Promoción del envejecimiento activo: efectos del programa «Vivir con vitalidad»® / Promoting active ageing: effects of the «Vital living» programme

Introducción: en las últimas décadas, el envejecimiento activo ha emergido como un nuevo paradigma en la Gerontología. El II Plan Internacional sobre Envejecimiento de Naciones Unidas y la Organización Mundial de la Salud enfatiza el envejecimiento activo como un concepto clave que ha de promocionarse mediante políticas adecuadas. El curso presencial «Vivir con vitalidad»® y la versión multimedia «Vital ageing»® se han desarrollado con el fin de promocionar el envejecimiento óptimo. Ambos programas se han valorado a través de un diseño experimental por el que se han comparado algunos de sus efectos. Método: participaron en el estudio 107 personas mayores de 60 años voluntarias: de ellas 44 recibieron el curso multimedia, 32 participaron en «Vivir con vitalidad»® presencial y 31 formaron parte del grupo de control. A todos los participantes se les administraron los mismos instrumentos antes y después (fases pre y post, respectivamente) de la implementación del programa y, tras el mismo intervalo, al grupo de control. Resultados: ambos programas producen cambios positivos y significativos en diversos indicadores conductuales. Se han observado cambios en el sentido esperado en los grupos experimentales (en comparación con el control) en la frecuencia de actividades, así como en las opiniones sobre el envejecimiento y la vejez. También se encontraron cambios significativos en la satisfacción con la vida, los hábitos nutricionales y de ejercicio físico regular en el grupo multimedia. No se encontraron cambios significativos en relaciones sociales y salud en ninguno de los 2 grupos experimentales. Los resultados se discuten a la luz de la investigación sobre envejecimiento saludable y activo

Introduction: during the last two decades, active ageing has emerged as a new paradigm in Gerontology. The II International Plan of Action on Ageing of the United Nations and the World Health Organisation emphasises active ageing as a key concept that should be promoted by suitable policies. The «Vivir con vitalidad»® (Vital Living) programme and its multimedia version «Vital ageing»®, constitute a program for optimal ageing. The present article reports an experimental evaluation of both programmes conducted to compare some of their effects. Method: a total of 107 volunteers aged more than 60 years old participated in this study: 44 received the multimedia course, 32 attended a «Vivir con vitalidad»® course taught by teachers, and 31 acted as control subjects. The same battery of tests was administered to all participants before and after receiving the course and to the control group at an identical interval. Results: both programmes produced positive and significant changes in several behavioural indicators. Changes in the expected direction were observed in the experimental groups (in comparison with the control group) in the frequency of activities, as well as in opinions on ageing and old age. Significant differences were found in life satisfaction, nutrition and regular physical exercise in the multimedia group. No significant changes were found in social relationships or in health in either of the experimental groups. The results of this study are discussed in light of research on active and healthy ageing published in the literature

Guías para el proceso de evaluación (GAP): una propuesta a discusión / Guidelines for the assessment process (GAP): a proposal for discussion

En la actualidad los estándares y las guías propuestas en el campo de la evaluación psicológicas se limitan a los tests psicológicos y a su ampliación práctica. Sin embargo, los tests son sólo uno de los tipos de procedimientos de evaluaciónpsicológica, y su aplicación sólo una de las muchas estrategias o clases de acciones disponibles durante el desarrollo del proceso de evaluación. Los tests y el testing están estrechamente relacionados con un tipo de aproximación a la evaluación psicológica, a saber, la aproximación psicométrica. Esta es una de las razones por las que es relativamente fácil formular y establecer estándares o guías para los tests psicológicos y para su aplicación. El proceso de evaluación, bastante más amplio, es una parte indispensable de cualquier aproximación a la evaluación psicológica, incluso de aquéllas que no utilizan tests psicométricos. Esto hace que la creación de guías para el proceso de evaluación sea una empresa ambiciosa y complicada. Pero, lo que se puede lograr, al menos al nivel de recomendaciones que ayuden al evaluador a afrontar la complejidad y las exigencias del proceso de evaluación en varios contextos aplicados. Por ello, la Asociación Europea de Evaluación Psicológica (EAPA2) decidió patrocinar el desarrollo de unas Guías del Proceso de Evaluación (GAP3), creando una Comisión con este único propósito. Las GAP que se muestran en este artículo representan una primera propuesta para iniciar un amplio debate sobre cómo mejorar la práctica de la evaluación psicológica, así como la formación y el entrenamiento de los evaluadores (AU)

Personal and environmental relationships among the elderly living in residential settings.

There is strong empirical evidence to support the influence of environmental and social factors in health and behavior among the institutionalized elderly. In order to assess personal and environmental relationships, 32 residential centers for the elderly and 1403 of their inhabitants were assessed using the Sistema de Evaluación de Residencias de Ancianos (SERA). Our principal findings were as follows: (1) relationships between individual variables (e.g. objective and subjective health, depression) and subjective variables (e.g. satisfaction); (2) the predictive power of the environment characteristics (e.g. policy choice) on the subjects functioning (e.g. level of activity); (3) residential satisfaction is the product of several personal variables (e.g. objective and perceived health), as well as of social environmental factors (e.g. physical comfort); and (4) very weak relationships were found between social climate dimensions and other environmental factors.

Training effects on intelligence of older persons.

In the present study, we tried to answer two main questions: (1) do the elderly of low educational level improve their performance in ability tests when they are trained in inductive reasoning, spatial orientation, or everyday problem solving? (2) If such training were effective, what will the level of training transfer be? Ninety elderly participated in this study (36 women, 54 men; mean age = 67.87); 93.2% of them had less than 4 years of education. The study was based on an experimental-control group design with three main parts: pre-test, cognitive training (three training conditions - Inductive Reasoning, Spatial Orientation and Everyday Problem Solving vs. placebo control) and two post-tests with 3 months of interval. The results indicate that the elderly of low educational level improve their performance both in the domain and transfer test in two of the three training conditions: inductive reasoning and spatial orientation. Results are discussed in relation to other topics related to research studies.

Training of conversational skills with institutionalized elderly: a preliminary study.

16 residents in a Residential Care Home for elderly people volunteered and were trained in a social skills program aimed at increasing conversational skills. Subjects were assigned randomly to three groups, one experimental and two control groups (placebo and waiting list). The techniques used in the experimental group were behavior rehearsal, feedback, modeling, discriminative reinforcement, verbal instructions, and homework. Relative to control groups, experimental subjects showed significant increases in conversational skills, such as receiving information, speaking-up, and giving information. They also showed a significant decrease in their scores on Zung's Self-rating Scale of Depression compared with the two control groups. They showed an increase in assertive responses and a decrease in aggressive and inhibited responses. These changes remained when follow-up was made 3 mo. later, suggesting the potential utility of this training program with elderly persons residing in old people's homes.

Response selection on the Rorschach Test.

After discussion of some theoretical speculations concerning the nature of the Rorschach process, two experimental manipulations of the Rorschach task are presented. Three groups of normal (n = 6) and schizophrenic subjects (7 paranoid and 7 nonparanoid) participated. Their mean age was 30.7 yr. In the first experimental version of the Rorschach, simplified inkblots (sections of the standard cards) were used to verify the influence of stimulus complexity on response for the three groups. In the second, an experimental version of the Rorschach task was created to highlight the influence of the selection process among different associations to blots. To this end, a list including responses both of positive and negative form quality to each card, was provided each subject. Data are discussed, highlighting the minimal differences obtained by the experimental manipulations and relating these to theoretical speculations.

Duration of exposure of Rorschach stimuli.

In this study we assessed the influence of duration of exposure of the Rorschach stimuli on the response determinants when the information processing is interrupted using a patterned mask or visual noise. Analysis shows that increasing duration of exposure does not yield a parallel increase in the production of more structured responses. These results are discussed in light of the familiarity of the forms and of the distribution of physical energy or luminance present in the stimulus.

The role of perceptual laws in the Rorschach test.

The purpose of this study is twofold: to ascertain the perceptual deficits in schizophrenic subjects and to test the assumption that the Rorschach is mainly a perceptual task. Forty-eight subjects participated in the study, distributed in six groups of eight subjects each: normals, affective disorders, and four groups of schizophrenics (chronic paranoid, chronic nonparanoid, acute paranoid, and acute nonparanoid). They were given a perceptual test developed by Fernández-Trespalacios, Bermudez, and Luna (1979). Contrary to previous findings, no differences in the perceptual test were found among the groups. In the second part of the study, a group of schizophrenic subjects was given the Rorschach and the perceptual test in a balanced order. Subsequently, subjects in the experimental group were trained in the perceptual laws they had failed. Comparison of the Rorschach protocols obtained before and after this training failed to show any significant differences in the expected direction, thus questioning the perceptual nature of this test. Interestingly, an increase in negative categories of the Rorschach subsequent to the perceptual training was observed.

Tactile perceptual task and field dependence-independence.

Differential performance with both hands by 60 normal field-dependent or field-independent subjects who were solving Nebes' test, was assessed. No difference was found between hands, but a significant difference was noted for speed of performance between field-dependent and field-independent subjects.