Dissertationen: „‘Will –generated Cognition’“

1

Suarez, Juan M. „Emotional Intelligence and its Link to Aggressive Cognition and Aggressive Affect Generated by Violent Video Game Use of Male Undergraduates“. Xavier University / OhioLINK, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=xavier1452010918.

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2

Zaras, Dimitrios. „Evaluating Semantic Internalization Among Users of an Online Review Platform“. Thesis, University of North Texas, 2015. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc804823/.

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The present study draws on recent sociological literature that argues that the study of cognition and culture can benefit from theories of embodied cognition. The concept of semantic internalization is introduced, which is conceptualized as the ability to perceive and articulate the topics that are of most concern to a community as they are manifested in social discourse. Semantic internalization is partly an application of emotional intelligence in the context of community-level discourse. Semantic internalization is measured through the application of Latent Semantic Analysis. Furthermore, it is investigated whether this ability is related to an individual’s social capital and habitus. The analysis is based on data collected from the online review platform yelp.com.

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3

Bruni, Elena <1983&gt. „How novelty is generated: cognitive processes in organization“. Doctoral thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/10294.

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This thesis is based on three papers with the aim to investigating how novelty emerges in organizational context, with a focus on cognitive mechanisms. Specifically, this work intends to provide theoretical contribution and empirical evidence on how a concept emerges, by explaining the mechanisms of generating novel concepts, and by determining the role of metaphors in these processes. The first article analyses how novelty is carried out by a new concept lay at the heart of different types of radical innovations, such as product, process or business model. The paper investigates the generation of novelty as a process of conceptual innovation that leads to generate a new business model. In studying conceptual innovation, we depart from research that has been conceiving it as just a stage of a new product development project, claiming that conceptual innovation is an inner dimension of any novelty generation process. Through the case study of The Huffington Post over six years since its inception, we deepen the research on what a conceptual innovation is and what are its mechanisms to generate a new business model. We show how THP brought into the newspaper sector a truly new business model of online journal, that is an original and creative conceptual combination of newspaper and blog. With our research we contribute theoretically to the cognitive perspective on innovation and provide original evidence of the salient features of the conceptual innovation and its dynamics at the basis of business model. The second paper explores novelty from a language perspective, that is the generation of metaphors. Despite in the last three decades, management literature has been investigating metaphor from different theoretical perspectives and methodological lenses, a critical analysis of this debate is still absent. While research on metaphors might be seen as a very specialised discussion among a few experts, leading management scholars have shown that metaphors are central to organizational life and they play a crucial role in understanding organizational problems like interpretation and framing or how individuals deal with complexity. My findings suggest that studies on metaphors have increasingly occupied a central stage in the literature of management, with 3,282 articles published in 679 different journals to which 5,770 scholars contributed. Moreover, several disciplines, such as cognitive science, cognitive, psychology, philosophy of science, and sociology have enriched the debate. A variety of theoretical perspectives have also tackled this topic with a large spectrum of themes analysed. I provide a comprehensive analysis of the contribution of studies on metaphors to management literature, identifying relations among different streams of research and showing what are the key ideas. With this study, I contribute to theoretically understanding of the debate around metaphor and providing novel research questions to investigate. Metaphors and analogies play a crucial role in strategic change and in framing critical events that are constantly faced by organizations, especially during innovation processes. This research explores in depth entrepreneurs’ own perspectives and cognition during innovation activities, providing deeper insights about how critical events are linguistically elaborated and transmitted by ex post narration. Relying on interviews to successful entrepreneurs, we discovered how metaphor is always created by referring to specific semantic domains that act as institutional categories during innovation processes (i.e. war, journey, religion). Then, metaphor is a valuable discursive resource that permits researchers to investigate the broader institutional environment in which entrepreneurs are embedded. This research contributes to the literature of innovation and entrepreneurship, providing empirical evidence about entrepreneurial cognitive mechanisms during innovation processes.

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4

Wisti, Andrew Zachary. „Human Vestibular Signals Generated by Natural Locomotion“. Thesis, University of California, Irvine, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10289128.

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Sensory systems are believed to take advantage of the properties of natural stimuli. Natural images, for example, follow normality and a power-law which are reflected in the dynamics of visual cells. In order to better understand the vestibular system we examined natural human motion. We measured torso and head angular velocities of human subjects who walked, jogged, and climbed a staircase. Angular velocity distributions of the head and torso were fit well by Cauchy distributions, while power spectral densities did not follow a power law. We found that neither a power law nor a two-line-segment fit were sufficient to fit power spectral densities of angular velocity. Increases in power at the gait frequency and its harmonics are not well fit by lines. Differences between torso and head motion show a more evenly distributed reduction of angular velocities, presumably by the neck, in the semicircular canal frame of reference. Coherence between torso and head angular velocity did not show a linear relationship over all frequencies, but did suggest a linear relationship at the fundamental gait frequency and its harmonics. Reduction in angular velocity between the torso and head was then modeled by an adaptive linear filter. Results were mixed and depended on subject, condition, and axis. Qualitatively, predictions of angular velocity were good, capturing both the amplitude and periodicity of the actual head velocity. Finally, initial results were replicated while normalizing gait cycles using linear length normalization. Natural walking and running conditions were compared to treadmill walking and running. Subjects showed significantly different peak velocities during natural and treadmill conditions despite similar movement speeds. Coherence was also different between natural and treadmill conditions. These results provide evidence that natural and treadmill locomotion are treated differently, possibly due to the lack of visual input during treadmill locomotion. Subjects also walked with their heads turned to either the left or right, separating direction of motion and direction of the head. Angular velocity during these conditions show that head direction is not important for stabilizing the head, suggesting that efference copies play a role in head stabilization.

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5

Chui, Hing-wa. „Fostering conceptual understanding in ecology through student-generated questions and explanations“. Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1997. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B18811280.

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6

Anelli, Filomena <1983&gt. „Social Cognition: New Insights from Affordance and Simon Effects“. Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2012. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/5046/1/Anelli_Filomena_tesi.pdf.

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The perspective of the present project can be inscribed in the so-called “Social Cognition” framework, that in the last years moved from a focus on the individual mind toward embodied and participatory aspects of social understanding. Among the topics relevant for social cognition, the aim of the thesis was to shed more light on motor resonance and joint action, by using two well-known effects of cognitive psychology: “Affordance” and “Simon”. In the first part of the project, the Affordance effect has been considered, starting from Gibson to some post-Gibsonian theorizations. Particular attention has received the notion of “Micro-affordance”. The theoretical and empirical overview allows to understand how it can be possible to use the affordance effect to investigate the issue of motor resonance. A first study employed a priming paradigm and explored both in adults and school-age children the influence of a micro-affordance that can be defined dangerousness, and how motor resonance develops. The second part of the thesis focused on the Simon effect, starting with the presentation of the “stimulus–response (S–R) compatibility effect” to introduce the “Simon effect”. Particular attention has been dedicated to recent studies on the “joint Simon effect”. The reviewed empirical findings have been discussed in a wider theoretical perspective on joint action. The second study was aimed at investigating whether shared representations, as indexed by the presence of the joint Simon effect, are modulated by minimal ingroup–outgroup distinctions and by experienced interdependence between participants. The third study explored to what extent prior experience could modulate performance in task sharing, combining two paradigms of cognitive psychology, the joint Simon and the joint transfer-of-learning. In a general discussion the results obtained in the three studies have been summarized, emphasizing their original contribution and their importance within the Social Cognition research.

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7

Anelli, Filomena <1983&gt. „Social Cognition: New Insights from Affordance and Simon Effects“. Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2012. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/5046/.

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The perspective of the present project can be inscribed in the so-called “Social Cognition” framework, that in the last years moved from a focus on the individual mind toward embodied and participatory aspects of social understanding. Among the topics relevant for social cognition, the aim of the thesis was to shed more light on motor resonance and joint action, by using two well-known effects of cognitive psychology: “Affordance” and “Simon”. In the first part of the project, the Affordance effect has been considered, starting from Gibson to some post-Gibsonian theorizations. Particular attention has received the notion of “Micro-affordance”. The theoretical and empirical overview allows to understand how it can be possible to use the affordance effect to investigate the issue of motor resonance. A first study employed a priming paradigm and explored both in adults and school-age children the influence of a micro-affordance that can be defined dangerousness, and how motor resonance develops. The second part of the thesis focused on the Simon effect, starting with the presentation of the “stimulus–response (S–R) compatibility effect” to introduce the “Simon effect”. Particular attention has been dedicated to recent studies on the “joint Simon effect”. The reviewed empirical findings have been discussed in a wider theoretical perspective on joint action. The second study was aimed at investigating whether shared representations, as indexed by the presence of the joint Simon effect, are modulated by minimal ingroup–outgroup distinctions and by experienced interdependence between participants. The third study explored to what extent prior experience could modulate performance in task sharing, combining two paradigms of cognitive psychology, the joint Simon and the joint transfer-of-learning. In a general discussion the results obtained in the three studies have been summarized, emphasizing their original contribution and their importance within the Social Cognition research.

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8

Flumini, Andrea <1978&gt. „Cognition in context: Evidence on affordances and verbal language“. Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2014. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/6449/1/Flumini_Andrea_tesi.pdf.

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This thesis investigated affordances and verbal language to demonstrate the flexibility of embodied simulation processes. Starting from the assumption that both object/action understanding and language comprehension are tied to the context in which they take place, six studies clarified the factors that modulate simulation. The studies in chapter 4 and 5 investigated affordance activation in complex scenes, revealing the strong influence of the visual context, which included either objects and actions, on compatibility effects. The study in chapter 6 compared the simulation triggered by visual objects and objects names, showing differences depending on the kind of materials processed. The study in chapter 7 tested the predictions of the WAT theory, confirming that the different contexts in which words are acquired lead to the difference typically observed in the literature between concrete and abstract words. The study in chapter 8 on the grounding of abstract concepts tested the mapping of temporal contents on the spatial frame of reference of the mental timeline, showing that metaphoric congruency effects are not automatic, but flexibly mediated by the context determined by the goals of different tasks. The study in chapter 9 investigated the role of iconicity in verbal language, showing sound-to-shape correspondences when every-day object figures, result that validated the reality of sound-symbolism in ecological contexts. On the whole, this evidence favors embodied views of cognition, and supports the hypothesis of a high flexibility of simulation processes. The reported conceptual effects confirm that the context plays a crucial role in affordances emergence, metaphoric mappings activation and language grounding. In conclusion, this thesis highlights that in an embodied perspective cognition is necessarily situated and anchored to a specific context, as it is sustained by the existence of a specific body immersed in a specific environment.

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9

Flumini, Andrea <1978&gt. „Cognition in context: Evidence on affordances and verbal language“. Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2014. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/6449/.

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This thesis investigated affordances and verbal language to demonstrate the flexibility of embodied simulation processes. Starting from the assumption that both object/action understanding and language comprehension are tied to the context in which they take place, six studies clarified the factors that modulate simulation. The studies in chapter 4 and 5 investigated affordance activation in complex scenes, revealing the strong influence of the visual context, which included either objects and actions, on compatibility effects. The study in chapter 6 compared the simulation triggered by visual objects and objects names, showing differences depending on the kind of materials processed. The study in chapter 7 tested the predictions of the WAT theory, confirming that the different contexts in which words are acquired lead to the difference typically observed in the literature between concrete and abstract words. The study in chapter 8 on the grounding of abstract concepts tested the mapping of temporal contents on the spatial frame of reference of the mental timeline, showing that metaphoric congruency effects are not automatic, but flexibly mediated by the context determined by the goals of different tasks. The study in chapter 9 investigated the role of iconicity in verbal language, showing sound-to-shape correspondences when every-day object figures, result that validated the reality of sound-symbolism in ecological contexts. On the whole, this evidence favors embodied views of cognition, and supports the hypothesis of a high flexibility of simulation processes. The reported conceptual effects confirm that the context plays a crucial role in affordances emergence, metaphoric mappings activation and language grounding. In conclusion, this thesis highlights that in an embodied perspective cognition is necessarily situated and anchored to a specific context, as it is sustained by the existence of a specific body immersed in a specific environment.

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10

Sheya, Adam. „Coordinating location and object properties in goal-directed action a case of self-generated developmental change /“. [Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2009. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3386722.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Behavioral and Brain Sciences and in the Dept. of Cognitive Science, 2009.
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 22, 2010). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-12, Section: B, page: 7883. Adviser: Linda B. Smith.

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11

Laurance, Holly Elizabeth. „Place learning in real and computer-generated space: Performance of younger and older adults“. Thesis, The University of Arizona, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/278644.

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In accordance with spatial mapping theory and findings from the Morris Water Maze (WMW), we predicted that older humans would differ from younger humans on a place learning task. Using a computerized version of the MWM entitled the Computer-Generated Arena, we compared performance of adults 22-29 years of age (yoa) with adults 64-81 yoa. We found that 22-29 yoa adults located an invisible target more quickly and accurately than 64-81 yoa adults. Additionally, removing sets of distal stimuli severely disrupted performance in 64-81 yoa adults, but not 22-29 yoa adults. In a post C-G Arena puzzle task, both groups of adults accurately recreated the spatial configurations of stimuli, but the 64-81 yoa adults did not place the target accurately within that space. This suggests that 64-81 yoa adults can accurately map a novel space but may not be able to place learn. These results correlate highly with performance in a real-world MWM task testing the same population.

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12

Bijvoet-van, den Berg Catharina J. M. „Children's ability to generate novel actions“. Thesis, University of Stirling, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/20432.

