Mediterranean diet and wellbeing: evidence from a nationwide survey

Objective: Although there is some evidence of the association between specific food groups, such as plant foods, and subjective wellbeing, this is the first study to assess the relationship between adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern and subjective wellbeing. Design: Data were collected in 2014–2015, within the Edad con Salud project, a follow-up study of a multistage clustered survey on a representative sample of the population of Spain. The final sample comprised 2397 individuals with ages ranging from 21 to 101 years. Main outcome measures: Experienced wellbeing (positive and negative affect) was measured using the Day Reconstruction Method, and evaluative wellbeing was assessed with the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale. Results: A higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet showed a small but statistically significant inverse relationship with negative affect (β?=??0.076, p=.001), and direct with evaluative wellbeing (β?=?0.053, p=.015), whereas it was not related to positive affect. Several components of the Mediterranean diet were independently associated with wellbeing. Conclusion: The results suggest that adherence to a dietary pattern such as the Mediterranean diet, and not only the isolated consumption of its components, is associated with a better subjective wellbeing.     

Cross validity of the UCLA Loneliness Scale factorization

Loneliness is an unpleasant experience that takes place when a person's network of social relationships is significantly deficient in quality and quantity, and it is associated with negative feelings. Loneliness is a fundamental construct that provides information about several psychological processes, especially in the clinical setting. It is well known that this construct is related to isolation and emotional loneliness. One of the most well-known psychometric instruments to measure loneliness is the revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, which has been factorized in several populations. A controversial issue related to the UCLA Loneliness Scale is its factor structure, because the test was first created based on a unidimensional structure; however, subsequent research has proved that its structure may be bipolar or even multidimensional. In the present work, the UCLA Loneliness Scale was completed by two populations: Spanish and Italian undergraduate university students. Results show a multifactorial structure in both samples. This research presents a theoretically and analytically coherent bifactorial structure.     

Validation and adaptation of the PACES scale of enjoyment of the practice of physical activity for Spanish adolescent girls

The goal of this study is to validate a Spanish version of the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES, Kendzierski & DeCarlo, 1991), in the population of Spanish adolescent girls, and also to obtain a reduced version of the scale. For this purpose, reliability analysis was conducted, and construct validity was assessed in two steps: exploratory factor analysis and structural equation model with confirmatory factor analysis. The scale was administered to a sample of 2777 adolescent girls of Secondary Education, ages between 12-18 years. The results show the reliability of the instrument and the construct validity with a good fit of the model. The adapted scale was reduced to six items, a shorter and efficient scale that allows us to measure the enjoyment of physical activity.     

Optimal behavior and concurrent variable interval schedules

Behavior maintained with 2-component concurrent variable interval schedules of reinforcement (CONC VIVI) is described well by the matching law. Deviations from matching behavior have been handled by adding free parameters to the matching law equation. With CONC VIVI schedules there are infinitely many solutions to the matching law equation at each value of the procedural parameters. However, at each value of the procedural parameters, only one combination of durations of intervals spent in each VI component (dwell times) yields the combined maximum reinforcement rate. The equations that yield the optimal dwell times solution for CONC VIVI schedules are mathematically incompatible with the matching law. Optimal performance and matching coincide only when the parameter values of the two VI components are equal. It seems reasonable to use optimal behavior to assess performance in these schedules. Researchers have not compared optimal and empirical performances in CONC VIVI possibly because the equations for optimal dwell times (ODT) can be solved only numerically. We present a table of ODT for a wide range of VIs and changeover delays. We also derive a function m that can be used to compare matching data and the matching behavior predictions of optimization. We prove that 0.5<m<1.003502, and we describe some of the more nteresting properties of the function.     

Self-concept in adults from Spain and Portugal

The aim of this work is to confirm the penta-factorial validity of the AF5 Self-Concept Questionnaire in Spanish and Portuguese adults. From the responses of a total of 2058 adults (1508 Spanish, 73.3%, and 550 Portuguese, 26.7%) was analyzed the reliability of the instrument, was compared the validity of the 5 oblique factor model proposed by the authors versus unifactorial and the orthogonal alternative models, and was studied the invariance of the Portuguese translation. The results of structural equation modeling supported the authors' penta-factorial model. The multi-group factorial invariance showed that Portuguese translation of the AF5 does not change neither the original factor weights, nor the variances and covariances of the factors. Finally, the reliability was good for the original Spanish version and Portuguese translation.     

Effects of the lexical-semantic variables in visual word recognition

In languages with a deep orthography such as English, a number of studies have shown the effects of lexical and semantic variables on word recognition. In languages with a shallow orthography such as Spanish the regularity of the grapheme - phoneme correspondences may mean that lexical and semantic variables could have less relevant roles. In this study, three variables were tested: frequency, age of acquisition and imageability. These three variables were factorially manipulated in three lexical decision task and three word naming tasks. The results show that in lexical decision both frequency and age of acquisition influence reaction times but imageability was not significant. In the word reading task, only the age of acquisition had a significant effect. The implications of these results for models of reading in Spanish are discussed.     

Entrevista con Joseph R. Royce

RESUMEN

En esta entrevista J. R. Royce reflexiona con J. M^a Prieto acerca de su historial de investigación, las posibilidades de una síntesis teórica en psicología que incluya los aspectos diferenciales, la organización del Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Psicología Teórica que dirige en la Universidad de Alberta y el enfoque de la Teoría de la Individualidad, a la que dedica sus esfuerzos actuales. El autor explica cómo el planteamiento multifactorial original de esta teoría se ha enriquecido con enfoques provenientes de la Teoría General de Sistemas y de la Teoría de los Procesos de la Información y finaliza con algunas cuestiones acerca de la viabilidad de la misma.     

A system for automatic recording and analysis of motor activity in rats

We describe the design and evaluation of an electronic system for the automatic recording of motor activity in rats. The device continually locates the position of a rat inside a transparent acrylic cube (50 cm/side) with infrared sensors arranged on its walls so as to correspond to the x-, y-, and z-axes. The system is governed by two microcontrollers. The raw data are saved in a text file within a secure digital memory card, and offline analyses are performed with a library of programs that automatically compute several parameters based on the sequence of coordinates and the time of occurrence of each movement. Four analyses can be made at specified time intervals: traveled distance (cm), movement speed (cm/s), time spent in vertical exploration (s), and thigmotaxis (%). In addition, three analyses are made for the total duration of the experiment: time spent at each x–y coordinate pair (min), time spent on vertical exploration at each x–y coordinate pair (s), and frequency distribution of vertical exploration episodes of distinct durations. User profiles of frequently analyzed parameters may be created and saved for future experimental analyses, thus obtaining a full set of analyses for a group of rats in a short time. The performance of the developed system was assessed by recording the spontaneous motor activity of six rats, while their behaviors were simultaneously videotaped for manual analysis by two trained observers. A high and significant correlation was found between the values measured by the electronic system and by the observers.     

An epistemic and dynamic approach to abductive reasoning: Abductive problem and abductive solution

We propose a study of abductive reasoning addressing it as an epistemic process that involves both an agent?s information and the actions that modify this information. More precisely, we present and discuss definitions of an abductive problem and an abductive solution in terms of an agent?s information, that is, in terms of knowledge and beliefs. The discussion is then formalised by ‘implementing’ our definitions in a dynamic epistemic logic framework, where the properties of these definitions are studied, an epistemic action that represents the application of an abductive step is introduced, and an illustrative example is provided. A number of the most interesting properties of abductive reasoning (those highlighted by Peirce) are shown to be better modelled within this approach.