Temporal memory of emotional experience

The few studies that have investigated judgments of time have suggested that the memory of duration is distorted more for emotional events than for neutral events, while in contrast there is abundant evidence that other aspects of memories of emotional events are more accurate. To reconcile this apparent discrepancy, we used a procedure in which the participants learned a standard duration over several trials under three emotional conditions: a threatening, a nonthreatening, and a neutral control condition. They were then tested either immediately or 24 h after learning. In this test phase, they had to indicate whether presented comparison durations were or were not the same as the previously learned standard duration. We found that durations were recalled better in the emotional than in the neutral condition, and that this occurred to a greater extent in the threatening than in the nonthreatening condition. Arousing emotions thus enhanced temporal memory, just as they enhance memory for other aspects of emotional events.     

The use of a screening device to assess psychopathy in young offenders

The aim of this research was to determine to what extent a psychopath screening device (the APSD) is useful in forensic assessments to predict general and violent offending. For this purpose, a cross-sectional study was done and 238 young people serving a sentence were assessed. The gold standard instrument used to measure psychopathy was the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV; Forth, Kosson & Hare, 2003). The results indicate that the association found between the screening device scores and several indicators of risk is low if compared with those obtained with the PCL:YV, suggesting that it is less useful as a tool in order to predict offending or violent offences. However, an Area Under the Curve of .784 and a validity index of 62.5 support its use as a screening device or as a preliminary approach to assess psychopathy in this population. The usefulness of this instrument to make assessments with young people in the forensic setting is discussed.     

Reliability and sources of validity evidence of the Oviedo Schizotypy Assessment Questionnaire-Abbreviated (ESQUIZO-Q-A)

The main goal of this research was to examine the reliability and different sources of validity evidence of the Oviedo Schizotypy Assessment Questionnaire-Abbreviated (ESQUIZO-Q-A) in nonclinical adolescents. The final sample was made up of 1,455 participants, 705 males (48.5%), with a mean age of 15.92 years (SD = 1.18). The internal consistency of the subscales ranged from .62 to .75. The analysis of its internal structure yielded a three-dimensional solution based on the dimensions: Reality Distortion, Anhedonia, and Interpersonal Disorganization. Likewise, the goodness-of-fit indices derived from the Confirmatory Factor Analysis for the hypothesized three-factor model were adequate. The three dimensions of the ESQUIZO-Q-A were significantly correlated with the subscales of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The ESQUIZO-Q is a brief and simple self-report with adequate psychometric properties for the assessment of schizotypal traits in nonclinical adolescent populations. Future research should continue to explore the metric quality of the ESQUIZO-Q-A (e.g., sensitivity and specificity) and incorporate the new advances in psychological and educational assessment such as Computerized Adaptive Testing.     

Use of the Labour-Intensive Method in the Repair of a Rural Road Serving an Indigenous Community in Jocotán (Guatemala)

This paper reports the results obtained in an aid project designed to improve transport in the municipal area of Jocotán (Guatemala). The rural road network of an area occupied by indigenous people was analysed and a road chosen for repair using the labour-intensive method-something never done before in this area. The manpower required for the project was provided by the population that would benefit from the project; the involvement of outside contractors and businesses was avoided. All payment for labour went into the pockets of the local people. The small earth movements made and the use of local materials guaranteed the project's environmental sustainability, while the on-site training of the local community prepared its members for the continued maintenance of the road, thus investing the project with social sustainability.     

Gait and risk of falls associated with frontal cognitive functions at different stages of Alzheimer's disease

ABSTRACT The decline in frontal cognitive functions contributes to alterations of gait and increases the risk of falls in patients with dementia, a category which included Alzheimer's disease (AD). The objective of the present study was to compare the gait parameters and the risk of falls among patients at different stages of AD, and to relate these variables with cognitive functions. This is a cross-sectional study with 23 patients with mild and moderate AD. The Clinical Dementia Rating was used to classify the dementia severity. The kinematic parameters of gait (cadence, stride length, and stride speed) were analyzed under two conditions: (a) single task (free gait) and (b) dual task (walking and counting down). The risk of falls was evaluated using the Timed Up-and-Go test. The frontal cognitive functions were evaluated using the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), the Clock Drawing Test (CDT) and the Symbol Search Subtest. The patients who were at the moderate stage suffered reduced performance in their stride length and stride speed in the single task and had made more counting errors in the dual task and still had a higher fall risk. Both the mild and the moderate patients exhibited significant decreases in stride length, stride speed and cadence in the dual task. Was detected a significant correlation between CDT, FAB, and stride speed in the dual task condition. We also found a significant correlation between subtest Similarities, FAB and cadence in the dual task condition. The dual task produced changes in the kinematic parameters of gait for the mild and moderate AD patients and the gait alterations are related to frontal cognitive functions, particularly executive functions.     

Development and validation of the Childhood Perfectionism Inventory (I.P.I.)

