estoril vigotsky conference 2016 - wordpress.com · 2018. 2. 13. · vigotsky in the 21th century...

ESTORIL VIGOTSKY CONFERENCE 2016 IV International Congress of PsychologyContinuing the dialogue with VigotskyJune 9 – 11, 2016

Abstracts

ISSN 2183-3095 / e-ISSN 2183-3117

Published by the Vegotskyan League of PortugueseLanguage & Quintino Aires Institut Coordination, Organization and Review: Ana Beatriz Saraiva Design: Rita Isabel Pardal

ESTORIL VIGOTSKY CONFERENCE 2016 IV International Congress of Psychology

Abstracts

Foreword

Dear Congress participant,

It is a pleasure to welcome you to the IV ESTORIL VIGOTSKY CONFERENCE - International Congress of Psychology. This Congress has adopted the motto of ‘continuing the dialogue with Vigotsky’ and this is reflected in the spectacular image of a giant wave breaking along the coast line. The metaphor for giant breaking waves works well for life’s challenges and the productive power of the human mind. It reflects as well the enlightenment that we hope you will enjoy during the Congress, when reflecting and debating on new ideas and concepts toward the contemporary philosophical – psychological science.The well-known Portuguese epic poem Os Lusíadas by Luís Vaz de Camões, first printed in 1572, has also a special resonance with what we aspire to achieve in psychological science. Written in Homeric fashion, the poem focuses mainly on a fantastical interpretation of the Portuguese voyages of discovery during the 15th and 16th centuries. It paints a picture of the importance of acknowledging the physical and psychological efforts of the person facing extraordinary life challenges:

‘Long time we struggled with the sea’s wild maze, till, as its general law is changeless change, we met a current with such speed that sped, against the flow ‘twas hard to forge ahead’.

In Canto V, the journey of the Armada from Lisbon to Melinde is described. During the voyage, the sailors face a variety of dangers and obstacles such as the hostility of natives, the fury of a monster in the episode of the giant Adamastor, and disease and death. Canto V ends with the poet’s censure of his contemporaries who despise poetry.We are looking forward to meeting you during the congress!

Ana Beatriz Saraiva, Ph.D.

Chair of EVC16 Organizing Committee

Acknowledgements

On behalf of the Vegotskyan League of Portuguese Language & the Quintino Aires Institute, I want to offer special thanks to the hard working organizing collaborators for their commitment to ensuring the success of this Congress. Grateful thanks are due to Ricardo Silva with whom I shared the discovery of this challenge. Special thanks are also due to Ana Fernandes, Laura Veiga, Vanessa Claro, Varinia Paula and Vyacheslav Tsybulya for their work, support and useful comments.

The pretty seaside town and resort of Nazaré on the west coast of Portugal remains crowded throughout the summer with tourists who flock to its long sandy beaches to relax, swim and surf. But when winter arrives, only the most serious thrill seekers stay. At this time, the beaches are dangerous. Massive waves up to 100 feet high regularly break along the rocky coastline.

Nazaré’s monster waves attract big wave surfers from all around, but until very recently, the town and its surfing potential was relatively unknown outside Europe. Nazaré hit headlines only in November 2011 when Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara surfed a record breaking giant wave measuring 78 feet from trough to crest. In January 2013, McNamara returned to Nazare and broke his own record by successfully riding a wave that was estimated to be 100 feet tall. Nazaré on the Atlantic coast has now become a legendary spot in the world of big wave surfing. Retrieved from: http://www.amusingplanet.com

Committees

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE | Joaquim Maria Quintino Aires, Portugal (co-chair); Yuri Zinchenko, Russian Federation (co-chair); Jussara Juvêncio, Brazil; Josina Quitumba Sebastião, Angola.

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE | Joaquim Maria Quintino Aires (Organizing Committee Coordinator) Ana Beatriz Saraiva (chair), Ricardo Silva (registration desk coordinator), and Varinia Paula, Vanessa Claro, Ana Fernandes and Laura Veiga (registration desk) and Vyacheslav Tsybulya.

Contents 1

1 Presentation abstracts were not subject to linguistic revision. This revision is the responsibility of the authors.

Foreword 5Committees 7Contents 9Plenary Sessions 11

Death Penalty and Spanish Speakers in the United States: The Interface among Legal, Social and Neuropsychological Issues 11

Vigotsky in the 21th Century 12Emptiness in Psychological Science and Practice 13Vygotsky for applied neuropsychology 14Revisionist Revolution in Vygotsky Studies:

The State of the Art 15Socio-cultural and systemic-dynamic

approaches to adult education 17Cultural-historical perspective on autobio-

graphical memory 18Perezhivanie as a concept of cultural-historical

theory: theoretical content and contexts 20Vygotsky-Luria’s studies on “conscious action”

and current research on executive function: Advantages and limitations. 21

Revisiting Vygotsky’s Psychology of Language within the Metatheories of Holographic Movement and the “Third Space” 22

The cognitome: an extension of the functional systems theory 23

Round Table 25Rita Leal Autism School: A new perspective

on autism 25Meetings 27

“Experiences in Russia and how that influenced my Research and Life” Q&A Session 27

ISCAR- The International Society for Cultural-historical Activity Research Meeting 27

ISAN - The International Society of Applied Neuropsychology 27

Free Comunication Sessions (in English) 29Bi-univocal cultural mediation: A tool to

promote legitimate participation 29Elaborating mathematical tasks through neo-

Vygotskian lens 29 Creation of an imbalance in the quest for a

balance: Families and teachers’ awareness in the zone of proximal development during emergent literacy 30

Contributing to the Development of a Neuro- psychological Research Instrument: A validation of BIN in 7 years old Portuguese children 30

Rorschach analysis of children with behavior problems: an exploratory study 31

Cultural-historical activity theory as a methodological basis for studying teenage bullying 31

Main concepts of Vygotsky’s cultural- -historical theory in ICDP program 32

Using a neo-Vygotskian approach to study social interactions: How methodology shapes results 33

Are Lisbon museums inclusive times and spaces for non-formal learning? A neo-Vygotskian analysis 33

Cultural-historical approach in risky and non--adaptive vs. resilient behaviour to negative consequences of radiation effects 34

Free Comunication Sessions (in Portuguese) 35Sebenta MegaMente and Compêndio

AptaMente – from an instrumental duality to a cognitive triangulation 35

Understanding to read. Reading to understand. A teaching and intervention program in reading comprehension for the 2nd year of the 1st cycle of Basic Education 37

Rorschach study on children with enuresis and their mothers 38

The intervention of the Angolan Clinical Psychologist viewed under socio-historic factors towards culture and religion 38

Psychological Assistance in Shelter Female Blue Horizon - Luanda 39

Unprotected children and victims of witchcraft 39What children and youth think about politics? 40Meaning analysis of youth and emergent

adulthood life goals 40Personality in Analysis - Study of emerging

adulthood 41The contribution of neuropsychological for me-

dicalization process in public schools of brazilian center-west 41

Author Index 42

11

Plenary Sessions

Plenary sessions highlight prominent speakers and current issues and topics in psychology. The EVC16 has organized sessions encompassing a broad range of interests.

OUR KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

ANTONIO E. PUENTE University of North Carolina Wilmington, United States of America

Death Penalty and Spanish Speakers in the United States: The Interface among Legal, Social and Neuropsychological IssuesIn the United States, a significant amount of the states still allow for the death

penalty in the most compelling of legal and social situations. Approximately 15 years ago, the United States Supreme Court passed a decision called “Atkins” that was based on a case in the state of Virginia in which a “retarded” man had murdered. The Court indicated that if this individual was indeed “retarded” they could not be sentenced to die. It turns out that a significant amount of inmates facing the death penalty are Spanish-speakers. This posed several challenges to the legal system. 1) There were few psychologists who spoke Spanish, 2) There were few tests of intellectual and neuorpsychological abilities adapted into Spanish and 3) It was difficult to take into consideration all three prongs of the definition of intellectual disability. These included the following: 1) Subaverage IQ, 2) Adaptive deficits and 3) Orin before the age of 18. This presentation will discuss the difficulties of dealing with the lack of psychometric tools and the problem of defining what is cultural and what intellectual and neuropsychological. In addition, specific focus will be provided on the major problems of understanding and “translating” adaptive deficits for individuals of a different cultural background. Specific strategies that are heavily embedded in Vigotskian theory and Lurian approach will be presented as a means of understanding how the limits of western science can be bridged with Russian neuropsychological theory and approaches.

