Epistemological perspectives in the scientific study and evaluation of executive function.

Resumen

En este artículo se examinan perspectivas epistemológicas que han moldeado e influenciado la búsqueda científica orientada hacia comprender aquello que los neuropsicólogos denominan las “funciones ejecutivas (FE). El término funciones ejecutivas se refiere a aspectos de control de la cognición y la conducta. Las ideas expuestas en este manuscrito presuponen que la orientación epistemológica de una persona determina la manera en la que ella conceptualiza la interacción entre las funciones cerebrales y su entorno físico. Cada una de esas orientaciones conlleva suposiciones acerca del modo como operan las FE y, por ende, el modo como deben ser evaluadas. Hasta fechas recientes esto se había abordado principalmente desde el punto de vista de dos perspectivas teóricas. Una de ellas, la analítica, tiene sus raíces en el movimiento positivista. La otra, también conocida como “ciencia romántica” es sintética, y provee las bases del trabajo científico del muy celebrado neuropsicólogo ruso A.R. Luria. Una tercera perspectiva, formulada en el marco de la “cognición corpórea”, ha sido propuesta en los últimos 20 años, y está más estrechamente asociada con los trabajos de Francisco Varela. Se examina aquí, por medio de una revisión reflexiva e integradora de la literatura pertinente, la manera como esas tres perspectivas epistemológicas han influido sobre la investigación y la práctica clínica de la neuropsicología.

Palabras clave:

Funciones ejecutivas Neurofenomenología Neuropsicología Cognición corpórea Epistemología Ciencia clásica Ciencia romántica Evaluación clínica

Citas

Armengol, C.G. (2007). Executive functions in Hispanics: Towards an ecological neuro-psychology. In: B.P. Uzzell, M. Ponton & A. Ardila (Eds.), International Handbook of Cross-cultural Neuropsychology (pp.163-180). Nahawah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Armengol, C.G., Kaplan, E. & Moes, E.J. (2003). Neuropsychological Assessment. In: R. Fernández-Ballesteros (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Assessment. London, England: Sage.

Bechara, A., Damasio, H.,Tranel, D. & Damasio, A.R. (2007). Deciding advantageously before knowing the advantageous strategy. Science, 275,1293-1295.

Bechara, A., Damasio, H. & Damasio, A.R. (2000). Emotion, decision making and the orbitogrontal cortex. Cerebral Cortex, 10, 295-307.

Benton, A.L. (1991). The prefrontal region: Its early history. In: H.S. Lewis, H. M. Eisenberg & A. L. Benton (Eds.), Frontal lobe function and dysfunction (pp. 3-32). New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press.

Bilder, R.M. (2012). Executive control: Balancing stability and flexibility via the duality of evolutionary neuroanatomical trends. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 14, 39-47.

Boring, E.G. (1950). A History of Experimental Psychology (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

Christensen, A.L. (1975). Luria’s neuropsychological investigation. New York, N.Y.: Spectrum.

Cole, M. (1990). Alexandr Romanovich Luria: Cultural psychologist. In: E. Goldberg (Ed.), Contemporary neuropsychology and the legacy of Luria (pp. 11-28). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Cowart, M. (2005). Embodied Cognition. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy ISSN 2161- 0002, http://www.iep.utm.edu/embodcog/.

Damasio, A.R. (1994). Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. New York, N.Y.: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

Delis, D. & Kaplan, E. (1982). The assessment of aphasia with the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery: A case critique. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 50, 32-39.

Delis, D.C., Kaplan, E., & Kramer, J.H. (2001). Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS). San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.

Denckla, M.B. (1996). AS theory and model of executive function: A neuropsychological perspective. In: G.R. Lyon and N.A. Krasnegor (Eds.), Attention, Memory and Executive Functions (pp. 263-278). Baltimore: Brookes.

Fortuny, L.A.I., Garolera, M., Hermosillo, D., et. al. (2005). Research with Spanish-speaking populations in the United States: Lost in the translation; a commentary and a plea. Neuropsychology, 27, 555- 564.

Goldberg, E. (1990a). Tribute to Alexander Romanovich Luria (1902-1977). In: E. Goldberg (Ed.), Contemporary neuropsychology and the legacy of Luria (pp. 1-10). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Goldberg, E. (1990b). Higher cortical functions in humans: A gradient approach. In: E. Goldberg (Ed.), Contemporary neuropsychology and the legacy of Luria (pp. 229-269). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Golden, C.G., Purisch, A.D. & Hammeke, T.A. (1985). A Manual for the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery Forms I and II. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.

Guski-Leinwand, S. (2009). Becoming a science: The loss of the scientific approach of Völkerpsychologie. Zeitschrift Für Psychologie/Journal Of Psychology, 217, 79-84.

James, W. (1902/2012). The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press.

