Dissociated control as a signature of typological variability in high hypnotic suggestibility

This study tested the prediction that dissociative tendencies modulate the impact of a hypnotic induction on cognitive control in different subtypes of highly suggestible individuals. Low suggestible (LS), low dissociative highly suggestible (LDHS), and high dissociative highly suggestible (HDHS) participants completed the Stroop color-naming task in control and hypnosis conditions. The magnitude of conflict adaptation (faster response times on incongruent trials preceded by an incongruent trial than those preceded by a congruent trial) was used as a measure of cognitive control. LS and LDHS participants displayed marginally superior up-regulation of cognitive control following a hypnotic induction, whereas HDHS participants’ performance declined. These findings indicate that dissociative tendencies modulate the influence of a hypnotic induction on cognitive control in high hypnotic suggestibility and suggest that HS individuals are comprised of distinct subtypes with dissimilar cognitive profiles.     

Spanish version of the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ-S)

The concept of prospective memory is relatively recent. Thus, it is necessary to have instruments to assess it, in interaction with retrospective memory. The Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ; Smith et al., 2000) is an instrument that has been effectively used for assessment in several languages. Nevertheless, there is still no Spanish adaptation. The aim of this study was to translate the PRMQ and obtain information about its psychometric properties. A back translation process was applied to the PRMQ. The resulting PRMQ-S was self-administered to 520 subjects after applying the pilot test. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test competing models of its latent structure. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha. The results showed an adequate internal consistency of the total scale and the Prospective and Retrospective scales were: .89, .84 and .76, respectively. The factor structure was compared with the original study. Our results suggested a disagreement with the tripartite model defended by the authors of the PRMQ. Since there is a high correlation between two factors in the bi-factor model, and the tripartite model showed non-significant loadings to the two specific factors, we recommend that the PRMQ-S be used as one general memory score. We demonstrated adequate psychometric properties of the PRMQ-S if it is used as unique measurement of memory failures. These results are relevant due to the need for a short and accurate instrument in our language that explores memory failures, which has a major impact on the activities of daily living.     

Relations between life satisfaction, adjustment to illness, and emotional distress in a sample of men with ischemic cardiopathy

Fifty-two men who had suffered a first episode ischemic heart disease reported their degree of life satisfaction, the strategies they used to adjust to the illness, and the symptoms of anxiety and depression they felt. The multiple regression analyses carried out indicated that emotional distress was associated with a lower level of life satisfaction. In the analyses of anxiety symptoms, the use of negative adjustment strategies was also a significant predictor. Lastly, a significant Life Satisfaction x Type of Adjustment interaction was obtained. According to this, the patients who felt more satisfaction with their lives used more positive strategies to adjust to the illness and fewer negative ones, than the group of patients who were less satisfied. In conclusion, life satisfaction predicts emotional wellbeing of patients with ischemic heart disease and it enhances the implementation of appropriate strategies to cope with the disease. Moreover, although life satisfaction has been considered a stable measure, we suggest it may change as the experience of illness limits individuals' important goals.     

Cost of mental set reconfiguration between digits and their photisms in synaesthesia

In this study we present an experiment investigating the reconfiguration process elicited by the task switching paradigm in synaesthesia. We study the time course of the operations involved in the activation of photisms. In the experimental Group, four digit-color synaesthetes alternated between an odd-even task and a color task (to indicate the photism elicited by each digit). In both tasks, the target stimuli were numbers between 1 and 9 written in white. One of the control groups ran the same tasks but this time with colored numbers (Naive Control Group). The results of these studies showed the expected pattern for the control group in the case of regular shift: a significant task switch cost with an abrupt offset and a cost reduction in long RSI. However for the experimental group, we found switch cost asymmetry in the short RSI and non-significant cost in the long RSI. A second control group performed exactly the same tasks as the experimental group (with white numbers as targets and a second imaginary color task) -Trained Control Group-. We found no cost for this second control group. This means that the cost of mental set reconfiguration between numbers (inducers) and their photisms (concurrent sensations) occurs, that there is a specific cost asymmetry (from photisms to inducers) and that this cost cannot be explained by associative learning. The results are discussed in terms of exogenous and endogenous components of mental set reconfiguration.     