Key words: Death penalty, Spanish Speakers, Social Justice, North American & Russian neuropsychology

Plenary Sessions

12

ALFREDO ARDILA Florida International University, United States of America

Vigotsky in the 21th Century

In spite of the fact that Vigotsky’s interpretation of human cognition was proposed almost one century ago, new scientific and technological advances significantly support many of his hypotheses. In this presentation three Vigotsky’s ideas will be examined: (1) the influence of cultural factors on human cognition; (2) the role of language in higher psychological processes; and (3) the hypothesis of “inner speech”.

Initially, it will be explained how a diversity of research studies carried out in many different countries world-wide have corroborated the crucial impact of culture on psychological and neuropsychological test performance; special emphasis on the role of education on human cognition will be made; it will be pointed out that the level of education represents the most influential variable on these test scores.

Later, the origins of human cognition will be briefly examined. It will be emphasized that in human cognitive evolution a significant acceleration was observed some 40-50 thousand years ago (so-called “the cognitive revolution”), characterized by the development of art, new instruments, and seemingly new psychological characteristics (so-called “executive functions”). It will be concluded that language, and particularly language grammar, plays a decisive role in the evolutionary development of these “executive functions”. “Executive functions” is a relatively new term in cognitive neurosciences, and it corresponds to Vigotsky’s “higher psychological processes”.

Finally, some contemporary neuroimaging studies (particularly fMRI) analyzing “inner speech” will be presented. Several recent studies have attempted to find the brain areas involved in “inner speech”. It will be concluded that inner speech depends on the Broca’s area (Brodmann areas 44 and 45; ‘Pars opercularis’ and ‘Pars triangularis’ of the left inferior frontal gyrus) and related brain network activity in the left hemisphere.

At the end of this lecture, a general conclusion will be presented, emphasizing how these new scientific advances significantly support many of the Vigotsky’s ideas about human cognition.

Plenary Sessions

13

JOAQUIM QUINTINO AIRES Professor Emeritus of the of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Portugal

Emptiness in Psychological Science and Practice

Inheritors of a dialogue initiated by Liev Vegotsky, we have introduced in our speech and in our practice the attention to concepts such as learning and development, Zone of Proximal Development, Culture and History and, in a way that we are so grateful, the concept of consciousness. We read and re-read Vegotsky’s texts, and bring to the Disputatio, the discussion of the problems in the manner of the first universities in the XIIth and XIIth centuries, but now at congresses and conferences. A text by Liev Vegotsky, however, seems to be stubbornly forgotten, never entering in Lectio nor in Quaestio, this contemporary age who wishes to finally build the psychological science. Psychology is still pregnant with a general theory, but has not yet given birth. At a time with the lack of a general science and an absolute lack of attention to the terminology, we intend to bring to mind the “The Historical Meaning of the Crisis in Psychology“, dated from 1927, hoping to start to transform from a structure of meaning, several times repeated, into a structure of sense that really disturbs our way of doing the construction of psychology.

Plenary Sessions

14

JANNA GLOZMAN Presindente of the International Society of Applied Neuropsychology (ISAN), Russia

Vygotsky for applied neuropsychology

According to Vygotsky (1930), the natural processes such as physical maturation and sensory mechanisms become intervened with culturally determined processes to produce the psychological functions of adults and the variety of ways the functions are carried out, through “a bifurcation in the course of a child’s behavioral development into natural-psychological and cultural-psychological development”.

The theory of social nature of higher mental functions is kernel for all branches of applied neuropsychology: neuropsychological assessment (Luria, 1973), neuropsychological rehabilitation of brain damaged patients (Luria, 1948), neuropsychological rehabilitation of gait in Parkinson disease (Vygotsky, Luria, 1930), social rehabilitation of stutterers (Karpova, 1997), neuropsychological remediation of learning disable children (Glozman, 2013). All these studies develop Vygotsky theory of mediation with a consecutive interiorization of mediating means. L.S. Vygotsky proved that mediation is a natural way of cognitive development in children and of the neuropsychological compensation of cognitive and physical deterioration both in children and adults.

Keywords: cultural psychology, neuropsychological assessment, remediation, mediation acknowledges. The study is founded by RFH project #15-06-10626

Plenary Sessions

15

ANTON YASNITSKY Unaffiliated researcher, Canada

Revisionist Revolution in Vygotsky Studies: The State of the Art

The proposed presentation will overview the state of the art of the major tripartite project that is generally termed “The Revisionist Revolution in Vygotsky Studies” and discuss its three constitutive elements (and phases of its development), which resulted in three major book publications (all in collaboration with René van der Veer et al.) such as:

First, The Cambridge Handbook of Cultural-Historical Psychology (Cambridge University Press, 2014; http://www.cambridge.org/ca/academic/subjects/psychology/developmental-psychology/cambridge-handbook-cultural-historical-psychology );

Second, Revisionist Revolution in Vygotsky Studies (Routledge, 2015; https://www.routledge.com/products/9781138887305 ) and third, in Spanish, Vygotski revisitado: una historia crítica de su contexto y legado (Miño y Dávila, 2016).

This work is focused on the investigation of the life stories, theories, and the social construction of the scientific legacy of the scientific circle of Russian scholars Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) and Alexander Luria (1902-1977) (the so-called Vygotsky-Luria Circle). The three stages correspond to our effort to, first, present Vygotsky-Luria’s integrative project of integrative bio-social “cultural-historical psychology” in its actual contemporary implementation by the scholars from North America, West Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia. This effort manifested itself and resulted in the first ever “handbook of cultural-historical psychology” as an intertwined Vygotsky-Lurian integrative project, yet as deficient, fragmentary and incomplete as it remains to date. This stage can be tentatively referred to as ‘normative’ or ‘traditional(istic)’ due to its original intention to set the norm of what “cultural-historical psychology” was not only supposed to be by its founders, but also what it happened to become over the course of the 20th–early 21st century. Then, second, the second stage of the project was focused on the deficiencies and the pitfalls of the established tradition of Vygotsky-Lurian scholarship such as: (a) gaps, inconsistencies and factological mistakes in the historiographic narratives (i.e. ‘Contexts and people’); (b) the distortions in the available original Russian texts and their translations that mainly resulted from the editorial policies and the censorship of the Soviet period (‘Texts and legacy’); and (c) the main directions of theoretical development of Vygotsky’s and Luria’s thought in the most mature period of their collaboration in 1930s. The transnational dimension of their research is particularly notable in relation to this, last period of their work, increasingly inspired by the ideas, theories and research methods of the group of German-American scholars associated with the so-called Gestalt-psychology movement

Plenary Sessions

16

(‘Holism and transnationalism’). This stage—still in progress currently as exemplified by the continued work on publication of Vygotsky’s archival materials—might be referred to as ‘critical’ for its intention to revisit the many dogmas and beliefs of the ‘normative’ approach, to discover missing domains of knowledge and to establish new avenues for novel and ground-breaking contemporary research production in the human sciences.

Finally, the ‘critical’ stage of our work has triggered our further interest to the transnational processes of social reception, construction and circulation of knowledge in the “East” and the “West” (where the former denotes the countries of the former Soviet Union, primarily Russia, and the later includes mainly North America and the Spanish/castellano-speaking world across the Ocean). This interest has led us through the third, current and rapidly developing, stage of the mega-project, which might most generally qualify as a ‘transnational history of science’. What distinguishes second and third stages of the project is the focus on the search for the presumably ‘correct’ version of knowledge about science and its history that is characteristic of the ‘critical’ approach as opposed to the deliberate disinterest in what is ‘correct’ or wrong in interpretation of ideas and, instead, focus on the multiple pathways into knowledge construction across the borders of the states, cultures and traditions, which is a landmark of a somewhat relativistic ‘transnational history of science’.

In the last part of this conference presentation—should the time allow us—I will discuss the current and gradually evolving project—the new intellectual biography of Lev Vygotsky (under contract with Routledge)—and, possibly, speculate about the possible ways of this project’s development in the future given the considerable interest in Vygotsky’s legacy worldwide and, on the other hand, contemporary—local and global, theoretical and practical—challenges to psychology and allied sciences.

