RESUMO Este trabalho se propôs a caracterizar o reconhecimento facial de emoções na população infanto-juvenil. Aplicou-se uma versão digital do Test Pictures of Facial Affects a 147 participantes com idades entre 9 e 18 anos. Os resultados evidenciaram uma associação negativa entre a idade e taxa de acertos para alegria, bem como uma associação negativa para nojo e medo. Identificou-se, ainda, um efeito significativo da idade nos tempos de resposta para todas as emoções, com exceção de medo. Os resultados sugerem que, conforme aumenta a idade, o reconhecimento facial se torna mais rápido. No entanto, isso só se refletiu em uma melhora no reconhecimento facial para nojo e medo. Discute-se a importância dessas emoções para a adolescência.

ABSTRACT This research aimed to characterize the recognition of basic emotions in facial expressions in children and adolescents. A digital adaptation of the Pictures of Facial Affects test was administered to 147 participants of both sexes, between 9 and 18 years old. Results showed a negative association between age and rate of success in recognition of joy, and a positive association between age and rate of success in recognition of disgust and fear. A significant effect of age on the recognition of all emotions except fear was found regarding reaction times. These results suggest that as age increases, emotional recognition is faster. However, this is not reflected in an improvement in emotional recognition. The only cases in which recognition was enhanced with age were disgust and fear. The importance of these emotions for adolescence is discussed.

RESUMEN El trabajo se propuso caracterizar el reconocimiento facial de emociones en población infanto-juvenil. Se administró una adaptación digital del Test Pictures of Facial Affects a 147 participantes de entre 9 y 18 años. Los resultados evidenciaron una asociación negativa entre la edad y la tasa de aciertos para alegría y positiva para asco y miedo. Además, se evidenció un efecto significativo de la edad en los tiempos de respuesta de todas las emociones a excepción del miedo. Los resultados sugieren que a medida que aumenta la edad el reconocimiento emocional es más veloz, sin embargo, esto se refleja en una mejoría en el reconocimiento emocional sólo en asco y miedo. Se discuten la importancia de estas emociones para la adolescencia.

In the current paper we present the psychometric analysis of the Argentinean Psycholinguistic Image Naming Test (PAPDI). This test has two characteristics that makes it different from those currently available in our country: a) the stimuli has been chosen and ordered controlling certain psycholinguistic variables proven to have influence on this task, such as Visual Complexity, Image Agreement, Image Variability, Familiarity, Name Agreement, Age of Acquisition and Frequency of Use, following Argentinean normative data base; and b) semantic cues were elaborated according to semantic feature production norms also from Argentina. We present here the psychometric analysis of its properties. There were analyzed through the study of patients with Alzheimer Disease (n = 25) and focal brain lesions (n = 27) and healthy partici-pants (n = 125). On the first place, in order to study criteria validity a group comparison analysis was carried out. On the one hand Alzheimer Disease patients were compared with healthy participants. On the other hand, two focal brain damaged patients were compared: with and without aphasia. Convergent validity was also studied through the correlation with Boston naming test. In the third place, scores reliability was studied through two methods: internal consistency analysis, for Alzheimer, focal and healthy groups, and test-retest for focal brain damage group. Forth, it was analyzed the capacity to discriminate between patient with and without aphasia through ROC curves analysis. The respective sensitivity and specificity values to detect anomia were established. Fifth, the demographic variables´ influence was analyzed through a regression analysis. Moreover, there were analyzed the effects of two psycholinguistic variables that were taken into account to order the images but were not normalized: Lexical Frequency and Age of Acquisition. Finally, type of errors and response to cues were studied for focal brain damaged patients. The results indicated that the PAPDI presents acceptable psychometric properties to be used as a tool in neuropsychological assessment. It showed evidence of internal and external validity and it was observed scores reliability through internal consistency and test-retest. A suggested cutting point was established to detect anomia. Furthermore a main influence of educational level was reported. There were also detected effects of Lexical Frequency and Age of Acquisition which were observed for Alzheimer and aphasic patients groups. Moreover it was illustrated the response profile analysis for aphasic and nonaphasic focal brain damaged patients regarding a proposed taxonomy of error types. It was also studied the response to semantic and phonological cues and it was observed that both contributed to improve patients´ performance.

En el presente trabajo se detallan los análisis realizados con el fin de estudiar las propiedades psicométricas la Prueba Argentina Psicolingüística de Denominación de Imágenes (PAPDI). La misma cuenta con dos cualidades que representan un valor agregado frente a las pruebas actualmente disponibles en nuestro país: a) los estímulos fueron seleccionados controlando las variables que afectan las etapas de análisis visual y de representación conceptual de la imagen del objeto y se manipularon las variables que afectan la selección y recuperación de la etiqueta léxica, en base a valores normativos de población argentina; y b) las claves semánticas se elaboraron de acuerdo con normas de producción de atributos semánticos también recolectadas en nuestro país. En este trabajo se analizaron las propiedades psicométricas mediante el estudio de pacientes con demencia tipo Alzheimer, con lesiones cerebrales focales y participantes sin patología neurológica. Se buscaron evidencias de validez de criterio mediante el análisis de grupos contrastados y la correlación con el test de Boston. A su vez, se estudió la confiabilidad de las puntuaciones por dos métodos: consistencia interna y test-retest. También se analizó la capacidad de discriminación entre pacientes con y sin anomia mediante curvas ROC. Se estudiaron además los efectos de las variables manipuladas, se realizó un análisis cualitativo de los errores y se examinó el desempeño en función del uso de las claves. Los resultados de los análisis aportan evidencia de que presenta cualidades psicométricas sumamente aceptables para su uso en nuestra población.

In the current paper, first part, we present the design and development of the Argentinean Psycholinguistic Image Naming Test (PAPDI). This test has two characteristics that make it different from those currently available in our country: (a) the stimuli have been selected by controlling the variables that affect the stages of visual analysis and image recognition (Visual Complexity and Image Agreement) and conceptual knowledge (Image Variability and Familiarity) of the drawing of the object; and the variables (Frequency of Use and Age of Acquisition) that affect the stage that seeks to evaluate the test were manipulated: activation, selection and retrieval of the lexical label (phonological form of the name), to generate a gradient of difficulty in the items of the test. However, the variable Naming Agreement, that also affects this stage, was controlled to selected pictures with only one predominating name. The quantification of these factors by means of specific variables is influenced by the cultural and linguistic context from which they were obtained, consequently we took their values from Argentinean normative data base and (b) semantic cues were elaborated according to semantic feature production norms also from Argentina. The phonological cues corresponded to the first syllable of the object's name. Their use allows to generate more precise hypotheses about the location of the deficit and allows to infer relevant information about the cognitive profile. Therefore, the process of construction and development of the test is presented, showing how these particularities were taken into consideration, which variables were controlled and which were manipulated, and their justification. For the design of the test 62, black and white pictures were originally selected from the 400 pictures taken from Cycowicz's set (of frequent use in Experimental Psychology and Neuropsychology). They correspond to concrete concepts from different semantic categories belonging to both living andnon living domains. The criteria used to include those images were that they were moderately complex (in quantity of lines and details), moderately familiar and that they had a mean image variability value. They had to have a medium to high concordance degree between the mental image and its corresponding representation. Besides, these images had to have a naming agreement superior to 80%. To conform the first version of the test, the 62 images selected were ordered according to the variable Age of Acquisition and each image was assigned its corresponding semantic and phonological cues. The former were extracted from the Argentinean norms considering the most relevant features. The second consisted on the word´s first syllable. A pilot study with healthy population (n = 50), of different ages, both sexes and three educational levels, was carried out through which 30 images were selected that constituted the test´s final version. The deleted items were: figures that did not evokea univocal response, that is, they were easily confused with other objects; figures that had more than one acceptable answer although not all were correct; and items that presented a ceiling effect where the scores accumulated in high scores and did not allow to discriminate the participants' ability to select, retrieve and produce a word (only 25 and 30% of the items were retained). In the test´s final version, the items were reordered according to the Age of Acquisition and Frequency values and their difficulty in naming (following the percentage of successes in the spontaneous response). And images that were contain in another naming tests were deleted. The test is short enough for use in the clinic and freely accessible. The second part of the paper presents the psychometric studies that provide evidence of their relevance and validity.