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Social learning has given us insight into how children learn actions from others across different domains (e.g., actions on objects, pretend play, and tool use). However, little research exists to confirm whether young children can generate their own novel actions. Three different settings were chosen to offer a varied investigation of children’s ability to generate novel actions: generating multiple actions with novel objects; generating iconic gestures in order to communicate; and generating pretend actions using object substitution. Generating multiple actions with novel objects: The Unusual Box test was developed to investigate children’s ability to generate multiple actions with novel objects (Chapter 2). The Unusual Box test involves children playing with a wooden box that contains many different features (e.g., rings, stairs, strings), and five novel objects. The number of different actions performed on the box and with the objects (i.e., fluency) was used as a measure of their individual learning. Positive correlations between the fluency scores of 24 3- and 4-year-olds on the Unusual Box test and two existing measures of divergent thinking were found. Divergent thinking relates to the ability to think of multiple answers based on one premise. Furthermore, a large range of fluency scores indicated individual differences in children’s ability to generate multiple actions with novel objects. In addition, 16 2-year-olds were assessed on the Unusual Box test, twice two weeks apart, to investigate test-retest reliability and the possibility that the Unusual Box test could be used with children younger than 3 years. A strong positive correlation between the scores on the two assessments showed high test-retest reliability, while individual differences in fluency scores and the absence of a floor effect indicated that the Unusual Box test was usable in children from 2 years of age. Generating iconic gestures in order to communicate: Children’s ability to generate iconic gestures in order to communicate was assessed using a game to request stickers from an experimenter (N = 20, Chapter 3). In order to get a sticker children had to communicate to the experimenter which out of two objects they wanted (only one object had a sticker attached to it). Children’s use of speech or pointing was ineffective; therefore only generating an iconic gesture was sufficient to retrieve the sticker. Children generated a correct iconic gesture on 71% of the trials. These findings indicate that children generate their own iconic gestures in order to communicate; and that they understand the representational nature of iconic gestures, and use this in their own generation of iconic gestures. Generating pretend actions using object substitution: In order to determine whether children are able to generate their own object substitution actions and understand the representational nature of these actions, 45 3- and 4-year-olds were familiarized with the goal of a task through modelling actions. Children distinguished between the intentions of an experimenter to pretend, or try and perform a correct action. Children mainly imitated the pretend actions, while correcting the trying actions. Next, children were presented with objects for which they had to generate their own object substitution actions without being shown a model. When children had previously been shown pretend actions, children generated their own object substitution actions. This indicates that children generate their own object substitution actions, and that they understand the representational nature of these actions. An additional study with 34 3-year-olds, revealed no significant correlations between divergent thinking, inhibitory control, or children’s object substitution in a free play setting, and children’s ability to generate object substitution actions in the experimental setting.

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13

Chui, Hing-wa, und 崔慶華. „Fostering conceptual understanding in ecology through student-generated questions and explanations“. Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1997. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31959337.

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14

Marinello, Fabio <1987&gt. „Meta-cognitive processes in reasoning and intuition: the role of feedback information and individual thinking styles“. Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2018. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/8581/1/Marinello_META-COGNITIVE%20PROCESSES%20IN%20REASONING%20AND%20INTUITION.pdf.

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One composite topic addressed by researchers within cognitive sciences concerns the way people manage their mental effort in order to solve a problem, and how people feel about their decision-making process. The theoretical background of this thesis is centred on the extant models describing human mind through a dual-process account. Moreover, a metacognitive approach has recently brought new insights in this field, emphasizing the importance of monitoring and control processes in reasoning. The present dissertation adds to this literature by exploring the role of context-related features, and of individual characteristics, that relate to cognitive and meta-cognitive processes in reasoning. The first part is focused on the function of feedback information: in Study 1, participants primed for the adoption of intuitive or reflective thinking processes got information about their accuracy or inaccuracy during the resolution of reasoning tasks. Study 2 investigates the effects of feedback anticipation, that is how people adapt their mental effort according to the knowledge that their performance will be evaluated. The second part explores individual differences that could predict distinct levels of confidence in one’s reasoning process: in Study 3, performance and metacognitive feelings of individuals with a preference for intuitive thinking were compared with those of individuals with a preference for rational thought. Finally, in Study 4, individual characteristics of decision-making style (namely, propensity to experience regret, and maximizing vs satisficing tendencies) were examined as potential predictors of meta-reasoning components. Overall, this thesis highlights the importance of developing a metacognitive perspective inside the psychology of higher cognition.

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15

Gatto, Elia. „New paradigms to study numerical cognition in animals“. Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Padova, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/11577/3426370.

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The mathematical abilities of animals have long fascinated scientists and the general public alike. However, it is only in the last two decades that researchers have systematically investigated this issue. Numerical abilities are widespread among mammals, birds and fish but little is known about their occurrence in other taxa. They play important functions in several ecological contexts, such as foraging, mate choice, and social interaction. The actual mechanisms underlying number sense in animals and the upper limits of these abilities are still a matter of debate. Conflicting results often emerge when comparing evidence from different species and studies of the same species. It is unclear to what extent this is due to differences in the complexity of the nervous system, to ecology, to phylogeny, or to other factors. Some have argued that intra- and inter-species differences may be due to differences in the used methodology. This is frequent in human literature, but the issue has received little attention in animals. To unravel these issues, we need to expand the number of studied species by including species that belong to a less studied taxa. In addition, there is a need for studies that directly compare different methodologies within the same laboratory. In this thesis, I focus on the two latter issues. In two studies, I investigated the effect of the used methodology on the assessment of numerical abilities in a small teleost fish, Poecilia reticulata. In the first study, I adopted an operant conditioning procedure to train fish to solve a numerical discrimination task using computer-generated stimuli. With this procedure, fish showed very low numerical discrimination performance, considerably lower than that reported in previous studies carried out in the same laboratory, in which fish had to solve a similar numerical task in a more naturalistic setting. In a series of subsequent experiments, I attempted to identify the key factors that determine the different outcome of the two methods. Results only partly answer the question and it is possible that there are non-cognitive factors (i.e. side bias due to cerebral lateralization) that explain the observed difference. Previous studies on guppies showed greater numerical acuity when tested with operant conditioning procedures than when tested with spontaneous preference methods, such as testing the preference for the larger of two social groups (shoal choice test). This difference could be due either to the different accuracy of the two methodologies or to within-species variation in acuity related to the examined context (foraging vs social). In the second study, I set up a modified version of the shoal choice test in order to eliminate some of the limitations of the method that are thought to determine a large imprecision in the measurement. With this new method, guppies were able to discriminate 4 vs. 5 companions, the same limit of numerical discrimination determined with operant conditioning procedures. The last two studies focused on studying numerical cognition in two new species, an amphibian (Hyla intermedia) and an arthropod (Acheta domesticus) in a new context, shelter choice. Both species showed a preference for the larger cluster of shelters and, in a series of subsequent experiments, I tried to determine the mechanism involved in such discrimination. H. intermedia appears to possess a genuine numerical system, being able to select the most numerous set even after I experimentally controlled the perceptual continuous variables, such as cumulative surface area and convex hull, that covary with number. Results suggest that A. domesticus have a less sophisticated system.
Studi empirici e teorici suggeriscono l'esistenza di un sistema per l’elaborazione di informazioni di quantità continue e discrete che si attiva in tutti i contesti che richiedono necessaria questa capacità (e.g., ricerca del cibo, scelta di un compagno). Poiché le caratteristiche di questo sistema sembrano simili tra le specie, alcuni autori hanno suggerito un’origine comune per questo sistema. Tuttavia, risultati contrastanti emergono quando confrontiamo le capacità numeriche tra diverse specie e persino nella stessa specie. In secondo luogo, la maggior parte degli studi si è concentrata su mammiferi, uccelli e pesci. Questo lavoro cerca di rispondere in parte a questi problemi. Nei primi due studi è stato investigato l’effetto della procedura utilizzata per valutare le capacità cognitive in una specie. Sono state indagate le abilità numeriche in guppy (Poecilia reticulata),ovvero un piccolo pesce d’acqua dolce, in un primo test basato su un comportamento spontaneo e un secondo test basato su un addestramento, utilizzando procedure modificate rispetto a lavori precedenti. Il primo esperimento è uno shoal choice test. In questa tipologia di esperimenti si sfrutta la naturale tendenza delle specie sociali, come guppy, ad unirsi in gruppi in situazioni di forte stress. Sono stati modificati alcuni aspetti delle vecchie procedure, confinando i soggetti all’interno di un cilindro trasparente al centro della vasca ed equidistante dagli stimoli. Sono stati studiati un confronto numerico di cui sappiamo che guppy è in grado di risolvere (3 vs. 4 pesci) e due confronti nei quali guppy fallivano secondo studi precedenti (4 vs. 6 e 4 vs. 5 pesci). I risultati hanno mostrato che, utilizzando una nuova procedura, guppy riesce a discriminare anche i confronti numerici più difficili che con le vecchie procedure non era stato possibile. Il secondo esperimento si basa su una classica procedura di addestramento. È stata sviluppata una nuova metodologia analoga a quelle già utilizzate per studiare le abilità numeriche in altri vertebrati: gli stimoli erano gruppi di pedine presentati da un monitor ed i soggetti erano addestrati a scegliere lo stimolo con maggior numerosità. Nonostante il problema cognitivo fosse lo stesso indagato in lavori precedenti, i soggetti hanno ottenuto risultati molto inferiori. Questi lavori ci suggeriscono che le procedure utilizzate possono fortemente influenzare le abilità numeriche di P. reticulata. Studi futuri sulle abilità numeriche e altre abilità cognitive dovrebbero focalizzarsi maggiormente sulle metodologie da adottare per poter confrontare i risultati tra le specie. Nei successivi due lavori, è stata indagata la capacità di discriminazione di quantità in specie finora poco studiate. Nello specifico, è stato condotto un primo lavoro su anfibi anuri (Hyla intermedia), ed un secondo su artropodi (Acheta Domesticus). I soggetti sono posti all’interno di un’ arena circolare di materiale plastico bianco uniformemente illuminata da una lampada posta in cima. Gli stimoli sono figure geometriche stampate su fogli A4 con lo scopo di simulare steli d’erba o rifugi in cui i soggetti possono ripararsi in una situazione pericolosa. Ogni soggetto è testato singolarmente in un unico test, in cui sono presentante coppie di stimoli contenenti un diverso numero di oggetti (quantità discrete) o stimoli di dimensioni diverse (quantità continue). Nel primo lavoro, le raganelle mostrano una preferenza spontanea per il gruppo contente il maggior numero di stimoli (quantità discrete) nei confronti 1 v s4 e 2 vs 4. Controllando la superficie cumulativa totale o lo spazio occupato nel confronto 2 vs 4, le raganelle mantengono la preferenza per lo stimolo più numeroso, suggerendo l’utilizzo di informazioni numeriche. Inoltre, le raganelle discriminano tra singoli stimoli con differente area (quantità continue), mostrando una preferenza per lo stimolo maggiore quando il rapporto tra le aree è 0.25. Successivi controlli hanno evidenziato come le raganelle utilizzano l’altezza e non la larghezza come caratteristica saliente nella discriminazione di quantità continue. Nel secondo lavoro, i grilli mostrano una preferenza per il gruppo contente il maggior numero di stimoli nei confronti 1 vs 4, 2 vs 4, e 2 vs 3. Pareggiando l’area totale degli stimoli nel confronto 2 vs 3, i grilli non mostrano una preferenza per lo stimolo maggiore. Nella discriminazione di quantità continue, i grilli preferiscono gli stimoli maggiori quando il rapporto delle aree è pari a 0.25; ed utilizzano la larghezza e non l’altezza come caratteristica principale degli stimoli. In conclusione, i lavori presentati in questa tesi mostrano come la metodologia utilizzata per indagare le capacità di cognizione numerica negli animali può influenzare i risultati trovati. Questo problema spiegherebbe parte della differenza riscontrata in letteratura tra le diverse specie e all’interno della stessa specie quando si utilizzano paradigmi differenti per valutarne le capacità di cognizione numerica. In secondo luogo, i due studi su anfibi ed invertebrati mostrano come i sistemi alla base della capacità di discriminazione di quantità siano presenti tra le diverse specie. Le differenze tra specie possono essere spiegate, in parte, dalla metodologia utilizzata per valutarle, oppure dalla differenza del sistema percettivo in queste specie. Sono necessari futuri studi su specie poco studiate e nuovi contesti per poter comprendere l’origine e l’evoluzione della cognizione numerica.

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16

Raschi, Elena <1988&gt. „Genetic and Epidemiological Factors in Cognitive Impairment and Dementia“. Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2016. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/7323/1/raschi_elena_tesi.pdf.

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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a multifactorial and progressive form of dementia with a senile onset that affects specific areas of the brain. Recent genome wide association (GWA) studies reported that the allele 4 of apolipoprotein E (APOE) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in other genes that regulate inflammatory pathways, such as the gene coding for clusterin (CLU), are associated with AD. The hypothesis is that all of these genes may be involved in different mechanisms mediated by herpes viruses and we argued that the concomitant presence of SNPs in these genes in the same individual may represent a genetic signature predisposing to AD. The present study is focused on SNPs in CLU, interferon (IFN)-λ3/IL-28B, Med23 and the transcription factor IRF7, which are genes involved in antiviral responses and their association with AD and cognitive deterioration. Moreover, the effects of IL-28B, Med23 and IRF7 genotypes upon the presence of epstein-barr virus (EBV) and human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) in the peripheral blood of AD and controls (CTR) have been also investigated. The activation of the innate immune system has a key role as a promoting factor for AD and in AD patients activated microglia release cytokines that induce neuro-inflammation. In this thesis gene variants and different expression of genes involved in the innate immune response in case-control population studies and in a mouse model of AD were investigated. Results from these experiments suggest that individuals with a particular genetic makeup in defensive mechanisms of the innate immunity may be at risk of defective immune responses. Impaired immunity against persistent viruses such as those of herpes family, might result in chronic and inappropriate activation of microglia, abnormal Aβ production and increased amyloid deposition. Cycles of virus latency and infections may therefore contribute to neurodegeneration associated with AD in genetically predisposed elderly.

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Raschi, Elena <1988&gt. „Genetic and Epidemiological Factors in Cognitive Impairment and Dementia“. Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2016. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/7323/.

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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a multifactorial and progressive form of dementia with a senile onset that affects specific areas of the brain. Recent genome wide association (GWA) studies reported that the allele 4 of apolipoprotein E (APOE) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in other genes that regulate inflammatory pathways, such as the gene coding for clusterin (CLU), are associated with AD. The hypothesis is that all of these genes may be involved in different mechanisms mediated by herpes viruses and we argued that the concomitant presence of SNPs in these genes in the same individual may represent a genetic signature predisposing to AD. The present study is focused on SNPs in CLU, interferon (IFN)-λ3/IL-28B, Med23 and the transcription factor IRF7, which are genes involved in antiviral responses and their association with AD and cognitive deterioration. Moreover, the effects of IL-28B, Med23 and IRF7 genotypes upon the presence of epstein-barr virus (EBV) and human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) in the peripheral blood of AD and controls (CTR) have been also investigated. The activation of the innate immune system has a key role as a promoting factor for AD and in AD patients activated microglia release cytokines that induce neuro-inflammation. In this thesis gene variants and different expression of genes involved in the innate immune response in case-control population studies and in a mouse model of AD were investigated. Results from these experiments suggest that individuals with a particular genetic makeup in defensive mechanisms of the innate immunity may be at risk of defective immune responses. Impaired immunity against persistent viruses such as those of herpes family, might result in chronic and inappropriate activation of microglia, abnormal Aβ production and increased amyloid deposition. Cycles of virus latency and infections may therefore contribute to neurodegeneration associated with AD in genetically predisposed elderly.

