AVALIAÇÃO DAAPRENDIZAGEM DE ILE: UMA REALIDADE QUE CHOCA

A importância da avaliação e os problemas frqüentemente enfrentados por professores em relação à avaliação em sala de aula são a motivação para este artigo. Seu objetivo é chamar a atenção para uma abordagem para o desenvolvimento de instrumentos de avaliação informada pelos resultados de um estudo de caso que analisou 28 testes. A literatura básica que guia a construção de testes válidos e confiáveis é revista para apoiar o argumento de que a avaliação em sala de aula pode ser abordada a partir de uma fundamentação teórica sólida. Este estudo de caso será apresentado assim como sua metodologia para a análise dos dados. Os resultados revelam que, embora uma abordagem comunicativa tenha sido uma das abordagens mais reconhecidas para o ensino de uma segunda língua durante os últimos 25 anos, no que refere à avaliação, a abordagem que ainda parece predominar para a construção de testes na região de Minas Gerais nos lembra do período conhecido como gramáticatradução. Esses resultados perturbadores são apresentados e discutidos neste trabalho, assim como suas implicações para professores e pesquisadores. Palavras-chave: avaliação em sala de aula; textos; inglês como LE

EYE MOVEMENTS AND PUPIL REACTIONS DURING AFFECTIVE PICTURE VIEWING

2004/2005E' stato ipotizzato che le emozioni siano il risultato dell'attivazione di un sistema motivazionale appetitivo o di uno di difesa, evolutisi per promuovere la sopravvivenza dell'individuo e della sua specie. Reazioni linguistiche, comportamentali e psicofisiologiche ad una vasta gamma di stimoli affettivi visivi hanno supportato questo approccio bidimensionale allo studio delle emozioni e delle motivazioni. All'interno di questo quadro teorico, abbiamo indagato l'effetto di immagini a contenuto emotigeno su movimenti oculari e diametro pupillare. Nel primo studio abbiamo presentato fotografie a colori, controbilanciate per valenza, grado di attivazione e composizione percettiva. Abbiamo osservato un maggior numero di movimenti oculari durante immagini a contenuto affettivo e dalla rappresentazione percettiva più' complessa. Inoltre il diametro pupillare era maggiore durante immagini emotigene spiacevoli, ma non rispondeva alla composizione percettiva delle immagini. Per replicare ed approfondire i risultati ottenuti, abbiamo condotto un secondo studio nel quale abbiamo controllato la luminosità' delle immagini e le abbiamo presentate in bianco e nero, allo scopo di escludere eventuali fattori di confound percettivi. I risultati inerenti i movimenti oculari sono stati replicati. Il diametro pupillare era invece maggiore per stimoli emotigeni in generale, sia piacevoli che spiacevoli. Ulteriori test hanno indicato che la risposta pupillare era determinata dal grado di attivazione degli stimoli, piuttosto che dalla loro specifica valenza emotigena. Nel secondo studio abbiamo inoltre presentato stimoli acustici atti a provocare la risposta di trasalimento, allo scopo di testare se la modificazione del diametro pupillare a seguito di questi stimoli era modulata dal contenuto emotigeno delle immagini che venivano al contempo presentate. In aggiunta, il riflesso di trasalimento e' stato investigato registrando la risposta di conduttanza cutanea ed il riflesso elettromiografico di ammiccamento. In linea con precedenti risultati, la risposta di ammiccamento agli stimoli acustici e' apparsa modulata dal contenuto emotigeno delle immagini. Al contrario, ne' la conduttanza cutanea ne' il diametro pupillare hanno risposto agli stimoli acustici in base al contenuto affettivo delle immagini. Per concludere, sia movimenti oculari che diametro pupillare hanno risposto al contenuto emotigeno delle immagini. In generale, gli stimoli emotivamente più' attivanti hanno causato le risposte oculari e pupillari più' consistenti. All'interno del modello motivazionale delle emozioni questi dati suggeriscono che immagini associate a contenuti emotigeni più' fortemente evocativi comportano una maggiore attivazione dei sistemi appetitivo e di difesa.It has been suggested that emotions result from the activation of a defensive and an appetitive motivational system, that evolved to promote the survival of the individual and its specie. Linguistic, behavioral, and psychophysiological reactions to a wide range of visual affective stimuli supported this bi-dimensional approach to emotion and motivation. Within this theoretical framework we investigated eye movements and pupil diameter reactions to affective images. In the first study we presented color pictures balanced across affective valence, arousal, and perceptual composition dimensions. A higher number of ocular movements followed the presentation of emotional and perceptually more complicated images. Moreover, pupil diameter dilated the most during affectively unpleasant stimuli, but it was not influenced by pictures' perceptual composition when emotional images were displayed. To replicate and deepen these results we conducted a second study, displaying stimuli in grayscale and controlling their luminosity in order to rule out possible perceptual confounds. Eye movements showed the same pattern of results. After controlling these physical features, we found that pupil diameter was larger during both appetitive and distasteful compared to neutral stimuli. Additional tests indicated that the most arousing stimuli elicited the greatest pupillary response, regardless their hedonic valence. In this second study we also delivered acoustic startle probes during picture viewing to test whether pupil diameter response to the probes was modulated by the affective state evoked by the foreground image. Startle reflex was further investigated recording skin conductance and electromyographic blink reactions to the probes. In line with previous results, EMG blink was modulated by ongoing valence: Pleasant images evoked significantly smaller blinks than unpleasant images. On the contrary, neither skin conductance nor pupil diameter responses to startle probes were influenced by the ongoing affective state. These results are discussed referring to data emerged thus far within the bi-dimensional approach to emotional reactions. In summary, both eye movements and pupil diameter reacted to the emotionality of pictures. This effect emerged also when we controlled for potential perceptual confounds. In general, we found the largest pupillary and ocular reactions to the most arousing stimuli. Within the motivational model of emotion, these data are interpreted as indicating that picture contents associated to stronger motivational states cause a wider activation of the appetitive an d the defensive motivational system.XVIII Ciclo1976Versione digitalizzata della tesi di dottorato cartacea

