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Empathy is the ability to perceive and understand others’ emotional states generating a similar mental state in the self. Previous behavioural studies have shown that self-reflection can enhance the empathic process. The present event-related potentials study aims to investigate whether self-reflection, elicited by an introspective self-narrative task, modulates the neuronal response to eye expressions and improves the accuracy of empathic process. The twenty-nine participants included in the final sample were divided into two groups: an introspection group (IG) (n=15), who received an introspective writing task, and a control group (CG) (n=14), who completed a not-introspective writing task. For both groups, the electroencephalographic and behavioural responses to images depicting eye expressions taken from the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” Theory of Mind test were recorded pre- (T0) and post- (T1) seven days of writing. The main result showed that only the IG presented a different P300 amplitude in response to eye expressions at T1 compared to T0 on the left centre-frontal montage. No significant results on accuracy at T1 compared to T0 were found. These findings seem to suggest that the introspective writing task modulates attention and implicit evaluation of the socio-emotional stimuli. Results are discussed with reference to the hypothesis that such neuronal modulation is linked to an increase in the embodied simulation process underlying affective empathy.

This event-related potentials (ERPs) study investigated on-line processes of integration of information relating to characters in narrative comprehension. The final sample included twenty-nine participants who read short third-person stories in which the plausibility of the characters’ actions was manipulated. Stories were administered in three conditions: a character-based congruent condition including a target word that was consistent with the character’s job; a character-based incongruent condition with a target word inconsistent with the character’s job; a character-based neutral condition, narrating the action of a character presented by his/her proper name without information about his/her job. Results comparing the ERPs elicited by the experimental conditions revealed a greater negative amplitude of the N400 in the right temporal regions in response to the character-based incongruent compared to the character-based congruent narratives. This finding shows that implicit background character-based information affects the N400, with readers rapidly using this information to comprehend narratives.

Diversi studi hanno dimostrato che l’analisi della dimensione narrativa può rappresentare un valido strumento per far luce su alcuni aspetti psicologici critici; in questo senso, può essere utile per capire meglio il disturbo da dipendenza. Il presente articolo riporta tra l’altro alcuni tra i dati principali di una ricerca da noi condotta e pubblicata nella rivista Journal of Gambling Issues nel 2021. In tale ricerca abbiamo indagato gli aspetti psicologico-narrativi coinvolti nelle dipendenze, specificamente nel DUS e nel DGA, attraverso un’analisi quali-quantitativa multidimensionale di un’intervista semi-strutturata, che ha invitato due gruppi di soggetti dipendenti in trattamento (DGA e DUS) a raccontare le varie fasi della dipendenza. Le analisi narrative multidimensionali da noi condotte sembrano aver portato alla luce alcuni punti critici su cui focalizzare l’attenzione per la costruzione di un adeguato trattamento dei soggetti con dipendenza. Nello specifico, i risultati suggerirebbero la necessità di lavorare su aspetti dissociati del Sé al fine di: 1) favorire il processo di integrazione di motivazioni e azioni, aumentando la consapevolezza e il senso di autoefficacia, soprattutto con i giocatori d’azzardo; 2) migliorare la coerenza globale nella narrazione del desiderio al fine di diminuire la disregolazione emotiva tipica di questa fase; 3) migliorare la capacità di proiezione del Sé nel tempo. Quest’ultimo punto potrebbe essere particolarmente rilevante in una prospettiva di intervento riabilitativo, soprattutto per quanto riguarda gli strumenti di trattamento legati alla dimensione narrativa. Il rapporto circolare tra regolazione dell’impulsività, autocontrollo, integrità dell’Io, funzioni cognitive e dimensione narrativa trova nel fattore temporale uno dei principali perni comuni.

