Metacognition is a higher-order psychological construct that has been conceptualized as the ability to identify and describe mental states, beliefs, and intentions of self and others. The Metacognition Self-Assessment Scale (MSAS), was developed to assess different functions of metacognition, being a potential asset in fields such as psychotherapy and clinical neuropsychology. However, a reliability and validity study is still lacking, as well, the study with other related metacognitive constructs. This research describes the psychometric analysis of the MSAS in a crosssectional design and the study of the relationship between metacognitive functions, meta-beliefs and cognitive fusion. The sample comprised 194 participants from the general population (76% women), with an average age of 32 years old. Exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach alpha, testretest, and validity procedures through bivariate correlations with convergent/divergent measures were conducted. The scale showed satisfactory psychometric properties with good internal consistency along with appropriate convergent/divergent validity. Metacognition and cognitive fusion were negatively correlated, while negative meta-beliefs and mastery predicted the variance of cognitive fusion. Decentering-differentiation factor correlated negatively with cognitive fusion and personal discomfort. These results suggest that MSAS may be a reliable tool to assess metacognition in the Portuguese population. Clinical implications are discussed.
La activación cerebral seguida a las leyes de integración tipo adición: Tasa de respuestas y actividad cerebral en una tarea de integración con pares de rostros emocionales
Telmo PereiraUniversity of Coimbra, Portugal
Armando OliveiraUniversity of Coimbra, Portugal
Isabel B. FonsecaUniversity of Coimbra, Portugal
ABSTRACTThis study was designed to investigate the relation between rating responses and the patterns of cortical activation in an integration task using pairs of emotional faces. Participants judged on a graphic rating scale the overall affective intensity conveyed by two emotional faces, each presented to one of the two hemispheres via a Divided Visual Field technique (DVF). While they performed the task, EEG was recorded from 6 scalp locations. Three discrete emotions were considered (Joy, Fear, and Anger) and varied across three levels of expression intensity. Some face pairs portrayed the same emotion (same-emotion pairs), others two different emotions (distinct-emotions pairs). The patterns of integration of the two sources of information were examined both at the level of the ratings and of the brain response (event-related-#-desynchronization: ERD) recorded at each EEG lead. Adding-type rules were found for the ratings of both same-emotion and different-emotions pairs. Addingtype integration was also commonly found when #-ERD was taken as a response. Outcomes are discussed with a link to the lateralization of emotional processing and the relations between the observable R (e.g., ratings) and possible implementational aspects of the implicit r posited by Information Integration Theory (IIT).Keywords divided visual field, facial expressions of emotion, functional measurement, cerebral organization.
RESUMENEl objetivo de este estudio fue investigar la relación entre la tasa de respuestas y los patrones de activación cortical en la integración de tareas usando los pares de expresiones faciales. Los participantes emitieron un juicio sobre una gráfica y la calificaron en una escala de intensidad afectiva que transmitía dos expresiones faciales, cada una se presentó a uno de los dos hemisferios usando la técnica de Divides Visual Field (DVF). Mientras ellos realizaban la tarea, fue grabada su respuesta en el
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