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To be accepted into social groups, individuals must internalise and reproduce appropriate group conventions, such as rituals. The high fidelity copying of such rigid and socially stipulated behavioural sequences places heavy demands on executive function abilities. Given previous research showing that challenging executive functioning also improves it, it was hypothesised that prolonged engagement in ritualistic behaviours would improve executive functioning in children, in turn improving their ability to delay gratification. A three month circle-time-games intervention with primary school children in two contrasting cultural environments (Slovakia and Vanuatu) was conducted. In both environments we found the intervention improved children's executive function and in turn their ability to delay gratification. Moreover, these effects were amplified when the intervention task was imbued with ritual, rather than instrumental, cues. The findings presented in this thesis have potentially far-reaching implications for child-rearing and educational practices, suggesting ritual participation may be necessary for the cultivation of future mindedness.

Parmi les personnes atteintes de maladies chroniques qui participent à des programmes de réhabilitation, deux tiers ne modifient pas leurs comportements à l’issue des interventions. Dans le domaine de l’activité physique et de la sédentarité, identifier les facteurs impliqués dans la régulation de ces comportements est donc crucial. En psychologie de la santé, les modèles contemporains indiquent que nos comportements sont le fruit de processus motivationnels à la fois explicites et implicites. Les processus explicites sont définis comme conscients et intentionnels ; à l’inverse, les processus implicites sont caractérisés par leur non-intentionnalité et leur caractère plutôt inconscient. A mi-chemin entre les domaines de la réhabilitation et la psychologie de la santé, les objectifs de cette thèse étaient (i) d’examiner le rôle de processus explicites et implicites dans la prédiction des comportements de l’activité physique et de la sédentarité, et (ii) d’étudier la malléabilité de ces variables motivationnelles en contexte de réhabilitation. Les résultats indiquent que les attitudes implicites sont associées avec les niveaux d’activité physique des participants, pendant les programmes et en post-réhabilitation. Les processus explicites (e.g., intentions) étudiés dans cette thèse n’étaient eux pas associés aux comportements. Sur le plan de la malléabilité des processus motivationnels, nos résultats mettent en évidence une amélioration significative mais minime de certaines variables au cours d’un programme de réhabilitation. Ces processus se sont toutefois montrés insensibles à une manipulation expérimentale délivrée en plus des programmes de réhabilitation. / Only two thirds of people living with chronic diseases and admitted for rehabilitation programs are sufficiently active in postrehabilitation. In the physical activity and sedentary behavior context, identifying the determinants of these behaviors is thus crucial. In the health psychology field, contemporary models indicate that people’s behaviors are regulated by two distinct motivational processes, defined as explicit and implicit. Explicit processes are intentional and conscious ; by contrast, implicit processes are defined as unintentional and less accessible to consciousness. The objectives of this thesis were (i) to examine the role of explicit and implicit processes in the prediction of physical activity and sedentary behaviors, and (ii) to study the malleability of these processes in rehabilitation context. Our results indicated that implicit attitudes, are significantly associated with participants’ physical activity levels, during and after rehabilitation programs. On the contrary, the explicit processes studied in this thesis were not significantly associated with physical activity or sedentary behaviors. Concerning the malleability of these processes, results highlighted significant but small favorable change of certains motivational variables during rehabilitation. Nonetheless, these motivational processes were not modified by an experimental intervention conducted during a rehabilitation program.

Este trabalho teve como objetivo investigar as funções executivas (FE) e alterações do humor em pacientes com doença de Parkinson (DP). O primeiro estudo procurou apresentar uma revisão sistemática da literatura sobre o tema. No artigo seguinte, em um estudo empírico, comparou-se o desempenho das FE e alterações do humor em um grupo de pacientes com DP (N= 40) e um grupo controle (N= 30). O grupo clínico apresentou desempenho significativamente inferior em diversas medidas de avaliação cognitiva, especialmente no instrumento Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS), mas não para as variáveis ansiedade e depressão (p< 0,05). Os resultados demonstram que as alterações das FE e depressão são transtornos frequentes, mesmo em fases iniciais da DP. / This work aimed to investigate the executive functions (EF) and mood changes in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). The first study sought to present a systematic review of the literature on the subject. In the second, in an empirical study, we compared the performance in EF and mood in a group of PD patients (N = 40) and a control group (N = 30). The clinical group had a significantly poorer performance on several measures of cognitive assessment, especially the BADS, but not for the variables anxiety and depression (p <0.05). The results show that changes in EF are frequent disorders, even in early stages of PD.

The consequence of many psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia, is an impairment in ‘executive functioning'; an umbrella term for several cognitive processes, including the focussing and shifting of attention and the inhibition of responding. The ability to form an ‘attentional set' involves learning to discriminate qualities of a multidimensional cue, and to subsequently learn which quality is relevant, and therefore predictive of reward. According to recent research, the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and possibly the adjacent zona incerta (ZI) may mediate the formation of attentional set. Dysregulation of the STN as a result of Parkinson's disease contributes to characteristic motor symptoms, and whilst deep-brain stimulation of this region may treat gross motor impairments, it may also impair cognition. The work in this thesis aimed to expand our understanding of the mechanisms of attentional set-formation, and the role of the STN in this process. This thesis evaluates new methods for examining set-formation in the attentional set-shifting task; rather than inferring this behaviour solely from the cost of shifting set, modifications to the task design in Chapters 3 & 4 explored several hypotheses designed to exploit a deficit in this behaviour. Chapter 6 revealed that inhibition of this region with designer receptors leads to a disruption in attentional selectivity, which compromises the ability to form an attentional set. This manifested as an inability to parse relevant information from irrelevant, and instead, animals learned the stimuli holistically. The findings in this thesis also suggested that reversal and attentional shifting processes do not operate independently, but rather in a hierarchy, and that consequently, the STN is a region that may be crucial in selecting appropriate responses during associative learning that leads to the formation of an attentional set.

Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka om det finns något samband mellan upplevd ensamhet och exekutiva funktioner hos äldre. Urvalet bestod av 98 ålderspensionärer mellan 65 och 75 år. Upplevd ensamhet mättes med Three-Item Loneliness Scale (TILS). Exekutiva funktioner mättes med nio olika test som avsåg mäta de tre processerna inhibering, shifting och uppdatering. Inhibering mättes med testerna Flanker, Simon och Stroop. Shifting mättes med Local Global, Color Shape och Number Letter. Uppdatering mättes med Letter Memory, Matrix Monitoring och Numerical 2-back. Andel korrekta svar samt responstid användes som utfallsvariabler. Data analyserades med hjälp av korrelationsanalyser där signifikanta samband analyserades vidare i hierarkiska regressionsanalyser. Resultatet visade på ett signifikant samband mellan upplevd ensamhet och responstid för Number Letter, där högre skattad ensamhet var associerad med längre responstid. Ensamhet förklarade 4% av variansen i responstid. Denna uppsats ger därmed stöd åt att det verkar finnas ett samband mellan upplevd ensamhet och nedsatt prestation bland vissa exekutiva funktioner, i detta fall shifting mätt genom responstid för Number Letter. Framtida studier bör undersöka detta vidare. Detta blir särskilt relevant med tanke på att världens befolkning blir allt äldre, tillsammans med det faktum att många äldre upplever ensamhet. Om upplevd ensamhet är associerad med försämrade exekutiva funktioner kan interventioner som syftar till att minska ensamheten vara till stor nytta både för den enskilda individen och samhället i stort. / The aim of this paper was to investigate whether there are any associations between perceived loneliness and executive functions in older people. Participants consisted of 98 senior citizens between the ages of 65 and 75. Perceived loneliness was measured with the Three-Item Loneliness Scale (TILS). Executive functions were measured with nine different tests aimed at measuring the three processes of inhibition, shifting and updating. Inhibition was measured with Flanker, Simon and Stroop task. Shifting was measured with Local Global, Color Shape and Number Letter task. Updating was measured with Letter Memory, Matrix Monitoring and Numerical 2-back task. Proportion of correct answers as well as response time were used as dependent variables. Data was analysed by correlation analyses where significant correlations were further analysed in hierarchical regressions. Results showed a significant association between perceived loneliness and response time in the Number Letter task; higher reported loneliness was associated with longer response time. Loneliness explained 4% of the variance in response time. This paper thus supports that there appears to be an association between perceived loneliness and reduced performance in certain executive functions, in this case shifting as measured through response time in the Number Letter task. Future studies should investigate this further. This becomes particularly relevant considering that the world's population is getting older, along with the fact that many elderly experience loneliness. If perceived loneliness is associated with deteriorating executive functions, interventions aimed at reducing loneliness may be of great benefit both to individuals and society as a whole.