En la primera parte de este trabajo se presenta la construcción y el desarrollo de la Prueba Argentina Psicolingüística de Denominación de Imágenes (PAPDI). La misma tiene dos características que la diferencian de las pruebas actualmente disponibles en nuestro medio: (a) Los estímulos fueron seleccionados controlando las variables que afectan las etapas de análisis visual y reconocimiento de la imagen (Complejidad visual y Concordancia con la imagen) y el conocimiento conceptual (Variabilidad de la Imagen y Familiaridad) del dibujo del objeto también se manipularon las variables (Frecuencia léxica y Edad de adquisición) que afectan la etapa que busca evaluar la prueba: activación, selección y recuperación de la etiqueta léxica. Los índices que operacionalizan a las variables son dependientes de la cultura y de la lengua de dónde se obtengan, por ello se tomaron sus valores de normas argentinas. (b) Las claves semánticas han sido elaboradas cuidadosamente, siguiendo las normas de producción de atributos semánticos también recolectadas en nuestro país, ya que el uso de las mismas permite generar hipótesis más precisas acerca de la localización del déficit. Por lo tanto, se presenta el proceso de construcción y desarrollo de la prueba mostrando cómo se tuvieron en cuenta estas particularidades, cuáles variables han sido controladas y cuáles manipuladas, y su justificación. Por último, los resultados de la prueba piloto permitieron seleccionar 30 ítems y la constitución de la versión final de la prueba, que es lo suficientemente breve para su uso en la clínica y de libre acceso.

Faces, gestures and emotions: differential processing of emotional facial expressions in children and adolescents according to sex. Introduction. Recognition of emotion in facial expressions is the process by which facial features are perceived and analyzed for the identification of the emotional state they denote. While this skill has been extensively studied, data is inconsistent on the topic of gender differences. Objective. To characterize basic emotion recognition in children and adolescents, establishing if there are distinctive profiles based on gender. Method. A digital adaptation of the Test Pictures of Facial Affects was used on a sample consisting of 147 subjects of both sexes, between 9 and 18 years old. Results. Women presented a superior performance in the recognition of expressions of disgust and surprise and lower reaction times in the set of basic emotions, while males stood out in fear recognition. Discussion. This research refreshes the nature vs. nurture debate, considering that processes of socialization, as well as biological and phylogenetic factors, are unavoidable elements to understand this process

Introducción. El reconocimiento de expresiones faciales emocionales consiste en el proceso de percepción y análisis de los rasgos faciales para la identificación del estado emocional que denotan. Aunque esta habilidad ha sido estudiada exhaustivamente, los datos son incongruentes con respecto a las diferencias entre sexos. Objetivo. Caracterizar el reconocimiento de emociones básicas en población infanto-juvenil, determinando si existen perfiles distintivos por sexo. Método. Se administró una adaptación digital del Test Pictures of Facial Affects a 147 participantes de ambos sexos, entre 9 y 18 años. Resultados. Las mujeres presentaron mejor desempeño en el reconocimiento de expresiones de asco y sorpresa, y menores tiempos de reacción en el conjunto de emociones básicas, mientras que los varones se desempeñaron mejor en el reconocimiento del miedo. Discusión. Esta investigación reactualiza el debate nature-nurture, ya que tanto los procesos de socialización como los determinantes biológicos y filogenéticos son elementos ineludibles para comprender este proceso.

Semantic richness is a multidimensional construct that refers to the extent of variability of information associated with the meaning of a word. The Number of Features (NoF) is a dimension of semantic richness that has been shown to have a major influence on lexical and semantic processing. Several studies have shown that concepts with a higher NoF allow faster lexical processing than those with a lower NoF. The current study is the first to use a NoF measure based on norms obtained from a sample of Spanish-speaking participants. The aim was to study the effect of this variable in visual word recognition. The sample included 90 young native Spanish-speaking adults. Three tasks were administered that require access to different lexico-semantic levels: lexical decision, concreteness semantic categorization (concrete/abstract), and domain semantic categorization (living/non-living). A semantic richness effect was found in lexical decision and domain semantic categorization tasks, with greater effect in the latter task. Results are interpreted within the framework of the General Domain Interactive Activation model.