Kaplan, E., (1988). A process approach to neuropsychological assessment. In T. Boll & B.K. Bryant (Eds.). Clinical Neuropsychology and Brain Function: Research, Measurement, and Practice (pp. 129-167). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

Kaplan, E. (2002). Serendipity in science: A personal account. In: T. Stringer, E. Cooley, & A. L. Christensen (Eds.), Pathways to Prominence in Neuropsychology: Reflections of Twentieth Century Pioneers. (pp. 157-170), New York, N.Y.: Psychology Press.

Kaplan, E., Fein, D., Morris. R. & Delis, D. (1991). WAIS-R as a Neuropsychological Instrument. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.

Lezak, M.D, Howieson, D., Bigler, E., & Tranel, D. (2012). Neuropsychological Assessment (5th ed.). New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press.

Luria, A.R. (1966). Higher Cortical Functions in Man. New York, N.Y.: Basic Books.

Luria, A.R. (1973a). The Working Brain: An Introduction to Neuropsychology. New York, N.Y.: Basic Books.

Luria, A.R. (1973b). The frontal lobes and the regulation of behavior. In K. H. Pribran & A. R. Luria (Eds.), Psychophysiology of the Frontal Lobes. New York, N.Y.: Academic Press.

Luria, A. R., Cole, M., & Cole, S. (1979).The Making of mind: A Personal Account of Soviet Psychology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Manly, J.J., (2005). Advantages and disadvantages of separate norms for African Americans. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 19, 270–275.

McKay, P.F. (2003). The effects of demographic variables and stereotype threat on Black/White differences in cognitive ability test performance. Journal of Business and Psychology, 18, 1–14.

McNerney, S. (2011). A brief guide to embodied cognition: why you are not your brain. Scientific American, Nov. 4,1.

Manrique-Tisnés, H. (2008). Saber y conocimiento: Una aproximación plural. Acta Colombiana de Psicología, 11, 89-100.

Miller, G.A., Galanter, E. & Pribram, K.H. (1960). Plans and the Structure of Behavior New York, N.Y.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Murzi, M. (2005). The Vienna Circle. Available at http://www.iep.utm.edu/v/viennaci.htm. Accessed May 18, 2014.

Pribram, K.H. (1973). The primate frontal cortex-executive of the brain. In: K.H. Pribram & A.R. Luria (Eds.). Psychophysiology of the Frontal Lobes (pp. 293-231). New York, NY: Academic Press.

Pribram, K.H. (1990). The frontal cortex-A Luria/Pribram rapprochement. In: E. Goldberg (Ed.), Comtemporary neuropsychology and the legacy of Luria (pp. 77-98). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Ribe, N. & Steinle, F. (2002). Exploratory experimentation: Goethe, Land, and color theory. Physics Today, 55, 43.

Richardson, A. (2001). British Romanticism and the Science of the Mind. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.

Sacks, O. (1990). Luria and “romantic science.” In: E. Goldberg (Ed.), Contemporary Neuropsychology and the legacy of Luria (pp. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Sedó, M.A. (2007). FTD- Test de los Cinco Dígitos. Madrid, Spain: TEA Editores.

Sedó, M.A. & DeCristóforo, L. (2001). All language verbal tests free from linguistic barriers. Revista Española de Neuropsicología, 3, 68-82.

Sepper, D.L. (2005) Goethe and the Poetics of Science. Janus Head, 8, 207-227.

Spiers, P. A. (1981). Have they come to praise Luria or to bury him? The Luria-Nebraska Battery controversy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 49, 331-341.

Stanley, S (2012). Intimate distances: William James’ introspection, Buddhist mindfulness, and experiential inquiry. New Ideas in Psychology, 30, 201-211.

Taylor, E.I. (2012). Science, philosophy and religion in psychology, the legacy of William James, In: W.R. Rieber (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the History of Psychological Theories. (pp. 976-984). New York, N.Y.: Springer.

Varela, F.J., Thompson, E & Rosch, E. (1991) The embodied mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Varela, F.J. (1996). Neurophenomenology: A methodological remedy for the hard problem. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 3, 330-349.

Wahl, D.C. (2005). “Zartre Empirie”: Goethean Science as a Way of Knowing. Janus Head, 8, 58-76.

Welsh, M.C., & Pennington, B.F. (1988). Assessing frontal lobe functioning in children: Views from developmental psychology. Developmental Neuropsychology, 4, 199-230.

Wikipedia, Color Theory. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_theory. Retrieved May 8, 2014.

Wilson, R. A. & Foglia, L. (2011). Embodied Cognition. In: E. N. Zalta (Ed.),The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Wong, W. (2009). Retracing the footsteps of Wilhelm Wundt: Explorations in the disciplinary frontiers of psychology and in Völkerpsychologie. History of Psychology, 12, 229-265.

Citado por