Doctor en Psicología / En cuanto al análisis del procesamiento semántico en Ciencias Cognitivas, existe un conjunto de hipótesis denominada symbol grounding que plantea que símbolos y conceptos en la mente emergen de acciones y capacidades sensoriomotrices, perceptuales y emocionales. Siguiendo esta idea en la presente tesis se utilizaron frases con un final coherente e incoherente respecto a su contexto, enmarcadas en el procesamiento de violación de expectativas semánticas y su potencial electroencefalográfico asociado – N400 – y se verificó si generaban activaciones corporales periféricas – conductancia eléctrica de la piel – o musculares faciales automáticas – cigomático major y corrugator supercilii – buscando a su vez establecer si estas activaciones pueden ser consideradas como emocionales en las dimensiones aversivo – apetitivo o intenso – relajado de la teoría bifásica de las emociones. Los resultados muestran una mayor actividad ante frases con un final incoherente en el músculo corrugator supercilii y cigomático major desde los 500 y 600 ms. respectivamente, y en la conductancia eléctrica de la piel entre los 0 y 5 segundos, lo que configura una reacción emocional de tipo aversiva e intensa

Background: Little is known about how abnormal communication from someone with schizophrenia is perceived by those interacting with the individual. The N400 event-related potential (ERP) is an index of how difficult it is to process incongruent words and is sensitive to context about the identity of the speaker. Knowledge of an individual’s diagnosis provides such context, and responses to a diagnosis have typically been examined from a stigma framework. Purpose: The current study aimed to examine the effect of context regarding the speaker, on the N400 ERP in the listener in response to speech that contained schizophrenia-associated communication abnormalities, and the relationship between the N400 and stigma. Methods: 73 first year undergraduate students listened to segments of conversation between two people while continuous EEG was recorded. Participants were told that the responder in the conversation was either a university student, had a stroke, had schizophrenia (and had recovered), or had schizophrenia (and symptoms were emphasized). The last word of the response in the conversation was varied to be a typical ending, a word approximation, or a neologism. Results: A significant N400 was observed over centro-parietal electrode sites in response to word approximations and neologisms when participants were told that the responder was a university student, but not in the other conditions. The amplitude of the N400 was significantly greater in response to neologisms than in response to word approximations. Participants also rated that they would be more likely to continue speaking to someone using typical words, than word approximations, and in both cases, more like than someone using neologisms. There was no significant relationship between the amplitude of the N400 and any of the stigma measures. Discussion: Telling participants either about the functional symptoms of schizophrenia, the diagnosis, or both resulted in a significantly reduced N400. This suggests a processing bias in which knowledge of either the symptoms or diagnosis of schizophrenia reduces the difficulty of integrating atypical speech. This does not appear to be a result of stigmatizing attitudes per se, but may be the result of an expectancy for someone with schizophrenia to communicate in abnormal ways. / Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2013-08-08 21:15:41.691

The primary focus of this study is to investigate the relation between Earnings Management (EM) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the UK. While there are few studies in the existing literature that examined the relationship between EM and CSR, there is a lack of studies examining this relation in the UK. Furthermore, the existing academic literature appears to provide inconsistent results. These considerations motivate this study to bridge this gap in the literature by providing evidence of whether or not EM and CSR are related in the UK. The present study carried out through three empirical stages based on the data obtained from the FTSE 350 Index between 2008 and 2010. The first stage examined the EM practice using three EM models to estimate discretionary accruals as proxy for EM. The models were the Jones (1991), modified Jones (Dechow et al. 1995) and performance - matched (Kothari et al. 2005) models. Firstly, these models were tested using multivariate analysis; the findings revealed that the performance - marched model has been identified as the model that could most accurately measure the presence of EM. Secondly, by applying univariate analysis, the study has found insignificant differences between the high and low EM practices in UK firms and that the highest and the lowest levels of EM were in 2008. Similar results were discovered when comparing the differences between income - increasing and income - decreasing EM. The second stage tested CSR by applying both content analysis and disclosure index approaches to identify the level of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure (CSD) as proxy of CSR. The findings from the content analysis revealed that the employees (EMP) theme had the highest level of CSR information, followed by community (COM), environment (ENV), others (OTH), products and services (PRO), and customers (CUS). Similar results were obtained when the disclosure index approach was employed. The relationship between EM and CSR was tested in the final stage by using univariate and multivariate analyses. The findings revealed that firms with more CSR information reported lower EM. Further tests were performed to investigate the link between EM and CSR themes and the findings revealed that firms with more information of EMP, COM, EVE and PRO reported lower EM. However, no evidence suggested that CUS and OTH information affect EM. Overall, the findings suggest that the level of CSR improve financial reports’ quality. This study aspires to contribute to our understanding and knowledge on the issue related to the role of CSR regarding the quality of reported earnings.

