The PASS theory createsa new perspective not only on intelligence but also the way of thinking and learning in general. The c oncept of intelligence is expanded by Lurij a's Keywords: PASS Theory , PASS Rating Scale , Cognitive p rocesses, I nformation P rocessing T heory, Intervention

Ce mémoire s’intéresse aux processus cognitifs sous-tendant les comportements agressifs réactifs auprès d’une population possédant des traits de la personnalité limite (TPL), mais pas nécessairement le diagnostic TPL. Une association a été démontrée entre le biais d’attribution d’intention hostile (BAIH) et les comportements agressifs, mais cette relation n’a pas encore été considérée auprès d’une population possédant des traits TPL. Pour atteindre cet objectif, une réplication méthodologique de l’étude de Gagnon et coll. (2016) qui propose une méthode d’évaluation du BAIH par le biais de la méthode de potentiel relié aux évènements (PRÉ) a été effectuée. La tâche de violation des attentes hostiles utilisée permet d’éliciter une composante N400, représentant une déflexion négative dans le tracé des PRÉs lorsque les attentes du sujet sont violées. Le second objectif visait à vérifier l’hypothèse selon laquelle le BAIH aurait un effet médiateur dans la relation entre les traits TPL et l’agressivité réactive. Soixante-trois personnes ont participé à l’étude. Le Personality Assessment Inventory-Borderline (PAI-BOR) a permis de mesurer les traits TPL des participants et le Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ) de mesurer leur tendance à réagir de manière agressive. Les résultats ont permis de confirmer la relation entre les traits TPL et l’agressivité réactive, et entre le BAIH et l’agressivité réactive. L’effet médiateur attendu n’a pas été retrouvé entre l’effet N400 de la condition non hostile mesurant la violation des attentes hostiles, et la relation entre les traits TPL et l’agressivité réactive. D’autres études seraient nécessaires avant de pouvoir affirmer que des interventions basées sur les interprétations en situation sociale seraient efficaces. / This thesis examined cognitive processes underlying aggressive behaviour in a population with borderline personality traits (BPD), but not necessarily the diagnosis. The association between hostile attributional bias (HAB) and aggressive behaviour has been demonstrated in the literature, but this relationship has never been considered in people with BPD traits that show reactive aggressive behaviour. Our first aim was to conduct a methodological replication of the results of Gagnon and al. (2016) that used an event-related potential (ERP) method to evaluate HAB. The hostile expectancy violation paradigm elicits an N400 component, representing a negative-going ERP deflection when intention expectations are violated. The second aim was to verify the hypothesis that HAB would mediate the relationship between BPD traits and reactive aggressive behaviour. Sixty-three participants participated in the study. The Personality Assessment Inventory-Borderline (PAI-BOR) was used to measure BPD traits and the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ) was used to measure their tendency to react in aggressive manner. The results confirmed the existing relationship between BPD traits and reactive aggression, and between HAB and reactive aggression. The expected N400 effect in the non-hostile condition measuring the violation of hostile expectations, on the relationship between BPD traits and reactive aggression was not found. Other studies are necessary before suggesting that treatment based on biased interpretations in social interaction is effective.

This diploma thesis deals with the rating scales, which are widely used in the attitude measurement, namely with the impact of their length (number of scale points) on measurement, both in terms of cognitive processes in the minds of respondents and impact on the data. Hypotheses, formulated on the basis of the literature and tested using data obtained from a split ballot experiment and cognitive interviews, are related to the comparability of results, distribution of responses and task demands. The Net Promoter Score from the environment of market research, expressing respondent's willingness to recommend a service or company used, is used as an application example. It originally uses 0 to 10 eleven-point scale which is here compared to five-point scale from 1 to 5 using various recoding and rescaling techniques. Analysis shows that rating on eleven-point and five-point scales means two different cognitive tasks for respondents (eleven-point scale is a bit more demanding but more accurate in respondents perception) and that the data differ from each other in terms of distribution of responses - on short range scale, midpoint and extreme positive category are selected more often, while on eleven-point scale, milder positive points are used more often.

La prise de décision sous ambiguïté est au cœur de notre existence. En effet, nous devons sans cesse effectuer des choix sans pour autant en connaître les conséquences potentielles, ni les probabilités qui régissent ces conséquences. Afin de mieux définir les processus en jeu dans le développement de ces capacités décisionnelles sous ambiguïté, nous avons choisi de tester la théorie incontournable dans ce domaine, à savoir : L’Hypothèse des Marqueurs Somatiques (HMS). Cette hypothèse accorde un rôle adaptatif aux émotions et suppose que l’individu réalise au cours de sa vie un apprentissage de nature émotionnelle qui guiderait ses choix dans des conditions d’ambiguïté. Nous avons réalisé trois études expérimentales issues de l’association des approches de la psychopathologie, de la psychologie cognitive et de la psychologie du développement. Dans une première étude nous avons ainsi vérifié l’implication de l’alexithymie, un trouble spécifique de l’identification et de la régulation des émotions, dans le déficit décisionnel observé chez les joueurs pathologiques. En étudiant le cas particulier du jeu pathologique, nous avons pu étayer indirectement l’HMS, en démontrant que l’alexithymie pouvait être à la source du déficit décisionnel observé au sein de cette population. Dans une deuxième étude réalisée chez le sujet sain, nous avons développé un nouveau paradigme expérimental d’amorçage émotionnel afin de répondre aux critiques persistantes quant au rôle des processus émotionnels dans la décision sous ambiguïté. Nos données conduisent à penser que la prise de décision sous ambiguïté reposerait bien sur le développement d’un signal émotionnel intégral (i.e., en réponse aux feedbacks), en montrant pour la première fois la possibilité de renforcer ce signal pour une meilleure prise de décision. Dans une troisième étude nous avons examiné le développement, de l’enfance à l’âge adulte, des capacités de prise de décision sous ambiguïté sous l’angle des processus émotionnels mais également des processus cognitifs, et en particulier les stratégies d’ajustement suite aux feedbacks. Cette perspective développementale nous a permis de mieux définir les processus cognitifs essentiels à cette prise de décision sous ambiguïté en suggérant la nécessité d’inhiber une tendance spontanée à modifier son choix après une perte afin de permettre l’apprentissage émotionnel au cœur de la prise de décision sous ambiguïté. En conclusion, les résultats de cette thèse nous ont permis d’enrichir l’HMS, en soulignant la nécessité de prendre en compte les processus émotionnels et cognitifs dans le cadre de la prise de décision sous ambiguïté. / Decision-making under ambiguity is critical in our everyday life. Indeed, we make most of our choices with no information on the potential consequences of these choices or on the probabilities that govern these consequences. To better characterize the underlying mechanisms engaged in this complex ability, we tested the Somatic Marker Hypothesis (SMH), a key theory in this field. This theory posits that decision-making under ambiguity relies on the development of emotional responses to the world (i.e., an integral emotional signal) that bias people toward advantageous choices in ambiguous circumstances. Thus, the goal of this thesis was to test (i) the role of emotional processes and (ii) the possible implication of cognitive processes in our ability to choose advantageously in ambiguous context. In our first study, we investigated the factors at the root of the decision-making deficit of pathological gamblers by assessing the impact of alexithymia – a recurrent emotional disorder in this population – on their decision-making skills. In line with the SMH, we found that alexithymia was a key factor to understand pathological gamblers’ decision-making deficit. In a second study, we designed an emotional priming paradigm to provide direct evidence that decision making relies on the creation of an integral emotional signal in healthy adults. Our data supports the SMH by evidencing that decision-making can be improved when the integral emotional signal is reinforced. Finally, in our third study, we investigated the development of decision-making abilities by focusing on the strategic adjustments in children, adolescents and adults. Our data suggest that the inhibition of a spontaneous tendency to shift after a loss might be critical to choose advantageously. In conclusion, the results of this thesis broadened the scope of the HMS by emphasizing the need to study both emotional and cognitive processes to better understand decision making under ambiguity. Keywords: Decision-making under ambiguity; Emotional processes; Cognitive processes; Cognitive development the SMH by evidencing that decision-making can be improved when the integral emotional signal is reinforced. Finally, in our third study, we investigated the development of decision-making abilities by focusing on the strategic adjustments in children, adolescents and adults. Our data suggest that the inhibition of a spontaneous tendency to shift after a loss might be critical to choose advantageously. In conclusion, the results of this thesis broadened the scope of the HMS by emphasizing the need to study both emotional and cognitive processes to better understand decision making under ambiguity.