La riqueza semántica es un constructo multidimensional que refleja la extensión de la variabilidad de la información asociada con el significado de una palabra. Una de las dimensiones de este constructo que ha demostrado tener mayor influencia en el procesamiento léxico y semántico es el número de atributos (NdA). Numerosos trabajos están aportando evidencia de que los conceptos que contienen mayor NdA permiten realizar un procesamiento lexical más rápido que los que poseen menor NdA. El presente trabajo es el primero en utilizar una medida de NdA basada en Normas obtenidas de una muestra de hispanoparlantes y se propone estudiar el efecto de esta variable en el reconocimiento visual de palabras. Se trabajó con una muestra de 90 adultos jóvenes universitarios hablantes de español. Se administraron tareas que requieren el acceso a distintos niveles de procesamiento léxico-semántico: decisión léxica, categorización semántica por concreción (concreteness) (concreto / abstracto) y categorización semántica por dominio (vivo / no-vivo). Los resultados indican un efecto de la riqueza semántica en las tareas de decisión léxica y categorización semántica por dominio con mayor peso en esta última. Se realiza una lectura de los resultados en el marco del modelo de activación interactivo de dominio general.

This paper presents the design and preliminary psychometric analysis of a scale to assess taxonomic conceptual relations. The instrument consists of a verbal and a pictorial scale and offers four answer choices. We assessed 43 participants with and without neurological disease over 60 years. A discriminant analysis was conducted and it indicated a sensitivity of 90.9 % for the verbal scale and 91 % for the pictorial and a specificity of 100 % for both scales. Reliability analysis yielded ordinal alpha values of .985 for the verbal scale and .983 for the pictorial scale. In turn, evidences of convergent validity were obtained by correlating with WAIS´ Analogies subtest, Picture sorting from the EMSDA and word-picture matching from the BEA.

En este trabajo se presentan los resultados psicométricos preliminares de un instrumento para evaluar relaciones conceptuales taxonómicas. El instrumento está conformado por una escala verbal y una pictórica y ofrece cuatro opciones de respuesta. Se evaluó a 43 participantes, mayores de 60 años, con y sin patología neurológica. Se realizó una regresión logística binaria que indicó una sensibilidad del 90.9% para la escala verbal y 96.8% para la pictórica y una especificidad del 96.8% para la escala verbal y 100% para la pictórica. El análisis de confiabilidad arrojó valores de alfa ordinales de .99 para la escala verbal y .98 para la escala pictórica. A su vez, se obtuvieron evidencias de validez convergente mediante la correlación con el subtest de Analogías del WAIS, Clasificación de imágenes de la EMSDA y emparejamiento palabra-dibujo de la BEA.

El daño cerebral producto de un accidente cerebrovascular puede alterar el sistema semántico. Esto se ha observado particularmente en pacientes con afasia. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar en dichos pacientes el procesamiento de dos tipos de relaciones conceptuales: taxonómicas y temáticas. Se administraron tareas para evaluar la capacidad de establecer y reconocer las relaciones conceptuales mediante vías de presentación verbal y pictórica. Los resultados indicaron que los pacientes con afasia no fluente tienen mayores dificultades para reconocer las relaciones temáticas; mientras que los afásicos fluentes las tienen en tareas que precisan el reconocimiento y el establecimiento de relaciones taxonómicas. Estos resultados apoyan la disociación de los dos tipos de relaciones conceptuales no solo con respecto a sus modos de procesamiento, sino también en su sustrato neuroanatómico. Además, los resultados avalan la disociación entre un sistema conceptual y uno lingüístico. También muestran las diferencias que se pueden observar en función del tipo de tarea (elección libre vs. forzada).

Post stroke brain damage can affect the semantic system. This happens particularly in aphasic patients. The aim of this paper is to analyze in such patients the processing of two types of conceptual relations: taxonomic and thematic. We administered a series of tasks to assess the ability to establish and recognize conceptual relations by means of verbal and pictorial presentation. The results indicated that patients with non-fluent aphasia have greater difficulty recognizing the thematic relations, whereas fluent aphasics have greater difficulty in tasks requiring the recognition and establishment of taxonomic relationships. These results support the dissociation of both types of conceptual relations not only with respect to their modes of processing but also in its neuroanatomical substrate. In turn, the results pro-vide information regarding the dissociation between a conceptual and a linguistic system. They also show the difference that can be seen according to the type of task (free choice vs. forced choice).

