Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Psychology”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Inner Engineering Practices and Advanced 4-day Isha Yoga Retreat Are Associated with Cannabimimetic Effects with Increased Endocannabinoids and Short-Term and Sustained Improvement in Mental Health: A Prospective Observational Study of Meditators

Anxiety and depression are common in the modern world, and there is growing demand for alternative therapies such as meditation. Meditation can decrease perceived stress and increase general well-being, although the physiological mechanism is not well-characterized. Endocannabinoids (eCBs), lipid mediators associated with enhanced mood and reduced anxiety/depression, have not been previously studied as biomarkers of meditation effects. Our aim was to assess biomarkers (eCBs and brain-derived neurotrophic factor [BDNF]) and psychological parameters after a meditation retreat. Methods. This was an observational pilot study of adults before and after the 4-day Isha Yoga Bhava Spandana Program retreat. Participants completed online surveys (before and after retreat, and 1 month later) to assess anxiety, depression, focus, well-being, and happiness through validated psychological scales. Voluntary blood sampling for biomarker studies was done before and within a day after the retreat. The biomarkers anandamide, 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), 1-arachidonoylglycerol (1-AG), docosatetraenoylethanolamide (DEA), oleoylethanolamide (OLA), and BDNF were evaluated. Primary outcomes were changes in psychological scales, as well as changes in eCBs and BDNF. Results. Depression and anxiety scores decreased while focus, happiness, and positive well-being scores increased immediately after retreat from their baseline values (P < 0.001). All improvements were sustained 1 month after BSP. All major eCBs including anandamide, 2-AG, 1-AG, DEA, and BDNF increased after meditation by > 70% (P < 0.001). Increases of ≥20% in anandamide, 2-AG, 1-AG, and total AG levels after meditation from the baseline had weak correlations with changes in happiness and well-being. Conclusions. A short meditation experience improved focus, happiness, and positive well-being and reduced depression and anxiety in participants for at least 1 month. Participants had increased blood eCBs and BDNF, suggesting a role for these biomarkers in the underlying mechanism of meditation. Meditation is a simple, organic, and effective way to improve well-being and reduce depression and anxiety.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Reading Between the Lines: Measuring the Effects of Linguistic-Based Indicators of Deception on Experts’ Identification and Categorization of Disinformation

There is currently very limited research into how experts analyze and assess potentially fraudulent content in their expertise areas, and most research within the disinformation space involves very limited text samples (e.g., news headlines). The overarching goal of the present study was to explore how an individual’s psychological profile and the linguistic features in text might influence an expert’s ability to discern disinformation/fraudulent content in academic journal articles. At a high level, the current design tasked experts with reading journal articles from their area of expertise and indicating if they thought an article was deceptive or not. Half the articles they read were journal papers that had been retracted due to academic fraud. Demographic and psychological inventory data collected on the participants was combined with performance data to generate insights about individual expert susceptibility to deception. Our data show that our population of experts were unable to reliably detect deception in formal technical writing. Several psychological dimensions such as comfort with uncertainty and intellectual humility may provide some protection against deception. This work informs our understanding of expert susceptibility to potentially fraudulent content within official, technical information and can be used to inform future mitigative efforts and provide a building block for future disinformation work.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2023

The rapid change in mental health among college students after introduction of on-campus quarantine during the 2022 Shanghai COVID-19 lockdown

