Alessandro Antonietti

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore | UNICATT · Department of Psychology

Introduction Among the tasks employed to investigate decisional processes, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) appears to be the most effective since it allows for deepening the progressive learning process based on feedback on previous choices. Recently, the study of decision making through the IGT has been combined with the application of transcranial d...

Il contributo presenta alcuni degli esiti derivanti dal progetto di ricerca INCLUDI (www.includi.eu) finalizzato all'ideazione e all'implementazione di metodologie didattiche innovative per favorire l'apprendimento della lingua inglese in studenti della scuola secondaria con diagnosi di dislessia. Oltre ad attività pratiche e creative da realizzare...

Numerous research studies show that mindfulness can mitigate the negative impact of trauma on mental health by reducing symptoms of anxiety, mediating the relationship between trauma exposure and mental health, and treating symptoms resulting from traumatic events. During the COVID-19 pandemic, which was considered a traumatic event, the wellbeing...

In today's digital milieu, characterized by pervasive media exposure, the intricate interplay between individual differences and cognitive processes has garnered significant scholarly interest. A notable facet of this interrelation pertains to the nexus between cognitive flexibility and individuals' engagement with online information. Recognized as...

In recent years, research has increasingly explored the efficacy of art therapy for conditions such as stroke, uncovering benefits like the “Michelangelo effect”, which enhances motor performance in individuals exposed to aesthetically pleasing artwork during specific activities. While standardized stimuli are often used, their clinical effectivene...

Patients affected by Parkinson’s disease (PD) display a tendency toward making risky choices in value-based conditions. Possible causes may encompass the pathophysiologic characteristics of PD that affect neural structures pivotal for decision making (DM) and the dopaminergic medications that may bias choices. Nevertheless, excluding patients with...

Objective: The study aimed to examine the effect of mental imagery on sports performance. Specifically, it was tested whether imagining flying (i.e., air travel) increases jumping performance in a group of female volleyball players. Methods: The study included 46 female young athletes (mean age = 15.23 years; standard deviation = 2.4) divided into...

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% fem...

In the paper the possible links between creative thinking and humor are sketched and their role in promoting well-being in the elderly is taken into account. The specific features of creative thinking in older people and its developmental trend in aging are outlined. The changes in humor which occur during aging are considered as well. The connecti...

The maintenance of psychological well-being (PWB) in the older adult population is a pivotal goal for our rapidly aging society. PWB is a multicomponent construct that can be influenced by several factors in the lifespan. The beneficial role of divergent thinking (DT) and cognitive reserve (CR) in sustaining older subjects’ PWB has been scarcely in...

Starting from the proposed role of the mirror neuron system in the recognition of the intention underlying the actions of others, an experimental paradigm was implemented to test the role of sailing motor expertise in predicting the outcome of a competitor’s action. It was hypothesized that subjects with experience in sailing would correctly interp...

Il presente studio è stato condotto durante il periodo di lockdown causato dal virus CO-VID-19, che ha determinato un forte impatto psicologico negativo sulla vita della maggior par-te delle persone. Tale impatto ha avuto una serie di conseguenze sulle abitudini delle persone, fra cui lo svolgimento dell'attività fisica (AF) che è stato compromesso...

Promoting active and successful aging has become crucial to improve quality of life in later adulthood and reduce the impact of cognitive decline. Increasing evidence suggested that the ability to think creatively (e.g., via divergent thinking), similar to cognitive reserve, could represent a beneficial factor against the negative effects of aging....

A greater ability to think divergently seems to bring benefits both in the psychological and in the cognitive domain throughout the lifespan. In particular, studies on older adults confirm the role of creativity as a valid support in active aging. The aim of the study is to investigate the possible role of creativity in promoting active aging throu...

Durante il processo di invecchiamento, il soggetto anziano si trova a vivere in un contesto sempre più sfidante, dovendo affrontare una serie di cambiamenti che influiscono sul suo benessere psicologico e cognitivo. Il pensiero creativo e la flessibilità mentale possono avere un impatto positivo nella vita dell'anziano a sostegno di un invecchiamen...

Introduction: Tourette’s syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by tics, that may interfere with patients’ everyday life. Research suggested that creative thinking (namely, divergent and convergent thinking) could help patients cope with their symptoms, and therefore it can be a resource in non-pharmacological interventions. The present...

Among the tasks to investigate decisional processes, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) appears to be the most effective since it offers the opportunity to deepen the progressive learning process based on feedbacks derived by previous choices. Recently, the study of decision making through the IGT has been combined with the application of the transcrania...

