Goal Orientation Test: An Objective Behavioral Test

The aim of the present research is to assess goal orientation (mastery and performance) by developing an objective behavioral test. We elaborated the Mastery Performance-Goal Orientation Test, a task that allows assessment of goal orientation along a single dimension. We studied its reliability and validity by conducting two studies. In Study 1 (N = 293 adults), the distribution of scores along the goal orientation variable showed wide variability and high internal consistency. The mastery-oriented participants demonstrated higher levels of category learning, whereas the performance-oriented participants responded in a less discriminative way but achieved higher scores. In Study 2 (N = 41 undergraduate students), the mastery-oriented participants achieved higher scores on a learning task than the performance-oriented subjects. The results also showed that the test had the potential to predict subsequent learning. We conclude that it might be a useful instrument to assess goal orientatio

Time management, fluid intelligence and academic achievement

Time management and fluid intelligence have been studied in relation to academic success. Traditionally, fluid intelligence has been measured using performance tests (also called objective tests) meanwhile time management has been measured using self-reports. However, self-reports can be affected by bias and sometimes participant’s responses are inaccurate. To address this limitation, we employed objective tests to measure both fluid intelligence (using the TRASI test) and time management (using the My Schedule test) to investigate their relation to academic grades. The sample consisted of 120 university students. Results indicate a positive relation between time management and fluid intelligence. Fluid intelligence is positively related to grades in mathematics. Time management is positively related to mathematics, physics and chemistry grades. While the present study does not establish causality, the results complement prior research and underscore the significance of time management and fluid intelligence in the academic contex

Tratamientos conductuales de la miopía: “discriminación borrosa” versus “cambios estructurales en el ojo”

En nuestro estudio se revisan los distintos trabajos sobre la estructura y funcionamiento del ojo y de manera especial, la referida a la miopía y su tratamiento. Los datos disponibles sobre el tratamiento del error refractivo del ojo, muestran la posibilidad de modificar la capacidad de acomodación del cristalino. Como conclusión planteamos las dos hipótesis explicativas posibles de los resultados obtenidos: cambios en los distintos dioptrios del ojo, o cambios en la capacidad de discriminación del mismo, señalándose finalmente, la necesidad de una nueva clasificación de la miopía.A conscious survey previous works and references concerning eye's functioning and structure have been accomplished in our study, stressing myopia and its treatment. Data obtained from treatment of the eye's refractive error show the likelyhood of modifying the capacity of lens acommodation. Two possible hypothesis are specified to explain the observed results: Changes in the different eye's dioptrics and changes in the discrimination capacity of the subject. The need of a new classification of myopia is postuled out

A complementary methodology to assess time management behaviors

Managing time effectively requires making decisions to plan the order of execution of different tasks, so that the maximum gain is achieved in a given period. We designed a test called My Schedule to assess time management, and we report a study of its psychometric properties. Through an online web server, we administered My Schedule along with two other objective tests, one that measures time management behaviors (Planning test) and another that assesses risk-tendency (Betting Dice test) to study convergent and divergent validity. In addition, we administered a self-report that assesses time management (TMBQ). My Schedule showed high reliability and moderate convergence with the Planning test and no significant correlation with the Betting Dice test and the TMBQ. Theoretical and practical implications are discusse

How to foster learning? By limiting the response speed

The aim of this research is to analyse the relevance of speed response and its regulation for learning. In order to avoid the biases of self-reports, we used a computerized objective test, The Category Learning Test (CLT). It measures the student’s actual behaviour while completing a learning task. In the first study (N = 41), we found that university students that achieved a high learning index performed slower than their mates did (t (37) = −4.05, p < .001, η2 = .307). Therefore, acting too fast was associated with poor performance in the task. In the second study (N = 184), we divided the sample into two groups and we applied a speed limit to the intervention group in order to promote learning. The intervention group achieved a higher learning index than the control group (t (129) = −8.36, p < .001, η2 = .298). Hence, the speed limit fostered learning. Therefore, regulation of the speed may be appropriate to foster learnin

