The aim of this article was fourfold: first, to determine whether there are significant differences between students with (N=173) and without learning disabilities (LD; N=172) in the dimensions of self-concept, causal attributions, and academic goals. Second, to determine whether students with LD present a uniform attributional profile or whether…

In group-allocation studies for comparing behavioral, social, or educational interventions, subjects in the same group necessarily receive the same treatment, whereby a group and/or group-dynamic effect can confound the treatment effect. General counterfactual outcomes that depend on group characteristics, group membership, and treatment are…

Theoretically, prospective memory retrieval can be accomplished either by controlled monitoring of the environment for a target event or by a more reflexive process that spontaneously responds to the presence of a target event. These views were evaluated in Experiments 1-4 by examining whether performing a prospective memory task produced costs on…

The Criminal Attribution Inventory (CRAI), drawing upon attribution theory and criminally-related domains, measures criminal responsibility and blame. The CRAI's six scales measure criminal responsibility (Psychopathology, Personality), external criminal blame (Victim, Alcohol, Society) and the attribution of crime to random factors (Random). The…

This article outlines a study conducted in Finland and Portugal into the reasons why International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme (DP) students choose particular Experimental Science (Group 4) subjects. Its findings suggest that interest, enjoyment, university course and career requirements have most influence on students' choices.…

In this study we examined cognitive features that have been posited to contribute to depressive vulnerability in adolescents. Using a longitudinal sample of 331 young adolescents followed from 6th to 7th grade, cross-lagged structural equation analyses were conducted. Controlling for baseline levels of depressive, conduct, and anxiety symptoms,…

Inherent to all social exchange relations are elements of both cooperation and competition. We develop and test a theoretical model which proposes that the relative salience of the competitive, conflictual elements of exchange mediate and explain the negative effects of negotiated exchange, as compared with reciprocal exchange, on actors'…

In three experiments we studied lay observers' attributions of responsibility for an antisocial act (homicide). We systematically varied both the degree to which the action was coerced by external circumstances and the degree to which the actor endorsed and accepted ownership of the act, a psychological state that philosophers have termed…

This recently completed study examined whether attribution theory can explain helping behavior in an interdependent classroom environment that utilized a cooperative-learning model. The study focused on student participants enrolled in 6 community college communication classes taught by the same instructor. Three levels of cooperative-learning…

This study investigates the reasons given by Finnish adolescents for their own alcohol use, and for the use of alcohol by others. In 1999, a questionnaire on reasons for drugs use was administered to a sample of adolescents aged 14-16 (N=488). It was found that the reasons given (i.e., "attributions") involving inner subjective…

The purpose of this study was to examine African Americans' lay beliefs and attributions toward suicide. The Attitudes Toward Suicide Scale, Life Ownership Orientation Questionnaire, Stigma Questionnaire, and Suicide Ideation Questionnaire were administered to 251 undergraduate college students. Beliefs about stigma associated with suicide were…

The objective is to know if high-risk mothers for child physical abuse differ in their evaluations, attributions, negative affect, disciplinary choices for children's behavior, and expectations of compliance. The effect of a stressor and the introduction of mitigating information are analyzed. Forty-seven high-risk and 48 matched low-risk mothers…

Unmarried parents in the AHEAD study derive the majority of their long-term care hours from their children, and child caregivers are generally unpaid. This paper examines the extent to which the division of end-of-life transfers compensates caregiving children. In a model of siblings' altruistic contribution of care to a shared parent, the…

Latino and White/European American children (N = 99; 5-11 years of age) participated in a study designed to examine their perceptions of racial/ethnic discrimination in educational settings. Children heard scenarios involving two children of different races/ethnicities, one who received a more positive outcome from a teacher than the other.…

This study compared attributions for child behavior among mothers of 38 nonproblem boys, 26 boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and 25 boys with ADHD and oppositional defiant (OD) behavior. Boys ranged from 7 to 10 years of age. To capture different aspects of mothers' attributions, 2 assessment methods were employed: (a)…