Abstract Objective. The aim of the paper was to study the relation between mindset and reading comprehension and arithmetic performance of 247 students aged 9 to 12 years from two schools in Argentina. Method. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire based on a Growth Mindset Scale, and standardized tests of reading comprehension and arithmetic calculation. In addition, school grades provided by teachers and social status data provided by parents/caregivers were used. The design was non-experimental and cross-sectional. Results. Hierarchical regression analyzes showed that the higher the growth mindset, the better the school performance, even when controlling for the effect of social status on these variables. The relation of performance with grades was stronger than with standardized tests.

Resumen Objetivo. Estudiar la relación entre el tipo de mentalidad y el desempeño en comprensión lectora y aritmética de 247 estudiantes de 9 a 12 años de edad de dos escuelas de Argentina. Método. Los participantes completaron un cuestionario basado en una Escala de Mentalidad de Crecimiento y pruebas estandarizadas de comprensión lectora y cálculo aritmético. Además, se utilizaron las calificaciones escolares proporcionadas por docentes y datos sobre el estatus social (ES) aportados por padres/cuidadores. El diseño fue no experimental y transversal. Resultados. Los análisis de regresión jerárquica mostraron que a mayor mentalidad de crecimiento, mejor desempeño escolar, aún al controlar el efecto del ES. La relación del desempeño con las calificaciones fue más fuerte que con las pruebas estandarizadas.

ABSTRACT Personality traits have been proposed as possible factors that may contribute to explain individual differences in self-control. However, the results reported in the literature on the subject are, to some extent, contradictory. The aim of the current study is to analyze the effect of personality traits on self-control in university students from Argentina. Correlation results demonstrated a pattern of positive correlations between self-control scores and conscientiousness and agreeableness traits, as well as negative correlations between neuroticism and self-control measures. In turn, there were negative correlations between openness to experience and the impulse control subscale. Regression analyzes showed that personality traits as a whole explain 43% of the variance on the full self-control scale, 28% of the variance on the impulse control dimension, and 42% of the variance on the selfdiscipline dimension. The trait conscientiousness was, as expected, the most consistent predictor of scores on all three cases.

RESUMEN Los rasgos de personalidad han sido propuestos como posibles factores que pueden contribuir a explicar las diferencias individuales en el autocontrol. Sin embargo, los resultados reportados en la literatura sobre el tema son, en cierta medida, contradictorios. El objetivo del presente estudio fue analizar el efecto de los cinco rasgos de personalidad sobre el autocontrol en estudiantes universitarios de Argentina. Los análisis de correlación evidenciaron un patrón de correlaciones positivas entre las puntuaciones en autocontrol y los rasgos responsabilidad y amabilidad, así como relaciones negativas entre neuroticismo y las medidas de autocontrol. A su vez, se presentaron correlaciones negativas entre el rasgo apertura a la experiencia y la dimensión control de los impulsos. Los análisis de regresión mostraron que los rasgos de personalidad en su conjunto explican el 43% de la varianza en la escala de autocontrol completa, el 28% de la varianza en la dimensión Control de los impulsos y el 42% de la varianza de la dimensión Autodisciplina, destacándose el rasgo responsabilidad como variable predictora de las puntuaciones en los tres casos.

Resumo O presente estudo teve como objetivo desenvolver e validar um questionário acessível para avaliar as três principais funções executivas (memória de trabalho, inibição, flexibilidade cognitiva) em crianças de 9 a 12 anos: o Questionário de Funções Executivas (CUFE); e fornecer valores de referência descritivos e evidên cias sobre sua confiabilidade e validade. Para tanto, foi analisado seu funcionamento em uma amostra de 269 crianças argentinas entre 9 e 12 anos, estudantes do se gundo ciclo do ensino fundamental. A análise fatorial exploratória revelou uma estrutura de três fatores que explicou 49.08% da variância, com cargas fatoriais unidimensionais satisfatórias. Os fatores retidos apresentaram bons índices de confiabilidade e foram denominados Memória de trabalho, Inibição e Flexibilidade e controle emocional. A memória de trabalho foi associada à compreensão de leitura, ao cálculo matemático e às notas escolares de Prática de Linguagem e Matemática. As duas subescalas restantes foram associadas às notas escolares de ambas as disciplinas. As dimensões do ques tionário coincidem com os modelos teóricos atuais de funcionamento executivo. Com base nas evidências de validade e confiabilidade, o CUFE apresenta-se como um instrumento ecológico e valioso para a mensuração das funções executivas no contexto da avaliação infantil.

