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Questo manuale è nato dall’esigenza di offrire una prospettiva ampia sullo sviluppo dell’individuo, in cui la trattazione delle ricerche e delle teorie prodotte sui processi di sviluppo motorio, emotivo, affettivo, cognitivo, comunicativo-linguistico, morale e sociale si integra con la complessità dei diversi contesti di crescita: da quelli tradizionali, come la scuola e la famiglia, alle comunità virtuali, in cui stanno emergendo modalità e processi nuovi di comunicazione e di apprendimento, funzionali e disfunzionali. In tale prospettiva questo lavoro rappresenta un’esperienza unica nel panorama editoriale italiano, integrando i contenuti classici della psicologia dello sviluppo (parte prima) con nuovi argomenti di stretta attualità nel campo dello sviluppo e dell’educazione, riferiti agli scenari di crescita che coinvolgono bambini, genitori, insegnanti ed educatori (parte seconda). Il volume offre, inoltre, una panoramica generale su alcune problematiche molto rilevanti in ambito psicologico ed educativo raramente trattate nella manualistica sulla psicologia dello sviluppo, come la genitorialità fragile, i disturbi specifici di apprendimento (DSA), le nuove dipendenze, concludendo con due tematiche emergenti: l’utilizzo della robotica per la simulazione dei processi di apprendimento e le nuove sfide poste dalla multiculturalità (parte terza). In questa seconda edizione tutti gli argomenti trattati sono stati aggiornati alla luce dei risultati più recenti della ricerca scientifica, fornendo un quadro ancora più attuale e innovativo dello stato della psicologia dello sviluppo e dell’educazione.

A new dyslexia screening test for Italian, Tiltan-IT, is presented. The test was developed based on an integrated dual-route model of reading, which describes in detail specific mechanisms underpinning early visual processes as well as the lexical and the sublexical routes. The principle according to which the test was developed is that each dyslexia type is manifested in different kinds of errors and in different kinds of stimuli, and we therefore included stimuli sensitive to each dyslexia type in the test. Tiltan-IT is a reading aloud test that includes word, nonword, and word pair lists. The test was administered to 618 Italian-speaking children (2nd-8th grade). Each error produced by the children was classified through the coding scheme developed to detect the different types of dyslexias described by the reading model. The Tiltan-IT was able to identify 110 children with dyslexia. The identified dyslexia types included letter position dyslexia, attentional dyslexia, letter identity dyslexia, surface dyslexia, vowel dyslexia, consonant conversion dyslexia, multi-letter phonological dyslexia, voicing dyslexia. The results confirm that the selection of items in the Tiltan-IT enabled the detection of the wide variety of dyslexias in Italian, some of them for the first time, adding evidence for the cross-linguistic validity of multiple types of developmental dyslexias and for the dual-route model of reading.

A new dyslexia screening test for Italian, Tiltan-IT, is presented. The test was developed based on an integrated dual-route model of reading, which describes in detail specific mechanisms underpinning early visual processes as well as the lexical and the sublexical routes. The principle according to which the test was developed is that each dyslexia type is manifested in different kinds of errors and in different kinds of stimuli, and we therefore included stimuli sensitive to each dyslexia type in the test. Tiltan-IT is a reading aloud test that includes word, nonword, and word pair lists. The test was administered to 618 Italian-speaking children (2nd–8th grade). Each error produced by the children was classified through the coding scheme developed to detect the different types of dyslexias described by the reading model. The Tiltan-IT was able to identify 110 children with dyslexia. The identified dyslexia types included letter position dyslexia, attentional dyslexia, letter identity dyslexia, surface dyslexia, vowel dyslexia, consonant conversion dyslexia, multi-letter phonological dyslexia, voicing dyslexia. The results confirm that the selection of items in the Tiltan-IT enabled the detection of the wide variety of dyslexias in Italian, some of them for the first time, adding evidence for the cross-linguistic validity of multiple types of developmental dyslexias and for the dual-route model of reading.

