Changing academic task persistence through a self-instructional attribution training program

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether a self-instructional method of attribution training could effectively alter both academic task persistence and effort attributions for success and failure. Ninety children with low-effort attributions were identified and randomly assigned to three groups. The two experimental groups (experiential and formal presentation) were given training with two slightly different self-instructional procedure and compared to a control group receiving no such training. The results revealed that both experimental groups receiving the self-instructional attribution training evidenced significant differences from the control group in both academic task persistence and effort attribution.     

A Binomial Test of Group Differences With Correlated Outcome Measures

The purpose of this study was to determine whether female subjects demonstrate learned helplessness in their attribution patterns to a greater extent than male subjects when they describe failures they actually have experienced. Subjects were 1,462 ninth- and twelfth-grade students (697 boys, 765 girls) from representative rural, urban, and inner-city high schools in the Midwest. The subjects recalled failure experiences from a wide range of achievement domains: school, sports, aesthetics, family, social, and work. The dependent variables were four failure attributions: lack of ability, lack of effort, lack of luck, and lack of cooperation. Sex and achievement domain differences accounted, respectively, for 2% and 18% of the variance in attribution responses. Both boys and girls recalled a substantial and comparable proportion of school-related failures. The strongest differences between boys and girls was in their choice of salient achievement domains outside of school; girls recalled more family and aesthetics failures and fewer sports failures than boys. Little evidence was obtained supporting the learned helplessness model for adolescent female achievement motivation. There was also considerable variability in the relative importance of the four failure attributions both within and across achievement domains. Internal attributions were most characteristic of school and least characteristic of work failures. Cooperation attributions were endorsed more in the social and family domains than in the other domains.     

Attribution Retraining Instruction with a Second-Grade Class

We investigated whether attribution retraining instruction (ARI) embedded in mathematics lessons in a second-grade classroom could help students (a) attribute their successes and failures to effort or lack of effort, (b) not attribute their successes and failures to uncontrollable factors, and (c) increase their mathematics scores. One second-grade classroom (n = 18) received ARI and the other classroom (n = 11) received mathematics-only instruction (MOI). The ARI consisted of specific strategy review, guided discussion, individual practice, and effort feedback. Results showed that ARI students' mathematics scores increased and attributions to uncontrollable factors decreased from pre- to posttest. MOI students also increased their mathematics scores; however, these differences were not significant.     

The effects of computer-based attribution retraining on the attributions, persistence, and mathematics computation of students with learning disabilities.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of attribution retraining, embedded within a mathematics computer-assisted instructional (CAI) program, on students' attributions, persistence, and mathematics computation. Twenty-nine school-identified students with learning disabilities from five urban schools participated in the study. The sample's mean age was 13.3 years. After blocking on initial attributional patterns, students were randomly assigned to a mathematics CAI program that provided either attribution retraining or neutral feedback. Students used their assigned program for eight 30-minute sessions. Results did not support the contention that attribution retraining would have a significant impact on students' attributions. However, students who participated in the attribution retraining condition completed significantly more levels of the program than their counterparts who received neutral feedback. Attribution retraining students also obtained significantly higher scores on a test of problems practiced during the CAI program. These results suggest that attribution retraining may be a desirable addition to the type of feedback typically provided by CAI programs. However, they also highlight the need for further research that examines the conditions under which specific attributions are most advantageous.     

Attributional profiles: Considering multiple causal attributions for success and failure at the beginning of secondary school

Students typically perceive their successes and failures to have multiple causes. The present study examined students’ profiles of causal attributions for success and failure during the first year of secondary school. The stability of attributional profile membership was assessed across three timepoints. Furthermore, it was examined whether students characterized by different attribution profiles differed in their levels of school engagement, self-esteem, and school performance. Latent profile analyses and latent transition analyses among 657 first-year Dutch secondary school students (M_age = 12.6, SD = 0.4) identified four attributional profiles, which were similar across the three timepoints. The profiles were labelled uncontrollable failure, controllable failure, uncontrollable success, and undifferentiated. About half of the students (52 %) remained member of the same profile across the three timepoints. Students in the uncontrollable success profile reported significantly lower levels of school engagement and self-esteem, and performed less well in school compared to students in the other profiles. Students in the uncontrollable failure profile and the controllable failure profile did not differ from each other with regard to school engagement, self-esteem, and school performance. The findings suggest that attributional retraining interventions may want to shift their focus from changing uncontrollable failure attributions to changing students’ external, uncontrollable attributions for success.     

Attributions and Attitudes of Mothers and Fathers in Kenya

OBJECTIVE: The present study examined differences and similarities between Kenyan mothers and fathers in attributions regarding successes and failures in caregiving situations and progressive versus authoritarian attitudes. DESIGN: Interviews were conducted with both mothers and fathers in 100 two-parent families in Kenya. RESULTS: Mothers were more likely to make attributions regarding adult-controlled failure in caregiving situations than were fathers, but mothers and fathers did not differ on attributions regarding uncontrollable success, child-controlled failure, or authoritarian or progressive attitudes. Moderate to large correlations were found between mothers and fathers in terms of attributions regarding uncontrollable success, authoritarian attitudes, and modernity of attitudes. CONCLUSIONS: Kenyan mothers and fathers hold very similar attributions for success and failures in caregiving situations as well as parenting attitudes.     