Students entering academic programmes are frequently overwhelmed by the demand for extensive reading and comprehension of information derived from multiple and contrasting sources. This entails both careful and expeditious reading. The latter has been generally neglected in research and has not been the focus of many tests. Both types of reading were investigated in this study through a validation process of the summative English reading test for academic purposes taken at the end of the Foundation Programme in Oman. In particular, context validity was established through focusing on the interaction between the linguistic demands and task setting parameters and also the cognitive processes through which the students engaged with the test tasks. To establish the context validity of the test, this study adopted Khalifa and Weir’s (2009) model which not only embraced the complex and multi-componential nature of reading but also provided a workable validation framework. A multi-strategy approach was adopted. A natural experiment utilising Verbal Protocol Analysis captured the cognitive processes through which students engaged in reading. Automated analysis software and opinions of expert judges were used to compare test passages with text extracts drawn from first year academic courses. Correlation tests and factor analysis revealed these cognitive processes and established the robustness of the Khalifa and Weir (2009) model, which was thus validated in a second language context. Passages in the foundation tests were found to be generally representative of academic texts although certain features such as abstractness were under-represented. / Government of the Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Ministry of Manpower

OF THE THESIS The topic of this thesis is to study the cognitive processes (especially perception, imagination and thinking) of blind pupils through experiments with geometric objects. Tools of the experiment are four tasks (two for one pupil, two for a pair of pupils) that are recorded, transcribed into written protocols and analysed. An overview of the involved cognitive functions or naming of missing cognitive functions has been complied on basis of the specialised literature as a theoretical solution of analysis. Findings of psychology of mathematics didactic were other important theoretical starting points. The ones which are devoted to the tactile perception (of geometrical objects), stages of Piaget operation developments, cognitive mechanisms in mathematics and importance of communication in mathematics or geometry teaching are involved in the theses. Analysis of the experiments involves observations of the tactile perception, imaginations, thinking, cognitive processes, speech and communication, and other occurrences essential for specific tasks.

Para uma comparação intercultural das influências do contexto sobre a codificação de etnia, duas variações do Protocolo de Confusão de Memória (PCM) foram aplicadas em brasileiros. Ambas as variações consistem em uma exibição de slides de uma discussão entre duas equipes esportivas rivais, com membros negros e brancos em ambos os times, em duas condições: Controle (times com roupas de cores idênticas) e Experimental (times com roupas de cores distintas). As variações são: Traduzida, com fotos de jogadores de basquete usadas no experimento original e diálogo traduzido; e Adaptada, com fotos de brasileiros com camisetas de futebol e com o diálogo reelaborado visando consistência com o esporte. O estudo foi dividido em três fases: (I) exposição de 84 participantes, do estado de São Paulo ao PCM Traduzido (II) exposição de 569 participantes em sete estados brasileiros (BA, ES, MT, RJ, RN, SC, SP) ao PCM Traduzido (III) exposição de 77 participantes do estado de São Paulo ao PCM Adaptado. Na Fase I, a codificação etnia acompanhou o aumento da intensidade da codificação de coalizão (condição experimental), em contraposição ao experimento original (Kurzban et al., 2001). Na Fase II, a codificação de etnia diminuiu de intensidade quando a codificação de coalizão aumentou, em taxa similar à da aplicação original, mas a codificação de coalizão manteve taxa mais baixa, em ambas as condições, em relação aos dados originais. Na Fase III os resultados em ambas as dimensões foram análogos aos da aplicação original. O conjunto de dados reforça a teoria da universalidade do módulo de codificação de coalizão e que a codificação de etnia seja subproduto deste. Também refletem a importância de uma adaptação cuidadosa em estudos interculturais. / For a cross-cultural comparison of context influences in ethnicity encoding, two variations of the Memory Confusion Protocol (MCP) were applied on Brazilians. Both variations consist in a slide-show exposition of a discussion between two rival teams, with black and white players on both sides, in two forms: Control (teams with identical grey colour) and Experimental (teams with different colours). The two variations were: Translated Only, with photographs of basketball players used in the original experiment, and the respective translated dialog; and Adapted, with photographs of Brazilian models with soccer uniforms and a re-elaborated dialog, more fitting to this sport. The research was divided, then, in three different phases: (I) a 84 participants experiment with the Translated MCP, in the state of São Paulo (II) a 569 participants experiment with the Translated MCP, in seven different Brazilian states (BA, ES, MT, RJ, RN, SC, SP); and (III) a 77 participants experiment with the Adapted MCP, in the state of São Paulo. In Phase I, the ethnicity encoding, contrary to the original experiment (Kurzban et al., 2001), accompanied the intensity grown of the coalition encoding. In Phase II ethnicity encoding lowered in intensity during a the raise of intensity of coalition encoding, but coalition encoding kept a lower intensity, in both conditions, if compared to the original experiment coalition encoding rates. In Phase III, the results of both dimensions are analogue to those of the Kurzban et al., 2001 experiment. The data obtained strengthens the theory of a universal coalition encoding module, and encoding ethnicity as a byproduct of it. The data also reveals the importance of a carefully planned adaptation in order to run cross-cultural studies.

Duas visões diferentes podem ser identificadas na literatura sobre codificação de raça no processo de formação de primeiras impressões (categorização social): 1) A codificação de raça é um processo automático, inevitável e obrigatório; 2) é um processo dependente do contexto, que diminui com a explicitação de pistas visuais indicativas da afiliação a grupos, mostrando que a codificação de raça não é obrigatória. O objetivo da presente pesquisa foi: medir a codificação de coalizão e raça e seus efeitos na presença e ausência de pistas visuais de coalizão, confrontar o desempenho de uma amostra brasileira com uma amostra norte-americana e comparar os resultados de homens e mulheres. No primeiro estudo, foi usado o protocolo de confusão de memória, uma medida discreta para revelar quais dimensões os participantes estão categorizando dos indivíduos-alvo. Através deste protocolo, 569 participantes de sete estados brasileiros (BA, ES, MT, RJ, RN, SC, SP), 280 homens e 289 mulheres de 17 a 58 anos, foram expostos a uma situação experimental de rivalidade entre dois times em duas condições distintas: pista visual de coalizão presente (camisetas com cores diferentes para cada time) versus ausente (camisetas com cores iguais para os dois times). Foi encontrado que a codificação de coalizão aumentou e de raça diminuiu quando pistas visuais de coalizão foram amplificadas. Esses resultados são semelhantes aos obtidos na amostra norte-americana. Além disso, encontramos, de maneira geral, semelhança entre o desempenho de homens e mulheres, mas uma sutil diferença na condição onde todos os jogadores vestiam camisetas com cores iguais. Adicionalmente, foi realizado um estudo avaliando características atribuídas por juízes aos indivíduos-alvo do primeiro estudo. Verificamos que o indivíduo-alvo mais escolhido pelos homens no primeiro estudo foi julgado como o mais forte no segundo, enquanto o avaliado como mais rico e bem-sucedido tendeu a ser mais escolhido pelas mulheres quando todos os jogadores vestiam camisetas da mesma cor. Os resultados gerais sugerem a universalidade do mecanismo de detecção de coalizões e alianças, que codificação de raça pode ser um subproduto da psicologia da coalizão e que diferenças intersexuais na codificação de informações ambientais podem ter evoluído a partir de diferentes pressões evolutivas relacionadas às dinâmicas da seleção sexual. / Two different perspectives could be identified in literature about race encoding in the formation of first impressions (social categorization): 1) race encoding is an automatic, inevitable and mandatory process. 2) race encoding is a context-dependent process which decreases with the amplification of visual cues indicating group affiliation. The objective of this work was to measure the coalition and race codification and their effects in the presence and absence of coalition visual cues, to compare the results of the Brazilian sample with a North American sample, and to compare the results of men and women. In the first study, the memory confusion protocol - an unobtrusive measure developed to investigate how people use the features of others as a basis of social categorization - was used to assess encoding. 569 participants from seven different states (BA, ES, MT, RJ, RN, SC, SP), 280 males and 289 females, between 17 to 58 years old, were exposed to an experimental context of rivalry between two teams in two different conditions: shared visual appearance (each team wore jerseys of different colors) versus absence of shared visual appearance (all individuals were wearing jerseys of same color). We found that coalition encoding increased and race encoding decreased when visual cues of coalition were amplified, which implies that race encoding is not an inevitable and mandatory process. These results are generally similar with the North-American findings. Moreover, we found, in general, resemblance in men and women performances, but a slight difference in the conditions where all individuals were wearing jerseys of same color. Additionally, another study was conducted to assess features of the experimental models attributed by judges. We verified that the model chosen more by men was judged as the strongest, and the model tended to be chosen more by women was judged as the richest and well succeed, when all models were wearing jerseys of same color. The general results suggest the universality of the detecting alliance and coalitions mechanism; that the encoding by race could be a byproduct of coalitional psychology, and sexual difference in the codification of environmental informations could have evolved by sexual selection.

