Beyond The ‘Untold’ Encountering Autism: Situated Insights On Ways To Enable Participation In Design

The number of people who experience autism is constantly increasing. In 2020, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention determined that, every year, approximately 1 out of 54 children is diagnosed with the autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the last years, the number of research and studies dedicated to children with autism has increased; however, scarce attention was paid to research on adults with autism, particularly those on the severe end of the spectrum (low-functioning autism), who have limited verbal abilities and non-normative communication. Consequences of this include issues of social inclusion, lack of services, work opportunities, social and civil rights, to mention a few, which are not yet sufficiently explored nor implemented for this specific group of people. This thesis employs Participatory Design to explore novel ways to engage with people on the autistic spectrum, in the attempt to understand what processes and participatory dynamics become enacted in acknowledging them as equal, valuable presences in the constitution of our collective existence and society. In particular, the research looks at processes and activities that can lead to a collaboration between designers and adults with severe autism and non-normative communication abilities, and their active participation within the research process. By theoretically drawing from traditions of Feminist Theory and Participatory Design, this thesis considers one single case study, where collaboration with the participant is achieved by means of a situated approach to design research. My standpoint and philosophical positioning here are to acknowledge that there are multiple realities through which one can make sense of the world: this research envisions that each person constructs her or his own reality through their personal experiences. Such philosophical perspective aims at emphasising and valuing subjectivity, and the consequent, intrinsic partiality that constitute our human experience. Personalised and situated research objects are also used across the thesis as methodological elements, oriented to explore the potential of triggering participation, crossing the boundaries between different communication abilities and achieving mutual understanding between designer and participant. The contribution to knowledge provided from this research is three fold: first, it provides new insights about the creation of research objects that result from a situated and process-oriented approach to Participatory Design; second, it extends knowledge concerning design practices that involve the collaborative participation of people experiencing the severe 4 end of the autistic spectrum; third, it contributes to provide new narratives concerning peoplewith non-normative communication abilities and autism

Do university students know how they perform?

The aim of the research is to study the capacity for self-evaluation of University studentsundergoing tests involving mathematics, linguistic and formal reasoning. Subjects wereasked to estimate the number of correct answers and subsequently to compare theirperformance with that of their peers. We divided the subjects into three groups on the basisof performance: poor, middle and top performers. The results demonstrate that all thesubjects in all tests showed good awareness of their level of actual performance. Analyzingcomparative assessments, the results reported in literature by Kruger and Dunning wereconfirmed: poor performers tend to significantly overestimate their own performance whilst top performers tend to underestimate it. This can be interpreted as a demonstration thatthe accuracy of comparative self-evaluations depends on a number of variables: cognitiveand metacognitive factors and aspects associated with self-representation. Our conclusion is that cognitive and metacognitive processes work as “submerged” in highly subjectiverepresentations, allowing dynamics related to safeguarding the image one has of oneself toplay a role

Feeling like a group after a natural disaster: Common ingroup identity and relations with outgroup victims among majority and minority young children

We conducted a field study to test whether the common ingroup identity model (Gaertner & Dovidio, 2000, reducing intergroup bias: The common ingroup identity model. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press) could be a useful tool to improve intergroup relations in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Participants were majority (Italian) and minority (immigrant) elementary school children (N = 517) living in the area struck by powerful earthquakes in May 2012. Results revealed that, among majority children, the perceived external threat represented by the earthquake was associated with greater perceptions of belonging to a common ingroup including both ingroup and outgroup. In turn, heightened one-group perceptions were associated with greater willingness to meet and help outgroup victims, both directly and indirectly via more positive outgroup attitudes. Among immigrant children, perceived disaster threat was not associated with any of the dependent variables; one-group perceptions were positively associated with outgroup attitudes, helping and contact intentions towards outgroup victims. Thus, onegroup perceptions after a natural disaster may promote more positive and supporting relations between the majority and the minority group. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings

A developmental outlook on the role of cognition and emotions in youth volleyball and artistic gymnastics

