Il lavoro si è proposto di indagare le relazioni esistenti tra la metacognizione e la multimedialità, focalizzandosi in particolare sul ruolo che tali elementi possono avere sul processamento cognitivo. Partendo da un'analisi della teoria di Mayer relativa all'apprendimento multimediale, e da un'attenta disamina della letteratura recente riguardante il rapporto tra metacognizione e multimedialità, sono stati progettati tre percorsi di ricerca. Il primo consiste in un'analisi di dell'uso delle illustrazione nei testi scolastici italiani analisi volta a far emergere modelli impliciti dell'utilizzo della multimedialità. Questo primo progetto di ricerca comprende anche una seconda parte, strutturata sotto forma di interviste, volta a studiare più direttamente le concezioni ingenue di diversi sottocampioni di soggetti. Le seconda ricerca è volta a verificare il livello di accordo spontaneo che studenti universitari possono dimostrare rispetto ai principi multimediali ipotizzati da Mayer. La terza parte sperimentale, invece, si è soffermata sull'analisi del ruolo e degli effetti della metacognizione e delle differenze individuali nella fruizione di presentazioni multimediali. I risultati delle ricerche sono stati discussi anche confrontandoli con i dati della più recente letteratura di settore. / The present work was aimed at exploring relations between metacognition (declined in metacogntion knowledge, monitoring and control) and multimedia, focusing particularly on the role that those elements have on cognitive processing. Starting from a theoretical analysis of Mayer's model of multimedia learning, and from a detailed examine of the recent literature concerning metacognition and multimedia, we devised 3 experimental projects. The first one was an analysis of instructional illustrated books, intended to discover embedded beliefs about multimedia. This project included also an interview study to directly investigate people naïve conceptions. The second research was aimed to investigate if cognitive principles underlying multimedia learning are counterintuitive asking students to rate the effectiveness of Mayer's own experimental materials. The third part was focused on the role of active metacognition and individual differences in the fruition of a multimedia presentation. Results from the three studies were discussed and compared with existing literature.

The effectiveness of memory specificity training (MeST) was compared with standard cognitive processing therapy (CPT) in treatment of individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder. Eighteen adults aged 18-36 were randomly assigned to the MeST intervention (n = 9) or to the active control group (n = 9) of CPT. Both treatments were administered in group format across 6 weeks. MeST consisted of 6 weekly sessions, while CPT consisted of 12 biweekly sessions. The trial was undertaken in the Psychology Clinic of the University of North Texas, with randomization to conditions accomplished via computer random number generator. The primary outcome measure was change in PTSD symptoms post-treatment from baseline. Sixteen individuals (13 women and 3 men; MeST n = 8 and CPT n = 8) completed treatment and their data was analyzed. MeST significantly decreased PTSD symptomology at post-treatment and these results were maintained at 3 months post-treatment. MeST was found to be as effective as the established CPT intervention at reducing PTSD symptomology. Both MeST and CPT significantly increased participants' ability to specify memories upon retrieval at post-treatment, with results maintained at follow-up. There were no significant effects of MeST or CPT in ability to increase overall controlled cognitive processing at post-treatment or follow-up. No individual in either group reported any adverse effects during treatment or at 3 months follow-up. MeST appears to hold promise as an efficacious treatment option for PTSD. MeST was as effective as CPT in reducing symptoms of PTSD, but required only half the number of treatment sessions to accomplish these gains. Replication of these findings in larger samples is encouraged.

This article investigates the effectiveness of bathroom print ads. Using liquor as the product domain, field study data (n = 146) indicate a high level of ad (60%) and product category (80%) recall. Contrary to the literature and the researchers' hypothesis, respondents had a significantly higher level of recall for copy dominant than for visual dominant ads. Hypotheses suggesting that color advertisements would outperform non-color advertisements and interactions between ages and visual-based versus copy-based stimuli and gender and visual-based versus copy-based stimuliwere not supported by the data. The implications for practitioners of the effectiveness of copy rich ads and suggested directions for future research are discussed.

