In contrast to mainstream accounts which explain the aesthetic experience of people with autism s... more In contrast to mainstream accounts which explain the aesthetic experience of people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in terms of cognitive abilities, this paper suggests as an alternative explanation the “emotional abilities approach”. We present an example of a person with ASD who is able to exercise a variety of emotional abilities in aesthetic contexts but who has difficulties exhibiting their equivalents in interpersonal relations. Using an autobiographical account, we demonstrate first that there is at least one precedent where a person with ASD can exercise a series of emotional abilities when engaging with art works. Second, we offer also an explanation about why aesthetic contexts might enable this person to exercise emotional abilities which in interpersonal contexts seem to be blocked.
OBJECTIVE We examined time perspective in patients with amnesic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI).... more OBJECTIVE We examined time perspective in patients with amnesic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Prior research has shown that aMCI is associated with difficulties in experiencing time duration and succession. However, this line of inquiry has not been extended to time perspective. We examined associations between aMCI and multiple dimensions of time perspective including perceived orientations and relationships among the past, present, and future. METHOD Thirty aMCI patients and thirty-three healthy controls participated. Measures were the Time Orientation Scale (TOS), the Time Relation Scale (TRS), and the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI), as well as a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation. RESULTS The TRS was associated with aMCI. Patients with aMCI were more likely to perceive that time was unrelated than the healthy older adults. Among patients with aMCI, an unrelated time perspective was associated with poorer performance in executive function measures. However, aMCI was not associated with the TOS or the ZTPI. CONCLUSIONS Patients with aMCI have difficulty in perceiving relationships among the past, present, and future. This could be the consequence of deficits in executive functions. This research suggests that patients with aMCI may have limited understanding for how their current behaviours are related to both their past and future.
Logics with analogous semantics, such as Fuzzy Logic, have a number of explanatory and applicatio... more Logics with analogous semantics, such as Fuzzy Logic, have a number of explanatory and application advantages, the most well-known being the ability to help experts develop control systems. From a cognitive systems perspective, such languages also have the advantage of being grounded in perception. For social decision making in humans, it is vital that logical conclusions about others (cognitive empathy) are grounded in empathic emotion (affective empathy). Classical Fuzzy Logic, however, has several disadvantages: it is not obvious how complex formulae, e.g., the description of events in a text, can be (a) formed, (b) grounded, and (c) used in logical reasoning. The two-layered Context Logic (CL) was designed to address these issue. Formally based on a lattice semantics, like classical Fuzzy Logic, CL also features an analogous semantics for complex fomulae. With the Activation Bit Vector Machine (ABVM), it has a simple and classical logical reasoning mechanism with an inherent ima...
Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 2016
Patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may make suboptimal decisions particularly in compl... more Patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may make suboptimal decisions particularly in complex situations, and this could be due to temporal discounting, the tendency to prefer immediate rewards over delayed but larger rewards. The present study proposes to evaluate intertemporal preferences in MCI patients as compared to healthy controls. Fifty-five patients with MCI and 57 healthy controls underwent neuropsychological evaluation and a delay discounting questionnaire, which evaluates three parameters: hyperbolic discounting (k), the percentage of choices for delayed and later rewards (%LL), and response consistency (Acc). No significant differences were found in the delay discounting questionnaire between MCI patients and controls for the three reward sizes considered, small, medium, and large, using both k and %LL parameters. There were also no differences in the response consistency, Acc, between the two groups. Patients with MCI perform similarly to healthy controls in a delay discounting task. Memory deficits do not notably affect intertemporal preferences.
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 2016
ObjectivesPatients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may have difficulties in time perception,... more ObjectivesPatients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may have difficulties in time perception, which in turn might contribute to some of their symptoms, especially memory deficits. The aim of this study was to evaluate perception of interval length and subjective passage of time in MCI patients as compared to healthy controls.MethodsFifty-five MCI patients and 57 healthy controls underwent an experimental protocol for time perception on interval length, a questionnaire for the subjective passage of time and a neuropsychological evaluation.ResultsMCI patients presented no changes in the perception of interval length. However, for MCI patients, time seemed to pass more slowly than it did for controls. This experience was significantly correlated with memory deficits but not with performance in executive tests, nor with complaints of depression or anxiety.ConclusionsMemory deficits do not affect the perception of interval length, but are associated with alterations in the subjective...
This research intends to show that a morally perfect person should still feel negative moral emot... more This research intends to show that a morally perfect person should still feel negative moral emotions about him or herself, such as guilt, shame or humility. With this purpose in mind, we compare the feelings of the ideal person for Aristotle, to the feelings of the ideal person for Hume, based on the moral dilemma faced by Michael Berg, the main character of Schlink's novel The Reader. We conclude that whatever Michael's decision , he would feel negative moral emotions.