Developmental and cognitive psychology recently started to take an interest in the sports domain, exploring the role of either cognitive functions or emotions in youth sport. However, to the extent that cognition and emotions are inextricably linked, studying them jointly from a developmental perspective could inform on their interplay in determining performance in different sports. This research examined the role of general cognitive abilities, attentional style, and emotions (controlling for age and experience), in predicting performance in youth volleyball and artistic gymnastics. A total of 218 female participants, of which 114 volleyball players and 104 artistic gymnasts (11-17 years old) were administered two measures of working memory and six measures of executive functions (namely inhibition, updating, and shifting). They also completed an attentional style and an emotion-related questionnaire. For each volleyball player, an individual performance index based on every gesture performed during the games and controlled for the team performance was computed. As a measure of gymnasts' performance, scores in 2017-2018 competitions were used. Regression analysis showed that the main predictor of the volleyball players' performance (R-2 = 0.23) was a working memory-updating factor (ss = 0.45, p = 0.001), together with experience (ss = 0.29, p = 0.030) and high-arousal unpleasant emotions (ss = 0.30, p = 0.029), which positively predicted performance. Experience (ss = 0.30, p = 0.011), age (ss = -0.036, p = 0.005) and high-arousal unpleasant emotions (ss = -0.27, p = 0.030) were the predictors of gymnasts' performance (R-2 = 0.25). These results represent a first step in understanding if and how youth female athletes of open- and closed-skills sports rely on different psychological abilities. This line of research could offer insight to practitioners regarding which psychological abilities could be more relevant to train depending on the type of sport

Students' academic achievements: clusters based on metacognition, literacy and numeracy skills

Quali modelli e framework possono guidare la ricerca che indaga il legame tra metacognizione, literacy, numeracy e successo universitario? Lo studio che qui presentiamo descrive una ricerca che ha coinvolto 107 studenti iscritti al corso di laurea in Educazione Digitale dell’Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia nella quale abbiamo messo in relazione i risultati ottenuti in tre questionari sulla consapevolezza della metacognizione (MAI), la literacy e la numeracy con i risultati universitari e i profili personali degli studenti. Utilizzando la cluster analysis, abbiamo identificato gruppi di studenti con risultati simili nei tre questionari e, in seguito, abbiamo verificato se i cluster risultano contraddistinti da diverse prestazioni accademiche. Nella cluster analysis è stata utilizzata la distanza euclidea e il metodo del Complete-linkage. Si propone una soluzione a sei cluster che ci permette di avanzare alcune osservazioni. In particolare, i risultati positivi nei 3 test influenzano la qualità e non la quantità degli esami superati; gli studenti con voti d’esame più alti appartengono ai gruppi in cui i risultati dei test di numeracy sono più alti; le percentuali di crediti universitari acqui- siti sembrano più alte quando c’è meno uniformità nei risultati dei test d’ingresso degli studenti.Which models and frameworks can guide research investigating the link between metacognition, literacy, numeracy, and academic success? The study we present here is based on research involving 107 students enrolled in the Digital Education degree course at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. We put in relation the results of three questionnaires on metacognition awareness (MAI), literacy, and numeracy to the students’ university achievement and profiles. Using cluster analysis, we identified groups of students with similar results in the three questionnaires. After, we verified if different values on academic performances characterized the clusters. The Euclidean distance best fits our data, the method chosen to aggregate the groups is the Complete-linkage. A six-clusters solution was proposed. Positive test results affect the quality and not the quantity of the exams passed. Students with higher exam grades be- long to the groups in which numeracy test results are higher. The percentages of university credits acquired seemed higher when there was less uniformity in the students’ entry test results

Making the School Smart: The Interactive Whiteboard Against Disparities in Children Stemming From Low Metacognitive Skills

The demand for an increasingly differentiated education, which takes into account the individual differences of children to stimulate effective learning, accompanies the introduction of new technologies at school. Amongst these, the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB), which allows multimodality and sharing of contents, is one of the most widespread tools in schools. The aim of the study was to test with a sample of primary school children the impact of a teaching session with the use of the IWB (vs. traditional lessons) on knowledge performance. In addition, we were interested in investigating the role of metacognition as a potential moderator on learning effects. Our results revealed an advantage of IWB use in learning achievement. Notably, the increase in learning outcomes only occurred among children with low metacognitive skills. This shows that new technologies can play an important role both per se and in supporting learning processes, especially of less metacognitive students, therefore contributing to reduce the gap between children with differential metacognitive skills. The results are analyzed in light of the important role in the nowadays world of Information and Communication Technologies, which can become an extremely relevant and appealing educational and cultural compensation tool