O dano cerebral produto de um Acidente Vascular Cerebral pode produzir alterações do sistema semântico. Isto tem se observado particularmente em pacientes com afasia. O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar em di-tos pacientes o processamento de dois tipos de relações conceituais: taxonômicas e temáticas. Administraram-se uma série de tarefas para avaliar a capacidade de estabelecer e reconhecer as relações conceituais através de vias de apresentação verbal e pictórica. Os resultados indicaram que os pacientes com afasia não fluente têm maiores dificuldades para reconhecer as relações temáticas, enquanto que os afásicos fluentes as têm em tarefas que requerem o reconhecimento e estabelecimento de relações taxonômicas. Estes resultados apoiam a dissociação dos dois tipos de relações conceituais não só com respeito a seus modos de processamento, mas também em seu substrato neuroanatômico. Além disso, os resultados avalizam a dissociação entre um sistema conceitual e um sistema linguístico. Também mostram as diferenças que podem se observar em função do tipo de tarefa (eleição livre vs. Forçada).

La memoria semántica ha sido estudiada desde diversos campos. Los primeros modelos surgieron desde la psicología cognitiva de la mano de la división propuesta por Tulving entre memoria semántica y episódica. En los últimos treinta años se han producido desarrollos en paralelo en los campos de la psicolingüística, la psicología cognitiva y la neuropsicología cognitiva. El presente trabajo se propone revisar los aportes que han surgido desde la neuropsicología al estudio de la memoria semántica, así como presentar un panorama actualizado con los puntos de consenso. En primer lugar se delimita conceptualmente el término "semántica" dentro del campo de la neuropsicología. Luego se plantea una dicotomía que atraviesa los modelos tanto psicológicos como neuropsicológicos acerca de la memoria semántica: la existencia de representaciones modales versus amodales. En tercer lugar se desarrollan los principales modelos teóricos en neuropsicología que surgieron en un intento de explicar los déficits semánticos de categoría específica. Finalmente se revisan los aportes más robustos y los puntos que aún generan ciertos debates.

Semantic memory has been studied from various fields. The first models emerged from cognitive psychology from the hand of the division proposed by Tulving between semantic and episodic memory. Over the past thirty years there have been parallel developments in the fields of psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology and cognitive neuropsychology. The present work is to review the contributions that have emerged within the neuropsychology to the study of semantic memory and to present an updated overview of the points of consensus. First, it is defined the term "semantics" conceptually within the field of neuropsychology. Then, there is a dichotomy that passes through both psychological and neuropsychological models on semantic memory: the existence of modals versus amodal representations. Third, there are developed the main theoretical models in neuropsychology that emerged in an attempt to explain categoryspecific semantic deficits. Finally, more robust contributions and points that still generate some discussion are reviewed.

There are many ways in which semantic organization can be assessed. The methods usually used are useful in many ways but fail to provide the possibility to visualise the configuration of a semantic network corresponding to a certain group of concepts and to make qualitative and quantitative comparisons between different networks. The aim of the current research is to show the application of a semantic distance judgment method to stroke patients. This method is called DISTSEM and it was build on the basis of Spreading Activation Theory (Collins & Loftus, 1975). It allows obtaining the configuration of a semantic network according to the semantic distance judgment realized by the individuals between pairs of concepts of different and equal semantic category given by the examiner. The method has been administered to 30 stroke patients and 30 healthy controls. In the current paper, the response patterns of the patients are analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively and comparisons are made with the production of healthy controls. In the first place, all the matrixes were correlated with an interjudges matrix and the results show that strokepatients obtained significantly lower correlations than controls. In the second place, the matrixes of the stroke patients were correlated with a matrix that represented the mode of the estimations made by the group of healthy subjects. There were found two atypical groups. On the one hand, there was a group of patients that found scarce relations between concepts. On the other hand, there was another group that found a great number of relations between concepts, including relations between concepts that were not from the same semantic category. This data can be interpreted in light of Collins and Loftus theory as a failure of the spreading of the activation. Some patients seem to fail in the searching process within the network, particularly in the control of the spread of the activation necessary to look for the similarities requested in the task. In the first case, there was an inhibition in the activation spreading, which did not allow reaching the intersection node between the presented pair of concepts. In the second case, there was an activation spreading superior than expected for that task, that is to say that it failed the inhibition of the competitors that allow establishing the estimation accurate for the task (Howard, Nickel, Coltheart, & Cole-Virtue, 2006). Furthermore, a Multiple Correspondence Analysis was performed with the justifications used in each election. This analysis showed that there was a group of patients that tended to use atypical justifications in some pairs of concepts. Some of these patients justify their elections using functional justifications (e.g., "They are alike because they are useful for men"), another group used perceptual justifications (e.g., "They are alike because they have legs") and there was a small group that found scarce similarities. This indicates that the justifications used by this group of stroke patients tend to be less precise and less adequate for the context of the task. This inappropriate selection of responses leads to an explanation related to executive functions, which would be responsible for selecting the most accurate response according to the context. To sum up, this paper shows some ways in which data can be visualized and some means to analyse and interpret data resulting from the application of the DISTSEM method.

