Eliano Pessa’s research while affiliated with University of Pavia and other places

The nature itself of organizational psychology makes the study and modeling of emergence processes the key topic of this science. In this regard we can distinguish between two kinds of emergence: the one related to individual constructs and the other to collective constructs. In the former case the presence of suitable individual and contextual features gives rise to the emergence of suitable individual attitudes of holistic nature. In the latter case the features of single individuals belonging to a group, and reciprocally interacting, give rise to the occurrence of collective features and phenomena. In the last years both kinds of emergence have been studied through computational models. In this chapter we focus on the contribution of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models to this modeling activity. As regards the emergence of individual constructs there is a consistent number of ANN-based models, most of which formulated in terms of recurrent networks. A review of their successes and failures constitutes a first part of the chapter. Instead, the emergence of collective constructs has been so far modelled by resorting to agent-based models. However, in recent times the ANN models have begun to be used with increasing frequency in this field. Namely, each agent can be modelled in an easier way by representing its structure through a suitable neural network. The final part of the chapter is, therefore, devoted to the problems underlying the use of ANNs as constituents of agent models.

In agreement with a systemic approach to mental illness, it is possible to detect five components in the pathogenesis of a psychiatric disorder: overload/subjective discomfort, relational disorders/social disorder, loss of emerging functions, appearance of less adaptable primary functions, activation of top-down reactions with the emergency of compensatory activities of collateral systems At the base of these processes it could be the reduced integration of a subsystem, which would lead to the loss of flexibility of the entire mind system, with the appearance of the five psychopathological components described above. To confirm this hypothesis we have observed data got from some studies performed with high-density EEG recording during neuropsychological tests. In these studies, subjects with a history of maltreatment (having problems in error management, meaning attribution, and social relations) resulted in a different brain integration than controls, with a reduction in the level of integration in some areas and with an appearance of new integrations in different areas; at the same time, behavioral response tends to extend over time with late aware operations, corresponding to the time window of the LPP event related potential (450–1000 ms), while controls seem perform quicker evaluations, in the time windows of the P3 wave (250–450 ms). Differently from control subjects, maltreated people have a greater difficulty also in distinguishing non-significant stimuli and in inhibiting unnecessary responses, although the presence of a warning stimulus supports the strengthening of the self-control functions. These responses would therefore confirm the reference theoretical model, as the loss of integration of some brain areas results in a loss of efficiency in the cognitive performance with less mind control in the responses. The possibility to reach comparable performances with those of control subjects seems to relate to a different resource use (collateral compensation) and to a greater consequent response delay (loss of efficiency). The presence of a collateral compensation may be explained with the presence of top-down modulation functions of emerging properties, which in the specific case may be represented by conscious mental activities and by the need for warranting congruity with the external request.

Regulations constitute the “corpus” of rules defining the protocols emerging from the interactions between people, organizations, environment in all their aspects and implications. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are modifying these rules and call for the improvement and the update of interaction codes in order to manage and organize the emergence of a new reality that was unknown until now. There will be always a delay between the manifestation of a new interaction, encouraged and powered by communication and information technologies, and the setting of appropriate regulations. As a consequence, a situation of constant mismatching between “living technology” and “regulations development” seems a problem of difficult solution. A possibility to face this situation may come out from a choice of civilization.

Many types of video games have already been developed on the market, and the use of serious games is also spreading more and more, e.g. for educational and learning aims, for prevention and rehabilitation, or for therapeutic purposes related to several mental or cognitive disorders. A Brain Computer Interface (BCI) is a technology that translates the electroencephalogram (EEG) activity in electric signals to control external devices. It has been used together with serious games. Started with the intent to help people with motor problems to use software or PC, this technology has increasingly diversified its uses from the original one. There are, in fact, several example of BCI devices use for clinical purpose with specific training tools like that for chronic stroke or Parkinson patients. This contribution presents an example of BCI training tool designed for therapeutic purposes related to addicted patients, with positive outcomes, like self-efficacy and coping strategies enhancement, and its perspectives are encouraging for the future. Even if it seems correct to hope in an increasingly widespread and specialized use of the BCI technology, combined with serious games, this leaves open some questions about the effective mechanisms (cognitive, neuropsychological etc.) that lead to positive therapeutic outcomes. In that context the human-machine interaction is a typical case of interaction between two quasi-systems, given the intrinsic variability both of the stakeholders and the nature itself of the interaction.

A cross-national comparison between Italy and Spain was conducted on probabilistic reasoning performance presented in verbal-numerical and graphical-pictorial formats. This study investigated the similarities and differences in Psychology undergraduates in these two countries (Italy n=290; Spain n=130) and attempted to identify aspects that might enhance the probability of a student belonging to one country. The findings underscored that Spanish students had higher levels of visuospatial abilities, more positive attitudes toward statistics, lower statistical anxiety, and higher confidence in the correctness of their responses. Additionally, they gave a higher number of correct responses to problems presented in a verbal-numerical format. These data suggest interesting insights and highlight the interactions among multiple layers of variables at the collective, contextual, and individual levels.

This book contains the proceedings of the Seventh National Conference of the Italian Systems Society. The title, Systemics of Incompleteness and Quasi-Systems, aims to underline the need for Systemics and Systems Science to deal with the concepts of incompleteness and quasiness. Classical models of Systemics are intended to represent comprehensive aspects of phenomena and processes. They consider the phenomena in their temporal and spatial completeness. In these cases, possible incompleteness in the modelling is assumed to have a provisional or practical nature, which is still under study, and because there is no theoretical reason why the modelling cannot be complete. In principle, this is a matter of non-complex phenomena, to be considered using the concepts of the First Systemics. When dealing with emergence, there are phenomena which must be modelled by systems having multiple models, depending on the aspects being taken into consideration. Here, incompleteness in the modelling is intrinsic, theoretically relating changes in properties, structures, and status of system. Rather than consider the same system parametrically changing over time, we consider sequences of systems coherently. We consider contexts and processes for which modelling is incomplete, being related to only some properties, as well as those for which such modelling is theoretically incomplete—as in the case of processes of emergence and for approaches considered by the Second Systemics. In this regard, we consider here the generic concept of quasi explicating such incompleteness. The concept of quasi is used in various disciplines including quasi-crystals, quasi-particles, quasi-electric fields, and quasi-periodicity. In general, the concept of quasiness for systems concerns their continuous structural changes which are always meta-stable, waiting for events to collapse over other configurations and possible forms of stability; whose equivalence depends on the type of phenomenon under study. Interest in the concept of quasiness is not related to its meaning of rough approximation, but because it indicates an incompleteness which is structurally sufficient to accommodate processes of emergence and sustain coherence or generate new, equivalent or non-equivalent, levels. The conference was devoted to identifying, discussing and understanding possible interrelationships of theoretical disciplinary improvements, recognised as having prospective fundamental roles for a new Quasi-Systemics. The latter should be able to deal with problems related to complexity in more general and realistic ways, when a system is not always a system and not always the same system. In this context, the inter-disciplinarity should consist, for instance, of a constructionist, incomplete, non-ideological, multiple, contradiction-tolerant, Systemics, always in progress, and in its turn, emergent.