Mastery‑Oriented Students Are Less Stubborn

Goal orientation theory identifiesmastery-oriented people as adaptive and highly persistent when pursuing a goal. Performance-oriented people are described as being less persistent, and tend to show more maladaptive responses. However, previous works that have studied persistence have not always found that performance-oriented participants show the least persistence. In addition, it is not easy to conclude if the persistence measured in the studies implies a stubborn response and therefore if it is a maladaptive response. In this work, we classify participants as mastery- or performance-oriented using an objective test and we employ a behavioral task to study persistence defined as stubbornness. When studying response patterns, we found that performance-oriented students were more stubborn. The behavioral analysis performed in this work offers complement and rich information and provides empirical support for the goal orientation theor

Getting it right takes time: latency and performance in secondary school students

The relation between response time and performance in cog-nitive tasks is increasingly evident. In the present study, we analyzed the effect of participants’ spontaneous speed when responding to a mental rotation task. We carried out a data reanalysis from a previous study where a training of 3 practice sessions of 100 trials each was applied. The procedure was applied to a sample of 21 high school students (11 boys, 10 girls). The relation between response time and performance (hits) across the training trials was analyzed. In addition, we carried out a regression analysis of performance on the learn-ing task as a function of response time on that same task, as well as with the score on two previously applied tests of spa-tial intelligence and fluid intelligence. Results showed, (a) a significant relationship (r¼0.624) between response time and hits, (b) that the group of participants with longer response times performed better; (c) that participants’ response time explained most of the variance of their score on the training task in the regression analysis, although spatial and fluid intel-ligence scores improved the prediction of performance. Our results suggest that the reflective style achieves greater per-formance in solving spatial tasks, which could have important practical implications to promote a slower and more reflective style when solving school tasks with spatial componentsMinistry of Science, Innovation and Universities (PID2021-125677OB-I00

Ask yeast how to burn your fats: lessons learned from the metabolic adaptation to salt stress

