The Influential Mechanisms of Theory of Mind on Prosocial Behavior and the Effect of Mindfulness Intervention

Background:Theory of Mind(ToM)and empathy are crucial cognitive and emotional capacities that influence social interactions.While their role in promoting prosocial behavior has been established,the potential moderating effect of mindfulness on this relationship remains unexplored.Understanding these complex interactions is vital for developing effective interventions to foster prosocial behavior among college students.This study examines the influence of ToM on college students’prosocial behavior and explores the moderating role of mindfulness in this relationship.Methods:A mixed-methods approach combining questionnaires and experimental design was employed.Study 1:A survey of 759 college students(mean age 22.03 years;477 females)was conducted using the ToM Scale,Interpersonal Reactivity Index,Prosocial Behavior Tendency Scale,and Mindfulness Awareness Scale.Data were analyzed using correlation and moderated mediation analyses.Study 2:An 8-week mindfulness attention training program was implemented for the intervention group and compared with a control group.Mindfulness training served as a moderating variable to validate Model 59 from Study 1.Results:1.Study 1 found:(a)ToM was significantly positively correlated with prosocial behavior(r=0.31,p<0.01).(b)Empathy partially mediated the relationship between ToM and prosocial behavior(β=0.10,p<0.001,95%CI[0.06,0.14]).(c)Mindfulness negatively moderated the direct path between ToM and three dimensions of prosocial behavior,as well as the indirect path between empathy and kin altruism and reciprocal altruism.Specifically,high levels of mindfulness weakened the direct impact of ToM on prosocial behavior.High levels of mindfulness also weakened the indirect influence of ToM on prosocial behavior through empathy.2.Study 2 results showed:(a)The intervention group had significantly higher levels of trait mindfulness compared to the control group(t=2.56,p<0.05).(b)The validity of the moderated mediation model 59 from Study 1 was verified.Conclusion:While ToM and empathy play crucial roles in fostering prosocial behavior,mindfulness exhibits a more complex influence than anticipated,potentially inhibiting prosocial behavior under certain circumstances.These findings offer novel insights into the psychological mechanisms underlying prosocial behavior and underscore the importance of considering multiple interacting factors in its promotion.

Impacts of multi-scenario land use change on ecosystem services and ecological security pattern: A case study of the Yellow River Delta

The Yellow River Delta(YRD), a critical economic zone along China's eastern coast, also functions as a vital ecological reserve in the lower Yellow River. Amidst rapid industrialization and urbanization, the region has witnessed significant land use/cover changes(LUCC), impacting ecosystem services(ES) and ecological security patterns(ESP). Investigating LUCC's effects on ES and ESP in the YRD is crucial for ecological security and sustainable development. This study utilized the PLUS model to simulate 2030 land use scenarios, including natural development(NDS), economic development(EDS), and ecological protection scenarios(EPS). Subsequently, the InVEST model and circuit theory were applied to assess ES and ESP under varying LUCC scenarios from 2010 to 2030. Findings indicate:(1) Notable LUCC from 2010 to 2030, marked by decreasing cropland and increasing construction land and water bodies.(2) From 2010 to 2020, improvements were observed in carbon storage,water yield, soil retention, and habitat quality, whereas 2020–2030 saw increases in water yield and soil retention but declines in habitat quality and carbon storage. Among the scenarios, EPS showed superior performance in all four ES.(3) Between 2010 and 2030, ecological sources, corridors, and pinchpoints expanded, displaying significant spatial heterogeneity. The EPS scenario yielded the most substantial increases in ecological sources,corridors, and pinchpoints, totaling 582.89 km^(2), 645.03 km^(2),and 64.43 km^(2), respectively. This study highlights the importance of EPS, offering insightful scientific guidance for the YRD's sustainable development.

Subtitle Translation of Puns in English Sitcoms from the Perspective of Speech Act Theory——A Case Study of Mind Your Language

Puns always play a vital role in sitcoms in order to create humor or ironies.Sometimes good translations of puns can decide whether target language audiences are able to obtain the equal understandings and reactions of the sitcoms as source language audiences get.Nevertheless,it is not easy for many translators to render faithfully and smoothly some English puns into Chinese.Therefore,this paper will analyze the subtitle translation of puns in the British sitcom Mind Your Language from the perspective of Speech Act Theory so as to find out some useful and helpful strategies for translation of puns in subtitling.

