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When Chatbots Are Unavoidable: Preserving Citizen Trust in Government Complaint Handling
No full textWith the pervasive infiltration of artificial intelligence into the public sector, government chatbots have emerged as pivotal tools for delivering round-the-clock services. However, a significant tension exists between the large-scale expansion of technological application and the specificity of complex service contexts. Although academia generally posits that AI agents are ill-suited for complex tasks requiring high responsiveness and emotional involvement—such as complaint handling—chatbots have practically become the "first point of contact" for citizens accessing government services. This misalignment between technological supply and citizen demand precipitates a critical governance risk: when disgruntled citizens encounter lack of empathy from algorithmic responses, "expectation disconfirmation" easily leads to service failure. This, in turn, can exacerbate negative attributions of "bureaucratic slack" or technological avoidance by the government.
Addressing this dilemma, this study investigates which human-computer interaction (HCI) designs can mitigate algorithm aversion, effectively "retain" users, and establish initial trust when the use of chatbots for complex inquiries is unavoidable. The study employs two progressive scenario-based experiments. Experiment 1 utilizes a 2 (Task Type: Information Inquiry vs. Complaint Handling) × 2 (Service Agent: Chatbot vs. Human) between-subjects design. It empirically verifies that in complaint scenarios, public trust in chatbots is significantly lower than in human agents, establishing the premise of a "trust deficit." Experiment 2 focuses specifically on the complaint scenario, employing a 2 (Anthropomorphism: High vs. Low) × 2 (Human Fallback: Available vs. Unavailable) factorial design. It dissects the independent and interactive effects of "anthropomorphic design" (enhancing social presence via affective computing) and "human fallback" (providing perceived control via transfer options) on trust repair.
This study not only reveals the micro-mechanisms of trust formation in digital government HCI and responds to theoretical debates regarding potential strategic conflicts between anthropomorphism and human intervention, but also provides concrete practical strategies. It offers insights into how government agencies can optimize intelligent service interfaces to balance technological efficiency with citizens' emotional and instrumental needs through refined design, thereby preventing the erosion of public value
A Scoping Review of the Relationship Between Sarcopenic Obesity and Cognitive Function in Older Adults
No full textObjective:To conduct a scoping review of studies examining the association between sarcopenic obesity (SO) and cognitive function, and to summarize the prevalence of SO, measurement methods, and the relationship between SO and cognitive outcomes, so as to provide evidence for future intervention research and clinical nursing practice.Methods:8 Chinese and English databases were systematically searched from inception to January 13, 2025. Following the scoping review framework, two researchers independently screened the literature, extracted data, and performed narrative synthesis.Results:A total of 13 studies were included. The prevalence of sarcopenic obesity among older adults ranged from 1.37% to 37.20%. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) were the main methods used for body composition assessment. Sarcopenia was commonly diagnosed using handgrip strength (HGS) and appendicular skeletal muscle index (ASMI), while obesity was assessed using body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage (BF), and waist circumference (WC). Cognitive function was mainly evaluated using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Most studies reported that SO was independently associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment. The adverse effects of SO on cognitive function appeared to be synergistic, with obesity exacerbating impairments in executive function and orientation associated with sarcopenia. Older women were more vulnerable to SO-related cognitive impairment, and cognitive impairment played a mediating role in the association between SO and decline in activities of daily living.Conclusions:Sarcopenic obesity is closely associated with cognitive impairment in older adults; however, substantial heterogeneity remains in diagnostic criteria and measurement methods. Future studies should emphasize early screening of SO in older populations, develop precise and standardized assessment tools, and further explore the underlying biological mechanisms and multidimensional intervention strategies to delay cognitive decline in older adults
Growth Mindset Interventions: A Scoping Review Protocol
No full textThis scoping review aims to systematically map the existing evidence on growth mindset interventions across diverse populations and settings. The review focuses on identifying intervention characteristics, underlying theoretical frameworks, and reported outcomes, with particular attention to the representation of nursing populations and existing knowledge gaps in this field
Food-Related Cue Reactivity and Inhibitory Control in Individuals with Overweight and Obesity
No full textObesity is an ever-increasing global health problem. In step with the global obesity rates, the rate for comorbidities also increases, leading to higher rates of disability and mortality (Chong et al., 2023). Consequently, the development of effective weight loss interventions is of great importance. However, research shows, that most of the current weight loss programs have a low success rate, especially in the long term (Machado et al., 2022; Athanasiadis et al., 2021). To improve these interventions, a deeper understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying obesity is essential. Key factors contributing to obesity include both the kind of food that is consumed, as well as the amount (WHO, n.d.). Previous research has already shown that there are relevant differences between individuals with regards to food-related behaviours and experiences (e.g. craving) that relate do weight gain (Boswell & Kober, 2016). Relevant behaviour patterns can be operationalised as cue reactivity and inhibition control (Lüscher et al., 2020). Despite their relevance, research on the two behaviours remains largely disconnected, and their joint consideration in an integrative review is still lacking. Furthermore, the power of the results of individual studies could be increased by systematically reviewing the results. Therefore, the current study will organize previous findings regarding cue reactivity and inhibitory control towards food cues in individuals with obesity in the form of a meta-analysis. Specifically, this meta-analysis aims to integrate evidence on cue reactivity and inhibitory control in individuals with obesity, with particular focus on how binge eating disorder (BED) and food addiction (FA) may moderate these processes. Understanding these mechanisms could inform the development of targeted behavioural and cognitive interventions for obesity treatment.
