Micro-affordance effects have been reported for several different components of the reach-to-grasp action during both on-line and off-line visual processing. The presence of such effects represents a strong demonstration of the close relationship between perception, action, and cognition. In this thesis 7 experiments are described, which investigate different aspects of that relationship, with particular attention on the nature of object representations. In 5 behavioural experiments as well as in 1 Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) experiment a stimulus-response compatibility paradigm is employed to examine the presence of micro-affordance effects arising during language processing of object names. The power and precision component of the reach-to-grasp action is investigated in relation to the compatibility of an object for grasping with either a power or a precision grasp. Overall, the results of the experiments discussed in the present thesis suggest that: a) object representations activated during language processing of object names are able to potentiate actions arising from the component of the reach-to-grasp action under investigation; b) such representations might be more semantic or „propositional‟ than depictive in nature, therefore more related to stored semantic knowledge of the object and its associated actions than to its detailed visual properties; c) this semantic information about objects seems to be automatically translated into specific motor activity, even in the absence of any intention to act; d) finally, such semantic, non-visual motor potentiation seems to be rapid and relatively short lived.

As pessoas costumam fazer rotineiramente associações entre o afeto com as posições verticais, nas quais os objetos que estão no alto, muitas vezes, são considerados bons e o que estão em baixo são considerados ruins. O uso da metáfora, geralmente inconsciente, pode afetar a motivação do indivíduo para fazer avaliações dos preços dos produtos. O foco regulatório motivacional do indivíduo pode apresentar características que contribuam para restaurar a motivação, porque está dividido em um foco em promoção, que visa aproveitar oportunidades e se aproximar de ganhos e em um foco em prevenção que busca manter a vigilância para evitar resultados negativos e se afastar de perdas. O principal objetivo desta pesquisa foi analisar os efeitos da metáfora da verticalidade sobre a forma que os indivíduos efetuam as avaliações de preços, tendo o foco regulatório como moderador dessa relação. Foram elaboradas sete hipóteses, testadas com o uso de experimentos. A amostra total dos experimentos, contendo um estudo piloto e três estudos que avaliaram o modelo teórico proposto, foi de 522 participantes. Os dados foram analisados por meio da ANOVA twoway e da macro PROCESS de Hayes (Modelo 8, 2013). Os resultados mostram que o grupo de tratamento com os indivíduos que se consideram fisicamente alto e com foco em prevenção fizeram avaliações dentro do proposto para este estudo, quando comparados aos indivíduos que se consideram fisicamente baixo e foco em promoção. O primeiro grupo de tratamento mencionado atribuiu os menores preços aos produtos, exigiu descontos maiores para se deslocarem para outra loja em busca de um produto, consideraram o preço praticado por uma empresa mais injusto e, por fim, tiveram o melhor desempenho na avaliação de preço para conseguir um bom negócio. A principal contribuição desta tese é de que os indivíduos estão expostos diariamente a mudanças na autoestima por causa de simulações mentais da verticalidade, em que o corpo influencia os pensamentos desses indivíduos para tomada de decisão em relação a preços, e que o foco regulatório é capaz de atenuar tais efeitos. / People routinely make associations between affection and vertical positions, in which objects that is in up positiion are often considered good and those that is in down position are considered bad. The use of the metaphor, usually unconscious, can affect the individual\'s motivation to make product price assessments. The motivational regulatory focus of the individual can present characteristics that contribute to restore motivation, because it is divided into a focus on promotion, which seeks to seize opportunities and approach gains and a focus on prevention that seeks to maintain vigilance to avoid negative results and to avoid losses. The main goal of this research was to analyze the effects of the metaphor of verticality on the form that the individuals make the price evaluations, having the regulatory focus as moderator of this relation. Seven hypotheses were elaborated, tested with the use of experiments. The total sample of the experiments, containing a pilot study and three studies that evaluated the proposed theoretical model, was 522 participants. The data were analyzed through two way ANOVA and Hayes macro PROCESS (Model 8, 2013). The results show that the treatment group with those individuals who consider themselves to be physically high and focused on prevention made evaluations within the proposed for this study when compared to individuals who consider themselves physically low and focused on promotion. The first treatment group mentioned attributed the lowest prices to the products, demanded larger discounts to move to another store in search of a product, considered the most unfair price practiced by the company and, lastly, had the best performance in price evaluation to get a good deal. The main contribution of this thesis is that individuals are exposed daily to changes in self-esteem because of mental simulations of verticality, in which the body influences the thoughts of these individuals for decision-making in relation to prices, and that the regulatory focus is capable to mitigate such effects.

