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4411, open, Aim of the present study was to investigate the origin and the development of the interdipendence between identity recognition and facial emotional expression processing, suggested by recent models on face processing (Calder & Young, 2005) and supported by outcomes on adults (e.g. Baudouin, Gilibert, Sansone, & Tiberghien, 2000; Schweinberger & Soukup, 1998). Particularly the effect of facial emotional expressions on infants’ and children’s ability to recognize identity of a face was explored. Studies on adults describe a different role of positive and negative emotional expressions on identity recognition (e.g. Lander & Metcalfe, 2007), i.e. positive expressions have a catalytic effect, increasing rating of familiarity of a face, conversely negative expression reduce familiarity judgments, producing an interference effect. Using respectively familiarization paradigm and a delayed two alternative forced-choice matching-to-sample task, 3-month-old infants (Experiment 1, 2, 3) and 4- and 5-year-old children (Experiment 4, 5) were tested. Results of Experiment 1 and 2 suggested an adult-like pattern at 3 months of age. Infants familiarized with a smiling face recognized the new identity in the test phase, but when they were shown with a woman’s face conveying negative expression, both anger or fear, they were not able to discriminate between the new and familiar face stimulus during the test. Moreover, evidence from Experiment 3 demonstrated that a single feature of a happy face (i.e. smiling mouth or “happy eyes”) is sufficient to drive the observed facilitator effect on identity recognition. Conversely, outcomes obtained in experiments with pre-school aged suggested that both positive and negative emotions have a distracting effect on children identity recognition. A decrement in children's performance was observed when faces 8 displayed an emotional expression (i.e. happiness, anger and fear) rather than a neutral expression (Experiment 4). This detrimental effect o, No, open, Brenna, Brenna, V

The main aim of this dissertation is to examine in depth some aspects of the participation process to a virtual community. We used the model of goal-directed behavior (MGB, Perugini & Bagozzi, 2001) to investigate the role of motivational factors in the processes of active contribution and use of web community resources in online communities. Given the social dimension of a virtual community, similar to other authors (Dholakia and Bagozzi 2002, 2006a, 2006b; Bagozzi, 2011) we introduced the concept of we-intentions from Toumela‟s work (1995) in addition to individual intentions. Nielsen (2006) analyzed the contribution process defining the inequality in the contribution as the tendency for most web community users to participate modestly, while only some community members represent the active part of content production (1% as active content producers, 9% as content modifiers). Drawing from this idea, our research question was to better understand what are the factors that may inhibit a user from participating in a virtual community. The first study, a longitudinal research, aimed at identifying the processes underlying the willingness to actively contribute to a virtual community. Users from a virtual community of practice (N = 263), namely HTCBLOG.com, were considered for this study. A first plus of the present study is that we used a measure of an actual behavior of contribution. We tested the MGB considering the we-intentions to contribute but the first model tested did not predict the observed behavior. The introduction of greed and anonymity constructs to the MGB led to an increase in the explained variance in the observed behavior. In the second study, which was longitudinal, following the suggestions offered by Antin & Cheshire (2010), we decided to deepen the meaning of participation to a virtual community considering the idea of participation not necessarily identified with active contribution. Indeed, an individual can feel as a part of the community, simp, MARI, SILVIA, 1708, open, open, Gabbiadini, Gabbiadini, A

Dispositional optimism, defined as a positive expectancies for the future (Scheier & Carver, 1985; Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994), predict engagement and effort across multiple contexts and life circumstances. Moreover, optimistic expectations that events will turn out for the better are incentives to initiate and persevere when people face with challenges in pursuing relevant personal goals. Dispositional optimism is also determinant when people have to cope with adversities and relevant difficulties (Affleck, Tennen, & Apter, 2002; Carver et al., 1994; Curbow, Somerfield, Baker, & Wingard, 1993; Fitzgerald, tennen, Affleck, & Pransky, 1993; Litt, Tennen, Affleck, & Klocks, 1992; Scheier et al, 1989). Nevertheless, only a few studies analyzed explicitly the influence of dispositional optimism on the whole process from establishing to concrete pursuing of personal goals (Jackson, Weiss, Lundquist, & Soderlind, 1992; Segerstrom & Solberg Nes, 2006). At the same time, several empirical evidences have shown that personal goals play an important role in determining people’s subjective well-being. Individual personal goals may be distinguished in terms of several characteristics; among them, goal expectancy, as a perceived probability of goal achievement, and value attributed to goal are important predictors of active effort and rate of progress in the goals pursuit. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that perceived progresses, goal value and conflict among goals influence individual life satisfaction and experiences of positive and negative affects (Brunstein, 1993; Emmons, 1986; Segerstrom & Solber Nes, 2006). Aims of the current contribution are to analyze the role of dispositional optimism in pursuing important personal goals and, at the same time, to investigate the consequent influences on individual subjective well-being. Results of a first study which involved 283 young adults showed important relationships among optimistic expectancies, short- and mid-term pe, MANTOVANI, FABRIZIA, 3683, open, open, Monzani, Monzani, D

