The dissertation thesis addresses the topic of mathematical tasks processing in students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and problematic points of their solution. The aim of this work is to delineate methods that ASD students use to approach these tasks and solve them. We focus primarily on whether it is possible to identify different procedures than those used by typically developing students, and whether these procedures show specifics corresponding to distinct cognitive processes. In the theoretical part we provide a theoretical background for the study. Firstly, we create a frame to understand the complexity of autism, furthermore we deal with psychological theories examining the topic, and describe specifics of development of ASD students during their adolescence. Thereafter, we reflect on studies addressing mathematical skills of ASD students. Mathematics is considered as their great strength, however is not sufficiently scrutinized, as highlighted by various international studies (for example Oswald et al., 2016). The empiric part is based on qualitative methodology and pursues comparisons of mathematical tasks processing between six ASD students and typically developing peers. We strive to document differences and common points in solutions as well as to analyze cognitive processes of...

No description available.

Text in English / This study offers a fine-grained analysis of James Cameron’s film, Avatar (2009), on several theoretical fronts to provide a view of the film from a cognitive cultural studies perspective. The insights gained from cognitive theory are used to situate the debate by indicating the value cognitive theories have in cultural criticism. The critical discourse analysis of Avatar that results is a vehicle for the central concern of this study, which is to understand the diverse, often contradictory, meaning-making exhibited by Avatar audiences. A focus on the construction of empathic responses to the film’s messages investigates the success of this polysemy. Ihe central propositions of the study are that meanings and interpretations of the experience of viewing Avatar are made discursively; they are situated in definable traditions, mores and values; and this meaning-making takes place in a cognitive framework which allows for the technical reproduction and reception of the experience while providing powerful, emerging and cognitively plausible narratives. In an attempt to situate the film’s commercial success and its plethora of awards, including an Oscar for best art direction, the analysis takes a critical view of Cameron’s use of cultural stereotypes and the framing of the exotic other, and considers the continuing development of these elements over the whole series and product line or, as Henry Jenkins (2007) defines it, “transmedia”. In drawing the theoretical boundaries of the methodologies used in this study and in arguing for their complementarities, the study contributes to a renewal of Raymond Williams’ (1961) mostly forgotten claim of the cross-disciplinary cognitive dimension of cultural studies and demonstrates an affirmation of this formulation as cognitive cultural studies. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology / M.A. (Art History)

No description available.

La Teoria della Mente (ToM), la capacità cognitiva di riuscire a rappresentare ed interpretare gli stati mentali propri e altrui al fine di prevederne in comportamento, risulta essere deficitaria nella Sclerosi Multipla (SM), patologia cronica neurodegenerativa. La messa a punto e l’implementazione di un training di potenziamento di questa abilità sociale in questi pazienti è di rilevante importanza in quanto la ToM è strettamente connessa alla loro qualità della vita. Dato che ad oggi non esistono training di potenziamento della ToM nella SM, obiettivo primario della tesi è stata l’indagine relativa ai training di cognizione sociale attualmente esistenti in altre patologie croniche dell’età adulta. E’ stata effettuata una revisione sistematica ed una meta-analisi dei training attualmente esistenti per i soggetti con schizofrenia dato che questi soggetti presentano caratteristiche demografiche simili ai soggetti con SM. Si è quindi progettato un training di potenziamento della ToM da proporre ad un sample di soggetti con SM; prima di valutarne l’efficacia è stato condotto uno studio di accettabilità del suddetto training, al fine di superare potenziali barriere per la sua fattibilità. Si è infine proceduto all’esecuzione del terzo lavoro scientifico, ovvero la valutazione dell’efficacia del suddetto training sulla ToM in soggetti affetti da SM. / Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability of recognition and mental states' attribution to predict future behaviors. ToM deficit is well recognized in MS; hence, ToM training in this population is relevant because ToM is strictly connected with quality of life of people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). To our knowledge, there is no training established for the treatment in this population. For this reason, we proposed to investigate the efficacy of social cognition training in other adults with chronic disease. We conducted a systematic review and a meta-analysis of SC training in schizophrenia, given that these subjects present demographic characteristics similar to pwMS. Hence, we design a rehabilitation ToM training for pwMS; before evaluating its efficacy, we conducted an acceptability study to overcome potential barriers for its feasibility. Lastly, we implement this novel rehabilitation training testing its efficacy on ToM in pwMS.

No description available.

