Stephany Hess

Cognition in Friedreich Ataxia

Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is the most frequent of the inherited ataxias. However, very few studies have examined the cognitive status of patients with genetically defined FRDA. Our aim was to study cognitive performance of FRDA patients taking into account the motor problems characteristic of this clinical population. Thirty-six FRDA patients were administered a comprehensive neuropsychological battery measuring multiple domains: processing speed, attention, working memory, executive functions, verbal and visual memory, visuoperceptive and visuospatial skills, visuoconstructive functions, and language. Thirty-one gender, age, years of education, and estimated IQ-matched healthy participants served as control subjects. All participants were native Spanish speakers. Patients showed decreased motor and mental speed, problems in conceptual thinking, a diminished verbal fluency, deficits in acquisition of verbal information and use of semantic strategies in retrieval, visuoperceptive and visuoconstructive problems, and poor action naming. Scores on the depression inventory were significantly higher in patients than controls, but depression did not account for group differences in cognitive performance. The observed pattern of neuropsychological impairment is indicative of executive problems and parieto-temporal dysfunction. Neuropathological and neuroimaging studies with FRDA patients have reported only mild anomalies in cerebral hemispheres. Thus, cognitive impairment in FRDA is probably caused by the interruption of the cerebro-cerebellar circuits that have been proposed as the anatomical substrate of the cerebellar involvement in cognition.

The Study of Environmental Beliefs by Facet Analysis Research in the Canary Islands, Spain

The relation between different levels of public concern about the environment and sociodemographic and behavioral variables are main issues in several recent investigations. Many of these are based on the idea that environmental interest is shaped by personal beliefs. However, the internal structure of those beliefs is not well understood. In this investigation, 3 studies (N = 96; N = 397; N = 400) explored what different types of beliefs concerning people/environment relationships exist and how they are internally organized. Multidimensional techniques such as INDSCAL and facet theory were used to analyze the similarity structure of items asking for beliefs toward the environment. Three viewpoints were identified: ecocentric, anthropocentric, and beliefs based on an interest in material progress. Most participants reported an ecocentric belief. Results concerning the structural analyses are compatible with a strong relation between the anthropocentric and material progress approaches and with the assumption of independence of all 3 beliefs.

Sistemas de creencias ambientales: un análisis multi-muestra de estructuras factoriales

Resumen Se estudiaron las respuestas que dieron 174 estudiantes universitarios de Sonora, México y 221 de Tenerife, España, a un cuestionario de creencias ambientales. Las respuestas al cuestionario fueron agrupadas en tres factores: “Antropocentrismo”, “Progreso humano” y “Naturalismo”, los cuales fueron confirmados a través de un análisis factorial. Un análisis multi-muestra de covarianza reveló que la estructura factorial en las dos poblaciones era equivalente, es decir, la composición de los tres factores fue semejante en mexicanos y españoles. Se presentaron sin embargo, algunas diferencias al correlacionar los factores. Aunque la correlación entre “antropocentrismo” y “progreso” fue alta y positiva para ambas muestras, y la covarianza entre “antropocentrismo” y “naturalismo” fue muy alta y negativa en los españoles y no tan alta, pero tambien negativa en los mexicanos, la correlación entre “progreso” y “naturalismo” fue negativa en la muestra de Tenerife, pero no fue significativa entre los sonorenses. Se discuten estos hallazgos en términos de visiones “dualistas” y “holistas” que diferentes sociedades americanas y europeas plantean en su relación con el medio ambiente.

Discrimination of Urban Spaces with Different Level of Restorativeness Based on the Original and on a Shorter Version of Hartig et al.’s Perceived Restorativeness Scale

Restorativeness is defined as the potential of the environment to re-establish certain cognitive capacities related to human information processing. The most frequently used instrument for evaluating the restorativeness of places is the Perceived Restorativeness Scale, proposed by Hartig et al. (1991). Later on, shorter versions of the Perceived Restorativeness Scale were proposed. The aim of this work is to evaluate the discriminatory capacity of the original and of a shorter Spanish version of the PRS, considering urban settings previously selected for having different level of restorativeness, according to expert’s criteria. The study involved 244 students and used a 3 × 2 mixed experimental design, with two independent variables: Restorativeness of a place (between-subjects), which was manipulated by showing pictures of settings selected with varying levels of restorativeness (high, medium, low), and length of the scale (within-subjects), which was manipulated by asking subjects to fill in both the original and a shorter version of the PRS. The order of presentation of the two scales was counterbalanced. Results show an appropriate reliability for both version of the scale. Items of being-away, fascination, and coherence of the shorter scale correlate more strongly with the corresponding factor of the original scale, compared to the others factors. Both scales produce similar values for the perceived restorativeness of the different places, except for places with low restorativeness.

Frugality and psychological wellbeing. The role of voluntary restriction and the resourceful use of resources / Frugalidad y bienestar psicológico. El papel de la restricción voluntaria y el uso ingenioso de recursos

Abstract This paper analyses the relationship between psychological wellbeing and frugality, evaluated as behaviour geared towards the voluntary restriction of consumption and the resourceful use of available resources. An analysis of structural equations was carried out using a model with moderated mediation on a sample of 1113 people. The main finding was the predictive capacity of frugal behaviour, in its two factors, to explain the level of wellbeing. A mediation effect was observed where the restriction of consumption drives the resourceful use of resources, which in turn significantly predicts the level of wellbeing. The moderating role played by the level of economic income on these relationships was analysed, conceptualized as an indicator of a person’s capacity to determine the restriction of their consumption. It is concluded that frugality is a positive element of sustainable behaviour that offers an alternative from the perspective of downscaling in contrast to models centred on efficiency.

Utilizan las personas legas las mismas categorías de transgresiones medioambientales que las administraciones públicas

Resumen Las transgresiones medioambientales son quebrantamientos de las leyes de protección medioambiental (LPMA) que constituyen una forma peculiar de comportamiento ilegal desde un punto de vista jurídico y psicosocial. Las LPMA incluyen comportamientos muy variados, tan distintos entre sí como para requerir criterios de valoración diferentes. En este estudio se analizaron las respuestas de 196 estudiantes universitarios, residentes en un territorio de alta protección medioambiental, a un cuestionario compuesto por 20 transgresiones medioambientales habituales en su contexto inmediato, que debían valorar en 14 escalas. Los resultados mostraron que las dimensiones del espacio perceptivo de los participantes son consistentes con las obtenidas con otras muestras, episodios, escalas y procedimientos estadísticos. Estas dimensiones permitieron clasificar correctamente un 85% de las transgresiones en relación a tres categorías utilizadas habitualmente por la Administración pública, siendo la predicción más acertada para las transgresiones contra el medio natural que para la contaminación y las actividades constructivas.

Reliability of Coordinates Obtained by MINISSA Concerning the Order of Presented Stimuli

In this work we study the stability of similarity judgements of sentences in regard to the presentation order of stimuli through MINISSA(Michigan–Israel–Nijmegen Integrated Smallest Space Analysis),which allows a Multidimensional Scaling with a triangular matrixof global similarity indices. Two forms of the same questionnaireby inverting the order of presentation of all possible unidirectionalcomparisons were applied. Results indicate that both forms areequivalent with similar structures and a high correlation coefficientbetween the judgements. We conclude a high stability of the usedprocedure. Furthermore, in comparison with a previous study, itcould be shown that the stability of solutions obtained by MINISSAis equivalent to that obtained by INDSCAL (INdividual DifferencesSCALing) which is not able to handle so many data as MINISSA.