Integrating artificial intelligence to assess emotions in learning environments: a systematic literature review.

Introduction: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming multiple sectors within our society, including education. In this context, emotions play a fundamental role in the teaching-learning process given that they influence academic performance, motivation, information retention, and student well-being. Thus, the integration of AI in emotional assessment within educational environments offers several advantages that can transform how we understand and address the socio-emotional development of students. However, there remains a lack of comprehensive approach that systematizes advancements, challenges, and opportunities in this field. Aim: This systematic literature review aims to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is used to evaluate emotions within educational settings. We provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of research, focusing on advancements, challenges, and opportunities in the domain of AI-driven emotional assessment within educational settings. Method: The review involved a search across the following academic databases: Pubmed, Web of Science, PsycINFO and Scopus. Forty-one articles were selected that meet the established inclusion criteria. These articles were analyzed to extract key insights related to the integration of AI and emotional assessment within educational environments. Results: The findings reveal a variety of AI-driven approaches that were developed to capture and analyze students' emotional states during learning activities. The findings are summarized in four fundamental topics: (1) emotion recognition in education, (2) technology integration and learning outcomes, (3) special education and assistive technology, (4) affective computing. Among the key AI techniques employed are machine learning and facial recognition, which are used to assess emotions. These approaches demonstrate promising potential in enhancing pedagogical strategies and creating adaptive learning environments that cater to individual emotional needs. The review identified emerging factors that, while important, require further investigation to understand their relationships and implications fully. These elements could significantly enhance the use of AI in assessing emotions within educational settings. Specifically, we are referring to: (1) federated learning, (2) convolutional neural network (CNN), (3) recurrent neural network (RNN), (4) facial expression databases, and (5) ethics in the development of intelligent systems. Conclusion: This systematic literature review showcases the significance of AI in revolutionizing educational practices through emotion assessment. While advancements are evident, challenges related to accuracy, privacy, and cross-cultural validity were also identified. The synthesis of existing research highlights the need for further research into refining AI models for emotion recognition and emphasizes the importance of ethical considerations in implementing AI technologies within educational contexts.

Particulate Matter in Human Elderly: Higher Susceptibility to Cognitive Decline and Age-Related Diseases.

This review highlights the significant impact of air quality, specifically particulate matter (PM), on cognitive decline and age-related diseases in the elderly. Despite established links to other pathologies, such as respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, there is a pressing need for increased attention to the association between air pollution and cognitive aging, given the rising prevalence of neurocognitive disorders. PM sources are from diverse origins, including industrial activities and combustion engines, categorized into PM10, PM2.5, and ultrafine PM (UFPM), and emphasized health risks from both outdoor and indoor exposure. Long-term PM exposure, notably PM2.5, has correlated with declines in cognitive function, with a specific vulnerability observed in women. Recently, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been explored due to the interplay between them, PM exposure, and human aging, highlighting the crucial role of EVs, especially exosomes, in mediating the complex relationship between PM exposure and chronic diseases, particularly neurological disorders. To sum up, we have compiled the pieces of evidence that show the potential contribution of PM exposure to cognitive aging and the role of EVs in mediating PM-induced cognitive impairment, which presents a promising avenue for future research and development of therapeutic strategies. Finally, this review emphasizes the need for policy changes and increased public awareness to mitigate air pollution, especially among vulnerable populations such as the elderly.

Emptiness in the study of emotions in the teaching-learning process of reading-writing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The teaching-learning process of reading and writing has great relevance in the psycho-emotional and socio-psychological development of school-age children. This is an exercise in which they develop imagination, attention and memory capacity and through this process the management of emotions and sensitivity and capacity of apprehension of reality. The crisis derived from the COVID-19 pandemic transformed reality in an unprecedented way in the recent history of humanity and the educational context was shaken by all these changes. With confinement, the teaching-learning process of reading and writing, which is designed to take place in person, had to be developed in a hybrid or online way, which was a major challenge for teachers and families and, of course, also for children who were in the process of learning. One of the aspects that was blurred in this context was the role of the teacher, which in this case is one of the most important elements, to achieve adequate learning of reading and writing. On one hand, the teacher is in charge of helping to manage the emotions derived from the learning process itself and, on the other hand, he is a key figure so that this is not only technical learning but also contributes to the child's socio-emotional development. The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of the socio-psychological changes that have occurred in the educational context since the COVID-19 pandemic on the emotions linked to the teaching process, learning of reading and writing through a systematic review of the studies carried out on the subject, in order to provide recommendations for face-to-face learning in the post-COVID-19 era. A systematic review strategy was devised and the literature search was conducted. The search was conducted using ERIC, Dialnet, Scopus, WoS, EBSCO, and Google Scholar databases. This systematic review took place during the month of May 2022. The results show that given the scarce presence of empirical studies on the subject, the objective has only been partially met. However, a systematic review of the studies carried out on the subject. For the identification of recommendations in the development of face-to-face learning in the post-covid era, it has been possible to identify some ideas of interest for future curricular designs in primary school students who are immersed in learning to read and write.

