111 research outputs found
L'attenzione
No full textQuesto capitolo intende affrontare due temi su cui si sono concentrati gli sforzi piu' recenti nel campo degli studi cognitivi sull’attenzione in soggetti umani adulti. Entrambi i temi ruotano attorno alla domanda di quale sia la struttura dei processi mentali che rende possibile prestare attenzione a determinati stimoli visivi ignorandone altri. La scelta della modalita' sensoriale d’elezione per questi studi, la visione, non dovrebbe sorprendere. I processi visivi sono di gran lunga quelli piu' studiati e conosciuti nella comunita' scientifica degli psicologi, neuropsicologi e neuroscienziati cognitivi. Studiare l’attenzione facendo uso di stimolazione visiva implica inoltre la possibilita' di utilizzare apparecchiature elettroniche che garantiscono un grado di controllo sulle modalita' di gestione degli esperimenti che, a tutt’oggi, non trova riscontro in campi d’indagine in cui si studiano processi mentali elicitati da stimoli presentati attraverso modalita' sensoriali diverse
Sidedness coding is stimulus but not response dependent
No full textThe aim of the present paper is to provide further evidence
for an effect related to early hand recognition processing, i.e. the sidedness effect (Ottoboni, Tessari, Cubelli & Umiltà, 2005). Little is known about the sidedness effect as it has only been reported in relation to a single set of stimuli and responses. For this reason, we decided to investigate the role of the posture of the hand stimulus in Experiment 1 by presenting pictures of hands rotated upside-down, and, in Experiment 2, the role of response hand posture by moving the response plane behind the participants’ back. The results indicate that the sidedness effect manifests itself in an inverted form when the stimuli, but not the response plane, are rotated. We conclude that ultimately the effect must be based on a structural representation of the body and not on the body schema because of its dependence on stimulus posture but not on response posture
Environmental factors and teenagers’ personalities: The role of personal and familial Socio-Cultural Level
No full textEnvironmental (e.g., socio-cultural context), individual (e.g., genetic makeup), and interpersonal (e.g., caregiver–children relationships) factors can play a crucial role in shaping the development of the teenagers’ personality. In this study, we focused on the Socio-Cultural Level that designates the set of preferences, knowledge, and behaviors that characterize an individual’s way of life and depend on his or her cultural, social, and economic resources. We studied the relationship between Socio-Cultural Level(personal, maternal, and paternal) and Big Five personality traits of 191 teenagers living in the same geo-graphical area. Results showed that Socioeconomic Status (i.e., parental education level and occupational prestige), which is the only dimension generally measured in investigations on Socio-Cultural Level, was not related with personality. In contrast, Cultural Capital and Social Capital were associated with different personality traits. Personal Cultural Capital was related to Openness to experience of boys and girls and to Extraversion of girls; personal Social Capital was related to Extraversion of girls, Emotional stability of boys, and Agreeableness of both boys and girls; maternal Cultural Capital was associated with Openness to experience of daughters. Overall, the personality of teenagers was more related to their own Cultural and Social Capital than to the Cultural and Social Capital of their parents. Moreover, the relationship between Cultural Capital and Social Capital of boys/girls and of fathers/mothers was moderate in strength. It seems that parents influence the development of personality of their teenagers indirectly, their Socio-Cultural Level shaping the Socio-Cultural Level of their sons and daughters
Development and validation of the Scale of Cultural Capital
No full textCultural capital refers to the knowledge and use of cultural codes that are relevant in the community wherein people live. A valid scale to measure all the dimensions of cultural capital is not available. In this paper, exploratory, confirmatory, and multigroup confirmatory factor analyses were performed using independent samples of adults to select the best items and to investigate their factorial structure and invariance across sex and occupation prestige. We found three interrelated factors made up of 14 items: participating in groups and associations, consuming cultural events, and carrying out activities requiring expertise or creativity. This three-factor model exhibited partial factor mean invariance for sex and partial factor variance/covariance invariance for occupational prestige and convergent/divergent validity for measures of bonding and bridging social capital. The Scale of Cultural Capital is a useful tool for assessing the cultural capital in experimental and professional settings and for developing an evidence-based theoretical model
