Ideias de estudantes sobre a origem da Terra e da vida e suas relações com o desenvolvimento cognitivo: um estudo psicogenético

Pós-graduação em Educação - FFC

Modelos organizadores na resolução de conflitos morais: um estudo com adolescentes autores de infração

Pós-graduação em Psicologia - FCLAS

Função simbólica e desenvolvimento da noção temporal em surdos e ouvintes: análise na perspectiva de Jean Piaget

In a previous research, it was observed that are symbolic exchanges established between the persons and the environment they live in that allow them to interact with others, leading them to reorganize their internal cognitive structures, reaching more elaborated stages. In the case of a person with deafness, the possibility of exchange can be compromised and knowledge about the construction of the temporal notion seems to be essential to enable a path of explanation about the difficulties they have regarding their cognitive development. Thus, based on the theory of Jean Piaget, the study intended to understand how the temporal notion constitutes as possible subject to the process of building the real, and examine, through empirical evaluation, if the difficulty in establishing symbolic exchanges caused by deafness would compromise the development of this notion. For this purpose, bibliographical research and empirical research were made, by the comparative evaluating between the performance of deaf and hearing subjects in relation to the construction of temporal notion. Two groups of subjects aged between 10 and 12 years were composed: one with three deaf subjects and another with 3 listeners. The assessment and analysis of the data were based on an experiment created by Piaget and his staff. The results showed that the listeners present responses from operative level, compatible with the age range in which they found themselves. In contrast, the deaf subjects showed responses of transition level, which indicates a situation of cognitive delay. We conclude that the potential compromise linguistic presented by deaf people, can hinder the activity representative causing delay in construction of temporal notion and consequently the development of thought. We conclude that the possible linguistic committal presented by deaf people can hinder the representative activity, causing delay in construction of temporal notion and consequently in the development of thought. In this sense, it seems that the Sign Language constitutes an important tool for deaf people because it allows symbolic exchanges that favor the cognitive development.

Aplicação de um jogo digital e análise de conceitos da teoria cinética dos gases

Pós-graduação em Educação para a Ciência - FC

Representation in cognitive neuroscience

This article discusses the possible representational nature of two brain cognitive functions: perceptual and executive. Assuming the Newellian definition of representational processes as those that establish an isomorphic relation between two structures, I claim that perceptual processes generate only a partial correspondence (between stimuli properties and brain states) and therefore should not be properly conceived as representational. on the other hand, executive processes encompass the combination of copies (i.e., representations) of perceptual patterns, generating new patterns that subserve behavior. In summary, I criticize the notion of perceptual representations, and propose that brain representational processes are related to executive functions, having a pragmatic dimension.

Conceptual spaces and consciousness: Integrating cognitive and affective processes

In the book Conceptual Spaces: the Geometry of Thought [2000] Peter Gärdenfors proposes a new framework for cognitive science. Complementary to symbolic and subsymbolic [connectionist] descriptions, conceptual spaces are semantic structures constructed from empirical data representing the universe of mental states. We argue that Gärdenfors' modeling can be used in consciousness research to describe the phenomenal conscious world, its elements and their intrinsic relations. The conceptual space approach affords the construction of a universal state space of human consciousness, where all possible kinds of human conscious states could be mapped. Starting from this approach, we discuss the inclusion of feelings and emotions in conceptual spaces, and their relation to perceptual and cognitive states. Current debate on integration of affect/emotion and perception/cognition allows three possible descriptive alternatives: emotion resulting from basic cognition; cognition resulting from basic emotion, and both as relatively independent functions integrated by brain mechanisms. Finding a solution for this issue is an important step in any attempt of successful modeling of natural or artificial consciousness. After making a brief review of proposals in this area, we summarize the essentials of a new model of consciousness based on neuro-astroglial interactions. © 2011 World Scientific Publishing Company.

White matter abnormalities associated with Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment: A critical review of MRI studies

In this article, the authors aim to present a critical review of recent MRI studies addressing white matter (WM) abnormalities in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), by searching PubMed and reviewing MRI studies evaluating subjects with AD or MCI using WM volumetric methods, diffusion tensor imaging and assessment of WM hyperintensities. Studies have found that, compared with healthy controls, AD and MCI samples display WM volumetric reductions and diffusion tensor imaging findings suggestive of reduced WM integrity. These changes affect complex networks relevant to episodic memory and other cognitive processes, including fiber connections that directly link medial temporal structures and the corpus callosum. Abnormalities in cortico-cortical and cortico-subcortical WM interconnections are associated with an increased risk of progression from MCI to dementia. It can be concluded that WM abnormalities are detectable in early stages of AD and MCI. Degeneration of WM networks causes disconnection among neural cells and the degree of such changes is related to cognitive decline. © 2013 2013 Expert Reviews Ltd.

Neurobiological Correlates of Apathy in Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Critical Review

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)