ABSTRACT
RESUMEN El trabajo se propuso caracterizar el reconocimiento facial de emociones en población infanto-juvenil. Se administró una adaptación digital del Test Pictures of Facial Affects a 147 participantes de entre 9 y 18 años. Los resultados evidenciaron una asociación negativa entre la edad y la tasa de aciertos para alegría y positiva para asco y miedo. Además, se evidenció un efecto significativo de la edad en los tiempos de respuesta de todas las emociones a excepción del miedo. Los resultados sugieren que a medida que aumenta la edad el reconocimiento emocional es más veloz, sin embargo, esto se refleja en una mejoría en el reconocimiento emocional sólo en asco y miedo. Se discuten la importancia de estas emociones para la adolescencia.
RESUMO Este trabalho se propôs a caracterizar o reconhecimento facial de emoções na população infanto-juvenil. Aplicou-se uma versão digital do Test Pictures of Facial Affects a 147 participantes com idades entre 9 e 18 anos. Os resultados evidenciaram uma associação negativa entre a idade e taxa de acertos para alegria, bem como uma associação negativa para nojo e medo. Identificou-se, ainda, um efeito significativo da idade nos tempos de resposta para todas as emoções, com exceção de medo. Os resultados sugerem que, conforme aumenta a idade, o reconhecimento facial se torna mais rápido. No entanto, isso só se refletiu em uma melhora no reconhecimento facial para nojo e medo. Discute-se a importância dessas emoções para a adolescência.
ABSTRACT This research aimed to characterize the recognition of basic emotions in facial expressions in children and adolescents. A digital adaptation of the Pictures of Facial Affects test was administered to 147 participants of both sexes, between 9 and 18 years old. Results showed a negative association between age and rate of success in recognition of joy, and a positive association between age and rate of success in recognition of disgust and fear. A significant effect of age on the recognition of all emotions except fear was found regarding reaction times. These results suggest that as age increases, emotional recognition is faster. However, this is not reflected in an improvement in emotional recognition. The only cases in which recognition was enhanced with age were disgust and fear. The importance of these emotions for adolescence is discussed.
ABSTRACT
En el presente trabajo se detallan los análisis realizados con el fin de estudiar las propiedades psicométricas la Prueba Argentina Psicolingüística de Denominación de Imágenes (PAPDI). La misma cuenta con dos cualidades que representan un valor agregado frente a las pruebas actualmente disponibles en nuestro país: a) los estímulos fueron seleccionados controlando las variables que afectan las etapas de análisis visual y de representación conceptual de la imagen del objeto y se manipularon las variables que afectan la selección y recuperación de la etiqueta léxica, en base a valores normativos de población argentina; y b) las claves semánticas se elaboraron de acuerdo con normas de producción de atributos semánticos también recolectadas en nuestro país. En este trabajo se analizaron las propiedades psicométricas mediante el estudio de pacientes con demencia tipo Alzheimer, con lesiones cerebrales focales y participantes sin patología neurológica. Se buscaron evidencias de validez de criterio mediante el análisis de grupos contrastados y la correlación con el test de Boston. A su vez, se estudió la confiabilidad de las puntuaciones por dos métodos: consistencia interna y test-retest. También se analizó la capacidad de discriminación entre pacientes con y sin anomia mediante curvas ROC. Se estudiaron además los efectos de las variables manipuladas, se realizó un análisis cualitativo de los errores y se examinó el desempeño en función del uso de las claves. Los resultados de los análisis aportan evidencia de que presenta cualidades psicométricas sumamente aceptables para su uso en nuestra población.