<p>The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the use of health risk communications as a strategy to change risk perceptions and motivate leisure time physical activity (LTPA) among people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Guided by protection motivation theory (PMT; Rogers, 1983) and the extended parallel processing model (EPPM; Witte, 1992), two strategies were examined as unique approaches to enhancing the effectiveness of health risk information. First, risk information was tailored to individualized, objective data regarding participants’ health risk. Second, risk information was supplemented with framed leisure time physical activity (LTPA) efficacy messages. Gain-framed messages emphasized the benefits of LTPA, whereas loss-framed messages emphasized the risks of inactivity. The relative effectiveness of gain- versus loss-framed messages was considered within the context of the EPPM (Witte, 1992). A secondary purpose of the dissertation was to explore cognitive processing in relation to framed LTPA messages. The attention and elaboration phases of cognitive processing were examined for gain- and loss-framed LTPA messages following exposure to health risk information. Three experiments were conducted to 1) test the effectiveness of individualized health risk information for changing health risk perceptions and LTPA among people with SCI, 2) test the relative effectiveness of gain- and loss-framed LTPA efficacy messages presented following health risk information for changing LTPA response efficacy and LTPA intentions among people with SCI, and, 3) investigate the relative attention given to gain-framed versus loss-framed LTPA response efficacy messages following presentation of health risk information to university students. The theoretical and pragmatic contributions are discussed.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Produto de uma pesquisa teórica e empírica, esta dissertação aborda um campo conceitual comum entre a área de projeto pertencente à arquitetura e ao design, a formação escolar básica e as tecnologias digitais de modelagem e fabricação. Tal temática pauta-se na contemporaneidade, na medida em que se inserem novos meios de apoio ao ensino e aprendizado na formação escolar básica. Desse modo, o computador até então utilizado como processador de texto e imagens, alia-se à modelagem, à fabricação digital e à comunicação em rede. Como abordado nessa dissertação, o termo \"design\" é empregado com distintos enfoques no campo da formação escolar básica, o primeiro deles de caráter mais vinculado ao campo das artes, enquanto o segundo insere-se no campo das tecnologias de fabricação e no estudo da cultura material da sociedade contemporânea. Tendo em vista o campo comum dessas ações permeando as áreas de projeto, formação básica escolar e tecnologias digitais, esta investigação considera a partir uma base teórica, um grupo de dezoito pontos de convergência que subsidiou os trabalhos de campo. Esses trabalhos foram estruturados a partir de quatro tipos de oficinas realizadas na periferia da cidade de Guarulhos, região metropolitana de São Paulo, organizadas em um ambiente de livre acesso e que foram detalhadas nesse trabalho. Essa formulação teórico-prática visa traçar considerações acerca do campo comum estudado em que, tecnologias digitais de modelagem e fabricação têm auxiliado no desenvolvimento de linguagens e habilidades mentais em um público inserido na formação escolar básica. Pretende-se assim avançar no debate sobre a formação do indivíduo na atualidade. / The product of a theoretical and empiric research, this paper discusses a common conceptual ground among the project area -which includes the architecture and the design-, basic education, and digital modelling and manufacturing technologies. Its subject is based on the contemporaneity, to the extent that it introduces new means of support for learning and teaching in basic education. In this way, the computer -to that moment used exclusively for text and image processing- allies with modelling, digital manufacturing, and network communication. As herein discussed, the word \"design\" is used with different meanings in the field of basic education, the first of which has a stronger relation with the field of arts, whereas the second one lies within the field of manufacturing technologies and the studies on the material culture of the contemporary society. Considering the common ground of said activities, which permeate the fields of design, basic education and digital technology, this research take into account a group of eighteen common points of agreement from a theoretical basis that subsided the field studies. Those studies were structured from four types of workshop held in the outskirts of Guarulhos, in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, organized in a free-access environment, and which are herein detailed. This theoretical and practical formulation has as purpose to address the considerations resulting from the studied common ground, insofar as digital modelling and manufacturing technologies has helped the development of languages and mental skills of such a young audience still in basic education. The aim is to advance the debate on the formation of the individual nowadays.