Thèse de doctorat présenté en vue de l'obtention du doctorat en psychologie - recherche intervention, option psychologie clinique (Ph.D) / La schizophrénie est un trouble mental grave associé à des difficultés de fonctionnement social dans plusieurs sphères de vie. Des diagnostics comorbides accompagnant fréquemment cette condition tel que les enjeux reliés à la consommation de drogue et d’alcool sont souvent source de difficultés additionnelles. Les désignations « troubles concomitants » pour un double diagnostic et « trouble concomitant complexe » pour plusieurs diagnostics comorbides sont employées pour faire référence à ces présentations. Ces tableaux cliniques complexes font moins souvent l’objet d’études empiriques que la schizophrénie « unique » et représente un défis substantiel dans l’intervention clinique. Une approche pour faire face à cette réalité consiste à faire à appel à des processus transdiagnostics mettant au premier plan les facteurs communs dans l’intervention. Les cognitions sociales, un ensemble de compétences permettant de percevoir, interpréter et répondre adéquatement aux indices verbaux et paraverbaux, sont un exemple de ces processus qui font l’objet de plus en plus de recherche à ce jour. Parmi eux, nous retrouvons la régulation émotionnelle et la théorie de l’esprit, deux cognitions sociales prometteuses dans les approches auprès des troubles concomitants. De plus, les approches se basant sur les cognitions sociales gagneraient à faire appel aux nouvelles technologies de l’information comme les applications mobiles, sachant que le soutien de l’individu dans son milieu naturel est un facteur clé dans le rétablissement de cette problématique. Ce nouveau médium offre des avantages considérables dans l’implantation d’interventions visant à soutenir le rétablissement dans la communauté suite à un épisode psychotique. Cette thèse se penche sur l’apport potentiel de deux cognitions sociales (i.e. régulation émotionnelle et théorie de l’esprit) aux processus d’intervention et d’évaluation auprès des individus avec un trouble concomitant. De plus, l’intervention évaluée dans ces travaux fera III appel aux nouvelles technologies de l’information en intégrant une application mobile comme médium d’intervention. Le premier chapitre présente une recension des écrits sur la théorie de l’esprit, la régulation émotionnelle et les interventions mobile auprès des troubles concomitants. Le deuxième chapitre de cette thèse présente les résultats d’une étude pilote d’acceptabilité et de faisabilité d’une application mobile (ChillTime) visant à favoriser l’acquisition de compétence de régulation des émotions auprès d’individus présentant des troubles concomitants. L’étude a été réalisée auprès de 13 individus présentant des troubles concomitants sur une durée de 30 jours. Des indicateurs cliniques, d’acceptabilité, de faisabilité et de préférences d’utilisation ont été recueillis. Les résultats suggèrent que l’application fait preuve d’une bonne faisabilité et d’une bonne acceptabilité auprès de l’échantillon. Des études avec un plus grand échantillon sont cependant nécessaires pour appuyer ces conclusions. Le troisième chapitre de cette thèse présente les résultats d’une étude visant à évaluer le degré avec lequel les compétences reliées à la théorie de l’esprit permettent de prédire le fonctionnement social des individus présentant un premier épisode psychotique comorbide à un trouble de l’usage de substance. Les données ont été recueillies à partir d’un échantillon de 37 personnes en suivant un devis transversal. Des analyses de régressions hiérarchiques ont été réalisées à partir de mesure de théorie de l’esprit, de symptômes cliniques et de neurocognitions comme prédicteurs du fonctionnement social. Les résultats suggèrent que la théorie de l’esprit serait plus efficace pour prédire certains domaines de fonctionnement social que le fonctionnement cognitif auprès de l’échantillon évalué. Des études avec un plus grand échantillon sont cependant nécessaires pour appuyer ces conclusions. Dans leur ensemble, les résultats de ces recherches contribuent à démontrer la pertinence de l’emploi des cognitions sociales dans les interventions visant améliorer les capacités fonctionnelles des individus présentant un trouble concomitant. Ils contribuent également appuyer l’utilisation des applications mobiles comme médium d’intervention auprès de cette population. / Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder associated with difficulties in social functioning in many areas of life. Co-morbid diagnoses that frequently accompany this condition, such as drug and alcohol issues, often cause additional difficulties. The designations "concurrent disorder" for a dual diagnosis and "complex concurrent disorder" for multiple comorbid diagnoses are used to refer to these presentations. These complex clinical pictures are less often the subject of empirical studies than "single" schizophrenia and represent a substantial challenge in clinical intervention. One approach to addressing this reality is to use cross-diagnostic processes that foreground common factors in intervention. Social cognitions, a set of skills for perceiving, interpreting, and responding appropriately to verbal and paraverbal cues, are an example of these processes that are the subject of increasing research to date. Among them, we find emotional regulation and theory of mind, two promising social cognitions in approaches to concurrent disorders. In addition, approaches based on social cognition would benefit from the use of new information technologies such as mobile applications, knowing that supporting the individual in his or her natural environment is a key factor in the recovery of this problem. This new medium offers considerable advantages in the implementation of interventions aimed at supporting recovery in the community following a psychotic episode.This thesis examines the potential contribution of two social cognitions (i.e., emotional regulation and theory of mind) to the intervention and assessment processes for individuals with a concurrent disorder. Furthermore, the intervention evaluated in this work will use new information technologies by integrating a mobile application as an intervention medium.The first chapter presents a review of the literature on theory of mind, emotional regulation and mobile interventions for concurrent disorders. The second chapter of this thesis presents the results of a pilot study on the acceptability and feasibility of a mobile application (ChillTime) aimed at promoting the acquisition of emotion regulation skills in individuals with concurrent disorders. The study was conducted with 13 individuals with concurrent disorders over a period of 30 days. Clinical indicators, acceptability, feasibility and preferences for use were collected. The results suggest that the application demonstrates good feasibility and acceptability to the sample. However, studies with a larger sample size are needed to support these findings. The third chapter of this dissertation presents the results of a study designed to assess the degree to which theory of mind skills predict social functioning in individuals with a first episode psychosis comorbid with a substance use disorder. Data were collected from a sample of 37 individuals following a cross-sectional design. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed using theory of mind measures, clinical symptoms, and neurocognitions as predictors of social functioning. Results suggest that theory of mind is more effective in predicting some areas of social functioning than cognitive functioning in the sample tested. However, studies with a larger sample size are needed to support these findings. Taken together, the results of this research help to demonstrate the relevance of using social cognitions in interventions to improve the functional abilities of individuals with a co-occurring disorder. They also help support the use of mobile applications as an intervention medium with this population.