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Cuevas, Haydee. „TRANSFORMING LEARNING INTO A CONSTRUCTIVE COGNITIVE AND METACOGNITIVE“. Doctoral diss., University of Central Florida, 2004. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/3931.

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This study explored the effectiveness of embedding a guided, learner-generated instructional strategy (query method), designed to support learners' cognitive and metacognitive processes, within the context of a computer-based complex task training environment (i.e., principles of flight in the aviation domain). The queries were presented as "stop and think" exercises in an open-ended question format that asked learners to generate either simple (low-level elaboration) or complex (high-level elaboration) sentences from a list of key training concepts. Results consistently highlighted the benefit of presenting participants with low-level elaboration queries, as compared to the no-query or high-level elaboration queries. In terms of post-training cognitive outcomes, participants presented with the low-level elaboration queries exhibited significantly more accurate knowledge organization (indicated by similarity to an expert model), better acquisition of perceptual knowledge, and superior performance on integrative knowledge assessment involving the integration and application of task-relevant concepts. Consistent with previous studies, no significant differences in performance were found on basic factual knowledge assessment. Presentation of the low-level elaboration queries also significantly improved the training program's instructional efficiency, that is, greater performance was achieved with less perceived cognitive effort. In terms of post-training metacognitive outcomes, participants presented with the low-level elaboration queries exhibited significantly greater metacomprehension accuracy and more effective metacognitive self-regulation during training. Contrary to predictions, incorporating the high-level elaboration queries into the training consistently failed, with only a few exceptions, to produce significantly better post-training outcomes than the no-query or the low-level elaboration query training conditions. The results of this study are discussed in terms of the theoretical implications for garnering a better understanding of the cognitive and metacognitive factors underlying the learning process. Practical implications for training design are presented within the context of cognitive load theory. Specifically, the increased cognitive processing of the training material associated with the high-level elaboration queries may have imposed too great a cognitive load on participants during training, minimizing the cognitive resources available for achieving a deeper, integrative understanding of the training concepts and hindering successful performance on the cognitive measures. The discussion also highlights the need for a multi-faceted approach to training evaluation.
Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
Arts and Sciences
Psychology

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Sjölie, Daniel. „Human brains and virtual realities : Computer-generated presence in theory and practice“. Doctoral thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för datavetenskap, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-68664.

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A combined view of the human brain and computer-generated virtual realities is motivated by recent developments in cognitive neuroscience and human-computer interaction (HCI). The emergence of new theories of human brain function, together with an increasing use of realistic human-computer interaction, give reason to believe that a better understanding of the relationship between human brains and virtual realities is both possible and valuable. The concept of “presence”, described as the subjective feeling of being in a place that feels real, can serve as a cornerstone concept in the development of such an understanding, as computer-generated presence is tightly related to how human brains work in virtual realities. In this thesis, presence is related both to theoretical discussions rooted in theories of human brain function, and to measurements of brain activity during realistic interaction. The practical implications of such results are further developed by considering potential applications. This includes the development and evaluation of a prototype application, motivated by presented principles. The theoretical conception of presence in this thesis relies on general principles of brain function, and describes presence as a general cognitive function, not specifically related to virtual realities. Virtual reality (VR) is an excellent technology for investigating and taking advantage of all aspects of presence, but a more general interpretation allows the same principles to be applied to a wide range of applications. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to study the working human brain in VR. Such data can inform and constrain further discussion about presence. Using two different experimental designs we have investigated both the effect of basic aspects of VR interaction, as well as the neural correlates of disrupted presence in a naturalistic environment. Reality-based brain-computer interaction (RBBCI) is suggested as a concept for summarizing the motivations for, and the context of, applications building on an understanding of human brains in virtual realities. The RBBCI prototype application we developed did not achieve the set goals, but much remains to be investigated and lessons from our evaluation point to possible ways forward. A developed use of methods and techniques from computer gaming is of particular interest.
Ett kombinerat perspektiv på den mänskliga hjärnan och datorgenererade virtuella verkligheter motiveras av den senaste utvecklingen inom kognitiv neurovetenskap och människa-datorinteraktion (MDI). Framväxten av nya teorier om den mänskliga hjärnan, tillsammans med en ökande användning av realistisk människa-datorinteraktion, gör det troligt att en bättre förståelse för relationen mellan mänskliga hjärnor och virtuella verkligheter är både möjlig och värdefull. Begreppet "närvaro", som i detta sammanhang beskrivs som den subjektiva känslan av att vara på en plats som känns verklig, kan fungera som en hörnsten i utvecklingen av en sådan förståelse, då datorgenererad närvaro är tätt kopplat till hur mänskliga hjärnor fungerar i virtuella verkligheter. I denna avhandling kopplas närvaro både till teoretiska diskussioner grundade i teorier om den mänskliga hjärnan, och till mätningar av hjärnans aktivitet under realistisk interaktion. De praktiska konsekvenserna av sådana resultat utvecklas vidare med en närmare titt på potentiella tillämpningar. Detta inkluderar utveckling och utvärdering av en prototypapplikation, motiverad av de presenterade principerna. Den teoretiska diskussionen av närvaro i denna avhandling bygger på allmänna principer för hjärnans funktion, och beskriver känslan av närvaro som en generell kognitiv funktion, inte specifikt relaterad till virtuella verkligheter. Virtuell verklighet (virtual reality, VR) är en utmärkt teknik för att undersöka och dra nytta av alla aspekter av närvaro, men en mer allmän tolkning gör att samma principer kan tillämpas på ett brett spektrum av applikationer. Funktionell hjärnavbildning (fMRI) användes för att studera den arbetande mänskliga hjärnan i VR. Sådant data kan informera och begränsa en vidare diskussion av närvaro. Med hjälp av två olika försöksdesigner har vi har undersökt både effekten av grundläggande aspekter av VR-interaktion, och neurala korrelat av störd närvaro i en naturalistisk miljö. Verklighets-baserad hjärna-dator interaktion (reality-based brain-computer interaction, RBBCI) föreslås som ett begrepp för att sammanfatta motiv och kontext för applikationer som bygger på en förståelse av den mänskliga hjärnan i virtuella verkligheter. Den prototypapplikation vi utvecklade uppnådde inte de uppsatta målen, men mycket återstår att utforska och lärdomar från vår utvärdering pekar på möjliga vägar framåt. En vidare användning av metoder och tekniker från dataspel är speciellt intressant.

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Fabbri, Marco <1979&gt. „Componenti spaziali della rappresentazione cognitiva della grandezza del numero“. Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2008. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/1013/1/Tesi_Fabbri_Marco.pdf.

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The humans process the numbers in a similar way to animals. There are countless studies in which similar performance between animals and humans (adults and/or children) are reported. Three models have been developed to explain the cognitive mechanisms underlying the number processing. The triple-code model (Dehaene, 1992) posits an mental number line as preferred way to represent magnitude. The mental number line has three particular effects: the distance, the magnitude and the SNARC effects. The SNARC effect shows a spatial association between number and space representations. In other words, the small numbers are related to left space while large numbers are related to right space. Recently a vertical SNARC effect has been found (Ito & Hatta, 2004; Schwarz & Keus, 2004), reflecting a space-related bottom-to-up representation of numbers. The magnitude representations horizontally and vertically could influence the subject performance in explicit and implicit digit tasks. The goal of this research project aimed to investigate the spatial components of number representation using different experimental designs and tasks. The experiment 1 focused on horizontal and vertical number representations in a within- and between-subjects designs in a parity and magnitude comparative tasks, presenting positive or negative Arabic digits (1-9 without 5). The experiment 1A replied the SNARC and distance effects in both spatial arrangements. The experiment 1B showed an horizontal reversed SNARC effect in both tasks while a vertical reversed SNARC effect was found only in comparative task. In the experiment 1C two groups of subjects performed both tasks in two different instruction-responding hand assignments with positive numbers. The results did not show any significant differences between two assignments, even if the vertical number line seemed to be more flexible respect to horizontal one. On the whole the experiment 1 seemed to demonstrate a contextual (i.e. task set) influences of the nature of the SNARC effect. The experiment 2 focused on the effect of horizontal and vertical number representations on spatial biases in a paper-and-pencil bisecting tasks. In the experiment 2A the participants were requested to bisect physical and number (2 or 9) lines horizontally and vertically. The findings demonstrated that digit 9 strings tended to generate a more rightward bias comparing with digit 2 strings horizontally. However in vertical condition the digit 2 strings generated a more upperward bias respect to digit 9 strings, suggesting a top-to-bottom number line. In the experiment 2B the participants were asked to bisect lines flanked by numbers (i.e. 1 or 7) in four spatial arrangements: horizontal, vertical, right-diagonal and left-diagonal lines. Four number conditions were created according to congruent or incongruent number line representation: 1-1, 1-7, 7-1 and 7-7. The main results showed a more reliable rightward bias in horizontal congruent condition (1-7) respect to incongruent condition (7-1). Vertically the incongruent condition (1-7) determined a significant bias towards bottom side of line respect to congruent condition (7-1). The experiment 2 suggested a more rigid horizontal number line while in vertical condition the number representation could be more flexible. In the experiment 3 we adopted the materials of experiment 2B in order to find a number line effect on temporal (motor) performance. The participants were presented horizontal, vertical, rightdiagonal and left-diagonal lines flanked by the same digits (i.e. 1-1 or 7-7) or by different digits (i.e. 1-7 or 7-1). The digits were spatially congruent or incongruent with their respective hypothesized mental representations. Participants were instructed to touch the lines either close to the large digit, or close to the small digit, or to bisected the lines. Number processing influenced movement execution more than movement planning. Number congruency influenced spatial biases mostly along the horizontal but also along the vertical dimension. These results support a two-dimensional magnitude representation. Finally, the experiment 4 addressed the visuo-spatial manipulation of number representations for accessing and retrieval arithmetic facts. The participants were requested to perform a number-matching and an addition verification tasks. The findings showed an interference effect between sum-nodes and neutral-nodes only with an horizontal presentation of digit-cues, in number-matching tasks. In the addition verification task, the performance was similar for horizontal and vertical presentations of arithmetic problems. In conclusion the data seemed to show an automatic activation of horizontal number line also used to retrieval arithmetic facts. The horizontal number line seemed to be more rigid and the preferred way to order number from left-to-right. A possible explanation could be the left-to-right direction for reading and writing. The vertical number line seemed to be more flexible and more dependent from the tasks, reflecting perhaps several example in the environment representing numbers either from bottom-to-top or from top-to-bottom. However the bottom-to-top number line seemed to be activated by explicit task demands.

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Fabbri, Marco <1979&gt. „Componenti spaziali della rappresentazione cognitiva della grandezza del numero“. Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2008. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/1013/.

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The humans process the numbers in a similar way to animals. There are countless studies in which similar performance between animals and humans (adults and/or children) are reported. Three models have been developed to explain the cognitive mechanisms underlying the number processing. The triple-code model (Dehaene, 1992) posits an mental number line as preferred way to represent magnitude. The mental number line has three particular effects: the distance, the magnitude and the SNARC effects. The SNARC effect shows a spatial association between number and space representations. In other words, the small numbers are related to left space while large numbers are related to right space. Recently a vertical SNARC effect has been found (Ito & Hatta, 2004; Schwarz & Keus, 2004), reflecting a space-related bottom-to-up representation of numbers. The magnitude representations horizontally and vertically could influence the subject performance in explicit and implicit digit tasks. The goal of this research project aimed to investigate the spatial components of number representation using different experimental designs and tasks. The experiment 1 focused on horizontal and vertical number representations in a within- and between-subjects designs in a parity and magnitude comparative tasks, presenting positive or negative Arabic digits (1-9 without 5). The experiment 1A replied the SNARC and distance effects in both spatial arrangements. The experiment 1B showed an horizontal reversed SNARC effect in both tasks while a vertical reversed SNARC effect was found only in comparative task. In the experiment 1C two groups of subjects performed both tasks in two different instruction-responding hand assignments with positive numbers. The results did not show any significant differences between two assignments, even if the vertical number line seemed to be more flexible respect to horizontal one. On the whole the experiment 1 seemed to demonstrate a contextual (i.e. task set) influences of the nature of the SNARC effect. The experiment 2 focused on the effect of horizontal and vertical number representations on spatial biases in a paper-and-pencil bisecting tasks. In the experiment 2A the participants were requested to bisect physical and number (2 or 9) lines horizontally and vertically. The findings demonstrated that digit 9 strings tended to generate a more rightward bias comparing with digit 2 strings horizontally. However in vertical condition the digit 2 strings generated a more upperward bias respect to digit 9 strings, suggesting a top-to-bottom number line. In the experiment 2B the participants were asked to bisect lines flanked by numbers (i.e. 1 or 7) in four spatial arrangements: horizontal, vertical, right-diagonal and left-diagonal lines. Four number conditions were created according to congruent or incongruent number line representation: 1-1, 1-7, 7-1 and 7-7. The main results showed a more reliable rightward bias in horizontal congruent condition (1-7) respect to incongruent condition (7-1). Vertically the incongruent condition (1-7) determined a significant bias towards bottom side of line respect to congruent condition (7-1). The experiment 2 suggested a more rigid horizontal number line while in vertical condition the number representation could be more flexible. In the experiment 3 we adopted the materials of experiment 2B in order to find a number line effect on temporal (motor) performance. The participants were presented horizontal, vertical, rightdiagonal and left-diagonal lines flanked by the same digits (i.e. 1-1 or 7-7) or by different digits (i.e. 1-7 or 7-1). The digits were spatially congruent or incongruent with their respective hypothesized mental representations. Participants were instructed to touch the lines either close to the large digit, or close to the small digit, or to bisected the lines. Number processing influenced movement execution more than movement planning. Number congruency influenced spatial biases mostly along the horizontal but also along the vertical dimension. These results support a two-dimensional magnitude representation. Finally, the experiment 4 addressed the visuo-spatial manipulation of number representations for accessing and retrieval arithmetic facts. The participants were requested to perform a number-matching and an addition verification tasks. The findings showed an interference effect between sum-nodes and neutral-nodes only with an horizontal presentation of digit-cues, in number-matching tasks. In the addition verification task, the performance was similar for horizontal and vertical presentations of arithmetic problems. In conclusion the data seemed to show an automatic activation of horizontal number line also used to retrieval arithmetic facts. The horizontal number line seemed to be more rigid and the preferred way to order number from left-to-right. A possible explanation could be the left-to-right direction for reading and writing. The vertical number line seemed to be more flexible and more dependent from the tasks, reflecting perhaps several example in the environment representing numbers either from bottom-to-top or from top-to-bottom. However the bottom-to-top number line seemed to be activated by explicit task demands.

