Sandro Rubichi - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Sandro Rubichi
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Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 1996
This study aimed to assess the relationships among depression level, memory and metamemory scores... more This study aimed to assess the relationships among depression level, memory and metamemory scores on a large sample of elderly subjects (139 men and 147 women). Preliminary examination showed that none of the sampled subjects had intellectual impairment (as assessed by means of the Mini-Mental State Examination) or neuropsychiatric symptoms. Each subject was administered the Randt Memory Test (RMT), the Sehulster Memory Scale (SMS) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). A Multivariate Analysis of Covariance revealed a negative influence of depression on the two RMT measures (Acquisition-Recall: AR; Delayed Memory: DM) and on the three SMS measures (Set1: self-comparison; Set2: memory complaints; Set3: peer comparison), and of age on AR and DM, and Set1 and Set2. A Multivariate Regression Analysis showed that DM scores were positively correlated with Set2 in men and women, and with Set1 in women and Set3 in men, whereas AR scores related to Set2 and Set3 in men and Set1 in women. In addition, depression influenced negatively Set1, Set2 and AR scores in both men and women and DM scores only in men. On the whole, the results suggest that depression, memory and metamemory are rather closely related in non-severely depressed older individuals, albeit with slightly different patterns in men and women, and that some areas of metamemory are congruent with objective functioning regardless of the level of depressive symptoms.
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Experimental Brain Research, 2011
Two experiments were conducted to assess whether the emergence of shared representations, as inde... more Two experiments were conducted to assess whether the emergence of shared representations, as indexed by the joint Simon effect, is modulated by perceived group membership. In both experiments, participants were required to perform a Simon task along another person who was perceived as belonging either to the same group or to a different group. In Experiment 1, ingroup–outgroup discrimination was obtained by dividing participants into two groups based on a superficial criterion; in Experiment 2, it was obtained by manipulating the interdependence experienced by the two acting individuals. The mere social categorization of co-acting participants into groups did not modulate the joint Simon effect which was observed even when participants believed to perform the task along with an individual belonging to a different social group (Experiment 1). On the contrary, the effect was modulated by perceived interdependence, with a null effect when participants experienced negative interdependence (Experiment 2). These results suggest that when acting in a social context, by default, individuals may perceive positive interdependence with co-acting individuals, even when cooperation is not explicitly requested.
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Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology-revue Canadienne De Psychologie Experimentale, 2007
In this study we investigated in a Simon-like task whether task-irrelevant spatial information, d... more In this study we investigated in a Simon-like task whether task-irrelevant spatial information, delivered by centrally presented patterns, interfered with response selection in the same way as laterally presented stimuli. Second, we asked whether such interference was equal for different kinds of stimuli. Participants were required to respond to the colour of two framed squares, two arrows, or two schematic eyes by pressing one of two lateralized response keys. The results consistently show that the Simon effect occurs independently of the nature of the stimulus, as classically reported for lateralized stimuli. Response times were influenced by the direction and frame-relative position of the stimuli, being faster for responses corresponding to the direction indicated by the stimuli than for noncorresponding responses regardless of stimulus types. Contrary to findings with lateralized nondirectional stimuli, such an effect increased with increasing RTs indicating that for centrally presented patterns the extraction of spatial information is time consuming.
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Neuroscience Letters, 2007
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Attention Perception & Psychophysics, 2006
In two experiments, the relation between handedness and the size of the Simon effect in each visu... more In two experiments, the relation between handedness and the size of the Simon effect in each visual hemifield was investigated. Experiment 1 showed that the Simon effect was larger in the right visual hemifield in right-handers and in the left visual hemifield in left-handers, whereas ambidextrous individuals showed a symmetric Simon effect. In Experiment 2, participants performed the same Simon task as in Experiment 1, but with their hands crossed. The right- and left-handed groups showed a reversed pattern of results with respect to Experiment 1. We explained this phenomenon as a part of a more general account in which perception and action are embedded in a perception-for-action system. In this system, an attentional bias originating from the field of operation of the dominant hand would be at the basis of the relationship between the asymmetry of the Simon effect and handedness.