Resumen El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo desarrollar y validar el Cuestionario de Funciones Ejecutivas (CUFE), un cuestionario accesible para evaluar las tres principales funciones ejecutivas (memoria de trabajo, inhibición y flexibilidad cognitiva) en niños de 9 a 12 años y, así, proporcionar valores descriptivos de referencia y evidencias acerca de su confiabilidad y validez. Para ello se analizó su funcionamiento en una muestra de 269 niños argentinos de 9 a 12 años de edad, alumnos del segundo ciclo de la escuela primaria. El análisis factorial exploratorio reveló una estructura de tres factores que explicaban 49.08 % de la varianza, con cargas factoriales unidimensionales y satisfactorias. Los factores retenidos presentaron buenos índices de confiabilidad y fueron llamados: memoria de trabajo, inhibición y flexibilidad y control emocional. La memoria de trabajo se asoció con la comprensión lectora, el cálculo matemático y las calificaciones escolares de Prácticas del lenguaje y Matemática. Las restantes dos subescalas se asociaron con las calificaciones escolares de ambas asignaturas. Las dimensiones del cuestionario coinciden con los actuales modelos teóricos de funcionamiento ejecutivo. En función de las evidencias de validez y confiabilidad, el CUFE se presenta como un instrumento ecológico y valioso para la medición de las funciones ejecutivas en el contexto de la evaluación infantil.

Abstract The present study aimed to develop and valídate an accessible questionnaire to assess the three core executive functions (working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility) in children aged 9-12 years: the Executive Function Questionnaire (CUFE), and to provide descriptive baseline values and evidence about its reliability and validity. The questionnaire was tested on a sample of 269 Argentinean children from 9 to 12 years old. Children attended elementary schools in Mar del Plata's city. The exploratory factorial analysis revealed a three-factor structure that explained 49.08% of the variance. The items were unidimensional and showed satisfactory factor loadings. The retained factors presented good reliability and were called working memory, inhibition and flexibility, and emotional control. Working memory was associated with reading comprehension, mathematical skills, and school grades (language practices and mathematics). Inhibition and flexibility, and emotional control were associated with school grades. The factors were consistent with current theoretical models on executive functioning. Based on the evidence obtained, the CUFE represents an ecological and valuable instrument for measuring executive functions on children.

Abstract Self-regulation -a core aspect of adaptive human behavior- is linked to developing healthy social and emotional skills, during childhood. Thus, different intervention studies on self-regulation in child population were developed worldwide. In general, these studies employ one of two basic approaches: Processes-based or school curriculum-based. In Argentina, there are research groups about the topic, but there is not a registry with information about all of them. For these reasons, this systematic review is aimed to relieve, to synthesize and to evaluate the impact of intervention programs (taking into account both approaches) which have been implemented in Argentina, in preschoolers and elementary school student. Among main results the prevalence of analysis of near short-term transfer effects, positive results in populations with and without unsatisfied needs, and difficulties in the intervention context are highlighted. We discuss about the importance of new conditions and politics for self-regulation interventions.

Resumen La autorregulación resulta fundamental para el comportamiento adaptativo, vinculándose en la infancia con el desarrollo de habilidades sociales, emocionales y cognitivas. En el mundo, se registran estudios de intervención en autorregulación en población infantil, generalmente, asumiendo uno de dos enfoques: basado en procesos o en el currículo escolar. En Argentina existen grupos de investigación sobre la temática, pero no un registro que reúna y compare sistemáticamente sus iniciativas. Consecuentemente, este trabajo se propuso mediante una revisión sistemática, relevar, sintetizar y evaluar el impacto de los programas de intervención (considerando ambos enfoques) implementados en Argentina, en niños de educación inicial y primaria. Como resultados se destacan: prevalencia del análisis de los efectos sobre la transferencia cercana a corto plazo; resultados positivos en población con y sin necesidades insatisfechas; y dificultades en el contexto de intervención. Se discute sobre la importancia de generar nuevas condiciones y políticas para la intervención en autorregulación.

Abstract Learning fractions presents large difficulties for many children and adults. This is a serious problem, because different studies have shown that fraction knowledge predicts advanced mathematics, like algebra. Adult mathematic knowledge is related to employment opportunities, participation in high-skills occupations and economic and social well-being. Therefore, since fractions represent a backbone in mathematics achievement, understanding the factors that explain fractions learning is very important. Some theories of numerical cognition propose that general cognitive factors, like attention or working memory, contribute to learning mathematics. However, recent research has shown different and contradictory results about which cognitive factors are involved in fraction learning. Identifing the cognitive factors that explain fraction knowledge could lead to early identification of children with potential math learning difficulties and the development of interventions to improve their achievement. Therefore, the aim of this article is to perform a systematic literature review to analyze the relationship among some cognitive factors and fraction knowledge. A systematic literature search could define the state of the art on this topic, identify possible sources of controversy among studies, analyze those reasons to recognize points of agreement and discrepancy among studies and direct all this information towards future research lines. A systematic search of empirical articles was done on Education Research Complete, ERIC, MEDLINE Primary Search, PsycARTICLES, and PsycINFO databases. Search was carried out on September of 2017, with keywords in Spanish and their translation into English. Search terms were “fractions” (“fracciones”) and “cognitive ability” (“habilidad cognitiva”), “cognitive processes” (“procesos cognitivos”), “working memory” (“memoria de trabajo”), “attention” (“atención”), “intelligence” (“inteligencia”), “speed of processing” (“velocidad de procesamiento”), “inhibition” (“inhibición”) and “language” (“lenguaje”). Articles inclusion criteria were: (a) empirical studies, (b) with scholar age samples (6-18 years old), (c) published on peer review journals, (d) written in spanish or english. Thirteen publications were selected. They agree about attention predicting conceptual and procedural knowledge of fractions between fourth and sixth grade, (b) language and fluid intelligence explains conceptual knowledge of fractions in the initial stage of its systematic teaching, (c) central executive predicts fractions concepts in advanced levels of fraction instruction but not in the initial stages of learning, (d) central executive and fluid reasoning does not predict procedural fraction knowledge when other cognitive factors and mathematical abilities, like attention or whole number calculation skills, are included in the explanation models. In broad terms, these results are in line with some theoretical models of numerical cognition and suggested that cognitive processes and abilities are important to learn fractions. There are some practical implications to these results. Fraction learning could be improved by using pedagogical strategies and didactic materials which maximize cognitive performance. For example, employing novelty and ludic materials for teaching fractions could enable students to focus, maintain attention and improve their learning. Also, short instructions with low linguistic complexity would help students with attention, working memory or language difficulties to afford fractions activities and achieve a meaningful learning. On the other hand, working memory load to perform complex fraction activities would be reduced if basic fraction concept and procedures are consolidated in long term memory. Therefore, before advancing to more complex fractions activities in higher grades, the teacher should verify that the basic notions of fractions have been learnt and memorized by students. To develop theoretical cognitive models of mathematics learning, future research might analyze if cognitive factors contribute to fractions knowledge mainly through direct or indirect effects (that is, via their effects on others areas of math knowledge which affect fraction learning). On the other hand, the tasks used to measure cognitive factors are not always pure, that is, different cognitive operations are involved in their execution. Future studies might work with latent variables that allow the identification of the share variance between cognitive task, and consequently, the main cognitive factors involved in fractions learning.

Resumen El objetivo de este trabajo es realizar una revisión de la literatura que permita comprender la relación del conocimiento de las fracciones con los factores cognitivos en estudiantes de escolaridad primaria y secundaria. Se realizó una búsqueda de artículos empíricos en las bases de datos Education Research Complete, ERIC, MEDLINE, Primary Search, PsycARTICLES y PsycINFO. Los criterios de inclusión fueron: (a) trabajos empíricos, (b) efectuados con niños de escolaridad primaria o secundaria (de 6 a 18 años de edad), (c) publicados en revistas científicas con referato y (d) redactados en español o inglés. Las investigaciones seleccionadas coinciden respecto de que: (a) la atención predice el conocimiento conceptual y procedimental de las fracciones, (b) el lenguaje y la inteligencia fluida explican el conocimiento conceptual de las fracciones en la etapa inicial de su enseñanza sistemática y (c) el ejecutivo central contribuye a la predicción del conocimiento conceptual de las fracciones en años avanzados de la escolaridad. Se discuten las implicaciones teóricas y prácticas de estos resultados y se señalan posibles líneas de investigaciones futuras.

Background: in recent years it has been proposed that cognitive strategies of emotional regulation (CSER) would have predictive capacity on different indicators of well-being, since some of them would be effective to directly increase the experience of positive emotions and lessen the negative ones. Objective: this investigation aimed to analyze the explanatory contribution of using CSER to influence the levels of subjective well-being (SWB) and psychological well-being (PWB) in university students, because this population is characterized by its particular vulnerability due to the demands of academic life. Method: eighty-four (84) university students of the psychology program from the National University of Mar del Plata were evaluated, whose average age was 23 years old. Correlation and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to assess the data. Results: adaptive CSER (CSER- AD) were found to be positively associated with both types of well-being, while non-adaptive CSER (CSER-NA) did so in the opposite direction. Conclusions: this study shows the explanatory contribution of the differential use of CSER in university students’ well-being levels. The results could contribute to designing health promotion and prevention programs in this population, given that feelings of well-being influence the coping skills for facing the academic demands.

