Academic Behavioral Confidence Scale (ABC)
(Sander & Sanders, 2003 ).
Variable
Sander and Sanders defined confidence as the strength of one’s belief, trust, or expectation, related to task
accomplishment.
Description
The ABC (originally ACS) assesses students’ global academic confidence, or confidence in the ability to con-
duct and plan behaviors relevant to academic success. The scale consists of 24 self-report items, each preceded
with ‘How confident are you that you will be able to ...’, scored on a 5 point Likert-type scale (from 1 5Not at all
confident to 55Very confident ). Total score is an average across all items, ranging from 1 to 5, with higher scores
indicating greater confidence. Factor analytic methods have produced four-factor solutions, yielding factors
labeled Grades, Studying, Verbalizing, and Attendance.
Sample
The ABC was developed on a sample of 102 undergraduate psychology students, and 182 undergraduate med-
ical students. The overall mean for these two samples was 3.84, standard deviation of .43. The mean of the psy-
chology students was 3.78, standard deviation .39, and the mean of the medical students was 3.87, standard
deviation .46. This difference was statistically significant based on the results of a one-tailed z-test. Descriptive
statistics for each factor have also been reported based on large University samples, with mean scores ranging
from 3.52 /C04.18 for Grades, 3.76 /C03.87 for Studying, 3.10 /C03.52 for Verbalizing and 4.19 /C04.43 for Attendance
(Ochoa & Sander, 2012). Sander (2009) also summarized the results of two doctoral theses ( Asquith, 2008; Barrett,
2005), which showed that dyslexic university students reported significantly lower ABC scores, particularly for
Grades, Verbalizing and Studying, than their non-dyslexic peers.
Reliability
Internal Consistency
An overall Cronbach alpha coefficient of .88 has been reported ( Sanders & Sander, 2007 ). For each factor, the
alpha coefficients were .78 for Grades, .72 for studying, .78 for Verbalizing and .74 for Attendance ( Sanders &
Sander, 2009 ). Slightly lower Cronbach alpha coefficients were obtained using a Spanish translation of the scale
in a sample of Mexican psychology undergraduate students (Ochoa & Sander, 2012).
Test/C0Retest
One year test /C0retest correlations have been reported on an item level, with only three items demonstrating
significant positive correlations. These correlations ranged from r5.23 to .31 ( Sander & Sanders, 2003 ).
Validity
Convergent/Concurrent
Sander (2009) provided a comprehensive overview of the scale’s convergent validity based on a doctoral thesis
(Berbe ´n, 2008 ), and reanalysed data from Sander and Sanders (2003) ,a n df r o m Sanders, Sander, and Mercer (2009) .
Although no correlation c oefficients reported, Sander (2009) reported that the Grade, Studying and Verbalizing subscales
correlated positively with a Deep approach to learning as measured by the R-SPQ-2F ( Biggs, Kember, & Leung 2001 ).
Divergent/Discriminant
Sander (2009) reported that the ABC total score correlated negatively with Vinegrad’s dyslexia scale using
unpublished data from Sanders et al. (2009) . Again, this coefficient was not reported.
Construct/Factor Analytic
Principal components analysis with oblique rotation has suggested six components on two occasions, and confir-
matory factor analysis has verified at least four factors after dropping seven of the original items ( Sander & Sanders,
2003, 2009 ). All these results have been obtained with reasonably large samples ( N.400). When submitted to
Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Ochoa & Sander (2012) found the four-factor model fit best based on a Spanish
translation of the scale administered to Mexican undergraduates ( N597), and after dropping 10 of the original items
(χ2
71596.231, CFI 5.933, TLI 5.914, RMSEA 5.061, ECVI 52.002). Ochoa & Sander also present model167 SELF-REPORT COGNITIVE CONFIDENCE SCALES
II. EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONS