Rodrigo De Almeida
Rodrigo De Almeida
Rodrigo obtained the title of psychologist from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Brazil, with a degree in Clinical Psychology and a minor in Statistics and Data Science. He obtained a Master’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience of Language at the Basque Centre on Cognition, Brain, and Language, as issued by the University of the Basque Country. He is currently a PhD student at Ulster University under the principal supervision of Professor Dermot Barnes-Holmes.
Research Focus
Rodrigo’s research focuses on behavioural neuroscience, experimental psychology, and psycholinguistics. In the current PhD project, Rodrigo and Dermot are developing experimental analyses of basic learning processes regarding fear and avoidance responses and the relationship thereof (de Almeida, Barnes-Holmes, & Leslie, 2023a,b,c,d). This is useful to test specific psychotherapeutic assumptions.
Research Interests
Rodrigo started to obtain small research grants during his undergraduate studies in the Federal University of Minas Gerais. Throughout those studies, he has been funded to work on three different areas of research in different times: [1] about literacy learning in alphabetic languages and possible explanations for the development of dyslexia in the context of alphabetic writing systems (de Almeida et al., 2019, 2018a,b, 2015; Leite et al., 2014), [2] about Lakoff’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory as an explanation for the production of figurative language by schizophrenia inpatients (Lepesqueur et al., 2017), and [3] about the Relational Frame Theory approach to language and cognition as evidenced by the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure in the investigation of concept formation involving facial expressions of emotions (Bortoloti et al., 2019, 2020; Pinto et al., 2020). In his masters, he received a grant from the University of the Basque Country to work on the project “White-matter connections between the ventral occipito-temporal cortex and the inferior frontal gyrus”. Currently, he is a recipient of the DfE/VCRS funds to work on his PhD.
Administrative Roles and Memberships
Rodrigo was part of the PhD committee at the School of Psychology. He was part of the wider committee of the Psychology Postgraduate Affairs Group (PsyPAG) of the British Psychological Society (BPS) as Northern Ireland branch representative and student liaison officer. He was part of the Association for Behaviour Analysis International (ABAI) as program delegate for the School of Psychology PhD program. Rodrigo reviews manuscripts for the journal Trends in Psychology regularly, and research project grant applications for the Economic and Social Research Council ad hoc.
Community Impact
Rodrigo was a volunteer teacher of Portuguese and Philosophy for the educational reinsertion of adults living at the Dandara housing occupation for the EducAfro charity (Belo Horizonte, Brazil).
Personal Information
Rodrigo is interested in Ancient Greek philosophy. In particular, how putting in dialogue the explanation of Parmenides and that of Heraclitus for the principle of all things can basically explain the entirety of the upcoming Western intellectual history. After this history achieved its highest peak with Relativity in the 20th century, Rodrigo accepts that the sophists won the 21st century.
Trivia: Rodrigo has two full names: he is “de Almeida” in his Italian identification but “Vianna de Almeida” in his Brazilian identification. Rodrigo speaks Portuguese, Spanish, English, and a bit of French, but not Italian!
Upcoming International Meetings
Rodrigo will present a paper at the 17th Annual Conference of the Division of Behaviour Analysis of the Psychological Society of Ireland in Galway, in April 2024.
References
Bortoloti, R; de Almeida, RV; de Almeida, JH; de Rose, JC. (2020). A Commentary on the Dynamics of Arbitrarily Applicable Relational Responding Involving Positive Valenced Stimuli and its Implications for the IRAP Research. Psychological Record, 70, p. 1-6.
Bortoloti, R; de Almeida, RV; de Almeida, JH; de Rose, Julio C. (2019). Emotional Faces In Symbolic Relations: A Happiness Superiority Effect Involving the Equivalence Paradigm. Frontiers in Psychology, 10: 954.
De Almeida, R. V., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Leslie, J. C. (2023a). Derived fear and derived avoidance: A scoping review of experimental research that measured both concurrently. [Manuscript submitted for publication]. School of Psychology, Ulster University.
De Almeida, R. V., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Leslie, J. C. (2023b). Differential trial-type effects in an Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure: Extending the DAARRE model. [Manuscript submitted for publication]. School of Psychology, Ulster University.
De Almeida, R. V., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Leslie, J. C. (2023c). Shift the Func: IRAP-trained mutually-entailed relations accommodate Cfunc transformation without reducing derivation. Experimental Analysis of Behaviour Group (EABG) 2023. Bangor, Wales.
De Almeida, R. V., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Leslie, J. C. (2023d). Two key effects of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure are moderated by procedural and performance variables: potential theoretical implications. The Psychological Society of Ireland Division of Behaviour Analysis: 16th Annual Conference. Athlone, Ireland.
De Almeida, RV; Leite, RCD; Scliar-Cabral, L; Mansur-Alves, M. (2015). The Alphabetic Principles of Brazilain Portuguese: (ir)regularities, learning difficulties, assessment and intervention. Language and Literacy Challenges in Diverse Populations - International Symposium of the Child Language Committee of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics. Thessaloniki, 2015.
De Almeida, RV; Pinheiro, AMV. (2018). Construção e Validação Psicométrica do Teste de Conhecimento dos Princípios Alfabéticos do Português Brasileiro. Anais do V Congresso Brasileiro Psicologia: Ciência e Profissão, São Paulo: CBP, 2018.
De Almeida, RV; Scliar-Cabral, L; Pinheiro, AMV. (2018). Construção e Validação Psicométrica de um Teste sobre os Princípios do Sistema Alfabético do Português Brasileiro. Anais do Congresso da Associação de Linguística e Filologia da América Latina, João Pessoa, PB: ALFAL, 2018.
De Almeida, RV; Scliar-Cabral, L; Pinheiro, AMV. (2019). Princípio Alfabético do Sistema de Escrita do Português Brasileiro: Construto, Processamento Cognitivo e Mensuração. Anales del III Congreso de la Delegación Argentina de la Asociación de Lingüística Y Filología de América Latina (ALFAL) y IX Jornadas Internacionales de Investigación en Filología Hispánica. La Plata: ALFAL, 2019.
Leite, RCD; de Almeida, RV; Scliar-Cabral, L; Pinheiro, AMV. (2014). A Pilot Study on the Training of Teachers to Apply Scliar?s Early Literacy Development System by Tutors. II World Dyslexia Forum. Belo Horizonte, 2014, p. 53.
Lepesqueur, M; de Almeida, RV; Mazzingly, L; Tenuta, A. (2017). O Uso de Metáforas e Metonímias por Pacientes Esquizofrênicos À Luz da Teoria da Metáfora Conceptual. Ciências & Cognição (UFRJ), V. 22, p. 63-92.
Pinto, JAR; de Almeida, RV; Bortoloti, R. (2020). The Stimulus’ Orienting Function May Play an Important Role in IRAP Performance: Supportive Evidence from an Eye-Tracking Study of Brands. Psychological Record, 70, p. 257-266.
Contact
de_almeida-r@ulster.ac.uk
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