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Attraverso la proposta di utilizzo dell???articolazione modale come indicatori del processo di semiotizzazione delle esperienze, gli autori provano ad aprire uno spettro di osservazione sui processi di cambiamento e di trasformazione delle persone attraverso una lente prospettica volta a considerare il ruolo della soggettività e della patemica nella costruzione delle relazioni. Per articolazione modale si intende il modo di semiotizzare un???esperienza attraverso categorie patemiche (Freda, 2008, 2011) di necessità, possibilità, volontà, permesso, obbligo, capacità, sapere, etc. Essa costituisce una costruzione semiotica che la persona produce per orientare le azioni nel futuro e significare le sue esperienze passate.

Riteniamo che la distinzione tra senso e significato debba essere attentamente presa in considerazione per le implicazioni che essa ha in termini epistemologici, metodologici e di intervento in psicologia clinica. Nello sviluppare tale riflessione faremo uso anche dei concetti di semiosi operativa e semiosi affettiva, l’uno definito come processo di creazione e di uso di segni in modo convenzionale, consensuale e resi disponibili dalla cultura, e l’altro come modalità inconscia di produrre simboli a partire dalla propria esperienza vissuta affettivamente.

Nell???ambito degli studi sulla narrazione di malattia (Hillman, 1984; Frank, 1995) il presente contributo discute la relazione tra narrazione di malattia e prospettiva temporale (Brockmeier, 2000). La narrazione è intesa come processo semiotico prodotto a partire dall???emergenza del sistema di significati che la malattia rende salienti (Valsiner, 2005; Freda; 2008; Freda, 2011). Nello specifico si presenta una prospettiva multiassiale di lettura delle narrazioni di malattia al fine di osservare l??????essere nel tempo??? dell???esperienza di malattia. In una prospettiva idiografica (Salvatore & Valsiner, 2009) il lavoro utilizza una lettura multiassiale di 4 narrazioni di malattia di donne in condizione di differente patologia. Per l???analisi dei testi sono stati adottati indicatori linguistici temporali (Brockmeier, 2000) integrati con l???analisi delle strutture metaforiche e articolazioni modali e patemiche al fine di interpretare il processo semiotico narrativo di mediazione del rapporto tra continuità/discontinuità dell???esperienza. La variabile temporale appare significativa quale principio organizzatore dell???esperienza di malattia; le narrazioni propongono una struttura temporale prevalentemente statica in cui il flusso degli eventi è omogeneizzato ???in un eterno presente??? connotato in termini di rottura/discontinuità; l???orizzonte temporale si organizza a partire dal momento puntuale della diagnosi e riduce il futuro da campo delle possibilità ad una dimensione ???già-data??? in termini prescrittivi. Entro questo tempo percepito come omogeneizzante emergono alcune funzioni vitalizzanti che connettono un senso di continuità tra passato e futuro quale ad esempio il ruolo dei figli nell???esperienza di madri malate. Nelle narrazioni di malattia la prospettiva temporale con il suo articolarsi sui diversi aspetti del campo di vita sembra poter essere considerata un importante indicatore del processo di integrazione dell???esperienza traumatica

The paper discusses the relationship between metacognition and reflexivity that are sometimes used as equivalent, in others as different. We refer to those theoretical strands that define reflexivity as a metacognitive competence consisting in having awareness of own thought processes in order to control them and to facilitate a functional adaptation to contexts (McAlpine et al., 1999; Moore, 2011). However, with reflexivity and metacognition we can mean two different levels of development and complexity according to which reflectivity would be a first stage in the process of metacognitive elaboration (Semerari et al., 2003), or it is possible to recognize points of congruence, but not of coincidence, between reflexivity and metacognition, if they are intended as procedural and intersubjective devices able to restart non adaptive situations of stasis. With reference to this last point, and beginning from the premise that cognitive activity can not be divorced from the emotional and relational matrix, the paper will discuss how the construct of mentalizing or reflexive function (Bateman, Fonagy, 2011) can be used to articulate and mediate the relationship between metacognitive and emotional processes within a relational and intersubjective field. These questions are declined through the exemplification of an action-research project conducted within university settings with groups of underachievers students late in the acquisition of CFU and with a low average to the exams. This action-research, part of an international project funded under the measure ERASMUS Multilateral Project, aimed to promote reflexive competence for First Level Degree students of the University of Naples Federico II. The training methodology has adopted the narrative device that has an empowering function the reflective process (Freda, 2008; Salvatore, Freda, 2011) and involved the use of narrative tools relating to four discoursive channels (metaphoric, iconographic, mediated by writing, bodily). We discuss the methodological steps that have allowed to explain the relationship between reflexivity and metacognition mediated by emotions.

Nel lavoro viene presentata una discussione sui processi di significazione. La significazione della propria esperienza viene intesa come processo dinamico, cronoplastico, contestuale, situato e contingente. Viene condotto una dialogo tra la semiotica, la psicologia culturale e alcune prospettive psiconalitiche. Attraverso la definizione di due spettri di osservazioni e discussione, l'uno morfogenetico e l'altro di testualizzazione, la significazione quale processo di mediazione e organizzazione tra istanze soggettive/emotive, intersoggettive e culturali,viene presentata, argomentata e discussa come un processo dialettico che è alle prese con diverse questioni generali: continuità/discontinuità, crisi/esperienza/sviluppo, soggettività/alterità, temporalità (irreversibilità del tempo, reversibilità dei processi simbolici interpretativi rispetto al passato, attesa del futuro in termini di ipotetici scenari, multitemporalità a diversi livelli di generalizzazione), topologia delle relazioni tra i segni (dentro/fuori, costituzione di confini, stabilità/instabilità del piano di relazione, generalizzazione/pertinenza contestuale, gerarchie semiotiche transitorie, dialettica tra simmetrizzazione/asimmetrizzazione) e dell’articolazione modale.

PurposeConsistent with current literature, which highlights the role of narration as a key tool for exploring the processes by which people construct the meaning of their critical experiences the authors propose a theoretical and methodological model to analyse the narratives of illness and identify any innovative aspects. The generative model of mind presented refers to a semiotic, narrative and socio-constructivist perspective according to which narration constitutes one of the possible processes by which the affective and pre-verbal sense of experience is transformed into a meaning that can be symbolized and shared.Design/methodology/approachThe onset of an illness represents a critical event which interrupts a person's life narrative, shattering his/her biographical continuity and undermining any assumptions of him/herself and the world. In particular, the model proposes a method of analysis, currently absent in literature, of the narrative interview Narrative Function Coding System (NFC) in order to grasp the ways by which four main narrative functions, namely psychic functions, are classified: the search for meaning, the expression of emotions, the temporal organization and the orientation to action.FindingsNFC appears to be able to capture the complexity of the narrative process of construction of illness' sense-meaning making process, identifying both representative modalities of good functioning, which express a gradual process of connection with the variability of the experience, and modalities that express moments of disorganization and rigidity, which can persist throughout the time of treatment. The NFC represents not only a method for analysing illness narratives but also a method for tracking and monitoring the process of clinical intervention and change.Originality/valueThe sense-meaning making process perspective within the narrative socio-constructivist and semiotic framework of analysis proposed by NFC is currently absent in the literature. NFC can be a device for analysing the narrative process of sense-meaning making both for its use for clinical and preventive purposes. In addition we believe that this method, which focuses on the “form” and “way” of narratively constructing the subjective experience, rather than on the specific thematic content, can be used with all types of illness narratives, in particular the longitudinal one to explore the changes in sense-meaning making process.

In this study, we propose to analyse students’ drawings using the Semiotic Cultural Psychological Theory (SCPT), a socio-cultural psychological model that integrates semiotics with dynamic systems theory. According to the SCPT framework, students-generated drawings can be analysed in terms of generalised meanings, i.e., implicit assumptions about the represented content. We applied SCPT to identify a set of generalised meanings about seasonal changes and to investigate whether they depend on students’ grade level. We used a draw-and-explain task to collect drawings and written explanations about seasonal changes produced by 495 Italian 8th grade (N = 196) and 9th grade (N = 299) students. The analysis was based on Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Cluster Analysis. Five generalised meanings about seasonal changes were identified: 1) Climate; 2) Static Earth – Sun; 3) Moving Earth – Sun; 4) Rays – Earth; 5) Moving Earth–Orbit– Sun. The emerging generalised meanings were significantly associated with students’ written explanations and grade level. Moreover, generalised meanings were informed by the cultural conventions adopted in textbook representations about seasonal changes. Findings suggest that the SCPT framework can be productively used to analyse students-generated drawings about natural phenomena and to detect specific features of textbook representations that can impair the development of appropriate scientific knowledge.

When people receive a diagnosis of chronic or non-communicable disease, they need to reorganize their lives to understand and accommodate the changes associated with the new health condition. This reorganization, which involves the activation of a process through which meaning is given to the illness, could be fostered by narrative methods also in the context of Primary Care. The Sense of Grip on Disease (SoGoD) model intends to focus on the role of sense-meaning-making processes in the psychological adjustment to non-communicable illness, emphasizing the patients’ role in managing their own health condition. In this study, the authors propose a mixed-method research method which implies the adaptation of the narrative interview on the Sense of Grip on Disease. The interview was administered to 31 adults suffering from non-communicable diseases and has been analyzed with a theory-driven approach, which aims to explore the modalities of five narrative functions: organization of temporality, integration of illness, expression of emotions, social sharing and orientation to action. Through a Multiple Correspondence Analysis and a Cluster Analysis, the authors have identified two different ‘Grip Profiles’, called “Dynamic Profile” and “Compliant Profile”, representative of different degrees of flexibility, integration and adjustment to disease.