There are a few studies linking children's perfectionism with diverse internalized or externalized disorders. Likewise, in Spanish, there is no scale that measures the diverse aspects that comprise it. This paper presents the Children's Perfectionism Inventory (IPI). The sample comprised 2,260 participants (51.2% males and 48.8% females). The age range is between 8 and 13 years (mean= 9.94 and SD= 1.27). Sampling was stratified and random. Of the sample, 78.1% are from public education and 21.9% from private education. 16.2% reside in rural areas and 83.8% in urban areas. To study the validity of the questionnaire, cross-validation was performed. Initially three factors were obtained through exploratory factor analysis: Self-assessment, Self-imposed and External Pressures, with adequate reliability indices (Cronbach's alpha= .89, .87 and .88, respectively). Subsequently, using a confirmatory method, it was found that the three initial factors were explained by a single second-order factor called Perfectionism.     

Imputation methods for missing data in educational diagnostic evaluation

In the diagnostic evaluation of educational systems, self-reports are commonly used to collect data, both cognitive and orectic. For various reasons, in these self-reports, some of the students' data are frequently missing. The main goal of this research is to compare the performance of different imputation methods for missing data in the context of the evaluation of educational systems. On an empirical database of 5,000 subjects, 72 conditions were simulated: three levels of missing data, three types of loss mechanisms, and eight methods of imputation. The levels of missing data were 5%, 10%, and 20%. The loss mechanisms were set at: Missing completely at random, moderately conditioned, and strongly conditioned. The eight imputation methods used were: listwise deletion, replacement by the mean of the scale, by the item mean, the subject mean, the corrected subject mean, multiple regression, and Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm, with and without auxiliary variables. The results indicate that the recovery of the data is more accurate when using an appropriate combination of different methods of recovering lost data. When a case is incomplete, the mean of the subject works very well, whereas for completely lost data, multiple imputation with the EM algorithm is recommended. The use of this combination is especially recommended when data loss is greater and its loss mechanism is more conditioned. Lastly, the results are discussed, and some future lines of research are analyzed.     

The learning and motor development transfer process

The aim of this study is to analyze the transference process in motor skill learning. For this purpose, 320 boys and girls, with ages ranging from 3 to 12 years (M= 7.61; SD= 2.61), took part in nine object movement reception drills in which the following variables were cross-examined: the presence-absence of displacement (static or in motion), the corporal segments utilized (hands or arms), the movement direction (right or left), and the moving object (volleyball or tennis ball). The results indicate that what is being transferred is the common factor among them, the ocular-kinesthetic regulating system, which is constructed according to a generalized motor program and a predictive strategy of continuous control. The way that individuals group by levels of skill that represent the developmental levels of the aforementioned regulating system can also be observed. Lastly, the results are discussed, and strategies to improve the learning process in sports and physical education are provided.     

Event-related EEG oscillations to semantically unrelated words in normal and learning disabled children

Learning disabilities (LD) are one of the most frequent problems for elementary school-aged children. In this paper, event-related EEG oscillations to semantically related and unrelated pairs of words were studied in a group of 18 children with LD not otherwise specified (LD-NOS) and in 16 children with normal academic achievement. We propose that EEG oscillations may be different in LD NOS children versus normal control children that may explain some of the deficits observed in the LD-NOS group. The EEGs were recorded using the 10/20 system. EEG segments were edited by visual inspection 1000ms before and after the stimulus, and only correct responses were considered in the analysis. Time-frequency (1-50Hz) topographic maps were obtained for the increases and decreases of power after the event with respect to the pre-stimulus average values. Significant differences between groups were observed in the behavioral responses. LD-NOS children show less number of correct responses and more omissions and false alarms than the control group. The event-induced EEG responses showed significant differences between groups. The control group showed greater power increases in the frequencies 1-6Hz than the LD-NOS group from 300 to 700ms. These differences were mainly observed in frontal regions, both to related and non-related words. This was interpreted as a deficit in attention, both to internal and external events, deficits in activation of working memory and deficits in encoding and memory retrieval in the LD-NOS children. Differences between groups were also observed in the suppression of alpha and beta rhythms in the occipital regions to related words in frequencies between 8 and 17Hz from 450 to 750ms. LD-NOS children showed shorter durations of the decreases in power than the control group. These results suggest also deficits in attention and memory retrieval. It may be concluded that LD-NOS children showed physiological differences from normal children that may explain their cognitive deficiencies.     

Psychometric properties of the Basic Family Relations Inventory (BFRI)

The aim of this study was to analyze the factor structure and internal consistency of the Basic Family Relations Inventory (BFRI) in a non-probabilistic convenience sample of 442 participants (221 couples). Exploratory factor analysis resulted in three components. In a second-order factor analysis, the three components were grouped into two factors: the Conjugal factor, which refers to how the people who exercise the parental role interact with each other (generally, the parental couple), and the Parenting factor, which represents the way in which the parental couple treat their children. Both first- and second-order factors had high reliability indices. It was concluded that the 25-item BFRI is a valid instrument to evaluate the two-dimensional model of the basic family relations theory.