Ricardo García

Análisis de la interacción maestro-alumnos durante la resolución de problemas aritméticos

Resumen El presente trabajo pretende destacar la relevancia de los procesos comunicativos entre profesores y alumnos dentro del aula. El artículo describe un sistema de análisis desarrolladopor los autores, centrado en un contenido específico de aprendizaje: la resolución de problemas aritmético verbales. Partiendo de una transcripción real, se desarrolla el análisis de las producciones comunicativas, los episodios y las secuencias interactivas. Basándose en las aportaciones de la psicología del aprendizaje (enfoque socio-culturaly constructivista) y de la instrucción (enfoque cognitivo sobre los procesos implicados en la tarea de resolución de problemas aritméticos verbales), los autores proponen diferentes alternativaspara enriquecer la interacción que ha servido de ejemplo.

Executive functioning in obese individuals waiting for clinical treatment.

BACKGROUND Executive functions have an important role in human behavioural regulation and can be a determinant of eating behaviour. Our aim was to study the different components of executive functions in obese individuals waiting for clinical treatment, comparing them with normoweight subjects with similar socio-demographic characteristics. METHOD A total of 114 adults (76 obese and 38 normoweight) completed a neuropsychological battery that included tasks of conceptualization and abstraction, motor programming, response maintenance, inhibition and resistance, problem solving, cognitive flexibility, and verbal fluency. RESULTS There was a statistically significant difference between groups for all the dimensions of the executive functions evaluated, with the obese group showing poorer performance compared to normoweight. CONCLUSIONS Obese individuals demonstrated poorer executive functions than normoweight individuals.

Verbal Functions in Psychopathy

The aim of this study was to compare the verbal functions and language skills of male psychopathic individuals (in prison and outside) with non-psychopaths. The purpose was therefore to analyze phonological processing, reading and writing skills, the meaning of words and images, and the understanding of sentences. Ninety individuals with an average age of 38.19 (SD = 7.67) voluntarily participated in this study. The data were collected in different settings: prisons, a private charitable organization, and private clinics and health centers. All participants completed the Psychopathy Checklist Revised and the Psycholinguistic Assessment of Language Processing in Aphasia, to assess psychopathy traits and language skills, respectively. Participants were allocated into four different groups: incarcerated psychopathic offenders (n = 13), non-incarcerated psychopathic non-offenders living in the community (n = 13), incarcerated non-psychopathic offenders (n = 25), and non-psychopathic non-offenders living in the community (n = 39). The results showed that the verbal functions and language skills between psychopaths and non-psychopaths are very similar, showing a common profile. The data presented indicate the need for more specific work opportunities for both groups within the correctional setting, with the use of appropriate language and individualized programs as necessary.

Language disorders in victims of domestic violence in children's homes

Studies that deal with child maltreatment have become relevant during these past years. One important aspect to consider is the impact of maltreatment on the cognitive functioning and more precisely on language. Our objective is to analyze the different components in the comprehension and production of language in children victims of domestic abuse in Childreńs Homes. PARTICIPANTS The sample consists of 104 participants divided in two groups. A group of children who have just been institutionalized due to domestic abuse (VG) (Age: 8 years 2 months with a standard deviation of 1, 5 years) without previous treatment; a group of comparison (CG) made up by children who have not been victim of domestic violence (Age: 8 years 6 months with a standard deviation of 2 years and a month), with similar characteristics of gender, age and schooling. MATERIAL The Child Neuropsychological Assessment by Matute, Rosselli, Ardila and Ostrosky (2007) was applied. This test includes metalinguistic, oral and written comprehension and expression skills. RESULTS The VG group showed low scores in all components of the analyzed language with exception to the discourse, syllable and non-word dictation compared to the CG children. CONCLUSIONS The alterations of the language observed in these children semantic suggest a lack of consolidation of phonological coding and a low use of code. From our findings an early language evaluation in these children can be of especial interest to apply timely intervention programs with the aim of diminishing the impact caused by domestic violence on school failure which is a frequent trait in these children.

Recognition of thematic and taxonomic conceptual relations in patients with aphasia

Background: There is mounting evidence that there exist conceptual non-verbal deficits in patients with aphasia. In the current paper, taxonomic and thematic conceptual relations are the focus of interest. There is a debate surrounding this topic regarding whether they are part of the same semantic system or there are independent systems dedicated to each kind of relations. Aims: Our aim was to study and look for possible dissociations in a group of fluent and non-fluent aphasic patients on their ability to recognise conceptual relations (taxonomic and thematic). Methods & Procedures: Previous studies have usually proposed forced-choice tasks, which give the patients closed response options and do not allow the researcher to assess the criteria for the choice the participants have made. In the following study we assigned different types of conceptual tasks (forced choice and free choice) to a group of 25 stroke patients (7 fluent and 18 non-fluent aphasic patients), as well as 30 healthy control participants. We assessed the hit rates and the response criteria followed by the patients. Outcomes & Results: The results showed that although all aphasic patients experienced difficulties in establishing both types of conceptual relations in verbal tasks, dissociations were observed particularly in non-verbal tasks showing poor performance in thematic relations. This was especially noticeable in non-fluent aphasic patients. Meanwhile, fluent aphasic patients showed more difficulty in establishing taxonomic relations in the pictorial free-choice task and a tendency to use thematic criteria. Conclusion: These results support the claim that there exist separate systems for both kinds of conceptual relations. Implications for the assessment of semantic deficits in aphasic patients were discussed.

Gestural praxis in young adults with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities

BACKGROUND Praxis functioning in the population with intellectual disabilities (ID) has been poorly studied. The goal of this research was to look for a starting point to study the praxic functioning in young adults with mild to moderate ID. METHOD Thirty young adults with ID and 30 young adults without ID, between the ages of 18 and 35 years, participated in this study. All participants completed tests that assessed gestural praxis. RESULTS It was possible to observe similar praxis behaviour in the group with ID in almost all domains studied, albeit showing statistical values lower than those of the group without ID. DISCUSSIONS Despite the high number of errors committed, the sample of participants with ID was able to reach the goal of praxic tasks performed; such errors may be associated with a deficit in the development of various brain functions and not only with praxis functioning, mainly related to a lower yield in terms of planning, monitoring and correcting intentional movement.