Yikang Zhang

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Verified

Yikang verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• PhD in Psychology
• Postdoc at Max Planck Society

Bilingualism is a common experience worldwide, yet limited research is available on how the experience of learning and using two languages impacts eyewitness testimony. As international migration continues, bilingual witnesses will be increasingly common in the legal system. In this chapter, we first summarize findings on the cognitive, linguistic,...

Memory distrust refers to the subjective appraisal of one’s memory functioning and it has two aspects: distrust over making omission errors (e.g., forgetting) and distrust over making commission errors (e.g., falsely remembering). Although these two aspects of memory distrust have been studied, how they are associated with memory validation (e.g.,...

In psychological science, replicability—repeating a study with a new sample achieving consistent results (Parsons et al., 2022)—is critical for affirming the validity of scientific findings. Despite its importance, replication efforts are few and far between in psychological science with many attempts failing to corroborate past findings. This scar...

With the rise of dating apps, people have access to a vast pool of potential partners at their fingertips. The present study examined how various factors would predict an individual's dating decisions in a dating app–analog study. Participants (N = 269) first completed some trait measures and then a mock-dating task in which they judged the attract...

In psychological science, replicability—repeating a study with a new sampleachieving consistent results (Parsons et al., 2022)—is critical for affirming the validity of scientific findings. Despite its importance, replication efforts are few and far between in psychological science with many attempts failing to corroborate past findings. This scarc...

In psychological science, replicability—repeating a study with a new sampleachieving consistent results (Parsons et al., 2022)—is critical for affirming the validity of scientific findings. Despite its importance, replication efforts are few and far between in psychological science with many attempts failing to corroborate past findings. This scarc...

The current study examined how mood affects the impact of false feedback on belief and recollection. In a three-session experiment, participants first watched 40 neutral mini videos, which were accompanied by music to induce either a positive or negative mood, or no music. Following a recognition test, they received false feedback to reduce belief...

The current study examined how people’s metamemory judgments of recollection and belief-in-occurrence change over time. Furthermore, we examined to what extent these judgments are affected by memory distrust—the subjective appraisal of one’s memory functioning—as measured by the Memory Distrust Scale (MDS) and the Squire Subjective Memory Scale (SS...

Because of the inherent reconstructive nature of memory, both recollection and belief concerning experienced events can change dynamically because of external information. We argue that economic games that include rich social information and a controlled environment can offer unique opportunities to study memory-related phenomena in relation to ext...

With the rise of dating apps, people have access to a vast pool of potential partners at their fingertips. The present study examined how various factors would predict an individual's dating decisions in a dating app–analog study. Participants (N = 269) first completed some trait measures and then a mock-dating task in which they judged the attract...

The current study examined how mood affects the impact of false feedback on belief and recollection. In a three-session experiment, participants first watched 40 neutral mini videos, which were accompanied by music to induce either a positive or negative mood, or no music. Following a recognition test, they received false feedback to reduce belief...

Sexual dysfunction, a globally widespread concern, is associated with numerous negative outcomes. While some evidence indicates the potential of ginger supplementation to enhance sexual function, comprehensive research in this area remains scarce and the potential mechanism behind is unclear. The current study aimed to explore if and how consumptio...

Purpose This study aimed to examine beliefs in repressed memory and dissociative amnesia from a cross-cultural perspective. Design/methodology/approach Chinese ( n = 123) and Belgian student participants ( n = 270) received several statements tapping into various dimensions of repressed memory and dissociative amnesia. Participants provided belief...

General Audience Summary The experience of sometimes finding it difficult to trust one’s own memory is widely shared. Moreover, some people are more skeptical about their memories, while others are less. This individual difference is referred to as trait memory distrust. Memory distrust has been measured with two scales, the Squire Subjective Memor...

Shame and guilt are unpleasant self-conscious emotions associated with negative evaluations of oneself or one’s behavior. Smith et al. (2002) demonstrated that shame and guilt are distinct and are impacted differently by public exposure, that is, the (potential) exposure to disapproving appraisals of one’s misdeeds by others. The impact of public e...

Memories that can be recalled but are no longer believed are termed nonbelieved memories. The current studies examined the creation of emotionally-negative nonbelieved memories after viewing negatively valenced pictures. In both experiments, participants took part in two sessions. In Session 1, after being presented with a set of neutral and negati...

Background: Premature ejaculation (PE), which leads to substantial distress in men and their partners, is a common male sexual dysfunction worldwide. However, there is still a lack of effective treatments without side effects. Objectives: We investigated the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on PE symptoms. Materials and methods...

When choosing strategies for verifying one’s memory, people are more influenced by the perceived cost of using a strategy than by its likelihood of yielding reliable information (i.e., cheap-strategy bias). The current preregistered study investigated whether people with high memory distrust are less likely to exhibit this bias than their low memor...

Sexual stimuli provoke both sexual arousal and disgust, and the coaction between these emotions determines sexually behavioral outcomes. The current research includes two experiments to explore the bidirectional relationship between sexual arousal toward erotic stimuli and disgust induced by sexual body fluids. Study 1 presented 234 participants (1...

Previous research has shown that simulation training using avatars with repeated feedback improves child sexual abuse interview quality. The present study added a hypothesis-testing intervention and examined if the combination of two interventions, feedback and hypothesis-testing, would improve interview quality compared to no intervention and to e...

METHODS In real time research participants (N = 60, M age = 22,75, SD = 6.74, age range 19-44) conducted two interviews with child avatars, while their psychophysiological indicators were captured on a storyboard. Later, iMotions allowed the overlaying of annotations of different time intervals on the timeline at points that will be used for furthe...

Introduction In forensic settings interviewers are advised to ask as many open-ended questions as possible. However, even experts may have difficulty following this advice potentially negatively impacting an investigation. Here, we sought to investigate how emotions and psychophysiological parameters are associated with question formulation in real...

When choosing strategies for verifying one’s memory, people are more influenced by the perceived cost of using a strategy than by its likelihood of yielding reliable information (i.e., cheap-strategy bias). The current preregistered study investigated whether people with high memory distrust are less likely to exhibit this bias than their low memor...

Shame and guilt are unpleasant self-conscious emotions associated with negative evaluations of oneself or one’s behavior. Smith et al. (2002) demonstrated that shame and guilt are distinct and are impacted differently by public exposure, that is, the (potential) exposure to disapproving appraisals of one’s misdeeds by others. The impact of public e...

Sexual problems are common complaints across countries and cultures, and behavioral immune system theory suggests disgust plays an essential role in sexual functioning. The current study investigated 1) if disgust induced by sexual body fluids would reduce sexual arousal, reduce the likelihood of sexual engagement, and enhance disgust toward subseq...

This Power Analyses Collaborative Guide aims to provide students and early-career researchers with hands-on, step-by-step instructions for conducting power analysis for common statistical tests used in psychology, social sciences and behavioral sciences. Many of the methods and procedures described in this guide are based on G*Power, R or R-based S...

Types of disgust guide individuals to seek healthier mates and avoid risky sexual behaviors. However, research integrating the relationships between types of disgust and mating is still lacking. Through three studies either measuring types of disgust together (Study 1, N1 = 335, China) or separately (Study 2, N2 = 233, China; Study 3, N3 = 267, the...

When beliefs in autobiographical memories are reduced while recollections remain relatively intact, a phenomenon termed nonbelieved memories (NBMs) unfolds. The current preregistered study (N = 104) used a 3-week longitudinal design to investigate the relationships between the frequency of recalled NBMs, memory distrust, rumination over autobiograp...

Two experiments were conducted to explore whether and why procedural fairness may promote cooperation. In both experiments, participants first took part in a task in which they were connected to an allocator who then either selected a fair or an unfair procedure for allocating outcomes between them. After this manipulation of procedural fairness, p...

Evolutionary psychological theories posit that higher social status is conducive to men’s reproductive success. Extant research from historical records, small scale societies, as well as industrialized societies, support this hypothesis. However, the relationship between status difference between spouses and reproductive success has been investigat...

The present study aimed to test the effectiveness of giving feedback on simulated avatar interview training (Avatar Training) across different experiments and participant groups and to explore the effect of professional training and parenting experience by conducting a mega-analysis of previous studies. A total of 2,208 interviews containing 39,950...

Purpose Research has shown that confirmation bias plays a role in legal and forensic decision‐making processes and, more specifically, child interviews. However, previous studies often examine confirmation bias in child interviews using non‐abuse‐related events. We enrich the literature by examining interviewers’ behaviours in simulated child sexua...

Purpose: Research has shown that confirmation bias plays a role in legal and forensic decision-making processes and, more specifically, child interviews. However, previous studies often examine confirmation bias in child interviews using non-abuse-related events. We enrich the literature by examining interviewers’ behaviors in simulated child sexua...

Research has shown that confirmation bias plays a role in legal and forensic decision-making processes and more specifically, child interviews. However, previous studies often examine confirmation bias in child interviews using non-abuse-related events. We enrich the literature by examining interviewers’ behaviours in simulated child sexual abuse (...

The present study aimed to test the effectiveness of giving feedback on simulated avatar interview training (Avatar Training) across different experiments and participant groups and to explore the effect of professional training and parenting experience by conducting a mega-analysis of previous studies. A total of 2,208 interviews containing 39,950...

Evolutionary psychological theories posit that higher social status is conducive to men's reproductive success. Extant research from historical records, small scale societies, as well as industrialized societies, support this hypothesis. However, the relationship between status difference between spouses and reproductive outcomes has been investiga...

Purpose Research has shown that confirmation bias plays a role in legal and forensic decision-making processes. However, to our knowledge, no study has examined how it manifests itself when interviewing an allegedly abused child. Method In the present study, we used data from a series of experiments in which participants interviewed child avatars...

Research on memory distrust and nonbelieved memory both stress the importance of belief in memory but no previous research has brought these fields together. In the present study, we examined how trait memory distrust is associated with false memory and nonbelieved memory, self-esteem as well as personality traits. Through two studies (N 1 = 280, N...

Although the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and prosocial practices has been extensively studied, little is known about the role that social capital plays in this relationship. This study examines the mediating effect of different forms of social capital, including informal neighbourhood capital , membership in voluntary associatio...