Plenary Sessions

17

BELLA KOTIK-FRIEDGUT D. Yelin Academic College of Education in Jerusalem, Israel

Socio-cultural and systemic-dynamic approaches to adult education

The conditions of life in the 21st century change rapidly posing globally new challenges for educational systems. Global geopolitical changes cause increasing waves of immigrants and refugees who need help in adjustment to new cultural and linguistic environments. Accepting of an approach to lifelong education, discovery that neuroplasticity does not finish at the “critical age”, have to be considered for a growing field of adult education- andragogy as different from education and upbringing of children- pedagogy. Two of the important concepts of Vygotsky’s theory of development can be helpful if applied to adult education: the concept of “Social situation of development” and the concept of “Zone of proximal development”.

The presentation will be focused on both theoretical analysis of the differences in application of these concepts to pedagogy and andragogy as well as on practical applications in the field of new language learning and teaching to adults with different levels of previous literacy.

A systemic-dynamic Lurian approach to the human brain based on Vygotskian concept of higher mental functions is helpful in understanding lifelong neural plasticity as a base for lifelong learning.

There are several lines of research and practice on adult learning and development where such an analysis would be beneficial for development of appropriate policies: higher education, professional training and retraining, immigrant absorption. Here we will focus on plausibility in different socio-cultural contexts of immigration.

Plenary Sessions

18

VERONIKA NOURKOVA Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

Cultural-historical perspective on autobiographical memory

The search results for “autobiographical memory” in Vygotsky’ writing gives zero result. Definitely, L.S.Vygotsky had never dealt with autobiographical memory directly. But in his seminal work “Pedology of the adolescent” he pointed out very clear that, “We know that memory is the basis of what is commonly referred as unity and identity of personality. Memory is the cornerstone of self-consciousness” («Мы знаем, что память лежит в основе того, что психологи обычно называют единством и тождеством личности. Память составляет основу самосознания», Выготский, 1930/1997, С.242). Therefore it seems reasonable to apply Vygotsky’s methodology to the topic enriching the field of psychological phenomena covered by cultural-historical approach.

In my opinion the core of Vygotsky methodology may be summarized in three main principles: 1) the evolution of both human mind and brain depends on specific forms of activity, thus that new life demands to require new mental skills and new brain structures to support them; 2) the human mind originates from symbolically mediated cultural practices which are first distributed between people and then become individual mental functions (the acquisition of ideal forms); 3) as the human brain is social new technical device that conducts the development of novel psychological phenomena and new brain functional systems.

For the last two decades our research group makes efforts to examine research questions inspired by Vygotsky’ methodology in the field of Autobiographical Memory (AM) studies. We started from noticing that AM is a mental ability to establish culturally specific mode of personality via selection and modification of experiences to be remembered and gradual adaptation of accessible experience to current life demands. We consider AM as a higher mental function of the second order that employs other higher mental functions (i.e. semantic memory, episodic memory, speech) as elements of psychological system.

The first line of research deals with how children and adolescents acquire the format of isolated recollections and entire cultural scripts of life from their parents. We have demonstrated that there is a system of characteristics in AM which are transmitted from parents to children implicitly and that it forms both personal life story and general attitudes toward human life.

The second line focuses on the complex reciprocal relationship between self and AM. We found that self-concept depends upon specific self-defining memories. In turn, specific memories may be altered, even fabricated spontaneously to support current self. For instance, we examined the influence of a new cultural context on the semantic representation of distant memories and found that people who

Plenary Sessions

19

experienced their childhood in rural culture and then migrated to an urban one recall their youth in a way that reflected their current individualist orientation. In another study after imagination in hypnotic state alternative (false) episodes of personal past different from originally recollected into direction of idealized self people decreased in the trait anxiety. As far as we consider a level of trait anxiety to be an indicator of conformity between ideal and real self we concluded that change of self-defining memories affects self-concept.

The third and the most ambitious line of research investigates transformative reminiscence tools and technologies. We take history of memory as a story of inventions which gradually transform natural memory into cultural memory. Modern memory is considered as a hybrid of internal (brain) and external devices for encoding / storage / retrieval. Photography is to be among the greatest gadgets for memory improvement. Photographs serve as an external AM system for access both to concrete episodes of the personal past those otherwise would be forgotten and to personal identity at different life periods (past selves). So we conducted a series of studies to examine if there are any significant differences in efficacy of autobiographical recollection mediated by traditional analog vs. digital photographs. We empirically proved that progress in technology does not necessary lead to progress in psychology. Instead of that we found out that analog camera technology benefits memories in the direction of creating a story of past event, while digital camera technology benefits memories in the direction of re-living the moment of taking picture. Then we turned to ambitious task to develop an innovative technology that imitates a spontaneous AM illusion of total recall (“all life has flown before eyes”) that consists of parallel awareness of a set of self-defining memories and leads to behavioral mobilization and increase in the probability of coping with life challenge. The core finding by the present is that the “whole past” experience is achievable by the technique of Simultaneous Audio presentation of Self-defining Memories Cues (SSDMC).

Keywords: autobiographical memory, cultural mediation, higher mental function.

Plenary Sessions

20

NIKOLAY VERESOV Monash University, Executive Committee of the International Society for Culturalhistorical Activity Research (ISCAR), Australia

Perezhivanie as a concept of cultural-historical theory:theoretical content and contexts

The phenomenon of perezhivanie has received increasing attention; however, an understanding of perezhivanie as a concept remains elusive. According to Smagorinsky (2011), “perezhivanie thus far remains more a tantalizing notion than a concept with clear meaning” (p. 339). Unless we determine the meaning of this concept more clearly, we put at risk Vygotsky’s theoretical legacy.

In line with this argument, this paper aims to contribute to an understanding of the theoretical content and context of perezhivanie.

Central to the argument I make in this paper, is conceptualizing perezhivanie in relation to Vygotsky’s theory where drama was key for the process of development. The content of the concept perezhivanie are elaborated in three aspects as it is presented within the cultural-historical theory:

1. perezhivanie as a refracting prism2. perezhivanie as a unit of environmental and personal characteristics3. perezhivanie as a unit of consciousnessThe lecture is designed as a series of questions on clarifications followed by

discussion on methodological consequences and challenges related to theoretical content of the concept of perezhivanie.

Plenary Sessions

21

EUGENE SUBBOTSKY Lancaster University, United Kingdom

Vygotsky-Luria’s studies on “conscious action” and current research on executive function:

Advantages and limitations.

With a few exceptions, contemporary research has conceptualized executive function (EF) independently of Vygotsky-Luria’s original version of EF and has increasingly portrayed EF as a complex, domain-general cognitive construct, predominantly governed by neural mechanisms in the brain. Accordingly, the purpose of this presentation is to evaluate Vygotsky-Luria’s original model of EF (called “conscious action”) and to examine advantages and limitations of this model in relation to contemporary cognitive models.

Key words: Vygotsky, Luria, conscious action, executive function, child development

Plenary Sessions

22

DOROTHY ROBBINS University of Central Missouri, United States of America; University of Frankfurt, Germany; Professor Emerita-German, Semiotics, Russian Psycholinguistics, Vygotskian

Revisiting Vygotsky’s Psychology of Language within the Metatheories of Holographic Movement and the “Third Space”

In the Western tradition, thinking is often understood as an intra-mental activity inside an individual mind, with speech representing vocalized thinking. In Vygotskian psychology, thinking and speech are viewed as a unit that contributes to the developmental process of the emerging personality of an individual, always tied together with the social. It is precisely the inter-functional relationship between the two that plays a very important role in guiding the individual to his/her highest potential. We will begin with two hypotheses: #1: Language theories are at the very core of Vygotskian thought, and it is precisely this area that is one of the most neglected aspects in Vygotskian research. #2: Regarding language theories, we are in a post-Chomskyan era and a pre-Vygotskian era. There will be a view of holographic theories and the *third space* related to language theories.

