Vocal Cues to Male Physical Formidability.

Animal vocalizations convey important information about the emitter, including sex, age, biological quality, and emotional state. Early on, Darwin proposed that sex differences in auditory signals and vocalizations were driven by sexual selection mechanisms. In humans, studies on the association between male voice attributes and physical formidability have thus far reported mixed results. Hence, with a view to furthering our understanding of the role of human voice in advertising physical formidability, we sought to identify acoustic attributes of male voices associated with physical formidability proxies. Mean fundamental frequency (F 0), formant dispersion (D f ), formant position (P f ), and vocal tract length (VTL) data from a sample of 101 male voices was analyzed for potential associations with height, weight, and maximal handgrip strength (HGS). F 0 correlated negatively with HGS; P f showed negative correlations with HGS, height and weight, whereas VTL positively correlated with HGS, height and weight. All zero-order correlations remained significant after controlling for false discovery rate (FDR) with the Benjamini-Hochberg method. After controlling for height and weight-and controlling for FDR-the correlation between F 0 and HGS remained significant. In addition, to evaluate the ability of human male voices to advertise physical formidability to potential mates, 151 heterosexual female participants rated the voices of the 10 strongest and the 10 weakest males from the original sample for perceived physical strength, and given that physical strength is a desirable attribute in male partners, perceived attractiveness. Generalized linear mixed model analyses-which allow for generalization of inferences to other samples of both raters and targets-failed to support a significant association of perceived strength or attractiveness from voices alone and actual physical strength. These results add to the growing body of work on the role of human voices in conveying relevant biological information.

Detecting Cheating Methods on Unproctored Internet Tests.

BACKGROUND: Unproctored Internet Tests (UIT) are vulnerable to cheating attempts by candidates to obtain higher scores. To prevent this, subsequent procedures such as a verification test (VT) is carried out. This study compares five statistics used to detect cheating in Computerized Adaptive Tests (CATs): Guo and Drasgow's Z-test, the Adaptive Measure of Change (AMC), Likelihood Ratio Test (LRT), Score Test, and Modified Signed Likelihood Ratio Test (MSLRT). METHOD: We simulated data from honest and cheating candidates to the UIT and the VT. Honest candidates responded to the UIT and the VT with their real ability level, while cheating candidates responded only to the VT, and different levels of cheating were simulated. We applied hypothesis tests, and obtained type I error and power rates. RESULTS: Although we found differences in type I error rates between some of the procedures, all procedures reported quite accurate results with the exception of the Score Test. The power rates obtained point to MSLRT's superiority in detecting cheating. CONCLUSIONS: We consider the MSLRT to be the best test, as it has the highest power rate and a suitable type I error rate.

Adaptación a población adulta montevideana de la Escala de Temperamento y Carácter Revisada (TCI-R): resultados preliminares

En los últimos años se está viviendo un proceso de transformación muy importante en lo que refiere a los modelos y teorías en salud mental (DSM-5, CIE-11 y las propuestas del National Institute of Mental Health son claros ejemplos). Un componente central de dicho proceso es la incorporación de los aportes de las neurociencias a la salud mental, siendo el modelo psicobiológico de R.C. Cloninger un referente fundamental. Por ello, los investigadores y clínicos de nuestra región (América Latina) deben contar con instrumentos de evaluación adecuados a esta nueva realidad. El Inventario de Temperamento y Carácter revisado (TCI-R) es la escala desarrollada por Cloninger y su equipo para la evaluación de las Dimensiones de Personalidad que su teoría propone. El presente artículo presenta los resultados preliminares del proceso de adaptación de dicha escala a la población montevideana, siendo la primera adaptación realizada en la América del Sur castellano parlante.

Nos últimos anos vem acontecendo um processo de transformação muito importante nos modelos e teorias em saúde mental (DSM-5, ICD-11 e as propostas do National Institute of Mental Health são exemplos claros). Um componente central deste processo é a incorporação das contribuições das neurociências para a saúde mental, com o modelo psicobiológico de R.C. Cloninger como referente fundamental. Portanto, pesquisadores e clínicos em nossa região (América Latina) devem dispor de instrumentos de avaliação adequados a esta nova realidade. O Inventário de Temperamento e Caráter (TCI-R) é a escala desenvolvida por Cloninger e sua equipe para a avaliação das Dimensões da Personalidade que a sua teoria propõe. O presente artigo apresenta os resultados preliminares do processo de adaptação da escala para a população de Montevidéu, a primeira adaptação feita em língua espanhola na América do Sul.