Cherchant à établir un pont théorique et pratique entre les sciences de l'éducation, les sciences cognitives et la philosophie des sciences, la thèse développe un modèle didactique à l'interface entre ces disciplines : le modèle allostérique de l'apprendre initié et développé par Giordan (1988) et al. (1992), qui s'inscrit dans le paradigme des théories du changement conceptuel. Nourri par les travaux récents des psychologues cognitifs sur les processus d'apprentissage tels que les théories du recyclage neuronal (Dehaene, 2007) ou de l'inhibition cérébrale (Houdé & Tzourio-Mazoyer, 2003), ainsi que sur diverses théories relatives à l'élaboration de la pensée telles que l'économie comportementale (Tversky & Kahnernan, 1982) ou le modèle-cadre SRK (Rasmussen, 1990), ce modèle développe et précise le concept d’allostérie à travers la description et la formalisation des processus de déconstruction-reconstruction des conceptions, qui ont lieu lors des apprentissages complexes. De la phase de théorisation du modèle, effectuée par un recours aux formalismes de la réactivité chimique en accord avec la métaphore initiale de l'allostérie, il est possible de déduire divers environnements didactiques opératoires et féconds pour le praticien de l'enseignement et de la médiation scientifiques. Ces prévisions théoriques sont alors mises à l'épreuve de l'expérimentation didactique à travers une recherche de terrain centrée sur la notion d'expérience contre-intuitive (Eastes & Pellaud, 2004) menée auprès de différents types de publics. / Aiming at bridging education sciences, cognitive sciences and philosophy of science both theoretically and practically, this thesis develops a didactical model at the interface between these fields: the allosteric learning model developed by Giordan (1988) et al. (1992), understood in the context conceptual change theories paradigm. Fueled by the recent works of cognitive psychologists on learning processes such as neuronal recycling (Dehaene, 2007) or cerebral inhibition (Houdé & Tzourio-Mazoyer, 2003), as well as on various theories related to the thought processes such as behavioral economies (Tversky & Kahneman, 1982) or the Skills-Rules-Knowledge framework model (Rasmussen, 1990), this model develops and refines the concept of allostery through the description and formalization of specific processes that take place in complex learning situations : the deconstruction-reconstruction of conceptions. Based on the theorization of the model, done through the use chemical reactivity formalisms in line with the initial metaphor of allostery, it is possible to deduce various operational and fruitful didactical environments for teaching practitioners or science communication professionals. These theoretical projections are then put to the test through didactic experimentation taking the shape of field research on the notion of counter-intuitive experiment (Eastes & Pellaud, 2004) conducted with different types of target groups.

Many secondary students with autism (SWA) included in the general education (GE) classroom demonstrate academic and behavioral challenges. Most GE teachers who have inclusive SWA in their classes receive little or no training on evidence-based practices to address these challenges. The purpose of this qualitative bounded case study was to explore secondary GE teachers' perceptions of and experiences with the academic and behavioral challenges of inclusive SWA. Theoretical frameworks of the weak central coherence theory for autism and executive dysfunction grounded the study. Data from 6 purposefully chosen secondary GE inclusion teachers, who educated SWA and students with autism spectrum disorder from one middle school setting, were collected using individual semistructured telephone interviews and independent participant journals. Criteria to be a participant included teachers who had taught more than 5 years, earned a master's degree, and taught inclusive SWA. The data were thematically analyzed using a segmenting-and-labeling open coding process. Participants revealed that secondary inclusive SWA had low cognitive processing, difficulty understanding content and maintaining an adequate pace while working on tasks, and demand of teacher attention. Furthermore, SWA demonstrated behavioral challenges controlling emotional outbursts, being organized, and socialization with peers. It is recommended that GE teachers have paraprofessionals with SWA preparation, opportunities for multilevel collaboration, and increased autism-specific training to assist in meeting academic and emotional needs of SWA. These actions could contribute to positive social change through assisting GE teachers in planning and improved instruction and postsecondary outcomes for secondary inclusive SWA.