Para uma comparação intercultural das influências do contexto sobre a codificação de etnia, duas variações do Protocolo de Confusão de Memória (PCM) foram aplicadas em brasileiros. Ambas as variações consistem em uma exibição de slides de uma discussão entre duas equipes esportivas rivais, com membros negros e brancos em ambos os times, em duas condições: Controle (times com roupas de cores idênticas) e Experimental (times com roupas de cores distintas). As variações são: Traduzida, com fotos de jogadores de basquete usadas no experimento original e diálogo traduzido; e Adaptada, com fotos de brasileiros com camisetas de futebol e com o diálogo reelaborado visando consistência com o esporte. O estudo foi dividido em três fases: (I) exposição de 84 participantes, do estado de São Paulo ao PCM Traduzido (II) exposição de 569 participantes em sete estados brasileiros (BA, ES, MT, RJ, RN, SC, SP) ao PCM Traduzido (III) exposição de 77 participantes do estado de São Paulo ao PCM Adaptado. Na Fase I, a codificação etnia acompanhou o aumento da intensidade da codificação de coalizão (condição experimental), em contraposição ao experimento original (Kurzban et al., 2001). Na Fase II, a codificação de etnia diminuiu de intensidade quando a codificação de coalizão aumentou, em taxa similar à da aplicação original, mas a codificação de coalizão manteve taxa mais baixa, em ambas as condições, em relação aos dados originais. Na Fase III os resultados em ambas as dimensões foram análogos aos da aplicação original. O conjunto de dados reforça a teoria da universalidade do módulo de codificação de coalizão e que a codificação de etnia seja subproduto deste. Também refletem a importância de uma adaptação cuidadosa em estudos interculturais. / For a cross-cultural comparison of context influences in ethnicity encoding, two variations of the Memory Confusion Protocol (MCP) were applied on Brazilians. Both variations consist in a slide-show exposition of a discussion between two rival teams, with black and white players on both sides, in two forms: Control (teams with identical grey colour) and Experimental (teams with different colours). The two variations were: Translated Only, with photographs of basketball players used in the original experiment, and the respective translated dialog; and Adapted, with photographs of Brazilian models with soccer uniforms and a re-elaborated dialog, more fitting to this sport. The research was divided, then, in three different phases: (I) a 84 participants experiment with the Translated MCP, in the state of São Paulo (II) a 569 participants experiment with the Translated MCP, in seven different Brazilian states (BA, ES, MT, RJ, RN, SC, SP); and (III) a 77 participants experiment with the Adapted MCP, in the state of São Paulo. In Phase I, the ethnicity encoding, contrary to the original experiment (Kurzban et al., 2001), accompanied the intensity grown of the coalition encoding. In Phase II ethnicity encoding lowered in intensity during a the raise of intensity of coalition encoding, but coalition encoding kept a lower intensity, in both conditions, if compared to the original experiment coalition encoding rates. In Phase III, the results of both dimensions are analogue to those of the Kurzban et al., 2001 experiment. The data obtained strengthens the theory of a universal coalition encoding module, and encoding ethnicity as a byproduct of it. The data also reveals the importance of a carefully planned adaptation in order to run cross-cultural studies.

