A study involving 110 fifth- and sixth-graders (51 male and 59 female), classified as low or high in effort orientation, assessed the effects of task- versus performance-oriented instructions on a computer-assisted test programed to ensure that all examinees failed to solve all problems. Problem-solving strategy analyses were preformed. (TJH)

Type A and B students (N=159) received contingent or non-contingent feedback on an aptitude test, attended a lecture from an expressive or unexpressive instructor, and received an achievement test and attributional questionnaire. Non-contingent feedback lowered perceived control for both types. Self-perceptions of Type A students were unaffected…

Examines the possible influence of locus of control orientation and its relationship to critical aptitudes and developmental variables. Studies six discriminator variables in order to predict an understanding of the nature of science among preservice elementary teachers with respect to locus of control orientation. (CW)

Children's magical explanations and beliefs were investigated in two studies. Found that many four-year olds view magic as a plausible mechanism, yet reserve magical explanations for certain real world events that violate their causal expectations. Parents and culture at large may at first actively support magical beliefs whereas peers and schools…

Seventy-eight adolescents were administered the Career Decision Diagnostic Assessment instrument. Students with mental retardation or learning disabilities scored more poorly than nondisabled students on decision anxiety, tendency to avoid decision making, authority orientation, and luck and fate orientation. The study concluded that students'…

Reviews research on the determinants and the effects of parents' attributions. The evidence suggests that parents do form attributions for their children's behavior; these attributions vary in predictable ways across judges (mothers versus fathers), targets (age or sex of child), and behavior outcomes (positive or negative); and attributions…

Determined gender differences in undergraduates decisions to seek a bachelor's degree and whether these differences could be explained by performance levels, expectations, and attainment values. No gender differences were found for expectations and attainment values, and performance levels did not explain gender differences in reasons for seeking…

Examined the self-protective role of social attributions by comparing individual attributions made to the self, to one's ethnic group, and to factors external to oneself. Results from 309 Black, Hispanic, and White mothers show they all attributed positive outcomes to themselves, while Whites attributed failure to themselves personally. Middle-…

This study highlights the correlation between seventh grade students' (n=429) beliefs about how mathematics is learned and their achievement in mathematics. Results from structural relation modeling indicate that, when beliefs are considered as a single construct, the relationship between beliefs and achievement is much stronger than when beliefs…

Attempts to improve a set of patient assault vignettes for a simulation by developing and testing a control version of the vignettes and exploring additional question and alternative scoring procedures. Influences of victim gender and assault severity are examined for 58 neuropsychiatric hospital nurses and 12 mental health experts. (SLD)

This study, with 103 nongifted students and 77 female and 76 male gifted students in grades 3, 6, and 9, found that gifted females evidenced self-defeating causal attributions for math performance relative to gifted males only in grade 9. For the nongifted subjects, the sex differences were not as pronounced. (DB)

Causal attributions of 96 college students' performance in cooperative group assignments, and students' perceptions of the underlying dimensions of causal attributions (including relationships among performance outcomes, attributional dimensions, and attributional consequences) were examined. Locus of causality was related to affective reactions.…

Regression analysis of results from 81 fourth graders (41 females) completing several assessments of metamemory indicate that relationships between metamemory and recall depend on assessment method and timing of the child's engagement with the recall task. General metamemory is significantly related to recall on the posttest and near transfer.…

Students' understanding of attributional self-presentation strategies that facilitate adults' and peers' social approval in achievement situations was examined in 2 experiments involving the same 48 eighth graders. Results suggest that adolescents possess very sophisticated knowledge about attributional principles and the expectations and concerns…

Found that (1) children perceived that school failure attributed to lack of competence, task difficulty, and a bad explanation by the teacher is controllable; and (2) children with problems in learning and concentration perceived failure attributed to lack of effort as noncontrollable more often than did children without such problems. (BB)