[EN] Here, we review and update the recent advances in the metabolic control during the adaptive response of budding yeast to hyperosmotic and salt stress, which is one of the best understood signaling events at the molecular level. This environmental stress can be easily applied and hence has been exploited in the past to generate an impressively detailed and comprehensive model of cellular adaptation. It is clear now that this stress modulates a great number of different physiological functions of the cell, which altogether contribute to cellular survival and adaptation. Primary defense mechanisms are the massive induction of stress tolerance genes in the nucleus, the activation of cation transport at the plasma membrane, or the production and intracellular accumulation of osmolytes. At the same time and in a coordinated manner, the cell shuts down the expression of housekeeping genes, delays the progression of the cell cycle, inhibits genomic replication, and modulates translation efficiency to optimize the response and to avoid cellular damage. To this fascinating interplay of cellular functions directly regulated by the stress, we have to add yet another layer of control, which is physiologically relevant for stress tolerance. Salt stress induces an immediate metabolic readjustment, which includes the up-regulation of peroxisomal biomass and activity in a coordinated manner with the reinforcement of mitochondrial respiratory metabolism. Our recent findings are consistent with a model, where salt stress triggers a metabolic shift from fermentation to respiration fueled by the enhanced peroxisomal oxidation of fatty acids. We discuss here the regulatory details of this stress-induced metabolic shift and its possible roles in the context of the previously known adaptive functions.The work of the authors was supported by grants from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (BFU2011- 23326 and BFU2016-75792-R).Pascual-Ahuir Giner, MD.; Manzanares-Estreder, S.; Timón Gómez, A.; Proft ., MH. (2017). Ask yeast how to burn your fats: lessons learned from the metabolic adaptation to salt stress. Current Genetics. 64(1):63-69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00294-017-0724-5S6369641Aguilera J, Prieto JA (2001) The Saccharomyces cerevisiae aldose reductase is implied in the metabolism of methylglyoxal in response to stress conditions. Curr Genet 39:273–283Albertyn J, Hohmann S, Thevelein JM, Prior BA (1994) GPD1, which encodes glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, is essential for growth under osmotic stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and its expression is regulated by the high-osmolarity glycerol response pathway. Mol Cell Biol 14:4135–4144Alepuz PM, Jovanovic A, Reiser V, Ammerer G (2001) Stress-induced map kinase Hog1 is part of transcription activation complexes. Mol Cell 7:767–777Alepuz PM, de Nadal E, Zapater M, Ammerer G, Posas F (2003) Osmostress-induced transcription by Hot1 depends on a Hog1-mediated recruitment of the RNA Pol II. EMBO J 22:2433–2442Ansell R, Granath K, Hohmann S, Thevelein JM, Adler L (1997) The two isoenzymes for yeast NAD+-dependent glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase encoded by GPD1 and GPD2 have distinct roles in osmoadaptation and redox regulation. EMBO J 16:2179–2187Babazadeh R, Lahtvee PJ, Adiels CB, Goksor M, Nielsen JB, Hohmann S (2017) The yeast osmostress response is carbon source dependent. Sci Rep 7:990Bender T, Pena G, Martinou JC (2015) Regulation of mitochondrial pyruvate uptake by alternative pyruvate carrier complexes. EMBO J 34:911–924Berry DB, Gasch AP (2008) Stress-activated genomic expression changes serve a preparative role for impending stress in yeast. Mol Biol Cell 19:4580–4587Bilsland-Marchesan E, Arino J, Saito H, Sunnerhagen P, Posas F (2000) Rck2 kinase is a substrate for the osmotic stress-activated mitogen-activated protein kinase Hog1. Mol Cell Biol 20:3887–3895Brewster JL, Gustin MC (2014) Hog 1: 20 years of discovery and impact. Sci Signal 7:re7Clotet J, Posas F (2007) Control of cell cycle in response to osmostress: lessons from yeast. Methods Enzymol 428:63–76Clotet J, Escote X, Adrover MA, Yaakov G, Gari E, Aldea M, de Nadal E, Posas F (2006) Phosphorylation of Hsl1 by Hog1 leads to a G2 arrest essential for cell survival at high osmolarity. EMBO J 25:2338–2346Cook KE, O’Shea EK (2012) Hog1 controls global reallocation of RNA Pol II upon osmotic shock in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genes Genomes Genetics 2:1129–1136de Nadal E, Posas F (2015) Osmostress-induced gene expression—a model to understand how stress-activated protein kinases (SAPKs) regulate transcription. FEBS J 282:3275–3285de Nadal E, Alepuz PM, Posas F (2002) Dealing