Procesos de aprendizaje y terapia de conducta en la adicción a la heroína

Resumen

Múltiples principios de condicionamiento clásico y operante interaccionan en la adición a la heroína. Destacan la presencia de RC Compensatorias en forma de Síndrome de Abstinencia Condicionado (SAC) y distintos programas de reforzamiento en el estilo de vida, argot y efectos de la heroína. En evaluación conductual se estudian los correlatos subjetivos y psicofisiológicos del SAC; la validez externa de los autorregistros se logra mediante análisis de orina. En terapia de conducta los programas de amplio espectro se combinan con la intervención comunitaria y apoyo médico. A nivel metodológico se resalta la necesidad de usar múltiples criterios de medición, introducción del análisis multivariado y uso de diseños estadísticos, realización de seguimientos a largo plazo.     

Age differences in the rejection of false memories: The effects of giving warning instructions and slowing the presentation rate

Two experiments were conducted to examine whether children of different ages differ in their ability to reject associative false memories with the Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) paradigm. Two different types of manipulations that are thought to facilitate false memory rejection in adults—slowing the presentation rate and issuing explicit warnings—were analyzed in younger and older children. The results showed that older children were more able than younger children to reject associative false memories through warnings and by slowing the presentation rate. We conclude that although older children are, in general, more prone to produce false memories with the DRM paradigm, they are also more able to reject them when certain conditions facilitate the editing process.     

On the Relation Between Subjective Importance and Elicitation Order of Constructs

The subjective importance of constructs elicited with the repertory grid technique (RGT) has been conjectured to depend on elicitation order. Constructs elicited early in an interview are assumed to be subjectively more important than later ones. For the RGT, this conjecture is based on only one empirical study with a small sample size using person role titles as elements. This study has not been replicated or tested for other domains. The research for other elicitation techniques shows that the conjecture does not always hold true for nonperson domains. To assess if the order importance relation can be replicated for person and nonperson domains, we conducted two RGT studies with different designs (German study, triadic, nonperson elements, N = 60; Spanish study, dyadic, person elements, N = 61). Construct importance was assessed using importance rankings and ratings. We found no relation between the order of elicitation and importance for the nonperson elements and only a small significant relation using persons as elements. The results indicate that the conjecture should be treated with caution, as it may be weaker than previously assumed for the personal domain and not generalizable to other domains.     

“Identify-to-reject”: A specific strategy to avoid false memories in the DRM paradigm

Previous research using the Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) paradigm has shown that lists of associates in which the critical words were easily identified as the themes of the lists produce lower levels of false memories in adults. In an attempt to analyze whether this effect is due to the application of a specific memory-editing process (the identify-to-reject strategy), two experiments manipulated variables that are likely to disrupt this strategy either at encoding or at retrieval. In Experiment 1, lists were presented at a very fast presentation rate to reduce the possibility of identifying the missing critical word as the theme of the list, and in Experiment 2, participants were pressed to give yes/no recognition answers within a very short time. The results showed that both of these manipulations disrupted the identifiability effect, indicating that the identify-to-reject strategy and theme identifiability play a major role in the rejection of false memories in the DRM paradigm.     

Influence of the social context on use of surgical-lengthening and group-empowering coping strategies among people with dwarfism

Objective: To assess the role that social contextual factors exert on the way people with disproportionate short stature (dwarfism) cope with the negative consequences of discrimination. Method: Using multigroup structural equation modeling, we compare the coping process of people with dwarfism from Spain (N = 63) and the USA (N = 145), two countries that differ in the role played by organizations offering support to people with dwarfism. Results: In Spain, where organizational support is recent, a coping approach aimed at achieving integration with the majority group through limb-lengthening surgery prevails; in the USA, where the long-standing organization of people with dwarfism encourages pride in being a "little person" and positive intragroup contact, a coping strategy based on empowering the minority group dominates. Conclusions: Both strategies, each in its own context, are effective at protecting psychological well-being from the negative consequences of stigmatization; however, they exert their positive effects through different processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

El lenguaje autista desde una perspectiva correlacional

Resumen

A pesar del interés reciente por las alteraciones del lenguaje en autismo infantil, es notable la carencia de investigaciones en que se analicen las correlaciones de las variables de lenguaje entre sí y con otra variables comportamentales. En este artículo se realiza tal análisis, correlacionando variables lingüísticas entre sí (L.M.E., complejidad estructural, comprensión, porcentaje de ecos y habla socializada, etc.) y con variables no lingüísticas (cociente global de desarrollo, niveles de imitación, percepción, motricidad, integración óculo-manual y cognitivo y cognitivo-verbal, P.P.O.D.). El análisis de los datos intragrupales permite identificar índices lingüísticos, de interés para guiar la evaluación clínica, porporciona una base para la valoración pronostica y permite situar las alteraciones de lenguaje en un contexto global de anomalías que afectan a la construcción de la conducta intencional, el desarrollo de los códigos simbólicos y las conductas de relación e interacción presimbólica.     

Children's Graffiti: Visual Communication from a Developmental Perspective

The graffiti of children, an unobtrusive measure collected in Puerto Rican natural settings, revealed the children's views about the world. Results show that these graffiti reflect a wide variety of content related to the child's immediate life experiences such as concerns with their self-identity, interpersonal relations, cultural understandings, sexuality, and religious and political beliefs.     

Aging and self-reported internal and external memory strategy uses: The role of executive functioning

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of advanced age on self-reported internal and external memory strategy uses, and whether this effect can be predicted by executive functioning. A sample of 194 participants aged 21 to 80 divided into three age groups (21-40, 41-60, 61-80) completed the two strategy scales of the Metamemory in Adulthood (MIA) questionnaire, differentiating between internal and external everyday memory strategy uses, and three tests of executive functioning. The results showed that: (1) the use of external memory strategies increased with age, whereas use of internal memory strategy decreased; (2) executive functioning appeared to be related only to internal strategies, the participants who reported the greatest use of internal strategies having the highest executive level; and (3) executive functioning accounted for a sizeable proportion of the age-related variance in internal strategy use. These findings suggest that older adults preferentially use external memory strategies to cope with everyday memory impairment due to aging. They also support the view that the age-related decrease in the implementation of internal memory strategies can be explained by the executive hypothesis of cognitive aging. This result parallels those observed using objective laboratory memory strategy measures and then supports the validity of self-reported memory strategy questionnaire.     

Leadership in entrepreneurial organizations: context and motives

Although organizational contexts have an influence on leadership, and some of their characteristics may facilitate (through weak structures) or inhibit (through strong structures) the leaders' behaviors, the extent of their influence has rarely been studied. Indeed, research of the influence of some types of contexts (entrepreneurial vs. non-entrepreneurial) on the emergence of certain variables (leaders' motives) is even scarcer. This paper analyses this influence in 40 companies, interviewing their leaders to obtain a qualitative register of their motives, and administering questionnaires to members of their respective management teams. The hypothesis considered was that, in 'weak' contexts (entrepreneurial), the leaders' motives would be more salient than in 'strong' contexts (non-entrepreneurial). The results largely confirm this hypothesis with respect to behaviors that are directly related to three main motives (power, affiliation and achievement). These results are discussed, and practical suggestions are provided for future research.