Students and intellectual doping: Is anything going in search of entrance exam success?

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a research that aimed to characterize the perception of third year high school students from public, private and vocational schools and from public and private courses about the use of drugs for cognitive enhancement. The research involved 534 students from the cities of Juazeiro do Norte (CE), Fortaleza (CE) and Sao Paulo (SP). It used a questionnaire aimed at the perception of these students about the use of medicines that promised to improve their use in the studies, if they had heard of them, if they knew users and if they would make use of them. Most considered positive the use of these drugs, showed curiosity about the substance and stated that they would use, if they had access, to ensure energy and concentration in activities. The results of this study underscore the importance of understanding the perception of young people about this topic in order to guide future interventions.