Comparison of Emotional Processing Between Patients with Substance Use Disorder and Those with Dual Diagnosis: Relationship with Severity of Dependence and Use During Treatment.

This study analyzed, in a Spanish sample, the differences in emotional processing in patients diagnosed with substance use disorder (SUD) and patients with a dual diagnosis (DD), and tested whether alterations in emotional regulation were related to the severity of dependence and consumption during treatment. A descriptive follow-up study was conducted with 88 adult outpatients (83% men) who were receiving treatment for alcohol and cocaine SUD. Of the sample, 43.2% presented dual diagnosis according to DSM-IV-TR criteria. Emotional processing was assessed with the IAPS, and dependence severity with the SDSS. Consumption was determined with self-reports and toxicological tests. Regression analyses revealed that the DD group had more difficulties in identifying the valence and arousal of the images than patients with SUD. Patients with DD presented more difficulty in identifying images in which valence was manipulated, but not in those in which arousal was manipulated. Cocaine use during treatment was associated with difficulties in identifying unpleasant (U = 734.0; p < .05) and arousing (U = 723.5; p < .05) images. Although these results are preliminary, findings suggest that impaired emotional processing is aggravated in dual patients, although it may be a common transdiagnostic factor in SUD and other comorbid mental disorders. Findings highlight the importance of evaluating emotional regulation to better understand its possible role in the maintenance of substance use.

Changes in Drug-Related Implicit Associations during Substance Use Disorder Treatment: The Role of the Therapeutic Context.

BACKGROUND: Implicit cognition has been linked to relapse in substance use disorder (SUD). Studies on attentional bias have found different outcomes related to the therapeutic context, finding an association with relapse in inpatients but not in outpatients. There are no similar studies that use associations in semantic memory as a measure of implicit cognition. OBJECTIVES: (i) to analyze the relationship between a measure of associations in semantic memory and relapse in inpatients and outpatients; (ii) to compare the evolution of these associations between inpatients and outpatients after 3 months of treatment. METHODS: Eighty nine outpatients and 94 inpatients with SUD for cocaine and alcohol participated in this study. We employed a longitudinal design with a baseline evaluation and follow-up after three months, using the Word Association Task for Drug Use Disorder (WAT-DUD). RESULTS: The choice of drug-related words predicted relapse in cocaine (odds ratio = 1.97, z = 2.01, p = .045) and alcohol-cocaine (odds ratio = 2.39, z = 2.55, p = .011) use. Follow-up at 3 months revealed a reduction in the choice of drug-related words in inpatients (Z = 2.031, p = .042). CONCLUSIONS: A greater choice of drug-associated words in the presence of ambiguous images was related to relapse in inpatients but not in outpatients. The inpatients group showed a reduction in the semantic association with drugs during the first three months of treatment.

Impairments in Executive Functioning in Patients with Comorbid Substance Use and Personality Disorders: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the evidence for impaired executive functioning in patients diagnosed with a dual pathology of personality disorder (PD) and substance use disorder, and to identify whether differences exist in comparison to those with a single diagnosis. Methods: A systematic search was conducted to identify studies using measures of executive functioning in patients with PD-substance use disorder dual pathology. Sixteen studies were selected. Results: The results indicate that dual pathology patients with Cluster C personality disorder do not differ from controls, and that the presence of dual pathology does not influence the updating domain of executive functioning. The findings were inconclusive with regard to dual pathology patients with Cluster B personality disorders. Whilst the various studies consistently show that these patients show worse performance than the control groups, here are contradictory results with regard to whether Cluster B personality disorders add more alterations in executive functioning to those that already appear in substance use disorder. Conclusions: The results suggest the need for further research that more adequately controls variables such as time in treatment, medication, and sample size, whilst there is also a need to employ longitudinal designs that include more patients from Clusters A and C.

Personality Traits and Impulsivity Tasks Among Substance Use Disorder Patients: Their Relations and Links With Retention in Treatment.

