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1. Temporal Processes Associating with Procrastination Dynamics

   https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78292-4_37  

   Yao, Mengfan; Sahebi, Shaghayegh; Feyzi Behnagh, Reza; Bursali, Semih; Zhao, Siqian (January 2021, Artificial Intelligence in Education: 22nd International Conference)

   Procrastination, as an act of voluntarily delaying tasks, is particularly pronounced among students. Recent research has proposed several solutions to modeling student behaviors with the goal of procrastination modeling. Particularly, temporal and sequential models, such as Hawkes processes, have proven to be successful in capturing students’ behavioral dynamics as a representation of procrastination. However, these discovered dynamics are yet to be validated with psychological measures of procrastination through student self-reports and surveys. In this work, we fill this gap by discovering associations between temporal procrastination modeling in students with students’ chronic and academic procrastination levels and their goal achievement. Our analysis reveals meaningful relationships between the learning dynamics discovered by Hawkes processes with student procrastination and goal achievement based on student self-reported data. Most importantly, it shows that students who exhibit inconsistent and less regular learning activities, driven by the goal to outperform or perform not worse than other students, also reported a higher degree of procrastination. 

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2. Do LLMs Ask the Right Questions? Evaluating GPT-Generated Surveys as Instruments for Measuring Social Attitudes

   Behzad, Tina; Li, Wenbo; Kline, Reuben; Mueller, Klaus (December 2026, European Language Resources Association (ELRA))

   Psychological constructs in humans range along a state–trait continuum: traits persist across situations, while states fluctuate with context. Studies have shown that language models exhibit measurable psychological constructs, yet whether these constructs differ in contextual stability, as the state–trait distinction predicts, remains untested. We present the Questionnaire for Causal Language Models (QCLM), a psychometric framework that measures constructs through next-token probability distributions of base models. Applying QCLM to 35 causal language models under vanilla, stress, and neutral conditions, we assess two anxiety instruments targeting opposite ends of the state–trait continuum: STAI-S (state anxiety) and STAI-T (trait anxiety). Paired effect sizes and variance decomposition reveal that state anxiety is more sensitive to stress manipulation than trait anxiety: stimulus type accounts for a larger share of variance in state anxiety, while model identity contributes more to trait anxiety. These results provide empirical evidence that the state–trait distinction extends to language model behavior. 

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3. Reactive anti-predator behavioral strategy shaped by predator characteristics

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256147  

   Palmer, Meredith S.; Packer, Craig (August 2021, PLOS ONE)

   Yue, Bi-Song (Ed.)

   Large mammalian herbivores use a diverse array of strategies to survive predator encounters including flight, grouping, vigilance, warning signals, and fitness indicators. While anti-predator strategies appear to be driven by specific predator traits, no prior studies have rigorously evaluated whether predator hunting characteristics predict reactive anti-predator responses. We experimentally investigated behavioral decisions made by free-ranging impala, wildebeest, and zebra during encounters with model predators with different functional traits. We hypothesized that the choice of response would be driven by a predator’s hunting style (i.e., ambush vs. coursing) while the intensity at which the behavior was performed would correlate with predator traits that contribute to the prey’s relative risk (i.e., each predator’s prey preference, prey-specific capture success, and local predator density). We found that the choice and intensity of anti-predator behaviors were both shaped by hunting style and relative risk factors. All prey species directed longer periods of vigilance towards predators with higher capture success. The decision to flee was the only behavior choice driven by predator characteristics (capture success and hunting style) while intensity of vigilance, frequency of alarm-calling, and flight latency were modulated based on predator hunting strategy and relative risk level. Impala regulated only the intensity of their behaviors, while zebra and wildebeest changed both type and intensity of response based on predator traits. Zebra and impala reacted to multiple components of predation threat, while wildebeest responded solely to capture success. Overall, our findings suggest that certain behaviors potentially facilitate survival under specific contexts and that prey responses may reflect the perceived level of predation risk, suggesting that adaptive functions to reactive anti-predator behaviors may reflect potential trade-offs to their use. The strong influence of prey species identity and social and environmental context suggest that these factors may interact with predator traits to determine the optimal response to immediate predation threat. 

