Evgeny Morozov sobre Internet en la sociedad.

Adiccion a la comida.

Hay similitudes neurobiologicas entre la dependencia a substancias y el consumo compulsivo de comida.

Basandose en numerosos hallazgos de activaciones neuronales paralelas entre la obesidad y la dependencia a substancias, varios teoricos han sugerido que procesos adictivos estan detras de la etiologia de la obesidad.

El uso de drogas y la comida (recompensa natural) activan sistemas dopaminergicos en la zona mesolimbica y el nivel de liberacion de dopamina se correlaciona con el grado de recompensa subjetiva de la comida o la droga

En este estudio Gearhardt y colegas utilizando una escala que mide la severidad de los sintomas de adicccion a la comida han escaneado los cerebros de 48 mujeres obesas y con un indice de masa corporal delgado mientras se les presentaba (para consumir) estimulos de comidas deliciosas y neutrales.

Las mujeres con una puntuacion alta en la escala de medicion de la adiccion a la comida presentaban un patron de activacion neuonal diferenciado de las muejres obesas o delgadas con una puntuacion baja en la addicion a la comida.

Las puntuaciones en la escala de adiccion a la comida se correlacionaba con la activacion de la corteza anterior cingulada, corteza orbitofrontal y amigdala en respuesta a la anticipacion de consumo de comida.

Los resultados del estudio parecen apuntar que el consumo compulsivo de comida viene mediado por una activacion exagerada de las zonas que procesan las recompensas, ante una esperada o anticipada propiedad recompensante de la comida.


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Gearhardt AN, Yokum S, Orr PT, Stice E, Corbin WR, & Brownell KD (2011). Neural Correlates of Food Addiction. Archives of general psychiatry PMID: 21464344

Como querer salvar el mundo y no poder.

No salgo de mi perplejidad cuando miro al noroeste de Europa hacia una pequeña isla donde los ciudadanos de forma pacifica han transformado por completo su pais.

Nacionalizaron los bancos, decidieron no pagar la deuda contraida con Gran Bretaña y Holanda por una nefasta politica economica, destituyeron a sus dirigentes politicos y por medio de un procedimiento asambleario han redactado de nuevo su constitucion.

El cambio es posible. El sistema esta hecho para la gente, no la gente para el sistema.

Lo que dudo es que los españoles puedan, aunque quieran, salvar su mundo y su futuro.

No porque la situacion socioeconomica sea feliz y alegre y no de pie para intentar cambiar las cosas tal y como hicieron los islandeses y lo esten haciendo en la actualidad varios pueblos del mundo (me refiero a las revoluciones en el mundo arabe), sino porque en España hay una verdadera fragmentacion de la busqueda de la felicidad por parte de las personas y nichos de bienestar no-homogeneizados, estancos, no comunicados y no compartidos.

En otras palabras, aunque el paro sea el mas alto de la democracia, aunque el modelo economico sea viejo y no ajustada a la idea de economica del siglo XXI basada en la innovacion y creatividad, aunque la poblacion joven sea la mejor formada de su historia, aunque haya flagrantes injusticias sociales; España sufre de una generacion que ha recibido el impacto de la crisis financiera de lleno, pero que es apatica y aun asi se muestra, contradictoriamente, airada.

Sufre del sindrome del querer pero no me apetece.

Sabe lo que tiene que hacer pero no lo hace.

La razon es porque no tiene valores comunes, no hay una causa de los males compartidos, a cada uno le afectan las consecuencias de la crisis de una forma singular.

Si a cada uno le afecta la crisis a su manera, no se identifica con otros, no tiene valores compartidos... el cambio esta muerto antes de nacer.

Para que el movimiento 15M madure en España que ha nacido de forma espontanea (entre comillas) por contagio y que esta abriendo nuevas vias para el verdadero control de la ciudadania de la politica y de esta forma consiga medianamente algunas de sus peticiones que son tan obvias para una verdadera democracia; este movimiento tiene que llegar a movilizar a todos, a toda la sociedad, bajo una (re)formulacion ideologica que supere las individualidades y de cabida a todos.

Un poco de Rock and Roll... tampoco viene mal.

Aqui, aqui y aqui.

Richard Grinker sobre autismo.

The City and You Series: ¿Que es una ciudad?

Cita del dia.

"Pienso en las voces... como algo un poco diferente a alienigenas. Pienso en ellas como angeles"

-John Nash-

Paul Root Wolpe sobre diseñar cuerpos y cerebros (bioingenieria)

Teoria de la Mente en la enfermedad de Parkinson

La Teoria de la Mente es la habilidad para entender los estados mentales de los demas y uno de los tests mas usados para medirla es el test "leer la mente en los ojos" (Baron-Cohen et al. 2001).

Este test consiste en presentar una fotografia de la region de los ojos acompañada de cuatro adjetivos que describen el estado emocional del modelo de la fotografia.

Solo uno de los adjetivos que describen el estado mental complejo a partir de la expresion facial es la correcta (el adjetivo correcto se determina en un estudio previo en el que observadores independientes al estudio y a doble ciego juzgan que adjetivo es mas apropiado)

Parece ser que los pacientes con enfermedad de Parkinson sin deterioro cognitivo muestran deficits significativos a la hora de atribuir estados mentales segun este test cuando se controla posibles factores de confusion como discriminacion semantica (los sujetos han de realizar una tarea donde se mide la capacidad para generar mas de un sinonimo de un adjetivo) o percepcion facial (los sujetos juzgan su habilidad para discriminar el genero de las caras por si podria existir problemas generales de percepcion).

La Teoria de la Mente se divide en dos componentes: teoria de la mente cognitiva y teoria de la mente afectiva.

La teoria de la mente cognitiva es la capacidad de entender cognitivamente el estado mental de otro.

La teoria de la mente afectiva es la capacidad para entender los sentimientos de los demas.

La circuiteria de la teoria de la mente afectiva envuelve estructuras como la corteza prefrontal, polo temporal, sulco temporal superior, amigdala...

La enfermedad de Parkinson debe producir unos cambios patologicos que comprometen la circuiteria responsable de la teoria de la mente afectiva, nos dicen Tsuruya y colegas.



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Tsuruya N, Kobayakawa M, & Kawamura M (2011). Is "reading mind in the eyes" impaired in Parkinson's disease? Parkinsonism & related disorders, 17 (4), 246-8 PMID: 20889365

Un poco de Rock and Roll... tampoco viene mal.

Aqui, aqui y aqui.

Daniel Dennett sobre que debe reemplazar a la religion.

Entrevistas a jóvenes artistas Vol. I: Eneko Amezaga.

Leioa, Facultad de Bellas Artes de la Universidad del País Vasco. Estamos con Eneko Amezaga. Unos penetrantes ojos azules son lo primero que te fijas de Eneko. Se ríe muy enigmática y enérgicamente. Es extrovertido. Sus principales inquietudes son los cómics, la ilustración (diseñar pictóricamente conceptos) y en general la narratividad plástica.

Estamos en el mes de mayo, ha salido un buen día de sol y cielo azul, a penas un mes para que finalice el curso académico.

Este joven artista muy amablemente se ha prestado a que le hagamos una serie de preguntas para Sapere Audere.

Eneko Amezaga

Estas son las preguntas.


S.A.: Hablan de vocación, de salidas laborales, de autorrealización… tú ¿por qué decidiste estudiar bellas artes?

-Supongo que me dejé llevar. Mis padres me instaban a realizar la carrera pero yo tiraba para estudiar algo que me diese mucho dinero. Tras probar con el Diseño Gráfico, decidí que quería realizar algo más libre, creativo. Algo que me permitiese explorar la vida de un modo diferente. Siempre hice cómics y dibujé, así que creí que en este lugar me ayudarían a desarrollar esa faceta y poder materializar cómics y películas que tengo dentro y necesito sacar… No intuía que esa decisión trastocaría mi vida para siempre…

S.A.: ¿Existe en tu cabeza alguna idea previa o planificación a la hora de trabajar o es algo que va cogiendo forma durante el proceso?

-Ahora experimento en muchas disciplinas, pero en general parto de una idea principal, una especie de base, que luego cobra vida propia y se desarrolla según sus necesidades. Por ejemplo un cómic, creas la historia, una especie de decisiones sobre el destino de ciertos personajes… pero a lo largo del proceso de ejecución esos personajes y las propias situaciones cobran vida propia, y a veces se te escapan de las manos. Suele ocurrir que algunos tienen la fuerza suficiente para escapar del destino que les has puesto, y hacerse su propio camino. En una escultura trato que la propia materia me guíe, que el material utilizado se realice a través de mis manos. En una animación pasa algo similar: tienes una idea, y luego el propio proceso, material, la técnica etc. moldea tu idea y hace algo que no esperabas. También puede ocurrir que la creación obedezca a tus deseos y nazca tal cual la habías pensado, sobre todo si has empleado maquetas o pruebas previas… planificación. En un audiovisual por ejemplo la ejecución debe estar bien planificada, y eso está bien, pero a la hora de poner el proyecto en común con una serie de personas con las que trabajas, con todo el bagaje que lleva cada uno, las sorpresas están aseguradas. En cualquier caso se te escapa por algún lado, y esto es lo interesante de la creación.


