Silvia Dell'OrcoUniversity of Naples Federico II | UNINA · Department of Humanistic Studies
Silvia Dell'Orco
PhD Psychological Sciences
About
84
Publications
17,622
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
565
Citations
Citations since 2017
Introduction
Additional affiliations
March 2015 - present
Publications
Publications (84)
Human beings very frequently act on the basis of automatic mental processes, often subconscious, independent of volition and intuitive, or simply on the basis of common sense. In contrast to ordinary sensorial perception and logical reasoning, intuitions often present themselves to us through sudden illuminations. It is not uncommon, in the history...
Without human beings' ability to choose―and in such a way give order to a universe which, in the beginning, must have presented itself as a chaotic mass of data without clear structures and regularity―evolution would have been unthinkable, even more inconceivable if one considers the fact that the adaptation to that universe must have taken place o...
This article argues the necessity of overcoming the hierarchical and pyramidal conception of the central nervous system that has subordinated the motor function to the higher brain activities for at least the last 150 years. The evolution of some motor modes of behavior—such as the ability to construct and manipulate instruments—has given rise to a...
From the seventies onward a large quantity of theoretical and empirical studies have investigated the heuristic principles and cognitive strategies that individuals use to deal with risky and uncertain situations. This research has shown how the explicative and predictive shortcomings of normative risk analysis depend in many respects on undervalui...
This paper aims at presenting a systematic review of research assessing the effects of digital play on cognitive and socio-emotional development in 2-to 11-year-old children. After a careful assessment of articles potentially relevant for the topic, the full text screening identified 5 studies matching the criteria to be included in the review. Fin...
This paper shows a high quality artificial cognitive capability, proposing an experimental study for the implementation of an intelligent affective computing monitoring system, based on a machine learning emotion classification. Affective computing is a research direction that aspires to bring the communication between humans and machines to a new...
This paper shows a high quality artificial cognitive capability, proposing an experimental study for the implementation of an intelligent affective computing monitoring system, based on a machine learning emotion classification. Affective computing is a research direction that aspires to bring the communication between humans and machines to a new...
The way individuals make choices and decisions influences their behavior and life style. The choice is not simply based on rational and formal logic, but it's influenced by many emotional and social factors. Starting from this assumption, some studies investigated the way in which emotions influence decision-making processes, while others explored...
Memory is one of the most fascinating and complex faculties of human beings. Thanks to numerous studies in the neuroscientific field, today we are aware that when we try to remember the past, we do not entirely repeat an event like a movie, infact, the tendency of memory is to change, deform or fade its contents, with the time and with the accumula...
Personality disorders (PDs) are one of the major problems for the organization of public health systems. Deepening the link between personality traits and psychopathological drifts, it seems increasingly essential for the often dramatic repercussions that PDs have on social contexts. Some of these disorders, such as borderline PD, antisocial PD, in...
Although there is a no established theory, there is no longer any doubt about the multiplicity of the structures involved in the attentional processes. Attention is involved, in fact, in several fundamental functions: consciousness, perception, motor action, memory and so on. For several decades, the hypothesis that attention is highly variable (fo...
In the psychological field, the study of the interaction between the caregiver and the child is considered the context of primary development. Observing how infants interact with their mothers, in the first year of their life, has allowed researchers to identify behavioural indicators useful to highlight the crucial role of their synchronisation, w...
For over a century, it has been accepted that there exists a remote psychic space that influences our way of thinking, perception, decision-making and so on. This space, defined by Freud as the ‘unconscious’, embodies the psychic element that we are unaware of. It is a space that is an extension and a wider representation of the complex and sophist...
Naturalistic decision-making (NDM) investigates the cognitive strategies used by experts in making decisions in real-world contexts. Unlike studies conducted in the laboratory, the NDM paradigm is applied to real human interactions, often characterized by uncertainty, risk, complexity, time pressures and so on. In this approach, the role of experie...
The study of personality has been developed according to different lines of research in which it is also possible to identify transversal elements that are useful for an unprecedented trans-theoretical research programme. The existence of a close relation between the contents of thought (narrative system) and the vegetative and motor functions (exp...
This paper intends to clarify the complexity of the concept of Executive Functions and to show its relationships with cognitive, emotional and awareness dimensions. In this sense, Executive Functions cannot be considered precondictions of normal physiological functioning, when they are undamaged or, on the contrary, the cause of pathological phenom...
Introduzione: Accade spesso che le decisioni più rilevanti in termini di conseguenze siano prese in situazioni d’incertezza e rischio, oltre che in condizioni di forte stress temporale. In tali situazioni, alcune decisioni risultano più ponderate, altre, invece, appaiono più irrazionali. Negli ultimi venti anni, gli studi sul decision making si son...
