Formal Psychological Assessment - FPA

Application of FPA in the mood disorders assessment

This is the first of two in progress research projects related to the use of the Formal Psychological Assessment methodology and it is applied to mood disorders. The study is based on the construction of qualitative and quantitative tools for evaluating Major Depressive Episode, mixed states, and the manic episode. These tools have the aim to differentiate the symptoms of the patients and their severity also in the case of equal score to the test.

Collaboration with Sant’Andrea HOSPITAL - Department of Psychiatry (Rome)

From 2014 to 2015 a research collaboration with Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organ (NESMOS) department of "La Sapienza University" was set. The collaboration implied the administration of major depressive episode questionnaires and the observation of patients’ interviews  in day hospital in order to collect data about mood disorders.

Application of FPA in the nonverbal behavior of Schizophrenia assessment

This is the second project related to FPA and it is currently focusing on the development of an observational grid which will be useful to gather and analyze the nonverbal behavior of Schizophrenia. This tool is based on the Formal Psychological Assessment methodology and it is aimed to be applied in different contexts, from medical to psychological ones.

Collaboration with University of L’Aquila

The QPLab’s group is currently involved in a partnership with the Applied clinical and biotechnological Sciences Department of the University of L’Aquila. The common interest of this collaboration lies on the application and development of FPA methodology to assessment of Autism and nonverbal behavior of Schizophrenia.

Health Psychology

Measurement of well-being

The growing interest in the study of well-being in Italy is plagued by the scarcity of available validated measures. The QPLab’s group is involved in the translation and validation of well-being measures that recently emerged in the literature. Currently, there the QPLab is dealing with a  project involving the development and validation of a new measure of psychological well-being.

Istituto Oncologico Veneto – IOV (Padova)

In progress collaboration for data analysis and interpretation of results of questionnaires on quality of life, well-being, on the effectiveness of treatments in people with cancer or their caregivers.

Risk perception, cognition and road safety

Honda Riding Trainer Psychological Evaluation: psychometrical, cognitive and social aspects of safe driving

From 2006 to 2010 QPLab’s group and the Honda Motor Europe manufacturer collaborated for a research project with the aim to improve risk perception in Italian adolescents riders. The project used the HRT simulator and it was based on the collaboration between the QPLab, the Max Planck Institut of Tubingen and of the Goldsmith College of London.

Evaluation and rehabilitation of attentive driving aspects

            This project was conducted with the collaboration between the QPLab’s group and the San Camillo Hospital of Venice and it lasted until 2014. The aim was to use the HRT simulator as a tool for  both the evaluation and the rehabilitation of attentive driving aspects in patients with mild cognitive impairments.

CASCO project

            The project (that lasted from 2012 to 2015) dealt with the road safety education in high school Italian students and it was realized with the collaboration of the Montebelluna ASL. The aim was to improve risk perception in adolescents through the use of the HRT simulator in a group context: some students were chosen to drive the simulator while the others had to watch at the performance and listen to the explanations that were given about both the performance of their classmates and the best behaviours to show in risky situations.

Simulated motorcycle riding performance under low dose alcohol in light drinkers

            With the collaboration of the Legal Medicine Department of the Università Politecnica delle Marche, during these years the QPLab’s group is deepening the relation between the driving performance on HRT simulator and the use of low dose of alcohol in a particular population of interest, the so called light drinkers.

Simulated driving and personality variables

            This is the first of two in progress research projects that focus on inexperienced riders. In particular, the aim of this study is the delineation of different risk profiles among drivers with less than 25 years old and a small mileage. The profiles will be based on a deep analysis of the performance on the HRT simulator and on tools for the assessment of decision-making processes and of personality variables (i.e. sensation seeking) and driving habits and of use of substances.

Affective components in training to ride safely on the simulator

            This is the second study focusing on inexperienced riders. The objective of this project is to individuate the psychophysiological mechanisms underlying risk perception and to train this ability through the use of the HRT simulator. For this purpose, using the theoretical framework of the Somatic Marker Hypothesis (Damasio, 1994) applied to driving risk perception and decision-making, during a number of training sessions on the simulator there will be the monitoring of the skin conductance signal.

Risk perception and traumatic brain injuries prevention

The Qplab is currently involved in a collaboration with the Azienda Ulss 8 of  Asolo, a local unity of the socio-medical system. This collaboration is a part of a wider project that deals with prevention of traumatic brain injuries in high school students. The QPLab’s group provides an help in the evaluation of impulsivity by means of questionnaires, providing also statistical analyses.

Other projects and collaborations

Partnership with Fondazione CUOA

The Qplab’s group is currently involved in a collaboration with the “Fondazione CUOA” ( Centro Universitario di Organizzazione Aziendale),  a well-known business school whose aim is to train and develop managerial skills of  people interested in management and entrepreneur fields. In particular, the Qplab provides a contribution in the assessment phase and in the analysis of the obtained results.

Development of the new CBA Sport

A wide project devoted to develop the updated version of the Cognitive Behavioral Assessment,  Sport version is currently involving the QPLab’s group. One of the main products implemented is a primary online version of this assessment tool.

Cooperativa Alternativa Ambiente (Treviso)

In progress collaboration for data analysis and results’ interpretation of observation grids (observation sheets for the assessment of the operation in the employment context) regarding the employment of people from the area of the prison deviance, drug addiction, mental illness and discomfort in general.