Two laboratory studies examined self- and socially caused behavior. Found that subjects who preferred socially caused behavior were more likely to choose spontaneous interactions with strangers (Study 1) and were more accurate in assessing their own influence over behavior of others in self-disclosure task (Study 2) than were those who preferred…

The author of EC 608 658 reflects on her interest in the social life of students with learning disabilities, the relationship of her study to other studies on social behavior and self-concept, the finding that students with learning disabilities attribute both internal and external factors for successful outcomes, and the importance of attribution…

This study, in which 49 12-year-old students with mild or moderate mental retardation completed memory tasks, found that attributional training cannot replace rehearsal strategy training but can increase the effectiveness of strategy training. This confirms the need to consider both the cognitive and motivational aspects of strategic behavior. (DB)

Aggressive and nonaggressive third- through fifth-grade African-American boys were assigned to a behavior intervention program designed to reduce aggressive males' tendency to attribute hostile intentions to peers, an attention training program, or a nonintervention control group. The benefits and limitations of the intervention program are…

This article reviews issues associated with the education of students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It offers a definition of this population and compares practical classroom applications of commonsense attribution theory and information processing theory. It proposes a pragmatic learning theory that takes into account cognitive,…

Describes a study that examined sociocultural influences on the attributions for success and failure among four distance learners in Turkey. The influences of patronage and oral tradition are discussed, and implications for applying Western-based attribution theory to distance learners in developing countries with more traditional cultures are…

Attributional retraining--a therapeutic method of reinstating psychological control--of 198 Canadian college students through a videotaped lecture enabled external locus of control students to learn more and make better use of homework study materials but offered no advantage to internal locus students. Results are interpreted in a social…

Two studies investigated 4- to 7-year-olds' understanding that trait can be causal mechanisms based on desires or mere summaries of behavioral regularities. Results suggested that children change from viewing traits as behavioral regularities to understanding them as internal mediators and that advances in understanding desire underlie this…

Domain theorists' findings in Piaget's work in children's moral development do not contradict Piaget because they are predicted by objective responsibility; research has not established that children distinguish between moral and conventional events. Claims that Piaget underestimated early morality are based on research that neglects children's…

Investigated the relationship between young children's age and their recognition that helping or choosing not to help can cause feelings of pride or guilt. Found age differences in identifying helping-action or inaction as causes, but little support for the hypothesis that identification of guilt as a consequence of not helping would…

A study investigated the relationship between depressive symptoms and social attributions in 33 adolescents with Asperger syndrome. Results revealed a significant positive relationship between depressive symptoms and ability attributions for social failure. The more intelligent the individual, the less social success was attributed to chance and…

Explored the relationship of family sociocultural resources to adjustment among low-income African American children. Parent surveys examined sociodemographic variables, child behavior, and parent religiosity. Results indicated that children of regular church attenders had fewer behavior problems than those who attended less frequently. The use of…

Examined impact of shame and attributional style on adjustment following sexual abuse. Found that once adjustment at discovery was accounted for, shame and attribution style explained additional variation in adjustment 1 year later; abuse severity did not. Relations between abuse severity and subsequent depressive symptoms and self-esteem were…

Preservice teachers' responses to students with attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder who reportedly failed a classroom test were investigated. Undergraduate students (n=49), during their semester of student teaching, rated six vignettes that varied by student gender, attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis, and medication…

Parents' attributions of the jigsaw-puzzle performance of their child with Prader-Willi syndrome (n = 20) or Williams syndrome (n = 21) were examined. Parents in both groups placed more importance on internal versus external attributions. Parents of children with Prader-Willi syndrome exhibited a hedonic bias by attributing their child's success…