Background: Personality traits are patterns of thoughts, feelings and actions that are usually as... more Background: Personality traits are patterns of thoughts, feelings and actions that are usually assessed by means of psychometric questionnaires. In the present study we described the Phenomenological Personality Factor (PPF), a short questionnaire assessing the personality traits, taking into account the different interpretative models of personality. Methods: A sample of 554 healthy subjects (357 female; 197 males) aged 18-60 years were enrolled. Each participant was required to complete PPF, by indicating the presence/absence of the individual personality trait, and the Italian version of the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scale (ANPS). Results: The principal component analysis showed that seven factors explained the 35.07% of the total variance. Moreover, the correlation analysis revealed that the PPF components were significantly and positively associated with the ANPS scales. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the PPF is a useful questionnaire to assess the personality traits, and the adaptive functioning, in healthy individuals.
2019 10th IEEE International Conference on Cognitive Infocommunications (CogInfoCom)
Creativity is crucial for innovation, technological progress and social change. It reinforces ind... more Creativity is crucial for innovation, technological progress and social change. It reinforces individual coping and self-assertion skills, thanks to its strong adaptive function. Even though there is substantial agreement that individual creativity (an expression of structure and well-defined brain processes) determines the creative potential of society, both brain and creativity are studied from very different perspectives. In fact, if the human brain is the object of investigation of the hard sciences on the part of neuroscientists, creativity is usually studied by social and behavioral scientists. Over time, this fact has made it difficult to create research programs that combine both approaches, although efforts have been made to link the two topics in recent years, exploring the advantages of a transdisciplinary approach. In this paper, we shall try to show that it is necessary to clarify the biological basis of creativity in order to establish some of the fundamental connections between invention, IC technology innovation, improvisation and the unconscious archaic structures that guide us in many aspects of our daily behavior.
2020 11th IEEE International Conference on Cognitive Infocommunications (CogInfoCom)
The term dyspraxia defines an inability to perform a pragmatically oriented action. It doesn'... more The term dyspraxia defines an inability to perform a pragmatically oriented action. It doesn't yet have a precise nosographic location. According to the embodied cognition model, this disorder compromises the development of superior mental functions, the construction and the representation of the Self. In our perspective it isn't possible to reduce dyspraxia to a mere disorder of the execution of an intentional gesture and it must be included in a wider spectrum of pathological processes that compromise the functions and the development of individual mind. With the aim to identify early and to support pupils with possible motor difficulties, our contribution intends to propose a computational analysis model of the dyspraxic movements and to define the construction of a technologically assisted diagnostic system for dyspraxia, thanks to the use of an ecological observation grid (GEO-DE). The observation tool was applied in a sample of 525 subjects, aged between 48 and 72 months in order to identify the groups of motor tasks predictive of dyspraxic phenomena. The analysis of the normalized importance of the independent variables showed that the Linguistic Skill (AL) group is the most important group for the forecast of praxic deficits, it was followed in descending order by the AP (Personal Autonomy), GTI (Transitive and Intransitive Gestures), EC (Balance and Coordination) groups. The innovation in this research is to identify which movement patterns are capable of predicting praxic motor dysfunction, for an automated mixed assessment system that includes teacher evaluation.
2020 11th IEEE International Conference on Cognitive Infocommunications (CogInfoCom)
Without the ability to decide and thus give order to a universe - that was originally a chaotic m... more Without the ability to decide and thus give order to a universe - that was originally a chaotic mass of data and phenomena with-out regularity and clear and decipherable structures - the evolution of our species would have been unthinkable. The adaptation to that universe took place on the basis of incomplete and fragmentary information, limited cognitive capacities and narrow time. That scenario selected adaptive behaviors made of fast, imperfect, but highly effective cognitive solutions: heuristics. Although these natural logic tools are commonly studied in cognitive psychology - particularly in the field of judgment and decision-making - their application in Artificial Intelligence and computer simulation of cognition is disclosing prospects for the study of decision-making processes, starting with the classification of alternatives, in search algorithms, to make decisions on the basis of available information. Aim of this paper is to show how this logic is subtended by rules of inference strictly linked to the “natural” way of reasoning. And moreover, how these inferences could constitute, in the wider AI and ICT horizon, the test bench for the development of neural network representation and learning systems for the understanding of human action.
