The umbrella-term ‘executive functions’ includes various domain-general, goal-directed cognitive abilities responsible for behavioral self-regulation. The influential unity and diversity model of EF posits the existence of three correlated yet separable executive domains: inhibition, shifting and updating. These domains may be influenced by factors such as socioeconomic status and culture, possibly due to the way EF tasks are devised and to biased choice of stimuli, focusing on first-world testees. Here, we propose a FREE test battery that includes two open-access tasks for (...) each of the three abovementioned executive domains to allow latent variables to be obtained. The tasks were selected from those that have been shown to be representative of each domain, that are not copyrighted and do not require special hardware/software to be administered. These tasks were adapted for use in populations with varying SES/schooling levels by simplifying tasks/instructions and using easily recognized stimuli such as pictures. Items are answered verbally and tasks are self-paced to minimize interference from individual differences in psychomotor and perceptual speed, to better isolate executive from other cognitive abilities. We tested these tasks on 146 early adolescents of both sexes and varying SES, because this is the age group in which the executive domains of interest become distinguishable and in order to confirm that SES effects were minimized. Performance was determined by Rate Correct Scores, which consider speed-accuracy trade-offs. Scores were sensitive to the expected improvement in performance with age and rarely/inconsistently affected by sex and SES, as expected, with no floor or ceiling effects, or skewed distribution, thus suggesting their adequacy for diverse populations in these respects. Using structural equation modeling, evidence based on internal structure was obtained by replicating the three correlated-factor solution proposed by the authors of the model. We conclude that the FREE test battery, which is open access and described in detail, holds promise as a tool for research that can be adapted for a wide range of populations, as well as altered and/or complemented in coming studies. (shrink)

El surgimiento de la teoría de la relatividad de Einstein a principios del siglo XX suscitó el debate sobre la vigencia de la filosofía kantiana. El positivista Schlick sostenía que esta quedaba refutada, pues estaba indisolublemente ligada a la física de Newton y a los conceptos de espacio y tiempo absolutos. Los neokantianos Natorp y Sellien defendían la vigencia de Kant basándose en la diferencia entre filosofía y ciencia. Cassirer y Reichenbach abogaban por un neokantismo modificado basado en principios constitutivos. (...) Y Einstein y Carnap rechazaban tanto kantismo como positivismo puros abrazando el holismo epistemológico. (shrink)

Un resumen de los más interesantes blogs educativos de filosofía en español, y una reflexión sobre los nuevos modelos de comunicación presentes el mundo de internet, que muestra la conveniencia del uso de estos mismos blogs educativos, que funcionan como una herramienta dialógica (frente a otras herramientas de la red, como las redes sociales), como un excelente camino para la enseñanza, difusión y debate crítico en torno a temáticas filosóficas.

Agreement technologies refer to a novel paradigm for the construction of distributed intelligent systems, where autonomous software agents negotiate to reach agreements on behalf of their human users. Smart Cities are a key application domain for agreement technologies. While several proofs of concept and prototypes exist, such systems are still far from ready for being deployed in the real-world. In this paper we focus on a novel method for managing elements of smart road infrastructures of the future, namely the case (...) of auction-based road intersections. We show that, even though the key technological elements for such methods are already available, there are multiple non-technical issues that need to be tackled before they can be applied in practice. For this purpose, we analyse legal and ethical implications of auction-based road intersections in the context of international regulations and from the standpoint of the Spanish legislation. From this exercise, we extract a set of required modifications, of both technical and legal nature, which need to be addressed so as to pave the way for the potential real-world deployment of such systems in a future that may not be too far away. (shrink)