REDEPSIC

Editorial

Gil Picota — 2025-01-07

Artificial intelligence and its applications in psychology: challenges and opportunities

Alberto Gil Picota B. — 2025-01-07

This monographic article seeks to outline the benefits and potential of artificial intelligence in the field of psychology, along the lines that this is a medium that could expand and enhance its objectives and applications at a time so demanding of its multivariate contributions. Obviously, this examination does not ignore the dangers and ethical implications of artificial intelligence as a computer tool, especially because the debt of Artificial Intelligence to the cognitive processes that are part of this tool is evident.

Family communication and attribution of academic achievement in students from the Escuela Profesional Isabel Herrera Obaldía

Milvia E. Hidalgo S. — 2025-01-07

This research aimed to determine the relationship between family communication and attribution style of academic achievement in tenth grade students from the Escuela Profesional Isabel Herrera Obaldía. The approach of this study was quantitative, with a non-experimental, descriptive-correlational design and a non-probabilistic sampling. The sample was made up of 36 students of both genders between the ages of 15 to 17 years old. The instruments used were the Family Communication Scale by Barnes & Olson, adapted and validated by Cracco & Costa-Bell, and the Questionnaire of Attributional Styles by Alonso and Sanchez, adapted and validated by Matalinares et. al (2009). The results indicated that the students had an intermedium level family communication, and their prevailing attributional styles were attribution of success to effort and attribution of academic failure to lack of effort. Besides, using Spearman's correlation coefficient, it was established that there is a relationship between family communication and attributional styles: of academic success to ability, success to effort, academic failure to bad luck and failure to lack of ability.

Effectiveness of the "Building resilient schools" program in primary school students

Louise Alkabes-Esquenazi — 2025-01-07

Due to the importance of developing and promoting resilience as a form of prevention, detection and intervention in educational centers in pre-adolescent populations, who begin their stage of socialization and are at risk of social vulnerability, the need arises to develop and recover indicators. that demonstrate evidence to support the effectiveness of program implementation. This work designed and applied a program called “Building Resilient Schools”. The measurement of this program consisted of the application of a pretest and a posttest based on a validated questionnaire to measure resilience and diagnose the individual impact it has on fifth and sixth grade students (aged between 9 and 11 years of age, in a show of 37 boys and 30 girls) from the Severino Hernández school. A descriptive and inferential statistical analysis “Student's T” was performed. The results showed no significant differences in the Pre-Test/Post-test in the group. Therefore, the program did not demonstrate effectiveness. The need was expressed to: firstly, carry out a review of the critical points of the applied program, and secondly, based on the previous one, provide another type of training to the teachers who participated in the program and information to the families.

Geometry and its relationship with spatial thinking in higher education

Mariela González Murillo — 2025-01-07

This study investigates the relationship between geometry learning and the development of spatial thinking skills in first year students of the Faculty of Natural, Exact and Technological Sciences of the University of Panama, year 2023. A quantitative correlational approach was used, with a pre-experimental design of pretest and posttest evaluation in a particular group of students. The final sample consisted of twenty participants, selected by means of non-probabilistic convenience sampling, although it was initially planned to have twenty-nine participants. Two instruments were used for data collection: a 20-item questionnaire measuring geometry learning and the standardized psychometric General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) to assess spatial thinking. Statistical analysis, performed using Pearson's correlation, showed a significant relationship between the two variables. The correlation, initially moderate, tended to become strong, suggesting that greater development of spatial thinking is associated with better performance in geometry, reducing the probability of deficient performance in this subject.

