Musical skills and perceived vividness of imagery: differences between musicians and untrained subjects

Fra i processi implicati nella percezione e nelle prestazioni musicali, l'immaginazione mentale è rilevante per l'esecuzione dei movimenti e per apprendere nuove capacità motorie. Una buona vividezza delle immagini motorie viene ipotizzata nei musicisti professionisti rispetto ai non musicisti. Sono stati coinvolti nello studio 102 partecipanti, 51 esperti musicisti e 51 senza specifica istruzione e pratica musicale, appaiati per genere, età e anni di scolarizzazione. Nel gruppo dei musicisti sono stati rilevati il tempo trascorso dall'inizio della pratica e il tipo di attività musicale specializzata. Come misure della percezione immaginativa motoria sono stati utilizzati il Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire (VMIQ) e un test di 'percorsi immaginati'. I risultati dimostrano che le componenti soggettive dell'immaginazione (visualizzazione di immagini cinestesiche) discriminano i musicisti esperti dai non musicisti, e che gli anni di pratica costituiscono una rilevante variabile covariata.Among the processes involved in musical perception and performance, mental imagery is relevant for the execution of movements and for learning new motor skills. A greater vividness of motor images was hypothesized in professional musicians than in non-musicians. One hundred and two participants were involved in the study, 51 expert musicians and 51 individuals not involved in specific musical learning or practice, matched by gender, age and education. In the musicians group, the time duration from the beginning of musical activities and the kind of specialized activity were also recorded. As measures of perception of kinesthetic images, the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire (VMIQ) was used for the study, along with a performance measure of imagined paths. Results showed that subjective components of imagery, i.e. the visualization involving kinesthetic imagery, discriminate expert musicians from non musicians, and the amount of practice acts as covariate

Robots in education and care of children with developmental disabilities : a study on acceptance by experienced and future professionals

Research in the area of robotics has made available numerous possibilities for further innovation in the education of children, especially in the rehabilitation of those with learning difficulties and/or intellectual disabilities. Despite the scientific evidence, there is still a strong scepticism against the use of robots in the fields of education and care of people. Here we present a study on the acceptance of robots by experienced practitioners (specialized in the treatment of intellectual disabilities) and university students in psychology and education sciences (as future professionals). The aim is to examine the factors, through the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model, that may influence the decision to use a robot as an instrument in the practice. The overall results confirm the applicability of the model in the context of education and care of children, and suggest a positive attitude towards the use of the robot. The comparison highlights some scepticism among the practitioners, who perceive the robot as an expensive and limited tool, while students show a positive perception and a significantly higher willingness to use the robot. From this experience, we formulate the hypothesis that robots may be accepted if more integrated with standard rehabilitation protocols in a way that benefits can outweigh the costs

Comparison of the CBA-H and SF-36 for the screening of the psychological and behavioural variables in chronic dialysis patients

The aim of the study was to perform an analysis of the emotional reactions, perception of stressful life and behavioural changes related to Haemodialysis (HD) in order to identify those variables that can improve lifestyle and the adherence to treatment. Some psycho- metric assessment, such as the Cognitive Behavioural Assessment, Hospital Form, (CBA- H) and the Health Survey (SF-36), which provides two indexes: the Physical Component Score (PCS) and the Mental Component Score (MCS), are suitable to assess a patient’s psychological and behavioural style and their health-related quality of life. The study involved 37 Italian out-patients with end-stage renal disease under HD therapy. We calcu- lated the Spearman correlation between variables of CBA-H, SF-36, age and time on HD. We also performed a multivariate linear regression using the CBA-H variables as predictors and PCS and MCS as dependent variables. From the CBA-H, 95% of participants self- reported psychological characteristics comparable to Type A personality, which identifies an anxious, hyperactive and hostile subject. Physical limitations were found to be directly pro- portional to the time on dialysis (rs = -0.42). The condition of perceived stress worsens the state of mental health (rs = -0.68) and general health perception (rs = -0.44). The condition of vital exhaustion correlates both the PCS and the MCS (p<0.01) with possible outcomes of physical and mental illness. The psychological wellbeing of a dialyzed patient could be due to the combination of several factors, including life parameters, the positive perception of psychosocial outcomes, and the perceived quality of life. A multidisciplinary team (neurolo- gists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and nurses) is essential to plan effective psychological and psychotherapeutic interventions to improve a mind-body integration

On research in psychology: Publication, evaluation, prevention of pathologies of science

Is it possible to find any specificity of research carried out by psychologists in their own country, justifying publication also in their native language? The question posed by Brzeziński (2014) requires considering different types of psychological research: studies regarding universal issues have to be diffused in a shared scientific format and in an international language, while studies regarding specific applicative aspects, linked to particular contexts, can be published in a language easily accessible to the psychologists living in a specific country. This kind of research and publication, if conducted with correct methodology, should not be considered of secondary scientific value. As regards the question of what indices should be used to determine a psychologist’s position in world science, I will discuss the assumption of “objectivity” in this kind of evaluation: objectivity is very difficult to obtain using numeric criteria, while pre-determined scientific and teaching criteria and thresholds could be more suitable to achieve a full evaluation for habilitation or for other scientific or academic purposes. As regards reactions to scientific pathologies such as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism of data, meta-analysis based on cumulative research on research could permit to detect unexpected outliers and to discover “file drawer effects,” allowing replications and enhancing respect for scientific rules and ethics

