Felipe A. Cornejo

Estrategias de Codificación de Estímulos en el Aprendizaje Causal Humano

Segun el enfoque elementalista del aprendizaje asociativo, los estimulos compuestos equivalen a la suma de sus componentes, mientras que para el enfoque configuracional los estimulos son todos indivisibles. Estos enfoques se distinguen con la prueba de sumatoria, en la que se examina si la fuerza asociativa de un compuesto novedoso AB supera (elementalismo) o es igual (configuracionalismo) a la de sus elementos previamente entrenados por separado. Esta investigacion demuestra que las personas suman cuando no tienen informacion previa de AB (Experimento 1), pero no suman cuando tienen esta informacion (Experimento 2). Los Experimentos 3 y 4 no apoyan la hipotesis que la ausencia de sumatoria se deba a procesos controlados. Se analizan teorias de codificacion flexible. Palabras clave: condicionamiento clasico, aprendizaje causal, codificacion de estimulos. According to the elemental approach of associative learning, compound stimuli are equivalent to the sum of their components, while for the configurational approach, compounds are indivisible wholes. These approaches are distinguished by the summation test, which examines whether the associative strength of a novel AB compound is higher (elementalism) or equal (configurationalism) than that of its separately trained elements. In the present research, evidence of summation was found when people have no prior experience with AB (Experiment 1), but there was no summation when information about AB was available (Experiment 2). Experiments 3 and 4 do not support the hypothesis that the absence of summation could be due to controlled processing. Theories of flexible coding are analyzed.

Effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural therapy for post-disaster distress in post-traumatic stress symptoms after Chilean earthquake and tsunami

OBJECTIVE This is the first time that the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural therapy for post-disaster stress (CBT-PD) in symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been tested outside the United States of America. DESIGN Quasi-experiment with three groups. In the quasi-control group, complete CBT-PD was applied even though its members did not have PTSD; in quasi-experimental conditions, participants received complete treatment because they had this diagnosis; and in the third group, participants with PTSD received an abbreviated treatment (double sessions) due to organisational requirements. LOCATION Primary health care workers in Constitución (Chile), city exposed to earthquake and tsunami; public department workers in Talca (city exposed only to earthquake) and teachers from a school (Constitución). PARTICIPANTS A total of 13 of the 91 people diagnosed with PTSD participated. In addition, 16 people without diagnosis voluntarily participated. The treatment was completed by 29 participants. There were no dropouts. Only 1 of the 9 participants in the quasi-experimental group did not respond to treatment. INTERVENTIONS CBT-PD is a group therapy (10-12 sessions) that includes psychoeducation, breathing retraining, behavioural activation and cognitive restructuring. CBT-PD (complete and abbreviated) was applied between September and December 2010. MEASUREMENTS Short Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Rating Interview (SPRINT-E) was used to measure PTSD symptoms before and after treatment. RESULTS The group that received the complete treatment and was diagnosed with PTSD showed a significant decrease in the total symptoms to below dangerous levels (IGAAB: 31.556; p<0.01; 95%CI: 0.21-2.01]; η2=0.709). DISCUSSION The effectiveness and benefits of incorporating CBT-PD in the health network after events like disasters were discussed.