In the current paper we present the psychometric analysis of the Argentinean Psycholinguistic Image Naming Test (PAPDI). This test has two characteristics that makes it different from those currently available in our country: a) the stimuli has been chosen and ordered controlling certain psycholinguistic variables proven to have influence on this task, such as Visual Complexity, Image Agreement, Image Variability, Familiarity, Name Agreement, Age of Acquisition and Frequency of Use, following Argentinean normative data base; and b) semantic cues were elaborated according to semantic feature production norms also from Argentina. We present here the psychometric analysis of its properties. There were analyzed through the study of patients with Alzheimer Disease (n = 25) and focal brain lesions (n = 27) and healthy partici-pants (n = 125). On the first place, in order to study criteria validity a group comparison analysis was carried out. On the one hand Alzheimer Disease patients were compared with healthy participants. On the other hand, two focal brain damaged patients were compared: with and without aphasia. Convergent validity was also studied through the correlation with Boston naming test. In the third place, scores reliability was studied through two methods: internal consistency analysis, for Alzheimer, focal and healthy groups, and test-retest for focal brain damage group. Forth, it was analyzed the capacity to discriminate between patient with and without aphasia through ROC curves analysis. The respective sensitivity and specificity values to detect anomia were established. Fifth, the demographic variables´ influence was analyzed through a regression analysis. Moreover, there were analyzed the effects of two psycholinguistic variables that were taken into account to order the images but were not normalized: Lexical Frequency and Age of Acquisition. Finally, type of errors and response to cues were studied for focal brain damaged patients. The results indicated that the PAPDI presents acceptable psychometric properties to be used as a tool in neuropsychological assessment. It showed evidence of internal and external validity and it was observed scores reliability through internal consistency and test-retest. A suggested cutting point was established to detect anomia. Furthermore a main influence of educational level was reported. There were also detected effects of Lexical Frequency and Age of Acquisition which were observed for Alzheimer and aphasic patients groups. Moreover it was illustrated the response profile analysis for aphasic and nonaphasic focal brain damaged patients regarding a proposed taxonomy of error types. It was also studied the response to semantic and phonological cues and it was observed that both contributed to improve patients´ performance.
ABSTRACT
En la primera parte de este trabajo se presenta la construcción y el desarrollo de la Prueba Argentina Psicolingüística de Denominación de Imágenes (PAPDI). La misma tiene dos características que la diferencian de las pruebas actualmente disponibles en nuestro medio: (a) Los estímulos fueron seleccionados controlando las variables que afectan las etapas de análisis visual y reconocimiento de la imagen (Complejidad visual y Concordancia con la imagen) y el conocimiento conceptual (Variabilidad de la Imagen y Familiaridad) del dibujo del objeto también se manipularon las variables (Frecuencia léxica y Edad de adquisición) que afectan la etapa que busca evaluar la prueba: activación, selección y recuperación de la etiqueta léxica. Los índices que operacionalizan a las variables son dependientes de la cultura y de la lengua de dónde se obtengan, por ello se tomaron sus valores de normas argentinas. (b) Las claves semánticas han sido elaboradas cuidadosamente, siguiendo las normas de producción de atributos semánticos también recolectadas en nuestro país, ya que el uso de las mismas permite generar hipótesis más precisas acerca de la localización del déficit. Por lo tanto, se presenta el proceso de construcción y desarrollo de la prueba mostrando cómo se tuvieron en cuenta estas particularidades, cuáles variables han sido controladas y cuáles manipuladas, y su justificación. Por último, los resultados de la prueba piloto permitieron seleccionar 30 ítems y la constitución de la versión final de la prueba, que es lo suficientemente breve para su uso en la clínica y de libre acceso.
