Un programa psicosocial: programa psicoestimulatiu integral (P.P.I.) amb persones afectades de malaltia d' Alzheimer

L'any 2011 la malaltia d'Alzheimer es situava com la quarta causa de mort més freqüent amb un augment de fins a 11.907, més del doble de morts que l'any 2000 (INE). Aquestes dades demostren l'augment del número de persones que pateixen una demència a mesura que envelleixen i una de les explicacions és l'augment de l'esperança de vida. Per aquest motiu l'estudi de la qualitat de vida ha adquirit una gran importància des de la dècada dels 90. La qualitat de vida és un concepte especialment subjectiu pel fet que cada persona la viu segons la pròpia percepció de salut i benestar i el grau d'adaptació a l'entorn que l'envolta. Per aquest motiu es planteja un programa de psicoestimulació integral (PPI) centrat en les individualitats de cada persona: valors, interessos, història ocupacional..., des de la filosofia de la Teràpia Ocupacional. El projecte està elaborat mitjançant la metodologia qualitativa utilitzant l'enquesta en profunditat semi-estructurada per a realitzar les entrevistes i obtenir la informació principal a l'inici i al final del programa juntament amb tota la informació que s'obtingui de l'observació participant del dia a dia de cada un dels professionals per tal d'estudiar fins a quin punt aquesta atenció centrada en la persona contribueix a millorar la qualitat de vida de les persones afectades de Malaltia d'Alzheimer que reben tractaments no farmacològics com el proposat en aquest projecte. Com a tot estudi es poden trobar alguns factors condicionants com pot ser l'evolució pròpia de la malaltia amb les conseqüències negatives que això comporta i/o el número de participants que formen la mostra.

Open to the users' needs : combining user-centered design, standards and open source software

This case study introduces our continuous work to enhance the virtual classroom in order to provide faculty and students with an environment open to their needs, compliant with learning standards and, therefore compatible with other e-learning environments, and based on open source software. The result is a modulable, sustainable and interoperable learning environment that can be adapted to different teaching and learning situations by incorporating the LMS integrated tools as well as wikis, blogs, forums and Moodle activities among others.

One person in the battlefield is not a warrior: Self-construal, perceived ability to make a difference, and socially responsible behavior

We suggest that cultivating an individual's connectedness to others promotes sociallyresponsible behavior both directly and indirectly through increased perceived abilityto make a difference. Individuals whose interdependent self is more prominent feel theyhave more of an impact on larger scale societal outcomes and, therefore, engage more insocially responsible behaviors than do individuals whose independent self is moreprominent. We test these hypotheses in two experiments in which participants makefinancial contributions or exert an effort for a social cause. In a survey, we find thatperceived effectiveness mediates the effect of self-construal on socially responsibleconsumption.

Is the person trade-off a valid method for allocating health care resources? Some caveats

The Person Trade-Off (PTO) is a methodology aimed at measuring thesocial value of health states. The rest of methodologies would measure individualutility and would be less appropriate for taking resource allocation decisions.However few studies have been conducted to test the validity of the method.We present a pilot study with this objective. The study is based on theresult of interviews to 30 undergraduate students in Economics. We judgethe validity of PTO answers by their adequacy to three hypothesis of rationality.First, we show that, given certain rationality assumptions, PTO answersshould be predicted from answers to Standard Gamble questions. This firsthypothesis is not verified. The second hypothesis is that PTO answersshould not vary with different frames of equivalent PTO questions. Thissecond hypothesis is also not verified. Our third hypothesis is that PTOvalues should predict social preferences for allocating resources betweenpatients. This hypothesis is verified. The evidence on the validity of themethod is then conflicting.

Choice of partners in multiple two-person prisoner's dilemma games: An experimental study

We examine the effect of unilateral and mutual partner selection in the context of prisoner's dilemmas experimentally. Subjects play simultaneously several finitely repeated two-person prisoner's dilemma games. We find that unilateral choice is the best system. It leads to low defection and fewer singles than with mutual choice. Furthermore, with the unilateral choice setup we are able to show that intendingdefectors are more likely to try to avoid a match than intending cooperators. We compare our results of multiple games with single game PD-experiments and find no difference in aggregate behavior. Hence the multiple game technique is robust and might therefore be an important tool in the future for testing the use of mixed strategies.

