The 25th National Academic Conference of Psychology Held at Sichuan Normal University

The 25th National Academic Conference of Psychology, organized by the Chinese Psychological Society (CPS) and hosted by Sichuan Normal University (SNU), took place from October 13 to 15, 2023, at the Lion's Hill Campus of Sichuan Normal University. The conference focused on the theme "Innovation and Development of Mental Health Services in the Digital Era," aiming to explore the universal laws of human psychology and behavior in the digital era and contribute to the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The event saw the participation of nearly 2,800 experts, scholars, teachers, and students from across the country, with the online broadcast reaching over 960,000 views and attracting 150,000 online visitors.

On the morning of October 14, the opening ceremony of the conference took place in the gymnasium of the affiliated high school of Sichuan Normal University. Distinguished leaders and guests attending the ceremony included the current president of the CPS, Professor Zhao Guoxiang from Henan Normal University/Henan University, the former president of the CPS, Professor Li Hong from South China Normal University/Sichuan Normal University, president-elect of the CPS, Professor Su Yanjie from Peking University, the newly elected President of the CPS, Professor Luo Yuejia from Peking Normal University/Shenzhen University, the secretary-general of the CPS, Principal Investigator Sun Xianghong from the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Member of the Party Group and Vice Chairman of the Sichuan Association of Science and Technology, Mr. Xu Yong, Member of the Party Group of the Federation of Social Sciences Circles of Sichuan Province, Second Grade Inspector and Secretary General, Mr. Li Zemin, Second Grade Inspector of the Sichuan Provincial Department of Education, Mr. Cheng Weimeng, Secretary General of the Party Committee of Sichuan Normal University, Mr. Guo Yong, Principal Investigator Yang Yufang from the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor Shen Mowei from Zhejiang University, Professor Bai Xuejun from Tianjin Normal University, Principal Investigator Fu Xiaolan from the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Professor Zhou Xiaolin from East China Normal University, all of whom have served as Presidents of the CPS. The opening ceremony was presided over by Zhang Haidong, a member of the Party Committee and Vice President of Sichuan Normal University.

Zhao Guoxiang, the President of the conference, mentioned in his opening speech that the report of the 20th Party Congress prioritized the protection of people's health in the strategic position of development and emphasized the significance of psychological health and mental hygiene. In 2023, the Ministry of Education, the Health Commission, and seventeen other departments jointly issued the "Comprehensively Strengthening and Improving the Work of Mental Health of Students in the New Era Special Action Plan (2023-2025)," signifying an innovative phase in mental health work. This development marks a new stage, signifying that Chinese psychologists have taken on a more crucial historical mission. The in-depth discussion on the "Innovation and Development of Mental Health Services in the Age of Digitalization" is a reflection of the academic self-awareness and responsibility of Chinese psychologists to meet the major needs of the country, economic and social development, and the improvement of people's lives.

Xu Yong, Li Zemin, Cheng Weimeng, and Guo Yong delivered speeches on behalf of Sichuan Association of Science and Technology, Sichuan Federation of Social Science Circles, Sichuan Provincial Department of Education, and Sichuan Normal University, respectively. They provided an overview of Sichuan Provincial Party Committee, Provincial Government, Provincial Department of Education, and Sichuan Normal University, emphasizing the critical position of the psychological discipline in the strategic development of Sichuan Province. They encouraged participants to seize this valuable opportunity, utilize the conference as a platform to expand their academic horizons, enhance scientific research capabilities, explore best practices in mental health services in the digital era, and contribute new vitality to Sichuan's mental health initiatives. The aim is to accelerate the development of psychological disciplines in Sichuan Province and make meaningful contributions to Sichuan's governance.

At the opening ceremony, Editor-in-Chief Fu Xiaolan announced the high-impact papers of Acta Psychologica Sinica 2021-2022. Editor-in-Chief Zhou Xiaolin announced the outstanding papers of Psychological Science 2020-2022.

During the conference, Professor Germán Gutiérrez, President of the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS), gave an invited lecture entitled "Psychology and Science diplomacy: An intersection to promote human well-being and global sustainability". Professor Junhua Dang from Xi'an Jiaotong University, Professor Xiaotian Wang from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), Professor Kai Wang from Anhui Medical University, Professor Yunzhe Liu from Beijing Normal University, Professor Chaogan Yan from Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Professor Pinglei Bao from School of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, Peking University, gave presentations on "The past, present, and future of self-control", "Between life and death: inter-periodic decision-making within the framework of life history", "From Neuropsychology to Neuromodulation", "Offline Learning during Rest and Sleep", "Default Network Mechanisms of Depression Based on Neuroimaging Big Data", and "Object Representation Space in the Inferior Temporal Lobe", respectively. Based on their own research fields, the experts sorted out the research lineage, shared the latest achievements and talked about the future development, which not only showed the frontier of psychology research but also highlighted the responsibility, value pursuit, and practical significance of psychology in serving society.

The 25th National Academic Conference of Psychology had 2,527 registrants and received 2,975 submissions, of which 1,703 papers were exchanged at the conference after review by the Professional Committees of the conference. In addition to invited and key reports, the conference organized 61 sessions of 324 symposium, 1 session of 6 international psychology forum reports, 16 sessions of 162 master and doctoral student forum reports, 103 sessions of 512 oral presentations, 4 sessions of 702 poster presentations, and 6 workshops.

