interview transcripts were addressed using thematic analysis.Family influences,overseas social life,and personal improvement were found to be the three key factors in shaping Chinese overseas students’career decision-making.Moreover,close interconnections were found among the three factors,and these had a combined impact on the decision-making process.The findings highlight the importance of a positive study abroad experience and its impact on international students’career decision-making.

Seeing Networks Clearly:The Influence of Holistic-Analytic Thinking Styles on Network Perception and Coalition Formation

Accurate knowledge of who knows whom in organizations have important benefits for individual work performance and managerial decision making,but people are not very accurate when recalling connections among others in their social networks.The present study investigates how holisticanalytic thinking styles influence the extent people can accurately perceive network relationships and choose the right persons to form a coalition in a fictious persuasive task We focused on two dimensions of holistic-analytic thinking style,namely attention to field(as opposed to parts)and interactionist(as opposed to dispositionist)causal theory Results from 281 participants reveals that while individuals with greater attention to field were more accurate in recalling relationships in asocial network those inclined toward interactionism in causal theory were less accurate Furthermore,greater attention to field enhanced the effectiveness of coalition member selection,in part through the mediationof accurate network perception;while interactionism,via the full mediation of network perception,indirectly led to less effective coalition choice.

Research on the Influencing Factors of Gerontechnology Acceptance by Seniors:A Case Study of Beijing Elderly Citizens

Based on the framework of social cognition theory,this paper proposed a systematic gerontechnology acceptance model for older people from both environmental and personal factors.Taking the Beijing senior citizens as an example,we used questionnaire survey data analysis and structural equation modeling methods to conduct empirical research that explores the factors affecting the willingness of the Beijing senior citizens to use gerontechnology and to examine the relationships among these factors.Results show that–in terms of personal factors–self-satisfaction,perceived usefulness and cognitive ability have a significant positive impact on the elderly’s intended uptake of gerontechnology;in terms of environmental factors,social influence not only directly affects the elderly’s intended use,but these elements can also shape the proposed use by influencing personal factors.We noted that facilitating conditions have only an indirect effect on the way of older people’s plan to use gerontechnology.The results confirmed the rationality and effectiveness of applying social cognition theory to study the behavior of seniors’acceptance of gerontechnology.Based on the research results,we proposed some suggestions to promote better research and development of gerontechnology for the elderly in Beijing.