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Psychological Research-psychologische Forschung, 2000
The study investigated whether the Simon effect, and its facilitation and interference component... more The study investigated whether the Simon effect, and its facilitation and interference components, shows up in reaction time (RT) or in movement time (MT), depending on the response strategy. Experiment 1 replicated a study by Hietanen and Rämä. Subjects had to press one of two lateralised keys in response to one of two stimuli. The stimuli were presented in the center (neutral condition) or to the left or right side (corresponding or non-corresponding conditions). To press the response key, a reaching movement was necessary, and both RT and MT were recorded. One group of subjects showed an RT facilitation effect and an MT interference effect. Another group of subjects showed both MT facilitation and MT interference effects. It was hypothesized that the two groups used different response strategies. In Exps. 2 and 3, the subjects were explicitly instructed to use the two strategies that were hypothesized for Exp. 1. The results showed that whether facilitation and interference manifest themselves in RT or MT depends on the response strategy adopted by the subjects.
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Aphasiology, 1996
We examined the issue of right cerebral hemisphere (RH) participation in sentential syntax proces... more We examined the issue of right cerebral hemisphere (RH) participation in sentential syntax processing. A modified version of the Insertion Task of Schneiderman and Saddy 88) was administered to eight right hemisphere brain-damaged (RHD), eight left hemisphere brain-damage (LHD) and 28 right-handed control (CTR) subjects: 28 word/syntagm insertions required role reassignment of a lexical item in the stimulus sentence (Shift);
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Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 1998
The evaluation of a patient's mental state, overall clinical profile and behavioural dist... more The evaluation of a patient's mental state, overall clinical profile and behavioural disturbance in the process of diagnosing dementia requires at least two sources of information: the patient and the informant. Since the severity of the dementia may interfere with the subjective perception of these disorders, it is important to evaluate the consistency between these two sources of information and the clinical and psychometric evaluation made by the physician. Accordingly, in this study five behavioural areas, derived from the semi-structured interview schedule provided by the Cambridge Examination for Mental Disorders of the Elderly (CAMDEX, i.e., Sleep, Depressed Mood, Everyday Activity, Memory and Global Mental Functioning) have been tested on the patient and his/her informant. Eighty dementia patients (mean age = 74 years) and their informants participated in the study. The dementia group was subdivided into two levels of severity according to DSM-IIIR criteria: 41 with mild dementia and 39 with moderate dementia, respectively, matched for age and schooling. The rating of impairment was found to increase along with the severity of dementia in all the above-mentioned areas, except for sleep. However, the source of information per se significantly influenced the evaluation of memory functioning. Moreover, the significant interaction between the two factors considered indicates that memory functioning is evaluated quite differently by the patients and the informants, as only in the assessment made by the latter group did the impairment increase in parallel with severity of dementia. Finally, whereas none of the subjective measures recorded in the patients were significantly correlated with their test scores, the correlations between the informant memory appraisals and patient test results proved to be significant. The present findings confirm the validity of informant reports in assessing cognitive and memory disorders in early-stage dementia, as well as in distinguishing patients with mild from those with moderate dementia.
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Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 1998
The present study compares the sensitivity and specificity of the short and full forms of the Cam... more The present study compares the sensitivity and specificity of the short and full forms of the Cambridge Examination for Mental Disorders of the Elderly (CAMDEX) interview in diagnosing dementia. We tested 73 subjects meeting DSM-IIIR criteria for dementia and 61 matched controls. The short version was applied 3 months after the full one to guarantee a relative stability of the tested functions. Referred to an independent clinical rating made at the beginning of the study, the levels of sensitivity and specificity were not significantly different in the two forms and fully comparable with those of the original full English version. Moreover, the scores on analogous sections of the two versions were highly correlated in the demented and control groups. These findings support the hypothesis that the short form of the CAMDEX maintains the psychometric properties of the full one, and consequently can be used in diagnostic routines for a variety of clinical and research purposes.