In recent years important there have been important developments in the models and theories on mental health (the DSM-5, the CIE-11 and the proposals of the NIMH are good examples). A central feature in this process is the incorporation of the neuroscientific approach, with the psychobiological model of R. C. Cloninger and colleagues being a salient example. For this reason, Latin American researchers and professionals should have instruments adequate for this new paradigm at their disposal. The TCI-R is a scale developed by Cloninger and colleagues for the assessment of the personality dimensions he proposed. This paper presents the preliminary results of the adaptation process of this scale in a sample of Montevidean adults,and is the first in Spanish-speaking South America.

Development and evaluation of an instrument to measure health-related quality of life in Cuban breast cancer patients receiving radiotherapy.

INTRODUCTION Although modern technology has extended the survival of breast cancer patients, treatment's adverse effects impact their health-related quality of life. Currently, no instrument exists capable of identifying the range of problems affecting breast cancer patients receiving radiotherapy in Cuba's socioeconomic and cultural context. OBJECTIVES Construct and validate an instrument to measure the effects of breast cancer and radiotherapy on health-related quality of life in Cuban patients. METHODS The study was conducted at the Oncology and Radiobiology Institute, Havana, Cuba, from January 2010 through December 2011. Inclusion criteria were: adult female, histological diagnosis of breast cancer, treated with ambulatory radiotherapy, and written informed consent; patients unable to communicate orally or in writing, or who had neurologic or psychiatric conditions were excluded. Development phase: focus groups guided by a list of questions were carried out with 50 women. The patients reported 61 problems affecting their health-related quality-of-life. A nominal group (six oncologists and two nurses) identified the same problems. A syntactic analysis of the information was performed to create items for study and measurement scales. Content validity was determined by a nominal group of seven experts using professional judgment. Another 20 patients were selected to evaluate face validity. Validation phase: the instrument was applied to 230 patients at three different points: before radiotherapy, at the end of radiotherapy and four weeks after radiotherapy was concluded. Reliability, construct validity, discriminant validity, predictive validity, interpretability and response burden were evaluated. RESULTS The final instrument developed had 33 items distributed in 4 domains: physical functioning, psychological functioning, social and family relationships, and physical and emotional adverse effects of disease and treatment. There were two discrete items: perceived general health and perceived health-related quality of life. Content validity and face validity were assessed as acceptable, by experts and patients respectively. Homogeneity, construct validity, and discriminant validity were satisfactory. The best results were obtained with test-retest reliability, predictive validity, and interpretability; the low rate of unanswered questions indicated that the instrument did not produce excessive patient response burden. CONCLUSION The new instrument fulfilled the requirements for measuring impact of breast cancer and of radiotherapy on health-related quality of life in these Cuban patients, validating its usefulness for inclusion in clinical trial protocols.

Agresión entre pares (bullying) en un centro educativo de Montevideo: estudio de las frecuencias de los estudiantes de mayor riesgo / Peer aggression (bullying) in an Education Centre in Montevideo: a study of frequencies in students at high risk

Se estudian las frecuencias de los jóvenes con las puntuaciones superiores en la Escala de Agresión entre Pares, es decir, la población de mayor riesgo, escala traducida, adaptada, factorizada y validada en 607 estudiantes de enseñanza media de 11 a 17 años. Las respuestas a dicha escala han evidenciado las actitudes de los jóvenes y su entorno social con respecto a la agresión, así como sus conductas de burla, intimidación y pelea según género y edad. Los resultados obtenidos son consistentes con la literatura pero también brindan nuevos "insights". Los varones presentan, m s que las chicas, una actitud facilitadora de la violencia, comportamientos agresivos físicos y verbales, conjuntamente con un menor control de impulsos. Duplican a las jóvenes en pelear físicamente y hacer bromas a costa de los compañeros. En cuanto a las influencias externas, la actitud conciliadora de los adultos es m s reconocida por las mujeres mientras que los varones tienden m s que ellas a vincularse con compañeros transgresores. Varias de las dimensiones identificadas aumentan con la edad dentro del rango et reo estudiado: la tendencia a vincularse con amigos transgresores, la actitud que facilita la agresión, la falta de manejo para controlarla, la burla y, a la vez, las conductas solidarias. En cambio, los mayores de 15 años admiten menos que los m s jóvenes los mensajes de moderación de los adultos. Este estudio, el instrumento y los resultados obtenidos, aportan un amplio potencial de utilización en mbitos sanitarios, educativos y a nivel individual, familiar y comunitario.