Brain Games: Move Objects With Your Mind To Find Inner Calm?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/01/21/263078049/brain-games-move-objects-with-your-mind-to-find-inner-calm

Fallece Charles Spielberger, referente mundial de la psicología

¨El pasado martes 11 de junio, falleció Charles Donald Spielberger, destacado psicólogo clínico, mundialmente conocido por su trabajo sobre personalidad y salud.

Licenciado en Química por el Instituto de Tecnología de Georgia, y licenciado y doctorado en Psicología por la Universidad de Illinois, Spielberger desarrolló su actividad académica como profesor de psicología en la Universidad de Vanderbilt (1962-1967) y en la Universidad Estatal de Florida (1967-1972).

Fue presidente de la APA (American Psychological Association–Asociación Americana de Psicología), así como Investigador Distinguido y Miembro Emérito del Departamento de Psicología de la Universidad del Sur de Florida -University of South Florida, USF- (EE.UU.), donde destacó, entre otras cosas, por su apoyo a los estudiantes de postgrado a través de donaciones destinadas a becas.

En el año 2005, recibió el título de Doctor honoris causa por la Universidad de San Marcos.

Su trayectoria profesional, tanto en el campo de la investigación como aplicado, ha sido internacionalmente reconocida, especialmente en el área de la Psicología de la Salud, en la cual es considerado mundialmente como uno de los máximos representantes. En este ámbito, destacó por sus importantes investigaciones sobre el estrés, área en la que creó algunas pruebas psicológicas para su evaluación, como el Inventario de Rasgos de Ansiedad (State/Trait Anxiety Intentory –STAI-).

En reconocimiento a su trabajo, Spielberger recibió numerosos premios, entre los que se incluye el "Premio por contribuciones distinguidas a la Promoción Internacional de la Psicología" otorgado por la APA y la "Medalla de Oro por su trayectoria en la aplicación de la psicología", concedida por la Fundación Americana de Psicología, entre otros.

Tras su retiro oficial, continuó como investigador activo, dirigiendo el Centro de Investigación en Medicina Conductual y Psicología de la Salud de la USF.¨

www.infocop.es

Nuevos estudios sobre el funcionamiento del cerebro.

El pasado martes, 2 de abril, el Gobierno de EE.UU. hizo pública la puesta en marcha del proyecto BRAIN (the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative (Investigación Cerebral mediante Neurotecnologías Innovadoras de Vanguardia), un estudio cuyo objetivo es lograr un mapa completodel cerebro humano que permita entender su funcionamiento.

Esta ambiciosa iniciativa, dotada con una asignación de más de 100 millones de dólares anuales, contará con la colaboración de un equipo multidisciplinar, en el que participarán también psicólogos.

Uno de los impulsores de este estudio, ha sido Rafael Yuste, científico español, profesor de ciencias biológicas y neurociencias de la Universidad de Columbia (Nueva York) y creador del proyecto piloto Brain Activity Map. Tal y como ha señalado este investigador, la iniciativa pretende “desarrollar técnicas para mapear la actividad completa de los circuitos neuronales".

El interés hacia el avance científico en este campo, está suponiendo una de las prioridades también en Europa, donde el pasado mes de enero, la Unión Europea (UE) anunció la concesión de 1.000 millones de euros, para una investigación destinada a crear un modelo computacional del cerebro.

Este proyecto europeo, denominado The Human Brain Project, contará con la colaboración de al menos 15 países de la UE, entre los que se encuentra España, y recopilará todos los datos existentes sobre investigaciones previas, realizadas desde el ámbito de las neurociencias, de los sistemas computacionales y, especialmente desde la psicología (teorías de la mente, del desarrollo del lenguaje o de las emociones, entre otras).

Tanto EE.UU. como la UE, dejan claro con sendos proyectos, su disposición a seguir avanzando en el estudio de un campo en el que aún quedan muchos interrogantes por resolver, tales como los mecanismos que subyacen al comportamiento normal y patológico, o la manera en que el cerebro influye y está influenciado por la conducta, los procesos cognitivos y el entorno.

Fuente: Asociación Americana de Psicología

http://www.infocop.es/view_article.asp?id=4510&cat=57

APA- Violence Against Teachers Spurs Urgent Call to Action (Recent Press Releases)

¨Violence Against Teachers Spurs Urgent Call to Action

Expert recommendations address alarming yet often overlooked issue

WASHINGTON—Teachers across the United States report alarmingly high rates of personally experiencing student violence and harassment while at school, according to an article published by the American Psychological Association that presents comprehensive recommendations to make schools safer for school personnel as well as students.

“Understanding and Preventing Violence Directed Against Teachers: Recommendations for a National Research, Practice, and Policy Agenda,” was published online Jan. 7 in the APA’s flagship journal, American Psychologist^®.

“Violence directed against teachers is a national crisis with far-reaching implications and deserves inclusion in the school violence equation,” said the article’s lead author, Dorothy Espelage, PhD, of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “We are proposing that any comprehensive examination of school violence must consider the complex dynamics that affect teachers and other school personnel as well as students, parents and the entire community.” Espelage was chair of APA’s Task Force on Classroom Violence Directed Against Teachers, which issued a report in 2011.

Educators’ perceived threats and experiencing violence at school are important components of a problem that has received surprisingly limited attention, the article states. To date, only 14 published studies have examined violence directed at teachers in schools, according to the authors. Five of the studies involved a total of 3,627 teachers in the United States and nine were conducted internationally with 9,720 teachers.

The APA task force conducted one of the national studies, which found that 80 percent of the teachers surveyed reported being victimized at school at least once in the then-current or prior year. Of those, 94 percent said they had been victimized by students — 44 percent reported being physically attacked and 72 percent reported harassment, while 50 percent said they experienced theft or property damage at school. The findings were based on survey responses from almost 3,000 K-12 teachers in 48 states.

The article provides detailed recommendations aimed at preventing violence against teachers, including the creation of a national registry maintained by the U.S. Department of Education to track such incidents. While local and state school agencies keep general records of violent acts at schools, a national agency with the authority to require reporting is necessary to estimate the magnitude of the problem more accurately and develop targeted prevention, according to the article. The authors recommend avoiding collection of students’ or teachers’ names to encourage accurate reporting, to maintain individual privacy and so that the registry can be made available to the public and researchers. 

The article also suggests implementing state-by-state consistency in licensure requirements so that all educators are required to master classroom management training before they are licensed to teach.

“Because professional training typically does not prepare teachers to deal with violence at school, most lack the skills to prevent challenging behavior from occurring and to respond effectively when it does occur. As such, many teachers have been shocked by frequent violent occurrences in our nation’s schools during recent years and the far-reaching implications of violence,” Espelage said.

To address student behavior that can lead to violence against teachers, the recommendations include methods tailored to individual students, focusing on reasons why problem behaviors occur rather than on ways to stop the behavior once it happens.

Psychologists can promote collaboration among community-based organizations, such as after-school programs, social service agencies and neighborhood associations, to create more integrated efforts that provide prevention, early identification, intervention and treatment for a wide range of behavioral and academic problems among youth, the article states.

“Professional psychologists can play a critical role in helping prevent violence against teachers, which in turn can make school a safer place for all concerned,” Espelage said. “This is a significant yet under-investigated problem in the United States that has profound implications for schooling, teacher retention and over all student performance.”

Article: “Understanding and Preventing Violence Directed Against Teachers: Recommendations for a National Research, Practice, and Policy Agenda,” American Psychologist, online Jan. 7; Dorothy Espelage, PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Eric M. Anderman, PhD, Ohio State University; Veda Evanell Brown, PhD, National Alliance of Black School Educators; Abraham Jones, PhD, National Education Association; Kathleen Lynne Lane, PhD, University of Kansas; Susan D. McMahon, PhD, DePaul University; Linda A. Reddy, PhD, Rutgers University; and Cecil R. Reynolds, PhD, Texas A&M University. (Authors are listed in alphabetical order after the lead author.)

Dorothy Espelage, PhD, can be contacted by email or by phone at (217) 766-6413.

The American Psychological Association, in Washington, D.C., is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 137,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people's lives.¨

http://www.apa.org/