The ability to imagine negative or positive future events is associated with psychological well-being. The present thesis deals with depressed individual’s ability to imagine negative or positive future events. It consists of three quantitative studies (I-III) and one qualitative study (IV). Participants in studies I-III were assessed in connection with a randomized controlled trial of two ways to deliver Internet-based treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD). Their ages ranged between 19-65 years. In addition to receiving treatment participants completed the Controlled Word Association Test; the Autobiographical Memory test (AMT) and the Future Thinking Task (FTT). Participants in study IV were recruited from a psychiatric clinic in Sweden. The sample sizes varied between study I (N=40), II (N=88), III (N=47) and IV (N=15). The aim of the first study was to compare positive and negative future thinking in a group of depressed individuals (n=20) who were compared with a matched group of non-depressed persons (n=20). The results showed that depressed persons report lower scores regarding anticipated future positive events, but that they do not differ in terms of future negative events. The aim of the second study was to examine the association between FTT and AMT in a depressed sample. The results showed that positive future thinking was significantly correlated with retrieval of specific positive autobiographical memories (r = 0.23). The results only gave weak support for an association between FTT and AMT. The aim of the third study was to investigate if scores on the FTT would change following two forms of Internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy for major depression (guided self-help and e-mail therapy). A second aim was to study if changes in depression scores as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory would correlate with changes in future thinking. The results showed that FTT index scores for negative events were reduced after treatment. There was no increase for the positive events. Change scores for the FTT negative events and depression symptoms were significantly correlated. The aim of the fourth study was to investigate representations of the future in depressed individuals by using open-ended methodology inspired by grounded theory. The results showed that depressed individuals experienced a state of “ambivalence”. Ambivalence and its negative emotional and cognitive effects were substantially reduced in strength when participants were asked about their distant future. The conclusions drawn from these studies are that depressed persons report lower scores regarding anticipated future positive events (Study I). There is some support for a positive association between FTT and AMT, but the association is weak and only concern positive FTT and positive AMT (Study II). Negative future thinking may be reduced after Internet-delivered treatment, and changes in depressive symptoms correlate to some extent with reductions in negative future thinking (Study III). The concept of ambivalence may be an important feature of depression which deserves more attention from both a theoretical and clinical perspective (Study VI). / Förmågan att föreställa sig negativa eller positiva framtida händelser är förknippad med vårt psykiska välbefinnande. Denna avhandling fokuserar deprimerade individers förmåga att föreställa sig negativa eller positiva framtida händelser. Den består av tre kvantitativa studier (I-III) och en kvalitativ studie (IV). Deltagare i studie I-III rekryterades i samband med en randomiserad kontrollerad studie av två sätt att ge Internet-baserad behandling för egentlig depression (vägledd självhjälp och e-postterapi) . Deltagarnas ålder varierade mellan 19-65 år. Förutom att gå igenom behandling fick deltagarna genomföra olika tester ( Controlled Word Association Test (COWAT), Autobiographical Memory test (AMT) och Future Thinking Task (FTT)). Deltagarna i studie IV rekryterades från en vuxenpsykiatrisk klinik i Sverige. Sampelstorleken varierade mellan studie I (n = 40), II (n = 88), III (n = 47) och IV (n = 15). Syftet med den första studien var att undersöka positiva och negativa framtidstankar hos deprimerade individer (n = 20) vilka jämfördes med en matchad grupp av icke-deprimerade individer (n = 20). Resultaten visade att deprimerade individer rapporterade färre förväntade framtida positiva händelser, men att de inte skiljer sig åt vad gäller framtida negativa händelser. Syftet med den andra studien var att undersöka sambandet mellan FTT och AMT hos deprimerade individer. Resultaten visade att positivt framtidstänkande var signifikant korrelerat med specifika positiva självbiografiska minnen (r = 0.23). Dock visade resultaten enbart ett svagt stöd för ett statistiskt signifikant samband mellan FTT och AMT. Syftet med den tredje studien var att undersöka om poäng på FTT ändrades som en följd av två former av Internetbaserad kognitiv beteendeterapi hos deprimerade individer. Ett andra syfte var att studera om förändringar i depressionspoäng mätt med Beck Depression Inventory skulle korrelera med förändringar i FTT. Resultaten visade att FTT indexpoäng för negativa händelser minskade efter behandling. Det fanns ingen ökning gällande positiva händelser. Ändrade poäng för FTT negativa händelser och depressionssymtom var signifikant korrelerade. Syftet med den fjärde studien var att undersöka representationer av framtiden hos deprimerade individer genom att använda en ”open-ended” metodik inspirerad av grundad teori. Resultaten visade att deprimerade individer upplevde ett tillstånd av "ambivalens". Ambivalensen och dess negativa emotionella och kognitiva effekter minskade betydligt i styrka när de tillfrågades om en mer avlägsen framtid. Slutsatserna från dessa studier är att deprimerade individer rapporter färre förväntade framtida positiva händelser, men att de inte skiljer sig från en kontrollgrupp avseende antal negativa framtida händelser (Studie I). Det finns visst stöd för ett positivt samband mellan FTT och AMT, men sambandet är svag och avser endast positiva FTT och positiva AMT (Studie II). Negativt framtidstänkande kan reduceras efter Internetbaserad behandling, och förändringar i depressionssymtom korrelerar till viss del med minskning av negativt framtidstänkande (studie III). Koncepten ambivalens vid depression kan vara ett viktigt inslag av depression som förtjänar mer uppmärksamhet från både ett teoretiskt och kliniskt perspektiv (Studie VI).

