Mariano Chóliz

DRIVING ON THE MOTORWAY: THE EFFECT OF ALTERNATING SPEED ON DRIVER'S ACTIVATION LEVEL AND MENTAL EFFORT

When most of the driving tasks are performed automatically, a drivers level of alertness may decline, as has been pointed out in the study of the phenomenon called ‘highway hypnosis’. One possible countermeasure is to periodically vary the speed (Wertheim 1978), but the authors have not found any studies that directly assess the effectiveness of this countermeasure. The objective of our study has been to provide empirical evidence regarding the effects of this strategy on the level of driver activation on a motorway route in real traffic. In the present study activation level as indexed by a relative measure based on slow EEG activity tended to be significantly higher when speed was modified periodically than when it remained constant. In addition, this index tended to be progressively higher when the speed was constant during the first part of the route, while the same thing did not occur when the speed was modified periodically. Finally, no significant differences between the constant and varying speed conditions were obtained with respect to any of the cardiovascular indices related to the effort put into driving and the stress experienced in the situation.

A Breathing-Retraining Procedure in Treatment of Sleep-Onset Insomnia: Theoretical Basis and Experimental Findings

Increase in CO2 has a sedative effect upon the central nervous system, and the beginning of sleep coincides with modifications in breathing, decrease in ventilation, and in pCO2 increase. In this paper is described a technique of breathing that is useful in producing drowsiness in a very short time. 46 insomniacs were randomly allocated to either a treatment or control condition. In the former, patients were trained in the breathing process. The control group was taught no breathing process. Latencies to sleep for the insomniacs confirmed that the breathing process was useful in producing drowsiness. Theoretical bases are discussed.

Development of a brief multicultural version of the Test of Mobile Phone Dependence (TMDbrief) Questionnaire.

The Test of Mobile Phone Dependence (TMD) questionnaire (Chóliz, 2012) evaluates the main features of mobile phone dependence: tolerance, abstinence syndrome, impaired impulse control, associated problems, excessive use, etc. Objective: The objective of this study was to develop a multicultural version of the TMD (TMDbrief) adapted to suit the novel communication tools of smartphones. Procedure: In this study, the TMD was completed by 2,028 young respondents in six distinct world regions: Southern Europe, Northwest Europe, South-America, Mesoamerica, Pakistan, and India. Results: Psychometric analysis of the reliability of the instrument and factor analysis were performed to adapt the TMDbrief for use in these regions. Differences among regions with respect to TMD Mobile Phone Dependence scores were obtained. Conclusion: A brief questionnaire for the evaluation of mobile phone addiction in cross-cultural studies was successfully developed.

COGNITIVE BIASES AND DECISION MAKING IN GAMBLING

Heuristics and cognitive biases can occur in reasoning and decision making. Some of them are very common in gamblers (illusion of control, representativeness, availability, etc.). Structural characteristics and functioning of games of chance favor the appearance of these biases. Two experiments were conducted with nonpathological gamblers. The first experiment was a game of dice with wagers. In the second experiment, the participants played two bingo games. Specific rules of the games favored the appearance of cognitive bias (illusion of control) and heuristics (representativeness and availability) and influence on the bets. Results and implications for gambling are discussed.

Recognition of Emotional Facial Expressions: The Role of Facial and Contextual Information in the Accuracy of Recognition

Recognition of emotional facial expressions is a central area in the psychology of emotion. This study presents two experiments. The first experiment analyzed recognition accuracy for basic emotions including happiness, anger, fear, sadness, surprise, and disgust. 30 pictures (5 for each emotion) were displayed to 96 participants to assess recognition accuracy. The results showed that recognition accuracy varied significantly across emotions. The second experiment analyzed the effects of contextual information on recognition accuracy. Information congruent and not congruent with a facial expression was displayed before presenting pictures of facial expressions. The results of the second experiment showed that congruent information improved facial expression recognition, whereas incongruent information impaired such recognition.

Screening Tools for Technological Addictions: A Proposal for the Strategy of Mental Health

The emergence of addictive problems associated with the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is a challenge for mental health in modern societies. For this reason, the Spanish Mental Health Strategy, currently in project, includes the problem of “emerging addictions” in young people, in the 14 mental health topics to be analysed. The main objective of this research was to develop three screening tools that can be used by health staff (e.g., psychologists, physicians) to better link early detection with early intervention in the field of technological addictions. In this paper, three kind of technological addictions were selected: Internet/social networks, mobile and video games. Two groups of participants were selected for each technology: a) users of Internet/social network, mobile or video games without psychological problems due to the use of these technologies, and b) people who sought counselling or advice for their addictive problems with some of these technologies. Three screening tools for each technological addiction (Internet/social network, mobile and video games) were developed. These tools consist on the two items of each of the tests which have the highest Positive Predictive Values (PPV) to differentiate between the non-problematic users of technologies and those who have an addictive problem with Internet, mobile or video games. This article shows three screening tools that can be used by health or clinical staff, in the case that the professional supposes that the patient has an addictive problem with any of the three technologies. Then, the screening procedure should be implemented. If the diagnostic of addiction is confirmed, the patient should be treated with psychological treatment based in evidence. Some advices are also proposed for those who do not need any specialized intervention for addiction.

Regular el juego para prevenir la adicción: hoy más necesario que nunca

The American Psychiatric Association published the 5th Edition of DSM in May 2013, in which the gambling disorder is included within the category of addictive disorders -a long-standing and recurrent demand from the clinical, social and scientific fields. Nevertheless, the harmful effects of gambling have not been considered by the Government, which is the main area of addiction prevention.The present article is a proposal for the regulation of gambling by the Government through the different levels of the State (national, regional and even local), which has the ultimate goal of preventing gambling addiction. This proposal has been presented to the Chamber of Deputies of the Congress, as part of the Congress-Senate Joint Committee for the Study of Drug Problems. The proposed regulation is based on the evidence provided by scientific studies on the prevention of addiction.

The placebo in the context of scientific theories

Placebo is not a unitary concept. It can have different meanings, depending on the scientific discipline in which it is used. The placebo exists in psychology, medicine, and other sciences, and in each case it is assumed that the results obtained by the placebo are unexplainable. But the results that can’t be explained by a scientific discipline could be explained by another. For example, a sugar pill used in the treatment of pain could be a pharmacological placebo, but it isn’t a psychological placebo, because there is an explanation of its effects based in psychological principles. In this work, a conceptual analysis of placebo in the context of scientific theories is presented.

Ethical Gambling: A Necessary New Point of View of Gambling in Public Health Policies

“Corporate social responsibility” (1, 2) or “responsible gambling” (RG) (3, 4) are concepts that mediate the idea that gambling can be harmful to some gamblers, and the assumption that governments and companies can do something to mitigate the problems caused by gambling and to promote “appropriate” patterns of behavior in gamblers. Although many governments and companies have implemented strategic plans based on models of RG, this has not served to prevent one of the major public health problems caused by gambling, which is gambling disorder. On the contrary, gambling has increased globally, the initiatives based on RG models have had little relation to the research evidence on best practices to prevent harms (5, 6) and the independent gambling researchers that could improve RG initiatives are often ignored by policy makers (7–9). For Livingstone and Woolley (10), the term is limited by its lack of clear goals and terminological clarity. This paper defends the need for a specific concept: “ethical gambling” (EG), which goes one step further in assuming the responsibility of companies and governments not only with regard to the cause of the damage gambling induces but also with respect to the specific actions to prevent gambling disorder. The purpose of EG is to create the necessary environmental conditions that permit gambling as an economic activity, but with the primary objective of preventing potential health risks, primarily gambling disorder. In order to be able to understand the concept EG, it is necessary to consider the following assumptions with regard to gambling (11):

Addiction-Like Mobile Phone Behavior – Validation and Association With Problem Gambling

Mobile phone use and its potential addiction has become a point of interest within the research community. The aim of the study was to translate and validate the Test of Mobile Dependence (TMD), and to investigate if there are any associations between mobile phone use and problem gambling. This was a cross-sectional study on a Swedish general population. A questionnaire consisting of a translated version of the TMD, three problem gambling questions (NODS-CLiP) together with two questions concerning previous addiction treatment was published online. Exploratory factor analysis based on polychoric correlations was performed on the TMD. Independent samples T-tests, Mann-Whitney test, logistic regression analyses and ANOVA were performed to examine mean differences between subjects based on TMD test score, gambling and previous addiction treatment. A total of 1,515 people (38.3% men) answered the questionnaire. The TMD showed acceptable internal consistency (Cronbachs alpha: 0.905), and significant correlation with subjective dependence on ones mobile phone. Women scored higher on the TMD and 15-18 year olds had the highest mean test score. The TMD test score was significantly associated with problem gambling, but only when controlling for age and sex. Various separated items related to mobile phone use were associated with problem gambling. The TMD had acceptable internal consistency and correlates with subjective dependence, while future confirmatory factor analysis is recommended. An association between mobile phone use and problem gambling may be possible, but requires further research.