Functions of the pointing gesture in mothers and their 12 to 36-month-old children during everyday activities

This study longitudinally examined the production of pointing in four Spanish 1-year-old and four Spanish 2-year-old children in interactive situations with their mothers at home over the course of one year. Three aspects were analyzed: a) the functions of the pointing gesture, their accurate comprehension by the interlocutor (mother or child), and their order of emergence in the child; b) whether or not there were differences in the production of pointing according to who initiated the interaction; and c) whether maternal and child speech were related to maternal and child pointing production. The results showed that the pointing function of showing is the most frequent for both children and mothers from groups 1 and 2, and the first to emerge followed by the informing, requesting object, requesting action, and requesting cooperation functions. The accuracy with which these intentions were comprehended was found to be very high for both mother and child. Pointing production was greater when the speaker initiated the interaction than when the other person did, indicating that gestures follow the turn-taking system. Finally, the production of pointing to showing in children and mothers was found to be related to maternal and child speech, while pointing to request cooperation triggered the process of joint activity between mother and child.     

Father involvement and marital relationship during transition to parenthood: differences between dual and single-earner families

Research into the process of becoming mother or father shows very conclusively that this important life transition is accompanied by both a decrease in marital quality and a more traditional division of labour. In this paper these changes are analyzed with special emphasis on the relationships between them and exploring the role played in this process by the mother's work status. Results showed a significant link between the development of marital quality and violated expectations regarding father involvement on childrearing. Dual-earner families were characterized by a specific pattern of changes, with greater stability than single-earner families in marital and parental roles during transition to parenthood and a significant role played by spouse support as a partner, but not as a parent.     

A confirmatory factor analysis of the "Autoconcepto Forma 5" questionnaire in young adults from Spain and Chile

The aim of this work is to examine the pentafactorial validity of the AF5 Self-Concept Questionnaire in Spanish and Chilean young adults. From the responses of a total of 4,383 young adults aged 17 to 22 years (1,918 Spanish, 44%, and 2,465 Chilean, 56%) it was analyzed the reliability of the instrument, the compared validity of the 5 oblique factor model proposed by the authors versus the unifactorial and the orthogonal alternative models, and was studied the invariance of one Chilean sample. The results of confirmatory factor analyses supported the authors' pentafactorial model. The multi-group factorial invariance showed that Chilean sample of the AF5 does not change neither the Spanish factor weights, nor the variances and covariances of the factors, or the error variances of items. Finally, the internal consistency of the five scales was good in the samples of both countries.     

Validity of the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form in a sample of Spanish fathers

The purpose of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form in a sample of 115 fathers of infants aged between ten and thirty-nine months old. The exploratory factor analysis revealed three reasonably distinct factors, as in the original version of the instrument. The three extracted factors: Parental Distress, Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interaction and Difficult Child accounted for 47.48 % of the variance. The internal consistency coefficients were high in each factor or subscale. These results provided empirical evidence in favour of the reliability and validity of the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form in Spanish fathers, and can be useful to elucidate the mechanisms through which stress impacts parenting and permitting to develop more targeted interventions for infants and their families.     

Recording vocalizations with Bluetooth technology

We propose a method for capturing vocalizations that is designed to avoid some of the limiting factors found in traditional bioacoustical methods, such as the impossibility of obtaining continuous long-term registers or analyzing amplitude due to the continuous change of distance between the subject and the position of the recording system. Using Bluetooth technology, vocalizations are captured and transmitted wirelessly into a receiving system without affecting the quality of the signal. The recordings of the proposed system were compared to those obtained as a reference, which were based on the coding of the signal with the so-called pulse-code modulation technique in WAV audio format without any compressing process. The evaluation showed p < .05 for the measured quantitative and qualitative parameters. We also describe how the transmitting system is encapsulated and fixed on the animal and a way to video record a spider monkey’s behavior simultaneously with the audio recordings.