Affective pictures and the Open Library of Affective Foods (OLAF): tools to investigate emotions toward food in adults

Recently, several sets of standardized food pictures have been created, supplying both food images and their subjective evaluations. However, to date only the OLAF (Open Library of Affective Foods), a set of food images and ratings we developed in adolescents, has the specific purpose of studying emotions toward food. Moreover, some researchers have argued that food evaluations are not valid across individuals and groups, unless feelings toward food cues are compared with feelings toward intense experiences unrelated to food, that serve as benchmarks. Therefore the OLAF presented here, comprising a set of original food images and a group of standardized highly emotional pictures, is intended to provide valid between-group judgments in adults. Emotional images (erotica, mutilations, and neutrals from the International Affective Picture System/IAPS) additionally ensure that the affective ratings are consistent with emotion research. The OLAF depicts high-calorie sweet and savory foods and low-calorie fruits and vegetables, portraying foods within natural scenes matching the IAPS features. An adult sample evaluated both food and affective pictures in terms of pleasure, arousal, dominance, and food craving, following standardized affective rating procedures. The affective ratings for the emotional pictures corroborated previous findings, thus confirming the reliability of evaluations for the food images. Among the OLAF images, high-calorie sweet and savory foods elicited the greatest pleasure, although they elicited, as expected, less arousal than erotica. The observed patterns were consistent with research on emotions and confirmed the reliability of OLAF evaluations. The OLAF and affective pictures constitute a sound methodology to investigate emotions toward food within a wider motivational framework. The OLAF is freely accessible at digibug.ugr.es

Diritto e Mercato

The purpose of this contribution is to examine the relationship between law and market from a cross-cutting legal perspective. The Authors, after summarising the evolution of this relationship over time, in particular, try to highlight how the logic of the market have determined a process of ‘functionalization’ of the law, according to which the law seems to comply with the with the way the market works and not vice-versa. In this process, the contribution of soft law, as well as new criteria and types of standardization play a key role, which, due to their greater flexibility, seem more suitable to meet the needs of the market, replacing traditional regulatory tools of hard law

Neural processing of food and erotic cues in bulimia nervosa

Objective: Event-related brain potential (ERP) studies have shown that bulimia nervosa (BN) is associated with facilitated processing of disorder-specific stimuli, visible in altered early components during presentation of food cues and bodies varying in size. Less is known about BN and late ERPs, typically less influenced by perceptual features and regarded as more reliable indices of motivational relevance. The purpose of this study was to use the late positive potential (LPP) to investigate the motivational significance of BN-relevant stimuli. Methods: Highly salient stimuli, such as pictures of personal binge foods and images that are pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant (e.g., human attacks) were presented to 24 women with bulimia and 24 healthy women (19.7 ± 2.1 and 20.5 ± 2.6 years, respectively). Pictures of erotic couples, previously shown to prompt the greatest appetitive reactions in healthy women, were used as pleasant cues. Based on BN aversion to body cues, we hypothesized that the motivational significance of erotic cues could be increased in bulimic women. Results: Consistent with the literature, the LPP was modulated by the salience of the pictures (F(2.8,130.7) = 24.6, p < .001). An additional interaction with diagnostic group (F(2.8,130.7) = 2.8, p = .047) indicated that bulimic women showed a larger LPP than healthy controls during pictures displaying binge foods (p = .037) and erotic couples (p = .031). Conclusions: The findings provide objective evidence that BN is characterized by dysregulated emotional processing that is not limited to food cues. The implications are discussed within a transdiagnostic perspective on food-related disorders. Key words: bulimia nervosa, binge food cues, electrophysiology, emotion, erotic cues, late positive potential