Introduction: Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulties in perceiving and processing verbal and non-verbal information. It is usually accompanied by impaired academic skills leading to school dropout and emotional disturbances, resulting in significant distress and behavioral problems. Methods...

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically affected individuals’ psychological well-being worldwide, thus representing a challenge for flourishing among emerging adults. To understand psychological processes involved in the positive adaptation to this challenge, the present study examined the role of meaning in life and religious identity as crucial re...

L'abilità di pensare in maniera divergente risulta preservata in qualsiasi fascia d'età. Tuttavia, nella fase di invecchiamento, l'individuo si trova a vivere in un contesto sempre più sfidante, dovendo affrontare una serie di cambiamenti legati soprattutto al suo funzionamento cognitivo. Il pensiero creativo e la flessibilità mentale, favorendo la...

Evidence shows that patients affected by Parkinson’s disease (PD) display the tendency toward making risky choices. This is due, at least in part, to the pathophysiological characteristics of the disease that affects neural areas underlying decision making (DM), in which a pivotal role is played by nonmotor corticostriatal circuits and dopamine. Ex...

Recent research has proposed a relationship between rigid political ideologies and underlying ‘cognitive styles’. However, there remain discrepancies in how both social and cognitive rigidity are defined and measured. Problem-solving, or the ability to generate novel ideas by exploring unusual reasoning paths and challenging rigid perspectives arou...

L'articolo-bersaglio propone alla comunità scientifica e ai clinici che operano nell'area dei disturbi del neurosviluppo una serie di questioni aperte relative al fare ricerca e al fare valutazioni diagnostiche. Le questioni scaturiscono dalle evidenze emerse dalle indagini delle neuroscienze e dal delinearsi di un diverso paradigma per comprendere...

The quantity and quality of environmental stimuli and contexts are crucial for children’s development. Following the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), restrictive measures have been implemented, constraining children’s social lives and changing their daily routines. To date, there is a lack of research assessing the long-lasting impacts that these...

Lower levels of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been described in individuals with reading difficulties, but the degree and the nature of such deficiencies as well as the role of nutrition are a matter of debate. The aim of the present study was to investigate the associations between PUFA blood levels, nutritional status, and read...

Analogy is based on a relation between a familiar domain (called “source”) and a new domain (the “target”). Such a relation enables people to transfer some pieces of knowledge concerning the source to the target so to lead them to manage the latter in an easier way because they can take advantage of what they know about the former. When a source-ta...

The anti-COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the United States provided a significant contribution to the control of the virus spread. Despite the recommendations by public health institutions , vaccine skepticism and hesitancy contributed to low vaccine uptake, thus possibly disrupting the management of preventable diseases associated with the COVID-...

Navigating the web represents a complex cognitive activity that requires effective integration of different stimuli and the correct functioning of numerous cognitive abilities (including attention, perception, and working memory). Despite the potential relevance of the topic, numerous limitations are present throughout the literature about the cogn...

The possibility of using rhythmic auditory interventions for addressing dyslexia-related difficulties has been empirically explored by several investigations, with encouraging results. Such findings inspired the design of a novel rhythm-based intervention, Rhythmic Reading Training (RRT), specifically designed for students with developmental dyslex...

Decision making (DM) has a pivotal role in supporting individual autonomy and well-being. It is considered a complex ability exploiting many cognitive functions, among which executive functions (EFs) are crucial. Few studies analyzed the role played by EFs in DM in healthy adults under ambiguity and risk, which are common conditions for most decisi...

Understanding predictors of parents’ willingness to vaccinate their children appears fundamental to promote vaccine acceptability, especially in a pandemic scenario. The present study aimed to investigate the role of conspiracy beliefs and absolutist thinking in parental attitude towards COVID‐19 vaccine, and the predictive role of parents’ individ...

While learning in Internet-based environments, students rely on metacognitive knowledge to organize, record, monitor, and review their learning path. In this experience, they may reveal either a "surface" or "deep" approach. In this study, 509 university students were administered the adapted versions of the ‘Metacognitive Knowledge regarding Inter...

(1) Background: Psychological well-being (PWB) is a multidimensional construct which is a key protective factor against chronic diseases in older adults. Numerous psychological and cognitive factors can influence older people’s PWB. However, while most studies have explored the effect of general cognition, only a few investigated the role of specif...