The great interest on the origin of space-number associations has motivated recent investigation on spatial compatibility effects (e.g., the SNARC effect) induced by over-learned non-numerical sequences (e.g., letters, months). The work included in the present thesis aims to contribute to our understanding of the determinants of the spatial mapping of ordinal information, including both numbers and other general series. Firstly, the increasing evidence of the link between finger counting and number processing has been considered, in particular the specific role of handedness on this interaction and the influence of finger counting direction on number mapping in the representational space. Results showed that handedness fully predicts finger counting direction and that the directional asymmetries of finger counting are not relevant for shaping the mental representation of numbers. Secondly, the peculiarity of numbers evoking a spatially organized mental representation has been argued, showing that the oriented spatial representation is the privileged way of mentally organizing serial information, even newly acquired arbitrary sequences. Finally, a potential explanation for ordinal spatial associations has been evaluated, analyzing the role of working memory in determining the spatial compatibility effects of serial information observed with numerical and non-numerical sequences as stimuli., 1725, open, open, Previtali, Previtali, P

The current work elucidate the theoretical and methodological aspects of a research project aimed to explore current parenthood, in particular the choice of remaining childless and its relational and intergenerational origins. An overview of social, demographic and psychosocial studies suggested an interpretative model of the phenomenon that considers the different pathways leading to parenthood as the outcome of different opportunities to develop caregiving abilities within the network of family relations. According to this framework, the aim of this study is to investigate, following multiple levels of representation, how the quality of the original family ties and their elaboration in early adulthood and the quality of couple-relationship influence the development of caregiving abilities and, thus, the maturation of the choice of being parents. The incidence of these multi-level variables has been investigated in a large group of married/cohabiting couples, containing couples without children (188 individuals) and pregnant couples (208 individuals), and a large group of young adults, containing currently studying (214) and employed young adult (213). It is argued that, from a shared socio-economic and cultural condition, affective and attachment experiences within the original family and in the couple-relationship can influence the choice of being or not being parents, suggesting that young adults and couples may be exposed to a great vulnerability in front of the changes that parenthood involve. The measures employed focused on the perception and the orientation of affective experience with the parents and with the partner and include a large set of self-report instruments and a smaller set of interviews which allowed to deepen and verify the data at different level of representation., L'intero progetto di ricerca è stato svolto su committenza dell'Istituto Regionale di Ricerca della Regione Lombardia (IReR)., 1725, open, open, Anzelmo, Anzelmo, E

Objective. This work aims at assessing the psychometric properties of the Italian versions of the Inventory of Personality Organization (IPO; Lenzenweger et al. 2001), a self-report instrument for the assessment of personality organization, according to Otto Kernberg’s model, and the Structured Interview of Personality Organization (STIPO), the interview-version of the IPO. Study 1 and Study 2 (Chapter 2) evaluated the psychometric properties of the IPO. Methods. 696 university students and people from the community (Study 1; males 37%; mean age=36.51 ys; SD=±14.08; range: 18-74) and 121 psychiatric patients (Study 2; males 43.8%; mean age=37.22 ys; SD=±10.54; range: 18-66) completed a set of questionnaires including the IPO, the Severity Indices of Personality Problems (SIPP-118; Verheul et al., 2008), the Borderline Personality Disorder Checklist (Giesen-Bloo et al., unpublished manuscript), the Response Evaluation Measure 71 (Steiner et al., 2001), and the Symptom Checklist 90-R (Derogatis, 1977). Results. Confirmatory factor-analyses conveyed results similar to those obtained by Ellison and Levy (2011) and supporting a 4-factor solution (instability of sense of self and others, instability of goals, instability of behaviors, and psychosis). The factor structure proved to be invariant across samples (non clinical and clinical) and gender. The four IPO subscales showed good levels of internal coherence (Cronbach’s alphas between .72 and .91), and good test-retest reliability in the non clinical sample (time frame: one month; ICC ranging between .80 and .96). Patterns of associations with the criterion measures, assessed through path analysis, emerged in line with theoretical expectations. The first factor, Instability of sense of self and others, showed associations with measures of identity integration and defensive functioning, as well as associations with borderline symptoms and psychopathological distress. The second factor, Instability of goals, showed associ, 1725, open, open, Preti, Preti, E

Le relazioni tra gruppi etnici, l’integrazione degli immigrati nei paesi di accoglienza, la convivenza tra neo-arrivati e autoctoni, le derive razziste sono temi a cui la psicologia sociale, attribuisce sempre maggiore centralità. In questo filone di studi è andata delineandosi la prospettiva interculturale (Mantovani, 2004, 2008b). Essa si contrappone all’approccio “multiculturale”, cui viene attribuito una concezione reificante di cultura per cui le culture sarebbero delle “proprietà” degli individui e dei gruppi (Mantovani, 2004).L’attenzione al territorio e le ricerche situate in contesti reali e specifici possono essere pensate come un modo di costruire un particolare “oggetto” di ricerca in risposta ai suggerimenti della prospettiva interculturale. Fare ricerca sul “territorio”, infatti, permette di rinunciare all’utilizzo di categorie culturali determinate e definite, per focalizzarsi piuttosto sulle situazioni di contatto e di interazione culturale ed analizzare i processi di negoziazione di significati e di trasformazione delle pratiche sociali che così si innescano (Schiavinato, Soru, 2008). In questa prospettiva il territorio non è pensato quale luogo circoscritto e statico delle cristallizzazioni culturali (come nella tradizione antropologica della ricerca sul campo), né come una semplice declinazione dell’abitare e dell’appartenere (come nelle retoriche dei movimenti politici localisti), ma corrisponde piuttosto ad una geografia dai confini mobili, che vengono continuamente attraversati e ridefiniti. Attraverso una ricerca etnografica abbiamo deciso di concentrarci su una specifica “zona di contatto”, intesa come un territorio, un luogo fisico di interazione tra autoctoni e immigrati. La scelta è caduta su un quartiere della periferia sud di Milano, caratterizzato da una forte densità di edilizia residenziale pubblica, socialmente popolare e con una storia di immigrazione prima dal Sud Italia ora dal Sud del Mondo. Diverse questioni analitiche e metodol, 1725, open, open, Pirovano, Pirovano, A

The clashing of Cuba and the capitalist world economy has heralded a new beginning in Cuba’s revolutionary historiography. This paper analyzes the psychotherapy as a way to reconceptualise subjectivity in this era of shifting ideology. My research has been carried out in a Mental Health Community centre in La Habana (Cuba). Patients of this kind of Service are referred to as “neurotics”, people who, even though without a severe mental disorder, need psychological support because in a difficult moment of their lives. In a situation where the patient is disoriented about his/her perception of the "state of things", psychiatrists and psychologists may become the patient’s guide. Nevertheless, as the results of my ethnographic research suggest, psychiatrists and psychologists don’t use their role to shape the psychiatric care into a form of governmentality. Instead, they use the therapy, and the ironic speech sometimes included in it, also to highlight the social contradictions that bring citizens to a neurotic behaviour., 3683, open, open, Russo, Russo, C

There is a general debate as to whether constituent representations are accessed in compound processing, and which compound properties (e.g., headedness, semantic transparency) would influence this parsing procedure. This thesis investigates the mental representation of compound nouns in a series of six studies exploiting the properties of the Italian language, in the fields of both psycholinguistics and cognitive neuropsychology. First, effects related to the compound structure were investigated in the context of neglect dyslexia (Chapter 1). Second, converging evidence in favor of the headedness effect was sought in a constituent-priming experiment on normal participants (Chapter 2) and through the assessment of compound naming errors in patients suffering from aphasia (Chapter 3). Third, the access to grammatical properties of the constituents was studied in a single case study on deep dyslexia (Chapter 4). Fourth, the role of compound semantic transparency was investigated by assessing constituent frequency effects in both lexical decision latencies (Chapter 5) and fixation durations during compound-word reading (Chapter 6). The results indicate that the variables related to the whole compound (i.e., compound headedness, whole-word frequency and semantic transparency) play a crucial role in word processing, but also that constituent representations are accessed. To explain the observed effects a model will be proposed, positing both a multiple-lemma representation of compound words and a parallel procedure dedicated to the conceptual combination of compound constituents., 1725, open, open, Marelli, Marelli, M

Since the discovery of the mirror neuron system increasing attention has been paid to the role of embodied simulation and MNS in the understanding the feelings and intentions of others. In fact, the idea that empathy may be deeply grounded in the experience of a lived body and that understanding the mental states of others employ the MNS has a huge innovative potential especially in clinical and dynamic psychology. Originating in this cultural and historical framework, the present research aims to investigate whether a Rorschach response process traditionally interpreted as being associated with understanding the feelings and intentions of the self and the other is also associated with MNS activity, as one may expect given the theoretical overlapping. The Rorschach response process under investigation is that underlying the production of human movement (M) responses. The attribution of human movement to the ambiguous inkblot stimuli of the Rorschach test, indeed, has been considered an index of a person’s capacity to establish empathic contact with another human being since almost 100 years. Five studies were undertaken. A first, pilot, study exploited a phenomenon known as ‘neurological priming’ and investigated the association between M responses and MNS activity indirectly. Three EEG studies and an fMRI study followed, aiming to examine more directly the brain activity during exposure to different Rorschach stimuli. Taken together, the results of these five studies suggest that, as predicted, the production of M responses on the Rorschach test is associated with MNS activity. The implications for the test’s validity are discussed., 1725, open, open, Giromini, Giromini, L