Adaptation of the personal social capital brief scale for the measurement of the offline and online social capital in Italy
No full textSocial Capital refers to the resources associated with durable and trustworthy social connections. Social Capital can be developed through offline and online relationships. It can be distinguished between cognitive Social Capital (perception of trustworthiness, reciprocity, and support) and structural Social Capital (density of social networks and membership, and participation in groups and associations). It can also be distinguished between bonding Social Capital (resources associated with informal networks; i.e., neighbors, friends, colleagues) and bridging Social Capital (resources associated with formal networks; i.e., community service, cultural, religious or political groups/associations). The different forms and dimensions of Social Capital may have distinct effects on health outcomes and self-rated health. Therefore, public health researchers need valid and reliable instruments to investigate Social Capital. However, valid instruments including the measurement of online Social Capital are not available. The Personal Social Capital Scale aims to assess bonding and bridging Social Capital by means of cognitive and structural items. In the present investigation, three studies were carried out (N = 1149) to adapt the Personal Social Capital Scale to develop the Personal On-Offline Social Capital Brief Scale, a brief scale for measuring online and offline bonding and bridging Social Capital in Italy. Factorial structure and convergent/divergent validity in relation to scales measuring constructs with different patterns of relationships with bonding and bridging Social Capital (i.e., social support and stress; sense of community and health) were also investigated. Overall, these studies provide evidence of reliability and validity related to the internal structure of the Personal On-Offline Social Capital Brief Scale in measuring online and offline bonding and bridging Social Capital and discriminating them from similar constructs. This scale is a useful instrument for planning public health interventions
Measuring social desirability in psychology: Consequences and control practices
No full textSocial desirability is one of the most common sources of bias affecting the validity of experimental and survey research findings. Indeed, social desirability, or the propensity to give untrue answers to appear as a socially deserving person (Paulhus, 1991), can alter the measurement of psychological constructs with self-report questionnaires. Two different strategies can be adopted to control social desirability: 1) prevent or reduce, 2) detect and measure. The first strategy involves, for example, the use of forced-choice or randomized items; the second strategy includes scales for identifying and excluding potential simulators. A combination of prevention and detection methods offers the best choice available for controlling social desirability bias. Psychology researchers usually use prevention methods and only rarely include a scale for measuring SD in their research. The present work aims to describe the most widely used social desirability scales and show how the detection and exclusion of potential simulators can modify the results of psychological studies
Misurazione del livello socio-culturale: nuova strategia, nuove scale
No full textIl livello socio-culturale designa le preferenze, le conoscenze e i comportamenti che caratterizzano il modo di vivere di un singolo individuo o degli adulti che formano una famiglia e dipende dalle loro risorse culturali, sociali ed economiche. Il livello socio-culturale è un costrutto complesso che riguarda diversi ambiti del sapere, ma non sempre è stato adeguatamente definito e misurato in tutte le sue dimensioni. In ambito psicologico, spesso è rilevato con il livello di istruzione e il tipo di professione dell’individuo. In realtà, il livello socio-culturale è un costrutto multidimensionale che comprende non solo lo Status Socio-Economico (SES), di cui istruzione e professione sono indicatori, ma anche il Capitale Sociale e il Capitale Culturale. Il Capitale Sociale denota le risorse associate alle relazioni di fiducia con persone e gruppi/associazioni della propria comunità. Il Capitale Culturale riguarda la conoscenza e l'uso dei codici culturali considerati rilevanti nella comunità di appartenenza. Per ciascuna delle tre dimensioni SES, Capitale Sociale e Capitale saranno presentati modelli teorici, indicatori e scale di misura valide e innovative
- …
