This paper describes recent research on causal attribution (ways people construe the events in their lives) and how knowledge of this psychological phenomena can be used to aid students in developing attributional processes that will enhance motivational factors and have positive effects on academic achievement. Four specific suggestions are made with this goal in mind for development of a curriculum: (1) Instructional activities should be constructed to emphasize the role of effort in successful performance; (2) Students should be helped to make accurate attributions by attending to potential areas of "misattribution"; (3) Instructional environments should minimize the threat of failure; (4) Students should be informed of their progress in instruction as it relates to their past performance and the performance of their peers. (JD)