Objectives Among the various impacts of disasters in terms of emotions, quarantine has been proven to result in significant increases in mental health problems. Studies of psychological resilience during outbreaks of epidemics tend to focus on long-term social quarantine. In contrast, insufficient studies have been conducted examining how rapidly negative mental health outcomes occur and how these outcomes change over time. We evaluated the time course of psychological resilience (over three different phases of quarantine) among students at Shanghai Jiao Tong University to investigate the influence of unexpected changes on college students. Methods An online survey was conducted from 5 to 7 April 2022. A structured online questionnaire was administered using a retrospective cohort trial design. Before 9 March (Period 1), individuals engaged in their usual activities without restrictions. From 9 to 23 March (Period 2), the majority of students were asked to remain in their dormitories on campus. From 24 March to early April (Period 3), restrictions were relaxed, and students were gradually allowed to participate in essential activities on campus. We quantified dynamic changes in the severity of students’ depressive symptoms over the course of these three periods. The survey consisted of five sets of self-reported questions: demographic information, lifestyle/activity restrictions, a brief mental health history, COVID-19-related background, and the Beck Depression Inventory, second edition. Results A total of 274 college students aged 18–42 years (mean = 22.34; SE = 0.24) participated in the study (58.39% undergraduate students, 41.61% graduate students; 40.51% male, 59.49% female). The proportion of students with depressive symptoms was 9.1% in Period 1, 36.1% in Period 2, and 34.67% in Period 3. Depressive symptoms increased notably with the introduction of the quarantine in Periods 2 and 3. Lower satisfaction with the food supplied and a longer duration of physical exercise per day were found to be positively associated with changes in depression severity in Periods 2 and 3. Quarantine-related psychological distress was more evident in students who were in a romantic relationship than in students who were single. Conclusion Depressive symptoms in university students rapidly increased after 2 weeks of quarantine and no perceptible reversal was observed over time. Concerning students in a relationship, ways to take physical exercise and to relax should be provided and the food supplied should be improved when young people are quarantined.

Ma, Dongni↗
DOE OSTI2022

Extreme events, energy security and equality through micro- and macro-levels: Concepts, challenges and methods

Low-income households face long-standing challenges of energy insecurity and inequality (EII). During extreme events (e.g., disasters and pandemics) these challenges are especially severe for vulnerable populations reliant on energy for health, education, and well-being. However, many EII studies rarely incorporate the micro- and macro-perspectives of resilience and reliability of energy and internet infrastructure and social-psychological factors. To remedy this gap, we first address the impacts of extreme events on EII among vulnerable populations. Second, we evaluate the driving factors of EII and how they change during disasters. Third, we situate these inequalities within broader energy systems and pinpoint the importance of equitable infrastructure systems by examining infrastructure reliability and resilience and the role of renewable technologies. Then, we consider the factors influencing energy consumption, such as energy practices, socio-psychological factors, and internet access. Finally, we propose interdisciplinary research methods to study these issues during extreme events and provide recommendations.

Chen, CF↗
DOE OSTI2020

Investigating the interconnectedness of active transportation and public transit usage as a primer for Mobility-as-a-Service adoption and deployment

With the advent of Mobility-as-a-Service packages to reduce car usage and (by extension) greenhouse gas emissions, it is crucial that researchers and practitioners consider mutual determinants and outcomes that link the adoption of multiple alternative modes. This study therefore investigates the joint usage of active travel (walking, cycling, bike-sharing) and public transit (bus, rail) modes with respect to personal and situational contexts. Online survey data (n = 826) were collected across six Midwestern U.S. states using Amazon MTurk. Respondents indicated their average weekly usage of eight travel modes across three trip purposes so that multimodality could be assessed. Several psychological constructs were extracted via (a) the stages of change framework, used to indicate willingness to adopt new behavior, and (b) confirmatory factor analysis conducted on Likert scales rooted in theories of community, identity, norms, personality, and well-being. A multiple-indicators multiple-causes structural equation model is then employed to investigate the process of adopting a modality style that incorporates active and transit modes. The model confirms that compatible physical and social contexts, as well as navigational skills and openness to learning, are key primers of multimodalism. However, a path juncture stemming from neighborhood support for mobility innovation illustrates a potential polarity in outcomes between individuals and communities. In addition, the stage of active mobility adoption is linked to identity and norm activation, offering further guidance on what influences readiness for change. The seamless integration of mobility services is critical to matching the convenience and comfort of the private vehicle; understanding potential pathways to sustainable mobility, though, requires analyses and interventions that are driven by well-being outcomes and grounded in rigorous psychological frameworks. Here, the research findings offer practical guidance for identifying intervention opportunities to be linked with MaaS enrollment while demonstrating the need to illuminate how mobility might relate to social cohesion, identity expression, and various sources of satisfaction.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