The existence of an unaware psychic space that influences the way we think, perceive, and decide has been known for over a century. This space, defined by Freud as the “unconscious,” contains in itself unaware psychic contents. Its sophisticated adaptive functions, implicit and unaware, allow individuals to transform an enormous amount of informati...
Sport, in different ways, change considerably people’s life. The purpose of this experiment was to reveal possible association between the stimulation of sympathetic system induced by exercise and the one induced by the rise of systemic concentration of Orexin A and bring the truth about orexins and sport network. Blood samples were collected from...
Historically, the relation between consciousness and the brainstem has been demonstrated, on the one hand, by injuries to the upper brainstem that lead to minimum states of consciousness, comas and persistent vegetative states and, on the other hand, by electrophyisiological recordings that link the ascending reticular activating system (ARAS) with...
If we have recently begun to understand how DNA gives life to embryos and then to individuals, only very little is understood of the intricate interactions between the biological bases of life, the environment and the human brain. The exponential acceleration of technological change could change many, perhaps all, the rules that have guided our civ...
Sport, in different ways, change considerably people’s life. The purpose of this experiment was to reveal possible association between the stimulation of sympathetic system induced by exercise and the one induced by the rise of systemic concentration of Orexin A and bring the truth about orexins and sport network. Blood samples were collected from...
The way individuals make choices and decisions influences their behavior and life style. The choice is not simply based on rational and formal logic, but it's influenced by many emotional and social factors. Starting from this assumption, some studies investigated the way in which emotions influence decision-making processes, while others explored...
In this paper the link between memory and consciousness is discussed. Modern studies allow us to redefine what we know about memory, describing our brain not as a store of knowledge and memories but as an active agent that is based and allows us to make predictions about what happens in the surrounding environment. First we will present theories co...
This paper aims at presenting a systematic review of research assessing the effects of digital play on cognitive and socio-emotional development in 2-to 11-year-old children. After a careful assessment of articles potentially relevant for the topic, the full text screening identified 5 studies matching the criteria to be included in the review. Fin...
This paper shows a high quality artificial cognitive capability, proposing an experimental study for the implementation of an intelligent affective computing monitoring system, based on a machine learning emotion classification. Affective computing is a research direction that aspires to bring the communication between humans and machines to a new...
Memory is one of the most fascinating and complex faculties of human beings. Thanks to numerous studies in the neuroscientific field, today we are aware that when we try to remember the past, we do not entirely repeat an event like a movie, infact, the tendency of memory is to change, deform or fade its contents, with the time and with the accumula...
Understanding the neurobiological/cerebral correlates regarding the aesthetic experience, of the human being that observes or creates an artwork is the main goal of neuroaesthetics. A multidisciplinary approach is essential in order to develop this innovative approach to the study of the relationships between art and the brain. The proposal present...
This paper deals with the cognitive implications of a shift from an olfactory-centric experience of the living environment-still present in most organisms equipped with a nervous system-to a visuo-centric one, which is one typical of human beings. Our hypothesis is that the human cognition is profoundly different from other forms of animal cognitio...
In the last 30 years, the systematic analysis of human thought has provided new evidences on intuition’s nature. It has been observed in experimental level that in front of decision-making problems, most people unknowingly adopt adaptive solutions that are different from logical inferences of normative rationality. To cope with the temporal and cog...
The Executive Functions and the dimensions of the personality seem to have numerous points of convergence both on the
psychological and neurobiological sides. Current studies interpret this relationship as a linear concatenation that starts from a
damage of the prefrontal cortical areas, produces a deficit of the executive functions and finally evo...
Borderline Personality Disorder is a serious mental disease, classified in Cluster B of DSM IV-TR personality disorders. People with this syndrome presents an anamnesis of traumatic experiences and shows dissociative symptoms. Since not all subjects who have been victims of trauma develop a Borderline Personality Disorder, the emergence of this ser...
The consciousness is the expression of an enormous and complex variety of neurobiological events, phenomenological and
psychological that, from the early stages of development, prepare the emergence soil of the Self. It is a complex of tangible and intangible
characters distinct from one another - neural infrastructure, awareness, temporality, qual...
Theoretical studies and experimental research in the fields of psychology and cognitive neurosciences have demonstrated the role of unpredictability and uncertainty in decisions that individuals make in everyday life. The process of decision-making in the real world does not correspond to any formal model, even when it occurs in "ideal" conditions...
Theoretical studies and experimental research in the fields of psychology and cognitive neurosciences have demonstrated the role of unpredictability and uncertainty in decisions that individuals make in everyday life. The process of decision-making in the real world does not correspond to any formal model, even when it occurs in "ideal" conditions...
The consciousness is the expression of an enormous and complex variety of neurobiological events, phenomenological and psychological that, from the early stages of development, prepare the emergence soil of the Self. It is a complex of tangible and intangible characters distinct from one another - neural infrastructure, awareness, temporality, qual...
