Nature-based interventions (NBI) have demonstrated positive effects on a range of student outcomes, including enhanced prosocial behaviors, decreased levels of stress, and improved mood and concentration. Further, school-aged children's participation in NBIs supports students' reconnection with the natural world. Although schools represent an…

According to the seductive details (SD) effect, interesting, but irrelevant information in learning materials reduces learning outcomes. Basic research suggests that subjects in positive mood are more distractible by task-irrelevant stimuli than subjects in negative mood. Hence, mood could moderate the SD effect. We tested this assumption by…

Purpose: We aim to identify the possible sources for age-related differences in the perception of emotion in speech, focusing on the distinct roles of semantics (words) and prosody (tone of speech) and their interaction. Method: We implement the Test for Rating of Emotions in Speech (Ben-David, Multani, Shakuf, Rudzicz, & van Lieshout, 2016).…

This research sought to replicate and extend work suggesting that coloring can reduce anxiety, asking whether coloring can improve cognitive performance. In 2 experiments, undergraduates (N = 47, N = 52) colored and participated in a control condition. Subjective and performance measures of mood and mindfulness were included: an implicit mood test…

Background: As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have implemented preventive measures towards reducing infections. These conditions can affect the mental health of children and adolescents; however, this has not yet been fully explored. Objective: The aim of the study was to analyze changes in symptomatology and positive emotions in…

We investigated whether being poorly skilled in reading contributes to children's reported feelings of anger, distractibility, anxiety, sadness, loneliness, and social isolation. Data were analyzed from a longitudinal subsample of children (N = 3,308) participating in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort. Multilevel logistic…

Research suggests that voluntary activity accounts for 40% of individual happiness and can be purposefully manipulated to make meaningful changes in one's reported level of happiness (Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005a; Tkach & Lyubomirsky, 2006). The current study explored the utility of a school-based positive psychology psychoeducation…

This report describes the experimental studies conducted to examine the role of mental structures in four different areas of research. The first area involves the structural analysis of isolable subsystems involved in visual and auditory pattern recognition. The second area involves the study of the encoding and retrieval of emotional or…