This study addresses the postulate of non-conventionality of pantomime, inherent in pantomimic scenarios of language origin. Since lack of semiotic conventions does not preclude micro-conventions resulting from cultural differences, pantomimes should be easier to interpret when the actor and recipient share the same culture than between two different cultures. In the study, Italian and Polish amateur “actors” re-enacted transitive events from a matrix of cartoon-like drawings. Randomly selected clips were matched by Polish and Italian participants to the corresponding drawings. We found no difference in the number of correct guesses when the actors and matchers were from the same versus from different cultures. We discuss this result in the context of the core assumptions of pantomimic scenarios of language origin. (Less)

Growing evidence suggests that theory of mind (ToM) and episodic future thinking (EFT) are closely related at both brain and functional level. This study explored the relationship between ToM and EFT in 96 Italian-speaking children with typical development aged between 8 and 10.11 using a behavioral design. ToM was assessed through an emotional facial expression recognition task. EFT was assessed with a task where participants were required to project themselves forward in time by anticipating future states of the self; this resulted in two scores: a nonverbal measure and a verbal explanation measure. Results showed that the participants’ performance on the task assessing ToM correlated with and predicted the nonverbal measure of the EFT task. These findings are discussed in the light of theories suggesting that each of these abilities is governed by a common system devoted to self-projection.

Several studies have shown that the analysis of the narrative dimension may represent a useful instrument to shed light on certain critical psychological aspects; to this extent, it might also be fruitful to understand better the addiction disorder. The present study aimed to investigate the critical psychological-narrative aspects involved in Gambling Disorder (GD). A semi-structured interview, one which invited participants to narrate the various phases of addiction (addiction definition, onset, chronicization, relapse, desire, loss of control, control strategies, treatment, future behaviours with respect to the object of addiction), was administered to two groups of subjects in treatment: thirty with GD and eighteen with Substance Use Disorder (SUD). A quali-quantitative multidimensional analysis of this interview was performed. The dependent variables were psychological aspects (agency, passivity, locus of control, motivation) and narrative variables (global narrative coherence and self-projection into the future). The main findings showed that the GD presented a higher sense of agency, passivity, external locus of control and external motivation compared to SUD. Both groups showed a lower global narrative coherence score during the narration of desire (craving) compared to other phases. Moreover, both groups showed an absent self-projection into the future. The findings could be linked to possible impairment of the integration of the self, emotional dysregulation and low self-control typical in addiction. In conclusion, the present study highlighted the importance of the narrative dimension to detect certain critical points in the addiction condition on which to potentially address the treatment.RésuméPlusieurs études ont montré que l’analyse de la dimension narrative peut apporter un éclairage utile sur certains aspects psychologiques cruciaux; en ce sens, elle peut aussi contribuer à une meilleure compréhension des troubles de dépendance. Notre étude visait à examiner les aspects à la fois psychologiques et narratifs intervenant dans les troubles de dépendance. Nous avons réalisé des entrevues semi-structurées qui invitaient les participants à raconter les différentes phases de la dépendance (définition de la dépendance, début, chronicisation, rechute, désir, perte de maîtrise, stratégie de régulation, traitement, comportements futurs en ce qui a trait à l’objet de la dépendance). Nous avons mené ces entrevues auprès de deux groupes de personnes en traitement : 30 ayant une dépendance au jeu (DJ) et 18 ayant un trouble lié à l’usage d’une substance (TUS), puis nous en avons effectué une analyse multidimensionnelle quali-quantitative. Les variables dépendantes étaient des aspects psychologiques (agentivité, passivité, lieu de contrôle, motivation) et des variables narratives (cohérence narrative globale et projection de soi dans l’avenir). Les principaux résultats ont indiqué que, comparativement au groupe TUS, le groupe DJ présentait une meilleure perception sur les plans de l’agentivité, de la passivité, du lieu de contrôle externe et de la motivation extrinsèque. Par rapport aux autres phases, les deux groupes ont montré une cohérence narrative globale inférieure durant la narration relative au désir (envie irrésistible). En outre, les deux groupes ont montré une absence de projection de soi dans l’avenir. On peut lier ces résultats à l’intégration déficiente du moi, à la dysrégulation émotionnelle et au faible autocontrôle qui caractérisent la dépendance. En conclusion, notre étude souligne l’importance de la dimension narrative pour déceler certains aspects cruciaux de l’état de dépendance susceptibles d’orienter le traitement.