S.A.: ¿Con qué artista del panorama actual te sientes más identificado y cuál de ellos crees que te han influenciado?

-Del panorama actual no muchos, porque tampoco los he investigado a fondo o porque no me entusiasma gran parte del arte contemporáneo. Quienes más admiro son aquellos cuya técnica me embelesa. Sobre todo dibujantes de cómic como Hugo Pratt, o creadores de efectos especiales como Weta Digital o algunos videojuegos de Nintendo. Música también... De cada ámbito se extrae algo y en un punto se difuminan los artistas. Aprecio la obra y desprecio al artista como los antiguos griegos. En seguida todos ellos se convierten en una ensalada de su propia ensalada y acaban gastándose. Estoy un poco harto del propio arte. Para mí ahora solo sirve para propio regocijo y diversión. Debería ser hecho por puro placer y punto.




S.A. No sé si conocerás el webcómic xkcd (un webcómic de romance, sarcasmo, matemáticas, y lenguaje) del artista Randall Munroe que lleva la simpleza en la técnica (simples líneas y metáforas directas) como principal propuesta para provocar emociones en los lectores. Nuestra pregunta es doble. Las nuevas tecnologías (webs, blogs…) ayudan a dar a conocer el trabajo ¿tienes un sitio Web donde muestres tus cosas? y ¿qué nuevos caminos existen para llevar los cómics y la ilustración a nuevos territorios?

-Pues no, no lo conozco ¡Pero le echaré un ojo! A mi me gustan los procedimientos manuales, artesanos, aunque la informática ayuda a corregir errores por doquier. Internet es la pomada, y me gustaría abrirme un Flickr o uno de esos museos virtuales que parecen tener muchas salidas. Expuestos miles de personas con gran talento al alcance de un clic. Los Guggenheim a la hoguera. Para mí el arte debería entrar a los hogares, no estar en vitrinas. Por eso hago cómics, para colarme hasta la cocina. Para mí un artista es alguien que no deja de pegar gritos de auxilio y demandas de amor. Cuando es alguien que enseña desde un lugar elevado es un pretencioso. Cuando trata de embellecer el entorno y la cultura, fortalecerla, hacerla reflexionar… supongo que acabo de encontrar mi definición de artista.

S.A.: Es muy probable que estés harto del irresoluble debate sobre dar una definición al arte y su problematización, pero para ti, ¿Qué es el arte?, y ¿cuál es su función social (si es que tuviera alguna)y su papel en la cultura en general?

-Arte es una palabra que funciona como miniatura de algo tan grande que ninguno de nosotros comprendemos realmente. Es tan grande que no es real, y nos fustigamos con esa palabra tratando de llegar a algo que no existe realmente. Una utopía. Un lugar al que vamos y nunca llegaremos, inmersos continuamente en la insatisfacción del viaje. En cuanto el viaje se transforma en algo que gozar, el caminar es el arte, una herramienta excepcional para conocerse uno mismo y ver el mundo desde otros lugares. Arte es una comunidad. El arte está en cada uno de nosotros, como dios, y para cada cual puede evocar algo diferente, aunque muchos arrastren acólitos en su forma de pensar.


Trabajo escultórico de Eneko.


S.A.: Como tu mismo sabes de primera mano por el currículum de estudios hay distintas ramas y especialidades: audiovisual, restauración, escultura… se puede hablar de una síntesis de las artes, es decir, algo que una a todas ya sea un propósito, idea, procedimiento o cada una tiene un medio de expresión, razon discursiva y lenguaje diferente.

-Conectando con la pregunta anterior, la palabra arte uniría todas esas disciplinas, y como tal sirve muy bien para definirse. Todas creo que se nutren mutuamente, colaboran, y a la vez conforman por separado un universo íntimo e infinito del cual no conocerás todos sus secretos a no ser que te comprometas con él. O unificas todas ellas en tu obra, o te sumerges en una sola y le exprimes hasta las trancas. Depende de qué quieras crear, de la obra que tienes en mente o en tripas, una u otra disciplina será la adecuada. Lo importante es gozar, y nada más queda.

S.A.:¿Qué proyectos tienes en mente? ¿Qué quieres realizar?

-En este momento quiero experimentar la vida. No quiero encerrarme en un estudio. Quiero hacer deporte, viajar, ver y conocer. Quizás practique algo de terrorismo. Hacer de mi vida una obra de arte. En cualquier caso, no pienso dejar de crear, quizás necesite un descanso en este mismo momento, pero el dibujo, el audiovisual, la escultura, la música… Palpitarán y me pedirán salir constantemente en mi vida. Hay mucho que sacar todavía así que… ¡Estad preparados!

Spain taken the street for a TRUE DEMOCRACY!

Gad Saad sobre el instinto de consumo.

Cita del dia.

"En mi experiencia hay dos tipos de gente loca: aquellos que estan simplemente locos, y por lo tanto son peligrosos; y aquellos cuya locura les lleva a la creatividad, fuerza, ingenuidad e inspiracion"

-Tony Blair-

Herramientas de evaluacion de las funciones sociales en niños y adolescentes.

Una apropiada funcion social es vital para el mantenimiento de relaciones duraderas y satisfactorias (Cacioppo 2002).

Las funciones sociales incluyen conceptos como cognicion social, comptencia social, habilidades sociales, y dependen de la integridad de estructuras cerebrales.

Hay mediadores sociales de la funcion social.

Estos pueden ser internos, como los rasgos del temperamento y personalidad de alguien, y factores externos, como la familia, estatus socioeconomico y raza.

A pesar de que la psicologia y la neuropsicologia ha investigado los substratos cognitivos de la funcion social, las herrmaientas de evaluacion en edades comprendidas entre los 6 y 16 años (niñez y adolescencia) son demasiado generales para medir dichos componentes mas alla de la funcion comportamental.

En esta revision sistematica Crowe y colaboradores identifican una serie de herramientas utilizadas para medir y evaluar la funcion social aparecidos en la investigacion entre los años 1988 y 2010.

En la siguiente tabla (queda como una columna en el post) se detalla las herramientas de evalaucion de la funcion social identificados de acuerdo a los criterios establecidos por los investigadores, un total de 88, con informacion bibliometrica (lugar de epublicacion del estudio, citas...) y psicometricas (estructura, validez, fiabilidad)


Table 1. Social function assessments identified.

Adolescent Attribution Assessment Scale (Inderbitzen-Pisaruk, Clark & Solano, 1992) Different attribution styles for interpersonal and non-interpersonal interactions. 16 situations students may experience. Based on a scale for college students. 13–16 years Child
PP 186 students from Southeast U.S. No information of SES and ethnicity. – α = .67–.83.
Test–retest, r = .73–.90. Convergent — correlated with loneliness scale. 31

Adolescent Friendship Closeness Scale (Beadnell et al., 2007) Adolescent friendship quality. Five items each rated on a different response set. A friendship model. Developed in a group situation. 12–15 years Child
PP 435 students from U.S. Ethnic breakdown given. No information if representative of area population. No SES information. 1 Factor — friendship closeness score. α = .90. Construct — friendship score related to other group variables of familiarity and comfort. 0

Adolescent Intimacy Scale (Shulman et al., 1997) Perceived friendship intimacy. 60 items and a 4-point scale. A model of adolescent friendship intimacy. Items taken from previously developed measure. Grades 7, 9 and 11 Child
PP 425 students from Israel Middle to lower-middle class families. No ethnic information. 5 factors: emotional closeness, balanced relatedness, respect for friend, control, conformity. Study 1 — α = .69–.95. Study 2 — α = .72–.93. Construct–relationship between age and subscales. Relationship between adolescence friendship types and subscales. 34

Adolescent Social Interaction Profile ([Ralph et al., 1995] and [Ralph et al., 1997]) Diary kept and peer interactions recorded and rated. Linked to theories on peer interactions and self concept. 11–13 years Child
PP 864 students from Australia. No information on SES or ethnicity. – Inter-rater agreement 78–99%. Construct — difference between popular and unpopular children.
Convergent — related to a popularity measure. 8

Adolescent Social Self-Efficacy Scale (Connolly, 1989) Behavior in problematic peer situations. 25 items and a 7-point scale. Based on a scale for younger children. Items adolescents find stressful taken from previous research. 12–19 years Child
PP 1) 167 secondary students
2) 79 psychiatric hospital residents. Location not given. No ethnic information.
SES given for psychiatric residents only. 1 factor
Adolescent social self-efficacy α = .90–.95 across samples.
2-week test-retest, r = .84. Convergent — related to a similar scale. Divergent — low correlation with a behavior rating scale. 32

Affective Relationships Scale (Takahashi and Sakamoto, 2000 K. Takahashi and A. Sakamoto, Assessing social relationships in adolescents and adults: Constructing and validating the Affective Relationships Scale, International Journal of Behavioral Development 24 (2000), pp. 451–463. View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (9)Takahashi & Sakamoto, 2000) Core and relatively stable social relationships. 12 items and a 5-point scale. Social network frameworks. Originally developed on adults. Previous social networks assessments. 13 years-adult Child
PP 261 children from Japan. Adult sample also used. States children were from similar social backgrounds, no other details. From adult studies — six factors: seeking proximity, receiving emotional support, receiving reassurance, receiving encouragement, sharing information and giving nature. – From adult studies. Convergent — low negative correlations with a loneliness scale.
Divergent — no relationship with social desirability. 10

Assessment of Social Problem-Solving Skills (Leadbeater et al., 1989) Tape recorded readings of hypothetical social situations. 28 audio scenarios given and verbal response scored. Interpersonal negotiation strategies model. Modified version of two previously developed scales. 13–18 years Child

Audio and verbal responses. 271 adolescents recruited through agencies to help disadvantaged youth. Three large U.S. cities. SES and ethnic information. Unclear if representative of area population. – α = .79–.85. Inter-rater reliability, r = .89–.91 Convergent — correlated with the original versions. Correlations with problem behavior scales. 46

Behavioral Test of Interpersonal Competence for Children-Revised (Hughes et al., 1989) A video-administered role-play test of children's social skills and children rate 9 written responses. Role-play situations developed from previous research. Situations were reviewed by counselors, teachers and child experts. Grades 4–5 Child
Video and written responses 157 students from Southwest U.S. Ethnic breakdown given, no information if representative of area population. No SES information. – Positive α = .71, Negative α = .59, Total score α = .79. 3–4 week test–retest, r = .71–.86. Inter-rater reliability, 95–99% Construct — differences between popular and non-popular children. Convergent — correlations with teacher ratings of social competence and peer nominations. 6

Checklist of Adolescent Problem Situations (Cavell & Kelley, 1994) Identifies situational sources of adolescent social inadequacy. 75 items and a 5-point scale. Based on an earlier model and research on social competence. Items generated from asking sample to write descriptions of situations that “did not go well.” Grades 6–12 Child
PP 835 students from U.S. Ethnic and SES information. No information if representative of area population. 7 factors: keep friends, problem behavior, siblings, school, parents, work, make friends. All scales — α = .79–.97. Test–retest reliability r = .72–.86. Construct — unpopular children reported more problems on three scales. High-conflict children had more difficulties on 5 subscales. 8

Child and Adolescent Social and Adaptive Functioning Scale (Price, Spence, Sheffield & Donovan, 2002) Social functioning in school, peer, family and home. 24 items and a 4-point scale. Limited information on item development. Discusses research on social competence and psychological disorders such as schizophrenia and depression. 12–14 years Child

PP 1478 adolescents from Australia. Ethnic breakdown given. No information if representative of area population. No SES information. Four factors: school performance, peer relationships, family relationships, and home duties/self care. α = .67–.81
12-month test subscales r = .48–.63 Divergent validity — moderate negative correlations with a depression inventory. 9

Child and Adolescent Social Perception Measure (Magill-Evans et al., 1995) Assesses ability to interpret non-verbal emotions. 10 videotaped scenes and verbal responses recorded. Social interaction model. 6–15 years Child
Video and verbal questions. 212 students from Canada. SES and ethnicity representative of the area. – α = .88–.92
1–2 month test-retest, r = .83–.87 on 14 children. Divergent — low correlation with expressive vocabulary. 5

Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale — Level 1 ([Malecki et al., 1999] and [Malecki and Demaray, 2002]) Social support from parents, teachers, classmates and friends. 40-item and a 6-point scale. Social support model. Grades 3–6 Child
PP 1110 grade 3–12 from schools in Massachusetts and Midwest U.S. Ethnic and disability information No information if representative of area population. No SES information. 4 factors: parent, teacher, classmates and close friend. α = .87–.94. Construct validity — moderate correlations between the subscales. Convergent — low correlations with SSRS teacher. Moderate correlations with SSRS student. Divergent — negative correlations with SSRS teacher problem behavior scale. 32

Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale — Level 2 ([Malecki et al., 1999] and [Malecki and Demaray, 2002]) Social support from parents, teachers, classmates and friends. 40-item and a 6-point scale. Social support model. Grades 6–12 Child
PP 1110 grade 3–12 from schools in Midwest U.S. and Massachusetts. Ethnic and disability information No information if representative of area population. No SES information. Four factors: parent, teacher, classmates and close friend. α = .89–.95.
2-week test-retest, r = .60–.76. Tested on 85 students. Construct validity — moderate correlation between the subscales. Convergent — low correlation with SSRS teacher; moderate correlation with SSRS student. Divergent — negative correlation with SSRS teacher problem behavior scale and another behavior rating scale. 32

Children's Pictorial Perceived Social Support Instrument (Anan & Barnett, 1999) 20 pictures that assess perceptions of peer support from family, peers and teachers. Based on previous adult tools of a similar nature. 5–7 years Child
Pictures and response using PP. 56 children from Midwest U.S. All children were African-American.
Information given on financial status. – α = .77 overall. Negative correlations with internalising and externalizing symptoms. Correlated with more positive social attributions. 33

Children's Self Report Social Skills Scale (Danielson & Phelps, 2003) Children's perspectives of their own social skills. 21 items and a 5-point scale. Scale items were derived by a comprehensive literature search. Behavior and social questionnaires were examined. Grades 4–6 Child
PP 240 students, location not given. No information on SES or ethnicity. 3 factors: social rules, likeability and social-ingenuousness. α = .93–.96, 10–14 day test–retest, r = .74. Convergent — moderate correlations with peer nomination. Divergent — negative correlations with a depression scale. 3

Clinical Assessment of Interpersonal Relations (Bracken, 1993). Identifies relationship difficulties with peers, parents and teachers. 35 statements and a 7-point scale. Important features of relationships taken from several researchers formed the items. 9–19 years Child
PP 2501 students in U.S. Matches U.S. population on most variables. 5 factors: mother, father, male peers, female peers, and teachers. α = .93–.96,
2-week test–retest, r = .94–.98. Divergent — showed low correlations with a self-concept scale except with the social and family scale. 12

Courting Behavior Scale (Stokes, Newton, & Kaur, 2007). Parent report of their child's knowledge and behaviors related to social and intimate relationships. 29 items and uses different rating methods throughout. Items based on previous research. 13–30 years Parent
PP 25 high functioning adolescents and adults with ASD. 38 TD adolescents or adults. In Australia. No information on SES or ethnicity. – Social functioning, α = .90, Romantic functioning, α = .72. Construct — individuals with an ASD had lower social functioning levels than typical developing adolescents. 2

Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy (Nowicki & Duke, 1994). Sending and interpretation of nonverbal cues.
Receptive subtests: Faces, Gestures, Postures, Paralanguage.
Expressive subtests: Faces, Gestures, Paralanguage.
Pictures, videos, verbal tasks, and audio all used. Items were chosen if selected by a normative population. 6–10 years Child 1457 students from Southern U.S. Ethnicity was comparable to community. Group was lower-middle to middle class, not stated if representative of population. – Receptive subtest, α = .77–.88. Expressive subtest, α = .68–.82. 2-week test–retest reliability, r = .70–.86. Tested on 20 students in each grade. Convergent — negative low to moderate correlations with receptive subtests and one expressive subtest and locus of control. Low correlations with receptive subtests and peer nomination. Moderate correlations with receptive subtests and other non-verbal tests.
Divergent — no correlation with IQ. 110

Dyadic Friendship Qualities Score (Laird, Pettit, Dodge, & Bates, 1999) Assessment of friendship quality. 27 items and a 3-point scale. A modified version of a previous scale. 12–13 years Child PP 431 children part of a large longitudinal study. Children were from U.S. (Tennessee and Indiana). Information not given on group SES or ethnicity. – α = .88 for total score – 23
Emotions and Conversations Task (Turkstra et al., 2001) Social cognitive task that includes theory of mind. Short video vignettes: 20 emotions and 23 conversations. Developed through a literature review and discussions and observations with 200+ adolescents. 13–21 years Child video with written and verbal responses. 60 TD children and 10 adolescents with a TBI. Range of SES backgrounds and occupations. Not stated if representative of population. – 1-month test–retest reliability, r = 68–.70 Convergent — not supported, no relationship with spatial reasoning.
Divergent — no relationship with executive function or vocabulary. 22

Emotion Expression Scale for Children (Penza-Clyve & Zeman, 2002) Assesses poor awareness of emotions and difficulty expressing emotions. 16 items and a 5-point scale. Adapted from an adult scale.
Emotion awareness and mental health research. 9–12 years Child
PP 208 students. Location not reported. Representative of ethnicity of area. No SES information. 2 factors: poor awareness and expressive reluctance. Poor awareness, α = .83 and expressive reluctance, α = .81.2-week test–retest, r = .56–.59. Convergent — low to moderate correlations with other emotion measures and internalizing symptoms.
Divergent — no correlation with peer rated aggression. 16

Emotion Recognition Scales (Dyck et al., 2001) Ability to understand emotion. Contains 4 subscales: Facial cues, Comprehension, Unexpected outcomes and Emotion vocabulary test. The facial cues task is based on previous task. 9–16 years Child. Pictures and written questions with written responses. 36 TD children and 121 children with developmental and psychological disorders. In Australia. No information on ethnicity or SES. Not reported α = .64–.88 Construct — differences between TD and children with disorders that are related to emotional recognition impairments of ASD. 29

