A quantitative model of belief revision and causal thinking using circumstantial evidence was assessed, using 36 undergraduate students in three experiments. The model assumes beliefs are revised based on a cascaded reasoning process that combines beliefs about the clue/possible cause relationship and the clue's forward and backward implications.…

Examines and supports the notion that many of the problems evidenced by poor readers are related to their passive response to the interactive task of reading. (MM)

The causal structure of schemas for the actions and states by different classes of English verbs was examined in the elicited narratives of 19 preschool children. Results showed that verbs within a class elicited similar narratives, whereas across classes the event descriptions varied in the animacy of the event participants and the causal…

Examined college students' (n=118) attributions about suicide. Male athletes who suicided were judged more emotionally well adjusted than males who suicided because of relationship failure and all females. Athletes of both sexes who suicided were judged more competent and less distressed than individuals who suicided because of failed…

Experimental study of medical examiners produced manner of death determinations from simulated cases to examine interexaminer variation in certification judgments. Found that experience, residence, and religious background of examiner were related to judgments as were victim characteristics of gender, medical cause of death, and the presence of…

Explored effects of expressed attributions regarding personal blame for disability on perceived rehabilitation outcomes. Rehabilitation graduate students (n=84) viewed one of six versions of alleged vocational evaluation report. Perceived accuracy of attribution, client's predicted coping, rehabilitation prognosis, and future life control varied…

Surveyed 68 delinquent minors, 57 parents, and 101 probation officers to compare attributions of responsibility for delinquency. All three groups saw the minor, the family, and friends as three factors most responsible for delinquency, but in varying degrees and combinations. Findings demonstrate importance of studying perceptions of different…

Tested efficacy of attribution retraining as structured group counseling intervention with undergraduates (n=44) who were divided into adaptive, nonadaptive, and treatment groups. Results indicated subjects in treatment group made relatively more adaptive attributions for experimentally induced failure and reported lower levels of depressive mood…

Explores the role of culture in shaping interpersonal interactions. Investigates the effect of group identity on subjects' levels of attributional confidence, their individuation of group members, and ultimately their interpersonal-interaction strategies. Discovers that the perceived homogeneity of group values eases intragroup interaction. (PRA)

When children of three, five, and seven years were tested on two liking-judgment tasks, results indicated that younger children do not make the same types of errors as older children and adults do, and that younger children can more accurately report the variables determining their judgments. (RH)

Husbands of wives with (n=22) or without (n=23) history of depressive disorder indicated their attributions about and affective reactions to real and hypothetical positive and negative events occurring to their wives, rated their wives on personality traits, and reported their own marital satisfaction. Depressed wives were rated more negatively on…

Thirty-three government managers being trained in feedback skills wrote critical incidents about their least effective subordinate (LES) as pre- and posttests and discussed problems with the LES. Compared to 32 controls who received no training, there were significant increases in feedback skills and lower tendency to attribute LES' problem…

Examined relationship between self-reported depression and cognitive style in adolescent psychiatric inpatients (n=80). Adolescents who reported depression also reported significantly more internal attributions for negative events and less internal attributions for positive events, evidenced more external locus of control, and described themselves…

Investigates the applicability of B. Weiner's attribution theory to compliance-gaining interactions. Finds that attributional dimensions (locus/controllability and stability) affected participants' persistence at seeking compliance, use of particular strategies, and perceptions of target sincerity. (SR)

According to survey responses from 933 of 1,807 undergraduates, 227 of 1,006 graduate students, and 432 of 1,372 faculty/staff, experience of sexual seduction, coercion, or imposition increased the probability of acknowledgment of having been harassed. Probability of acknowledgment was not related to gender or form of harassment. (SK)