Examined age differences and attributions of age differences in locus of control orientation for 60 college students and 97 older adults. Findings showed that both age groups misattributed levels of control orientation to the other group when compared to that group's self-ratings. Older adults endorsed more internal beliefs than did college…

The investigation assessed whether 6 learning-disabled boys (ages 10-12) who were taking stimulant medication reported fewer adaptive attributions in academic situations than their 8 nonmedicated peers. Boys who were not taking medication reported more internal-effort attributions in failure situations than boys who were taking medication.…

Interviews with 73 abusive caretakers were analyzed to determine aspects of the caretakers' situation and the interaction with the abused child that contributed to their belief that the abuse was justified or not. Justification was related to defiance of the child and environmental stressors on the abuser. (Author/JDD)

Discusses and reviews learner control research and presents three theoretical bases to help provide a framework for past research as well as to assist in designing future studies: (1) motivation, (2) attribution, and (3) information processing. Three types of learner control are discussed in relation to the theoretical perspectives: pacing,…

Thirty-one male and 49 female undergraduate students were randomly assigned to 1 of 8 experimental conditions to investigate whether importance could moderate mood effects on student performance attributions. Outcome importance significantly increased mood biases in perceptions of causal locus but not stability. Other moderating effects are…

Responds to John J. Kim's critique of his studies of preschoolers' understanding of race. Maintains that his and others' investigations demonstrate that preschoolers differentiate the pattern of causal reasoning governing transmission and maintenance of racial characteristics from that governing transmission and maintenance of perceptually similar…

Traced emergence of elaborated framework of belief-desire reasoning. Preschoolers and adults were asked to explain why a story protagonist searched for a desired object in an incorrect location. Results suggest that, during late preschool years, conception of cognitive activities as contributing to knowledge and belief becomes integrated into…

The ability to attribute false beliefs by 155 deaf children (ages 5 and 8) grouped by communication mode and parental hearing status was compared to that of 39 hearing children (ages 4 to 6). Effective representational abilities were demonstrated by deaf children of deaf parents, whereas those with hearing parents appeared delayed, with…

Attempts to explore the extent of native science beliefs among students in secondary and tertiary institutions. Premise is based upon the assumption that the way in which individuals respond to traditional causal statements is indicative of their native science beliefs. Reveals that these beliefs are held by a substantial portion of students. (DDR)

Examined whether infants believe that size of a moving object striking a stationary object will affect how far the stationary object is displaced. Found that the infants did believe the size of the test cylinder affected the length of the test object's displacement and that they used the initial familiarization event to calibrate their predictions…

Assessed mothers' and their seven- to nine-year-old sons' hostile attributions about one another and the coerciveness of their relationships. Obtained ratings of the sons' aggression and peer acceptance and of family life events. Subjects' hostile attributions were related to the coerciveness of their interactions. Boys who reported more stressful…

Explored similarities between social-cognitive representations of relationships of mothers and their fourth- and fifth-grade children. Subjects responded to a series of hypothetical social dilemmas involving peer and family contexts. Found that maternal and child cognitions are related, but the relations are highly dependent upon the component of…

Investigated concurrent and longitudinal relations between attributions and negative behavioral interactions between 177 fathers and young adolescents. Found that children's attributions about father played a significant role in negative interactions within and across time. Father's earlier negative interactions with their children predicted…

Examined gender differences in the consistency of attributions over time, general attributional style, and explanations for performance in a college course. Student surveys showed no differences in general attributional style by gender, nor interactions between gender and accuracy in predicting course performance on participants' perceptions of…

American and Korean fourth- and fifth-graders were administered the Student Social Attribution Scale (SSAS), designed to assess students' explanations for social successes and failures. Results reveal that Korean children showed significantly higher Failure Effort scores and American children showed significantly higher Success Ability scores.…