Plenary Sessions

23

KONSTANTIN V. ANOKHIN National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute”, Lomonosov Moscow State University Moscow, Institute of Normal Physiology, Moscow, Russia

The cognitome: an extension of the functional systems theory

Despite the impressive development of neuroscience, we still lack a satisfactory understanding of mechanism of higher brain functions. The main issue is not the lack of experimental facts, but rather a theoretical framework that could make sense of them. Accumulating empirical evidence suggest that brain is composed of a complex of tightly woven distributed neuronal systems, activity of which is the very essence of its cognitive functions. Theory of brain functions should thus explain the origin of such systems in evolution and development, and their relation to functions of the adult brain. It should also develop a specific language for description of such systems, their taxonomy, itra- and intersystem connectivity. Finally, a satisfactory theory of brain functions should suggest a solution to the most challenging problem of neuroscience - structural bases and neuronal mechanisms of higher brain functions including perception, memory, cognition and consciousness. The theory of functional systems was explicitly developed with all these goals in mind. However, the classical functional systems theory does not address a number of traditional and novel problems in neuroscience and psychology. To put these questions in the perspective of the functional systems theory I propose and extended version of this theory. It introduces a concept of cognitive hypernetwork of the brain – cognitome. Cognitome as cognitive network consists of neuronal cognitive groups (COGs) as vertices and links of COGs (LOCs) as edges. Neuronal cognitive groups include not only distributed functional systems, based on feedback from the results from behavior that represent elements of procedural memory, but also cognitive groups that are element of semantic and episodic memory. According to the proposed conceptual framework, the structure and dynamics of cognitome embrace all aspects of mental events related to behavior, cognition and consciousness.

25

Round Table

Rita Leal Autism School:A new perspective on autismAlves, P. F.; Rodrigues, T.; Serra, A.; Lopes, J.; Ferreira, M.; Tirone, C.; Costa, D. P.; Raimundo, I; Pires, A. M.; Nobre, M.; Nobre, J.

By distancing itself from the instrumental and behaviorist learning programs, the purpose of the Rita Leal School is to put in practice a therapeutic approach, proposing a new perspective on autism.

Rita Leal School is based on the works of Leal (1975, 1997, 2005) who presents a theory of emotional development supported by a contingent relationship. Also, Vygotsky’s concepts (1930, 1934) of mediation and zone of proximal development are central in this approach.

The intervention’s base relies on training professionals (teachers and psychologists) and peers (adolescents and children with strong empathic skills) so as to reestablish the mutually contingent intercourse. The aim is to develop the relational basis, necessary for the motivation to learn.

The continual clinical supervision aims to optimize the attentive quality of the professionals and peers favoring the mediation process between participants.

This experimental study intends to present an alternative to behaviorist models by a thorough research of the relationship between autists, peers and professionals. The sessions were filmed and analyzed with the software The Observer XT12, serving the purpose of unveilingthe relationship between intervention techniques, the relational involvement of professionals, the development of social abilities and the motivation to learn of autistic children.

Key words: Autism, Contingent Relationship, Mediation, Zone of Proximal Development, Emotional Development.

27

Meetings

“Experiences in Russia and how that influenced my Research and Life”

Question/Answer Session with Students/Participants

DOROTHY (DOT) ROBBINS University of Central Missouri, United States of America; University of Frankfurt, Germany;Professor Emerita-German, Semiotics, Russian Psycholinguistics, Vygotskian

As a North American, I was privileged to be able to spend time in Russia with a number of well-known psychologists, including V. Zinchenko, B. Bratus, G.L. Vygodskaya, E. Kravtsova, J. Glozman, A.A. Leontiev, etc. It was a time that I will never forget and this session will focus on sharing some of my personal experiences in Russia. Students/participants will be encouraged to ask questions and share their views (www.vygotsky-robbins.com).

ISCAR and international researchContemporary perspectives and challenges

NIKOLAY VERESOV, ISCAR Executive Committee

For whom: Portugal, Brazil and Angola ISCAR members or interested in joining ISCAR.About: General information about ISCAR;

Report about 2014 ISCAR Congress in Sydney, Australia; Future plans; Next 2017 Congress in Quebec, Canada.

Main goals: to support researchers from Portugal, Brazil and Angola doing cultural-historical research;

to improve international collaboration; to promote publications and participation in various activities in ISCAR (www.

iscar.org).

The International Society of Applied NeuropsychologyMeeting conducted by JANNA GLOZMAN and LIUDMILA LIUTSKO (ISAN Presidency)

For whom: Members of ISAN Executive Committee Portugal, Brazil, Spain, Russia and Israel and all interested in joining ISAN.About: General information about ISAN

Organization of post-graduate training courses in applied neuropsychology; Preparation of the 5th Luria Memorial International Congress in Portugal, in 2017; Future plans (www.neuroassistance.wordpress.com).

29

Free Comunication Sessions (in English)

Bi-univocal cultural mediation: A tool to promote legitimate participationCésar, M.; Portugal

Topic: Educational PsychologySocial interactions play an essential role in

knowledge appropriation and socialization (Vygotsky, 1934/1962). Students participating in vulnerable cultures experience more school underachievement and prejudices. Empowering them and their families promotes more social justice (César, 2013a, 2013b). Empowerment is more effective when based in a bi-univocal cultural mediation, a construct coined by César (in press), and illustrated through empirical evidences from the Interaction and Knowledge (IK). Assuming an interpretative approach we confront data from action-research projects and case studies. The participants are 97 team members, their students, and significant others. Instruments included observation, questionnaires, interviews, informal conversations, students’ protocols, and reports. A narrative content analysis was used (Clandinin & Connelly, 1998). Results illuminate that bi-univocal cultural mediation, in which representatives from both cultures assume a main role in decision-making, promotes students’ and families’ engagement in school activities. It is effective while univocal cultural mediation failed, contributing to more social justice.

Keywords: Diversity, vulnerable cultures, participation, empowerment, bi-univocal cultural mediation.

Elaborating mathematical tasks through neo-Vygotskian lens Machado, R.; Borges, I.; César, M. & Matos, J. M.; Portugal

Topic: Educational Psychology

Learning is an (inter)active process (Vygotsky, 1934/1962). Teachers need to respect the different ways of learning mathematics to promote students’ achievement, particularly when elaborating tasks (César, 2013; Machado, 2014). Knowing students’ abilities and competencies since the beginning of the school year is a first and important step to embrace diversity (Machado, 2014). This study is part of the Interaction and Knowledge (IK) project. We assumed an interpretative approach (Denzin, 2002) and developed an intrinsic case study (Stake, 1995). The participants were students (5th-12th grades, around 600 classes), 69 mathematics teacher/researchers, and four psychologists. Data was collected through the IACC, questionnaires, tasks inspired in projective techniques, interviews, informal conversations and students’ protocols, and treated through a narrative content analysis (Clandinin & Connelly, 1998). The analysis of one task regarding Probabilities (Borges & César, 2009) illuminates how students’ characteristics shape the elaboration of mathematical tasks and the choice of the first dyads.

Keywords: Students’ abilities and competencies, mathematical tasks, mathematical performances, school achievement.


30

Creation of an imbalance in the quest for a balance: Families and teachers’ awareness in the zone of proximal development during emergent literacy Newnham, D. S.; Switzerland


‘The zpd is more than a technical concept; its actualization also reflects one’s views and theoretical assumptions’ (Chak, 2001). Within the empirical research articulated in this article, parents’ educative practices, within the domain of emergent literacy, were found to be related to the concept that they held of children. Those parents that used higher distancing acts whilst facilitating within their child/ren’s zones of proximal development, believed in holistic concepts to children’s’ existence. Distancing acts facilitate representational understanding (Sigel, 1992) and therefore literacy. The focus families originate from diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, and this research illustrates that the parents’ different interactive patterns are related to their culturalpersonal beliefs rather than to their SES. The focus on children’s transition to their first year of preprimary school identified that the children originating from families using interactive dialogue were more participative in class. Teachers’ beliefs to family involvement in literacy education and to children’s participation in class are linked to their cultural-personal beliefs and could create tension within children familiar with opposing models of interaction.

Key terms: ethnotheories; dyad; zone of proximal development; distancing acts; everyday cognitio

Contributing to the Development of a Neuropsychological Research Instrument: A validation of BIN in 7 years old Portuguese childrenRua, A. & Ferreira, J.; Portugal

Topic: Clinical PsychologyThis project aims to validate a set of tests

investigating the analyzers of the visual system, as well as the auditory, kinesthetic sense, motor, attention, memory, executive, speaking, reading and writing and intellectual analyzers, which constitute the BIN (Neuropsychological Research Battery). The Battery was applied to a sample of Portuguese children (N=196) aged between seven years and seven years eleven months. In our research, we intend to contribute to the validation of this neuropsychological research battery in accordance with the applicable formulation of A. R. Luria functional system. In this regard, in order to a correct understanding of the symptom, a qualitative analysis must play a decisive role in the study of the disturbance structure, thus to identify, finally, the factors that caused the observed symptoms.