The present study analyzed the comprehension of visual narrative in a group of twelve children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Their performances were compared to a control group of fifteen children with typical development (TD) matched for age, level of formal education, and IQ. Visual narrative comprehension was assessed by administering a task that required children to understand narrative's global coherence by arranging in the correct order the constituent parts of stories presented in pictures. Specifically, the task evaluated children's ability to grasp how single events connected (causally and temporally) each other and how these connections led to the ending of the story. Results showed that children with ASD obtained significantly lower scores than children with TD. These results open to alternative interpretations of narrative impairments often reported in individuals with ASD, which might not be restricted to the linguistic code but stem from a deeper deficit in narrative processing that is independent from the expressive modality.

Aim of the present study was to investigate affective and cognitive processes underlying self-narratives of patients with gambling disorder through a verbal language analysis. A semistructured interview was administered to 30 patients with gambling disorder (GD) (24 males and 6 females; mean age: 46.63±9.08) concerning the various thematic areas of their condition: definition of addiction, onset and maintenance of the addiction, relapses, desire, loss of control, control strategies, and treatment. Word usage in the self-narratives was categorized using James Pennebaker’s Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) text-analysis software. Specifically, variables analyzed were emotion-related words, the use of pronoun-related words, and tense-related words. The findings showed a higher percentage of negative emotion-related words in the thematic areas of the definition of addiction, maintenance, and loss of control compared with other areas, which may suggest an emotional dysregulation; a higher percentage of first person singular-related words than other person-related words which decreases in the thematic areas of the desire, relapse, and loss of control, which may suggest dissociative phenomena; lastly, a high percentage of present tense-related words, which suggested a static and rigid representation of one’s dependency condition in GD patients and a difficulty to self-project into the future. Overall, the linguistic analysis revealed critical issues in affective and cognitive processes in specific phases of addiction in GD patients which could help guide treatment.

Impairments in language narrative abilities have been widely observed in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Indeed, both children and adults with ASD show difficulties in generating coherent personal and fictional narratives as well as understanding verbal stories. Cognitive studies have considered these difficulties as not dependent on strictly linguistic impairments but reflecting underlying cognitive deficits that are commonly used to explain the core symptoms of ASD: theory of mind impairment, weak central coherence, executive dysfunction, and a compromised mental time travel. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that the narrative deficits of ASD could extend to expressive media other than verbal language, e.g., the visual medium, whose processing might rely on those deeper cognitive functions. In support of this hypothesis, in the current paper we review the literature on the cognitive underpinnings of verbal and visual narrative in ASD and discuss the main findings of a study recently published on the comprehension of visual narrative in children with ASD, which shows that their difficulties are not restricted to the linguistic code but involve also the visual modality.

Migration is an experience with a creative and dynamic potential, but it can also serve to further isolate people. Migrant adolescents and ethnic minorities with a migrant background are particularly vulnerable to suicidal ideation and suicidal behaviour. International studies show a significant prevalence of suicide attempts among migrants and their children. Intergenerational conflicts and the family environment, for example poor communication and lack of parental support, are risk factors for suicidal behaviour in migrant adolescents. The valorisation of the culture of origin could contribute to the feeling of 'cultural continuity' which is a protective factor of the suicidal risk.

Migration is an experience with a creative and dynamic potential, but it can also serve to further isolate people. Migrant adolescents and ethnic minorities with a migrant background are particularly vulnerable to suicidal ideation and suicidal behaviour. International studies show a significant prevalence of suicide attempts among migrants and their children. Intergenerational conflicts and the family environment, for example poor communication and lack of parental support, are risk factors for suicidal behaviour in migrant adolescents. The valorisation of the culture of origin could contribute to the feeling of 'cultural continuity' which is a protective factor of the suicidal risk.

This discussion aims to investigate some claims proposed by Scott-Phillips in Speaking our minds. The main thesis by this book is that ostensive-inferential communication is the prerogative of human beings. In fact, despite admitting a continuity between human beings and other animals at the level of cognitive architectures, Scott-Phillips places a discontinuity at the communicative level. In his view, human communication requires high-order mental metarepresentations, guaranteed by a sophisticated mindreading system that, in his opinion, is not present in nonhuman primates. Recently, this idea has been challenged by some scholars. The aim of the present discussion is to take into account this debate.