The present study aimed to investigate the association between learning skills and creative thinking and to assess their relations with self-efficacy. In doing so, we used an approach that aimed to go beyond the dichotomous comparison between students with Specific Learning Disability (SLD) vs. students without SLD, which could potentially reduce c...

Being hospitalized is a threatening and stressful experience for many children. From a psychological point of view, children may experience increased feelings of anxiety and fear that can negatively influence their behavioral, cognitive, and emotional outcomes. To mitigate such adverse effects on children’s mental health and well-being, interventio...

Recent research has investigated the relationship between rigid political ideologies and underlying cognitive functions, highlighting discrepancies on how different ‘cognitive styles’ are defined and measured in relation with different shapes of social rigidity. Cognitive rigidity is often operationalized using problem solving which translates into...

L’efficacia del processo decisionale può essere inficiata da alcune variabili di ordine psicologico, quali bias, pregiudizi, distorsioni cognitive e affettive. Per contrastare questi effetti la metacognizione può aiutare l’individuo nella presa di decisione. Il presente contributo fornisce una rassegna non sistematica relativa al costrutto della me...

Being hospitalized is a threatening and stressful experience for many children. From a psychological point of view, children may experience increased feelings of anxiety and fear that can negatively interfere with behavioral, cognitive, and emotional outcomes. To limit these impacts on children's well-being and mental health, interventions that cou...

Technology innovation has been leading to the development of an increasing number of applications that aim to support the rehabilitation of cognitive functions [...]

The role of executive functioning in creative thinking is under debate. Some authors suggested that increased inhibitory control, a component of executive functioning, is detrimental to creative solutions, whereas others argued that executive functions are central to creative problem-solving, thus questioning Guilford’s classical distinction betwee...

Remediation of reading difficulties through music and auditory-based interventions in children with impairments in reading (such as developmental dyslexia) has been suggested in light of the putative neural and cognitive overlaps between the music and language domains. Several studies had explored the effect of music training on reading development...

Based on the transfer effects of music training on the phonological and reading abilities of children with dyslexia, a computerized rhythmic intervention—the Rhythmic Reading Training (RRT)—was developed, in which reading exercises are combined with a rhythmic synchronization task. This rehabilitation program was previously tested in multiple contr...

L'articolo ricostruisce il contributo alla psicologia di Carlo Cristini. In particolare si mettono in evidenza gli apporti allo studio dell'invecchiamento sano e patologico, alla formazione degli operatori e dei caregiver degli anziani e allo scambio inter-disciplinare. Viene sottolineato l'approccio volto a valorizzare le risorse dell'anziano e a...

È stato implementato un nuovo paradigma sperimentale per verificare l'ipotesi del coinvolgimento del sistema dei neuroni specchio in un compito di previsione dell'esito di un'azione motoria, ossia la traiettoria del pallone in un calcio di rigore. In particolare, è stato messo a punto un compito sperimentale manipolando una serie di filmati di calc...

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether there are associations between polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) blood levels, reading/writing performance and performance in neuropsychological tasks. Moderate to strong correlations were found between PUFA levels (specific omega-6/omega-3 ratios) and reading/writing abilities, and the fo...

The COVID-19 vaccine appears to be a crucial requirement to fight the pandemic. However, a part of the population possesses negative attitudes towards the vaccine. The spread of conspiracy theories and contradictory information about the pandemic have altered the population’s perception of risk. The risk-perception of the vaccine’s side effects may...

The present study aimed to test a model of relations to ascertain the determinants of distress caused by lockdown for COVID-19. It was hypothesized that the exposure to the COVID-19 increased distress directly and through the mediation of worry, health-related information seeking, and perception of the utility of the lockdown. It was also expected...

Introduction: It is well-acknowledged that cognitive and physical decline associated with aging can be prevented or reduced with the engagement in regular physical activity (PA). Dance activities combine cardiovascular, cognitive, and coordinative demands, providing a popular leisure PA among elderly. This study examined the correlations between q...

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...

In the classical "jacket-calculator" dilemma it is postulated decision is regulated by a mental topical accounting process which orients people to consider a discount price when purchasing items. We proposed an adapted version of the classical "jacket-calculator" task re-framing the choice in a medical context. Our results supported the view that s...

The primary purpose of this research is to investigate students’ perceptions of the presence of transparency in their university teaching/learning processes. Effects of transparency in achievement, motivation, and anxiety were explored from the perspective of teachers’, one’s own, and peers’ behaviour. The secondary objective of the study was to cr...

