Increased forefoot loading is associated with an increased plantar flexion moment

The aim of this study was to identify the cascade of effects leading from alterations in force generation around the ankle joint to increased plantar pressures under the forefoot. Gait analysis including plantar pressure measurement was performed at an individually preferred and a standardized, imposed gait velocity in diabetic subjects with polyneuropathy (n = 94), without polyneuropathy (n = 39) and healthy elderly (n = 19). The plantar flexion moment at 40% of the stance phase was negatively correlated with the displacement rate of center of pressure (r = ?.749, p < .001 at the imposed, and r = ?.693, p < .001 at the preferred gait velocity). Displacement rate of center of pressure was strongly correlated with forefoot loading (r = ?.837, p < .001 at the imposed, and r = ?.731, p < .001 at the preferred gait velocity). People with a relatively high plantar flexion moment at 40% of the stance phase, have a faster forward transfer of center of pressure and consequently higher loading of the forefoot. This indicates that interventions aimed at increasing the control of the roll-off of the foot may contribute to a better plantar pressure distribution.     

Tales of two self-control scales: Relations with Five-Factor and HEXACO traits

This study compared the Five-Factor and HEXACO personality correlates of two common self-control constructs – Tangney self-control and Grasmick self-control – and their relations with delinquency. In both a student and a community sample, conscientiousness (mainly the prudence facet) was the most consistent and strongest correlate of both constructs. HEXACO honesty–humility was an important correlate of Grasmick self-control but not of Tangney self-control. Additionally, honesty–humility (mainly the fairness facet) was the most consistent predictor of delinquency, whereas the two self-control scales differed in the extent to which they predicted delinquency across samples.     

Rushton: The great theoretician and his contribution to personality

J. Philippe Rushton has been described as one of the greatest theorists in the field of personality and individual differences and social psychology. His life history theory (Differential K Theory) was said to bring unification to the scientific study of racial differences as Einstein’s theory of relativity unified the field of physics. It was maintained that Rushton’s General Factor of Personality (GFP) meshes with both general intelligence and his Differential K Theory. The present author presented a two-pillar theory of adaptive functioning that has a heavy concentration on Rushton conceptualization.     

Executive functioning moderates the relationship between motivation and adolescent depressive symptoms

We investigated the association between adolescent depressive symptoms and components of executive functioning (EF), including planning (Tower of London), set-shifting (Wisconsin Card Sorting Task), and inhibition (Stop Signal Task) in a community sample of 12–14 year olds. Further, EF was tested as a moderator of motivation (as operationalized by revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory) effects on depressive symptoms. Results suggested that planning ability was associated with depressive symptoms. Furthermore, planning ability moderated the relationship between motivation (fight-flight–freeze system; FFFS) and depressive symptoms, such that among adolescents with poor planning ability the FFFS positively predicted depressive symptoms, but among adolescents with strong planning ability the FFFS negatively predicted depressive symptoms. Neither set-shifting nor inhibition were associated with depressive symptoms. Findings highlight the need to consider multiple components of EF and to integrate motivational and executive dysfunction models to the study of depression.     

Hacia una historia del psicoanálisis

RESUMEN

El autor comienza señalando que la comprensión histórica del psicoanálisis exige un tratamiento plural, cuyo enfoque ilumine las diferentes perspectivas -así como su mutua interrelación- que han venido ilustrando su peculiar entidad. Por ello en este trabajo define de forma sistemática los principales enfoque históricos de los que es susceptible el fenómeno psicoanalítico: analítico-biográfico, socio-cultural, institucional-profesional y epistemológico, señalando los principales intereses temáticos y problemas que incluye cada uno y ofreciendo una selección de fuentes bibliográficas según tres criterios combinados: el mantenimiento de las obras clave clásicas, el carácter contemporáneo de las fuentes y el acceso a las mismas.     

El constructo ansiedad en Psicología: una revisión

RESUMEN

Se trata en este artículo de dar una visión sucinta y comprensiva del tratamiento que, desde el ámbito de la Psicología científica, ha recibido el tema de la ansiedad. Casi todas las escuelas, tanto clínicas como experimentales, han intentado dar una explicación, cada cual con su método y de sus principios teóricos a este complejo fenómeno. Aquí se analizarán cuatro enfoques: Psicodinámica y humanística; Experimental motivacional; Psicométrico-factorial; Cognitivo-conductual. También se presenta, al final, de modo sintético, un resumen que trata de integrar las diferentes aportaciones que se han producido en el desarrollo del estudio científico del tema ansiedad.     

Nuevas perspectivas del procesamiento de información

RESUMEN

La Psicología Cognitiva es una de las áreas más pujantes de la Psicología actual. Pese a lo fructífero de esta nueva rama de la Psicología, es necesario formular algunas críticas a este enfoque. Este será el tema principal del presente artículo. Las críticas estarán centradas en las llamadas “analogías formales”. Cuando un dominio de fenómenos es difícil y confuso para nuestra compresión, una solución lícita es establecer algún tipo de analogía entre ese dominio y otro dominio que conocemos mejor. Lo que hemos denominado analogías formales sirven de elementos de vertebración teórica de los datos psicológicos pero, por otra parte, mue stran debilidades importantes. Las principales analogías de la Psicología Cognitiva serán analizadas en este artículo mostrando sus debilidades más importantes.     

Psychotherapy with an adolescent boy who refused medical treatment

In this paper we describe psychotherapeutic work carried out in a paediatric hospital to illustrate the important contribution of a psychoanalytically-oriented approach in a hospital context. The work concerns an adolescent boy who had undergone several surgical operations with the result that some of his natural orifices were obstructed and artificial ones had to be created. He was referred to us because he refused pharmacological and rehabilitative treatment necessary prior to further surgery and his eventual recovery. The boy's experience of loss of control of his life and the more primitive anxieties of not feeling safely contained in his physical and psychic skin emerged and were worked through in the psychotherapeutic relationship. The parallel work with medical staff reduced the risk of splitting and acting out by the patient and professionals. The approach adopted enabled this boy to resume his medical treatment and his developmental process.     

Moral sentiments and cooperation: Differential influences of shame and guilt

For centuries economists and psychologists (Frank, 1988 Frank , R. H. (1988) . Passions within reason: The strategic role of the emotions . New York : Norton . (Originally published 1988)  [Google Scholar]; Ketelaar, 2004 Ketelaar, T. 2004. “Ancestral emotions, current decisions: Using evolutionary game theory to explore the role of emotions in decision-making”. In Evolutionary psychology, public policy and personal decisions, Edited by: Crawford, C. and Salmon, C. 145–163. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.  [Google Scholar]; Smith, 1759) have argued that moral emotions motivate cooperation. Ketelaar and Au (2003 Ketelaar, T. and Au, W. T. 2003. The effects of guilt on the behaviour of uncooperative individuals in repeated social bargaining games: An affect-as-information interpretation of the role of emotion in social interaction. Cognition and Emotion, 17: 429–453. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) recently found first evidence that guilt increases cooperation for proselfs in social bargaining games. We investigated whether this effect would also occur for shame, another moral emotion. Using a dyadic social dilemma game in Experiment 1 and an everyday cooperation measure in Experiment 2 as measures for short-term cooperation, we replicated Ketelaar and Au's findings for guilt. However, as predicted on the basis of previous emotion research, we found no such effect for shame. These results clearly indicate that the effects of moral emotions on cooperative behaviour can only be understood if the specific moral emotion is known.