Intersection of reality and fiction in art perception: pictorial space, body sway and mental imagery

Background The thesis of embodied cognition claims that perception of the environment entails a complex set of multisensory processes which forms a basis for the agent’s potential and immediate actions. However, in the case of artworks, an agent becomes an observer and action turns into a reaction. This raises questions about the presence of embodied or situated cognition involved in art reception. Aims The study aimed to assess the bodily correlates of perceiving fictional pictorial spaces in the absence of a possibility of an actual physical immersion or manipulation of represented forms. Method The subjects were presented with paintings by Vermeer and De Hooch, whilst their body sway and eye movements were recorded. Moreover, test and questionnaires on mental imagery (MRT, VVIQ and OSIQ) were administered. Results Three major results were obtained: (1) the degree of pictorial depth did not influence body sway; (2) fixations to distant elements in paintings (i.e. backgrounds) were accompanied by an increase in body sway; and (3) mental rotation test scores correlated positively with body sway. Conclusions Our results suggest that in certain cases— despite the fictional character of art—observers’ reactions resemble reactions to real stimuli. It is proposed that these reactions are mediated by mental imagery (e.g. mental rotation) that contributes to the act of representing alternative to real artistic spaces

Inquadramento Piscofisiologico

Nel corso degli ultimi trent'anni, l'interesse nei confronti del tema dell'identità di genere e del transessualismo è cresciuto in modo esponenziale sia in ambito accademico-scientifico che in ambito culturale e mass-mediatico. La storia dell'incontro tra gli utenti e gli operatori del Servizio offre al lettore i tasselli necessari per costruire una propria immagine di queste "Esistenze possibili" e per comprenderne la complessità. Il testo permette di approfondire i diversi aspetti, da quelli più strettamente teorico-epistemologici a quelli psicologico-sociali e medico-chirurgici, implicati nel percorso di adeguamento tra identità fisica ed identità psichica

Relationship between cognitive style and emotional behaviour.

In this research we examine the relationship among cognitive styles using the categorization of Bion and styles of modulation of emotional behavior (hostile content explored with the Gottshalk, et al. method applied to the speech of 20 female and 10 male undergraduate students whose ages ranged from 20 to 35 years. Their verbalization was produced in a standard stimulus situation of 3 minutes duration. Analysis indicated a relationship between hostile attitude and cognitive styles. In particular, those who were relatively less hostile presented higher frequencies of processes classified by Bio as D2, which are characterized by an attitude of expectancy and waiting, with a tendency to defend internal psychological themas

La condizione esistenziale nella terza età: un approccio psicofisiologico e arte-terapico

Condizioni esistenziali dell’anziano. Un approccio psicofisiologico e arteterapeutico

Relationship among personal space, body image, postural balance regulation proprioceptive integration areas

atti de International Conference on Spatial Cognition, Dynamics in Spatial Interactions, Roma-Perugia

Patologie prostatiche: variabili psicofisiologiche

"UROLOGIA