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1. Relationships-first high dosage mathematics tutoring: What can we learn from a literature synthesis?

   Kress, N; Brown, C; Bush, J; Jacobs, J; Sumner, T (November 2024, North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Association)

   Kosko, K W; Caniglia, J; Courtney, S; Zolfaghari, M; Morris, G A (Ed.)

   This paper shares a synthesis of the literature related to the application of a relationships-first approach to high-dosage math tutoring. In the context of our research, high-dosage tutoring is delivered multiple times per week during the school day by paraprofessionals who work with students in historically under-resourced schools. We apply a critical perspective to frame the importance of attending to interpersonal relationships during tutoring. We then explain the core ideas of small group interactions, dialogue, relational interactions, care and belonging and provide a synthesis of these constructs. The literature synthesis presented is intended to be applied to research-based efforts aimed at supporting tutors working to increase their skills for cultivating strong interpersonal relationships and enacting equity oriented pedagogy. 

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2. Interpersonal Conflict over Water Is Associated with Household Demographics, Domains of Water Insecurity, and Regional Conflict: Evidence from Nine Sites across Eight Sub-Saharan African Countries

   https://doi.org/10.3390/w13091150  

   Pearson, Amber; Mack, Elizabeth; Ross, Amanda; Marcantonio, Richard; Zimmer, Andrew; Bunting, Erin; Smith, Audrey; Miller, Joshua; Evans, Tom (May 2021, Water)

   null (Ed.)

   Water insecurity may precipitate interpersonal conflict, although no studies to date have rigorously examined these relationships. We examined relationships between household demographics, water insecurity, regional conflict, and interpersonal conflict over water. Using survey data from eight sub-Saharan African countries, we found that interpersonal conflict within and outside the home is associated with multiple domains of water insecurity, particularly accessibility. Furthermore, we found that higher levels of remote violence and protests are associated with greater within household conflict, whereas riots and violent armed conflict are associated with greater conflict between neighbors. Our findings expand upon the current literature by examining factors affecting interpersonal conflict over water, which may become increasingly important as precipitation patterns and land temperatures change in this region. 

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3. How and Why People Synchronize: An Integrated Perspective

   https://doi.org/10.1177/10888683241252036  

   daSilva, Elizabeth_B; Wood, Adrienne (May 2024, Personality and Social Psychology Review)

   Academic Abstract Interpersonal synchrony, the alignment of behavior and/or physiology during interactions, is a pervasive phenomenon observed in diverse social contexts. Here we synthesize across contexts and behaviors to classify the different forms and functions of synchrony. We provide a concise framework for classifying the manifold forms of synchrony along six dimensions: periodicity, discreteness, spatial similarity, directionality, leader–follower dynamics, and observability. We also distill the various proposed functions of interpersonal synchrony into four interconnected functions: reducing complexity and improving understanding, accomplishing joint tasks, strengthening social connection, and influencing partners’ behavior. These functions derive from first principles, emerge from each other, and are accomplished by some forms of synchrony more than others. Effective synchrony flexibly adapts to social goals and more synchrony is not always better. Our synthesis offers a shared framework and language for the field, allowing for better cross-context and cross-behavior comparisons, generating new hypotheses, and highlighting future research directions. 

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4. Connection-Coordination Rapport (CCR) Scale: A Dual-Factor Scale to Measure Human-Robot Rapport

   https://doi.org/10.1109/HRI61500.2025.10974218  

   Lin, Ting-Han; Dinner, Hannah; Leung, Tsz Long; Mutlu, Bilge; Trafton, J Gregory; Sebo, Sarah (March 2025, IEEE)

   Robots, particularly in service and companionship roles, must develop positive relationships with people they interact with regularly to be successful. These positive human-robot relationships can be characterized as establishing “rapport,” which indicates mutual understanding and interpersonal connection that form the groundwork for successful long-term human-robot interaction. However, the human-robot interaction research literature lacks scale instruments to assess human-robot rapport in a variety of situations. In this work, we developed the 18-item Connection-Coordination Rapport (CCR) Scale to measure human-robot rapport. We first ran Study 1 (N = 288) where online participants rated videos of human-robot interactions using a set of candidate items. Our Study 1 results showed the discovery of two factors in our scale, which we named “Connection” and “Coordination.” We then evaluated this scale by running Study 2 (N = 201) where online participants rated a new set of human-robot interaction videos with our scale and an existing rapport scale from virtual agents research for comparison. We also validated our scale by replicating a prior in-person human-robot interaction study, Study 3 (N = 44), and found that rapport is rated significantly greater when participants interacted with a responsive robot (responsive condition) as opposed to an unresponsive robot (unresponsive condition). Results from these studies demonstrate high reliability and validity for the CCR scale, which can be used to measure rapport in both first-person and third-person perspectives. We encourage the adoption of this scale in future studies to measure rapport in a variety of human-robot interactions. 

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5. Citizen silence: Missed opportunities in citizen science

   https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biae020  

   Hall, Damon_M; Avellaneda-Lopez, Pedro_M; Ficklin, Darren_L; Knouft, Jason_H; Lowry, Christopher (March 2024, BioScience)

   Abstract Citizen science is personal. Participation is contingent on the citizens’ connection to a topic or to interpersonal relationships meaningful to them. But from the peer-reviewed literature, scientists appear to have an acquisitive data-centered relationship with citizens. This has spurred ethical and pragmatic criticisms of extractive relationships with citizen scientists. We suggest five practical steps to shift citizen-science research from extractive to relational, reorienting the research process and providing reciprocal benefits to researchers and citizen scientists. By virtue of their interests and experience within their local environments, citizen scientists have expertise that, if engaged, can improve research methods and product design decisions. To boost the value of scientific outputs to society and participants, citizen-science research teams should rethink how they engage and value volunteers. 

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