In furtherance of the goal of BIN validation several analyzes were included: exploration of the factor structure of the battery through the principal component analysis, where forty components were distributed by the eleven analyzers; evaluation of the association between the constituent components of each analyzer, where it was possible to verify a statistically significant association between most of the components of each analyzer, giving consistency to factor structures retained for each analyzer; evaluation of the influence of gender and education/age in the performance of several tests and where no significant differences were found in performance associated with gender but check statistically significant differences in performance when associated with older children and at the 2nd grade. It was also conducted an analysis of the relationship between indicators that have been investigated in different tasks, where it was observed that the indicators acknowledgment, concentration, and inhibiting formation of complex concepts are linked together in the different tasks and analyzers.

Keywords: neuropsychological research; higher nervous functions; neuropsychological analyzers; factor; syndromic analysis; functional system.


31

Rorschach analysis of children with behavior problems: an exploratory studySaraiva, A. B. & Ferreira, J.; Portugal

Topic: Clinical PsychologyIn order to analyze the personality profile of

children with clinical referral of behavior problems the Rorschach test was applied to 39 children from 6 to 14 years of age within three different groups of psychopathology: hyperkinetic behavior (20), oppositional / defiant behavior (11) and antisocial behavior (7). The results were analyzed through the Rorschach Comprehensive System as developed by John E. Exner.

Keywords: hyperkinetic, oppositional, antisocial, Rorschach-Exner.

Cultural-historical activity theory as a methodological basis for studying teenage bullying Volkova, E. N.; Oksana, M.; Skitnevskaya, L. V. & Volkova, I.; Russia


Being a phenomenon of social reality, violence constitutes a difficulty for research. First, there remains an uncertainness in definition of violence. Then, child violence, as a complex problem, requires multidisciplinary treatment approach, including united efforts from educational, medical, social care and law enforcement professionals. Finally, estimates of scale and a clear understanding are often interfered with social and professional stigmas as well as emotional loading from both respondent and researcher. Because these problems impede functioning of effective child-friendly protection system, child violence studies need finding a proper methodological basis. Such a basis can be found in Vygotsky’s cultural-historical activity theory, where several ideas can be introduced into bullying studies. Vygotsky paid special attention

to cultural-historical aspect of psychological reality, of its forms and dynamics. Vygotsky’s theory of critical periods in child’s development is attuned to bullying as child abuse problem, where multiple research proved that the most sensitive age for child abuse were 5-7 and 13-14 years. The second sensitive age period is characterized by increasing numbers of abuses cases, where a child simultaneously were a victim, an abuser and a witness. Another heuristic idea is that of zone of social development, which can be defined as an age-specific relationship between a child and her environment, with an emphasis on social environment. Zone of social development becomes a main source of child’s development, comprising not only parameters of the environment, but also child’s attitudes, emotions and affections toward outer world and other people. This concept is extremely important when explaining causes of bullying among teenagers. Among them are culturally approved trends toward violence, aggressive microclimate between educators with an authoritarian managing style lacking clear professionally-based requirements to teachers, and general background anxiety combined with missing skills to properly express emotions by both teachers and pupils. Vygotsky’s understanding of the role that collective activity played in child’s development also helps to understand the nature of bullying. Along with another scientist and practician, A.S. Makarenko, Vygotsky considered a child’s group a particular form of social group or team where specific features can be found.

The project is supported by Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation (project nº 15-06-10575 «Personal and environmental determinants of bullying among teenagers»)

Keywords: bullying, cultural-historical activity theory, child maltreatment


32

Main concepts of Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory in ICDP program Oksana, I. & Volkova, E.; Russia

Topic: Educational PsychologyIntroduction: Today many countries implement

a variety of programs aimed at child develop-ment. Although different in details, most of these programs are based on patterns of child’s psy-chological and social development introduced into education process: they describe ways of desired communication. Weakness of such programs lies in particular dependence of parents on professional support and in distance from educational norms featured in local cultural environment (1, 11). Inter-national child development program (ICDP) is fo-cused on optimization of child-parent relationships. One of the methodological constructs of ICDP is cultural-historical activity theory of Vygotsky. One of ideas which program is built upon is Vygotsky’s cultural-historical explanation of mental content, its dynamics and forms. ICDP is one of the few programs inferring adjustment of cultural features in optimization of child-parent relationships: it first analyses local attitudes to a child, to adults’ position in education, and then joint activities of children and parents rest upon - child folklore. This approach allows raising a harmonically developed person combining physical health with spiritual riches and moral standards(4). Vygotsky’s concepts of sensitive and critical age for develop-ment, zone of proximal development and social development situation are building stones of ICDP. The program accents such parts of parent-child in-teraction as adult’s attention and ability to identify emotional signals of the child; praising the child; reflection and enhancing child’s experience by that she already knows; supporting child’s skills to regulate, plan and control her behavior (according to emotional, mediational and regulative dialogs of the program) (6,7). ICDP relies on facilitation approach, which allows parents to notice child’s strengths and abilities, and provides a deeper

understanding of their parental skills. ICDP uses facilitation as a main source of motivation for constructive changes in interaction with children. In 1992, ICDP was positively assessed and further adapted by WHO under the name of - WHO/ICDP Program of early psychosocial interven-tion. Estimates of effectiveness were fulfilled in a range of countries including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Columbia, Brazil, Paraguay, Macedonia, Mozambique, and Angola. All of them proved its capacity to optimize child,-parent relationships (7, 10, 11). The program was never assessed in Russian environment. Goal: The research is aimed at estimation of ICDP effect on optimization of child-parent relationships in Russian environment. Procedure: The study had two stages. On the stage 1 (before ICDP training), baseline was estimated through situation analysis, parents’ attitude to themselves as educators, parent’s attitudes to a child, and prevalent style of parenting. On stage 2(after ICDP training), we collected feedback from parents, estimated changes in parents’ attitudes to themselves as educators and to their children, and in parenting style.

Study sample numbered 78 parents (76 wom-en and 2 man aged 21-38) of normally devel-oping children from 0 to 7 ages (total 78 children – 18 newborns of 0-1 year old, 24 babies of 1-3 year old, 36 children of 3-7 years old) and re-siding in Nizhny Novgorod region of Russia. Tools ICDP effectiveness was estimated with a complex of tools including questionnaire - Parent’s attitude to him-/herself as an educator -, questionnaire - Parent’s attitude to a child -, list of observation over child-parent relationships, Strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ, R.Goodman), interactive profile of interaction. Data analysis was performed with SPSS 21.0 by using descriptive statistics, correlation and factor analysis. Results Analysis of participant’s feedback revealed that ICDP is positively perceived (mean values 9.19 (standard deviation 0.70) of 10 max), the program activates motivation for self-change to improve child-parent relationships for the majority of participants (89% of sample). The program corrects parents’ attitudes: it strengthens parental image of herself as positive educator, develops skills of positive parenting, which is based on


33

understanding and accepting child’s wishes, inter-ests and abilities, emotional self-regulation and positive correction of child’s behavior. Parents of two and more children of different age expressed similar trends to change parental attitudes and skills of constructive communication with a child. The program allows parents to find inner resources for future optimization of relationships with a child. Conclusion - As skills development demands significant effort and time, authors will continue to estimate effects in longer-term perspective (6-12 months). Besides that, authors consider it important to understand if the program is effective for parents of children with special needs, foster parents, and if the results of ICDP are connected to personal characteristics of parents.

Keywords: ICDP, facilitation approach, effective programs, child-parent relationships

Using a neo-Vygotskian approach to study social interactions: How methodology shapes results Ventura, C.; César, M. & Matos, J. M.; Portugal

Topic: Educational PsychologySocial interactions are a powerful resource

to promote students’ engagement in school tasks (Vygotsky, 1934/1962). We conceive learning as situated. Participation is essential to the learning process (César, 2013). The Interaction and Knowledge (IK) project lasted 12 years and included a 10-year-follow-up. Its main goals were to: (1) study and promote collaborative work in formal educational scenarios; and (2) contribute to an inclusive and intercultural education. To achieve them we used three types of research, exploring research questions: (a) quasi-experimental studies; (b) action-research; and (c) case studies. Assuming an interpretative approach we developed an intrinsic case study, uncovering IK methodology (Ventura, 2012).

The participants are: 97 team members, their students, external observers and evaluators. IK empirical corpus was used as instruments. Data treatment followed a narrative content analysis (Clandinin & Connelly, 1998). Some examples illuminate the contributions of innovative methods to more accurate research and how methodological choices shape results.

Keywords: Methodological choices, innovation, types of research, in-depth analysis.

