María José Rodrigo

Del cambio de contenido al cambio representacional en el conocimiento conceptual

Resumen Las investigaciones realizadas en las últimas décadas sobre el cambio conceptual, tanto desde una perspectiva evolutiva como instruccional, nos llevan a considerar que ese cambio no puede ser entendido como una sustitución progresiva de un conocimiento por otro científicamente más correcto. En los estudios recientes tiende a aceptarse que la comprensión de ese cambio en el conocimiento conceptual requiere conocer la forma en que coexisten múltiples representaciones sobre el mismo dominio o incluso sobre la misma tarea, tanto en contextos interpersonales como dentro de una misma persona. Este trabajo propone analizar la adquisición y desarrollo del conocimiento conceptual como un cambio representacional. Partiendo de las teorías implícitas que las personas usan para interpretar tanto el mundo social como el natural, se analizan las relaciones entre conocimiento episódico y semántico en esas representaciones implícitas. El artículo propone que el cambio representacional desde esas teorías implícitas puede estudiarse a partir de cuatro dimensiones: (a) el paso de un realismo a un perspectivismo epistemológico; (b) la naturaleza heterogénea o jerárquica del cambio representacional; (c) los niveles de consistencia y coherencia de las representaciones; y (d) la función de los códigos y lenguajes específicos de cada dominio en la representación del conocimiento. Finalmente se defiende que la investigación de esta pluralidad representacional requiere también una diversidad de acercamientos metodológicos, que resulten convergentes.

Brain and personality bases of insensitivity to infant cues in neglectful mothers: An event-related potential study

This investigation examined the neural and personality correlates of processing infant facial expressions in mothers with substantiated neglect of a child under 5 years old. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 14 neglectful and 14 control mothers as they viewed and categorized pictures of infant cries, laughs, and neutral faces. Maternal self-reports of anhedonia and empathy were also completed. Early (negative occipitotemporal component peaking at around 170 ms on the scalp [N170] and positive electrical potential peaking at about 200 ms [P200]) and late positive potential (LPP) components were selected. Both groups of mothers showed behavioral discrimination between the different facial expressions via reaction time and accuracy measures. Neglectful mothers did not exhibit increased N170 amplitude at temporal leads in response to viewing crying versus laughing and neutral expressions compared to control mothers. Both groups had greater P200 and LPP amplitudes at centroparietal leads in response to viewing crying versus neutral facial expressions. However, neglectful mothers displayed an overall attenuated brain response in LPP that was related to their higher scores in social anhedonia but not to their empathy scores. The ERP data suggest that the brains failures in the early differentiation of cry stimuli and in the sustained processing of infant expressions related to social anhedonia may underlie the insensitive responding in neglectful mothers. The implications of these results for the design and evaluation of preventive interventions are discussed.

Updating spatial layouts mediated by pointing and labelling under physical and imaginary rotation

The present experiments manipulated the modality in which participants communicated object directions (by pointing or verbal labelling) in a learned layout, and the mode in which they were required to rotate (physically or imaginary). The results showed that the pointing modality was strongly influenced by the mode of rotation (Experiment 1). Pointing was faster and more accurate in the physical than in the imaginary rotation. In addition, a different pattern of dimension accessibility was observed: equi-accessibility in physical rotation (front-back = right-left) and standard in imaginary rotation (front-back < right-left). By contrast, the verbal modality was less influenced by the mode of rotation. The same standard pattern of dimension accessibility and similar speed was obtained in physical and imaginary rotation. These results are explained by proposing a first-order embodiment, typical of ordinary pointing, which involves a low-cost sensory-motor updating of object positions and a second-order embodiment, most typical of language, which involves a represented (rather than physical) self and an object-to-frame high-cost updating.

Introduction: Evidence-based parent education programmes to promote positive parenting

This paper introduces the context and contributions of this special issue. The essence of promoting positive parenting is seeking not only to reduce the impact of risk factors, but also to increase that of protective factors, by reinforcing the parenting role. The paper makes clear that this aim is served only by developing evidence-based family education programmes aimed at supporting positive parenting. The special issue offers a broad range of such programmes from several countries.

Do children's perceptions and attributions mediate the effects of mothers' child-rearing actions?

The authors analyzed whether the relation between maternal child-rearing behaviors and a childs self-regulation was mediated by the accuracy in the childs perceptions of the mothers goals and methods and by the direction of attributions for the mothers intentions. Sixty mothers with children 7-10 years old were asked how and why they would react in 15 hypothetical situations. Children were interviewed to assess the accuracy of their perceptions and the direction of their attributions. To assess the childrens self-regulation, mothers and children were observed planning an excursion. LISREL analysis showed that the reported use of both control and demandingness and of responsiveness has a positive influence on the accuracy of childrens perceptions and, in turn, on their self-regulation. However, part of the positive impact of control and demandingness on childrens self-regulation was due to the effect of positive attributions on the accuracy of perceptions.