BACKGROUND: Various authors have described the elements of impulsive approach and inhibitory control in drug users. These two components have been studied in terms of personality traits, performance on tasks that measure impulsive behavior, and neurophysiology. However, few studies have analyzed the association between these constructs. Thus, the aim of the present study is to analyze the associations between personality traits and performance on impulsivity tasks. METHODS: A follow-up study was conducted with a baseline assessment at the beginning and end of treatment. The sample was composed of 121 patients undergoing treatment in therapeutic communities. Personality domains were evaluated through the PID-5. The impulsivity tasks employed were the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), Delay Discounting Test (DDT), Go/No-Go and Stroop test. RESULTS: A correlation was found between DDT scores and the domains of detachment (r = -.315; p<.01), antagonism (r = -.294; p<.01), and disinhibition (r = .215; p<.05). Performance on the Stroop task was significantly associated with psychoticism (r = .232; p<.05) and negative affect (r = .212; p<.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that IGT scores and negative affect predict retention in treatment. CONCLUSIONS: These findings partially support the hypothesized association between sensation-seeking personality traits and detachment with impulsive choice tasks; and the relationships between negative affect and psychoticism traits with performance on inhibitory control tasks. Further, impulsive choice task scores and negative affect are both shown to predict retention in treatment.

Reliability and validity evidence of a new interpretation bias task in patients diagnosed with drug use disorder: a preliminary study of the Word Association Task for Drug Use Disorder (WAT-DUD).

Background: Interpretation bias tasks such as word association tests have shown a moderate relation with substance use, but most studies have been conducted in nonclinical samples and these tasks are difficult to rate. Objectives: To provide: (1) reliability evidence of the Word Association Task for Drug Use Disorder (WAT-DUD), a novel and easy-to-rate instrument for measuring interpretation bias and (2) validity evidence based on the relationship between the WAT-DUD and variables associated with patterns of drug use and treatment outcomes. Methods: 186 patients (67 outpatients and 119 inpatients, 90% males) participated in the study. The task consisted of a simultaneous conditional discrimination where an image (either explicit or ambiguous) was the sample and two words (drug-related or not) served as comparison stimuli. The Substance Dependence Severity Scale, the Cocaine Craving Questionnaire-Now, and the Multidimensional Craving Scale were also used. Results: The ambiguous images items showed adequate reliability in terms of internal consistency (α = .80) and test-retest reliability (79.7% on average). The interpretation of images as drug-related was positively correlated with craving for cocaine (r = .20; p = .029), alcohol (r = .30; p = . 01), and alcohol withdrawal (r = .31; p = .01) along with severity of alcohol dependence (r = .23; p = .04). No relationship was found with the severity of cocaine dependence, or its symptoms of abstinence. Conclusion: WAT-DUD shows psychometric properties that support its use in research contexts, although more research is needed for its use in the clinical setting.

Relations between facets and personality domains with impulsivity: New evidence using the DSM-5 Section III framework in patients with substance use disorders.

Section III of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition proposes an alternative diagnostic model for personality disorders based on the identification of pathological personality facets. Despite the existing evidence for the relationship between personality disorders and impulsivity in patients with substance use disorders, no study has yet been conducted within this framework. Thus, using a sample of 110 patients with substance use disorders, the present work aims to (a) analyze the relationship between the different personality facets and domains evaluated by the Personality Inventory for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (PID-5) and impulsivity and (b) explore the relationships between severity of dependency and personality facets and dimensions of impulsivity. With respect to PID-5 domains, except for sensation-seeking, antagonism and disinhibition showed correlations higher than .30 with the following dimensions: urgency, premeditation, perseverance, sensation-seeking, and positive urgency (UPPS-P). The domains of detachment and psychoticism showed weaker correlations with different UPPS-P dimensions. The risk-taking PID-5 facet explains 49% variability of the sensation-seeking dimension of UPPS-P, whereas the impulsivity facet was significant on regression models computed with lack of premeditation, positive urgency, and negative urgency dimensions. Heroin and cocaine severity of dependence were moderately related to different personality facets. Lower relationships between alcohol and cannabis severity of dependence, impulsivity, and PID-5 facets were found. As a conclusion, the relationships between personality domains and impulsivity behave similarly to their five-factor equivalents for some dimensions but not for negative urgency, which might indicate the lack of specificity of this dimension of impulsivity on this type of patients. (PsycINFO Database Record

Failure to find symmetry in pigeons after multiple exemplar training / Ausencia de evidencia de simetría en palomas tras entrenamiento en múltiples ejemplares