GraphCH: A Deep Framework for Assessing Cyber-Human Aspects in Insider Threat Detection

Insider threat is one of the most damaging cyber attacks that could cause the loss of intellectual property and enterprise data security breaches. Action sequence data such as host logs are used to investigate such threats and develop anomaly-based AI detectors. However, insider threat actions are similar to legitimate user activities, causing AI detectors to fail and suffer from high false alarm rates. Therefore, user cyber activity logs are inadequate to fully unfold insider threats. In this study, we adopt human psychological principles of risk-taking and impulsiveness along with host data to assess the influence and usefulness of human behavioral aspects in insider threat detection. Here, we hypothesize that individuals' impulsive and risk-taking behavior correlates with cyberspace activities. To validate our hypothesis, we conducted an IRB-approved study recruiting 35 participants who work in a large U.S. university and collected their cyber and psychological data for 90 days. Host and human-behavioral data analysis and mapping indicate that impulsive and risk-taking users trigger more system errors causing (un)intentional insider threats and are susceptible to attackers' social engineering and cognitive hacking. Utilizing cyber-human aspects, we introduce a Cyber-Human Graph Neural Network (GNN) based framework GraphCH to identify abnormal user behaviors and detect insider threats.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Assessing Self-Definition and Relatedness in Level of Personality Functioning

The two polarities model (TPM) of personality organizes psychological assessment and psychotherapy and connects to personality disorder diagnosis using the DSM-5 Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD). The authors developed scales assessing the TPM from an existing self-report measure for level of personality functioning (LPF), a core component of the AMPD. Iterative content analyses of the LPF measure yielded scales for Autonomy and Communion corresponding to dimensions of the TPM. The scales were refined via internal consistency analyses using a measure of psychological attachment and studied in development and validation samples. Associations with relevant external criteria were explored in a series of multiple regressions. Furthermore, the new content-based LPF scales were illustrated with a case vignette. Although the new Autonomy/Communion scales await further validation prior to clinical use, initial evidence suggests that they may bridge the nomological nets of the TPM and AMPD and potentially offer clinical utility in assessment and treatment planning.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Behavioral Health/Employee Assistance. Interim Program Report FY 2020

The Sandia National Laboratories' (SNL) Corporate Behavioral Health Program is a workplace- based program that: 1) provides Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services including early identification and resolution of personal concerns which may impact job performance, 2) assists managers and the organization in addressing productivity issues, and 3) supports the SNL commitment to provide a safe and healthful work environment. The program is offered to approximately 13,500 employees in New Mexico. The Behavioral Health Program is a corporate program combining services in NM and CA. It is integrated with other occupational health and clinical services including disability, disease management and preventive health programs. In addition, Sandia's Behavioral Health Program provides critical management consultation and psychological assessment services for external organizations including Human Resources, the Department of Energy and Security through the Clinical Evaluation (CE) process, Human Reliability Program (HRP), Protective Force Program, Workplace Violence/Threat Assessment Team (TAT), and Insider Threat Working Group programs. The program supports Sandia National Laboratories' mission to safeguard national security, the environment, and the public; it is a proactive approach to early identification, intervention and assessment. Importantly, it reduces barriers to accessing mental health services and assists with reducing health care costs attributed to illness or injuries related to unhealthy lifestyles and behaviors. The team is comprised of a professional staff including a licensed Clinical Psychologist, a licensed professional clinical counselor (LPCC) and a licensed Marriage and Family counselor (MFT) who is also a Certified Employee Assistance Professional and who holds a doctorate in counseling psychology.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Stakeholder Support for Wildlife Conservation Funding Policies