Nous avons étudié le développement du raisonnement par analogie. La conception traditionnelle de ce développement est qu’il dépend de l’accroissement des connaissances des enfants (Gentner, 1983, 1988 ; Goswami & Brown, 1989, 1990). Nous l’avons abordé sous l’angle du développement des fonctions exécutives, en particulier - de la composante d’inhibition. La capacité d’inhibition permet la suppression des informations saillantes mais non pertinentes pour faire l’analogie. Elle est requise lors de la recherche de la solution analogique. Neuf études ont été réalisées dans le cadre de cette thèse. Nous avons utilisé une tâche classique d’analogie du type A : B :: C : ?. Le rôle de la capacité d’inhibition a été testé par la présence de distracteurs perceptifs ou sémantiques qui entrent en compétition avec la solution analogique. Ils doivent être inhibés lors de sa recherche. Les résultats montrent que les informations saillantes mais non pertinentes pour trouver la solution analogique interfèrent avec sa découverte ou sa construction. Par conséquent, les performances des enfants à la tâche d’analogie dépendraient du degré de développement de leurs fonctions exécutives. Ces résultats sont compatibles avec les résultats de Richland, Morrison & Holyoak (2006) qui expliquent les performances des enfants à une tâche d’analogie par les limitations dans leur fonctionnement exécutif. / We explored the development of the analogical reasoning. The traditional conception of this development is that it is dependent of knowledge accretion in children (Gentner, 1983, 1988; Goswami & Brown, 1989, 1990). We used a different approach which explains it as dependent of the development of the executive functions, particularly of the component of inhibition. The capacity of inhibition allows the suppression of the salient but irrelevant information for analogy-making in children. It is required while searching for the analogical solution. Nine studies involving a classical analogy-making task A : B :: C : ? were performed in this dissertation. The role of the capacity of inhibition was tested using perceptual or semantic distractors conflicting with the analogical solution. The distractors must be inhibited while searching for the analogical solution. Results show that all salient but irrelevant information for analogy-making interferes with the discovery or the construction of the analogical solution. Therefore, children’s performances of the analogy-making task depend on the degree of development of their executive functions. These results are consistent with the results of Richland, Morrison & Holyoak (2006) explaining children’s performances on an analogy-making task by the limitations of their executive functioning.

Essa dissertação teve como objetivo investigar as funções executivas em crianças e adolescentes com Transtorno do Espectro do Autismo (TEA). No primeiro estudo, foi feita uma revisão sistemática de publicações de 2001 a 2011, que avaliaram as funções executivas nessa amostra. No segundo estudo, foi feita uma comparação de desempenho de dois grupos de crianças e adolescentes, um grupo com diagnóstico de TEA (n=11) e um grupo controle com desenvolvimento típico (n=19), em tarefas de funções executivas e memória de trabalho. Concluiu-se que, embora o estudo de revisão tenha encontrado evidências de componentes executivos intactos (resolução de problemas, memória de trabalho) e disfuncionais (planejamento, flexibilidade, fluência verbal, inibição) nas amostras com TEA, o estudo empírico indicou desempenho inferior do grupo TEA em todas as tarefas de funções executivas e memória de trabalho, envolvendo componentes do controle inibitório, da flexibilidade cognitiva, do planejamento, de memória de trabalho e de fluência verbal. / This dissertation aimed to investigate executive function in children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). In the first study, we performed a systematic review of publications from 2001 to 2011, which assessed executive function in this sample. In the second study, was done a performance comparison of two groups of children and adolescents, a group with ASD (n=11) and a control group with typical development (n=19), in tasks of executive function and working memory. It was concluded that, although the review study has found evidence of intact (problem-solving, working memory) and dysfunctional (planning, flexibility, verbal fluency, inhibition) executive components in samples with ASD, the empirical study indicated lower performance of executive function in ASD group, involving components of inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, planning, working memory and verbal fluency.