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Cognitive Brain Research, 2001
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Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Cognition, 2010
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Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 1996
This study aimed to assess the relationships among depression level, memory and metamemory scores... more This study aimed to assess the relationships among depression level, memory and metamemory scores on a large sample of elderly subjects (139 men and 147 women). Preliminary examination showed that none of the sampled subjects had intellectual impairment (as assessed by means of the Mini-Mental State Examination) or neuropsychiatric symptoms. Each subject was administered the Randt Memory Test (RMT), the Sehulster Memory Scale (SMS) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). A Multivariate Analysis of Covariance revealed a negative influence of depression on the two RMT measures (Acquisition-Recall: AR; Delayed Memory: DM) and on the three SMS measures (Set1: self-comparison; Set2: memory complaints; Set3: peer comparison), and of age on AR and DM, and Set1 and Set2. A Multivariate Regression Analysis showed that DM scores were positively correlated with Set2 in men and women, and with Set1 in women and Set3 in men, whereas AR scores related to Set2 and Set3 in men and Set1 in women. In addition, depression influenced negatively Set1, Set2 and AR scores in both men and women and DM scores only in men. On the whole, the results suggest that depression, memory and metamemory are rather closely related in non-severely depressed older individuals, albeit with slightly different patterns in men and women, and that some areas of metamemory are congruent with objective functioning regardless of the level of depressive symptoms.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 2004
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Experimental Brain Research, 2011
Two experiments were conducted to assess whether the emergence of shared representations, as inde... more Two experiments were conducted to assess whether the emergence of shared representations, as indexed by the joint Simon effect, is modulated by perceived group membership. In both experiments, participants were required to perform a Simon task along another person who was perceived as belonging either to the same group or to a different group. In Experiment 1, ingroup–outgroup discrimination was obtained by dividing participants into two groups based on a superficial criterion; in Experiment 2, it was obtained by manipulating the interdependence experienced by the two acting individuals. The mere social categorization of co-acting participants into groups did not modulate the joint Simon effect which was observed even when participants believed to perform the task along with an individual belonging to a different social group (Experiment 1). On the contrary, the effect was modulated by perceived interdependence, with a null effect when participants experienced negative interdependence (Experiment 2). These results suggest that when acting in a social context, by default, individuals may perceive positive interdependence with co-acting individuals, even when cooperation is not explicitly requested.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Consciousness and Cognition, 2005
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology-revue Canadienne De Psychologie Experimentale, 2007
In this study we investigated in a Simon-like task whether task-irrelevant spatial information, d... more In this study we investigated in a Simon-like task whether task-irrelevant spatial information, delivered by centrally presented patterns, interfered with response selection in the same way as laterally presented stimuli. Second, we asked whether such interference was equal for different kinds of stimuli. Participants were required to respond to the colour of two framed squares, two arrows, or two schematic eyes by pressing one of two lateralized response keys. The results consistently show that the Simon effect occurs independently of the nature of the stimulus, as classically reported for lateralized stimuli. Response times were influenced by the direction and frame-relative position of the stimuli, being faster for responses corresponding to the direction indicated by the stimuli than for noncorresponding responses regardless of stimulus types. Contrary to findings with lateralized nondirectional stimuli, such an effect increased with increasing RTs indicating that for centrally presented patterns the extraction of spatial information is time consuming.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Journal of Experimental Psychology-human Perception and Performance, 1997
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Neuroscience Letters, 2007
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 1996
This study aimed to assess the relationships among depression level, memory and metamemory scores... more This study aimed to assess the relationships among depression level, memory and metamemory scores on a large sample of elderly subjects (139 men and 147 women). Preliminary examination showed that none of the sampled subjects had intellectual impairment (as assessed by means of the Mini-Mental State Examination) or neuropsychiatric symptoms. Each subject was administered the Randt Memory Test (RMT), the Sehulster Memory Scale (SMS) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). A Multivariate Analysis of Covariance revealed a negative influence of depression on the two RMT measures (Acquisition-Recall: AR; Delayed Memory: DM) and on the three SMS measures (Set1: self-comparison; Set2: memory complaints; Set3: peer comparison), and of age on AR and DM, and Set1 and Set2. A Multivariate Regression Analysis showed that DM scores were positively correlated with Set2 in men and women, and with Set1 in women and Set3 in men, whereas AR scores related to Set2 and Set3 in men and Set1 in women. In addition, depression influenced negatively Set1, Set2 and AR scores in both men and women and DM scores only in men. On the whole, the results suggest that depression, memory and metamemory are rather closely related in non-severely depressed older individuals, albeit with slightly different patterns in men and women, and that some areas of metamemory are congruent with objective functioning regardless of the level of depressive symptoms.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Experimental Brain Research, 2011