State wildlife management agencies in the United States have depended on a “user-pay” funding model for conservation efforts that relies on revenue from hunting license sales and a federal excise tax on firearms, ammunition, and archery equipment. Declines in hunting participation, however, jeopardize sustainability of the current funding model. Ensuring support among stakeholders for wildlife management and conservation may require expanding sources of funding and incorporating the perspectives and values of a diversifying constituency into decision making processes. We used a web-based survey of wildlife-associated recreationists in Michigan, USA to evaluate support for a range of conservation funding policies. Respondents self-identified primarily as hunters (n = 2,558) or wildlife watchers (n = 942). We used binary logistic regression to evaluate support for four conservation funding policy options: state sales tax, lottery proceeds, extractive industry revenue, and a user-based tax on outdoor gear (i.e., “backpack tax”). Determinants of support varied by type of policy and stakeholder characteristics. We found no statistically significant differences between hunters and wildlife watchers in their support for conservation funding policies when accounting for other variables such as wildlife value orientations, engagement in stewardship behaviors, age, and gender. The industry-based policy achieved the greatest level of approval, while the backpack tax had the lowest. Respondents were mixed in their support of the sales tax and lottery proceeds options. Cluster analysis revealed three homogenous groups related to conservation funding policies: “strong support,” “mixed/opposed,” and “anti-backpack tax.” Clusters differed in their support for conservation funding policies and on psychological and demographic variables. The “strong support” and “anti-backpack tax” groups differed in their levels of stewardship engagement, knowledge of conservation funding mechanisms, and support for the backpack tax option. The “mixed-opposed” group tended to be older, less educated, and less likely to be a member of a conservation organization. Results suggest support for conservation funding differs by policy type and social and psychological characteristics of stakeholders. Based on differences in policy support revealed in this study, we suggest a multi-tiered approach to funding conservation and building on support among wildlife stakeholders to mitigate the looming funding crisis for state wildlife agencies.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2021

The Relationship Between Perceived Control and Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal Axis Reactivity to the Trier Social Stress Test in Healthy Young Adults

Psychological factors can modulate the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis activity toward stressors. Animal studies demonstrated that uncontrollability was one critical factor associated with HPA axis stress response, but the results in human studies were inconsistent. The current study adopted a standardized laboratory stress induction procedure, the Trier Social Stress Test (the TSST), as the stressor to regulate the objective controllability level, and young adult participants were asked to rate their subjectively perceived control level toward the stressor and measured their cortisol stress responses ( N =54; 19 females and 35 males) to address this concern. Results showed that participants’ perceived control on the TSST was related to the cortisol stress response. In other words, under the stress of a certain objective controllability level, the lower the subjectively perceived control level, the greater the HPA axis response. This finding suggested that, in addition to objective controllability, subjectively perceived control is a psychological factor that regulates activation of the HPA axis in young adults.

Liu, Qian↗
DOE OSTI2024

Magnesium Oxide Reduces Anxiety-like Behavior in Mice by Inhibiting Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria

The gut microbiota–brain axis allows for bidirectional communication between the microbes in our gastrointestinal (GI) tract and the central nervous system. Psychological stress has been known to disrupt the gut microbiome (dysbiosis) leading to anxiety-like behavior. Pathogens administered into the gut have been reported to cause anxiety. Whether commensal bacteria affect the gut–brain axis is not well understood. In this study, we examined the impact of a commensal sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and its metabolite, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), on anxiety-like behavior. We found that mice gavaged with SRB had increased anxiety-like behavior as measured by the open field test. We also tested the effects of magnesium oxide (MgO) on SRB growth both in vitro and in vivo using a water avoidance stress (WAS) model. We found that MgO inhibited SRB growth and H2S production in a dose-dependent fashion. Mice that underwent psychological stress using the WAS model were observed to have an overgrowth (bloom) of SRB (Deferribacterota) and increased anxiety-like behavior. However, WAS-induced overgrowth of SRB and anxiety-like behavioral effects were attenuated in animals fed a MgO-enriched diet. These findings supported a potential MgO-reversible relationship between WAS-induced SRB blooms and anxiety-like behavior.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Considerations when Implementing Shift Work in Nuclear Operations

