Niveles socioeconómicos-culturales y ejecución lingüística

Resumen

En este artículo se realiza una aproximación al estudio y evaluación del lenguaje desde una perspectiva psicosocial. El objetivo prioritario de esta investigación es conocer y exporter la importancia y relevancia que poseen ciertas variables socioeconómicas culturales, tipificadas como indicadores sociales, sobre el rendimiento en lenguaje, evaluado a través del I.T.P.A., de una muestra de escolares del Ciclo Medio de la E.G.B, en Galicia.     

Entrevista con Sandra Bern

RESUMEN

En esta entrevista Bem comenta la relación entre sus aportaciones científicas -el estudio psicológico de los roles sexuales a nivel tanto instrumental como conceptual- y su compromiso personal a favor de unas relaciones más igualitarias entre las personas, ofreciendo una visión comprehensiva de su evolución profesional y personal y repasando las cuestiones más interesantes de la etapa de estudios sobre androginia (1974–1979) y de su actual enfoque cognitivo. Tras comenzar explicando su formación y trayectoria científica, así como las motivaciones que han guiado su trabajo, la autora realiza un análisis crítico del Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI). Seguidamente profundiza en diversos aspectos del concepto “androginia” acuñado por ella y explica las razones por las que a partir de 1979 los sujetos tipificados sexualmente se convierten en el blanco de su teoría sobre el esquema cognitivo del género, así como la caracterización de los conceptos masculinidad y/o feminidad como constructos cognitivos. La entrevista finaliza con algunas alusiones acerca de cómo educar a los niños de una “forma no esquemática” con respecto al género y señalando sus preocupaciones científicas más recientes en torno al concepto de género en los niños.     

Implementing flexibility in automaticity: Evidence from context-specific implicit sequence learning

Attention is often dichotomized into controlled vs. automatic processing, where controlled processing is slow, flexible, and intentional, and automatic processing is fast, inflexible, and unintentional. In contrast to this strict dichotomy, there is mounting evidence for context-specific processes that are engaged rapidly yet are also flexible. In the present study we extend this idea to the domain of implicit learning to examine whether flexibility in automatic processes can be implemented through the reliance on contextual features. Across three experiments we show that participants can learn implicitly two complementary sequences that are associated with distinct contexts, and that transfer of learning when the two contexts are randomly intermixed depends on the distinctiveness of the two contexts. Our results point to the role of context-specific processes in the acquisition and expression of implicit sequence knowledge, and also suggest that episodic details can be represented in sequence knowledge.     

Revisiting letter transpositions within and across morphemic boundaries

Early morphological decomposition of complex words has been supported by evidence showing that the magnitude of masked transposed-letter (TL) priming effects is greater for within-morpheme transpositions than for between-morpheme transpositions. However, these findings have lately been called into question, and a recent article by Sánchez-Gutiérrez and Rastle (Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 20, 988–996, 2013) suggested that the above-mentioned interaction could have been the consequence of a false positive (i.e., a Type I error). Considering recent evidence showing that morpho-orthographic interactions are highly sensitive to individual differences in reading skills, we explored whether participants’ averaged reading speeds were responsible for modulating the size of within- versus between-morpheme TL priming effects. A large-scale lexical decision experiment with a set of 420 suffixed Spanish words (N = 80 participants) was run using the masked-priming technique. The results revealed that individual differences modulated the magnitude of the masked TL priming effect between morphemes: Faster readers (but not slower readers) yielded greater TL priming for within- than for between-morpheme transpositions. The present data help reconcile previous divergent data by showing that faster readers revealed a morpho-orthographic interaction, whereas slower readers may rely more on a morphological-processing strategy that is not sensitive to morpho-orthographic interactions.     

Long-term aversive taste memory requires insular and amygdala protein degradation

Some reports have shown that the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is necessary to degrade repressor factors to produce new proteins essential to memory consolidation. Furthermore, recent evidence suggests that memory updating also relies on protein degradation through the UPS. To evaluate whether degradation of proteins is part of the cellular events needed for long-term storage of taste aversion, we injected lactacystin--an UPS inhibitor--into the amygdala and/or insular cortex 30 min before the first or second training trials. The results revealed that degradation of proteins in either the amygdala or insular cortex suffices for long-term stabilization of first-time encounter taste aversion. On the other hand, lactacystin applied in the insula, but not in the amygdala, before the second training prevented long-term storage of updated information. Our results support that degradation of proteins by means of the UPS is required every time taste aversion is to be stored in long-term memory.     

Intelligence impairment, personality features and psychopathology disturbances in a family affected with CADASIL

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is a small-vessel disease of the brain that is characterized by headache, recurring lacunar strokes, mood changes and progressive cognitive deterioration. The disease is transmitted with an autosomal dominant pattern and usually starts during midadulthood (at 30-50 years of age). Cognitive deficits in patients with CADASIL develop slowly. The dementia causes frontal-like symptoms and it typically develops after a history of recurrent stroke. We describe three patients from one Spanish family affected by this disease. All three cases underwent comprehensive clinical and neuropsychological examination, and were monitored for seven years. The results obtained in this study describe a) a significant loss of the intelligence quotient (IQ) and noticeable damage to abstract ability (g factor), b) mood and psychopathological disturbances (major depression and dysthymia), and c) a personality with neurotic features.     

Taxonomy of the psychosocial consequences caused by the violence of persecution of ETA's network

This paper delimits and analyzes the effects of the harassment perpetrated by ETA's terrorist network in the Basque Country. The aim was to provide a taxonomy of the consequences of psychological violence and to validate this taxonomy, by means of a content analysis of 37 testimonies of victims of terrorist violence. The taxonomy of consequences of psychological violence is made up by four components: 1. the effects on the context of the persons affected, 2. on their emotional state, 3. on cognition and 4. on behavior. Results show a predominance of contextual consequences and negative cognitions. Intra-observer and inter-observer reliability analysis showed high stability and reproducibility coefficients. This study shows that harassment and psychological violence have major consequences not only for victims but also for family members, threatened collectives and even the society as a whole.     

Relationships among empathy, prosocial behavior, aggressiveness, self-efficacy and pupils' personal and social responsibility

The aim of this study was, on the one hand, to present/display the Spanish version of diverse instruments that assess Empathy, Prosocial behavior, Aggressiveness, Self-efficacy and Personal and social responsibility, and, on the other hand, to analyze which of these variables could predict responsibility. Participants were 822 pupils, ages 8 to 15 years, who studied in 11 educational centres of the Valencian Community. Measures include Spanish versions of the Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents, Prosocial Behaviour, and Physical and Verbal Aggression, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Self-Efficacy, and the Contextual Self-Responsibility Questionnaire. Through structural equation modelling (SEM), the results showed positive relationships between Prosocial behaviour, Empathy, Self-efficacy, and Responsibility; and negative relationships between Aggressiveness and Responsibility. The results and implications for education are discussed.