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Malfatti, Michela. „Shape-to-color associations in non-synesthetes: perceptual, emotional, and cognitive aspects“. Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Trento, 2014. https://hdl.handle.net/11572/368608.

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The study of cross-modal and cross-dimensional associations in non-synesthetes has become an increasingly hot topic in recent times (see Spence, 2011, for a review). Despite the many examples of associations between shape/color-stimuli on one hand and stimuli of different sensory nature on the other hand, little is known about the way shape and color are interrelated with each other. The purpose of our research was to test whether non-synesthetes also exhibit systematic associations between these two different dimensions of the visual domain, that is, shape and color. Furthermore, our study also relates to art, and in particular to Kandinskyâ€™s theory on shape-color correspondences (1912, 1926), which could be tested indirectly. The project consisted of six experiments, some of them (Experiments 1-3 and 6) carried out in the Experimental Psychology Labs at the University of Trento under the supervision of Prof. Liliana Albertazzi, and the others (Experiments 4-5) carried out in the Visual Perception and Aesthetics Lab at the University of California Berkeley, under the supervision of Prof. Stephen E. Palmer. Experiment 1 provided the first evidence that people tend to match certain hues to certain simple geometric shapes. The strongest relations were found between the triangle and yellows, and the circle and square with reds, confirming only in part Kandinskyâ€™s artistic findings. Experiment 2 replicated the results of Experiment 1 with a different group of participants and showed that the pattern of shape-color associations that previously emerged was independent of a shapeâ€™s size, area/perimeter, and stability. Experiment 3 examined the relation between parts of shapes (angles) and hues, also in order to assess if the choice of a hue to be matched with a given shape could be partly driven by its angles. In the remaining experiments (4-5), we extended the previous studies to color dimensions other than the hue, and to an even wider variety of shapes and shape-features. The shape-features studied included pointedness, intersections, symmetry-axes, concavities, and the number of generating-points. We found that specific shape-features of line-shapes (Experiment 4) or closed geometric shapes (Experiment 5) influence specific color attributes (saturation, lightness, redness/greenness, and yellowness/blueness) of the associated colors. Our results also suggested that shape-color associations may be mediated, in part, by emotions; indeed people tend to match colors and shapes that have similar emotional associations (e.g., angry colors are matched to angry shapes). Finally, Experiment 6 assessed in an exploratory way the association between words related to abstract concepts and hues. Altogether, additional examples of associations in the non-synesthetic population were reported. We suggest that this new trend of research, at large, could improve the study of human perception and cognition, guide the search for neural correlates, as well as find possible applications in a variety of disciplines, including ergonomics, art, and design.

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Scillia, Giacomo <1981&gt. „Strategie cognitive e decision making nella realizzazione di software complessi“. Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2019. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/8928/1/SCILLIA_GIACOMO_tesi.pdf.

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Nella vita quotidiana le persone si trovano a decidere in condizioni di incertezza, senza avere a disposizione informazioni complete sulle quali basare le proprie scelte, come quando, ad esempio, devono scegliere se accettare o rifiutare un nuovo lavoro. Durante questa tipologia di compito decisionale, svolgono un ruolo importante diverse aree della corteccia prefrontale (Bechara, Damasio et al., 1994; 1999; 2000). Lo studio cognitivo delle decisioni si è fatto strada nella scienza economica, e le sue implicazioni si sono rivelate non meno significative nell’ambito della decisione medica. La mia ipotesi è che le stesse implicazioni, opportunamente osservate e analizzate, possano essere rilevanti nell’ambito della progettazione del software. È tipico infatti degli agenti economici (consumatori, imprenditori, investitori) dover selezionare l’operazione da preferire fra corsi di azione alternativi, ponderando i loro relativi costi e benefici in condizioni di incertezza e di rischio. Ebbene, numerosi problemi di usabilità e di progettazione inducono progettisti e utenti a servirsi di scorciatoie cognitive che producono errori sistematici. L’ipotesi alla base della presente tesi è che i risultati della ricerca cognitiva siano imprescindibili per migliorare la presa di decisione di qualsiasi progetto. Per mettere a punto procedure che ci permettano di evitare le conseguenze di errori di questo tipo è necessario prendere atto della loro presenza e imparare a riconoscere le condizioni nelle quali si manifestano. La ricerca è stata condotta seguendo due direttrici: (1) approfondire l'argomento della razionalità limitata e delle strategie cognitive adottate in contesti tecnici, tema rilevante e con importanti ricadute per tutte le aziende che si trovano a progettare e manutenere sistemi informativi complessi; (2) analizzare le euristiche e i biases elicitati dai progettisti di sistemi complessi, al fine di superare i limiti metodologici dei diversi approcci di progettazione e sviluppo del software.
In everyday’s life people make decisions in conditions of uncertainty, without having available complete information on which to base their choices, as for example in situations where they have to choose whether to accept or refuse a new job opportunity. During this kind of decision-making task, different areas of the prefrontal cortex play an important role (Bechara, Damasio et al., 1994; 1999; 2000). The cognitive study of decision making has made its way into economic science, and its implications have not proved to be less significant in the medical decision. My hypothesis is that the same implications, appropriately observed and analyzed, can be relevant in software design. In fact, it is typical for people moving within economic environments such as consumers, entrepreneurs, investors, to select the transaction to be preferred among alternative courses of action, weighing relative costs and benefits under conditions of uncertainty and risk. Thus, several usability and design problems cause designers and users to use heuristics that produce biases. The hypothesis of this thesis is that the results of cognitive research are essential to improve the decision making process of any project. To develop procedures that allow us to avoid the consequences of errors of this type, it is necessary to take note of their presence and to study the conditions in which they occur. The underlying research has been carried out following two directives: (1) elaborating bounded rationality and cognitive strategies by adopting them in technical contexts, since this topic is relevant topics for all companies which are involved in designing and maintaining complex information systems; (2) analyzing heuristics and biases elicited by designers of complex systems, in order to overcome the methodological limits of different approaches of software design and development.

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CANTARELLA, Alessandra. „Working Memory training in aging: from the nature of the training to the transfer effects in everyday life“. Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Padova, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11577/3424276.

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A growing body of studies shows that working memory (WM) in older adults can be improved by means of specific process-based training, while the results in terms of transfer effects are more controversial. The benefits of WM training on other, untrained abilities, are generally examined using single indicators for each ability assessed, and benefits on everyday tasks have rarely been considered. One of the aspects that might favor transfer effects is the type of stimuli used in the training. Thanks to the “positivity effect” in aging, it may be possible to enhance the benefits of training and transfer effects by using emotional stimuli. This possibility has yet to be researched. Three studies were conducted to address the above mentioned issues. The aim of the first was to assess the efficacy of a verbal WM training and its far transfer effects on everyday life abilities; performance-based measures of functional abilities were used. In the second and third studies, involving a visuo-spatial WM training, the characteristics of the training stimuli were manipulated using first neutral and then positive emotional stimuli (in studies 2 and 3, respectively). The results of the first study showed transfer effects of the verbal WM training on everyday abilities, whereas the visuo-spatial WM training in studies 2 and 3only induced specific effects on criterion tasks. Overall, WM training in aging has promise as away to improve abilities related to everyday living. Attention has to be devolved to the type of stimuli and the task modality (verbal rather than visuo-spatial).
Un crescente numero di studi mostra che è possibile migliorare le prestazioni di Memoria di Lavoro (MdL) degli anziani attraverso training “process-based”. Più controverse sono le evidenze rispetto alla generalizzazione dei benefici ottenuti: i benefici dei training di MdL ad abilità non direttamente allenate sono infatti solitamene valutati i) utilizzando singole prove per ogni abilità esaminata; raramente attraverso prove di funzionalità quotidiana. Tra gli aspetti che potrebbero favorire gli effetti di trasferimento dei benefici vi è la tipologia di stimoli utilizzata nei training: rispetto a ciò, l’utilizzo di stimoli emotivi a valenza positiva potrebbe essere efficace, sfruttando il noto “effetto positività” nell’invecchiamento, aspetto non ancora indagato. Per indagare gli aspetti menzionati sono stati condotti tre studi. Lo scopo del primo era di valutare l’efficacia di un training di MdL verbale e gli effetti di trasferimento ad abilità quotidiane. Allo scopo sono state utilizzate misure oggettive di valutazione funzionale. Nel secondo e terzo studio, utilizzando un training di MdL visuo-spaziale, sono state manipolate le caratteristiche degli stimoli, usando stimoli a valenza neutra o positiva (rispettivamente nello studio 2 e 3). I risultati del primo studio mostrano effetti di trasferimento alle competenze quotidiane mentre l’utilizzo di un training visuo-spaziale solo un effetto specifico alla prova criterio. I training di MdL rappresentano quindi un approccio promettente per il miglioramento di abilità legate alla vita quotidiana. Attenzione deve essere devoluta al tipo di stimoli utilizzato e alla modalità di training (verbale o visuo-spaziale).

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Bernabini, Luca <1989&gt. „Mathematical skills: intergenerational features and relationships with cognitive and linguistic abilities“. Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2020. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/9479/1/Luca%20Bernabini_PhD_Tesi.pdf.

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This thesis aimed to investigate the cognitive underpinnings of math skills, with particular reference to cognitive, and linguistic markers, core mechanisms of number processing and environmental variables. In particular, the issue of intergenerational transmission of math skills has been deepened, comparing parents’ and children’s basic and formal math abilities. This pattern of relationships amongst these has been considered in two different age ranges, preschool and primary school children. In the first chapter, a general introduction on mathematical skills is offered, with a description of some seminal works up to recent studies and latest findings. The first chapter concludes with a review of studies about the influence of environmental variables. In particular, a review of studies about home numeracy and intergenerational transmission is examined. The first study analyzed the relationship between mathematical skills of children attending primary school and those of their mothers. The objective of this study was to understand the influence of mothers' math abilities on those of their children. In the second study, the relationship between parents’ and children numerical processing has been examined in a sample of preschool children. The goal was to understand how mathematical skills of parents were relevant for the development of the numerical skills of children, taking into account children’s cognitive and linguistic skills as well as the role of home numeracy. The third study had the objective of investigating whether the verbal and nonverbal cognitive skills presumed to underlie arithmetic are also related to reading. Primary school children were administered measures of reading and arithmetic to understand the relationships between these two abilities and testing for possible shared cognitive markers. Finally, in the general discussion a summary of main findings across the study is presented, together with clinical and theoretical implications.

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Denis, Michel. „Formes imagées de la représentation cognitive“. Paris 8, 1987. http://www.theses.fr/1987PA080085.

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L'etude de l'image mentale, comme forme de representation permettant a l'esprit humain de conserver et de manipuler l'information perceptive extraite de son environnement, est inscrite dans cette these a l'interieur d'une problematique cognitive de la representation. Une analyse des proprietes et des fonctions des systemes de representation est suivie d'un examen du role de l'image par rapport a d'autres formes de representation cognitive. Apres avoir retrace les debats theoriques sur le statut de l'image dans le fonctionnement cognitif, cette these fournit une analyse detaillee des proprietes de l'image visuelle et des relations que celle-ci entretient avec la perception visuelle. La partie principale de la these est consacree au role de l'image dans les activite psychologiques rassemblees sous la rubrique generale du traitement du langage. Une conception de l'image comme instrument de figuration de la signification est illustree par les resultats d'un programme de recherche. Tout d'abord, l'image est analysee dans les rapports qu'elle entretient avec la signification lexicale. Les recherches experimentales presentees attestent que la valeur d'imagerie d'un mot est tributaire de la richesse du concept correspondant en traits semantiques figuratifs. Une autre idee developee est celle de l'actualisation selective des traits figuratifs au cours du traitement d'enonces decrivant des scenes concretes. Enfin, des recherches menees sur la comprehension et la memorisation de textes permettent de mettre l'accent sur l'imagerie comme activite fournissant au lecteur, en complement a la base semantique du texte, un modele non linguistique des evenements et des situations decrites. Cette partie de la recherche aborde egalement la question de l'imagerie visuelle sous l'angle des differences individuelles. Un inventaire des approches experimentales de l'imagerie dans ses rapports avec le raisonnement et la resolution de problemes fait apparaitre l'efficacite singuliere de l'image dans le traitement de nombreuses sortes de problemes. Enfin, le role de l'imagerie est examine dans l'acquisition des habiletes motrices et dans la planification des conduites humaines. La conclusion replace l'image dans le contexte theorique et operationnel de la recherche cognitive contemporaine
The study of mental imagery, that form of representation by which the human mind stores and manipulates perceptual information drawn from the environment, is viewed here as a part of a broader approach to representation in cognitive research. In this thesis, an analysis of the properties and functions of representational systems is followed by an examination of the role of imagery as compared to other forms of cognitive representation. After a summary of the theoretical controversies regarding the status attributed to imagery in cognitive functioning, a section provides a detailed analysis of the properties of visual images and their relationships to visual perception. The main part of the thesis is devoted to the role of imagery in psychological activities involved in language processing. A conception of imagery as an instrument for the figuration of meaning is developed through the presentation of findings from a comprehensive series of experiments. First, imagery is analyzed in its relationships with lexical meaning, where findings show that word imagery value depends on the richness of the corresponding concept in figurative semantic features. Secondly, selective activation of figurative features during the processing of sentences describing concrete scenes is investigated. Lastly, there is an account of experiments on comprehension and memory for texts, which stresses for the role of imagery as an activity providing readers with a non-linguistic model for described events and situations, complementing the semantic textbase. This part of the author's research also deals with the issue of individual imagery differences. A review of experimental approaches of imagery related to reasoning and problem solving demonstrates the effectiveness of imagery in the processing of various types of problems. Finally, the role of imagery in the acquisition of motor skills and in the planification of human behavior is discussed. The conclusion places imagery in the theoretical and operational framework of current cognitive research

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CASTOLDI, VALERIA. „THE INTERACTION BETWEEN HIGH COGNITIVE ABILITIES, LEARNING AND CULTURE“. Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10281/153290.