Many domestic and international nuclear facilities have processes that require personnel to work on some type of shift. Shift work has many different schedules such as night, morning, swing, and rotating shift. Some common shifts are DuPont, Pitman, and Panama. There are many psychological and physiological impacts to a person working shifts. These impacts can affect work performance, safety, and security within an organization. A well-established nuclear organization relies on a strong security culture that implements a trustworthiness or reliability program. The IAEA defines this type of program as individuals meeting the highest standards of reliability, trustworthiness, and physical and mental suitability. Psychological and physiological impacts that apply to a Trustworthiness Program are reliability (an individual’s ability to adhere to security and safety rules and regulations) and physical and mental suitability. If shift work isn’t properly implemented in Facility Operations, then several issues or human factors can arise. An employee that suffers from a poorly designed shift, gets overworked, or doesn’t have the proper rest period implemented, may suffer from shift work disorder, acute fatigue, or cumulative fatigue. Introducing fatigue into Facility Operations can have severe consequences to security, safety, production, and cost. Another challenge of shiftwork within a facility is laziness and complacency. Creating an atmosphere where the employee is willing to admit fatigue to his or her supervisor is a challenge. It is up to the organization to do the needed research on shift work and to implement the best shift for their facility and personnel.

Stockwell, Brandon↗
DOE OSTI2021

Deepfaked online content is highly effective in manipulating people’s attitudes and intentions

In recent times, disinformation has spread rapidly through social media and news sites, biasing our (moral) judgements of other people and groups. “Deepfakes”, a new type of AI-generated media, represent a powerful new tool for spreading disinformation online. Although Deepfaked images, videos, and audio may appear genuine, they are actually hyper-realistic fabrications that enable one to digitally control what another person says or does. Given the recent emergence of this technology, we set out to examine the psychological impact of Deepfaked online content on viewers. Across seven preregistered studies (N = 2558) we exposed participants to either genuine or Deepfaked content, and then measured its impact on their explicit (self-reported) and implicit (unintentional) attitudes as well as behavioral intentions. Results indicated that Deepfaked videos and audio have a strong psychological impact on the viewer, and are just as effective in biasing their attitudes and intentions as genuine content. Many people are unaware that Deepfaking is possible; find it difficult to detect when they are being exposed to it; and most importantly, neither awareness nor detection serves to protect people from its influence. All preregistrations, data and code available at osf.io/f6ajb.

Hughes, Sean↗
DOE OSTI2025

Proactively Addressing Employee Well-Being to Foster Workplace Safety in a U.S. National Laboratory

The daily conduct of high-risk, high-consequence work, by its very nature, can be mentally demanding. Research demonstrates that failure to manage or mitigate these demands can degrade psychological well-being and mental health. Degradations in employee well-being impact individual performance, jeopardizing safety and mission success in the workplace. This Commentary describes efforts taken at Sandia National Laboratories over the past eight years to evaluate, understand, learn from, and mitigate factors such as stress, burnout, work-life imbalances, and disengagement in the workplace that can degrade employee well-being. After evaluating these four facets of employee well-being, Sandia National Laboratories initiated several programs to address observations and outcomes, including the Thrive program, the Take 10 Initiative, work-life balance resources, employee resource groups such as the Sandia Parents Group, and Workplace Improvement Networks. Collectively, the intent of these programs is to ensure employee mental readiness to conduct hazardous high-risk work effectively and safely. Preliminary data suggest that these programs are succeeding. In conclusion, other national laboratories and organizations, regardless of size, may wish to apply similar approaches to improve employee well-being and thereby increase the likelihood of mission success.