Family Preservation Services on the Canary Islands Predictors of the Efficacy of a Parenting Program for Families at Risk of Social Exclusion

This article describes the results of a parenting program “Apoyo Personal y Familiar,” (APF; Personal and Family Support program) targeted at parents of families at high psychosocial risk. APF aims at preventing unnecessary placement of children from vulnerable families into foster-care by increasing parental competence in order to improve their autonomous functioning. The program is implemented through group meetings in community centers. The method involves exposing the parents to parental views and practices in specific child-rearing episodes and encouraging them to reflect on their own views and the consequences on child development. In the Intervention group 144 mothers completed the pretest and posttest measures and 155 mothers were in a waiting-list comparison group. Self-report measures on parental implicit theories, child-rearing practices, and personal agency were used to perform the evaluation. Group discourse and the monitors behavior observed during the sessions were used as predictors of th...

Preventing child maltreatment through parenting programmes implemented at the local social services level

In the area of child maltreatment prevention, there is still a limited use of evidence-based parenting programmes based on the concept of positive parenting and devoted to the strengthening and empowering of at-risk families and children in the context of families–services partnerships. The aim of this paper is to examine how group-based programmes for parents of at-risk families can best be implemented and evaluated at the local social services level, as a sustained psycho-educational resource for the prevention of child maltreatment. To this end, and after reviewing some evidence of the effect of these programmes on family outcomes, we address the conditions under which these programmes might be successfully integrated into the family preservation services delivered at the local level. The implementation and evaluation of some of these programmes in Spain are used to illustrate the strategy of incorporation followed. Finally, we provide preliminary evidence of the impact of one of these programmes on professional development as one of the key factors in facilitating the sustainability of the programmes.

Parental beliefs about child development and parental inferences about actions during child-rearing episodes

The way parents’ beliefs on child development support the elaboration of practical inferences during everyday child-rearing episodes was examined. We contrasted two models based respectively on the classical and the connectionist view of schema approaches. According to the classical view, parents activate preformed packages of beliefs in order to produce inferences whereas under the connectionist view, they activate the network of interconnected episodic traces that better fits the information provided by the situation. In the former case, the quality of the inferences depends on the activation of the proper schema whereas in the latter case it depends on the structure of the information given.Two experiments were designed in which parents holding a particular global belief about child development (either constructivism or environmentalism), were presented with a target couple with similar or different views with respect to them. In Experiment 1, constructivist parents bearing in mind the couple’s belief had to judge a set of words describing the couple’s image as parents, their educational goals as well as a number of sentences describing the couple’s child-rearing practices during hypothetical episodes. In Experiment 2, environmentalist parents had to judge the couple’s practices and the amount of information presented about the couple’s ideas as well as its plausibility were manipulated. The results indicate that the accuracy and speed in the production of inferences depends on the information presented in the task. When the information is embedded in episodes and a full, plausible and distinctive account of the couple’s belief are provided, then the production of inferences is performed faster and with more accuracy. The results are discussed in terms of the classical and connectionist views of schema approaches.

Adolescents’ risky decision-making activates neural networks related to social cognition and cognitive control processes

This study examines by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging the neural mechanisms underlying adolescents’ risk decision-making in social contexts. We hypothesize that the social context could engage brain regions associated with social cognition processes and developmental changes are also expected. Sixty participants (adolescents: 17–18, and young adults: 21–22 years old) read narratives describing typical situations of decision-making in the presence of peers. They were asked to make choices in risky situations (e.g., taking or refusing a drug) or ambiguous situations (e.g., eating a hamburger or a hotdog). Risky as compared to ambiguous scenarios activated bilateral temporoparietal junction (TPJ), bilateral middle temporal gyrus (MTG), right medial prefrontal cortex, and the precuneus bilaterally; i.e., brain regions related to social cognition processes, such as self-reflection and theory of mind (ToM). In addition, brain structures related to cognitive control were active [right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), bilateral orbitofrontal cortex], whereas no significant clusters were obtained in the reward system (ventral striatum). Choosing the dangerous option involved a further activation of control areas (ACC) and emotional and social cognition areas (temporal pole). Adolescents employed more neural resources than young adults in the right DLPFC and the right TPJ in risk situations. When choosing the dangerous option, young adults showed a further engagement in ToM related regions (bilateral MTG) and in motor control regions related to the planning of actions (pre-supplementary motor area). Finally, the right insula and the right superior temporal gyrus were more activated in women than in men, suggesting more emotional involvement and more intensive modeling of the others’ perspective in the risky conditions. These findings call for more comprehensive developmental accounts of decision-making in social contexts that incorporate the role of emotional and social cognition processes.

From Gestural to Verbal Deixis: a Longitudinal Study with Spanish Infants and Toddlers

This study examined longitudinally how infants’ display of gestural and verbal deictic means to indicate targets is related to a certain target topology and to a specific mother attention pattern. Eight Spanish 1- and 2-year-olds and their mothers were observed every three months during one year, while performing routine activities. Results showed that the younger children usually pointed alone or combined with a vocalization to objects placed within the boundaries of the visual field. The older children usually pointed combined with a content word or with a deictic word or said a deictic word alone to indicate objects under manipulation, mainly placed in the close peripersonal space. Across ages, mothers supported the child’s use of deictic means by looking at the object as well as at the child’s face. Findings are discussed in terms of the functions that gestural and verbal deixis may serve for early verbal development and, specifically, to the grounding of reference.