Theory of mind deficits in patients with esophageal cancer combined with depression

AIM:To characterize the two components of theory of mind(ToM) in patients with esophageal cancer combined with depression.METHODS:Sixty-five patients with esophageal cancer combined with depression(depressed group) and 62 normal controls(control group) were assessed using reading the mind in the eyes test,faux pas task,verbal fluency test,digit span test and WAIS IQ test.The depressed group was divided into two subgroups including psychotic depressed(PD) group(32 cases) and nonpsychotic depressed(NPD) group(33 cases).The clinical symptoms of patients were assessed using Beck depression inventory version Ⅱ and brief psychiatric reacting scale(BPRS).RESULTS:There was a significant difference between the depressed group and the control group on tasks involving ToM social perceptual components(mind reading:t = 7.39,P < 0.01) and tests involving ToM social cognitive components(faux pas questions:t = 13.75,P < 0.01),respectively.A significant difference was also found among the PD group,the NPD group and the control group on mind reading(F = 32.98,P < 0.01) and faux pas questions(χ 2 = 78.15,P < 0.01),respectively.The PD group and NPD group performed worse than normal group controls both on mind reading and faux pas questions(P < 0.05).The PD group performed significantly worse than the NPD group on tasks involving ToM(mind reading:F = 18.99,P < 0.01;faux pas questions:F = 36.01,P < 0.01).In the depressed group,there was a negative correlation between ToM performances and BPRS total score(mind reading:r =-0.35,P < 0.01;faux pas questions:r =-0.51,P < 0.01),and between ToM performances and hostile suspiciousness factor score(mind reading:r =-0.75,P < 0.01;faux pas questions:r =-0.73,P < 0.01),respectively.CONCLUSION:The two components of ToM are both impaired in patients with esophageal cancer combined with depression.This indicates that there may be an association between ToM deficits and psychotic symptoms in clinical depression.

The Evolution of Theory of Mind in the Human Evolution

Despite almost half a century of research for theory of mind, its evolutionary origin is largely unknown. This paper proposes that the evolutionary origin of theory of mind starts from the beginning of the human evolution to form hominins through bipedalism and the mixed habitat. The feet of the early hominins were still adapted for grasping trees rather than walking for long distances and running fast on the ground. The early hominins lived in the mixed habitat of grassy woodland with patches of denser forest, and freshwater springs. The difficulty of walking in the mixed habitat leads to division of labor for the home specialist group (small children, old people, and mothers with small children, and pregnant women) in the safe forest area and the exploration specialist group (young people without the care of small children) in the dangerous open area. The different tasks, attitudes, and mentalities in different specialist groups produce theory of mind as the ability to attribute different mental states to different specialist groups. (Uniformity of mind instead of theory of mind is for generalists without division of labor). The early Homo species with the open habitat developed theory of mind for hunter specialist group and gatherer specialist group. The middle Homo species with complex stone tools developed theory of mind for the cooperative specialist groups in the large production of complex stone tools. The late Homo species with complex social interaction developed theory of mind for mind reading to enhance cooperation and to detect cheaters in complex social interaction. For religion, the unusually harsh Upper Paleolithic Period developed theory of mind for imaginary specialists in terms of supernatural power, guidance, and comfort. Therefore, the three general types of theory of mind are for specialists in division of labor, mind reading in complex social interaction, and imaginary specialists in imaginary division of labor under harsh conditions. Self-awareness in the mirror self-recognition test is also explained.

Uta Frith’s thoughts on the Theory of Mind and Autistic Deficit: Dialogue between Art and Neuroscience

The contemporary scientist and German developmental psychologist at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience of University College London, Uta Frith has mainly focused her research on autism spectrum disorder and the related theory-of-mind deficit. To explain the autistic mentalistic deficit, the psychologist has used a specific tool: art, her initial pursuit cultivated at the Universität des Saarlandes, in Germany. Thus, this work seeks to reconstruct the artistic influences on Uta Frith’s scientific efforts, highlighting how the dialogical intersection of two seemingly distant disciplines, like art and neuroscience, can generate surprising new networks of signification and an understanding of the intrapsychic and interpsychic worlds. Art challenges us to develop moments of neuroscientific knowledge. On the other. In contrast, neuroscience offers the opportunity to develop further insights into the role of visual perception in contemplating works of art.