The purpose of this study was to analyse Italian high school and university students’ attitudes towards physics using the Semiotic Cultural Psychological Theory (SCPT). In the SCPT framework, attitudes represent how individuals interpret their experience through the mediation ofgeneralized meaningwith which they are identified. A view-of-physics questionnaire was used as an instrument to collect data with 1603 high school and university students. Data were analysed through multiple correspondence analysis and cluster analysis. We identified fourgeneralized meaningsof physics: (a) interesting and important for society; (b) a quite interesting, but badly taught subject at school and not completely useful for society; (c) difficult to study and irrelevant for society; and (d) a fascinating and protective niche from society. The identified generalized meanings are significantly correlated to the choice to study physics at undergraduate level and to the choice of attending physics-related activities in high school. Implications for research are discussed.

Authors discuss the topic of inclusion process in academic education from a semiotic and dynamic perspective. Inclusive experience in educational and academic context is constructed through the personalization of the processes of sensemaking within a wider cultural and shared social context. Authors have implemented an innovative tool for a qualitative research about sensemaking processes. They create the upside down world narrative methodology, namely, a double task of narrating one’s own experience in two times, asking participants to turn upside down their narration. Such a device allows grasping the inherent and constitutive ambivalence of each psychological process of sensemaking. Results of semiotic narrative analysis show that inclusion appears narratively articulated on two broadly generalized domains of sense as follows: the relationship with others and the training path.

Manifold forms of sensemaking processes and their simultaneity pose many questions about their integration and also on their development. Human beings mean their own experience and activity in the world by forms of symbolic meaning but also by several forms of embodied meaning, in an endo-semiotic and exo-semiotic key, such as the construction of artifacts, instruments, monuments, stories, myths. The culture in this perspective is not considered a repository of information and become an intersubjective process that develops over time and is rooted deeply in various embodied forms. Authors discuss the notion of threshold through two possible paths. The first one allows us to demarcate the boundaries of the domain of semiotic research and at the same time to reflect on the specificity of the different processes of sensemaking, from biological processes (vegetative and animal) to typically psychological processes, characteristic of human beings and of cultural dynamics. The second one deals with dynamics of transformation of the processes of sensemaking, claiming that the relationship between an organism and its environment has a gestaltic quality, whose form is constantly changing. The notion of threshold is developed in reference to the changes and transformations that mark discontinuous passages and developments within phases of stability.

Gli autori discutono il processo di significazione della malattia ed in particolare la rice- zione della diagnosi in termini semiotici e psicologici. Viene presentata una ricerca qualita- tiva sul processo di significazione da parte di madri con figli che hanno ricevuto diagnosi di Disturbi della Differenziazione Sessuale (DSD). Viene osservato e discusso come il proces- so di significazione della esperienza di malattia e della diagnosi si configuri come un’esperienza di crisi e di rottura della continuità delle proprie esperienze. Il lavoro degli autori si articola in una prospettiva dichiaratamente semiotica, luogo di un possibile e fecon- do incontro tra la psicologia culturale e la psicologia clinica dinamica, in cui viene conside- rata la mediazione tra istanze soggettive, intersoggettive e culturali. In tale prospettiva viene presentata e discussa la possibilità di ricercare nel testo delle interviste dei genitori, marcato- ri linguistici attraverso cui vengono definiti i posizionamenti e le modalità soggettive dei processi di significazione della diagnosi, della mediazione intra-inter-soggettiva, delle mo- dalità specifiche di confrontarsi con i significati culturali, e della relazione tra la continuità e discontinuità generata dalla crisi di senso della malattia.

Background Hereditary angioedema with C1-inhibitor deficiency (C1-INH-HAE) is characterized by recurrent edema of unpredictable frequency and severity. Stress, anxiety, and low mood are among the triggering factors most frequently reported. Impaired regulation and processing of emotions, also known as alexithymia, may influence outcomes. The aim of this study was to confirm the presence of alexithymia and stress in children with C1-INH-HAE, to determine whether they are also present in children affected by other chronic diseases, and to investigate their relationship with C1-INH-HAE severity. Data from children with C1-INH-HAE (n = 28) from four reference centers in Italy were compared with data from children with type 1 diabetes (T1D; n = 23) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA; n = 25). Alexithymia was assessed using the Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children scale; perceived stress was assessed using the Coddington Life Event Scale for Children (CLES-C). Results Mean age (standard deviation [SD]) in the C1-INH-HAE, T1D, and RA groups was 11.8 (3.3), 11.7 (2.9), and 11.1 (2.6) years, respectively. Mean C1-INH-HAE severity score was 5.9 (2.1), indicating moderate disease. Alexithymia scores were similar among disease groups and suggestive of difficulties in identifying and describing emotions; CLES-C scores tended to be worse in C1-INH-HAE children. C1-INH-HAE severity was found to correlate significantly and positively with alexithymia (p = 0.046), but not with perceived stress. Alexithymia correlated positively with perceived stress. Conclusions Alexithymia is common in children with chronic diseases. In C1-INH-HAE, it may result in increased perceived stress and act as a trigger of edema attacks. Comprehensive management of C1-INH-HAE children should consider psychological factors. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13023-018-0871-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Each process of meaning making can be seen as a field of semiotic organization that shows a variety of continuities and discontinuities, rather than as a linear trajectory of accumulated signs, progressively articulated through syntagmatic chains. In this work, we address the idea that the sign is a discontinuous form within a field; it emerges where there are different trajectories of meaning, different epistemic positions, and different subjective or affective ways of experiencing a phenomenon. The central aspect of the paper is based on the idea that the sign is a form within a semiotic relational system that allows its emergence towards a “morphogenetic field of semiosis”. The starting point for this discussion is the philosophical, mathematical and semiotic work of Rène Thom, which addressed the relationship between continuity and discontinuity in natural human, social, and linguistic phenomena.

Hereditary angioedema due to C1 inhibitor (SERPING1) deficiency (C1-INH-HAE) is characterized by unpredictable and variable attacks of cutaneous andmucosal edema carrying amajor impact on daily life. While stress and psychological factors are usually suggested as trigger factors of HAE, they have not been sufficiently investigated. Our aim is to study, for the first time in a group of pediatric patients, the role of psychological stress and emotion regulation competence in the variability of attacks ofC1-INH-HAE. The study involved 12 children aged 6–14with a diagnosis of C1-INH-HAE [a diagnosis of C1-INH-HAE must be based on presence of 1 major (1–3) clinical criterion and 1 laboratory criterion] as well as their parents in the following: (1) a qualitative analysis of parent interviews on disease variability and (2) a quantitative evaluation of the psychological profile, perceived stress levels, and emotion regulation competence of the young patients. In the interviews, 91% of parents believe emotional and stress factors are involved in triggering C1-INH-HAE. Fifty-five percent of the young patients report a limitation in their daily activities [Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)], 83% of them experience an above-average number of stressful events [Coddington Life Events Scale (CLES)], and 91% of them manifest deficits in recognizing and naming emotions [Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children (AQC); Level of Emotional Awareness Scale for Children (LEAS-C)]. Our data show that parents believe psychological stress to be involved in the onset of HAE attacks and children show high levels of stress and broad deficits in the emotion regulation competence. Whether stress is a trigger or a secondary effect of the disease experience, we suggest that improving patients’ emotion regulation competence may increase their resilience to stress, ultimately leading to a better management of the illness.

The notion of the border is an interesting advancement in research on the processes of meaning making within the cultural psychology. The development of this notion in semiotic key allows to handle with adequate complexity construction, transformation, stability and the breakup of the relationship between person/world/ otherness. These semiotic implications have already been widely discussed and ex- posed by authors such Valsiner (2007, 2014), Neuman (2003, 2008), Simão (Culture & Psychology, 9, 449–459, 2003, Theory & Psychology, 15, 549–574, 2005, 2015), with respect to issues of identity/relatedness, inside/outside, stability/change in the irrevers- ible flow of the time. In this work, after showing some of the basics of such semiotic notion of border, we discuss the processes of construction and transformation of borders through the modal articulation, defined as the contextual positioning that the person assumes with respect to the establishment of a boundary in terms of necessity, obligation, willingness, possibility, permission, ability. This modal subjective position- ing acquires considerable interest from the clinical point of view since its degree of plasticity vs that of rigidity is the basis of processes of development or stiffening of relations between person/world/otherness.

This work aims at contributing to the debate on the human psychic reflexive process as well as on the role that narrative devices can play to foster it. We present a reflexive process model and draw a distinction between reflection and reflexivity. Specifically, we discuss the role of narrative modes and media in promoting reflection, and the role of a narrative group in promoting reflexivity. We assume that whereas human reflexivity is always characterized by a relational dimension, in order to reflect, a relationship is always necessary. Finally, we present a novel formative method based on a qualitative multimodal approach including a narrative group and various narrative modes and media. This narrative method, that we named Narrative Mediation Path (NMP), has been devised and tested in INSTALL1 Project and it addresses to underachieving university students lagging behind in their studies.