1,721,028 research outputs found
Conceptual Information on Objects' Locations.
No full textAccording to traditional views, basic and subordinate concepts elicit perceptual information, superordinate concepts abstract information. Two experiments showed that also superordinate concepts activate perceptual and contextual information. In Experiment 1 participants evaluated the adequacy of Scene- and Object-like locations ascribed to basic and superordinate concepts. Superordinate concepts were judged faster when paired with Scene-like locations, where many exemplars can coexist, than with Object-like locations. The results were replicated and extended in the second experiment with a location production task. Theoretical accounts for the results are discussed
How abstract is risk for workers? Expertise, context and introspection in abstract concepts
Get PDFTwo studies were performed to test whether abstract concepts are grounded in experience and activate introspective/linguistic information. In Study 1, four groups of participants, each with different expertise in the domain of safety and security at the workplace (S&S), defined abstract concepts belonging to the S&S domain and differing in degree of abstractness. The definitions included mainly situations, confirming grounding of abstract concepts. In Study 2 the task was performed by students with no experience of S&S. The definitions were modulated by participants’ expertise; the role of introspection increased with more abstract concepts. Results support embodied theories on abstract concept
Embodied Cognition Over the Lifespan: Theoretical Issues and Implications for Applied Settings.
No full textWhile Embodied Cognition has now been accepted as mainstream in Cognitive
Science, the study of its potential contribution to understanding child developemnt
and ageing, as well as its potential applications, is still in its infancy. This collection
of articles explores the contribution of Embodied Cognition to studying the lifespan
and potential applied fields. The contributions are theoretical and empirical and offer
an important framework for future research and its applications
Multisensory Perception, Verbal, Visuo-spatial and Motor Working Memory Modulation After a Single Open- or Closed-Skill Exercise Session in Children
No full textPhysical activity presents clear benefits for children’s cognition. This study examined the effect of a single session of open- and closed-skill exercise on multisensory perception, i.e. the ability to appropriately merge inputs from different sensory modalities, and on working memory (verbal, visuo-spatial and motor working memory) in 51 children (aged 6–8 years). Using a semi-randomised pre-post design, participants completed a range of cognitive tasks immediately before and after an exercise session or a classroom sedentary activity. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the three groups (open-skill, n = 16; closed-skill, n = 16; classroom activity, n = 19). Exercise, but not usual classroom activity, improved children’s multisensory perception, with no difference between exercise types. Results also revealed that a single open-skill session produced verbal working memory (digit span) benefits; a closed-skill exercise session benefitted motor working memory. While the relatively small number of participants should be acknowledged as a limitation, these findings contribute to the emerging evidence for selective cognitive benefits of exercise and show, for the first time in children, that multisensory processing sensitivity is improved by exercise
Flourishing as a highly sensitive person: a mixed method study on the role of nature connectedness and chaotic home environment
No full textIntroduction: Theories of Environmental Sensitivity postulate that those who are highly sensitive thrive in favourable contexts and are more disadvantaged by unfavourable ones; however, negative outcomes, instead of positive, are more often investigated. In this study, instead, we focus on human flourishing and what promotes it or hinders it. Recent literature shows that those who are highly sensitive are more connected with nature, and nature connectedness is known to confer psychological benefits. On the contrary, a chaotic home environment is associated with decreased well-being. We hypothesise that a chaotic home environment will negatively impact flourishing, particularly for those who are highly sensitive, while being connected with nature will have a more positive effect on them. Middle and older adulthood are less investigated stages of life. Methods: 856 participants aged 40+ were surveyed on their level of sensory processing sensitivity (SPS), flourishing, current chaos in the home, and nature connectedness. A subsample of 12 highly sensitive people were then interviewed to better understand the role of these dimensions in flourishing as a highly sensitive person. Results: The results from the quantitative analysis revealed that flourishing was positively associated with nature connectedness and age and negatively with higher SPS. Nature connectedness significantly moderated the relationship between sensitivity /and flourishing, while the level of chaos did not. This interaction was not significant in the youngest (40–49 years) cohort. Qualitative data from interviews with 12 participants provided deeper insights into the challenges faced by highly sensitive individuals, including emotional reactivity and feelings of being different, exacerbated by stressors such as noise and conflict at home. Participants reported significant benefits from nature. Discussion: Overall, the results showed that connecting with nature significantly contributes to flourishing in highly sensitive individuals, particularly in middle to older age. The findings support the potential of future nature-based interventions to promote flourishing in highly sensitive people
Abstract Concepts and Aging: An Embodied and Grounded Perspective
Get PDFHow do we represent abstract concepts, as “justice” and “phantasy”? This issue has become hotly debated within embodied and grounded cognition views (for reviews: Pecher et al., 2011; Dove, 2016; Borghi et al., 2017). It is in fact unclear how such views can explain how we represent concepts that do not have single concrete referents and are rather detached from sensory experience (Barsalou, 2003; Binder, 2016). In spite of the increasing interest for this issue, to date evidence on abstract concepts across the lifespan is limited. Assuming that the representation of abstract concepts changes from adulthood to older age, in this paper we discuss how a new embodied and grounded proposal, the Words As social Tools (WAT) view (Borghi and Binkofski, 2014), can explain how abstract concepts are represented by older individuals. More specifically we will advance hypotheses on abstract concepts in aging focusing on WAT, and reinterpret previous findings in light of it. We propose that WAT can account for existing findings and provide a suitable framework to test conceptual knowledge in older adult
A Dynamic Approach to Climate Resilience in Ageing
No full textClimate resilience in ageing is a vastly underexplored matter. International policies, such as from WHO and the European Commission, mention climate resilience as well as healthy and active ageing, but not in an integrative way, missing out on opportunities to build synergies between these two strategic pathways. Chronic and acute climate changes impact on the mental wellbeing of ageing individuals. There is increasing demand to deal with climate disasters and/or ongoing experiences of environmental change. Psychologically, this may require dealing with trauma, it may lead to solastalgia or climate/ecological grief, and call for routine changes and flexible approaches to daily life. We propose that the learning on ageing well, which goes beyond healthy and active ageing, should be considered in climate resilience, leading to approaching this topic by valuing ageing as a dynamic life period, with transitions, and intra and inter-individual differences. The dynamic relationship of the individual with close and broad societal ties, as well as the physical and infrastructural context contribute to building or hindering resilience. Key to individual climate resilience is for society to tackle ageing-stereotypes within the climate change debate and to embrace the potential contribution of older people to climate mitigation and adaptation actions
One bout of open skill exercise improves cross-modal perception and immediate memory in healthy older adults who habitually exercise.
Get PDFOne single bout of exercise can be associated with positive effects on cognition, due to physiological changes associated with muscular activity, increased arousal, and training of cognitive skills during exercise. While the positive effects of life-long physical activity on cognitive ageing are well demonstrated, it is not well established whether one bout of exercise is sufficient to register such benefits in older adults. The aim of this study was to test the effect of one bout of exercise on two cognitive processes essential to daily life and known to decline with ageing: audio-visual perception and immediate memory. Fifty-eight older adults took part in a quasi-experimental design study and were divided into three groups based on their habitual activity (open skill exercise (mean age = 69.65, SD = 5.64), closed skill exercise, N = 18, 94% female; sedentary activity-control group, N = 21, 62% female). They were then tested before and after their activity (duration between 60 and 80 minutes). Results showed improvement in sensitivity in audio-visual perception in the open skill group and improvements in one of the measures of immediate memory in both exercise groups, after controlling for baseline differences including global cognition and health. These findings indicate that immediate benefits for cross-modal perception and memory can be obtained after open skill exercise. However, improvements after closed skill exercise may be limited to memory benefits. Perceptual benefits are likely to be associated with arousal, while memory benefits may be due to the training effects provided by task requirements during exercise. The respective role of qualitative and quantitative differences between these activities in terms of immediate cognitive benefits should be further investigated. Importantly, the present results present the first evidence for a modulation of cross-modal perception by exercise, providing a plausible avenue for rehabilitation of cross-modal perception deficits, which are emerging as a significant contributor to functional decline in ageing
The temperament trait of environmental sensitivity is associated with connectedness to nature and affinity to animals
Get PDFHeightened sensitivity to the environment characterizes approximately 30% of the population and is associated with a higher reactivity, positive or negative, to the surrounding environment. Little attention has been devoted to study the association between this trait and the response to nature and animals, despite the potential benefits of the natural environment for highly sensitive individuals. In the present two studies (N = 241, 83% female, age M = 37.43, SD = 13.5; N = 144, 92% female, age M = 39.9, SD = 13.1) we assessed the association of sensory processing sensitivity (SPS), measured with the Highly Sensitive Person scale, with nature and animal affinity. In both studies, we found SPS to predict higher connectedness to nature. In addition, whilst there was no association between high SPS and attachment to pets in Study 1, in Study 2 SPS was predictive of a higher animal affinity, assessed in terms of stewardship and protection of animals. The present studies provide the first quantitative empirical evidence that highly sensitive individuals are more connected with nature and animals, therefore opening the possibility to explore nature based solutions to improve the quality of life in individuals scoring high in SPS
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