Abstract We examined the relationships among gender, planning, and academic expectations through the testing of two alternative models with latent variables tested with LISREL 8.80: one model considered planning as a mediator of the relationship between gender and academic expectations, and the other model considered academic expectations as mediators of the relationship between gender and planning. Participants were 662 first-year higher-education students from two academic years, predominantly female (60%) and mainly with majors in the juridical-social field (66.2%). The Inventario sobre Estrategias Metacognitivas (IEM; Inventory of Metacognitive Strategies) and the Academic Perceptions Questionnaire (APQ) were applied at the beginning of the first semester to assess planning and academic expectations, respectively. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the IEM’s structure after examining its psychometric properties with the sample from the first academic year (N = 338). The test of the alternative mediation models with the full sample indicates that the best model was that with planning as a mediator. In this model, gender directly predicted only two APQ academic expectations, but with the mediation of planning, gender predicted all seven academic expectations. Women showed higher levels of academic expectations and planning than did men. The results are discussed at both the theoretical and practical levels.

This paper aims to test the psychometric validity and reliability of a measure of first-year university students' expectations, based on a multidimensional conception of expectations. The sample consisted of 759 first-year students, attending various academic degrees at the Universities of Vigo - Ourense and University of Minho. The value Mdn age was 19, with only 5.3% with ages above 23 years. Participants answered a set of 56 items based on seven different dimensions of expectations. Results of confirmatory factor analysis, were carried out with LISREL. Factorial validity, and factors' convergent and discnmmant validity were assured. These results, along with evidences reliability, suggest that the Academic Perceptions Questionnaire presents a final structure composed of seven expectation dimensions, including 42 items: Training for employment/career, Personal and social development, Student mobility, Political and citi%enship involvement, Social pressure, Quality of education, and Social interaction. The equivalence of measurement model in the two languages and in two groups randomly derived from the full sample was also verified. The results of this structural validity study support the assessment of the expectations of first-year students in Higher Education with the questionnaire.

Desde una concepción multidimensional de las expectativas, este artículo pretende analizar la validez y precisión psicométrica de una escala para su medida en los estudiantes universitarios de primer año. La muestra (N = 759) estaba compuesta por alumnado de primer año, de diversas titulaciones académicas de la Universidad de Vigo-Campus de Ourense y de la Universidad de Minho. El valor de la Mdn de edad fue de 19, siendo sólo el 5.3% mayor de 23 años. A los participantes se les aplicó un conjunto de 56 ítems agrupados en siete dimensiones diferentes de expectativas. Los resultados del análisis factorial confirmatorio, se obtuvieron con el LISREL. Se garantizó la validez factorial, tanto convergente como discriminante de los factores. Ésta junto con su fiabilidad sugieren que el Cuestionario de Percepciones Académicas quedaría finalmente con 42 ítems distribuidos en siete dimensiones de expectativas: Formación para el empleo/carrera, Desarrollo personal y social, Movilidad estudiantil, Implicación política/ciudadanía, Presión social, Calidad de formación e Interacción social. Se comprobó la equivalencia del modelo de medida del instrumento en los dos idiomas y en dos grupos resultantes de la bipartición aleatoria de la muestra. Los resultados de la validez estructural de este estudio avalan la utilización del cuestionario para la medida de las expectativas de los estudiantes que inician por primera vez sus estudios en la Enseñanza Superior.

A estratégia de auto-instruções tem vindo a ser reconhecida como uma relevante forma de regulação cognitivo-comportamental no incremento das capacidades atencionais, nomeadamente em sujeitos com Transtorno do Deficit de Atenção com Hiperatividade (TDAH). Neste artigo foi avaliada a atenção seletiva e a atenção sustentada em 2 grupos, ambos formados por pessoas com e sem TDAH, sendo que a um deles foi solicitada a realização de auto-instrução, com o objetivo de verificar se o uso desta estratégia promove as capacidades da atenção. Os resultados demonstraram que os sujeitos que realizam a estratégia de auto-instruções, quer apresentem ou não TDAH, manifestam melhores resultados do que os sujeitos que não a realizaram.

Self-instruction strategy has been recognized as a relevant strategy in cognitive and behavioural regulation as a way of improving attention skills, namely in subjects with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This paper aims at demonstrating the effectiveness of this strategy regarding this disorder in subjects with and without ADHD as a mean of promoting attention skills, particularly selective and sustained attention. The results showed that subjects who performed the verbal self-instruction strategy presented better results in both attention processes assessed, than those who did not do it.

O déficit atencional é o factor primordial da Transtorno do Deficit de Atenção com ou sem Hiperactividade (TDA/H). Neste artigo procura-se comprovar as dificuldades na atenção selectiva dos sujeitos com TDA/H em comparação com os sujeitos sem TDA/H, procurando verificar quais os mecanismos deste processo da atenção que estão mais afectados nos sujeitos com TDA/H. Para isso, avaliou-se a atenção selectiva em sujeitos com e sem TDA/H, numa população de 183 sujeitos, em que 152 não apresentam e 31 apresentam TDA/H. Os resultados gerais comprovam que os sujeitos com TDA/H apresentam piores capacidades de atenção selectiva do que os sujeitos sem TDA/H, nomeadamente ao nível dos acertos, dos erros, da capacidade de concentração e do número de elementos processados.

The attention deficit is the major factor of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This paper aims to demonstrate difficulties in selective attention of subjects with ADHD as compared to subjects without ADHD, attempting to verify which mechanisms of selective attention are more affected in subjects with ADHD. For this purpose, we evaluated selective attention in subjects with and without ADHD (152 without and 31 with ADHD), in a population of 183 subjects. The general results show that the subjects with ADHD present lower selective attention skills than the subjects without ADHD, specifically as far as rightness, errors, concentration and processed elements are concerned.

Este trabajo tenía como objetivos comprobar la relación entre variables atencionales y rendimiento académico en la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria y averiguar si el uso de estrategias atencionales varía en función de la edad, grado académico o género de los alumnos. Se aplicó la Escala de Estrategias de Aprendizaje (ACRA) a una muestra de 602 sujetos, y se recogieron sus notas finales en junio. Los resultados confirman que las variables atencionales exploración, subrayado lineal, fragmentación y atención, son las que parecen influir más en el rendimiento académico. El análisis correlacional señala un ligero decremento en el uso de las estrategias atencionales a lo largo de esta etapa educativa; y las comparaciones por género, indican que las chicas las utilizan más frecuentemente.

The objective of this work was to verify the relation between attention variables and academic performance in Compulsory Secondary Education, and to find out if the use of these strategies varies with student's age, academic level or gender. Using a sample of 602 Compulsory Secondary Education students, the ACRA learning strategies scale was applied. Year-end marks were gathered in June. Results confirm that attention variables - exploration, lineal underline, fragmentation and attention - are those which more directly influence in academic performance. Insofar as frequency of use of techniques and attention strategies are concerned, negative correlations with age could indicate a slight decrease in their use during this educational stage; gender comparisons would indicate girls use them more frequently than boys.