Rational reasoning or adaptive behavior? Evidence from two-person beauty contest games

Many experiments have shown that human subjects do not necessarily behave in line with game theoretic assumptions and solution concepts. The reasons for this non-conformity are multiple. In this paper we study the argument whether a deviation from game theory is because subjects are rational, but doubt that others are rational as well, compared to the argument that subjects, in general, are boundedly rational themselves. To distinguish these two hypotheses, we study behavior in repeated 2-person and many-person Beauty-Contest-Games which are strategically different from one another. We analyze four different treatments and observe that convergence toward equilibrium is driven by learning through the information about the other player s choice and adaptation rather than self-initiated rational reasoning.

What makes one person paranoid and another person anxious? The differential prediction of social anxiety and persecutory ideation in an experimental situation

The study shows that social anxiety and persecutory ideation share many of the same predictive factors. Non-clinical paranoia may be a type of anxious fear. However, perceptual anomalies are a distinct predictor of paranoia. In the context of an individual feeling anxious, the occurrence of odd internal feelings in social situations may lead to delusional ideas through a sense of" things not seeming right". The study illustrates the approach of focusing on experiences such as paranoid thinking rather than diagnoses such as schizophrenia.

Customization, transparency and proximity: a user- centered content strategy applied to the design of a virtual library website

We present a case study of the redesign of the organizational presentation and content of the Virtual Library website at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC), based on a user-centered design strategy. The aim of the redesign was to provide users with more intuitive, usable and understandable content (textual content, resources and services) by implementing criteria of customization, transparency and proximity. The study also presents a selection of best practices for applying these criteria to the design of other library websites.

Customization, transparency and proximity: a user- centered content strategy applied to the design of a virtual library website

We present a case study of the redesign of the organizational presentation and content of the Virtual Library website at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC), based on a user-centered design strategy. The aim of the redesign was to provide users with more intuitive, usable and understandable content (textual content, resources and services) by implementing criteria of customization, transparency and proximity. The study also presents a selection of best practices for applying these criteria to the design of other library websites.

Customization, transparency and proximity: a user- centered content strategy applied to the design of a virtual library website

We present a case study of the redesign of the organizational presentation and content of the Virtual Library website at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC), based on a user-centered design strategy. The aim of the redesign was to provide users with more intuitive, usable and understandable content (textual content, resources and services) by implementing criteria of customization, transparency and proximity. The study also presents a selection of best practices for applying these criteria to the design of other library websites.

First person experience of body transfer in virtual reality

Altering the normal association between touch and its visual correlate can result in the illusory perception of a fake limb as part of our own body. Thus, when touch is seen to be applied to a rubber hand while felt synchronously on the corresponding hidden real hand, an illusion of ownership of the rubber hand usually occurs. The illusion has also been demonstrated using visuomotor correlation between the movements of the hidden real hand and the seen fake hand. This type of paradigm has been used with respect to the whole body generating out-of-the-body and body substitution illusions. However, such studies have only ever manipulated a single factor and although they used a form of virtual reality have not exploited the power of immersive virtual reality (IVR) to produce radical transformations in body ownership.

La praxis reflexiva: un reto para la educación social

La educación social en sus diversas acepciones (profesión, práctica educativa y estudios universitarios) ha experimentado unos importantes cambios en los últimos años. De una actividad centrada en la solución de problemas concretos dentro de un ámbito específico, se ha ido avanzando hacia la necesidad de estar capacitado para el trabajo en entornos complejos y difusos. El ejercicio de la actividad en estos entornos requiere de un posicionamiento estratégico, de una visión global más allá de un manejo de recetas cerradas y de una perspectiva ética que trascienda el simple cumplimiento de instrucciones. Por ello, capacitar al profesional para el diseño y la aplicación de las acciones socioeducativas es una temática que requiere la integración de multiplicidad de competencias para que cada intervención sea una respuesta que se adapte a la situación, a las capacidades y al contexto de la persona atendida. En el periodo de formación universitaria, el practicum es un espacio de aprendizaje privilegiado donde se ponen en juego todos los conocimientos adquiridos y sirve de trampolín para empezar a ejercer la profesión en un contexto real pero seguro, que más adelante será el escenario cotidiano de la acción profesional