Absorption↗
DOE OSTI2024

Promoting Sustainable Transportation Modes: A Systematic Review of Behavior-Change Strategies

In previous studies, many travel-behavior-change strategies often relied on single behavior determinants or psychological theories, overlooking the incorporation of sociopsychological theories for guidance in their design. Integrating these theories could offer consistent guidance for program developers and enhance intervention effectiveness. This paper systematically reviews interventions targeting travel-behavior change, with a focus on self-determination theory and its principles of satisfying individuals’ competence, autonomy, and relatedness needs for enacting change. Additionally, experiment design methods, including randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental designs, are reviewed and discussed. Key findings highlight the effectiveness of personalized interventions and integrating feedback with goal-setting strategies. Given the limited direct references to sociopsychological theories in existing studies, we explore relevant sociopsychological theories applicable to travel-behavior-change programs to provide examples of how strategies could be designed based on them. This review contributes valuable insights into the development of strategies for changing travel behavior, offering a theoretical framework for researchers and practitioners to guide intervention design, experimentation, and evaluation. In conclusion, leveraging these theories not only facilitates reproducibility but also provides a standardized approach for transportation demand management program developers.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

A treatment-effect model to quantify human dimensions of disaster impacts: the case of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico

Here, we propose a supervised learning approach using publicly available panel data to statistically quantify the specific manifestations of human impacts of an extreme event, such as changes number of suicides, substance abuse, excess mortality, and unemployment. This allows us to conceptually focus our framework on human impacts and how by attributing them to disaster events along widely accepted psychological, economic, and social dimensions. Our modified treatment-effect model allows counterfactual baseline conditions to be posited for each manifestation from which an aggregated quantitative multi-faceted measure of human impacts can be determined. The developed statistical methodology could be beneficial to policymakers who must allocate scarce resources to those communities in greater need. We illustrate the applicability of our approach using annual and monthly panel data from 2012 to 2018 encompassing the 2017 Hurricane Maria event across various municipalities in Puerto Rico. Our statistical modeling methodology stands apart since (i) it explicitly and more realistically captures the effect of different human-oriented manifestations of an actual event and (ii) it is flexible enough to accommodate individual preferences of various stakeholders in how they assign importance to multiple manifestations of human impacts.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Psychosocial drivers of land management behaviour: How threats, norms, and context influence deforestation intentions

Understanding how private landholders make deforestation decisions is of paramount importance for conservation. Behavioural frameworks from the social sciences have a lot to offer researchers and practitioners, yet these insights remain underutilised in describing what drives landholders' deforestation intentions under important political, social, and management contexts. Using survey data of private landholders in Queensland, Australia, we compare the ability of two popular behavioural models to predict future deforestation intentions, and propose a more integrated behavioural model of deforestation intentions. We found that the integrated model outperformed other models, revealing the importance of threat perceptions, attitudes, and social norms for predicting landholders' deforestation intentions. Social capital, policy uncertainty, and years of experience are important contextual moderators of these psychological factors. Here, we conclude with recommendations for promoting behaviour change in this deforestation hotspot and highlight how others can adopt similar approaches to illuminate more proximate drivers of environmental behaviours in other contexts.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

A mathematical approach to using the forgetting curve to evaluate experience and training factors in human reliability analysis

Traditional human reliability analysis (HRA) methods have difficulty dealing with the dynamic nature of factors such as time and rely on static and expert-judgment-based assessments of performance-shaping factors (PSFs) across limited levels. In this study, we introduce a mathematical approach for dynamically evaluating the experience and training PSF. Our proposed method integrates the psychological concept of the “forgetting curve” to evaluate how PSFs are impacted by the number of trainings and the time elapsed since training. To confirm the validity of the model, we provide experimental data fitted by identifying the quantitative relationship between training and human performance. This research enables dynamic and objective assessments, thus reducing reliance on subjective expert judgment and improving the accuracy of HRA.

99 - GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