Abstract/Notes: After Rome became the capital of Italy in 1871, prestigious scientists arrived at the University of Rome. One of these scholars was the pedagogical philosopher Luigi Credaro (1860-1939). He was one of the rare Italian students of Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) when he went to Leipzig and attended the Institute for Experimental Psychology in the academic year 1887-1888. There he also followed the pedagogical seminars and considered the usefulness of establishing sections of practical pedagogy in Italian magisterium schools, which were teacher-training institutions. In 1904, he founded in Rome the Scuola Pedagogica (Pedagogical School). Through the school, Credaro proposed the concept of a scientific pedagogy based on the application of the results of experimental sciences in the educational field. We can suppose that this approach influenced the first generation of Italian scholars interested in experimental psychology in Rome, in particular Sante De Sanctis (1862-1935) and Maria Montessori (1870-1952). The article thus considers the hypothesis of the formation of a so-called Roman school of psychology, which created in the field of pedagogy a ground on which to develop its research and applications. It should be noted that Credaro devoted himself to the potential applications of experimental psychology in the context of the modernization of the liberal states of the 20th century. Specifically, scientific pedagogy constituted a field of application and development for Roman psychology. At the end, the foundation of psychology in Rome was influenced by a particular version of the Wundtian psychology promoted by his pupil Credaro.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1037/hop0000219

ISSN: 1939-0610, 1093-4510

Language: English

ISSN: 0519-0959

Abstract/Notes: Within an inherently dynamic environment, unexpected outcomes are part of daily life. Performance monitoring allows us to detect these events and adjust behavior accordingly. The necessity of such an optimal functioning has made error-monitoring a prominent topic of research over the last decades. Event-related potentials (ERPs) have differentiated between two brain components involved in error-monitoring: the error-related negativity (ERN) and error-related positivity (Pe) that are thought to reflect detection vs. emotional/motivational processing of errors, respectively. Both ERN and Pe depend on the protracted maturation of the frontal cortices and anterior cingulate through adolescence. To our knowledge, the impact of schooling pedagogy on error-monitoring and its brain mechanisms remains unknown and was the focus of the present study. Swiss schoolchildren completed a continuous recognition task while 64-channel EEG was recorded and later analyzed within an electrical neuroimaging framework. They were enrolled either in a Montessori curriculum (N=13), consisting of self-directed learning through trial-and-error activities with sensory materials, or a traditional curriculum (N=14), focused on externally driven activities mainly based on reward feedback. The two groups were controlled for age, gender, socio-economic status, parental educational style, and scores of fluid intelligence. The ERN was significantly enhanced in Montessori schoolchildren (driven by a larger response to errors), with source estimation differences localized to the cuneus and precuneus. In contrast, the Pe was enhanced in traditional schoolchildren (driven by a larger response to correct trials), with source estimation differences localized to the ventral anterior cingulate. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis demonstrated that the ERN and Pe could reliably classify if a child was following a Montessori or traditional curriculum. Brain activity subserving error-monitoring is modulated differently according to school pedagogy.

Language: English

DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/7nbqz

Abstract/Notes: Error-monitoring is a crucial cognitive process that enables us to adapt to the constantly changing environment. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) plays a vital role in error-monitoring, and its prolonged maturation suggests that it can be influenced by experience-dependent plasticity. To explore this possibility, we collected morphometric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of the ACC and error-related response-locked event-related potentials (ERPs) in 26 schoolchildren, aged 6–12 years, enrolled in either a Montessori or a traditional curriculum in Switzerland. We show that the caudal ACC undergoes significant morphometric changes during this developmental age range that seem related to error detection ERP activity. Furthermore, we observed differences in source localization activity related to error detection within the caudal ACC between Montessori and traditionally-schooled children, indicating a potential difference in the development of error-monitoring in these groups. Our study provides preliminary evidence for a potential window of opportunity to influence error-monitoring during development and calls for more work in that direction.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1111/mbe.12395

ISSN: 1751-228X

Language: English

Language: English

Published: Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York: World Book Co., 1922

Language: English

Published: Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-85109-296-3

Series: The Montessori Series , 15

Language: English

Published: Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Association Montessori Internationale, 1983

Language: English

Published: New York, New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1923

Language: English

Published: New York, New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1920