No description available.

The Statement of Auditing Standards 220 (Materiality and the audit, 1995) requires auditors to assess both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of materiality. However, the SAS has not specified the quantitative measurement of materiality. This research assesses the need in the UK for having a specific mathematical guideline in addition to the qualitative aspect of materiality. It evaluates the outcomes of legal cases in both the UK and the US, looks at the accounting statements issued by accounting bodies in other countries on materiality, and responses to the then exposure draft of the SAS 220. Questionnaires were sent in the UK to 1000 auditors (25.6% responded) and 1000 non auditors (26.4% responded), and telephone surveys followed with non respondents and selected individuals. The case studies contained in the questionnaires are materiality impact on losses on discontinuation of a production line, changes in accounting policies, contingent liabilities, and cash defaulcation. Results showed that there are inconsistencies in legal decisions on materiality. Countries having materiality guidelines adopted 10% net profit before tax as the norm. The 10% of net profit before tax is the favourite guideline for materiality from questionnaire respondents and telephone interviewees. Consistency in the results suggest the need for having a standard mathematical measurement of materiality in the UK.

Implicit theories play an important role in the structure and maintenance of people’s sense of meaning, and violations to one’s theory can create significant distress. Using electroencephalography (EEG), this study examined the neural correlates of implicit theory violation. Participants were primed with one of two implicit theories of success attainment and were then shown a series of words that either confirmed or violated that theory. Analyses revealed that compared to implicit theory confirmations, implicit theory violations produced greater N400 amplitudes, which is a brain wave associated with “semantic violations,” or violations of meaning. Current literature on the N400 has been limited to language-specific semantic violations. Therefore, these results represent a novel extension of the N400 to include violations of complex lay theories of human behavior. Furthermore, these data suggest that implicit theories represent a fundamental type of semantic knowledge that helps perceivers to generate predictions about the social world.

Implicit theories play an important role in the structure and maintenance of people’s sense of meaning, and violations to one’s theory can create significant distress. Using electroencephalography (EEG), this study examined the neural correlates of implicit theory violation. Participants were primed with one of two implicit theories of success attainment and were then shown a series of words that either confirmed or violated that theory. Analyses revealed that compared to implicit theory confirmations, implicit theory violations produced greater N400 amplitudes, which is a brain wave associated with “semantic violations,” or violations of meaning. Current literature on the N400 has been limited to language-specific semantic violations. Therefore, these results represent a novel extension of the N400 to include violations of complex lay theories of human behavior. Furthermore, these data suggest that implicit theories represent a fundamental type of semantic knowledge that helps perceivers to generate predictions about the social world.

no / Building on models of transfer effects between musical training and language processing and on evidence of similarities in the way the brain responds to unexpected elements in music and language, we investigated whether effects of musical training could be observed at the level of sentence processing. Using sentences that tax the semantic processes involved in natural comprehension and avoid outright anomalies, we showed a striking difference between musicians and non-musicians: contrary to non-musicians, musicians showed no N400 response to novel metaphorical words which were more difficult to integrate semantically into their context than literal controls. This difference between musicians and non-musicians in semantic processing in sentences shows an effect of musicianship at the highest level of music–language transfer effects demonstrated so far in the literature. As well as adding to the growing body of evidence surrounding the relationship between musical training and language processing, this work provides support for theories which suggest shared resources, computations, and neural areas underpinning the high-level processing of music and language.