Literature
Athanasiadis, D. I., Martin, A., Kapsampelis, P., Monfared, S., & Stefanidis, D. (2021). Factors associated with weight regain post-bariatric surgery: a systematic review. Surgical endoscopy, 35(8), 4069–4084. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-021-08329-w
Boswell, R. G., & Kober, H. (2016). Food cue reactivity and craving predict eating and weight gain: a meta-analytic review. Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 17(2), 159–177. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12354
Chong, B., Jayabaskaran, J., Kong, G., Chan, Y. H., Chin, Y. H., Goh, R., ... & Chew, N. W. (2023). Trends and predictions of malnutrition and obesity in 204 countries and territories: an analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. EClinicalMedicine, 57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.101850
Lüscher, C., Robbins, T. W., & Everitt, B. J. (2020). The transition to compulsion in addiction. Nat Rev Neurosci.(21(5)), 247–263. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-020-0289-z
Machado, A. M., Guimarães, N. S., Bocardi, V. B., da Silva, T. P. R., do Carmo, A. S., de Menezes, M. C., & Duarte, C. K. (2022). Understanding weight regain after a nutritional weight loss intervention: systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical nutrition ESPEN, 49, 138-153.DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2022.03.020
World Health Organization (n.d.) Obesity and overweight. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight, accessed 07 October 2025
Just Roll With It: Mitigating cybersickness over time in virtual reality with comfort-oriented postural adjustments
No full textOnline Supplemental Materia
Advancing Psychotherapy through Cognitive Neuroscience: A Multimodal Approach to Brain Body Interaction
No full textThis project investigates the acute effects of brief mind–body interventions on (stress-) regulation across subjective, physiological, and neural levels. Mind–body interventions such as mindfulness and relaxation are widely used in psychotherapy, prevention, and everyday self-regulation as low-threshold strategies to support psychological and physical well-being. Despite their broad application, the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying their effects remain insufficiently understood, particularly with respect to dynamic brain–body interactions, short-term regulatory processes and differentiation between different specific interventions.
Using a shared experimental paradigm, the project compares a mindfulness-based body scan, a relaxation-based safe place imagery exercise, and an auditory control condition (podcast) in a within-subject design. Regulation is examined following a standardized stress induction and during each intervention condition. Multimodal measurements include autonomic physiology (electrocardiography and respiration), subjective ratings of stress and relaxation, neural activity measured with magnetoencephalography (MEG ) and different questionnaire based personal and behavioral data. This combination allows regulation to be assessed across experiential, peripheral physiological, and central neural levels.
The project builds on an existing dataset collected in healthy adults (N = 20) as part of a master’s thesis and is embedded within the FTI Impulse Project Advancing Psychotherapy Through Cognitive Neuroscience: A Multimodal Approach to Brain–Body Interaction. Planned extensions include additional healthy participants and clinical samples (depressive disorders and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), using the same experimental paradigm to ensure comparability across analyses.
The primary aim of the project is to characterize and differentiate the acute regulatory effects of mindfulness-based and relaxation-based interventions, with a particular focus on autonomic markers of regulation such as different markers of cardiac activity and respiration. Neural measures and brain–body coupling analyses are included to explore mechanistic links between neural dynamics and peripheral physiological regulation. Speech-related measures and interindividual differences are treated as exploratory components.
Overall, the project aims to contribute to a mechanistic, neuroscience-based understanding of mind–body interventions and to inform more differentiated and potentially personalized applications of these techniques in daily life, clinical settings and mental health prevention
Why Rule Bending: How Do Motivations and Role Modeling influence the rule bending of street bureaucrats?
No full textValidating wearable devices with virtual reality: A scoping review of stress induction tasks and methodological approaches
No full textThis registration includes a protocol for a systematic scoping review on current stress induction practices in virtual reality and the use of VR for validating wearables. The goal of this review is to inform the development of a VR validation pipeline for wearable devices
