Grammatical category-specific deficits in bilingual aphasia

We report the naming performance of an early and highly proficient Spanish-Catalan bilingual (JPG) suffering from Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA). JPG's performance revealed a grammatical category-specific deficit, with worse performance in naming verbs than nouns. This dissociation was present in oral and written naming and in his two languages, and it seems to stem from damage to, at least, the lexical level. Despite the fact that JPG's performance was qualitatively very similar across languages, his second language seemed to be more affected than his first language. These results indicate that the cortical organization of the two languages of highly proficient bilinguals follow similar organizational principles, one of this principles being grammatical class.     

Words from Nowhere – Limits of Criticism

In the present essay, I aim to accentuate an analogy between the patterns of thought articulated by Berkeley's Hylas and those of Nagel in his philosophy of bats and aliens. The comparison has a critical purpose, with Philonous playing a role similar to that of Wittgenstein. I argue that Nagel's central claim comes down to statements that are marked by a peculiar form of emptiness. Towards the end, though, I will concede that this kind of Wittgensteinian criticism runs up against certain limits. The fantasies produced by Hylas or Nagel have as counterparts genuine philosophical expressions of experience, which are not vulnerable to the charges levelled at their theoretical parallels.     

Efficacy of a psychological treatment for sex offenders

The aims of the present paper are the following: firstly, to describe the psychological treatment administered to sexual offenders in Spain; secondly, to assess the effectiveness of the application of this psychological treatment in the prison of Brians (Barcelona). For this purpose, two equivalent groups were selected: a treatment group of 49 subjects who received the whole treatment program, and an untreated control group of 74 subjects. These groups were selected taking into account various risk factors in order to guarantee group comparability. The main results not only show the efficacy of the cognitive-behavioural program for sexual offenders but also that the effectiveness of this program exceeds the average of similar programs in the meta-analytic reviews performed to date.     

Family predictors of moral internalization in childhood

This study aimed to analyze the relationship between parents' affection, acceptance, emotional communication, the transmission of values and moral intervention, on the one hand, and children's moral emotions and behaviors on the other (empathy, guilt, internalized behavior and reparation). It also aimed to identify the family variables that influence moral internalization in children. The sample comprised 485 children (244 boys and 241 girls) aged between 6 and 8. The results showed that the principal variable to predict internalized behavior in girls was maternal affection, whereas for boys, the principal variables were maternal emotional communication and transmission of values. The family variables that explain moral internalization in extreme groups of children are basically parents' affection, emotional communication, the transmission of values and moral intervention.     

Cynicism: a differential coping strategy as a function of gender

The main objective of the present study is to analyse the role of cynicism as a coping strategy in the process of burnout, considering gender as a key variable in this process. The sample comprised 555 teachers from Spanish primary and secondary schools. A two-wave panel study was carried out: data were gathered during the first term and again during the third and last term of the academic year. Several t-tests for independent samples and moderated hierarchical regression analysis were carried out. Results showed that women have a higher level of exhaustion than men, whereas men have a higher level of cynicism than women. Furthermore, cynicism has a direct and positive effect on exhaustion for women. In the case of men, cynicism is not an effective coping strategy but it has some buffering effect on exhaustion. Thus, a high level of cynicism seems to lead to a lower increase of exhaustion. Results, contributions, and limitations of the present study are discussed.     

Burnout in Spanish physiotherapists

Diverse works on health sciences emphasise the importance of burnout in specific jobs. However, there is a lack of research about the presence of this syndrome in Spanish physiotherapists. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of burnout among physiotherapists and the relationship with work-related factors. 462 questionnaires were sent to health-centres. The questionnaire of work-related factors was administered, as well as the Maslach burnout inventory (MBI). 258 responses were received (55.8% response rate) from Murcia and Valencia. Regarding results 10 (4%) physiotherapists showed severe burnout. In relation to work-related factors, significant differences were observed. Although the percentage of physiotherapists with severe burnout was relatively low, it is important take into account that the syndrome requires the combined presence of three dimensions, which implies a very relevant situation of mental deterioration.     

Recidivism risk assessment in sex offenders

Violent behaviour risk assessment is one of the most relevant research areas in current Psychology of Crime. Various scales for violence risk assessment have recently been developed from research about crime careers and risk factors. One of these instruments is the Sexual Violence Risk Assessment-20 (SVR-20), translated and adapted to Spanish by the Group of Advanced Studies in Violence of the University of Barcelona. The goal of this study is to verify the predictive capacity of the SVR-20 to predict sexual violence recidivism in a Spanish sample of sexual offender inmates. The method used was a retrospective study based in 163 sexual offender files and a 4-year time lag. The data were analysed with the logistic regression technique. Of the sample, 79.9% non-recidivist individuals were correctly classified, and 70.8% recidivist individuals. The ROC curve obtained for the model shows a very good discriminant capacity for the SVR-20, with a 0.83 AUC value. The main conclusion of this study is that the Spanish adaptation of SVR-20 is a good instrument to predict the risk of sexual violence.     

STEPS TOWARD A COGNITIVE SCIENCE OF RELIGION

The article chronicles the different panels devoted tothe cognitive science of religion at the meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR) in Tampa, Florida, in November 2007. The aim is to verify the state of this subdiscipline and to check how much this work‐in‐progress affects the present state of the dialogue between science and religion. Several signs point to a positive development in this scientific branch and favor a sound reception in theology, which should not ignore the new research.     

IS A COMPLETE BIOCOGNITIVE ACCOUNT OF RELIGION FEASIBLE?

The biological and cognitive approach to religion has matured somewhat and reveals interesting results. Nevertheless, some questions arise about its foundation and development. The essay offers a review of current research in the cognitive field, focusing on its conclusions, the internal discussions, and the problems that need more study or correction. Emphasis is placed on a more intricate account of the factors involved in religious experience, discussing the proper use of the discoveries of biocognitive research and the limits that should be placed on said conclusions.     

Using morphology when spelling in a shallow orthographic system: The case of Spanish

Deep orthographies usually represent morphology and phonology simultaneously; both resources are necessary for spelling. In shallow orthographies, such as Spanish, phonology would be enough to spell most words. However, morphological knowledge may also take part in spelling. This study examined how Spanish children in 1st (N = 148), 2nd (N = 155) and 3rd grade (N = 155) use morphological information to spell plural nouns and verbs. A word dictation task was designed. The task included high and low frequency plural nouns ending in “s” (morphological “-s” condition) and verbs in the 2nd person ending in “s” (morphological “-s” condition). A lexical condition including words with a final “s” which was not morphologically motivated was used as a control condition (lexical “-s” condition). The results show that, although Spanish spelling is influenced by phonology, morphological information is also used. These results are discussed in relation to current models of word spelling.