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4. Perceived Weirdness: A Multitrait-Multisource Study of Self and Other Normality Evaluations

   https://doi.org/10.5964/ps.7399  

   Kim, Jun-Yeob; Newman, Daniel A; Harms, P D; Wood, Dustin (January 2023, Personality Science)

   Research in personality and organizational psychology has begun to investigate a novel evaluative trait known as perceived normality, defined as an overall perception that one is normal (vs. strange or weird). The current work evaluates a brief measure of this trait (i.e., a “weirdness scale”), extending past work by assessing both self-reports and peer reports of these normality evaluations. Results confirm the measurement equivalence of self- and peer-reports of perceived weirdness, and discriminant validity of self- and peer-reports of perceived weirdness from Big Five traits. A multitrait-multisource analysis further reveals that trait loadings are larger than self-report and peer-report method loadings for the measure of perceived weirdness. Implications for measurement of self-perceptions and social perceptions of weirdness/normality are discussed. 

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5. Longitudinal Validity and Reliability of Brief Smartphone Self-Monitoring of Diet, Stress, and Physical Activity in a Diverse Sample of Mothers

   https://doi.org/10.2196/mhealth.9378  

   Swendeman, Dallas; Comulada, Warren Scott; Koussa, Maryann; Worthman, Carol M; Estrin, Deborah; Rotheram-Borus, Mary Jane; Ramanathan, Nithya (January 2018, JMIR mHealth and uHealth)

   Background Multiple strategies can be used when self-monitoring diet, physical activity, and perceived stress, but no gold standards are available. Although self-monitoring is a core element of self-management and behavior change, the success of mHealth behavioral tools depends on their validity and reliability, which lack evidence. African American and Latina mothers in the United States are high-priority populations for apps that can be used for self-monitoring of diet, physical activity, and stress because the body mass index (BMI) of mothers typically increases for several years after childbirth and the risks of obesity and its’ sequelae diseases are elevated among minority populations. Objective To examine the intermethod reliability and concurrent validity of smartphone-based self-monitoring via ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) and use of daily diaries for diet, stress, and physical activity compared with brief recall measures, anthropometric biomeasures, and bloodspot biomarkers. Methods A purposive sample (n=42) of primarily African American (16/42, 39%) and Latina (18/42, 44%) mothers was assigned Android smartphones for using Ohmage apps to self-monitor diet, perceived stress, and physical activity over 6 months. Participants were assessed at 3- and 6-month follow-ups. Recall measures included brief food frequency screeners, physical activity assessments adapted from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and the nine-item psychological stress measure. Anthropometric biomeasures included BMI, body fat, waist circumference, and blood pressure. Bloodspot assays for Epstein–Barr virus and C-reactive protein were used as systemic load and stress biomarkers. EMAs and daily diary questions assessed perceived quality and quantity of meals, perceived stress levels, and moderate, vigorous, and light physical activity. Units of analysis were follow-up assessments (n=29 to n=45 depending on the domain) of the participants (n=29 with sufficient data for analyses). Correlations, R2 statistics, and multivariate linear regressions were used to assess the strength of associations between variables. Results Almost all participants (39/42, 93%) completed the study. Intermethod reliability between smartphone-based EMAs and diary reports and their corresponding recall reports was highest for stress and diet; correlations ranged from .27 to .52 (P<.05). However, it was unexpectedly low for physical activity; no significant associations were observed. Concurrent validity was demonstrated for diet EMAs and diary reports on systolic blood pressure (r=−.32), C-reactive protein level (r=−.34), and moderate and vigorous physical activity recalls (r=.35 to.48), suggesting a covariation between healthy diet and physical activity behaviors. EMAs and diary reports on stress were not associated with Epstein–Barr virus and C-reactive protein level. Diary reports on moderate and vigorous physical activity were negatively associated with BMI and body fat (r=−.35 to −.44, P<.05). Conclusions Brief smartphone-based EMA use may be valid and reliable for long-term self-monitoring of diet, stress, and physical activity. Lack of intermethod reliability for physical activity measures is consistent with prior research, warranting more research on the efficacy of smartphone-based self-monitoring of self-management and behavior change support. 

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