We are glad to present you with a special issue of Advances in Cognitive Psychology (ACP) and we want to thank you for your interest in how novel EEG signal analysis methods contribute to better understanding of perception and cognitive processes.

Individuals frequently expect consequences—in particular emotional consequences—based on nonemotional or emotional information conveyed by environmental cues. However, in an everchanging world, (emotional) consequences are sometimes incongruent with expectations. Past event-related potential (ERP) studies have revealed effects of anticipation violation on facial expression processing when consequence anticipation is based on nonemotional cues (NEC). However, it is unknown whether anticipation violation influences ERP responses to emotional facial expressions when the anticipation is based on emotional cues (EC). To understand this question, anticipatory cues were presented before fearful and happy facial expressions. Most often, the cues correctly suggested the emotional content of the facial expression but sometimes, another emotional category of facial expression was shown. Moreover, in the EC condition, emotional pictures were used as anticipatory cues, while scrambled pictures outlined in different colors were used as cues in the NEC condition. The ERP results showed stronger responses in early posterior negativity (EPN) and late positive potential (LPP) to facial expressions under the violated condition than under the nonviolated condition in the NEC condition, whereas these effects were absent in the EC condition. The findings might suggest that EC reduces the influences of anticipation violation on attention toward emotional facial expressions.

Facebook is a platform for social contacts, establishing relationships, and solving interpersonal conflicts. Consequently, understanding online emotional and social behaviour in problematic and nonproblematic Facebook use is important to explore how people function on social media. In this context, the current study examined the differences between participants with low (LPFU) and high (HPFU) problematic Facebook use in pain perception associated with empathic processes using the event-related potential (ERP) paradigm. More precisely, the current study verified the impact of problematic Facebook use on pain-related stimuli during a subliminal affective priming paradigm task. Three types of priming were used: Facebook-related, pain-related, and neutral. The results showed that the HPFU group answered more slowly than the individuals from LPFU. Additionally, the N2 amplitude was sensitive both for Facebook-related and pain-related primes and painful and nonpainful stimuli types in the HPFU and LPFU groups. However, for the HPFU group, the N2 amplitude was more negative in the painful stimulus condition than in the nonpainful stimulus condition in the Facebook-related prime. The findings also showed that the P3 component was more positive in nonpainful than painful conditions. The study's results allow us to better understand the functioning of Facebook users in the context of emotional and social behavior online.

Visuo-spatial attentional functions are known to be lateralized in the right hemisphere. However, a left-hemispheric dominance emerges under several specific circumstances, such as the need to engage selective attention, dominance of local (vs. global) processing, deployment of top-down attention, or reduced cognitive arousal. We conducted two experimental electroencephalography (EEG) studies in the event-related potential (ERP) paradigm to assess the effect of implicitly learned spatiotemporal predictability on the effectiveness of attentional selection in localization and identification tasks. Although primarily unexpected, we discovered behavioral as well as electrophysiological correlates of reversed attentional asymmetry. The analyzed data came from 30 healthy, young adults taking part in Experiments 1 (N = 15) and 2 (N = 15). Participants in both experiments reacted faster to right versus left targets. Additionally, we found shorter latency of an early visual P1 component for right versus left targets, registered exclusively from the left occipitoparietal electrodes (PO7/O1). We discuss our results with reference to behavioral, electrophysiological, and functional neuroimaging studies that have shown different aspects and determinants of (reversed) attentional asymmetry, and we indicate important research questions that have not yet been answered.

Research on neural correlates of empathy towards pain identified as an event-related potential (ERP) component has become popular recently. However, N1, P2, and N2 components were found to be unreliable indicators of empathy-related processes. Thus, we decided to test whether the neuronal response of these components relates to empathy or whether it is an affective response to a stimulus connected with pain. According to our results, the amplitude of the N1, N2, and P3 ERP components was sensitive to the type of subject (human vs. vegetable/fruit). However, stimulation had a significant effect on the P2 component. The amplitude of P2 was significantly different when participants observed affective cues (needle or cotton stick), regardless of whether it concerned another person or an object. According to our knowledge, this is the first study on affective/ empathic stimuli and ERP components.

The current study aimed to develop a brief measure of daily life satisfaction understood as cognitive judgments about one’s current life – the Daily Life Satisfaction Scale (DLSS). Six items, including two reverse-scored items, were developed and tested in two online surveys. A total of 598 adults participated in the first cross-sectional study. Results from an exploratory factor analysis supported a univariate structure including all six items. However, the slightly lower factor loading on the reversed questions suggested further analysis of a four-item version of the tool, excluding the reversed ones. A subsequent confirmatory factor analysis confirmed this structure, with the four-item version showing better fit than the six-item version. The four-item version showed excellent internal consistency and convergent validity, correlating significantly with positive and negative affect (The Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule) and depression (The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale short form). Additionally, the DLSS showed measurement invariance across gender and age groups. A subsequent daily diary study with 170 adults aimed to reassess the construct validity of the four-item measure. Results from a multilevel confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the unidimensional structure of the DLSS. In conclusion, the DLSS is a brief, reliable measure suitable for both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies.

Background. Stroke is one of the most common diseases which causes long-term disability, cognitive and motor impairments. The methods of conventional rehabilitation appear to be deficient in their capacity to enhance cognitive functions in patients who have suffered a stroke. Currently, virtual reality (VR) methods are of great promise in improving cognitive functions in stroke patients. Methods. A systematic literature review aimed to collect scientific evidence for the evaluation of the effectiveness of VR in cognitive rehabilitation in stroke patients. Five electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, MEDLINE, and PsycARTICLES) were searched for articles published in English-language peer-reviewed journals from 2015 to December 2023. The results of selected studies were summarized. Results. The current systematic review comprised 14 studies. A total of 555 stroke patients were included in all 14 studies. Sample sizes ranged mainly from 18 to 121 participants. The results revealed an improvement in various aspects of cognitive functions; memory, attention, visual-spatial abilities, executive, and general cognitive functions in patients suffering from a stroke after VR interventions. Conclusions. Using different VR tools with the following treatment protocol: 3–5 sessions per week for 2-8 weeks, 30-45 minutes, may show maximum benefits. Both immersive and nonimmersive VR cognitive rehabilitation proved to be an effective technique for enhancing cognitive function. However, additional investigations are required to compare the efficacy of different types of VR in this regard. Further randomized clinical trials with large sample sizes and estimations of effect sizes are needed to verify our findings.