Are Lisbon museums inclusive times and spaces for non-formal learning? A neo-Vygotskian analysis Dias, A. & César, M.; Portugal

Topic: Educational PsychologyMuseums are resources for non-formal

learning (Dias, 2014). Communication plays an essential role (Primo, 1999) and museums should respect public’s diversity. Museums are part of a collective memory (Wertsch, 2004). Different types of social interactions should be possible. Assuming an interpretative paradigm we developed an exploratory case study in 17 Lisbon museums. Its goals were to: (1) identify which museums are accessible to the public from the mobility spectrum, blind and deaf; and (2) understand how to become more inclusive. As instruments we used participant observation (written and photo recording), informal conversations (employees and public), and documents (e.g., leaflets). Data treatment was based in a content analysis. Results illuminate that museums are not inclusive. Only one had tactile reproductions and used Braille explanations, audio-guides and a guide using Portuguese Sign Language. The motor spectrum public


34

also finds many barriers. Photos illustrate how these barriers act and how to remove them.

Keywords: inclusion, special educational and social needs, Lisbon museums, accessibility, social participation.

Cultural-historical approach in risky and non-adaptive vs. resilient behaviour to negative consequences of radiation effects Liutsko, L. & Cardis, E.; Spain

Topic: Social Psychology The main objective of SHAMISEN (Nuclear

Emergency Situations Improvement of Medical and Health Surveillance) project is to analyse the experiences and past lessons from the major nuclear accidents to develop recommendations for medical and health surveillance of affected populations for the previous and future possible accidents. For the first time SHAMISEN considers the global view of the problems driven from the radiation accidents that include not only pure scientific-technological and medical issues, but also socio-economical and psychological.

The preliminary work and analysis of past events showed that in cases of Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear power accidents in 1986 and 2011 the following tendencies among others:

1) diminished trust to governmental and official communication (due to unclear or biased information in the first days after accidents); whereas high level of obedience, observed in behaviour of affected population (evacuees, clean-up works, etc.), was high due to specific cultural behaviour of collectivistic countries (former USSR and Japan); 2) more pessimistic tendency in cultural and situation behaviour: Japanese consider themselves to have more pessimistic views of the future; whereas the soviet people were passing the socioeconomical crisis due

to breakdown of USSR just 5 years following the Chernobyl accident); 3) pure literacy in radioactivity and its possible negative effects: from “non-sensibility” (especially regarding low doses effects), that lead people to act risky and with ignorance (“nothing will happened to me”); lack of information or possibility to provide a dosimetrical control for products grown in contaminated areas, to another extreme by exaggerating the negative radiation effects and not knowing the peculiarities of thyroid cancer development and treatment.

Socio-cultural-historical approach can describe the specific tendencies in individual behaviour in the post-accidental period, especially considering peculiarities of radiation accidents due to major fear of “non-visible” and thus less controlled radioactivity and pure literacy on its possible negative effects in general population. For this reason both – study of the past experiences and right communication with basic education of population are important issue to prevent the negative effects of consequences of the radiation accidents and to reduce general anxiety of affected populations.

Key words: culture-historical approach, cultural behaviour, radiation accidents, social psychology

35

Free Comunication Sessions (in Portuguese)

Sebenta MegaMente1 and Compêndio AptaMente2 – from an instrumental duality to a cognitive triangulation Bastos , F.; Portugal

Topic: Educational PsychologyThe Sebenta MegaMente and Compêndio

AptaMente result of a doctoral dissertation in Education. The study focused the following area: the ´Construction of a Program of Enrichment and Stimulation of Cognitive potential (PESC)3, for application to the school population with cognitive deficit moderate, from a sample composed for the effect. This study was intended to understand and determine what kinds of changes it was operated in the individuals in this study, in terms of their cognitive potential level, after the implementation of this program. These two instruments are the result of the one small part of the application of this program. The study is based on a random sample of participants (n=20) diagnosed with cognitive deficit moderate, obtained from the population of students who had been attending in the schools of the county of Fundão (Portugal) in the academic year 2011/2012. This sample is representative of the universe municipality of 109 students, at the time. The constitution of the sample was performed from the scrutiny of the overall schools of the county of Fundão that included individuals with this problem. This constitution was based on the following requirements: (1) 20 individuals with cognitive deficit moderate; (2) population between 7 and 16 years; (3) frequency in public schools; (4) covered by the Law no. 3/2008 of 7 January - legislation that regulates the Special Education of the Portuguese Education system; (5) male or female. The methodology used in the study was based on the constitution, with random character, of two different groups, each one with 10 subjects: the

1 MegaMind Work-book. 2 Apt Compendium.3 Construção de um Programa de Enriquecimento

e Estimulação do potencial Cognitivo (PEEC).

experimental group and the control group. The experimental group received 25 weekly sessions of one hour each [a six-month period, consecutive]. The experience has been sealed to the control group. The data collection was performed from the following instruments scientifically validated and calibrated to the Portuguese population: (1) «Raven’s Progressive Matrices - Color Scale» (benchmarking Simões, 2000 & Almeida, 2009); (2) «Battery of Skills for School Learning (BSSL) » by Mª Victory de la Cruz (1993) and (3) «Evidence of Diagnosis» by Mª Victory de la Cruz (2003). Among others, this study had the following objectives: (1) Apply to the sample subjects the psychological assessment instruments scientifically validated and assessed the Portuguese population in two distinct periods: pre-test and post-test; (2) Apply an Construction of a Program of Enrichment and Stimulation for Cognitive potential (PESC) to the subjects in the experimental group and seal the experience to the subjects in the control group; (3) Determine what kinds of changes they operate at the level of cognitive potential of subjects in the study compared the results obtained by the subjects in the experimental group with the subjects in the control group; (4) Determine the cause-effect relationship between the stimulus (intervention) and the response (results); (5) Demonstrate that you can relate to and apply the theoretical foundations on the educational practice, through the use of specific exercises and didactic-instrumental character of materials when there is inaccessibility to programs or other proper and scientifically validated instruments; (6) Demonstrate that when you combine specifics exercises and didactic-instrumental materials to a methodology based on a mediation process, they can operate changes in cognitive potential of the school population with cognitive impairment; (7) Contribute to the


36

reflection of the current educational situation of this school population, from the analysis of the existing scientific knowledge and the need for its extension and application to educational practice, specific to the field of Special Education. The theoretical approach of this study was based mainly on studies of Lev Vygotsky, Alexander Luria, Jean Piaget and Reuven Feuerstein - author of the ´Theory of Modifiability Cognitive Structural`, `Experience of Mediated Learning` and `Instrumental Enrichment Programme’- between many other relevant authors in the field of Learning, Cognition and Neuropsychology. The analytical study of these scientific areas appears that, following Vygotsky’s theory, Feuerstein reinforce and further the importance of the presence of a mediator [subject teaching being] the level of the cognitive process of a mediated [subject learner]. In his perspective, the result obtained by the mediation process - interaction between the mediator and the mediated - facilitates the stimulation of cognitive functions that are in embryonic or emerging state, the organization of thought and optimization of learning processes. It stresses further that the mediated learning experience differs from the learning obtained from the direct exposure of the subject to the object or stimulus. This difference lies in the potential that the mediating action provides the cognitive potential of the individual learner. Feuerstein maintains neuronal plasticity or neuroplasticity. For the author, cognitive structure, proper intelligence, is modifiable, flexible plastic, it can be changed and developed if it is subjected to a ´mediated learning experience.´ The mediator action implies a dialectic, a potentiating interactive nature of the cognitive faculties of mediated. Vítor da Fonseca, which follows the line of work and thought the above authors, argues that without the media coverage, experience or transmitted information is retrieved by the mediated diffuses and fragmented, damages proper integration. The impoverished media coverage or its deprivation tends to affect the cognitive structures of mediated, resulting in responses or unsystematic and sporadic actions, not allowing, thus, their

behavior is prepared accurately and adjusted. If the interaction is lacking in media coverage, the mediated tends to be more disorganized, more impulsive, less reflective, less adapted to situations and future learning, still defends the author. Still in perspective by Vítor da Fonseca, the author says the mediatizador has a key role in the mediation process is once from its intentionality that is possible during the process of transmission of knowledge. In this process, the mediatizador intervenes in mental processes mediated by building it cognitive structures that will become more independent and more active generator of information.

