Differential effect of training impure tacts versus pure tacts plus intraverbal on the emergence of new verbal operants: A conceptual and methodological study.

The aim of this research was to test the effect of training impure tact versus pure tact and intraverbals on the emergence of new verbal operants (impure tacts), thus establishing a conceptual and methodological differentiation on these operants. This was done by varying the training order of intraverbal or impure tact to analyze and confirm whether or not impure tact is the mere sum of pure tact plus intraverbal and therefore has different functions and consequences in learning. An experiment was conducted with 30 participants randomly assigned to three groups. In Group 1, pure tact plus intraverbal and then impure tact were trained. In Group 3 the training order of these operants was counterbalanced. Group 2 was the control group, training only pure tact plus intraverbal. After the training phases, the emergence of impure tacts was tested. The results of this research indicate that the training of impure tacts favors the emergence of new impure tacts to a greater extent than the training of pure tact plus intraverbal and that they therefore have different functions. It is also shown that variation in the order of presentation of the type of training influences the subsequent emergence of new operants (impure tacts), so that creating a previous history of learning in impure tacts favors emergence even when the intraverbal alone is subsequently trained. This has important implications at both conceptual and methodological levels as it would contribute to the development of more effective language training technologies.

Changes in Drug-Related Implicit Associations during Substance Use Disorder Treatment: The Role of the Therapeutic Context.

BACKGROUND: Implicit cognition has been linked to relapse in substance use disorder (SUD). Studies on attentional bias have found different outcomes related to the therapeutic context, finding an association with relapse in inpatients but not in outpatients. There are no similar studies that use associations in semantic memory as a measure of implicit cognition. OBJECTIVES: (i) to analyze the relationship between a measure of associations in semantic memory and relapse in inpatients and outpatients; (ii) to compare the evolution of these associations between inpatients and outpatients after 3 months of treatment. METHODS: Eighty nine outpatients and 94 inpatients with SUD for cocaine and alcohol participated in this study. We employed a longitudinal design with a baseline evaluation and follow-up after three months, using the Word Association Task for Drug Use Disorder (WAT-DUD). RESULTS: The choice of drug-related words predicted relapse in cocaine (odds ratio = 1.97, z = 2.01, p = .045) and alcohol-cocaine (odds ratio = 2.39, z = 2.55, p = .011) use. Follow-up at 3 months revealed a reduction in the choice of drug-related words in inpatients (Z = 2.031, p = .042). CONCLUSIONS: A greater choice of drug-associated words in the presence of ambiguous images was related to relapse in inpatients but not in outpatients. The inpatients group showed a reduction in the semantic association with drugs during the first three months of treatment.

Impairments in Executive Functioning in Patients with Comorbid Substance Use and Personality Disorders: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the evidence for impaired executive functioning in patients diagnosed with a dual pathology of personality disorder (PD) and substance use disorder, and to identify whether differences exist in comparison to those with a single diagnosis. Methods: A systematic search was conducted to identify studies using measures of executive functioning in patients with PD-substance use disorder dual pathology. Sixteen studies were selected. Results: The results indicate that dual pathology patients with Cluster C personality disorder do not differ from controls, and that the presence of dual pathology does not influence the updating domain of executive functioning. The findings were inconclusive with regard to dual pathology patients with Cluster B personality disorders. Whilst the various studies consistently show that these patients show worse performance than the control groups, here are contradictory results with regard to whether Cluster B personality disorders add more alterations in executive functioning to those that already appear in substance use disorder. Conclusions: The results suggest the need for further research that more adequately controls variables such as time in treatment, medication, and sample size, whilst there is also a need to employ longitudinal designs that include more patients from Clusters A and C.

Personality Traits and Impulsivity Tasks Among Substance Use Disorder Patients: Their Relations and Links With Retention in Treatment.

BACKGROUND: Various authors have described the elements of impulsive approach and inhibitory control in drug users. These two components have been studied in terms of personality traits, performance on tasks that measure impulsive behavior, and neurophysiology. However, few studies have analyzed the association between these constructs. Thus, the aim of the present study is to analyze the associations between personality traits and performance on impulsivity tasks. METHODS: A follow-up study was conducted with a baseline assessment at the beginning and end of treatment. The sample was composed of 121 patients undergoing treatment in therapeutic communities. Personality domains were evaluated through the PID-5. The impulsivity tasks employed were the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), Delay Discounting Test (DDT), Go/No-Go and Stroop test. RESULTS: A correlation was found between DDT scores and the domains of detachment (r = -.315; p<.01), antagonism (r = -.294; p<.01), and disinhibition (r = .215; p<.05). Performance on the Stroop task was significantly associated with psychoticism (r = .232; p<.05) and negative affect (r = .212; p<.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that IGT scores and negative affect predict retention in treatment. CONCLUSIONS: These findings partially support the hypothesized association between sensation-seeking personality traits and detachment with impulsive choice tasks; and the relationships between negative affect and psychoticism traits with performance on inhibitory control tasks. Further, impulsive choice task scores and negative affect are both shown to predict retention in treatment.

Conocimiento numérico cuantitativo y léxico: evidencia de doble disociación / Quantitative numerical and lexical knowledge: Evidence of double dissociation

El objetivo de este trabajo es determinar las implicaciones de una lesión cerebral concreta en el sistema de procesamiento numérico y el cálculo. El método empleado es el estudio de caso único, mediante la aplicación de pruebas de evaluación neuropsicológica. Los datos evidencian una doble disociación entre conocimiento numérico cuantitativo y cualitativo o léxico. Por un lado, la paciente M.C. preserva el conocimiento numérico cuantitativo tal como muestran los resultados en tareas de comprensión numérica y cálculo, sin embargo, presenta graves alteraciones en conocimiento numérico cualitativo. Por otra parte, M.L. conserva el conocimiento numérico cualitativo o léxico pero tiene gravemente alteradas las habilidades que requieren de la manipulación interna de cantidades, es decir, del conocimiento numérico cuantitativo. Estos resultados tienen dos implicaciones importantes: Primero, el conocimiento numérico cuantitativo podría estar compuesto por elementos susceptibles de dañarse de manera independiente. Y segundo, el conocimiento numérico cuantitativo es funcionalmente independiente del cualitativo

The aim of this work was to explain the involvement of a specific brain injury in the numerical processing and calculation system. The method employed was <> analysis and the administration of various cognitive neuropsychology tests. The results of this study revealed a double dissociation between quantitative numerical knowledge and qualitative or lexical numerical knowledge. Patient M.C. preserved quantitative numerical knowledge, as indicated by the results obtained in the numerical comprehension and calculation tasks. However, she showed a drastic deficit in qualitative numerical knowledge. On the other hand, patient M.L. preserved qualitative numerical knowledge, but she had serious problems in all the abilities that require internal manipulation of magnitude; that is, quantitative numerical knowledge. These results have two important implications, as conclusions: firstly, quantitative numerical knowledge may be made up of different elements susceptible to damage independently. And secondly, quantitative and qualitative numerical knowledge were functionally independent