Implicit Associations and Alcohol: What Grabs Our Attention?

The Incentive Sensitization Theory of Addiction claims that drug induced sensitization of the mesocorticolymbic system increases the salience of the drug related stimuli. In so doing, drug related stimuli become attention grabbing for an addictive person. We tried to understand the socio-cognitive underpinnings of this process in case of alcohol addiction. The present study involves a group of participants that had alcohol related problems and a non clinical sample. We suggest that two implicit automatic mechanisms could predict the attention towards alcohol related stimuli: the self relevance of the alcohol related stimuli and the evaluation attributed to the same stimuli. The Implicit Association Task was used to determine the strength of these mechanisms (i.e., self-relevance and alcohol evaluation). The attention toward alcohol related stimuli was assessed with the Visual Dot Probe Task. Results showed that the two groups significantly differed on the IAT scores, indicating stronger associations between self and alcohol, and between alcohol and positive words for participants that had alcohol related problems. Moreover a stronger association between the self and the alcohol was a significant and positive predictor of the attentional salience of the alcohol stimuli for the clinical sample, but not for the control group

Effect of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) on Parietal and Premotor Cortex during Planning of Reaching Movements

The activation of the superior parietal lobule (SPL) and premotor cortex (PM) has been investigated using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) during planning of reaching movements under visual guidance. A facilitory effect was found when TMS was delivered on the parietal cortex at about half of the time from sight of the target to hand movement, independently of target location in space. Furthermore, at the same stimulation time, a similar facilitory effect was found in PM, which is probably related to movement preparation. This data contributes to the understanding of cortical dynamics in the parieto-frontal network, and suggests that it is possible to interfere with the planning of reaching movements at different cortical points within a particular time window. Since similar effects may be produced at similar times on both the SPL and PM, parallel processing of visuomotor information is likely to take place in these regions

Adolescents' Appraisal of Homophobic Epithets: The Role of Individual and Situational Factors

Homophobic epithets have become commonly-used insults among adolescents. However, evidence suggests that there are differences in how these homophobic epithets are evaluated based on beliefs held by the observer, and by the context in which they are used. In order to examine this, Italian high school students were asked to rate the offensiveness of homophic epithets, as well as to consider how they or others would react to homophobic epithets across various situations. Homophobic beliefs and beliefs about the social acceptability of homophobic epithets were also examined. It was found that greater perceived social acceptability of homophobic epithets was related to dismissive reactions to their use, whereas homophobic beliefs were predictive of negative emotional reactions, but in varying ways depending on the specific context. The results indicate that homophobic epithets may not always be perceived as homophobic by adolescents, and that attempts to alter the social acceptability of these insults may be an effective manner of reducing their use

An evaluation of the Movement ABC-2 Test for use in Italy: A comparison of data from Italy and the UK

Background. The standardized test within the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2nd edition (MABC-2) is used worldwide to assess motor problems in children. Ideally, any country using a test developed in another country should produce national norms to ensure that it functions effectively in the new context. Aim. The first objective of this study was to explore the differences in motor performance between Italian and British children. The second was to examine the structural validity of the test for the Italian sample. Method. A total of 718 Italian (IT) and 765 British (UK) children, aged 3–10 years, were individually tested on the age-appropriate items of the MABC-2 Test. Results. Developmental trends emerged on every task and differences between IT and UK children were obtained on 11 of 27 task comparisons. Interactions between age and country indicated that differences were not consistently in favor of one culture. Confirmatory factor analysis generally supported the proposed structure of the MABC-2 Test. Conclusion. Although the differences between the IT and the UK children were relatively few, those that did emerge emphasize the need for population specific norms and suggest that cultural diversity in motor experiences should be considered when evaluating motor abilities in children

Relation between Motor and Cognitive Skills in Italian Basketball Players Aged between 7 and 10 Years Old

There is evidence supporting a correlation between motor, attention and working memory in children. This present study focuses on children aged between 7 and 10 years, who have been playing basketball in the last two years. The aim of this study is to verify the correlation between cognitive and motor abilities and to understand the importance of this correlation in basketball practice. A total of 75 children who were 7.2–10.99 years old were assessed in terms of their attention, motor manual sequences and visuo-spatial working memory. A regression analysis was provided. In this sample, the motor abilities of children were found to be correlated with attention (denomination task, R2 = 0.07), visuo-spatial working memory (R2 = 0.06) and motor manual sequencing (aiming and catching task, R2 = 0.05; and manual dexterity task, R2 = 0.10). These correlations justify the suggestion to introduce deeper cognitive involvement during basketball training. The development of executive functions could have an important impact on basketball practice and the introduction of attention and memory tasks could help coaches to obtain optimal improvement in performance during the training sessions

Sexual prejudice, inter-group contact and homophobic school climate as determinants of school staff responses to homophobic bullying

4siBullying and homophobic bullying are a widespread problem in the European and North- American school context [1,2]. Despite the relevant role played by teachers regarding bullying within the school context as well as in influencing student reactions to the bully, the majority of research on this theme has mainly addressed student attitudes and behaviors from the perspective of the victim, actor and bystanders, for a review see [3], leaving the teachers’ attitudes towards and reactions to bullying episodes partially unexplored [4, 5]. Importantly, the underrepresentation of research addressing the way teachers appraise and react to bullying is even more pronounced when homophobic bullying is taken into account. The present research intends to fulfill this lacuna. We assess the frequency and types of staff reactions towards homophobic bullying within the secondary school context, thus understanding how the staff appraises and deals with homophobic bullying events [6]. Furthermore, and for the first time, the present work aims to assess the contribution of attitudinal factors, such as the staff’s sexual prejudice and contact with homosexuals, in shaping both the type and the frequency of staff reactions to homophobic bullying. Moreover, the role of contextual factors, namely the perceived staff responses to, as well as the occurrence of homophobic bullying in the school context will be analyzed as potential predictors of the staff’s own reactions towards these bullying episodes. Results have indicated that the higher the sexual prejudice and the lower the contact with homosexuals, the higher the frequency of reactions compatible with not-contrasting interventions. Moreover, the staff reactions to homophobic bullying are strongly shaped by the perceived reactions of colleagues to the same episodes. Finally, the higher the frequency of observed bullying episodes, the higher the staff tendency to defend the bullying actors. Results are discussed with respect to the current literature regarding this phenomenon, and applied interventions to face homophobic bullying at school are put forward.openopenZotti, Davide; Carnaghi, Andrea; Piccoli, Valentina; Bianchi, Mauro; Pelamatti, GiovannaZotti, Davide; Carnaghi, Andrea; Piccoli, Valentina; Bianchi, Mauro; Pelamatti, GIOVANNA MARI