Emotional characteristics of psychology students: a study based on the formative research perspective

In the formative research scheme, the author built a psychological scale, with the purpose of analyzing psychological characteristics of the School of Psychology students. The instrument showed a high reliability coefficient (α=0,86), the exploratory factorial analysis found five variables which allowed to predict some aspects of sex and career level through a logistic regression; the ALSCAL showed two emotional dimensions. The author recommends to improve the instrument and to continue its application in the School. It is also necessary to develop qualitative research to acquire new data about the topic of the research.

Impulsivity: A view from the behavioral neuroscience and developmental psychology

Impulsivity has been linked to three main factors: performing without direct involvement of the frontal lobe functions, an increase in the speed of response, and the acquisition of immediate gratification. This behavioral inhibition deficit involves a variety of behaviors including aspects of hyperexcitability, behavioral disinhibition and higher order decision making. Although by tradition, the definition of this executive function has been conceptualized from a psychopathological view, currently, the wide variety of neuropsychological, developmental and animal models assessment techniques encourage us to establish dialogues that integrate the knowledge of these theoretical perspectives for the interpretation and understanding of impulsivity.

Bibliography profiling of undergraduate theses in a professional psychology program

The bibliographic profile of 125 undergraduate (licentiate) theses was analyzed, describing absolute quantities of several bibliometric variables, as well as within-document indexes and average lags of the references. The results show a consistent pattern across the years in the 6 cohorts included in the sample (2001-2007), with variations, which fall within the robust confi dence intervals for the global central tendency. The median number of references per document was 52 (99% CI 47-55); the median  percentage of journal articles cited was 55%, with a median age for journal references of 9 years. Other highlights of the bibliographic profile were the use of foreign language references (median 61%), and low reliance on open web documents (median 2%). A cluster analysis of the bibliometric indexes resulted  in a typology of 2 main profiles, almost evenly distributed, one of them with the makeup of a natural science bibliographic profile and the second within the style of the humanities. In general, the number of references, proportion of papers, and age of the references are close to PhD dissertations and Master theses, setting a rather high standard for undergraduate theses.

An approach from positive psychology to mental health of university freshmen in Concepcion (Chile)

University is a demanding and changing environment for first year students, what could affect their mental health and their academic performance. Due these conditions, this research wanted to analyze mental health in freshmen of a private university in, Concepción, Chile, oriented by an approach from positive psychology. 554 were selected and surveyed to evaluate three variables: self-Esteem, satisfaction with life and optimism. furthermore, socio-demographic characteristics and mental health problems were assessed. Outcomes show that students evaluate positively themselves, their life and future. In addition, these variables are related with age, type of former school, religion, depression and anxiety. Systematic relationship found between these three strengths of mental health and their inverse relationship with the most prevalent problems in this area highlight the relevance that these three variables could have to define preventive and remedial strategies to promote student welfare.

Behavioral neurosciences in Latin-American psychology journals

Behavioral neurosciences have evolved from other disciplines such as psychology, psychiatry and neurology, becoming a prominent area within general neuroscience. In mainstream psychology, neurosciences currently have an important role. In this paper we documented articles published in four Latin-American psychology journals and we classified these papers as empirical or theoretical. We analyzed the main topics covered in the behavioral neurosciences. Most of reported research used humans and rats as study subjects, although other species have also been used as models. Data suggest behavioral neurosciences currently play a growing and prominent role in Latin American psychology.

El legado de B. F. Skinner veinte años después (1990-2010): el análisis del comportamiento en Iberoamérica

Veinte años después de su fallecimiento (18 de agosto de 1990), B. F. Skinner deja cinco grandes legados vigentes: 1) el conductismo radical; 2) el análisis experimental del comportamiento; 3) el análisis conductual aplicado; 4) la caja de Skinner; 5) la comunidad Los Horcones (México). El análisis del comportamiento, básico y aplicado, es reconocido por su activa presencia internacional. Su desarrollo proporciona un conjunto de conocimiento y transferencia de tecnología que nos recuerda la importancia de trabajar en el desarrollo de programas educativos, de investigación y de manejo de contingencias, los cuales permitan su avance. En Iberoamérica, el análisis del comportamiento, como legado skinneriano, ha sido una tradición importante dentro de la psicología. En este artículo presentaremos una síntesis actual de las principales contribuciones iberoamericanas al análisis del comportamiento. El  panorama del análisis del comportamiento en Iberoamérica será analizado de acuerdo a las siguientes dimensiones: 1) las figuras más relevantes; 2) la comunidad académica asociada a la tradición analítica conductual; y 3) las líneas de investigación más importantes. Finalmente, se presentarán algunas de las características más generales del análisis del comportamiento en Iberoamérica.

determinismo; free will; psychology; science; profession

The discussion about the freewill and determinism con- troversy in human behavior is an old one in philosophy and psychology. Despite the fact that discussions on the topic are abundant, some of its implications seem to go unnoticed by psychologists, and especially by students of psychology. We argue that to the same extent that a psychologist is far from the determinism he imposes -a priori and unnecessary-constraints on the development of psychology as a science and profession. As a result, we suggest that the adoption of determinism as a wor- king hypothesis, is an important attitude for the transformation of psychology into a more effective science and profession.

Historical perspective of the Psychology of motivation

The psychology of motivation has a long tradition and history in psychology. In fact, we consider that, to a certain extent, understanding the history of the psychology of motivation is understanding great part of which has been psychology itself, since the main target of psychology was, and is, to try to explain behaviour, and the aim of psychology of motivation is to find out the causes of behaviour. In its long passage to the present time, there have been three perspectives that have monopolized most of the investigation: the biological, the behavioural and the cognitive. They are not excluding. Each one of them has been predominant in certain stages, although the same attention was paid to the other two. Nowadays, the biological and cognitive perspectives are those that receive greater attention from the investigators. The historical direction in the study of the psychology of motivation represents an important solution to know how the events that have given rise to the present consideration about the psychology of motivation were forged. To know the past helps us to understand the present, at the same time it allows us to hypothesise with great probability of success which will be the future in the study object.

Hans Jürgen Eysenck. Life and work of one of the most infl uential scientist in the history of psychology

On this article, the biography and work of one of the most influential scientists in psychology history is briefl y introduced. With his work, he laid the bases for the scientific study not only on personality, but also on human behaviour. Hence, the most important contributions done by this author are highlighted in a wide range of areas of our discipline, as well as the vision he had about how psychology should be as a science. A series of considerations related to the current situation of scientific psychology in Argentina, lead us to the conclusion that it is essential to rescue his work from forgetfulness, apart from going back over some of his lines of research and thoughts. 

Lessons in psychology – Colombia Nineteenth Century

Manuel Ancízar published in 1851 his Lectures on Psychology. The text has been a representative of the interests of Colombian intellectuals of the time for discipline. The treatise of the history of psychology Colombia have considered the nineteenth century as a period characterized by a poorly conceived attempt to import some emerging professional practices of psychiatric and educational type. However, the work of Ancízar showed large exhibition on the subject matter of psychology: human consciousness and the theories that support the formation of the new science. The core of the work is oriented towards the secular drama, against which Ancízar defended the supernatural origin and nature of the human soul. The author introduced an eclectic psychology in which, the secular orientation of modern ideas are integrated with the conception of the soul as a divine gift. The reading of the work has been outstanding and indispensable work for understanding ancient and autochthonous forms of access to psychological issues.

Psychometric properties of the scale NBAS applied to preterm or low birth weight

Objective: to assess, in a randomized sample of measurements made with the NBAS scale, in preterm and / or low birth weight babies, some psychometric characteristics of the same as her construct validity and internal consistency. Materials and methods: we designed a study of assessment of Psychometric properties. From a study of cross-sectional measurements, there were made assessment of the statistic behavior of the items, individually and in their internal consistency, then, there were carried out, type exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Results: we find that, in the analysis of preterm or low birth weight babies, the scale remains largely, the overall structure of factors proposed since 1982, in relation to the dimensions of habituation, social interactive and complementary. The items that make up the dimensions of SNA and motor systems are integrated. Also, we found Cronbach alpha values for internal consistency, which reflects higher to medium correlation levels in the behavioral and reflex items. Conclusion: the NBAS scale reflects characteristics of construct validity and internal consistency, which credits it as a useful tool in clinical assessment of neurodevelopmental effects of preterm or low birth weight babies. It is necessary to analyze the structure of the scale when used for purposes of scientific research.

Prevalence and factors associated with dysmenorrheal in health science students

Introduction: Dysmenorrhea has a prevalence between 60 and 93%. Different factors have been associated with it, such as age at menarche, body mass index, exercise, smoking and maternal history of dysmenorrhea, among others. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, based on an anonymous survey applied to a random sample of 127 women from the school of medicine and psychology at the Universidad Del Rosario. Results: The prevalence of  dysmenorrhea was 73%. 67% of participants presenting with menstrual pain, reported having taken pain relief medication (66.7% self medicated). 32.5% of respondents with dysmenorrhea were absent from their academic or social work, with a percentage of school absenteeism due to pain of 74.5% in at least one day. The risk of dysmenorrhoea was 2.36 times higher in women who had mothers with this history (OR = 2.36, 95% CI 1.03 to 5.40). No associations with other factors were found. Conclusions: Dysmenorrhea is a disease with a high prevalence and significant impact on school absenteeism. Maternal history of dysmenorrhea was the only factor positively associated in this study.

