El proceso de investigación tiene como finalidad encontrar soluciones para las diversas necesidades que enfrenta el ser humano. Dentro de este proceso, el nivel de una investigación puede tener diversos alcances que parten desde el nivel exploratorio, descriptivo, correlacional hasta llegar a un alcance explicativo, en donde se busca una explicación del fenómeno que se está investigando. En este contexto, en el editorial del volumen 9 número 3 de 2020, es de interés reflexionar sobre los alcances a los que puede llegar una investigación. Como siempre, esperamos que nuestros lectores disfruten del contenido de este trabajo y de todas las publicaciones que se realizarán en este número. Además, ratificamos nuestras puertas abiertas para que científicos de todo el mundo cuenten con la Revista CienciAmérica como un espacio para que presenten los resultados de sus investigaciones.

The COVID-19 crisis is among the most disruptive events in recent decades. Its profound consequences have garnered the interest of many studies in various disciplines, including consumer behavior, thereby warranting an effort to review and systematize the literature. Thus, this study systematizes the knowledge generated by 70 COVID-19 and consumer behavior studies in the Scopus database. It employs descriptive analysis, highlighting the importance of using quantitative methods and China and the US as research settings. Co-occurrence analysis further identified various thematic clusters among the studies. The input-process-output consumer behavior model guided the systematic review, covering several psychological characteristics and consumer behaviors. Accordingly, measures adopted by governments, technology, and social media stand out as external factors. However, revised marketing strategies have been oriented toward counteracting various consumer risks. Hence, given that technological and digital formats mark consumer behavior, firms must incorporate digital transformations in their process.

La investigación experimental se caracteriza por la manipulación intencionada de la variable independiente y el análisis de su impacto sobre una variable dependiente. En cuanto a sus sub-diseños se encuentran los estudios de tipo: (a) pre-experimental, caracterizado por realizar una intervención únicamente en un grupo, (b) cuasi-experimental, en el cual se trabaja con un grupo experimental (o más), un grupo control y se asigna a los participantes a ambos grupos es de forma no probabilística y (c) el tipo experimental, en el cual se cuenta con uno o más grupos de intervención, un grupo control y la asignación de los participantes en los diferentes grupos se lo hace de manera aleatoria probabilística. En este contexto, en el presente editorial se tiene como finalidad realizar una breve descripción de cada uno de estos sub-diseños de la investigación experimental y los diferentes elementos que se debe tener en cuenta al momento de su planteamiento.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is fourfold: first, to analyse the relationship between executive functions and academic performance; second, to identify the level of prediction executive functions have on academic performance; third, to determine the correlation between executive functions and academic performance; and fourth, to compare executive functions based on the level of academic performance. Design/methodology/approach: The sample composed of 175 university students aged between 18 and 36 years (M=21.49, SD=3.22). The EFECO scale, the average student grade and a scale based on the diagnostic criteria for ADHD were used as measurement instruments. Findings: Difficulties in executive functions: Difficulties in working memory (r=−0.30, p=<0.01) and difficulties in conscious supervision of behaviour (r=−0.29, p⩽0.01) have an inversely proportional relationship to academic performance (the greater the deficit of executive functions, the lower the academic performance). The regression analysis showed that executive functions explain 31 per cent of the variance of academic performance (χ²(25)=43.81, p <0.001). The study found that there is a relationship between all the executive functions and students’ behaviour in a medium to large magnitude. Research limitations/implications: A limitation of this study was the size of the sample as it is not representative of the country. Nevertheless, the correlation among the variables studied here has the necessary magnitude for the proposed correlations to be found. Nonetheless, it is necessary that we perform a study with a larger number of participants in order to achieve adequate extrapolation of the results. Practical implications: Data found in this study suggest that low academic performance of university students is related to a lower functionality of their executive functions. Originality/value: The originality of the research lies in relating specific concepts of neuropsychology to explain the academic performance of university students. The research findings allow us to project new studies to improve the executive functions for the benefit of the university student.

Introduction: Executive functions are a set of mental abilities that allow human beings to consciously regulate their behavior and, in a university setting, will have a significant impact on student success during professional training.Objective: To develop a scale to assess executive functions in a university setting.Method: Using a sample of 1,373 university students from Chile (663) and Ecuador (710) between 17 and 33 years old (M_age = 20.53, SD = 2.34). A study was carried out to analyze the psychometric properties of the instrument using a reliability and validity analysis for a scale that assesses executive functions: conscious monitoring of responsibilities, supervisory attentional system, conscious regulation of behavior, verification of behavior to learn, decision making, conscious regulation of emotions, and management of elements to solve tasks.Results: Adequate internal consistency parameters were found between α = 0.71 and 0.85. The seven executive functions proposed on the scale correlated proportionally between r = 0.42 and 0.62. In the confirmatory factor analysis, good fit indices were obtained in the model of the seven executive functions x²₍₄₁₃₎ = 1649.14, p = <0.001, CFI = 0.91, SRMR = 0.04 and RMSEA = 0.04.Discussion: The research carried out reaches its conclusion stating that the scale that was developed has the psychometric properties to assess executive functions in the Latin American setting. The results regarding previous research and the contribution made in the line of research of executive functions are discussed.