Abstract

MARTINS, Emília da Conceição Figueiredo. Contribution to the study of the cognitive impact of higher education on students: A study held at the University of Coimbra. Psicologia [online]. 2010, vol.24, n.2, pp.155-175. ISSN 0874-2049.

The scientific inteFrest on the impact of Higher Education on students has undergone a growing development not only because of the availability of its target group, but also through the importance given to that context on the development of the youngster/adult. This horizontal study about the impact of Higher Education on the post-formal reasoning in students of the University of Coimbra (freshmen and finalists) highlights a positive impact on the construct of intellectual and ethical development defined by Perry (1970), that is evident in the overcoming of dualism and a better performance as far as relativism is concerned. Gender appears as a variable that allows making a distinction in students’ cognitive performances, favouring female students, and the results are also distinct in the different institutions analysed.

Keywords : higher education; cognitive development; post-formal reasoning; youth.

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