Antecedentes: en los últimos años se ha propuesto que las estrategias cognitivas de regulación emocional (ECRE) tendrían capacidad predictiva sobre distintos indicadores de bienestar, dado que algunas de ellas serían eficientes para elevar directamente la experiencia de emociones positivas y disminuir la experiencia de emociones negativas. Objetivo: el objetivo de esta investigación fue analizar la contribución explicativa del uso de las ECRE para los niveles de bienestar subjetivo (BS) y de bienestar psicológico (BP) en estudiantes universitarios, debido a que esta población se caracteriza por una vulnerabilidad particular producto de las exigencias de la vida académica. Método: se evaluaron 84 estudiantes universitarios de la Licenciatura en Psicología de la Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, con una edad promedio de 23 años. Se realizaron análisis de correlación y de regresión lineal múltiple para analizar los datos. Resultados: se observó que las ECRE adaptativas (ECRE-AD) se asociaron positivamente con ambos tipos de bienestar, en tanto las ECRE no adaptativas (ECRE-NA) lo hicieron en sentido opuesto. Conclusiones: este estudio muestra la contribución explicativa del uso diferencial de las ECRE con los niveles de bienestar de estudiantes universitarios. Los resultados podrían ser un aporte al diseño de programas de promoción y prevención de la salud en esta población, dado que los sentimientos de bienestar influyen en las formas de afrontar las demandas académicas.

Abstract The aim of the study was to adapt and validate the Self-Control Scale (SCS) and the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS) for the Spanish-speaking population. We worked with a sample of 430 students from the National University of Mar del Plata (279 women and 151 men) with an average age of 23.38 (SD = 5.69). The Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed in the SCS a three-factor structure. The factors were named as Non-reflective control of impulses, Self-discipline and Reflective control of impulses. In the BSCS, a two-factor structure was found. Factors were named Self-Discipline and Control of the impulses. Both the SCS and the BSCS presented good model fit index and adequate values of internal consistency. Evidence of concurrent and convergent validity is also presented through associations with measures of impulsivity and responsibility, respectively. It is concluded that both scales are valid for the population under study.

Resumen El objetivo del estudio fue adaptar y validar la Escala de Autocontrol (EAC) y la Escala de Autocontrol-Abreviada (EAC-A) para población hispanohablante. Se trabajó con una muestra de 430 estudiantes de la Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (279 mujeres y 151 hombres) con una media de edad de 23.38 (DE = 5.69). El Análisis Factorial Exploratorio reveló en la EAC una estructura de tres factores que fueron denominados Control no reflexivo de los impulsos, Autodisciplina y Control reflexivo de los impulsos. En la EAC-A se halló una estructura de dos factores, que fueron denominados Autodisciplina y Control de los impulsos. Tanto la EAC como la EAC-A presentaron buenos índices de ajuste de modelo y adecuados valores de consistencia interna. Se presentan asimismo evidencias de validez concurrente y convergente a través de asociaciones con medidas de impulsividad y responsabilidad respectivamente. Se concluye que ambas escalas resultan válidas para la población bajo estudio.

Resumen Las habilidades académicas constituyen un componente específico del éxito escolar y numerosos factores influyen en su adquisición y consolidación. Uno de estos es la habilidad de regulación emocional de tolerancia al distrés, que se define por la capacidad de resistir esta dos emocionales negativos en pos de un objetivo. El propósito de este trabajo fue analizar la relación entre la tolerancia al distrés y las habilidades académicas de comprensión lectora y cálculo matemático en 107 niños de escolaridad primaria de 9 a 11 años de edad. Los resultados mostraron que la tolerancia al distrés resultó un predictor significativo de la comprensión lectora de textos expositivos y del cálculo matemático, no así de la comprensión lectora de textos narrativos. Es posible que la tolerancia al distrés resulte un factor relevante para el éxito académico en varios dominios.

Abstract Academic skills are a specific component of academic success, and many factors influence their acquisition and consolidation. One of these factors is the ability to emotionally regu late distress tolerance, as defined by the ability to withstand negative emotional states in pursuit of a goal. This paper undertook to analyse the relationship between distress tole rance and reading comprehension and mathematical computations in 107 primary school children aged 9 to 11. The results showed that distress tolerance was a significant predictor of reading comprehension of expository texts and mathematical computations, albeit not so for reading comprehension of narrative texts. Distress tolerance is likely to be a relevant factor for academic success in several domains.