Parental Support during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Friend or Foe? A Moderation Analysis of the Association between Maternal Anxiety and Children’s Stress in Italian Dyads

: There is evidence that parental psychological disorders in stressful situations increase the risk of disturbance in child development. This has been investigated in disasters but not in pandemics, which are sensibly different from other types of traumatic events. We investigated the relationship between mothers' anxiety and their children's (self-reported) stress and the boundary conditions of this association during the first full COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, mothers might have increased their protective attitudes to secure and support their children; we tested whether the relationship between mothers' anxiety and children's stress was weaker (buffer effect) or stronger (over-protection effect) when perceived parental support was high. We measured mothers' anxiety, children's perceived parental support, and children's stress in a sample of 414 8- to 11-year-old primary school children (229 females, Mage = 9.44) and 395 mothers (Mage = 42.84). Results supported the over-protection scenario and provided the first evidence for the "helicopter-parent effect" during the COVID-19 pandemic: mothers' anxiety was positively associated with children's stress only when perceived support was high. Our finding highlights the importance of educating parents (for example, via emotional training) to prevent the worst consequences of adverse events in children and promote their mental health

A Moderated Mediation Analysis of the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Well-Being and Sport Readiness of Italian Team Sports Players: The Role of Perceived Safety of the Training Environment

Background: The protective restrictions (e.g., lockdowns, quarantines, social and physical distancing) consequent to the global pandemic caused by COVID-19 posited new challenges to athletes practicing competitive team sports. This study aimed to gain an understanding of the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being and sports readiness to train and to compete of competitive female and male athletes practicing outdoor (i.e., rugby, soccer) and indoor (i.e., volleyball, basketball) team sports who were active during the Italian first and second waves of COVID-19. Methods: An online survey assessing demographic characteristics, perceived safety of the training environment, COVID-19 risk, fear of COVID-19, well-being, and sport (training and competition) readiness was administered to 619 team sports players. We examined differences by gender, previous COVID-19 experience, and team sport setting (i.e., outdoor vs. indoor). A moderated mediation analysis was conducted to assess the impact of perceived COVID-19 risk and fear of COVID-19 on athletes’ well-being and sports readiness, using perceived safety of the training environment as a mediator and gender and sport setting as moderators. Results: Indoor team sports and female athletes showed higher perceived COVID-19 risk, while athletes with no-COVID-19 experience reported higher fear of COVID-19. Perceived COVID-19 risk (directly and via perceived safety of the training environment) and fear of COVID-19 were negatively associated with athletes’ well-being and sports readiness. Conclusions: This study highlighted an understanding of the psychological implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing the role of the perceived safety of the training environment on athletes’ well-being and sports readiness. Future studies may advance safety-based interventions to promote well-being and a safer return to sport

Vicarious, extended and imagined intergroup contact: A review of interventions based on indirect contact strategies applied in educational settings

Although research has shown that interventions within educational contexts based on direct, face-to-face contact are effective in reducing prejudice, they may be difficult to implement. Recent research has demonstrated that also indirect contact is a useful strategy to improve intergroup relations. In the present work, we focus on three forms of indirect contact which have received consistent attention by social psychologists in recent years: vicarious contact, extended contact, imagined contact. The interventions reviewed support indirect contact strategies as effective and flexible means of reducing prejudice within schools. In the final part of the article, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our literature review and provide some suggestions for future research

Once upon a time…: Using fairy tales as a form of vicarious contact to prevent stigma‐based bullying among schoolchildren

We conducted a vicarious contact intervention with the aim of promoting bystanders' intentions to react to stigma-based bullying among schoolchildren. Participants were Italian primary schoolchildren (N = 117 first to third graders); the outgroup was represented by foreign children. Vicarious contact was operationalized with story reading, creating fairy tales on stigma-based bullying where minority characters were bullied by majority characters. Once a week for 3 weeks, participants were read fairy tales in small groups by an experimenter and engaged in reinforcing activities. Results revealed that the intervention increased intergroup empathy (but not intergroup perspective-taking) and anti-bullying peer norms and fostered contact intentions. The intervention also had indirect effects via intergroup empathy on helping and contact intentions and on bystanders' reactions to stigma based-bullying. We discuss theoretical and practical implications, also in terms of the relevance of the present results for school policy. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement