Expert-novice differences in cognitive and execution skills during tennis competition

This study deals with decision and execution behavior of tennis players during competition. The study is based on the expert-novice paradigm and aims to identify differences between both groups in the decision-making and execution variables in serve and shot actions in tennis. Six expert players (elite Spanish tennis players) and six novice players (grade school tennis players) took part in this study. To carry out this study, the observation protocol defined by McPherson and Thomas in 1989, in which control, decision-making and execution variables were included, was used, where it was applied to the performance of the tennis player in a real match situation. In the analysis, significant differences between experts and novices in decision-making and execution variables are found wherein it can be observed that experts display a greater ability to make the appropriate decisions, selecting the most tactical responses to put pressure on the opponent. Expert tennis players were also able to carry out forceful executions to their opponent with greater efficiency, making the opponent's response to a large extent more difficult. These findings are in accordance with those of McPherson and colleagues.     

Thinking Without Words: An Overview for Animal Ethics

In Thinking without Words I develop a philosophical framework for treating some animals and human infants as genuine thinkers. This paper outlines the aspects of this account that are most relevant to those working in animal ethics. There is a range of different levels of cognitive sophistication in different animal species, in addition to limits to the types of thought available to non-linguistic creatures, and it may be important for animal ethicists to take this into account in exploring issues of moral significance and the obligations that we might or might not have to non-human animals. I am grateful for comments on an earlier version from Robert Francescotti and Clare Palmer.     

Longitudinal Associations Between the Five-Factor Model of Personality and The Bi-Factor Model of Psychopathology: Continuity,Pathoplasty and Complication Effects in Adolescents

The study of the bifactor structure of psychopathology, which includes a general factor of psychopathology (or p factor) in addition to the internalizing and externalizing factors, has gained attention. However, its associations with the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality has been addressed in few studies, and none has examined different plausible etiological models (i.e., continuity, pathoplasty, complication) to explain its relationship, which is the aim of the present research. Additionally, the longitudinal association of the General Factor of Personality (GFP) and the p factor will be also explored. Personality and psychopathological symptoms of high school students were assessed at three time points (once a year) (n?=?655; M?=?13.79, SD?=?1.24; 49.8% girls). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (and measurement invariance across waves) were tested for the traits, the GFP and the bifactor model of psychopathology. While the bifactor model and the one-factor solution for each personality trait displayed good fit to the data and remained invariant over time, the structure of the GFP was adequate and invariant in two of the three waves. The resulting factors were included in cross-lagged panel models and showed that the FFM traits and the psychopathology factors influenced each other reciprocally. Most associations fell in line with the continuity model, but minor pathoplastic and complication effects were also reported. Similar associations were found between the GFP and the p factor. These results suggest that interventions in riskier personality profiles might prevent the development of general and more specific psychopathology spectra.

     

Gender Differences in Psychological Well-Being in Emerging Adulthood

Gender is recognized as an important social determinant of health, but past research on gender differences in psychological well-being have not produced conclusive results. This study investigated gender differences in eudaimonic well-being and life satisfaction in emerging adulthood. A cross-sectional study with a sample of 1990 emerging adults (50% males) from the Spanish general population was conducted. Participants were assessed through five questionnaires. Results showed that women scored higher than men in purpose in life and personal growth. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that the most important predictors of emerging adult men’s and women’s eudaimonic well-being and life satisfaction were higher self-confidence and lower negative self-evaluation. Other significant variables in the eudaimonic well-being of both women and men were higher score in the masculine/instrumental trait, higher emotional social support, higher educational level, and higher score in the feminine/expressive trait. Furthermore, higher instrumental social support was associated with eudaimonic well-being in females. Other predictors of women’s and men’s life satisfaction were higher score in the feminine/expressive trait, less age, higher educational level and higher instrumental social support. In addition, higher emotional social support was associated with life satisfaction in males. The results suggest that gender is important in the psychological well-being of people in emerging adulthood, although self-esteem and instrumental social support are, in both emerging adult women and men, the most important predictors of psychological well-being.

     

Reliable and Valid Coding of Thin Slices of Video Footage: Applicability to the Assessment of Mother-Child Interactions

When using behavioral-observation methods for coding video footage, it is unknown how much time of an interaction needs to be coded to gain results that are representative for the behavior of interest. The current study examined this problem using the INTAKT, a standardized observational measure for assessing the quality of mother-child interactions. Results from coding only 10 min of each video (i.e., thin slices) were compared with results from coding the remaining parts (averaging about 40 min) of the interaction. Inter-rater agreement for the short versions taken from the beginning or the middle, but not the end of the interactions indicated satisfactory observer accuracy. Coding results did not differ between short and long video sequences, when sequences were taken from the middle of the interactions. Importantly, characteristic differences between different interactive situations were equally well represented in the short and long video sequences. Therefore, our results show that coding only 10 min of an interaction is as reliable and valid as coding full-length videos, if those short sequences are taken from the middle of an interaction. Our findings support the idea that for every method, it is necessary to individually determine the window duration that is long enough to gain results that are reliable and valid.     

Self-recognition and self-regulation: the relationship with socialization trajectories and children's sex

The initial process of self development involves interaction with others and the establishment of relationships taking different paths depending on the socio-cultural context. Self-recognition and self-regulation are considered manifestations of this development between 18 and 24 months of age. This study aimed at analyzing the relationship between these two aspects, maternal beliefs about autonomy and relatedness, as well as identifying differences between boys and girls in this developmental stage. Participants were 94 mothers of different educational levels and their children of 17-22 months of age in two Brazilian cities. Socialization Goals Inventory and Parental Practices in the First Year Inventory were used to collect data on mothers' beliefs. Children performed tasks related to self-recognition (the mirror test) and self-regulation (compliance to requests). The group of mothers studied valued both autonomy and interdependence. Children's responses are consistent with a perspective of relational autonomy, which value both independence and interdependence. Differences were found in relation to sex in both self-recognition and self-regulation, and baby girls showed superior performance than boys in both tasks.     

Anticipatory and compensatory postural adjustments in sitting in children with cerebral palsy

The aim of this study was to examine postural control in children with cerebral palsy performing a bilateral shoulder flexion to grasp a ball from a sitting posture. The participants were 12 typically developing children (control) without cerebral palsy and 12 children with cerebral palsy (CP). We analyzed the effect of ball mass (1 kg and 0.18 kg), postural adjustment (anticipatory, APA, and compensatory, CPA), and groups (control and CP) on the electrical activity of shoulder and trunk muscles with surface electromyography (EMG). Greater mean iEMG was seen in CPA, with heavy ball, and for posterior trunk muscles (p < .05). The children with CP presented the highest EMG and level of co-activation (p < .05). Linear regression indicated a positive relationship between EMG and aging for the control group, whereas that relationship was negative for participants with CP. We suggest that the main postural control strategy in children is based on corrections after the beginning of the movement. The linear relationship between EMG and aging suggests that postural control development is affected by central nervous disease which may lead to an increase in muscle co-activation.     

Influence of clinical status in the relationship between alexithymia and emotional recognition: a dimensional study

The results of this study are part of an investigation to determine whether the cognitive-emotional process of emotional recognition is deficient as a function of the clinical condition and alexithymia in subjects with somatization. This investigation applied the self-assessment of emotion and used a procedure that minimizes the use of verbal skills and verbal comprehension. The specific goal of this study was to verify whether there were differences in the covariation between alexithymia and self-evaluation of the emotional reaction in clinical and nonclinical subjects. The results of this study highlight the significant differences between clinical and control subjects. There were inverse significant correlations with the affective valence in clinical subjects, whereas in the ratings of the TAS-20 in control subjects, there were direct correlations with activation. In the conclusions, we discuss whether the variability of the results of previous research of the relationship between alexithymia and emotional recognition is a characteristic feature of this relationship or an effect of the different sampling and procedures utilized.     

Prevalence, symptoms and distribution of oppositional defiant disorder

The purpose of this work was to determine the epidemiological evolution of the Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) in adolescents, using a sample of Secondary School students of the region of Campo de Gibraltar (Cadiz). The students' age ranged from 12 to 16 years old. Two evaluations were completed, the first one during the school year 2001-2002 and the second one in the school year 2006-2007. The sample comprised 2310 students in the first study and 2351 students in the second one. We used a comparative-selective approach. The results of the comparison revealed a prevalence ranging from 3.77% to 3.83% of students with this disorder, maintaining the main symptoms and with some changes in its distribution as a function of the school grade. Indeed, the data showed more cases in the final courses (1st study) in contrast with a higher concentration of cases in the initial courses (2nd study). With regard to the frequency of ODD by sex, we found that whereas in the earlier study (2001-2002), the relationship between boys and girls was 3.5:1, in the school year 2006/2007, the number of boys with ODD quadrupled the number of girls.