Working memory (WM) is a strong predictor of academic performance, due to its impact in reading comprehension, arithmetic's competence and the regulated behaviors required for school learning. Thus, knowing about WM operation in school-aged children and teachers' perception on their students WM is of great value and interest. This is why in the present work we assess whether teachers' reports about their students' WM (indirect measure) is associated with their performance in WM tasks (direct measure), and also to assess whether the difficulties perceived by the teachers correspond to the presence of students' general behavioral issues. For that, we administered computerized verbal WM tasks to school-aged children, in which they had to recall a number of digits (control condition) while saying out loud the color of the items (interference condition), and computerized visual-spatial WM tasks, in which they had to recall the locations of a series of stimuli (control condition) while indicating the color of the stimuli in a color palette (interference condition). We also administered two scales to their teachers: one of them asks about WM specifically (Working Memory Rating Scale) and is composed of 20 short descriptions of behavior problems that allow discriminating between children with poor and average WM skills. The teacher rates how typical a behavior is in each child, in a scale that goes from Not typical at all (0) to Very typical (3). The other asks about diverse behavioral problems (Guide of Behavioral Observation) and is composed of the following subscales: Physical and Verbal Aggression, Negativism, Transgression, Impulsivity, Hyperactivity, Attention Deficit and Acceptance. The teacher must choose the option that best describes the behavior in the child in terms of frequency (Never, Sometimesor Often). Our results show significant associations between children performance in the verbal WM task (direct measure) and WM failures' indicators (indirect measures), which can be explained by the fact that the verbal component is more clearly reflected in the behaviors explored in the Working Memory Rating Scale (e.g., loses his place in complicated activities, requires regular repetition of instructions, depends on neighbor to remind them of the current task). We also wanted to look out if there were associations between the WM skills reported by the teachers and the general behavior problems also reported by them, and we found associations between the reported WM difficulties and attention disorders, hyperactivity and self-aggression. This is consistent with the claim that WM and attention deficit in non clinical population are closely related. With respect to hyperactivity, its relation with WM is not as clear and has not been so frequently reported. With respect to self-aggression, its relation with WM difficulties can be attributed to these children's in ability to exercise control over the environment, which leads to frustration and low levels of motivation and self-esteem. Lastly, we found associations between children's performance in the computerized WM tasks and the presence of behavioral problems informed by the teachers. Specifically, proper performance in verbal WM tasks associates with less attention difficulties, where as proper performance in visual-spatial WM tasks associates with being accepted by the group. This last association could be attributed to the fact that many group games require several abilities that involve visual-spatial WM, such as the ability to orientate in space and recall different locations. To conclude, we consider that this work constitutes a contribution because, in the first place, there are no WM observation scales for teachers' use available in our environment, and, in the second place, it addresses the need for teachers to acknowledge WM difficulties and consequently be trained for the implementation of effective strategies to im prove WM skills in the classroom.

La memoria de trabajo (MT) es un fuerte predictor del desempeño académico por su impacto en la comprensión lectora, la competencia aritmética y los comportamientos necesarios para el aprendizaje escolar. De modo que saber cómo opera la MT en niños de edad escolar y conocer la percepción que los docentes tienen sobre la MT de sus estudiantes es de gran interés. Por eso, los objetivos del trabajo que se informa fueron evaluar si las observaciones de los docentes sobre las dificultades en la MT de sus alumnos (medidas indirectas) se relacionan con el rendimiento de estos alumnos en pruebas de ejecución de MT (medidas directas) y analizar si estas dificultades percibidas por los docentes se corresponden con la presencia de problemas comportamentales de diversos tipos. Para esto se les administraron a niños de edad escolar pruebas de MT verbal y MT viso-espacial informatizadas, y a sus docentes dos cuestionarios, la Escala Observacional de Memoria de Trabajo -WMRS- y la Guía de Observación Comportamental -GOC-. Los resultados obtenidos muestran asociaciones significativas entre indicadores de fallos en MT y la performance de los niños en la tarea de MT verbal, debidas probablemente a que en los comportamientos explorados en la WMRS el componente verbal está más claramente reflejado (e.g., requiere repeticiones de instrucciones). También se encontró que estos fallos se relacionan con problemas comportamentales reportados por los docentes, como ser dificultades atencionales, hiperactividad y autoagresión. Se considera al estudio realizado como una contribución porque no hay escalas observacionales de MT para uso docente, disponibles en nuestro medio.

ABSTRACT: The aim of the study was to analyze the explanatory power of the components of working memory (WM) with respect to reading comprehension (RC) and mathematical computation (MC) skills in school-age children. The sample was obtained through a purposive non probability procedure and consisted of 84 Argentinean children of both sexes, aged 9-11 years. WM was assessed with the computer-based Tareas de Autorregulación Cognitiva [Cognitive Self-Regulation Tasks] (TAC) battery, RC with the screening task from the Leer para Comprender [Reading to Understand] Test, and MC with the Mathematical Computation sub-test from the WRAT-3. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed and the unique percentage of variance explained by each component was calculated. Results showed that verbal storage and the executive component explained RC, while both verbal and visuo-spatial storage and the executive component explained MC. These results are important for gaining in-depth knowledge about the role of WM in RC and MC in local children.

RESUMEN: El objetivo del estudio fue analizar la capacidad explicativa de los componentes de la memoria de trabajo (MT) en las habilidades académicas de comprensión lectora (CL) y cálculo matemático (CM) en niños de edad escolar. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 84 niños argentinos de ambos sexos, de 9 a 11 años de edad, seleccionados mediante un muestreo no probabilístico intencional. La MT se evaluó mediante la batería informatizada de Tareas de Autorregulación Cognitiva (TAC), la CL, con la prueba de screening del Test Leer para Comprender y el CM, con el sub-test Cálculo Matemático del WRAT-3. Se realizaron análisis de regresión lineal múltiple y se calculó el porcentaje único de varianza explicada por cada componente. Los resultados mostraron que los componentes de almacenamiento verbal y ejecutivo explicaron la CL, mientras que el almacenamiento verbal, visoespacial y el componente ejecutivo explicaron el CM. Estos resultados son de interés para profundizar en el conocimiento del rol de la MT en la CL y el CM en niños del medio local.

