Wie navigieren Menschen in unüberschaubaren Umgebungen, wenn es nicht möglich ist, alle Optionen ausführlich zu untersuchen? Die Forschung zum menschlichen Lernen hat in den letzten Jahrzehnten rasche Fortschritte gemacht: Von der Entdeckung des neuronalen Substrats für Vorhersagefehler bis hin zur Verwendung ähnlicher Prinzipien zum Aufbau künstlicher Intelligenz, die in Geschicklichkeitsspielen wie Go die besten menschlichen Spieler schlagen kann. Bisher lag der Forschungsschwerpunkt auf dem Lernen durch wiederholte Interaktionen mit ein und derselben Situation. Dabei ist ungeklärt, wie Menschen sich schnell an neue Situationen anpassen können und aus spärlichen Beispielen lernen können. Wir schlagen vor, dass die Generalisierung eine wesentliche Rolle dabei spielt, wie Men- schen effizient die Welt erforschen und sich in ihr zurechtfinden. Inspiriert von Roger Shepards „law of generalization“ präsentieren wir eine allgemeine Theorie der Generalisierung in räumlichen, konzeptuellen und strukturierten Umgebungen. Wir verwenden ein Funktionslernmodell, um zu beschreiben, wie Menschen begrenzte Erfahrungen auf eine Vielzahl neuer Situationen generalisieren, basierend auf dem einfachen Prinzip, dass ähnliche Aktionen zu ähnlichen Ergebnissen führen. Unser Modell der Generalisierung erzeugt Vorhersagen über die erwartete Belohnung und die damit verbundene Unsicherheit unerforschter Optionen—zwei wichtige Komponenten dafür, wie Menschen die Welt aktiv erkunden. / How do people navigate the vastness of real-world environments where it is not feasible to explore all possibilities and the exact same situation is rarely encountered twice? The study of human learning has made rapid progress in the past decades, from discovering the neural substrate of reward prediction errors, to using similar principles to build artificial intelligence capable of beating the best human players in skillful games such as Go. Yet this line of research has primarily focused on learning through repeated interactions with the same stimuli. How are humans able to rapidly adapt to novel situations and learn from such sparse examples? We propose that generalization plays a crucial role in guiding human exploration and learning. Inspired by Roger Shepard’s law of generalization, we present a domain general theory of generalization across spatial, conceptual, and structured environments. We use a function learning model to describe how people generalize limited experiences to a wide set of novel possibilities, based on the simple principle that similar actions produce similar outcomes. Our model of generalization generates predictions about the expected reward and underlying uncertainty of unexplored options, where both are vital components in how people actively explore the world.

Interpersonal power, defined as the asymmetrical control over valued outcomes, has important effects on the way cognitive processing unfolds. This work explores the effect of power on basic cognitive processes, in addition to broader processes that appear at the level of social behaviour. I begin this thesis with an introductory chapter, followed by a chapter describing the theory and practice behind electro-encephalogram recordings. In Chapter 3, I explore the effect of power on attention selection using a task that requires the ability to focus or divide attention in space, while varying the amount of distractors. The results suggest that low-power participants (subordinates) are more susceptible to the presence of distractors, regardless of whether the task necessitates focused or divided attention. In this context, inhibition accounts for the results to a greater extent than spatial orienting. In Chapter 4, I explore the effect of power on early inhibition processes in the context of executive control, in a task which allows participants to allegedly observe each others’ performance and receive feedback. The results show that high power is associated with reduced behavioural accuracy on trials that require executive control. Event-related potential analyses show that power-holders devote reduced motivational resources to their targets compared to subordinates, but do not differ at the level of early conflict detection. Their feedback potential results show a greater expectation of rewards, but reduced subjective magnitude attributed to losses. Subordinates, on the other hand, are asymmetrically sensitive to power-holders’ targets. They expect fewer rewards, but attribute greater significance to losses. In Chapter 5, I show that subordinates are asymmetrically competent at remembering diagnostic choices made by power-holders. In a final general discussion chapter, I integrate the findings of the experiments, which point to multi-layered effects of power, conferring those who possess it and those who lack it with distinct cognitive processing styles that suit their adaptive needs. The results are consistent with a hypothesized link between subordination and up-regulation of vigilance and environmental sensitivity. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