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Uno degli obiettivi della psicologia cognitiva riguarda la comprensione dei fattori cognitivi legati all’intelligenza umana, con lo scopo di formulare modelli il più possibile esplicativi del funzionamento della mente. Nella mia tesi ho tentato di dare una definizione del concetto di intelligenza, intesa come l’insieme dei processi consci e inconsci che determinano la nostra conoscenza, in associazione con specifiche abilità cognitive come ragionamento e problem solving. Mi sono inoltre proposta di investigare l’interazione tra intelligenza, apprendimento e cultura, considerati come fattori esogeni che concorrerebbero alla manifestazione delle differenze individuali. A tal fine sono stati condotti tre studi. Il primo studio riguarda la valutazione dell’insight problem solving nell’infanzia, in interazione con le capacità pragmatico-interpretative del linguaggio, che si svilupperebbero grazie all’apprendimento nelle situazioni sociali. Il secondo studio si focalizza ancora sui problemi insight, ma in età adulta: la performance in questo tipo di problema è valutata in relazione alle differenze culturali e in interazione con specifici fattori cognitivi come la capacità inibitoria e la Mindfulness. Nel terzo studio, l’intelligenza e la capacità di ragionamento, in un gruppo di studenti di scuola secondaria superiore, vengono analizzate in relazione a specifici contesti di apprendimento. Le ricerche dimostrano la necessità di trovare una definizione maggiormente soddisfacente del concetto di intelligenza e il coinvolgimento della cultura e dell’apprendimento nella sua evoluzione.
One of the purpose of Cognitive Psychology is the comprehension of the cognitive factors related to human intelligence, in order to formulate explanatory models of the mind processes. In my thesis I tried to define the concept of intelligence as the sum of conscious and unconscious processes linked to our knowledge and related with specific cognitive abilities, such as reasoning and problem solving. I also investigated the interaction between intelligence, learning and culture, considered as exogenous factors which would be involved in individual differences. Three studies were, therefore, conducted. The first study concerns the insight problem solving in childhood, in interaction with the pragmatic-interpretive skills of the language that would develop through learning in social situations. The second study is still focused on the insight problems, but in adulthood: the performance in this kind of problems would be influenced by the cultural differences and by the interactions with specific cognitive factors such as the Inhibitory Ability and Mindfulness. In the third study, intelligence and reasoning skills are analyzed in a group of secondary school students in relation to some specific learning contexts. Results underlie the need to better define the concept of intelligence and the involvement of culture and learning in its evolution.

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Porcellini, Elisa <1978&gt. „Genetic and environmental factors associated with the risk of cognitive decline and dementia“. Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2011. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/3336/1/Porcellini_Elisa_tesi.pdf.

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AD is the most common age related neurodegenerative disease in the industrialized world. Clinically AD is defined as a progressing decline of cognitive functions. Neuropathologically, AD is characterized by the aggregation of b-amyloid (Ab) peptide in the form of extracellular senile plaques, and hyperphosphorlylated tau protein in the form of intracellular neurofibrillary tangles. These neuropathological hallmarks are often accompanied by abundant microvascular damage and pronounced inflammation of the affected brain regions. In this thesis we investigated several aspects of AD focusing on the genetic aspect. We confirmed that Alpha 1 antichymotrypsin (ACT), an acute phase protein, was associated to AD subjects, being plasma levels higher in AD cases than controls. In addition, in a GWA study we demonstrated that two different gene, Clusterin and CR1 were strongly associated to AD. A single gene association not explain such a complex disease like AD. The goal should be to created a network of genetic, phenotypic and clinical data associated to AD. We used a new algorithm, the ANNs, aimed to map variables and search for connectivity among variables. We found specific variables associated to AD like cholesterol levels, the presence of variation in HMGCR enzyme and the age. Other factors such as the BMI, the amount of HDL and blood folate levels were also associated with AD. Pathogen infections, above all viral infections, have been previously associated to AD. The hypothesis suggests that virus and in particular herpes virus could enter the brain when an individual becomes older, perhaps because of a decline in the immune system. Our new hypothesis is that the presence of SNPs in our GWA gene study results in a genetic signature that might affect individual brain susceptibility to infection by herpes virus family during aging.

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Porcellini, Elisa <1978&gt. „Genetic and environmental factors associated with the risk of cognitive decline and dementia“. Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2011. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/3336/.

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AD is the most common age related neurodegenerative disease in the industrialized world. Clinically AD is defined as a progressing decline of cognitive functions. Neuropathologically, AD is characterized by the aggregation of b-amyloid (Ab) peptide in the form of extracellular senile plaques, and hyperphosphorlylated tau protein in the form of intracellular neurofibrillary tangles. These neuropathological hallmarks are often accompanied by abundant microvascular damage and pronounced inflammation of the affected brain regions. In this thesis we investigated several aspects of AD focusing on the genetic aspect. We confirmed that Alpha 1 antichymotrypsin (ACT), an acute phase protein, was associated to AD subjects, being plasma levels higher in AD cases than controls. In addition, in a GWA study we demonstrated that two different gene, Clusterin and CR1 were strongly associated to AD. A single gene association not explain such a complex disease like AD. The goal should be to created a network of genetic, phenotypic and clinical data associated to AD. We used a new algorithm, the ANNs, aimed to map variables and search for connectivity among variables. We found specific variables associated to AD like cholesterol levels, the presence of variation in HMGCR enzyme and the age. Other factors such as the BMI, the amount of HDL and blood folate levels were also associated with AD. Pathogen infections, above all viral infections, have been previously associated to AD. The hypothesis suggests that virus and in particular herpes virus could enter the brain when an individual becomes older, perhaps because of a decline in the immune system. Our new hypothesis is that the presence of SNPs in our GWA gene study results in a genetic signature that might affect individual brain susceptibility to infection by herpes virus family during aging.

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Malfatti, Michela. „Shape-to-color associations in non-synesthetes: perceptual, emotional, and cognitive aspects“. Doctoral thesis, University of Trento, 2014. http://eprints-phd.biblio.unitn.it/1336/1/Malfatti.Michela.Doctoral.Thesis.pdf.

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The study of cross-modal and cross-dimensional associations in non-synesthetes has become an increasingly hot topic in recent times (see Spence, 2011, for a review). Despite the many examples of associations between shape/color-stimuli on one hand and stimuli of different sensory nature on the other hand, little is known about the way shape and color are interrelated with each other. The purpose of our research was to test whether non-synesthetes also exhibit systematic associations between these two different dimensions of the visual domain, that is, shape and color. Furthermore, our study also relates to art, and in particular to Kandinsky’s theory on shape-color correspondences (1912, 1926), which could be tested indirectly. The project consisted of six experiments, some of them (Experiments 1-3 and 6) carried out in the Experimental Psychology Labs at the University of Trento under the supervision of Prof. Liliana Albertazzi, and the others (Experiments 4-5) carried out in the Visual Perception and Aesthetics Lab at the University of California Berkeley, under the supervision of Prof. Stephen E. Palmer. Experiment 1 provided the first evidence that people tend to match certain hues to certain simple geometric shapes. The strongest relations were found between the triangle and yellows, and the circle and square with reds, confirming only in part Kandinsky’s artistic findings. Experiment 2 replicated the results of Experiment 1 with a different group of participants and showed that the pattern of shape-color associations that previously emerged was independent of a shape’s size, area/perimeter, and stability. Experiment 3 examined the relation between parts of shapes (angles) and hues, also in order to assess if the choice of a hue to be matched with a given shape could be partly driven by its angles. In the remaining experiments (4-5), we extended the previous studies to color dimensions other than the hue, and to an even wider variety of shapes and shape-features. The shape-features studied included pointedness, intersections, symmetry-axes, concavities, and the number of generating-points. We found that specific shape-features of line-shapes (Experiment 4) or closed geometric shapes (Experiment 5) influence specific color attributes (saturation, lightness, redness/greenness, and yellowness/blueness) of the associated colors. Our results also suggested that shape-color associations may be mediated, in part, by emotions; indeed people tend to match colors and shapes that have similar emotional associations (e.g., angry colors are matched to angry shapes). Finally, Experiment 6 assessed in an exploratory way the association between words related to abstract concepts and hues. Altogether, additional examples of associations in the non-synesthetic population were reported. We suggest that this new trend of research, at large, could improve the study of human perception and cognition, guide the search for neural correlates, as well as find possible applications in a variety of disciplines, including ergonomics, art, and design.

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Azevedo, Leite Diego. „The Twenty-First Century Mechanistic Theory of Human Cognition: A Critical Appraisal“. Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Trento, 2018. https://hdl.handle.net/11572/368536.

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The Mechanistic Theory of Human Cognition (MTHC) is currently one of the most influential fundamental theories in the field of cognitive science. The main idea is to provide an account of what human neuro-cognitive complex mechanisms are and how to explain them. The theory proposes an ambitious revolutionary unified view of human cognition that can provide foundations and theoretical unification within cognitive science and between cognitive science and relevant portions of neuroscience. However, this proposal faces many challenges. The central objective of this work is to make a theoretical critical appraisal of MTHC. I critically analyse and evaluate whether MTHC provides a unifying account of human cognition and its explanation for cognitive science. I argue that MTHC provides a significant theoretical contribution for the field; however, it cannot offer the ambitious revolutionary integration that some of its most influential advocates promise.

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Cerni, Tania. „Does the Way we interact with Technology Affect Cognitive Performance? An in-depth analysis of writing devices“. Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Trento, 2014. https://hdl.handle.net/11572/368552.

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The great influence of mass technologies has changed our writing modality that is moving from the traditional use of pen and paper to the domain of keyboards and recently to touchscreen tools, both in everyday life and in educational contexts. The digitalization of writing and of the texts we write, but also the ubiquity of digital technologies, should encourage a deeper understanding of the implications of the physical and sensorimotor changes in writing. It is reasonable to think that the motor-perceptual differences between different writing modalities can lead to different cognitive performances in linguistic tasks, depending on the writing movement that has to be performed but also on the experience that we have with this movement. In this work, I take into account the role of tangible devices for writing and their different haptic affordance, rarely considered in the study of language, in general, and of writing, in particular. To do so I analyzed different behaviors while we use different writing technologies and discuss the findings from a cognitive science point of view. The general aims of this thesis consists in establishing possible cognitive entailment of different types of writing modalities, in explicating their role in other linguistic tasks and in evaluating the possible implication on daily life and education. The thesis is presented like a collection of papers, results of my research activity and experiences during my participation in the doctoral school. I divided my work in three separate chapters in which different research points of views are analyzed, different experimental procedures are used and different technological devices for writing are tested. Chapter 1 present a study aimed at investigating whether technologically mediated linguistic performance reflects cross-modal interaction and whether it is modulated by the writing technology used, specifically a touchscreen and a keyboard. Chapter 2 comprises a set of studies dedicated to investigate whether it is possible that a strong experience in typing influences our linguistic abilities. Furthermore, typing and mobile typing are compared testing if the two writing modalities share the same motor behaviors. Mobile technologies are also the argument of Chapter 3 in which I present two theoretical papers dedicated to the potential of these devices for learning, in general, and for second language learning, in particular.

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FOSSATI, MARGHERITA. „AUTOVALUTAZIONE DELL'ESPERIENZA SCOLASTICA TRA ADOLESCENTI CON DISABILITA' INTELLETTIVA: DIMENSIONI COGNITIVE, EMOTIVE E MOTIVAZIONALI“. Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Milano, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2434/233147.

