1,721,034 research outputs found
The measurement of individual differences in behavioural inhibition and behavioural activation systems: a comparison of personality scales
No full textThe measurement of anxiety and impulsivity dimensions is one of the main problems that Gray's model faces in human research. Contrary to most personality models, Gray's model has no standard way to assess the personality dimensions that arise from the theory. Multiple measurement strategies have been used, some of them introducing conceptual errors and difficult outcome comparisons. In this paper, scales most used in anxiety and impulsivity assessment are studied and compared in order to provide some empirical clues that could help in the decision on which scale to use for the assessment of individual differences in anxiety and impulsivity dimensions. Some validity criteria are proposed as convergence with other measures, orthogonality, and correlations with the Extraversion and Neuroticism scales. From the analyses performed with 538 university students, a high homogeneity in anxiety measures is observed, being the Sensitivity to Punishment and Harm Avoidance scales which best fits in validity criteria. A lesser homogeneity is observed across impulsivity scales; in this case the Sensitivity to Reward and I7 scales showed the best results
Adaptación española del personality diagnostic questionnaire-4+ (PDQ-4+) [Spanish version of the personality diagnostic questionnaire-4+]
No full textINTRODUCTION: The Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire is one of the most frequently used instruments for diagnosing personality disorders (PD). Its last version (PDQ-4+) combines the easy applicability of a questionnaire with the control of state symptoms interference of an interview. The aim of this paper is to present preliminary results on the Spanish version of the PDQ-4+. METHOD: 159 psychiatric outpatients were assessed using the questionnaire of PDQ-4+. Among them, a sample of 47 were also evaluated using the short interview of clinical significance that completed the PDQ-4+.RESULTS: Results obtained were very similar to that from previous research, indicating similar psychometric properties of the PDQ-4+ Spanish version, to English, Italian, Chinese and Norway versions. In general, the internal consistency was acceptable; the obsessive-compulsive PD scale showing the lowest Cronbach's alpha. The high prevalence of PD obtained with the PDQ-4+ questionnaire was dramatically reduced when the clinical significance scale was added. These results are in more agreement with previous epidemiological studies. DISCUSSION: Overall, the PDQ-4+ questionnaire seems a good screening instrument in clinical use. Best results are obtained when the clinical significance scale is also administered
Is the Behavioural Inhibition System the core vulnerability for Cluster C personality disorders?
No full textThe aim of the present study was to determine if Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS) functioning, as described by Gray (Gray, J.A.C. (1982). The Neuropsychology of anxiety: an enquiry into the functions of the Septo-Hippocampal system. Oxford: Oxford University Press), would be a core vulnerability for cluster C personality disorders (PD), that is, if these patients would show a higher anxiety trait (i.e. in Gray's terms) than patients with other PD or without Axis II disorders. A total sample of 77 out-patients was assessed with the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Scales, Karolinska Scales of Personality, and the Structured-Interview for DSM-III-R Personality Disorders (SCID-II). Analyses were conducted considering the following groups: presence of cluster C personality disorder/s, presence of clusters A/B personality disorder/s, absence of personality disorder (non-PD). As a second step, cluster C and non-PD groups were also subdivided according to the presence/absence of anxiety or affective Axis I symptoms. Overall, results showed higher scores on anxiety trait-related scales in the cluster C group. However, only Somatic Anxiety, Psychasthenia and Sensitivity to Punishment scales (SP) clearly distinguished cluster C from each one of the other two groups. After a second analysis, only the Sensitivity to Punishment scale showed independence from Axis I status while discriminating between cluster C and non-PD patients. Results were similar when only behavioural items from the SP scale were considered. From these results we can conclude that a higher BIS functioning would differentiate cluster C personality disorders from patients with other PD or without PD, and that considering only the behavioural anxiety component in their assessment, a low Axis I influence is obtained
Postherpetic neuralgia: a descriptive analysis of patients seen in pain clinics
No full textBackground and Objective: Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a common ailment that pain specialists must often cope with. The goal of the present survey is to investigate the pain characteristics of 119 PHN patients with persistent pain seen at different pain clinics.Methods information on demographic features, pain characteristics (MPQ-SV, VAS, VRS), and treatment was recorded by means of a standard case report form.Results: Gender, age, location, and treatment were consistent with previous reports. Antidepressant, antiepileptic, and analgesic drugs were the most commonly used by patients. The patients seen in pain clinics are probably a subset of severe cases of PHN, where delayed referral to these units plays an important role. The most frequent qualitative features of the disease were the McGill Pain Questionnaire-Spanish Version (MPQ-SV). These features may change in relation to illness evolution; electric shocklike pain and emotional distress were significantly higher after 6 months of evolution and age (those younger than 70 were more able to locate painful areas and to feel pain as pricking or sharp), and gender (men selected spatial pressure and traction pressure more frequently). None of the explored variables was relevant to predicting pain intensity.Conclusions: This study reveals a subset of patients, mostly suffering from long-term PHN, where pain persists. The most frequent qualitative traits of PHN patients are described. Some variables were involved in modulation of pain characteristics in these patients. The effect of study design in interpretation of results is discussed
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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