with osmostress through MAP kinase activation. EMBO Rep 3:735–740de Nadal E, Casadome L, Posas F (2003) Targeting the MEF2-like transcription factor Smp1 by the stress-activated Hog1 mitogen-activated protein kinase. Mol Cell Biol 23:229–237de Nadal E, Zapater M, Alepuz PM, Sumoy L, Mas G, Posas F (2004) The MAPK Hog1 recruits Rpd3 histone deacetylase to activate osmoresponsive genes. Nature 427:370–374Duch A, de Nadal E, Posas F (2013a) Dealing with transcriptional outbursts during S phase to protect genomic integrity. J Mol Biol 425:4745–4755Duch A, Felipe-Abrio I, Barroso S, Yaakov G, Garcia-Rubio M, Aguilera A, de Nadal E, Posas F (2013b) Coordinated control of replication and transcription by a SAPK protects genomic integrity. Nature 493:116–119Escote X, Zapater M, Clotet J, Posas F (2004) Hog1 mediates cell-cycle arrest in G1 phase by the dual targeting of Sic1. Nat Cell Biol 6:997–1002Ferreira C, van Voorst F, Martins A, Neves L, Oliveira R, Kielland-Brandt MC, Lucas C, Brandt A (2005) A member of the sugar transporter family, Stl1p is the glycerol/H+ symporter in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Biol Cell 16:2068–2076Gonzalez R, Morales P, Tronchoni J, Cordero-Bueso G, Vaudano E, Quiros M, Novo M, Torres-Perez R, Valero E (2016) New genes involved in osmotic stress tolerance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Front Microbiol 7:1545Ho YH, Gasch AP (2015) Exploiting the yeast stress-activated signaling network to inform on stress biology and disease signaling. Curr Genet 61:503–511Hohmann S (2015) An integrated view on a eukaryotic osmoregulation system. Curr Genet 61:373–382Hohmann S, Krantz M, Nordlander B (2007) Yeast osmoregulation. Methods Enzymol 428:29–45Hong SP, Carlson M (2007) Regulation of snf1 protein kinase in response to environmental stress. J Biol Chem 282:16838–16845Li SC, Diakov TT, Rizzo JM, Kane PM (2012) Vacuolar H+-ATPase works in parallel with the HOG pathway to adapt Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells to osmotic stress. Eukaryot Cell 11:282–291Maeta K, Izawa S, Inoue Y (2005) Methylglyoxal, a metabolite derived from glycolysis, functions as a signal initiator of the high osmolarity glycerol-mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade and calcineurin/Crz1-mediated pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Biol Chem 280:253–260Manzanares-Estreder S, Espi-Bardisa J, Alarcon B, Pascual-Ahuir A, Proft M (2017) Multilayered control of peroxisomal activity upon salt stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Microbiol 104:851–868Mao K, Wang K, Zhao M, Xu T, Klionsky DJ (2011) Two MAPK-signaling pathways are required for mitophagy in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Cell Biol 193:755–767Martinez-Montanes F, Pascual-Ahuir A, Proft M (2010) Toward a genomic view of the gene expression program regulated by osmostress in yeast. OMICS 14:619–627Martinez-Pastor M, Proft M, Pascual-Ahuir A (2010) Adaptive changes of the yeast mitochondrial proteome in response to salt stress. OMICS 14:541–552Mas G, de Nadal E, Dechant R, Rodriguez de la Concepcion ML, Logie C, Jimeno-Gonzalez S, Chavez S, Ammerer G, Posas F (2009) Recruitment of a chromatin remodelling complex by the Hog1 MAP kinase to stress genes. EMBO J 28:326–336Mettetal JT, Muzzey D, Gomez-Uribe C, van Oudenaarden A (2008) The frequency dependence of osmo-adaptation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Science 319:482–484Molin C, Jauhiainen A, Warringer J, Nerman O, Sunnerhagen P (2009) mRNA stability changes precede changes in steady-state mRNA amounts during hyperosmotic stress. RNA 15:600–614Nadal-Ribelles M, Conde N, Flores O, Gonzalez-Vallinas J, Eyras E, Orozco M, de Nadal E, Posas F (2012) Hog1 bypasses stress-mediated down-regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II redistribution and chromatin remodeling. Genome Biol 13:R106Pastor MM, Proft M, Pascual-Ahuir A (2009) Mitochondrial function is an inducible determinant of osmotic stress adaptation in yeast. J Biol Chem 284:30307–30317Petelenz-Kurdziel E, Kuehn C, Nordlander B, Klein D, Hong KK, Jacobson T, Dahl P, Schaber J, Nielsen J, Hohmann S, Klipp E (2013) Quantitative analysis of glycerol accumulation, glycolysis and growth under hyper osmotic stress. PLoS Comput Biol 9:e1003084Posas F, Chambers JR, Heyman JA, Hoeffler JP, de Nadal E, Arino J (2000) The transcriptional response of yeast to saline stress. J Biol Chem 275:17249–17255Proft M, Struhl K (2002) Hog1 kinase converts the Sko1-Cyc8-Tup1 repressor complex into an activator that recruits SAGA and SWI/SNF in response to osmotic stress. Mol Cell 9:1307–1317Proft M, Struhl K (2004) MAP kinase-mediated stress relief that precedes and regulates the timing of transcriptional induction. Cell 118:351–361Proft M, Pascual-Ahuir A, de Nadal E, Arino J, Serrano R, Posas F (2001) Regulation of the Sko1 transcriptional repressor by the Hog1 MAP kinase in response to osmotic stress. EMBO J 20:1123–1133Proft M, Mas G, de Nadal E, Vendrell A, Noriega N, Struhl K, Posas F (2006) The stress-activated Hog1 kinase is a selective transcriptional elongation factor for genes responding to osmotic stress. Mol Cell 23:241–250Ratnakumar S, Young ET (2010) Snf1 dependence of peroxisomal gene expression is mediated by Adr1. J Biol Chem 285:10703–10714Regot S, de Nadal E, Rodriguez-Navarro S, Gonzalez-Novo A, Perez-Fernandez J, Gadal O, Seisenbacher G, Ammerer G, Posas F (2013) The Hog1 stress-activated protein kinase targets nucleoporins to control mRNA export upon stress. J Biol Chem 288:17384–17398Rep M, Krantz M, Thevelein JM, Hohmann S (2000) The transcriptional response of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to osmotic shock. Hot1p and Msn2p/Msn4p are required for the induction of subsets of high osmolarity glycerol pathway-dependent genes. J Biol Chem 275:8290–8300Rep M, Proft M, Remize F, Tamas M, Serrano R, Thevelein JM, Hohmann S (2001) The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sko1p transcription factor mediates HOG pathway-dependent osmotic regulation of a set of genes encoding enzymes implicated in protection from oxidative damage. Mol Microbiol 40:1067–1083Rienzo A, Poveda-Huertes D, Aydin S, Buchler NE, Pascual-Ahuir A, Proft M (2015) Different mechanisms confer gradual control and memory at nutrient- and stress-regulated genes in yeast. Mol Cell Biol 35:3669–3683Romero-Santacreu L, Moreno J, Perez-Ortin JE, Alepuz P (2009) Specific and global regulation of mRNA stability during osmotic stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. RNA 15:1110–1120Roy A, Hashmi S, Li Z, Dement AD, Cho KH, Kim JH (2016) The glucose metabolite methylglyoxal inhibits expression of the glucose transporter genes by inactivating the cell surface glucose sensors Rgt2 and Snf3 in yeast. Mol Biol Cell 27:862–871Ruiz-Roig C, Noriega N, Duch A, Posas F, de Nadal E (2012) The Hog1 SAPK controls the Rtg1/Rtg3 transcriptional complex activity by multiple regulatory mechanisms. Mol Biol Cell 23:4286–4296Saito H, Posas F (2012) Response to hyperosmotic stress. Genetics 192:289–318Sekito T, Thornton J, Butow RA (2000) Mitochondria-to-nuclear signaling is regulated by the subcellular localization of the transcription factors Rtg1p and Rtg3p. Mol Biol Cell 11:2103–2115Silva RD, Sotoca R, Johansson B, Ludovico P, Sansonetty F, Silva MT, Peinado JM, Corte-Real M (2005) Hyperosmotic stress induces metacaspase- and mitochondria-dependent apoptosis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mol Microbiol 58:824–834Sole C, Nadal-Ribelles M, de Nadal E, Posas F (2015) A novel role for lncRNAs in cell cycle control during stress adaptation. Curr Genet 61:299–308Tamas MJ, Luyten K, Sutherland FC, Hernandez A, Albertyn J, Valadi H, Li H, Prior BA, Kilian SG, Ramos J, Gustafsson L, Thevelein JM, Hohmann S (1999) Fps1p controls the accumulation and release of the compatible solute glycerol in yeast osmoregulation. Mol Microbiol 31:1087–1104Teige M, Scheikl E, Reiser V, Ruis H, Ammerer G (2001) Rck2, a member of the calmodulin-protein kinase family, links protein synthesis to high osmolarity MAP kinase signaling in budding yeast. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:5625–5630Timon-Gomez A, Proft M, Pascual-Ahuir A (2013) Differential regulation of mitochondrial pyruvate carrier genes modulates respiratory capacity and stress tolerance in yeast. PLoS One 8:e79405Vanacloig-Pedros E, Bets-Plasencia C, Pascual-Ahuir A, Proft M (2015) Coordinated gene regulation in the initial phase of salt stress adaptation. J Biol Chem 290:10163–10175Warringer J, Hult M, Regot S, Posas F, Sunnerhagen P (2010) The HOG pathway dictates the short-term translational response after hyperosmotic shock. Mol Biol Cell 21:3080–3092Wei CJ, Tanner RD, Malaney GW (1982) Effect of sodium chloride on bakers’ yeast growing in gelatin. Appl Environ Microbiol 43:757–763Westfall PJ, Patterson JC, Chen RE, Thorner J (2008) Stress resistance and signal fidelity independent of nuclear MAPK function. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105:12212–12217Ye T, Garcia-Salcedo R, Ramos J, Hohmann S (2006) Gis4, a new component of the ion homeostasis system in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Eukaryot Cell 5:1611–1621Yoshida A, Wei D, Nomura W, Izawa S, Inoue Y (2012) Reduction of glucose uptake through inhibition of hexose transporters and enhancement of their endocytosis by methylglyoxal in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Biol Chem 287:701–71

