Un nuevo enfoque sobre la esquizofrenia

RESUMEN

El entrenamiento en habilidades sociales y el programa de terapia familiar están siendo evaluados en un proyecto de investigación que incluye un tratamiento comparativo con terapia de movilización. En este tipo de terapia los pacientes, asignados al azar y con una esquizofrenia documentada, practican relajación, footing, reducción del estrés estrés, actividades manuales y terapia creativa. Se ha intentado en este artículo hacer una primera aproximación a un enfoque de tratamiento psicosocial de la esquizofrenia con base empírica. Bajo la optimista pretensión teórica de que los pacientes esquizofrénicos tratados tienen capacidad para aprender; que las actitudes y sentimientos familiares pueden cambiar en forma positiva y el ambiente donde se desenvuelven puede diseñarse para suspender la diátesis, mediatizada biológicamente.     

Hacia las máquinas conscientes

Resumen

Se propone un bosquejo de teoría para el estudio del fenómeno de la consciencia desde un punto de vista unificador—natural y artificial—basado en el análisis de la mente como un fenómeno de control. Se incluye una justificación de la investigación en consciencia artificial no como imitación mecánica de la consciencia natural, sino por las propiedades de que puede dotar a un sistema técnico. Se describe la evolución no biomimética de las estructuras básicas de control y se analizan las estrategias más actuales para el desarrollo de máquinas conscientes.     

Aprendizaje implícito: tres aproximaciones a la cuestión del aprendizaje sin conciencia

Resumen

Los tres paradigmas más importantes desarrollados en el área del aprendizaje implícito son revisados a la luz de la definición recientemente planteada por Reber (1993) d este conocimiento como aquél que se produce independientemente de los intentos conscientes por aprender, y en ausencia de un reconocimiento explícito de sus resultados. Se repasan los estudios empíricos más relevantes llevados a cabo siguiendo cada uno de estos tres paradigmas, y se discute el grado en que podría asumirse para cada uno de ellos el cumplimiento de estos requisitos, concluyendo que sería el paradigma de aprendizaje secuencial el único en el que se habría demostrado suficientemente la existencia de un proceso implícito de aprendizaje. Los recientes intentos de elaborar modelos computacionales de los mecanismos responsables de estos aprendizajes se señalan, por último, como un enfoque alternativo a este mismo problema de delimitación de los procesos de aprendizaje asociativo no consciente, que podrían ayudar a comprender su naturaleza y limitaciones, analizando el modo como la complejidad podría derivarse, en el sistema cognitivo humano, a partir de procesos computacionales más simples, inferiores al nivel de elaboración de la conciencia.     

FROM EVOLUTIONARY CONSCIOUSNESS TO CONSCIOUS EVOLUTION: ARE WE IN CONTROL?

This article discusses implicit assumptions in the conference theme to understand the complexity involved in trying to gain control of globalization, in particular: (1) We, (2) being in control (not only in cybernetic way) and (3) globalization. I introduce distinctions between single conscious agents, systems of conscious agents, and emergent we, as a collective entity understood as a Collective Being (a complex, multidimensional society to be studied with multiple, systemic knowledge) that has collective consciousness. The focus is the issue of being in control. This issue is understood as the ability to design and manage emergent processes of development.     

Attention control: Relationships between self-report and behavioural measures,and symptoms of anxiety and depression

Previous research has demonstrated differences in processing between fear-relevant stimuli, such as snakes and spiders, and non-fear-relevant stimuli. The current research examined whether non-fear-relevant animal stimuli, such as dogs, birds and fish, were processed like fear-relevant stimuli following aversive learning. Pictures of a priori fear-relevant animals, snakes and spiders, were evaluated as negative in affective priming and ratings and were preferentially attended to in a visual search task. Pictures of dogs, birds and fish that had been trained as CS+ in an aversive conditioning design were evaluated more negatively and facilitated dot probe detection relative to CS? pictures. The current studies demonstrated that stimuli viewed as positive prior to aversive learning were negative and were preferentially attended to after a brief learning episode. We propose that aversive learning may provide a mechanism for the acquisition of stimulus fear relevance.     