Five Field Map (Samuelsson et al., 1996) Social support in children. Children are instructed to draw a map of their social network. Total number and closeness of friends are calculated. Reviews literature on the techniques that use physical distance to symbolize emotional closeness. Based on the four field map. 6–16 years Child
PP 74 students, 39 psychiatric patients, 39 children from a single-parent family. 47 children with diabetes. In Sweden. No SES or ethnic breakdown. – 6-week test–retest reliability on total closeness score r = .38. Convergent — moderate correlation with a social support measure.
Divergent — low social support correlated with a loneliness scale and negative correlation with a social support measure. 3

Friendship Jealousy Questionnaire (Parker, Low, Walker & Gamm, 2005) Friendship jealously. 27 short descriptions and a 5-point scale. Links to adult literature. 10–15 years Child PP 534 students. Some students from Northeast U.S. Ethnicity and SES reflect area population. – α = .94. test–retest, r = .94. How long is not stated. Divergent — negative relationship with self-worth, loneliness and dissatisfaction with peers. Unrelated to social desirability scale. 19

Friendship Qualities Measure (Grotepeter & Crick, 1996) Friendship quality. 33-item and a 5-point scale. Items developed from FQQ and FQS. Grades 3–6 Child PP 397 students from Northeast U.S. Ethnic breakdown given. No information if representative of area population. No SES information. – α = .61–.87 Construct — differences between aggressive and non-aggressive children on the measure. 113

Friendship Quality Questionnaire (FQQ; Parker & Asher, 1993). Friendship quality. 40 items and a 5-point scale. Items derived from previous tool. Discusses acknowledged friendship and friendship quality. Grades 3–5 Child
PP 881 students from 5 schools in Midwest U.S. Ethnic information. No information if representative of area population. No SES information. – α = .73–.90 Divergent — negative correlation with loneliness. 433

Friendship Qualities Scale (FQS; Bukowski et al., 1994) Quality of best friend relationship. 23 items and a 5-point scale. Adapted from a previously developed interview protocol, refined by literature reviews and pilot studies. Grades 5–7 Child
PP 397 students in Northeast U.S. Reports that “sample represents a cross-section of the SES” no further details given. No ethnic information. 5 factors: help, closeness, security, companionship and conflict. α = .71–.86 Construct — scale is able to differentiate between reciprocated and non-reciprocated friendships. 128

Home and Community Social Behavior Scales (Merrell & Caldarella, 2000) Social behavior at home. 65 items and a 5-point scale. Parent measure of the SSBS. 5–18 years Parent PP 1562 children from U.S. Approximates 2000 U.S. census for ethnicity and SES. 2 factors: Social Competence Scale and Antisocial Behavior Scale α = .96–.98
2-week test–retest r = .84–.92. Inter-rater reliability coefficients = .71–.86. Convergent — moderate to high correlations with SSRS.
Divergent — negative correlations between social competence and behavior scale. 21

Importance of Friendship Qualities Measure (Grotepeter & Crick, 1996) The importance of certain friendship behaviors to friends. 43 items and a 5-point scale. Investigates the importance of the friendship qualities measured by the FQM. Grades 3–6 Child 315 children from Midwest U.S. Ethnic information. Area predominantly lower-middle class. No information if representative of area population. – α = .64–.78 Construct — differences between aggressive and non-aggressive children on the measure. 113
PP
Intent Attributions (Goldstein et al., 2006) How children handle confronting situations. Three provocative social scenarios and responses coded. Intent attributions and scenarios taken from previous research. 8–11 years Child PP 75 children from Midwest U.S. 93.3% European American. No information if representative of population. No SES information. – – Construct — children more likely to attribute hostile attributions to children they don't like. 3

Interpersonal Competence Scale (Cairns, Leung, Gest & Cairns, 1995) Social behavior measure. 18-items and a 7 point scale. Little information given. References a review article. Grades 4–7 Parent Teacher PP 695 students from Southeast U.S. Information on SES and minority status. No information if this reflects population. 3 primary factors: AGG, POP, ACA. 3 week for overall r = .91. 1 year for overall r = .52. Convergent — correlations between observations and test. 62

Interpersonal Concerns Scale (Parkhurst & Asher, 1992) Social concerns in children. 22 questions and a 7-point scale. Items generated from interviews with students. Pilot questionnaire also given to students. Grades 7–8 Child 450 students from Midwest U.S. Ethnic information. No confirmation if this reflects population. No SES information. Three primary factors (not named). Across items — α = .60–.89 Construct — differences between rejected and average students. 154
PP
Interpersonal Negotiation Strategies Interview (Yeates et al., 1990) Social problem solving ability. 4–8 dilemmas presented with questions and a 4-point scale. Interpersonal negotiation model. 6–16 years Child Verbal scenarios and responses. 95 children from Northeast U.S. Ethnic information, no confirmation if this reflects population. No SES information. All children had an estimated IQ over 70. – α = .74–87. 4-month test–retest, r = .69. Inter-rater agreement of 75%. Convergent — Moderate correlation between INS performance and psychosocial adaptation. Construct — Differences between TD and behaviorally disordered children. Increasing age and INS performance associated. 17

Interpersonal Problem Situation Inventory for Urban Adolescents (Farrell, Ampy & Meyer, 1998) Social situations that adolescents find difficult to handle.14 problem situations and a 5-point scale. Items developed through focus group of students. 11–15 years Child
PP 959 students from Southeast U.S. Ethnic information, no confirmation if this reflects area population. No SES information. 3 factors: environmental stress, perceived injustice, peer provocation. α = .72–.75 Convergent validity — correlation with frequency of violence, drug use and an anxiety scale. 13

Interpersonal Problem-Solving Competency (Downey & Walker, 1989) Interpersonal problems, two questions and responses scored. A modified version of an earlier measure. 9–10 years Child
Verbal scenarios and responses. 83 children from Northeast U.S. Mostly lower SES. Ethnic information. No confirmation if this reflects population. – α = .50–.69 Divergent — no correlation with IQ. 36

Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment — Shortened version (Raja, McGee, & Stanton, 1992) Attachment to peers and parents. 24 items and a 4-point scale. Short version of original. 15 years Child
PP 935 adolescents from New Zealand. SES higher than general population. Underrepresentation of minority groups. – α = .80–.82 Convergent — low parent attachment correlated with increased mental illness. 56

Irony Task (Filippova & Astington, 2008) Recursive understanding of others' minds. Eight verbal scenarios with pictures and questions. Task newly developed, not based on a previous measure. Development of irony research. 5–9 years Child
Pictures, verbal scenarios and verbal responses. 72 children from grade K-2, 24 adults from Canada. Primarily Caucasian, middle to upper-middle class. All monolingual English speakers. No confirmation if this reflects area population. – – Convergent — consistent with past findings moderate correlations between irony score and age, memory, theory of mind tasks and vocabulary. 4

Kinship Social Support Scale (Taylor, Casten, & Flickinger, 1993) Social and emotional support provided by family members. 13 items and a 4-point scale. Based on a conceptual model of kinship support and adolescent adjustment. Some questions were taken from a previous unpublished measure. Grades 9–12 Child
PP 125 students from Northeast U.S. All participants were African-American. 60.1% were low SES. Children were chosen from randomly selected school classes. Unclear if this reflects area population. – α = .72 Convergent — kinship support correlated with adolescent adjustment. 55

Measure of Adolescent Heterosocial Competence (Grover, Nangle, & Zeff, 2005) Social competence with opposite sex peers. 40 items describing problematic situations with 4 responses. Uses previously defined ways to measure competence. Also included consultation with students. 14–18 years Child
PP 700 children participated in the study development. 208 children participated in the validation of final measure. Location not given. Validation sample, 88% were Caucasian. Most were middle-class. Unclear if this reflects area population. 16 factors (not named). α = .73. Convergent — showed moderate correlations with the MASP, low correlations with anxiety measure. Divergent — unrelated to SES. 8

Measure of Adolescent Social Performance (MASP; Cavell & Kelley, 1992) Problematic social situations. 50 items and four possible responses. Student generated problematic social situations and items piloted. 11–19 years Child
PP 880 students, location not given. Children were mostly white and middle class. Unclear if this reflects area population. Attempted but described as unsuccessful α = .87. 2-week retest, r = .82 on 111 children. Convergent — correlations with teacher ratings of scholastic competence, behavioral conduct, and physical appearance. Correlations with some measures of FQQ. 10

Minnesota Tests of Affective Processing (Shapiro et al., 1993) Sensitivity to emotional stimuli with 16 subtests such as facial expression, prosody and lexical information. Presented on a computer. Some components from previous research. 6–11 years Child
Computer based 67 children with ADHD and 38 TD children Location not given. No information on SES or ethnicity. – – Construct — children with ADHD performed worse than TD children. Children improved as they aged. 17
Modesty Task (Banerjee, 2000) How modesty relates to social evaluation. Four stories and questions. The format based on previous research. Theory on modesty development. 6–10 years Child
Verbal stories and questions. 60 children location not given. Children were from urban, middle-class neighborhoods. No further information given. – Inter-rater agreement was 93% in scoring responses. Convergent — higher self-monitoring behaviors had high modesty norms. Divergent — no correlation with false-belief task. 13

