Changing behaviours might be central to responding to societal issues such as climate change and pandemics. In this Review, Albarracín et al. synthesize meta-analyses of individual and social-structural determinants of behaviour and the efficacy of behavioural change interventions that target them across domains to identify general principles that can inform future intervention decisions.

Humans have a unique capacity for objective and general causal understanding. In this Review, Goddu and Gopnik describe the development of causal learning and reasoning abilities during evolution and across childhood.

Large language models (LLMs), which can generate and score text in human-like ways, have the potential to advance psychological measurement, experimentation and practice. In this Perspective, Demszky and colleagues describe how LLMs work, concerns about using them for psychological purposes, and how these concerns might be addressed.

Declines in adolescent mental health over the past decade have been attributed to social media, but the empirical evidence is mixed. In this Review, Orben et al. describe the mechanisms by which social media could amplify the developmental changes that increase adolescents’ mental health vulnerability.

Cross-cultural and interdisciplinary work is needed to advance understanding of naturalistic human behaviour. Exemplifying this approach, two Reviews in Nature Reviews Psychology consider how perception of and responses to music diverge and align across the world.

Researchers in the psychological sciences can use generative AI systems for tasks such as generating simulated data and new stimuli and for gaining insights into data. Responsible use of these AI systems requires consideration of how sociocultural systems such as racism are embedded in their development and training.

Naturally occurring data are not always covered by today’s ethical regulations. However, scientists can adapt the foundational ethical principles of research using human subjects to meet their obligations to science and society.