Conducta antisocial adolescente bajo un enfoque integrador de tres teorías criminológicas

In order to test the theories of Differential Association, Social Control and General Crime, the relationship between antisocial behavior and key constructs of the theories was analyzed, namely, “favourable definitions” (differential association), “attachment” (social control) and “self-control”. The propositional integrated side-by-side approach of Tibbets and Hemmens (2010) was used to determine the weight of said constructs in the prediction of antisocial behavior with a binary logistic regression model entering the explanatory variables in blocks. Sociodemographic variables such as sex and the size of the city were included. A total of 2,395 adolescents were surveyed in schools located in three cities (large, medium and small) in Venezuela. The results show that, of the three variables derived from differential association theory, the favourable definitions of friends towards participation in criminal acts served as predictors of antisocial behavior at the individual level. Of the ten variables derived from social control theory, attachment to school and participation in activities without family supervision predict antisocial behaviour. Self-control (from the general theory of crime) also predicts antisocial behavior

El viaje desde los cuestionarios Likert a los cuestionarios de elección forzosa: evidencia de la invarianza de los parámetros de los ítems

Multidimensional forced-choice questionnaires are widely regarded in the personnel selection literature for their ability to control response biases. Recently developed IRT models usually rely on the assumption that item parameters remain invariant when they are paired in forced-choice blocks, without giving it much consideration. This study aims to test this assumption empirically on the MUPP-2PL model, comparing the parameter estimates of the forced-choice format to their graded-scale equivalent on a Big Five personality instrument. The assumption was found to hold reasonably well, especially for the discrimination parameters. In the cases in which it was violated, we briefly discuss the likely factors that may lead to non-invariance. We conclude discussing the practical implications of the results and providing a few guidelines for the design of forced-choice questionnaires based on the invariance assumptionLos cuestionarios de elección forzosa multidimensionales son bastante apreciados en la literatura de selección de personal por su capacidad para controlar los sesgos de respuesta. Los modelos de TRI desarrollados recientemente normalmente asumen que los parámetros de los ítems permanecen invariantes cuando se emparejan en bloques de elección forzosa, sin dedicarle mucha atención. Este estudio tiene como objetivo poner a prueba empíricamente este supuesto en el modelo MUPP-2PL, comparando las estimaciones de los parámetros del formato de elección forzosa con su equivalente en escala graduada, en un instrumento de personalidad Big Five. Se encontró que el supuesto se cumplía razonablemente bien, especialmente para los parámetros de discriminación. En los casos en los que no se cumplió se discuten brevemente los posibles factores que pueden dar lugar a no invarianza. Concluimos discutiendo las implicaciones prácticas de los resultados y proponiendo algunas pautas para el diseño de cuestionarios de elección forzosa basados en el supuesto de invarianzaThis research is funded by the Spanish government’s Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, projects PSI 2015-65557-P and PSI 2017-85022-

Autocontrol y conducta desviada: Una exploración con datos Venezolanos. (Self control and deviant behaviour: An exploration with Venezuelan data)

Gottfredson and Hirschi’s self-control theory is tested with adolescent Venezuelan students (n = 2354), examining the relationship between deviant behavior, self-control, age, sex, socioeconomic status, and size of settlement. The hypothesis that “low self-control increases the probability of individual and group deviance” is supported, except for drug-related behaviors. Males with low self-control show a greater probability of engaging in individual and group deviant behaviors

Two-state theory of nonlinear Stochastic Resonance

An amenable, analytical two-state description of the nonlinear population dynamics of a noisy bistable system driven by a rectangular subthreshold signal is put forward. Explicit expressions for the driven population dynamics, the correlation function (its coherent and incoherent part), the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the Stochastic Resonance (SR) gain are obtained. Within a suitably chosen range of parameter values this reduced description yields anomalous SR-gains exceeding unity and, simultaneously, gives rise to a non-monotonic behavior of the SNR vs. the noise strength. The analytical results agree well with those obtained from numerical solutions of the Langevin equation.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Stochastic synchronization in globally coupled phase oscillators

Cooperative effects of periodic force and noise in globally Cooperative effects of periodic force and noise in globally coupled systems are studied using a nonlinear diffusion equation for the number density. The amplitude of the order parameter oscillation is enhanced in an intermediate range of noise strength for a globally coupled bistable system, and the order parameter oscillation is entrained to the external periodic force in an intermediate range of noise strength. These enhancement phenomena of the response of the order parameter in the deterministic equations are interpreted as stochastic resonance and stochastic synchronization in globally coupled systems.Comment: 5 figure

Chronic Elevation of Liver Enzymes in Acute Intermittent Porphyria Initially Misdiagnosed as Autoimmune Hepatitis

Autoimmune hepatitis is a disease characterized by an elevation of liver enzymes, as well as specific autoantibodies. It is more common in women than men. We describe a 32-year-old woman with elevated transaminases, autoantibodies, and a liver biopsy result suggestive of autoimmune hepatitis. The indicated treatment was administered without showing a satisfactory response. The patient had a family history of acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) so we decided to begin treatment with hematin, achieving a complete remission of the symptoms. Acute intermittent porphyria is a rare condition characterized by neurovisceral symptoms, abdominal pain being the most common of them. The disease has a higher prevalence among young women and certain European countries such as Sweden, Great Britain, and Spain. A correct diagnosis and prompt treatment are essential because patients affected by AIP must have a strict followup due to the fatal outcome of the outbreaks

Estudio del pensamiento funcional de estudiantes de educación primaria

El objetivo de esta investigación es identificar evidencias de pensamiento funcional en estudiantes de 3º curso de Primaria, en el marco de la propuesta de innovación curricular y línea de investigación conocida como Early-Algebra (Molina, 2009). Previo a la toma de datos se realizó un análisis de los antecedentes en el tema del álgebra en relación con el pensamiento funcional, concluyendo que este tipo de pensamiento incluye la relación entre cantidades que pueden expresarse en palabras, símbolos, tablas o gráficos, y el razonamiento con estas diversas representaciones para analizar el comportamiento de la función. El pensamiento funcional se trabaja, habitualmente, en etapas posteriores a la educación primaria, por lo que actualmente no existen suficientes estudios realizados sobre su introducción en cursos tempranos