Il presente lavoro di ricerca si propone di osservare natura e caratteristiche del processo di cambiamento che sta avendo luogo all’interno delle organizzazioni aziendali nazionali per quanto attiene i modelli di formazione e crescita della classe dirigenziale, al fine di documentare quali strumenti e soluzioni sono dispiegate dalle imprese per far fronte alla prolungata instabilità del contesto economico-finanziario. Più in dettaglio, il progetto si attende di osservare e documentare quanto e come il clima economico ha impattato sul sistema delle organizzazioni italiane e quanto e come la cultura organizzativa sia stata influenzata dalla fase critica e abbia reagito apportando conseguenti trasformazioni al suo interno. Lo fa scegliendo come punto di vista quello dello sviluppo delle persone nelle organizzazioni, nello specifico dello sviluppo e formazione del management in azienda. La ricerca ha proceduto nel corso degli anni a quattro fasi di rilevazione: 2008-2009-2010-2011, con l’obiettivo di monitorare l’andamento e la rilevanza dei processi di formazione manageriale. Il monitoraggio longitudinale sulle dinamiche della domanda di questo tipo di formazione da parte delle imprese e sulle scelte di formazione (sempre manageriale) ha permesso di analizzare i mutamenti che hanno avuto luogo nel passaggio da una fase di prolungata, seppur contenuta, crescita economica ad una fase recessiva fino ad una fase di crisi economica e ha inteso tracciare gli impatti che questo andamento altalenante ha riflesso sulle organizzazioni. Partendo dall’analisi della letteratura sul declino organizzativo, l’approccio scelto inquadrerà diverse variabili organizzative e descriverà le differenti performance e le soluzioni contingenti rilevate tra le imprese che compongono il campione di studio., 1725, open, open, Venini, Venini, G

This thesis is devoted to the study of psychological factors associated with cardiovascular diseases. It is made up by five theoretical chapters and four empirical studies. The first chapter presents a brief description of the different cardiovascular diseases that are still the main cause of death and disability in Western countries. The second chapter is focused on the role of psychology with respect to the different cardiovascular diseases. It ranges from the psychosomatic approach, branch of medicine interested in organic disorders without an anatomic lesion or functional problems, to the most recent area of psychocardiology. The third chapter is on the Type A Behavior Pattern, on the variables of hostility and anger, and on type D personality. It deals with a description of these factors, an evaluation of the methods mostly used for their assessment, and the main empirical findings relative to the association with cardiovascular disease; the hypothesized physiological mechanisms behind these relationships have been also addressed. The fourth chapter is devoted to depression and anxiety as crucial variables which can predict cardiovascular diseases and a worse prognosis in already present diseases; methods and instruments of their evaluation are also presented, together with the main findings on their association with cardiovascular disease and associated physiological and behavioral mechanisms. The fifth chapter is focused on the psychological factors that exert a protective against cardiovascular diseases, namely self-efficacy beliefs, representation of illness, and perceived social support; also for these variables evaluation methods and main findings from the literature are presented. The first study compared the psychological profile of a group of patients with cardiovascular disease with a “healthy” group, not affected by cardiovascular diseases. Similarly to previous research, our results showed significant differences in some dimensions of Type A Behavio, 1725, open, open, Greco, Greco, A

Reading is a multicomponent task that involves basic visuoperceptive, oculomotor and attentional skills (Aghababian and Nazir 2000; Hyona and Olson 1995; Levy, et al. 2010; Rayner1986; Shaywitz and Shaywitz 2008), together with access to symbolic orthographic and lexico-semantic knowledge and the activation of phonological representations (Coltheart, et al. 1997; Plaut, et al. 1996; Zorzi, et al. 1998). Numerous studies have been published that investigated the neural network involved in single word or pseudoword reading in subjects with normal reading abilities and in subjects with developmental dyslexia, using both behavioural and neuroimaging tecnique (Cornelissen et al., 1995; Fawcett & Nicolson, 1994; Finch et al., 2002; Laycock et al., 2008; Nicolson & Fawcett, 1993; Ramus et al., 2003; Snowling, 1981; Stein, 2003; Steinbrink et al., 2008). Given the complexity of reading system and the heterogeneity of the behavioural pattern observed in dyslexic subjects, a wide range of possible explanations have been suggested for dyslexia, such as (i) a specific linguistic problem due to a deficit in phonological processing (Frith, 1999; Ramus et al., 2003; Snowling, 2001), (ii) an impairment of the magnocellular pathway (Eden, VanMeter, Rumsey, & Zeffiro, 1996; A. M. Galaburda, 1993; Hari & Renvall, 2001; Stein, 2001) and (iii) a disfunction of the cerebellar system (D. V. Bishop, 2002; Nicolson et al., 2001; Rae et al., 2002). Each of these theories has found support in behavioural and/or imaging experiments, suggesting that all the systems have an important role in reading process and that they interact with reading process throught anatomofunctional convergence mechanisms. Thus, we used fMRI to explore the extent of the anatomical overlap between the auditory phonological, the visual magnocellular and the motor/cerebellar systems with reading, in order to isolate “interface” areas, that is, regions that are involved in different cognitive systems relevant for reading, 1725, open, open, Danelli, Danelli, L