Produto de uma pesquisa teórica e empírica, esta dissertação aborda um campo conceitual comum entre a área de projeto pertencente à arquitetura e ao design, a formação escolar básica e as tecnologias digitais de modelagem e fabricação. Tal temática pauta-se na contemporaneidade, na medida em que se inserem novos meios de apoio ao ensino e aprendizado na formação escolar básica. Desse modo, o computador até então utilizado como processador de texto e imagens, alia-se à modelagem, à fabricação digital e à comunicação em rede. Como abordado nessa dissertação, o termo \"design\" é empregado com distintos enfoques no campo da formação escolar básica, o primeiro deles de caráter mais vinculado ao campo das artes, enquanto o segundo insere-se no campo das tecnologias de fabricação e no estudo da cultura material da sociedade contemporânea. Tendo em vista o campo comum dessas ações permeando as áreas de projeto, formação básica escolar e tecnologias digitais, esta investigação considera a partir uma base teórica, um grupo de dezoito pontos de convergência que subsidiou os trabalhos de campo. Esses trabalhos foram estruturados a partir de quatro tipos de oficinas realizadas na periferia da cidade de Guarulhos, região metropolitana de São Paulo, organizadas em um ambiente de livre acesso e que foram detalhadas nesse trabalho. Essa formulação teórico-prática visa traçar considerações acerca do campo comum estudado em que, tecnologias digitais de modelagem e fabricação têm auxiliado no desenvolvimento de linguagens e habilidades mentais em um público inserido na formação escolar básica. Pretende-se assim avançar no debate sobre a formação do indivíduo na atualidade. / The product of a theoretical and empiric research, this paper discusses a common conceptual ground among the project area -which includes the architecture and the design-, basic education, and digital modelling and manufacturing technologies. Its subject is based on the contemporaneity, to the extent that it introduces new means of support for learning and teaching in basic education. In this way, the computer -to that moment used exclusively for text and image processing- allies with modelling, digital manufacturing, and network communication. As herein discussed, the word \"design\" is used with different meanings in the field of basic education, the first of which has a stronger relation with the field of arts, whereas the second one lies within the field of manufacturing technologies and the studies on the material culture of the contemporary society. Considering the common ground of said activities, which permeate the fields of design, basic education and digital technology, this research take into account a group of eighteen common points of agreement from a theoretical basis that subsided the field studies. Those studies were structured from four types of workshop held in the outskirts of Guarulhos, in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, organized in a free-access environment, and which are herein detailed. This theoretical and practical formulation has as purpose to address the considerations resulting from the studied common ground, insofar as digital modelling and manufacturing technologies has helped the development of languages and mental skills of such a young audience still in basic education. The aim is to advance the debate on the formation of the individual nowadays.

The current study takes an initial step toward deriving a method for empirically based, theory-driven treatment matching in a military population suffering from PTSD. Along with the more overt symptoms of PTSD (e.g., persistent hyperarousal), secondary cognitive symptoms have also been shown to be significantly associated with avoidance and intrusive symptoms, as well as contribute to functional impairment. Based on the factor analytic and treatment literature for PTSD, it appears that there are two central mechanisms associated with beneficial therapeutic change that underlies both CPT and PE treatments (i.e., habituation, changes in cognitions). Additionally, different traumatic events and peritraumatic responses may be associated with unique symptom profiles and may necessitate targeted treatment. The present study proposes a novel approach to treatment matching based on the factor structure of PTSD and underlying mechanisms of treatment response. More broadly, this paper provides evidence for a broader understanding of peritraumatic responses and the potential implications of these responses for symptom profiles and illness trajectories.