In the current paper, first part, we present the design and development of the Argentinean Psycholinguistic Image Naming Test (PAPDI). This test has two characteristics that make it different from those currently available in our country: (a) the stimuli have been selected by controlling the variables that affect the stages of visual analysis and image recognition (Visual Complexity and Image Agreement) and conceptual knowledge (Image Variability and Familiarity) of the drawing of the object; and the variables (Frequency of Use and Age of Acquisition) that affect the stage that seeks to evaluate the test were manipulated: activation, selection and retrieval of the lexical label (phonological form of the name), to generate a gradient of difficulty in the items of the test. However, the variable Naming Agreement, that also affects this stage, was controlled to selected pictures with only one predominating name. The quantification of these factors by means of specific variables is influenced by the cultural and linguistic context from which they were obtained, consequently we took their values from Argentinean normative data base and (b) semantic cues were elaborated according to semantic feature production norms also from Argentina. The phonological cues corresponded to the first syllable of the object's name. Their use allows to generate more precise hypotheses about the location of the deficit and allows to infer relevant information about the cognitive profile. Therefore, the process of construction and development of the test is presented, showing how these particularities were taken into consideration, which variables were controlled and which were manipulated, and their justification. For the design of the test 62, black and white pictures were originally selected from the 400 pictures taken from Cycowicz's set (of frequent use in Experimental Psychology and Neuropsychology). They correspond to concrete concepts from different semantic categories belonging to both living andnon living domains. The criteria used to include those images were that they were moderately complex (in quantity of lines and details), moderately familiar and that they had a mean image variability value. They had to have a medium to high concordance degree between the mental image and its corresponding representation. Besides, these images had to have a naming agreement superior to 80%. To conform the first version of the test, the 62 images selected were ordered according to the variable Age of Acquisition and each image was assigned its corresponding semantic and phonological cues. The former were extracted from the Argentinean norms considering the most relevant features. The second consisted on the word´s first syllable. A pilot study with healthy population (n = 50), of different ages, both sexes and three educational levels, was carried out through which 30 images were selected that constituted the test´s final version. The deleted items were: figures that did not evokea univocal response, that is, they were easily confused with other objects; figures that had more than one acceptable answer although not all were correct; and items that presented a ceiling effect where the scores accumulated in high scores and did not allow to discriminate the participants' ability to select, retrieve and produce a word (only 25 and 30% of the items were retained). In the test´s final version, the items were reordered according to the Age of Acquisition and Frequency values and their difficulty in naming (following the percentage of successes in the spontaneous response). And images that were contain in another naming tests were deleted. The test is short enough for use in the clinic and freely accessible. The second part of the paper presents the psychometric studies that provide evidence of their relevance and validity.
ABSTRACT
La tipología de atributos propuestas por las teorías sensorio-funcionales para explicar las diferencias entre dominios (seres vivos y objetos inanimados) cuenta con diversas críticas: (a) imprecisa definición del tipo de atributo; (b) limitaciones de la taxonomía dicotómica; (c) insuficiencia de la variable frecuencia de producción para discriminar entre dominios. El presente trabajo pretende colaborar a la superación de estas dificultades proponiendo un análisis basado en una taxonomía compleja y partiendo de datos empíricos obtenidos a partir de Normas de Producción de Atributos Semánticos en Español, considerando la frecuencia y el orden de producción de los atributos. Se trabajó sobre una muestra de 180 adultos sanos hispanoparlantes que emitieron atributos definidores para 90 conceptos concretos. Los resultados refleja similitudes entre los dominios sobre la primacía de atributos supraordinados y diferencias en cuanto al peso de los atributos dinámicos (funcionales y comportamentales) y sensoriales. Esta información contribuye a la caracterización de la estructura composicional de los atributos que conforman la representación semántica de los conceptos concretos.
Feature taxonomy proposed by sensory-functional theories to differentiate between domains (living or non-living things) received a number of critics: (a) the vagueness of the definition of attribute types; (b) the limitations of the dichotomous taxonomy; (c) the insufficiency of feature production variable to discriminate between domains. This paper aims to contribute to overcome these difficulties by proposing an analysis based on a complex taxonomy supported on empirical data obtained from Semantic Feature Production Norms in Spanish, considering features' frequency and order of production. Data was collected from a sample of 180 Spanish speaking healthy adults who produced defining features for 90 concrete concepts. The results show similarities between domains, in so far as to the primacy of superordinate attributes, and differences in the weight of the dynamic (functional and behavioral) and sensory features. This information is worthy to characterize the compositional structure of the features that constitute the semantic representation of concrete concepts.
