La Etología del niño y el estudio de los sistemas de comunicación no verbales

Resumen

Al abordar el estudio del comportamiento humano, los etólogos han contribuido a la renovación de los principios y métodos de investigación sobre los sistemas de comunicación en el hombre.

El grupo de investigación de la Universidad de Besançon ha estudiado la aparición, las modificaciones y las funciones de la comunicación no verbal en el niño desde el nacimiento hasta la edad escolar. Durante el período posnatal, el estudio de las interacciones olfativas y acústicas entre la madre y el niño ha demostrado que el comportamiento del lactante se hala modificado desde el tercer día por la percepción del olor materno. Al mismo tiempo el reconocimiento, por la madre, del olor y de la voz del recién nacido sigue una evolución similar.

Más tarde, mediante el estudio de los sistemas de comunicación del niño con sus semejantes se ha demostrado que hacia la edad de doce meses, el niño utiliza un repertorio de «universals» de comportamiento. En el transcurso de segundo año, los niños combinan aquellos «universales» de manera diferente para así establecer un estilo relacional propio o «perfil comportamental». Por último, existe una correlación estrecha entre el «perfil comportamental» y las variaciones fisiológicas del niño.     

Regulación verbal: un tema a debate

Resumen

El objetive que nos hemos propuesto cumplir es el de hacer una presentación completa de la teoría de Luria sobre regulación de la acción a través del habla. Se exponen aquí las ideas de Luria al respecto (Luria, 1969, 1973, 1974) y los principales hallazgos de Luria y sus colaboradores (Tikhomirov, Poljakova, Abramian, Martinoskaya), en el contexto de las investigaciones evolutivas y neuropsicológicas.     

Aggressive communication and informational reception apprehension: The influence of listening anxiety and intellectual inflexibility on trait argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness

Recent training efforts designed to strengthen student argumentation skills and decrease verbally aggressive tendencies have yielded mixed results (Rancer et al., 1997, 2000). Inherent in these efforts is the belief that an individual's use of verbal aggression is implicitly related to law argumentative behavior and a weak system for generating arguments (Infante, 1988). As an extension of this research, we examined the relationships among trait‐like argumentativeness (Infante & Rancer, 1982), trait‐like verbal aggressiveness (Infante & Wigley, 1986) (VA), and Wheeless, Preiss, and Gayle's (1997) construct of informational reception apprehension (IRA). Results indicated that two IRA factors, listening anxiety and intellectual inflexibility, were significant predictors of both aggressive communication traits. Further, both IRA factors accounted for greater variance in trait‐like argumentativeness than in trait‐like VA. Implications of these findings as they relate to Infante's (1987) “argumentative skill deficiency model,” as well as suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Communication practices in Korea

The communication practices of Koreans are explored which are divergent from those employed elsewhere in the world. Distinction in social behavior impinging on communication include Confucianistic ethics, filial piety, age, gender, and hierarchical structure. Verbal and nonverbal differences relate to maintaining harmony in interpersonal relationships. The essay concludes with analyses from six research reports comparing Korean communication styles to those in other cultures.     

Couples' affective orientations and their verbal abusiveness

Four measures of affective orientation: awareness of affect as information, posses‐sion of positive feelings, and expression of positive and negative emotions were employed to examine the relationships between functional males’ and females’ affective orientations and the level of verbal abuse reported in their relationships. Females reported having higher levels of affective awareness on all four measures of affective orientation. Contrary to expectations, males’ and females’ awareness of affect as information to guide interactions and positive feelings were not associated with reported verbal abuse. Males’ and females’ expressions of negative emotions, however, were significantly negatively associated with verbal abuse in the relationships. Males’ positive emotional expressiveness was significantly negatively associated with self‐reported verbal abuse in the relationship. Functional males and females reported experiencing similar levels of verbal abuse within their relationships.     

