Application of Real and Virtual Radial Arm Maze Task in Human

Virtual Reality (VR) emerges as a promising technology capable of creating different scenarios in which the body, environment, and brain are closely related, proving enhancements in the diagnosis and treatment of several spatial memory deficits. In recent years, human spatial navigation has increasingly been studied in interactive virtual environments. However, navigational tasks are still not completely adapted in immersive 3D VR systems. We stipulate that an immersive Radial Arm Maze (RAM) is an excellent instrument, allowing the participants to be physically active within the maze exactly as in the walking RAM version in reality modality. RAM is a behavioral ecological task that allows the analyses of different facets of spatial memory, distinguishing declarative components from procedural ones. In addition to describing the characteristics of RAM, we will also analyze studies in which RAM has been used in virtual modality to provide suggestions into RAM building in immersive modality

Adolescents’ Characteristics and Peer Relationships in Class: A Population Study

Abstract: Background: This study aimed to investigate differences in adolescents’ social relationships with classmates of diverse gender, socioeconomic status, immigrant background, and academic achievement. Methods: A population of 10th-grade students (N = 406,783; males = 50.3%; Mage = 15.57 years, SDage = 0.75) completed the Classmates Social Isolation Questionnaire (CSIQ), an instrument specifically designed to measure two distinct but correlated types of peer relationships in class: peer acceptance and peer friendship. To obtain reliable comparisons across diverse adolescent characteristics, the measurement invariance of the CSIQ was established by means of CFAs and then latent mean differences tests were performed. Results: Immigrant background, academic achievement, and socioeconomic status all proved to be important factors influencing relationships with classmates, while being a male or a female was less relevant. Being a first-generation immigrant adolescent appears to be the foremost risk factor for being less accepted by classmates, while having a low academic achievement is the greatest hindrance for having friends in the group of classmates, a finding that diverges from previous studies. Conclusions: This population study suggests that adolescent characteristics (especially immigrant background, socioeconomic status, and academic achievement) seem to affect social relationships with classmates

Relationship between autonomy support and students’ school well-being: the mediating role of need for competence

Within a Self-Determination Theory perspective (SDT; Deci and Ryan, 2000), this study aims to examine the relationship between students’ perception of autonomy support provided by teachers and their school well-being (439 students, mean age = 12.2 years; 51% male). SDT proposed the existence of three universal, innate psychological needs of all human beings: autonomy, relatedness and competence. In the school context, the need for autonomy refers to students’ desires to experience a sense of self-determination of their behavior. The need for relatedness refers to students’ desires to experience a sense of connection with teachers and classmates. The need for competence refers to students’ desires to interact effectively with the school environment. The satisfaction of these needs plays an important role in several educational outcomes (e.g. school satisfaction and motivation), particularly when teachers support students’ autonomy, attempting to understand, acknowledge, and where possible, be responsive to students’ perspectives. In the school specific domain, many recent empirical studies have used the SDT as a conceptual framework, to show that an autonomy-supportive teaching style tends to predict adolescents students’ needs satisfaction and school well-being (Ryan and Deci, 2020). Satisfaction of need for competence seems to be a particularly strong predictor of adolescent students’ subjective well-being at school (Tian, Han and Huebner, 2014). According to Tian (2008), subjective well-being in school includes students’ school satisfaction and affect, that is the frequency with which students experience positive emotions. In Italy, research based on the SDT in schools is limited, particularly as regards the effect of students’ needs satisfaction on their well-being. The present paper looks carefully at the mediating role of need for competence considering the relation between the support for autonomy provided by teachers and the adolescents students’ positive and pleasant emotions at school, using a Structural Equation Modelling. The posited model fitted the data quite well: x² = 225 (df = 101), p< .001; TLI = .968; SRMR = 0.037; RMSEA = 0.053, 90% CI [.044, .062]. Results show that a greater perception of support for autonomy has a positive effect on the students’ positive emotions, and this effect is partially mediated by the satisfaction of the need for competence. This finding suggest that students’ psychological needs should be considered and teachers should not only be aware of the importance of autonomy-supportive teaching, but also of how they can improve their teaching style (Vandenkerckhove et al., 2019)

Relationship between autonomy support and students’ school well-being: the mediating role of need for competence

Within a Self-Determination Theory perspective (SDT; Deci and Ryan, 2000), this study aims to examine the relationship between students’ perception of autonomy support provided by teachers and their school well-being (439 students, mean age = 12.2 years; 51% male). SDT proposed the existence of three universal, innate psychological needs of all human beings: autonomy, relatedness and competence. In the school context, the need for autonomy refers to students’ desires to experience a sense of self-determination of their behavior. The need for relatedness refers to students’ desires to experience a sense of connection with teachers and classmates. The need for competence refers to students’ desires to interact effectively with the school environment. The satisfaction of these needs plays an important role in several educational outcomes (e.g. school satisfaction and motivation), particularly when teachers support students’ autonomy, attempting to understand, acknowledge, and where possible, be responsive to students’ perspectives. In the school specific domain, many recent empirical studies have used the SDT as a conceptual framework, to show that an autonomy-supportive teaching style tends to predict adolescents students’ needs satisfaction and school well-being (Ryan and Deci, 2020). Satisfaction of need for competence seems to be a particularly strong predictor of adolescent students’ subjective well-being at school (Tian, Han and Huebner, 2014). According to Tian (2008), subjective well-being in school includes students’ school satisfaction and affect, that is the frequency with which students experience positive emotions. In Italy, research based on the SDT in schools is limited, particularly as regards the effect of students’ needs satisfaction on their well-being. The present paper looks carefully at the mediating role of need for competence considering the relation between the support for autonomy provided by teachers and the adolescents students’ positive and pleasant emotions at school, using a Structural Equation Modelling. The posited model fitted the data quite well: x² = 225 (df = 101), p< .001; TLI = .968; SRMR = 0.037; RMSEA = 0.053, 90% CI [.044, .062]. Results show that a greater perception of support for autonomy has a positive effect on the students’ positive emotions, and this effect is partially mediated by the satisfaction of the need for competence. This finding suggest that students’ psychological needs should be considered and teachers should not only be aware of the importance of autonomy-supportive teaching, but also of how they can improve their teaching style (Vandenkerckhove et al., 2019)

Application of Real and Virtual Radial Arm Maze Task in Human

Virtual Reality (VR) emerges as a promising technology capable of creating different scenarios in which the body, environment, and brain are closely related, proving enhancements in the diagnosis and treatment of several spatial memory deficits. In recent years, human spatial navigation has increasingly been studied in interactive virtual environments. However, navigational tasks are still not completely adapted in immersive 3D VR systems. We stipulate that an immersive Radial Arm Maze (RAM) is an excellent instrument, allowing the participants to be physically active within the maze exactly as in the walking RAM version in reality modality. RAM is a behavioral ecological task that allows the analyses of different facets of spatial memory, distinguishing declarative components from procedural ones. In addition to describing the characteristics of RAM, we will also analyze studies in which RAM has been used in virtual modality to provide suggestions into RAM building in immersive modality

High-Pressure Game Conditions Affect Quiet Eye Depending on the Player’s Expertise: Evidence from the Basketball Three-Point Shot

Research on attention in sport using eye-tracking methodology has highlighted that the highest levels of expertise and performance are characterized by a specific gaze behavior consisting of a perception–action variable named quiet eye. The present study aimed to understand the role of quiet eye during the three-point shot, especially in game conditions in which even a single point may determine victory or defeat. Twenty-one basketball players (twelve competitive elites and nine semi-elites) with a high-shooting style performed three-point shots in four game scenarios different from each other for the time available (time pressure) and the relevance of the score (performance pressure). The results showed that competitive elites performed a longer quiet eye online duration and a shorter QE preprogramming duration than semi-elites, especially in the highest-pressure condition. On the one hand, these results suggest that quiet eye during three-point shots could fulfill an online control function. On the other hand, the findings stressed the importance of implementing experimental conditions that can resemble as closely as possible actual sport situations. Finally, we suggest that sport professionals interested in administering to athletes a quiet eye training protocol in order to improve three-point shot performance consider the shooting style of the players

THE VALIDATION OF A TIME-EFFICIENT MEASURE FOR ASSESSING CHILDREN’S SOCIAL ISOLATION AT SCHOOL

The classroom can be considered one the most important socialization contexts for children in western cultures and being isolated in this setting corresponds to have very limited social contacts with other peers. Unfortunately, it is widely acknowledged that this isolation can have a significant impact on children’s well-being and adjustment to the school environment. The present study reports the validation of the revision of a brief and time-efficient self-report measure, the Classmates Social Isolation Questionnaire for children (CSIQ-C). The CSIQ-C is a questionnaire for children which assesses social isolation from classmates in terms of absence of peer acceptance as well as in terms of absence of friendships. Data was based on a nationally representative sample of Italian fifth grade students. Through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the structure of the scale was investigated. Results show that the revision of CSIQ-C showed measurement invariance both across gender and across groups with different immigrant backgrounds. Various tests of criterion and construct validity showed positive results. Therefore, the CSIQ-C appears to be a valid and time-efficient instrument that can make a contribution to the study of social isolation and school adjustment with specific reference to the group of classmates

Psychosocial variables and quality of life during the COVID-19 lockdown: a correlational study on a convenience sample of young Italians

International audienceBackground In 2020, to limit the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), many countries, including Italy, have issued a lengthy quarantine period for the entire population. For this reason lifestyle has changed, bringing inevitable repercussions to the Quality of Life (QoL). The present study aims to identify which psychosocial variables predict behaviors capable of affecting the QoL during the lockdown period, potentially highlighting factors that might promote well-being and health in the Italian population during the epidemic. Methods Between 27 April 2020 and 11 May 2020, we administered a web-survey to a sample of young Italian people (age M = 21.2; SD = 3.5; female = 57.7% of the sample). Employing variance-based structural equation modeling, we attempted to identify whether social connectedness, social support, and loneliness were variables predictive of the QoL of young Italians. We also sought to identify specific psychological factors, such as symbolic threat, realistic threat, and the threat from potentially contaminated objects, was correlated to COVID-19 fear and whether engaging in particular behaviors was likely to improve the QoL. Results Our results suggest that social connectedness and loneliness are significant predictors of QoL, while social support did not have a significant effect on QoL. Furthermore, we observed that symbolic and realistic threats and the threat from potentially contaminated objects are significant and positive predictors of COVID-19 fear. Moreover, COVID-19 fear had significant and positive relationships with the carrying out of specific behaviors, such as creative activities during the isolation period and that this related to affirming individuals’ country-specific identity. Finally, COVID-19 fear is a significant predictor of behavioral factors related to the adherence to public health advice in line with national guidance regarding the containment of COVID-19; this factor, however, did not correlate with QoL. Conclusion Our results suggest the importance of social context and psychological factors to help devise intervention strategies to improve the QoL during lockdown from epidemic events and, in particular, support the importance of promoting social communication and accurate information about the transmission of the virus

Design of an Innovative Methodology for Cerebrospinal Fluid Analysis: Preliminary Results

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis supports diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), however a number of issues limits its potentialities in clinical practice. Here, a newly developed technique for fluid voltammetry, relying on a simple sensor (BIOsensor-based multisensorial system for mimicking Nose, Tongue and Eyes, BIONOTE), was used to test the applicability for CSF analysis. BIONOTE was initially calibrated on an artificial CSF-like solution and then applied on human CSF, either immediately after collection or after refrigerated storage. Following optimization, it was used to evaluate 11 CSF samples correlating the electrochemical dataset with CSF routine parameters and biomarkers of neurodegeneration. Multivariate data analysis was performed for model elaboration and calibration using principal component analysis and partial least squares discriminant analysis. BIONOTE presented a high capacity to predict both physiological and pathological constituents of artificial CSF. It differentiated distinct fresh human CSF samples well but lost accuracy after refrigerated storage. The electrochemical analysis-derived data correlated with either CSF routine cytochemical indexes or a biomarker of neurodegeneration. BIONOTE resulted as being a reliable system for electrochemical analysis of CSF. The CSF fingerprint provided by the sensor has shown itself to be sensitive to CSF modification, thus it is potentially representative of CSF alteration. This result opens the way to its testing in further study addressed at assessing the clinical relevance of the methodology. Because of its advantages due to the ease and rapidity of the methodology, a validation study is now required to translate the technique into clinical practice and improve diagnostic workup of NDs