Abordagem cognitiva da construção deverbal x-dor: contribuições para o ensino do português

This work analyzes deverbal nominalizations with the sufix dor in Brazilian Portuguese, under the perspective of Cognitive Linguistics, more specifically, the Construction Grammar. The aim is to determine the general features of interpretation that characterize this deverbal construction and its use in formal writing. Based on the cognitive assumption that grammatical structure is motivated, explained, and determined by the structure of cognitive patterns, created from our experience in the world, and by the communicative function of language, the dor deverbal is treated as a polysemic grammatical construction. In the composition of V+dor, the relation rootsuffix is focused, through a characterization of the syntactic-semantic nature of the verb and the values of the suffix. Among the different values conventionally related to the XDOR construction, the agentive is considered as the prototypical sense. The relation between the other values and the prototype is explained by cognitive abilities and discourse motivations. The deverbal construction X-DOR is also interpreted as a valency noun that, like an action nominal, retains the argument structure of the deriving predicate. It is also intended to demonstrate the textual function of this deverbal construction, as a device of information condensing and anaphoric recovery. The data were taken from Veja magazine and the approach is qualitative (explicative), with quantitative support

A interpretação semântica dos auxiliares modais poder, precisar e dever: uma abordagem da semântica cognitiva

Apresentamos, neste trabalho, com base na semântica cognitiva, uma análise do significado, em contexto, dos auxiliares modais poder, precisar e dever. Analisamos 120 textos produzidos por candidatos ao vestibular e por alunos do ensino fundamental, como resposta da questão número três da prova discursiva de Língua Portuguesa do vestibular 2005 da UFRN, que pede aos candidatos para explicitar a diferença de sentido entre três frases, observando o uso desses três verbos. Consideramos que um item lexical não é incorporado a uma representação lingüística semântica fixa, limitada e única, mas antes, é ligado a uma representação lingüística semântica flexível e aberta que provê acesso a muitas concepções e sistemas conceituais dependente de cada contexto determinado. Com base em seu significado, um item lexical evoca um grupo de domínios cognitivos, que por sua vez, apresentam um determinado conteúdo conceitual. Isto implica em afirmar que a rede de significados lexicais vai variar conforme o conhecimento de mundo de cada um (LANGACKER, 2000). A relevância deste trabalho é proporcionar uma contribuição para a descrição semântica do português

Tradução, adaptação cultural e avaliação psicométrica da prova cognitiva de leganés em uma população idosa brasileira com baixo nível de escolaridade

Introdução: The scales of cognitive screening are important tools for early detection of dementia, creating the possibility of developing measures to slow this process and assist in the management of the disease. Objective: To validate the Leganés Cognitive Test (Prueba Cognitive de Leganés) (PCL) for cognitive screening in low educated elderly Brazilians. Methods: The study sample was composed of 59 elderly residents from the city of Santa Cruz, Brazil with low schooling levels. Reliability was analyzed with a 2-day interval between assessments, and concurrent validity was assessed using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Results: According to the PCL, the prevalence of dementia was 11.8%. The scale items showed a moderate to strong correlation between domains (p <0.01), and inter-rater reliability exhibited ICC = 0.81, 95% CI (0.72-0.88). Factor analysis resulted in two factors: memory and orientation. Interscale agreement was considered poor (k = - 0.02), supporting the hypothesis of an educational impact on final MMSE scores. Conclusion: The results suggest that PCL has acceptable levels of reliability for use in low educated elderly Brazilians

Administração repetida de baixas doses de reserpina: um possível modelo para o estudo de déficits cognitivos e motores associados à Doença de Parkinson

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative brain disorders and is characterized primarily by a progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons nigroestriatais. The main symptoms of this disease are motor alterations (bradykinesia, rigidity, tremor at rest), which can be highly disabling in advanced stages of the condition. However, there are symptomatic manifestations other than motor impairment, such as changes in cognition, mood and sensory systems. Animal models that attempt to mimic clinical features of PD have been used to understand the behavioral and neural mechanisms underlying neurophysiological disturbance of this disease. However, most models promote an intense and immediate motor impairment, consistent with advanced stages of the disease, invalidating these studies for the evaluation of its progressive nature. The administration of reserpine (a monoamine depletor) in rodents has been considered an animal model for studying PD. Recently we found that reserpine (in doses lower than those usually employed to produce the motor symptoms) promotes a memory deficit in an aversive discrimination task, without changing the motor activity. It was suggested that the administration of this drug in low doses can be useful for the study of memory deficits found in PD. Corroborating this data, in another study, acute subcutaneous administration of reserpine, while preserving motor function, led to changes in emotional context-related (but not neutral) memory tasks. The goal of this research was to study the cognitive and motor deficits in rats repeatedly treated with low doses of reserpine, as a possible model that simulates the progressive nature of the PD. For this purpose, 5-month-old male Wistar rats were submitted to a repeated treatment with vehicle or different doses of reserpine on alternate days. Cognitive and motor parameters and possible changes in neuronal function were evaluated during treatment. The main findings were: repeated administration of 0.1 mg / kg of reserpine in rats is able to induce the gradual appearance of motor signs compatible with progressive features found in patients with PD; an increase in striatal levels of oxidative stress and changes in the concentrations of glutamate in the striatum were observed five days after the end of treatment; in animals repeatedly-treated with 0. 1 mg/kg, cognitive deficits were observed only after the onset of motor symptoms, but not prior to the onset of these symptoms; 0.2 mg / kg reserpine repeated treatment has jeopardized the cognitive assessment due to the presence of severe motor deficits. Thus, we suggest that the protocol of treatment with reserpine used in this work is a viable alternative for studies of the progressive appearance of parkinsonian signs in rats, especially concerning motor symptoms. As for the cognitive symptoms, we suggest that more studies are needed, possibly using other behavioral models, and / or changing the treatment regimen

A memória de curto prazo e a síndrome de down: a relação entre contextos de desenvolvimento

Down syndrome (DS) is one of the most frequent causes of intellectual disability, affecting one in every 600 to 1000 live births. Studies have demonstrated that people with DS have a lower capacity for short-term memory (STM) and working memory (WM), which affects their capability to learn new words and to follow spoken instructions, specially when they involve multiple information or consecutive orders/orientations. It seems that the basis of the learning process, as it happens with language and mathematics comprehension and reasoning, relies in the STM and WM systems. Individuals with DS are increasingly included in mainstream education, and yet, very few researches have been conducted to investigate the influence of memory development and the type of enrollment (regular school and special school). This study investigated the relationship between the type of school enrollment with the performance on STM tests and also, the relationship of this performance with early stimulation (ES). The tests used in the first research were the digit span, free recall, word recognition and subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Third Edition (WISC-III). Individuals enrolled in the regular schools group had higher scores on the digit span test and the subtests of the WISC-III. In the free recall and recognition tests, no differences were found. This study indicates that the type of enrollment might influence the memory development of individuals with DS and clearly points the need for future investigations. In the second research, the tests used were the digit span, free word recall and subtests of the WISC-III. The test results showed better performance by adults that received ES before six months of age. The studies showed improvement in STM both in people who attended or were attending regular school, as well as those who benefited from ES before six months of age. However, some issues still need to be better understood. What is the relation between this stimulation with the individual s education? Since ES may reflect a greater family involvement with the individual, what is the role of emotional components derived from this involvement in the cognitive improvement? These and other questions are part of the continuity of this study

Ausência do pai ao longo do desenvolvimento ontogenético e indicadores de desconto de futuro: uma contribuição da psicologia evolucionista