The executive functions (EF) multidimensional approaches state that EFs consist of a set of processes with relative autonomy and independence: working memory (WM), cognitive flexibility (CF), and inhibition. Regarding the inhibitory operation, three dimensions are distinguished, each with distinct operative features: perceptual, cognitive, and behavioral inhibition. Perceptual inhibition is the process that allows the focus on relevant environmental stimuli through the attenuation of the interference generated by other stimuli present in the context. Cognitive inhibition is involved in the decreased level of activation of the prepotent mental representations of intrusive and irrelevant to the achievement of current goals. Finally, behavioral inhibition handles suppress or cancel behaviors and strong, prepotent and un suitable behaviors. While this last type contributes to the inhibitory control of behavior, the other two processes (cognitive and perceptual inhibition) apply to cognition, as involved in regulating the perceptions and representations. Regarding executive operation in general, empirical evidence suggests that these dimensions are involved in such diverse fields as psychopathology, personality, emotion, attentional control and cognitive development. It has been found that deficits in EFs are usually present in the Attention Deficit Hyper activity Disorder (ADHD). The common practice of treating children with ADHD as an undifferentiated group of participants in behavioral and neuropsychological research may have adverse methodological consequences. Relying on group averaging in comparing the performance of ADHD and control groups may produce misleading results, as it conceals possible effects that may characterize some but not all ADHD participants. According to the previous assumptions, the objectives of this work were (1) analyzing the EF performance in children with or without diagnosed ADHD and (2) identifying and setting the variables with greater discriminant power between the normal and clinical groups. Battery tasks called Tareas de Autorregulación Cognitiva (TAC) ad-hoc and designed to assess EFs operation specifically and with relative independence with each other were used. The sample consisted of 49 school-attending children, aged 7-12 years, of both sexes, divided into two groups: (1) a clinical group of 19 children diagnosed with ADHD combined subtype (M age = 9.84 years, SD =1.83), and (2) a control group of 30 children without ADHD diagnosis (M age = 10.27 years, SD = .82), matched by gender, age, socioeconomic and educational level. By analyzing the results, significant differences were found between verbal and visuospatial WM, CF, behavioral and perceptual inhibition indices. Then, a discriminant analysis was made in order to use the index values with significant differences and make predictions about the probability of a subject to be a member of a certain criteria variable value (clinical or control group condition). Results show that discriminant analysis allows to correctly classifying 98% of the participants. The results indicated that the average RT of the mixed block (Cognitive Flexibility) and the Stop Signal RT (Behavioral Inhibition) are the indices with better sensitivity and specificity for detecting the presence of ADHD in this sample. Considering that the area under the curve indicates the probability to classify correctly a couple of healthy and ill individuals randomly selected, then it is possible to conclude that the values of Cognitive Flexibility and Behavioral Inhibitory control tasks had better discriminant power, as they correctly classified 98.9% and 97.8% of the total cases, respectively. This result shows that the TAC Battery presents adequate sensitivity and specificity to discriminate and detect ADHD with a high level of reliability and classification accuracy. Summarizing, we highlight the importance of having an assessment battery such as the totally computerized TAC, which allows the assessment of EFs independently, with an attractive design and straightforward administering and scoring procedures.

Los déficit de las funciones ejecutivas (FE) suelen estar presentes en el Trastorno por Déficit de Atención e Hiperactividad (TDAH). Distintos trabajos mostraron algunas falencias vinculadas a la medición de las FE, como la participación de otros procesos que no constituyen objeto de la evaluación. En el trabajo que se informa se analizaron las diferencias existentes en las FE de niños con y sin diagnóstico de TDAH y se buscó identificar y establecer aquellas variables con mayor poder discriminante para la probabilidad de pertenencia a ambos grupos. Se utilizaron las tareas de la batería denominada Tareas de Autorregulación Cognitiva (TAC), diseñadas ad-hoc para evaluar específica y relativamente en forma independiente cada FE. Se trabajó con una muestra de 49 niños escolarizados de 7 a 12 años de edad, de ambos géneros, divididos en dos grupos, uno clínico de 19 niños con diagnóstico de TDAH, con una media de edad igual a 9.84 años (DE = 1.83) y uno control de 30 niños sin diagnóstico de TDAH con una media de edad igual a 10.27 años (DE = .82), equiparados por género, edad, niveles socioeconómico y educacional. Los resultados mostraron que el análisis discriminante permitió clasificar correctamente al 98% de los participantes. Las tareas mejor discriminadas fueron la de Flexibilidad cognitiva y Control inhibitorio comportamental, con un 98.9% y 97.8%, respectivamente, de casos correctos. Esto muestra que la TAC constituye una batería con adecuada sensibilidad y especificidad para discriminar y detectar casos de TDAH con un elevado nivel de confiabilidad y porcentaje de correctos clasificados.