Forgiveness as a mediator of the relationship between PTSD and hostility in survivors of childhood abuse

This paper argues that emotional inferences about characters in a text are not as specific as previously assumed (DeVega, Diaz, & Leon, 1997; DeVega, Leon, & Diaz 1996; Gernsbacher, Goldsmith, & Robertson, 1992; Gernsbacher, Hollada, & Robertson, 1998; Gernsbacher & Robertson, 1992). The emotional information inferred by readers does not differentiate between emotions that are similar, though not identical. In both Experiments 1 and 2, participants read the stories used by Gernsbacher et al. (1992). Results from Experiment 1 (off-line) show that participants judged several emotions consistent with the same story. In Experiment 2 (on-line), participants took longer to read target sentences containing emotions mismatching the stories, but there was no difference between target sentences containing different matching emotions as determined by Experiment 1. Results from Experiments 1 and 2 suggest that the emotional information readers infer from the stories is too broad to determine a specific emotion. The results are consistent with the idea that a general emotional response is evoked, which is compatible with one or more specific emotions.     

Emotional facial expressions differentially influence predictions and performance for face recognition

The relative contribution of child and parent trait anxiety on paternal and maternal controlling behaviour was examined. Thirty-seven children, aged 8–11 years, completed two difficult Tangram puzzles, one with their father and one with their mother. Videotapes of the parent–child interactions were rated on parental control and child dependent and withdrawn behaviour. Results indicated that, opposite to expectations, higher mother and father trait anxiety was associated with lower levels of parental control, and that the relation between parent trait anxiety and parental control was curvilinear. Furthermore, a significant stronger effect between child trait anxiety and parental control was found for boys than for girls. Moreover, more child withdrawal during the parent–child interaction was related to more parental control. The findings offer new insights, which may guide future theories on child and parent anxiety and parental control. Specifically, the role of parent and child gender need further conceptualisation and research.     

Difficulties in disengaging attentional resources from self-generated thoughts moderate the link between dysphoria and maladaptive self-referential thinking

Negative emotions increase self-focused attention, a core feature of depression and anxiety-related disorders. However, the cognitive mechanisms associated with the tendency to self-focus—and, conversely, with the ability to voluntarily disengage attentional resources from the self and direct them towards the external environment—remain poorly understood. Thus, this study aimed to examine whether a specific cognitive control mechanism that directs attention between self-generated thoughts and external information might moderate the relationship between dysphoria and maladaptive self-referential thinking. Results showed that dysphoria increases the frequency of rumination, self-blame, and catastrophising, especially for participants who have more difficulty in switching from self-generated thoughts to information provided by the environment. These results shed new light on the cognitive mechanisms underlying maladaptive self-referential thinking associated with dysphoria. More specifically, this specific cognitive mechanism might play a key role in the maintenance or amplification of a depressed mood.     

Preferential processing of visual trauma-film reminders predicts subsequent intrusive memories

This study used an analogue design to test the hypothesis that preferential processing of visual trauma reminders in the aftermath of a stressful or traumatic event gives rise to subsequent intrusive memories. Shortly after the presentation of a stressful film fragment, participants (n=36) were asked to detect neutral targets (rotated buildings or nature scenes) in a single target rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm. During half of the streams, the target was preceded by a distracter. The distracters consisted of visual images extracted from an earlier presented stressful film (e.g., persons and objects that figured in the film). The degree of interference by these film reminders predicted subsequent intrusions recorded in a one-week diary. The results provide evidence that a deficient ability to obtain attentional control over perceptual “trauma” reminders during goal-directed behaviour may set people at risk for persistent intrusive memories. Implications for research investigating attentional bias and intrusive memories in context of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are discussed.