Multiple-criteria decision aid: Some epistemological considerations

This paper attempts to analyse in a critical way some essential aspects of the multiple-criteria decision aid (MCDA) methodology using modern epistemological instruments. Particular attention is paid to the problem of information precision and uncertainty and to the distinction considered essential between the concepts of choice and decision. Since it is maintained that the respect of subjectivity in decision aid is of fundamental importance, an analysis follows of the main approaches by which MCDA methods attempt to take the subjective component of the decision maker into account, indicating some characteristics which may be desirable in an MCDA model for this purpose.     

Neuropathological determinants of acquired attention disorders in traumatic brain injury

Attentional disorders are frequently mentioned neuropsychological sequalae following traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, little is known about the recovery of attention, or the determinants of variability of attentional functioning following TBI. The present study was undertaken to examine (1) the extent to which attentional disorders are present among patients at various chronicity stages following TBI, (2) differences in performance on a number of measures of attention as a function of different clinical-neuropathological syndromes. A sample of 70 TBI subjects were rated according to different clinical-neuropathological syndromes and neuropsychologically evaluated. The results suggest that TBI patients of different chronicity stages, with significantly different lengths of coma, did not significantly differ in terms of the type or severity of attentional disorders. However, when the same patients were classified according to clinical-neuropathological syndromes, significant differences in the severity and type of attentional disorders were evident. The findings were interpreted to suggest that typical indices of severity of TBI do not correlate with the severity and type of attentional disorders and that qualitative aspects of the subjects' pathology may be more important in determining the nature of the attentional disorders.     

Do Feelings of Loneliness Mediate the Relationship between Sociocognitive Understanding and Depressive Symptoms During Late Childhood and Early Adolescence?

An interesting association between sociocognitive understanding and depression has been documented in clinical populations, with high levels of depression apparently related to theory-of-mind deficits. Yet no research has so far investigated this relationship among typically developing preadolescents. Therefore, the authors' main aim was to extend previous findings to the general population and to a younger age group. A secondary aim was to explore the role of feelings of loneliness referring to the previous link. A sociocognitive understanding task followed by self-report questionnaires on depressive symptoms and perceived loneliness were administered to a sample of 326 students attending primary and middle schools. Mediation analyses revealed that feelings of loneliness mediated the effect of sociocognitive understanding on depressive symptoms, but only among girls. In boys, depressive symptoms were directly linked to sociocognitive skills. In girls, on the contrary, the relationship between sociocognitive skills and depressive symptoms was significantly mediated by feelings of loneliness. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

The role of ingroup threat and conservative ideologies on prejudice against immigrants in two samples of Italian adults

This research investigated the relationship among perception of ingroup threats (realistic and symbolic), conservative ideologies (social dominance orientation [SDO] and right-wing authoritarianism [RWA]), and prejudice against immigrants. Data were collected with a cross-sectional design in two samples: non-student Italian adults (n = 223) and healthcare professionals (n = 679). Results were similar in both samples and indicated that symbolic and realistic threats, as well as SDO and RWA, positively and significantly predicted anti-immigrant prejudice. Moreover, the model considering SDO and RWA as mediators of threats’ effects on prejudice showed a better fit than the model in which ingroup threats mediated the effects of SDO and RWA on prejudice against immigrants. Accordingly, SDO and RWA partially mediated the effect of both symbolic and realistic threats, which maintained a significant effect on prejudice against immigrants, however.     

Psychological distress and coping in nasopharyngeal cancer: an explorative study in Western Europe

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is the head and neck cancer with the greatest impact on patients’ quality of life. The aim of this explorative study is to investigate the psychological distress, coping strategies and quality of life of NPC patients in the post-treatment observation period. Twenty-one patients disease-free for at least two years were assessed with a medical and a psycho-oncological evaluation. Clinically relevant depressive symptoms (CRD) were present in 23.8% of patients and 33.3% reported clinically relevant anxiety symptoms (CRA). Patients with CRD and CRA showed a significantly higher score in the use of hopelessness/helplessness and anxious preoccupation coping strategies and a worse quality of life. Even in the post-treatment period, about a quarter of patients showed CRD and CRA. Results showed that patients with high anxiety or depressive symptoms seem to use dysfunctional coping strategies, such as hopelessness and anxious preoccupation, more than patients with lower levels of anxiety and depression. The use of these styles of coping thus seems to be associated to a higher presence of CRA or CRD symptomatology and to a worse quality of life.     

Unrepressed unconscious and unsaid in addictive symptomatology

The aim of this work is to understand, from a developmental-relational perspective, the emotional nature of addictive symptoms. Many studies have shown that addictions are linked to traumatic emotions that, once activated, could cause a feeling of emotional confusion that in the most severe cases could be connected to the fear that the Self might disintegrate. Before understanding the relationship between dissociation and addictions, it is essential to distinguish disintegration (désagrégation, in the language of Pierre Janet) and dissociation. Indeed, if the disintegration is a structural and pathological condition of the personality caused by early and chronic emotional traumatic memories, the dissociation is a defensive reaction to a stress: this reaction can be normal (flexible and adequate) or pathological (rigid and inadequate). Thus, addictive behaviours could be associated to a dissociative reaction in individuals with a structural dissociation of the personality (désagrégation). This disintegration would be linked to traumatic emotions: unconscious and unsymbolised emotions. On the unconscious nature of these emotions, the author of this paper underlines the role of the unrepressed unconscious, which in addicts would seem to be impaired.     

Improving left spatial neglect through music scale playing

The study assessed whether the auditory reference provided by a music scale could improve spatial exploration of a standard musical instrument keyboard in right‐brain‐damaged patients with left spatial neglect. As performing music scales involves the production of predictable successive pitches, the expectation of the subsequent note may facilitate patients to explore a larger extension of space in the left affected side, during the production of music scales from right to left. Eleven right‐brain‐damaged stroke patients with left spatial neglect, 12 patients without neglect, and 12 age‐matched healthy participants played descending scales on a music keyboard. In a counterbalanced design, the participants' exploratory performance was assessed while producing scales in three feedback conditions: With congruent sound, no‐sound, or random sound feedback provided by the keyboard. The number of keys played and the timing of key press were recorded. Spatial exploration by patients with left neglect was superior with congruent sound feedback, compared to both Silence and Random sound conditions. Both the congruent and incongruent sound conditions were associated with a greater deceleration in all groups. The frame provided by the music scale improves exploration of the left side of space, contralateral to the right hemisphere, damaged in patients with left neglect. Performing a scale with congruent sounds may trigger at some extent preserved auditory and spatial multisensory representations of successive sounds, thus influencing the time course of space scanning, and ultimately resulting in a more extensive spatial exploration. These findings offer new perspectives also for the rehabilitation of the disorder.     

Transformation of flow in rehabilitation: The role of advanced communication technologies

Authentic rehabilitation requires the active participation of patients and their involvement with opportunities for action and development. Within this framework, in this article we outline the possibility of using two emerging computing and communication technologies—ambient intelligence (AmI) and virtual reality (VR)—for a new breed of rehabilitative and clinical applications based on a strategy defined astransformation of flow. Transformation of flow is a person’s ability to exploit an optimal (flow) experience to identify and use new and unexpected psychological resources as sources of involvement. We identify the feeling ofpresence—the feeling of being in a world that exists outside oneself—as the theoretical link between the technology and rehabilitation. AmI and VR are used to trigger broad empowerment processes induced by a strong sense of presence, leading to greater agency and control over one’s actions and environment.