The new Evolutionary Psychology (E. P.) paradigm has been trying to understand how the human beings make their decisions over time regarding the most diverse variables, always bearing in mind that such a cognitive process is due to a complex natural selection process that occurred millions of years ago. One of the main topics discussed by this new paradigm is the issue of parental investment, i.e., the care the parents provide to an offspring at the expense of the investment into a new one. The present work sought to integrate these two topics, trying to understand how some variables modulate the process of decision making in a sample of the city of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte state. It was investigated the hypothesis that the presence of both parents, along the individual development, could signal a more favorable environment, providing clues to the individual that he could assume a competitive position at the socio-biological market. His decisions, therefore, could be guided by long-term investments with aims to obtain more robust rewards. On the contrary, those who has suffered for some moment the absence of one the parents could develop theirselves in a not so competitive way, starting to choose immediate benefits - but lesser ones -, since the future would be less predictable due to their worse development conditions. This study involved 152 individuals from three higher education institutions, one of them being public and the others being private ones. In the results found, there was no difference between children of coupled parents and children of deceased or divorced parents concerning discount rates. The levels of hopelessness did not affect the discount rates of children of single parents when compared to children of coupled parents. Not having one of the parents because of divorce made the child to tend to present lower scores in the domain of social relations of WHOQOL - Bref, whilst the absence of the father by death made the scores lower in the domain of environment. The results indicate that loosing one of the parents along the development influences the individual's quality of life perception, but the measurement method of future discounting rates by means of financial choices is not sensitive to this variation

Avaliação do padrão do ciclo sono-vigília e a cognição em estudantes de medicina com diferentes esquemas de horários de aulas

The sleep patterns of students entering the university, is accompanied by many factors that can lead to changes in sleep habits, such as academic demands, new social opportunities, reduced parental care and irregular teaching schedules. The irregular pattern of sleep-wake cycle is usually accompanied by several daytime consequences, for example, reduced levels of motivation, performance, concentration, alertness and mood as well as increased fatigue and sleepiness.Thus, there are numerous reasons to support the fact that these students may suffer damage in their academic performance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sleep-wake cycle (SWC) and cognition in medical students with different schemes teaching schedules. One group started classes at 08am, while the other started at 07am. We analyzed the data from 88 volunteers, 39 from each group. However, only those who participated in both stages of the study (n = 78) underwent cognitive testing. For subjective evaluation of the SWC was used questionnaires to check the quality of sleep, chronotype, daytime sleepiness and sleep habits. For objective evaluation was used actigraphy. For cognitive assessment was used the test MoCA (Montreal Cognitive Assessment). The results indicate that the group has class earlier had a greater irregularity of the SWC and a worse performance in cognitive testing. There was a difference between the schedules the week and weekend in the subjective variables, bedtime, wake up and sleep duration in both groups. The objective variables, time in bed showed difference between the schedules the week and weekend to the group started class at 08am and the variables bedtime, get up time, actual sleep time, time in bed and wake bouts in the class at 07am. In the cognitive test, there were differences between the groups in overall score and in the areas of executive function and memory recall. Thus, it is suggested that the class starting time may cause irregularity of the SWC and the irregularity may cause mild cognitive impairment. Moreover, cognitive testing MoCA was sensitive to detect differences among students, although the difference between the schedules is small

Influência da idade, do sexo e da hora do dia no desempenho em teste de labirinto

The increase of elderly population in the world and in Brazil has indicated the necessity of health systems capable to evaluate, to diagnose and to intervene in the conditions of health and disease of that segment. During that stage of human development, physical and cognitive changes happen and they are capable to influence the functional acting. It s important to distinguish the limit between the normal and the pathological. Besides the common changes during the aging, biological rhithmicity changes happen, as alterations in the cycle vigil-sleep that can influence in certain tasks performance. This study aimed to verify the influence of the age, of the sex and of the hour in a maze test performance. Eighty individuals were evaluated, 40 youths (20 men and 20 women) and 40 senior (20 men and 20 women). They were separated in 2 different groups that were tested at 9:00 o clock and at 15:00 o clock. Initially they were submitted to health evaluation, cognitive evaluation and of sleep quality and chronotype. They were instructed to accomplish the maze test whose time of execution was timed and registered. Significant differences were observed according to age for the masculine group between elderly in the morning and in the afternoon and in the feminine group between youth and elderly in the test accomplished in the morning and in the afternoon. Significant differences were not observed according to sex and hour of the day and also between attempts. In compare between the 30th and the31st, accomplished in a 15minutes of interval, significant difference was observed just for the elderly group in the morning and in the afternoon. We observed significant correlations in the maze test performance with the cronotype, with the age, with the education and with the cognitive acting. The maze test was capable to detect differences between age in the acting profile and in the evaluation of the information maintenance after 15 minutes, however it was not possible to verify difference between sex and hour of the day. Finally the correlations of the maze test with another varied may indicate your importance as coadjutant instrument in those functions evaluation

Efeitos do tratamento com lítio na memória aversiva, comportamentos relacionados à ansiedade e depressão e na expressão de BDNF em ratos

Lithium (Li) is the first choice to treat bipolar disorder, a psychiatric illness characterized by mood oscillations between mania and depression. However, studies have demonstrated that this drug might influence mnemonic process due to its neuroprotector, antiapoptotic and neurogenic effects. The use of Li in the treatment of cognitive deficits caused by brain injury or neurodegenerative disorders have been widely studied, and this drug shows to be effective in preventing or even alleviating the memory impairment. The effects of Li on anxiety and depression are controversial and the relationship of the effects of lithium on memory, anxiety and depression remain unknown. In this context, this study aims to: evaluate the effects of acute and chronic administration of lithium carbonate in aversive memory and anxiety, simultaneously, using the plus maze discriminative avoidance task (PMDAT); test the antidepressant effect of the drug through the forced swimming test (FS) and analyze brainderived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in structures related to memory and emotion. To evaluation of the acute effects, male Wistar rats were submitted to i.p. administration of lithium carbonate (50, 100 or 200 mg/kg) one hour before the training session (PMDAT) or lithium carbonate (50 or 100 mg/kg) one hour before the test session (FS). To evaluation of the chronic effects, the doses administered were 50 or 100 mg/kg or vehicle once a day for 21 days before the beginning of behavioral tasks (PMDAT and FS). Afterwards, the animals were euthanized and their brains removed and submitted to immunohistochemistry procedure to quantify BDNF. The animals that received acute treatment with 100 and 200 mg/kg of Li did not discriminated between the enclosed arms (aversive and non-aversive) in the training session of PMDAT, showing that these animal did not learned the task. This lack of discrimination was also observed in the test session, showing that the animals did not recall the aversive task. We also observed an increased exploration of the open arms of these same groups, indicating an anxiolytic effect. The same groups showed a reduction of locomotor activity, however, this effect does not seem to be related with the anxiolytic effect of the drug. Chronic treatment with Li did not promote alterations on learning or memory processes. Nevertheless, we observed a reduction of open arms exploration by animals treated with 50 mg/kg when compared to the other groups, showing an anxiogenic effect caused by this dose. This effect it is not related to locomotor alterations since there were no alterations in these parameters. Both acute and chronic treatment were ineffective in the FS. Chronic treatment with lithium was not able to modify BDNF expression in hippocampus, amygdala and pre-frontal cortex. These results suggest that acute administration of lithium promote impairments on learning in an aversive task, blocking the occurrence of memory consolidation and retrieval. The reduction of anxiety following acute treatment may have prevented the learning of the aversive task, as it has been found that optimum levels of anxiety are necessary for the occurrence of learning with emotional context. With continued, treatment the animals recover the ability to learn and recall the task. Indeed, they do not show differences in relation to control group, and the lack of alterations on BDNF expression corroborates this result. Possibly, the regimen of treatment used was not able to promote cognitive improvement. Li showed acute anxiolytic effect, however chronic administration 4 promoted the opposite effect. More studies are necessary to clarify the potential beneficial effect of Li on aversive memory

Estilos de aprendizagem sob a ótica da Psicologia Evolucionista

Among a variety of learning conceptions, David Kolb´s Experiential Learning Theory proposes four different learning styles: diverging, characterized by orientation towards people and multi-perspective vision; assimilating, concerned with ideas and abstract concepts as well as theory formulation; converging, expert in dealing with technical tasks and problem solving; and accommodating, risk taker and good at getting things done. Interesting correlations have been pointed out between Kolb s learning styles, professional careers and genders. With respect to behaviors, specific cognitive skills and interests, sex differences are widely known, and explained by Evolutionary Psychology as the result of distinct selective pressures acting on each gender. The aim of this research was to assess adolescents learning styles and their relation with interests on school and career choices, analyzing possible gender differences. We distributed questionnaires to 221 senior high school students to research their preferences for school disciplines, professional activities and career choices. The Learning Style Inventory specified the learning style of each individual. Our results showed a high frequency of reflective styles, with predominance of females as diverging and males as assimilating. Concerning school and professional interests, there were correlations between styles oriented towards the abstract and technical interests. Moreover, females preferred disciplines related to languages and interpersonal activities while males preferred disciplines related to science and technical activities. There were more males in exact science and engineering careers, and more females in social science and applied social science. Correlations found between learning styles, school and professional interests corroborate Kolb´s propositions, and the findings about gender differences are supported by Evolutionary Psychology theories

Motivações para adoção: uma perspectiva da Psicologia Evolucionista

Parental investment increases the offspring s survival, though it decreases the opportunities for the parents to invest in a future progeny. In a broad sense, this investment is directed to one s own descendant, but in some cases, such as in adoption, resources are directed to non-relatives even in the absence of fitness benefits. Once there are many factors involved in adoption, this study investigated adopters candidates, aiming to analyze aspects considered by them for adopting, based on the Evolutionary Psychology s perspective. We analyzed the judicial proceedings´ files people who had been inlisted for adoption at the 2ª Childhood and Adolescence Law Court, Natal-RN. The adopter s motivations were classified into biological or social reasons. A relationship between adopters´ age and kind of motivation was found: requirements of young people were related to biological reasons while requirements of the old ones were related to social reasons. Fertility, mainly female requirer´s fertility, underlie this relationship, considering that women fertility is strongly influenced by age. The reasons to adopt were also related to the age of the desired child, once that people who wanted children older than 25 months alleged social reasons while those that wanted younger babies alleged biological reasons. There are lots of motives to adopt a child, but the phenomenon of adoption is broadly acknowledged by society as an act of love and the adoptive parents are often regarded as kind and generous people. It was observed, instead, that the reasons to adopt comes from the adopters themselves, related to the fulfillment of personal needs, such as increasing the family, carrying out mother/father role or having a company or someone to care form them in elderly age

A formação graduada em psicologia no Brasil: reflexão sobre os principais dilemas em um contexto pos-DCN

Criticism done to the undergraduate training process of the psychologist in Brazil raised debates known as "dilemmas of training". In recent years the classic training model, based on the Minimum Curriculum has undergone a series of changes after the National Curriculum Guidelines (DCN), modifying the context of courses. Thus, this paper aimed to investigate, in a post- DCN context how undergraduate courses in Psychology in Brazil have been dealing with the dilemmas of training. So, we decided to analyze the Course Pedagogical Projects (CPPs) of Psychology in the country. Forty CPPs, selected by region, academic organization and legal status were collected. The data was grouped into three blocks of discussions: theoretical, philosophical and pedagogical foundations; curriculum emphases and disciplines; and professional practices. The results were grouped into four sets of dilemmas: a) ethical and political; b) theoreticalepistemological; c) professional practice of the psychologist and d) academic-scientific. Courses claim a socially committed, generalist, pluralistic training, focusing on research, non-dissociation of teaching-research-extension, interdisciplinary training and defending a vision of man and of critical and reflective and non-individualistic psychology. The curriculum keeps the almost exclusive teaching of the classical areas of traditional fields of applied Psychology. Training is content based. The clinic is hegemonic, both in theory and in application fields. The historical debate is scarce and themes linked to the Brazilian reality are missing, despite having social policies present in the curricula. Currently, DCNs have a much greater impact on courses due to the influence of the control agencies, fruit of current educational policy, and the result is felt in the homogenization of curriculum discourses

Prática de coordenação pedagógica e concepções acerca da atuação em psicologia escolar: desvendando um contexto, repensando caminhos

Considering the necessary approaches with the quotidian of the pedagogical field mentioned in the recent productions in Psychology about the insertion of psychologists in the school field, the objective of this work was to know and to understand the dynamics of functioning of a team of pedagogical coordination, intending to produce reflections on the possibilities of action in school psychology with these professionals. Our field of research was the Municipal School Teacher Emília Ramos (EMPER), considering its peculiar history, distinguished by a constant effort of achievement of the school success by its pupils. As subject of the study, six pedagogical coordinators participated, who worked at the school in the diurne turns, where regular classrooms of 1º cycle of basic education functioned. As procedures, we use participant observations and open interviews, focusing the activities performed by the coordinators and its possible demands to psychology. We use the analysis of content for the production of results. These results evidenced a work of coordination realized on a structured routine, but flexible, centered around the activity of conduction of groups of studies with the teachers. We grouped the demands to psychology in four thematic groups: diagnosis and attending the pupils; orientation to the families, contribution in the formation of the professionals and clinical listening of the professionals of the school. In this way, it is made clear that, in a context where happens a well articulated and consistent pedagogical work, the possible performance in school psychology is not scrumbled or confused with social and pedagogical practical others which many times takes attendance. With these information, we expect to contribute for the theoretical and practical elaborations, in Psychology and the Pedagogy, compromised with the success of the educative work realized in the public schools

Publicação e avaliação de periódicos científicos: paradoxos da classificação Qualis em Psicologia

Recently, Brazilian scientific production has increased greatly, due to demands for productivity from scientific agencies. However, this high increases requires a more qualified production, since it s essential that publications are relevant and original. In the psychological field, the assessment scientific journals of the CAPES/ANPEPP Commission had a strong effect on the scientific community and raised questions about the chosen evaluation method. Considering this impact, the aim of this research is a meta-analysis on the assessment of Psychological journals by CAPES to update the Qualis database. For this research, Psychology scientific editors (38 questionnaires were applied by e-mail) were consulted, also 5 librarians who work with scientific journals assessment (semi-structured interviews) and 8 members who acted as referees in the CAPES/ANPEPP Commission (open questions were sent by e-mail). The results are shown through 3 analysis: general evaluation of the Qualis process (including the Assessment Committee constitution), evaluation criteria used in the process and the effect of the evaluation on the scientific community (changes on the editing scene included). Some important points emerged: disagreement among different actors about the suitability of this evaluation model; the recognition of the improvement of scientific journals, mainly toward normalization and diffusion; the verification that the model does not point the quality of the journal, i.e., the content of the scientific articles published in the journal; the disagreement with the criteria used, seemed necessary and useful but needed to be discussed and cleared between the scientific community. Despite these points, the scientific journals evaluation still is the main method to assure quality for Psychology publications

A psicologia e o programa de saúde da família :novas possibilidades, velhos dogmas?

The model of attention to health has been suffering alterations due to the difficulty faced to put into practice its universal, democratic and institutional layout. Since the movement of Sanitary Reform, which focused in the demands of a new health context and the process of work in the area of health, one seeks uninterruptedly, to find a way which leads to the execution of the principles of SUS. Despite having tried, the model of Sanitary Vigilance centered within the work of a multi-professional team has shown fragmentation and little adequacy to the necessity of health in the population. Whilst inserting himself in the field of health, the psychology professional has taken with him his clinic way of attending to individuals being one more in the team to act in a de-contextualised and little critical way. In virtue of this framework, the Ministry of Health invests in the Family Health Program as a new guide in the health system, restructuring the basic attention at a new logic of action. In this way, the municipality of Natal-RN implants, in the year 2002, the PSF in the Northern Sanitary District, a context in which professional teams are created where there is not an inclusion of a psychologist. Consequently, this professional is excluded of his work space in the previous Basic Unities of Health. This piece of work constitutes in the investigation of the implementation and instrumentalization of the Northern Sanitary District PSF of Natal-RN, having as its objective to analyze the implications of this execution for the structuring of the health network services and more specifically the alterations that this implementation could be making to the practice of the Psychology Professionals, emphasizing its advances, obstacles and limitations. To make this work feasible it was necessary to search for data and information from the implementation and execution of the PSF in the DSN, carrying interviews from a semi-structured guide, with 21 institutional actors (members of the team, coordinators and directors of the unities and psychologists)