The covid-19 lockdown forced psychotherapists to use videoconferencing psychotherapy (VCP). There... more The covid-19 lockdown forced psychotherapists to use videoconferencing psychotherapy (VCP). There is little literature on the relationship between VCP and the theoretical orientation of the psychotherapist. The aim of our research work is to explore to what extent the Italian therapists used VCP and how they experienced the change in setting during lockdown. A sample of psychotherapists completed an on-line questionnaire including data about any previous experience of remote work, information on changes in setting during lockdown and their opinions on this experience. In the second phase, a statistical analysis of the data collected was performed with SPSS. The most represented theoretical orientations are psychoanalytic, Gestalt, systemic-relational and psychodynamic. Almost all the respondents had chosen to change the setting, opting for remote work via video calls, with no differences in terms of theoretical orientation and age group. Psychotherapeutic orientation seems to affect...
Although there is a no established theory, there is no longer any doubt about the multiplicity of... more Although there is a no established theory, there is no longer any doubt about the multiplicity of the structures involved in the attentional processes. Attention is involved, in fact, in several fundamental functions: consciousness, perception, motor action, memory and so on. For several decades, the hypothesis that attention is highly variable (for extension and clarity) in terms of consciousness has been quite influential, which would range within itself in relation to its changes of state: from sleep to wakefulness, from drowsiness to twilight state of consciousness, from confusion to hyperlucidity, from dreamlike to oneiric states. More recently, other fields of considerable theoretical importance have linked attention to emotion, to affectivity or primary autonomous psychic energy or to social determinants. In this paper, we shall demonstrate how paying attention to something does not mean becoming aware of it. A series of experiments has shown that these are two distinct menta...
Topics in Intelligent Engineering and Informatics, 2018
This paper intends to clarify the complexity of the concept of Executive Functions and to show it... more This paper intends to clarify the complexity of the concept of Executive Functions and to show its relationships with cognitive, emotional and awareness dimensions. In this sense, Executive Functions cannot be considered precondictions of normal physiological functioning, when they are undamaged or, on the contrary, the cause of pathological phenomena, when they are in deficit. Although the small size of our sample does not allow us to explore completely this hypothesis, our data show that there is probably no direct relationship between Executive Functions deficiencies and psychopathological manifestations. In the light of these empirical evidences and theoretical implications, it is plausible to move from a linear interpretative model to a circular explanatory hypothesis.
Background: Personality traits are patterns of thoughts, feelings and actions that are usually as... more Background: Personality traits are patterns of thoughts, feelings and actions that are usually assessed by means of psychometric questionnaires. In the present study we described the Phenomenological Personality Factor (PPF), a short questionnaire assessing the personality traits, taking into account the different interpretative models of personality. Methods: A sample of 554 healthy subjects (357 female; 197 males) aged 18-60 years were enrolled. Each participant was required to complete PPF, by indicating the presence/absence of the individual personality trait, and the Italian version of the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scale (ANPS). Results: The principal component analysis showed that seven factors explained the 35.07% of the total variance. Moreover, the correlation analysis revealed that the PPF components were significantly and positively associated with the ANPS scales. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the PPF is a useful questionnaire to assess the personality traits, and the adaptive functioning, in healthy individuals.
2019 10th IEEE International Conference on Cognitive Infocommunications (CogInfoCom)
Creativity is crucial for innovation, technological progress and social change. It reinforces ind... more Creativity is crucial for innovation, technological progress and social change. It reinforces individual coping and self-assertion skills, thanks to its strong adaptive function. Even though there is substantial agreement that individual creativity (an expression of structure and well-defined brain processes) determines the creative potential of society, both brain and creativity are studied from very different perspectives. In fact, if the human brain is the object of investigation of the hard sciences on the part of neuroscientists, creativity is usually studied by social and behavioral scientists. Over time, this fact has made it difficult to create research programs that combine both approaches, although efforts have been made to link the two topics in recent years, exploring the advantages of a transdisciplinary approach. In this paper, we shall try to show that it is necessary to clarify the biological basis of creativity in order to establish some of the fundamental connections between invention, IC technology innovation, improvisation and the unconscious archaic structures that guide us in many aspects of our daily behavior.
2020 11th IEEE International Conference on Cognitive Infocommunications (CogInfoCom)
The term dyspraxia defines an inability to perform a pragmatically oriented action. It doesn'... more The term dyspraxia defines an inability to perform a pragmatically oriented action. It doesn't yet have a precise nosographic location. According to the embodied cognition model, this disorder compromises the development of superior mental functions, the construction and the representation of the Self. In our perspective it isn't possible to reduce dyspraxia to a mere disorder of the execution of an intentional gesture and it must be included in a wider spectrum of pathological processes that compromise the functions and the development of individual mind. With the aim to identify early and to support pupils with possible motor difficulties, our contribution intends to propose a computational analysis model of the dyspraxic movements and to define the construction of a technologically assisted diagnostic system for dyspraxia, thanks to the use of an ecological observation grid (GEO-DE). The observation tool was applied in a sample of 525 subjects, aged between 48 and 72 months in order to identify the groups of motor tasks predictive of dyspraxic phenomena. The analysis of the normalized importance of the independent variables showed that the Linguistic Skill (AL) group is the most important group for the forecast of praxic deficits, it was followed in descending order by the AP (Personal Autonomy), GTI (Transitive and Intransitive Gestures), EC (Balance and Coordination) groups. The innovation in this research is to identify which movement patterns are capable of predicting praxic motor dysfunction, for an automated mixed assessment system that includes teacher evaluation.
2020 11th IEEE International Conference on Cognitive Infocommunications (CogInfoCom)
Without the ability to decide and thus give order to a universe - that was originally a chaotic m... more Without the ability to decide and thus give order to a universe - that was originally a chaotic mass of data and phenomena with-out regularity and clear and decipherable structures - the evolution of our species would have been unthinkable. The adaptation to that universe took place on the basis of incomplete and fragmentary information, limited cognitive capacities and narrow time. That scenario selected adaptive behaviors made of fast, imperfect, but highly effective cognitive solutions: heuristics. Although these natural logic tools are commonly studied in cognitive psychology - particularly in the field of judgment and decision-making - their application in Artificial Intelligence and computer simulation of cognition is disclosing prospects for the study of decision-making processes, starting with the classification of alternatives, in search algorithms, to make decisions on the basis of available information. Aim of this paper is to show how this logic is subtended by rules of inference strictly linked to the “natural” way of reasoning. And moreover, how these inferences could constitute, in the wider AI and ICT horizon, the test bench for the development of neural network representation and learning systems for the understanding of human action.
The covid-19 lockdown forced psychotherapists to use videoconferencing psychotherapy (VCP). There... more The covid-19 lockdown forced psychotherapists to use videoconferencing psychotherapy (VCP). There is little literature on the relationship between VCP and the theoretical orientation of the psychotherapist. The aim of our research work is to explore to what extent the Italian therapists used VCP and how they experienced the change in setting during lockdown. A sample of psychotherapists completed an on-line questionnaire including data about any previous experience of remote work, information on changes in setting during lockdown and their opinions on this experience. In the second phase, a statistical analysis of the data collected was performed with SPSS. The most represented theoretical orientations are psychoanalytic, Gestalt, systemic-relational and psychodynamic. Almost all the respondents had chosen to change the setting, opting for remote work via video calls, with no differences in terms of theoretical orientation and age group. Psychotherapeutic orientation seems to affect...
Although there is a no established theory, there is no longer any doubt about the multiplicity of... more Although there is a no established theory, there is no longer any doubt about the multiplicity of the structures involved in the attentional processes. Attention is involved, in fact, in several fundamental functions: consciousness, perception, motor action, memory and so on. For several decades, the hypothesis that attention is highly variable (for extension and clarity) in terms of consciousness has been quite influential, which would range within itself in relation to its changes of state: from sleep to wakefulness, from drowsiness to twilight state of consciousness, from confusion to hyperlucidity, from dreamlike to oneiric states. More recently, other fields of considerable theoretical importance have linked attention to emotion, to affectivity or primary autonomous psychic energy or to social determinants. In this paper, we shall demonstrate how paying attention to something does not mean becoming aware of it. A series of experiments has shown that these are two distinct menta...
Topics in Intelligent Engineering and Informatics, 2018
This paper intends to clarify the complexity of the concept of Executive Functions and to show it... more This paper intends to clarify the complexity of the concept of Executive Functions and to show its relationships with cognitive, emotional and awareness dimensions. In this sense, Executive Functions cannot be considered precondictions of normal physiological functioning, when they are undamaged or, on the contrary, the cause of pathological phenomena, when they are in deficit. Although the small size of our sample does not allow us to explore completely this hypothesis, our data show that there is probably no direct relationship between Executive Functions deficiencies and psychopathological manifestations. In the light of these empirical evidences and theoretical implications, it is plausible to move from a linear interpretative model to a circular explanatory hypothesis.
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