Ce mémoire se penche sur la possibilité de la conscience artificielle. Plus spécifiquement, je me demande s’il est possible qu’un robot, un ordinateur ou toute autre machine ait une conscience phénoménale, i.e. qu’il y ait un effet que cela fait que d’être ces systèmes. Après avoir brièvement caractérisé la conscience phénoménale, j’investiguerai quelques problèmes qui sont propres à la conscience, soit le problème difficile de la conscience ainsi que le problème des autres esprits, dans le but d’établir le cadre conceptuel qui nous permettra de réfléchir quant à la possibilité de la conscience artificielle. Dans le deuxième chapitre, je défendrai la thèse selon laquelle la conscience artificielle est possible en m’appuyant notamment sur le principe d’invariance organisationnelle défendu, entre autres, par David Chalmers, ainsi que sur la théorie computationnelle de l’esprit. Finalement, dans le troisième et dernier chapitre, j’évaluerai diverses objections contre la possibilité de la conscience artificielle que je tenterai tour à tour de réfuter dans le but maintenir ma thèse initiale aussi intacte que possible. / This thesis examines the possibility of artificial consciousness. More specifically, I consider the possibility for a robot, computer or any other machine to have phenomenal consciousness, i.e. that there is something it is like to be those systems. After having briefly characterized phenomenal consciousness, I will investigate some problems that are specific to consciousness, namely the hard problem of consciousness as well as the problem of other minds, in order to establish the conceptual framework that will allow us to reflect upon the possibility of artificial consciousness. In the second chapter, I will defend the thesis that artificial consciousness is possible by relying on the principle of organizational invariance which is defended by David Chalmers, among others, as well as on the computational theory of the mind. Finally, in the third and last chapter, I will assess various objections against the possibility of artificial consciousness which I will try to refute in turn in order to keep my initial thesis as intact as possible.

