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Mirror neuron system: Mechanisms and functions
Loginova, Alisa ; Nekovářová, Tereza (advisor) ; Petrásek, Tomáš (referee)
Mirror neurons (MN) are a group of neurons with extraordinary visuomotor character. Their activation is connected to an observation of a certain action and its execution, if the action was already in motoric repertoire of the observer. MN were firstly identified in macaque's brain, with later identification in human's brain. The most important structures where we can find the MN are Broca's area located in the inferior part of frontal gyrus (IFG), premotor cortex and superior parietal lobule (SPL). The functions of MN are various, they take part in action understanding, imitation, learning and language. According to present knowledge, they were assigned a role in social cognition - while experiencing empathy and theory of mind (ToM). Empathy can be defined as sharing of another person's emotions. ToM highlights the importance of one's ability to represent metal states of other people, knowledge, wishes and experiences. It leads towards understanding and anticipating of another person's actions. Additionally to MN, amygdala, insula and basal ganglia are also important in processes of social cognition. Impairments of social cognitive skills are in autism, schizophrenia and psychopathy. Key words: mirror neuron system, motor area, social cognition, empathy, theory of mind
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Play style as intentional model in video game players
Hrabec, Ondřej ; Chrz, Vladimír (advisor) ; Klusák, Miroslav (referee) ; Čermák, Ivo (referee)
The present doctoral thesis addresses the insufficient exploration of the concept of play style in current video game player's research. To reach the goal, theoretical framework of style as an intentional model of player's believes and desires is used. The main proposition of this particular paper is based on the presumption that play style works as a tool for predicting opponent's behavior. The research consists of two parts. The first one proposes a categorization which might in greater accuracy explain existing forms of play. The second part researches the topic of intentionality further through the procedural model of style prediction in progaming area, which is exemplified by the video game League of Legends. The results are based on extensive analysis of players' texts, interviews with semiprofessional players, commentators and game journalists. The conclusion implies a significant number of play styles and procedural complexity of recursive theory of mind ("I think about what you think that I think") in the field of video games. Keywords: Play Style, Intentionality, Intentional Model, Metagame, Metacognition, Mindgame, Progaming, Theory of Mind, Player Typology, Video Game
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The effect of Gender on Adolescent's theory of mind
Šalapková, Jana ; Kebza, Vladimír (advisor) ; Stehlík, Luděk (referee)
The main aim of this study is to investigate the effect of gender in adolescent Theory of Mind. The term Theory of Mind (TOM) was introduced more than 30 years ago. Most of the TOM studies investigated Theory of Mind among animals, infants, children and clinical patients. Based on literature review, we know that developmental changes do not stop in childhood but continue through adolescence and into adulthood. Evidently there is a lack of studies on Theory of Mind in adolescents, despite the fact that adolescence is a critical stage for social, emotional and relationship skills. One of the variables important for our research is the effect of gender and gender identity. Gender differences are considered one of the least examined aspects of TOM, and further studies are not specifically aimed to gender-related differences. The tests we employed were Reading Mind in the eyes test (revised version, RMET-R) and Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI). Statistical analysis revealed that older adolescents (17- year old) scored significantly higher than younger (16-year old) on the RMET-R test. There were no significant differences between females and males on the RMET-R test performance results. We found no significant effect of gender identity, feminine traits and familiarity with TOM stimuli in relation to RMET-R...
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Social cognitions of depressive patients
Ševčíková, Marcela ; Výrost, Jozef (advisor) ; Šivicová, Gabriela (referee)
Social cognition - the ability to identify, perceive, and interpret socially relevant information - is an important skill that plays a significant role in successful interpersonal functioning. Social cognitive performance seems to be impaired in several mental disorders. The relationship with major depressive disorder is less well understood. The aim of the thesis was to present a comprehensive overview of current knowledge on social cognition in depression as well as to contribute with results of our own research. Two original video-methods presenting difficult and complex social situation were developed in this study. Acutely depressed patients (n = 20) and healthy controls (n = 20) were examined with the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and with Lie or True and Rendez-views video-methods. We found no difference in the performance in our video-methods between the tested groups. Evidence of The Depressive Realism Hypothesis was not proven in this study. Further research in this area is needed. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
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Cognitive Processing of a child with Autism
Čížková, Kristýna
The aim of this work is to describe cognitive processing of a child with autistic spectrum disorder, to pause on its mechanisms and causes. The first part of the work presents a theoretical background for following interpretation of the data acquired in the research. Firstly it briefly defines autistic spectrum disorders, cognitive functioning of individuals with the disorder and above all two main psychological theories of autism: Theory of Mind (S. B. Cohen) and Weak Central Coherence Theory (U. Frith). The second part of the work recounts a process of the research. Its focus lies in a long-lasting work with a girl with autistic spectrum disorder and a girl from intact population. The both girls went through standard theory of mind tests, reading exams aimed at apprehension and mathematic written exercises. Research data come mainly from following interviews with the girls and observation of their procedure of thinking. Gained data were confronted with the mentioned psychological theories of autism. Final analysis shows typical characteristics of cognitive processing of the particular child with autism: detail focusing, physical thinking and perseverance.
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Abstract tasks in birds - spatial vs non-spatial tasks
Janská, Iveta ; Landová, Eva (advisor) ; Vlček, Kamil (referee)
The aim of this thesis is to compare spatial cognitive tasks (radial maze and analogs, geometry and features) and non-spatial abstract cognitive task (concept formation and categorization, transitive inference) in birds. Because each of tasks have different testing methods they are compared according to method types in separate thematic groups, which are discussed each other. The extension of this thesis on theories derived from human psychology such as self-recognition, episodic-like memory, and theory of mind.
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