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BACKGROUND La ricerca si inserisce nella cornice teorica della Psicologia Positiva, ed in particolare degli approcci che si propongono di analizzare le caratteristiche dell’esperienza soggettiva, per la comprensione delle reali risorse e potenzialità dell’individuo e per la promozione del suo benessere nei vari contesti di vita. La teoria del Flow e la teoria dell’autodeterminazione ne rappresentano i punti di riferimento teorici e metodologici. La comprensione delle dimensioni soggettive dell’esperienza individuale assume una rilevanza peculiare nelle situazioni di disabilità intellettiva, stanti i molteplici elementi di fragilità psicologica che caratterizzano tale condizione. La disabilità intellettiva risulta peraltro ancora relativamente poco esplorata da questo punto di vista: i protocolli di ricerca e valutazione generalmente escludono l’indagine dell’esperienza associata ai compiti proposti, che quindi non viene considerata nel definire i bisogni dell’individuo e gli obiettivi da perseguire per promuovere lo sviluppo delle sue potenzialità, benché diversi studi ne abbiano evidenziato il forte impatto sulla performance e sul benessere psicologico. Viene esclusa in particolare l’autovaluazione di questi aspetti, a favore di una osservazione del funzionamento della persona basata quasi esclusivamente sul giudizio esterno. OBIETTIVI Il presente studio si propone di identificare e sondare l’adeguatezza di strumenti di autovalutazione per l’indagine dell’esperienza quotidiana nel contesto scolastico di adolescenti con disabilità intellettiva. In particolare, si prefigge di valutare se e in che misura le informazioni raccolte attraverso tali strumenti siano conformi a quanto ipotizzabile sulla base delle teorie di riferimento, in merito al rapporto tra le diverse dimensioni dell’esperienza riferite dagli studenti, le varie tipologie di motivazione al compito da loro descritte, il grado di impegno osservato dall’ insegnante ed il suo giudizio sulla performance. Si analizzeranno inoltre le variazioni nella qualità dell’esperienza associata dagli studenti alle attività scolastiche in base al tipo di attività ed al grado di supporto percepito dallo studente da parte dell’insegnante. METODO Lo studio 1 ha coinvolto 38 adolescenti (74% femmine) frequentanti 4 diversi istituti scolastici della Lombardia. AI partecipanti sono stati proposti questionari che indagano le aspettative di riuscita rispetto al compito (Questionario adattato dalla Prova delle Motivazioni e delle Attribuzioni in Situazioni Concrete - Ravazzolo, De Beni, Moè; 2005), il tipo di motivazione che ha spinto lo studente ad impegnarsi in tale attività (Questionario adattato dall’ Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire - Ryan & Connell, 1989), e le caratteristiche cognitive, emotive e motivazionali dell’esperienza vissuta durante il suo svolgimento (Questionario adattato dal Flow Questionnaire -Delle Fave, Massimini & Bassi, 2011). Gli insegnanti hanno parallelamente compilato un questionario relativo all’impegno ed al coinvolgimento mostrati dallo studente durante il lavoro (item tratti dall’ Edward Ziegler Yale Personality Questionnaire - Ziegler, Bennet-Gates, 1999). Lo studio 2 ha coinvolto 50 adolescenti (56% femmine) frequentanti un Centro di Formazione Professionale rivolto a studenti con disabilità. Oltre agli strumenti utilizzati nello studio 1, ci si è avvalsi di un ulteriore strumento inerente la percezione dell’atteggiamento dell’insegnante da parte dello studente (adattato dal Learning CLimate Questionnaire, Black & Deci, 2000). Gli insegnanti hanno infine fornito una valutazione della performance dello studente. RISULTATI La elevata consistenza interna delle scale ha confermato l’adeguatezza delle autovalutazioni. I dati raccolti risultano coerenti con le aspettative teoriche e la letteratura relativamente a: a) le fluttuazioni dell’esperienza in funzione delle caratteristiche percepite dell’attività b) l’associazione tra elevati livelli di benessere emotivo e motivazione al compito e migliori performance; c) l’associazione tra la percezione di un supporto contestuale, elevata motivazione al compito e auto-efficacia nell’affrontarlo d) le differenze a livello esperienziale tra attività scolastiche tradizionali ed attività di laboratorio e attività motorie. CONCLUSIONI Il lavoro evidenzia come strumenti di autovalutazione dell’esperienza tarati sulle esigenze di adolescenti con disabilità intellettiva forniscano informazioni coerenti ed affidabili, e offre spunti interessanti circa la comprensione dei fattori utili a promuovere un buon adattamento nel contesto scolastico.
BACKGROUND The research has its theoretical framework in Positive Psychology, and especially in the approaches aiming at analyzing the characteristics of subjective experience, in order to understand the actual resources and potential of the individual and to promote his/her well-being in different life contexts. Flow theory and Self Determination Theory are the theoretical and methodological points of reference. The understanding of the subjective dimensions of individual experience assumes a particular relevance in cases of intellectual disabilities, given the various elements of psychological fragility that characterize this condition. Intellectual disability, however, is still relatively under-explored from this point of view: although several studies have highlighted the strong impact of these aspects on performance and psychological well-being, research and evaluation protocols generally exclude the investigation of the experience associated with the tasks. In addition, this is also disregarded when defining needs and objectives to be pursued to promote the development of the person potential. Especially self evaluation is excluded, preferring an observation of the person’s functioning almost exclusively based on external judgment . RESEARCH AIMS The present study aims at identifying and exploring the adequacy of self evaluation instruments for the investigation of daily experience at school among adolescents with an intellectual disability. Special attention is given to assessing whether and to what extent data collected through these instruments are consistent with our hypothesis, based on our theorethical points of reference, regarding the relationships among the different dimensions of the experience reported by the students, the different kinds of motivation for the task they describe, the level of involvement and commitment observed by the teacher and his/her judgment on the performance. We also intend to analyze the variations in the quality of the experience the students connect with school tasks according to the type of activity and to the level of support they feel from their teacher. METHOD Study 1 involved 38 adolescents (74% girls), attending 4 different schools in Lombardia. Participants were asked to complete questionnaires assessing their success expectations about the task (Questionnaire adapted from Prova delle Motivazioni e delle Attribuzioni in Situazioni Concrete - Ravazzolo, De Beni, Moè; 2005); the type of motivation that drove them to engage in the activity (Questionnaire adapted from Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire - Ryan & Connell, 1989), the cognitive, emotional and motivational dimensions of their experience during the activity (Questionnaire adapted from Flow Questionnaire -Delle Fave, Massimini & Bassi, 2011). Teachers completed a questionnaire assessing the student’s involvement and commitment during the task (items from Edward Ziegler Yale Personality Questionnaire - Ziegler, Bennet-Gates, 1999). Study 2 involved 50 adolescents (56% girls), attending a special education program for students with disabilities. In addition to the instruments already used for study 1, we used a questionnaire assessing the student’s perception of the teacher’s attitude toward him/her (Questionnaire adapted from Learning Climate Questionnaire, Black & Deci, 2000). Teachers also provided a judgment about the student’s performance. RESULTS The high values of internal consistency confirmed the adequacy of self evaluations. Data are consistent with our theoretical expectations and with the literature regarding: a) the experience fluctuations as a function of perceived characteristics of the activity b) the association between high levels of emotional well-being and motivation for the task and better performance; c) the association between the perception of a contextual support, high motivation for the task and self-efficacy in facing it d) the differences in the experience between formal academic tasks and laboratory or physical activities. CONCLUSIONS Our study highlights the usefulness of self evaluation instruments, adapted to the needs of adolescents with intellectual disabilities, to provide consistent and reliable information about their subjective experience, and provides us with some interesting insights on the understanding of those factors that can be useful to promote their adjustment at school.

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Learmonth, Despina. „The effectiveness and acceptability of a computerised cognitive behavioural therapy programme and the psychometric properties of its service user generated outcome measure“. Thesis, City University London, 2007. http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/11692/.

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Background: Physical and psychological ill-health is strongly interlinked. Poor physical health can amplify psychological symptoms; whilst disabling physical symptomology and illnesses have been improved by the treatment of depression and/or anxiety. Currently, demand outstrips the supply of psychological treatments for common mental health problems. This is mainly due to the lack of trained therapists in the UK. Effective and less herapist-intensive interventions are required. The efficacy of computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (CCBT) has been demonstrated in routine primary care. However, service users in secondary care and those with physical and psychological co-morbidities have frequently been excluded from these studies. Further research, particularly qualitative research, focusing on service users' satisfaction with CCBT has also been called for by National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) reviewers. Concurrently,v ery little knowledge exists on what problems users bring to work on in CCBT sessions; whilst service user empowerment perspectives call for an increase in supported self help interventions and "patient as expert" quality of life outcome measures in order to improve accessibility to services and actively involve service users in the delivery of their care. Aims: The first reported piece of research was a naturalistic non-randomised study carried out to establish the effectiveness and acceptability of a CCBT programme, Beating the Blues, as an intervention for anxiety and depression in an NHS CBT specialist centre. The study also sought to identify whether physical co-morbidities altered the nature of the intervention's impact on clinical outcomes. The following two studies evaluated the psychometric properties of an electronic service user generated Subjective Units of Distress (SUDS) measure. Methods: Five hundred and ninety service users were included in the study. Three groups, a control group, a standard intervention group, and a physical co-morbidity intervention group, were compared on pre- and post-BDI-11 scores. The two intervention groups were also compared on pre- and post-BAI scores. Qualitative feedback and satisfaction rating scores were analysed to establish the acceptability of Beating the Blues. Despina Learmonth DPsych. (Health Psychology) 2007 The validity of the SUDS measurew as assessedu sing the BDI-11B, AI, and CORE-OMa validated measures with which the SUDS could be correlated. The internal reliability and sensitivity of the SUDS measure were also evaluated. A conventional content analysis was carried out to explore what types of problems service users chose to work on when using Beating the Blues. Results: In completer and intention-to-treat analyses, statistically significant differences were found for mean score changes on the BDI-11 between the control group and both the intervention groups. No differences were found between the intervention groups on either the BDI-I I or BAL A quarter and one fifth of completers in each group achieved reliable and clinically significant change on the BDI-11 and BAI respectively. In terms of acceptability, most of the participants found Beating the Blues to be a useful therapeutic tool. The qualitative feedback indicated four active core categories regarding both the features of Beating the Blues that service users found useful, and the ways in which they felt the programme could be improved upon. Seven main categories emerged from a number of sub-categories focusing on the described problems that service users choose to work on when using Beating the Blues. Service users broadly described symptoms, and emotional and practical issues as problems. The SUDS appeared to be sensitive to clinical change and to provide some measure of wellbeing, problems, and functioning; however, further research into certain aspects of its validity is still required. Conclusion: The research findings provided compelling evidence that Beating the Blues may be of value to service users suffering with depression and/or anxiety and varied physical and psychological co-morbidities in secondary care CBT specialist centres. The electronic SUDS measure contained within the programme also demonstrated potential to successfully incorporate service users' perspectives into more comprehensive evaluations of their wellbeing and quality of life. Further research needs to focus on: factors affecting adherence to Beating the Blues and its effectiveness with anxiety, the incorporation of physical health outcome measures, the use of the programme - including the SUDS measure - with individuals from different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, acceptability of the SUDS measure to practitioners, and reasons for its non-completion amongst service users.

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Cerni, Tania. „Does the Way we interact with Technology Affect Cognitive Performance? An in-depth analysis of writing devices“. Doctoral thesis, University of Trento, 2014. http://eprints-phd.biblio.unitn.it/1348/1/TaniaCerni_phdThesis.pdf.

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The great influence of mass technologies has changed our writing modality that is moving from the traditional use of pen and paper to the domain of keyboards and recently to touchscreen tools, both in everyday life and in educational contexts. The digitalization of writing and of the texts we write, but also the ubiquity of digital technologies, should encourage a deeper understanding of the implications of the physical and sensorimotor changes in writing. It is reasonable to think that the motor-perceptual differences between different writing modalities can lead to different cognitive performances in linguistic tasks, depending on the writing movement that has to be performed but also on the experience that we have with this movement. In this work, I take into account the role of tangible devices for writing and their different haptic affordance, rarely considered in the study of language, in general, and of writing, in particular. To do so I analyzed different behaviors while we use different writing technologies and discuss the findings from a cognitive science point of view. The general aims of this thesis consists in establishing possible cognitive entailment of different types of writing modalities, in explicating their role in other linguistic tasks and in evaluating the possible implication on daily life and education. The thesis is presented like a collection of papers, results of my research activity and experiences during my participation in the doctoral school. I divided my work in three separate chapters in which different research points of views are analyzed, different experimental procedures are used and different technological devices for writing are tested. Chapter 1 present a study aimed at investigating whether technologically mediated linguistic performance reflects cross-modal interaction and whether it is modulated by the writing technology used, specifically a touchscreen and a keyboard. Chapter 2 comprises a set of studies dedicated to investigate whether it is possible that a strong experience in typing influences our linguistic abilities. Furthermore, typing and mobile typing are compared testing if the two writing modalities share the same motor behaviors. Mobile technologies are also the argument of Chapter 3 in which I present two theoretical papers dedicated to the potential of these devices for learning, in general, and for second language learning, in particular.

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Azevedo, Leite Diego. „The Twenty-First Century Mechanistic Theory of Human Cognition: A Critical Appraisal“. Doctoral thesis, University of Trento, 2018. http://eprints-phd.biblio.unitn.it/2828/1/Leite%2C_2018_-_Doctoral_Dissertation_(Final_Version).pdf.

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The Mechanistic Theory of Human Cognition (MTHC) is currently one of the most influential fundamental theories in the field of cognitive science. The main idea is to provide an account of what human neuro-cognitive complex mechanisms are and how to explain them. The theory proposes an ambitious revolutionary unified view of human cognition that can provide foundations and theoretical unification within cognitive science and between cognitive science and relevant portions of neuroscience. However, this proposal faces many challenges. The central objective of this work is to make a theoretical critical appraisal of MTHC. I critically analyse and evaluate whether MTHC provides a unifying account of human cognition and its explanation for cognitive science. I argue that MTHC provides a significant theoretical contribution for the field; however, it cannot offer the ambitious revolutionary integration that some of its most influential advocates promise.

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MOLINARI, ELENA. „Valutazione delle funzioni cognitive e della capacità di automonitoraggio delle emozioni in pazienti con neoplasia mammaria“. Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Genova, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/11567/929107.

