INFORMATION

Psicothema was founded in Asturias (northern Spain) in 1989, and is published jointly by the Psychology Faculty of the University of Oviedo and the Psychological Association of the Principality of Asturias (Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos del Principado de Asturias).
We currently publish four issues per year, which accounts for some 100 articles annually. We admit work from both the basic and applied research fields, and from all areas of Psychology, all manuscripts being anonymously reviewed prior to publication.

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  • Director: Laura E. Gómez Sánchez
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Differences in cognitive, motivational and contextual variables between under-achieving, normally-achieving, and over-achieving students: A mixed-effects analysis

Alejandro Veas Iniesta1, José Antonio López-López2, Raquel Gilar Corbí1, Pablo Miñano Pérez1 and Juan Luis Castejón Costa1

1 Universidad de Alicante and
2 Universidad de Bristol

Background: There are few studies in Spain which analyze the influence of individual, motivational and contextual variables, which might be different between underachieving, normally achieving and overachieving students. Method: A total of 1,398 Spanish high school students participated. Mixed-effects models were used to analyze data.  Results: The results showed some evidence of: (a) Partial mediational effect of self-concept on the association between cognitive ability and academic achievement. (b) Higher levels of learning goals in the overachieving group than in the underachieving group, but no differences in achievement and reinforcement goals between groups. (c) Positive effect of learning strategies on attainment, both in the underachieving and the non-underachieving students. (d) Little effect of context variables on academic achievement, both in the underachieving and non-underachieving students. Conclusions: underachieving students seem to employ all the learning strategies considered to a lesser extent than normally and overachieving students. They also have a lower level of learning goals. On the contrary, overachieving students score more highly than under and normally achieving students in almost all of the above factors.

Diferencias en variables cognitivas, motivacionales y contextuales entre alumnado con rendimiento menor, igual y mayor al esperado: análisis de efectos mixtos. Antecedentes: apenas existen estudios en España que analicen la influencia de variables cognitivas, motivacionales y contextuales capaces de establecer diferencias entre los estudiantes con rendimiento menor, igual y mayor al esperado. Método: participaron 1.398 estudiantes españoles de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria. Se emplearon modelos de efectos mixtos para el análisis de datos. Resultados: los resultados mostraron evidencia de: (a) efecto mediacional parcial del auto-concepto en la asociación de la habilidad cognitiva y el rendimiento académico; (b) mayores niveles de metas de aprendizaje en el grupo de estudiantes con rendimiento mayor al esperado; (c) efecto positivo de las estrategias de aprendizaje sobre el rendimiento en todos los grupos; (d) efecto pequeño de las variables contextuales sobre el rendimiento en todos los grupos. Conclusiones: los estudiantes con rendimiento menor al esperado emplean en menor medida las estrategias de aprendizaje y las metas orientadas al aprendizaje. Por el contrario, los estudiantes con rendimiento mayor al esperado muestran niveles superiores que el resto de grupos en la mayor parte de variables.

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