Se presenta la aplicación de un método de estimación de distancias semánticas, denominado DISTSEM, en pacientes que sufrieron un Accidente Cerebro Vascular (ACV). Este método se basa en la Teoría de Propagación de la Activación (Collins & Loftus, 1975) y permite obtener la configuración de una red de conceptos en función de la estimación de distancias semánticas realizada entre pares de palabras. Se informan los resultados de la administración a 30 pacientes con ACV y a un grupo control de 30 sujetos. Se analizaron cuali y cuantitativamente los patrones hallados en los pacientes y se compararon con los del otro grupo. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto que algunos pacientes luego de sufrir un ACV realizan estimaciones de proximidad entre conceptos, distintas a las esperables de acuerdo al desempeño del grupo control. Las respuestas no fueron homogéneas. Se hallaron sujetos que establecieron escasas asociaciones entre los pares de palabras. También se hallaron sujetos que encontraron más vinculaciones que el grupo control, incluso encontrando similitudes en aquellos pares que no tenían vinculación semántica y que utilizaron justificaciones para realizar sus estimaciones, que no se corresponden con categorías semánticas sino que se basan principalmente en la funcionalidad. La lectura de estos resultados a la luz de la Teoría de Propagación de la Activación indica que dichos pacientes tienden a fallar en el proceso de búsqueda dentro de la red, particularmente en la regulación de la propagación de la activación que es necesaria para realizar la tarea.

The Extended Theory of the Propagation of the Activation is one of the more accepted models to represent the information stored in the long term memory. In this model isolated concepts do not have meaning but they acquire it by their relation with the others. The aim of this paper is to communicate the results of an experience in which it was applied a method to estimate the semantic distances (Distsem) between nine concepts of the subject cognitive psychology in three instances, individual initial, group and individual final. The participants were 225 students from third year of the career of psychology (National University of Mar del Plata) that were taking the course of cognitive psychology. Subjects were asked to estimate the proximity between random pairs of concepts and then it was applied a set of Social Network Analyses routines. The results show that the student´s semantic networks changed positively in the second individual instance thank to group interaction. The conclusions suggest an association between initial knowledge and the influence exerted in the group product and allow describing the evolution of the networks

La Teoría Extendida de la Propagación de la Activación es uno de los modelos más aceptados para representar la información almacenada en la memoria a largo plazo. En dicho modelo los conceptos no poseen significado de manera aislada sino que lo adquieren por su posición en la estructura reticular. El objetivo de este trabajo es comunicar los resultados de la aplicación del método de evaluación de distancias semánticas (Distsem) sobre nueve conceptos de la asignatura psicología cognitiva en tres instancias, individual inicial, grupal e individual final. Participaron 225 estudiantes del 3er año de psicología (UNMDP) que cursaban la asignatura. Se solicitó a los alumnos estimar la proximidad entre pares aleatorizados de dichos conceptos y luego se aplicó un conjunto de procedimientos de análisis de redes sociales. Los resultados mostraron que las redes semánticas de los alumnos evolucionaron favorablemente en la segunda instancia individual gracias a la interacción grupal. Las conclusiones sugieren una fuerte asociación entre conocimiento inicial y la influencia ejercida en el producto grupal y permiten describir la evolución de las redes.