Pasado, presente y posible futuro de la psicología social

In the sixties, most research in social psychology was characterized by showy experiments involving deception. The participants in these experiments were supposed to "passively" react to the situation. Because of their theoretical deficiencies and for ethical reasons as well, these showy experiments gave way increasingly to more cognitive scenarios. Context was abandoned and replaced by heuristics and memory models. This was the wave of social cognition. Here we discuss the strengths and limitations of diferent perspectives attached to the social cognition revolution. We also consider potentially fruitful new avenues of research: pragmatism in social perception studies, connectionist models, and a return to behavior.En los años sesenta, la mayor parte de la investigación realizada en psicología social estuvo caracterizada por experimentos teatrales que implicaban engaño. Se esperaba que los participantes en los experimentos reaccionaran pasivamente a la situación. Debido a sus deficiencias teóricas y a razones éticas, esos experimentos dieron paso, cada vez más a marcos más cognitivos. Se abandonó el contexto y se reemplazó por heurísticos y modelos de memoria. Fue la oleada de la cognición social. En el articulo se discute la fortaleza y las limitaciones de diferentes perspectivas vinculadas a la revolución cognitivo social. También se consideran potenciales y fructíferas nuevas vías de investigación: perspectiva pragmática en estudios de percepción social, modelos conexionistas y una vuelta a la conducta

Integridad: respuesta superadora a los dilemas éticos del hombre de empresa

The various scandals that have shaken the corporate world have shown the need to analyze once again the ethic foundations of the corporation. It is not enough to issue a simple negative judgment; we must learn from failure and reflect on its causes. Why didn’t these companies fulfill theirmissions? What happened to their fundamental values? What happened to the personal convictionsof their general managers, with their vision of the future, with their contributions for the country and the community? Experience shows that it is not enough to merely propose worthy goals, guiding values or policies in favor of the environment and the community. It is necessary that all these propositions originate in the personal convictions of each individual, so that each actionwill have a distinctive, personal mark. Integrity must be found in the center of each individual and corporation. This paper presents integrity as a superior concept amongst the values and virtues which are normally mentioned; it implies that management must adopt the enabling attitudes andabilities they need to carry out their work properly.Los escándalos que han sacudido al mundo empresarial han puesto en evidencia la necesidad devolver a analizar los fundamentos éticos de la empresa. No basta un simple juicio negativo, es preciso reflexionar sobre las causas del derrumbe, porque también es válido aprender de los fracasos.¿Qué falló para que esas empresas no cumplieran con su misión? ¿Qué pasó con los valores fundacionales de cada una de ellas? ¿Dónde fueron a parar las convicciones personales de los directivos, con su visión del futuro, con lo que podían aportarle al país, a la comunidad humana? La experiencia demuestra que no es suficiente proponerse buenas metas, algunos valores-guía, ciertas prácticas favorables al ambiente y a la sociedad. Es necesario que todas estas determinacion es surjan de una condición interior de las personas que permita darle a cada acción un sello distintivo. Se trata de que en el centro de las personas y de las empresas se encuentre la condición de la integridad. Este trabajo presenta la integridad como un concepto superador al de los valores y virtudes a los que se hace referencia habitualmente, por cuanto significa actitudes y capacidades de los directivos para abordar cabalmente su tarea

Does thyroid surgery for Graves' disease improve health-related quality of life?

Abstract PURPOSE: Graves' disease can induce alterations of the psychosocial well-being that negatively influence the overall well-being of patients. Among the current treatments, surgery has limited indications, and its impact on the health-related quality of life has not been well clarified. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of surgery on the quality of life. METHODS: Fifty-seven patients who underwent total thyroidectomy for Graves' disease in our surgical unit between April 2002 and December 2009 were administered a questionnaire concerning four issues: organic alterations and clinical manifestations, neurovegetative system disturbances, impairment of daily activities, psychosocial problems. Patients were retrospectively questioned after thyroidectomy about the presence of these symptoms in both the pre and postoperative periods. RESULTS: There was a significant improvement after surgery in all four areas. Organic manifestations and psychosocial problems had higher average improvements, as did some aspects of the neurovegetative system and difficulties in undertaking daily activities. There were no reports of a worsening of symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Surgery resolved the hyperthyroidism in 100 % of cases, and was associated with a quality of life improvement of about 70 % in the patients. Surgery can therefore provide an immediate and effective resolution of Graves' disease, with benefits in health-related quality of life

The use of haemostatic agents in thyroid surgery: efficacy and further advantages: Collagen-Fibrinogen-Thrombin Patch (CFTP) versus Cellulose Gauze.