The BXD21/TyJ recombinant inbred strain as a model for innate inflammatory response in distinct brain regions.

Oxidative stress and inflammatory cytokines affect the human brain, increasing the risk for mood and cognitive disorders. Such risk might be selective to brain-specific regions. Here, we determined whether BXD recombinant inbred (RI) mice strains are more suitable than C57BL/6J mice for the understanding of the relationship between antioxidant response and inflammatory responses. We hypothesized that inflammatory responses could be independent of antioxidant response and be inherent to brain-specific regions. This hypothesis will be addressed by the analyses of mRNA expression. We explored, at 7-months-of-age, the innate activation of proinflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and interleukin 6 (IL-6), as well as Kelch-like ECH-associating protein 1 (Keap1), nuclear factor erythroid 2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) and glutathione peroxidase 1 (Gpx1) mRNA in both male and female BXD84/RwwJ RI, BXD21/TyJ RI and control strain (C57BL/6J mice). We report that: (1) The cerebellum is more sensitive to antioxidant response in the BXD21/TyJ RI strain; (2) The cerebellum, hippocampus and striatum show increased levels of cytokines in the BXD21/TyJ RI strain; (3) The BXD RI strain has lower brain weight relative to control strain (C57BL/6 mice). In conclusion, our novel data show the utility of the BXD21/TyJ RI strain mice in offering mechanistic insight into Nrf2's role in the inflammatory system.

What Leads to Loneliness? An Integrative Model of Social, Motivational, and Emotional Approaches in Adolescents.

Loneliness has been linked to many physical and mental health problems, especially during adolescence. From evolutionary, social needs, and cognitive approaches, this study examined whether emotional repair, relatedness need, and peer-rated indicators of relations behave in predicting loneliness, considering all approaches together. The sample consisted of 373 adolescents measured longitudinally at three time points. Results of a cross-lagged panel design found that, considering all the influences together, relatedness need showed the highest strength to predict loneliness. Furthermore, adolescents who were accepted by their peers and whose relatedness need was satisfied activated emotional regulation which additionally produced a decrease in prospective feelings of loneliness. In addition, loneliness has been shown to be a consequence of these variables.

BXD recombinant inbred strains participate in social preference, anxiety and depression behaviors along sex-differences in cytokines and tactile allodynia.

Depression and anxiety are the most common psychiatric disorders, representing a major public health concern. Dysregulation of oxidative and inflammatory systems may be associated with psychiatric disorders, such as depression and anxiety. Due to the need to find appropriate animal models to the understanding of such disorders, we queried whether 2 BXD recombinant inbred (RI) mice strains (BXD21/TyJ RI and BXD84/RwwJ RI mice) and C57BL/6 wild-type mice show differential performance in depression and anxiety related behaviors and biomarkers. Specifically, we assessed social preference, elevated plus maze, forced swim, and Von Frey tests at 3-4 months-of-age, as well as activation of cytokines and antioxidant mRNA levels in the cortex at 7 months-of-age. We report that (1) the BXD84/RwwJ RI strain exhibits anxiety disorder and social avoidance-like behavior (2) BXD21/TyJ RI strain shows a resistance to depression illness, and (3) sex-dependent cytokine profiles and allodynia with elevated inflammatory activity were inherent to male BXD21/TyJ RI mice. In conclusion, we provide novel data in favor of the use of BXD recombinant inbred mice to further understand anxiety and depression disorders.

Leadership in entrepreneurial organizations: context and motives.

