Oscar Gonçalves
Universidade do Minho, School of Psychology, Faculty Member
Research Interests:
The ability to differentiate one's own voice from the voice of somebody else plays a critical role in successful verbal self-monitoring processes and in communication. However, most of the existing studies have only focused on the... more
The ability to differentiate one's own voice from the voice of somebody else plays a critical role in successful verbal self-monitoring processes and in communication. However, most of the existing studies have only focused on the sensory correlates of self-generated voice processing, whereas the effects of attentional demands and stimulus complexity on self-generated voice processing remain largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the effects of stimulus complexity on the preattentive processing of self and nonself voice stimuli. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 17 healthy males who watched a silent movie while ignoring prerecorded self-generated (SGV) and nonself (NSV) voice stimuli, consisting of a vocalization (vocalization category condition: VCC) or of a disyllabic word (word category condition: WCC). All voice stimuli were presented as standard and deviant events in four distinct oddball sequences. The mismatch negativity (MMN) ERP component peake...
Research Interests:
Sensory cortices of individuals who are congenitally deprived of a sense can exhibit considerable plasticity and be recruited to process information from the senses that remain intact. Here, we explored whether the auditory cortex of... more
Sensory cortices of individuals who are congenitally deprived of a sense can exhibit considerable plasticity and be recruited to process information from the senses that remain intact. Here, we explored whether the auditory cortex of congenitally deaf individuals represents visual field location of a stimulus-a dimension that is represented in early visual areas. We used functional MRI to measure neural activity in auditory and visual cortices of congenitally deaf and hearing humans while they observed stimuli typically used for mapping visual field preferences in visual cortex. We found that the location of a visual stimulus can be successfully decoded from the patterns of neural activity in auditory cortex of congenitally deaf but not hearing individuals. This is particularly true for locations within the horizontal plane and within peripheral vision. These data show that the representations stored within neuroplastically changed auditory cortex can align with dimensions that are ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... Carlos Casulo, Universidade do Minho, Portugal José Fernando A. Cruz, Universidade do Minho, Portugal Maria do Céu Melo, Universidade do Minho, Portugal Mário Jorge Freitas, Universidade do Minho, Portugal CONSELHO CONSULTIVO Albano... more
... Carlos Casulo, Universidade do Minho, Portugal José Fernando A. Cruz, Universidade do Minho, Portugal Maria do Céu Melo, Universidade do Minho, Portugal Mário Jorge Freitas, Universidade do Minho, Portugal CONSELHO CONSULTIVO Albano Estrela, Universidade de ...
... Psicoterapia cognitiva narrativa: manual de terapia breve. Información General. Autores: Oscar F. Gonçalves; Editores: Desclée de Brouwer; Año de publicación: 2002; País: España; Idioma: Español; ISBN : 84-330-1672-5. Otros catálogos.... more
... Psicoterapia cognitiva narrativa: manual de terapia breve. Información General. Autores: Oscar F. Gonçalves; Editores: Desclée de Brouwer; Año de publicación: 2002; País: España; Idioma: Español; ISBN : 84-330-1672-5. Otros catálogos. ...
Self-related stimuli - such as one's own face or name - seem to be processed differently from non-self stimuli and to involve greater attentional resources, as indexed by larger amplitude of the P3... more
Self-related stimuli - such as one's own face or name - seem to be processed differently from non-self stimuli and to involve greater attentional resources, as indexed by larger amplitude of the P3 event-related potential (ERP) component. Nonetheless, the differential processing of self-related vs. non-self information using voice stimuli is still poorly understood. The present study investigated the electrophysiological correlates of processing self-generated vs. non-self voice stimuli, when they are in the focus of attention. ERP data were recorded from twenty right-handed healthy males during an oddball task comprising pre-recorded self-generated (SGV) and non-self (NSV) voice stimuli. Both voices were used as standard and deviant stimuli in distinct experimental blocks. SGV was found to elicit more negative N2 and more positive P3 in comparison with NSV. No association was found between ERP data and voice acoustic properties. These findings demonstrated an earlier and later attentional bias to self-generated relative to non-self voice stimuli. They suggest that one's own voice representation may have a greater affective salience than an unfamiliar voice, confirming the modulatory role of salience on P3.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Recent advances in the field of neuroscience have dramatically changed our understanding of brain-behavior relationships. In this article, we illustrate how neuroscience can provide a conceptual and methodological framework to understand... more
Recent advances in the field of neuroscience have dramatically changed our understanding of brain-behavior relationships. In this article, we illustrate how neuroscience can provide a conceptual and methodological framework to understand our clients within a transdiagnostic developmental perspective. We provide directions for integrating neuroscience into future process and outcome research. We present examples on how neuroscience can be integrated into researching the effects of contextual counseling interventions. We posit that interpersonal and environmental factors, such as neurotoxic factors (e.g., emotional neglect, stress), positive neurodevelopmental factors (e.g., nurturing and caring, environmental enrichment), and therapeutic interventions influence psychological processes (executive control, behavioral flexibility, reinforcement learning and approach motivation, emotional expression and regulation, self-representation and theory of mind). These psychological processes in...
Research Interests:
The notion of truth is discussed from the standpoint of narrative cognitive psychotherapy. The dominant clinical epistemological framework, based on the search for truth, needs to be replaced by an existential framework emphasizing the... more
The notion of truth is discussed from the standpoint of narrative cognitive psychotherapy. The dominant clinical epistemological framework, based on the search for truth, needs to be replaced by an existential framework emphasizing the construction of alternative meanings. This article begins with a discussion of the paradigmatic shift from epistemological truth to existential meaning. The narrative is then presented as
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The current study investigated the relevance of semantic processing and stimulus salience for memory performance in young ADHD patients and healthy control participants. 18 male ADHD patients and 15 healthy control children and... more
The current study investigated the relevance of semantic processing and stimulus salience for memory performance in young ADHD patients and healthy control participants. 18 male ADHD patients and 15 healthy control children and adolescents participated in an ERP study during a visual memory paradigm with two different encoding tasks requiring either perceptual or semantic processing of neutral and emotional pictures. ADHD patients and healthy controls both showed a more negative slow-wave in response to task cues signalling semantic as compared to perceptual stimulus processing. In contrast to ADHD patients, healthy control children showed a larger increase in memory performance for deeply processed neutral pictures which was accompanied by a more positive mid-latency ERP component (so-called P300) after stimulus onset. Our results demonstrate that ADHD patients succeeded in allocating neural resources in preparation of different task demands. However, this increase in preparatory activation to the semantic task cue did not suffice to support successful processing and encoding of neutral stimuli to the same extent as in healthy controls. These findings provide evidence that ADHD patients show deficits in translating pre-stimulus mobilization of neural resources to successful memory formation in the absence of salient stimulus material.
Research Interests:
... Page 7. ... In one of these episodes, Epictetus was being tortured with a diabolic apparatus applied to one of his legs. ... while the stubborn Epictetus kept repeating, I am telling you that you are going to hurt me deeply, impair... more
... Page 7. ... In one of these episodes, Epictetus was being tortured with a diabolic apparatus applied to one of his legs. ... while the stubborn Epictetus kept repeating, I am telling you that you are going to hurt me deeply, impair me, and 1'11 be limping for the rest of my life. In the end ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Empathy entails the capacities to resonate with another person's emotions, understand his/her thoughts and feelings, separate our own thoughts and emotions from those of the observed and responding... more
Empathy entails the capacities to resonate with another person's emotions, understand his/her thoughts and feelings, separate our own thoughts and emotions from those of the observed and responding with the appropriate prosocial and helpful behavior. While there is abundant research on the neurobiological mechanisms of some components of empathy (e.g., emotional contagion), few studies have considered the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the empathic response. The present study explores psychophysiological correlates (skin conductance level and the interbeat interval) as a function of the empathic response while participants watch and respond to actors portraying emotionally laden vignettes. Forty undergraduate psychology students were each presented with 40 emotional vignettes of positive or negative valence and asked to choose among three different empathic responses while their electrodermal and cardiac responses were measured. Overall, the study shows that higher levels of additive empathy are associated with increased cardiac activity (i.e., decreased Interbeat Interval) but not electrodermal activity.
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT. This research constitutes a first effort testing the possibilities of three rating systems intended to evaluative narrative structure, process and content in psychological disorders. More specifically, the objective of this... more
ABSTRACT. This research constitutes a first effort testing the possibilities of three rating systems intended to evaluative narrative structure, process and content in psychological disorders. More specifically, the objective of this research is twofold: (1) to explore the reliability of three ...
ABSTRACT Argues that narrative is the essential process through which individuals construct meaningful experiences. Thus, understanding individuals involves inspecting the characteristics of their narratives. Three central elements of the... more
ABSTRACT Argues that narrative is the essential process through which individuals construct meaningful experiences. Thus, understanding individuals involves inspecting the characteristics of their narratives. Three central elements of the narrative need to be considered: (1) structure—the level of coherence and connectedness between different elements in the narrative; (2) process—the qualitative dimension of the narrative, that is, the different modes or attitudes that allow the differentiation of the narrative into a multitude of sensorial, emotional, cognitive, and meaning experiences; and (3) content—the multiplicity of narrative production. In summary, if we assume that narrative is the essential process for meaning making, then a healthy adaptation to life can be seen as synonymous with a coherent, differentiated, and complex process of narrative production. The objective of cognitive narrative psychotherapy is to assure the conversational conditions for the development of a narrative being, i.e., someone who is ready for the reconception of the relativity of meaning, an acceptance of indeterminacy, the generative exploration of a multiplicity of meanings, and the understanding that there is no necessity to adhere to an invariant story nor to search for a definitive story. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Cognitive therapies are undergoing important changes (Gongalves, 1989). Among several dimensions of change, the following are worth noting: (1) a shift from a rationalist towards a more constructivist philosophy (Mahoney, 1991); (2) a... more
Cognitive therapies are undergoing important changes (Gongalves, 1989). Among several dimensions of change, the following are worth noting: (1) a shift from a rationalist towards a more constructivist philosophy (Mahoney, 1991); (2) a shift from an information processing model towards a ...
Research Interests:
O estudo que apresentamos vem na sequência de um outro em que foi construída a narrativa protótipo da anorexia nervosa e analisada a sua validade convergente (grau de verosimilhança). Desenvolvemos dois estudos empíricos cujos objectivos... more
O estudo que apresentamos vem na sequência de um outro em que foi construída a narrativa protótipo da anorexia nervosa e analisada a sua validade convergente (grau de verosimilhança). Desenvolvemos dois estudos empíricos cujos objectivos centrais são: a) ...
Research Interests:
In this study, we tested the effects of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on two set shifting tasks. Set shifting ability is defined as the capacity to switch between mental sets or actions and requires the activation of a... more
In this study, we tested the effects of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on two set shifting tasks. Set shifting ability is defined as the capacity to switch between mental sets or actions and requires the activation of a distributed neural network. Thirty healthy subjects (fifteen per site) received anodal, cathodal and sham stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)
Research Interests:
The aim of the present study is to explore obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)-related abnormalities in white matter connectivity in OCD for a core region associated with inhibitory control [i.e. inferior frontal gyrus (IFG)]. Fifteen... more
The aim of the present study is to explore obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)-related abnormalities in white matter connectivity in OCD for a core region associated with inhibitory control [i.e. inferior frontal gyrus (IFG)]. Fifteen patients with OCD (11 men) and 15 healthy controls (nine men) underwent diffusion tensor imaging scanning to study four diffusivity indexes of white matter integrity [fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity and radial diffusivity (RD)]. The results showed that persons with OCD manifested significantly lower fractional anisotropy levels in the bilateral IFG as well as its parcellations in the pars opercularis, pars triangularis, and pars orbitalis. Significantly higher levels of MD, RD were evident for the OCD group in the IFG as a whole as well as in the bilateral subregions of the pars triangularis and pars opercularis (for MD and RD), the right side of the pars orbitalis (for RD), and the left side of the pars triangularis and...