Executive functions (EFs) involve multiple cognitive systems and are involved in attentional control, strategic planning, abstract reasoning, cognitive flexibility and hypothesis generation. In this sense, from the point of view anatomicoclinical be correlated to the prefrontal cortex, a region that is also responsible for performing the control actions of our emotional nature, such as aggressive and / or impulsive behaviors. This study aims to correlate executive functioning and aggressive and impulsive behaviors in individuals with depression, according to an updated neurocognitive model performing an interpretation of the traditional conception of Beck on suicidal behavior, and involvement in aggression and dysfunctions executive in this process. The sample consisted of 57 subjects, aged 18 to 49 years, divided between the control compound (29 subjects) and the clinical group (28 subjects). After approval by the Ethics Committee, the proband underwent a flexible battery of tests, which are: Nonverbal Intelligence Test (Beta-III), Beck Depression Scale, Scale for Suicidal Ideation Beck, analysis of working memory (Digit Span), analysis of inhibitory control (Stroop color test), analysis of aggressive behavior (aggression scale of Buss Perry), assessing the level of impulsivity (Barratt Scale, version 11) and decision making (Test betting Iowa). With the results it was observed that there were positive correlations in the comparison of means between verbal aggression (p 0.02) in individuals with depression and control. And the hostile aggression there was also a significant difference (p 0.00), and the same occurred in the correlation between executive functions, working memory and sustained attention in the application of spam digit direct order (p 0.03) and in the reverse order (p 0.02); and finally the comparison between the groups was a positive correlation in suicidal ideation (p 0.00). When assessed only the clinical group was observed: significance in the correlation between depression and suicidal ideation (p 0.51), between depression and FEs with respect to the number of errors in selective attention (r 0.53) between suicidal ideation and FEs with respect to the number of errors in selective attention (r 0.66) and there was significant difference between verbal aggression and attentional impulsivity (r -0.48). Given the above, it can be concluded that significant data on the comparison between the groups with regard to aggressiveness, executive functions in relation to working memory, sustained attention and increased risk of suicide in individuals with depression. Future studies may help to broaden the understanding of this complex relationship between executive neuropsychological functioning, aggression and impulsivity in individuals with depression. / As funções executivas (FEs) envolvem múltiplos sistemas cognitivos e estão envolvidas no controle da atenção, no planejamento estratégico, no raciocínio abstrato, na flexibilidade cognitiva e na geração de hipóteses. Neste sentido, do ponto de vista anatomoclínico estariam correlacionadas ao córtex pré-frontal, região que também é responsável por realizar o controle de nossas ações de cunho emocional, como os comportamentos agressivos e/ou impulsivos. O referido estudo teve como objetivo correlacionar o funcionamento executivo e os comportamentos agressivos e impulsivos em indivíduos portadores de depressão, segundo um modelo neurocognitivo mais atualizado realizando uma interpretação da tradicional da concepção de Beck sobre o comportamento suicida, e do envolvimento da agressividade e das disfunções executivas neste processo. A amostra contou com 57 sujeitos, com idades entre 18 e 49 anos, divididos entre o grupo controle composto (29 sujeitos) e o grupo clínico (28 sujeitos). Após aprovação do Comitê de Ética, os probandos foram submetidos a uma bateria flexível de testes, quais sejam: Teste de inteligência não-verbal (Beta-III), Escala de Depressão de Beck, Escala de Ideação Suicida de Beck, análise da memória operacional (Digit Span), análise do controle inibitório (Teste de cores de Stroop), análise do comportamento agressivo (Escala de agressividade de Buss Perry), avaliação do nível de impulsividade (Escala de Barratt, versão 11) e tomada de decisão (Teste de Apostas de Iowa). Diante dos resultados foi observado que houve correlações positivas na comparação das médias entre agressividade verbal (p 0,02) em indivíduos com depressão e o controle. Quanto a agressividade hostil também houve uma diferença significativa (p 0,00), e o mesmo ocorreu na correlação entre as funções executivas, memória operacional e atenção sustentada, na aplicação do digit spam ordem direta (p 0,03) e na ordem inversa (p 0,02); e por fim na comparação entre os grupos houve uma correlação positiva na ideação suicida (p 0,00). Quando foi avaliado apenas o grupo clínico foi observado: significância na correlação entre Depressão e ideação suicida (p 0,51), entre depressão e FEs no que se refere ao número de erros na atenção seletiva (r 0,53), entre ideação suicida e FEs com relação ao número de erros na atenção seletiva (r = 0,66), assim como houve significância entre agressividade verbal e a impulsividade atencional (r -0,48). Diante do exposto, pode-se concluir que houve dados significativos na comparação entre os grupos com relação a agressividade, funções executivas no que se refere a memória operacional, atenção sustentada e um risco maior de suicídio em indivíduos portadores de Depressão. Estudos futuros poderão contribuir para ampliar a compreensão deste complexo relacionamento entre funcionamento neuropsicológico executivo, agressividade e impulsividade em indivíduos com depressão.