Stay current with news and research on creativity and performance - from innovation and flow states to sports psychology and breakthroughs in human potential.
A new open-access study in Industrial and Corporate Change examines when entrepreneurial orientation (EO) actually improves innovation performance. Using detailed firm-level data from Korean manufacturing industries, the researchers find that EO's relationship with innovation is not linear but U-shaped: both conservative firms and highly entrepreneurial firms outperform those in the middle. The study also shows that broad external knowledge search weakens this U-shaped pattern, while deep search strengthens it, revealing how managerial attention and external learning strategies shape innovation outcomes.
A new article in Trends in Cognitive Sciences examines a striking development in reinforcement-learning research: emotion prediction errors appear to generate neural signals distinct from traditional reward-based prediction errors. Drawing on an EEG study by Heffner and colleagues, the commentary explores how emotional expectations and their violations may provide unique information that shapes social behavior. The findings suggest that incorporating emotion into computational models could refine our understanding of how humans learn, adapt, and respond to one another.
A new open-access overview in BioScience argues that the idea of home is not uniquely human and not reducible to shelter. Instead, it spans functional, emotional, symbolic, and social dimensions found across many species. From burrows and dens to cities and cultural spaces, home organizes behavior, identity, movement, and belonging. The authors show that these patterns arise through shared cognitive processes and environmental demands, revealing home as a universal behavioral structure that shapes how organisms navigate and interpret their world.
A new Open Access study in Applied Linguistics investigates why some listening comprehension questions are harder than others by using a feature-based machine learning approach. Researchers analyzed 225 items from a Taiwanese English proficiency test, extracting hundreds of textual and acoustic features to determine how lexical complexity, syntax, prosody, and option structure influence difficulty. Their findings offer a more precise model of how learners process spoken language and provide new tools for developing fair, consistent assessments.
A new empirical study published in Schizophrenia Bulletin investigates how music education - when combined with empathy-focused activities - shapes emotional regulation in children. Over a 16-week intervention involving 240 students, researchers tracked behavioral, emotional, and neurophysiological changes. The findings show that structured musical engagement significantly enhances reappraisal skills, reduces emotional suppression, and strengthens positive affective processing. The results suggest that music-based curricula may provide meaningful support for emotional development during a critical period of childhood.
A new study published in Schizophrenia Bulletin examines how psychological principles influence student learning and mental health in digital tourism training programs. Researchers applied Self-Determination Theory and Cognitive Load Theory to evaluate how instructional design impacts motivation, cognitive strain, stress, and decision fatigue among vocational students. The findings suggest that digital training systems designed to support intrinsic motivation and regulate cognitive load improve performance, reduce anxiety, and strengthen overall well-being, offering guidance for the future of talent development in the tourism industry.
A new analysis published in Neurology (Open Access) reports a steady rise in self-reported cognitive disability among U.S. adults over the past decade, with the sharpest increases occurring in people aged 18 - 39. Using Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data from 2013 to 2023 - excluding those with diagnosed depression - the study finds that cognitive challenges related to concentration, memory, and decision-making are becoming a growing public health concern. The findings highlight widening disparities across age, race, income, health status, and geography.
A new Open Access article in The British Journal of Aesthetics examines a surprisingly foundational question: do literary and musical works actually exist in the way we assume they do? Philosopher Anders Pettersson argues that common ideas about works - as objects that are partly physical, partly immaterial, and reproducible in countless identical forms - do not hold up under closer scrutiny. His analysis suggests that these works exist only as mind-dependent constructs, and that this has major implications for how literature and music are created, discussed, and interpreted.
A new open-access study in Brain Communications reports structural alterations in the amygdala, hippocampus, and thalamus of former American football players, shedding light on how repetitive head impacts may reshape deep brain regions associated with memory, emotion, and behavior. Using advanced shape analysis, the researchers identified localized contractions and thinning in key limbic structures that support cognition - offering a more precise window into early brain changes linked to contact sports.