Embodied Music Cognition is a recently developed theoretical and empirical framework which in the last eight years has been redefining the role of the body in music perception. However, to date there have been very few attempts to research embodied musical experiences in early childhood. The research reported in this thesis investigated 4- and 5-year-olds’ self-regulatory sensorimotor processes in response to music. Two video-based observation studies were conducted. The first, exploratory in nature, aimed to identify levels of musical self-regulation in children’s actions while ‘playing’ in a motion-based interactive environment (Sound=Space). The interactive element of this system provided an experiential platform for the young ‘players’ to explore and develop the ability to recognise themselves as controlling musical events, and to continuously adapt their behaviour according to expected auditory outcomes. Results showed that low-level experiences of musical self-regulation were associated with more random trajectories in space, often performed at a faster pace (e.g. running), while a higher degree of control corresponded to more organised spatial pathways usually involving slower actions and repetition. The second study focused on sensorimotor synchronisation. It aimed to identify children’s free and individual movement choices in response to rhythmic music with a salient and steady beat presented at different tempi. It also intended to find the similarities and differences between participants’ repertoire and their adjustments to tempo changes. The most prominent findings indicate that children’s movements exhibited a resilient periodicity which was not synchronised to the beat. Even though a great variety of body actions (mostly non-gestural) was found across the group, each child tended to use a more restricted repertoire and one specific dominant action that would be executed throughout the different tempi. Common features were also found in children’s performance, such as, the spatial preference for up/down directions and for movements done in place (e.g. vertical jump). The results of both studies highlight the great deal of variability in the way preschoolers regulate their own sensorimotor behaviour when interacting with music. This variety of responses can be interpreted as underlining the importance of the physical nature of the cognitive agent in the perception of music. If this is indeed the case, then it will be crucial to create and develop embodied music learning activities in early years education that encourage each child to self-monitor their own sensorimotor processes and, thus, to shape their experiences of linking sound and movement in a meaningful and fulfilling way.

No description available.

Children are born with an intrinsic motivation to play games. Over the past decade, educational video games have invaded mainstream classroom instruction and researchers are “considering how games might be used in pursuit of engaging, effective learning experiences� (Squire and Jenkins, 2003). This research encompasses designing math games using a constructivist and embodied cognition pedagogy in an effort to answer the question: “Will overlapping wearable technology and mathematical objectives with traditional children’s games show improved efficacy in students’ math skills and increase students’ motivation to learn math in 4th thru 6th grade students?� Methods of research include a usability study and four subsequent iterative studies to improve the game and the technology, measuring students’ math self-efficacy and motivation to learn math. The final goal of this thesis is to design, test and document an engaging children’s math learning game using wearable technology that requires active physical experiences while involved in deep thinking and complex problem solving (Gee, 2003) within real world environments, beyond classrooms, pencil and paper, and even beyond traditional computer games in front of a computer screen.

Depuis plus de trente années, des recherches en didactique de la physique ont montré dans un grand nombre de pays que les élèves rencontrent des difficultés d'apprentissage en électricité et ce, quel que soit le niveau scolaire. Ces difficultés s’expliquent notamment par un certain nombre de conceptions qui viennent entraver la compréhension des phénomènes électriques. Pour palier ces difficultés, les didacticiens, et de fait les enseignants, utilisent des analogies plus ou moins adaptées et performantes. Pour réaliser notre travail de recherche, nous étudions une analogie innovante entre les domaines mécanique (domaine source) et électrique (domaine cible), cette analogie a la particularité d'être instrumentée, ce qui permet d'expérimenter dans le domaine source. Notre travail de recherche s’intéresse aux conditions d’efficacité de cette analogie pour l'apprentissage des élèves. La revue bibliographique dans les domaines de la didactique de la physique, l'ergonomie et la cognition incarnée a permis, dans un premier temps, d'établir un ensemble de conditions auxquelles doit répondre l'analogie pour être efficace. Notre travail a permis de montrer que cette analogie possède les critères requis pour être considérée comme une analogie potentiellement efficace. Dans un second temps, nous avons vérifié l'impact de la mise en oeuvre de cette analogie avec des élèves de terminale scientifique. Pour cela nous avons réalisé des questionnaires et des entretiens avec les élèves. Les résultats aux questionnaires mettent en évidence une efficacité moindre que celle que laissait supposer l'étude sur le potentiel didactique de l'analogie. C'est par le biais d'entretiens auprès des enseignants et d'enregistrements de cours qu'une très grande disparité d'utilisation de l'analogie a été repérée. L'étude des données recueillies permet de mieux comprendre les raisons qui expliquent la faible utilisation de l'analogie. Ces résultats ont permis la conception d'une première version d'un guide d'utilisation à destination des enseignants. / For over thirty years, research in didactics of physics have shown in many countries that students encounter learning difficulties in electricity and that, regardless of the grade level. These difficulties can be especially explained by a number of misconceptions that prevent the understanding of electrical phenomena. To overcome these difficulties, researchers in didactics and teachers use analogies which are more or less adapted and powerful. To achieve our research, we study an innovative mechanical analogy between mechanical domain (source domain) and electrical domain (target domain). This analogy has the feature of being instrumented, which allows to experiment in the source domain. Our research focusses on the conditions of effectiveness of this analogy for student learning. The literature review in physics, science education, ergonomics and embodied cognition allowed, firstly, to establish a set of conditions to be met by the analogy to be effective. Our work has shown that this analogy has the necessary criteria to be considered an effective analogy. Secondly, we tested the impact of the implementation of this analogy with scientific 12th grade students. For this, we made tests and interviews with students. The test results show a lower efficiency than suggested by the study of the potential of the analogy. Through interviews with teachers and course records, we note a great disparity of use of the analogy. The study of collected data allows to better understand the reasons of the low use of the analogy. These results allowed to design a first version of a manual for teachers.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2016-12-01T12:10:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Ernesto Filho.pdf: 33346318 bytes, checksum: 1ca825566abca949df6c03d8946490f5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-01T12:10:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ernesto Filho.pdf: 33346318 bytes, checksum: 1ca825566abca949df6c03d8946490f5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-10-20 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This dissertation seeks to organize and complexify a certain dimention of the body in film making having as a starting point the notion of essay film and the film of my own "Pas ce soir", finalized and presented for the first time in January 2015. The term essay film began to be used in the 1940s to refer to certain types of cinematic experiences that were beginning to emerge. Many of these experiments were related to the emergence of new technologies such as 16mm cameras, which enabled a single artist to handle the apparatus necessary for the making of a film. Part of the theoretical work is based on theories that discuss the body and its relationship with the environment. Among them, “Corpomídia” theory (GREINER and KATZ); the notion of “embodied meaning” (JOHNSON, Mark) and ideia of “extended mind” (Clark, Andy). The hypothesis is that the notion of essay film needs to be problematized because until today it relies on dualistic separations that do not make sense in bodily terms / Esta dissertação busca organizar e complexificar uma certa dimensão do corpo no cinema tendo como ponto de partida a noção de ensaio fílmico (film essay) e o filme de minha autoria “Pas ce soir”, finalizado e apresentado, pela primeira vez, em janeiro de 2015. O termo ensaio fílmico começou a ser usado na década de 1940 para se referir a certos tipos de experiências cinematográficas que começavam a surgir. Grande parte desses experimentos estavam relacionados ao aparecimento de novas tecnologias como as câmeras 16mm, que possibilitaram que um único artista pudesse manusear o aparato necessário para a realização de um filme. A fundamentação teórica se apoia em algumas teorias que discutem o corpo e suas relações com o ambiente. Entre elas, a teoria Corpomídia (GREINER e KATZ); a noção de significado corporificado (JOHNSON, Mark) e a ideia de mente estendida (CLARK, Andy). A hipótese é a de que a noção de ensaio fílmico precisa ser problematizada pois até hoje apoia-se em separações dualistas que não fazem sentido em termos corporais

O presente trabalho buscou investigar as contribuições da utilização de tecnologias touchscreen para o desenvolvimento do pensamento matemático. Mais especificamente, propôs uma investigação de singularidades no desenvolvimento dos hábitos do pensamento em atividades de Modelagem Geométrica implementadas a partir do uso da tecnologia touchscreen. No que se refere ao desenvolvimento de hábitos do pensamento, propostos por Paul Goldenberg, é entendido como uma ação que contribui diretamente para o desenvolvimento do pensamento matemático. A escolha de trabalhar com Modelagem Geométrica é explorada neste trabalho com a finalidade de possibilitar aos sujeitos envolvidos o estudo de fenômenos reais a partir do uso de ferramentas matemáticas. Quanto à interação touchscreen, nos baseamos na teoria da Cognição Corporificada que parte do princípio de que corpo e mente estão diretamente relacionados, ou seja, no gesto com a mão os estudantes tornam evidentes as suas intenções e pensamentos. Para realização da pesquisa, a metodologia escolhida foi o estudo de casos múltiplos (dois), mas com apenas uma unidade de análise. Configura um estudo exploratório, em virtude da escassez de estudos na área por tratar-se da integração de uma nova tecnologia ao ensino Como suporte tecnológico, a escolha pelo Sketchometry, software de geometria dinâmica disponível para smartphones, se justifica, visto que este possui um importante destaque no desenvolvimento da proposta de pesquisa, uma vez que, através do seu uso, é possível que os sujeitos elaborem e construam modelos geométricos de forma corporificada (interação touchscreen), o que é uma ação necessária para a compreensão do fenômeno investigado. Ao final da tese, mostramos que, no uso da tecnologia touchscreen, é possível identificar singularidades no desenvolvimento do pensamento do sujeito. Notou-se que a singularidade no desenvolvimento do pensamento está no início da implementação de um modelo geométrico. O aluno segue um caminho guiado por movimentos espontâneos e, desta forma, estabelece a construção e funcionamento de seu modelo. / The present work has aimed to investigate the contributions of the use of touchscreen technologies for the development of mathematical thinking. More specifically, it has proposed an investigation of singularities in the development of habits of thought in Geometric Modeling activities implemented through the use of touchscreen technology. With regard to the development of habits of thought, proposed by Paul Goldenberg, it is understood as an action that contributes directly to the development of mathematical thinking. The choice of working with Geometric Modeling has been explored in this work with the purpose of enabling the subjects involved to study real phenomena that can be investigated, assimilated and better understood from the use of mathematical tools. As for the touchscreen interaction, the work was based on the theory of Embodied Cognition which assumes that body and mind are directly related, which means that, students make evident their intentions and thoughts in gesture with the hand. The methodology chosen to carry out the research was the study of multiple cases (two), but with only one unit of analysis. The study has benn configured as an exploratory one, due to the scarcity of studies in the area, since it is the integration of a new technology in teaching As technological support, the choice of Sketchometry, dynamic geometry software available for smartphones, has been justified, because it has an important emphasis in the development of the research proposal, since, through its use, it is possible for the individuals to elaborate and construct geometric models of an embodied form (touchscreen interaction), which is a necessary action for the understanding of the investigated phenomenon. At the end of the thesis, it has been shown that it is possible to identify singularities in the development of the subject's thinking in the use of touchscreen technology. It has been noted that the uniqueness in the development of thought is at the beginning of the implementation of a geometric model. The student follows a path guided by spontaneous movements and establishes the construction and functioning of his/her model.

This thesis explores the effects of art-making in group art therapy sessions for people affected by Parkinson's Disease. It examines their experience of self through active engagement with art materials. It also draws on the experience of family caregivers and of professionals providing other therapeutic support for these patients. The research methodology is based on feminist, post-structuralist epistemological thought, situating the research as a political, reality-altering endeavour shaped by, and interpreted through, the researcher's particular ideological lens. The thesis emphasises the importance of developing a critical overview of the research context and considering how dominant discourses have shaped both the individual patient's experience of Parkinson's and the service approach to ways of improving their quality of life. A medical model is viewed as determining a narrow understanding and experience of the condition. Broadening the focus of the work to attend to how Parkinson's is culturally and socially embedded provides new understandings of its effects on patients and their wider needs. The research design has a strong participatory component drawing on the support of a consultancy group of six people affected by Parkinson's and three family caregivers, all seen as experts through their personal experience of the condition. The researcher defines her position as researcher-near using her background as artist, art therapist and her experience of working with people affected by Parkinson's at the research site. The research design is inspired by group art therapy practice, and takes research as praxis for theory building. Social science qualitative interviewing was used with four focus groups, and in ten semi-structured individual interviews which involved participant selected examples of their group therapy artwork. Nine audio-recordings of group art therapy sessions were collected. The researcher used art-making throughout the research process to create visual researcher diaries, and 'response' art as a way of exploring the material gathered for analysis. Besides providing an opportunity to consider the role of visual expression to complement verbal, this English language thesis uses data collected in Spanish and Catalan. Translation across languages (spoken, written and visual) and cultures became a method through which to consider interpretation, explore nuances and question assumptions. The dilemmas faced in translation enhanced researcher reflexivity and facilitated exploration of the space between art and language. This thesis offers an understanding of the potential contribution of group art therapy within six themes: 'Self-construction and discovery'; 'Material action'; 'Aesthetic group movement'; 'New perspectives'; 'Artwork as legacy'; and 'Physical transformation of issues'. These themes support the view that group art therapy acted as a catalyst for well-being and better functioning for participants, and that it can be modelled as a continuous process of embodied enquiry for those affected by Parkinson's. The triangular therapeutic relationship is explored and the terms 'creator' - 'artwork' - 'audience' are proposed to recognise the flexibility in the art-maker's position between creator and audience of their artwork. That artwork is conceptualised as an active meaning generator in the group art therapeutic encounter and the artistic intersubjective matrix is explored in relation to therapeutic factors specific to group art therapy. Implications for working with other related chronic, life changing conditions are elaborated.

This research illustrates the performer-researcher's artistic process of reaching an understanding of music through performance, and explores how an effort to understand music at the instrument and in the context of music-making could influence our critical evaluation of the music. ​Engaged in the process of learning music, I seek to document my artistic practices as a reflective practitioner: to open up the performer-researcher's workspace, communicate the performativity of the music, and reveal my embodied doing-thinking as a performer. By involving in the performer-researcher's physical and intellectual trajectory, the focus of musicological research could be shifted from the study of music as writing to a practice-based study that communicates and values music as performance. ​This shift provides a chance to rethink musical works at the piano and place the music in a context in which music can be understood, communicated, and valued through performance. This has the potential to shed light on the performative value of music, and may challenge the existing critique of musical works by emphasising the centrality of musical performance in the realm of music research, perhaps revealing what has been neglected by the text and outcome-focused approaches to music. I believe this could lead us to assess musical works in a different value system by considering the music in and as performance.