Emotional reactivity to binge food and erotic cues in women with bulimia nervosa symptoms

This work was supported by the MECD [grant numbers FPU16/01200], 'Doctoral College "Imaging the Mind" (FWF; W1233-B)', a grant from Junta de Andalucia, Spain [Grant Code P12.SEJ.391], and a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness/MINECO (Grant Code: PSI2013-43777-P).Background: Studies on food cue reactivity have documented that altered responses to high-calorie food are associated with bulimic symptomatology, however, alterations in sexual motivations and behaviors are also associated clinical features in this population, which justify their inclusion as a research target. Here, we study responses to erotic cues—alongside food, neutral and aversive cues—to gain an understanding of specificity to food versus a generalized sensitivity to primary reinforcers. Methods: We recorded peripheral psychophysiological indices –the startle reflex, zygomaticus, and corrugator responses—and self-reported emotional responses (valence, arousal, and dominance) in 75 women completing the Bulimia Test-Revised (BULIT-R). Multiple regression analysis tested whether BULIT-R symptoms were predicted by selfreported and psychophysiological responses to food versus neutral and erotic versus neutral images. Results: The results showed that individuals with higher bulimic symptoms were characterized by potentiated eye blink startle response during binge food (vs. neutral images) and more positive valence ratings during erotic (vs. neutral) cues. Conclusions: The results highlight the negative emotional reactivity of individuals with elevated bulimic symptoms toward food cues, which could be related to the risk of progression to full bulimia nervosa and thereby addressed in prevention efforts. Results also point to the potential role of reactivity to erotic content, at least on a subjective level. Theoretical models of eating disorders should widen their conceptual scope to consider reactivity to a broader spectrum of primary reinforcers, which would have implications for cue exposure-based treatments. Plain English summary: We examined appetitive and aversive cue responses in college women to investigate how bulimic symptoms relate to primary reinforcers such as food and erotic images. We recorded peripheral psychophysiological indices (the startle reflex, zygomaticus, and corrugator responses) and self-reported emotional responses (valence, arousal, and dominance) in 75 college women that were presented with the Spanish version of the Bulimia Test-Revised. The results showed that bulimic symptoms increase both psychophysiological defensiveness toward food cues and subjective pleasure toward erotic cues. The findings suggest a generalized sensitivity to primary reinforcers in the presence of bulimic symptoms, and emphasize the relevance of adopting a wider framework in research and treatment on bulimia nervosa.MECD FPU16/01200Doctoral College "Imaging the Mind" (FWF) W1233-BJunta de Andalucia European Commission P12.SEJ.391Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness/MINECO PSI2013-43777-

Emotional reactivity to binge food and erotic cues in women with bulimia nervosa symptoms

Background: Studies on food cue reactivity have documented that altered responses to high‑calorie food are associated with bulimic symptomatology, however, alterations in sexual motivations and behaviors are also associated clinical features in this population, which justify their inclusion as a research target. Here, we study responses to erotic cues—alongside food, neutral and aversive cues—to gain an understanding of specificity to food versus a generalized sensitivity to primary reinforcers. Methods: We recorded peripheral psychophysiological indices –the startle reflex, zygomaticus, and corrugator responses—and self‑reported emotional responses (valence, arousal, and dominance) in 75 women completing the Bulimia Test‑Revised (BULIT‑R). Multiple regression analysis tested whether BULIT‑R symptoms were predicted by selfreported and psychophysiological responses to food versus neutral and erotic versus neutral images. Results: The results showed that individuals with higher bulimic symptoms were characterized by potentiated eye blink startle response during binge food (vs. neutral images) and more positive valence ratings during erotic (vs. neutral) cues. Conclusions: The results highlight the negative emotional reactivity of individuals with elevated bulimic symptoms toward food cues, which could be related to the risk of progression to full bulimia nervosa and thereby addressed in prevention efforts. Results also point to the potential role of reactivity to erotic content, at least on a subjective level. Theoretical models of eating disorders should widen their conceptual scope to consider reactivity to a broader spectrum of primary reinforcers, which would have implications for cue exposure‑based treatments