Duas visões diferentes podem ser identificadas na literatura sobre codificação de raça no processo de formação de primeiras impressões (categorização social): 1) A codificação de raça é um processo automático, inevitável e obrigatório; 2) é um processo dependente do contexto, que diminui com a explicitação de pistas visuais indicativas da afiliação a grupos, mostrando que a codificação de raça não é obrigatória. O objetivo da presente pesquisa foi: medir a codificação de coalizão e raça e seus efeitos na presença e ausência de pistas visuais de coalizão, confrontar o desempenho de uma amostra brasileira com uma amostra norte-americana e comparar os resultados de homens e mulheres. No primeiro estudo, foi usado o protocolo de confusão de memória, uma medida discreta para revelar quais dimensões os participantes estão categorizando dos indivíduos-alvo. Através deste protocolo, 569 participantes de sete estados brasileiros (BA, ES, MT, RJ, RN, SC, SP), 280 homens e 289 mulheres de 17 a 58 anos, foram expostos a uma situação experimental de rivalidade entre dois times em duas condições distintas: pista visual de coalizão presente (camisetas com cores diferentes para cada time) versus ausente (camisetas com cores iguais para os dois times). Foi encontrado que a codificação de coalizão aumentou e de raça diminuiu quando pistas visuais de coalizão foram amplificadas. Esses resultados são semelhantes aos obtidos na amostra norte-americana. Além disso, encontramos, de maneira geral, semelhança entre o desempenho de homens e mulheres, mas uma sutil diferença na condição onde todos os jogadores vestiam camisetas com cores iguais. Adicionalmente, foi realizado um estudo avaliando características atribuídas por juízes aos indivíduos-alvo do primeiro estudo. Verificamos que o indivíduo-alvo mais escolhido pelos homens no primeiro estudo foi julgado como o mais forte no segundo, enquanto o avaliado como mais rico e bem-sucedido tendeu a ser mais escolhido pelas mulheres quando todos os jogadores vestiam camisetas da mesma cor. Os resultados gerais sugerem a universalidade do mecanismo de detecção de coalizões e alianças, que codificação de raça pode ser um subproduto da psicologia da coalizão e que diferenças intersexuais na codificação de informações ambientais podem ter evoluído a partir de diferentes pressões evolutivas relacionadas às dinâmicas da seleção sexual. / Two different perspectives could be identified in literature about race encoding in the formation of first impressions (social categorization): 1) race encoding is an automatic, inevitable and mandatory process. 2) race encoding is a context-dependent process which decreases with the amplification of visual cues indicating group affiliation. The objective of this work was to measure the coalition and race codification and their effects in the presence and absence of coalition visual cues, to compare the results of the Brazilian sample with a North American sample, and to compare the results of men and women. In the first study, the memory confusion protocol - an unobtrusive measure developed to investigate how people use the features of others as a basis of social categorization - was used to assess encoding. 569 participants from seven different states (BA, ES, MT, RJ, RN, SC, SP), 280 males and 289 females, between 17 to 58 years old, were exposed to an experimental context of rivalry between two teams in two different conditions: shared visual appearance (each team wore jerseys of different colors) versus absence of shared visual appearance (all individuals were wearing jerseys of same color). We found that coalition encoding increased and race encoding decreased when visual cues of coalition were amplified, which implies that race encoding is not an inevitable and mandatory process. These results are generally similar with the North-American findings. Moreover, we found, in general, resemblance in men and women performances, but a slight difference in the conditions where all individuals were wearing jerseys of same color. Additionally, another study was conducted to assess features of the experimental models attributed by judges. We verified that the model chosen more by men was judged as the strongest, and the model tended to be chosen more by women was judged as the richest and well succeed, when all models were wearing jerseys of same color. The general results suggest the universality of the detecting alliance and coalitions mechanism; that the encoding by race could be a byproduct of coalitional psychology, and sexual difference in the codification of environmental informations could have evolved by sexual selection.