Neurofunctional models of developmental dyslexia (DD) point out disruption of the left-lateralized reading network. In individuals with DD, the left temporo-parietal (TP) regions are underactivated during reading tasks and a dysfunctional activation of the contralateral regions is reported. After a successful reading intervention, left TP lateraliz...

The COVID-19 outbreak necessitated a reorganization of the rehabilitation practices for Learning Disorders (LDs). During the lockdown phase, telerehabilitation offered the possibility to continue training interventions while enabling social distancing. Given such an advantage of telerehabilitation methods for LDs, clinical research is still needed...

In Parkinson’s Disease (PD) impairments in decision making can occur, in particular because of the tendency towards risky and rewarding options. The Iowa Gambling Task has been widely used to investigate decision processes involving these options. The task assesses the ability to manage risk and to learn from feedback. The present paper aims at cri...

The current study proposed the adaptation of the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS) to the religious domain as an instrument to measure both individuals’ religious identity formation processes (when a variable-centered approach is adopted) and religious identity statuses (when a person-centered approach is adopted). The scale...

Current advances in technology allowed teachers to make use of the potential advantages of multimedia learning in their education practices. Literature suggests that learning is improved by multimodal presentation of information (e.g., audio-visual modality) through a reinforcing processing effect. As a result, students understand and remember info...

The COVID-19 outbreak and the restrictions that have been enforced by the health authorities are having a profound psychological impact on the population. Many people, including the students, faced forced modifications to their daily lives and this prompted the need for scalable strategies to promote resilience. We designed an online community inte...

Marcello Cesa-Bianchi ha svolto un ruolo importante nel favorire gli studi sperimentali degli psicologi italiani sulla funzione delle immagini visive all'interno del processo di pensiero creativo durante i diversi stati di vigilanza (veglia vigile, veglia rilassata, rêverie, addormentamento e sonno REM). Egli era partitodalla constatazione che la r...

Nonostante la diffusione di numerosi interventi di educazione finanziaria, aventi l'obiettivo di rendere i cittadini capaci di compiere scelte finanziarie consapevoli e adeguate, l'alfabetizzazione finanziaria in Italia risulta ancora carente rispetto a quella di altri paesi (Klapper et al., 2015). Gli autori del presente lavoro, sulla base della l...

Evidence reported in the literature suggests that the mirror system not only plays a role in recognizing motor action but also fosters a better understanding of other people because it helps an individual assume another’s perspective. This led to the idea, supported by research findings, that people with higher empathy scores should show higher act...

The present study examined whether cinematographic editing density affects viewers’ perception of time. As a second aim, based on embodied models that conceive time perception as strictly connected to the movement, we tested the hypothesis that the editing density of moving images also affects viewers’ eye movements and that these later mediate the...

A large number of studies, including single case and case series studies, have shown that patients with different types of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are characterized by the emergence of artistic abilities. This led to the hypothesis of enhanced creative thinking skills as a function of these pathological conditions. However, in the last years,...

An experiment on a nonclinical sample to investigate influences of virtual reality (VR) on dissociation, mindfulness, and self-efficacy is reported. The participants were immersed for 20 minutes with a VR system in a large virtual apartment and have been charged to look around and find a set of objects previously observed on pictures. Questionnaire...

Current advances in technology allowed teachers to make use of the potential advantages of multimedia learning in their education practices. Literature suggests that learning is improved by multimodal presentation of information (e.g., audio-visual modality) through a reinforcing processing effect. As a result, students understand and remember info...

Most studies investigating the emerging adults' (objective and subjective) financial well-being specifically focused on the main predictors of this construct, whereas only few studies tested the financial well-being as antecedent of possible outcomes during emerging adulthood. The current paper aims (1) to test the impact that the emerging adults'...

In the first part of the chapter, recent literature is critically discussed to examine the relationships between creativity and metacognition–intended as metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive awareness, and metacognitive control. In the second part, we report an experimental study on primary school children. Participants were engaged in a creative...

We explored the association between cognitive reserve (CR) and Parkinson' s disease (PD) related cognitive deterioration. Forty PD patients and 12 matchedhealthy controls (HC) were enrolled. The PD group was balanced for the presence/absence of cognitive impairment All participants underwent MOCA. CR was measured by the Brief Intelligence Test, an...

Crucial arguments in the debate about the use of transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) as an intervention for children with neurodevelopmental disorders include, besides safety and efficacy issues, neuroethical concerns as well. No agreement has been reached yet in the clinical community about the ethical aspects of stimulating, although not in...