Adolescent emotions toward sweet food cues as a function of obesity and risky dieting practices

This study examined whether poor health habits – those associated with a higher risk of developing eating disorders or obesity – modified adolescents’ emotions toward sweet food cues. We aimed to answer the following questions: Is adolescent obesity accompanied by excessive enjoyment of sweets? Or is any risk habit, regardless its stronger association with obesity or disordered eating, associated with less food enjoyment? 552 Spanish adolescents (279 females) viewed pictures of sweets interspersed with emotional images as controls. Participants recorded their feelings of pleasure, activation, control, and food craving while looking at each picture; then answered questions on their general health, food intake, and physical activity; finally, their body mass index was estimated. We performed MANCOVAs on feelings during sweets, including individual risk habits as factors, and sex, age, and hunger as covariates. We performed the same analysis on emotional and neutral images. Results revealed that among risk habits, obesity and unhealthy dieting practices were accompanied by less enjoyment of sweets (mostly less pleasure and less food craving). On the contrary, risk habits had no effect on adolescents’ feelings during emotional stimuli, unrelated to food. Thus, the presence of habits linked to obesity and disordered eating was associated with reduced reward value of sweet food cues, supporting the need to approach both disorders from an integrative perspective. Consistent with recent prevention strategies, the results suggest the potential role of food enjoyment as a protective factor

Application of hydrogen peroxide as an innovative method of treatment for Legionella control in a hospitalwater network

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of hydrogen peroxide (HP) use as a disinfectant in the hospital water network for the control of Legionella spp. colonization. Methods: Following the detection of high levels of Legionella contamination in a 136-bed general hospital water network, an HP treatment of the hot water supply (25 mg/L) was adopted. During a period of 34 months, the effectiveness of HP on Legionella colonization was assessed. Legionella was isolated in accordance with ISO-11731 and identification was carried out by sequencing of the mip gene. Results: Before HP treatment, L. pneumophila sg 2-15 was isolated in all sites with a mean count of 9950±8279 cfu/L. After one-month of HP treatment, we observed the disappearance of L. pneumophila 2-15, however other Legionella species previously not seen were found; Legionella pneumophila 1 was isolated in one out of four sampling sites (2000 cfu/L) and other non-pneumophila species were present in all sites (mean load 3000±2887 cfu/L). Starting from September 2013, HP treatment was modified by adding food-grade polyphosphates, and in the following months, we observed a progressive reduction of the mean load of all species (p < 0.05), resulting in substantial disappearance of Legionella colonization. Conclusion: Hydrogen peroxide demonstrated good efficacy in controlling Legionella. Although in the initial phases of treatment it appeared unable to eliminate all Legionella species, by maintaining HP levels at 25 mg/L and adding food-grade polyphosphates, a progressive and complete control of colonization was obtained

Presence of Legionella spp. in Hot Water Networks of Different Italian Residential Buildings: A Three-Year Survey

Although the European reports highlight an increase in community-acquired Legionnaires' disease cases, the risk of Legionella spp. in private houses is underestimated. In Pisa (Italy) we performed a three-year survey on Legionella presence in 121 buildings with an independent hot water production (IB); 64 buildings with a central hot water production (CB); and 35 buildings with a solar thermal system for hot water production (TB). From all the 220 buildings Legionella spp. was researched in two hot water samples collected either at the recirculation point or on the first floor and on the last floor, while the potable water quality was analysed in three cold water samples collected at the inlet from the aqueduct network, at the exit from the autoclave, and at the most remote tap. Legionella pneumophila sg1, Legionella pneumophila sg2-16, and non-pneumophila Legionella species were detected in 26% of the hot water networks, mostly in CB and TB. In these buildings we detected correlations between the presence of Legionella and the total chlorine concentration decrease and/or the increase of the temperature. Cold water resulted free from microbiological hazards, with the exception of Serratia liquefaciens and Enterobacter cloacae isolated at the exit from two different autoclaves. We observed an increase in total microbial counts at 22 °C and 37 °C between the samples collected at the most remote taps compared to the ones collected at the inlet from the aqueduct. The study highlights a condition of potential risk for susceptible categories of population and supports the need for measures of risk assessment and control