Semantisk mättnad beskrivs som en tillfällig meningsförlust efter hög upprepning av ett ord. Denna mättnad kan mätas med hjälp av N400, en differensvåg som beräknas utifrån elektroencefalografi (EEG) och uppnås när ett ord avviker från en semantisk kontext. N400 uppnås därför inte vid ord från samma semantiska kontext. En tidigare studie visade N400 vid 3 repetitioner av ett ord men ingen vid 30. Detta tyder på semantisk mättnad efter 30 repetitioner. Syftet med denna studie var att mäta om semantisk mättnad kan uppnås redan vid 15 repetitioner. Detta mättes genom att olika ord repeterades 3, 15 eller 30 gånger för 8 deltagare för att etablera en kontext. På grund av det låga antalet deltagare simulerades data för ytterligare 20 deltagare. Därefter visades ett målord som antingen var relaterat eller orelaterat till det första ordet. Ett t-test på stickprovsmedelvärdet gav inget stöd för N400 vid 3 eller 30 repetitioner, endast vid 15 repetitioner. Med hjälp av beroende t-tester kunde vi fastställa en signifikant minskning av N400 från 15 till 30 repetitioner. Resultaten pekar på att semantisk mättnad sker gradvis och fortsätter även efter 15 repetitioner. Dock bör resultatet tolkas med viss reservation eftersom ingen N400 visades vid 3 repetitioner, trots att N400 bör ha varit störst där.

Le trouble de la théorie de l’esprit (ToM) observé dans la schizophrénie et la schizotypie pourrait résulter d’anomalies élémentaires de traitement du contexte. La compréhension de l’ironie, en tant qu’exercice de ToM contexte-dépendant, constitue un moyen privilégié de tester cette hypothèse. À l’aide de mesures comportementales et électrophysiologiques, l’objectif principal de ce travail était de préciser la place des anomalies des processus de contextualisation dans le trouble de la ToM dans la schizotypie-schizophrénie en utilisant le paradigme de l’ironie. Le second objectif était d’identifier les conditions dans lesquelles ces anomalies de la ToM se manifestent et celles dans lesquelles elles peuvent être compensées. Nos résultats suggèrent (i) que les difficultés de ToM dans la schizotypie-schizophrénie résultent d’anomalies de traitement du contexte, (ii) que ces difficultés concernent spécifiquement la mise à jour de la représentation des états mentaux en fonction du contexte, soit un processus sous-tendu par des stratégies contextuelles rétroactives connues pour être altérées dans la schizotypie-schizophrénie et (iii) que la structuration du contexte sémantique permet d’améliorer les capacités de ToM dans le spectre de la schizophrénie, tandis que la présence d’un co-acteur inconnu semble inhiber ces capacités. Nos résultats soulignent par ailleurs un lien entre l’altération de la ToM et les difficultés sociales des participants. En conclusion, ce travail désigne les processus de contextualisation comme une cible cruciale des programmes de remédiation de la cognition sociale dans les troubles du spectre de la schizophrénie. / Theory of mind disturbances are a core manifestation of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. They contribute to the social handicap associated with the pathology, leading to disruption in autonomy, professional achievement, and interpersonal relationships. According to several authors, these disturbances may be due to a contextual impairment. Irony comprehension as a context-dependent ToM exercise is an ideal way to test this hypothesis. The first aim of this work was to clarify the contextual impairment’s role in ToM disturbances in schizotypy-schizophrenia using the paradigm of irony through behavioral and electrophysiological measures. The second aim was to identify the conditions in which these ToM disturbances occur and the conditions in which they can be compensated. Our results suggest that (i) ToM difficulties in schizotypy-schizophrenia result from abnormalities in context processing, (ii) these difficulties relate specifically to the updating of the mental states’ representation according to the context, e.g. a mentalizing process underlayed by retroactive contextual strategies known to be altered in schizotypy-schizophrenia, and (iii) structuring the semantic context can improve ToM's abilities in the schizophrenia’s spectrum, while the presence of an unknown co-actor seems to inhibit these abilities. Our results also highlight a link between the participant’s ToM disturbances and their social difficulties. In conclusion, this work indicates the relevance of cognitive remediation programs that target contextual processing in schizophrenia spectrum disorders.