Hot or Cold Anger? Verbal and Vocal Expression of Anger While Driving in a Simulated Anger-Provoking Scenario

Extensive research has examined the relationship between driving anger and risky behavior; however, little is known about how drivers express and regulate anger while driving. The present study was designed to examine the verbal and acoustic correlates of driving anger, as well as whether emotion regulation strategies such as cognitive reappraisal are effective at reducing the outward expression of anger while driving. Forty-four participants were asked to drive in an emotionally neutral and an anger-provoking simulated driving scenarios, while their driving behavior as well as their speech was recorded. Participants were randomly assigned to two experimental conditions, with one group receiving instructions to reappraise the anger-provoking events and a control group receiving no instructions. Results show that in the anger-provoking scenario, participants exhibited more violations, horn-honking, and cursing. Few acoustic variations were detected and were compatible with the acoustic profile of cold anger rather than with the one of hot anger expression. Finally, reappraisal reduced the number of violations only. The implications of these findings are discussed

The COVID-19 “First Lockdown” Experience in Italy: The Role of Hope and Optimism and Their Impact on Psychological Well-Being and Risk Perception

Introduction: The present study investigates the lockdown experience in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic within a positive psychology framework, focusing on the protective role of the positive anticipatory states: optimism and hope. Aims: The aims were to verify if and how optimism and hope influenced people’s psychological wellbeing and their risk perception of the situation, addressing how individuals portrayed the present and how they imagined the future after the lockdown. Method: Based on the differences between the two constructs, as from the literature, the hypothesis is that individuals with higher levels of optimism would report positive but hazy future scenarios and lower levels of risk perception about the future. Therefore 1,471 participants received an online survey, which was administered as a set of questionnaires investigating three areas: demographic information, psychological wellbeing, and risk of contagion perception. Results: The results showed that positive anticipatory states are positively associated with psychological wellbeing. Moreover, the results highlighted the relationship between optimism and risk perception regarding future scenarios. Conclusions: The presented predictive model demonstrated that positive anticipatory states, sex, and age had a central role in determining the psychological wellbeing during the first wave of the pandemic events in Italy. Practical implications are discussed

A female survivor of childhood medulloblastoma presenting with growth-hormone-induced edema and inflammatory lesions: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>The improved survival of children with brain tumors has increased concerns about treatment-related sequelae. Growth hormone deficiency is frequently observed after craniospinal irradiation for medulloblastoma. It has been widely reported that growth hormone replacement therapy does not increase the risk of second tumors, but there are reports in the literature of growth hormone, and its downstream mediator insulin-like Growth Factor 1, having an important proinflammatory action. There are few reports, however, on the "in-vivo" induction of edema and symptomatic inflammatory lesions during replacement therapy.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the case of a 7-year-old girl treated for metastatic medulloblastoma who developed growth hormone deficiency 2 years after oncological treatment.</p> <p>Three months after replacement therapy, magnetic resonance imaging showed exacerbation of her brain edema, which was already present after oncological treatment. We consequently suspended the growth hormone until a new magnetic resonance image obtained 3 months later documented a reduction of the inflammatory areas. We then re-introduced somatotropin at lower doses with no further increase in brain edema in subsequent radiological controls.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This case and its iconography suggest a strong association between growth hormone administration and the exacerbation of inflammatory reactions within the tumor bed. Replacement therapy should be carefully monitored in this particular subset of patients.</p

How does prosodic deficit impact naïve listeners recognition of emotion? An analysis with speakers affected by Parkinson's disease

Abstract This study aimed to understand the impact of the prosodic deficit in Parkinson's disease (PD) on the communicative effectiveness of vocal expression of emotion. Fourteen patients with PD and 13 healthy control subjects (HC) uttered the phrase "non è possible, non ora" ("It is not possible, not now") six times reading different emotional narrations. Three experts evaluated the PD subjects' vocal production in terms of their communicative effectiveness. The PD patients were divided into two groups: PD+ (with residual effectiveness) and PD− (with impaired effectiveness). The vocal productions were administered to 30 naïve listeners. They were requested to label the emotion they recognized and to make judgments about their communicative effectiveness. The PD speakers were perceived as less effective than the HC speakers in conveying emotions (especially fear and anger). The PD− group was the most impaired in the expression of emotion, suggesting that speech disorders impact differently at the same stage of the disease with varying degrees of severity

Risk perception and travel satisfaction associated with the use of public transport in the time of COVID-19. The case of Turin, Italy

The present study examined the association between risk perception and travel satisfaction related to the use of public transport (PT) during COVID-19 pandemic in Turin, Italy. A total of 448 PT users took part in an online survey conducted from January to March 2021. It investigated safety and risk perception related to the use of PT, and the users’ subjective experience, measured through the Satisfaction with Travel Scale (STS). These perceptions were compared for three time scenarios: before the pandemic, during the pandemic, and in the future at the end of the pandemic emergency. Results showed that COVID-19 influenced respondents risk perception both during the pandemic and in their projections about the future, especially for females. The risk of contagion from COVID-19 is perceived as higher inside a PT vehicle than in the adjacent/waiting spaces. Regarding travel satisfaction, the overall scores of the STS indicated that the pandemic has impacted reported well-being while travelling, both now and in the future. The dimension of activation shifted towards the negative pole and did not indicate a return to risk perception before the pandemic levels at the end of the crisis (especially for females). Respondents reported a significant decrease in their level of pleasure and satisfaction during the pandemic, but expect that in the future these levels will go back to the levels previously experienced. Regarding travel satisfaction, PT users aged 36 to 50 years reported the highest level of satisfaction, while younger users (18 to 35 years) reported the lowest degree of satisfaction in all three time scenarios. Overall, the results clearly pinpoint that health-related perceived risk is becoming a key determinant for PT use. Within this context, different dimensions of travel satisfaction proved to be impacted differently by the pandemic, for both current and future scenarios