Modified Loneliness and Social Dissatisfaction (Cassidy & Asher, 1992) Designed to measure loneliness in young children. 23 items and four responses. Modified version of a previously developed scale. Grades K–1 Child
PP 452 children from Midwest U.S. 70% Caucasian, 25% African-American and 5% Asian. Mostly from working and middle class families. Unclear if this reflects area population. 1 factor: loneliness and social dissatisfaction. α = .79 Convergent — low correlations with loneliness score and peer nomination. Rejected children had highest loneliness scores. 163

Peer Assessment of Children's Prosocial Behavior (Hayes Greener, 2000) Peer assessment of prosocial behavior. 22 items, different scoring and administration for different sections. Items are taken from previous research and behaviors generated by school children. 8–12 years Child
PP 332 students in Midwest U.S. Ethnic breakdown representative of school make-up. SES breakdown not given. – α = .88–.92 across subscales. Convergent — correlates with peer nominations and teacher ratings. 5

Peer Network and Dyadic Loneliness Scale (Hoza, Bukowski, & Beery, 2000) Loneliness associated with lack of involvement in a social network and the absence of a close dyadic friendship. 16 items and a 4-point scale. Based on past theoretical studies of peer relationships and loneliness. Grades 5–7 Child
PP 209 children from Northeast U.S. The sample mirrored the geographic area in terms of ethnic breakdown. No SES information. 2 factors derived: Peer Network and Peer Dyadic Scale. α = .88 for Peer Network and α = .84 for Peer Dyadic. Convergent — high to moderate correlations with a loneliness scale. Low correlations with FQQ. Divergent — negative low correlation with peer nomination. 26

Perceived Adolescent Relationship Scale (Andrews & Francis, 1989) Adolescent's perceptions of their own social competence and social participation in relationships. Six items and a 7-point scale. Unclear how developed. 13–20 years Child
PP 336 students, location not given. 82% female. No information on SES or ethnicity. 2 factors: social competence and social participation Social Competence, α = .82, Social Participation, α = .68 and scale total, α = .80. – 4

Perceived Social Competence Scale (Anderson-Butcher, Iachini, & Amorose, 2008) Social competence. Perceived social competence. Four items and a 5-point scale. Items developed from previous research. 4–16 years Child
PP Calibration sample: 424 students. Validation sample: 503 students. All from Midwest U.S. Ethnic breakdown is given but unclear if this reflects area population. No SES information. 1 factor α = .87 Convergent — correlation with perceived belongingness. 1

Prosocial Behavior Measure (Flannery et al., 2003) Prosocial behavior such as empathy, caring, and support. 16 items and a 3-point scale. A previously developed scale for college students. Grades 3–5 Child
PP and interview for young children. Unclear but appears to be 1899 students from Southwest U.S. Ethnic and SES information. Unclear if this reflects area population. 1 factor — prosocial α = .87 Divergent — negative correlation with aggressive behavior 31
Prosocial Tendencies Measure — Revised (PTM-R; Carlo, Hausmann, Christiansen, & Randall, 2003) Six types of prosocial behavior. 25 items and a 5-point scale. Developed from an adult scale, items adapted by a focus group. 14–17 years Child
PP 138 students from Midwest U.S. Ethnic information and parent's education level. Unclear if this reflects area population. – α = .59–.86. 2 week test–retest, r = .54–.86. Convergent — correlations with a sympathy measure.
Divergent — no correlations with social desirability, vocabulary, or personal distress. 16
Reading the Mind in Films Task (Golan et al., 2008) Recognition of complex emotions and mental states. 22 short film scenes after watching the children select the emotion displayed. Based on an adult version. Developed on literature of emotion recognition deficits in children with ASD. Items in final test were piloted. 8–11 years Child
Video, verbal question and written responses. 23 children with ASD. 22 TD children. Location not given. No information of ethnicity or SES. – – Construct — children with ASD scored significantly lower than TD children. 2

Relational Support Inventory (Scholte, van Lieshout, & van Aken, 2001) Perceived support from mother, father, special sibling and best friend. 27 items and a 5-point scale. Based on a model of support. 12–18 years Child 2262 students from the Netherlands. Ethnic information. Unclear if this reflects area population. No SES information. 5 factors: parental support, friend support, convergence of goals, sibling support, respect for autonomy. α = .79–.91 across subscales. Convergent — low support correlated with loneliness, low self-esteem, and delinquency. 56
PP
Schedules for the Assessment of Social Intelligence (Skuse et al., 2005) Social-cognitive competence, including facial expression and recognition, gaze monitoring and theory of mind. Some tasks from previous research. 6–60 years Child Computer based 477 children (6–18 years) from the U.K. Adult data also collected. No SES or ethnic information – Inter-rater reliability, r = .65–.98 for clinic group, r = .88–.99 control group. Immediate test–retest using t-scores — no significant difference. Construct — differences between clinical and control groups. 5

School Social Behavior Scales (SBBS; Merrell, 1993) School based assessment of social competence. Two scales: Social Competence and Antisocial Behavior. 65 items and a 5-point response scale. Scale was developed by review of literature, contents of social skill and problem behavior programs, and existing social skill and behavior scales. Grades K–12 Teacher
PP 1858 students from U.S. Detailed information given on race and SES. SES approximates population although underrepresentation of unskilled work. Diverse ethnic group but underrepresentation of minority groups. 6 factors: Social competence consists of interpersonal skills, Self-management skills and academic skills. Antisocial behavior consists of hostile–irritable, antisocial–aggressive, and disruptive–demanding. Scales, α = .94–.96. 3-week test–retest, r = .60–.82. Tested on 72 teachers. Inter-rater reliability, for A, r = .53–.83. Convergent validity — moderate to high correlations with of behavior and social measures. Construct — lower scores of social competence obtained by children with ID. Gifted children had higher scores. 96

Social Aptitudes Scale (Liddle et al., 2009) Complex interactive social skills. 10 items and a 5-point scale. 5–16 years Parent
PP 7504 parents from Britain. Stratified random sample. All items loaded highly on a single factor. α = .88 Construct — discriminates between children with and without ASD. Convergent — correlations with another behavior questionnaire. 0

Social Attribution Task (Klin, 2000) Social cognition ability. Video of cartoon animation in which shapes are represented in social situations. Questions are asked and the narratives coded. Cartoons from a previous task. Pilot work was carried out. Literature review on TOM and social outcomes. Adolescents–adults Child
Verbal based Adolescents and adults, 20 TD children. 40 children with ASD. Location not given. No information on SES or ethnicity. – Inter-rater reliability across all indexes was r = .76–.91. Construct — TD children did better than the two clinic groups. Divergent — overall performance was unrelated to age or Verbal IQ. Was a relationship between SAT scores and language ability for social interactions though. 101

Social Behavior Assessment Inventory (Stephens & Arnold, 1992) Social skills problems. Designed to be used with behavioral interventions. 136 items and a 5-point scale. A revision of original. Items based on published behavior scales, classroom observations and literature review. Grades K–9 Teacher PP Unclear Some reference to ethnic groups studied. – α = .90–.95
inter-rater reliability, 91–99% agreement Construct — differences between TD and children with LD and emotional problems. 9

Social Behavior Rating Scale (Schwartz, Chang, & Farver, 2001) Social behavior and peer adjustment. 44 items and a 5-point scale. Items newly developed for study, unclear how. Grades 5–6 Teacher PP 296 students from China. No ethnic or SES information. Two scales: Assertiveness–Prosociability and Submissiveness–Withdrawal. Assertiveness–Prosociability, α = .88 and Submissiveness–Withdrawal, α = .75. Construct — differences victimized and non-victimized children. 36

Social Behavior Questionnaire (Tremblay et al., 1991) Social behavior of boys. 38 items and a 3-point scale. Items from previously developed assessments. 6–10 years Teacher Parent
PP 1161 boys from Canada. Only boys with parents who spoke French and had less than 15 years of schooling were included. Four factors: Disruptive, Anxious, Inattentive and Prosocial. α = .86. 2-month test–retest, teacher r = .55–.79 and parent r = .62–.76 Construct — children classified as high fighters were defined by others and themselves as more disruptive and antisocial. 147

Social Cognitive Assessment Profile — Revised (Hughes et al., 2004) Social information processing. Interview format were children have to imagine being involved in vignettes and their responses. Incorporates a model of social information processing. Revision of an earlier assessment. Grades 2–4 Child
Verbal scenarios and responses 248 children defined as aggressive. 123 students completing a problem-solving skills training course. All from U.S. Parental education and ethnic breakdown given. Unclear if this reflects area population. Four factors: hostile attributions, hostile goals, solutions, peer consequences. α = .65–.89. Gender differences, is a stronger test for boys. Convergent — correlations with teacher-rated conduct problems and peer related aggression. Divergent — unrelated to peer nominations of smart, athletic or sad/withdrawn children. 11
3–5 month test–retest, r = .67–.83.

