34 research outputs found
The influence of the social context on inhibitory control abilities and creativity during the development
No full textAfin de comprendre la spécificité de la période adolescente, le modèle du double système postule l'existence d'un déséquilibre entre la relative maturité des structures cérébrales liées à la motivation et la relative immaturité des structures à l'origine du contrôle exécutif, durant l'adolescence. De nombreuses études se sont intéressées à l'influence de divers contextes sociaux (e.g., effet de la présence de pairs et d'adultes) dans les domaines du raisonnement et de la prise de décision. De manière surprenante, peu d'études ont tenté de comprendre si le contexte social pouvait faciliter (ou contraindre) le contrôle inhibiteur et l'idéation créative, ni si l'effet du contexte social sur ces processus changeait avec l'âge. Cela semble d'autant plus important, sachant que l'évaluation sociale influence la capacité des adultes à inhiber des stratégies non pertinentes, mais dominantes. Ainsi, les objectifs de la présente thèse étaient 1) d'examiner si le contrôle inhibiteur chaud, (i.e., dans des contextes affectivement chargés), ou froid, (i.e., dans des contextes affectivement neutres), augmente ou diminue sous évaluation sociale chez les adolescents et les adultes, 2) d'étudier comment un contexte social peut influencer la génération d'idées créatives chez les enfants, les adolescents et les adultes, et 3) d'évaluer l'effet d'une nouvelle forme d'intervention pédagogique ayant pour but de développer la créativité des enfants à l'école. Les résultats de l'étude 1 et de l'étude 2 ont révélé que l'évaluation sociale a facilité les capacités de contrôle inhibiteur chaud chez les adolescents, mais pas les capacités de contrôle inhibiteur froid. Cependant aucun effet significatif du contexte social n'a été révélé chez les adultes. Ces résultats permettent d'étendre notre compréhension de l'influence favorable du contexte socio-émotionnel sur le contrôle inhibiteur chaud à l'adolescence. De plus, les résultats de l'étude 3 ont montré que l'évaluation sociale a un effet opposé chez les enfants et les adolescent. En effet, la présence d'un adulte évaluateur a stimulé la créativité chez les adolescents, alors que l'évaluation sociale a diminué l'idéation créative chez les enfants. Dans une quatrième étude, nous avons également démontré qu'une nouvelle intervention pédagogique conçue spécifiquement pour surmonter les biais sociaux et cognitifs lors de l'idéation créative, pouvait stimuler la créativité des enfants en classe. L'ensemble de ces résultats ont un fort impact non seulement pour la recherche fondamentale mais également dans le domaine de l'éducation.To understand the specificity of adolescents, the dual systems model posits an imbalance between the relative maturity of the brain structures in charge of incentive-based behaviors and the relative immaturity of the brain structures underlying executive control during adolescence. Considerable efforts have been devoted to identifying the influence of social contexts (e.g., effect of the presence of peers or adults) in the domains of reasoning and decision making. However, there are to date few study that have examined whether social contexts may facilitate (or constrain) inhibitory control and creative ideation and whether the effect of social contexts on these processes changes with age. The later appears to be particularly important given that social evaluation influences adults' ability to inhibit irrelevant, but prepotent, strategies. The aims of the present thesis were 1) to examine whether in hot, (i.e., affectively charged contexts), or cool, (i.e., affectively neutral contexts), inhibitory control abilities increase or decrease under social evaluation in adolescents and adults, 2) to study how social context may influence creative idea generation in children, adolescents and adults, and 3) to assess the effect of new forms of pedagogical intervention aiming at developing children's creativity at school. Findings of the Studies 1 and 2 revealed that social evaluation facilitated hot but not cool inhibitory control abilities among adolescents, but that it had no significant effect on young adults. These present findings expand our understanding of the favorable influence of the socio-emotional context on hot inhibitory control during adolescence. Furthermore, results of the Study 3 showed that the social evaluation has an opposite impact in children and adolescents. Indeed, the presence of an adult evaluator stimulated creativity in adolescents, whereas such social evaluation decreased creative ideation in children. In a fourth study, we also provided evidence that a new pedagogical intervention, specifically designed to overcome both social and cognitive biases during creative ideation, can stimulate children's creativity in the classroom. Taken together, these results have important implications not only for fundamental research but also for education
Femtosecond pulsed laser microscopy: a new tool to assess the in vitro delivered dose of carbon nanotubes in cell culture experiments