The results of the study support the cognitive potential for learning is effectively changed and developed with the presence of a mediator to facilitate, promote, optimize and stimulate cognitive functions. Furthermore, these results also suggest that there are benefits in terms of stimulation and cognitive enrichment, there is a systematic training based on specific exercises, didactic-instrumental materials. The results corroborate the conceptualizations and empirical studies that affirm the importance of the learning experience mediated as promoter of the changeability of a given cognitive potential. The Sebenta MegaMente and Compêndio AptaMente are resulting from this study and intend to fit as psycho-pedagogical tools targeted to those who manifest some sort of cognitive impairment content. They also intend to function as support tools for professionals or families dealing with the population to express this kind of specific problems. They are instruments of theoretical and practical nature that include several proposals for intervention, facilitation and promotion of cognitive skills specific to the public it is intended, in order to support and facilitate relational and interventional practice of all those who deal with the difference. These instruments are direct to a wide age range. The ages intended lie between 7 and 18 years of age, provided their functional profile manifest a lower efficiency level of cognitive processing, since the constant cognitive challenges in these works aim to: (1) Enhance the capabilities of the individual considered in cognitive disadvantage with a view to overcoming oneself; (2) Aim for


37

the achievement of a more effective human being, independent and cognitively more adapted; (3) To promote and stimulate a whole range of cognitive character skills, crucial to the healthy development of each being, in terms of the range of maximum functionality, training and qualification, and by extension, their effective inclusion. These two psychopedagogic instruments - understood here as an instrumental duality - require the involvement of an Educator (psychologist, special education teacher, teacher, parent, therapist or other element) that oportunize whole process of mediation as a component enhancing the proficiency cognitive subjects to whom these challenges are addressed - understood here as the elements of a cognitive triangulation: 1-subject teaching being, 2-learner and subject psychopedagogic 3instruments. The Sebenta MegaMente is a psychoeducational tool for the people with Special Needs or Learning Disabilities. This instrument presents 105 cognitive challenges of a practical nature with a view to enrichment, stimulation, rehabilitation and training of the cognitive potential of this specific population. This instrument offers a variety of cognitive nature challenges, whose understanding, plan action, implementation and solution seeks to produce in mind a variety of cognitive skills, basic to the process of learning, such as focusing and maintaining attention; understanding and deduction; organization, speed and verbalization of thought; visual perception; hearing acuity; perceptive organization; positions in space; logical reasoning; abstract reasoning; numeracy; spatial relationships; spatial orientation; visual memory; auditory memory; eidetic memory; graphic-symbolic reading; graphicsymbolic register; visual and motor coordination, flexibility and cognitive adaptability; among countless other skills.

The Compêndio AptaMente is a psychoeducational tool designed to support educators (teachers, special education teachers, psychologists, therapists, parents and other elements), dealing with the people with Special Educational Needs or Learning Disabilities. These two books bring together a series of cognitive challenges of a practical nature, which seek enrichment, stimulation, rehabilitation and

cognitive potential of training of the population considered in cognitive disadvantage. These books have Professor’s foreword Vítor da Fonseca - Aggregated Professor at the Lisbon University. Psycho-educational consultant - whose life and work are of great importance in this area of study, either at national or at international level. These books consist of I volume of this collection.

Keywords: Sebenta MegaMente – Compêndio AptaMente, cognition, learning, cognitive enrichment, cognitive stimulation, cognitive changeability, cognitive potential, Special Education, Special Needs Education, Learning Disabilities.

Understanding to read. Reading to understand. A teaching and intervention program in reading comprehension for the 2nd year of the 1st cycle of Basic Education Fernandes, T. F. & Viana, F. L.; Portugal


Abstract Reading is one of the main learnings made by the children on the 1st cycle of Basic Education The studies about literacy level, in which Portugal has participated (PISA 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2015, IEA 1989, 1992, PIRLS 2011 AND 2015), have revealed difficulties on reading comprehension level. Understanding what is being read does not naturally happen after the code domain. It demands the specific and systematized teaching by the one who teaches, as well as the conscious desire by the one who learns. Knowing the underlying processes of the learning of reading is crucial for an adaptation of education and prevention of learning difficulties in this domain. In this communication, it will be presented the program “Understanding to read. Reading to understand” for pupils of 2nd year


38

of Basic Education, structured in accordance with the underlying theoretical ratio of the program Learning to understand makes it easier to know (Viana et al. 2010). Being this program for pupils of the 2nd year of 1st Cycle of Basic Education, the first part is essentially directed towards the understanding of texts presented in oral form. The tasks and the corresponding classification by comprehension levels are developed according to Catala, Catala, Molina & Monclus (2001) taxonomy – literal comprehension, inferential comprehension, information reorganization and critical understanding. It will be also released preliminary data of the evaluation of its implementation in four schools of the Autonomous Region of Madeira.

Key Words: Reading, Reading Comprehension, Intervention Program.

Rorschach study on children with enuresis and their mothers Abreu, S.; Rua, A. & Ferreira, J.; Portugal

Topic: Clinical Psychology

The work focuses on an exploratory research on the personality profile of children with enuresis and their mothers. The objective was analyze the data from the comprehensive system of Rorschach - Exner, in order to investigate the characteristics that stand out to improve clinical practice.

Keywords: Rorschach, enuresis; mothers, children, personality profile, clinical practice.

The intervention of the Angolan Clinical Psychologist viewed under socio-historic factors towards culture and religion Sebastião, J.; Angola


This work is based on the intervention of the Angolan Clinic Psychologist view under socio-historic factors towards culture and religion.

The Culture is seen to be a set of creed, habits and uses that involves art (music, dance, and painting, dressing) and food, which characterizes people and society. Africa is a continent with a very strong cultural heritage and Angola, in a certain way a mirror of this reality. Its people have its origin in various ethnical groups (Kongo, Khoisan) with five different languages and unnumbered linguistic interferences.

On its side the Religion can be described as a set of cultural principles including creed and rituals (organized behaviors), based on sacred books that put together followers in a moral community called “Church”. According to the Angolan professional reality, cultural and religious factors play a big influence in the placement, acceptance and development in the clinical practice.

Keywords: Psychological intervention; Socio–historic; Culture and Religion.


39

Psychological Assistance in Shelter Female Blue Horizon - Luanda Quinga, I. & Sebastião, J.; Angola

Topic; Clinical Psychology

Under the supervision of Dr. Josina Quitumba Sebastião, from August 2015 to January 2016 we have followed 87 (eighty-seven) shelter users, girls aged between six (6) and 24 (twenty four) years of age in the Welcome Center Female Horizon Blue. The children come from various parts of the country and are placed for the following reasons: orphanhood; victims of rape practiced by parents, stepparents, relatives, close family, neighbors or strangers (offenders or pedophiles); child abandonment by parents and other family members (grandparents, uncles, older siblings) because they are being accused of sorcery; and on request of the family because they lack basic conditions of living and much less to support school expenses. We perform the following acts: Psychological tests - projective and personality (Rorschach, pfister HTP) and neuropsychological research Battery (BIN). Assessment and testing concluded that most of the girls present: Low self-esteem, emotional problems and cognitive problems, and consequently, learning difficulties.

Keywords: Psychological assistance; Children; Psychological tests - projective and personality; Qualification.

Unprotected children and victims of witchcraft Sapalo, P. & Jerónimo, S.; Angola


The Children’s Shelter Arnold Janssen is an institution that provides support services to children at risk. It was founded in 1993 under management of the Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) is a congregation founded by German priest Arnold Janssen, with the full support of the Government of Luanda Province, National Children Institute (INAC), Archdiocese of Luanda, Missionaries Servants of the Holy Spirit. It is located in the province of Luanda, urban district of Kilamba -kiaxi, Palanca neighborhood, street Pedro de Castro Van-Dunem Loy.

Currently the Shelter Children Arnoldus (CACAJ) is a non-governmental organization Angola, philanthropic character. In 2011 was published in the Official Gazette, III Serie No. 229, of November 29, 2011 under the name of Association, Children Welcome Centre Arnoldus abbreviated CACAJ. Which aims to “promote the life and the rights of children with a view to their autonomy and reintegration in families and in society.”

The CACAJ houses children and adolescents aged between 7 and 22 years male gender, driven out, abandoned or have fled their homes and some are forwarded by the trial of minors, MINARS (Ministry of Assistance and Social Reinsertion), INAC (Institute national children), national Police, and mostly children of families living in Luanda, although most of these families are coming from the provinces of Uíge, Zaire and the Democratic Republic of Congo. These children come to the center because of the situation of abandonment, begging, witchcraft accusation, abuse and disease, etc.