BACKGROUND: An experiment with pigeons was conducted for 46 months in order to test the multiple-exemplar training (MET) hypothesis of symmetry derivation. According to this hypothesis, symmetry is progressively derived after an extensive training of multiple examples of direct and inverse relations among arbitrary stimuli. METHOD: Four pigeons were given extensive training in direct (e.g., A1-B1; A2-B2) and inverse (e.g., B1-A1; B2-A2) arbitrary conditional discriminations. Once pigeons learned a complete reversal (e.g., AB and BA), a new reversal with different stimuli was trained (e.g., CD and DC, etc.). Subjects were assigned to two different stimulus sets, and sample-comparison order was counterbalanced. RESULTS: Pigeons learned between 4 and 24 conditional discriminations, but none showed evidence of symmetry. Discriminability of samples and comparisons was identified as an important factor because it affected direct and inverse discriminations differently. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the negative results reported, this study provides some insights that might help to improve current research on MET and symmetry: We describe some lessons learned about the design of long-term experiments involving a high number of stimuli and finally, we discuss some control strategies for stimulus discriminability that might also contribute to facilitate symmetry derivation in pigeons

ANTECEDENTES: se realizó un experimento con palomas durante 46 meses para contrastar la hipótesis del entrenamiento en múltiples ejemplares (MET) en la derivación de simetría. Según esta hipótesis, la simetría se deriva progresivamente después de entrenar múltiples ejemplos de relaciones directas e inversas entre estímulos arbitrarios. MÉTODO: cuatro palomas fueron entrenadas en discriminaciones condicionales arbitrarias directas (ej., A1-B1, A2-B2) inversas (ej., B1-A1; B2-A2). Una vez que aprendieron una reversión completa (ej., AB y BA), se entrenó otra reversión con estímulos diferentes (ej., CD y DC, etc.). Los sujetos fueron asignados a dos conjuntos de estímulos; el orden de aprendizaje de muestras y comparaciones fue contrabalanceado. RESULTADOS: las palomas aprendieron entre 4 y 24 discriminaciones, pero ninguna mostró simetría. La discriminabilidad de las muestras y las comparaciones fue determinante porque afectó a las discriminaciones directas de manera diferente a las discriminaciones inversas. CONCLUSIONES: a pesar de los resultados negativos, este estudio puede contribuir al desarrollo de la investigación en MET y simetría: se describen algunas lecciones aprendidas acerca del diseño de experimentos de larga duración con numerosos estímulos y se discuten algunas estrategias para controlar la discriminabilidad de los estímulos que pueden contribuir a facilitar la derivación de simetría

Failure to find symmetry in pigeons after multiple exemplar training.

BACKGROUND: An experiment with pigeons was conducted for 46 months in order to test the multiple-exemplar training (MET) hypothesis of symmetry derivation. According to this hypothesis, symmetry is progressively derived after an extensive training of multiple examples of direct and inverse relations among arbitrary stimuli. METHOD: Four pigeons were given extensive training in direct (e.g., A1-B1; A2-B2) and inverse (e.g., B1-A1; B2-A2) arbitrary conditional discriminations. Once pigeons learned a complete reversal (e.g., AB and BA), a new reversal with different stimuli was trained (e.g., CD and DC, etc.). Subjects were assigned to two different stimulus sets, and sample-comparison order was counterbalanced. RESULTS: Pigeons learned between 4 and 24 conditional discriminations, but none showed evidence of symmetry. Discriminability of samples and comparisons was identified as an important factor because it affected direct and inverse discriminations differently. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the negative results reported, this study provides some insights that might help to improve current research on MET and symmetry: We describe some lessons learned about the design of long-term experiments involving a high number of stimuli and finally, we discuss some control strategies for stimulus discriminability that might also contribute to facilitate symmetry derivation in pigeons.

Facilitation of the equivalence - equivalence responding / Facilitación de la respuesta de equivalencia - equivalencia

Equivalence-Equivalence responding, based on equivalence class formation, is a key concept of the functional-analytic model of analogical reasoning held by RFT theorists. Relational stimulus control is supposed to play an important role in this arbitrary relational response. Previous research showed that mere training of the prerequisites for equivalence class formation is not always enough for the derivation of equivalence-equivalence responding, even in adults. In the first experiment, with 12 adult participants, we designed a matching-to-sample training and testing procedure that, although it provided all necessary conditions, did not lead to Equivalence-Equivalence responding in most participants, so that the efficacy of a facilitation procedure could be assessed. In Experiment 2, with 32 valid participants, a matching-to-sample procedure based on non-arbitrary relations was introduced to assess its efficacy in enhancing stimulus control by the relational properties of sample and comparisons. Results showed a moderate effect: 40.6% of the participants passed the test after being exposed to a non-arbitrary relational matching task (but none without it). This research underlines the importance of non-arbitrary relational responses in the derivation of more complex repertoires (AU)