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ABSTRACT La relazione tra tumore e fattori psicosociali è un’ipotesi molto antica in medicina che è stata a lungo studiata, sia dal punto di vista dell’effetto dei fattori psico- sociali sull' eziologia del tumore sia dal punto di vista dell’effetto di diagnosi e trattamenti sui fattori psicosociali. Questo studio si inscrive nel secondo ambito di ricerca e in particolare il suo scopo è l’analisi degli effetti di due trattamenti farmacologici, chemioterapia e ormonoterapia, sulle funzioni cognitive e sull’ abilità di riconosci- mento e gestione delle emozioni nelle donne a cui è stato diagnosticato un tumore della mammella. In letteratura, il problema dei deficit cognitivi correlati ai trattamenti chemio-terapici (definiti colloquialmente in ambito clinico come chemofog) è molto noto e studiato, ma al momento non siamo a conoscenza di studi che abbiano indagato l’effetto dei trattamenti farmacologici sull’ intelligenza emotiva (IE), ovvero l’abilità cognitiva di riconoscimento e gestione delle emozioni. Fino ad oggi gli studi che hanno indagato la chemofog si sono concentrati su funzioni cognitive “di pensiero logico” quali memoria, attenzione, linguaggio, funzioni esecutive; l'attenzione agli effetti sull’IE può essere utile per le ricadute che vi possono essere sul paziente, in quanto è noto come la popolazione oncologica sia sottoposta ad un forte stress emotivo. Andare ad indagare quanto l'IE venga intaccata dalla neurotossicità legata ai farmaci può dare informazioni utili ad improntare degli interventi terapeutici e riabilitativi per aiutare i pazienti a far fronte al carico di stress emotivo che stanno affrontando; questo nell’ ottica anche di avere un impatto positivo sulla qualità di vita e sulla gestione delle fasi di malattia. La popolazione oggetto di studio è identificata in donne adulte con diagnosi di neoplasia mammaria, afferenti alle Oncologie Mediche di un ospedale regionale; complessivamente sono state contattate 113 donne con diagnosi di neoplasia mammaria di età compresa tra i 33 e i 60 anni. Di queste 65 sono risultate arruolabili se- condo i criteri di inclusione ed esclusione definiti per la partecipazione allo studio. Hanno accettato di partecipare 37 donne ed in seguito ad un drop-out sono state effettivamente valutate 36 partecipanti. 5 Sono stati misurati in quattro tempi di rilevazione (T0-baseline, T1-3 mesi, T2-6 mesi, T3-Follow up a 12 mesi) le abilità cognitive di memoria, attenzione, capacità visuospaziale e linguaggio utilizzando il test RBANS e le capacità di IE utilizzando il questionario self-report SREIS; sono inoltre state misurate quali variabili di controllo le problematiche soggettive, emozionali e comportamentali utilizzando la scala CBA-H. In generale i risultati di questo lavoro confermano quanto riportato in lettera- tura circa gli effetti negativi di chemioterapia e ormonoterapia su alcune capacità cognitive; si evidenzia in particolare non tanto un deficit sulle abilità cognitive, quanto un’interferenza sull’ effetto di apprendimento. Interessanti sono i risultati emersi dalla percezione delle capacità relative all’ intelligenza emotiva, aspetto innovativo dello studio, che, complessivamente, sembrano avere un andamento peggiorativo nelle pazienti che fanno trattamenti chemioterapici, ormonoterapici o una combinazione di entrambi. Sempre relativamente alle competenze di intelligenza emotiva è emerso come le pazienti chemiotrattate riferiscano di percepire maggiormente le emozione e di saperle meglio comprendere rispetto alle altre partecipanti, risultato inatteso rispetto alle ipotesi che andrebbe approfondito in ulteriori studi. La tesi di seguito presentata è articolata in quattro capitoli: nel primo viene fornita una descrizione di epidemiologia, eziologia, diagnosi e tipologia di trattamenti del tumore della mammella. Il secondo capitolo è focalizzato sugli aspetti psicologici interessati dalla malattia, in particolare sulle modalità di reazione emotiva e di adattamento alla diagnosi e ai trattamenti, con i loro effetti collaterali, per la neoplasia mammaria. Nel terzo capitolo viene presentata una rassegna della letteratura circa l’impatto dei trattamenti farmacologici, chemioterapia e ormonoterapia, sulle funzioni cognitive. Infine, nel quarto capitolo viene descritto il lavoro di ricerca: gli obiettivi, gli strumenti e il metodo utilizzati, le analisi statistiche svolte per la verifica delle ipotesi di lavoro, vengono inoltre dettagliati e commentati i risultati emersi.
Evaluation of cognitive functions and emotional intelligence in breast cancer patients.

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TRIMARCHI, PIETRO DAVIDE. „Rappresentazioni mentali della musica: studi comportamentali sull'interazione uditivo-motoria durante l'analisi dell'altezza dei suoni e brain imaging funzionale della rappesentazione del ritmo“. Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10281/19199.

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The experimental studies presented in this thesis concern two different research projects. The first one aimed to study the auditory-motor interaction in pianists with respect to the pitch-height processing. The second one aimed to study the neural underpinnings of musical rhythm subcomponents (Pattern, Meter and Tempo) processing. The auditory-motor interaction in pianists during pitch-height processing has been investigated by means of four behavioral experiments. In the first one, three group of participants (pianists, nonpianists musicians and non-musicians) were tested with a shape decision task where left-hand and right-hand responses were required; each visual stimulus was paired with an auditory task-irrelevant stimulus (high-pitched or low-pitched piano-timbre chords). Of the three groups, only pianists had longer reaction times for left-hand/high-pitched chords and right-hand/low-pitched chords associations. These findings are consistent with an auditory-motor interaction effect elicited by pitch dimension, as only pianists show an interaction between motor responses and implicit pitch processing. This interaction is consistent with the canonical mapping of hand gestures and pitch dimension on the piano keyboard. The second experiment was aimed to study the temporal dynamic of the emerged effect. We used the same experimental procedure of the Experiment 1, varying only the Stimulus Onset Asinchrony between the auditory and visual stimuli. The results shown that the effect was stable within a time-window of 0-400 ms. The aim of the third experiment was to study whether a spatial representation was involved in the effect emerged in Experiment 1. The same experimental task used in Experiment 1 was proposed to a fresh group of pianists, with the only difference that participants responded with their hands crossed. Using this manipulation the effect of association disappeared, suggesting that motor and spatial representation are involved at the same time. The fourth experiment was aimed to confirm the hypothesis that a spatial representation was involved in the effect emerged in Experiment 1. A fresh group of pianists was tested with the same task of Experiment 1 with the only difference that participants responded by pressing two pedals with their feet. The results replicate those of Experiment 1 and are consistent with the involvement of spatial representations. The second project was aimed to study the brain basis of musical rhythm perception. The temporal organisation of music is composed of distinct independent features such as Pattern, Meter and Tempo, and each feature has a different computational processing, likely requiring different neural mechanisms. Nonetheless, there is a lack of clear evidence at present to assess such differences. To this aim, the present study compared the neural basis of the perception of these rhythmic features. The functional brain activity of healthy musicians and non-musicians was recorded with positron emission tomography (PET) as they made covert same-different discriminations of pairs of rhythmic, monotonic musical sequences, or pairs of isochronous melodies. Brain activity observed here suggests that meter processing recruits a more cognitive, abstract, multi-modal (visualauditory) set of mechanisms, than does processing pattern or tempo. Pattern processing recruits a set of mechanisms involved in auditory and emotion information, and tempo processing engages mechanisms subserving somatosensory, premotor, and emotion information. Moreover, musicians seem to recruit higher level representations in temporal, occipital, and frontal areas, whereas nonmusicians use more sensory-motor, basal ganglia (putamen, caudate), and cerebellar mechanisms.

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Langus, Alan. „Struggling for Structure: cognitive origins of grammatical diversity and their implications for the Human Faculty of Language“. Doctoral thesis, SISSA, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11767/4153.

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There are between 5,000 and 8,000 distinct living languages spoken in the world today that are characterized by both exceptional diversity as well as significant similarities. Many researchers believe that at least part of this ability to communicate with language arises from a uniquely human Faculty of Language (c.f. Hauser, Chomsky, & Fitch, 2002; Pinker & Jackendoff, 2005).

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Sivertsava, Iryna <1979&gt. „Stili cognitivi e sofisticazione politica, un approccio sperimentale allo studio del comportamento di voto dei giovani elettori Italiani e Bielorussi“. Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2012. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/4969/2/Sivertsava_Iryna_tesi.pdf.

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L’oggetto della nostra ricerca è l’opinione pubblica e il comportamento dell’elettore in una prospettiva comparata. L’obiettivo della ricerca è stato analizzare la relevanza degli approcci psicologici per una migliore comprensiore della partecipazione politica, delle opinioni e delle scelte elettorali degli studenti Italiani e Bielorussi. Nella parte teorica, noi discutiamo i modelli dell'approccio cognitivo al comportamento di voto. Discutiamo inoltre il concetto dello stile cognitivo e le sue cinque categorie: stile sintetico, idealistico, pragmatico, analitico o realistico, come descritti da A.Harrison and R.M. Branson e adattati da A. Alexeev and L. Gromova. Nonostante il fatto che la ricerca tratta il caso degli studenti, noi crediamo che i risultati siano pertinenti per un’ulteriore ricerca dell’auditorio più vasto e variegato.
The object of our research is public opinion and voting behaviour, which we analyze in the comparative prospective. The aim of the research is to consider the relevance of psycho-political approach for a better understanding of political participation, public opinion and electoral choices of Italian and Belarusian students. In the theoreticasl part of this work, we deal with the main models of the cognitive approachto the study of political behavior. We also discuss the concept of cognitive styles, and their measurement by the questionnaire of A. Harrison and R. Branson, as modified by A. Alexeev and L. Gromova. Despite the fact that the research has dealt with the student audience only, we believe that its findings are extandable to larger audiences.

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Sivertsava, Iryna <1979&gt. „Stili cognitivi e sofisticazione politica, un approccio sperimentale allo studio del comportamento di voto dei giovani elettori Italiani e Bielorussi“. Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2012. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/4969/.

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L’oggetto della nostra ricerca è l’opinione pubblica e il comportamento dell’elettore in una prospettiva comparata. L’obiettivo della ricerca è stato analizzare la relevanza degli approcci psicologici per una migliore comprensiore della partecipazione politica, delle opinioni e delle scelte elettorali degli studenti Italiani e Bielorussi. Nella parte teorica, noi discutiamo i modelli dell'approccio cognitivo al comportamento di voto. Discutiamo inoltre il concetto dello stile cognitivo e le sue cinque categorie: stile sintetico, idealistico, pragmatico, analitico o realistico, come descritti da A.Harrison and R.M. Branson e adattati da A. Alexeev and L. Gromova. Nonostante il fatto che la ricerca tratta il caso degli studenti, noi crediamo che i risultati siano pertinenti per un’ulteriore ricerca dell’auditorio più vasto e variegato.
The object of our research is public opinion and voting behaviour, which we analyze in the comparative prospective. The aim of the research is to consider the relevance of psycho-political approach for a better understanding of political participation, public opinion and electoral choices of Italian and Belarusian students. In the theoreticasl part of this work, we deal with the main models of the cognitive approachto the study of political behavior. We also discuss the concept of cognitive styles, and their measurement by the questionnaire of A. Harrison and R. Branson, as modified by A. Alexeev and L. Gromova. Despite the fact that the research has dealt with the student audience only, we believe that its findings are extandable to larger audiences.

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FIORE, FELICIA. „INVECCHIAMENTO COGNITIVO E MEMORIA DI LAVORO: IL RUOLO DELL'EXECUTIVE CONTROL“. Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Padova, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/11577/3427098.

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This goal of this research was to study the effects of aging on WM tasks requiring a high level of executive control. Two first experiments focused on a highly controlled WM process, that of updating. The overall finding is that age-related differences in WM updating are clear in both verbal and spatial domain. This result is consistent with a number of studies addressing verbal updating tasks and broadens it to the spatial domain. Moreover, no modality-specific age effect was found: using memory tasks matched except for modality yielded no differential age-related decline for verbal and visuo-spatial updating processes (Kemps & Newson, 2006). Findings from our final experiment allowed the conclusion that age-related deficits are attributable to changes in executive control in WM, regardless of the type of information used for the task – verbal or visuo-spatial (Verhaeghen & Cerella, 2002): what makes the difference between young and older participants appears to be linked to the executive control required by the task, as emerged from the VSWM tasks.
L'obiettivo generale della presente ricerca era quello di approfondire gli effetti dell’età in prove di MdL che richiedono un elevato controllo esecutivo. Nei primi due esperimenti, ci si è focalizzati su un processo altamente controllato della MdL, ovvero l’aggiornamento. In sintesi, è emerso che le differenze d’età nell’abilità di aggiornare le informazioni presenti in MdL sono evidenti sia con materiale verbale che spaziale. Questo dato conferma quanto già presente in letteratura con prove di updating di tipo verbale e lo amplia anche al materiale di natura spaziale. Inoltre, non è stato riscontrato alcun effetto dell’età modalità-specifico. Il ricorso a prove parallele sia verbale che spaziali, che pongono le stesse richieste di elaborazione, permette di stabilire che non vi è declino differenziale dipendente dall’età nell’abilità di aggiornare informazioni verbali e spaziali (Kemps & Newson, 2006). In conclusione, sembrerebbe che i deficit correlati all’età appaiano imputabili a cambiamenti nel controllo esecutivo in MdL, indipendentemente dalla natura del compito –verbale o visuo-spaziale – (Verhaeghen & Cerella, 2002). Infatti, anche in prove di MLVS (Esperimento 3), quello che differenzia gli anziani dai giovani sembra essere legato al controllo esecutivo richiesto dal compito.

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Guerra, Fuentes María José. „Evaluación del cumplimiento de los objetivos psicoterapéuticos generales del taller de psicoterapia grupal constructivista cognitivo aplicado a la depresión“. Tesis, Universidad de Chile, 2013. http://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/131308.

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Magíster en Psicología, mención Clínica Adultos
El presente estudio se constituye en la segunda parte de una investigación de eficacia terapéutica de tipo cuantitativa efectuada el año 2009 (Guerra, 2010), respecto de una aplicación piloto del Taller de Psicoterapia Grupal Constructivista Cognitivo aplicado a la Depresión (Yáñez y Vergara, 2008), realizado en Abril del año 2008, en un consultorio de Atención Primaria, a un grupo de 8 pacientes de sexo femenino de entre 26 y 74 años de edad, diagnosticadas con Trastorno Depresivo Mayor, de acuerdo con los criterios del DSM-IV. Esta segunda investigación evalúa el cumplimiento y el mantenimiento de los objetivos psicoterapéuticos generales de la misma aplicación del Taller, a partir de un enfoque de metodologías cualitativas, que enriquece y profundiza los hallazgos de Guerra (2010). Los resultados mostraron que el Taller de Psicoterapia Grupal, en su aplicación piloto realizada en Abril del año 2008, cuenta con evidencias empíricas que avalan la significancia clínica de los cambios psicoterapéuticos experimentados por las pacientes que participaron en él. El Taller logró cumplir con sus objetivos generales, permitiendo la reducción significativa de la sintomatología depresiva de las pacientes y generando cambios definitivos de orden estructural profundo, por medio de un proceso de resignifcación progresiva de las experiencias vitales, facilitado por las dinámicas interpersonales surgidas entre las propias participantes del grupo, durante el transcurso de la psicoterapia. Los cambios alcanzados por este grupo de pacientes, se mantuvieron transcurrido un año de realizada la intervención. Los resultados encontrados en esta investigación, no son atribuidos únicamente al Taller de Psicoterapia Grupal, sino a la unión entre varios factores, uno de los cuales sería la aplicación de esta intervención

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Sciulli, Irene <1988&gt. „How manipulation-related and visually-guided information is processed when interacting with unusual versions of familiar objects: cognitive and anatomical bases“. Doctoral thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2019. http://amsdottorato.unibo.it/9037/1/TESI_Sciulli%20Irene.pdf.