To allow for greater and better recovery of children and adolescents living in the center, as


40

our training in postgraduate structured programs Evaluation and Psychological Intervention in order to allow the comings street children and other social contexts have the opportunity to go shaping your positive and socially acceptable way personality, and can regain their consciences.

Keyword: Children unprotected

What children and youth think about politics? Aguiar, M. S.; Ferreira, J., & Costa, C.; Portugal


Children’s and adolescents’ knowledge about politics is a topic that attracts attention of curious people and also some recent research. This study aims to capture the change and, particularly, the developmental stability of social representation about politics, by identifying the components or categories of knowledge that define the political awareness of Portuguese children and adolescents. We set two complementary hypotheses. As product of cognitive activity the representation of politics changes with development; this, justifies the assessment of age levels that, according to piagetian description, correspond to preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational thinking. Therefore, as product of socio-cultural learning, the knowledge or political conscience keeps stable characteristics throughout development; this fact reflects, in vygotskian description, the representation internalized by children and youth trough socialization with family, school, media or general society. To test these hypotheses, we inquired three groups of 5-6, 8-10 and 13-14 years olds, male and female, attending public and private schools in Lisbon (Portugal), on four dimensions of political action, the politicians and their functions, the electoral activity, the pluralism of parties and opinions and the governance systems. The answers were classified, compared and described by

using content analysis system of non-exclusive categories. The results seem consistent with second hypothesis, suggesting that, regardless of age, the election and voting, that characterize our political system, and the management or governance are systematically the most frequent categories; on the contrary, the attribution of pro-social and moral behavior to politicians remains very infrequent.

Keywords: Political conscience; Political conscience development; Cultural-historical theory.

Meaning analysis of youth and emergent adulthood life goals Ferreira J.; Portugal


Human development takes place by social mediation processes that enable the dialectical synthesis between individuals and environment, cultural and historically defined. Through this dialectic individuals will be appropriating available social materializations which are organized by a cultural code - language. As socially shared categories, these products carry linguistic meanings that enable the construction of individual uniqueness. This construction happens by transformation of meanings in psychological self-mechanisms, which allows voluntary regulation of human activity. These psychological self-mechanisms are sense categories that guide functioning of consciousness and include cognitive, emotional and motivational components. Therefore, access individual subjectivity of persons involves observing sense categories that will organizing personality. The meaning core methodology is one of the most qualified tools for this kind of analysis. Although geared for personalistic analysis, we used this methodology to investigate sense categories of a collective formed by adolescents and emerging adulthoods. Aim was to find the sense categories are being used by


41

contemporary youth to define their life goals. Current society provides socialization modes less determined by natural agents like family and school, and more submitted to media and new technologies influence. The diversity of options offered by this new socializers hinders search and selection processes of core references to personality formation. Moreover, while socioeconomic instability undermines youth’s vision of future, orientation to individualism and hedonism chain themselves to immediate present. This socio-historical context weakens the constructionist nature of human activity. Investigate what life goals organize adolescents (160) and emerging adults (160) allows us to understand what sense categories are framing their personality. Analysis allowed to find four sense categories, adult life, quality of life, personality and egocentric self, similar related in both age groups. From adolescence that youth’s meaning of life is monitored by aspects most socially perceived, like adult life and well-being, as same time that devalue aspects more important for uniqueness definition, like personality. This evidences shows the weakness of contemporary modes of socialization and the youth’s ability deficit to proactively make up their uniqueness.

Keywords: life goals, adolescents and emergent adulthood, core meaning analysis methodology, cultural historical psychology

Personality in Analysis - Study of Emerging Adulthood Lopes, V. & Ferreira, J.; Portugal

Topic: Clinical Psychologist

Adaptation to social changes of recent decades has transformed transition to adulthood in a long developmental period, between ages of 18 to 30, called Emerging Adulthood. This period are characterized by identity seeking, self-

focus, glimpse of possibilities and instability. We analyzed personality characteristics of a clinical sample of 93 individuals with ages between 18 and 30 years old and without psychotic disorders or deficits in survival alert mechanisms. Results showed that beyond presence of coping resources participants have high levels of stress, poor self-analysis and self-awareness, problems in cognitive flexibility, difficulty initiating relationships and connect emotionally to people outside the family, low self-esteem, empathy, and assertiveness. These results show that their suffering are related with personality analysis where it stands out difficulties of binding to others and identity exploitation.

Keywords: Personality; Emerging Adulthood; Rorschach-Exner Comprehensive System

The contribution of neuropsychological for medicalization process in public schools of brazilian center-west Costa, V. B. & Parreira, G. G.;Brazil


This study aims to know the beliefs of members of the school community about learning disabilities that get along with elementary school students from 10 public schools in the city of Goiânia in Brazilian Central-West understanding how neuropsychology takes part in the consolidation of these beliefs. This interest refers to the need for a critical analysis of the medicalization process supported by neuropsychological model restricted to the understanding of unlinked neurobiological functioning of the socio-cultural context. In Brazil 13% of children between 10 and 14 has more than two years of school delay with great variation between regions; and approximately 40% of children in early literacy


42

series have learning difficulties due to: lack social opportunity, very stimulating cultural environment, socio economic disadvantages, gaps in access to education and appropriate teaching methods, several neurobiological factors. In the case of these significant data, which raise deserving issues of careful analysis of the factors mentioned as responsible for school delay frame, since these are against the present medicalization process in the educational context and considered one of the factors responsible for school failure as a result of disturbances or obstacles that affect the individual in isolation. The daily school deals with speeches that reflect the belief of teachers, coordinators, principals and parents, about the connection between neurological problems, psychiatric and learning difficulties. This way the most quoted are Conduct Disorder, Deficit Disorder Attention and Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. This scenario supports the myopic view of the individual and biological perspective as only explanatory forms of human phenomena so complex. In this study, understanding the biological basis of human behavior as psychological phenomenon assumes that itis mediated by the cortex, as an integrated part of the brain, undergoes structural changes from its relationship with the social context, and therefore is an organ with the ability to learn from the beginning to the end of its existence. This perspective recovers the idea of a social brain, thought by Vygostsky’s Sociohistorical-cultural Theory which integrates the biological and psychological aspects to sociocultural. Thus sets up the need to draw a neuropsychological model that is able to meet and reflect the reality around which the learning difficulty is presented in the school context. So, knowing the historical development of neuropsychology and its epistemological axes favors the professionals related to education and health, a critical reflection on the medicalization process, minimizing its effects in a broader social context. The job is being done in the schools participating in the Supervised Internship Project in School Psychology, University Salgado de Oliveira in partnership with the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Goiás - IFG, through qualitative

research with semi-interview structured and participant observation; all anchored in the Vygotsky’s books and periodicals of academic-scientific basis. For the analysis and treatment of empirical material will be used the Bardin’s method content analysis - categorization strategy to confirm the indicators to infer another reality than the message.

Keywords: school learning, neuropsychological evaluation, medicalization, sociohistorical-cultural theory


44

45

AAbreu, S. 38Aires, J.Q. 13Anokhin, V. K. 23Ardila, A. 12

BBastos , F. 35Borges, I. 29

CCardis, E. 34César, M. 29, 33Costa, C. 40Costa, V. B. 41

DDias, A. 33

FFernandes, T. F. 37Ferreira, J. 30, 31, 38, 40, 41

GGlozman, J. 14

JJerónimo, S. 39

KKotik-Friedgut, B. 17

LLiutsko, L. 34Lopes, V. 41

MMachado, R. 29Matos, J. M. 29, 33

NNewnham, D. S. 30Nourkova, V. 18

OOksana, I. 32Oksana, M. 31

PParreira, G. G. 41Puente, A. E. 11

QQuinga, I. 39

RRita Leal Autism 25Robbins, D. 22Rua, A. 30, 38

SSapalo, P. 39Saraiva, A. B. 31Sebastião, J. 39Skitnevskaya, L. V. 31Subbotsky, E. 21

VVentura, C. 33Veresov, N. 20Viana, F. L. 37Volkova, E. 32Volkova, E. N. 31Volkova, I. 31

YYasnitky, A. 15

Author Index

The Next ESTORIL VIGOTSKY CONFERENCE will be held in June 2018

Follow us at estorilvigostkyconference.com

This event was organized by :

estoril vigotsky conference 2016 - wordpress.com · 2018. 2. 13. · vigotsky in the 21th century...

Documents