This paper aims to provide a critical review of the studies dealing with Educational Robotics for children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders. We aimed to investigate whether in the literature there is a sound evidence that activities with robots improve the abilities and performances of children with special needs. This paper explores the methodological aspects as well as the outcomes of the selected studies to provide a clear picture of the state-of-the-art on this topic. After a systematic search in the online database via keyword searches, 15 scientific papers were included in this review. We applied strict selection criteria limiting our review only to papers reporting educational robotics activities with children (from 3 up to 19 years old) with a diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders, in which the children had the opportunity to somehow program the behaviours of real robots. The majority of experiences showed improvements in the participants' performance or abilities, their engagement and involvement, communication/interaction with peers, during robotics sessions. Some studies reported mixed results, calling for the need to carefully design the objective and the related activities of each experience.

During the coronavirus pandemic, this study aimed to investigate the impact of conspiracy beliefs on Finnish attitudes toward vaccinations in general and COVID-19 vaccinations in particular. This study was a conceptual replication in Finland of a study by Pivetti et al. (2021) . Some 529 Finnish participants responded to a self-report questionnaire during the partial lockdown in Finland in spring 2020. The hypothesized relationships between variables of interest were integrated in a serial multiple mediation model via structural equation modelling. Results showed that endorsing general conspiracy beliefs directly predicted (1) general attitudes toward vaccines and (2) COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, and indirectly predicted (3) attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines via the serial mediation of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and general attitudes toward vaccines. As for the antecedents of beliefs in conspiracy theories, political orientation and moral purity predicted beliefs in COVID-19 conspiracy theories. Trust in science was inversely related to general conspiracy beliefs. As for the consequences of conspiracy beliefs, COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs directly predicted support for governmental restrictions (negatively) and the perception of informational contamination (positively).

This paper discusses the new implementation of a strengthened introductory training course in Educational Robotics for pre-service and in-service learning support teachers. By means of a final written questionnaire we compare the results of the course in 2015 with this year course, when the number of hours were doubled. This year participants expressed a higher appreciation and a better attitude towards robotics. Teachers agreed on the conviction that robotics can enhance students' motivation to learning and that educational robotics sustains a new point of view on science for teachers. Regarding the implementation in class, approximately two third of the participants declare they had already an idea on how to integrate robotics in curricula. More specifically, participants named ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders), ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), learning disabilities, mild mental retardation as aspects that can be effectively addressed by ER.

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Objective: The study aims to provide a preliminary examination of the psychometric properties of the Italian version of Multidimensional Measure of Emotional Abuse (MMEA) and aims to investigate consequences of emotional abuse for the relationship, help-seeking and disclosure behaviors, among a sample of lesbian women. Methods and participants: One hundred and sixty-five lesbian volunteers filled in a self-report questionnaire including a measure of emotional abuse (MMEA) investigating the consequences of the abuse for the relationship and their disclosure and help-seeking behaviors. Results: Structural equation modeling (SEM) confirmed the four-factor structure of the MMEA among the sample, and indicated MMEA as a valid tool to measure the phenomenon among Italian lesbian women. As for the consequences of the emotional abuse, most of the participants continued their relationship after the abuse and chose not to talk about the episodes to anyone. When opening up about the abuse, participants mainly reported it to close friends and psychologists and/or psychotherapists. These results have important clinical and policy implications as they provide some indications to be taken into account by mental health professionals and policymakers working with abused lesbian clients.

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Research reveals that robotics can be a valuable tool for school students with special needs (SNs). However, to our knowledge, empirical studies on teachers’ attitudes towards educational robotics for SNs students have been very limited and, in general, do not account for the great variability in the existent difficulties of school-aged children. Our aim is to fill this research gap. This post-test empirical study assessed Italian pre-service and in-service learning support teachers’ attitudes towards the application of Educational Robotics—ER with their students with SNs at the end of a 12-h training course. The results generally showed that most teachers perceived ER as a powerful tool for children with numerous SNs, particularly for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder—ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder—ASD, and Dyspraxia. Looking at the differences depending on the school level, kindergarten teachers perceived that ER is mostly helpful for ASD, ADHD, Down Syndrome—DS as well as with psychological or emotional distress or the needs of foreign students. For primary school teachers, ER was mostly helpful with ADHD, Dyspraxia and ASD. For both junior secondary school teachers and high school teachers, ER was mostly helpful with ASD, Dyspraxia, and ADHD.

Background:This study investigates the role of political orientation and religiosity in Italy for moral foundations endorsement, in light of Haidt and Graham’sMoral Foundations Theory. This theory hypothesizes that moral systems are based on five dimensions (i.e.,Harm/care, Fairness/reciprocity, Ingroup/loyalty, Authority/respect, and Purity/sanctity) that, in turn, can be grouped into two broader dimensions (BindingandIndividualizing).Objective:We aim to explore and extend the moral foundation assumptions to the Italian context predicting greater endorsement of binding values among Italian Right-wingers as compared with Left-wingers. Given that the relations between politics and Catholic Church have always been intertwined in modern Italy, we also extend this line of inquiry by examining the role of religiosity.Method:Two hundred and forty-eight Italian participants filled out a self-report measure including theMoral Foundations Questionnaires.Results: Individuals attach considerable relevance to individualizing moral foundations rather than to binding moral foundations; conservatives and regular religious attenders attach more relevance to binding moral foundations as compared with individuals with a Left-wing political orientation and less religious people.Conclusions:Our results show that the Italians’ political orientation emerges as a significant element in the differential adoption of moral foundations. Furthermore, considering the historical and fundamental role of the Catholic religion in the Italian society and political life, our results confirm that binding values are particularly valued in groups such as practicing Catholic, where institutions, families, and authorities are valued.