Objective: Phonological and semantic verbal fluency (VF) tasks are frequently used to assess language and executive functions in both clinical and research settings. F, A, and S are the most commonly used letters in phonological tasks across languages and cultures. Unfortunately, the lack of norms for the native Spanish population for these letters, and for certain semantic categories such as “proper names,” may lead to misinterpretation of scores due to demographic differences. The aim of the present study was to provide normative data for F, A, and S and for “proper names,” “animals,” and “fruits and vegetables” for the native Spanish population. Method: 257 healthy subjects took part in the study (ages: 17–100 years, 3–20 years of education). Correlation, multiple regression, and t-tests were used to select the most appropriate variables for stratification. Results: Education was the best predictor of performance in all tasks, followed by age. Given that t-test results showed no differences related to gender, with the only exception of the semantic category “animals,” this variable was not considered for stratification. Consequently, the data were stratified in two education levels (<13, ≥13 years of education) and in two age levels (<60, ≥60) within the low-educational level group. Mean, standard deviation, and percentile scores for each group are provided. Conclusions: The present norms provide a reference for clinicians assessing VF. This data may also facilitate comparisons with other normative studies in cross-cultural and cross-linguistic research.

Resumen: Los mecanismos atencionales y los mecanismos de memoria son las principales funciones neuropsicológicas que sostienen los procesos de aprendizaje, y su funcionamiento debe ser objeto central de estudio en el área de la Neurodidáctica. La aplicación de estrategias y metodologías adecuadas, basadas en el conocimiento de los sistemas neurales y procesos implicados en estas funciones permite favorecer y mejorar la adquisición de conocimientos en el entorno académico. En este artículo se hace una revisión de los principales estudios en este sentido y de las principales estrategias metodológicas que pueden aplicarse en las aulas para aumentar el rendimiento académico y optimizar los procesos de aprendizaje.

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(1) Background: Perfectionism has been linked to eating disorders and might be a risk factor for the appearance of eating pathologies. The aims of this study are (a) to verify the relationship between perfectionism, emotional eating (EE), binge eating (BE), and body mass index (BMI); (b) to identify the variables that predict BE symptoms and BMI; (c) to study the role of perfectionism as a mediator between EE and BMI. (2) Methods: 312 adult participants answered a cross-sectional survey that included the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the Emotional Eater Questionnaire (EEQ), the Binge Eating Scale (BES), and a sociodemographic questionnaire including BMI. (3) Results: The results suggest a direct correlation between EE, BE, and BMI, showing that EE is a powerful predictor of BE symptoms and BMI. Furthermore, two dimensions of perfectionism have a mediator role between EE and BMI, specifically doubts and actions and concern over mistakes: the presence of these two components of perfectionism reverses the relationship between EE and BMI. (4) Conclusions: These results have significant implications for the understanding of the two different (pathological) eating patterns: intake restriction and overeating and should be considered in intervention programs.

La creatividad debe ser una de las competencias a desarrollar en la universidad porque promueve la empleabilidad del alumnado universitario. En los últimos años, se evidencia la relevancia de la función ejecutiva en el proceso creativo. El objetivo de esta investigación es analizar la relación entre creatividad, flexibilidad cognitiva, fluidez verbal y rendimiento académico en población universitaria. Se empleó una muestra de 105 estudiantes universitarios del primer curso del Grado de Psicología de la Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, de ambos sexos (84 mujeres y 21 hombres) con una edad media de 19.05 años (DT= 1.81). Se administraron el PIC-A para valorar creatividad, el CAMBIOS para evaluar flexibilidad cognitiva, una prueba de generación de palabras para medir fluidez verbal y se consideró la nota media del primer cuatrimestre como medida del rendimiento académico. El análisis correlacional y de regresión confirma la existencia de una relación significativa positiva entre creatividad gráfica y flexibilidad cognitiva y entre creatividad narrativa y general y la fluidez verbal fonológica. No se hallaron relaciones significativas en relación al rendimiento académico. Consecuentemente, los resultados obtenidos permiten diseñar programas que impulsen un cambio de paradigma en el ámbito universitario optimizando las capacidades creativas.