Worldviews, Media Use, and Attitudes Toward Science in 1957： A Structural Equation Test of Cultivation Theory

A structural model of cultivation theory is tested by using a national data set from 1957, before television became a dominant medium in the United States. Support is found for the basic tenet of cultivation theory, namely, that media use shapes people＇s perceptions and beliefs. Print media use predicts one＇s worldview, both of which predict attitudes toward science. By examining attitudes toward science before television became a dominant medium, this study extends the theory beyond the field＇s primary research focus on the relationship between television and violence.

Using of Key Stratum Theory to Study the Structural Development of Roof Aquifer

During the underground mining of coal resources,overlying rocks on the roof of excavated tunnels will be destroyed due to ground pressure,and as a result,part of them will break and fall into the tunnels.How to determine the distribution of fractured areas and fissures presents a major problem for preserving the overlying aquifer.

A model to determining the remaining useful life of rotating equipment,based on a new approach to determining state of degradation

Condition assessment is one of the most significant techniques of the equipment’s health management.Also,in PHM methodology cycle,which is a developed form of CBM,condition assessment is the most important step of this cycle.In this paper,the remaining useful life of the equipment is calculated using the combination of sensor information,determination of degradation state and forecasting the proposed health index.The combination of sensor information has been carried out using a new approach to determining the probabilities in the Dempster-Shafer combination rules and fuzzy c-means clustering method.Using the simulation and forecasting of extracted vibration-based health index by autoregressive Markov regime switching(ARMRS)method,final health state is determined and the remaining useful life(RUL)is estimated.In order to evaluate the model,sensor data provided by FEMTO-ST Institute have been used.

Consumer use intention of online financial products:the Yuebao example

Drawing on a valence framework and innovation diffusion theory,this study examines Yuebao deployment to model consumers’intention to use financial products offered online.We collect data via an online survey among a young age bracket and use a VisualPLS graphic interface to test our model.The results indicate that first,compatibility and advantages in relative utility significantly enhance consumers’use intentions and that ease of use has an indirect influence.Second,the negative utility of perceived risk no longer significantly affects intention to use.This mainly lies in consumers’perceived risk focused on the security of online financial products,which has become a part of all online transactions.Third,trust indirectly affects intention to use by influencing utility.

Effects of mindfulness-based interventions on depressive symptoms in patients with substance use disorders:a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective:We examined the effects of mindfulness-based interventions(MBIs)on depressive symptoms in patients with substance use disorders(SUDs)and explored the moderating effects of participant,method,and intervention characteristics.Methods:We systematically searched 8 databases from their inception till November 2021.The inclusion criteria were primary studies evaluating MBIs in patients with SUDs with depression measured as an outcome,those including a control group,and those written in English.We used a random-effects model to compute effect sizes(ESs)using Hedges’g,a forest plot,and Q and I2 statistics as measures of heterogeneity;we also examined moderator analyses.Results:Nineteen studies included 1352 participants(age:38.6±7.0 years).Overall,MBIs showed significantly improved depression(g=0.67,95%confidence interval[CI]:0.29,1.05,I2=89%)compared to controls.With regard to moderators,providing MBIs as an individual plus group intervention had a greater effect(g=2.13)on reducing depressive symptoms than providing MBIs as a group intervention(g=0.64)or an individual intervention only(g=0.33,P=0.034).Using concealed allocation tended to reduce depressive symptoms(g=1.22)as compared to not using concealed allocation(g=0.48,P=0.086).No other quality indicators were demonstrated to have a moderating influence on the value of the ES.Conclusions:MBIs improved depressive symptoms in patients with SUDs.MBIs might be used as an adjunctive or alternative to conventional treatment for depressed patients with SUDs.

Effects of Explanation Type on Consumers' Perceived Usefulness of Online Reviews and Their Boundary Conditions

In making purchasing decisions, consumers look to online reviews posted by others who have used or experienced the product/service. Most existing studies on online reviews only focused on their content without addressing how their explanation type influences purchasing decisions, not to mention the boundary conditions for such effects. Based on three experimental studies, this paper examines how explanation type affects the perceived usefulness of online reviews and purchasing decisions, and discusses the boundary conditions for such effects. Our findings show that positive explanation type has a positive effect on the perceived usefulness of online reviews, while negative explanation has an insignificant impact. For search products, there is a positive correlation between the online reviews of explained actions and the perceived usefulness of consumer reviews. For experience products, there is a positive correlation between the online reviews of explained reactions and the perceived usefulness of consumer reviews. Further research found that temporal distance may moderate the effects of explanation type and product type on the perceived usefulness of online reviews. This study also provides a new approach for research on the word-of-mouth(WOM) with meaningful implications for e-commerce firms.

A Comparison of New General System Theory Philosophy With Einstein and Bohr

The New General System theory was developed to be a theory of everything for complex systems within the world we can observe.This theory was constructed by supplementing a new mind-ether ontology into Bertalanffy’s general system theory framework.This theory is basically a generalization of classical mechanics rather than a revolution to it taken both by Einstein and Bohr in developing their relativity theory and quantum mechanics.The purpose of this paper is to reveal the reasons why Einstein and many others fail to unify relativity theory with quantum mechanics through comparing the main differences in philosophical opinions among NGST,Einstein,and Bohr.It is the hope of the authors that this clarification could speed up the unification process.

On the Aesthetic Wonder and Unity at the Peak of Literary Theory in the Six Dynasties Key

The study found that the classics born during the turbulent Six Dynasties period,starting from Cao Pi’s“The Classics”to“Wen Fu”,“Wen Xin Diao Long”,“Shipin”and other classics,can all be analyzed to have a common origin.Attributes,that is,the philosophical strategy of dualistic isomorphism of explicit and implicit,is also a pattern;it can be proven that this is the philosophical key to interpreting and studying the classics of the Six Dynasties.It not only governs many aesthetic principles and aesthetic methods,but also emphasizes the need to transcend the appearance of current existence,transcend the current utilitarianism,and pay attention to the hidden and non-existent,just like paying attention to dark matter and antimatter in the universe.Pay attention to the origin of Shipin and expand aesthetic horizons;this philosophical secret not only exists in the classics of the Six Dynasties,it has its unity,graphics and vitality,as well as its historical inheritance and continuous operation.Its trajectory marks the context of literary theory and aesthetics;the modern construction of contemporary literary theory must be based on its operating trends.Only by transcending all utilitarianism can we better demonstrate the natural characteristics of Chinese tradition such as nationality.Otherwise,literary theory,aesthetics,and philosophy will not be self-consistent.

The Analysis of Sports Film Through the Adaptation Theory—Take Film Glory Road as an Example

The paper analyzes sports film from the aspect of Adaptation Theory,and gives an overview of explanatory power of the Adaptation Theory so that people could have a new and powerful to understand the using of language.

How does the‘environment’come to the person?The‘ecology of the person’and addiction

Currently,psychiatry lacks a field that can be called“theoretical psychiatry”,which uses theoretical concepts and explanatory models:The main stream of research is to collect data of all kinds in the hope that the computational Big Data approach will shed a bright light on the black box of mental disorders.Accordingly,the biology-based Research Domain Criteria of the National Institute of Mental Health have been established.However,as philosophical analyses of concepts and methods have shown,several epistemological gaps stand in the way of a consistent multilevel understanding of mental disorders.Also,the implicit ontological problems in the biological reduction of the psychosocial level and in the integration of so-called hard and soft disciplines are mostly left out.As a consequence,a non-reductive psychological theory of mental disorders is sought that also integrates correlating biological and sociological issues.In this context,one example of promising nonreductive psychiatric research is the option of systems/network psychopathology.The possibilities for integrating different psychological perspectives are highlighted for the field of addiction research and treatment,where pragmatic behaviorist approaches dominate over the theorybased practice of psychoanalysis.In comparing the theoretical constructs of these two approaches,the relevance of the concept of“(social)environment”as the wealth of influential sociocultural factors is discussed at levels superior to the interpersonal micro-level,namely the organizational meso-and societal macro level,which is not sufficiently considered in current biopsychiatry.On this basis of argumentation,the usefulness of grounding and framing psychiatry through the field of ecological sciences,especially human ecology,is demonstrated.Finally,to this end,an outline of an ecological model of mental health and illness is presented.