In contrast to mainstream accounts which explain the aesthetic experience of people with autism s... more In contrast to mainstream accounts which explain the aesthetic experience of people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in terms of cognitive abilities, this paper suggests as an alternative explanation the “emotional abilities approach”. We present an example of a person with ASD who is able to exercise a variety of emotional abilities in aesthetic contexts but who has difficulties exhibiting their equivalents in interpersonal relations. Using an autobiographical account, we demonstrate first that there is at least one precedent where a person with ASD can exercise a series of emotional abilities when engaging with art works. Second, we offer also an explanation about why aesthetic contexts might enable this person to exercise emotional abilities which in interpersonal contexts seem to be blocked.
OBJECTIVE We examined time perspective in patients with amnesic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI).... more OBJECTIVE We examined time perspective in patients with amnesic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Prior research has shown that aMCI is associated with difficulties in experiencing time duration and succession. However, this line of inquiry has not been extended to time perspective. We examined associations between aMCI and multiple dimensions of time perspective including perceived orientations and relationships among the past, present, and future. METHOD Thirty aMCI patients and thirty-three healthy controls participated. Measures were the Time Orientation Scale (TOS), the Time Relation Scale (TRS), and the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI), as well as a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation. RESULTS The TRS was associated with aMCI. Patients with aMCI were more likely to perceive that time was unrelated than the healthy older adults. Among patients with aMCI, an unrelated time perspective was associated with poorer performance in executive function measures. However, aMCI was not associated with the TOS or the ZTPI. CONCLUSIONS Patients with aMCI have difficulty in perceiving relationships among the past, present, and future. This could be the consequence of deficits in executive functions. This research suggests that patients with aMCI may have limited understanding for how their current behaviours are related to both their past and future.
Logics with analogous semantics, such as Fuzzy Logic, have a number of explanatory and applicatio... more Logics with analogous semantics, such as Fuzzy Logic, have a number of explanatory and application advantages, the most well-known being the ability to help experts develop control systems. From a cognitive systems perspective, such languages also have the advantage of being grounded in perception. For social decision making in humans, it is vital that logical conclusions about others (cognitive empathy) are grounded in empathic emotion (affective empathy). Classical Fuzzy Logic, however, has several disadvantages: it is not obvious how complex formulae, e.g., the description of events in a text, can be (a) formed, (b) grounded, and (c) used in logical reasoning. The two-layered Context Logic (CL) was designed to address these issue. Formally based on a lattice semantics, like classical Fuzzy Logic, CL also features an analogous semantics for complex fomulae. With the Activation Bit Vector Machine (ABVM), it has a simple and classical logical reasoning mechanism with an inherent ima...
Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 2016
Patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may make suboptimal decisions particularly in compl... more Patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may make suboptimal decisions particularly in complex situations, and this could be due to temporal discounting, the tendency to prefer immediate rewards over delayed but larger rewards. The present study proposes to evaluate intertemporal preferences in MCI patients as compared to healthy controls. Fifty-five patients with MCI and 57 healthy controls underwent neuropsychological evaluation and a delay discounting questionnaire, which evaluates three parameters: hyperbolic discounting (k), the percentage of choices for delayed and later rewards (%LL), and response consistency (Acc). No significant differences were found in the delay discounting questionnaire between MCI patients and controls for the three reward sizes considered, small, medium, and large, using both k and %LL parameters. There were also no differences in the response consistency, Acc, between the two groups. Patients with MCI perform similarly to healthy controls in a delay discounting task. Memory deficits do not notably affect intertemporal preferences.
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 2016
ObjectivesPatients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may have difficulties in time perception,... more ObjectivesPatients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may have difficulties in time perception, which in turn might contribute to some of their symptoms, especially memory deficits. The aim of this study was to evaluate perception of interval length and subjective passage of time in MCI patients as compared to healthy controls.MethodsFifty-five MCI patients and 57 healthy controls underwent an experimental protocol for time perception on interval length, a questionnaire for the subjective passage of time and a neuropsychological evaluation.ResultsMCI patients presented no changes in the perception of interval length. However, for MCI patients, time seemed to pass more slowly than it did for controls. This experience was significantly correlated with memory deficits but not with performance in executive tests, nor with complaints of depression or anxiety.ConclusionsMemory deficits do not affect the perception of interval length, but are associated with alterations in the subjective...
This research intends to show that a morally perfect person should still feel negative moral emot... more This research intends to show that a morally perfect person should still feel negative moral emotions about him or herself, such as guilt, shame or humility. With this purpose in mind, we compare the feelings of the ideal person for Aristotle, to the feelings of the ideal person for Hume, based on the moral dilemma faced by Michael Berg, the main character of Schlink's novel The Reader. We conclude that whatever Michael's decision , he would feel negative moral emotions.
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