The symbol detachment problem

In situated and embodied approaches it is commonly assumed that the dynamics of sensorimotor engagement between an adaptive agent and its environment are crucial in understanding natural cognition. This perspective permits to address the symbol grounding problem, since the aboutness of any mental state arising during agent-environment engagement is guaranteed by their continuous coupling. However, cognitive agents are also able to formulate representations that are detached from the current state of affairs, such as expectations and goals. Moreover, they can act on their representations before—or instead of—acting directly on the environment, for example building the plan of a bridge and not directly the bridge. On the basis of representations, actions such as planning, remembering or imagining are possible that are disengaged from the current sensorimotor cycle, and often functional to future-oriented conducts. A new problem thus has to be acknowledged, the symbol detachment problem: how and why do situated agents develop representations that are detached from their current sensorimotor interaction, but nevertheless preserve grounding and aboutness? How do cognitive agents progressively acquire a range of capabilities permitting them to deal not only with the current situation but also with alternative, in particular future states of affairs? How do they develop the capability of acting on their representations instead of acting directly on the world? In a theoretical and developmental perspective, we propose that anticipation plays a crucial role in the detachment process: anticipatory representations, originally detached from the sensorimotor cycle for the sake of action control, are successively exapted for bootstrapping increasingly complex cognitive capabilities.     

Exploring classical conditioning for strengthening the links between semantic and lexical representations in pure anomia: Preliminary findings from a single case study

The same language symptom might arise at different functional loci in people with aphasia. Therefore, it is plausible that different therapeutic interventions should be adopted to approach the same difficulties in different patients. Although this point of view is still widely accepted, recently the focus has shifted from the functional locus of a rehabilitative intervention to the mechanisms of action underlying the relearning process. We maintain that both aspects should be taken into account when programming a rehabilitative intervention; furthermore, investigating relearning mechanisms might shed new light on the functional architecture of the disrupted processes. Here, we investigated, in a single case study, whether classical conditioning was a suitable relearning paradigm for targeting word‐finding difficulties in pure anomia, that is in a patient with an impairment in accessing intact output lexical representations from a spared semantic system. Using a word‐repetition task on picture presentation, we contrasted a condition in which the stimulus onset asynchrony between word and picture stimuli was well suited to produce classical conditioning with a condition in which repetition training could not benefit from this learning mechanism. Only classical conditioning training exerted a significant, long‐lasting effect on our patient's naming skill. Tentative implications of our results for the functional architecture of single‐word processing are discussed.     

Paradoxical decrease of imitation performance with age in children

Imitation development was studied in a cross-sectional design involving 174 primary-school children (aged 6–10), focusing on the effect of actions' complexity and error analysis to infer the underlying cognitive processes. Participants had to imitate the model's actions as if they were in front of a mirror (‘specularly’). Complexity varied across three levels: movements of a single limb; arm and leg of the same body side; or arm and leg of opposite body sides. While the overall error rate decreased with age, this was not true of all error categories. The rate of ‘side’ errors (using a limb of the wrong body side) paradoxically increased with age (from 9 years). However, with increasing age, the error rate also became less sensitive to the complexity of the action. This pattern is consistent with the hypothesis that older children have the working memory (WM) resources and the body knowledge necessary to imitate ‘anatomically’, which leads to additional side errors. Younger children might be paradoxically free from such interference because their WM and/or body knowledge are insufficient for anatomical imitation. Yet, their limited WM resources would prevent them from successfully managing the conflict between spatial codes involved in complex actions (e.g. moving the left arm and the right leg). We also found evidence that action side and content might be stored in separate short-term memory (STM) systems: increasing the number of sides to be encoded only affected side retrieval, but not content retrieval; symmetrically, increasing the content (number of movements) of the action only affected content retrieval, but not side retrieval. In conclusion, results suggest that anatomical imitation might interfere with specular imitation at age 9 and that STM storages for side and content of actions are separate.     

Estimating Creativity with a Multiple-Measurement Approach Within Scientific and Artistic Domains

This article presents the structure and the composition of a newly developed multifaceted test battery for the measurement of creativity within scientific and artistic domains. By integrating existing procedures for the evaluation of creativity, the new battery promises to become a comprehensive assessment of creativity, encompassing both domain-general and domain-specific components. In particular, the test battery was designed for the measurement of the 2 main stages of the creative thinking process: ideation and evaluation. The test battery also includes 2 measures of creative achievement and can be used to assess professional levels of creativity in artistic and scientific creativity, as well as everyday creativity. Because creative thinking is not an isolated phenomenon in human behavior, the battery includes the measurement of 2 constructs, intelligence and personality, both of which are highly relevant for creativity. Preliminary results from a vast administration campaign of this test battery are presented.     

The Square of Opposition: From Russell's Logic to Kant's Cosmology

In this paper, I will show to what extent we can use our modern understanding of the Square of Opposition in order to make sense of Kant's double standard solution to the cosmological antinomies. Notoriously, for Kant, both theses and antitheses of the mathematical antinomies are false, while both theses and antitheses of the dynamical antinomies are true. Kantian philosophers and interpreters (including Schopenhauer, for example) have criticized Kant's solution as artificial and prejudicial. In the paper, I do not dispute such claims, but I show that our modern understanding of the Square of Opposition enables us to more naturally deliver the result Kant was aiming at. Accordingly, the paper does not pretend to be exegetically accurate. It is an attempt to revise the antinomies with the help of standard classical logic. And although such a revision entails some re-interpretation, in the end, it will actually help to unveil some of Kant's thoughts.     

REBT in Italy: Dissemination and Integration with Constructivism and Metacognition

This paper describes and critically discusses how rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) spread among Italian cognitive psychotherapists. In the 1980s Cesare De Silvestri, with the help of Carola Schimmelpfennig, Franco Baldini, and Mario Di Pietro, brought REBT to Italy and eagerly disseminated it. In addition, De Silvestri cooperated with the two leading figures in the Italian clinical cognitive movement, Vittorio Guidano and Gianni Liotti. Guidano and Liotti applied the ABC framework to their constructivist version of cognitive therapy. Given that the large majority of Italian cognitive therapists adopted Guidano and Liotti’s approach, they all started applying the ABC framework and are still applying it today. However, Italian therapists adapted the ABC framework to their constructivist training. For example, Guidano and Liotti interpreted the ABC framework as aimed at promoting cognitive and emotional awareness in clients, while they considered the ‘disputing’ phase to be not compatible with the constructivist principles they held. They also encouraged the application of John Bowlby’s ideas to REBT and the use of life experience report techniques in the ABC. Sandra Sassaroli and Roberto Lorenzini applied George Kelly’s “laddering” technique to the ABC framework, a technique more focused on dilemmatic structures than on REBTian dysfunctional thought. Caselli investigated REBT’s influence on Adrian Wells’ metacognitive version of the ABC. Finally, Ruggiero and Ammendola have made a strong call for “back to Ellis”. This implies that any innovation should involve a more stringent and faithful application of REBT principles.