Although organizational contexts have an influence on leadership, and some of their characteristics may facilitate (through weak structures) or inhibit (through strong structures) the leaders' behaviors, the extent of their influence has rarely been studied. Indeed, research of the influence of some types of contexts (entrepreneurial vs. non-entrepreneurial) on the emergence of certain variables (leaders' motives) is even scarcer. This paper analyses this influence in 40 companies, interviewing their leaders to obtain a qualitative register of their motives, and administering questionnaires to members of their respective management teams. The hypothesis considered was that, in 'weak' contexts (entrepreneurial), the leaders' motives would be more salient than in 'strong' contexts (non-entrepreneurial). The results largely confirm this hypothesis with respect to behaviors that are directly related to three main motives (power, affiliation and achievement). These results are discussed, and practical suggestions are provided for future research.

Leadership in entrepreneurial organizations: context and motives / Liderazgo en organizaciones emprendedoras: contextos y motivos

Although organizational contexts have an influence on leadership, and some of their characteristics may facilitate (through weak structures) or inhibit (through strong structures) the leaders’ behaviors, the extent of their influence has rarely been studied. Indeed, research of the influence of some types of contexts (entrepreneurial vs. non–entrepreneurial) on the emergence of certain variables (leaders’ motives) is even scarcer. This paper analyses this influence in 40 companies, interviewing their leaders to obtain a qualitative register of their motives, and administering questionnaires to members of their respective management teams. The hypothesis considered was that, in ‘weak’ contexts (entrepreneurial), the leaders’ motives would be more salient than in ‘strong’ contexts (non-entrepreneurial). The results largely confirm this hypothesis with respect to behaviors that are directly related to three main motives (power, affiliation and achievement). These results are discussed, and practical suggestions are provided for future research (AU)

A pesar de que los contextos organizacionales tienen una influencia sobre el liderazgo y de que algunas de sus características pueden facilitar (a través de estructuras débiles) o inhibir (a través de estructuras fuertes) las conductas de los líderes, el grado de esta influencia apenas ha sido estudiado. De hecho, la investigación sobre la influencia de determinados tipos de contextos (emprendedor vs no-emprendedor) en la aparición de algunas variables (motivos de los líderes) es igualmente escasa. Este artículo analiza la influencia en 40 empresas, a través de las entrevistas de sus líderes para obtener información cualitativa de sus motivos, y de cuestionarios aplicados a los empleados de sus respetivos equipos directivos. Se formula la hipótesis de que en contextos débiles (emprendedor) los motivos de los líderes son más salientes que en contextos fuertes (no-emprendedor). Los resultados confirman ampliamente las hipótesis con respecto a los comportamientos directamente relacionados con los tres motivos principales (poder, afiliación y logro). Se discuten los resultados y se proponen implicaciones prácticas para futuras investigaciones (AU)

Organizational leadership: motives and behaviors of leaders in current organizations.

Organizational leadership is fundamental for the working and development of current organizations. It helps members of an organization to face transcendental challenges. One of the fundamental aspects of leaders is their personal characteristics and behaviour as perceived by their co-workers. Although research has established a relationship between these components, findings have failed to come up with any congruent evidence and further to this the organizations and contexts used are from several decades ago. This article, which forms part of the international GLOBE project, analyses the relationship between motives and behaviour as perceived by co-workers in organizations, using quantitative and qualitative methods and including technological innovations. Using samples from 40 corporate directors and 84 of their co-workers, from different companies, it confirms how the main motives of leaders (power, affiliation and achievement) are related to different behavioral patterns (power to authoritarian, non-dependent and non-social-skill behaviours; affiliation to relationship and dependent behaviors, and achievement to proactive behaviors). It discusses the results with relation to traditional research and suggests practical measures and proposals for future investigations in this area.