Empirical Study of the Usage of Mobile Information Service in Rural Area Base on the UTAUT Model

Based on the UTAUT model,this article introduces three variables including perceived cost,information quality and hedonic motives,and using the level of education as a moderator variable,to build an acceptance model of mobile information service system in rural area.Based on the household survey obtaining firsthand data of 961 farmers in Jiangsu Province,the study tests the improved UTAUT model by using Amos22.0 software.The results show that compared with the original UTAUT model,improved UTAUT model willingness to accept the explanatory power get further increase(from 49.0%to 61.9%).Performance expectations,social impact,information quality have significant positive influence on accepting intend,hedonic motives have a significant negative impact to accept in-tend,convenient conditions directly affect the use of behavior;gender and level of education has a regulating effect to accept intention.Through further grouping path analysis,the result shows that hedonic motives have broader impacts for women farmers accept mobile information services.Compared with other groups,only farmers with primary education are easily afected by others,and farmers with college education or above are more easily afectede by information quality.Finally,this paper explains the results and puts forward countermeasures and suggestions accordingly.

The Mental Origins and the Evolution of Political Order

The paper proposes that the four-component structure of political order consists of state, imagination, rule, and accountability whose mental origins are the social brain, theory of mind, the rational brain, and the empirical brain, respectively. The rational brain and the empirical brain are from the thinking brain. This paper posits that in the evolution of political order, the main function of political order is to pacify changed social structure derived from technological revolution. Therefore, the four technological revolutions (the Upper Paleolithic, Agricultural-Bronze, Iron, and Industrial Revolutions) produce the four changed social structures (linked bands, tribe, mega empire, and modern nation, respectively) whose internal conflicts are pacified by the four political revolutions (the imaginative, hierarchical, thinking, bottom-up political revolutions, respectively) to form the four politics (the imaginative egalitarianism, decentralized hierarchical tribalism, centralized top-down thinking, and multilateral bottom-up thinking politics, respectively). In the competitive West originated from Greece and Middle East, the rule of law is the rational rule of competition among competitors, and the accountability of election is the empirical accountability of competition among competitors. In the cooperative East originated from India and China, the rule of relation is the rational rule of cooperation among kin-friends, and the accountability of professional qualification is the empirical accountability of cooperation among kin-friends. For political order, the two viable politics are competitive liberal democracy based on liberty and cooperative well-off democracy (well-off socialism) based on wellbeing. The direction of political order is middle democracy between liberal democracy and well-off democracy based on the multilateral bottom-up thinking politics.

Method of Non Destructive Geophysical Mapping of the Environment

Problem statement: The method of non-destructive testing is needed in different aspects of geology, geomechanics and archeology, for instance: by testing the state of rock massifs in sault, kimberlites or rock shock mines, ancient archeological objects, or mapping for locating the wells drilling. The best method for solution these problems is based on using induction multi frequency electromagnetic field with use control sources on 3D planshet system of observation. Applied methods and design: Such method was developed at the Institute of Geophysics, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences that allows its use to solve complex geological problems for mapping and monitoring the state of the environment. Its use allows the observation system to be used in such way that, on the one hand, it achieves flexible tunable detail of observations, and on the other hand, it organizes an input database that is close to the domain of definition of the inverse problem operator in the class of layered-block models with local hierarchical inclusions. This allows using regularization methods to obtain solutions that are in the class of equivalent, close to true. The specific possibilities of its use are determined by the technical side: the power of the excitation source, the sensitivity of the receiving system. Typical results: It had been developed a new method of mapping, processing and interpretation, realized in a set of programs that allow seeing the result of the searching structure of the environment in real time (that is after receiving some results during one day, we can see the results of the geoelectrical features of the structure and the state of that part of the environment). It had been suggested a three staged conception of interpretation that can be used not only for interpretation electromagnetic induction data and dynamic seismic data. Concluding note (Practical value/implications): In the considered case, this method contributed to the study of altered forms of kimberlitic bodies. The method underwent geological verification in various geological conditions where it had been used for mapping the geoelectrical structure. This allows us to offer a method for the development of innovative technology in the search for hydrocarbons in complex geological structures. The method was used in Egypt for research ancient archeological objects, located in Alexandria.