Many studies show that motherhood in adolescence constitutes a risk factor for the establishment of an appropriate relationship between mother and child (Aiello e Lancaster, 2008; Osofsky, Hann e Peebles, 1993; Reid e Meadows-Oliver, 2007; Secco, Profit, Kennedy, Walsh, Letourneau e Stewart, 2007) and for a positive development of socio-emotional communication and attachment during infancy (Osofsky, 1992; Broussard, 1995; Frodi, Grolnick, Bridges e Berko, 1990; Ward e Carlson, 1995; Moran, Forbes, Evans, Tarabulsy e Madigan, 2008). However, the styles of emotional regulation adopted by adolescent mothers and their children during the first year of life are few investigated. In this perspective, the thesis presents an intervention project with young mothers and their children, in collaboration with the San Paolo Hospital and coordinated by Prof. Riva Crugnola. We present two different studies using data collected during treatment with observed mothers. In the first study we compare the styles of interaction and emotion regulation of adolescent and adult mothers at 3 months of life of their children. Dyads with teen mothers are less responsive than those with adult mothers and less able to share positive emotions: showing less positive states (mothers and children) and more negative states (mothers). In the second study we evaluated the effectiveness of the intervention with adolescent mothers, noting a decrease of maternal intrusiveness. Finally, two cases are illustrated to highlight the treatment technique., 1725, open, open, Gazzotti, Gazzotti, S

The present thesis faces the ongoing debate on the linguistic nature of Developmental Dyslexia (DD), based on evidence of grammatical deficits in dyslexic individuals (e.g., Robertson & Joanisse, 2010), and on the frequently reported overlap with Specific Language Impairment (e.g., Bishop & Snowling, 2004). In particular, the morphosyntactic processing deficit in DD has been explored by means of particularly sensitive measures, namely event-related potentials (ERPs). The dissertation collects the results from three studies performed on different samples of individuals with DD (Italian adults, Italian children, and German adults), reporting consistent data in support of a general morphosyntactic processing weakness. Specifically, the ERP results reveal different language processing modalities in the dyslexic samples, characterised by the need of an additional process related to rules retrieval and/or lexical access. Further behavioural data collected on the same participants support the ERP data. In the third study, advantage has been taken of the morphological features characterising German to additionally investigate the specificity of the reported morphosyntactic deficits, and their relationship with phonological and acoustical processing difficulties. The results are discussed within a developmental and psycholinguistic framework., The work has been carried out at the Scientific Institute "E.Medea", Bosisio Parirni (Lecco). Part of the work has been carried out at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (Leipzig), under the supervision of Prof. Angela D. Friederici and Dr. Claudia Maennel., LORUSSO, MARIA LUISA, 1725, open, open, Cantiani, Cantiani, C

With the present thesis I investigated whether and how empathy for pain is effected by social cues. Empathy is a critical function regulating human social life and, specifically empathy for pain is a source of deep emotional feelings and a strong trigger of pro-social behavior. I investigated the existence of a racial and religion bias in the emotional reaction to other people’s pain. Measuring participants’ physiological arousal and functional brain activations, I found that Caucasian observers reacted to pain suffered by African people significantly less than to pain of Caucasian people. The reduced reaction to the pain of African individuals was also correlated with the observers’ individual implicit race bias. Religion did not seem to affect empathy for other people pain. My thesis pointed out that other people’s race is a crucial clue for understanding to what extent empathy for pain, social interactions, and possibly integration, may be influenced by deeply rooted automatic and uncontrollable responses., 1725, open, open, Forgiarini, Forgiarini, M

Pain overlap theories (Eisenberger & Lieberman, 2004; MacDonald & Leary, 2005) suggest that the detection of social threats has mapped onto the pre-existing neurological circuitry used to signal physical pain. Supporting this assumption, several studies have found that social pain activates brain regions known for their role in processing the unpleasantness of physical pain (e.g., Eisenberger, Lieberman & Williams, 2003). In this dissertation, considering the amount of physiological evidence for common brain responses to social and physical pain, I examine whether and how social and physical pain overlap in their psychological antecedents and consequences. I first consider fear of pain as a common antecedent. In the medical literature on physical pain, the fear of pain—compared with other potential variables—emerges as one of the most relevant predictors of the perception of pain. Study 1a assesses whether fear of social and physical pain reflect unitary psychological dimensions related to, but still distinct from, each other. Study 1b investigates whether both fear of social and physical pain are associated with measures conceptually related to one of them. The findings show that fears of social and physical pain are two related—yet distinct—psychological dimensions. Likewise, I show that dimensions traditionally associated with fear of one type of pain have some degree of overlap with fear of the other type of pain. Then, to test a common antecedents hypothesis, Study 1c replicates previous findings, showing that the fear of physical pain can enhance the perception of physical pain. Likewise, I examine whether fear of social pain can enhance the perception of social pain. Study 1d shows that individuals with higher fear of social pain perceive social threats as more painful. Aside from supporting the common antecedents hypothesis, the present results also suggest a specificity effect in that each fear is able to predict its associated type of pain. Indeed, it emer, 1725, open, open, Riva, Riva, P

The present research aimed at investigating the communicative and linguistic development of preterm children during their first two years of life. Our main purpose was to assess gestural, vocal and verbal aspects of communicative development from a transactional model of development, taking into account the mutually constitutive dynamic interplay between the perinatal vulnerability of preterm children and their developmental context. The mother-child dyads who participated to the four studies reported in the present work were selected from a larger longitudinal research project concerning the individuation of early indicators of risk for language delays among atypical populations. The first study examined the development of gestural communication in the second year of life of children, a theme that is widely overlooked in the literature on the development of preterm infants. Overall, our findings showed that the developmental patterns of gestural communication of premature children are similar to those observed in at-term children with the only exception of a delay in the emergence of gesture-plus-word combinations. Moreover, results documented that the emergence of certain types of gestures, such as pointing and the production of gesture-plus-word combinations, represented good predictors of later productive and receptive lexical competences and of the emergence of word combinations at two year of age. The second study investigated the prelinguistic and verbal development of preterm children from 6 to 24 months of age. Starting from 18 months of age, significant differences were found between the communicative abilities of preterm and full-term children. Premature children showed delays both in lexical and in morphosyntactic development. Furthermore, we found differences in the communicative productivity between the two groups of children in exam, suggesting a lack of responsiveness of premature children during mother-child interactions. Regression analyses conduct, 1725, open, open, Suttora, Suttora, C

The purposes of the doctoral thesis were manifold. First of all, we aimed at clarifying the neural underpinnings of single word reading and the time course of lexical processing by comparing the bioelectrical activity elicited by stimuli with different degrees of orthographic legality (letter strings, legal pseudo-words and words) and semantic denotation (flora names vs. fauna names; concrete words vs. abstract words). A strong effort was directed to avoid possible confounding effects of psycholinguistic variables like frequency of occurrence and length, which are known to affect written word processing. Source reconstruction by means of LORETA was aimed to draw inferences on the cerebral regions specifically involved in different processing stages, with the final purpose of integrate current knowledge resulting from neuroimaging and electrophysiological approach. Overall the data provided evidence that the orthographic and lexico-semantic word properties were processed in parallel between 200 and 400 ms after stimulus onset. The temporo-parietal region was sensitive to orthographic legality (250-350 ms). The latency of lexical effects (word/pseudo-word discrimination) varied as a function of the number of a word's orthographic neighbours, being faster (200-250 ms) to pseudo-words with a small number of neighbours over anterior sites. The lexical effect found over the left occipito-temporal region (300-400 ms, BA 19 and BA 37) suggested a lexical access by means of a visual route. Semantic categories were discriminated as early as 200 ms post stimulus over the left occipito-temporal areas (BA 37 and BA 20). The results are discussed in the light of the possible role played by the word age of acquisition, as well as the specific properties of living concepts (biological relevance and homomorphism). Abstract and concrete word processing differed in terms of a stronger involvement of extra-striate visual areas during concrete word processing (350-380 ms) and a stronger, 1725, open, open, Adorni, Adorni, R

In the last decade, graceful aging has often been associated with frontal hyperactivations in working- and episodic long-term memory tasks, a compensatory process, according to some, that allows the best normal olders to perform these tasks at a juvenile level, in spite of the natural cortical impoverishment. It remains to be established, however, whether the frontal hyperactivation is the only possible neurofunctional manifestation of compensatory processes in halthy aging. In this thesis I present a systematic investigation of this issue and related issues on pathological aging seen in MCI. I first re-assessed the results of 23 recent neuroimaging papers on normal aging using a quantitative meta-analytic approach that allowed us to distinguish between task-dependent and task-independent age-related hyperactivations in healthy olders (Chapter 2). In particular, task-independent hyperactivations emerged in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in line with the results commonly described in international litterature, while task-dependent hyperactivations emerged in brain regions beyond the prefrontal areas. Further, we investigated more directly the existence of task-specific neurofunctional manifestations of compensatory processes in a new fMRI / VBM study (Chapter 3). In this study, 24 young and 24 healthy elderly participants were compared. Graceful aging was explored by investigating domains where most healthy olders perform like youngers (e.g. lexical-semantic knowledge) and tasks that are typically more challenging, like episodic long-term recognition memory tasks. With voxel-based morphometry we also studied to what extent changes of fMRI activation were consistent with the pattern of brain atrophy. We found that hyperactivations in the group of healthy olders were not restricted to the frontal lobes, rather they presented with task-dependent patterns. Moreover, only hypoactivations did systematically overlap with regional atrophy. On the basis of these results we sugge, La raccolta dei dati fMRI e VBM è avvenuta presso il reparto di Neuroradiologia dell'A.O. Niguarda Cà Granda di Milano.La raccolta dei dati neuropsicologici è avvenuta presso il Laboratorio di Neuropsicologia Cognitiva dell'A.O. Niguarda Cà Granda. Lo script utilizzato per eseguire la metanalisi quantitativa attraverso algoritmo di clusterizzazione gerarchica è stato sviluppato dalla Dot.ssa Cattineli sotto la supervisione del Prof. Borghese del Dipartimento di Informatica dell'Università degli Studi di Milano., 1725, open, open, Berlingeri, Berlingeri, M

Si vuole studiare in un’ottica dinamica – in vivo – la fluttuazione delle comunicazioni emotive clinico-paziente, analizzare cioè la dimensione regolazione degli affetti a partire dai momenti interattivi della coppia che hanno a che fare con temi emotivi. Questo meccanismo di regolazione interattiva è esaminato in relazione agli effetti prodotti dagli interventi del clinico sulla capacità del paziente di creare una connessione tra i propri stati di arousal fisiologici e viscerali da una parte, e i loro significati simbolici dall’altra parte (Bucci, 2002). Si vuole valutare, all’interno di un setting diagnostico, il livello di sintonizzazione-regolazione affettiva clinico-paziente: studiare, cioè, i cambiamenti emotivi del paziente in relazione agli interventi del clinico e viceverssa, cioè le variazioni tra il primo stato emotivo e il successivo in seguito alla modificazione introdotta dall'intervento di riconoscimento – positivo versus negativo – del clinico. Gli obiettivi della ricerca sono due: - individuare le modalità di comunicazione emotiva (specificità) che caratterizzano i micro-cambiamenti processuali - valutare come il paziente esprime i contenuti emotivi attraverso il linguaggio in relazione alla tecnica (regolatoria) del clinico (co-costruzione di significati e riparazione di quelli dissociati). Le ipotesi da verificare possono essere così schematizzate: - esiste un pattern specifico – diverso ma forse in parte sovrapponibile all’andamento prototipico dei ‘buoni’ colloqui di terapia – di andamento emotivo/affettivo nei colloqui del processo diagnostico (RICORSIVITA’) - esiste una relazione specifica in grado di descrivere l’interazione tra tecnica del clinico e capacità del paziente di regolare le emozioni (esistono degli aspetti ridondanti che fungono da organizzatori della relazione? È possibile identificare pattern ricorrenti di interventi del clinico che facilitano versus ostacolano la regolazione emotiva del paziente?) (BI-DIREZIONALITA’). Verifica, 1725, open, open, Rivolta, Rivolta, L

In the last decades, both cognitive and personality researchers and different-oriented therapists and clinicians have converged on the powerful role that narrative memory plays, as anchoring aspect of personality and identity. Many studies have demonstrated that spontaneous self defining memories (Singer & Salovey, 1993; Blagov & Singer, 2004) evoked and provoked in clinical setting can provide valuable information for assessment about repetitive themes and recurrent patterns of feelings linked to ongoing goals or conflicts that are central to the individual. However, the work still leaves open the question of how human beings think in this manner and how personal memories, spontaneously evoked during the clinical interview, are useful for personality assessment and case conceptualization. The present study intended to pursue three goals. First, the aim was to introduce and to demonstrate reliability and validity of the Coding System for Autobiographical Memory Narratives in Psychotherapy (Singer & Bonalume, 2008) for identifying and coding autobiographical memory narratives in clinical interview. The study demonstrates good inter-rater reliability and the utility of the coding system. Consequentially, we aimed to investigate, first the relationship among autobiographical memories dimensions, as content, specificity, meaning making and emotional tone, and the relationship between these memories dimensions and patient’s self and personality functioning, evaluated with clusters of indexes, according to the Exner’s Comprehensive System for Rorschach (Exner, 2003).The autobiographical memories during semi-structured clinical interviews for bio-psycho-social data recollection and Rorschach responses of 30 patients were recollected. The Coding System for Autobiographical Memory Narratives in Psychotherapy (Singer & Bonalume, 2008), the Classification and Scoring System for Self-defining Autobiographical Memories (Singer e Blagov, 2001) and for Content (Thorne & McLean, 20, collaborazioni internazionali: prof. Jefferson Singer, Department of Psychology, Connecticut College, New London CT (USA); prof. Erhard Mergenthaler,Sektion Informatik in der Psychotherapie, Universitat Ulm (Germania), 1725, open, open, Bonalume, Bonalume, L

Il presente lavoro tenta di studiare il fenomeno "stress degli insegnanti" nelle relazioni scolastiche, focalizzandosi prevalentemente sulla componente attribuibile alle relazioni instaurate con gli studenti con problemi emotivi, comportamentali e di apprendimento: gli studenti "difficili" (challenging students). In particolare, cogliendo l’occasione di lavorare con un gruppo di ricerca internazionale composto da ricercatori provenienti da sette differenti nazioni, lo studio presenta le fasi di sviluppo e applicazione di un nuovo strumento di indagine per l’analisi dello stress degli insegnanti nelle organizzazioni educative. Il Challenging Student Standard Questionnaire (CSSQ) è stato utilizzato in differenti contesti nazionali al fine di valutare le percezioni di stress degli insegnanti in relazione alla gestione dei comportamenti degli studenti, dei colleghi e della dirigenza scolastica con l’intento di sviluppare uno strumento valido ed affidabile in grado di dare conto delle diverse possibili fonti di stress correlate alla professione docente., Università che hanno partecipato alla ricerca: Hong Kong University (Hong Kong), Università Milano – Bicocca (Milano, Italia), Hogeschool University e University of Amsterdam(Utrecht e Amsterdam, Olanda), Pern State University (Pern, Russia), University of Pretoria (Pretoria, Sud Africa), University of Suriname (Paranamaribo, Suriname), University of North Carolina e The University of Texas at Austin (Stati Uniti)., 1725, open, open, Addimando, Addimando, L

The effects of sleep deprivation and chronobiological variations in performance are undoubtedly among the most pervasive limitors of human ability in all situations that require sustained periods of continuous performance and in around-the-clock work settings. These work scenarios are becoming increasingly common, often involving highly skilled and dedicated personnel as in sustained military operations, space flight preparation and launching, crisis and catastrophe management. In all these situations, the negative effects of sleep loss during sustained operations must be compared to the adverse effects of sleep inertia upon abrupt awakening from sleep due to a possible emergency. Sleep inertia defines a period of transitory hypovigilance, confusion, disorientation of behavior and impaired cognitive and behavioral performance that immediately follows awakening. Sleep inertia is one of the most serious contraindications to the use of napping during quasi-continuous operations if the individual may be required to perform complex tasks immediately after sudden awakening at unpredictable times., Presented at the RTO Human Factors and Medicine Panel, Venice, Italy, 3-4 June 99. This article is from ADA388183 Individual Differences in the Adaptability to Irregular Rest-Work Rhythms/Status of the Use of Drugs in Sleep-Wakefulness Management (les Differences entre individus concernant les facultes d'adaptation aux rythmes irreguliers activite-repos/Le point sur 1'utilisation des medicaments pour la gestion des periodes veille-sommeil)

During sustained military operations it is often necessary to cope with prolonged periods of wakefulness and irregular rest activity patterns. In these situations a severe sleep debt can accumulate, leading to increasing levels of sleepiness on the job and, consequently, to dangerous decreases of performance., Presented at the RTO Human Factors and Medicine Panel, Venice, Italy, 3-4 June 99. This article is from ADA388183 Individual Differences in the Adaptability to Irregular Rest-Work Rhythms/Status of the Use of Drugs in Sleep-Wakefulness Management (les Differences entre individus concernant les facultes d'adaptation aux rythmes irreguliers activite-repos/Le point sur 1'utilisation des medicaments pour la gestion des periodes veille-sommeil)

Operational decreases in performance resulting from sleep deprivation or irregular sleep-wake patterns are well known and are becoming increasingly important in today's industrialized society. Excessive sleepiness at unusual hours is estimated to affect approximately 5% of the general population and is associated with increased morbidity. loss of work hours, reduced productivity, increased work errors and impaired social and family relationship. In addition, there is an increased mortality risk when sleepiness affects motor vehicle and train drivers, aircraft pilots, nuclear power workers, and, generally, people involved in crucial occupations., Presented at the RTO Human Factors and Medicine Panel, Venice, Italy, 3-4 June 99. This article is from ADA388183 Individual Differences in the Adaptability to Irregular Rest-Work Rhythms/Status of the Use of Drugs in Sleep-Wakefulness Management (les Differences entre individus concernant les facultes d'adaptation aux rythmes irreguliers activite-repos/Le point sur 1'utilisation des medicaments pour la gestion des periodes veille-sommeil)

This research note presents an empirical study conducted in a number of social cooperatives (SCoops). Democratic governance has been identified as a defining aspect of this kind of social enterprise. Using the work and organizational psychology approach, the authors studied the effects of democratic governance and supervisor support on workers’ engagement and organizational citizenship behaviors. The convenience sample technique was used for gathering the data. Data was collected with a self-administered questionnaire. The sample consisted of 258 participants from three different Scoops situated in northern Italy. Statistical analysis results suggest that worker’s perceived participation and supervisor support enhance work engagement, and subsequently, altruistic behaviors. Finally, the authors comment on the limitations of the study giving methodological suggestions for future empirical research.