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  • Psychometric properties of a portuguese version of the SOCRATES 8D: a study with a sample of heroin addicts in treatment
    Publication . Janeiro, Luís; Faísca, Luís; Lopez Miguel, Maria José
    In the present study, we adapted the Stage of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES, version 8D) to the European Portuguese and we examined its factor structure and psychometric properties. The scale was applied to a sample of 100 adults, mostly heroin addicts, in outpatient or inpatient treatment. A Principal Component Analysis applied to the data revealed three dimensions - Problem Recognition, Taking Steps and Ambivalence -, corresponding almost exactly to the factor structure originally proposed by Miller and Tonigan (1996). The reliability indices for SOCRATES three subscales (internal consistency and temporal stability) were adequate. External validity study showed that the subscales differentiated treatment contexts and were associated to the participants' evaluation regarding the treatment expectations and the technical team. Thus, the Portuguese version of SOCRATES 8D seems to possess the proper psychometric properties to evaluate drug addicts' treatment motivation.
  • Approaches to study in higher education portuguese students: a portuguese version of the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST)
    Publication . Valadas, Sandra T.; Ribeiro Gonçalves, Fernando; Faísca, Luís
    This paper examines the validity of the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students—short version (ASSIST; Tait et al. in Improving student learning: Improving students as learners, 1998), to be used with Portuguese undergraduate students. The ASSIST was administrated to 566 students, in order to analyse a Portuguese version of this inventory. Exploratory factor analysis (principal axis factor analysis followed by direct oblimin rotation) reproduced the three main factors that correspond to the original dimensions of the inventory (deep, surface apathetic and strategic approaches to learning). The results are consistent with the background theory on approaches to learning. Additionally, the reliability analysis revealed acceptable internal consistency indexes for the main scales and subscales. This inventory might represent a valuable research tool for the assessment of approaches to learning among Portuguese higher education students.
  • Literacy: exploring working memory systems
    Publication . Silva, Catarina; Faísca, Luís; Ingvar, Martin; Petersson, Karl Magnus; Reis, Alexandra
    Previous research showed an important association between reading and writing skills (literacy) and the phonological loop. However, the effects of literacy on other working memory components remain unclear. In this study, we investigated performance of illiterate subjects and their matched literate controls on verbal and nonverbal working memory tasks. Results revealed that the phonological loop is significantly influenced by literacy, while the visuospatial sketchpad appears to be less affected or not at all. Results also suggest that the central executive might be influenced by literacy, possibly as an expression of cognitive reserve.
  • Confirmatory factor analysis of the portuguese version of the Frost multidimensional perfectionism scale
    Publication . Carmo, Cláudia; Brás, Marta; Batista, Luis; Faisca, Luis
    This study aimed to analyse the psychometric properties and dimensionality of the Portuguese version of the Multidimensional Scale of Frost Perfectionism (FMPS) using the confirmatory factor analysis. The sample consisted of 832 high school and college students (65.0% female) with a mean age of 19.5. The adjustment indexes of confirmatory factor analysis permitted to consider the multidimensional model of six factors the best representation of the data, replicating the original solution. The results showed good reliability and appropriate validity. The internal consistency of the scale presented satisfactory coefficients (Cronbach's alpha=.853). The test-retest method suggested a good temporal stability of the scale (r=.779). Globally the FMPS is a reliable and validated instrument for the study of perfectionism in Portugal.
  • Versão portuguesa do Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS)
    Publication . Almeida, H.; Faísca, Luís; Jesus, Saúl
    O objectivo deste trabalho é analisar a estrutura factorial da escala “Job Diagnostic Survey” (Hackman e Oldham, 1980), construída para avaliar as cinco dimensões características do trabalho: variedade de aptidões, identidade do trabalho, significado do trabalho, autonomia e feedback. Utilizou-se uma amostra heterogénea de 552 trabalhadores pertencentes a diversos grupos profissionais. Avaliaram-se nove modelos alternativos sobre a estrutura do instrumento, recorrendo à análise factorial confirmatória. Os resultados mostram que o modelo de Hackman e Oldham mais um factor de método relacionado com os itens negativos é o modelo que apresenta um melhor ajuste. Esta solução identifica uma estrutura de seis factores (os cinco factores do Modelo das Características do Trabalho e um sexto factor de método constituído pelos itens negativos). Os itens associados a estas dimensões definem sub-escalas com níveis de fiabilidade razoáveis, o que permite considerá-las operacionalizações psicometricamente aptas para avaliar as cinco dimensões características do trabalho definidas por Hackman e Oldham.
  • Semantic interference on a phonological task in illiterate subjects
    Publication . Reis, Alexandra; Faísca, Luís; Mendonca, Susana; Ingvar, Martin; Petersson, Karl Magnus
    Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 2007, 48, 69–74 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9450.2006.00544.x © 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations. Published by Blackwell Publishing L td., 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. ISSN 0036-5564. Blackwell Publishing Ltd Health and Disability Semantic interference on a phonological task in illiterate subjects ALEXANDRA REIS, 1,2,3 L UÍS FAÍSCA, 2,3 SUSANA MENDONÇA, 2 MARTIN INGVAR 1 and KARL MAGNUS PETERSSON 1,3,4 1 Cognitive Neurophysiology Research Group, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden 2 Cognitive Neuroscience Research Group, Departamento de Psicologia, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais, Universidade do Alg arve, Faro, Por tugal 3 Center for Intelligent Systems, Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal 4 F. C. Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands R eis, A., Faísca, L., Mendonça, S., Ingvar, M. & Petersson, K. M. (2007). Semantic interference on a phonological task in illit erate subjects. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology , 48 , 69–74. Previous research suggests that learning an alphabetic written language influences aspects of the auditory-verbal language syste m. In this study, we e xamined whether literacy influences the notion of words as phonological units independent of lexical semantics in literate a nd illiterate subjects. Subjects had to decide which item in a word- or pseudoword pair was phonologically longest. By manipulating the relat ionship between r eferent size and phonological length in three word conditions (congruent, neutral, and incongruent) we could examine to what e xtent subjects f ocused on form rather than meaning of the stimulus material. Moreover, the pseudoword condition allowed us to examine global p honological aw areness independent of lexical semantics. The results showed that literate performed significantly better than illiterate subj ects in the neutral and incongruent word conditions as well as in the pseudoword condition. The illiterate group performed least well in the incong ruent condition and significantly better in the pseudoword condition compared to the neutral and incongruent word conditions and suggest that pe rformance on phonological word length comparisons is dependent on literacy. In addition, the results show that the illiter a te participant s are able to perceive and process phonological length, albeit less well than the literate subjects, when no semantic interference is present . In conclusion, the present results confirm and extend the finding that illiterate subjects are biased towards semantic-conceptual-pragmatic type s of cognitive processing
  • A valid modelo applicable to the practice of human resources in the companies
    Publication . Almeida, H.; Faísca, Luís; Jesus, Saúl
    The aim of this assignement is to explore the relations of influence of the potencial motivator of the function and other determinants on the attitudes – of global satisfaction and satisfaction oriented towards the client and the emotional/affective Implication – and on the intentions of behaviour – of leaving the company /(in a negative way) and word-of-mouth – in such a way that it privileges concomitantly the company and the internal clients and, consequently, the external clients.
  • Changes in social emotion recognition following traumatic frontal lobe injury
    Publication . Martins, Ana Teresa; Faísca, Luís; Esteves, Francisco; Simão, Cláudia; Justo, M. G.; Muresan, A.; Reis, Alexandra
    Changes in social and emotional behaviour have been consistently observed in patients with traumatic brain injury. These changes are associated with emotion recognition deficits which represent one of the major barriers to a successful familiar and social reintegration. In the present study, 32 patients with traumatic brain injury, involving the frontal lobe, and 41 age- and education-matched healthy controls were analyzed. A Go/No-Go task was designed, where each participant had to recognize faces representing three social emotions (arrogance, guilt and jealousy). Results suggested that ability to recognize two social emotions (arrogance and jealousy) was significantly reduced in patients with traumatic brain injury, indicating frontal lesion can reduce emotion recognition ability. In addition, the analysis of the results for hemispheric lesion location (right, left or bilateral) suggested the bilateral lesion sub-group showed a lower accuracy on all social emotions.
  • When the eyes no longer lead: familiarity and length effects on eye-voice span
    Publication . Silva, Susana; Reis, Alexandra; Casaca, Luís; Petersson, Karl Magnus; Faísca, Luís
    During oral reading, the eyes tend to be ahead of the voice (eye-voice span, EVS). It has been hypothesized that the extent to which this happens depends on the automaticity of reading processes, namely on the speed of print-to-sound conversion. We tested whether EVS is affected by another automaticity component - immunity from interference. To that end, we manipulated word familiarity (high-frequency, low-frequency, and pseudowords, PW) and word length as proxies of immunity from interference, and we used linear mixed effects models to measure the effects of both variables on the time interval at which readers do parallel processing by gazing at word N + 1 while not having articulated word N yet (offset EVS). Parallel processing was enhanced by automaticity, as shown by familiarity x length interactions on offset EVS, and it was impeded by lack of automaticity, as shown by the transformation of offset EVS into voice eye span (voice ahead of the offset of the eyes) in PWs. The relation between parallel processing and automaticity was strengthened by the fact that offset EVS predicted reading velocity. Our findings contribute to understand how the offset EVS, an index that is obtained in oral reading, may tap into different components of automaticity that underlie reading ability, oral or silent. In addition, we compared the duration of the offset EVS with the average reference duration of stages in word production, and we saw that the offset EVS may accommodate for more than the articulatory programming stage of word N.
  • Assessment of psychopathological problems in school context: the psychometric properties of a portuguese version of the adolescent psychopathology scale – short form
    Publication . Lemos, Ida; Faísca, Luís; Valadas, Sandra T.
    The psychometric properties of a Portuguese version of the Adolescent Psychopathology Scale–Short Form (APS-SF) were studied in a sample of 656 Portuguese adolescents, aged 12 to 19 years, assessed in school context. Also, the aim of the study was to gather data concerning age-and gender-related differences in the expression of psychopathological problems assessed by the APS-SF. Results of the reliability of APS-SF scales are compared with those obtained by Reynolds in the validation studies with the American sample. Factor analysis reproduced the bidimensionality of the original validation studies of the scale. These findings seem to support the use of the APS-SF as a valuable tool for early identification of psychosocial problems in the school context in Portuguese adolescents. Results concerning age-and gender-related differences in the expression of psychopathological problems in the adolescents are discussed.