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Object-directed actions involve properties linked to both long-term, sensorimotor representations of object manipulation (i.e. stable affordances) and visually-guided analysis of their structure (i.e. variable affordances). They are processed by the Function and the Structure systems, respectively. Aiming at clarifying how these systems are modulated during the phases of object-directed actions, unusual objects were created by modifying the structure of usual (i.e. traditional) familiar objects. Their function was still recognizable, but their structural variation required a greater recruitment of online visual guide, modulating the role of the two systems. A first study compared the processing of usual vs. unusual objects in a function categorization task. Results demonstrated that usual and unusual objects were both processed with the same strategy (Experiment 1), and that stable properties extended the time to “plan” the action, while variable properties were quickly processed during the movement “execution” (Experiment 2). A second study investigated the temporal features of object processing through kinematics. Participants grasped and used the usual and unusual objects in conditions of full view or view occlusion (with or without a temporal delay). During delayed actions without vision, the effect of the rapid visual decay on kinematics was evident for usual objects, which rely more on long-term representations (Function system), while unusual objects exploited more the visual information (Structure system). Additionally, a qualitative error analysis indicated a computational interference between the two systems in the case of unusual objects. Lastly, a functional magnetic resonance study demonstrated that categorizing unusual objects recruited more the neural correlates of both the Function and the Structure System (i.e. the ventro-dorsal and the dorso-dorsal stream, respectively) than usual objects did. Together, results demonstrated a different contribution in processing and timing of the two systems during object-directed actions, and the theoretical relevance of using unusual objects.

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Talamini, F. „The memory skills of musicians and nonmusicians“. Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Padova, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11577/3426847.

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Musicians seem to have superior abilities than those of nonmusicians, that are not just music-related but that extend to classic auditory and even cognitive tasks, in particular memory tasks. However, concerning memory, results tend to vary depending on the memory system investigated (i.e., long-term, short-term, working memory) and on the category of stimuli that are presented (e.g., verbal, visuospatial). The present research project investigated the memory skills of musicians and nonmusicians, with the final goal of clarifying which (if there are some) characteristics of musicians are linked to better memory skills and if this advantage is general or depends on specific tasks or content of the tasks. Study 1 investigated the literature on memory skills of musicians and nonmusicians through a meta-analysis. Three meta-analysis were conducted separately for long-term memory, short-term memory, and working memory. The effect of moderators was also tested; defined as the type of stimuli presented in the memory task (i.e., verbal, visuospatial, and tonal). The three meta-analyses revealed a medium effect-size in working memory and short-term memory (i.e., there is a moderate difference between musicians and nonmusicians) with effect of moderators. The advantage of musicians was larger for tonal and verbal stimuli and smaller for visual ones. In long term memory the effect-size was small, with no effect of moderators. Study 2 aimed to understand if the advantage found in verbal working memory depended on the modality in which the task was delivered (i.e., stimuli presented auditorily or stimuli presented visually). 18 musicians and 18 nonmusicians performed a digit span task that was presented aurally, visually, or audiovisually. The task was performed with or without a concurrent task (i.e., articulatory suppression). Results showed that musicians had significantly larger spans than nonmusicians regardless of the sensory modality and the concurrent task. Secondary analyses showed that the advantage was more evident when the digits were delivered auditorily and audiovisually. Study 3 aimed to investigate the individual differences among musicians. In particular, the goal was to understand whether the type of music training (classic vs self-taught) could influence the advantage of musicians over nonmusicians in verbal working memory skills, always taking into account the modality of presentation of the verbal stimuli (i.e., visual vs auditory). 102 young adults participated to the study: 33 reader musicians (i.e., that could read music notation), 33 nonreader musicians (i.e., self-taught, that could not read music notation), and 36 nonmusicians A digit span forward and backward was presented in three different modalities, alike study 2. Results showed that reader musicians, nonreader musicians and nonmusicians performed equally well in the digit span forward. However, the group interacted with the modality, revealing that reader musicians performed better than nonmusicians in the audiovisual presentation of digits. No other difference was found. In the backward digit span no difference among groups was found. Study 4 aimed to understand whether the superiority of musicians in short-term memory extends to auditory and visual stimuli that are not verbal and not musical. 36 young adults participated to the study, 24 nonmusicians and 12 professional musicians. A verbal memory task was also included as control measure. In the short-term memory tasks, two sequences of elements were presented, with a short delay in between. The participant had to judge whether the second sequence was the same or different from the first. The types of stimuli composing the sequences where the following: verbal stimuli (i.e., syllables, presented either visually and auditorily); visual contour stimuli (i.e., luminance variations); auditory contour stimuli (i.e., loudness variations); visual nocontour stimuli (i.e., kanji ideograms); auditory nocontour stimuli (i.e., pink noises). Results showed that musicians outperformed nonmusicians in the short-term memory task with the auditory contour and nocontour stimuli, and with the visual contour stimuli.

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Lautrey, Jacques. „Structures et fonctionnements dans le developpement cognitif“. Paris 5, 1987. http://www.theses.fr/1987PA054042.

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Les travaux dont la synthese est presentee portent sur le developpement cognitif de l'enfant. Ils integrent dans un meme cadre theorique l'explication de ses caracteristiques generales et celle de ses variations chez des individus differents. La these soutenue est que le developpement cognitif repose sur l'interaction d'une pluralite de modes de traitement de l'information. Elle s'ecarte en cela de la theorie de piaget, qui subordonne la genese de l'ensemble des aspects de la connaissance a l'action de l'enfant et aux structures operatoires qui en sont tirees. Les recherches presentees a l'appui de cette these portent sur la periode d'age caracterisee par piaget comme celle des operations concretes (6 a 11 ans). Elles sont organisees autour de quatre axes. Le premier est centre sur l'analyse des decalages dans l'acquisition d'un ensemble de notions, et chacun des trois autres est consacre a la genese d'une notion ou operation consideree comme caracteristique de cette periode de developpement : inclusion, seriation, conservation. Deux grands modes de traitement de l'information sont distingues. Le premier, dit "analogique", a pour principales caracteristiques d'etre holistique, parallele, et de conserver un certain isomorphisme entre la representation et le monde percu. Le second, dit "propositionnel", a pour principales caracteristiques d'etre analytique, sequentiel, abstrait. Leur interaction engendre une dynamique auto-organisatrice. Le traitement analogique donne lieu a des anticipations qui jouent le role d'heuristiques vis a vis du traitement propositionnel. Ce dernier, de son cote, permet de controler l'adequation de ces anticipations et de verifier les valeurs de verite des relations intrinseques aux representations analogiques. Ces deux modes de traitement forment ainsi une hierarchie enchevetree dans laquelle l'un guide l'autre qui lui-meme controle le premier
The studies which are summarized in this thesis deal with cognitive development in the child. They integrate both an explanation for general features of development and for variations due to individual differences within this theoretical framework. The main hypothesis presented in these studies is that cognitive development is based on the interaction of a variety of modes of information processing. In this respect, it differs from piagetian theory, which subordinates the origins of all features of knowledge to the child's actions and the operatory structures which result from them. The studies reported here to support this hypothesis deal with the age range piaget termed the "period of concrete operations" (ages 6-11). They can be grouped around four main axes : the first is centered on the analysis of age discrepancies (decalages) in the acquisition of a set of notions, and the three others deal with the growth of a notion or operation considered to be typical of this stage of development : inclusion, seriation, and conservation. Two major information processing modes are described. The first, termed "analogical" is holistic, parallel, and maintains a certain isomorphism between representations and the perceived universe. The second, termed "propositional" is analytical, sequentical, and abstract. The interaction of these two modes produces a self-organizing dynamic. Analogical processing generates anticipations, which assume the role of heuristics with respect to propositional processing. This latter mode provides a means of controlling the adequation of anticipations and verifying truth values of intrinsic relations in analogical representations. These two modes thus form an intertwined hierarchy in which one guides the other, which itself governs the first

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DIANA, BARBARA. „A cognitive approach to deception detection: multimodal recognition of prepared lies“. Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10281/53250.

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Lying is an activity that every human being practices daily. We could say deception has evolved to become a fundamental aspect of human interaction. Despite the prolonged efforts in many disciplines, we can still affirm there has been no such finding as a Pinocchio’s nose. (Vrij, 2008). This work proposes a new approach to deception detection, based on finding significant differences between liars and truth tellers through the analysis of their behavior. This is based on the combination of three factors: cognitive load manipulation, multimodal data collection, and t-pattern analysis. The first one is a technique that has already been used in previous studies on deception (Vrij, Fisher, Mann, & Leal, 2008) to enlarge the differences between lie and truth. The second factor, multimodal approach, has been acknowledged in literature about deception detection and on several studies concerning the understanding of any communicative phenomenon. We believe a methodology such as T-pattern analysis (third factor) could be able to get the best advantages from an approach that combines data coming from multiple signaling systems. In fact, T-pattern analysis is a new methodology for the analysis of behavior (Magnusson, 2000; 2005) that unveil the complex structure at the basis of the organization of human behavior. We conducted two experimental studies. Results showed how T-pattern analysis allowed to find significant differences between truth telling and lying even without operating any kind of cognitive load manipulation. In terms of general impact and anticipated benefits, this project aims at making progress in the state of knowledge about deception detection, with the final goal to propose a useful tool for the improvement of public security and well-being.

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ZARL, FRANCESCA. „MEMBERSHIP AND TYPICALITY IN CONCEPT REPRESENTATION: FROM COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY“. Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Trieste, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/11368/2908215.

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The thesis concerns knowledge representation in humans and machines. In particular it focuses on the role of concepts in knowledge representation, a topic at the intersection of Cognitive Psychology (CP) and Information Technology (IT). When humans and machines need to interact, problem dependent on different mechanisms for representing the same knowledge emerge. This issue is broadly debated in the recent literature. An optimal interaction between humans and machines could be eventually achieved by taking into account the human cognitive side of knowledge representation and by making these computational representations cognitively plausible for individuals. The thesis focus on Membership and Typicality in human categorization and takes into account the role that such factors could assume in concept representation in IT, by analyzing their impact on categorization in Web ontologies. The thesis is structured into a first part that describes the specific theoretical contributions of CP and IT, emphasizing the commonalities between the two perspectives, and a second empirical part that reports six original studies, five laboratory experiments and an online survey. Laboratory experiments were based on sentence verification tasks performed by participants, where Membership and Typicality were directly contrasted, with the goal of measuring the effect of such factors on categorization. The online survey explore users' attitudes and opinions towards schema.org, a general ontology for the Semantic Web. Findings are consistent with the idea that – in addition to Membership –Typicality should be considered in concept representation and supports the conclusion that, to be more usable, Information Technology should prefer cognitively plausible ontologies.

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Borghesani, Valentina. „The neuro-cognitive representation of word meaning resolved in space and time“. Doctoral thesis, University of Trento, 2017. http://eprints-phd.biblio.unitn.it/1926/1/DECLARATORIA_ITA_signed.pdf.

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One of the core human abilities is that of interpreting symbols. Prompted with a perceptual stimulus devoid of any intrinsic meaning, such as a written word, our brain can access a complex multidimensional representation, called semantic representation, which corresponds to its meaning. Notwithstanding decades of neuropsychological and neuroimaging work on the cognitive and neural substrate of semantic representations, many questions are left unanswered. The research in this dissertation attempts to unravel one of them: are the neural substrates of different components of concrete word meaning dissociated? In the first part, I review the different theoretical positions and empirical findings on the cognitive and neural correlates of semantic representations. I highlight how recent methodological advances, namely the introduction of multivariate methods for the analysis of distributed patterns of brain activity, broaden the set of hypotheses that can be empirically tested. In particular, they allow the exploration of the representational geometries of different brain areas, which is instrumental to the understanding of where and when the various dimensions of the semantic space are activated in the brain. Crucially, I propose an operational distinction between motor-perceptual dimensions (i.e., those attributes of the objects referred to by the words that are perceived through the senses) and conceptual ones (i.e., the information that is built via a complex integration of multiple perceptual features). In the second part, I present the results of the studies I conducted in order to investigate the automaticity of retrieval, topographical organization, and temporal dynamics of motor-perceptual and conceptual dimensions of word meaning. First, I show how the representational spaces retrieved with different behavioral and corpora-based methods (i.e., Semantic Distance Judgment, Semantic Feature Listing, WordNet) appear to be highly correlated and overall consistent within and across subjects. Second, I present the results of four priming experiments suggesting that perceptual dimensions of word meaning (such as implied real world size and sound) are recovered in an automatic but task-dependent way during reading. Third, thanks to a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment, I show a representational shift along the ventral visual path: from perceptual features, preferentially encoded in primary visual areas, to conceptual ones, preferentially encoded in mid and anterior temporal areas. This result indicates that complementary dimensions of the semantic space are encoded in a distributed yet partially dissociated way across the cortex. Fourth, by means of a study conducted with magnetoencephalography, I present evidence of an early (around 200 ms after stimulus onset) simultaneous access to both motor-perceptual and conceptual dimensions of the semantic space thanks to different aspects of the signal: inter-trial phase coherence appears to be key for the encoding of perceptual while spectral power changes appear to support encoding of conceptual dimensions. These observations suggest that the neural substrates of different components of symbol meaning can be dissociated in terms of localization and of the feature of the signal encoding them, while sharing a similar temporal evolution.

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Longo, Giuseppe <1961&gt. „Cognizione ed emozione: processi di interpretazione del testo letterario dalle neuroscienze cognitive all'educazione emotiva“. Doctoral thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/1018.

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L’elaborato esamina il rapporto tra neuroscienze cognitive e lettura del testo letterario, per verificare se essa può diventare strumento per l’educazione emotiva. Analizza il rapporto tra testo e lettore e i processi di comprensione ed interpretazione dal punto di vista neuroscientifico, approfondendo in particolare le connessioni tra emozione, metafora e immagine mentale. Attraverso lo studio della cognizione incorporata, della simulazione mentale e dell’empatia il lavoro spiega come il testo letterario possa diventare un mezzo utile per rinforzare la competenza emotiva.
The dissertation examines the connection between cognitive neurosciences and reading literature, to verify if the literary text can be used in the field of emotional education. It analyzes the brain-based interaction between text and reader and the processes of comprehension and interpretation, particularly by investigating how emotion, metaphor, and mental imagery are connected. Embodied cognition, mental simulation and empathy are also studied, to explain how the literary text can become a useful tool to enhance students’ emotional competence.

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Dissertationen zum Thema „‘Will –generated Cognition’“

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