A tipologia de atributos propostas pelas teorias sensório-funcionais para explicar as diferenças entre domínios (seres vivos e objetos inanimados) tem críticas mistas: (a) definição imprecisa do tipo de atributo; (b) limitações da taxonomia dicotômica; (c) insuficiência da variável frequência de produção para discriminar entre domínios. Este trabalho pretende contribuir para superar essas dificuldades, propondo uma taxonomia mais complexa e partindo de dados empíricos obtidos de Normas de Produção de Atributos Semânticos em Espanhol, considerando a freqüência e ordem de produção dos atributos. O trabalho foi feito em uma amostra de 180 adultos saudáveis falantes de espanhol que emitiram atributos definidores para 90 conceitos concretos. Os resultados refletem semelhanças entre domínios na primazia de atributos superordenados e diferenças quanto ao peso dos atributos dinâmicos (funcionais e comportamentais) e sensoriais. Esta informação contribui para a caracterização da composição estuctural dos atributos que fazem a representação semântica de conceitos específicos.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Adult , Semantics , ClassificationABSTRACT
Este artículo se propone comparar el desempeño de tres grupos de personas en una tarea de fluidez verbal semántica: pacientes que sufrieron un Accidente Cerebro Vascular (ACV), adultos mayores sanos y adultos jóvenes sanos. La tarea consiste en solicitarle a lo participantes que emitan la mayor cantidad de ejemplares que conozcan de una categoría semántica en un lapso de tiempo de un minuto. En este caso se escogió la categoría animales. En primer lugar, el análisis de varianza permitió detectar diferencias de medias significativas (p<0.05) en la cantidad de palabras emitidas por grupo, siendo los pacientes los que produjeron menor cantidad de ejemplares. Luego, se realizó un escalamiento multidimensional por grupo para analizar los agrupamientos de los ejemplares de acuerdo al orden en que fueron emitidos. Se observó que los pacientes son los que generaron menor cantidad de agrupamientos y los adultos jóvenes mayor cantidad de agrupamientos. De este modo, cabe suponer que existe una asociación entre la escasa conformación de agrupamientos y la dificultad en la recuperación de ejemplares de la memoria semántica. Así, tanto en el grupo de pacientes como en las personas adultas mayores (en menor grado) habría un funcionamiento deficiente los mecanismos de recuperación de la información semántica que disminuiría la capacidad de generar ejemplares de una categoría semántica.
The aim of the present article is to compare the performance of three groups of people in a semantic fluency task: stroke patients, older healthy adults and young healthy adults. The task requires the participants to say as many exemplars as possible from a semantic category in one minute. In the current research, the semantic category animal was chosen. First, analysis of variance revealed a significant group differences (p<0.05) in the number of exemplars generated, poorer for stroke patients. Then, it was conducted a multidimensional scaling for each group to analyze the clustering of exemplars according to the order of emission. It was observed that stroke patients generated less clusters than the other groups, while young adults generated a mayor number of clusters. Then, it is possible to assume an association between the scarce clustering and the difficulty in the recovery of exemplars from the semantic memory. To conclude, in both, patients and older adults group (in a minor degree), there would be an impaired performance in the use of organization strategies in semantic recovery that would diminish the capacity to generate exemplars from a semantic category.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Adolescent , Adult , Female , Aged , Stroke/physiopathology , Memory , Phonetics , Semantics , Verbal Behavior , Age Factors , Analysis of Variance , Case-Control Studies , Educational Status , Neuropsychological Tests , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Se presenta la aplicación de un método de estimación de distancias semánticas, denominado DISTSEM, en pacientes que sufrieron un Accidente Cerebro Vascular (ACV). Este método se basa en la Teoría de Propagación de la Activación (Collins & Loftus, 1975) y permite obtener la configuración de una red de conceptos en función de la estimación de distancias semánticas realizada entre pares de palabras. Se informan los resultados de la administración a 30 pacientes con ACV y a un grupo control de 30 sujetos. Se analizaron cuali y cuantitativamente los patrones hallados en los pacientes y se compararon con los del otro grupo. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto que algunos pacientes luego de sufrir un ACV realizan estimaciones de proximidad entre conceptos, distintas a las esperables de acuerdo al desempeño del grupo control. Las respuestas no fueron homogéneas. Se hallaron sujetos que establecieron escasas asociaciones entre los pares de palabras. También se hallaron sujetos que encontraron más vinculaciones que el grupo control, incluso encontrando similitudes en aquellos pares que no tenían vinculación semántica y que utilizaron justificaciones para realizar sus estimaciones, que no se corresponden con categorías semánticas sino que se basan principalmente en la funcionalidad. La lectura de estos resultados a la luz de la Teoría de Propagación de la Activación indica que dichos pacientes tienden a fallar en el proceso de búsqueda dentro de la red, particularmente en la regulación de la propagación de la activación que es necesaria para realizar la tarea.
There are many ways in which semantic organization can be assessed. The methods usually used are useful in many ways but fail to provide the possibility to visualise the configuration of a semantic network corresponding to a certain group of concepts and to make qualitative and quantitative comparisons between different networks. The aim of the current research is to show the application of a semantic distance judgment method to stroke patients. This method is called DISTSEM and it was build on the basis of Spreading Activation Theory (Collins & Loftus, 1975). It allows obtaining the configuration of a semantic network according to the semantic distance judgment realized by the individuals between pairs of concepts of different and equal semantic category given by the examiner. The method has been administered to 30 stroke patients and 30 healthy controls. In the current paper, the response patterns of the patients are analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively and comparisons are made with the production of healthy controls. In the first place, all the matrixes were correlated with an interjudges matrix and the results show that strokepatients obtained significantly lower correlations than controls. In the second place, the matrixes of the stroke patients were correlated with a matrix that represented the mode of the estimations made by the group of healthy subjects. There were found two atypical groups. On the one hand, there was a group of patients that found scarce relations between concepts. On the other hand, there was another group that found a great number of relations between concepts, including relations between concepts that were not from the same semantic category. This data can be interpreted in light of Collins and Loftus theory as a failure of the spreading of the activation. Some patients seem to fail in the searching process within the network, particularly in the control of the spread of the activation necessary to look for the similarities requested in the task. In the first case, there was an inhibition in the activation spreading, which did not allow reaching the intersection node between the presented pair of concepts. In the second case, there was an activation spreading superior than expected for that task, that is to say that it failed the inhibition of the competitors that allow establishing the estimation accurate for the task (Howard, Nickel, Coltheart, & Cole-Virtue, 2006). Furthermore, a Multiple Correspondence Analysis was performed with the justifications used in each election. This analysis showed that there was a group of patients that tended to use atypical justifications in some pairs of concepts. Some of these patients justify their elections using functional justifications (e.g., "They are alike because they are useful for men"), another group used perceptual justifications (e.g., "They are alike because they have legs") and there was a small group that found scarce similarities. This indicates that the justifications used by this group of stroke patients tend to be less precise and less adequate for the context of the task. This inappropriate selection of responses leads to an explanation related to executive functions, which would be responsible for selecting the most accurate response according to the context. To sum up, this paper shows some ways in which data can be visualized and some means to analyse and interpret data resulting from the application of the DISTSEM method.
ABSTRACT
Los modelos de procesamiento dual en memoria proponen que el reconocimiento implica a la vez dos procesos: la finalidad y la recolección. El primero refleja la valoración de la activación de nodos en un almacén lexical, en el cual cada nodo representa una palabra individual u objeto, y se evalúa a través del reconocimiento de ítems simples. El segundo permite recuperar información inter-ítem, es decir, la información que relaciona un evento a su contexto, y se evalúa a través del reconocimiento de pares de ítems. Varios estudios han aportado evidencia empírica que fundamenta su disoación en pacientes con alteraciones mnésicas. El presente trabajo reporta los resultados de los procesos de comparación de los procesos de de familiaridad y recolección en sujetos con Esclerosis múltiple, y en un grupo control se administraron dos pruebas, una de evocación y reconocimiento de ítems simple y una de evocación y reconocimiento de pares asociados (pares de palabras). Los resultados obtenidos muestran un desempeño inferior de los sujetos con EM en las tareas de evocación. Se sugieren posibles interpretaciones a la luz de la Teoría Extendida de Propagación de Activacación y los modelos de procesamiento dual