Social Cognitive Skills Test (SCST; van Manen et al., 2001) Social cognition. Six short stories with pictures and questions asked about the stories. Based on a developmental model of social cognition and aggression. 6–12 years Child
Pictures and verbal component. 210 children from the Netherlands and Hungary. No information on SES or ethnic breakdown. – – Construct — aggressive children did poorer than non-aggressive children. Children increased in social cognition ability with age. Convergent — children defined as aggressive had lower scores on the SCST. 5

Social Competence Inventory (Rydell et al., 1997) Social skills and behavior. 29 items and a 5-point scale. Items based on previous research. 7–10 years Parent Teacher PP 4 samples 758 students from Sweden. Information on education level. Unclear if this reflects area population. No ethnic information. Two factors: prosocial orientation and social initiative. α = .75–.94, across factors. 1-year test–retest, r = .59–.81 across factors. Convergent — correlations with observational peer behavior measures. Construct — differences between popular, unpopular, average, and rejected children. 38

Social Competence with Peers Questionnaire (Spence, 1995) Social competence. Child version has 10 items and parent and teacher version has 9 items. Uses a 3-point scale. Items developed from previous research and expert advice. 8–18 years Child
Parent
Teacher
PP 376 children from Australia. SES and ethnic information. Breakdown reported to be typical of Australia. 3 factors Teacher, α = .95, parent, α = .81, pupil, α = .85. Construct validity — relationship between the three versions. 66

Social-Emotional Learning Scale (Coryn, Sprybrook, Evergreen, & Blinkiewicz, 2009) Social and emotional learning. 20 items and a 5-point scale. Items decided on by an advisory group. 8–12 years Child
PP 633 children from Midwest U.S. Ethnic information. Unclear if representative of the area. No SES information. Three factors: Task Articulation, Peer Relationships, Self-Regulation α = .69–.80, ordinal α also given, α = .79–.87. – 0

Social Experience Questionnaire (Crick & Grotepeter, 1996) Prosocial behaviors and peer victimization. 13 items and a 5-point scale. Based on a previous developed scale. Grades 3–6 Child
PP 474 children from Midwest U.S. Ethnic information. SES breakdown estimated. Unclear if representative of area population. 3 factors: Relational Victimization, Overt Victimization and Prosocial Recipient scales. α = .77–.80 Construct — children who are more popular have higher prosocial scores. Children who are rejected have higher scores on victimization scales. Convergent — victimized children report higher rates of depression, loneliness, social anxiety and avoidance. 176

Social Goal Scale-Physical Education (Guan, McBride, & Xiang, 2006) Relationship between social relationships and success in physical education settings. 11 items and a 7-point scale. Adaptation of another scale to a physical education setting. 15–20 years Child
PP 544 students from Southern U.S. Ethnic information. Unclear if representative of the area. 2 factors: Responsibility goal and Relationship goal. Responsibility goal, α = .79–.84. Relationship goal, α = .73–.76. – 4

Social Information Processing Interview (Quiggle et al., 1992) Information processing and response in socially challenging situations. Six stories and responses analyzed. Social information processing model and cognitive theories of depression. 9–12 years Child
Verbal based 220 students, location not given. No ethnic information. Schools reported to service lower to middle-income families. – – Construct — aggressive children more likely to attribute hostile intent and use aggression in the stories. Depressed children more likely to withdraw. 191

Social Maturity Scale (Peterson, Slaughter, & Paynter, 2007) Positive aspects of the quality of children's social interactions. Seven items and a 7-point response scale. Items based on literature. 4–12 years Teacher
PP 80 children including 27 children with ASD. No information on ethnicity or SES. – α = .94–.96. Children with ASD, α = .86. Social maturity correlated with TOM performance 3

Social Perception Task (Pierce et al., 1997) Ability to interpret social cues. 16 video vignettes of child interactions and questions after. Vignettes adapted from unpublished work. Built on pen and paper tests assessing social skills in children with ASD. 4–12 years Child
Video and verbal questions 14 children with ASD, 14 children with ID, and 14 TD children. Children matched on verbal mental age. Information given on ethnicity of TD children. Unclear if representative of population. No SES information. – Inter-rater reliability = 97% Construct — difference between children with autism and the other two groups. 27

Social Problem-Solving Inventory for Adolescents (Frauenknecht & Black, 1995) Problem-solving skills in social situations. 64 items and a 5-point scale. Adapted from an adult version. Based on models of problem-solving and stress management. Items piloted. 14–15 years Child
PP 1062 students from Midwest U.S. Ethnic information given. Unclear if representative of the population. No SES information. – α = .81–.95 across 3 scales. 2-week test–retest, r = .83 overall. Convergent — correlated with another problem-solving measure.
Divergent — adolescents with better problem-solving report fewer personal problems. The grade point average of the adolescent does not predict skill level. 10

Social Provisions Scale for Physical Activity (Motl, Dishman, Saunders, Dowda & Pate, 2004) Relationship between social support and physical activity. Divided it into a 24-item questionnaire for white females and 22-item questionnaire for African-American females. Both use a 5-point response scale. Adapted from the original scale. Social support model. Grades 8–9 Child
PP 1797 students from Southern U.S. All female. Ethnic information. Unclear whether representative of population. No SES information. White female version — six factors and an orthogonal negative worded scale. African-American female version — four factors and single second-order factor. – – 8

Social Situations Problem-Solving Assessment (Passino & Whitman, 1993) Interpersonal problem-solving skills to adjustment. 4 verbal vignettes and verbal responses. Adapted from Means–End Problem Solving Assessment 14 years to adult Child
Verbal scenarios and responses. 191 pregnant adolescents, 60 non-pregnant adolescents, 53 pregnant adults. From Midwest U.S. Information on SES and ethnicity. Unclear if representative of population. – Inter-rater reliability = 97% – 34

Social Skill Vignettes (Paschall et al., 2005) Social competence skills. Interactive virtual reality exercises. Based on previous role-plays from a violence prevention program 15–17 years Child 117 African-American males from U.S. African-American males only 2 factors: emotional control and interpersonal communication skills α = .88–.91 Not strong. Low correlations with questionnaire measures of hostility and aggression. 3

Social Skills Knowledge Test (Nelson & Carson, 1988) Knowledge of affect and social problem-solving. Cartoons are used and verbal responses to questions are recorded. Some questions based on a previous measure Grades 3–4 Child
Cartoons and verbal responses 101 students. Location not given. No demographic data reported – – Convergent — High correlations with a social skills role play task 17

Social Skills Questionnaire (Spence, 1995) Child's social skills. 30 items and a 3-point scale. Items based on previous research. Pilot study and field testing completed. 8–18 years Child
Parent
Teacher
PP 376 children from Australia SES and ethnic information.
Stated to be typical of Australian society. 3 factors, no specific
Information reported. Teacher, α = .96
parent, α = .92
pupil, α = .85 Construct validity — relationship between the three versions 66

Social Skills Rating System — elementary (SSRS; Gresham & Elliott, 1990) Social skills, problem behavior and academic competence. 34–57 items dependent on form. Uses a 3-point scale. Items from literature reviews and developed scales Grades K–6 Child (grades 3–6)
Teacher
Parent
PP 2400 students for the self-report form. 770 TD children for teacher form. 186 teachers of children with a LD, behavioral disorder or ID. 736 parents. Students from U.S. Ethnic information, close approximation to census although underrepresentation of Hispanics. Teacher — 3 social skill factors: cooperation, assertion, self-control. 2 problem behavior factors: externalizing, internalizing, hyperactivity.
One factor of academic competence.
Parent — 4 social skill factors: cooperation, assertion, responsibility, self-control. 2 problem behavior factors: externalizing, internalizing. Across subscales: teacher α = .78–.95, parent α = .65–.87, student α = .51–.83 Convergent — correlation with another social behavior scale. Problem behavior factor correlated with similar behavior scale. Teacher form correlated with another teacher rating scale. Correlation of self-report with a self-report scale of behaviors and self-concept. 1300 (all versions)
Student — 4 social skill factors: cooperation, assertion, self-control, empathy.

Social Skills Rating System — Secondary (Gresham & Elliot, 1990) Social skills, problem behavior and academic competence. 39–52 items dependent on form. Uses a 3-point scale. Items from literature reviews and developed scales Grades 7–12 Child
Teacher
Parent
PP 1770 students for the self-report form. 275 TD for teacher form. 33 teachers of children with a LD, behavioral disorder or ID.
168 parents of children in grade 7–12. In U.S. Ethnic information, close approximation to census although underrepresentation of Hispanics. Teacher — 3 social skill factors: cooperation, assertion, self-control. 2 problem behavior factors: externalizing, internalizing, hyperactivity. 1 factor of academic competence.
Parent — 4 social skill factors: cooperation, assertion, responsibility, self-control.
2 problem behavior factors: externalizing, internalizing.
Student — 4 social skill factors: cooperation, assertion, self-control, empathy. Across subscales: teacher α = .86–.95, parent α = .72–.90, student α = .67–.83 Convergent — correlation with another social behavior scale. Problem behavior factor correlated with similar behavior scale. Teacher form correlated with another teacher rating scale. 1300 (all versions)

Sociomoral Reflection Measure–Short Form (Gibbs, Basinger, & Fuller, 1992) Moral behaviors in social situations. 11 written short answer questions. Shorter form of previously developed measure. 11–65 years Child
PP 509 people including students, delinquent adolescents and adults. Location not given. α = .92. Test–retest, r = .88, time between not given. Convergent — correlations with age verbal IQ, and SES.
Divergent validity — no correlation with a measure of social desirability. 160

Student Social Attribution Scale (Bell & McCallum, 1995) Children's attributions for successful social outcomes. Three subscales: Ability, Effort and External — each with six scenarios. Based on a previously developed scale. Teachers rated scenarios to include. Items piloted on students. Grades 4–5 Child
PP 237 students from Southeast U.S. SES and ethnic information. Unclear if representative of area population. Six factors: success/ability, success/effort, success/external, failure/ability, failure/effort, failure/external. α = .63–.85 across the scales. Test-retest 1 week, r = .10–.74 across scales. Convergent — low correlations with SSRS. Higher scores on peer relations self-concept measure as well, low to moderate correlations. 9

Student Social Skills Rating Scale (Inderbitzen-Pisaruk et al., 1992) Perceptions of ability to work in socially skilled way. 18 self-descriptive statements and a 5-point scale. Statements taken from research on loneliness. 13–16 years Child
PP 186 students from Southeast U.S. No information of SES and ethnicity. Unclear if representative of area population. – α = .80 Convergent — poorer social skills related to loneliness. 31

Survey of Children's Social Support (Dubow & Ullman, 1989) Children's appraisal of social support around them. Three parts: Scale of Available Behaviors (SAB; 38 items, 5 point scale), Social Support Appraisal Scale (APP; 31 items, 5 point scale), Social Network (NET; list members of support network). Items taken from literature. Model of social support. Grades 3–5 Child
PP 361 students. Location not given. Ethnic information. Unclear if representative of area. No SES information. SAB — 3 factors: emotional/ information support, emotional/esteem-enhancing support, tangible support.
APP — 3 factors: peer support, family support, teacher support. NET — not done, inappropriate. α = .74–.88 across subscales. SAB 2 test-retest, r = .61–.69. APP 3–4 test–retest, r = .66–.73. NET 3–4 test–retest, r = .52–.54. Convergent — moderate correlations with other social skills scale. Negative moderate correlations with loneliness scale. Low correlation with peer nomination. Divergent — unrelated to aggression score. 88

Teacher Assessment of Social Behavior Questionnaire (Cassidy & Asher, 1992) Teacher rated social skills. 12 items and a 5-point scale. Developed for this study. Areas of shyness and prosocial behavior based on adult research. Grades K–1 Teacher
PP 452 students from Midwest U.S. Ethnic and SES information. Unclear if representative of area. 4 factors: aggressive, disruptive, prosocial, and shy/withdrawn. For the 4 factors, α = .62–.91. Construct — correlations with peer nomination measures. 163

Teacher Social Skills Rating Scale (Inderbitzen-Pisaruk et al., 1992) Student social skills. 11 statements and a 5-point scale. Items adapted from a student social skills scale. 13–16 years Teacher
PP 186 students from Southeast U.S. No SES or ethnic information. Unclear if representative of the area. – α = .94 Poorer perceptions of student's social skills related to increased loneliness. 31

Teenage Inventory of Social Skills (Inderbitzen & Foster, 1992) Adolescent social competence. 40 items and a 6-point scale. Items from literature and social skills programs. Items piloted. Grade 7–12 Child
PP 296 students, location not given. Most students were White and a range of SES backgrounds. No information if representative of area. – α = .88. 2-week retest, r = .72–.90 Convergent — correlated with self reports of behavior frequency, peer assessments. Divergent — not correlated with a measure of parental conflict but did correlate with social desirability measure. 36

Walker-McConnell Scale of Social Competence and School Adjustment — Elementary (Walker & McConnell, 1988) Social competence. 43 items uses and a 5-point scale. Items developed from literature Grades K–6 Teacher
PP 1812 students from U.S. Ethnic information. Appears to match census data, slight overrepresentation of Whites. No SES information. 3 factors: School adjustment, teacher-preferred social behavior, peer-preferred social behavior. α = .53–.77. Convergent — strong correlations with SSRS, SSBS, observation and measures of problem behaviors. Construct — differences between children with and without LD. 179
Walker-McConnell Scale of Social Competence and School Adjustment —

Unas habilidades competentes de la funcion social son esenciales para la interaccion efectiva de los niños y adolescentes con sus compañeros, profesores y padres, y unas herramientas de evaluacion precisas muy importantes para que los investigadores comprendan la estructura cognitiva de la funcion social y los clinicos puedan identificar problemas sociales.



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Crowe LM, Beauchamp MH, Catroppa C, & Anderson V (2011). Social function assessment tools for children and adolescents: A systematic review from 1988 to 2010. Clinical psychology review, 31 (5), 767-785 PMID: 21513693

Un poco de Rock and Roll... tampoco viene mal.

Aqui, aqui y aqui.

Patricia Churchland sobre la neurociencia de la moral.

Poema del dia.

Extracto El amor Engañoso.

Cuando te veo cruzar, oh mi amada indolente,
Paseando el hastio de tu mirar profundo,
Suspendiendo tu paso tan armonioso y lento
Mientras suena la música que se pierde en los tejados.

Cuando veo, en el reflejo de la luz que la acaricia,
tu frente coronada de un morbido atractivo;
donde las luces últimas del sol traen a la aurora,
y, como los de un cuadro, tus fascinantes ojos.

Me digo: ¡que bella es! ¡qué lozania extraña!
El ornado recuerdo, pesada y regia torre,
la corona, y su corazon, prensado como fruta,
y su cuerpo, estan prestos para el mas sabio amor

-Charles Baudalaire-

Project Cascade.

El cerebro del insecto.

El cerebro del insecto es una estructura muy compleja que esta compuesta por cientos de miles de neuronas que estan interconectadas entre si, organizadas y ensambladas en lobulos de antenas, lobulos opticos, cuerpos champiñon y el complejo central.

El complejo central localizado hacia la mitad del protocerebrum (zona frontal) comprende miles de neuronas con una diversidad de neuronas que asciende a las 50 cuyos elementos basicos estan evolutivamente conservados en varias especies.

El intricado entramado de la circuiteria neuronal del complejo central se origina durante el desarrrollo.

Hallazgos sobre los mecanismos celulares y moleculares del complejo central de distintas especies de insectos, como la mosca o el grillo, han convertido al cerebro del insecto en un modelo genetico por excelencia.

Entender el desarrollo molecular y por que este proceso acaba perturbado puede ofrecer pistas para la busqueda de terapias alternativas contra el cancer y los tumores.


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Boyan GS, & Reichert H (2011). Mechanisms for complexity in the brain: generating the insect central complex. Trends in neurosciences PMID: 21397959

Cita del dia.

"Piensa y mira a tu trabajo como si estuviera hecho por tu enemigo; si lo miras admirandolo, estas perdido"

-Samuel Butler-

Ciudades 3.0

De los primeros asentamientos humanos en Eurasia (y la sabana africana), la polis griega (ciudad-estado) a las megaurbes contemporaneas, las ciudades han sido capaces de sacar lo mejor y lo peor del ser humano.

Son el origen de nuestros problemas pero tambien de las soluciones.

Si queremos una teoria unificada de la sostenibilidad que afronte los grandes problemas de la humanidad debemos tener a las ciudades y a la urbanizacion en el centro de nuestra atencion, dice uno de los autores de este articulo que comentamos, el fisico Luis Bettencourt.

En la decada de los 50 del siglo XX solo un 30% de la poblacion era urbanita, hoy mas de la mitad vive en grandes ciudades.

En el mundo desarrollado el 80% es urbanita.

Para el año 2050 se espera que el planeta entero sea urbanita con mas de 2 mil millones de personas dirigiendose a las ciudades en especial en China, India y paises Africanos.

Las ciudades son centros de oportunidades para las personas que buscan escapar de la pobreza pero tambien de miedos y amenazas para quienes quieren criar a sus hijos.

Las ciudades son fuente de creacion de riqueza, creatividad, colaboracion, crecimiento economico pero tambien de polucion, grandes cantidades de basura y enfermedades.

Con estudios llevados a cabo durante decadas en crecimiento urbanistico, desarrollo y planificacion urbana en ciudades de todo el mundo se ha visto que las ciudades exhiben caracteristicas universales.

Las ciudades y la urbanizacion que es una tendencia en aumento cambia el uso de la tierra, el modelo socioeconomico y los patrones de comportamiento de las personas.

Las ciudades ocupan un 0,3% de la tierra total pero un 3% de la tierra cultivable.

La creciente expansion urbana de la humanidad supone un reto para las relaciones de la sociedad con la naturaleza.

Entender cuantitativamente la dinamica de los cambios directos (emisiones de gases y efecto invernadero) e indirectos (psicologia del consumo e interacciones personales) de la organizacion social de los seres humanos en las ciudades y su impacto en la sostenibilidad resulta ser muy necesario, pero hasta ahora ha sido dificil de realizar.

Para entender la dinamica y estructura subyacente a estos patrones de comportamiento de las ciudades se han aplicado relaciones de escala como la ley de Zipf (hay una frecuencia especifica de crecimiento de una ciudad) o la ley de Gibrat (el crecimiento de una ciudad es independiente de su tamaño).

Pero hay muchas relaciones de escala que se pueden aplicar.

A la hora de entender a las ciudades la herramienta conceptual mas importante de los ultimos años ha sido la metafora biologica.

A las ciudades se las ha comparado con organismos biologicos y conceptos como metabolismo urbano o ecosistemas para referirse a los cambios urbanos o al espacio urbano, respectivamente, han permitido entender un poco mas el funcionamiento de las ciudades.

Estas relaciones de escala si se nutren de indicadores urbanos variados como consumo de energia, empleo, demografia, infraestructura, actividad economica, innovacion y comportamiento humano (psicologia) ofrecen resultados empiricos con una gran practicidad.

Uno de ellos (que los autores de este estudio han descubierto) es que el tamaño de las ciudades esta vinculado con todos los indicadores de una forma no-trivial.

Como deciamos mas arriba, las ciudades exhiben caracteristicas universales.

De todas estas caracteristicas, el tamaño parece clave.


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Bettencourt LM, Lobo J, Helbing D, Kühnert C, & West GB (2007). Growth, innovation, scaling, and the pace of life in cities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104 (17), 7301-6 PMID: 17438298

Un poco de Rock an Roll... tampoco viene mal.

Aqui, aqui y aqui.

Cita del dia.

"La principal motivacion de nuestras vidas no es el dinero; es la oportunidad de aprender, crecer en responsabilidades, ayudar a otros, y ser reconocidos por nuestros logros"

-Frederick Herzberg-

Metodos de tortura y maltrato.

Los metodos de torutura y maltrato se dividen tradicionalmente en fisicos y psicologicos.

Aunque todo metodo fisico tiene un aspecto psicologico y muchos de ellos, como el abuso sexual, combina inexorablemente lo fisico con lo psicologico.

De entre los metodos de tortura existentes el abuso sexual es el mas dramatico.

Por abuso sexual se entiende cualquier tipo de violencia contra los organos sexuales, introduccion de objetos por la vagina o recto, violaciones etc.

Hay un tipo de abuso sexual el abuso sexual mental que es especialmente grave en terminos de las repercusiones psicologicas.

En el abuso sexual mental se fuerza a estar desnudo, hay humillacion sexual, amenazas sexuales y ser forzado a ser testigo de una abuso sexual (ver como violan a tu mujer, por ejemplo).

La Inquisicion, el organo eclesiastico permanente destinado a combatir los casos sospechosos de herejia fundado en 1233, es quien institucionalizo muchos de los metodos actuales utilizados para obtener informacion.

Uno de ellos el strappado es uno de los mas comunes.

Consiste en suspender a alguien de las muñecas que estan atadas a la espalda. En pocos minutos hay una perdida de conciencia y dolor severo en los hombros.

Muchos metodos de tortura son tan emocionalmente impactantes y de naturaleza tan extrema que pierden todo tipo de utilidad para conseguir informacion del torturado.

Por eso la validez de la informacion obtenida por metodos de tortura es controvertida.

Toda persona puede llegar a decir cualquier cosa con tal de que dejen de hacerle daño.

Los ingleses son los que modernamente han mejorado los metodos de tortura conviertiendo la tetrada: abuso posicional (ej. colocar al detenido en cuclillas, en una silla de bebe...) encapuchamiento (con bolsas de plastico, sumergir en agua hasta la axfisia...), privacion del sueño y ruido alto; en el manual de referencia para los metodos de tortura usados por democracias (Guantanamo) y regimenes dictatoriales.

Innovacion social a traves de la responsabilidad social corporativa.

El Premio Nobel de la Paz ha matado a Bin Laden.

El hombre mas buscado del planeta, la figura central y fundador de la organizacion terrorista al-Qaeda, ha sido dado muerte por un grupo especial de accion de los EE.UU. el pasado fin de semana a punto de celebrarse el 10º aniversario de los ataques contra las torres gemelas el 11 de septiembre del 2001 en el que 3.000 personas murieron en el peor ataque terrorista que el mundo ha conocido.

Pero la guerra contra el terror no ha terminado y es precipitado cantar victoria.

No es muy estetico que digamos las celebraciones que se han llevado a cabo en varias ciudades americanas con personas ocupando las calles, saltando, brindando...

No solo porque alegrarse de la muerte es inmoral, sino porque la alegria puede ser efimera.

Uno no puede saber si Osama Bin Laden no era mas que una figura de atrezzo, un ideologo, pero no el director de operaciones.

La estructura de al-Qaeda no es centralizada y dispone de grupos de simpatizantes que funcionan autonamemente.

No cabe duda, tal y como apuntan los servicios de inteligencia occidentales y la Interpol, que el riesgo de posibles ataques terroristas se ha incrementado.

Pero, ¿y ahora que? se pregunta medio mundo.

Para empezar Obama (que no Osama, aunque el mito del martir caido puede crecer) contara con una mayor simpatia y popularidad domestica a punto de entrar en la recta final de su mandato.

Se ha ganado enteros.

Ha conseguido eliminar al hombre del saco de los EE.UU. A quien ha preocupado al tio Sam en los ultimos tiempos.

Pero al-Qaeda no esta acabada.

En cuanto al hecho de que el Premio Nobel de la Paz mande ejecutar, se hace dificl de entender intelectualmente. Es contradictorio.

Aunque no te equivoques esta entrada no es critica con Obama.

Desde su toma de posesion de la presidencia de los EE.UU. en el 2009 su camapaña de cambio y esperanza a pesar de las grandes expectativas levantadas casi irrealizables (todo lider se ha de acomodar al tablero de juego de la geopolitica global) si que ha conseguido frutos y logros: reforma del sistema sanitario y seguridad social, leyes de igualdad, recatapultar la economia tras una crisis cuyos origenes eran heredados, acabar con la era Bush de accion unilateral en politica exterior, reducir los impuestos a las familias trabajadoras...

Aunque parezca contradictorio que un Premio Nobel de la Paz ordene el asesinato de alguien, Obama sera juzgado ecuanimamente por la historia. De hecho el ya ha hecho historia.

La paz muchas veces hay que defenderla por muy dificil que sea de entender.

Con el alzamiento popular del mundo arabe es muy posible que el terror encuentre cada vez menos partidarios y el Islam debata internamente modernizarse en una pugna entre dos fuerzas antiteticas: la liderada por los extremistas y fanaticos representada por Bin Laden y los reformistas representada por una poblacion de jovenes arabes cansados de sus dirigentes corruptos.

Sin embargo, aunque al-Qaeda ya no tenga a su lider carismatico, estamos muy lejos del fin del terrorismo internacional.

("Hat Tip" para @IglesiasRicardo por sugerirme indirectamente el titulo de esta entrada)

Cita del dia.

"De todos los infortunios que afligen a la humanidad el mas amargo es que hemos de tener conciencia de mucho y control de nada"

-Herodoto-

Luciano Floridi sobre la cuarta revolucion tecnologica.

Respuestas esteticas automaticas en la apreciacion de arte.

En el campo de estudio de la estetica experimental se emplean varios metodos para estudiar las preferencias esteticas.

Entre estos metodos se encuentran, informes verbales, cuestionarios, "focus groups", entrevistas...

Lo que une a cada uno de estos metodos es que son explicitos y deliberativos, es decir, miden las preferencias esteticas que surgen de un juicio consciente.

De la investigacion actual en ciencia cognitiva sabemos que no solo los procesos conscientes y deliberativos guian el comportamiento, tambien existen procesos implicitos y automaticos.

Dichos procesos impliticos y automaticos de acuerdo con Bargh (1999) son incontrolables, automaticos, inconscientes y eficientes.

Los procesos automaticos se enucentran en multiples dimensiones y dominios psicologicos y practicas y actividades: cognitivo, social, marketing, toma de decisiones...

En este estudio, Mastandrea y colaboradores han examinado si existe una preferencia estetica automatica por ciertos estilos artisticos en la pintura y la arquitectura.

Tomando como metodo el test de asociacion implicita (IAS) prestado de la investigacion en cognicion social midieron los tiempos de reaccion en la asociacion de palabras negativas y/O positivas a estimulos pictoricos (figurativos y/o abstractos) y arquitectonicos (clasicos y/o contemporaneos).

En el primer experimento con 20 participantes que no habian recibido educacion formal en bellas artes o arquitectura se comparo las preferencias esteticas por obras de arte figurativas y abstractas, presentado imagenes de arte figurativo y abstracto en un monitor acompañados por 10 palabras positivas (bello, placentero, elegante...) y 10 palabras negativas (repulsivo, feo, disgustante...).


Vermeer, Street in Delf 1657-1658.

En el segundo experimento se pretendio lo mismo, medir las respuestas esteticas automaticas, pero en este caso a diferentes estilos arquitectonicos, clasico Vs. contemporaneo.


Rossetti, Palazzo dei Diamanti ca. 1493 Ferrarra (Italia)



Ambos experimentos estudiaron las respuestas esteticas automaticas a diferentes estilos artisticos en pintura y arquitectura.

El principal hallazgo fue que en ambos experimentos se asocio mas rapido palabras positivas (bello, placentero, maravilloso...) al arte figurativo en la pintura y al estilo clasico en arquitectura.

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Stefano Mastandrea, Gabriella Bartoli and Giuseppe Carrus (2010). The Automatic Aesthetic Evaluation of Different Art and Architectural Styles Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts