Spanish Adaptation of the Experiential Approach Scale (EAS)

Psychological inflexibility is a transdiagnostic dimension associated to psychological distress and poor mental health and quality of life. While multiple instruments have been developed for the assessment of patterns of inflexible responding to aversive private events (e.g., unwanted cognitions and emotions), the Experiential Approach Scale (EAS) is the first instrument specifically designed to assess inflexible responding to appetitive private events (e.g., desired affective states). In this study, we explored the factor structure, internal consistency, and convergent validity of a Spanish adaptation of the EAS with a convenience sample of college students from Spain (n = 206; 79% female). A two-factor solution demonstrated very good fit to the data and was similar to the original two-subscale EAS structure: Anxious Clinging and Experience Prolonging. The scale showed adequate overall (α = 0.85) and subscale (αs: 0.90 and 0.89) internal consistency. Unlike the original instrument, both subscales were uncorrelated. Anxious Clinging correlated positively with experiential avoidance and with measures of negative affect and psychopathology, and negatively with positive affect, subjective happiness, and life satisfaction. In turn, Experience Prolonging correlated negatively with psychopathology and positively with positive affect, subjective happiness, and life satisfaction. Our results point to Anxious Clinging as the only EAS subscale contributing to psychological inflexibility.

Immersive virtual classroom as an education tool for color barrier-free presentations: a pilot study

Background: This study aimed to develop an experiential approach for understanding color vision variations using virtual reality technology. Methods: A virtual classroom was developed in a three-dimensional space, and 10 university students were tested to understand color vision variations. Results: Most participants noted that the virtual classroom was an excellent educational tool, which could help teachers understand the problems associated with [visual analog scale (VAS): mean ± standard deviation (SD), 9.55 ± 1.57] and obtain a better understanding of (VAS: mean ± SD, 9.04 ± 1.0) color vision variations. Conclusions: Our results show that this approach enhanced the participants' understanding of color vision variations; thus, it may assist children who suffer from this variation. It is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach for teachers.

Shared Experiences

During the academic year 2018-2019, the Department of Languages and Literatures at the University of the North Carolina – Asheville (UNCA) launched a pilot curriculum in Intercultural Education for intermediate-level foreign language students in French, Spanish and German. It was decided early on to adopt a performative/experiential approach, and to accompany the project with an empirical study based on qualitative data. This article lays out the parameters, contexts and challenges of the project itself and summarizes the findings of the accompanying study, including an articulation of questions that remain for future exploration.