Introduction: An endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC) is defined as "an exogenous chemical or a mixture of chemicals that interfere with any aspect of the hormonal action". Endocrine systems are a physiological interface with the environment and genetic-environmental interactions are disrupted by EDCs. Today, there are almost 1000 chemicals reported...
Background
Although different personality traits have often been associated with different levels of mental activity and cognitive functioning, no previous studies have evaluated the association in a sample that mirrors a nationally-representative sample of elderly individuals.
Objective
To evaluate the association between personality traits and n...
The study describes the relationship between personality traits and executive functions within a circularly based paradigm.
During the last three centuries, the change from formal to natural logic has allowed us to explain how many of the decisional strategies are coherent with the functioning of the cognitive economy of our species, even if they are limited and fallible. The difficulty in deciding and facing up to uncertainty is not only linked to the inadequacy of the...
Abstract
Background: Although positive benefits are associated with shared decision making, no previous studies have
evaluated the impact of condition on how shared decision making is implemented.
Objective: To compare decision-making preferences across three conditions associated with screening, medical
treatment, and invasive interventions: Scree...
The intent of our study, conducted on a sample of 98 psychiatric outpatients, was to explore the correlations between executive functions and traits of temperament and character. Executive functions were assessed through Frontal Assessment Battery and the traits of temperament and character using the Temperament and Character Inventory. From our sa...
The intent of our study, conducted on a sample of 98 psychiatric outpatients, was to explore the correlations between executive functions and traits of temperament and character. Executive functions were assessed through Frontal Assessment Battery and the traits of temperament and character using the Temperament and Character Inventory. From our sa...
This paper reports the results of an open cross-sectional study in which socio-demographic, clinical, psychopathological and neuropsychological features of outpatients-who consecutively enter for treatments in a private service of psychiatry and psychotherapy-are examined. The involved participants (63 subjects, 24 males and 39 females aged from 18...
This paper reports the results of an open cross-sectional study in which
socio-demographic, clinical, psychopathological and neuropsychological features
of outpatients—who consecutively enter for treatments in a private service of
psychiatry and psychotherapy—are examined. The involved participants (63 subjects, 24 males and 39 females aged from 18...
This paper focuses on one of the biggest challenges we face: the possibility of reproducing in an artificial agent (based on formal algorithms) some typically human capacities (based on natural logic algorithms) such as consciousness, the ability to deliberate and make moral judgments. Recent evidences arising from dynamic systems theory and statis...
The difficulty in deciding and facing up to uncertainty is not only linked to the inadequacy of the architecture of our minds but also to an ‘external’ model of uncertainty which does not correspond to the way in which our mind naturally functions. New conceptual paradigms and new programmes for experimental research are called for in order to rede...
Nas últimas décadas, o estudo dos erros cognitivos realizados
pelos adultos estimulou o interesse dos pesquisadores nos
confrontos dos mecanismos decisionais na idade infantil.
Em especial, procurou-se questionar de que modo o
desenvolvimento cognitivo está ligado às competências com
base na tomada de decisão, como por exemplo, a avaliação
das prob...
Obiettivo di questo libro è considerare il ruolo dell’intuizione e della logica naturale nel processo decisionale. L’intuizione entra in gioco in situazioni in cui vincoli temporali e cognitivo-computazionali ci impediscono di riflettere e valutare i dati a nostra disposizione. Permettendoci di evitare molte sofferenze, l’intuizione è una straordin...
In the last few years, the development of non-invasive research techniques that explore cerebral functions has not only increased our knowledge on the correlations between mental processes and cerebral structures, but it has fed our hopes for the possibility of facing the ancient and elusive question about the mind–brain relationship with a new way...
Questo volume è il risultato di un lavoro, svolto con il contributo di Medici, Psichiatri, Psicologi, Ingegneri teso ad un approccio multidisciplinare adeguato verso le utenze deboli della strada. È rivolto a tutti gli utenti della strada, al mondo della scuola, agli addetti alla mobilità, per elevare l'attenzione sull'apporto che ognuno può dare,...
During the lengthy and complex process of human evolution our ancestors had to adapt to extremely testing situations in which survival depended on making rapid choices that subjected muscles and the body as a whole to extreme tension. In order to seize a prey traveling at speeds that could reach 36 km per hour Homo sapiens had just thousandths of a...
Applied psycholinguistics is a scientific domain where scholars aim at illustrating how research can encourage communication processes among people, groups and cultures. This volume contains a selection of the papers presented at the IX Congress of the International Association of Applied Psycholinguistics (Isapl) which was hosted by the University...
The goal of this book is to consider the importance of intuition and natural logic in decision making. In everyday life people frequently make judgments and take decisions without explicitly using all the relevant information available from the environment and from their memory. Moreover, even if people are aware of detail and circumstance, they do...