Behavioral variability and consistency: Experimental bases for a psychological theory of personality (Variabilidad y Consistencia individual: Bases experimentales de la teoría de la personalidad)

The aim of this paper is to explain how and why individual differences emerge despite accounting for biological andsocio-cultural differences, why people behave differently in the same context, and how behavior becomes stable and consistent. We review the experimental work on variability and stereotypy. In animal research, in contrast to expectations, there is interindividual variability in behavior under extreme environmental control. In addition, intraindividual consistency (stereotypy) is detected in animals whose behavior is not fully adjusted to the contingencies. The differences in what is learned (the kind of contingency relations) among laboratory animals can be explained by: a) the differences between effective contingencies and programmed contingencies, and b) the relationship between exploration and rate of reinforcement. In experimental studies in humans, learning differences in identical environments depend, further to the above, onwhat was previously learned by the individual (experience and education) and the thoroughness and internal consistency of task instructions. From these concepts, we propose a psychological theory of personality that explains: (a) how we learn different relationships from the same experience; (b) how behavioral individual differences emerge (variability); and (c)why each individual’s behavior becomes stable and consistent

The U.A.M. model of the genesis and development of myopia

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo plantear un modelo de génesis, mantenimiento y aumento de la miopía desarrollado en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid con el fin de explicar las condiciones que permiten la aparición de la miopía hasta el momento en que es evidente la visión borrosa de lejos y se diagnostica y corrige el exceso refractivo y las condiciones posteriores que agravan el incipiente error refractivo. En primer lugar se hace una revisión de los diversos estudios que han investigado las variables que potencialmente están relacionadas con la aparición y desarrollo de la miopía y las teorías que se han desarrollado para explicarla. A continuación se presenta el modelo desarrollado por el autor desde la perspectiva de la Psicología de la Salud, que permite señalar las características de la población de riesgo y las actuaciones preventivas que se pueden derivar. Por último se propone el inicio de dos líneas de investigación paralelas, la primera encaminada al estudio epidemiológico continuado de una población de riesgo y de no riesgo de acuerdo con lo señalado en el modelo, que nos permitiera estudios transversales y longitudinales y una segunda trataría de estudiar la eficacia de las normas preventivas predichas iniciando el proceso con intervenciones preventivas individuales, para posteriormente probar con intervenciones preventivas comunitarias.The purpose of this paper is to suggest a model of the genesis, maintenance and increase of myopia developed in the Autonoma University of Madrid in order to explain the conditions allowing myopia to appear, all the way up to the stage at which blurry distance vision becomes obvious and the refractive excess is diagnosed and corrected, and subsequent conditions which worsen the incipient refractive error. First we will review the different studies into the variables which may potentially be related with the appearance and development of myopia and the theories developed to explain it. Next we will present the model developed by the author from the Health Psychology perspective, which allows us to pinpoint the characteristics of the population at risk and the resulting preventive action. Lastly we will propose two parallel lines of research, the first aimed at the continued epidemiological study of a population at risk and one not at risk in accordance with the model, to allow us to put together transversal and longitudinal studies, and the second in order to try and study the effectiveness of the aforesaid preventive standards, initiating the process with individual preventive intervention and later testing with community-wide preventive intervention