Precise Worlds for Certain Minds: An Ecological Perspective on the Relational Self in Autism

Topoi - Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) presents a challenge to social and relational accounts of the self, precisely because it is broadly seen as a disorder impacting social relationships. Many...     

Multiscale integration: beyond internalism and externalism

Synthese - We present a multiscale integrationist interpretation of the boundaries of cognitive systems, using the Markov blanket formalism of the variational free energy principle. This...     

An integrated model for guiding the selection of treatment components for problem behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement

We evaluated the usefulness of 2 assessments to guide treatment selection for individuals whose prior functional analysis indicated that automatic reinforcement maintained their problem behavior. In the 1st assessment, we compared levels of problem behavior during a noncontingent play condition and an alone or ignore condition. In the 2nd, we assessed participants’ relative preferences for automatic reinforcement and social reinforcers in a concurrent‐operants arrangement. We used the results of these 2 assessments to assign 5 participants to a treatment based on noncontingent access to social reinforcers or to a treatment based on differential access to social reinforcers. We conducted monthly probes with the participants over 10 to 12 months to evaluate the effects of the treatment procedures. All participants showed reductions in problem behavior over this period.     

Reacting aggressively to injustice at work: a cognitive stage model

The present article develops a cognitive stage model of workplace aggression, which contends that aggressive reactions to perceived injustice are cognitively construed following three cognitive steps that include the assessment stage, the accountability stage, and the decision stage. These three cognitive stages are essential in understanding victims’ retaliatory actions against perpetrators of injustices. The model’s implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Spatial navigation: Cognitive variables involved in route retracing among an elderly population

The cognitive processes involved in route retracing are not well known. This study aims to highlight them in an elderly population in which contradictory results have been obtained, certain studies showing specific difficulties for route retracing, others not. Thirty-nine elderly subjects performed a route-learning task (forward-backward) in a garden, then completed spatial knowledge tasks and standardised cognitive tests. Results show four factors that were predictive of route retracing performance: route repetition, the pointing task, and two standardised cognitive tests, one assessing spatial working memory, and another global cognitive efficiency. According to these results, route retracing involves route and survey knowledge (i.e., egocentric and allocentric strategy), and the integration of forward-backward perspectives is underpinned by the spatial working memory. Moreover, the subjects did not make more errors in route retracing than in the route repetition task, suggesting that a real environment could compensate for a failing allocentric strategy.     

Influence of education on the benton visual retention test performance as mediated by a strategic search component

Age-related cognitive decline has been reported by several studies. However, little investigations have dealt with the effect of education on this decline. In the present study, we examined the influence of educational level on visual working memory, evaluated by the Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT in recognition format) in 829 elderly participants of the PAQUID study. A multivariate linear model suggested that the effect of education on BVRT performance was not mediated by visual discrimination abilities suggesting that it was mainly supported by better executive abilities. Moreover, the analysis of success and error location suggested that subjects with higher educational level use a more exhaustive exploration strategy during the recognition phase than subjects with lower educational level, which permit them to better perform. The ability of high educational level subjects to use more efficient strategies may participate to the 'cognitive reserve' capacity.