A technology-based program to promote independent choice behaviours by three children with cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities was assessed. The program was based on learning principles and assistive technology (i.e., customized input devices/sensors, personal computers, screening of preferred stimuli according to a binomial criterion). The first purpose of the present study was to provide the participants with a new set-up of assistive technology and to allow them to choose among three categories, (i.e., food, beverage and leisure) and to request a specific item out of four in each category, adopting a procedure that minimized (according to a conditional probability criterion) unintentional choices. The second aim of the study was to carry out the effects of the program on detectable mood signs (i.e., happiness index). The study was conducted according to an ABAB sequence with a subsequent post intervention check for each participant. The results showed an increase of engagement and of the happiness index during intervention phases. Psychological as well as educational implications were discussed.

A virtual version of the reorientation task was employed to test new behavioral measures of navigation strategies and spatial confidence within a gender-fair assessment approach. The results demonstrated that, from a behavioral point of view, women had lower level of spatial confidence than men regardless of level of accuracy. Moreover, the way men and women selected spatial strategies depended on the arrangement of spatial cues within the environment. In other terms women relied on landmarks under specific conditions compatible with an adaptive combination/associative model of spatial orientation. Finally, the present study emphasized the importance to assess gender differences taking into account specific affective variables and information selection processing, beyond accuracy.

The present study compared two different types of orientation strategies: an assistive technology program (AT, i.e., remotely controlled sound/light devices) and a backward chaining procedure (BC) for promoting indoor traveling in four persons with moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease (AD). A social validation assessment of the two strategies was also conducted employing undergraduate students as raters. For three out of four participants, AT intervention was more effective than the BC procedure, whilst for the fourth participant the two types of intervention had a comparably satisfying efficacy. A doubly Multivariate Analysis of Variance on social validation assessment data provided generally more positive scores for the AT intervention. These results suggest that AT programs (a) can be valuably employed for restoring and maintaining independence in indoor traveling in people with moderate to severe AD, and (b) might be perceived as preferable to conventional teaching strategies within daily contexts.

Purpose: This paper provides a brief overview of the intervention strategies aimed at reducing spatial orientation disorders in elderly people with dementia. Methods: Eight experimental studies using spatial cues, assistive technology programs, reality orientation training, errorless learning technique, and backward chaining programs are described. They can be classified into two main approaches: restorative and compensatory, depending on whether they rely or not on residual learning ability, respectively. Results: A review of the efficacy of these intervention strategies is proposed. Results suggest that both compensatory and restorative approaches may be valuable in enhancing correct way-finding behavior, with various degrees of effectiveness. Some issues concerning (a) variability in participants’ characteristics and experimental designs, and (b) practicality of intervention strategies do not permit to draw a definite conclusion. Conclusions: Future research should be aimed at a direct comparison between these two strategies, and should incorporate an extensive neuropsychological assessment of spatial domain.

This research aims to reconsider and support the use of spatial tasks based on familiar geographical information in the neuropsychological assessment of topographical (dis)orientation. Performance on two spatial tasks based on familiar information -l andmark positioning on a map and map of Italy - were compared in two studies assessing allocentric orientation among young and healthy elderly with different levels of education (Study 1) and elderly with and without probable cognitive impairment (Study 2). Results from Study 1 showed that the map of Italy task was affected by education, while the landmark positioning on a map was not. Results of Study 2 showed that both tasks were sensitive to different levels of cognitive functioning in a sample of community-dwelling seniors. Overall, spatial tasks based on mental representation of the hometown environment may be an important supplement in the assessment of allocentric topographical disorientation, discriminating typical from atypical aging.

Aim: this review aims to identify the variables predicting dropout in the treatment of Pathological Gambling (GAP). Materials and Methods: the review identified and collected from the main international databases, 14 studies from 2007 to 2013 involving gamblers undergoing cognitive-behavioral treatment. Results: the mean rate of treatment dropout was found at 36.5%. Variables considered in the various studies as predicting dropout were: sociodemographic and psychological characteristics related to gambling and treatment. The most significant variables in predicting dropout were found to be the psychological variables (i.e. impulsivity, sensitivity to punishment, lack in executive functions). Conclusion: this review emphasizes the role of individual differences on therapeutic outcome and suggests to adopt a clear definition of predictors in order to improve therapeutic interventions aimed at reducing the risk of dropout

Il presente volume si schiude a saperi del settore pedagogico, psicologico, sociologico, filosofico, storico-geografico e linguistico-letterario e sanitario che rappresentano i tre grandi filoni dell’attuale Facoltà di Scienze della formazione: scienze dell’educazione e della formazione, scienze della comunicazione, scienze e tecniche psicologiche e, con un respiro più tipicamente interdisciplinare, il corso di laurea a ciclo unico sulla formazione primaria.

Il presente volume si schiude a saperi del settore pedagogico, psicologico, sociologico, filosofico, storico-geografico e linguistico-letterario e sanitario che rappresentano i tre grandi filoni dell’attuale Facoltà di Scienze della formazione: scienze dell’educazione e della formazione, scienze della comunicazione, scienze e tecniche psicologiche e, con un respiro più tipicamente interdisciplinare, il corso di laurea a ciclo unico sulla formazione primaria.

The present study is aimed to assess the efficacy of a computer-based alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) program, for two children with cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities. Results show that both participants increase their communication skills during intervention and post-intervention phases. Undergraduate students involved as raters in a social validation procedure provide scores that are compatible with the hypothesis of rehabilitation worth of the intervention. These results support the clinical validity of the computer-mediate AAC intervention for children with multiple/profound disabilities.

The present study (a) extended the assessment of an orientation program involving auditory cues (i.e., verbal messages automatically presented from the destinations) with five patients with Alzheimer’s disease, (b) compared the effects of this programwith those of a program with light cues (i.e., a program in which strobe lights were used instead of the verbal messages) with the same five patients, and (c) conducted a social validation assessment of the two programs with 70 university psychology students employed as social raters. Results confirmed the effectiveness of the program with auditory cues and showed an equally strong impact of the program with light cues with all five patients. The psychology students involved in the social validation assessment provided significantly higher scores for the program involving light cues on a six-item questionnaire. Those scores suggested that this program was perceived as a practically and socially preferable choice. The implications of the findings for daily contexts dealing with patients with Alzheimer’s disease are discussed.