Virtual reality and augmented reality as strategies for teaching social skills to individuals with intellectual disability: A systematic review.

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) programs have proliferated significantly in recent years and they are finding their way into different educational and therapeutic purposes. This systematic review aims at analyzing the virtual reality and augmented reality programs designed to promote the development of social skills in individuals with intellectual disability. Searches were carried out in the Scopus, Science Direct, Springer and Web of Science databases in the period from 2005 to 2020. A total of six articles met the inclusion criteria. A descriptive data analysis was performed. The results show that the clinical profile of the individuals who participated in the interventions is diverse. It can be concluded that there is some scientific evidence that points to the usefulness of VR and AR in the development of intervention programs to improve the social skills of individuals diagnosed with developmental deficits. However, it is necessary to acknowledge methodological limitations such as the lack of control groups, follow-up measures and of generalization of the results.

Mejora del razonamiento analógico en ancianos / Improving Analog Reasoning in the Elderly

Analogical reasoning is perhaps the core element of intelligent behavior and it has been related to successful aging. The present study aimed to impact the analogical reasoning of the elderly individuals through the application of an analogies protocol based on promoting fluency and flexibility (FFA) in relational responding. The FFA protocol was designed specifically for this study and according to the available information on relational behavior. A pre-post design with two conditions, five participants each ranged of 69 to 89 years old. At pre-test, participants responded to two WAIS subscales as well as to three analogies tasks specifically designed for the study. Then, fluency and flexibility analogies protocol (FFA) was applied to the participants of the experimental condition throughout a week. Subsequently, in post-test, the same measures used in the pre-test were applied. The FFA protocol had a significant impact on three of the five measures. The sensitivity of the tests was discussed as well as different ways to improve the protocol impact were all discussed. The relevant effect produced for most of the participants are discussed and highlighted (AU)

[Evidence-Based Psychological Treatments for Adults: A Selective Review]

Evidence-Based Psychological Treatments for Adults: A Selective Review. BACKGROUND: Psychological treatments have shown their efficacy, effectiveness, and efficiency in dealing with mental disorders. However, considering the scientific knowledge generated in recent years, in the Spanish context, there are no updating studies about empirically supported psychological treatments. The main goal was to carry out a selective review of the main empirically supported psychological treatments for mental disorders in adults. METHOD: Levels of evidence and degrees of recommendation were collected based on the criteria proposed by the Spanish National Health System (Clinical Practice Guidelines) for different psychological disorders. RESULTS: The results indicate that psychological treatments have empirical support for the approach to a wide range of psychological disorders. These levels of empirical evidence gathered range from low to high depending on the psychological disorder analysed. The review indicates the existence of certain fields of intervention that need further investigation. CONCLUSIONS: Based on this selective review, psychology professionals will be able to have rigorous, up-to-date information that allows them to make informed decisions when implementing empirically based psychotherapeutic procedures based on the characteristics of the people who require help.

Efecto diferencial de la etiqueta diagnóstica autista en la intervención con niños / Differential effect of autistic label in intervention with children

No disponible

The aim of this study is to analyze whether the label autistic (considering both the low performance and exceptional performance labels) influences the behavior of nine psychology students when teaching tasks to children with this diagnosis. The presence of various children who had to learn to perform a color discrimination task and a visual-motor task was simulated during the experiment. The participants observed the behavior of the imaginary children and could provide contingencies of reinforcement and response cost to them. Two experimental phases were established in which participants had to teach different children: an autistic child, a child without developmental problems, an autistic child who was exceptionally skilled in the tasks and a child without developmental problems who was unskilled in the tasks. The participants were informed of the characteristics of the children prior to the tasks. Results show significant differences in the participants’ response patterns depending on the experimental conditions and tasks. The influence of the autistic label is discussed in terms of the participants’ behavior (AU)

Evaluación de relaciones deícticas y teoría de la mente con una muestra de estudiantes universitarios / No disponible

Assessing Deictic Relational Responding and Theory of Mind with a Sample of University Students. In the study of the Theory of Mind (ToM) as a sine qua non capacity for the development of basic interpersonal abilities which facilitate social repertoire, there has been scarce contributions from the functional analytic behavioral approach to identify the specific variables needed to establish or remedy deficits in these skills. In recent years, Relational Frame Theory has proposed that deictic relations of I-YOU, HERE-THERE and NOW-THEN, with different levels of relational complexity, are found at the base of social skills and thus of ToM. In the present paper these relationships are evaluated in university students, and it is analyzed the possible connection between deictic frames and ToM. The results indicate that this relationship does not seem strongly consistent. The findings are discussed in terms of necessary complexity in deictic relations to solve classical ToM tasks in order to get practical strategies to develop effective intervention in this area (AU)

No disponible