During the conference, the International Academic Exchange Work Committee of the CPS organized the International Forum on Psychology in Countries of the Belt and Road Initiative. Germán Gutiérrez, President of the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS), presidents of psychological societies from Turkey, Sri Lanka, India, Mongolia, and China, as well as two foreign delegates from the psychological societies of Japan and Russia, participated in the exchange. The participants introduced the current status of psychology development in their respective countries and explored areas for further cooperation in the future. The forum set up a platform for academic exchanges and international cooperation in psychology for Countries of the Belt and Road Initiative and will promote substantive cooperation in the future in terms of journal construction, joint training of students, and application for cooperative programs.

The paper reports of this conference comprehensively focus on the innovation and development of mental health services in the digital era, covering group psychology and group-brain interaction, neuroimaging and neuromodulation of new technologies and applications, as well as digital technology and child and adolescent mental health. Additionally, scholars delve into individual development and adaptation under the digital environment. Some presentations touch upon the philosophy of psychology in China in the new era, involving cutting-edge explorations regarding the possibilities with robot psychologists. In the context of the new era of the Internet + era, digital research in psychology is gradually becoming the trend of the times and an inevitable choice, shaping the new model of mental health services.

On the afternoon of October 15, the 25th National Academic Conference of Psychology concluded all the scheduled agendas, and the closing ceremony took place under the chairmanship of Sun Xianghong, the Secretary General of the Conference.

Zhao Guoxiang, the President of the conference, delivered a summary highlighting the significant moments and academic exchanges during the event. He commended the participants for their contributions to the main battlefield of social and economic development, emphasizing the social responsibility and mission of psychological science and technology professionals. In the context of comprehensively building Chinese-style modernization, Zhao stressed the new mission and opportunities for Chinese psychology. Encouraging the continuation of traditions like mutual reference, mutual learning, and resource sharing within the Chinese psychology community, he urged breaking down geographical, institutional, and disciplinary barriers to foster a collaborative academic community in alignment with the current era. Zhao also advocated for strengthening interdisciplinary exchanges between psychology and other fields like computer science, information science, and biotechnology, aiming to create new paradigms through innovative methodologies. Emphasizing the importance of addressing practical issues, he called for targeted psychological solutions to enhance mental health services for the people.

Zhang Haidong, Vice President of Sichuan Normal University, delivered a speech expressing that the university will take the hosting of this conference as an opportunity to deepen the understanding and grasp of the laws of psychological discipline construction, and strive to climb the new peak of discipline construction.

Luo Yuejia, president-elect of the CPS, read out the list of selected papers in the "Compendium of Papers of Masters and PhDs Forum Future Stars", with a total of 21 doctoral theses and 27 master's theses selected.

Professor Jin Yusan, Executive Chairman of the Conference and Dean of the School of Psychology of Sichuan Normal University, presented certificates to the volunteer representatives.

Finally, on behalf of the CPS, Su Yanjie, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the CPS, expressed his heartfelt thanks to the leaders at all levels, experts and scholars at home and abroad, as well as friends from all walks of life, who have given this conference their cordial care and strong support. In particular, she thanked the organizer of the conference, Sichuan Normal University (SNU), for the careful arrangement of the conference, and thanked all the teachers and volunteers of the School of Psychology and the Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences of SNU who worked hard for the preparation of the conference. On behalf of the CPS, she expressed her expectations for the future development of psychology in China. First, focus on innovation. Under the background of different times, the changes in human cognition, emotion and behavior brought by globalization, informatization, population aging and urbanization all contain important psychological science issues. Psychologists should have the courage to jump out of the "comfort zone" of scientific research and actively do pioneering work. We should take the initiative to focus on the new scientific problems that need to be solved in the new era, embrace the new changes in science and technology, actively condense the new paradigm of theoretical exploration, and strive to produce new results worthy of the great era. Second, strengthen cooperation. Frontier scientific problems in psychology often involve multiple disciplines, and important scientific issues that have yet to be solved, such as consciousness, memory, addiction, human cooperative behavior, and dreams, have yet to be resolved by cross-research between psychology, neuroscience, and other disciplines. It is difficult to gain an advantage in the increasingly fierce competition by a single research model. We need to emphasize the use of neuroscience, computer science, mathematics, medicine, economics and other disciplines of the new technology and new methods, to promote the cross between psychology and other disciplines, and to promote the integration of various branches of psychology. Third, promote service. Psychological research should have a big vision, big pattern, big feelings to serve the national and social development. On the basis of exploring the universal laws of human psychology and behavior, we must pay close attention to the major psychosocial phenomena and problems in China's economic and social development, focus on the social and behavioral characteristics of the Chinese population, develop model theories explaining the psychology and behavior of the Chinese people, develop psychological tools and behavioral interventions that are suitable for the Chinese people, and pay attention to the transformation and application of our research results to various fields of production and life in order to contribute more to the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. We will strive to contribute more to the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

This conference earnestly implemented the spirit of the 20th CCP National Congress, striving for a new era and sailing a new journey. The conference focuses on the psychology of learning and teaching in the digital context, parental behavior and adolescent mental health in the digital era, empathy and social behavior, the application of network analysis methods in psychological research, and digitally empowered psychosocial services to exchange research results, share practical experience, and explore the optimization strategy. This is conducive to the construction of the psychosocial service system in the digital era, all-round service of economic and social construction, and the promotion of the quality of China's psychological discipline. It is of great practical significance to further improve the construction of the social psychological service system in the digital era, help all-round service of economic and social construction, and promote the high-quality development of the psychological discipline in China.