Secreting Germ Cell Tumors of the Central Nervous System: A Long-Term Follow-up Experience

Simple Summary Nongerminomatous germ cell tumors of the central nervous system are rare tumours. Differently from germinomas, they have a severe prognosis above all when presenting with high alfafetoprotein levels. We report the results of a combined chemo- and radiotherapy approach in 28 patients affected by this disease with craniospinal irradiation and a boost tailored on the response to pre-radiant chemotherapy. Metastatic patients and high-risk disease are discussed as well. The 5 years overall survival and event-free survival were both 81% while at 10 years they were 81% and 76% respectively. Our series, even if small, concerns nongerminomatous germ cell tumors only (whereas in some papers they are mixed with pure germinomas), furthermore our patients had a very long follow-up (over 11 years) with encouraging survival data for localized and metastatic disease. Improving survival while trying to contain/avoid the long-term sequelae of chemotherapy and radiotherapy are the main goals of future studies. Introduction: Due to the rarity of nongerminomatous germ cell tumors (NGGCT) with non-standard treatment as yet, we report retrospectively our 30 year experience with chemotherapy followed by craniospinal irradiation (CSI), plus a boost of whole ventricular irradiation (WVI)/tumor bed (TB), tailored to pre-radiation chemotherapy response. Methods: Between 1988 and 2016, 28 patients received four cycles of PEB (cisplatin/etoposide/bleomycin), then CSI, and two further PEB cycles. Between 1988 and1994, CSI was 25.5 Gy for patients in complete remission (CR), 30 Gy if in partial remission (PR) or metastatic, with a boost to TB up to 45-54 Gy. In the period of 1995-2010, the boost included WVI and any extra-ventricular tumor sites up to 45 Gy. After 2010, CSI was reduced to 25.5 Gy for all non-metastatic patients, and a boost was given only to TB up to 40.5/45.5 Gy, depending on patients' CR/PR status. After 2003, patients with alfafetoprotein (alpha FP) &gt; 1000 ng/mL received intensified treatment, also including autologous stem cell transplantation. Results: Among 28 patients (23 males; median age 12 years, 6 metastatic), 25 responded to PEB, and three progressed (PD) after one to four cycles; 26 received radiotherapy obtaining 13 CR, 7 PR and 5 stable disease (SD), 1 PD; 6 (21%) died (5 for disease, 1 for pneumonia while in CR). Five-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were both 81%; 10 year OS and PFS 81% and 76%, respectively (median follow-up 11 years). Conclusions: Survival for children with NGGCT, independently from disease extent, was encouraging. Further studies should elucidate which patients could benefit from reduced volume and dose irradiation

Grounding the Restorative Effect of the Environment in Tertiary Qualities: An Integration of Embodied and Phenomenological Perspectives

This paper proposes an integration of embodied and phenomenological perspectives to understand the restorative capacity of natural environments. It emphasizes the role of embodied simulation mechanisms in evoking positive affects and cognitive functioning. Perceptual symbols play a crucial role in generating the restorative potential in environments, highlighting the significance of the encounter between the embodied individual and the environment. This study reviews Stress Reduction Theory (SRT) and Attention Restoration Theory (ART), finding commonalities in perceptual fluency and connectedness to nature. It also explores a potential model based on physiognomic perception, where the environment’s pervasive qualities elicit an affective response. Restorativeness arises from a direct encounter between the environment’s phenomenal structure and the embodied perceptual processes of individuals. Overall, this integrative approach sheds light on the intrinsic affective value of environmental elements and their influence on human well-being

Parole per accogliere e restituire emozioni

Il presente contributo prende in esame le strategie verbali e vocali non verbali per accogliere le emozioni espresse dall'interlocutore, nello specifico collera e tristezza, ed esprimere empatia

In-sicurezza stradale Psicologia del traffico e sinergie interdisciplinari Atti del Convegno (Milano, 11 giugno 2011)

Oggetto di studio dell’intero convegno è il“sistema traffico”, di cui si considerano l’interazione uomo-macchina e le molteplici interazion itra gli utenti della strada (automobilisti, pedoni, ciclisti, ciclomotoristi, utilizzatori di mezzi pubblici) e il sistema della mobilità viaria. La riflessione sulla sicurezza stradale perseguita in modo interdisciplinare all'interno del convegno si propone di promuovere la ricerca nazionale e internazionale, mediante il potenziamento di strumenti psicotecnici per la ricerca sperimentale e sul campo(eye-tracker, bio-signal, software specifici per la ricostruzione di incidenti.) Si propone inoltre di fornire un'occasione di formazione al personale tecnico e di formazione finalizzata alla prevenzione, tramite la collaborazione tra agenzie educative e istituzioni e agenzie specifiche (autoscuole, scuole, scuole di guida sicura, Corpo di Polizia, Vigili Urbani, Enti Ospedalieri, Assicurazioni). Infine, si pone come punto di partenza per ideare e progettare strumenti specifici e qualificati per le esigenze che nascono all’interno dei diversi aspetti del sistema traffico (misurazione di abilità e competenze, valutazioni di idoneità, simulatori di procedure di guida)