Search results for "Mental imagery"
showing 10 items of 15 documents
Improving Hand Hygiene Behavior Using a Novel Theory-Based Intervention During the COVID-19 Pandemic
2022
Abstract Background Promoting the adoption of personal hygiene behaviors known to reduce the transmission of COVID-19, such as avoiding touching one’s face with unwashed hands, is important for limiting the spread of infections. Purpose We aimed to test the efficacy of a theory-based intervention to promote the avoidance of touching one’s face with unwashed hands to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Methods We tested effects of an intervention employing imagery, persuasive communication, and planning techniques in two pre-registered studies adopting randomized controlled designs in samples of Australian (N = 254; Study 1) and US (N = 245; Study 2) residents. Participants were randomly assigned…
Animacy effects in episodic memory: do imagery processes really play a role?
2019
International audience; Animates are remembered better than inanimates because the former are ultimately more important for fitness than the latter. What, however, are the proximate mechanisms underpinning this effect? We focused on imagery processes as one proximate explanation. We tested whether animacy effects are related to the vividness of mental images (Study 1), or to the dynamic/motoric nature of mental images corresponding to animate words (Study 2). The findings showed that: (1) Animates are not estimated to be more vivid than inanimates; (2) The potentially more dynamic nature of the representations of animates does not seem to be a factor making animates more memorable than inan…
Pragmatics, Metaphor Studies and the Challenge of Mental Imagery
2023
Metaphor is considered a figurative use of language, a term that seems to recall the imagistic dimension characterizing this kind of utterances. Tzvetan Todorov (1967) speaks of “figure” as “visibility of speech”: as a figure, metaphor provides a kind of figurability to what is communicated. As Paul Ricoeur wrote in La métaphore vive (Ricoeur, 1975), metaphor makes “speech appear”. Precisely because of the reliance on the idea of figure, it is therefore not surprising that discussions on metaphor often refer to the role that mental images play in their comprehension. A long tradition holds that the formation of a mental image is fundamental for the comprehension of certain kinds of metaphor…
Effect of an upright (vs. stooped) posture on interpretation bias, imagery, and emotions
2020
[EN] Background and objectives: Adopting an upright (vs. stooped) posture has been related to positive effects on emotional and cognitive processes. However, there is no evidence concerning the effect of posture on two key processes associated with the maintenance of depression: interpretation bias and vividness of mental imagery. The objectives were to investigate the effect of adopting an upright (vs. stooped) posture on interpretation bias and vividness of positive and negative mental imagery, and to explore the interplay between these processes and depression-related emotions. Methods: The sample consisted of 54 participants (M-age = 22.00, 64.8% women), who were randomly assigned to th…
Portion size selection in children: Effect of sensory imagery for snacks varying in energy density
2020
Food sensory imagery - creating a vivid mental image of the sensory experience of eating - can lead to the selection of smaller portions because it serves as a reminder that eating enjoyment does not necessarily increase with portion size. The evidence is mostly limited to adults and to energy-dense foods for which it is particularly difficult to predict the satiating effects of consumption quantity. The objective was to study how food sensory imagery influences portion size selection of foods varying in energy density (brownie and applesauce) by 7- to 11-year-old children. During after-school time, 171 children were randomized into two conditions. Children in the food sensory imagery condi…
Protocol for developing a mental imagery intervention: a randomised controlled trial testing a novel implementation imagery e-health intervention to …
2019
IntroductionDrowning due to driving into floodwater accounts for a significant proportion of all deaths by drowning. Despite awareness campaigns such as ‘If it’s flooded, forget it’, people continue to drive into floodwater. This causes loss of life, risk to rescuers and damage to vehicles. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate an online e-health intervention to promote safe driving behaviour during flood events.Methods and analysisThe study will use a 2×3 randomised controlled trial in which participants are randomised into one of two conditions: (1) education about the risks of driving into floodwater or (2) education about the risks of driving into floodwater plus a theory-ba…
Ricerche metaforiche. Verso un'ipotesi pluralista e deflazionista sulla metafora.
2022
Mental Images and School Learning: A Longitudinal Study on Children
2019
Recent literature have underlined the connections between children’s reading skills and capacity to create and use mental representations or mental images; furthermore data highlighted the involvement of visuospatial abilities both during math learning and during subsequent developmental phases in performing math tasks. The present research adopted a longitudinal design to assess whether the processes of mental imagery in preschoolers (ages 4–5 years) are predictive of mathematics skills, writing and reading, in the early years of primary school (ages 6–7 years). The research lasted for two school years; in the first phase, the general group of participants consisted of 100 children, and al…
The role of mental imagery in depression : negative mental imagery induces strong implicit and explicit affect in depression
2015
Mental imagery, seeing with the mind's eyes, can induce stronger positive as well as negative affect compared to verbal processing. Given this emotion-amplifying effect, it appears likely that mental images play an important role in affective disorders. According to the subcomponents model of depression, depressed mood is maintained by both negative imagery (which amplifies negative mood) and less efficient positive imagery processes. Empirical research on the link between mental imagery and affect in clinical depression, however, is still sparse. This study aimed at testing the role of mental imagery in depression, using a modified version of the affect misattribution procedure (AMP) and t…
Imatge percebuda i imatge mental
2012
S'estudia el contrast entre el que es diu la posición Lockeana i la posición Berkeleyana sobre l'origen de la cognoció. La diferencia entre elles rau en el paper asignat al llenguatje respecte al coneixement. Aquest treball manté, no obstant, una posició híbrida. Se estudia el contraste entre lo que se ha venido a llamar posición Lokeana y la posición Berkeleyana, respecto del origen de la cognición. La diferencia entre las dos está en su diferente posición acerca del papel asignado al lenguaje para el conocimiento. Este trabajo explicará la posibilidad de una posición híbrida.