The current study investigated whether the grade point average (GPA) of high school courses and the score on the test for admission to a bachelor’s degree in Psychology—assessing logical reasoning, reading comprehension, and general knowledge—can predict student academic success (AS) and to what extent. Archival data from 5147 candidates (82.4% female) collected over six years (2010–2016) were used. For 2559 of these, indicators of AS (graduation marks, average weighted marks, completion of the degree on time, and dropout) were also available. A series of hierarchical regressions were performed, in which the high school GPA was included as the first predictor, and the scores of the three sections of the admission test were included as the second set of predictors. Findings indicated high school GPA as the best predictor of AS. However, admission test scores predicted a portion of AS that the high school GPA was not able to account for. This result indicates that the administration of the admission test, which evaluates logical reasoning, reading comprehension, and general knowledge, can add relevant information to the high school GPA, thus increasing the efficacy in the selection of candidates, who can have the best chance to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

The objective of this study is to investigate the unitarity of the Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) and three composites (General Ability Index - GAI, Cognitive Proficiency Index - CPI, Nonverbal Index - NVI) of the Italian adaptation of the WISC-V, aiming to determine their specific rarity thresholds. The importance of this aim is to determine if there is the possibility of using the FSIQ (or GAI, CPI, NVI) as a unique factor deviation quotient or not, by an accurate representation of the ability it is intended to assess. The distributions of the differences between maximum and minimum value (Max-Min discrepancies) were calculated using the Italian WISC-V standardization sample. The base rates of these discrepancies were analyzed, and statistical calculations of thresholds for large and rare differences were performed. The results confirm the validity of this statistical approach in determining the thresholds for the FSIQ and the indices of the WISC-V that corresponds to rare and unusual discrepancies. The obtained results combine the psychometric approach developed in previous versions of the Wechsler scales with the effective findings in the population as reflected by base rates (Flanagan & Kaufman, 2004, 2009; Orsini, Pezzuti & Hulbert, 2015). However, the FSIQ should not be classified as “uninterpretable” under any circumstances. Doing so would ignore its inherent predictive value, which remains intact regardless of score variability (Daniel, 2007).

Questa seconda edizione della versione italiana del TSCC nasce dall’esigenza di consentire agli operatori e ai ricercatori che lavorano nella clinica dello sviluppo e nel settore della tutela dei minori di continuare ad avvalersi di uno strumento particolarmente utile per cogliere elementi di criticità e fattori di rischio, che -sulla base della letteratura scientifica di riferimento- possono essere messi in relazione ad esperienze traumatiche. Siamo grate all’editore Hogrefe per aver accettato di rispondere a questa esigenza, affiancando al questionario rivolto ai genitori e caretakers per l’assessment della sintomatologia post-traumatica acuta e cronica in bambini di età compresa dai 3 ai 12 anni (TSCYC), anche il TSCC, che permette ai bambini e ai ragazzi di esprimere direttamente eventuali elementi di disagio e di malessere, anche in ambito sessuale, fornendo utili indicatori di possibili esperienze traumatiche. La seconda edizione del manuale è stata arricchita dai contributi di due gruppi di studiosi che da anni operano in ambito clinico per affiancare i minori che hanno vissuto o stanno vivendo esperienze traumatiche, sostenendo il proprio lavoro con rigore metodologico e scientifico. Il primo, di Chiara Giovanelli e Chiara Bertonati, offre esempi di utilizzo del TSCC e del TSCYC nell’ambito della tutela dei minori, con una descrizione molto articolata di profili clinici che permettono di orientare gli operatori nell’interpretazione dei punteggi, inserendoli all’interno della complessità del processo di assessment, in situazioni di estrema vulnerabilità. Il secondo contributo, di Chiara Ionio, Giulia Ciuffo, Marco Zecca e Damiano Rizzi, descrive l’utilizzo del TSCC in ambito sanitario, per cogliere l’effetto destabilizzante e traumatico che una diagnosi di tumore può avere in bambini e ragazzi ricoverati nei reparti di oncologia pediatrica. Le due ricerche presentate in questo capitolo permettono di avere una rappresentazione articolata e complessa del

La Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Fifth Edition (WISC‐V) è lo strumento clinico per la valutazione completa dell’intelligenza di soggetti in età compresa tra 6 anni e 0 mesi e 16 anni e 11 mesi. Questa edizione rappresenta la revisione della Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Fourth Edition (WISC-IV; Wechsler, 2003) e contiene significative modifiche tra cui l’aggiornamento delle norme, l’inserimento di nuovi subtest e di nuovi indici, rilevanti modifiche nella denominazione dei punteggi e alcuni cambiamenti alle procedure di somministrazione e di scoring al fine di migliorarne la fruibilità. La WISC-V fornisce sia punteggi dei subtest e degli indici compositi che descrivono il funzionamento dell’intelligenza in domini cognitivi specifici (ad esempio, comprensione verbale e memoria di lavoro), sia un punteggio composito che rappresenta la capacità intellettiva generale (il quoziente intellettivo, QI). Sono anche previsti altri punteggi per i subtest, per il processo di elaborazione delle risposte e per gli indici compositi finalizzati a ulteriori approfondimenti clinici. Il presente manuale si sviluppa in quattro capitoli e contiene tutte le indicazioni necessarie per effettuare una somministrazione completa e corretta del test. Il primo capitolo offre una panoramica generale focalizzata sul contenuto e sulla struttura della WISC-V, sugli ambiti di applicazione, sulle responsabilità dell’esaminatore e sull’adeguatezza e correttezza della somministrazione. Il secondo capitolo presenta le linee guida generali per la somministrazione del test e l’attribuzione dei punteggi, le istruzioni per compilare il Protocollo di notazione, le indicazioni per calcolare i punteggi dei subtest, i punteggi degli indici compositi e i punteggi di processo, e per fare un’analisi delle differenze tra punteggi a livello degli indici e dei subtest. Il terzo capitolo illustra nel dettaglio le procedure per una corretta somministrazione e per effettuare lo scoring di

Introduction: This study investigated attachment networks in a sample of Italian young adults. Attachment networks were defined in terms of attachment functions, attachment strength, the presence of a primary figure, and full-blown attachments. Method: Participants were 405 young adults, and we studied the effects of the demographic variables of gender, romantic status (whether single, involved in a romantic relationship for less or more than 24 months) and employment (whether university students or workers) on the structure of attachment networks. Participants were asked to answer the WHO-TO questionnaire, and derived indexes were analyzed using mixed ANOVAs, linear and logistic regression techniques. Results: Results indicated that while friends still had great importance in the network, partners were acquiring increasing relevance; at the same time, parents, and particularly mothers, remained central figures, particularly for the secure base function. Regarding the demographic variables, we observed that women reported stronger bonds with their mothers than men did, while the importance of friends was higher for men than for women. Additionally, our study supports previous findings underlining the importance of romantic partners in this phase of life, with participants involved in romantic relationships for longer than 24 months showing a fully developed attachment bond with their partners. Finally, for workers, the transfer of functions from the family-of-origin to external figures seemed to be fostered. Discussion: In conclusion, young Italian young adults go through a phase of intensive restructuring of attachment bond networks, particularly in relation to the consolidation of romantic relationships and work commitments.

The current exploratory study aimed to offer a description of the learning skills and well-being of multilingual adolescents with Italian as L2, a population regarded as vulnerable with respect to their academic achievements and psychosocial profile. We compared the performance of L2 participants with that of their monolingual peers with and without Specific Learning Disorders on a range of tests and questionnaires to define their learning skills and well-being within the school context. Results confirm greater reading difficulties in the L2 group compared to monolingual peers with Specific Learning Disorders. This pilot study offers one of the first investigations into the learning skills and well-being of a scarcely studied population, namely L2 adolescents. Additionally, it discusses practices that can be implemented within the classroom to promote inclusion.

Introduction to the special issue "Technology in rehabilitative interventions for children: Challenges and opportunities".

Introduction This study investigated attachment networks in a sample of Italian young adults. Attachment networks were defined in terms of attachment functions, attachment strength, the presence of a primary figure, and full-blown attachments.Method Participants were 405 young adults, and we studied the effects of the demographic variables of gender, romantic status (whether single, involved in a romantic relationship for less or more than 24 months) and employment (whether university students or workers) on the structure of attachment networks. Participants were asked to answer the WHO-TO questionnaire, and derived indexes were analyzed using mixed ANOVAs, linear and logistic regression techniques.Results Results indicated that while friends still had great importance in the network, partners were acquiring increasing relevance; at the same time, parents, and particularly mothers, remained central figures, particularly for the secure base function. Regarding the demographic variables, we observed that women reported stronger bonds with their mothers than men did, while the importance of friends was higher for men than for women. Additionally, our study supports previous findings underlining the importance of romantic partners in this phase of life, with participants involved in romantic relationships for longer than 24 months showing a fully developed attachment bond with their partners. Finally, for workers, the transfer of functions from the family-of-origin to external figures seemed to be fostered.Discussion In conclusion, young Italian young adults go through a phase of intensive restructuring of attachment bond networks, particularly in relation to the consolidation of romantic relationships and work commitments.

Despite its widespread use to measure functional lateralization of language in healthy subjects, the neurocognitive bases of the visual field effect in lateralized reading are still debated. Crucially, the lack of knowledge on the nature of the visual field effect is accompanied by a lack of knowledge on the relative impact of psycholinguistic factors on its measurement, thus potentially casting doubts on its validity as a functional laterality measure. In this study, an eye-tracking-controlled tachistoscopic lateralized lexical decision task (Experiment 1) was administered to 60 right-handed and 60 left-handed volunteers and word length, orthographic neighborhood, word frequency, and imageability were manipulated. The magnitude of visual field effect was bigger in right-handed than in left-handed participants. Across the whole sample, a visual field-by-frequency interaction was observed, whereby a comparatively smaller effect of word frequency was detected in the left visual field/right hemisphere (LVF/RH) than in the right visual field/left hemisphere (RVF/LH). In a subsequent computational study (Experiment 2), efficient (LH) and inefficient (RH) activation of lexical orthographic nodes was modelled by means of the Naïve Discriminative Learning approach. Computational data simulated the effect of visual field and its interaction with frequency observed in the Experiment 1. Data suggest that the visual field effect can be biased by word frequency. Less distinctive connections between orthographic cues and lexical/semantic output units in the RH than in the LH can account for the emergence of the visual field effect and its interaction with word frequency.

Despite its widespread use to measure functional lateralization of language in healthy subjects, the neuro-cognitive bases of the visual field effect in lateralized reading are still debated. Crucially, the lack of knowledge on the nature of the visual field effect is accompanied by a lack of knowledge on the relative impact of psy-cholinguistic factors on its measurement, thus potentially casting doubts on its validity as a functional laterality measure. In this study, an eye-tracking-controlled tachistoscopic lateralized lexical decision task (Experiment 1) was administered to 60 right-handed and 60 left-handed volunteers and word length, orthographic neighbor-hood, word frequency, and imageability were manipulated. The magnitude of visual field effect was bigger in right-handed than in left-handed participants. Across the whole sample, a visual field-by-frequency interaction was observed, whereby a comparatively smaller effect of word frequency was detected in the left visual field/ right hemisphere (LVF/RH) than in the right visual field/left hemisphere (RVF/LH). In a subsequent computa-tional study (Experiment 2), efficient (LH) and inefficient (RH) activation of lexical orthographic nodes was modelled by means of the Naive Discriminative Learning approach. Computational data simulated the effect of visual field and its interaction with frequency observed in the Experiment 1. Data suggest that the visual field effect can be biased by word frequency. Less distinctive connections between orthographic cues and lexical/ semantic output units in the RH than in the LH can account for the emergence of the visual field effect and its interaction with word frequency.

This paper investigates the validity of the Coparenting Relationship Scale (CRS) among Italian parents. Moreover, we explored the role of coparenting as a mediator of the association between marital satisfaction on children’s adjustment. Specifically, the first study aims to test the reliability and validity of the Italian translation of the CRS among Italian parents. A total of 529 mothers and 529 fathers of children (49.3% males) aged 1-13 completed the questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that the theoretically grounded 7-factor structure of the original instrument was valid in explaining the structure of the Italian data. The 7-factor model also fits well across parents’ gender, as there is configural invariance. Besides, the likelihood ratio tests proved that the goodness of fit of the metric model did not significantly change from the configural model. Convergent validity was also tested, and results of correlations and regression analyses showed theoretically coherent links between the participants’ scores on the CRS, marital adjustment, parenting stress, and children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors. The second study explores the indirect effects of marital satisfaction on children’s adjustment by considering negative coparenting and parenting stress as mediators. Participants were 371 mothers and 371 fathers. Results showed a pathway from marital satisfaction to children’s behavioral problems, with negative coparenting (M1) affecting parenting stress (M2), directly associated with children’s behavioral problems. (M1) affecting parenting stress (M2), directly associated with children’s behavioral problems.

Reading and writing skills influence the social status of students, exerting effects not only on learning, but also on wellbeing. This study aimed to assess the impact of diagnosis of specific learning disorder on well-being in secondary-school students, comparing students with a diagnosis of specific learning disorder (SLD-group), students showing learning difficulties without diagnosis (LD-group) and students without learning difficulties (control-group). Students were tested with neuropsychological screening tests in order to identify learning difficulties and were further assessed by means of psychological and school well-being questionnaires. The results show that LD group perceive themselves as having a low sense of mastery and autonomy, less interest and engagement in daily activities and low peer social support than their schoolmates. This result highlights, for the LD group, a low well-being experience, which is not observed in the SLD and control groups. On the contrary, SLD group students do not differ from control group students in any dimensions except for the perceived parents’ support and involvement in school life, in which the SLD group show the highest scores. This work underlines the importance of having a diagnosis as it seems to work as a protective factor for both the psychological and school well-being of the student.

Summary. This target paper focuses on the teaching of tests and psychological assessment, and presents the results of a short questionnaire on which tests and assessment procedures are presented to psychology students. The questionnaire was sent to AIP (Associazione Italiana di Psicologia) members giving at least one class on the topic of interest. The questionnaire was composed by two sections. The first section included general questions on the disciplinary sector of the class given by respondents, and on which psychological instruments were taught. The second section explored more in detail which typology of tests and instruments are taught in Italian universities. Results showed a low completion rate of the questionnaire, and a complex and scattered picture of the teaching of tests and assessment processes. This paper represents a starting point for the debate on this topic from other colleagues. This debate is particularly important given the incumbent transformation the laurea in psicologia as only requirement to practice as psychologist in Italy.

Presentazione al volume

Collection of papers describing technology-supported interventions addressed to neurodevelopmental disorders

Technology in rehabilitation

In recent years, several studies have provided evidence on the effects that the interaction between the individual and the environment can have on the organization and functioning of cortical networks, providing useful indications for the development of new rehabilitative/habilitative interventions in the field of neurodevelopmental disorders. In particular, the application of new information, cybernetic, and electromedical technologies has provided the opportunity to affect, through different mechanisms, the neuronal plasticity in a more or less direct way. Numerous studies on animal models have highlighted the impact that environmental enrichment can have on cortical organization and therefore some proposals have been developed to modify sensory, perceptual, and motor experience, according to the perspectives of embodied cognition and sensory integration. This Special Issue aims to offer an overview of evidence-based studies on the efficacy of new rehabilitation approaches addressed to children with neurodevelopmental disorders, designed to enhance the effects of learning processes through the use of new technologies.

Although Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) are described as specific difficulties in one or more academic areas, often socio-emotional problems are also reported to be related to well-being and school engagement. Moreover, recent evidence shows that emotional problems and reduced social support predict problematic use of new technologies, such as a smartphone, that can, in turn, increase these problems. In this study, we aimed to investigate socio-emotional functioning and its relation to well-being, school engagement, and problematic smartphone use. Social and emotional skills of 19 adolescents with a diagnosis of SLD and 19 control adolescents were assessed through a narrative test; adolescents were requested to narrate complete stories elicited by pictures representing social situations. Information on well-being and problematic smartphone use were collected through questionnaires. The comparison between groups showed differences in cognitive-social skills, although no significant differences in emotional functioning were found. Additionally, the perception of the social environment as supportive and trustworthy was related to general well-being for both groups, whereas the perception of limits and rules set by the adult world appeared to be related to a decreased investment in learning processes only for the SLD students. Finally, correlation analysis showed that smartphone use was associated with reduced perception of social support and to a decreased ability to understand and solve social situations. These results assert the critical role played by social information processing and social support in terms of well-being in adolescence, and contribute to enhancing knowledge of the mechanisms underlying problematic smartphone use in a clinical sample.

Introduction The advantage of the Right Visual Field/Left Hemisphere (RVF/LH) over the Left Visual Field/Right Hemisphere (LVF/RH) for reading is a ubiquitous finding in behavioral and neuropsychological enquiry (1). A Neuropsychological account (2) suggests that such advantage could depend on “two lateralized lexical stores” in the brain, which would be differently organized with respect to different lexical variables. An alternative account, grounded on half-field studies on control subjects suggests that the left and the right brain differ in the pathways they use to access a “unique lexical store”, located in the LH (3). According to this latter view, the benchmark of such different routes would be a word length effect only appearing in the LVF/RH. When hemispheric differences in the early processing steps are ironed out, no further visual field effects should be observed. Materials & Methods In the current study, 60 young healthy right-handed volunteers were administered with an eye-tracking-controlled lateralized lexical decision task, in which either words or non-words were presented for 128ms at 3.5° left or right from central fixation. Word stimuli were manipulated by word length, frequency, imageability and orthographic neighborhood (N) size. Results In line with previous evidence, we observed a RVF/LH advantage over the LVF/RH for both accuracy and reaction times. We also detected main effects of length, imageability, and frequency, as well as a frequency-by-visual field interaction. In a subsequent analysis, we observed that whereas the performance of the LH was significantly above chance level for both high- and low-frequency words, in the RH this was only true for high-frequency words. We also report a positive effect of N size on word detection accuracy in the RVF/LH but not in the LVF/RH. Discussion The emergence of a visual field effect in spite of the absence of a different length effect in the two visual fields indicates that the two hemispheres d

Social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic represented a golden opportunity to implement telerehabilitation for clinical groups of children. The present study aims to show the impact that telerehabilitation had on the experience of well-being of children with special needs being treated at the Foundation IRCCS Neurological Institute ‘C. Besta’ in Milan (Specific Learning Disorders and Cerebral Palsy diagnosis); it aims to do so by comparing it with experiences of those who did not undertake telerehabilitation despite the diagnosis during the pandemic, and with typically developing children. Results show that the three groups differed in the Support, Respect and Learning dimensions of well-being experience. Post hoc comparisons revealed that children with Specific Learning Disorders and Cerebral Palsy scored higher than normotypical children in Support and in Respect scales. Furthermore, children who experienced telerehabilitation showed the highest scores on the Learning scale in comparison with the other two groups. These results support the importance of reorganizing care and assistance by integrating telemedicine, which seems to have fostered a positive experience of well-being in people with special needs, particularly in the perception of a supportive environment that respects psychological needs.

Social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic represented a golden opportunity to implement telerehabilitation for clinical groups of children. The present study aims to show the impact that telerehabilitation had on the experience of well-being of children with special needs being treated at the Foundation IRCCS Neurological Institute ‘C. Besta’ in Milan (Specific Learning Disorders and Cerebral Palsy diagnosis); it aims to do so by comparing it with experiences of those who did not undertake telerehabilitation despite the diagnosis during the pandemic, and with typically developing children. Results show that the three groups differed in the Support, Respect and Learning dimensions of well-being experience. Post hoc comparisons revealed that children with Specific Learning Disorders and Cerebral Palsy scored higher than normotypical children in Support and in Respect scales. Furthermore, children who experienced telerehabilitation showed the highest scores on the Learning scale in comparison with the other two groups. These results support the importance of reorganizing care and assistance by integrating telemedicine, which seems to have fostered a positive experience of well-being in people with special needs, particularly in the perception of a supportive environment that respects psychological needs.

Summary. This target paper focuses on the teaching of tests and psychological assessment, and presents the results of a short questionnaire on which tests and assessment procedures are presented to psychology students. The questionnaire was sent to AIP (Associazione Italiana di Psicologia) members giving at least one class on the topic of interest. The questionnaire was composed by two sections. The first section included general questions on the disciplinary sector of the class given by respondents, and on which psychological instruments were taught. The second section explored more in detail which typology of tests and instruments are taught in Italian universities. Results showed a low completion rate of the questionnaire, and a complex and scattered picture of the teaching of tests and assessment processes. This paper represents a starting point for the debate on this topic from other colleagues. This debate is particularly important given the incumbent transformation the laurea in psicologia as only requirement to practice as psychologist in Italy.

The Research Topic collects contributions that allow to rethink educational goals in the digital era from new angles of exploration. Moving from the assumption that introducing innovative technology paradigms in education requires unravelling aspects related to the impact of digital technologies on students’ well-being, teaching efficacy and learning success, the Research Topic addressed these points by proposing novel tools and didactic methodologies to be implemented in the educational practices. These aspects appear even more relevant after the pandemic breakout that forced the educational systems of most countries of the world to rely on digital education mainly.

A reply to commentaries

A 38 studenti con DSA e 38 studenti senza problemi di apprendimento di 8-18 anni sono state applicate la Scala di autostima, la Scala di autoefficacia scolastica percepita e la Positivity Scale e sono state raccolte informazioni sulla loro situazione scolastica. Gli studenti con DSA mostrano inferiori livelli di autostima ma le differenze tra i due gruppi sono risultate significative soltanto nella scuola secondaria di secondo grado. L’autoefficacia scolastica percepita e la posi- tività decrescono con il procedere del livello scolastico nel gruppo con DSA, rimanendo stabili nel gruppo di controllo. Il rendimento scolastico complessivo e la prontezza negli impegni nei soggetti con DSA sono in relazione all’autoefficacia scolastica percepita.

Background: Uncertainty exists about the optimal schedule of adjuvant treatment of breast cancer with aromatase inhibitors and, to our knowledge, no trial has directly compared the three aromatase inhibitors anastrozole, exemestane, and letrozole. We investigated the schedule and type of aromatase inhibitors to be used as adjuvant treatment for hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer. Methods: FATA-GIM3 is a multicentre, open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial of six different treatments in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer. Eligible patients had histologically confirmed invasive hormone receptor-positive breast cancer that had been completely removed by surgery, any pathological tumour size, and axillary nodal status. Key exclusion criteria were hormone replacement therapy, recurrent or metastatic disease, previous treatment with tamoxifen, and another malignancy in the previous 10 years. Patients were randomly assigned in an equal ratio to one of six treatment groups: oral anastrozole (1 mg per day), exemestane (25 mg per day), or letrozole (2·5 mg per day) tablets upfront for 5 years (upfront strategy) or oral tamoxifen (20 mg per day) for 2 years followed by oral administration of one of the three aromatase inhibitors for 3 years (switch strategy). Randomisation was done by a computerised minimisation procedure stratified for oestrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and HER2 status; previous chemotherapy; and pathological nodal status. Neither the patients nor the physicians were masked to treatment allocation. The primary endpoint was disease-free survival. The minimum cutoff to declare superiority of the upfront strategy over the switch strategy was assumed to be a 2% difference in disease-free survival at 5 years. Primary efficacy analyses were done by intention to treat; safety analyses included all patients for whom at least one safety case report form had been completed. Follow-up is ongoing. This trial is regist

The Word Superiority Effect (WSE) denotes better recognition of a letter embedded in a word rather than in a pseudoword. Along with WSE, also a Pseudoword Superiority Effect (PSE) has been described: it is easier to recognize a letter in a legal pseudoword than in an unpronounceable nonword. At the current state of the art, both WSE and PSE have been mainly tested with English speakers. The present study uses the Reicher-Wheeler paradigm with native speakers of Italian (a shallow orthography language). Differently from English and French, we found WSE for RTs only, whereas PSE was significant for both accuracy and reaction times (RTs). This finding indicates that, in the Reicher-Wheeler task, readers of a shallow orthography language can effectively rely on both the lexical and the sublexical routes. As to the effect of letter position, a clear advantage for the first letter position emerged, a finding suggesting a fine-grained processing of the letter strings with coding of letter position, and indicating the role of visual acuity and crowding factors

Il capitolo offre una panoramica delle principali teorie e dei modelli neuropsicologici che forniscono una descrizione e una interpretazione dei processi di acquisizione della lettura, della scrittura, del calcolo e della risoluzione di problemi. Si analizzano quindi le traiettorie tipiche di apprendimento, a partire dai precursori della literacy e della numeracy, per arrivare ad una descrizione dei processi cognitivi coinvolti nei compiti considerati. Vengono inoltre fornite le conoscenze di base per comprendere i disturbi specifici di apprendimento, illustrando le principali ipotesi eziologiche formulate in letteratura e fornendo indicazioni in merito alle procedure diagnostiche e ai trattamenti identificati dai documenti prodotti dalle consensus conference organizzate su queste tematiche.

Introduzione I fattori contestuali sono molto importanti per indurre un'esperienza positiva di vita ed esercitano un'influenza significativa sull'impegno scolastico degli studenti. Lo scenario pandemico prodotto dal Covid-19 ha reso necessarie una serie di misure di distanziamento sociale e l'implementazione della Didattica a Distanza ponendo molte sfide a docenti, genitori e alunni. Questo studio, realizzato nell’ambito del progetto Europeo Interreg INCLUDI, intende fornire un contributo per portare alla luce l’esperienza emotiva che genitori, alunni e docenti hanno vissuto nel periodo in cui l’erogazione della didattica è avvenuto esclusivamente a distanza. Metodo Hanno partecipato alla ricerca i genitori (N = 591), i docenti (N = 228), gli studenti (N = 524) delle scuole del Comune di Gallarate. La raccolta dati è avvenuta nel periodo tra aprile e metà giugno 2020. Tutti i partecipanti hanno compilato alcuni questionari on-line appositamente predisposti, segnalati dai dirigenti scolastici all’interno delle piattaforme informatiche utilizzate dai diversi istituti. Le dimensioni indagate riguardano per tutti gli attori coinvolti: l’indagine personale familiare e lavorativa (per docenti e genitori); il vissuto psico-emotivo, con particolare riferimento all’esperienza emotiva vissuta durante la pandemia e in riferimento a quanto vissuto prima del Covid-19, le preoccupazioni circa la situazione scaturita dalla pandemia, le strategie di coping adottate e la percezione dei rapporti e del supporto familiare. Inoltre, oggetto di indagine è stata la percezione della didattica a distanza: per i genitori in relazione alla difficoltà dei figli e al loro coinvolgimento nella gestione a casa, per gli studenti la fruizione dei dispositivi a disposizione e l’esperienza relativa alla didattica a distanza, così come per i docenti con un approfondimento anche sule metodologie impiegate. Risultati I risultati principali derivati dalle analisi di regressione mostrano che per qua

La diagnosi di disturbi specifici dell’apprendimento in bambini che apprendono l’italiano come seconda lingua (L2) mediante test standardizzati per bambini madrelingua italiana aumenta il rischio di falsi positivi. Un’alternativa è disporre di apposite norme per bambini che apprendono l’italiano come L2. Il presente contributo fornisce dati di riferimento per test di lettura, scrittura, linguaggio orale e abilità cognitive di base a supporto della valutazione dei bambini bilingui minoritari che apprendono l’italiano come L2. I cut-off indicativi di attenzione clinica nei bambini bilingui sono stati calcolati a partire da un campione di 307 bambini di cittadinanza non italiana, e sono riportati in funzione della classe frequentata (dalla 1o alla 5o primaria) e dell’età di esposizione all’L2 (precoce vs tardiva).

We explored with Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) technique whether the ability to select words among competitive alternatives during word production is related to the integrity of the left uncinate fasciculus (UF) in Parkinson's disease (PD). Nineteen PD patients (10 right-sided and 9 left-sided) and 17 matched healthy controls (HC) took part in the study. Participants were asked to derive nouns from verbs (reading from to read) or to generate verbs from nouns (to build from building). Noun and verb production, in this task, differ in the number of lexical entries among which the response is selected, as the noun must be selected from a larger number of alternatives compared to the verb, and thus is more demanding of processing resources. DTI evaluation was obtained for each subject. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) maps were derived from DTI and median FA and MD values were computed within the left and right UF. Then, FA and MD of the left and right UF were correlated with noun and verb production. Both the left and right UF-FA correlated with the global (noun + verb) production and noun production in the whole PD group. In right-sided PD, correlations were found with the contralateral UF-FA; in left-sided PD the correlations emerged with both the left and right UF-FA. The most difficult task, noun production, significantly correlated with the right UF-FA in left-sided PD. The left UF is involved in word selection processes, and the right UF intervenes when the selection is particularly demanding of attentional resources.

The study of complex word processing has been centered on the notion of morpheme as a processing unit. Evidence from psycholinguistics and cognitive neuropsychology has been taken as suggestive of symbolic morphemic representations at the lexical level, on a par with words. However, several phenomena observed in morphological processing suggest a more complex picture. The crucial role played in reading by the distributional properties of both the complex word and its morphemic constituents (e.g., family size, morphological entropy, orthography-semantics consistency) highlights the limits of the ‘morpheme-as-unit’ assumption. Moreover, results from the developmental literature show that morphology is an age-related emergent aspect of written word processing, exploited to overcome reading challenges for both typically developing readers and children with dyslexia. A unitary account for this complex scenario may be offered by learning models that focus on form-to-meaning mapping.

CPS (Child Protection Services) workers are required to assess the level of safety of referred minors and to identify the best intervention to protect them. CPS workers’ decision making, in particular the child removal decision, has been the focus of a growing number of studies in order to identify which factors influence workers’ evaluation. The present study aimed to investigate both familial and mother/father-related risk and protective factors that influenced CPS workers’ decision about the child placement through the “judgment analysis” approach. We analyzed 340 social records of families referred to CPS due to child maltreatment were retrospectively analyzed on the basis of the Protocol of risk and Protective factors (Di Blasio, 2005). The mean age of the mothers was 36.85 (SD = 7.61; range = 17–58), while the mean age of the fathers was 41.86 (SD = 8.85; range = 21–72). The mean age of the children was 8.37 (SD = 4.87; range = 0–17), the 48.8% of them were males. To identify the most relevant factors for the discrimination of high- and low-risk cases (operationalized as child out-of-home placement vs monitoring and parental abilities support), 3 decision tree analyses (C&RT) models were tested. Results of our research seem to indicate that workers attribute great importance to autonomy and independence of parents: when this factor is absent, the likelihood of child removal from the family is higher. Results also indicate that workers attribute different weight to specific information cues, when they characterize either the maternal or the paternal role. We speculate that in the future, decision tree models can help CPS professionals in processing the information collected during psycho-social investigations of at-risk families.