Group psychotherapeutic intervention in teacher’s anxiety

Damaris Janeth Samaniego Quintero — 2025-01-07

The present writing is inspired by the master's thesis research published in 2018 by the same author, whose title is Terapia de grupo orientada cognitiva- conductualmente, sobre la ansiedad-estado de docentes de la región de Panamá Oeste, 2018; and is in the digital Institutional Repository of the University of Panama. Group psychotherapy has shown its potency both at a preventive level and in approaching serious psychopathologies; therefore, the objective of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of a group psychotherapeutic intervention on anxiety in teachers at official schools in the West Panama region. It followed an explanatory methodology with a pretest, posttest, and a single group. The non-probabilistic sampling was completed by convenience and voluntarily, the sample consisted of twelve (12) teachers from 30 to 56 years old, with different specialties. Anxiety-state was measured through State-Trait Anxiety Inventory by Spielberger, and each participant was clinically interviewed. Eight (8) group psychotherapy sessions were designed and implemented, in which a conceptualization and application of cognitive-behavioral techniques were accomplished, with a relational approach based on attachment theories and playful techniques. The comparison of means of the T-scores before and after the treatment reflected the change of clinical significance from anxiety considered high or very high to a very low, low, or average level of anxiety. The Student’s t-test was used for paired samples and a significant difference was obtained at the 0,05 level > p0,00 which proved that the intervention performed decreased the state-anxiety level of the teachers, favoring the rewriting of narratives and making thoughts more flexible, developing functional and adaptive coping strategies and optimize relational patterns.

Reliability and validity of a self-concept scale in students from the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Panama

Miguel Ángel Cañizales Mendoza — 2025-01-07

This research focuses on the construction and validation of a scale to measure self-concept in adults. To understand the influence of self-concept on information processing, affect, and motivation, introspection plays a fundamental role in this research because it addresses the philosophical question "Who am I?". A non-probabilistic, purposive sample of students from the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Panama was used. An exploratory study was conducted with a non-experimental design. The scale used an interval level of measurement, the semantic differential (Osgood, Suci, and Tennenbaum 1957), which consists of bipolar antonymous concepts. High levels of reliability were obtained for the total scale, with a Cronbach's Alpha internal consistency coefficient of 0.96, and for the sub-scales of self-concept regarding life, health, and death (between 0.95 and 0.98). To validate the theoretical construct of self-concept, a factor analysis with varimax rotation was used, identifying 62 items with a determination coefficient equal to or greater than 0.50. The instrument has proven to be a reliable and valid tool.

Self-concept in the face of death, life and health in a sample of university students

Miguel Ángel Cañizales Mendoza — 2025-01-07

This research focuses on understanding the influence of self-concept on information processing, affect, and motivation. Introspection plays a fundamental role in this research as it addresses the philosophical question, "Who am I?" A non-probabilistic, intentional sample of students from the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Panama was used. Data on age, gender, educational level, and occupation were analyzed to perform correlations in the research results. An exploratory study with a non-experimental design was conducted, using the Cañizales Self-Concept Scale, De León (2024) with an interval level of measurement, and the semantic differential (Osgood, Suci, and Tennenbaum 1957), which consists of bipolar antonymic concepts. The findings indicated that there is a predominantly positive perception across both genders. Additionally, with increasing age, perception becomes more positive. Married individuals also have a more positive perception than those who are single or in common-law unions. Nationals have a more positive perception compared to foreigners (who tend to be more neutral). Finally, religious affiliation has a positive influence on perception and self-assessment.

Behavioral adaptation and academic performance in pre-media students

Eyleen Sarai Biscaíno Candanedo — 2025-01-07

During adolescence, adaptation takes on particular importance because it is the period in which some notions of the self are formed. Furthermore, the transformations that occur in her will have a significant impact on the different aspects of her physical, emotional and social life. The purpose of this research was to understand the manifestations of behavioral adaptation and school performance in a group of adolescents aged 12 to 14 years from a private school. This research was carried out in a non-experimental and descriptive manner, with a group of 70 participants, 46 in eighth grade and 24 in ninth grade, selected through non-probabilistic sampling. The Behavioral Adaptation Inventory was implemented, which was reviewed in Madrid in 2004. The data collected was analyzed through frequencies and percentages, considering the elements of behavioral adaptation, in addition to sociodemographic factors of the sample such as gender. and type of family. The research findings indicated that higher levels of behavioral adaptation and school performance were not detected in ninth grade students compared to eighth grade students. Most of the participants achieved a medium degree of behavioral adaptability and their school performance was between good and average.