Implications from self-efficacy and attribution theories for an understanding of undergraduates’ motivation in a foreign language course

Although studies on self-efficacy and attribution have independently contributed to the motivation literature, these two constructs have rarely been considered together in the domain of foreign language learning. Here, 500 undergraduates in Spanish, German, and French courses were asked to report whether test scores represented a successful or unsuccessful outcome and to provide attribution and self-efficacy ratings upon receiving their grades. Representing an innovation over previous studies, attributions were measured in two ways, using dimensions of attributions and asking about actual reasons for a real outcome. In regressions predicting achievement, self-efficacy was the strongest predictor, supplemented by ability attributions. Students who attributed failure to lack of effort had higher self-efficacy than students not making effort attributions.     

Mathematics Attribution Differences by Ethnicity and Socioeconomics Status

The differences in attributions for success and failure in mathematics between African American and White students and between students from low and higher socioeconomic status (SES) were examined. Two hundred sixty-four 7th-grade students from 5 schools in a midsize urban school district were surveyed to analyze attribution differences. Then, a stratified purposeful sample of 12 focus students, representing different ethnicity and economic combinations, were selected for follow-up interviews. Results indicated that students from all groups provided similar ratings on 5 attributions related to mathematics success-with effort rated more highly than ability, luck, task difficulty, or rapport with teacher. Notwithstanding this high rating for effort, other differences were found. Ability was rated significantly higher by Whites than by African Americans in relation to mathematics success. African Americans attributed their mathematics success significantly more to rapport with teachers than did Whites. Similar results were found for low versus higher SES students. Further, higher SES students attributed success significantly more to effort than did low SES students. Failure in mathematics was most commonly attributed to a lack of effort.     

Causal Attributions for Success or Failure of Students in College Algebra

Research in the field of attribution theory and academic achievement suggests a relationship between a student's attributional style and achievement. Theorists and researchers contend that attributions influence individual reactions to success and failure. They also report that individuals use attributions to explain and justify their performance. Studies in mathematics education identify attribution theory as the theoretical orientation most suited to explain academic performance in mathematics. This study focused on the relationship among a high risk course, low success rates, and attribution by examining the difference in the attributions passing and failing students gave for their performance in College Algebra. Students from a large urban community college in South Florida (n = 410) self-reported their performance on an in-class test by providing open-ended attribution statements to explain the cause of their performance. They then attributed their performance along the dimensions of locus of causality, stability, personal controllability, and external controllability using the Causal Dimensions Scale (CDSII). The open-ended attribution statements were coded in relation to ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck and compared using a Pearson chi- square procedure. The quantitative data compared the passing and failing groups and their attributions for performance on the test using One-way ANOVA and Pearson chi-square procedures. The results of the quantitative data comparing passing and failing groups and their attributions along the dimensions measured by the CDSII indicated statistical significance in locus of causality, stability, and personal controllability. The results comparing the open-ended attribution statements indicated statistical significance in the categories of effort and task difficulty.     

Simulating conditions of learned helplessness: the effects of interventions and attributions

We report 2 experiments that assess factors potentially responsible for a proactive interference with the sensitivity of a mother's response to infant signals. Using a version of the "learned helplessness" paradigm, mothers' performance on a solvable task was assessed following pretreatments that involved exposure to an infant cry but that differed in the mothers' ability to exert control over the termination of the cry. Each experiment explored the role of varying attributions made by a mother in the development of, or the reversal of, the helplessness phenomenon. The first experiment addressed the question of whether a specific intervention (i.e., providing the mother an attribution for failure) can reduce the debilitating effect of prior experience with failure. The results indicated that the debilitating effects associated with previous failure were reversed for the 16 mothers assigned to the intervention group. 40 mothers participated in the second experiment, which varied attributions assigned to an identical cry stimulus (i.e., the cry was produced by an "easy" vs. a "difficult" infant). This experiment assessed the effect of varying attributions on the mothers' ability to terminate the cry. We found that mothers pretreated with inescapable cries and those receiving the experimental manipulation of attributing the cry to a "difficult" infant showed debilitated performance in stopping the cry when given the opportunity. We propose that models based on learned helplessness theory have value in the study of caregiver-infant relationships, in particular, caregivers' perceived and objective effectiveness in responding to an infant's signals.     

Primary school children's reflections on Physical Education lessons: An attributional analysis and possible implications for teacher action

The thoughts and feelings of preadolescent children attending three primary schools in the West of England about reasons for doing well or not doing well in Physical Education lessons were explored by means of an open-ended set of questions drawn from attribution theory. A further aim was to seek suggestions from the children of ways in which Physical Education (PE) lessons could be improved and refer these to the attention of teachers. Striking differences were found in the attitudes and attributions of girls and boys, with the latter more likely than the former to identify success in terms of some form of physical demonstration of ability. Whilst both sexes identified a positive attitude as associated with success, boys were more likely to look for signs of health or physical fitness, whereas girls were more impressed by effort and evidence of a learning orientation. These attributions held also for perceived lack of success. However, the notion of effort itself seems likely to hold different meanings for boys and girls. Although lesson enjoyment was seen by a significant number of children as a key factor leading to success, the pupils, on the whole, tended to attribute both success and failure to internal, changeable, controllable factors.     

Causal Attribution Profiles as a Function of Reading Skills,Hyperactivity, and Inattention

ABSTRACT

The causes that individuals attribute to reading outcomes shape future behaviors, including engagement or persistence with learning tasks. Although previous reading motivation research has examined differences between typical and struggling readers, there may be unique dynamics related to varying levels of reading and attention skills. Using latent profile analysis, we found 4 groups informed by internal attributions to ability and effort. Reading skills, inattention, and hyperactivity/impulsivity were investigated as functional correlates of attribution profiles. Participants were 1,312 youth (8–15 years of age) of predominantly African American and Hispanic racial/ethnic heritage. More adaptive attribution profiles had greater reading performance and lower inattention. The reverse was found for the least adaptive profile with associations to greater reading and attention difficulties. Distinct attribution profiles also existed across similar-achieving groups. Understanding reading-related attributions may inform instructional efforts in reading. Promoting adaptive attributions may foster engagement with texts despite learning difficulties and, in turn, support reading achievement.     

归因信念与英语学习成败的相关性研究

旨在考察英语学习者在学习英语时对于成功和失败的归因与他们在英语学习方面所取得的成绩的关系。为了调查英语学习者的归因和英语成绩之间是否有着显著的关系,通过SPSS软件对这些数据做了皮尔逊相关检验和多元线性回归等数据分析。研究结果表明归因和英语成绩之间有着密切的相关性。通过回归分析,并借助于语言成绩归因量表(LAAS),发现努力程度归因是成绩的最佳预示变量,那些能在平时考试中把考试成绩归因于个人努力的学生最有可能在期末考试中取得高分,并且稳定性归因和自我控制归因也有助于学生在英语学习上取得好的成绩。在本文的最后,对数据结果进行了讨论,并对英语教学提出了建议。     

Differential effects of norm-referenced and self-referenced feedback on performance expectancies,attributions, and motivation

When feedback is provided to students in a norm-referenced manner that compares the individual's performance to that of others, people who perform poorly tend to attribute their failures to lack of ability, expect to perform poorly in the future, and demonstrate decreased motivation on subsequent tasks. The present study examined the hypothesis that the deleterious effects of failure might be attenuated when failure is expressed in self-referenced terms—relative to the individual's known level of ability as assessed by other measures. In this study, subjects received feedback indicating that they did well or poorly on an anagram test, and this feedback was described as either norm-referenced (comparing the individual's performance to that of others) or as self-referenced (comparing performance to other measures of the individual's ability). As predicted, compared to norm-referenced failure, self referenced feedback resulted in higher expectancies regarding future performance and increased attributions to effort. Contrary to expectations, attributions to ability were not affected. The implications of the results for the structure of academic feedback are discussed.     

An attribution-based motivation treatment to assist first-generation college students reframe academic setbacks

First-generation college students face unique obstacles that can erode their psychological well-being, academic motivation, and educational development during school-to-college transitions. Although research shows attribution-based interventions foster academic attainment among at-risk students (Hamm et al., 2020; Perry & Hamm, 2017), little is known about treatment efficacy for students with socioeconomic risk factors such as first-generation status (Gutiérrez, 2008). In a randomized treatment study, we administered attributional retraining (AR) to first- and continuing-generation college students who differed in academic control beliefs (low, high) in an online two-semester introductory psychology course. For low-control first-generation students, AR recipients outperformed their no-AR peers by a letter-grade (B vs. C+) and were 55% less likely to drop the course. AR-grade efficacy was mediated by causal attributions and control beliefs in a path sequence specified by Weiner’s (1979, 1985, 2018) attribution theory. AR decreased attributions to uncontrollable causes, which negatively predicted final course grade and increased academic control beliefs, and these positively predicted final course grade. These findings advance motivation intervention research by demonstrating that an AR treatment can have salutary benefits for first-generation students mediated by theory-derived cognitive processes.     

大学生数学考试成败归因研究

大学生对学业成功和失败有不同的原因知觉.在成功情境下,大学生把考试结果较多归因于外部的因素,而较少归因于内部的因素;在失败情境下,把考试结果较多归因于内部因素,而较少的归因于外部的因素.大学生对于学业成败归因有一定的年级特点,而且,在决定各项原因的方差方面,成败因素的作用非常明显.大学生学业成败归因不存在性别差异.