Do Psychedelics Change Beliefs?

Renewed interest in psychedelics has reignited the debate about whether and how they change human beliefs. In both the clinical and social-cognitive domains, psychedelic consumption may be accompanied by profound, and sometimes lasting, belief changes. We review these changes and their possible underlying mechanisms. Rather than inducing de novo beliefs, we argue psychedelics may instead change the impact of affect and of others’ suggestions on how beliefs are imputed. Critically, we find that baseline beliefs (in the possible effects of psychedelics, for example) might color the acute effects of psychedelics as well as longer term changes. If we are to harness the apparent potential of psychedelics in the clinic and for human flourishing more generally, these possibilities must be addressed empirically.

Depression Symptoms Mediate Mismatch Between Perceived Severity of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Preventive Motives

The present study monitored changes in beliefs about the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, depressive symptoms, and preventive motives between the first and second waves in South Korea using an online survey administered to 1,144 individuals nationally representative for age, gender, and areas of residence. While participants correctly updated their beliefs about the worsening pandemic situations, the perceived importance of social distancing did not change, and their motives to follow prevention measures shifted toward compulsory rather than voluntary motives. This inconsistency appeared to be mediated by depressive symptoms, such that negative belief changes followed by increased depressive symptoms were associated with the decreased perceived importance of social distancing and decreased voluntary motives. Our data highlights the importance of psychological responses to the dynamically evolving pandemic situations in promoting preventive behaviors.

Five Facts about Beliefs and Portfolios

We study a newly designed survey administered to a large panel of wealthy retail investors. The survey elicits beliefs that are important for macroeconomics and finance, and matches respondents with administrative data on their portfolio composition, their trading activity, and their login behavior. We establish five facts inthese data. (i) Beliefs are reflected in portfolio allocations. The sensitivity of portfolios to beliefs is small on average, but varies significantly with investor wealth, attention, trading frequency, and confidence. (ii) Belief changes do not predict when investors trade, but conditional on trading, they affect both the direction and the magnitude of trades. (iii) Beliefs are mostly characterized by large and persistent individual heterogeneity. Demographic characteristics explain only asmall part of why some individuals are optimistic and some are pessimistic. (iv) Expected cash flow growth and expected returns are positively related, both within and across investors. (v) Expected returns and the subjective probability of rare disasters are negatively related, both within and across investors. These five facts provide useful guidance for the design of macro-finance models. (JEL D83, E23, G11, G12, G41, G51)

Dynamic task-belief is an integral part of decision-making

Unlike in laboratory settings, natural decisions are often made under uncertain beliefs about task demands. To quantify the unexplored dynamics between task-belief and decisions, we trained macaque monkeys to make perceptual discriminations under implicitly evolving task rules. By analyzing task- and perception-related signals from simultaneously recorded neuronal populations in cortical areas 7a and V1, we demonstrated that fluctuating task-belief and perceptual decision-making are inextricably linked. Stronger task-belief is correlated with better perception, and in turn, response fluctuations in visual neurons affect task-belief changes. Our results demonstrate that combining large-scale inter-area recordings with rigorously controlled complex, realistic behaviors can bring new understanding of the relationship between cognition and behavior in health and disease.

Explored Jordanian Math Teacher’s Practices, and Belief Change in implementing mobile applications in education

The aim of This study explored Jordanian math teachers’ beliefs, practices, and belief change in implementing mobile applications in education Learning mathematics is a major focus of educational institutions at all levels and technology has long been an important teaching tool in the field of mathematics. Multiple sources of qualitative data were generated including metaphors, lesson plans and interviews with 17 math teachers. Although teachers considered Implementing mobile applications in education as an effective method that benefit student learning and they demonstrated progress in changing their beliefs moving from subject to didactic dimension through Implementing mobile applications in education, their practices remained partially aligned with their perceived belief changes. This discrepancy could be attributed to several encountered challenges, including teachers’ lack of confidence, difficulty in facilitating student collaboration, structural constraints, additional workload, and the lack of school and peer support. Results suggest the need for different types of “problems” and approaches such as more direct instruction, and higher feasibility in teachers’ autonomy when Implementing mobile applications in education. Outcome of this study has a few implications. First, discrepancy between belief and practice of implementing mobile applications. identified in this study suggests that appropriate and sufficient professional development activities are needed. The MOE and schools in Jordan should further articulate policy goals and standards that facilitate student-centered approaches for teachers. System and institutional supports such as reducing teachers’ workload, providing sufficient time for students’ activities during implementing mobile applications. sessions and for teachers’ collaboration, and involving both students and teachers in defining.

Belief Change Before and After the Teaching Practicum Among Chinese Pre-Service ELT Teachers

This article aims to study the dynamic change of teachers’ beliefs among pre-service teachers. A longitudinal design was adopted to investigate English language teaching (ELT) pre-service teachers’ belief change after a 3-month teaching practicum by administering pretest and posttest questionnaires, semistructured interviews, and reflective journals. Repeated measures and paired sample t-test analyses showed significant differences across different aspects of beliefs in all the participants, but belief changes were significant after the practicum only within the experimental group, particularly in the aspects of student management, teaching evaluation, and student learning. In contrast, belief changes were not significant within the control group. Further inductive content analyses of semistructured interviews and reflective journals from the experimental group confirmed these changes and conclusively revealed some potential factors contributing to the changes. The results shed light on how pre-service teachers evolve in their career development and help educators adjust appropriate education policies to improve the quality of English teacher education, particularly in the Chinese context.

Senpai: Learner Responses to a Near-Peer Role Modeling Intervention

Though Japanese learners often express a preference for so-called “native” English teachers, a growing body of research indicates that their development of multilingual identity is more positively influenced by those with whom they readily identify—other successful Japanese learners. This mixed methods study, conducted in tandem with an existing communication strategy curriculum, explored university students’ responses to a “near-peer role modeling” intervention combining prerecorded video with reflective practice. Participants included two groups, both majoring in Japanese, enrolled in a compulsory 1st-year English conversation tutorial course. Results indicate that less confident students may experience positive belief changes and increased classroom participation following exposure to near-peer role models. More confident learners did not exhibit these changes to a significant degree. Moreover, following this intervention, lower-performing students responded more positively to statements expressing self-efficacy. Participants’ use of Japanese respect language may illuminate to what extent near-peers are valued as role models. 日本の学習者達は「英語母語話者」である英語教師から指導を受ける事が理想的だという意見をよく示すが、近年の研究調査では、学習者にとって最もお手本となる人物は自身の身近に存在する英語を使いこなす日本人英語学習者(NPRM)であると主張されている。本研究では、混合研究法を用い1学期間のNPRM活動を通して学習者の信念の変化を探究した。映像と反省的実践を用いた実験的手法は、既存の会話手法習得の為のカリキュラムと並行して導入された。結果として、英語能力に自信のない学習者達は模範的な日本人から受ける自己効力感について肯定的な変化を示し、学習活動への参加が増加した。一方で、英語能力に自信のある学習者達は明確な変化を示さなかった。量的な結果は面談調査と映像を見た後の学習者による感想文を用いた質的データにより解釈が可能となった。参加者たちが使用する日本語の尊敬語である先輩という表現はどの級友がロールモデルであると理解されているかの程度を示している。本研究は独特な教育環境によって行われた為、更なる詳細な研究調査が必要となるだろう。