Las variables mediadoras de los estudiantes en la relación entre implicación familiar y rendimiento académico: el efecto de los estilos de implicación

The present study is aimed at observing the degree to which family support and control determine academic performance in Mathematics and Language, and at understanding how this relationship is mediated by a series of factors related to students’ motivation (self-efficacy), their study habits, the learning environment perceived at school, their school satisfaction, and a history of school retention. On this premise, a study was proposed in 44 Compulsory Secondary Education (CSE) schools, selecting 1,316 students (938 enrolled in the first, and 378 in the second year). Data confirm that both parental support and control directly influence academic performance in both subjects, but also indirectly through the mediator variables, which in the case of support are environment, satisfaction, study habits and self-efficacy, whereas in the case of control they are habits and retentionEl presente estudio tiene como objetivo observar en qué medida el apoyo y el control de la familia determinan el rendimiento académico en Matemáticas y Lengua y comprender cómo esta relación está mediada por una serie de factores relacionados con la motivación (autoeficacia) de los estudiantes, sus hábitos de estudio, el ambiente de aprendizaje percibido en la escuela, su satisfacción escolar y su historial de repeticiones. Con esta premisa, se propuso un estudio en 44 escuelas de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria (ESO), seleccionando 1,316 estudiantes (938 matriculados en el primer año y 378 en el segundo). Los datos confirman que tanto el apoyo como el control de los padres influyen directamente en el rendimiento académico en ambas materias, pero también indirectamente a través de las variables mediadoras, que en el caso del apoyo son el ambiente, la satisfacción, los hábitos de estudio y la autoeficacia, mientras que en el caso del control son los hábitos y la retenciónThis research was developed through the funding of two research project: PGIDIT 10SEC214042PR of the Regional Government of Galicia (Spain), and EDU2015-66781-R of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of the Spanish GovernmentS

¿Mejoran el aprendizaje cooperativo y la implicación familiar las variables vinculadas al rendimiento académico?

Background: One of the most serious problems in the Spanish education system is the high percentage of school failure in Compulsory Secondary Education. The aim of this study is to analyze the infl uence of a socioeducational program based on cooperative learning and family involvement on a series of variables related to academic performance, paying particular attention to the differences between retained and non-retained students. Methodology: A two-group quasi-experimental design incorporating pre-testing and post-testing was used. The study involved 146 students in the experimental group and 123 in the control group, 8 teachers, and 89 parents or other family members. Results: The program was observed to have a positive effect on self-image, study habits, satisfaction with the subject, maternal support and control, and opinions about the school. In addition, the results for non-retained students are better. Conclusion: Cooperative work and family involvement in education affect the variables which research links to improving school performance.¿Mejoran el aprendizaje cooperativo y la implicación familiar las variables vinculadas al rendimiento académico? Antecedentes: en el sistema educativo español, uno de los problemas más graves detectados es el alto porcentaje de fracaso escolar en la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar la infl uencia de un programa socioeducativo basado en el aprendizaje cooperativo y la implicación familiar en una serie de variables relacionadas con el rendimiento académico, prestando especial atención a las diferencias entre estudiantes repetidores y no repetidores. Metodología: utilizamos un diseño cuasi-experimental de dos grupos con pretest y postest. En la investigación participaron 146 estudiantes en el grupo experimental y 123 en el grupo de control, 8 docentes y 89 padres, madres, u otros miembros de la familia. Resultados: se observa que el programa tiene un efecto positivo en autoimagen, hábitos de estudio, satisfacción con la materia, apoyo y control materno, y opiniones sobre la escuela. Además, los resultados son mejores para los estudiantes no repetidores. Conclusión: el trabajo cooperativo y la implicación familiar en la educación inciden sobre variables que la investigación vincula a la mejora del rendimiento escolar.This work was supported by the research project subsidized through publication of a competitive call by Government of Galicia-Xunta de Galicia (Spain) “Design and assessment of a program aimed at the improvement of academic performance of immigrant students” (2011-2014) (10SEC214042PR)S

Academic performance of native and immigrant students: a study focused on the perception of family support and control, school satisfaction, and learning environment

