M. Adelina Guisande

Acesso e sucesso no Ensino Superior em Portugal: questões de género, origem sócio-cultural e percurso académico dos alunos

We analyse the impact of gender and sociocultural origin of freshmen from their college entrance exam scores and chosen undergraduate courses, as well the anticipation of difficulties in academic adaptation, and in academic success, at the end of their first year in college. The studys sample consists of 1407 freshman students from the Universidade do Minho. Results show that gender and sociocultural family background influence the courses that are chosen (most female students and students from less advantaged social class origins attended Social Science courses, whereas most male students and students from more advantaged social class origins attended Engineering courses). Higher sociocultural status and female students presented higher entrance exam scores and averaged better academic achievement at the end of their first year in college. Concerning anticipated difficulties, female students and students from Social and Economic Science courses anticipated more inter-personal difficulties, while male students and students from Engineering and Economic Science courses anticipated more difficulties in relation to learning and organizing daily activities. The anticipation of learning difficulties was associated in a negative and statistical way with entrance exam scores and academic achievement.

Contribución de los procesos y contenidos a la diferenciación cognitiva en la infancia : un estudio con escolares portugueses

Resumen Este artículo analiza la organización de las habilidades cognitivas en la infancia, considerando los procesos cognitivos y los contenidos de las tareas utilizadas en su evaluación. Una muestra de 539 escolares portugueses, entre los 4 y los 10 años, realizó la Escala de Competencias Cognitivas—ECCOs 4/10, para niños de los 4 a los 10 años de edad—ECCOs 4/10 (Brito, 2009; Brito y Almeida, 2009). Se trata de una batería formada por 11 pruebas, con contenido verbal y no-verbal, que evalúa diversas funciones cognitivas (percepción, memoria, comprensión, razonamiento, resolución de problemas y pensamiento divergente). Los análisis factoriales confirmatorios (AFC) llevados a cabo permiten aceptar un modelo proponiendo la existencia de un factor general y de un segundo modelo, con mejores índices de ajuste, formado por dos factores asociados al contenido verbal y no-verbal de las pruebas. Además, los análisis indican inexistencia de invarianza factorial del modelo más ajustado (el modelo de dos factores verbal y no-verbal correlacionados) en los tres grupos de edad considerados (4/5, 6–8 y 9/10). Estos resultados sugieren que las diferencias significativas en la evolución normal de las aptitudes cognitivas, relacionadas con el aprendizaje escolar, provocan cambios a nivel de la estructura factorial de las aptitudes estudiadas con la ECCOs 4/10.

Digits backward and the children's embedded figures test among school-age Spanish children.

This study examined whether performance on a single working-memory task (Digits Backward) was associated with scores on field-dependence-independence, as measured on the Childrens Embedded Figures Test. Four different age groups of children were tested (N = 144): 33 8-yr.-olds, 40 9-yr.-olds, 33 10-yr.-olds, and 38 11-yr.-olds. Children were classified into three groups (Field-dependent, Field-independent, and Intermediate) within each age range. Analyses of variance indicated performance on the Digits Backward was significantly higher for the children in the 11-yr.-old group than the youngest group (8-yr.-olds). Children in the Field-independent groups also had significantly higher scores than those in the Field-dependent or Intermediate groups. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Field dependence-independence and career counseling : directions for research

This paper reviews relevant research concerning the utilization of Field-dependence-independence cognitive style in vocational decision-making as well as in implementation and adjustment of career choices. Need for further investigation is highlighted and how career interventions can be enriched by including cognitive style indicated. A test of cognitive styles offers complementary information to traditional career counseling but needs to be explicitly integrated into personal history, academic experiences, achievements, motivations, and vocational goals. New directions for research are offered.

Self-Regulated Learning in Female Students with Different Cognitive Styles: An Exploratory Study

In the present study, the relationship between the cognitive style called field-dependence/independence and learning strategies was explored. Acquisition, encoding, retrieval, support, and meta-cognitive strategies of first-year psychology and social education students (all women; M age = 19.2 yr., SD = 1.7) with upper and lower quartile scores on field-dependence/independence were assessed on two self-report questionnaires and compared. Field-dependent students reported greater use of some learning strategies, specifically Self-instructions, Counter-distractions, Self-questioning, Self-monitoring, and Self-evaluation. The possible mediation of cognitive style on the influence of social desirability and a failure to activate appropriate strategies on accuracy of self-reports of learning strategies are discussed. Arguments and data are presented in favour of a distinction among the association of cognitive style with a tendency and capacity to use specific strategies and the benefits and manner of their application.

Processos atencionais e dependência-independência de campo: estudo com crianças e adolescentes portugueses

The present study relates the “field dependence-independence” cognitive style to the performance on tasks involving several attention processes and resources. With a 98 Portuguese children and 95 Portuguese adolescents sample, four attention tasks were applied: storage capacity (Digits Forward Test); verbal working memory (Digits Backward Test); capacity to focus, shift, and maintain attention (Digit Symbol Test); and capacity for sustained attention (Visual Search and Attention Test, VSAT). It was also applied a factor g test for intelligence control. Results showed differences on attention processes between field-dependence and field-independence cognitive styles. These differences are more evident in the children subgroup on VSAT. These results open new research topics to explain lowest academic performance of field-dependent children.