Organizational Leadership: Motives and Behaviors of Leaders in Current Organizations

Organizational leadership is fundamental for the working and development of current organizations. It helps members of an organization to face transcendental challenges. One of the fundamental aspects of leaders is their personal characteristics and behaviour as perceived by their co-workers. Although research has established a relationship between these components, findings have failed to come up with any congruent evidence and further to this the organizations and contexts used are from several decades ago. This article, which forms part of the international GLOBE project, analyses the relationship between motives and behaviour as perceived by co-workers in organizations, using quantitative and qualitative methods and including technological innovations. Using samples from 40 corporate directors and 84 of their co-workers, from different companies, it confirms how the main motives of leaders (power, affiliation and achievement) are related to different behavioral patterns (power to authoritarian, non-depenent and non-social-skill behaviours; affiliation to relationship and dependent behaviors, and achievement to proactive behaviors). It discusses the results with relation to traditional research and suggests practical measures and proposals for future investigations in this area (AU)

El liderazgo organizacional resulta fundamental para el funcionamiento y desarrollo de las organizaciones actuales, implicando a sus miembros para afrontar retos transcendentales. Uno de los aspectos fundamentales del liderazgo son las características de personalidad de los líderes y las conductas percibidas por parte de los colaboradores. Aunque algunas investigaciones establecen relaciones entre ambas, no hay una evidencia congruente, y reflejan organizaciones y contextos de hace varias décadas. Este trabajo, que forma parte del proyecto internacional GLOBE, analiza la relación entre motivos y conductas percibidas por los colaboradores en organizaciones actuales utilizando métodos cuantitativos y cualitativos e incorporando innovaciones tecnológicas. Utilizando una muestra de 40 altos directivos y de 84 de sus colaboradores cercanos de diferentes empresas, se confirmó cómo los principales motivos de los líderes (poder, afiliación y logro) se asocian con diferentes patrones de conductas (poder con conductas autoritarias, no dependientes y no hábiles socialmente; afiliación con conductas de relación y dependencia, y logro con conductas proactivas). Se discuten los resultados en relación a las investigaciones tradicionales y se plantean medidas prácticas y propuestas de investigaciones futuras (AU)

Aprendizaje de equipo: adaptación en una muestra española de las escalas de actividades de aprendizaje / Team learning: adaptation of learning activities scales in a Spanish sample

Un aspecto esencial de la denominada gestión del conocimiento en las organizaciones actuales es el referente a cómo las personas comparten información y conocimiento, y particularmente cómo las organizaciones y equipos aprenden. En los últimos años se han realizado algunas propuestas sugerentes, como el modelo de Huber (1991) y, siguiendo a éste, el instrumento de evaluación desarrollado por Offenbeek (2001). Este último incluye cuatro escalas de actividades de aprendizaje: 1) distribuir información; 2) interpretar: aspectos convergentes; 3) interpretar: aspectos divergentes; y 4) almacenar y recuperar la información. En este artículo se presenta la adaptación española y las propiedades psicométricas de este instrumento (AU)

A main topic of named knowledge management in modern organizations is concerned how people share information and knowledge, and particularly how organizations and teams learn. In recent years suggestive proposals have been made like as the model put forward by Huber (1991) and, following it, the evaluation instrument developed by Offenbeek (2001). This instrument includes four learning activities scales: 1) distributing information; 2) convergent aspects of sensemaking; 3) divergent aspects of sensemaking; and 4) storing and retrieving information. This paper presents the Spanish adaptation and psychometric properties of this instrument (AU)

Un programa informático para el cálculo y la representación de índices y valores sociométricos / A computer program for sociometric values and indexes calculation and representation

Aunque el test sociométrico se ha convertido en un instrumento muy utilizado en distintos ámbitos sociales, los programas informáticos apenas explotan todas sus posibilidades, al limitarse al cálculo de un número reducido de índices (relacionados habitualmente con las elecciones, rechazos e indiferencias). El programa de software que se describe en este artículo amplía de una forma considerable los cálculos anteriores, al incluir además otros valores e índices referidos a las percepciones (de elecciones y de rechazos) y al contexto grupal (estructura grupal y relación sujeto-grupo), y al permitir, asimismo, elaborar los correspondientes gráficos (distancia sociométrica y sociogramas de elección, rechazo, percepción de elección y de rechazo) (AU)

Though sociometric test has turned into an instrument very used in different social areas, computer programs developed till now scarcely exploit all its possibilities, because these programs only analyze a limited number of indexes (generally related to elections, rejections and indifferences). The program of software described in this paper extends considerably the previous calculations, adding values and indexes related to perceptions (of elections and of rejections) and to group context (group structure and relation subject-group), and it allows likewise elaborate different graphics (sociometric distance and sociograms of election, rejection, and perception of election and of rejection) (AU)