Two experiments were conducted to assess whether the emergence of shared representations, as inde... more Two experiments were conducted to assess whether the emergence of shared representations, as indexed by the joint Simon effect, is modulated by perceived group membership. In both experiments, participants were required to perform a Simon task along another person who was perceived as belonging either to the same group or to a different group. In Experiment 1, ingroup–outgroup discrimination was obtained by dividing participants into two groups based on a superficial criterion; in Experiment 2, it was obtained by manipulating the interdependence experienced by the two acting individuals. The mere social categorization of co-acting participants into groups did not modulate the joint Simon effect which was observed even when participants believed to perform the task along with an individual belonging to a different social group (Experiment 1). On the contrary, the effect was modulated by perceived interdependence, with a null effect when participants experienced negative interdependence (Experiment 2). These results suggest that when acting in a social context, by default, individuals may perceive positive interdependence with co-acting individuals, even when cooperation is not explicitly requested.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology-revue Canadienne De Psychologie Experimentale, 2007
In this study we investigated in a Simon-like task whether task-irrelevant spatial information, d... more In this study we investigated in a Simon-like task whether task-irrelevant spatial information, delivered by centrally presented patterns, interfered with response selection in the same way as laterally presented stimuli. Second, we asked whether such interference was equal for different kinds of stimuli. Participants were required to respond to the colour of two framed squares, two arrows, or two schematic eyes by pressing one of two lateralized response keys. The results consistently show that the Simon effect occurs independently of the nature of the stimulus, as classically reported for lateralized stimuli. Response times were influenced by the direction and frame-relative position of the stimuli, being faster for responses corresponding to the direction indicated by the stimuli than for noncorresponding responses regardless of stimulus types. Contrary to findings with lateralized nondirectional stimuli, such an effect increased with increasing RTs indicating that for centrally presented patterns the extraction of spatial information is time consuming.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Neuroscience Letters, 2007
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Attention Perception & Psychophysics, 2006
In two experiments, the relation between handedness and the size of the Simon effect in each visu... more In two experiments, the relation between handedness and the size of the Simon effect in each visual hemifield was investigated. Experiment 1 showed that the Simon effect was larger in the right visual hemifield in right-handers and in the left visual hemifield in left-handers, whereas ambidextrous individuals showed a symmetric Simon effect. In Experiment 2, participants performed the same Simon task as in Experiment 1, but with their hands crossed. The right- and left-handed groups showed a reversed pattern of results with respect to Experiment 1. We explained this phenomenon as a part of a more general account in which perception and action are embedded in a perception-for-action system. In this system, an attentional bias originating from the field of operation of the dominant hand would be at the basis of the relationship between the asymmetry of the Simon effect and handedness.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Psychological Research-psychologische Forschung, 2000
The study investigated whether the Simon effect, and its facilitation and interference component... more The study investigated whether the Simon effect, and its facilitation and interference components, shows up in reaction time (RT) or in movement time (MT), depending on the response strategy. Experiment 1 replicated a study by Hietanen and Rämä. Subjects had to press one of two lateralised keys in response to one of two stimuli. The stimuli were presented in the center (neutral condition) or to the left or right side (corresponding or non-corresponding conditions). To press the response key, a reaching movement was necessary, and both RT and MT were recorded. One group of subjects showed an RT facilitation effect and an MT interference effect. Another group of subjects showed both MT facilitation and MT interference effects. It was hypothesized that the two groups used different response strategies. In Exps. 2 and 3, the subjects were explicitly instructed to use the two strategies that were hypothesized for Exp. 1. The results showed that whether facilitation and interference manifest themselves in RT or MT depends on the response strategy adopted by the subjects.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Aphasiology, 1996
We examined the issue of right cerebral hemisphere (RH) participation in sentential syntax proces... more We examined the issue of right cerebral hemisphere (RH) participation in sentential syntax processing. A modified version of the Insertion Task of Schneiderman and Saddy 88) was administered to eight right hemisphere brain-damaged (RHD), eight left hemisphere brain-damage (LHD) and 28 right-handed control (CTR) subjects: 28 word/syntagm insertions required role reassignment of a lexical item in the stimulus sentence (Shift);
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 1998
The evaluation of a patient's mental state, overall clinical profile and behavioural dist... more The evaluation of a patient's mental state, overall clinical profile and behavioural disturbance in the process of diagnosing dementia requires at least two sources of information: the patient and the informant. Since the severity of the dementia may interfere with the subjective perception of these disorders, it is important to evaluate the consistency between these two sources of information and the clinical and psychometric evaluation made by the physician. Accordingly, in this study five behavioural areas, derived from the semi-structured interview schedule provided by the Cambridge Examination for Mental Disorders of the Elderly (CAMDEX, i.e., Sleep, Depressed Mood, Everyday Activity, Memory and Global Mental Functioning) have been tested on the patient and his/her informant. Eighty dementia patients (mean age = 74 years) and their informants participated in the study. The dementia group was subdivided into two levels of severity according to DSM-IIIR criteria: 41 with mild dementia and 39 with moderate dementia, respectively, matched for age and schooling. The rating of impairment was found to increase along with the severity of dementia in all the above-mentioned areas, except for sleep. However, the source of information per se significantly influenced the evaluation of memory functioning. Moreover, the significant interaction between the two factors considered indicates that memory functioning is evaluated quite differently by the patients and the informants, as only in the assessment made by the latter group did the impairment increase in parallel with severity of dementia. Finally, whereas none of the subjective measures recorded in the patients were significantly correlated with their test scores, the correlations between the informant memory appraisals and patient test results proved to be significant. The present findings confirm the validity of informant reports in assessing cognitive and memory disorders in early-stage dementia, as well as in distinguishing patients with mild from those with moderate dementia.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 1998