Analysis of the alveolar recruitment maneuvers applied at seven intensive care units

Introduction: During the past years, alveolar recruitment maneuvers (RM) have produced growing interest due to their beneficial potential in pulmonary protection, and have been introduced in clinical practice. Objective: To describe and analyze the knowledge of MR and its application at seven intensive care units in the city of Cali, Colombia. Methods and materials: Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study with an intentional sample of 64 professionals working in seven intensive care units and who apply MR. The self-completed survey was made up of thirteen questions, and the application period was two months. Results: Out of 64 professionals surveyed, 77.8% of them follow a protocol guide; 54.7% employes during RM the ideal Positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP), which maintains a saturation > 90% and a PaO2 > 60 mmHg; 42.1% tolerates airway pressures between 35 and 50 cmH2O; 48.4% perform RM with a progressive increase of the PEEP and a low tidal volume. Conclusions: Regarding the knowledge related to RM, heterogeneity was found in the answers. There is currently no consensus about which is the most effective and secure way to implement an MR. This study can be the starting point to create awareness towards the revision of knowledge, capacities and abilities that are required to perform RM.

El trabajo en equipo en el Proceso Administrativo y de Compras en OPL Carga de Bucaramanga

El proceso administrativo y de compras de OPL Carga tiene algunas falencias entre ellas: fallas en la Comunicación entre el personal operativo, no se realizan llamadas internas usando con frecuencia el email, produciendo la saturación de solicitudes las cuales terminan sin ser resueltas en cuanto a roles se refiere, no hay enfoque de procesos en vista que no se tiene claras las tareas de cada cargo, adicionalmente no hay claridad en los subprocesos, perjudicando el proceso con el aumento de costos, pérdida de tiempo, las responsabilidades de los funcionario no todas las veces se ejecutan en el tiempo asignado, el liderazgo compartido presenta ambigüedades. Objetivos: Definir el trabajo en equipo en el proceso administrativo y de compras en OPL carga de Bucaramanga. La investigación que a realizar es de tipo descriptivo, busca descubrir las falencias o características que permiten diseñar y desarrollar un modelo de solución para los problemas del equipo de OPL Carga S.A.S. Materiales y métodos: La investigación efectuada es de tipo descriptivo, el objetivo es definir el modelo del trabajo en equipo y describir las falencias en el proceso administrativo y de compras en OPL carga de Bucaramanga, que permitan obtener un diagnóstico integral que conlleve a la implementación de estrategias de solución. Resultados: Se identificaron las falencias en los siguientes aspectos: Variable comunicación, rendimiento, destrezas complementarias, propósito significativo y meta específicas de los funcionarios en OPL carga sección administrativa. Conclusiones: El modelo de trabajo en equipo que OPL aplica es jerárquico, en el que se ofrece estabilidad, seguridad, se toman decisiones en forma piramidal, mediante la planeación de tareas, la colaboración, igualdad y respeto por los miembros, trabajando en pro de la solución de problemas. Se construyó un plano conceptual que permitió exponer la interpretación que la estudiante tiene de las teorías, investigaciones y antecedentes válidos para la comprensión del problema investigado. Área comunicacional: Coordinar acciones tendientes para que los funcionarios respondan a tiempo los emails atenientes a su trabajo. Área condiciones de trabajo: Clarificar y diseñar las reglas de comportamiento al interior de los equipos de trabajo que redunden en el mejoramiento del mismo y la búsqueda de soluciones oportunas. Área metas específicas: Procurar mediante auditorías el cumplimiento de las metas y objetivos propuestos por cada equipo de trabajo.

Medidas de bienestar en empleados: análisis de los estudios realizados entre 2002 y 2012 desde la noción de organización saludable

Actualmente se considera que las organizaciones con resultados positivos y rendimientos crecientes tienen aspectos y características particulares que las diferencian de aquellas organizaciones que no obtienen los mejores resultados en el mercado. Para que las organizaciones sean saludables deben garantizar el bienestar del empleado y comprometerse con el mejoramiento continuo del mismo. Es así como surgen las escalas de medidas de bienestar, las cuales contribuyen directamente al bienestar del empleado y sus resultados positivos dentro de la organización. Este estudio hace referencia a las medidas de bienestar más utilizadas en un periodo de diez años (2002-2012), con el propósito de establecer la relación entre las medidas de bienestar, el bienestar de los empleados y las organizaciones saludables. Para determinar dicha relación, se llevó a cabo un análisis detallado de los estudios realizados sobre las escalas de medidas de bienestar utilizadas durante el periodo de tiempo 2002 y 2012. Los resultados arrojados señalan que las medidas de bienestar más utilizadas durante este periodo son: Satisfacción laboral, Clima organizacional, Engagement y Calidad de vida laboral, mientras que las cuatro medidas de bienestar menos utilizadas son: Remuneración y Bienestar subjetivo.