La Evolucion de la filosofia de Wittgenstein

Summary The author claims that there is a basic difference between theTractatus and thePhilosophical Investigations; despite Bernstein's and O'Brien's claims to the contrary, there are, indeed, two Wittgensteins. Yet, to ascertain the difference between both we must look at Wittgenstein's conceptions of philosophy rather than at his views on logic and language. Wittgenstein's different, and even divergent, views on logic and language are grounded on his two views on philosophy and not the other way around. At the same time, Wittgenstein's views on philosophy are caused by his ways of conceiving the scope of philosophical activity in regard to language. Both in theTractatus and in thePhilosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein points out what is important in language for philosophy, but in each case he reaches very different conclusions. Now, when all is said, there remains one unifying factor in all of Wittgenstein's investigations: it is the question of the logic of language, which shifts positions from theTractatus to theInvestigations, so that what was earlier a hidden structure becomes later the grammar of its indefinitely complexe uses.     

Transcortical motor aphasia: One or two aphasias?

The name "transcortical motor aphasia" has been used to refer to two different types of language alterations: damage in the left supplementary motor area and Luria's dynamic aphasia. It is proposed that they represent two types of language disturbances different enough to be considered two different forms of aphasia.     

Toward a Model of Neuropsychological Activity

The main purpose of this research was to establish the intercorrelations existing among different psychological and neuropsychological test scores in a normal and homogenous population. A second purpose was to attempt further step in the component analysis of cognitive activity measured by means of neuropsychological tests. A comprehensive neuropsychological test battery was assembled and individually administered to a 300-subject sample, aged 17–25 years-old. All of them were right-handed male university students. The battery included some basic neuropsychological tests directed to assess language, calculation abilities, spatial cognition, praxic abilities, memory, perceptual abilities, and executive functions. In addition, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale was administered. Forty-one different scores were calculated. Correlations among the different test scores were analyzed. It was found that some of the tests presented a quite complex intecorrelation system, whereas other tests presented few or no significant correlations. Mathematical ability tests and orthography knowledge represented the best predictors of Full Scale IQ. A factor analysis with varimax rotation disclosed five factors (verbal, visuoperceptual, executive function, fine movements, and memory) accounting for 63.6% of the total variance. Implications of these results for a neuropsychological model about brain organization of cognition were analyzed.     

Averbia as a selective naming disorder: A single case report

After a moderate head injury a 33-year-old woman presented a selective defect in finding verbs and name actions. Objects, colors, body parts, and qualities were named in a normal way. No other associated aphasic defects were observed. It was proposed that the selection and use of verbs in their correct forms implies two different aspects, which eventually can become dissociated: (1) the ability to retrieve the lexical item (the action name); and (2) the ability to use the correct affixation, that is, to select the morphological form according to the current context. Only the second would be associated with agrammatism. Defects in the first aspect (selection of the lexical item) would represent a particular form of anomia, a category-specific anomia, or anomia for verbs (averbia). Our patient illustrated this particular type of category-specific naming disorder.     

Inhibitory sensory preconditioning detected with a sodium depletion procedure

In each of two experiments, two groups of rats were exposed to three flavoured solutions: A (citric acid), B (salt), and AX (a compound of citric acid and saccharin). Both experiments used a between-subjects design in which a paired group received presentations of A followed by B, alternating with presentations of AX (i.e., A → B/AX), and an unpaired group received alternating presentations of A, B, and AX (i.e., A/B/AX). This arrangement was expected to establish X as an inhibitor of B in group paired but not in group unpaired. In Experiment 1, after preexposure all subjects received a single presentation of an XB compound, then experienced sodium depletion, and were tested for their consumption of X, which was greater in group unpaired than in group paired. In Experiment 2, after preexposure, all subjects received four presentations of a new flavour, C, in compound with B and subsequently, under sodium depletion, were tested for consumption of XC. Intake of the XC compound was less in group paired than in group unpaired. These results suggest that, in group paired, X acquired an inhibitory relationship with B both retarding the acquisition of an excitatory association with B (retardation test, Experiment 1) and reducing the response to a new stimulus, C, strongly associated to B (summation test, Experiment 2). These results provide direct evidence of inhibition between two neutral stimuli and, therefore, of inhibitory sensory preconditioning.     

“Octave illusion” or “Deutsch’s illusion”?

The “Deutsch’s illusion” occurs in most people when a dichotic pair of tones spaced an octave apart is presented repeatedly in alternation, so that when the right ear receives the high tone, the left ear receives the low tone, and vice versa. The illusory percept consists typically in a single low tone heard at one ear alternating with a single high tone heard at the other ear. Here, we investigate whether the frequency interval between the tones and their duration play a role in the perception of the illusion. By testing 74 subjects we demonstrate that the illusion is not confined to tones spaced an octave apart but it is perceivable also with tones separated by a major seventh, a minor ninth, a major ninth, and a minor tenth. Regarding duration, the present results show that the illusion is stronger with tones lasting 500 than 200 ms. The present results suggest that the perceptual mechanisms at the basis of the illusion are not strictly linked to the frequency relationships between the dichotic tones.     

Dysfunctional personality traits in adolescence: effects on alerting,orienting and executive control of attention

The present study examined attentional networks performance in 39 adolescents with dysfunctional personality traits, split into two group, Group < 10 and Group ≥ 10, according to the number of criteria they met at the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders. The attentional performance has been tested by means of a modified version of the Attentional Network Test (ANTI-V) which allows testing both phasic and tonic components of the alerting system, the exogenous aspect of the orienting system, the executive network and their interactions. Results showed that the orienting costs of having an invalid spatial cue were reduced in the Group ≥ 10 criteria compared to the Group < 10. Moreover, adolescents included in the Group ≥ 10 showed lower conflict when attention was cued to the target location (valid trials) but showed normal interference when there was no overpowering focus of attention (invalid trials). The results found with ANOVA after splitting the sample into two categorical groups were also observed in a complementary correlation analysis keeping intact the continuous nature of such variables. These findings are consistent with the notion that dysfunctional features of personality disorders may represent the psychological manifestations of a neuropsychological abnormality in attention and executive functioning. Finally, we discuss the implications of this attentional anomaly for dysfunctional personality traits and behaviour.     

Severe stuttering associated with right hemisphere lesion

Following a right hemisphere stroke, a right-handed, 50-year-old male experienced a permanent dysfluency characterized by phoneme and syllable reiterations and, to a lesser extent, word and phrase reiterations. The reiterations occurred in initial, medial, and final positions and for all sentence elements (e.g., subject nouns, object nouns, verbs, modifiers). There was a notable loss of verbal automatisms (poems, songs, etc.). The patient's symptoms conform to the acquired stuttering syndrome described by A. Helm, R. Butler, and D.F. Benson (1978, Neurology, 28, 1159-1165).     

Spanish Applications of Luria's Assessment Methods

Luria's neuropsychology has been particularly influential in the Spanish-speaking world. Its impact is observed with regard to not only assessment, but also rehabilitation, and, especially, neuropsychological theorization. In this article, Luria's approach to neuropsychological assessment is examined. A distinction between Luria's neuropsychological tests and Luria's neuropsychological approach is introduced. It is pointed out that, according to Luria, the specific tests used in the neuropsychological assessment are secondary; the theory supporting the neuropsychological testing is of primary importance. The development of neuropsychology in the Spanish-speaking world is briefly presented, and the use of Luria's neuropsychological assessment procedures in Latin America and Spain is analyzed. Finally, neo-Lurianism in the Spanish-speaking world is considered.