Abstract Aim: To assess the efficacy of two widely used topical haemostatic agents: oxidised regenerated cellulose gauze and Collagen-Fibrinogen-Thrombin Patch in patients undergoing total thyroidectomy. Material of study: This was a prospective, comparative, non-randomised study in which consecutive patients undergoing total thyroidectomy for benign disease received standard treatment with no haemostatic agent, cellulose gauze, or CFTP. Main outcome measures were drainage volume 24 hours after surgical procedure and the occurrence of post-operative complications (haematoma, seroma, surgical-site infection). Results: Two hundred seventy-one (271) patients undergoing total thyroidectomy for benign disease: 65 received standard treatment, 60 received cellulose gauze and 146 received CFTP. Seroma was significantly reduced in the CFTP group compared with both the cellulose gauze group (p=0.006) and the standard treatment group (p=0.017). A significant reduction in drainage volume was also observed with CFTP compared with the other two groups (both p<0.001). Drainage volume was also significantly reduced with cellulose gauze versus standard treatment (p<0.001). No septic events were observed after application of CFTP. One hematoma was observed in the non haemostatic group. Conclusions: Both haemostatic agents reduced the amount of sero-hematic fluid during the first 24 hours post-surgery, with CFTP more effective than oxidized cellulose gauze. The use of haemostatic agents may increase the quality of thyroid surgery, improve patient comfort after surgery, and reduce hospital stay

The AGN fuelling/feedback cycle in nearby radio galaxies - III. 3D relative orientations of radio jets and CO discs and their interaction

This is the third paper of a series exploring the multifrequency properties of a sample of eleven nearby low-excitation radio galaxies (LERGs) in the southern sky. We are conducting an extensive study of different galaxy components (stars, dust, warm and cold gas, radio jets) with the aim of better understanding the AGN fuelling/feedback cycle in LERGs. Here, we present new, deep, sub-kpc resolution Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA) data for five sample sources at 10 GHz. Coupling these data with previously acquired Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) CO(2–1) observations and measurements of comparable quality from the literature, we carry out for the first time a full 3D analysis of the relative orientations of jet and disc rotation axes in six FR I LERGs. This analysis shows (albeit with significant uncertainties) that the relative orientation angles span a wide range (≈30○–60○). There is no case where both axes are accurately aligned and there is a marginally significant tendency for jets to avoid the disc plane. Our study also provides further evidence for the presence of a jet-CO disc interaction (already inferred from other observational indicators) in at least one source, NGC 3100. In this case, the limited extent of the radio jets, along with distortions in both the molecular gas and the jet components, suggest that the jets are young, interacting with the surrounding matter and rapidly decelerating

Psychological essentialism and the differential attribution of uniquely human emotions to ingroups and outgroups

According to the psychological essentialism perspective, people tend to explain differences between groups by attributing them different essences. Given a pervasive ethnocentrism, this tendency implies that the human essence will be restricted to the ingroup whereas outgroups will receive a lesser degree of humanity. Therefore, it is argued that people attribute more uniquely human characteristics to the ingroup than to the outgroup. The present article focuses on secondary emotions that constitute such characteristics. Study 1 showed that members of high‐ and low‐status groups attribute more positive secondary emotions to the ingroup than to the outgroup. Study 2 verified that the differential attribution extended also to negative secondary emotions. No exemplars of emotions were provided in Study 3. Instead, participants had to estimate the means of two distributions of numbers that supposedly represented characteristics of the ingroup and of the outgroup. The results of this third experiment illustrated the reluctance to attribute secondary emotions to the outgroup. The findings are discussed from the perspective of psychological essentialism

The emotional side of prejudice: The attribution of secondary emotions to ingroups and outgroups

If people favor their ingroup, are especially concerned with their own group, and attribute different essences to different groups, it follows that their essence must be superior to the essence of other groups. Intelligence, language, and certain emotions are all considered to be distinctive elements of human nature or essence. The role of inteligence and language in discrimination, prejudice, and racism has already been largely investigated, and this article focuses on attributed emotions. Specifically, we investigate the idea that secondary emotions are typically human characteristics, and as such, they should be especially associated with and attributed to the ingroup. Seondary emotions may even be denied to outgroups. These differential associations and attributions of specifically human emotions to ingroups versus outgroups should affect intergroup relations. Results from several initial experiments are summarized that support our reasoning. This emotional approach to prejudice and racism is contrasted with more classic, cognitive perspectives