O badaniach w psychologii: publikowanie, ocena, zapobieganie patologiom nauki

Czy można wskazać jakąkolwiek specyfikę badań prowadzonych przez psychologów w ich własnym kraju, która uzasadniałaby publikację również w ich języku ojczystym? Pytanie, jakie stawia Brzeziński (2014), wymaga rozważenia różnych typów badań psychologicznych: prace dotyczące zagadnień uniwersalnych muszą być rozpowszechniane w powszechnie uznawanym naukowym formacie i w międzynarodowym języku, natomiast prace, których przedmiot dotyczy określonych aspektów aplikacyjnych powiązanych z konkretnymi kontekstami, mogą być publikowane w języku, którym swobodnie posługują się psychologowie mieszkający w danym kraju. Badań tego drugiego rodzaju, o ile są prowadzone przy użyciu poprawnej metodologii, nie powinno się uznawać za drugorzędne pod względem wartości naukowej. Jeśli chodzi o pytanie dotyczące wskaźników, które powinny być stosowane do określania pozycji psychologa w światowej nauce, omówię założenie „obiektywizmu” w tego rodzaju ocenie. Obiektywizm bardzo trudno uzyskać, posługując się kryteriami liczbowymi, natomiast ustalone z góry progi oraz kryteria naukowe i dydaktyczne mogłyby lepiej nadawać się do pełnej oceny dokonywanej w związku z habilitacją lub dla innych celów akademickich. Jeśli chodzi o reakcje na patologie w nauce, takie jak fabrykowanie, fałszowanie i plagiatowanie danych, metaanaliza oparta na kumulatywnym badaniu badań pozwoliłaby wykryć nieoczekiwane wartości skrajne i odkryć „efekty szuflady”, umożliwiając replikacje oraz zwiększając poszanowanie reguł nauki i zasad etyki

Validity indices of the Rorschach test and Personality Assessment Inventory: a comparison in pathological and healthy subjects.

The debate about the validity of the Rorschach test, compared with psychometric inventories, is particularly relevant in the forensic evaluation. The aim of the study is to present an overview on the control indices proposed in Rorschach (e.g. R,  F%, Lambda Index) and in a personality inventory (Personality Assessment Inventory: e.g., openness, desirability, inconsistency, infrequency, negative and positive impression, malingering and defensiveness, treatment rejection) and to cross-correlate these indices. The sample consisted of 50 adult inpatients with diagnosis of severe depression or psychosis, and a control group of healthy subjects, matched by gender, age and educational level. The results show that the analytic style, as opposed to the global one, is related to greater openness to psychological assessment, less social desirability and defensive tendency. The Rorschach Lambda index demonstrates good validity in detecting tendency to defensiveness, social desirability and dissimulation, both in normal and pathological protocols

THE ORTHOPAEDIC REHABILITATION OF BALANCE: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE ROLE OF MENTAL IMAGERY AND EMOTIONAL VARIABLES.

Mental Imagery (i.e., processing of objects’ properties and spatial relations, including the ability of mentally rotating and manipulating objects in the space), is relevant for movement and its development, and particularly for rehabilitation of motor skills. Few studies aimed at assessing  the efficacy of imagery training used objective scores of Mental Imagery skills, preferring self-evaluations of these abilities reported by the subjects themselves. The aim of the paper was to explore the relevance of Mental Imagery, assessed by objective tests, in predicting the improvement of balance skills, after a standard rehabilitative training in orthopaedic settings; taking into account also emotional variables as anxiety and depression. A controlled study was conducted assessing the changes in balance skills after rehabilitative training. The sample was composed of 30 orthopaedic inpatients (females 66.7%, age range 47-91 years). To measure the dependent variable for pre-post assessment, B-scale from Performance-oriented mobility assessment test (POMA) was used. Independent variables were measured using Mental Imagery Test, Mini-Mental State Examination, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scales. The best predictor of improvement in balance after rehabilitation is the Mental Imagery test, followed by age and mental efficiency. Anxiety predicts negatively the improvement, while education and depression appear to influence less the rehabilitation process. In conclusion, the study demonstrates that mental imagery is relevant in helping balance rehabilitation. A training of this function could be essential for clinical practice; the trainers should assess preliminarily the subject's attitude and ability to use mental imagery, with the aim of optimizing the rehabilitative process

Intelligence and Mental Imagery in Intellectual Disability

After a presentation of the main model for conceptualizing and measuring intelligence, the importance of Mental Imagery in determining the cognitive performances in Intellectual Disability is underlined. The study aims at investigating if mental imagery can moderate the effect of cognitive components (i.e., Factor IQ) on the degree of mental deterioration in adults diagnosed with ID. The WAIS-IV, MoCA, and MIT (Mental Imagery Test) were administered in a sample composed of 40 adults, age range 16-64 years, diagnosed with Mild or Moderate ID. The results show that the WAIS-IV, MoCA, and MIT scores are significantly correlated. Imagery improves the effect of Verbal Comprehension, Visual Perceptual Reasoning and Working Memory factors in predicting the MoCA results. A discussion about the use of mental imagery for planning rehabilitative interventions in persons with ID is presented