No full textBackground In vitro models are widely used in nanotoxicology. In these assays, a careful documentation of the fraction of nanomaterials that reaches the cells, i.e. the in vitro delivered dose, is a critical element for the interpretation of the data. The in vitro delivered dose can be measured by quantifying the amount of material in contact with the cells, or can be estimated by applying particokinetic models. For carbon nanotubes (CNTs), the determination of the in vitro delivered dose is not evident because their quantification in biological matrices is difficult, and particokinetic models are not adapted to high aspect ratio materials. Here, we applied a rapid and direct approach, based on femtosecond pulsed laser microscopy (FPLM), to assess the in vitro delivered dose of multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs). Methods and results We incubated mouse lung fibroblasts (MLg) and differentiated human monocytic cells (THP-1) in 96-well plates for 24 h with a set of different MWCNTs. The cytotoxic response to the MWCNTs was evaluated using the WST-1 assay in both cell lines, and the pro-inflammatory response was determined by measuring the release of IL-1 beta by THP-1 cells. Contrasting cell responses were observed across the MWCNTs. The sedimentation rate of the different MWCNTs was assessed by monitoring turbidity decay with time in cell culture medium. These turbidity measurements revealed some differences among the MWCNT samples which, however, did not parallel the contrasting cell responses. FPLM measurements in cell culture wells revealed that the in vitro delivered MWCNT dose did not parallel sedimentation data, and suggested that cultured cells contributed to set up the delivered dose. The FPLM data allowed, for each MWCNT sample, an adjustment of the measured cytotoxicity and IL-1 beta responses to the delivered doses. This adjusted in vitro activity led to another toxicity ranking of the MWCNT samples as compared to the unadjusted activities. In macrophages, this adjusted ranking was consistent with existing knowledge on the impact of surface MWCNT functionalization on cytotoxicity, and might better reflect the intrinsic activity of the MWCNT samples. Conclusion The present study further highlights the need to estimate the in vitro delivered dose in cell culture experiments with nanomaterials. The FPLM measurement of the in vitro delivered dose of MWCNTs can enrich experimental results, and may refine our understanding of their interactions with cells.This work was supported by the Fonds de la Recherche scientifique - FNRS [Convention de recherche ERA-NET - No R.50.17.16.F], the Flemish Scientific Research Foundation [FWO; HB: 12P6819N], the U.S.A. National Science Foundation [grant CBET-1530505], and the German BMBF (FKZ: 03XP0063).Lison, D (corresponding author), Catholic Univ Louvain, Louvain Ctr Toxicol & Appl Pharmacol LTAP, Inst Rech Expt & Clin IREC, Brussels, Belgium.
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How does social pressure influence creativity in children, adolescents and adults ?
No full textInternational audienc
Le TKQ_num : un nouvel outil d'évaluation des conceptions temporelles de 6 à 11 ans
No full textInternational audienceLes connaissances temporelles sont indispensables aux apprentissages scolaires. Notre article présente la validation d'un outil numérique, le TKQ_num pour évaluer ces connaissances temporelles.Si les résultats obtenus sur 108 élèves de la Grande Section Maternelle au CM2 confirment ceux obtenus avec une version papier antérieure, la version numérique favorise aussi l'accessibilité de l'outil permettant de comparer les scores à ceux d'enfants de même âge.</div
How the social pressure influences creativity in children and adults ?
No full textInternational audienc
À l’intersection entre mouvement et institution : enjeux, dynamiques et effets de l’institutionnalisation d’un espace régional de la cause des femmes
No full textC’est à partir d’une mobilisation en faveur du protocole de Maputo et dans un contexte d’ouverture institutionnelle qu’un plaidoyer s’est institutionnalisé auprès de l’Union africaine sous l’égide de la campagne Gender is on my agenda (GIMAC), une rencontre consultative sur le genre précédant chaque sommet des chefs d’État. À la lumière de la notion d’« espace [régional] de la cause des femmes », l’auteure expose la genèse de ce plaidoyer institutionnel et ses effets.A mobilization for the Maputo protocol taking place in an institutionally open context has led to the institutionnalization of an advocacy beyond the African Union. It is a pre-summit consultative meeting on gender mainstreaming before each Head of States meeting, called the « Gender is on my Agenda » campaign (GIMAC). By mobilizing the notion of « regional space of the cause of women », the author presents the study of this institutional advocacy and its effects.Es a partir de una movilización del Protocolo de Maputo y en un contexto de apertura institucional que la defensa se ha institucionalizado a la Unión Africana en el marco de la campaña Gender is on my agenda (GIMAC), una reunión de consulta sobre el género precediendo a cada cumbre de jefes de Estado. A la luz del concepto de « espacio regional de la causa de las mujeres », este artículo está dedicado a la génesis de esta defensa institucional y de sus efectos
The lost streams of New Westminster project
No full textA “lost” stream is one that no longer flows along the surface and its natural drainage has been altered by humans usually by covering over, putting it into a pipe or diverting its location. We can’t see them. It’s very likely that there were originally several or perhaps many streams running down the slopes of New Westminster. Some would have been intermittent, running only when it rained heavily, but dry most of the time. Others would have flowed year-round. By using multiple sources of information and avenues of research, we are forming a picture of New Westminster’s historic landscape, and bringing stories of the community’s relationship to the local water sources to light.
