Fernando P. Ponce

General and specific attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder factors of children 4 to 6 years of age: An exploratory structural equation modeling approach to assessing symptom multidimensionality.

We tested first-order factor and bifactor models of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) to adequately summarize the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, (DSM-IV-TR) symptoms observed in a Spanish sample of preschoolers and kindergarteners. Six ESEM and CFA models were estimated based on teacher evaluations of the behavior of 638 children 4 to 6 years of age. An ESEM bifactor model with a central dimension plus 3 specific factors (inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity) showed the best fit and interpretability. Strict invariance between the sexes was observed. The bifactor model provided a solution to previously encountered inconsistencies in the factorial models of ADHD in young children. However, the low reliability of the specific factors casts doubt on the utility of the subscales for ADHD measurement. More research is necessary to clarify the nature of G and S factors of ADHD.

An in-depth psychometric analysis of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale: calibration with Rasch-Andrich model

BackgroundThe Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) is inarguably one of the best-known instruments in the field of resilience assessment. However, the criteria for the psychometric quality of the instrument were based only on classical test theory.MethodThe aim of this paper has focused on the calibration of the CD-RISC with a nonclinical sample of 444 adults using the Rasch-Andrich Rating Scale Model, in order to clarify its structure and analyze its psychometric properties at the level of item.ResultsTwo items showed misfit to the model and were eliminated. The remaining 22 items form basically a unidimensional scale. The CD-RISC has good psychometric properties. The fit of both the items and the persons to the Rasch model was good, and the response categories were functioning properly. Two of the items showed differential item functioning.ConclusionsThe CD-RISC has an obvious ceiling effect, which suggests to include more difficult items in future versions of the scale.

Habituation of the eyeblink response in humans with stimuli presented in a sequence of incremental intensity

In an experiment we examined whether the repeated presentation of tones of gradually increasing intensities produces greater decrement in the eyeblink reflex response in humans than the repetition of tones of constant intensities. Two groups of participants matched for their initial level of response were exposed to 110 tones of 100-ms duration. For the participants in the incremental group, the tones increased from 60- to 90- dB in 3-dB steps, whereas participants in the constant group received the tones at a fixed 90-dB intensity. The results indicated that the level of response in the last block of 10 trials, in which both groups received 90-dB tones, was significantly lower in the incremental group than in the constant group. These findings support the data presented by Davis and Wagner (7) with the acoustic response in rats, but differ from several reports with autonomic responses in humans, where the advantage of the incremental condition has not been observed unambiguously. The discussion analyzes theoretical approaches to this phenomenon and the possible involvement of separate neural circuits.

A theoretical analysis of transfer of occasion setting: SOP with replaced elements

The available data on occasion setting led Susan Brandon and Allan Wagner (Brandon and Wagner, 1998; Wagner and Brandon, 2001) to formulate what has come to be known as a replaced-elements conception (REM) of context-dependent cues within the SOP model (Wagner, 1981). In the present paper, we review the development of the theory, and show how, with a few congenial assumptions about shared cues, it can address some of the major regularities concerning when the transfer of occasion setting does or does not occur. Among the particular examples are the relatively unique transfers that have been reported to occur between separate serial discriminations and between targets that have been trained with the same versus different reinforcers.

Asociaciones excitatorias entre el contexto y la consecuencia en la reinstalación de respuestas extinguidas en el aprendizaje causal humano

In two experiments, undergraduates learned a predictive relationship between an event and a consequence, which was subsequently extinguished by presenting the event without the consequence. In Experiment 1, participants were exposed to the consequence by itself after extinction, occasioning the reappearance of the originally learned predictive relationship, resembling a phenomenon known as Reinstatement in the field of Pavlovian conditioning. This experiment further demonstrated that reinstatement can be explained without appealing to inhibitory associations, but only by mean of excitatory associations between the context and the consequence. Experiment 2 confirmed the generality of these findings using a different procedure of causal learning. The findings are discussed in terms of differences between Pavlovian conditioning and causal learning and of the possible existence of two mechanisms of extinction: unlearning to extinguish non consolidated associations and inhibition for the consolidated associations.

Hierarchy and Psychometric Properties of ADHD Symptoms in Spanish Children: An Application of the Graded Response Model

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) diagnostic criteria assume that the 18 symptoms carry the same weight in an Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnosis and bear the same discriminatory capacity. However, it is reasonable to think that symptoms may differ in terms of severity and even in the reliability with they represent the disorder. To test this hypothesis, the aim of this study was to calibrate in a sample of Spanish children (age 4–7; n = 784) a scale for assessing the symptoms of ADHD proposed by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, IV-TR within the framework of Item Response Theory. Samejima’s Graded Response Model was used as a method for estimating the item difficulty and discrimination parameters. The results showed that ADHD subscales (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity / Impulsivity) had good psychometric properties and had also a good fit to the model. However, relevant differences between symptoms were observed at the level of severity, informativeness and reliability for the assessment of ADHD. This finding suggests that it would be useful to identify the symptoms that are more important than the others with regard to diagnosing ADHD.

The development and present status of the SOP model of associative learning

The Sometimes Opponent Processes (SOP) model in its original form was especially calculated to address how expected unconditioned stimulus (US) and conditioned stimulus (CS) are rendered less effective than their novel counterparts in Pavlovian conditioning. Its several elaborations embracing the essential notion have extended the scope of the model to integrate a much greater number of phenomena of Pavlovian conditioning. Here, we trace the development of the model and add further thoughts about its extension and refinement.

Generalidad de la Hipótesis de la Flexibilidad de Procesamiento en el Aprendizaje Humano: Del Condicionamiento al Aprendizaje Predictivo

En un experimento de aprendizaje predictivo humano se investigo si un estimulo visual compuesto por 2 elementos es procesado como un todo (configuracionismo) o como la suma de sus elementos (elementalismo). El experimento se realizo a traves de un juego computacional en el que los participantes debian aprender que ciertos microorganismos (claves) compuestos por 2 rasgos visuales (elementos) producian alergia en animales ficticios. Un total de 38 estudiantes universitarios aprendieron que 2 microorganismos causaban alergia (claves positivas) y otros 2 no (claves negativas). Posteriormente, se examino el valor predictivo que los participantes asignaban a un nuevo microorganismo compuesto por un elemento de cada clave positiva y a otro compuesto por un elemento de cada clave negativa. El valor predictivo asignado a las nuevas claves fue similar al asignado a sus respectivas claves aprendidas cuando los elementos eran perceptivamente separables (tamano y angulo de la figura), indicando elementalismo, pero no cuando eran integrales (brillo y saturacion), indicando configuracionismo. Esto apoya la hipotesis de que las caracteristicas de los estimulos determinan el tipo de procesamiento en el aprendizaje.