Typicality effects when processing objects into environmental scenes

Many researchers have used concepts such as “context” or “typicality” in order to explain the influence of knowledge structures on processing visual stimuli. In this article we have tried to establish the influence of typicality on processing objects into environmental scenes, but results have not supported our hypothesis on typicality effects. Results are discussed in the context of the theory of visual processing of environmental scenes, especially some interactions between conditions in experimental procedure. This research was conducted as part of the author’s doctoral thesis requirements at the University of Barcelona.     

Are You Really Happy? Children’s Understanding of Real vs. Pretend Emotions

This paper studies children’s capacity to understand that the emotions displayed in pretend play contexts do not necessarily correspond to internal emotions, and that pretend emotions may create false beliefs in an observer. A new approach is taken by asking children about pretend emotions in terms of pretence-reality instead of appearance-reality. A total of 37 four-year-olds and 33 six-year-olds were asked to participate in tasks where they had to pretend an emotion or where they were told stories in which the protagonists pretended an emotion. In each task children were asked: a) if the pretend emotion was real or just pretended and b) if an observer would think that the emotional expression was real or just pretended. Results showed that four-year-olds are capable of understanding that pretend emotions are not necessarily real. Overall, six-year-olds performed better than younger children. Furthermore, both age groups showed difficulty in understanding that pretend emotions might unintentionally mislead an observer. Results are discussed in relation to previous research on children’s ability to understand pretend play and the emotional appearance-reality distinction.     

The Effects of Eight-Month Physical Activity Intervention on Vigilance Performance in Adult Obese Population

We aim to analyze the effects of an 8-month physical activity intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness, body mass index (BMI), and vigilance performance in an adult obese population. We conducted an 8-month physical activity intervention based on dance and rhythmic activities. The weekly frequency was 2 sessions of 1 hr per day. Training sessions were divided into 3 phases: a 10-min warm-up, 40 min of dance and rhythmic activities, and 10 min to cool-down. To assess cardiorespiratory fitness, participants performed a modified version of the 6-min walk test from the Senior Fitness Test battery (Larsson & Mattsson, 2001; Rikli & Jones, 1999). Vigilance performance was measured by means of the psychomotor vigilance task (PVT). Two measurements were performed immediately before and after the intervention. The results revealed that participants improved their cardiorespiratory fitness, BMI, and vigilance performance after the intervention. All in all, findings contribute new empirical evidence to the field that investigates the benefits of physical activity intervention on cognitive processes in obese population.     

El tratamiento de la impulsividad infantil: Autoinstrucciones versus solución de problemas

Resumen

El objetivo del presente trabajo es comparar la eficacia de dos tratamientos, Autoinstrucciones (AI) y Solución de Problemas (SP), en la reducción de la impulsividad infantil y la mejora del rendimiento escolar. Alumnos impulsivos (seleccionados a partir del MFF-20) de cuarto y quinto de EGB (n = 18) fueron asignados a una de las dos condiciones de tratamiento, de dieciocho sesiones, o a un grupo control. Los resultados indican una superior eficacia del tratamiento de SP, ya que las latencias sobre el test MFF-20 aumentaron (p <.01) Y además, tanto en latencias como en errores, diferían de los otros dos grupos al terminar el tratamiento (p <.01). En cuanto al rendimiento escolar, los efectos de ambos tratamientos han sido mínimos, aunque sugieren también cierta superioridad del SP. Estos resultados señalan la necesidad de analizar en los programas multicomponentes el grado de contribución de cada procedimiento a la reducción de la impulsividad, concretamente el componente AI no parece contribuir decisivamente a ello.     

On the Standard and Rational Completeness of some Axiomatic Extensions of the Monoidal T-norm Logic

The monoidal t-norm based logic MTL is obtained from Hájek's Basic Fuzzy logic BL by dropping the divisibility condition for the strong (or monoidal) conjunction. Recently, Jenei and Montgana have shown MTL to be standard complete, i.e. complete with respect to the class of residuated lattices in the real unit interval [0,1] defined by left-continuous t-norms and their residua. Its corresponding algebraic semantics is given by pre-linear residuated lattices. In this paper we address the issue of standard and rational completeness (rational completeness meaning completeness with respect to a class of algebras in the rational unit interval [0,1]) of some important axiomatic extensions of MTL corresponding to well-known parallel extensions of BL. Moreover, we investigate varieties of MTL algebras whose linearly ordered countable algebras embed into algebras whose lattice reduct is the real and/or the rational interval [0,1]. These embedding properties are used to investigate finite strong standard and/or rational completeness of the corresponding logics.     

Psychometric evaluation of the Brazelton Scale in a sample of Spanish newborns

This study analyses the data obtained from a sample of 220 healthy full-term neonates evaluated with the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale, NBAS, 3rd edition. Standard scores were obtained for each of the 35 behavioral items and analysis of the main components of all the clusters was performed. Similarly to the original scale, the five following factors were obtained: Autonomic and Motor Systems, Habituation, State Organization, State Regulation, and Social Interactive. The analysis of the reliability of these groupings reveals that it is between moderate and high (the average Cronbach's alpha coefficient was .78).     

Perceived Pros and Cons of Condom Use as Predictors of its Consistent Use with a Heterosexual Romantic Partner Among Young Adults

The present research examines the pros and cons of condom use as predictors of consistent condom use with a heterosexual romantic partner. Data from 619 undergraduate students (35.1 % males; mean of age?=?20.31) were collected using a voluntary and anonymous self-report survey. The pros and cons predicted consistent condom use during the last month among females, whereas only the pros were predictive of consistent condom use in men. Similarly, only the feelings of safety predicted consistent condom use among men. However, the reduction of pleasure for women, the side-effects of other contraceptive methods, the difficulty in asking for condom use when they were also using the pill and the fact that condom use interrupts and cools off foreplay were also predictors among women. Besides the superiority of the pros over the cons, in general, the present research identifies a number of important pros and cons that should be used to encourage condom use.     

Face perception: An integrative review of the role of spatial frequencies

The aim of this article is to reinterpret the results obtained from the research analyzing the role played by spatial frequencies in face perception. Two main working lines have been explored in this body of research: the critical bandwidth of spatial frequencies that allows face recognition to take place (the masking approach), and the role played by different spatial frequencies while the visual percept is being developed (the microgenetic approach). However, results obtained to date are not satisfactory in that no single explanation accounts for all the data obtained from each of the approaches. We propose that the main factor for understanding the role of spatial frequencies in face perception depends on the interaction between the demands of the task and the information in the image (the diagnostic recognition approach). Using this new framework, we review the most significant research carried out since the early 1970s to provide a reinterpretation of the data obtained.     

Mental imagery as an emotional amplifier: application to bipolar disorder

Cognitions in the form of mental images have a more powerful impact on emotion than their verbal counterparts. This review synthesizes the cognitive science of imagery and emotion with transdiagnostic clinical research, yielding novel predictions for the basis of emotional volatility in bipolar disorder. Anxiety is extremely common in patients with bipolar disorder and is associated with increased dysfunction and suicidality, yet it is poorly understood and rarely treated. Mental imagery is a neglected aspect of bipolar anxiety although in anxiety disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder and social phobia focusing on imagery has been crucial for the development of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT).In this review we present a cognitive model of imagery and emotion applied to bipolar disorder. Within this model mental imagery amplifies emotion, drawing on Clark's cyclical panic model [(1986). A cognitive approach to panic. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 24, 461–470]. We (1) emphasise imagery's amplification of anxiety (cycle one); (2) suggest that imagery amplifies the defining (hypo-) mania of bipolar disorder (cycle two), whereby the overly positive misinterpretation of triggers leads to mood elevation (escalated by imagery), increasing associated beliefs, goals, and action likelihood (all strengthened by imagery).Imagery suggests a unifying explanation for key unexplained features of bipolar disorder: ubiquitous anxiety, mood instability and creativity. Introducing imagery has novel implications for bipolar treatment innovation - an area where CBT improvements are much-needed.