University students' academic performance: An integrative conceptual framework and empirical analysis

Background. The prediction and explanation of academic performance and the investigation of the factors relating to the academic success and persistence of students are topics of utmost importance in higher education. Aims. The main aim of the present study is to develop and test a conceptual framework in a university context, where the effects of achievement goals, self‐efficacy and class size on academic performance are hypothesized to be direct and indirect through study strategies. Sample. Participants were 553 students of different faculties from a university in Spain. Method. Pre‐existing scales were used to develop the questionnaire. Questionnaires were group‐administered in 21 classes during the first 2 weeks of May (i.e. about 1 month before the final examination). At the end of the academic year, students' grades were obtained from professors of each course. Results. Data were analysed through structural equation modelling. The results of the structural model provided support for most of the hypothesized relationships. Achievement goals and self‐efficacy had no direct effects on performance, but results from the model comparison suggested that a mediational model provided a better fit to the data. Conclusions. Our study provides support for the key mediational role of study strategies in the effect of achievement goals and self‐efficacy on academic performance. Self‐efficacy seems to have the strongest indirect effect on performance. Mastery goals play a key role increasing deep processing and effort, and in turn affecting performance. Academic performance tends to diminish with increasing class size.     

An integrative framework for psychopathology and psychotherapy

This article presents an integrative framework for psychopathology and psychotherapy. The framework differs in kind from previous ones in that it is entirely pre-empirical (specifically, conceptual and logical) in character and does not represent an attempt to create a new empirical theory (cf. Newton's pre-empirical creation of a new conceptual system, which creation proved a necessary precondition for his subsequent empirical contentions). The present integration is accomplished in three parts. In the first of these, a definition of pathology as behavioral disability or functional impairment is presented and defended. In the second, this definition is used as a centerpiece to achieve a logical unification of many prominent explanations of psychopathology that are at present widely considered to be theoretically divergent and incompatible. In part three, established forms of intervention from our most influential schools of psychotherapy are shown to be both conceptually coherent and compatible in practice within the present overarching framework.     

Self-control: An integrative framework

Research on self-control has flourished within the last two decades, with many researchers trying to answer one of the most fundamental questions regarding human behaviour—how do we successfully regulate desires in the pursuit of long-term goals? While recent research has focused on different strategies to enhance self-control success, we still know very little about how strategies are implemented or where the need for self-control comes from in the first place. Drawing from parallel fields (e.g., emotion regulation, health) and other theories of self-regulation, we propose an integrative framework that describes self-control as a dynamic, multi-stage process that unfolds over time. In this review, we first provide an overview of this framework, which poses three stages of regulation: the identification of the need for self-control, the selection of strategies to regulate temptations, and the implementation of chosen strategies. These regulatory stages are then flexibly monitored over time. We then expand this framework by outlining a series of growth points to guide future research. By bridging across theories and disciplines, the present framework improves our understanding of how self-control unfolds in everyday life.     

When moral identity undermines moral behavior: An integrative framework

While research bore out a reliable relationship between moral identity and moral behavior, it has not addressed potential undermining effects of moral identity on moral behavior. This paper offers an integrative framework for conceptualizing such effects. Within this framework, moral identity is defined as a goal that allows for different forms of goal pursuit. The moral identity goal can vary along three axes: prevention versus promotion orientation, external versus internal motivation, and low versus high level of abstraction. It is argued that (a) prevention orientation fosters moral disengagement, (b) external motivation promotes moral hypocrisy, and (c) a less abstract representation of the moral identity goal allows for moral licensing. These undermining effects can be overcome by promotion-oriented, internally motivated and more abstract moral identity goals.     

Dispersion-weighted kappa: An integrative framework for metric and nominal scale agreement coefficients

The rater agreement literature is complicated by the fact that it must accommodate at east two different properties of rating data: the number of raters (two versus more than two) and the rating scale level (nominal versus metric). While kappa statistics are most widely used for nominal scales, intraclass correlation coefficients have been preferred for metric scales. In this paper, we suggest a dispersion-weighted kappa framework for multiple raters that integrates some important agreement statistics by using familiar dispersion indices as weights for expressing disagreement. These weights are applied to ratings identifying cells in the traditional inter-judge contingency table. Novel agreement statistics can be obtained by applying less familiar indices of dispersion in the same wayThis revised article was published online in August 2005 with the PDF paginated correctly.     

An analysis of the conceptual framework underlying definitions of learning disabilities

Various theoretical perspectives have contributed to the different types of definitions of learning disabilities (LD) that have been developed since the category was first established. To date, there has been little consensus on the definition of learning disabilities. In the present study, three kinds of definitions, ability-achievement discrepancy, low achievement, and scatter, were examined to determine the extent to which there was common variance. The subject were 48 school-identified LD children and 96 non-LD children. Both samples had previously been administered a battery of psychoeducational tests. These data were used to classify each child as LD or non-LD according to each of 14 operational definitions. A factor analysis resulted in two distinct groupings of LD students; low achievement accounted for over four times as much variance as ability-achievement discrepancy. Scatter did not contribute independently to classification. The implications for LD-identification practices are discussed.     

