When is the infrahumanization to a threatening outgroup higher? Effects of the ambiguity of situation and the empathy with ingroup

Infrahumanization researchs have shown that people attribute their ingroup exclusively human features, for example, the ability to experience secondary emotions. This bias lead people to deny this ability to outgroup and, consequently, to infrahumanize them. However, it would have conditions in which the infrahumanization is intensified. The aim of this study is to determine if there are characteristics in a threatening situation that influence in the level in which ingroup infrahumanize the outgroup. Two histories were constructed; in them, the outgroup committed a violent action against the ingroup, and as the degree of certainty about the perpetration, so the level of empathy with the victim were manipulated. The results show that when there are empathy with the victim and ambiguity about the perpetration, the infrahumanization to outgroup is higher.     

Relationship between dispositional optimism/pessimism and stress coping strategies

Recent studies confirm that dispositional pessimism is related with a worse state of physical health, in comparison with dispositional optimism . The efficacy of stress coping strategies has been considered as a mediating mechanism in this relationship. The aim of the present study is to analyze in a sample of university students (n = 200) the association between dispositional optimism/pessimism and different categories of self-reported somatic symptoms , and evaluate the possible mediation of the stress coping strategies in this relationship. The results indicate that: 1) pessimism is positively related with the report of physical symptoms, whereas optimism is negatively associated to somatic complaints; and 2) this relationship can be mainly explained by the differential utilization of the coping strategy denominated self-criticism (characteristic of pessimism).     

Why do people change in therapy? A preliminary study

Why do people change in therapy? A preliminary study. This work represents the beginning of a new way to study the processes that can explain the therapeutic change. The method used is the observation and analysis of therapeutic sessions directly recorded and developed inside a behavioural approach. The category system tries to carry out a functional analysis of the therapist-client interaction which enables the identification of learning processes that work in clinical setting and explain success in therapy. Outcomes are provisional but show the utility of this initial trend of investigation to the comprehension of clinical phenomenon. Conclusions also emphasize the importance of associative learning processes on the therapeutic change.     

Validation of a questionnaire for measuring psychosocial factors associated with pharmaceutical care in Spanish community pharmacists

Pharmacotherapy follow-up (PTF) is the professional practice in which the pharmacist takes charge of the needs of the patients related to their drugs. OBJECTIVE: To validate a questionnaire to measure the ASE psychosocial determinants (attitude, social influence, self-efficacy) of PTF and the Prochaska & DiClemente's stage of change in Spanish community pharmacists. METHOD: Postal survey to 482 Asturian community pharmacists (test and retest). Validity was estimated in 134 pharmacists answering the test. Stability was estimated in 85 pharmacists answering the test and retest. Exploratory factorial analysis was used to investigate construct validity and produced 4 factors and 104 items. Those factors had high reliability (Cronbach's a between 0,87 and 0,96). DISCRIMINANT VALIDITY: Pharmacists in extreme stages of change showed significant differences of attitude, motivation and self-efficacy. Repeatability was good and the questionnaire appears valid and reliable.     

Effect of manipulating the risetime of an acoustic stimulus on two protective reflexes: cardiac defense and motor startle

Effect of manipulating the risetime of an acoustic stimulus on two protective reflexes: cardiac defense and motor startle. The risetime is a parametric characteristic of the eliciting stimulus frequently used to differentiate among psychophysiological reflexes. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of manipulating the risetime of an acoustic stimulus on two protective reflexes: cardiac defense and motor startle. 100 participants underwent a psychophysiological reactivity test to five presentations of an intense acoustic stimulus (105 dB white noise) under one of five risetime conditions: 0, 24, 48, 96, and 240 ms. Total energy of the stimulus was controlled by increasing the base duration of the stimulus (1000 ms) by one third of the risetime. Results showed that risetime significantly affected motor startle but not cardiac defense. Startle amplitude decreased linearly with increasing risetime after 24 ms. On the other hand, repetition of the stimulus significantly affected cardiac defense but not motor startle. These results question the traditional differentiation between startle and defense based on risetime.     

Adaptation to Spanish of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire-Revised Version (VVIQRV)

Adaptation to Spanish of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire-Revised Version (VVIQRV). The main goal of this paper was to adapt to Spanish language and to examine the psychometric properties of the "Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire-Revised Version" (VVIQRV), an instrument that can be used to assess vividness of visual imagery. The adaptation was carried out starting from the Spanish version of VVIQ and taking into consideration improvement proposals suggested in other studies. The questionnaire was then administered to a sample of 414 Spanish university students and the psychometric characteristics were estimated on the basis of the classic theory and the Rasch rating scale model (RSM). The results were convergent with previous studies and indicated that the Spanish VVIQRV has good internal consistency and can be characterized by a single main factor structure. Also, the RSM analysis showed that the increment in the number of response categories, a proposal to improve the instrument, was not appropriate.     

Information and communication technologies in teaching applied and experimental designs

In this work, an innovative teaching model applied to methodological contents in psychology is presented. The proposed didactic model includes Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), such as CD-ROMs, web sites and Internet. These resources complement class attendance. In the classes the students are informed, guided and oriented so that they are able to obtain information and reorganize it in a coherent way. The aim of this article is to find out the students' learning preferences and estimate the incorporation of ICT, by means of the ETIM (Evaluation of Teaching Innovation Model) questionnaire. The results show that the students are aware of the need to consult other materials and that ICT helps students to understand the subject from various perspectives. In this way, the students become more autonomous in acquiring learning results.     

Item selection rules in a Computerized Adaptive Test for the assessment of written English

Item selection rules in a Computerized Adaptive Test for the assessment of written English. e-CAT is a Computerized Adaptive Test for the evaluation of written English knowledge, using the item selection rule most commonly employed: the maximum Fisher information criterion. Some of the problems of this criterion have a negative impact in the estimation accuracy and in the item bank security. In this study, the performance of this item selection rule is compared, by means of simulation, with two other rules: selecting the item with maximum Fisher information in an interval (Veerkamp y Berger, 1997) and a new criterion, called "maximum Fisher information in an interval with geometric mean". In general, this new rule shows smaller measurement error and smaller item overlap rates. It seems, thus, recommendable, as it allows the simultaneous improvement of estimation accuracy and the maintenance of the item bank security of e-CAT.     

Training higher education students in mathematics learning strategies

The present research focuses on the design and testing of a training program in learning strategies for Mathematics in Higher Education students. This research displays a quasiexperimental-sequential design with a non-equivalent control group. The research aims at revealing the effect of this training program both on the student's competence in learning strategies and on academic performance in this curricular area. There have been 176 students taking part in this research (74 students forming the experimental group and 72 forming the control group). The obtained results permit to assess the program efficiency as regards both trained strategies handling and specific performance improvement.     

Stress in mothers of individuals with autistic spectrum disorders

The aim of this study was to analyze maternal stress in families of individuals with autism. We proposed a multi-factorial and global model based on the Double ABCX model of family stress (McCubbin & Patterson, 1983) in which, the factor aA (stressor) interacts with bB (social support) and cC (perception of stress or, in our study, sense of coherence, SOC) to produce the dependent factor xX (level of stress). Thirty-nine mothers with children diagnosed on Autistic Spectrum disorders completed four questionnaires relating to the factors. The data were statistically analyzed using path analysis. The results showed that the empirical data fitted the theoretically proposed model well. There existed a direct and positive relationship between stressor and stress. Social support and SOC had a direct and negative relationship to stress, and functioned as modulating variables.