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Introduction: Critical thinking is a highly-valued skill in higher education, even though there are few studies that demonstrate its effectiveness on scientific skills of pedagogy students. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of a critical thinking program (PENCRIT-RC) on inquiry and probabilistic reasoning skills in pedagogy students. Method: The method was based on a quasi-experimental design, with a control group and pre- and post-test application. The participants were 95 students of science and mathematics pedagogy from two Chilean universities. The instruments used were an inquiry scale adapted from a critical thinking test, and a scale of probabilistic reasoning adapted from the Lawson classroom test. Descriptive and bivariated analisys (ancova) was applied to calculate data. Results: The results showed a statistically significant difference in both variables for the experimental group, with a large effect in the inquiry variable, and a moderate effect in the probabilistic reasoning variable. Discussion and Conclusion: It is concluded that the program is effective for the development of inquiry skills in participants, but probabilistic reasoning skills require more work in professional training.

A well-documented finding in aging and emotion research is that older adults reliably report less negative and, often, more positive affect than younger adults. How older people accomplish this is, however, an open question. We propose that this age effect is the result of differential use of emotion regulation strategies, especially when affective states call for them. We assessed a wide range of emotion regulation strategies over 2 months of daily life (60 consecutive days, N = 9,089 observations). Sample was composed of N = 153 participants (52% female; 62.09% White, 19.61% Black or African American, 9.80% Asian,1.96% Hispanic or Latino, 1.31% Native American, and 5.23% were missing cases) ranging in age from 18 to 84 years, (M = 45, SD = 20.02). We compare three age groups: young (n = 50, college students, median age of 21 years), middle aged (n = 52, university graduates, median age 44 years), and older (n = 51, university graduates, median age of 68 years). Using mixed model analyses of mood regulation strategy use, we find a main effect for age, negative affect (NA), and an interaction between NA and age, meaning that, in general, older participants' use of emotion regulation strategy was higher with negative affect than for younger participants. In summary, older participants used a wider variety of emotion regulation strategies, and they used them most when their affective states called for them, compared to younger participants. Results are interpreted along the lines of an "older but wiser" perspective on emotional well-being and aging.

Se investiga el efecto del pensamiento crítico sobre los sesgos cognitivos en estudiantes de pedagogía. Participaron 95 estudiantes de dos universidades chilenas, utilizándose un instrumento con dos tareas de probabilidad. Se usó diseño cuasi experimental con pretest y postest, con un grupo control y dos experimentales, uno solo con intervención en pensamiento crítico y otro además con formación en sesgos, analizándose los datos con estadísticos de confiabilidad y de diferencia de medias. Los resultados señalan que solo existe diferencia significativa en una de las dos tareas de sesgo. Se observa una diferencia entre el grupo experimental con formación en sesgos y el grupo control. Se concluye que hay dificultades para modificar los sesgos cognitivos y es necesario trabajarlos explícitamente. The effect of a critical thinking in cognitive biases aimed for pedagogy students is studied. Ninety-five students from two Chilean universities participated. The method consisted of a test with two probability tasks. A quasi-experimental design with pre and post-test was used, two experimental groups received training in critical thinking, one of them with explicit bias instruction, and it was contrasted with a control group. Data was analyzed through reliability and mean differences statistics. The results indicate differences between pre- and post-test in bias task 2; a significant difference between experimental group with bias training and control group was found. It is concluded that there is a difficulty to modify the cognitive biases and a need to work them explicitly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the validity of the Spanish version of the Beliefs about Social Sharing of Emotion Questionnaire, BSEQ (Zech, submitted). This paper describes a study that further evaluates the convergent validity of the scale by examining its relationship with measures theoretically related to social sharing and expression of emotions. A test battery comprising eight questionnaires which measured aspects of emotional expressivity was fulfilled by 390 college students. BSEQ demonstrated good internal consistency and test-retest reliability, and a three-factor structure congruent with the benefits from the expression of emotions: intrapersonal benefits, beneficial effects of non-social sharing, and interpersonal benefits of social sharing. Participant agree more with the intrapersonal than with interpersonal benefits of emotional sharing, and agree less with the benefits of emotional suppression, as expected for subjects sharing an individualistic culture. Results indicated that women, compared to men, believed significantly more in the benefits of social sharing of emotions. We conclude that this Spanish adaptation of the BSEQ is a psychometrically sound measure of the beliefs about social sharing of emotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]