Early maps prepared by the Royal Engineers don’t indicate the presence of streams. Their maps showed the future plans for the “Royal City” and streams were likely perceived as temporary obstructions to their grand schemes, but nothing that couldn’t be “engineered” by these master planners and builders.
We have gathered dozens of maps from as early as 1859 up to the modern day. Using the noted locations of bridges, ravines, and even the city water system, these maps help to pinpoint the locations of the city’s streams, and how city planners and engineers adapted the streets and infrastructure around them.
The fire of September 1898 led to the compilation of a series of maps of the City, primarily to show the building assets of the City, for fire insurance purposes. These are known as the Goad’s Fire Atlases which were developed by the Charles E. Goad Company of Montreal. This company prepared maps for over 1300 communities across Canada. The first Goad’s map for New Westminster was prepared in 1897 and updated several times over a 60 year period. Interestingly, these maps show Glenbrook Creek, Brunette River and several ravines. No other surface streams are indicated.
One of the earliest topographical maps we found was published in 1949 by the Canadian government, based on survey information compiled in the late 1930’s by the Provincial Government. Only the Brunette River is shown on the topographical map, but the contours show the general location of Glenbrook Ravine and where the stream would have been located. Aerial photography of New Westminster gives us a wider scope of the city and how the landscape changed over the 20th century. Collected by the federal and provincial governments starting in the 1930’s, these images help contextualize the information found in the historical record. There are numerous old photographs that show bridges in the downtown, crossing ravines and presumably streams, however, photographs that look down into a ravine or stream are very rare. Therefore, we are left to surmise that the ravines did contain streams, much like the remnant stream within the lower portion of Glenbrook Ravine. Written records can provide detailed information as well as interesting anecdotes about the city’s history related to its water systems. Governmental records include projects to build water mains and fill in ravines, while newspaper articles and diary entries provide individual stories of people and the environment.</p
Rwanda. À travers nous l'humanité de Marie-France Collard : Du théâtre au documentaire
No full textRwanda. Through us, humanity (2005), a movie by Marie-France Collard, follows on from the play Rwanda 94, a project in which she tool part as a author and videographer. Showcased in 2000, the play arises questions about memory, representation, and commitment. The documentary was carried out during artist collective Groupov's tour in Kigaly on the occasion of the commemoration of the genocide's tenth anniversary. It brings those topics up again, gets back to the reception of the play by the Rwandan audience and, in a broader way, to a country in mourning
How Does Explicit Versus Implicit Risk Information Influence Adolescent Risk-Taking Engagement?
No full textInternational audienceAdolescents have been shown to be more likely to engage in risky behaviors in daily life. Many studies have indicated that adolescents could make advantageous choices when they receive explicit information but could fail to choose advantageously when they are not informed about risks. The current study aimed to examine the influence of explicit risk information (i.e., when risk information is directly available) versus implicit risk information (i.e., when risk information has to be learned from feedback) on risk-taking engagement, in order to clarify whether the enhanced risk-taking observed in decision making under ambiguity in adolescents results from either a greater exploration of ambiguous situations (i.e., a higher ambiguity tolerance) or a specific difficulty associated with learning based on previous choices' outcomes. Adolescents and young adults completed a new adaptation of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task. They were required to accumulate as many points as possible by inflating balloons associated with variable break points and avoiding explosions. This adaptation involved a manipulation of the information level with two conditions, an " informed " condition and a " noninformed " condition, in which the participants had to learn the matching of colors with balloons' resistances based on feedback. The results demonstrated that providing explicit risk information allows adolescents to be as efficient as adults at the end of the game. In contrast, adolescents failed to adjust risk-taking to the balloon resistance in the noninformed condition. These findings critically suggest that this failure reflects a specific impairment of feedback-based learning ability but not a global excess of risk-taking during adolescence