Desarrollo del lenguaje y control de las acciones: En torno a la regulación verbal

Resumen

En este trabajo nos proponemos revisar la teoría de Luria en torno a la regulación verbal y otros campos afines de la relación lenguaje-pensamiento, según la perspectiva soviética iniciada por Vygotsky. En esta revisión se pretende efectuar un análisis detallado de las variables que están presentes en el proceso de regulación, y explicar cómo éstas se relacionan entre sí. Para alcanzar tal objetivo se incide en los siguientes aspectos: la doble vertiente cognitiva y motivational del habla reguladora; las funciones que cumplen los componentes del habla egocéntrica y/o reguladora (Vygotsky, Wertsch); y, por último, el origen de los factores activadores del habla, procedentes del estadio impulsivo y de los esquemas afectivos y de comunicación. Esta revisión se completa con la sistematización del proceso de regulación en un conjunto, que incluye las variables implicadas y un análisis de las mismas. A partir de ahí se pasa a comprobar los acuerdos y desacuerdos existentes entre las investigaciones soviéticas y occidentales; y a tratar de dar explicación de los resultados contradictorios en base a nuestra sistematización del proceso regulador, por el que, pensamos, es posible predecir la conducta a seguir por el niño en la realización de distintos tipos de tarea.     

The Relative Predictive Contribution and Causal Role of Phoneme Awareness,Rhyme Awareness,and Verbal Short-Term Memory in Reading Skills: A Review

The acknowledgement that educational achievement is highly dependent on successful reading development has led to extensive research on its underlying factors. A strong argument has been made for a causal relationship between reading and phoneme awareness; similarly, causal relations have been suggested for reading with short-term memory and rhyme awareness alike. Here a meta-analysis is presented that seeks to determine spuriousness in these factors' relationships with reading by examining each factor's unique predictive value. The results show that phoneme awareness is the strongest unique predictor. Since the meta-analysis is based on concurrent data, it is unsuited to enlighten time-order relationships, but longitudinal and experimental studies both support the notion of a causal relationship between phoneme awareness and reading, in contrast to rhyme awareness and verbal short-term memory.     

Effects of a verbal and visual feedback system on running technique,perceived exertion and running economy in female novice runners

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a verbal and visual feedback system on running technique, ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), and running economy. Twenty‐two female novice runners were randomly assigned to experimental (n = 11) and control (n = 11) groups. The experimental subjects received verbal and visual feedback concerning their running technique prior to and during each training run. Training involved 15 20‐min treadmill running sessions over a 5‐week period. The control group adhered to the same training routine but did not receive feedback concerning their running technique. High‐speed (100 Hz) photography was used to collect biomechanical data. A submaximal oxygen consumption test and Borg's RPE scale were used to collect data concerning running economy and perceived exertion, respectively. Statistical analysis using ANCOVA revealed that the proposed feedback system had a significant (P < 0.01) effect on the experimental group's running technique by affecting the following desired changes relative to the control group: greater relative stride lengths, shorter support time, greater ankle dorsiflexion during support and greater knee flexion during support and non‐support. There were no significant differences between the groups in submaximal VO₂ or RPE. The results of this study suggest that verbal and visual feedback are effective means of eliciting modifications in running style in female novice runners. The link between modifications in running style and improvements in running economy and perceived exertion remains unclear.     

Mapping two new points on the tennis expertise continuum: Tactical skills of adult advanced beginners and entry-level professionals during competition

Abstract

Research examining problem representations of individuals during task performance is advancing our understanding of information processing and expertise in a variety of sports. However, few studies using similar methodology have been conducted on individuals of various competitive standards in one domain in similar contexts. This study examined problem representations of adult advanced beginners and entry-level professionals accessed during singles tennis competition (n = 12). These groups were selected to represent players with performance skills that were different from those studied previously (i.e. adult beginners and varsity players). Immediate recall and planning interviews were conducted between points during singles tennis competition. Players competed within their respective expertise groups. Verbal reports were transcribed verbatim and concepts were scored according to a model of protocol structure. Several multivariate analyses of variance were conducted on rank scores for measures of concept content and structure using the L-statistic. Entry-level professionals exhibited more advanced problem representations than advanced beginners regardless of interview type. These findings together with those of previous research suggest adaptations in long-term memory profiles with increases in performance skills. For example, beginners lacked action plan and current event profiles because they generated goals and reiterated game events during both interviews. Advanced beginners, who had better performance skills than beginners, exhibited rudimentary action plan profiles and deficient current event profiles because they generated and monitored several detailed actions related to the current context during recall interviews and generated only a few goals during planning interviews. In contrast, varsity players and professionals processed tactical information in the current context and beyond denoting the existence of both action plan and current event profiles. Varsity players, with inferior performance skills than professionals, exhibited fewer and less associated tactical concepts than professionals during both interviews.