The current thesis explores the complex relationship between cognitive control and memory. A series of experiments combined task-switching paradigms with recognition memory tests to measure how switching between tasks influences effective control over long-term memory. In these experiments, participants were presented with compound stimuli consisting of a picture and an overlaid word, and were cued in each trial whether the word or the picture was relevant (attended) or irrelevant (unattended). Participants were then tested for their memory of items presented during task switching. Experiments 1-2 indicated that switching between tasks reduces the selectivity of processing: Switching was associated with impaired task performance as well as more similar memory ratings for attended and unattended items. Experiments 3-5 extended these findings by showing that enhanced top-down control positively affected task-performance as well as memory, in both cases by increasing the selectivity of processing toward task-relevant information. Experiments 6-7 replicated key effects with simple switches of visual attention, and explored the neural correlates of successful task performance and encoding using EEG. The key finding here was that previously observed ―subsequent memory‖ effects reflect, at least in part, selective encoding processes. The last chapter extended the focus of the investigation to explore the role of control in long-term memory retrieval. FMRI meta- analyses indicated considerable overlap in neural activation found during task switching and during the adoption of different retrieval sets. The results of Experiment 8 indicated that switching during task performance and later memory retrieval were both associated with decreased selectivity of processing. Collectively, the results of this thesis suggest that selectivity of processing is a critical factor in effective task performance and successful memory, with potentially very similar mechanisms underlying the two. This work demonstrates the fruitfulness of combining research on cognitive control and memory to study questions relevant for both fields.

Communicating climate change and other long-term environmental issues to the wider public is a challenging process involving many barriers to action. Visualisations have the ability to overcome these barriers. Furthermore, the benefits of visual images over verbal information have been supported. However, there is a lack of research on how visual images can motivate behaviour. Based on Elaborated Intrusion theory, it is proposed that visual images can be internalised as mental images which can act as a ‘motivational bridge’ for pro-environmental behaviour. Six studies exposed participants to visual pro-environmental messages. Throughout all studies images were internalised as mental images, associated with intrusive thoughts. Consistently, mental images were strongly associated with pro-environmental goals and behaviour change (self-report and actual). Also, interfering with visual mental imagery, using cognitive tasks, reduced self-reported behaviour change (Study 6). Overall, two motivational roles of mental imagery emerged: mental images can trigger pro-environmental goals and can strengthen the relationship between pro-environmental goals and behaviour. The development, strength, and vividness of mental imagery depended on interacting individual and message characteristics. A vivid message was more effective when the message topic was relevant to the target individual (Study 2). Also, a message in line with existing values evoked more vivid mental imagery (Studies 2 to 6). A message could activate specific values as well if mental imagery was not interfered with (Study 5 and 6). And finally, positive and negative images were associated with different feelings, but could both be internalised and motivate behaviour (Study 3 and 6). A combined message could overcome the negative feelings associated with a fear appeal (Study 6). This thesis developed a theoretical framework, integrating approaches from social and cognitive psychology, which can help explain and predict responses to visual environmental messages. Six studies showed that the effect of a visual image on behaviour depends, among other factors, on its ability to trigger recurring mental imagery. Insights provide opportunities for designing evidence based visual pro-environmental messages. In turn this can maximise the impact visual messages have on changing people’s pro-environmental behaviour.

Objet : Dans le champ de la psychologie clinique et, plus particulièrement, dans le champ de la psychosomatique, cette thèse a pour objectif l’étude de liens potentiels complexes, non linéaires, entre une communication familiale défaillante,une construction psychique en faux-self et la survenue d’un cancer du sein à l’âge adulte. Méthode : Les données utilisées ont été recueillies auprès de 50 patientes atteintes d’un cancer du sein. Trois entretiens semi directifs et un test de Rorschach complétés par la grille simplifiée des risques psychosomatique du Pr Stora nous ont servi d’outils.Résultats : La grille des risques psychosomatiques nous permis d’identifier trois groupes : léger, modéré, sévère. Nous constatons que, si les résultats des entretiens ne sont éloquents que pour le groupe sévère, les données du test de Rorschach, quant à elles, dévoilent pour l’ensemble de notre population une spécificité. Cette spécificité est caractérisée par une fragilité de l’enveloppe corporelle avec problématique d’intégrité corporelle et retentissement sur le sentiment identitaire et , également, par une socialisation difficile, voire limite. La totalité de nos sujets présente une personnalité avec structure psychique en faux-self. / Subject : In the field of clinical psychology and, more particularly, in the field of psychosomatic, this thesis aims is to investigate potential and complex linkages, nonlinear, between a defective family communication, a psychic construction in false self and the occurrence of breast cancer in adulthood. Method : Data were collected from 50 patients with breast cancer. Three semistructured interviews and a Rorschach test complemented by the risk psychosomatic assessment grid simplified of Pr Stora we have used tools.Results : The risk psychosomatic grid helped identify three groups : mild, moderate, severe. We not that if the interview results are eloquent than severe for the group, data from the Rorschach test, in turn, reveal the whole of our population specificity. This specificity is characterized by fragility of the body envelope with problems relating to the physical integrity and impact on the sense of identity and also by socialization difficult or limited. All our subjects presented a personality psychic structure in false self

Les recherches récentes ont cherché à appréhender la contribution de la théorie de l'esprit – appréhension du monde mental en termes d'états mentaux – au développement de la métacognition – connaissances sur le fonctionnement cognitif. C'est dans ce contexte que nous avons réalisé une étude longitudinale auprès d'enfants français scolarisés et âgés de 4 ans au premier temps. Les enfants (N=31) ont été rencontrés tous les 4 mois pendant deux années scolaires – moyenne et grande section de maternelle. L'objectif de notre étude était d'appréhender le développement de la métamémoire déclarative au cours de la période préscolaire, mais également celui de trois de ces précurseurs cognitifs – théorie de l'esprit, langage et mémoire épisodique. Les analyses de régression linéaire multiple nous ont permis d'appréhender les liens développementaux entre ces compétences, mais également de déterminer la contribution de chacun de ces trois précurseurs au développement de la métamémoire déclarative. Les résultats soulignent l'importance de distinguer soi/autrui dans l'évaluation des compétences et confirment que la théorie de l'esprit a un impact dans le développement de la métamémoire, principalement pour la compréhension de l'influence du nombre sur la mémorisation. / Until recently, two different kinds of research have been separately conducted on knowledge about mental world: those on metacognition that have studied knowledge about cognition and research on theory-of-mind, which refers to knowledge about mental states. A novel perspective of research tends to study the link between metacognition and theory-of-mind developments. The assumption is that theory-of-mind is a cognitive tool for understanding the cognitive functioning – i.e. metacognition. In this framework, we conducted a longitudinal study to investigate the developmental relationships between a special kind of metacognition – metamemory which is knowledge about memory functioning – and theory-of-mind, and the contribution of some cognitive precursors on declarative metamemory – language and episodic memory. Thirty-one children were recruited and evaluated on these four competencies every four months during two school years. Multiple regression analyses conducted on metamemory scores confirmed that theory-of-mind competences play a role in the declarative metamemory emergence.

La mémoire de travail est un système permettant de retenir des informations tout en réalisant simultanément un traitement. La répétition subvocale (Baddeley, 1986) et le rafraîchissement attentionnel (Barrouillet et al., 2007) sont deux mécanismes ayant été identifiés comme jouant un rôle dans le maintien de l’information verbale en mémoire de travail. Cependant, la nature exacte de la relation qu’entretiennent ces deux mécanismes a peu été étudiée et reste incertaine. Pour cette raison, le but de notre travail était dans un premier temps d’étudier la relation entre la répétition et le rafraîchissement. Dans plusieurs études réalisées chez le jeune adulte, l’utilisation de la répétition et l’utilisation du rafraîchissement ont été respectivement manipulées à travers la suppression articulatoire et la demande attentionnelle du traitement concurrent. Dans la continuité des travaux précédents de Camos, Lagner et Barrouillet (2009), les données de nos études permettent de conclure que les deux mécanismes sont indépendants et qu’ils peuvent être utilisés conjointement pour le maintien de mots. Des études supplémentaires suggèrent que la répétition et le rafraîchissement sont également indépendants chez l’enfant de 7-8 ans, mais qu’ils ne sont pas utilisés conjointement. Le second but visé par nos travaux était de tester la nature des représentations impliquées dans le maintien par répétition et par rafraîchissement. Pour cela, les propriétés phonologiques des mots à mémoriser ont été manipulées à travers la similarité phonologique et la longueur des mots, tandis que la mise en œuvre de la répétition et du rafraîchissement variait. Les données ont révélé que la répétition reposait sur les représentations phonologiques, alors que le rafraîchissement était indépendant de telles représentations. Les résultats de deux expériences exploratoires ont montré que le rafraîchissement ne reposait pas sur les connaissances à long terme (telles que la fréquence et la lexicalité) et laissent ouverte la question des représentations impliquées par ce mécanisme. Les données de nos recherches apportent des arguments en faveur des modèles de mémoire de travail qui supposent l’implication à la fois d’un mécanisme général et d’un mécanisme spécifique pour le maintien de l’information verbale. / Working memory is a system that allows to maintain information, while performing a concurrent processing. The subvocal rehearsal (Baddeley, 1986) and the attentional refreshing (Barrouillet et al., 2007) are two mechanisms identified as playing a role in maintenance of verbal information within working memory. However, the exact nature of the interplay of these two mechanisms was little studied and remains unclear. Therefore, the purpose of our work was first to investigate the interplay of rehearsal and refreshing. In several experiments performed with young adults, the use of rehearsal and refreshing were respectively manipulated through articulatory suppression and attentional demand of the concurrent processing. In line with previous works from Camos, Lagner and Barrouillet (2009), data from our studies allows to conclude that the two mechanisms are independent and could be used jointly to maintain words. Further studies indicated that rehearsal and refreshing were independent as well for 7-8 years old children, but were not used jointly. The second purpose addressed in our work was to investigate the nature of representations involved in maintenance by rehearsal and refreshing. Therefore, the phonological properties of words to remember were manipulated through phonological similarity and words’ length, while rehearsal and refreshing involvement varied. Data revealed that rehearsal relied on phonological representations, while refreshing was independent of such representations. Results from two explorative experiments revealed that refreshing did not rely on long-term knowledge (as frequency and lexicality) and leave open the question of the representations involved by this mechanism. The data from our research bring some arguments to models of working memory assuming the involvement of both general and specific mechanisms to maintain verbal information.

Les événements pertinents de notre environnement sont intégrés au flux d'information complexe et multisensoriel qui nous parvient. La perception du temps est malléable et de nombreuses illusions suggèrent que le temps perçu est influencé par le contexte. Dans le cadre de cette thèse, nous nous sommes intéressés à l’influence de différents aspects du contexte sur la perception du temps et du timing des actions chez l’humain. Dans la première partie de cette thèse, nous avons étudié le rôle du caractère explicite de l’apparition d’un événement sur la durée perçue de l’intervalle entre deux événements. Nous avons montré que l’influence du contexte temporel était plus forte dans la condition d’apparition implicite, pour laquelle le biais d’estimation des vers la moyenne des durées présentées est plus fort, et la sensibilité plus basse. Dans la deuxième partie de la thèse, nous avons étudié les effets du contexte temporel et spatial sur le temps perçu des événements. Les résultats de ces études suggèrent que le moment perçu de l’apparition d’un événement ne correspond pas toujours aux latences perceptives mesurées par des taches de temps de réaction, et que la saillance est un indice important pour percevoir le temps. Enfin, dans la troisième partie, nous avons examiné comment différentes sources d’incertitude influencent le timing perçu d’une action et son auto-évaluation. Les résultats suggèrent que ces deux aspects s’appuieraient au moins en partie sur des processus différents. / Relevant events in our environment are embedded in the complex, multisensory stream of information. Time perception is malleable, and numerous time illusions suggest that the perceived time of events is affected by context. The work presented in this thesis investigated how different aspects of human time perception and timing an action are affected by context. In the first part of the thesis, we investigated how the explicitness of the event onset affects perceived elapsed time between two points in time. The temporal context affected the estimates more in the implicit onset condition. The estimates were more biased towards the mean of the presented durations, and sensitivity of duration discrimination sensitivity was lower in the condition with no explicit onset of the duration to be timed. The effects of the temporal and spatial context on the perceived time of events were addressed in the second part. The findings suggest that the perceived time of events can be easily and compulsory biased by the temporal and spatial context. Findings from these studies support the hypothesis that the perceived time of events does not always correspond the the perceptual latencies measured in the reaction time tasks, and that the saliency is an important cue for the perceived time. Finally, in the third part, we investigated how different sources of uncertainty affect the timing and self-evaluation of an action. The findings suggest that timing an action and evaluating its outcome may, at least in part, rely on different computations.

Este trabalho procura compreender as territorialidades da prostituição às margens da rodovia BR-153 no perímetro urbano de Araguaína-TO, identificando e analisando, no espaço em questão, os fatores que propiciam a instalação desses territórios. Analisa o perfil socioeconômico dos sujeitos sociais envolvidos e a existência da atividade de lenocínio (cafetinagem) no espaço em apreço. Com a construção da BR-153, muitos estabelecimentos têm sido instalados às suas margens, dando origem, inclusive, a partir dessas instalações, a muitos aglomerados urbanos. No perímetro urbano de Araguaína-TO, além dos estabelecimentos comerciais convencionais, tem surgindo outro tipo de comércio: a prostituição. Mulheres e travestis constroem e (des)constroem territórios de prostituição em uma disputa acirrada pelos clientes provenientes do intenso fluxo de pessoas que trafegam pela rodovia. Essa construção e (des)construção provocam uma alternância no uso dos espaços, que durante o dia são ocupados por funcionários e clientes dos estabelecimentos instalados às margens da rodovia, e à noite dão lugar a mulheres e travestis envolvidos na prostituição, e seus clientes. Em virtude desse fenômeno, há uma nítida mudança na paisagem, o que revela um processo de contradição socioespacial. A pesquisa baseou-se em uma revisão bibliográfica, a partir de livros e artigos científicos, e na pesquisa de campo. / This research seeks to understand the territoriality of prostitution to the BR-153 highway margins in the urban perimeter of Araguaína-TO, identifying and analyzing, in the space, the factors that favor the installation of prostitution territories. It analyzes the socioeconomic profile of the social subjects involved and the existence of procuring activity (pimping) in the space in question. With the construction of the BR-153, many establishments have been installed on its banks, giving rise even from these facilities, many urban areas. In the urban perimeter Araguaína-TO, in addition to these conventional shops, other emerging trade has arisen: prostitution. Women and transvestites construct and (de)construct prostitution territories in a fierce competition for customers from the heavy flow of people traveling over the highway. This construction and (de)construction cause an alternation in the use of these areas, which during the day are occupied by employees and customers of establishments to highway margins, and at night give way to women and transvestites involved in prostitution and their clients. Because of this phenomenon, there is a distinct change in the landscape, which reveals a process of socio-space contradiction. This research was based on a literature review, from books and scientific articles, and on field research.

Nous sommes, dans notre vie quotidienne entourés d'associations audio-visuelles : nous les percevons et les mémorisons tout au long de notre vie. Pourtant, les mécanismes impliqués dans leur apprentissage restent abscons. En particulier, les facteurs comme la motricité permettant de favoriser de tels apprentissages, sont rarement étudiés d'un point de vue mnésique.Ainsi, les objectifs généraux de cette thèse visent à : i) étudier les mécanismes cognitifs à la base de l'apprentissage d'associations audio-visuelles, ii) mieux comprendre l'impact de la motricité dans l'efficacité de ses mécanismes, et iii) proposer des méthodologies originales susceptibles d'augmenter l'efficacité de ces mécanismes et/ou de compenser d'éventuels déficits.Plus précisément, ce travail de thèse s'intéresse au bénéfice de la motricité dans l'apprentissage des correspondances grapho-phonémiques (CGP). En plus de l'intérêt purement théorique que suscite l'étude de cet apprentissage, l'importance de cette acquisition chez les jeunes enfants pré-lecteurs ajoute une portée pratique et pédagogique à ce travail. L’originalité de ce travail de thèse est de vouloir rapprocher deux grands domaines d'études, celui de l’apprentissage de la lecture/écriture et celui de la mémoire. Bien que les deux domaines traitent d'apprentissage et donc de mémoire, il n'y a jamais eu de véritable tentative d'application des modèles de la mémoire pour aider à la compréhension des mécanismes d'apprentissage de la lecture-écriture de mots, et inversement, les travaux sur la mémoire ont rarement regardé du côté des recherches sur l'apprentissage de la lecture-écriture pour valider leurs hypothèses. Or, l’un des intérêts du modèle Act-In servant de support à cette thèse est justement de proposer une approche intégrée du fonctionnement cognitif et pas seulement de la mémoire. / In our daily lives, we are surrounded by audiovisual associations: we perceive and memorize them throughout our lives. However, the mechanisms involved in their learning are not fully understood. In particular, factors such as motor skills that promote such learning are rarely studied from a memory point of view.Thus, the general objectives of this thesis are to: i) study the cognitive mechanisms underlying the learning of audio-visual associations, ii) better understand the impact of motor skills on the effectiveness of its mechanisms, and iii) propose original methodologies likely to increase the effectiveness of these mechanisms and/or compensate for possible deficits.More precisely, this thesis work focuses on the benefit of motor exploration in learning grapho-phonemic correspondences (GPC). In addition to the purely theoretical interest in studying this learning, the importance of this acquisition for young pre-readers adds a practical and pedagogical dimension to this work. What stands out from this thesis is that two areas of study, the one of learning to read and the one of memory are combined. Though both of them deal with learning hence memory, there has never been a real attempt to apply memory models to help understand the mechanisms of learning word reading and writing, and conversely, memory research has rarely looked to research on learning to read and write to validate their assumptions. However, one of the interests of the Act-In model used to support this thesis is precisely to propose an integrated approach to cognitive functioning and not only to memory.