Suicide and blacks: a conceptual framework.

Suicide among black Americans has risen sharply in this decade. The suicide pattern differs from that of white Americans in that black suicide is mainly a youth phenomenon and the rates between black females and black males are relatively equal. The lack of research into these phenomena is highlighted along with an exploration of current explanations. A specific conceptual framework is proposed that includes extragroup pressure, intragroup pressure, and value orientation. The framework is extended into the area of mental health planning, as well as behavioral science practice.     

An analysis of recent meditation research and suggestions for future directions

Abstract

Meditation offers a rich and complex field of study. Over the past 40 years, several hundred research studies have demonstrated numerous significant findings including changes in psychological, physiological, and transpersonal realms. This paper attempts to summarize these findings, and to review more recent meditation research. We then suggest directions for future research, emphasizing the necessity to continue to expand the paradigm from which meditation research is conducted, from a predominantly re‐ductionistic, biomedical model to one which includes subjective and transpersonal domains and an integral perspective.     

The Social Relations Model: An integrative method for personality research

As outlined by Snyder and Ickes (1985), the study of personality can be undertaken using one of three research approaches dispositional, situational, and interactive We show how the Social Relations Model provides an integrative method to estimate simultaneously dispositional, situational, and interactive effects Reviewed are component approaches to the study of personality The Social Relations Model is shown to be a component model (a special case of generalizability theory) applied in a social interaction context In the model, dispositional, situational, and interactive effects are termed actor, partner, and relationship effects, respectively The Social Relations Model can be used to answer a number of important issues in personality research The model can be used to assess reliability, measure the validity of self-ratings, and validate self-report inventories The model requires special designs in winch each person interacts with multiple partners Empirical examples are presented in which social anxiety, sex role inventories, and self-disclosure are studied     

New directions in behavioral process research: Implications for social psychology

Current theories of social judgment and social decision making emphasize dynamic process perspectives, but the methods used to investigate these processes have been relatively static and limited in scope. This paper describes a set of evolving procedures designed to capture process data and discusses how this approach may be used to study various psychological phenomena, including control schemata, attribution theory, attitude formation, impression formation, implicit personality theory, verbal report accuracy, postdecision dissonance reduction, attraction, choice behavior, time constraints, gender stereotypes, agenda effects, and task feedback effects.     

A conceptual framework for understanding self-regulation in adults

Multiple models of self-regulation have been posited, yet despite the apparent overlap between them, there is no common theoretical framework to unite the many theories. Authors in the area of self-regulation research have noted the lack of cross-field communication due to the absence of a conceptual framework and of common terms to describe self-regulatory processes ( [Bandura, 2005], [Boekaerts et?al., 2005] and [Karoly et?al., 2005]). The objective of the current review is to propose a common lexicon and a comprehensive model to integrate and organize the extant self-regulation research, thereby facilitating the understanding of self-regulation. The proposed model revisits classic cybernetic theory (Wiener, 1948), and is composed of a reference, input, comparator, and output. Each of these components is represented in current self-regulation theory, and is discussed as it relates to self-regulation models and ongoing empirical research.     

A conceptual metaphor framework for the teaching of mathematics

Word problems in mathematics seem to constantly pose learning difficulties for all kinds of students. Recent work in math education (for example, [Lakoff, G. &; Nuñez, R. E. (2000). Where mathematics comes from: How the embodied mind brings mathematics into being. New York: Basic Books]) suggests that the difficulties stem from an inability on the part of students to decipher the metaphorical properties of the language in which such problems are cast. A 2003 pilot study [Danesi, M. (2003a). Semiotica, 145, 71–83] confirmed this hypothesis in an anecdotal way. This paper reviews the implications of that study and of a follow-up one that is described here as well, in the light of how the metaphorical analysis of word problems allows learners to overcome typical difficulties in word problem-solving by teaching them how to flesh out the underlying concepts and convert them into appropriate representations.     

A conceptual framework for identifying various types of confessions

Considerable attention has been given to the psychology of confession evidence in recent years. While various factors have been used to define the types of confessions possible, most classification frameworks have focused on the various types of false confessions. An expanded framework is outlined using a decision-tree model in which confessions are defined according to a number of dimensions, including whether or not a confession is retracted, veracity or truthfulness, legal culpability of the suspect, voluntariness, and specific nature of the coercion that might produce a confession. A proposal is made for a new subtype of false confession, the coerced–reactive type, to supplement current theoretical approaches. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the implications of this conceptual model for providing consultation and expert testimony in cases involving disputed confessions. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.