La respuesta de equivalencia - equivalencia, basada en la formación de clases de equivalencia, es uno de los conceptos claves del modelo de razonamiento analógico analítico funcional propuesto por los autores de la TMR. El control de estímulos relacional juega un papel importante en esta respuesta relacional arbitraria. Investigaciones anteriores demostraron que el mero entrenamiento de los prerrequisitos para la formación de clases de equivalencia no es siempre suficiente para la derivación de la respuesta de equivalencia - equivalencia, incluso en adultos. En el primer experimento, con 12 participantes, diseñamos un procedimiento de entrenamiento y prueba que, a pesar de proporcionar todos los prerrequisitos, no condujo directamente a la respuesta de equivalencia - equivalencia, pero que permitía evaluar la eficacia de un procedimiento de facilitación. En el segundo experimento, con 32 participantes válidos, se puso a prueba la eficacia de un procedimiento basado en relaciones no-arbitrarias entre los estímulos para incrementar el control de estímulo por las propiedades relacionales de muestra y comparaciones. Los resultados mostraron un éxito moderado: el 40,6% de los participantes superaron el test tras ser expuestos a una igualación a la muestra relacional no arbitraria (pero ninguno la superó sin el procedimiento de facilitación). Estos hallazgos subrayan la importancia de las respuestas relacionales no arbitrarias en la derivación de repertorios más complejos (AU)

Facilitation of the equivalence--equivalence responding.

Equivalence-Equivalence responding, based on equivalence class formation, is a key concept of the functional-analytic model of analogical reasoning held by RFT theorists. Relational stimulus control is supposed to play an important role in this arbitrary relational response. Previous research showed that mere training of the prerequisites for equivalence class formation is not always enough for the derivation of equivalence-equivalence responding, even in adults. In the first experiment, with 12 adult participants, we designed a matching-to-sample training and testing procedure that, although it provided all necessary conditions, did not lead to Equivalence-Equivalence responding in most participants, so that the efficacy of a facilitation procedure could be assessed. In Experiment 2, with 32 valid participants, a matching-to-sample procedure based on non-arbitrary relations was introduced to assess its efficacy in enhancing stimulus control by the relational properties of sample and comparisons. Results showed a moderate effect: 40.6% of the participants passed the test after being exposed to a non-arbitrary relational matching task (but none without it). This research underlines the importance of non-arbitrary relational responses in the derivation of more complex repertoires.

¿Qué es la psicología para los estudiantes españoles de educación a distancia? / What is psychology for Spanish students of distance education?

Psychology students from National University of Distance Education in Spain (UNED) were presented with a modification of the standardized scale by Thiriat (1981) that has been used (with some changes) in almost all studies of this type. The survey explored authors, publications and phenomena that students considered to be the most outstanding in psychology. Students were also asked to choose among some definitions of psychology and of different important concepts as thought, intelligence and mind. Finally, students were required an evaluation of different aspects of psychology and their own views on psychology in comparison with other fields of knowledge. The results of this work were compared to the results of previous studies.

Se aplicó a los estudiantes de Psicología de la Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia en España (UNED) una modificación de la escala estandarizada por Thiriat (1981) y que ha sido utilizada (con más o menos cambios) en casi la totalidad de los trabajos de este tipo. En la encuesta se indaga sobre el autor, la obra y el fenómeno que considerasen como los más destacados de nuestra disciplina. También se les pedía que eligiesen entre varias definiciones de psicología y de diferentes conceptos relevantes como el pensamiento, la inteligencia o la mente. Por último, se les requería una valoración de diferentes aspectos de la psicología y de la propia psicología en su conjunto en comparación con otros campos del saber. Se concluye comparando los resultados obtenidos en este trabajo con otros similares realizados con otras poblaciones.

Competencia entre relaciones arbitrarias y relaciones no arbitrarias en el paradigma de equivalencia - equivalencia / Competittion among arbitrary and no arbitrary relationships in the paradigm of equivalence-equivalence

Se llevaron a cabo dos experimentos con el objeto de evaluar la competencia entre diferentes criterios de respuesta siguiendo la lógica del paradigma de equivalencia-equivalencia. Los dos criterios de respuesta que se presentaron fueron responder con base en la relación equivalencia-equivalencia entre los estímulos y responder según la semejanza física entre la muestra y una de las comparaciones. En el primer experimento se esperaba competencia entre los dos criterios, permitiendo así evaluar la preferencia de los sujetos y si la elección de uno de los criterios implica ignorar al otro o no. En el segundo experimento, se manipularon expresamente las condiciones de entrenamiento y prueba con el objetivo de comprobar qué influencia tienen el entrenamiento en reflexividad y la evaluación de equivalencia en la elección de los sujetos. Los sujetos mostraron en general preferencia por la opción de semejanza (80 por ciento y 75 por ciento en cada uno de los experimentos) (AU)

Competencia entre diferentes criterios de respuesta en el paradigma de equivalencia-equivalencia / Competence among different criteria of answer in the equivalence-equivalence paradigm

Se llevaron a cabo tres experimentos destinados a estudiar la posible existencia de competencia entre criterios utilizando el paradigma de equivalencia-equivalencia. Los criterios que manejaron fueron, por una parte, responder con base en una relación de pertenencia a una clase de equivalencia (criterio de equivalencia-equivalencia) y, por otra, compartir un elemento entre la muestra y la comparación (criterio de semejanza). Los procedimientos utilizados fueron la “competencia” entre criterios, el ensombrecimiento y el bloqueo. Los sujetos utilizados fueron estudiantes universitarios. Los resultados del primer experimento (competencia) indicaron que la semejanza era elegida con más facilidad y por un mayor número de sujetos que la equivalencia-equivalencia, y asimismo la relación de semejanza interfería en el aprendizaje de la relación de equivalencia-equivalencia si estos dos criterios se presentan simultáneamente desde el principio. En el segundo experimento (ensombrecimiento) se comprobó que cuando ambos criterios aparecen disponibles al mismo tiempo., la semejanza ensombrece a la equivalencia – equivalencia. Por último, en el experimento de bloqueo, encontramos que mientras la semejanza bloquea a la equivalencia- equivalencia, el efecto contrario es mucho menor.

Three experiments were carried out in order to study the possible existence of competition among different criteria using the equivalence-equivalence paradigm. The criteria we managed were, on one hand, responding based on the criterion of belonging to an equivalence class and, for other, to share an element between the sample and the comparison (similarity). The procedures used were the “competition” among criteria, overshadowing and blocking. The subjects used were undergraduate students. The results of the procedure of “competition” indicated that similarity could interfere in the learning of the equivalence-equivalence relationship if these two criteria were presented simultaneously...

Los hechos internos en una ciencia natural: conductismo radical y eventos privados / Internal facts in a natural science: radical behaviorism and private events

En este trabajo pretendemos realizar un análisis de uno de los aspectos menos conocidos pero a la vez más relevantes de la filosofía conductista radical y de la ciencia del análisis del comportamiento, esto es, el abordaje científico de hechos, fenómenos, procesos, conductas o como se quieran calificar, que no pertenecen al ámbito de lo observable por un segundo organismo (conductas privadas). Para cualquier disciplina que se aventure en su estudio, estos fenómenos plantean problemas a varios niveles: ontológico, epistemológico, teórico, metodológico y aplicado. En nuestra exposición describiremos en el contexto histórico del conductismo las respuestas a estos problemas que ha ofrecido el conductismo radical y el análisis de comportamiento, comparándolas con otras propuestas como las de la psicología cognitiva (AU)

Ensombrecimiento entre relaciones arbitarias y no arbitarias en el paradigma de equivalencia-equivalencia / Darkening among arbitrary and non-arbitrary relations in the equivalence-equivalence paradigm

Se llevó a cabo un experimento con objeto de estudiar la posible existencia de competencia entre criterios de respuesta, utilizados en el paradigma de equivalencia-equivalencia. Los criterios manejados fueron, por una parte, responder en base ala pertinencia a una clase de equivalencia y, por otra, compartir un elemento entre la muestra y la comparación (semejanza). El procedimiento utilizado fue el del ensombrecimiento. Los sujetos fueron estudiantes universitarios. Los resultados de nuestro experimento muestran que cuando equivalencia – equivalencia y semejanza compiten (ambos pueden servir como guía para la elección de los sujetos) la segunda ensombrece a la primera. No obstante, como suele ser habitual, se obtiene mejores resultados cuando aparecen por separado que cuando comparten una misma situación.

An experiment was carried out in order to study the possible competition between criteria of responses using the equivalence – equivalence paradigm. The managed approaches were, on one hand, to respond based on the membership to an equivalence class and, for other, to share an element between the sample and the comparison (similarity). The procedure used was overshadow. The subjects were university students. The results of our experiment show that when equivalence – equivalence and similarity compete (both can serve as a guide for the subject’s choice) the second overshadowed to the first one, Nevertheless, as is usual, better results are obtained when they appear for separate that when they share oneself situation.