The international assessment studies of key competences, such as the PISA report of the OECD, have revealed that the academic performance of Spanish students is significantly below the OECD average. In addition, it has also been confirmed that the results of immigrant students are consistently lower than those of their native counterparts. Given the context, the first objective of this work is to observe the variables (support, control, school satisfaction, and learning environment) which distinguish between retained and non-retained native and immigrant students. The second objective is to check, by comparing the retained and non-retained native and immigrant students and separating the two levels, in order to find out which of the selected variables clearly differentiate the two groups. A sample of 1359 students was used (79.8% native students and 20.2% immigrant students of Latin American origin), who were enrolled in the 5th and 6th year of Primary Education (aged 10–11 years) and in the 1st and 2nd year of Secondary Education (aged 12–13 years). The measurement scales, which undergo a psychometric analysis in the current work, have been developed in a previous research study (Lorenzo et al., 2009). The construct validity and reliability are reported (obtaining alpha indices between 0.705 and 0.787). Subsequently, and depending on the results of this analysis, inferential analyses are performed, using as independent variables the ethno-cultural origin and being retained or not, whereas, as dependent variables, the indices referring to students’ perception of family support and control, as well as the assessment of the school and learning environment. Among other results, the Group × Being retained/Not being retained [F(1 1315) , = 4.67, p < 0.01] interaction should be pointed out, indicating that native non-retained subjects perceive more control than immigrants, as well as the Group × Being retained/Not being retained [F(1, 1200) = 5.49, p < 0.01] interaction, showing that native non-retained students perceive more family support. Given the results obtained, our intention is to provide solid evidence that would facilitate the design of family involvement programs, helping to improve students’ educational performanceThis work was developed through the funding of the research project PGIDIT 07SEC009214PR of the Government of Galicia (Xunta de Galicia), Spain.S

Comparing Measures of Individual Differences in Performance of Conditional Reasoning

This work was presented at 10th EUROPEAN MEETING OF THE PSYCHOMETRIC SOCIETY, celebrated in Santiago de Compostela, Spain (15-18th July, 1997). This study examined the following issues: 1) The relation among different measures in psychometric ability tests (verbal comprehension and reasoning), computerised measure of comprehension skills and the subjects´ performance in a experimental task of conditional reasoning, 2) Whetehr or not good and por comprehenders sistematically differ in their performance in Wason´s selection task (Wason, 1966, 1968) and 3) The differential influence of rule content and instruction on the subjects´ performance in the selection task. 154 undergraduate students each completed three psychometric ability tests (DAT-VR, PMA-V and PMA-R), and a spanish versión of Gernsbacher´s Comprehension Battery. Subsequently each subject was given three problems corresponding to the content of the theree different rules (abstract content, thematic-premission and thematic-norm) and the instructions were also manipulated (verification/falsation vs. violation) (Valiña & cols., 1996). The results showed that: a) Performance in Wason´s selection task with abstract and thematic-permission content in terms of logical index is related to measures of the DAT-VR, b) In terms of differential analyses it was found that the logical index was considerably better in the higher reasoning-verbal group (DAT-VR) with abstract content and thematic-permission, but differences were not found in performance among good and por verbal comprehenders (PMA-V and Gernsbacher Comprehension Battery) or subjects with high and low scores in the PMA-R, and c) For he logical index and the matching index the principal effects of the content of the rule and the instructions were registere

Wason´s selection task: Content effect, instruction effect or both?

This paper was presented at the THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THINKING. British Psychological Society. Cognitive Psychology Section. University College London. August, 1996"This experiment explores the effect of the scenario’s availability, instruction (true/false vs. violation) and presentation order on performance in different versions of Wason’s selection task. Each subject was given three problems corresponding to the content of the three different rules (abstract content, thematic-permission and thematic-norm). The main analyses are presented in terms of matching and logical index (Pollard and Evans, 1987). The matching and logical index were influenced by the contents of the rules. Also there exist an interaction between instructions and content in the logical index. In the abstract version, as in the thematic-obligation, the logical indices are superior on the individuals that receive violation instructions, whilst that in the thematic-permission the best performance was registered with true/false instructions. The results are not consistent with syntactic theories of human reasoning, and are discussed in terms of pragmatic and semantic theories of human reasoning

Conditional Reasoning: The importance of individual differences

This paper was presented at Syposium on Mental Models, Madrid, November 1998In this study, we explore the relation between different measures in psychometric ability tests (verbal comprehension and reasoning) and performance in Wason's selection task (Wason, 1966, 1968). We also examined whether or not good and poor verbal comprehenders, according to a Spanish version of Gernsbacher's Battery Comprehension, differ in their performance in a experimental conditional task. The results of the experimental study reveal that the DAT-VR psychometric test is a good predictor for performance in Wason's selection task. The results also showed that there are no differences between good and poor verbal comprehenders. Finally, logical performance was influenced by the content's rule and the experimental instructions. These results may be explained by the semantic theories and do not support the formal theories of conditional reasoning.En esta investigación se estudia la relación entre diferentes puntuaciones obtenidas en tests psicométricos que miden distintas habilidades cognitivas (comprensión verbal y razonamiento) y la ejecución en la tarea de selección de Wason (Wason, 1966, 1968). También se analizó si sujetos con puntuaciones altas y bajas en la versión española de la Batería de Comprensión de Gernsbacher, se diferenciaban en su ejecución en la tarea experimental de razonamiento condicional. Los resultados de esta investigación experimental han puesto de manifiesto que el tests psicométrico DAT-VR es un buen predictor de la ejecución en la tarea de selección de Wason. Los datos obtenidos también indican que no hay diferencias entre sujetos con puntuaciones extremas en las pruebas de comprensión. Finalmente, la ejecución lógica estaba influída por el contenido de la regla y las instrucciones experimentales. Estos resultados podrían ser explicados en el marco de las teorías semánticas y no apoyan las teorías formales de razonamiento condicional

Conditional reasoning with narrative contexts: the role of semantic and pragmatic factors

This work was presented at Fourth Biennial Conference of the AUSTRALASIAN COGNITIVE SCIENCE SOCIETY, celebrated in the University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, 26-28th September, 1997The main objective of this experiment is to determine in what way the subjects´s knowledge of the real world modulates their performance in a conditional reasoning task with narrative contexts, in line with previous experimental studies (Cheng & Holyoak, 1985 and Holyoak & Cheng, 1995) The empirical frequency (Valiña, Seoane, Gehring, Ferraces & Fernández-Rey, 1992; Valiña, Seoane, Martín, Fernández-Rey & Ferraces, 1992; Valiña, Seoane, Ferraces & Martín, 1996a, b) was manipulated. This refers to the frequency with which empirical relation expressed between the antecedent and the consequent of the premises on conditional arguments occurs in the real world. This relation could occur always (deterministic), sometimes (probabilistic) or there could be no specific relation between antecedent and consequent (without specific relation). In this respect, we consider the deterministic relation similar to a relation of empirical necessity (the relation expressed in the conditional statement always happens); while the probabilistic relation presents a character of empirical possibility (which only happens sometimes in the real world

Pragmatic factors in conditional reasoning with narrative texts

This work was presented at Nineteenth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, celebrated in Stanford University, California, August, 7-10, 1997In this study the role of pragmatic knowledge in conditional reasoning was investigated (Cheng & Holyoak, 1985; Holyoak & Cheng, 1995). We tried to precisely determine the importance of the variable which we refer to as “the probability of empirical frequency" (Valiña & cols. 1992a, b; Valiña & cols. 1996a, b) This refers to the frequency with which the expressed relation between the antecedent and the consequent in conditional sentences occurs in the real world. If, as is proposed by the Theory of Mental Models (Johnson-Laird, 1983; Johnson-Laird & Byrne, 1991), people elaborate representations of the real world, it would be expected that reasoning with conditional sentences in which "empirical possibilities" are expressed will be different from the reasoning involved with statements which imply "empirical neccessities" (Byrne & Johnson-Laird, 1992). The results are not consistent with theories based on formal rules of inference

Pragmatic factors in conditional reasoning

* This paper was presented at the NINTH CONFERENCE OF THE EUROPEAN SOCIETY FOR COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY - ESCOP, celebrated at the University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany (September, 4-8, 1996). A posterior version of this work was published in J. Hoffmann & A. Sebald (Eds). Proceedings of the Ninth Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology (p.142). Pabst Science Publishers (Lengerich)We investigated the importance of pragmatic factors in conditional reasoning. The performance of 54 subjects was examined, with the four basic inferences of Modus Ponens (MP), Denial of the Antecedent (DA), Affirmation of the consequent (AC) and Modus Tollens (MT), on the usual three-answer format. The empirical relation in the real world between antecedent and consequent of the premises on conditional arguments (probabilistic, deterministic and without relation) and scenario availability (available versus non-available), were manipulated. The results showed that: a) the scenario availability is not sufficient in itself to explain differences in performance, but affects the subjects' degree of confidence in their conclusions; b) there is an interaction between availability and logical structure of rules on correct performance. The results support the semantic theories of conditional reasoning and are not consistent with theories based on formal rules of inferenc

Conditional Reasoning: Scenario or Context Effects?

This Paper was presented at the Fifth Conference of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology - ESCOP, celebrated in Paris, Societé Francaise de Psychologie-Université de Paris-SUD (September, 12-16, 1992).This paper studies the importance of contextual factors in reasoning with conditional inference tasks. In this experiment subjects were given conditional sentences in the context of narrative texts. Short stories about scenarios of the daily life were described in these texts. The experiment manipulated: a) context (causal or promises/threats), b) degree of factual relation between antecedent and consequent of conditional (deterministic, probabilistic or without relation), c) congruence between the factual consequence explicit in the story and the logic conclusion and d) conditional rules. The results were related to previous investigations about syllogistic inference (Valiña & De Vega, 1988) and were discussed within the framework of theoretical modes about pragmatic reasoning