Science has always faced the problem of consciousness. Nevertheless, consciousness differs radically from the ordinary objects researched by science: not only because of the complexity of the neural infrastructures which are at its base or because of the subtle connections between these infrastructures and phenomena such as decision making, morals...
After having ignored it for over a century, science is again facing the problem of consciousness. Many scholars believe that soon, with the aid of new neuroimaging methods, it will be possible to comprehend the fundamental aspects of consciousness. Consciousness, however, differs radically from the ordinary objects researched by science: not only b...
Dalla metà del XX secolo, le scienze cognitive sono state protagoniste di una svolta teorica ed empirica basata sulla dimostrazione che la grande maggioranza delle decisioni dell’uomo non deriva da processi razionali formalizzati, ma da strategie adattative informali in cui la sfera emotiva gioca un ruolo fondamentale. Questo volume è un viaggio ne...
This book sets out to explain how scientific research is conducted. Editors Mauro Maldonato and Ricardo Pietrobon and contributors focus on the emerging inter/transdisciplinary dimensions of research. They use an approach grounded in the sciences of complexity to counteract the disciplinary fragmentation and decontextualisation created by a reducti...
Since the dawn of time, humankind's singular ability to make decisions has allowed human beings to face innumerable environmental challenges and complex evolutionary dynamics. Environmental pressures are not so urgent anymore, comparing to our ancestors. Nonetheless, the number of decisions that contemporary humans are called to make is very high....
Entre las aventuras del conocimiento humano la exploración del cerebro es tal vez la más apasionante. En los últimos treinta años el extraordinario progreso de las neurociencias ha descubierto un continente asombroso y complejo, en cuyo centro hay células, neuronas, sinapsis, a los que se pueden reconducir el pensamiento, el sueño, la imaginación,...
Muitas vezes temos dificuldade de perceber a satisfação imediatamente e só nos darmos conta de que éramos felizes tempos depois
O horizonte semântico do termo inovação é bastante amplo, ao menos tanto quanto os processos mentais que
estão em sua origem e as mudanças que engendra. Mediante combinações sempre novas de ideias e eventos, a
inovação causa mudanças e descontinuidade em paradigmas científicos, culturais e sociais. Inovação é sobretudo uma capacidade de a mente com...
A evolução cultural nos garante uma ampla vareidade de comportamentos. A questão é saber até que ponto somos livres para ser o que somos, para agir neste exato instante e nesta determinada circunstância
Já é possível observar diretamente como reage o cérebro diante de uma obra de arte. O prazer estético estimula áreas cerebrais que geram emoções de euforia e bem-estar.
Una scienza della decisione esige non solo metodiche sofisticate, ma anche accurate strategie epistemologiche per il proprio sviluppo. Gli enormi sforzi che le neuroscienze e le scienze cognitive portano avanti sono solo il primo passo per la costruzione di un corpo di conoscenze ben integrate. Per ora, nonostante la fortunata stagione di studi, si...
Cosa vuol dire decidere? Esistono uomini in grado di prendere sempre la decisione migliore? E cosa vuol dire farsi carico della responsabilità delle proprie scelte? In questo volume il lettore troverà una rappresentazione accurata delle strategie che la mente adotta per far fronte alla necessità di decidere, ma anche una presentazione di alcune sit...
Questions
Question (1)
Projects
Projects (5)
Background: Although different personality traits have often been associated with different levels of mental activity and cognitive functioning, no previous studies have evaluated the association in a sample that mirrors a nationally-representative sample of elderly individuals. Aim: To evaluate the association between personality traits and neurocognitive functioning among individuals 51 years and older, through a sample that mirrors a nationally-representative sample from the Cognition and Aging in the USA (CogUSA) database.
Methods: We used data from the CogUSA database to analyze the association between personality traits and neurocognitive scores derived from Waves I and II of the study. Neurocognitive functions were modeled as an outcome variable using the Big Five Personality Traits as predictors. We compared neurocognitive-function levels between personality trait levels above and below the median values for this sample, using both crude and adjusted comparisons. All analyses were adjusted for weights and strata so that our results could lead to inferences to the United States population rather than just our local study sample.
Results: All personality traits were associated with higher education except Conscientiousness. Older age was associated with higher levels of the Agreeableness and Openness traits. Extraversion, Conscientiousness and Openness were positively associated with increased neurocognitive function and self-rated present memory. Extraversion and Openness also had a positive association with long-term retrieval. Agreeableness was negatively associated with several neurocognitive functions, while Neuroticism was negatively associated with memory and cognitive effort.
Conclusion: Extraversion, Conscientiousness and Openness personality traits are associated with good cognitive health. Individuals scoring high in Neuroticism and Agreeableness might benefit from tailored cognitive interventions to prevent age- related cognitive decline.