The present study compares the sensitivity and specificity of the short and full forms of the Cam... more The present study compares the sensitivity and specificity of the short and full forms of the Cambridge Examination for Mental Disorders of the Elderly (CAMDEX) interview in diagnosing dementia. We tested 73 subjects meeting DSM-IIIR criteria for dementia and 61 matched controls. The short version was applied 3 months after the full one to guarantee a relative stability of the tested functions. Referred to an independent clinical rating made at the beginning of the study, the levels of sensitivity and specificity were not significantly different in the two forms and fully comparable with those of the original full English version. Moreover, the scores on analogous sections of the two versions were highly correlated in the demented and control groups. These findings support the hypothesis that the short form of the CAMDEX maintains the psychometric properties of the full one, and consequently can be used in diagnostic routines for a variety of clinical and research purposes.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Cognitive Brain Research, 2001
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Cognition, 2010
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 1996
This study aimed to assess the relationships among depression level, memory and metamemory scores... more This study aimed to assess the relationships among depression level, memory and metamemory scores on a large sample of elderly subjects (139 men and 147 women). Preliminary examination showed that none of the sampled subjects had intellectual impairment (as assessed by means of the Mini-Mental State Examination) or neuropsychiatric symptoms. Each subject was administered the Randt Memory Test (RMT), the Sehulster Memory Scale (SMS) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). A Multivariate Analysis of Covariance revealed a negative influence of depression on the two RMT measures (Acquisition-Recall: AR; Delayed Memory: DM) and on the three SMS measures (Set1: self-comparison; Set2: memory complaints; Set3: peer comparison), and of age on AR and DM, and Set1 and Set2. A Multivariate Regression Analysis showed that DM scores were positively correlated with Set2 in men and women, and with Set1 in women and Set3 in men, whereas AR scores related to Set2 and Set3 in men and Set1 in women. In addition, depression influenced negatively Set1, Set2 and AR scores in both men and women and DM scores only in men. On the whole, the results suggest that depression, memory and metamemory are rather closely related in non-severely depressed older individuals, albeit with slightly different patterns in men and women, and that some areas of metamemory are congruent with objective functioning regardless of the level of depressive symptoms.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 2004
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Experimental Brain Research, 2011
Two experiments were conducted to assess whether the emergence of shared representations, as inde... more Two experiments were conducted to assess whether the emergence of shared representations, as indexed by the joint Simon effect, is modulated by perceived group membership. In both experiments, participants were required to perform a Simon task along another person who was perceived as belonging either to the same group or to a different group. In Experiment 1, ingroup–outgroup discrimination was obtained by dividing participants into two groups based on a superficial criterion; in Experiment 2, it was obtained by manipulating the interdependence experienced by the two acting individuals. The mere social categorization of co-acting participants into groups did not modulate the joint Simon effect which was observed even when participants believed to perform the task along with an individual belonging to a different social group (Experiment 1). On the contrary, the effect was modulated by perceived interdependence, with a null effect when participants experienced negative interdependence (Experiment 2). These results suggest that when acting in a social context, by default, individuals may perceive positive interdependence with co-acting individuals, even when cooperation is not explicitly requested.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Consciousness and Cognition, 2005
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology-revue Canadienne De Psychologie Experimentale, 2007
In this study we investigated in a Simon-like task whether task-irrelevant spatial information, d... more In this study we investigated in a Simon-like task whether task-irrelevant spatial information, delivered by centrally presented patterns, interfered with response selection in the same way as laterally presented stimuli. Second, we asked whether such interference was equal for different kinds of stimuli. Participants were required to respond to the colour of two framed squares, two arrows, or two schematic eyes by pressing one of two lateralized response keys. The results consistently show that the Simon effect occurs independently of the nature of the stimulus, as classically reported for lateralized stimuli. Response times were influenced by the direction and frame-relative position of the stimuli, being faster for responses corresponding to the direction indicated by the stimuli than for noncorresponding responses regardless of stimulus types. Contrary to findings with lateralized nondirectional stimuli, such an effect increased with increasing RTs indicating that for centrally presented patterns the extraction of spatial information is time consuming.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Journal of Experimental Psychology-human Perception and Performance, 1997
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Neuroscience Letters, 2007
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact