Subjects watched animated films depicting the simultaneous movements of two triangles toward a goal. One triangle was pushed by an external object while the other triangle was not. Initially, only college students understood the discounting principle. Kindergarten children, second graders, and fourth graders did not. Revision of the film produced…

Evaluated parents' data in three studies of families with delinquent adolescent. Provided families with different forms of positive versus negative interactional (attributional) context. Taken together, data provide some support for reattribution techniques such as relabeling. Data question ease with which such techniques can be successful.…

Attributions of 40 wives accounted for variance in their marital satisfaction after effects of depression had been taken into account. Second study compared attributions of 20 clinically depressed and maritally distressed wives, 20 nondepressed but distressed wives, and 20 nondepressed, nondistressed wives. Findings suggest that association…

Comments on Heim and Snyder (1991) study which explored interaction between marital discord and spouses' attributions in predicting depression. Suggests that attributional theory model may set up reductionistic research stance, potentially separating what depressed people think from their circumstances and history and implying linear relationship…

Heim and Snyder respond to Ettinger et al.'s comments in previous article concerning Heim and Snyder's 1991 study exploring interaction between marital discord and spouses' attributions in predicting depression. Discusses findings and reiterates complex and recursive relationships among marital difficulties, depression, cognitive processes, and…

Describes investigation of casual attribution categories of faith, logic, and power along with personal responsibility as components of attitudes toward disability. Multiple regression analyses using rank ordering data and correspondence analysis coordinates yielded high coefficients for all categories indicating concepts implicit in categories…

Study found significant relationships between casual attributions of disabilities and the rehabilitation approach chosen. Attributions to fate correlated with accepting the disability as one's lot in life. Attributions to natural or medical causes correlated with choosing medical or retraining services; Attributions to societally imposed barriers…

Aggressive and nonaggressive African American early adolescent males were primed or not primed to perceive intentionally or nonintentionally caused negative outcomes in a hypothetical peer provocation, and then made inferences about the peer's intent. In the unintentional primed condition, aggressive males made more extreme judgments than…

Two studies investigated how 5- to 10-year-olds integrate perceptual causality with their knowledge of the underlying causal mechanism, using two devices in which a bell would ring when a ball was dropped in, either immediately or after a delay, depending on the mechanism inside. Findings suggest a link between temporal contiguity and causality in…

Background Although there is good evidence that autism is a multifactorial disorder, an adequate understanding of the genetic and non-genetic causes has yet to be achieved. Methods Empirical research findings and conceptual reviews are reviewed with respect to evidence on possible causal influences. Results Much the strongest evidence concerns the…

This study sought to provide a more rigorous prospective test of two cognitive vulnerability models of depression with longitudinal data from 496 adolescent girls. Results supported the cognitive vulnerability model in that stressors predicted future increases in depressive symptoms and onset of clinically significant major depression for…

The frequency of cheating in today's classrooms undermines educators' efforts and threatens students' learning. Data from 444 high school students in 48 math and science classrooms at two time points were analyzed to examine the classroom and individual influences on students' attributions of blame for cheating and to examine the relationship…

This mixed-methods study examines young adolescents' perceptions of strategies implemented before a state-mandated "high-stakes" test. Survey results for Grade 8 students (N = 215) are analyzed by sex, academic group, and preparation team. Letters to the principal are reviewed for convergence and additional themes. Although students were most…

Six factors for pursuing an engineering postgraduate programme at Griffith University including (i) programme quality; (ii) employment prospects; (iii) practicality; (iv) personal interest; (v) popularity; and (vi) reputation; and 11 factors for not pursuing this engineering programme including (i) employment prospects; (ii) degree of difficulty;…

This research uses adapted self-assessment questionnaires to examine the relationships between the learning motivation, learning strategies, self-efficacy, attribution and learning results of 135 distance learners. The aim is to model the relationship between psychological characteristics and learning results of distance learners. The outcomes of…