Italian and Italian American Psychology
INAUGURAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Palermo, Sicily
June 3 - 4, 2009


Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

8:30-8:45 AM Welcome/Greetings: (Dr. Fulvio Giardina - Dr. Elizabeth Messina)

8:45-10:00 AM Symposium: Perspectives on the History of Psychology in Italy

Dr. Philip Zimbardo, Ph.D.: Chair

Guido Cimino, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Social and Developmental Psychology - University of Rome "La Sapienza" - The Birth of "Scientific" Psychology in Italy: Between Philosophy, Anthropology and Psychiatry.

Vincenzo Bongiorno, Ph.D. Department of Pedagogical and Philosophical Science University of Cagliari, Italy - Experimental Psychology and Psychiatry in Italy in the Second Half of the 19th Century.

Gabriella Sava, Ph.D., Department of Classical Philology and Philosophical Sciences, Salento University, Lecce - The Foundation of Scientific Psychology in Italy: The Contribution of the Florence Laboratory.

Maria Sinatra, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Bari - Traces of American Applied Psychology in the First Italian Psychotechnicians.

10:00-10:15 AM Coffee Break

10:15-11:05 AM Paper Presentation

Philip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D.: Chair

Albert Pepitone, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus University of Pennsylvania, Distinguished Italian American Psychologist 2009, Order of Sons of Italy, USA - Bringing Psychology into the Real World

11:15-12:05 PM Paper Presentation

The Elementary Pragmatic Model (EPM): Rationale, Research, and Applications

Claudio A. Casiglia, Ph.D. : Chair

Piero Di Giacomo, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Bari - Advances in the Elementary Pragmatic Model.

Andrea Di Giacomo, Ph.D., Department of Child Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Bari - The EPM and SISCI Test with Dysfunctional Adolescents

Fabrizio Antonucci, Ph.D., Department of Health, Rome, Italy - The EPM and Creativity

Fiora Fornaciari, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Bari - A Computer System to Evaluate Results from the SISCI

Luciano L'Abate, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA. USA: Discussant

12:05-1:30PM Lunch

1:30-2:45 PM Symposium: Perspectives on Italian American History and Culture

Part I: The Invisible Wound of Cultural Trauma: the History of Racism and Stereotyping in the Lives of Italian Americans

Dr. Fulvio Giardina, President, Ordine degli Psicologi della Regione Sicilia: Chair

Stefano Luconi Ph.D., Professor of History, Department of History, University of Rome - "Tore Vergata" - From Racial "Inbetweenness" to Whiteness: Changes and Redefinitions in Italian-American Identity

Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, University of Hawaii - The Role of Some Historical and Cultural Events and Forces in the Formation of Italian-American Stereotypes

Elizabeth G. Messina, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry, Lenox Hill Hospital, Private Practice, New York, NY - The Invisible Wound of Cultural Trauma: the Impact of Stereotyping in the Lives of Italian Americans

Philip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D.: Discussant

2:45-3:00PM Coffee Break

3:00-3:45 PM Paper Presentation

Cross Cultural Psychology

Ilenia Adamo, Ph.D., Consigliere Ordine Psicologi Sicilia: Chair

Carmela Sansone, Ph.D., Private Practice - Film Screening: United We Stand (An Interview of 92 year old Italian WW II Veteran who speaks out for the first time about his life long struggle with PTSD)

Elizabeth G. Messina, Ph.D. and Stefano Luconi, Ph.D.: Discussants

4:00-5:00PM POSTER SESSION

Paolo Bozzaro, Ph.D.: Chair

History of Psychology in Italy

Giovanni Pietro Lombardo, Ph.D., Professor of General Psychology, University of Rome " Sapienza"; Chiara Bartolucci, Doctorate candidate in Psychology, University of Rome "Sapienza" - The Analysis of Character According to Giuseppe Sergi: Anthropometric and Psychophysiological Aspects

Clinical Psychology

Giovanni Giani, Ph.D., Eugenio Bedini, M.A. Candidate, Ornella Mozzato, M.A. Candidate, University of Padova - Evaluating Multilevel Analyses of the RC-Ecomap

Francesca Basso, Ph.D., Giovanna Gianesini, Ph.D. - Relational Competence Competence Ecomap (RC-Ecomap): A nomothetic research study

Roberta Trevisanato, M.A. Candidate, Caterina Colombo, M.A. Candidate, Linda Corbelli, Ph.D., University of Padova - Alexithymia, relational competence and drug addictions

Bernardo Carducci, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology, Indiana University Southeast - The Persistent Pervasiveness of Shyness: 1997 versus 2007

Bernardo J. Carducci, Ph.D., Jeffrey L. Clarke, B.A., Department of Psychology, Indiana University Southeast - Looking Happy as a Strategy for Being Happy

Italian American Culture and Behavior

Sandra S. Lee, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Professional Psychology & Family Therapy, Seton Hall University - Italian American Neighborhoods: Image and Identity

Cross-Cultural Psychology

Linda Caterino, Ph.D. Clinical Associate Professor, School Psychology Programs, School Psychology, Arizona State University - School Psychology in Italy and the United States

5:00-5:50 PM Paper Presentations

Relational Competence and Alexithymia

Giuseppe Ruvolo, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Palermo: Chair

Mario Cusinato, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Padua - Relational Competence and Alexithymia in the General Population: Empirical Research

Eleonora Maino, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Padua and Scientific Institute Eugenio Medea - Relational Competence and Alexithymia: Is there a relationship?

Claudia Scilletta, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Padua - Relational Competence and Alexithymia in Senior Citizens

Walter Colesso, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Padua - Relational Competence and Alexithymia in Individuals with Alcohol Addiction

Luciano L'Abate, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA: Discussant


Thursday, June 4th, 2009

8:30-9:45 AM Symposium: History of Psychology in Italy

Renato Foschi, Ph.D: Chair

Renato Foschi, Ph.D., Aggregate Professor, University of Rome "La Sapienza"- Renata Calabresi, a Forgotten Italian-American Psychologist

Patrizia Guarneri Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Firenze - From the United States to Italy and Vice versa: Circulation of Scientific Ideas and Individual Paths in the Beginning of the Twentieth Century.

Lucia Monacis, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Università degli Studi - An Example of the Italian Reception of Transactionalism: Angiola Massuco Costa

Rino Finamore, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Bari, Italy - The "story" of Counseling: A Comparative Study between America and Sicily

Glauco Ceccarelli, Ph.D., Associate Professor of the History of Psychology, Director of the Institute of Psychology, "L. Meschieri" - University of Urbino "Carlo Bo"-The Beginning of Psychotherapy in Italy.

9:45-10:00 AM Coffee Break

10:00-10:50 AM Paper Presentation

Dr. Fulvio Giardina, President, Ordine degli Psicologi della Regione Sicilia: Chair

Philip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, Stanford University - The Secret Power of Time Influences Your Decisions and the Fate of Italy and Sicily

11:00-11:50 AM Paper Presentation

Hierarchical Theory of Relational Competence (RCT)

Francesco Di Maria, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Palermo: Chair

Mario Cusinato, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Padua - Hierarchical Frameworks and Requirements for RTC

Eleonora Maino, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Padua and Scientific Institute Eugenio Medea - The ERAAwC Model derived from the Meta-Theoretical Assumption of Width

Walter Colesso, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Padua - Model of Likeness- Differentiation Continuum

Claudia Scilletta, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Padua - Model of Selfhood in Relational Competence

Luciano L'Abate, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA: Discussant

12:00-1:00PM Lunch

1:00-2:15PM Symposium: Part II: (Re) Vision of Italian Americans

Antonio Terracciano, Ph.D., Laboratory of Personality and Cognition, National Institute of Aging, National Institute of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Baltimore, MD, USA: Chair

Sarah De Mott, Ph.D. Candidate, International Education, New York University - Social Spaces of Italian American Schoolteachers in New York City

Rose L. Miller-Sims, M.A. Candidate, Foreign Language Education, New York University - The Transformative Role of Fashion for First and Second Generation Italian American Women

Antonella Vitale, Ph.D. Candidate, European Studies Graduate Center, City University of New York - Hollywood Screen Representations of Italian American Women

Courtney Ritter, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Screen Arts and Cultures, University of Michigan - The Development of the Italian Luxury Market Post - 1975: Southern Italian American Consumers Appropriate Northern Italian Identity

2:30-3:30PM Empirical Research Paper Presentations

Sebastiano Ciavirella Ph.D. consigliere Ordine Psicologi Sicilia: Chair

Antonio Terracciano, Ph.D., Laboratory of Personality and Cognition, National Institute of Aging, National Institute of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Baltimore, MD, USA - Genome-Wide Association Scan for Five Major Dimensions of Personality

Piero Bocchiaro, Ph.D., Professor of Social Psychology, University of Palermo - Philip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, Stanford University Deciding to Defy Unjust Authority: An Experimental Investigation

Christina Maslach, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Vice Provost of Teaching and Learning, University of California, Berkeley; Michael P. Leiter, Ph.D. , Professor of Psychology, University of Acadia - Job Burnout Among Physicians: An Italian Canadian Comparison

Lucia Imbesi, M.A. Clin. Psych., LCSW, Psychoanalyst. Faculty: Postgraduate Center Psychoanalytic Institute, N.Y. - WHAT AM I? WHERE IS MY HOME? Identity & Belonging in Post-War Italian Immigrants.

3:30-3:45 PM Coffee Break

3:45-4:25 PM Historical and Theoretical Paper Presentations

Elizabeth G. Messina, Ph.D., President, IAPA: Chair

Bernardo J. Carducci, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology, Indiana University Southeast - Linking ECT with the Invention of the Telephone: The Italian American Connection

Traute Taeschner, Ph.D., Sabine Pirchio, Ph.D. University Sapienza of Rome Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology - An Innovative Model for Teaching Language to Children

4:35 PM Conference Ends