Mit dieser Forschung liefert Thomas Gehlert eine konsistente, auf aktuellen Experimenten und Theorien basierte, fundierte natur- und neurowissenschaftliche Theorie, die den zugrundeliegenden Prozess bei Intuition (Bauchgefühl) und System-Aufstellung beschreiben kann. Damit schließt er eine theoretische Lücke, die die breite Akzeptanz unzähliger experimenteller Ergebnisse in Entscheidungstheorie- und Intuitionsforschung verhinderte. Darauf aufbauend darf die System-Aufstellung als legitimierte Methode im Kontext von Unternehmensführung, strategischem Management und Entscheidungsfindung angesehen werden.:1 Einstieg und Orientierung 1 1.1 Einleitende Gedanken und Ausgangssituation 1 1.2 Zielsetzungen der Forschungsarbeit 6 1.3 Vorgehensweise und Methode 7 1.4 Aufbau der Arbeit 8 2 Methodologischer Zugang 13 2.1 Methodische Vorgehensweise 13 2.2 Wissenschaftliche Legitimation 26 3 Wirtschaftswissenschaftlicher Zugang 47 3.1 Unternehmensführung in der VUCA-Welt 47 3.2 Unternehmensführung und strategisches Management 58 3.3 System-Aufstellungen, als Antwort auf die VUCA-Herausforderung 106 4 Notwendige interdisziplinäre Erweiterung 141 4.1 Intuitionsforschung 141 4.2 Information und Informationsübertragung 166 5 Erklärungsansätze 229 5.1 Bewertung bisher betrachteter Experimente 229 5.2 Intuition als mögliche Erklärung für die Phänomene bei SyA 234 5.3 Erklärungsversuche im Rahmen von SyA 244 6 Zwischenresümee – Erkenntnisse und Fragen 267 7 Auf dem Weg zu einer neuen Theorie 271 7.1 Eine heuristische Betrachtung als Ausgangspunkt 271 7.2 Ausgangsbasis für eine komplementäre Theorie der SyA 276 7.3 Bedingungen für Quantenverhalten in Makrosystemen 282 7.4 Anwendung der geforderten Bedingungen auf SyA 287 8 Modellentwicklung von der Mikro- zur Makrowelt 291 8.1 Quantenphysikalische Annäherung 291 8.2 Biologische Systeme und Physik 406 8.3 Neurowissenschaften – Der Mensch als Entscheider 459 9 Homologie von QPhy–Systemtheorie–SyA 535 9.1 Verbundene Entwicklungsgeschichte 537 9.2 Gemeinsame Prinzipien und Zusammenhänge 544 9.3 Conclusio zur Homologie 549 10 Ergebnisse und Ausblick 553 10.1 Grundsätzliche Ergebnisse auf einen Blick 553 10.2 Naturwissenschaftlich begründetes Theoriemodell zur Intuition im Rahmen von SyA 556 10.3 Antworten zur wissenschaftlichen Legitimation 563 10.4 Ergebnisse in Bezug auf die wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Dimension 565 10.5 Grenzen dieser Arbeit 582 10.6 Zukünftiger Forschungsbedarf und Ausblick 584 11 Fazit und Nachwort 589 11.1 Fazit 589 11.2 Nachwort 591 Literatur 597

This study investigates the nature of Asperger's Syndrome and specifically the social impairments experienced by learners affected by this syndrome. The incorrect social language, narrow interests and repetitive routines, and the deficits of theory of mind, central coherence and executive functioning of learners with Asperger's Syndrome are also outlined, and an attempt is made to relate these impairments to the social difficulties that learners with Asperger's Syndrome may experience in any inclusive setting. Chapters two and three comprise an in-depth literature study on this specific subject, thus forming a basis for the empirical research reported in chapter five. A qualitative research design is used, first to gain information about and understanding of the nature of the social impairments that afflict learners with Asperger's Syndrome, and secondly to gauge the effectiveness of using social stories as a means to assist the social development of affected learners. More specifically, an ethnographic research design has been chosen for its flexibility which readily permits last-minute adjustments to suit any design, and also because it helps to give meaning to personal encounters. The sensitive nature of the topic is another important reason for choosing this approach (ie. interaction with the researcher could be "fine-tuned" to achieve the ends of this adapted interview situation effectively, circumspectly and safely without undue upset for all concerned). The interview responses of two mothers of learners with Asperger's Syndrome, as well as the observation of these learners are reported. The results of the interviews and observations are checked against the literature study for corroboration in order to bring about a more positive awareness of the impairments experienced by these learners. The technique of social stories was investigated as a method of enhancing the social development of learners with Asperger's Syndrome. Three specific social stories were developed for this research in order to test the effectiveness of this method. Positive outcomes were achieved after implementation of the stories. Results of this study indicated that knowledge and understanding of Asperger's Syndrome, as well as positive attitudes, are critical to ensure the acceptance and accommodation of learners with Asperger's Syndrome in the school environment and in society as a whole. Also, the issue of accommodating learners with Asperger's Syndrome in an inclusive setting should receive concerted attention since it can have major implications for their educational prospects. / Educational Studies / Thesis (D. Ed.)