The focus of this volume is to identify and review issues and outcomes associated with behavioral concerns of students with learning and behavioral disabilities. Students must navigate a number of environmental conditions, task demands, and social interactions with peers and adults throughout the school day. To be successful, they must employ a…

Introduction: Attribution theory posits that helping behaviour is determined in part by the potential helper's attributions and emotions regarding the behaviour that requires help. Specifically, helping is considered to be more likely if stability is perceived as low, generating optimism for change, and if controllability is perceived as low,…

Changes to research methodology motivated by the adoption of a complexity theory perspective on language development are considered. The dynamic, nonlinear, and open nature of complex systems, together with their tendency toward self-organization and interaction across levels and timescales, requires changes in traditional views of the functions…

When expectations and stereotypes are activated at retrieval, they spontaneously create distorted and illusory recollections that are consistent with these expectations. Participants studied doctor (physician)-related and lawyer-related statements that were presented by 2 different people. When informed, on a subsequent source memory test, (i.e.,…

Attributions of laziness, reflected in teacher comments such as "Just try harder and you will shine", may mask specific cognitive, learning, attentional or emotional problems that could explain low motivation in some children. This paper reports findings from an investigation of 20 children, aged 7 to 10 years, who were regarded as lazy…

This paper presents an institutional research on service quality conducted to analyze the students' motives and influences on their selection of studies and university. The research was carried out by collecting data from first-year students in a multi-campus system where institutions are independent in their recruitment strategies. Results from…

The relationships between preschool children and their teachers are an important component of the quality of the preschool experience. This study used attribution theory as a framework to better understand these relationships, examining the connection between teachers' perceptions of children's behavior and teachers' behavior toward those…

Cognitions such as relationship attributions and beliefs, measured by self-report, have been identified as robust correlates of relationship (e.g., marital) satisfaction. This study sought to build on the theory and assessment of cognitions in relationships by evaluating partner schemas, defined in terms of self-ratings and recall of positive and…

What makes some explanations better than others? This paper explores the roles of simplicity and probability in evaluating competing causal explanations. Four experiments investigate the hypothesis that simpler explanations are judged both better and more likely to be true. In all experiments, simplicity is quantified as the number of causes…

Using Harter's ("Child Dev" 53(1):87-97, 1982) perceived competence scale, this study integrates several paradigms related to the issues of self-perceived competence, stability or change and attributional theory. It examines how 268 Belgian and Portuguese fifth graders consider their scholastic, social and physical competence at present…

Students learning in regional, rural and remote locations in Queensland are currently experiencing a "turn-off" in relation to school-based ICT in the first three years of high school. At the same time, students are experiencing increasing levels of interest and motivation from their use of ICT at home. Given the importance of ICT as an…

Background: Obesity is a significant health problem among today's youth; however, most school-based prevention programs in this area have had limited success. Focus groups were conducted with seventh- to eighth-grade students, parents, and teachers to provide insight into the development of a comprehensive program for the prevention of adolescent…

Urban high-school students' low average level of academic achievement is a national problem. A lack of academic progress is a factor that contributes to students failing to graduate. In response to these urban high school student problems, a growing number of urban charter high schools have opened as an alternative to the traditional public high…

Objectives: This article provides an introduction to the October 2011 special issue of the "Journal of School Health" on "Healthier Students Are Better Learners." Methods: Literature was reviewed and synthesized to identify health problems affecting school-aged youth that are highly prevalent, disproportionately affect urban minority youth,…

Objectives: To outline the prevalence and disparities of aggression and violence among school-aged urban minority youth, causal pathways through which aggression and violence adversely affects academic achievement, and proven or promising approaches for schools to address these problems. Methods: Literature review. Results: Recent national data…