Carmen Santisteban

The Aggression Questionnaire for Spanish Preadolescents and Adolescents: AQ-PA

We have already published the psychometric properties of our Spanish version of the Buss and Perrys Aggression Questionnaire adapted to young subjects (Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 1453-1465). The four-dimensional structure of the questionnaire was confirmed in each pre-adolescent and adolescent sample, although differences in the intercorrelations among factors between both groups of age were then observed. We publish now new evidences about its factorial validity in the whole group of pre-adolescent and adolescent children. We also report the positive correlations found between measurements obtained with this questionnaire (AQ-PA) and other aggression and anger scales (DIAS, STAXI and EXPAGG) and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), which provide more evidences about its convergent validity. The text of the Spanish version of this questionnaire adapted to pre-adolescent and adolescent subjects is also reported.

An evaluation of the CODE theory of visual attention extended to two dimensions

Abstract We have extended the CODE Theory of the Visual Attention (CTVA) model proposed by Logan (Logan, G.D., (1996). Psychological Review 103 , 603–649) to two dimensions. Our main aim has been to evaluate the two-dimensional models predictions concerning reaction times (RTs) and the response-compatibility effect derived from Logans CTVA model by using a new version of Eriksen and Eriksen (Eriksen, B. A. & Eriksen, C. W. (1974). Perception & Psychophysics, 16 , 143–149) response-competition paradigm. The CTVA model extended to two dimensions (CTVA-2D) fits well to our experimental results obtained with three display sizes and four experimental target-letter to noise-letter distances, allowing us to make satisfactory predictions concerning the effects of noise compatibility, Target–noise (T–N) distance and display size.

Improvement of functional magnetic resonance images by pretreatment of data

Functional magnetic resonance images of the brains of subjects performing the finger-tapping paradigm were made using a conventional technique. Two threshold values for the pixels were obtained by analysing pixel by pixel the distributions of the means and variances of each subjects images for 20 consecutive scans, both while performing the task and while at rest. Considerable signal improvement in the final images was achieved by removing from our data all pixels beyond these threshold values (mean ≤ 16 and variance ≥7).

Some Influences on Perception and Justification of Aggression in Themselves and in their Social Environment

The present study analyzes some factors associated with violence in pre-adolescents and adolescents, such as their self-rated aggression, the defensive or instrumental function of aggression, and the degree of violence perceived in others and their surroundings, namely family, friends and peers, neighborhood, city and world. Several self-report tests on aggression [Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI-2), and an ad-hoc self-report developed by us (Self Appraisal Report (SAR))] were administered to 2110 subjects of both sexes between 9 and 17 years of age. Those subjects who perceived themselves as violent obtained significantly higher rates in aggression, impulsivity and anger, and believed that their surrounding was more violent than their self-rated non-violent ones did. Finally, they also showed a higher justification of violence, attributing it as a possible instrumental function. The best predictors of self-rated violence in the present study were the AQ physical aggressivity, the BIS motor impulse scale, and the STAXI expression index.

Acoustic Interference on a Visual Attention Task in Relation to the Perceptual Load

We have studied the interference of irrelevant information on the visual selective attention and whether load effects are modality specific or can be obtained across the visual and auditory modalities. The interference of irrelevant stimuli in the selective attention on a flanker task was measured by the flanker effect also called response compatibility effect (RCE). The influence of a 100 Hertz tone (60 dAB) on the flanker task was evaluated in three experiments. It was observed that subjects carried out the flanker task faster and more accurately in the presence than in the absence of these sounds at the two target-distractors (T-D) distances (0.65° and 1.30°) and three display sizes (with 3, 5 and 9 elements) assayed. It was also observed an acoustic Simon effect that interfered the visual processing, significantly increasing the RCE with respect to when the stimulus was congruent (coming from the same side). A crossmodal effect was observed in cases of low perceptual load, that is, when few elements are presented on the screen and the flanker are located far from the target.