social_science papers | Gist.Science

Contestability without recourse: post-decision safeguards for disabled learners in AI-supported educational decision-making

This paper argues that while current discourse on AI in special education prioritizes decision fairness, it critically neglects the essential need for post-decision contestability mechanisms that allow disabled learners to challenge or alter consequential outcomes, a gap evidenced by the absence of appeal procedures in existing literature despite legal presumptions of recourse.

Jonas A. Mandalunes2026-08-28

📄 social_science

Eye-enlarging manipulations bias female-face expression perception toward happiness

This study demonstrates that both physically enlarging the eyes and applying heavy eye makeup bias the perception of female faces toward happiness rather than anger, suggesting that eye region manipulations significantly influence facial expression judgments through mechanisms distinct from perceived eye size or attractiveness alone.

Miku Shibusawa, Yuya Hasegawa, Hideki Tamura, Shigeki Nakauchi, Tetsuto Minami2026-08-28

📄 social_science

Gamification as a Buffer Against Disengagement: Evidence from a Within-Subject

This quasi-experimental study involving 60 undergraduate IT students demonstrates that gamified online learning environments significantly enhance both student engagement and academic performance compared to non-gamified settings, providing robust evidence for the effectiveness of gamification as a strategy to mitigate disengagement.

Abdillahi Sheikhmuse, Muesser Nat2026-08-28

📄 social_science

Continuous Usage Intention of In-Vehicle Infotainment Systems: An Integrated ECM-TAM Approach

This study integrates the Expectation-Confirmation Model and Technology Acceptance Model to analyze data from 516 Chinese users, revealing that perceived security is the primary driver of continuous usage intention for in-vehicle infotainment systems, surpassing even perceived usefulness and enjoyment.

Xie Chen, Hong Chen2026-08-28

📄 social_science

A structural model of cognitive correlates of academic burnout among medical students: a cross-sectional study

This cross-sectional study of 333 Iranian medical students utilized structural equation modeling to demonstrate that cognitive distortions, cognitive fusion, and cognitive avoidance positively predict academic burnout while mindfulness negatively predicts it, with cognitive fusion serving as a significant mediator in the relationship between mindfulness and burnout, though these structural relationships did not differ based on handedness.

Saeid Talebi, Mohammad Hassan Seif, Mohammad Hosein Alborzi Haghighi2026-08-28

📄 social_science

Food Consumption Vulnerability in a Shrinking City: Panel Evidence from Busan, South Korea

Using a novel panel data framework on Busan's food retail transactions, this study identifies spatially clustered, consumption-vulnerable sub-districts through distinct formation pathways, offering a proactive diagnostic tool to detect food access vulnerabilities in shrinking cities before they manifest as traditional food deserts.

Namhoon Kim, Sanghyo Kim2026-08-28

📄 social_science

Digital Overload and Psychological Distress Among Young Adults: The Serial Mediating Roles of Fear of Missing Out and Sleep Disturbance

This study of Chinese college students reveals that digital overload significantly predicts psychological distress both directly and indirectly through a serial mediation pathway involving fear of missing out (FoMO) and sleep disturbance, which together account for over half of the total association.

Weixin Zhu, Xue Xiong2026-08-28

📄 social_science

Multiple methods in quadratic-equation teaching: Same-lesson correspondence and discordance between coded material opportunity and observed student activity across eight sites

This study of 1,270 quadratic-equation lessons across eight sites reveals that while instructional materials providing multiple solution methods significantly increase the likelihood of observing corresponding student activity, they do not guarantee it, indicating that material coding cannot fully substitute for direct classroom observation.

Jonas A. Mandalunes¹˒²˒2026-08-28

📄 social_science

What Happens When Proportional Representation of Political Parties Is Ruled Off the Table? Equal Treatment in the Context of Plurality-Based Elections

This paper examines U.S. jurisprudence on equal protection in plurality-based elections, where proportional representation is rejected, by proposing a four-part typology of representation—person, place, party, and race—to explore alternative frameworks for achieving electoral equality beyond vote-seat proportionality.

Bernard Grofman2026-08-28

📄 social_science

Mapping Inequality in Virtual Learning: Geographic and Socioeconomic Patterns in Henrico Virtual Academy

This study uses GIS mapping to demonstrate that the Henrico Virtual Academy, despite lacking traditional attendance boundaries, reproduces existing geographic and socioeconomic inequalities by concentrating enrollment from students in underperforming, high-poverty, and minority neighborhoods.

Betsy Stewart, Thomas Shields, Hays Stritikus, Kyle Redican2026-08-28

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