Publications

* denotes equal contribution

pre-print

Dynamics of topic exploration in conversation

Helen Schmidt, Claire Augusta Bergey, Changyi Zhou, Chelsea Helion, & Robert D. Hawkins. (pre-print). PsyArXiv.

Abstract: Conversations are intricately structured forms of social interaction in which talkers move through interconnected topics with nested levels of semantic specificity. What principles govern how conversational partners jointly navigate an expansive topic space? To characterize these dynamics, we introduce a new dataset of annotated topic shifts from N = 1,505 annotators on 200 distinct video call conversations between strangers (Reece et al., 2023). Conversational dyads made stochastic but systematic transitions between topics, and within individual topics, we find that dyads begin concentrated in semantic space before dispersing to more idiosyncratic regions as topics progress. The same dispersion pattern also holds over entire conversations, providing quantitative evidence for nested levels of increasing specificity over conversations. Overall, our findings suggest that strangers get to know one another through systematic exploration of topic space, revealing hierarchical structure in idle talk.

When and why does shared reality generalize?

Wasita Mahaphanit*, Christopher L. Welker*, Helen Schmidt, Luke J. Chang, & Robert D. Hawkins. (pre-print). PsyArXiv.

Abstract: Inspired by inductive reasoning models, we test whether generalized shared reality (i.e., the sense of being on the same page) arises through probabilistic inference about latent commonalities. Using a naturalistic text-based chat paradigm, we manipulated whether conversation partners discussed a belief they shared, a belief on which their opinions differed, or a random prompt. Participants discussing shared opinions reported experiencing greater shared reality compared to those discussing differences or random topics. Moreover, participants who made broader inferences about additional beliefs they might share with their partners also reported greater shared reality. While discussing shared opinions can induce an overall greater sense of shared reality, participants discussing differences leveraged their conversation to establish shared realities about other topics. We demonstrate that shared reality can emerge in multiple ways during initial interactions, establishing a foundation for future mechanistic investigations within an inductive inference framework.

Changes in reward-specific learning parameters across adolescence and associations with depression risk

Holly Sullivan-Toole, Jeremy Haynes, Helen Schmidt, Bart Larsen, Nathaniel Haines, & Thomas Olino. (pre-print). PsyArXiv.

Abstract: Background: Reward learning is thought to undergo refinement in adolescence, but little is known about how computational components of reinforcement learning develop. Given that adolescence is a sensitive period for reward system plasticity with associated vulnerability for depression, it is important to understand developmental trajectories of different reinforcement learning parameters in normative development and in youth at risk for depression. Methods: Youth aged 9-17 years completed the Play-or-Pass Iowa Gambling Task (PoP-IGT) across five timepoints. We calculated task metrics using a traditional scoring approachyielding summary scores for good deck play, bad deck play, and net playand a computational modeling approachyielding parameters for reward learning rate, punishment learning rate, win frequency sensitivity, and go bias. We examined normative developmental trajectories for each traditional and computational performance metric using multilevel models. We also examined whether maternal history of depression was associated with individual differences in trajectories. Results: Youth showed significant age-related change in several metrics including increasing net play (p < .01), a measure of overall good performance. Further, exploratory analyses found that youth showed significant developmental change in reward-specific learning parameters including increasing win frequency sensitivity (FDR < .005) and decreasing reward learning rate (FDR < .001). In line with hypotheses, youth with a high-risk for depression showed lower reward learning rates in early adolescence (p = .041). Conclusion: Developmental changes in traditional and computational metrics are consistent with the optimization of learning from rewards across adolescence. Observed ages-related changes in reward-related computational parameters specifically are consistent with heightened adolescent reward system plasticity. Additionally, there was support for our hypothesis that maternal history of depression may exert a unique effect on reward learning specifically, but further research across additional reward learning tasks is needed.

2025

Neural signatures of recollection are sensitive to memory quality and specific event features

Natalia Ladyka-Wojcik*, Helen Schmidt*, Rose A. Cooper*, & Maureen Ritchey. (2025). Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

Abstract: Episodic memories reflect a bound representation of multimodal features that can be recollected with varying levels of precision. Recent fMRI investigations have demonstrated that the precision and content of information retrieved from memory engage a network of posterior medial temporal and parietal regions co-activated with the hippocampus. Yet, comparatively little is known about how memory content and precision affect common neural signatures of memory captured by electroencephalography (EEG), where recollection has been associated with changes in event-related potential (ERP) and oscillatory measures of neural activity. Here, we used a multi-feature paradigm previously reported in Cooper & Ritchey (2019) with continuous measures of memory, in conjunction with scalp EEG, to characterize the content and quality of information that drives ERP and oscillatory markers of episodic memory. A common signature of memory retrieval in left posterior regions, called the late positive component (LPC), was sensitive to overall memory quality and also to precision of recollection for spatial features. Analysis of oscillatory markers during recollection revealed that alpha/beta desynchronization was modulated by overall memory quality and also by individual features in memory. Importantly, we found evidence of a relationship between these two neural markers of memory retrieval, suggesting that they may represent complementary aspects of the recollection experience. These findings demonstrate how time-sensitive and dynamic processes identified with EEG correspond to overall episodic recollection, and also to the retrieval of precise features in memory.

Dopamine function in adolescent social anxiety: Insights from neuromelanin-sensitive MRI

Margherita L. Calderaro*, Ronan M. Cunningham*, Megan Quarmley, Tessa Clarkson, Helen Schmidt, Clifford M. Cassidy, & Johanna M. Jarcho. (2025). Journal of Mood & Anxiety Disorders.

Abstract: Background: Social anxiety typically onsets in adolescence as salience of peer feedback increases. While dopamine system function has been linked to social anxiety, such mechanisms are rarely tested in youth due to the invasiveness of traditional methods. Neuromelanin-sensitive MRI (NM-MRI), a non-invasive proxy measure of central dopamine system function in the substantia nigra (SN), offers a novel approach. Methods: Adolescents (N = 43; M = 12.40 1.45 years) with varying levels of social anxiety underwent NM-MRI. Relations between NM signal intensity in SN and symptom severity were assessed. Effect specificity was tested with generalized anxiety symptoms. Results: Higher NM signal intensity was associated with more severe symptoms of social (p = .03) but not generalized anxiety (p = .93). Discussion: These preliminary results suggest specificity for neural mechanisms associated with adolescent social and generalized anxiety and provide a new avenue for testing symptom etiology and developing targeted treatment.

Conversational linguistic features inform social-relational inference

Helen Schmidt*, Sophia Tran*, John D. Medaglia, Virginia Ulichney, William J. Mitchell, & Chelsea Helion. (2025). Psychonomic Bulletin & Review.

Abstract: Whether it is the first day of school or a new job, individuals often find themselves in situations where they must learn the structure of existing social relationships. However, the mechanisms through which individuals evaluate the strength and nature of these existing relationships social-relational inference remain unclear. We posit that linguistic features of conversations may help individuals evaluate social relationships and may be associated with social-relational inference. Leveraging a naturalistic behavioral experiment (57 adults; 34,735 observations), participants watched a mid-season episode of a reality television show and evaluated the observed dyadic relationships between contestants. We employed novel person- and stimulus-focused approaches to 1) investigate social-relational inference similarity between participants, 2) examine the association between distinct linguistic features and social-relational inference, and 3) explore the relationship between early season conversation similarity and later perceived relationship formation. We found high pairwise participant response similarity across two relational subtypes (friendship, rivalry), distinct associations between relational judgments and linguistic features, including semantic similarity, sentiment, and clout, and no evidence of an association between early conversation similarity and later friendship inference. These findings suggest that naturalistic conversational content is both a potential mechanism of social-relational inference and a promising avenue for future research.

Linguistic properties of memory expression differentially relate to accuracy, specificity, and perceived veracity

Steven A. Martinez, Kate Cliver, William J. Mitchell, Helen Schmidt, Virginia Ulichney, Chelsea Helion, Jason Chein, & Vishnu Murty. (2025). Psychonomic Bulletin & Review.

Abstract: When communicating our memories to others, we use specific language to represent and express those memories. However, whether the linguistic properties associated with memory expression, such as communication styles, relate to memory accuracy and specificity, and how threat affects these relationships, is unclear. Further, whether communication styles influence how others perceive memories is unknown. In Experiment 1, participants (n = 55) recalled a visit to an in-person haunted house, which included low- and high-threat segments. We examined how two distinct features of memory, episodic specificity and temporal-order accuracy, related to linguistic markers of genuineness (i.e., Authenticity) and formality (i.e., Analytical Thinking) during free recall. Results revealed that Authenticity and Analytical Thinking were both elevated when recalling high- versus low-threat memories. However, memory communication styles related to episodic specificity and temporal-order accuracy differentially. Increased recollection of episodic details was negatively related to Authenticity, but positively related to Analytical Thinking. Temporal-order accuracy was positively related to Authenticity, but unrelated to Analytical Thinking. In Experiment 2, na<95>ve readers (n = 499) read pairs of haunted-house recollections given by participants in Experiment 1 and indicated which memory they perceived as more accurate. Results showed that greater Analytical Thinking and greater episodic specificity during free recall increased perceptions of accuracy; whereas Authenticity during free recall and temporal-order memory did not influence perceptions of accuracy. Together, these findings highlight the relationship between communication styles and distinct features of memory, and how memory expression can influence others perceptions of communicated memories.

Emotion regulation strategy use and forecasting in response to dynamic, multimodal stimuli

William J. Mitchell, Joanne Stasiak, Steven A. Martinez, Katelyn G. Cliver, David F. Gregory, Samantha S. Reisman, Helen Schmidt, Vishnu P. Murty, & Chelsea Helion. (2025). Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.

Abstract: Successful emotion regulation (ER) requires effective strategy selection. Research suggests that disengagement strategies (e.g., distraction) are more often selected than engagement strategies (e.g., reappraisal) as emotional experiences intensify. However, the extent to which ER strategy choice in controlled circumstances reflects strategy usage during complex, multimodal events is not well understood. The present research uses dynamic, multimodal stimuli (i.e., a haunted house, horror movies) to examine the association between affective intensity and regulatory strategy usage among untrained participantsindividuals given no prior regulation instructions or direction. Both a preliminary study (n = 54) and Study 1 (n = 118) failed to find relationships between emotional intensity and strategy usage to downregulate emotions as participants navigated a haunted house. Distraction was self-reported to be less successful than reappraisal at high intensities, contrary to expectations. Participants in Study 2 (n = 152) forecasted regulation strategy usage based upon descriptions of emotionally regulated experiences from the preliminary haunted house study. Affective intensity predicted which strategies forecasters predicted they would use; though, forecasters overpredicted how often distraction was used in practice. Study 3 (n = 242) incorporated strategy usage and forecasting within the same design by showing untrained participants video stimuli of varying intensity and capturing their regulatory responses. Forecasters again predicted using distraction more often than strategy users did in practice. Forecasters also overpredicted how effectively distraction reduced negative affective intensity relative to what strategy users reported. These results may highlight a disconnect between strategy fittedness when self-regulation occurs in uncontrolled, highly intense, or complex circumstances.

Integrated Neural Circuitry Supporting Emotion Regulation and Decision Making

Helen Schmidt & Chelsea Helion. (2025). Neuroeconomics: Core Topics and Current Directions.

Abstract: Recent research in psychology and neuroscience has begun to closely examine the relationship between emotion regulation and decision making. Emotion regulation strategies allow people to change their thoughts and feelings during emotional situations and events. Successful regulation can be particularly important for a variety of decisions made in day-to-day life. This is especially true for decisions involving risk and reward, where highly rewarding and desirable outcomes are often paired with uncertainty in the likelihood of those outcomes. In this chapter, we aim to operationalize both emotion regulation and decision making in the context of recent findings across psychology and neuroscience. We use an everyday, real-world example involving risk and reward to highlight the relationship between these processes behaviorally and neurocognitively. After presenting a framework, we layer in relevant findings in cognitive neuroscience to explore how the human brain supports these processes, both individually and in an integrated capacity. Finally, we highlight future research implications and open questions in the space.

2024

Storytelling changes the content and perceived value of event memories

Devlin Eckardt, Chelsea Helion, Helen Schmidt, Janice Chen, & Vishnu P. Murty. (2024). Cognition.

Abstract: Memories are not only stored for personal recall, but also to communicate knowledge to others in service of adaptive decision-making. Prior research shows that goals to share information can change which content is communicated in memory as well as the linguistic style embedded in this communication. Yet, little is known as to how communication-related alterations in memory narration drive differences of value processing in listeners. Here, we test how memory communication alters multi-featural recall for complex events and the downstream consequence on value estimations in na<95>ve listeners. Participants recalled a memory of playing an exploratory videogame at a 24-h delay under instructions to either share (i.e., social condition) or recall (i.e., control condition) their memory. Sharing goals systematically altered the content and linguistic style of recall, such that narrators from the social condition were biased towards recall of non-episodic details and communicated their memories with more clout, less formality, and less authenticity. Across two independent samples of na<95>ve listeners, these features differentially influenced value estimations of the video game. We found that greater clout was associated with greater enjoyment while listening to memories (hedonic value), and that greater inclusion of non-episodic details resulted in greater willingness to purchase the video game (motivational drive). These findings indicate that sharing an experience as a story can change the content and linguistic tone of memory recall, which in turn shape perceived value in na<95>ve listeners.

Perceived Relational Support Is Associated With Everyday Positive, But Not Negative, Affectivity in a U.S. Sample

Virginia Ulichney, Helen Schmidt, & Chelsea Helion. (2024). Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

Abstract: Research suggests that perceived social support bolsters emotional well-being. We tested whether perceived support from friends, family, and spouses/partners was associated with reduced negative and greater positive affectivity (i.e., everyday affective baseline), and whether perceived strain in these relationships had opposite effects, accounting for age and relevant covariates. Using data from the third waves of the Midlife in the United States survey and National Study of Daily Experience (n = 1,124), we found negative affectivity was not tied to relational support nor strain, but instead was associated positively with neuroticism and negatively with conscientiousness. In contrast, positive affectivity was related positively to support from friends and family, conscientiousness, and extroversion, and negatively to strain among partners and neuroticism. Exploratory analyses within second-wave Midlife in Japan data (n = 657) suggest patterns for future cross-cultural study. Some relationship dynamics may vary, but perceived support might enhance emotional well-being by bolstering positive, rather than mitigating negative, emotionality.