La evidencia empírica muestra que la inhibición es un proceso fuertemente implicado en el dominio y la adquisición de competencias sociales, emocionales y comportamentales. Sin embargo, a pesar del acuerdo respecto a su importancia en distintos ámbitos, aún existen divergencias en cuanto a su definición conceptual y operativa. Principalmente, existe un profundo debate en torno a si la inhibición es un constructo unitario o debería fragmentarse en un conjunto de procesos. El objetivo de este trabajo es describir los hallazgos y las posturas más significativas en relación con el estudio de dicho constructo, para lo cual, en primer lugar se hace una propuesta explicativa del control de la interferencia, basada en un enfoque no inhibitorio; en segundo lugar, se describen los modelos más representativos, de 1, 2 y 3 factores para, finalmente, enumerar algunos de los aportes y hallazgos planteados como principal fuente de evidencia a favor del enfoque fragmentado.

Empirical evidence shows that inhibition is a process strongly implicated in the dominion and acquisition of social, emotional and behavioral skills. However, despite the agreement on its importance in various areas, there is still divergence in terms of its conceptual and operational definition. Mainly, a deep debate exists whether inhibition is a unitary construct or must be fragmented into a set of processes. The objective of this study is to describe the findings and the most significant positions in relation to the study of this construct by first, making an explanatory proposal for interference control, based on a non-inhibitory approach; and secondly, describing the most representative 1, 2 and 3 factor models, to finally list some of the contributions and findings proposed as the main source of evidence for the fragmented approach.

A evidência empírica mostra que a inibição é um processo fortemente vinculado ao domínio e à aquisição de competências sociais, emocionais e comportamentais. Contudo, apesar da concordância a respeito de sua importância em diferentes âmbitos, ainda existem divergências quanto a sua definição conceitual e operativa. Principalmente, existe um profundo debate sobre se a inibição é um construto unitário ou deveria fragmentar-se num conjunto de processos. O objetivo deste trabalho é descrever os achados e os posicionamentos mais significativos no que se refere ao estudo desse construto; para isso, em primeiro lugar, faz-se uma proposta explicativa do controle da interferência, baseada num enfoque inibitório; em segundo lugar, descrevem-se os modelos mais representativos, de 1, 2 e 3 fatores para, finalmente, enumerar algumas das contribuições e constatações apresentadas como principal fonte de evidência a favor do enfoque fragmentado.

El objetivo de este trabajo fue analizar las relaciones entre el conocimiento conceptual y el procedimental de las fracciones durante su aprendizaje. Para esto se efectuó una búsqueda bibliográfica en las bases de datos ERIC, PsycInfo, Scielo y Redalyc, con los siguientes términos en español y sus equivalentes en inglés: fracciones (fractions), conocimiento conceptual (conceptual knowledge), conocimiento procedimental (procedural knowledge) y niños (children), combinados de diferente forma con el operador booleano AND (Y). Los resultados de esta búsqueda permitieron hallar quince artículos empíricos que pueden clasificarse en cuatro grupos de investigaciones: las que indican una relación bidireccional, las que sugieren una relación unidireccional, las que muestran cierta independencia o restricciones en su vinculación y, por último, las que señalan que las relaciones varían según los sujetos. Esta falta de acuerdo podría explicarse por ciertas diferencias metodológicas de los estudios, por ejemplo, diferencias en el grado de consolidación del conocimiento de las fracciones de los participantes, el sentido conceptual o la habilidad procedimental estudiada, el tipo de enseñanza matemática recibida, etc. Por ello se sugiere que, para profundizar la comprensión de las relaciones entre el conocimiento conceptual y procedimental de las fracciones, estos aspectos metodológicos deben ser controlados.

The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between conceptual knowledge and procedural knowledge of fractions during learning. For this propose, a literature search was conducted in the databases of ERIC, PsycINFO, Scielo and Redalyc, using the following terms in English and their equivalent word in Spanish: Fractions (fracciones), conceptual knowledge (conocimiento conceptual), procedural knowledge (conocimiento procedimental) and children (niños). The terms were combined in different ways using the Boolean operator AND. The results of this search produced fifteen empirical articles that can be classified into four research groups: those that indicate a bidirectional relationship, those that suggest unidirectional relationship, those that showed some independence or restrictions on their relationship and those stating that relationships vary according to subjects. This lack of agreement could be explained by some methodological differences among studies, for example, differences in the consolidation degree of fraction knowledge of the participants, the conceptual sense or procedural ability studied, the type of mathematical education received, etc. Therefore, so as to deepen the understanding of the relationship between conceptual and procedural knowledge of fractions, we suggest that such methodological aspects should be controlled.

La planificación implica la habilidad para identificar y organizar secuencias de acciones con el fin de alcanzar metas específicas. En la literatura se observan resultados dispares respecto de cuáles son los mejores predictores de esta capacidad en niños. Nuestro objetivo en este trabajo fue identificar en qué medida la voluntad de control, el control inhibitorio perceptual, la memoria de trabajo y la inteligencia fluida explican tal capacidad en niños que inician la educación primaria básica. La muestra estuvo conformada por 289 participantes de entre 6 y 7 años de edad. Los resultados indicaron que únicamente la inteligencia fluida y la memoria de trabajo se asociaban y explicaban la capacidad de planificar. Discutimos las implicaciones de estos resultados para el diseño de futuras investigaciones.

Planning involves the ability to identify and organize sequences of actions to achieve specific goals. In scientific literature different results are observed about which are the best predictors of this capacity in children. The aim of this study is to identify to what extent effortful control, perceptual inhibitory control, working memory and fluid intelligence explain this ability in children who start basic primary education. The sample consisted of 289 participants aged between 6 and 7 years old. The results indicated that only fluid intelligence and working memory were associated with and explained planning ability. The implications of these results for the design of future research are discussed.

O planejamento envolve a habilidade de identificar e organizar sequências de ações para alcançar objetivos específicos. Na literatura, são observados resultados diferentes em relação a quais são os melhores preditores dessa capacidade em crianças. O objetivo deste trabalho é identificar em que medida o desejo de controle, o controle inibitório perceptual, a memória de trabalho e a inteligência fluida explicam essa capacidade em crianças que começam a Educação Básica Primária. A amostra foi composta de 289 participantes com idade entre 6 e 7 anos de idade. Os resultados indicaram que apenas a inteligência fluida e a memória de trabalho se associavam e explicavam a capacidade de planejar. Assim, é proposta a discussão das implicações desses resultados para o projeto de pesquisas futuras.

El objetivo de este trabajo fue proponer y analizar dos modelos de asociaciones para explicar las relaciones entre los rasgos extraversión y neuroticismo; las estrategias de regulación emocional, reevaluación cognitiva (RC) y supresión de la expresión emocional (SEE), y la ansiedad y depresión en niños de 9 a 12 años de edad. Se evaluaron 230 niños de ambos géneros de dichas edades en las variables mencionadas y se contrastaron los modelos mediante análisis de senderos (path analysis). Los resultados mostraron que la RC presentó un efecto mediador total en la relación de la extraversión con la ansiedad, algo que no se observó para la depresión. La SEE presentó un efecto mediador parcial en la relación del neuroticismo con la ansiedad y con la depresión Estos resultados poseen valor para ampliar el conocimiento disponible respecto del efecto de estos rasgos en la sintomatología clínica, lo que resulta de utilidad para la prevención y para la planificación de tratamientos, así como para conocer, en este sentido, el efecto mediador de dichas estrategias -que son modificables o entrena bles- en los rasgos de personalidad, lo que constituye un aporte para el diseño y contenido de programas de salud mental infantil.

The aim of this study was to propose and analyze two models of associations to explain the relationships between Extraversion and Neuroticism traits, emotional regulation strategies cognitive reappraisal (CR) and suppression of emotional expression (SEE) and anxiety and depression in children 9 to 12 years old. For this, 230 children of both genders of those ages were evaluated in these variables and the models were compared by Path Analysis. The results showed that CR presented a total mediating effect on the relationship of Extraversion with anxiety, which was not observed for depression. The SEE submitted a partial mediating effect on the relationship of Neuroticism with anxiety and depression. These results have value to expand the knowledge available about the effect of these traits on clinical symptomatology which is useful for the prevention and treatment planning as well as for such an effect is through strategies that are themselves modifiable and/or trainable what constitutes an contribution for the design and content of children's mental health programs.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi propor e analisar os modelos de associações para explicar as relações entre os rasgos Extroversão e Neuroticismo, as estratégias de regulação emocional reavaliação cognitiva (RC) e suspensão da expressão emocional (SEE) e a ansiedade e depressão em crianças de 9 a 12 anos de idade. Avaliaram-se 230 crianças de ambos os gêneros de ditas idades nas variáveis mencionadas e se contrastaram os modelos mediante Análise de Caminhos (Path Analysis). Os resultados mostraram que a RC apresentou m efeito mediador total na relação da Extroversão com a ansiedade, coisa que não foi observada para a depressão. A SEE apresentou um efeito mediador parcial na relação do Neuroticismo com a ansiedade e com a depressão. Estes resultados possuem valor para ampliar o conhecimento disponível respeito do efeito destes rasgos sobre a sintomatologia clínica o que resulta de utilidade para a prevenção e planificação de tratamentos, assim como para conhecer que dito efeito é através de estratégias que são em si mesmas modificáveis e/ou treináveis o que constitui um impacto para o desenho e conteúdo de programas de saúde mental infantil.