Vygotsky and Psychology as Normative Science.

The political and revolutionary character of Vygotsky's theory consists not only in the project of a psychology based on the principles of Marxism, but in the idea of the primary role of practice as the source of the development of theoretical research itself. In the Vygotskyan analysis of the differences between normal and pathological in psychological processes, the normative character of psychology emerges, imposing patterns of behavior and personality beyond the specific social and cultural contexts in which they were developed. After the turning point of the monograph by Van der Veer and Valsiner (Understanding Vygotsky: A quest for synthesis, Blackwell, 1991), and the new knowledge derived from the publication of the Notebooks, edited by Zavershneva and Van der Veer (Vygotsky's notebook: A selection, Springer Nature, Berlin, 2018), recent historical studies on Vygotsky's work show that, faithful to this perspective, the Russian psychologist investigated the dialectical relationship between theory and practice particularly in the areas of pedology and defectology where the risk of a normativity, imposed from above and mediated by psychology, was very high.

Dante on mind and brain.

A short overview of Dante Alighieri's ideas on mind and brain is given using the framework of the philosophy and science of his time, and with quotations from his works. The structure of the mind was divided by the Italian poet into cognitive and affective components, each with physiological and cerebral bases. The connection between cognition and action was underlined in a perspective that valued the work of individuals in their social world.

Solomon V. Shereshevsky: the great Russian mnemonist.

A biographical sketch is given of Solomon V. Shereshevsky, a man gifted with exceptional memory skills who became famous after the publication of Aleksandr R. Luria's book The Mind of a Mnemonist, in 1968.

[Giovanni Jervis, an intellectual of the second half of 20th century]. / Giovanni Jervis, un intellettuale del secondo novecento.

Main issues in the scientific work of Giovanni Jervis (1933-2009), psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and psychologist, are outlined. Although he was one of the leading members of the movement for abolishing the psychiatric institutions in Italy from the '50s to the '70s, he distinguished himself for his critical and rigorously scientific approach to the problem. His research was characterized by an historical view of the development of psychological processes and psychopathological phenomena, and according to him psychology and psychiatry theories (and especially psychoanalysis) should always be considered as historically-determined attempts to understand the human mind. In the last period of his scientific activity, Jervis was particularly engaged in a critical analysis of postmodern and relativistic theories of science, and strenuously attacked at second-hand ways of dealing with scientific, social and political questions.

Anxiety, cognitive self-evaluation and performance: ERP correlates.

The relation between anxiety, cognitive self-evaluation, performance, and electrical brain activity (event-related potentials, ERPs) in a sustained attention task (Go/NoGo; SART) was investigated in 18 participants. No significant correlation was found between reaction times and anxiety (assessed by State and Trait Anxiety Inventory or STAI), and cognitive self-evaluation (assessed by Cognitive Failures Questionnaire or CFQ). N2 (ERP time-window 250-350ms) and P3 (350-650ms) amplitudes were found to be related to anxiety and cognitive self-evaluation. N2 amplitude increased in trait and state high anxious participants, whereas P3 decreased in participants who reported a higher frequency of cognitive failures. Electrophysiological responses revealed that cognitive strategies were probably activated by more anxious and less self-confident individuals in order to be efficient in their performance. As shown by current research, frontal areas and anterior cingulated cortex appear to be particularly involved in this affective-cognitive interaction.

Luria: a unitary view of human brain and mind.

Special questions the eminent Russian psychologist and neuropsychologist Aleksandr R. Luria (1902-1977) dealt with in his research regarded the relationship between animal and human brain, child and adult mind, normal and pathological, theory and rehabilitation, clinical and experimental investigation. These issues were integrated in a unitary theory of cerebral and psychological processes, under the influence of both different perspectives active in the first half of the Nineteenth century (psychoanalysis and historical-cultural school, first of all) and the growing contribution of neuropsychological research on brain-injured patients.