Cognición ambiental

Resumen

Esta investigación revisa el conocimiento espacial humano en los ambientes cotidianos y reales. Los estudios relativos a mapas cognitivos se organizan en cinco categorías empíricas: edad, familiaridad, sexo, clase-cultura y componentes físicos del ambiente. Se discuten las cuestiones metodológicas y conceptuales en los trabajos sobre el conocimiento ambiental, enfatizando los problemas con las metodologías que utilizan el dibujo de mapas cognitivos. En particular se observa una falta de integración entre la investigación cognitiva pertinente y los trabajos de la psicología ambiental sobre mapas cognitivos. Finalmente se discute la aplicación potencial de los trabajos de conocimiento ambiental a la arquitectura, el diseño urbanístico y la educación.     

Fluctuaciones en la autoestima tras un informe psicológico

RESUMEN

El autor comienza repasando el estudio que los procesos del “self' o “sí mismo” han tenido en psicología y observa que recientemente se han levantado serias dudas acerca de la presunta firmeza y consistencia de los autoconceptos. En esta línea plantea su hipótesis: un informe psicológico que comunique al sujeto el hallazgo en él de cualidades deseables, como elevada inteligencia o buen equilibrio afectivo, elevará su puntaje en autoestima y un informe que exprese lo contrario, lo rebajará. Realiza tres estudios en los que queda comprobada esta hipótesis -con diferente grado de confianza- y con el tercero examina también un fenómeno inicialmente no esperado: la ampliación de la variabilidad de los puntajes en el grupo con informe desfavorable y la reducción de la misma en el grupo que recibió información propicia. El autor concluye que los efectos no pueden atribuirse en exclusiva al tratamiento o condición experimental ya que las características de la personalidad de los sujetos parecen influir. Sugiere que la autoestima extraexperimental -que integra aspectos más estables, subrayados por las teorías tradicionales- puede haber mediatizado los efectos experimentales y finaliza subrayando las posibles implicaciones de los juicios clínicos en la modificación de la autoestima de los sujetos.     

Diseño de dispositivos cotidianos adaptados a las diferencias de los usuarios

Resumen

En nuestras actividades cotidianas interactuamos con numerosas máquinas y dispositivos, que teóricamente tienen la misión de facilitarnos la vida. Sin embargo, este objetivo no se cumple con la frecuencia con la que desearíamos. En este trabajo exponemos una serie de problemas que caracterizan a la construcción y a la actuación de tecnología (falta de ruido, invisibilidad), así como una serie de posibles soluciones para el establecimiento de una «comunicación» eficaz entre los usuarios y los dispositivos (relaciones analógicas, adaptabilidad de los dispositivos). Hay que decir que la mayor parte de las soluciones pasan por concebir sistemas adaptables a las distintas características de los potenciales usuarios, tanto en el propio proceso de diseño como en el uso diario efectivo de dichos dispositivos.     

A comparison of attentional and control shift models of the performance of concurrent tasks

A concurrent verbal task was superimposed upon the performance of a practiced bimanual motor skill by right-handed Ss. Addition of the verbal task did not increase the total number of errors; however, a significant interaction between hands and conditions was observed. The right hand made significantly more errors under the verbal condition, while the left hand made non-significantly fewer errors under that condition. These findings were interpreted as supporting an attentional model rather than a model which proposes that addition of the verbal task causes control of the right hand to shift to the non-verbal right hemisphere.     

A Strange Fire: an exploration of psycho‐spiritual development aided by Jungian analysis and Vedanta

This paper explores the process of psychological and spiritual development through a series of active imaginations arising from the author's ‘psycho‐spiritual quest’, a process of transformation in which the individual progressively frees themselves from the ego's identifications and may be afforded a vision of the ‘self as consciousness’, as described by Vedanta. The author describes how this quest was facilitated by the disciplines of Transcendental Meditation, Jungian analysis and Vedanta, and how these three disciplines can work together to foster psycho‐spiritual development. The paper aims to de‐mystify the actual experiences that can accompany these practices. The records of these active imaginations, tracing some key stages in this process, are then presented, with a commentary by Marcus West, linking them to Jung's concepts of ego and Self and recent understandings of consciousness and ego development. There is a discussion of Jung's conceptualizations of the ego and the Self and his rejection of the Vedantic understanding of the Self as consciousness. These views are then explored and a reconciliation is suggested through the understanding of the process of disidentification where the difference between Jung's view of the Self and that of Vedanta is understood to be due to the extent of disidentification from the contents of consciousness.     

Psychometric properties of the Problem Video Game Playing scale in adults

IntroductionInternet Gaming Disorder (IGD) was introduced for the first time within the “conditions for further study” in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, and a systematic review has concluded that the only available instrument for its measurement is the Problem Video Game Playing scale (PVP). Nevertheless, this scale was presented as a diagnostic tool for adolescents, and to date no study has analyzed its properties amongst adults.ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to analyze and compare the diagnostic and psychometric properties of the PVP in adult and adolescent gamers.MethodTwo samples of adult (n = 525) and adolescent (n = 384) gamers completed a survey including patterns of play, PVP, Severity of Dependence Scale, and other measures of playing to excess.ResultsConfirmatory factor analyses revealed that the scale presents a one-factor structure that is similar to that of the original version, both in adults and adolescents. Construct validity was supported by highly significant associations between the PVP and all alternative measures of playing to excess. On the other hand, reliability values were lower than in previous studies.ConclusionsThe PVP scale's properties are appropriate for the measurement of problem video gaming in adults as well as in adolescents, but studies with clinical assessments are still needed before any cutoff value for diagnosis can be established.     

Apocalyptic themes in times of trouble: when young men are deeply alienated

Boys and young men more frequently live out aspects of their psychic and social alienation online. This paper explores some of the risks and dangers that can arise from retreats into the two-dimensional world of cyberspace. It focuses more specifically on videogaming called MOBA, multi-player online battle arena games, in which players point and shoot at others. A case example emphasizes the clinical problems emerging from violent fantasies that seek a false form of containment in cyberspace. Themes of destructive fantasizing are further amplified through images of apocalypse, which are often prevalent in combat arena videogames. Textual sources from the Book of Revelation offer possible understanding for various elements of destructiveness as it appears in vulnerable male psyches. Therapeutic contact that combines a relational, containing approach and a broadly spiritual and soulful perspective can provide a path to healing such violent splits within the psyches of boys and young men.